Rudolf Steiner House, 1 January 1957

   

Lecture to the Threefold Commonwealth Group

(A group in the area of devoted participants)

   

Dear Friends,

To begin with, I should like to give you first a preview of the geocentric events during 1957, and afterward I hope we have enough time to go into more detail concerning Jupiter.

During 1957, the planet Saturn will be in the constellation of Scorpion. It will be there until late in 1958, because Saturn is moving very slowly, as we know. Jupiter has entered the constellation of Virgin and will be there for quite some time, until October 1958, because the constellation of Virgin is rather expanded along the Zodiac. It is actually the longest and largest of all the 12 constellations in the Zodiac. Then we have the planet Mars, which is still in the constellation of Fishes, and in the course of the year it will move as far as Scorpion; in fact, it will almost reach Saturn in Scorpion. Only in the beginning of the year, possibly in January 1958, it will join Saturn in a Great Conjunction in Scorpion.

One thing happening in the course of the year, looking at it from the point of view of the Earth in the center, is that Mars will have a conjunction with the Sun on 21 September of this year. The Sun will almost be in the vernal equinox — there is only one or two degrees difference — and looking out from the Earth we would see — or rather not see — Mars here behind the Sun in Virgin. That means it will be in a conjunction with the Sun just shortly before Michaelmas.

We may recall that in 1956 Mars was in Waterman, where it made a loop, came into an opposition with the Sun, and then moved into its present position in Fishes. So we see that this loop is, not exactly but almost, opposite the conjunction that will take place in September 1957. When Mars was making the loop, it was quite near the Earth, and the Sun was then also opposite. That was in summer/autumn of last year, and here we have already an expression in the earthly events of how such a Mars, which then comes so close to the Earth, can work and can excite the atmosphere of the Earth. It is connected with all those events that took place during the second half of last year.

In its position now, in its aphelion, Mars is opposite the Earth and in conjunction with the Sun, making it exceptionally far away from the Earth; however, Mars in its perihelion comes quite close to the Earth. This happens because the orbits of the planets are not circles; they are ellipses. One of the two foci of the ellipse, the perihelion, is drawn toward the Sun and the other, the aphelion, is drawn toward the periphery. So Mars in September (the sign Virgo), is behind the Sun and removed from the Earth. However, in addition to that, imagine that it is also in the aphelion, even still farther away because of being in that part of the ellipse that reaches further out into cosmic space. So you see, we might say that the impact of Mars, which works into the astral atmosphere of the Earth, seems to be further removed from the Earth through the aphelion and through the conjunction with the Sun; except there might be an element of deception in the experiencing of it.

In connection with my historic researches, I have found that deceptions at such times have happened in the past, i.e., during the last war. When the astral atmosphere of the Earth is not so much touched and permeated by the forces of Mars that may perhaps create a false sense of security or a certain slackness with regard to the Mars faculties. It can then happen that one feels secure, with nothing much happening externally, so an element of deception can be present in that event of Mars. Speaking of Mars, this would be the general trend of the impact of Mars for this present year, for after the conjunction Mars moves on. In the beginning of 1958 it will come into contact with Saturn in Scorpion, and then it will move on and will make another loop in Bull late in the year. But that need not concern us now; the point now is to see this conjunction in September of Sun and Mars.

The planet Venus is in the sign of Scorpio (constellation Scales), having already passed Saturn since their December 26^th conjunction. It will now move on and come into a conjunction in April with the Sun here in Fishes. The Sun will then be between the planet Venus and the Earth, which is a superior conjunction as one calls it in astronomy — the planet being beyond the Sun. These conjunctions of Venus with the Sun also indicate certain trends, certain impacts that might work upon the astral atmosphere of the Earth. They are “colored” according to where the conjunction of the planet with the Sun takes place.

