Site Update

My original intention was to have a blog about music and the stars. The Irish name of the blog Ceol-music and Réalta-star was chosen accordingly. However, after working with this for some time, I noticed that the two subjects attracted completely different people. I have decided therefore to move the music posts to a separate blog. Click on link for My Irish Music Blog.

This is a new referral service that I am trying out.

Winter Solstice 2011

A few miles outside Dingle, up above the village of Lispole is a field with ancient standing stones that are aligned to the setting sun at the winter solstice. We have been participating in a little celebration there for several years with six or seven other people. This year about 200 people showed up due to the involvement of the Lispole Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The GAA is concerned about losing young people to emigration and have set out to make known some of the special features of this interesting and beautiful place and to bring people in.

After sunset we all went to the Seal Centre for refreshments and presentations, with slides, of local points of interest. Recent research shows there were people inhabiting Dingle Peninsula 10,000 years ago. And the cow was here 6,000 years ago. We have lots of old stuff here-come see for yourself.

Saturn opposite Uranus

A friend in the US recently wrote that he heard there is to be an important star configuration on 30 July 2010. He wanted to know what is special about this date. Here is my response:

The planet Saturn has been doing an opposition dance with Uranus since October 2008 and the last opposition in this series will occur on July 30, 2010. I will focus on these two planets for now. Saturn represents structure and form as well as conservative institutions such as banks, governments and orthodox religions. Uranus was discovered around the time of the American and French revolutions and it tends to have a revolutionary effect, tearing down old rigid structures. You only have to reflect for a moment on how the banks and the Catholic Church have fared in the past two years to see what can happen when Uranus opposes Saturn. Also, Saturn and Uranus were in exact opposition on US election day 2008 when the forces of change (Uranus) opposed and pushed out the more conservative party (Saturn.)


The star chart here is for 30 July, 2010 and it shows the opposition of Saturn and Uranus. You can click on the image for a larger, clearer view. The outer ring shows the zodiac constellations and the inner ring, the zodiac signs. Saturn is trying to maintain his balance in the sign of Libra while Uranus is in fiery Aries. You will see that Mars is conjunct Saturn and the Moon is conjunct Uranus. 0 degrees Aries and 0 degrees Libra are the points where the Sun stands at the spring and autumn equinoxes and are called cardinal points. Planetary events at the cardinal points are said to be more intense and dramatic. Also, Uranus is conjunct Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Astrological events connected with Jupiter tend to be big.

The Moon moves quickly relative to the other heavenly bodies and it could act as a kind of trigger at this time setting off the effects of the on-going opposition of the slower planets. You will see from the news, even now as the tension builds up, that the Catholic Church and the Pope are in trouble once again. This time there is an attempt to remedy the child abuse issue with a change to Canon law. However, included in the document is the statement that the ordination of women is a grievous sin and anyone even assisting in such a dastardly act is subject to excommunication. To make matters even worse, it appears that the punishment for child abuse by a priest is that he merely be defrocked. Putting the two issues in the same paper, somehow equates the two and this caused a revolt by various women's organizations, a Uranus-like opposition to an institution equated with Saturn.

The star chart shows also that both Saturn and Uranus are in a stressful square to Pluto. The latter might have been demoted to less than a planet but its effects are still powerful and volcanic. As the god of the underworld he forces that which is hidden in the depths up and out into the light. So, fasten your seat belts.

New Moon before Easter

-----------New Moon before Easter -----------------------Ganganda Greida


The new Moon before Easter occurred this year on Monday 15 March. For a few nights after this you can see, in the west after sunset, the crescent Moon lying on its back in the form of a bowl or chalice. Within it can be seen, like the Host, a reflection of the whole Moon. Rudolf Steiner called this the Grail and used the Nordic name of Ganganda Greida.

Ganganda Greida, means something like provisions or nourishment. The expression occurs in an old legend of Parsifal written in the Nordic language similar to modern-day Icelandic. The legend originated in the 13th century and was probably based on Chrestien de Troyes’ book on Parsifal.

I was unable to take a photo this time due to cloudy weather. If you have a clear sky after sunset, it is well worth while taking a look as the mood is quite special.

