Astronomical Letters

By Willi Sucher while at Albrighton Hall – November 1951 to 25 December 1952

©Astrosophy Research Center 2012 - ISBN 1-888686-12-X
All rights reserved. These letters 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.
Dear Friends,
You will find enclosed a calendar of the major star-events during the period from Michaelmas 1951 to
Christmas. I intend, thereby, to assist the work done in the few study groups on cosmology that have
established themselves in Great Britain.
The interpretation, which I have added, is a first attempt to put into writing some of the thoughts that I had
in trying to contemplate the events in the sky. You will realize that this attempt is not yet fully inclusive. I,
myself, regard it as a first step toward more comprehensive communications. You will agree with me that the
first steps are always the most difficult ones.
I intend to bring out these communications at intervals, although I cannot promise regular intervals. My
hope is that they will help to enliven the work in the study groups and that they will become the basis of a lively
correspondence. For instance, I suggest that in time a special section of Questions and Answers may be
included in these communications.
I would be grateful if I could hear your ideas and thoughts occasionally about this new venture. Meanwhile,
I should like to ask you to treat these communications as confidential information.
With all good wishes,

Letter 1 - November 1951

A Few Thoughts About the Major Events During this Period
The dominating events of this year, which attract our attention first of all, are the oppositions of Saturn and
Jupiter. All such happenings have a certain history, and they recur according to certain rhythms. The last
opposition of Saturn and Jupiter took place 60 years ago in 1891-2, in roughly the same part of the Zodiac as at
present—April 1891 in Leo-Aquarius; August 1891 in Leo-Aquarius; March 1892 in Virgo-Pisces [Ed Note: This
is from the geocentric, Earth centered view].
We realize that conjunctions and oppositions of the two planets in the same constellations alternate
according to a rhythm of about 30 years. Conjunctions or oppositions are repeated according to a rhythm of
about 60 years. For instance, oppositions in Leo-Virgo/Aquarius-Pisces took place in 1891 and 1951,
conjunctions in Leo-Virgo in 1861 and 1921. In 1981 another set of conjunctions will occur in Virgo. During
the same years, the points of conjunctions or oppositions move slowly in a forward direction through the
Zodiac. For example, the first two oppositions of 1891 took place in Leo-Aquarius, while the third one in 1892
had already moved into Virgo-Pisces.
We can therefore follow up the movement of these events through the Zodiac in past history. Thereby we
find, for instance, a set of similar conjunctions and oppositions in Virgo-Pisces during the 11th, 12th and 13th
centuries AD. In this way, we detect interesting relationships between these events in the cosmos and historical
happenings in humanity.
The sequence of conjunctions or oppositions in Virgo-Pisces in the course of the 11th to 13th centuries
coincided, among many other incidents, with the flourishing culture in the South and Southwest of France,
which was initiated and borne by the Cathars and Albigenses. The Cathars were a Christian sect, which appears
to have been somewhat of a blending of Oriental Manichean teachings and Celtic world-conceptions. For
instance, the movement of the Troubadours originated in this cultural sphere. Historic personalities, such as
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Chrétien de Troyes, and many others who created the great romances of the Grail’s
legend, had connections with this movement. The Cathars and Albigenses were regarded by the Roman Church
as extreme heretics, and by the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries, the highest authorities of
that church inaugurated a number of Crusades against them. In scenes of unspeakable cruelty, the Cathars’
movement was crushed and finally exterminated by the Inquisition. Their last stronghold, the famous mountain
fortress of Mont Ségur, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, was taken by the hordes of the Crusaders in March
1244, and the defenders were burned alive at the stake. This was the death blow for that highly spiritual
movement. In 1246 a great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place at the feet of the constellation of Virgo.
Between 1007 AD and 1246, a number of conjunctions and oppositions had occurred in Virgo, or Virgo-Pisces.
The event in 1246 was the last one in Virgo, because the following conjunctions had already moved into Libra.
Only since 1892 do the conjunctions, or oppositions, appear again in Virgo.
There exists a rather extensive literature on the Cathars—mostly in French—that gives, in part, a much
distorted picture of this movement. One of the best known books is by Schmidt called Histoire et doctrine de la
secte des Cathares ou Albigeois - 1849. I could detect only one English work by Maitland called, Facts and
Documents Illustrative of the History, Doctrine and Rites of the Ancient Albigenses and Waldenses - 1838.
In order to reach a deeper understanding of the present oppositions, we shall now consider the planets from
the viewpoint of the activities of the Spiritual Hierarchies.
The sphere of Saturn is, as we know, the sphere of the Thrones or Spirits of Will. The movements of Saturn
are an external manifestation of the Divine Will, which is the foundation of all physical existence. We are
thinking of the great sacrifice of the Thrones already at the beginning of Ancient Saturn, which has been
described by Rudolf Steiner in Occult Science and in the lecture cycle Evolution From the Aspect of Realities.
A specific indication of the Divine Will is provided by the position of Saturn in the constellations of the Zodiac.
At present Saturn is in Virgo. We can read the message of Virgo according to the suggestions in Isis Sophia II.
First we read the wonderful picture of the first round of Ancient Sun evolution, when “life” was infused into the
still lifeless human image. Then we can find the cosmic memory of the first round of Ancient Moon, when the
details of Ancient Saturn and Ancient Sun were recapitulated. Finally, we can see in Virgo a premonition of the
last stage of the “Earth” evolution. Thus Saturn would proclaim the Will of the Spiritual World, inherent in all
evolution, to work and to bring to life that grand Imagination, for instance, in chapter XII of the Revelation of
St. John, the destiny of the “Woman in Heaven” and the birth of the “Son of Man”, the hope of all creation.
The listening to this message in meditative practice can open inspiring vistas with regard to the significance of
the present time. Also a study of the background and the destiny of the aforementioned movement of the
Cathars can help to create a vivid picture of the deeper impacts and tendencies in the present age and the near
future. Not that we imagine simply a repetition of those historic events. We are living in a similar age but on
an entirely different level. Many happenings at present can become very translucent by such contemplations.
Jupiter in Fishes is in opposition to Saturn. Jupiter marks the sphere of activity of the Kyriotetes or Spirits
of Wisdom. Among all the great features of this hierarchy described in Occult Science etc., we remember
especially one fact: the One who incarnated in the body of Jesus at the time of the Baptism in the Jordan and
Whom John the Baptist recognized as the “Lamb of God”, is the Head of the hierarchy of the Kyriotetes. John
the Divine describes Him in the Book of Revelations as the One who says of Himself: “I am the Alpha and I am
the Omega.” He holds the seven stars in His hand and is the Divine Master of all cosmic evolution and life—
the seven stars representing the seven great stages of evolution: Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon. In
time, those stages follow each other consecutively. In the hands of the One who is “the Alpha and the Omega,”
they are ever present as divine archetypes working in the entire universe and ordering it in manifold ways.
The constellation of Fishes reminds us of the seventh round of Ancient Saturn, when the Cosmic Human
had been created in the “image of God” (see Isis Sophia II). Furthermore, we can perceive in this constellation
the seventh round of Ancient Moon, when the Divine Wisdom working in evolution had been incorporated in
external manifestation. Finally, we can see there the first, initial round of the Earth evolution, when Ancient
Saturn was recapitulated.
Thus Jupiter in Fishes while in opposition to Saturn can be contemplated as a gentle admonition for us from
the Divine World, to practice the Wisdom of the “Seven Stars”, the creativeness of “sevenfoldness” in all that
concerns our inner life. There are many ways to do this; for instance, in our meditations and prayers. The
Lord’s Prayer in its cosmic sevenfoldness is the archetype of all such inner discipline, and the awareness of this
great attribute of the “Lamb of God” can become very practical in daily life. For example, if we have to await
the development of certain matters, we can well develop an inner certainty of the stage of development on
which they have arrived at a given time. We may realize that such an affair has reached, for instance, the
Ancient Moon stage at a certain time and that we must await a definite interval of further evolution until it can
be expected to have matured or, in other words, will have advanced to the Vulcan stage. A kind of inner surety
and disciplined “patience” can thereby be developed. Thus at present Jupiter proclaims a strong need, as it
were, for methodical practice of a meditative life.
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 Having in mind this background of the oppositions of Saturn and Jupiter, we can proceed to descriptions
that are more detailed. The situation in the sky on 29 September, Michaelmas Day, must interest us especially.
In the course of this day, the conjunction of Saturn and the Sun took place. At the same time, the Moon had
nearly reached the phase of New Moon. The actual conjunction of the Moon with the Sun occurred in the early
morning hours of 1 October. We may read this event as a unique cosmic reminder to be aware of the great
message of Saturn, which we tried to indicate above. That it happened on Michaelmas Day emphasizes the
Michaelic character of this message. In the conjunction with the Sun we might see an implication that the
impact of Saturn should be received in the realm of the worldwide greatness of the human “I” (the Sun being
the sphere of the Exusiai), but not in any kind of narrowness of the soul. The New Moon can be read as a sign
that we will only be able to experience the greatness of these events and signs in the sky through spiritual
activity. The sphere of the Moon is the sphere of the Angels, the great messengers of the Divine World, who
manifest themselves in our imaginative thought activity. The New Moon in distinction from the Full Moon
would indicate a need for a more inward life in the realm of the consciousness-soul.
The second opposition of Saturn and Jupiter took place on 15 October. During those days, the heavens
opened the curtains to a really magnificent and inspiring display (see diagram below). On 13 October, the
superior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun took place in the constellation of Virgin. On the following day,
the Sun and also Mercury were in conjunction with Neptune. Meanwhile the nearly Full Moon had moved into
the opposite part of the Zodiac and came into conjunction with Jupiter in Fishes. During all those days, Mars
and Venus were close together in Lion. Finally, on the 15th the opposition of Saturn and Jupiter occurred.