Last summer Venus made a loop — about June-July — in which it had an inferior conjunction with the Sun in the constellation Twins. It then moved on to the position where it is now in the constellation Scorpion. While in its loop, it was also in conjunction with the Sun, only the planet was between the Earth and the Sun. Venus will be in Fishes at Easter, and in the course of the year it will move on until the end of the year when it arrives in Goat. In the beginning of 1958, there will be another loop in the constellation of Goat, in one of the five points in which these events can take place, either as superior conjunctions or loops (inferior conjunction) of the planet. These conjunctions of Venus with the Sun happen in five definite points of the Zodiac, and these five points signify different “shades” of impacts coming from Venus.

Venus chiefly has to do with the realm of human relationships. This coming conjunction of Venus in Fishes will take place about Easter of this year. Its influence is not only at the moment of this conjunction but in its whole gesture of movement toward that point. Having moved out of this loop in Archer and then moving toward Fishes, indicates a momentum of possible temptation within the sphere of human relationship. Venus is not only concerned with human relationships in the individual sphere, but it can also be concerned with whole nations, communities, and so forth.

This gesture toward Fishes would indicate that there is the possibility of such temptations manifesting into something, or into certain things that could cause the shattering of illusions of the secure feeling “gained from the time of deception.” I believe we have had plenty of that during the second half of last year, and we do not know what is in store for us with regard to this present year. I do believe it is valuable to know what reaches out to us as an impact from the cosmic world into the earthly sphere. If we know these things, we are perhaps in a better position to weigh situations, to be cautious, and perhaps be prepared for attacks of Lucifer or Ahriman. All this is actually connected with the Three Years of Christ’s ministry. It is there that we will find the archetypes of such gestures as this temptation and also illusions and falsehoods that are trying to work their way into the human soul at such times.

Apart from that we have Mercury. With regard to Mercury, we would have to consider rhythms of something like 38, 39, 40 years. That also goes back to the three years, for in the Gospel of St. John, Chapter V, we hear of the man who was sick for 38 years. There, two rhythms are actually coinciding, and one of the two is the rhythm of the planet Mercury. So in order to follow the movement, the gestures, and also what we might imagine as impacts coming from Mercury, we would have to consider things that happened about 39 years ago as well as with an intermediary aspect of 19 to 20 years ago.

We are now in 1957, and if we would look back to 1917-18, we see that these events are coming back, and we have had plenty of them, if we think of the events in Hungary. Apart from that there would also be something that we would have to consider in 1937-38. If one studies the gestures of Mercury, well, you could then judge for yourself, because that is really what is perhaps needed; not that we are told what is going to happen, because nobody can really tell that, but that one bears in mind what the possibilities are, and those things against which we might even have to guard ourselves, and so forth. These are the major aspects of the coming year.

Tonight I should like to speak particularly about Jupiter. We have spoken so much during the last two sessions about Saturn, and we were always on the verge of painting a dismal picture. I believe it is high time that we also get some positive aspects and some positive views, and for this it is Jupiter particularly that we must take into account.

Saturn is a planet that looks back into the past. In a sense it is the past; it is the great historian of the cosmos. It is the one planet that always presents the “bill” that has mounted up from the past and must be paid in the present moment or at some future time. Therefore, what we have to say about Saturn might appear at times a bit dismal. It is quite different with Jupiter; which is just the opposite of Saturn.

If we think of the human being, then we have at once the difference between Saturn and Jupiter. The planets also work in the human organization, because we have taken up the impulses of the planets during the time of our descent onto the Earth. Thus we have taken up the Saturn impulse in order to build certain regions, certain realms into our organism, and we have taken up Jupiter impulses, which serve different purposes. Saturn is chiefly a planet that is connected with that which we need in order to build up the skeleton during the time of gestation, which gives the body a firm structure and also brings that hard, rigid element of the skeleton into the body. It works particularly in the skull, this helmet of the head, which is formed with the forces that we picked up on our way down to the Earth in the sphere of Saturn.

