MOON NODE-2 ~ 3 December 1954
Today I would like to go
straight into the matter of the Moon node that we started last time. Tonight
the Moon is in the constellation of Waterman (the ecliptic sign of Pisces), and
it is a waxing Moon. The constellations are much deeper in space than the
ecliptic. The ecliptic is the path of the Sun, starting with the vernal point. The
Moon will now go into the sign of Aries — 2000 years ago behind the sign of
Aries was the constellation of Ram; today it is in the constellation of Fishes.
We want to grasp the
significance of the Moon node. We want to have a viewpoint through which we can
become aware of the present time. If we come to the Moon node, we are doing an
exercise that we called the “re-view” earlier. If we go forward with the Moon,
we go backward with the Moon node. We must find an opening, for the Moon of
itself means nothing, it is a key, and the key does not help if we do not find
the keyhole, which is the Moon node.
We want to find a point that
is universal, so we move against the stream of time to when the node was in
this same position. We can move one cycle further back, or we can go back
endlessly. However, we must find a point that is relevant for this time, which
we may find through our soul activity, through a question or feeling that may
lead to an answer. If we take the Moon node back to where the Moon is now, we
find that we can take it all the way back to 33 AD,
the Mystery of Golgotha. According to Rudolf Steiner, the date of Golgotha was
3 April 33, and the Moon node was here in the sign and constellation of
Aries/Ram. Standing nearby was the Sun, Venus, and Mercury. This is a viewpoint
on which we can work, a way to find a higher point of view. Now our present
Moon in Ram is thrown open through the Moon node being in the vernal point.
It is the beginning of
spring if the Sun is in Aries. With the Moon, it is not the same as with the
Sun, but it is a spring on the etheric level, which happens once a month. With
the Moon node there, the gate is opened. We can see that ourselves in history
when we journey back to find the Moon node again in Aries, and we come to 1801.
This was the year when Novalis died. It was he who, as we know from Dr.
Steiner, was John the Baptist. Three years before his death, Novalis wrote Heinrich von Otterdingen, which contains the Klingsor fairytale (see the story
on page 40). It is a description of the Apocalypse told in a fairytale style. Earlier
Goethe had written the fairytale of the beautiful lily and the green snake,
which is also in the background.
There were many Romantics
living at that time in Europe and England, and there were 12 Romantics standing
around Novalis. There is Novalis and there are those twelve already partly in
the spiritual world at the death of Novalis. In 1801 the aspects in the sky
were similar the time after Golgotha.
We have been working against
time, going into the past. We can do the same thing going into the future.
Toward the end of this century, in 1997, the Moon node will again be in this
position. Then again the “Cosmic Image of Humanity” will appear in the heavens.
Toward the end of this century,, we will have to make a decision. All that
exists in modern civilization that makes us passive will still exist. Then
humanity will ask, “What does the life on Earth mean? What are we here for? We
will be presented with these great questions in 2000 when Jupiter is in Bull,
the divine representative of the human being. This is to show how one can break
through the Moon. One can see how all is standing on the ground of the Mystery
of Golgotha.
When Dr. Steiner died, the
Moon was in this position in Bull moving toward Twins. We can ask what happened
in the spiritual world then. One had the impression that it was a moment that
was a burden. Why was he not permitted to stay with us longer? There was so
much that was left open. One had wished for still more information. What does
that mean? One can ask what kind of aspects open the gateway to the answer, but
one must have a burning question to get the answer.
Let us again work back from
1954 to when the Moon node moved into this position in 1740. We again come into
a time that was similar to the Mystery of Golgotha. This was a most important
moment in history. It was the time when Swedenborg had his illumination, when
he came away from his scientific work. This time of 1740 is of great
significance for humanity of our age, for it is also the same aspect of the sky
which stood above Kaspar Hauser. In 1828, at the age of 16, Kaspar Hauser
suddenly appeared in Nürnberg, and people didn’t know where he came from. The
people of Nürnberg looked after him, and five years later, in 1833, he was
murdered. A great personality was standing above Kaspar Hauser, in that
constellation of Golgotha. Through the Moon node of Dr. Steiner’s death, we can
also see the spiritual world open and see the great spiritual aspects behind
it. It must be a genuine problem, a genuine question, then we shall find the
answer.
Last time a question arose
about how one can come to these dates, or how one can calculate them. There are
tables, but they are very scarce. This class is for members and it is meant for
study and working together. All this may seem very strange and farfetched, but
all I told you would not have been possible if it weren’t for Dr. Steiner. In Human
and Cosmic Thought, Dr. Steiner speaks about the spiritual nativity. The
relationship of the planets, etc. to the ordinary birth asterogram can easily
be mixed with egoism; it is a closed gate. In itself it does not speak
anything. The gate has to be opened. There is a sharp distinction between the
birth and spiritual nativity — what we bring with us as our thinking
orientation in this life on Earth. The higher hierarchies endowed us with their
living-thinking-divine forces before birth, which we received while we were
still in the spiritual world. These considerations of these divine thoughts
show themselves on Earth as philosophies. Dr. Steiner gives examples, for
instance: Idealism in the mood of Logism is like seeing Jupiter (Logism) in the
constellation of Ram (Idealism). Hegel developed Jupiter in Ram. Fichte also
developed it, etc. Dr. Steiner does not say how it is found through the birth
nativity; however, I found the answer in connection with the Moon node. These
events of the spiritual nativity can happen before or after birth. With regard
to Nietzsche, the Moon was in Libra/Scorpion. When we open the gate, at the
time when we find either of the Moon’s nodes in the position of the birth Moon,
we can find, for instance, Jupiter in Ram (Logism in Idealism), etc.
Next time I would like to
discuss the eclipse, as there will be one on 25 December. One is easily
inclined to take such events as mechanical happenings, and I want to show how
we can come to the experience of beings and with which kind of beings we are
confronted in such an eclipse.