By Willi
Sucher
Traditional astrology, as it has
been handed down from the past, and being based primarily on the
birth chart alone, allows us to consider only that part of human
existence proceeding from birth to death. Hence the situation has
evolved that on the one hand we stand constantly confronted by
experience with the fact that a connection somehow exists
between human destiny and the movement of the stars, but on the
other hand that no satisfactory explanation can be given for this
connection that does justice at the same time to human freedom.
Through Rudolf Steiner, the possibility has been given for our
age to consider the human as a being who descends from pre-natal
existence in divine spiritual realms into earthly life, and who,
after stepping through the Portal of Death, returns to the
spiritual world in order to prepare for new Earth incarnations.
In the sense of anthroposophical spiritual cognition, it is
incumbent on us to speak of a human being whom we encounter in
earthly vesture between birth and death as one who, in the
condition of existence between death and a new birth, is in
reality, a star being. We must surely bear in mind therewith
— and in Rudolf Steiner's sense one can — that the
star world is not, in this aspect, to be regarded as a cold
timepiece, as it would appear from our earthly outlook, but as
the garment of beings of the spiritual world. And so it followed
for the author to seek to understand our relationship with that
of the starry world, according to Rudolf Steiner's directions,
and to have to penetrate the existence of humans prior to birth
and subsequent to death, in order to discover an astrology worthy
of our human dignity as spirit.
We wish to preclude the
misunderstanding that any attempt to penetrate the pre-earthly
realm of existence should be made in some nebulous mystical way.
On the contrary, the point of departure for our studies shall be
the natal horoscope of the human being. Whereas the natal
horoscope is otherwise projected in general onto the life span
between birth and death, here the opposite shall be done, namely,
the position of the starry heaven at birth shall be used as a
key, or seen as a threshold, to the stages of pre-earthly
existence — about which some thoughts
have been expressed in the preceding
explanation.
The birth constellation provides
a key to the pre-earthly stages, prior to the descent of the
human soul, in a very real fashion; more specifically the Moon's
position at birth. The position of the Moon is like a portal that
shows the way through stages of cosmic existence. One comes
indeed, to distinguish three stages, “three star
Words,” if one wishes to speak in keeping with the
“writing of the stars,” which are directed to human
beings. First is the pre-natal configuration that is calculated
using the Trutine of Hermes, as will be clarified later; then,
the constellation of cosmic thought, to be explained more
thoroughly here; and third, there is a configuration which
reaches over into the past Earth life. This third constellation
will remain a topic for later
consideration.
First, we must explain something
about the pre-natal configuration. It is common knowledge that
significant events take place about nine months prior to the
birth of a human being, which from the earthly standpoint we call
“conception.” From descriptions of Rudolf Steiner's
in many places, we know however that what takes place behind the
physical events of conception are spiritual events of great
significance. During long epochs of existence, between death and
new birth, the human soul has worked in cooperation with beings
of the spiritual world in order to create a
“spirit-seed” for a new Earth body. When the soul
descends, as it were, into the last stage before entering the
Earth-sphere, it enters the Moon-sphere and loses contact with
the “spirit seed.” This seed connects with what is
offered up from the substance of physical inheritance. In the
feeling of loss, the human soul, having vested itself in advance
with an astral body, draws together out of the cosmic ether an
etheric body. In the third week after conception the human I,
enwrapped in astral and ether bodies, connects with what has
developed as a synchronization of physical and spiritual seeds,
and unites the more intimately with it during the embryonic
period following.
These events, described briefly
here, become reflected in a most penetrating fashion in the
starry events about the time of conception. This has been
presented and illuminated from a special vantage point in the
“Constellation of Christ's Birth” (Elisabeth Vreede,
“Die
Konstellation zu Christi
Geburt,”Astronomische
RundschreibenNr.I, Dec 1934, published by
the Mathematical-Astronomical Section, The Goetheanum, Dornach,
Switzerland); that
is, under the aspect of what the “hermetic
rule”(trutina
hermetis)can
reveal about pre-natal existence. The hermetic rule shows itself
from various standpoints to be a vestige of real mystery wisdom,
about which something regarding its astronomical structure will
be explained in future studies. It should only be mentioned here
that with this rule the variation of the mean embryonic time of
ten sidereal months or 273 days is meant, which is connected to
the spiritual events described above. The Moon's position at
birth is the key: whether the Moon is waxing or waning, visible
above or invisible below the horizon advises with regard to the
time, which can lie up to 14 days earlier or later than 273 days
before birth. At that time the star constellation of the
pre-natal epoch is present, projecting a mighty tableau of the
coming Earth life, right into the physiological make-up. Much
more must be said in the future about this constellation; may
this brief mention of it suffice for the
present.