Saturn square Pluto

This blog post will deal with the relation of Saturn square Pluto to earth and to mankind in general rather than to the individual. The planet Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn and is associated with authority, the government, business and orthodox religion among other things.

Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio and it was discovered as recently as 1930. It is associated with some of the happenings of that time for instance organised crime and atomic power. It also has to do with sex and with mighty sub-earthly forces. Pluto acts like a volcano, it brings matters from deep beneath the surface out into the open.

Please note that the outer ring of the star charts shows the constellations and the inner ring, the signs. Click on a star chart to get an enlarged, clear picture.

--World War l-- Saturn conjunct Pluto------Huang He Floods--Saturn opposite Pluto










Charles Harvey in his book Anima Mundi indicates the importance of looking at the complete cycle of a planet through the zodiac. Pluto spends about 21 years in each zodiac sign. From November 1983 until November 1995 Pluto was in sign of Scorpio and AIDS was the big topic during that time. Then Pluto was in Sagittarius until November 2008 when the focus shifted to religious matters and it was during this time that the sexual abuse by the clergy was exposed. About the time that Pluto moved into Capricorn the large banks and building institutions started to come under the spotlight. Inappropriate lending practices and the overblown value of properties were exposed.

World War ll-- Saturn square Pluto----India & Pakistan Conflict--Saturn conjunct Pluto










In mundane astrology, we look at the current planetary positions and aspects in relation to events occurring in the world. At this time the planet Saturn is in the sign of Libra (constellation Virgo) and is square to Pluto in the sign of Capricorn (constellation Sagittarius.) The aspect was exact on November 15. Due to the retrograde movement of Saturn the square aspect will occur again on 31 January 2010 and once more after Saturn goes direct on 21 August 2010. With this last contact of the series of squares, the planet Uranus will also be involved being opposite to Saturn and square to Pluto.

Vietnam War Protests--Saturn opposite Pluto---Watts Riots--Saturn opposite Pluto










In his book Cosmos and Psyche, Richard Tarnas relates Saturn-Pluto contacts to very difficult and negative, even evil, events in the world, including the Cold War, First World War, India-Pakistan conflict, international terrorism, massacres, Middle East crisis, political corruption, Second World War and World Trade Center destruction. One event not mentioned by Tarnas, the Huang He Floods in China in 1931, is considered to be the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded. Human casualties were estimated to have been in the region of 3.7 to 4 million people.

World Trade Center Disaster-Saturn opposite Pluto










The book Results from the Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar by Maria Thun has a chapter on weather observations. She says that Pluto in square aspect to one of the old planets, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn, causes volcanic eruptions and in regions with no volcanic activity there will be violent storms. Such an aspect with Moon or Mercury would be very brief whereas with Saturn it could last for several weeks.

We won’t know for some time what events will accompany the current Saturn-Pluto square. Here in Ireland we are experiencing the heaviest flooding in living memory and similar flooding is occurring in the UK. The swine flu vaccination program is in full swing with a product that, according to news reports, has not been properly tested while the manufacturer is being been indemnified by the Government. The first death attributed to the vaccination was reported yesterday in England and thousands of people have reported adverse effects. Some people might also be concerned that the Hadron Collider in Switzerland was started up again, after a previous aborted effort, last Friday.

November 2009--Saturn square Pluto----August 2010-Saturn square Pluto & opposite Uranus










I generally try to keep an upbeat mood in my blog but I think we do need to acknowledge that this is indeed a challenging time. By Autumn 2010 we should begin to see a change for the better.

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Planetary Birthdays

Sun

Almost everyone is aware of their birthday and most people seem to enjoy the day. On our birthday the Sun returns to where it was in the heavens when we were born. Viewed from the earth (geocentric view) we can say the Sun has gone a full revolution through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Instead of just our birthday, we could call this our Sun birthday or Sun return.

Moon

We also have a Moon birthday, the day on which the Moon returns to the zodiac position it was in at our birth. This occurs once a month. Feelings of contentment, stable emotions, good mood and receptivity often accompany this return.

Mercury

The planet Mercury never wanders far from the Sun when viewed from Earth. Our Mercury birthday occurs therefore not too far from our Sun birthday. It can be before or after but can not vary more than a month and a bit. It encourages effective communication.