It is rather difficult to interpret these events, because it is a really complex study. But it might be helpful if
we tried to form a picture. The planets in Lion and in Virgin form something like the background in the cosmos
of one of those medieval altars with three great paintings, side by side. In the opposition, Jupiter stands with the
Moon, which as a waxing Moon expresses more the power of universal creativeness, demanding reverence from
our soul. Jupiter’s appearance in Fishes can be transmuted into the Imagination of the High Priest of the
Cosmos who officiates at the Altar of the Universe, or the Earth. Behind this Altar, out in cosmic space in Lion
and in Virgin, there appear great pictures of past evolutionary cycles bearing deep implications with regard to
our present time. It is important to realize that the middle one of those cosmic “Altar-pictures” is Saturn in
Virgin. What we said above about the message of this planet is the leading impulse of the whole form.
Some of the details we shall work out further by considering the star events in November and December.
November seems to be almost entirely dedicated, as it were, to aspects of Venus with other planets. On the 14th
the opposition of Venus and Jupiter will take place, on the 21st Venus will conjunct with Saturn, and on the 29th
it will be in conjunction with Neptune.
We see in Venus, the planet that marks the sphere of the Archangels (the “occult Mercury” sphere). They
carry the messages of the Divine World into the region of relationship within and between the kingdoms and
beings of nature, including our human kingdom. In humans it works into the region of our feelings, and the
message can become Inspiration, if it is lifted up into our consciousness.
Therefore, we can regard those aspects of Venus with Saturn and Jupiter as admonitions from the Divine
World to bring to life those exalted messages of Saturn and Jupiter as Inspiration in the realm of our
relationships. We need not proclaim them out into the world; the more we carry them diligently as silent
proclamations in our hearts, the more they will become effective. It seems that Venus indicates, by the
opposition to Jupiter, that first we ought to acquire the inner power of meditative practice to which Jupiter is
pointing in Fishes. Then we can approach that great message of the future of the Earth and of humanity, which
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Saturn is proclaiming in the cosmos with its conjunction with Venus.
We can go one step further by trying to interpret the gestures of Venus during this year and the following
year; its Occult-Mercury sphere is more strongly connected with the “Shepherd-stream” in Christianity. In
August-September of this year, Venus performed a loop (went retrograde) in the constellation of Lion (at
present coinciding with the sign of Virgo). With this event, a certain spiritual situation arose in humanity that
could be very well observed during those days. In humanity, the Mercury-Shepherd-stream of love is not yet
much inclined, generally speaking, to take the external star-cosmos into consideration. There can even be found
a certain fear of star wisdom, in which the world of the stars is usually conceived of as an overpowering,
certainly awe-inspiring, but mysterious domination of the universe. These feelings and apprehensions are
justified as far as they refer to the shadows of an ancient and miscomprehended star wisdom. However, our
evolution tends toward a certain spiritual amalgamation of the Shepherd- and the King-streams. In other words,
the Divine World is working toward an interpenetration of the Cosmos of Love and the Cosmos of Wisdom.
The Cosmos of Wisdom, including Star Wisdom, must be re-awakened and revivified through esoteric
Christianity. Only then can it be absorbed by the Cosmos of Love, which is to a certain extent represented by
the Shepherd-stream.
In the loop of Venus in Lion, we can witness the cosmic correspondence toward attempts in humanity to
work for a Christian Star Wisdom and to kindle in simple Shepherds’ hearts an understanding for the need of
such a star wisdom in human evolution. At the time of the loop, an inner struggle took place. One could not yet
speak of an achievement at the time, but Venus has since moved out of the loop and will gradually advance
through the Zodiac, coming into a superior conjunction with the Sun on St. John’s Day in 1952. This
conjunction will take place in the constellation of Twins. The planet will then be far beyond the Sun, with its
sphere extended, as it were, to majestic dimensions. It suggests far less the aspect of struggle, as it does during
the loop, but rather of loftiness and of a difficulty to comprehend deeper spiritual impacts. The position of this
event in Twins emphasizes a need for the contemplation of the cosmic background of the “I” and the evolution
of the “I”. (See Isis Sophia II; Ancient Saturn and Ancient Sun evolution, especially the notations in the
Gemini rounds.) That which expressed itself as a struggle, in connection with the loop in Lion, ought to mature
in the region of the “I” by overcoming the natural inclination toward inner narrowness. In other words, the
Wemyss Bay Meeting, however small or isolated it may have been in the totality of the anthroposophical
movement, may have produced a seed that can grow into one helpful means of leading one step further toward a
fruitful union and cooperation of the streams of Shepherds’ Hearts and Kings’ Heads. This hope is not entirely
unfounded, judged by the results since that meeting.
The month of December will bring two events in connection with Mars. On the 1st, there will be an
opposition of Mars to Jupiter and on the 18th a conjunction of Mars with Saturn. Mars circumscribes the sphere
of the Dynamis or Spirits of Motion. For instance, the cosmic story of the coming into existence of planetary
movement is connected with their activity. Behind their impulses appears the background of the emancipation
and falling away of the “creature” from the Godhead. The faculty of Selfhood and Freedom was bought at the
cost of this great emancipation. The inner longing of the emancipated “creature” for union with the Divine
origin (in other words, the becoming conscious of the Sin of the World) was balanced by the Spirits of Motion
through their creating the possibility to move from one impression or contact to another. This faculty was
expressed on a grand cosmic scale by the movements of the stars, especially the planets. In the external
universe, as well as in our inner world, the possibility was thereby established to compensate, to a certain
extent, for the feeling of loneliness and exile.
The gestures of Mars and its sphere are therefore an expression of the contrast, one might even say of the
conflict in consciousness, between an internal and external world. Mars entered the constellation of Lion about
17 September and is still in that constellation at present, and about 16 November it will enter Virgin. These two
constellations remind us of the initial rounds of the Ancient Sun—Virgin also of the Ancient Moon (see Isis
Sophia II). Therefore, this Mars confronts us with the deeper background of the cosmic foundations of “life”
and “consciousness”. The age-old longing of a gradually emancipating humanity, who seek communion with
the Divine World in a spiritual cosmology, is reflected in this Mars in Lion and in Virgin. However, it is that
aspect of cosmology and cosmosophy, which we sometimes call the “old” representation, which bears the traces
of sadness springing from the realization of the gradual loss of the ancient vision. Mars stands in the sky like a
4
grave warning to not fall back into the ancient pre-Christian ways, which were founded entirely on different
world conditions. At the same time, we can hear in the voice of Mars a calling out for redemption and for
filling the gap with a new Christian star wisdom.

In this sense, we may also understand the aspects of Mars with Jupiter and Saturn. The essential message of
Mars is amplified by the opposition to Jupiter, pronouncing that the redemption and rejuvenation of the star
wisdom can only be achieved on the basis of the development of the modern Christian meditative discipline.
(Recall what we said above about Jupiter as being the image of the High Priest of the cosmos.) Here we can
also imagine that if such admonitions are not received with sincerity they must cause great difficulties and inner
obstructions.
This cosmic admonition is followed by the conjunction of Mars with Saturn on December 18. We see that
after the need for the inner discipline is indicated, there appears a premonition of the grand vision of the Earth’s
and our own cosmic future, in the sense of that “great wonder in heaven” described in Revelation XII. This we
recognize as the great message of Saturn in Virgin. Mars moving into conjunction with Saturn can be read as a
signpost to the country of that new star wisdom that must be discovered if we are to fulfill our spiritual mission.
Mars is representative, as we said, for that yearning of ancient humanity for a spiritual communion with the
Divine World through star wisdom. In post-Christian times, Mars will represent the yearning, as it were, of the
cosmos of the stars for participation in that “new cosmos” which entered the earthly world through the Christ
Impulse. This new cosmos is the Bride of the Future Jerusalem according to the Revelation of John the Divine.
It is the new Isis Sophia, who is akin to the Woman in Heaven in Revelation XII.
The conjunction of Saturn and Mars in Virgin just before Christmas also reflects something of the
tremendous “War in Heaven” of which Revelation XII is speaking. By no means must we imagine that the
preparations in our present age for those great events in the future will be undisturbed by the adverse forces in
the world. However, the great Inspirations that we can perceive by penetrating through the external events in
the sky can become the sources of inner comfort and strength. In the nearness of Mars and Venus at the time of
the opposition of Saturn and Jupiter (October 15), lies something like a yearning for the healing and redemption
of the ancient star wisdom by Occult-Mercury, the sphere of healing that penetrated Mars, the representative of
the Ancient Moon-Wisdom. (See Rudolf Steiner’s lecture of 18 December 1912, Neuchatel, Switzerland, The
Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz, in which he speaks of the deed of Buddha on Mars in 1604.)
Finally, we may guide our vision to the inferior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun on 17 December. This
conjunction is, of course, the culmination of a loop of Mercury at that time. It was preceded by a superior
conjunction of this planet on October 14 in the constellation of Virgin. The loop will take place above the tail
of Scorpion.
In Mercury (the sphere Occult-Venus), we see the indicator of the sphere of the Archai, the Spirits of the
Ages. They are the hierarchy that stand not only as the great directing power above the destiny of nations by
the Archangels, but they are the guides of the long cultural ages of humanity. Therefore they appeal to our will
nature, which is normally veiled in almost complete unconsciousness. It is that realm in us where the deeper
spiritual impulses of our individuality can mature, but only after long ages of inner evolution through a number
of incarnations.
In that superior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun on 13 October, we might recognize something like a
rising up of more or less dim memories of impulses carried into this life from previous incarnations. This is
strongly emphasized by the simultaneous conjunction of Neptune with Sun and Mercury. In Neptune we have a
cosmic representative of what it is within us that relates us to the occult, to the working of the Spiritual World.
When this triple-conjunction took place, subconscious memories of past incarnations may have entered human
souls who had an individual connection with this part of the Zodiac. They may have been faint memories of the
elimination of the Cathars or other similar persecutions. Externally they can have been sources of seemingly
unaccountable irritation.
Mercury will move from this background into that loop in December in Sagittarius/Scorpion. The loops are
like a kind of compression, or descent, into more earthly spheres. Behind the loop in December stand those
great pictures of the Ancient Sun and Ancient Moon evolutions, indicated by the Scorpion-Eagle. (See Isis
Sophia II, the 5th and 6th round of Ancient Sun and the 3rd and 4th round of Ancient Moon.) As an echo within
5
us, this event may lead to inner experiences of severe testing of those memory pictures coinciding with Mercury
in Virgin and also of calling for a transformation of hitherto unconscious notions and soul habits derived form
previous incarnations. Universal love and understanding, even of the most foreign and adverse spiritual
impacts, ought then to be cultivated. Thus, glimpses of the slow but sure working of the karma of humanity
through the ages may be attained.

