In July 1946, the planet Saturn will pass from the constellation of stars called Twins, into that of Crab. Does this event in the sky concern humanity on Earth? It concerns humanity as much, or as little, as do other phenomena in the universe, for instance, the rotation of the Earth around its axis. This rotation is the foundation of the measurement of time; it determines the day of 24 hours. Without this universal measurement of time, derived from cosmic laws, the social life of humanity would fall into confusion.

May it also be possible that the other events in the sky, produced by rhythmic movements of the stars, constitute a helpful foundation for the determination of time on a much larger scale than known hitherto? Is the universe of the stars perhaps like a huge clock, with many hands and dial-plates that indicate the time of many realms of existence, not only with regard to day, month or year?

Of course, the effect of the rotation of the Earth, which creates the alternation of day and night, is obvious. These changes are forced upon us from outside our being; we cannot escape them and cannot alter the length of day. Other events in the sky, such as the phases of the Moon, do not appear to have very much bearing on our life with regard to time.

Nevertheless, might it be possible that we do not notice certain rhythms of time with regard to more subtle rhythms of human existence — for instance, our cultural life, and so on — because we have not yet developed a proper sense for time beyond our merely physical requirements? The fact that we live in an age in which prophets appear, proclaiming a glorious ascent of humanity in the future, while others speak of ultimate decline, shows that humanity has not achieved a universally valid cognition of ‘cultural time.’ Humanity today is like a congregation of human beings, who have lost their sense of time — through some strange accident — and are now quarrelling among themselves as to whether it is morning or evening. Therefore, it is not astonishing that modern humanity has managed to put itself into a cultural and social crisis that has no example in history. We also need time signals from the universe with regard to the foundation of cultural life.

Saturn entered the constellation of Twins in June 1944, and it will enter the constellation of Crab in July 1946. This planet was called Chronos in olden times. People regarded it in those days as the visible manifestation of invisible forces in the universe, which had created time and held sway over it. Wouldn’t it be wise to recover those ideas, in a sense, that is adequate to modern thinking?

Nobody will deny that the time when Saturn entered Twins, in June 1944, it opened a new phase in history. What was the “time” that was then announced by Saturn? The constellation of Twins, which represents one of the twelve ciphers on the great cosmic dial-plate of the so-called Zodiac, was recognized in olden times as the cipher of human brotherhood. Even today we often find the Twins depicted as two human-like forms, yet different in their qualities, which are interlinked in a certain way. If we accept this as objective tradition, which still holds good and only needs to be translated into modern concepts, then we might interpret the “time signal” of Saturn in 1944 in the following way:

“Again, as so often in history, the hour of brotherhood has struck. Ye people of good will, listen to the message of this ‘hour,’ and take into your hearts that the problem of brotherhood, the problem of healthy relationships among people, should be in the foreground of all our doing. Unless you will recognize this necessity, springing from the depths of your own historical development, you will realize in later years that you have wasted this ‘hour’ in the life of humanity, and the lack of what should have been accomplished will create disaster, because lack and emptiness that has not been filled with genuine human endeavor will always fill itself with the demons of destruction.”

Has humanity listened to this message? Certainly not. The problems were there; there is no doubt about it. We experienced them in many ways, even in daily life, even in the tiniest human communities. If we look back upon the history of the last two years and note the problems that arose with the end of the war in Europe and Asia, then we must admit that not one of these problems has really been solved. The breaches between races, peoples and nations, between single human beings, arc wider and more serious than ever.

All this happened because nobody was really aware of the “cultural hour” that had struck in the universe. Instead of the true human “Twins” — i.e., the foundation of true human brotherhood — two other “Twins” have arisen, two specters of destruction. They work among humanity as Delay and Confusion.

The seriousness of the present moment lies in the fact that humanity will have to go on carrying the burden of the past into the time when the World Hour of Crab will strike. The Planet Saturn will enter the constellation of Crab, or Cancer, in July 1946, and it will move through this constellation for about two years. This fact will be underlined by another cosmic event. In the course of next year, Saturn will come very near the planet Pluto, which was discovered only in 1930. Furthermore, in August 1947, the Sun and the planets Venus, Saturn and Pluto will all stand in Cancer.

Events like these do not happen very often. The previous occasion when Saturn had moved so near to Pluto (which is called a conjunction) was during the summer months of 1914, i.e., 33 years ago, and, therefore, it can readily be seen that this conjunction is a very important time signal from the universe. It is somewhat similar to the coming together of the big and small hands on a clock, for instance, at noon or midnight. The conjunction of Saturn end Pluto in Cancer is really a zero-event, underlined by the fact that Venus and the Sun will also be in the same constellation in August 1947.

Previously, in 1914, when the conjunction between Saturn and Pluto took place, they were both in course of transition from Bull to Twins. Thus Saturn had announced another World hour of Twins, prior to that of 1944, when Saturn had also entered Twins. A World hour of Twins demands from humanity nothing less than the solution of the problems of human relationships. In 1914, this “Hour” was emphasized by the conjunction with Pluto. It was not just an ordinary “Hour of Twins”, which happens every 30 years. It was an “Hour” that called for supreme attention and asked for the settlement of the problems connected with the transition from old power principles in the social realm to new principles of human Brotherhood. The conjunction of which we speak took place in the space between Bull and Twins. Bull is the “cipher” of power, Twins is that of the Two, the Brothers, who have to come to reasonable agreement, if they wish to exist.

