(1902-1985)
Willi Sucher
For
those readers new to the work of Willi Sucher, we begin with a short biography
as an introduction to the life and work of this pioneer in the spiritual
science of astrosophy. The content of the books assumes a familiarity with the
work of Rudolf Steiner, for it is entirely on the foundation of
Anthroposophy that Willi Sucher's research is based. Therefore, a study of the
basic works of Steiner is recommended in order to fully enter into the content
presented here.
Willi
Sucher was born on August 21, 1902, in the southern German town of Karlsruhe.
At the age of 17 he met the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, through the brother of his
father, his uncle Karl. His uncle Karl also spoke with him about astrology,
expressing his concern about its unsuitability for modern humanity. His uncle
spoke of how important it would be that someday an anthroposophist would bring
new light to the entire field of astrology through the insights of spiritual
science. Willi's response was, “Why should we wait? Can't we do it ourselves?”
In
1922, he became inspired by Steiner's ideas on social threefolding and moved to
Stuttgart to join a small bank, Bankhaus Der Kommende Tag, which was
connected with several businesses trying to put these ideas into practice. On
one occasion Rudolf Steiner visited the bank, and Willi was deeply impressed by
this personal encounter with Steiner.
When
the economic situation caused the small bank to close, Willi took a position in
a bank in Bruchsal. Through a friend he met his future wife, Helen, who lived
with her parents in Stuttgart and was also attending the lectures of Rudolf
Steiner. They both joined the newly formed Christian Community and were married
in 1927 by Dr. Friedrich Rittelmeyer, the founder of the Christian Community
and a leading Lutheran theologian in Germany at the time.
Later
in 1927 Willi came across a lecture given by Dr.
Elisabeth Vreede, the head of the Mathematical-Astronomical Section of the
School for Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, where
the Anthroposophical Society was centered. In this lecture, Dr. Vreede referred
to remarks by Rudolf Steiner about the configurations of the heavens at the
time of the passing over of a human being into the spiritual world at death. It
struck Willi then “like a lightning bolt”. “This is it! This is something
positive!”
He
worked out the death asterogram of Tolstoy and sent it, along with some very
tentative suggestions, to Dr. Vreede in Dornach. She responded “very
positively” and invited him to Dornach in 1928. This became the starting point
for a working relationship that would develop over the next ten years, during
which Dr. Vreede published “the investigations of our co-worker Willi Sucher,
as he has developed them in conjunction with the Mathematical-Astronomical
Section for some years now.”
Conditions
in Germany were beginning to deteriorate, and in 1937 Willi was invited to
lecture in England. There he met Fried Geuter, the co-founder of Sunfield Home —
an anthroposophical home for handicapped children — at Clent. Geuter said, “Mr.
Sucher, come to us and I shall build you an observatory!” Willi and Helen made
arrangements to immigrate, and in mid-1938 they began working at the Sunfield
Home. Here Willi gathered the clinical experience, which he would later unite
with Steiner's indications, to develop the idea that a dedicated staff, working
with a deep knowledge of a child’s star configuration, could affect healing. In
later years, Willi would often comment of that time, “So you see, it really was
an ‘observatory’ … The children were my observatory!”
Due
to the war, there was much concern in Great Britain that there were enemy
informers among the many refugees. Thus, all German and Austrian men and some
women were rounded up as “enemy aliens” to be interned in detention camps
around the British Isles. Anticipating this, Willi packed a small case with his
most precious tables for working out star positions and other aids he needed to
carry on his research. Thus when the police came for him and some others
working at the home, he was fully prepared.
They
were first taken to a kind of clearing house at a military barracks at
Worcester, then on to a place near Liverpool. Just as his personal belongings
were about to be searched for any papers or books for the burn pile, the first
man in their group told the inspectors that they had come from a children’s
home in which there had been an outbreak of scarlet fever, which was true.
Because of this, their group was taken to an isolation unit, and their
belongings were sent with them without being inspected. Thus Willi’s research
materials were spared. The group was later transferred to a camp on the Isle of
Man, in the Irish Sea. Here several anthroposophists found themselves interned
together: Dr. Ernst Lehrs and Dr. Karl Konig, the founder of Camphill, among
others. Willi would later describe this time as a most fruitful period of
research. For 18 months, these individuals were given time to hold a kind of
“super college”, as Willi called it. They had long conversations about their
studies and research, and practiced giving talks to each other. Since he was a
medical doctor, Dr. Konig was released first, in January 1942, and he secured
Willi’s release by inviting him to come to work at his home for children in
Aberdeen, Scotland. Willi was joined by Helen, who had remained at Sunfield,
and he carried on his researches while helping to care for the children.