6
 Astronomical Letters
By Willi Sucher while at Albrighton Hall – November 1951 to 25 December 1952
©Astrosophy Research Center 2012 - ISBN 1-888686-12-X
All rights reserved. These letters 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.
Letter 2 - February 1952

A long time has elapsed since my last letter, and again I am behind with the Star calendar. A lot of things
have happened during the Christmas time, making it rather impossible to concentrate on these communications.
I hope in future to come to a point when I shall be able to send out these letters to you on time.
I have added a calendar sheet for January through April, which contains the main aspects of the planets and
also those of the Moon. Don’t be disturbed by the multitude of events that are indicated and which I cannot
explain at present. I shall discuss the nature of all the aspects of the square, trine, opposition, conjunction, etc.,
in detail in future communications. You will understand that it is technically impossible to tackle it all at once.
I have also worked out a circular star-map below for the period from January 1 to April 30. This will enable
you to follow the transitions of the planets and of the Sun from one constellation to another. Also the phases of
the Moon are indicated, but its daily positions you can work out in connection with the aspects of the Moon.
For instance, if it says in the calendar sheet for February that the Moon is in opposition to Uranus on the 21st,
then you will realize that on that day the Moon is in the constellation of Archer; or that on 23 February the
Moon is in conjunction with Venus, meaning that the Moon has just entered the constellation of Goat. [Ed.
Note: This is the only Star-map included; the Calendars are not included. All the graphics in these letters were drawn by
Willi Sucher.]

I shall now try to give you a few indications concerning the events among the planets. In order to enable
you to make a real beginning with this, I shall single out one or two aspects; otherwise, things become too
overwhelming, unless you have acquired an excellent mastery of the celestial symphony. I gathered that this
was the difficulty with regard to my first letter. The details given there were too many and were more
confusing than helpful. I realized this too late, but perhaps you received an impression of the future aims of
these communications.
One of the main events in the first quarter of 1952 is the third opposition of Saturn and Jupiter on 21
February. In the first letter I spoke extensively about these oppositions in connection with certain historic
events. This also, of course, holds true for the third opposition. However, today I should like to approach this
event from a different angle.
 You will remember from the first letter that these conjunctions and oppositions of Saturn and Jupiter in the
same constellation take place according to a rhythm of roughly 60 years. For instance, the present three
oppositions were preceded by another three in 1891-2, the third one of which happened in the constellations of
Virgin/Fishes. Halfway between lies another rhythm of conjunctions in Virgin, for instance, a single
conjunction in 1921, that will be followed by another three conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter in Virgin in 1981.
I should now like to draw your attention to the connection between the conjunction in Virgin in 1921 and
the present oppositions in Virgin/Fishes. You will remember how extremely chaotic those years were
immediately after the World War I. There were catastrophes in the social and economic spheres, which were
especially felt on the continent but also in other parts of the world, and the years about the time of that
conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Virgin in 1921 represented a climax. Rudolf Steiner was still alive then,
and we remember the many things he said with regard to that crisis of modern humanity. We could gather from
his interpretations and ideas that those events were only the long shadows, as it were, of much more radical
happenings in times to come. Not many people may have taken those warnings very seriously. We know how
little inclination arose at that time to accept the remedies and the constructive ideas that Steiner suggested.
Now, the second half of the 20th century has opened with the opposition of Saturn and Jupiter in
Virgin/Fishes. We can consider the development from the conjunction to the opposition like the opening of a
flower bud, and indeed, we cannot complain about the precision with which the destiny of humanity has
proceeded, just on the background of the Saturn-Jupiter events. What happened in and around that time of 1921
was only a forecast of what would happen if the required changes did not take place, and it has become a
frightening reality in our day. It looks as if our entire world is about to tumble into an abyss of social and
economic catastrophes, the magnitude of which it has never experienced before.
These human problems are connected, of course, with the position of Saturn in Virgin, especially in times
when it has an aspect to Jupiter or to one of the other planets. Naturally, other planets standing in Virgin can
also speak a similar language, but it may then concern a different sphere of life. We can verify this to ourselves
by a very simple consideration. We know that Saturn is connected with the sphere of action of the Spirits of
Will (or Thrones). We can truly see gestures of the Divine Will in the movements of this planet, of that which
is the innermost essence and direction of cosmic and human evolution. Of course, the human race has now
come to a point where it has the freedom to accept or to disregard the call of that Divine Will. But we must not
forget that disregarding the call would mean falling away from the course of divine evolution and entering a
phase of universal destruction and chaos.
Furthermore, we know (see Isis Sophia II, Part Two) that the constellation of Virgin is the archetypal,
cosmic region of the digestive sphere in the human body. Therefore, Saturn in Virgin, as the external gesture of
the Will of the Divine World, is calling for a change, a transformation, even for transubstantiation of existing
institutions. Something similar to cosmic “digestion” or breaking-up of seemingly well-founded conditions is
demanded. Why? For reasons similar to why we can neither refuse food nor refuse to digest food that we have
already eaten: It would otherwise poison and kill us. For the sake of our progress as the human race and the
world, we are not permitted to hold fast to conditions and institutions that may have served well in the past.
They must be constantly broken up, “digested”, transformed, and renewed; otherwise, humanity would not
fulfill its task in the cosmos.
You can also imagine what will happen if this call for a total transformation is not heard in our time. Just
imagine that our digestive sphere is in disorder and that we refuse the medical prescription. The disease will go
on, and will appear in all sorts of disguises, until reason is given a hearing or death conquers the patient. We
must not forget that this present age has produced a good number of prophets of gloom who prognosticated the
“Decline of the West” and similar aspects. Is this humanity on the road to prove them right?
We see the gestures of the starry universe coming to life in our earthly problems and difficulties. Certainly
we, as a small group of people, can do very little to make our answers, which we may have to these humanity
problems, heard in the external world. Yet, one thing we can do, which is to become more and more conscious
of that which weaves and is woven spiritually around us, thereby standing above the seemingly inevitable
decline. Thus there may be a handful of people who facilitate the continuity of human evolution. This is also a
task, even a supreme task. In this connection, I wanted to put another matter before you today. One of the
greatest difficulties of bearing the starry events in one’s consciousness is the multitude of facts and the
2
magnitude of the events that one has to consider. I should therefore like to tell you of a method by which you
can overcome some of those difficulties and can look at the cosmos as a living organism. It is the “cosmic
aspect” of the Lord’s Prayer. I have sometimes spoken about it in the past and some of you may know it.
Nevertheless, you may find it useful to have it in written form, although I imagine that today I can only develop
the outlines. We shall speak much more about it in the future.
We repeatedly referred to Saturn as a gesture or an expression of the Divine Will, because its sphere is
connected with the Spirits of Will. The Lord’s Prayer also turns to the Will of the Divine World and the
suggestion is near that we are in both cases confronted with the same spiritual reality.
After long and careful considerations over years, we came to the conclusion that this is correct. You will
understand that it is a very subtle matter, and we shall need a lot of effort in order not to misunderstand it. By
no means do I want to present to you a cheap comparison. In reality it is a very active connection, a kind of
sublimated Lord’s Prayer.
We find in cosmic space the planets that belong to our own solar system. Their impacts work upon the
Earth as well as in everything that the human being is, both in a bodily sense and in our thoughts. Usually we
are not aware of this fact that the cosmos extends into our own being, just as the sea expands into the land in
gulfs and bays, but we can develop a consciousness of it, without feeling ourselves determined by these facts.
As free individualities, we can look down to those regions of our own organization and of our earthly
environment where the forces of the cosmos are at work. Then we experience, for instance, the planets like
great questions, almost like queries that can come to life in our own problems, and we may feel called upon to
find the appropriate answers ourselves.
We can experience these answers, which demand great efforts from our moral imagination, as a kind of
Lord’s Prayer. Of course, the fullness of this experience depends to a high degree on the power of
comprehending the totality of the planetary world. This can be acquired by relentless efforts and inner practice.
We experience the planetary world in a twofold way when we distinguish inner (inferior) and outer
(superior) planets. This distinction has a much deeper occult significance than one usually realizes. It is
possible to see the world of the inner planets as more connected with the existence and the life of the “creature”,
whereas the outer planets are much more associated with the great processes of cosmic creation, itself.
Thus we can even imagine the planets being distributed externally in the sky as indicated in the above star-
map. At least we can perceive the spheres of the planets in their relationship to the Earth as being arranged in
the manner suggested. We are, of course, aware that these invisible spheres are the fields of action of the
spiritual hierarchies.
We turn first to the outer planets. There we listen first to the gestures and language of Mars. In which
direction can we find the answers? Generally speaking, they are contained in these words of the Lord’s Prayer:
“Hallowed be Thy name.” Why? It is from a multitude of aspects that we come to this viewpoint. The “name”
is the external expression of the inner nature of the being. Therefore, perceiving and realizing the true nature of
the physical universe is “sanctifying the name” of the Divinity. The “truth” about the nature of the objects of
the physical world is connected with the sphere of Mars. We know that in the Mars sphere we find the
archetypes of the physical world during the life after death. Therefore, by trying to find the answers to Mars in
the sky, we are really doing something that we normally do during our sojourn in the sphere of Mars after death.
Next to Mars we become aware of the planet Jupiter. By the presence of this planet in
the cosmos, we are reminded of that sphere in which the germinal beginnings of the future
stage of the Earth evolution—the Jupiter condition [known as Ancient Sun]—is nursed,
and Jupiter calls for our cooperation toward that future goal. We certainly cannot expect
anything from Jupiter beyond what it offers and hands on to us, which is the capacity of
thinking. As a capacity, we must cultivate and nurse it within the compass of our earthly
environment and requirements. We do this by lifting our thoughts out of the realm of
purely abstract reflection and by infusing spiritual ideas and thoughts into our daily tasks.
This active, not merely receptive attitude toward Jupiter, we can experience and
circumscribe by the words: “Thy Kingdom come.” The Kingdom is that future Jupiter
condition whose “corporeal” foundation will be the ideas and the thoughts that Earth-
humanity is thinking.
3
 About Saturn, [which remembers Ancient Saturn], we have already spoken in this letter. We mentioned that
its sphere is connected with the activity of the Spirits of Will. But here we are confronted with the same
situation. It will not do if we sit down and wait for Saturn to work for us. We must learn to identify ourselves
with the Will of the Father; only then will we really be free. This high aim, to which Saturn calls our attention,
we may experience concentrated in the words: “Thy Will be done.” We have thus taken into our considerations
the highest sphere of our planetary cosmos. The planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto must be considered from a
different angle. They belong to our solar system in a different sense from that of the five planets Saturn,
Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury.
From that highest sphere of Saturn, we return to the Earth. This return to the Earth is most important, for we
have actually done it by seeking the answers on the Earth. In the Lord’s Prayer this is expressed in the words:
“Thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.” From the Earth we now look to the opposite side of the sky,
and first of all, we find the Moon (see diagram). The Moon gives us our physical existence in material bodies.
For instance, we know that it is deeply connected with our embryonic development; and in a very wide sense, it
builds the vessel in which all Earth beings can sail through their earthly existence. As human beings, we can
concentrate consciously on these facts. We make use of the vessel in order to achieve the higher aims of
humanity. Thus our answers flow back to the Moon, concentrated in the words: “Give us this day our daily
bread.” We need the bread for sustenance, but in the form in which it comes from the cosmos, through the
Moon, it would be useless unless we transformed it. In this constant transformation is our answer to the gifts of
the cosmos.
Beyond the sphere of the Moon is that of Venus. Without going into greater detail now, I call this sphere
“Mercury” in the occult sense. In this sphere is the field of activity of the hierarchy of the Archangeloi. We
know that they are those spirits who work, for instance, as folk-spirits in humanity. Generally speaking they are
active in all that concerns human relationships, human community life. In this sphere we accumulate karma,
which accompanies us through our Earth existences and constantly demands from us rectification and
redemption. We are especially asked in this age to fulfill these demands. Knowledge of karma and
reincarnation is the great task of present humanity. This task, the ceaseless struggle to create the balance
between individuality and community, appears concentrated and made conscious in the words: “Forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors.” It is the answer to the warnings and the impact of the “sphere of Mercury”,
indicated by the planet that we are accustomed to calling Venus.
Then we are led further to the planet Mercury whose sphere we regard in occultism as Venus. It is the
sphere of activity of the Archai, the Spirits of Personality. We see in those great guiding spirits, the endeavor to
lead us to the realization of our own personality. This process is the background of history; therefore, these
spirits are also called Spirits of the Ages.
On this road toward the development of personality, we are exposed to the great temptations that we learn to
recognize as the luciferic and ahrimanic dangers. These adversaries of the true human being can only be
overcome by their recognition. By increasingly developing the powers of intelligent recognition and
distinction, which are inherent in us, we are not led into temptation. Therefore our human and earthly answer to
the admonitions of the sphere of Occult Venus can be concentrated in the words: “Lead us not into temptation.”
In order not to be led into temptation, we must cultivate and practice our capacities. This part of the Lord’s
Prayer does not suggest only a passive attitude, especially if we try to comprehend its cosmological
implications.
Finally, we come to the Sun (see diagram above). As we know, this Sun in pre-Christian times was the
great promise of Redemption and Salvation. Now, after the Mystery of Golgotha, we realize that its spiritual
essence is intimately connected with the Earth. In the future of our cosmos, this Sun will again unite with the
Earth, as they were as one in the past.
From the indications of spiritual science, we know that the structure and nature of the Sun is the exact
opposite of that of the Earth. As much as the Earth is a place of contraction and material condensation in the
universe, so much is the Sun a focus of dissolution of matter and etherization. The great cosmic Initiator of the
Sun activity, the Christ, has entered the Earth existence. He will transform the Earth in time into a cosmic focus
similar to that of the Sun. This process will result in the union of Sun and Earth. As humanity, we can partake
in this great cosmic event, but only if we unite with Christ in the realm of the “I consciousness”. Thus also the
4
human race can be freed from the Evil. Therefore, we can concentrate these facts in the words: “Deliver us
from evil.” These words also demand a really active attitude from us, namely, the endeavor to comprehend
more and more the cosmic Sun nature of Christ. Thus we continue, and we fulfill what the Sun in the sky can
only point out and set into motion. We turn in an active attitude toward the Sun, but not in a mood of being
determined and ruled by cosmic forces. This active attitude is the most important point in our consideration and
practice of the Lord’s Prayer, of which we must never lose sight.
I am, of course, absolutely aware of the possibility that these ways of considering the implications of the
Lord’s Prayer are exposed to the danger of being misunderstood as a kind of allegory with no practical value.
Therefore, I should like to emphasize that what I told you in this letter is only the ground plan of something
much bigger, which I intend to work out in time.
So far, I have spoken about the planets only in general terms. To this, we can add the individual positions of the
planets in the Zodiac and their positions among themselves. This needs a tremendous amount of concentration
and years of relentless practice. But only then can one fully see and appreciate the absolutely practical
viewpoints of this cosmic aspect of the Lord’s Prayer. Then the questions and demands of the cosmic world’s
speaking through the planets will become ever more articulate in a higher sense. Thus we can feel ourselves
called upon to stand with both feet and with ever increasing consciousness in the historic process of humanity in
order to find the answers in thinking and, if possible, also in external activity.

