AshvinP wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 11:43 pm
Federica,
Thanks for starting this topic, with undoubtedly infinite depth to explore. I have some thoughts on your question, but for now I would like to present another angle from which I started contemplating recently. It probably also relates to the question in a more roundabout way. I am reading a book called Hermetic Astrology by Robert Powell, who is an Anthroposophist. I am still working my way through the details of Hermetic astrological science (or Astrosophy), but it has already proven to be a fascinating read on many different fronts. I have been trying to associate it with the principles of spiritual evolution I have already learned from this forum and Steiner's lectures. What follows is basically just speculation on my part and so I advise to only take it as such, keeping in mind it could be way off. Still, I think there are good reasons to make the association.
In this context, I want to mention a section where he discusses how the astrological biography (or Karmic destiny) for a given incarnation is woven into our etheric body between conception and birth. After calculating back from the time of birth to the time of etheric conception (using what's called the Hermetic rule), which is around the same time but not identical to physical conception, one can discern 10 stages through which the Moon travels through the sidereal Zodiac during the conception-birth period. These correspond to the archetypal 7-year stages through which our destiny unfolds between birth and death, as the etheric body unfolds its forces. Steiner mentions how the etheric body begins old and grows younger throughout life until its forces are used up, at which time we die (in the case of natural death). By studying the configurations of Sun, Moon, and stars at each time the Moon returns to its original position at etheric conception, one can get deep insight into the unfolding of this Karmic destiny. There are a lot more details involved here and he makes clear that is not an infallible process - there is a lot of room for deviations. Above all, he emphasizes that the workings of destiny can only be discerned through higher cognition and Hermetic astrological science is simply one of many new tools which can be used in support, helping to build the gradient between our normal scientific consciousness and our future modes of cognition.
So, the weaving of destiny forces into the etheric body generally takes place within the sphere of the Moon which is accessible to imaginative cognition, i.e. higher up the structured Time-potential. By translating embryonic time into Earth time, we can relate certain planetary configurations which occur during the embryonic period to precise times in a person's life, which then give us a broad sense of what types of events might unfold at those times. The author used the example of Richard Wagner to illustrate this principle. I think there are other examples later in the book. What I discerned is that a similar principle may apply to the weaving and unfolding of Earth's evolutionary destiny through the Christ events (which takes place through humanity). For ex., Steiner writes:
In order to represent the matter quite pictorially, let us in spirit transplant ourselves outside beyond the earth to some other star, and let us imagine a person with clairvoyant vision looking down upon the earth from this star. He would not only see the earth suspended there as a physical planet, but he would see an aura about it, he would see the earth surrounded by an aura of light, for he would be perceiving the earth's ether and astral bodies. If this clairvoyant person were to remain a long time on this distant star, long enough to have observed the pre-Christian periods of the earth pass by and the Event of Golgotha approaching, the following spectacle would have presented itself to him. Before the Event of Golgotha the aura of the earth, the astral and ether bodies offered a certain aspect of colour and form, but following a particular, definite moment of time, he would have seen the colour of the entire aura changing. What was this particular moment of time? It was the very moment when the blood flowed from the wounds of Christ-Jesus upon Golgotha. All spiritual earthly relationships, as such, changed from this moment.
So the period of the Christ events between Baptism and the Resurrection could be analogous to the weaving of our personal destinies into the etheric body before birth. In this case, we are speaking of the spiritual birth (or rebirth) of humanity and the Earth as a whole, with the official 'birth date' at the Resurrection. The same author, in another work, even suggests a temporal association which could be relevant here - a day in the life of Christ corresponds to 29.5 years of history, which is the time it takes for Saturn to travel around the sidereal Zodiac. I'm not going to say that is definitely accurate, but it makes great sense that there would be rhythmic correspondence between the days of Christ Jesus' ministry and the unfolding of Earth evolution afterwards. So the forces woven into the Earth's astral-etheric aura during this period of 'conception-birth' are now unfolding after birth according to a definite rhythm. It's also worth noting that Christ is the Lord of Karma. As you can imagine, if that is accurate, there are a lot more profound connections which can be made between the Christ events and various historical events which have unfolded so far and many more which are yet to unfold, but I am not really familiar with those yet. Again, I would advise to only take this as loose speculation for now. If accurate, then it is only one of infinite ways in which the Christ events are concretely influencing the Earthly-human stream of becoming at the poles of both the collective and the individual.
Ashvin,
This might be a roundabout, but a really compelling one indeed!
If I may, I would start with a basic question about astrology, or astrosophy. How does it square with individual freedom and with the difference we can make by working “against nature” at neutralizing our personal karmic debt? I understand that bigger future events and trends that have been powerfully built up through longer time spans, along strong karmic currents, are maybe not exactly set in stone, but have accumulated enough momentum to be almost impossible to influence ever so slightly by individual initiative. And so they must be visible through spiritual sight, and foreseeable with great confidence. However, when it comes to the events of an individual life, how should we understand the idea of astrological prediction without compromising that of individual freedom? In this respect, I like how von Halle describes the Earth’s future in the
book I’m reading about the depth of the Earth-being: its future can be spiritually perceived not as predestination, but as something in a process of continuous recalculation, or change, depending on a variety of influences, mainly those of human activity.
Is it maybe that the astrologer can get from the mentioned calculations a
provisional state of the karmic forces due to exert their impressions in the life of the person in question, forces that the person will nevertheless be able to work against, depending on life choices? Or does it aspire to be a predictive science at the level of the individual? In other words I am not clear how hermetic astrology can help build the gradient towards higher cognition, while being based on physical observations and measurements of physical planets (if I am correct)? Maybe it can build the gradient in the same way secular science can, by offering a medium for intuition of spiritual facts, through the proxy of the physical world?
So, the weaving of destiny forces into the etheric body generally takes place within the sphere of the Moon which is accessible to imaginative cognition, i.e. higher up the structured Time-potential.
I’m confused about the above sentence: “higher up” compared to what?
***
Anyway, let’s now leave behind all my bits and pieces and come to the important part:
What I discerned is that a similar principle may apply to the weaving and unfolding of Earth's evolutionary destiny through the Christ events
You are absolutely right. Not that I can discern this, of course, but this is indeed what von Halle describes in the book I'm reading. The Resurrection marks the completion of the Christ’s “descent into hell”, that is, the penetration of all the Earth’s layers, that encapsulate precise accounts of both its past, and its continually evolving future. Also, reference is made to a Steiner lecture about the layers, that is not yet available in the Steiner Archive: GA 96, 16 apr 1906 The Eruption of Vesuvius. The lecture has been published
here, but the book is currently not available.
So the period of the Christ events between Baptism and the Resurrection could be analogous to the weaving of our personal destinies into the etheric body before birth. In this case, we are speaking of the spiritual birth (or rebirth) of humanity and the Earth as a whole, with the official 'birth date' at the Resurrection
Yes! The destinies of the Earth and humanity being so strictly interwoven, I understand how you are making this parallel. And the Resurrection - again I am referring to von Halle’s illustration - marks indeed the moment in which humanity acquires the possibility to ascend to the Spirit, from the Earth (what you call the spiritual rebirth of humanity) because at that moment Christ reached the Earth’s innermost layer, completing the path, for the sake of humanity, at the same time that the Christ events were culminating in Resurrection. The same path that has now opened for humanity to freely engage in. On this basis, as you say, it makes sense that a definite proportion could be identified that links the pacing of the Christ events to the rebirth and future of our planet. That was a brilliant intuition, Ashvin!