COSMOLOGY COURSE

 #160;#160;

LECTURES TO MEMBERS - Willi Sucher: from 1 Oct. ‘54 to 1 Apr. ’55

(All drawings by Willi Sucher)

Rudolf Steiner House, London, England

(Notes from lecture, unrevised by author)

 #160;#160;

SUN - 1 ~ 29 October 1954

 #160;#160;

We have been speaking about Saturn, but today I would like to move on to the Sun by suggesting that it is not always good to look at the sky only as it is today; we must “break through” the sky!

You know that Rudolf Steiner spoke often about Kaspar Houser. He mentioned that at the time of the death of Kaspar Houser, the Moon was rising, the Sun was setting, and that there was a certain aspect in the sky that only happened twice before in history. The actual death sky was calculated, but it did not match the description of Dr. Steiner. After years of research, the aspects of which Dr. Steiner spoke have been found. They don’t coincide in time with the death, for Dr. Steiner looked through to the spiritual aspects. To do this it must also be done by mathematical calculations. Dr. Steiner saw the spiritual aspect of the death of Kaspar Hauser by looking through the sky and into the past.

The Sun is now entering the constellation of Scales, but one may be obliged to break through this. First we have to work out the lemniscate movement of the Sun and Earth. In order to come to a new conception of the universe, it is of no use to throw the old one away. We must find a real inner connection with the cosmos; we must be able to experience it as a living being. Imagine the Sun and Earth in the universe as polarities. There is spheric space and then the opposite which is coming from within the Earth gravity (reference to book by George Adams – also see Isis Sophia II). If we have these two opposite spheres interpenetrating, we get the lemniscate. The Sun and Earth are moving on two separate lemniscates that are inclined to each other and which cross each other in the center. The Earth is “sucked” behind the Sun, and these two activities of minus (-), dissolution, and plus (+), materialization, are the most important aspects (see February 11 lecture).

If we now look toward the Sun, we see behind it the constellation of Scales; and up there in Scales is Saturn. If we look to the Sun, we will soon see it in conjunction with Saturn. This happens every year but in a slightly different place in the Zodiac. Last year it was in Virgin. Saturn also moves in a huge lemniscate, which reaches so far out in the cosmos that it almost reaches the end of space.

At present the Sun is moving into the center of the Earth/Sun lemniscate. At Christmas it will have reached the center, and the Earth will be standing outside on the periphery. After Christmas the Earth will move toward the center, entering it at Easter. Twice a year the Earth steps into the place where the Sun has been.

In ancient times this was very well-known. This was the time of the celebration of the Isis Mysteries. They knew that the Earth was then permeated by cosmic forces. However, after Christ united with the Earth, this changed. It is now not only a matter of the Earth taking in the forces of the Sun; it is more a conversation between Sun and Earth. As Christ was united with the Earth from the Sun, His Throne in the Sun became empty. The cosmos now brings down the questions, and we on Earth must find the answers.

How can we understand the Sun in Scales? If we collect all that is known with regard to the Earth evolution through spiritual science, we can find the solution of the Earth and universe. At Easter the Earth will go into the center of the lemniscate and we will have to give the answer to the cosmos. The Christmas hope, born at Christmas, must be seen at Easter whether it has been resurrected. This “hope”, the new idea, the child born at Christmas will take 33 years to mature. This rhythm of 33 years has been inscribed into the Earth through Christ. The shepherds in the fields heard the message through the Earth; after 33 years the drama of Golgotha took place, followed by the Resurrection.

Today this Sun, which is laden with the burden of Saturn, can only answer questions through the means of human beings. To find what it is that the Sun asks us at present, we must go into the time of 1986-7. It is the time from after last Christmas (1953) to the coming Christmas (1954) plus 33 years. The year 1987 is a most important year. Events will take place that are unlike any other time. The outer planets, which have been discovered more recently, will be as follows: signs first, then (constellation): Uranus will go from 23.5 to 27.5° Sagittarius (Scorpion); Neptune from 5.5 to 7.75° Capricorn (Archer); Pluto from 9.5 to 12° Scorpio (Scales); and Saturn from 15 to 25° Sagittarius (Scorpion), where Saturn makes a loop. Uranus was discovered before the French Revolution, Neptune in 1846, and Pluto in 1930.

As we said, the (-) represents death and the (+) represents birth. Therefore the dynamic structure of the universe coming into the Earth from the periphery of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, represent the birth and materialization (+); the Earth is where humanity manifests the decisions; and the inner planets of Mercury, Venus, and Sun represent the dissolution or death (-) and final disintegration, or spiritualization, on the Sun. What disappears through the center comes back into spiritual life at the periphery. Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus are like the final sentence of the symphony. They are the final stages of disintegration. In Scales it is still open to decision, weighing — the balance. Scorpion is much more demanding.

However, there will be something else that will make this year of 1987 still more important. The comet Halley will be coming back. When regularly returning comets fail to return, there is a shower of meteors instead. This happened in 1912 and 1933 with Biela’s comet. The Halley comet is a special one, as it goes back to pre-Christian times, and it returns regularly. In 1910 Rudolf Steiner spoke extensively about it. The comet is a kind of contest of ponderable and imponderable matter — material and immaterial matter. The Sunspots are a darkening of the Sun substance from Mars; they are a kind of disease. The comet consists of gas, but mainly they consist of scionite (Blasuäüre). It has the capacity to clean, and its task is to clear the astral spheres. The comet comes very close to the Sun, sweeping it clean.

The Halley comet is different; it has satanic power. When something becomes regular, or machine-like, it becomes satanic. The Halley comet is especially connected with materialism; its sphere is materiality. In 1910 Rudolf Steiner warned that humanity should look at this comet and should be aware that the time has come back when materialism will be enhanced, and we must find an answer by that time.

Very much will depend on how we prepare these events now, as Saturn stands in Scales weighing up the decisions. It will become more and more prominent as to whether existence can continue on this planet. Humanity, as a whole, must come to understand the purpose of its existence on the Earth, that is, in becoming the fourth hierarchy; and this is just where anthroposophy can help. The greater part of humanity will have to decide whether it will be drawn into a machine-like destiny or whether to become individualities and be saved. The moment of decision will come to everyone. This is the way that we have to look at the Sun at this present moment.

 #160;#160;

Answer to Question: Intellectual thinking darkens the outer planets of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

   

© 2012 Astrosophy Research Center ‒ ISBN 1-888686-11-1
All rights reserved. These Lectures 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.