Venus

The planet Venus also stays close to the Sun but not quite as close as Mercury. Our Venus birthday or the return of Venus to its position at birth can be before or after our birthday but not much more than three months. Harmonious interactions with others, a state of cooperation, agreement, friendship, participation and aesthetic judgments are its signatures.

Mars

The planet Mars takes about 2 years, a little bit less, to complete its cycle. So about every two years we have a Mars birthday. The effects of this are most noticeable on the first Mars Return. The young child begins at this time to exert its will by saying “no” and even taking a step backwards for the first time. The drive to assert oneself, to survive, the desire to make things happen can manifest on this return.

Jupiter

The planet Jupiter takes a little less than 12 years to complete its cycle. Jupiter has to do with thinking, especially in a philosophical or religious way. It was at age twelve that Jesus went through a huge transformation and was then able to teach in the temple. A Jupiter birthday or Jupiter return is generally experienced as a good and beneficial time and can feel quite expansive.

Saturn

The planet Saturn takes about 29.5 years to complete its cycle. It could be considered the most important of the planetary birthdays and has a special connection to karma and destiny. A Saturn return is a time for us to realign ourselves with our pre-birth intentions. Life circumstances can change quite substantially at this time. See my previous blog post about Saturn return.

Ω

Moon Node

The Moon Node is the point where the Moon intersects the path of the Sun. Every month the Moon crosses the path of the Sun once on the way up-North Node and once on the way down-South Node. It takes about 18½ years for the Moon Node to return to its birth position. Rudolf Steiner stated that the days and especially the nights around the Moon Node return are the most important ones of our life and that at this time there is a thinning of the veil between the physical and spiritual world.

It is interesting and really worth while to look back over our lives, to pick out the significant events and see how they relate to the various planetary birthdays. To look up a previous or a future planetary birthday, you would need to have a computer program or you can purchase a booklet, called an ephemeris, that lists the position of the planets at various times. The computer program that I use is called Solar Fire.

Birth Chart Archetypes part lll

A while ago I put up a couple of blog posts about four birth chart archetypes. To clarify and emphasis the types, I chose examples of unusual people that have several planets in one region of the Zodiac. (See previous post on Birth Chart Archetypes for more information.)

The four types are:
Harmonization-People that have a good social sense and people skills.
Equalization-People that can bring lofty ideas down into the manifest world.
Polarization-People who tend to be polarized and to cause polarization in their social interactions.
Duality-People that tend to see the world as black or white, good or bad or to have extreme religious views.

The different types should not be looked at as either good or bad. They merely show how a person is likely to behave and not what he will do.

The birthcharts below show the configuration of the planets at the time of birth and only the 7 classic planets are used. The outer ring shows the zodiac constellations and the inner ring the signs. For this exercise, the time of birth is ignored and charts all show the sign of Aries at the ascendant.

We have a wonderful example of one of the types, Polarization, in our current Taoiseach/Prime Minister. Brian Cowen took office on 7 May 2008, heading a coalition government led by his Fianna Fáil party. The coalition includes the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats, with the support of independent TDs.

The chart for Taoiseach Brian Cowan (10 January 1960) shows six of the planets in the polarization region and one in Duality. As a contrast, his predecessor Bertie Ahern (12 September 1951) has no planets in either Polarization or Duality. He has five planets in the Harmonization region and two in Equalization.

Taoiseach Brian Cowan-click on chart for clearer image


Since Mr. Cowan took office we have had a very contentious national referendum to approve or reject the proposed European constitution. It was rejected by the people and the result has strained relations with the European Community. The country is now in a financial crisis and the government has been forced to make a very severe budget. One of the features of the budget was to take away the medical card that gives full medical care to all people over the age of 70. There has been uproar in the streets and in the media. Mr. Cowan had to go before the press to modify the decision and to offer instead a proposal affecting only those that can afford to pay their own way.

Bertie Ahern Chart


As a contrast, the previous Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who is one of my examples of Harmonization, enjoyed very good relations with the European Community. Ahern succeeded Albert Reynolds as leader of the Fíanna Fáil party, the first unopposed candidate since 1959. He served in a very good economic climate and is credited with being one of the principle negotiators that brought about the Northern Ireland peace process. There were allegations of corruption but he had the reputation of being the Teflon Taoiseach which is not surprising given his Harmonization Archetype.