Jupiter is much more connected with expansion. We use the Jupiter forces in order to build up the central nervous system, which means the brain and all that is connected with it. You see, that is a counter-force. If Saturn worked alone, if it did not receive the ingredients of Jupiter, Saturn would be overwhelming. It would press down like a steel helmet, pressing down more and more. It also would make the skull more like a square, more like a crystal, and there wouldn’t be much left inside the skull.

However, Jupiter works against that. It is like a tree that grows and presses with its roots against that enclosure, against that helmet of Saturn. Therefore it shapes this dome from within. This is not the only activity that we derive from the forces of Jupiter, but it is one. It shapes the dome of the skull, and we can also even judge to a certain extent, if we look at a human physiognomy, how Jupiter has been working, how much we picked up in the sphere of Jupiter, and how much we were able to fortify ourselves against the calcifying, pressing-down, weighing forces of Saturn. Jupiter is much more a sculptor who works from within. The Jupiter forces are connected with plasticity, elasticity, also the element of life, of flexibility and the ability to change. The sphere of Jupiter is much more connected with the future. Saturn weighs down so heavily because it bears the whole past, right back into the dim first beginnings of the Earth evolution; indeed, we can even say, to the beings who live on Saturn and the beings living in the sphere of Saturn, which go back even much further.

Jupiter is much more connect with the future. On the one hand, it has this element of plasticity. Imagine that Jupiter is a kind of memory in the cosmos, a kind of substantiated memory of the Ancient Sun evolution. Now Ancient Sun was just such a counter-force to that of the Ancient Saturn evolution. Ancient Saturn was a lifeless planet; the cosmic forces, the bearers of life, could not permeate that planet; it was still lifeless and was only able to reflect like a mirror. On Ancient Sun, a counter-force took place that resulted, among other things, in the permeation of that planet with life forces, with ether forces.

How was it done? First we must imagine the repetition of the Ancient Saturn condition, which was a warmth condition, as we know from the descriptions in Dr. Steiner’s Occult Science. Then in a certain moment this Ancient Saturn was hollowed out from within. The warmth was pressed back toward the periphery, for within this planet a Sun came into existence — it was really a whole universe — that was radiating and which was actually something like a pressing back of that warmth toward the periphery. So here we have the element of plasticity, of life, of flexibility, and so forth. Then in this interplay of warmth, light, and air there came into being those archetypal plant beings, which were the ancestors of the present human being.

Thus what lived in the periphery of Ancient Sun was something like a first kingdom of nature below the kingdom of our human ancestor. That is one aspect. You see, the present Jupiter in the cosmos is called Jupiter because in that sphere there are forces consisting of hierarchical, spiritual beings who are working and using that substantiated, active memory in order to prepare the future, in order to change the Earth condition. In the book Occult Science (Ed note: currently titled Esoteric Science in America), we hear that on Jupiter beings are dwelling who prepare the future Jupiter. This was, of course, recognized in ancient times by the initiates, and therefore that planet was called Jupiter, because it is already the seed, the germ of the future Jupiter incarnation of the Earth. Therefore Jupiter is the antidote to Saturn, and if we use the forces of Jupiter in full self-awareness, full consciousness, then we can certainly achieve the foundations for practical and positive work in the sense of evolution.

Now when Jupiter of the present solar system enters the constellation of Virgin, as it has already done, it is a particularly important position for Jupiter. The constellation of Virgin is, in a sense, a cosmically expanded human being. What we find spiritually in the human organism has its origin in the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. All that which forms a human head, in the course of evolution as spiritual forces, has its origin in the constellation of Ram. Thus we can go through the 12 constellations and find in each one the creative forces, the creative beings of that which now appears as a human form on Earth, as a twelvefold human form.

The constellation of Virgin is that region of the cosmos from which are working spiritual beings, hierarchical beings that created in the course of time this region below the diaphragm, the region of the transformation of the substances that we take in as our food. So in Virgin we have in the cosmos a region of great changes, something like the laboratory of the divine world, like a region of digestion where things are constantly transformed, and where also the great changes in human evolution can be inaugurated. Consequently, it is especially important to look at this Jupiter in the constellation of Virgin during the coming year.

