Isis-Sophia 1-3 Willi Sucher

ISIS SOPHIA I
INTRODUCING
ASTROSOPHY
By
WILLI SUCHER
ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC.

P.O. Box 13
Meadow Vista, CA 95722
ISIS SOPHIA I
INTRODUCING ASTROSOPHY
ISBN 1-888686-01-4
These letters were originally published as monthly

astronomical letters from April 1944 to March 1946.
© ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC. 2007

P.O. Box 13
Meadow Vista, CA 95722
Phone: 530-878-2673
E-mail: arci@bigvalley.net
Website: AstrosophyCenter.com
Editors: Roberta van Schilfgaarde

Darlys Turner
0987654321
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.
Printed in the United States of America

by the Astrosophy Research Center
Isis Sophia I ~ INTRODUCTING ASTROSOPHY
Contents
FOREWARD - Hazel Straker 5
Note from the Editors 6

First Letter - April 1944: Structure of the Solar Universe 7
Second Letter - May 1944: Relating to the Seasons 12
Third Letter - June 1944: Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac 16
Fourth Letter - July 1944: Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac (continued) 20
Fifth Letter - August 1944: Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac (continued) 25
Sixth Letter - September 1944: Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac (continued) 30
Seventh Letter - October 1944: Connection Between the Human Being and the Universe 35
Eight Letter - November 1944: Nature of the Planetary World 40
Ninth Letter - December 1944: Nature of the Planetary World - Saturn 45
Tenth Letter - January 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Jupiter 51
Eleventh Letter - February 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Jupiter/Mars 57
Twelfth Letter - March 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Mars 63
The Events in the Sky 67
Thirteenth Letter - April 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Sun I 69
Fourteenth Letter - May 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Sun II 74
Fifteenth Letter - June 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Sun III 79
Sixteenth Letter - July 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Moon 85
Seventeenth Letter - August 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Moon (continued) 89
Eighteenth Letter - September 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Venus 95
Nineteenth Letter - October 1945: Nature of the Planetary World - Mercury 100
Twentieth Letter - November 1945: Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho de Brahe 106
Twenty-First Letter - December 1945: Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho de Brahe 111
Twenty-Second Letter - January 1946: Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho de Brahe 116
Twenty-Third Letter - February 1946: Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho de Brahe 121
Twenty-Fourth Letter - March 1946: Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho de Brahe 126
To the Readers of the Astronomical Letters 129
Star Events at the Time of Christ 131
REFERENCE TO DIAGRAMS:
Letter: 9 Being of the Creator 47
13 Venus Pentagram 72
14 Moon Nodes 75
15 Open Space 79
16 Sun-Earth Lemniscate 85
18 Venus & Mercury Lemniscates 95
19 Movements of Mercury 100
20 Nativity of Tycho de Brahe 107
21 Nativity & Spiritual Nativity of Tycho 115
The Holy Grail 141
All the diagrams in this book are the original work of Willi Sucher
FOREWARD
In 1938, Willi Sucher and his wife Helen packed a suitcase and left Germany for England “for a short
time to study”. They knew that they would not be going back until the conditions in Germany had radically
changed, as it was becoming impossible for Willi to carry on his chosen work because he was already under
suspicion by the Nazi government.
Early in his life, Willi had felt the need for a new star wisdom, and after meeting the ideas of Rudolf
Steiner in 1919, this search became his life task. His wife Helen, whom he married in 1927, greatly
supported him in this, as did Dr. Elizabeth Vreede, whom he met in that same year. Dr. Vreede had been
given the task by Dr. Steiner to research and build up a new star wisdom compatible with the present stage
of consciousness in humanity. For this she had set up a Mathematical-Astronomical Section in the
Goetheanum at Dornach in Switzerland. She became Willi’s guide and encourager during 11 years of
fruitful collaboration until they were cut short by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany and the ensuing
World War II.
Willi and Helen had been invited to Sunfield Children’s Home (for children in need of special care) by
Fred Geuter, its co-founder with Michael Wilson. Soon after the outbreak of the war, all the men who had
recently come from Germany were interned, and Willi was sent to the Isle of Man. Anticipating this, Willi
had already packed his astronomical tables and by good fortune was able to take them with him and thus
carry on his research. Ever after, he regarded this as an especially fruitful time in his life where he could
work intensively, both alone and with like-minded colleagues interned with him.
The letters, published in this book, were systematically written soon after his release and sent out to a
number of subscribers. Their rich content is the fruit of years of meticulous research, consolidated and
refined during the time of internment. Willi’s penetration into numerous areas of humanity’s connection
with the stars continued up to his death, in 1985. While his various publications exhibit only a portion of
the enormity of his researches, the basic foundations are contained in these Letters.
As a long time associate of Willi and Helen Sucher, I am delighted and deeply grateful that these Letters
are now available to a wider circle of those following up this search for a new star wisdom, which moves
toward ASTROSOPHY.
Hazel Straker
June 1999
5
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
One can read from the biography of Willi Sucher, included in his books Isis Sophia II and Cosmic
Christianity, how he was able to immigrate to England in 1937-8, and was held in a detention camp during
World War II from about 1940 to 1942. When he was released, he went first to Scotland and then back to
Sunfield in London about 1944. These letters were written at the end of the War, which is somewhat
“carried” as a reality in the deep feeling often expressed in them.
From the background of his immense amount of research, Willi writes of historical events in connection
with star events over the course of humanity’s physical evolution. Using historical examples, he tries to
awaken an understanding of our past and future tasks. Although the reader is not required to do the same
research, understanding and application of it does require the same kind of dedication and desire to uncover
the mysteries of one’s own and humanity’s destiny. To aid in the understanding and application of this
work, the Astrosophy Research Center opens its doors to all questions—by phone, mail, fax, e-mail, or
from visits—at no charge except for a small fee for those who would like to visit and reserve a room at the
Center for research or study.
These letters have been slightly edited to conform to a more modern style of punctuation, capitalization,
and gender use; omitted are the monthly calendars of star events that were appended to the letters—except
where the content seemed to be part of the letters. The notations or additions that appear in [brackets] in the
text are made by the editors.
Our thanks go out to all the individuals who helped to make this publication possible, with special
thanks to Shirley Latessa for her long and ongoing support. And thanks to Robert and Irene Jaros for their
help with this publication.
6
FIRST LETTER - April 1944
Structure of the Solar Universe
It is the intention of these astronomical letters to elaborate the relationship between the starry universe
and the Earth. The human being as the main representative of the Earth will be chiefly the subject of
consideration, but also the other kingdoms of nature will be considered. Of course, it is altogether a vast
field, and we in our age are limited in our knowledge. Yet, thanks to the key knowledge that was given by
Rudolf Steiner, it has been possible during more than twenty years of quiet and persistent work to gather
many facts about those relationships. Taken together, these facts are already forming an organism that is
still in its early childhood but may become the seeds for further and more elaborated investigations in the
coming centuries and millenniums.
First we will have to establish through these letters a clear insight into the structure of our solar universe
and its relationships to the starry worlds beyond our own universe. Then we shall have to speak about the
constellations that we perceive in the sky. Mainly we will have to consider the constellations of the Zodiac,
and we will have to find out their spiritual nature as it is connected with the evolution of Earth and human-
ity. After that, the world of the planets—the moving stars—will be considered. This will be done mainly
in connection with the human being’s life after death and before birth. We will also have to take into
account the relationship between the planets and the life of nature, as far as science has been able to prove
this fact. In connection with humanity, the problem of necessity or fate and the realm of human freedom
will then arise. In the end we shall have to inform ourselves about the relationship between the stars and
humanity as a whole and also about the future evolution of the planet on which we live.
The question arises, by what name should we call the kind of knowledge for which we intend to search
in these letters? To call it astronomy wouldn’t be correct, because the mathematical facts of the starry
world will be dealt with only as much as this is necessary. Neither can it be called astrology, because it will
not become a foundation for horoscopic practices in the sense of astrology as it is performed today. We
need to study the spiritual background of the relationship between the stars and the Earth with its inhabit-
ants. We may call it astrosophy. What is astrosophy?
Movement is the essence of the world of the stars. Everything is moving in the sphere surrounding the
Earth. We enter a gigantic world of rhythms when we look into the manifoldness of the starry heaven.
There is the rhythm of day and night. The whole firmament seems to be revolving around its heavenly
axis within 24 hours. This is one of the fundamental movements in the universe that creates the change of
day and night. We are taught by modern astronomy that this revolution is brought about by the daily
rotation of the Earth around its axis. Only the observers on Earth perceive it reversed, as if the firmament
were rotating.
Then we can observe the rhythms of the Moon, the change of the phases from New Moon to Full Moon
and back to New Moon. We know by observation that this rhythm takes place roughly within a month.
If we go farther out into the universe, we will find longer rhythms, such as those of Venus and Mercury.
There is the rhythm of the Sun and the time in which it takes to move through the Zodiac. We call this
rhythm a year. Again we are told by modern astronomy that this movement of the Sun during one year is an
illusionary one. It is the Earth that moves around the Sun during one year, and we on Earth perceive the Sun
in different parts of the sky during this circular movement of our globe. Still farther on we find the rhythms
of the so-called superior planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the lately discovered planets of Uranus, Nep-
tune, and Pluto. Here we find rhythms that extend over tens, even hundreds of years.
Besides this, we can find changes in the structure of our universe that also go on in long rhythmical
intervals. They comprise whole ages of human and earthly evolution, thousands and even tens of thou-
sands of years. We know that the fixed stars are also moving, although these movements would, for the
most part, only become visible to the naked eye in intervals of time that are beyond the grasp of ordinary
human time conception.
7
Isis Sophia I
Hence movement is the foundation of the world of the stars. We can look at this world of movement in
different ways. We can regard it as a gigantic mechanism. The facts, which we find in the universal
movements, do indeed inspire this idea. We can calculate the movements, and we can even pre-calculate
the rhythms of the stars. The discoveries of Pluto and Neptune were achieved by the application of pure
mechanical laws to our universe. And yet, the idea of a universe as a mechanism comes to grief at a certain
point. We can compare it with a rotating motor. The movements of the motor—its behavior—can be
calculated. Every detail can be explained by mechanical laws. But it would not move an inch, not even a
single screw of it would exist, if the human mind had not invented it. The gigantic work of the inventors in
the realm of mechanics has created each single detail of the motor. The human mind is the true origin of the
motor and without it the motor would not exist.
How is it in our universe? This mechanism of innumerable movements exists, but who has created it
and put it into rotation? A mechanism cannot create itself, otherwise it is no longer a mechanism. There
must have been something like a gigantic planning mind or even a congregation of such minds, before any
universe could have been created.
From this we are led to another outlook. Just as the motor is an expression of the capacities of the
human mind, even perhaps of its weaknesses, so our universe can be regarded as the expression of a world
of inner life—if not soul life.
We see the human being moving. All the movements of the limbs can be explained in terms of physical
and mechanical laws. Still, there is always a reason why a human being moves his limbs. He has intentions
to do something or to go somewhere. There is an inner life; a soul life behind the visible movements of the
body; a life that gives reason and justification to these movements.
So we may look at the single star, we calculate its movements, rhythms, and many things connected
with its general condition and its relationships with other stars. But then we must go one step farther and
find the inner cause of its particular behavior. We must find the soul life of the star that has created it and
has its expression in the so-called mechanical laws.
We will probably not find, within its own realm of inner life, reasons for the movements of the single
star. We must perhaps search in the realm of the community of stars. In the communities of humanity, the
single being has his or her own world of soul qualities causing movement and activity. Still, the actions of
the single being come into contact with those of other human beings. Moreover, these actions make sense
only when they are related to the whole community life. In fact the common ideals of the community are
the measure of the activity of the single being.
In the same way, each star has its own world of soul movement, which causes its visible movements,
making it a useful and creative member of the universe. Further, it is also related to its fellow stars. Seen
from the Sun as the center of our universe or even seen from the Earth, the planets sometimes meet in a
certain way, or they may separate and go into opposition to each other, and so on. All these activities are
related to the whole solar system and to the Sun, especially, as its center. Thus the single planet must take
part in the common aim of the whole solar universe.
To learn to know—of course starting with the simple facts—the soul world of the single star, the social
life of their communities, their common ideals and goals—this is astrosophy. We are not only searching for
the soul world of the stars that is the manifestation of their beings and activities within a limited time, but
we will also have to gain some knowledge about their spiritual life. Only then can we understand their full
being. Their spiritual life would be: their history (their biographies, so to speak), their struggles and achieve-
ments, and their destiny in regard to the future.
Why astrosophy?
The question may arise: Why should we as human beings on Earth strive for such a knowledge of the
stars as has been outlined? The world of the stars may form an interesting subject of study, but aren’t the
stars too far away to be able to affect our life on the Earth?
8
Introducing Astrosophy
Our planet is a part of the whole star community, and just as the activity of the Moon influences the
rhythm of the tides, we can also find that the organism of the Earth is influenced by all the stars of the
celestial community. This may be found through different kinds of observation. We as human beings live
on this star-influenced Earth; therefore, whether we like it or not, we take part in the life of the whole
universe.
As earthly people, we have the natural tendency to submerge into the world of our human horizon. In
the main this horizon comprises very little of the great universe. It may be only the world of our small
personal wishes, wants, or ambitions. It may also be a philosophy or religion that may unite us with differ-
ent groups of humanity, or again, it may separate us from the rest of humanity. It may also consist of the
part we may play in the life of the nation or race into which we are born. We know that very often—one
might even say always—these differentiations lead to the quarrels and wars. If we only live within the
small horizon of our human world, then the danger arises of a narrowness of outlook toward life. This
narrowness of our soul life may easily lead to the misjudgment of our own affairs within the framework of
the whole universe.
However, if we are able, at least from time to time, to confront ourselves with the world of the stars,
with their soul life, their spiritual life, and we may grow in our being beyond the world of our own problems
and comparatively small and unimportant matters. We may then be able to put ourselves consciously and
more appropriately into the stream of evolution of our whole universe. If only we would sometimes do this,
we could enter a world of grand cosmic ideals and spiritual goals that would not divide humanity into
groups of religious or philosophical beliefs, race, theories, and the like. The stars would teach us that the
ties binding the human being to the realms of life, as for instance: family, nation, race, or even a certain
religion, are justified as long as the boundaries of these realms are not overstepped and do not overrule
other spheres of human life.
The appropriate place for the philosophy of idealism in our human world, as well as that of realism, or
even materialism, would then be discovered. In the universe, all these life conceptions and life attitudes are
kept in correct and peaceful order within the soul life of the starry world. It is only we human beings who
very often suffer from narrowness and shortsightedness, and who cannot find the correct order in our own
soul world. This disorder is then reflected in the quarrels and wars amongst humanity.
The stars, if we look at them deeply and unveil their mysteries, can unite humanity. They shine on all
people. All the phenomena in the universe of the stars concern all humanity in the same undifferentiated
way. There is no distinction like the distinctions brought about on Earth through the necessity of living
under certain social or geographical conditions. In the course of time, the whole surface of the Earth, and
with it humanity, receives the light and the teaching of all the stars.
Thus the gateway is opened to the world of true peace and freedom, or freehood. The world of true
peace, because this is where we can learn to know the intentions and evolutionary goals of the Gods. The
application of this knowledge to our daily life, step by step, can bring us true peace and the world of true
freehood, because it frees us from the fetters of our small and narrow earthly matters and problems. There-
fore astrosophy, as a new wisdom of the stars, will even in the future become a necessity within the realm
of the spiritual culture of humanity.
The Structure of Our Solar System

Before we start to find out the details of the soul and spiritual world that are manifest in the cosmos, we
must create a certain knowledge of the physical structure of our solar universe and its connection with the
worlds in the depths of the celestial space. We must form clear concepts about the rhythms of the stars and
their arrangement or order in space. This means the elaboration of a certain amount of astronomical knowl-
edge. Of course we cannot extend it too far, because it is, in fact, a very vast field of complicated math-
ematical facts and other details. We can only do it as far as it is necessary to create a common understand-
ing or language about the cosmic facts, with which we shall have to deal later.
9
Isis Sophia I
If we look up to the firmament of the stars, we can distinguish between two kinds of heavenly bodies.
First, there appear the so-called fixed stars. They are called fixed stars because they appear to always keep
the same positions and distances among themselves. There is, for instance, the well-known constellation of
the Great Bear or Plough. Four fixed stars form the body of the Bear and three others the tail. We can look
at this constellation night after night for years. It will not happen that suddenly one night we would dis-
cover that one of the four stars that form the body of the Bear has moved away from its relative position.
Thus many groups of fixed stars form constellations, and the single stars do not move away from their
relative positions. The same stars, for instance, always form the constellations of Cassiopeia, Orion, and
many others. But, in fact, the fixed stars are moving, too. After thousands of years, the stars that form the
familiar image of the Great Bear will no longer be in the same positions, and in a far future one will no
longer perceive the outlines of the Great Bear as we do today. However, these movements are very slow.
They are beyond the grasp of the human eye and also beyond human time conception; therefore, we justly
call them “fixed” stars.
We also perceive the moving stars—the planets—which belong to our solar system. A very good ex-
ample to use for observation is the Moon. We may perceive it during a clear night in the realm of those
fixed stars that form the constellation of Bull. If we look at it two or three days later, we may find it in the
constellation of Twins. So it must have moved in the meantime from Bull to Twins. Our Moon is not the
only moving star; there are several others. Altogether we may count nine (other) major planets in our solar
system besides the Moon, which are:
Mercury Mars Uranus - discovered in 1781

Venus Jupiter Neptune - discovered in 1846
Earth Saturn Pluto - discovered in 1930
Another distinction between fixed and moving stars, according to modern astronomy, is that the fixed
stars have their own light. They are, so to speak, suns like our Sun and produce their own light. The
moving stars or planets, which belong to our solar system, have no light of their own. They only reflect the
light that they receive from the Sun in the center.
Besides the fixed stars and planets, most of which are visible only during the night, there is the Sun,
which we see during the daytime. The light of the Sun is so overwhelmingly strong that we cannot see the
other stars as long as the Sun is shining; therefore, it is difficult to find its relative position to the fixed-star
constellations. Still, by certain astronomical means, we can learn that the Sun, too, like the planets is
moving, and it completes a circle during one year. However, modern astronomy tells us that it is not the
Sun that moves. The Earth revolves around the Sun that holds the center of the circle of the Earth’s orbit.
Through this movement of the Earth, which is completed in one year, we see the Sun’s disc always in
different cosmic directions. This creates for us the illusion of the Sun’s movement along the circle of the
ecliptic or Zodiac.
We can now distinguish between three main features in the structure of our solar system: there is the
Sun in the center, around this Sun the planets are circling, and the orbits of the planets are in approximately
the same plane while their centers are roughly in the Sun. Therefore, we would have to imagine our solar
system being in the shape of a lens or huge disc with concentric rings as the orbits of the planets.
This huge disc has its circumference in the orbit of the outermost planet. This circumference, as a
circle, has a relative connection with certain of the fixed stars. Seen in perspective, so to speak, from the
center of the disc, it passes in front of a certain number of fixed stars. Those fixed stars form a kind of
ribbon or ring around our solar universe. This circular ribbon beyond the circumference of the planetary
system in which we live is what we call the fixed-star Zodiac. It is formed by twelve of the constellations
that we see in the starry sky. These are the three components of our solar universe:
10
1) The Sun, as roughly the center of the disc.

2) The orbits of the planets at different distances from the central Sun.
3) The circumference of the disc, beyond which appear the twelve constellations of the Zodiac.
We can still make another distinction within the disc. The Earth, on which we live, moves along the
third orbit from the center. The orbits of Mercury and Venus are within the orbit of the Earth. They are
called inferior planets. As their orbits are smaller than that of the Earth, they circle around the Sun in a
much shorter time than the Earth. Mercury completes a full circle around the Sun in about 88 days. Venus
does the same in about 225 days, because it is already farther away from the Sun and the orbit is bigger. The
Earth completes its circle around the Sun in about 365 days. Around the Earth, in a comparatively small
distance, we have to imagine the orbit of the Moon. It circles around the Earth in about 27 days.
Those planets that have their orbits outside the circle described by the orbit of the Earth are called
superior planets. The distances of these orbits from the Sun are relatively much bigger than the Earth’s
orbit from the Sun; therefore, these planets need a much longer time to circle the Sun along their paths.
Mars needs about 687 days to complete its circle. Jupiter completes its circle in about 12 years. Saturn
needs about 30 years. Uranus takes about 84 years for the same movement. Neptune is still farther away
from the Sun, therefore, its orbit is very big, and the planet needs about 164 years to go around. Pluto needs
still more time, about 250 years. For our researches it will be very important to differentiate between
inferior and superior planets.
The twelve constellations of fixed stars, which form the ribbon of the Zodiac beyond the outer circum-
ference of the disc of our solar system, are:
Ram or Latin: Aries Scales or Latin: Libra

Bull Taurus Scorpion Scorpio
Twins Gemini Archer Sagittarius
Crab Cancer Goat (Ibex) Capricorn
Lion Leo Waterman Aquarius
Virgin Virgo Fishes Pisces
11
Isis Sophia I
SECOND LETTER - May 1944

Relating to the Seasons
In the last letter we spoke about the three components of our solar universe. Now it will be our task to
elaborate the details of the structure of our universe, especially of the Sun and the orbit of the Earth.
The Earth revolves around the Sun in the course of one year, as we have stated. For us on Earth this
appears as the movement of the Sun along the path of the Zodiac. This movement is not only an astronomi-
cal fact, it is connected in time with definite rhythmical events on Earth. This is the rhythm of the seasons.
We will now look at this rhythm of the seasons from the point of view of the northern hemisphere of the
Earth.
Every year on the 21st of March spring starts in the northern hemisphere. This does not change in the
course of time. It does not happen that suddenly spring starts on the 21st of April; it is the 21st of March. We
say then that the spring equinox takes place or the Sun is in the vernal point—that is to say, according to the
world system of Copernicus—when the Earth has finished its orbit around the Sun and starts a new circle.
Spring lasts till the 21st of June. During this season the processes of germination, growth, expansion,
and blossoming take place in the plant world that surrounds us. It is the season during which creation
mainly takes place in nature.
Then on the 21st of June summer begins. Now the Earth has moved through one quarter of its orbit.
Seen from the Earth, the Sun has moved during the preceding three months through the signs of Aries,
Taurus, and Gemini. On the 21st of June it enters the sign of Cancer—from the aspect of the Earth. We are
confronted with the phenomena of the summery season in nature around us. The flowering processes have
reached their climax. The plant world is perfected. Fructification takes place, and toward the end of this
season the fruits ripen. During this time the Sun has moved through the signs of the ecliptic of Cancer, Leo,
and Virgo; or according to Copernicus, the Earth has completed another quarter of its orbit.
On the 23rd of September the Sun enters the sign of Libra. On Earth in the north we have the beginning
of autumn. Nature enters a time of crisis. A separation between the fruit and the mother plant takes place.
The mother plant (it is different with trees) withers away. The fruit and with it the seed is buried in the soil.
The light and the warmth fade away.
The Sun has moved through the signs of Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. Then on the 21st of December
it enters the sign of Capricorn, and while it is going through Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces we have the
wintry season on Earth. During this season the seeds slumber in the soil; perhaps covered by ice and snow,
but then a great awakening takes place—a great miracle—as the seeds bring forth the same kind of plant
forms as the mother plant that had withered away in the preceding autumn. Then the Sun enters the sign of
Aries again on the 21st of March, and the whole cycle of the year and of the seasons starts once more.
We can ask: where do the forces come from which make the plants grow and also wither away after
having produced the seed for the following cycle of seasons? From a materialistic point of view, one can
answer that the increase of light and warmth toward summer makes the plants grow, and the decrease in
autumn withdraws life in the plant world. However, this is too easily said, because there are plants that
grow even if the light and warmth have faded. They cannot only receive light and warmth as the sole
influence of the Sun. There must be forces radiating from the Sun that are more than only warmth and light.
The seeds do not germinate if they are only exposed to light and warmth; they must even be put into the
darkness of the moist soil. The Earth must receive influences from the depths of the cosmic spaces, which
penetrate the Earth more deeply than only warmth and light. These more hidden forces are indicated by the
movement of the Sun through the signs of the ecliptic, and this does not even interfere with the Copernican
conception of our solar system. Even if we imagine the Earth moving and the Sun fixed in the center, we
can still imagine the globe of the Earth receiving certain cosmic influences through the Sun from the
different directions of the Zodiac. We could imagine the Sun being like a huge optic lens that gathers the
activities of the various parts of the ecliptic and sends them down to the Earth. We could also imagine the
12
inferior planets engaged in this collecting and transforming activity of the Sun. Only materialistic supersti-
tion would make it impossible to imagine that besides light, warmth, and certain magnetic influences,
nothing else is radiated by the Sun.
If we can agree with this, we could then imagine a differentiated and fourfold activity of the Sun during
the course of the year according to the four seasons. The relative position of the Sun in the different signs
of the ecliptic would then bring about the changes. The position of the Sun between the spring equinox and
the summer solstice would send down to the Earth the forces of creation. Between the summer solstice and
the autumn equinox, the Sun would collect the forces from the Zodiac that manifest themselves on Earth as
perfection and ripening. Between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, we would receive forces
from the Sun that bring about the crisis in nature, and the forces gathered by the Sun through its zodiacal
positions during the time between the winter solstice and the spring equinox would bring about the miracle
of the new birth in nature on Earth.
We can still elaborate more on the differentiated activity of the Sun indicated by the positions in the
ecliptic. Then we will come to the twelvefold Sun activity according to the twelve signs.
In April the Sun stands in the direction of the sign of Aries. From there the plant world receives the
power of shaping-out again and again the same forms. It never happens, for instance, that the buttercups or
daisies suddenly take on a different shape from that which they always had in the past. Forces of remem-
brance, so to speak, radiate from this part of the ecliptic and connect the past with the present and future.
In May when the Sun is in the sign of Taurus we see the growth of the plants and their expansion in
space. Everything rushes into existence and wants to get as big as possible. In this development we can
recognize the strength and power of increase and propagation coming from the sign of Taurus.
Then in June the Sun enters the sign of Gemini. The plant reaches the limits of its expansion in space,
and from the universe—by the medium of the Sun—it receives the power to develop two tendencies: with
the roots it reaches down into the darkness of the soil as deeply as possible, and on the other side it reaches
up into the sphere of light and warmth. There it creates the flower. In this twofold activity we see the
polarity of Gemini; the heavenly twin in the flower and the earthly twin in the root. Polarity in all kinds of
forms and metamorphoses radiates from the region of Gemini in the ecliptic.
In July the Sun is in the sign of Cancer. Now the plant is saturated in itself. It no longer has the tendency
to expand; the flowering processes have reached their climax. The plant does not want anything more.
From the universe it receives the impulse to give away its properties. This is done by the scent and the
manifoldness of colors that radiate into the world from the flowers. It is the serving attitude of the scarab,
which carries above its head a huge ball of earth as the sign of the Sun and the heart. The scarab is the
ancient image of the sign of Cancer. The transformation of the hitherto more earthbound forces into sun-
like, radiating forces is the dynamic power of the sign of Cancer.
Then in August we find the Sun in the sign of Leo. Now the plant has received the impulse to sacrifice
itself. The harvest time has come and the processes of fructification take place. Like the rays of the self-
sacrificing Sun, the plant fills the space around itself. Union with the whole Sun-universe is the tendency
of the sign of Leo.
In September when the Sun can be found in the sign of Virgo, the fruits and the seeds are ripening. The
light and the warmth of the summer are now transformed into the sweetness of the fruit that bears the hope
for the future as the seed; like the holy Virgin, the Child bearing the hope of the world. Fruitfulness, as the
result of the union with the universe, is the power that radiates from the sign of Virgo.
In October when the Sun appears in the sign of Libra, the separation between the mother plant and the
seed takes place. From the universe come forces that cut the world of the plant into two: that which has
been and that which will be in future. It is a time of peace in nature; a balance between past and future, like
balanced scales. Care for the Child of the Virgin and the withdrawal of the creative forces of the Mother
into the heavenly realms are the influence of the sign of Libra.
13
Isis Sophia I
Then the Sun enters the sign of Scorpio. Now come forces of destruction and disintegration from the
depths of the universe. The plants wither away. The image of the scorpion with the deadly sting is indeed
a true picture of those forces that are active in nature during this time of the year. It takes place roughly in
November when the light is also dwindling away and the summery warmth is overcome by the wintry
coldness.
In December the Sun is in the sign of Sagittarius. It is the time of the year when human beings on Earth
light the Advent candles and wait for the birth of the soul light of the world. In nature the seeds are now
resting in the soil. If one imagines the numberless seeds in the soil, one can have the impression of millions
and millions of little flames of hope waiting patiently for the new birth of light and warmth. These forces
of hope are well expressed in the imagination of Sagittarius/Archer. He aims at the goal that is still far
away. Awaiting and seeking the light of the soul is the message of the sign of Sagittarius.
In January when the Sun has entered the sign of Capricorn, the light increases again. The new birth of
the light has taken place. It is the time during which Christianity celebrates the birth of Christ, who has
come into the world as the renewing power in all nature and humanity. The seed may be buried in the soil,
perhaps covered by ice and snow, but it has survived darkness and coldness; it has been saved from destruc-
tion. The creative light from the spiritual world radiates from the sign of Capricorn.
After this, the Sun enters the sign of Aquarius. Now there streams down to Earth from this region the
renewing and awakening forces. Here it is that the hidden forces of the Sun’s activity enter the sphere of the
Earth; forces that are not only light and warmth but, like life-giving water, invisible life-forces. The image
of Aquarius/Waterman pouring out the heavenly water into the cosmic spaces is truly a picture of these
events in February. The influx of the renewing and up-building forces of the cosmos comes from the region
of the sign of Aquarius.
Then at the end in March, the Sun enters the sign of Pisces. In nature the germinating processes take
place. The seeds in the soil are swimming like fishes in a sea of the life-giving cosmic water. They open
themselves and taste this water; they germinate. And by tasting the water, they are now drawn into the
activity of those forces coming from the direction of Pisces, which want the event—the deed in nature—in
this case the event of the new start in the rhythm of the year. The incorporation of the cosmic laws and
spiritual aims of the world into the single earthly being is the influence of the sign of Pisces.
Thus the position of the Sun indicates the rhythms of the events that take place within the sphere of the
organic life on Earth. This is especially obvious in the plant kingdom, but it is not only an indication. We
can speak of real forces that radiate from the Sun toward the Earth, just as the Earth also receives light and
warmth from the Sun. The Sun is like a huge optic lens that collects the activities located in the different
spheres of the ecliptic; for instance, if we on Earth perceive the Sun in the sign of Aries, we can imagine the
Sun collecting the activity of the region of Aries, which is then behind the Sun, and sending it down to the
Earth.
If the twelve signs of the ecliptic—around the Sun and within the orbit of the Earth—are a dynamic
reality, we would have to think of the possibility that the other planets, especially those within the orbit of
the Earth, are able to collect and radiate the forces of the ecliptic signs in a similar way as the Sun. This
would mainly concern the inferior planets Mercury and Venus and to a certain extent also the Moon.
We do, in fact, find such activities of the inferior planets according to their positions in the different
signs of the ecliptic. Only the realms in which these activities manifest themselves on Earth are different
from those of the Sun’s activity, as described above. The Sun’s activity becomes visible in the plant life
during the year within the world of physical matter, but it would not be possible for the Sun alone to create
the living plant; the Moon has to help, and it helps by working through the liquid substances; for instance,
it works in the saps of the plant. The Moon must necessarily be waxing at the same time. In other words,
only if the waxing Moon, after the 21st of March when the Sun has entered Aries, is moving through the
creative signs of Aries, Taurus, Twins, Cancer, can the festival of Resurrection-Easter take place in nature.
This is the reason why Easter can only be celebrated after the first Full Moon following the spring equinox.
14
Even the combined activities of Sun and Moon are not enough. Also the other planets of our universe
must contribute their share, especially the inferior planets Mercury and Venus, in connection with the plant
growth. They bring the variety of events in nature in the different years. They are more connected with the
sphere of light and warmth.
The activity of the twelve signs of the ecliptic as they manifest themselves through the differentiated
Sun activity during the year is a kind of fundamental language, only it is expressed in a transformed way
through the medium of Moon, Venus, and Mercury. It may happen, for instance, that Venus in the sign of
Taurus gathers the strong expanding forces of Taurus and exhales them into the atmosphere of the Earth.
The result may be, under certain conditions, terrific storms in parts of the Earth. Mercury may do some-
thing similar in the thermostatic sphere of the Earth. But it may also happen that the two planets exchange
their activities, i.e., that Venus attacks the thermosphere and Mercury the atmosphere of the Earth. In
regard to Venus and Mercury, the language of the twelve signs of the ecliptic, therefore, has to be translated
into the terms of the activities and events within the sphere of light and warmth, if one wants to live with
and to read the dynamic influences of these planets.
The same applies to the Moon. The Moon works in the liquid substances of the Earth. We know the
influence of the Moon on the rhythm of the tides, and we also know that the tides are stronger in the
beginning of spring and autumn when the Moon receives the light of the mighty, creative Aries-Sun or is in
Aries itself. (The elaboration of these facts would be the subject of researches mainly in connection with
agriculture. As these letters have a different task, it is only possible to give a few indications.)
We have now been speaking about the forces that weave between the Earth, Sun, Moon, and the planets.
The differentiation of these forces is partly due to the difference of the nature of the planets and also of the
twelvefold ecliptic. According to the system of Ptolemy—where the Earth is in the center of the universe
and all planets, even the Sun, move around the Earth—the Sun and the planets would change their character
through their own movement, but according to the Copernican system it would be the Earth itself that
exposes itself by its own movement to any one special aspect of the Sun’s activity. The orbit of the Earth
would then create the reality of the ecliptic with its twelve signs in our universe. It would be a relative
reality that concerns only the Earth, but the manner in which our universe is constructed in reality, whether
Ptolemy is right or Copernicus is right or whether we have to search for a totally new outlook, is a mere
astronomical question.
What we have described so far in this letter about the influences of the planets, Moon, and Sun upon the
organic life of the Earth, is connected with the ecliptic. Whether we look at our solar system from the point
of view of Ptolemy or Copernicus, the ecliptic with its twelve signs is a reality within our solar universe; we
must imagine that it is either brought about by the movement of the Sun or the movement of the Earth.
However, so far we have not connected or based it upon the circle of the fixed-star Zodiac, which is beyond
our solar system. Within the Zodiac of the fixed stars we have twelve constellations, which were men-
tioned in the last letter. This is a reality that starts where our universe comes to an end. We shall have much
to say about this reality in the following letters. We have to be absolutely clear about the fact that, besides
the fixed-star Zodiac, there exists the ecliptic, which is another reality but within our solar system. How it
works has been indicated above in connection with the Sun year. How it is related to the twelve constella-
tions of the fixed-star Zodiac will be elaborated in following descriptions.
The difficulty, which can create confusion, is that the same names are used for the twelve fixed-star
constellations and for the twelve divisions of the ecliptic. This even has a certain justification, but it can
create confusion. In these letters the twelve constellations of the fixed-star Zodiac will be distinguished
from the twelve divisions of the ecliptic as constellations; for instance, the constellation of Ram or Bull
means the fixed-star constellation of this name beyond the outermost circumference of our universe, and
for the twelve divisions of the ecliptic—the twelve parts of the orbit of the Sun, or the Earth—we will use
the nomination sign, [and use the Latin name] as the sign of Aries would be that part of the ecliptic through
which the Sun appears to be moving between the 21st of March and the 21st of April.
15
Isis Sophia I
THIRD LETTER - June 1944

The Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac
The universe of our solar system with its planets revolving around a common center is a rather compli-
cated organism. According to the opinion of Ptolemy, the Earth is in the center of this organism; according
to Copernicus, the Sun is in the center and holds a firm grip on the planets so that they do not leave their
orbits. (Rudolf Steiner has indicated the lemniscatory movement as the basis of the future conception of the
planetary universe. It is the intention to come back to these problems in due course, especially when we
will have to deal with the nature of the planets.) The Ptolemaic as well as the Copernican universe has the
form of a circular plane, with the orbits of the planets lying within this like concentric rings of a disc. This
circular plane is surrounded by a girdle of twelve constellations of fixed stars, which we call the fixed-star
Zodiac. The names of these twelve constellations are given in the first letter.
We have now to speak about the nature of these twelve constellations of the Zodiac. They form the
“external” world of our solar system, and they are related to our solar system as our external world is related
to us.
How are we related to our external world? We find in our earthly surroundings the solid substances, the
liquid substances, the gaseous substances, and warmth. All this we find within the human form only in
transformed conditions. The origin of these substances we find in our surroundings. They form the basis
of our physical existence. We take them in, and we are continuously taking them in as we live on Earth, as
we breathe and eat. In looking at these substances and finding them again in a transmuted condition within
our body, we can read the story of the creation and organization of the human being. Of course, we must not
only look at these substances from the point of view of materialistic thinking in order to learn the story of
the creation of our body, it is also necessary to find their spiritual qualities.
One can imagine that the relationship between the fixed-star Zodiac and the solar world is constituted in
a similar way. Our solar system must have come into being in times about which we can not judge accord-
ing to earthly standards. Where did it come from? Just as the substances that we find within the human
body once must have been part of the surrounding world, so the essential being of our universe may origi-
nate in the surrounding world of the fixed stars. There, too, we would have to consider this world of the
fixed stars not only from a purely quantitative point of view but also from a qualitative aspect.
If we accept this, then we can look at the fixed stars, and among them especially at the fixed stars of the
Zodiac, as the realm where we can learn something about the origin and creation of our solar universe.
Searching for the traces of creation may reveal to us the inner nature of the Zodiac.
Rudolf Steiner has given the key for an understanding of the evolution of our universe in his book An
Outline of Occult Science [currently titled Outline of Esoteric Science]. There he describes the various
steps of creation down to the universe in which we now live and perceive with our senses. He describes the
process of evolution as it presents itself to the spiritual perception of the clairvoyant who has gone along the
path of modern and western initiation. We can follow his explanations because he also gives, in the book
mentioned above, the methods for the attainment of the modern clairvoyance. What he says about the
evolution of the world is not a hypothesis incapable of being proven true; anyone can find the proof who is
willing to follow the path of modern initiation as there described. Thereby, Dr. Steiner describes three great
stages of the evolution of our universe, which then lead to a fourth stage in the creation of the world in
which we live. These three great stages of evolution, according to the occult tradition, are named: Ancient
Saturn evolution, Ancient Sun evolution, and Ancient Moon evolution. The fourth stage is called Earth
evolution, which in fact means the evolution of our present solar universe. These four stages of evolution
represent the condensation of something into solid matter with all the states of condensation in between,
which in its origin is of purely psychic nature; indications of which are still to be found today in the
gaseous, liquid, and solid substances in nature. (The idea of materialization of “thoughts” as the process of
evolution has even been entertained by modern natural science.)
16
The step of evolution that is called Ancient Saturn is the state where pure psychic being (in the sense of
modern natural science, the “thought”) was condensed to warmth. With this, the very first step of creation
of physical substance was accomplished. (It may be that, according to modern science, warmth or heat
cannot easily be regarded as physical substance but only as a condition assumed by physical substance. We
shall have to speak about this later.)
The Ancient Sun evolution is the state where the previously created warmth substance is condensed into
the gaseous condition. In the cycle of Ancient Moon evolution, the formerly created gaseous substances are
then condensed to the liquid state, and in the fourth stage—within the Earth evolution—a further conden-
sation takes place, and the liquid substances are transformed into solid matter.
This is, of course, only a very brief outline of these four states of evolution, and it will now be our task
to elaborate them more in detail and find the link to the fixed-star Zodiac.
The Ancient Saturn Evolution

If one goes back to the very beginning of creation by the means of higher knowledge—in the sense of
modern initiation—there is no physical substance to be found. Everything is still in psychic and spiritual
condition. Whereas one cannot, for instance, imagine thoughts without their being connected with the
individual psychic existence of a human being, so we will find this psychic nature of the universe existing
in the inner life, not of physical, but of spiritual beings. And as we have to distinguish in the realm of
human thought life between human beings who have the capacity to create ideas, and others who are able to
realize and put them into practice, so we must also distinguish between hierarchies of spiritual beings who
have different capacities of materializing the psychic, archetypal substance created in their midst.
Thus we will find there, in the beginning, spiritual beings that have attained, in a certain moment of
their inner, timeless evolution, the capacity of pouring forth the original psychic substances; the “idea” or
the “thought” or whatever it may have been. This substance can then be taken on by other beings.
If nothing exists in a physical sense, the first thing is that the “will to (physical) existence” comes
forth—and so it is. Exalted spiritual Beings, whom Dr. Steiner calls Spirits of Will, have attained the
capacity to pour forth Will as a psychic substance. This Will becomes the foundation of everything that, in
the course of evolution, becomes physical.
These Spirits of Will were only able to stream forth their Will-substance after a long inner evolution.
What was a beginning, from the point of view of the creation of our universe, must have meant for these
spirits the end of an inner development. This first act of creation is a conclusion and new start in one.
Can the “mother-ground” of our solar universe, the fixed-star Zodiac, tell us anything about this event
as a kind of cosmic remembrance? We can find it written into the constellation of Fishes as it presents itself
today in the sky. (Rudolf Steiner, in Outline of Esoteric Science, has not indicated any connection between
the events during the various stages of the evolution of our universe and the constellations of the Zodiac as
it is done here. How it is done in these letters is entirely the writer’s own responsibility.)
The Fishes, as we see it today according to the imaginations of our ancestors, consists of two fishes
swimming in opposite directions, and yet they are tied together by a kind of star ribbon. The Fishes is
between Waterman and Ram. It forms the twelfth constellation of the Zodiac. There the Zodiac comes to
an end and starts anew with the constellation of Ram. Thus Fishes is the image of the end of an evolution
that took place within the being of the Spirits of Will before they were able to pour forth the original
substance of our universe and also the image of the commencement of the evolutionary cycles of our
universe.
The constellation of Fishes is swimming in the water that Waterman pours into the universe. In this
water we can perceive, with the organs of higher knowledge, the image of the all-creative substance of the
spiritual universe—the creative spiritual bloodstream of the spiritual world. It has all the possibilities of
manifestation in itself. The archetypes of all existing things in the physical and soul world are as though
dissolved in this stream. They have not even come into a psychic form yet, but now Fishes appears in this
17
Isis Sophia I
heavenly water. The first traces of a psychic solidification of single objects appear. The archetypes of the
will—the foundation of physical existence—are consolidated within the sea of creative possibilities.
Now, after the primeval substance has been created, the evolution of Ancient Saturn begins. Other
spiritual Beings unfold their activity and direct it toward the primeval Will-substance. Dr. Steiner calls
them Spirits of Wisdom. They have attained another capacity by then. They are able to pour forth forces of
Life, and they direct these forces toward this “planet of Will”, which had come into existence. This planet,
which we now call Ancient Saturn, is not able to receive life. It has not advanced so far as to become alive.
It is still like a lifeless substance that can only reflect what is going on in its environment, and so it reflects
those life forces that are coming from the Spirits of Wisdom. Reflected life is wisdom, because the inner
being of life is wisdom. Thus it happens that these cosmic wisdom-forces in the environment of the planet
form something like a sphere.
We can find this stage of evolution remembered, as it were, in the constellation of Ram. The Ram bears
a white fleece. The head of the animal image is crowned with horns wound like two inverted spirals.
This cosmic process can be experienced like a gigantic embryonic development of our universe. In
itself, it bears the archetypal image of everything that is embryonic process in the various stages of evolu-
tion and also within the single beings of this universe; for instance, the embryonic development of the
human being. We know from the science of embryology that during the first stages of the embryonic
condition the head is predominant and the trunk and the limbs are only a kind of attachment to the head.
One could even say that during the first weeks, when the brain of the embryo is not developed in detail, the
whole embryonic organism resembles a brain as it is wound like a spiral. Out of it, all the parts of the
organism grow step by step.
The first stage of Ancient Saturn evolution is the creation of the archetype of the brain. The human
brain today is but a faint copy of this cosmic brain, and yet it still bears the imprints of its spiritual form. It
has to be to a high degree lifeless—without blood—for only then can it function. It functions so that the life
in the surroundings of the human being is reflected in it. This reflection, being only a shadow of the true
life, can produce thinking; the knowledge of the objects in the outer world.
This we can find in the image of the resting Ram, revealing the stage when the Spirits of Wisdom were
active, the still lifeless Will-substance, the reflection (expressed in the head of the Ram, which is turned
back looking over its shoulders), and the creation of the white fleece of Wisdom. Even in the horns of the
Ram we can see the image of the curves of the brain, or the spiral of the embryo as a primeval “brain”,
reflecting and reproducing form as though in an act of remembrance.
The following step of Ancient Saturn evolution is connected with an influx of soul forces, or conscious-
ness forces, into the planet. These forces come from spirits whom Dr. Steiner calls “Spirits of Motion”.
They are able to pour forth forces of inner Motion, of soul movement. Thus the substance of the planet
would be animated, but as it was not able to receive Life from the Spirits of Wisdom, it is still less prepared
to be animated. Therefore, these forces are also reflected by the planet into the environment of Ancient
Saturn, and as they are reflected, they penetrate the sphere of wisdom representing the reflected Life previ-
ously emanating from the Spirits of Wisdom. Forces of animation—of soul consciousness—thus penetrate
the halo of Wisdom around Saturn. We have a somewhat similar process to that which happens when,
within the soul life of the human being, the reflection of the objective world by the function of the brain is
penetrated by forces of consciousness; then we create concepts of the world around us. For instance, the
fact of the fading away of the daylight, perceived by our senses, reflected by our brain, and then penetrated
by consciousness, can create the concept of night. This process is even the foundation of human language.
Certainly today the human being expresses the same facts by different sounds and words according to the
different languages, but once, in times long ago, the human being through forming sounds and words could
express and indicate the true inner nature of objects.
We can experience something similar in this period of evolution of Ancient Saturn only on a gigantic
and much more powerful scale. By the interpenetration of the Wisdom forces with the soul forces, which
18
originate in the activity of the Spirits of Motion, archetypal concepts, archetypal sounds, and words are
created though not of a passive and reflective nature as in human language of today. A kind of cosmic
archetypal language comes into being, which is creative in its nature and is a magic power in the universe.
It is the Word of God through which all things that exist were made.
We can find this step of evolution written into the constellation of Bull. It can be found between the
constellations of Perseus (above) and Orion (below). One can only see the front part of the Bull’s body, but
altogether it resembles an animal of great strength; the symbol of fertility. This primeval process of evolu-
tion has also left its imprint in the human organism. If we look at the constellation as it is mostly depicted,
only with the head of the Bull and the huge horns reaching out into the universal space, then we have an
image of the human larynx and the inner ear. The head is the larynx, and the horns are the connecting canals
leading to the middle ear where the tiny bones connect the outer part with the innermost parts of the ear.
During the following period of Ancient Saturn evolution, other spiritual Beings begin to be active that
are called “Spirits of Form”. They radiate forces into the universe that want to divide and to individualize
what is still united in one huge planetary body. Yet the planet is still less able to take these forces in. Only
the reflection of this activity remains with the substance. This reflection affects the planet in such a way
that the substance is divided into many single bodies, and the planet, which hitherto has been one single
body, appears like a huge mulberry. The small berries, resulting from the individualizing influence emanat-
ing from the Spirits of Form, cannot achieve inner individualization during this period of evolution, but
they produce a kind of outer image; the division into single bodies. These single bodies become the forma-
tion of all later manifoldness of beings in our universe; in all the different realms of existence. We can find
this event commemorated in the constellation of Twins, which can be found in the sky to the east of Bull
and above the Little Dog of Orion. It shows two beings, similar to human beings, which are closely related
to each other and yet are individual beings.
The process of division within Ancient Saturn evolution can also be found as a kind of remembrance
still today in nature. It is the process of cell division. We know that it is the physical foundation of growth.
First we find the one original cell. As soon as it is taken over by the forces of growth, it is split into two.
The oneness is destroyed; however, a twofoldness is created instead, and we have the image of Twins.
Then, of course, the two are split into four as the process of growth proceeds, and so on. Thus manifoldness
is created that may also have the appearance of a mulberry, after some time.
This event is remembered also within the human form but in a very peculiar way. It is present in the
symmetry of the human form. That our body has two sides, two ears, two eyes, two hands, two feet, and so
on, is due to this influence. This twofoldness separates us from the rest of the world. It makes it possible
for us to exist within a body that is the foundation for the individuality. Symmetry shows the last traces of
a long evolution, whereby the human form was separated from the neighboring forms so that an individu-
ality could dwell in it. Also the other twins—head and feet—separate the human form from that which is
above and below. This is also necessary for the free development of individuality.
We have now arrived in the middle of Ancient Saturn evolution where important changes and transmu-
tations take place. Until now everything on Saturn is still in a more or less psychic condition. We have
been speaking of substance, but this substance is the Will that is derived from the Spirits of Will. As Will
it is still in a psychic condition. In the following letter, we shall see how this psychic substance is trans-
muted into physical substance in the middle period of Ancient Saturn evolution.
19
Isis Sophia I
FOURTH LETTER - July 1944
This undertaking may seem extremely difficult, especially for those readers who are not very deeply
acquainted with the book mentioned by Steiner, but one must realize that there is no other way to acquire a
real and fundamental knowledge of the inner nature of the fixed stars and planets. There exist, of course,
many astrological works describing the differentiated influences of the Zodiac; however, these descriptions
mostly derive from tradition and do not give any explanation about why the twelve signs of the Zodiac act
in the way indicated. Thus the scholars are confronted with a universe in which the influences have to be
taken into account but that surrounds the human being with an insurmountable wall of incomprehensible
necessity.
The intention of these letters is to create a real understanding of the nature of the universe, because only
through understanding and clear thinking can the human being become free and self conscious when con-
fronted with the influences of this universe. Therefore, we have to do some hard work, especially in the
beginning, and it must be strongly emphasized that it is necessary to study these passages about the connec-
tion between Zodiac and evolution again and again until they become real inner pictures; real imaginations.
It should be done together with the study of the book Outline of Esoteric Science. Only then will it become
a source of knowledge that will enable the student to find the manifold connections between the heavenly
and earthly worlds that simply cannot be comprehended all at once by a human being. The student must
come to a point where he or she feels like an artist, who, taking this subject into their hands and by power
of imagination, divines the many possibilities of the cosmic influences. We can start with the one great
fundamental imagination—the creation. W. Sucher
The Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac (continued)

We described in the last letter the first three great cycles of evolution within that primeval universe that
we called Ancient Saturn. There was only Will-substance, derived from the sacrifice of the Spirits of Will,
which formed a somewhat chaotic universe of more or less psychic nature. During the first cycle there was
a reflection of life created within this Will-substance. In the course of the second cycle, a reflection of
animation was created by other spiritual beings, and during the third cycle an outward reflection of indi-
vidualization was effected that resulted in the division of the one single body of the “planet” into many
separated bodies.
Further on we found the imprint of these primeval events in the constellations of Ram, Bull, and Twins.
Thus we have found the inner nature of these constellations, because, impregnated by these events, they
still today radiate forces as a kind of cosmic memory.
Now we will go on with the description of the evolution. So far everything is still of more or less
psychic nature. Single, separated bodies have been created, and now within these bodies the first traces of
an inner life, or inner experience, begins. Thus for the first time there comes into existence a kind of
universal twofoldness—an outer world and an inner world. The inner world has, to a slight degree, been
separated from the outward world. The outward world becomes something objective that is “perceptible”
by the inner world, even if it is only on the level of a very dull “consciousness”. The outward world is Will
in itself, but, experienced as object, it becomes warmth or heat. We all know the subtle connection between
human will and heat. As long as we are submerged into our will sphere, we work and operate out of the
world that we may consider the realm of our soul impulses. For instance, as soon as we get slightly tired or
detached from the impulse—we may still call it our duty—so that we experience the effort caused by an
“outer will”, we at once experience production of heat in our body. Of course, our bodily existence today
is too complicated to provide a good example for the explanation of the facts within the Ancient Saturn
evolution.
This transmutation of Will-substance into heat or warmth is brought about by spiritual Beings whom
Rudolf Steiner calls “Spirits of Personality”, or “Archai”, in his book. They go through experiences similar
20
to those of the human being on Earth, for they acquire the consciousness of the ego; however, they do it
under quite different conditions. As they do it, they work into the bodies that have been created during the
preceding cycle. As the Will-substance could not take on the previous influences, it is far less able to retain
the influence of the Spirits of Personality. Again, only a kind of reflection remains. Within those Saturn-
bodies there is now a “reflection of Personality” that creates those very dim traces of an inner world within
these bodies. Thus it happens that the tendency of a split between an inner world and an outward world
comes into existence, which then allows the inner being to “experience” the will in the outward world as
heat.
The description of these facts may already inspire the idea of the “Twins”—outward world, inner world—
and, in fact, one can find it written into the constellation of Twins. There we already had the event of the
individualizing influence of the Spirits of Form, which was described in the last letter. Here we must
imagine that the constellation of Twins brings not only “Twin-tendencies” into the world but that it is or had
been, in times long ago, really two constellations: the one recording the activity of the Spirits of Form and
the other the activity of the Spirits of Personality. But the fact that there is only one constellation today also
reveals a deep mystery. In the language of cosmic memory, it reveals that something has disappeared. So
it was. One would have to imagine that the Spirits of Personality, in the course of their evolution, moved
away from their spiritual “locality” in the circle of the spiritual hierarchies and moved into the opposite
“direction”, into the sphere that today is symbolized by the constellation of Archer.
We can find the constellation of Archer, during midsummer nights, exactly above the southern horizon
beneath the constellations of Eagle and Ophiuchus. It does not rise very high in our latitudes and creeps
along the horizon. In old star maps it is depicted as the centaur—a Being half horse and half man. He
carries bow and arrow and appears to be aiming at a certain goal. Very often it is only depicted by bow and
arrow.
This image of Archer, especially of the arrow, reveals a great deal about the events and developments
inspired from the opposite constellation of Twins. Through the twofold influence coming from Twins, the
single Saturn body has been given outer form and the dim experience of an inner world. Thus a principle
that is of utmost importance for all further evolution, especially human, has come into the world. This
twofoldness is the reason for the creation of a “physical world” and also of a human “soul world”. It
already contains the germ of the long story of human evolution: the age-long struggle of the human being’s
becoming, the harmonization between the outer, physical world, and the soul and spiritual world. It is
really like an arrow that starts in this age of evolution and aims at a far away goal. It also contains the story
of the human being as a being ascending from low, subhuman stages of existence to high, even godlike
forms, because this evolution is only possible through the continuous fight between the lower nature, which
is related to the outward world, and the higher, inner nature of humanity that carries the spark of the
godhead. Thus we have the image of the centaur, half human and half animal-like.
In the previous description, we found that the constellation of Ram contains something like the arche-
typal image of the brain, Bull the archetype of the speech organism, and Twins the archetypes of twofoldness,
such as the symmetry of right and left or the twofoldness of head and limb. Then from Twins we jumped
over to Archer. We can also find this event imprinted into the human form. It is the progression from head
and larynx into the arms. The upper arm is the bodily image of Archer. The human body is directed toward
an outer world with the arms, as opposed to the inner world of the head. In this tendency we have the arrow
of Archer. Our arms are moved by muscles and sinews, and they indicate the string of the Archer’s bow.
With our arms we work in the world, and by our work we carry the evolution of humanity and the world
forward.
Having now established this twofoldness of an outer and inner world, we can easily imagine the further
evolution. A kind of link is created between the two worlds during the following fifth cycle of Ancient
Saturn. The very first beginnings of the sense organs are created within those heat bodies. These arche-
typal sense organs are, of course, by no means similar to the sense organs of humanity on Earth. The
21
Isis Sophia I
surrounding world is only perceived as warmth, so one can imagine that the senses and other organs are
only existent in a very primeval condition. One would have to imagine something like a skin-like organ but
only consisting of warmth; something like a sheath of limitation between different degrees of warmth,
between that within the single body and that without. We know that which we call our lowest sense, the
sense of touch, is connected with the separating capacity of the skin, but the other sense organs already in
the embryonic processes are to some extent connected with the development of the skin.
This development is brought about by two hierarchies of spiritual beings. The warmth or heat bodies,
which are in fact the origins of the human physical body, are, so to speak, inhabited by spiritual Beings
whom Rudolf Steiner calls “Sons of Fire” or “Archangels”. They hadn’t yet achieved the consciousness of
the human being of today. Their consciousness could be compared with the consciousness of the animals
of today but only in the degree of awakeness. As these Beings work and dwell within the heat bodies, there
arises a desire to come into a sensual contact with the outside. However, this would not be enough to create
even those primeval sense organs. Other Beings of a very exalted order, whom Dr. Steiner calls “Spirits of
Love” or “Seraphim”, come into action. They “perceive” the events within Ancient Saturn, and their
perception is not reflective, for instance, as the perception of the human being today, but creative. They are
able to elaborate, together with the Archangels, the subtle, ethereal outlines of the archetypal sense organs.
So, we have in this fifth cycle two influences, and we can now ask, where can we find these events
remembered in the Zodiac?
The events of the fourth cycle appeared connected with Twins and Archer, as transition from Twins to
Archer. Now we only have to proceed in the order of the Zodiac and we will find the answer. It is an
interplay between forces that today are remembered in the constellations of Crab and Goat. We can find
Crab, in January midnights, exactly in the south. Above it, toward the north, is the head of the Great Bear.
It consists only of very faint stars. In old star maps it is depicted as a crab surrounded by a hard shell with
huge scissors in front. This image gives us a kind of picture of how the Archangels dwelt in the heat bodies
of Ancient Saturn. As the crab is surrounded by the shell, with the soft organs important for the life of the
animal inside the shell; so the Archangels live within the heat bodies. Still, they grasp or develop the desire
to grasp the outside world with scissor-like organs.
On the opposite side of the Zodiac is the constellation of Goat. One can find it at midnight, toward the
end of July, exactly in the south and very near the horizon. The majestic constellation of the Swan is then
exactly above it. In old star maps it is depicted as an ibex, but it has no back legs. Instead one sees a kind
of fish-tail that is curved like a spiral. This imagination gives us an idea of the activity of those exalted
Beings the Spirits of Love. Like the ibex climbing the highest peaks of the world’s highest mountains,
reaching out with its horns into the sphere of light, so must we imagine the Spirits of Love. They dwell in
the highest sphere of the spiritual universe. They perceive the events within the universe from a high
vantage point, although their perception is not passive, but creative. In the act of perception they create.
They do not hold back their creative perceptions; they give them away to the Archangels. This is an action
of pure love. The absolute perception combines itself with the desire of perception within the Archangels;
thus the sense organs are created. They are not created as mechanical organs. The divine love within the
light images, which the Spirits of Love perceive, creates organs that enable the creature to perceive the
reflex of the supersensible experiences of those divine beings. This creative “involution” of higher experi-
ences into a lower sphere appears in the fish-tail of the Goat. It indicates that it reaches into the sphere of
“water”. This is, of course, not yet real water because there exists only warmth on Saturn, but it indicates
the sphere of reflection that, indeed, the warmth is.
We can also find the image of these events within the human form. The human chest is a real picture of
the Crab. The chest surrounds and guards the inner organs, especially the heart and the lungs; and yet, in as
much as the chest separates the inner organs from the outside, there lives within the chest the desire to come
into contact with the outside world. This desire can even go as far as egotism; the desire to possess every-
thing that comes within reach of the being. We must now imagine that this picture of the human chest is
22
only dimly indicated in the events described above, because the beings connected with the Crab events of
Ancient Saturn are still very dependent upon the help of the Spirits of Love. They have not even reached
the humanlike ego consciousness, so, somehow we must see the weight of these events in the constellation
of Goat. This appears now as the joints in the human form, especially the elbows and knees. Thus we find
again the connection with the events in the fourth cycle of Saturn. We said that Twin-Archer happenings
appear within the human form as the upper arms followed by the elbows. However, one can ask, “What
have the elbows to do with sense organs?” If one does not make the mistake of imagining sense organs only
as the human being has them today, one can find the solution. If we imagine the supersensible perceptions
of the Spirits of Love penetrating the heat bodies and, in the act of penetration, creating organs of percep-
tion, so to speak, on the surface of the “skin” of those bodies, then we can experience the following:
outside the heat bodies—the dwelling place of the Archangels—the influence of the Spirits of Love is
something like “straight” lines, but in penetrating the skin of those bodies it is twisted, and thus a kind of
organ—like a joint—is created that transmutes the outside “direction” into an inside “direction”. Only by
the exact connection between both “directions”, through a kind of joint-like sense organ, can the correct
perceptions take place. This is how, for instance, the human eye acts as a kind of archetypal, joint-like
sense organ. In the case of the elbow as image of the Goat-period of Ancient Saturn, we would have an
active sense organ, because it is used for our activity just as we have to imagine the sense organs inspired by
the Spirits of Love as active, creative organs.
The next step of Ancient Saturn, the sixth great cycle, leads further along this line. So far, there were
faculties of perception created within the heat creatures, and now during this cycle a kind of digestion is
established. The events within Saturn are not only perceived, but the heat-substances in the surroundings
are also taken into the heat being. There they go through a kind of primeval “metabolism”; thus processes
of nutrition and excretion take place.
This evolution is also brought about by two kinds of spiritual Beings: the “Angels” or “Sons of Twi-
light”, and the “Spirits of Harmony” or “Cherubim”. The Angels have still a lower consciousness than the
Archangels within Ancient Saturn. Their consciousness could be compared with the degree of conscious-
ness that the plants have today, and they also act upon the heat bodies in a faintly similar way. They bring
about this primeval metabolism that is like the circulation of saps within the plants, but they could not do it
alone. Exalted Beings called the Spirits of Harmony, help them. They have acquired the power to direct the
cosmic streams of warmth. If we were able to direct our blood stream voluntarily, then we would have a
faint idea of what these Beings can do. As this cosmic blood stream consists of warmth, it appears from
outside like sound. It is the “Harmony of the Spheres”; therefore, these spirits are called Spirits of Har-
mony. The order in which they direct the cosmic streams, which is warmth from one side and will from the
other side, is so beautiful and harmonious that it appears like heavenly music.
Both hierarchies together create the primeval metabolism. We can find this stage of evolution remem-
bered in the constellations of Lion and Waterman. The constellation of Lion can be found, in February at
midnight, high above the southern horizon. It is a very remarkable constellation. Beneath it is Hydra and
above it, toward the northern sky, the body of Great Bear. Into this constellation are inscribed the deeds of
the Angels. It is also closely connected with the heart. The lion on Earth has a very peculiar connection
between heart beat and breathing. One could even say that the body of this animal is mainly directed
toward the heart. It is, as a whole, a great “heart”, and, therefore, it is the “king of the animals”.
Without great difficulties, we can now see in this region the metabolism of warmth as it has been
created within the heat bodies on Saturn, because the heart is still today the central organ of the warmth
metabolism connected with the warmth of the blood.
The constellation of Waterman can be seen, toward the end of August during the midnight hours, be-
tween the constellation of Fishes and Goat. Old star maps show it as a human figure pouring water from a
jug into the heavenly spaces. Into this region are inscribed the deeds of the Spirits of Harmony. The water
that is poured into the universe is, of course, not earthly water. It is the stream of warmth that the Spirits of
23
Isis Sophia I
Harmony direct through the universe of Ancient Saturn. Within the human being, the circulation of the
blood stream is still the image of the activity of those divine beings. We know that we even speak some-
times of the rushing sound of the blood stream. The lower arms and the calves are also connected with
Waterman. Those who have some experience in nursing know that the lower arms and calves are an
excellent means for the measurement and regulation of the heat metabolism, as well as checking the heart
rate.
In the following letter we shall conclude the description of Ancient Saturn evolution and summarize our
experiences about the Zodiac, which will enable us to make the picture more complete. This will be very
necessary after our somewhat rapid journey through this great round of cosmic evolution. May the readers
not become impatient if these descriptions seem to be very difficult. We have to do this hard work in order
to establish a real and fundamental knowledge of the starry universe that will prove useful in many ways.
24
FIFTH LETTER - August 1944

In the previous two letters we elaborated some of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac according to
the events of the Ancient Saturn evolution. Now we must finish this picture by describing the seventh great
cycle of this planetary existence of our universe.
During the preceding six cycles, a being had been created that consisted of warmth, bore the semblance
of life, animation, individualization, and showed the first traces of an inner life. Now in the last and
seventh cycle, this being appears to have reached a certain completion within this great round of evolution.
Its actions are automatic and in accordance with the events and activities that take place in its environment.
Different spiritual beings once more have a possibility to penetrate these heat beings with their forces.
These are the Spirits of Will who were already mentioned in connection with the beginning of Ancient
Saturn evolution. In the beginning they sacrificed their Will-substance, and this substance became the
foundation for the activities of the other spiritual beings. This substance also became the foundation of the
physical substance of heat or warmth that was created within Ancient Saturn. In fact, it is the origin of all
physical substances that have been created in later stages of creation. After this Will-substance has been
transmuted into warmth, the Spirits of Will are again able to work into the heat beings, which are the origin
of the human physical body today. So the beginning of this great round of cosmic creation is connected
with the end, and, thereby, the events reveal the inner meaning of the whole world existence in the midst of
which we are today. During this last cycle on Ancient Saturn, the Spirits of Will created, within these heat
bodies, capacities that even today cannot be developed consciously by the human being but still slumber
and have to wait for a distant future of cosmic evolution. In order to describe this, we have to start from
another end.
We described this phase of evolution in letters three and four as it can be read in the constellations of
Ram, Bull, Twins, Archer, Goat, and Waterman, with Crab and Lion in the background. Also, we found its
traces in the human form, in the head or brain, the larynx or speech-and-sound organization, and in the arms
with upper arm, elbow, and lower arm. The last cycle of the Saturn evolution can be found written into the
constellation of Fishes. The constellation of Fishes is visible, during the midnight hours at Michaelmas,
exactly above the southern horizon. The constellations of Andromeda and Pegasus are above it.
Thus we come back again to the beginning of Ancient Saturn, and as we found the sacrifice of the
Spirits of Will written into Fishes, so we now find their activity during the last cycle indicated in Fishes.
Within the human form it is pictured in the hands. The two hands are an image of the two Fishes that swim
in the sky in opposite directions, yet are connected by a faint ribbon of stars.
With our hands we work in the world. All the achievements of art, science, building, as well as the
millions and millions of small deeds that make human life on Earth possible, have, in the last resort, been
brought about by human hands. They have been and are constantly flowing down from human heads into
hands. If we once try to imagine the vast amount of human labor of all kinds that has been done in the past
and which will be done in the future, we can look with admiration and reverence at the human hand.
However, we do not know how it happens that our thoughts are realized by our hands, or how it is possible
that we can handle the pan or the spade. This is still hidden from our day consciousness. But we could
imagine a future condition of the human being in which we would be conscious of what goes on when we
move our arms and limbs and work with our hands. We can even imagine that sometime the human being
will be able to use the hidden faculties in the hands for radiating forces that today are only indicated by the
form of the hand.
In fact, we meet our destiny with our hands. The hands are that part of our organism with which we are
constantly confronting the world. Meeting the world with the reality of our working hands, we meet our
destiny. Destiny appears to most human beings as something that hovers above them, which is foreign to
them and that takes them in the one direction or the other by surprise. It is experienced like a superhuman
25
Isis Sophia I
will power. As we have now found the connection between the hands and Fishes and read behind Fishes
the deeds of the Spirits of Will, we can see working behind Fishes, also in our hands, the cosmic Will forces
that we call the forces of destiny. In the way in which we experience those Will forces today is hidden the
last trace of the mirror-like Will forces of our Ancient Saturn ancestors, as described above. We can also
imagine that one day, in a very distant future, we shall be able to be one with those Will forces that are still
foreign and incomprehensible to us; that we, in full consciousness, could fulfill what the cosmic Will
desires to do through us. Then we would be “God like”. We would be united with the Will of the Father-
God. This capacity, which can only ripen in us in the future, was put as a spiritual seed into those Saturn-
heat-beings by the activity of the Spirits of Will. Rudolf Steiner calls it the germ of Spirit I, or Spirit Man.
This we can find written into the constellation of Fishes: the Will-substance of the Spirits of Will in the
beginning of the world evolution, its crystallization into “Earth” and “destiny”, which we experience most
directly with our hands, and the germ of union with the Will of the Father in a fully conscious and fully
active way.
Thus we have now found the ethereal image of humanity as it was created by the Gods and its connec-
tion with the universe of the stars. It is an image of the upper human being, the head with the brain, speech
and sound organization, and arms—right down into the hands. It is also an image of the destiny of the
world and the human being (as the Will of the hierarchies when the world was created), the thinking and the
witnessing of the thoughts of the Gods in all that surrounds us, and their realization in Earth existence until
the Will of the Father is awake and active in the will of the human being.
This ether image of the upper human being is an image of one’s higher being. It does not enter, in
reality, into the bodily being, it only creates a semblance within the body. In the Middle Ages one will still
find that the human being faintly experienced the Angelic Beings in the spiritual world in this way; Beings
with heads only, without a body, and with wings instead of arms. Raphael Santi, for instance, painted them
like this in the Madonna Sistina. It is an image of what human beings will become in the future when they
have acquired more subtle and ethereal forms of existence.
As shown below, we have achieved a picture of the link between the human being, the starry universe,
and the world evolution:
ANCIENT SATURN
I Reflection of Life Ram Head—Brain

II Refection of Animation Bull Speech Sound Organism
III Reflection of Individual-

ization and Personality Twins Arms—Symmetry
IV Ancestors of
Human Beings Archer Upper Arms
V Primeval Sense Organs Goat Elbows
VI Primeval Metabolism Waterman Lower Arms
VII Will Fishes Hands
The question can arise: what has happened to the five other constellations of the Zodiac—Crab, Lion,
Virgin, Scales, Scorpion? As we have already seen in connection with the creation of the primeval sense
organs and the primeval metabolism, aided by the Angels and Archangels, these constellations are an image
of “inner life”, but, as there is only a semblance of life within those heat bodies on Ancient Saturn, the five
constellations from Crab to Scorpion are still, so to speak, in the background. They are veiled in the clouds
of the cycles of evolution that follow Ancient Saturn. They manifest themselves later when the human
being is able to acquire life and animation. We must imagine them standing “behind” the events on Ancient
Saturn, revealing the highest motives and the innermost experiences of the Gods. In the following descrip-
26
tion of the characteristics of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac, according to Ancient Saturn evolution,
we shall nevertheless, undertake to elaborate the five “missing” constellations in order that we may have a
more or less complete picture. Explanations will follow in later letters.
The constellations of the Zodiac are the chronicle or record of the creation. The imprints that have been
made into these spheres of the universe are still working through the visible constellations. The destiny of
the world appears there as the planets move in front of the constellations. The human being can be a
witness of that which is the outer expression of the Will of the world, thus trying to understand and compre-
hend the Will, or, if one does not want to become a witness, become subject to the Will—meaning, subject
to the forces of destiny. To try to understand and comprehend the Will of the world means to step along the
path that leads toward freedom. Therefore, it will become more and more necessary to listen to the lan-
guage of the stars in order to hear the Will of the world—the Will of the Father—which has its visible
expressions in the movements of the stars. Thus we will not hear our “destiny” or our unchangeable fate,
but we will hear our spiritual tasks on Earth. We can then perceive them in the sphere of active thinking, or
spiritual activity. It is the sphere where we can achieve freedom, or freehood, in our present age of civiliza-
tion.
We can already try to read the script of the stars as the planets move through the constellations of the
Zodiac. Of course, we can only find general indications so far, because the various planets do not always
form the same “letter” as they pass in front of the constellations. The different planets modify their charac-
ter according to the character and special activity of the planet that is in front of a certain constellation.
The Constellation of Ram

If anything happens in the constellation of Ram—if one or several planets are in this constellation—it
means that a new impulse desires to come into the world. We are then reminded to open our eyes for
something new, a new age of humanity, new aspects of life, or perhaps even new inventions that will bring
about a change in our earthly life. It may still be hidden and we may have to seek it, but it may be like a
message of the spiritual world to the beings on Earth to listen to changed conditions, to ask new questions
and to do new tasks. This, for instance, happened in the times preceding the birth of Christ when the
prophets of the Hebrew people spoke of Christ’s coming. Then in the 8-9th century BC, when the prophet
Elias lived as the great Forerunner of the Christ event, the vernal point was about in the center of the Ram.
The Constellation of Bull

Events in Bull call, so to speak, for cosmic “animation”. They are mostly a reminder that we have to
break through walls of tradition and routine that may have been piled up by previous ages. Impulses and
new aspects, which may have been born in silence and human loneliness, want to shape themselves into
reality. It is as though the vowels and consonants of a new language, which hitherto were not known, have
to be learnt and practiced in life. If humanity or the single human being does not respond to the call of Bull,
then the cosmic forces “animate” evolution by means of catastrophes; for instance, the Thirty Years War
started when Saturn was in the constellation of Bull, and it came to an end when Saturn was there again. In
those times, even still today, humanity had a certain task that it did or did not wish to understand, and the
result was the Thirty Years War. About this special task we shall have to speak later.
The Constellation of Twins

Star events in Twins indicate that humanity should awaken for tasks and quests in connection with the
development of ego-forces. When Jesus was born ([Midnight] 24th of December, 1 BC), Saturn had entered
Twins, and 30 years later, at the time of the Baptism in the Jordan when the “I AM” entered the body of
Jesus, Saturn was again in Twins. It was then the task of humanity to witness the life of Christ on Earth.
Only a few did it, but they were enough to carry the stream of human evolution further.
27
Isis Sophia I
Just in these days (August 1944) Saturn has again entered the constellation of Twins. Again humanity
will be confronted with the task of cognition of the “I AM of the World”, only on a higher level. Let us hope
that enough human beings will listen to the call of the spiritual world.
The Constellation of Crab

In previous descriptions we have seen that Crab is connected with the creation of the sense organs
within Ancient Saturn evolution. It was an interplay between the Spirits of Love and the Archangels, or in
the language of the stars, Goat and Crab. Thus events in Crab are calling for “life in the senses”. We are
then asked to direct our attention toward that which we can perceive with our senses in the world of matter.
If we can do this without any prejudice, then we will be able to perceive the deepest mysteries of the
universe. We can then perceive the mystery of death and rebirth in all spheres of life.
This happened in the time of Christ’s life on Earth. At that time, even in the moment of the Mystery of
Golgotha, Saturn was in the constellation of Crab. There the Kingdom of Heaven was open even to the
world of human senses, because the God was present in a physical body that could be seen with the eyes,
and God’s Words could be heard with ears—the Godhead could be approached not only in the spiritual
world. Thereby, in the Mystery of the Death on Golgotha and the Resurrection, the rejuvenation of the
whole universe could be perceived by a few who were awake. Others who were not awake in their senses
could only see death and destruction. This happens if the call of Crab is not heard, as it took place in the
event of the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) when Mars was in Crab.
The Constellation of Lion

Events in Lion ask for the opening of the human heart toward the language of the universe. We have
found Lion connected with the primeval metabolism on Ancient Saturn, where the Spirits of Harmony
together with the Angels established the digestion of warmth within those heat beings. These were like
cosmic hearts through which the Gods could perceive the harmonies of the worlds.
Thus Lion still acts in this manner today. It asks the human being to transmute itself into a great heart,
into a kind of cosmic musical instrument through which the stream of the universal existence can flow and
create a new harmony of the spheres. This is the language of Lion: that all existing beings want to be
awakened and reborn in the human “heart-perception”.
Many great individualities in the spiritual history of humanity have, each in their own way, answered
this call as they were connected by their birth with Lion. Among them are the famous poet Novalis, H.P.
Blavatzky, and Rudolf Steiner. They all have Saturn in Lion at the time of their birth.
The Constellation of Virgin

The Virgin is opposite the constellation of Fishes. The sacrifice of Will-substance by the Spirits of Will,
which became the foundation of all physical matter, is connected with Fishes. Therefore, if we look at the
constellation of Fishes—and even more at Virgin—we are at the gate to the mysteries of substance and
matter. As these mysteries are, still today, not within easy reach of the human being, events in Virgin ask
very much from human beings. They ask for the highest devotion and love toward the spiritual world and
the world of physical existence. An inner attitude has to be developed there; for instance, that which
Goethe had when he looked at the world that the senses presented to him and which enabled him to expe-
rience the “Urpflanze”— the archetypal plant. There the correct attitude must be found in which to develop
meditation and also religious sacrament. The mystery of substance and also of transubstantiation can thus
be found. The mysteries of transubstantiation, as they take place in the working of the powers of destiny,
can reveal themselves if the human being cultivates the hidden capacities of the soul.
The Last Supper took place when the Moon was in Virgin. This does not mean that Christ’s deeds were
dependent upon the constellations or the stars, but it reveals a new attitude toward the stars that came into
the world through Christ. Today we are still far from this attitude; we can only learn it step by step.
28
Our starry universe has become a mechanism, the movements of which we can calculate like the struc-
ture and the movements of a machine. Yet Christ while on Earth has written deeds and words into the
events of this mechanical universe so that it is rejuvenated. Thereby Christ impressed into this position of
Moon in Virgin, the new mystery of transubstantiation that was founded by Christ for the sake of the future
of humanity. Since then the Moon may have gone thousands of times through the constellation of Virgin
and nothing important may have been done within the family of humanity. However, that it has happened
once may give humanity in future the possibility to fill this constellation with new spiritual content that will
not be calculated but which will be the result of human deeds of moral imagination.
In the preceding descriptions of the constellations of the Zodiac, a few planets—Saturn, Mars, Moon—
have been mentioned. They should only be regarded as examples. The significance and the activities of the
planets have still to be worked out in further letters. So far, they should only be taken as indicators, as the
hands on the big clock of our universe. They are acting like mediators between the Zodiac and the Earth.
The character of the zodiacal influence is modified according to the different planets that are in these
constellations. Saturn certainly has quite a different power of modification than, for instance, Mars or
Moon. But these modifications have still to be worked out in detail.
29
Isis Sophia I
SIXTH LETTER - September, 1944

In the last letter we had to stop at the description of the constellation of Virgin. We found it in relation-
ship to the opposite constellation of Fishes and also in connection with the mysteries of substance. It is the
manifestation of the Father forces of the universe that gave and still gives “existence”. Indeed, if we look
at Fishes as the veil of those forces that, through their sacrifice, gave the foundation of all physical exist-
ence and we start from there, we can count seven constellations until we reach the opposite position in
Virgin. These seven constellations are like the heavenly countenance of a spiritual Being that, with its
highest manifestation in Fishes, we can call the “Will of the Father” and which descends—or ascends—
toward Virgin into the sphere where it can manifest itself in the manifold forms of substantiated existence.
Hence, we can see in Virgin the sphere of manifestation of the Father forces in physical existence.
The Constellation of Scales

Opposite Scales we have the constellation of Ram. In the course of the description of the Ancient
Saturn evolution, we found the activity of the Spirits of Wisdom located, so to speak, in Ram, or we ought
rather to say that their activities start from this realm. Life forces emanated from these Beings, although
they were not yet able to penetrate existence with Life. Just as in the case of Fishes and Virgin, we can now
start with Ram and go through seven constellations. Then we come to Scales and can perceive in the seven
constellations the image of a heavenly Being, or of several Beings, whom we can call the Givers of Life.
They have actually given Life in later cycles of evolution, which we still have to speak about in coming
letters. Just as we can find the original source or impulse of Life in the universe behind Ram, we can
experience here, through Scales, the sphere whence emanates the manifestation of the life forces within
substance. As we found the manifestation of the Father forces in Virgin, we can see the realm of the
manifestation of the Son forces in Scales. The Father forces gave existence, but the Son enlivens it. We can
find this illustrated quite clearly in the Mystery of Golgotha. In Christ, the Son was present in a physical
body. Through the sacrifice of Christ on the hill of Golgotha, the Earth, which was then at the point of
cosmic death, was endowed with eternal life. The manifestation of the cosmic life forces took place on
Earth, and at the same time the Moon was in the constellation of Scales (Good Friday, 3rd of April, 33 AD).
We can find further illustrations in many star events in Scales. Saturn was in Scales when Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe was born (August 28, 1749), and we know that he was the modern initiate of the life
forces or, as we call them, the ether forces. Thus he could say, “Nature has invented death in order to have
much life.” This reveals that he was a better Christian than many imagine.
The famous painter Raphael Santi was born when Saturn and Moon were in conjunction in Scales
(March 26, 1483). The life-endowing and healing forces are revealed in his paintings. The cosmic life
forces of the Son shine through his whole being like an eternal Sun, and these life forces at the same
moment become cosmic Love.
The Constellation of Scorpion

The Scorpion is opposite the constellation of Bull in the circle of the Zodiac. We must remember that
this constellation was once perceived as the image of an eagle. We can again proceed in the same way as
before. Behind Bull we find the seat of the activities of the Spirits of Motion. Forces of animation ema-
nated from them. They were cosmic “concept and word-endowing” forces. Again, if we go through seven
constellations of the Zodiac, we find ourselves in the constellation of Eagle-Scorpion and there perceive the
features of hierarchical beings who in Eagle-Scorpion descended into their manifestation within the world
of substance. Then we find in this constellation the manifestation of the Holy Spirit that descended upon
the apostles in the first Whitsun event and gave them the power of “speaking and understanding all the
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languages of the world”. It is the power of the creative Word of the world as it flowed forth into the
manifold different forms of existence in the universe.
Star events in Scorpion are always connected with the “spiritual call” that strives to reach single human
beings, requiring us to perform a certain task of which we are capable through our own destiny. Out of the
manifoldness of such “spiritual calls”, or “creative words”, the gigantic picture of human evolution and
spiritual development is composed. This is the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
We can find such an event in the beginning of the 17th century. Many souls living in those times
expected a fundamental change of spiritual nature within humanity. And there were many who based their
expectations and hopes on events that they read in the starry world; for in the year 1603-4, a “great conjunc-
tion” took place in Scorpion. Saturn and Jupiter had a conjunction in this constellation and in the second
half of 1604 Mars was also there. Together with this event a new star—a Nova—appeared in the sky and
was visible for several months. Those who knew expected something like a great Whitsun for humanity
but nothing visibly happened. However, great events were taking place in the spiritual life of humanity, and
Rudolf Steiner spoke of these.
For some time before 1603, a rapid decline had set in on the planet Mars. From the 15th century onward,
this decline began to be reflected in the development of human knowledge through the impulses that hu-
man souls brought down into their earthly incarnations from their prenatal experiences in the sphere of
Mars. There arose the danger that human striving for knowledge and way of living fell too deeply into
materialism, while the bearers of the spiritual culture on Earth became more and more like strangers on this
planet. However, toward the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, when this great conjunc-
tion took place in the constellation of Eagle-Scorpion, the Spirit inspired various members of the human
family with tasks that, flowing together in the end, caused this danger to be avoided and gave the possibility
of a new spiritual outlook.
Christian Rosenkreutz, one of the greatest spiritual guides of humanity, perceived the danger. He had a
great friend, the soul of Gautama Buddha, who was in the spiritual world and who no longer incarnated in
a physical body. For the soul who has reached the degree of a Buddha no longer descends into a physical
body. Christian Rosenkreutz now sent his friend, Gautama Buddha, to Mars in order to restore the decline
on that planet. We know that Gautama Buddha was the Teacher of Love and Compassion. The nature of
Mars in its decline was aggressive and cold; therefore, the impulse of love and compassion was trans-
planted to that planet in order to heal its fall. Thus the Holy Spirit, working through the highest members
of the human family, opened the way for positive development in the future. This is indicated in the events
in Eagle-Scorpion in 1603-4, and we can always find similar happenings in connection with events in this
constellation.
The Constellation of Archer

Whereas we find Eagle-Scorpion forces using groups of human beings from different directions for the
accomplishment of impulses of the spirit of the world, we discover events in Archer that reveal the connec-
tion of the single human being with the spiritual world. Achievements of human beings, which appear to be
of a singularly ingenious character, are mostly related to Archer.
Opposite Archer is the constellation of Twins. From there we saw the impulse of individualization
coming as the result of the age-old working of the Spirits of Form and the Spirits of Personality upon the
ancestors of the human race. We saw the Spirits of Personality experiencing their human stage through the
warmth beings on Ancient Saturn. Similarly, we can find indicated today in the events in Archer, the way
in which the “Genius” of single human beings want to experience and develop themselves. Very much
depends on the moral attitude of the human being as to whether the Genius—the higher ego—fails to
express itself or finds the path to a positive development. Today it is within the realm of human freedom to
help the Angels or to cause them to fall.
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Isis Sophia I
When Richard Wagner was born (May 22, 1813), Saturn stood in Archer. In studying his nativity, we
find expressed through the position of Saturn in Archer his life long struggle for the adequate expression of
his innermost impulse through the many stages of his life. For him the old mythology and the world of
music were the mediums for bringing about the appropriate entry of the higher ego into earthly existence.
In Parsifal, which was his last poem and composition, he created the imagination of the striving of the
human being through darkness and doubt toward the source of life within the chalice of the Holy Grail;
therefore, the constellation of Archer becomes the cosmic image of human striving through the valleys and
abysses of life toward the heights of the spirit.
The Constellation of Goat

Events in Goat indicate tasks and quests in human life that should lead further toward the cognition of
the spiritual world and the Godhead. They demand “perception” of the God in humanity and in nature.
Opposite is the constellation of Crab. From previous descriptions we know that both Goat and Crab are
connected with the primeval creation of the sense organs. The Crab is filled with the history of the devel-
opment of the sense organs more within the life of the creature. It gives the call to develop the use of the
senses, while in Goat we find engraved that which is beyond the physical senses, that which is derived from
the once exalted perception of the Spirits of Love on Ancient Saturn. They sacrificed their experience so
that an image of it could be created within the Saturn ancestor of humanity, and this was the origin of the
physical senses. Thus we have in Goat the gateway to the “supersensible”. When coming into connection
with this constellation, we can pass through this gateway or stay back. To go through it, in our age, we can
win our freedom. Therefore, we can find in Goat the struggle for or against the cognition of a spiritual
world.
For this reason, we have the strongest human contradictions in Goat, especially in connection with
horoscopes of death. Saturn was in the constellation of Goat when St. Francis of Assisi and Raphael Santi
died (October 4, 1226 and April 6, 1520). Certainly both are personalities who, as their biographies prove,
had a higher “perception” of the Godhead. However, Mars was there when the philosopher Kant died
(February 12, 1804). During his life on Earth he denied the possibility of supersensible perception, al-
though he may have had different experiences after death.
Both Nietzsche and Mozart had Saturn in Goat at the time of their birth. Unfortunately, Nietzsche could
not find the way to the knowledge of a higher world; therefore, he broke down and became mentally ill. In
Mozart the supersensible was present in the beautiful world of his music.
As you see, we can always find in connection with this constellation the fight in humanity for or against
the cognition of a higher world in which spiritual beings are active, and from which they penetrate the
physical world. Fundamentally, two events reveal this. The first is the birth of Jesus when the Sun was in
Goat. Then the shepherds through their inborn clairvoyant capacities could perceive the spiritual meaning
of this birth. The second was thirty years later when the Sun was in Goat, and the Baptism in the Jordan
took place where Christ entered the body of Jesus. Then another personality, St. John the Baptist, could
behold clairvoyantly the Being that entered the world of the senses. Therefore he could say, “Behold the
Lamb of God.” (The “Lamb of God” is Christ within the hierarchical order of the spiritual world.)
The Constellation of Waterman

The foundation of that primeval warmth metabolism, of which we have spoken in previous letters, is
deeply connected with Waterman and the opposite constellation of Lion. Waterman is especially the realm
from which the activity of the Spirits of Harmony emanated. They are the masters of the eternal order of the
hierarchies and later of the heavenly bodies. This order in its inner essence is the “harmony of the spheres”.
It was perceived in olden times as a gigantic cosmic and musical composition. Kepler, the famous astrono-
mer, speaks of it in Harmonices mundi. And it is wonderful to see that he had, during his embryonic
development (born December 27, 1571) and in the moment of his death (November 15, 1630), the planet
32
Jupiter in the constellation of Waterman. Thereby, we can find that events in Waterman always reveal the
last traces of an old universal star wisdom, as well as the first beginnings of a new Christianized knowledge
of the starry world and its connection with the Earth and humanity.
We can find many examples of this fact in the lives of people of modern times. For instance, there is
one outstanding personality in the Middle Ages, Pico of Mirandola (born February 24, 1463), who in his
nativity, as well as in the moment of his death (November 17, 1494), had several planets including Saturn
in Waterman. Although he died very young, he was an eager scholar of the science of those days. On his
long journeys, he visited all the important universities in Italy and France. He deeply studied Christian
philosophy, but one thought reveals his innermost striving. He wrote that no science could give so sure a
conviction of the divinity of Christ as a knowledge of the secrets of the heavenly bodies, although he was a
very strong opponent of astrology. He knew that the highest secrets of the spiritual essence of our universe
are hidden within the stars, but on this very account he opposed the star wisdom being used for egotistical
purposes, which was very widespread in those days. Behind these thoughts, stand the fact that the old star
wisdom had come to an end and had died in the so-called astrological practices, so that now we have to
strive and look forward to a rebirth of the script of the stars.
This fact has found another expression in the destinies of the Hapsburg emperors Rudolf II and
Wallenstein. Both were strongly connected with Waterman. Rudolf II (born July 18, 1552, died January
20, 1612) had Saturn in Waterman in his nativity and in the moment of his death. Wallenstein (born
September 14, 1583, died February 25, 1634) had Saturn and Jupiter in Waterman during his prenatal
development. In the moment of his death, the Sun and all the inferior planets had entered Waterman. Both
personalities were under the spell of the old, decadent astrology. They ignored the fact that the old star
wisdom was dead, and that a new connection between the human being and the stars had to be found. This
fact contributed strongly to their final tragic downfall. Rudolf II was completely deprived of his imperial
power and died in extreme melancholia. Wallenstein, as we know, was murdered.
We could find many historical examples, but they would all show how difficult it is for modern human-
ity to find the way toward a new star wisdom. For this true spiritual “Waterman-knowledge” belongs more
to the age when the vernal point will be in Waterman. We are still today in the “Age of Fishes”, i.e., the
vernal point is still in the constellation of Fishes. This does not exclude the fact that in the hidden back-
ground of human culture, these future faculties are already being prepared in our time.
The Constellation of Fishes

Coming to the constellation of Fishes, we again enter the cosmic sphere of which we have already
written. It is the veil that hides the activity of the Spirits of Will within Ancient Saturn and later. Through
this constellation, the Will of the Father finds its expression. The workings of destiny, which are some-
times so incomprehensible and that, in spiritual science, we are accustomed to calling the forces of karma,
have their spiritual “locality” behind this constellation. Mostly, we cannot judge the working and weaving
of these forces in the events of one single human life or even in a limited age of human history. They reveal
their divine plans only if we are able to view the sequence of incarnations of a human being or long ages of
human development. From Fishes is active the long, almost timeless education of the human race by the
spiritual world.
We find, for instance, that in the moment when the so-called Dark Age started (3101 BC), Saturn stood
in the constellation of Fishes. In the eastern wisdom this epoch is called the Kali Yuga. Its beginning marks
the point in human history when the old natural experience of a spiritual world came to an end, and human-
ity started to use the physical senses more fully, which cut humanity slowly away from the realization of the
existence of a spiritual world. From one point of view, this was a very sad event that was expressed in many
old myths and legends, and yet it was a necessity for the spiritual development of the human race. Only by
being cut away from the natural and inborn experience of a real spiritual world could humanity become
independent and free. It is the hard and stony road of destiny that leads humanity to the unfolding of new
33
Isis Sophia I
capacities and also to a new experience of the spiritual world born in the sphere of free and self-conscious
activity. Before the Dark Age, experience of the spiritual world was a gift of the Gods, now it has to be born
in the sorrows of human striving.
There is also another event connected with Fishes. In the beginning of the year 1910, Saturn stood in
Fishes. At this moment, Dr. Steiner revealed the secrets of the “Second Coming of Christ” in our time. (He
gave his first lecture on this event on 12 January 1910 at Stockholm.) He showed that this new revelation of
Christ cannot take place again in a physical body but in a supersensible form—in an ether body. And he
revealed that from the year 1935 onward, many would be able to perceive Christ in this form as their Guide
and Comforter.
The Dark Age had come to an end in 1899 AD, having lasted for 5000 years. It was announced by
Saturn standing in Fishes. Although the new age had started, the dark powers still did not seem to give way,
and yet, the gateway leading out of the darkness into the spiritual light was shown in the days of 1909-10
when Saturn was in Fishes. The prevailing darkness cannot be overcome by outer means, but only by the
efforts of human hearts to recognize Christ in this new revelation.
We have now completed the description of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac, and we can see how
as the background of cosmic evolution they are interwoven into the existence of the Earth and humanity.
We can experience the starry universe, especially the Zodiac and the movements of the planets within it, as
a gigantic Being that precedes all existence in the universe. It is like a representative of humanity in the
cosmos, leading and advising humanity on its path of destiny.
The human form on Earth is indeed but a semblance of this cosmic form. The twelve parts of the human
body, as known in olden times, are related to the twelve constellations of the Zodiac, and has been partly
indicated, for instance:
head originates in Ram

larynx originates in Bull
arms originate in Twins
chest originates in Crab
interior of the chest originates in Lion
above the diaphragm
interior below the originates in Virgin
diaphragm
hips originate in Scales
reproductive organs originate in Scorpion
thighs originate in Archer
knees originate in Goat
calves originate in Waterman
feet originate in Fishes
But the human form on Earth has fallen from its cosmic origin. In the course of long ages it has come
under the influence of the forces of the Earth too much. Therefore, if we speak of that heavenly Being that
goes before humanity, helping and guiding its development, we must imagine it in a different form from the
present human being. We must imagine it more in the form of that Angel-like Being that we described in
the conclusion of the description of Ancient Saturn evolution in our last letter. A Being with mighty wings
instead of arms who, without a body, can perform organic functions as life-endowing activities in its sur-
roundings. The planets in their rhythms and movements are then like its active manifestations in the
universe.
We shall have to speak more about this cosmic representative of humanity so that we may learn to hear
other sounds of the heavenly language.
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SEVENTH LETTER - October 1944
The readers of these letters may sometimes wonder what to make of the indications that are given in the Calen-
dar. [The Calendar events of 1944 are not included here, but these words are germane to the reason for the letters.]
Some of the main events that take place during the respective months are selected, but it is not possible to follow the
subject far enough to give them all. The question is often asked: what does this or that event or aspect between two
or more planets mean or signify? It is my intention in these letters to give some guidance so that readers may be able
to live more intimately with the Calendar and its indications.
It was, of course, the aim of the previous letters to give a fundamental knowledge of the constellations of the
Zodiac; however, we must not only learn to know something about the starry universe but also how to live with it,
and there are indeed possibilities of living with the events in the universe as we live on Earth among human beings.
W. Sucher
Connection between the Human Being and the Universe

In olden times, humanity was still really able to live with the stars. We experienced spiritual beings
behind the stars who guided life on Earth. But all this beautiful wisdom has come to an end in our days in
a kind of fatalism. We have lost the perception of those spiritual beings, and all that is left, which is known
today as astrology, is the experience of being exposed to unknown powers in the universe that rule the
destiny of human beings on Earth. As the nature of these powers cannot be penetrated any longer by a true
knowledge, the study of astrology can lead only to fatalism.
It has often been said that we must create a new conception of our relationship to the starry universe.
However, we can only do this if we find ways to a new perception of the spiritual beings who are connected
with the stars.
Previously, we have tried to indicate that we can really see the gigantic outlines of the archetypal human
form in the twelve constellations of the Zodiac, but this archetypal form is more than an image. One who
lives with it for a long time finds that it is the visible form, or one can even say the body of a spiritual Being
who is very near us, because it bears the features of the human form. It is a spiritual Being who goes before
and beside us and who can be of comforting help to all those who really seek it. It can be felt as the guiding
and healing hand of an older Guide or Teacher. It is the great representative of humanity, to whom we can
lift up our hearts and who will never fail to give us help when we are in need.
Human beings on Earth have to live within a physical body. It is the expression and the means of
existence within the world of the senses, but it is also a limitation, and sometimes it may even be experi-
enced as a hindrance. This limitation and hindrance reveals the story of the Fall. Our physical body has
fallen into the fetters of matter. Quite different is the “body” of that heavenly Being who goes before us. Its
body is the starry universe itself with its eternal depths. Whereas the human body on Earth is limited, the
body of that Being has the capacity of never ending expansion and uncountable possibilities of transmuta-
tion.
We have tried to “sketch” the forms of this Being—an Angel-like Being with mighty wings. But even
so, we must imagine that the inner dynamic powers of this form are of a different intensity from those in the
physical form of humanity. We look at the head of the human being. It gives our physical appearance its
individual countenance. It is the root of our day-conscious existence within the world of the senses. Yet it
is closed by the mighty helmet of the skull. This is its limitation, and very often this enclosure is a mighty
barrier for a universal understanding and penetration of the facts by which we are confronted on Earth. If
we look at the “head” of that heavenly Being, at the constellation of Ram, and if we want to gain a true
image of it, we must form a different conception. Just as the earthly head is closed by the skull, this “head”
is open as if the skull were turned upside down, forming a kind of vessel. And into this vessel flows the
wisdom of the universe, the cosmic wisdom of the Spirits of Wisdom whose visible expression we have
found in the constellation of Ram. It is the wisdom that has since flowed into the existing forms and objects
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Isis Sophia I
of the Earth; the cosmic ingenious wisdom that we experience if we look at the structure of the skeleton or
the incomparable ingenuity of the organism of a plant. The horns of the Ram reach out into the cosmic
spaces and bring this cosmic wisdom through the spiral form down into existence, and the shining white
fleece of the Ram is the image of the vast sea of this all-penetrating and life-giving wisdom. Thus we must
learn to imagine the “head” of the cosmic Forerunner of humanity. (Later on it will be shown how we can
find this image in connection with star events in Ram,)
In the human body we then find the larynx. It is the instrument with which we produce sound and
speech, but this organ is also very limited, especially in our age. We can speak about objects, but in forming
words we can only reflect the nature of the objects around us. The human language is divided into many
languages, and this process of division and estrangement has steadily increased. In our time it is even
difficult for those who speak the same language to understand the meaning of one another’s words. If we
look at the “larynx” of that heavenly Being, the constellation of Bull, we experience that its words are
creative and universal. The Bull is the outer expression of the Spirits of Motion who founded the one
archetypal creative language of the universe that has its expression in the vowels and consonants of the
starry movements from which the human languages derived their origin. The alphabet is the earthly repre-
sentative of the Zodiac and the planets. Only the cosmic “alphabet” in the composition of the language of
the starry events is still creative and uniform in the events within the kingdoms of nature. This is how we
should imagine the “larynx” of that cosmic Being when we look at the constellation of Bull—it is still a
“magic organ”.
Then we find the arms in the human form, which are related to the constellation of Twins of our heav-
enly Guide. The human arms are surely mighty organs with which we can enter actively into the world, and
yet, how often does the activity that flows through our arms into the world divide and estrange us from each
other. Human beings fight and even kill one another with the arms. This organ of our arms, with its
tremendous incorporated capacities, very often becomes the instrument of destruction. The arms (Twins)
of the heavenly Being whom we want to approach are different. They are like mighty wings that can be
experienced by the inner senses of the human being as a protective silver garment around those who really
seek the help and the guidance of their heavenly Forerunner. The “feathers” of these wings stream down, as
it were, to each single human being and thus to each single ego, and although we may feel separated from
the others on Earth, we can experience our spiritual union with all humanity within the Being of our heav-
enly Guide. And these wings can be felt not only as a protecting power but also as an inner reality that can
uplift and free the soul, as though it were to rise on wings.
In previous letters we have explained how the upper arms are related to the constellation of Archer. In
our human form on Earth the upper arms continue and experience, so to speak, the split that goes through
both the individual human being and humanity, of which we have spoken above. The Archer of that cosmic
Being again is different. The silvery “feathers” of the wings reach down to each single human being on
Earth, and when individuals in earthly darkness are touched by these feathers, we can say—if we wish to
express it poetically—that they find the experience of their own Angels and are reminded of their own task
on Earth or, perhaps, the soul is warmed or comforted.
There the manifoldness of humanity becomes Oneness. The picture of the wings streaming into each
single human being may also be put into another imagination, which Christ created with these words, “I am
the vine, ye are the branches.” The single sweet, and juicy grape can feel itself united in the vine that gave
its life to the grapes. Thus we may learn to imagine the Twins-Archer organ of the cosmic Teacher of
humanity.
If we follow up the structure of the arms, the human form then shows us the elbows and in the lower
limbs the knees. Their cosmic counterpart is the constellation of Goat. However, this part of the human
organism has fallen too deeply into the fetters of matter, so far that we can hardly see its cosmic origin. In
the fourth letter, this was described in more detail, especially how Goat is connected with the creation of the
36
archetypes of the sense organs, and indeed if we try to find the features of our cosmic Forerunner in the
Zodiac, we detect that each single “feather” of the wings, in the end, becomes a very “sensitive” organ
implanted into every human being on Earth. The wings of which we have spoken are, as it were, covered
with millions and millions of sense organs—like eyes. As these eyes are implanted into the single earthly
being, our cosmic Guide wants to perceive the world from countless individual viewpoints. Each human
being, whether good or bad, with his or her attitude to life, philosophy, and outlook, becomes an “eye” of
the heavenly Being. We are not very often aware of the fact that our thoughts, our feeling, and our willing
are not only existent for our own sake but also for the sake of God. If we are aware of this, then our soul life
must, necessarily, change considerably. That is where our heavenly Teacher with its “Goat-organ” may also
go before us, if we truly read the language of the starry events in this constellation.
The lower arms are connected with the constellation of Waterman. Whereas Goat is the region where
the differentiated thought world of humanity flows together into one gigantic panorama of the world situa-
tion, the “lower arms”, or Waterman of the Angelic world above us, pour forth healing and comforting
forces of warmth. We know that Waterman is connected with warmth, as is described in the fourth letter.
There the heavenly wings touch human beings especially in the world of feeling. They ask each one of us
to direct our striving toward healing, compassion, and love and against the dark forces of hate and destruc-
tion that often spring up simultaneously. There we find that the heavenly Being can become a very strict
and severe judge of humanity or of its single members.
We have shown in detail that the hands are connected with the constellation of Fishes. There we have
found the realm of humanity’s destiny and will. This world cannot yet be penetrated by our full conscious-
ness. We are still deeply asleep in this realm, although the full cosmic consciousness of it is alive in the
“hands” of the Fishes of the godlike being. Like unseen hands they reach down into the depths of the
human will. They guide each of us through our individual destiny. They lead us along our individual path
of life and work on Earth. These ways may appear strange and impenetrable to us, yet by those wing-hands,
the course of life is ordered according to the all-overlooking wisdom of the cosmic Guide. It is here that the
hand of the Judge, of whom we spoke, sometimes has to recall its erring sheep on Earth by catastrophes in
nature and amongst humanity. This unerring Will then leads humanity to decisions from which no one can
escape, for each has to find an individual answer for or against the evolution of the world. Thus this Being
is not only a Guide of earthly humanity but also a pedagogue on a grand scale.
We have now tried to approach one step nearer to the image of the cosmic Guide of humanity in rela-
tionship to the spiritual background of the constellations of Ram, Bull, Twins, Archer, Goat, Waterman, and
Fishes. We must be aware that we have found only its countenance but not yet its “inner life”. This is
revealed by the other constellations of the Zodiac: Crab, Lion, Virgin, Scales, and Scorpion. Before we can
approach these, we must do some more strenuous work of cognition; therefore, we have to wait until we
have achieved this knowledge in future descriptions.
Many readers may now say, “This is an outlook that we can accept as more or less beautiful in a poetic
description” (though even this is doubtful owing to the handicaps of the writer). “But”, they may continue,
“how can we find this outlook realized in the realm of the visible starry world?” This is justifiable and the
writer of these letters has devoted much time to finding an answer to the question. He must confess that, for
him, this cosmic image appeared for years without any proof, and only very much later, he found that the
star events reveal this image if only we know how to look at them in the right way.
We shall now look at a certain event in the starry world that repeats itself in short intervals. It is the
conjunction of the two planets Jupiter and Mars that takes place about every second year. On Earth we then
see these two planets very near each other. It can even happen that Mars covers or occults Jupiter. This
event takes place at intervals of about two years, only in different constellations. In between this rhythm is
another rhythm of the opposition of Mars and Jupiter that also takes place, roughly, every two years. If we
then see Jupiter in the sky, we must imagine that Mars is exactly opposite, that is, at the other end of an
37
Isis Sophia I
imaginary line from Jupiter, through the center of the Earth and toward the other invisible half of the
heavenly sphere. Thus it happens that we have, roughly speaking, every year either a conjunction or an
opposition of Mars and Jupiter.
We have not spoken in detail about the character of either Mars or Jupiter, but it may suffice at this
moment if we imagine that Jupiter is the representative of cosmic wisdom and Mars that of cosmic strength.
In February 1819 AD, a conjunction of Mars and Jupiter took place in the constellation of Goat. If we
now follow up the sequence of these conjunctions in the following years, we find, among many others,
another conjunction in 1848 AD in Twins. Let us leave these for now and go on to an opposition in June
1914, where we find Jupiter in Goat/Waterman, a conjunction taking place in Crab in September 1919, an
opposition where Jupiter was again in Waterman in September 1938, and a conjunction in Fishes in January
1940.
Thus we have a sequence of these events in the constellations of Goat (1819), Goat/Waterman (1914),
Waterman (1938), and Fishes (1940). Now we are in that sphere of the Zodiac where we have drawn the
wings of the heavenly Being as it touches the human soul in its thinking, feeling, and willing. It is the realm
where it perceives the situation upon this planet through the soul organs of humanity and acts according to
these perceptions.
It is obvious that those cosmic “perceptions” and “conceptions” are connected with the first and Second
World War. So, why do we start in 1819 AD? We could also start earlier and find the most astonishing
things. However, in 1819 the Congress of Carlsbad took place, where the representatives and princes of all
the German states, which then were not yet united in the “German Reich”, met in order to introduce mea-
sures for the suppression of the revolutionary activities in their states. The result was an unbelievably
severe limitation and restriction of the activities of the universities and strict censorship of the Press. This
was one of the reasons that led to the revolution of 1848, which broke out in all the countries of Central
Europe. We can almost perceive how that heavenly Being looked down on Earth through the souls of
humanity and saw the struggle for spiritual freedom. This impulse appeared again and again in many
historical incidents after the year 1819—all in connection with the rhythms of Mars and Jupiter. It was
manifest again in the catastrophe of 1914, and in 1938 it fully entered the sphere of Waterman. The impulse
penetrates the world of human feeling and calls for the awakening of the forces of healing, compassion, and
love against the ever-increasing wall of hate and destruction. When everything seemed to have been in
vain, the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter in Fishes on the 6th of January 1940 revealed the unerring cosmic
Judge who could not, from what it experienced on Earth, do otherwise than educate and recall humanity to
the straight path of positive evolution through one of the greatest catastrophes that this planet has ever seen.
Thus the cosmic Will fulfilled what the human will could not fulfill.
If we now ask, what does the world of the Gods demand from humanity?, we can find the answer if we
follow another sequence of the Mars-Jupiter rhythm. In September 1916, an opposition of both took place
when Jupiter stood in Ram. In the following year, in June 1917, a conjunction appeared in Bull and in
November/December 1918 an opposition when Jupiter was in Twins.
These events took place during the last years of the First World War in the constellations of Ram, Bull,
and Twins. If we try to imagine in these constellations the features of that spiritual Being who goes before
us, we find in them the head, open for the all-embracing wisdom of the universe; the larynx, the organ for
the creative Word in the universe; and the wings that reach down to the single human beings, trying to
inspire and uplift them to ideals that strive to lead them toward the creation of true Christian brotherhood.
And what happened on Earth as the expression of the activity of the spiritual world?
In September 1916, Rudolf Steiner spoke about the spiritual background of human history. There we
can already find the fundamental ideas of the image of the threefold human organism, which he elaborated
more in detail in his book Von Seelenraetseln (Riddles of the Soul). Behind this, the idea already dawned of
the threefold commonwealth. At the same time, the Jupiter-Mars event took place with Jupiter in Ram. It
38
is as if at this moment a gateway was open from the “head” of the Godhead, from the world of the all
penetrating, all overlooking wisdom of the spiritual universe. This healing jewel of cosmic wisdom, the
idea of the threefold commonwealth, came down to Earth, was conceived by the individuality of Rudolf
Steiner, and was born as the social idea that was the answer to the striving and fighting within the depths of
millions and millions of human beings.
Then we can see how during 1917, in June/July, this idea that strove to become the solution of the
burning social problems, gained definite forms more and more in conversations of Rudolf Steiner with his
friends and even in a printed memorandum. Mars and Jupiter were then in conjunction in Bull, and spiri-
tual beings spoke with mighty and creative words to humanity.
The year 1918 (November) brought the end of the First World War and with it the rise of the hidden
social problems and revolutions in Central Europe, which had hitherto been artificially concealed. Imme-
diately afterwards, we see Dr. Steiner in the midst of a gigantic activity, speaking in many lectures and
meetings to thousands and thousands of people about the manifold social questions and means for their
solution through the idea of the threefold commonwealth. Here we can see how the wings of the cosmic
intelligence—Twins with Jupiter—touch the single human being in order to bring humanity further on the
road toward a social organism that can become the bearer of true Christianity.
We see how these events, which bear more the imprints of the revelation of our cosmic Forerunner, are
interwoven into the events of the other sequence of Mars-Jupiter connections in Goat, Waterman, and
Fishes. Humanity did not listen to this revelation of the true form of its own social organism. After the fall
of human feelings into the abyss of extreme nationalism in Central Europe, there was only one way out—
the cosmic judgment beginning in 1939-40.
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Isis Sophia I
EIGHTH LETTER - November 1944

The Nature of the Planetary World
We have tried to create up to this point a knowledge of the Zodiac. In this and the following issues it
will be our task to lay the foundation for an understanding of the planetary world.
The world of the fixed stars, which surrounds our solar system, is concentrated in the circle of the
Zodiac. There are many constellations outside the fixed-star Zodiac, but all these groups of stars are
somehow deeply related to the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. We find, for instance, above the constel-
lations of Ram and Fishes those of Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and many others. If we
penetrate more deeply into the spiritual background of the myths connected with these constellations, we
find they are an expression of the same facts that appear in the constellations of Ram, Fishes, etc. If we pass
across the Zodiac and look at the constellations above and below the familiar images of Bull, Twins, and
Crab, we find in them a kind of cosmic “commentary” on the twelvefold Zodiac.
Thus the world of the fixed stars is represented by the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. This
twelvefoldness is the manifestation of space. There we find the facts that led to the creation of our universe,
which exists in space, and also the archetypal image of the human form which on Earth manifests itself in
space.
In previous letters we described the creation of this universe in space as the Ancient Saturn evolution.
We have not yet described those stages of evolution where this universe, extending in space, was penetrated
by the forces of life and consciousness. This remains to be done in future issues. We did establish an
outlook into the creation of our universe from the point of view of space, and this we connected with the
twelvefold Zodiac.
We enter quite a different world if we look at the planetary universe. There we are confronted with a
sevenfold relationship. In olden times human beings counted five planets in addition to the Sun and Moon.
This was the planetary world that could be perceived with the naked eye. Today it no longer seems to be
sevenfold, because we have detected a few more planets—Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—with the help of
the modern telescope. It may happen in the future, with still mightier and stronger telescopes, that many
more planets will be detected belonging to our universe. Still, we must bear in mind that all these planets,
which were found with the help of the telescope, are beyond the realm of the human universe, because they
cannot be seen by the unaided human organism. They can only be seen through instruments, through a
mechanism—the telescope—which as a machine is “beyond” human nature and which belongs to a differ-
ent world. As we are speaking here about the relationship between the human being and the stars, we must
limit our outlook strictly to the limitations of the unaided human organization. This does not prevent us
from learning of the nature of those newly discovered planets, but for such a knowledge we should have to
enter the world of the superhuman. In later issues we may have an opportunity of doing this, but at present
we want to keep within the boundaries of the human realm.
We find a sevenfold planetary world in connection with the human being. For the normally developed
human senses, without artificial means, seven heavenly bodies within our solar universe are approachable,
the planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and besides them, the bodies of the Sun and Moon.
Everything that appears in the universe in connection with the number seven is an image of time.
Movement within time is evolution, that is to say creation in stages or intervals. When we had to describe
the evolution of Ancient Saturn, we were forced to present it in a sevenfold aspect (the seven cycles of
Ancient Saturn), because that which was created could only be done “in time”. However, the essence of
this evolution, the archetypal image of the human form, appears in “space” in the twelvefold Zodiac.
The sevenfold, as an image of time, is also manifest in the seven days of the week. They are an imagi-
nation of our whole world evolution, not only of Ancient Saturn but also of past and future stages.
Why is sevenfoldness the image of time? The fact that twelvefoldness, which is represented by the
Zodiac, is connected with space can be comprehended from a geometrical point of view, because the circle
40
is the form which has come to a rest and has potentially the other geometrical forms of two-dimensional
space within it.
We must find the fundamental law of sevenfoldness. Once we have found it, we have a foundation for
an understanding of the inner sequence of the seven steps. If, for instance, we look at anything that exists
in our surroundings, we find that it has a past and also a future. In between past and future, it exists at the
present moment. If we look at the flowers on our table, we know that they were growing in the past, and
that they will decay or wither in the future, but in between these two stages they are here at the present time.
Thus they do not only exist in space but also in time.
As far as the objects in nature existing in time, we can observe three steps: past, present, and future.
These three steps are nothing but a simplified sevenfoldness. We find that the first three steps are always
drawn together into that which we call “the past”. Everything belonging to the past in reality always bears
the mark of three stages of development. If our observations are made thoroughly, we find this everywhere
as a fundamental law. Also, that which we call the future reveals itself as a threefoldness. In between these
two, past and future, stands the present as a single moment in time. Thus evolution or development in time
reveals itself as a sevenfoldness.
Moreover, if our observations are made still more exactly and carefully, we find that the three steps on
either side of the scales of past and future have an inner relationship to one another. Thus the first step of
the past appears to be connected with the last of the three steps on the side of the future. The first stage of
the sevenfold sequence of any evolution is related to the seventh stage, the second to the sixth, the third to
the fifth, and in between stands the fourth, which as present links the past with the future.
If we try to realize this as an imagination, we begin to form a picture similar to the “sevenfold candle-
stick” of the Old Testament, and we realize that the sevenfold candlestick, which stood upon the altar of the
Tabernacle, was an image of that which the Hebrew people had to develop in time. Moses, the founder of
the Hebrew nation, knew this task. The Hebrews had to create an able body to serve as a true vessel for the
descending Christ Being. This could only be accomplished in the course of time. Therefore, Moses created
the image of time in the sevenfold candlestick as the comforting light on the long and weary path of his
people.
Today, if we could realize this fundamental law of time, then our cultural and personal life would be less
chaotic and disturbed. In many circumstances we escape from spiritual quests with the excuse that “we
have no time”, or if we have an impulse, we very often become impatient and want to realize it at once. We
cannot recognize that from the time of its conception to its realization it has to develop step by step until it
has evolved to fulfillment; otherwise, this seed can be spoiled by a premature birth. Sometimes we forget
that we may have to wait seven years, or three times seven years, or even a longer interval until our im-
pulses and ideas can be realized.
We must again learn the secret laws of time in order to become healthier in our soul life and even the life
of our body. Sevenfoldness is the fundamental law of time, but there are other mysteries of time of which
we cannot now speak.
This law can be found everywhere in our universe, but it reveals the essence of its inner dynamic rhythm
in the life of a human being. If we look into the life of a grown-up human being, we can also distinguish
between his or her past, present, and future. The past of each of us is our youth, which includes childhood,
infancy, and even the prenatal embryonic life. The farther we go back into the past the more we find a
dependence upon the protecting powers surrounding us. We are not yet our own master; other beings have
to take care of us. However, as we advance in life we gradually become independent. Whatever age we
have reached at present we find that we have, to a certain extent, freed ourselves from some protecting
power. The newborn baby has been separated from the body of its mother. Later on, as fully-grown
persons, we separate ourselves from many other connections. Whatever may be the “present” of a human
life, it is always the manifestation of a single being that has freed itself from a preceding condition of
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Isis Sophia I
existence. This single being, having become independent of previous conditions, is the determining power
in its own third step of evolution—the future. Inasmuch as the single being has become independent in its
“present”, it will be able to manifest itself in the future as a single being against the background of the
conditions from which it has emancipated itself. Thus, human life reveals three steps of evolution in time:
Past: Dependence upon many other conditions and beings.

Present: Emancipation and independence.
Future: Manifestation and activity as a single individual being.
Thereby, we have found the fundamental character of the three steps of past, present, and future as they
reveal themselves through our life. As time is sevenfold, we must now find the fundamental character of
the three steps of the past and those of the future and in between them the one step of the present. If we
succeed in finding the character of this sevenfoldness, we will not only solve the riddle of one of the laws
of time but we will also be able to read the inner characters and capacities of the five planets and of the Sun
and Moon. We finally come to the reason why we have undertaken this seemingly dry and weary task of
discovering the law of the sevenfoldness of time.
The essence of evolution is emancipation. Some being that hitherto has been submerged in an ocean of
general existence moves toward individual existence. In order to start our observations, let us take the
newborn baby at its present stage and then look back into its past. First, at the moment of conception it
came into existence through father and mother. Mighty Will powers, which we call destiny, entered the
lives of the father and mother. Through these Will powers the gateway into physical existence was opened
for the soul of the baby. This was the first step, but this would not have been enough. Life forces penetrated
the germ of the physical body and brought it more and more into a human form until it was born. Even a
third step was necessary to enable the organism from a certain time onward to have sensations and to feel
pain or satisfaction through its own bodily needs.
We have now described three stages of creation during which powers in the universe, beyond the con-
trol of the human being, help to bring into existence a being:
First: mighty Will powers bring about physical existence. The germ of a single individual body is
created.
Second: this germ of an individual body is permeated by life forces that mold the germ into an
image of its parents.
Third: as the germ is molded more and more into an image of its parents, it is also permeated by
Soul forces and by forces of consciousness.
In describing these three stages we have also described the characteristics and the capacities of the three
superior planets—Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.
Saturn appears always as the manifestation of those forces in the universe that create the germ of single,
physical existence for all kinds of beings, whether they need the bodies of stones, plants, animals, or human
beings for their earthly presence. Tremendous Will powers emanate from these Saturn Beings.
From Jupiter, Life powers stream forth that endow the germs of single physical existence with forces of
vitality. Here, however, we meet a difficulty. We can perceive that the plant is still permeated by life forces,
but we cannot see these in the mineral. We have to recognize that the minerals cannot be vitalized by the
Jupiter forces, although these forces are reflected. The second stage of the sevenfold evolution works in a
different way within the mineral kingdom. The crystal forms of the minerals arose from the reflection of
the Jupiter forces in past cycles of evolution, revealing the magnificent wisdom of the cosmos. We shall
also see later how these forces of cosmic wisdom are connected with Jupiter.
42
Mars is the giver of Soul forces. By Soul forces we mean the powers that enable creatures to have
sensations and emotions, aroused either by events in the outer world or by activities from within their own
body. These perceptions may awaken either sympathy or antipathy. Thus, for instance, the newborn baby
is capable of experiencing any impression that is made by the surrounding world either as painful or com-
fortable. A needle piercing the skin can be explained merely as a mechanical occurrence, but this does not
explain the fact that the baby begins to cry. The injury caused is experienced qualitatively in a different
sphere from that of the mere physiological event.
The capacity for soul experience is already there in the newborn baby, but what about the lifeless sub-
stances and the plants? We cannot say that soul capacities are inborn in these objects, still the Mars forces
work upon everything that comes into being. The lifeless substances, like the minerals and the simpler
living beings such as the plants, have only a “reflection” of them. Soul forces reflect themselves in the
chemical properties of these objects. If I look at the pen in my hand, then I certainly cannot say that it has
anything like sensations, but while it was still in the making, before it came into my hands, the seed of
disintegration was already implanted into it. This destiny, which brings inevitable disintegration, seems at
first to negate life, yet we have to deal with it. Here the aggressive nature of Mars appears that ultimately
destroys what has been created. We also find that where Mars creates soul capacities it sows the seed of
disintegration as well, because the soul forces and the emotions of pleasure and pain finally destroy the
body of a human being. These forces flow into all created beings before they enter the phase of their present
existence.
The Sun forces create or cause the present state of being in all objects of creation. In the present age
they also cause emancipation and striving toward independence. Let us again think of the newborn baby. It
has just been born, that means it has been separated from the body of its mother, which it has physiologi-
cally been a part of before birth. Now it is physiologically separated, and as it grows up it strives toward
independence. This is also shown by the fact that one of the first acts of those around the child is to give it
its own name. It is recognized as an individual being. With our senses we can realize that it has its own
body, and we even hope that this body will grow more and more independent of the necessities of life in
which it is involved during its early infancy and childhood.
We cannot speak of an impulse of individualization within the lower kingdoms of nature in the same
way as we can within humanity, although the Sun impulse is also working there. The sunlight brings the
existing objects in nature into the sphere of our sense experience. The sunlight makes them visible to our
eyes; we perceive their outlines and their colors. Let us think of the construction of the first steam engine.
First, the idea came to the inventor; this was the Saturn stage. Then the inventor had to ponder over his idea
and consider it in connection with mechanical and physical laws, with the technical achievements of his
age. He had to enter the world of universal wisdom as far as it was revealed to humanity; this was the
Jupiter stage of the making of the steam engine. Then as the inventor went further in the realization of his
plan, he had to use the earthly substances, such as iron and steel, into which were already implanted chemi-
cal reactions that determined the stability of the metal, to consider the reactions of the steam, etc. These
facts later might have caused the failure or the unpopularity of his machine; this was the Mars period of the
steam engine. Then one day the engine was completed. It could be seen as an entity and everyone could
perceive how it moved and worked. Now as a machine it had entered the phase of its “present state of
being”. It had also entered the realm of empirical perception; this was the work of the Sun forces. They
create the realm of “empiricism”, which shines like the light of the Sun upon the individualized object.
We have now described the working of the Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars forces as processes in time. These
forces, through which all beings that enter into existence must pass, are connected with the “making” of the
objects in the universe. They represent the past. The three stages of the past can, however, greatly differ in
time according to the nature of the object. They can last through ages of “astronomical” duration, or they
can also shrink together into a few seconds, but they can always be found.
43
Isis Sophia I
Now let us think of the last three steps of the sevenfold cycle of evolution. The fourth step was the
emancipation of the creature from its origin. In the following steps the individualized being strives accord-
ing to its capacities to manifest itself as a free being, and in manifesting itself, which is possible only if it
steps into the future, it can reveal and free all that which has been born into it during the first stages of the
past.
For instance, as the baby grows up it becomes more and more active in life. However, as the human
being becomes active, there appear as the background of its activity all those soul forces that already were
implanted in it before birth: its likes and dislikes; its inborn capacity for painful or joyful reactions, either
furthering or hindering its actions; and as life goes on, its activity becomes a kind of teacher and redeemer
of those inborn soul qualities. Very often this teacher within the realm of our activity is wiser than we are
ourselves, and It becomes our spiritual guide, gifted with the authority of destiny.
These forces come from the planet that is called Mercury in astronomy. Thus Mercury is the redeemer
of the Mars forces that we described above. The ways of destiny, along which the spirit of Mercury leads
the human being for its redemption, are often strange and incomprehensible. It is only if we strive for the
spiritual understanding of our own destiny that we can consciously find a connection with the spirit of
Mercury who represents the fifth step in the sevenfold law of time.
The planet called Venus in astronomy represents the sixth step. The sixth step is related to the second,
to Jupiter. As Jupiter is the giver of the forces of Life and Wisdom, Venus is connected with the develop-
ment of these forces of creating life by the human being. Still, the human being of today is far from being
able to create life within its sphere on Earth, although in deep unconsciousness we are actually doing this.
There are activities in the unconscious depths of our organism, which not only destroy life but also create
life; however, we do not yet have any control over these.
In a far future time, humanity will be able to develop similar activities consciously, and then we will be
able to create not only objects like dead machines but also beings like the plants that bear life. Thus Venus
works in the depths of the human organism. Human art is a faint dawning glow of those forces that one day
will be fully awake in humanity.
The seventh step is brought about by the Moon. Although the Moon is near to the Earth, the capacities
that are connected with its sphere are very far away from the consciousness of humanity. The seventh step,
the Moon, is related to the first step, Saturn. Saturn appears connected with that stage of all evolution
where an impulse or a soul being, penetrated by mighty supernatural Will powers, enters the physical realm
and creates for itself a bodily vessel. Now, after having gone through all the stages of creation and individu-
alization, at the seventh stage it has reached such perfection as an individual being that it can endow pure
soul existence with physical existence.
In human beings today there lives only a dim reflection of this capacity. It is only a prophecy of that
which one day in a far off future time will be a fully developed and consciously controlled activity. It is the
capacity of “re-production”, deeply rooted in our organism and guided by spiritual beings. This power
today is only a very dim image of its real spiritual counterpart.
44
NINTH LETTER - December 1944
In letter eight we developed a method of understanding the activities of the celestial bodies in our
planetary system, and we showed how the imagination of the seven-branched candlestick is a picture of the
planetary influences. In this and in the following letters it will be our task to go into more detail with regard
to these activities. W. Sucher
The Nature of the Planetary World - Saturn

Saturn
We looked in our last letter at the essence of time within space and we came to the conclusion that
Saturn must be active everywhere; wherever mere soul existence enters physical existence. In order to take
a further step in our investigations into the nature of Saturn we have to consider two indications given by
Rudolf Steiner in his books Outline of Esoteric Science and Theosophy. We can use them, so to speak, as
keys to open the gateway into the realm of knowledge.
In Outline of Esoteric Science, especially in Chapter IV, “Cosmic and Human Evolution”, Dr. Steiner
gives an outline of the conditions that preceded the creation of the universe in which we live. He speaks of
various stages of pre-earthly evolution that are called, according to occult tradition, Ancient Saturn, An-
cient Sun, and Ancient Moon. In previous letters we have already mentioned Ancient Saturn evolution but
so far we have not come further. Nevertheless we have an idea of how our universe came into existence
through the mighty work of spiritual beings who are active behind the curtain of physical events.
During Ancient Saturn evolution for the first time in the course of events, physical substance came into
appearance, although it did not evolve beyond the state of warmth or heat. This was not brought about by
only one category or group of spiritual beings but by the co-activity of all the beings of the hierarchical
order. We will now recall the names of the hierarchical beings who are concerned with this activity in order
to assist the reader to understand this and the following letters. The names differ in various occult teach-
ings; therefore the different groups are given here showing their correspondence. [In the following chart,
the column headed Occult Science refers to the terms used in Rudolf Steiner’s An Outline of Esoteric
Science.]
Occult Science Bible Dionysius the Greek
Areopagite
First Spirits of Love Seraphim Seraphim
Hierarchy Spirits of Harmony Cherubim Cherubim
Spirits of Will Thrones Thrones
Second Spirits of Wisdom Dominions Lordships Kyriotetes

Hierarchy Spirits of Motion Powers Powers Dynameis
Spirits of Form Mights Authorities Exusiai
Third Spirits of Personality Principalities Principalities Archai