5
 Astronomical Letters
By Willi Sucher while at Albrighton Hall – November 1951 to 25 December 1952
©Astrosophy Research Center 2012 - ISBN 1-888686-12-X
All rights reserved. These letters 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.
Letter 3 - April 1952

The time has come again to prepare a star-map and a calendar of the major events in the sky for the coming
four months. In the course of these preparations, this question impressed itself on me very strongly: What do
we really attempt by making these calendars and by watching the events in the starry world? I believe the
answer can be put into a few words. We want to acquire the capacity of reading the script of the stars in a
manner that is congenial to the requirements of the present age and the ages to come.
How can we achieve this aim? It would certainly not be very helpful to you if I gave you predictions similar
to those that you can find in all sorts of almanacs. The present age, and the future still more, will require the
attainment of such capacities in full consciousness. We must learn to have a full comprehension at any moment
of the given facts without falling back on any authority, not even the authority of tradition. Only then can we
hope to fulfill our task in the preparation of the future.
An excellent example of the futility of the old style of astrological prediction is Nostradamus (1503-1566).
It is certainly fascinating to read his prophecies, which he gave in his book, Centuries. They are partly
contained in very veiled indications, but some of the contents that have been deciphered have become true in an
amazing fashion. Yet we must admit that these prophecies, although they reveal the most fascinating visionary
capacities of their author, are not really helpful. However interesting the tableau of the future appears in his
book, Centuries, humanity seems to be a helpless victim of the wheels of fate in it. Only if we comprehend the
sources of such knowledge in full consciousness can we expect to find the healing medicine for the turmoil of
external events.
It should be needless to say that on this road we have chosen, we shall require first of all a fundamental
understanding of anthroposophy. We certainly could not make any progress without having prepared ourselves
through anthroposophy first. In particular, the indications about the attainment of higher knowledge must be
taken by us very seriously. We should never forget that a new spiritual cosmology is only one of the steps of
Rosicrucian Initiation. (See Occult Science, chapter V: Cognition of Higher Worlds; Initiation, the seven stages
of higher knowledge). Rudolf Steiner has emphasized over and again that an occupation with the script of the
stars should not be undertaken at the beginning but rather at the end of a career as an occultist.
It is essential to study these stages of Initiation, to collect and to observe all the advice that Dr. Steiner has
given on these matters. (In lecture cycle No.2, The Theosophy of Rosicrucianism, lecture 14, he also speaks
about the seven stages of Christian and Rosicrucian Initiation.)
One of the major mistakes that is very often made in the study of the stars is an attitude of direct
expectation. We are inclined, of course, to look away from the Earth and up to the stars, where we perceive
them in cosmic space and thus hope to decipher their meaning. This approach is mistaken and certainly does
not lead to essential results in the reading of the script of the stars. A radical change of attitude is required if we
want to succeed. Of course, a sound astronomical knowledge gained on the basis of observation and disciplined
thinking is essentially needed, otherwise we are like blind wanderers in a strange country.
In ancient times one knew quite well that a direct gazing upward to the stars does not lead to a wisdom of
the stars. There has survived into our age the custom of making charts of starry events. This was done in
ancient days, not only for the purpose of remembering those events, but the initiates created thereby a kind of
reflecting surface or mirror of what went on in cosmic space, and thus they could read the meaning.
We find traces of this kind of “reversed star gazing” in the documents of all ancient peoples. This is
especially evident in Celtic civilizations. All the so-called Druid circles, etc., have been gigantic charts on
which the initiates followed the events in the sky. Also some details of Celtic mythology unmistakably reveal
this fact; for instance, the stories of the Cauldron of Annwn that King Arthur attained. (I cannot go into details
concerning this fact, but I shall tell you more about it when I come to visit the groups in the future.)
Nostradamus, too, gained his unique insight by similar means. The information that we have about him is
not very clear, but he must have used a kind of basin of water, or the like, in which he observed the reflection of
the starry sky, and from this reflection, he drew his prophecies. Of course, we cannot fall back on any such
ancient means of observation. They would inevitably throw us back into a kind of dreamy semi-consciousness,
and we would thereby lose all power of distinction. We might well come under the spell of evil and destructive
spiritual-beings, who are incessantly hovering around us trying to inspire destructive ideas and impulses.
In our Age, we must conceive the whole planet Earth as the slate or tablet on which appear the writings of
the stars, and as much as our physical and etheric organizations belong to the Earth, so much are we also
“slates” of the stars. You will find in Isis Sophia II, much amplification of the fact that our organization is a
microcosmic reflection of the macrocosm. These cosmic forces penetrate our whole being and also all
existence on the Earth. We collect the cosmic substances while we descend into each incarnation, when our
gaze is directed from cosmic space to the Earth.
In our cosmological studies, we try to recollect this fact quite realistically. You have surely noticed that I
usually represent the Zodiac in a “reversed” order. The first constellation of Ram is on the left side of the chart,
and from there the succeeding constellations follow in a clockwise fashion. This is contrary to the traditional
representations, for instance, by modern astrologers. There you find the constellations proceeding in an anti-
clockwise manner, which is merely that of “gazing”. If you watch the starry sky during a suitable evening,
looking toward the south, you may discover the constellation of Ram to your right, possibly near the western
horizon. Looking from the west toward the east you will then detect the constellations of Bull, Twins, Crab,
Lion etc. To take up such a position is essential if you are involved in astronomical studies. Then you must
start from observation.
We take the opposite view: after having acquired all the details of astronomical observation, we then put
ourselves into a position as if we were looking down upon the Earth from the surrounding sphere. In a sense,
we try to be the sphere on which the stars appear. Of course, our bodily organization objects to this position at
first, because we have on Earth a centrally orientated consciousness; however, in time we may overcome this
difficulty, especially if we cultivate a meditative life according to the suggestions of anthroposophy. Then our
physical and etheric organizations become more independent and emancipated from the material body. Of
course, this emancipation can only be healthy if it is under the strict control of our will. We may then find at a
certain moment that we carry the whole sphere of the starry sky in our own being. This is possible because the
spiritual foundation of our physical vehicle is of zodiacal origin. I have described this fact in Part Two of Isis
Sophia II, where I spoke about the so-called “Mysterium Magnum”. Likewise are the spheres of the planets in
our ether body, where they appear as functions such as uprightness, thinking, speech, etc.
Therefore, if we take up such a position as I have described, we assimilate into our organization the whole
cosmos. It is a matter of exercise to make such an experience as vivid as possible. The greatest difficulty is the
usual spatial conception of the solar universe with all its distances, etc., but this can be overcome. Another
obstacle is our shadowy conception of the stars. For instance, if we try to think of the Sun, we have usually in
our mind that dead picture of a ball of glowing gas, etc.; but I hope that my description of the nature of the
planets and the Sun in Part Four of Isis Sophia II will help you to create a conception of the real spiritual
majesty of the Sun. It is, however, advisable not to try in the beginning to comprise too many details of the
sphere of the stars. One may have to content oneself for a long time to leave the positions of the planets and the
Sun in the Zodiac out of consideration. Altogether it is better to start with the Sun first and then add the planets
and finally include the Zodiac only when one is firm enough with regard to the planetary cosmos. In that way,
we try to build up a real Imagination of the cosmic world. However, the suggested gaze from the sphere down
to the Earth prevents us from losing ourselves in cosmic heights. We have a firm focus, which is the purpose of
all our work.
Now we can go one step further. We eliminate the Imagination that we have created. You will find that this
step is in exact accordance with the advice of spiritual science concerning meditative practice. For instance,
Rudolf Steiner has described in numberless passages this step of inner evolution. It is not easy, for we usually
do not like to depart from that picture-world that we have created. We may also feel lost on an ocean of
uncertainty if we give up what we have acquired under great pain. However, we cannot advance to true
Inspiration if we do not plunge into that abyss of what appears at first to be utter emptiness.
With regard to these cosmological exercises that we have in mind, we must go still further. We were
looking down upon the Earth. Now this Earth that we experience to a certain degree as a celestial body,
2
although we don’t have the usual materialistic conception, has also vanished from our inner sight. In its place is
“emptiness”. But what is this emptiness, really?
In order to find an answer, we must recollect a few details of the nature of our Earth. We know, of course,
that from an external viewpoint it is a solid body that exerts gravitation, etc., on its neighborhood. We also
know that a fundamental change has taken place since the Mystery of Golgotha. Let us put before our eyes