Jupiter moves through the constellations of the Zodiac once in 12 years; hence, every 12 years it can be found in the constellation of Virgin, and we will find that whenever Jupiter was in Virgin, great things took place in the evolution of humanity. Sometimes these things are not easily seen on the surface but are very much hidden, just as this mysterious region of the intestines is in us — the Virgin region of the human body. Nobody fully knows what is taking place there.

We have talked about the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, which took place in 1459, or we have at least mentioned it once before. This “wedding” speaks of a great transformation that took place during the sixth day in the tower of Olympus. Through seven stages, certain substances were carried and constantly being transformed, until finally two human beings were created in that tower. You see, it is a description of what can happen, of what is possible during such a time when Jupiter is in the constellation of Virgin. As I said earlier, Jupiter is an antidote to Saturn. The two meet occasionally according to a certain rhythm.

Saturn moves much slower than Jupiter, taking 30 years to go through the Zodiac, whereas Jupiter only takes 12 years; consequently, Jupiter will again in the future overtake Saturn. It will actually happen in the constellation of Archer in 1961, when Jupiter will join with Saturn in a Great Conjunction, as it has always been called and is something very well-known in occultism. When the two are together — Saturn the old one, the past, the one always looking back and never letting us forget what has happened in the past, good or bad; when it is joined by Jupiter looking to the future — something must certainly take place like a contest between the two, something like a conference. Saturn will maintain that which comes from the past; Jupiter will maintain and represent that which has to be arranged and prepared with regard to the future. Something must come about from this conference, such as an understanding of how to do things. Therefore it is very important to look at Jupiter when it is in conjunction with Saturn, because those are the milestones of all we can say about Jupiter as a source of help for us in all we do.

A Great Conjunction concerns activity; it even concerns, in a sense, all that which we do in our professions, our daily work, and so forth, as far as this work is really concentrated and directed toward the future. This conjunction in 1961 repeats itself in intervals of 60 years, taking place in 1901 but a bit further back. Thus we will find these conjunctions taking place in intervals of about 60 years, as rhythms in the cosmos never compare exactly with our earthly time; there are always small differences. But if we would follow up these Great Conjunctions in intervals of roughly 60 years, we would gradually come back to a time in the past when this Great Conjunction actually took place previously in the constellation of Virgin.

For example, this Great Conjunction in Virgin took place several times in the Middle Ages, starting in 1007 AD, and it carried on until about 1246 AD. Thus it happens in long intervals of time; one can say, in intervals of 800 to 900 years this Great Conjunction took place in the constellation of Virgin. I mentioned just the one that took place in the early Middle Ages, but before that time one took place soon after the events in Palestine, during the first few centuries AD, and again at present these conjunctions are possible in this constellation of Virgin. The first one in the constellation of Virgin took place in 1921; the next one after an interval of 60 years will take place in 1981, and so forth.

If we try to read these conjunctions in connection with history, we might get a picture of what it can mean, of what the impact and what the “cosmic climate” will be in times when Jupiter is in the constellation of Virgin. I say climate, something on which we should not depend, of course, but if it is raining we put our mackintosh on to protect ourselves. In a similar sense, one should not be dependent on that which takes place in the cosmos, but if it looks like rain we at least take our mackintosh along.