Hierarchy Spirits of Fire Archangels Archangels Archangeloi
Spirits of Twilight Angels Angels Angeloi
All the hierarchies worked together to bring about the essential stages of Ancient Saturn. Each hierar-
chy had, so to speak, a certain task. After this task had been accomplished, another hierarchy carried
evolution forward to another level of perfection. This whole great round of evolution that we call Ancient
Saturn, together with all that was created in it, is inherited in the body that we observe astronomically as the
planet Saturn in our solar universe. Nothing is lost in the evolution of the world; nothing that once has been
can disappear. It all still exists, though it may be hidden behind the outer appearance of the world of the
senses. Thus Ancient Saturn is not only something that has been, for it can be found everywhere; for
45
Isis Sophia I
instance, in the activity of the planet Saturn and also in many other connections, some of which we shall
have to speak about later.
The Saturn of our solar universe is the outermost of the seven “old” planets, i.e., of those planets that the
human being can still perceive with the unaided eye. Therefore its orbit is the biggest of all the “old”
planets, and we know that Saturn needs about 30 years to move once through its orbit. We also know that
Saturn has a peculiar shape. We perceive it as a globe that is suspended or resting within a huge, luminous
circle. If we look through a telescope toward Saturn, we perceive this luminous circle and within it the lit-
up globe of the planet. A really satisfactory explanation of this phenomenon has not been found, but if we
look at the Saturn of today as the perceptible “memory” of Ancient Saturn, we may accept the following
suggestion: in the description of Ancient Saturn evolution in the book Outline of Esoteric Science, Dr.
Steiner mentions the fact that this “planet” was surrounded by an “atmosphere” of a spiritual character.
From this surrounding spiritual atmosphere the hierarchies poured forth their activities into the body of the
planet. This fact is remembered in the rings of the present day Saturn.
Now, we must have in mind that the actual “body” of the Ancient Saturn planet was created from the
Will-substance sacrificed by the Spirits of Will or Thrones. Thus we can state that the Thrones were the
leading spirits of Ancient Saturn, because in the substance of Ancient Saturn, which in later stages became
heat, their substance was present, and this must be inherited in all later transformations in which the origi-
nal substance underwent. It must, therefore, also be present as a heritage in the essential nature and activity
of Saturn in our solar universe. Or, in other words, Saturn must be especially the realm where the Spirits of
Will have engraved their own activity in a kind of cosmic memory, and this activity must somehow still
emanate from this planet. Rudolf Steiner’s indications confirm this, as he pointed out that the sphere of
Saturn today has the size which was occupied by the Ancient Saturn planet. If we take the huge orbit of
Saturn as a great circle of a spherical form, then we can call this the sphere of Saturn. This sphere today is
as big as the Ancient Saturn planet, and furthermore, Dr. Steiner indicates that it is the domain of the Spirits
of Will.
We have now arrived at two terms of reference with regard to the activity of the Saturn of today: it is the
domain of the Spirits of Will, and it is a memory of the Ancient Saturn planet. (Later on we shall make use
of these descriptions.)
The descriptions in Rudolf Steiner’s Theosophy open another way of approach. There he describes the
nature of the soul world and the Spiritland and the experiences of the human soul in these realms in the life
after death (Chapter III). What interests us most in connection with our present task is the description of the
third region of Spiritland. There Dr. Steiner says, “The third region of Spiritland contains the archetypes of
the soul world. All that lives in this world is present as living thought Being. One finds in it the archetypes
of desires, wishes, feelings etc. ...All that a person has carried out in his life on Earth in the service of the
community, in selfless devotion to his fellow men will bear fruit here. For through this service, through this
self-giving, he has lived in a reflection of the third region of the Spiritland. 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 rela-
tionship with it during their previous earthly careers.”
Hence we have come to another aspect of Saturn. This third region of Spiritland is the sphere of Saturn
through which the human soul has to go in the life after death. This is indicated in Rudolf Steiner’s lecture
cycle The Life Between Death and Rebirth (Berlin, 1912-13), where he speaks of the cosmic aspects of that
which he has given in Theosophy.
This third aspect of Saturn adds to the other two the connection with humanity. It is the Will that
emanated in the beginning from the Spirits of Will and lives as the source of the services of “the great
benefactors of the human race”. It works through members of the human family as an urge to a new
beginning, thus serving the “Will to existence and evolution”.
46
The question is how this Will power, which is the essence of the sphere of Saturn, was able to create
physical existence in the beginning. In our last letter, where we elaborated the sevenfold sequence of time-
activity, we stated that from the realm of Saturn, mighty Will powers emanated bringing about physical
existence.
Let us now imagine the Thrones sacrificing their Will, which was then the lowest principle of their
whole, sevenfold Being. As this separated from its origin, it already became a world for itself though it was
still in a pure psychic condition. It was “soul formation”, though it still inherited Will in a chaotic form.
This Will strove toward evolution. The essence of this evolutionary Will power is the “I”, because while it
was still united with the Thrones it had achieved the quality of the “I”. We can, therefore, read in Esoteric
Science that actually out of this Will power the foundation for the human “I”, the single body, was created
with the help of other spiritual beings called the Spirits of Form. Then soon afterward the original psychic
Will substance was transformed into heat. Thus we can grasp one of the greatest laws of evolution: on the
one hand a step was taken toward individualization; on the other hand, as a consequence, psychic substance
descended to the lower level of physical substance.
Perhaps we can explain this by an example. Let us imagine a spiritually active human being, who may
perhaps be an artist, a poet, a scientist, and who lives in a soul world that is full of creative impulses and
moral imaginations. This soul world belongs to this person just as the body does, yet it inherits the impulse
to bring moral imagination to the knowledge of fellow human beings for their benefit and inner evolution.
That which was the artist’s own world is going to be separated, in a certain way, and move toward commu-
nication. As it moves toward communication, it meets the circle of readers, the audience, the admirers of
art, etc., but at the same moment it becomes the work of the author, such as literature or the perceptible
products of art. It has in its outer appearance dropped away from its soul origin and has entered its “physi-
cal existence”. Therefore, we can perceive all primeval creation and its further evolution in the image of
the triangle:
The Being of the Creator
An individual’s inner (soul) world of moral

imagination and spiritual activity
The circle of the The “works” of

individuals creative origin
Movement toward “communication”
We can now look upon Saturn in this way: the huge sphere of the Saturn of our solar system is the realm
or region in which dwell the archetypes of all soul formations. Behind these archetypes is hidden the Will
that came from the Spirits of Will. We can also call this the Will of the Father. This Will is the spiritual
kernel of all soul life. It is the essence of human soul life when it strives toward perfection. As this Will
separated from its origin in the Being of the Thrones and implanted itself into the individual, it came under
the great cosmic law, which is mentioned above. Then as the individual went through the various stages of
its progress toward perfection, the original psychic Will substance fell back, or was peeled off like a shell
and became physical substance. Therefore, if we look at this Will or the activity of Saturn, we have to
distinguish between its connection with the soul world, such as the soul world of humanity, and its influ-
ence upon physical substance.
47
Isis Sophia I
We will first consider how the archetypes of the soul world—or Saturn—work as Will in the soul world
of human beings. They work especially in the sphere of the human will, but in this sphere we are still
deeply asleep. We are fully awake in our thinking. In feeling we are already further away from the bright
light of our day consciousness—there we dream. As for willing, we cannot grasp it at all with day con-
sciousness, for it is a deep sea of unknown impulses, emotions, desires, and wishes. This incapability of the
human mind to penetrate these depths of human soul life has led to many misjudgments of the nature of the
human being. If we seek the cosmic counterpart of the realm of human willing, we come to Saturn. The
particular position of Saturn, at the time of the descent of a human soul into earthly life, is always an image
of those deeper realms of the will. It may be in the constellation of Lion or Fishes, it may be in conjunction
or opposition to other planets, but wherever it is, it reveals the secrets of the willing of the person who is
concerned with it. We must be able to read the language of Saturn as it goes through the twelve constella-
tions of the Zodiac, and these letters were written to give an understanding of this language. For instance,
if a person has descended into earthly life when Saturn was in Lion, we can then take what has been said
about this constellation, and at the same moment listen, as it were, to the deeper will impulses of the person
concerned. Many destinies in life could be corrected if we could do this without egoism. We would then
perceive the higher task and the individual spiritual purpose of our life on Earth.
It may be the higher task and deeper life impulse of such a person to experience and to listen to the
hidden cosmic harmony of all existing beings in the heart of the universe and to bring this “heart-percep-
tion” into a balance with the head forces. This may involve a gigantic struggle in life, but surely it must be
different in each individual case according to the language of the other planets. A number of positions of
Saturn in various constellations of the Zodiac are given in the 5th and 6th letters.
Saturn in the nativity of an individual can reveal much more however. Above we have mentioned the
human being’s higher task in life as it appears in the image of Saturn, although the fulfillment of this task is
hardly ever accomplished within one short life time. Many earthly lives or incarnations are necessary for
the human “I” to achieve what is asked of it, and it is Saturn that spins the thread from one incarnation to the
other. Thus in the image of Saturn, at the time of a soul’s descent into an incarnation, there appears not only
the soul’s innermost task or call but also the background of past incarnations.
Saturn is not only, so to speak, the “star” of the soul above the gateway of birth, it is again present at the
moment of death and collects the fruits of our individual earthly lives. At the gateway of birth, it distributes
the higher tasks of our life which lies ahead; at the threshold of death it gathers or harvests the fruits of the
life that has passed, whether they are good or bad, whether they are a fulfillment of the life task or a failure.
Now as the human soul enters the spiritual world, Saturn carries the image, the archetype of the soul, in
front of it like a continuous judgment of the caricature that it has, more or less, made of itself during past
lives on Earth. Then, after some time, the soul decides to descend into a new life on Earth, and now in
going through the gateway of birth, Saturn stands there again and holds up the archetype of the soul with the
new aspects and resolutions that have been added to it during the life between the last death and this new
birth. Surely most people while living on Earth have no consciousness of this presence of Saturn before the
moment of birth, but it is active in the human organization as the unknown will forces in the depth of the
soul.
An example will make this aspect of Saturn clearer. Francis Bacon of Verulam was born on the 22nd of
January 1561. Then Saturn stood in the constellation of Bull. This position reveals the background of his
former incarnation. Let us recall what we said about Bull in previous letters. It is connected with the
mighty creative Word, the cosmic Word. We can see behind it the realm of the Spirits of Motion whose task
it was to create out of inner soul motion, an outer motion—the manifoldness of appearance in the physical
world. Therefore, Bull is a sphere in the universe from which strong forces of motion and of power ema-
nate. This is concentrated in Saturn. It indicates that Francis Bacon was a powerful personality in his
former life who had the power to penetrate the world around him with inner motion, a personality who was
48
especially concerned with the word, i.e. literature, science, etc. This Saturn was opposed by Mars, which
stood in Scorpion. This gives Saturn another face. We have mentioned in previous letters that Scorpion,
which was once the Eagle, is connected with the decline of the evolution of the planet Mars in the universe.
Therefore, this opposition of Saturn and Mars indicates a mighty, even brilliant leader of some nation, yet
with a certain darkness in this brilliancy, as it is connected with decadent Mars forces.
Saturn can even become a guide in finding the interval of time during which this soul was in the spiri-
tual world. In the case of Francis Bacon it can lead us back into the 9th century AD as the time of his last life
on Earth. This is confirmed by the indications of Rudolf Steiner who, according to spiritual knowledge,
revealed that this soul was incarnated in the beginning of the 9th century AD as a mighty prince who was
connected with the culmination of Arabian culture.
In these letters we have not yet reached the point where we can fully elaborate this aspect of Saturn,
which leads back into previous lives on Earth, from their qualitative point of view as well as in regard to
time, but as we want to speak about the nature of Saturn we have to mention this.
Saturn is the great historian of the universe, as Dr. Steiner calls it. It is the great memory of the universe;
therefore, everything that belongs to the sphere of history is penetrated by Saturn’s activity: the spiritual
biography of the human being, the connection between the generations, the histories of nations, and even
the history of the universe is alive in Saturn’s memory. It is really the Will of God that emanates from this
planet. In recalling the past stages of evolution in the universe and in humanity, it brings the present back
from its erring to the God-Willed path of the great plan of evolution, even though it may lead through
tragedies and catastrophes.
Thus the activity of Saturn, or the sphere of the archetypes of the soul world, is manifest in the willing
of the human soul. This activity can also be found in the physical world that came into being as Will moved
away from its origin—the Spirits of Will—and became the region of the archetypes of all soul formation.
We have tried to explain this development above, where we found that the creation of the individual neces-
sitates the bringing into being of the “works”.
We can now find Saturn’s presence everywhere in the physical world. Saturn must be its innermost
essence, because we found that the original Will of the Thrones was condensed into physical warmth which
later became the foundation of all physical substance. But the will is somehow hidden in the physical
substance; for we cannot perceive it with our senses. Now, many of our readers may have had the experi-
ence of absolutely barren rocks; for instance, in the high mountains or on the seashore, where no plant is
able to live. If we listen very attentively to the language of such an existence, we have the experience of an
absolutely unmovable, stern Will that is much stronger than anything which appears as will power in living
beings. We may not experience this inflexible, rigid Will while we stand in the midst of such a landscape,
but if we recall such an experience in our memory, it reveals especially its might and superiority. This is not
only a subjective reflection in the human soul and, therefore, without any significance or reality. It is a
“soul reality” and reveals the origin of physical existence in the Will derived from the Thrones. This is
especially manifest in the mineral world in the barren rocky landscapes, and, in fact, it is present in every-
thing that has a physical, bodily existence. In this soul phenomenon, it is the realm of the activity of Saturn
that we face.
We can perceive this inherited Will power in physical substance with our soul capacities, because in our
physical body we are related to it. In nature we perceive it especially in connection with the mineral
kingdom, which is like the hard skeleton of the whole organism of the Earth. As the Saturn forces have
their purest manifestation in this realm, they are active in the dynamic foundation of the human and animal
skeleton.
The skeleton fundamentally outlines the physical body. We cannot imagine what the human body
would be like without the skeleton. The main outlines of the body—head, trunk, and limbs—are indicated
by the skeleton and filled out with soft matter. This outlining power, which bears within it the archetypal
49
Isis Sophia I
idea of human existence on Earth, comes from the planet and the sphere of Saturn. It forms the head,
especially the skull, so that it appears to be an image of the spherical universe above us. It is like a seed that
has dropped down from the universe and that still resembles its origin. From this head the organism grows
down toward the Earth. In the head the soft matter is enclosed in the skull, but as we go downward we find
that the lower bones are surrounded by soft matter. The spherical tendency of the skull is transmuted into
a radiating tendency that points toward the center of the Earth. In the animal the direction of the skeleton is
more or less horizontal with the surface of the Earth. In the human being this line is vertical, in an upright
position. In this physiological tendency to direct the existence from what appears to be an image of the
whole universe and to turn it around into an upright position in human beings, there is a gigantic Will power
hidden. It binds human existence to the spiritual universe. It is the physiological expression of the Will of
the Father that releases the human being like a seed of the cosmos so that it can grow into Earth existence,
as it were, like a reversed plant in order to fulfill a God-Willed task. Thereby, we meet the activity of Saturn
in nature as we have met it in our soul life. It is the Guardian of the Threshold and leads our soul being into
physical existence. It guards the thread connecting us with our spiritual origin, with our archetype, and it
also recalls us from the earthly realm to the spiritual world at the moment of death.
50
TENTH LETTER - January 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Jupiter
Jupiter
In order to understand the activity of the planet Jupiter, we will again have to build our investigations
upon indications of Rudolf Steiner in his two books Outline of Esoteric Science and Theosophy.
We came to the conclusion that the Saturn of our solar system is a kind of repetition or memory picture
of Ancient Saturn evolution. The question now arises whether the spheres of the other planets carry within
them, in a similar way, the memories of the following cycles of the world evolution. For instance, the
sphere of Jupiter, that is to say the space which is enclosed in the orbit of this planet, is the next after Saturn,
and we could imagine that it is connected with the second great cycle in evolution called, according to the
language of Esoteric Science, Ancient Sun evolution.
In these letters we have not spoken in detail, so far, of the evolutionary cycles following Ancient Saturn
evolution; therefore, we will now try to give a very short characterization of Ancient Sun evolution, which
is described elaborately in An Outline of Esoteric Science. [Also see the authors Isis Sophia II.]
The physical image of humanity was created on Ancient Saturn. It didn’t have life yet or consciousness.
It was like an automaton or a mirror that reflected the activities of the higher beings around it. After this
very first ancestor of humanity had been created and brought to a certain completion, the planet was dis-
solved again into a pure spiritual state of existence. All the hierarchical beings withdrew to higher regions
of the spiritual world. A kind of “cosmic night” ensues during which nothing of a physical nature can be
recognized by clairvoyant perception. After this interval of “cosmic sleep” had come to an end, a new cycle
of evolution started called Ancient Sun. In the first stages, a repetition of Ancient Saturn evolution took
place until again a physical image of humanity came into being in the same form as it had already existed on
Ancient Saturn. Then an entirely new impulse altered the course of evolution. The physical form of the
ancestor of the human race was penetrated by life forces. Through this influx, which was brought about by
the Spirits of Wisdom or Kyriotetes, everything was changed, even the substance of the planet itself. Hith-
erto it had consisted only of warmth. Now, at the time of the penetration by the life forces, a part of the
warmth changed or was condensed into “air” or light. (In the following cycles of this planetary evolution,
the other hierarchies besides the Spirits of Wisdom worked upon the human ancestor, which consisted now
of a physical and an ether or life body.) We must now have in mind that the decisive impulse of this cycle
came from the Spirits of Wisdom or Kyriotetes, who in sacrificing a part of their own Being created the
ether or life body of humanity.
We will now come back to the description that Dr. Steiner gives in Theosophy of the experiences of the
human soul in the life after death. In the last letter we spoke about the third region of the so-called Spiritland
in connection with the sphere of Saturn, where the soul experiences the archetypes of the soul world. In the
preceding second region the soul experiences the archetypes of life. Rudolf Steiner says of this region [on
page 99] in Theosophy, “The next region is that in which the common life of the Earth world flows as
thought Being; as a fluid element, so to speak, of the Spiritland. As long as we observe the world during
physical embodiment, life appears to be confined within separate living beings. In Spiritland it is loosed
from them and, like life blood, flows through the whole land. There, it is the living unity that is present in
everything.”
Of this region Rudolf Steiner says, in the lecture cycle The Life Between Death and Rebirth (Berlin
1912-13), that it is the sphere of the planet Jupiter. Thus we have gained two points of view: the sphere in
which the soul experiences the archetypes of life after death is the sphere of Jupiter, and the cosmic moment
when life entered and penetrated the physical forms was during Ancient Sun evolution. Further on Dr.
Steiner indicated that the sphere of Jupiter in our solar system is the dwelling place of the Kyriotetes who
endowed physical existence with life forces.
It is now quite clear that we can look upon the planet Jupiter and its sphere as the source of the life
forces in humanity and the universe. This fact we shall have to set forth in the following pages.
51
Isis Sophia I
We live today in an age that has gained an elaborate knowledge of the physical world of matter. It is the
world of the mineral kingdom, the lifeless substance that modern science has investigated thoroughly. But
the world of life is still a great mystery. We can experience its traces and expressions everywhere in nature,
but we do not know from where it comes. We cannot yet get hold of those forces that, in all living organ-
isms, lift the matter out of its purely mineral reactions and chemical activities. They cannot be perceived
with the physical senses as they are hidden from them. The methods that we use, so far, in modern science
are insufficient to penetrate into the realm of these forces, yet spiritual science speaks of them as a
supersensible reality that can be perceived by clairvoyant capacities. It even speaks of an ether or life body
of the living organism as the active entity of life. Therefore, we certainly cannot say that it is here or it is
there; we can only prepare our own being according to the instructions of spiritual science so that it may
become an instrument with which we can perceive the life forces. However, we can try to understand the
activity of these life forces with our thinking capacity. This is even the first step of preparation upon the
path to higher knowledge.
The question is: what is life? What is the ether or life body? Rudolf Steiner calls it the architect of the
physical body, that which builds up the physical body according to a preconceived plan. We can now ask:
why is it that the physical body needs the activity of another higher member that carries the plan of its form?
According to what we read about the creation of the physical body within Ancient Saturn, we can have the
impression that this body was the complete image or mirror of the activities and intentions of the Gods.
Thus we might imagine that it has in its own existence the imprint of the plan of its form. It may seem
difficult to understand why another “body” should have to be active to create this form. Still we cannot
solve this riddle if we do not understand the sense and the spiritual goal of the whole evolution of our
universe through the stages already described as Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon, Earth, and so
on.
In the very beginning on Ancient Saturn, a physical image of the human being was created by the Gods.
This image was a picture of their own being. Thus the deeper meaning of all creation reveals itself as the
creation of a being in the universe that is an image of the hierarchies, or of God. But the Gods did not want
to create only a kind of automaton or mirror that is only able to reflect the beings of the spiritual world
“mechanically”. They wanted to create a being that is able, at a certain moment, to attain self-conscious-
ness. This being would be able to ascend from the state of the reflecting creature to the state of creator, for
the state of being an image of the spiritual worlds would then be combined with the state of self-conscious-
ness. The spiritual universe—that is, all the hierarchical beings—would then complete and elevate their
own existence through the being of humanity, who could not only be their image but also have a self-
conscious knowledge of it. Thus creation would complete itself in self-perception; the choir of the beings
in the spiritual world would experience their own existence and activity.
The being that was created as the Saturn ancestor of humanity was bound to become a vehicle toward
self-consciousness. However, self-consciousness is at first a contradiction to the cosmic consciousness, to
the consciousness of the Gods. Therefore, this Saturn being, which then came into existence, had to go on
the long journey toward its “self”. This meant a dropping away from the Gods, step by step. And those
steps are already indicated in the smaller cycles of Ancient Saturn; for instance, the division of the Saturn
planet into the many single warmth Beings, which became the origin of the human physical bodies of today,
was already a step upon the long path leading into the loneliness of the self.
Here we have to make a very definite distinction that the physical body is the image of the existence and
the activity of the hierarchies. As it is an image, it can never drop away from the Gods, because it is part of
their own being. But this body is invisible to earthly senses; it is, so to speak, the highest archetypal idea of
humanity, which dwells in the realms of the Gods. The body that became the vehicle on the road to self-
consciousness, or ego-consciousness, is the matter-body that is composed of the solid, liquid, gaseous, and
heat-substances of the Earth. It bears the imprint of the physical body, of the archetype of humanity, but it
52
has moved away from its origin, even from its archetypal origin—from the Gods—in order to become a
“self”. This was a necessity. Moving away from the Gods means we become more and more defective as
we sink further into the body of matter. It necessitates the experience of illness and death, and this is the
destiny of the matter body of humanity. We could not experience illness and death if somewhere there did
not live within us the reality of eternal health and life. As humanity has moved away from its God-Willed
origin more and more, illness and death have overtaken it on a much wider scale than is usually realized.
All the misery of earthly existence, all the imperfection and incapacity to master our earthly tasks are only
a part of the illness that has overtaken humanity on its road from the Gods to selfhood. If, after having
attained the self—the “I” we can win back in the future the divine image of our own being step by step and
with it the image of the whole spiritual universe of the hierarchies and the physical world, then we can
redeem our great illness. Then the Gods, who do not know illness, will live in us and through us. They will
give us their eternal youth and life, and we will give them the self-consciousness of their own existence.
There is one mediator between that which has fallen into the abyss of imperfection and the cosmic
archetypes. This is the ether body. It received and continually receives, during life on Earth, the divine
images of the cosmic form of humanity and works them into the earthly body. Thus it works against the
forces of decline and illness. From the very moment when life enters the embryo, it builds up the body out
of tremendous resources of cosmic memory. In the development of the single embryo, which is called the
ontogeny—the course of the phylogeny—the history of the development of the whole human race is re-
peated. The ether body can do this, because it comprehends the history of the oldest stages of human
development. Thus it defies the God-denying forces that dwell in the human being, which tend to lead it
still further away from its spiritual origin. The ether body cannot bring the falling human form back to the
spiritual archetype at once. It can only do it from step to step and over and over again, and then it over-
comes the forces of illness and death. Every night the ether body receives anew, the cosmic archetypal
forms and impulses that it impresses again and again into the matter body. We feel it then as health-bearing
and refreshing forces after sleep. Thus the ether body can only accomplish its task of mediation in time;
therefore, we can also call it the time body, because only in time can it achieve the redemption of the fallen
matter and restore it to the archetypal image.
The patience and the memory power of the ether body indicate that there is a gigantic world of universal
wisdom present in it. We can understand this if we imagine that the ether body was created by the Spirits of
Wisdom. It is wisdom that carries in itself the thoughts of the Gods from the very beginning of the uni-
verse, and the thoughts about the ultimate goal of this universe. As the thoughts of the Gods live in the
ether forces as a kind of reflection, we can also imagine that they are alive in human thinking. What lives
in the human being as the impulse, the capacity of thinking, is only the other aspect of the ether body
besides its up-building and regenerating activity.
During the great cycle of the Earth evolution, the ether body was mainly engaged in safeguarding the
matter body from decline and a too-strong estrangement from its cosmic origin. But the development of
thinking, which is not so very old in humanity, indicates that the ether body—or now we can say, the forces
derived from the Jupiter sphere—not only preserves the past, but also belongs to the future of the universe.
At present the ether body is completely incorporated or submerged into the matter body. In olden times this
was different, as the ether body was partly outside the matter body, and through this the human being was
able to perceive the higher, spiritual regions of the universe. However, it could only do so in a dreamlike
way because the self-consciousness was not yet fully achieved. There will again come a time when the
ether forces will be freed from the matter body and will no longer only be engaged in building it up but will
unfold their bright, shining light of cosmic memory and foresight. Then they will be penetrated by self-
consciousness, by the forces of the “I”, and then they will reveal not only a reflective capacity but a creative
faculty that will be able to build up a new universe according to the great Imaginations of the Gods. This
will be the true, spiritual image of humanity. In the language of the Revelation of St. John, this is called the
New Jerusalem.
53
Isis Sophia I
Now we can understand when Rudolf Steiner says in Esoteric Science that the present Jupiter is a
dwelling place of beings who are too advanced to take part in the evolution of the Earth as a planet, and who
will be able to unfold their activity in a future great cycle of evolution that Esoteric Science calls “Jupiter”.
These beings only “touch” or “float above” Earth existence at present, while the ether forces work as
healing and refreshing forces for a whole life time, preventing the living organism from natural decay.
We will now try to recognize the activity of Jupiter in a number of historical nativities, and show how it
appears as an indication of the archetypal nature of the ether forces of these personalities, as their ether-
aura, so to speak. We will also see how Jupiter appears in all that which is not only a matter of personal
destiny in human life but is connected with the striving and the progress of humanity as a whole; that which
is useful and precious for the spiritual life of humanity, even if the personality who has created such works
of healing spirit has long gone over the threshold of death. Jupiter will always reveal itself as the sphere of
which Dr. Steiner says, in connection with the life after death, in his book Theosophy, “…It is there the
living unity which is present in everything. Of this also, only a reflection appears to a human being during
earthly life. This reflection expresses itself in every form of reverence that a human being pays to the
whole, to the unity and harmony of the universe. The religious life of humanity is derived from this
reflection. Human beings become aware of how far the all-embracing meaning of existence does not lie in
what is transitory and separate. They regard the transitory as a “similitude”, a likeness of an eternal and
harmonious unity. They look up to this unity in reverence and worship. They offer up before it religious
rites and ceremonies…The fruits of the religious life and all connected with it make their appearance in this
region…The capacity to know oneself as a member of a whole develops itself here.”
Thomas More (born February 7, 1478): In the nativity of Thomas More, Jupiter had just entered the
constellation of Ram. During the whole period of his embryonic development it made a loop in that part of
the Zodiac where the image of Fishes joins hands with Ram. Altogether it was in a very prominent posi-
tion.
This position of Jupiter indicates the primary conditions of the etheric organism of Thomas More.
Jupiter gathers, at this moment, the impulses of Ram behind which live the activity and the Being of the
Spirits of Wisdom themselves. Thus the cosmic wisdom and the creative life forces of Jupiter are still more
exalted into a sphere of all-embracing cosmic thinking. We can experience this in More’s attitude to life
and his striving for knowledge. With a vitality such as is indicated in this Jupiter, he could not do otherwise
than devote and order his life according to universal wisdom. Therefore, it is not astonishing that he
became a disciple of “humanism” when still only nineteen years of age and when Erasmus of Rotterdam
came to England. Later in his life, we see how he decided all his actions from the point of view of this
universal wisdom. He was not a fanatic, in fact just the opposite, as he developed an attitude of absolute
calm and self-mastery about whatever happened around him. He was steadfast and unshakable in his
concepts and convictions, like Ram with its mighty horns. Even the threat of death could not change him.
He could die for his ideas without being fanatical or fearful. The life attitude of Thomas More is the ideal
description of Jupiter in Ram.
Dante (born May 1265): When Dante was born Jupiter stood in Bull where it was in conjunction with
Saturn. Thus it is in a very prominent position, although the weight of a turbulent destiny (Saturn) presses
down upon it. Bull is an expression of the Being and the activity of the Spirits of Motion. We can read in
this indication that Dante’s primary life tendencies were strongly directed toward the Word, the creative
Word of the Gods, as well as the human word that has its origin in this constellation or in the spiritual realm
behind it. It does not need much explanation to show how this universal Word was present in Dante as a life
power. As the poet of the Divina Comedia, he really knew the “eternal names of all things and beings”—
they were written into his ether body.
Dante’s tragic destiny in connection with the political constellations of his age is expressed by Saturn in
Bull. There the creative Word descends into the sphere of the will, and forges with mighty blows the
54
manifold forms of earthly conditions that, from a super-individual point of view, are necessary for the
whole of humanity.
Gotthold Lessing (born January 22, 1729): Jupiter stood between the constellations of Bull and Twins
when Lessing was born. During most of the time of his embryonic development, it made a loop in the stars
at the beginning of Twins. Twins is the cosmic expression of the forces of individualization in the universe.
In their spiritual background, we found the Spirits of Form who prepared the human form until it was able
to become a vessel for the “I”. Lessing’s Jupiter was penetrated by these impulses, and again we can find
this made manifest in the life attitude of this personality. We can say that he was the first journalist, but he
had a very wide and comprehensive knowledge of the spiritual and cultural life of his age. Yet his strongest
life impulse was his fight for the freedom of the individuality. He was one of the few modern personalities
who, through logical thinking and a true impulse for education, came to the idea of reincarnation. In his last
drama, Nathan the Wise, he expressed his convictions of the unity of all religions, confessions, and races in
one worldwide Christendom. In his ether body, he inherited from the world of the archetypes of life the gift
to recognize the eternal kernel of humanity’s being, in spite of the misleading appearances of his earthly
existence.
Richard Wagner (born May 22, 1813): When Wagner was born Jupiter was in Crab, but in opposition to
Mars, which was then in Goat. Jupiter in Crab indicates a strong forming tendency. This case is very
interesting because the opposition of Mars creates a contradiction in this personality. His soul forces,
indicated by Mars, were not fully formed, at least not during his earlier life; they were almost explosive and
sanguine. But the archetypal forces of his ether body were striving for strict form, which he actually
achieved in his musical dramas. Yet he had to struggle almost a whole life time until he overcame those
soul forces in himself that were too strongly living in cosmic spheres and were not easily transformed into
earthbound forms.
Jupiter in Crab also indicates a special connection with the sphere of the Archangels, the folk spirits.
This is also expressed in Richard Wagner’s musical poems, which take up the thread of the great imagina-
tions of Nordic mythology. In fact, he has formed in his life work the drama of the birth of the individuality
out of the womb of the folk spirit.
Rudolf Steiner (born February 27, 1861): During the first half of Rudolf Steiner’s embryonic develop-
ment, Jupiter was in Crab; later it made a loop in Lion and stood in Lion at the time of his birth.
Here we meet Jupiter again in Crab. We have already said that this indicates a strong forming power of
the ether body. We can find this tendency very well in Dr. Steiner’s life. It is in the first half of his life that
he was led by his particular destiny to the development of a very strong discipline of his thinking capacity
as the only way of being able to bring to humanity a new and modern method for the cognition of the higher
worlds. This is reflected in his fundamental book The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity. [Paperback re-titled
Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path.]
Later in his life, this disciplined thinking became the bearer of a gigantic and comprehensive message
of the higher worlds that he brought to modern humanity as Anthroposophy. In it a true human reflection
appeared—a microcosmic realization of the innermost soul of the macrocosm. This is indicated by Jupiter
in Lion, and in Dr. Steiner’s earthly life, we have an ideal representation of such archetypal ether forces, as
this divine content flowed into the vessel of a disciplined thinking.
Raphael Santi (born March 26, 1483): In the prenatal life of Raphael, Jupiter moved through the last
stars of Lion, but soon it entered Virgin where it also stood at the time of his birth.
With regard to Jupiter in Lion we have to give a similar description to that given for the case of Rudolf
Steiner. Raphael was also one of the few who had listened to the heart beat of the universe. This was
imprinted into his ether body as a great capacity of love.
The character of his ether forces changed into the mood of Virgin after his childhood. This change
found the purest possible expression in Raphael’s life, in the world of his manifold and uncounted pictures
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Isis Sophia I
of the “Madonna with the Child”. The constellation of Virgin was able to find, through him, such a strong
earthly manifestation, because as a painter he lived especially in a sphere of picture consciousness and
imagination that is related to the world of the archetypes of life, the source of which is in Jupiter.
Raphael’s pictures of the Madonna are not only representations of the birth of the Jesus child; they have
a much deeper meaning. They reveal the experience of the birth of the Son of God, the Lord of Eternal Life
into the soul world, even into the world of all creation. This is the true meaning of the constellation of
Virgin.
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ELEVENTH LETTER - February 1945
With the next (12th) letter the first year of the Monthly Astronomical Letters comes to an end. As far as
we can judge in these difficult times it should be possible to continue them for another year. However, we
intend to alter their content in the second year. The introduction into astrosophy, although not yet finished,
has reached a point where we can risk bringing the knowledge that we have gained one step nearer to the
realities of life. Therefore, we are now trying to give a few leading ideas about the current events in the
starry world. Besides this and the introduction, we will also start with a series of descriptions of the events
in the world of the stars during Christ’s life on Earth. Later on we may be able to go into details about some
of the historic nativities.
W. Sucher
The Nature of the Planetary World - Jupiter/Mars

We will now continue the examples given from historical nativities in regard to the nature of Jupiter.
Count Leo Tolstoy: At the time of the birth of Tolstoy on Sept. 9, 1828, Jupiter was in Scales where it
had also made a loop during the prenatal development. It was in a very prominent position. Mars was in
conjunction with Jupiter in Scales about the time of conception. At the moment of his death Jupiter was
just about to enter Scales and Mars was again in conjunction with it.
In this position we have the indication that the ether body had a strong tendency to establish peace and
balance in an organism which otherwise might have been overwhelmed and shaken by aggressive emotions
and other soul forces. In fact the whole life of Tolstoy is an example of this tendency. All his works and
activities and especially his diaries speak of his dramatic fight against forces that are always adverse to
peace and the manifestation of justice and goodwill on Earth—this is the language of Scales as it speaks
through Jupiter.
Maximilien Robespierre (born May 6, 1758): During the embryonic development of Robespierre, Jupi-
ter moved through Scales into Scorpion where it stood at the time of his birth, probably in mid-heaven.
From the beginning, according to this position, the ether aura of Robespierre was more directed by
impulses coming from Scales. It reveals a striving for the manifestation of justice and goodwill on Earth.
It was this that brought him into a leading position during the French Revolution. The Gods tried to bring
to life in him a similar attitude toward the goals of human evolution as they did later in Tolstoy. Then we
see Jupiter entering Scorpion. This is like a probation of the primary impulses, because they are exposed to
a mighty onrush of soul forces—astral forces as we call them in occultism—which come from the region of
Scorpion. The question then always arises whether the building up and positive forces in the human being
can stand against this storm. If they can, then a most positive power can develop, a strength for the accom-
plishment of unique deeds for humanity. Then the dangerous Scorpion can be transmuted into the keen-
sighted Eagle that, with the eye of the Holy Spirit, can look into future stages of universal development.
There is always the danger that such a personality can be torn to pieces by tasks and impulses that are
beyond his vital capacities. Something similar happened to Robespierre. His being, which was good and
noble in its primary impulses, was torn to pieces by the storm of the French Revolution. He could not
master the astral forces that worked in the background of the events of his time, and he could not bind them
to a body social that was based on freedom, equality, and fraternity.
Friedrich Schiller: Schiller was born on November 10, 1759 when Jupiter was in Archer. It was also in
this position during his whole prenatal development. This indicates that this ether body was penetrated by
archetypal impulses that endowed the bearer with the faculty to experience and to perceive past stages of
either human or cosmic evolution. This type of ether body can become an organ for the comprehension of
the deeper impulses and laws in human history. Schiller had this faculty, as it is shown by his dramas and
his strong connection with history. For some time he was a lecturer of history at the University of Jena. Not
only a relationship to human history is implanted by these forces into the ether body, but also it can become
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Isis Sophia I
an organ for the comprehension of primeval forces that have left the traces of their past activities in the
features of the various kingdoms of nature and in the universe.
Schiller’s historical faculty is also connected with Saturn, but it would be too difficult to go into the
details now of the relationship between Saturn and Jupiter in this nativity. Perhaps a later occasion may
give a possibility.
Novalis (born May 2, 1772): During his embryonic development, Jupiter moved from Archer through
Goat and into Waterman. Here we have an example which shows that such an ether organism is capable of
expanding outward through the whole universe. In the opposite constellation of Crab we found the ten-
dency toward strict form. Here we have almost the opposite, the overcoming of the form and the tendency
to unbind the ether forces for flight through universal spaces. We can experience this in the writings of
Novalis, especially in Fragments. There is not one province of life, art, science, or religion about which he
does not give, in a few words, the most inspiring, yet mysterious suggestions; which we can only under-
stand if we imagine that they are derived from an etheric organization which was open to the heights and
depths of the whole universe. Further, we know that during the last years of his life he literally faded away
into the realms of the dead. He had a deep connection and a consuming longing for those of his friends who
had passed over the threshold of death before him. His Hymns to the Night betray this mood, as do his
diaries of that time. This was the source of his intuitive remarks about all branches of life and human
knowledge. This is an excellent example of the influence of Jupiter from the position of Goat.
Johann Kepler: Kepler has been mentioned already in previous letters. Both during his prenatal state
(December 27, 1571) and at the moment of his death (November 15, 1630), Jupiter was in Waterman. This
indicates a condition of the ether body that enables its bearer to create a strong connection with the starry
universe. In the case of Kepler, this is obvious because he was a mathematician and astronomer by profes-
sion. This example reveals that the connection is not at all necessarily an abstract one. Kepler was inspired
by the idea of harmony in the starry universe. He listened to the “harmonies of the spheres”; he even wrote
scores of the music (Harmonices mundi) produced by the planets, according to his perception. Therefore,
such a formation of the ether organization need not tend toward professional astronomy. It can reveal itself
simply as a capacity for arranging earthly life so that it is in harmony with cosmic rhythms, sometimes even
without being consciously aware of it. Another example is Goethe, whose Jupiter was in Waterman during
most of the prenatal time. Also Wattenstein, the famous general of the Thirty Years War, tried to arrange his
activities according to the course of the stars. He had Jupiter in Waterman in his prenatal horoscope.
Virgil, the famous poet of the Aeneid, had a strong connection through Jupiter in the constellation of
Fishes, because when he died (September 22, 19 BC) Jupiter stood there. Such a position at the moment of
death does not show the primary gifts of a human being through the process of incarnation, yet it shows
something even more. During life on Earth, all the deeds of a human being are imprinted into his ether
body. After death, the ether body is dissolved into the ether spaces of the universe. The position of Jupiter
then indicates that which flows from a human soul as a fundamentally important achievement taken into
the cosmic regions, and thus it is preserved for further progress in the future.
In this position of Jupiter in Fishes, we can find human achievements expressed that flow into the ether
realms of the universe as an understanding and comprehension of the Father forces of the universe. In the
Aeneid, Virgil described the adventures of Aeneas, the mythological father of Rome. And with one phrase
he reveals his deep connection with the Father forces of the universe. He calls Jupiter “Omnipotent Father
Ether”. Thus he expressed what he experienced in the depths of his striving soul as Jupiter in Fishes, which
then actually appeared in the sky at the moment of his death. He described the planet Jupiter as the source
of the archetypes of life and Fishes as the realm of the Father forces of the universe.
Mars
The orbit of the planet Mars encloses that of the Earth. Mars is, therefore, the first of the superior
planets that are beyond the orbit of the Earth, whereas the inferior planets are inside this orbit. Through the
58
aspect of the Copernican system of the universe, we are used to looking at the Earth as moving in a circle
around the Sun. The Earth as a planet is certainly moving, but the time may not be very far hence when we
have also to consider the movement of the Sun, and the fact that both Sun and Earth are moving not in
circles but in one lemniscate form—the one drawn behind the other. The time has not yet come to expound
this outlook, and also this is not the place to speak of it in detail. At this point, if we only imagine that Sun
and Earth are moving in a lemniscate form, and that this lemniscate is, so to speak, wrapped into the path of
the planet Mars, then we have the picture necessary for our investigations in these letters. Further, as-
tronomy tells us that the planet Mars is smaller than the globe of the Earth. We naturally expect the
opposite, but its diameter is only slightly under a half that of the Earth. We have found during this century
and the last, a great number of tiny planetary bodies which are so small that we cannot see them with the
unaided eye and which are moving within the orbit of Mars. Some of them go even beyond this orbit into
that of Jupiter. Thus we have in Mars a planet that is smaller than the Earth, yet a great number of tiny
planets—the planetoids—are within its orbit. We can thus look upon Mars, from a certain point of view, as
a celestial body consisting of a main planet and a multitude of tiny bodies, which have the character of
planets, within the whole solar system.
How can we approach this planet Mars and its sphere from a spiritual point of view? In the last letter we
spoke of Saturn as the cosmic memory picture of the Ancient Saturn period of evolution and of Jupiter as
the heritage of Ancient Sun. This suggests looking upon Mars as a kind of recapitulation of Ancient Moon,
which precedes the Earth evolution—that is, which precedes the evolution of our present-day solar system.
We have not yet in our letters described Ancient Moon evolution in detail. We shall certainly have to do so
sometime in the future, but for the moment we must confine ourselves to a few guiding comments. Of
course details can be found in Rudolf Steiner’s Outline of Esoteric Science. The Ancient Sun evolution had
come to an end at a certain point of its development. Then all the substances and physical beings that had
been created disappeared. A “cosmic night” ensued during which all the hierarchical beings and their
creation ascended to higher planes of pure spiritual existence. After this “cosmic night” had ended, a new
“planet” came into existence. First of all, everything had to be recreated that had already existed upon
Ancient Saturn and Ancient Sun. Thus these past evolutions were repeated in shorter evolutionary cycles
of the newly created “planet”, which in occult language is called Ancient Moon. There, substance was still
more densified and partly became “water”. Besides this, there still existed warmth and “air” or light as
remnants of the previous cycles of Ancient Saturn and Ancient Sun.
The following facts of Ancient Moon evolution are essential for our investigations: together with the
densification of physical substances that took place and which in reality was another step further away from
the divine origin, the ancestors of the human race were now endowed with the power of consciousness. We
must remember that within the preceding evolution of Ancient Sun, the ancestor of humanity had become
the bearer of an ether or life body. It had not yet achieved the capacity of experiencing events around and
within it in relation to its own being as a separate entity that could feel these events as joyful, painful,
moving inwardly, etc. As the plants come into existence with the rising Sun in spring and summer and fade
away with the decline of the summery warmth and light, thus the Ancient Sun ancestor of humanity sub-
merged itself entirely into the events around it without relating them to itself as a being with a separate
inner existence.
This capacity was implanted into the ancestor of humanity at a certain moment in the Ancient Moon
evolution by the activity of the Spirits of Motion who sacrificed a part of their own Being. Connected with
the implanting of the consciousness body or “astral body”, there is an event that changed the whole course
of evolution. Certain spiritual Beings brought about a rebellion within Ancient Moon against the normal
course of development. It may sound strange that within the world of the Gods a rebellion should take
place. From a certain point or level of hierarchical experience, it may seem an act of opposition against the
normal course; however, from a still higher “plan” of cosmic evolution, it can be seen as a necessity that the
highest beings of the hierarchical order initiate for the necessary execution of their divine “plans”. As our
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Isis Sophia I
ancestors of humanity were endowed with the faculty of experiencing the events in their surroundings and
the events within them as their own pains and joys etc., the rebellious powers came and made use of this
faculty to lead them into the temptation of believing that the inner world, created by the sensations of the
astral body, is a “reality” in itself, separated from the existence of the rest of the universe. Thus a split came
into the whole Ancient Moon universe. There were the objective facts and spiritual beings on one side,
where everything that existed was a part of their own being, and on the other side was an inner world of
experience within our ancestors that was gradually drawn away by those mighty but rebellious spirits from
its “origin”. These rebellious spirits began to dwell within humanity as another “reality” besides that of the
outer world. This development was accompanied by a densification of physical substance. We can under-
stand that this was perhaps another most decisive step of the human being toward its independence and
toward the acquirement of the power of the “I”. Yet it was a moving away from its spiritual origin—from
the Gods. As the human being on Ancient Moon could not do this for itself, because it had not yet reached
the state of self-consciousness, mighty but rebellious spirits did it through the human being. We can under-
stand this event better if we alter the expression from, “another reality was created within the world of
humanity’s inner experiences”, to, “this inner reality was more and more regarded as the only reality in the
universe and the other was forgotten.” This has happened from the time of that event on Ancient Moon
onward through long ages of evolution, and we as human beings of the “historic age” have, in fact, reached
the deepest point of this descent into the separation from the divine origin. This is the main event of
Ancient Moon evolution. It changed many things; for instance, the relationship between the spiritual and
the physical world and the character of the kingdom of humanity, as well as those kingdoms that then
existed below it. A study of the Outline of Esoteric Science would contribute immensely toward an under-
standing of what has been indicated so briefly in the above description. This whole planetary evolution of
Ancient Moon is “remembered” in the sphere of Mars. The space, which is enclosed in the orbit of Mars,
is equal to the space that the Ancient Moon planet occupied; moreover, the sphere of Mars, that is the space
which is enclosed in the planet’s orbit, is the domain of the Spirits of Motion. This hierarchy was just the
one that endowed the ancestor of the human race with the astral body, which from the beginning was not
intended to fall away from its origin but later became the vehicle for the rebellion in Ancient Moon. There-
fore, we have now come to the following conclusions:
1) Mars and its sphere are the memory picture of Ancient Moon and the fundamental activity of the
Spirits of Motion must be connected with the endowment of the human being with an astral body.
2) As these astral forces were used by rebellious spirits for their world intentions, there must also be a
“memory” present in our Mars of this fact and its consequences. This is the creation of the impulses of
egoism and aggressiveness as well as self-activity in the human astral body by Mars and its spiritual inhab-
itants before we entered the life on Earth.
3) The impulse to create an inner, independent world of sensations, feelings, and emotions, although
caused by the outer events and beings, yet distinct from them, has a far deeper significance. For as we said,
this inner “reality” became the “sole reality” for the consciousness of the human beings of our time.
Therefore, our present-day perception of the world as consisting of material substance is due to the
activity of Mars upon the human being, especially upon the astral body in the time of incarnation. It may
sound fantastic, yet it is true, that the fact that we experience the world as material is due to the evolutionary
history of the human astral body. We, ourselves, have created the world of hard and solid matter; we
ourselves have created materialism, for the rebellious spirits in the universe have taught us, have spoken
into our astral body through long ages of cosmic evolution that our own sensations and soul experiences of
the surrounding universe are a reality in themselves, and in the end that they are the only reality. They
taught the human being to forget our divine origin, to trust only our own soul experiences. The astral or
soul body originally was intended only to make the sense perceptions conscious so that the senses could
become a clear, unspoiled mirror of the universe. The human senses still today are in themselves a clear
mirror of the universe, but the consciousness—the soul body—which makes its perceptions conscious,
60
bears the heritage of egoism and of self-preservation. And the “great egoism”, living in the astral body like
a poisonous injection, in the end desired to have everything for its own that came within range of the senses.
Not a trace of any outside action coming from a spiritual world was to be left in it. We have actually
achieved this. In our consciousness, we have really created a world in which the spirit is no longer mani-
fest. A world becomes conscious to us through our senses, which is the image of our own cold egoism. The
impulse to break away from the Gods and be independent, which was injected into the astral body, leads us
to interpret the sense perceptions as coming from a world that is deserted by the Gods; which is only a
mechanism, an image of our own incapacity of perceiving life and spirit.
This capacity of creating our own world through the forces of the astral body is expressed in the position
of Mars in the nativity of a human being and in the gestures and movements of Mars during the prenatal
embryonic development. We will presently illustrate this in examples.
The capacity inherited in the astral body to create “the world of the senses” has only come about through
impulses of rebellion against the God-Willed universe. If we imagine that this impulse might not have
worked or might have been overcome, we perceive quite a different world around us. The rebellious
impulse has led us into a world where we are ourselves and alone and surrounded by a universe that, in its
spiritual coldness and lifelessness, leaves us free. However, after we have achieved the self-conscious-
ness—the “I”, the rebellious impulse has lost its cosmic justification. Now, and still more in the future, the
astral body must become the vehicle for the creation of a consciousness that interprets the sense perceptions
as coming from the world of the “origin”—from a spiritual world. Spiritual science strives for the percep-
tion of the spiritual world that is working and manifest behind the curtain of the sense experiences. There-
fore, it must accept the scientific method of our age, but it cannot accept the theories of an age that suffers
severely from that great “rebellious impulse”.
As Mars is connected with the astral body, it is surely connected with the great “rebellious impulse” that
we have described, but we also find in it an expression of those forces in the human soul that strive to
overcome the negative and destructive activities of the astral or soul body. The astral body has been pen-
etrated by the impulse of egoism and aggressiveness. This impulse can only be overcome by a power that
is the opposite—the power of love and compassion. When we spoke in previous letters about Saturn in the
constellation of Scorpion, we mentioned the fact—revealed by Rudolf Steiner—that Buddha, the teacher of
love and compassion, went to Mars in a certain moment in order to overcome the decline upon this planet.
The decline upon Mars was caused by that rebellious impulse that created egoism and aggression. Thus we
can see in Mars the warrior—the maker of wars—as he was experienced in olden times. But since Buddha
has come to Mars, there is also another impulse that strives to bring love and compassion right down into
the human perceptions of the objective world. It is the impulse that strives to free the world from the spell
of the illusion of the existence of matter. This illusion is created where the sense perceptions meet the
activity of the astral body and there it must be overcome. The astral body has already been created before
birth; therefore, the act of redemption can be most effective only in the “status nascendus” of the soul body.
This takes place within the sphere of Mars, and it is there that Buddha is now active. The teaching of
Buddha can very well be regarded as a teaching of the purification of the sense perceptions. If we imagine
this impulse transferred to the sphere of Mars, where the “great rebellion” is engraved, we can very well
understand that in time to come it will grow to a power that will overcome the world of Maya, or illusion,
and change the nature of Mars.
The human soul also passes through the world of Mars in the life after death. If we take the descriptions
of Rudolf Steiner in Theosophy about the life after death, we find a confirmation of what has been said
above. The sphere of Mars corresponds to the first region of Spiritland described in Theosophy. In this first
region, the soul meets the archetypes of the physical world, of the physical objects. Dr. Steiner says, “In the
first region of Spiritland we are surrounded with the spiritual archetypes of the earthly things. During life
on Earth we learn to know only the shadows of these archetypes that we grasp in our thoughts…We move
among thoughts, but these thoughts are real Beings…We are, as it were, in the thought workshop in which
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Isis Sophia I
earthly things are formed and constructed.” Human beings experience, even in this sphere, how we belong
to the physical corporeal reality as a unity; how we are interwoven into the existence of physical things. Dr.
Steiner speaks of one of the fundamental thoughts of ancient Indian Vedanta wisdom: “The sage acquires,
even during his earthly life, what others experience after death, namely the ability to grasp the thought that
he himself is related to all things; the thought ‘Thou art that’. It is the fact that the human being is related
to the primordial Being in Whom all beings have their origin.” If human beings bear within themselves the
power of that all-creating, primordial being, then we must be responsible for the appearance of the physical
world through our Mars nature that has bound us to the physical world through our sense perceptions and
our consciousness of them. There we meet the same fact that we have elaborated above, only from a
different angle. After death the human soul experiences in the sphere of Mars the spiritual archetypes of the
physical objects in the world. We can experience them in this sphere, because before we entered it we have
been freed and purified in our soul from forces such as egoism and aggression. Now we are able to expe-
rience the theory of material objects as illusion. We become a follower of Buddha who has overcome the
deception caused by the earthly senses. Before birth, we acquire in the sphere of Mars the capacity to
perceive with our bodily senses the earthly world into which we enter, yet through our sense perceptions we
are able to create a world of illusion—of matter—or a world that is the manifestation of the archetypes, of
the thoughts of the Gods. By Mars we are gifted with the capacity of doing the one or the other; this is left
free to us. It will always be a struggle within our individual soul where we will individually go; the way of
the new creation or that of world decline. This individual struggle appears in the movements of Mars
before birth. It shows the possibilities that a human being has brought down to Earth, but it does not show
the decision which lies within the realm of human freehood.
Coming back to the beginning of this description of the nature of Mars, we can now understand better
why it consists of that main body, which in astronomy we call Mars, and a multitude of those “asteroids” as
well. The sphere of Mars is a region of a cosmic fight where an old and rigid world fights with a young,
light-filled universe that is there only as a germ of future world evolution. Therefore, we can imagine that
the main planet once was split up into many tiny planets by a fight which took place in the universe. Thus
the main planet has become smaller even than that of the Earth. In the following letter we will elaborate the
Mars-positions in the horoscopes of a number of historic personalities, which will enable us to verify much
of what has been said about Mars in this letter.
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TWELFTH LETTER - March 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Mars
In our last letter we described in detail the nature and the sphere of the planet Mars. We will now try to
illustrate this knowledge in a number of historical nativities. In such a consideration, we need to take into
account not only the actual time of birth but also the period of prenatal embryonic development. For
although the position of Mars at the moment of birth gives the decisive picture of the Mars nature of a
human being, the movements and gestures of this planet during the embryonic development are also of
importance. They show the inner evolution of the soul forces toward the final manifestation of the Mars
nature. In order to understand the essential quality of Mars in relationship to the twelve constellations of
the Zodiac, we have to start with the constellation of Virgin.
Mars in Virgin: When Joan of Arc was born, January 6, 1412, Mars had left the constellation of Lion
and was about to enter Virgin. This example gives us an impression of how such a human being perceives
the world and how this world awakens consciousness in the soul. In this case Mars, not having yet fully
entered Virgin after having passed through the constellations from Fishes to Lion during the embryonic
development, was still free from the influence of the Fall that happened during the evolution of Ancient
Moon and which we have described in our last letter. It still had a sun-like quality and was not yet impeded
by the darkening influx of the “rebellious” powers in the universe. The soul body was still in a state of
cosmic innocence. This helps us to understand the strange power living in Joan of Arc that enabled her to
intervene so decisively in the course of history. It was not only enthusiasm that gave her such strength and
fearlessness, but it was the unshakable certainty of her spiritual call. As the forces of her soul body were
beyond the darkening and weakening powers of hindrance due to the Fall, the sun-like magic of her appear-
ance worked like a strange and irresistible miracle upon the people of her time.
When Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous philosopher, was born (October 15, 1844), Mars had already
entered Virgin. It had entered the realm of the Zodiac that reflects the entry into that great cosmic epoch
during which the rebellion of which we have spoken took place. This Mars of Nietzsche also passed
through the constellations from Fishes to Virgin. This indicates that in Nietzsche’s soul body there also
lived something like the cosmic innocence, which we found in Joan of Arc, yet in his case this cosmic
innocence became the victim of destructive, superhuman powers. Nietzsche’s life is one of the greatest
tragedies. Mars on its way from Fishes to Virgin could not overcome an opposition of Saturn, which took
place in the second half of Nietzsche’s embryonic development. The innocent, sun-like soul power that
was hidden in Nietzsche and which shyly tried to break through in some of his writings—as well as in his
relationship to Richard Wagner—could not really descend from its spiritual heights into the realities of
earthly life. Thus his soul being was torn, and he became insane at the age of 44.
Mars in Scales: Mars entered Scales when Thomas More was born on the 7 February 1478. Here Mars
had already taken one step further into the cosmic realm that reflects the Fall within Ancient Moon evolu-
tion. From what we know of his destiny, if we try to put ourselves into the place of Thomas More, we find
that he was surrounded by a world in which dark impulses worked to oppose the manifestation of spiritual
truth. However, Thomas More stood upright in the midst of this darkness. He was so great a character, and
his soul or consciousness body was so filled with bright Sun forces, that he was able finally to be victor
over the trials of destiny. We can find this soul power reflected in the prenatal movement of Mars. At the
time of his conception Mars was in Bull, and it then moved through the constellations of Twins, Crab, Lion,
and Virgin until it finally passed into Scales. Thus we find here again the cosmic innocence of the Mars
forces that we also found in the two examples given above. This gave Thomas More his great strength of
character.
Mars in Scorpion: Mars in Scorpion is the precise cosmic reflection of the Fall within Ancient Moon
evolution. It is an expression of soul forces that are engulfed in one way or another by the consequences of
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the event which we have described; that event which after long periods of evolution finally made the Earth
appear purely material.
We can find this influence of Mars in Scorpion in such nativities as that of Bacon of Verulam, born
January 22, 1561, and the Archduke Rudolf of Austria, born August 21, 1858.
Bacon of Verulam, especially toward the end of his life, was defeated by the impulse that led to the
modern conception of natural science. He has even been called the father of the empiricism that became so
important in scientific method. This is an empiricism that does not take into account the presence of any
spirit in nature. It considers the phenomena of nature simply as the result of the more or less mechanical
reactions of material substances. Thus those forces, which had their origin in the Fall, brought humanity to
the deepest point in the whole course of its evolution, for humanity came to experience the world as pure
matter.
The Archduke Rudolf of Austria became so dissatisfied with the narrow and very materialistic life,
which as heir to the Austrian and Hungarian crown he was obliged to live, that he committed suicide. This
shows that the Mars impulse of the Fall, when not taken up, can even destroy a human life.
Mars in Archer: Mars in Archer reflects a condition of the astral body that brings to human beings an
experience of the conflict of the material world with the spark of the spirit within them.
When Goethe was born, August 28, 1749, Mars had entered the constellation of Archer. At the time of
his conception Mars stood in Virgin. From there it moved through Scales and Scorpion and in the last
months of Goethe’s embryonic development made a loop in Scorpion and Archer.
Because of the individual nature of Goethe’s soul body, the effect of the Fall could be fully seen in this
personality, and he recognized within himself the conflict due to this world event. He speaks of the two
souls that lived in him. The one always strove to drag him down into the realm where the senses are found
to experience a world of pure matter, and the other called him back to the heavenly world where those
spirits live who are the exalted ancestors of humanity’s own being. We can also experience that Goethe, in
his struggle between these forces in his soul body, overcame the consequences of the Fall. He purified the
consciousness of his sense experiences. He could see the spirit working in nature and described it in his
writings of the archetypal plant. He perceived this as the supersensible prototype of all existing plant life,
which appear modified in the peculiarities of the visible types of the plant world.
Another personality who had almost the same gestures of Mars in his nativity and during his prenatal
development is Count Leo Tolstoy, born September 9, 1828. If we read his biographies, his diaries, and his
books, many of which reveal the struggle of his life, we can detect in him that discord which originates in
the Fall caused by the development of the human astral body. He felt himself continuously torn between a
world of matter which caught him through his senses, and a world that was the manifestation of the spiritual
evolution of humanity and the universe. He suffered severely from this discord, yet he too, to a great extent,
overcame that Fall. This is revealed not so much in his doings and writings, but in the way in which today
he appears as a human being to the soul life of humanity. The mere sound of his name has a certain weight
in the cultural life of today, and this cannot easily be put aside.
Mars in Goat: Mars in Goat reflects a condition of the human soul body that enables it to overcome the
consequences of the Fall. Now the human being can finally redeem the duality created by humanity’s
temptation through the forces of the great cosmic Fall.
When Richard Wagner was born, May 22, 1813, Mars had entered the constellation of Goat. At the time
of his conception it stood in Lion. Thus it had moved during the prenatal development through Lion,
Virgin, Scales, Scorpion, and Archer until it entered Goat. This signifies, so to speak, a long journey of
these forces before they reach their final goal. We can find this confirmed in Richard Wagner’s life. There
was something in his soul nature that was like the heritage of a sun-like innocence, derived from past stages
of humanity, when it had not yet entered so deeply into the abyss of the separation from the spiritual world.
This we find reflected in the position of Mars in Lion. Then we see it entering the constellations that reflect
the Fall. This is connected with a long period of inner struggle and difficulty. However, later in his life he
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reached the goal of his striving. He found that which he called “peace from the powers of illusion” in his
own soul, and out of this peace of the soul he could create the music of his last great drama Parsifal. Mars
in Goat strives for the pacification of the soul forces that wandered through the deep valley of human denial
of the spirit and loneliness within the material world, resulting from the development of the human soul
body since the rebellion within Ancient Moon evolution.
Mars in Waterman: With Mars in Waterman, there arises the problem of whether the human being can
not only strive for the purification of the Mars nature, but even redeem the duality that has entered the soul
as the result of the Fall. The striving for the redemption of the discord in the human soul body is mostly—
seen from a superficial point of view—connected with catastrophes in human life. From a more spiritual
point of view, it is mostly a struggle between the head and heart forces. In the head those forces of the astral
body are active that are apt to connect humanity through the senses too strongly with the world of matter,
whereas those forces that are working through the heart want to establish the connection of human beings
with the universe through the power of love. The head and the senses are open to the Ahrimanic tempta-
tion; the heart must be guarded from Lucifer’s temptation.
This can even lead to physical malformation under certain circumstances. The astrologer Alan Leo
reports the case of a child that was born “without posterior cranial development or brains, with merely a
frontal mask in fact.” When this child was born, Mars was in Waterman. Of course this was not the only
fact in the nativity that indicated the cause of this malformation. We have as a historical example the
nativity of Mary, Queen of the Scots. When she was born, December 7, 1542, Mars had just entered
Waterman. At the time of her conception it stood between Scales and Scorpion, where it started to make a
loop, or retrograde movement.
Thus we have a very good example of a personality who through her astral organism was involved in
the Fall. The position of Mars in Waterman at the time of her birth indicates that this was only one side of
her nature. Her life story proves that she was continually absorbed by the struggle between her head and her
heart consciousness. We can only understand in this way the chaos through which she had to pass at times.
The last act that happened in her life, the beheading, is like a materialized symbol of the gigantic struggle
within this personality.
From an outer point of view it may appear that she did not succeed in reconciling the head and heart
forces, as her head was severed from her heart. Although during her long captivity, she gradually estab-
lished within herself peace between the opposing forces in her soul. Finally she remained as spiritual victor
on the battle field of her own being, and the details of her death are only a grim reflective caricature painted
by the powers of jealousy that oppose spirituality.
Mars in Fishes: Mars in Fishes can lead to the realization of peace as the result of the reconciliation
between the contradicting forces described above, that is, between the powers of Heaven and Earth. This
realization may come only after a lifelong struggle through the deep valley of the Fall. Here a consideration
of the prenatal movements of Mars is exceedingly important.
We have knowledge of one ideal example of Mars in Fishes. When Novalis was born, May 2, 1772,
Mars was in this constellation. About the time of his conception Mars entered Virgin. This indicates that
there was present in the astral body of Novalis a manifestation of the seven aspects of the soul body about
which we have spoken above, and which we have described from the point of view of Mars in the constel-
lations from Virgin to Fishes. In Novalis the sun-like cosmic innocence of the astral forces was manifest, as
well as the great “Fall and Rise”. All this grandeur of astral power was then finally accumulated in the
position of Mars in Fishes. It became a healing power of peace and reconciliation permeating all those who
lived in the surrounding of this wonderful being. We have many accounts of this fact. His astral forces
were brought into harmony and awakened to the reality of the spiritual world after he had gone through the
most agonizing soul experiences, which brought home to him the reality of the Fall in the garment of death,
for he met death in the loss of one of his most beloved friends.
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Mars in Ram: Mars in Ram indicates a soul body that, if it is associated with certain other facts, pro-
vides a suitable foundation for cognition of the spiritual world. Mars in the constellations from Virgin to
Fishes is connected with the cosmic development that led into the Fall and with its redemption. The
constellations from Ram to Lion are opposite those which we have described above; therefore, they reflect
those powers that gradually withdrew to higher spiritual regions when the great Fall occurred.
We have an example in the nativity of Swedenborg. At the time of his birth, January 29, 1688, Mars
stood in Ram. We know that he developed a capacity of clairvoyance in his later life. In this case we need
to add several facts in order to understand this clairvoyance of Swedenborg, but we cannot do it now.
Perhaps later there may be an opportunity for us to elaborate the details of this nativity.
Mars in Bull: When Raphael Santi was born, March 26 or April 6, 1483, Mars had entered the constel-
lation of Bull. At the time of his conception, Mars was in Waterman where it performed a loop in the first
stages of Raphael’s prenatal development.
Mars indicates a condition of the consciousness body that, from the beginning, carries the impulse of
reconciliation between the astral forces of head and heart and also of forming a conscious relationship
between Heaven and Earth. Indeed, if we look at his portrait or read his biography, we can find it confirmed
that in this amiable personality there was not the shadow of discord between Heaven and Earth but a warm,
radiating love for all existence in the universe.
Finally, in his case Mars had entered Bull, which is opposite Scorpion. When Mars is in Scorpion, we
have a manifestation of the Fall written into the human astral body. Although this position marks the
beginning of the decline of universal development into matter, it also marks the opening out for humanity
of the beauty of the world of the senses. The beauty of the world of the senses is the last remnant of the
manifestation of the spirit within it. It radiates from Bull through Mars and can penetrate the opposite
constellation. Therefore, if Mars is in Bull in a nativity, it manifests itself in the astral body of such a human
being as the power to recognize the spirit in the physical world as beauty. It can come forth as an inclination
toward poetry, but in the case of Raphael it revealed itself in the beautiful world of color. If we stand in
front of his paintings, for instance, as those of the “Stanza della Signatura”, we can experience the soul
condition that must have inspired Raphael. There the world of material objects has become a revelation of
the spirit through the language of color.
Mars in Twins: The famous philosopher Schopenhauer was born when Mars stood in the constellation
of Twins, February 22, 1788. It started its course in Fishes about the time of his conception. During the last
months of this prenatal development, it made a loop in Twins.
The Twins are opposite Archer. In the aspect of Mars in Archer, we found an astral condition that can
make human existence appear as a discord between the material and the spiritual world. With Mars in
Twins, this fight is, so to speak, decided in favor of the spiritual world.
Schopenhauer’s philosophy, which to a certain extent is connected with the individual condition of his
soul body, is an expression of this tendency. A human being’s experience of the world is, according to the
world conception of Schopenhauer, the result of his own soul condition. Therefore, if we experience pain
and sorrow, it is due to the fact that we ourselves have created this world through our soul connection with
it. For the sake of salvation from pain and sorrow, we must turn away our soul life from this world. In this
outlook, there appears some vague connection with a misinterpreted Buddhism. It is a kind of spiritualism
that does not want to purify the sense perceptions so that the light of the spirit can again shine through the
objects of the physical world but longs to escape that world which is rigid and uncomfortable and leave it
unredeemed.
This is the danger of Mars in Twins, but of course the goal that it demands is the realization of the
necessity for that struggle in us as a matter of importance for the whole world destiny.
Mars in Crab: When the poet of the Divina Comedia, Dante, was born (May 1265), Mars was in Crab.
It started during the prenatal development with a loop in Bull. Therefore, we can recall what we said about
Mars in Bull. In this case the poet shed the light of the spirit upon the events of the material world that were
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dark and tragic in the personal life of the poet. Then in the aspect of Mars in Crab we find indicated another
capacity engraved into the soul body of Dante. In the opposite constellation, in Goat, we found indicated
the impulse to pacify the contradicting forces in the soul. Here in Dante’s poem, overshadowed by Mars in
Crab, we find the manifestation of the cosmic grandeur of this process of pacification and purification. The
gigantic scenes of the Inferno and the Purgatorio are the cosmic background of those experiences through
which every human being has to pass after death.
Mars in Lion: Lion is opposite Waterman. Mars in Waterman indicates the striving for the union be-
tween the astral forces working in the heart and the head. When Mars is in Lion we can experience the
striving for the cosmic realization, the spiritual achievement of this union. This appears as enthusiasm in
the head or realm of thinking and in the heart or realm of willing.
Such a kind of substantiated enthusiasm we can detect in the poet Schiller. When he was born, Novem-
ber 10, 1759, Mars had entered Lion after it had started its journey in Waterman about the time of his
conception. The enthusiasm and the striving for the union between head and heart literally consumed his
body.
At the birth of Napoleon I, August 15, 1769, Mars was also in Lion but in conjunction with Neptune. It
had started in Ram with a loop and in conjunction with Uranus. The power of the soul body, indicated in
the gesture of Mars, could also have become a realized enthusiasm, let us say, for the ideal of the French
Revolution. However, it was estranged from the physical world and became instead a kind of mechanical
spiritualistic dynamism, which rather destroyed the union between the physical and the spiritual world.
This tragedy manifests itself in the conjunctions of Mars with Uranus and Neptune, which imposed a
superhuman, even inhuman mood upon the qualities of Mars.
The Events in the Sky

The planet Saturn is in the constellation of Twins. It entered this constellation at midsummer last year
when it was in conjunction with the Sun; that is to say, it then stood directly behind the Sun. During
Christmas time, on the 29 December, it was in opposition to the Sun. The Sun had then moved into the
opposite part of the Zodiac and stood in the constellation of Archer. From October 24 until March 6 Saturn
performed a loop. It then moved backward or against the general direction in which the heavenly bodies of
our planetary system are moving. However, during this retrograde movement it did not leave the constel-
lation of Twins.
We should look upon such an event as we look upon the movements of the hands of a clock. It is not the
clock that determines our life, but we arrange our life according to the time which the clock indicates. Thus
we cannot speak of any determination of earthly events by the influence of the heavenly bodies; for in-
stance, in this case by Saturn in Twins, but we can read in this event the cosmic “hour” into which humanity
has entered. It is left to us to fulfill the needs of this hour.
Saturn is reflected in the depths of the soul life of humanity. It announces the hour of the deeper
historical impulses that come to life in the unknown realms of human will. The last time when Saturn was
in Twins, humanity was in the midst of the First World War, for this was during the years 1914 to 1917.
Now we are in a similar position and it looks as if all the unanswered problems of those past years have
risen and stand again at the threshold. Very often it looks as if they had grown even greater.
The constellation of Twins reflects the age-old duality of human beings when they experience them-
selves as single individualities. On one side they experience, more or less, clearly in themselves the divine
spark that connects the individual with a spiritual or cosmic world, and on the other hand they find them-
selves placed into the earthly world that they experience through the senses and which rigidly imprisons
within them their truly “human” nature.
No reconciliation seems to exist between the two worlds that meet in the human individuality. These
two worlds are at enmity and this hate grows greater every day. This is the position where humanity stands
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today. Saturn in Twins announces the “hour” of the “I”. These problems have to be solved during this hour,
or humanity will be overtaken by a much mightier catastrophe at a later time.
This is the great question that appears reflected in the position of Saturn in Twins: how can the human
soul guide itself between the spirit and the body? The revelations of the spirit are very powerful and will
become still more powerful. In our time these revelations can be very strange and almost shattering. Those
who are in the center of events, and those who have to fight in the different theaters of war know this only
too well. Still there is the danger that the human being may not be able to take these experiences suffi-
ciently seriously any longer, or that their souls may be overpowered and their lives brought into disorder.
The spirit of humanity and of the world is in danger of becoming a disturbing phantom for the soul experi-
ence of humanity.
The world to which human beings are attached through the body is becoming more and more hardened
and painful. Positive hatred of everything connected with spirit or even with soul seems to be innate in it.
Because of this cold hatred, the Earth planet is in danger of becoming utterly unfit for human souls and
suitable only for mechanized phantoms of the human being. The problem in the depths of the human soul
that is reflected in the position of Saturn is this: how can humanity today overcome this twofold danger?
We must overcome the power in ourselves that causes the world to which our body belongs to appear to us
as rigid, cold, and hateful. If we purify our senses from the old-world, innate egoism, we can learn to
perceive the physical world as a revelation of the spirit. Spiritual science gives us the power to look into
nature and see the light of the spirit penetrating it. When the spirit reveals itself in the realm of the human
soul, we need to recognize that there is a true path by which we may attain definite knowledge of the higher
worlds. The realization of this knowledge, and the power to communicate it to those who are in need, is the
task of those who have already followed the path that spiritual science has revealed. This knowledge alone
can enable human beings to overcome the dangers arising from spiritual experiences for which the soul is
unprepared and which work as disturbing phantoms.
This is the present situation of humanity as it is reflected in the position of Saturn in Twins. It shows the
general outline of the forces that are working in the depths of human souls as a world destiny. Further
influences are reflected by the position and movements of the other planets, but we shall speak of these in
the following letters.
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THIRTEENTH LETTER - April 1945

The Sun I
In the 11th letter we indicated the lemniscate form of our solar system. A conception of this world
outlook may sooner or later transform the Copernican system so that a more spiritual understanding of the
universe is awakened. As we have now to speak about the Sun, it will be of great help if we try to imagine
this form of the Sun moving in the course of one year through space in a lemniscate and drawing the Earth
behind it in the same lemniscate. Thus this form would constitute the path of both Sun and Earth. This
picture can help us to create an understanding of the sphere of the Sun. The Copernican system alone
cannot bring us an imagination of the sphere of the Sun, but the lemniscate of the Sun-Earth path creates the
picture of a spatial form, which we can also find inscribed into the human form in connection with the
contradictory activities in head and body. We can find this form also in many other connections. The
lemniscatory movement is only the fundamental principle. The movement of Sun and Earth is in reality
much more complicated, so that the Sun appears to us on Earth to be moving through the circle of the
Ecliptic in the course of one year. However, these details need not concern us now in our approach to the
spiritual nature of the Sun.
In our previous descriptions we saw that Saturn is the sphere or the garment of the Spirits of Will,
Jupiter is the sphere of the Spirits of Wisdom, and Mars the sphere of the Spirits of Motion. In the sphere
of the Sun—the sphere that is the spatial form indicated by the movement of the Sun and which we can
fundamentally imagine as a lemniscate—we can see the realm of the Spirits of Form, the Exusiai of the
Greeks and the Elohim according to the Hebrew esoteric teaching (see 9th letter).
The spiritual biography of the Spirits of Form will give us an impression of the forces that work through the
sphere of the Sun. We can already find the activity of the Spirits of Form within Ancient Saturn evolution.
They radiated the impulse of individualization into the Ancient Saturn universe, and yet this planet was far
from being able to take on and evolve this impulse. Thus there remained only a reflection of the impulse of
the Exusiai, which appeared as the division of the hitherto united planetary body into many single bodies,
the predecessors of the human physical body of today (see 3rd letter).
Therefore, Spirits of Form appear as those Spirits who prepared the way for the final entry of the
individuality, the “I”, into the world. They continued this through all the cycles of evolution until the time
of the fulfillment of their impulse had become, in the creating and refining of the vessel of the “I”, the
human physical form. This fundamental impulse of the Spirits of Form is woven into their cosmic garment,
which is the sphere of the Sun. It is preserved there and is still connected with the entry of the human
individuality into the bodily form through the gateway of birth.
The position of the Sun at the moment of birth shows which part of the human body is especially
evolved at the time of entry into earthly life. This is very complicated, because the, more or less, one-sided
development of the body can be a hindrance as well as an enhancement of certain capacities derived from
past incarnations. This hindrance has to be overcome just as much as the capacities have to be developed
further during life on Earth. An investigation of the details of the nativity can reveal these peculiarities.
The positions of the Sun in the signs of the ecliptic at the moment of birth give the foundation for
forming a judgment about the particular relationship of the human being to its bodily form. Here we must
clearly distinguish between the fixed-star constellations of the Zodiac and the ecliptic with its twelve “signs”.
(In the 2nd letter we have already indicated this difference.) The twelve constellations of the fixed-star
Zodiac are beyond the whole of our solar system in the depths of the fixed-star universe. They represent the
visible image of the original creative Spirit of the hierarchical order. Also present in them is the eternal
archetypal astral image of the Individual Being as it was planned by the Gods. In the ecliptic, which is the
annual path of the Sun through space and that is brought about by the movement of the Sun in a lemniscate,
we have to see those forces that descend as a kind of double of the human form into the physical body and
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strive to make it an image of the astral archetype. They are etheric forming powers. As the astral archetype
of humanity, visibly manifest in the twelve constellations of the Zodiac, is a twelvefold entity, also the
forming powers of the ecliptic are twelvefold and related to the twelve principal regions of the human body.
Still, we must imagine these twelve regions of the ecliptic separate from the Zodiac of the fixed stars. For
instance, the ecliptic commences differently; it is entirely a matter of the relationship between Sun and
Earth. This is expressed in the change of the seasons on Earth. The year of the seasons starts with spring or
at the time when the Sun is in the vernal point. This is the point of commencement of the ecliptic. It is
related to the head of the human form, or Ram, because it is that realm in the sphere of the Sun where the
subtle formative forces that imprint the astral archetype of the head into the human body are centered. Thus
the Sun—and also the Earth—goes through the twelve regions of the ecliptic in the course of one year,
which correspond to the twelve regions of the human body. The Sun enters the sign of Aries on the 21st of
March, the sign of Taurus on the 21st of April until the 21st of May when it enters the sign of Gemini, etc.
The position of the Sun in one of the twelve signs of the ecliptic at the time of birth shows the final
“form” that has been created during the embryonic development out of the consequences of former incarna-
tions. During the whole time of the embryonic processes, the Sun moved on an average through nine signs
of the ecliptic. This is an image of the evolutionary metamorphosis of the body toward the peculiar and
individual final form, and it is also imprinted into the human form so that it appears as the picture of the
various periods in the development of the body during the life after birth.
We will now give a short description of the Sun in the twelve signs of the ecliptic, but we should not
forget that all these descriptions are insufficient for forming a judgment about the influence of the Sun in
the nativity, because there are so many individual facts to be considered besides that of the position in the
ecliptic. Therefore, it is impossible to fix them into definite rules.
The Sun in the sign of Aries is especially active in forming the head of the human being. The subtle
etheric forces that build up the head are then used more strongly than in any other case to express the
individual peculiarities of a personality. Those forces may then become the vehicle of the enfolding of
great initiative and energy. They make possible the introduction of new ideas, new methods, and new
outlooks in any branch of life. Such a personality may be the bearer of an impulse, the execution of which
is left to others. It is another question whether such an impulse is constructive or destructive. We have
examples in Hahnemann—the founder of Homeopathy, Johann Seb. Bach—the composer, and Prince Otto
of Bismarck—the founder of Prussianized Germany.
The Sun in the sign of Taurus gives a tendency toward a strong formation in the region of the larynx. A
personality may build almost the whole of its earthly life out of the forces that find their expression in this
realm of the body. This may appear in the predominating use of the forces of speech and sound, as in the
case of the composer Tschaikowsky or of the poet Shakespeare; but these forces can also be misused for the
sake of power as, for instance, in the case of Robespierre and Lenin, because the position of the Sun does
not bestow upon the personality any moral judgment on the expression of its powers.
The Sun in the sign of Gemini impresses upon the body the formative forces that are especially con-
nected with the arms. A personality in whom these powers are active may feel centered in this realm and
use these subtle etheric forces for self-expression in life. Examples are the novelist Bulwer-Lytton, whose
gifts of expression are shown in writing and not through speech, and also the painter Albrecht Dürer.
The Sun in the sign of Cancer centers the capacities of the personality in those forces that form the chest
of the human body; therefore it gives a tendency to embrace the personal world, may it be large or small.
From this tendency, love can spring forth in the personality for that which is entrusted through destiny to its
care, or even longing for conquest. Examples are Alexander the Great, Charles XII of Sweden, and
Maximilian of Mexico.
The Sun in the sign of Leo strengthens the formative forces that work in the circulation of the blood and
the breathing. A personality with this endowment can display a kind of royal attitude in any sphere of life
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for the streams of life flow forth from the innermost heart. This can, however, also become the source of an
extreme egoism. Examples are H.P. Blavatsky, Shelley, Napoleon I, [and Willi Sucher].
The Sun in the sign of Virgo concentrates the abilities of a human being in those forces that express
themselves in the region below the diaphragm. Such an individuality can, as it were, digest the world,
whether it be pleasant or hard. Examples are Goethe, Elizabeth Queen of England, Cardinal Richelieu, and
Leo Tolstoi.
The Sun in the sign of Libra favors the employment of those capacities that are inherent in the hips or in
the various organs of balance in the human body. A person in whom these are developed may become a
master in balancing out differences or smoothing out difficulties in the human world. Such a person can
become an incorruptible judge as well as an insincere juggler with destiny. Examples are Savonarola and
Caesare Borgia.
The Sun in the sign of Scorpio gives the power to employ forces that bring about progress, and often
this progress is won by the destruction of that which is outworn and reactionary. The sweeping away of
prejudice and tradition can open the way for human progress, but it can also become a solely destructive
force. Examples are: Erasmus of Rotterdam—the humanist, Martin Luther, and Friedrich Schiller—the
poet.
The Sun in the sign of Sagittarius gives the opportunity in life of especially using those forces that form
the thighs of the human body. It takes the human being into the ever-changing waves of the outer world.
Such a personality can be very spirited, but if this capacity is too one-sided it can also be swept away by its
power. Examples are Mary Queen of the Scots, King Charles I of England, Beethoven, and Heinrich Heine.
The Sun in the sign of Capricorn strengthens those forces that form the knees and elbows. They are
forces that establish the link between the outer world of objects and the inner world of consciousness. The
sense-organs, especially the eyes, inherit a similar capacity. Those who are born when the Sun is in Capri-
corn, are faced with the problem of balancing the relationship between the inner and the outer world. On
the one hand, one may attain absolute confidence in the objective reality of one’s inner experiences; or on
the other hand, one may suffer the loss of this confidence and strive vainly for an objective and sure picture
of the world outside the boundaries of the human soul experience. Examples are Joan of Arc, Nostradamus,
famous for his prophecies, and Isaac Newton.
The Sun in the sign of Aquarius favors the development of those forces that build up the lower legs.
They are apt to carry the human consciousness into the realm “beyond its skin” into the vast sea of the
cosmic ether. For a personality with these endowments, the decisive problem is whether the ego is strong
enough to hold and to orientate itself upon this sea. Examples are John Ruskin, Byron, Mozart, and
Swedenborg.
Finally, the Sun in the sign of Pisces is connected with the formative forces of the feet. A person born
when the Sun is in this sign experiences the Earth upon which the feet tread and, as it were, “tastes” it.
According to the power of the individual ego, the Earth is then experienced as a fallen body or as a heavy
and depressing burden, which it is humanity’s task to transmute and redeem. Examples are Michael Angelo,
Victor Hugo, Schopenhauer, and Cardinal Newman.
Thus the Sun has the power to carry the astral archetype of the Individual Being down into the indi-
vidual life of the individual on Earth. The members of this archetypal being are thrown into the whirlpool
of individual human destiny. The Sun of our solar system draws this virginal astral substance, which is the
origin of all physical substance, from the depths of the world of the fixed stars toward the center of our
universe. This archetypal substance passes through various degrees of densification before it reaches the
Sun. On Earth it reaches the state of matter and of manifestation in the sphere of the individual.
But this is not the final step of the activity of the Sun. Of this we shall have to speak in the following
letter and we will then see that the Sun in reality is a threefold Being. We will then have to touch on the
greatest mysteries in the universe. In this letter we have been able to describe only one side of this problem.
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Isis Sophia I

The most important event in the sky at present is the loop of Venus in the constellation of Ram and
Fishes. During the past months we have seen Venus as the bright evening star in the western sky, but soon
it will disappear completely from our sight. It is moving backward in the Zodiac toward the Sun, and on the
25th of April it will stand straight above the Sun. We must imagine that in reality Venus stands between the
Sun and the Earth; only the angle in which we see it from the Earth makes it appear to us as if it were
standing above the Sun.
These loops of Venus, which occur when it stands in front of the Sun—that is to say in the space
between the Sun and the Earth—take place in rhythmical intervals of about 19 months, and each time they
take place in different constellations of the Zodiac. If we were to draw an image of the Zodiac as a circle on
a piece of paper, and after observing the movements of Venus for a period of 8 years, mark the loops—
inferior conjunctions when Venus is in front of the Sun, and superior conjunctions when Venus is behind
the Sun—we would make a surprising discovery. We would find that all the conjunctions take place at the
5 corners of a regular pentagram drawn within the circle. In an interval of 8 years we would always find one
loop and one superior conjunction in each corner of this pentagram.
The present loop of Venus takes place in Ram and Fishes. We must now imagine that at this point in the
Zodiac one of the 5 corners of a huge pentagram stands suspended in the heavens. Therefore, this corner in
Ram and Fishes must have been the scene of other conjunctions of Venus with the Sun, and also similar
events must take place in the future.
The last loop and also the culminating event, which was the inferior conjunction, took place at this
corner about Easter 1937. Four years later, about Easter 1941, a superior conjunction occurred in approxi-
mately the same position.
A close comparison shows that this corner of the pentagram has slightly moved backward since 1937.
In 1937 it was exactly between the head of Ram and one of the Fishes. Now in 1945 it has completely
entered Fishes, and during the coming 100 to 120 years this corner will slowly move through Fishes. Not
only this corner is in movement but also the whole pentagram is slowly turning in the Zodiac like the
spokes of a gigantic cosmic wheel. We live at a time during which this one spoke of the wheel is turning
away from Ram and entering Fishes. Only after about 300 years will humanity witness this event again.
Just as the countenance of a human being betrays his inner emotions and experiences, this event ex-
presses the inner life of the spiritual worlds. In the sphere of Venus, we can meet the spiritual beings who
72
are the Guides and Guardians of human communities; for example, of the nations. Thus, if the “five-
pointed star” of Venus (which is the pentagram [created by] the conjunctions of Venus with the Sun) starts
a new cycle by entering Fishes, we must expect it to be an expression of great decisions in the sphere of the
Folk-Spirits. In looking into the events in the sky, we might say that we can perceive something like a great
council of the Folk-Spirits because of the alarming situation of humanity on Earth.
A similar event took place at the end of the 17th century when Peter the Great became Tsar of Russia and
westernized his country with great energy. It would be very interesting to study the history of those days
closely in connection with the events of today, and through such a study we should find a better under-
standing of many of the tendencies that are becoming apparent in Europe today.
The present loop is also connected with the year 1937, which was the time of the so-called Civil War in
Spain, and especially with the period preceding the outbreak of the war between Germany and Russia in the
spring of 1941. This indicates also the problems of humanity as they reveal themselves from a spiritual
point of view. The transit from Ram to Fishes suggests the West-East problem of modern humanity that is
represented in Europe in a kind of miniature way in the polarity of Spain and Russia. Thus, if we are
conscious of this Venus-event in the sky, we learn to listen to the Apocalypse of the coming fifty or even a
hundred years, which is the necessary result of the spiritual judgment of the events around us.
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Isis Sophia I
FOURTEENTH LETTER - May 1945

The Sun II
Modern astronomy regards the Sun as a more or less gigantic ball of fire. There exist many theories
about the nature and the source of its activity, yet none of these can really provide a satisfactory answer to
the manifold problems connected with the various phenomena of the Sun.
According to all these theories, the Sun is a body of gaseous or even of solid matter. Rudolf Steiner
indicated a different conception with which we can solve many riddles of the nature of the Sun and our
whole universe. He gave us the conception of negative or “anti-space”, and according to this anti-space, the
Sun that we see in the sky exists because the space of our universe disappears and anti-space is created.
Thus the Sun is something like a hole in universal space, and the activity of the Sun is a kind of sucking
power drawing the substance in space into the realm of anti-space. Such an activity was referred to when,
in the last letter, we spoke of the Sun drawing the astral substance of the universe toward itself.
However, before it reaches the Sun, this astral substance goes through an evolution into densification
that obviously reaches its culmination on Earth. This does not exhaust the activity of the Sun, which can be
compared with the process of digestion within a human being. In order to digest, a person must eat.
However, one cannot say that the ultimate goal of digestion is to make people eat. The final goal of
digestion is the dissolution and decomposition of the food. In order to achieve this, people have to take in
the food, which they experience with their senses. Similarly, the Sun’s impulse is to dissolve the universal
substance in order to create the etherized foundation for the spiritual progress and the renewal of our
universe. The Sun is the organ of “digestion” of the great cosmic Being of the universe in which we live.
The Earth is the realm within this universe where the “food”—the substance—is taken in and realized by
the senses.
Thus the Earth and also the creation of the individual human form, as it was described in the 13th letter,
are only, so to speak, an indirect result of the Sun’s activity. The final goal is the dissolution of the human
form in order to transform the inherited forces and substances into the ethereal germ of a future universe.
We call this process of the dissolution of the human form, death. Therefore, the Sun is the gateway of the
dead or, we can also say, the gateway to the dead.
The position of the Sun at the moment of death is of great importance for the life in the spiritual world
after death. We shall have to say much more about this when we study the “horoscope of death”. The
position of the Sun at the moment of birth is also very significant for it shows the connection of the human
being with the world of the dead in a very peculiar way.
We must accustom ourselves to the fact that the single details of a nativity are the indicators of events
that took place during the life in the spiritual world before birth, or they may be the key for an understand-
ing of spiritual events or influxes into the life after birth. In order to find the key for an understanding of
that which is thus hidden behind the Sun of the nativity, we must discuss some astronomical peculiarities of
the paths of Sun and Moon.
If we could mark the movement of the Sun as a white streak upon the background of the blue sky, we
should detect that its path appears as a complete circle in the course of one year. Furthermore, if we could
observe the Moon in the same way during a period of 28 days and draw its path as a line upon the sky, we
should find that it also appears to be moving in a circle around our globe. Yet if we were very accurate, we
should discover that the Moon does not move in the same circle as that in which the Sun appears to revolve,
seen from our standpoint upon the Earth. It is a different circle lying within the other, but it is slightly
deviated, therefore it intersects the circle of the Sun in two points that are opposite each other.
These points of intersection are called the Moon Nodes. Of course, we cannot see them in the sky, we
could only see them if we were able to draw the two circles of the movements of the Sun and Moon upon
the sky. However, we can calculate their position. We must now imagine the path of the Sun as a huge
74
circle around our globe within which lies another circle, that of the Moon with a deviation of 5 degrees.
Now, further on we must imagine that the two opposite points of intersection—the Nodes—are moving, or
in other words, the second deviated circle slowly moves counter clockwise and thus moves the points of
intersection, or Nodes, upon the first circle of the Sun. A complete revolution of the inner circle of the
Moon path at the points of the Nodes takes place in about 18 years and 7 months. Then the Nodes have
returned to their original position upon the circle of the path of the Sun. Within this period of 18 years and
7 months, the Nodes move though the entire Sun circle, which is indicated through the daily positions of
the Sun in the course of one year.
Diagram 1 Diagram 2
In the two diagrams above, the solid circle represents the apparent path of the Sun around the Earth, and
the dotted circle is that of the Moon around the Earth in the center. The drawing shows the two circles as if
seen from a standpoint outside and above the sphere of movement of Sun and Moon. If, therefore, we can
place ourselves into the center, where the Earth is indicated, we can create the proper imagination. Diagram
I shows the position of the path of the Moon and the Nodes at a certain moment. Then after some time
(diagram 2), this circle and the Nodes have moved backward and are in a different position.
These Nodes are of great spiritual significance. They show how the sphere of the Sun and that of the
Moon are interlaced at a certain moment. The Nodes are the points where the sphere of the Sun touches the
sphere of the Moon and thus provide a kind of gateway from one sphere into the other. The Sun represents,
as we have said, a kind of “digestive” activity in our universe. When the soul leaves the body at the
moment of death, it is drawn toward the Sun. The Moon and its sphere bring about an activity that can be
compared with the inhaling and exhaling of the human body, but not the processes which take place in the
lungs and which depend upon the breathing. It is an activity that stands between the head of our universe,
which is represented by the Earth, and the “digestion”, represented by the Sun. It is a balancing activity
between the taking in and the dissolving of the cosmic substances.
Thus the Moon Nodes—the gateway from the Sun to the Moon—provide a connection between the
dead, who are in the sphere of the Sun, and the Earth. Therefore, if we look at the position of the Sun in the
nativity, we can recognize it as the individual connection with the realm of the dead. Yet in order to make
this connection effective within the earthly life of a human being, there must be established a gateway from
the Sun to the Earth through the Moon. This is possible through the movement of the Moon Nodes.
An example will make this clear: Goethe was born on the 28 August 1749. The Sun was then in 5
degrees of the sign of Virgo. The first aspect of this Sun position is that which we have expounded in the
13th letter. Besides this, we can recognize Goethe’s connection with the realm of the dead in this position
of the Sun. However, this connection could only be realized at the moment when the Moon Nodes opened
a gateway from the realm of the Sun sphere to the Earth. It was not possible at the moment of Goethe’s
birth, because the Nodes were not there where the Sun stood, but it happened some time before Goethe’s
birth, when this soul was still in the spiritual world. In the year 1747 one of the two revolving Moon Nodes
came to the position in the path of the Sun where the Sun stood two years later, on the 28 August 1749.
Thus the link between the Sun and the Earth was established. It does not matter that the birth-Sun of
Goethe was at this spot of the ecliptic much later. The gateway between the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth
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Isis Sophia I
can be opened already long before birth and in some cases even after birth. In this realm we are confronted
with different time conceptions from those we are accustomed to on Earth.
The position of the planets in the time when this gateway is open reveals something of the individual
connection that Goethe had with the dead in his later life. In the year 1747, at the beginning of March, we
find, for instance, Saturn in the constellation of Virgin, exactly in the position where it stood when Paracelsus
died on the 23 September 1541.
We must now imagine that into this position of Saturn in Virgin there flowed all the striving of Paracelsus,
especially the spiritual essence of his deeds as far as they concerned the progress of the whole of humanity
two hundred years before Goethe was born. In Goethe’s “Sun-gate-horoscope”, as we might call it, Saturn
has returned to the same position as is connected with Paracelsus in the realm of these deeds in the past.
What is the spiritual essence of the deeds of Paracelsus? He was a famous physician of the 16th century
who courageously opened the road to the development of modern medicine. He demanded, and himself
fulfilled his demand, that the physician should no longer read the antiquated treatises about medicine any
more, but read the “great book of Nature” in order to find the cause of illnesses and the remedies for their
cure. However, he could still read the “great book of nature” in a different way from that of modern natural
science. His striving was to find in the meeting with nature the way to the roots of its existence. If we read,
or at least try to read his books, because it is very difficult to understand their language, we discover that he
really had a deep knowledge of the spiritual roots of nature. This was his grand deed for the sake of
humanity. He stood like a guardian at the threshold from old wisdom to the new age of science as one who
reminds us of the spirit that works in the kingdom of nature. This gift to humanity was taken up by Goethe
and developed further. Goethe was striving to find the spiritual roots of nature, and he succeeded. The
supersensible perception of the archetypal plant, as the spiritual Mother-Being of all existing plants and of
which Goethe spoke very clearly, is the proof that he was strongly connected with the great impulse that had
been alive in Paracelsus. Therefore, Dr. Steiner was able to call Goethe the Father of spiritual science, i.e.,
the science that recognizes the working spirit behind the phenomena of the world of the senses.
Here we can conceive that one personality in his age may be allowed to develop a certain idea or
impulse only up to a certain point. Then another individuality may take on this impulse long after the first
has died and through a real connection with the dead, carry it further. And indeed Goethe had a real
connection with Paracelsus. We find in Goethe’s biography that at a time of deep inner crisis in his life he
intensively studied Paracelsus.
The famous philosopher Spinoza was born on the 24th of November 1632. The Sun was then in the sign
of Sagittarius. This “Sun-gate” was opened by the Moon Nodes two years before Spinoza’s birth, in 1630.
Saturn was then in the constellation of Scales. This leads us back to Giordano Bruno who died 30 years
before, on the 17th of February 1600, when Saturn had also been in Scales.
Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake by the Roman Inquisition. In the earlier part of his life he had
been a monk, but his enthusiasm for the truth and his attachment to the new scientific outlooks, as illus-
trated for example in the Copernican system, brought him into conflict with his ecclesiastical superiors. He
fled from his monastery and made long journeys through Europe and taught the new ideas of science. Then
he was caught by the emissaries of the Roman Church and, as he did not recant his teachings, he was burnt
alive. In Spinoza this spirit of unshakable enthusiasm and devotion to the truth and freedom of philosophi-
cal conception was also present. Truly we can say of him that, like Giordano Bruno, he was a martyr of this
fight for spiritual freedom. His whole life was a series of persecutions by all kinds of institutions that were
anxious to preserve obsolete spiritual traditions. He died at an early age in misery caused by the livelong
misunderstanding of those around him.
Another famous philosopher and mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, was born on June 21,
1646 o.s. [Julian Calendar]. The Sun was then in the ecliptic sign of Cancer. This Sun-gate was opened by
the Moon Nodes in the year 1647, one year after his birth. We find Jupiter in the constellation of Lion
76
where it had been when the already mentioned Giordano Bruno died. Thus we can also find a connection
between Leibniz and Giordano Bruno, but here it was Jupiter that established the link. Therefore, the
quality that Leibniz, so to speak, spiritually inherited was of a different nature. It was the thought-world of
Bruno that came to life again in Leibniz and which was developed further. The kernel of Bruno’s teaching
is his idea of the monads as the fundament of all existence in the universe. The original universal unity,
which he calls the Monas Monadum, sunders itself into the multiplicity of single beings or monads that are
living beings, and each of them is a universe in itself. The soul of a human being is a thinking monad.
Leibniz based his philosophical teaching on his “monadology” and the idea of the “pre-arranged harmony”
(praestabilierte Harmonie). Like Giordano Bruno, he imagines God as the Monas Monadum. The single
monads derived from the Monas Monadum have various degrees of consciousness. They are, so to speak,
the souls of things and of beings, but, also for Leibniz, each monad is in itself a representation of the
universe in degrees.

Already in April the planet Mars has entered the constellation of Fishes. It moves through this constel-
lation during the whole of May. An unusually great number of historical personalities have Mars in this
position, either at the moment of birth or death.
If we look more closely at this gathering, we can detect that there are the greatest contrasts among these
people. It seems more like a gigantic fight between people who are solely devoted to the spiritual life of
humanity and others who had deeply descended into the world of matter and political action.
Among them is one great personality who can teach us much about this spiritual fight. It is the Pope
Nicholas I. When he died, the 13 November 867, Mars was in Fishes in the same position where it will be
at the beginning of May. This Pope, who sometimes is called “the Great”, was deeply involved in the
causes of separation between the Western and the Eastern Church, which then arose. They led to the schism
between the Church of Rome and the Greek Church. His great opponent was the Patriarch Photius at
Constantinople.
This schism is much more than the difference of opinion of a few ecclesiastical dignitaries. It is a
problem of humanity, and since those days its importance has not decreased but increased. Humanity in our
time has to find the right solution or else face tremendous catastrophes even greater than those we have so
far had to endure. Therefore, the individuality of whom we speak can teach us a great deal about these
gigantic tasks.
We know that he was again incarnated in a physical body during the 19th and 20th centuries and again he
was confronted with a problem for humanity similar to that which had come into appearance when he was
Pope of the Roman Church. But this time he was faced with the world situation that had evolved from the
separation and enmity between the East and West.
Pope Nicholas I had to face the situation that in the East—in Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt—a Chris-
tianity was followed that was still deeply connected with the ancient mysteries and with the old wisdom,
which had survived the downfall of the culture of the old temples. The Greek Church was only a kind of
outpost toward the West and there were many others that have survived to this day. Standing behind it
spiritually was the huge continent of Asia, which was regarded as the mysterious domain of the Gods. The
highlands of Tibet are still today experienced as the very seat of the Gods. Western Christianity went a
different way, coming to Rome at a very early date. Political Rome was strongly opposed to the Christian
faith in the beginning. After the age of the persecutions, Roman Christianity and the life of the Roman State
amalgamated more and more. Hence, there developed the practical and colonizing Christianity that pos-
sessed the inheritance of the Roman Empire. It went forth into the wilderness of the north beyond the Alps
and founded the monasteries that became the centers for agriculture and learning. Nicholas was strongly
connected with this western development. Almost with the perception of a seer, he beheld the necessity of
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Isis Sophia I
western Christianity preparing the path toward the cultural development of the West in which the modern
age of natural science of the great discoveries and of technique should develop. The West had to look down
upon the Earth and take it into its hands. The East did not want to descend from its spiritual heights but
preferred to renounce the conquest of the physical Earth. Therefore, Pope Nicholas saw the great schism
between East and West coming as historical necessity. He could not avoid it. It had to come for the sake of
the evolution of humanity.
However, this schism has evolved since the 9th century into a gigantic problem for humanity. Humanity
in the West has achieved almost complete mastership over dead matter. The human being has become, in
the course of its historical evolution, an individual and an emancipated being. The individual has become
so emancipated that it can doubt or even deny the existence of a spiritual world. The machine is the ideal.
Therefore, the ideal of the social organism is also more or less a machine. The human being in the East
stayed behind. The center of life there is still today the worship of the Gods, involving submission to the
Will of the spiritual world. One’s existence as a single human being does not count. Death is more or less
a welcome transition. The social organism or state-life is built up according to this spiritual conception. It
is guided by religious impulses; the representative of the state is even regarded as of heavenly origin. But
the single member of the social organism cannot experience itself as an individual being. The individual
member is more or less an insignificant part of the whole.
These widely opposing concepts of human existence must sooner or later lead to a tremendous conflict
between western and eastern humanity unless the true Imagination of Our Being is found and practiced.
Both concepts are far from this imagination: in the West, spiritual emancipation leads one to a point where
earthly existence becomes senseless and ghostlike, and in the East, the single human being is drowned in an
uncontrollable flood of religious or racial fanaticism. In both concepts, humanity ultimately eliminates
itself. Both concepts will fight for their existence, the one against the other, and humanity will be destroyed
between them if the true Image of Our Being, the cosmic Christ, remains unrecognized—not the simple
person of Christian tradition of the 19th century, but the God Who entered bodily existence and Who came
to remind earthly humanity of its cosmic citizenship. Christ did the Will of the Father, represented the
whole universe in the full consciousness of a body-bound earthly existence, and showed the path to the
attainment of this representation of the fulfillment of the Will of the Father. The first Christians experi-
enced Christ when they drew their secret symbol, the Fish. Thus we should find Christ again as the repre-
sentative of humanity, the Fish who is the cosmic Image of Humanity in the sea of the ether clouds around
the Earth. Then we will not find ourselves confined solely to earthly reality any longer, nor will we be
submerged into group-soul-domination, but we will experience ourselves as having descended from cos-
mic heights in order to transform the Earth into the Image of the Spirit-Man (Essence), as Novalis, Rudolf
Steiner, and others have done. This is the language of Mars in Fishes.
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FIFTEENTH LETTER - June 1945

The Sun III
In the last two letters we have spoken of the Sun and its activities in connection with the moment of
birth. Now we will look at the Sun from the aspect of the prenatal development of the human being.
We know that the embryonic development of a human being lasts about nine months. This time is
differentiated, of course, in each individual case. If we take the time of nine months as an average, then we
find that the Sun moves through three-quarters of the Zodiac, or through nine constellations, whereas it
would go through the whole Zodiac if the embryonic state lasted a whole year. This is the reason for the fact
that in each horoscope there are about three constellations through which the Sun has not passed during the
prenatal evolution. They are those between the positions of the Sun at the time of conception and the time
of birth. They are different constellations according to the birthday of the human being. For instance, if
somebody is born on the 21st of June when the Sun enters the constellation of Twins, then we can assume
that the Sun has not been in the constellations of Twins, Crab, and Lion, because it began its course nine
months previously in the constellation of Virgin.
If we could imagine ourselves placed upon the Sun, we would see the Earth in the opposite direction
from that in which we observe the Sun from the Earth. For instance, if from the Earth we see the Sun
entering the constellation of Twins, then from the Sun we should see the Earth entering the constellation of
Archer.
In one individual horoscope, all the constellations of the Zodiac are penetrated by the activity of the Sun
except those three that we have mentioned above. However, in the middle of the embryonic development,
from the standpoint of the Sun, we could see the Earth in those constellations. In Figure 1 below we see the
path of the Sun during the nine months of an embryonic evolution. It starts in the constellation of Virgin
and stands in Twins when the supposed birth takes place. Thus it leaves open Twins, Crab, and Lion.
Figure 2 shows the path of the Earth at the same time. The Earth can be seen from the Sun in Twins, Crab,
and Lion when the Sun itself is in Archer, Goat, and Waterman, i.e., during the middle period of the embry-
onic development. Therefore, those three constellations in the “open space” are particularly connected
with the planet Earth and its special significance in the universe.
Figure 1 Figure 2
It is the Earth onto which we as human beings have descended, and we will seek and perhaps find our
task and where sorrow and joy are waiting for us. The three constellations in the “open space” of the
prenatal horoscope indicate the nature of those Earth experiences that await the soul. We said that it is the
position of the Earth which can be observed from the Sun in about the middle period of the embryonic
development during the fourth, fifth, and sixth months. This period and the cosmic events that occur
during it are a reflection of important stages in the life between the last death and the new birth. It is also a
kind of forecast of the middle period of the coming life on Earth, especially the time between the 30th and
35th years.
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Isis Sophia I
So far this appears to be entirely a matter of the Earth and the connection with the Sun seems to be only
indirect. Yet, a deep mystery is hidden here concerning that which weaves spiritually between the Sun and
the Earth.
Since the Death on Golgotha, the Christ Being has united with the Earth and is the guiding spirit, the
cosmic individuality, so to speak, of this planet. Christ descended to the Earth from cosmic heights and
dwelled in the body of Jesus. The descent was observed by the initiates of the pre-Christian cultures. They
knew that Christ was the Sun-Spirit, the Guide of the Sun Beings who descended in order to safeguard and
embrace the evolution of the Earth. It was the fundamental deed that reaches far into the future, for through
this event the present condition of our universe will change completely, and the Earth will become the
“Sun” of a new universe. Thus the Earth is carried by the Spirit of the Sun, by the Christ Being, and when
the soul goes through the sphere of the Sun in the life between death and new birth, it can no longer find the
Christ Being in that realm.
We can now imagine that as soon as the soul becomes penetrated by the desire to descend into a new
incarnation on Earth, it looks down upon this Earth as the only place in the universe where, since the time
of the Mystery of Golgotha, it can experience the Christ Being. This longing of the soul to descend to this
place where Christ can be experienced finds its reflection in that part of the horoscope that we called the
“open space”.
We can read in it the impulses and decisions that the soul has taken on while it was still in the womb of
the spiritual world. It shows how, out of experiences and failures in previous earthly lives, the soul wants
to unite with the Earth in the great work of love in order to transform it into the shining garment of Christ.
When the soul is then born on Earth and lives within a body, a veil of unconsciousness hides all these
prenatal experiences. However, they are alive in the striving of the soul for the Truth, in the manifold ways
in which destiny leads one until he or she finds the Truth and the Peace of the soul. We may never realize
our own prenatal intentions and impulses, we may even betray them, but then we will realize after death
where we have failed, and this knowledge will help us to build up the foundations of new incarnations on
Earth in order to redeem our own past. The time may now have come when each one of us should strive for
a conscious recognition of our own prenatal resolutions, and for this purpose we might be allowed to look
at our own nativity, in this case especially at the “open space” and its background of spiritual events.
In order to illustrate and elaborate that which has been said about this third aspect of the Sun, we will
now consider a few nativities of historic personalities.
In previous letters we have spoken about Thomas More who was born on the 7 February 1478. The Sun
was then in the constellation of Waterman. His conception must have taken place about the beginning of
May 1477. The Sun had then entered the constellation of Bull. Thus it happened that the Sun had not been
in the constellation of Waterman (it had only entered it at the time of the birth), Fishes, and Ram. They
constitute the “open space”. In this “open space” the planet Jupiter had made a loop in the transition from
Fishes to Ram during Thomas More’s embryonic development. If we had been able to witness from the
Sun the descent of this soul into incarnation we should have seen at a certain moment—about the fifth
month of his embryonic state—the Earth in Fishes and behind it the brilliant light of Jupiter. The Earth in
Fishes is the constellation that illuminates Thomas More’s striving for the recognition of the divinity in the
earthly life, but we must also consider the constellations of Waterman and Ram.
Thomas More appears, perhaps much against his own will, as a very strong figure in the social and
political life of his age. Several times he was on the point of withdrawing completely from the political
sphere and following a life of study and devotion, yet destiny brought him again and again to the political
stage. When he was 37 years of age he wrote his Utopia, which made him famous. Then he expounded his
views on how to create an ideal state, and he passes severe judgments on the corrupt social and cultural
institutions of his time. Yet he based his ideal of a perfect state entirely on an absolute sovereignty of
religion, even the sovereignty of the Church.
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Therefore, he experienced the essence of earthly existence in the sphere of the social life. He was a
deeply religious and pious man. Still destiny urged him again and again to seek the experiences of the
divine, not only in the peace of the soul but also in the face of humanity in the body social. It was the sphere
where he searched for the presence and realization of the Sun-Spirit who had united Itself with the Earth
through the Mystery of Golgotha. The Earth in the constellation of Fishes inherits the striving for the
experience of the Sun-Spirit in the body of humanity, for it is the Christian realization of the Spirit-Man,
which was created at the beginning of the evolution of the world (see 5th letter) and is working from beyond
Fishes. This experience of the divine from the Earth in Fishes was further aided in Thomas More’s life by
the other two constellations in the “open space”, Ram and Waterman. The Ram gave him the power to
realize the divine in humanity through purified thinking. We know that he was a humanist and a devoted
scholar of Erasmus of Rotterdam. The aspect of the Earth in Waterman gave him the power to experience
the Sun-Spirit of the Earth in his heart, which was open in kindness and love to all creatures in the universe.
His learning was not a matter of formality, but connected with a deep reverence and devotion for the
universe of the Creator.
Another example of universal significance is Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was born on the 25 May 1803.
The Sun was then in Bull. At the time of his conception it was in the constellation of Lion. Thus the “open
space” comprises the constellations of Bull, Twins, Crab, and part of Lion, with Twins in the center. The
Earth in Twins indicates a searching for the experience of the Sun-Spirit in the sphere of the ego, in the
innermost soul life. And indeed we find this realized in Emerson’s striving to such a degree that we can
only look with deep admiration at this personality. At the age of 30, on his return from a voyage to Italy,
France, Scotland, and England, he wrote: “A person contains all that is needful to its government within
itself…All real good or evil that can befall one must be from oneself…There is a correspondence between
the human soul and everything that exists in the world; more properly, everything that is known. Instead of
studying things without, the principles of all things may be penetrated from within oneself…The purpose
of life seems to be for one to become acquainted with oneself…The highest revelation is that God is in
every-one.” He then settled down at Concord and developed that which is usually called his Transcenden-
talism. However, in everything that came forth as his teaching, he revealed himself as a master of indepen-
dence. “I wish to say what I feel and think today, with the proviso that tomorrow perhaps I shall contradict
it all.” This is the experience of the Sun-Spirit within the human individuality or the Earth in Twins. (About
Twins, see letters 3 and 5.) It was seconded by the Earth in Bull, which brought the experience of the
presence of the divine in the manifoldness of created things. This appeared especially in the lectures and
essays on Great Men in History and the Philosophy of History. But his inner attitude to history and to the
great people in history revealed yet another experience of the Sun-Spirit. If we read his essays on Napoleon
I, Swedenborg, and others, we soon will become more aware that he does not act like a critic or a judge but
as the bearer of the chalice into which have flown the deeds, the achievements, and failures of those people.
He was a true priest who carefully and devotedly bore the cup of human striving on Earth and offered it for
transubstantiation to the divine spirit working in humanity. This is the searching for the Sun-Spirit who
works from the Earth in Crab or Chalice.
Count Leo Tolstoy was born on the 9 September 1828 n.s. [Gregorian Calendar]. On this day the Sun
was in the constellation of Lion, very near the point of transition from Lion to Virgin. At the time of his
conception the Sun was in Scorpion. Thus the “open space” comprises the constellations of Virgin, Scales,
and part of Scorpion, but Virgin is the dominating constellation. This is the constellation that is opposite
Fishes, which we have found so strongly connected with Thomas More. Therefore, the striving for the
experience of the Sun-Spirit in the Earth was alive in Tolstoy in quite a different way than in Thomas More,
and yet it was on the same level, for it sought the Sun-Spirit within the social order. Thomas More experi-
enced the divine of the Earth in the vision of a perfect state that is entirely guided by religion. The single
human being is taken into the influence of this objective religion, which orders his existence within the
community.
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Isis Sophia I
For Tolstoy the striving for a just and harmonious community revealed just the opposite problem. He
could not start from an objective religious institution that was able to take the human being into its guiding
and guarding arms. In fact, at a certain time of his life he severed all the bonds that bound him to the
Orthodox Church. He had to start from his own inner being. The question for him was, “How can I find in
myself the eternal ‘religio’, how can I transmute my own imperfect being?” We can find this search for the
true “humanism” in such early books as The Cossacks. Thus he arrived at the experience of the divine in
the life of communities, in the intercourse of humanity even where it borders strangely on social chaos. All
his novels show this, especially the book Resurrection. Thomas More in his vision of Utopia looked into
the face of the divine as it revealed itself in the social order. Tolstoy had to descend into the unfathomable
depths of human nature in order to find, beyond the individual caricature, the shining image of the divine
realized in human brotherhood. Thus he found the Sun-Spirit of the Earth or the Earth in Virgin, the “secret
revelation” of the riddle of life. There was still another revelation to him of the divine spirit of the Earth
that brought the Virgin experience to a higher completion. Through his own destiny, he had been brought
to the conviction that balance of soul was the medicine that we needed in order to become really human. In
his youth, he had lived the unrestrained and wild life of a young Russian noble until he recognized the
ruinous effect of this kind of life on his true humanity. From that moment we see him striving and fighting
for balance, and in many figures of his novels we can find this balance of life realized in wonderful descrip-
tions. They are the healing centers within the turmoil of events. It is the realization of the search for the
Divine Spirit of the Earth, which is indicated in the position of the Earth in Scales as it took place in
Tolstoy’s horoscope. Yet he had to fight hard for balance in his soul. Again and again he had to go through
crises where everything that he had achieved so far seemed to be torn to pieces and to become unworthy.
But again and again he rose and stepped forward to higher stages of human perfection. These continuous
death experiences became the source of his tremendous activity and productivity. It is the experience of the
Earth in Scorpion. As the opposite constellation of Earth in Bull inherits the striving for the revelation of
the divine in the manifoldness of creation, so does the Earth in Scorpion kindle the impulse to search for the
manifestation of the Sun-Spirit in the unconquerable creative spirit rising from death and destruction.
The famous astronomer Tycho de Brahe was born on the 14 December 1546, when the Sun was in the
constellation of Archer. At the time of his conception it had just entered Fishes. Therefore, the Sun had not
been in the constellations of Archer, Goat, and Waterman, and they form the “open space” or the Earth
aspect of this nativity.
Tycho was born into a Danish noble family. His father wanted to bring up his son to enter a political
career, and so he sent him, under the guidance of a tutor, to the university for the study of jurisprudence.
None of the tutor’s severity could prevent Tycho from going his own way. While the tutor was asleep
Tycho climbed onto the roof of the house and observed the stars with very primitive instruments. By the
age of 16 he had made important discoveries. None could then prevent him from becoming a mathemati-
cian and astronomer. After many journeys, with the help of the King of Denmark, he settled down on the
small Danish island of Hveen. In his 30th year he built an observatory there, and for a long, peaceful time he
was able to make extensive astronomical observations. He produced, among other things, a catalogue
containing the exact positions of about a thousand hitherto unnoticed stars. This was a remarkable deed,
when we consider that he still had to make his observations with the unaided eye.
The determination, with which this individuality went his own way from early youth, shows us the
direction of his search for the Sun-Spirit of the Earth. It is the Earth in Goat that penetrated him with the
impulse to seek the spirit in that which his eye could reveal to him of the multitude of the stars above him.
In the opposite constellation of Crab we met, in connection with Emerson, the experience of the chalice
into which flowed human deeds, sins, and hopes in the course of history. Tycho de Brahe observed and
became the High Priest of the other chalice where human souls go at the moment of their death and whence
they come when they are born; the chalice of the cosmos in which the Earth is embedded. In the revelation
bestowed through the activity of his eye, he experienced the divine Spirit of the Earth. The universe above
82
him was surely not only a mechanical world. For him it was a living Being with whom he could float
through cosmic space, whose heart beat and language he could understand. He was not only what we
would call today an astronomer, he was also an astrologer, although we must imagine that in his day this
had a different implication from what it has today. He predicted the death of the Turkish emperor Solyman
nearly to the day in which it actually happened. He also predicted other events that became true after his
death. In this inner connection with the stars and in the perception of their language we detect yet another
experience of the Sun-Spirit of the Earth indicated by the Earth in Waterman, but this does not entirely
comprehend the universal character of this personality. There was still more. His observatory on the small
island of Hveen was a very strange building. On the roof, where the astronomical observations were made,
the instruments were standing and used for the measurement of the angles of the starry positions. But in the
basement of the house was something like an alchemistic laboratory, where the substances of the Earth
were boiled and examined with regard to their connections with the stars. This striving for a knowledge of
the cosmic nature of the substances of the Earth reveals yet another relationship to the Sun-Spirit who has
connected Itself with the Earth. It is indicated in the position of the Earth in Archer that actually occurred
in Tycho’s horoscope as we have pointed out above.
These are only a few examples that may show how the soul descending from cosmic heights experi-
ences the Earth as the only place where one can now meet the Sun-Spirit of our universe. When the soul
passes through the sphere of the Sun in the life between death and new birth, it has a sorrowful experience.
It finds the Sun deserted by its once leading Spirit, because Christ united with the Earth. Therefore, the soul
becomes filled with the desire to return to the Earth in order to experience the Sun-Spirit there. The
revelations of the divine Spirit of the Earth are manifold and the human being can receive them according
to the conditions of “perception” acquired in previous incarnations. The direction of these possibilities is
indicated in the “open space” of the horoscope and what happens in it. This comprises, of course, only a
part of the twelvefold revelation of the Christ-Being. It is the “pound” (or “talents”, according to the
proverb of the Gospels) that was given to us by the Lord of Destiny, but it is our task to increase the gift and
it must become the Christian ideal to experience the revelation of the Sun-Spirit more and more compre-
hensively.
Needless to say, it is impossible to give any definite rules about the character of the Earth-Sun relation-
ship in the various constellations. This is just the distinctive character of the third “Sun-Mystery”: that we
can only approach it when we become active and creative in our own souls. Nothing would happen if we
were only to sit down and wait for something to come to us, except that the “pound” that we had received
might be taken away from us.
If we learn to look at the nativity, the horoscope, from the point of view of our own spiritual activity, and
if we can see in it the signpost to the perfection and the fulfillment of our existence as human beings, then
we can come to an entirely different cognition of the “horoscope”. Then it will no longer be the dark, even
cruel dominator over our lives, but the guiding hand of our friend in heaven who shows us the way to the
true and Christian humanity.

We have witnessed in the past few months the final scenes of a historic drama that had already started
twelve years ago. If we had looked with knowing eyes at the events happening in Central Europe in the year
1933 and later, we would have seen that they bore within themselves the seeds of destruction. The events
in 1944 and 1945 were only the revelation of the gigantic hollow space that had been created where Ger-
many once existed. We very often ask ourselves, “How was this destruction possible, and what has brought
about this decadence?”
The stellar script can help us to find the answer to these questions. But we must not search for them in
the present events in the sky. The real causes occurred much further back. To put it clearly, most of the
tendencies that started in Central Europe in 1933 have their roots in the events connected with the conquest
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Isis Sophia I
of Mexico at the beginning of the 16th century. Not all, but most of them have their origin there. The script
of the stars can make this clear.
Hernando Cortes set out from the island of Cuba on 18 November 1518 in order to conquer Mexico. He
landed on the coast of Mexico in March 1519 and founded the city of Vera Cruz. At that very moment the
planet Saturn entered the constellation of Goat. Cortes burnt the boats with which he and his small army
had crossed the sea so that nobody could escape the struggle that was ahead. Soon the Spaniards came
within view of the beautiful city of Mexico, which was built on an island in the midst of a lake and where
the emperor Montezuma resided. After many adventures and desperate enterprises against several Red
Indian tribes, Cortes had to face an uprising of the empire of Mexico City itself. He defeated a huge army
of the Mexicans on 7 of July 1520, and though he had only a tiny army at his disposal, he had the advantage
of firearms to which the Red Indians were totally unaccustomed. Following this battle, Mexico City was
besieged and conquered on the 13th of August 1521. This was followed by a terrible extermination of the
Red Indians. All the time the planet Saturn was in the constellation of Goat.
At the end of 1932 and the beginning of 1933, Saturn also entered the constellation of Goat. Thus we
have in those events a reflection of history in the beginning of the 16th century. Apart from this an occult
investigation would show that the karmic threads of certain of the main actors in the drama of 1933 lead
back to the beginning of the 16th century and to Mexico.
Much has been said against the cruelty with which Cortes and his men broke and exterminated the
Mexican empire. They seemed to act the same as a heap of adventurers and desperados, who had nothing
to lose and who were driven by the utmost greed for gold and the riches of the Mexicans. We must also
imagine the situation that confronted the Spaniards, although they may have been in general of a low moral
character. The last decadent remnants of rituals, which were bound to appear to a European mind as the
utter limit of human cruelty, were practiced in the Mexican temples. Not only were human sacrifices
performed in these places, but the inner organs of living bodies, mostly captives of other tribes, were taken
out and sacrificed to the images of the Indian gods. It is too wide a subject for us to explain the origin of
these decadent rituals that had become the gateway to black magic cults.
The Spaniards, from the point of view of their European civilization, felt an understandable disgust and
destroyed these ceremonies, but their Christianity was still too weak to root up the deeper causes of these
signs of utter cultural decline, which were connected with very old and unfathomably deep mysteries of the
blood. The action of the Spaniards was a failure seen from the point of view of Christianity. And what was
the result? In the 20th century, those dark forces of ancient blood mysteries leapt up again and exercised
their cruelty, and they were now filled with the utmost hate for the civilization of Christian humanity.
Therefore, a knowledge of the stellar script can teach us, and can become a key to spiritual cognition
and comprehension of earthly events. But it can also be a severe warning…
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SIXTEENTH LETTER - July 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Moon
Now, after the conclusion of the description of the superior planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Sun,
we will have to explore the activities of the inferior planets of Mercury and Venus and the Moon. We will
have to enter quite a different world from that of the superior planets and their activities, just as the soul
world of the human being is entirely different from the realm of its bodily principles. The Moon is “near-
est” to our soul consciousness today; therefore we will start with it.
The Moon
In the 11th and 13th letters, we have already mentioned the idea of the lemniscatory movement of both
the Sun and the Earth. According to this idea, the path of the Moon also appears quite different from that
given in the Copernican point of view. It appears as a serpentine line along the Sun-Earth-lemniscate;
however, to think of the movements of the Moon as well as those of the Sun and the Earth as taking place
on certain lines in the space of the universe would only lead us to another abstract outlook of the universe.
Unless we learn to imagine the pathways of heavenly bodies as the boundaries of the living organs of that
Being whose body is the universe, we cannot experience the starry universe as an entity that works in all
realms of nature. For instance, the lemniscatory movement of the Sun and the Earth can awaken in us the
impression that this lemniscate has a certain similarity to the circulatory system of the blood in the human
body. This is a reality. The spiritual “blood stream” of the Being of our solar system causes the movement
of the Sun and the Earth in the form of a lemniscate. Of course we can object that the circulation of the
human blood does not constitute a simple lemniscate. It is more complicated than that. But neither is the
Sun-Earth-lemniscate as simple as it may appear at first. For instance, there are complicated movements
brought into connection with it, causing the course of the Sun during one year to appear as a circle.
In a similar way we should look at the movement of the Moon. The diagram below will help us to
recognize its essential character. The drawn-out lemniscate represents the pathway of the Sun and the
Earth. The dotted lemniscates are connected with the Moon. We suppose that during the position (a) of the
Sun and the Earth, a Full Moon takes place. In this case the Moon is, as seen from the Sun, behind the
Earth. The dotted outer lemniscate then indicates the boundary of the invisible, yet spiritually real lemnis-
cate-body of the Moon. A fortnight later there would be New Moon. This is the time when the Moon stands
between the Earth and the Sun. Of course in the meantime the Sun and the Earth have moved into the
position (b). Now as we can see in the diagram, the lemniscate of the Moon has shrunk to the form which
is indicated by the inner dotted lemniscate. Toward the following Full Moon this lemniscate-form of the
Moon-path would expand again and slowly grow beyond the size of the Sun-Earth lemniscate. Thus we
can observe a continuous expansion and contraction of the lemniscate-body of the Moon in connection
with its phases. It is a kind of breathing activity that is very characteristic for the Moon and illuminates its
essential tendencies in the various realms of nature.
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Isis Sophia I
We must now turn our attention toward this breathing activity of the Moon. In previous letters we have
outlined the contradictory activities of the Sun and the Earth. We have described the Sun as a “hole” in the
universe whose activity reaches far out into cosmic space and sucks, as it were, the astral substance from
the fringe of the Zodiac toward the center. Between the starry realm of the Zodiac and the “hole” of the Sun
are the superior planets and especially the Earth. They are the stepping stones of the condensation of this
astral substance into matter. The culmination of this condensing activity takes place on Earth. Then again
in the space between the Earth and the Sun, where we find the inferior planets, the dissolution and etheriza-
tion of matter takes place. Thus the sucking tendency of the Sun is the indirect cause of the materialization
of the astral substance, then finally it is the hole through which matter is dissolved and brought back to its
ethereal origin after the nature of the superior planets and the Earth have been imprinted upon it.
The Moon stands in between these activities of the Sun and the Earth. The diagram shows us that in
times of Full Moon, the Moon and its lemniscatory body are strongly related to the realm in space that is
devoted to the process of materialization “behind” the Earth, because the lemniscate-body of the Moon is
stretched far beyond the sphere in which the dissolving and etherizing activity between the Earth and the
Sun takes place. Thus we should assume that in the time of Full Moon the Moon has a matter-creating
tendency. In the time of New Moon the body of the Moon and its lemniscate are within that sphere of
etherization between the Earth and the Sun, and it should assume a more dissolving and etherizing activity.
In between, roughly in the times of the first and the last quarter, it should be neutralized or changing over
from one activity to the other. Therefore, we can conceive the Moon as the great cosmic “weaver” who
weaves the cosmic substances into Earth existence and who takes them out again into the cosmos as the
etherized Imaginations of dissolved earthly forms.
We can find this rhythmic weaving activity of the Moon-forces everywhere in nature and in humanity.
Its matter-creating activity has been traced scientifically by experiments. Already in the last century a
scientist, who has since been forgotten, proved the creation of matter. His name was Herzeele. A few years
ago a modern scientist, Dr. Hauschka, rescued this idea from oblivion. In carefully arranged experiments,
in connection with the germination of plant seeds, he proved that an increase of matter takes place which
can be weighed and measured. He discovered that this occurs in the time of Full Moon. Furthe, he discov-
ered with the same method that a decrease of matter appears in connection with the New Moon. Here we
have the confirmation of the conclusion that we came to when we looked upon the changing lemniscate of
the Moon which appeared interwoven into the Sun and Earth activities as a kind of balancing factor.
We can now understand why the crescent of the waxing Moon has been experienced by seers as the
image of the ever-feeding vessel of the Holy Grail and the dark part of the Moon’s face, whose outlines can
be dimly recognized immediately after New Moon, as the image of the Holy Host that descends as the
source of eternal health. Toward the time of New Moon, the vessel empties itself and is then ready to
receive anew the forces of the Holy Host, which it sheds upon the Earth during the time of the waxing
Moon. Thus the Grail story of the sustaining Holy Cup is not merely a beautiful phantasy. It is a reality.
The rhythms of the Moon imprint themselves into all the rhythms of organic growth on Earth. We can
detect them in the rhythms of plant growth. The farmers of olden times knew this, so they carefully ar-
ranged the times of sowing and planting according to the phases of the Moon. This old wisdom has been
forgotten in modern times. But now, the farmer and gardener who have gained confidence in the indica-
tions of modern spiritual science, again, take into account the movements of the planets, especially those of
the Moon. They are aided in their striving for a new knowledge of the working of the Moon-forces in
nature by scientific experiments and modern approaches to this problem. (See: Moon and Plant Growth by
L. Kolisko.)
The rhythmic influence of the Moon forces makes itself apparent not only in the existence of the plant
world but also in the growth of all organic matter; for instance, in the embryonic processes. There the
rhythms of the Moon are very important, especially in the first four weeks after the conception, which
corresponds to one cycle of the Moon from one phase back to the same phase.
86
In connection with the embryonic development of the human being, we can detect a very significant
relationship between the rhythms of the Moon and the destiny that is implanted into the growing body.
Research made in connection with a great number of historic personalities has shown that the rhythms of
the Moon correspond to the periods in the earthly lives of these individualities. The Moon needs 27.3 days
to complete one cycle through the Zodiac, i.e., it comes back into the same constellation where it stood 27.3
days before. Human embryonic development comprises, on the average, ten such Moon cycles; that is 273
days. Each one of these cycles corresponds to one period of seven years in the later life of the human being.
For instance, the time from the conception to the end of the fourth embryonic week is related to the first
seven years of a person’s life after birth, the following four weeks are connected with the time from seven
to fourteen, etc. The Moon always comes back, after four weeks, to the place in the Zodiac where it stood
at the time of the conception. If we find that a certain cosmic event took place during the fourth embryonic
cycle of the Moon, we can also find it realized in the biography of this human being during the fourth of the
seven-year periods in the life after birth, i.e., it emerges in the events of the period between 21 and 28 years
of age. Such an event that reflects itself into the later life, may be an aspect between two planets such as a
conjunction, opposition, or another aspect; or it may be an important evolution of a single planet, as the
transition from one constellation to another.
Thus the Moon gathers, so to speak, the harvest of cosmic events into its vessel and sheds or weaves
them, according to individual destinies, into the bodies of the human beings who are about to enter the
physical world. Here the Moon presents itself as the great cosmic “weaver” who provides the bread of
destiny, which is baked from the harvest of previous earthly lives in order that it may be elevated and
spiritualized to higher levels of human moral activity.
We can discover the influence of the Moon also in the “psychic” sphere of the Earth. The atmospheric
and meteorological changes around the globe of our planet can be recognized as the expression of a soul life
of the Earth. To a certain extent we can even include the phenomenon of the tides in these psychic pro-
cesses. They are a visible expression of these rhythmic breathing activities of the Moon, of which we have
spoken above. In fact the tides and the meteorological events are connected with the rhythmic movements
of the Moon. Certainly the crude statement that the Moon makes the weather is insufficient and even
dilettante, but if we study the psychic background of the meteorological facts, then we clearly detect the
Moon’s influence. This applies chiefly to the period of the watery element on Earth. The “water” of the
Earth is one of the main domains of the Moon forces. We shall see in the later description where this
connection originates.
The influence of the Moon rhythm can also be observed in the rhythms of the human soul or conscious-
ness life. It is even comparatively easy to make observations of the psychic conditions of our human
surroundings and of ourselves. We always find in times of Full Moon—unless this is inhibited by stronger
starry events—that the human soul is more active than at other times. It is expanded, as it were, into the
whole universe. Human thinking and imagination are much more animated during these times and more
ready to embark upon adventurous and magnanimous deeds. But in times of New Moon our psychic life is
more contracted, passive, and turned away from the surrounding world. Our psychic life can then be more
in a state of inner receptivity. The human soul at this time is in a condition similar to the contracted
lemniscatory sphere of the Moon, which we described above. Through this contraction it may be more
awake in itself, whereas in the opposite state—the Full Moon—may bring about a cosmically dreamy
condition. These rhythms manifest themselves especially in artistic activities.
We now want to find out why these influences emanate from the Moon. We know from previous
descriptions that the spheres of the planets also indicate the range of the activities of the spiritual hierar-
chies. The sphere of the Moon reaches further than the sphere of the Earth, thus it is the dwelling place of
the Angels in the universe. They are active within the sphere of the Earth as well because the Moon sphere
penetrates the Earth sphere, but their influence reaches farther out into the universe. This hierarchy of the
Angels has especially penetrated the Moon and its sphere with their activity; therefore, if we understand a
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little of their own being, we will also understand the influences of the Moon upon Earth events and beings.
In the 4th letter, we briefly outlined the activities of the Angels within Ancient Saturn evolution. They
then created a kind of metabolism of warmth with the help of the Spirits of Harmony. If we imagine this
kind of cosmic nutrition, the warmth flowing into the ancestors of the human race and streaming out again
after a kind of digestion, then we have a grand imagination of the processes that we described above; that is,
of the changes of the human soul life between the mood of activity and receptivity in relationship with Full
Moon and New Moon. As the Angels have created these rhythms, they are still connected with this sphere
of the Moon. With the rhythm that is imprinted since primeval times into this sphere, soul warmth is
inhaled by humanity and this appears as activity and positivity; whereas, when the soul warmth is exhaled,
according to the phases of the Moon, this manifests itself in passiveness. In our time, we should evolve to
a soul condition that enables us to stand more above these rhythms that hitherto seized hold of us from
“outside”. We should transform this rhythm into a conscious balance between activity in the world of the
senses and activity in the inner world of imagination.
Within Ancient Sun evolution, we find that the Angels were again active in a kind of metabolism, but
this time all the conditions had changed. The body of our human ancestor consisted of a kind of sheath and
skeleton of warmth, as it were, which also contained “air”. Thus the Angels, still with the help of the Spirits
of Harmony, brought about changes and transformation of the “air” from within. If we meditate upon these
events, we receive an impression that reminds us of the events which take place today in the atmosphere
surrounding the globe of the Earth. It is almost as though very subtle and splendid visions and imaginations
of animal forms impressed themselves upon the “air” and disappeared again after some time. This ancient
activity of the Angels is written into the Moon sphere too, and appears in the connection of the rhythms and
movements of the Moon with the psychic life of the atmospheric and meteorological realm of the Earth of
which we have spoken above.
In the following cycle of evolution, which we call the Ancient Moon evolution, the Angels were again
active. They had evolved to a higher state of existence, and the general conditions on Ancient Moon had
changed considerably. Now the physical body of the ancestors of humanity consisted not only of warmth
and air but also of “water”, into which a part of the original substance had been densified. Together with
this, a “split” in this cycle of evolution occurred. The higher hierarchies did not want to connect themselves
with this densification so they withdrew to another celestial body or realm. Thereby, a twofoldness came
into everything that existed in that universe, and especially our human ancestors were drawn into this
polarity. There were times when they lived within a body that was more densified and in which they had
also a brighter consciousness, for they were now gifted with a soul body. Then there came times for them
when their body became corrupted by these consciousness forces. The soul body was then withdrawn into
the realm of the higher hierarchies where it gathered strength once more to revive its body. The latter had
not been dissolved in the meantime. The whole process was more like a state between the experience of
death and falling asleep and of birth and awakening. Something like a seed or rootstock had been left
behind, which could be revived when the soul body of our human ancestor returned from its sojourn in the
higher realm. This ancestor had not then acquired the “I”, and the Angels guided it through these metamor-
phoses of its being. They preserved the “seeds” and brought them to “germination”.
Thus our human ancestor on Ancient Moon had a twofold nature even in its body. One part was like a
head that provided also a brighter consciousness, but it stuck, as it were, like the root of a plant in the denser
“layers” of this planet. The other part showed its connection with the warmth and air-filled heights of the
Moon universe. It was like the leaves and flowers of a plant. The processes of flourishing and fading were
guided by the Angels, and a whole group of these beings was under the guidance of one Angel who was
their “group ego”.
We can now understand why the Moon and its sphere, as the dwelling place of the Angels, work in
the germination processes and the growth of the plants and, likewise, in all organic processes of living
beings. Thus it is also strongly connected with embryonic development.
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SEVENTEENTH LETTER - August 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Moon (continued)
Within the Earth evolution a condensation of substance took place again. This time a part of the sub-
stance derived from the previous cycles of evolution was densified into solid matter, forming the mineral
kingdom. However, the Angels retained their activity in the sphere of the liquid substances. They could
work in the world of matter, but only if it was connected with the liquid state. Thus their activity appears
everywhere through the medium of the Moon, where solid matter is dissolved in water or comes into
contact with it. The Earth would be a dry desert without water; but through the water, solid matter can be
transmuted with the aid of the manifold beings in the plant and animal world. It is the same with our
digestion; we cannot eat dry food, it must be penetrated by water. When the water forces are connected
with solid matter, they can even create matter, as the Herzeele experiments have proven. For only the seed
that is organically penetrated by water can germinate and thus create matter. Dry matter cannot do this. The
Moon forces, revealing themselves in the phases of the Moon, can work through the water. It is the spiritual
inheritance of the experiences of the Angels within the Ancient Moon evolution.
By far the greater part of the human body consists of water. The balance of the water within us is the
foundation of our conscious soul life. We could not use our brain if it did not “float” in the brain fluid.
Through this fact, which is connected with the law of buoyancy through displacement, the circulatory
system of the brain is kept in order so that we can use our brain as an organ for perception and conception
in the world around us. It was the water that transformed the human body during long periods of the Earth
evolution into an instrument for conscious soul life. In this we can realize the work of the Moon sphere or
of the Angels. They kindled the spark of the soul member in us that spiritual science calls the conscious-
ness soul.
People are directly connected with the forces of the Moon through the consciousness soul. Rudolf
Steiner says of the consciousness soul in Theosophy: “The kernel of human consciousness, that is, the soul
within the soul, is here meant by consciousness soul. The consciousness soul is thus distinguished as a
distinct member of the soul from the intellectual soul, which is still entangled in the sensations, the im-
pulses, the passions, etc. Everyone knows how at first people accept as true what they prefer in their
feelings, and so on. Only that truth, however, is permanent that has freed itself from all flavor of such
sympathy and antipathy of feeling. The truth is true even if all personal feelings revolt against it. The part
of the soul in which this truth lives will be called consciousness soul.”
The consciousness soul has a twofold nature. It stands between the world of the senses and the world of
the spirit. It realizes the truth of the world of the senses if the brain is able to reflect an undistorted picture
of it. Thus the consciousness soul strives toward absolutely objective sense perception, but it strives also
for a cognition of the phenomena of the world of the senses as a manifestation of the spirit. If the forces of
the consciousness soul are to be really developed in humanity, as well as in the single human being, then
this bridge between the two worlds must be established. To make the objective sense perceptions so trans-
parent that the light of the spirit shines through them means the transformation of the consciousness soul
into what we may call the “imagination soul”. Thus we are also connected with the Moon through our own
nativities; the Moon forces endow us with bodies that should be undistorted mirrors of the world of the
senses. It is our task while on Earth to make the phenomena of this world so transparent that the light of the
spirit can penetrate them. We have to create imagination, for it is what the Moon forces expect from us.
Therefore, the Moon has two faces—as, in fact, have all the planets—it gives and it also receives. If we
perceive the Moon in a certain constellation of the Zodiac, we can always find these two aspects: one that
shows how cosmic sustenance emanates from the Moon forces, and another that demands creative imagi-
nation from us.
For instance, if we look at the Moon in the constellation of Ram, we find that it endows the human
being with forces of tremendous cosmic memory, which may appear in the garment of the power of think-
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ing in connection with the purification of perception. If we try to attain a knowledge of the Moon in this
position through inner cognition, at first we may not perceive much more than mighty horns reaching
through universal space and wound like spirals. They may appear like perception organs for all the wisdom
that is incorporated into the universe; yet it is possible to perceive that these huge cosmic, ethereal organs
have become imprisoned in the grave of the skull. Once they could freely move in universal space. Now
they are fixed; and through this fixation and imprisonment, they bring one into the danger of being lost in
them as in a labyrinth. In the course of evolution, this drama happened to the human brain that we so much
admire today. However, we can also evolve beyond the sole use of our physical brains. By the path leading
to the attainment of higher knowledge, we can develop imagination that is not bound to the function of the
brain only. We can then experience the ethereal “horns” growing from the grave of the skull into universal
space, and thereby we can learn how to “name” things and beings with the eternal names created by true
imagination. If this can be accomplished by us for supersensible perception, the fleece of Ram begins to
radiate with brilliant light.
Swedenborg and Novalis were connected with Ram shining through the Moon in their nativity. We
have the impression that Swedenborg, who was a prominent scientist in the earlier part of his life and a
spiritual and religious teacher in his later lifetime, did not fully establish a bridge between his scientific
perception of the world of the senses and the visionary world that grew into his soul experience. There is a
gap in between these two worlds. Therefore, the world of his visions could not bring about the redemption
of the thinking still buried in the grave of the brain. The case of Novalis is different. From his writings we
have the impression that he built a bridge between the world of scientific thinking and imaginative cogni-
tion.
If we look at the Moon in Bull, perhaps at first we perceive only the animating forces of the mighty Bull
flowing into the vessel of the Moon. This is connected with the perception of everything dependent on the
forces of heredity through physical parents. However, if we, through the evolution of our own inner forces,
are able to transform this original imagination of the Bull, we then perceive that the head and the mighty
horns of the Bull metamorphose into the shape of a vessel or crescent in which appears the brilliant disc of
a golden Sun. The one-sided aspect of hereditary descent is then transformed into the imagination of the
true relationship between physical heredity and the cosmic origin of their spiritual nature. A consciousness
of this fact was still alive in medieval times but was gradually lost. Spiritual science reveals again the
spiritual nature of human beings. Personalities such as Dante, Mirandola, Kepler, and Haeckel were con-
nected through the Moon with Bull, and we can see in their lives an illustration of these Bull powers.
Through the Moon in Twins we can experience the mighty forces in the universe that once, long ago,
separated the united cosmos into a spiritual and a physical world. We can learn from these forces the cause
of light and darkness, for instance, as well as of all polarity in the world. These are the real causes of
dualism in the religious and philosophic life of modern humanity. If we transform this imagination again
through our own soul capacities, we can perceive that suddenly a third figure steps between the light that,
although brilliant in the cosmic heights, cannot penetrate the darkness and the darkness which creates the
fear of isolation and loneliness. We see the third being keeping the other two forces in their places so that
they cannot overwhelm the soul of humans through their conflict. We can experience how this third being
really can come to life in us. Among many others, it is expressed in a beautiful imagination from Albrecht
Dürer, who received the forces of Twins through the vessel of the Moon in his nativity and, among other
pictures similar in character, created the well-known engraving “The Knight, Death, and the Devil”. It is a
most beautiful imaginative expression of the third power of unerring soul courage holding sway over those
two mighty opponents.
If we now turn our eyes toward Crab as it is gathered in the vessel of the Moon, we behold at first the
shape of the crab seen, as it were, from the front. We see the mighty pair of claws and the creature that is
hidden in its shell. We perceive in this imagination those forces in the world that have carried evolution one
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step further after the Twin-powers had brought about the split between the physical and the spiritual world.
We see the image of materialism that has cut the thread that still connected the two worlds with the sharp
claws of the sense-bound thinking and has withdrawn into the rock-cave of the skull. But if we transform
this imagination, we behold how it is changed into the picture of an overturned vessel filled with the fruits
of human moral striving. In spite of the experience of temporary separation from the spiritual world during
life on Earth, this vessel can be the bearer of sustaining food in a far distant future time. Personalities such
as Edward Geo. Bulwer-Lytten, R.W. Emerson, and John Ruskin are connected with the constellation of
Crab through the Moon.
When the Moon is in the constellation of Lion, we can have the imagination of a lion’s head looking
through us as if we were transparent and gazing beyond us into a far distance. We see in it the picture of the
spiritual accumulation of human achievements and attainments on Earth throughout the ages. It is the
image of courage, enterprise, and pride. For one who evolves his or her soul capacities, it changes into an
image where the animal nature is subdued by the blows of destiny until the selfish qualities are transmuted
into a mood of acceptance of the challenge of destiny. In this struggle between the selfish nature and the
world guiding powers of destiny, we can develop a supersensible cognition of the superhuman plans and
powers that spiritually guide humanity. We can then recognize the spiritual beings who work behind the
movements of the starry heaven and form the destiny of human beings and the world. This cannot easily be
attained in our age. Very often the soul forces of individuals lose in this struggle. Benjamin Disraeli was
connected with Lion through the Moon in his nativity and so was Leo Tolstoy. The ex-Empress Charlotte
of Mexico had the Moon in the same position at her birth. She was the wife of the unhappy Emperor
Maximilian of Mexico who was shot by the Mexican insurgents, and she became mad after the death of her
husband.
The Moon in Virgin appears to us in the image of the heavenly Mother of all existence who knows the
secrets of creation. In olden days people experienced this Being as holding a sheaf of corn in her hand, the
symbol of ripeness. Christian esotericism can evolve to a point where we see not only the heavenly Virgin
Mother but also the Child of the universe that grows as radiating spiritual Sun into the remotest spaces of
the cosmos. The powers of imagination that stream into the world from the innermost soul of individuals
toward the Moon in this constellation create deeds that are of greatest historic importance, yet they are
never on the surface of earthly events. They stay hidden in the background of the streams of the evolution
of humanity. Although these deeds are seldom recognized by contemporaries, their influence is all the
stronger and reaches far into the future when the physical bearers of these impulses, the “child-impulses” of
humanity, are no longer alive. In this group we can name personalities like Joan of Arc, Tycho de Brahe,
and Rudolf Steiner.
The Moon in the constellation of Scales leads to the imagination of the scales of cosmic judgment, as
people have perceived them since olden times. Nostradamus, the famous astrologer who at his birth had
the Moon in Scales, experienced this cosmic judgment when he wrote the prophecies, which reached far
beyond his own age. They are veiled imaginations of the destiny of the European peoples, which became
true long after his death. However, Christian clairvoyance can experience the transformation of this imagi-
nation into another impression; the Scales become then two hands that softly and unseen work in the world
as healing and balancing powers. They make the path level for the revelation of the spirit in the world. This
imagination became manifest in the life of Raphael Santi. In his paintings we can still experience the magic
power of those healing hands.
The constellation of Scorpion cannot easily be penetrated when its forces are gathered in the vessel of
the Moon, because, in fact, three different imaginations are hidden within. In olden times people perceived
these forces in the imagination of the eagle that penetrates into the light and warmth-filled heights of the
atmosphere, far away from the dwelling places of human beings on Earth. Powerful and dominating were
these eagle forces in the human soul. They endowed people with great capacities of spiritual rulership; then
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this spirit became more and more estranged from the Earth. It could only rule the Earth from the heights but
it did not redeem it. Thus these forces deteriorated, and for many ages people have only been able to behold
them in the image of the scorpion with the deadly sting. The famous German philosopher Nietzsche lived
through this tragedy when his glorious flight of thoughts in Thus Spake Zarathustra was followed by his
fateful fall into the abyss of insanity. Thus the imagination of the eagle was transformed into the imagina-
tion of the Scorpion, and we could show many examples that bear the imprint of the fall of human idealistic
but illusionary thinking into the abyss of destruction. However, spiritual activity can lead people to a point
of inner evolution where they can transform the imagination of the Scorpion into the imagination of the
Dove, even the Dove of the Holy Spirit, working in humanity as the gentle might of spiritual creative
power. This was manifest in the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling, who at his birth had the Moon
in Scorpion. His Philosophy of Revelation is a realization of this new imagination. The composer Mozart
was also endowed with these forces. His music breathes the soft magic power of the Dove, and it was also
manifest in his bright character.
The Moon in the constellation of Archer can appear to us in the imagination of an arrow that rests upon
the drawn string of a bow. We can see in it the expression of mighty powers that can become alive in human
souls as driving forces toward certain goals, even inhuman goals. But true Christian consciousness must
transform the image of the arrow, the shooting power as it were, into powers of moral self-perfection. Then
the arrow will change into the imagination of a narrow serpentine path that leads up the slopes of a moun-
tain into the realm of the light. Thus it may become a striving for the spirit in the human soul. This has been
realized by the Pastor Oberlin in a beautiful perfection. He was a pastor in Steinthal in Alsace, a poor
mountain village in the Vosges. Through the energy of Oberlin, this village rose to a remarkable prosperity,
yet behind this was another fact. The pastor’s wife died earlier and Oberlin was strongly connected with
her after her death. Through the beautiful contact of their two souls, he could take part in her experiences
in the life after death. In fact, practically the whole congregation of Steinthal lived with their pastor in these
experiences, because he communicated to his parishioners the secrets of his soul life. Here human striving
in this village had a certain goal, and the path toward it led upward into the spiritual world, which was
obviously of benefit for the congregation of Steinthal.
The constellation of Goat, through the light of the Moon, appears as the image of the ibex. Since olden
times it was thus experienced, but instead of hind feet it had a fish-tail. It is a picture of a soul attitude that
strives for the highest in the world. The danger is that it does not stand very firmly upon the ground of
earthly realities and can lose its foothold altogether. However, true evolution can also transform this imagi-
nation into the picture of something like a shining castle standing on the summit of a high mountain. This
is conceived not as an earthly but as a spiritual reality. Richard Wagner, whose Moon stood in Goat at the
time of his birth, realized this imagination in the beauty of his musical drama Parsifal, which he created as
the last work of his life. Parsifal, after long vain striving, arrives there at the Grail’s castle, which stands
radiating on the summit of Montsalvat and in which the healing and ever-feeding vessel of the Holy Grail
is guarded. The Grail’s castle is a spiritual reality; it cannot be found in the world of the senses.
The Waterman in the image of the Moon appears as the great cosmic waterer who pours the content of
his jug into cosmic space. It is an imagination of soul forces that may easily lose themselves in a kind of
passiveness or an unbalanced altruism. The soul may find itself as though left alone upon an endless ocean
or it may feel like it is engulfed by a shattering torrent. If this is transformed into a true imagination, then
the water will appear as the sea of the life-endowing ether forces that stream down from cosmic spheres
into earthly realms and bring about the miracle of living forms. Goethe was endowed with this Moon
mystery, and we can say that the reality of the ether forces working in nature and in humanity was a matter
of inner experience for him. We could prove this in manifold ways.
The Moon in the constellation of Fishes creates the imagination of the two fishes that swim in the water
of Waterman. The fishes are like islands in the sea founded upon human individual existence. The Fishes
is the picture of individuals who have realized the spirit in themselves through the development of the
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higher principles of their whole being. Now such people stand at the end of a cycle of evolution, or rather
they swim in the sea of the creative ether forces. Such individuals prepare themselves to be the master of
the creative ether forces so that through their aid they can perform deeds of which we have in our present
age only a very faint conception. Therefore, the fruits of deeds that can ripen in the light of this imagination
are brought forth in a soul region which is not yet under the conscious control of the “I”. We have this
position of the Moon in Fishes in personalities such as Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Ignatius of Loyola,
Hahnemann; the founder of Homeopathy, and Thomas More.
These are only outlines of the activity of the Moon forces in the constellations of the Zodiac and their
transformation through the capacities of the consciousness soul. Of course we cannot generalize in the case
of nativities. There the aspects of the other planets in connection with the Moon and also many other
details have to be considered, but our aim here was to show how these forces can work and be developed
under ideal circumstances.