once more the facts of which we have heard so often. The Spirit who went through the Mystery of Golgotha,
the Christ, descended to the Earth from the Sun. The great Zarathustra recognized Him still as the Aura of the
Sun, Ahura Mazdao. Then, when the time of Fulfillment had come, He entered the body of Jesus. This
happened at the time of the Baptism in the Jordan, after which He dwelt for about three years in the bodily
vessel of Jesus of Nazareth, uniting more and more with it. Finally, on Golgotha He went through the death-
experience and united with the planet Earth in those most subtle processes that took place during the three days
in which His body was lying in the grave. Then on Easter Sunday morning, He entered that still greater
Mystery of the Resurrection, which was the beginning of a new Earth existence.
It is still very difficult for us to realize the fact that in Christ the Spirit of the Sun united with the Earth.
There seems to be no external proof of it, although it can be proven in a strictly scientific way. However, this is
a long and involved story. Besides, we still have rather materialistic ideas about the Sun that do not “lend a
hand” to picture a spiritual Sun, as it were, in the Earth. I tried in the past to speak about these matters, as far I
feel able to penetrate these profound mysteries. It was certainly only a beginning. Some of it I have written
down which appears in Part Four of Isis Sophia II.
The Sun in the sky has been the great creative agency in our solar system for millions of years, because it is
itself of non-spatial nature. Like our human ego, which is certainly also a non-spatial entity, it arranged the
solar universe around its focus and maintained its existence (details you will find in Part Four). The present Sun
in the sky is still carrying on with the initial activity, but it does it out of a kind of continued cosmic memory.
The great guiding Spirit has left the Sun and has united with the Earth. We must therefore find something in
our planet of that creative and maintaining capacity that once long ago worked from the Sun into cosmic space.
Here we touch on the secrets of the Resurrection. Let us imagine that great Non-Space-Being working
within the Earth, we might say from the center of the Earth. He is the great cosmic Representative, the Reality
of what appears in the single human being as the shadow of the Ego. He Who is for the external, materialistic
view Non-Space—in other words, non-existent, a vacuum—but Who is for spiritual vision the Fullness of the
Spirit, capable of attracting the cosmic substances from the depths of the universe that are woven into earthly
material existence. Therefore, He could appear after the Resurrection to His disciples in human form, but this is
also the reason why the mystics of the middle ages experienced His Presence also in the kingdoms of nature.
It is this Non-Space-Being Whom we experience if we progress in our cosmological exercise from the effort
to imagine cosmic facts and events to the renunciation. As long as our inner senses are not awakened, we face
darkness and emptiness by looking down from the periphery to the Earth. But relentless exercise and inner
patience and peace will open the organs of spiritual perception, and we will hear the mighty sounds of the
Creative Word. We realize the revivification of cosmic existence that constantly takes place through the Spirit
of the Earth. Thus only can we understand that the Earth is the focus of a New Creation.
We are actively involved in these processes. The cosmos is present in the forces and substances of our
bodily organism. They are constantly exchanged according to definite rhythms, and thus we take part even in
the current events and facts of the cosmos. Normally we are not aware of this connection with the heavens, but
by inner discipline and exercise, we can lift up our consciousness by degrees to the presence of the starry world
in our own being. This is the task that we have set ourselves in our cosmological studies.
From this point, which is individually different according to the standard achieved of inner awareness, we
advance to that realm of inner silence and emptiness. We consciously sacrifice, as it were, our share in cosmic
existence. In the realm of conscious Imagination, this is not too difficult, because our pictures of the cosmos
have the tendency, in any case, to vanish rather quickly from our inner perception. The difficulty is to hold
consciously this moment of suspense with full control and resolution.
Such moments of inner concentration can become events of consecration of our human existence. We can
feel invigorated by hitherto unknown forces, permeated by new hope and new impulses in life. Sometimes the
effect may come only some time after such an experience; it need not be simultaneous. The Spirit of the Earth,
3
accepting our sacrifice and uniting with it, has given us a kernel of a new and incorruptible existence, our place
in the New Creation.
We can of course reject that consecration in the inner silence. Then we can still accumulate, consciously or
unconsciously, cosmic forces and substances in our organization, but we partake in a dying existence, because
the cosmos of the stars around us is in a dying state once it has entered the realm of the Earth. Only through the
revivifying Deed of the Sun Spirit in the Earth can that cosmic Death be transformed into eternal Life. This
Life we experience in those new hopes, impulses and ideas that stream toward us from the depths of the
emptiness of which I have been speaking.
This Life, which enters our being through that cosmic consecration, is not limited to our own being. Above
I pointed to that constant exchange of cosmic substance that takes place in us. Especially in the moment of
death, when we give back to the cosmos our etheric and astral organizations, comes the great moment of
judgment. Once upon a time, we received these principles as the gifts of the cosmic world. Now, in the
moment of death, it will be the question of whether or not during our earthly life we have made them our own
and filled them with the essence of New Creation inspired by the Sun Spirit of the Earth. Through ever more
conscious participation in these processes of cosmic consecration, we can become a real citizen of the universe.
If we fail, we may be only a useless nuisance.
These are my ideas of a cosmological work, of which I can naturally only speak in intimate circles. This is
also the reason why I should like to ask you to let these thoughts stand where they are at present, not to discuss
them too much outside your own group. In this sense, I should like to draw your attention to one single event in
the sky during the coming four months. You will understand from the above description that I cannot yet
attempt to do more in this moment.
On 24 June, St. John’s Day, a superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun will take place. Now, let us
proceed systematically in building up the full picture. Venus will be far out behind the Sun in cosmic space.
The sphere will be in a state of exhalation. Great cosmic aspects are inherent in this picture, but the danger of
losing the proportions and the power of judgment adequate to earthly conditions and requirements is also
indicated. The Sun as a cosmic entity will, of course, also be involved in it.
The sphere of Venus (Occult Mercury) is related to the interconnections and interrelationships that the Earth
dwellers develop in one way or another (see Part Four of Isis Sophia II for more detailed information). The Sun
points toward the mysteries of the “I” of the cosmos. The season on the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth will
be midsummer, a time which has its own blessings but also its dangers, as we know. All this we try to imagine
as vividly as we can, not by staring up into the sky, but by looking down from the periphery to the Earth. We
try to feel the Sun and Venus as if resting in our own being. If we are still capable, we can add the inner
significance of the constellation in which this conjunction will take place, the constellation of Twins.
In Twins is contained a memory of the third (and to a certain extent also of the fourth) cycle of the Ancient
Saturn condition, the division of the still unified “Saturn planet” into single bodies or “cells”, the forerunners of
our present individual physical bodies (see Isis Sophia II, Part Two). Furthermore, we find in Twins the cosmic
memories of the fourth Round of Ancient Sun, the Archai impressing their higher Imaginations into our Sun-
human organization. Below are the Archangels who go through their human stage, living in the link between
Sun-human and the kingdom below. Concerning the Ancient Moon evolution, we find here the events during
the fourth Round, especially the rejuvenation of Moon-human in the Sun sphere. Finally, we remember the
events during the fourth great cycle of the Earth, the utmost externalization, division, and mineralization that
was the basis for the development of the object-consciousness, our Ego (see Part Two, pg. 129).
However far we have gone in our Imagination of these facts, now comes the moment when we sacrifice all
that we have attained as the gift of the cosmos. We enter consciously that realm of inner silence. Then the
words of Love and Healing from the great Inspirations of Christ, who is the Spirit of the Earth, will come back
to us sooner or later, provided we have carried our exercises through with spiritual sincerity and devotion.
I have described the impact of the conjunction only in general terms. Individual people will experience it in
connection with difficulties that will arise from human relationships. Issues of far-reaching importance may
arise for discussion and cut deeply into human destinies, shaping the future. And it may be felt that more souls
and beings than only those incarnated on the physical plane are present at such a moment. More I cannot say
about this conjunction lest I should fall into the error of making futile predictions. Even the most correct
4
prediction can become dangerous and create obstacles in our modern age. Presence of mind and inner
awareness are the attitudes that are required of us in the present age. This we practice when we collect the facts
about the cosmic events. Furthermore, when we are able to enter that realm of inner silence and cosmic
concentration, we shall find ourselves in a position of facing any situation that may arise. This active reading of
the script of the stars does not bind and oppress anyone, but it makes us free and creative. Consequently, a real
spiritual cosmology belongs to the most practical things that we can imagine.

