There is a little book by Dr. Heinz Herbert Schoeffler Gibt Es Eine Anthroposophische Astrologie? (Is There Such a Thing As Anthroposophical Astrology?) The book has just 47 pages but is packed with information about his topic. Schoeffler points out that, in his early works, Steiner intimated that astrology would not be understood until the long distant future. However, this view changed over his lifetime. In January, 1914 he spoke of how the astrology of the third post-atlantean epoch (Egyptian/Babylonian times) was coming up again and that we would need to study it, taking into consideration the Christ event that occurred in the meantime. Subsequently Steiner wove man’s relationship with the stars into almost every aspect of his work, agriculture, medicine, eurythmy, education, special needs education and so on.
Towards the end of his life, in 1924, Steiner spoke about specific birth charts for the first time in public. This was in the lecture series Education for Special Needs:Curative Education Course. At that time he also formulated the relationship between the various bodies of the human being and the planets as follows:
Spirit Man--------------
Life Spirit---------------Uranus
Spirit Self --------------Saturn
Consciousness Soul----Jupiter
Intellectual Soul--------Mars
Sentient Soul-----------Venus
Sentient Body----------Mercury
Etheric Body------------Moon
Physical Body-----------Sun
A description of the various bodies mentioned above can be found in Steiner's book Theosophy.
Schoeffler goes on to show how Steiner, over time, touched on just about every consideration of astrology:planets, the ascendant, mid-heaven, zodiac signs andconstellations, beneficial and hindering aspects, the whole of Thema Mundi in all its details; but he never spoke of the twelve houses. Schoeffler gives a historical perspective of the houses and then proceeds to draw out of Steiner’s works a description of them. He concludes with the following descriptions:
| House | Astrology | Anthroposophy |
| 1 | Own personality | Time of birth, physical body, own personality |
| 2 | Earnings through own abilities | Etheric body, above/below |
| 3 | Education, small journeys, siblings | Astral body, thinking/feeling/willing |
| 4 | House, home, heredity | Individuality (ego), opposition, essence of being |
| 5 | Children, art, lovers | Encounter, threefolding |
| 6 | Work, troubles, small animals, acute illnesses | Above and below, stars and the earth |
| 7 | Personality of partners | Reincarnation, warmth, time. Stepping over the threshold. |
| 8 | Chronic illness, dying, death, acquisition through marriage. | Dying, death, culmination |
| 9 | Science, books, publishing, large journeys, in-laws | Rising up to the starry world |
| 10 | Deeds, profession, position, power, victory. | The human being at the highest periphery |
| 11 | Friends, social gatherings, house of luck | Sojourn in cosmic heights and beginning descent |
| 12 | Enemies, prisons, hospitals, physical illness, large animals. | Adversity in confinement |
In case you are not familiar with Thema mundi: Firmicus Maternus an astrologer and a christian from the fourth century wrote of the Thema Mundi. It is a 'birth chart' for the world with each planet in the 15th degree of the sign that it rules. The origin of Thema mundi goes back to a much earlier time. Steiner spoke also of the planetary rulerships on 8 January 1918 in the lecture cycle Ancient Myths:" Every constellation of the Zodiac is related to a particular planet and must be regarded as belonging to that planet".
Dr. Heinz Herbert Schoeffler (1921-2003) was born in Leipzig, Germany. He was a medical doctor specializing in pedriatrics and anthroposophically extended medicine. He lectured on anthroposophical medicine and on astrology and wrote several books on these subjects in addition to the one referred to above. He saw it as one of his life’s tasks to reconcile astrology and anthroposophy.
Esoteric Astrology Dr.Schoeffler