The pre-natal configuration (or
epoch) is above all connected in its essence with the Moon
sphere. The embryonic development processes are themselves of a
lunar nature. The embryo itself swims in water, or the amniotic
fluid, as a reflection of the Moon sphere. The corresponding
constellation, too, is thoroughly “fluidic” and must
be understood in its flowing lightness and liveliness; it has
nothing of the congealing nature of the natal configuration in
it, which relates to a quite definite
moment.
This swimming of the human being
in astral occurrences, which is so exceptionally lively in the
embryonic period, has a parallel occurrence at the other end of
life, in the death constellation. Rudolf Steiner has pointed to
the possibility that a horoscope for the moment of passage of the
human soul through the portal of death, which can give
extraordinary insight into the soul nature of a soul and into its
preset karma. Indeed, Rudolf Steiner points out that just as
during gestation, the embryo swims in amniotic fluid, so, in the
period immediately after death, the human soul swims in the
configuration of the planets that stood in the heavens at the
moment of death. This has proved true in full detail and will be
reported thoroughly when we come to consider the
death-configuration.
Here, it is essential to note
that a “swimming” at death does take place, being
related to the watery condition which is the
very essence of the Moon sphere.
We have now
worked out how the birth constellation appears as the midpoint,
standing over the moment of entry into the physical world; then,
preceding it, we find, as if ascending a step higher into the
cosmic world, a configuration lying before birth, the prenatal
epoch, directing our gaze to the lunar etheric events. At the
other end of life a kind of parallel appears in the death
configuration reflecting events in the lunar etheric sphere; for
in this configuration there is to be glimpsed a mirror image of
the ether body, dissolving from that soul, of the tableau of
destiny which lights up in those first days.
There remains
to be mentioned that the pre-natal epoch must by rights be
considered from the viewpoint of the Moon. One is otherwise
accustomed to seeing the star constellations from the point of
view of the Earth: that is, when we cast or study a natal
horoscope, for example, we do so by assuming our earthly
standpoint and looking up to the dome of the heavens as to a
tableau of appearing stars. This is also how natal horoscopes are
cast. But experience shows that if one wants to gain a proper
relationship to the pre-natal epoch, to the time defined by the
hermetic rule, then one ought not consider the celestial events
with the Earth as vantage point, but, ideally, transfer one's
vantage point to the Moon and look at the starry spaces from
there.
As has already been mentioned,
the present study shall be devoted primarily to a description of
the constellation of cosmic thought, or one could also say, the
configuration of philosophic attitude. If the pre-natal epoch has
to do with ascending a stage above the physical to the
lunar-etheric element, then the spiritual nativity, or
constellation of cosmic thought reaches out, even beyond this; it
actually stems from the sphere of the Sun. Despite this, the Sun
cannot be looked upon as an absolute pre-natal event, although
this configuration may be present long before birth. For it may
occur even after birth, turning all time relationships
“upside down.” This fact serves as an example showing
us that our usual logical concepts of time from the earthly point
of view no longer apply. Therefore we have the moment of birth as
the proper horoscope or natal configuration; a next higher
configuration is the pre-natal epoch, which has been referred to
briefly as a Moon configuration; thirdly, a further
configuration, the spiritual nativity, which is a Sun
configuration. That which has been described here in a simple,
sketchy way shall be explained and elucidated little by
little.
Just as we speak of a door or
portal in everyday terms, connecting one room to another and
having to be opened if one wants to go from the one room to the
other, so doorways must exist in planetary realms when the human
soul wants to descend, let us say, from the Sun sphere to the
Moon sphere and then, eventually, to the Earth. Not without
deeper reason did Rudolf Steiner continually use the expressions
“the portal of death” and “the door of
birth.” Such portals must exist; they can be read in the
script of the starry heavens, and are indicated by the position
of the Moon at birth. The hermetic rule states that the lunar
position at birth indicates the “place of the ascendent or
descendent at the pre-natal epoch”; that in itself
indicates the door leading from the Sun sphere to the Moon
sphere. Now we must put these relationships into a picture in
order that they may become quite clear.