On July 6, a conjunction of the Sun and Saturn took place in the constellation of Twins. The conjunc-
tion between these two celestial bodies happens once in a year, and it always takes place about half a month
later than in the preceding year. For instance, in 1946 it will occur on July 21, but both the Sun and Saturn
will then have already entered the constellation of Crab.
Thus the annual event shows a progressive evolution through the Zodiac. Within a time of 30 years we
can find 30 conjunctions that successively take place in the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. About two or
three conjunctions occur in each single constellation. The conjunction during this and the coming two
years is especially important because it gradually moves toward the planet Pluto, which was discovered in
1930. (So far Pluto is the planet that is furthest away from the center of our solar system. Its orbit is beyond
that of Neptune, and it needs about 250 years in order to complete one whole orbit.)
Therefore, we are facing the following facts: in 1945 the conjunction of the Sun and Saturn takes place
in Twins, in 1946 it will occur in Crab, and in 1947 it also will occur in Crab, but then it will be combined
with a conjunction with Pluto. If we could observe this event through a telescope, we would see in the
background of the firmament of the fixed stars the faint stars of Crab and in front of it the Sun. Slightly
above the Sun would appear the planet Saturn in the far distances of the universe. Considerably higher, but
in an almost straight line above the Sun we would then detect the planet Pluto, which, of course, could only
be seen through one of the big modern telescopes.
The times and the places of these combined conjunctions are very important, and it may be necessary to
draw the attention of people who feel a strong spiritual responsibility toward the cultural developments of
our age to these events.
About 33 years elapse from one conjunction of Saturn with Pluto to the next; therefore, the last conjunc-
tion of these two planets must have taken place in 1914. On 13 June 1914, there occurred a conjunction of
the Sun and Saturn. Pluto was at least very near the place where the Sun and Saturn stood in those days.
Thus we have here an event that is similar to the one which will take place in 1947, but it occurred in the
constellation of Bull. We will remember that on June 28, 1914 the murder of Archduke Ferdinand in
Sarajevo occurred, leading to the First World War.
The place where the combined conjunction in 1947 will take place is strongly connected with the trag-
edy of the German philosopher Nietzsche, who became insane in 1888. It is also connected with the man
who forced Germany into this war (WWII) and led her to destruction. The megalomaniacal idea of the
Greater German Empire took hold of the latter when Saturn was in conjunction with the planet Neptune
(discovered in 1846). This happened in 1917, in the constellation of Crab.
In 1947 Saturn will be in conjunction with Pluto in about the same position, but the conjunction with
Pluto will mean an “exaltation” because Pluto is further away, i.e., it belongs to a “higher” sphere.
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How will this cosmic occurrence reflect itself in the earthly events? Could we bear to know the aspects
written into it? It will certainly be connected with the fight of the evil forces and the power of cosmic
evolution in the universe. Therefore, much is given into the hands of humanity itself. The balance of
human moral and spiritual achievements on Earth will decide the outcome of these events in the end.
If in 1914 when the combined conjunction of the Sun, Saturn, and Pluto took place in Bull, the building
of spiritual science—the Goetheanum at Dornach, the “House of the Word”—could have been finished,
events in that year might have taken another course. The events connected with the celestial occurrences in
the coming years may be directed to the good and the progress of humanity if a certain number of people
develop and carry through certain strong moral and spiritual impulses for which our age yearns. How can
we read and understand the language of these events?
The Word, which we can hear sounding from the Sun during these conjunctions, pronounces that the
time for “realization” has come for certain impulses, and that certain things must be done or certain possi-
bilities will vanish from humanity. Saturn will reveal that once again a time has come when many should
recognize the fact that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, and that many more than hitherto should pen-
etrate to the experience of the “kingdom of heaven” through the cognition of the higher principles of the
human organization. Otherwise many will be swept away by the counter-forces of the Higher-Self.
Pluto is deeply hidden behind veils of mystery. It will tell us of forces that the single human being
cannot attain, not single nations nor single continents, but can only be attained by humanity as a true
Christian and globe-embracing community. The peoples of the Earth can become one body in the Holy
Spirit. Against it stand the forces of total destruction, annihilation, even of the human race. These events
in the sky will initiate the age in which humanity will have to decide and choose between the two forces.
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EIGHTEENTH LETTER - September 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Venus
The Sphere of the Planet Venus
A study of the astronomical nature of the planets Venus and Mercury involves tremendous problems
that have not yet been solved. Below we shall try to give a diagrammatic picture of the movements of
Venus in connection with the Sun-Earth lemniscate. It must be emphasized that this is not the ultimate
solution, but it should be regarded as a possible way of imagining them according to the indications given
by Rudolf Steiner. However, even though this indication is open to doubt, and we hope that one day it will
be possible to demonstrate the totality of the new conception of a planetary system in a true and comprehen-
sive manner.
We can imagine that the lemniscate, or rather the lemniscate-body of the Sun-Earth path, has come into
existence through two polarities in the universe: a radiating activity of the Sun that has the tendency to
leave a “hole” toward the center and a contracting activity of the Earth that tends to “bulge”, as it were, into
the hole. One day we may even be able to see in the opposition of these two forces the cause of the
lemniscatory form in the universe. In the human body these two forces manifest themselves in the polarity
of the activities that form the head and the body: the head, a contracting, mineralizing entity and the body,
a radiating and dispersing power. Yet each penetrates the other. The contracting power is also active in the
body and similarly the dispersing activity works in the head—though they are considerably hampered in
these regions. The result is the lemniscate form, which in manifold ways is written into the human organi-
zation.
We now have to imagine the planets Venus and Mercury as moving upon smaller lemniscates, perhaps
fixed by their crossing points upon the Sun-Earth-lemniscate but with the possibility of movement from the
right side of the Sun to the left and also the reverse. Thus we find a reason for the fact that the planet Venus
is sometimes in front of the Sun (seen from the Earth) and moving against the direction of the Sun’s
movement (that is, being retrograde or performing a loop), and at another time (about 10 months later) it is
behind the Sun or in superior conjunction (see position b in the diagram).
The planets Venus and Mercury are strongly related to the Sun; they are close intimates, therefore they
also take part in the radiating tendency of the Sun. If we look now at positions a and b in the diagram, we
can at once see that there must be a great difference between the condition of the sphere of Venus during an
inferior conjunction or loop a and a superior conjunction b. In position a, the radiating sphere of Venus,
which we must imagine around the planet and penetrating space as far as the Earth, is pressed into the space
that is more or less filled with the contracting activity of the Earth. We can imagine that the forces of the
sphere of Venus have to struggle hard to hold their ground against the Earth forces. The radiating Venus
activity is then forced into that realm in the universe which manifests itself in the human being as the
organizing powers of the head; therefore, the Venus forces may be weakened in this position. In the oppo-
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site event, the superior conjunction indicated by position b in the diagram, the Venus forces seem to be
more in their own element, in the radiating surroundings of the Sun sphere, and so the forces of the Venus
sphere are relatively strengthened in the time of a superior conjunction.
However, the universe has provided a balance for this. In the article, The Events in the Sky in the 13th
letter, we have already pointed out that each loop or inferior conjunction of Venus is followed by a superior
conjunction in the same position of the Zodiac four years later. Thus the weakening influence that is
connected with the inferior conjunction is always restored again by the strengthening event of the superior
conjunction in the same position. These rhythms of Venus, especially the four-years rhythm, may in future
become of great importance for scientific research work; for instance, in connection with the metamorpho-
ses of insects and beetles and also in other realms.
We must now try to create a knowledge of the spiritual quality of the forces that emanate from the
sphere of Venus.
In previous letters, we have developed the theme that the sphere of the Moon is the sphere of the Angels.
The sphere that has its “center” in the planet Venus is the realm of the Archangels; therefore, the spiritual
“biography” of the Archangels is manifest still today in the influence of this sphere, whose ever-changing
conditions are indicated by the movements and gestures of the planet.
Within Ancient Saturn evolution, the Archangels were in a state of consciousness that could be com-
pared with that of the animal kingdom of today. In this state they received the cooperation of the exalted
Spirits of Love, who sacrificed to them their majestic visions of the events on Ancient Saturn. Thus to-
gether they created the first ethereal germs of the sense organs in our human ancestor.
The Archangels evolved to the state of consciousness during Ancient Sun evolution that the human
being has acquired only with the Earth evolution. The Ancient Sun forerunner of humanity had a body that
was split into two parts. It consisted of an advanced part composed of substance that had been condensed
as far as the “air” condition, and another part of this bodily substance had not evolved further than the state
reached on the Ancient Saturn planet. It consisted of warmth or heat that surrounded the air-part like a
sheath and also penetrated it like a skeleton. The Archangels worked then within this heat element and
brought the germs of the human sense organs one step further toward perfection.
When Ancient Moon evolution had reached a certain stage of its development, the Archangels had
attained the capacity of Imaginative cognition. Thus they were able to become active in the ether body of
the ancestor of humanity. They were active in the inner life functions that found their physical expression
in the circulation of the fluids within the body of humanity and also in the phenomena of growth. A kind of
activity was brought about, which was something between nutrition and respiration. On the other hand, the
Archangels were still connected with the development of the human sense organs, which they used as
organs for their own perception.
Within the Earth evolution, the Archangels reached the stage of consciousness that spiritual science
calls “inspiration”. They were especially connected with that period of the Earth evolution during which
substance was again condensed into air or light. This was a kind of recollection of the events within
Ancient Sun evolution. They manifested themselves also in the air-part of the human body and humanity
experienced them as a psychic tune. Humanity realized them in the intellectual soul, which was prepared to
become in future the “soul of inspiration”.
We can now realize that the Archangels are connected with humanity in a twofold way. They formerly
manifested themselves in the creation and development of the human sense organs. In those previous
stages of evolution, the sense organs were something quite different from what they are today. They were
much more subtle and ethereal. Gradually their activity retired more and more, as it were, into the soul life
of humanity, especially into the intellectual soul, of which Rudolf Steiner says in Chapter I of Theosophy:
“Man forms thoughts about his sensations. He thus enlightens himself regarding the outside world. The
child that has burnt itself thinks it over and reaches the thought ‘fire burns’. Also man does not blindly
follow his impulses, instincts, passions; his thinking about them brings about the opportunity through
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which he can gratify them. What one calls material civilization moves entirely in this direction…One
could also call it the emotional-thought-soul.”
On the other hand, the Archangels are connected with certain processes in the rhythmic system of
humanity. For instance, one day we may be able to prove that the sphere, which is indicated by the planet
Venus, shows the condition of the breathing organs of the human organism through the movements and
gestures of embryonic development, but we must strictly differentiate the Venus sphere from the physical
form of the planet and not confuse its influence upon prenatal development with its effect upon humanity’s
life after birth. These facts cannot be developed here at length. They are a subject for medical research and
this is beyond the intended compass of these letters.
Thus we have two movements or activities in humanity as the expression of the activities of the Venus-
Archangel-sphere. The one tends more toward the attainment of intellectual capacities in connection with
the function of the senses, and the other is located, as it were, in the bodily functions of the rhythmic and the
respiratory system that is beyond the threshold of the human day-consciousness. If we now imagine an
evolution of human consciousness so that it could behold the deeper faculties within the intellectual soul,
then the intellectual soul would be transformed into the inspiration soul, which would be able to “inhale” or
even to “eat”, so to speak, the hidden language of objects and spiritual beings. It would be a kind of evolved
“sense perception” of which the physical sense perception is only a shadow. For instance, just as we speak
of hearing within the physical world, we can also speak of a state of “hearing” in the spiritual world where
the spiritual beings reveal themselves in their own “language”, and this is the state that occult science calls
inspiration.
In order to understand the character of the sphere of the planet Venus as it is penetrated by the differen-
tiations of the twelve fold Zodiac, we will have to concentrate a little more on the events within the second
great stage of cosmic evolution, the so-called Ancient Sun. It was within this great cycle of evolution that
the Archangels acquired a condition equal to present-day human ego-consciousness. Therefore, it is most
illuminating to study this period in connection with the Beings of the Archangels.
As we have already indicated, the body of humanity’s ancestor within Ancient Sun evolution consisted
of two different substances. There was the “backward” heat-substance as the “residue” of Ancient Saturn
evolution that formed a kind of “cloak” around the other substance—the air—into which a part of the
warmth had been densified. Besides the bodies of humanity’s ancestor, there was also backward heat in the
surroundings of these bodies as a kind of second, lower kingdom of nature. The Archangels worked in the
primeval sense-organs of humanity that were built into the heat-part of the bodies, and thereby they created
the possibility of a connection between the second, lower kingdom and that of humanity. This mediating
activity of the Archangels is one of their most prominent characteristics.
We must now imagine that the events of Ancient Saturn evolution were imprinted into the heat-part. It
bore, so to speak, the countenance of the seven great ages of that planetary evolution that we have outlined
in letters three, four, and five. The air-part showed the imprint of the seven great rounds of Ancient Sun
evolution itself, of which we have so far not spoken in detail but that is described in the book An Outline of
Esoteric Science by Rudolf Steiner. The primeval sense organs that were created by the Archangels acted
as mediators between the two worlds: that of heat and that of air. Thus the outlines, the ethereal images, of
twelve senses were made manifest and then appeared more and more clearly in later cycles of cosmic
evolution.
When we described the seven great rounds of Ancient Saturn evolution, we were able to connect them
with the twelve constellations of the Zodiac that we perceive today in the sky. We could do the same with
regard to Ancient Sun evolution. If we say that the countenance of those features of Ancient Saturn planet
was imprinted upon the backward heat-substance and that this heat-substance was the foundation of the
sense organs, then we can assume that the senses using the organs must also bear a relationship to the
constellations of the Zodiac.
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We will now develop this in further detail. The seven great steps of Ancient Saturn evolution were as
follows:
1. The mighty “Wisdom-Word of God” was spoken into the Ancient Saturn planet. The planet itself,
which was still lifeless in this state, could not hold this. Only a reflection rested upon it and this was the
primeval image of Ram.
2. Cosmic soul forces, the highest expression of which is the Thought of God, sought to penetrate the
planet but were also only reflected—this was the origin of Bull.
3. The reflection of the forces of the cosmic bearers of the “I AM” created the division of the united
planetary substance into many single bodies. This was the primeval power behind Twins.
4. The single heat bodies became mirrors of the impulse toward Personality. This was the prophecy of
Archer.
5. The ethereal germs of the sense organs were created within the heat bodies. This formed the spiritual
background of Goat.
6. A kind of warmth-metabolism was established within them that was the expression of Waterman.
7. Now appeared the Automaton-Man as an absolute image of the intentions of the Gods and which
acted precisely according to the impulses coming from the spiritual surrounding. This took place in the
realm of Fishes.
These different stages of development were imprinted again upon the backward heat-substance on the
Ancient Sun planet, and as the sense organs, which one day were to behold the world, were brought one
step further toward perfection; they were prepared to behold these imprints. Thus the sense activities that
are the formative forces within the sense organs originated in those events in Ancient Saturn evolution in
Twins, or the forces standing behind the Twins, giving the power to evolve a capacity of sense perception
that in the Earth stage of evolution would behold the “I”—the sense for the perception of the “I”. From Bull
came the capacity to perceive the thought. The spiritual forces behind Ram endowed humanity with the
sense for the perception of the Word. In Fishes was created the possibility of perception through the sense
of sound—absolute receptivity is the fundamental condition for the functioning of this sense. Waterman
and its spiritual background gave the possibility of the perception of warmth. In Goat was created the sense
of sight, although the creation of the sense organs in general is connected with this area. In the sense of
sight there lives the heritage of the sacrifice of their visions rendered by the Spirits of Love within the
Ancient Saturn planet. From Archer comes the sense of taste. This is very difficult to understand from the
point of view of the fourth cycle of Ancient Saturn evolution, but we shall find a wider basis of understand-
ing for this fact later on.
Of course, we cannot say that these senses were already there within Ancient Sun evolution, but their
cosmic images existed then.
Within the air-substance of humanity’s ancestors, the cycles of Ancient Sun evolution were imprinted,
which were previously reflected upon the heat-substance. These cycles appear also in connection with the
constellations of the Zodiac, but we cannot now develop this in detail. We can only describe the effects that
they had upon the formation of the senses. The order that is given here does not correspond, however, to the
sequence of events within that planetary evolution.
Events in Twins were reflected that evolved a kind of primeval propagation. The single being derived
its existence from a “mother-being” through a simple act of separation from it. From this there later evolved
the sense for perception of the “brother-being”; a further evolution of the sense for the perception of the “I”.
Crab is connected with events that endowed the being with a temporarily fixed form within a kind of
skin. It laid the foundation for the later development of the sense of touch.
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Lion is an image of a step in evolution when the being experienced within its own organism the reflec-
tion of soul movements and activities in the cosmic circumference. These experiences became the origin of
the sense for the perception of life.
Virgin is the constellation into which are imprinted events within Ancient Sun evolution that effected a
fundamental change in the human nature. Within the Ancient Saturn planet the heat bodies were still
lifeless, but now during the initial stages of the new planetary evolution they were endowed with life forces.
This was the foundation for a later realization and perception within the being itself of its own movement.
Scales reflects a state of evolution where the being came into a condition of complete inner balance with
regard to its surroundings so that it could even express its experiences in a kind of “primitive language”.
This was the primeval origin of the sense of balance.
Scorpion preserves the imagination of an event that we can call a process of “dematerialization”. Through
the dissolution of the physical form, the life force became free, and a germ-like organ for the cognition of
life connections and cosmic wisdom was thus embodied in physical forms. The sense of smell is only a
faint and distorted image of the original capacity connected with the Scorpion.
Finally, Archer remembers events within this stage of evolution where gigantic cosmic processes of
metabolism and transubstantiation were implanted into the human organization. Here we come a little
nearer to the fact that the sense of taste is connected with Archer, although we must not forget that the
original capacity went through many metamorphoses before it manifested itself as that which today we call
the sense of taste.
Between Ancient Sun and the Earth evolution, there was Ancient Moon evolution, which brought fur-
ther development. In fact, this is true of all the senses.
We see in the primeval creation of the sense organs the activity of the Archangels. The sense organs are
the expression of the existence of the inner senses, and the senses must also be involved in the activity of
the Archangels. Furthermore, this connection must also be written into the cosmic sphere of this hierarchy,
the sphere that has its visible indicator in the movements of the planet Venus, and indeed we can find it
there. This has been verified in a great number of cases of so-called mentally deficient children; however,
it is not possible to speak about such cases here. We will develop these facts in the following letter in
connection with a historical example.
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NINETEENTH LETTER - October 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Mercury
Mercury and its Sphere
Contrary to the announcement in the 18th letter, we will not work out a historic nativity with reference to
the planet Venus now but continue with the description of the activities of the planet Mercury and its
sphere. After we have done this, we can embark on the delineation of a historic example with reference to
the totality of the five planets together with the Sun and Moon, and this will be much more satisfactory than
the consideration of the isolated activities of single planets.
Some readers may have noticed that the description of Venus in letter 18 is not what we might expect
with regard to the essential activity of this planet, but that it has come much nearer to the character that we
connect with Mercury. There is a deep inner reason for this. We have been speaking of the sphere of the
planet Venus, for we considered it not from the point of view of fixed positions, such as the definite posi-
tion of Venus in a nativity, but from the aspect of movement; for instance, during embryonic development.
As soon as we consider the movements of a planet during a certain interval of time, we already look at the
dynamic of its sphere, which is indicated by the gestures of the planet.
Therefore, we can experience that the character of the sphere, which is indicated by the gestures of
Venus, has a different nature from that of the planet itself. The same applies to Mercury. Behind this is
hidden the fact, which is known in occultism, that the spheres of these two inferior planets were exchanged
at a certain moment of human evolution. The sphere of Venus has really the character of Mercury and that
of Mercury the dynamic of Venus. During the period when humanity gradually lost the old knowledge of
the spheres and looked solely at the visible planets, a veil began to be drawn before these mysteries that
cannot easily be lifted, even today. Many riddles are thus still unsolved, and it will be the task of future
spiritual astronomy gradually to bring light upon these problems. It is not possible in these letters, which
are mainly concerned with astrosophy, to expound the many astronomical questions connected with this
subject.
We will now have to discover the fundamental laws and gestures of the planet Mercury in order to find
the character of its sphere. From a study of any astronomical handbook, we can find that this planet makes
three loops during one year, and also that it has three superior conjunctions with the Sun. From previous
descriptions in connection with Venus, we know that the inferior planets make loops (they are then retro-
grade) when in the course of their rhythms they stand in front of the Sun between the Sun and the Earth.
They are in superior conjunction when they have moved behind the Sun and stand between the Sun and the
outer fringe of our solar system.
Thus with regard to the gestures of Mercury we have two times three events that are related to each
other. If we further imagine that Mercury, like the other planets, appears to us on Earth to be moving in a
circle around the Earth, more or less in the circle of the Zodiac, then we have the picture that is produced in
Fig. 1.
Figure 1 Figure 2
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Let us now recall what we said in the preceding letter about the character of the sphere of the planet
during an inferior and a superior conjunction. The invisible sphere, of which the planet is only the densest
point, is pressed together during the time of a loop and cannot properly unfold its activities with which it
also embraces the Earth. During the superior conjunction, it is beautifully expanded in cosmic space. (We
need only to replace Venus with Mercury in the diagram in the 18th letter in order to obtain the true picture
of the movements of Mercury). Therefore, during the course of one year we have a triangle of inferior
conjunctions of Mercury in the circle of the Zodiac and another triangle of superior conjunctions. The first
one presents a more earthly, darkened mood of the planetary sphere and the second a cosmic light-filled
manifestation.
However, this is not quite correct, for a careful observation throughout several years reveals that these
conjunctions of the planet Mercury do not always take place in the exact same positions of the Zodiac.
They fall back. For instance, in November/December 1945, we will find an inferior conjunction or loop of
Mercury in the constellation of Scorpion. Next year about the same time another loop will occur in this
constellation, but we will notice that it is further back in the Zodiac toward the constellation of Scales. We
will notice that in the course of the next years, this point of the triangle (see Fig. 2) slowly wanders back
through the ecliptic, and the other points of the triangles will move backward too. The six-pointed star of
the sphere indicated by the planet Mercury turns around in the cosmic spaces just as the gestures of the
planet Venus revealed a five-pointed star within its sphere (see 13th letter). In a period of about seven years,
one point of the two triangles moves into the position of the Zodiac in which the preceding point stood 7
years before. Furthermore, after a time interval of about 20 years, each one of the points of the two triangles
will return roughly into the same position that it occupied about 20 years before.
These rhythms already reveal a great deal about the inner character and activity of this sphere. We know
how deeply the rhythm of seven years is inscribed into the human organization. It is connected with the
development of capacities and hidden qualities in people. It carries the impulses that come to life in the
soul of a person through stages of natural growth and unfolding toward fulfillment. This is even more
distinctly expressed in the rhythm of 20 or 21 years. It is the rhythm of the development in the soul of a
person of impulses toward the realization of a vocation. Thus, this sphere finds its expression in the will of
a human being. We saw the Moon connected with the head of a person as far as the forces of the head and
the possibilities of their further development are experienced by someone in the realm of thinking. Venus
we saw manifest in the middle or rhythmic system of a human organization, the life that reflects itself in the
feeling life. Now we see Mercury active in the depth of human willing.
In order to find the spiritual quality of Mercury and its sphere, we must go one step further. We found
in the sphere of the Moon the activity of the hierarchy of the Angels. In the sphere that is indicated by the
gestures of the planet Venus, we saw an expression of the working of the Archangels. The sphere of which
the planet Mercury is the point of visible densification is the realm of the hierarchy of the Archai or Spirits
of Time. Therefore, if we recall the spiritual biography of the Archai, we will be able to find the traces of
their activity in the presence of this planet in our universe.
Within the cycle of cosmic evolution that we call Ancient Saturn, the Archai went through the stage of
their evolution which corresponds in a certain way to the development of the human being during the
present Earth evolution. They attained a consciousness equal to the “I” consciousness of human beings.
We must now imagine that until the time of their activity within the Ancient Saturn cycle, there existed only
the primeval Will substance that had been divided by the influence of the Spirits of Form into many single
entities, the foundations of the physical bodies of humanity, and the beings in the other realms of nature.
Now during the following stages of this cosmic evolution, the Archai began to be active. They radiated
“personality” into the cosmic spaces, but the planetary substance was not able to retain these forces of
personality experience. They were reflected back into the spiritual environment of the planet. Thus the
Archai or Spirits of Personality attained a knowledge of their own personality, and this event brought about
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a change in the quality of the primeval planetary substance. It was separated one step further from its divine
origin; it became heat or warmth. We may even experience it as the first decisive step of separation from
the origin. The experience of the “I”, which is the evolutionary step of the Archai, bears in itself the
tendency toward becoming an entity or becoming a center of existence distinct and cut off from its sur-
roundings. The reflection of this experience of the Archai (as we said, the planetary substance could only
hold the “reflection”) appeared as the transformation of the primeval divine Will substance into heat.
Therefore, the heat-substance became the “mirror” through which the hierarchy of the Archai experi-
enced personality. This very first evolution of these spiritual beings is still today fundamentally imprinted
in the sphere that is indicated by Mercury. It manifests itself on Earth wherever a connection can be
established with the creation of people and the beings in the kingdoms of nature. Thus it becomes visible
in the human warmth nature that is inherent in our will sphere. The study of Mercury and its movements
during prenatal development reveal one’s individual incorporation into the sphere of the will; they reveal,
so to speak, the psychic “temperature” of the will life. This temperature is the foundation for a person’s
experience of his or herself as an ego. We know, for instance, how the warmth of the blood is connected
with the development of the ego and the “I”, but we can also find in it the individual and characteristic ways
in which human beings move their limbs as they are active in life and tackle its practical problems. In this
we can experience the last traces of the heritage that the Archai or the Spirits of Personality have imprinted
into the sphere belonging to the planet Mercury.
On the following stage of cosmic evolution, which we call Ancient Sun cycle or evolution, the Archai
had advanced to a higher plane of consciousness, to the capacity of imaginative cognition. It was then no
longer necessary for them to experience and know of their own Being through the reflection from the heat
bodies as on the Ancient Saturn planet. Our human ancestor had, in the meantime, evolved to the stage of
being able to bear and become penetrated by a life body. Into this life body the Archai could now work.
They were aided by very exalted hierarchical beings, the Seraphim. The Archai penetrated these life bodies
with their imaginations, received from the Seraphim or Spirits of Love. Thus a kind of primeval propaga-
tion was created in our human ancestor, and this propagation consisted of the power to give away some of
their own substance out of which a new “daughter-being” could come into existence. Together with this,
the first germs of the glandular organs were created that we observe in people today.
Here we have a beautiful indication of forces that are to be found, like an old inscription in the sphere
belonging to the planet Mercury and which become manifest in the activity of this planet, within a person
when its body is created during the embryonic development. Again we can detect here the gift of creative
activity, which at once reveals two different sides of its primeval tendency. On one hand we see here the
world of the secrets of the glandular activity in one’s organization, not only in connection with propagation
but also with regard to the function of the glands in their widest sense. These glands finally establish the
balance of bodily formation and growth. They make the body a harmonized and beautiful image of the
human archetype. They also make it possible for the human being to make itself, in artistic productivity of
all kinds, an image of the cosmic, far-into-the-future-reaching archetype of humanity, who will not only be
able to let the forces of nature produce the archetype of the physical and also spiritual human being through
it but who will be able to be creator itself in cosmic space.
We can also find the manifestation of the Mercury forces and its sphere if we look at the gestures of this
planet during the embryonic development of an individual. They reveal themselves in the life on Earth
after birth, and they ask from each person his or her own fulfillment.
The following cycle of evolution, the Ancient Moon universe, again brought a further development of
the activities of the Spirits of Personality. They then attained the consciousness of inspiration. Hitherto
they had perceived the events in the universe in mighty inner pictures. Now they could hear the Word, the
sounds of the inner language that was inherent as the moving impulse in all creation. Thus they were also
able to work into the soul body of the human ancestor and awake in it the tendency toward independence.
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We know from previous descriptions that during Ancient Saturn evolution our physical body was cre-
ated, and within Ancient Sun evolution this physical body was permeated by life forces. We must imagine
this Ancient Sun universe, which was not yet condensed into a system of visible stars, moving so that their
orbits could be calculated. Nothing of such a starry world was then existent. But the laws of movement,
which today seem frozen into the apparent rigidity of the starry world, were existent within the Ancient Sun
universe like the psychic world of the Gods. For instance, that which we can perceive today as the loop of
a planet might then have been only a soul movement expressing the inner perception of an event or perhaps
a resolution of a spiritual being. There may have been the impulse to transform something into a form of
existence, which this being had not assumed hitherto. In our human ancestor on Ancient Sun, a reflection
was present of this ever-transmuting quality in the universe, and this brought about transmuting processes
in its own body over a period of time. Thus it was endowed with life. Within Ancient Moon evolution this
body was penetrated by a third principle, the soul, or astral body. A part of the inner, moving soul world that
directed the course of the world from inner experiences also entered this human ancestor. Now it was able
to have a consciousness of that which happened within and around it. In itself was present an image of that
which brought movement into the universe from psychic impulses, emotions, and reflections.
Into this soul, or astral body, the Spirits of Personality poured the impulses of independence and the
character of personality. Thus it happened that this impulse is still today written into the sphere of those
hierarchical Beings belonging to the planet Mercury. In the movement and the gestures of this planet, we
can experience the revelation of that which lives in us as the microcosm of our personal soul world that
manifests itself in intentions, emotions, and impulses. We can perceive the arrangement of this small inner
soul universe in us—that the sympathies and antipathies act like the events in a starry universe and create
the harmonies or perhaps the discords of a human soul life. As the stars have their rhythms—they may be
invisible at certain times to our eyes owing to their positions in the sky, or they may be in strong or weak
positions—thus also the human soul life has its rhythms. There may be long periods of passivity alternat-
ing with periods of strong activity. Periods of soul interest and direction may fade away and may be
replaced by new interests and influxes. All these longer intervals of the psychic directions of the interests
of a human being are indicated in a certain way in the prenatal gestures of this planet; for instance, whether
a human being has, at a certain time of life, an inclination toward a materialistic or idealistic world outlook
can be seen in the movements of Mercury.
The evolution of the Spirits of Personality within the Earth cycle brought also a new aspect into the
activity, which today is manifest in the movements of the planet Mercury and the relationship of its sphere
to people. Within Ancient Moon evolution, this hierarchy of spiritual Beings planted the impulse to de-
velop independence into humanity’s then-highest principle, the soul, or astral body. This impulse was
necessary because we were intended by the Gods to become self-conscious bearers of the divine astrality in
the future. This development also included the danger of our becoming too independent through complete
separation from the cosmic soul world and of self-contentment in the microcosmic psychic realm of our
own being. This danger is written into the sphere of the planet Mercury. For instance, we can find through
the writing of Mercury in the nativity and its prenatal background the possible over-emphasis of a person’s
soul-independence, which then represents itself as intellectuality and brings a separation from the world of
reality and imprisonment in the universe of its own soul. But independence in this realm is an illusion,
because we cannot sever the bonds with the soul and spirit world of the universe, for we are born out of this
realm. Thus we can also see the other danger that is the result of the illusion of intellectuality, the exposure
of a person to the uncontrolled powers of passions and emotions that dwell deep in the realm of the subcon-
scious.
We can now see that the picture of the gestures of the planet Mercury as two intersecting triangles is also
an inner reality (see Fig. 1 & 2). One of the triangles is turned earthward and is formed by the inferior
conjunctions near to the Earth. It signifies the danger of the fall of the Mercury capacities in a person into
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the grave of brain-bound intellectuality. The other triangle is turned heavenward and shows the danger of
falling into the depths of incalculable and uncontrollable emotions and passions.
There is also another aspect of this planet and its sphere. The spiritual masters of this sphere, the Spirits
of Personality, advanced within the Earth evolution to the consciousness of intuition. This is also written
into this planetary sphere. Hence, we can develop these forces as they are embodied in our own being. And
instead of being imprisoned in our own separated soul world, we can experience through inner develop-
ment of our soul forces the presence of real spiritual beings within us. They live and work in our astral
body, because it is taken from the world in which these Beings have their home. Yet if they are not recog-
nized by us, if we live only in the realm of our own world-estranged, abstract intellectuality, then these
Beings become the uncontrolled masters of our soul.
Therefore, if we look at the position and the gestures of Mercury in a nativity, it is not normally correct
to consider these as a definite indication of the peculiarities of human destiny in the sense of astrological
prognosis. This can be said not only of Mercury but of all the planets. We must learn to look at them as
great cosmic questions of which the answers can be found only in the evolution of the hidden psychic and
spiritual faculties of the human being. Only then can astrosophy descend again and incorporate itself into
a new Christianized astrology.

The starry sky during the month of October is extremely interesting. We can find two groups of events:
on 1 October a conjunction between the Sun and Jupiter will take place, and on the same day a conjunction
between Mercury and Jupiter will also occur. This suggests that Mercury must be very near the Sun also
(seen from the Earth), and actually we can find that on 2 October there will be a superior conjunction of
Mercury with the Sun. In this case, the planet Mercury will stand behind the Sun, between the Sun and
Jupiter. Thus we will have the rare event of the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter standing in one line behind one
another. All the time the planet Neptune will be quite near the three heavenly bodies just mentioned; or
putting it differently, if we were to extend a straight line from the Earth through the Sun, Mercury, and
Jupiter into the space behind them, then we would come into the neighborhood of Neptune. In fact the
conjunctions of the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter with Neptune have taken place in the last days of September;
that of the Sun and Neptune on Michaelmas Day, 29 September. We can see that this group of cosmic
events is strongly related to the Michaelmas time of this year. All of them will take place in the constella-
tion of Virgin, in the upper part of this constellation, which can be distinguished in the sky as the figure of
a humanlike being but with wings like an angel. We cannot, however, see these events, because the Sun is
so near that its light blots out any sight of these stars.
A conjunction between Mars and Saturn will occur in the constellation of Twins on 26 October, almost
on the border between Twins and Crab. This is also a very important event, because it will inaugurate a
long period during which both planets will become retrograde and will perform two more conjunctions.
The last of them will occur on 20 March 1946.
Therefore, we have two groups of events: the one in the constellation of Virgin, the other in Twins. The
latter one we can even observe during the early morning hours, between midnight and sunrise, around 26
October.
If we try to imagine these events, then dim memories of long past times and cultural conditions may
sound from the depths of our being like the sounds of the ever-moving sea. From where do these fragments
of memories come and what do they want to tell or to ask us?
The knowledge of the precession, which is the movement of the vernal point through the constellations
of the Zodiac, might lead us back to the dim past when the great Zarathustra founded the Old Persian
culture, about 6000 BC. Saturn, the great guardian of cosmic memory, may open this page in the cosmic
records of world history, and we may be permitted to read on this page the grand story of Zarathustra and
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how he was able to experience, in or behind the stars, spiritual beings of the hierarchical orders working
into the Earth planet. We might derive a faint imagination of how he saw in the events on the Earth, in the
change of the seasons, in the events in human life and history, and in the fight between good and evil, the
reflection of those mighty occurrences and constellations of the great universe. Living with the great spiri-
tual beings of the universe, he was nearer the Earth and its conditions, its needs, and its future than other
people of his time, because he lived and could unite with the origin of everything that was and was to come.
When we ask: From where did this gigantic guiding knowledge come?, then we may look at those other
events that take place in the constellation of Virgin. If we again follow the guidance of the precession, the
movement of the vernal point, we may be lead still further back into an even more remote past. We may
come to an age, long before the great Atlantean flood that destroyed the continent of Atlantis. We may
come to people who had a knowledge of the starry universe which surpasses everything that we can imag-
ine today. They were called the Akkadians. They arranged and ordered everything in the social life on
Earth according to the great prototypal order, which they perceived in or behind the starry universe. They
experienced in the multitude of stars the writing of the heavenly host of exalted Beings, and in reading this
script and acting according to it, they had the certain experience that their earthly affairs were arranged in
the best possible manner.
These are the sounds we may hear if we try to listen with our inner ears to the starry events of which we
have spoken. We may hear much more of which we must be silent until the time is ripe. But amongst all
this we may perceive one deep, solemn sound, and we may become aware that it is the voice of that Being
whose festival we celebrate in these days. He may want to remind us through those pictures of a remote
past that humanity has lost and has to regain in an entirely new way. We cannot now look up to the stars as
the guides of our life on Earth. They are dead for us; light-years and spectro-analytic hypotheses have
banished them from us, but we can raise the will into our lamed thinking, and we can set out in order to find
the stars in a new revelation. We may discover in them the grand memory of the whole past evolution of the
world and humanity from the very beginning. From this all earthly and brain bound knowledge, surpassing
cosmic memory, we may gain the wisdom with which we may now start to become human beings. Namely
beings who, out of the unfathomable depths of the cosmic intelligence, know the needs and the goal of
humanity, of the Earth, and of the whole cosmos and who freely act out of this knowledge into and for the
future of our universe.
This might perhaps be a part of the Michaelmas message of this year that sounds through cosmic spaces
and wants to be heard by human ears...
It is only a general representation of these cosmic events that we tried to describe. We may have to say
much more about them in future.
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TWENTIETH LETTER - November 1945

Our Connection with the Stars - An Example: Tycho de Brahe
Now that our description of the nature of the planets has come to a conclusion, we will start to delineate
some historic nativities [mainly that of Tycho de Brahe]. For this purpose we will mainly use the knowl-
edge that we have elaborated in the first 19 letters, and we will also have to develop some new points of
view in order to perform our task.
The nativity that we would like to work out is that of Tycho de Brahe, the famous Danish astronomer.
He was born on December 14, 1546 o.s. [Julian Calendar], at Knudstorp in the County of Schonen (South-
ern Sweden), at 10:00 a.m. He descended from a noble family of Swedish origin.
We now need to work out the position of the sky at this particular moment in relationship to the birth
place and the time. This is to be done with the help of astronomical knowledge of the planets’ rhythms etc.
It is not an easy task with regard to historic data, because the planetary rhythms are not as simple as we
perhaps expect them to be. Many details and so-called astronomical “disturbances” are to be taken into
account. Therefore, we cannot embark here on the details of these astronomical calculations. (For modern
data we can use astronomical tables such as the Ephemeris, which give the position of the planets and other
necessary details for each day.)
When Tycho de Brahe was born, the constellation of Archer had fully risen in the east, and Goat fol-
lowed during the hours after his birth. Thus the constellations Archer, Scorpion, Scales, Virgin, Lion, and
Crab were above the horizon. Virgin was at about the highest point of the arch of this part of the Zodiac that
was in the hemisphere above the horizon. It was in the southwest as seen from the birth place. Crab was
setting in the west, and Twins had already set. The Sun was at this time of the day in the southeastern sky.
As the birth took place in wintertime and in a high northern latitude, the Sun stood very low, just above the
horizon in the constellation of Archer. Behind it stood Mercury, which was then in superior conjunction,
and Saturn was behind both of them. The Moon had just entered the constellation of Virgin, and it was
probably still faintly visible in the southwestern part of the sky. All the other planets were at this moment
underneath the horizon of the birth place. They were in that part of the sky which was, at that time of the
day, still hidden underneath the eastern horizon. Jupiter and Venus were in the constellation of Goat, and
Mars was in the constellation of Fishes.
In order to find the right proportion of the nativity within the complexity of human connections with the
starry universe, we must now consider for a moment the meaning of birth with regard to the totality of
human existence. At the moment of birth the organism of the child is separated from that of the mother. It
is now left to itself with that particular condition of body which it has acquired up to this moment. All the
processes of creation that took place during the embryonic development have at this moment come to an
end, and although we can still observe development and growth in the time after birth, this depends to a
certain degree on the form that has come to a rigid limitation at the moment of birth. Just as this remarkable
moment in the life of a human being is brought about by the separation of the child from its mother, there is
also a moment when the human being is separated from its heavenly Mother whose outer features we see in
the visible stars. Before birth, the human embryo was embedded in the womb of its heavenly Mother in the
movements of the stars in the universe and especially of the Moon, just as the physical embryo was sur-
rounded and protected by the womb of the physical mother. At the moment of birth this heavenly Mother-
Being withdraws and shows in a last but now fixed picture, all that it had created before birth. This is the
nativity. Therefore, we should look at the nativity as something that marks the close of a prenatal develop-
ment. And we see it in the proper proportion if we consider it as a kind of key to the prenatal events. But
it is the right key only if the birth has not been forced to suit egoistic requirements, which is a rather
widespread practice today. It is different in cases where the life of the mother or the child is in danger and
when medical help is necessary.
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If we now consider the picture of the nativity of Tycho de Brahe in regard to the coordination in space,
then we have a real image of the baby in its ethereal, even physical peculiarities. Let us imagine the daily
rotation of the sky from east to west in the hemisphere above the horizon. For the polar region, of course, it
is different—underneath the horizon, this daily movement is from west to east. Furthermore, let us imagine
a human embryo coming into existence upon the Earth globe. The sphere above the plane of the horizon,
where the movement is from east to west, reminds us of the dome of the human skull. From this sphere
come those forces that are more concerned with forming the head during the embryonic development. Just
as the stars rise in the east and stroke, as it were, the Earth in their daily movement toward the west, the head
is the predominant part of the embryo, and out of it the body and the limbs grow downward. However, we
cannot see the stars below the horizon. If we are good mathematicians, we can calculate their positions at
a certain moment and point in the direction in which they must be underneath the Earth, just as our limbs
more or less point toward the center of our globe. Hence, this sphere is connected with the creation of the
limb system. In between the two spheres in the direction of the plane of the horizon, we have to seek for the
forces that manifest themselves in the creation of the rhythmic system. Therefore, we have to seek the
coordination of earthly and heavenly space that finds its expression in the nativity and which gives a fixed
image of the constant weaving of the bodily form during the nine months of embryonic development and
arrive at the picture that is given above. At the time of Tycho de Brahe’s birth, the constellation of Goat rose
in the east. We can see in this a fixed picture of those forces that had formed the head of this human being
during the embryonic state. Then, as the stars move toward the west and descend below the horizon, they
indicate how, out of this head, the rhythmic and the metabolic systems grew downward. Thus we have the
picture of the complete embryo as in the diagram. If we now add to this picture the movements of the
planets during the embryonic development, we will have a very illuminating demonstration of the connec-
tion of Tycho de Brahe with the starry universe and how his destiny was reflected in it.
We will now consider the movements and gestures of the planets within this picture. We will first look
at the Sun. A few days before the birth it entered the constellation of Archer, yet within its own orbit it had
entered just at this moment the ecliptic sign of Capricorn. (Unfortunately, these partitions of the ecliptic
have the same names and symbols as the fixed-star Zodiac. They should have different symbols, because
they are of a different quality and then much confusion could be avoided. We tried to speak about this
differentiation of signs and constellations in letter 13.) The Sun in the sign of Capricorn gives us an image
of Tycho’s bodily constitution. As we have already pointed out in the 13th letter, the sign of the Capricorn
is connected with the formation of the knees, but there is also a very significant relationship between knees
and eyes in the human body. If we now look at the position of the Sun with regard to the image of this
human body in the diagram above, we can at once perceive that this Capricorn Sun is strongly related to its
head. Therefore, the constitution in this case must have been eminently organized toward the manifestation
of “knee-forces” in the head, which are nothing else than the eyes. If we now consider the fact that Tycho
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de Brahe was an astronomer at a time when the telescope was not yet invented, and he was, nevertheless,
the first one who made a substantial number of observations with regard to the positions and the peculiari-
ties of the stars, we are forced to the conclusion that he was really able in an extraordinary way to use his
whole body like an eye. He must have been able to subordinate his whole organism to the action of the
eyes. This required quite a different attitude and bodily discipline in those days than in our time. For
instance, we can attach a camera to the telescope, which then does the work of observation for us. This
extraordinary capacity in Tycho de Brahe is indicated by the Sun in the sign of Capricorn, and in its con-
junction with Mercury and Saturn.
Another aspect, which we can consider from this position of the Sun, is that of the “open space”, which
we described in the 15th letter. We also mentioned Tycho de Brahe then, so we need not repeat this here.
However, we can now add that the Earth planet appeared in the open space in the Light of Jupiter. If we
could have looked down upon the Earth from cosmic space when it was in that part of the ecliptic which
was not touched by the Sun during the prenatal development of Tycho, we should have observed the planet
Jupiter behind the Earth in the constellation of Goat. This indicates that there rested deeply with Tycho’s
rhythmic system, in his heart, the searching for that chalice of the cosmos into which must flow the spiritual
substance of the Earth as the Holy Host of the universe. It was so deeply sunk into his being that it became
a reality only in his life after death, when this grand imagination was not held by the forces of his body any
longer. In the fact of Jupiter standing behind the Earth, we have a revelation that this Earth secretly really
belongs to the furthest future of our planet, we might almost say to the “Jupiter-future” of our Earth planet
when the Earth will become the new “Sun-Host” in the Holy Grail of another universe. Later we shall have
to say more about Jupiter in this nativity.
The Moon was in the constellation of Virgin at the time of Tycho de Brahe’s birth. As we saw the
indication of those universal ether forces that build up the physical frame of a human being in the position
of the Sun, thus we can experience in the Moon the image of the “other side” of the cosmic ether that works
within the organism and finally prepares it to become an instrument of consciousness, even of the con-
sciousness soul. We have spoken of this in detail in the 16th and 17th letters. In this case the Moon stood in
the upper part of the cosmic Virgin. Here we have the indication that Tycho de Brahe was able to enter into
the realm of the secrets of creation with his consciousness forces. These stars in Virgin were perceived in
many ways in olden times. One way was to perceive the heavenly Father and Mother as united in one
Being. Another imagination was that of a gigantic studio or laboratory where mighty hierarchical Beings
gave the initial impulses for the various steps of evolution. However, this imagination varied according to
the regions of this constellation. The imagination of this Virgin-mystery was implanted into Tycho’s being
from the aspect of the universal “head forces” that represent the spiritual essence of the world of the stars.
We need to remember that the woman, who is described in chapter 12 of the Revelation of St. John, has a
crown of twelve stars upon her head. It is the realm of the manifestation of the hierarchies through the
visible stars. Thus we can see how deeply Tycho de Brahe was connected with the starry world. From his
13th year onward, he regarded the science of the stars as the revelation of the Divinity.
The Moon at the time of birth is, from still another point of view, a gateway to the forces of the con-
sciousness soul or, as we may put it, to the realm of thinking. In the 14th letter, we described the Moon
Nodes and their rhythms. (See the diagram in the 14th letter.) Also in the same letter we developed the fact
that the Moon Nodes move across the point where the Sun stands at the moment of birth, either some time
before or after birth. This revealed to us the connection with the realm of the dead.
In the same way, we can also consider the fact that the Moon Nodes move across the position in the
Zodiac where we find the Moon in the nativity. This can also take place sometime before or after birth, and
need not necessarily coincide with the moment of birth. As we have already pointed out in the 14th letter,
these Moon Nodes are gateways from the Sun to the Moon sphere. If we now relate these gateways to the
Moon of the nativity, then we gain a picture that shows us how the higher forces of the Sun sphere awake in
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the realm of the Moon, or in its human reflection, the activity of thinking. In other words, we have a
description of the influx of the Thoughts of the Gods that dwell in the sphere of the Sun and beyond into the
human thinking. How the Thinking of the Gods appears in people as their own thinking, as each one’s own
philosophy, can be found in the individual distribution of the planets in the Zodiac at the time when those
gateways—the Moon Nodes—move across the position in which the Moon stood in the nativity.
We owe this discovery to certain indications that Rudolf Steiner gave in his lecture cycle Human and
Cosmic Thought, [where he defines these philosophies and moods]. He speaks there of the fact that besides
the actual nativity, another “spiritual nativity” can be found that shows the philosophy of a human being
and which may even be of greater importance than the physical nativity. Researches in connection with
historical personalities have led to the confirmation of the fact that this spiritual nativity is the one which
appears when the Moon Nodes move across the Moon of the nativity. The question is: how can we read in
this spiritual nativity the individual philosophy? This was clearly indicated by Rudolf Steiner. He de-
scribed how we can distinguish between philosophical tendencies. They are:
Gnosis: the highest form of philosophical conception, that which shines like a super-thinking
capacity into the human soul. It corresponds to Saturn in the starry universe.
Logism: the tendency to comprehend the universe with logical, philosophical thinking. Its
cosmic counterpart is Jupiter.
Voluntarism: the philosophical tendency that strives to cognize the universe as the result of the
activities of the will forces. In the cosmos it is related to Mars.
Empiricism: the philosophical tendency to learn the truth through sense-experience and experi-
ment. Its cosmic origin is the Sun.
Mysticism: the striving to attain philosophical truth through mystical contemplation. In the
cosmos Venus corresponds to this philosophy.
Transcendentalism: a world conception that takes into account the existence of a world beyond
the senses, a kind of metaphysical world. It is related to Mercury.
Occultism: cognizes the “hidden” world as the only real one. The Moon is its cosmic image.
Each one of these seven philosophical tendencies can appear in twelve different philosophical “moods”,
just as the planets move through the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. These twelve moods are:
Idealism: experiences the universe against the background of active, divine ideas. We find this
related to the constellation of Ram.
Rationalism: a mood that cognizes the presence of ideas in the universe, not as active entities,
but as concepts that have been put into the existing objects long ago and cannot evolve further. We
find its cosmic equivalent in Bull.
Mathematism: the mood of experiencing the universe as the expression of great mathematical
laws, as if it were created by a great cosmic mathematician. We find the cosmic reflection in Twins.
Materialism: considers that the universe consists only of matter that can be weighed, measured,
and counted. Crab is related to this world conception in the cosmos.
Sensualism: cognizes the universe as existent only in that realm that is within the compass of
the senses. It corresponds to Lion in the Zodiac.
Phenomenalism: acknowledges the “phenomena” in the universe as the essential foundations
of a philosophical world aspect. The constellation of Virgin is its cosmic counterpart.
Realism: strives to make the mood of cognition of reality the foundation of any philosophical
tendency. Its cosmic origin is Scales.
Dynamism: a philosophical mood that carries the fundamental concept of powers or forces, but
not yet individual spiritual beings, into any of the seven philosophical tendencies. Scorpion is its
cosmic manifestation.
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Monadism: acknowledges a world of individual spiritual beings (the Monads) that are beyond
the boundaries of the human being. Yet these Monads are incomprehensible; thus this world of
monadic beings is still only an abstract reality. We find Archer as the cosmic counterpart.
Spiritualism: cognizes the universe as the work and manifestation of individual spiritual beings
of a definite hierarchical order. The character and the attitude of these hierarchical Beings can be
distinguished and recognized. Its cosmic manifestation is Goat.
Pneumatism: a philosophical mood that cognizes Spirit as the foundation of the universe, yet
does not distinguish between individual spiritual beings. The Spirit is, according to this view, a
more or less undivided Oneness. This corresponds to Waterman.
Psychism: a mood that does not recognize the Spirit as the foundation of the universe but,
instead, proposes something like a World Soul as the essence of universal existence. It is related to
Fishes.
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TWENTY-FIRST LETTER - December 1945

Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho’s Moon/Venus
If we take the positions of the planets in the Zodiac during the time of the transition of the Moon Nodes
across the place of the Moon in the nativity and translate them into the language of the philosophical
universe that we outlined in the last letter, then we can find the “philosophy” of a human being. Of course
calculation alone does not suffice, because we have, in any case, at least two possibilities: one from the
position before and one from the position after birth. In connection with historic nativities, it is not difficult
to find the right event, because we can find from the biographies the general philosophical tendencies of
these individualities. These historic studies also provide an answer to this problem that cannot be solved by
calculation alone.
In Tycho de Brahe’s nativity, we find the Moon in the constellation of Virgin. This is the gateway from
the higher realms of spiritual existence into Earth existence, and after birth this leads to an awakening of the
forces of the consciousness soul. We will now have to find the time when one of the two Moon Nodes was
in this position and opened this gateway, as it were. It happened shortly before Tycho’s birth in June 1541.
Nine years later, October 1550, the other Moon Node had moved into this position in Virgin, but we can
ignore this event for the moment and concentrate solely on the other event in 1541.
We can find at that time an extremely illuminating grouping of the planets in the Zodiac. Most of them,
the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, were concentrated in the constellation of Twins. Jupiter was in
Lion and Saturn in Virgin. The accumulation in Twins suggests a strong inclination toward the philosophi-
cal mood of Mathematism, but in this case it is a rather intricate kind of Mathematism. Tycho de Brahe
gave expression to this by becoming an astronomer. For astronomy, and especially the astronomy that in
the days of Tycho de Brahe came into existence as a branch of modern science, was strongly based on
mathematics. Yet in this case it was differentiated. The Sun was in Twins, which indicates that the philo-
sophical mood was a Mathematism experienced as the tendency of Empiricism, that is to say a mathemati-
cal-astronomical conception of the world in the light of sense experience. Tycho de Brahe became famous
for his star catalog, which contained the exact positions of about a thousand stars. Kepler based his work
on Tycho’s very accurate observations of the planet Mars.
This Mathematism had still different aspects. We found that the Moon, Mercury, and Venus were in
Twins. They represent the philosophical tendencies of Occultism, Transcendentalism, and Mysticism.
This may seem a contradiction to the world conception of Mathematism; however, we can come to under-
stand this if we try to imagine the other side of Tycho’s being. He was one of the most capable astrologers
of his time, although without many people knowing of his capacities. When a comet appeared in the year
1577, he predicted from the study of it that “in the North—Finland—a prince would be born who would lay
waste to Germany and then vanish in 1632.” Such a prediction cannot only be explained as a “lucky hit”;
it indicates that Tycho de Brahe had a deeper insight into the mathematical structure of the starry universe,
and that he was a true occultist in this sense, for this prediction, as well as others, literally came true. Long
after Tycho de Brahe’s death, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who was born in Finland, appeared in
Germany, and died in the battle of Luetzen in 1632. Mars also was in Twins and this indicates that Tycho’s
conception of the universe was not at all an abstract Mathematism. He did not conceive the world as a
gigantic mechanism working according to mathematical laws as scientists often conceive it in our day, but
as an accumulation of Will forces that brought about the movements in the starry sky. Kepler, his scholar,
had also still a similar power of understanding, and we can read in his writings how he experienced the
heavenly bodies as if they were penetrated by soul beings.
Jupiter in Lion reveals another side of Tycho’s world conception. It is the tendency of Logism in the
mood of Sensualism. We must imagine that even in the days of Tycho it was still a great and courageous
deed to rely on the senses and not to start from preconceived and old ideas, and then from them build up the
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picture of the universe. It was the time of the birth of modern science and Tycho de Brahe was one of the
first scientists who let himself be guided in his thinking by Sensualism, that is to say by the language of the
sense impressions. There is more of Tycho’s Sensualism in the modern world picture and its practical
applications than we generally realize.
Saturn was in the constellation of Virgin, which represents Gnosis in the mood of Phenomenalism. The
manifestation of such a philosophical outlook can hardly be traced in that which is left as the documentary
record of Tycho’s life. It was very much in the background and only known to a few of his contemporaries.
We have previously pointed out that Tycho was not only an astronomer he was also an alchemist. He knew
that the seeker has to combine both in order to find the truth. Therefore, in his observatory he did experi-
ments with the substances of the Earth side by side with his astronomical observations. And his aim was to
discover the reaction of the events and conditions in the starry sky on the earthly substances. Tycho did not
take the old alchemistic traditions for granted; he did the experiments so that the “phenomena” might reveal
the truth. It was through this work that he unfolded the point of view of Gnosis in the mood of Phenom-
enalism.
This is the spiritual nativity of Tycho de Brahe. It is of great importance. Generally speaking the
spiritual nativity reveals something of the higher nature of a human being, that which makes the true human
nature in contrast to the beings of the other realms of nature. The astronomical facts show this. We went
out through the gateway of the Moon in the nativity into cosmic space. In fact, everything that concerns the
steps of the descent of a human soul into an earthly incarnation is related to this gateway of the “lane” of the
Moon in the nativity. The stages of embryonic development are especially connected with the Moon, but
all these events, leading finally to the physical nativity, take place, as it were, within the sphere of the
Moon, which is encompassed by the orbit of the Moon. In order to find the spiritual nativity, we have to go
further. However, following the “lane of the Moon”, we come to the border of the Moon sphere, and now
we have to wait until a gate is opened from the Moon sphere into a higher sphere. This happens as soon as
one of the Moon Nodes comes into the direction of the lane of the Moon. The Moon Node is the key that
opens the gate from the Moon into the Sun sphere. (In the 14th letter we already described this fact.) We can
now enter the Sun sphere, and in the same moment we have the aspect of the spiritual nativity. Therefore,
we could also call it the Sun nativity in contrast to the Moon nativity. The Moon nativity shows how all the
prenatal acquirements and predestined outlines of a human soul existence are brought down into the earthly
substances and are finally incorporated into the stream of heredity. The Sun nativity shows just the oppo-
site; it shows our “super heredity” being, our origin in the world of the Gods. For the Sun or spiritual
nativity that is realized on Earth as the philosophy of a human being is the reflection of the Thoughts of the
Gods, which the individual soul receives as the gift of the Gods before it descends into the sphere of the
Moon. The soul receives this gift not in order that it may dominate the soul’s earthly existence, but that the
soul may develop it, widen it, and combine it with outlooks other than those that are indicated in the soul’s
individual spiritual nativity. This is the soul’s task and this gives it divine dignity as a thinking being. This
Sun nativity is so important, because it also opens the gateway to real human freedom or freehood.
The two nativities that we have described as the Moon and the Sun nativities are strongly related to each
other. In order to show this relationship in connection with the nativity of Tycho de Brahe, we will have to
work out some further details of his Moon nativity,
In the 16th letter, we pointed out the significance of the rhythms of embryonic development for the later
life after birth. These rhythms are a kind of prophecy of the life on Earth within certain limits. We will now
turn again to the nativity of Tycho de Brahe. He was born on December 14, 1546. Furthermore, we assume
that his embryonic development lasted about 10 lunar months of four weeks each. Therefore, his concep-
tion must have taken place in March 1546. We have certain astronomical means by which we can define
more exactly the moment of individual conception. These means are derived from very ancient wisdom
that is partly contained in what we know as the Hermetic Rule of old Egyptian cosmology but that, in fact,
112
goes much deeper. We cannot embark on this question here; it is a whole science in itself. Thus we can find
that the moment, which we must consider as the beginning of the prenatal prophecy of Tycho’s earthly life,
was toward the end of March 1546, when the Moon was in the constellation of Goat. This is, then, the point
that finally rose in the East when Tycho was born.
From this moment in March 1546, which we may call the epoch, we can now go forward toward the
birth, and we can find that the Moon came back nine times to that point in Goat. Each one of these lunar
months of 27.3 days contains an image of what became reality in one of the seven-year periods of the
earthly life of Tycho after birth. For instance, if we take the first lunar month, or the time from the end of
March till the end of April 1546, and read the starry events that took place during this time, then we will
find that they are images of events that happened during the first seven years of Tycho’s childhood. If we
continue, we can discover in the second lunar month cosmic images of events that took place in Tycho’s
lifetime from 7-14 years, etc. The fundamental rhythm is the rhythm of the Moon. Within 27.3 days it
always comes back to the same position in the Zodiac, and in between it moves through all the constella-
tions of the Zodiac. This explains the basic rhythmic nature of human destiny. Very often we can experi-
ence that we are confronted with problems and situations similar to those which we experienced seven
years before. This is the “realization” of the picture of the Moon, which before birth went through the same
constellations again and again. But there is also differentiation. The planets, especially the Sun and the
inferior planets, are moving through the Zodiac. We find in the case of Tycho de Brahe that in the time of
the epoch the Sun was in the constellation Fishes. Then it moved on into Ram, and during the second lunar
month we find it moving from Ram into Bull. Venus and Mercury and the other planets were also continu-
ously moving. Thus an element of change and variation is introduced into the constantly repeating rhythms
of the Moon. These facts are an image of influences in later life that constantly breaks down those life
rhythms which want to persist in uniformity and repetition.
We can calculate that the Sun, Mercury, and Venus entered the constellation of Twins during the third
and fourth lunar cycles, or months, of Tycho’s embryonic development. They came into that part of the
Zodiac which was impregnated long before these events by the positions of some of the planets during the
time of the spiritual nativity. We said above that in 1541, when this spiritual nativity took place, the Sun,
Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars were in Twins. In the Moon nativity, as we may call the whole of those
star events during the embryonic development, the Sun and the inferior planets moved into the same posi-
tion. As this happened during the third and fourth lunar cycle, it is of course an image of Tycho de Brahe’s
destiny during the third and fourth seven-year periods or the time between 14 and 28 years of age.
During this age, Tycho de Brahe “realized” that which lived in his soul as his vocation and which we
can read in the image of his spiritual nativity. It was the time when he became that peculiar type of astrono-
mer and astrologer that we described above.
His father died early, and after this, in 1559 when Tycho was only 13 years of age, his uncle sent him to
Copenhagen to study Philosophy and Rhetoric. Later on he was supposed to study Law. For this purpose
be was sent with a tutor to Leipzig. The real aim was to prepare Tycho for a political career, for this was, so
to speak, the family tradition. Here the forces of heredity became influential; but immediately after Tycho
was sent to Copenhagen, the super heredity forces began to break forth in him, and gradually the plans
made by his family were swept aside. As Tycho was a man of enormous will power, his individual soul
impulses took on shape very distinctively. For instance, on August 21, 1560, he observed a great eclipse of
the Sun, and he began to look upon astronomy as something divine. Later when he was at Leipzig, he spent
whole nights in viewing the stars while his tutor believed his pupil to be safely in bed. In 1563 he observed
the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, and he detected that the astronomical tables which existed in
those days were far from being mathematically correct. Later he visited many places in Germany, and in
1569 we find him at Augsburg busily engaged in astronomical and alchemical researches. Then an incident
occurred, which is very illuminating with regard to his position toward hereditary and family impulses.
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When he was 25 years old, in 1571, he returned to Denmark and married a peasant girl. Consequently, a
violent quarrel broke out between him and his relatives so that even the Danish king had to interfere.
Thus we perceive how an influx of forces can flow into the Moon nativity, and these are liable even to
upset the firm and preconceived image of a human destiny, but they, at least, lift human existence out of the
sphere of mere tradition and heredity. The Moon nativity concerns the embodiment of cosmic spiritual
qualities into a human body. The Sun nativity represents the purely individual condition of the soul of a
person. The relationship of these nativities, as in the case of Tycho de Brahe, shows the struggle between
the forces that are innate in the body of a person and the forces of the soul. This struggle is a necessity, not
only for the evolution of the single human being but also for the whole universe, because it is there in order
to redeem the past evolution of the world and to lead it toward the future.
We will now consider the planet Venus and its sphere in Tycho de Brahe’s nativity, of which we have
already spoken in letter 18. At the beginning of the prenatal development it stood in Fishes, and from there
moved through all the constellations as far as the first stars belonging to Waterman, where it was at the time
of Tycho de Brahe’s birth. Hence, Venus had not moved through the full width of the constellations Waterman
and Fishes during this time. In between it was in superior conjunction with the Sun in Bull.
In the 18th and 19th letters, we pointed out that the planet Venus as well as Mercury are the densest points
of their spheres, which, although not visible, is of the greatest importance. It is in a certain way a contradic-
tion to the planet, not only because—contrary to the power of contraction inherent in the planet—it has the
power of expansion, but because its quality is more that of a spiritual Mercury nature. Still we can read its
movements from the gestures of the planet Venus.
We need to remember that we found the cosmic history of the senses in the activities of this sphere, not
only in the past cosmic evolution but also with regard to the future. It concerns the destiny of human beings
with regard to the process of their incarnation into sense experience as well as their redemption of these and
their evolution toward new sense capacities. Thus the space that is, as it were, left “open” by Venus in the
nativity of Tycho de Brahe indicates the direction in which Tycho’s “world of the senses” was the least
limited by the contracting tendency of the planet. This was the direction of Waterman that represents the
cosmic image of the sense of warmth. Yet, in this case we must consider this from a very wide cosmic
viewpoint. In order to understand it we will have to use a picture. Within the human body we can observe
the circulation of the blood. This bloodstream is allowed to flow only as far as the skin. If we now imagine
that a human being could have a kind of ethereal bloodstream which does not stop at the skin but goes out
into cosmic space and after some time returning again, then we have a picture of what was present in Tycho
de Brahe as a special capacity. He could use those ethereal streams of warmth like a sense organ, going out
into cosmic space and returning into his own organism. Therefore, he could experience the inner life of the
starry world. All this happened more or less unconsciously, but it was the organic foundation of his brilliant
capacity of experiencing future events on Earth by looking at the stars.
This great but vague and slumbering capacity was then condensed into stronger outlines by another
event that was reflected in the superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun at the end of the second lunar
month of Tycho’s embryonic development. This referred to the time when he became 14 years of age. This
was exactly the time when he was confronted with a cosmic event for the first time, with an eclipse of the
Sun. It was also at this moment that the sense for predicting events from starry aspects awoke in him for the
first time. The superior conjunction of Venus took place in Bull, and from the position of the planet we can
assume that the sphere was expanded, as it were, toward the realm of Bull. Bull is the cosmic image of the
sense for the perception of human thought. However, Tycho not only developed the sense for the percep-
tion of human thought with the help of those innate Waterman capacities, of which we spoke above, he was
also able to perceive Divine Thought. Thereby, he could really read the future in the movements of the
stars; it was not only a manipulating with traditional astrological rules. He was allowed to read the Thoughts
of the Gods.
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Figure 1 below shows the movements of the planets and of the Sun during the ten lunar months of
Tycho de Brahe’s embryonic development. Saturn and Jupiter can be seen making loops, but not moving
out of their constellations. Mars starts in Archer, moves through Goat and Waterman, then makes a loop in
Waterman and proceeds after this to Fishes. Furthermore, we can see Venus starting in Fishes and moving
through the whole Zodiac to Waterman. The Sun goes from Fishes to Archer and Mercury moves about the
same way. During this time Mercury makes two loops that are indicated in the drawing.
Figure 2 shows the spiritual nativity of Tycho de Brahe in the outer circle. In the inner circle we see
again the path of the Sun during the embryonic development with reference to the position according to the
sequence of the lunar months.
Figure 1 Figure 2
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TWENTY-SECOND LETTER – January 1946

Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho’s Venus/Mercury
After the superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun, we saw that this planet moved close to the Sun
through the constellations of Twins, Crab, and Lion. Toward the end of the third lunar month it entered
Twins. This was reflected in the events around 1565-70 in Tycho de Brahe’s life. It was the time when he
visited many places in Germany: Wittenberg, Rostock, Augsburg, and then there slowly began to develop
within him the kind of astronomer and alchemist that we have already described.
Venus and its sphere (which has a Mercury character) are connected with the feeling life of humanity
and with its bodily foundation, that is, with the rhythmic system. The sphere is certainly also related to the
functions of the senses, as it carries a rhythmic character into the realm of the senses. We might almost say,
it makes the development of the “Yoga of the senses” possible. We know that the old Indian Yoga system
is not suitable for western bodies any more; it is the last remaining link with a period when humanity
perceived the world quite differently from the way we do today. At that time, the practices which lead to a
discipline of inhalation and exhalation served the purpose of making the breathing a sense organ for
supersensible cognition. This cognition was more dreamlike. Therefore, it is not suitable for western
bodies, because these bodies are organized for day-conscious, physical sense perceptions. Further, human-
ity is moving toward an epoch when the purely physical sense perception will also be overcome, not by a
dreamlike supersensible cognition as in olden times but by a conscious discipline of the sense perceptions.
Just as in olden times, the scholars of the Yoga method learned to direct their breathing by voluntary acts,
humanity in future must learn to handle the activities of the senses. The sense impressions today flow into
human bodies, mostly, without any discrimination or inner “digestion”. The bodies act on the impressions
of the senses like automatons. This is one of the reasons for the disastrous lack of constructive thinking
today. Only if the sense impressions are very consciously and voluntarily directed by human beings, will
the cultural deadlock of human intelligence be overcome in future. Such a discipline of sense perception
can be called “Yoga of the senses”. Both the old Indian Yoga (the old dreamlike condition) and the new
Yoga are related to the sphere of the planet Venus, which we may call Occult Mercury.
This is clearly indicated in the case of Tycho de Brahe. During the time of his life, which is reflected in
Venus entering into Twins in the third prenatal lunar month, he developed a “Yoga” of this kind. If the
average person of today looks at the starry sky, he or she usually sees only the multitude of light points at
unimaginable distances from the Earth. Nothing is created in the soul except a more or less helpless awe.
One might as well be blind to the stars and not see them at all, for nothing is altered in the inner soul world.
This was different for Tycho. He could really inhale, as it were, the view of a star and exhale the knowledge
of its special message in the chorus of the starry heaven. It was a discipline of perception that he developed
in those years of his studies, which were reflected in the movement of Venus (or Occult Mercury) in Twins.
After Venus had moved through Crab it entered Lion, and in the beginning of the fifth lunar month, it
came into the same position in Lion where Jupiter had been in 1541 at the time of the spiritual nativity. (See
diagram 2 in letter 21.) This event, during the fifth lunar month, refers exactly to the year 1576 in Tycho’s
life. It is the year during which the foundation stone of Uranienburg, Tycho’s observatory on the island of
Hveen or Huen, was laid. The island of Hveen was bestowed on Tycho de Brahe in 1575 by King Frederick
II of Denmark, in order to enable him to pursue his astronomical studies freely. If we now re-read what was
said in letter 21 about Jupiter in Lion in the spiritual nativity, we can well grasp the significance of this
event that was reflected in the position of Venus in Lion. “Logistic Sensualism” was shining above Venus
at this moment and again transformed the “Yoga of the senses” of Tycho de Brahe. The observatory that
was built was, as it were, the sense organ of this “Yoga”. We have already described in the last letter this
peculiar kind of respiration organ of the astronomical observatory in the upper stories of the building and
the alchemistic laboratory in the lower part.
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We can almost see in the movement of Venus through the various constellations of the Zodiac, the steps
for a kind of initiation of Tycho. The sense for the perception of the language of the stars was innate in him.
It may be that he inherited it from a previous incarnation. This “sense capacity” was led deeper and deeper
into the realm of earthly substance, just as Venus passed through the constellations from Fishes to Lion,
Virgin, and so on. Tycho demonstrated in his own spiritual evolution something that comes very near to the
alchemistic Rosicrucianism of the Middle Ages. Some other instances in his life reveal that he must have
been much more deeply related to this stream of esoteric Christianity than we know. He was also visited by
King James I of England, then still James VI of Scotland, who was inspired by Rosicrucianism.
This sense capacity of Tycho de Brahe was even led so deeply into the realm of Earth existence that he
was able to experience the very essence of the Earth, which externally is death. Toward the end of the
seventh and during the eighth prenatal lunar month, Venus moved through Scorpion. This refers to the last
seven years of Tycho’s life. Venus was then opposite Bull, where it was in superior conjunction with the
Sun, and where we could see the beautiful image of Tycho’s sense for the perception of Cosmic Thought.
Now it was in opposition and, during those last years of his life, Tycho had really to develop a kind of
“sense of smell” (Scorpion) for the Earth; he literally “smelled death” as the essence of the Earth. The last
years in Tycho’s life brought a series of catastrophes. In 1588 his protector King Frederick II of Denmark
died, and his successor had little affection for Tycho. Finally, in 1597, he had to leave the island of Hveen
with all his instruments, and after wandering about for some time he was given asylum in Prague by the
Emperor Rudolph II in 1599. After a couple of years, on October 24, 1601, he died of a strangury.
Toward the end of the eighth prenatal lunar cycle, Venus passed over from Scorpion to Archer, and at
the same time it was in conjunction with Saturn. This event is exactly related to the moment of Tycho’s
death. He had passed through the deepest valley while Venus was in Scorpion. It was necessary for him to
go through this experience. The following ascent, indicated by the entry of Venus into Archer, did not take
place while he was on Earth. There stood Saturn, the Guardian of the Threshold and the image of the higher
self of humanity that is interwoven into the Self of the World; into world destiny. The individual path of
initiation that Tycho had followed now became an affair of the universe; it was no longer only his personal
concern. This is indicated by Venus in conjunction with Saturn. The “sense capacity for Cosmic Thought”,
which had gone through the deep and dark valley of Earth existence, now gradually returned to its origin,
filled with the wisdom and reality of Earth existence, and thus it came back highly enriched and strength-
ened.
Certainly, death made an end of the development of this sense capacity on Earth. Still, if we take into
account that nothing can be lost of what has been written by the stars into a physical form, and if we then
look at Venus after the conjunction with Saturn, it becomes quite clear that this sense capacity was devel-
oped further even after death. After the event, which refers to the year 1601 in Tycho’s life, Venus moved
through Archer and finally entered Goat, where it came into conjunction with Jupiter shortly before Tycho’s
birth. Venus in Goat means the development of the sense of sight. Yet here in Tycho’s case, where these
final Venus capacities were no longer evolved on Earth but were taken beyond the threshold of death, we
are compelled to call it almost a divine sense of sight lit by the wisdom of Jupiter. In his earthly life, Tycho
experienced the matter of the Earth from the heights of his star wisdom. It was like an initiation and
sometimes very difficult and painful. Even a mood of tragedy hovers over him. He carried the fruit of
cognition of earthly matter beyond the threshold, and in time he became a cosmic sage of the destiny of the
Earth. Now he could penetrate the secrets of Earth history with his star eyes much more deeply than ever
before. He had become an initiate into the future of the Earth planet. That such ideas about the life after
death of a certain individuality are not empty phrases, may be emphasized by the indications of Rudolf
Steiner about Tycho de Brahe. He said that Tycho de Brahe’s soul went through a very strong evolution
after death so that he could inspire certain great historic personalities on Earth. Furthermore, he indicated
that this soul is very active during this century and that he can be regarded as a cosmic counselor in all those
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matters which concern the prophecy of the 20th century. Thus we can witness how the forces of Venus can
be transmuted into the forces of the Inspiration soul (see letter 18).
In letter 21, figure 1, we can see that the planet Mercury performed about two and a half cycles during
the prenatal development of Tycho de Brahe. In the beginning, it just came out of a loop in Fishes, then it
had a superior conjunction with the Sun in Ram/Bull, went into another loop in Twins, followed by a
superior conjunction in Lion. During the eighth lunar month there was another loop in Scales, and finally
Mercury was in superior conjunction with the Sun at the time of Tycho’s birth.
Such a rhythm from one long loop to the following one may be called a cycle. As it comprises a time of
roughly four months, it is related to an interval of 28 to 30 years in the life time of a human being. (One
lunar month during the prenatal development is the reflection of seven years in the life of a human being.)
These cycles of Mercury, and of its sphere, refer to the rhythms of activities in the life of a human being.
In the 19th letter we pointed out that this cosmic sphere is connected with the willing of human beings. Thus
we can witness by the gestures of Mercury, toward which realm of active life the soul of an individuality is
directed.
Here we find that we must distinguish in Tycho’s life among three great cycles of activity. The first one
comes to an end about the time of the fourth lunar month. We must imagine that this moving of Mercury
from loop to loop appears like a descent or ascent into cosmic depths of the sphere of this planet (which has
a Venus quality). It is like a wandering into the realms through which the soul normally passes only during
sleep. The time of the superior conjunction marks the culmination of such a development where the im-
pulses for any human activity are fetched from the depths of the spiritual universe. Then as the planet
draws near the Earth, toward the inferior conjunction or loop, there is brought down to Earth with the
sphere of the planet, which now fully enters the realm of the Earth, all that which has been gathered in
cosmic depths. The Mercury qualities ascend, as it were, from the more spiritual but unconscious sphere of
the will and the limbs into the bright consciousness of the head. The first Mercury cycle comes to an end
during the fourth lunar month, which refers to the time when Tycho de Brahe quite consciously turned
toward astronomy. The loop indicates that something previously had been brought down from cosmic
spiritual spaces into earthly realms of human will. It had become head consciousness in a human on Earth.
Furthermore, we find that this loop took place in Twins, where the Sun was at the same moment when
Tycho de Brahe realized that side of his spiritual nativity, which referred to the mood of Mathematism or
Twins.
Therefore, we must assume that the impulse which materialized in Tycho’s Mathematism originated in
experiences connected with the expansion of the Mercury or Occult Venus sphere into cosmic space, pre-
ceding the first prenatal loop in Twins. We can really find this source; it is the superior conjunction of
Mercury with the Sun during the first Mercury cycle of Tycho de Brahe. It took place in Bull. We must
imagine the planet standing behind the Sun and the occult sphere extending into the realm toward Bull.
This happened during the second lunar month of Tycho’s embryonic development and referred to the age of
about nine in his later life. The rhythm of 9 years, 19 years, 28 years, and so on, which is connected with the
rhythm of the Moon Nodes is very significant in human life. They are times when out of the depths of the
unconscious arise strange soul experiences like messages from another world. Sometimes they enter only
the dream world of human beings. At this age, when one experiences, as it were, the night aspect of life,
Tycho de Brahe received in the depths of his soul the impulse of Bull in the mood of the Mercury sphere.
What is this impulse? It is exactly the impulse of Cosmology or Cosmosophy.
The Mercury or Occult Venus sphere is the realm of the Archai or Spirits of Personality. From previous
descriptions, we remember that these spirits were especially connected with the creation of humanity al-
ready within Ancient Saturn evolution. Through their activity, it had been established that the human being
can experience itself as a personality through the warmth-will part or organization of its body.
Thus we imagine Saturn and Mercury, or Occult Venus, as opposites. Present in Saturn is what had
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been the sacrifice of the Gods that created humanity. It is the archetypal memory of the origin of humanity
in the chorus of the hierarchies, and it works, as it were, from an aura around the human head down into the
body. The forces of Mercury make it possible that people can experience themselves as independent be-
ings. Whereas Saturn represents the still creative memory of the remotest past, Mercury (Occult Venus)
stands for the germ of the final manifestation [of the spiritual goal of humanity] in the great universe [and
known in occultism as] Spirit Man. Mercury works from the unfathomable depths of human will-future up
into the head of a human being.
In the movement of Saturn through the Zodiac, we can experience the cosmic memory of the entry
of the hierarchies through the gateways of the spiritual predecessors of the constellations into Ancient
Saturn evolution. For instance, we saw the Spirits of Wisdom or Kyriotetes entering through Ram, the
Dynamis through Bull, the Exusiai and Archai through Twins, the Archangels through Crab, and the Angels
through Lion. The forces of Mercury (Occult Venus), in moving through the constellations of the Zodiac,
bring home to the human being the effects of the activities of these hierarchies in the virginal human will
throughout the ages of cosmic evolution.
In the case of Tycho de Brahe, we spoke above of a Bull (or manifesting) impulse entering Tycho’s soul
through the medium of the Mercury [Occult Venus] sphere. Therefore, we can see in this event the source
of impulses originally coming from the Dynamis or Spirits of Motion, not as they entered the Ancient
Saturn universe but as they are realized in the realm of human willing. The Spirits of Motion gave the
primeval impulses for the motions of the stars. Soul experiences of spiritual Beings are the original mo-
tives for their movements. If human beings can realize such an influx that has been, as it were, transponed
by Mercury, then they can create a Cosmology or Cosmosophy. This is what Tycho de Brahe did. We
cannot regard these facts in the light of any determinism or fatalism. It is left to each of us whether we are
willing to accept and work out such impulses or neglect them; and of course, karmic effects in either case
will be created.
Thus we can find that the Mercury (Occult Venus) sphere can bring down into human willing the
impulses of true Religion from Ram, Philosophy from Twins, a kind of Sociosophy from Crab, the Sophia
of Pedagogics from Lion, and so on. It is difficult to find concepts for these impulses, because they are
really virginal. Words cannot give very adequate descriptions of these really sublime connections of hu-
manity with Mercury (Occult Venus) sphere, or the sphere of Sophia.
The second great Mercury cycle had its superior conjunction in Lion, which was related to the time of
Tycho’s first and positive years on the island of Hveen. It ended in a loop in Virgin/Scales. This loop
referred, according to the prenatal lunar cycles, to the last seven years in Tycho’s life. From the superior
conjunction in Lion, we can assume that Tycho should have become a spiritual teacher of humanity. He had
a group of really young people around him on the isle of Hveen. But why wasn’t he able to break through
then, why did he become relatively unknown so that today he is classified only as a specialist, as the
“famous Danish astronomer”? We can find the answer if we look at the following loop of the planet
Mercury in Scales. The loop should signify the realization of the Lion impulse. But what do we witness?
We see Tycho de Brahe involved in almost profane human difficulties, which center around himself. The
Cosmology that he had brought down into the mood of a philosophical Mathematism during the first
Mercury cycle and which had been elevated to a pedagogical quality during the second Mercury cycle,
should have become the teaching of the active presence of the spiritual hierarchies in all existence on the
basis of visible phenomena and reality.
He could not achieve this for various reasons. His whole age was against it. Around him a civilization
grew up, especially with regard to science and knowledge, that gradually recognized only the world of the
senses and completely disavowed all knowledge of spiritual hierarchies. What Tycho de Brahe had to bring
came too early on Earth. It will be realized one day, but the time had not come then. Tycho died at a time
that was the reflection of that loop of Mercury during his prenatal development.
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Here again we can say that this impulse was not lost. Tycho carried its essence over the threshold of
death. He developed the third cycle of Mercury, which was innate in his soul, in the spiritual world. In his
nativity, we see the planet Mercury moving from the loop in Scales into another superior conjunction in
Archer. The impulse that could not be realized on Earth was again taken out into cosmic space and received
another transformation. In the superior conjunction in Archer we can see the influx of forces that want to
create in the soul of a person an active cognition of human and cosmic evolution, in fact the interplay of
both. We can say that the impulse which wanted to manifest itself through Tycho de Brahe was a Cosmosophy
combined with a Sophia of evolution. Only it was not accomplished on Earth, but it was achieved in the
spiritual world through the soul of Tycho. Thus we arrive at a point similar to the one when we looked at
the gestures and experiences of Tycho’s Venus planet (or Occult Mercury sphere). Only this time we come
to the same conclusions from a different angle. After death, this soul became a cosmosophist who by his
knowledge of the course of spiritual world evolution can inspire and advise those who live on Earth.
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TWENTY-THIRD LETTER - February 1946

Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho’s Saturn and Jupiter
In the previous three letters, we described the inferior planets and the Sun in Tycho de Brahe’s horo-
scope. Now it will be our task to show how we can approach the superior planets of Saturn, Jupiter, and
Mars in his nativity. It may have been noticed that the inferior planets are related to the soul world of
human beings. The soul world is like a child resting in the womb of a person’s bodily organization. It
grows toward the future and binds the knots of destiny that will, in future earthly incarnations, create
physical foundations and capacities. The character of the superior planets is different. They show one’s
links with the past, with past incarnations, experiences in the spiritual world in the life between death and
new birth, and also experiences made in the descent into earthly existence.
We will first consider Saturn. In our previous descriptions, we approached Saturn from various view-
points, because we need to be aware that the planets reveal themselves in manifold ways within the human
being. There is an old imagination that can lead us to an understanding and experience of the nature of
Saturn. Pictorial descriptions in the Middle Ages and earlier times often represent Saturn as Death, as the
skeleton-man with the scythe who cuts the thread of life. This is a true imagination. We have already
pointed out in earlier letters that this planet is strongly related to the bony system in the human body. Hence
Saturn is connected with that part in a human organization that descended deepest into the realm of matter.
Of the whole bony system, the teeth are the concentrated image of this descent, and we remember that the
teeth of the human skeleton, or Death, are the most impressive feature of this image of a human being’s
ultimate earthly fate. Therefore, Saturn is the one who stands at the threshold and reminds one continu-
ously by its warning and strict “Memento Mori” not to fall into the temptations of the sense world. These
warnings do not only take place in the soul world of people, they speak the mighty language of human
failures, disappointments, and catastrophes. However, this is only one side of Saturn’s character. The inner
nature of Saturn, which we cannot perceive with the senses, is just the opposite of this almost sinister
picture. Saturn is certainly the Guardian of the Threshold of Death, but it is, none the less, also the Guard-
ian of the Threshold of Birth, and when Saturn appears as the great “Memento Mori” in human life, it does
so in order to remind us of our higher being. The higher being of humanity (Anthroposophy calls it the
Spirit Self) does not really enter our earthly incarnations. It is kept back in the spiritual world, and Saturn
is its Guardian. It is the Spiritual Self that leads from incarnation to incarnation and gathers the fruits of
earthly experiences and molds and remolds them for the sake of grand evolutionary purposes. In the
present stage of human evolution, we normally forget our Spirit Self, for a veil is drawn before the cogni-
tion of previous incarnations and the life between death and new birth, when we enter the world through the
gateway of birth. Saturn keeps watch over our higher being and prevents us from entirely forgetting our
divine and eternal nature. Saturn generally cannot achieve this without bringing painful experiences.
We can look at Saturn as the one who holds together the threads that connect us with our past and even
future incarnations. Saturn is the Guardian of the great spiritual image of each individual human being, the
image that evolves and is transformed as we pass through the ever-changing conditions on the Earth.
In Tycho de Brahe’s nativity and in the picture of the prenatal events in the sky, Saturn performed a loop
in the space between Scorpion and Archer. Finally, at the time of birth the Sun had moved into conjunction
with Saturn. This is rather important, because it reveals to us in the language of the great festivals the place
where we have to search for the spiritual “dwelling place” of this individuality. We can almost find in it an
indication of the conditions of previous incarnations. Tycho’s birth took place on 14 December 1546. We
must not forget that in 1546 the so-called Julian Calendar was still in force, and this was not a very accurate
record for astronomical calculations. Through mistakes in the calculation of the length of the year, it
happened that by the time of the 16th century the calendar year had fallen back ten days in relationship to the
positions of the Sun in the sky. This mistake was then corrected in 1582 by the introduction of the Gregorian
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Calendar. Thus the 14th of December 1546 was in truth, with regard to the position of the Sun in the winter
solstice, 24 December, or Christmas Eve.
If we now imagine Saturn standing behind this Christmas Sun, then we have a very illuminating picture
of the eternal being of Tycho de Brahe, for this single Christmas Imagination of 1546 is elevated, as it were,
into the language of Saturn. It is the picture of a World Christmas, and thus we can say that the higher being
of Tycho de Brahe, which had gone through previous incarnations, was deeply involved in the Christmas
event as a world event. We recognize in this star event the image of an individuality who in former lives
had struggled with the understanding of the birth of Christ on Earth. Moreover, we must also consider the
position of Saturn in the Zodiac. It had left the constellation of Scorpion and was about to enter Archer. In
previous letters, we have described how the image of the constellation of Scorpion has changed during the
ages of evolution. In very olden times, it was clairvoyantly perceived as the image of an eagle with mighty
wings that uplifted human cognition into the realm of prophetic vision. Then the eagle forces died away,
and this constellation was perceived as a scorpion that was the picture of the descent into death and of
reproduction that comes out of the chaos which follows death and destruction. However, there will come a
time when these forces will again be uplifted. The initiate can already behold Scorpion transformed into
the image of a dove, which with its white soft wings will carry the human soul toward the experience of the
Holy Spirit. In truth, the Holy Spirit stands behind the gateway of Scorpion. Another manifestation is Isis-
Sophia, the new Isis. Once in very olden times Isis went away from the Earth. This was the time when the
eagle became the scorpion and when the legend tells us that Osiris, the husband of Isis, was killed. Then
Isis was clad in a blue mantle, which is the image of the blue dome of the sky above our heads, and the
underside of the mantle was sprinkled with the many stars that we see at night in the sky.
To use pictorial language, Tycho de Brahe, or rather the higher self appearing behind him, was in olden
times in the possession of the Mantle of Isis. In other words, we perceive in Saturn, as it came from the
constellation that we today call Scorpion, the image of an individuality who was in olden times initiated
into the secrets of the Mantle of Isis or into the secrets of the starry worlds. He was one of those initiates
who could still realize behind the folds of that star mantle the great Mother Being of human existence on
Earth. He knew that the human being descends to Earth from the spiritual realms of the stars. Then Saturn
moved away from Scorpion and soon would enter Archer. This creates another picture in our soul. In
Archer, especially the leading stars, we can behold the archetypal image of humanity whose task it is in the
choir of the hierarchies to find the higher “I”. This is revealed in the image of the archer’s arrow. It is the
true image of the “I”.
Thus we behold the individuality who went through former incarnations and finally descended to Earth
as Tycho de Brahe. He was endowed with the shadowy reflections of the wonderful cosmic wisdom of
olden times, of the spiritual cosmology that could still behold human beings, not as they are born from
earthly parents but from the star-clad heavenly Mother. This was alive in his soul from the past, and this
helps us to understand why he was so profoundly connected with the world of the stars when he incarnated
as Tycho de Brahe. As he moved toward the future, one great problem appeared for him that we perceive in
the image of Archer or the Great Archetype of Humanity. The problem was: what is to become of the Child
of the great cosmic Mother Being? From his heritage of olden times, Tycho was rather inclined to see the
Child still in the womb of the heavenly Mother. We would say in modern language that he saw human
beings determined by the stars. The conjunction of Saturn, Mercury, and the Sun in Tycho’s nativity reveals
to us that there was a great complication in his being. In a previous incarnation he could not penetrate to the
fact that the Archetype of Humanity had really been born on Earth, had been separated from the heavenly
Mother as an independent Being. It must have been very hard for him in one or more of his previous
incarnations to evolve to the certainty that the Archetype of Humanity was no longer in the womb of the
stars but had entered the Earth as an independent Being, free from the “influence” of the stars. It must have
been very difficult for this individuality to grasp the truth of the Christmas Event. We can express this also
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in other words: the Sun in the sky is the symbol, the image of bodily, physical reality. Saturn is the visible
expression of that sphere in the spiritual universe through which the souls of human beings pass after death
and where they experience the archetypes of all soul existence. As we see Saturn and Sun in conjunction in
Tycho’s nativity, we can understand that they can hinder each other in their full manifestation. Therefore,
we can say that this individuality, who was initiated into the mysteries of Isis, knew that Isis would give
birth to “Horus”, but he expected this event as a fact in the soul world only. (We should say in our abstract
language that he experienced it symbolically, not attached to a physical reality.) He could not advance, or
at least had the greatest difficulties in acknowledging the fact that this prophecy in the soul world, would
come to pass as a visible event on Earth as the birth of “Horus” [Christ] in a bodily form.
Rudolf Steiner has made occult investigations into the previous incarnations of Tycho de Brahe, and his
revelations fill us with the courage to speak of this individuality as we have done above. He revealed that
this individuality was incarnated in the 4th century AD as the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. We
know this Emperor was called the Apostate because in his later life he despised Christianity and fell away
from it, although in his youth he received a Christian education. His predecessors had abolished all the
heathen religions, they had closed the temples and had driven away their priests and sages. Julian tried to
restore the old mysteries. He searched for the last remnants of the initiation centers, and in his last cam-
paign against the Persians, during which he was murdered by a Christian, he had set out to revive the
mysteries of old Asia. If a human being is able to develop such an impulse, then surely from previous lives
he has a deep connection with those mystery institutions in the East. It may be that Julian was related with
the Persian mysteries that dated back to Zarathustra, the ancient founder of Persian culture who had a deep
knowledge of the secrets of the starry universe. This is the source from which Julian drew his inspiration.
He was an initiate of cosmological secrets, an initiate of the Sun. He even wrote an essay about, and which
called, the Threefold Sun that still exists. He had a deep knowledge of the Spirit of the Sun, of whom
Zarathustra had spoken when he pointed toward Ahura Mazdao, the great Aura of the Sun. But Tycho could
not advance to the conviction that the Spirit of the Sun had entered the body of Jesus. One might say that
he had become too much a post-Christian Grecian philosopher to be able to believe that a spiritual fact can
become manifest and visible in the realm of matter.
Forces that wanted to prevent the resurrection of the old mysteries killed Julian. It was the destiny of
humanity for some time to close its eyes to the cosmic nature of the One who was the Archetype of Human-
ity. Humanity could look only on that which had happened on Earth during the events in Palestine.
However, the soul of Julian had passed over the threshold without having achieved the cognition of
those physical World Christmas Events, and therefore destiny provided another opportunity for him to
make good his previous failure. He was reborn as Herzeloide, the mother of Parsifal. Parsifal was a
historical personality who was born in the 9th century AD. He was a personality on whom rested in a very
special way the reflection of the Archetype of Humanity. The name Parsifal really means one who “goes
through the valley” of utter loneliness and suffering and of being separated from the spiritual world. His
father died before he was born. He lived in his early youth under the care and protection of his mother
Herzeloide in a lonely forest. One day he was led away, and he went out into the world in order to become
a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table. He was confronted with the Holy Grail but failed to recognize it,
and only after long and lonely erring, during which he lost faith even in God, he returned to the Grail’s
castle and became the bearer of the Holy Vessel containing the ever-healing host.
Parsifal, as a historic personality, lived in an age when spiritual darkness spread over humanity. He was
probably born about the time of the Council of Constantinople (869 AD), which decreed that human beings
consist only of body and soul, and denied that they were also the bearer of a spirit. But Parsifal gave, as it
were, the possibility of human beings becoming ultimately the vessel of Christ if they evolve the hidden
forces of their souls by passing courageously through the dark and lonely valley of material existence.
Herzeloide died after Parsifal had left her in order to seek King Arthur’s Court. Thereby, she could look
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back to the Earth from the spiritual world and realize in her son’s destiny that the Spirit of the Sun had
entered the material world, because she beheld that Christ filled the hearts of human beings if in the struggle
with their lower being they opened their heart to the spiritual Light from the heights.
This connection with the One who “passed through the valley” is also hidden in the conjunction of
Saturn, Mercury, and the Sun. The superior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun reminds us very much of
the historical Christmas Night on 25 December 1 BC, when the same conjunction took place. It is the
picture of the Birth event under the very difficult circumstances as it is described in St. Luke. But the
position of Saturn between Scorpion and Archer reveals that it was the birth of One who had to go “through
the valley”, because it stands in the “lowest” part of the Zodiac. It is the point of the winter solstice, and
when the Sun comes to this point in the course of the year it is in its lowest position above the horizon. In
this part of the Zodiac is really a dark and lonely valley.
Whereas Saturn reveals the links of the human being with the past, with the higher self as it wandered
through previous incarnations, Jupiter creates the link between the past and the future. Saturn shows the
higher causes that are the foundation of the present incarnation. Jupiter manifests the inner reason of the
mysterious and strange ways of a person’s destiny. In previous letters, we have spoken of Jupiter as the
image of a person’s connection with the World Ether. As we go through the experience of the Earth when
we are incarnated, we dissolve—whether we want it or not—the substances of the Earth through the pro-
cess of thinking. The capacity of thinking is based on an activity that penetrates through the veil of solid
matter. When we try to find the true nature of the world and its objects, especially in philosophical thinking,
we etherize and uplift the objective and egoless world around us to a state of conscious transparency. This
etherized world of thoughts is then the “reality” upon which we look back after having passed through the
threshold of death. This is, then, for us the “Earth”; we cannot behold the material Earth any longer. This
Ether-Earth, as we might say, shows us the meaning and the future of the whole Earth evolution, which has
only been achieved to a small extent so far. However, it is already the germ of a new planetary stage of the
universe when the present Earth will have been dissolved. Occultism calls this future stage of the universe
“Jupiter”. The present planet Jupiter, which is the realm and the source of the cosmic ether, is inhabited by
highly exalted Beings who prepare this future evolution.
Therefore, if we look at the position of Jupiter in a nativity, we really look at that which connects the
past of the single human being with the cosmic future. Its highest manifestation appears in the realm of
creative, philosophical thinking. Thus the creative thoughts of individuals will become the “real” sub-
stance of a future universe.
Jupiter, during the whole time of Tycho’s prenatal development, was in the constellation of Goat. Goat
is opposite Crab. Crab in the light of Jupiter can reveal the process of densification of the Earth into the
state of “mineral substance”. We will remember that in connection with the spiritual nativity we saw Crab
as the cosmic expression of the philosophical mood of Materialism. Through the light of Jupiter we can
experience Crab as the source of all the impulses that led into the solidification and hardening of the Earth
into matter. We know from occult investigations that the Earth only gradually attained this state of solid
matter.
However, Jupiter in the opposite constellation of Goat indicates the reversed tendency from densifica-
tion, that is to say, the dissolving thinking activity of human beings. It is the impulse of spiritualization and
etherization of the solid matter that will only be achieved as a world process in a very far future. Densifi-
cation into solid matter is the essence of the Earth evolution. Only through this process has it been possible
to lead humanity toward freehood and the attainment of the “I”. The following cosmic evolution will have
to redeem this process of densification. In the Jupiter evolution, the Earth will appear as an ethereal body
consisting of those creative thoughts of individuals, which even now are contributing toward a healthy
dissolution of the Earth. In the language of the Revelation of St. John, this etherized and transformed Earth
is called the “New Jerusalem”.
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We can now understand why this individuality had those difficulties in understanding the incarnation of
the Godhead in matter. It was because his creative genius was far advanced toward the future, so far that it
did not fit properly into the needs of the present world historic age. We might even say that the complete
etherization of the world cannot be achieved in the future if the vehicle of this process, the human being,
has not first gone through the pains of the experience of the spirit incorporated in matter. As we have
indicated above, this individuality finally went through this experience. We can assume all the more from
this position of Jupiter that Tycho de Brahe’s time lies in the future, that he could only evolve very little of
these capacities during his Tycho incarnation. They have become, as it were, a fund for future lives, and we
gain a glimpse of what these capacities may become if we consider the inspirations that certain personali-
ties who incarnated later received from him after his death. Rudolf Steiner mentions two: the philosophers
Schelling and Jakob Frohschammer. Schelling’s philosophical activity culminated in the lectures that he
gave at the University of Berlin and which were edited under the title, The Philosophy of Mythology and
Revelation. Frohschammer wrote at a time when Jupiter was nearing or was actually stationed in Goat, The
Imagination as the Principle of the World Process and The Monads and World Imagination. Unfortunately,
we cannot give a detailed description now of the philosophical ideas of these personalities, but the titles of
the works may convey a faint imagination to the readers of the loftiness of these thoughts inspired by Tycho
de Brahe. The idea of imagination as the principle of the world process creates a picture of the world where
matter no longer exists but rather an ocean of creative and living thoughts.
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TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER - March 1946

Our Connection with the Stars - Tycho’s Mars
In order to complete the picture of Tycho de Brahe’s nativity, we still have to describe the gestures of
Mars during the prenatal development.
Figure 1 in letter 21 gives an impression of this movement of Mars. It had just entered Goat at the time
of Tycho’s conception and soon afterwards came into conjunction with Jupiter. Then it proceeded to
Waterman, and there it performed a loop that lasted most of the time of the later embryonic development.
Finally it entered Fishes where it stood at the time of birth.
Mars, as the planet of strength, answers the question: why does a human soul incarnate under the special
conditions of one earthly life? Further, it shows the intermediary task of the present incarnation in the
sequence of previous and future lives on Earth. Sometimes contradictions may seem to exist between two
consecutive incarnations, but Mars can explain how each new stage of individualization is finally placed
into the entelechy of a human being—the eternal and ever-creative spiritual entity of humanity.
Mars in Goat reveals that from the outset, the impulse to find the spirit in the appearance of the world of
the senses had been active in Tycho de Brahe’s incorporation into the earthly environment. This is espe-
cially expressed in the conjunction of Mars with Jupiter. Jupiter wants to penetrate Mars with its essence in
the event of the conjunction between both. In our last letter, we tried to describe the essential character of
Jupiter in Goat, and how in this position there appears a beautiful image of a lofty, spiritual universe that is
even, in a certain way, still far removed from the conception of the average present-day individual. All this,
deeply hidden in Tycho’s being, had the greatest difficulty to manifest itself in his life.
This comprised about the first fourteen years of Tycho’s life. Then Mars entered Waterman, which
reflects itself when Tycho de Brahe was the age of 30 and took residence on the Isle of Hveen, and then it
started to make a loop. (In previous letters, we indicated that the prenatal events are reflected in the later
life.) This loop lasted until the time that reflects his death.
Mars in Waterman can reflect the impulse of a soul to unite that which has been separated in a certain
realm of existence. Such an impulse can manifest itself in the most extraordinary manner. For instance,
Mary Queen of Scots had Mars in Waterman in her nativity. She could not really achieve the realization of
this Mars during her earthly life because she died too early. However, if we imagine that when this soul had
entered the spiritual world, James I united England and Scotland in one kingdom, then we have an example
of such a unifying impulse. In the case of Tycho de Brahe, we can find the answer to the question why he
chooses a profession that seems to be so remote from his previous incarnation. In the last letter, we indi-
cated that he was incarnated as Herzeloide, the mother of Parsifal. In the destiny of her son, which this soul
could accompany from the spiritual world, she could perceive the dramatic evolution of Parsifal toward the
ability of becoming a bearer of the Holy Grail. He was one who could receive the Christ Being into his
whole organization through a development, however painful, of his soul forces. One might even say that in
the moment when he entered the Grail Castle a second time, where his name was written on the Holy
Vessel, a soul universe of great similarity with the outer universe came into existence. The splendor of the
Grail Castle, which is described in the various stories, is the secret revelation of this soul universe in the
one who becomes the bearer of the Holy Cup. All those holy mysteries, which in pre-Christian times had
perceived the spirit in the manifestation of nature and universe, had withdrawn into the soul of humanity.
The individuality of Tycho de Brahe had an opportunity to realize this change in the Herzeloide incarnation.
Therefore it seems strange that he turned to the opposite in his Tycho-incarnation, to the outer universe.
But this was just his impulse, to speak in the language of Mars in Waterman, to create a union between the
outer universe of the stars and that inner universe of the soul. If we want to use a more pictorial language:
he knew that as Osiris was killed by Typhon, according to the legend, Isis was killed by Lucifer, and the
corpse of Isis became the visible stars. As Tycho knew also of the healing and reviving force that creates
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the inner universe of the soul, he wanted to revive Isis again by the union between the inner and outer
universe. In other words, already in the life before birth Tycho de Brahe decided to creep, as it were, into
that that he had to regard as the remnants of Isis in order to spiritualize and unite them with what he knew
was a creative reality in the soul of humanity. He realized that the stars were the most eloquent manifesta-
tion of nature, the uttermost opposite end of that visible universe which seemed to be the contradiction to
the invisible universe in the soul. Therefore, he had decided to become not only a sage of the stars but also
of the alchemy of the substances.
This is the reason why he endeavored, not without success, to establish a connection between the starry
universe and human destiny along the lines of astrology. He did this in an age in which consciousness had
already moved far away from such a knowledge, and yet he was able to study the stars in their courses in a
manner that was absolutely akin to modern scientific research. This is also the reason why he refused to
acknowledge the Copernican system of the solar universe.
Copernicus had introduced the idea of the Earth, together with the other planets, moving around the
central Sun, which was fixed to its place. It had replaced the old Ptolemaic system, according to which the
Earth was imagined to be fixed in the center of the solar system and the Sun with the planets moving around
the Earth. Tycho de Brahe rejected the idea of Copernicus, because for him it was an impossible thought to
imagine the Earth being degraded into a grain of dust circling around the Sun as its dependent vassal. He
anticipated, rightly, that the introduction of the Copernican system would bring into being a conception of
the starry universe as a lifeless mechanism or clockwork. This was again his deep impulse of unification;
he was searching for a conception of the universe of a quality congenial to the living soul universe in human
beings. He conceived a system of the solar universe in which the planets, except the Earth, are moving
around the Sun, yet this Sun then describes an orbit around the Earth that is fixed in the center.
Still he could not fully realize this impulse of unification. He had the impulse, but he was unable to
create ideally and scientifically a universe in which what he considered to be the two halves—the world of
nature reaching out to the stars and the soul world of human beings—were one. What was the reason for
this difficulty? The reflection of the event of Mars entering Fishes fell into Tycho’s 56th year of life. This
was just the time when he died. Therefore, although we see Mars in Fishes at the time of his birth, he did
not really develop the aspect of Mars in this constellation. If he had lived it out on Earth he would have had
the strength to elaborate such a Cosmos of Union. For Mars in Goat and Waterman gives the impulse of
spiritual union of that which is divided in the world, and Fishes provides the capacity to realize this impulse
in a Cosmos of Wisdom. Destiny decided it differently for Tycho de Brahe. He sacrificed this last aspect of
Mars in Fishes. This became manifest in the fact that he could not create a sound mathematical basis for his
own system of the universe, and it fell into oblivion after his death. Also, he could not convince his pupil
and coworker, the famous Kepler, of the error of the Copernican system. Thus the mechanical aspect of the
universe, based on the Copernican system, came into the foreground and began to dominate science more
and more.
Mars in Fishes was sacrificed, but the time for the realization of Tycho’s impulse had not yet come. It
resurrected in the spiritual world after his death, and it gradually works into the future until this soul can
incarnate again in a body and realize what had been denied in the past. As we have already pointed out in
the last letter, he has inspired others who lived after him, and he still does so. To speak in the language of
the stars: his inspirations come just from that constellation of Fishes, which he was not allowed to incorpo-
rate into the Earth. Both those personalities, who were spoken of in the last letter, were born into a conjunc-
tion (Frohschammer) of Saturn and Jupiter in Fishes, or into an opposition (Schelling) of these two planets
respectively in Fishes, in Virgin. And we have the proof that today people who are true pupils of Tycho
have also a conjunction or opposition of Saturn and Jupiter in Fishes or the opposite constellation.
Tycho inspires ideas and impulses of true union between nature and spirit. One might almost call him
a spiritual monist. In the last letter we mentioned Schelling and Frohschammer as inspired by Tycho de
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Brahe. Schelling lived in the time of the two famous philosophers Fichte and Hegel. For a time he fol-
lowed their lines of philosophy, but then he went his own way. Separating himself from Fichte’s concep-
tion, he declared that philosophy must be able to prove that the laws of nature are the same as the laws in the
mental realm and the reverse. The point from which the researches in both directions would have to start
could be nowhere but in the infinite, in a realm of absolute identity of the ideal and the real, or of nature and
the spirit. Therefore, his philosophy, which he elaborated in his later years, was called Philosophy of
Identity.
Here we have quite clearly an inspiration of unification. Also in Frohschammer’s philosophy we can
detect this trend. He regarded the principle of imagination (phantasy) as an objective creative force in
nature as well as in the mental realm.
Incidents in modern times, which are too subtle to be described here, indicate that Tycho de Brahe now
goes still further in his inspiration, and that he prepares a mighty impulse of universal unification. He does
not only inspire unification in a philosophical sense, he works everywhere where he can awake enthusiasm
for practical and spiritual union and coordination of that in human culture, which is in danger of being
atomized into senseless and even dangerous fractions.
It can be said that Tycho de Brahe has become a disciple and a teacher of the Golden Triangle. Wher-
ever there are contradictions and opposing forces or tendencies in the cultural world of humanity, he is one
of those who inspired the idea of Trinity. For into whatever garment of physical existence they may sheathe
themselves, the two as polarity and contradiction are always the source of destruction and confusion in the
human world. Only if the third principle steps in between the two can harmony and coordination of the
resisting forces be established.
Thus the soul of the one of whom we speak is an inspirer of threefoldness, for it is the true union
whether it be with regard to the social aspect of humanity or of knowledge.
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To the Readers of the Monthly Astronomical Letters
With the present issue the second year of the Monthly Astronomical Letters comes to a close. For some
time it has been a problem whether it would be wise to continue with these letters for another period. We
have come to the conviction that, if we would decide to continue, the character of this publication would
have to be altered entirely. On the other hand the basis of the letters seems to be still too small to justify
launching out on a bigger scale. This may be possible after some time of preparation, but for the present we
have decided to discontinue the letters.
One more word may be said about the problem of the application of the New Star Wisdom. There are
many realms of life and knowledge in which this wisdom can be applied. Generally speaking it would
mean an enormous enrichment of cultural life if the aspects of the starry world would be taken more into
consideration. The arrangement and the judgment of the facts and events on this planet on which we live
could be elevated into a realm of spiritual surety and dignity. Many of the social difficulties and catastro-
phes that humanity faces at present could be avoided if our culture could be guided according to the grand
spiritual facts that reveal themselves in the events of the starry world. We have pointed out already in the
first letter that a future spiritual culture of humanity will need a new star wisdom more and more. Even if
the time is not quite ripe for the realization of this impulse on a large scale, the seeds of the future must be
sown now.
We must be absolutely clear about one question. It is not possible to carry the aspects and suppositions
of the traditional astrology into any such new outlook. This should also have become clear in the course of
the letters. The aim of traditional astrology is chiefly prediction. For the most part, it only meets the
curiosity and the egoism of people with regard to the uncertainty of the future. Unfortunately, this is also
the reason why this astrology very often has to work on an almost businesslike basis and, therefore, is
involved into the subjectivistic psychology of attraction and expansion of sale in the business world.
In the letters we endeavored to show that cosmology has its roots in the ancient mysteries. There, in the
sanctuaries of the temples, it was used in order to guide the disciples of the esoteric teaching to the fulfill-
ment of their tasks. Since that time this grand wisdom of the stars, which hitherto had been guarded
hermetically, has been dispersed into the outside world through all kinds of channels. It came into hands
that did not fully understand it any longer, and it deteriorated into empty shells of rules from which the true
meaning and the spirit had disappeared long ago.
The present age must start to find the true wisdom of the stars again. Through Rudolf Steiner, the gates
toward the attainment of a new cosmology have been opened wide. But above everything else, we have to
realize one important fact in human evolution, and this is the development of the ego. If we compare the
social life in ancient Egypt, for instance, with the conditions in our modern time, then we can become aware
of the enormous changes that have taken place since those past ages. In ancient Egypt the social organism
was built up hierarchically. The priests and kings were the acknowledged and absolute leaders of their
peoples. They had unrestricted power over their subjects; they acted, as it were, as the earthly representa-
tives of the Gods. In our age, we consider democratic principles as the ideal of the social organism. Mod-
ern humanity has become ego conscious, and people do not want to be led by others. They consider
themselves to be able to cope with their own affairs and also to arrange the social necessities in concord and
agreement with their fellow human beings. Therefore, it is not possible to re-institute the applications of
the old star wisdom in our age. People of today do not want to be governed by the stars, and this is justified.
We have to learn to become masters of ourselves, especially in such subtle matters as individual destiny.
Everything has to be arranged according to the requirements of the age of freedom. On the other hand, we
must also realize that the relationship between humanity and the starry universe has changed considerably
during the last two thousand years.
The fact of the development of freedom in humanity cannot be considered only from the human point of
view. It would not have been possible without a corresponding deed of the divine world. In the letters we
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have often pointed out that the stars were experienced in olden days as the garments of the Gods. The seer
in the old mysteries could behold the Gods through the medium of those garments. Yet in the age of
freedom, the Gods have withdrawn into a still higher realm. This is the fact of human freedom—only
expressed in different words. They have left the “garments” behind. The stars still bear the qualities
imprinted into them by the divine beings, such as a clock might work according to the original intentions of
its maker.
Thus modern clairvoyance recognizes the fact that we cannot speak of an “influence” of the stars upon
the human being any longer. They have become “silent”. Still, modern clairvoyance recognizes also
another important fact: the human being enters the physical world with regard to the individual birth time in
such a way that a harmony is established between its destiny and the course of the stars.
It may sound strange to modern minds, but mighty spiritual beings who are strongly connected with the
spiritual evolution of humanity have arranged this connection for the sake of the star-Beings. Through it,
there has been established one of the most profound and exalted tasks of humanity, which will be fully
realized only in a very distant future. Human beings will imprint their spiritual essence more and more into
the world of the stars, and thus they will even create a new universe in remote ages to come, but they have
to start this evolution during the present age.
The stars have become a gigantic mirror of the spirit of human beings. Looking into it, we can perceive
the grand spiritual image of our own being standing behind us and waiting for fulfillment. To read the
features of this Spirit Man, or Spirit “I”, in the script of the stars is the task of a new cosmology and
astrology. This impulse is not only justified, it will become a cultural necessity in future.
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Star Events in the Time of Christ
It is extremely difficult to find out from the few remaining historical sources the accurate dates of the
life of Christ. The traditional date of the birth of Jesus is 25 December 1 BC. However, modern historical
research is doubtful of the authenticity of this date. Today many believe that Jesus was born in the year 4
BC or even earlier, but this assumption is built entirely upon a chronological hypothesis. Everything de-
pends upon the year of the foundation of Rome, because this is the starting point of Roman chronology
according to which the simultaneous historical events recorded in the Gospels are dated. Usually the year
of the foundation of Rome is given as 753 BC, but other convincing sources suggest the year 747 BC;
therefore, it is very difficult to find out the real time by mere historical research.
The year of the crucifixion also cannot easily be ascertained and opinion differs considerably, but one
old tradition speaks of 3 April 33 AD, and Rudolf Steiner has confirmed that this is the historical date.
Another problem is the time that elapsed between the Baptism in the Jordan, which marks the beginning
of Christ’s activity in Palestine, and the death on Golgotha. According to the Gospels the Baptism took
place when Jesus was thirty years old, and it happened on the day of Epiphany; the day of “Appearance”,
which is one of the oldest Christian festivals.
From the results of past research, which as far as possible will be given in the course of these letters, it
can be assumed that the Baptism took place on 6 January 31 AD. If we accept the traditional date of the
birth of Jesus as the Christmas of 1 BC, then Jesus was actually thirty years old at Christmas of 30 AD, and
the Baptism would have taken place a few days later, on Epiphany, 31 AD. Then the time from the Baptism
till the death on Golgotha comprises only two and a quarter years, which from several points of view is
quite probable.
All this may at first sound very doubtful, but we will see in the course of our descriptions that the events
in the starry world confirm many of the chronological assumptions upon which this work seems to be built.
Ages before Christ’s birth, this event was predicted by the initiates of the old Star wisdom in ancient Persia.
Today we can look back and find with a newly created Star wisdom the facts about the Life of Christ, and
we can also create an understanding for the records in the Gospels.
At first we will not go into details about the birth of Jesus, but we shall do so later if it is possible. This
may seem strange, as it is customary in describing the life of a personality to start with the nativity; how-
ever, in this case it is quite different. We have to make a distinction between Jesus and Christ. Jesus was a
human being who was born into a physical body, but in Christ we are concerned with a Spirit who was far
above a human being and who could truly say of Itself that It was the Son of the Heavenly Father. Jesus was
a man, and he was the bearer of a physical body. Of him we can calculate a nativity or a horoscope. But
Christ is the God who entered the body of Jesus at the moment of the Baptism in the Jordan and dwelt in
this body for about three years, and a God has no horoscope. A God cannot be bound to one fixed hour. The
Gods rule the life and the rhythms of the stars, and we shall see how majestically the whole universe was
present in Christ and the deeds of Christ. Therefore, we cannot look upon a star event in the past, for
instance the nativity of Jesus, unless we have read the simultaneous happenings in the sky in order to find
the spiritual meaning of Christ’s words and deeds. Hence, we will start with a description of the position of
the planets at the time that we consider to have been the time of the Baptism, 6 January 31 AD, and then we
shall follow the gestures and movements of the planets during the following years.
On Epiphany in 31 AD, we find the planets in the following positions: Saturn was in the constellation of
Twins, and at this time of the year it was making a loop there. Jupiter stood in Ram. Mars had just entered
the constellation of Ram. The Sun was in Goat. Mercury had also entered Goat. Venus stood in Waterman.
The Moon was in the constellations of Scales and Scorpion. This is not a very spectacular aspect in the
sense of traditional astrology, yet we will see that we can get much further with the help of the knowledge
that we have acquired in studying the world’s evolution in connection with the Zodiac and the planets.
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On 6 January 31 AD, which we take as the date of the Baptism in the Jordan, the Sun stood in Goat.
From there it moved through Waterman and Fishes and entered Ram about the time of the Passover festival
in 31 AD. This must have been the time of which we read in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd chapters of St. John. This
includes the testimony of St. John the Baptist, the selection of the first five disciples, the wedding of Cana,
Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem, and Jesus talking with Nicodemus. Following this, Christ went to Galilee
and, we can now imagine, did all the deeds and spoke the words of which we read in the other three Gospels
up to the time of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. This miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand must
have happened in the time of the Passover festival of 32 AD, according to the Gospel of St. John, Chapter
6. After this, another eventful year elapsed until the Passover of 33 AD, which was preceded by the cruci-
fixion.
Thus we have three Passover festivals in the life of Christ and, of course, three times the Sun moves into
the constellation of Ram. These three events mark three decisive stepping stones toward the revelation of
Christ in the body of Jesus.
Since olden times, the Sun has been regarded as a balancing power in our solar universe that creates a
balance between the so-called superior planets of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, and the inferior planets Venus
and Mercury. If we look upon the Sun in connection with the life of Christ, we will find that Christ brought
down or represented this balancing power in the deeds and works on Earth in full harmony with the move-
ment of the Sun. Therefore, this balancing activity revealed itself always in different spheres of life accord-
ing to the position of the Sun in the Zodiac.
At the Passover in 31 AD, the Sun was in Ram. Therefore, we should be able to find the revelation of
the balancing power of Christ within a sphere corresponding spiritually to this event in the sky. Truly we
can find it. In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John, we hear St. John the Baptist saying, “Behold, the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”. This happened immediately before the Passover,
corresponding to the Christian Easter festival when the Sun was in Ram. Then St. John the Baptist clairvoy-
antly beheld the revelation of the spiritual Being that penetrated Jesus as He walked along the shore of the
river Jordan. He saw behind Jesus the spiritual Being, the “Lamb of God”, Who has been known to
occultists since olden days. The “Lamb” is the spiritual reality hidden behind the visible constellation of
the Ram that was present in Jesus as the Sun was in Ram.
Who is the Lamb of God? If we perceive a person with our senses we see only the earthly physical body,
but we know that this is not the whole person. We know that within this form other forces—we might call
them “bodies”—are active although they are invisible to the senses. The clairvoyant can behold them with
supersensible organs. The physical body is penetrated by life-actions. Each human being has individual
life forces that build up the body according to its innate destiny. Thus each of us has an individual “life
organism” or “ether body” as we call it in occultism. The human organism is also penetrated by individu-
alized consciousness forces. The seer beholds these forces as the “astral body”. Furthermore, human
beings are penetrated by forces that make it possible for each of us to realize ourselves as individual beings
who are separated from the others. This is the ego or “I”. But a human being is not only an accumulation
of those supersensible forces within. There is a purpose. The realization of the ego makes it possible for us
to evolve our “members”, the astral body, the ether body, and the physical body through life on Earth and
from incarnation to incarnation. The transformed “substances” of the lower members then constitute dif-
ferent realities, apart from the existence of the lower members, and these can be clairvoyantly beheld as
supersensible “bodies”. Thus the human being has a transmuted astral body (the “Spirit-Self” or “Manas”
in the occult language), a transmuted ether body (“Life-Spirit” or “Buddhi”), and a transmuted physical
body (“Spirit-Man”, or “Atman”). Thus the human being is composed of seven “members”: the physical
body, the ether body, the astral body, the “I”, the transmuted astral, ether, and physical bodies.
However, it is not only the human being who is composed of a sevenfoldness of members, all beings,
also the hierarchical beings, have seven higher members. The Christ Being is a sevenfold entity, only the
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“higher members” are far more exalted than those of humanity. Christ’s highest principle has been called,
since ancient times, the “Lamb of God”, and it is this that St. John the Baptist beheld while Christ walked
along the river Jordan. Its cosmic expression is the constellation of Ram.
The “Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world.” What is the sin of the world? It is the great
cosmic Fall that we described in letters 11 and 12, in connection with the developments of the period of
Ancient Moon evolution. A reflection of this Fall took place within the Earth evolution in the loss of the
Paradise that is described in the Old Testament. This is the “sin of the world” that “the Lamb of God taketh
away”. Thus we have now to behold the mighty revelation of Christ on Earth, as the representation of the
forces of the Sun while dwelling in the body of Jesus. The Sun has a balancing power in the universe.
Christ has brought this balancing power down to the suffering Earth. The balancing power is “the taking
away of the sin of the world”. At the moment when St. John the Baptist had his vision, the Sun was in Ram.
On Earth the balancing power of the universe was revealed as the “Lamb of God”.
We can now take the image of the “sin of the world”, of the great Fall, as we have described it in
connection with Mars in the 12 constellations of the Zodiac (letter 12), and look at it from the point of view
of the Sun. Mars in the 12 constellations represents the image of the Fall and the cosmic hope for its
redemption. If we look at the Sun in the 12 constellations, we find the redeeming and balancing power of
Christ in all spheres of life. The Sun in Ram—or the revelation of the “Lamb of God who taketh away the
sin of the world”—is the mighty overture of the harmonizing “Sun activity” of Christ in those events in
Palestine at the beginning of our era.
The prophecy of the Lamb of God who, through Its own sacrifice, would come and save the world from
sin, was alive in the Hebrew people since the early days of their constitution. It lived in the yearly ritual of
the Passover Lamb. Besides this there was another ritual that was performed by the priests in the temple at
Jerusalem. Every year a ram was symbolically laden with the sin of the people and then cast into the rocky
abyss of a deep valley. But when the time had come, St. John the Baptist was the first who clairvoyantly
beheld, in the One who stood on the shore of the river Jordan, the Lamb of God who had now really come
into the world in order to save it from sin. This was no longer a symbol, it was now a reality, and he
baptized people in the water so that they might also behold the decisive event that he had seen.
This happened during the time of the Passover in 31 AD, when the Sun was in the constellation of Ram
or “Lamb”. We must now imagine that as the Sun moved through the following constellations of the
Zodiac, the revelation of Christ in the various realms of human and earthly existence took place.
The Christ Being came from the Sun and had been the Leader of the hierarchical Beings who dwelled
on that celestial body. There the Christ had also worked through the Sun as the Leader of the Spirits of
Wisdom—the “Lamb of God”—and it was the shining cosmic Wisdom of this hierarchy that finally ap-
peared as the visible Sun light. Thus the Christ Being was perceived by the seers since olden times.
Zarathustra, the great initiator of the Old Persian culture, beheld this Being beyond the visible Sun and
called It “Ahura Mazdao”, the Great Sun Aura. Those old initiates beheld the One through whose presence
the Sun person on Earth could perceive the light of the Sun. They experienced the spiritual manifestation
of this presence in twelve grand imaginations just as the visible Sun moved through the twelve constella-
tions of the Zodiac. Thus when they looked up to the Sun, they knew that behind the Sun-light the Great
Sun Spirit was working Who, in the garment of the visible Sun rays, sent gifts down to the Earth.
They also saw this Being descend step by step to the Earth and, when the time came, enter the sphere of
the Earth and imprint the twelvefold spiritual light of Its Being into the Earth. Since that time the Sun in the
sky only carried on as “work” what once before had been direct activity of the “Light of the World”. During
those two or three years, the spiritual Sun activity was imprinted into the Earth, and we will see how this
incarnation of the Spirit of the Sun took place in twelve emanations according to the path of the Sun
through the twelve constellations. As the Sun moved twice through the Zodiac in the time from Easter 31
AD until Easter 33 AD, the Spirit of the Sun breathed Life into the Earth.
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Thus there is a great difference between the activity of the Sun before the events in Palestine and
afterward. After the Death on Golgotha, the Earth was endowed with the twelve rays of the Sun Spirit in
order to prepare it for its task in a far distant future when it should become a new Sun in the universe.
Therefore, we could speak in the last letter of the importance of the “open space” of the nativity. Before
Golgotha this would not have been possible. At that time, it was still the Sun that was directly active. It is
also the reason why we can still experience the twelve fold emanation of the Sun Spirit, in the three years
before Golgotha, in the mirror of the movement of the visible Sun through the Zodiac. We must only be
aware of the fact that Christ was not bound to a “nativity”—to a fixed-star event—as the Spirit of the Sun
was present in every immediate station of its consecutive path.
If we look now into the Sun and try to read in it, as in a mirror, what happened in Palestine at the
beginning of our era, we should also recognize the fact that we experience through the Sun only one part or
aspect of the whole background of events, because the Zodiac reflects itself also in the five planets besides
the Sun and Moon. However, it is especially the Sun that is able to accumulate in its own activity that of the
other celestial bodies of our solar universe. In the events connected with the Sun we can always find the
echo, as it were, of the influence of the other planets. As we have pointed out in the 13th letter, the Sun is
connected with the activity of the Spirits of Form; it is the presence of the Sun in the universe that makes
events and objects on Earth “real”. As the light of the visible Sun makes the objects in nature existent in
space for our eyes—during the hours of darkness only “artificial” light makes them visible—thus the spiri-
tual activity of the Sun creates physical “reality” (see letter 13.). The Sun activity, though indirectly through
the polaric influence of the Earth in the universe, brings about “empiric realism”.
We have already spoken about the position of the Sun in Ram or “Lamb”. Furthermore, it is the revela-
tion of Christ as the Light that dwells in the heights where thought originates, not only that which we call
thought as it appears in us but also the Thought that lives in the Gods. We can now imagine or read, so to
speak, in the mirror which the Sun presents in Ram, that this time around Passover 31 AD was a period in
Christ’s revelation to enter into the mystery of cosmic and human thought and where the true nature of
thought was made manifest; Thought as the primeval creative power in the whole evolution. In the time of
Christ, humanity entered slowly but surely into a trend of evolution whereupon it finally lost the experience
of Thought or the Idea as a creative spiritual entity. We can see the turning point already in the change from
the Platonic to the Aristotelian thinking. Humanity would have lost its own future if, against this develop-
ment, the spiritual world had not set a counteraction. Christ is the Guardian against this decline, and we can
find in the Gospels certain passages that reveal a little of the deed of Christ as the Savior of the cognition of
the Thought or the Idea as a living, world-creative entity. Just as one who sits in a dark room that is now and
then penetrated by a ray of light from behind a curtain, we behold this revelation. First, it appears in the so-
called “testimony” of St. John in the introductory words of his Gospel where he says, “In the beginning was
the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by God, and without God was not anything made that was made.” This is the glory of
the Thought or the Idea of the Gods that created everything which had become flesh, so that to those “who
received Christ, were given the power to become the Sons of God.”
Further, we can find a glimpse of this revelation of Christ as the Logos, or Word, of the World in the
conversation at night with Nicodemus that is recorded in St. John, chapter III. Nicodemus was one of the
few who were initiated into the esoteric teaching of his people. He grasped this teaching with the capacity
of philosophical thinking, yet his thoughts had no power; the experience of their spiritual reality had van-
ished from him. He realized this loss in the loneliness of the night. Suddenly Christ stood before him, and
in his soul the reality awoke of the “Son of God” who can live in every human being as the “Son of
Humanity”. He realized the creative power of thinking if Christ, the Logos of the World, lives in it. Through
Christ, thought comes to life within the soul of humanity. Humanity developed thinking during the age in
which Christ lived, and through it had the possibility to unite with the Son of Humanity or fall into the
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danger of using this power only to reflect earthly realities. Thinking was in danger of dying in the soul of
humanity, but through the soul experience of Christ, the Logos of the World, it could and can become the
creative foundation of a new spiritual universe. Thus a person can be reborn within the realm of a higher
world and take part in the life of eternity. Nicodemus realized that the Logos, who created the world in the
beginning, could become awakened in every human heart as the power of ever-creating divine thought.
Next the Sun entered the constellation of Bull. While the Sun was in this position, the descent of the
Sun-Spirit from the revelation as the Logos of the universe to the manifestation as the healing Logos or
Word took place. In the beginning the Logos/Word created all existing beings. The healing Word continues
to keep them in existence and heals all that comes to grief in the later stages of evolution. At the moment
when the Sun was in the constellation of Bull, the Sun-Spirit entered the earthly realm and imprinted Its
power upon our planet. We can find the shadows of this mighty revelation in the records of the Gospels.
For instance, in the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 1:32-35, we read that multitudes of sick people were
brought to Christ who healed them all. Moreover, we are told that they were brought in the evening when
the Sun set. We have the clear indication in this that cosmic constellations, including the relationship
between Sun and Earth, worked through Christ and were present in Christ while performing the healing
acts. Christ gathered the cosmic forces of the Sun in the morning. It says in verse 35 of the same chapter:
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, Christ went out, and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed.” In the evening, Christ spent that which had been gathered from the spiritual Sun in the
morning as healing forces. The harmonized employment of morning and evening forces of the whole
universe is the source of this healing faculty. They were imprinted upon the Earth in those events and have
been present ever since, if we are willing to open our hearts to them.
Furthermore, the Gospel of St. Matthew IV:23, indicates quite clearly that the revelation of the Word
and the healing deed was one action: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people.” It was really the spiritual power of Bull, concentrated in the Sun that was then imprinted upon
the Earth and since then is ever-present in it.
After that the Sun entered the constellation of the Twins. We can experience in this cosmic event the
reflection of deeds through which Christ was revealed as the Guardian of the mysteries of the “I” that have
worked in evolution since the beginning of the world and which were then ripe to be imprinted upon earthly
existence. The counsel of the Gods decided in the beginning of the world that what had hitherto been one
united whole, was to be divided into many single beings. Thus the multitude of single beings then became
the vehicles of personality within the evolution of humanity. In the course of time, the danger arose that the
single earthly personality might lose itself in loneliness and separation from its origin and from other
beings. This danger was especially acute in the time of Christ. When the Sun was in Twins, Christ en-
dowed the Earth in such a way that human beings could again bring their existence into harmony with their
fellow human beings and with their spiritual origin. Also established on Earth during this time was the
mystery of the re-union of the human race, which was scattered and differentiated throughout the various
races, peoples, and numberless individuals, in Christ as the spiritual representative of humanity.
Again we can find the reflection of these events in the Gospels; for instance, in the selection and the
ordaining of the twelve apostles. With this act Christ manifested on Earth and visible to all humanity, the
new order in which humanity can again experience the oneness and wholeness of the human race and even
of all created beings. The order of the apostles was formed according to the fundamental laws of the
universe. Just as the twelve constellations of the Zodiac are the fundamental images of the differentiations
of all existence and yet are one, and just as the Sun passes through the twelve signs in the course of time, so
the twelve apostles stood around the One in their center and were one body as Christ dwelled in them.
That the single human being can unite with its fellow human beings and its spiritual origin when it
orders its life according to the great laws and images of the spiritual universe is a fact that was always
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known in the old mysteries and in the sanctuaries of the temples. But it was known only to a very small
select part of humanity, those who were initiated in the old mystery places. Now, it was the deed of Christ,
the revelation as the spiritual Leader of the hierarchy of the Exusiai, that these mysteries of the “I” were
manifested within the visible so that all humanity could perceive them. From now on it was possible for all
humanity, and not only for a few selected ones, to form the life of the human community so that harmony
and peace could dwell within it. That which was given through the ordaining of the twelve apostles en-
shrines everything that humanity needs for the solution of the complexities of the social and economic life
of the human race, and it would be of great benefit for all human community life if each of us could bring
to life within our own soul these events during the time of Christ.
Thus the new and true essentials of human brotherhood were imprinted upon the Earth, and since that
time they are alive in humanity. In pre-Christian times humanity lived according to the laws of blood
relationships, according to races, peoples, and families. When Christ united with Earth existence as the
Guardian of the mysteries of the “I”, this came to an end. Christ even strongly rejected the old bonds that
guarded the social life of humanity. We read in St. Mark III: 13-35, that with the ordaining of the Twelve,
Christ then stood up against the narrow outlook of these friends and against the blasphemies and abuses of
the scribes who wanted to keep the knowledge of the cosmic order of human brotherhood from the multi-
tude. But finally we read that Christ even rejected the mother Mary and the brethren who had come there.
Christ pointed to those who were sitting around and said: “Whosoever shall do the Will of God, the same is
my brother, and my sister, and mother.” Christ declined to have any connection with the old order of the
human race, and since that day when the Sun was in Twins, this deed is inscribed into the Earth and works
in human beings, so that they will reject the bonds of race, people, and even family in order to realize the
cosmic brotherhood of humanity. If modern people would recognize this, they could understand and even
avoid in future the social catastrophes that have come over humanity in our Age.
After these events the Sun entered the constellation of Crab. Shortly before this the Sun had been in
conjunction with Saturn. We can imagine that this must have been full of decisive events with regard to the
revelation of Christ, for Saturn suggests that deeds of the utmost importance for the destiny of the world
were accomplished. For instance, in the Egyptian Age, people did not perceive the image of a crab when
they looked up to the constellation to which we give this name today, but they saw there the image of the
scarabaeus. This was also the sign of the resurrected Sun, and the dead were furnished with little images of
the scarab in order to give them the power to ascend as a “new born Sun” to the spiritual world. Another
image of Crab is also the symbol that we use today for this constellation, two spirals, one coming from
outside toward a center and the other starting from the center and extending toward the periphery: ?. We
could call the two tendencies, which are expressed in this symbol, involution, and evolution. The whole
past creation of the universe that we have spoken of so much in these letters is represented by the incoming
spiral, whereas the outgoing spiral represents that which transforms the past and moves toward the future of
our universe. In between these two principles is a deep abyss.
When the Sun in the sky had entered Crab, Christ on Earth was revealed as the great cosmic master of
the spiritual forces that express themselves in this constellation. Christ then really built the bridge over
which humanity can cross the abyss from involution to evolution. It was even established as a physical
reality in the body of human beings.
If we look at humanity then, we can find that the purest expression, of what we have here called involu-
tion, is to be found in the head. The human head, even in its outer forms, is a complete image of the sphere
of the surrounding universe. But as the process of creation, or involution, in the universe has come to an
end, so also the human head cannot evolve further. It can only realize and manifest the fall into the abyss,
meaning, death. When Christ appeared, humanity was in the position of standing at the verge of this abyss
and not being able to build the bridge into the future. Christ built the bridge by going through Death and
Resurrection. These events are very strongly connected with Crab. We shall have to speak about this later.
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The image of the creation of the universe is gathered together in the human head. This head would have
to die just as a seed might die that could not germinate and develop into a healthy plant. The human head
is like a seed in which the past is accumulated. There must become manifest the forces of a spiritual Sun in
order to awake the innate forces in this seed and to lift it out of its prison. As the plant grows upward from
the seed toward the light of the Sun, human beings must grow from their head into their body, into the
realms of their feeling life and willing life. They must grow toward the spiritual Sun that since the Death on
Golgotha is the globe of the Earth on which they tread. In the time of Christ, and especially within the
Hebrew people, the formation of the head as the intellectual accumulation of the universal past had reached
its highest perfection. However, this head had lost the power more and more to grow down into the limbs
in order to manifest the human being in the sphere of will. Without a new impulse, the human race would
have moved toward a condition in which the body would have shrunk, and where the human being would
have lost more and more the ability to unfold its whole being. The human head would have become an
organ of permanent decay, spreading death around itself. But Christ, who brought the impulse of Love and
united with the Earth, transformed it into the germ of a new Sun and saved humanity from the death in the
head. This Christ did by incorporating the universal forces of the Crab into the Earth and thus built the
bridge from involution to evolution.
We find these mysteries in the most beautiful way revealed through the parables in the fourth chapter of
the Gospel of St. Mark. There we can find the images of plant life, the seed that contains the Word of
Creation called forth by the Sun but endangered by the evil forces. When it has grown into a fully devel-
oped plant and the ears are full of corn, the reaper comes and cuts the plant with his sickle. These are
gigantic imaginations of the task of the human beings in future evolution. Out of the seeds of the head, in
which is imprisoned the Word of Creation, must grow the plants of one’s deeds, of an individual’s service
toward the Earth. When the reaper comes with his sickle, which is the moment of death, the fruits of this
service are taken away, because they are the food of the whole universe that would perish without the
results of human Earth experience ripened in the realm of willing.
The parables are only the external manifestation of deeds that were performed by Christ in this stage of
revelation. This is clearly expressed in the fourth chapter of St. Luke. Through these Deeds, Christ saved
humanity and the Earth from death by taking up the seat in the human head. This is the Christian revelation
of the hidden forces of Crab through the emanation of the Sun.
After the spiritual power of the Sun, combined with the essence of Crab, had been inscribed into the
Earth by Christ, events turned more toward an inner evolution. It seems as though the Christ Impulse now
really descended into the depths of the human will organism—into that realm which develops toward the
globe of the Earth from the human head and contrary to the growth of the plant from its root toward the Sun.
Sometimes it is even difficult to find any confirmation in the Gospels of the events that can be read in the
stars as the picture of very important esoteric occurrences.
As Christ now prepared the will of humanity to become the vehicle of evolution toward the future of the
universe, there was at once a confrontation with the adverse powers dwelling in the depths of the human
will organization.
Meanwhile the Sun had entered the constellation of Lion. In olden times, Lion was experienced as a
constellation representing kingly dignity. The blood in the human body goes to the periphery and comes
back to the heart, thus being the vehicle of the life of the personality. Similar to this, one could also
experience the essence of Lion in the universe. As Lion represented the gateway to the forces of the “I”, it
was also an image of those destructive forces that grew up in the universe in the course of the development
of the ego. This was the ferocious Lion.
After Christ had established, in the parables (St. Mark IV) and in the esoteric teaching, the bridge
leading across the abyss that separated involution and evolution, those roaring Lion forces, slumbering in
the depths of the human will and in the blood, answered back from the abyss and the ravines of the world.
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These forces could be overcome for all those who became united with Christ through the might of the “I of
the World” within Christ. We find this described in the beautiful imagination given at the end of chapter IV
of St. Mark. After the esoteric teaching about the implantation of the Sun-Crab forces into the Earth, Christ
and the apostles really crossed the abyss. It is described as the crossing of the Sea of Galilee. Christ was
asleep in the boat and the twelve apostles did not realize that they could cross the abyss only with the help
of the “I AM”. Then the adverse powers of the abyss arose and the storm and the waves were beating the
little boat so that the apostles felt in great danger. Then they awoke the power of Christ within their souls
and with this help the storm and the waves were calmed. After the crossing of the abyss of the Sea, they
were at once confronted with the Lion forces in the depths of the human will.
Humanity in those days had accumulated the wisdom of the past creation as intelligence in the head, but
it had not yet conquered the will that is the seed of the future. Therefore, this realm was inhabited by
ferocious and destructive demons. They are described by the picture of the man with an “unclean spirit”
whom they met in the land of the Gadarenes (St. Mark V). Even the “unclean spirit” in this man recognized
Christ as the Son of God, which indicates that the forces of this Lion realm are destructive only because
they are not mastered by the “I AM of the World” and put into their proper place of cosmic activity. They
themselves felt imprisoned in that man and finally wanted to be freed. The fact that this Legion of unclean
spirits found an abode in the herd of swine, which was drowned in the abyss of the sea, shows that these
forces in the depths of our heart and blood must finally serve the purposes of future cosmic evolution. This
is why they appear to be allowed by Christ to commit this last act of destruction, which veils in mystery
language a deep cosmic secret.
Now that the destructive Lion forces in the depths of the heart were mastered, Christ could imprint the
true Sun-Lion impulses of the universe into the Earth. Until now, following the events described in the
Gospels, we might have perceived the constellation of Lion as the head of a lion turned toward us and
looking straight into our eyes. After Christ had returned with the apostles from the land of the Gadarenes,
the image of the lion’s head would appear to be changed into the image of a portal. It was still closed,
because human beings ought not to enter these depths unaware. They should enter them only with greatest
caution and with the help of the “I AM”, or else they might be destroyed by the demons.
This portal had become the threshold to the spiritual world. It is the threshold leading through the
human will toward the Earth and its substances, in which Christ had united through the mystery of Golgotha.
Since that time, no human being can enter the spiritual world but through this portal of the Earth that had
become the cosmic dwelling place of Christ.
We can see this portal thrown wide open for one moment in those days when the Sun was in Lion.
Through the Gate we can see Christ working and healing in the spiritual background of the Earth. At this
moment, we can see Christ’s manifestation in that which is humanity’s expression of its relationship with
the Earth, in the mysteries of the blood. Therefore, we can read in the Gospel of St. Mark V: 21 onward, the
story of the daughter of Jairus and of the suffering woman. We are allowed to look for one moment into the
depths of the blood mysteries that are brought into balance by Christ after purifying this Lion realm of
humanity from the unclean spirits. Furthermore, we can see that the light that shines through the darkness
of this realm is of cosmic origin. The daughter of Jairus was twelve years old and the woman had been ill
for twelve years. This reveals that those mysteries of the blood bear the imprint of the great universe,
whose signature is the number 12. And it reveals that the act of the healing of Jairus’ daughter was accom-
plished in the presence of seven: three of the apostles (St. Luke VIII: 5), the father and mother of the child,
the child, and Christ. This was also a reference to the foundations of the great universe. Here we can look
into a world that bears the imprint of the great universe though it, which leads to the fact that in those depths
of human nature, a new universe announces itself which is the fruit of the old cosmos and is destined to
replace and to redeem the dying cosmos in a far future.
The movement of the Sun through Lion was accompanied by deeds of Christ similar to those we de-
scribed above: the healing deed in the land of the Gadarenes and also the healing of the suffering woman
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and of the daughter of Jairus. Then the Sun entered the constellation of Virgin. This was toward the end of
August 31 AD.
The events in connection with the position of the Sun in Lion we described as “threshold” experiences.
Christ revealed by parables and by healing deeds, as formerly the Spirit of the Sun, that now it was to unite
with the Earth for the purpose of transmuting the Earth into the new Sun of a new universe. As hitherto, the
spiritual forces of the Sun had been shining upon human heads and forming human bodies, these spiritual
forces were in future to shine from the Earth into cosmic space and into human willing. When the Sun was
in Lion this gateway into the depths of the spiritual future of the Earth planet was opened. The human will,
slumbering deeply in the limbs, is the gateway to the secrets of the Earth.
Now, after the Sun had entered Virgin, even more was revealed of this Earth secret. The dangers of the
threshold that arise from the human blood were healed by Christ while impregnating the Earth with the
cosmic Lion forces. Now we are allowed to pass the threshold and to witness the events preparing a new
universe.
We enter, as it were, a huge hall of universal measures but in the realm of the soul world. It appears like
a laboratory in which exalted Beings transmute the substances of this universe. By complicated and sub-
lime acts and rituals that appear like deeds of analysis and synthesis, they bring about new positions and
aspects in the destiny of the world and especially in the destiny of each human being who has ever gone
through the Earth experience. It can also appear like a kind of parliament where hosts of spiritual Beings
confer about the future of the universe and effect, through wise decisions, complete changes of the outer
universe through the mysteries of human destinies. The execution of these decisions may sometimes even
appear very tragic and disastrous for human understanding; moreover, the decisions and the corresponding
actions of this spiritual assembly may often seem to lead finally to the total dissolution and disappearance
of parts of the existing physical universe. Yet, it is all in righteous connection and in consequence of the
mighty universal transformation that will take place toward the future, as Christ has united with the Earth in
order to make it the new Sun of a new universe. This realm of the Soul Cosmos might even be compared
with the digestion of food by human beings, which results in total dissolution and destruction of the physi-
cal substances. By this process, the inherent ethereal qualities of the substances are freed.
Thus we can imagine how Christ was revealed to the disciples as the One who hitherto had been the
Guide of those Sun-Virgin forces, and that Christ was now going to constitute this mastership over the
forces of Karma within the realm of the Earth. Moreover, Christ may have initiated those who were the
disciples at this moment into the new alchemy of human and world destiny that, for the sake of the future,
had to establish etherization of physical existence, even by means that appear from a human point of view
as catastrophic. But Christ may also have initiated them into the secrets of the necessity of humanity’s
taking part in these tasks of cosmic alchemy. As the Sun radiates in a twelvefold manner from the twelve
constellations of the Zodiac into cosmic space, the new Sun, which was to come into existence within the
Earth, began to radiate a twelvefoldness into the soul world. This is indicated in chapter VI of St. Mark,
from verse seven onward. The twelve apostles were sent forth and…”they went out, and preached that men
should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.”
Thus the archetypal Christian community of the Twelve had become the rays of the new-born Sun in the
Earth.
One such act of cosmic transubstantiation of the great tableau of Earth destiny is revealed in the Gos-
pels. In all the Gospels, except the Gospel of St. John, we find the story of the beheading of St. John the
Baptist immediately after the passage about the sending out of the apostles by Christ. It is related in a
peculiar way. King Herod, who was actively involved in the beheading of St. John, heard of the deeds of
Christ’s apostles and said, “It is John, whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead.” He realized that
through the evil deed of beheading the Baptist, he had ultimately worked for the purposes of the spiritual
powers of destiny. The spirit of St. John worked and revealed itself through the twelve apostles. He was
the guiding spirit of their community and made their deeds appear like the healing rays from a central Sun
139
Isis Sophia I
in their midst, although they were dispersed in all directions. From the earthly point of view, the deed of
Herod and his associates had been a dark and evil act that was meant to become a paralyzing blow to the
progressive spiritual forces in the world. But in the Lodge of those Virgin Beings, whom Christ incorpo-
rated into the realm of the Earth, it had been transmuted into spiritually healing and feeding forces.
The Christian Calendar dedicates 29 August to the memory of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. If
this date is historical, then the beheading must have taken place in 31 AD. The Sun had just entered the
constellation of Virgin, which we have mentioned. From the whole aspect of the starry sky at this moment,
we gather that the beheading really took place during this time, although some historians regard it as doubt-
ful.
After this event, which illustrates what we said about the Sun in Virgin in connection with the Christ
events, we hear of the sending out of the 12 apostles. Soon after they had come back, the Feeding of the
Five Thousand took place, and this must have occurred shortly before Passover 32 AD, according to St.
John VI. We do not hear very much about the time between September 31 AD and March 32 AD when the
Sun passed through the constellations of Virgin, Scales, Scorpion, Archer, Goat, Waterman, and Fishes.
The question arises whether the records of the Gospels about the year 32-33 AD, when the Sun again passed
through these constellations, can reveal anything about the imprint of these Sun qualities into the Earth by
Christ. Again we find that only a few events can really be timed according to the indications of the Gospels.
They are: the events at Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles in October 32 AD (St. John VII and VIII),
the Feast of Dedication (St. John X), and the Raising of Lazarus (St. John XI), which took place a few
weeks before Passover 33 AD.
Why is it that we have so little indication in the Gospels about the times when the Sun passed through
these constellations that form the lower part of the Zodiac and which also belong to that part of the year
when the Sun reaches its lowest position? A deep riddle is connected with this fact, and we can understand
it, to a certain extent, if we consider the opposition between the “bright” constellations of the Zodiac (Ram,
Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, and Scales) and the “dark” part (Scorpion, Archer, Goat, Waterman, and
Fishes).
The dark part is a picture of humanity with regard to the higher members of its being. Unfortunately, we
do not have enough room here to develop the details from a recapitulation of the origin of these higher
members in the process of the world evolution as we have described it in previous letters. We can find that
Fishes is an image of the physical body of humanity, Waterman corresponds to the life body, and Goat to the
soul body, whereas Archer is the perfect image of the ego. Then, in the constellations of Scorpion, Scales,
and Virgin, we find the images of the highest members of humanity: the Spirit Self, the Life Spirit, and
Spirit-Man. We perceive in these constellations humanity’s total being, which grows from Fishes through
the dark part of the Zodiac toward the bright part beginning already in Scales.
This opens the gateway toward a most illuminating imagination. We perceive in the lower part of the
Zodiac the picture of humanity like a crescent-shaped vessel. (See figure 1 below.) Into this vessel enters
the Sun of Christ who manifests cosmically through the constellations from Ram to Scales as a sevenfold
Being. We have already described in previous letters how Christ manifests as the Lamb of God, or the
cosmic Guide of the Spirits of Wisdom when the Sun was in Ram. This was the manifestation of the
highest member of Christ, and as we followed the Sun through the other constellations, we perceived in it
the manifestation of Christ through the other higher members of this exalted Being. Christ then entered the
human being through his highest members, through Spirit Man and Life Spirit, which are represented by
the two “overlapping” constellations of Virgin and Scales.
If the upward reaching Zodiac of humanity unites with the descending Zodiac of Christ, then we per-
ceive the sign of the circle, the sign of the new ascending spiritual Sun. It is also the sign of the Holy Grail,
the Host in the vessel of the Moon.
Now we can comprehend certain facts in the life of Christ during those times when the Sun moved
through the dark part of the Zodiac. The sending out of the apostles, which occurred when the Sun was in
140
the constellations from Virgin to Fishes (31-32 AD), is really the picture of the preparation of humanity
(represented by the Twelve) for the reception of Christ into the whole being of humanity. We can under-
stand that this great preparation was achieved with the help of the spirit of St. John the Baptist, the “fore-
runner” of Christ. We can then also understand that Christ manifested as the new Judge in the higher being
of humanity itself during the Feast of Tabernacles (St. John VIII). The Sun was then in Scales, and from the
description we gather that Christ did not really act as a judge but instituted judgment onto the higher being
of humanity (St. John VIII: 9-10). It is a grand imagination about which we could say much more if we had
the necessary space.
Furthermore, at the Feast of Dedication when the Sun had entered Goat, we hear Christ calling forth the
divine nature in humanity’s ego and soul body, which are represented by Archer and Goat (St. John X: 33-
38). We might say that Christ then entered these realms of humanity’s higher being.
Finally, we see the Raising of Lazarus taking place (St. John XI) when the Sun had entered the constel-
lation of Fishes. Unfortunately, we must limit our comments on this event to the mere fact that Christ at
this moment entered the physical body of humanity as Lazarus stepped out of the grave. This is the spiritual
power of the Sun in Fishes.
These articles about the star events in the time of Christ have to be brought to a close, as the letters will
not be continued. Only a fraction of the grand picture of Christ’s life as it reveals itself in the mirror of the
stars could here be elaborated. The script of the other planets, besides the Sun, is still untouched. However,
it is to be hoped that the future will provide an opportunity of bringing these secrets of the starry world in a
more adequate and comprehensive form to the knowledge of those who wish to have it.
Figure 1 Figure 2
141
ISIS SOPHIA II
OUTLINE OF A NEW
STAR WISDOM
By
WILLI SUCHER
These letters were originally published in

manuscript form in 1951, then as a book in 1995.
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.
This material is not to be sold; however, it may be copied by anyone for personal use.