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Irish Politics Astrology Anthroposophy Brian Cowan

Death Horoscope-New Star Wisdom

I have just read a very interesting book in German called Auf dem Wege zu einer neuen Sternen-Weisheit (On the Way to a New Star Wisdom) by Leo de la Houssaye published by Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland. The first half of the book gives an overview of how star wisdom changed in relation to changing human consciousness, from Egyptian times up to the present day. The second part of the book on “New Star Wisdom” has to do with the study of the death chart. This is not intended to be a book review but I will share some thoughts since the book is not available in English.

The birth chart can be considered as an image of what the human being brings into this life from the spiritual worlds. The chart is an indication of the sum-total of past experiences that had been gathered up and then worked through in the spiritual world. The death chart or, as Leo de la Houssaye calls it, the spirit birth chart, is an image of the fruits of the life just past. It is what the individual brings to the spiritual world.

Spiritual science views the cosmos as a living spiritual organism that needs nourishment. What the human being brings to the spiritual world at death is the nourishment that the Spiritual World needs. Death can be viewed as a spiritual birth.

People have been studying the effect of the stars on worldly events for over 5,000 years that is, since the time of ancient Egypt and Chaldea. However, the first proper horoscope for an individual person, with place and time of birth, was recorded in 70 BC. in Greece. Houssaye finds it astonishing then how quickly the Greeks developed a system of interpretation for the horoscope. Already by 150 AD the basic elements that are still used today were worked out:

1. The calculation of the birth constellation worked out for place and time.
2. The separation of the 12 houses based on the horizon with each house referring to a different area of life
3. The aspect study, the angle relationships between the planet positions in the horoscope (conjunction, square, triune and opposition)
4. Working with the 12 zodiac signs of 30⁰ calculated from the Spring equinox instead of constellations

Chart #1: Pascal Death Horoscope

Although the basic approach did not change much, many astrologers have made refinements to the chart interpretation throughout 2 millenia since then. Today voluminous materials are available so that we are very well informed on the subject of the horoscope-birth chart. We now have to learn how to read the heavens at the time of death-the spirit birth chart.

Chart #2:Michelangelo Death Horoscope

Houssaye gives some indications of how to do this. He shows the spirit birth chart of Pascal, who spent his life on an inner path; the chart shows all of the planets to be below the horizon (see chart#1.) This is contrasted with the spirit birth chart of Michelangelo, who led a very public life and his chart shows all of the planets to be above the horizon (see chart #2.)

Another very interesting idea is to view the past life in relation to the spirit birth chart by tracing the path of Saturn backwards through the constellations from the moment of death. Significant times of the person’s life are shown to coincide with the conjunction of Saturn and planets of the spirit birth chart. Steiner has described Saturn as a planet that has no interest in the present or in the future; it is however passionately interested in the past.

Chart#3: Saturn transit to Pascal Death Chart

Numerous examples are given of the transits of Saturn in relation to the spirit birth chart for various individuals. I will show here Saturn transits for Pascal and for Michelangelo (see Chart#3 and #4)

At age 34 Pascal worked on his theory for the roulette wheel which caused fights among the mathematicians of Europe. Also he published his Provincial Letters, a series of eighteen letters that attacked Jesuit doctrines. At this time the planet Saturn was in the position of Mars at the time of death.

Chart #4: Saturn transit to Michelangelo Death Horoscope

Michelangelo at the time he was called to Rome in 1505 to begin his huge project of the Julius II tomb. Chart shows transiting Saturn to be conjunct both Jupiter and Saturn.

Please note! For the purpose of the spirit birth chart, only the classical planets are shown. Also, the zodiac constellations are used and not the signs that are generally used in Western astrology.

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Anthroposophy and Astrology

Quintile Aspects

This morning I rose early to make the two-hour drive to Cork and returned in the late afternoon. I found that I could hardly stay awake on the way home and felt accident prone. This is very unusual for me so I decided to check what Maria Thun had to say in her Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar about the day. Sure enough, she has yesterday and today listed as “TR” days.