We have shown in figure 2 below
a configuration that could be present at a particular birth. The
inner circle indicates the situation at birth. The horizontal
line shows the plane of the horizon, while the Moon
appears high and visible on the dome of the sky. One should note
carefully two essential things. The trutina
hermetis (hermetic rule) states that on the one hand the ascendent at
birth, i.e., the mathematical elongation of the eastern horizon,
meets a point on the zodiac at which the Moon, seen from the
Earth, stood at the moment of the prenatal epoch. This Moon
position at the pre-natal epoch is drawn in the second circle. If
one (as described above) considers the cosmic situation in this
moment from the Moon's position, then one would see the Earth in
the position opposite. On the other hand, the trutina
hermetis speaks of the lunar position at birth as being the
“ascendent of the pre-natal epoch,” as is shown in
figure 2.
Therefore two ascendents enter
our consideration: the birth ascendent and the pre-natal
ascendent. What is expressed by this? One can make clear to
oneself via the birth ascendant what the term
“ascendent” means at all. Rudolf Steiner speaks of it
not only as the point of intersection between the extended line
of the eastern horizon and the zodiac, but as the spatial
hemisphere in the eastern direction. This he brings into
connection with the human central, rhythmic being, the breast,
describing a semi-sphere in the structure of the ribs. Therefore
the ascendent is an image for what is a connecting bridge between
the human upper head being, which is more cosmically oriented,
and the lower metabolic being, which is more bound to the Earth
forces. The ascendent is therefore a door from the
“above” to the “below,” or vice versa. In
this manner we can grasp the nature of the ascendent. For the
aspect of birth it is the gateway from the lunar cosmic, as it
lives in the organism of the head, to the earthly nature,
appearing in the human metabolic system. The ascendent of the
pre-natal epoch (see figure 2 above) shows the doorway from the
Sun sphere downward to the Moon sphere. (The meaning of this
doorway extends still further, but more about that later.) One
must realize, however, that these portals are not always open for
human beings. The portal of birth is open when the eastern
direction (ascendent) points to the place in the zodiac where the
Moon stood at the moment of the pre-natal epoch. (A definite time
of day must be awaited for birth.) The portal from the Sun sphere
to the Moon sphere is open, however, when the Moon node is at the
point of the pre-natal ascendent or descendent — called the
natal lunar position.
In order to make clear what is
meant here, let us dwell on the nature of the Moon node. This
theme has been covered in detail in an earlier publication of the
Mathematical Astronomical Section (Astronomische Rundschreiben
1927-1930; volume 1, nos. 9 and 12). Therefore we
may restrict ourselves in the following to only the most basic
details necessary to our understanding.
When we consider the
relationship of the Moon's orbit to the Sun's orbit (or ecliptic)
from our vantage point on Earth (geocentrically), then both
orbits do lie within the band of constellations called the
zodiac. However, they incline toward each other such that
intersections arise at two opposing
points. These are called the lunar nodes,
ascending or descending, according to the direction from which
the Moon crosses the ecliptic. At these points of intersection,
therefore, the Moon sphere (enclosed by the lunar orbit) is borne
up by the Sun sphere (path of Sun or ecliptic); here both, as it
were, clasp hands. N the lunar nodes have the characteristic of
moving contrary to the direction in which the Moon and planets
move in the zodiac, so that they complete a single, retrograde
orbit through the entire zodiac, in 18 years and 7 months. Let us
suppose that figure 3 below were to portray the planetary
relationships at birth. The Moon's position shows the pre-natal
ascendent or portal from the Sun sphere to the Moon sphere; or
one could say that the Moon shows the cosmic direction in which
the human being has approached the Moon sphere. But the portal
first opened when one of the two Moon nodes reached the cosmic
position where the Moon stands later at birth. They can attain
that position before or after actual birth. Generally it must
occur within an 18 year cycle, therefore within a span of about
nine years before or after birth. During this span a star
configuration occurs that is of utmost importance for the person
in question. For, as has been stated, behind it the configuration
of philosophic attitude or “cosmic thought”
(spiritual nativity) lights up. This corresponds through and
through with what Rudolf Steiner has referred to in the lecture
cycle, Human and Cosmic
Thought.