In the year 154 AD, a Great Conjunction took place between Jupiter and Saturn here in the constellation of Virgin. If we look at 12 years before that time, we come to 142 and again 12 years before brings us to 130 when Jupiter was in the constellation of Virgin, but with Saturn still further back. Those are the years that are given in history as remarkable dates in connection with Christian Gnosticism. Great Gnostics lived at that time, such as Basilides and Valentinus. Valentinus worked in Rome, and I believe Basilides was more at home in Alexandria. Gnosticism was that wonderful teaching about the cosmos, about the hierarchies, about the working of spiritual forces in history, and so forth, in the evolution of the Earth. We can already see something here of that mighty background of the Virgin shining through the medium of Jupiter. Of course that Gnosticism was something that belonged to pre-Christian times. Gnosticism after Christ was not able to grasp the Incarnation. The Gnostics promoted all kinds of ideas with regard to the Incarnation, but they never came right down to the fact that the divinity was actually incarnate in a physical-material body. They spoke of an apparent body, an apparition, so to speak, that the crucifixion never took place, and so forth. They just couldn’t grasp the fundamental fact of Christianity: that the divinity had really descended into a human physical-material body and had died the death on the cross. And so, although this Gnosticism, in the early centuries after Christ, was a wonderful world with wonderful wisdom — especially about the Divine Sophia, the element of the Virgin shining through when Jupiter is in that constellation of Virgin — it vanished. You see, it no longer had a place in post-Christianity, it belonged to pre-Christian times.

After an interval of about 800 to 900 years, this conjunction took place again in the constellation of Virgin, but this time we find a different picture. In 1007 such a conjunction took place, and 12 years later Jupiter was again in the constellation of Virgin in the year 1019. That was also a remarkable year. For instance, one can only pick out many things that happened in history, but among them was the construction of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres. A sanctuary had always existed at Chartres, which was even a Christian sanctuary that was dedicated to that which was always venerated, even in pre-Christian times, as the great Mother-deity in the cosmos. But in 1019 there were those gigantic efforts by practically the whole population to bring about the building of a cathedral, of the Notre Dame cathedral, and one can perhaps say that this was the mother cathedral of all Notre Dame churches and cathedrals.

Following the building of Chartres, these cathedrals sprang up everywhere! For instance, in Paris we also have a Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame, well that means the Divine Virgin, even the Divine Sophia, in a sense. We see here that mysterious element of the constellation of Virgin again shining through the element of

Jupiter in that constellation, from that direction of the cosmos. This conjunction returned, then, in intervals of 60 years, and we had another one in 1127. Always think of these Great Conjunctions as a kind of council between the Beings of Jupiter and the Beings of Saturn — the Beings of Saturn pointing back to the past, and the Jupiter beings pointing toward the future — and in this council, or collaboration, we can imagine that a certain agreement came about. It is an indication that in the spirit world, a certain agreement was reached with regard to the guidance of human evolution. So this was in 1127, and 12 years before in 1115, Jupiter had also been in the constellation of Virgin. You see, it was there in preparation, as it were, of the Great Conjunction. Saturn, the slower planet, was still further back; thus Jupiter was there first, prepared the place of the conference, and then 12 years later the conjunction actually took place.

In 1115 there was also something remarkable that happened in the history of medieval humanity. It was the time when Bernard of Clairvaux founded the monastery at Clairvaux. What went out into the world, first through Clairvaux, was something wonderful! That was really Cosmic Christianity, one could say. In a sense, one could say that Bernard of Clairvaux, who had tremendous wisdom, was the bearer of the fixed-star secrets. We have no idea how great the practical wisdom of Bernard of Clairvaux was; however, he was the one man of his time who was the counselor of practically every important person in Europe. Into what one might now call the political sphere was where Bernard of Clairvaux was called on to give advice. You see, Divine Wisdom was working through him. Again we see the element of the constellation of Virgin, though of course not of the stars that we see there; rather it is a symbolic gesture expressing something taking place in the sphere of the spirit. Therefore, we can say that in a symbolic sense that the essence of the constellation of Virgin was working through him.

Thus we could go through that time, and we would always find, right up to the year 1246 when the last one of the conjunctions took place in the constellation of Virgin, that somewhere, perhaps in retreats or in corners of the world, there were people living who were bearers of the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Sophia; for instance, the Cathars in the south of France. It is not quite clear who they really were, but one can perhaps say they were Manicheans. They also had a tremendous Grail’s tradition living among them. All the great troubadours of the Middle Ages, who spoke and wrote about Parsifal, the Holy Grail, and so forth, came from the Cathars in the south of France, the Pyrenees.