Later
in 1944, when Willi and Helen returned to Sunfield, Hazel Straker, whom they
met earlier that year came to work more closely with him and his research. In
1946, at the request of Eleanor Merry and Maria Schindler, Willi and Helen
moved to London for a short time and taught evening classes. In 1947, Dr.
Alfred Heidenreich, the founder of the Christian Community in Britain,
instigated an invitation to Garvald, a curative home in Scotland, where Willi
became the director for a short time. Here Hazel Straker joined them as a
co-worker. They were then invited by Dr. Heidenreich to work at Albrighton
Hall, a center for Christian Community conferences, near Shrewsbury. This time,
Willi wrote, “was one of the most positive and creative periods of my life. Dr.
Heidenreich gave me absolute freedom to develop my work.” Here the English
manuscript of Isis Sophia, published in 1951, was prepared (it had
already been published in Germany), as well as Man and the Stars, the second Isis
Sophia series, published in 1952. In addition to Hazel Straker, Helen
Veronica Moyer and her sister, the artist Maria Schindler, came together in
this work. They cared for the conference house and assisted in the star work,
allowing Willi time for research besides lecturing at conferences there and
traveling to meet increasing requests to speak to other groups in England,
Scotland, and Holland.
In
1953, the group moved to Larkfield Hall, a curative home in Kent, England, where
they were able to build a small house through the help of a devoted friend.
Because of his lecturing commitments, Willi did not have time to work with the
children, but his co-workers did, and they would sit together with Willi and
work over the children’s incarnation charts.
In
1955 Willi was invited to America to lecture at the Three-fold Farm
anthroposophical community in Spring Valley, New York. During this first trip
to the U.S., he gave 70 lectures or workshops in his 19 week stay, which
included a visit to Los Angeles.
On
returning to England, Willi began to work on the book Drama of the Universe.
The two previous books, Isis Sophia and Man and the Stars, had
been written from the geocentric (Earth-centered) perspective. Now his
researches into the heliocentric perspective had progressed to the stage of
putting them into this book, which was published in 1958. With the proceeds,
they decided to take a vacation, and Helen had always wanted to see palm trees,
so they decided to make a journey to Egypt. But as plans were being finalized,
Willi suggested, “Why go east, why not go west to America?” So the family of
co-workers [Willi, Helen, Hazel, and Veronica] journeyed across America, from
Montreal to Denver, through Salt Lake City, on to Los Angeles. They returned to
England, sold their home, and in 1961, they immigrated and founded the Landvidi
Center for Exceptional Children in Los Angeles, which operated under their
guidance for seven years.
With
the closing of the school in 1968, they searched for an area in which to
retire. After considering many places, decided on Meadow Vista — a small town
on the lower slopes of the Sierra Mountains not far from Sacramento. It was
during this time that Cosmic Christianity (1970) and The Changing
Countenance of Cosmology (1971) were published.
In
the following years, publication would be limited to the ongoing “Monthly
Letters” to subscribers. A portion of these letters (1972-74) would be
published as Willi’s final book, Practical Approach Toward a New Astrosophy.
It is in this work that he brought forth his many years of research, first
indicated in Drama of the Universe, on a spiritual approach to a heliocentric
astrology. This was a revolutionary incision into the world of astrology, which
opened the way for a spiritual-scientific understanding of the heliocentric,
Copernican perspective of the universe. The development of this work was a
monumental addition to our understanding of the relation of the human being,
and indeed of all of earth evolution, to the heliocentric universe. As he later
wrote concerning this: “Some people are still strongly opposed to the
heliocentric approach. However, Rudolf Steiner pointed out in the lecture cycle
The Relationship of Earthly Man to the Sun, Lecture IV, January 11, 1924, that
this perspective is correct. In the research which I undertook in this
direction, it turned out that the heliocentric approach does not cut out the
geocentric completely; rather it proved to be a kind of complementary
relationship.”
Willi
died peacefully in his sleep on May 21, 1985, receiving visitors until that
night. Before his death, together with a small group of friends, he initiated
the founding of a non-profit corporation, the Astrosophy Research Center to
care for his publications, personal papers, and library after his death. Space
was donated in a nearby house where this material is being cared for and is
available to anyone wishing to conduct research. There is much historical
material, medical research, and notes on many other aspects of his far-reaching
work.
© 2012 Astrosophy Research Center ‒ ISBN 1-888686-13-8
All rights reserved. These Biographies are for private use, study, and
research only and are not to be
reprinted for any other purpose without the written permission of
the Astrosophy Research Center.