From an entirely different side,
Rudolf Steiner describes in this cycle the various philosophic
orientations as being in origin cosmic or divine thoughts,
showing in a magnificent way their congenial relationships to the
circling constellations and planets. The relationships disclosed
in these lectures have been dealt with by Dr. Vreede in the first
part of this study. Now, empiric experience shows quite clearly
that the stellar configuration appearing when the lunar nodes
arrive at the “Cosmic ascendent or descendent,” that
is, when the portal from the Sun sphere opens to the Moon sphere
(when the Moon node arrives at the ecliptic position of the natal
Moon), depicts the special “world-view constellation”
as described by Rudolf Steiner with regard to certain
personalities. These personalities will be discussed in what
follows. According to the examples cited by Rudolf Steiner, it
will be shown that the “constellation of cosmic
thought” (spiritual nativity) can in fact be
rediscovered in stellar events from a spiritual-scientific
astrological vantage-point, and as such, is a Sun
astral-configuration as against the Moon etheric nature of the
pre-natal epoch.
Just as the
prenatal epoch can be recognized as compatible with the death
configuration, it is possible to find yet another configuration
compatible to the spiritual nativity (termed here with
reservation as the Sun-sphere configuration). If we recall how
the spiritual nativity, or Sun sphere configuration, depicts the
philosophic tendencies or inherent spiritual traits of the soul
for the ensuing incarnation, traits and tendencies which latently
underlie or potentially work through the souls deeds during
earthly life, we can thus suppose that the sum total of the
soul's deeds during life, depicted in the death horoscope,
continue to develop after death. They do, but we must digress to
explain.
Immediately after death (or even
in near-death conditions during life) the sum total of all the
soul's earthly deeds and experiences expand at first into a
mighty panorama called the tableau of life. Then, from about two
and one-half to three and one-half days following death, this
tableau transforms into beings. The soul's deeds and experiences
become beings expressing moral qualities. The qualities of these
beings can be distinguished as falling roughly into two
categories: those that furthered the spiritual development of the
Earth and of the human soul itself and those which did not. All
deeds and experiences of the soul must be judged before they can
continue to expand to the cosmos (or ascend to the higher
spiritual world). Beings whom we may indeed call gods or angels
judge the soul's deeds and experiences in the light of their
wisdom of ultimate Earth goals. Their judgment requires time, and
their verdict requires purification of the soul from its useless
deeds. The soul experiences their judgment poignantly but accepts
their verdict eagerly, for it cognizes both as just and true in
the light of ultimate spiritual objectives of Earth evolution.
The ensuing period of purification is known as Kamaloka, or
purgatory. When it ends, the soul ascends to higher spiritual
levels. The judgment of the gods during Kamaloka bears a similar
relationship to the divine cosmic thought at the spiritual
nativity. And just as it is the lunar node, crossing the natal
position of the Moon either prior or subsequent to birth, which
thereby invokes the spiritual nativity, we may expect that the
lunar node will indicate the end of Kamaloka. It does; but how it
does so, must be explained later. Let us bear in mind for the
present that there is a configuration indicating the end of
Kamaloka, which corresponds to the spiritual nativity on the
other side.
To summarize the foregoing
briefly: we took the natal configuration as a last, lowermost
expression of soul's relationship to the stellar world. On the
basis of the birth horoscope, we came to the pre-natal
“lunar-etheric-configuration”; then, to the
astral-light “Sun-sphere configuration.” Associated
with the latter is another event that can lie many years prior to
actual birth, but which, in a very real relation between the
“cosmic pre-natal ascendent” and the cycle of Saturn,
refers back to the time of the previous incarnation. It must be
stated emphatically that such a point in time cannot be simply
calculated. That would be an impossibility, for here an
element prevails that eludes the grasp of the strictly
calculable. Then we mentioned the correspondences of these
configurations to configurations occurring at the other end of
life, when the soul passes through the portal of death, calling
one the death configuration and the other the configuration at
the end of Kamaloka. Beyond the latter, we eventually find a
final “Saturn configuration,” which refers to a
future incarnation. In order to unravel the complex connections,
the seven branched candelabrum may serve as an image (figure 4).
All this can only be mentioned briefly, unfortunately, but
perhaps the area in which future considerations can move may at
least be clear.