5
 Astronomical Letters
By Willi Sucher while at Albrighton Hall – November 1951 to 25 December 1952
©Astrosophy Research Center 2012 - ISBN 1-888686-12-X
All rights reserved. These letters 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.
Letter 4 - August 1952

The letters preceding this present one were more or less occupied with attempts to delineate some methods
of approach with regard to our studies of the stars. Please consider it only as an outline of the methods that we
must apply from the viewpoint of anthroposophical spiritual science. We shall have much more to say about
these questions as we go along in our studies.
However, we have now reached a point where we should enter a bit more deeply into practical
considerations of events in the sky. Thus we shall gradually build up a solid foundation for a practical and
realistic star wisdom that will stand firmly on the two pillars of exact methodical approach and of systematic
realization of cosmic implications.
First of all, we must find a guiding line with regard to that which happens in the sky. There ought to be a
direct connection somewhere with the past that has been carried over into the present and which expresses itself
by the ever recurring aspects of the planets among themselves, though in manifold modifications. Likewise, we
also expect threads leading into the future. If we find these guiding lines of the history of cosmic events, which
I am going to explain presently, we will be able to establish a sound knowledge of the inter-relationships
between celestial and terrestrial history. Thereby we shall gradually attain the capacity to read the calendar of
the starry events in a humanity-wide sense and without those narrow and very often egoistic astrological
interpretations, which you know very well.
You will have experienced yourselves how unsatisfactory the usual picking out of a single aspect is—how it
usually leads to the most trivial interpretations, which have unfortunately contributed much to make the wisdom
of the stars a ridiculous and superstitious pastime of a humanity that no longer takes the reality of the spiritual
world seriously. We need methods of interpretation that will enable us to get beyond our narrow margin of
sheer daily drudgery and to become citizens of the whole universe again, ascertaining our true spiritual dignity.
The cosmos of the stars has grown in the hands of modern science to overwhelming spatial dimensions, so
much so that our Earth and its humanity are in danger of dropping back into insignificance. Whether we need
to follow such modern world conceptions is a different question. But isn’t it ridiculous to think that such a
majestic universe can be made responsible for such trivial happenings such as breaking a cup, or asking whether
we ought to transact business on a certain day or not? The mere existence of modern science demands that we,
of this present age, cultivate a different moral standard, especially with regard to cosmic facts.
The year 1951-52 has been marked by the threefold opposition of Saturn and Jupiter in the constellations of
Virgin and Fishes. We know that these kinds of cosmic events do not happen very often and that they are
cornerstones in the history of the sky. They are like the hour divisions on a clock, and they can therefore be a
guide that enables us to read other, smaller rhythmic events and aspects in the sky as the smaller hands on that
clock. From this point of view, today we will especially consider a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter that will
happen in February 1961. That conjunction will take place between the constellations of Archer and Goatfish.
Let us now briefly recapitulate the facts that are connected with these so-called Great Conjunctions, about
which we have spoken so often in lectures, etc. They take place roughly every
20 years (first diagram), but a closer study reveals that three successive
conjunctions occur in three different positions of the Zodiac over 40 years.
The fourth one, after 60 years, comes back to the point in the Zodiac
where the first one took place 60 years before. The following diagram
will help us to understand this fact better. In 1901 a conjunction of
Saturn and Jupiter took place in the constellation of Archer (second
diagram). Twenty years later another conjunction occurred in Virgin,
and you will remember that in 1940 during the war, another conjunction
occurred in Ram, which was repeated twice during 1940-1. In 1961 the
1901 event will happen again, between Goat and Archer. Thus, after 60 years the
Great Conjunction will have come back to roughly the same point in the Zodiac where the one of 1901 took
place. We see the planets Saturn and Jupiter joining hands, as it were, during
the Great Conjunctions at the corners of an equilateral triangle on the plane
of the Zodiac.
Yet the conjunctions do not come back after 60 years to the exact
same positions. For instance, the conjunction of 1901 still took place in
Archer, but the same one of 1961 will occur a few degrees further on,
between Archer and Goat. The same applies to the other corners of
the triangle. We must therefore imagine that this triangle is revolving in
a forward direction through the Zodiac. Calculations will show that it
needs about 200 years to move from one constellation to the next.
A similar rhythm applies also to the oppositions of Saturn and Jupiter, at which time Saturn stands in one of
the corners of the triangle, but Jupiter occupies the opposite constellation (third diagram). These oppositions
take place about 30 years after the conjunctions. Let us visualize, for
instance, once more the Great Conjunction of 1901 in Archer. In 1930-1
an opposition occurred during which Saturn was again standing in
Archer, but Jupiter was in Twins. And also thirty years after 1961, in
1990-1, another opposition will happen, but at that time Saturn will
be in Goat and Jupiter in Crab. We see that the triangle will then
have already moved into Goat.
Thus we can perceive the triangle of the Great Conjunctions and
Oppositions as a kind of invisible star in which the Earth is
embedded. This “star” is slowly moving through the Zodiac like the
big hand on the great cosmic clock.
We said that this three-cornered star is moving in time. We can, of course,
calculate its movements, which will lead us to the most interesting and illuminating discoveries. For instance,
the corner of the triangle that has now arrived in Archer, and will soon enter into Goat, has moved through all
the preceding constellations of Scorpion, Scales, Virgin, and so on. If we go far enough back, we come to a
time when we can find it, for instance, again in the constellation of Goat in about 2020 AD. This happened
about the 7th, 6th century BC. A complete rotation of the triangle through the fixed-star Zodiac takes about 2600
years. Especially one Great Conjunction at that time is most interesting. It took place in the year 543 BC, and it
is remarkable for the fact that about the time of the conjunction, the planets Mars and Venus were standing
close to Saturn and Jupiter in Goat. (You will recollect that the planet Venus has a connection with the Mercury
of the Mysteries.)
This was the age of Gautama Buddha. We don’t have absolutely reliable dates about him, of course, but it
is quite possible that this year of 543 BC was somehow connected with his life. We need not press it, for we
know all too well that cosmic events, or rather the spiritual facts indicated by them, may work on Earth long
before the aspects appear in the sky and vice versa. The occurrence of the historic event and the time of the
planetary aspect may nevertheless be related to each other according to exact mathematical-astronomical laws.
Although we cannot know what happened in Buddha’s life at this date, the event in the sky is instructive. It
happened in November 543 BC. The Sun was then in Scorpion. First, Mars moved past the closely standing
Saturn and Jupiter, later on Venus (Occult Mercury) followed. All this happened in Goat, which signifies
something like a great turning-point.
We know that Buddha is also called “Mercury” because he is connected with that great spiritual stream that
has set itself the task to transform and heal the “Mars” Earth. Buddha’s teaching can be regarded as a way or
path to purify the Mars faculties, which are inherent in all of us born on the Earth. Those events in 543 BC,
suggest therefore a certain correspondence to the Buddha impulse in humanity.
(You will realize that this is a rather subtle subject. The way in which we consider it here is naturally all too
open to attacks from misunderstandings. I would thus advise you to treat these communications as confidential
and only as intended for your personal information. The same applies to the following explanations in this
letter.)
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 The Great Conjunction in 543 BC signifies the position of one of the points of that three-cornered, invisible
“star” of which we spoke earlier. During the following years it moved on through the Zodiac. At the time of
Christ it had arrived in Fishes, and in 7 BC a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter also took place in Fishes.
Many of you will recall what we have worked out in the past, in lectures, etc., about this Great Conjunction
in 7 BC. We have discovered that it was connected with the Birth of Jesus, though we cannot share the view of
many that the birth actually took place in 7 BC. The date of the birth of Jesus has become the subject of great
controversies on account of difficulties with regard to the chronology of the events in Palestine at the beginning
of the Christian Era. This chronology is based on the year of the foundation of Rome, whose date, itself, is not
absolutely certain. According to the available historic sources, the information ranges from 753 BC to 747 BC.
Therefore, also the date of the death of Herod, which for instance plays a certain part in the accounts of the
Gospels, is uncertain. This led to difficulties with regard to the actual date of the birth of Jesus recorded in the
Gospel of St. Luke, and a belief has gradually come about that the celebration of Christmas on 25 December,
referring to the year 1 BC, is based on fiction. However, as there is no agreement on the foundation year of
Rome, it is rather futile to take the modern views too seriously. We take the year 747 BC as the year of the
foundation of Rome against 753 BC of orthodox science of history. The former date, given by the Roman
historian Fabius Pictor, has been confirmed by Rudolf Steiner.
You will remember that in our researches we simply took the traditional date of 25 December 1 BC.
Thereby we have achieved very illuminating results. For instance, the aspect of the sky at midnight of the
traditional first Christmas reveals a very clear connection with the 6th century BC, even with that year 543 BC,
which we mentioned above. Furthermore, we have found that the Great Conjunction of 7 BC is closely related
to the sky of the original Christmas. That conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Fishes in 7 BC is the “Spiritual
Nativity” belonging to the actual nativity on 25 December 1 BC. (See Steiner’s Cosmic and Human Thought,
concerning the Spiritual Nativity.)
We cannot be surprised by this connection of the birth of Jesus, mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke, with
those cosmic events at the lifetime of Buddha. From the indications of Rudolf Steiner, we know how closely
the Luke Jesus was related to the Buddha Impulse.
Thus we follow that one point of the “three-cornered star” through the ages. It becomes more and more
alive, more related to definite events in the history of humanity, and also we see it develop like a living being.
We should certainly find many more interesting points, if we would follow this specific set of Great
Conjunctions through the centuries after Christ. This would be a special task on which we cannot embark now.
However, we shall single out a few more of these conjunctions and thereby try to create a feeling for their
essential nature.
During the 9th century AD, this point of the “three-cornered star”, which we have in mind, had arrived in the
constellation of Lion. Actually, in 826 AD a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place in front of the Lion’s
head. Mars was also standing close to the two planets at that time, whereas Venus (occult Mercury) had
performed a superior conjunction earlier in the same portion of the Zodiac.
We know that during the 9th century the historic Parsifal events took place. Facts and conclusions derived
from the asterograms of Julian the Apostate and of Tycho Brahe suggest that the year 828 AD was most
decisive with regard to the movement of the Holy Grail and Parsifal. (I presume that you know Rudolf
Steiner’s indications about Julian-Herzeleide-Tycho Brahe and, also of Herzeleide’s connection with Parsifal.)
From the implications of the constellation of Lion, in which those planetary events of 828 happened, we
gather that the stream of esoteric, cosmic Christianity went through a decisive phase. We can even say that this
was a point in history when esoteric and exoteric Christianity definitely went different ways. Forty years later,
in 869-70, the famous Council of Constantinople took place, about which Rudolf Steiner has spoken so often.
At that time the spiritual nature of the human being was denied by the decrees of that Council. This event in
Christianity stands under the implications of another set of Great Conjunctions of the three-cornered star. In
868, after the famous Pope Nicholas I had died, a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place in Archer. This
set of events lead us back to the time immediately after Golgotha, to the time of St. Stephen and the Saul to Paul
conversion (see Acts of the Apostles).
We notice most interesting events as we follow the corners of the star of the Great Conjunctions during the
following centuries, and we find these closely related to the destiny of esoteric Christianity. For instance, the
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conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Virgin in 1246, which we mentioned in an earlier letter in connection with
the final destruction of the Cathars, belongs to the same set of cosmic events that appear in diagram 3 above, in
Archer. In 1305-6 another such conjunction took place, but by this time this one corner of the star had already
moved into Scales. Shortly afterward the destruction of the Order of the Knight Templars began, which had
been the last stronghold of esoteric Christianity.
After that time, this particular Great Conjunction moved into the constellation of Scorpion. In 1425 it
already appeared in that part of the Zodiac. Later conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter in Scorpion took place in
the course of the years 1484 and 1604. These cosmic events point to certain developments in humanity that can
provide us with the key for the deeper understanding of the implications of this set of Great Conjunctions in our
present Age. You will notice that the years 1425 and 1484 are associated with the working of Christian
Rosenkreutz, during that long incarnation when he became more than a hundred years old. But still more will
you realize that the year 1604 was a most decisive year for the true Rosicrucian Impulse.
You know, of course, those grand aspects that Rudolf Steiner revealed in connection with the end of the 16th
and the beginning of the 17th centuries. Let us very briefly recapitulate the facts. At the beginning of the
modern Age of the consciousness-soul, it became more and more apparent that the sphere of Mars had entered a
phase of tremendous decline. We must take this concept of “Mars” in a very universal sense and not only look
at the planet of the same name that appears in the sky. Also the planet Earth is deeply associated with this
Mars, and the great spiritual leaders of humanity became aware that souls incarnating on the Earth brought
materialistic impulses into this life from that sphere of declining Mars, which could lead only to the
development of purely external and spirit-denying science and technology.
Another part of humanity developed a kind of mystic attitude, keeping them apart from the realities of
physical life. Such attempts were made, for instance, in the Franciscan movement. This would have led to a
deep rift in humanity, one part entirely devoted to a spirit-forsaken handling of the physical side of earthly
existence, the other part given up to mysticism and asceticism, which were apt to neglect the physical and
material aspects of life.
Christian Rosenkreutz and his friends, among them also the last Buddha (who was, of course, not incarnated
in a physical body), were aware of this extreme danger. Toward the end of the 16th and the beginning of the
17th centuries, it was decided that Buddha-”Mercury” should go to “Mars” in order to Christianize and heal that
cosmic sphere.
This sending of Buddha out to Mars was for him an event similar to the Mystery of Golgotha for the Earth.
Not only does the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Scorpion in 1603-4 imply this decisive stage of esoteric
Christianity, but also the planets Mars and Venus (M-Mercury) indicate by their movements in those years
profound developments in the spiritual world. We shall have to reserve a detailed description of these events
for a later letter, because it seems to be important that we get a very clear picture of this whole complex. Also,
we should not forget that during that year of 1603, the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz Anno 1459
was written down by Valentin Andreae, about which we shall have to say much more in future letters.
This corner of the three-cornered-star of the Great Conjunctions has now moved into Archer, and in 1961 it
will be seen just ahead of the constellation of Goatfish. You will now also see why we have made this long
detour in this letter. We did it in order to get a glimpse of the historic affiliations of this particular set of
conjunctions. We shall make it the backbone of future considerations of cosmic events. You will then also see
that the minor aspects and events in the planetary world from now till 1961 bear a close relationship to that
Great Conjunction in 1961.
Thus we will come to a point where we will be able to stand in complete freedom facing the starry world. We
shall read its implications only as gentle pointers to events in a realm that is closely associated with our
individual moral Imagination and Christian responsibility.

