Stargram
Week of February 22
Dear Friends,
Aquarius (now host to the Sun, North Node, Mercury, and Venus) will welcome Mars into its ocean of stars on Tuesday. The ‘cosmic letter’ offered by Steiner for this planetary placement—‘And should arise in life’s stream’—reveals Aquarius as the zodiacal realm whence flows a continuous outpouring of life forces. From Cosmic Dances of the Zodiac:
Some say the Waterbearer relates to the image referred to by St. John as the “sign of the Son of man in heaven,” the Risen Christ, pouring out his grace to humankind in a never-ending fount. This is understood as the ‘second coming’, leading us into the Aquarian Age beginning in 2375. . . . The second coming signifies that the etheric body of the earth is receiving the living waters of the etheric body of Christ. [p. 93]
Those born under Mars-in-Aquarius are typically inclined to defy limitations and expectations! (One such individual is Jacques Lusseyran, who was a legendary resistance operative during World War II, despite his blindness.) Mars at today’s degree (0° Aquarius) bears the memory of 23/Sep/30, when a woman from the pagan quarter cast herself at Jesus’s feet and begged him to heal her child, who already had the appearance of death. From Anne Catherine:
Jesus said to her; “Leave me alone with the child, and send to me two of my disciples!” Then came Joseph Barsabbas and Nathaniel the bridegroom. Jesus took the boy from the crib and into his arms. He laid him on his breast, breast to breast, pressed him to himself, and breathed upon him. The child opened his eyes and rose up. . . . The mother cried out: “Great is the God of Israel! He is far above all the gods! My husband has already told me that, and henceforth I will serve no other god!” [Visions, vol. 2, pp. 59–60]
When the Moon (10½° Taurus) reaches its First Quarter on Tuesday, the Sun’s degree (10½° Aquarius) will recall the fourth healing miracle: the feeding of the five thousand. From Tomberg:
By “multiplying the bread” during the brief span of that feeding, [Jesus] brought to pass what the sun consummates in the course of a year: the whole cycle of sprouting, growth, and ripening of grain.
. . . The disciples first received and then reapportioned the blessed (eucharistic) bread, just as the moon receives and then reapportions the sunlight in muted form. When speaking of light’s effect, we may take muted to mean “not blinding”; and when speaking of the light’s potency, to mean “endurable.” [Lazarus, pp. 42–43]
As the miracle unfolded, the participants’ senses (twelve in number, like the baskets of leftovers) were imbued with the moral impressions of Christ—although they had been ‘fed’, they wanted more from Jesus: i.e., that he be their earthly king. Some sought out Jesus the next day. He told them: “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.” (John 6:27)
Remarkably, the Moon’s degree at its First Quarter recalls the feeding of the four thousand (mentioned only in the gospel of Mark). At his event, the crowd had gathered on a barren mountainside for three days. They were hungrier than the five thousand. The feeding of the four thousand thus demonstrated that, no matter the circumstances, Jesus “satisfies the desire of every living thing.” (Psalms 145:16)
This miracle of multiplication distinguishes itself from that of the larger gathering in another way: when it was over, the crowd dispersed, asking nothing else of Jesus. Perhaps they recognized that it was not enough to receive moral impressions from Christ—that the miracle demanded a corresponding free human response given in full consciousness, from within. [Christ and Sophia, p. 253]
In Anne Catherine’s accounting, the feeding of the four thousand—which took place some six weeks after that of the five thousand—coincided with the Sermon on the Mount, and with the end of Jesus’s instruction on the beatitudes. Tomberg characterized Jesus’s instruction as an outpouring of the Christ impulse:
The Word of Jesus Christ was “substantial,” communicating with the inner human being. It imparted such a degree of power that the life forces could flow even into the physical body, even into the physical brain. That strengthening influence outward from within—even into the physical body—is called “bread from heaven” in the Gospels, while the influence that gave movement to the ether body, making it capable of independent movement in the surrounding sea of the elemental world, is called “fish.”
. . . But the word of the Pharisees and Sadducees offered “stone” instead of “bread” and “snake” instead of “fish,” because the rigidified legal righteousness of the Sadducees was like stone to the inner human forces, and the caustic, straw-splitting agility of the pharisaic logic was like the agility of a snake. (See Matthew 7:9–11) [Christ and Sophia, pp. 191–92]
On Friday, Mars (2° Aquarius) will form a square aspect to Uranus (2° Taurus). We might think of this aspect as an enzyme for actions on behalf of the future. Indeed, there existed major aspects involving Uranus at five of the seven healing miracles described in the gospel of John: 1st / Mars-square-Uranus; 2nd / Sun-conjunct-Uranus; 4th and 5th / Sun-opposite-Uranus; and 7th / Venus-conjunct-Uranus. The healing miracles are eternal agents of the future—and they are humanity’s succor as it stumbles along its own ‘stations of the cross’!
Just before sunrise (UT) on Saturday morning, the Sun will align with 14½° Aquarius, its zodiacal position at the births of Rudolf Steiner and Valentin Tomberg. Rejoice! At this same moment, Mercury and Venus—which will rise above the eastern horizon an hour after the Sun—will convene at 27°Aquarius. This aspect suggests loving devotion for others, a willingness to serve, and the ability to bring people together through shared purpose. (It was present throughout most of the Passion of Christ.)
Have a glorious week beneath the stars!
~ Julie H.
Image: Joahua Tree