By the Astrosophy Research Center
ISIS SOPHIA II – OUTLINE OF A NEW STAR WISDOM
By Willi Sucher
ISBN 1-888686-00-6
© Astrosophy Research Center, Inc. 2012
P.O. Box 13, Meadow
Vista, CA 95722-9458
Phone: 530-878-2673 ~ arci@ bigvalley.net ~ astrosophycenter.com
Editors: Jonathan Hilton, Shirley Latessa, Rebecca Shacht, Darlys Turner
CONTENTS
3 Preface
4 Introduction to the 1951 Edition
5 Introduction to the 1981 Edition
PART ONE
7 Ancient Greek Mythology of the Constellations

in the Northern Hemisphere
PART TWO
The Zodiac and Evolution

29 The Threefold Human Being
35 The Zodiac as Revelation of the Stages of Cosmic Evolution
35 The Evolution of Ancient Saturn
52 The Evolution of Ancient Sun
60 The Evolution of Ancient Moon
68 The Evolution of the Earth
76 Reference Diagram of Stages of Evolution
PART THREE
77 On the Origin of the Solar System

80 Saturn
82 Jupiter
85 Mars
88 The Sun
88 The Sun of Creation
91 The Sun of Prophecy and Salvation
95 The Sun of the Earth and the Future
96 The Inferior Planets
97 Mercury
99 Venus
101 The Moon
103 Biography
The diagrams in this book are the original work of Willi Sucher
2
PREFACE
Isis Sophia is the primary source for an understanding of the new astrosophy. In it Willi Sucher not
only draws on the Greek myths as a basis for understanding the planets and the Zodiac, but also takes
the reader into the very origins and evolution of our universe. The spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner
into cosmic and human evolution, as presented in his book, An Outline of Esoteric Science, is correlated
to the formation and evolution of the planetary spheres and constellations of the Zodiac.
This edition of Isis Sophia marks the third book by Willi Sucher to be edited and republished. The
other two books, Cosmic Christianity and The Changing Countenance of Cosmology were republished
in one volume in 1993. Several other works currently in manuscript form will be re-published over the
next years with the hope that in the near future all of Willi Sucher’s written work will be available to
those seeking a new and modern spiritually based star wisdom.
Though Willi Sucher spoke and wrote almost entirely in English for the last 45 years of his life, he
retained the syntax and grammatical forms of his native German. Where this did not interfere with
comprehension of the ideas we made no changes in order to retain his personal style as much as
possible. We have revised the text, however, to reflect the current sensitivity to gender appropriate
usage.
Our thanks go to all the individuals who have helped to make this publication possible, particularly
Darlys Turner, who runs the Astrosophy Research Center, where Willi’s work is available for research,
and who continues the ongoing publication of his other books in manuscript form; and to Hazel Straker,
who lived and worked with Willi Sucher for many years and was part of the original group who
prepared Isis Sophia for publication in 1951. She continues to travel around the world lecturing and
offering workshops in this developing new star wisdom.
Finally, as editors of this work, we recognize that the ideas developed by Willi Sucher are a
profound leap forward in the current approach to an understanding of the starry worlds. We are
confident that in the coming years, greater numbers of individuals will recognize the significant
contribution of Willi Sucher, not only in Isis Sophia but in the entire body of his research. For this
reason we wish to ensure the availability of his work.
The Editors
1996
3
INTRODUCTION ~ 1951 Edition
For more than 24 years the author of this book has endeavored to find a new approach to the age-old
riddle of the connection of the heavenly world of the stars with earthly events. After occupying himself
for many years with the whole complex of astrology, he is convinced that it fails to provide a
satisfactory explanation of the relationship between the stars and the human being. Astrology, as it
stands today, merely states the fact that such a relationship exists, and only finds it by purely empirical
practice. Because of this modern viewpoint, it must be admitted that astrological practice of any kind is
put under the suspicion of superstition, and is similar to the using of a tool without knowing its
properties and reliability. This is one of the reasons why the modern scientific mind rejects astrology.
The supposition of a connection between the stars and human destiny does not fit into the modern
picture of the universe. According to modern astronomy the cosmos of the stars is like a gigantic
machine. It is, of course, obvious that a machine, no matter how perfect it may be, cannot “make”
destiny.
Unless we find a new and spiritual conception of the universe, there is no hope of reconciling the
views of astrology with the modern scientific mind. It becomes more and more evident that a purely
mechanical and mathematical picture of the cosmos does not suffice. The concept of the cosmos as a
machine has been developed on the basis of earthly technology. Such considerations must sooner or later
suggest the shortcomings of this conception of the universe, for we know perfectly well that a machine
does not create itself, nor does it operate on its own accord. The minds of the inventor and of the
operator are indispensable, although they cannot be seen with eyes. Even the most ingenious explana-
tions of the nature of the universe as a machine cannot hide the fact that behind it must stand an invisible
cosmic mastermind, who has set the machine in motion.
To find this invisible cosmic mastermind, or in other words, to gain a knowledge of a divine cosmic
world seems to be utterly impossible to modern natural scientific discipline. Yet, the author, having been
a scholar of Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual science for 30 years, has convinced himself of the existence of a
cosmic spiritual world that is no longer closed to the cognition of the human being. The practice of what
has been described by Rudolf Steiner as the modern path to higher knowledge can open the gate of
knowledge to this world of cosmic existence and intelligence. This book is a humble attempt to describe
experiences and discoveries in relationship to a new spiritual star wisdom.
Willi O. Sucher 1951
4
INTRODUCTION ~ 1981 Edition
It becomes increasingly apparent that the traditional approaches and methods of astrology no longer
give modern humanity what it needs. Some people maintain that traditional astrology is simple and easy
to grasp and should therefore appeal to present humanity. 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
speaks are complicated. Furthermore, human consciousness and the position of the human being in the
world have changed completely since the establishment of the old astrology. These facts demand a
reassessment and a fundamental change in every detail; otherwise, the modern human being is judged
and treated by standards that no longer apply.
A modern human being can easily come to the conclusion that in ancient times the connection
between humanity and the stars was simple, even primitive. However, we must not overlook the fact that
ancient humanity had a natural instinctive clairvoyance, which provided a much deeper insight and
perspective of the cosmos than we now have with our modern intellect and scientific approach. The
Earth and all its inhabitants, including the human race, once experienced themselves as 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 had
created the universe and all that exists in it. They were experienced as continually at work, continually
re-enacting the creation. This activity was seen expressed in the rhythms and movements of the stars.
Later on, humanity gradually lost the capacity of seeing the stars as the expression of the deeds of divine
creative beings. Increasingly they saw humanity and all nature as ruled by the external stars. This was
the moment when astrology was born and the ancient astrosophy was lost. In a certain sense this can be
seen as a betrayal of the sacred mysteries, which were cultivated in the great ancient temple centers.
Thus a conception gained ground over the centuries and millennia that came to regard the human
being as ruled in all concerns of life by the stars. There existed relatively little inquiry into the reasons
and explanations why this should be so. Most of the doubts, arising through the modern scientific
attitude, were countered with the astrological assertions that the prognostications proved themselves
correct by near-statistical evidence. The possibility that the human being may be able to change, to break
through the laws of star lore hardly occurred. The claims 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. Human beings demanded
to know. They could no longer accept the ancient beliefs. This was one expression of the fact that
humanity had stepped onto the road toward spiritual freedom; free from all bonds which in previous
times were accepted without question. This was a justified step in evolution, although the means to
attain healthy emancipation were not always satisfactory.
In the course of these developments 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, such as Kepler, were preoccupied with astrology too, but it is just this kind of attachment
that modern science holds against them. Even earlier, astrology was regarded by some as something
detrimental, godless, and sinister, which had to be avoided by all means. It is documented that in 1108
AD the Archbishop of York was refused a Christian burial because a book on astrology was found under
the pillow of his death bed.
In our search for a new star wisdom, or astrosophy, we must find the true relationship between the
world of the stars and the human being, even all the beings and objects in nature, with strictly scientific
methods. This can be accomplished by a healthy and congenial combination of the science of nature and
the science of the spirit. On the basis of spiritual science, the significance of the heavenly configurations
at the moment of the passing over of a human being into the spiritual world has been demonstrated. The
stars, particularly the planets at the moment of death, reflect in detail the past biography of a human
being. It is the soul and spirit of the human being that has become significant for the stars. In a sense, the
stars are waiting for that which human beings have to bring to them as the fruits of their Earth
experiences.
5
On such foundations is this research work carried forward. The guiding impulse is the idea to create
the foundations for an astrosophy that clearly and scientifically recognizes our connection with the stars,
yet fully respects our freedom and dignity. Thus, things have gradually shaped themselves. To speak of
a connection of the human being with the stars in a general sense is no longer enough. Experience has
shown that the human organism is shaped by the cosmos before and at the time of incarnation; but it has
also become evident that one must distinguish between the different principals of the organism in order
to form a true picture. The physical body, the life organism, and the consciousness organization all have
their particular connection with the world of the stars. They must be distinguished sharply. These
associations need not bind human beings or restrict their freedom as they did in ancient times. They
constitute the tools and vehicles that human beings must acquire to accomplish their earthly sojourn. The
crucial and decisive question is always how we will use these tools. Humanity can and must become
free. A skillful craftsman must not be ruled by his tools if he wants to create a masterpiece. Skills are not
given to us from the outset; we must acquire them. The eventual ability “to use our stars” properly must
be prepared already in childhood during the educational years, not by making the child study the stars in
the strict sense, but by evolving the dormant creative capacities of the child. Later in life in the years of
independence, this working with the stars can become a scientific capacity. With such perspectives, we
can see the fulfillment of a new astrosophy.
Willi O. Sucher 1981
6
PART ONE
Ancient Greek Mythology of the Constellations in the Northern Hemisphere

In this present age, we are confronted with many ancient and often strange remnants of bygone
civilizations. Not the least among them is the so-called astrology, which has its roots in very old tradi-
tion. This astrology claims to be able to make predictions with regard to the constitution and the destiny
of human beings. Such predictions are based, generally speaking, on the positions of the planets of our
solar universe at the time of birth. The relationship of the planets, the Sun, and the Moon among
themselves and their positions in the ecliptic, as well as in relation to terrestrial space, are considered as
a kind of symbolic language, which, if it can be read properly, is supposed to reveal the future as
determined by the influences of the celestial bodies. Unfortunately, this conventional astrology cannot
give a satisfactory scientific explanation for the supposed cosmic influences on earthly occurrences.
There exist among modern astrologers many theories concerning these problems. But in all of these
theories, one can detect a deep cleavage between the modern scientific views on the cosmos of the stars
and the representations of astrology. Modern science has created a spatial picture of the starry universe,
in whose gigantic dimensions our planet Earth disappears completely; it has nothing to say about the
human being on this planet. Besides these seemingly irreconcilable views of modern astronomy and
conventional astrology, there arise other difficulties. For instance, conventional astrology cannot explain
why it attributes a certain, definite influence to the Sun when it occupies one of the 12 partitions or signs
of the ecliptic. It cannot give a reason why the influence is then just as it is described by the traditional
rules and not otherwise. The specific rule is taken for granted, and it remains to be seen whether the
prognosticated effect occurs in the future. As a matter of experience, this is not always the case. The
lives of modern people increasingly reveal that the traditional rules of astrology move more and more
away from reality. One is inclined to think that modern humanity has to a high degree emancipated itself
from the pretexts of an astrology that is rooted in ancient world conceptions.
Summing up all the available facts and symptoms, it becomes evident that conventional astrology,
which would like to pose as a science, cannot really be regarded as a science in a modern sense. It
cannot answer the great questions in the mind of people today. These questions culminate in the
yearning for a satisfactory knowledge about the creation, the being, and the future of the universe and
humanity. Astrology cannot answer these questions. In fact, conventional astrology is very often like a
blind guide who cannot really answer the burning problems of knowledge about life, and whose
guidance rather tends to deprive us of the capacity to mold our existence from our own inner resources.
To this, one can object that modern science, also, cannot provide the answers to the great problems and
obvious tasks of modern humanity. The nature of modern science, especially natural science, must be
regarded as irrefutable evidence of the spiritual battle which is going on in modern humanity. Unless
astrology can find a way to respond to this wrestling of the modern mind, it will become more and more
obsolete and ultimately be discarded.
Conventional astrology is the daughter of a mother who herself comes from the remotest past. The
excavations in Asia Minor, in Mesopotamia and Egypt, during the 19th and 20th centuries, have shown
that those ancient peoples had a magnificent cosmology thousands of years before Christ. They were
obviously able to give answers to those questions to which the modern mind, including the modern
astrologer, cannot provide satisfactory solutions. Of course, we ought not to forget that human beings in
those times had totally different capacities and dwelt altogether on another level of consciousness.
Nowadays, one may be inclined to pity the so-called primitive “beliefs” of those peoples; but one thing
is certain, those ages had the gift of perceiving in the movements and gestures of the celestial bodies the
expressions of a Divine world. The archaeological and ethnological evidence brought to light by
research has proven that the movements and relationships of the cosmic entities were regarded as
manifestations of the intentions and actions of the Gods. Obviously, whole communities and nations
were guided by such manifestations of a Divine world, indicated in the movements of the stars. There is
no doubt that we can no longer employ such methods. We have lost the ancient capacities of cognition.
Any revival of such practices in a modern age would also be wrong. But it would be unjust if we were to
7
allow ourselves to condemn that ancient star wisdom as superstition, only pardonable because of the
supposed ignorance of the ancient peoples. We can by no means really judge the peculiarities and
capacities of consciousness of our forefathers only from the standpoint of modern intellectuality. We
have no proof that the horizon of the modern mind, with its present limitations of cognition, is a standard
condition valid for all ages of the development of the human race, past as well as future. The latest
history of modern humanity sometimes creates the impression that the modern mind, with its
magnificent achievements in certain fields, has utterly failed to procure an efficient equivalent of the
ancient star wisdom for the ordering of the social life of humanity. Such an equivalent, or source of
knowledge, may already exist unrecognized among humanity; meanwhile, it may be wiser not to ridicule
the so-called primitive and dark ages of history, as long as we have not as yet found efficient means to
put our own house in order.
The ancient star wisdom was especially at the disposal of the political leaders of the nations, who
were usually at the same time the high priests. Thus they were enabled to guide their peoples in the right
ordering of society. For instance, we know with certainty that the pharaohs of the first Egyptian
dynasties had been initiated into the wisdom of the stars so that they could fulfill these functions. They
were expected to perceive the manifestations of the Gods and to execute their will to the benefit of their
people. This was the beginning of that development in evolution which led to the conviction that
celestial events were related to the existence of the individual, not only to nations as a whole.
In the meantime, the ancient and magnificent vision of the Divine world, through the medium of the
starry universe, had gradually faded. It became increasingly impossible for humanity to recognize in the
movements and gestures of the heavenly bodies the revelations and directions of the deity. Yet humanity
still looked up to the stars, knowing by tradition that their movements had a certain connection with
events on the Earth. However, the stars and the planets were increasingly experienced only as abstract
entities in the universe. The vision of the Gods existing and acting “behind” the stars had been lost. Thus
astrology came slowly into existence in the form in which it was introduced to European civilization.
The positions of the stars, their gestures and movements, were regarded as the makers of human destiny.
Less and less was civilized humanity able to recognize the manifestation of the divinity itself through
the presence of the stars. Astrology, which thus came into being, gradually lost the capacity to provide
satisfactory explanations for the traditional rules that have since been used for astrological
prognostications. This astrology became less and less able to give convincing answers to the question
why the starry world should have an influence at all on the human being. The original ancient star
wisdom would not have been embarrassed by such problems. It was able to see “through” the visible
starry world into the realm of the creating and moving divinity itself.
The original star wisdom had a deep effect on the cultural development of humanity, even in fairly
recent times. For instance, we still find its influence in the grandeur of Greek sidereal mythology. Nearly
all the names of constellations, which we know in the Northern Hemisphere, have come to us from
ancient Greece, though many of them are of even much greater antiquity.
It is a fact that people today usually considers the constellations that are shown to us in the sky, as a
highly illogical and confusing accumulation of pictures of Greek world of Gods and heroes. This is
partly due to the fact that we have almost completely lost the understanding for the deep spiritual
wisdom of the mythological heritage of humanity. We consider these figures and pictures as the
invention of a rather productive fantasy and as the result of primitive world conceptions, which we in
our enlightened age ought to discard. Yet we shall attempt to show in the following pages the strict
logical interconnection and the wise, uninterrupted continuity of the constellations, as we perceive them
in the sky. Thus we will realize that the Greek sky was a harmonious and organic structure, revealing the
ancient vision of the heavens as the coordinating link between divine will and human evolution. Then
the world of Greek sidereal mythology will no longer appear as the invention of a primitive mind, but as
a means of describing the profound spiritual truths of human evolution.
In order to enable readers to combine our explanations with actual observations of the stars, we will
divide the northern sky into two parts. The sky shows a different configuration during a winter night,
especially in southern (Greek) latitudes, from that of a summer night. This is due to a slight difference in
8
time between the normal day of 24 hours and the so-called sidereal day. To explain this fact here would
lead too far, but it can be studied in any handbook on astronomy. We have added, on the last two pages
of this chapter, two star maps that show the different aspects of the sky in summer and in winter.
If we study the winter sky (approximately at the beginning of February, between 9:00 and 11:00
p.m.), we first notice the familiar constellations of the Zodiac, starting with Waterman and Fishes and
Ram in the western sky. Below Ram, toward the southern horizon, we observe Cetus, or the Whale.
Above Ram we can find the Triangle; still higher is Andromeda, and in the neighborhood of the Pole
Star we see Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Starting from Ram and moving on in an easterly direction, we
detect Bull and Twins. Below Bull appears the long, stretched-out constellation of Eridanus, and
below—in the space between Bull and Twins—Orion stands with the Greater and Lesser Dogs in its
neighborhood. (The Greater Dog can be recognized by the brilliant fixed-star Sirius.) Between Bull and
Cassiopeia, appears the mighty image of Perseus. Starting from Perseus toward Twins, we observe the
Charioteer or Auriga with the bright fixed-star Capella. Passing further east from Twins we can find
Crab, which is not very easy to distinguish.
The leader of this whole group of constellations is Ram. In ancient times it was called the Prince of
the Zodiac, and, as a matter of fact, it is depicted on medieval star maps turning its head backwards,
watching the flock of zodiacal constellations following it. In Greek sidereal mythology, we learn that the
Greeks experienced in this constellation the mighty figure of Zeus. We know that Zeus was considered
by the Greeks to be the head and father of the Olympian Gods. Thus he was deeply connected with the
development of Greek civilization. Who was Zeus? Was he only an invention of Greek priesthood?
The Greek people still had capacities of cognition very different from ours. They did not and could not
speak of ideas as abstract thoughts existing only in the brains of people. They experienced them as
objective and individual spiritual beings. Thus they witnessed, in more classical times, the great impulse
and the unceasing power that inspired their thinking, the development of Greek philosophy, as a divine
being. This was Zeus. He was for the Greek people the divine power that was innate in them and which
made them grasp the beauty and grandeur of the universe through their senses. Zeus was also the
impulse that enabled them, so they felt, to climb to that well-known perfection of Greek plastic art,
unsurpassed in later ages of civilization. This power or impulse was not experienced as an abstract idea,
as it would be in our age, but as an individual divine being. Zeus, this Divine being, had a long and
tedious way to go in order to achieve his final aim. Tremendous battles had to be fought, until Zeus and
those who followed him could firmly establish their rule. Only gradually was the preceding hierarchy of
Gods, the Cronides, conquered—a generation of divine beings who had established a previous phase of
human development. So these battles swayed to and fro. A new impulse always has the old and
established foundations as its sworn enemies. On one such occasion, Zeus and his followers were nearly
beaten, and Zeus himself had to flee to Egypt in disguise. In order to escape unrecognized, he
transformed himself into a ram. We still possess ancient depictions that show him with ram’s horns.
Thus he was venerated in Egypt and Libya as Zeus Ammon or Jupiter Ammon. This legend succeeds in
describing, in wonderful mythological language, how a young impulse had to seek protection in an older
civilization and draw strength from it for the tasks of humanity on the road of cultural progress. The
ram’s horns are a picture or imagination of the development of the brain, its refinement, and its
curvatures. This was a necessary condition for the foundation of the typical Greek capacity of thinking
and reasoning, of the loving perception of the light-filled world that entered into humanity through the
senses. Humanity was not able to develop this kind of perception and thinking before the Greek Age.
Before that age the brain had not yet become such a perfect instrument, able to support intellectual
capacities as in modern humanity. The development of the new brain faculties set in gradually during
the Greek Age, and Zeus represented the Greek experience of that personified divine power, which
initiated and guided those processes.
Another mythological picture that makes this fact plain, is the birth of Pallas Athene. The myth says
that she descended in full armor from the head of Zeus, the father of the Olympian Gods. Thus one can
say that she is a kind of divine emissary of the guiding deity of the Greek people, whose impulse it was
to instill brain faculties into the Greeks. Pallas Athene was consecutively that divine being who helped
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the Greeks to realize in practical life the great impulse that had been imparted to them by Zeus, and also
she was the protector of their culture. Thus she became the protecting deity of Athens. Her statue stood
on the Parthenon, the central temple fort of Athens, and her brilliant armor shone in the sunlight, visible
from afar by the sailors who approached the coast. She also taught the Greeks, as the myth says, the art
of weaving, which is an expression of the faculty of combining thought. Furthermore, she is said to have
taught humanity to make oil from olives, to build walled cities, etc. The Greeks saw all these faculties,
and the cultural development leading to their handling by humanity, personified in the constellation of
the horned Ram.
In the following constellation of Bull, Greek mythology experienced another manifestation of Zeus.
The myth says that one day he saw, when he was looking down from the lofty heights of Olympus, the
beautiful Europa, daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia. She was guarding her father’s herd of cattle in
the fields. Zeus decided to take her away and bring her into his own realm. In order to achieve this, he
transformed himself into a beautiful white bull and mingled with the herd in Europa’s care. She noticed
the splendid animal, stroked it, and finally sat on its back. No sooner had she done this, then the bull
plunged into the sea and swam across to the island of Crete with Europa on his back. There he brought
her ashore and founded the famous Cretan royal dynasty. The Cretan civilization was the predecessor of
Greek culture, a first step toward implanting human civilization into Europe.
This myth is a magnificent picture that seeks to describe how the civilization of Europe was
founded. The young Cretan/Grecian culture had to borrow at first from the much older civilizations of
the East, of which Phoenicia and Egypt were the nearest. Only later were the foreign elements of the
acquired heritage of ancient times gradually overcome. Judged by the remnants of Cretan civilization, it
is obvious that those people had a strong heritage, both spiritually and externally, from the Phoenicians.
It has even been discovered that the Greek myth of Heracles (or Hercules) has its roots in the Phoenician
myth of Melkarth. The Greeks experienced the spiritual forces, which were at work in this
interconnection with the East, as manifest in the sky by the constellation of Bull.
No sooner had the first foundations of Greek/European culture been established, than the forces of
the “old” were roused to resist the “new”. For the “old” does not willingly give way to the “new”. It is a
natural reaction that the ancient impulses want to preserve their own existence. In Greek mythology, the
battles of Zeus and the Olympians against their divine predecessors were reflected on the Earth in the
deeds and labors of the great Greek heroes. One of these was Perseus, whose constellation we see in the
sky above Bull. We hear in Greek mythology of 12 such heroic figures. The 13th is Heracles/Hercules of
whom we shall speak later. The myth of Perseus is this: There was a King in Argos, whose name was
Acrisius. His daughter was named Danae. The King had heard of a prophecy that his grandchild would
one day kill him and take the throne. In order to forestall this, he shut Danae up in a tower so that she
would have no children. However, Zeus descended to her in the tower in the form of a rain of gold, and
soon she gave birth to Perseus. No sooner had Acrisius heard this news than he placed mother and child
in a small frail boat on the sea, hoping they would find certain death in the waves. The Gods interfered
and Perseus was safely taken to a lonely island whose inhabitants brought him up and educated him in
secret. The forces of the “old”, represented by the figure of the grandfather, Acrisius, opposed Perseus
and wanted to destroy him.
As soon as Perseus was grown, he went on his first errand against the resisting powers of bygone
ages. There lived in the region of eternal night a terrible monster, who endangered the human race. It
was the Medusa, who transformed every living thing that looked at her into lifeless stone. The myth says
that Medusa was originally a beautiful being, and only later in life she became a creature of deadly
ugliness. This gives us a clue to understanding what she represented. She was a spiritual power who
enabled humanity in ancient times to perceive clairvoyantly the spirit in nature. She had snakes upon her
head instead of hair. This reminds us of another picture, the famous Uraeus symbol, which the Egyptian
Pharaohs wore on their foreheads as a sign of clairvoyant capacities. For the serpent was regarded in
ancient times as a symbol of divine wisdom. But those ancient capacities had gradually faded away, and
in Greek times the remnants of the old dream-like clairvoyance had already begun to be regarded as
decadent—even dangerous. The Greek impulse was to wake up to independent, “day-wake” thinking.
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Thus the serpent symbol of wisdom had become the image of Medusa’s poisonous snake head. Her once
clairvoyant vision of nature had died into realization of the physical outlines of objects in nature. She
was on the road of that long descent of the human soul-faculties toward the realization of only the
mineral, lifeless properties of nature. Therefore, to look at her was to be transformed into stone.
Perseus, the hero of half-divine descent, desired to kill this monster, but he had to be equipped for
his task with divine weapons. Hermes, or Mercury, lent him his winged sandals, and Pallas Athene
contributed her shield. Thus he proceeded to that terrible region where the Medusa dwelt with her two
sisters. After many adventures, he arrived in the realm of eternal darkness. He knew that he could not
approach the Medusa directly, lest he be transformed into stone. So he cautiously drew near by walking
backwards, observing the monster in the mirroring surface of Pallas Athene’s shield. Then he finally
severed the Medusa’s head from her body with one mighty blow of his sword.
If we saw in the constellation of Bull the foundation of European civilization by the powers whom
the Greeks called Zeus, then we realize in the constellation of Perseus, above Bull, a further magnificent
interpretation of the deed of Zeus. Hermes had endowed Perseus with his winged sandals, and it was the
task of Perseus not to let that newborn faculty of brain-employing thinking die in cold and lifeless
intellectualism, which it later became in humanity. A Michaelic power of light and wingedness in
thought lived in Perseus. Thus protected, he could make use of the reflective intellect, borne by the new
Zeus faculties. This is the reflecting shield of Pallas Athena, being an imagination of the brain that acts
as a reflecting mirror between the reality of the objective external world and our inner life. Thus Perseus
contributed toward the foundation of typical European culture; he employed brain-born thinking, but
through his thoughts there still shone the presence of the spiritual world. His very deed was the
destruction of the deadening forces, which together with the new capacities had come as a grave danger
to humanity.
We see Perseus in the sky coming back from his first great deed. He holds in his hand the bleeding
head of the Medusa, represented by a group of stars, of which the largest is Algol. This star is very
interesting, because in a rhythm of about three days it loses four-fifths of its light capacity, after which it
then regains its former strength. In ancient days this star was called the Demon Star, or the Winking
Demon.
However, on his way back Perseus encountered another adventure. He flew through the air with the
aid of the winged sandals of Hermes. Another version of the myth says that he was riding on Pegasus, a
winged horse, which can also be found in the sky above the constellation of Fishes and Waterman. This
version is rather revealing, because it says that Pegasus had risen from the blood of the Medusa, after
Perseus had severed her head from the body. The degenerated clairvoyant faculties of an older
humanity, represented by the Medusa, are allowed to live on into later ages as the winged imagination of
poetic creation. Pegasus was, in Greek mythology, the favorite of the Muses. Riding on the back of this
divine animal, Perseus flew across Ethiopia. There a terrible disaster had happened. The Queen,
Cassiopeia, whose husband was King Cepheus (both can be found in the sky, near Perseus), had angered
Poseidon, or Neptune, the Divine Lord of the Sea. She had boasted that she was fairer than the sea
nymphs, the daughters of Neptune. In revenge, Neptune sent a horrible sea monster to Ethiopia, the
Cetus, which ravaged the kingdom. An oracle revealed that relief could only be obtained if the daughter,
Andromeda, of Cepheus and Cassiopeia was given as a prey to the sea monster. So the unhappy parents
had to look on while their child was chained to a rock near the coast. The monster approached to devour
Andromeda, but at that moment Perseus came, gliding through the air. He realized at once the plight of
the maiden and he attacked the monster. Swooping down, he still carried the horrible head of the
Medusa in his hand and, through its deadly power, the monster was in an instant frozen into stone.
We find all the actors of this drama in the sky: To the west of Perseus, above Fishes, is Andromeda
chained to the firmament with outstretched arms. Higher toward the north is Cassiopeia sitting on her
throne with King Cepheus. Cetus swims below the Zodiac constellation of Fishes.
The story of Andromeda and Perseus is a significant contribution toward the understanding of the
Perseus myth. Whereas Perseus was obviously battling with supernatural powers when he destroyed the
Medusa, so he was descending to the human level when he rescued Andromeda. We always find that
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female figures in ancient myths represent the receptive soul element. Cassiopeia, the mother, had
realized the spiritual supremacy of the human being, the anthropos, over the elemental forces working in
nature, though they are of divine origin. Thereby she had angered those powers represented by Neptune,
because they do not want to cede their hold on nature to the human being. Their reaction followed
swiftly. Andromeda, the representative of the soul, was chained to the rock, the image of the down-
dragging powers working through the material properties of the Earth. Perseus, the hero of the new
power of thinking and perception in the human being, who had remained victor on a higher plane over
the dark forces of the past, was able to rescue Andromeda. He was the representative of the spirit in
humanity, who grasped, with a fiery will, the new capacities that were offered to humanity and so freed
the soul from the bondage of fear and timidity.
The fearsome monster, Cetus the Whale, stands below the constellation of Fishes. His gaze is
directed toward Perseus. Who was Cetus? The myth tells us that he belonged to a whole generation of
monsters, who had all descended from Pontus. Pontus was the great elemental spirit of the Black Sea.
The Greeks looked toward that region with awe. They experienced the untamed powers working behind
nature much stronger there than anywhere else. These powers were the descendants of mighty divine
beings; but they had fallen too deeply—partly in those battles of Zeus against the preceding Titans—and
had become the gigantic, blindly creative but also destructive forces of nature. Thus the Greeks
experienced them as a fallen hierarchy of Gods, whose divine origin was, however, still shining through
their being. We shall meet a kind of cosmic biography of this great Fall as we move along with the
constellations below the Zodiac, starting from Cetus.
Below the constellation of Bull and to the east of Cetus, we find the constellation of Eridanus. In
Greek mythology, Eridanus is a river connected with the fate of Phaeton, who was of very lofty descent;
the Sun-god, Phoebus Apollo, was his father. The son saw his father driving the golden chariot of the
Sun every day across the sky. He longed to do the same, and he persuaded Apollo to give him the reins
of the heavenly vehicle for one day. At first Apollo refused because be knew the dangers. Finally
Phaeton employed a ruse in order to obtain his father’s permission, and Apollo had to agree. So Phaeton
mounted the chariot, took the reins, and went off into celestial space. However, soon the fiery steeds of
Apollo noticed the feeble hand of the inexperienced driver. They raced in mad career through celestial
space, upsetting the order of the stars. Finally they approached the Earth so closely that it was threatened
by a general conflagration. The mountain tops were already aflame. Smoke arose everywhere. The rivers
were dried up or appeared as molten lava. At the height of the chaos Zeus was called to the scene and
begged to restore order. He smote Phaeton with one of his dreaded thunderbolts. The unhappy youth fell
from the chariot and was drowned in the river Eridanus. The nymphs, who witnessed the tragic end of
Phaeton, swelled the river with the floods of their tears, until Zeus transformed them into poplars. This
river Eridanus is the constellation of the same name that we observe in the sky.
It may seem that the story of Phaeton and Eridanus is only an invention that was intended to teach a
moral lesson about the fatal consequences of ambitious and presumptuous aspirations, but there is much
deeper wisdom hidden in this apparently naive myth. In a certain sense, the fall of Phaeton reminds us of
the age-old legend of the Fall of Lucifer from the heights of Heaven, when he was cast out by the hosts
of the Archangel Michael. Phaeton was obviously a being who tried to penetrate into the depths of the
universe. He is of half-divine origin; therefore, his desire is not really only presumption. The myth wants
to tell us of a one who had still retained certain capacities, arising from the original divine, sun-like
spark of the human spirit. In very ancient times, under totally different conditions of consciousness,
certain individuals were able to penetrate into the spiritual depths of the cosmos. Of course, such an
experience did not take place in the sense of an ascent to the external spatial universe. After long years
of preparation in the sanctuaries of the ancient temples, an individual who had been found suitable was
put into a state of deep, trance-like sleep. He actually went through an experience similar to death. His
soul wandered, similar to the souls of the dead, through the spiritual spheres of the stars. After a certain
time, he woke up again to normal day consciousness, but then remembered and spoke of the spiritual
facts and heavenly beings with whom they had met in the realm of the stars. It was in this way that very
ancient star wisdom, of which we spoke in the beginning, had come into existence. There still exist in
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ancient documents faint hints and indications of such carefully prepared inner experiences or initiations.
For instance, the Mythras Mysteries, which originated in Persia, spoke of seven great steps or degrees of
initiation. The sixth degree was the Sun Hero, in whom we can recognize the individual who had
attained to the stage of Phaeton in our legend.
Yet we realize that such an inner experience or initiation was only possible in those ancient times
during a state of deep sleep, even a deathlike condition. With the rise of Greek culture, an age had come
during which humanity was supposed to develop the intellect and the power of thinking, the perception
of the world revealing itself to a day-wake consciousness. Also, the physiological structure of the human
being of the Greek Age had changed considerably. Therefore it became less and less possible to employ
the ancient methods of cognition of the spiritual cosmic world. It happened ever more frequently that the
neophytes in the temples did not wake up from their deathlike trances but actually died during initiation.
We realize in Phaeton, a mythological figure that represents the dramatization of that closing of the door
to the ancient Sun mysteries. He can no longer master the chariot of the Sun—the spiritual journey
through cosmic space. The loss of this capacity was not only a sad event, for it also contained grave
dangers. People still had some traditional knowledge of the ancient star wisdom, but they increasingly
lost the ability to handle it correctly. It became a threat and obstacle to the development of spiritual
freedom. The history of astrology proves this abundantly.
Thus, Eridanus/Phaeton is in a certain sense on the same level as Cetus: both are representative of
remnants of a glorious and highly spiritual past. However, as they do not fit into the new requirements of
human evolution, they become gigantic and threatening shadow beings. The constellations below the
ecliptic also contribute their interpretations to the zodiacal constellations, as those above the ecliptic
interpret in their own way. Perseus is the master or the new Sun Hero of the day-wake capacities of
sense perception and thinking, and thereby the myth connected with him is an interpretation of the
constellation of Ram. Cetus and Eridanus/Phaeton tell us of those shadows of the past that the Greeks
sought to overcome or to transform. In modern times we should have to search again for entirely new
interpretations, both of the constellations and of the myths connected with them.
Next to Eridanus, further east, we observe the constellation of Orion. The myth tells us that he was a
mighty giant and a most skillful hunter. No animal on the Earth was safe from his never-failing arrows.
In the sky he is surrounded by constellations of animals, which represent hunting. Beneath his feet is the
Hare, and further to the east are the two dogs: the Greater Dog, with the well-known sparkling fixed-star
Sirius, and the Lesser Dog, with Prokyon. Orion’s domain was the dusky depth of the forests, penetrated
by the soft light of the Moon. Artemis, the goddess of the Moon and of hunting, loved him deeply. But
her brother Apollo, the god of the Sun, resented his sister’s passion for Orion, and he thought of a way
to destroy the hunter. One day he was standing beside Artemis in the heights of heaven. In the depths
below they saw a shining spot moving across the sea. Apollo asked his sister to show him her famous
skill with bow and arrow, intimating to her to shoot at the point that shone in the light of the Sun. Igno-
rant of the nature of it, she shot one of her never-failing arrows. How great was her sorrow when she
realized that she had killed Orion; for it was Orion, who was so tall that he could wade through the
deepest oceans.
In this myth of Orion, we are again confronted with the termination of very ancient forms of human
existence and consciousness. It is not only the fact that Orion was a hunter which points toward this,
although this seems also to be of some significance, but Orion was deeply connected with the night and
the ruler of the night, the Moon, and his opponent was the lord of the day, the Sun God. Thus Orion was
also a representative of ancient humanity, which had not yet attained to the capacities of the Greeks, i.e.,
to face the sunlit universe with the fully perfected faculties of sense perception and clear thinking. He
was groping around in the dusky twilight of a kind of dream consciousness. One can even say that he
was inspired by a dream bound clairvoyance, uncontrolled by logical thought. The animals surrounding
him in heaven also point to this fact. The Hare beneath his feet was known everywhere as an
imaginative picture of clairvoyant dream consciousness, which was a common faculty of all humanity in
ancient times. Also the two dog constellations represent an instinctive knowledge of nature, which we
have almost entirely lost. We can detect another confirmation of this aspect in the fateful connection of
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Orion with Artemis. Her brother Apollo, the All-Knower, the ruler of the day, knew the identity of that
shining spot in the sea. However, she was blind to the objects that appear in daylight. She was only used
to the dimness of the night, when nature abounds with the richness of elemental life but does not appear
in sharp outlines. Thus, she herself killed her favorite, the representative of an ancient civilization who
was guided by Moon wisdom.
The ancient conditions had to be eliminated in order to make room for the modern self-conscious
human beings, who were to take into their hands the solution of the problems of the physical plane. The
most spiritually developed ways of life and cognition, prior to the Greek Age, were practiced, especially
in Asia. We know very well that Eastern world conceptions are even now in the West generally
considered to be unfit and impracticable for the progress of modern humanity. This attitude was justified
for a certain time, because humanity had to learn to cope as self-conscious and independent beings with
the world in which it was living. The turning point of the tide away from ancient conditions was Greece.
Therefore the Greeks could look to Orion in the sky as a figure that reminded them of a heritage of the
past, which they carried in their own being and that was destined to be transformed.
Thus the constellation of Orion contributes, in a certain sense, toward the interpretation of Bull. The
Greek seer saw in Bull an image of Zeus, who had taken Europa from Phoenicia into his own realm.
Here in Orion, we have a picture of the ultimate fate of those ancient forces whose shadowy presence
was never quite overcome during the Greek Age. They merged into the imagination of the great
unknown Hades, the realm of the dead.
Above the zodiacal constellations of Ram and Bull, we see Perseus, the shining hero of the newborn
Greek culture. He had rescued Andromeda, the soul, from the fetters of the ancient impulses and
conditions. Further to the east of Perseus, we observe the constellation of the Charioteer, or Auriga, with
the bright fixed-star Capella. He holds the upper end of a straight line that runs from Orion through the
horns of Bull. Thus Orion and Auriga are a kind of twin being; although the latter’s mythological back-
ground is totally different from that of the Orion. There are indications in Greek mythology, suggesting
that the Greeks experienced Erechtheus in this constellation, who was the son of the divine smith
Hephaestos, and is said to have invented the quadriga, the chariot drawn by four horses. We find this
constellation actually depicted on ancient star maps as a man standing in a chariot holding the reins in
one hand. More remarkable is the fact that he embraces in his free arm a mother goat with her kids. He
is a breeder of animals and thus forms an illuminating contrast to Orion, who was a hunter of animals.
Ancient Egyptian mythology provides interesting information about the background of Auriga. The
fixed-star Capella in the Charioteer was connected with the god Ptah. It has been discovered that certain
Egyptian temples dedicated to Ptah, which were partly built as far back as about 5000 BC, were pointing
with their long axes toward the rising point of Capella. We know that Egyptian temples are mostly
constructed as long passages leading to the interior of the sanctuaries. Coming from the sunlit Egyptian
world, one entered the precincts of the holy enclosure by walking along an alley of sphinxes. This led to
the dominating and impressive temple towers, which opened the way to the inner courtyards and flanked
by the well-known massive Egyptian pillars. Going further, one was led to descend through courtyards
and halls. The light grew dimmer until one had reached the innermost sanctuary, which was in complete
darkness. Looking back in the direction of one’s approach, one would have had an impression similar to
looking through a tall chimney. As though peering through a chimney from the inner sanctuary of the
temple, one would have seen the stars even in bright daytime. From the temples of Ptah, one could
observe the star Capella rising once in 24 hours, the time of rising varying according to the seasons.
Who was this god Ptah whose star was obviously seen in Auriga? He appears already in the most
ancient Egyptian teachings. His name means “opener of the mouth”. It was he who had given all beings
in the universe their divine names. The name of a being in the ancient world meant something utterly
different from our concepts. Naming a thing in the world signified at the same time creating it. Thus it is
said of Ptah that he had created the Gods, the human beings, and the whole universe. We need not
misunderstand this; Ptah is the creative Word that was infused into human beings and which enabled
them to re-create in their own consciousness the meaning and the spiritual significance of all existing
things in the universe. Therefore, Ptah was also the Divine Craftsman, who endowed human beings with
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the capacity to grasp the world and to mold it according to the faculty of reason with which he had been
implanted. The myth says that Ptah built temples and cities, created the statues of the Gods, and
arranged the rituals dedicated to them. He was also the protector of the arts and crafts. Thus Ptah was
recognized as that divine power working through and in human beings that inspired them to grasp the
material world and to penetrate it with the spirit inherent in them. Similarly the Greeks must have
experienced the constellation of the Charioteer with Capella, because Erechtheus, the inventor of the
Quadriga, was a son of Hephaestos. who is none other than the Ptah of the Egyptians, the Divine
Craftsman. Nothing could illuminate the meaning of the constellation of Bull better than the
constellations of Auriga (the Charioteer) above and of Orion below. They illustrate the essential
impulses that helped Zeus to create Europa. Whereas we realize in the constellations below the Zodiac,
especially in Orion, the heritage of a glorious past, so the constellations above the Zodiac point to the
future. The Charioteer, especially, is a heavenly image of the development of intellectual power in the
West, which enabled us to master matter step by step until we had finally acquired the capacity to
harness matter for our own purposes through the achievements of modern technology.
If we go further in the sky toward the east, to the constellation of Twins, we see those two tendencies
that we described finally penetrating humanity itself. In the constellations of Orion, Bull, and Charioteer,
we still saw them in the vesture of divine nature. The two main stars of the constellation of Twins are
Castor and Pollux. Here we are referred to two well-known figures of Greek and Roman mythology.
Castor was of mortal nature, Pollux was immortal. Castor was slain in a combat, but Pollux implored
Zeus to restore him to life. The request was finally granted on the condition that Pollux would spend half
his time in Hades. Furthermore, we hear that Pollux was famous for his skill and valor in battle. He was
very proud, if not conceited. Castor, the mortal twin, was of a different character, engaging in more
peaceful occupations; for instance, he reared horses and tamed them. In order to understand the meaning
of this constellation, we must realize that Pollux, the immortal twin, stands in the sky below Castor.
Thus, Pollux expresses more his kinship to the constellations below the Zodiac, to Orion, Eridanus,
Cetus, and so on; whereas Castor, the practical one, is related to the world above the Zodiac, to the
Charioteer and the preceding constellations. If we recollect all the available details about Twins, we can
detect in them a most illuminating realization of the Greek mind, in that Pollux was related to those
figures of the past that preserved the knowledge of the existence of a spiritual world into the Greek Age.
But this knowledge, springing from an ancient, dreamlike consciousness, had become during the new
age a source of denial of physical reality and its tasks. However, this heritage of the past was still
present in humanity. It could not descend to practical occupations, it could only live on in pride and,
ultimately, in the destructive deeds of the warrior. Even the certainty about the existence of a spiritual
world was dimmed, and Pollux had to submit to the law of dwelling for half his time in the realm of the
shades. The other twin, Castor, was more the one suited to the requirements of our modern age; but,
alas, he had “to taste death”. Thus we see in the constellation of Twins, the Greek picture of the human
being, who still lived the consciousness of the imperishable spirit, which was becoming more and more
a shadowy and fear-inspiring world. The other part of the human being became more inclined to descend
into the material world, as indicated by the classical Greek proverb: “Better to be a beggar on Earth than
a king in the realm of the shades”. It was that part of the human being who had to experience death and
decay in the earthly realm.
The Twins reveal the crisis in which humanity of the Greek Age found itself. The mythological
interpretation of the following constellation of Crab will confirm this aspect. We have numberless myths
about Crab. One version is that it was the Crab that bit Heracles on his heel, while he was battling with
the Lernean monster. According to another legend, it was the ass that carried the god Bacchus, or
Dionysos, across a huge swamp to save him from persecution. The motif of the ass comes again and
again in the many stories about Crab. For instance, one ancient interpretation saw in it a crib from which
two asses were feeding. Other peoples experienced it as the picture of a beehive. What do all these
legends about Crab mean? Obviously there are strands hidden in the ancient consciousness that we
cannot very easily disentangle. However, if we turn toward the ancient Egyptian interpretation, we may
get further. The Egyptians realized this constellation as the image of a scarabaeus. The scarab is a very
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common beetle that has the strange habit of making a ball of clay—sometimes bigger than the beetle
itself—and rolling or pushing it along with great effort. Images of the scarabaeus have been found in
sarcophagi. The dead were provided with them in order to find their way to the subterranean realm of
Osiris, in other words, to find the “Sun shining through the Earth”. The beetle laboring with the Earth
became a symbol of the promise of resurrection after death, after earthly struggle. Thus we come nearer
to an understanding of the multitude of legends connected with Crab. In Twins we saw the crisis of
humanity, the dwindling away of the consciousness of the spiritual world and humanity’s seemingly
senseless labor on the Earth, which contained no hope. In Crab the ancient world saw a promise of the
spiritual renewal of Earth existence. This promise was clad in pictures that come close to the features of
the Christ story: the ass on which the new Dionysos entered Jerusalem, the beehive of the Christ
community of humanity, which transforms the substances of the Earth into the sweetness of the spirit,
and the hope for the true scarabaeus, who is the Resurrection.
Thus we have come in the sky to a kind of gate. The Crab or Scarabaeus spoke to the ancient peoples
in terms of hope and promise. If we enter this gate and go further along the constellations following
Crab, we will find more details about the yearning hope of the ancients. Thereby we are already entering
the second part of the sky, the sky that we observe in midsummer, about midnight (see second diagram).
There we see the mighty constellation of Lion above the western horizon. If we had an opportunity to
watch the sky in southern latitudes of the Earth, we could see beneath Lion, the long stretched-out
constellation of the Hydra, or Water Serpent. Still in the western sky, but more toward the zenith, we
observe the constellation of Virgin, above it Bootes the Bear Driver, and further toward the north the
familiar constellation of the Great Bear. Looking toward the south, we find to the left of Virgin and just
above the southern horizon, Scales and Scorpion. Above Scorpion we detect Ophiuchus, the Bearer of
the Serpent. Almost at the zenith stands Hercules, who treads on the head of the Dragon, which curls
itself between the Great Bear and the Lesser Bear. To the right of Hercules we find the Crown, and to
the left of him the Lyre. Above the southeastern horizon, following Scorpion, appears Archer; whereas
Goat, or Fish-goat, is just rising. Above Archer and Goat we observe the Eagle, and still further north in
the sky the Swan.
The central figure of the summer sky is Hercules, whereas Perseus dominated the winter sky. It is
the mythology of Hercules in particular, but also the legends of all the constellations of this part of the
Zodiac that will provide us with certain answers to the questions that arose when we looked at Crab. In
the summer sky, which we are here considering, Crab has just descended beneath the western horizon.
Following it is Lion, which we can still observe. This constellation was connected in Greek mythology
with the famous twelve labors of Hercules or Heracles. His first deed was the destruction of the Nemean
Lion. The myth makes great efforts to emphasize that this monster was not an ordinary lion. He had
jumped down to the Earth from the Moon, had terrible strength, and had become an intolerable plague to
a large part of Greece. Hercules killed the monster in a hard battle. Afterwards he skinned the beast and
clad himself in the hide. The skull of the lion he put on his own head like a helmet, and thus he appears
in all ancient pictures.
By trying to realize the cosmic nature of the Nemean Lion, we become aware of the character of the
twelve labors of Hercules. The myth does not suggest that they were merely the memorable deeds of
some hero who freed the Greek landscape from a number of wild beasts that had become a menace. The
legends endeavor to tell us that the labors of Hercules were of a spiritual nature, and the images of
strange monsters that are used, pictorially describe the nature of that spiritual struggle. Preceding the
constellation of Lion we saw Crab. We tried to read the cosmic script of Crab as a sign of hope and
promise to a humanity that had entered a phase of great crisis. In the constellations following Crab, we
find a detailed description, as it were, of the being on whom that hope was concentrated. It said, “He
who will come will be a divine Hercules and He will perform great spiritual deeds. Thus He will go
before humanity and prepare the path of its future evolution”. Certainly there also lived an historic
Hercules; however, his struggles and failures were recognized as a prophecy of the One who was to
come. This may sound strange and possibly far-fetched, but the details of the later cult and rituals
dedicated to Hercules betray this fact.
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Hercules appears clad in the skin of the lion that he had strangled. This is the symbol of his royal
dignity in a spiritual sense. Still today we find the image of the lion used in coats-of-arms and other
insignia of royal authority and office. It was once a sign of a certain degree of initiation. Initiation is an
inner process that leads one through stages of cognition of the hidden spiritual forces working in nature
and in the human being. In ancient times, initiation was enacted in the sanctuaries of the temples. The
first labor of Hercules indicates that he was treading the path of such an inner development; but there is
one remarkable feature, he was not initiated within the precincts of a temple. He went his own way and
was, so to speak, a “self-made man”, only guided and strengthened by the newborn capacities of the
Greek nation, the power of clear sense-perception and enlightened thinking. The methods he used in
fighting and performing his tasks speak clearly enough of his employment of those capacities. For
instance, the story of the Augean stables confirms this: Hercules was sent to King Augeas in order to
clean the stables. This had not been done for 30 years, and as the king had immense droves of cattle,
incredible filth bad accumulated in the place. Hercules, confronted with a seemingly impossible task,
simply diverted a nearby river and made it flow through the stables. Thus the filth was removed in the
shortest time. This story describes someone who must have been very alert in his observation and
thinking.
We saw Hercules, the Greek imagination of hope and promise, standing at the gate of Crab. First he
encountered the Lion, which is signified by the constellation of that name. He had entered the road to
initiation, but he had taken his destiny into his own hands. By hard labor in search of a real cognition of
the spiritual facts of life, he went further on the path to solve that great crisis of humanity, which is
recorded in the mythological script of the constellation of Twins. As he was on the road to self-
initiation, or in other words, as soon as he had entered a region that is beyond the threshold of normal
day consciousness, he at once encountered the great foes of humanity’s spiritual progress. The legend
relates this as the labors of Hercules following the destruction of the Nemean Lion. First he was sent out
to destroy the Lernean Serpent. This monster, which devoured man and beast, had descended from the
same family of which Cetus the Whale and the Nemean Lion had come. She had nine heads, one of
them being imperishable. In the most terrible battle, Hercules finally destroyed the dreaded monster. The
imperishable head he buried deep in the Earth and rolled a heavy rock on top of it.
Who is the Lernean Serpent, or, as it is sometimes called in the myth, the Hydra? What is the legend
trying to tell us by describing this second labor of Hercules? An investigation of the constellations in
the neighborhood of Lion can provide the clue for a satisfactory answer. Beneath Lion we observe the
long stretched-out constellation of the Hydra. Its head is underneath Crab and its body stretches as far as
Scales. Whereas Lion was recognized in Greek mythology as identical with the Nemean Lion, so the
Hydra was with the Lernean Serpent. Thus we have hit upon a remarkable fact: the Hydra is the
continuation of the constellations underneath the Zodiac. The head of the Hydra is not very far from the
Lesser Dog. If we recall now what we said of the constellations starting with Cetus, then we have an
excellent interpretation of the Hydra. It was the heir of that very ancient, clairvoyant world experience
that we saw represented in Cetus, Eridanus/Phaeton, Orion, and finally Pollux. However, this heritage
had now been incorporated into the ugliness and destructiveness of the Lernean Serpent. There is still a
faint indication of that world of the eternal spirit of which that ancient world experience was aware. One
of the nine heads was imperishable. What had become of that ancient, once magnificent heritage? We
get the answer if we read the myth carefully. After the Hydra lay slain on the ground, Hercules dipped
the tips of his arrows in the blood streaming from the serpent. He knew that this blood was poisoned and
proved unfailingly fatal. Thus his arrows became the deadly weapon which was feared by all his foes.
We shall hear more of this blood as we go into further details of the Hercules myth.
By destroying the Lernean Serpent, Hercules combated a heritage that lives in every human being,
the blood-ties connecting the generations of every individual since the most ancient times. The blood, in
its natural uncontrolled state, is the instrument of our emotions and passions. It can become a grave
danger and a terrible fetter for one who is reaching out for spiritual freedom, because if it is not purified
by a spiritual discipline, it can claim the individual as solely subject to and answerable to herd instincts.
We call these the luciferic powers in the human being and in the universe. This Hydra danger stands in
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the sky at the Lion Gate, through which we saw Hercules advancing. There is another obstructive figure
standing on the other side of this gate, the constellation of the Great Bear (the Lesser Lion, which
appears on modern star maps, is a rather late designation and, therefore, has no place in Greek star
mythology). The Great Bear belongs to the group of constellations that is above the Zodiac, and which is
the bridge from the Charioteer to the Dragon and Lesser Bear, which contains the Pole Star at present. In
the Great Bear, the ancients also saw a manifestation of those powers that obstruct the human being
from entering the realm of the spiritual world. Greek mythology refers to this fact in the myth of Calisto
or Helice, the beautiful daughter of a King of Arcadia, who drew the attention of Zeus to herself and
kindled his passion for her. However, Hera, the Olympian consort of Zeus, soon became aware of this.
In order to eliminate the unwelcome rival, she transformed Calisto into a bear. Zeus, pitying her,
transfixed the bear to the sky, where she appeared as the constellation of the Great Bear. In this myth,
the fate of a human being is indicated, who attempts to draw spiritual divine forces too deeply into the
world of mortal existence. Yet we seem to need further elaboration in order to elucidate the nature of the
Great Bear as the counterpart of the Hydra.
The Great Bear doesn’t appear to have a direct bearing on the legends connected with Hercules. Yet,
if we search diligently enough, we can find some very illuminating viewpoints. There is, for instance,
the story of the wild boar of Erymanthus, which is usually counted as the third labor of Hercules, who
drove the destructive beast into deep snow, bound it, and brought it home alive. This feature seems to
have a certain relationship to the Great Bear. Of course, we must admit that a boar is not a bear!
However, we know that many features of the Hercules myth have their origin in the western Asiatic
continent. There the boar had a definite mythological meaning; it was a boar that had killed Tammuz,
the beloved of the goddess Ishtar. This legend played an enormous role in the eastern religions.
Ritualistic performances were connected with it, which had a deep significance. The same motif
appeared again in the Adonis cult of western Asia. Adonis is the same being as Tammuz, and, as a
matter of fact, the corresponding cult was a kind of prophetic prevision of the god who dies and rises
again after three days. If we now recall what we said about the mysterious figure of Hercules being a
prophetic vision of the expected coming of the Messiah, the bringer of resurrection, we may feel again
on familiar ground. The Boar of Erymanthus, which Hercules captured, was none other than the boar
who had killed Tammuz/Adonis. In it the law of earthly death was signified. In order to complete our
story, evidence has been found that eastern peoples did not always imagine Tammuz/Adonis as being
killed by a boar. Monuments on Nahr Ibsahim (Lebanon) depict Adonis being killed by a bear (see
Jeremias: Das Alte Testament, p. 607; Leipzig 1930). Other traditions speak of a lion as having been the
cause of the disaster. It should therefore not appear too absurd if we connect the constellation of the
Great Bear with the third labor of Hercules, the capture of the Erymanthian Boar.
If we can accept this interpretation, we witness an illuminating pattern of constellations at the Gate
of the Lion, in the sense of Greek mythology. Below Lion we find the Hydra, the spiritual power that
works as adversary, chiefly through the mysteries of the blood. Above Lion is the Great Bear, which
belongs to that group of constellations that hold the northern pole of the sky in their grasp. In him we see
a representation of those forces that develop the tendency to be too much bound to the Earth. The Great
Bear is a continuation of the constellations of Andromeda, Perseus, and the Charioteer above the Zodiac.
This whole group is represented, as we worked out previously, by Castor of Twins. In the myth, Castor
was a practical, almost rationalistic being, compared with his brother Pollux. But he was subject to
death.
If we go further, to the Great Bear, we are told in terms of mythological language where a one-sided
Castor-Charioteer tendency ultimately leads. Along this road the divine stream is finally swallowed, as
Tammuz/Adonis was killed by the Boar or Bear. The Great Bear, and with it the constellations nearby,
the Dragon and the Lesser Bear, stand for that world power which in esoteric language is called
Ahriman. He is that adversary power who tries to fetter the human being to the world of matter, mainly
through abstract spirit-forsaken thinking. His ideal is to make of the whole Earth, including the
humanity, a kind of perfect machine which excludes any possibility of failure (for example, in the social
realm), but at the price of eliminating the free individuality.
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Thus the two adversaries stand at the Gate of the Lion, through which Hercules was about to enter to
a higher realm of existence. They are always present if a person treads the path to higher knowledge and
stands upon the threshold to the spiritual world. At the same time, this whole complex is a
comprehensive interpretation of the constellation of Lion in the Zodiac.
We shall now leave the following labors of Hercules and concentrate on the last two labors. As we
have seen so far, these labors are connected with the constellations of the starry sky. We can detect the
reflections of all 12 deeds in the stars. Yet, we should not imagine that they are found just by plain
sailing through the Zodiac, as it were. It is a far more complicated matter, because the constellations
outside the Zodiac are also concerned. It ought to be emphasized that the connection between the stars
and the twelve labors of Hercules is not a kind of arbitrary allegory, nor is the Hercules myth a star myth
without any background of real historical events. These events took place on Earth, though not in a
literal, material sense. However, they coincided with cosmic happenings and configurations. As a matter
of fact, ancient peoples realized that the great cosmos of the stars also works in our bodily nature and
penetrates our doings on the Earth. Thus the human being was perceived as a microcosm within the
greater body of the macrocosm; and in the earthly existence of human beings, the reflection of the
cosmic events were detected. Therefore, the twelve deeds of Hercules were perceived as an earthly
reflection of great laws and of the divine order in the heavenly world. This was the viewpoint of eastern
wisdom on its road toward the west. Thereby the human being increasingly became the onlooker. This is
the character of our times, inasmuch as the original wisdom has deteriorated.
The ancient western world, whose last representative is the ancient Celtic culture, went a different
way. These peoples realized more clearly their oneness with the great universe. They did not separate
from the cosmic world to the same extent as the ancient eastern peoples, when they experienced
themselves as microcosm within the macrocosm. This oneness was expressed in many ways, and we still
have glimpses of it; for instance, in the runes and spells of the ancient bards. The druid Amergin, who is
connected with the mythological foundation of Ireland, and later the Welsh bard Taliesin, sing of their
magical power over all nature, animate and inanimate. Both speak of being or having been all existing
things in the universe, including the stars: “There is nothing in which I have not been.” Therefore, the
mythology of Celtic background also has a deep inner connection with cosmic events, which is even
more pronounced and impressive than that of Greek and eastern mythology. The western “cosmo-
mythology” led in another way out of its innermost nature. For those peoples the cosmos descended to
the Earth and was active within its being, and foremost within the human race. Therefore the fading
cultures of the west left to our ages the heritage, even the task, to cope with the material world, to handle
and to transform it. For the divine cosmic world had descended into the world of matter.
The eleventh labor of Hercules leads us to the very center of the summer sky, where we see the
kneeling figure of Hercules himself. On ancient star maps we find him holding a club in one hand and in
his other hand a branch of the Golden Tree of the Hesperides. Sometimes he is depicted grasping
Cerberus, the famous Hound of the Underworld of Greek mythology, instead of the twig. Both pictures
refer to the last two of the twelve labors of Hercules. Also the Dragon upon which he stands is
connected with the eleventh deed.
In the course of the tenth labor, Hercules had to journey to the far west. There, on an island in the
ocean, lived the giant Geryones, who united the upper parts of three human beings in one single body.
The task was to destroy this monster and to bring home the huge herds of cattle that were in his
possession. After the successful completion of this errand, Hercules was again sent out to the dim and
mysterious west, or north of the world. This time he was commanded to fetch a branch of the tree on
which grew the golden apples of the Hesperides, and nobody knew where that tree was standing.
Hercules traveled through the whole world from east to west asking everywhere for information of the
whereabouts of those golden apples. He encountered numberless adventures, and finally he was sent to
Atlas, who lived in the far west and who carried the sky on his shoulders. The myth grows here to
gigantic cosmic dimensions, and we are left in no doubt whatever about the great significance of this
adventure. Atlas knew where the tree of the Hesperides stood, and he directed Hercules on his way. So
he went and entered the beautiful garden of the Hesperides, who were, according to one version, the
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daughters of Atlas and Hesperis, the Evening Sky. There in the midst he saw the tree with the golden
fruits. Gaea herself (Mother Earth) had planted it and had given it as a wedding present to Zeus and
Hera. But the tree was guarded by a mighty dragon. A terrific fight ensued as soon as Hercules drew
near. Finally Hercules killed the dragon. Now he could safely break off a branch of the sacred tree and
return home.
This is one version of the story. Another runs as follows: Hercules came to Atlas and asked him for
the way to the Garden of the Hesperides. He was then told that as a mortal being he could not enter that
sacred realm. Atlas agreed to go if Hercules, in the meantime, would take the burden of the sky on his
shoulders. This Hercules did and Atlas went on his errand. He overcame the dragon that guarded the
sacred tree and safely brought back a branch with three of the golden apples. As he approached
Hercules, it came into his mind that he had now carried the burden of the sky long enough. So, he told
Hercules that he would himself carry the branch with the golden apples to Greece. However, the human
hero was more clever than Atlas, the descendant of the ancient divine Cronides. He seemed to agree, but
asked Atlas to take the sky just for a moment so that he could make himself a cushion. No sooner had
the unsuspecting Atlas again taken the heavy burden on his shoulders than Hercules grasped the branch
of the Hesperian tree and departed.
We find all the figures of this story in the summer sky. There stands Hercules in the center, holding
the branch with the golden apples in his hand. Beneath his feet is the Dragon, the guardian of the
Hesperian tree, whom Hercules slew. To the west of Hercules appears the constellation of Bootes, the
Bear Driver, as he is sometimes called. The main star of that constellation is Arcturus which, according
to very ancient traditions, was also called Atlas. This is not strange because Arcturus/Atlas is near the
Pole Star and seems to support the sky. In ancient times, about 5000 BC, the Pole of the celestial dome
was near the tail of the Dragon. At present it is in the tail end of the Lesser Bear, where it has moved
since then, following the law of the precessional movement of the axis of the Earth. Bootes/Arcturus, or
Atlas, must have appeared then as if supporting the Celestial Pole with one outstretched arm.
What was the inner meaning of the eleventh labor of Hercules? What are the golden Hesperian
apples? The second version of the story gives us an interesting clue. Hercules is not able to enter the
realm of the Hesperides himself. Atlas, the supporter of the sky, has to do it for him; so that sacred
garden must have been an extremely lofty region. The fact that the great Atlas is called upon to perform
the task may lead us to the conclusion that it was the region of the sky, the cosmos itself, where the tree
was standing. Also the owners of the garden, the Hesperides, suggest that it was considered to be a
realm in which one can only enter by mighty efforts of cosmic contemplation and meditation; for the
Hesperides are the daughters of Atlas, i.e., those forces which can carry the heavens, and of Hesperis,
the mysterious and all-knowing night. Thus it may not seem too absurd to say that the sacred garden is
the cosmos itself, in the middle of which stands the Tree of Life of eastern tradition, the unceasing
source of life in the great cosmos. Bootes/Atlas stands as a guardian to the west of Hercules. Therefore,
Hercules must “become Atlas” or, in other words, he must carry his burden for a while. But can we then
also find the garden of the Hesperides in the sky? We can detect it as the constellation of Virgin in the
west, beyond Bootes/Atlas. An abundance of myths is connected with Virgin, and it is quite evident that
it was considered to be a very ancient constellation. The ancient Egyptians saw in it, Isis, the divine
sister of Osiris. In Mesopotamia it seems to have been associated with Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven, who
is the same divinity as Isis. In ancient temples of Egypt she was heard saying of herself, “I am the
Universe that was, that is, and that will be. No mortal being has ever lifted my veil.” In Greece this
constellation was experienced as Ceres, the mighty goddess of never-ceasing life and fertility in the
universe. She was seen holding in her left hand a sheaf of corn, the brilliant fixed-star Spica. Thus we
can say that the eleventh labor of Hercules was really the search for the eternal sources of existence and
life in the cosmos. His penetration to the region of the Hesperides, the attainment of a branch of the tree
of the golden apples, was the earthly equivalent of a spiritual conquest of the constellation of Virgin.
Again, the mythology of this whole complex is, as in the preceding descriptions, a vivid interpretation of
the spiritual properties of Virgin. All ancient star wisdom described it as the womb of all cosmic and
earthly existence.
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We have come to the constellation of Virgin by trying to find the inner meaning of the eleventh labor
of Hercules. The first three labors we found reflected in Lion and in the neighboring Hydra and Greater
Bear. This progress from Lion to Virgin may seem to have been very slow; yet we need to take into
account that Hercules had to go through an intense process of inner development and catharsis before he
was able to proceed on his journey to that exalted spiritual region of cosmic existence, of which the
constellation of Virgin is the external reflection. We can find the fourth labor to the tenth labor chiefly
reflected in the constellations of the winter sky, about which we have spoken earlier. In those
intervening seven deeds, Hercules encountered to the fullest extent the spiritual heritage of forces that
are represented by the constellations starting with Cetus, Eridanus, and so forth—in other words, the
starry imaginations below the Zodiac. We shall see later on that he was not really able to fully overcome
the impact of that region in which dwelled beings of a high divine descent, but who had fallen into the
whirlpool of down-dragging Earth forces. His partial failure ultimately became the reason for his
downfall. With the eleventh labor, Hercules was finally able to approach, through the Gate of Lion, that
world which is represented by the constellations of the summer sky. Whereas before this he had
struggled for cognition and domination of the cosmic heritage that was embedded in his own physical
organization, he now advanced to those regions where he hoped to find answers to the great questions of
existence: of becoming and dying. Searching for the golden apples of the Hesperides, he finally
penetrated into that region where the divine foundation of all creation and birth can be found. This realm
is represented in the sky by Virgin. Having found the cosmic wells of life, or at least having come near
them, there remained for Hercules the last and greatest riddle: the secret of death itself. This last or
twelfth labor is reflected in the constellation of Scorpion as the descent into Hades, the “realm of the
shades”, the place of the ultimate fate of all existing creatures.
The Gate of Hades was guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hell. The last task of
Hercules was now to bring this monster to the upper world. He descended into this realm and forced
Charon, the sinister ferryman, to take him across the river Styx, which separated the world of the living
from that of the Dead. Beyond the river he found the heroes Theseus and Pirithous chained to a rock.
They had previously attempted to descend into Hades but had been retained there by Pluto, the dark
prince of the underworld. Then Hercules wrestled with his most powerful foe, Death itself, forcing him
to release Theseus; however, the unlucky Pirithous had to remain in the land of the shades. Then
Hercules also overcame Cerberus and brought him to the upper world. Afterward there followed a
horrifying sight: the saliva flowing from the mouth of the monster created poisonous plants all over the
Earth. No human being could stand his appearance, and so he finally sank down to Hades again. This is
a remarkable feature of the story, for it shows that even Hercules could not conquer the terrors of death,
under whose spell humanity of the Greek Age found itself.
We can recognize this myth reflected in the constellation of Scorpion. We may now ask: Is there any
mythological background to the constellation of Scales, which we find in the sky between Virgin and
Scorpion, who are the cosmic representations of the last two labors of Hercules? This question leads us
to the interesting fact that the imagination of Scales, or Balance, did not exist in ancient mythology. In
part, people experienced the stars of Scales as belonging to either Scorpion or to Virgin. Only as late as
in the time of Julius Caesar does it seem to have been recognized as Balance. However, there are
indications that this constellation was regarded as an Altar, or as the Tower of Babel, in very ancient
times. An Akkadian representation of the Zodiac calls it the Holy Altar. (The Akkadian culture was a
contemporary of Sumerian civilization, about 3000 BC.) This Altar stands between Virgin and
Scorpion. Virgin is the cosmic representation of the eternal source of all existence—the spirit-cosmos
itself. However, as we shall see later on, Scorpion is the cosmic imagination of death—Pluto and the
underworld. Therefore Balance, or the Altar, is situated in the sky as a place of reconciliation between
the images of the cosmos and the depths of the Earth. It is most illuminating to hear in the myth that
Hercules was initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries, thus sustaining himself for his dreadful descent to
Hades/Pluto or, in cosmic language, to Scorpion. The Eleusinian Mysteries were a precise representation
of Balance/Altar. Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres-Virgin, was once stolen away by the dark Pluto.
Ceres, after a long and weary search, finally found her daughter in the realm of Pluto, in the dreaded
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subterranean place. Pleading for her return, Ceres finally had to agree to Proserpina being allowed to
come back to the upper world for only half a year. For the second half she had to go back to the palace
of Pluto. This mystery of the sacrifice of life-sustaining forces is cosmically represented in the
constellation of Balance-Altar, and Hercules needed this grand imagination in order to face the descent
to Hades-Scorpion.
In all ancient star wisdom, Scorpion was connected with death and the realm of the shades. For
instance, the ancient Egyptians commemorated the death of the god Osiris every year when the Sun was
in Scorpion, because it was a tradition among them that Typhon killed Osiris when the Sun was once in
that constellation. Since that time, Osiris was residing in the underworld as the almighty judge of the
dead. In Greek mythology the death of Orion seems to have been connected with Scorpion, and we can
find many more instances of ancient mythology associating Scorpion with death.
Although Hercules succeeded on his errand to Hades-Scorpion, we see clearly that he, or rather the
humanity of his age, failed to solve the riddle of Death, for he was not permitted to free Pirithous from
the bonds of Pluto, and the dreadful image of Cerberus, the hound of Hell, sank back to the underworld
because no human being could bear his appearance. Hercules did not really conquer Death, rather he
represents the problems of his age and the great hope that one day the One might come who would over-
come death.
After the completion of the twelfth labor, Hercules was a free man. We hear in the myth that he then
lived his own personal life, if we may call it such. However, the stories about his life present anything
but a happy and peaceful life. It is full of the most tragic events and, if we really take the time to go into
the details of these stories, we find one dominating trend in them. Hercules was subject to the mysteries
of the unpurified blood, which is saturated with emotions. We met the mystery of the blood once before
in the career of Hercules. This was when he destroyed the Lernean Serpent, whose blood was poisonous,
and he then made use of it by dipping his arrowheads in it. Thus the destiny of the poisonous blood
accompanied him on his further errands, and it ultimately became the reason for his own death, as we
shall see.
Once, when Hercules was with his wife Deianira on one of his errands, they had to cross the river
Euenus. The centaur Nessus lived there, who used to carry travelers on his back across the river.
Hercules asked Nessus to bring his wife to the other shore, but in mid-stream Nessus suddenly decided
to carry Deianira off. The woman shouted for help and Hercules could do nothing but shoot the
malicious centaur with one of his deadly arrows. Nessus knew that he must inevitably die, and in his last
moments his thought was of revenge. He advised Deianira to soak a garment in the blood which was
flowing from his wound. He told her to give this cloak to Hercules as a kind of magic device if in future
she had the impression that his love for her was waning. Deianira, of course, did not know that the blood
of the centaur had become deadly poison, caused by the arrowhead that Hercules had dipped in the
blood of the Hydra. Eventually, the moment came when Deianira thought she should present Hercules
with the magic love-vesture. This came when Hercules sent back the beautiful Iole from one of his war-
like expeditions. On returning with his army, he put on the priestly garment, which Deianira had sent
him in advance, and he proceeded to perform the rites of sacrifice for his victory. No sooner had the
vesture touched his skin than he felt a burning pain penetrating his body. The Hydra poison, with which
the linen garment was polluted, became active and began to destroy his physical frame. He demanded
that a pyre be built, and with a last effort he mounted it. Soon the flames reached his body, but now
those standing near saw a miraculous sight: they saw him carried up toward the sky. Zeus had taken his
son from the pyre and placed him among the stars. Thus the constellation of Hercules came into being,
according to the myth. And there he still stands, high above Scorpion, dominating the cosmic image of
death.
Next to Scorpion we find the constellation of Sagittarius or Archer. In Greek mythology this is also
connected with Hercules. A certain tradition says that it was a Centaur that was killed by Hercules for
attacking his bride. We recognize in this picture, Nessus, and the story that we related above. This
Nessus became, as we heard, the cause of Hercules’ own death. Thus the Centaur was involved in his
destiny, and indeed the centaur “race” accompanied Hercules, as if it were a shadow of his own being.
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The famous centaur Chiron is said to have taught him music and the use of medical herbs. They became
friends and yet, in the course of one of the earlier labors of Hercules, he killed Chiron by a tragic mis-
take. Thus, when Hercules went out to catch the Erymanthean Boar, he was involved in a fight with the
centaurs. Chiron hastened to appease the foe, but unfortunately he was struck by one of the poisoned
arrows of Hercules. The dying centaur, about whose fate Hercules himself was deeply grieved, was
transplanted into the sky, and the Greeks said that he appeared as the constellation of Centaurus, below
Scorpion and the Hydra. This deep connection between the Greek hero and the centaurian race coincides
with an illuminating fact: the constellation of Hercules has also been called Nessus in Greek cosmo-
mythology. The Scorpion (image of death) is surrounded by the centaurs Chiron and Nessus, and we can
very well say that Nessus-Archer is a part of Hercules. In the Centaur, he was confronted with his own
still unpurified blood; therefore, the poisonous blood of the Hydra plays such a prominent part in the
episodes with Chiron and Nessus. In Sagittarius-Nessus we can see a picture of that Hercules, who had
gone through death (Scorpion) and was confronted after death with his own emotional being, which had
to be purified during the first stages after death. This picture of the experience of a purifying fire
immediately after death is common to all ancient cosmologies and religions. Thus the constellation of
Sagittarius-Centaur becomes an imagination of the ceaseless struggle of humanity for its evolution and
ascent to higher forms of existence. The body of the Centaur is still bound to animal nature, but the front
part, which reaches out to human nature, aims with bow and arrow at a far distant goal, the overcoming
of evil and death indicated by Scorpion.
After his purification Hercules ascended to the realm of the Gods. We also find this further step in
the sky in the constellation of Capricorn, or Goat, which the Greeks called the Gate of the Gods, the gate
through which the souls of human beings ascend to heaven. Above this constellation flies the Eagle of
Zeus, of which it is said that he took the youth Ganymede away from the Earth, because Zeus intended
to make him the cup bearer of the Olympian Gods. This coincides with a later pictorial representation of
the ascending Hercules. He stands upon a horned lion, and the group is enclosed by a triangular or
pyramidal structure that rests on a cubic base called Pyra. From the apex of the pyramid, an eagle rises
carrying the immortal being to the heavens. This picture has been found on Roman coins, but it seems to
go back to Tarsus, even to Phoenician sources. As a matter of fact, it has been ascertained that the Greek
Hercules myth has a deep connection with the Phoenician Melkarth myth. The god Melkarth of the
Phoenicians of Tyre is, in a certain sense, a Divine figure equivalent to Hercules.
When Hercules entered the realm of the Gods, Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, was betrothed to
him. Apart from the intention of the ancient Greeks to indicate in this picture that Hercules had entered
the region of the spiritual world where neither old age nor death exists, it has also a cosmological
significance. This further step of Hercules in the life after death is represented in the constellation of
Aquarius or Waterman, which follows that of Capricorn. In Greek mythology, Waterman signified
Ganymede, who had been taken away from the Earth by Zeus, so that he might serve the Gods as their
cup bearer. The necessity to find a cup bearer had arisen because Hebe, who had held this office
previously, had lost it. Thus we can well say that the original meaning of Waterman was Hebe, carrying
the cup that contained the cosmic draught of eternal youth. It is this cup, in a certain sense, that is the
ancient equivalent of the Christian cup of the Holy Grail, which is significant for Waterman. The
constellation of Swan, standing high above Waterman, eminently illuminates this picture. Greek
mythology says that Orpheus, the great musician-magus, became the swan in the sky after his death.
We can thus say that the constellations of the summer sky signify the great Greek myth of Hercules,
and the constellation of the same name stands there in a central place. In the ancient presentation he is
kneeling upon the Dragon, and above his head the Serpent hovers, which is carried by Ophiuchus. He
stood there for Greek humanity as a cosmic symbol, as a sign of hope and expectation of the One who
would one day come and in truth defeat death (Scorpion) and decay, for even the human Hercules had
not succeeded in this. How was the One who was to come supposed to achieve the great victory? The
ancient answer was, by holding the Dragon and the Serpent in check. Who is the Dragon? It is the same
constellation that holds in its grasp the pole of the ecliptic—the apparent path of the Sun and the planets.
Furthermore, it almost completely occupies the circle which is described by the so-called precession of
23
the pole of the celestial equator. We know that the Earth is revolving in the course of its diurnal move-
ment around its axis, which extends between the North and South Pole. Thereby the impression is
created that the whole sky is rotating daily from east to west around an axis which extends between the
northern and southern pole of the sky. At present the northern celestial pole is in the Lesser Bear, and
this celestial pole is swinging round in a circle that is completed in about 26,000 years. This movement
is called precession, and it is due to a swinging movement of the axis of the Earth. In other words, the
celestial pole, which is at present in the Lesser Bear, was some thousands of years ago in the tail of the
Dragon. Still further back it was at the feet of Hercules, and so on. Thus in time it describes a complete
circle in the sky, and within this circle stands the Dragon. However, as we said above, this circle is
really a reflection of the movement of the axis of the Earth (see Fig. 1). As the axis of the Earth is the
external expression of the “uprightness” of our planet in cosmic space, we can well compare it with the
meaning of uprightness in the human being. It is our uprightness that distinguishes us from the animal.
Our posture is due to our capacity for inner independence and thinking.
Figure 1
Dragon Lesser Bear
Celestial North Pole of Earth

In 20th century AD
Celestial Equator
Sky of the Fixed Stars

Axis of the Earth Equator
Globe of
Earth
Celestial North Pole about
15000 AD
Movement of North Pole from

c.2000 AD to 15000 AD
Globe of Earth Celestial

Sky of the Fixed Sars Equator
Earth’s Equator
Axis of the Earth
24
Thus, we may say that the precessional circle of the celestial pole, within which the Dragon dominates,
is a cosmic representation of the capacity of the “thinking” of the Earth. The danger of this capacity for
us, besides its merits, is complete detachment and emancipation from the universe—consequently, a
kind of extreme spiritual sterility and death. This cosmic power is kept in check by the image of
Hercules. Therefore, Hercules was an expression of the hope of humanity that the One might come who
will save humanity from the Death resulting from the loss of all contact with the living universe.
What is the Serpent? It is, in a certain sense, the continuation of the constellations of the Hydra,
Orion with the two Dogs, Eridanus, and Cetus. All of them occupy successively, in time, the celestial
equator, which is the continuation of the equator of the Earth into the sky. In other words, these
constellations have stood, or will stand, alternately on the celestial equator, according to the precession
of the vernal point. At present Orion is in this position. Some time ago, when the vernal point was in
Ram (about one to two millenniums BC), the major part of the Serpent covered the celestial equator.
In the equator of the Earth, as well as in the celestial equator, we can see an expression of the
“feeling” of the Earth, i.e., if we can accept the idea that the Earth is a living organism and that its
movements are brought about by a kind of inherent psychical faculty. We compare it with feeling,
because it is an expression of the impulse of the Earth to turn toward the Sun and the stars or to turn
away, which is a kind of expression of sympathy or antipathy. Therefore these constellations, especially
the Serpent, are representations of a dream-bound consciousness that is constantly in danger of being
overpowered by egotistical emotions and desires. Greek mythology has expressed this in a picture on a
majestic scale. It regarded Ophiuchus, the Bearer of the Serpent, as the starry image of Aesculapius. He
was a son of Apollo and a famous healer, who performed miracles of healing deeds. He not only cured
all kinds of illnesses but he even saved people from certain death. Finally Pluto, the prince of Hades,
became alarmed because Aesculapius brought back to life people who had already died. The realm of
Hades became depopulated on account of these miracles, and Pluto complained to Zeus. The unlucky
Aesculapius was struck down by a thunderbolt, but he ascended to the sky and there he stands as
Ophiuchus. He holds in his strong arms the serpent, in which we can see the symbol of ancient healing,
the Caduceus, a staff with a serpent wound around it. These forces that are more akin to the horizontal
plane of the equator, in contrast to the uprightness of the Dragon forces, can have a healing quality.
They correspond to the rhythmic organism of our body, to breathing and the heartbeat. But they become
deadly poison if they are abused for egotistical purposes. The myth expresses this when it speaks of the
punishment of attempts to prolong human existence unrighteously, thus robbing humanity of the
possibility to be spiritually reborn through death. Again one might say that the hope expressed in this
picture was that the One might come who will not escape death, but will make it the portal to higher
existence—to resurrection.
The constellations of the Crown and of the Lyre, to the left and right of Hercules, fit very well into
this great cosmic imagination, although in Greek mythology they are not directly connected with the
Hercules myth. The Crown, or Diadem, is said to have been presented to Ariadne by Bacchus
(Dionysos) after she had been deserted by her husband Theseus. This beautiful constellation stands to
the west of Hercules, and it is more connected with that part of the sky in which we saw the cosmic
images of the main labors of the great Greek hero. We can say that to those who labored on the Earth
were offered the insignia of royalty, the celestial Diadem. The Lyre to the east of Hercules was
recognized by the Greeks as the Lyre of Apollo, which he presented to Orpheus, who latter played upon
it in such a masterly way that even Pluto, the prince of Hades, was charmed when Orpheus pleaded for
the release of his wife Eurydice from the underworld. A poet says of this magic instrument:
I saw with its celestial keys,

Its chords of air, its frets of fire,
The Samian’s great Aeolian lyre
Rising through all its sevenfold bars
From earth unto the fixed stars.
25
The Greeks regarded it as the instrument of the “music of the spheres”, the seven strings being the
harmonic ratio of the order of the seven planets. A modern astronomer of the 17th century, Kepler, still
had an understanding of that harmonic ratio of the distances of the planets, or the music of the spheres.
This lyre is connected with that part of the sky in which we saw the stages of the dramatic ascent of
Hercules to the heavens. He was endowed with the magic instrument leading to the realization of the
harmonies of the spheres, the planetary spheres through which the soul passes after death.
Thus we can indeed find that the constellations of the stars were for the Greek mind something like a
gigantic chronicle, in which they could read the deeds of a Divine world and their manifestations in
humanity. There is nothing in this picture of the world that is not in its proper place and relationship.
The entire sky is like a living organism; and if modern humanity experiences this picture as a chaotic
and arbitrary assortment of Greek mythology, then the fault lies with the limitations of the modern mind,
which can no longer comprehend the grandeur and meaning of ancient mythology.
We saw that the winter sky was, for the Greek mind, the grand vision of the opening phases of a
struggle for the attainment of new capacities in humanity. In Greek terms these were the powers of
thinking and of day-wake sense perception. At the same time, their attainment meant the closing of the
door to more ancient faculties of penetration into the depths of the meaning of human existence. Thus,
the vision of the summer sky was more an attempt and a hope than an actual achievement. It was the
hope that one day divine guidance might again give to humanity the power to penetrate with that
spiritual background of existence new faculties.
We can ultimately look at the Greek sky of mythology as an ingenious interpretation of the
constellations of the Zodiac. The Zodiac was the expression of that closing of the door following in the
wake of the new capacities. This had to happen. It was, so to speak, included in the divine plan of
evolution in order to give humanity a chance to develop self-consciousness and independence. That the
Zodiac was the vision of that central drama of the closing door of the Greek Age, is clearly expressed in
the Greek interpretation of the constellation of Fishes, the last of which we have to discuss. It was
connected with the myth of Venus and Cupid, or in Greek terms, with Aphrodite and Eros. Aphrodite
and her son, Eros, were persecuted by a terrible giant, whose name is recorded as Typhon. In order to
save them from destruction, the two were transformed into fishes. These, the Greeks said, are the two
fishes that one can see in the constellation of Pisces.
In this seemingly simple story, we see the central drama of the Greek Age. Aphrodite is none other
than the Egyptian Isis, or the Mesopotamian Ishtar of very ancient days. In Egyptian mythology, Isis is
the wife, or sister of Osiris. We hear that Osiris was slain by his sinister brother Set, or Typhon. Thus, so
the myth says, the glorious golden age of Egypt came to an end. Isis rescued the body of her divine
husband, but again it was taken away by Set and cut up into 14 pieces. Then Isis collected the pieces and
buried them in various places all over Egypt. The myth then goes on to say that temples dedicated to
Osiris were erected above these burial places.
Thus we can see in Isis, the guardian of the ancient temples or mystery places. She was, in the
garment of a female deity, the divine soul of Osiris, in whom we can see the being of the ancient, direct,
Sun wisdom, working in the natural clairvoyance of an ancient humanity. The soul of Osiris-Isis was the
reflection of the spiritual light of the Sun, as the Moon in the sky bears the reflection of the sunlight, and
the being of Osiris was buried in the depths and the secrecy of the ancient temples.
Then came a time when even Isis and her son, Horus, were persecuted by the powers of darkness and
spiritual ignorance. So she was transformed, and transferred into the world of the far distances of the
universe. Another version even speaks clearly of Isis having been killed by Set-Typhon and put into the
grave of the stars. We see here a remarkable difference; Osiris is put into the grave of the Earth, but Isis
vanishes into the opposite direction, into the depths of the starry world.
We have here, indeed, a most masterful description of the “closing of the door”, which the Greek
spirit saw approaching humanity. And we need not go very far in order to realize the actual facts in
modern times. The world of the stars is the grave of Isis. The descendants of that original sun-like power
of thinking, after having become the modern cold and deadening power of the intellect, have created
aspects of the starry universe that indeed represent it as a graveyard. In ancient times, the external
26
cosmos was the expression and manifestation of a powerful and creative Divine world. Since the 16th
century AD, modern science has presented a universe that consists only of dead material bodies moved
by sheer mechanical forces. The cosmos is considered to be a kind of gigantic, lifeless machine. This is
the grave of Isis, after she had been slain by the power of the death-spreading intellectualism.
The myth also spoke of the age when Isis will rise again from her grave. Horus will grow up, it said,
and will avenge the death of his father. This time seems to be at hand. The withdrawing Isis was
experienced in Egypt as saying to those who still tried to approach her in the mysteries, “I am the Great
Universe that was, that is, and that will be. No mortal being has ever lifted my veil.” To this, a modern
poet and scientist, Novalis, remarked that, if no mortal being can lift the veil of Isis, then we must
become immortals in order to find the mysteries again. Such a remark is a confirmation that the age of
the awakening of Isis is approaching. It is certainly true, however, that we must first find the eternal,
spiritual kernel of our own “human” being. Then, and only then, will we be able to see the living Isis
again, the wisdom of the deity manifest in the world of the stars, face to face. Divine beings can die only
in the consciousness of the human being, and it is there that they can also rise again. Through the means
of modern spiritual science, the universe of the stars can be perceived as a living, breathing organism.
Such concepts of the cosmos need not contradict the objective facts found by modern astronomy;
however, in time they will certainly destroy the hypothetical conclusions that have been attached to the
mere facts of astronomical research.
What is written here, however small and incomplete it may appear, seeks to be a contribution toward
that high aim of the reawakening of Isis, the Divine Sophia. The forces of darkness, of Set, are still
threatening humanity. Therefore, so much the more must we make the first steps toward the New.
The Sky between 9 and 11 p.m. in February
1. Great Bear 14. Orion

2. Dragon 15. Bull
3. Lesser Bear 16. Ram & Triangle
4. Swan 9. Charioteer 17. Fishes
5. Cepheus 10. Perseus 18. Waterman
6. Cassiopeia 11. Andromeda 19. Hare
7. Crab 12. Pegasus 20. Eridanus
8. Twins 13. Two Dogs 21. Cetus the Whale
27
The Sky at Midnight in Midsummer
1. Perseus 9. Swan 17. Ophiuchus

2. Andromeda 10. Lyre 18. Serpent
3. Cassiopeia 11. Hercules 19. Virgin
4. Cepheus 12. Crown 20. Cup
5. Pegasus 13. Bootes 21. Hydra
6. Lesser Bear 14. Lion 22. Archer
7. Dragon 15. Goat 23. Scorpion
8. Greater Bear 16 Eagle 24. Scales
28
PART TWO
The Zodiac and Evolution

In the preceding part, an attempt has been made to show that ancient civilization recognized the
starry heavens as the external manifestation of a Divine world. All ancient cosmology reveals this fact,
though it may have differed according to national capacities in various parts of the Earth. For instance in
Celtic mythology, the knowledge of the relationship between a divine cosmic world and human affairs is
still more evident than in Greece, although it may be more difficult to detect it. It is hoped that an
opportunity will be forthcoming in the future to present the beauty and grandeur of Celtic sidereal
mythology.
However, the task of this present publication is to find a new star wisdom. For all ancient cosmology
was evolved on an entirely different level of human consciousness and therefore cannot simply be
revived in our present age. We must search for a new star wisdom that corresponds with the capacities
of modern humanity.
The prevailing conception of the cosmos of the stars, which modern humanity has created, seems to
forbid any attempt to look upon this universe as the manifestation of a Divine world. We have learned to
regard the stars as gigantic celestial bodies, consisting of matter similar to that found on the Earth. Their
movements can be calculated, their ages and their distances are supposed to be computable. The whole
universe appears to the modern mind as a gigantic mechanism. There is no room in it for a spiritual
world; everything seems to be explicable by mechanical laws alone. This modern astronomy has
certainly made awe inspiring discoveries, and it is one of the great features of our present civilization.
However, it has disappointed the searching mind of humanity where it tried to create cosmological
theories on the basis of an all powerful mechanical and materialistic world conception. One may take
any of the many hypotheses that have arisen concerning the creation of our solar system. Whether the
planetary system is described as having come into existence by the centrifugal action of an original
central Sun or by the collision of two giant stars, the question of the original cause is never satisfactorily
answered. The initial cause is mostly shifted from one level to another, and any supposed original act of
cosmic creation ultimately appears only as an effect of something we do not yet know. Usually these
conceptions are borrowed from facts and theories concerning the laws of nature on the Earth. It is
astonishing to see that just these comparative methods do not at once suggest to everybody the
shortcomings of such one-sided mechanical ideas. For instance, one may try to explain an avalanche by
mechanical causes only. It may be said that it is due to weather conditions. But what causes the changes
of the meteorological conditions? One may again search, even successfully, for mechanical causes in
meteorology, only to shift the problem to another level where a similar question can be asked. There is
no end to this kind of self-deception if one remains in the purely mechanical and material sphere only.
There is ultimately no escape from the fact that spirit is at the foundation of all world existence.
Certain sections of present humanity may still try to explain, even for a long time to come, existence on
the basis of mechanical causes alone. There are still endless possibilities to do so. However, another
section of humanity has already moved away from the original crude materialism. They realize that
matter does not exist as one imagined it previously and instead consists of energy which one can
calculate, to a certain extent. Thus some modern astronomers already admit that the foundation of the
universe is possibly “thought”, because the cosmos operates on the basis of mathematical laws. These
mathematical laws, inherent in the world of the stars, are supposed to have existed first in some kind of
thought form before they could be imprinted in the physical universe. Can we then expect that such
cosmic thoughts have been flying wildly through space without having originated in some kind of
directing and supervising cosmic intelligence? It does not help very much to go only half way, and we
may be confronted here with another of those shifting practices that merely push the problem from the
level of a materialistic world conception to a purely mathematical picture of the world, without
providing a real solution.
It is, of course, uncomfortable at first to accept the existence of a real spiritual world working within
the physical. The spirit does not submit to laboratory methods, and there is a widespread fear that one
29
becomes unscientific if one cannot control and master things any longer by physical experiment. This
present age has accepted the idea, or rather the dogma, that the spirit, if it exists at all, is a closed realm
for human cognition once and forever. Any attempt to pass that threshold is widely regarded as a
dangerous undertaking, which can only lead to deception, unhealthy speculation, or uncontrollable
mysticism.
Rudolf Steiner, as a western scientist, has described in many books the existence of a real spiritual
world of cosmic intelligences who have created the physical universe and work through it. He has not
only given numberless details about that world hidden from the physical senses, he has also described in
such books as, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, An Outline of Esoteric Science, and others, methods
and exercises, which if followed can open the gate of knowledge to that hidden world. Since ancient
times, eastern world conceptions have spoken of practices that enable human beings to attain knowledge
of higher worlds, but Rudolf Steiner has given his methods in forms that suit the conditions of especially
modern western humanity. These methods are built firmly on the discipline of modern thinking.
Thinking relentlessly controls the development of higher faculties of cognition, just as experiments in a
laboratory might be controlled by mathematical discipline. Therefore, that higher thinking or spiritual
perception, which is attained on the path of knowledge suggested by Rudolf Steiner, cannot be identified
with any kind of dim and illusionary mysticism. It is based on strict scientific methods and a discipline
which, in natural science, is applied to experimental research.
In his An Outline of Esoteric Science, Rudolf Steiner speaks in detail about the creation of the
present universe in successive processes of cosmic evolution. He describes how a world of spiritual
beings created the world during long stages of self manifestation. What the author considers to be one of
many manifestations and revelations of that world of spiritual beings in the structure and the dynamic
properties of the present cosmos of the stars will be describe in this book. If more publications beyond
the present edition become possible in the future, then the results of many years of empirical research
will also be made accessible, which will show the impacts of that spiritual cosmos on earthly events and
facts. It must be emphasized that the author would not have permitted himself such statements as are
contained in this book if intensive and far-reaching research, especially on historic grounds, had not
justified and supported the final formulation of the picture of the starry world presented here. The
statements are, therefore, not just wild speculations. They are based on spiritual research and on
numberless astronomical and historical inquiries. [Editors: The author of this present book has occupied
himself for many years with those descriptions. Moreover, he has worked intensively to confirm that
picture of the world, both on the basis of the above mentioned path of knowledge given by Rudolf
Steiner and also in connection with external facts in the physical world. For the traces of those spiritual
beings who created the universe and still work through it must be found manifest everywhere in nature
and in the human world.]
For the description of spiritual beings and facts of the spiritual world, we will employ the
terminology used by Rudolf Steiner in his book, An Outline of Esoteric Science. It will be sufficiently
explained, but we shall not constantly refer to that work. A thorough study of An Outline of Esoteric
Science, therefore, could assist the reader considerably.
The Threefold Human Being

In the following chapter an attempt will be made to investigate the dynamic character of the Zodiac.
The Zodiac is composed of 12 constellations or groups of fixed stars that since ancient times bear the
familiar names: Aries or Ram, Taurus or Bull, Gemini or Twins, Cancer or Crab, Leo or Lion, Virgo or
Virgin, Libra or Scales, Scorpio or Scorpion, Sagittarius or Archer, Capricorn or Goat, Aquarius or
Waterman, Pisces or Fishes. They form a kind of circular ribbon that seems to hold the sky of the fixed
stars together. Moreover, this circle of the Zodiac appears to be the path of all the planets belonging to
our solar system, including Sun and Moon. We cannot go into detail here about the movements of the
planets, but if we regularly observe the Moon and also the planets, it becomes obvious that they all seem
to move through the Zodiac according to their rhythms of revolution. As they move through space at
different distances from the Earth, we can imagine that the Zodiac is the outer fringe of a huge plane on
30
which the orbits of the planets appear to be attached, thus forming a kind of stairway from the fixed-star
world down to the Earth. Therefore, the constellations of the Zodiac seem to be of major importance,
regarding the connection between the stellar world and the Earth.
The questions which must follow are: How can we find out anything about the spiritual and
dynamic character of that stellar world? Have we any means of investigation? The telescope gives us
only the external aspects of the starry world; it does not reveal spirit in the stars.
We shall use the human being as an instrument of research in this field of knowledge. This may
appear at first as sheer nonsense or superstition. Certainly we know that in ancient times the human
being was regarded as a microcosm, or considered to be a perfect reflection or image of the greater
universe. Modern science, however, will claim that we have no proof for this conception that could only
flourish on the basis of the ignorance of those bygone ages. To this one can reply that the history of
science during the last few centuries is in itself a proof that it cannot possibly claim to have found the
absolute and final truth about humanity and the universe. The development of scientific knowledge
during this century and the last one, the many radical changes in scientific outlook, and the helplessness
with regard to certain fundamental questions are rather signs that the truth about life and existence
cannot be found without an exact science of the spirit. Here the author can only state that an occupation
with anthroposophical spiritual science has convinced him that the human being is a microcosm of the
great macrocosm and that the ancient views were not founded on sheer ignorance. The ancient world
conceptions were originally based on very exact perceptions with regard to the spiritual nature of
humanity and the universe. Certainly, we must search for these facts on a different level of
consciousness from that of ancient times.
In the light of modern spiritual science, we are not only an image of the present universe, but also a
perfect reflection of the great steps of cosmic evolution since the dim past. A clear picture of our
organization is, therefore, necessary in order to detect that hidden script of creation.
The human body can be perceived as a threefold organization of head, chest, and limbs. The central
organ of the head is obviously the brain, toward which the senses are oriented, but also the whole
nervous system radiates from it or toward it. It is the region from which the contact with the external
world is established. A certain direction of the movements and functions of the body, moreover, is
obviously centered there. Heart and lungs are the central organs of the chest. They appear to be
connected with the intimate life processes. Heartbeat and breath are expressions of the presence of life
within a human body, but this realm of life processes is closed to our consciousness. We experience the
activity in this region as a reflection or realization of well-being or ill health. The limbs and the whole
organization connected with them provide the possibility to move and to act independently, up to a
certain point, but here we again become aware that this bodily region is veiled in deep unconsciousness.
We have no notion of the complicated processes that take place in the human organism if, for instance,
we lift our arm or when the food which we take in is digested.
Thus we are confronted with a threefold organization of our bodily nature. As a whole, it appears as
a passage or stairway into depths of unconscious existence. And yet we notice that this bodily
organization serves as a vehicle for our more or less conscious soul activities. Just as the body
constitutes a passage from the clarity of the sense organs and the brain to the unconscious depths of the
limbs and the metabolic system, so the soul capacities have an inherent capacity and urge to rise to ever
clearer consciousness. These faculties seem to need the bodily nature as a kind of resistance, and by
battling against this bodily complex of resistance, these faculties appear to be able to raise the level of
consciousness. Thus, on the basis of the head system, we develop a consciousness of the objectively
existing world around us. By the harmonic coordination of perception and thinking, we can evolve to
higher degrees of consciousness in this realm. Against the chest or rhythmic system, we are struggling to
evolve our feelings and raise them from the level of dim dreaming to clearer consciousness. Thus we are
able to develop harmonious and conscious connections with our fellow creatures in nature. The battle
against the limb or metabolic organization is the most difficult, because this bodily region resists by
complete, sleep-like unconsciousness, and only very slowly can we develop our willing in this battle.
31
Thus we have come to an illuminating contradiction in our threefold being:
Perception and Thinking → Feeling Willing

——————————— ↓ ↓
Brain, Nervous system, → Breathing and Limb system, Movement,
Senses Circulation and Metabolism
This threefold being is an exact image of the stages of cosmic evolution. Any genuine spiritual
investigations in the past, and also modern spiritual science, distinguish three great steps of cosmic
creation preceding this present universe. During the first cosmic stage, the foundation was laid for that
world we call the physical world. Then divine thoughts or ideas were densified into the first traces of
substance. On a vast cosmic scale a world embryo was created; just as during the earlier embryonic
stages of a human being, the head is predominantly developed. The foundations of the sense organs were
then also created, and thereby that world came into being that became the plane of resistance against
which human beings learned (much later) to unfold the conscious capacities of perception and thinking.
During the second great cycle of cosmic evolution, life was infused into that which had come to exist
physically at the previous stage. The very first foundations of breathing and circulation were created; but
this was possible only because the physical substance derived from the first stage became at more
densified and coarsened the second stage. In order to create the foundation for the later development of
feeling, one part of creation fell deeper into unconscious matter. It is similar to the connection between
the region of almost unconscious breathing and circulation and the dormant faculties of feeling.
During the third great stage of cosmic evolution, about which we shall speak later in greater detail,
some of the created beings, mainly human predecessors, were imbued with the first traces of
independent movement. This was again bought at the price of a further densification and coarsening of
the original physical substance. It fell still deeper into unconsciousness; in other words, it moved further
away from its origin in divine thought. By this sacrifice the foundation was laid for that realm, in the
bodily existence, against which the human being will be enabled in future to develop conscious willing.
During the fourth great cosmic cycle, part of the original physical substance was densified to such a
degree that it no longer showed any trace of its divine origin. Thereby one of the species of creation,
humanity itself, was enabled to realize, through their participation in the emancipated substance, their
own independence, their ego. Thus humanity realized the great split, which had been enacted in order to
initiate higher stages of consciousness, and could also work toward the great union of that which has
fallen and that which rose. This is the stage of our present universe.
We are indeed a microcosmic image of macrocosmic evolution. By studying and recognizing our
true nature, we can at the same time develop a recognition of the dynamic character of the universe. This
fact was always known by the wise and prominent spiritual leaders of humanity. With regard to the
bodily nature, one knew that the human being on Earth is a perfect image of the facts and details in the
great universe of the stars. In ancient times, studying the becoming and development of the human body
meant at the same time studying the genesis of the universe. For human beings were perceived as having
derived their bodily organization from the stars during the stages of their prenatal descent to the Earth.
Thus the human body has been perceived from ancient times as a twelvefold unit akin to the 12 constel-
lations of the Zodiac. This ancient knowledge has come down to our age by tradition, but modern
spiritual science has rediscovered it as a fact which new spiritual insight reveals. Therefore the human
being appears in the following relationship to the constellations of the Zodiac:
1. Head Ram
2. Organism of the larynx Bull
3. Arms Twins
4. Chest Crab
5. Interior of the chest Lion
6. Organs and intestines
below the diaphragm Virgin
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7. Pelvis Scales
8. Organs of propagation Scorpion
9. Thighs Archer
10. Knees Goat
11. Calves Waterman
12. Feet Fishes
If we recall now what we said about the threefold nature of our bodily organization and take into
consideration the connection with the Zodiac, then we must expect to also find this threefold being in the
world of the stars. In other words, if we have to search for the origin of the human body among the stars
of the Zodiac, then the Zodiac itself must be of a threefold nature, revealing the same history of cosmic
evolution that the human body reveals.
We can imagine that the constellations from Ram to Twins constitute the cosmic equivalent of the
head organism, the constellations from Crab to Scales or Scorpion the middle organization, and Archer,
Goat, Waterman and Fishes the limb organization. However, it would be a crude picture, and we must
not imagine that the ancient wisdom was crude or primitive. The knowledge of human evolution and of
the universe was much more elaborate and exact than we generally assume nowadays.
The secret of our threefold nature and its relationship to the universe was known in the ancient
mysteries as the Mysterium Magnum, the Great Mystery. It is the mystery which is so deeply connected,
for instance, with the ancient Celtic wisdom of the Triads, the knowledge and the deeper meaning of,
“Three are one and one is three”. Only incomplete fractions of those mysteries have come down to us,
and it was Rudolf Steiner who presented them in new forms appropriate to the consciousness of modern
humanity. (See Rudolf Steiner’s, Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy, Oslo, June 1912,
especially lectures V-VII.) When in ancient times the pupils of the mystery places and sanctuaries were
going along the path of careful preparation for the attainment of higher knowledge, they experienced
themselves as that threefold being of which we spoke above. They had to make great efforts and
exercise great strength of character and self-discipline in order to maintain in themselves the unity of the
three beings which they had discovered. They could do it by realizing the cosmic nature and origin of
their being. The circle of the Zodiac in which they could experience the great archetypal image of their
small earthly being helped them to regain the unity, because the circle, and above all the great circle of
the Zodiac, is in itself the essence of perfect harmony and union.
Those scholars of ancient spiritual science realized by looking at the harmony and order of the
celestial world, especially of the Zodiac, how the “three” of the human being and of the whole universe
were united by the great spirit of the universe in “one”. Thus looking upon the human being, they
perceived the threefold being originating in the spiritual being of the Zodiac—the great Father being
whom the ancient Persians called Zaruana Akarana, from which the word Zodiac is derived. They also
became aware that each one of the three human organizations was itself a sevenfold unit, which had the
following relationship to the Zodiac:
Upper Body
1. Ram: Upright position, radiating into the body from the structure of the head and brain
through the skeleton, especially the spinal column.
2. Bull: Forward direction expressed by the organism that is directed toward utterance and
perception of sound (larynx and middle ear).
3. Twin: Symmetry, starting in the duplexity of the eyes and ears, extending into the symmetry
of the arms and of the whole body. The word expressed by the Bull organism here becomes
the deed.
4. Archer: Upper arms, the word transformed into the deed is aiming at the external world.
5. Goat: Elbow, the initial stiffness is taken away and flexibility infused.
6. Waterman: Lower arm, the stream of warmth originating in the warmth of the body meets
the warmth of the external world.
7. Fishes: Hands, the union is established between internal and external world.
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Middle Body
1. Twins: The spinal column and spinal cord. They connect the upper human being with the
lower human being (unequal twins). The spinal cord also constitutes a kind of brain of the
middle human being.
2. Crab: Chest, the sheath enclosing and protecting the organs within the chest.
3. Lion: Interior of the chest—heart and lungs.
4. Virgin: Interior below the diaphragm, seat of the organs of digestion, and the mysterious
region of the transformation of food substances.
5. Scales: Balance between interior regions (Lion and Virgin) and external world.
6. Scorpion: Organs of reproduction.
7. Archer: Direction toward the external world below the human being.
Lower Body
1. Virgin: Solar plexus with kidneys, the “brain” of the lower human being.
2. Scales: Pelvis and hips, the organ of balance of the lower moving human being.
3. Scorpion: External organs of reproduction.
4. Archer: Thighs, movement is facilitated by the tension and relaxation of muscles and sinews
of the upper leg.
5. Goat: Knees, facilitation of flexibility and grace in the movement of the legs.
6. Waterman: Lower legs, meeting of internal warmth in the blood (carrier of emotions, etc.)
and external conditions.
7. Fishes: Feet, touching the Earth.
(From Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy, 1965 edition, page 118.)
Thus the human being was perceived in ancient times as “Three in one and one in three”. We have
come into a position in our age to regain that lost knowledge in a modern sense. If we look at it from the
viewpoint of a spiritual cosmology, we can also realize the unifying factors. For instance, we can see
that the upper and lower person are partly overlapping with regard to their relationship to the Zodiac,
whereas the cosmic middle person acts as a connecting link between the constellations above and below
the equinoxes.
We need to go one step further in order to achieve our initial aim to use the knowledge of our bodily
nature as a key for the understanding of the spiritual nature of the Zodiac. Previously, we pointed out
that our threefold being is a microcosmic recapitulation of the three great stages of cosmic evolution that
were molded into a fourth one, the present stage. To this we have now added the aspect of the seven-
foldness of our three organizations and their relationship to the Zodiac. If such a connection between the
human being and the Zodiac exists, then it logically follows that the Zodiac is also built from the
substance of a world memory, as it were, of those bygone stages of cosmic evolution. Just as our body is
a kind of living monument of the past, the Zodiac is a living and still creative memory-being of the past.
Our further task will now be to detect this active cosmic memory. Thereby we shall gain an insight into
the dynamic character of the constellations of the Zodiac that is not solely dependent on the inexplicable
astrological interpretations which tradition has brought down to us.
The Zodiac as Revelation of the Stages of Cosmic Evolution

The three great stages of past cosmic evolution that are memorized, as it were, by our threefold
organization, were known in all genuine ancient wisdom. The mythologies of the various ancient
peoples speak of them in pictorial form. Usually they were presented as deities of very exalted nature.
As we can easily understand, varying names were used for them. We will use here the conceptions that
modern spiritual science has coined for those three stages. They are given in Rudolf Steiner’s book, An
Outline of Esoteric Science, as:
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1. Ancient Saturn - the first stage
2. Ancient Sun - the second stage
3. Ancient Moon - the third stage
These three were amalgamated in a fourth stage, the present Earth evolution.
The Evolution of Ancient Saturn

The Ancient Saturn stage represents the beginning, the foundation of the physical universe from pure
spiritual existence. It is represented, or “remembered”, in the upper human being and in the Zodiac as
the constellations from Twins via Fishes to Archer (see Fig. 21, pg. 34). Thus we can say that Ancient
Saturn represents something like a gigantic cosmic embryonic process, during which the first indications
of a “head-being” were created, so to speak, out of nothingness, i. e., out of a spiritual world. If we
compare it with the mysterious first stages of embryonic development of a human being, we can also
understand that this “head” had nothing of a likeness to the head of a present human being. Thus we
must first imagine nothing but a world of spiritual beings, who created the “ovum”, as it were, of that
which was to become the future universe. First of all, we need a very clear picture of the hierarchical
choir of those spiritual beings who were experienced as individual Intelligences in all the ancient
mysteries. In the following list, we give their divine names as they were used in ancient times and also
by Rudolf Steiner in his various writings:
An Outline of Esoteric Science Bible Greek
Spirits of Love Seraphim

Spirits of Harmony Cherubim
Spirits of Will Thrones
Spirits of Wisdom Dominions Kyriotetes

Spirits of Motion Mights or Virtues Dynamis
Spirits of Form Powers Exusiai
Spirits of Personality Primal Beginnings Archai

Spirits of Fire Archangels Archangeloi
Spirits of Twilight Angels Angeloi
Spiritual investigation leads back to a point when neither space nor time existed. Only the spiritual
beings of the hierarchies lived in a timeless and spaceless condition. We can get a faint idea of this
condition of existence if we try to comprehend the spacelessness and timelessness of thought. Then the
Spirits of Will or Thrones (see above) stepped forward and, according to the counsel of the highest
divinities, sacrificed a part of their own soul being or substance. This substance appears to spiritual
perception as an entity of divine will forces. This will substance subsequently became the foundation of
all physical existence. Thus we can say that in reality, divine soul force is the essence of all physical and
material being; and we can, therefore, also understand that eastern world conceptions regarded the
physical material world as Maya, as a great illusion. According to those ancient views, which were born
of spiritual perception, matter does not exist as a reality in itself. It was regarded as spirit or divine soul
substance which had been densified to such an extent that it appeared as matter.
The will, which had been sacrificed by the Thrones and was thereby detached from its origin, formed
a kind of immense celestial body of yet chaotic nature. Into this cosmos of soul substance another
hierarchy of divine beings began to work, the Spirits of Wisdom or Kyriotetes. With the advent of this
activity, cosmic evolution had already crossed the border to the very first indications of development in
space and time. We can therefore speak from now on of events that happen subsequently. Hence the
actions of the Thrones and Kyriotetes can be regarded as having taken place during vast cycles of time.
We call them for our purposes “rounds” or “conditions of life”, and thus we can speak of this initial
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activity of the hierarchies mentioned above as the first round of Ancient Saturn. We shall find seven
such vast cycles of evolution or rounds in Ancient Saturn and also in the subsequent great stages of
Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon, and Earth.
In the sense of our previous remarks, we will now try to find the cosmic memory of this first round
of Ancient Saturn in the Zodiac. We found Ancient Saturn connected with those constellations to which
our upper body has a certain affinity. The root of the upper body is the head, especially the brain, which
we saw in relationship to Ram. We can also find the first phase of Ancient Saturn, of which we spoke,
remembered in Ram. In ancient times it was called the Prince of the Zodiac, the leader who looks
backwards and watches his flock following him.
The Ram is the first sign of the Zodiac. It stands in the cosmos as a sign or of something that is a
new beginning. The Fishes is the last constellation and, therefore, signifies something that has come to
an end, to a certain perfection. Thus we can see in Fishes the memory image of the great act of sacrifice
of will, which was given by the Thrones. After a long “inner” or purely spiritual development, they had
come to a point where a part of their own being had become so perfect that they could give it away. Of
course, we are speaking here in terms of time that seem to be a contradiction of what we said previously
about the beginning of Ancient Saturn. However, there is no other possibility, as long as we use human
language that is adapted only to facts in space and time. Yet, we can have an inner impression of what
we have in mind here, when we imagine inner or spiritual experiences of a human being that are not
bound to space and time and which can, as we know, take place in minute flashes of time. Thus we must
imagine that the Thrones had come to a point in which a principle of their own being had come to an
absolute perfection. We may compare it with the moment when a human being dies and lays earthly
existence aside. Then one should expect that one’s life has come to a certain perfection, and the essence
of one’s earthly existence can be handed over to other powers in the universe. This comparison, of
course, can only lead a certain distance, and we must imagine the sacrifice of the Thrones on an
infinitely higher level of consciousness than the human plane.
We should not imagine, however, that a gigantic process of this kind is “fixed” solely in the cosmic
memory of Fishes. We are speaking here of rounds of evolution, immeasurably long intervals of time,
which are on the utmost border of the concept of time in a human sense. We ought to imagine these
cycles or rounds of time as comprising the totality of the Zodiac. The inner development of the Thrones
is expressed, so to speak, as a movement through all the constellations starting from Fishes and going
through Waterman, etc., until it reaches a kind of maturity or climax, which is then given away. With
regard to the present visible cosmos, we usually speak of longer or shorter rhythms of movement, for
instance, of the very slow precession of the vernal point through the Zodiac, which takes nearly 26,000
years. There are, however, still greater cosmic rhythms, such as the movement of the perigee which
needs, according to present calculations, more than a hundred thousand years for one revolution; and
there may be others of still longer periods that we have not yet
discovered. These rhythms must have been initiated by some
kind of cosmic force, and it is this inner activity expressing
itself, ultimately in externally calculable astronomical facts,
which we have in mind when we speak of rounds or cycles.
(The perigee, according to the Copernican conception, is the point of

greatest proximity of the Sun to the elliptic orbit [→] of the Earth.)
First there was purely spiritual and incommensurable activity that became calculable movement much
later through a visible Zodiac. The present Zodiac and the rhythms connected with it are then only a
kind of cosmic record of what went on in the past when the external universe did not yet exist in the
present sense. Thus we should read in the progression of the Zodiac from Fishes to Ram the record of
the sacrifice of will by the Thrones and the activity of the Kyriotetes or Spirits of Wisdom. This
constituted the first round of Ancient Saturn.
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How can we read in Ram the deeds of those Spirits of Wisdom? Their name suggests that they are
connected with divine wisdom. The Thrones gave the initial impetus, for by their sacrifice they created
the vessel for all existence hereafter. The highest divine wisdom was then needed in order to mold the
vessel (that totality of the creature), according to the premeditated intentions and purposes of the highest
divinity. A “plan” of the subsequent phases and features of all evolution had to be infused into the
creature, although we must confess that the concept “plan” is not very satisfactory because it suggests,
according to present standards of thinking, something abstract and lifeless. However, if we visualize
processes of organic growth in nature, we might achieve a better comparison. For instance, a plant
grows out of a small seed; it expands in space according to an invisible but very definite archetype of its
species. It reaches a certain climax of existence, after which it withers away and finally decays. All this
takes place according to a strict rhythm that is the common law of the species of that plant. This law or
archetype of the species is obviously a very powerful entity. We might call it an active “idea”. With
regard to the single plant, it expresses itself as “life” manifest in space and time. It is this kind of “idea”
or “life” but extended to the totality of all cosmic evolution in the past and future, which we have in
mind when we speak of the Kyriotetes as bearing the divine plan, the living divine wisdom in their
being. Therefore, it is more advisable to imagine this planning activity of the Kyriotetes as the absolute
totality of the spiritual kernels of cosmic life archetypes.
Out of the power of this hierarchical dignity, the Kyriotetes worked upon the will substance of the
Divine Father-world. Spiritual investigation reveals that they were not yet able to permeate the celestial
body, consisting of will, with life. Here we are confronted with one of the most fundamental laws of
spiritual development in the cosmos and in the human being. Only an abstract mind would expect that
cosmic evolution must move along an absolute straight line, as it were, from the intention to the goal.
The fact is that all evolution works in curves. The original impulses and intentions may carry the object
forward to a certain point of perfection, but then a relaxation takes place during which new forces are
gathered. After such a period of rest, another effort is made to take evolution still nearer to the ultimate
aim, and so forth. Thus the immense variety of objects and beings in the universe are created.
The activity of the Kyriotetes could not yet be assimilated by the Ancient Saturn body. Instead, a
certain reflection of it, as in a mirror, was created which nevertheless had a deep effect on Ancient Sat-
urn. It is, naturally, extremely difficult to imagine what then took place. There are those archetypal
kernels that carry the absolute spiritual potentiality of all possible life manifestations in them, working
upon and overshadowing the celestial body of Ancient Saturn. They can only exist as reflections within
the latter, but they themselves are flung back into the surroundings of that “star”. Where can we find
anything in the present world which appears to bear a recollection of those events in the past? The
function of the brain of a human being is a microcosmic recapitulation of the events during the first
round of Ancient Saturn. We say that through the capacity of the brain we are thinking beings. We have
a certain contact with the external world through our senses. In our thoughts we conceive the nature of
the objects around us, but we experience over and over again that the thoughts which we have are
shadowy entities that come and go. They are connected in a certain sense with the inherent wisdom of
the object world, yet we realize that these thoughts are only reflections of a reality to which we seem to
have no direct access. This is a similar situation to the one on Ancient Saturn, only on an entirely
different level of our microcosmic existence. We cannot expect, of course, to find on that celestial body,
at this stage, a brain or any object world with inherent thought or wisdom. Rather, we must imagine that
the thought or wisdom was not incorporated in any kind of object. There existed only an objective world
of divine thought or wisdom, part of the being of the Kyriotetes. It created a reflection in Ancient
Saturn; in other words, it established the germ of a capacity to grasp the objective being of divine
wisdom as shadowy and powerless images. Thus the very first foundation was laid for that brain
capacity which the human being now possesses. We can realize the culmination of this initial step of
evolution in the cosmic spiritual properties of the constellation Aries or Ram. This region of the cosmos
is indeed the field from which emanates those forces that enable the human being to build up the
ethereal foundations of the head and brain long before birth. Therefore, the spiritual science of all ages
has regarded Ram as the archetypal region of the head and brain, as we indicated earlier.
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After the phase of evolution initiated by the Spirits of Wisdom had reached a certain culmination,
the Ancient Saturn universe entered another phase of its development. Now another hierarchy of divine
beings were so far evolved that they could take over the heritage of the preceding stage. They were the
Spirits of Motion or Dynamis who now made it their task to further develop what had been achieved by
the Spirits of Wisdom. They penetrated it with inner activity, which we might compare on a grand
cosmic scale with what lives as soul impulses, as emotions and feelings within a human being. Thus
they added to the sublime and calm wisdom coming from the Spirits of Wisdom, the inner motion and
the power of executing the Divine Will. Thereby they became the fathers of all that later flowed into
external cosmic manifestation and activity. For instance, they are the originators of the movements and
rhythms in the world of the stars. These movements were originally brought about by great cosmic
impulses, feelings, and emotions, which existed in the beings of the Spirits of Motion before the stars
had become the visible bodies that we see now. At that time, there existed only this soul world of the
Dynamis in their place. Later the Dynamis withdrew, when they had to leave the universe of creation to
itself for the sake of the evolution of freedom. Consequently, an emancipated and objective physical
starry universe only imitated the original cosmic soul movements as mechanical and computable
rhythms.
The activity of the Spirits of Motion was received by the Ancient Saturn cosmos only in a reflecting
passivity. Earlier this cosmic body could not be permeated by the life-giving impulse of the Spirits of
Wisdom, and far less was it in a condition to assimilate the animating activity of the Spirits of Motion.
Therefore, their reflected psychical impact mingled with those life forces that surrounded Ancient Saturn
and which had come into being through the previous activity of the Spirits of Wisdom. An amal-
gamation of cosmic life and cosmic forces of animation took place, and this entity, consisting of the life
and the soul of the world, enwrapped Ancient Saturn like a mighty but super-sensuous Zodiac or aura.
Thus the life of the cosmos, which was the emanation of the wisdom plan of the cosmos, was permeated
and animated by those sublime cosmic soul forces that later activated the movements and rhythms of the
stars. In other words, that cosmic divine life was organized by an archetypal, purely psychical, star
order.
This was a most decisive step in cosmic evolution for all later creation, although it appeared to be
based on the failure of Ancient Saturn to receive the life of the cosmos and the cosmic psyche into its
own being. The life of the world, which contained the archetypal potentiality of all later features and
aims of cosmic evolution in a state of sublime divine calmness, was endowed with the capacity of
spanning the “time-dome” of the successive cosmic ages. Time was activated and strengthened by those
forces which “take time” for the manifestations of the divine will. They are the same forces that worked
as time-founded rhythms and movements in the cosmos of the stars. This cosmic aura of life and soul
created, as we said above, only a reflection on Ancient Saturn. Thereby, the very first archetypal
foundation of the physical kingdoms of the Earth was laid; and this is the origin of the division of the
mineral kingdom into 12 great groups of substances, of the 12 species of the animal kingdom, of the
human twelvefold physical body, etc. The twelve-foldness and other cosmic principles of numbers,
which appear manifest in these kingdoms, still bear the imprint of that reflection which was impressed
on Ancient Saturn through the amalgamation of the aura of cosmic life and cosmic soul or astral forces
(astrum: Latin - astron, Greek - star in a spiritual sense).
This whole phase of Ancient Saturn evolution is written into the constellation of Bull. It must have
been known in ancient times, because we find Bull depicted on old star maps with lowered head and
horns and in the momentum of a powerful forward movement. But more is hidden here. Earlier we
pointed out that the Bull was always recognized by ancient star wisdom as the archetypal region of the
human larynx and the adjoining organism for hearing and speaking. Indeed, experience can show that
this region of the human organization is built up by forces having their origin in the cosmic direction of
Bull. However, it is not only the human larynx that is formed by those forces. They are active in the
totality of nature, and we can recognize in Bull that cosmic sphere which is related to the beginning of
all creation. Creation is the successive manifestation of the divine Word in the physical world. We might
also call it the outpouring of the divine Word into the manifoldness of the universe, in the sense that we
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hear it proclaimed in the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God... All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was
made”. This archetypal divine Word, whose origin goes back to Ancient Saturn, we must seek spiritually
in the region of Bull. The Bull is, as it were, the divine larynx. Even the human word reveals this origin.
We know that the Ur-alphabet was a reflection of cosmic facts. The consonants were realized as
originating in the constellations of the Zodiac, the vowels in the seven planetary bodies. Of course, later
in history the human word lost much of its cosmic character by the development of the differentiated
and individualized languages. But we can still realize that the thought can become creative when it is
taken hold of by the word. Then the reflection of thought-wisdom and psychical movement unite. This
was initiated by the amalgamation of divine wisdom-life and cosmic soul forces on Ancient Saturn.
We find this archetypal creativeness of Bull forces in all ancient mythologies. For instance, in
ancient Egypt the divine Hathor/Isis forces were venerated. Hathor was imaginatively experienced as the
world cow, who gave sustenance to all creatures. Even in later times Isis was still imagined with a crown
of cow horns. This is one example of how the divine Bull forces were experienced in ancient times; for
it was Isis who spoke to those, who approached her in the temples, of the mysteries with the words, “I
am the ALL that has been, that is and that will be...” She was experienced as the Great Mother of all that
had been created and that will come to pass in the future. Thus the ancient times were expressed in its
own language as the knowledge of the world creative background of Bull.
To come back to the evolution of Ancient Saturn, we ought to be aware of the fact that by the
amalgamation of divine wisdom-life and cosmic psychical forces, a region was created in which dwelled
the spiritual archetypes of later physical differentiation. These forces were held back in the aura of
Ancient Saturn in a latent but extremely powerful condition; and in order to guide its impact into the
realm of physically differentiated manifestation; in other words, into that chaotic will of which the body
of Ancient Saturn consisted, another step of cosmic evolution was necessary.
After the cycle that we see remembered in Bull had reached a certain culmination, another hierarchy
of spiritual beings, the Spirits of Form or Exusiai came to the foreground. They had the power to form
the still formless, but they also carried in their being the impulse for individualization. They are indeed
those hierarchical beings who insisted through all cosmic evolution on the development of the ego or
“I”. Their efforts were always concentrated on the establishment of this faculty in the creature. They
certainly could not awaken it in the substance of Ancient Saturn, and only at a much later stage of
evolution did they succeed in implanting the power of the ego in humanity. Consequently, their impulse
was also unable to permeate the body of Ancient Saturn, but their activity left an imprint or reflection on
it. Thus it happened that during their phase of influence, external images of individualization or
differentiation appeared in the substance of the celestial body. It had a twofold effect. That chaotic will
substance, of which we spoke in the beginning, appeared divided into many small entities. This was only
a reflection, an image as it were, of what went on in the aura of the planet. For the activity of the Spirits
of Form had been flung back into the environment of Ancient Saturn and there had individualized that
subtle Zodiac consisting of divine wisdom-life and cosmic soul qualities. The particles of the planetary
kernel of Ancient Saturn itself, which bore the image of individualization and differentiation, became
later on the bodily vehicle of all objects and beings in the kingdoms of nature, including the human
kingdom. The whole “planet”, as one might call it if an observer could have seen it from outside, would
have appeared like a mulberry or a blackberry. Thus the impulses of the Spirits of Form prepared the
way for the ultimate manifestation of the divine Word in physical reality, and thus they also established
the fact that the interrelationship of the kingdoms of the physical world became an image of the cosmic
order. The mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms represent a kind of projection onto the Earth of the laws
and the order in the planetary and zodiacal worlds. Ancient humanity represented them in its
hierarchically oriented social organisms of the past. It has lost this connection in modern times, but it
must consciously rediscover its cosmic archetypal order if it wants to survive.
This great cycle of Ancient Saturn is inscribed in the constellation of Twins. On all ancient star maps
we find there the two, and if we take into account all the mythologies that are connected with Twins,
then we shall realize that we are confronted here with the origin of “cell division” in all creation. The
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constellation of Twins, indeed, indicates the direction in which we have to search for the archetypal cell
division of the Spirits of Form, when they divided the body of Ancient Saturn into single particles. This
archetypal cell division is, for instance, still present as reflection in the Twin region of the human
organization. As we demonstrated earlier, Twins appear manifest in the shoulders, arms and hands, and
also in the spinal cord, which establishes the connection between the “twins” of head and limbs. We are
obviously confronted here with a kind of memory of the beginnings of a cosmic cell division in the past.
Everything that appears connected with symmetry in the human body is based on it. However, there is
also another aspect. With ones hands one touches and grasps an external natural world. The human
being is even capable of molding this external world through activity, to a certain extent. Through this
confrontation, the human being experiences itself as an emancipated and individual being. Thus we have
recapitulated, in the Twin region of the human body, both the cosmic processes of emancipation and
self-realization, which was initiated on Ancient Saturn by the Spirits of Form.
In order to have self-realization one must be a personality. Of course, the human being was not able
to make itself manifest as a personality on Ancient Saturn. Only the very first indications and
physiological conditions were created, which should much later enable self-realization as an
emancipated human being. Undoubtedly, we cannot speak of the existence of a human being with arms
and hands on Ancient Saturn. There was not yet an external world, in the present sense, in which the
human being could stand against in order to have an opportunity of self-realization. All this had to be
prepared through immeasurably long ages of cosmic evolution. For instance, if we had, the possibility to
catch the moment, when during the embryonic development the organism was just on the point of
developing arms, etc., we should have a truer picture of the archetypal Twin forces.
In order to prepare the way for the working of these Twin forces, another hierarchy of divine being,
the Archai or Spirits of Personality, exerted their influence on Ancient Saturn after the Spirits of Form.
They had then reached a remarkable stage of their own development, because they experienced
themselves on a similar level of consciousness to that of humanity under present world conditions. They
realized themselves, in a certain sense, as individual beings. This was made possible by the preceding
evolution of Ancient Saturn. We heard that the body of Ancient Saturn acted as a kind of reflecting
mirror for the activities of the spiritual hierarchies. Thereby, something that originally had been of
divine soul nature, the will, had been sent on the way to externalization. This helped the Spirits of
Personality find a plane of external resistance against which they realized their own personality. They
extended their own being into those differentiated entities of which the “planet” now consisted, and in
the passive resistance, which they encountered in that region, they saw the reflection of their own being,
as in a mirror. Thus we again have a twofold effect. The Spirits of Personality were able to go through a
kind of “human” development, and the differentiated entities, in which we have to see the “ancestors” of
humanity, received a reflection or imprinted image of emancipated personality.
This reflection we can understand again as a kind of “physiological” effect only, but it caused a
tremendous change in the nature of those entities. The will substance, a cosmic psychical substance, was
transformed into warmth. This warmth was the foundation of everything that we meet later on in cosmic
evolution as “physical” substance. It was obviously the first indication of the emancipation from the
original divine soul substance, of a falling away from the origin. We have thus described the nature of
that reflection, which was caused by the “human” development of the Archai on the “ancestors” of
humanity. We have here also the moment in cosmic evolution where we see a divine element of cosmic-
psychical nature changed into something of apparently non-divine nature (ultimately matter), by a
change of perspective, as it were. Ancient eastern peoples who knew this fact could therefore say that
the external material aspect of the world is Maya and the reality behind it is spirit.
Two other facts are also connected with that past phase of cosmic evolution. The first is the truth that
humanity of our present stage of development needs the sphere of resistance coming from the physical
body in order for the self-realization of our individuality. All the experiences that we can have through
our bodily organization, including illnesses, etc., make us aware of a distinction between our individual
selves and the external world. We can see in this a kind of recapitulation of the “human” experience of
the Archai on Ancient Saturn, although on an entirely different level. In the fact that we need the warmth
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of our blood in order to realize ourselves as an “I”, reveals the intimate connection with that stage on
Ancient Saturn when the will was transformed into warmth under the impact of the personality
experience of the Archai. The warm bloodstream of the human being is the physiological vehicle of this
self-realization as an “I”. Thus we find another correlation with the Twin cycle of Ancient Saturn, where
we first saw the Spirits of Form and then the Spirits of Personality at work.
We see the externalization and individualization, starting on Ancient Saturn, also expressed in a
different cosmic direction. We said that Twins constitutes a cosmic region that contains, in archetypal
tendency, the “status nascendus” of externalization and radiation, as expressed in the human body. The
act of going from a central point to the periphery is indicated by the upper arm and upper leg. They are,
as we said previously, a manifestation of the constellation of Archer, which is opposite Twins in the sky.
Thus we must also include the aspect of Archer in this whole phase of Ancient Saturn evolution. In other
words, we can see those activities of the Spirits of Form and the Spirits of Personality recorded in the
interplay of the constellations of Twins and Archer. Thereby the foundation of a physiological
instrumentality, the Archer-organization, was created by which the human being could later on be “sent
out” into the loneliness of self-realization, as a bodily entity detached from the external universe. We
can then also understand that ancient peoples had the imagination of the Centaur when they looked in
the direction of Archer. The Centaur is a being that is half human and half horse, which is only on the
way to becoming a fully developed human being. Through the battle between the upper self striving to
become human and the lower animal organism, the aim of “I” realization can be attained. The Archer
aims with bow and arrow at something in the distance, which is nothing other than the attainment of its
Self.
On the basis of the beginnings of externalization, the physiological impulse of emancipation and
self-realization was implanted into the Ancient Saturn ancestors of humanity. The planet then entered a
further cycle of its existence. It follows quite logically that a being, which had been put on to the path of
evolution described, would sooner or later have to acquire organs with which it could realize an external
world in contradistinction to its own internal being. We should expect to find such organs, according to
present standards of human existence, somewhere in the direction of the sense organs. Indeed, during the
following phase of Ancient Saturn, the very first indications of the present sense organs were founded.
In order to achieve this, another hierarchy of spiritual beings, the Archangeloi, came to the foreground.
At that time, they had not yet achieved the consciousness level of the present human being. They were,
therefore, not able to act independently. They could only work to serve a much higher hierarchy, the
Seraphim or Spirits of Love. This hierarchy had attained a very high level of development. In mighty
imaginations, they beheld the events that were taking place on Ancient Saturn. But they sacrificed their
visions, and the Archangeloi were thereby enabled to weave out of this sacrificed substance the first
ethereal foundations of the sense organs. These germs “radiated” light into the darkness of the Ancient
Saturn body, and the Seraphim permeated these radiations with their sublime clairvoyant experiences of
the Saturn universe.
Thus we are here confronted with the actual foundation of the objective external universe, which we
now perceive through our senses. The coming into existence of the external universe is closely bound up
with the development of the activity of the human sense organs. Originally, it was clairvoyant beholding
in the Seraphim or Spirits of Love; then it was sacrificed. In other words, it was emancipated from its
origin and transformed by the divine creative faculty of the Archangeloi into an objective appearance
existing in and through the senses.
Here we are again, from a different angle, confronted with the background of the ancient truth that
the universe, which we perceive through the senses, is in reality of spiritual essence. Modern humanity
has forgotten this truth, and therefore the universe appears to be divorced from the spirit. However, now
a moment has come when the human being must again begin to learn that the world, which presents
itself through the senses, contains a much greater spiritual reality hidden “behind” the mere appearance.
We have now acquired the capacity to realize, in full self-consciousness, the spiritual subjectivity hiding
behind the veil of the apparent “objective” external universe. We can gradually approach the sublime
truth, “I am the universe and the universe is in me”. One will realize that this is one of the most
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profound aspects of a spiritual Christianity. Of course, present humanity, generally speaking, is still far
away from such a realization, but if humanity is to attain the Pauline ideal (Epistle of St. Paul to the
Galatians), “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”, then at least a few must start on the road toward
this goal.
This cycle of the combined activity of the Seraphim and the Archangeloi in Ancient Saturn is written
into the constellations of Capricorn and the opposite, Cancer. However, in order to get a clear picture of
the progression of evolution as it appears in the Zodiac, we must add another viewpoint to our previous
consideration of the preceding Twins cycles. During one of those cycles, we found the Spirits of Form
or Exusiai working upon Ancient Saturn. We saw this inscribed into the constellation of Twins. Then the
Spirits of Personality or Archai took over, and their activity appears in Archer or Sagittarius. We must
imagine that the Archai worked from Twins toward the opposite constellation of Archer.
The Archer (Centaur) is like an imagination of the Ancient Saturn ancestor of the human being in
whose warmth or heat organism the Archai were able to experience their humanhood. Thus we should
find two impulses or cycles of evolution inscribed in Twins. In a certain sense, one can even say that
Twins appears at first like two constellations, whereas Archer did not yet exist. Then through the
working of the Archai the foundation was laid for the new constellation of Archer. In other words, the
foundation for the new hierarchy—humanity—was created, whereas Twins became one. Thereby the
original duality of Twins would show a twofold cosmic impulse, which is also responsible for the
creation of Twins as a visible constellation. Thus appears the divine intention of the Spirits of Form,
who prepared through immeasurable ages of cosmic evolution the time when the creature was able to
receive the “eternal individuality”, which goes from incarnation to incarnation as an indestructible
entity. Also inscribed here is the impulse of the Archai or Spirits of Personality to imbue the human
being with “personality”—the experience of the self in a bodily frame. Now we can also understand the
Twins mythology of Castor and Pollux, i.e., Pollux being the immortal twin and Castor is described as
being of mortal nature.
Thus we followed evolution by going from Twins across to Archer, and the following cycles we can
then find in the constellation of Goat and its opposite, Crab.
From such viewpoints, the Zodiac becomes, indeed, a kind of chronicle of the working of the Divine
world in Ancient Saturn. However, we must not forget that there did not yet exist a visible Zodiac on
Ancient Saturn. Instead, it is surrounded by that kind of aura that we mentioned previously and which
only much later became the present Zodiac.
Can we recognize in the dynamics of the constellations of Goat and Crab that foundation of the
ethereal sense organs on Ancient Saturn? The imagination of Goat, on ancient star maps, shows us a
creature that stands on the summit of a high mountain, reaching out with its mighty horns into the pure
spheres of cosmic light and warmth. In this we might recognize an indication of the highest hierarchy,
the Seraphim; but with its hind part, this animal reaches down into a much lower realm. In
representations, which go back thousands of years BC, the ibex appears with a fishtail instead of hind
legs. We may take this as an indication of the sacrifice of the Seraphim. Even the age-old symbol that is
used for Goat expresses this twofold aspect very clearly:
In the top part of the symbol, there appears an element of universal receptiveness; whereas the lower
part indicates a kind of involution.
The imagination of Crab presents us with an animal that is enclosed in a hard shell. Some of the
species have the capacity to move backwards with great rapidity, to retreat, so to speak, into the cavity
of their own house. In this picture, we find emphasized the working of the Archangeloi on Ancient
Saturn. In order to create those ethereal indications of the sense organs, they had to work from within the
ancestor of the human being. They withdrew this human ancestor behind a kind of shell or very subtle
skin, and those primitive sense organs might be more likened to a general “skin-sense”. But the
imagination of Crab also demonstrates a kinship to the spiral fishtail of Goat, as if receiving in an act of
involution the sacrifice of the Seraphim. This is strongly emphasized by the symbol which we use for
Crab: 
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One question still remains to be answered: How can we reconcile these views with the zodiacal
archetypes of the human body? The Goat is connected with the joints of the arms and the knees. These
joints seem to have a purely mechanical function, but they also have another significance. The upper
arm and the upper leg represent in the human organism the tendency to turn from an inner, enclosed
sphere to the external world. If there were no joints intersecting arms and legs, the legs would constitute
rather clumsy stilt-like instruments. However, by this “intersection” a kind of gradual and harmonious
linking up with the external world is established. In a certain sense, the lower arms and legs already
belong to the external world. If we then take the concept “sense organ” widely enough, we may well call
all the joints sense organs in a primitive sense. They establish a focus between internal and external
dynamics. Thus we can see in Capricorn or Goat, as it is manifest in the human organism, a kind of
memory of what happened on Ancient Saturn and also a forecast of the future function of that primitive
sense organ, which was then created. This connection of Goat with the sense organs has always been
known in occultism. One knew that this constellation is the archetypal region of the sense of ocular
vision. A study of the human eye can justify the idea that the eye is a knee which has been transformed
into an organ of sight, because in the eye, the impact of a so-called external world meets the realm of
conception within the human being.
The Crab, which is manifest in the chest of the human being, has a different character. The chest
embraces and protects the organs of heart and lungs. But even these organs can be regarded as sense
organs, although their “perceptions” may appear to be below the surface of human day consciousness.
The withdrawing, inward aspect of sense perception is emphasized more. Occult wisdom connects Crab
with the sense of touch, which one might call a kind of primitive skin-sense. Thus we also find here a
perspective of facts that ultimately lead back to that phase of Ancient Saturn described above. Of course,
it would be quite wrong to imagine that there existed anything like the present sense organs on Ancient
Saturn, as there also wasn’t an “external” world that these senses could have perceived. The senses
existed only as purely ethereal potentialities. It might be helpful to imagine that during the initial phases
of embryonic development, there exist already faint indications of the sense organs, for instance the
eyes, and ears, etc. They can develop into healthy sense organs, but during embryonic development they
could not be used as such.
The Archangeloi developed their own being through the foundation of the archetypal sense organs in
our human ancestors. They could make use of them, but the human being had no consciousness of what
was going on through them. In order to have such notions, soul capacities are needed. These were
developed only much later in evolution, but the foundations for such capacities were already laid on
Ancient Saturn. This took place during another cycle of evolution. After the Archangeloi had achieved
what could be done under the prevailing conditions, the hierarchy of the Angeloi or Sons of Twilight
began to work. They founded in our human ancestors a kind of archetypal metabolism. However, as they
were on a still lower level of consciousness than the Archangeloi, with regard to their own capacities,
they were even less able to work independently. Therefore, they needed the cooperation of the exalted
hierarchy of the Cherubim or Spirits of the Harmony. Their name suggests that they lived in the sphere
of the celestial harmonies, so to speak, in the music that permeated the whole Ancient Saturn universe,
which they experienced from without, as a great musical instrument that they could create sound with
according to laws akin to the laws of music. The Angeloi, being their servers, implanted the effects of
these spiritual-cosmic, musical compositions into the bodies of Saturn beings.
We have a faint picture of their activities, if we try to imagine those forces that work at present on
the plant. The dynamic forces, causing the growth of the plant, take up matter and form it into a being,
which selflessly imitates the great rhythms and the structure of the cosmos of the stars. We have such a
metabolism in mind when we speak of the activities of the Angeloi. In a certain sense, the plant is a
much more efficient “cosmologist” than we are, who at present grasp the grandeur of the cosmos only
through one of our senses—eyesight. The plant “conceives” it in a totally different manner and with
more comprehensive, though unconscious, faculties.
Yet, we must not forget that the Saturn metabolism was totally different from present conditions. It
was a metabolism of warmth. Warmth of various degrees flowed through those bodies on Ancient
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Saturn. However, that warmth was still very near its origin, the divine Will of the Thrones. And we can
thus imagine that with that warmth, the most sublime intentions and ideas of the highest spiritual
hierarchies flowed through humanity and were “digested”. Thus the potentiality to have and to employ
reason at a later stage of evolution was founded in humanity. Through this germinal capacity, there
became manifest in the human being of Ancient Saturn the exalted experiences of divine harmony,
which the Cherubim had when they “listened” to the events on that planet. A shadowy reflection still
lives in present humanity when sense experiences are grasped and sorted out or “digested” in the realm
of reason. Then the human being searches for the archetypal harmonies of all things. We know that
music has the capacity to stimulate thinking.
We can find this phase of Ancient Saturn written into the constellations of Waterman and Lion. In all
true ancient mysteries, and also in modern spiritual science, these two constellations are recognized as
archetypal regions in which the heart and circulatory functions of the human body originate. With Lion,
one connected more with that which acts as a concentrating faculty, for instance, in the function of the
heart; whereas, Waterman was associated with peripheral actions of the circulatory system. Therefore,
Waterman was perceived to be concerned with the lower arms and legs. In these regions the bloodstream
coming from the heart “loses” itself peripherally. It is common knowledge that the warmth organism of
the human body can be influenced and regulated in the lower arms and legs. Thus we have in Lion-
Waterman a cosmic direction from which was born the warmth-metabolism of the bloodstream, and it
was founded on Ancient Saturn during the Waterman-Lion cycle, although we cannot yet speak of a
circulatory life in Ancient Saturn humanity. They had only a reflection of life, which was caused by that
warmth-metabolism flowing through them. On the waves of the Saturn warmth, there moved, as it were,
the divine intentions and ideas moved inherent in the divine Will. Thereby appearing in humanity was
something like borrowed or reflected life. We might get nearer an imagination of these events if we
think of the shadowy existence of thoughts and ideas. They have an objective spiritual existence and life,
but in the human being they appear as lifeless reflections.
In a certain sense, we are here reminded of what we said already in connection with the Ram cycle
of Ancient Saturn, but now those shadowy reflections were embedded in humanity’s Saturn ancestor.
We might say they had, in the meantime, become individualized and constituted a kind of borrowed life,
such as the thoughts in the head of a modern human being. This comparison with the head of a human
being is correct to a high degree, for the head can only have a borrowed minimum of life in order to
fulfill its functions. In this sense, we may even regard Lion-Waterman phase particularly, and the whole
Ancient Saturn evolution in general, as a stage of creation during which the first archetypal indications
of the human head came into existence. Hence, we come from an entirely different angle to the aspect of
the cosmic human being than we indicated earlier. Furthermore, modern embryological research
confirms, from an entirely different angle, that the head is the primary foundation of the embryo.
However, it cannot reasonably be expected that our Saturn ancestor had a head similar to that of a
present human being. Rather, we imagine that the functional potentiality toward a head was then created,
similar to the structure of the human head during the very first weeks of embryonic development.
We come now to the last great cycle of Ancient Saturn. The human being appeared then as highly
perfected as was possible under those planetary conditions and the preceding stages of development.
They had no life and no consciousness, and in a certain sense, human beings were like a mineral of the
present day but consisting of a totally different substantiality. They had the appearance of an automaton,
a reflection of what took place in their surroundings, guided by beings of the spiritual hierarchies.
Consequently, they bore an uncorrupt picture of the intentions and impulses of the Divine world in their
being. A faint shadow of this kind of absolute, but unconscious, objectivity is still prevalent in our
present physical body, although it is still to a high degree out of the reach of our self-willed soul forces.
We can see, therefore, in the physical body a replica of this quality of the Ancient Saturn human. Those
warmth entities, which were created then, were the origins of our present physical frames. Corruption
overtook them inasmuch as gaseous, fluid, and solid matter was infused into them in the course of cos-
mic evolution. Beyond these corruptions, we can behold a physical being who is the perfect archetype of
the human being as it was intended by the Divine world. Therefore we may call the last phase of Ancient
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Saturn the cycle of the manifestation of cosmic divine human beings as a lifeless and unconscious image
of the totality of the divine cosmos.
This last cycle of Ancient Saturn is recorded in the constellation of Fishes. Before we can realize this
in its full significance, we must try to create a picture of that Ancient Saturn human being. Certainly all
such attempts can only lead a certain distance, because all concepts that we employ for such descriptions
are taken from present world conditions and are inadequate.
On Ancient Saturn we can roughly distinguish seven great cycles or rounds, as they are called in
occultism. In the beginning of the first round, we saw the sacrifice of divine Will by the Thrones or
Spirits of Will. Then the Kyriotetes or Spirits of Wisdom started to work upon this Will substance,
imprinting into it a reflection of life. We said this was the very first indication of a brain, which we
should regard as a yet undifferentiated “world brain”. Furthermore, we saw this cosmic event
remembered in the constellation of Ram. In the human head, Ram appears remembered, as it were, in
the figure formed by the nose and the eyebrows. It has the form of the symbol that we use for Ram (Fig.
1). Nature employed here one of the most fundamental principles of creation, as we shall find out on the
following pages. In a symbolic sense, it can also be read as in figure 2.
Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure3 Figure 4
This leads us to the opposite constellation of Scales, which we must also take into account. There we
can see more the “divine act” of the sacrifice of the divine Will (Figs. 3 & 4).
The symbol in figure 4 wants to indicate something similar to a setting sun, the sacrifice of divine
cosmic forces.
If we combine the two, we can get something like the following symbol:
Figure 5 Figure 6
The Sun-being, standing for divine cosmic forces, descends to a lower level of existence, thus
providing a fundamental impulse of evolution, and thereby a reflection is created. This
reflection we may read as in figure 7. It is something like a faint indication of a human skull,
so to say, the basic structure of a skull consisting only of the base of the brain with an
immanent upward and downward possibility of development. This strikingly resembles the very
first phases of ossification of the head during the embryonic stages of the human being. Figure 7
The second great round of Ancient Saturn we found inscribed in Bull. The Spirits of Motion
tried then to permeate the planet with cosmic soul forces. These were flung back and they
united with the life forces originating from the activity of the Spirits of Wisdom, thus
establishing the divine Word. For Bull we use the symbol () which we can well transform
into the image of the ancient Egyptian Hathor-Cow, later known as Isis (Fig. 8). Figure 8
There still exist Egyptian representations of Hathor as a celestial cow with a golden Sun disc
between her horns. To the supreme spiritual Sun forces of life are now added the Moon-like forces of
cosmic soul existence, but they do not enter the cow, they hover above it. This is also emphasized by the
opposite constellation of Scorpion. The Scorpion did not exist in very ancient times; instead, there was
perceived in that region of the cosmos the Eagle. For this Eagle we might use a symbol
which suggests the hovering element (Fig. 9). Figure 9
Nevertheless, a reflection came into being in the Ancient Saturn body in which we may see a further
elaboration of Ram picture. The skull would then appear ossified to a still higher degree than
before, as Figure 10 illustrates. We emphasize, however, that we do not regard the cycles of
Ancient Saturn as leading straight from Ram to Bull. Rather, we imagine a cosmic impulse
starting in Fishes, as it were, and then going through the Zodiac via Waterman, Goat, etc., until
it reaches a culmination in Ram, and so forth. Figure 10
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The third round we saw in Twins, when the Spirits of Form initiated a turn toward individualization
and emancipation within the Ancient Saturn universe. Through this process another reflection was
brought about in the planet, which made its substance appear divided into many single bodies. This
activity we may indicate by the traditional symbol . We called it a kind of archetypal cell
division, and we can understand the symbol as a further development of the sign for Bull
(Fig. 11). Extended to the image of the Ancient Saturn ancestor of humanity, it would be
more or less in the direction suggested by figure 12. Figure 11 and 12
We have here the cosmic origin of symmetry in the human body, rooted in a kind of archetypal
division of the Ur-brain into two hemispheres. It is possible to imagine that the impact leading to the
archetypal division of the Ur-brain “sank” into the organism during later stages of evolution, thereby
creating symmetry within it.
Following the Spirits of Form were the Spirits of Personality, during the fourth round of Ancient
Saturn. With their activity a turning point was reached. Hitherto we could only speak of a planet
consisting of cosmic psychical substance; now it was turned into warmth or heat. The Ancient Saturn
cosmos was on the way to creating within its own being a sphere of “external existence”. We saw this as
an event that we might describe in modern language as interplay between Twins and Archer. The
traditional symbol for Archer is . We can transform it in our picture of the Saturn human being as in
figure 13. Thus Archer tendency appears like a first indication of descent into the jaws, which is at the
same time a turning toward an external world. So to speak, the divided hemispheres of the Ur-brain
create their first externalization, the lower part of the skull. The jaws can indeed be regarded as the
equivalent of arms and legs. We may again imagine that they were created during a much later phase.
We will recall that we do not imagine humanity on Ancient Saturn with a body which had evolved limbs
of any kind. Only the potentiality was created and infused into the body, which is also indicated by the
elongation of the spinal cord from the brain into the lower organism. Figure 13
During the fifth round of Ancient Saturn, the Archangels started to build the germs of the
sense organs into the Saturn human ancestor. They did it in conjunction with the Seraphim.
This development we saw engraved into the constellations of Goat and Crab. For Goat the sign  is
used, or . We have pointed out already that Goat is, in a deeper sense, associated with the sense of
sight. If we alter the symbol for Goat into the more archetypal conception of ,as has been suggested
earlier, then we come to the picture of the archetypal human being in figure 14. The horns are an
indication of the dawning capacity to grasp an “external” reality; whereas the spiral points toward the
combination of this capacity with the faculties of the Ur-brain. This refers not only to the sense organs
of ocular vision, but in an even more pronounced sense, to the organ of hearing. The spiral organ
or cochlea of the inner ear imitates the spiral fishtail of Goat. Figure 14
To this was now added the impact of Crab, . Thereby the foundation for the later
formation of the upper skull was laid (Fig. 15). This may also give us an indication as to how the later
conditions of substance (heat or warmth in Ancient Saturn) came into existence. Coinciding with the
action of the senses, the external world itself came into existence. And as much as the activity of the
sense organs moved away during later stages of evolution from its divine origin, so also was the physical
world densified into air, water, and finally solid substance. Therefore, we find the constellation of Crab
ultimately connected in occultism with philosophic materialism. It is the heritage of the Saturn-
Crab carried to its final conclusion in the process of creation. Figure 15
During the sixth cycle of Ancient Saturn, the Angeloi, cooperating with the Cherubim,
established an archetypal metabolism. We saw this stage recorded in the constellations of Waterman and
Lion. Their signs are  and . If we include this activity in the archetype of the human head, we come
to a most interesting picture (see Fig. 16 below). Of course the human being on Ancient Saturn had no
mouth. Instead, we might imagine the streams of warmth going in and out as does nutrition. The streams
of warmth were permeated by a reflection of those harmonies of the Saturn cosmos that were regulated
and brought forth by the Spirits of Harmony. Thus, the still dormant capacity to realize universal har-
mony in individual reason was established within humanity. Through the union of the external stream
46
and the internal capacity located in the Ur-brain (or in cosmic language, through the workings of
Waterman and Lion), the potentiality was created to imbue the air current moving through mouth and
larynx with the thought. In this way the development of language as the purest expression of human
activity and willing was made possible during Earth evolution. Figure 16
Finally, during the seventh round of Ancient Saturn, the archetype of the human being had
reached a certain perfection. It was still lifeless and appeared like an automaton of the
surrounding Divine world. We may imagine it to be as a phantom or as the faint image of a
human head rising up from the veils of warmth on Ancient Saturn. This final act of Ancient
Saturn we can recognize in the dynamics of the constellations of Fishes and Virgin. Of course that head
was absolutely unlike a head of a present human being. It was, as it were, a mask-like feature; whereas
its living origin was the totality of the spiritual world around. Thus we can also find an approach to the
statements of the religious documents of when they speak of the human being as having been created in
the image of God. We will have more to say about this last phase of Ancient Saturn and the con-
stellations of Fishes and Virgin later.
Now we come back to the suggestion that we made near the beginning of Part Two. The
organization of the human head is a living memory of Ancient Saturn. There exist many more such
memories in nature of that stage of cosmic evolution, but the head, or upper human being, is the most
conspicuous among them. Yet it would be misleading if we imagined the human beings on Ancient
Saturn as a head corresponding to the outlines of a present head. The bodily form at that time had a
shape resembling much more that of a chest than a head. It was a chest in the sense that a vertebra-like
organization constituted the resting part and more or less ribs the radiating part of the Saturn head. The
whole organism consisting of warmth was very subtle and absolutely open, such as a bowl or sieve, to
the influxes from the environment.
The human being, as presented by the Mysterium Magnum, is indeed a picture of the whole cosmic
evolution of the past (see pages 61-2). The head or upper person bears the traces of Ancient Saturn, the
middle person recapitulates the evolution of Ancient Sun, and the lower person resembles the stages of
development on Ancient Moon. However, even this is not quite a correct statement, because the three
organizations have gone through many metamorphoses to become what they are today. We have already
pointed out that the head of the Ancient Saturn human being had more the form of a chest. That chest-
like being is really the origin of our material form. At a much later stage it deteriorated, as it were, into
the hardened forms of a head. This seems to be a contradiction, but we will get a more satisfactory
picture if we try to imagine the archetypal formative principle that works in all three organizations of the
human being.
With regard to its functional properties, the human head already contains our whole being in a kind
of abbreviation. If we consider the formation of the skeleton of the head, this fact becomes quite obvious
(Fig. 17). The upper part is entirely devoted to a resting attitude. In fact, it can only
fulfill its mission by its stationary condition. Too much movement exerted from outside
disturbs its proper function. The lower part of the skull, especially the lower jaws,
constitutes a kind of limb system of the head. In between the two systems, we find those
organs which serve respiration and the intake of food. It is consequently a realm that is
related to the rhythmic system in the human being. Thus, present in the human head is a
kind of archetype or premonition of the whole threefold being of the human organism. Figure 17
We can also recognize in it the fundamental dynamic principle of human existence altogether. The upper
part with the organs of perception and conception indicate humanity’s inclusion into the whole process
of creation. There human beings have the possibility of a conscious reflection of that which exists in
external space. Even the realization of one’s own bodily frame belongs to that world of external
existence derived from immeasurably long ages of cosmic evolution. In the lower part of the head are
indications of a totally different relationship to the universe. There are the organs and formations
appertaining to an inherent tendency toward transformation, even transubstantiation. Breathing and
digestion are external indications of that inherent urge in the human being. Thus the human head
manifests, with regard to its dynamic layout, the idea of the human being and of the human being’s
47
divine purpose in evolution. We are supposed to be affiliated with the totality of creation for the sake of
transforming creation into something new, which hitherto did not exist. Such a twofold impulse can well
be expressed by a lemniscatory form. The circle would indicate something, if one accepts it
as a symbol of universal significance, that is absolutely perfect and has come to rest. But a
lemniscate represents a polarity; in fact, it is born from a polarity, which works toward the
transformation of something existing into something new. Such a lemniscate is written into
the head of the human being (Fig. 18). Figure 18
The birth of this principle of duality, from the perfect circle or sphere, is strikingly
expressed by the formation of the skeleton of the chest. There the circular tendency is still strongly
emphasized; but in the formation of the vertebra, we already have the indication that a second focus is in
the “status nascendus” (Fig. 19). This “status nascendus” we must seek in Ancient Saturn evolution.
Therefore, we said that the Saturn head was more like a chest, so to say, a lifeless monad with only an
indication of two foci. During later stages of cosmic evolution, the one focus
represented by the vertebra developed more and more. Finally there came a moment
when it was even overemphasized. Then we come to the picture of the human head
(see Fig. 17) where the “vertebra pole” of the upper skull has become predominant
over the “rib” pole of the lower head. This overemphasis coincided with the
development of intellectual capacities in humanity, which are bound to the function of
the “vertebra” pole, the brain. Figure 19
This one-sided development was counteracted by another exaggeration. The resting
part that tends to become like the upper part of the skull shrank, and the pole of
movement gained the upper hand. Thus we can imagine the lower extremities having
come into existence (Fig. 20). The “vertebra” pole is almost fading out, but the ribs are
over-extended, as legs. The middle organization retains, to a high degree, the “status
nascendus” of the original archetype and keeps it flexible. However, head and limbs have
ossified, so to speak, the extreme possibilities of polarity. The three systems together
establish a kind of balance. Figure 20
We have seen that this archetype of the human being has a definite relationship to the
constellations of the Zodiac. Where does this connection come from? Spiritual science gives the
answer. As we enter or draw near to our physical existence, we descend from the cosmic Divine world.
During this sojourn in the world of the spirit before birth, we built up a spiritual form-body. We took the
substances from the starry universe, from the constellations in whose being are recorded the great phases
of past cosmic evolution. Thus in building up the spirit-kernel, which then molds the material embryo
into a human form, we also obtain the great “genesis of creation”. Therefore, this genesis expresses itself
in the features of the human body. As far as we have elaborated the evolution of Ancient Saturn, some-
thing similar to the features of the human head are created in this manner from the memory substance of
the Zodiac. This head-human has the potential to become metamorphosed into the whole human form,
with regard to the threefold human being (see Fig. 21 below).
The Zodiac is the expression of the beings of the Divine world, the spiritual hierarchies. How can we
then imagine the coming into existence of the present visible Zodiac? On Ancient Saturn the starry
world did not exist visibly. Instead, we saw a kind of huge circle or sphere surrounding the planet. This
spiritual circumference was the dwelling place of those hierarchical divinities who worked upon the
Ancient Saturn planet from the periphery. With the great sacrifice of the Spirits of Will, a line of
evolution was already initiated that became, in subsequent stages, the leading principle of all creation.
The hierarchies withdrew in certain moments from the objects of their activity, after they had handed
over the initiative to a lower spiritual hierarchy. The aim of creation was to let the created world
gradually descend into emancipation from the origin, in order to give it the chance of becoming
independent and free. In withdrawing, the hierarchies left behind their garments, so to speak, the
achievements of their activities. The emancipation of the created world expressed itself in increasing
densification. Thus the foundation for the visible universe of the stars and the Zodiac was laid. The stars
in their grandeur are the emancipated essence of the Divine world.
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Figure 21
Thus we find in Ancient Saturn, instead of a Zodiac, a world of beings, the hierarchical world itself.
The present planet Saturn, with its rings, imitates externally the conditions that prevailed on Ancient
Saturn (Fig. 22). Figure 22
Then at a later stage, after the hierarchies had begun to withdraw, this aura
was densified to a certain degree. It was on the way to becoming a Zodiac, but
the hierarchies were able to manifest themselves directly through it. Instead of a
computable fixed-star world, we should have found a world of revelation, which
spontaneously revealed the intentions of the Gods. This universe we may call, according to occult usage,
Ancient Sun.
During a phase of evolution, which occultism calls Ancient Moon, the spiritual hierarchies had
already emancipated themselves to a high degree from the “external” universe, which appeared then still
more densified; but it could still reveal the workings of the Divine world. If one could have entered that
49
universe, one would have realized in the movements of the first indications of an external starry world
the intentions and decisions of the Divine world. It was a shadowy reflection of this kind of realization
that lived dimly in those ancient peoples, who perceived in the rhythms and movements of the visible
stars the manifestation of the will of their deities.
Finally, the spiritual hierarchies almost completely withdrew from the sphere of created being,
which was densified to the point of mineral matter. Consequently, a starry universe appeared that was
computable and seemed to function like a machine. It is a universe that commemorates, only in its gran-
deur, the works and deeds of the Divine world in the past. Thus it appears to be a gigantic monument of
creation. We are presently also drawn into this vortex of emancipation. Through this we have gained so
much inner distance from a universe of all-powerful hierarchical Beings, that we now have the opportu-
nity to seek, in complete freedom and love for the truth, the spiritual background of the cosmos. For the
universe of divine working, of revelation, and of absolute divine being is only hidden “behind” the
curtain of the apparition of a mechanical cosmos.
We tried to seek the spiritual equivalent of the Zodiac on Ancient Saturn in the dynamic archetype of
the human body, especially in the head. In this way we came to a central aspect of Ancient Saturn: the
human being as the object of creation standing in the center of that
universe (see figure 21). From a peripheral aspect, we should find the
hierarchies working from the spiritual heights of the planet.
As we have pointed out earlier, we do not imagine the hierarchies
fixed to one single constellation. Each one of them comprises the
whole Zodiac on the corresponding level (the spiral in figure 23 is
intended to indicate these levels). But they concentrate, as it were,
their activities in one “house” or spiritual world direction. Just as we
perceive the cosmic human being as an image of the totality of the
Zodiac, so we must also assign to the hierarchies their respective
orbits. Thereby we arrive at the picture of celestial spheres of the
hierarchies that are, so to speak, “con-centric” and which were known
and realized by all ancient peoples. Figure 23
The question remains, what existed on Ancient Saturn in the place of the constellations of Virgin,
Scales, Scorpion, and Archer? To this we have one possible answer, which we should like to set down
with utmost caution. We can see behind these constellations the essence of the highest realm of the
divinity, the Trinity, in:
Virgin the Father
Scales the Son
Scorpion (or Eagle) the Holy Spirit
However, this is only a tentative suggestion that would need much more elaboration in order to prevent
misunderstandings.
The Archer would stand for the hierarchy of the human race. In connection with the fourth cycle of
Ancient Saturn, we have already pointed out its background. It represents humanity in “the womb of the
Gods”. We should therefore expect that the constellation of Archer occupied the center of the universe,
as the human being in figure 21 stands (as hierarchy) in the center of the spiral. Modern astronomical
science has indeed discovered that the galaxy or greater universe, of which our solar system is only a
small particle, rotates around a center that lies roughly in the direction of the dense star clouds of Archer
(according to independent investigations by astronomers such as Lindblad, Oort and Plaskett). The
Archer is in the direction of the central point of that spiral, even in an external sense. Moreover, we
know that our whole solar system is moving with great speed toward a point which lies above Archer in
the fixed-star constellation of the Lyre next to Hercules (A. M. Harding, Astronomy, NY).
After all these excursions, we can come back to the seventh round of Ancient Saturn, which we
connected with the constellations of Fishes and Virgin. Humanity appears at that stage to be as an
automaton. Yet we must not forget that humanity was then, in all its imperfection and primitiveness, a
50
perfect and selfless, though lifeless, reflection of the whole spiritual Saturn universe around them.
Thereby, they were endowed with a capacity that, even at present, lies dormant and which will be
consciously developed only in a very dim future. The Spirits of Will or Thrones created in humanity the
germ of the principle of Spirit-Man or, according to eastern terms, Atma. Through the development of
this principle, human beings of the far future will not only be able to perceive the facts and beings of the
spiritual world or become creative in that world clairvoyantly, but will attain the capacity, when the
physical body is no longer needed, to manifest the spirit-cosmos through their own being. For instance,
if we were able to develop this capacity at present, we would not only realize the spiritual potentiality of
Bull or of any other constellation, but we would be able to employ its cosmic potentiality. This would
mean, of course, the attainment of magical faculties on a cosmically grand scale, which we cannot even
imagine at present. Such capacities will spring from a harmonious and conscious amalgamation of the
polarity that is physiologically indicated, for instance, by the dynamic layout of the human head. The
resting pole (perception) is designed to be transformed into a perfect and universal organ of perception,
which will in future no longer be bound to a physical brain that only gives a blurred picture of the
universe. The moving pole (transformation) still has the deeply dormant quality of transforming that
which enters into us from the external world. By higher development we will be enabled one day to
create a new cosmos, together with the higher hierarchies. Creation, in a divine sense, lies within the
dormant potentiality of this field of forces in the human being.
By the cosmic quality of Fishes, the archetypal duality, or rather the threefoldness, of the
human being is unmistakably expressed. The traditional sign for Fishes is . We can apply
this to our earlier pictures of the Saturn head as in figure 24. The two fishes of that
constellation are held together by a faint ribbon of stars. Similarly, the two opposite poles of
the human head are held together by an intervening system. Figure 24
For the constellation of Virgin we use the symbol,. Here we see more the aspect of that exalted
principle of Spirit-Man, which was implanted into humanity to be fully developed in a very dim future.
It is a principle that is still deeply hidden behind three mystical veils—behind three future incarnations
of the Earth universe similar to the three great stages in the past: Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and
Ancient Moon. After the present Earth universe passes away, there will follow three great future phases
evolutions, which spiritual science calls the Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan phase. Only on Vulcan will we
be able to fully develop the capacities of Spirit-Man. These three mystical veils are indicated by the
three strokes of the symbol,. The added lemniscate curve can be read as a sign of
harmonious union of the two opposite poles. Therefore, we may insert in our
archetype of the human head, an inverted lemniscate as a sign of union between the
pole of resting perception and the pole of active transformation and creation (figures
25 & 26). Fig. 25 Fig. 26
The inversion of the lemniscate should emphasize the characteristic inwardness of Virgin. As a
germinal potentiality, it had been given to humanity on Ancient Saturn. It is therefore written into the
physical frame, for instance as we mentioned earlier, into the metamorphoses of the whole skeleton.
During the seventh round on Ancient Saturn, a certain perfection had been achieved as far as was
possible under the prevailing conditions. Everything was thereafter dissolved into pure spiritual
existence. The planet and the spiritual hierarchies entered one of those phases that spiritual science calls
“night of existence”, or, according to an eastern term, a condition of Pralaya.
****************
We have briefly outlined the evolution of Ancient Saturn, according to the terminology used by
Rudolf Steiner in his book An Outline of Esoteric Science. We took the archetypal image of the human
body, especially the head organism, as the basis of our considerations. This is one way of portraying it,
but we ought to bear in mind that there are other ways of presentation possible. The one we have chosen
is the easiest one, which does not presuppose too much scientific knowledge and detail.
However, we laid great emphasis on the fact that the conditions on Ancient Saturn cannot be
compared with anything of a material nature on our present Earth. The warmth or heat that was
ultimately created had been born from the sacrificed Will substance of the Spirits of Will or Thrones.
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We can not yet speak, therefore, of a spatial universe during that phase of cosmic evolution. Its
substance was still too near its spiritual-psychical origin. An observer armed with the present capacities
of sense perception would have realized only degrees of warmth, almost like the effusions of an
invisible aura of activity.
Consequently, the human being did not exist on Ancient Saturn in spatial form. Corporeality
consisted of will substance that had slightly moved away from its divine origin. Thereby it had become
something like a potential reflection, namely, warmth or heat. The human form that was imprinted on
this warmth was only a potentiality of later becoming.
The will of the Divine world was inherent in the Saturn ancestor of humanity. It existed only as an
image as it appears in a mirror. The heat of the planet was the mirror. Yet the realization of the image
could be worked out only during long subsequent ages of evolution. Therefore, we cannot yet speak of
space in Ancient Saturn, but solely time had come into existence.
After Ancient Saturn evolution had come to a certain perfection, that whole universe withdrew into a
condition of cosmic rest or purely spiritual existence. In spiritual science this condition is called “night
of existence” or Pralaya, according to an eastern term. Then, in a certain moment, the hierarchies of the
Divine world again stepped forth and a new universe was born. This stage is called by spiritual science
the Ancient Sun condition.
The Evolution of Ancient Sun