One could not say that the demands of that “Hour of Twins” in 1914 and afterwards had been fulfilled. Therefore, this unfulfilled request of the Spirit of Humanity has since haunted humanity; and in 1944, the bill was again presented that had in the meantime mounted to enormous proportions.

Now we have to face the “World hour of Crab.” And again it is underlined by the conjunction with Pluto, indeed, by the conjunction of Sun and Venus as well. What is the quest of this “World hour?” We may look back in history to previous occasions when Saturn announced the “Hour of Crab”. For instance, we find it mentioned in the story of Parsifal, or Perceval, who was the One who, after many trials in the world of doubt and despair, became King of the Knights who guarded the Holy Grail, the vessel of eternal food and healing in Montsalvage. The preceding King, Amfortas, had failed through his own weakness, and he was suffering from a terrible wound, which he had received in a fight with the sinister enemies of the Holy Grail. He endured great pain; yet, although the sight of the Holy Vessel could not heal his wound, at the same time it prevented him from dying. For this was the magic power of the Holy Grail: it endowed everyone who saw it with eternal youth. The Knights of Montsalvage were in great despair because of the illness of their King, and they eagerly awaited the coming of Parsifal, who, as it was revealed to them, would restore the health of Amfortas and become their new King.

When Arnfortas’ pain had become almost unbearable, and Parsifal had drawn near to the Grail Castle, the planet Saturn had entered the constellation of Crab, and it was also in conjunction with the Sun. Thus, this story is like a Key to the understanding of the Hour of Cancer. We can see in King Amfortas a symbol of the whole of humanity in its present condition: facing the evil, unable to fight it through its own weaknesses, deeply wounded, but forced to live toward a certainly painful future.

Where is Parsifal, the Bringer of Salvation? We can find other historic examples of Hours of Cancer. Saturn was also in the constellation of Cancer in 1888 AD. This year and the following were extremely important in the history of modern humanity, but of course, the importance of these years passed practically unnoticed at the time. For instance, in 1888 the German philosopher Nietzsche became insane. A few years before, he had written such books as The Will to Power, Antichrist, etc., when he was already in an unhealthy condition. In these books, he tried to establish a philosophy of the “Herrenmensch” (The Master Man), who sees the only possibility of a new advent in the midst of a declining world, in the acquisition of absolute power by the Superman.

When Nietzsche broke down, another man was on the way to be born. This was Hitler, who was born in April 1889. From one certain aspect, one can call him the fulfiller of Nietzsche’s philosophical dreams and speculations. Thus he became a “successful” agent of those forces who wanted to destroy Central Europe. Weighing these events, it is as if we looked into a deep abyss, out of which the darkest creatures of evil could creep at any moment. Yet the slope leading into this abyss descends from the sunny heights of a dim past, where the absolute power of the Ruler was justified by his attainment of the absolute knowledge of the great laws of the evolution of the human race. Humanity has long ago left the level of consciousness on which such knowledge is possible, but it has retained the external institution of the principle of absolute power in a few hands. The continuance of this principle can only lead, with increasing speed, into an unfathomable abyss of destruction. This is really the abyss of Cancer, which was very well-known in olden times. The traditional symbol for this constellation reveals this knowledge. The two spiral-like signs are not connected with one another, there is an empty space in between. Finding ourselves in the darkness of the abyss, according to the “Hour of Cancer, can we reach the opposite slope, which may lead us again to the heights where the Light and the Warmth dwell? It may be terribly steep and rocky, yet it must lead upward.

During another Hour of Cancer, in 1917, Rudolf Steiner, the great teacher of a new spiritual Revelation, introduced the Idea of The Threefold Commonwealth. Nobody who experienced those years of 1917 and 1918 consciously will deny that the abyss of Cancer then yawned in a terrible manner beneath the feet of humanity. The demons of the depth made immensely strong preparations to shatter the civilization of the West. In Russia the Bolshevistic revolution broke loose. But also in Central Europe the first seeds were sown, out of which grew National socialism. Yet, in the midst of that utter darkness, the light of a new dawn of humanity could be seen, when Rudolf Steiner brought forth the idea of The Threefold Commonwealth. This idea is not a program of a new social order. It is a great school of thinking that will finally enable humanity to overcome the specters of power principles that are left over from past ages of human evolution.

From one side, humanity is threatened by forces that want to subdue the human being by religious fanaticism and semi-philosophical doctrines. From another side, very powerful arrangements are made to enslave the individual being by economic pressure. A thinking that had trained itself by the idea of The Threefold Commonwealth would be able to overcome those dangers that arise from the one-sided over-emphasis of one of the three great realms of social life, the economic life, the life of rights, or the spiritual life.

Thus the light has shone into the darkness of the Hour of Cancer in 1917-18. Another question is: why didn't humanity comprehend this light, and what are the consequences of it? We need not despair if we have now another World Hour of Cancer to face. It will bring utter darkness, but there will also be all the more light. Our anxiety must be in whether humanity will recognize the light. Of course, we cannot compare the present situation with any previous time, for the world has changed its face. The problems of humanity have grown to gigantic dimensions, partly through neglect in the past. Therefore, we might have to find new answers. How can we find them?