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 Astronomical Letters
By Willi Sucher while at Albrighton Hall – November 1951 to 25 December 1952
©Astrosophy Research Center 2012 - ISBN 1-888686-12-X
All rights reserved. These letters 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.
Letter 5 - Christmas Day 1952

First of all, I should like to convey to you all my very best wishes for the year 1953. Let us hope that the
coming year will bring us a step nearer to the realization of those aims that led us also to the start of these
communications. This year can become a very important one for us. At Easter a cycle of thirty-three years will
come to a close since Rudolf Steiner gave the lectures that are published under the title, In Search of the New
Isis, the Divine Sophia, at Christmas 1920. Those lectures have been, and still are, a most important starting
point for our work.
Today I should like to give you a kind of survey of the events in the planetary world in the course of 1953.
Saturn will still be in the constellation of Virgin during 1953, and it will finally enter Scales during the Holy
Nights. It will be in conjunction with Neptune twice, on 17 May and on 22 July. One conjunction has already
taken place on 21 November 1952. You will gather that this is a rather rare event. A previous one took place
on 31 July and 1 August 1917, in the constellation of Crab. That was the time when the great social upheavals
started in Russia, which finally led to the Bolshevik regime. Yet it is remarkable that shortly before that
conjunction, Rudolf Steiner worked out the concept of the Threefold Commonwealth. This is a very important
aspect for us, because it teaches us how to face such starry events. Rudolf Steiner certainly did realize the
importance of that conjunction by looking at the social conditions into which modern humanity had drifted.
However, he didn’t stand passively in front of those “signs” around him, he created an illuminating and
powerful Imagination of a healthy social organism. This he put against any “omens of the stars”. It is a great
example of the attitude that we today must acquire toward the stars. We can see in it a master demonstration of
the Cosmic Cult, of which Rudolf Steiner spoke on 31 December 1922, on the eve of the burning of the First
Goetheanum (see cycle, The Spiritual Communion of Mankind, published in 1963 with Man and the World of
Stars).
The conjunctions in Virgin have, of course, a different quality. We may get a glimpse of the “portents” by
looking into the past. When Francis Bacon of Verulam died, Neptune was in the same position as at present.
Again during the French Revolution this planet had returned to this point. So we see that the implications of
Neptune, also with regard to 1917, rather concern social problems. We can quite clearly discern the thread that
leads from Bacon of Verulam to the French Revolution. Verulam has sometimes been called the father of
modern experimental, materialistic science. The cloud of spiritual darkness that descended upon humanity from
this corner, or rather which was destined to spread over modern humanity, threw also its shadows over the
French Revolution. To a certain extent, the latter was the outcome of the rationalistic, spirit-forsaken
development of French civilization during the 18th century.
What can we then read in those three conjunctions of 1952 and 1953? The answer is not at all easy, because
it needs some courage to speak about it. I should like to ask you to regard what I am going to say as my quite
personal opinion and only intended for you and nobody else.
We are, of course, aware that the true aim of Russian Bolshevism was and is the elimination of the free
individuality. The leaders of that movement are convinced that it is the human individuality, in other words the
spirit, which brings disturbance and chaos into the social organism. Therefore, they say, individualism must be
destroyed once and for all, and instead of it a humanity has to be created that is composed only of docile,
egoless members reacting like automatons—if one can still call that a humanity! This is the true face of
Bolshevism. However, this social experiment did not go very well. (We must always bear in mind that certain
spiritual forces are initiating these experiments.) It was too crude, many mistakes were made, and it could not
find very much favor in the eyes of Western humanity.
We must not forget that the spiritual powers working behind the screen of the external events in the
European East are very well aware of those facts. Those forces are very clever, and they never start an
experiment without a kind of double insurance. They do not start in one part of humanity without having
another trump card ready somewhere else. The Hitler experiment in Germany is a first class example. When
the Bolshevik regime took hold of Russia in 1917, that man was already prepared (initiated, if you like) who
came to power in Germany by 1933.
Thus we can very well regard that conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in 1917 as an indication, even a
warning that certain forces had set to work in order to eliminate the free individuality. Although they succeeded
then to a certain degree, they did not achieve their final aim, which was the subjugation of the whole of
humanity. However, it would be wrong to expect that they can be defeated by the failure of their human
instruments. For to them, these are only stepping stones for future experiments, unless they are really checked
by the spiritual consciousness of humanity.
These powers who are working against the awakening of our spiritual individuality, against the
manifestation of Christ, have learnt a great deal through the social catastrophes in the past. At present, they are
attempting another attack that must be taken very seriously, because they are walking on very “soft soles” and
not many realize what is going on. This time they concentrate more on the West, especially North America.
Reports and open discussions in one or two books show that there are trends in certain industrial circles to
streamline, for instance, the masses of employees and workers according to collective standards. The single
person is absolutely catalogued and analyzed. Even their most intimate life is spied upon without them
knowing very much of it, and thereby they are delivered into the hands of a power that denies their individuality
and tries to make an automaton of them. This is attempted entirely by economic means and not by political
suppression, as in the domains where old-fashioned Marxist-Bolshevism rules. These may be primitive and
isolated beginnings, but we must expect that they will be thoroughly perpetuated and spread much further.
Do we have any positive Imaginations to put against these experiments? It would certainly be a foolish
ambition to attempt similar deeds as those of Rudolf Steiner in 1917, when he suggested the Threefold
Commonwealth against the oncoming social decline. We must first of all realize that we are now living in a
changed world. The anthroposophical movement is at present not able to reach the ears of those millions who
should, ideally speaking, hear the truth. Why this is so, is a different matter that need not be discussed here.
Certainly it would be wrong now to drop all efforts. We must hold on to the little ground that we have at all
costs, but we must also develop something else.
At this point, I want to come back to the content of my last letter of August 1952. I explained there how we
are moving toward a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which will take place in 1961 between Archer and Goat.
Furthermore, I described how this event is, with regard to its past, deeply connected with the working of
Christian Rosenkreutz and the task of Buddha on Mars. We must therefore expect that the events in the cosmos
between now and 1961 are indications of a development toward the attainment of certain faculties in the sense
of the high aims of true Rosicrucianism.
These aims of Rosicrucianism are already contained in its fundamental Imagination, the Rose Cross. The
black cross stands for every human being’s affiliations with the destiny of earthly matter. Through the fact of
being born, we are involved in the fate, the demands, the temptations of that which has fallen away from the
spirit. We are experiencing death in its manifold manifestations on Earth. This cross we must take up
courageously and with determination, because it is, nevertheless, the foundation of all true spiritual progress.
Through a regulated meditative life, we slowly transform that cross, and then the radiant roses will blossom
forth from the dead wood. The seven roses are an image of the transformation that is taking place in our whole
being through our inner efforts. From their brilliancy, we can even judge how far we have succeeded or where
we are still failing.
The emphasis is on the development and cultivation of our own dormant faculties. The first demand,
therefore, concerns our own being and not a change in our surrounding. This is a most important point of which
we must never lose sight if we want to serve Christian Rosenkreutz. We change the world by changing
ourselves. And this is, I believe, the aspect that we must cultivate in view of the changed conditions in the
world and in looking ahead toward those star events in 1961.
The power that we derive from our meditative life must become so strong that we are able to remain in the
greatest tumult of daily life and yet maintain the supremacy of our spiritual consciousness. Through meditation,
we develop something like a second nature of our being. First it will be stiff and rather immobile, but gradually
we will notice that this second being in ourselves becomes independent. We become aware that we have learnt
to move invisible hands, even while our physical hands are resting, to speak with an inaudible voice which,
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however, will be much more powerful than audible speech. Thus we can stand in the world, working for
spiritual progress from the realm of the unseen. This is a great task, and all scholars of spiritual science can
aspire to it who feel responsible for the progress of humanity, even if they are not able to stand on podiums and
speak to large audiences. In a certain sense, this kind of work will in the long run even be more effective than
an external activity. However, it will only be possible on the foundation of an absolutely free individual
decision that is born by patience and inner attention. That second, greater being in us must first have become
like a natural experience; it cannot be forced.
This is what I believe we can endeavor to develop and put against the implications of the present
conjunctions of Saturn with Neptune. Thus we infuse positive Imaginations into the events in the starry world,
and this will create, in the long run, invisible barriers against the intentions of those evil powers who are