First of all, the achievements of Ancient Saturn had to be recapitulated. According to our previous
explanations, we can associate this first cycle of Ancient Sun with the constellation of Fishes. In Fishes
we saw the final stage of Ancient Saturn, the cosmic moment when the human image was evolved as a
potentiality, as far as it could be developed then. Up to this point the past had to be recapitulated on
Ancient Sun, and this was the first “round” or “condition of life” of that universe.
At this stage the development on Ancient Sun took a new turn. Those warmth or heat images of
Ancient Saturn, which had again come into existence, were permeated with life. The super-sensuous
entity, which is the foundation of life in the physical, is perceived by spiritual perception as a field of
forces or an organism of forces. We can also say that the physical images were now permeated with a
life or ether body.
We heard that the Spirits of Wisdom, or Kyriotetes, already attempted on Ancient Saturn to infuse
life into the sacrificed will substance that had come from the Thrones, but that substance was not in the
condition to absorb it then. Now, on Ancient Sun, the Spirits of Wisdom had reached a higher degree of
faculty than before, so they were able to perform a sacrifice similar to that of the Thrones. Thereby the
ether body was created, which then began to permeate the physical images of humanity.
This second aspect of the first round or cycle of Ancient Sun we can find remembered or imprinted
in the present constellation of Virgin. Therefore, we can perceive this first cycle as a development from
Fishes to Virgin. We should emphasize once more, however, the fact that we have in mind, etc., cosmic
cycles or revolutions in time through the entire Zodiac. Their culminations we should have to seek in the
corresponding constellations.
The traditional sign for Virgin is , but we have suggested previously that we can read this sign in a
modern fashion as Fig. 28 - 29 below. The symbol in figure 29 suggests the birth of a new principle
within a mother entity, a fact which we find indeed happening during the first cycle of Ancient Sun. To
this we must add the sign of the constellation of Fishes.
The seven rounds of Ancient Sun can be regarded as being represented by the constellations of
Virgin, Lion, Crab, Twins, Archer, Scorpion, and Scales. They give more the inner aspect, the
viewpoints of what happened then to the creature. Generally speaking, the constellations in the opposite
part of the Zodiac present the cosmic side of those events. Figure 27
In this sense, Fishes is the background of the permeation of the creature with life. The
Fishes represent a polarity (Fig. 27). Yet this polarity is different from that of Twins. They
symbolize the beginning and the end, and thus they repeat between them what otherwise is
spread out in cosmic space and time. They hold the key of all evolution, of the destiny of the
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world. The Godhead working through them has established everlasting transformation (in earthly terms
we could say death) whose external manifestation is life. In Virgin the principles of the beginning and of
the end have united. The Son, the future, is resting in the womb of the Mother. Figures 28 & 29
What does it mean to say that a life or ether body had been infused into the physical
image of the human being? We can perceive only the manifestation of life in the
physical. For instance, we say a plant, an animal, or a human being is alive, but we
cannot find, as far as the senses can penetrate the objects, the actual principle that causes growth, etc.
This principle is of a super-sensuous character that upsets, as it were, the chemical and physical laws of
mineral matter. It forces matter, obviously, into a movement contrary to gravity. It holds back, at least
for the lifetime of a living being, the chemical processes resulting in decay, and so on.
Yet we are here only in the realm of the manifestation of life forces. It is not quite correct to say that
we see before us, for instance, a living plant. We certainly perceive a particle of it, for in the next minute
it has already changed its shape, because the processes of growth are continuously altering the
consistency and form. Only if we could see in one instant the total cycle of the plant, from the seed to
the next seed, could we really speak of perceiving the living plant. This idea leads us to an interesting
aspect of the life forces in nature.
Life cannot manifest itself unless it can take hold of mineral matter. Generally speaking, spirit is
inherent in mineral matter. The spirit expresses itself in crystalline matter as a geometrically forming
entity. Yet this spirit has descended to the lowest level of incorporation. It has obviously come to the end
of a certain activity. This amalgamation of pure matter and spirit in the form of “geometrical
intelligence” is taken hold of by the life forces in a living being. Something of a “fallen” quality is
needed in order to give higher, super-sensuous forces—life forces in our case—a chance to manifest life.
This is actually what happened on Ancient Sun. A part of that warmth or heat that had come into
existence, in the course of the recapitulation of the facts of Ancient Saturn evolution, could not rise to
the acquisition of a life body. It was rejected, as it were, and could not partake in the normal course of
evolution; it was “left behind”. This gave rise to the foundation of a second kingdom besides that of the
human being.
Humanity on Ancient Sun consisted partly of that “backward” heat substance, but something else
came into existence through them. A part of the heat or warmth was densified into air or gas. We already
find indicated, thereby, a process of descent or Fall of the originally spiritual essence into matter, to
which we alluded above. Through this it was possible for a higher principle—the life or ether body—to
work within the human being. It had found a basis of action. The ether sacrificed by the Spirits of Wis-
dom was light, or light ether in the sense of spiritual science. Therefore, we speak of Ancient Sun,
because for the first time since the beginning of Ancient Saturn, the new universe appeared shining like
a Sun.
We could sum up these events in the following diagram:
We must now imagine the Spirits of Wisdom standing in a central position of that universe. Since
Ancient Saturn, their capacities and virtues had developed to such a degree that they were able to stream
forth inner light. This light penetrated the sphere of the Sun universe. Other beings, of whom we shall
speak later, reflected the light toward the center. Originally it had been given away by the Spirits of
Wisdom. It was part of their spiritual essence. Now, after it was separated from them and reflected, it
53
became an external entity. In that moment, space was born. The rays of light suggest the concept of
spatial direction, the principle of space.
All this took place mainly during the first cycle of Ancient Sun evolution. A contemplation of these
details can help us to search still deeper into the riddle of the life forces. In that light, which was first
spiritual being in the Spirits of Wisdom and was transposed, as it were, into external existence, we
obviously have the picture of the workings of the cosmic ether forces.
We can explain what we mean by the following diagram (Fig. 30). If we
consider the orbit of a planet, we are confronted with an invisible entity in the
heavens. The visible planet only describes the orbit and occupies, in the course of
time, the single points of it. We have taken as an example the orbit of Mercury
during one year. Of course, we are aware that the loops, etc., represent only the
purely observational aspect from the Earth. Figure 30
These orbits existed before the visible planets, according to the facts discovered by spiritual science.
Much later the planetary bodies were created. They then followed their corresponding orbits, which
indicated the spiritual spheres of the planets. In the spheres dwell the hierarchical beings who move the
celestial bodies. This was recognized still in Greek times, and modern spiritual science finds it again as a
fact.
The orbit of Mercury (Fig. 30) comprises the movement of the visible planet during the course of
roughly one year. The loops and the intervening superior conjunctions indicate a breathing activity of
the sphere, which is an alternation between contraction and expansion. These various stages of the
sphere, marked by the positions of the planet year after year, are imitated, for instance, by yearly cycles
of plant existence on the Earth. (Slight changes and aberrations of the rhythms of the planet we need not
consider now.) To a certain extent the three yearly rhythms of expansion and contraction of the sphere
of Mercury appear reflected in three stages of the plant cycle: 1) germination and growth, 2) flowering
and fruition, and 3) the decay of the mother plant and the resting of the seed in the soil.
In both cases, in the plant cycle and in the cycles of the planet, we perceive an external manifestation
of the inner invisible principle of cosmic ether. It works in the totality of the celestial sphere, of which
the individual spheres of the planets are a part. Through the densification of points on the planetary
spheres, the visible planets came into existence, including the Earth.
Thus we can come to the conclusion that the celestial sphere, individualized by the spheres of the
planets, is the source of the life or ether forces. All manifestation of life is an imitation of the rhythms
and events in the sphere. Furthermore, we saw the sphere as the archetype of space coming into
existence on Ancient Sun, when the light gift of the Spirits of Wisdom was reflected back from the
periphery to the center. This light of the Spirits of Wisdom was creative life that took hold of “Sun
matter” and molded it.
All this took place during the first cycle of Ancient Sun. We find it inscribed in the constellation of
Virgin, which appears depicted on ancient star maps as a woman holding a sheaf of corn, indicating its
association with growth and fruitfulness. In a modern sense, we can interpret Virgin as that great
imagination of the “woman in heaven” in Revelation of St. John XII. We hear that she is “clothed with
the sun, with the Moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars”. She is regarded as the
soul of the world who bears the whole cosmos, the sphere that is the source of the life forces. “And she
brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations”. Through her the life of the cosmos is sacrificed
so that new life may come into being. This aspect of the constellation of Virgin represents that great act
of the pouring out of life forces upon Ancient Sun pointing to similar future stages of evolution, but on a
higher level. According to indications in ancient Egyptian presentations of the constellations of the sky,
the Egyptians must have recognized, in or near Virgin, the image of Isis nursing Horus.
From another angle, these lofty mysteries of the constellation of Virgin are vividly corroborated. We
previously indicated that Virgin is connected with the region of the intestines, below the diaphragm.
This is the region in which food is finally completely dissolved. It appears beyond this part of the
organism as a source of energy. This dissolution may seem to be a contradiction to Virgin events in the
past. Yet, it is a creation of new life on a higher level, namely, in the realm of human consciousness. The
54
dissolved and etherized substances do not disappear completely; they are elevated to the level of the
inherent intelligent capacities in the human being. Through these processes, a new creation is initiated
akin to that on Ancient Sun.
During the second great cycle of Ancient Sun, the Dynamis or Spirits of Motion started with their
activity again. This powerful hierarchy helped to direct the movements of the planets during a later stage
of cosmic evolution. By these movements, they made it possible, within a then already highly divided
and emancipated universe, for contacts and exchanges between the individual celestial bodies to take
place. Thus they established a compensation for the isolation into which such objects of creation as the
planets had been driven. Yet on Ancient Sun, planets did not exist in the present sense, nor was
humanity really emancipated and isolated from the divine origin. Still, the Dynamis lived in their mighty
spiritual-cosmic impulses of inner or soul movement; but they were still unable to penetrate the human
kingdom on Ancient Sun. Their time had not yet come, because the Sun-Beings were unable to develop
soul faculties. They created in the Sun human a reflection similar to the impressions of the hierarchical
activities on Ancient Saturn.
Those reflections on Ancient Saturn had created the foundations of certain physiological organs. For
instance, the impulse of individualization radiating from the Spirits of Form was reflected in the
beginnings of bodily symmetry. As soon as an ether body was operating in the human form, as we heard
happened on Ancient Sun, those reflections manifested themselves as the first intimations of organic
functions. Thus the reflected activity of the Spirits of Motion set the air organism of the human body
into rhythmic motion. This body consisted then of a mantle of warmth that enveloped a kind of skeleton
of warmth. In the interior of this mantle was embedded the air organism. This physical entity was
permeated by an ether body that set the air in regular rhythmic movement, which appeared similar to the
circulation of the sap in our present plants. The single ether bodies had their origin in the cosmic ether,
represented by the sphere. Into this sphere, the Spirits of Motion extended their activities, and they were
thus impressed upon the physical body.
The culmination of this second cycle of Ancient Sun we can find inscribed in the constellation of
Lion. Starting from the preceding point of culmination indicated in Virgin, we should have moved
through the whole Zodiac, as it were, until we arrived in Lion.
We will now recall what we said about the Mysterium Magnum, the intimate connection between the
constellations of the Zodiac and the human body. Lion has a certain relationship to the region above the
diaphragm, where the breathing and circulating organism is centered. We call Lion the archetypal region
from which this part of the human organism has been created.
A closer study of this sphere of the human body reveals that an intimate relationship exists between
the rhythms of breathing and circulation and certain rhythms of the cosmos. We know that the rhythm of
breathing is related to the rhythm of the heartbeat according to the ratio of 1 to 4. A human organism
has, on an average, 17 inhalations during one minute and about 72 heartbeats. This is a perfect imitation
of the great solar rhythm of the Platonic year. 17 breaths in one minute accumulate to 1,080 during one
hour and to 25,920 during 24 hours or one day. We know that the vernal point needs 25,920 years in
order to move through the 12 constellations of the Zodiac.
The vernal point is the crossing point of the celestial equator and the ecliptic, i.e., the path of the
Sun. In Part One, we indicated the circular movement of the polar axis of the Earth caused by the
precession. For the same reason, also the crossing points between the equator and the ecliptic shift
through the Zodiac. A complete revolution of one of the two points—the vernal point—takes, according
to modern calculations, about 25,920 years.
This fact of the Platonic year is well known in occultism, and it was also known by Ancient Indians.
They called it a Day of Brahma. Thus an interesting connection exists between this great “day” of the
cosmos and the day of a human being; and this rhythm appears to be inherent in our “Lion”
organization.
This rhythm of the Platonic year is not only engraved into our rhythmic system. Our whole life
stands under the same impression. The ideal average lifetime of a human being was always considered
to be 72 years. This time is related to the Platonic year of 25,920 years in the ratio of 1 to 360
55
(25,920=72x360). Therefore, the lifetime of a human being is likened to one degree of the ecliptic
through which the Sun passes in the course of approximately one day. Thus the average life of a human
being is likened to one day of a Platonic year. (The difference between 360 and 365 days in one year is
due to slight irregularities in the annual movement of the Sun.)
We see that in the human organism, especially in the Lion region, there are imprinted majestic
cosmic rhythms. This sphere of Lion in the human body is deeply connected, as we know, with life in
general. The heart and the circulation are practically considered to be the vehicle of life, in a certain
sense. If we now recall what we said about Lion and the second great cycle of Ancient Sun, we find an
interesting corroboration. The ancestor of the human being had been endowed with an ether or life body.
Thereby, the Spirits of Motion were enabled to work from the periphery upon the physical organization
and bring about those air movements that we mentioned. We can see in them the pre-figurations of the
present heart and lung organization, which had already been founded on Ancient Saturn. Therefore, we
can truly connect those events on Ancient Sun with the constellation of Lion.
We use the symbol  for this constellation, signifying the rhythmic movements in the organization
of the Sun Beings. They were reflections or imitations of the cosmic-psychic movements of the
Dynamis, who’s activities we can see in the opposite constellation of Waterman. The symbol used for
Waterman indicates the impressions of the astrality of the Dynamis on the cosmic ether (Fig. 31).
Figure 31 Until then, the ancestor of the humanity did not yet have a definite and
fixed bodily frame. We ought to imagine that they were, rather, in ceaseless movement
and continuously changing their bodily form. One might think of something similar to the
formations of clouds at present. In this moment, the Spirits of Form or Exusiai again
started their influence. We remember that they already contributed to the development on
Ancient Saturn. At that time they could only create an external reflection of their true
impulses. Even on the Sun, the human being was still far from being capable of receiving
their gifts. Only very late—actually during the present Earth evolution—were they able to
endow humanity with the ego, which was their great cosmic aim. Until then the Spirits of Form effected
various preparatory changes in the human organization, paving the way for the final step. Through their
activities, certain physiological and organic foundations were created in the human being.
On Ancient Saturn they had effected the division of the planet into single bodies—the forerunners of
our present individual body. Now, on the Sun, they made the physical body last for longer intervals.
Through the influence of the Spirits of Form, external form was preserved for a period of time.
This was the third great cycle of Ancient Sun evolution. We can read its culmination in the script of
the constellation of Crab. Here we are reminded of another development during Ancient Saturn
condition, which we also connected with Crab. It was the fifth round of that condition, during which the
first traces of the sense organs were created. We described it as an interaction of beings and forces
whose work we recognized in the dynamic influence of Goat and Crab. Furthermore, we indicated that
in this interaction the Crab impact tended to create the initial tendency for the later ossification
of the skullcap. Now during the Ancient Sun condition, we find this specific Crab tendency
again at work (Fig. 32 at right). It is interesting that Crab is connected with the world
conception of philosophic materialism, which is the conscious philosophic realization of a
certain trend of the creative activities of the spiritual hierarchies. Materialism is one of the
many necessary building stones of divine creation. If materialism, as a world conception,
claims to be the only correct aspect of existence, it is bound to misconceive the truth. Figure 32
We are used to the sign  for Crab. In this symbol an enclosing faculty is indicated. The floating
and continually changing  and  entities are now temporarily encased in a kind of shell, which
guards, as it were, and protects the being.
In the opposite constellation,  or , we see the cosmic background of the spiritual forces that
enacted the  development of the Sun human. The lower part of the symbol already indicates the
dynamic tendencies of  (Fig. 32). Thus Goat stands for the hardening, even crystallizing impact of the
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cosmos which we witness especially when the Sun enters this constellation, about the 15th of January.
The ice and snow of the wintry season is the external manifestation of these forces.
During the fourth great cycle of the Ancient Sun condition, we see two hierarchies exerting their
influences on the ancestors of humanity. The first is the hierarchy of the Archai or Spirits of Personality.
We saw them already on Ancient Saturn infusing into the human physical warmth body a reflection or
an appearance of independence. Now, on Ancient Sun, the Archai have risen to a higher level of
consciousness, which spiritual science calls imaginative perception. Thereby, they were enabled to work
upon the ether body and endow it with the appearance of personality and independence. It is only a
reflection of majestic cosmic imaginations, which they themselves were now able to develop. This fact
is the reason that the present human being has an individual ether body. At the same time, the very
exalted hierarchy of the Seraphim, or Spirits of Love, combines their activity with that of the Archai.
Thereby, the imaginations of the Archai became very powerful and appeared in the human being as a
force that we might call, under present conditions, earthly love. This influence began to change the
nature of the human ancestor. The germinal beginnings of the present glandular system, thereby, came
into existence. There appeared in humanity, whom we must imagine as something similar to a very
subtle plant, the first indication of a reproduction of their own kind. Through this capacity, they were
able to segregate part of their body. These segregations then lived as independent creatures beside the
mother being.
Besides these developments, also the Archangeloi also started with their activities. They had now
entered a stage of their evolution similar to that of the Archai on Ancient Saturn. In other words, they
went through the equivalent of the present human stage of selfhood and independence. Human beings
had then been developed so far that the Archangeloi were able to achieve through them their own human
stage. Already on Ancient Saturn they had helped create the archetypal beginnings of the human sense
organs. They continued in this capacity on Ancient Sun, and thereby the sense organs were brought
another step nearer to perfection.
Through certain beings who did not follow the normal course of evolution, a connection was
established between the kingdom of Sun Beings and the lower kingdom, which we have already
mentioned. Those germinal sense organs were used as channels of communication between the two
kingdoms. The second kingdom consisted of warmth, which could not be permeated by an ether body. It
formed, therefore, a kind of renewed Ancient Saturn and can be regarded as a separate celestial body
beside that of the Sun. We see here the first beginnings of a kind of planetary system of divided bodies.
We can read the culmination of this cycle on Ancient Sun in the dynamic properties of the
constellation of Twins. With regard to Ancient Saturn, we witnessed there the cosmic impulses of
individualization represented by the Exusiai, and of personality worked out by the evolution of the
Archai. On Ancient Sun we see this Twin impulse again at work. The Archai then impressed inde-
pendence on the human ether body. We also see here a refined recapitulation of that gigantic process of
archetypal division of the Saturn body into single warmth entities. Now, on Ancient Sun the ancestor of
the human being had become capable of reproduction. This is a Twin activity on Ancient Sun, similar to
that on Ancient Saturn.
The traditional symbol for Twins is . If we recall now the fact that humanity went
through its plant stage on Ancient Sun, we might read in this sign of Twins an important step
in its development. It was the middle cycle of the Sun condition, and we can imagine that the
human being then began to resemble a plant, though under totally different conditions from
today. Figure 33
Until then the human being might be likened to a seed or a bud, still held back by its protective
sheath. However, in that moment, forces of the heights and forces in the depths worked upon humanity.
We recognize in these forces, the Archai and Seraphim on one hand and the Archangeloi on the other.
The bud of the human being germinated and burst forth, orienting itself in space between the two world
polarities (Fig. 33). At this time an impulse, a tendency towards multiplication, the first traces of
reproduction entered them like a kind of primitive segmentation. We might compare this organism with
two leaves or even archetypes of lungs. (The lungs have a certain connection with the Twins sign, .)
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Thus we should see a preparation for the process of reproduction internally, in the sense of division.
This is the Twin aspect. The external cosmic impact is indicated by the symbol for Archer, . The
being is exposed to a polaric activity of the hierarchical world. This can give us an impression of the
ideas that made ancient peoples use the symbol , indicating the above and the below and at the same
time a sort of horizontal twofoldness. We should not be disturbed by the fact that this Sun plant swims,
as it were, in the air. We remember that the archetypal form of the plant is the leaf. (See Man or Matter
by E. Lehrs, p. 80.)
Toward the middle of the fifth cycle of the Ancient Sun condition, the Archangeloi had matured so
far that they were able to impress the capacity of reproduction still more deeply into the organization of
the human being. At the same time, the Angeloi exerted a certain influence upon the human physical
body. On Ancient Saturn we saw them helping to establish an archetypal kind of warmth metabolism in
cooperation with the exalted Cherubim. Now on Ancient Sun, those two hierarchies worked together
again upon the human body. The capacity of taking in substances from the surroundings and
transforming them was further developed in the human being. Yet, as we said above, only warmth
existed in the second, lower kingdom, which was then the “external’’ world of the human being. This
fact, and the trend toward densification of warmth into air, can give us a faint idea of what this
metabolism really was. Strange as it may sound, the foundation of reason was thereby created in the
human being. Through humanity’s Sun metabolism, the lower warmth organism was permeated by light,
the wisdom-light which had come from the Kyriotetes.
We can see this phase of evolution culminating in the constellation of Archer. Thereby, we have
moved across from Twins to the opposite part of the Zodiac. It is rather complicated to recognize in
Archer that fifth cycle of Ancient Sun, because we meet there a deeply veiled sphere. For instance, we
know that Archer was depicted on ancient star maps as a Centaur, half horse, half man. The race of the
centaurs played an enormous part in Greek mythology, as we can gather from sculptures on the friezes
of Greek temples. There the centaurs are usually represented as the great opponents of the Greeks. What
was the meaning of these pictures? They wanted to depict a certain stage of humanity’s development in
the past. The horse had come into existence at that time, but humanity had stayed behind on a higher
level. The horse sank to the level of material existence; and humanity, freed of these forces, was able to
develop intelligence. The Centaur had not yet reached that stage of emancipation. The animal nature was
still united with its being, whereas the human being of intelligence, who developed philosophical
thought later, had been freed. Humanity was bound to come into a conflict with those Centaur forces
that were most powerful, because they still had the untamed animal potentiality. Hence came the myths
of the fights between centaurs and Greeks.
The Archer/Centaur is an image of that great struggle of humanity to become human through
emancipation from animal inclinations. The fifth round of Ancient Sun represents one of the stepping
stones of humanity toward this goal. Therefore, we can associate it with Archer. In another sense, we
also see here an image of that subtle relationship between humanity and the lower kingdoms of nature.
The rising of humanity to ever higher stages of consciousness caused the creation of beings below them.
We are certainly indebted to them, for without their sacrifice we could not have advanced. Sometime in
the future we shall have to repay these debts by redeeming these lower kingdoms.
This relationship between humanity and the lower kingdoms, starting on Ancient Sun, is expressed
in Archer. It is the picture of humanity rising and aiming at intelligence, while at the same time pushing
the horse species away from their own nature and down to the level of the animal kingdom. The
traditional symbol for Archer is . It indicates a capacity of stretching out between two foci. If we
introduce this tendency into our picture of the plant-human of Ancient Sun, we will come to very
interesting conclusions.
Something like a stem has now developed from this archetypal Sun plant. It has the inherent quality
of Archer ↑↓. This is the result of external cosmic impacts that come from below and above, represented
by the sign opposite to , which is .
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Through this combined activity of the forces working behind, as it were, Twins and
Archer, another organ was formed, as far as was possible on Ancient Sun. This was the
predecessor of the present human spine. We remember that, according to the Mysterium
Magnum, the spinal cord, the brain of the middle human being, is connected with 
(Fig. 34). Figure 34
The sixth cycle of Ancient Sun can be recognized in the constellation of Scorpion. Yet, here we must
take into account the fact that in ancient times this constellation was perceived as an Eagle. The
imagination of the Eagle is rather more congenial to that great phase of Ancient Sun.
All of the Ancient Sun evolution is strongly under the impression of the creation of the human ether
body. This ether body is the great architect of our earthly physical body, while we dwell on the Earth. It
was created, as we saw, from the wisdom-light of the Kyriotetes and, therefore, bears the wisdom-filled
intentions of the divinity, resembling a kind of living memory. The ether body impresses these on the
physical body, thus keeping the organism in line with the great aspects and aims of divine creation.
Therefore, the ether body can also work against the forces of destruction and decay in the physical frame
of the human being.
Under present conditions, human beings normally have no consciousness of this working of the ether
or life body. It comes to them like the impact of a force of nature, over which they have no control.
Humanity’s great mission in the process of cosmic evolution is the conscious acquisition of the inherent
potentialities in their total organization. Humanity will one day attain, in the dim future, the conscious
handling of their etheric forces, when the ego has acquired the necessary maturity and power.
Thus, in future we will transform our etheric principle into a member of our organization whose
faculties we will employ consciously. This new principle is called, by modern spiritual science, the Life
Spirit. In eastern esoteric teaching it is known as Buddhi. It exists already as a germinal disposition and
was founded by exalted spiritual beings during that sixth cycle of Ancient Sun. When we will have
attained the fully conscious capacities of Life Spirit, then we will not only be able to behold the beings
of the Divine world with supersensible perception, but we will be creative in the spiritual world (see
Rudolf Steiner’s, The Akashic Records).
These facts are recorded, as it were, in the cosmic chronicle, especially in the constellation of
Scorpion/Eagle. We are here touching upon the loftiest aspects of cosmic evolution, wherefore we must
take into account the ancient vision of the Eagle. This constellation has fallen, so to speak, in a certain
moment and becomes Scorpion. We shall speak of this fall in greater detail on a later occasion.
The symbol for Scorpion is . In a certain sense we meet here the sign for Archer →, but in the
symbol  it is hidden, as it were, behind three veils. Deep mysteries are indeed connected with it. They
concern the origin of reproductive powers in humans after their fall, and their redemption in the future.
We will now introduce this aspect of  or into our picture of the Sun plant, which, as readers
will have noticed, has a certain relationship to the middle or rhythmic organism of the
human being. Let us, therefore, imagine that after the leaves had been contracted into the
stem, another expansion took place. The Sun plant received, as it were, from the heights a
very precious gift, a kind of premonition of the flower (Fig. 35). This flower we can
imagine coming from the highest spheres of the deity. Something of the germ-like Buddhi
principle, of which we spoke, may have been reflected into it. Figure 35
The cosmic side of this Scorpion/Eagle aspect is represented by Bull. This leads us to an interesting
idea. As we worked out previously, Bull is connected with the larynx. We may well consider the
Scorpion cycle of Ancient Sun as a time when the larynx organism was developed, to a certain degree,
with regard to its spiritual potentiality ( opposite ). We know through spiritual science that this
organ is still far from having exhausted its purpose. Humanity will in the future evolve the power of
speech, which at present is feeble to universal creativeness. What spiritual science has to say about the
principle of Buddhi (mentioned above), lies in a similar direction. The Spirit-Word of the Godhead
created the universe, and something of that creativeness was embedded in humanity during the
Scorpion-Bull cycle of Ancient Sun.
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During the seventh great cycle of Ancient Sun, the human ancestor had reached the highest degree of
perfection that was possible then. They had become plant-like beings, but under the entirely different
conditions of the life of that universe. In their external appearance, they already faintly resembled the
form of a present human being. Yet, their position was reversed in space. That part that tended to
become a head was turned toward the “soil” of the Sun, as the root of our present plant is directed
toward the center of the Earth. The opposite pole, which bore the potentiality of becoming arms and
legs, was oriented toward the light—similar to the blossom of an earthly plant.
This was a being that occult science calls the “enlivened monad”, which was in a state of perfect
balance between the heights and depths of the Ancient Sun planet. On the one hand, through the root
part, it had a connection with the second kingdom below it, and was even able to experience the first
traces of sympathy and antipathy toward its surroundings. On the other hand, it imitated and
demonstrated in its being and growth the facts of the Sun cosmos, which was then totally different from
the present. As a plant at present is a reflection of the climatic, atmospheric, and cosmic conditions, so
was the human being of Ancient Sun a mirror of the heights above.
This condition of existence, which was achieved during the seventh round, is beautifully expressed
in the present picture of the constellation of Scales. The calmness, the balance between above and
below, as well as the division between the light and dark parts of the Zodiac, which is inherent in Scales,
is a perfect imagination of the Ancient Sun human being.
In Part One, we have already pointed out that, for instance, the ancient Akkadians perceived this
constellation as the Holy Altar (Tulku). This imagination is an even more beautiful description of the
Ancient Sun ancestors. They still existed in a state of innocence, though they were totally unconscious,
that they were as a living altar on which the Divine world performed its great acts of consecration.
The sign for Scales is . We suggested earlier an alteration of , similar to a setting sun. We tried
to see in this constellation the central focus of the last cycle of Ancient Sun. Thus we have, indeed,
something similar to a gigantic sunset.
During that cycle, Sun Beings had reached the highest possible perfection, mani-
festing the whole surrounding universe in its plant organization. It responded with its
flower-limb organization to the heights above and also had a definite connection with
the world below. We can imagine something like indications of roots extending into the
lower realm (Fig. 36). Figure 36
The flower-leaf organization resembled more the limbs of the Sun Beings; whereas, the root
organization already showed the very first, faint indication of a head. We might even call it a kind of
archetypal brain, as we have indicated above. The stem, as an archetypal spinal cord, connected the head
and limbs, the two asymmetric twins. They were then brought into a state of harmonious balance; and
thus we may have established, from another angle, the justification to see this last cycle of Ancient Sun
under the sign of the constellation of Balance or Scales (also see Ram).
The Evolution of Ancient Moon

The seventh cycle of Ancient Sun closed with one of those intervals of cosmic rest, of which we
mentioned at the end of Ancient Saturn evolution. Again, everything existing was dissolved and
transported to higher planes of the spiritual world, and the beings of the hierarchies withdrew.
After this Pralaya condition, a new cosmic phase of evolution started. This was the Ancient Moon
incarnation of the Earth. Similar to Ancient Saturn and Ancient Sun, it evolved during seven great
cycles. During the first cycle, the facts of Ancient Saturn were repeated. Again the warmth entity of the
Saturn human was being born. We must imagine that now the repetition was taking place with a view of
preparing humanity for the events that were intended by the Divine world during Ancient Moon.
We may recognize this cycle as being focused again in the constellation of Virgin. This need not
surprise us since we imagined the Sun evolution as having started under the aspect of Virgin and ending
in Scales. Creation took up the thread where it left off, so to speak. We should again find the previously
mentioned viewpoint of a universe of divine beings creating and bearing in its womb the germ of the
human being. We tried to express this by converting the traditional  sign into .
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During the first cycle and leading right into the second, the facts of Ancient Sun were also
recapitulated. Again the warmth image of the human being was permeated by an ether or life body.
During the second great cycle on Ancient Moon, a new development took its start. Now the Spirits of
Motion had become so powerful that they were able to work upon humanity and endow it with new
faculties.
Humanity was on the road to emancipation from the Divine world, as we mentioned previously.
Ancient Moon evolution marked a further step on this road. We must imagine that a part of the sub-
stances and beings who came from the previous conditions could not partake in the normal course of
cosmic development. They were left behind, as it were. Human beings, as well as the beings in the king-
doms below them, which had again come into existence, bore those substances in their bodies. They
were thus involved in this backwardness. A part of the creation had been rejected by the Divine world;
Therefore, it fell into a state of greater densification than existed previously. However, what we try to
describe here with a few words comprised gigantic ages of development. Also the spiritual beings who
were connected with this backward and, therefore, densified part of the world, lived through inner
experiences whose magnitude we can hardly imagine. We may only faintly grasp the experiences of
exclusion and resignation that they had to go through (see Rudolf Steiner’s, The Inner Realities of
Evolution, Berlin, November 1911).
These circumstances produced conditions on Ancient Moon that made it impossible for the highest
spiritual hierarchies to remain within that universe. They separated from the Moon and founded another
dwelling place in the cosmos. This new celestial body appeared as a reborn but refined Ancient Sun.
Those beings, who had moved to it, were thus enabled to follow their own intentions. From this Sun,
they could also prepare to work upon the Moon planet that they had left behind.
In the meantime, the Moon itself had been partly densified into water, but another part was not
mature enough to descend to the water condition. It remained in a gaseous form, and there were even
parts that had not yet evolved beyond the state of warmth on Ancient Saturn. The human body contained
warmth, air, and water. Consequently, below that there existed two kingdoms bearing in their bodily
forms the less densified substances of Ancient Moon.
We can find the culmination of this second cycle of Ancient Moon imprinted in the constellation of
Scales. The traditional sign that is used is . We suggested the alteration, , something like a sunset,
a departure of the Sun. It is exactly this that we described above when we spoke of the foundation of a
reborn Ancient Sun by those beings who could not endure the increasing densification on Ancient
Moon.
We can find the imprint of the following cycles of Ancient Moon in the constellations following
Scales: in Scorpion, Archer, and so on. If we accept this aspect, we detect the interesting fact that,
whereas Ancient Sun evolution, starting also in Virgin, first went anti-clockwise through Lion, Crab,
etc., Ancient Moon descends, as it were, into the “dark” part of the Zodiac. This is a very important
viewpoint, which we shall fully appreciate later on.
In connection with the evolution of Ancient Sun, we always included the
opposite constellations into our considerations. We cannot do the same with
regard to the stage of cosmic development that we have in mind now. Here
we must employ another viewpoint (Fig. 37). Figure 37
For certain reasons, which we shall explain later, we must include in our consideration the concept
of what we may call “corresponding’’ signs. Constellations that are a certain distance from a given point
in the Zodiac are related to those constellations which have the same distance on the other side of that
position. For instance, the sign of Libra  is 60° away from Sagittarius . (We chose  because this
constellation is associated with the central stages of Ancient Moon, as we shall see. Continuing 60° past
 is Aquarius . Therefore,  is connected with the  cycle of Ancient Moon. That which happens
in one part of the Zodiac finds an answer or an echo in the corresponding sign, determined by a certain
central point—in our case .)
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The association of Waterman with the second cycle of Ancient Moon is quite obvious. We
mentioned above the fact that during the second greater cycle, a part of the substances of heat and air
was densified to water. However to call it water comes only approximately near the reality. This is
clearly indicated by the constellation of the heavenly Waterman, which is indeed considered in
occultism to be an image of the Ancient Moon Beings or Waterman.
In order to avoid a possible misunderstanding and confusion, we should like to infer the following.
So far we have worked out our consideration of the sub-cycles of the three planetary conditions of
Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and Ancient Moon on the basis of the Mysterium Magnum. Everything
that has been said can be logically followed up. We are, of course, fully aware that Rudolf Steiner gave
indications that seem to differ from these. He associated Lion with the Ancient Saturn human,
Scorpion/Eagle with the Ancient Sun human, the Ancient Moon Beings with Waterman, and finally the
Earth human with Bull. The two aspects seem to disagree; yet, we maintain that each viewpoint is
correct and only taken from a different angle. The indication given by Rudolf Steiner refers to the world-
view, as it were, of the Cherubim as represented by the four apocalyptic beasts of Eagle, Lion, Bull, and
Man. Here we are taking the view of the planetary universe in relationship to the Zodiac. Therefore,
each of the three previous conditions of the Earth is reflected in a whole orbit or planetary entity. One
who aspires to a true star wisdom must get used to the idea that one and the same fact can be considered
from many standpoints.
We recounted two more facts of that second cycle: the creation of a newborn Ancient Sun by beings
of the highest hierarchies, and the working of the Spirits of Motion upon the Moon Beings. We can find
both in the script of the Zodiac. We saw the development of the actual Moon as a descent from the
constellation of Virgin to Scales, and so on. The departing Sun and its beings took another course. This
we can find if we move upward in the Zodiac from Virgin to Lion, etc. Thus we
see indeed a “reborn” Ancient Sun; for this movement was the course of
Ancient Sun. We can therefore extend the above mentioned law of correspond-
ence to the upper part of the Zodiac (Fig. 38). If we recall the impact that we
found written into Lion, resulting from the second cycle of Ancient Sun, we see
there the working of the Spirits of Motion described earlier. Yet this hierarchy
had attained, in the meantime, a higher degree of power. Those beings were
now able to penetrate humanity with their impulses, endowing them with the
principle of the soul or astral body. Figure 38
In order to comprehend this fact, we must recall what we said about the conditions of the Moon
planet that had been severed from the Sun. The emancipation was the result of a kind of rejection of the
general state of the Moon by those higher hierarchies who went away with the Sun. The rejected planet-
nature experienced these developments in a mood of isolation followed by resignation. However,
through the interaction of the Spirits of Motion, a certain compensation was brought about.
Through the infusion of the astral body, the Moon Beings were enabled to develop a kind of dream-
consciousness of the events and facts in their surroundings. Yet, these dreams cannot be compared with
the arbitrary and contorted dreams that we might have as notions of events in our environment or within
our organisms. They were truly symbolic, though dim, representations of the external world. Thus
human beings had a certain contact with and experience of the facts in the universe around them from
which they also had been emancipated in the course of evolution. This was their compensation for their
isolation.
The Spirits of Motion established this means of balance also in a very broad cosmic sense. As we
saw, a cosmos of individual celestial bodies had come into existence: the Moon planet and the Sun.
Later on their number was increased. This is the external aspect of that isolation and emancipation of
which we spoke. Now the Spirits of Motion made these planets move in orbits. Thus it was possible that
they “met” in cosmic space, as it were, or moved apart. This was the compensation in the universe; for
the planets were enabled to have impressions and experiences of what went on in cosmic space and
outside of their own spheres of existence. We see that the Spirits of Motion, indeed, made possible
external as well as psychical motion. In human beings, this appeared as the capacity of external
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movement resulting from experiences through the astral body. They had in their being a miniature
representation of the capacities with which the Ancient Moon “stars” were endowed. We can thus
understand the term used by in occultism for this principle: the astral body.
Yet human beings were far from limb movement in the present sense. They, rather, hovered or
jumped in the viscous substance of which the Moon planet was partly composed. Below them existed
two more kingdoms: the first one a kind of animal-plant world, whereas, the second kingdom
represented a state between the present plant and mineral. The human being was a being halfway
between a present animal and human, especially with regard to consciousness. We now see the reflected
internal movement (such as plant sap) in the Sun human, resulting from the Dynamis-Lion impact,
transformed into soul movement and even external motion in the Moon Beings.
These developments lasted right into the third cycle of Ancient Moon. But now an event occurred
that gave evolution a new turn. Beings who had a certain leading connection with that part of the Moon
cosmos, which had to witness in isolation and resignation the rejection of its being by the higher Divine
world, became “rebellious”. They regarded it as their task to lead the process of emancipation to its final
conclusions. Their impulse was to create, as it were, a cosmos entirely cut off from the cosmos of
normal evolution. They are usually called luciferic beings.
This Moon rebellion changed the character of the human beings. They now had a soul body, as we
said. They were thereby able to have inner sensations, emotions, etc., but now introduced into their inner
nature was the impulse to develop a dim sense of independence, of segregation and of divorce from the
higher spiritual world. These impulses prepared them to later become egoists. Those beings who
initiated this development were later on perceived as the Serpent who brought about the Fall of
humanity and the loss of paradise, according to the Book of Genesis.
We find that Moon rebellion recorded in the script of the constellation of Scorpion. In distinction
from the Sun evolution, this constellation now appears for the first time as the image of a scorpion with
the deadly sting. The luciferic beings, who initiated that cosmic rebellion, gave human beings a clearer
consciousness than that which they would have attained had they solely remained under the influence of
the Sun spirits. But Lucifer endowed Moon Beings with an urge to independence in the expectation that
in the future they might serve the luciferic goals of evolution and not those of the Divine world. The
egoism that was produced in humanity was ultimately not meant to elevate them to higher levels of
existence; but to achieve through it, the absolutely divorced and self-contained cosmos of Lucifer’s
imagination. These impulses, though they can enhance for a time human consciousness, would
ultimately lead to the self-destruction of the human race. Therefore, this stage of the Moon cosmos
appears in the constellation of Scorpion. Illness and death have their root in those events. They are
caused by the egoistical trends, emotions, and passions inspired by Lucifer in the astral body of humans.
We must also include here the aspect of the constellation of Goat, in the sense of the law of
corresponding signs described earlier (see Fig. 37). The Goat appears depicted on ancient star maps as
an animal whose fore-part represents an ibex, whereas it has a fishtail instead of hind legs. Therefore it
is often called Goatfish, and the signs used for it want to give expression to this imagination: or .
We suggested the symbol , whereby we try to indicate the spiral fishtail, which appears on some older
representations.
This imagination does not really refer to any of the present animal species. It is a picture that might
help to form an impression of, for instance, Ancient Moon Beings as they became during the Scorpion
cycle. In the course of the great divorce and rebellion, which we described above, the substances of
Ancient Moon became tremendously densified. For instance, the fluid, water-like substances were partly
converted into a viscous state. Even horn-like substances appeared in a certain moment. Human beings
partook in this development by taking these densified substances into their own bodies. Thus we can
imagine that they appeared similar to a water animal, having something similar to a fishtail but also
developing a horn-like appendage similar to the horns of an ibex.
If we turn now to the upper part of the Zodiac, we find Crab as the sign corresponding to Scorpion
(see Fig. 38). In this upper part we can see the further destiny of the Sun, which had separated from the
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Moon. The symbol for Crab, , indicates the withdrawal of the Sun-beings from the affairs of the
Moon, after the Spirits of Motion had endowed humanity, by their sacrifice, with the forces of the astral
body. It is the aspect of the spiritual Sun that had disappeared from the inner sight of the Moon beings
and which began to shine as an external and spatially segregated body. This Crab-Sun was, thus, a
premonition of what then was experienced on the Earth and described by ancient peoples as the
“midnight Sun”, the spiritual Sun that is hidden behind the material world. The ancient Egyptians
connected it, in a certain sense, with Osiris, who had become lord of the underworld after he had been
slain. The dead who traveled to his realm were given images of the Scarabaeus beetle, which was the
Egyptian equivalent for the Crab symbol. It has been found in many sarcophagi. Thus Crab-Scarabaeus
was indeed recognized by the ancients as an imagination of the spiritual Sun that was hidden by the
hardened corporeality of an emancipated universe.
We come now to the fourth cycle of Ancient Moon, which was the central stage of its evolution. The
rebellious beings never had a complete hold on the Ancient Moon Beings. Even a part of the human
physical organism was removed from their influence. Human beings appeared then as a twofold being.
One part of their body was deeply involved in the hardening Moon substances. This was more likened to
the head of present human beings. Through it they had a reflection of the whole Ancient Moon cosmos.
But another part of their organism was still connected with the influence of those exalted Sun-beings,
who worked now upon the Moon from outside. Through this pole of their entity, they felt themselves
invigorated by the Sun cosmos. It appeared as a “premonition” of the present chest-limb system. In this
part they had a much more dull consciousness compared with that of their head pole.
Without great difficulty, we can recognize in this development an imagination that was later on
associated with the constellation of Archer/Centaur. The Centaur is struggling for the attainment of
human consciousness. Its head and upper part already has a human appearance, and it is aiming with
bow and arrow at a far distant point. All this is an indication of aspiring to higher stages of existence.
Yet, with its body it is still fettered to the animal destiny. Therefore, in its lower part is a dreamy con-
sciousness, although the horse body suggests great vitality and harmony with cosmic forces. We realize
that this Archer/Centaur is an exact description of the two-fold Moon Beings.
The brighter consciousness, which our Moon ancestors had, was bought in exchange for retarding
influences. The luciferic beings had infused into them their impulses of segregation. Through the greater
inner distance from the higher Divine world, which was thereby caused, human beings had a brighter
consciousness. However, these impulses must lead to destruction; for only a being that remains a
member of the whole universe can ultimately exist. Moon Beings experienced this law in their lives.
That bright Moon consciousness consumed and dried up the vitality of their physical body. After a
certain time of Moon existence, their bodies no longer supported them. They sank into a condition that
was an experience between death and the longing for sleep of a present human being. They separated
from their physical bodies which had become deficient. Their higher being, consisting of astral and ether
body, was carried to the realm of the Sun. There they were taken into the mighty spiritual manifestations
of the Sun hierarchies. The glory of the deeds of these Sun-beings and the powers of cosmic harmonies,
which were streaming from them into space, rejuvenated them. Yet humans during this Sun existence
had a much more dim consciousness than during their time on the Moon. After their sojourn in the Sun
sphere, they were led back to the Moon. There they again found the dried out remnant of their last Moon
existence, but they were now able to revivify this germ through the rejuvenated higher principles of their
being. They experienced it as a state between the waking up and being born of the present human being.
Moon Beings could not perform these transformations out of their own beings. They did not yet have
a consciousness of self. A being from the hierarchy of the Angeloi accompanied each one on their
journey to the Sun realm and also led them back to a New Moon existence. The Angels rose, thereby, to
their human stage, as the Archangeloi went through the stage of their humanhood on Ancient Sun and
likewise the Archai on Ancient Saturn. They used the human senses for their own development. These
senses had been founded on Ancient Saturn. On Ancient Moon the senses appeared more perfected, but
the human being could not yet make use of them. Instead, the Angels experienced their own egohood, as
they perceived the external world through the human senses. Through this activity, the first traces of the
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nervous system were created. The nerves were the extensions of the senses into the internal, physical
organization of human beings, and thereby their conscious use of the senses was prepared during Earth
evolution.
The Sun aspect of the fourth cycle of Ancient Moon can be found recorded in the constellation of
Twins. We remember that according to the Mysterium Magnum, the spinal cord is connected with
Twins. The spinal cord is a part of the nervous system that was created on Ancient Moon as an extension
of the senses into the body. We met this Twin organ once before. It was on Ancient Sun when it
appeared more like the stem of a plant; now on Ancient Moon it is one step nearer to the spinal cord.
The relationship between Moon Beings and the Angeloi is also well depicted in Twins. According to
Greek mythology, it was the constellation of the Dioscuri, of Pollux and Castor. Castor was of mortal
nature, Pollux was immortal. Once Castor was killed during a battle, and thus the hitherto inseparable
twins were separated by destiny. Pollux was so unhappy about this fate that he implored Zeus to let him
die too. Zeus was deeply moved by this sign of brotherly love. He gave permission to bring Castor back
to life under the condition that Pollux would accompany his brother whenever he had to sojourn in the
realm of the shades, according to the laws appertaining to mortals.
This myth refers to conditions during Earth evolution. But behind it and shining through the
constellation of Twins, as it were, appears that connection of the Angeloi with Moon Beings, the Angel
accompanying the human being to the glory of the Sun harmonies and back to the Moon existence. We
are looking here into the vast background of a half dreamy Moon picture-consciousness, which was the
source of the immeasurable treasures of mythology and folklore. The connection of the Centaur with the
condition of Moon Beings is a similar example. The hierarchies of the Archangeloi, Archai, and Exusiai
also worked, of course, during Ancient Moon upon humanity. We cannot now go into details of their
activities.
During the following fifth cycle of evolution another change took place. The influence of the Sun-
beings on the Moon became increasingly stronger. Finally, the rebellious Moon beings were overcome
and forced to conform to the intentions of the higher hierarchies, who had previously left the Moon with
the Sun. These events also changed the nature of Moon Beings. The physical body, which had become
highly densified under the impact of the Moon rebellion, was now again rarefied and prepared for more
etheric forms of existence.
This intensified influence of the Sun-beings upon the Moon and the elimination of the results of the
rebellion are recorded in the constellation of Goat. When we spoke previously about the third great cycle
of Ancient Moon, we pointed out that this constellation has a certain connection with the Moon
rebellion. We saw in it an image of the animal-human, the ancestor of the human race on the Moon. The
fishtail indicates their existence in a partly watery element, the horns stand for the highly advanced
densification. This Fish-goat image was now exposed to the purifying and retrieving influences of the
Sun-beings and, thereby, was that great cosmic Fall redeemed, which we saw in Scorpion. Here again
we consider Goat and Scorpion as corresponding signs (see Fig. 37).
We can now ask: Who were those Sun-beings who took this task on? We can find the answer by
looking across to the “Sun half” of the Zodiac: Lion, Crab, Twins, Bull, and Ram. From this aspect, Bull
is the constellation corresponding to Goat (see Fig. 38). In the description of Ancient Saturn, we located,
as it were, in Bull the Dynamis or Spirits of Motion. On Ancient Moon, this hierarchy endowed
humanity with the astral body. Then they withdrew with the Sun-beings. They were actually the lowest
of the hierarchies who went away from the Moon and took up their dwelling on the Sun.
In the course of the subsequent events on the Moon, it was just the astral body, the gift of the
Dynamis, which made the rebellion possible by implanting tendencies of independence, emotion, and
longing into it. This was not the original intention of the Dynamis. Now, during the fifth or Goat cycle,
they were confronted with the necessity of retrieving the deviation that had been imposed onto their own
gift, the human astral body. It was, therefore, a cycle of great cosmic catharsis, of great spiritual battles
between the Sun hierarchies and the beings who had led the Moon body into an extreme densification.
This planet was split into pieces, whereby its density was reduced. In our present universe, the so-called
planetoids—tiny planetary bodies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter—are a kind of cosmic memory
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of those happenings on Ancient Moon. (We will give more detailed explanations of the planets later in
Part Three.)
These events are imprinted in the corresponding relationship between Bull and Goat. This is not an
idle playing with the constellations of the Zodiac in order to make them fit the desired purpose. The
facts that are written into the Zodiac are still working in the universe and are amalgamating with earthly
historical developments. This, however, need not be misunderstood in a fatalistic sense. The interplay
between heavenly and earthly events has a much deeper significance than only that of a predominance of
cosmic forces over terrestrial affairs.
We observe such a harmony between heavenly and earthly forces at the time of the birth of Jesus.
Christianity celebrates the birth of Jesus on 25 December. There are some people nowadays who doubt
the “historical character” of this date. However, we have the impression that a very wise tradition has
preserved it and that it is correct, and there are many viewpoints which can support this conviction. We
cannot enumerate all of them here. From one of the many cosmological viewpoints, we can see a certain
justification in the fact that the Sun entered the constellation of Goat on 25 December 2000 years ago.
He, who was to become the bodily bearer of the great Sun Spirit, the mighty Redeemer of the sin of the
world, was born under the constellation of Goat, which has a corresponding relationship to Bull. The
heavens declared him, as it were, to be the vessel of the One who was to bring the new catharsis into the
world. They proclaimed it in their memory language of past cosmic events. (This is, of course, only a
fraction of the facts connected with the birth of Jesus. Standing alone, it could not contribute toward the
historical character of Christ’s birth.)
During the sixth great cycle of Ancient Moon, the process of retrieving and redemption of the
previous fall of the Moon was continued. The substances of the Moon had now been so far rarefied that
the Sun, in a certain moment, could again be united with the Moon. The powerful hierarchy of the
Kyriotetes, or Spirits of Wisdom, worked upon the Moon and completely transformed the conditions on
it. Divine wisdom permeated it, and this wisdom was impressed, for instance, onto the ancestors of
humanity. They were by no means in a position to experience this wisdom as independent personalities.
It worked creatively in the human organization. Because of their influence, now the Spirits of Wisdom
together with the Spirits of Motion were able, in the course of the fifth and sixth Moon cycles, to
establish the germ of another higher principle, namely, the Spirit Self or Manas. This principle was
destined to become in the far future, when human beings will be able to develop it consciously, the
organ through which we will attain a direct perception of the beings and facts of the spiritual world.
This creation could only be achieved by the higher hierarchies after the beings and creatures of the
Moon planet had been relieved from the fetters of densified matter. They existed now on an etheric
level. (It is possible to speak from a spiritual viewpoint of the existence of physical objects on an etheric
level.) This also prepared a reunion between Sun and Moon.
This is where we see these events imprinted in the constellation of Waterman. The Ancient Greeks
experienced Hebe there, the divine cup bearer of the Olympian Gods, later known Ganymede. The
draught which they bore in their cup was not imagined, however, as ordinary water. It was heavenly
water, the essence of cosmic life, the creative ether forces of the universe, which streams down to the
Earth and awakens the plant world in spring when the Sun enters the sign of Waterman. Even earthly
water reveals its kinship to this heavenly water, because we know that without sufficient humidity life
would not be possible on the Earth.
Thus we see in Waterman the imprint of that great etherization of Ancient Moon existence. But we
witness more in it. The corresponding constellation is that of Scales (Fig. 37). There we had the event
recorded of the separation of the refined Ancient Sun from the Moon. As the inner Sun set, as it were,
for the Moon population and became an external celestial body under the sign of Scales, so it rose
during Waterman cycle on the inner, spiritual horizon of the inhabitants of Ancient Moon. This is the
story of Waterman.
The creation of the germ of the Spirit Self of the human being started in the Fish-goat cycle of
Ancient Moon and was continued during the Waterman cycle. The Fish-goat cycle was, as we worked
out previously, the redemption of the Scorpion impact. We can therefore say that when the Spirit Self of
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the human being will be fully developed in future, it will appear as the redemption of the Scorpion
heritage in the universe and in the human being.
We can perceive, therefore, the eventual development of the higher principles of humanity as an
elevation or spiritual recreation of the constellations of Scorpion, Scales, and Virgin.
Spirit Self: redemption of Scorpion, initiated during the  and  cycles of Ancient Moon,
Life Spirit: elevation of Scales, initiated during the / , and  cycles of Ancient Sun,
Spirit-Man: spiritual realization of the Virgin potentiality, initiated during the - cycle of Ancient
Saturn.
The mighty influence of the Spirits of Wisdom on Ancient Moon, which we mentioned above, can
be seen in the corresponding connection of Waterman with Ram (Fig. 38). We connected Ram with the
domicile, as it were, of the Spirits of Wisdom. They are working from the Sun arc (Fig. 39) of Ancient
Moon down onto the Moon body. Their exalted wisdom-life, which we met on Ancient Saturn and
which had in the meantime matured tremendously, was now able to transform the whole planet into
etheric existence.
Thus we perceive Ancient Moon evolution reflected in the diagram of the Zodiac (Fig. 39).
Figure 39
During the final cycle of Ancient Moon the two celestial
bodies, Sun and Moon, appeared as one entity. The Spirits of
Wisdom now exercised a powerful influence upon this united
planet, thereby pouring wisdom into the entirely etherized king-
doms of mineral-plants, plant-animals, and animal-humans. The
whole planet appeared permeated with it and radiant. This is the
reason why we on the Earth find wisdom in all the creations of
nature. It could not be there had it not been infused into the exist-
ing objects sometime in the past.
This last phase of Ancient Moon is called in occult language
the “cosmos of wisdom”. It was the result of the seemingly
painful developments on that planet. The estrangement of the created world from the higher Divine
world, the resignation and all the turmoil following it during the ages of the cosmic rebellion, had borne
fruit. Now, when the planet approached the calmness of its final stage, the light of wisdom, matured in
strife and catharsis, shone forth from the etherized Moon objects. Thus the planet could enter another
night of existence or Pralaya, bearing the seed for a future cosmic evolution through a spiritual
condition.
We see this last cycle of Ancient Moon culminating in Fishes. The Ancient Greeks experienced the
drama of Aphrodite-Isis in this constellation, the supreme Goddess of the (Ancient) Moon. According to
the legend, she and her son, Horus, were persecuted by a terrible giant. The Gods rescued them by
changing them into two fishes, which were then transfixed to the heavens. It is a beautiful presentation
of the fate of the divine wisdom, which was lowered during the last phase of Ancient Moon into all
existing objects of the kingdom of nature. This same wisdom-being reveals itself to our senses if we try
with love and devotion to comprehend the nature around us. The beauty of a flower or crystal, the
wonderful structure of a leaf or a bone, the miraculous function of the wings of a bird, in fact everything
in nature is the very revelation of the divine wisdom, the divine Sophia, the Isis of the ancient mysteries.
The Evolution of the Earth

During the seventh great cycle of Ancient Moon, the divine creation had reached a culmination. All
that had been achieved during the three preceding conditions of Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and
Ancient Moon had been gathered in that cosmos of wisdom. A universe of wisdom contained the facts
and creatures that had come into existence up to that moment. Thus Ancient Moon entered the state of a
cosmic night of existence.
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After that great night had passed, the beings of the hierarchies again stepped forth and initiated
another stage of cosmic evolution. Spiritual science calls it the Earth condition, but it does not only
comprise the evolution of the planet Earth. The whole solar system to which we belong came into being
during this condition. The Divine world intended to lead creation, which had come to a certain
completion in the cosmos of wisdom, a decisive step further.
As in previous stages, there had to be repeated and re-established the previous conditions and
achievements. However, we should not imagine that only mere repetitions were enacted. The new cre-
ations were directed toward the specific aims of the Earth evolution. We may compare it with somebody
taking up in the morning the work which had been left on the preceding evening but approaching it now
with new vigor and with new ideas.
Thus the evolution on Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and Ancient Moon had to be recapitulated. This
took place during the first great cycles of the Earth evolution, and only during the fourth cycle was the
actual Earth condition developed.
The Earth evolution is an amalgamation of the previous conditions. This fact is the
result of a law that we can observe everywhere in history, even in connection with
small cycles of time. The fourth stage of any evolution carries three previous steps and
leads them on to another three cycles of time in the future. This law was known to
ancient humanity and was expressed, for instance, by the seven-branched candlestick
in their sanctuaries (Fig 40). Figure 40
We shall detect, therefore, in the great cycles of the Earth, the most
ancient cosmic principles of creation, which we already met on
Ancient Saturn. There the spiritual hierarchies were standing, so to
speak, at the periphery of the planet and were working ever
deeper into that celestial body. Similarly, the great rounds or
cycles of the Earth appear to be ruled or guided by a reflection of
that spiritual, hierarchical circumference of Ancient Saturn. In
the following diagram we give a brief recapitulation of the circle
of the hierarchies, as we conceive it (Fig. 41). However, we point
out once more that we do not consider the hierarchies to be
stationary in this archetypal Zodiac. Figure 41
During the first cycle of the Earth, the Ancient Saturn condition was
recapitulated. Ancient Saturn came into existence through the great sacrifice of
the Thrones or Spirits of Will. They gave away their divine will substance. We found this initial deed of
the Thrones connected with the constellation of Fishes. For this reason, we can also see there the
reflection of the first cycle of the Earth. Similarly to Ancient Saturn, the physical body was then
recreated and worked upon by spiritual hierarchies in preparation for the later stages of the Earth.
After this had been achieved, the Sun evolution was repeated in the second cycle of the Earth.
During the Sun evolution, humanity had been endowed with an ether body, which was the gift of the
Kyriotetes. We saw this hierarchy mainly dwelling in a direction of the universe that later became the
constellation of Ram. Now those processes were repeated but with a view to the specific requirements of
Earth evolution. We can therefore recognize this phase in Ram.
During the third great cycle of the Earth, the events of Ancient Moon were again evolved, whose
main achievement was the permeation of the ancestor of the human being with an astral body, which
was the gift of the Spirits of Motion or Dynamis. In the circle of the hierarchies, we saw their main
influence coming from the direction of the present constellation of Bull. Therefore, Bull also indicates
the culmination of the third cycle of the Earth. The astral body was then again developed, and humanity
prepared for the decisive events of the fourth round. This world deed of the Dynamis was thus recapitu-
lated in order that it would be realized by humanity during the middle phase of the Earth and on an
entirely new level of consciousness.
On Ancient Saturn our human ancestor had a consciousness of the beings and facts present in the
environment, which was similar to the consciousness of our present mineral today. On the Sun this
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consciousness was raised to the level of experience that our present plant is capable. On the Moon it was
so refined that the human being had ascended to a picture consciousness, a dreamlike realization of the
environment that spoke in symbolizing pictures. This Moon consciousness can be compared with the
range of experience of an animal in our days.
Now, on the Earth, after Ancient Moon evolution had been recapitulated, there came the possibility
of raising human consciousness to a still higher level. We may call this stage the objective or object
consciousness. Humanity had to learn to realize the external world not only in dreamlike, though
genuine, symbolic representations, but also to slowly grow to experience the environment as that world
of sharply distinguishable and outlined objects, which we at present realize through our sense
impressions. For this reason the great stages of evolution, Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, etc., are also
called conditions of consciousness.
In order to achieve this stage of consciousness, the inner capacities of humanity had to be developed
much further than on Ancient Moon, on which they already had consciousness through their soul or
astral body; but they did not then relate their inner experiences to themselves as individual beings. They
did not yet have a consciousness of themselves as a Self. Only during the fourth cycle of the Earth have
human beings acquired the capacity to realize themselves as individual beings apart from the rest of the
whole universe. Human beings gradually became individuals and developed personalities. The bodily
sheaths were transformed into a vessel for the ego.
It is therefore not too difficult to realize the impact of this whole fourth cycle of the Earth in the
implications of the constellation of Twins. For previously we considered the cosmic direction of this
constellation to be the central focus of the Exusiai or Spirits of Form and of the Archai or Spirits of
Personality. The Spirits of Form, especially, endeavored to impress upon human beings their cosmic
impulse of individualization during the preceding stages of evolution. Now, during the fourth round of
the Earth, they were at last able to infuse into them the realization of their own individuality. They
endowed the human being with the ego. The human race is still in the middle of this development.
Tremendous cosmic preparations were necessary in order to achieve the final goal. The beings of the
spiritual world worked towards it from two directions. The Spirits of Form prepared the path from the
depths of the universe and the Spirits of Personality created the echo of the cosmic events within the
creature, especially the human being.
In order to understand these facts, we must for a moment look back to the activities of the Spirits of
Form on Ancient Saturn. Already so far back, they radiated their impulses of individualization toward
the planetary body. However, they could only achieve a reflection owing to the condition of that planet.
Under their impact, the body of Saturn was divided into many single bodies, which were the
predecessors of the present human physical body.
These impulses, which we recognized in the constellation of Twins, work again during the Twin
cycle of the Earth evolution. A great cosmic cell division, as it were, was initiated, and our present solar
system with individual planetary bodies gradually came into existence.
So far, we have only spoken of the great cycles or conditions of life
during the preceding cycles of Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and so on.
Each one of these cycles of evolution was unfolded during seven
conditions of life that comprise tremendous cycles of time. A more
detailed spiritual investigation reveals, however, that these conditions
of life consist of smaller sub-cycles. Seven such sub-cycles or
conditions of form comprise one greater cycle (Fig. 42). Therefore, the
fourth round or great cycle of the Earth consists of seven conditions of form. Figure 42
During the first of these sub-cycles the sphere and planet Saturn were created. The consistency of the
universe was then of an extremely subtle nature. The present Jupiter came into being during the second
condition of form and Mars in the course of the third sub-cycle. We witness already in these events the
dividing cosmic activity expressed by the properties of the Twin constellation.
Then evolution entered the fourth condition of form, and it was only during this sub-cycle that the
Sun, the planets Venus and Mercury, and the Moon came into existence. In the beginning the Earth was
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still united with those celestial bodies. But the densification of the Earth was progressing, and in a
certain moment the spiritual beings connected with the Sun were no longer able to endure the hardening
of the Earth. They left and founded the Sun as their cosmic dwelling place. Later on the planets Mercury
and Venus were detached from the Sun and were chosen as the seats of certain spiritual beings who
could not partake in the lofty development of the Sun. Also, the present Moon finally separated from the
Earth, so that the Earth could develop undisturbed. The whole solar universe had thus become
“objectivated”, in a certain sense. The celestial entities no longer worked within the Earth but began to
shine upon it and exert their influences from outside.
These were mighty steps toward the creation of the object world to which we are so used to in the
present age. They facilitated the awakening of that object consciousness which humanity was meant to
evolve on the Earth. In the course of these events, the manifoldness of the present kingdoms of nature
also came into being. At a certain moment the Earth reached its greatest density by mineralization.
Matter was infused into all the nature beings of the Earth, including the human being.
We see two impulses at work in these events. The highest degree of division and segregation in all
cosmic history had been reached. At the same time the creatures of the Earth planet were sent out, as it
were, into the density of mineral matter. Thereby, a degree of objectivity was prepared that facilitated
the development of the consciousness of the self, the realization of the ego. We can well perceive that
the Spirits of Form or Exusiai must have exerted a decisive influence in order to achieve this stage.
The Spirits of Personality, the other of the Twin hierarchies, also had a tremendous share in these
events. On Ancient Saturn they experienced their own humanhood in the heat or warmth of our Saturn
ancestors. In a similar, but now much more efficient way, the Archai worked during the fourth cycle of
the Earth in the heat or warmth of this planet. In the course of this evolution, some of this heat also came
to exist within the human organization. It is especially connected, as we know, with the warmth of the
blood stream that is the physiological basis or instrument of the ego. Thus the Spirits of Personality had
prepared through immeasurable ages of cosmic evolution a vessel for the ego. We can well realize in
their activities an exaltation of those initial Twin/Archer events on Ancient Saturn.
We are still in the middle of this Twin cycle of the Earth, and we can detect its impact in all details
of the present world conditions. Everything seems to depend and to rest on contradiction. Light and
darkness, life (or becoming) and death, external nature and inner moral world, are only a few aspects of
an unimaginable number of opposites. Yet as much as they seem to be apart and contradictory, they are
inseparably connected as the very foundation of all existence. Why must this be so?
In present humanity this contradiction reaches a kind of climax. On the one hand we are exposed to
powers that are connected with the density of earthly matter. We cannot escape the impact of these
forces that we realize as gravity, darkness and ultimately as death. If they were not at work in the
universe, we would not have firm ground under our feet, we could not sustain our physical existence.
Spiritual science recognizes these forces as the ahrimanic powers, fully realizing that we need them,
to a certain extent. However, in us also lives a yearning for freedom from the weight of the earthly fet-
ters. This is inspired by the luciferic powers in the universe, who are inclined to tear us away from
material existence, to seek beauty and rest in a sphere that is divorced from the hard and fast reality of
the Earth with its inevitable darkness and misery. Yet we would not have developed the realization of
our inner, moral world without the influence of Lucifer.
This is another aspect of the present Twin cycle of Earth evolution; Lucifer and Ahriman, the mighty
world Twins, tempting human beings to bring them into servitude. Yet we could not have developed our
present object consciousness without their influence. Through darkness, we realize the existence of
light; through death, we become aware of life. Gradually the danger arose that we might become
completely entangled in the deviating influences of Lucifer and Ahriman. Either we might have lost the
Earth and the meaning of its mission, or we might have descended too deeply into material existence and
thereby completely divorced ourselves from the existence of the spiritual world. In the moment of the
utmost climax, the Divine world sent the Creative Spirit of the universe into that sphere of contradiction
in which earthly humanity must live.
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The greatest and central event of the whole Earth evolution took place: the incarnation of Christ in
an earthly human body. Spiritual science recognizes in Christ the exalted divine equivalent of that power
which appears in us as a shadowy reflection when we realize our “I”. We see in Christ that divinity in
Whom the totality of the divine hierarchies and of creation realizes itself as “I’. He entered physical
existence in the moment of the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, when St. John the Baptist heard the
words spoken, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” (Rudolf Steiner renders these
words as follows: “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I behold Myself, in Whom I am confronted with
Myself.)
Through the great sacrifice of Christ in taking on the human form and its fate, the power of the
cosmic I AM entered humanity. The first and fundamental event in the life of Christ was the temptation,
the confronting and rejecting of Lucifer and Ahriman. This was done for humanity. Since those events in
Palestine, every human being can partake in that power of Christ, the cosmic I AM. Thus we can attain a
universal consciousness that recognizes the worlds of Lucifer and Ahriman as a means of evolution, not
as ultimate purposes in themselves. Through partaking in the supreme cosmic I of Christ, we will realize
the spiritual purpose of our evolution in the realm of contradictions. We will recognize the realm of
dense matter as the plane in which we must permeate with spirit, but not to shrink back from it nor to be
stunned by it.
Thus was infused through the Christ impulse into the Earth evolution the power of the universal, all-
comprehending “I”. In this great sacrifice of the deity, to unite with a human body and to suffer human
destiny, even the fate of death, Christ appears as the supreme Guide of the hierarchy of the Exusiai
(Spirits of Form) or Elohim. On Golgotha He fulfilled their cosmic mission to endow humanity with the
cosmic “I”. This cosmic “I” is universal love, for it cannot but take in all existence in the universe with
love and grace.
Christ as the supreme Guide of the Elohim and the Master of universal love is certainly connected
with the constellation of Twins, the gateway of the Elohim or Spirits of Form. When the incarnation
took place, in the moment of the baptism of Jesus by John, the planet Saturn was standing in the
constellation of Twins. (Winter 30-31 AD)
We do not suggest that the Christ event was determined by this cosmic happening. Rather, we
consider such coincidences between the cosmic script and earthly history as evidences of the working of
the divine will and its fulfillment in earthly destiny.
One could argue that the course of Saturn in the sky can be calculated. If, therefore, such cosmic
events are supposed to be an expression of the will of the Divine world, then this will must appear
computable, which is in contradiction to the supremacy of the Divine world. But here lies a gross
deception. Everybody who has an unprejudiced insight into the connection between celestial and earthly
events knows that historic occurrences cannot be computed in advance. Many detailed cosmic rhythms
must be in harmony in order to indicate the right setting in time for an historic event. And this symphony
of cosmic movements and rhythms cannot be pre-calculated with the means of intellectual knowledge
only. A capacity for divine mathematics is needed for it, which is far beyond the range of purely brain-
bound intelligence. Thus the position of Saturn in Twins, in 30-31 AD, is only a minute part of a great
number of simultaneous cosmic events that probably happened only once in the existence of the present
external universe. The specific totality of the cosmic setting at the time of Christ, which cannot
intellectually be computed, must be regarded as an expression of the divine will.
During the Twin cycle of the Earth condition, human object consciousness has been developed to a
predominant faculty, which human beings could approach. More and more the external universe, which
human beings perceived through their senses, became the sole reality. What was once the body of the
divinity, became a totally “objective” reality: the external starry universe. Along this road, humanity
learned to look at the Divine world as if it were an external object. In philosophy and theology the
concept of the divinity became the subject of discussion. Lucifer, who to a certain extent already had a
hold on humanity during Ancient Moon, “opened his eyes” as Genesis says. For during Earth evolution,
the events on Ancient Moon were recapitulated and the intentions of Lucifer carried still further. This is
described in Genesis as the Fall from Paradise. If this influence of Lucifer had persisted unchecked for
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too long, his impact would have combined with that of Ahriman. As a result, the human being would
have ceased to become a bearer of an individual soul. Humanity would have been converted into a
mechanized, anthill organism without the individual freedom of the single members. Human beings
would have died a kind of universal death, for a created being cannot exist indefinitely after having
emancipated itself from the divine origin.
The impact of Lucifer (the serpent of Paradise), through the premature infusion of the semblance of
an ego into the human being, had caused this crisis. It was only a semblance of an ego, expressing itself
in narrow selfishness and egoism of the individual being. Sometimes it is called our lower ego.
This crisis was counteracted by the Deed of Christ. Through His sojourn and connection with the
Earth, every human being can partake in this cosmic, all-comprehending, all-loving “I”. Through this
participation, humanity can redeem its falling away from the divine origin and in time be able to unite
self-consciously with all cosmic existence. Such an enlargement of consciousness must ultimately mean
the overcoming of death. Therefore, Christianity speaks of Christ’s victory over death for the sake of
humanity.
These developments that are the age-long battle for the birth of the free individual human being are
connected, as we said above, with Twins. We can ask at this point: Is there any external rhythm in the
sky that would indicate such a connection with that constellation? The answer is difficult because we
are faced, for instance with regard to the Twin cycle of the Earth evolution, with a period of millions and
millions of years. Even modern astronomy has not computed any rhythm of such a length with certainty.
However, we may think of the Milky Way, which passes at present through the constellations of Twins
and Archer. Astronomical research has not recorded any change of this relationship between the Milky
Way and Twins. However, we know that nothing remains static and fixed in the great universe, and we
can assume such a change. It is possible to imagine that the Milky Way did not always pass through
Twins, and that there exists a minute and slow rhythmic movement of the Milky Way through the
Zodiac. A gigantic rhythm of this kind may indicate, to a certain extent, those evolutionary cycles which
we have in mind.
At this point, however, we should like to refer to certain imaginations of Celtic mythology. We
know, of course, that in mythology the deepest secrets of cosmic and human evolution are hidden. This
mythology speaks of mighty generations of Gods. One of them is the mighty Gwydion. It seems to be
correct, as is generally assumed, that he is the Celtic equivalent of Mercury. Gwydion has a castle in the
sky, Caer Gwydion, which is, as some authors maintain, the Milky Way. Sometimes his sister and wife,
Arianrhod, appears to have been associated with the Milky Way, or with the constellation of Cassiopeia,
which lies in the Milky Way. Gwydion/Mercury is a typical Twin deity. For instance, he has two sons of
opposite characters, the bright, sunny Lieu Llaw Gyffes and the dark Dylan, connected with the watery
sphere. They remind us of the twins Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology.
It is therefore not too far-fetched to see in Gwydion the representative of the great Twin cycle of the
Earth evolution of which we have been speaking. He is the hero of light and battles against the forces of
darkness that dwell in the deep. In his first attempt to overthrow the prince of the underworld, Annwn,
he failed and was imprisoned in a fortress built of human bones. This is a vivid description of the fate of
all creatures, including the human being, to have to descend to the realm of death and to be fettered to a
material body. Ultimately Gwydion conquers the forces of the deep in the famous Battle of the Trees.
All the trees of the Earth, the pure and innocent manifestations of life, help to overcome death. (The
name of Pryderi, the master of the deep, is by some authors interpreted to mean trouble, care, or
thought.)
In later Celtic mythology, King Arthur takes on the attributes of Gwydion. He appears to be inspired
by the impulse of Gwydion/Mercury, who can well be regarded as the great leading spirit of that part of
the Earth evolution leading forward and upward. We know that occultism distinguishes two main
sections of Earth evolution. The first one is called Mars and comprises the descent from spiritual heights
to the state of material corporeality. The lowest point is reached when the human being acquires full
command of the capacity of thinking. Then the “cosmos of wisdom” is completed. (Pryderi means
thought and his father, Pwyll, means “head” of Annwn, the Celtic underworld or lowest Earth world.)
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The second half of the Earth evolution is called, in occultism, Mercury. Then the cosmos of love is
established through Christ, the real Mercury.
The Gwydion/Mercury of ancient Celtic mythology, whom we might regard as a pre-figuration of
Christ, is connected, as we said above, with the constellation of Twins and the Milky Way. This
cosmological reference seems to point in the direction of the central stage of Earth evolution, the birth of
the great cosmic Twin impulse, the healing Deed of Christ; the I AM of the cosmos.
Three more great cycles or rounds follow the fourth or Twin cycle of the Earth. We shall consider
them briefly later on. They appear to be connected with the constellations of Crab, Lion, and Virgin.
Thus we can find the whole Earth evolution, consisting of seven great cycles, interpreted by the present
constellations of the Zodiac from Fishes via Ram, and so on, to Virgin. The opposite half of the Zodiac
also has a bearing on the seven stages of the Earth condition. This we will consider before we go further.
The constellations of Fishes, Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, and Virgin represent the Earth condition
from the cosmic point of view. The constellations of Fishes, Waterman, Goat, Archer, Scorpion (Eagle),
Scales, and Virgin represent the seven principles of the human being (Fig. 43).
This becomes evident when we compare the two halves of the Zodiac in the sense of what we
previously called the corresponding constellations or signs. Figure 43
Fishes Fishes
1st Round: Recapitulation of Ancient Saturn, Physical body
when the physical body was created.
Ram Waterman
2nd Round: Recapitulation of Ancient Sun, Ether body
when the ether or life body was created.
Bull Goat
3rd Round: Recapitulation of Ancient Moon, Astral body
when the human being was endowed with
an astral or soul body.
Twins Archer
4th Round: The Exusiai (Elohim) or Spirits of Ego
Form infuse into human beings the ego.
The obvious correspondence of the following...

Crab Scorpion-Eagle
5th Round Spirit Self or Manas
Lion Scales
6th Round Lift Spirit or Buddhi
Virgin Virgin
7th Round Spirit-Man or Atma
...does not suggest that humanity, as a whole, will fully develop the faculties of the three higher
principles. However, the human being will be able, through the power of the higher ego, to grasp the
spiritual potentiality of these principles. (Rudolf Steiner described in a lecture on The Mystic Lamb, 27
January 1908, the same correlation between the principles of the human being and the corresponding
constellations. He did not then speak, however, about the connection of the Zodiac with the evolution of
the Earth.)
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During the middle round of the Earth condition, we can consciously live only in the realm of mineral
matter. Certainly life and soul forces are working in us too, but we cannot comprehend them. Neither
can we understand how the life forces work in the plant nor how the consciousness forces act in the
animal and in us to bring about inner conceptions of external facts. Therefore, this present great cycle is
called in occultism the mineral kingdom, because human beings, having attained self-consciousness, can
only grasp lifeless mineral substance.
Yet, in a far future time, human beings will be able to penetrate self-consciously the mystery of life.
We will then be able to perform what the plant is doing at present unconsciously. This will take place
during the fifth great cycle or round of the Earth condition. We will also then have a different body,
which will no longer consist of mineral matter. During that stage, we will realize in full consciousness
that in order to bring forth life in an object, the whole cosmos must be taken into account and must
partake. It will then no longer be possible for any human being on the normal path of evolution to live
an existence apart from the rest of the universe. During the present condition a person is inclined, for
instance, to feel quite happy in his or her own position in life, whereas other beings in the world may be
in utter misery. This will no longer be possible during the fifth round. The plant is an absolutely correct
and true reflection of the whole cosmos, of the movements of the planets, etc. Of course, the plant
doesn’t have a consciousness of it, but humanity will attain this faculty of cosmic unison in full
consciousness. We can see a premonition of this stage of development in the constellation of Crab.
This development has been pre-visualized by the Divine world, but it has been facilitated by the
incarnation of Christ. In His supreme dignity as the I AM of the cosmos, Christ brought the life creating
forces of the cosmos down to the Earth. Christ said, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life”. When these
decisive deeds happened, certain cosmic events took place in the constellation of Crab. For instance,
Saturn moved through Crab during the years 31-33 AD. A new cosmic order was then established,
radiating from the Earth into the old cosmos, and the seed that was planted, as it were, in Crab will
blossom forth and bear fruit during that described future stage.
During the sixth great cycle of the Earth condition, humanity will also be able to grasp the mystery
of consciousness. For instance, we cannot know with the means of our present average intellect, how the
transition happens from the “photographic” picture on the retina of the eye to a conscious inner image.
Likewise, the human being can not comprehend at present how the execution of an idea in an external
action is actually carried out.
The present animal has this faculty but in a dreamlike and even lower state of consciousness. Animal
forms and habits are, in the light of occult investigation, externalizations of inner, emotional qualities.
How this inner world is capable of external manifestation, even of creation, we do not know. Humanity
of the sixth great cycle will comprehend these secrets in full self-consciousness. They will also grasp,
for instance, that these soul forces originate in the astral world, the world of the Zodiac and the fixed
stars. Humanity will then direct its will toward the conscious handling and expression of cosmic astral
forces in human physiology and physiognomy.
Occultism calls this stage the animal kingdom and we can read its premonitions in the present
constellation of Lion. It will consist of an elevation of the cosmic Lion impact to the level of human self-
consciousness. During the second cycle of Ancient Sun, the cosmic astrality of the hierarchy of the
Dynamis worked upon our Sun ancestors and created certain organic functions. This development we
realized in the light of Lion. Humanity, having attained the stage of the animal kingdom, will
consciously comprehend the foundations of these cosmic forces.
The final great cycle of the Earth condition is called the human kingdom in occult language. Its
prevision is spiritually present in the constellation of Virgin. Besides the previously mentioned
implications, this constellation also has a certain connection with that great vision contained in the 12th
chapter of the Revelation of St. John the Divine. We hear there of the “woman in Heaven” who “brought
forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up onto God,
and to His throne.”
This “man-child”, the “Son of Man”, is the innermost kernel, the spiritual fruit of humanity. We of
the present age cannot grasp the full implication of our humanity. With regard to all life manifestations,
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organically and mentally, we consider ourselves to be isolated entities within the universe. Generally
speaking, we act under a matter-of-fact course of conviction that, for instance, neither our perceptions
nor our ideas have any influence on the environment. Therefore, it is so difficult for us to develop a
conscious sense of responsibility with regard to our technological and scientific achievements.
Occult investigation finds that even the smallest incident, occurring organically or mentally, in
human existence is connected with the whole cosmos and creates far-reaching repercussions. In a
spiritual sense, our joys and sorrows, our inner victories and defeats belong to the whole universe. Only
during the seventh cycle of the Earth condition will we be able to grasp these facts with the full power of
our “I”. Then we will be able to develop faculties that can hardly be comprehended at the present
moment of evolution.
The “man-child” of the woman in Heaven, the “Son of Man”, has a definite connection with the
highest principle of the human being, the Spirit-Man or Atma.
Thus we find in Virgin the prevision of the seventh cycle of the Earth condition, the stage during
which those exalted capacities of spiritual humanhood, described above, will be achieved. And we also
connect the principle of Spirit-Man with the same constellation (see Fig. 43). Furthermore, we see on the
right side of the Zodiac the upper and lower constellations corresponding to one another.
We have now made an attempt to read in the constellations of the Zodiac, that great chronicle of
cosmic evolution as spiritual science presents it. Readers will realize, of course, that the ideas offered on
these pages can give only a general outline. Their sole aim is to point out a possible direction of
investigation. Many more details and amplifications will be worked out in time.
Primarily, it was not the intention to heap up factual material about the various stages of cosmic
evolution. The author considers it more important to find a gateway to contemplative and meditative
approaches of the present cosmic facts. He has convinced himself on practical grounds that this is
possible and that the indications given here are more than sufficient to lead to the road of exact research
in the sense of modern spiritual science.
The presentation in Part Two is intended to facilitate the comprehension of the characteristic
qualities of the constellations of the Zodiac. There exists a vast amount of literature on the implications
of the divisions of the ecliptic and the Zodiac, which is taken mostly from various ancient astrological
traditions. Yet, the study of this literature leaves the question: Is this information, which in time has
gone through so many channels, still correct and valid for the present state of humanity? We do not
want to minimize the amount of direct experience in this field, but even experimental research cannot
exclude the possibility of misunderstanding and lack of total comprehension. Besides this, there is
always the great problem looming in the background: Why is it that the signs of the Zodiac should
manifest just the assigned characteristics and none other?
Our modern minds are urged not to accept anything on the basis of authority, whether it be of
traditional nature or otherwise. This present age, which has brought to birth modern science, wants to go
to the root of things on the grounds of comprehensive thinking. Thinking is practically the only authority
that a modern human being seems to be able to acknowledge. Even purely experimental evidence cannot
fully satisfy us. This appears to be the birthright of this age.
We have attempted in these pages to suggest a method of combining active thinking with external
experience. It is this method that we wanted to emphasize, and we are convinced that through it a
gateway can be opened to the spiritual understanding of the connection between the cosmos and the
human being. It is a way to comprehend more intensively the really valuable and genuine treasures
contained in the last remains of a traditional star wisdom of long bygone ages.
An example may demonstrate what we mean. Let us take the interpretation of the sign of Scorpion.
It is said that the impact of this sign may manifest itself in a strong personality with the characteristics of
intensity and passion. Yet, this intensity may express itself in the realm of both good and evil. On the
evil side the outcome may be pride, jealousy, malice, ambition, envy, even hatred; while on the other
side perseverance, courage, and practical ability may become evident as the impact of Scorpio.
Furthermore, it is said that if the highest manifestation of Scorpio is reached, it may facilitate mystical
and occult faculties. Why are these characteristics connected just with Scorpio?
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Let us now look at figure 44. There we find Scorpion connected with both the sixth cycle of Ancient
Sun and the third cycle of Ancient Moon. These two aspects can provide an explanation. During the
third cycle of Ancient Moon, the great cosmic rebellion took place, instigated by the luciferic forces.
Human beings achieved then a higher degree of consciousness than had been assigned to them by the
beings of normal evolution. The foundation for a strong personality was then laid, both toward the
possibility of passionate intensity but also facilitating the later development of being awake in the
senses, of having presence of mind, and a strong sense for practical reality. We see here the source of
both possibilities, of good and evil. Human beings became exposed to them by their highly independent
astral body, which bore the impact of the luciferic temptation. The astral body is the carrier of human
emotions, passions, desires, etc., but it also facilitates the inner connection with the object world.
Behind all this, which is connected with that phase of Ancient Moon, we notice a very exalted aspect
of Scorpion. It is that stage of Ancient Sun during which the principle of Life Spirit or Buddhi was
created in a germinal foundation. When human beings will have fully developed this principle, they will
be in possession of tremendous occult powers. A faint shadow of these capacities is always manifest in
Scorpion, and of this shadow are the above mentioned references speaking.
In Part Three we shall approach the inner nature of the planets and their impact on evolution in a
similar sense.
Figure 44
Stages of Evolution
Ancient Saturn
Ancient Sun
Ancient Moon
Earth
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PART THREE
On the Origin of the Solar System

In Part Two we attempted to delineate the characteristics of the constellations of the Zodiac on the
foundation of spiritual investigations in the past development of the universe. We finally came to a point
where we could show the possibility of establishing the qualities and the impacts of those constellations
in a new and logically comprehensible manner. Furthermore, we indicated that we could also find by
this method an understanding of the ancient traditions.
This attempt calls forth the question of whether the same method can also pave the way toward a
new comprehension of the nature and the working of the planets, the Sun of our solar system, and the
Moon of our Earth. We shall try to find an answer, or at least indicate the road toward solutions in this
last part.
We pointed out that we are living at present in a universe which demands from humanity the
development of the objective or object consciousness. We are so used to this level of consciousness that
normally we do not visualize the possibility of consciousness on another plane. Everything that enters
the compass of consciousness of a normally organized human being is realized as an externally existing
object. In other words, anything existing can be made the object of investigation through the capacities
of thinking. Even problems such as the existence of a Divine world, divine creation, and so on, can be
made the object of thinking. This development could take place only because of the corresponding
evolution of the universe. We endeavored to demonstrate in Part Two that the universe of the fixed stars,
which we can grasp with our senses, is an “objectivation” and condensation—one is almost tempted to
say an ossification—of that great story of the evolution of the world. In a similar sense—as far as we can
comprehend it with our senses and our thinking—our solar system is also a kind of densified cosmic
demonstration of the great stages of creation in the past. The solar system still also works on as a grand,
imitating memory-organism of the initial deeds of the Divine world.
Yet there is one fundamental difference between the world of the fixed stars, chiefly represented by
the constellations of the Zodiac, and the planets of our solar system. The fixed stars have more a static
nature. Of course, we are fully aware of the fact that the stars of the constellations also alter their
positions in the sky over long periods of time. Still, their conception as groups, according to the ancient
traditions, suggests more a world of integrated beings of an exalted nature undergoing slow processes of
evolution and manifestation. The planets, however, represent a dynamic element in the cosmos. They
appear more like the actions of those beings manifesting themselves through the Zodiac, almost like
their acting extremities.
Thus we can conceive the constellations, in the depths of cosmic space, as the gateways to those
beings who dwell in the spiritual world. Entering the world of the fixed stars, we approach the realm of
infinity. We are aware that modern astronomy has not yet definitely decided whether space, in a cosmic
sense, is infinite or finite. Still, one glance at the distances that have been computed by astronomical
science, with regard to the fixed stars, can convince us of the fact that those figures are beyond human
comprehension. It is certainly possible to write the millions of light years down on paper, but no human
being can imagine them. We are led here to the termination of space and time, in a human sense, and we
are at the threshold of the spiritual world where mere intellectual comprehension ends.
In the planetary world, we see the emanations of that Divine world beyond space and time. We can
detect in it, if we search diligently, those great stages of cosmic evolution of which we have been
speaking in the past. However, we find them there as facts and results not as original intentions and
impulses. This does not exclude that we will also detect in the planetary world the traces of the divine
hierarchies, so to speak, indications of their sojourns in this realm of the cosmos.
Also, this world of facts and deeds of the divine hierarchies became “objectivated” and externalized
in the course of the fourth stage of the evolution of the world during the Earth condition. Thus our solar
system of visible planets, Sun, and Moon came into existence. This happened during the fourth round or
condition of life of the Earth.
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The fact that we will find ourselves confronted with the deeds of the spiritual hierarchies in the
planetary world; in other words, with that which they have created and continue to create in time
demands a consideration of the evolution of the solar system. This was not so much an essential
necessity with regard to the delineation of the fixed-star constellations. The question of how the fixed
stars became perceptible to ocular vision has not concerned us so far.
How can we imagine, on the grounds of occult investigation, the coming into existence of a solar
system—especially the one in which we live?
We have learned that our solar system is a tiny particle of a greater universe, the so-called galaxy or
galactic system. The Milky Way is the outer rim of the galaxy, which is more or less conceived as a
gigantic flat disk or lens in modern astronomy. However we imagine the galaxy, we ought to remember
that the fixed stars, which we see with the unaided eye, are members of this greater universe. Our
planetary system swims in this great ocean of fellow universes.
We have pointed out earlier that we cannot accept, on the basis of spiritual science or even from
clear logical thinking, the view that any cosmic existence is the result of purely mechanical causes. The
galaxy exists because spiritual hierarchies manifest themselves through it and work in it.
Spiritual science provides the possibility of visualizing those beings of the hierarchies who are
connected with the existence of the galaxy and who create a link between the galaxy and our solar sys-
tem. They are the beings of the so-called first hierarchy, the Spirits of Love, the Spirits of Harmony, and
the Spirits of Will. They have the direct vision of the highest Deity and “know” the divine plans of
creation. Out of their immeasurable love and obedience to the highest, the Spirits of Will establish the
place and the ground plan of our solar system, its skeleton as it were. The Spirits of Harmony give it a
directing force as a whole. We may think, for instance, of the movement of the whole solar universe in
the direction of the constellation of the Lyre. According to modern astronomical observations, our Sun is
moving within the galactic system, and it also takes all the planets of the solar universe, including the
Earth, along its path. As far as one can have a certainty based on mathematical calculations, this
movement is directed toward the constellation of the Lyre near Hercules. The Spirits of Love or
Seraphim establish the interconnection between our solar world and the galactic universe (Fig. 1).
Figure 1
The Spirits of Love or The Spirits of Harmony or

Seraphim working in the Cherubim endowing the
Galaxy and establishing Solar System with Direction
Inter-relationships
The Spirits of Will or Thrones

establishing the Solar system
in space
This initial step of creation, of the present planetary universe, we can imagine as the establishment of
a focus of contraction within an expanded greater cosmos. If we are aware that any comparison is bound
to fall short of the reality, we may use the following picture as a limited means of explanation. Let us
imagine the existence of an expanded sphere permeated by an immensely subtle substance, something
likened to a gigantic cosmic cloud of spiritual consistency. This is the galaxy. Into this kind of cloud for-
mation was infused the impulse to condensation by those spiritual hierarchies whom we mentioned.
Thereby, a drop of denser substance was formed, as raindrops are formed when cloud or fog formations
are condensed. This drop, falling away from its origin, was the beginning of our solar system. We have
tried to give expression to this in Fig. 2, a, b, and c below. The straight lines signify the purely spiritual
sphere of which we spoke. Separating from it is the cosmic “drop” of our solar world.
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Figure 2
Beginning Separation
Progressed Separation
Completed Separation
Into this picture we can introduce the idea of a simultaneous tendency toward condensation of the
cosmic “drop”. Then we come to the suggestions indicated in Fig. 3, I, II, and III. Again, the straight
lines are supposed to indicate the lower “ceiling”, as it were, of a certain region of the spiritual world or
galaxy. The tangential circles are meant to demonstrate the tendency toward emancipation and
condensation.
Figure 3
In figure 4 we introduce more cosmic conceptions into this idea. The straight line in the previous
diagrams has been transformed into a circle, indicating the border between the space world and infinite
space, or better, the spiritual world.
Figure 4
Periphery of
Solar System
3rd Planetary Sphere (C) Mars
st nd
1 2 Planetary Sphere (B) Jupiter
Planetary Sphere (A) Saturn
We imagine our beginning solar world as being segregated from that spherical “ceiling”, as drops
falling away from it in all directions toward the center. In our diagram we have inserted four of the
infinite number of possible “drops”.
Thus we are led straight to the concept of the planetary spheres of the solar universe. These spheres
(see Fig. 4) are stages of condensation that are activated by forces in the central focus of the total sphere
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(D in Fig. 3). About the nature of these forces we shall elaborate more later on. Against them stands, as
it were, a retreating periphery. Modern astronomy, for instance, speaks of an expanding greater universe.
Between these two fields of forces, periphery and center, we imagine our solar system having gradually
come into existence. This polarity is a most important point, which will enable us to conceive the
universe as a living being.
The planets, moving along the outer ring of the spheres, must have been born very late as foci of
successive condensations. The single planetary bodies, which we observe moving along their orbits,
remain in perpetual motion (circular or otherwise). Through the constant change of position on their
orbits, they demonstrate “in time” the infinite possibilities of the “cosmic drops” from the periphery of
the solar system toward the center, which is common to all of them.
We can ask: Why is there only one planetary body in the center of the common sphere? The answer
is: The common center is the ultimate aim of the whole solar system. In a certain sense, it comes to an
end there. One can imagine this point as a focus of general consumption or dissolution of the mass of the
solar universe and, at the same time, as a point of rebirth after transformation. (We shall speak about this
focus later on in connection with the interaction between Sun and Earth.)
This ending can be achieved only by stages, and these stages are the planets moving along their
orbits. We have, as it were, a miniature demonstration of this principle in the structure of the Earth.
There, too, it is not the center of the Earth that is most important for its planetary development but the
surface. On this surface the interaction between heavenly and terrestrial forces can take place, and
thereby the mission of our planet can be fulfilled (see Fig. 5).
Figure 5 - Cross Section:
Saturn
The outermost sphere, which we indicated in figures 3 and 4 (A), is that of Saturn. It came into
existence at the beginning of the fourth round or condition of life of Earth evolution. Yet we must
imagine that this initial stage of our present solar system was of an extremely subtle consistency. Eastern
esoteric teaching called it an Arupa condition. (Arupa means formless; for instance, Arupa Devachan is
the higher regions of the spiritual or archetype world. Everything exists there only in Akashic or
memory condition.)
We have previously pointed out that the Thrones or Spirits of Will created this sphere of Saturn.
Thereby, they established the layout, together with the Cherubim and Seraphim, of the whole solar
system, as it were. All the later facts and movements of the planetary world were contained in this
Saturn, like a seed.
The Thrones had already established on Ancient Saturn the foundation of all later incarnations of the
Earth. Their fire-will (they are sometimes called in occultism, Radiating Flames), which they had
sacrificed, had become the heat substance from which all later physical corporeality descended.
Therefore, the Thrones were especially qualified to initiate the universe of objective physical reality, the
solar world that we behold at present with our eyes.
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The fact that the Spirits of Will are so closely connected with the sphere and the planet Saturn is
expressed even in external properties of this celestial body. In Part Two, we have pointed out that the
present planet Saturn with regard to its rings is an imitation of the particular character of the Ancient
Saturn planet. Also, the sphere of present Saturn, which is enclosed in its orbit, resembles Ancient
Saturn. They have the same size or volume, according to the discoveries of occult investigation.
This sphere of present Saturn became the field of action of the Thrones. Therefore, we find that the
impact of this cosmic realm, for instance, on the human being when preparing for an earthly incarnation
before birth, is of a nature akin to the activity of the Thrones since the most ancient cycles of evolution.
Later on, after the visible planet had appeared, it began to imitate, so to speak, those activities.
Out of the innate qualities of the sphere and planet of present Saturn, these forces act as guarantors
of the will of the divine Father world. The spiritual beings, who are connected with it, have assisted and
witnessed all evolution since the first beginnings. On account of being the oldest, who have taken part in
everything, they take care in the solar world that the original intentions of the Gods are never deviated
from or forgotten or deviated from. Thus, this planet is, in the highest sense, the memory of the whole
solar organism and the physiological foundation of memory and conscience within the human being.
This is also the reason why Saturn is connected very deeply with the manifestations and the laws of
destiny (karma) and reincarnation. Saturn holds, as it were, the threads of evolution leading from the
past to the present. In its rhythms and periods of revolution are contained deep secrets of time, of
transposition of time, in other words, of the reflection of greater time rhythms in smaller cycles. For
instance, during the embryonic development of a human being, certain forces are working upon the
organization and create a type of replica of the essential memory pictures of past incarnations. The
human body is thus formed, with regard to its more subtle functions and particularities, as a perfect
image of his or her individual past. This fact has been established by the researches of modern spiritual
cosmology. The forces and beings who establish this connection during gestation are especially
connected with Saturn’s rhythms and positions in the sky.
The cosmic memory of Saturn doesn’t only work in the existence of the individual human being.
These forces also maintain and safeguard the Will of God in the totality of cosmic evolution. Over and
again they bring home to the whole of humanity, for instance, the debts and mistakes of the past, the
deviations of humanity from the requirements of its evolution. They constantly call humanity back to its
task of redeeming the past and thereby advancing toward the future. Thus Saturn is working in history;
right down to the actual mathematical facts of its movement, one can prove its working as a ‘conscience
of history’. Nothing is forgotten, everything comes back demanding redemption and evolution.
Saturn has sometimes been called an evil planet. It was supposed to be responsible for tearing away
the foundations of human physical existence, their happiness, etc. In ancient mythology one spoke of
Cronos, or Saturn, devouring his own children. On medieval astrological representations, Saturn
sometimes appears as the Reaper of Death. These are misleading conceptions if they are only nurtured in
a sphere of narrowness of thinking. The spiritual reality behind it is the fact that these Saturn forces,
bearing in their being the great cosmic vision of evolution, must rebuke any attempt to deviate, for
instance, from our own greater being, which is not confined to one existence between birth and death.
Punishment is not meted out in the sense of revenge, but as a corrective and an opportunity for
compensation. Termination of existence—death in a human sense—comes only as a breathing pause and
for a re-establishment of our correlation to the greater cosmic aims.
The Spirits of Will created the sphere of Saturn as their field of activity, and they laid, thereby, the
foundation for the movements of all the planets in our solar system. Thus they initiated the tendency
toward ever greater densification, right down to mineral matter. Saturn is therefore also working in the
depths of the Earth. The mineral body of the Earth—the rocks etc.—are connected with this planet; but
it also helps, for instance, to create the hardest part of the human body during gestation, the skeleton.
This skeleton, itself, is like an abbreviated biography of cosmic evolution translated into mineral
appearance (see Part Two). Here we can see the reason why we sometimes find Saturn represented in the
Middle Ages and earlier as the skeleton figure, an imagination that could no longer be comprehended by
a later humanity.
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The experiences that the human soul has after death in the sphere of Saturn are most important and
decisive. Spiritual investigation reveals that we sojourn, after passing away from the Earth, in the
various spheres of the planets, starting in the Moon sphere. We prepare there to rise gradually to ever
higher regions of the spiritual cosmos. When we have advanced so far that we can enter the realm of
Saturn, we have reached the outermost border of our solar world. Everything around us is then of pure
spiritual nature and in the sphere of Saturn we encounter the archetypes, the thought-beings which stand
behind the soul motions which live in earthly humanity. The passions, emotions, and feelings which
activate and ensoul us on the Earth appear then in their true nature. We are surrounded there by the past,
by historical events which have taken place. We do not perceive the happenings as they appear
externally; rather, we see the spiritual forces that have brought about clashes between nations, etc. They
are then living ideas, living impulses, etc., to us. Thus we are taken to the gate where we realize psychic
being, spiritual being at work behind all earthly existence.
We can comprehend these facts if we remember that Saturn is indeed the great gateway, the
threshold from the universe of physical appearances to the world of spiritual permanence, where space
and time lose their significance. In this sphere and beyond it, our soul can then find the kernel of its own
eternal being and gather new strength and inspiration for another Earth existence. Thus the sphere of
Saturn is also for us the portal through which we will again enter space and time and descend into
another incarnation.
The essence of these experiences between death and new birth are not lost for us after being born on
Earth; they are only veiled. All through our earthly pilgrimage, Saturn accompanies us as an unseen
brother/sister, who will always untiringly remind us, by the incidents of destiny, to seek the gnosis of the
spiritual background of all existence and to go consciously across that threshold that we crossed under
entirely different conditions between death and new birth. This supreme manifestation of Saturn in us is
clearly indicated in the position of the visible planet Saturn around the time of incarnation. The external
fact is a sign or symbol of a vast spiritual reality and is an expression of a subtle connection between the
universe and us.
Jupiter
The creation of the sphere of Saturn was, at the same time, the foundation of our whole solar system,
because the space that the solar world occupies in the greater universe corresponds to the sphere of
Saturn. The orbits of Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury are contained in it. (This statement is
liable to provoke objection, because anyone who has only an average knowledge of astronomy will point
out that beyond the orbit of Saturn, the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have been discovered. Their
orbits are naturally larger than that of Saturn, meaning Saturn is contained within them. Therefore the
sphere of Saturn does not seem to be the outermost boundary of our solar universe. However, those
newly discovered planets are of a totally different nature and origin from the classical planets. We shall
deal with this question later on.) This sphere of Saturn was created from the infinite periphery toward
the center by the infusion of the power of contraction. The infinite number of “drops” (see Fig. 4) falling
off the ceiling of the periphery amalgamated into one big drop of the most subtle substance, which was
the beginning of our solar world.
After this layout of the planetary system had been established, increasing densification of the
original consistency occurred. This took place during very long ages of cosmic evolution. We indicated
earlier that the first stage was called in eastern esotericism the Arupa condition and following that was a
cycle of Rupa condition, during which all that had come into existence on the Arupa or Akasha (world
memory) stage was densified to thought-being. Thus the sphere B in Fig. 3 and 4 was created, and this
sphere is that of the present Jupiter.
This development brought an entirely new element into the solar world. Until then the “ground plan”
had been established on the level of Akasha existence. In other words, the solar universe consisted of the
living memory picture of past cycles of evolution coming from outside the sphere of Saturn. The next
step was to consolidate and refine, as it were, the solar house from within. The forces that enacted this
stage chose the sphere of Jupiter as their field of force; and later, after the visible planet had come into
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existence, the original activity was imitated and carried on with a semblance of those original world
deeds (Fig. 6). Figure 6
The beings who associated themselves especially with the sphere of Jupiter
were the Kyriotetes or Spirits of Wisdom. We have already met this hierarchy
before, especially in connection with the evolution of Ancient Sun. By an act of
their immeasurable virtue of sacrifice, they then endowed the human being with
the ether body, the vehicle of life. All those great deeds and events of Ancient
Sun lived on in the Kyriotetes. Therefore, their creation, the sphere of present
Jupiter, was permeated by those pictures and deeds of the past.
The particular character of the present Jupiter is experienced by the human
being upon entering that sphere after death. In order to have a clear picture of this sojourn in the spiritual
world after death, we should like to very briefly recapitulate the facts. (Details can be found in Rudolf
Steiner’s book Theosophy. The connection of the stages of life between death and new birth with the
spheres of the planets is indicated in the lecture cycle Life Between Death and New Birth in Relationship
to the Cosmic Facts, Berlin 1912/13—later published as Between Death and Rebirth.) Soon after death
we enter the regions of Soul land. There we must emancipate ourselves from the attachments to the
earthly world, which we created during our last life. The first four regions of Soul land are identical with
the sphere of the Moon, the fifth with Mercury, the sixth with Venus, and finally in the sphere of the Sun
we free ourselves from our last inclinations to the physical material world (see Fig. 7)
Figure 7
After this journey through the spheres of the “inferior” planets, the soul has now acquired the
capacity to enter the higher realms of spiritual existence, the Spirit land (lower or Rupa Devachan of
eastern esotericism). There we meet the archetypes or creative thought forms of physical existence. First
we pass through the sphere of Mars, where we are confronted with the archetypes of the physical
material objects. In the second region we experience the spiritual archetypes of life formations. This
corresponds to the sphere of Jupiter. In the third region of Spirit land, which is identical with the Saturn,
dwell the archetypes of all soul formations on the Earth. About this region and the corresponding
experiences of the soul, we have already previously spoken.
In the sphere of Jupiter the soul meets the archetypes of life. These are not experienced here as they
are on the Earth, where life appears to be split up and manifest in many single beings. In Jupiter it is a
union of all life forces, like a vast ocean of potential life circulating, as the blood does in the human
body, through all living beings. The soul finds itself confronted in this sphere with the real spiritual
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background of life manifestations, which originally came into the world by the great sacrifice of the
Spirits of Wisdom or Kyriotetes; thus the sphere of Jupiter is the expression of this hierarchy.
We say, for instance, that we are looking as a living plant, but we perceive only the manifestation of
the life of that plant at one certain moment. If we could see the life or life organism of that plant, we
should be able to perceive all the stages of the existence of that plant in one instant. We should also
realize these life forces as that agency which shapes the whole species again and again according to one
definite pattern containing the various stages of growth in one. Ultimately, we should even see the
universal pattern of life forces that stand in the background of all plant existence developing the vari-
eties, as well as the common stages of plant life, such as root, leaf, flower, seed, etc., according to one
great archetype or living idea of the plant.
We experience in the sphere of Jupiter these archetypes or living ideas working in all living
creatures. We see them evolving ever higher through their manifestation in the plant kingdom, in the
animal kingdom, and in the human kingdom. This evolution appears as an ever changing and reforming
world of flowing streams and oceans.
This immeasurable wisdom of creative life, which knows the beginning and the end of all existing
life manifestations, is the deed and heritage of the Spirits of Wisdom in the sphere of Jupiter. In its
highest form it is pure divine wisdom, and in its lowest form it lives in a dormant instinctive condition.
We can therefore imagine that between death and a new birth the human soul gathers up wisdom in this
sphere, according to the abilities acquired in previous earthly incarnations. The wisdom acquired here is
not intellectual knowledge that can only analyze, but a creative wisdom able to consider simultaneously
all the stages and consequences of any creative deed, working as do the life forces of the plant.
On the journey back through the spiritual world to an earthly incarnation, the human being must
again pass through the sphere of Jupiter. Now, the capacities that were acquired in previous incarnations
will determine whether the soul will be able to become a moral or deficient vessel for the wisdom-
inspiring impulses of Jupiter. The particular degree of these capacities is expressed by the position of the
planet in the sky and its relationship to the other members of our solar system at the time of incarnation.
These Jupiter forces, which are in reality nothing but a mirror of one’s behavior and individual stage
of evolution long before birth, also work in the formation of the body during the period of gestation.
They especially direct their efforts toward the aim of making the humans thinking beings; thus they
work in that part of the organism that is needed for thinking activity, the brain and nervous system.
Jupiter is, in a certain sense, the antidote against the one-sided activity of Saturn. As we described
earlier, Saturn works in the skeleton formation. If this planet had its way, it would make of the human
being something that resembles a conscious crystal. It has its hold mainly in the human head, especially
on the skull. Against this tendency of putting the human being under the spell of a bony helmet, Jupiter
builds functions into the body that balance and check this danger. The brain blossoms and expands into
the cavity of the skull from within the organism. This activity can be studied in the early stages of
embryonic development. It is a microcosmic recapitulation of the relationship between the Saturn and
Jupiter spheres, as we suggested in figure 6. (Also see Fig. 8) Figure 8
The formation of the human forehead reveals the influence that Jupiter exerted
especially during the embryonic development. Yet this planet also works in the whole
organism, where it creates the balance against Saturn through the organization of the
muscles. Of course, in the limbs the situation is reversed. The bony structure, the creation
of Saturn, is in a central position and the muscles surround it. However, their Jupiter born
activity makes the stiff human skeleton into a gracefully moving being.
This manifestation of Jupiter leads us to another revelation of its activities. Whereas
in the upper human being it is concerned more with creating a thinking being, it transforms the lower
human being, the limb human, into an instrument for the execution of ideas. In this twofold
manifestation of Jupiter, the organism of the liver has an important part to play, and since ancient times,
the liver has been regarded as an organ connected with Jupiter. The movements and the positions of this
planet, about the time of incarnation, clearly reflect the capacities of a human being in this twofold
activity. (Readers will understand that it is technically impossible in this publication to give detailed
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information about the impact of the planets on the physiological organization. This must remain
reserved for possible later amplifications in connection with historic examples.)
Jupiter is priest and king. It is king in the head organism where wisdom-light permeates thinking. In
the limbs, where wisdom is supposed to become deed, it has the potential to evolve a priestly faculty.
This is not meant in a narrow sense, but as the latent capacity in all human activity of making practical
reality the highest possible image of the idea. This may be attempted in the social realm, in the world of
religious experience, or in artistic activity, etc. On the level of their highest manifestation, such impulses
will not be of a revolutionary nature but will rather attempt healing and blessing. If Jupiter is not
disturbed by deviating impacts from other spheres, it will not be in a great hurry about the realization of
an idea. It has enough time to wait, but it will certainly always work for the future and even for the
distant future. However, it will not go into that future like a shot and leave everything behind in an
incomplete condition. Its steps will be carefully considered and great care will be taken not to
underestimate the past and the formations derived from it. Rather, it will endeavor to weave and
transform the past healthily into the future.
Thus we can also understand that Jupiter is in a real sense a focus around which even now those
forces and beings are gathering to prepare the next incarnation of the Earth, the Jupiter condition. This
will be one of the great stages of evolution, such as Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon, and
Earth. Spiritual investigation reveals that the future Jupiter will be built of thought substance. Just as our
present Earth consists of various geological strata, so will Jupiter consist of thought strata, of thoughts
which have been thought during the Earth evolution. Therefore, the close connection between Jupiter
and the thinking human being appears in another realistic light.
Jupiter enters human existence, as well as the whole Earth existence, in a twofold manner. The one is
in the incarnation of the creative wisdom-light and life into all those manifestations of which we spoke.
The other is similar to a beckoning hand asking for that cosmic divine light to be transformed into the
foundations of future life. This side of Jupiter appeals especially to the human race and demands
spiritual responsibility from it.
Mars
The sphere of Mars came into existence by a further condensation of the first rudiments of our solar
system, represented by the spheres of Saturn and Jupiter. This happened during the third condition of
form of the fourth round of the Earth. Even then the condensation did not advance to the present mineral
state of substance.
In the course of the preceding creation of the Jupiter sphere the solar system had only descended to
the Rupa condition, to pure spiritual thought manifestation. Now, during the coming into existence of
the sphere of Mars, a further condensation into astral spiritual substantiality took place. Thus we see
three great cycles of evolution (they are sometimes called globes in occult tradition), which were
necessary steps toward the final establishment of an external solar universe.
1. Akasha or Arupa condition of form, coinciding with the creation of the Saturn sphere: The
intentions and deeds of the Divine world are infused into the beginning cosmos of time and
space as the great memory substance of the greater cosmos.
2. Rupa or spiritual thought condition of form: The memory substance now becomes enlivened
thought-being. Thereby, the past, the memory, is linked to the present in space and time. This
is the creation of the sphere of Jupiter.
3. Spiritual astral condition of form: Now, the thought-beings concentrate on creating the
prototypes of physical objects. In a certain sense the harmony and unity in cosmic thought is
broken up and the prototypes descend to a point where they are just able to form a world of
differentiated objects. This stage of evolution is manifest in the solar cosmos as the sphere of
Mars.
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The human soul experiences this sphere of Mars after death, when it is ready to advance from Soul
land to Spirit land (see Fig. 7). Up until this moment, all the affiliations of the soul with existence in a
material body have been overcome and purified. Now the soul can face the truth and the spiritual facts
of material corporeality. First the truth about the physical-material object world is revealed to it in the
sphere of Mars. Later on, also the spiritual prototypes of life and of soul manifestations are experienced
in the spheres of Jupiter and Saturn. Thus after death the soul stands face to face with the thought forces
that create the objects by which that soul was surrounded during its earthly life. On Earth the soul took
in the forms of stones, of plants, etc., through their senses. These external forces hid the creating potenti-
alities within and around them. Now, in the sphere of Mars, the external objects have disappeared, there
are no senses to perceive them. There is emptiness in the place where they appeared in space, and
instead the soul now sees “holes” surrounded by the thought-beings who made and make the external
forms of stones, plants, beasts, and human beings. The great divorce or separation from the object world,
which was experienced on the Earth, is overcome. Now the soul realizes the truth about the physical
corporeality of the kingdoms of nature and of the human being.
Why does the soul have this kind of experience in the sphere of Mars after death? We can find an
answer if we imagine that this planetary sphere is the field of action of the Dynamis or Spirits of Motion.
This hierarchy endowed humanity with an astral or soul body during Ancient Moon evolution. Thereby
the foundation of an organization that enabled inner experiences of the surrounding world was laid in the
human being. The perception of an external objective world through the senses was not yet possible on
Ancient Moon. Only the inner receptacle of consciousness was created, which later on enabled the
realization of the presence of an object world.
This creation of the principle that endows the human being with the capacity to stand as a conscious
being, face to face with the object is connected with the sphere of Mars. The hierarchy of the Dynamis
has imprinted facts and capacities into that sphere which permeate the astral body as the soul,
descending into an earthly incarnation, passes through that cosmic region. There, souls take up forces
that give them consciousness, by which they can perceive and realize an external physical world on
Earth within their own inner world. Thus one can well say that the great deed of the Dynamis on Ancient
Moon, the permeation of the human being with a soul body, is recapitulated before the incarnation of
each single human being when passing through the Mars sphere.
These capacities, which have been acquired before birth, are manifest during the life on Earth. They
vary according to the experiences of the soul in the sphere of Mars. What becomes of these gifts of
Mars, which have been built into our organization, depends on our relationship as a conscious being to
the physical object world. This reveals itself in the tendencies that we may be strongly drawn to the
realm of physical facts, or we may be inclined toward an attitude of withdrawal, even of negation of the
physical world into which we are born. We see the gift of Mars as a source of energy by which we more
or less tackle the object world surrounding us on Earth. For instance, it can infuse a desire to conquer the
physical world in our consciousness. This creates the desire for knowledge through the scientific
approach. Therefore, Mars is connected with the development of modern science, especially with natural
science which is concerned with the objects of the physical world.
There is a possibility, of course, of endless degrees of realizing these innate powers by which we are
confronted with by the physical world. Experience has shown that the Mars forces acquired in passing
through this cosmic sphere on the way to an incarnation are reflected and recapitulated in the
movements of the planet Mars during the time of gestation. They are then imprinted into the embryo and
shape the whole organism, the nervous system, etc., so that we can work out and manifest our particular
relationship to the physical world.
We realize that these Mars capacities rest on that great divorce and emancipation that was initiated
on Ancient Moon for the sake of the development of independence and finally freedom. Thereby, human
beings were led along the road toward a stage of existence where they could only perceive the merely
external, material aspect of physical objects. This is the price that was paid for the attainment of self-
consciousness, but there is a compensation for this darkness which befell humanity and that is the soul’s
experience in the sphere of Mars after death, which we described above.
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Human beings then live in the light of truth about the physical object world and unite with the
thought-beings who make the physical objects, and they can in a certain moment say, “Thou Art That”
(the ancient “Tat twam asi”, “I am myself”, or “I bear in myself the objects”).
We see that the facts and impacts of the sphere of Mars on human beings and the kingdoms of nature
are closely connected with the evolution of Ancient Moon. As a matter of fact, occult investigation
reveals that the size or volume of the cosmic sphere of Mars corresponds to that of the Ancient Moon
planet. Therefore, this planet works in the solar system as a great reminder of the Moon stage of
evolution. It is similar to the Sphinx in ancient mythology, sitting at the roadside along which all
creatures descending into physical existence have to pass. The question of this cosmic Mars-Sphinx is
connected with the great crisis of that Ancient Moon evolution. If the passer-by can find the answer
contained in inner, moral evolution, then the Sphinx will vanish; otherwise, she will destroy the
wanderer.
We can well say that Mars is the great disintegrator of spiritual union and harmony in the cosmos.
This is the aspect of Mars as the god of war and aggression in all ancient mythologies, but it is only one
of its manifestations. However, one should not imagine that the warlike Mars is solely connected with
the human race. None of the numberless objects and beings in the kingdoms of nature would exist if the
spirits of the sphere of Mars had not prepared the ground. The differentiation into species has a direct
connection with it. We can see in it a continuation of the great split which occurred on Ancient Moon.
Through that differentiation, the law of opposites began to work in nature, and there arose the yearning
of the creature for redemption and reunion with the whole.
A fuller comprehension of this aspect of Mars is only possible if we realize its effect on the
differentiation of the human race. All souls who descend into earthly incarnations have passed through
the sphere of Mars, the region of the prototypes of the physical objects. One is therefore inclined to think
that on account of this prenatal heritage, all human beings have common views on the facts of physical
existence. This is a mistake. Our task on the Earth is to acquire an object consciousness, the realization
of the external world from the viewpoint of the self. We can only do this by standing back, as it were, by
living in the state of divorce from the world of the spirit. In other words, at first we forget the spirit on
Earth, and we face an external facade, as it were, in the objects around us, and then only gradually, by
development of higher stages of consciousness, may we penetrate to the spiritual truth.
This state, in which the present human being first finds itself on Earth, is just the opposite of the
spiritual constitution of the sphere of Mars. It is, in a certain sense, the outer shell of Mars. Therefore for
the sake of the necessary development of consciousness, the human race is bound to develop one-sided
and diverse views on the physical world. This diversity is, as it were, the scale or the picture of
successive degrees of human consciousness. We can imagine that the human races and nations came into
existence out of this diversity of earthly consciousness. Figure 9
This development is closely connected with human speech. Our inner
reaction to our experiences of the external world is the word. Our speech is the
expression the concepts which we form from our perceptions. Yet, we will
express in speech our inner experience of the object world according to our
standard of consciousness. Therefore, we can imagine the differentiation of
languages having come into existence. Consequently, Mars is also connected
with the capacity of speech in the single human being, because the shadow of
the spiritual unity in the sphere of Mars is diversity on the physical plane (see
Fig. 9).
The development of consciousness through the differentiating impact of Mars is still more
pronounced where he appears as the war god in humanity. Ancient Greek mythology had a vivid picto-
rial capacity of describing this fact. During the Trojan War, Mars or Ares was found to be extremely
unreliable. One day he fought on the side of the Trojans, the following day he helped the Greeks. This is
a magnificent characterization. The task of Mars is to instigate conflict between peoples and nations,
because conflict is one of the many possibilities of awakening consciousness. Therefore Mars cannot
confine its influence to one party alone.
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Thus we can also understand that Mars is connected with the iron in the Earth. The modern world
has made tremendous progress toward the development of an earthly object consciousness through the
use of iron. We need only study the predominant use of this metal in modern civilization and its effects
on individuals. Iron, the gift of Mars, is also contained in the human blood. Thereby we are able to
develop the ego, the differentiating agency of our earthly existence.
It may appear that Mars is an evil planet that brings strife and antagonism into earthly existence, but
in reality it carries a tremendous challenge in its influence on the human being. The potential of being
able to withdraw to an egocentric position throws the door open to evil and destruction; however, it also
offers us the possibility of doing creative deeds out of our free decision. This is the positive aspect of
Mars, which is still recognized very little in our time.
Therefore, the impact of Mars on the human being can not be considered only in the sense of the
usual astrological predictions. It can be only handled with an attitude of great occult tact, because the
potentialities in Mars can be developed in the sense of either creative or distructive. Occult
investigations of this kind can only be fruitful and helpful if they are guided by a will and a capacity to
heal the great sin of the world, the divorce from the spirit.
The Sun
The Sun of Creation