She uses this designation for days when there is a quintile aspect (72⁰) between a new planet (Uranus, Neptune or Pluto) and an old planet (Moon through Saturn). In this case the aspect was between Mercury and Neptune and the quintile was exact at 5 pm yesterday. (see chart above)

According to Maria Thun in her Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar, such an aspect brings a tendency towards dimming of consciousness and a tendency towards accidents. After working with this calendar for a while, you begin to notice when there is such a quintile.

Amazon UK describes the Calendar as follows: The original biodynamic sowing and planting calendar, now in its 46th year. This useful guide shows the optimum days for sowing, pruning, and harvesting various plant-crops, as well as working with bees. It is presented in colour with clear symbols and explanations. This year, for the first time, the calendar includes a pullout wallchart which can be pinned up in a barn, shed or greenhouse as a handy quick reference.

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Firdaria--Planetary Stages of Life

Recently, I updated Solar Fire, the astrology program that I use, and I was delighted to find a new report called Firdaria. This report comes from the wisdom of a Persian sage called Al Biruni. I had read about this extraordinary personality before. He made contributions to a very wide range of human endeavors, from chemistry to math to astronomy. He knew that the earth rotated on its own axis and knew about both heliocentric and geocentric perspectives. He developed special instruments for astronomical measurements and he is said to have written over 200 books. There is even a crater of the Moon called after him. For more information on Al Biruni, go to Wikipedia.

Firdaria

Firdaria is a system of planetary periods derived by the Persians and associated especially with Al Biruni. The new Firdaria report in Solar Fire gives a description of what to expect in each of the planetary segments of life.

The periods of rulership are:

Sun: First 10 years

Venus: 8 years,

Mercury: 13 years

Moon: 9 years

Saturn: 11 years

Jupiter: 12 years

Mars: 7 years

North Node: 3 years

South Node: 2 years.

Abu-Rayhan Biruni 1973 Afghanistan

post stamp

The periods are applied differently to diurnal and nocturnal births. The above sequence is for a person born during the day. For a person born at night, the system begins with the Moon and then follows the same sequence. The planets are said to have an increased influence during their respective periods.

Ptolemy

In the second century AD Claudius Ptolemy also wrote about seven stages of life and related them to the seven classical planets. The sequence is different than that of Al Biruni and the length of each segment is also different.

Moon: Infancy to four years

Mercury: Childhood (4 to 14)

Venus: The Teens and Early Adulthood (14 to 22)

The Sun: Young Adulthood (22 to 40)

Mars: Mature Adulthood (40 to 55)

Jupiter: Retirement and Wisdom (55 to 67)

Saturn: Old Age (67+)

Rudolf Steiner

Steiner too related the course of a person’s life to the planets in the same sequence as Ptolemy but with seven year segments. He talked about this topic in his lectures on karma Karmic Relationships Vol. Vll, Lecture two.

Birth-7 Moon—after inheriting the physical body from the parents, it is now time to work on transforming it and to make it your own. The change of teeth is an indication that this period has been completed.

7-14 Mercury—birth of one’s own etheric body which should be completed after seven years, life develops outside the home, schooling begins.

14-21 Venus—birth and unfolding of the astral body, puberty, first love, developing esthetic life.

21-42 Sun—birth of the ego in three segments of seven years, sentient soul, intellectual soul and consciousness soul. It is interesting to note that the first Saturn return, the time to align oneself with pre-birth intentions occurs during this period at age 29+.

42-49 Mars—This is the time to exert the full force of the personality on career and on the world. There is the possibility now for the ego to work on the astral body to begin unfolding a yet higher member called Spirit Self.

49-56 Jupiter—a certain amount of wisdom should have been acquired by this time. The ego needs to work at the transformation of the etheric body to unfold Life Spirit.

56-63 Saturn—the second Saturn return occurs in this period at age 59+. There is an opportunity once more to align with one’s karma. Now is the time to unfold a yet higher member called Spirit Man.

More detailed information on this topic can be found in the book The Human Life (ISBN:092997901X) by George and Gisela O’Neil. This book is out of print but can be purchased second-hand. Also the book Phases:The Spiritual Rhythms of Adult Life by Bernard Lievegoed describes life stages in relation to the biological, psychological and spiritual development of the human being.