Then we must not forget the Knights Templars, who were great representatives of that Divine Wisdom on Earth. But then, and this we may take as something which is important for us, once the Great Conjunctions moved out of the constellation of Virgin into that of Scales, a great crisis began with regard to those circles bearing the Divine Wisdom. It was also the case with the Gnostics; as long as the conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn were in Virgin, everything was all right, Gnosticism flourished. However, once it moved into Scales — and furthermore into Scorpion — then came the disasters and ultimately the destruction. First the Cathars were destroyed, then the Knights Templars were destroyed, and many others. It was the time of the bewitching processes (black magic and all that) and witch hunts in the Middle Ages.

After the long interval of 800 to 900 years, in 1921 on the 10^th of September, the Great Conjunction took place again in the constellation of Virgin, about Michaelmas. Now we come into the lifetime of Rudolf Steiner. In 1921, from Michaelmas until about November-December 1922, Jupiter was in that constellation of Virgin. First there was the Great Conjunction right in the head of the Virgin, and then Jupiter moved on, taking about one year to get through the constellation. That was a very important year in the history of the Anthroposophical Movement and Society. It was the year in which the great Congress in Vienna took place, and it was actually the time when Dr. Steiner was able to speak to great numbers of people on the continent. The Vienna Congress was really a very great event, as it went far beyond the boundary of the Anthroposophical Society only. But also other things happened during that year. You see, as I said before, Virgin is a cosmic region of transformation, digestion, change, meaning re-creation or creating anew, and that is what happened during the year. The Christian Community was founded round about Michaelmas of 1922.

Other things were also founded: the Anthroposophical Youth Movement, which received something like a backbone for its activities, and there was a Youth Course. Altogether during the year, many things happened that were of fundamental importance for the whole future of the Anthroposophical Movement. Thus we see here again what the climate is when Jupiter is in the constellation of Virgin. Twelve years before, that is in the years 1909-1910, Jupiter was also in the constellation of Virgin. That was also a rather important stage in the life of Dr. Steiner. For instance, he wrote the publication, Occult Science, and occult science, in a sense, is the Wisdom of the Gods, the Divine Wisdom, or Divine Sophia. Apart from that, we also have those most important messages given by Dr. Steiner, when he spoke for the first time about the Second Coming all through the first half of 1910, repeating the message in many places on the Continent. I believe that is something important; it gives us an idea of the great change, of the great Virgin mood or climate that is possible in such a moment, and which can actively and positively be taken up by a human being.

What is the message of the Second Coming after all? On the one hand — and Dr. Steiner pointed it out very often — there is transition. Traditional Christianity, which rests on the Gospels, is fading out more and more. It must become, for humanity’s sake, a new revelation; and that new revelation is, of course, the manifestation, the revelation of Christ in the garment of the ether. So again, out of this climate of change, of a Virgin attitude in the cosmos, Rudolf Steiner could forge the great message of the Second Coming for humanity. This great change, inherent in the message, is important for the next few thousand years, for it will bridge over the gap of a declining Christianity of tradition to a new Christianity of direct revelation.

Since 1921, Jupiter was in the constellation of Virgin again, and that was from about August 1933 till November 1934. It may appear that we didn’t notice very much, I don't know, perhaps we have been caught napping; but on the other hand, we must not forget the whole world situation as it was then. I believe there would have been a moment when the Virgin revelation, that element of transformation, even transubstantiation, could have been very active in humanity. You see, it was a moment, as Dr. Steiner pointed out, when those important events of the Second Coming, which he spoke about in 1910, should have actively entered humanity. The anti-forces or adversaries were busy too, and they did the trick. They said, “Why wait?” Of course that was not done so consciously as I tell it now, but they approached the human being of that time and said, “Why wait for something in the ether that we cannot see with our physical eyes anyhow; but here he is, we can see him as he stands in front of us, and he will bring prosperity and well-being to us, etc.. He is the one for whom we are waiting.” This we must not forget, and I believe this is also important in considering the picture of the element of Virgin as something wonderful, something most fruitful. It can be something most fruitful in humanity, but we must not forget that there are, perhaps also just in that place, those forces of the adversaries, and they are extremely powerful. That is indicated even in the whole composition of the sky in that region, because there beside the Virgin in the sky, even reaching right down into the region under her feet, is the constellation of Hydra, the Water Serpent.