The sphere of Mars came into existence during the third condition of form of the fourth great round
of Earth evolution. Now we will enter a description of the fourth condition of form, in which we are still
living and which we shall live for a long time to come. The solar universe, as it has evolved so far, can
be imagined as it is suggested in figure 4. The spheres A, B, and C represent the spheres of Saturn,
Jupiter, and Mars. We are aware, of course, that any such diagrammatic pictures can only be regarded as
an approximate means or direction toward realization of the truth.
We must now imagine that the contracting impulse in the solar universe continued at the beginning
of the fourth or present condition of form. Consequently, we should find at a certain time a central body
around or in the neighborhood of the ideal center of all the spheres in figure 4. This “body” inside the
sphere of Mars was the Sun, which then still retained in its being the Earth, the Moon, and the so-called
inferior planets Mercury and Venus.
It will be our task now to consider the cosmic biography and the working of this Sun. So far, we
have been speaking about contraction, by which the solar system has step by step been created, after the
separation from the greater universe. Who exerted this contractive activity? Our answer is, the
hierarchical beings who are connected with the Sun.
The investigations of spiritual science reveal the Sun as a focus of non-space in the universe. It acts
like an “I” but of cosmic grandeur, arranging a spatial universe around itself. An investigation of the
nature of the human “I” leads to similar conclusions. This “I” is certainly not a spatial entity, although it
manifests itself through the means of space and time. We cannot point to it and say, “there it is”, even
with the means of clairvoyant perception. It is likened to a “hole” in the world of space and time.
If we magnify this fact to cosmic conceptions, then we come to the Sun. It is the focus of activity of
the Exusiai or Spirits of Form, whom we previously met on Ancient Saturn. We will remember that they
are connected with the human ego, with the painful path of preparation until they are able to infuse the
“I” into the human being.
The focus of non-space in the solar world, which is the Sun, worked and still works as a vacuum. It
attracted all that was in its surrounding as the spatial foundations of the solar system. This was a process
in time; therefore the Sun is also intimately connected with time.
An idea such as this seems to contradict all conceptions of modern astronomy about the nature of the
Sun, which is generally considered to be a compact body consisting of either a solid or a gaseous core.
To this we can only reply that it seems to be an illogical conclusion that terrestrial laws of nature can be
straightaway transplanted into the sky. In many instances it can be proved that such transfers lead to
impossible conceptions.
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The inherent quality of contraction in our solar system worked from the beginning as the expression
of the activity of the Spirits of Form. Only later was a focus also established, the external body of the
present Sun. What did these forces attract from the periphery of the juvenile solar system toward the
center? In the periphery and beyond it, we find the fixed-star world represented by the constellations of
the Zodiac. Zodiacal substance was drawn by a mighty cosmic suction into the realm of space and time
of the solar world. Thus there first came into being the regions of the archetypes of soul formations, of
life and of physical objects. These are the spheres of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Later they were drawn
into the vortex of earthly object existence. This is the stage of creation which is described in the first
chapter of Genesis.
We can also understand that the archetypal order of all kingdoms of nature is twelvefold.
Investigations on the basis of spiritual science have revealed that the mineral world can be classified
according to 12 great groups of archetypal character. The plant kingdom also demonstrates a twelvefold
order. In the animal world we find 12 great species or families, for instance, of which the mammals and
birds are two.
The spiritual prototypes of all existing objects were drawn from the twelvefold Zodiac, or its
predecessor the highest spheres of the spiritual world, and were gradually imprinted into spatial
existence. This is the Paradise of Genesis. It did not exist on the solidified Earth to which we now
belong, but we should imagine it in the surrounding aura of the Earth. In a certain sense, it consisted of
the imprints of the divine archetypes of objects in the ether.
We hear in Genesis that on the sixth day man was created. We read that he was created “in the image
of God”. He, too, had been born from those mighty spiritual archetypes that dwell in and beyond the
Zodiac. Therefore, he is, with regard to his physical organization, the twelvefold entity which we
described in Part Two.
The first chapters of Genesis also tell us of the great Fall and the loss of paradise. It is the moment
when humanity had to descend from the heights of ethereal existence into a material body. From then
onward, the human being had to wander from birth to death in ever repeated earthly incarnations. The
body became less and less flexible, until its organization was no longer able to reflect the fullness of that
archetypal twelve-foldness, which was arranged in our solar cosmos through the creative activity of the
Sun. The single human being on Earth represented only one-twelfth of the 12 constellations of the
Zodiac. The fact of having to be born at a certain time, expressed by the birthday Sun, allowed the
human being to represent only the archetype of the one constellation on Earth, in which the Sun stood at
the moment of birth. Thus the single human being is a representative of one of the 12 archetypes, just as
the single animal species manifests one twelfth of the Zodiac. We shall have to speak later on about the
redemption of these consequences of the great Fall. Figure 10
So far, we imagined the Earth, the Moon, and
the inner planets as still being united with the
Sun. How can we visualize the further separa-
tions? In figure 4, we pictured the still united
greater Sun standing in the ideal center of the
three spheres A, B, and C, which had already
come into existence. We might think that further
contraction was no longer possible, because the
sphere C had exhausted itself, as it were, into the
point of the Sun (see Fig. 10). The four circles
touching C should be imagined as being
representative of an infinite number of circles
along the greater circle C. However, a closer
examination reveals that further contraction was
still possible. A demonstration of this possibility
is attempted in figure 11. We ought to imagine,
however, that the four groups of tangential
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circles moving toward the points C are meant to stand as representatives for an infinite number of such
groups along the circle, or sphere C. We thought it unwise to include more than these four groups of
circles in the diagram, because it might otherwise become unintelligible. Figure 11
If we follow up this possibility, we make a remarkable discov-
ery. The spheres A, B, and C ultimately died, as it were, into the
point of the Sun. However, the development does not stop there; it
goes through the point of naught and appears again beyond. Thus
the spheres D, E, and F come into existence (Fig. 11). Yet these
spheres have a totally different character from those of A, B, and C,
because they are obviously inverted.
This can help us to understand the coming into existence of the
Earth and also of the planets Mercury and Venus. What actually
happened, after a body of subtle fiery and airy consistency had been
born—the still united Sun, was a further condensation. A part of the
warmth and air of the Sun contracted into water. The higher
hierarchical beings whose dominion was the Sun, especially the
Spirits of Form, did not follow this development. They separated
from the body that accumulated the condensed water substance. Thus we have a Sun that remained more
in the center and another planet which was condensed along the points F. This was the Earth, which was
then still united with the Moon.
One fact in this picture can be a valuable contribution toward the understanding of this condensation
of the Earth. The sphere made by the points F, the orbit of the Earth, comes very dose to the sphere C,
which is the orbit of Mars. It appears almost as the lower or inner ceiling of the Mars sphere. We will
remember that this sphere of Mars is the spiritual region of the prototypes of physical objects, but with
regard to its size or volume, etc., it is also the cosmic memory of Ancient Moon. That Ancient Moon
planet, at the time of its highest degree of condensation, was in a watery condition. Now, after the
condensation of the Earth and its separation from the Sun, it took over, as it were, the heritage of
Ancient Moon (preserved in Mars) and became a fluid body itself.
This picture offers us the possibility to see the creative activity of the Spirits of Form (the Elohim of
the Bible) much more clearly. The mighty being of the Sun in the solar universe, now separated from the
coarser Moon/Earth, had become their abode. This Sun, which we described earlier as a non-spatial
vacuum, exerts a contracting or suctional influence upon the spatial universe around it. In a sense, we
can even say that this Sun constantly creates space, but we assuredly can not confine its total being to
the globe which we see in the sky. Its contractive potentiality extends to the outermost boundaries of our
solar system. All the other spheres are maintained by this Sun’s superseding spherical activity.
Within this greater Sun’s creative vortex, the Moon-Earth of
which we spoke appeared at a certain moment. It was exposed, as it
were, to the stream of cosmic zodiacal substance, which was sucked
by the Sun from the periphery toward the center (see Fig. 12). If we,
furthermore, imagine that the Earth began to move along its orbit, we
can easily understand that our planet was exposed in time to all the
zodiacal substance drawn in by the Sun. The last stage that this
substance passed through before it reached the Earth was the sphere
of Mars, the region of the prototypes of physical objects. One cosmic
step further, on the Earth, these prototypes were infused or imprinted
upon matter. This is one of the aspects of the creation of a material
Earth world. Figure 12
Where did matter, the “matrix” into which the spiritual prototypes could be imprinted, come from?
In order to answer this question, we must introduce another aspect of the Sun. Figure 12 intends to
suggest the vortex of zodiacal, archetype substance that is sucked into the solar system by the suctional
activity of the Sun. We can imagine that something like a tremendous compression takes place on the
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outer limb or periphery of the Sun body. This compression is likely to reach a degree of density which
one can imagine would result in a complete disintegration.
The zodiacal substance has to pass through the various spheres of spatial density of the solar
universe, but ultimately it is forced to enter that focus of non-space represented by the Sun. This com-
plete reversal, taking place on the surface of the Sun, suggests gigantic processes of disintegration,
which we can faintly compare with the breaking up of matter on Earth through fire. We can even
compare it with atomic disintegration, although we do not suggest that those events on the Sun are really
of the same kind as earthly processes. The place of this cosmic transformation for us on Earth is the
globe of the visible Sun that sends us light and warmth.
We must also include in this picture the possibility that a kind of residue of those processes of
dissolution on the Sun are left behind. If we burn matter on the Earth the ashes remain. Of course, we
cannot simply apply this idea to the Sun. The substance that is disintegrated there is not earthly matter. It
is condensed zodiacal substance; we might even say that it is of astral-etheric nature. The “smoke and
the ashes” of their breaking up are the emanations of the Sun, comprehensible by the senses. The
external constitution of the Sun—the various layers—produces the light, heat, and also other effects.
This is the Sun which astronomy observes, that which has become external, the ejected “ashes”.
These emanations are radiating back from the Sun into cosmic space.
Thus, for instance, the Earth is exposed to a twofold impact (see Fig. 13).
From the depth of cosmic space come the spiritual archetypes of the
physical object world. From the Sun comes light and warmth, etc., in
which is contained the “ashes” of the originally purely spiritual archetypes,
which have now been reduced to a non-spiritual caricature, as it were. This
twofold impact is the foundation of that spatial world of matter. Matter is
“calcified”, frozen spirit. On Earth the two streams clash, in other words,
the cosmic archetypes impress themselves into earthly matter. A simple
consideration can help to make this picture clearer: The daylight, the light
of the Sun, makes the physical objects comprehensible to the senses. The
warmth of the Sun allows living beings to temporarily remain in a spatial
form. Figure 13
This is the majestic aspect of the Sun as the focus of all creation. In this sense we can truly call it the
Elohim Sun, the abode of those powerful spiritual beings described in the first chapter of Genesis. But it
is also deeply connected with the mysteries of death, which becomes quite evident in the death
experience of the human being. Occult investigation reveals that after death one enters the spiritual
world through the gateway of the Sun. This is not just a kind of poetic picture or the like. Just as one
often refers to the position of the stars at the time of the nativity of a human being, so one can also speak
of a “horoscope” at the moment of the death of a human being. There the actual position of the Sun is
important. All the stages of life after death are related to this Sun with mathematical precision. We
know, of course, that one can enter the “gate of the Sun” only after a long period of “purification”. Only
after the last links with the earthly world have been severed and after having gone through that
“consuming fire” between the Earth and the Sun can one enter the regions of Spirit land. (see Fig. 7).
The Sun of Prophecy and Salvation

The picture that we have tried to paint so far of the planetary cosmos seems to harmonize with the
Copernican world conception. The Sun stands in the center, the planets move in great orbits around this
Sun according to the well-known Copernican order. The Earth itself is a place in this cosmos on which
uninterrupted cycles alternating between creation and death occur. Where will this universe end? The
answer of modern science is that it will terminate in either some kind of sudden cataclysm or slow death.
But what about the world of, for instance, human thinking, human civilization, cultural and spiritual
values? Are they not bound one day to be irresistibly drawn into the general vortex of cosmic decline?
Are, then, these aspirations of the human race not doomed to senselessness?
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The Copernican world picture is correct. One can even find it on the basis of a spiritual evolution,
which we tried to describe. However, it can lead no further than the lowest point of evolution, to the
point where matter appears as the dead image of the spirit. Therefore our age has discovered and
adopted this picture of the world, because present humanity, generally speaking, can only grasp dead
mineral matter. The mystery of life is a closed realm.
As soon as we start to imagine spiritual forces and beings at work within this universe of ours, then
the whole picture changes. We have become so used to the idea that spirit, if it is accepted as a reality at
all, is completely divorced from the world of matter. In the best case, we live in a kind of dualism,
without giving ourselves a full account of it. Otherwise we should feel obliged to ask much more often
how it is that in an obviously material human body dwells an intelligent, in other words, a spiritual
individuality.
Although the Earth seems to be a place where the spirit is dying into matter, we ought not to forget
that we develop on this planet the potential faculty of object ego consciousness. Death, which seems to
be the ultimate end of all Earth existence, is certainly a point of utmost zero in the universe; but the
consciousness and the experience of the ego can rise from it. Can this not be a spiritual power, though
perhaps still small, that may radiate as a new beginning into the cosmos? This Earth may appear as a
dead end in the cosmos, like an alien enclosure, but it certainly contributes a new impulse, which must
be discernible in some kind of external movement.
On the other hand we know that the Sun is also not eternally standing still. Astronomy has
discovered that it moves in space. According to modern observations, it races along a line that extends
between the constellations of Dove, south of Orion and Lyre, near Hercules. The Sun, through its
suctional activity, takes the whole solar system along on this journey.
Let us dwell for a moment on this picture of the potentialities of Sun and Earth. The Sun has grown,
as it were, from the periphery toward the center. This is the path of creation, and therefore the Sun
stands as the representative for the whole created solar universe. It is the root, the very archetype of the
sphere. The Earth, however, is the utter zero in the whole setting of the cosmos. It has descended to the
point of utmost condensation. We can therefore say that our planet is representative of centric formation.
Its only hope is the possibility of growing from the point where it arrived toward the periphery. This
possibility we shall have to investigate further on (see Figs. 14 & 15).
Figure 14
Figure 15
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If we take this duality seriously, we come to a totally different principle of cosmic movement. We
tried to indicate this in figure 16. It is no more than a very first, imperfect indication. There the two
manifestations of spheric and centric space are interlinked and are penetrating one another. The Sun on
its path, we can imagine, is deviated from the course it would normally take by points of collision
between spheric and centric space. The result is a lemniscatory movement. Our Earth, together with the
planets, is taken along by the Sun toward the constellation of the Lyre. Therefore, it also moves in a
lemniscate behind the Sun.
Figure 16
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We should like to emphasize that the diagram produced here is by no means the whole story. The
principle, however, is correct. Rudolf Steiner suggested it many years ago as the reality of cosmic
movement from the viewpoint of spiritual investigation. The details, the correspondence to the
observable facts in the sky and the mathematical problems, are an immensely complicated matter, which
belong entirely in the realm of astronomical research and observation. We must therefore, unfortunately,
abstain on these pages from further elaboration.
These views on astronomical questions need by no means be taken as a contradiction of the
Copernican world conception. We explained how far we feel justified in following this view, but we
have also shown where the necessity to advance to spiritual conceptions of astronomical facts arises.
The lemniscatory world picture follows a consideration of the cosmos as the living organism of the
divine hierarchical world. For instance, according to this conception of the cosmos, the great seasonal
festivals of the year, the festive events in the Christian calendar, are not just the result of arbitrary ideas
and arrangements of humanity. They are cornerstones in the interrelationship between Sun and Earth,
whereas they have hardly any place in the Copernican picture.
There is one important point in the lemniscatory aspect that we should like to especially consider:
Sun and Earth are moving on two separate lemniscates which, however, intersect in the center (Fig. 16).
Thus it happens that the Earth, at certain times, steps into the place where the Sun had been some
months before. This takes place twice during one year in the crossing point of the lemniscate.
During these events, the Earth is enwrapped in the aura of the Sun, and we can imagine that it is a
most important occurrence in the life of the Earth. This fact was actually known in pre-Christian times.
Rudolf Steiner points out in a lecture of October 1, 1916, that during the time when the Earth
approached this position, important Isis festivals were celebrated in Egypt. In other religions as well,
such as the Druidic Mysteries, this event was received with great ceremonial attention. These festivals
were deeply connected with the ancient capacities of prophecy. The priests and sages in those
sanctuaries felt that in such cosmic hours, the curtain before the future parted and that coming events
were laid open, right down to practical details concerning, for instance, agriculture, etc.
Here we are confronted with another aspect of the Sun. Why were those cosmic occasions in the
relationship between Sun and Earth connected with prophecy and with the Isis Mysteries?
The Copernican world conception can only go as far as to suggest that the Earth with its population
has been sent out into desolation, sickness, and death. The lemniscatory outlook, however, which we
indicated in a very primitive picture (Fig. 16), permits the view of a Sun that cares for and has a vivid
interest in the destiny of our planet. This loving attitude of the Sun goes so far as to draw the Earth, at
certain times, into the aura which it leaves behind on its journey through cosmic space.
This intimate relationship between Sun and Earth was of tremendous comfort to the ancient people.
For them it was the annually re-testified certainty that the good, creative spirits of the Sun had not
forsaken the seemingly dark Earth. They knew the Earth had to go through its dark hour of existence in
order to ultimately achieve a high prize. For them these events contained the prophecy that one day in
the future the Great Spirit of the Sun would bring Himself to birth in the womb of the cosmos, the Earth.
For this reason, these festivals were connected with the Isis Mysteries.
This ever recurring prophecy and the spirit of reassurance that was experienced in the ancient
mysteries, when the Earth entered the aura of the Sun, became physical reality in Christ’s incarnation.
Then the divine Aura of the Sun united with the Earth. In post-Christian times, these events when the
Earth steps into this place, which happens twice each year, can become seasons of remembrance of
Christ’s deed. It has a different meaning from that of pre-Christian ages, but it is of similar great impor-
tance for the life of the Earth. The union of the great Sun Aura with the Earth took place after the
baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. Certain events in Christ’s life reveal this union quite clearly, and
three of them happened, with great probability, during times when the Earth had moved into the cosmic
place where the Sun had been shortly before: The first was the Wedding of Cana (John II), the transfor-
mation of water into wine, the second was the Feeding of the Five Thousand (John VI, and the third was
the Raising of Lazarus (John XI) and the following last weeks before Golgotha.
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Occult investigation reveals that Christ was the great guide of the Exusiai or Spirits of Form (in
Hebrew, the Elohim). We heard that the field of activity of the Exusiai is the sphere of the Sun, and that
these spiritual forces of the Sun were pre-eminently engaged in the creation of the solar universe.
Therefore it changed the whole course of the Earth when the great leading Spirit of the Exusiai
descended to it. Desolation, despair, and death had almost taken hold of the Earth when the Creator
Spirit of the universe entered a humble human form, suffered a human destiny—even to the point of
death, and thereby brought healing and resurrection to the suffering Earth and its inhabitants.
The external Sun, the heritage of the great Elohim Sun, continues imitating, as it were, the initial
creative and maintaining activity. Since the event on Golgotha, the spiritual Sun Aura has united with
the Earth. To this Sun we shall now turn our attention.
The Sun in the Earth and the Future

When we spoke earlier about the Sun, we compared it with the human “I”. The “interior” of the Sun,
according to occult investigation, is non-space, a hole in space. Likewise the human ego is of non-spatial
character. We are, however, aware that the great cosmic “I” of the Sun is of an infinitely higher dignity
than the human ego. It certainly has nothing of that narrowness which the human ego can develop and
which lends itself to the very concept of egoism.
The “I” of the cosmos is universal love. It embraces in absolute altruism the whole universe, but
sacrifices everything into creation and maintains the creature. Similar to the external sunlight, it cannot
hold back anything that it receives from the depths of the greater universe. It shares it unrestrictedly,
though in transformed condition.
This “I” of the cosmos has united with the Earth. Every human being who is born on this planet can
share in it. All depends on his or her own decision. When Christ spoke the word “I”, He pointed to this
greater cosmic “I” that can live in every human heart who is willing to accept it. Thereby we can
become a real citizen of the universe. In time, even one’s inner spiritual faculties, which are still
slumbering, can grow to cosmic dimension and intensity. Death is overcome, because Christ established
on the Earth the ever youthful potentiality of cosmic existence, the resurrection. The meaning of the
Earth has been fulfilled. The object consciousness, which for the sake of its own becoming had to live in
the state of the great divorce from the Divine world, has been crowned with the “l” of the cosmos that
will bring about in time the union with all universal existence.
Before the coming of Christ, the Earth had become something likened to a great cosmic grave.
Divine archetypal substance was constantly sacrificed into earthly material existence, but the healthy
realization of this object world in and through ego consciousness, which was the purpose of the
existence of the Earth, has been lost more and more. This is evident in our present conditions. In all
spheres of human life, which have not yet been permeated by the Christ impulse, the pre-Christian
calamity is still prevailing. There the sense for the significance of human culture, the development of the
sciences, the arts, and the religious life, is dwindling away fast. People are more and more coming to
regard these activities only as a means of personal satisfaction, for the establishment of power, for the
sake of keeping the masses quiet, etc. We have numberless examples of these developments around us.
The healing of this decline can come only from the acceptance of the Christ impulse and only if its
cosmic significance is comprehended. Thereby all human activity and aspiration can be lifted to an
entirely new level of significance in the universe. The cultural life of humanity can radiate into the
cosmos and not remain an end in itself.
An attentive contemplation of the diagrams given on these pages will reveal that the planet Earth
represents a point of utmost condensation and contraction in the solar universe (see Fig. 14). Thus a
place was established in the cosmos where the majesty of death could unfold and form the grave. The
Sun did not descend in the beginning to this point. It remained in a state of cosmic youthfulness and
universal permeability. Since the spiritual Aura of the Sun has united with our planet, the Earth has
received a new impulse, a new meaning, and a far-reaching task. The Earth has the potentiality of
becoming a Sun itself in the future.
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This potent new Sun is still invisible to the eyes. Nevertheless, its radiance is already effective in the
solar universe. It unites with that which we called in figure 16 the impact of centric space.
Thus we come to the picture in figure 15. The dotted circles and curves represent the orbits of the
planets according to the Copernican conception. For simplicity’s sake, only the Earth, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune have been selected. The Sun is standing in the center and exerts that suctional activity,
which we described earlier. The Earth itself is the point of utmost densification, the termination of the
old universe. There already exists, however, the germ of a new cosmos, established by the
interrelationship between Sun and Earth, by the effects of the lemniscatory movement on Sun and Earth.
From this Sun-Earth, new impulses are radiating into the solar cosmos, indicated by the tangential
circles commencing in Earth.
Can we find any proof for this radiation? It is contained in all human activity that, from a spiritual
point of view, is worthy of going into posterity as positive factors. All that which is born in scientific
development, in the arts, in religion, in social formations, and that helps humanity on the road to
spiritual progress is part of the new radiation. In other words, all human cultural activity that accepts and
aspires to the spirit of evolution and moral perfection is on the road to the new cosmos. The great
Archetype of positive human culture is Christ, the Aura of the Sun working within the Earth.
These facts are of tremendous importance for the soul between death and a new birth. Through the
processes leading to incarnation, we receive the gifts of the old cosmos, the cosmos of divine creation.
After our death this cosmos is eagerly waiting for that which we return with as increased gifts. The
starry universe is in a state of expectation. The study of star charts made for the moment of death
reveals, unmistakably, this new connection of the human being with the cosmos.
We have indicated in figure 7, the path of the soul after death through the heavenly world. The
diagram is worked out only as far as the sphere of Saturn, the third region of Spirit land, but we can
assume that more regions follow further out. These highest spheres of the spiritual world are described
in Rudolf Steiner’s Theosophy.
In the fourth to the seventh regions of Spirit land, we find the archetypes of those spiritual and
cultural achievements of the human race, which we described above. We also find there the prototypes
of the divine intentions that are working in the human being and which can only slowly be realized
through numerous incarnations. When the soul enters these regions after death, it is faced with its own
higher self, with the progress it has made toward the high aims of evolution, but also with the failures.
These regions are beyond Saturn. They are in the vicinity of the newly discovered planets Uranus,
Neptune, and since 1930 Pluto. From a spiritual point of view, they did not originally belong to our solar
system. Only in later phases of evolution have they attached themselves to the solar cosmos,
We can understand this if we realize that these regions are in a state of becoming. As much as the
evolution of humanity progresses in the spirit of the cosmic Christ, so much are these new planetary
spheres becoming realities in the cosmos. But also the failures, the falsities, the denials of the spirit of
progress are manifest there. They work on as the seeds of natural and social catastrophes. We hope to
describe the impact of these planets in more detail on a later occasion. (See the author’s, Drama of the
Universe.)
The Inferior Planets
In figure 11, we suggested a possible idea about the coming into existence of the inferior planets,
Mercury and Venus. At the beginning of the fourth condition of form of the present round of the Earth,
the Sun still contained the Earth, the Moon, and the inner planets. Then came a time when the
densification of substance had reached a degree that made it impossible for the higher Sun-beings to
remain united with the Earth-Moon. The Sun separated from it, and we see then the separated celestial
body shaping its own existence along the orbit F in figure 11. This we have described in the preceding
chapter.
We can imagine the Sun after this segregation as still much larger than the present Sun. Then, after
some time, it began to separate two more bodies from its own being. Certain spiritual hierarchies could
not follow the exalted evolution of the Sun. They therefore created two more celestial foci that were
suitable for their own development. These were the planets Mercury and Venus, which came gradually
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into being along the orbits D and E in figure 11.
Meanwhile, the Earth had undergone a tremendous coarsening. The Moon was still united with it,
and the Moon beings transformed the Earth into a place where gigantic formations of growth covered
the face of our planet. These formations cannot be compared with the present, comparatively subtle
plant growth. They were processes of a general hardening faintly remembered in the trunk formations of
present tree or in certain kinds of horn substances. At a certain moment, however, the Moon separated
from the Earth. The beings of the Moon could work in a more objective way upon the Earth from
outside, leaving the Earth free to develop along its own lines.
We have previously pointed out that the inner planets, including the Moon-Earth, represent
“inversions” in the cosmos. The superior planets came into existence along the “outer” rims of their
spheres or demarcation lines of contraction (see Fig. 4). This is reversed in figure 11. There the orbits of
the inner planets are indicated by the “inner” ceilings of their boundaries of condensation.
This is a remarkable difference, and we can use it as a key for the understanding of these inferior
planets. Their existence is the outcome of an evolution that had gone through the “focus of naught” of
the Sun and appeared again “on the other side”. They are therefore reversals of the superior or outer
planets in the following manner:
Saturn Mercury
Jupiter Venus
Mars Moon-Earth and after the separation, the Moon
We feel obliged, however, to mention a fact that occult investigation has revealed. The sphere of
Mercury has the character of Venus in an occult sense. Similarly, the sphere of Venus appears, in the
light of true spiritual science, as Mercury.
At a time when the ancient mysteries gradually became decadent and profane, for instance by forced,
superficial initiations during the age of the Roman Caesars, it was deemed necessary by certain mystery
centers to hide the true nature and wisdom of the spheres of these planets. Therefore, one says in
occultism “their names were exchanged”. However, this is a rather complex matter, which we cannot
attempt to describe now, though we should like to emphasize that this does not directly affect the present
methods of delineation of these planets. Only in matters of definite occult research, these facts must be
observed. In the following presentation, we use the names of these planets as they are known to our
contemporaries and add their mystery names in parenthesis.
Mercury (M-Venus)
We described above how the Spirits of Form, or Exusiai, are chiefly connected with the sphere of the
Sun. The hierarchy standing below them, the Spirits of Personality, or Archai, have their field of activity
in the sphere of Mercury (M-Venus). Therefore, there lives in the impact of this sphere something of the
character of the Archai, expressed to a certain extent in their cosmic biography. We will recall to our
memory, therefore, the main points of their connection with cosmic evolution, which we indicated
earlier.
The Archai achieved a level of consciousness that can be compared with our present stage of self-
realization. In order to do this, they had to make use of our ancestors of at the state in which they were
on Ancient Saturn. We will remember that these ancestors were only warmth entities during the
condition of highest densification on Ancient Saturn. They had no life and no soul. The whole body of
that planet consisted of these warmth images. It appeared like a mighty mirror. The facts in the
surroundings, mainly the activities of the hierarchical beings, were reflected in this mirror-planet. Thus,
the Archai experienced and realized their own existence in those mirror-beings of Ancient Saturn, in the
warmth ancestors of humanity.
Since those stages of evolution, the Archai are connected with that mysterious Ur-fire. During the
Earth evolution, when the Sun-Earth was condensed to the stage of fire, the Archai were again at work.
The human being then had quite a different form and nature. Only gradually did the stream of warm
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blood develop within the enclosure of the human body. The Archai were especially concerned with this
development. They made it possible for human beings to become self-conscious personalities on the
foundation of the warmth of the blood stream.
These facts can give us a starting point for contemplations on the nature and the influence of
Mercury. The biography of the Archai is inscribed and working in its sphere. This is the reason why
Mercury is so deeply connected with the creation of bodily foundations for the development of the
human personality and earthly intelligence.
We said earlier that the sphere of this planet is an inversion of Saturn. This is a reflection of the fact
that the Archai used the Ancient Saturn planet (whose image is the present Saturn) for their inversion,
for their own self-realization. The present Saturn builds the skeleton, the fundamental outline of the
physical body, into the human form. Through the forces which the soul acquires before birth in the
sphere of Mercury, human beings can realize through the skeleton, their own personal existence distinct
from existence around them. Saturn also builds the skeleton, so to speak, of personal destiny into the
human being. This skeleton of destiny is formed by human beings between death and new birth, out of
the contemplation of past incarnations. Thus Saturn indeed weaves the threads of the past into the
present. The position of this planet at the time of incarnation is a cosmic reflection of the higher will in
which human beings lived before birth.
Mercury helps us to dwell within the whole make-up of our destiny, in other words, in our Saturn
organization, as an integrated personality. It assists us in forgetting, in the average case, all
reminiscences of past incarnations, lest we feel split up into several beings. Only when one is
sufficiently prepared, will Mercury draw back the curtains that hide the past.
Mercury works, indeed, in our life like a screen on which appear only the shadow pictures of the real
events in the background of the stage of destiny. These shadow images are our capacities, intentions,
and impulses, all that which makes us, to a degree, intelligent. Where do these faculties, these impulses
in reality come from? They have their root in previous incarnations, in the progress or failures of ones
own past. Only when we attain the capacity of higher knowledge, which spiritual science calls intuition,
can we look back and investigate past incarnations. This is the highest manifestation of the Mercury
forces in the human being.
We need for our self-realization, as an intelligent being, the warmth of the bloodstream. This is also
a remnant of Ancient Saturn, where the Archai experienced their “self” in the warmth of that planet.
Therefore, the warmth organism of the human being is, to a certain extent, dependent on the prenatal
influences of Mercury and Saturn on the human embryo. This is also connected with the process of
breathing. But to simply say, as is sometimes done, that Mercury is associated with the lungs is too
crude. The processes are much more complicated and need more scientific investigation.
The sphere of Mercury (M-Venus) makes the whole human organism a vessel for the development
of personality. It cannot be confined to one single region of the body, but it works in all three spheres: in
the head, in the rhythmic system, and in the limbs. Through the brain, personality is expressed as
intellectual capacity. In the rhythmic system it manifests through the warmth of the blood and the
connection with the breathing, as was just mentioned. Lastly, the personality can also be expressed in
the movement of the limbs. However, the differentiation in each individual case, the emphasis on one or
the other of these three bodily spheres can be studied in connection with the movements of Mercury
during the time of gestation.
From figure 11, we can gather that for an observer on Earth the inferior planets appear to stand at
various times either behind or in front, or to the right or left of the Sun. They continually change their
relationship to Sun and Earth. Thus during the embryonic development of a human being, these planets
offer a multitude of aspects and implications of astronomical significance. These movements and
gestures are an expression of the heritage that human beings bring into this life from the time before
birth when they were identical, in a spiritual sense, with the cosmic spheres.
The development of personality also contains great dangers. We know that it is connected with the
tendency to egoism, the unavoidable accompaniment of the unfolding of the self. We can become too
proud and self-contained with regard to intellectual capacities and achievements. We can also get too
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deeply involved in our earthly existence. These are the great temptations that are lurking, as it were, to
the right and left of our path toward the expression of our self as a personality.
These temptations, to which the human being is constantly exposed, are connected with Mercury
(M-Venus). The progressive spiritual beings of this sphere offer their help. They are working with the
element of time, with the possibilities that can be evolved in repeated earthly incarnations, with the
changes in the development of human consciousness through the ages. The Archai, the great masters of
the sphere of Mercury (M-Venus), are therefore also called Spirits of the Ages or Time. They hold in
their hands the greater views and aspects that supersede the narrow bounds of one earthly life. There are
also retarding spirits connected with Mercury who act as our tempters.
This is the reason why only a profound occult knowledge and a loving Christian attitude, which has
permeated the whole human organism, can attempt to handle the connection between the human being
and the world of the stars, for instance, at the moment of incarnation. Unless one has a deep esoteric
understanding of this connection, one cannot really help a human being in the great battle between the
forces of spiritual progress, representative in the Christ impulse, and the powerful opponents of healthy
human self-manifestation.
Venus (M-Mercury)
This sphere has become the sphere of activity of the Archangels. We should therefore wish to
recapitulate their cosmic biography, as it were, because this must be inherent in the impact of this planet
on the human being.
The Archangels experienced their equivalent of the human stage of consciousness on Ancient Sun.
On Ancient Saturn they were already concerned with the archetypal layout of what later became the
human senses. Now, on Ancient Sun, they developed their humanhood through a further cultivation of
the germinal senses of humanity.
These senses were, however, far from being as perfect as the organization of the senses of a present
human being. On Ancient Sun these senses, within the organism of the Sun ancestor, were more like
breathing organs through which the substances of an already existing lower kingdom were flowing in
and out of.
In all successive stages of cosmic evolution, the Archangels were connected with these and similar
preoccupations. For instance, during the Earth condition, they are especially associated with the air that
had come into existence, at a certain moment, through progressive densification. We see here, again, a
link between air as the medium of the Archangel’s activity and human breathing.
All this gives us a foundation on which we can approach the function of the planet Venus (M-
Mercury). Mercury (M-Venus) builds an organization into human beings that can assist us in developing
our own personality. There we are still preoccupied with our own inner being. Venus (M-Mercury) helps
in building up another organic tendency by which we are enabled to establish a connection with our
surroundings.
The capacity to have this relationship to the external world is brought about by one’s heritage from
the sojourn in the sphere of Venus (M-Mercury). Again, we find that the movements and gestures of this
planet during gestation express, in a kind of cosmic hieroglyph, the individual condition of a human
being—the degree and character of these connections. Venus works in all three spheres of the human
organism.
However, this planet has a special hold on the rhythmic organization. Therefore it is intensely
connected with the process of breathing. In breathing, a continuous exchange of air takes place in which
all living beings of the Earth share, according to their physiological conditions. Nowadays we usually do
not attach much importance to the fact that we constantly inhale an element which is the common
property of our planet. This was different in ancient times. Human beings were aware that the inhaled air
was a messenger of processes and beings beyond their own organizations. They felt that even the
messengers of the Gods were moving on the wings of the air which they breathed.
Here also lies the reason why the impact of this planet on the human being is deeply connected with
our feelings. Our sympathies and antipathies, participation in the destinies and the existence of other
beings, pity, and love are all like breathing processes in the psychological realm.
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Venus not only affects the rhythmic and feeling spheres, but also works in the organism of the senses
and the head. There too, we can speak of a breathing process by which the impressions of the external
world are flowing into the human being and bring about reactions. Our individual connections with the
world through the channels of our senses are indicated in the movement of Venus during the time of
gestation. Again, we ought to say that this is only a reflection of the preparations that we make, while in
the sphere of Venus (M-Mercury), for the use of our senses on the Earth.
A healthy breathing in this sphere of our organism creates the inclination to perceive the beauty of
the world in numberless manifestations. Therefore Venus is deeply associated with the arts, especially
with the inner experience and appreciation of artistic creation and activity. It has a healing influence on
the head organization, which is inclined to register only the impressions coming from the external world.
Altogether, Venus (M-Mercury) can establish a healing and restoring capacity. The breathing, the
constant rhythmic exchange which it enacts in the organism, works against stagnation and calcification.
We can also speak of a breathing process through the limb system, but it is more deeply veiled there
in unconsciousness. This side of Venus concerns our connection with another human being, with the
partner in life, with the family, even with the community or nation into which one is born. All of these
connections, of course, are rooted in previous incarnations, but the capacity to connect with another
human being, although we may not be conscious of the spiritual background, is the heritage from the
Venus sphere. It is important to know, in this connection, that the spiritual guides of nations, the Folk
spirits, are of the rank of the Archangels, whose field of activity is in this planetary sphere.
Within the compass of this region, we have a connection with all the kingdoms of nature. This, too,
is certainly a mysterious relationship. Earlier we pointed out that we could not exist as we do if these
creatures in nature, during long bygone ages, had not taken on the characteristics and tendencies which
would have bound us too strongly to matter. Humanity is certainly indebted to them. This relationship is
also evident with regard to the food that we take from nature.
This leads to another connection of the human being with Venus. Through our individual
relationship to the world, we are certainly always heaping debts on our soul. There is no doubt, even in
the best case, we do not and cannot establish that loving connection with all the beings of the world
which we feel is expected from us. We often injure, or even destroy that which enters our compass of
experience. There are innumerable degrees of denying the attitude of universal love, which a true
Christianity expects. We sometimes cannot help but increase the burden of our debts for the sake of self-
preservation.
There is, however, no escape from these debts. In ever repeated earthly lives we are confronted with
the balance sheet of our past debts. There the spiritual beings of the sphere of Venus (M-Mercury) come
to our rescue. They make it possible to repay our debts by arranging for us to meet our opponents from
former existences again and again, though under changed conditions, until the cultivation of our feelings
elevates these relationships to a healthy level. What they enact in our lives is not punishment but the
opportunity to raise ourselves to higher stages of spiritual kindness and understanding.
Thus it may become apparent that the highest realization of the impact of Venus for us is the faculty
of inspiration, as spiritual science understands it. This realization can only happen as our free moral
deed. It is a kind of breathing on a higher spiritual level, an inhalation of something which is greater
than we are. Only through true inspiration can we find the right understanding of another being. Thus
the path is paved to the right moral deed.
Earlier we described Venus (M-Mercury) as an inversion of the sphere of Jupiter. Jupiter is the
abode of spiritual hierarchies who already prepare the future incarnation of the Earth, which will come
after the decline of the present cosmos. In that future cosmos, we will attain a higher degree of
consciousness, higher capacities, etc. In order to prepare for that stage, we must now learn to make the
innate capacity of thinking our own property and responsibility. The gift of the capacity of thinking is
received through the agency of Jupiter. On Earth we must “invert” it, evolved it into self-realization, and
the Venus (M-Mercury) beings are standing by to help in this task. Therefore, Venus is an inversion of
Jupiter.
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The Moon
We pointed out earlier how the Moon-Earth, which separated from the Sun, began to move on its
own path below the outer rim of the sphere of Mars (see Fig. 11). It formed something similar to an
inner or lower ceiling of Mars, according to the Copernican picture. Thus it was in the direct stream of
cosmic substance coming from Mars.
We can imagine that this fact accounts for the conditions on the Moon-Earth, which we briefly
sketched in the chapter about the inferior planets. The archetypes of physical formations were drawn too
strongly and too directly into the materializing vortex of our planet and contributed toward the
hardening and coarsening of which we spoke.
As soon as the Moon separated from the Earth and began to move on its orbit around the Earth, it
acted like a shield or sieve against the influx from the cosmos. On the basis of this and other similar
ideas, even those strange crater-like formations on the face of the Moon can be explained. Experiments
have shown that powder dropped from a certain height onto a surface of plaster of Paris, or ash-like
matter, creates exactly the same kind of craters that appear on the Moon. We can thus imagine that the
cosmic cinder, which the Moon is sometimes called, acted as a focus of attraction for cosmic substance
and shielded the Earth from its direct impact.
The sphere of the Moon, not the body that we see in the sky, became the field of activity of the
Angels. We will therefore try, as we did before, to find the key for an understanding of the influence of
the Moon by recapitulating the biography of this Angel hierarchy.
The Angels achieved their equivalent of human self-consciousness during Ancient Moon. They
accomplished this step of their evolution in close connection with the development of the Moon Beings.
The senses and the potential nervous system, which human beings were unable to use consciously, were
the means by which the Angels progressed toward their human stage.
They accompanied the Moon Beings during the alternating rhythms of their Moon and Sun
existence, of which we spoke in Part Two. Already then, they acted as guardian angels of humanity, not
of a single Moon Beings but of whole groups. Thus the Angels led humans into the Sun realm when
their Moon existence drew to a close and helped them to rejuvenate their higher principles in the har-
monies of the Sun cosmos. Then the Angels guided the humans back to the Moon, to the physical kernel
of their external existence, which blossomed forth again and became a perfect image of their astral body.
This astral body had been filled with new vigor in the Sun realm. The Angels administered this kind of
“reproduction”, for humanity had not yet reached the stage of self-realization.
These facts are a key to the understanding of the working of the Earth-Moon. Its impact appears in
all three spheres of the bodily organization. In the head sphere, it is closely connected with the processes
that weave between our perception and conception. We can understand that this is a kind of transformed
reproductive activity, which “reproduces” the pictures of external objects in the mind. One’s capacity for
ideation is expressed by the position of the Moon at the time of incarnation. It is a reflection of the
experiences that were gathered during our sojourn in that sphere. Many phenomena in our psychological
make-up can thereby be explained.
However, it is not in our human destiny to be compelled to live only on what was once acquired in
the sphere of the Moon. We can and we ever are, called upon to increase the gifts received. Thus, we can
cultivate our power of ideation by inner discipline of thinking and develop that capacity which occultism
calls genuine imagination. It is the transformation of otherwise abstract thought into “picture
consciousness”. Our dreams transform external or physiological happenings into arbitrary pictures that
are, however, beyond the control of logical thinking and, therefore, usually distorted. Exact imagination,
of which occult science speaks, is similar to “symbolizing” yet with a higher consciousness under full
control of the ego.
The Moon forces are also at work in the rhythmic or middle organization. There they are active in
the organs, forming them plastically, as it were, from within. This sphere is also connected with feeling,
and therefore the Moon is manifest in some of the rhythms of the feeling life, which can easily be
observed.
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We know that the soul life is passing through rhythms of greater or less activity. At certain times we
feel more inclined to an active attitude. At other times we may be more in a passive and receptive mood.
Especially in artistic and literary work, where we must depend on our individual initiative without being
pushed by external routine, we can well observe these rhythms of soul mood. A close examination will
reveal that they are connected with the phases of the Moon.
In the course of one month, the Moon changes from Full Moon to New Moon and back to Full
Moon. At the time of Full Moon, it stands between the orbits of the Earth and of Mars, opposite the Sun
(Fig. 11). It is therefore exposed to the full impact of the stream of cosmic substance entering through
the sphere of Mars (Fig. 12). During such a Full Moon period, we are more inspired to activity by
unconscious notions, which come from the sphere of the Moon penetrating the Earth. In the case of a
New Moon, it stands between the Earth and the Sun. It is then rather turned away from the cosmic
stream and more associated with the tendency of the Sun to let existence be realized on the level of the
“I” (the Sun as the “I” in the cosmos). As far as these events play into our feeling life, the more we are
inclined to withdraw into our inner being and appear outwardly in a passive mood. The more we achieve
conscious control of our whole being, the more we become masters of these rhythms and phases of the
Moon, and we can use them positively without feeling compelled. It is altogether the task of present and
future humanity to consciously shape and transform the impacts that are coming from the cosmic world.
The Moon forces also work in the region of our limbs and metabolism. There they are deeply
connected with reproductive processes. We know the monthly rhythms of the female organism, though
they are emancipated from the factual phases of the Moon. The Moon is also connected with the secrets
of embryonic development. This was known since the earliest times as the so-called Hermetic Rule of
ancient Egyptian tradition. Extensive researches in this direction have revealed a close relationship
between the processes of gestation, the creation of the vessel of our destiny, and the rhythms of the
Moon during that time. We hope to publish some results of our historic investigations on a later
occasion.
The sphere of the Moon is an inversion of the sphere of Mars. In Mars the spiritual prototypes exist
of physical formations, which the Moon “inverts” into earthly matter. These processes, which are partly
still deeply veiled and that are also, to a certain extent, connected with the human metabolism, go hand
in hand with the phases of the Moon. Generally speaking, we can well say that the celestial companion
of the Earth provides the “daily bread”, the material foundation of all creatures existing on our planet.
These cosmic forces, however, not only prepare this bread, they also take it away. Therefore, the
Moon is associated, for instance, with the death experience of human beings. We have pointed out that
the four lower regions of Soul land, through which the human being passes after death, are identical with
the sphere of the Moon (Fig. 7). In those regions of “burning desires”, etc., the soul is obliged to
abandon its affinities to the material world. These experiences can be extremely painful, but are
necessary and healthy for the soul. We can find vivid descriptions in Greek mythology of the soul in this
sphere; for instance, we hear of a man standing in a stream and above him a laden fruit tree. Yet he
suffers thirst and hunger because whenever he attempts to grasp the fruit above him, it is torn away by
the wind, and as soon as he bends down to quench his thirst the water disappears.
The spiritual beings dwelling in the sphere of the Moon offer us the opportunity to descend into
material existence in order to attain object-consciousness, the great goal of Earth evolution. However,
they also take away material corporeality, lest we lose our eternal soul in the darkness of material
limitations.
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About the Author - Willi Sucher
1902- 1985
Willi Sucher was born on August 21, 1902, in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1919, at 17 years of age,
Sucher first encountered the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner through his uncle, Karl Sucher. It made a
deep impression on him and he recognized that anthroposophy would be his life path. He joined the
Anthroposophical Society at the age of 17.
Rudolf Steiner was a scientist, philosopher, educator, and scientist of the spirit. Through his highly
developed clairvoyance he was able to bring to those who were willing to consider his research much
remarkable information about the spiritual realms, the nature of the human being, the evolution of
human consciousness and with it a new understanding of history, all for the modern consciousness of his
times. Steiner also brought impulses for many human endeavors, for education, medicine, agriculture,
banking, the arts, curative work, and ideas for new social forms. Steiner had frequently pointed out that
the old astrology had become very decadent and that what was needed by present humanity was a new
star wisdom. This was the task that Willi Sucher undertook as his own life challenge and destiny.
As did many of his generation after the First World War, Sucher wanted to do something that would
serve both humankind and the spiritual world. To renew astrology seemed just such a task, and at 17 he
began to read the literature on astrology in an effort to understand it. Time and again he was repelled by
its fatalism. He sensed that the human being had greater dignity than astrology allowed.
Sucher continued to study anthroposophy and to attend lectures. In 1922 he joined a small bank in
Stuttgart, Bankhaus Der Kommende Tag, which attempted to put into practice some of Rudolf Steiner’s
ideas on the Threefold Social Order. It was here that Willi Sucher met Rudolf Steiner for the first time
and, through friends, his future wife, Helen. After the First World War times were difficult in Europe,
and the bank Sucher worked at had to close. He then found work in another bank in Bruschal. Helen and
he both joined the Christian Community and were married in 1927 by its first leader, Dr. Friederich
Rittelmeyer. When the newlyweds could finally afford it they rented an apartment in Bruschai. Each
evening after work Sucher would study for two hours.
The year 1927 was important for Sucher’s life, not only for his marriage, but because he became
aware of the work of Dr. Elisabeth Vreede that same year. She was head of the Mathematical-
Astronomical Section at the headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society in Dornach, Switzerland and
a member of its first Council, the Vorstand. In 1927 Sucher came across a report of a lecture given by
Dr. Vreede. There Dr. Vreede referred to words of Steiner’s concerning the configurations of the
heavens at the time of death. For Willi Sucher “this picture struck home like lightning’’, and he wrote
later, “A ray of hope, which seemed to shed light on man’s quest for freedom, fell on the complex of
astrology.” So began Sucher’s research into just these biographical rhythms which seemed to confirm
again and again that the human being has great significance for the cosmos and was not “a helpless
object of the rhythms and movements of the stars”.
At the age of 26, Willi Sucher became a student of Elisabeth Vreede. She encouraged and challenged
him. A lively correspondence developed between them, and Dr. Vreede would often send him a
comment that Steiner had made on some relation of the human being to the heavens with the command,
“I cannot do it. You must do it.” Vreede was the one who suggested to Sucher that he investigate the
prenatal star events during the human’s embryonic development, advising him to use for his research the
ancient Hermetic Rule that had originated in ancient Egypt.
At the age of 30, Sucher lectured at the Anthroposophical Headquarters, the Goetheanum, and a bit
later at the Anthroposophical Clinic in Arlesheim. During 1934/35, Dr. Vreede published a series of
Astrological Studies on behalf of the Mathematical-Astronomical Section. She composed the first study,
but the others were written by Willi Sucher. Vreede wrote, “The following Studies are meant to inform
the reader about the investigation of our co-worker, Willi Sucher, as he has developed them in
conjunction with the Mathematical-Astronomical Section for some years now. Willi Sucher’s point of
departure has not been traditional astrology, which was known to him, but Rudolf Steiner’s Spiritual
Science, especially Rudolf Steiner’s suggestions concerning the realm of astrology.”
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But Hitler was on the rise and conditions in Germany were becoming untenable. Sucher’s letters to
and from Dr. Vreede were intercepted. Astrologers were arrested. Anthroposophists had to meet
secretly. Willi and Helen Sucher knew they had to get out of Germany. During a visit to Vreede in 1936,
a trip to Holland and England was arranged. By this time Vreede and her colleague Ita Wegman, due to
internal conflicts, were no longer members of the Vorstand. During the Suchers’ visit to England,
through first Eugene Kolisko and then Fred Gueter, the couple was invited to come and work at an
anthroposophical home for handicapped children at Clent, called Sunfield Home. It took several months
before the necessary papers came through. Helen and Willi left for England, ostensibly on a visit, with
only 20 marks on them and just a few personal belongings. Willi Sucher was 30-five years old.
Sucher was assigned to the nursery and Helen to the kitchen, both struggling at their tasks in a new
language. But much was gained in this period for the work that Sucher was so devoted. He gathered
clinical experience and was able to apply it to Steiner’s indications that a devoted staff, who worked
with a child’s star configurations, could bring towards a healing.
Sucher met Elisabeth Vreede for the last time at a Conference held in Bangor, Wales, near
Penmaenmawr. He described how he and Dr. Vreede had climbed up a hill to two Druid stone circles,
and “took leave of one another at least for the time being, in proximity of witnesses to an age-old star
wisdom and with a deep feeling of responsibility for its future.” Dr. Vreede died on August 31, 1943, in
Switzerland.
During the Second World War, because of concern about enemy informers in Great Britain, all the
Austrian and German men were rounded up and interred in detention camps. Sucher, along with several
other anthroposophists (among them Dr. Ernst Lehrs and Dr. Karl König), were kept in what had been a
summer resort on the Isle of Man. They shared their research with each other and Sucher was able to
continue his work. After his release Willi and Helen went to work at Dr. König’s Camphill home for
children in Aberdeen, Scotland. He continued his research, traveled about giving lectures and began to
write a “Monthly Letter” for a number of subscribers. At one such lecture at Sunfield Home, Sucher met
Hazel Straker, who was to join him later, along with a few others, in his star work. In 1944 Willi and
Helen returned to Sunfield for two years, then in 1946 at the request of Eleanor Merry and Mafia
Schindler, the two moved to London and taught evening classes. In 1947 Willi was offered the job of
director in a curative home in Garvald, a curative home in Scotland. Later Dr. Alfred Heidenreich, the
founder of the Christian Community in Britain, invited them to work at Albrighton Hall near
Shrewsbury, a center for Christian Community conferences. Hazel Straker came with them from
Garvald. This was an immensely productive time for Sucher. “...Dr. Heidenreich gave me absolute
freedom to develop my work…” The English manuscript of Isis Sophia was prepared in that time and
published in 1951. Then Man and the Stars was published in 1952.
It was during Sucher’s time in Shrewsbury that the “family” of co-workers was formed which would
give lifelong support to Sucher’s work. Joining Hazel Straker was Helen Veronica Moyer and her sister,
the artist, Maria Schindler. They lived and worked together. Sucher’s travels increased in answer to
requests to speak in England, Scotland, and Holland. It was during this period that Sucher’s work on the
cosmic background of the Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythologies was presented. Also he did research
into historic personalities and periods. It was here that Sucher’s pioneering work on the heliocentric and
lemniscatory views of the universe began to unfold.
When the Conference House closed for financial reasons, the little family moved to a curative home
in Kent, England, called Larkfield Hall. Sucher continued his lecturing while his co-workers worked
with the children. Often in the evenings they would sit with Willi to work over the incarnation charts of
the children. Sucher had picked up the task set for him by Dr. Vreede, to look at the gestures of the stars
during the embryonic development. Hazel Straker writes, “...This meticulous, painstaking work which
he had carried out over the last years showed rich fruits as he led us through the starry events to the great
imaginations behind, which were able to inspire us in a very helpful way for our further work with the
individual children...”
Sucher was invited to speak at the Threefold Farm of the Anthroposophical Community in Spring
Valley, New York. During his four and a half months in the United States he gave 70 lectures and
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workshops. He gave a course also in Los Angeles for the teacher training at the Highland Hall Waldorf
School. Later, Los Angeles would be the scene of his further working.
Home again in England Sucher began and then completed his book, Drama of the Universe. In this
book he brought forward his research into the heliocentric perspective of human life, a totally new view
of the human beings’ connection to the stars. In 1958, when that was completed, the family of co-
workers vacationed across America and visited, among other places, Los Angeles. There had been many
requests for them to come and work at Highland Hall and to begin a much needed curative school. They
decided to emigrate.
In 1961, a group of four moved to Los Angeles: Willi and Helen Sucher, Veronica Moyer and Hazel
Straker. They founded the Landvidi Center for Exceptional Children there. That endeavor lasted seven
years. During those years, Sucher traveled frequently giving lectures in America as well as in England,
Holland, Switzerland, and Germany.
When the school closed in 1968, they “retired” to a small home in Meadow Vista, California,
situated in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains not far from Sacramento. Sucher, with the help of his co-
workers, continued his research and his writing. He also continued to travel for lectures and to give
courses or hold study groups in his home. During this period Cosmic Christianity (1970) and The
Changing Countenance of Cosmology (1971) were published. These have recently been reprinted in one
volume by the Anthroposophic Press (1993).
For Sucher the three years of Christ from the baptism to His death on the cross profoundly changed
the cosmos and the relationship of the human being to that cosmos. About his research published as
Cosmic Christianity, he wrote, “Finally I must mention the research work which I did about the Christ
Events. I came more and more to the impression that these cosmic perspectives of the Christ Events are
a foundation for the experience of the workings of the Christ Impulse in times after the so-called Mys-
tery of Golgotha. It turned out that whenever one of the Cosmic Events during Christ’s Ministry repeats
itself, then there is offered the opportunity to understand and even to realize in an inner spiritual sense
the significance of the corresponding Deed of Christ. As I said, these possibilities are ‘offered’ to the
human being. He can freely accept them and identify eventually with them.”
During this period too, many individuals sought Willi out, looking for help with their lives. Sucher’s
profound pictures out of their prenatal and birth asterograms were able to shed light for many about their
destiny tasks.
He also continued to write the “Monthly Star Journals” (1965-1975). In one journal he quotes Rudolf
Steiner from Steiner’s lecture cycle, Christ and the Spiritual Worm (lecture 5), “...It became clearer and
clearer to me, as the outcome of many years of research, that in our epoch there is something like a
resurrection of 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 stel-
lar script must once more become something that speaks to us...”
In 1972, Willi Sucher, aged 70, was invited to speak at an International Youth Conference at the
Anthroposophical Society Headquarters in Dornach, Switzerland. It had been 41 years since he had
spoken there at the behest of Dr. Elisabeth Vreede.
It was a great sorrow for him that so few took up actively the development of Astrosophy. He saw it
as a tremendous need if humanity was going to be able to face the great trials that were coming at the
turn of the century.
Sucher continued to lecture. His writings were limited mostly to the ongoing “Monthly Letters” to
subscribers. Some of these letters were published in Sucher’s final book, Practical Approach Toward a
New Astrosophy. It contained much of his continuing research into a spiritual approach to a heliocentric
astrology. This opened the way for an understanding of the heliocentric Copernican view of the
universe.
In 1973, because of family concerns, Hazel Straker returned to England. Helen Sucher died two
years later. Veronica Moyer took over the housekeeping tasks and kept up distribution of the books. But
no new books were added. Sucher continued to travel to give lectures and workshops, but then gradually
curtailed that activity. However he continued to teach closer to home. For the following ten years his
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home became a center of activity. The study groups, the countless individuals seeking guidance, all
helped Sucher to feel that his work had not been in vain but that he had laid a firm foundation which
would be built on in the future.
Before his death, with a few friends, he founded a Trust, The Astrosophy Research Center, to care
for his publications, personal papers, and library after his death.
Willi Sucher died peacefully in his sleep on May 21, 1985.
Shirley Latessa, New York City, 1996
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ISIS SOPHIA III
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH

THE STARS
By
WILLI SUCHER
©ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC.2000 ~ ISBN 1-888686-02-2

P.O. Box 13, Meadow Vista, CA 95722
Phone: 530-878-2673 ~ E-mail: arci@bigvalley.net ~ Website: astrosophycenter.com
This edition of Isis Sophia III was first published in 1952 in manuscript form under
the title of Man and the Stars. The book has been slightly edited to conform with a
more modern style of punctuation, capitalization.
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.
This material is not to be sold; however, it may be copied by anyone for personal use.

By the Astrosophy Research Center
CONTENTS
PART ONE
Chapter I Reflection and Deflection of Historic Events in the Cosmos 3
II Our Relationship to the Stars in the Moment of Death 9
III The Interpretation of the Asterogram of Death 16
IV Where Do We Stand? 26
PART TWO
Chapter I The Impact of the Cosmos on the Earth 33
II Ideas Concerning Embryology and the Stars 39
III Physiological Deformities and the Stars 43
IV Cosmic and Physiological Foundations of Soul Life 51
Conclusion 59
Table for Conversion of Signs into Consellations 60
PART THREE
Chapter I Cosmology and Embryology 61
II The Zodiac and the Embryonic Development 67
III The Constellation of Ram 68
IV The Constellation of Bull 71
V The Constellation of Twins 73
VI The Constellation of Crab 75
VII The Constellation of Lion 78
VIII The Constellation of Virgin 80
IX The Constellation of Scales 82
X The Constellation of Scorpion 84
XI The Constellation of Archer 87
XII The Constellation of Goat 90
XIII The Constellation of Waterman 91
XIV The Constellation of Fishes 94
Conclusion 96
PART FOUR
Chapter I Cosmic Rhythms and Evolution 98
II The Precession of the Equinoxes 100
III The Precession of the Equinoxes and History 104
IV The Vernal Equinox in Fishes 106
V The Vernal Equinox in Crab 110
VI The Vernal Equinox in Twins 114
VII The Vernal Equinox in Bull 119
VIII The Vernal Equinox in Ram 123
IX The Vernal Equinox in Waterman 128
X The Vernal Equinox in Goat or Goatfish 134
Pegasus the Winged Horse 139
The diagrams in this book are the original work of Willi Sucher
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PART ONE
Chapter I
Reflection and Deflection of Historic Events in the Cosmos
The present universe of the stars is the result of the working of the spiritual hierarchies or Divine
Intelligences, as they were called by Thomas Aquinas. In the author’s book Isis Sophia II - A New Star
Wisdom, hereafter referred to as Isis Sophia II, we endeavored to give a picture of the emanation of the
external cosmic world from the working of that hierarchical universe in the course of evolution. Our
basis of knowledge was the result of investigation on the lines of spiritual science.
This description recalled one decisive fact; the evolution of the starry world cannot be divorced from
the development of humanity. The grand biography of the universe and the spiritual phylogenesis of the
human being are the two sides of the same process—the exterior and the interior aspect of creation.
Therefore, the great question must arise: How are the two entities, the macrocosmic world present in the
stars and the microcosmic world of terrestrial creation, interrelated in the present moment of cosmic
history?
Here lies a vast field of facilities for research that can be undertaken with those tools of knowledge
which spiritual science provides. It will increasingly occupy humanity now and for a very long time. The
initial probings in this direction have shown that all the kingdoms of nature—mineral, plant, animal,
human—are closely connected with the cosmos. These kingdoms of nature may have emancipated
themselves more or less, but traces of the bonds with the world of the stars are unmistakably prevalent.
To explore and discover the real connection between the two realms of the universe with the means of
strict scientific discipline, will provide the possibility to penetrate equally to the origins of existence and
to the meaning and purpose of all creation.
A certain amount of research work toward the foundation of such cosmological investigation has
already been done. There exist also a number of publications describing the results and achievements of
initial efforts in this direction. We may point to, among others, the books of Mrs. L. Kolisko and Dr. R.
Hauschka.
Our concern in the present book will be especially the presentation of results of our investigations
concerning the interrelationship between the human being and the stars. However, we would like to
emphasize that we do not intend to identify our efforts with certain astrological beliefs. Astrology, as it
exists today, is founded on very ancient traditions and methods of knowledge. We do not intend to enter
into an argument about these ancient methods of knowledge, but we want to establish a knowledge that
is in keeping with the character and the requirements of the modern age. Certainly the whole universe is
in a state of uninterrupted evolution, and as a part of the universe we are constantly changing and
evolving with regard to our whole constitution and consciousness. Therefore, it seems impossible for us
to impose on this modern age, methods of approach that were justified several thousand years ago.
Evolution demands from us the readiness for ever new approaches.
We will base our deliberations in this book on two fundamental questions: 1. Is there any possible
proof for a connection between the movements and rhythms of the stars and human beings as we live on
the Earth? and 2. What is the character of this relationship under present conditions if it exists?
In order to find a more general and humanity-wide approach, we will now put certain historic events
and cosmic rhythms side by side. For this purpose we will take the last two world wars and the
corresponding movements and positions of the planet Saturn. We would like to emphasize, however,
that we will not employ any preconceived ideas about influences of cosmic facts on history, etc., but we
shall simply compare the latter with the data of those historic events.
The First World War started on August 1, 1914. At that time the planet Saturn stood in 87° 43’ of the
ecliptic. This is the point of transition from the constellation of Bull to Twins. After the first few months
of mobile warfare, the situation deteriorated, as we know, into the war of the trenches. It was until 1917
that new developments ensued. Already in the beginning of that year the German High Command
3
resolved to break the obvious stalemate by certain moves. One of these was the transportation to Russia
of Lenin, who lived then in Switzerland in exile. His extreme revolutionary activity was well-known by
then, and the German High Command hoped that he would start a revolution in Russia effective enough
to cripple Russia as an ally of the Western powers. He arrived in Russia in a sealed coach in the course
of April 1917, and started at once to carry out his revolutionary intentions. The political masters of
Russia sensed, of course, the dangerous efforts of Lenin. In the course of the following months, Lenin
had to take refuge in Finland, but the situation in Russia deteriorated so quickly that he could soon safely
return to his native country. By autumn, the Bolshevik movement had become so overwhelmingly strong
that the cabinet of Kerensky, who was then in power, could not hold on any longer and was forcibly
removed in the beginning of November 1917, in the course of the Bolshevik revolution. The hope that
the German High Command had entertained was fulfilled: Russia was unable to carry on the war against
Germany and gradually dropped out.
Even before Russia had faded out as an opponent of Germany, the U.S. was drawn into the war.
Gradually, huge American armies arrived on continental soil toward the end of 1917 and beginning of
1918. Later on the Bolsheviks signed the humiliating Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
During those months in 1917, Saturn was moving through the constellation of Crab, and in July it
was in about 122° of the ecliptic. Those two positions of Saturn, on August 1, 1914 and July 1917, are
indicated in the chart of the Zodiac in Fig. 1 below.
Figure 1
Ecliptic or apparent path of the Sun Orbit of Saturn
Apart from the most disputable character of that action of the German High Command, it did not
bring much relief to the desperate situation of the Germans. They decided, therefore, to make a major
effort on the Western front in the beginning of 1918. This offensive did not yield the desired success.
Moreover, the Western Allies, after the breaking down of the German efforts, went over to the offensive
4
themselves. The final result was the complete defeat of the German armies. Especially the battles around
Chateau Thierry in August 1918 were so decisive that even the German High Command saw the only
possible salvation in a request for an immediate armistice. However, the war still went on, and the
Germans signed the armistice in November 1918. The Peace Treaty of Versailles was then concluded
and signed on June 28, 1919.
In August 1918, Saturn was in about 138° of the ecliptic, the transition from the constellation of
Crab to Lion. On June 28, 1919, it stood in 144° 51’ of the ecliptic. All these positions are indicated in
our chart of the Zodiac (Fig. 1).
We shall now investigate the Second World War from a similar cosmological viewpoint. It started on
September 3, 1939, after Germany had attacked Poland. During the following winter, it seemed that the
war would again freeze on the Western front in a stalemate similar to 1914 - 1918. It was not before the
spring of 1940 that cataclysmic events developed. In May 1940, the Germans suddenly attacked Holland
and Belgium, later also France. Saturn was then in about 38° of the ecliptic in the constellation of Ram.
After the entire conquest of Holland, Belgium, and France by Germany, there came again a long spell
of comparative inactivity, apart from the air-raids on England, etc. Only in June 1941, the war took a
new turn. On 22 June Germany attacked Russia. Saturn was then standing in 53½° of the ecliptic. It was
in transition from Ram to Bull. This was followed by rather dramatic events on the Eastern front.
So far the U.S. had kept out of the war, but they were forced into the decision through the famous
Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. Saturn had moved again into 53.5° of the ecliptic. (During the
preceding summer, it had gone retrograde and performed a loop, therefore, not moving very far from the
position on 22 June.)
Again a long time of relative stalemate commenced until in 1944, the war seemed to enter a decisive
stage. On June 6, 1944, the famous invasion of the Allies into France took place. About the same time
the Russians pressed toward the west. All these events made the position of Germany more and more
hopeless until in 1945, her final collapse brought the war to an end. On June 6, 1944 Saturn was standing
in 87° of the ecliptic. It had returned almost exactly to the same spot in the sky where it was on August
1, 1914. All these positions of Saturn are put down in our chart of the Zodiac in Fig. 1. Now we become
aware of an amazing set of facts; the events on the right side of our chart (first war) correspond in a
reversed fashion to the events on the left side (second war).
Let us take the points of June 28, 1919 (Peace Treaty of Versailles), and September 3, 1939 (start of
second war). On that date in 1919, Saturn was standing 57° to the right of the initial position on August
1, 1914 (start of 1st war ), and on September 3, 1939 it had moved to a point 57° to the left of that same
root position (Fig. 1). In a cosmological sense, there is obviously a connection between these two events.
Yet we notice, too, that the two events had opposite historic significance. The Peace Treaty of June
28, 1919 concluded, or at least was supposed to conclude, the first war. On September 3, 1939, another
war commenced. We seem to be confronted here with a phenomenon that is similar, in a sense, to the
function of a mirror. In a mirror, the exact image of the object appears, except that right and left are
reversed.
By probing a little deeper into the nature of the two events concerned, we may find also an inner
connection. The Peace Treaty of Versailles was a failure. It did not only fail to solve the problems that
had arisen through the preceding war, but it also aggravated the social complications leading to that war.
It was a bad piece of statesmanship. For such a statement we need not only rely on the opinions of the
Germans, who felt, of course, badly treated. Many important personalities in western countries came to
similar conclusions, simply because of the economic and social consequences of that Peace Treaty.
There were even those who maintained that the first war really never came to a conclusion and was
carried on after the Treaty with different means, i.e. economical.
Usually one is not conscious that political failures of this kind are bound to produce corresponding
consequences. Yet, we should be able to realize this as a law. From everyday experience, we know
perfectly well that if we smash a utensil, we have to suffer for it in one way or another. Similarly, we can
now say that the failure in 1919 called forth the outbreak of the second war. This is not the place to point
5
out the many details of the economic and social deterioration caused by the impotence of the Treaty of
Versailles. We simply look at the cosmic implications, though we cannot yet understand their working.
There is the Treaty in 1919, accompanied by the position of Saturn in Lion; and in the point of
reflection, perhaps better “deflection”, when Saturn was in Ram (September 1939), the Western powers
were forced to enter a new war. All the political patchwork following the Treaty of Versailles was of no
avail.
Are we not faced here with a master example of how modern humanity is shaping its own destiny?
One can argue that the Peace Treaty of Versailles was caused by preceding events. Certainly the
mentality of the leading personalities in German politics before and during the first war did not make the
situation easier. Instead of positive suggestions, chaos reigned in political circles of Central Europe.
Constructive ideas, like that of the Threefold Commonwealth by Rudolf Steiner, were not accepted by
the German speaking nations, although they were pronounced early enough before the breakdown in
1918. However, one could imagine that more farseeing attitudes and courageous ideas of the makers of
the peace treaty could have smashed through the fateful ring of historic cause and effect.
The cosmological facts that we have worked out so far suggest a “deflective” activity performed by
Saturn. If we imagine a straight line drawn from the position of Saturn on August 1, 1914, to the
opposite point of the Zodiac, we come to the constellation of Archer (see Fig. 1). This line obviously
acts as a kind of cosmic deflector, and a point 57° to the right of it is deflected into a position 57° to the
left—June 1919 - September 1939. We may now attempt to formulate a more conclusive opinion about
this deflecting activity of Saturn. In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we described briefly the nature of this
planet on the basis of spiritual investigation. We pointed out that the sphere of Saturn is closely
associated with the hierarchy of the Spirits of Will, and that this cosmic sphere has worked as the
preservation of the divine Will since the most ancient stages of evolution. It is the organ of cosmic
memory and, hence, acts as the conscience of history.
Let us again take the position of Saturn in June 1919. All the decisions and deeds performed by
humanity were accumulated and recorded by the planet Saturn, the organ of cosmic memory of the
universe. Saturn works in a similar way as the human memory does, using the physical organism for this
activity. We can read in this cosmic organ of memory the working of destiny, in as much as it causes the
recollection of the past for the sake of its redemption in the future. When, therefore, Saturn stepped into
the point of deflection of the Treaty of Versailles in 1939, humanity was faced with the consequences of
its own previous deeds. This is how destiny and world memory work for the sake of evolution.
The idea of the cosmos taking notice of what happens in the seemingly small human realm may at
first appear fantastic. Yet here are the inescapable cosmic facts that require us, at least, to question the
so-called insignificance of the human race within that unimaginably big universe which modern
astronomy proclaims and describes.
From another extreme viewpoint, one could also argue that this cosmic deflection of earthly events is
only a proof of the absolute domination of the cosmos over all earthly and human history. One could
regard those happenings, for instance, in 1914, 1919, and 1939 as having been completely out of reach of
free human activity and as having been imposed on humanity as the motion of a machine is
superimposed on its material. This would be the viewpoint of an extreme astrological fatalism. However,
it is an entirely philosophical question as to whether we are free with regard to our semi-activities or not.
From quite different aspects, which we will also indicate in this book, we have come to the conclusion
that a genuine spiritual cosmology cannot but admit the possibility of theoretically unlimited scope for
human freedom within the framework of the cosmic impacts in which we stand. One is justified in
saying that if someone then had found another more practical solution in 1919, instead of the Treaty of
Versailles, the events in 1939 could have taken a different turn.
We notice in Fig. 1 the significance of the cosmic line of deflection, the line from Twins to Archer.
In Twins this line was marked by the position of Saturn in August 1914. It is quite illuminating to also
consider the implications of Archer. Saturn stood there in 1929; in fact, it went across that point, exactly
opposite to that of August 1, 1914, three times by retrograde movement. This was the year of the great
6
economic crisis all over the world, starting in the U.S. It upset the social structure of many countries; for
instance, Germany never really recovered from it before the drastic events in 1933, and this was one of
the reasons for the totalitarian developments in that country after 1933. In the U.S., the economic crisis
was felt like a shattering blow, and visitors and observers in the United States have confirmed that the
memory of that catastrophe has left deeper marks in the mentality of American people than even the first
war. These two catastrophes—the first war and the great economic world crisis—hold that line of
cosmic deflection. For an objective and unprejudiced observer, the connection between the two events is
quite obvious. Yet here we also ought to say that if between 1914 and 1929 more farseeing leadership
had prevailed in humanity, then the events in 1929 might have struck a different note.
A glance at the chart of the Zodiac (Fig. 1), in correspondence with the various historic events, will
show us that there are more deflections indicated; for instance, the happenings in 1941 are such
deflections of 1917. In the course of 1917, Russia was overrun by the Bolshevik revolution and was,
consequently, unable to carry on the war against Germany. This took place when Saturn was in about
34° to the right of its initial position in August 1914. On June 22, 1914, Germany attacked Russia and
exposed itself to a two-flanked war. Saturn was then standing in 53.5° of the ecliptic, or 34° to the left of
its position on August 1, 1914.
Here, again, we have a perfect example of deflection. In 1917, Russia was crippled to such a degree
that it could not continue the fight. This was caused by the move of the German High Command to send
Lenin back to Russia. It may have brought temporary relief to the Germans, but it has presented
humanity with the gigantic menace of aggressive bolshevism. This impact promptly entered the stage of
world history again in 1941, when Saturn was in the point of deflection corresponding to 1917. As much
as Russia had faded out of the first war in 1917, so it entered the second war in 1941, and even now we
cannot fully judge the future consequences of this whole set of historic developments. Moreover, the
dates of the entry of the U.S. into the first and second war (1917 and 1941) correspond in a similar sense,
although we cannot speak here of a reversal of the events.
The final decision of the first war came when the Germans were beaten in the course of 1918, in the
battles of Chateau Thiery in August 1918. Saturn had then moved to 138° of the ecliptic, which is 50° to
the right of its initial position on August 1, 1914 (see Fig. 1). The point of deflection, 50° to the left,
refers to May 1940. At that time, the Germans staged their big attack on Holland, Belgium, and France.
Again we find here a complete reversal of events.
The most striking deflection happened, however, when Saturn returned to the point of its position on
August 1, 1914. This took place on June 3, 1944. (It takes Saturn about 30 years to return to the same
position in the ecliptic.) Three days later the famous landing of the Allied forces on the French coast
took place. The planet had already moved a fraction of one degree further, making our calculation not
appear to be quite correct. However, later on it was revealed that the landing should have taken place on
June 3rd and was postponed because of bad weather in the Channel.
Here we have an unmistakable deflection and reversal of events. On August 1, 1914 and afterward,
the German armies poured like an avalanche into Belgium and France. The movement was from east to
west, but after June 6, 1944, the Allied armies streamed into France from the west. The one was the
beginning of the first war, the second practically the last stage of the second war.
Experience has shown that one can find many more such points of deflection in connection with the
two wars. We have selected only a few of the major events, but even happenings of a much more
intimate character have their corresponding place in these cosmic settings.
A study of the history of the line of deflection from 87° to 267° of the ecliptic (see Fig. 1) is also
very illuminating. It appears that it is by no means arbitrary. Historically, it can be traced in connection
with the Thirty Years War. On October 24, 1648, the Peace Treaty of Westphalia was concluded thus
terminating that war. Saturn was then standing in the constellation of Bull. On June 29, 1914, at the time
of the murder of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, it was almost exactly in the same region of the sky.
Aspects of greatest importance concerning the cultural and social life of modern humanity seem to be
connected with this line of deflection.
7
Our researches have proven that the line from Twins to Archer is not the only medium of deflection,
although this seems to be the most important one concerning the destiny of European humanity at
present. There are also other lines of deflection in different parts of the ecliptic, but we cannot embark
here on further presentations of this subject. It was our intention to show, by an example, the relationship
of humanity to the world of the stars. The unimaginable immensity of the universe, that modern
astronomical science proclaims, suggests the absolute insignificance of the planet Earth and of the
human race. We appear to be a product of chance and entirely dominated by the impacts of the great
universe—however far one is prepared to admit its influence. We wanted to put the facts that our
researches have revealed against such a possible conception. The example we have given suggests that
there is sufficient scope for the employment of free human activity in the course of historic events. If,
however, we do not make use of our capacity of constructive thinking and move only in channels of
worn-out traditional conceptions, then the cosmos of the stars seems to bear down on us the
consequences of our own failures.
The question of whether we are dominated by the movements of the stars thus finds a relatively
simple answer. To the degree that we develop moral imagination, new ideas, and spiritual activity, is the
degree to which we are the masters of the stars. If we do not cultivate our slumbering spiritual faculties,
then we will be subjected to the domination of the cosmic world that only confronts us with the
deflection of our own failures. Sometimes it is most agonizing to see humanity ruled and punished by its
own shortcomings, deflected through the movements and gestures of the stars. If we do not penetrate to
the real background of our relationship to the world of the stars, it is all too easy to regard our history as
entirely ruled by the cosmos. Such a half-truth will only create confusion and bar the road to real
spiritual progress.
In the following chapter we shall present another relationship of the human being with the cosmos of
the stars that we hope will throw more light on this delicate problem.
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Chapter II
Our Relationship to the Stars in the Moment of Death
The acquisition of a clear philosophic conception of the relationship between the human being and
the stars is made extremely difficult by the tenets of astrology, as far as it still rests on the most
antiquated tradition. This kind of astrology presumes, more or less, that we are dominated, with regard to
our physiological and psychological make-up, by the positions of the planets in the ecliptic and their
concordance with the terrestrial horizon at the moment of birth. It has produced an enormous amount of
evidence that suggests and supports strongly the idea of our dependence on the stars. These suggestions
are, however, based on certain prejudices that sometimes even work quite unconsciously, creating the
assumption that the bigger entity (in this case the great universe) is bound to dominate and determine the
smaller object of humanity. Yet a lot of this so-called astrological evidence, if not all, can be interpreted
philosophically in an entirely non-fatalistic sense. The investigations of a genuine spiritual science must
even strongly refute the idea of our absolute dependence. Spiritual science comes to the evidence of the
spiritual existence of a human being before birth and that this being chooses, in accordance with its own
requirements, the moment of its birth etc. This also establishes the striking resemblance between each
person’s destiny and the movements of the stars.
Another aspect of astrology renders its acceptance by a modern scientific mind rather difficult.
Modern embryology has discovered the most illuminating facts about the prenatal development. There is
nothing in the life after birth that can compare with those most radical changes, especially during the
earlier periods of gestation. Therefore, it seems to be extremely inconsistent to take into account only the
moment of birth when the decisive part of our physiological development has come to an end. It is
possible to find evidence of our connection with the movements of the planets during the period of
gestation. We have made an extensive study of this and hope to produce the facts sometime in future
publications.
Now, however, we will describe one’s relationship with the world of the stars at the time of death.
This will enable us to demonstrate, from a different angle, a fundamentally new viewpoint. The idea of
such a relationship between one’s death and the picture of the universe at that moment—or as we may
briefly call it, the asterogram of death—is something entirely new. Rudolf Steiner has drawn attention to
this fact in some of his lectures.
We have chosen as an example the death asterogram of Tycho Brahe, the famous Danish astronomer
of the 16th century. He was born on 14 December 1546 (old style) and died at Prague on 24 October
1601 (new style). According to his biographers, he died in the morning before dawn.
In Fig. 2 below, we have tried to give a perspective picture of the sky on that day, as far as the
positions of the planets in the Zodiac and their relative angles to the horizon of Prague during the
morning hours are concerned. In Fig. 3, we have reduced this diagram to a two-dimensional picture of
the Zodiac with the planets. The line of the horizon indicates the parts of the Zodiac that were visible at
that moment above the plane of the horizon and those below it.
The most remarkable feature of this asterogram of death is the position of all the planets near the
eastern horizon. The Sun was standing at the feet of the constellation of Virgin. A few days later it
entered Scales. As the death occurred before sunrise, we must imagine that Virgin had then partly risen.
Higher in the eastern sky stood Lion, whereas Scales was still below the horizon. All the planets (except
the lately discovered Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, which we will not consider now) were concentrated in
those three constellations. Mars had just entered Lion, standing highest in the eastern sky. Venus was
below it but still in Lion. Still deeper, but above the east, Jupiter appeared with the Moon, which had
probably just risen and were visible in Virgin. The Moon formed a narrow crescent, because it was
shortly before New Moon, and in its cup rested Jupiter. Mercury, also in Virgin, was probably just on the
point of rising. Then came the Sun at the feet of Virgin, and Saturn was standing in Scales, still deeply
below the eastern horizon.
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Figure2
Plane of Prague’s horizon

Meridian of Prague extended into space
Visible part of Zodiac above the horizon Invisible part of Zodiac below the horizon
Figure 3
Positions of the Planets
Horizon at the moment of Tycho

Ecliptic or apparent Brahe’s death
Zodiac of the Fixed Stars path of the Sun (compare with Fig. 2)
10
We come now to the problem of how to interpret this aspect of the sky. On Earth, a human being has
died and at the same moment we find in the sky the configuration that we described. Can we prove any
connection between the two facts?
First of all, we must now get a clear conception of the death of a human being. The physiological
facts are, of course, more or less clear. Through some kind of defect caused by an illness or an accident,
life cannot operate anymore in the body. The latter is given up and handed back to the elements from
which it was taken. Can we go beyond that fact? Have we any proof that some kind of existence, apart
from that in the body, is still going on? Up to a certain point, we can attain certain proofs of an
existence after death. It has been described by many people, who by some accident, had already crossed
the threshold of death but were recalled by artificial means. The facts they describe are more or less
common knowledge. They all agreed that there was no emptiness of consciousness, and that they were
confronted with a kind of grand tableau consisting of a summary of pictures presenting the main
incidents during their past earthly existence.
What have the investigations of spiritual science to contribute to this fact? When a human being
dies, we usually say life has ceased. What is life? Nobody has yet found the cause of life. It remains a
mysterious agency, working somehow within the material body. A few materialists still maintain that life
is only a certain condition of matter and that one day this condition will be found as one has found the
chemical formulae ruling the conditions of lifeless matter. Spiritual investigation, however, leads to the
conclusion that life is not a condition of matter but a principle in itself on a level of existence different
from that of the physical. Spiritual science speaks of a life organism or life-body. It cannot be perceived
by the physical senses, because it operates on a level that is, to a certain degree, even contradictory to the
physical. Only sense organs that are, so to speak, homogeneous to its own nature, can “perceive” this
principle of the life-body. The development of such “sense organs” is possible. Already Goethe spoke of
them, and Rudolf Steiner described the methods and discipline for the attainment of such faculties.
How does this life organization act within the physical body? It works for a certain time against the
natural tendency of matter, which would lead the material body to decay if it had its own way.
Furthermore, the life-body preserves the typical form of the human frame. It acts like a kind of active
memory of the whole evolution and of the purpose of the human race and implants it already during the
earliest stages of embryonic development into the material body. Thus it also continually counteracts in
later life the deviations from the human level that appear as illnesses.
This organic, active “memory” is freed from its functions in the material body immediately after
death. Then it appears as a pure memory tableau of the entire life on Earth that has just come to an end.
After death, we are able to perceive these pictures of our earthly existence drawn together into one great
panorama, because we are still united, apart from our life-body, with our consciousness organization.
This experience lasts, according to occult investigation, about two to three days after death. Then the
individual consciousness cannot hold it any longer. The grip of the Ego on the life-body loosens, just as
we cannot keep our physical body under control indefinitely during the earthly existence. After these
events, the life forces return to their origin, to the source of the “memory” of all evolution, to the cosmos
itself. About the further development of the soul after death, we shall have to address on a later occasion.
A great amount of evidence has proved that the configuration of the sky at the moment of the death
of a human being contains also a kind of biographical tableau of that person; for instance, if we take
again the death asterogram of Tycho Brahe (Fig. 3), we discover that the whole Zodiac contains a
memory tableau of his life and that the positions of the planets indicate the main incidents. How can we
come to such a conclusion?
In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we have described the planet Saturn as the organ of cosmic memory.
Thus Saturn had prepared and memorized, during the life time of Tycho Brahe, a tableau of his earthly
experiences.
If we take the moment of Tycho Brahe’s incarnation (he was born in 1546), we can compute the
position of Saturn at that time. While standing in that certain part of the Zodiac, it “memorized” that
event, so to speak. When Tycho Brahe died, Saturn had moved to a different region of the ecliptic, but
11
we will find that the point where it stood at the time of incarnation was occupied at his death by a certain
cosmic phenomenon. Equally, Saturn memorized other of the main incidents in the life of this
personality while in other parts of the Zodiac. All these points were occupied at his death by the planets.
We shall explain this fact with the help of Fig. 4. In the inner circle, we have the positions of the
planets at the time of Tycho Brahe’s death (similar to Fig. 3). In the outer circle, we have inserted the
movements of Saturn during his lifetime.
Figure 4
Zodiac of the Fixed Stars
Ecliptic Positions of the Planets at Tycho Brahe’s death

(corresponding to Fig. 3)
Orbit and positions of Saturn
during Tycho Brahe’s life
Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546. In the course of that year, during gestation, Saturn had
entered the constellation of Archer. In the asterogram of death, this point is clearly marked by the
position of the ascending Moon node. (The Moon nodes are the crossing points of the path of the Moon
and the apparent path of the Sun. The orbit of the Moon, like those of the planets, does not exactly
coincide with that of the Sun. It is slightly tilted, thereby forming an angle with the ecliptic and crossing
the latter in two opposite points. These Moon nodes have a deep connection with the stages of life after
death.)
We do not hear very much about Tycho Brahe’s youth, except that his father died in 1559, and
afterward he was sent by his uncle to Copenhagen to study philosophy and rhetoric. There he
12
experienced, on 21 August 1560, a Sun eclipse that became a most decisive event in his life. Tycho
Brahe, who was then only 14 years of age, found his true vocation that had led him to incarnation. He
began to look upon astronomy as something divine. It was probably the turning-point to his later career.
During that year, Saturn moved into the point of transition from Bull to Twins. In the death asterogram
we find this point marked by the descending Moon node.
In 1562, he was sent to Leipzig to study law and was put under the care of a tutor. It was intended
that he should prepare for a diplomatic profession; however, he was not very interested in the career that
his uncle had chosen for him. During the nights, when his tutor was asleep, he observed the stars. The
vocation that he had consciously conceived in 1560 had taken hold of him. In 1563, he watched a
conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter and, although his means of observation were rather primitive, he
noticed a considerable difference between the cosmic facts and certain astronomical tables about the
movements of the stars that existed then. In that moment, the modern astronomer was born in him who
was determined to build his work on exact observation and calculation. Saturn was then standing in the
region of Crab Lion. In the chart of the death sky, this moment and the years following immediately are
indicated by the position of Mars.
Tycho Brahe returned to Denmark in 1565, but he left soon for the University of Wittenberg. This
return to his home was probably connected with the decision to change the direction of his studies. His
intention to devote his life to astronomy was not welcomed by his family. However, he seems to have
stood his ground very well, for afterward he studied astronomy, as it existed in those times, in various
places. In 1566, he went to Rostock and in 1569 to Augsburg. From his sojourn at the latter university,
we know that he was busily engaged in astronomical and alchemistic researches. Those were still the
days when the medieval ways of studying the properties of matter were practiced and known as alchemy.
The fact that Tycho Brahe combined it with his astronomical studies is a sure sign that he must have
known a good deal about the interplay between cosmic and terrestrial forces, a knowledge almost
completely lost to our age. During all those years, Saturn moved through the constellations of Lion and
Virgin, past those places that were occupied by Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Moon, and Sun at the time of
death.
A remarkable incident occurred in 1572. Tycho Brahe had been working in his alchemical
laboratory, and when he came out he saw a new star, a so-called Nova in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
Such a Nova is usually a very brilliant star that shines only for a brief period and then disappears again.
It must have made a deep impression on Tycho Brahe that the heavens, so to speak, answered his labors
in the depth of the world of matter. It may be that he experienced something of the great spiritual stream
with which he was connected in that moment, namely, to realize consciously the script of the stars in
earthly substance and happenings. Saturn was then in Scales, in the same place where it stood at Tycho
Brahe’s death. Thus we may see in the image of this Saturn, an incident that opens up a view into Tycho
Brahe’s eternal spiritual being—that kernel of one’s being standing above the single Earth life and that is
one’s great spiritual guide through the ages. However, he was hardly able, during that incarnation in the
16th century, to manifest this higher being under the prevailing conditions. His time was against him. We
can only divine from such an incident the greatness of this individuality.
In 1576, after many wanderings, he at last found a place where he could devote all his energies in
peace and helpful understanding to the task he had set for himself. King Frederick II of Denmark
bestowed on him the small island of Hveen in the Sund, opposite Copenhagen. He also furnished him
with sufficient financial means to build an astronomical observatory on that island. It must have meant
something like a second birth for him. The purpose of his incarnation seemed to have been fulfilled.
Saturn by then had moved again into Archer, the same position where it had been standing about the
time of Tycho Brahe’s birth. In the death asterogram we found that place occupied by the ascending
Moon node.
Now years of fruitful work followed on the island. Not only were large buildings erected,
astronomical observations pursued, and a comparatively large number of students of astronomy trained
but Tycho Brahe also undertook a great number of agricultural improvements on the island, as the plans
13
and descriptions of Uraniborg—the name of this astronomical settlement—betray. During those years,
Saturn moved through constellations where there weren’t any planets at the moment of death. However,
we can read many incidents in connection with the dates when Saturn was standing opposite to the
places of the planets at the moment of death. For instance, about the time of 1583, Tycho Brahe was
engaged in the working out of his own particular astronomical world system, which he intended to put
against the new astronomical conception of Copernicus. He felt the danger in the Copernican views.
Saturn was then in Waterman, opposite the positions of Mars and Venus in the death asterogram.
In 1588 a very decisive incident occurred. Tycho Brahe’s benefactor, King Frederick II of Denmark,
died. Soon afterward, the financial assistance he received for the work on Hveen was gradually cut
down. The young King Christian was not crowned before 1596, but immediately afterward the financial
help and pension that Tycho Brahe had received from the Danish state was withdrawn. He left the island
soon after Easter, taking away as many of his instruments for astronomical observations as possible.
Saturn was in the constellation of Ram in 1588. It was then opposite the place it occupied in the
death asterogram. Outwardly, it appears to have been a moment after his work was gradually
undermined. With Saturn in Scales, we saw a glimpse of the eternal spiritual greatness of this soul. In the
opposite position, a great transformation began that appears like a defeat on the physical plane; however,
we must judge the events from a higher level. During those increasingly difficult times, after King
Frederick had died in 1588, Tycho Brahe started to develop another side of his inner being that stands far
above the level of the ordinary astronomer. This was a very painful process indeed, and only after death
did this soul grow up to the maturity of faculties from the foundation laid during the years of wandering
and suffering immediately before his death. We shall have to say more about this as we go along.
Tycho Brahe left Hveen in 1597. Saturn had then moved to the place where Venus appeared in the
death asterogram. First he went to Rostock and to various other places until in 1599 he arrived in Prague.
There, the Hapsburg Emperor Rudolf II had offered him asylum and facilities to continue his studies.
Kepler, another famous astronomer, joined him as his assistant in 1600. But Tycho Brahe was already
very worn out from his disappointments and wanderings. He became ill in October 1601, and on the 24th
(Gregorian Calendar) he died.
During those last years, Saturn moved through Virgin and arrived in Scales in 1601. It passed
through those parts of the Zodiac that were occupied in the death asterogram by the planets Jupiter,
Moon, Mercury, and Sun. At the time of Tycho Brahe’s arrival at Prague in 1599, Saturn stood in the
place of Jupiter and Moon at death.
Thus we find a kind of celestial biography or tableau in the configuration of the heavens at the time
of the death of a human being. This fact has been proven in many historic cases.
Our question now is: How is this cosmic tableau related to the memory tableau that humanity
experiences immediately after death? It certainly doesn’t make much sense to say, in this case, that the
tableau experienced by the one who has died is caused by the stars, because its very substance is taken
from the past, from very real events and incidents that happened on the Earth, not in heaven. In this
connection, the Earth and its human inhabitants seem to be the predominant factor, and the stars appear
to be adjusted to a human biography. But would it not be equally senseless to say that the stars are
influenced by something that comes from the Earth? They are not disturbed, in any case, by it and
follow their usual orbits. Perhaps it is more justified to conclude that the death of a human being takes
place in a moment when a correspondence is established between the tableau of the planets and the
memory tableau of that person. Certainly this cannot be done by one consciously, but we may see here a
glimpse of that deep spiritual will of human beings which is their destiny.
In the spiritual neighborhood of the soul that has died is the tableau of the earthly life. In the depth of the
cosmos, as we see it from the Earth, there exists a replica of that biography at the same time, which is
qualitatively akin to the individual tableau. The latter is caused by the life-body (or ether-body in the
terminology of spiritual science), which is now freed from its function in the physical body. After two to
three days this tableau vanishes from the inner sight of the soul. What happens to it? The life
“substance” is dispersed in the world of its own origin, in the cosmos of the planets and their spheres,
14
just as the material body is dispersed in the world of its origin, the physical-material world. Is the
conclusion then not justified that the planetary, etheric world absorbs the memory substance coming
from each human being? As we said before, this can certainly not be guided by one’s ordinary
consciousness, but the moment of death is decided by the deeper forces of human destiny.
The fact derived from spiritual investigation is this:
Figure 5
The Life-body separated from

the physical body after death,
experienced by the soul
as the “Tableau”
Simultaneous Tableau of the Stars

The Life-body dispersed in the etheric cosmos
and becoming united with the Tableau of the Stars
If we can accept this thought, we are at once confronted with an entirely new and grand idea of the
relationship between the human being and the universe of the stars. Here the cosmos appears to be in a
state of expectation, not in the position of a donor or even a dominator over one’s fate. Indeed, spiritual
investigation confirms that the universe of the stars is related to that which comes from human beings as
memory substance. This memory contains the imprint of one’s deeds, feelings, and thoughts. In a wider
sense, it is filled with images of morality that have grown through the encounter of the individuality with
the conditions and implications of its earthly surroundings. This kind of moral essence is for the cosmos,
in a universal sense, something similar to what food is for the human being. After death it is absorbed by
the stars, and thus they are rejuvenated.
Such an idea may sound fantastic; however, we have been able to find a certain amount of historic
evidence for its justification. We shall produce it in the course of these publications.
Thus, the old ghost of our dependence on the stars appears to be repudiated, at least from one angle
of human life. We are convinced that this is the basis of a new cosmology that acknowledges our
freedom and capacity for real and effective spiritual activity. So far, our extensive researches have
justified this conviction.
15
Chapter III
The Interpretation of the Asterogram of Death
In the preceding chapter, we spoke about the asterogram of death more from the technical point of
view. We saw it as the tableau, the sum-total of a human life on Earth. This aspect leads us back into the
past, and we have sometimes called the previous positions of Saturn, relative to the places of the planets
at death, “anterior” (zurükliegende) transits of Saturn.
There is, however, also another aspect of the asterogram of death that leads into the future, into the
various stages of life after death through which the soul has to pass. For this purpose we shall now
proceed with a qualitative interpretation of the positions of the planets at the time of Tycho Brahe’s
death.
We found Mars in the constellation of Lion. In order to work out an interpretation of Lion, we look
up the diagram called Stages of Evolution in Part Three of Isis Sophia II. There we find an indication
that leads us back to the sixth great cycle of Ancient Saturn. (See also the constellation of Waterman
opposite.) This was the great stage at the very first beginning, when the Spirits of the Harmonies, or
Cherubim, impressed the harmonies (or “the Music of the Spheres”) on the Ancient Saturn planet. We
imagine that a physically visible stellar world did not yet exist, but instead of the fixed stars that we see
now, there was a most profound and harmonious “galaxy” of sound of divine essence. This was the
world in where the Spirits of the Harmonies were active. Here we have, in a cosmic Imagination, the
picture of the great cosmologist Tycho Brahe, who as a child could see in astronomy a manifestation of
the divine.
Furthermore, our diagram indicates a connection of Lion with the second great cycle of Ancient Sun
evolution. Then the Spirits of Motion were active. They lived in the reflection of those “Harmonies of
the Spheres”, which manifested themselves much later in the movements of the planets of our solar
system. This power of motion and direction on Ancient Sun was still in a state of soul- or astral-
formation that reflected the harmony of the greater galaxy beyond the Ancient Sun universe. In this
cosmic astrality or soul-force, the Spirits of Motion lived and worked. They also radiated it into
humanity on Ancient Sun. However, humanity could not yet realize soul activity, and only a reflection of
the working of the Dynamis remained in our early ancestors. Thus the first foundation of our rhythmic
system was laid, which still today reflects cosmic rhythms. Our breathing and heartbeat are related to the
rhythm of the Platonic year (see Isis Sophia II, Part Three). We are, with regard to our Lion-
organization, a perfect but unconscious cosmologist.
Now with Mars in Lion, we can even more clearly see the image of the great astronomer. We can
also corroborate our previous viewpoint on Mars when we connected it with the years 1563/65. That was
when Tycho Brahe finally decided to become an astronomer. He obeyed his own vocation; the cosmos
was alive in his innermost being.
Another indication concerning Lion refers to the second great cycle of Ancient Moon. (Isis Sophia II,
Part Three). In the course of that stage of evolution the Ancient Moon planet was condensed to such a
degree that the higher ranks of the spiritual hierarchies could no longer dwell on it. They separated a part
of the more refined substances and founded another celestial body, a kind of reborn Ancient Sun, as their
focus of activity. These gigantic cosmic happenings are reflected in Scales, but we see the separated Sun
going for a time its own way in Lion.
Here we now look deeper into the destiny of Tycho Brahe. He did not become an astronomer for
sheer desire of knowledge. A deep spiritual purpose was working in him. We have previously indicated
that he opposed the Copernican views on the movements of the planets and the position of the Sun. Why
did he do this?
Copernicus simplified the conception of our solar system by considering the Sun as being in the
center of the planetary universe. Older views, which were in part extremely complicated, regarded the
Earth as being the central focus. Our age is so used to the Copernican aspect that we sometimes find the
older aspects, for instance the Ptolemaic systems, odd and resulting from the primitive nature of
16
humanity in those times. However, the ancient systems were founded on entirely different ideas and
conditions of consciousness, which our age can hardly comprehend any more.
Originally, the ancient views of the cosmos were based on the conception of the spheres of the
planets. These spheres, indicated by the orbits of the celestial bodies, were conceived as most important.
The Gods, or spiritual hierarchies, were considered to live in them, and they moved the spheres. Thus the
planets, which were fixed to the spheres, were moved too, but they were of secondary importance.
Only an age that moved toward mechanical interpretations of everything existing in the universe,
could so easily discard those ancient views. Thus it was possible that a man like Copernicus could lay
the foundation of a conception of the solar system that can be explained similarly to the workings of a
machine. Tycho Brahe was well aware of this. He had a deep connection with the ancient Mysteries from
previous incarnations in which the planetary spheres were experienced as the dwelling-places of the
Gods. Therefore, he must have been horrified by the views of Copernicus as they tended to make a sheer
mechanism of the universe. He struggled hard to put something better in its place, but he did not succeed
very well—his time was against him.
Thus, he stood between the Golden Age of the Mysteries, when humanity still lived with the Gods,
and a future that still withholds the rebirth of the Mysteries in its womb. The direction toward this future,
and Tycho Brahe’s deep inner connection with it, we find indicated in the association of Lion with the
sixth great cycle of the Earth evolution (Isis Sophia II, Part Three). Humanity of that sixth stage of the
Earth will be the true cosmologists. They will then fully comprehend and realize the interplay between
the cosmic astral forces and their own being and the beings of nature.
These implications of Lion are indicated by the position of Mars in that constellation. The soul
experiences in the sphere of Mars after death, the spiritual background of the physical-material-object
world that it had previously met on the Earth. (See Isis Sophia II, Part Three.) Thus we can imagine that
Mars in Lion points to the kind of experiences that Tycho Brahe had after death in that cosmic sphere.
He saw the full spiritual truth about the physical interconnection between the cosmos and the Earth. He
became a great “astrologer” in a spiritual sense and was able to inspire those who lived on the Earth. He
could read the prophecy of future terrestrial events and thus help souls to fulfill their destiny.
These aspects can be amplified by a study of the lives of other souls whose Mars was also in Lion at
the time of death. From the many examples that we have before us, we take that of the famous poet of
the Divina Comedia, Dante. He died on September 14, 1321 when Mars was in Lion. The previous, or
anterior, transit of Saturn over this position points to the year 1301. Dante was involved at that time in
political upheavals in his native city of Florence, in the course of which he had to go into exile. He was
never allowed to return to Florence, and he wandered from place to place during the last twenty years of
his life. Externally, he was forced to lead an unsettled life, but during all those painful years, the poet of
the unsurpassed Divina Comedia was spiritually born. In 1300, the year before the catastrophe, he had a
deep inner experience in which he had conceived that great poem, and Saturn was in Lion.
Everybody who knows the Divina Comedia will agree that it is founded on a grand conception of the
spiritual nature of the interior of the Earth and of the cosmos of the stars. Thus Dante, too, was a
cosmologist who was initiated in the interrelationship between the human being and the stars. We see in
it a confirmation of what we said about Mars in Lion.
Now we go on to the position of Jupiter in Virgin at the time of Tycho Brahe’s death. One
experiences in the sphere of Jupiter after death, the spiritual archetypes of all life-forces. (See Isis Sophia
II, Part Three.) He becomes aware of the origins of the immeasurable wisdom-life that flows through all
living creatures and unites their existence in the great stream of divine evolution. Thus we can imagine
that Jupiter in Virgin points to Tycho’s sojourn in that sphere where he saw the truth of the eternal
impulses behind all life and evolution, the common origin and the ultimate goal of all living creatures.
He must also have comprehended his own position in this gigantic stream of cosmic life and
development. In the earthly existence of humanity, this individual participation in the immeasurably wise
and manifold stream of cosmic evolution is hidden behind his inner attitude toward life, usually
expressed in the human temperaments, and in his whole life conception.
17
Jupiter was in the constellation of Virgin. Apart from the Ancient Saturn evolution, we find this
constellation associated with the first great cycle of the Ancient Sun universe. (See Isis Sophia II, Part
Three.) That first stage of the Sun cosmos saw the recapitulation of Ancient Saturn. The very foundation
of all physical substance was recreated, but it was now partly permeated by life. Something similar
happened during the initial cycle of Ancient Moon that we also associated with Virgin. Furthermore, in
connection with the Earth evolution, we find the indication there of the final stage of the Earth. Then we
will have developed so far, with regard to our ego, that we will be able to realize our spiritual oneness,
our inner connection with the universe, and with all that which will exist in that future universe as the
descendants of the present kingdoms of nature, of the stars, etc.
In this setting we find Tycho Brahe’s Jupiter. It indicates that after death he must have attained a
deep insight into the workings, the origins, and the ultimate purposes of life. The divine Wisdom, which
operates in all life formations and that is the expression of the mighty stream of cosmic evolution as it
was contemplated by the highest spiritual hierarchies, must have been laid open to this soul. He must
also have attained an exalted insight into the working of these life-forces in the single object, in the
chemistry of matter, in the alchemy of human destiny, etc.
He could not have aspired to such realizations if he had not already laid the foundations for them on
Earth. The positions of the planets in the death asterogram imply two aspects, as we have seen: one
refers to the earthly past, the other to the future—to life after death. The past is indicated by the previous
or anterior transits of Saturn. In connection with the latter we find some interesting information, as
described earlier. In 1569, Saturn was in the later place of Jupiter, and Tycho Brahe was then in
Augsburg, engaged in astronomical and alchemistic studies.
Our present age is apt to belittle the efforts of medieval alchemy as a kind of superstition due to the
ignorance of those people. This is certainly true with regard to the practices of a great number of
charlatans who attempted, or pretended, to make gold. The genuine alchemist, however, did not devote
energies to the satisfaction of base human greed. He tried to find the hidden secrets of the workings of
nature, the manifestations of the spirit in the properties and the substances of the Earth. By a deep
devotional attitude, he prepared himself to have a glimpse of the working of the elemental beings in
matter—of the cosmic wisdom- and life-forces, etc. This was the gold that he wished to find, the metal
gold only being the external manifestation of Divine Wisdom Light. Without knowing that expressions
like gold, mercury, or sulfur, etc., meant invisible, creative forces in nature for the genuine alchemist, we
cannot understand the weird language of medieval books on Alchemy.
We must imagine that Tycho Brahe made experiments of this kind. Of course, we do not know what
he achieved, but he continued with his experiments on the island of Hveen. He did make medicines and
put them to use on certain occasions. However imperfect these attempts may have been, they were the
foundation for his experiences after death in the sphere of Jupiter when he stood face to face with the
spiritual truth of the working of the cosmic hierarchical world into the physical on the wings of the life-
forces.
We find Jupiter associated with Virgin in the death asterograms of the following personalities: Pico
della Mirandola, died 17 November 1474. He was deeply concerned about the deterioration of astrology
into a means of fortune telling and therefore opposed it. However, he had a very high opinion of true
cosmology and star wisdom and deplored its profanation.
When William Blake died on 12 August 1827, Jupiter was also in Virgin. The previous or anterior
transits of Saturn over this position of Jupiter coincided with Blake’s start on his great work Jerusalem.
However difficult it is to pronounce an opinion on Blake’s works, we may safely say that his Jerusalem
is an apocalyptic conception of the great alchemical transformation of the Earth into a future state of
existence. It is certainly an artistic interpretation of the Revelation of John the Divine. We could add
many more examples, but these two may suffice to amplify what we said about Tycho Brahe’s Jupiter in
Virgin.
Saturn was in the constellation of Scales at the time of Tycho’s death. From the description of Saturn
in Isis Sophia II, Part Three, we gather that it is the great preserver of the “entelechy”, the undeviated
18
flow of evolution through all existence. The soul experiences in that sphere after death the spiritual
archetypes of all soul existence, the divine motives of all emotions, impulses, notions, etc., which were
met on the Earth without knowing where they come from. We can imagine that Tycho Brahe here saw
through to the real background of his psychological make-up. For instance, there was in him the deep
desire to serve the wisdom of the stars that shaped his whole life. Where did it come from? Only in the
sphere of Saturn can we get answers to such questions. There, the knowledge and realization of past
incarnations provides the keys for an understanding of individual soul formations.
In the constellation of Scales we find the imprint of the last great cycle of the Ancient Sun evolution
and the second stage of Ancient Moon. (See Isis Sophia II, Part Three.) During the seventh great step of
Ancient Sun, the ancestors of humanity had attained the highest perfection of which they were then
capable. In a plant-like attitude, they were a perfect mirror of the Sun universe and followed unerringly
its directions. This gives us a glimpse of the character of Tycho Brahe’s individuality in previous
incarnations. He was deeply connected with ancient Sun Mysteries and was initiated in earlier lives in
the secrets of the spiritual nature of the Sun. In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we have briefly indicated the
threefold character of the Sun, of the present Sun that is, in a certain sense, a replica of Ancient Sun. In
secrets like these of the threefold Sun, this individuality was initiated in previous lives. This was the
reason he became a cosmologist in his Tycho Brahe incarnation. It was the spiritual archetype of his
psychological make-up and can explain many of his characteristics and his destiny.
There is the other aspect of Scales, the second cycle of Ancient Moon. There occurred then the
dramatic exit of the reborn Ancient Sun with the higher spiritual hierarchies. For the first time in the
history of the universe, a deep rift came into existence between the higher divine forces and the lower
regions of existence. It was enacted for the sake of development of independence and freedom, but it
also offered a possibility for evil, death, and illness to enter the universe.
This aspect of Scales points to another side of Tycho Brahe’s soul-world. We have previously
mentioned his dislike of the Copernican world views. Partly it was the heritage from the Ancient Sun
Mysteries that influenced him; however, he was not able to turn back the wheel of evolution. After his
death, even his closest co-worker of the last year, Kepler, went over to Copernicanism and it became
more and more triumphant. For the sake of independent thought and freedom, humanity had to forget for
a while ancient spiritual conceptions of the universe and experience it as a material and mechanical
system only. To see humanity moving into this direction must have been a tragic experience for Tycho
Brahe.
Yet, on the basis of the death asterogram, we can also find that this experience of Saturn in Scales
was for this soul the dawn of a new light. Long after death he must have become aware of the great
change that had taken place through the union of Christ with the Earth. He perceived the new Sun
Mysteries that he had also met in a previous incarnation. (We tried to describe some of these facts in Part
Three of Isis Sophia II.) He found and took up again the thread of the Mysteries that for him, in his
Tycho Brahe life, seemed to have been broken.
Saturn in Scales portends, indeed, the great decisions in the course of evolution, also the great
impulses that made the progress of humanity in times of crises possible. We find Saturn in Scales in the
death asterograms of Copernicus and Kepler. We have mentioned both already in connection with Tycho
Brahe. The drama of the battle for and against the Copernican system became visible here. Also in the
death asterogram of Rudolf Steiner, Saturn stood in Scales.
We shall now briefly consider the Moon and the inferior planets. In their case, we should like to
employ the divisions of the ecliptic rather than the constellations of the fixed star Zodiac. Orthodox
astrology calls them signs, and they are given the same names and symbols as the constellations,
unfortunately. (Fig. 6a & b may help us to understand the difference. Signs and constellations are slowly
moving apart. This increasing divergence is caused by the precession of the vernal point.)
19
The Precession of the vernal point according to the Ptolemaic conception.
Figure 6a
Fixed Star
Constellations→
Movement of the
vernal point, cor- Orbit of the Sun
responding to the
directions of the
shifting signs Present position of
the vernal point () in
the Fixed Stars of Fishes
Position in about 4000 AD

( in the Fixed Stars of Waterman)
The Precession according to the Copernican view
Figure 6b
Direction the signs are shifting
Present position of vernal point ()

Apparent position of Sun on 21
March. The Earth perceiving
the Sun in the Fixed Stars of Fishes.
Orbit of the Earth Position of the Earth on 21 March in about 4000 AD.
The Sun will then appear in Waterman.
20
The inner planets are more connected with the (apparent) path of the Sun or ecliptic; therefore, we
consider them from the viewpoint of the signs. Also the Moon has a stronger affinity to the ecliptic.
From the description of the Moon in Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we gather that this cosmic sphere is
the great storehouse, as it were, from which all physical objects obtain the substances that they need for
their bodily existence. Also, our body is created under the influence of the Moon forces during the time
of gestation. After death we are called upon to abandon our affinity to the bodily world in the Moon
sphere.
In Tycho Brahe’s death asterogram, we find the Moon in the waning phase and in the sign of 
Libra or Balance. The signs are more associated with the seasonal rhythms and with the working of the
formative- or life-forces in nature. The  is the sign in which the Sun stands at the beginning of autumn,
when the “Fall” in nature sets in. We may see in this Moon of Tycho Brahe an indication of his bodily
condition toward the end. He must have been very worn out, not only physiologically but also with
regard to his inner funds of resistance and positive nature toward life. It may well be that his vain
struggle against his time was extremely exacting, all the more as he was by no means a placid nature but
rather choleric.
One can say with a certain justification that his later years were already a process of inner
purification, which the human being normally experiences only after death. The waning Moon in the
sign of  is a certain amplification of this. Tycho Brahe’s bonds with the material existence were no
longer very strong when he died; therefore, his ascent to spiritual heights was probably rather rapid and
unopposed.
The planet Venus appears here in the constellation of Lion (Fig. 7a), which corresponds to the
ecliptic sign of Virgo (see Fig. 6a & b). We associated the sphere of this planet in our researches with
the “Mercury of the ancient Mysteries”. In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we have outlined our viewpoints
on this matter of “M-Mercury”. We also gather from those descriptions that this sphere is especially
connected with all that we can call “relationship”.
In order to come to the viewpoint of the sphere of Venus (M-Mercury), however, it is not sufficient
to only take into account the momentary position of the planet. The whole orbit is an indication of the
“sphere”. We must extend, therefore, our observations to the gestures of the planet in the course of time.
The most revealing gestures of the interior planets are their conjunctions with the Sun when they are
standing roughly in the same position as the Sun—as we perceive them from the Earth. There are two
possibilities: the planet can stand in front of or behind the Sun. The first is called an inferior conjunction,
the second a superior one. Both alternate in time. In Fig. 7a & b (below), we give a diagram of these
rhythms of Venus (M-Mercury), first on the basis of the Ptolemaic view (with the Earth in the center)
and secondly from the Copernican view. We have chosen the gestures about the time of Tycho Brahe’s
death.
We see in the diagram that the “M-Mercury” (or Venus) of Tycho Brahe had an inferior conjunction,
before his death, with the Sun in the ecliptic sign Leo. Seen from the Earth it appeared to be in a loop
caused by the retrograde movement of the planet. After the death of Tycho Brahe, it moved into a
superior conjunction in the ecliptic sign  . These gestures give us an idea of the condition of the sphere
at that time. We can read in it the character of the relationship that this soul had to his surrounding world
both during life and also after death.
The position in the ecliptic sign of  gives us an indication of the direction we have to search. It is a
sign that is very much connected with maturity. When the Sun is there in the course of the seasons, it is
ripening time in nature in the Northern Hemisphere). This sign has also a very subtle and sensitive
character, which was certainly the case with regard to Tycho Brahe’s feeling life. He was like a being
without protecting skin, and his choleric temperament could flare up at the slightest provocation. He had
a strong sense of dignity and was very conscious of his own spiritual weight and importance. This is also
indicated by the previous transit of Saturn over this position in 1597, when he left Hveen. He was deeply
hurt by the attitude of the court of young King Christian and was prepared to renounce the work that he
had built up through 21 years rather than to carry on under the difficult circumstances that had arisen.
21
Ptolemaic Viewpoint and Gestures of Astronomical Venus indicating “M-Mercury” Sphere
Figure 7a
Venus in inferior conjunction

with Sun(= loop) before Tycho’s
death
Venus at the time of

Tycho’s death
Venus after Ecliptic or Path of Sun.

Tycho Brahe’s death
In a conjunction with the Sun Path of Venus
Copernican System and Movement of Astronomical Venus
Figure 7b
Orbit of the Earth
Orbit of Venus
Positions of the Earth,

Venus and Sun at the time Positions of Earth,
of Tycho Brahe’s death Venus, and Sun sometime
after Tycho’s death
Positions of Earth, Venus, and Sun

shortly before Tycho’s death
22
The superior conjunction in the sign of Taurus, which took place after his death, is connected with
the experiences of this soul beyond the threshold of death. The soul becomes aware in the sphere of “M-
Mercury” of the moral implications and values of its relationships and connections with groups and
communities. The gestures of the planet in Tycho Brahe’s death asterogram rather suggest that he
experienced a tremendous change in that sphere after death. His “touchy” feeling life became very
refined in a certain sense, even resigned. He must have realized that through his life of suffering on the
Earth, he had prepared the path for something much bigger. Gradually, he became a spiritual guide and
inspirer of souls who dwelt on the Earth. We know of definite inspirations that came from him to people
of historic importance, and we are also aware that in this present age he can be a councilor to souls who
struggle to find and fulfill the inner calling of their destiny. He can also be experienced as a leading
group spirit of those who battle for a spiritual union and harmony between the heavens of the stars and
the earthly world of destiny. Unfortunately, we cannot explain the foundations of the foregoing state-
ments. It has to be reserved for a later publication because it would fill a volume alone.
Mercury was in the ecliptic sign of , like the Moon. We regard the movements and gestures of this
planet as indications of the (invisible) sphere of “Mystery-Venus”. In Fig. 8a & b, we give a diagram of
these gestures about the time of Tycho Brahe’s death. What we said above about “M-Mercury” refers
also to “M-Venus”; only, the rhythms are different. Mercury (M-Venus) is connected with the
development of the integrated human personality, with the self-manifestation of a person as an
intelligent being in the family of humanity. After death we experience in that sphere the moral aspects of
our affiliations with religious and philosophic institutions and communities, etc.
Figure 8a: Ptolemaic Viewpoint and Gestures of Astronomical Mercury indicating “M-Venus” Sphere
Orbit of Sun or Ecliptic
Positions of Mercury and Sun shortly before Tycho’s death
At death
Position of Mercury and Sun after Tycho’s death
Path of Mercury
Figure 8b: Copernican View and Movement of Astronomical Mercury
Orbit of the Earth
Position of Earth, Mercury