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Rudolf Steiner Al Biruni Stages of Life

UFO over Dingle

Double click on picture for a clearer image

This evening, I took a walk along Dingle Bay just as the Sun was setting. My attention was naturally directed towards the west. However when I turned east, I was astonished to see a pink form that looked like a flying saucer. The object was quite large, looked to be circular and had three levels or stories with the largest one on top.

It was just a cloud formation but it was so well formed that it took my breath away.

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Sky phenomenon UFO Dingle

Saturn Return

Recently a friend dropped in and said she needed to talk. She said that she felt that she has not been expressing who she really is and wants now to make some changes to her life. She described how she had led a gypsy-like existence when she was young and lived mostly in a caravan or other transitory domicile. When she got married and had children, she conformed more to usual conventions, living in a regular house etc. With these considerations in mind, we took a look at what the stars had to say.

Her birth chart shows the sign of Aquarius on the cusp of the fourth house and this would certainly fit with the unconventional home life that she preferred and had when she was younger.

Click on picture for a clearer image.

Current transit shows a Saturn return, which is when the planet Saturn returns to the place it occupied at her birth. Rudolf Steiner pointed out that during the life between birth and re-birth, a person goes through the various planetary spheres. It is when one is in the Saturn sphere, that one makes the decision to return to Earth. Then one condenses down through the spheres of Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and finally Moon before being born. Saturn has to do with our karma and with our intentions for this life and this is indicated by its position at birth. The sign or constellation is important as well as the house position.

Click on picture for a clearer image.

A Saturn return is a time for a person to realign themselves with their pre-birth intentions. It is not surprising that our friend would, at this time, experience that she was not really being herself and want to make changes.

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Saturn Return

Winter Solstice and Standing Stones

Three Stones Approach

There are numerous ancient monuments in the vicinity of Dingle that are well visited by tourists and locals alike. Not so well known is Log na nGallán (place of the standing stones) on a hilltop called Arda Mór about 10 kilometers from our house.




Three Stones with Peader for perspective

Three standing stones close together in a straight line are aligned to the setting sun at Winter Solstice. There is a fourth stone that was a puzzle to me when I first visited the place several years ago. None of the locals that I spoke to knew its purpose.





Fourth Stone

After pacing over and back several times I discovered that the fourth stone indicates where to stand in order to see the setting Sun aligned with the three stones. If you put your back to the three stones and walk in their alignment, away from the setting Sun, until the fourth stone is at right angles to your path, this is the spot to view the setting Sun over the three stones.


Cup and Saucer pattern on 4th

Fourth stone has a cup and saucer pattern often found on these stones.







Moon nearly full opposite Sunset 1


Today I arrived there with my friend Peader about a half hour before sunset and we were joined by just five other people. The place is however fairly remote and there are no sign posts to get there. The Moon was up on the far side of the sky.



Sunset over standing stones

Peader read a poem in Irish that he had written describing this place and this event. One of the other people called John Ahern read a piece he had written that lead over into Christianity and to the Trinity.





Ireland is not known for its clear skies and such events can
sometimes meet with disappointment. Today we had some cloud that added suspense and drama to the event but we had a clear view of the sun for most of the time. There was no wind which is unusual for here and there was a very delicate peaceful atmosphere.




As soon as the Sun disappeared, Peader pulled out a penny whistle and played a soulful slow air. The event was simple and at the same time sublime.

Back at our cars, John provided us all with hot tea and raisin bread. Sin é(that’s it)




Winter Solstice
Standing Stones

Zodiac Signs for Anthroposophists

Rudolf Steiner, founder of anthroposophy with its daughter movements of biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine, Eurythmy and Waldorf education, was born with the Sun in the sign of Pisces. His wife Marie was also born with Sun in Pisces and so was his close collaborator in anthroposophical medicine, Ita Wegman, so was Ehrenfried Pfieffer, a leading figure in biodynamics and so was Emil Leinhas, a prominent figure in Steiner’s Threefold Social Order. I wondered if Pisces birth sign was dominant in these Steiner-connected movements.

Anthroposophists, followers of Steiner’s philosophy are often said to be walking around with their feet not quite on the ground and this may well fit with the image of the Pisces person. However an analysis of the birth charts of 306 anthroposophists shows that the most frequently occurring birth sign for both Sun and Moon was Taurus, the most earth-bound sign. I am building up a database of birth charts of people who were historically involved with anthroposophy and will continue to monitor this as the database grows.