For the present the
configuration of cosmic thought alone shall receive careful
attention, as it has proved in practice. In the
cycle Human and Cosmic
Thought, the
configuration of philosophic attitude of Hegel is discussed.
Rudolf Steiner says there: Hegel is a logical
idealist, or
in the language of the cosmos, Hegel has Jupiter standing in
Aries (see figure 5 below). Now we want to place against this
remark the configuration mentioned
above.
Hegel was born on 27 August
1770. The configuration of planets for this date is shown in the
inner circle of figure 5. (The exact time of birth was not known
but this does not interfere essentially with our study.) The
inner circle is divided into 12 sectors of 30° each for the
signs of the zodiac with which traditional astrology works.
The outer circle shows the unequal divisions of the zodiacal
constellations employed in astronomy, so that for example 30
° shows the actual constellation of Aries as it may be
observed in the sky. The Sun and Mercury in Hegel's horoscope are
in the sign of Virgo; Venus in the sign of Libra; the Moon in the
sign of Scorpio; Jupiter in the sign of Sagittarius; Mars alone
in the sign of Gemini. Unfortunately we cannot deal with the
significance of the imagery that these constellations offer as we
would otherwise like to do. That, too, remains to be done later.
Now, it has been stated that on the basis of the natal horoscope
the pre-natal epoch can be found by using the hermetic rule.
Since the exact time of birth is not known, and consequently the
ascendent at birth cannot be calculated, the position of the Moon
at the pre-natal epoch cannot be established. For this reason we
have drawn a second, intermediate circle corresponding to the
pre-natal epoch inscribing the path of the Sun corresponding to
an average gestation period of 273 days. Around conception, the
Sun stood in the sign of Sagittarius, whereby we keep in mind
that it progresses about three-quarters of the way through the
ecliptic in 273 days’ time (figure 5 above). Further, we
find ourselves in the lunar sphere of the pre-natal epoch but
realize that the human being must have come out of the Sun sphere
prior to his entry into the Moon sphere. He had to enter it
through the cosmic portal mentioned above. The position of this
portal is signified by the Moon's position at birth, which in
Hegel's birth configuration was in the sign of Scorpio,
behind which the constellation of Libra was observable. It has
already been mentioned that this portal could first be opened
when the Moon's node stood here. In Hegel's case the lunar node
was at this position already in 1762; the descending node was
then in the sign Scorpio, or constellation
Libra.
Let us look at
the constellation of planets at the moment when the Sun sphere
and Moon sphere relate harmoniously to each other as expressed by
the cosmic script: when the descending Moon node (the
intersection where the Moon's path crosses the ecliptic in a
descending direction) stands in the zodiac at the place where the
Moon comes to rest eight years later, at Hegel's birth. At about
the same time, eight years prior to birth, Jupiter is in the
constellation of Aries. This corresponds to what Rudolf Steiner
expresses as Hegel's worldview: logism in idealism, or Jupiter in
Aries. This is noted in the outer circle (figure 5 above). The
other planets could also be marked in this circle for the year
1762, but they are not the subject of our immediate study here.
Only the configuration pertaining to Hegel's world view was
inscribed into Hegel's being.
Rudolf Steiner directed our
attention with deep earnestness to the configuration of cosmic
thought (spiritual nativity). We should bear in our consciousness
that, through our study, we are lifting the veil a little that
conceals the thoughts of the gods. Just as we human beings make
impressions or engravings in our brain during our day-waking
thinking, so the gods impress their thoughts into the world, and
these light up in human minds as philosophic world views. In this
manner the hierarchies are able to perceive their own thoughts.
In a given moment “logism in idealism” can light up
in a divine thinking; and a particular person, who has been so
prepared during a former Earth life, is capable of taking up this
cosmic thought, carrying it to Earth where it becomes alive in
the idealistic logism of a Hegel. Experience shows, however, that
this cosmic-spiritual occurrence shines on like a fare-well in
the constellation that is present when the Sun sphere impresses
itself through the corridor of the Moon node into the Moon
sphere. One can also consider this configuration as a compressing
of the solar-astral into the lunar-etheric of the human being,
whether in pre-existential experience or more as a remembered
experience later.
We
take now another example (from the same lecture cycle),
concerning Fichte's world view. Rudolf Steiner calls it
logistic psychism or Jupiter in Pisces. Let us compare this with
the observable configuration. Fichte was born on 19 May 1762. The
planets at this time are marked in the inner circle (figure 6).
