SUN-2 ~ 5 November 1954 We have been speaking about the Sun and have seen it as it stands at the present moment. This way of looking at it can be applied to everything. There are many ways to describe the Sun, and today I would like to approach it from a different angle. First, you will recall that at Michaelmas Saturn entered the constellation of Scales. About 1:00 am this morning, the Sun came into a conjunction with Saturn. (When we speak of the constellation of Scales, we are referring to the group of stars that can be seen beyond the ecliptic sign of Scorpio.) Last time we considered the 33 year rhythm, which brought us to 1986-7. That is the time when Saturn will be near the constellation of Scorpion, and when the comet Halley will return. Today we shall speak about life after death. When we spoke about the Sun previously, we pointed out that the Sun is not a solid body, but rather it is a vacuum. If we were able to go to the Sun, we would find the Sun empty. It is difficult to imagine this, as we experience the Sun in three-dimensional space. There is something special in the human being compared with the other kingdoms of nature. That is the experience of the human ego. The physical, etheric, and astral bodies are something one can somehow see, but the ego we cannot see in the same way. Rudolf Steiner advised us to carry out spiritual exercises, which he described in his book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. Therein he pointed out what we have to do to proceed from imagination to inspiration. First we have to extinguish all our imaginations. It can be a painful experience, because the imaginations are so beautiful, but we have to renounce them all. With repeated attempts, we then enter an empty space. We enter this empty space every night when we fall asleep, but then we are not conscious of it. With these exercises, we enter this world consciously. This experience of the empty space comes near, to a certain degree, to the ego; and this takes place in the space where the Sun is in that moment. The Sun is the gateway of freedom. We can understand that this is the gateway of freedom, for it is the gateway into the realm of the spiritual world. After death, we go through the gateway of the Sun. However, first we must be purified, which happens step by step when we are in the soul world. Only when the soul is purified can it enter through the gateway of the Sun into Spirit-land. This is a reality that you can experience. We know that Dr. Steiner mentioned that we can take the sky into consideration at the moment of death. That Sun shows us the gateway through which every human being passes. The Sun in that moment shows how and in which direction the soul departs. This decision to “die” at a certain moment indicates the direction the soul is taking, and this firm decision to go into a certain direction is usually kept. I could give you many examples from Dr. Steiner’s karma lectures, from which I have researched for many years. For instance, Pope Gregor VII was again incarnated as Häckel. When the Pope died the Sun was in the constellation of Bull. This decision to go into that direction, which was almost like a backbone, was then taken up through the Moon upon his next incarnation as Häckel. Thus one can make many discoveries. You see, on Earth one celebrates the birthday. When a human soul enters the spiritual world, there is also a kind of birthday. When the Sun comes back to this death place, it is an important moment for the soul after death. There are a great number of people who have died into this constellation of Scales, where the Sun stands at present. When the Sun comes back to that place, it may mean a great experience for such individualities. One such personality who died into Scales was Tycho de Brahe, who was an astronomer. He traveled extensively and, finally, decided to become an astronomer. The King of Denmark gave him a small island where he cultivated the land, built an observatory, studied, and observed the stars. Later he left there for a time and came into contact with Kepler. Rudolf Steiner, in his karma lectures of 14 and16 September 1924, spoke of many things about his incarnations from Julian the Apostate to Herzeleide to Tycho. Dr. Steiner also spoke of Tycho’s influences from the spiritual world on Kepler, Goethe, Schelling, and others. In his incarnation as Julian, he wanted to revive the ancient pagan mysteries, and therefore he openly discussed the secret of the threefold Sun. For this he was murdered because he was considered to be a traitor. Then in the 9th century he was incarnated as Herzeleide, the mother of Parsifal, and in this incarnation her soul was deepened in a Christianized form. Then as Tycho Brahe we see the ancient perceptions that Julian the Apostate had received, lighting up again in a modern spiritual intellectuality and leading to a modern science of Initiation. Tycho had a deep and penetrating vision of cosmic-spiritual connections. Rudolf Steiner goes on and tells how Schelling also had spiritual inspirations and spoke about life after death, etc.; however, it puzzled Steiner because this somehow did not seem to fit this soul. He then discovered that this great individuality of Tycho Brahe was able to inspire Schelling and others on Earth from the spiritual world, and his inspiration continues even into the present time. Many can still receive this inspiration from Tycho, and it will be needed as we come to the end of the century when the great decision is to be taken — whether we have fallen into complete decadence or whether we can go on with Earth evolution. This decision is like a backbone, as all future experiences depend upon this decision. At Tycho de Brahe’s death, the Sun (c. 2°) and Saturn (c. 12°) were in the constellation of Scales, Jupiter was in c. 23° Virgin, and Mars was in c. 10° Lion. Whenever the Sun passes over this place of Tycho’s death, tremendous things happen in the spiritual world. Rudolf Steiner spoke about Tycho Brahe, when the Sun was in this same place, and about important things the soul experiences in the spiritual world. It was as though he was inspired by the great individuality of Tycho. In 1924 when Dr. Steiner spoke about Tycho, Neptune and the Moon node were in the same place where Mars was at Tycho’s death. Contained in that Mars was the capacity of one who knew all the contents of cosmology. The Moon node is, in a way, a portal to the spiritual world. What we know about these things has come to us from Dr. Steiner. The experience of 1924 was most important for Tycho, as Rudolf Steiner speaks of what will come in the future; namely, that we would all be together again at the end of the century. He sees tremendous things, such as the need of a new star wisdom, one that will give an understanding of karma. It is of utmost importance to speak of this. One can also see what Tycho’s experiences were if one looks at the sky of 1999. At that time it will be almost a replica of Tycho’s death: Saturn and Jupiter will be opposite to their places at his death. It is like a trumpet call for the spiritual world in 2000. It is a call for the cosmic dignity of humanity. This was known in ancient times, this knowledge of our cosmic origin, but it has been lost in our modern times. The cosmic origin was lost, and it depends upon humanities great decision whether or not we will find the cosmic origin again — the speaking of the evolution of the world — or whether we will fall into the forces of standardization and animal-life existence. It is therefore a necessity to recognize that the great cosmic battle for the dignity of humanity will come. There is a tremendous trumpet call; that is the thing to which we must look. After that, in 2000, Saturn will go into the constellation of Bull where it will come into a Great Conjunction with Jupiter. Therein lies tremendous movement and power, which shows us what we will have to do. This is how we look at the Sun today — the Sun in conjunction with Saturn. Answer to Question: If we stand straight, then through our efforts the comet, Halley, may no longer come back. It may be destroyed by Michael.