Sun Signs-click on bar graph for a larger clearer image




















Moon Signs-click on bar graph for larger clear image


















The data was processed and bar graphs produced with the astrology research program JigSaw.

Anthroposophy Zodiac Signs

Sun and Moon

Recently, a local sailor and fisherman came to see me to ask about the Moon. He said he really couldn’t understand the movement of the Moon in the sky.

We are given to understand that the earth moves around the Sun and the Moon moves around the earth. Interestingly, when you observe them carefully you notice that they seem to follow the same pattern in the sky. Let us take a look at the four seasons.

Spring: At the spring equinox the Sun rises due east at 0 degrees Aries sign and in the constellation of Pisces (see chart—Inner circle shows Zodiac Signs, outer circle Zodiac Constellations) The Sun goes medium high in the sky and then sets exactly in the west. Equinox means that the day and the night are the same length of twelve hours.

Summer: At high summer, when the sun is just going into constellation of Gemini, it rises in the northeast, goes high up in the sky and sets in the northwest. At that time we have a very long day and a short night.

Autumn: At the autumnal equinox when the Sun is in constellation of Virgo it behaves the same as in spring, rising due east and setting in the west. Once again, we have equal day and night.

Winter: In the middle of winter, when the Sun is in the constellations of Sagittarius it rises in the southeast, stays relatively low in the sky even at noon and then sets in the southwest. At that time of year we get a very short period of daylight and a long period of darkness.

Moon Pattern: The Moon follows a similar pattern but what the Sun does in a year the Moon does in a month. Once every month, when the Moon is in the constellation of Pisces it too rises in the east and sets in the west just like the Sun at Spring-time. When the Moon is in the constellation of Gemini it behaves like the Sun in the summer; when it is in Virgo it behaves like the Sun in autumn and when it is in Sagittarius it follows the winter pattern. The Moon goes through all of the constellations each month, whereas the Sun takes a whole year to go through them all.

Moon Phases: At new Moon, the Sun and the Moon are together in the sky so that if the Sun is in Sagittarius, then so is the Moon and they will follow the same pattern in the sky. Of course you won’t then be able to see the Moon because it is overwhelmed by the light of the Sun.

The Moon and the Sun are opposite each other at full Moon. If it is winter and the Sun is in Sagittarius then the moon will be opposite in Gemini. So you can see that if there is a full Moon in the winter then the Sun will stay low all day whereas the Moon will follow the pattern of the summer Sun rising high in the sky and spend a long time in the night sky.

This year we should be able to see a beautiful full Moon at Christmas time. It is exact on Christmas Eve morning at 1:15 AM--see chart.

Moon Phase at Birth

In an earlier post A Vision - The Phases of the Moon I promised that I would present some data to see how the system works in relation to the birth chart. Yeats has 28 phases of the Moon, one for each day of the lunar cycle, He points out in his book A Vision that people with an early Moon phase are learning about the world and that people born at full-Moon know how to function in the public domain. For people born in the last quarter, there is a wish to leave worldly matters behind and to turn inward.
Here is a small study using the birth charts of 300 people involved in Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy.


The study showed:
62 people born during 1st quarter Moon,
89 during 2nd quarter,
70 during 3rd quarter and
79 during 4th quarter.




I wondered if there would be a tendency for people involved in a lifestyle encompassing a spiritual perspective to be born during a late moon phase. The results however show that the largest segment is the second quarter which would indicate a striving outward into the world. It is of course true that most of these people were actively involved in the world, caring for sick and the needy, active in business, teaching or the arts.



This bar graph shows the number of people born at each of the 28 phases of the Moon.
Click on the graph for a larger, clearer image.

Below is a list showing how many people were born at each phase together with the Yeats' descriptions for each phase of what he called the Will.