The exact time is not known. It is characteristic for Fichte's
personality — fully aglow with will, never having bowed his
head — that almost all planets are in the signs of Aries,
Taurus and Gemini, while Mars stands in opposition in the sign of
Libra. Since we cannot define exactly the natal epoch we will
forego it and deal directly with the spiritual nativity
configuration or Sun-sphere. The corridor from the Sun sphere to
the Moon sphere is here in the sign Libra, constellation Virgo,
and opposite the point of the Moon at birth according to the
hermetic rule. The lunar node reached this position in 1773, that
is, eleven years after birth. Nonetheless this time is important
for our considerations, for then Jupiter entered the
constellation of Pisces (marked on the outer circle of figure
6.
In the
observable configuration, the spiritual nativity appears: logism
in psychism, which agrees with Fichte's nature. It may be
remarked here that this date, which lies after birth, shows us
that there are various possibilities for the time at which the
door to the cosmic world can be opened. Thus we find that in
Hegel's case, both eight years before and two years after birth
the lunar node stands in Libra. But in the latter case the
configuration of world view (spiritual nativity) is not to be
found. Herein lies what is typical of this configuration, namely,
that it evades the purely calculable, for there are always two or
three possibilities in an external sense, but the configuration
itself leads us into a spiritually vital and mobile
sphere.
As a
further personality, Rudolf Steiner mentions Wilhelm Wundt in
emphasizing the world views logism in sensualism (Jupiter in Leo)
and empiricism in mathematism, (or Sun in Gemini). Here again let
us consider the external configuration (figure 7 below). The
birth configuration is marked once more in the inner circle. Here
again we must disregard the pre-natal epoch. The cosmic portal
stands in the X sign of Libra, constellation Virgo. It opened in
1837, five years after birth; for at that time the Moon's node
was at the same position. Simultaneously, five years after birth,
Jupiter was observable in the constellation of Leo; logism
appears in sensualism (note outer circle in figure 7). The Sun's
position at that time cannot be stated with surety because of
lacking the exact birth time, but the corresponding configuration
of empiricism in mathematism, that is, Sun in Gemini, lies very
well within the given limits as a
possibility.
Highly interesting is the
configuration of Friedrich Nietzsche. Rudolf Steiner describes as
a first phase of his world view: mysticism in the direction of
idealism. This corresponds with the epoch in Nietzsche's life
when he was still friends with Richard Wagner, when he wrote such
books as The Birth of
Tragedy, etc. Then an epoch follows when Nietzsche became skeptical;
he wrote The Gay Science; Human, All
Too Human, etc., and entered into empirical rationalism. It is
remarkable to note that the “nuance of world view”
(pertaining to planetary position) move one step onwards: from
Aries to Taurus, from Venus to Sun respectively. After a while
there should have been a progression to voluntaristic mathematism
(Mars in Gemini); the basis, however, was missing for this in
Nietzsche's own life. Through the resistance with which Nietzsche
unconsciously opposed the divine guidance of the world, this
configuration, instead of progressing from Taurus to Gemini,
switched into the opposite constellation of Scorpio. Thus
voluntaristic dynamism arose — the period
of Thus Spake Zarathustra. According
to Rudolf Steiner, such a configuration, with its will-force
unleashing activity, can only be sustained if a person is capable
of penetrating through to a spiritual understanding of the world.
Nietzsche was incapable of accomplishing this feat in his present
incarnation so he was crushed by the challenge. At this point we
refer to the external configuration to gain pictorial clarity of
some details.
Let us look at the inner circle
of the configuration (figure 8). The exact birth time was known;
therefore, the ascendent at birth appears here. Pictorially
plastic, Nietzsche's being approaches us from a definite side in
the conjunction of Mars and Mercury at exactly 180° of the
ecliptic in Libra, and simultaneously in the meridian position to
which Jupiter stands (typically enough) in opposition. In order
to illuminate this aspect, we would have to devote an entire
essay to it. A consideration of the pre-natal epoch, which could
be delineated more exactly here, would also lead too far aside.