In Greek mythology, it is the Water Serpent, the one with the nine heads, that Hercules destroyed, and he had to burn out the heads one after the other. Even so, the blood of the Hydra became his own downfall. He dipped his arrows in the blood of the Hydra, and one of those arrows became the cause of his own painful death. So you see, it is an extremely dangerous region. On the other hand it’s that region of cosmic splendor and majesty.

There seems to be something present in that region of the Hydra that is connected with the human blood, with the blood that is not purified, which is poisoned; for example, all that which lives in extremes, such as nationalism, etc., is of that kind. In 1933-4 we see those forces were obviously pretty active. So if we now look toward 1957, right into 1958, perhaps it is wise to have this in mind and to think of the great possibilities that are also offered as a cosmic climate to those who can know and who have access through anthroposophy, but at the same time who are on their guard against what might actively arise from those spheres. Think of the nationalisms that have raised their heads in the East, in Asia, Africa, Egypt, and so forth; perhaps it is wise to have this in mind, to guard against it.

Now the event of Jupiter in the constellation of Virgin will come back in 1968-70, and then in 1981 another Great Conjunction will take place in Virgin. That was the purpose of telling you the historic background. Out of this we can perhaps weave a picture in an attempt to understand what it can mean, how we can use that which is created by the forces of Jupiter. Those who are working in the stream of progress of the human evolution toward the future Earth incarnation can understand the climate that is created by those forces, and perhaps it belongs also to wisdom to know it. I believe it is not for nothing that we speak about it just during these days, because the Earth during the Holy Nights is open in a special way to that which can stream down from the sphere of Jupiter. We are, of course, used to the Copernican aspect — meaning the Sun in the center with the Earth going round the Sun — but during these lectures, I have repeatedly intimated that we can also think about the cosmos in a different fashion. For instance, the Sun and Earth are moving in a lemniscatory curve or orbit. From this point of view, the Sun at Christmas would be in the center of the lemniscate and the Earth would be here in the constellation of Twins. All the time between Michaelmas and Christmas, the Earth would have moved in that direction toward Twins. Now in the direction of the constellation Twins — about 100° or 10°‘ — is also the ascending node of Jupiter.

We have spoken about the nodes in connection with the Moon and also last time in connection with Mars. You may remember the nodes of the planets are those places where the orbits of the planets intersect the plane of movement of the Earth. So if we can imagine the movement of the Earth, as seen from above and sideways, and if we imagine the orbit of Jupiter, we could perhaps imagine that it cuts through the plane of movement of the Earth in two points, because the orbit of Jupiter is slightly tilted against the plane of movement of the Earth. Where these orbital lines cross are points of contact — bridges from one sphere into the other, from the sphere of Jupiter into the sphere of the Earth. Therefore, if at Christmas the Earth moves toward that node of Jupiter, it is an indication that perhaps during the 12 Holy Nights the Earth is, to a particularly powerful degree, exposed to that which can come in from Jupiter as positive forces. So we may have in this aspect of Jupiter, which this coming year and the next presents positive possibilities, a tool we can use in order to create the antidotes — if we are conscious of it. To live in ideas and thoughts that are positively directed against what streams into the Earth as that heaviness of Saturn, which points out to us everything that has gone wrong in the past and brings the past forward; it certainly has to do so, it cannot be eradicated. Saturn constantly presents us with the bill of our acts and our deeds, the failures, and perhaps also the victories of humanity in the past. But Jupiter's node gives us the tool by which we can always catch this moment, such as the Holy Nights, and thereby work into the future, going with those Jupiter forces that are working for the future.

 

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