10 people at Phase 1-Complete Objectivity
12 people at Phase 2-Beginning of Energy
2 person at Phase 3-Beginning of Ambition
10 people at Phase 4-Desire for Exterior World
7 people at Phase 5-Separation from Innocence
11 people at Phase 6-Artificial Individuality
10 people at Phase 7-Assertion of Individuality
14 people at Phase 8-War Between Individual and Race
7 people at Phase 9-Belief Instead of Individual
14 people at Phase 10-The Image-Breaker
14 people at phase 11-The Consumer, Pyre Builder
11 people at Phase 12-The Forerunner
15 people at phase 13-The Sensuous Man
14 people at Phase 14-The Obsessed Man
10 people at Phase 15-Complete Beauty
11 people at Phase 16-The Positive Man
10 people at Phase 17-The Daimonic Man
6 people at Phase 18-The Emotional Man
11 people at Phase 19-The Assertive Man
11 people at Phase 20-The Concrete Man
11 people at Phase 21-The Acquisitive Man
8 people at Phase 22-Balance of Ambition/Contemplation
12 people at Phase 23-The Receptive Man
16 people at Phase 24-The End of Ambition
11 people at Phase 25-The Conditional Man
9 people at Phase 26-The Hunchback
11 people at Phase 27-The Saint
12 people at Phase 28-The Fool

Only two people showed up in Phase 3 and this Yeats calls a phase of self sacrifice.

He who bends to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy,
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

The sample is relatively small, taken from the birth charts of 300 people. The time-of-birth was available for about 50% of the people which means that the phase could be off by ‘one’ in some instances. However, since my objective was to look for larger trends, I felt that this would not unduly distort the results.

W.B.Yeats A Vision Moon Phases

Zodiac Signs and Constellations

The chart on the left was cast for 1:40 pm today in Dingle. You can click on image to enlarge it. I am happy that the astrology program that I use, Solar Fire, is able to produce a chart with both signs and constellations. The outer ring shows zodiac constellations and the inner ring shows zodiac signs.

Every time I make a presentation on the stars the question of signs and constellations comes up. There is the impression on the part of the more scientifically minded people that only the constellations are real. They posit that since, in our time, the Sun rises in the constellation of Pisces at the spring equinox, the claim- that the Sun goes into Aries at that time- is untrue. I would like to suggest that both viewpoints are true, just the perspective is different.

Zodiac Constellations are twelve unequal segments along the ecliptic (apparent path of the Sun as viewed from the earth.) The dividing points between the constellations were decided by a scientific convention in the early 1930’s. Once a year, at the spring equinox, the Sun returns to the same point on the ecliptic, but not quite; after 72 years, an average human lifespan, the Sun slips back about 1⁰ in relation to the constellations of the zodiac. This is known as the precession of the equinox. The average size of one constellation is 30⁰ and therefore it would take about 2,160 years (72x30) before the spring Sun rises in the next constellation back. In ancient India the Sun rose in Cancer at the spring equinox, ancient Persia in Gemini, ancient Egypt in Taurus, Greco/Roman times in Aries and now it occurs in Pisces. The amount of time that the Sun takes to traverse all 12 constellations is called a platonic year (2,160x12= 25,920 years)

Zodiac Signs are twelve equal divisions of the stars along the ecliptic or apparent path of the Sun as viewed from the earth. The signs come about through the relationship of the earth and Sun. As you know, the seasons are brought about by the tilt of the earth’s axis and the rotation of the earth around the Sun. For those of us located north of the equator, summer solstice comes about when the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun and the winter solstice when it is tilted away from the Sun. The spring and autumn equinox both occur half way between these two points. One could say that the zodiac signs exist in time rather than in space. The first sign, Aries begins at the spring equinox followed by Taurus and Gemini. Cancer begins at the summer solstice and then you have Leo and Virgo. At the autumnal equinox Libra begins followed by Scorpio and Sagittarius. At the winter solstice Capricorn begins followed by Aquarius and Pisces. Then we are back to spring and to Aries.

Most Western astrologers work with the zodiac signs and in India, where astrology is widely practiced, they use the zodiac constellations. The latter approach is becoming more popular in the West and is known as Vedic Astrology. Anthroposophically extended astrology takes both signs and constellations into consideration. In general you could say that the signs in a birth chart have to do with this life, with the here and now whereas the constellations have to do with the life before birth (the other world.) Another way to express this in anthroposophic terms would be to say that the signs have to do more with the physical and etheric bodies and the constellations with the more spiritual parts, the astral body and the ego (I.)

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