Let us look at the spiritual nativity or the Sun sphere
configuration. The cosmic portal is in the sign of Sagittarius,
constellation Scorpio. In May, 1835, nine years prior to birth,
the Moon's descending node reached this place. Now the portal is
open and the cosmic aspects arise: Venus in Aries (mysticism in
idealism), Sun in Taurus (empiricism in rationalism). These
aspects fully corroborate Rudolf Steiner's indications. But
further we also find Mars in the constellation of Gemini;
however, during the first part of April 1835, it would correspond
to voluntarism in mathematism. For this Nietzsche has, as
mentioned, no predilection. This is substantiated by a sextile
aspect of Mars to Venus, which Rudolf Steiner called
“unfavorable” when it appears in the world conception
configuration, in contradistinction to the otherwise favorable
aspect of sextiles in the natal
horoscope.
Because Mars is incapable of gaining influence in
Gemini, it falls into opposition to the Sun in Taurus. That
happened in fact as Mars entered the constellation of Scorpio in
1835, and came into conjunction with the lunar node, very near
the cosmic portal (position of the natal Moon (figure 8 above).
Hence Mars arises in Scorpio, or voluntarism in dynamism (figure
9). This configuration shows especially clearly how little such
aspects can be worked out exactly. One might almost say, it
“changes with the weather” and shows a kinship to the
air element, similarly as the pre-natal epoch shows a
relationship to the watery element.
We shall bypass the two examples
cited by Dr. Steiner of Schopenhauer and Hamerling, for both of
whom exact corroborations can be found, and shall
turn to the configuration of cosmic thought in regard to Goethe
from the same point of view. In the inner circle of the
corresponding figure 10, we discover the well-known natal
configuration of Goethe, about which he himself speaks so
beautifully in “Truth and Poetry.” A discussion of
the pre-natal epoch will offer us a valuable supplement later.
The full Moon, just past its prime, stands in the sign of Pisces.
According to the hermetic rule, the cosmic portal is in the sign
of Virgo, constellation Leo. This portal is opened by the Moon
node first in 1775, Goethe's sixth year of life. In those cases
where the cosmic event occurs after birth, one might conclude
that it acts as a memory of a pre-existential experience; it is
also possible (much speaks for it) that in such a moment the
mutual activity of Sun and Moon really resounds in the human
being. This consideration speaks strongly in Goethe's case, for
his sixth year was very significant in another way. We know that
at this age the young Goethe built an altar to the God of Nature,
laid upon it some of nature's offerings, placed on top a stick of
incense, and set it ablaze with the rays of the rising Sun,
caught in a magnifying-glass. When we bring this artless but
genial act of devotion to the world of appearances fully alive,
and place beside it the fact that in Goethe's world-view
configuration of Jupiter appearing in Virgo, or Phenomenalism is
permeated by Logism, this corresponds to the cosmic situation in
1775 (figure 10 above); then, one cannot allay the impression
that this Sun-sphere configuration has profound effects upon the
human constitution.
As a last example let us discuss
the configuration of Richard Wagner. Here the configuration
pertaining to his philosophic world conception occurs at a
time shortly prior to birth. The waning Moon at birth stands in
the sign of Aquarius, constellation of Capricorn, quite near
Mars. Therefore, in this case, the cosmic portal is found in the
sign opposite, which is Leo, or the constellation of Cancer
(figure 11). A few months before birth the ascending lunar node
crosses this point; Sun and Moon connect, and Venus in Aries is a
notable aspect that — translated into terms used by Rudolf
Steiner — refers to mysticism in idealism. If we consider
in Richard Wagner's creations how Norse mythology became his very
destiny, how he wrestled and finally victoriously raised myth
into a realm of primordial human ideals, one can well conclude
that the philosophic conception of mysticism in idealism
fittingly describes his spiritual inclination. This was indeed
also the philosophic world view in which he stretched out his
hand to Nietzsche — as long as Nietzsche himself lived
under the influence of mysticism in idealism (Venus in Aries),
which we mentioned before.
Rudolf Steiner has disclosed a way for
attaining spiritual knowledge. We should permeate all sectors of
human earthly experience with this knowledge. The intention of
our discussion has been to make an initial contribution toward
permeating the knowledge of the cosmos, connected with our being
as it is, with this spiritual knowledge by attempting to show how
behind astronomical occurrences the thoughts of the gods gleam
forth.
© 2012 Astrosophy Research Center ‒ ISBN 1-888686-13-8
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