BIO-DYNAMIC AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION

June 1957 - No. 8

Astronomical Notes VI

Willi Sucher

Even a superficial glance at our monthly calendar sheet must make it abundantly clear that one of the paramount features of the events in the sky is the positions at a given time of Moon, Sun, and the planets in the constellations of the Zodiac. We shall, therefore, spend some time over working out of the main characteristics of these constellations.

It must, however, be emphasized that the impacts of the constellations are modified according to the properties and characteristics of the celestial bodies which happen to move through them. Therefore, we will come to the fact that in the end the Zodiac presents seven aspects of which one may even contradict the other. This is not much consolation for the practical farmer and gardener, but we are surely aware that any half-measure would lead only to dilettantism. We are working not only for monetary needs, but we have a responsibility for coming ages that will demand a sure and scientific foundation for considering the cooperation between cosmic and earthly forces. No words are more true than those expressed by Mr. Corrin in the last issue of the News Letter. We are pioneers in a new field of experience which needs the constant vigilance of revising and checking.

What are the tools, then, that we must employ to realize the impacts of the constellations of the Zodiac? Certainly, we have the possibility of checking by the facts which we perceive in nature; yet, although this road must never be neglected, it is a very tedious and long one. Another instrument of research is ourselves. We can study the connections of the stars with our bodily nature, during our embryonic development, etc. This is a somewhat shorter road, although it is more complicated. Rudolf Steiner, himself, has repeatedly pointed out that we are the best instrument for astronomical observation — better than the telescopes and other mechanical means. Thereby, we can gain an insight into the manifestations of the Zodiac and planets on Earth; although we have to translate, as it were, these observations into terms that conform to conditions in the kingdoms of nature.

This was one of the reasons why in ancient times the names of Saints and other important personages were added to the days of the calendar. We cannot simply copy this in our present age. Our approach must be different, because Saints do not have the same meaning anymore in modern civilization.

Since the most ancient times, the twelve constellations of the Zodiac were recognized as the visible expressions of the cosmic, spiritual form of the human being. In Genesis I we hear: “And so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.” The external manifestation of the “Image of God” are the fixed stars, that mysterious world in cosmic space about which we know so little, particularly the twelve constellations of the Zodiac.

How can we recognize in that world our divine archetypal from? In ancient tradition there is abundant evidence of how it was perceived; of course, the means of perceiving this was entirely different from modern approaches. But we can safely say that our modern researches in this matter have amplified and transcribed these cosmic facts into modern concepts.

Our physical organization is twelvefold. (A closer scientific research can disclose even subdivisions of the twelve.) The foundation, but not the most important part, is the head, as also embryology reveals. It is followed by the region of hearing and self-expression through speech, centered in the larynx. The word must become the deed. For that reason the human organization has developed the arms which, together with the shoulders, form the third region.

The fourth bodily region provides us with the facility of experiencing our own individual nature. It is the chest, which encloses a part of the inner organs and separates us from the external world. Through our inner organs we experience our being as an integrated entity apart from our surroundings — this forms the fifth region. The emancipation is still more emphasized by the sphere below the diaphragm, and it constitutes the sixth region where those mysterious encounters take place between the impacts of the external world through food and an entirely different inner potentiality.

The seventh region is formed by the hips, the pelvis, etc. It is a sphere of balance and support for the upper organism. Following it is the region of propagation, which is the eight region. A redirection of human affinity to the external world sets in with it, which is further emphasized by the organization of the upper legs or thighs, constituting the ninth region. Furthermore, flexibility is now introduced into our bodily capacity, so we come into close relationship to the external world by the movement of our limbs. This is done by the knees, or the tenth region, but all joints of the human skeleton serve a similar purpose. The flexibility is then used by the functions of the lower legs, or eleventh region, which have still more affinity to the external world, for instance, to external warmth. Finally, we find in the human body the feet, the twelfth sphere, which directly touches the soil, the foundation of external nature.

This division of the human organization was always known and was experienced as the earthly reflection of the age-long impacts of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac on our planet. Modern spiritual science can confirm this connection, which is in fact, the realization of our origin in the “image of God”, represented in its external manifestation as the Zodiac.

Our connection with the Zodiac is then as follows:

 #160;#160;#160;

Region of the:	Constellation of:	Sign of:
Head	Ram	Aries
Speech, larynx	Bull	Taurus
Arms, shoulders	Twins	Gemini
Chest	Crab	Cancer
Interior of chest	Lion	Leo
Interior below diaphragm	Virgin	Virgo
Balance	Scales	Libra
Propagation	Scorpion	Scorpio
Thighs	Archer	Sagittarius
Knees	Goat	Capricorn
Calves	Waterman	Aquarius
Feet	Fishes	Pisces

 #160;#160;#160;

This divine image or “archetype” of the human being is inherent in all kingdoms of nature, partly, of course, in highly modified manifestations. However, if we understand the impact of the Zodiac on the human being, we can also learn to comprehend the influence of the Zodiac on nature in connection with the activities of the planets.

   

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