Positions of Earth, Mercury and Sun after Tycho’s death
and Sun shortly before
Tycho’s death
23
The planet Mercury, which indicates this region, stood in the sign of , where it also had an inferior
conjunction with the Sun (a loop, see Fig. 8a) before Tycho Brahe’s death. With reference to the death
asterogram, we see in this an indication of a rather detached attitude, a kind of restraint resulting from a
sureness of his own personal dignity, especially in later years. Although social contact was not difficult,
there was the desire to stand aloof from any association with groups, etc. For instance, there is nothing
known about a deeper connection with any religious institution. He must have been a personality with a
strong sense of independence and spiritual self-sufficiency.
This tendency to detachment after death made it possible for a rather steep ascent to the higher
regions in life beyond the threshold. The further indications of “M-Venus”, a superior conjunction in the
sign of  Scorpio and a loop or inferior conjunction in  Capricorn (see Fig. 8a), suggest that he went
through a strong and deep-reaching transformation. His intimate knowledge of the stars and his spiritual
views on the cosmos helped him to preserve consciousness to a high degree after death. Not all human
souls are able to stay awake after death when they face the dazzling light of the spiritual world. The
cultivation of a spiritual star wisdom can certainly help a soul to go through the regions beyond death in
full consciousness.
Finally, we come to the Sun in Tycho Brahe’s death asterogram, which stood in Virgin, or rather at
the feet of that constellation. The experiences of the soul after death in the sphere of the Sun are rather
peculiar. The soul is, in a certain sense, referred back to the Earth. In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we
have described the great change that has taken place with regard to Sun and Earth. At a certain time, the
great Spirit leader of the Sun hierarchies dwelt in the Sun sphere and at the beginning of our era united
with the Earth. Christian humanity calls this spirit the Christ. Since that time the spiritual qualities of the
Sun have begun to work within the Earth. If human souls enter the Sun sphere now after death, they find
it, in a certain sense, devoid of its great Spirit leader, the Christ. They will only be able to advance if they
can look back upon experiences of the Sun Spirit, the Christ, on the Earth. They need not have belonged
to any of the Christian religious institutions, but they can only stand the trial of passing over the
threshold of the Sun sphere, when they have experienced consciously on Earth the great impulse of love
and brotherhood of all beings in which the Christ is manifest. Only then can the soul ascend to higher
regions of the spiritual world, where it will be confronted with its own true higher “I”. Therefore, the
position of the Sun at the moment of death indicates, rather, the path of the soul from the Earth through
the cosmic regions and through the gate of the Sun to the realm where its own eternal, spiritual archetype
dwells. We found in our researches that the soul usually returns into a following incarnation from the
same region where it ascended after the preceding death. This world region is indicated by the position
of the Sun in the Zodiac at the time of death.
The Sun at the feet of Virgin in Tycho Brahe’s death asterogram reminds us of the last great cycle of
the Earth evolution (Part Three of Isis Sophia II). We find it also in the visions of John the Divine. It is
the imagination in Chapter XII of the Book of Revelation: The Woman in Heaven, clothed with the Sun,
standing upon the Moon and crowned with twelve stars, who is persecuted by a mighty Dragon. He is
waiting for her child to be born, the “Son of Man”, because he wants to destroy it. Then the Archangel
Michael with his hosts comes to the rescue of the woman. A mighty battle in heaven ensues, and the
Dragon is defeated and destroyed.
We see in this imagination the picture of the commencement of the final stages of the Earth
evolution. The woman in heaven is the Soul of the World, of whom a reflection lives in every human
soul. The child, the “Son of Man”, is the spiritual fruit of all humanity’s evolution, as far as it aims at the
realization of the Christ-forces in every human heart. Against this spiritual birth in a human being, stand
other forces that want to prevent the ascent of humanity to spiritual heights of existence. They want to
hold on to the present stage of a material universe, preserve it for their own ends as a gigantic, lifeless,
and soulless mechanism. These are the Dragon-forces.
The position of the Sun in Tycho Brahe’s death asterogram betrays his association with the “hosts of
Michael”, who prepare to battle against the adversary of the Woman in Heaven. He cannot be called a
Christian in the ordinary, conventional sense. The Christianity with which he entered the sphere of the
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Sun is much greater. His struggle for a conception of the cosmos of the stars as the manifestation of the
Divinity is, for one who is able to see deeper into the human soul, a sure witness of Tycho Brahe’s
cosmic Christianity. In bitter battles that reach back into incarnations before this one, in the Middle
Ages, he broke through to the realization of Christ as the great Sun Spirit who descended to the Earth,
suffered the death on the Cross, and went through Resurrection for the sake of Salvation.
Thus has this soul entered the spiritual world and is working for a spiritual-cosmic Christianity,
which is not only a matter of eloquent words but of far-reaching and penetrating deeds. One day he will
enter another earthly existence and stand in the ranks of those who fight for the preservation of spiritual
life against the forces that proclaim the running down of the universe and the insignificance of Earth and
humanity and so on. These seem to be the only aspects of which a certain section of present science is
capable.
25
Chapter IV
Where Do We Stand?
The previous chapters have demonstrated that a new kind of relationship between the cosmos of the
stars and the human being is shaping itself. The question will now arise: How can such a new
relationship enter our practical, day-by-day life, besides the intellectual accumulation of the described
facts as mere knowledge?
For traditional, orthodox astrology, the answer seems to be comparatively simple. The make-up and
the destiny of human beings are supposed to be determined by the courses of the stars at the times of
their incarnation. Therefore, the general assumption is that by studying the nativities of people, one is
able to delineate their destines. This seems to be a practical conclusion, and the practice of astrology
appears to have a more or less social function. There have also appeared, over time, the defects of this
assumption: the gradual loss of the ancient capacity of reading the script of the stars, and the realization
that within the framework of these cosmic connections very little scope was available for spiritual
freedom, or none at all, etc. The relationship that we described is, however, of a different make. For
instance, the facts that we presented in Chapter I show clearly enough that we are not solely destined by
the courses of the stars. We are, with regard to our thoughts and deeds, an integral part of the cosmos.
Much depends on our own decisions, and the world of the stars presents us only with the magnified
reflection, as it were, of our spiritual morale.
Furthermore, the character and function of the asterogram of death confronts us with an aspect of
human relationship with the stars that simply does not lend a hand to the classical astrological
presumption of being able to prognosticate the destiny of a human being. Where, then, is its “practical”
value beyond the facts, that in themselves may appear to be interesting enough and worthwhile
knowing?
One possible answer is that such a study can imbue one with a sense of cosmic responsibility and
conscience, which in turn can enhance one’s spiritual dignity. To see our own deeds and thoughts
magnified and thus coming back to us as our—however self-made—destiny, will make us more aware of
the weight of our own activities and will urge us to search for the spiritual sources of ever more perfect
and farseeing ideas and actions. We will realize that stumbling into the future without firm inner
convictions—a casual and arbitrary management of the affairs of earthly life, both great and small—may
lead to disaster. We may learn that the present condition of humanity demands constant spiritual
vigilance and preparedness for action out of free spiritual activity, searching for new roads and
approaches outside the worn-out paths of tradition and convention. It may even enlighten us to permeate
tradition and convention with new and free understanding, thus eliminating the dangers arising from the
management of especially those elements that are not controlled, so far, by the segregating and ordering
capacity of the human mind. Thus cosmological facts like those described in Chapter I can become great
teachers of humanity. This is one way of realizing their practical value.
The aspect of the asterogram of death circumscribes yet another connection of the human being with
the world of the stars. There, the responsibility of the human being becomes apparent in a strong
individual sense. In Chapter II, we described the permeation of the cosmos by the life organization of a
soul, by the living memory substance coming from the earthly life of a single human being. It is quite
obvious that in this connection the moral quality of this life substance must be of decisive nature for the
cosmos. In the case of Tycho Brahe, we see the fine qualities and the lofty aspirations of a human being
imprinted into the cosmos of the planets.
However, we can also imagine that these imprints permeating the universe through the dissolving
life- or ether-forces of a soul are not always of such a superb nature. For instance, if we take the death
asterogram of Lenin, we find the imprints also very clearly marked in the cosmos. The life substance of
Lenin also permeated the universe of the stars to a certain degree: the growth of this revolutionary; the
Bolshevik revolution, in part; the very sinister deeds following in the wake of those events in Russia.
Yet, how differently from the case of Tycho Brahe must this memory substance have echoed through
26
cosmic space. We can imagine that it was like dark, indigestible enclosures in the cosmos, existing like
centers of retention and disease in space.
Thus we can find, by empirical research, all kinds of living memory substance in the planetary
cosmos originating in humanity’s earthly deeds. The quality of this substance is most important for the
cosmos. Our responsibility is magnified by it to a degree not many people realize in the present moment
of history. We shall see later on that this memory substance, which humanity implants into the cosmos
of the stars after death, does not only concern the world of the stars but humanity also. Humanity is
constantly called upon to rarefy and develop the substance that flows into the cosmos through its single
members. We cannot escape the need to stand responsible, as a whole, for the deeds and thoughts of our
brethren, with which the universe of the stars is permeated. A spiritual cosmology, as we try to represent
it here, can provide a basis for a sound and healthy understanding of these facts, and possibly help
humanity on the road of its evolution and assist it in overcoming the bondage of illusion and falsehood.
In Chapter III, we have described the realization of cosmic memory, present in the Zodiac and in the
planets, through the life of a single human being. For example, Mars standing in Lion at the time of
Tycho Brahe’s death turned our attention to the most ancient stages of cosmic evolution. We saw them,
as having been manifested and expressed in the life of Tycho Brahe, in his strong relationship to the
universe of the stars. Yet, by no means was this relationship simply a falling back to the past. Tycho
Brahe had brought down to Earth those memory-pictures of Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and Ancient
Moon as far as they are inscribed in Lion. He had adjusted them to the conditions of his age, to the facts
with which a human being incarnate on the Earth is confronted. Thus one can say that the great cosmos
of the memory of past evolution woke up in the consciousness of a single human being. It had
resurrected through the ego of a man, and such a noble soul as Tycho Brahe was even able to transform
it into pictures of “cosmic future”.
The individual appears to be like a bridge from the past to the future: in one’s present conscious life
there awaken the pictures of past divine creation; these pictures are woven into the patterns of our
thinking, feeling, and willing; and, although we are only more or less perfect, they are lifted up to the
level of the ego, and thereby the old cosmos is elevated to new cosmic existence in the realm of moral
imagination. If this idea is not pressed too much, one can even speak of a rescue of the moral essence of
the earlier, God-created cosmos and its preservation for future cycles of evolution.
All human beings are involved in this cosmic process. We are called upon to act as mediums of
transformation between cosmic past and cosmic future. However, there are very few people who are able
to realize this at the present stage of evolution. In a certain sense, it even had to be hidden away from the
consciousness of modern humanity, lest we become overwhelmed by such grand and responsibility
evoking aspects of human existence. It is an iron necessity that our ego grow sufficiently strong and
universal before we become able to comprehend such ideas,.
The task of a spiritual cosmology is to prepare coming ages of history, when humanity will be able to
grasp consciously its position in cosmic existence. The teaching of modern spiritual science is an
essential and indispensable aid in such endeavors.
The presentation and interpretation of the death asterogram, as we attempted it in Chapter III, can
bring home one’s true position within the cosmos. By studying such historic charts as that of Tycho
Brahe—in fact by nature they must all be historic—we can gradually develop inner organs of perception
for the tasks of transformation that are demanded from us while being incarnate on the Earth. Here, too,
we learn to know spiritual cosmology as a teacher who helps us to find our true Self.
There exists still another aspect of the death asterogram that concerns the human being even more
directly. The example of Tycho Brahe shows us that the life substance flows into the planetary cosmos
after death, and to a certain extent it changes the character of the universe, for instance, the dynamic
quality of the constellations. We will presently explain this.
We may ask: What happens to this substance? Experience has shown that it is not lost, but that it
lives on. Souls who descend into incarnation on the Earth go through the spheres of the planets and
27
gather what they need there for their coming earthly existence, according to their previously attained
capacities. They meet also the living memory substance of others, who had left behind the imprints of
their earthly deeds and struggles after they had departed from our planet. This memory substance is taken
up by incarnating souls as far as their disposition makes it possible. They bring it back to the Earth and
develop it further. Thus, the impulses of those who have passed away before us are ever more perfected.
Ideas and impulses of previous ages that could not be accomplished, owing to the conditions of those
times or the incapacities of their bearers, are brought nearer to realization and refinement in this manner.
It may even be that tendencies, which at a certain time did not fit positively into the stream of human
evolution, are redeemed and purified by ever new attempts of souls in later times.
Experience has taught us that previous memory substance of this kind can also deteriorate and lead
to disaster, if those who took it up before they incarnated are not awake enough to the facts of which we
are speaking here. Shortly before we enter the earthly realm through birth, the curtain is drawn before
our prenatal experiences. We forget them as far as our day-waking consciousness is concerned; only in
the depths of our unconscious regions are they present and may even become the cause of all kinds of
psychological upheavals and disturbances. Then dangers beset the human being from all sides. Powers of
deviation can enter the soul if we are not, to a certain extent, in conscious command of those facts in
ourselves.
Humanity is rapidly moving into conditions in which these dangers become more and more acute,
because the ancient means of safety through instinct have almost completely melted away. Humanity of
the present age, and even more of the future, must attain a consciousness of those hidden facts
concerning the prenatal life and experiences in the spheres of the planets. A new spiritual cosmology can
prepare the path to an understanding of these connections of the soul with its prenatal existence, when it
was still a dweller in the regions of the stars.
We shall explain such connections by an historic example. For this purpose we take the death
asterogram of the famous Italian painter Raphael Santi (1483 - 1520 AD). He died on April 6, 1520 in
Rome. In Fig. 9, we give the aspects of the sky at the time of his death on lines similar to those employed
in connection with Tycho Brahe in Fig. 3.
Figure 9
Death Asterogram of Raphael Santi, 6 April 1520
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First of all, we should like to give a very brief outline of Raphael’s biography. His father was a
painter at Urbino, which was the residence of the Dukes of Montefeltro. Raphael was also born there.
Both his parents died while he was still a child. His teacher was the painter Perugino.
In 1504, Raphael came to Florence, which had become one of the great centers of Italian art through
the generosity and the understanding of the family of the Medici, and from then onward he gradually
became famous—above all by his many representations of the divine Virgin, the Madonna. He was
called to Rome in 1507 by Pope Julius II. From 1508 till about 1517, he executed his world famous
paintings in the palace of the Vatican, the “Disputa”, the “School of Athens”, the “Parnass”, and so on.
In 1514, he had also become director of the re-building of St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome. About 1515/16,
came the sketches for the tapestries in the Sistine Chapel that have also become world famous, and of
which a part can be seen in the Victoria-Albert Museum in London. In 1519, he completed the paintings
in the Villa Chigi and in the Vatican Loggias in Rome. Just after having finished his last great painting,
the “Transfiguration”, he died 6 April 1520, at the age of 37 years.
As in the case of Tycho Brahe, we can also find the biography of Raphael Santi imprinted in his
asterogram of death. We shall not go into any detail now but take into consideration only one special
point. On 6 April 1520, the death-day of Raphael, we see the Moon and Jupiter standing in the
constellation of Scorpion (see Fig. 9). Saturn had occupied these places in 1514 and 1515. Therefore,
these positions of Saturn are previous or anterior transits (see beginning of Chapter III), and we conclude
that the events of 1514/15 were imprinted in Jupiter and the Moon after Raphael’s death.
We have already mentioned a few events concerning the years 1514/15 in Raphael’s life, but above
all we should like to direct our attention to Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna”, which he painted about 1515.
This painting is probably the best known work of the artist. We see in it the culmination of all his
Madonna pictures. He achieved a simplicity of presentation with it by which he surpassed all his
previous, though wonderful, paintings of the divine Virgin, and yet it expresses the supreme, even
cosmic majesty of Virgin in a manner that no painter before nor after him attained. Whereas Raphael
presented Virgin Mary in partly very realistic earthly settings and landscapes in previous pictures, the
“Sistine Madonna” just 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”, which were so often used by painters, like crown and royal attire, are missing
here. It seems to be this simplicity that weaves around the Virgin an invisible cloak of cosmic, un-
surpassed majesty. Raphael, indeed, uplifted the imagination of the Divine Virgin—the Soul of the
World—in this picture to cosmic dimensions.
This event in Raphael’s life, among the others, we imagine was imprinted in those planets in
Scorpion. It flowed into the cosmos as a new message coming from the realm of one who endeavors ever
again to comprehend the mysteries of the Divinity. If we contemplate this fact, we may even permit
ourselves to speak of this event as a “re-valuation” of the constellation of Scorpion. Of course, it can be
only one of a long series of incidents in human history that all aim at a transformation of Scorpion. It is
even possible to find a “history” of this stream of transformation.
In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we have described Scorpion as the cosmic memory-picture of the
great crisis during the Ancient Moon evolution. Behind this, in a deeper layer of Scorpion, we saw a
most profound stage of Ancient Sun evolution. This was lost in time and the cosmically critical aspect of
the Ancient Moon-Scorpion remained to a high degree. Now we are called upon to transform this aspect
in the course of the give and take that occurs in our relationship with the cosmos of the stars. Many
historic events have taken place, which testify by their cosmic aspects, this impulse of transformation in
humanity.
Those events in Raphael’s life, the elevation and glorification of eternal womanhood, in a universal
sense, were indeed imprinted into the cosmos by the anterior transits of Saturn over the places of Jupiter
and the Moon. We may mention another fact here that amplifies what we said. In 1515, the year in that
the “Sistine Madonna” was born, Jupiter moved into the constellation of Bull opposite to Scorpion.
29
Therefore, we can also speak of an anterior Jupiter transit, though it imprinted this event into the
opposite part of the Zodiac. It would be wrong to assume that only Saturn works out a kind of cosmic
biography of a human being by its anterior transits. The death asterogram is more complicated in reality
and consists of “layers” of anterior transits performed by Jupiter, Mars, and so on. They paint the
biography in minute details.
The imprint of the “Sistine Madonna” in the cosmos was not lost. It lives on, and souls who
descended later into incarnation took it up as far as they had the capacity to do so. In order to
demonstrate this, we select one historic example, the Russian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev (born
January 28, 1853, died August 13, 1900, New Style). When he prepared for incarnation, Jupiter was
moving from Scales into Scorpion. This happened during the time of his gestation, and we see in it an
indication that he was especially connected with Jupiter and Scorpion during his sojourn in the spiritual
world before birth.
First of all, I would like to give an account of the life of this personality. At the age of 14, he already
went through a religious crisis, destroyed his icons and pictures of religious content, and saw his aim in
the study of materialistic philosophy and science only. But six years later, we see him attending lectures
at the theological academy of a monastery in Moscow, and in the following year he wrote about the
“Crisis of Western Philosophy”, repudiating philosophical materialism. He went to London in 1875 to
study in the British Museum. During that year, he had two far-reaching inner experiences of which we
shall speak later on. He returned to Russia in 1876 but found little appreciation of his philosophic and
religious views among church people, and he started as a free-lance lecturer with good success. In 1881,
he had to give up his public lectures and devoted his energies during the following years to a great ideal.
He felt it was his task to bring about a unification of the Christian churches in a Universal Church. He
contacted the Roman Catholic Church in connection with this matter, but nowhere could he find a
response to his great ideal.
He wrote a number of books that have only partly been translated. Among them are: Treatise on
God-Manhood, History and Future of Theocracy, Russia and the Universal Church. During the last ten
years of his life he wrote, The meaning of Love, The Justification of the Good and one of his very last
writings is a vivid description of the coming and defeat of the Antichrist, as he imagined it.
What was the inner foundation on which this soul rested and from which he worked into the world?
We can understand this only if we are prepared to lend an ear to what he said about his inner experiences
in 1875, which we mentioned above. It is contained in a poem (Three Meetings) that he wrote shortly
before his death. There he described his spiritual meetings with Hagia Sophia, the Divine Wisdom, the
Divine Glory of the Cosmos.
At the age of 9, on Ascension Day 1862, he had the vision of the Hagia Sophia while he was
attending Divine Service in a Moscow cathedral. He went to London in 1875 in order to study all he
could lay hands on about the Divine Sophia, the Wisdom of God. He went there with a deep inner
longing that the vision of his youth might come again, and one day when he was sitting in the reading
room of the British Museum, she indeed revealed herself to him. In his longing he said these words
(quoted here from a translation by Mr. George Adams.): “‘Flower of God, I feel thy presence here. Why
didst thou not appear since childhood’s days unto mine eyes?’ 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 unveiled,
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.”
He describes then how he went to Egypt, to Cairo, where he waited for the promised vision 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 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.
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“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!”
He returned to Cairo with empty stomach and big holes in his shoes, but his soul filled with the echo
of the great experience.
We see here a human being who had visions of a spiritual being. The character of the poem suggests
that they were real inner experiences, not speculations. In his writings, he describes this being as “the
transfigured and reintegrated universe appearing before him in its original splendor and glory”. One of
his biographers says: “Soloviev was convinced that belief in a Personal God implies that the cosmos also
has a personality; to this personality he gave the name of Hagia Sophia, or the Divine Wisdom, who
responded by a free act of her own love to the creative love of her Maker.”
Wherefrom did this seemingly strange experience of Soloviev come? From a study of the
cosmological implications we suggest that he took up at the time of his descent into incarnation a part of
the memory substance of Raphael Santi, the eternal image of the “Sistine Madonna”, which had been
elevated to cosmic heights. This is indicated by the position of Jupiter in Scorpion when Soloviev
incarnated. It reminds us of the Jupiter in Scorpion in Raphael’s asterogram of death.
However, we notice that the description of Hagia Sophia in “three meetings” bears unmistakable
features of the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Isis. Words that he used like, “whatever is, whatever was and
will be through the ages...” confirm this. How is this to be reconciled with the undoubtedly Christian
image of the “Sistine Madonna”? In order to solve this problem, we must penetrate a little deeper into
the mysterious background of the Christian Imagination of the Virgin Mother. The Egyptian Isis was, as
it were, a pre-Christian prophecy of the events that were to take place physically in Palestine at the
beginning of our era. What was perceived in the Egyptian mysteries as an eternal truth, the pure Soul of
the universe who gives birth to the spirit-child in Earth humanity, was expected to become external,
visible reality. This was the great message of the Egyptian Isis mysteries, and consequently early
Christianity, which had still a glimpse of the spiritual background of physical events, realized the
connection between the great Isis and the Virgin Mother. Thus there lived in the veneration of the
Madonna, the awareness of the fact that upon the earthly Mary rested the divine reflection of the
Goddess Isis. (We have found numerous statues of ancient Egyptian origin showing Isis holding the
child Horus in her lap.)
This knowledge was lost more and more in later times of Christianity, but Raphael seems to have
still had a glimpse of it. In his last picture of the “Sistine Madonna”, he succeeded in presenting the
ancient Isis-prophecy, blended with the Christian Imagination of the Mother Mary event. Whether he did
it consciously or out of the unfathomable depths of “unconscious memory” is an open question.
Thus we see the living and creative memory substance of one human being handed on to another
after it had gone through a cosmic transformation. Soloviev wasn’t a painter. He had not the means at
hand that Raphael had. Yet his description of the Hagia Sophia is a witness of the undeniable fact of the
advancing evolution of humanity. Someone may have an idea or an impulse that is taken up into cosmic
realms after death. Then the idea or the deed may appear submerged in the stream of history, until one
day other human beings take it up again and transform it according to their capacities and dispositions. It
is then certainly not only just a repetition of what it had been in the past; it has evolved in the meantime
and brings a new message to humanity.
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Certainly the connection indicated between Raphael and Soloviev is not the only one. There have
been other souls who took up the imaginations that Raphael had imprinted into the cosmos. They
transformed them according to their own capacities.
For our studies, this example can become another proof of the significance of a new spiritual
cosmology. It is only one of many aspects that can teach us about the more intimate connections between
human beings of the past and of the present. Learning from it we can prepare to help bring light into the
soul. How often does it happen that we stand and wonder before the expressions of the soul life of a
human being, without being able to comprehend the sources of it? And how often does it occur that we
are confronted with strange soul moods and impulses, in ourselves or in another person, that seem to
spring from nowhere? To bring understanding and, even in certain cases, healing order into the soul life
of humanity, we will need ever more a knowledge of our real connection with the spiritual world, with
the dead, with our own experiences before birth and after death. Spiritual cosmology can become a
guiding beacon on the path to spiritual truth concerning our greater Self.
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PART TWO
Chapter I
The Impact of the Cosmos on the Earth
Some time ago an article appeared in Electrical Engineering (May 1952) that described the
researches of a few scientists in the U.S. The investigators were mainly occupied with the effects of
planetary interrelationships on radio signal behavior. Although the chosen field of research has a limited
character, the results are rather revealing with regard to the interconnection between the planetary world
and the Earth.
It has long been known that the sunspot cycles are connected with transatlantic short-wave signal
variations, and that radio storms are to be expected at times of sunspot maximums. Systematic
investigations revealed, however, that these sunspot cycles could be made responsible for radio signal
disturbances only to a certain extent. The suggestion was that cosmic phenomena other than sunspots
must be studied. Thus, the heliocentric angular relationships of the planets were observed over a long
period of time in connection with day-to-day radio signal analysis, and very satisfactory and encouraging
results were obtained. (The forecasting of radio signal disturbances was, on an average, close to 85%
accurate.)
Heliocentric angular relationship of the planets is the position of two or more planets in the legs of
an angle that has its apex in the place of the Sun. If we could transfer our standpoint from the Earth to
the Sun, we would observe the planets in directions somewhat different from those in which we observe
them from the Earth. Nevertheless, we should see the various planets at certain times standing in the
directions of the legs of definite angles. Two or more planets can take up such positions according to
their rhythms of revolution. According to classical astrology, these relative positions are the equivalents
of the so-called aspects; but in the case of the researches, which have been mentioned, they are
calculated from the place of the Sun in the cosmos.
Thus, angles of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° were used, and the times when two or more planets formed
such angles were checked against the radio signal analysis. In this way, the satisfactory results were
obtained.
As we said, this kind of research covers only a very limited part of the field of the interrelationship
between the cosmos and the Earth. Other experiments have been made over years, and the results are
highly convincing with regard to the affinity of earthly forces and substances to cosmic events. However,
it seems rather difficult sometimes for modern humanity to assess properly the field of cosmic influences
on the Earth and its limits. Here is the point where a close cooperation between natural science and
spiritual science is needed in order to find the demarcation line between the sphere of necessity, based on
cosmic influences, and the realm of spiritual freedom, for instance, in the human being.
So far, the above experiments, and others, have clearly shown that there exists a close affinity of
terrestrial forces and substances to events in the cosmic world. The living organisms on the Earth must
also necessarily be involved in this relationship, since they partake through their organism in the
properties of the Earth planet. In so far as the bodily constitution of a living organism is essential for the
development of some kind of consciousness, the cosmic impacts must also be noticeable in the realm of
soul-emotions, etc. However, this does not imply that the soul life of a living being is entirely subject to
cosmic influences. Here we must distinguish between the instrument, the organism that is permeated by
the cosmic impacts and the character of the being that uses the instrument. We must acknowledge the
possibility of a degree of independence within the conscious being.
To study these problems of obviously complicated interrelationships, and to aim at practical, helpful,
and therapeutic conclusions, is the task of a modern star wisdom.
Reference books on the subject: Short-wave Radio Propagation Correlation with Planetary Positions, by J.
H. Nelson. RCA Review (Princeton N. J.) March 1951. Influence of Planetary Configurations Upon the
Frequency of Visible Sunspots, by F. Sanford, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 1936.
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Astronomical Studies
The experiments, previously mentioned, suggest that the whole organism of the solar system must be
studied in order to gain an insight into the interrelationship. What appears as a phenomenon in one part
is related to and caused by events in other parts. For instance, the study of the sunspots alone did not
suffice to come to clear conclusions concerning certain disturbances. The planets as well, and very
probably other still unknown factors, have to be taken into consideration.
All this suggests that we must have a sound and extensive knowledge of astronomical facts if we
embark on any kind of cosmological research. This knowledge is not easily obtained in our age.
Generally speaking, it is advisable to study the great pioneers of astronomical science during the last few
centuries, although the data of their researches are sometimes not up to date and partly even incorrect.
However, a combination of study of classical astronomers together with modern books on astronomy
should make up for this deficiency. Modern popular books on astronomy are inclined to impress the
reader by the unimaginable vastness of the universe in which we live, whereby the sense for the cosmos
as an integrated organism is easily lost. In the end, the readers are usually left with the idea that they are
a totally insignificant part within that gigantic cosmic machine of modern astronomical conception.
Besides these more general indications, there exist a number of introductions to astronomy that try to
build a bridge between natural and spiritual science. The works of various authors on this subject are
available, and personal advice concerning the study of astronomy on this foundation can be given.
Observation and contemplation are the two pillars on which the genuine cosmologist must build his
or her house. Very often one of the two principal foundations is neglected. Sometimes it happens that a
person knows a good deal about the supposed influences of the stars on human destiny and historic
events, but may never have observed a star nor acquired a proper astronomical knowledge. It is
comparatively easy to learn about the day-to-day positions of the stars and planets by using astronomical
ephemeredes, which are published in great numbers and varieties today. One does not even need to know
how the planets move in cosmic space. This may suffice as long as we cling, in a sense, blindly to
traditional rules. For a conscientious research, more is required than only the data given in the usual
ephemeris. Thus, for instance, the angular positions of the planets from the standpoint of the Sun, which
were mentioned in connection with the experiments of a number of American scientists, can only be
calculated on the basis of a sound and modern conception of the universe. This basis is needed in order
to consciously meet the unexpected in the relationship between the Earth and the cosmos. The
knowledge that is contained in traditional astrology has come down to us from an age when humanity
was still able to comprehend the laws of motion and rhythm in the universe by a powerful instinct.
Modern humanity has lost this instinct almost entirely, though we may have gained the power of
observation and thinking. If we do not want to swim, more or less helplessly, in a sea of traditional rules
derived from an instinct to which we no longer have access, we must learn to use the newly acquired
capacities: observation and thinking. Otherwise, we may expose ourselves to uncontrollable errors and
misconceptions.
There is, of course, the other possibility that the modern cosmologist rejects the practice of
contemplation. We may then find ourselves staring at a cosmos that we do not understand and that
confronts us in every new discovery with an increasing barrier of unanswerable and haunting questions.
In both directions we may lose, in a sense, the perception of a living universe with which we are vitally
connected.
How can we combine observation and contemplation in any modern sense to the end that we may
find a true spiritual understanding of the intricate connection between ourselves and the stars? There are
several ways of achieving this. One is to observe the day-to-day positions of the planets in the ecliptic
and learn to imagine these positions in the course of the day, even if the planets cannot be seen because
of the bright light of the Sun. This can be done by practicing with one of the circular star maps that can
be adjusted to any time of the day. The daily positions of the planets, the Sun, and the Moon can be
found in the available ephemeredes, which are usually calculated on the basis of the Nautical Almanac.
These positions can then be transferred to the circular and adjustable star maps, and the directions in
34
which to find the planets can thus be ascertained at any given time. (A very suitable map has been
published by J. Schultz at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland.)
So far, this is essentially a matter of observation. To this must be added exercises of contemplation;
for instance, we may find the position of Mercury on May 1, 1953, given in the astronomical ephemeris,
as being in 19° of the ecliptic sign of Aries. This corresponds to the fixed star constellation of Fishes.
Therefore, Mercury is in the constellation of Fishes in that moment. (About conversion of “signs” into
“constellations” see table at end of this section.)
We can now ask: How did Mercury reach that position? Where did it come from, and what is its
aim? We can again make use of the ephemeris, and we will find that it was retrograde during March
1953. It performed a loop, which means that it was in inferior conjunction with the Sun during that
period. This took place on 18 March in 28° of the sign of Pisces, corresponding also to the
constellation of Fishes. The planet was then standing in one line between the Sun and the Earth. Further-
more, we will find that Mercury will be in superior conjunction to the Sun on 24 May in 4° of the sign of
Taurus, corresponding to the constellation of Ram. From there it will move into another loop in the
signs of  Leo and  Cancer in July/August 1953. The inferior conjunction in the course of this loop
will take place on 25 July in 3° of the sign of , corresponding to the constellation of Crab.
Thus we have achieved, in a certain sense, the biographical background of that position of Mercury
on May 1, 1953. We can extend this over a whole year, or even longer periods. We shall thus discover
the rhythmical laws, according to which Mercury moves through cosmic space in relation to Sun and
Earth. We combine, in this way, the mere visual or observational aspect of Mercury at a given time with
its rhythmical background. We know its derivations from the past and its aims in the future, which must
be inherent in any momentary position. This can tell us a great deal about the nature and implications of
the planet.
Such a study of the rhythms of the planets, over shorter or longer periods, can become very fruitful
and can enable the student to form a background of personal experience, for instance, in connection with
history. It is an advance from the mere observational picture that should be carried through with all
possible clarity of thought, to the language of the planets.
This is a very illuminating study, especially in connection with the rhythms of the superior planets
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. For instance, amazing facts can be gathered by contemplating the rhythms of
Mars. Its loops (oppositions to the Sun and conjunctions with the Sun) advance rhythmically through the
ecliptic and return to their approximate initial positions after a period of roughly sixteen years. It is very
instructive to study the eight loops and conjunctions of Mars during such a cycle in connection with
historic events.
There is also another way by which a combination of observation and contemplation can be
achieved. If we observe the stars, we quite naturally look up from our standpoint into the sky. We then
discover that in order to observe the Sun during daytime and the planets and the Moon during the night,
we have to turn mainly toward the South. We may have to turn on certain occasions toward east or west,
but we shall certainly not find any planets in the north. If we look toward the south, we notice that the
east—where the Sun, the Moon, and the planets are rising—is to our left, whereas the west—the
direction in which the celestial bodies are setting, with certain variations according to the seasons—is to
our right.
This position is the only one possible, as far as observation is concerned. If we try to advance from
observation to an understanding of the stars, we must change our position. Usually we do this
unconsciously as soon as we begin to think about the cosmos. We then turn away from the external
world and try to sort out our experiences in the realm of inner conception. Mostly, we are not conscious
of this procedure as it happens in an uncontrolled way, and this is one of the reasons why “thinking
about the stars” has become so unprofitable.
We can accompany the changeover from observation to contemplation with full consciousness. A
great help in this direction is a conscious inner change of our position. For observation we must take up
a central position. From the point of our eye, we reach out into cosmic space along the line of our focus.
35
Figure I
Path of Sun, Moon and Planets Ecliptic Above ↑ and Below ↓ the
Horizon
Figure 2
If we now imagine that we turn away from our central position and expand our being to the whole
periphery, looking from the periphery down to the Earth, we will not see the stars anymore but have
them “in our mind”. Of course, we should then also carry the data about the stars in our mind that we
acquired by observation; but the direct visual perception would be eliminated for a certain time. (See
Fig. 1 & 2.) If we try to practice such an attitude, we realize at once that it cannot be easily attained.
Through our body, which is bound to the Earth by gravity, we are obliged to maintain a central position.
36
Persistent exercise, however, will make it possible—at least for fractions of time—to achieve a
peripheral attitude.
Through such a conscious act, the changing over from observation to contemplation can at least be
facilitated. The more we succeed in extending our own being in this fashion to the whole cosmos, the
more the world of the stars can speak to us. In order to rise to higher planes of perception, we must be
prepared to bring sacrifices on lower levels of experience. We silence or eliminate for a time, in this
case, the experiences that we have through the senses and can advance, thereby, to a much more
comprehensive inner perception. The main condition is that we perform such an exercise in full
consciousness. Any dim or dreamy condition of inner awareness would lead nowhere or could even have
disastrous consequences.
It must be emphasized that any such external alteration of our position toward the stars can only give
us a beginning. An essential and fundamental condition is a well-disciplined and rhythmic life in
contemplation and meditation. This must become like our second being, our constant companion and
self-chosen tutor. Only then can we expect to find the spiritual meaning of the world surrounding us and
even advance to the higher worlds of the spirit itself. It should not be necessary to emphasize that this
need is paramount, if we desire to learn to understand the language of the stars.
Contemplation and meditation have been practiced by a humanity that was eager to listen to the
spiritual world, since the most ancient times. The existing literature of Eastern civilizations is full of
proof. Through the ages, the methods have changed, together with the change of consciousness in
humanity. The development of consciousness works much deeper into the human organization than we
may expect from a superficial view point. Thus, Western civilization with its emphasis on modern
technology, traffic, general external life-standards, etc., has hardened the body to such a degree that
ancient methods of approach to the spiritual world can no longer be employed. Wherever they are
employed, under such conditions, they are apt to bring disaster to the integrity of the Western human
organization.
From our own experiences over many years, we can say that methods of inner discipline in
contemplation and meditation, as they are described in the many books of Rudolf Steiner, are most
effective and sound, especially for Western humanity. They take their start from no other foundation
than the one that modern humanity has achieved in the course of the development of its consciousness,
which is clear and well-controlled observation and thinking.
If such exercises as those suggested by Rudolf Steiner have become something like a second nature,
then we can also attempt, at a certain stage, to launch out to a higher understanding of the world of the
stars and its interrelationship with the Earth and with ourselves. Even in this direction Rudolf Steiner can
give advice. However, we should not underestimate the difficulties of such a path. Penetrating to the
mysteries of the cosmic world and to its reflections in the microcosmic universe, really means to ascend
to the highest planes of spiritual consciousness that a human being can attain at present. Star wisdom of
this kind was called the Royal Wisdom in ancient times and was entered only after many years of
profound schooling. We cannot expect that the equivalent star wisdom of modern times can be attained
any more easily.
One of the gravest dangers of the cosmologist, in the sense of spiritual science, is that he or she gets
submerged in calculation; all the more so as modern science tends to move away from scientific
materialism and enter an age of philosophic mathematism—“The old materialism is dead”, exclaims a
modern scientist. Matter has been dissolved, as it were, in the course of development of modern physics,
into very complicated mathematical equations. It is not our task here to go deeper into this, but if
cosmologists fall into the trap of mere calculation, they may kill their sense for the tremendous
flexibility in the cosmos. We have been accustomed to modern science’s concept of the universe of the
stars as a stupendously gigantic machine, whose movements and rhythms can be calculated down to the
smallest detail. The genuine occultists, however, know only too well that this is not correct with regard
to spiritual aspects, and they can even prove it. In the midst of the vast, computable universe, there are
still inexhaustible possibilities for the spiritual world when it manifests itself in a human individuality.
37
Calculation must be used, but it must not become a barrier for the creative employment of the
faculties of Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition—capacities that can be attained by the spiritual
exercises indicated by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. The results of calculation should
rather be used as pointers to higher insight. One who has many years of practice in these matters knows
that the accuracy of cosmological research is not inhibited by such methods, but that it is enhanced.
Another danger for the scholar of occult cosmology is the inclination to look up to the stars in an
attitude of expectancy, which will lead sooner or later into disappointment. One thing must be realized;
just as the human race goes through stages of development, so the universe—the world of the stars—
moves through certain stages of evolution. Once in the dim past, people experienced the direct language
of the stars, and they were guided by what was speaking to them. Documents that have been dug up in
Mesopotamia reveal that such incidents still happened in the days when the ancient civilizations
flourished in that part of Asia. However, the situation has gradually changed in our present age. The stars
have become silent, and we must search for new means of approach to our relationship with the Earth
and with the cosmos.
The direction is indicated by those great events in Palestine at the beginning of our era. At that time
Christ, the Spirit of the Cosmos, united with the Earth for the sake of the further continuity of evolution.
In a spiritual sense, the Earth became the focus of the universe and its meaning; the working of the stars
can only be properly comprehended through this new, Christ-permeated focus. The forces coming from
the stars are still flowing into the Earth, and they are also penetrating the organization of each of us. Yet,
they could produce no more than an eternal repetition of similitudes. The wheel of cosmic creation
would become a kind of eternal death, if it were not renewed by the spiritual potentiality of the Earth.
Spiritual progress can only be infused into the cosmos through virtues of real moral imagination, and
these are the garments of Christ on the Earth.
Hence, we must learn to read the script of the stars through the medium of the Earth. We are urged
once more to take up such an attitude as has been indicated before: to try to expand ourselves spiritually
to the periphery, to feel the stars within ourselves, and to look down from the periphery to the Earth. In
the mirror of the Earth, the place of those high aspirations of spiritual love and freedom—the very center
of the Christ impulse, we can behold the stars anew, and they can become building stones of a new
creation. The stars can become spiritually audible in a new fashion and can inspire our life on the Earth
in hitherto unknown ways.
All this may appear rather vague, perhaps even presumptuous; however, only the practicing of the
described methods and the personal experience obtained can provide the genuine proof and lead to
conviction. The transformation of cosmic forces through the Earth and their reflection into space
surrounding the Earth is a reality that will break into the modern consciousness more and more. What is
necessary is that these forces are recognized with the clarity of consciousness that we have attained in
the practical fields of our everyday life. Then they can become a magnificent source of inspiration and
healing.
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Chapter II
Ideas about Embryology and the Stars
In Part One of this series, we have described the connection between the human being and the stars
from the viewpoint of historic events. We have also given some indication about the implications of the
death asterogram. Much remains to be said about this latter aspect, which will be done in due course.
However, the most urgent problem for us seems to be to find comprehensible viewpoints concerning
the incarnation of a human being. There exists an enormous amount of literature about our connection
with the world of the stars in the moment of our birth. Assuredly, there is a great deal to be said about
this viewpoint. From an esoteric standpoint, this approach has certainly much justification, but the usual
deliberations on the subject show one deficiency. The esoteric background of the validity of the idea of
the connection of the stars with the nativity is taken for granted and, therefore, usually omitted in those
writings. The result is that the philosophic background of this kind of astrology is not in conformity with
the standards of modern human consciousness and urge for clear knowledge. It remains a “belief” in star
lore, even if experimental evidence is produced.
For instance, trained along the lines of prevailing scientific standards, the modern mind cannot
accept, without a thorough and complete philosophic and experimental preface, the idea that the aspect
of the sky in the moment of birth should be decisive for a human being. One must assume that the time
of gestation, on the basis of modern research, is of much greater importance for the individual
constitution as an antiquated and foreign assumption within the compass of modern civilization, and
therefore one is inclined to regard the claims of astrology as superstition.
The question is: What can we do about this situation? For one who has had more than a generation
of experience in this sphere, there is no doubt about the validity of the idea of a connection between the
human being and the stars. Another question is, however, whether an astrology that has its roots mainly
in eastern and south-eastern world conceptions has advanced with the development of human
consciousness or has stayed behind. We have come to the conclusion that astrology, as it is, has never
answered the fundamental questions of the searching mind of western humanity. Of course, we are free
to renounce our intellectual birth-right and to fall back on some ancient religious or philosophical belief,
but this would be against the progress of the human race. On the other hand it is our conviction, based on
more than thirty years of research, that modern spiritual science can speak about the connection between
the human being and the stars in terms that can be acknowledged by the western mind.
During the last decades, we have devoted a great deal of research to these problems. By experimental
investigation of a great number of historic personalities, we tried to find an answer to the question of
whether there is any evidence for a connection between human gestation and the stars. The guiding idea
was that if there is any such affinity, it must be expected to become apparent in the whole bodily make-
up after birth. The results have confirmed that there is such a relationship. On the following pages, we
will give a brief account of the direction and the viewpoints gained by this kind of research work.
First of all, we should like to review very briefly the outlines of the early embryonic development. It
must be emphasized that it is not our task here to give a full account of the various stages of gestation.
These can be followed by a study of the appropriate handbooks on embryology. (A very good one with
excellent illustrations is Human Embryology by W. J. Hamilton, J. D. Boyd and H. W. Mossman,
published by W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., Cambridge, 1945.)
One of the first stages of embryonic development is the formation of two cavities within the ovum,
the amnion and the yolk sac (Fig. 3). Soon after these cavities have been formed, the actual embryo
comes into existence. First an almost round disc, built from the bottom of the amnion and the roof of the
yolk sac (Fig. 4 & 5). Later on the disc of the embryo is transformed into a form that resembles a shoe
sole, and by the folding in of the fringes, it gradually becomes a three dimensional, roughly tube-like
body (Fig. 6). The amnion envelops the embryo more and more and finally expands to the peripheral
limits of what has been the ovum. The yolk sac, which undergoes considerable transformation, seems to
be pushed aside. In the course of gestation, it declines even in importance (Fig. 7 & 8).
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Figure 3 X = See Fig. 6 Figure 4 Figure 5
Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8
From the foundations connected with the amnion, there arise the materials necessary for the building
up of the skin and its derivatives: hair, nails, the lens of the eye, parts of the cornea, the central nervous
system including retina and optic nerve, the peripheral nervous system and parts of the organs of smell
and hearing, etc. From the yolk sac are derived tissues mainly connected with the alimentary tract
(concerning functions of nutrition). This gives a rough picture of the impact of amnion and yolk sac on
the embryo. The amnion mainly provides the building-stones that will enable the individual, in later life,
to go through the organization of the senses to the periphery of its surroundings, and to lead its
perception to conscious realization. Therefore, we can call it a peripheral activity. The yolk sac,
however, tends to build up the organization of the metabolism of the human organism. We recognize an
activity in this that we may call centric, because compared with the organization of the senses and the
nerves, it constitutes a realm of mainly inverted processes.
While these developments are going on, the stars are moving through cosmic space according to
definite rhythms and forming certain angular relationships that work back on the Sun and the Earth. (See
Chapter I.) Then, is the idea too abstruse that the stars are also having an influence upon a human
embryo, however limited? It must certainly appear worth while to investigate this matter.
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If we accept this as a working hypothesis, we must conclude that the main actors in this possible
drama are, at first sight, the Sun and the Earth. In Part Three of Isis Sophia II, we have described the
nature of the Sun and the Earth on the basis of spiritual science. There, we regarded the Sun as a “hole”
in space, as a focus of non-space, and not as a solid ball of matter. Such a super vacuum would exert a
suctional influence on its surroundings, whose orbit we imagine to go as far as the outer edge of our
solar system.
In this activity of the Sun, we recognize a peripheral tendency. Through the suction, the solar system
has been created and is maintained in space from the periphery toward the center, where we find the
visible Sun. Ultimately such a peripheral entity in the cosmos produces the source of light and warmth
that we experience through our senses. We must admit that without this light and warmth we could not
exist, and that our conscious experience of the world surrounding us through sense perception would be
reduced to a minimum.
Is it far-fetched, then, to consider the possibility of the embryo imitating the Sun by carrying the
amnion-cavity, as it were, on its back? Certainly, all natural creation is a process of imitation of forms
and laws that exist in the universe; therefore, we can expect that the embryo, recapitulating in a sense the
stages of world evolution, also imitates the structure of the solar system to a certain extent. We ascribed
to the amnion a peripheral activity, expanding gradually to the outer walls of what was the ovum, in
conjunction with the building up of vital parts of the sense organs and the nervous system. This
resembles the activity of the Sun on a microcosmic scale.
The embryonic development itself takes place on the surface of the Earth. The Earth as a planet is,
with regard to its properties, almost the complete opposite of the Sun. It has a solid, smooth surface upon
which living beings can move. Creatures of terrestrial structure could certainly not do this on the Sun,
which shows in the telescope a surface of gigantic and unceasing turmoil, like the whirlpool of flames in
a furnace. The Earth’s crust supports the growth of a rich plant world by which animals and human
beings can maintain their own existence. If the Earth were alone in the cosmos, the conscious beings
living on it would not be incited very much to use sense organs, especially not the sense of sight.
Observation is enkindled by the light and other agencies that come from the cosmic world, from the Sun
and the stars. Life on such a lonely Earth-planet would be like existence in some kind of eternally dark
caves or bowels. Altogether, living and conscious beings could not exist on it, only kind of chemical
transformations could be imagined.
This picture of the Earth, developed to an extreme, reminds us of the activity of the yolk sac in the
embryo, creating mainly the alimentary organism. We can see in it a centric tendency that arranges
everything according to the internal conditions and requirements of the body. Again, it is possible to
think that the creative faculties inherent in the embryo imitate cosmic archetypes of existence; in this
case, besides that of the Sun, also the implications of the Earth. The result of this imitation can be
considered to be the yolk sac.
The existence of plants and living beings on the Earth, however, cannot be explained only by Earth
properties. For this our planet needs its companion, the Moon. The Moon feeds the Earth with cosmic
substances that alone make life in matter possible. The changing phases of the Moon are connected with
the mysterious metabolism of our home planet that prevails also in its inhabitants. The dependence of
this metabolism (“Stoffwechsel”), etc., on the movements and phases of the Moon has been established
and demonstrated by numberless experiments of scientific research.
We can say, therefore, that the character of the yolk sac rather suggests that its activity is an imitation
of the totality of the Earth including its Moon. (We should also like to point to the development of the
so-called allantois during gestation, in which the yolk sac plays a decisive part. This provides a double
aspect that is, in a certain sense, congenial to the duality Earth-Moon.)
All this may appear, so far, as a kind of cheap comparison. However, we shall endeavor to show in
Chapter III the results of practical application of these ideas; but first, we should like to pursue them a
stage further.
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At the beginning of the third month of gestation, the embryo already shows the human form clearly.
We give here two diagrams of this stage: one of an estimated age of 43 days, the other of about 60 days
(Fig. 9 and 10). They show the typical inverted, curved position of the embryo. After this stage, there are
no more dramatic external changes that take place; the embryo develops internally and grows in size.
Figure 9 Figure 10
We have added the movement of the Sun to the two diagrams in the course of ten lunar months (273
days), the average time of gestation. In the place of the umbilical cord, which connects the embryo with
the placenta and the mother-being, we have indicated the Earth with the Moon. (In a certain sense the
umbilical cord replaces the function of the yolk sac at later stages.)
The first objection will be that this picture is Ptolemaic in its aspect and therefore not correct.
According to the Copernican world conception, it is the Earth that moves around the Sun. We should,
however, not forget that for the embryo, problems of the actual positions of the celestial bodies, their
distances, the spatial structure of the solar system, etc., need not be essential. If, in the act of imitation,
the aspect of the sky during gestation is taken as a copy, it can be impressed on the embryo as a relative
image. A rubber stamp will imprint only the two-dimensional shape of its printing surface regardless of
the rest of its three-dimensional structure. The embryo seems to be a Ptolemean; only the grown-up
human being has an opportunity to think in Copernican terms.
Now we have arrived at a combination of cosmic and physiological facts that suggest the typical
form of the embryo. Where the Sun stands at the time of conception would be the head, whereas the
position at birth indicates the lower extremities. The slow growing of the Sun’s movement would then
stand for the increase of the embryo in length. From a very superficial point of view, the increases of
measures roughly agree with each other from about the fourth lunar month onward.
Thus far, we have some ideas as to a possible approach to an interpretation of the relationship
between the processes of human incarnation and the stars. Now it remains to be seen whether this
hypothesis is applicable and how far it can lead to practical results. We have selected a number of cases
that are conspicuous enough with regard to physiological facts, and we hope to establish through them
the proof for the efficacy of the theory in a general sense.
We should like to emphasize that the selected examples constitute only a fraction of a collection of
several hundred historic cases. It is technically not possible to produce all of the material in a publication
of this size, but we must make a beginning somehow.
Another problem is the determination of individual features in gestation, which in turn demands
knowledge of the precise date of conception. The variation of similar cosmic events in individual
embryos is also an intricate question. We shall refer to these problems at the end of this book and
indicate our answers to them.
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Chapter III
Physiological Deformities and the Stars
In the previous chapter, we developed the idea that the embryo is imitating, in its general
composition, the relationship between the Sun and the Earth with its Moon. We will now go one step
further and consider actual gestations on the background of the position of the Sun at the time. We will
also include the gestures and movements of the main planets within the solar system. We have the
impression that this can be done on the basis of what has been described in Chapter I. Obviously the Sun
alone is not responsible for the prevailing conditions within the solar universe. The angular positions of
the planets are making the general disposition and can be regarded as a basis for the judgment of the
influences that, at a given time, permeate our solar world and affect the Earth also.
We have taken rather marked cases of physiological deformation for our considerations, because one
can naturally expect that they clearly ought to show any response of the embryo to cosmic events, if any
such relationship exists at all.
The accompanying diagrams are drawn up according to our suggestions in Chapter I, which is the
position of contemplation. The constellations of the Zodiac and the movements of the planets, thus,
seem to be the reverse of what they would appear to direct observation. If we turned our back to the
southern part of the sky, we should come as near as possible to the desired position in inner
consideration. Then the constellations of the Zodiac would rise to our right, would move past the back of
our head, as it were, set to our left side and continue below the horizon from west to east. The planets
would normally appear moving from left to right in that part of the ecliptic that is above the horizon.
Below the horizon they would necessarily move from right to left.
The curves inside the circle of the Zodiac indicate the gestures of the planets, including retrograde
movements or loops, in the course of the particular gestation, averaging ten lunar months. In all the
diagrams, we have deliberately taken a geocentric point of view, because we imagine that the embryo
imitates the events in the cosmos, like images on the curved plane of the apparent sphere of the sky.
Unfortunately, we cannot produce perspective pictures of the embryo within three-dimensional cosmic
space and have reduced the diagrams to the plane of the Zodiac, which is also the plane of the orbits of
the planets.
Figure 11 below shows the sky during the gestation of a hydrocephalus (male), who was born on
August 8, 1923. It was a rather severe case. About 11 months after birth, the skull measured 25½ inches
(64 cm) in circumference. The child died about the age of 2 years and 4 months.
Figure 11
43
According to the diagram, the Sun was in transition from the constellation of Crab to Lion at the
time of birth. It started in the constellation of Scales at conception and subsequently moved through all
the constellations up to Lion. To this arc of the Sun, we have to adjust the position of the embryo picture
in the center to conform with our idea explained in Chapter II.
At the time of conception, the Sun was in conjunction with Jupiter, which had been moving from
Virgin to Scales and had performed a loop in Scales during gestation. It has had a direct impact on the
region of the head of the embryo. Saturn was further back in Virgin, and about the time of conception, it
was in conjunction with Mercury. At the same time, Venus was moving into a loop in Scorpion, from
the geocentric point of view. It was then standing in a line between the Sun and the Earth. Mars was
further forward in the Zodiac. It started in Goat and moved as far as Crab during the embryonic
development, where it came into a conjunction with the Sun at the time of birth.
A superficial contemplation of the diagram shows a conglomeration of planets above the position of
the head of the embryo. Especially Jupiter seems to weigh down upon it. For a more specified
delineation of the given facts, as far as it is possible within the compass of this publication, we must fall
back on considerations of the planets and the constellations of the Zodiac worked out in Isis Sophia II.
Jupiter is connected with the infusion of life into organisms that are destined to live. It works,
therefore, more from within the body. Its influence makes the brain blossom, as it were, into the cavity
of the skull. Altogether, Jupiter has a decisive share in the formation of the nervous system. Thus, the
degree of its activity during gestation can be recognized especially in the individual formation of the
forehead. However, it is generally connected with the “rounding” of the bony features of a human body,
harmonizing and even beautifying it. We can imagine that if it is in close cooperation with the Sun, then
its impact on the embryo is enhanced. We coordinated the Sun and its arc to the formation of the
amnion, which is highly responsible for the creation of the nervous system. For this activity the cosmic
Sun counterpart, the amnion, needs the cooperation of Jupiter, and we can imagine that a conjunction of
the two, as in our case right in the beginning, would put great stress on this particular development of the
embryo. It can even exaggerate it, as we see here.
Why have we, then, a deformation in this particular case? The answer is given in the position of
Mars at the same time. It formed an angle of exactly 90° with Jupiter at the time of conception.
Generally speaking, such an angle indicates disturbances concerning the cosmic influences. We have
pointed out in Chapter I, that scientists investigating radio-signal behavior have realized this in
connection with planetary angular positions from a heliocentric point of view.
It is very illuminating to investigate this particular angular position of 90° between Jupiter and Mars
in greater detail. Mars is, in a sense, the great “realizer” in the cosmos. A lot depends on its cooperation
as to whether putting the “idea” into practice and to the test is achieved harmoniously and successfully.
Even the “idea” of the human form needs this participation of Mars during gestation. In the case of our
hydrocephalus, this cooperation of Mars seems to have been seriously inhibited, as is indicated by the
angular relationship of Mars and Jupiter. Therefore, the formation of the head and especially of the
central nervous system, in which Jupiter was involved, did not come up to the standards of the general
“idea” of a human form.
We should like to consider these facts briefly from the viewpoint of the constellations of fixed stars
involved. Jupiter moved through Scales and performed a loop there. In other words, its influence has
been drawn in by suctional activity of the Sun from the opposite direction of space. (The superior
planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars are making loops—apparent gestures according to Copernican
conceptions—when the Earth stands in a line between the planet and the Sun.) Jupiter in Scales would
remember a long bygone stage of cosmic evolution when matter was still in a very ethereal condition and
humanity had only reached the stage of plant-existence. (See Isis Sophia II, Part Three.) The Scales
signify the final culmination of this stage, a flower-like attitude of our human predecessor without, as
yet, any emotions or passions. As a cosmic memory-picture, this describes the attitude of a
hydrocephalus condition very well on the basis of his physiological and biological particularity. Anyone
44
who has worked with such human beings knows that they usually appear rather peaceful, incredibly
wise, though inverted and passive.
Mars, on the other hand, in Goat and moving as far as Crab, indicates a slackening of fighting power
that is needed by the human being in order to maintain integrity. Mars tends to “cover up” the
constellation through that it moves. Goat is a cosmic memory-picture of stages in the past when great
battles for the maintenance of the “normality” of evolution were fought. In our case, Mars in Goat
obstructed the incarnation of the heritage of such capacities. Instead, it had the tendency to move out into
cosmic space, until at the time of birth it stood far behind the Sun. It lost itself in a kind of formless
universality, forming again at birth an angular relationship to Jupiter of 90°.
The events in the sky at the time of gestation only indicate possible tendencies. By no means, need
they lead to similar results in seemingly similar cases. The question, however, is why they cause
physiological deformation in an individual instance, whereas many others seem to be unaffected. The
asterogram of gestation alone cannot answer this question. Only more individual consideration of the
single case can provide a basis of judgment. We shall briefly refer to this later on.
We add another asterogram of gestation of a hydrocephalus. He was born on February 5, 1930.
Figure 12
The positions of the planets seem to be considerably changed, compared with the preceding
asterogram. However, the main features were very similar in a purely relative sense. The Sun started in
Ram and went as far as Goat. Jupiter was in transition from Ram to Bull and also had a conjunction with
the Sun about the time of conception or shortly afterward. Mars started in Twins and moved through to
Goat. This gesture is reversed compared with the one in the previous example. One remarkable feature
during this particular embryonic development was a conjunction of Mars with the Sun in Scorpion and,
at the same time, an opposition to Jupiter in Bull. (In this case also, Mars is far removed from the Earth,
though with a different cosmic memory value.) We must imagine Jupiter-Earth-Sun-Mars to have stood
along one line in cosmic space, in other words an angular position of 180°.
The interpretation of this asterogram would have to be on somewhat similar lines as before. Jupiter
in Ram reflected the character of Scales (opposite), which we have already described. The emphasis had
been still more on the head processes, because Ram is the cosmic historiographer of the evolution of the
head and brain. Mars was different here. It may be, that only during the 8th lunar month of gestation,
when that angular position of 180° was reached, that the cause for the later deformation became acute.
45
One particular feature, especially, remains to be discussed. Venus made a loop at the beginning of
the embryonic development. We noticed also a loop of the same planet about the time of conception in
the preceding example. As a matter of fact, we have found such loops of Venus in other asterograms of
gestation of hydrocephalic children. We have collected a number of such data, and all of them show this
particular feature, partly in rather conspicuous places.
Why should this planet have an influence on the coming into existence of this particular deformity
during its retrograde phases? Venus is especially connected with the rhythmic system, with breathing
and circulation that is centered in the middle part of the organism. However, we have pointed out in Part
Three of Isis Sophia II that this rhythmic activity works also in the head, as well as in the limb and
metabolic systems. Through the influence of Venus during gestation, either of these processes can be
strengthened by neglecting the others.
Thus, if Venus makes a loop—in other words, when it is nearest to the Earth—it can work upon an
embryo so that the head processes, as far as they concern circulation, are over-emphasized at the cost of
poor dispositions in the other two bodily regions. In the two cases that we have presented here, Venus
performed such loops which had aggravated the disposition toward a hydrocephalic condition. This
aspect of Venus is especially conspicuous in the two examples that we have produced, because they were
situated in the head regions of the embryo images. This is, however, not always the case in asterograms
of this type.
Let us consider the gestation asterogram below of another malformation described as: male, born
December 19, 1907, without posterior cranial development—in fact, with merely a frontal mask.
Figure 13
In the asterogram, we find Mars performing a loop above the head of the embryo, actually in the
place of the umbilical cord of the embryo image. At the time of birth, it had arrived in the neighborhood
of Saturn, which made a loop in the point of transition from Waterman to Fishes. Jupiter moved through
Twins and Crab, going into a loop only at the very end of gestation.
These few features describe the disturbance very well. First of all, we should like to recall what we
said about Jupiter in connection with the two examples of hydrocephalic cases. It has a decisive share in
the formation of the head and the central nervous system. In the present case, it was far away from the
head of the embryo image; it worked more in the lower parts of the organism, if at all. Furthermore, it
did not perform a loop till the very end. It stood “beyond” the Sun (conjunction during the fifth lunar
46
month) and was not very “interested” in earthly matters. Besides this, it was attacked, as it were, by Mars
from the opposite part of the sky, by an angular relationship of 180°. We can therefore imagine that
Jupiter’s forming power was not very strong, particularly not on this gestation.
Saturn was glued, as it were, to the back of the head of the embryo image. Jupiter exercises a
molding activity on the embryo; it works to a certain extent from within the organism like a sculptor. As
far as the head is concerned, Saturn checks this Jupiter impact from without. It puts, for instance, the
helmet of the skull over the brain. (We notice that Saturn was near an angular relationship of 90° to
Jupiter at the time of conception.)
To this, we add the particular relationship of Saturn to the Zodiac in this movement. It was mainly in
Fishes. This reminds us, in a cosmic sense, of the very first stages of evolution. (See Isis Sophia II, Part
Two.) Here the progenitive archetype of a human being appears like an automaton, still lifeless, only an
ethereal expression of the divine idea of humanity, a mere mask of what a human being was to become.
This comes very near the description of the case we are considering here.
Mars brought on an aggravation of this tendency. It had a conjunction with Saturn in Fishes after
birth. In this region, it would inhibit the wise formative powers of those nature-forces that establish an
equilibrium between spheric (Sun activities) and centric (Moon-Earth tendencies) capacities in the body.
This example reveals that Saturn and Mars can work against the sculptural, plastic activities of Jupiter.
Another asterogram of a micro-cephalic case confirms this. The child was born on September 22,
1926.
Figure 14
The Sun started in the constellation of Scorpion/Archer and entered Virgin at birth. Thereby, we
again find the embryo image indicated. Above the head, Saturn and Mars were standing close together at
the time of conception. This took place in Scales. Jupiter appeared pushed further down into the embryo.
Venus made a loop in the place of Jupiter’s path during the gestation. Mercury performed a loop in front
of the Sun at the time of conception, whereas it was in superior conjunction with the Sun at birth,
meaning that it was beyond the Sun from the viewpoint of the Earth.
First, we should like to consider in this connection, the relative positions of Sun and Earth at
conception. The Sun—the cosmic archetype for the amnion—was permeated by the forces of Scorpion.
47
We see here how those powers that build the head of the embryo were penetrated by destructive cosmic
derivatives. The Earth, standing in the opposite direction from the viewpoint of the Sun, was exposed to
forces that were streaming into the solar system from the region of Bull through the suctional activity of
the Sun. This would be, according to our hypotheses, the archetype that the embryo employed in the yolk
sac (allantois) organization. We can, therefore, see an indication that the limb and metabolic forces are
possibly over-emphasized. (See also the attitude of extreme motion of Bull on ancient star maps.) Of
course, this particular relationship of Sun and Earth may only slightly facilitate deformation; standing
alone, it need not lead to it.
A much stronger influence on this embryo seems to have been exerted by Saturn and Mars. The
exact conjunction between the two took place December 15, 1925, which was 281 days before birth. It
was in the point of transition from Scales to Scorpion. Saturn exercised its scleratizing influence,
aggravated by a Mars that was inclined to exaggerate and enforce preponderance of the potential forces
inherent in the limbs. The constellations of Scales and Scorpion belong to those regions of the Zodiac
from where the archetypal derivatives of the limb system came in the course of cosmic evolution.
Jupiter was rather pushed into the background. In the beginning of this embryonic development, it
came into conjunction with the Sun. It was then disinterested, as it were, in earthly affairs. In this
position in Goat, it would not exercise much of its organizing and harmonizing power, especially with
regard to the organization of the head forces. Here too the emphasis was more on the limbs.
This was aggravated by the loop of Venus in the place of the curve of Jupiter during gestation.
Already in connection with the description of the two hydrocephalic asterograms, we have pointed out
the character of a loop of Venus. We said that the equalizing power of these particular planetary
influences, in such a case, may be disturbed by a weakening of the rhythmic and an over-emphasis of the
head processes. This seems to contradict the micro-cephalic condition. However, we realize here that
this Venus gesture is like a blow against empty air because this impact cannot amalgamate with a healthy
Jupiter activity. It rather suggests something like being beheaded and, consequently, the whole body
being substituted for the head. There are definite foundations for a development in this direction,
indicated by this particular loop of Venus in Goat, but we cannot enter into a description of the
astronomical facts here.
Thus, we can see how the constellation of the planetary cosmos may have initiated and accelerated a
malformation. The one-sided development of the limbs at the price of the comparative smallness of the
head is also indicated by the gesture of Mercury during gestation. At birth, it was in superior conjunction
(beyond the Sun) from the viewpoint of the Earth. In the sphere of the head of the embryo image, we see
a loop. The planet could not contribute to making this region a proper or normal expression of a person-
ality, because in the loop it has the tendency to compress and contract. (Mercury endeavors to make the
whole organism a vessel for the development of personality.) The limbs, indicated by the Sun at birth—
in this case near the autumnal equinox, are exaggerated. The superior conjunction of Mercury suggests a
stretching out of the limbs into space in an unbalanced manner.
We conclude this brief outline of a study of physiological deformations with two cases of
malformation of the feet. The first one was born on March 16, 1798 (Fig. 15). He is described as a male
cripple, whose feet were inverted, but who was active and intelligent. The asterogram of the embryonic
development shows Saturn and Mars close together in Twins at conception. At the same time, this was
the head of the embryo image as indicated by the Sun. Mars was in a 90° angular relationship to Jupiter,
which was in transition from Fishes to Ram. The same happened again soon after birth when Mars
moved through Archer. Another remarkable feature was the gesture of Venus. At conception, it was
standing beyond the Sun from the viewpoint of the Earth, and at birth it was performing a loop in front
of the Sun. Mercury made a loop at conception and had just completed one shortly before birth.
The nearness of Saturn and Mars reminds us of the asterogram of the micro-cephalic case, which we
described above, apart from the fact that it took place in a different constellation of the Zodiac. However,
we must realize that Mars had already passed Saturn shortly before conception. Such seemingly
inconspicuous facts alter the implications considerably.
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Figure 15
We are mainly interested in knowing whether any indication of the deformation can be found.
Therefore, we must turn to the position of the Sun at birth, because the feet of the embryo image are
there. Below this point, we find Jupiter in a lonely position. One has almost the impression that it had
not been engaged during this gestation. Its wisdom had not been consulted, although it had the wisdom
of Fishes and Ram. Fishes is connected with the cosmic archetypes of the feet. This, then, Jupiter was
contemplating, but it carried this contemplation also into Ram (the cosmic image of the head and the
“ideas”). One could perhaps say that there was the slight tendency indicated to keep the wisdom of
Nature, which is essential for the creation of a so-called normal bodily constitution, too much in the
realm of the “idea”. (One might think of the creative “ideas” that Plato still experienced and that Goethe
saw again when he spoke of the archetypal plant.)
The main point, however, is the fact that Mars obstructed Jupiter with the angular relationship of
90°. The obstruction was closely connected with the head of the embryo image. Mars in that position in
Twins would infuse a biological tendency of refraining from touching the Earth, a kind of physiological
idiosyncrasy toward this planet. This would combine with the peculiar nature of Jupiter and ultimately
appear externally as deformed feet. That this should happen to a human being is a question of his
individual destiny. It cannot really be explained except by a consideration of past incarnations. Here in
the asterogram of gestation, we can only observe how the forces of the cosmos hold out the possibility of
acquiring a body that is in conformity with the destiny caused by experiences in previous incarnations.
The gesture of Venus is very interesting. In a certain sense it happened the other way round. It was in
superior conjunction with the Sun in the head of the embryo image, indicating limb tendencies. At birth
it made a loop, which would point to head activities that were certainly in the wrong place, as we find
the feet of the embryo there. However, the head tendencies may have found expression in the inversion
of the feet.
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The following diagram, Fig. 16, was one belonging to a female cripple, born November 4, 1816. The
description is rather similar to the preceding picture: feet turned inward, clever. Here we also find Jupiter
in a relationship to the feet of the embryo image and almost in the opposite portion of the Zodiac. Again,
Mars was obstructing Jupiter, but now it happened from an angular position of 180° at conception.
Saturn we find above the head of the embryo image as in Fig. 15. Only Venus is different, though it
performed a loop shortly before conception in the place of the Sun at birth, in other words, in the feet of
the embryo. This case has such a great similarity to that of Fig. 15 that it does not seem necessary to
delineate it any further.
Figure 16
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Chapter IV
Cosmic and Physiological Foundations of Soul Life
After having indicated in the preceding chapter possible approaches to the asterograms of gestation,
we will now go one step further and try to work out some facts about the soul-life of a person and
investigate how far this is based on the cosmic and physiological background of a human being. The
body is the platform on which the soul stands and by which it has a connection with the external world.
This vessel of the body can enhance or hinder the development of a person’s inner faculties. A proper
knowledge of this background can help to overcome difficulties or make use of possibly dormant
potentialities. Here lies a wide field of therapeutic facilities. The acquisition of a thorough knowledge is,
however, the primary condition for any attempt in this direction.
At the end of Chapter III, we spoke of a deformation of the feet of a human being. To this we add
now another historic example, the gestation asterogram of Lord Byron, born on January 22, 1788 (Fig.
17). The Sun had entered the constellation of Goat, coming from Ram. Saturn had been performing a
loop in the transition from Goat to Waterman. It was below the feet of the embryo image. Jupiter moved
in a big curve through Bull. Mars started in Fishes, moved as far as Crab, became retrograde (loop), and
it returned to Twins at the time of birth. Venus also started in Fishes, very near to Mars, and moved in a
majestic gesture through the Zodiac until it had a superior conjunction with the Sun in Scales (Venus
beyond the Sun). After that it went as far as Goat and at birth it was standing between Saturn and the
Sun. Mercury had just come out of a loop at conception, and at birth it was standing in Archer.
Figure 17
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It is well-known that Lord Byron had a deformation of his foot from birth. This is indicated in the
asterogram by the position of Saturn below the feet of the embryo image. However, this alone could not
account for the deformation. We must take Mars into consideration, which had been performing a loop
just opposite the feet. It combined its forces with Uranus (the first of the newly discovered planets),
which was then in Crab and had formed an angular relationship to the Sun of 180° shortly before birth.
The Sun itself entered Goat at birth, which is the archetypal region of all joint-like formations in the
human body.
The background of this Mars activity in connection with the deformation will interest us most. In
order to find the cause, we would have to go back to a former incarnation. We cannot embark on this
question now, but we can study the impact of the underlying cosmic constellations on the Byron
incarnation, because we have the impression that the deformation did not come by chance, even not by a
cosmic chance, but by inner or soul affinities of Byron.
Mars started in Fishes. It went then through Ram, Bull, and finally put all emphasis on Twins by
making a loop there. We now have to find a congenial interpretation of this gesture. According to the
indications in Part Three of Isis Sophia II, those constellations are connected with an ancient stage of
evolution that spiritual science calls Ancient Moon. Two cosmic principles opposed each other then: one
that can be compared with the present Sun and another one that, to a certain extent, had a character
similar to the present Moon of the Earth. The Sun entity and its development at these stages is born as
cosmic memory, as it were, in the constellations from Fishes to Virgin via Twins. It acted as a kind of
cosmic corrective in that cosmos, against certain tendencies of deviation from the normal path of
evolution and even calcification, which prevailed in the Ancient Moon cosmos.
Mars, by moving through the Sun constellations—especially through Twins—remembers those
bygone stages of evolution. It prepares the body of a person, as far as it is concerned with this task
during gestation, to become a vessel, a platform for the realization of soul tendencies that are akin to
developments representing a continuation of that “Moon-stage” into present times. (Of course, we keep
in mind that we must seek the corresponding soul-affinities of Byron in former incarnations.)
Thus, a bodily background for the realization of such a “Sun” corrective was created by the activity
of Mars in the case of Byron. However, though it remembers those past stages, Mars tries to obstruct
these cosmic aspects. The result of this obstruction is usually an inner battle in the life of a human being
that may sometimes lead to a tension between extreme psychological tendencies. Discrepancies of this
kind may even create caricatures of the inherent impulses of such a soul.
Something in this direction had opened in the life of Byron. He was certainly a personality imbued
with high ideals of humanitarian progress. His participation in the struggle of the Greeks for freedom
from the Turkish yoke, and his death in the course of the events shows this quite clearly. However, his
desire and longing for manifestation of the spiritual Sun corrective against a sterile society sometimes
took on grotesque forms. It led him to eccentricities and erratic actions that were apt to conceal his true
impulses in the eyes of his contemporaries. The struggle in his own soul often made him a wild
revolutionary against the well-established laws of society, instead of giving him the chance of becoming
a healthy example of the evolution of humanity.
Even in an external sense, Mars made Byron’s body a caricature of the ideal of a human form. The
deformity of his foot prevented him from touching the Earth properly, in other words from penetrating
the Earth with his inherent Sun qualities. Certainly one can dispute any influence of this deformation on
Byron’s inner world. However, we take it as an external symptom of an inner condition. Besides this, we
know that he was depressed at times by the fact of this deformity.
It would certainly be unjust to stretch the importance of Byron’s deformity and the background of it
too far. It was a reminder of the past, and he overcame it, to a certain degree, by his will. Saturn in
Goat/Waterman indicates that he had a deep connection, for instance, with nature and the beauty of the
world. Waterman and especially Goat tell us of the stages of evolution in the very dim past, from
Saturn’s point of view, when the first foundations of the sense organs were laid. (See Isis Sophia II, Part
52
Two.) Through the capacities that Saturn built into this body, Byron certainly had a great connection
with the external world through his senses. This is quite apparent in some of his poetry and became also
manifest on his journeys and the experiences he derived from them.
Jupiter in Bull was connected with Byron’s degree of mastership of the word as a poet. We can see in
the diagram that during gestation this planet moved above the region of the larynx and chest of the
embryo image. The Bull is the archetypal region of the larynx, born out of the power of the divine
creative Word.
The cosmic derivatives of this Jupiter became Byron’s property at an early age. Mercury, the planet
that endows us with the biological qualities for expressing and manifesting our personality, started in
Ram (the imagination of unimpeded individualism) and very soon entered Bull, where it came into
conjunction with Jupiter. We see in this an indication that he was able to take up the biological heritage
of Jupiter, the inner calling to poetry at a relatively early age.
Venus started in a conjunction with Mars and moved into the neighborhood of Saturn by the time of
Byron’s birth. Here we see a picture of those forces, which Venus worked into this organization, that
stand behind the rhythmic system and mark the mood and the trend of one’s vitality through life. In the
beginning, he was more under the sway of those dynamic tendencies that Mars had built into his
organism, but later he moved more to the serenity, perhaps even the tragic mood, of Saturn. He became
more earthbound through his body.
Another asterogram of gestation, which we will consider from a similar cosmic-biological
background, is that of Shakespeare. He is supposed to have been born on April 23, 1564, New Style
(Fig. 18). The Sun of gestation leads us back to July 1563, when it was in the constellation of Crab.
There, where the head of the embryo image is indicated, we find an extraordinary cosmic event. It was a
conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which actually occurred during his embryonic development.
Figure 18
53
This kind of conjunction is rather rare. It takes place every twenty years, but each time in a different
part of the Zodiac. It takes 60 years for this event to return, as it were, to approximately the same place.
For instance, the conjunction in Crab in 1563 was preceded by an earlier one in 1503, which took place
slightly further back in the Zodiac. Therefore, we can say that it was an unusual coincidence in con-
nection with Shakespeare’s incarnation.
We can imagine that the biological impact of this event on Shakespeare’s organization must have
been remarkable. We feel again obliged to point out that the coincidence is an expression of faculties
attained in the past. From the viewpoint of spiritual science, it is correct to say that Shakespeare’s
individuality had chosen this particular cosmic moment, because its biological implications suited his
own spiritual heritage from past incarnations.
Saturn is chiefly concentrated cosmic memory. In an organic sense, it maintains—especially during
the initial stages of gestation—the continuity of the species. It impresses on the embryo the typical
human form, which is in existence as the result of immeasurably long stages of cosmic evolution. This,
one might call organic cosmic memory, but the influence of Saturn extends its impact so deeply into the
human organism, that the latter becomes capable of memory in a human sense. It can, therefore, also
enkindle in one a sense for history.
If Jupiter combines with such a disposition as is indicated by the conjunction with Saturn, then the
plastic, highly “artistic” capacity of Jupiter can enhance the sense for history. The radius of human
expression of such a combination is enormous. Among many possible variations, it can become the
foundation for making memory, in the garment of history, a vivid and artistic manifestation of human or
cosmic evolution. The variation depends rather on the constellation where the event took place. In Crab,
where we found the conjunction in connection with Shakespeare’s prenatal development, we can expect
a strong forming power, perhaps even too strong and apt to bend the historic facts. We see an impact of
this kind working in the place of the head of the embryo image of Shakespeare’s asterogram. Thereby,
we can understand the biological foundation and organic pliability that made him what he is in modern
humanity.
The gesture of Mars is also very interesting in this connection. It started in Fishes and came as far as
Twins. In a certain sense, it reminds us of the Mars gesture of Byron, with the difference that the loop
took place in Ram. We can also apply here, to a certain extent, what we said above the Mars constitution
of Byron, except that eccentricity and an erratic attitude (Twins) are by no means so strongly
pronounced. From the viewpoint of the loop in Ram, it is more a tendency toward caprice and tenacity,
perhaps even obstinacy. It was perhaps the background of this cosmic-biological constitution that urged
Shakespeare, in many of his creations, to deviate from the given historic and human facts and bend them
to his own purposes.
Venus, the tutor of one’s forces of vitality and sense of communication, started in Twins and, after a
big sweep through the Zodiac, arrived in Bull at birth. The emphasis was on the word, born out of the
divine creative Word—in Bull. We see the cosmic-physiological background of the poet and great
master of language.
Shown in Fig. 19 below is the asterogram during the embryonic development of Goethe. He was
born on August 28, 1749. The Sun was in the constellation of Lion. Concerning the conception, we come
back to a Sun in Scorpion. At that time Saturn was in Scales where it remained during gestation. Mars
and Venus started very near to it, but they were still in Virgin. During the second part of the embryonic
development, Mars made a loop in Archer and Scorpion and, by the time of birth, returned to Archer.
Venus went through the Zodiac in a majestic curve. During gestation it was in superior conjunction with
the Sun in the horns of Bull. At birth it had just entered Virgin. Mercury started with a loop in Scorpion
and was close to the Sun in Lion at birth.
The head of the embryo image is dominated by Saturn in Scales. Saturn is, in a general sense,
inclined to slow down the processes in the human body. In an extreme case, it may initiate some kind of
sclerotization, but usually it creates a disposition toward cautiousness and a conservative attitude. This
tendency is more pronounced if Saturn is moving in the neighborhood of Scales. The latter constellation
54
expresses a mood of receptivity, openness to ever new experiences, and a constitution inclined to
resignation and adaptation to given facts. We can understand this on the background of the “biography”
of Scales. (See Isis Sophia II, Parts Two & Three.)
Figure 19
Goethe had a nature that was very much inclined to such a disposition. This became more
pronounced in his later years. He was lucky enough to have incarnated in an environment that permitted
a slow, careful, and conservative development, at least in the second part of his life. Also, his great age
(he died when he was 82) is an expression of the Saturn influence. It gave him the opportunity to
complete his great work, Faust, in peace, which had actually taken him his whole lifetime. His sternness
and dignified composure (still more pronounced by his position as Minister of State of Saxe-Weimar)
also had its roots in the cosmic-biological influence of Saturn in Scales.
However, it would be wrong to pin everything in Goethe’s constitution down to Saturn. This was
more the past, the man who had to adjust himself to the (certainly self-chosen) character and conditions
of the time when he lived. The Goethe who lived for posterity is even, in a certain sense, in contradiction
to the Goethe of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is expressed in the position of Jupiter in the asterogram.
At the time of conception, it is in an angular relationship of 90° to Saturn.
We have spoken earlier about the influence of Jupiter on a growing organism. It makes the organism
flexible and pliable and can thus create a sense for liberal acquisition of new and unorthodox views in
life, the corporeal foundation of universality of mind. We have also pointed out that it takes a decisive
share in the formation of the nervous system during gestation.
Concerning Goethe’s prenatal asterogram, we cannot say that Jupiter was connected with the
formation of the brain alone. The angular relationship to Saturn, which dominates the head of the
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embryo image, would rather suggest that there was a certain tension. Jupiter itself worked mainly in the
chest region, which would indicate that the qualities of this planet were more connected with the heart
forces of Goethe. Therefore, his thinking power was different from what it would have been if Jupiter
had been more related to the head region. In the latter case, purely philosophical thinking may have
predominated. As it was, Goethe found an expression for his thinking capacities in the realm of poetic
and artistic creation. This became especially evident in his relationship to Schiller. Once Schiller
expressed his convictions about human evolution in a philosophical treatise, his Letters on the Aesthetic
Education of Mankind (Briefe über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts), concerning the
function of art as the supreme educative agent of a human being. Goethe, when urged to make a
confession of his humanitarian ideals, could not do it in such a form. Instead he wrote the famous fairy
tale of The Green Snake and the beautiful Lily.
Jupiter was chiefly moving through Waterman and, during the second half of gestation, Fishes. This
emphasized those Jupiter qualities still more. Waterman preserves the cosmic memory of bygone ages
when humanity was much more under the healthy guidance of cosmic forces, whereas Fishes
demonstrates, from the view point of Jupiter, the incarnation of divine wisdom in all that exists in the
physical world. Goethe had certainly the gift, to a certain degree through his physiological Jupiter nature,
of contemplating and perceiving the wisdom inherent in the kingdoms of nature. His scientific
approaches, his methods of observation, and his experiences of the archetypal creative forces in nature
stand witness to these capacities.
Mars is more associated with the Saturn side of Goethe, as we can see in the diagram. It moved from
Virgin to Scales and Scorpion, finally into a loop in Archer. In this part, it emphasizes ancient heritages
in humanity that led, in the past and still leads, to a strong estimation of an individual’s own
independence and freedom. Such heritages are present in everyone, even as biological facts, however
strongly pronounced. (See also, Isis Sophia II, Part Three, concerning Scorpion.) In Goethe this
Scorpion tendency was very much emphasized, especially in his earlier years. We can imagine that a
tremendous struggle prevailed in Goethe between the conservative tendencies of Saturn and the
rebellious and dynamic character of Mars Scorpion. Many proofs can be found in his biography. Finally,
he achieved a harmony that he expressed in terms of his Faust. Mephistopheles, Faust’s companion and
tempter, is ultimately defeated by the higher spiritual affinities of humanity. This is the aspect of Mars in
Archer Centaur, conquered by the powers of a purified Venus.
During the 7th lunar month of gestation, Goethe’s Venus came into a superior conjunction with the
Sun between the horns of Bull, where ancient people perceived the golden Sun-disk of Hathor or Isis.
This happened at a time when Mars, standing almost exactly opposite in the head of Archer, went
through its loop. Venus, however, having started close to Mars at the feet of Virgin, had returned at
Goethe’s birth to the head of the same constellation. It is a Venus that had to go through many trials in
Goethe’s life, but ultimately it became his salvation. He was very conscious of this, and in the last scene
of “Faust”, he described the reality of those forces in the great Imagination of the Heavenly Queen, the
Mater Gloriosa. (Speaking about Goethe’s Mercury would need a consideration of many details of his
biography. There is not the space to make such an attempt at this time.)
We shall conclude with a glance at Nietzsche’s prenatal asterogram. He was born on October 15th,
1844. We come to his conception as approximately January 15, 1844 (Fig. 20 below). About that time,
the Sun was in conjunction with Saturn in Goat. This would indicate a constitution which we met in
Goethe, but the affinity to Goat suggests a rather subtle Saturn organization. One could say that his
organism of the senses (and nerves) was highly strung. It had something of the nature of Goat or Ibex,
endeavoring to climb the highest peaks, yet fettered by its fish-like tail to the depths. Jupiter’s position in
the Zodiac (Waterman and Fishes) and in the embryo image was rather similar to its position in the case
of Goethe. This may have given the foundation for his feeling life, his eloquence of style and his love for
music. Mars reminds us of Byron to a certain degree. It moved the whole way from Fishes to Virgin, and
much that has been said about Byron’s Mars, its Sun-like character and reforming will, and also its
revolutionary tendency and final failure, can be applied to Nietzsche’s biological Mars organization.
56
Figure 20
Nietzsche came in contact rather early with writings of the philosopher Schopenhauer. Through his
love of music, he found a relationship to the famous composer Richard Wagner. Starting from this
friendship, he went through a period of idealistic philosophy but became, in a certain moment, estranged
from Wagner. After that, he developed more rationalistic trends of philosophy that came to an end about
the time when he wrote his most famous book Thus Spake Zarathustra. It is more a poem than a
philosophical treatise. Soon after the completion of Zarathustra there came books like The Will to
Power, Beyond Good and Evil, etc. Gradually, he sailed into a complete breakdown and became insane
in the years 1888/89. In January 1889, he had a stroke of apoplexy and his few friends had to take him to
an asylum. He spent the last 12 years of his life helpless, cared for by his mother and sisters.
The tragic fate of Nietzsche must interest us most. Can we find any indication in his cosmic-
biological make-up? In order to answer this question, we must resort to the planets that have been
discovered during the last two hundred years: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. In the ancient order of the
planets from the Moon to Saturn, we have the cosmic counter-pictures of practically all the functions
within the boundary of the human physical body. The new planets go, as it were, beyond them. They
describe the supersensible organization and affinities in a person; therefore, they create more inclinations
toward the occult, the spiritual world, toward the development of higher capacities of consciousness or,
in case of failure, caricatures of it that may border on mental disease.
Any elevation of consciousness can only take place by a using up and transformation of the natural
organic functions. Whereas the order of the ancient planets builds up the organism, the new planets
endeavor to dissolve it and to transform it into capacities of consciousness. This can be enhanced by the
individual biological make-up, but it can also be accelerated to such a degree that the healthy balance
between body and mind is prevented or destroyed.
57
Thus, roughly speaking, Uranus is an inversion of Saturn, Neptune of Jupiter, and Pluto of Mars.
This is valid as far as the superior planets are concerned, but Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto can also be
regarded as potentializing antidotes of Mercury, Venus, and the Moon.
In Nietzsche’s asterogram, we find the three new planets in rather conspicuous positions. Neptune
was in conjunction with Venus and Mercury in Waterman at the time of conception. Shortly afterward
Mercury went into a loop. All this took place in the head region of the embryo image. We can imagine
that here was the root of the extremely delicate constitution of Nietzsche, especially as far as it concerns
the senses and nervous system. A modern biographer of famous philosophers described him as having
had “the nerves of Shelley, the stomach of Carlyle, and the soul of a girl under the armor of a warrior”.
(The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant.)
Furthermore, Mars was in conjunction with Uranus in Fishes. This must have aggravated his Mars
disposition to a degree, which one can understand if one reads his later writings, especially Thus Spake
Zarathustra. His revolutionary ideal was the Superman—he who is above restrictions set up by the
standards of morality in modern society, which Nietzsche considered decadent and perverted to the
utmost.
Finally, we find Pluto in exact opposition to the Sun at Nietzsche’s birth. This explains a good deal
of his inner greatness and purity, his forcefulness and striving for the highest idealistic conception of
humanity, but, also, his highly destructive and atomizing philosophical trends in later years. What
appeared externally as a nihilistic world conception was obviously, to a high degree, the reflection of
internal organic transformations and dissolutions, whose magnitude can only be grasped on the cosmic
background of Nietzsche’s biological make-up.
Undoubtedly, he had great resources, but he had not the capacity to master them by his individuality
and to force them into the boundaries of safe and sane human handling. If this is missing, then the gifts
of the cosmos during gestation may become like wild horses that tear their charioteer into the abyss of
disease and failure.
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Conclusion
The facts presented in this book may raise the following question: What can be the practical use of
such a knowledge of the relationship between the human being and the stars?
The answer is that, although definite conclusions may at this stage still be premature, there are
indications that this kind of research can become the foundation of a new kind of psycho-hygiene. The
examples we produced in Chapter IV, show that the prenatal asterogram of a human being reveals
inherent capacities and faculties that are worked out in life, usually by an instinctive awareness and
certainty. There are, however, signs in our present age that modern humanity is losing this instinctive
certainty of its path and its tasks in life very rapidly. The old half-conscious supports in life are failing
more and more, and full consciousness of the personal destiny and spiritual background of the individual
are demanded for the building-up of a healthy human existence. At this stage, a proper knowledge of the
cosmic-biological foundation of a human being will in future be able to enhance self-consciousness and
help to develop dormant capacities and facilities. The psychological conditions of modern humanity
show, to an alarming degree, that such dormant capacities may become the source of inner irritation and
of all kinds of diseases, if they remain undeveloped. On the other hand, the freedom and independence of
a person cannot be impeded by the application of such a psycho-hygiene. The few examples that we gave
in Chapter IV, show that the spiritual activity of a human being can be enhanced to an unlimited extent
by this kind of research, if it is done on a foundation of spiritual science. The greater difficulty will be to
create the confidence in our personal sphere of spiritual capacity and freedom.
The reader will realize that the scope of this book offers no more than the possibility of a rather
crude presentation of our connection with the stars through the prenatal asterogram. Altogether, the static
diagram is not very helpful in these matters. If the embryo imitates the movements of the celestial
bodies, then it would have to be drawn as growing in size, in accordance with the growth of the arc of
the Sun’s path. This cannot easily be done in a static diagram. One would need a film in order to create
an appropriate impression. These and other difficulties may make this presentation appear over-
simplified and, therefore, unsatisfactory. However, we intended in this edition is only a kind of first
outline of this particular kind of research.
Also the question can arise as to how it is possible to find out individual features, because thousands
of incarnating human beings must necessarily partake in the same configuration of the planetary world at
a given time. For instance, one can assume that thousands of contemporaries of Goethe incarnated under
the same sky and yet, only one Goethe rose from among them.
The answer to this fully justified question can only be worked out satisfactorily in the course of
future publications. For the moment, we must point out that a lot depends on a proper knowledge of the
time of conception. This seems to be impossible on the basis of present means of embryological
investigation. There exist, however, certain possibilities to determine the time-orbit of the individual
conception. (We shall speak about it in a later volume.) With such an adjustment of the prenatal
asterogram, one can come considerably nearer to the individual characteristics of a human being.
Yet, all the possible connections of humanity with the stars cannot reveal the full nature of a human
being. They can only show, as it were, one half of our total being. In the case of the prenatal asterogram,
we witness the coming into existence of the physiological vessel that we use for our life journey on this
planet. It cannot be regarded as being more than a vessel or instrument that provides us with the means
of giving expression to our innermost impulses; however, we must not mistake the tool for the operator.
Moreover, an instrument can be used by its owner in various ways. It limits one only to a certain degree,
and much depends on one’s ingenuity.
The operator standing behind the tool in our case is the ego, the eternal individuality that moves from
incarnation to incarnation, during which it is supposed to acquire ever greater capacities. This
individuality cannot be found in the visible stars. It is akin to the Divine Intelligence that moves the
stars; but a healthy measure of knowledge about the tools, the cosmic-biological foundation, can enhance
our faculty to put them to ever better use.
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TABLE
FOR CONVERSION OF ECLIPTIC “SIGNS” INTO FIXED STAR CONSTELLATIONS

(Valid for the earlier part of the 21st century)
SIGNS CONSTELLATIONS
0° VERNAL POINT LENGTH
Aries  Fishes 353° to 29°
30°
Taurus  Ram 29° to 54°
60°
Gemini  Bull 54° to 90°
90°
Cancer  Twins 90° to 119°
120°
Leo  Crab 119° to 140°
150°
Virgo  Lion 140° to 174°
180°
Libra  Virgin 174° to 220°
210°
Scorpio  Scales 220° to 238°
240°
Sagittarius  Scorpion 238° to 268°
270°
Capricorn  Archer 268° to 300°
300°
Aquarius  Goat 300° to 327°
330°
Pisces  Waterman 327° to 353°
Example: On 8 April 1953, Jupiter was in 23° Taurus (Sign), according to the available astronomical
ephemeris. Therefore, on that day it entered the constellation of Bull.
60
PART THREE
Chapter I
Cosmology and Embryology
Some time ago, in a well-known Swiss paper, an article appeared by Robert Jung (Author of Die
Zukunft hat schon begonnen - Amerika’s Allmacht und Ohnmacht). This article contains the report of a
lecture by Professor Dr. F. Zwicky during a conference of the American Rocket Society. Dr. Zwicky, a
Swiss scientist who has been working for many years in the U.S., is one of the most prominent
authorities on astrophysics and is at present professor at the Mount Palomar observatory in the U.S. He
is a specialist in many branches of science and has occupied several important posts, especially during
the last war. Dr. Zwicky gave in his lecture, so Robert Jung reports, a prophecy of future developments
in astronomy that in his opinion are to be expected. He spoke of a coming “reconstruction” of the
universe, and explained how this would be made possible by the unlimited resources of energy that will
be provided by the perfection of atomic power. By these means, it will one day be possible to bring some
of the planets of our solar system nearer to the Earth. Through atomic explosions, applied in oblique
direction, these planets would be thrown out of their orbits and forced into orbits in the neighborhood of
the Earth. However, our planetary system would not only be “reconstructed” in this fashion for human
ends, for facilitation of interplanetary traffic and exploitation; it would also be possible with atomic
power to “cut these planets to size”, to condense them to the degree of density of the Earth, to give them
an atmosphere corresponding to that of our planet, and so on. Dr. Zwicky, of course, admitted that by
intentional or unintentional mishandling, the Earth might be exploded instead.
If one reads such a report, one is inclined to pinch oneself in order to make sure that one is not
dreaming. It sounds like fiction in Jules Verne fashion. The author of the article, however, who is a
reporter for big Swiss and German newspapers, is reputable and sincere.
Many people regard Dr. Zwicky as a visionary and dreamer beyond reality; even his successes and
the application of his ideas in several branches of technology can by no means support such views.
Moreover, this is only the personal view of Prof. Zwicky, though based on practical considerations.
Whether people will ever attempt such actions is altogether another question. By the time humanity will
be able to apply the technical resources at hand to such dimensions, it may have reached different views
on the matter.
There is also another aspect brought forward by this Swiss savant. Some people in prominent
positions in the scientific and technological world in the U.S. speak openly of the discrepancy between
theories on interstellar journeys, etc., and our present physiological capacities. Not a few have dared to
consider human nature as it is at present as a failure, because it is simply not capable of standing up to
the strains that those far-reaching projects demand with regard to the tremendous velocities, pressures,
and changes of gravity involved. Here, too, Prof. Zwicky thinks that by education, etc., a
“reconstruction” of human physiology and make-up can be achieved in time.
Why do such ideas as “reconstruction of the universe” and “reconstruction of humanity” enter human
thinking at this stage of evolution? The answer is relatively simple. We have gradually lost all sense for
the divine purpose inherent in the universe and ourselves. We no longer know why the universe exists. It
just does exist, brought about by the rolling of the mighty dice of chance. Into this emptiness of
consciousness shoot such ideas as those of which we spoke above. This stage had to come; it is no use
deploring it. We have thereby attained the splendid opportunity of finding the divine background and
“purpose” of the universe by objective accessories of our scientific discipline and out of free decision. At
this stage, there is no longer any room for dogmas of the past and traditional fetters. Of course,
humanity, or part of it, might abuse this freedom and make a gigantic specter of the universe and of itself
instead of detecting the purpose and aim of divine creation. This is the risk that the divine world took
when it released us into emancipation; however, we can imagine that even a partial success in numbers
would justify the risk.
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It has a great significance that the ideas of “reconstruction of the universe” and of “reconstruction of
the human being” live side by side in the head of a modern scientist. The structure of the universe,
especially of the starry world, and the organization of the human being are closely connected. The
structure of the universe, of the starry world, is correlated to the processes, which take place during an
embryonic development.
A relatively simple consideration of embryological facts can elucidate this statement. In very early
stages of gestation (Fig. 1), two small cavities are formed within the ovum, the amnion and the yolksac.
The separating wall between these cavities constitutes the first beginning of the actual embryo that
develops its complexity through the activity of the three germ-layers:
1) the ectoderm - the floor of the amnion,
2) the endoderm - the ceiling of the yolksac,
3) the mesoderm- the layer between ectoderm and endoderm.
Figure 1 Figure 2
The actual embryo is, therefore, a threefold organism, as a result of the tension between amnion and
yolksac. This picture alone can be taken as suggesting a microcosmic tension between two “stars” within
the greater universe of the ovum.
This initial picture changes rapidly during later phases of the development. Figure 2 represents such
a later stage. The two tendencies, expressed by the amnion and yolksac, show clearly their opposite
directions. The amnion becomes curved and the yolksac forms a kind of globe. Later on this is even
more pronounced. The amnion expands to the periphery of the ovum. It provides the “building stones”
for the skin, the peripheral nervous system, etc. From the yolksac and its subsequent derivatives, tissues
mainly connected with the alimentary tract (the metabolic system) arise.
We can see in these two main tendencies implanted into the embryo, an imitation of the activities of
Sun and Earth with its Moon. This imitation works like the reflection of external objects on a
photographic plate. Therefore, it does not illustrate the actual movements in the universe of Sun and
Earth, for instance in a Copernican sense, it reflects “apparent” movement.
Thus the amnion imitates the “apparent” movement of the Sun in the sky during the embryonic
development, the spheric tendency of the Sun, thereby creating the organization in us that enables us
after birth to go to the periphery of the surrounding world via the senses, realized by the nervous system.
The yolksac and its derivatives imitate the “apparent” stationary attitude of the Earth, enhanced by the
circulating activity of the Moon, thus creating the metabolic system. It stresses the radial tendency of the
lower organism of a person against the spheric inclination of the head and its accessories in the body.
(More details and suggestions about the nature of Sun, Earth, and Moon are given in Part Two, and Isis
Sophia II, Part Three.)
The idea that the embryo is created by an imitation of the apparent movements of Sun, Earth, and
Moon has been used in all reality in corresponding researches. The results have been encouraging
62
enough to carry it still further. Some of the conclusions have already been produced in Part Two, and we
intend to go into greater detail in this section.
For experimental research, with regard to the duration of the embryonic development, the greatest
difficulty is the determination of the moment of conception. The traditional time of gestation is
considered to be 273 days, but this can be no more than an average. The individual time can be less or
more, and the case of the seven- or eight-month old child suggests a drastic difference in time. There
doesn’t seem to exist any scientific means by which the individual time of conception could be
ascertained (excluding the aspect of artificial insemination).
We have adopted in our researches different ways of approach, though the collected material is still
too incomplete and uncertain to say that the results have any direct bearing on the question of the time of
actual conception. However, the outcome has led to success in directions different from purely
embryological aspects, and we will produce the facts here as they have presented themselves.
The ancient Egyptians were already concerned with these and similar problems, and they also had
their opinions about the matter. These were based on the so-called “Rule of Hermes”. Fragments of the
latter have survived the ages in the writings of a number of Greek students of Egyptian Temple-culture.
Those named, among others, are: Demophilos, Hephaiston of Thebes, and later Prochus Diadochus
(Commentaries on Plato’s State). All of them speak independently of a knowledge that the ancient
Egyptians are supposed to have possessed, by which they were able to ascertain the so-called moment of
the “epoch” if the time of birth was given, or vice versa. The Egyptian priest-sages Nechepso and
Petosiris, who are supposed to have lived about 1200 BC, are named as authorities, among others. (See
Ernst Riess, Die magischen Fragmente des Nechepso and Petosiris. Philol. Zeitschrift, 68. Supp. Band
6, 1891.)
The text of these ancient fragments was found partly distorted or destroyed, but the method that the
ancient Egyptians used to ascertain the length of gestation from the moment of birth is quite clear. They
took into account the angular position of Sun, Moon, and Earth, and from these they calculated the
individual aberration of the gestation-period of a normal ten-lunar-month child (273 days or 10 x 27.3
days). They also had methods of recognizing and calculating the time of gestation of a seven- or eight-
month child, but we shall mainly concentrate here on cases of the normal gestation averaging ten lunar
months.
The ancient Egyptian rule is relatively simple. It states that the position of the Moon at the time of
the epoch becomes the ascendant or descendant at the moment of birth. The meaning of the so-called
epoch is not very clear. In the earlier manuscripts it is not identified with the moment of conception, but
it is obvious that it was considered to be very near to that moment. However, we shall come back to this
question later on.
In this simplified statement, is contained the rudimentary knowledge of the angular relationship
between Sun, Moon, and Earth. The ancient rule maintains that a waxing Moon was in the place in the
ecliptic that is rising (ascendant) at the moment of birth, and a waning Moon was in the place that was
setting (descendant) at birth. In this way, the time between the epoch and the birth can be calculated.
It is quite obvious that the distinction between waxing and waning Moon constitutes an angular
relationship between the Sun and the Moon. More difficult and strange may appear the inclusion of the
rising or the setting point of the ecliptic at the moment of birth; however, this takes into account the third
angular relationship, that of the Earth to Sun and Moon.
The plane of the horizon shifts through the ecliptic, caused by the daily rotation of the Earth. Once
within 24 hours, all the points of the ecliptic are rising in the east and setting in the west. To regard this
angular relationship of the plane of the horizon to the Zodiac as the criterion for the Earth’s position
toward Sun and Moon may at first appear absurd. The infinite number of points on the surface of the
Earth determines an equally infinite number of planes, which all have their individual points of zodiacal
rising and setting. Therefore, the definition of the factor “Earth” within the triangular ratio Sun-Moon-
Earth, by singling out a minute part of our planet, seems to be irrelevant and inadequate; however, we
must not forget that the place where a human being is born, which determines the plane of the horizon
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and also the points of rising and setting, is in that moment, for this human being, “the Earth”. Here we
touch our planet for the first time, having become physiologically independent of the mother. Still, this
viewpoint may be regarded as astrologically antiquated.
There are ample empirical proofs for the fact that the rising or setting points of any locality of the
Earth have an influence on the composition of substances in that part. Extensive experiments over many
years have shown that matter, especially in liquid form, spontaneously receives the impact of those
cosmic facts. These influences exert a remarkable power if the Sun, or the Moon or planets are rising or
setting. The evidence is so obvious, that this fact has been made use of for practical purposes.
In order to work out the angular relationship between Sun, Moon, and Earth, in the sense of the
ancient Hermetic Rule of the Egyptians, we have to distinguish four possible cases.
1) The Moon can be waxing at the time of birth but above the horizon (Fig. 3). In this case, the rising
point (at or near the east), which can be astronomically calculated, is the place in the ecliptic where the
Moon was at the time of the epoch. We can assume that the Moon did not complete the ten cycles of
27.3 days each = 273 days. The time that it needs to move from its place in the drawing to the point
where the eastern horizon intersects the ecliptic, must be subtracted from the average of 273 days.
For instance, if the Moon would need another 5 days to move to the rising point in the east, the
epoch would be 273 - 5 = 268 days before birth. In this case, one could simply consult an astronomical
ephemeris in order to ascertain that the Moon was really, 268 days before birth, in that point of the
ecliptic which is rising at birth.
Figure 3
Figure 4
2) In Fig. 4, the Moon is waning. According to the Hermetic Rule, it was in the setting point of the
ecliptic at the time of the epoch. In this case, it has overstepped the average of 273 days. It may need 5
days more to move from the point of the ecliptic at the western horizon to its present place. These 5 days
would have to be added to 273 days, placing the epoch 278 days before birth.
Thus these differences can be up to a fortnight less than 273 days in the first case and up to a
fortnight more in the second case.
3) In Fig. 5 below, the Moon is waxing but standing below the horizon. If the Moon is waxing, it is
supposed to have been, in any case, in the rising point several days before birth. This time must be added
to 273 days in order to find the time between epoch and birth. Thus, as in the second case, we can
calculate the moment of the epoch.
4) We consider now the possibility that the Moon is waning and below the horizon (Fig. 6). It has
still a good distance to go until it will arrive at that place of the ecliptic which is setting at birth.
Therefore, the interval between epoch and birth must have been shorter by the time that the Moon needs
to move from its present position to the west of the birth horizon.
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Figure 5 Figure 6
The triangular relationship, proposed by the Hermetic Rule, corresponds in its essentials to our
earlier suggestions (in this present and in previous volumes) that the embryo imitates the movement of
the Sun on the one hand and takes into account the properties of the Earth with its Moon on the other
hand. We described how the amnion, with its impact on the embryo, is the result of the imitation of the
(apparent) Sun orbit during the embryonic development, whereas the yolksac and its derivatives suggest
a relationship to the Earth lying within the orbit of the Moon. From this point of view, a practical
consideration of the angular relationship between Sun, Earth, and Moon may appear to be justified.
The question may arise as to whether the angular coordination of the three celestial entities, at the
time of birth, can be taken as a criterion for the conditions at the beginning of and throughout gestation.
We should like to point out that a birth from a pregnancy that was allowed to take its normal course,
should still betray traces of the original position. So far, it is an open question whether any interference
by artificial means, either at the time of birth or before, is liable to distort the picture. From our
experience, we are inclined to say that it not only distorts but also brings disharmony into the
organization of a human being. We should like to emphasize, however, that each case has to be
considered on the basis of its individual merits.
Another question is whether empirical experience can maintain the trustworthiness and usefulness of
this Hermetic Rule. Our answer is that we have investigated nearly a thousand cases of the embryonic
development of historic and modern personalities. The result has led us to the certainty that the cosmic
conditions during gestation prove to be a concise picture of the biological make-up of a human being.
As far as space permits in the following part of this volume, we shall produce a number of historic
examples that will show our approach in general outlines. Because of limited space, we are not able to
demonstrate another important fact that research has revealed. The cosmic-biological foundation of a
human being is not revealed by the prenatal asterogram in “spatial” outlines only. The facts have proved
that the chronology of the realization of single details of this cosmic-biological make-up, as experienced
in later life, is already contained in the embryonic asterogram, when worked out on the basis of the
Hermetic Rule. The presentation of these facts must be reserved for a later publication.
We should like to emphasize, as we did before, that we cannot see any inhibition of individual
freedom in these connections of human beings with the starry world. We can certainly say that we take
the ingredients of our organization, as far as it has a functional quality, from the stars. However, these
are only the tools with which we build up earthly existence. Tools are a necessity; their quality and
efficiency can hinder or enhance our progress. It is chiefly a matter of ingenuity and resourcefulness—in
other words, of the “spiritual orbit”—what we make of and with the tools that are at our disposal. The
practical problem is to awaken our inherent ingenuity and ability to cope with any situation. This is the
task of any kind of education. If our inner spiritual being is developed, which is really rooted in the
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realm of the “I”, then we need not fear that the stars will impose their will on us. We will learn to
transform them by transforming our part in our own destiny, our own organization.
It will not suffice, however, if we simply deny any connection of ourselves with the world of the
stars. We have experienced very often that someone refusing to acknowledge these facts will fall
headlong into situations that prove that he or she is completely dominated by the sidereal world without
knowing it. The first step on the road to handle these connections freely is a knowledge as
comprehensive as possible.
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Chapter II
The Zodiac and the Embryonic Development
We will now consider the impact of the constellations of the Zodiac on the embryo during the
average nine months of gestation. Through the fact that human beings are born all the year around, the
corresponding arc of the Sun in the Zodiac is different in each individual case, and also the planets have
individual affinities to the arc of the Sun. In Part Two, we have already presented a number of
asterograms of gestation that show clearly this difference. We will now investigate these facts more
thoroughly.
The Sun of the epoch, calculated on the basis of the Hermetic Rule, can be in any of the twelve
constellations of the Zodiac, which gives it an individual color. This in turn is imitated by the embryo.
Our question is how this differentiation influences the organism of the human being.
We shall have to find suitable terminology for the constellations of the Zodiac. As we have pointed
out in previous volumes, especially in Isis Sophia II, these twelve constellations of the Zodiac are a
chronicle of the evolution of the world and of humanity. The evolution of a person is chiefly contained
in the formation of the head. Even the rhythmic and limb systems are already indicated in the head. In
the upper part, we find the center of the nervous system; the middle part is associated with the breathing,
etc.; the lower part, chiefly the jaws, suggest the freely moving limbs, and the mouth the connection with
the metabolic organism. In later stages of evolution, these cosmic-embryonic tendencies have been
emancipated and have developed the lower parts of the human organism.
Therefore, we should be able to see in the dynamic potentiality of the human head the archetypal
foundation of the totality of the human form, though it would show no more than the dispositions to later
divergences. This archetype of the human form, the result of divine creation, is related to the great
chronicle of evolution and to the Zodiac with its twelve constellations. (Details in Isis Sophia II,
especially in Part Two.)
One possible connection of the archetypal human form with the Zodiac is suggested in Fig. 7.
However, we should like to emphasize that this is only one aspect, which can be enlarged and which is
supported by others. By no means do we want to suggest that this archetypal head should be imagined as
the perfected complexity of the head organization of a present earthly human being. The more we are
able to conceive it only as a cosmic focus of potentiality, being capable of exerting its forces at any
moment in any direction, the more we shall come nearer to the reality that we have in mind.
Figure 7
Now we will describe how

individual human beings partake, in
this archetype of humanity, through
the imitation that takes place during
the embryonic development.
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The Constellation of Ram
In Fig. 8a, we have the prenatal asterogram of Mozart. The Sun was in the constellation of Goat and
the Moon in Scorpion when he was born. Rising was Lion and setting Waterman. As the Moon was
waning, presumably it was in the setting point of the birth at the time of the epoch (Fig. 6). Waterman is
west in the diagram; therefore, the interval between the epoch and the birth must have been shorter than
273 days (shorter by the time that the Moon needs to move from Scorpion to Waterman). Thus we come
to May 5, 1755, as the time of the epoch.
The Sun was in Ram at that time, and it moved as far as Goat during the embryonic development.
Now, we assume that the embryo imitated this cosmic gesture and that this imitation became the
foundation of the organization that served Mozart to fulfill his individual earthly destiny.
Figure 8a: Mozart - Born 27 January 1756; Salzburg, 8 p.m.
Figure 8b
Ram is the archetypal cosmic region where we can find the roots of the human being. It speaks of the
remotest ages of cosmic evolution when the impulse of the divine world created the first foundations of
the human form. The very first steps of all creation are remembered, as it were, in this constellation. If
we take the forces of Ram into the beginning of our earthly existence, by imitating them at the very start
of the embryonic career, we must assume that we have funds in our cosmic-biological make-up that will
enable us to manifest a close connection with, if not a limited resemblance to, that divine creative world
of Ram in later life. It might work out in many ways, for instance, as an astounding wealth of ideas or
instinctive capacities. A study of the details of the affinity to Ram can provide greater details.
We see the Sun of Mozart moving into Goat, where it was when he was born. We see in Goat that
archetypal region from which was created the lower part of the jaws with the chin; also later, the lower
extremities and especially the knees. Quite generally speaking, it is that sphere of the human organism
where we meet the resistance of the external world and where we have to exert counter-resistance in
order to maintain ourselves. We can say, therefore, that Mozart’s lower organism, with which he had to
step on to the Earth, was of such a quality that he was extremely sensitive to the resistance of the
external world.
Mozart certainly displayed, since his earliest childhood, Ram qualities. We need not reiterate the fact
that he was a musical miracle, who at the age of six was already called the “little magician”. Not only
could he master any instrument, but once when he listened to Allegri’s Miserere in Rome, he wrote it
down afterward from memory, to the consternation of everybody. If such capacities appear already at
such an early age, we can be sure they are not acquired by education, etc. They are present as a gift in the
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whole physiological make-up. It was a spark from the world of the genius above the child, from the
divine world. Here we witness a manifestation of Ram qualities. This is still more emphasized by the
triangular (trine) relationship of Jupiter to the Sun at the time of the epoch. Thereby, Mozart received in
his organization the fund of deep feeling that became apparent in his later mature compositions.
The relationship to the world of tone and music is apparent in the gesture of Mars. It started in the
constellation of Fishes, moved as far as Twins, and performed a loop at the time of birth. Mars is
connected with human speech and sound. Here we find it making its loop in that part of the embryo
image that is destined to become the realm of the larynx and all that belongs to the utterance of speech
and sound. (Compare with Fig. 8b.)
However magnificently the upper organization of Mozart appeared to be permeated by the
corresponding forces, so was the lower organism weighed down by the opposite kind of affinities. Saturn
in Goat stood at that part of the embryo image that was destined to become the lower extremities. Saturn
can bring an extreme heaviness into the body, and it seems that Mozart had, in the sphere where he
touched the Earth (not only in an external sense), a disposition that made it barely possible for him to
maintain his stand in the world. Everybody knows how difficult life became for him as soon as he had to
“stand on his own feet”. His greatest difficulty was the constant lack of money, and he died in a state
bordering on poverty. He was also not very lucky in his human connections, for instance, with the
Archbishop of Salzburg, or later, in his affiliations with the court of Vienna. (We shall omit the gestures
of Venus and Mercury in the diagrams; otherwise, the pictures may get too congested and unintelligible.)
Another example of Ram affinities is the prenatal asterogram of Emanuel Swedenborg (Fig. 9).
When he was born (29 January 1688, Julian date) the Moon was waxing and below the horizon.
Figure 9
According to the Hermetic Rule, the epoch Moon was in the east of the horizon of birth
(Scorpion/Archer) and the interval up to the birthday was longer than 273 days—the time that the Moon
needed to move from Archer to Ram. This leads us back to 30 April 1687 (Gregorian) as the date of the
epoch.
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The Sun was then in Ram, and during gestation it moved as far as Waterman. Therefore, we should
expect qualities, with regard to the cosmic-biological organization of Swedenborg, similar to those of
Mozart. This is surely true with regard to Swedenborg, both as a scientist and later also as a seer. As
soon as his scientific works were collected and published, toward the end of the 19th century, it became
evident that in almost every department of scientific activity he was ahead of his time. He is credited by
many modern scientists as being the predecessor of several branches of modern science. About the time
of 1734 and later, he tried to solve the mystery of the nature of the human soul. He tried to approach it
by anatomical studies. In connection with this, he made long journeys through Germany, France, and
Italy. The question, of how the experience of the external world can become reflected in inner
consciousness through the senses, occupied him deeply. In all this, we see the urge of the inherent Ram
qualities in Swedenborg. He tried to go to the roots of existence and endeavored to open the doors to the
primal secrets of creation. When the means of scientific approach of his time failed him, he turned to
psychical and spiritual inquiry and became the seer, for which he is well-known. In this realm, too, he
tried to open the gates to the spiritual world and enter into direct contact with the Divinity.
We do not witness here the kind of repression and resistance that Mozart experienced when he had to
step into the world of material reality. Swedenborg’s life conditions were much easier in an external
sense. This is due to his individual cosmic-biological make-up. At the time of his birth, the Sun was just
entering Waterman, distinct from Mozart whose birth Sun was still in Goat. Swedenborg was capable of
touching the Earth with much greater vigor. The connection of his limb organism (especially his feet,
Fig. 8b) with Waterman suggests, even, that Ram inspiration prevailing in him as a root quality was
allowed to flow freely into the word, in the many writings of his scientific and visionary career. He was,
in a certain sense, really a mouthpiece (see Waterman in Fig. 7) of humanity with regard to some of its
most modern problems, the question of finding the bridge between the natural and the psychical and
spiritual universe.
He was not able to build the bridge. To a great extent this was due to the shortcomings of the age in
which he lived. Instead, a breach occurred in his life between the scientist and philosopher, and the
spiritualist. As far as his own organization is concerned with these facts, it is the outcome of the impact
that Mars exerted on his body during gestation. Mars made a loop in Goat at the beginning of
Swedenborg’s prenatal development. This imbued him with the vital power to search, on scientific
ground, for comprehensive and universal views and facts. After the loop Mars entered Waterman. It
refers to later stages in his life, especially to the time about 1734. Then should have come the union
between the naturalistic and spiritualistic world of Swedenborg. He did not achieve it. Mars entered
Fishes, which emphasizes more psychical and spiritual trends. Swedenborg fell away from investigation
of the natural world and listened to what he was convinced divine spirits had to say to him.
His Mars is in that part of the asterogram (Fig. 9) that was left open by the Sun between epoch and
birth; therefore, it was above the head—or below the embryo image—working from “outside” on to the
organization. This is an indication that the impact of this planet brought on, all the more, the inclination
to search for an objective spiritual (and natural) universe.
Saturn in the constellation of Virgin, in the respective particular part of the embryo image, imbued
Swedenborg with that remarkable power of relentless search for the truth. The Virgin is that region in the
Zodiac that harbors, in its spiritual-cosmic depths, the laboratory of the Gods. Everything in
Swedenborg’s life was directed by his urge to search for the truth and the origins of existence. He
remained unmarried.
Jupiter, which was mainly moving in the constellation of Archer, imbued Swedenborg with a
tremendous vitality. It is the picture of the centaur that accumulated and preserved animal-like vigor in
his body. Swedenborg certainly had a strong vitality. He was 84 years old when he died 29 March 1772.
Many more such examples of Ram qualities could be produced. One is the prenatal asterogram of the
famous Russian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev (born 16-28 January, 1853). He became well-known in
the western world by his tremendously inspiring ideas about religious philosophy and lofty thoughts on
Christianity and mysticism. He also claimed to have had direct contact with the Divinity, and he spoke
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of the visions that he referred to as Hagia Sophia, the Mother of all natural and soul existence, which he
experienced three times in his life.
The Sun was in Ram at the time of his epoch and was strongly emphasized by the junction with
Uranus, Saturn, and Mercury—all in the same moment.
The Constellation of Bull

The prenatal asterogram of Thomas Edison (Fig. 10) indicates that the Moon was waning and below
the horizon when he was born; therefore, it stood in the constellation of Ram during the epoch, which
was setting at the moment of birth. Since the Moon had to move a considerable distance until it arrived
at that point after birth, the interval between epoch and birth was shorter than 273 days. By calculation
we arrive at 23 May 1846, as the actual date of the epoch.
Thomas A. Edison: Born at midnight 11-12 February 1847, Milan, Ohio. Epoch 23 May 1846
Figure 10
The Sun had just entered Bull on 23 May, thus its prenatal arc extended from that constellation to
Waterman. The constellation of Bull, as a region of cosmic archetypes and creative ideas—in the
Platonic sense—is close to Ram. However, as Ram is connected with the primal beginnings of all
existence, with the origins in the divine world itself, so have the forces of Bull already moved further
away from the origin toward realization of divine ideas in time and space. People who have been
endowed in their organization with the forces of Bull have more the natural inclination toward
rationalistic and pragmatic application of the “idea”. Ram people are more idealistic, their cosmic-
biological organization does not yet urge them so much to put their ideas into practical deeds, as is the
case with Bull natures. We need not point out that Edison had a typical Bull organization, because his
fame as “inventor” is undisputed. Up to 1926, he had taken out 1,033 patents. This Bull organization
was still more emphasized by Jupiter in Bull during the prenatal development, which enhanced the
creative inventiveness in this position.
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Saturn was at the feet of the embryo image in Waterman. This made that part of the organism which
is orientated toward gravity— the limbs for instance—strongly earthbound. This was quite different
from the Saturn of Mozart (Fig. 8a) in Goat. In Edison’s case it was a disposition toward Earth affinity
that was not subject to the experience of restriction and frustration. It was just the opposite, a deep
connection with the inner, flowing forces of the Earth. This is expressed by Waterman. On the continent
of America, this inner life of the Earth itself is chiefly experienced as electricity and magnetism. (The
magnetic Pole is in North America and the impact of magnetism is stronger than on any other continent.)
This is emphasized still more by the impact of Mars on the embryo image. It started in the
constellation of Twins and moved as far as Archer during gestation, where it was in conjunction with the
Moon at the time of birth. The Twins suggests some kind of polarity, for instance, as is apparent in all
that concerns electricity. However, the full details of the asterogram, especially the inclusion of the
inferior planets, reveal that there must have been imparted on Edison’s organization, a strong affinity to
the Earth and to those mysterious forces of electricity and magnetism.
Another example of similar Bull tendencies is the prenatal asterogram of Victor Hugo, the famous
French poet and novelist. The calculations, based on the Hermetic Rule, lead back to 7 June 1801 as the
time of the epoch. During those days, the Sun was in the constellation of Bull.
Victor Hugo: Born 26 February 1802, Besancon–shortly after midnight–Moon waning below horizon
Figure 11
We need not say very much about the Bull capacities of Victor Hugo. He is so well-known for his
capability of literary realism that it seems to be superfluous to dwell on it in detail. He inherited all the
remarkable Bull qualities, including some detrimental trends of this constellation. The impact of the Sun
at birth from Waterman enhanced still further the unique position that he attained among French writers
of his age.
It is most interesting to study the influence of Mars and Jupiter on his organization during the time of
gestation. The two planets were in conjunction in the constellation of Crab at the moment of the epoch.
Working out the details of the asterogram, we find that this conjunction influenced that part of the
embryo image which later on became the region of the larynx. There was a remarkable combination of
strength (Mars) and thought (Jupiter), which manifested itself later as that mastery of language displayed
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by Victor Hugo. The connection of the two planets with Crab suggests that this mastery was, at least at
times, too technical and perhaps even dominated too strongly by a trivial and boastful side of his
character.
The instrument that people possess may not give them a full chance to express their true intentions. It
may also be that they haven’t the strength of individuality to use their bodily instrument to its full
inherent capacities. In such a case, the asterogram can give a glimpse of what a person had decided
before incarnating and where the divergence occurred in later life. In Victor Hugo’s asterogram, we have
such a case. Just about the time when he was born, Saturn and Jupiter were nearly in conjunction in the
constellation of Lion. This conjunction suggests that Victor Hugo was imbued with strong forces of
memory, and he had an inclination toward the past and a sense for history. This was, by disposition,
amalgamated with the power of thinking (Jupiter). His historic novels speak of this capacity.
We see in the asterogram that this conjunction refers to a part of the embryo image that is lower
down; it was associated with the chest, with the realm of feelings. This is still more accentuated by the
position of the two planets in Lion. The capacities that speak through this conjunction are profound; they
are almost of a royal nature. Yet, we must not overlook the fact that it had worked into the realm of
feelings, where consciousness has more of a dreaming character. This does not mean that this realm is
bound to be of less profundity than everything which one conceives through the forces of the head. It can
be of a more valuable nature if one succeeds in controlling this sphere and permeating it with the light of
clear thinking; otherwise, it may remain a world of beautiful dreams without moral power.
Victor Hugo did not fully lift the treasures that had been lowered, as it were, into his organization
during the time of gestation. His typical Bull quality became an obstacle for him. One of his critics said,
“Hugo was a master of language; he was a great literary figure; he might perhaps have been a great
mystic had he been less worldly.” His worldliness, in other words the less admirable aspects of the Bull
character, had prevented him from lifting up consciously those treasures of Saturn and Jupiter in Lion.
They shine through his historic novels and poetry, but the lack of conscious control threw them in a
turmoil of feelings such as pride, ambition, self-centeredness, and so on. He had the capacity to put into
words what the average person of the 19th century felt but could not articulate; he had the faculty of
pronouncing more constructive ideas beyond the mere average.
The Constellation of Twins

The constellation of Twins suggests at once polarity, tension, and multiplicity. This is anticipated in
the Zodiac as archetype of the human head (see Fig. 7). It is the origin of the two hemispheres of the
present human brain and also the beginning of the tendency to symmetry in the totality of the body.
Thus, it refers to the tension between right and left and their cooperation in a physiological sense; it is,
therefore, also responsible for the separation and individualization of the single organism. The tendency
to symmetry manifests itself, also, with regard to the upper and lower organism; and in the head, for
instance, as the polarity of cranium and jaws, rather displaying asymmetry.
People who inherited this Twins tendency through their prenatal development, are sometimes very
strongly subject to psychological tensions that usually result from physiological causes. We have a great
collection of data on people who had this peculiar Twins impact, mainly through the Sun at the time of
the epoch. Many of them displayed tremendous psychological tensions and disturbances in life, which
can lead to the point of insanity. However, well directed care and wakefulness can avoid these dangers.
An historic example of Twins tendencies is the asterogram of Pico della Mirandola (Fig. 12). He was
the son of a prince of Mirandola, a small territory in Italy. Having already begun to study at the age of
14, he accumulated considerable knowledge. Besides Greek and Latin, he knew Hebrew, Chaldee, and
Arabic. He was also introduced to the Kabbalah. At the age of 23, he led himself into difficulties by
setting forth, for public disputation, a great number of questions on philosophy and theology that were
prohibited by the pope. His personal life, too, was rather dramatic. He displayed the heritage from the
constellation of Twins to the full extent by living and moving in extremes.
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Figure 12 : Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: Born 24 February 1463 in the evening–Moon waxing above
horizon–Epoch 6 June 1462–the Sun was in the constellation of Twins.
In his 28th year, he published his Heptaplus, a mystical exposition of the creation. After that he
started a great work against the enemies of the Church; however, only a part of it was completed, which
contains a treatise against astrology. On his many wanderings, he also came in contact with Savonarola
at Florence. In consequence of this, three years before his death (November 17, 1494) he renounced his
share of his ancestral heritage, gave away all he had, and wandered barefoot through the world. But a
fever brought his earthly career to an end.
Just these last years reveal how much Pico della Mirandola was influenced by the Twins tendency
and his difficulty in keeping to a middle line between extremes of any kind. This was still more
emphasized by Mars in Twins at the beginning of his embryonic development and in Scales at the time
of his birth.
Jupiter in Archer imbued him with an unquenchable desire of wandering, learning and acquiring the
highest possible knowledge. This planet worked into the lower limb system of the embryo image, and we
are of the opinion that such an impact not only manifests itself in a purely physical sense, but also works
back on the psyche.
Saturn in Waterman we have met previously, in the position of the feet of the embryo image of
Edison. It certainly infused, also in this case, a strong affinity to the Earth. But certain aspects of the
asterogram suggest that it brought about a profound connection with our planet, and not only in an
external sense. There was also a deep realization of the mysteries and the spiritual purposes of the Earth
within the greater universe. The superb knowledge that Pico had of the Kabbalah and of astrology,
though he was opposed to its practice for purposes of prognostication, reveal that he was a true occultist
who was standing firmly and loyally on our planet. This corresponds precisely to the meaning of Saturn
in Waterman.
The Sun of the epoch of Emile Zola, the French novelist, was also in the constellation of Twins (Fig.
13). His Twins tendency was remarkably manifest, both in his literary work and in his personal life. As a
critic he was vigorous and aggressive, and his novels, such as Thérèse Raquin, Germinal, La Terre, and
many others, were powerful but partly gruesome. He also liked to go to extremes in his descriptions, ,
just as Pico della Mirandola, mainly as far as the inequality and failing of social life are concerned.
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Figure 13: Emile Zola, Born 2 April 1840 in Paris–Moon waning above horizon–Epoch 28 June 1839
He betrayed his Twins disposition most outspokenly in connection with the so-called Dreyfus affair.
Dreyfus was a captain in the French army. Toward the end of the last century, he was accused of high
treason. Zola came to the conclusion that Dreyfus was the innocent victim of a conspiracy, and with his
usual vigor and fearlessness, he openly attacked all those who had a hand in the accusation of Dreyfus.
All details of his actions in connection with this case show beyond a doubt his Twins affiliation by
throwing his full weight into an affair which was, at that time in France, the object of extreme public
controversy. To live in tension and to create tension in the readers of his novels seems to have been the
root of Zola’s existence.
Mars and Jupiter were in the constellation of Virgin at the time of the epoch. They worked into that
part of the embryo image associated with the chest, the “house of life”. Thereby Zola inherited the
almost scientific capacity and inclination to bring the world of human feelings to the surface, even where
it revealed gruesome and unhealthy aspects of social life. This was assisted by a deep urge to strive and
fight for social justice, which we see supported in a cosmic-biological sense by Saturn in Scorpion. This
worked into the region of the thighs, which enable one to exercise will power toward the attainment of
one’s aims, both in the physiological and psychological spheres.
The Constellation of Crab

With regard to the archetype of the human head (Fig. 7), the constellation of Crab is associated with
the forming powers of the cranium and also with the fontanels—the opening in the baby’s cranium. We
have forces at work here that tend to enclose the brain within a shell of hard and solid matter. It is the
termination of a long process, both in the history of humanity as a whole and in the gestation of the
single human being. The open fontanels of the small baby are an indication of states of evolution and of
the embryo when the brain was not yet imprisoned in the cave of the skull. In our evolution, these were
ages when the human being was not yet so strongly emancipated and estranged from an objective
spiritual world as we are at the present time. The emancipation was a necessity that was facilitated by the
closing of the skull and the hardening of the whole skeleton, in order to lead us to freedom.
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People who are associated with this constellation of Crab, in the sense of cosmic-biological
imitation, display a strong connection with these genetic facts. They are very often confronted, in their
personal destiny, with the problem of whether or not they can maintain or re-establish a direct
connection with the spiritual or cosmic world. For instance, the following historic personalities had the
Sun in the constellation of Crab in their epoch: Christian F. S. Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy;
Ulysses S. Grant, the famous general and president of the U.S.; Novalis the German poet (born 2 May
1772), who was a man of high spirituality and profound inspiration; Lenin the Bolshevist leader (born 22
April 1870, N.S.), who displayed the opposite disposition, complete negation of the spirit and
application of absolute materialism in social life. He died from sclerosis of the cerebral arteries. The
forces building up the prison of the skull were obviously overwhelmingly strong.
Figure 14
Hahnemann - Born 10 April 1755–Meissen/Saxony–Moon waning below horizon–Epoch 16 July 1754
We will concern ourselves with the first two cases in more detail. One can argue whether
Hahnemann was a man of spirituality, but his views on homoeopathy, which he founded, betray that he
had a deep understanding for the working and the laws of the spirit. Homoeopathy works with highly
potentized substances that are, in some cases, diluted to such a degree that it is impossible to find any
trace of the original substance. The homoeopaths are divided among themselves about the efficiency of
these high potencies. Hahnemann, however, says in his Organon: “It is only by means of the spiritual
influence of a morbic agent that our spiritual vital power can be diseased, and in like manner only by the
spiritual operation of medicine can health be restored.” Obviously, he had convinced himself of the
spiritual efficiency of substance that has been brought, by trituration and potentization, to a point where
it has vanished from the space world as a quantity.
Altogether, one can only imagine that his discovery of the law of “similia similibus curtantur” (like
is cured by like) and of the homoeopathic principle of high potencies were acts of direct inspiration; a
positive Crab impact through the epoch Sun is quite obvious. He was, in a sense, a true cosmologist who
had discovered the laws of the microcosmic world, which is a replica of the macrocosmos. For the
dilutions of substances is an exact picture of what modern astronomy tells us about the great cosmos.
The stars of the universe, including our own Earth, are “diluted” in a space of unimaginable dimension
so that they “disappear” completely in it. How often are we told that our planet has not the slightest
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significance in the greater universe, that it is less than a grain of dust? Hahnemann has found similar
facts in the world of his microcosmic dilutions, but he did not descend to the same conclusions. For him
the “less than dust” entity, actually the spiritual force of a substance, was the most active thing.
We see the disposition toward this kind of cosmology in the impact of Mars and Jupiter in Lion at
the time of the epoch (see Fig. 14). Lion is, altogether, deeply associated with cosmic orientation when
one contacts these forces through one’s organization. In Hahnemann’s case, this was favorably
amalgamated with the forces of a Sun from Crab.
Saturn in Archer can be taken here as an indication that Hahnemann’s organization was imbued with
strong forces of vitality. He was actually 88 years old when he died, in spite of a life full of difficulties,
setbacks, and frustrations.
Ulysses S. Grant, as general and finally as supreme commander, was involved in the American Civil
War on the side of the Northern Union against the Southern Confederates. His conduct about the war, to
the final victory of the Union, shows that he possessed more than just iron determination and
indomitable energy. There was more that we can only understand on the background of his heritage from
a Sun in Crab at the time of his prenatal epoch (Fig. 15). His endurance in spite of setbacks, terrible
losses, and ceaseless fighting, reveals that something higher worked through him than only a limited
human mind. He was inspired by the destiny of the United States in centuries to come by those spiritual
forces that form and maintain a nation, though he may not have experienced it so consciously.
Figure 15
Grant - Born 27 April 1822–Point Pleasant, Ohio–Moon waxing below horizon–Epoch 22 July 1821
This instinctive confidence in the fate of the becoming nation, as well as his energetic action in
preventing indictments for high treason against the leaders of the Confederates, were the result of his
typically American connection with the spirit. To a high degree, the integration of the Northern and
Southern States was brought about by this latter action. It was a demonstration of positive Crab facilities,
cloaked in trustful simplicity but invested with great power.
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A person with such capacities is, in a certain sense, a true cosmologist, though he may not appear to
have anything to do with cosmology. Instinctively, there lived in Grant an awareness of the course of
history, of the part that his nation had and will have to play in it. The progress of the ages, the course of
time, is externally expressed in the courses of the stars. A person like Grant, who has an unshakable
certainty of these facts in his organization, is a cosmologist nevertheless, possibly without even
“knowing” it.
This kind of cosmologist we see in Grant’s possession of a Mars performing a loop in Lion. This
impact worked into the head and larynx organization of the cosmic embryo image, the regions of self-
expression and self-manifestation.
During Grant’s embryonic development, a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place in the
transition from Fishes to Ram. Its impact was directed toward the feet of the embryo image. In this
conjunction we see the real background of the historic instinct possessed by Grant. Such events intimate
a fusion between world memory (Saturn) and action out of wise foresight (Jupiter). In a sense, Grant trod
upon it by walking over the American soil. He not only had head knowledge, it was “foot sureness”.
The Constellation of Lion

People who have had a strong connection with the constellation of Lion, through an epoch Sun in
that part of the Zodiac, no longer question the possibility of contacting a spiritual world by individual
effort. Of course, one cannot generalize. There are certainly a great number of people, especially in our
age, for whom this is no question at all, because through the general trend of their education and the
background of our civilization, it does not occur to them. However, we have asterograms of a sufficient
number of personalities to support our statement. They demonstrated the acceptance of such possibilities
by taking, more or less, to definite methods and paths leading to the direct experience of a spiritual
world.
We can understand this if we again consult the archetypal human head in the Zodiac. After Crab, we
enter a realm where active forces are centered that have built, throughout evolution, the mysterious
internal parts of the brain and central nervous system, aiding the conscious perception of the external
world. Within the total human organism, this realm is also connected with the heart and the circulatory
system (Fig. 7).
Figure 16
Edward Bulwer-Lytton - Born 25 May 1803, 8 am London–Moon waxing and rising

Epoch 25 August 1802
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One such personality was Edward Bulwer-Lytton (Fig. 16). At the time of his epoch, the Sun was in
Lion. It is rather difficult to trace the real background of Bulwer-Lytton; however, it is apparent in some
of his novels that he had at least a deep knowledge, if not a direct contact, with certain occult
brotherhoods, who made it their task to guard and to promote methods of approach to the spiritual world.
This is obvious in a book such as The Last Days of Pompeii, but especially in Zanoni, where the fate of
certain initiates in occultism is described. VRIL The power of the coming race, which speaks of the
mysterious force called “Vril”—connected with one’s life-forces—is also a witness of the fact that
Bulwer-Lytton had more than a superficial and purely literary knowledge of the path of initiation.
The most remarkable feature of this asterogram is the position of Saturn and Jupiter. The epoch took
place just after a conjunction of the two planets in Lion. There is, therefore, a certain similarity to Grant,
a combination of an historic conscience ( ) and universal though ( ). But there is also an
enormous difference. First of all, this conjunction was in Lion, the same constellation where the epoch
Sun was. It would indicate a close connection with the classical past of humanity, of the great leading
forces in history, but seen from the angle of esotericism. (The conjunction in Ram, as in Grant’s case,
points more toward future capacities in humanity.)
The conjunction in Lion worked into the head of the embryo image of Bulwer-Lytton’s asterogram.
Jupiter, which moved faster forward than Saturn (see Fig. 16), carried this impact into the region of the
larynx. We see here the background of the writer.
Mars started in Bull, made a loop in Twins during gestation, and was in Crab at the time of birth.
This Mars was in that part of the Zodiac which remained untouched by the Sun during the prenatal
development and is, therefore, “outside” the embryo image—either above or below. This would indicate
that there were some difficulties in mastering this impact. The loop in Twins would also point in a
similar direction. We should think this is corroborated by Bulwer-Lytton’s difficulty in keeping to a
middle line between extremes. In earlier years he had a strong affinity to what spiritual science calls
Luciferic tendencies, usually described by biographical critics as a dandyism of considerable pretensions.
The date of birth of Dante, the author of the Divina Comedia, is uncertain. From the scanty
information that we have, we gather that his epoch Sun was also in Lion. It is known that he had
contacted certain streams of esotericism of his age, and that he had knowledge of occult paths of
cognition through his teacher Brunetto Latini (author of the Tresoro). The fruits of this contact became
obvious in Dante’s grandiose cosmography of the Divina Comedia.
Figure 17
Richard Wagner - Born 22 May 1813 at sunrise–Moon waning above horizon–Epoch 15 August 1812
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Richard Wagner’s epoch Sun was also in Lion. He certainly had a connection with esotericism,
which is apparent in the subjects that he chose for his operas, especially in his last composition, Parsifal.
A closer study of his work reveals that their chronological order is an exact picture of his own inner
development toward a spiritual world conception. Against many obstacles in his own nature, he strove to
break through to esoteric Christianity, and his operas are an indication of a path to higher knowledge in
themselves. However, we must not forget that the 19th century offered very limited scope for the
expression of such aspects. The obstacles in his own nature are expressed in the position of Saturn in
Archer. We see again the imagination of the centaur, half human, half animal, striving toward perfection,
battling against his own lower nature. The impact of this Saturn worked into the region of the
procreative organism of the embryo image.
His disposition and temperament were more aggravated than enhanced by a so-called “good” angular
relationship—a trine—between Saturn and Mars at the time of the epoch. Mars had just entered Lion and
was still close to the epoch Sun, after a conjunction with the latter. It worked into the head of the embryo
image. Thence came his difficulty of keeping his head out of rash and impulsive action, of making the
head forces control feeling and willing.
Jupiter moved through the constellation of Crab. Its impact appears above the head of the embryo
image. We recognize in this Jupiter, the inspiration from which Richard Wagner drew, as well as his
power to condense these inspirations to artistic form. The Crab suggests this forming quality that
ultimately succeeded in creating an external home for Richard Wagner’s works, the Festspielhaus at
Bayreuth.
The Constellation of Virgin
Individuals who have received the impact of the constellation of Lion in their bodily nature are
usually inclined to hold back their particular connection with paths, methods, and societies whose aim is
the approach to the spiritual world. They regard these connections as strictly esoteric associations that
should be kept apart from daily life and possibly from daily work. This is true, perhaps, even to a higher
degree of those who bear in their nature the impact of the constellation of Virgin. The difference
between Lion and Virgin natures lies in the fact that the latter are inclined to let their esoteric or religious
views and approaches flow into their actions, however inconspicuously.
An excellent example is the asterogram of the German philosopher Leibniz (Fig. 18). The hour of his
birth is not certain, but his epoch fell, in any case, into a time when the Sun was in Virgin.
Figure 18
G. W. Leibniz - Born 1 July 1646 at Leipzig–birth hour uncertain

Epoch possibly between 17 September 1645 and 15 October 1645
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Leibniz is well-known as a mathematician and philosopher, but he also had some connection with
political affairs. For instance, at the age of 23 he entered the service of the Elector of Mainz, and he was
subsequently drawn actively into the policy of the elector to maintain the security of the German empire,
which was then already involved in a kind of East/West problem. It was hemmed in between a highly
aggressive France in the west and Russia and Turkey in the east.
Before that time, he had contacted the Rosicrucian movement whose center was at Nuremberg. He
was only 21 years of age, had studied alchemistic writings, had acquired a deep knowledge of
Rosicrucian tenets, and was even elected secretary of this movement.
Here we see the background of his Virgin nature, which gave him an inclination toward esotericism.
We see in the representation of the archetypal head (Fig. 7), that this constellation is related to the
spiritually-forming powers of the hind brain throughout evolution. The function of this part of the brain
is still more mysterious than that of the fore brain, as it leads over into conscious or unconscious action
and reaction.
This leading over into action became obvious in the philosophy that Leibniz developed; it is also
apparent in his mathematical achievements. His philosophy is generally known as Monadism. The
ultimate elements of the universe are the monads, which are individual centers of force. They are in-
visible, metaphysical points that act according to their degree of development and, thus, bring about the
physical object-world by an inherent “pre-established harmony”. These monads are rather of the nature
of spiritual beings, each one being in itself a microcosm, a reflection of the great universe in degrees.
They are finally guided by a “Monas Monadum”, or God. Leibniz held similar tenets with regard to
psychology and theology. The soul of a human being is also a monad called the entelechy, surrounded by
the monads that make the body through their action. He speaks of God as “the universal harmony”, the
highest creating monad who created substances by a sort of “emanation” proceeding from Itself, as we
produce our thoughts. We see shining through this philosophy, the views of a spiritually-minded person
who must have had a deeper esoteric background than one usually assumes.
The impulse to express his esoteric ideas in a form, which must have appeared to him as an adequate
philosophy, was enhanced by the impact of Mars on his organization. It started in Virgin, where we find
the head of the embryo image, and moved as far as Bull. There it came into conjunction with Saturn (and
also Venus) about the time of birth; thus, it leads the inclination of the head organism right down into
the limbs—into action. The conjunction with Saturn in Ram and Bull indicates the inherent impulse to
go in search of the truth right back to the foundations of creation. (See the constellations of Ram and
Bull.)
He stood, in a sense, upon Jupiter in Twins. In this we see the desire to “prove”, almost
mathematically, the spirit inherent in matter. He was inclined to think about physical nature in terms of
mechanical explanation, but he was quite aware that this cannot be done without presupposing an
incorporeal principle, or God, for ultimate explanation. He was involved in the great problem of his age:
to find the bridge between the moral and natural worlds. The somewhat unsatisfactory solution of the
problem of evil in his philosophy betrays that he could not find the bridge. This is also a characteristic of
the Twins Jupiter indication.
We have quite a collection of personalities whose epoch Sun was in the constellation of Virgin.
Usually, they came to the front as occultists in some direction. All of them had some connection with
esotericism and with societies and movements of an occult character. On this background they undertook
to bring certain messages to humanity or to accomplish certain deeds, possibly in the social realm, which
were regarded to be for the good of human progress. Sometimes their actions were not greatly
appreciated in their time. Only later ages could see the significance of their impulses and
accomplishments. An open mind will always be able to see the pattern of the working of the spirit,
manifesting itself as inspiration in such personalities. They were mostly people who did not step into the
limelight of publicity; they did and still do work as the silent and unknown benefactors of the human
race. We see, therefore, little point in producing asterograms of individualities with such Virgo
inclinations, because they are too little known.
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We must also take into consideration that the present age, especially the time since the 15th and 16th
century, does not lend a ready hand to the activities of people with the background of Virgin impact. It is
a period in human history that is further than ever removed from the acceptance of an objective spiritual
world. Therefore, personalities who have such connections, and are urged to act from this background,
may appear as odd strangers in a world that is almost entirely given up to materialistic views. They are
those people who are wandering through humanity as mouthpieces of unseen powers, whom modern
public opinion cannot easily classify within its acknowledged patterns of social and scientific standards.
Examples are people like Garibaldi, the famous Italian revolutionary (born 4 July 1807); George
Sand (pseudonym of Mme. A. L. Dudevant), the famous French writer known by such novels as
Consuelo and La Comptesse de Rudolstadt (born 1 July 1804). King James I of England (born 18 June
1566) was also one who sought to act from a background of certain occult movements and was utterly
misjudged by the public. To the present day he is called the “wise fool”.
The Constellation of Scales

The constellation of Scales leads to a remarkable change in connection with the archetype of the
human head as well as the total human form in Fig. 7. Up to Virgin, we witness a process of progressive
inversion. With Scales, however, we are confronted with a turning point toward the limb system both in
head and body. This indicates tendencies of externalization and reaching out toward the reality of Earth
existence.
Figure 19
Henry Ford - Born 30 July 1863, Greenfield, Michigan–about 2:30 pm–Moon waning below horizon
Epoch: 7 November 1862
One of the finest examples of Scales incentive is the asterogram of Henry Ford (Fig. 19). His epoch
Sun was in Scales. We see the last traces of the “inversion” still at work up to the constellations of Lion
and Virgin. Henry Ford worked and established his success entirely on the basis of healthy social ideas.
His life, up to the foundation of the Ford Company, shows that he didn’t make any cheap compromise,
even at the cost of hardship. His driving idea from the outset was service, working unrestrictedly for the
consumer, and not building his production solely on the principle of profit and return. It was a
courageous attempt to introduce “altruism” into economy, and his later success proved that his idea was
right and sound. “Profit cannot be the basis, it must be the result of service.”
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This economical idea is age-old, but Henry Ford conceived it anew under changed world conditions.
He adapted it masterfully to the age of mechanization and industrialization. This confirms that he must
have had a deep connection with that world of Lion and Virgin, whatever his affiliations with
corresponding movements and institutions may have been. (For instance, he accepted the idea of
reincarnation, another proof of his acquaintance with definite spiritual world conceptions.) However, he
was certainly not a mystic. The Scales impulse was in his bones, as it were, the firm will to put into
practice and economic efficiency what he had conceived as practical spiritual reality.
This was aided by the Sun in Crab at the time of his birth. It was, so to speak, the ground on which
he stood. The Scales impact was combined with that of Crab. We can describe it as a capacity for
spiritual communion with the properties and laws of the Earth and also a deep loyalty toward it. (See the
section, The Constellation of Crab.)
The planets Saturn and Jupiter are above the head of the embryo image in the constellation of Virgin.
This is the world of inspiration in which Henry Ford was living. It was, in a sense, a natural gift through
his organism. It gave him the instinctive certainty that life cannot be regarded as an institution, providing
from the outset security against failure and disaster. He knew that life was an experiment and that by
holding on to and carrying through the experiment with relentless effort, security could be achieved. He
may even have considered earthly human existence as an experiment of the divine world. The
background of the constellation of Virgin, which can aptly be called the “laboratory of the Gods”,
suggests this.
Mars had just come out of a loop in Fishes at the time of the epoch, and after that it moved as far as
Lion where it was in conjunction with the fixed star Regulus, the Lion’s heart. Therefore, this Mars
worked its impact into the limbs of the embryo image. Here is the background for the strong and
determined will of Henry Ford—his “royal” bearing. The movement through the summer constellations
of the Zodiac suggests that his will was by no means materialistic, but was entirely guided by the idea.
Mars in Fishes at the time of the epoch gives the impression that there was the natural gift of
consideration and wisdom concerning the substances of the Earth, but also with regard to the eternal
image or aim of humanity.
Figure 20
T.E. Lawrence - Born early hours of 16 August 1888, at Tremadoc, Carnarvonsh–Moon waxing, below
horizon–Epoch: 8 November 1887
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An example of Scales tendencies of a different kind is T. E. Lawrence, author of The Seven Pillars of
Wisdom. There was also the strong inclination to work in the realm of practical reality. And in the
background, there was a mysterious connection with the world of the Arabs. This affinity to the cause
and destiny of the Arabs can only be explained by the idea of reincarnation, by accepting the possibility
of a previous incarnation amidst medieval Arabic settings. A certain confirmation can be seen in the fact
that he already made a tour through Syria in 1910 on foot, in order to study architecture dating from the
time of the Crusades.
He was, however, not as successful as Henry Ford in the accomplishment of his political ideas
concerning the independence of the Arabs. Great odds were working against him. Lawrence left
government service because he was disgusted with the failure of the Allies to fulfill what he considered
to be their moral obligations to the Arabs. The rest of his life showed different attempts of external
activity. Scales tendencies did not give him any respite. It seems that there have been tremendous
feelings of remorse hovering above Lawrence, after having been unable to realize that mysterious
“something”, shining into the present incarnation as a whole world of impulses coming from the past.
We can understand this frustration if we study the asterogram more closely. Above the head of the
embryo image was Jupiter, first in Scales and later in Scorpion. This was the background of Lawrence
the Scholar who displayed his brilliant gifts, for instance, in his writings. We find it also in his natural
connection with the Middle East, in the capacity to identify his own being and destiny with that of the
Arabs. It became especially apparent during the Arabian campaign. He mastered the hardships of it with
an almost superhuman will and against his constitution, which was not too strong.
On the other hand, we find Saturn in the constellation of Crab and moving in that part of the embryo
image associated with the feet. Lawrence was dragged down by heavy weights, as it were. The nature of
Saturn reveals that it was the historic setting of modern humanity that was against him. Saturn is the
great historian of the cosmos. The Crab, where it stood, is a kind of cosmic arsenal of the progressive
evolution of humanity; for instance, the Event of Golgotha is connected with it.
The progress of humanity, working through the medium of intricate political constellations, did not
allow the ideals of Lawrence to be realized. In a certain sense, the whole complex of the historic
relationship between Christianity and Mohammedanism, rooted in the ages of the Crusades, and all the
unsolved problems of the Middle East, in their spiritual aspect, rose like specters. Lawrence was unable
to view the Arab question from the healthy and progressive conception of a “spiritual” Christianity;
therefore, he failed. His impulses were not worldwide enough; they did not fit into the pattern of
humanity’s evolution.
Mars had been making a loop in Virgin, above the head of the embryo image. Lawrence could not
fully incarnate these Mars forces and lift them up from the realm of the body to a conscious capacity. We
do not know whether he had any views on reincarnation. Had he developed a clear conception of it, he
might have been able to bring up those dim memory pictures of the past into a sphere of conscious
control. Then he would have been able to pursue his ideas with more effective and spiritual means and
with an unbiased perception of world historic necessities.
The Constellation of Scorpion

The constellation of Scales is the bridge that leads over from a relationship to the world and
humanity, which is mainly introverted, to direct and unrestricted action in the world of given facts.
Therefore, we find people who had acquired this impact on their organization, wavering with regard to
their background and their urge to act externally. They are very often going through crises in the middle
periods of their lives.
This tendency is still more pronounced in Scorpion. This constellation is connected with the region
of the larynx in the picture of the archetypal human head (Fig. 7). People who have received this impact,
for instance, through their epoch Sun, are usually prominent in the sphere of the word. They can be, in a
certain sense, the mouthpiece of whole epochs of human evolution, expressions of stages of human
history. Usually, they are still more urged to external action than the Scales type, but it is very often a
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question of whether they can balance their urge to action by a self-controlled cognition of the needs of a
certain age and by the power of distinction between delusion and genuine inspiration.
An excellent example of a Scorpion impact is Goethe. We have already produced his prenatal
asterogram in Part Two. There is no need to say much about Goethe as having been, and still being, a
mouthpiece of the inherent problems, the hopes and requirements of the modern age on the road to
future evolution. This is strongly emphasized and aided by the position of Saturn in his asterogram,
above the head of the embryo image in Scales. We read in it the ingenious capacity of Goethe to cope
with, embrace, and transform opposite viewpoints into a homogeneous and integrated world conception.
The constellations below Scales are, in a certain sense, metamorphoses in the realm of action of the
summer constellations. Thus Scorpion is closely associated with the tendencies of Crab. This means that
we have, almost always, forces of the Crab nature playing into these Scorpion destinies.
Figure 21
Johann Val. Andreae - Born 17 August 1586, hour unknown–Epoch Sun in Scorpion whether time
between epoch and birth was longer or shorter.
An historic example of this aspect is the asterogram of Johann Val. Andreae. When he was about 17
years old, he wrote The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz in 1459, and later on he wrote other
works. These writings were expressions of the efforts of the Rosicrucian movement to lead humanity to
new capacities and approaches to the spiritual world, suited to the facilities and character of that age. In
part, they were also attempts to make positive suggestions with regard to the improvement of the social
conditions of humanity.
The character of the Chymical Wedding and the age when Andreae wrote it down, suggest that he
could not have done it from purely intellectual reflection. It was a clear case of inspiration. He was
predisposed to this capacity and helped by the impact of an epoch Sun from Scorpion on his bodily
organization.
Furthermore, he was assisted by his particular Mars influx during the prenatal development. This
planet started in the constellation of Archer and moved as far as Twins. By lifting up this impact into the
realm of conscious control (the path of Mars is submerged, as it were, in the embryo image), he
developed a sense of responsibility for the spiritual progress of humanity. In his later years, he was a
minister of the Protestant Church in Swabia. He took up this task after it had become obvious that the
efforts of the Rosicrucian movement had failed because of the resistance, and even active antagonism, of
the dominating political powers of his age. He even dissociated himself from the writings of his youth.
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(We have here an example of a Scorpion type that has enough self-control to keep silent if external
circumstances require it.)
Figure 22
Archduke Rudolph of Austria - Born 21 August 1858–Moon waxing above horizon

Epoch: 30 November 1857
A rather tragic example of Scorpion tendencies was the Austrian Crown Prince Archduke Rudolf
(Fig. 22). He possessed unusual talents, and his chief interests centered on natural history and literature.
He became rather estranged from his father, the Emperor Francis Joseph, and moved more and more into
opposition to the whole political setting of the Austrian monarchy. His life ended with his suicide in
Mayerling, 30 January 1889.
One can perhaps say that Archduke Rudolph was a living awareness of the impossibility of the
Austrian and Hungarian empire. The defects of this highly complex conglomeration of nations became
more and more apparent under Rudolph’s father, the Emperor Francis Joseph, and very soon after the
latter’s death (1916) it broke into pieces. Rudolph grew up surrounded by the signs of a disintegrating
monarchy, and he must have had no illusions about the facts, for it is said that he was a revolutionary.
Thus his life story in itself and his tragic death are direct expressions of the tremendous processes of
social transformation in humanity going on behind the veil of history, even during his lifetime.
Individuals may also become a mouthpiece of their age through their own biography and thus
demonstrate a Scorpion inclination. It need not only be expressed in speeches or writings.
The prenatal asterogram of Archduke Rudolph has a certain similarity with that of T. E. Lawrence
(Fig. 20). The relationship of Sun and Mars are about the same, only in Rudolph’s case the positions of
the two are shifted into Scales and Scorpion. (For instance the loop of Lawrence’s Mars was still in
Virgin, the one of Rudolph was in Scales /Scorpion.) In a certain sense, Rudolph must have considered
his life a failure, just as Lawrence did not get over his remorse with regard to his failure in the Arab
question.
Another similarity is the position of Saturn. In Rudolph’s asterogram we also find it in Crab; its
impact working into the region of the feet of the embryo image. He was also hemmed in with regard to
his relationship to the destiny of the Earth planet. The reason was probably that he could not find a
positive and spiritual connection to Christianity, to its apocalyptic background and meaning for the
future of the Earth evolution. (Saturn in Crab is the witness of the events in Palestine at the beginning of
the Christian era, since it moved through that constellation during that time.)
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In order to understand this, we must take into account that the Austrian Court was dominated, to a
high degree, by narrow-minded clerical circles in the days of Rudolph. The result was that Rudolph had
little liking for Christianity. He was, in fact, anti-clerical, which increased his difficulties with his father
and with the Austrian political setting in general.
As in Lawrence’s case, there also hovered above Rudolph the specter of an incarnation in the past
that he was unable to grasp consciously. Therefore, it followed him like a haunting ghost, and much of
his character and finally his tragic end is explained by this fact. We have here an example that shows
how such an occult background in the life of an active human mind can become the source of serious
disturbances, if the mysteries of reincarnation are not lifted up into the sphere and control of clear
consciousness. This refers especially to the Scorpion type.
Jupiter in Ram and later in Bull, in opposition to Mars in Virgin, Scales, and Scorpion (loop in
Scorpion), was the physiological foundation of a brilliant intellect. But it was also a disposition that
exposed Archduke Rudolph to grave dangers. Mars in Scorpion, above the head of the embryo image,
can often give rise to the development of liberal viewpoints and morality of a kind, whereby individuals
may lose their integrated human nature.
The Constellation of Archer

The constellation of Archer is opposite Twins but transposed into the sphere of action. We find in
Twins, the cosmic roots of all that concerns symmetry (or asymmetry) of the human form (Fig. 7). It
creates some kind of spatial direction within an entity that otherwise, coming from Ram and Bull, would
be only a point at rest.
This tendency to direction in space becomes a definite force in Archer, radiating into the external
world. It is symbolized by the arrow of the Archer and is related to the development of the lower jaws in
the archetypal human head (Fig. 7).
People who have acquired the Archer impact on their bodily nature by an epoch Sun in that part of
the Zodiac are extremely active. They find means of activity even if they are frustrated by physical
deformity. We have knowledge of a case of complete paralysis of all the limbs, and yet an epoch Sun in
Archer induced the person to paint, embroider, and write with the aid of her tongue.
Figure 23
Elizabeth, Queen of England - Born 7 September 1533–Moon waning below horizon

Epoch 12 December 1532
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Queen Elizabeth of England is an historical example of this particular impact. We need not comment
much on her fundamental Archer character. Her decisive part in English history—the expansion of
England, the successful struggle for national independence in religion and politics—is proof enough of
the typical heritage from Archer.
This was greatly assisted by the impacts of Jupiter and Mars in the constellation of Scorpion at the
time of the epoch. They were above the head of the embryo image. Jupiter in that position is an
indication of a considerable life wisdom that was able to cope with any situation with foresight. This she
certainly displayed, even during the difficult times before her ascent to the throne. Mars in Scorpion,
moving during the embryonic development as far as Bull, emphasized the sense of independence and the
realistic capacity of tackling life.
Saturn moved mainly through the constellation of Twins during the prenatal time. This is a
remarkable position. Saturn will often demonstrate the deeper reason why one has chosen a definite
historic setting for one’s incarnation. As Twins, in particular, has been connected with the development
toward individuality, we can well say that Queen Elizabeth had the necessary requisites in her
organization to serve the impulse of the dawning age of individuality. Through her whole self, she
prepared the ground for a nation whose task it is to realize in practice of life, the importance and the
efficiency of the individuality in modern humanity.
Another asterogram with an epoch Sun in Archer is that of Wallenstein:
Figure 24
Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland - Born 14 September 1583, Bohemia–Moon waxing above horizon
Epoch 18 December 1582
He was a German soldier and statesman who played a great part in the Thirty Years’ War. He had
acquired huge estates in Bohemia through marriage, and at the height of the Thirty Years’ War, he raised
and equipped an army that fought under his command in the service of the Emperor Ferdinand against
the Protestants.
He was generally victorious in his campaigns, except in the famous battle of Luetzen when the
imperialists were defeated by the Swedes, though their king, Gustavus Adolphus, was killed (1632).
After this battle, he withdrew to Bohemia and, as far as documents prove, prepared to desert the Roman
Catholic cause and the Emperor. Obviously, he attempted to bring the war to an end by negotiating with
the Protestant states “in order to force a just peace on the Emperor in the interests of a united Germany.”
The court of Vienna became increasingly suspicious of the loyalty of Wallenstein. It was decided to get
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rid of him, and he was finally murdered at Eger by a few of his own officers when the attempts to
combine with the Emperor’s enemies became obvious.
This unique destiny and the grand political schemes that Wallenstein nursed and pursued, without a
doubt, reveal the Archer impact. (His offer of a whole army to the Emperor was not an act of sheer
idealism or altruism, it was an attempt to gain political power). Other details of the asterogram confirm
and emphasize this fact.
The gesture of Mars in the limb part of the embryo image points to the will nature of Wallenstein, to
the soldier. The loop in Twins, and later the movement through Crab and especially through Lion, stands
in connection with Wallenstein’s conviction of astrological influences, but his views on astrology and
the use he made of it, betray a rather fatalistic attitude. It is said that his downfall and end were
accelerated by his over confidence in and dependence on the prediction of his astrologer.
In the course of his prenatal development, when Mars was in Lion, it came into opposition to Saturn
and Jupiter, which both moved through Waterman—and Jupiter even further into Fishes. Their
conjunction took place in Waterman. We have met such conjunctions before in other asterograms. They
speak of great turning-points in the history of humanity. In Wallenstein’s make-up, he was certainly
fitted for playing a decisive role in the destiny of Central Europe during the Thirty Years’ War. But he
obviously did not come to clear conceptions about the real struggle that was going on, to a conviction of
its spiritual significance. He behaved more like a gambler. This is accentuated by the fact that Jupiter
and Saturn were somewhat embedded in the body of the embryo image, in the realm where feeling is
prevalent over thinking.
Furthermore, this inclination was worked into a kind of inner tension by the opposition of Mars from
Lion. Wallenstein’s belief that the destiny of a human being was ruled by the stars prevented him from
breaking through to the free deed performed out of individual moral imagination. One can even say that
he stood at the crossroads from an ancient fatalistic astrology to a new conception of the connection
between the human being and the stars. Of course, such transitions can never be achieved momentarily.
They are established by going along the painful road of human error and tragedies. One cannot expect
that humanity in Wallenstein’s time were ready to acquire the idea of individuals being capable of using
their individual connection with the stars as they would use a tool.
Figure 25
Cesare Borgia - Born 17 September 1475–Moon waning above horizon–Epoch 16 December 1474
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An example that shows a rather negative side of the Archer impact is the asterogram of Cesare
Borgia. The story of Cesare Borgia is so well-known that we need not add very much. He was the son of
Pope Alexander VI and was involved in the execution of his father’s extensive political schemes as
gonfalonier (commander of an army) of the Church. Cesare was a man of utmost and unchecked cruelty,
unscrupulous and treacherous. All Italy feared him. He suffered no opposition.
We have here an example of an Archer type that shows all the cosmic-physiological characteristics
of this constellation, but without the safety valve of moral and conscientious self-control. Cesare’s age
was a period in human history that was an “inter-regnum” between traditional moral bonds and new
morality out of free inner decision. This led many people into chaotic and rebellious soul conditions.
Cesare was not the only one, but he was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding moral rebels of his
time.
The uncontrolled depths of his will are indicated by the conjunction of Saturn and Mars at birth in
Crab. It was in the limbs of the embryo image, in the region of the unconscious will. What a Lenin
developed in and through his head as Crab impact, had sunk into the limbs in Cesare’s case.
The Constellation of Goat

The constellation of Goat appears to be connected with the chin of the archetype of the human head
and with the knees in the body (Fig. 7). We know how deeply these regions of the organism are related
to one’s power of resistance. For instance, we speak of “chattering of teeth” if we are confronted with
some frightening experience, or our knees tend to become “weak” or “wobbly” under such
circumstances. We also use the expression of “keeping our chin up” when we are faced with a tough
situation. All this proves that there is in us an instinctive realization of a more occult function of the
Goat organism in our body.
Those who have acquired an affinity to this constellation through their epoch Sun can be strong-
willed to the point of being driven by fixed ideas. Because of their make-up, they may also meet strong
resistance and frustration from the external world and from the limitations of their own organism.
Figure 26
Savonarola - Born 21 September 1452–Moon waxing above horizon–Epoch: 30 December 1451
A classical example of a Goat affinity is the asterogram of Savonarola. He is famous through the
religious revolution that he brought about at Florence. In 1491, he preached in the cathedral of Florence,
and from that time onward his public influence increased to such a degree that he became the spiritual
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and religious dictator of that town. Savonarola spoke as a visionary, with mighty and even threatening
language of the wrath of God to come, of the necessity of purification and renunciation of worldly
wealth, and so on. His influence grew ever stronger, and he became something like the law-giver of
Florence, who tried to infuse his tenets and his religious demands into the constitution of the republic.
Here we see a strong will and determination resting on a Goat disposition. Of course, because of his
almost fanatical tenacity, he soon met equally strong resistance from his surroundings. His age was not
too keen on the strict rules of religious obedience and renunciation that he preached so forcefully. It was
the time of Alexander VI, the Borgia Pope.
Gradually, Savonarola moved into opposition with the political powers of Florence, and also he was
soon considered by the Holy See at Rome to be a rebel in the Church, because he also demanded—with
his usual fervor—a reform of the Church. The day came when his many enemies succeeded in bringing
about the fall of the friar. He was arrested, tried and tortured, and finally burnt at the stake. This
happened in 1498. It is an example of the extreme self-will that can grow on the foundation of a Goat
disposition, leading almost to the point of heedless fanaticism. But it was equally present in the strong
resistance that Savonarola was bound to meet from his contemporaries.
A closer study of the asterogram reveals the background of this extreme power of resistance and
determination; for instance, the head organism of the embryo image was penetrated by the impact of
Mars performing a loop in the constellation of Goat. Jupiter working into the region of the larynx
accounts for the oratorical eloquence of Savonarola. It moved through Waterman, a constellation that
speaks of an unstemmed flow of religious imagination. Saturn was below the feet of the embryo image,
where it moved in the constellation of Virgin. Here we have an impact Savonarola must have
experienced through the Earth beneath his feet. It gave him the inclination and urge to his gloomy
prophecies, which partly became true. But it also accounts for the opposition that he met in the world of
his time.
In Part Two, we have already produced the prenatal asterogram of Fr. Nietzsche, the German
philosopher, which shows also an epoch Sun in Goat (born 15 October 1844.) One can truly say of
Nietzsche, that he had a strong affinity to the forces of the constellation of Goat, which revealed itself
more and more during his later years. His utterances, for instance in Thus spake Zarathustra, his sharp
criticism of almost everything that surrounded him in his time, his sarcasm to the point of nihilism, stand
witness of a man who, by nature, clashed with his whole age. This is a typical Goat manifestation. Of
course, by energetic inner culture, this inclination can be transmuted into a healthy power of distinction
and selection, into a shining example of purity of mind and spiritual aspiration.
Nietzsche was bound to meet the resistance of his contemporaries. His tenets did not draw many
adherents while he was still alive. He became more and more isolated and lonely. Before his illness he
had very few friends left. Only after his death did he become the philosopher of those who, like him,
were in opposition to the trends and the political, religious, or spiritual institutions of the present
civilization. Many of the German Youth Movement, at the beginning of the 20th century, saw in him
their profit in their rebellion against set and fixed forms of cultural life.
The Constellation of Waterman