determined to eliminate our free individuality.
Over and again you will realize that our task is not only to ask, “What do those cosmic events signify?” We
must go one step further; we must develop the faculties of Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition. These will
flow into the cosmic world as healing forces and prevent the stars from being entirely taken hold of by evil
forces. Great is our responsibility if we know this.
We should really look at all the other events in the starry sky from this point of view. Saturn gives, as it
were, the leading motive of the cosmic symphony of the whole year. If we try to have as a background the
picture of the background of the events in 1961, of which we have spoken earlier, we cannot fail. However, we
shall say more of that Great Conjunction in 1961 in future letters.
In the course of 1953, Jupiter is moving from the constellation of Ram to Bull. We have often pointed out
in connection with Jupiter that we can experience those beings who bear the future in their womb. This planet
will be in a rather favorable position. In Bull it will be opposite Scorpion, which we see rather in the light of
the implications of the 6th great cycle of Ancient Sun evolution, the Eagle (see Isis Sophia II, Part Three).
During that cycle of Ancient Sun, the foundation of the principle in humanity of Budhi—the Life Spirit—
was sown. These faculties are still dormant in us at present, but they are awakened step by step through our
inner development. Once they are fully unfolded, we will not only be able to behold the spiritual world, but we
will be able to be creative in the spirit ourselves. Therefore Jupiter in Bull will point out to us those faculties
still dormant in our being, of which we tried to speak above, the silent working from the unseen into the visible.
Mars will be moving from Waterman to Scales during 1953. Its central focus will be a conjunction with the
Sun in Twins on 8 July. About the same time, on 11 July, a partial eclipse of the Sun will take place, and
furthermore, all the planets involved, Mars, Sun and Moon, will be in conjunction with Uranus during those
days. Sometime before, Mars will be in conjunction with Venus just in the moment when Venus will start a
loop. This is to take place on 22 March. On 27 April, Mars will be in conjunction with Jupiter, already in Bull,
and during the Holy Nights of 1953-4, it will enter Scales in conjunction with Saturn.
From this last event, we conclude that the movement of Mars during 1953 is somehow strongly connected
with the implications of Saturn, too. However, we see in Mars more that celestial body which indicates at first
the obstacles that are put in our way on the physical plane. If we are aware of them and try to overcome them
consciously and diligently, we can be strengthened all the more in our inner efforts.
The conjunction with Jupiter indicates that the obstacles will be more directed toward the obscuring of those
inner faculties of which we spoke in connection with Jupiter in Bull. Here we will have to hold fast to the
message of this coming year’s Easter, of which we shall speak later.
The conjunction of Mars with the Sun on 8 July, together with the following Sun eclipse and the
conjunction with Uranus will demand from us a special degree of awakeness and awareness. The events in the
external world will then be especially impressive. They may try to obscure our inner senses and make our ears
deaf for the deeper issues of life and the present world situation. Here we must have a firm picture ready of our
position between the world of the spirit and the world that we perceive with the senses. Then we will need a
strong Imagination of the constellation of Twins, which we can create if we remember the cosmic implications
of this constellation. First we have in Twins the picture of the beings on Ancient Moon standing between the
spheres of Sun and Moon. Then there appears the picture of Ancient Sun, with beings firmly rooted in what
was to become the realm of the senses and yet open like a flower to the creative Imaginations of the spiritual
cosmos. Finally, we see there the stream of human existence that worked through all evolution as the
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connecting link between the two worlds of the spirit and matter, the Ego. This we can combine in the great
picture of the central event of Earth evolution: Christ standing between the two adversaries, holding them in
check, as it is depicted, for instance, in Rudolf Steiner’s great statue of the Representative of Humanity.
Thus, armed with indestructible weapons, we shall be able to go with Mars toward its conjunction with
Saturn during the Holy Nights in 1953-4. Once more we shall then contemplate that great message of Saturn, of
which we have spoken before, and thus we will be able to stand the test of whether we are allowed to take
another step toward the realization of the “Cosmic Cult”. It will then be 30 years since Rudolf Steiner has given
us the “Christmas Foundation Impulse” and which will enter the last “three years” of incarnation before the
cycle of thirty-three years will be completed. The movement of the Sun in 1953 will demand from us (and
during the following years) a deeper realization of the great seasonal festivals. These seasonal festivals are
destined to become the foundation of what Rudolf Steiner called the “Cosmic Cult” in his lectures during
December 1922. These indications, which culminated in the lecture on 31 December 1922, The Spiritual
Communion of Mankind, on the eve of the burning of the first Goetheanum, were given 30 years ago.
Therefore, this impulse is entering its decisive last three years, ending at Easter 1955. From these implications
can be seen the great responsibility that we have with regard to the inner realization of those indications.
A great help will be the right celebration of the Easter festival in 1953. Easter will be on 5 April, and it will
then be Thirty Three Years since Christmas 1920. (The thirty-three years technically consist of only 321/3
years, just as the “three days” between Good Friday and Easter are not three days in a literal sense.)
What was “born” at Christmas 1920? From December 23-26, Rudolf Steiner gave those lectures that are
published under the title In Search of the New Isis, the Divine Sophia. There he pointed out the urgent need for
a new astronomy and cosmology. He showed the significance of such a new star wisdom, even for the
realization of the Being of Christ. “It is not that we lack the Christ, but what we lack is the light of recognition
of Christ, the Gnosis of Christ, which is the Isis, the Sophia of Christ.” The Isis, the Sophia of Christ, is the
New Star Wisdom, as Rudolf Steiner implied.
Immediately after those four lectures, Rudolf Steiner started to give the proper foundation of a new
astronomy in his course, “The Relationship Between the Various Fields of Natural Science and Astronomy”
(January 1-13, 1921). This cycle is a far-reaching challenge to the scientific thinking of our age, and it provides
the basis for the conception of a living cosmos instead of a lifeless machine.
These impulses can become the foundation for the celebration of a real Easter festival in 1953. It will be a
matter of our spiritual efforts whether they can go through their “resurrection” after their cycle of thirty-three
years will have come to a close. However, we should not imagine that these events, if we make them possible,
will be spectacular and revolutionary in an external sense. We cannot yet expect that the world will take notice
of those grand aspects given in the so-called Course on Astronomy, of the archetypal lemniscatory movement in
the universe, and so on. Therefore, it must and can live all the more strongly as an inner reality in a few.
The planet Mercury calls for the development of our personal initiative and our spiritual integrity. In its
movements of superior conjunctions and loops, we can realize the dangers and temptations that beset our
individual paths. Thus we see that the superior conjunctions, with the planet behind the Sun, rather coincide
with important events in the starry world. For instance, the first superior conjunction will take place just a few
days after the total eclipse of the Moon on 29 January. The following superior conjunction will almost exactly
coincide with the conjunction between the Sun and Jupiter on 24-25 May. Also the loops of Mercury will be
very interesting. For instance, the inferior conjunction of 25 July will happen little more than 24 hours before a
total eclipse of the Moon on 26 July.
Concerning the superior conjunction of 2 February, we must stand fast and hold on to what we have
initiated so far. We must not lose hope that events will move in the right direction if we are only loyal to the
intentions of the spiritual world. However, we ought to realize that not the actual conjunction, but the time
before will be decisive. The loop between 9 March and 2 April may offer a new dawn to things that we try to
achieve, but there, too, we may encounter some kind of delay. For our part, we must not be deceived by the
nature of external developments that try to distract but cannot succeed if we are awake. About the rest of the
occurrences in 1953 concerning Mercury, I shall write more on another occasion.
The main feature concerning the movements of the planet Venus is its loop, mainly in the ecliptic sign of
Aries. It will start moving backward on 23 March and will go straight forward again in the ecliptic after 4 May.
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Then it will draw away from the Earth and gradually come to stand behind the Sun. However, the actual
superior conjunction will take place only on 29-30 January 1954. I’ve mentioned that Venus will start its
retrograde movement the day after its conjunction with Mars. Mars will then appear in Ram.
From this and other implications, we realize that we must learn to be careful and deliberate with regard to
speech and action toward others. After all, Venus (the indicator of the M-Mercury sphere) demands control
from us of our relationships with other people and creatures. We must attempt to clothe our words and
activities in such forms that they are both effective and free from spiritual arrogance. Neither will it do to speak
from a high platform nor to withdraw into sheltered seclusion—in which case we would perhaps save ourselves
by such an attitude from the attacks of the adversaries, but they would work all the stronger through others. An
unsentimental and unobtrusive cultivation of the idea of the Brotherhood of Humanity will be the foundation of
true Christian progress. It will also be important to realize and to contemplate one’s own position in the circle
of human beings with whom one is connected through destiny, but we need also to consider the greater circle of
humanity. Thus will we be able to advance on the road to the true “Imitatio Christi”.

With best wishes,