We have pointed out previously that the winter constellations bear a reflection of the summer
constellations. If we imagine Fishes and Virgin being pivots of an axis, we shall find that Scales is
corresponding to Lion, Scorpion to Cancer, Archer to Twins, Goat to Bull. In the upper part of the
Zodiac, the emphasis is much more on the head organization, thus providing the archetypal foundation
of whatever appears in the direction of intellectual manifestation. In the lower constellations, we have
the archetypes of the limbs where activity is more pronounced. (As far as this refers to the epoch Sun, we
must not lose sight of the fact that the positions of the planets and their movements can cause
considerable variations of the rule.)
For instance, the impact of an epoch Sun in Goat has a certain affinity to Bull, but in the sphere of
action. The example of Savonarola is one of many incidents that demonstrate this connection.
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The Waterman suggests a realization of Ram qualities in the realm of activity. The archetypal
background of this constellation (Fig. 7) reveals a relationship to the human mouth, which serves to
make speech audible. So to speak, the archetype of a human being, the integrated totality of humanity
conceived as a spiritual being, speaks its mind and reveals the inherent purposes and significance of
brotherhood in the universe. Of course, the manifestation through the single human being may be
handicapped, owing to limitations of an individual kind or of a cultural setting.
Figure 27
Paracelsus - Born 14 November 1493, about midnight, Switzerland–Moon waxing below horizon
Epoch 2 February 1493
An excellent example is the prenatal asterogram of Paracelsus. He was a physician of considerable

renown at his time, but he was also the object of great controversy among his colleagues, even up to the
present age. He had acquired his medical knowledge in a unique fashion. When he was still very young,
he set out on a twelve years’ journey looking out for secrets of healing everywhere. This led him through
a great part of Europe and right to the borders of Asia, Russia, and the Arabian countries. After his
return, he became famous for his cures and was engaged as town physician at Basle. He lectured also at
the University of Basle but soon came in conflict with his medical colleagues. He openly denounced the
classical authorities on the art of healing, like Galen and Avicenna. Soon he had to flee from Basle
because of the threatening attitude of the medical faction. From that time onward, he led a life of endless
wandering, always being called for treatment of illnesses because of his miraculous methods and
remedies, but he never stayed very long in any place. He died at Salzburg in 1541.
In spite of his restless life, he managed to write a number of books and some were published. These
books reveal a man of deep and comprehensive knowledge of the human being. It is true that they were
written in a language which is almost incomprehensible for a person of today, but if one can penetrate
the veil of occult terminology he used, one finds an immeasurable wealth of information about the
spiritual roots of nature, of the causes of illness, of the connection of a human being with the stars, and
of almost magic possibilities of healing. He went right back to the cosmic foundations of existence. In
this we see the reflection of a Ram impact on an epoch Sun in Waterman. The difference is that
Paracelsus did not intend to come as a preacher to the world; his aim remained action to the last moment,
namely healing.
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Paracelsus was a man through whom the spirit of humanity attempted to proclaim the spiritual
compass of inherent human capacities. He had his limitations, and our present consciousness is, in
general, still far from grasping (to say nothing of exercising) the hidden treasures of activity within us.
Paracelsus stood at the threshold to the modern age, as one who made it his task to demonstrate that
people are more than what modern materialism merely makes of them—“chance creatures” of heredity
and environment.
A Waterman impact was strengthened by Saturn in that same constellation, working into the head of
the embryo image. It also brought on the difficult fate that was certainly aggravated by the psychological
make-up of Paracelsus, his choleric temperament, etc.
Jupiter in opposition to Saturn moved through Crab and finally into Lion. Here are the roots of the
superb cosmological views of Paracelsus. In his last book, called Astronomia Magna, he set forth the
principles of the relationship between the human being and the stars, as he saw it and wanted it to be
applied in medicine. The time when he wrote this book is clearly connected with Jupiter in Lion, from
several points of view.
Mars started with a loop in Virgin, moved through Scales, Scorpion, Archer, and was on the point of
entering Goat at the time of birth. Its impact referred to the lower organism and the limbs of the embryo
image. We see in this, Paracelsus’ affinity to the Earth and his knowledge of the properties of our planet,
especially the loop in Virgin is an apt indication. It refers to the time before his “great peregrination”,
when he studied alchemy under the abbot Trithemius of Sponheim, and later when he worked in mines
in Tirol, where he introduced himself to the difficulties of mining, to the nature of minerals, and to the
diseases of miners. Here he acquired much of the knowledge he practiced later on as a physician.
Figure 28
William Blake - Born 28 November 1757, London–Moon waning, above horizon

Epoch 16 February 1757
The prenatal asterogram of William Blake reveals also an epoch Sun in Waterman (Fig. 28). Like
Paracelsus, William Blake has also become the object of great controversy. One can even say that he has
hardly been understood with regard to the message that he had to bring. He cannot be measured by the
standards of ordinary poetry and art, which for him must have been only the limited means of expressing
much higher intentions.
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We attribute his strange position in our present age to the proximity of Saturn and Mars to his epoch
Sun. This is also a similarity to Paracelsus’ asterogram. The emphasis here, however, is more on the
constellation of Goat. It created a disposition that made him inclined to see in simple occurrences of
daily life, a transcendent significance, which he transmuted into apocalyptic visions. He lifted up these
visions to extreme heights of cosmic-spiritual dimensions. Through Mars in Lion at the time of birth, he
had such inclinations and capacities. No language existed then for the expression of what he
experienced. He had, therefore, to invent his own terminology, which is not an easy one. Where he was
unable to express in words what he wanted to say, he used pictorial imaginations that are often equally
difficult. He, thus, gives many people headaches if they try to understand him.
Nevertheless, we contend that the voice of the spirit of humanity also spoke through him. He was a
true representative of Waterman impact in the sense of prenatal acquisition of cosmic influences.
Everywhere in his poetry and art, we find the description of the apocalyptic battle for the pure, spiritual
image of brotherhood. In certain aspects, his visions come very near the great imaginations of the
Revelation of St. John.
Another controversial matter may be the question of whether he embodied in his creations only the
products of his own mind or whether he had real vision. The movement of Jupiter in the asterogram,
through Scales and into Scorpion, suggests that he had real spiritual experiences. Jupiter referred to the
feet of the embryo image. William Blake’s deep love of the Earth and loyalty were the elements of his
particular path to higher worlds.
The Constellation of Fishes

The last constellation of the Zodiac, which we have to discuss, sums up all the impacts of the
previous ones. According to the archetypal background of the Zodiac (Fig. 7), it is connected with the
eternal countenance of humanity. People who have received the influence of Fishes through their epoch
Sun display, in some field of life, the tremendous struggle of humanity to conform with and to manifest
the divine image of the human being.
This is an everlasting battle, because there exist constant attempts by adverse powers to divert the
human race from its inherent divine purposes, to use individuals in directions different from the aims of
the Divine since the beginning of creation. Our present age, especially with its materialistic tendencies,
has little inclination to listen to such ideas that suggest an individual as being the potential spiritual
expectation of a divine world. It seems, of course, much easier to sit back and to regard an individual
only as the tiny earthworm, the product of chance, and the object of the universal process of becoming
and dying. However, the inborn urge in us to strive for the attainment of our higher being cannot be
eliminated, in spite of gigantic and powerful attempts by adverse forces to eradicate it. Usually, people
who have an epoch Sun in Fishes are involved in one way or another in a representative fashion in this
battle. They may act from seemingly high motives in life and idealistic aspirations, yet they may have
one-sided views of the totality of the divine image of humanity. (Especially our present age is apt to
develop one-sided, however suggestive, opinions of the position of the human being in the universe.)
Then destiny, the invisible but almighty power of human self-correction, steps forth and puts human
affairs into their proper perspective and in harmony with the whole. We find in connection with Fishes
distinct patterns of dramatic human destinies, which reveal healthy divine correctives for the sake of our
evolution as a totality.
An excellent example of how Fishes forces work through human beings is the opposition between
Disraeli (born 21 December 1804; epoch 23 March, 1804) and William E. Gladstone (born 29 December
1809; epoch 24 March 1809) during the past century. Both their epoch Suns were in Fishes, almost
exactly in the same place. The changeful story of their political activities has contributed much to the
countenance of modern England, but it was the uninterrupted opposition of the two personalities for
many years that caused the specific setting that was important for Great Britain in the play of modern
history. Another personality with an epoch Sun in Fishes was the famous scientist Louis Pasteur (born
27 December, 1822; epoch 7 April, 1822). From his inherent capacities, he has certainly given the
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modern age most important facts about life and the “infinitely small” opponents of life, the germs
working in fermentation, disease, etc. He has opened a gate to the physiological background of the battle
between life and death with his researches. He said, “Two opposing laws seem in contest to me now: the
one a law of blood and death, opening out each day new modes of destruction, forces nations always to
be ready for the battle; and the other a law of peace, work, and health whose aim is to deliver people
from the calamities which beset them ...”. This is certainly written into the countenance of humanity and
will be the battle for a long time to come. It belongs to the essence of the impact of Fishes.
Figure 29
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden - Born 9 December 1594 (Julian)–Moon waxing, below horizon
Epoch 3 March 1594 (Julian)
Another case where we also see the influence of Fishes working through a human organization is the
asterogram of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (Fig. 29). He was the one who interfered in the Thirty
Years’ War on the side of the Protestants. Only for little more than two years was he the active and
victorious leader of the operations against the imperial forces. In June 1630, he had landed at
Peenemünde, and the first decisive battle was fought at Breitenfeld in 1631. However, a year later he
was killed in the famous battle of Lützen (November 6, 1632).
His campaign was just sufficient to establish a balance between the forces of the Roman Catholics
and the Protestants. No more was he allowed to achieve. We see here the mighty hand of destiny that
forms the countenance of humanity according to patterns of evolution, whose significance may be
discerned only much later. A person who has the corresponding cosmic-physiological disposition might
be permitted to perform just one single deed that gives history the necessary twist of correction. His
being, stopped at a certain point—for instance by death, may appear then as a tragic destiny; but behind
the screen, we can detect the mighty alchemy of the divine world working for the good of evolution.
An extremely intricate divine alchemy in the molding of nations reveals itself in the prenatal
asterogram of Mary, Queen of Scots. It is given in Fig. 30 below. The 44 years of her life were certainly
a whirlpool of human destiny, and it is very difficult to see any logical and coherent purpose in her
biography. Nevertheless, her existence was an important historic link in the molding of the British
nation, though it might appear that during her lifetime it had just the opposite effect. We must, however,
not forget that very often opposite ingredients have to be put together in the cauldron of destiny in order
to bring about the desired mixture. And where we may have experienced great human opposition in life,
an equally strong desire for harmonious amalgamation of opposites may occur after death.
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Figure 30
Mary, Queen of Scots - Born 7 December 1542–Moon waxing above horizon–Epoch 19 March 1542
In order to shed some light on this strange destiny, we introduce a feature in this asterogram that we
have omitted so far. It is the gesture of the planet Venus (in the astronomical sense). It performed a loop
during the first months of the embryonic development. This loop interests us immensely, because by
certain methods (of which we cannot speak at present) we follow up this gesture of Venus in the rhythms
of history. We have repeatedly pointed out that the rhythms of stars (the loops of Venus come back
rhythmically) are the expressions of archetypal ideas also manifesting themselves in history. Thus, this
particular loop of Venus leads us back to the times when John the Baptist was beheaded.
Such an execution is a deeply tragic event, but the Gospels also express another view. For instance,
in St. Mark, Chapter VI, we hear of the mighty deeds the twelve apostles performed when they were sent
forth by Christ: “When Herod heard thereof, he said, ‘It is John whom I beheaded; he is risen from the
dead.’” Herod realized that John, after his beheading, was working more powerfully from the realm of
the dead than he did when he was alive. In the deeds of Christ’s apostles, Herod recognized his presence.
There was something of a similar destiny in Mary’s life, at least in a symbolic sense. (Incidentally,
the loop of Venus took place in the region of the neck of the embryo image.) It may sound strange, that
we read in this gesture of Venus, that it was Mary’s destiny to reach a point where she had to be
beheaded. After death, she had the chance to work “mighty deeds” among the so-called living for the
progress of humanity. Who can know how much of the ascent of Great Britain to its historic position
must be attributed to such influences, or if one can at all accept a positive connection between the living
and the dead? From all our investigations, we cannot support the idea that she continued with any kind
of antagonism after death, but that she acquired universal points of view.
Conclusion
The foregoing description cannot be regarded as conclusive in the relationship between a human
being and the stars during the embryonic development. It is quite obvious that many other considerations
must be taken into account before one can speak of a final and comprehensive foundation for the
judgment of individual asterograms. The viewpoint of the twelve constellations offers no more than a
general outline. For instance, there are still to be considered subtle degrees of transition from one
constellation to the next. Also within the constellations of the Zodiac one has to distinguish between the
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fixed stars that constitute the constellations. In Twins, for example, we can speak of the general aspects
of this part of the Zodiac. However, we may find an epoch Sun, or other planets near the fixed stars
Pollux or Castor, or any other fixed star within this constellation. Pollux and Castor, which are only
about 2° degrees apart, can be regarded as complete opposites. Castor would have a predominantly
earthbound constitution, whereas Pollux has more of a cosmopolitan nature. This exemplifies how
minute differences can change the picture completely. Other factors that provide infinite variations are
the fixed stars of the extra-zodiacal constellations. Looking at this maze of potential inclinations, we
come to the conclusion that it is ultimately the free individuality who must choose and decide
consciously where, hitherto, an entirely instinctive certitude of varying degrees, aided their being. The
kind of Astro-Gnosis that is demonstrated in these publications, regards as its noblest task: the creation
of the foundation for our conscious decision toward a full realization of our inheritance from the stars.
Another set of facts omitted in this present publication due to limitations of space are the gestures
and movements of the planets Venus and Mercury during the time of gestation. They are liable to
completely change the picture of such a prenatal asterogram, of the impacts of the Sun and the superior
planets. However, we have not yet demonstrated the principles for the interpretation of the inferior
planets Venus and Mercury, and of the Moon, though we intend to do so in a future publication, which
will probably be devoted solely to these problems. The last example in this present volume (Fig. 30)
conveys the necessity for the inclusion of the inferior planets in the interpretation of the asterogram.
Finally, we should like to say a word about the nature of the epoch. From the volume of evidence
collected, we conclude that this so-called epoch need not coincide with the actual conception. There is
actually no necessity to identify the epoch with conception. All we must do is to restrict our
consideration to the given facts and not overstep their orbit. First of all, the Hermetic Rule, by which the
epoch is calculated, is an attempt to determine the individual relation of a human being with the stars.
Certainly, somewhere during the embryonic processes, a link is obviously established between our
“individual cosmos” and our physiological nature; otherwise, the facts demonstrated in Parts Two and
Three could not have been produced. However, it does not follow that this link between the cosmic and
physiological nature is brought about at the exact moment of conception. We conclude that the epoch is
the moment when the cosmic image of an individual, as a formative principle, takes hold of the germ
and directs the process of incarnation. This can also take place some time after conception.
There are certain difficulties in understanding this. So long as we retain the concept that a human
being is the product of terrestrial forces and substances alone, namely, that which comes through the
contribution of the parents, we cannot form an adequate picture. It may even appear futile to apply the
cosmic aspect. Only if we can conceive the being of an individual as coming from and dwelling in a
spiritual-cosmic world before conception, can we see things in a clearer perspective. A soul ready to
descend into incarnation is offered the material requisites for existence on Earth—this is the moment of
conception. After the offer has been accepted, the spiritual cosmic entity of the soul can combine with
the germ. This cosmic being, permeated by impulses, intentions, decisions, etc., with regard to the
pending incarnation, finds its expression in the aspect of the heavens at the time of the epoch. This
moment has been deliberately chosen, because the soul regarded it as the congenial agency of combined
cosmic forces with which it could mold the germ into a human organism of individual character.
We can regard all that comes from the world of matter through the parents, etc., as a kind of matrix
that is permeated by the asterogram of the epoch as a complex world of force, chosen by the individual.
The amalgamation between “matrix” and “force” would then take place at the moment of the epoch.
This suggestion of the relationship between the terrestrial germ and the cosmic image of an
individual, corresponds also to the results of investigation in spiritual science. On this basis, we should
be able to visualize the possibility that the epoch may take place, in certain cases, before conception. In
other words, an individuality, surrounded by its own cosmic requisites of force, may have to wait for the
offering of a suitable physical germ. Then the heavens of the epoch would represent, as it were, the “pre-
established cosmic harmony”, which would lead earthly events through its dynamic characteristics into
the desired direction.
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PART FOUR
Chapter I
Cosmic Rhythms and Evolution
The present publication will be the first number of a new series dealing with an investigation of
cosmic rhythms and the question of their reflection in world history. This problem has always occupied
humanity since remotest times. There are many instances which prove that numberless attempts have
been made to find practical connections between the events and rhythms in the world of the stars and
historic development.
Perhaps one of the greatest examples of such endeavors is the Revelation of St. John the Divine,
where the past and the future evolution of our planet are set forth in mighty cosmic pictures. The
pictorial language used in the Revelation is, of course, almost incomprehensible to the ordinary faculties
of a modern person. Attempts that have been made to use and read this document, within the compass of
modern reasoning, have led to abstruse and untenable interpretations and prophecies that largely
discredit it. The Revelation of St. John is written in the language of the ancient Mysteries, and it needs
faculties similar to those cultivated in the old temple places in order to decipher its real meaning. Such a
deeper insight will discover that this document was conceived on the foundation of a profound
knowledge of the great rhythms in the cosmos, a wisdom of the stars of which our modern world knows
very little.
One of the last representatives of that lost ancient star wisdom was the famous astrologer and
Prophet Nostradamus, a Frenchman who lived during the 16th century. His prophecies, which are
contained in his publications called Centuries, have become famous and have been regarded by many
people as containing a description of coming historic events, following the age of the prophet up to the
end of the 20th century. The language of these documents is very veiled, sometimes even vague, and to
decipher their meaning is a very difficult task. Nevertheless, it is apparent that many of the prophecies
became true, even with regard to the names of historic personalities who had an active hand in the
shaping of events centuries after the death of Nostradamus. It usually happened that only afterward
people discovered that names, times, and circumstances of events were contained in Centuries but were
hidden in strange usage of words and pictorial descriptions.
It is not easy to find out how Nostradamus obtained his prophecies. However, one is aware that much
of the obscurity in his writings is due to the fact that he lived in constant fear of being reproached for
using some black, devilish art in order to gain his insight. This was, of course, a serious consideration in
the Middle Ages, in the days of the Inquisition and witch hunt, when accusations of this kind led to
certain torture and death. He had also to be careful not to offend people in high political positions by his
prognoses. For instance, the Roman Church prohibited the reading of Centuries in 1781, because they
contained veiled prophecies about the decline of the Papacy about the end of the present or beginning of
the next century.
Nostradamus said very little and only in that same guarded language of the Centuries, about the
foundations of his insight. He may have had a natural capacity of “second sight”. We know, of course,
that he was a great astrologer, who was consulted by members of the French Royal Court, chiefly by
Catherine de Medici. But it is quite obvious that he did not only employ an astrological knowledge,
which by then had become absolutely stereotyped and petrified into applications of incomprehensible
traditions about the supposed influence of the stars. However, the sources that Nostradamus used remain
obscure. There are suggestions that he used to gaze into a basin filled with water and thus received his
revelations in a state of consciousness bordering on a trance condition. Such methods have been known
in occultism since the remotest times.
Methods like those which Nostradamus employed are no longer suitable to the present age. They are
dependent on a conditioning of a human organism to a state of consciousness far removed from the
required standard of a modern age. No doubt the human organization has changed since ancient times,
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and it is no longer pliable by external means, to such a degree that satisfactory results cannot be
obtained. Moreover, it is a widely recognized fact that methods, which require the dimming down of
human consciousness to trance and mediumistic conditions, have become dangerous for our health in
this modern age.
If anything, we must seek new approaches to those realms lying beyond the normal scope of
perception through the senses. They must be in harmony with the modern capacity of consciously
controlled and disciplined thinking and in line with our desire for the full comprehension of the means
involved. These requirements can be achieved, even in the modern world.
For this purpose, we will need a study and an understanding of the rhythms in the cosmos and in
human history. We shall, therefore, have to investigate such cosmic facts as the precession of the vernal
point, the slow movements of the nodes of the planets, and the rhythms of the planets themselves.
Apart from this, we will also require a contemplative and meditative attitude, such as the kind that
Rudolf Steiner has spoken of in his many books and printed lecture cycles, and also possible ways of
training he suggested. Such methods can lead to approaches of the great unknown, which lies beyond
birth and death, beyond the inner world of a human being, and that can lead also to the spiritual
background of all that exists in the kingdoms of nature. We may simply call it the spiritual world.
Training of this kind, which anthroposophy suggests, can throw open those portals again to a world of
spiritual reality and primal cause that were closed to us since some time in the past. However, the
approach suggested here is in absolute line with the compass and capacities of any average person in this
modern age. We need not fall back into ancient modes of training that may endanger our physical and
mental health, nor need we withdraw into seclusion from any task that modern life may require of us.
This kind of approach—of the spiritual world working into the physical and results of investigations
on this basis—will make the foundation of the presentations in the present publications.
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Chapter II
The Precession of the Equinoxes
The precession of the vernal point or spring equinox has been well-known since ancient times. The
time of one complete rotation of the vernal point in the Zodiac was called a Platonic Year and takes
about 26,000 years. This suggests that the astronomical facts were perceived in Greek times, though very
probably much earlier. What is the vernal point? It is common knowledge that the globe of our Earth is
rotating around an axis, which goes through the North and South Poles. A complete rotation takes place
in 24 hours and carries each point on the surface of the Earth from west to east. Thus it happens that the
stars, the Sun, the Moon, etc., seem to rise in the east and set in the west.
Because of this rotation, each point on the Earth describes a circle in the course of one day. For
instance, if we started out from one of the poles and watched all the points on the surface of our planet
going in a straight line toward the equator, we would discover that all of them described circles which
are concentric and at the same time become bigger and bigger. We should finally arrive at one such
circle that is bigger than all the rest. This is the equator. It is situated exactly at equal distances from both
North and South Pole, and its plane forms an angle of 90° with the axis of the Earth. This equator is the
one fact that we need in order to understand the vernal point.
We must add another phenomenon of the heavens to this, and that is the plane of our solar system. It
is well-known that the members of the solar universe to which the Earth belongs are moving through
cosmic space. According to the Copernican world conception, they move in orbits of varying sizes and
distances around the central Sun. Because of their distances from the Sun and of their properties, they
move with different velocities, thus establishing a never-ending variety of relative positions among
themselves. These moving entities of our solar universe are the planets, including the Earth’s Moon.
One of the most striking features, concerning these orbital movements of the planets, is the fact that
their paths are all, with small aberrations, placed on a common plane (with the exception of Pluto whose
orbit is rather more oblique). This plane of the solar cosmos is limited, and its boundary is indicated by
the orbit of the outermost planet away from the Sun. Still, we can imagine that this plane is extending,
ideally speaking, into outer space. At all the points of its ideal circumference, it would then enter the
world of the fixed stars. This outer fringe of the plane of the solar world is the Zodiac of the fixed stars
and the stars that happen to be in or near that gigantic circle forming the familiar twelve constellations of
the Zodiac.
Based on the daily rotation of our plane, we must bring together these two astronomical facts—the
plane of the solar system and the equator of the Earth—in order to understand the vernal point. However,
as we permitted ourselves to imagine the plane of the solar universe extending into so-called infinite
space, so ought we to think of the equator of the Earth extending into cosmic space, surrounding our
planet like a collar. The ideal fringe of this collar in space is the celestial equator, which is important in
modern astronomy for the location of the stars.
We then have two planes: one is that one on which all the members of the solar system move, and
the other is the plane of the extended equator of the Earth. To this we simply add the fact that the plane
of the equator is tilted with regard to the solar plane. This is caused by the axis of the Earth, which does
not stand vertically upright on the plane of the solar system. It is inclined, and thereby the equatorial
plane forms an angle with the other, an angle that is at present about 23°27’.
We know that if two planes intersect, the points of intersection form a straight line. Also, the two
planes of the solar universe and of the celestial equator intersect along a straight line. At either end of
this line are the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes. The one where the Sun is on 21 March, is the spring
equinox and the one opposite, the position of the Sun on 23 September, is the autumn equinox.
These two planes, and the points of intersection connected with them, are of great astronomical
importance. Quite a lot more can be said about them; however, this is not our task here. We hope that in
due course an English translation of Elizabeth Vreede’s book, Anthroposophy and Astronomy, will be
available, where more details of astronomical interest concerning this matter are given.
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Figure 1
We will now proceed with a more qualitative consideration of the two cosmic facts that we have
indicated so far and which, at first, may appear only to be of mathematical and astronomical importance.
The equator of the Earth is obviously an expression of our planet’s movement in space around the Sun,
as we say in the sense of the Copernican world conception. Two points of this great circle are always
exactly opposite each other on the plane of the solar system. The rest of it is either “above” or “below”
that plane. In those two points, which correspond to vernal and autumn points, our planet is coordinated
into the movements of the other planets of our solar system.
This coordination must have an intelligent background. Of course, one tries in our time to explain all
cosmic movement, including that of the Earth, on the foundation of mechanical cause and effect, usually
in terms of gravitational pull, etc. Most people don’t realize that this isn’t an explanation. It is only an
escape or postponement of the answer, because gravitation, on the basis of electricity and magnetism, is
an unknown quantity. Nobody knows where it comes from or where it goes to. Therefore, the real origin
of cosmic movement is veiled in obscurity, as long as we seek its background in purely mechanical
world aspects.
In the case of the movements of a human being, we usually do not make this mistake. We can
investigate direction, speed, and so on, and can express it in mathematical and geometrical terms.
However, we do not, in the normal case, assume that the body of a person is moved by external forces of
which we are unaware. We know perfectly well that we move our body and direct it according to our
inner or soul world.
It is difficult for a mind, trained according to current modern thinking, to accept the idea that the
Earth is moved by similar “psychical” causes on a cosmic scale. One of the major obstacles is the
suggestion of modern science that the movement of the Earth resembles that of a mechanism, because it
appears to be uniform and ever repeating itself. Yet, this is fiction. Even on the foundation of
Copernicanism, the Earth never returns to the same position because the Sun, itself, is supposed to move
through cosmic space with tremendous speed, taking all the members of the solar family with it on this
journey.
There is no real reason why it should not be possible to consider the Earth as the physical organism
of a living, intelligent being. Why should we assume that only a creature with a human brain is capable
of developing intelligence?
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Spiritual science, which rests on the development of faculties that are capable of penetrating into that
realm of the unknown closed to the senses—to the reality of the spiritual world, recognizes the Earth as
an organism permeated by cosmic life and intelligence. Therefore, it also realizes that those points of
contact of the Earth with the extra-terrestrial world—the equinoxes—are expressions of the relationship
and exchanges between the life and intelligence of our planet and the other members of the solar family.
The objection against such ideas may be that these interplanetary exchanges appear to be of rather a
stereotyped nature and not at all what we should expect of an intelligence of the magnitude of the Earth.
The vernal point, this “sense organ” of our planet (also the autumn point), seems to be staring constantly
in the same direction. However, a simple investigation shows that this is not the case. For instance, the
planets are moving past those equinox points according to their intervals of revolution. This alone brings
an enormous variety into the “perceptions” of the Earth. There is also another aspect apart from this,
namely, the precession of the vernal point, which expresses the ever-changing character of our planet’s
contact with the extra-terrestrial world.
We said before that the outer fringe of the plane of our solar system can be imagined going out into
the sphere of the fixed stars, especially to the fixed stars of the Zodiac. We may now be allowed to
assign to the whole solar universe a capacity of contacting, through “physical” organs but “intelligently”,
the worlds beyond its own border. The sphere of contact would then be the whole Zodiac itself. There is,
of course, no intersection between the plane of the solar organism and the fixed star world. (This may
appear to be a rather boring affair, because the solar system would then always contact the same twelve
constellations of the Zodiac. However, we know that over long intervals of time, which are really short
according to cosmic perspectives, the constellations of the Zodiac are also changing their countenance,
because of the movements of single fixed stars.) We may, therefore, consider the Zodiac as the
expression or sphere of an extremely exalted cosmic Intelligence with which our whole solar universe is
communicating—receiving inspiring impulses and forces of fundamental nature.
The Earth, as a member of the solar family, would also partake in this rejuvenating and inspiring
impact from beyond the fringe of the house of the solar universe. How can we imagine this happening?
We said above that the equinoxes are points where the Earth is contacting the plane of the solar system
as a living organism. Through them our planet partakes in the common life of the whole solar family,
being a member of it and moving on its common plane or sphere. Hence, the Earth also has its share in
the communication of the solar universe with the Zodiac of the fixed stars, via that plane which serves
all the planets, to a certain degree, as a foundation for their movements.
The equinoxes seem to point constantly to a definite direction in the cosmos, wherever the Earth is
standing during its movement on the common plane of the solar family. This is also connected with the
fact that the axis of the Earth points, or seems to point, always in the same direction. Just as we, in our
imagination, extend the equator into cosmic space, so can we extend the axis and can then speak of a
celestial Pole around which the whole sky appears to rotate. We know that this celestial Pole, in the
Northern Hemisphere, is near one of the stars in the Lesser Bear.
Thus it happens that the spring equinox is at present pointing in the direction of the fixed star
constellation of Fishes, just below the western fish of the two fishes. We can, therefore, assume that the
Earth receives a definite impact of cosmic forces from the direction of that constellation, as they travel
along the plane of the solar universe. Furthermore, we know that on the 21st of March each year, the Sun
appears to stand in the point of the spring equinox and on the 23rd of September in the point of the
autumn equinox, which is caused by the relative positions of Sun and Earth during those times of the
year.
Humanity, already ages ago, experienced that this contact of the Earth with the Zodiac is slowly
changing. It is established at present, via spring equinox and solar plane in the direction of Fishes;
whereas, a few centuries before the beginning of the Christian era, it was orientated toward the stars of
Ram. This is caused by the rotation of the axis of the Earth around an ideal double cone. As we said
above, in the Northern Hemisphere the axis is at present pointing to the tail star of the Lesser Bear.
About 3000 BC, the celestial Pole was in the tail of the constellation of the Dragon. Thus, the Northern
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celestial Pole moves through the sky in a circle, in about 26,000 years, that encloses the Dragon.
Correspondingly, the celestial equator (the counter image of the earthly equator) must shift in a wave-
like, circulating fashion. This causes the equinoxes to change their direction and contact with the Zodiac.
The slow movement of these points of communication, which we thus envisage, is the so-called
precession of the vernal and autumn points (Fig. 2).
Figure 2
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Chapter III
The Precession of the Equinoxes and History
We have set ourselves the task of demonstrating the connection of the precession of the equinoxes
with the historic evolution of humanity. This particular relationship was well-known in ancient cultures.
Certain sections of the Revelation of St. John the Divine are based on it.
In the present age, Rudolf Steiner has revived these aspects in a language that is suitable to our
modern capacities. Contained in many of his books and lectures are references to that cosmological
background of our evolution. He speaks of seven great ages of cultural development, comprising the
progress we have made in Asia, Europe, and America since the last so-called Ice Age, and reaching into
the future some thousands of years hence.
According to these indications of Rudolf Steiner, each one of these cultural ages lasts about 2,160
years. They coincide with the precession of the equinoxes through the constellations of the Zodiac. A
very simple investigation confirms that the time of 2,160 years corresponds to the movement of the
equinox through one of the twelve constellations girding the great circle of the ecliptic.
Thus, Rudolf Steiner speaks of the present cultural age as having started in 1413 AD. It was preceded
by four such cultural divisions, each having lasted 2,160 years, and it will be succeeded by another two.
This gives us the following picture:
The great overall epoch of modern humanity’s evolution started during the eighth millennium BC,
exactly in 7227 BC. The first cultural age lasted 2,160 years, which brings us to 5067 BC. Rudolf Steiner
calls it the Ancient Indian Age, according to his spiritual investigations, and he connects it with the
impact of cosmic forces coming from the direction of the constellation of Crab, entering the Earth planet
through the vernal point, which in 7227 BC, was in the center of that constellation. In 5067 BC, the
second age of cultural development started under the influence of the constellation of Twins on the
vernal equinox. Rudolf Steiner calls that the Ancient Persian Age.
After another 2,160 years (2907 BC), an age commenced that was under the impact of the vernal
point in the constellation of Bull. This was the Egyptian and Chaldean civilizations. Again it lasted for a
time of 2,160 years, and in 747 BC the Greco-Roman Age of culture started, inspired by the vernal
equinox in the constellation of Ram. This lasted till 1413 AD, when our present age of civilization
began—the fifth in the sequence of those mentioned before. It is especially influenced by the vernal
equinox having moved into the zodiacal constellation of Fishes. It will last until 3573 AD, when the
vernal point will have moved into Waterman. Then again, forces different from those working at present
will exert an influence on the Earth planet and bring about changes in our cultural development.
About the time of 5733 AD, the vernal point will enter the constellation of Goat, or Goatfish as it was
called in ancient times, and this will herald the beginning of the last of the seven cultural ages of which
we have been speaking. It will last until 7896 AD, after which time the conditions on the Earth will
change fundamentally. Therefore, our existence will also continue under standards entirely different
from those to which the people of the previous seven great ages of civilization were, and still are,
accustomed. It may even be that the connection the Earth had with the cosmos through the precession of
the vernal equinox will gradually be changed.
The settings of the significance and integration of civilization, which we take—at present—as the
foundation of human evolution, may be changed into something else of a more profound and, at the
same time, apocalyptic nature. The element of time, accompanied by a radical change of the human
physical organization, may also become different. There are some indications in the Apocalypse of St.
John the Divine that, if they are properly interpreted, point to such developments.
Similarly, the conditions and standards of human existence before the advent of the first cultural
age—before the eighth millennium BC—were also different from present conceptions of what humanity
is. Then, evolution moved more along and through channels of racial development, which far surpassed
anything that we may now conceive as racial differentiation of humanity. That phase of development
took place on the continent of Atlantis, which existed, geographically, where the Atlantic Ocean is now,
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and which has disappeared in successive catastrophes, otherwise known as the Ice Ages. That setting,
comprising seven long stages of cultural development, is called in occultism the Atlantean epoch,
whereas the seven cultural ages, of which we spoke above, are simply summarized as the Post-Atlantean
epoch.
Rudolf Steiner offered numberless details concerning the development of the seven civilizations of
the Post-Atlantean epoch on the basis of his spiritual investigations. However, we do not consider it our
task here to repeat only what Rudolf Steiner said. We shall attempt to find and to work out the picture of
the cosmic background of those developments that are indicated by the movement of the vernal (and
autumn) equinox through the Zodiac, and we will employ what sidereal mythology and modern spiritual
science have to say about the constellations concerned.
In order to find a suitable starting point, giving us the opportunity of tracing the impact of cosmic
forces on the Earth by direct observation, we shall first consider our present age, the Age of Pisces—as
we may briefly call it—which started in 1413 AD and will last till 3573 AD.
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Chapter IV
The Vernal Equinox in Fishes
The vernal equinox entered the constellation of Fishes about the time of Christ, and it left the
neighborhood of the last star in Ram about 200 years BC, but as there is a narrow empty space between
Ram and Fishes, it took another 200 years until the contact with the first stars on the east side of Fishes
was actually established.
We are up against an apparent contradiction here. Rudolf Steiner said that the Age of Pisces/Fishes
started in 1413 AD, and at that time the vernal point had moved well into the ribbon of stars that
connects the two fish. We can reconcile this by considering the inevitable fate of any impulse becoming
the inspiring force of an age one day. It may start in some dimness of history and struggle for a long time
until it can break through and become effective enough to be capable of building up a civilization.
This is also the case in almost all the other instances of contact between the vernal point and
constellations. The times that Rudolf Steiner suggests for those civilizations, with few exceptions
coincide, with the moments when the spring equinox was in the center points of the fixed star groups
concerned. This would then mean that the spiritual impulse preparing to lead a civilization, which we
described above, must be existent somewhere in history long before it actually becomes effective in
evolution.
In the case of the vernal point entering Fishes, there is the obvious coincidence with the historic
Christ Events in Palestine. This can give us an idea of how such “subterranean” impulses may prepare
for a long time until they come up and into the open. Nevertheless, we should like to make a fuller
inquiry, for we cannot exactly say that the Christ Impulse alone is the inspiring agency of that
civilization starting in 1413 AD. Christianity is of a far more comprehensive and supreme nature, which
transcends the time-limited aspect of the civilizations. The cosmic impulse of our present age, whose
impact entered the Earth at the beginning of the Christian era and came into the open in 1413 AD, rather
must be something particularly decisive, because it coincided with the dawn of Christianity.
The momentum of the entry of the spring equinox, from the constellation of Ram to Fishes, was
quite exceptional. That point of transition in the Zodiac was regarded as the beginning of the zodiacal
circle by occultism since ancient times. This can be proven in several ways. Therefore, the transition
would be connected with a gradual moving away from ancient forms of civilization and the
establishment of new approaches. This is perfectly well indicated in the form and dynamics of the
constellation of Fishes.
There are two fish in that group of stars that are held together by a cord or ribbon of faint stars. One
of the fish can be seen swimming toward the constellation of Andromeda close to Ram. The other fish is
moving toward Waterman. Thus they are dispersed in the cosmic “waters” between the past—Ram and
the preceding groups of the Zodiac, together with their corresponding civilizations on Earth—and the
future—Waterman, and that culture which is not supposed to start before 3573 AD.
Greek sidereal mythology associated Fishes with the fate of Venus and her son Cupid. The gods of
the generation of Zeus established their rule only after age-long battles with their predecessors, the
Titans and their helpers the Giants. Once, the race of Zeus was nearly defeated. They saved themselves
by fleeing to Egypt, but they were not even safe there. One of the mightiest of the Giants, Typhon,
caught up with them. Venus and Cupid saved themselves by changing instantly into fish. These were the
two fish of the constellation which bears that name, so the Greeks said.
Typhon appears already in Egyptian mythology. Originally, he was recognized as a very exalted
deity. The Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty bore his name. But later on he was considered to be an evil
being, the famous Set, who slew his brother Osiris.
This is corroborated, to a certain extent, by the meaning of the constellations of Cetus to the south
and Andromeda to the north of Fishes. They belong to the whole setting of the myth of Perseus and
Andromeda, which we shall have to discuss in connection with the implications of Ram. Nevertheless, it
is interesting in the present connection that the monster Cetus, sent to devour the chained Andromeda,
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seems to have been recognized in remote antiquity as an evil being—akin to Set and Typhon—and
known in Sumeria and Chaldea as the dragon Tiamat, who was finally slain by the Sun deity Marduk.
Andromeda was also known in Chaldean times as the “Chained Maiden”.
How can we read in this cosmic setting, the foundation of the age of civilization that started in 1413
AD, after it had been inaugurated already in a hidden fashion at the time of Christ? Before we answer
this question, we shall try to extend our understanding of Fishes by introducing new aspects of sidereal
mythology; not using the term “mythology” in the sense of arbitrary creations of human phantasy but as
presenting spiritual truths in pictorial form. We have tentatively made such attempts in Isis Sophia II,
especially in Part Two and Part Three.
The constellations of the Zodiac are an external symbol of past stages of evolution. They are, in that
externalized sense, still working on during the present stages of world development. On this basis, we
will now consider the inherent impacts of Fishes and also of the constellation of Virgin, where the
autumnal equinox contacts the extra-solar universe.
Fishes and Virgin lead us back to the initial stages of past embodiments of the Earth, as they are
described in Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science—Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and Ancient Moon of
cosmic evolution. Thus Fishes contains as a working memory, the first and last great cycle of that
beginning of beginnings—Ancient Saturn. What happened then? There was conceived and set into
motion, the great cosmic idea or archetype of a human being that was to be developed in time. At the
present stage of evolution, this cosmically great archetype is realized in the shrunken and seemingly
insignificant human form. Only if we can conceive in our own creative thinking, our capacity to
comprise the whole universe in a spiritual sense, and only if we can attach creative value to this activity,
can we faintly realize the magnitude of that human being which was conceived by the divine world in
the very beginning. Certainly the majesty of that human existence is still far removed at present. But
there has entered our present Age of Pisces/Fishes, a deep stirring to find the meaning of our existence in
the universe—to comprehend the universe itself. This is contained in the scientific trend of the present
civilization. It is still much obscured by materialistic world conceptions that rather tend to eliminate
beings, by conceiving them as totally insignificant entities in the vastness of the universe of modern
cosmology. However, we must not forget that the Age of Pisces is still in its infancy and that the present
standards of recognizing our true nature and that of the cosmos may be no more than children’s diseases.
There is also another aspect of Fishes as a working cosmic memory of that Ancient Saturn stage in
the dim past. That divine image of humanity, as splendid as it was in cosmic conception, was still
lifeless. It was, in a sense, no more than an automaton, which was only much later permeated with life,
consciousness, and ego-realization. Therefore, it is possible that during the Age of Pisces, impulses can
enter civilization that maintain and perpetuate “backward” views that cannot, or do not want to,
comprehend the evolution of the human being since those very first beginnings on Ancient Saturn. They
account for materialistic attempts to regard all humanity and the universe as machines. Still another
aspect enters our civilization through the working memory of Fishes. This is the background of Ancient
Sun. Life then penetrated the Saturn creations of the divine world, after having been transferred to that
Sun stage. This mystery of life, working in matter, is like a haunting ghost of the present civilization.
Modern science is still far from comprehending or handling the secrets of animation of lifeless mineral
matter, but there is certainly a deep urge to discover them.
From another angle, a different cosmic background is penetrating our present civilization. This is
connected with the constellation of Virgin, which is a working memory of the initial stage of the so-
called Ancient Moon embodiment of the present solar system. Then the creations of the divine world,
having been permeated by life on Ancient Sun, were endowed with the capacity of consciousness—at
least as far as those species that were our predecessors were capable of receiving it.
This impact works at present through the autumn equinox, which is connected, from the viewpoint of
the Sun, with that season of the year during which the manifestations of external nature, especially
vegetative life, dwindle away. Then it is our task to develop an inner life of consciousness and of the
soul. Working from the cosmic background into human souls, are those active memory-pictures of past
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stages when consciousness, not yet self-consciousness, entered the ancestors of humanity for the first
time. This is manifest in this fact: that present humanity is slowly obliged to recognize the fact that
consciousness can only be kindled by a gradual wasting away of external nature. The mystery of death,
which also haunts this present age, will more and more be recognized as the only portal to conscious
spiritual existence. It must become, in the present age, the revealed mystery of attaining “life through
death”, the realization in thinking, at least, of the Resurrection. The road to spiritual human existence
was opened by most dramatic events on the Ancient Moon embodiment, the commencement of which
we see still working on as an active cosmic memory in the constellation of Virgin.
Therefore, another impact will enter the present age coming from that direction of the Zodiac. The
Virgin not only contains the past but also, in a germinal fashion, the very last stage of the present Sun-
Earth-Universe. This is not yet very apparent at present, but it will break into this civilization sooner or
later. It is the question of the meaning and significance of a human being; namely, that at the end of the
days of the present cosmos, will we have attained the full capacity of the world embracing ego? Unless
the Age of Pisces finds an opening to this fundamental problem, it will be but an empty shell—without
fruit.
Equipped with this greater cosmic background, we can now return to the implications of sidereal
mythology of the two constellations concerned. They seem to amplify more the immediate concerns of
the present age of evolution in the whole setting of the circumstances in which humanity has actually
arrived. For instance, we heard of the plight of Venus when she was persecuted by Typhon. A picture of
a similar nature is contained in the story of Andromeda being exposed to destruction by Cetus.
The constellation of Virgin also presents a similar setting of mythological imaginations. In the
famous Zodiac of Denderah, of Egyptian origin, Virgin is definitely represented as Isis nursing the holy
child. It is the Isis whose husband, Osiris, was killed by the sinister Set. In Chaldean world conception,
Virgin also seems to have been identified with the myth of Ishtar (the Chaldean equivalent of Isis) and
her husband, Tammuz. He was slain by a wild boar and carried off to the underworld. Ishtar entered
through the seven gates of the realm of the shades in search of him, and only after tremendous
tribulations was she able to rescue Tammuz.
The story of Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, points in a similar direction. Persephone is
carried away from the upper Earth by Pluto, the dark Prince of the Underworld. Demeter, in her grief,
implored Zeus to interfere, after which a compromise was reached. Persephone was obliged to stay for
half a year with Pluto in the depths, and the other half a year she was permitted to return to the upper
world.
These myths are often explained as nature myths, signifying the change of the seasons. There is some
truth contained in this, in so far as the seasons are an external expression of spiritual happenings that can
be found in purity only in the soul of an individual. Thus we hear in all these stories of the sufferings of
a woman of divine-cosmic nature: Andromeda, Isis, Ishtar, Demeter, Persephone, etc. She is persecuted
by a monster of some kind. In the case of Andromeda it is that dreadful Whale, Cetus; whereas,
concerning the constellation of Virgin, it is the Hydra, the long star-image of the Water Serpent that
Hercules is supposed to have slain. It is situated to the south of Virgin.
We may see in the Virgin Goddess an image of the soul of humanity in the purity of her divine
cosmic origin. But who is her adversary? and persecutor? In Greek mythology the Hydra is the son of
Typhon and Echidna, another monstrous figure. He is the same as Set, the arch-villain of Egyptian
cosmology who slew Osiris. In China already the Hydra, or part of it, seems to have had a bad
reputation.
Thus the line is quite clear. The divine soul of humanity is threatened by a being, or beings, who
want to destroy that divine nature of the human being. It is connected with darkness—the Boar of Winter
who slays Tammuz—and the center of gravity-stricken Earth—the domain of Pluto, the robber of
Persephone. This is, then, the immediate aspect of the present Age of Pisces/Fishes and Virgin. All that
of which we spoke before as wanting to enter this civilization: the search for the cosmic divine image of
humanity, the quest for the riddle of life, the conquest of conscious comprehension of the meaning of the
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human being and universe, is obstructed, ridiculed, and threatened with destruction by the Prince of
Darkness—called Ahriman by spiritual science—and gravity. This is certainly a most dramatic fact that
has become true in this Age of Pisces.
There is also another mythological picture connected with both Fishes and Virgin. Cetus and Hydra
are descendants of Typhon, who is finally overcome by Horus. Also the Hydra is slain by Hercules,
whereas Cetus is destroyed by Perseus. Furthermore, we have good reason to assume that those
creatures, created by the adversary, are identical with the Chaldean Tiamat, the great world dragon who
wrought destruction on humanity and the universe, but was finally destroyed by the Sun deity Marduk.
Contained in this is the foundation of all those great imaginations of St. Michael’s or St. George’s fight
with the dragon. These inspiring pictures have always accompanied humanity, but in our present age
they will become of special significance. We can assume that this dramatic setting of the fight with the
dragon will become an integral part of our civilization in all spheres of human life and activity. Thus it
will be one of the profoundest tasks of this age: to save the divine cosmic soul of humanity, this God-
inspired image of the human being, from destruction by those spirit-denying forces.
On this foundation, we can also understand why this Age of Pisces stands at the threshold of a long
cycle of evolution coming to an end during the preceding Age of Ram. Its undercurrents received a
totally new impulse through the Christ Event, which took place when the vernal equinox entered Fishes.
From that time onward, we witness the evolution of humanity gradually losing all cultural traditions
coming down from ancient phases of evolution. This has become apparent since the 15th century AD in
all spheres of human life and civilization. At the present moment, there is not one section of spiritual
culture that does not demonstrate the loss of the last heritage of our forefathers. This is especially
obvious in the sphere of religion but also in philosophy and social life. One writer on the history of
religions concludes his book with the words:
“Flowers, and even trees, are still growing on the ruins of religions and philosophies. That
is all that the historian can tell, on reaching the verge of the present. He cannot but see,
besides that, in the human soul around the ruins and the flowers and the trees, there is the
menace of the desert.” (A History of Religions, by Denis Saurat.)
It is the impact of the fish, of the two fishes, that is turned toward Ram, the becoming aware of the
final loss of traditions that were once upon a time our living and mighty supports. But there is the other
of the two fishes swimming toward the future, toward Waterman. It reminds us that the decay of
tradition is the necessary precondition for a new start. Where can we find the provisions for a beginning?
The answer can only be in those events that took place at the very moment when the vernal equinox
moved from Ram to Fishes, the Christ Events themselves. That greatest Event of the Earth evolution
happened when the cultural storehouses of humanity were almost empty, and we were in the hour of
greatest need.
There is only one point that must be remembered: It will not help this present age a bit, nor the
future, if the Christ Events are approached with ancient means of cognition. This has been done in
exoteric Christianity during the last nineteen hundred years, but the results are not very inspiring. Even
philosophy and theology were unable to grasp the meaning of Christianity to the extent that it could be
realized as the very foundation of the most profound change in human evolution. Christianity became a
religion among religions, whereas from an esoteric viewpoint, it is the fulfillment of all religions and
philosophies of the past.
Such a Christianity, conceived on the background of its cosmic significance, is the only provision
that we can obtain on the road into the future. Without it there is no future for humanity. This is the
supreme message of the constellation of Fishes. It is not compelling—only warning and pointing the
way, leaving us free in this age to make our own decisions.
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Chapter V
The Vernal Equinox in Crab
The results of our investigations with regard to the movement of the vernal equinox through Fishes
can give us the assurance that we stand on firm ground. In the preceding chapter, we worked out the
main characteristics of Fishes and their reflection in modern civilization. This is, of course, only an
outline and can be amplified by the study of greater astronomical detail. For instance, in the picture that
we drew of the spring and autumn equinoxes, we should also include the solstices and their positions in
the Zodiac. This would enhance the description of the characteristics of our modern age. Nevertheless,
the few indications given may inspire enough confidence to go beyond the boundaries of the civilization
of Fishes in order to gain some information about the cultural development of humanity in the past and
in the future.
We will investigate the age that was inspired through the vernal point in the constellation of
Cancer/Crab. As we pointed out earlier, that civilization started toward the end of the eighth millennium
BC. The vernal equinox was then near the center of Crab and is marked by the faint nebula of the
Praesepe. Why should this have heralded the beginning of the first civilization—of a series of seven—in
the course of what we earlier called the Post-Atlantean epoch?
One particular aspect of ancient sidereal mythology concerning Crab can give the answer. It was
considered to be the Gate of Souls when they descended from the heavens to the Earth. The opposite
constellation of Goat was the Gate to the Heavens, or to the Gods, through which souls entered after
death, called The Beyond. Between these two symbols, the span of the seven cultures of the Post-
Atlantean epoch would then be lying—between the momentum of the entry of the soul into a particular
and unique relationship to the earthly world and the exit at the end. We can also assume that this
connection, which we have at present with the Earth, was different before the Post-Atlantean Epoch and
will change after the seventh civilization.
What kind of culture was it that was far before documented history and whose character we may be
able to read in Crab? First of all, we feel obliged to consider the ancient mythology of that constellation.
This is a bit scanty, because Crab is one of the two groups of stars (the other is Scales) that seems to
have been obscured or “lost” during the last centuries, perhaps even millennia before Christ. Therefore,
it is slightly difficult to find out how those peoples, who still recognized it in ancient days as an
independent constellation, experienced it. For a certain interval of time it appears to have been counted
as part of Lion. This was the age when humanity introduced the decimal system in arithmetic in the place
of the older duodecimal methods. (Incidentally, at the same time, humanity seems to have recognized
only ten groups of stars of the Zodiac in the sky, Crab being swallowed by Lion and Scales having been
the claws of Scorpion.) The story of Crab being amalgamated with Lion is beautifully hidden in the
story of Samson in the Old Testament (Judges XIV and XV). It is contained, for instance, in the story of
the swarm of bees in the carcass of a lion that was slain by Samson. The center part of Crab—the star-
cluster Praesepe—was indeed called in ancient times, and in certain parts of humanity, the Beehive.
However, there is some mythological evidence that can help us in our search. Strangely, it is also
connected with the struggle of the Olympian gods with their predecessors for the supremacy in Greece,
which we met before. The stars of Crab were two asses that were ridden by Bacchus (or Bakchos) and
Silenus in the great battle against the Giants. The two animals made a frightening din with their braying,
and the enemy was driven to flight. This seems to coincide with much older traditions of Asian
cosmology, which speak of Crab as representing two asses. Two stars of the constellation are still today
called the Aselli.
Bacchus, one of the two riders, is Dionysos, whose cult was well-known and practiced, for instance,
in Greek Orphism. In those mysteries he was called Dionysos Zagreus (he who is torn to pieces). He was
the deity who brought humanity the civilization of the wine, also the plantation of trees, etc. In some
myths he appears as the tamer of the elemental and destructive forces in nature. But he had a terrible
destiny. He was torn to pieces by the Titans, the pre-Olympian gods, and eaten by them. Deep mystery
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wisdom lived in this legend, which was cultivated by the Orphic movement. The god torn to pieces was
experienced as a symbol of the soul of humanity originating in the Godhead. It is only a fragment of
what was at one time integrated in the Divinity and, by destiny, is obliged to incarnate in the physical
body. In the multitude of human souls on Earth, the Godhead is torn to pieces.
Thus Bacchus-Dionysos was the spiritual reality of the painful but necessary process of
individualization in our evolution, of endowing us with an individual soul in which a spark of the divine
origin was still alive. Moreover, the cultivation of the wine speaks for this, because the wine was used in
ancient times to awaken the power of the ego in the human being.
This mythological aspect of Crab may lead right back into very ancient times, of course, suggesting
different conceptions. It can be regarded as the key to an understanding of that very first Indian Age of
the Post-Atlantean epoch. From another angle, through spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner, we hear that
the people of the Indian Age took the first step to the development of the individuality, thus becoming
the foundation of all human development in later civilizations. Before the time of Ancient India, which
is the culture of Crab, single human beings were members of the race or tribe to which they belonged—
certainly not nearly an individual in a modern sense.
It is not difficult to discover in the Dionysos aspect of Crab, the very foundation of all cultural
development: first in Asia, later in Europe, and finally in America. Through the development of the
individuality, we each pass through stages where it seems apparent that the connection of our soul with
its origin in the Godhead is torn, and the spark of the Divine in it is almost killed.
Silenus, the second rider and companion of Bacchus in that great battle against the Titans, was the
educator of Dionysos. He was the Son of Pan, and he knew the dim past and equally the future. When he
was drunk or asleep, he could be induced to sing and to prophesy. We can see in him the counterpart of
Dionysos, the spiritual reality of the fore-knowledge of the laws and necessities of human evolution
through the ages of Post-Atlantis.
Two more aspects must be added in order to make the picture complete. Above Crab, some distance
away, is the well-known Great Bear, and below it is the head of the Hydra. We have met the Hydra
before in connection with the constellation of Virgin. We came to the conclusion that these creatures,
like the Hydra and Cetus—the descendants of Typhon, were known long before Greece and were
possibly identified with the great Tiamat of Chaldea. Tiamat was originally the great Mother who
created everything that exists out of water, but she came eventually into opposition to the gods whom
she had created, the dynasty of Anu. In her anger she brought forth destructive beings of terrible shapes.
The gods heard through their messenger:
Tiamat, our mother, now hates us ...
The mother of all, who gave birth to everything that is,
She has brought forth enormous snakes -
Their teeth are sharp, they kill pitilessly -
She filled their bodies with venom, not with blood.
She has brought out the snakes, monstrous reptiles,
Tempest fiends, furious dogs , men-scorpions,
Storms, fish-men, rams
And they have weapons of terror, and they lust for fight.
(A History of Religions, by Denis Saurat.)
Marduk was then chosen by the Gods to be their fighter. He killed the terrible Tiamat, divided her in
two parts. The one part became the waters of heaven above, the other the waters of the Earth below. This
is an exact mythological description of the condition that prevailed on the continent of Atlantis. For long
ages that continent was heavily fog-bound. Then the mists cleared, causing a destructive amount of
condensation that came down on the land as unimaginably severe rainfalls. The continent was gradually
submerged in these flood catastrophes, while in other parts of the Earth caused the so-called Ice Ages. At
the same time, the constellations of the stars appeared in the heavens for the first time—the men-
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scorpions, the fish-men, the rams. It must have been a tremendously frightening experience for the
human beings of that dying continent. Then great leaders under Divine guidance, foremost among them
Manu (known in oldest Indian mythology), gathered the remnants of Atlantean humanity and led them to
the east, chiefly to the emerging continent of Asia. Thus, that great Manu founded the Ancient Indian
civilization, and the future of evolution was saved from extermination.
It doesn’t seem to be too far fetched to connect the Hydra with Tiamat in her rage, the condensed
waters of Atlantis, and revealing the terrifying countenances of the starry constellations. Incidentally, the
Hydra stretches underneath Lion and Virgin, right into the neighborhood of Scales. Those were the
constellations in which the vernal point was during the final stages of Atlantis. The head of that great
serpent, underneath Crab, betrays the birth of Ancient Indian civilization out of the universal catastrophe
of Atlantis. Marduk, the victorious deity inspiring the great initiate Manu, had created a place for
humanity between the heavens and the waters of the deep, where it could continue its evolution toward
spiritual freedom.
The stars of the Great Bear are above Crab, some distance away. The association with a bear is
evident all over the world. Even the Red Indians saw in that group of stars the same animal,
independently of the European and Asian continent. Yet, apart from these myths, there also appear in
one place or another, conceptions that seem to have had a more hidden significance.
The most conspicuous stars of the Great Bear are those seven that at present form the so-called
Dipper or Wagon, sometimes called the Plough. (In ancient times they may have stood in a different
composition.) Those seven are also named the Septentriones or the Seven Sages. In Celtic mythology
they appear as seven great heavenly rulers, or Knights, who sent out the boy Arthur to become King, in
order that he might fashion his earthly kingdom according to their Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore he
established the Round Table, which was a copy of the Round Table of these Seven in Heaven. After his
death he returned to the Septentriones, and this is the reason why they are also called Arthur’s Chariot or
Wain. There are even indications that some Red Indian tribes conceived the Septentriones as seven
beings who went to heaven because of their persecution on Earth and shone as those stars.
In this we read another important feature of the Ancient Indian culture inspired by the vernal point in
Crab. Once that civilization had been established, the great Manu withdrew to the secrecy of certain
mystery places in the interior of Asia, from where he guided, and still guides, the evolution of humanity
from a very lofty angle of divine intuition. However, the Ancient Indian people were now led by seven
Holy Rishis, who received their training and inspiration from the great Manu. They were great teachers
who were able to contact the cosmic fountains of supreme wisdom. Thus they worked in turns on the
peoples of that ancient civilization and established, by revelations of the divine world that spoke through
them, an extremely spiritual culture. Only a shadowy fraction of that wisdom is contained in the sacred
books of later India, for instance, in the Vedas.
All this evidence, obtained through ancient sidereal mythology, can be corroborated and amplified by
the application of what we may call modern mythology, which is a description of the spiritual-cosmic
background of evolution in the language of the constellations of the Zodiac. In this sense, we will now
consider, as far as Crab is concerned, those earlier embodiments of the present universe that are known
as Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, and Ancient Moon.
The constellation of Crab can be conceived as a reflection of a phase on Ancient Saturn, during
which the very first etheric rudiments of the human senses were created (See Isis Sophia II, Parts Two
and Three). In that moment was inaugurated that long development of the human organization, going
through many changes that finally enabled souls to establish a contact with the external world through
the senses and, in a fashion, suited to their present condition.
The people of Ancient India took a decisive step toward the realization of this connection with the
world through the senses. Ever since, this has been the fundamental principle of cultural development in
ages following that of Ancient India. This first step was an extremely difficult task and felt like a painful
incarnation on Earth for those people. In preceding times of Atlantis, the human being’s perception of
the physical world was hazy as long as the Atlantean continent was shrouded in heavy mists. Still, the
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inner “senses” were more developed; something that may have been more akin to what is today called
instinct, clairvoyance, etc. Then the Ancient Indians began to experience the full impact of a world of
light and other qualities that can only be perceived by the physical senses. Gradually, the inner, more
spiritual or clairvoyant perception of world facts was pushed into the background. It was the beginning
of the end of those wonderful connections of the human being with the reality of the spiritual world.
There are only weak and atavistically distorted remnants existing today.
The story of Crab, with regard to the Ancient Sun embodiment, speaks of a phase when the indistinct
form of humanity, ever changing like a cloud, was made to maintain its definite and own integrated
shape. Before, our organization was open to all cosmic influences, reacting to any impulse by
spontaneously changing the form of the body. Something of this kind happened also in Ancient India.
The human form was then still closely related to and under the influence of the cosmic world, of the
planets, etc. The fontanels were still open, and the cosmos could work powerfully on the organization.
(This is the case now only at the beginning of an infant’s life.) However, those openings of the skull
began to close, and humanity advanced on the road toward becoming beings who emancipated
themselves more and more from the influence of the cosmic-spiritual world. This was a necessity and
was set as the chief task of the civilizations following Ancient India, although it was felt to be a painful
and tragic experience, traces of which are still prevalent in the attitude of eastern people to this day. This
development was inaugurated by the impact coming from the direction of the present constellation of
Crab through the vernal point. From a certain aspect of the cosmic evolution of the human organization,
Crab is closely associated with the fontanels of the skull (See also Part Three). It culminated in the
Christ Events in Palestine, at the beginning of the Christian Era when the planet Saturn was in Crab and
when preparations were made to give the emancipated human beings, divorced from the spiritual
cosmos, the possibility of establishing a new connection with the spiritual world by their own free
decision.
The aversion of eastern humanity (for instance, apparent in Hinduism) to the material world reveals
another impact of Crab on those civilizations in prehistoric times. This is the aspect manifest in that
group of stars, reflecting certain phases of evolution on the Ancient Moon. During the third great cycle
of that past embodiment of the Earth, the equivalent of the present Sun had separated from the main
body. The Earth had been engrossed in a densification that was uncongenial to the Sun. Subsequently,
the Moon became the place of a kind of cosmic rebellion against the higher divine hierarchies who
remained united with the Sun. The beings on the Moon, including the ancestor of present humanity,
gained greater independence at the cost of emancipation from the spiritual cosmos. This phase is
remembered, as it were, in the constellation of Scorpion, but the spiritual awareness of the gravity of that
Moon-drama, from the viewpoint of the separated Sun, is contained as memory in Crab. Thus the
Ancient Indians witnessed the commencement of descent into the material world, aided by the
awakening of the physical senses, almost as an onlooker. But they viewed it with dismay and mourning
for the fading capacity of direct, though unfree, contact with the divine world.
These are only the main outlines of the impact of Crab on civilization, but they may suffice to
provide a picture of what the culture of that early humanity, at the beginning of the Post-Atlantean
epoch, has been.
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Chapter VI
The Vernal Equinox in Twins
The vernal equinox entered the constellation of Twins during the second half of the seventh
millennium BC. Soon after that, it was directly below the twin stars Castor and Pollux. Yet the historic
age of Twins did not start before 5067 BC when the vernal point had already moved into the feet of that
constellation.
Before we study the ancient mythology of Twins, we should prefer to concentrate on the reflections
of past world evolution as they are contained in that group of stars.
The very first stages of the development of the human being are already inscribed in Twins. Ancient
Saturn, the primal beginning of the Earth existence, consisted of nothing but amorphous ethereal
substance at first, manifesting itself at a certain moment as warmth only. Then mighty divine
Intelligences, who are called in Genesis the Elohim, started to work upon that substance. Their ultimate
aim was to mold it in time to such a degree that it could become the bearer of an ego. Thus, humanity
was conceived as beings who took their share in the world of substance and matter; and who were, at the
same time, capable of developing a realization of Self.
However, that primal substance of Ancient Saturn was far from realizing the supreme impulse of the
Elohim, or Spirits of Form, as they are also called. Only a reflection, as it were, remained as an
impression on what had come into existence in the Saturn universe. Thus it happened that the amorphous
warmth was divided into individual parts, appearing like the sections of a mulberry. These were the very
first beginnings of the physical bodies. In that moment, an evolution was inaugurated that lasted
throughout the following stages of Creation. Only on the Earth did the time come when human beings,
though in their bodily nature only a miniature or microcosmic representation of the whole created
universe, were able to be endowed with the ego and the awareness of it by their particular connection
with the cosmos. Only then could they realize the meaning of their being embodied in the world of
substance and matter.
Something of this impact we should expect to have been working during the Twins civilization, or
Ancient Persian Age. We find it there indeed. The Ancient Indian still had a certain antipathy against,
even fear of, the material world. It was called “Maya”, an illusion, the only reality being the spiritual
world. For the Indian, it was a state of misery to be incarnated in it. There was a tendency to see the only
solution as getting out of it as quickly as possible. This is still apparent in the teachings of Hinduism.
The Ancient Persians had an almost diametrically different outlook on Earth existence. They felt in
themselves the natural gift to accept the challenge of the material world; they were much more related to
the Earth, to nature, and to the beauty of the world presenting itself to them through the senses than the
Ancient Indian. For them it was much more a question how to maintain the integrity of their inner being
in the swell of impressions coming from without.
Therefore, they had to have a spiritual guidance different from that of the Indians. One of the greatest
initiates of humanity, who in one of his later incarnations (about the time of the Persian King Cyrus) was
active as the Zarathustra, was delegated by the great spiritual leader of Post-Atlantis to guide the people
who had settled in the highlands of Iran.
That great Zarathustra of Ancient Persia led the inner gaze of his people to the realization of a
mighty Divinity, Ahura Mazdao, the great Aura of the Sun. It is significant that he did not point to the
visible Sun in the sky but to the Aura of it. It was the Spirit of the Sun, none other than the cosmic guide
of those Elohim, or Spirits of Form, who work from the Sun into the whole solar universe. The people
then had not fully acquired the realization of the ego. It was still held by the Elohim, especially by their
source, Ahura Mazdao. From indications contained in the holy scriptures of the Persians, we conclude
that Zarathustra recognized in the Spirit of the Sun, the One who was to enter the earthly world as the
Christ. Certain prophecies speak of events to come, which we find also in the New Testament,
concerning the life and mission of Christ.
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Thus Zarathustra pointed to Ahura Mazdao as the greater Ego of humanity on Earth, in Whom we
could find the power to maintain the integrity of our own being in the surge of external nature through
our senses.
There also existed in Persia, a striking spiritual conception of the elements of the Earth, which one
can understand only on the background of the constellation of Archer, the group of stars were impacting
the autumnal point during Ancient Persian times. Fire was then the purest element; therefore, it was
considered to be a crime to disintegrate the human body after death by cremation. It was exposed to the
vultures, a custom still practiced today by the last remnants of Zoroastrianism, the Parsees. Air, water,
and earth were in degrees less pure; in fact, the forces of darkness opposing the light of Ahura Mazdao
were mingled with them.
Archer describes a further stage of Ancient Saturn, following the one mentioned above. After the
Spirits of Form, another hierarchy of divine beings worked upon that planet. They are called Spirits of
Personality in modern occult language. They went through a phase of their own self-realization similar
to present humanity, only under that totally different external setting. In those warmth entities, which
had come into existence previously, they experienced something like their “bodies.” In the still lifeless
and purely reflective capacity of those entities, the Spirits of Personality realized their own being, which
they saw in the mirror, as it were, of warmth or fire. The impact of these developments, which appear in
the cosmic memory of Archer, was also working into Persian civilization through the autumnal equinox.
It became the foundation of the perception of fire as the most sacred element on Earth. Air, water, and
earth came into existence much later, after the original substance of warmth had been successively
condensed; in other words, when it was gradually adulterated in the course of evolution following
Ancient Saturn, i.e., when humanity was successively involved in these stages of condensation of
substance in Archer.
The aspect of the Ancient Sun evolution, which is also written into Twins, had an equally profound
influence on the formation of Ancient Persian culture. A part of the warmth of Ancient Saturn had by
then been condensed into air; another part remaining behind as warmth. Together with this descent of
substance, there also had taken place an elevation of the creature. Those who had acquired a twofold
body of warmth and air were permeated by life, or a life organism, as the result of the workings of very
exalted divine hierarchies. Thus the predecessor of humanity on Ancient Sun had become a twofold
being, consisting of a physical body and a life organism. This is expressed in the twofoldness of Twins,
in the twins Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology, and in the corresponding stars in the heavens.
The twofoldness of these Sun ancestors had a profound influence on their connections with the world
around them. Their physical corporeality acted more like the root organization of a present-day plant,
though it can be compared with the plant only in the sense of dynamic quality. Certain hierarchical
beings worked in it and developed further the subtle foundations of the sense organs, which had already
been inaugurated on Ancient Saturn. Through these activities in the realm of the senses, a connection
was established between the Sun ancestors and a kingdom below them, remaining in a repeated Saturn
existence of warmth only.
The cosmic memory-impact of this phase of evolution revealed itself in the contact that the Persians
established with external nature. We said before how they were much more devoted and receptive than
Ancient Indians to the impressions flowing into them through the channels of the senses. The kingdoms
of nature and the elements of the Earth planet were experienced as something more than illusion only,
which one felt inclined to shun. The paramount need that was recognized was to work with “fallen”
nature, to cultivate and redeem it. For instance, agriculture came more to the foreground, the cultivation
of cereals, etc. It was felt that working on the soil laid open the darkness of the Earth, so that it could be
permeated by the forces of the cosmos, by light and warmth, etc. For in the darkness and heaviness of
the material Earth the power was conceived that opposed the workings of Ahura Mazdao, the God of
Light. That opposing spirit was called Angra Mainyu or Ahriman. The task was to combat Ahriman and
the host of demons who served him. All this was a realization of one side of the memory aspects
contained in Twins.
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The life organism or “etheric body” of our Ancient Sun ancestors was also permeated by
Intelligences of the divine hierarchies. They permeated it with mighty Imaginations, revealing the events
in the spiritual cosmos in pictorial form; the wonders of the leaves and of the many-colored blossoms of
the present plant world are but a very faint recollection of the etheric pictures once woven into the life
organism of our Sun ancestors. They had great creative power and shaped certain organic systems of
their bodies.
This phase of evolution, working as cosmic memory impacts through Twins, was also apparent in
these Ancient Persians. Those who had devoted their lives to the study and the practice of the
interrelationship between Earth and cosmos were called Magi in later times. For instance, those who
came to visit the Jesus child, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, were such “Kings” or Magi, the
last representatives of what one might call a holy order of Initiates of the Twins culture. They were
disciples of the great Zarathustra. From the scanty remnants of ancient Persian documents, we know
what is otherwise confirmed by spiritual investigation, that they had a tremendous insight into the
working of cosmic rhythms in earthly affairs. They did not consider so much the single, visible stars as
was done in an astrology of later time. In the rhythms of the stars, they read the manifestations and
impulses of the divine world: of what was to be done at the moment and what was to be expected in the
future. The most dynamic prophecies concerning the future of the world stemmed from this wisdom. In
these capacities of the Magi, which have long since died out, there lived the last reflection of those
mighty cosmic pictures flowing into the etheric body of our Sun ancestors.
That sublime wisdom of cosmic rhythms was applied to practical purposes, for instance, agriculture,
etc. We can hardly imagine how it was used during classical Ancient Persia, but it certainly had more
than just the character of a passive registration of the cosmic rhythms. Humanity still had a physical
organization that enabled the use of these forces in a very active sense. In sacred ceremonies, the powers
of the heavens were implanted into the Earth. The Ancient Persians could do it, because they also had a
better knowledge of the elements of nature, etc., than we are inclined to imagine. Today, we should call
such capacities “magic”, but the fact that we of the present age have bodies no longer suitable to magic
practices, has cast a deep shadow of misunderstanding, apprehension, and suspicion that is justified
where there is the pretension that the ancient ways are still valid.
The reflection of the events on Ancient Moon, imprinted in the constellation of Twins, is also
apparent in Ancient Persian civilization. It tells us of the middle phase of that previous planetary
embodiment of the Earth. Our Moon ancestor had been endowed by then with the capacity of inner or
soul reflection of external events. They consisted of a physical, an etheric, and a soul-body. At the same
time, greater independence had been achieved that led to a limited degree of emancipation from the
spiritual cosmos. This same emancipation was bought at the price of greater fragility of the bodily
organization. In rhythmic intervals of time, this body became uninhabitable for the soul, and it had to be
left behind. With the higher principles of the organization, the soul was led out into the cosmos of the
Sun. There, in the spiritual harmonies of the solar universe, souls rejuvenated and brought new vigor
back to another existence on the Moon. This kind of division of our being, that inner contrast, is
expressed in the duality of Twins but also in the image of Archer, in the mythological figure of the
Centaur uniting in itself the animal nature with the rudiments of human nature.
Shadowy reflections of that state of evolution were the foundations of the world conception of the
Ancient Persians. When one entered the world through incarnation, it was felt that one came into a place
where darkness and heaviness reigned, where the forces of Ahriman, working from the center of the
Earth, held sway. Death and decay was the ultimate end of that world. It had come about by the Great
Fall, already on Ancient Moon, when retarding forces of Luciferic and Ahrimanic nature had brought a
cleavage into the cosmos in which our Moon ancestors were also involved.
The forces of evil were experienced quite realistically in the events happening on the Earth. In the
steppes to the north of Iran, wild tribes were living who pressed into Ancient Persia and were overcome
only after age-long wars. They were regarded as the tools of the evil that opposed the civilization of
Ahura Mazdao.
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After death, the human soul who had outweighed the evil in its corporeal being by developing and
practicing the good, returned to the realm of Ahura Mazda and united with its “Fravashi” (a kind of
Guardian Angel or Higher Ego). Then the soul was able to prepare for a new incarnation.
These conceptions bear a striking similarity to the facts of evolution on Ancient Moon, as far as
Twins and Archer are concerned. Probably much of what lived in later religions as the duality of good
and evil, earthly life and life in the heavens, the idea of ultimate redemption, the aspect of heaven and
hell, etc., has its origin in the world conception of Ancient Persia.
Essentially, truthfulness was the highest ideal. The evil, as personified in Ahriman, was the lie. That
liar had woven before the senses of humanity, a net of unawareness of the Spiritual origin of all that
existed. It was the result of that emancipation on Ancient Moon, which had been bought at the price of
ignorance and denial of the spirit, causing decay and ultimately death.
All these implications of Twins can be corroborated by ancient mythology, as far as it refers to that
constellation. There is the story of Castor and Pollux, after whom the two main stars of that group are
named. Pollux was immortal, whereas Castor was of mortal nature. Once the brothers were involved in a
fight, and Castor was killed. Pollux was overcome by grief. He appealed to Zeus, and finally a
compromise was reached. It was decreed that both should live for half a day together in the underworld,
and the other half they were allowed to return to the light of the upper world. In this conception the
contrast of day and night was expressed, having a much deeper significance for the Greek soul than for
those of our present age. The realm of the shades was shrouded in utter darkness and hopelessness. The
Greeks had the saying: Rather be a beggar in the upper world than a king in the realm of the shades.
Death and life after death had become something that instilled fear and revulsion. The upper world,
where the Sun was shining, where the universe was manifest in the beauty of the object world, that was
the realm where the Greek soul recognized reality of existence.
The contrast of an upper cosmic world and a lower realm, which is only a poor and defective
reflection of the upper, is present in all ancient mythologies concerning Twins. For instance, in China
they were identified with the two powerful and mystical principles of Yin and Yang. Yang was the
principle of cosmic origin, of life and light, streaming down from the cosmos, especially from the Sun.
Yin was the earthly, feminine principle, manifesting in the properties of the Earth and also of the Moon,
reflecting only the Sun light. It was darkness and cold, living in the element of water.
There seems to be an element present of unredeemed contrast in these mythological pictures. Is it a
permanent feature of the universe, the eternal contest between day and night, cold and warmth, light and
darkness? Must we for eternities go between life on the dark Earth and an existence in the bright light of
the spiritual world? The teaching of the great Zarathustra gave an answer in the prophecies of the
coming of the Savior who was to be born of a Virgin, Who would raise the dead and purify the world.
He will inaugurate the Last Judgment after the physical world will have been destroyed. Then the good
will finally rise to heaven, and the evil will be burnt.
Then what is the meaning of existence on the dark Earth? The answer to this fundamental question
seems to have been contained in extremely subtle teachings of Ancient Persian Zarathustrianism. It was
not on the surface but was kept in the seclusion of the mysteries. Only fragments of it have survived into
later times, for instance, in the Eleusinian Mysteries and appears to have been connected with the fixed
star Sirius in the Greater Dog.
The Greater Dog is below the constellation of Twins. Its well-known main star, the brilliant Sirius,
played a prominent part in all ancient mythologies. In Egypt it was called Sothis and was possibly
associated with Isis. In Persia its name was Tistra, or Tishtrya, and was prominently mentioned in the
Avesta, also in the Hindu Veda. In all these forms it was the inspector of the other stars, and on Earth it
controlled the rain and the waters.
There is evidence that Sirius was also associated with the mysteries celebrated at Eleusis. It is a well-
known fact that the ancient temples, for instance in Egypt, were so orientated that the light of a certain
fixed star would fall through a long passage or a sequence of dark chambers into the sanctuary. Thus,
they must have appeared extremely enhanced in their brilliancy.
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A similar arrangement seems to have existed in the temple of Eleusis. Sirius shone at a certain
season and at a certain hour with extreme brilliancy into the innermost sanctuary. This was the time
when the Eleusinian Mysteries were celebrated. Then in the temple, the Sacred Drama of the abduction
of Persephone by Pluto, the Prince of the Underworld, was enacted: the grief and the diligent search of
her mother Demeter, of the rescue of her daughter and her return to the upper world for a season. Of
course, those mysteries had a connection with the change of the seasons, but the spectacle of ever-
changing nature was only a symbol of the fate of the souls who have to descend again and again into the
darkness of the Earth. They were gradually called upon to redeem the fallen Earth and to help to rescue
the Spirit Light that is imprisoned in it. This was the answer of the mysteries to that burning question of
the meaning of incarnation. Upon it, fell the rays of the rhythmically returning Sirius that, in a sense,
belongs to Twins.
This teaching was also the core of the Manichean movement in post-Christian times. It had a
profound connection with Persian Zoroastrianism and Mythraism. The world we enter into by birth is
evil, but by a life of intense purification, we can redeem that evil in ourselves, thus helping in the great
cosmic struggle for the rescue of the good from the powers of evil. In all this we see the last sparks of a
most sublime side of the Ancient Persian Twins civilization, and of this we still know very little.
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Chapter VII
The Vernal Equinox in Bull
The entry of the vernal point into the constellation of Bull brings us nearer to what we call historic
times. This happened in about 4600 to 4300 BC, when the first stars of Bull rose together with the spring
Sun. However, following the law of inertia, with regard to cosmic impacts on the Earth, the age of Bull
did not start until about 2900 BC, and the vernal point was already near the Hyades and Aldebaran.
The story of past evolutionary stages of the Earth, again, provides us with an excellent means for
deciphering the shaping of the Egypto-Chaldean Bull civilization, according to those cosmic influences.
The Bull leads us back into a cycle of development on Ancient Saturn that took place before the one
we described in connection with Twins. The body of Ancient Saturn was then still more amorphous and
lifeless. Mighty cosmic Intelligences had worked upon the planet, called Spirits of Wisdom and Spirits
of Motion in modern spiritual science and Kyriotetes and Dynamis according to Greek esotericism. They
had tried to permeate it with life—Spirits of Wisdom—and consciousness or soul activity—Spirits of
Motion. However, they could not then achieve their aims. Only during the Ancient Sun and Ancient
Moon stages was this possible. Ancient Saturn could only “reflect” their activities, as it were, in a
mirror. Nevertheless, this “reflection” should not be seen as a “failure” or unreality. Such a thing does
not exist in the spiritual world. Those reflections were a spiritual reality in the environment of Saturn,
where they stayed and formed something like a gigantic aura.
We are especially interested in the reflections originally emanating from the Spirits of Motion,
because their activity is particularly inscribed into Bull of our times. Before their influence, the cosmic
life streaming forth from the Spirits of Wisdom had already been rejected by the planet and reflected into
an aura of life around it. Now the soul-life of the Spirits of Motion was also thrown back. It
amalgamated with the aura of life around the planet. Thereby, the very foundation of all planetary
existence and movement in our present solar universe was preconceived.
It is understandable that our present materialistic age tries to explain the movements of the stars in
terms of purely mechanical reaction caused by gravitation, etc. However, this kind of thinking is very
weak, because it cannot give an explanation on its own grounds of where the force of gravity, if this
theory is at all valid, came from. Altogether, the essence of gravitation—electricity and magnetism—is
still a completely unknown quantity to our modern world. It is impossible to solve any of these questions
without the acceptance of the idea of cosmic Intelligence, who set things in the cosmos into motion.
Spiritual science has come to realize that first there was Intelligence in the cosmos. This created its
own “bodies” and set them to move in the course of time. The moving planets, for instance, are an
expression of the Intelligences of the gods who inhabit the cosmic bodies, as a human soul and spirit
inhabits a physical body.
This great cosmic background of the Bull is manifest in Egypto-Chaldean civilization. It is the age
where astrology has its roots. However, the astrology of those classical times was of a very respectable
nature. Chaldean and Babylonian documents, still existing, clearly reveal that intentions and impulses of
deities were perceived in the movements of the planets. For instance, the planet Venus was regarded as a
manifestation of the goddess Ishtar. Priest-astronomers were able to read, in the gestures and rhythms of
that planet, the will, and the decisions of the deity. Only much later were the planets themselves
conceived as the originators of human destiny. Their ancient mythological background was lost. This
was the birth hour of that astrology that has survived, at least in fragments, into our age.
In Egypt the impact of the starry universe was conceived in connection with geographical and
geological formation and seasonal rhythms, for instance, the floods of the Nile. In a way, the divine
world wrote on the land through the hands of the stars. Originally, the rising of the star Sirius-Sothis on a
certain date of the year was considered to be responsible for the rising of the Nile, the beginning of the
all-nourishing inundation. So this was the external manifestation of a divine being, possibly of Isis. She
was also perceived in the very constellation of Bull—the heavenly Cow. We find Isis often depicted as a
cow or, at least, as a human figure with cow horns.
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This particular kind of Bull impact was the foundation of Egypto-Chaldean civilization. It was
different from the cosmology of the Ancient Persians who experienced the divine Intelligences much
more “behind” the stars and did not reckon so much with their external appearance.
The Ancient Sun evolution presents, in connection with Bull and Scorpion, a very subtle picture.
Implanted into the ancestor of humanity were the very first rudiments of magic capacities, which we will
be able to develop in full consciousness only in the dim future. These powers are still deeply dormant in
the faculty of speech. However, it is present in individuals as a subtle germ. Priest-sages who lived in the
seclusion of the ancient temple places, both in Egypt and Chaldea, evolved their organizations to such a
degree that they were able to practice the magic qualities of the divine Word within certain limits. This
was the beginning of a Priest civilization that has survived in ritualistic practices into later times.
The Priest, who had gone through long periods of stern and purifying inner preparation, was
supposed to be able to invoke the blessing and the assistance of the God by uttering His holy name in the
holy ritual in the innermost sanctuary. No layman could pronounce that name without danger of
immediate death.
This was still the case in classical times of the Bull civilization. It may well be that many of those
gigantic architectural structures in Egypt, Chaldea—but also, for instance, in Britain of that age—were
erected with the employment of the magic Word. Soon, however, a decline set in. Altogether, that age
witnessed a rapid deterioration of ancient faculties in humanity.
We read this, too, in the constellation of Bull and especially in Scorpion, as far as certain decisive
stages of the Ancient Moon evolution are inscribed in them. The capacity of inner reflection and soul-
life was then infused into our ancestors, who were suddenly exposed to the danger of developing
independence and emancipation for selfish reasons. Powerful spiritual forces, acting as adversaries of
normal evolution, were instrumental in this development of the first traces of egoism. They were
mentioned before in connection with Ancient Persia as forces of Lucifer and Ahriman.
This great cosmic temptation and deviation is described in Scorpion. It worked also into the Age of
Bull and is mythologically expressed as the death of Osiris, caused by the evil Set. The legend says that
the Sun was in Scorpion when Osiris was killed. The effect on civilization was that the Word and the
spiritual faculties connected with it, as far as they were still genuinely alive, were misused for egoistical
ends, chiefly by the great autocrats of the Asiatic empires. The Old Testament records such an incident
in Numbers, Chapter XXII - XXIV.
The Israelites had entered the territory of the Kingdom of Moab during their forty-year journey in the
desert. King Balak was frightened by their great numbers. Obviously, he could not have attempted to
withstand them with physical arms. So he sent embassies to the great magician Balaam, who still had the
capacity of using the sacred Word for spells, either for blessing or cursing. Balak asked him to ban the
Israelites from his land by curse. Balaam, upon consulting the Divinity, was advised by them not to
respond to the request of the King. Only after more urgent demands did he proceed to the court of King
Balak. The road was beset with strange obstacles. It is described in the story how, on a narrow lane, his
ass saw the “Angel of the Lord” with drawn sword, and would not go on. Only after this had happened
three times, did Balaam perceive the Angel who stood “for an adversary against him.” And when he
promised to speak only the Word that was put into his mouth by the Divinity, he was permitted to
proceed.
Balaam was then led by Balak to a place where he could see the multitude of the Israelites. He
ordered an altar to be built and sacrificial rites to be performed. But how great was the disappointment
and anger of King Balak when Balaam did not curse the invaders. On the contrary, he spoke words of
blessing, pointing prophetically to the future of the Israelites and their mission in history. Thus had the
Divinity inspired him to do, and he had obeyed the call. This happened three times.
This story shows that it was already a matter of course, in those times, to misuse the magic power of
the Word for egoistical purposes, even though they were against the divine plans of evolution. The
consternation that Balaam created by refusing to pronounce a magic curse, confirms that he was doing
something that was against the rule of decadent malpractice.
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The ancient sidereal mythology of Bull and the neighboring constellations amplifies what we said
about the civilization under this impact. There is, for instance, Orion below Bull. The more we go back
into the dim past, the more we find Orion associated with great and powerful Sun deities. In Sumeria he
was Uru-Anna, the Light of Heaven. Later he was Tammuz, the lover of the great Ishtar. Toward the end
of the fifth millennium BC, he is in Egypt and mentioned in connection with the God Sahu, and later he
seems to have been identified with Osiris himself. Sahu is a strange deity, who feeds on the bodies of the
great gods; in other words, he absorbs their creative qualities. Thus he is the power of the magic, creative
Word that once worked in the creation of the gods, but which has now entered the human being as the
magic Word of ritualistic performance. In those very ancient Egyptian times, the Pharaoh was said to
have become one with Sahu after death.
Yet, how deeply had Orion sunk in Greek mythology. During the intervening time, he must have lost
much of his original splendor. In one story he is blinded for persistently wooing the daughter of a little
island king. But by far the most tragic story is his love for Diana. He is then still a great hunter-giant and
able to walk even across the sea. Diana, the Moon goddess, falls in love with him and meets him in the
nightly darkness of the forests. Her brother, Apollo the daylight Sun, does not approve of it. He thinks of
destroying Orion. Once when he is together with his sister, he perceives in the distance the giant walking
across the sea. Quickly he seizes the opportunity and asks Diana to prove to him her famous skill with
bow and arrow. She has no idea that the tiny speck in the distance is her beloved Orion. She shoots and
the giant falls dead. With horror and unending grief Diana discovers too late what she had done.
Homer already mentions Orion as a soul wandering in the realm of the shades. A great transition has
taken place. The creative Word of divine origin and all the other spiritual faculties of ancient splendor
were dead. It came about when Osiris had been killed.
The constellation of Scorpion, where the autumn equinox was during Egypto-Chaldean times, speaks
a similar mythological language. In practically all regions of the world, even beyond the Atlantic,
Scorpion was connected with death and somehow affiliated with Mars. The latter planet is supposed to
have been born within that constellation. For instance, its most brilliant star, Antares, seems to mean
Equal of Mars.
Scorpion has a connection also with the Gilgamesh epic. Gilgamesh was king of the Sumerian town
of Erech. He was two-thirds god, one-third human. His friend was Enkidu, or Eabani, who accompanied
him on several adventures. One of them was the slaying of the Khumbaba, the guardian of the cedar
forest of Inina or Ishtar. Thereafter, Ishtar herself wooed the mighty hero, but he rejected her. Ishtar is
the same who was called in other mythologies the Queen of Heaven. In the story of Gilgamesh rejecting
her, we can see an indication of an ancient humanity moving away from being dominated by divine
Intelligences working through the stars. It was the first step on the road toward inner freedom, a road
leading away from an ancient astrosophy, through the stages of star wisdom, becoming an ever more
abstract astrology, until it comes to an end as humanity throws aside the kind of fatalism that astrology
had become.
Ishtar was enraged by the refusal of Gilgamesh. She sent a terrible bull to revenge herself. But the
two friends succeeded in killing the beast. This scene was often depicted on seal cylinders of Ancient
Chaldea and Babylonia.
The next event was that Eabani became ill and finally died. Killing the Bull really meant losing the
last remnants of a direct experience of the reality of the spiritual world—we could not see beyond the
portal of death anymore. Disease and death had become the inevitable fate, presenting human souls with
an unsolved riddle. This was the price at which the independence from cosmic influences was bought.
Gilgamesh was in deep despair at the death of his friend. He did not know what had happened to
Eabani’s soul, where he had gone to. By rejecting Ishtar—the ancient living Wisdom of the stars—he
had closed the gate to a certainty of experience about life after death. He searched during long and
terrifying wanderings for his ancestor Ut-Napishtim, in order to learn from him about the mystery of
death and how to escape this fate. He succeeded in penetrating to the realm where his ancestor lived,
after having passed through the Gate of the Western Mountain, guarded by terrible Scorpion men, after
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having crossed the waters of death. But all that Ut-Napishtim could tell him was that death is the
ultimate fate of earthly souls, there is no escape. Gilgamesh returned to Erech bewailing the death of
Eabani.
Finally he was allowed, by a special favor of the God of the Dead, to have a glimpse of his friend in
the underworld. He had a few words with him, but the information was depressing. Eabani told
Gilgamesh:
“ ...the man whose corpse had been thrown into the fields
–As you and I we have seen many
His spirit is not at rest
The man whom no one cares about
–As you and I we have seen many
He starves, he has no food.
He has to eat the refuse of the streets …”
Such views would not have been possible in times preceding the age of Gilgamesh. At that time
death was not an event in human life which created fear and doubt. Furthermore, there would have been
no need to inquire into the fate of those who had passed over the threshold. The objective cognition of
life after death, however dreamlike and dim, was as real as the awareness of our conscience is a reality to
a person of our age.
The dying away of those more instinctive capacities of humanity is typical for the Age of Bull. It was
a fact that was openly manifest everywhere before the time of Christ. For instance, the teaching of
Gotama Buddha no longer counted on the human faculty to realize a spiritual world.
We see it as the result of the impact of the constellation of Scorpion on civilization through the
medium of the autumn point. Working through it was the heritage of Scorpion events on the Ancient
Moon—the beginning of the estrangement of our Moon ancestor from the divine world and, finally, the
cause of illness and death—the Eabani destiny. But, however deep that Fall was, it became the
foundation of our attainment of spiritual freedom.
The Bull of the East was sacrificed, and what was left of it was brought to the west and incorporated
first into Greek civilization. This is contained in the beautiful myth of the bull and Europa. Europa was
the daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia. One day when she was watching the herds of her father near
the shore, she noticed the most beautiful bull among them. She was so entranced by its beauty and
behavior that she sat on its back. But then the animal plunged into the sea and brought Europa to the
island of Crete. There he revealed himself to her as Zeus, the spiritual Father of Greek civilization.
Thus were the remnants of a declining Bull culture saved for further evolution.
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Chapter VIII
The Vernal Equinox in Ram
The Age of Ram started in 747 BC, the year of the foundation of Rome, according to the Roman
historian Fabius Pictor. There exist a variety of dates given by various Roman sources. The one accepted
by modern history is 753 BC, but we have no certainty whether it is correct. However, Rudolf Steiner
confirmed the year 749 BC as being correct, from the viewpoint of spiritual investigation.
In 747 BC, the vernal point was only a few degrees away from the stars Alpha and Beta, representing
the horns of Ram. We must assume, therefore, that it entered that constellation much earlier. There is a
gap between the last stars of Bull and the first stars of Ram, but we can say that the transition took place
between 2000 and 1800 BC. This was the age of Abraham, and the events around that biblical personality
constitute one of the undercurrents of the Ram Age until it came into the open.
The constellation of Ram bears the imprint of the very first beginnings of Ancient Saturn. The
initiative came from the very exalted hierarchy of the Spirits of Will or Thrones. They sacrificed an
essential part of their own being, the divine Will, and once it had been separated from its origin, it
became the foundation of an amorphous Will substance of which Ancient Saturn consisted in the
beginning. All physical substances of later stages of evolution were derived from it. Following these
developments the Spirits of Wisdom, whom we have mentioned already in connection with Bull, worked
upon that planet.
The exalted members of this latter hierarchy endowed our Saturn ancestor with life at a later stage of
evolution. Their Wisdom was life, but they were not yet able to achieve their aim on Ancient Saturn.
That amorphous Will substance of the planet was not in a condition to receive the gift. Therefore, the
cosmic life substance emanating from the Spirits of Wisdom was thrown back into the environment of
Ancient Saturn where it formed a halo-like sphere of cosmic life.
We said, in connection with the description of the Age of Bull, that the cosmic life surrounding
Saturn was later amalgamated with the forces that the hierarchy of the Spirits of Motion had emanated
and then flung back into the cosmos. In this amalgamation we see the spiritual origin of the present
cosmos of the stars. We are, however, concerned here with the preceding stage when that aura of life was
not permeated by the “astral” impact derived from the activity of the Spirits of Motion.
These developments, from the dimmest past, have thrown their cosmic memory reflections into the
Age of Ram. We said earlier that we see in the birth of ancient astrology, during the preceding
civilization, the evidence of forces working from Bull. It was that kind of astrology that was very much
alive in Sumeria. The towns were built around gigantic architectural structures that have been excavated
and are known as the Ziggurats or Temple Towers. The one that was dug up at Ur had three terraces, like
the early step pyramids of Egypt. In Babylon and other places, Ziggurats have been found that had seven
terraces painted in different colors. They reveal that they were connected with the worship of Sun,
Moon, and planets. At the same time they seem to have been used as astronomical observation posts.
We hear in the Old Testament that Abraham came from Ur. It may have been the Ur that has been
discovered and excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley, but the opinions of the historians differ. The Ziggurat
of that Ur was dedicated to the worship of Nannar, the Sumerian god of the Moon. In other places, other
planetary Intelligences were venerated. Small sanctuaries stood on the top platforms where the images of
the gods may have been kept. They were also used for “initiation”. By artificial creation of ecstatic and
somnambulistic conditions, the neophyte was made the habitation of the planetary Intelligence. Abraham
turned away from these places in Mesopotamia. His approach to the Deity was of a different nature.
It is generally assumed that he lived about 2000 BC. That was the time when the vernal equinox
prepared to move from Bull into Ram. Abraham, according to legend, had an excellent knowledge of
ancient cosmology and was probably well aware of the pending transition. Thus, he had the prerequisites
of knowledge that were essential for the inauguration of a movement in humanity intended to represent a
definite aspect of the Ram impulse. Of course, at his time it could be no more than an undercurrent in
history.
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What was the impulse of Ram? The fundamental question was how to attain spiritual guidance in
the cultural tasks ahead. Until then the guidance was provided by the commands of cosmic Intelligences,
expressing their wishes and intentions in the movements of the stars—the kind of astrology that was
cultivated in the Chaldean and Egyptian temple places. This was typical for the Bull impulse, and we
saw a revelation in it of the cosmic memory of the Bull cycle of Ancient Saturn. The Ram impact, as a
working memory of the preceding stage during that previous embodiment of the Earth, had to prepare
humanity to do without the agency of the stars and to contact the Divinity directly. It tried to find
wisdom in the spiritual aura of the immediate neighborhood of the Earth. We see in this a reminiscence
of the aura of cosmic life around Ancient Saturn.
This is the perfect picture of Yahveh worship that Abraham inaugurated and from which the
foundation was laid for the Hebrew people. Yahveh was one of the Elohim dwelling on the Sun. During
early stages of the Earth evolution, he had transferred his sphere of activity to the Moon, and from there
he inspired evolution. This was the Aura of Wisdom, the spiritual sphere of the Moon, that guided the
follower of Yahveh. In order to cultivate this contact, it was necessary, primarily, to develop the
capacities of the brain and the experience of the flow of the blood through the generations. Yahveh was
not approached in ecstasy, nor was there any necessity to watch the movements of the stars, except the
phases of the Moon. Yahveh spoke from the sphere inside the orbit of’ the Moon, which was contacted
directly by the human brain in a calm and resolved condition of the body.
Abraham, who is sometimes called the first philosopher, was a forerunner of the development of
faculties that came in a different form and into the open during the Greek civilization. They are chiefly
manifest in Greek philosophy. There, too, the body was carefully trained and cultivated as an instrument
of thinking. However, we must admit that classical Greek thinking, prominent in Pythagoras, Socrates,
Plato, and others, was quite different from modern intellectualistic thinking. The Greeks were able to
contact much higher strata of thought than the moderns. Plato, for instance, spoke of Archetypal Ideas as
real beings that were at least as real as people on Earth; it was that Aura of Divine Wisdom in the
neighborhood of our planet, in the realm of the light-filled Ether where Zeus held sway (he was called
Father Ether). From that realm the Greeks drew their inspired thoughts. This is the impact of Ram.
During the Age of Ram the autumnal equinox was in Scales. This constellation tells us of the
concluding stages of the Ancient Sun evolution. The ancestor or prototype of humanity attained the
status of the plant during that earlier embodiment of the Earth, though under entirely different physical
conditions. Condensation had advanced only as far as the “air” condition. We must imagine a planet that
was considerably bigger than the present Earth, consisting of air, surrounded by a mantle of fire or
warmth but also permeated by it. The creative hierarchies on Ancient Saturn had been working from the
environment of the planet. On Ancient Sun, certain of the cosmic Intelligences had created a Sun-like
focus in the center of that celestial body. Toward this center grew plant-like beings that were our
ancestors. They were not yet so deeply involved in physical substance as their equivalents on Earth, and
they were able to express the influences, streaming forth to them from their Sun, in a much more vivid
fashion. The present plant manifests its experiences by growth and form, color, scent, etc. The plant of
the Ancient Sun expressed them in mighty cosmic manifestations, though in a kind of deep sleep.
The impact of these past cosmic memories worked from the direction of Scales into the civilization
of Ram. We see it chiefly in the Greek world, in Greek art and the attitude of the Greeks toward
existence. We mentioned earlier the fact that the Greek was deeply attached to the world of daylight, to
the beauty that revealed itself through the senses. He dreaded the spheres beyond the world of the senses,
Hades, etc. The physical plane was the only reality where it was worthwhile to live.
This alone can explain the creations of Greek art and the positivism of the Greek world conception.
We see in it a memory impact from Ancient Sun. Yet, there was also another characteristic of the Ram
Age connected with it. It was an attitude of expectation that prevailed during those times in many places.
The “plants” of Ancient Sun were directed toward their Sun, so to speak, to their source and high symbol
of life. In a similar sense, it is apparent that during Ram Age before Christ there was a yearning for the
Messiah.
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This was particularly alive in the Hebrew people. The Exodus from Egypt took place under the
symbol of Ram, the Passover Lamb. Afterward, it was the constant reminder of the Jews to be prepared
for the coming of Christ of Whom St. John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb (Ram) of God which
taketh away the Sin of the World”. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke emphatically of the coming
of the Messiah at a time when the Age of Ram commenced. At that time the Jewish nation was molded
for its historic task in the bitter experiences of the exile.
But we find also in other nations of the Ram Age this mood of expectation. For instance, the myths
of Isis and Osiris, of Ishtar and Tammuz, the Adonis Mysteries in Asia Minor, Orphism in Greece, and
others had all expressed the hope of the coming of the Redeemer.
When the events did take place in Palestine, only a handful of people realized them. Yet, in the
heavens a symbol appeared of what had happened on the Earth. Looking south from Jerusalem during
the nights of the events on Golgotha, one would have seen the Southern Cross sliding along the edge of
the horizon until it set early in the morning. This was a majestic cosmic symbol: the Cross—first
standing upon the Earth and then descending into it. During the centuries following Golgotha, the
Southern Cross receded more and more into the Southern Hemisphere and did not rise anywhere for the
north. It stands deep below the constellation of Scales and can be regarded as an amplification of the
latter. Thus it is connected with the precession of the vernal and autumn points through Ram and Scales.
The aspect of the Ancient Moon evolution, as far as it is contained in Scales and in Ram, became
more apparent after the time of Christ. It leads us back to a stage during that earlier embodiment of the
Earth that brought a further densification of substance into the water condition. Some of the hierarchies
did not identify themselves with this development. They created another abode in the cosmos for
themselves and those who followed them, the equivalent of our present Sun. This cosmic split and the
departure of the Sun with its spiritual hierarchies became ever more apparent as a memory picture in the
civilization spreading from Rome over the world of the early Middle Ages.
The foundation of Rome took place at the beginning of the Ram Age. Like the Greeks, the Romans
also had a strong affinity to the physical plane, but they were more active in an external sense. The
foundation and expansion of the Roman Empire was a mighty witness of their practical abilities as
conquerors and administrators. Yet their earthly affinities were bought at the price of loss of contact with
the spiritual reality.
This fact became very apparent in the development of Roman Christianity. Early Christianity was
still mixed with the remnants of ancient clairvoyance. Thus the Gnostics and other sects came into
existence. The Roman Church soon found itself in opposition to these movements, because the Romans
were no longer able nor prepared to accept the mystical aspects of Christianity. Gradually they became
instrumental in the destruction of all Christianity claiming to still have a spiritual awareness of the
cosmic background of the Christ Events. Thus, Gnosticism was completely rooted out, the Celtic Church
with its cosmic Christianity was destroyed, and later the Cathars, in the South of France, were eliminated
in one of the cruelest wars. The Roman Church, as the heir of Roman imperialism, established an
exoteric Christian civilization based almost solely on religious tradition, documents, etc.
This was the other side of the Ram Age. We see in it a reflection of that stage of the Ancient Moon
imprinted in Scales. Materialism was standing at the doorstep, though it developed fully only much later.
A chilly intellectualistic wind blew into civilization. In that climate, the more refined cosmic-spiritual
aspects and movements of Christianity withdrew into secrecy, as far as they had not already been
destroyed. The Sun of the spiritual understanding and experience of the Risen Christ had separated from
a Moon existence of intellectual thinking, which could no longer go forward beyond the symbol of death
and the crucifix.
However, the Sun of Christ was not dead. It worked on in secret during the last centuries of the Age
of Ram and right into the present time. During the 8th and 9th century, it created an occult focus in the
movement of the Holy Grail, drawing those who had become homeless in exoteric Christianity. Its
symbol, the Cup containing the Holy Host from the heights of heaven, was the expression for the
endeavor of the Grail Knights to find the invisible power of the Sun of the Risen Christ in the Earth.
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Under changed conditions, it appeared again in the ideal of the Knights Templars. Their order was
founded on the Holy Sepulchre from which Christ had risen. Originally, it was not only their intention to
keep the holy places in Palestine accessible to Christian pilgrims but primarily to preserve the Wisdom
of the Resurrection. Other movements followed and took over the stream of esoteric Christianity, thus
saving it for a later time when the “Sunset”, having taken place in Roman civilization, was superseded
by a new spiritual dawn.
The last attempt to preserve the precious gift of the Age of Ram for a later humanity was made by
Scholasticism. It was the great finale before the dawn of the Age of Pisces/Fishes. At a time already
betraying the first signs of the coming storm of materialism, many great figures such as Thomas
Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, and many others, strenuously kept the door open to an approach of the
spiritual world by cultivating Greek Aristotelian thinking. They fought a bitter battle against
misrepresentations of Aristotle by Arabistic philosophy, suggesting that human beings did not have an
indestructible individuality, but that they were submerged and dissolved after death in an ocean of
impersonal cosmic existence. Thoughts were only lent to them, as it were, and after death the thoughts
were taken back into the sphere of the Moon.
Thus a decisive battle had commenced in humanity, which is not concluded even today. Ram
represents that stage of Ancient Saturn when the planet was surrounded by an aura of cosmic Wisdom
and Life. The important point during any civilization is not to simply repeat those happenings in the past,
nor is it to incorporate them into civilization according to their ancient spiritual dynamic. Thus those of
the Ram Age were called upon to make that aura of divine Wisdom and Thought their own, to find
themselves in it as immortal individualities. The meaning of evolution is to advance, not to fall back or
remain stationary.
Philosophic Arabism denied this call of the Ram Age. In this attack on evolution, we see a
manifestation of the myth connected with the constellations of Andromeda, Perseus, and Cetus in the
neighborhood of Ram. The Soul of humanity, Andromeda, was in danger of being swallowed by the sea-
monster, which is a representation that the human personality was supposed to perish in that ocean of
cosmic existence after death, according to Arabism and its modified modern versions. Perseus, the Sun-
hero—a Michaelic pre-Christian fighter against the Dragon, the slayer of the deadening, sclerotising
Medusa—rescued Andromeda. He transformed the Cetus into a rock, thereby exposing his true
materialistic ego-denying thought nature.
Why should active spiritual thinking, such as what the Greek philosophy and Scholasticism tried to
reach, be so important for humanity? The answer is, to a certain extent, contained in the myth of the
Golden Fleece, which was associated with Ram in ancient mythology. A King of Thessaly had two
children: a son, Phrixus, and a daughter, Helle. Their mother died early, and the two were disliked and
persecuted by their step-mother. The gods noticed their plight and sent them a ram to take them away
from their home. It wasn’t an earthly creature; it had a fleece of pure gold and could fly through the air
like an eagle. The children sat on the animal’s back and flew away toward the east. Soon, however, Helle
lost her hold on the animal and fell into the sea (since then known as Hellespont). Only Phrixus arrived
in Colchis, where he was welcomed and offered asylum by the King. As an expression of thanks, he
sacrificed the ram to the gods, but his fleece was hung up in a sacred grove where it was guarded by an
ever-awake dragon. There it shone so brightly during the night that all the countryside around was lit up.
Later the Argonauts brought the Golden Fleece back to Greece but not without the help of the sorceress
Medea, the daughter of the King of Colchis.
What is the Golden Fleece? It seems to be essentially connected with the cosmic qualities of the
constellation of Ram. The animal that had been sacrificed had the capacity to fly high in the air,
indicating that it was able to survey earthly conditions from the height of supreme wisdom. Even the
Fleece displays the traces of the golden light of divine Wisdom. Nearly all the great heroes of Greek
mythology took part in the expedition of the Argonauts to Colchis. Hercules, Castor and Pollux, Nestor,
Theseus, Cepheus, Orpheus are mentioned among others as members of the crew of the Argo. To fetch
the Golden Fleece from Colchis must have been a mighty and important task for Greek civilization.
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The ship that carried them through many strange adventures is represented in the constellation of
Argo, at present deep below the star groups of Lion and Crab in the Southern Hemisphere. The
remarkable fact is that this constellation appears connected in many ancient mythologies, with a ship
where the remnants of an ancient humanity were rescued from the Great Flood. We seem to be near the
mythological background of the transfer of a part of Atlantean humanity to Asia and Europe. In Greek
mythology this very ancient ship is used to rescue that precious Golden Fleece.
During the Age of Ram, the constellation of Argo came high above the horizon so that most of it was
visible in places of the latitude of Athens. It crept along the Southern horizon during the nights at the
time of the Winter solstice.
Apparently the Golden Fleece was the great symbol of the splendor and creativeness of divine
Wisdom and Thought. The cosmic Ram had been sacrificed and the shining fleece hung up in the grove
of the human brain, where the ever awake dragon guarded it. It had become small and seemingly
insignificant indeed. Yet, there was contained in it the most precious seed for the future. The humanity
that would free itself from the fetters of matter could hope to use the capacity of thinking in almost
magical fashion; therefore, through the death of cosmic thought, the human being could gain spiritual
freedom. This freedom could become the platform on which human beings could re-awaken that
spiritual-cosmic thought but as an independent and self-aware being. This is an event of greatest cosmic
importance.
The civilization of Ram was spiritually accompanying the greatest event of the Earth evolution, the
Mystery of Golgotha. There was hardly any awareness in Greece and Rome of the historic Christ Events.
Nevertheless, that civilization expressed in terms of world conception, a truth that is but another aspect
of what took place on the soil of Palestine. On Golgotha the God died in order to bring new Life into
Earth existence through the fact of the Resurrection. The Lamb (Ram) of God was sacrificed so that the
Sin of the World may be taken away. So, too, was divine Wisdom sacrificed and died on its
“Golgotha”—the place within the humanity skull. In that region must each of us enact our own
resurrection by permeating it with spiritual thought.
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Chapter IX
The Vernal Equinox in Waterman
[Editor’s Note: In this section Willi makes references to the importance of the development
of thinking. By “thinking”, Willi means the kind of willed thinking filled with feeling that Rudolf
Steiner speaks about in his book, Die Philosophie der Freiheit (variously translated as
Philosophy of Freedom or Philosophy of Spiritual Activity and Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual
Path). A characteristic sentence from the book reads, “A true individuality will be the one who
reaches up with his feelings to the farthest possible extent into the region of the ideal.”]
The Age of Waterman/Aquarius will not start before about 3600 AD. Yet, the vernal point will enter
the constellation in about 400 or 500 years from now. Thus we must expect that the impact coming from
Waterman will meet the Earth very soon and will work for a considerable time in history as a sub-current
of great power.
We will first consider the imprints of early phases of cosmic evolution in this group of stars. In the
primeval beginning on Ancient Saturn, the very first foundations of what would become the metabolic
organism of the human being was created. We can imagine it as a very primitive exchange of substance
between the primal creature, our human ancestor, and its ethereal surroundings. This phase of evolution
has become a working memory in the constellation of Waterman, expressed in the picture of the water
flowing from the vessel, or amphora, carried by a human form. A reflection of that working cosmic
memory will fall on the Waterman humanity and shape its civilization. It will concern chiefly its
relationship to the external world, to the substances of the Earth, but it will also greatly affect the
relationship from individual to individual. Until now we have had an instinctive connection with nature
and with each other. In this instinct, there lived a great heritage from the past. The great Initiates had
given humanity of ancient times a feeling awareness of the divine origin of what was breathed as air or
taken into the organism as food. They also imbued humanity with a sense of recognition of everyone’s
connection with the spiritual world. Thereby, they created the foundations for human society.
Present humanity quickly lost this instinct. It has learned to think only of the chemical properties of
the substances that it draws into its domain. The food that we take, we consider in terms of calories,
vitamins, atoms, etc. This development has estranged us from the realization of what happens to the
substances in our physiological metabolism and in the processes of civilization. Equally, we have
become strangers to each other. We can no longer penetrate into the soul and spirit of others. Disruption
of human society is the unavoidable consequence.
This will change as we move toward the time when the vernal point will be in Waterman. The
threatening infertility of the soil of the Earth, the tendency toward “atomization” in all spheres will force
us to advance to a conscious understanding of the interconnection between the cosmos, the Earth, and
ourselves. We will need it in order to maintain at least a bare physical existence. Moreover, a sound
organization of our society will demand a thorough spiritual knowledge of our cosmic nature. The still
prevailing inclination to arrange our economical, cultural, and legal life, according to instinctive
standards of narrow earthly welfare only, will utterly fail and fall into disrepute.
Our present age stands at the threshold of knowing the true nature of matter. Atomic physics has only
touched the curtain, but it has not yet opened it. We can be sure that more discoveries will be made in
that field, which will confront us with the necessity of realizing the spiritual-cosmic origin of matter.
We also witness what happens if society shuns this call. So far, the fact that atomic science has
concentrated only on what the released energies are doing, without knowing what their nature is, has
created a predominance of these forces over us. It has sent great numbers of human beings into
paralyzing fear and resignation.
In preparation of the Aquarian/Waterman Age, a union must come between natural science and
spiritual science. As in ancient days the Initiates provided guidance, so now must the revealed science of
initiation lead to new faculties in the place of the waning instinct.
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Thus will the future humanity of Waterman/Aquarius be able to fulfill its cosmic call. Our task then
will be to establish a conscious realization of the constant stream of exchange—or metabolism—
between cosmic and terrestrial forces. We can only do it with the assistance of spiritual investigation.
Equally, the idea of the spiritual “metabolism” of humanity, as a society-forming principle, will enter
the culture of the Aquarius/Waterman Age with force. The realization of reincarnation, our passing
between the spiritual and the earthly world, will receive wide recognition, not as a belief but as a matter
of inner experience.
The Age of Aquarius will be dependent to a high degree on what the Age of Pisces will develop as a
science of nature, of human beings, and of the cosmos. It is the task of the Age of Fishes to inaugurate a
new cycle of evolution founded entirely on the free individuality. This is indicated in the two fishes
swimming apart in the heavens. The one turning toward Ram stands for the past, coming from pre-
Christian civilization; the other one is immersed in the waters of Waterman, indicating a formative
power that is designed to lay the foundation of a knowledge necessary for the accomplishment of the
specific Waterman tasks.
Fulfillment of the Ancient Saturn impact inherent in Waterman will not be attained by simply
imitating the past. The meaning of evolution is that past stages are revived by elevating them according
to conscious capacities. The capacity we of the Post-Atlantean epoch must develop is thinking; therefore,
a realization in human thinking should take place of the far-reaching intentions of the divine world
when, for instance, it inaugurated that archetypal “metabolism” on Ancient Saturn. From thinking it can
then flow into the will and thus became creative in civilization.
Another important impact is working through Waterman that is connected with Ancient Sun. Our
human ancestor attained then the level of plant existence—of course, under conditions totally different
from those under which the present plant world is developing. That Sun plant was strongly under the
influence of powerful manifestations of the first beginnings of a starry cosmos. The functions of its body
imitated the movements and rhythms in its cosmic-astral environment much more than the present plant.
The last traces of this relationship are operating in the circulatory and respiratory systems of our present
human body.
This cosmic memory impact will appear during the Aquarian Age as a recognized awareness of the
need of a spiritual cosmology and astrosophy. The present age has succeeded in creating a cosmology
that has, in reality, put an immense materialistic barrier between the human being and the stars. The
conception of the cosmos as a mechanism, with countless galaxies within an unimaginable void of space
spanning millions of light years, has moved the stars into an unapproachable distance from an apparently
utterly insignificant Earth and its humanity.
The Aquarian Age will not be able to live with such a picture of the universe. New aspects of
cosmological science will rise and provide us with the possibility of realizing ourselves and the Earth as
integrated parts of the whole cosmos. On strict scientific foundations, we will rediscover the cooperation
between heavenly forces and terrestrial matter. We will find new ways to look at our own intimate
relationship with the world of the stars. Spiritual cosmology and cosmogony will become the foundation
of the cultural life of the Aquarian Age in all spheres of earthly existence, and we will experience and
realize our own cosmic dignity through a new astrosophy.
The Ancient Moon aspect of Waterman speaks of a phase during which the Moon planet reached the
end stages of its development. The predecessor of the present Sun had then reunited with the Moon body
and had dissolved and etherized the previously identified substances of the planet.
The Age of Aquarius will witness the first beginnings of a similar development of the Earth.
However, that future humanity will learn to maintain, by the development of consciousness, its own
imperishable integration and entelechy on a planet that has entered the curve of decline. By realizing the
trichotomy of body, soul, and spirit, we will become aware of the indestructibility of our being, even
within changing Earth conditions.
Life after death will be approached differently by a future humanity. At present the conception of
existence beyond the threshold of death is, in the best case, a belief. This will change. We of the Age of
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Pisces will comprehend more and more in our thinking, the facts that spiritual science reveals about life
after death. Through living in these concepts, we will create in ourselves the capacity to remain
conscious once we have stepped across the threshold. This increasing degree of consciousness, with
regard to the beyond, will enable us in the future Age of Aquarius to carry these experiences right down
into practical earthly life. It will widen our horizon concerning the judgment of earthly events and
circumstances.
Another fact: the beginning of an emancipation from our purely material organization, will go hand
in hand with the development characterized above. This will come like an event in nature in spite of our
present tendencies to bind ourselves still more to our material organization. These tendencies are feeble
attempts to hide the true facts.
The physical body is permeated by life-forces. Spiritual science recognizes this as an independent
organization, or life-body, of invisible nature. It is not of earthly origin but has its roots in the cosmos.
Just as the whole cosmos is a living memory of past stages of evolution, so does the individual life- or
etheric-body contain a working, though unconscious, memory of the past development of the human
race. Thus it works in the body like an architect and keeps it in line with the cosmic laws of evolution. It
maintains the human form against the dissolving tendencies inherent in matter.
Our life-body is completely immersed at present in our material body. Only in death does it separate
from the body, and then it can live in its own quality of memory. Therefore, many people who stood at
the threshold of death but were brought “back to life", have experienced a kind of comprehensive
pictorial biography of their past in that moment. This fact is well-known.
These conditions are fundamentally changing at present. Our life- or etheric-body is beginning to
dissociate itself from the physical body. First, the part that is submerged in the head and brain will
separate slightly from the physical. Many of the so-called psychological disturbances in the people of our
time are the consequences of materialistic misinterpretations of this fact. A spiritual understanding of the
background will bring a capacity of recognizing the corresponding symptoms and of finding means of
curing diseases that may develop as deviations from the normal course of development.
The result of the healthy loosening of the life-body from the physical will be a new clairvoyance
coming to us as a gift of nature, but a gift we must earn. If we learn to establish full control of these
events through thinking, we will be able to use that free part of the life-body. The latter contains the
evolution of the world and humanity in thought pictures. Therefore, we will realize in pictorial
consciousness past stages of cosmic history and also the fact of reincarnation. These capacities are still
very sporadic at present, but they will become more universal toward the Waterman Age.
Waterman was usually depicted in ancient mythology as a man pouring water from a vessel. Thus he
appears in Chaldean representations, also in Greece, Egypt, etc. The water is the abundance of
fructifying life-forces of the cosmos that, for instance, pour down when the Sun is moving through
Waterman early in spring. They unite with the plant seeds buried in the Earth and bring them to
germination. In the Aquarian Age we will come much nearer to these secrets of creation of life than we
are at present. The increase of spiritual insight, of which we spoke above, will also bring a deeper
understanding of what these life forces are and how they stream from the expanse of cosmic space into
the Earth. This will enable us to develop hitherto unknown capacities of handling and using these forces.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton had a knowledge of this when he conceived his novel, VRIL The Power of the
Coming Race. He describes there a race still hidden beneath the surface of the Earth. It is able to use the
mysterious power of “Vril”. By magical means this power can be radiated from the body into the
surrounding space, thus creating light and heat, vegetation, and also wondrous works of technological
perfection. But it can also bring about destruction of a hitherto unknown magnitude. It is a fiction that
contains streaks of wishful thinking, but it has also a background of reality. Similar capacities will come
in the future, and the Age of Aquarius will see the first beginnings of them.
In Greek mythology the goddess of youth, Hebe, was identified with Waterman. She acted as
cupbearer of the Olympian gods and offered them nectar and ambrosia—the food that gave eternal
youth. We recognize in the cup, the amphora of Waterman. According to one myth, she became the wife
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of Heracles, who was admitted into the realm of the Olympians after his death. In another version Hebe
twisted her ankle, and she could not attend to her heavenly duties any longer. Zeus had to look for
another cupbearer. He sent out his mighty eagle to search among the mortals. There is actually in the
neighborhood of Waterman and Goat, a constellation called the Eagle, or Aquila, who carried the
thunderbolts of Zeus during his terrible battles with the Titans and Giants. The Eagle found Ganymede,
the son of Tros, King of Troy, watching his father’s flocks in the fields. He carried him up to the lofty
heights of Olympus, where he was accepted in the place of Hebe.
It is interesting to notice in this myth that what once was the task of a divine being is taken over by
the son of a mortal. Ancient mythology often has a manifold meaning. It usually refers to past stages of
cosmic and human development, but it can also point to future events. Thus we have the impression that
the assumption of Ganymede refers also to future stages of human evolution. The Waterman Age will
see the beginning of our being imbued with faculties hitherto in the hands of divine hierarchies. The
handling of etheric or life-forces is such an instance. It will place grave responsibilities on us that we
will only fulfill if our moral evolution keeps pace with our occult development. In the dim future, we
will be raised to the level of hierarchical existence, thus forming what is called in occultism, the Fourth
Hierarchy. “Ye shall be as gods...” was the promise of the Dionysian mysteries. The prophets of the Old
Testament envisaged similar aspects of future humanity, and Christ gave emphasis to these words
(Gospel of St. John X). Thus, the Waterman humanity will be faced with the first steps toward those
future vistas.
In Ancient Indian mythology, the constellation of Waterman was connected with the god Varuna. In
later times he was recognized as the god of the waters, but originally he was the creator of cosmic order
called “Rita”. It is the rhythmic regularity that is manifest in the alternation of day and night, of the
seasons, of the stars, etc. In a sense it was Truth itself. “An-rita” (=non-rita) was the commonest concept
for the lie and sin.
Varuna was present wherever two people were together, even in the most secret place, and was the
Third, who guarded the truth and punished any deviation or sin. Varuna may have had some connection
with the Persian Ahura Mazdao, whose domicile was a palace among the stars and was surrounded by a
host of divine counselors. One among them was Mitra, who is supposed to be the same as Mithras of
Greco-Iranian origin and whose cult spread far to the west during Roman times.
It is a great problem for the modern mind to realize that those ancient gods are real beings and not
creations of a primitive phantasy. They were experienced by that kind of dreamlike clairvoyance which
the ancient people had as a gift of nature. If they were real, we cannot imagine that they died. They
stepped back from the reach of human consciousness, but they may come again, though they may be
given different names.
We certainly do not suggest that the Aquarian Age, for instance, will fall back into pre-Christian
heathenism. On the contrary, Christianity and our understanding of it will develop to such degrees of
universality that many of the so-called heathen religions will find their integrated positions in the World
of Christ. The example of the worship of Ahura Mazdao in Ancient Persia offers an explanation.
Spiritual science reveals that Ahura Mazdao was the great Aura of the Sun. It was the God that
descended at the time of the baptism by St. John, into the body of Jesus and dwelt in it for three years.
Thus can the ancient Persian world conception be reconciled with the essentials of Christianity; it can
even provide a profound understanding of the historic facts.
In a similar sense, other “heathen” religions can also be realized as roads to Christianity. Those
Christian institutions that have maneuvered themselves into opposition to the non-Christian world do not
stand much chance of making Christianity convincing in a world-wide sense. As we approach the
Aquarian Age, we will need a universal view of Christianity that realizes its cosmic background.
Christ, as its guiding Spirit, descended from the Sun. In this capacity, Christ was Lord of the whole
solar universe and then entered the Earth and Earth humanity. In the Deed of Golgotha Christ united
with our Earth, with the cosmic aim to prepare it to become the Sun of the dim future. We can imagine
that Christ retained all previous cosmic Majesty and Glory in uniting with the Earth. He is surrounded by
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the divine hierarchies and will become manifest through them. Thus we can also visualize that
hierarchical being, whom the Indians called Varuna, as being near to Christ. When we hear of Varuna
being omnipresent, even in the most secret places, we are reminded of the words of Christ, Who said
that wherever two or more are together in “My name, I am among them”. Varuna may have also gone
through a “conversion” and may experience in future new vistas of activity to prepare humanity for a
direct experience of the Risen Christ.
This will be the Christianity that the Aquarian Age will require. However, it is obvious that the
present Age of Pisces/Fishes has still a long way to go in order to realize such a cosmic outlook.
We are the greatest riddle to ourselves. This is quite obvious as far as we of the Age of Pisces are
concerned. The countless controversial views on our origin and meaning are symptoms revealing the fact
that we do not have conceptions powerful enough to explain our existence. We find it increasingly
difficult to answer the burning question of why we exist at all.
This works as a disturbing factor into the existing patterns of society. For instance, scientists who are
strenuously working for an adaptation of the human being to the requirements of interplanetary travel
have come to the conclusion that we are a failure, owing to the limitations of our physical organism.
This may be considered as an isolated instance, but it is significant that in some quarters the God-created
image of a human being is considered to be a misfit. It is difficult to imagine that a humanity which
touches the fringe of such self-denial will be able to develop satisfactory spiritual aspects with regard to
its own integrity. These roads can only lead to a non-human robot existence. The approaching Waterman
Age will face the full impact of these battles for an integrated and satisfactory spiritual picture of
humanity.
Soon the autumnal equinox will enter the constellation of Lion, which is opposite Waterman. The
Lion of the Zodiac played a great part in most ancient mythologies. One old version speaks of it as the
prototype of the Sphinx, that famous mythological symbol with a human head and the body of a lion. It
appears to harbor the deepest secrets of existence, which could only be attained in the process of
initiation. Long double-rows of sphinxes guarded the approaches, for instance, of the Egyptian temples.
In Greek mythology we hear also about the Sphinx. Famous is the one that guarded the road to
Thebes. She confronted those who passed her on the way with a riddle, which she had learned from the
Muses: Who walks in the morning on four legs, at noon on two and in the evening on three? Whoever
did not find the answer was thrown into a rocky abyss. Oedipus, who met her on his way to Thebes,
solved the riddle. It is the human being. He realized deep mysteries of our evolution in the riddle. For the
Sphinx this was the signal that her age had come to a close. Man had realized his own self. She then
destroyed herself.
Contained in this is another aspect of the Waterman/Lion Age. Certainly, the myth of the Theban
Sphinx refers to Greek and pre-Greek humanity. But it also has a bearing on the future of that humanity
beginning to emancipate itself from ancient conditions of consciousness. People who realize their own
self cannot rely any longer on being guarded and guided by the beings of the spiritual world. We must
find the vision of our spiritual being through the capacity of our own Self. Before we became the
creature of a complex universe, we were held by the cosmic Sphinx. We felt that we were created and
ruled by the forces of the cosmos.
In the Age of Aquarius we will certainly know more than we do at present about the origin of our
bodily organization in the cosmos, but we will also realize that the body is only the vessel for the
manifestation of the Self. We will understand that we are not made only to receive but to pay back our
“talents” with increase.
Incarnation and birth will become a revealed mystery. We will learn to look at our connection with
the starry cosmos at the time of our entry into the physical world as a question, or a riddle, that must be
answered during our sojourn on the Earth. We will feel that the cultivation of our spiritual-moral nature
is the answer. Thus will the cosmic Sphinx, our individual connection with the stars at incarnation, stand
at the threshold of birth.
132
Our relationship to the death experience will also change. We will realize it as the moment when the
cosmic Sphinx, the silent stars, will stand again at the Portal. She will wait for the answer that each of us
has to give. The substance of our experiences on the Earth, our struggle to evolve and perfect what we
received as cosmic gift at birth, will be the solution of the riddle, or failure. We will realize in handing
back our increased “talents” to the cosmos, our true human dignity.
When entering the Age of Aquarius, our challenge will be that we are faced with the decision to
break through to such a moral and spiritual individualism or fall back into the abyss of a future human-
animal race. Certain social experiments of the present age are the first forebodings of such a possible
development—the ego denuded robot-human.
133
Chapter - X
The vernal equinox in Goat or Goatfish
The groups of stars making up the constellations of Waterman and Goat are the only two in the
Zodiac that overlap considerably. The left arm of Waterman is reaching out over the back of
Goat/Capricorn. This means that even if the vernal point enters Capricorn in about 4500 AD, the impact
of Waterman will prevail far into the Age of Capricorn, far more than in any preceding age of
civilization. It may probably constitute a healing influence with regard to many developments during the
seventh Post-Atlantean culture.
The Age of Goat/Capricorn will start in about 5800 AD, after the vernal point moves through more
than half of the corresponding constellation. A few centuries afterward, about 6500, the vernal equinox
will coincide with an important cosmic event, having to do with the Perihelion of the Earth.
Distances between the Sun and Earth change in the course of the year. At present the Earth comes
nearest to the Sun about the time of Christmas during the twelve Holy Nights. It is then in its Perihelion.
In the opposite part of the year, after midsummer, the Sun is furthest away from the Earth and is then in
its Aphelion. During the next few thousand years, the Perihelion will slowly move into springtime so
that about 6500 AD, it will be in the same place as the vernal equinox.
This is a very rare coincidence. The last time this took place, according to the standards of modern
astronomical computation, was in about 15000 BC. That was still during the Atlantean epoch. Events of
this kind are connected with the inter-continental geographical changes of the surface of the Earth. For
instance, the time during which the Perihelion moved from the season of the spring equinox—in about
15000 BC—to the season of midsummer or summer solstice—in about 10000 BC—corresponds
approximately to the last Ice Age that accompanied the destruction of the continent of Atlantis, when
Europe and Asia acquired more or less their present shapes.
We can, therefore, assume that the Age of Capricorn, and the times immediately following it, will
see the beginnings of radical changes of the geographical surface of our globe. Occult investigation is
well aware of this. It speaks of the return of the Earth’s Moon, which left our planet in the dim past of
primeval earthly evolution. The possibility of such an event is also visualized by astronomical science,
though its feasibility is imagined in distances of time of astronomical remoteness. Occult investigation
sees it taking place in about 6000 years hence, slightly beyond the Age of Capricorn.
We can imagine that the approach of these occurrences will decisively alter the geographical
countenance of the Earth globe. It will mean the commencement of a series of catastrophes similar to
those that brought on the decline of the continent of Atlantis. The end of Atlantis came in gigantic water
catastrophes that were caused, according to the mythological records of many ancient peoples, by
tremendous cosmic impacts on the Earth.
Catastrophes of such dimensions in earlier epochs were, to a certain extent, always accelerated by
features of decadence in the human race. We realize this if we contemplate for a moment the present
dangerous situation of humanity. Developments in this so-called “atomic age” have far outpaced our
moral evolution, and the danger of a humanly-made cataclysm that would destroy the greater part of the
population of our globe is only too apparent. Events might not yet lead to that end, but the possibilities
can give us a foretaste of what can happen in the future if we continue on the road we have entered.
However, there is no need for resignation or despair. As in ancient Atlantis, preparations were
already made by the spiritual guidance of the world and the great unseen leaders of humanity, to carry
evolution forward beyond the aspects of decline inherent in the present. The faculties that we of the Ages
of Fishes and Waterman are called upon to develop are the preparations. It will be our own free choice to
take the road leading to the future cataclysms or the road leading to survival and spiritual progress. The
paramount prerequisites of that free decision will be:
a) the comprehension by present humanity of the spiritual-cosmic implications of the Christmas
Event, both in the sense of history and as an ever present experience in the soul (=Perihelion
during the Christmas Tide);
134
b) the understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha—the Death on the Cross and the Resurrection.
A loving comprehension of the latter will provide us with a power that will enable us to stand
spiritually erect in the external calamities of the Capricorn Age (=Perihelion about the time of
the spring equinox and Easter).
In doomed Atlantis, the great Manu, inspired by the highest deity, gathered around him a small part
of humanity and led them to the east, where he founded the Ancient Indian culture. Similarly, we may
expect another Manu to step forth during the Age of Capricorn and assemble that part of humanity that
will follow, out of their free decision, in order to be guided to new spiritual shores of existence amidst a
declining world. It may not result in a “horizontal” emigration as in Atlantis, but it may lead to a
“vertical” exodus, in a metaphorical sense, or migration to more ethereal levels of existence and contact
with the physical world.
These aspects are well expressed in the ancient mythology of the constellation of Capricorn/Goat.
Old star maps show us this group of stars as a goat or ibex, but with a fishtail instead of hind legs. In
very Ancient Indian mythology, it was identified with one of the great “Avataras” (manifestations or
revelations) of the god Vishnu. There are representations still in existence showing Vishnu with the
upper part of a human form, whereas the lower half is that of a fish. Very often Capricorn is also
depicted as the “Makara”, which could perhaps best be described as a sea elephant with a long trunk,
sometimes wings of a bird and a long fishtail. In this form, it was the traditional steed of Varuna
(=Waterman) but also of Vishnu. Vishnu says in the Bhagavad Gita: “...I am Varuna...” (The month
corresponding to the Sun’s position in Capricorn is called “Makara” in the Indian calendar.)
Vishnu appeared, according to Ancient Indian cosmology, in this form to Manu and informed him
about the impending destruction of Atlantis. He also advised him to gather his “family” and the seven
holy Rishis (the initiated messengers of Manu in Ancient India) in a ship. After they had been
assembled, Vishnu-Matsya (the Fish) towed the ship himself to the east, to the continent of Asia that was
then beginning to take on its present form. Once they had arrived there, he taught Manu the rudiments of
the new civilization that he was to inaugurate.
The mythology of the valley of Mesopotamia recognized, through the constellations of Waterman
and Goatfish, the god Ea, or Oannes. He was one of a powerful trinity: Anu, the supreme deity of the
creative heavens; Enlil or Bel, connected with the Earth; and Ea or Enki, the lord of the waters of the
heavens and of the Earth. The latter’s son was the great Marduk, the slayer of the Tiamat, of whom we
spoke in an earlier chapter. Ea also came to humanity of ancient times as a divine teacher of the
rudiments of civilization. Like the Matsya-avatar of Vishnu, he manifested himself in a form half
human, half fish.
Also the god Quetzalcoatl, of the Toltecs and Aztecs of America, rose from the sea to the east to
bring those peoples the arts of culture. They belonged to that part of Atlantean humanity that migrated to
the west.
Who is Vishnu of Indian cosmogony? He is the second entity of the great and Ancient Indian trinity
or Trimurti: Brahma, the omnipotent Creator and Father-God; Vishnu, the divine sustainer and
preserver; and Shiva, the God of mystical and ascetic practice, of purification and catharsis. Vishnu can
be compared with the second entity of the Christian Trinity, the Son-God, because of his position and his
deeds in the universe. In the Bhagavad Gita we hear of his manifestation to the warrior-prince, Arjuna,
as Krishna. He says: “Arjuna, I am the cosmos revealed, and its germ that lies hidden.” Arjuna, having
recognized him breaks out into the words:
“I behold in Thy body, O God, all the Gods

and hosts of the orders of born beings ...
I behold in Thee no end nor midst nor beginning,
O All-Sovran of all forms ...
Thou art to my thought the supreme Imperishable,
the one to be known; Thou art this universe’s supreme place of ward;
135
Thou art the warden of everlasting Law,
Thou art the ancient Male ...
For this mid-space between heaven and earth
and all the quarters of the sky are filled with Thee alone.
Seeing this Thy fearful and wonderful form,
O great-hearted one, the threefold world quakes...”
Vishnu was the divine teacher and guide who stood behind the great Manu. The Son-God of
Christian conception, Whom we call the Christ and Who has in the meantime united with the destiny of
humanity and the planet Earth, will inspire the new Manu who will come at the end of the Post-
Atlantean epoch.
There is actually a prophecy contained in the Vishnu mythology pointing toward this. The tenth or
last of the “Avataras” of Vishnu is still to come. It is Kalkin or Kalki, a rider on a white horse, holding a
flaming sword in his hand. He will come to judge the wicked, reward the good, and re-establish the
Golden Age.
We notice here a certain similarity with the imaginations contained in the Apocalypse of St. John the
Divine, Chapter VI, where we hear after the opening of the first of the Seals: “And I saw, and behold a
white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth
conquering, and to conquer.” We see in this picture an indication of the time when the vernal point will
pass over from Capricorn to Sagittarius or Archer. The rider on the white horse, carrying a bow, is
Archer, or Centaur.
The central task of the Post-Atlanteans was the development of independent thinking. The
Atlanteans had a different relationship to thought. It came to them as an inspiration from higher worlds.
They had no need to attain it by their own efforts. Thus they were still guided by external influences.
During the ages following the Ancient Indian civilization, human beings gradually acquired the
capacity of developing their own independent thinking. This development became apparent especially in
Greco-Roman times.
There are great opportunities of spiritual freedom contained in this, but also grave dangers. Having
gained independence and emancipation to a degree where we are able to reject the idea of the reality of
the divine spiritual world, we may uproot our own being. From simple observations in nature, we know
that no living being can stand to be emancipated, for too long, from the natural setting into which it has
been implanted. We are not only rooted in the physical world but also in the world of soul and spirit. If
we deny either or both of them, we are like a plant that has been torn away from its soil and its
participation in light and warmth, and we will find ourselves unprepared for the events during the
Capricorn Age and become victims of the change of the nature of our globe.
There is the other possibility offered to this age and to that of Waterman, i.e., to use the acquired
independence in thinking in order to re-establish the connection with the divine spiritual world by an act
of free decision. This can be done, it is not a wild phantasy; the right approach and the method through
thinking is offered to us.
We see a development, however, in our present time that we hope will only be temporary, which
displays in all detail where an emancipated thinking, self-reliant in its isolation, can lead. Because of the
achieved independence of thinking from external compulsion, we have formed innumerable conceptions
of the nature of a human being. They range from philosophical Idealism to absolute Materialism. Many
have given up the hope of finding the truth in this maze of controversies. However, we should not
overlook the fact that this state of affairs is our real enemy. Those controversial world conceptions of our
modern age have come to oppose each other bitterly. The whole globe is aflame, from east to west,
through thought-out standards and philosophies that, however, are usually very little rooted in the reality
of the world. The true enemies of humanity are those humanly-created ghosts of spirit-devoured
thoughts. The terrifying weapons offered by modern technology are only their accessories to destruction.
136
If we trying to visualize this possible development calmly, and if we also take into account the
probability of future acceleration, we can become convinced of the prospect of a “War of all against all”
destroying the last of the Post-Atlantean civilizations of which occultism speaks. The aspects of previous
stages of world evolution, imprinted in the constellation of Goatfish, confirm these vistas of the
corresponding Age of civilization.
On Ancient Saturn, the first ethereal beginnings of the senses were created. Hierarchical beings of an
exalted order sacrificed their own spiritual perceptions of the ensuing evolution of the world. Thus, those
divine spiritual perceptions became the foundations of the senses. This stage is imprinted in Capricorn.
Those sense organs have gone through a very long evolution. Today we speak of five senses that we
use in order to perceive the objects of the material world. There are, however, other “sense organs” of a
much more subtle nature. They were well-known in ancient civilizations, but modern humanity has left
them undeveloped. They are blurred, and their functions have been distorted by that kind of spiritually
divorced, self-immolating thinking that has taken hold of our present world.
It will become an ever more paramount need for us, moving toward the Ages of Aquarius and
Capricorn, to free those inner senses through acts of spiritual freedom from prejudice and dumbness of
soul. Otherwise, we will be unable to find in ourselves the forces of guidance and cognition, which alone
can reveal to us the true perspectives of world evolution, our true standing and tasks in the universe, and
the bridge through the chaos of external disasters that come in the future.
There is no direct imprint in Capricorn of the events on Ancient Sun. However, the opposite
constellation of Crab relates a stage of consolidation of the Ancient Sun universe, especially as far as our
ancestors were concerned. Before that phase, the creations of the divine world had a more incohesive
and constantly changing character. Capricorn in the opposite part of the Zodiac constitutes more the
aspect of cosmic retrospection and contemplation of the effects of that consolidation, reaching right
down into the present stage of world evolution.
Thus we can assume that in the Capricorn Age we will be expected to carefully gather the
contemplative and meditative fruits of our sojourn on the material plane, the place of ultimate
“consolidation” of all previous creation. We must not forsake the material world, as the civilization of
the opposite constellation—the Ancient Indian culture of Crab—was inclined to do. We will be expected
to comprehend and employ the forces of external nature with the new faculties, which we must have
brought to birth in us by then. Thus we will find the treasures of truth that are hidden in material
existence since the very beginning of the world, and it will reveal to us the patterns of divine creation.
The material world is indeed the Imagination of divine thoughts, which in the course of its emancipation
from divine beings has become static. It is a script that, if it is read with awakened spiritual organs of
perception, reveals the beginning and the end of all creation, and it also reveals the intentions of the
Spirit of the Sun, Who in the Apocalypse of St. John, Chapter I, says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega.”
The most dramatic Capricorn aspect is that derived from the Ancient Moon evolution. Earlier we
pointed out that the significant feature of Ancient Moon was a universal split, in the course of which the
predecessor of the present Sun separated from the Moon. The Moon had become too dense for the higher
ranks of the spiritual hierarchies. It was left to its own course but was soon taken hold of by rebellious
spirits of luciferic character. They succeeded in implanting the first beginnings of egoism in our Moon
ancestor. This was accompanied by a higher degree of densification of the Moon substance than was
originally visualized by the divine guidance. This development made it fall further away from its origin
in the spirit. Therefore, the creatures living in bodies of Moon substance exhibited the first consequences
of the luciferic emancipation from the higher spiritual world, and developed, thereby, the rudiments of
illness and death.
However, the higher beings of the hierarchies still watched over them from their Sun-abode. In
certain intervals of time, the higher principles of their being were lifted out of their Moon bodies and
received into the sphere of the Sun. There they were imbued with new spiritual vitality with which they
could counteract those adverse tendencies they found on their return to the Moon.
137
Finally, the hierarchical beings dwelling on the Sun became so powerful that they were able to
proceed in overcoming the “rebellious” Moon. The Moon had been densified to such a degree that horny
substances already appeared. The general body of the Moon was still in a liquid condition, but some of
the creatures living in it developed kind of horny outgrowths. This is remembered in the horns of
Capricorn (Goat, or Ibex) whereas the fishtail in the place of hind legs points to the watery element in
which they lived. There exist indications suggesting that this constellation was conceived, at certain
times in the past, as a crocodile having a similar cosmic background.
Gigantic cosmic battles ensued between the higher ranking hierarchies and the Moon beings trying to
preserve the achieved densification and alienation from the higher spiritual worlds. This was the
prototype of all later myths and versions of the “Great War in Heaven” (see Revelation of St. John,
Chapter XII). In the course of these events Ancient Moon was broken up; its gross substances were
dissolved, and its essence was raised to etheric levels of existence.
This great cosmic catharsis and transformation is imprinted as active memory in the constellation of
Capricorn. We can, therefore, assume that the Age of Capricorn will have to expect a similar “War in
Heaven.” Thinking, which is alienated from the spirit, is well on the way to condense into a kind of
rigid “Moon existence”, becoming more and more passive in reflection and registration of external facts
only. Such a development will denude us of the capacity to arrange our earthly affairs in a healthy
fashion. It will lead to universal dissatisfaction and error, which in turn will create strife and destruction.
There is no other way out; we must consciously seek an inner contact with the spiritual world as an
act of free decision. For this and no other purpose have we been permitted by the destiny of the world to
attain independence and emancipation in our thinking, to learn to stand in inner freedom before the
reality of the spiritual world.
This is the chief message to the Age of Capricorn, the stage concluding the cycle of the Post-
Atlantean civilizations. It will be the judgment as to whether or not each individual has achieved the aim
of the Post-Atlantean epoch.
138
Pegasus, the winged horse, or the Winged Intelligence, rising from the heard of the
freed Andromeda as the vernal point is progressing from Fishes to Waterman.
139

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ISIS SOPHIA I

ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC.

These letters were originally published as monthly

© ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC. 2007

Editors: Roberta van Schilfgaarde

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

Printed in the United States of America

FOREWARD - Hazel Straker 5

Note from the Editors 6

The Structure of Our Solar System

Mercury Mars Uranus - discovered in 1781

1) The Sun, as roughly the center of the disc.

Ram or Latin: Aries Scales or Latin: Libra

SECOND LETTER - May 1944

THIRD LETTER - June 1944

The Ancient Saturn Evolution

FOURTH LETTER - July 1944

The Spiritual Nature of the Fixed-Star Zodiac (continued)

FIFTH LETTER - August 1944

I Reflection of Life Ram Head—Brain

III Reflection of Individual-

The Constellation of Ram

The Constellation of Bull

The Constellation of Twins

The Constellation of Crab

The Constellation of Lion

The Constellation of Virgin

SIXTH LETTER - September, 1944

The Constellation of Scales

The Constellation of Scorpion

The Constellation of Archer

The Constellation of Goat

The Constellation of Waterman

The Constellation of Fishes

head originates in Ram

SEVENTH LETTER - October 1944

Connection between the Human Being and the Universe

EIGHTH LETTER - November 1944

Past: Dependence upon many other conditions and beings.

NINTH LETTER - December 1944

The Nature of the Planetary World - Saturn

Second Spirits of Wisdom Dominions Lordships Kyriotetes

Third Spirits of Personality Principalities Principalities Archai

The Being of the Creator

An individual’s inner (soul) world of moral

The circle of the The “works” of

Movement toward “communication”

TENTH LETTER - January 1945

ELEVENTH LETTER - February 1945

The Nature of the Planetary World - Jupiter/Mars

TWELFTH LETTER - March 1945

The Events in the Sky

THIRTEENTH LETTER - April 1945

The Events in the Sky

FOURTEENTH LETTER - May 1945

The Events in the Sky

FIFTEENTH LETTER - June 1945

The Events in the Sky

SIXTEENTH LETTER - July 1945