Stargram
Week of August 9
Can I so broaden out my soul
That it binds itself with the Word
Begetting worlds?
I long to find the strength
To shape my soul—
That it may become
A garment for the spirit.
[From Calendar of the Soul, August 4 – 10]
Dear Friends,
The waning Moon (3° Gemini) will pass above Mars on Sunday. As the two rise together at 0230 (about three hours ahead of the Sun and Jupiter), Mars will appear to be suspended from the Moon’s slender crescent, which will disappear altogether from the night sky in three days’ time. The Moon-Mars conjunction can indicate an unbridled will nature (Benito Mussolini was born under this aspect), or—as exemplified by its presence at the birth of John the Baptist—the willingness to subjugate the personal will to the Word of God.
Within the chronology of Christ, Mars was at 3° Gemini on 23/Mar/33. Anne Catherine’s account for this day indicated that, when asked which was the greatest commandment, Jesus spoke the words in Matthew 22:37–40:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is similar to it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
On Monday the 10th, Venus (9° Virgo) will stand opposite Neptune, now at 9° Pisces. Although this opposition has the power to distort our perceptions—hastened by a tendency to gloss over problems—it might also signify communion with Sophia. Venus was opposite Neptune at the Visitation.
Mercury (9° Cancer) will oppose Pluto (9° Capricorn) on Wednesday. May Christ’s light shine in the darkness! Mercury was at the same zodiacal longitude on 15/Jun/31, when Jesus visited a leper hospital to heal and to teach the afflicted. More than a millennium later, St. Francis donned the same healing mantle. From Rudolf Steiner:
Francis of Assis was impelled by this state of affairs [i.e., the spread of leprosy in Europe] to go everywhere and search out all the lepers, and to be unafraid of associating with them. And, in fact, that which none of the remedies of the time could cure (and which therefore made it necessary to exclude these people from human society) [was] healed by Francis of Assis in numberless cases. He went to the lepers with the power that existed in his moral impulses, and these allowed him the courage not only to carefully cleanse their sores, but also to live with them, to nurse them fully, even to kiss them, to transfuse them with his love. [28/May/1912, Norrköping]
Later on Wednesday, the Sun and Moon (25° Cancer) will meet in the general vicinity of the South Node of the Moon—thereby creating the conditions for a solar eclipse. The last of the year, this solar eclipse will be ‘total’, meaning that the Sun will be completely obscured in certain regions of the Earth. Although Iceland will be cast in darkness for the longest period of time, New England and Canada will also be affected.
Wednesday’s New Moon mirrors that of 19/Jul/30, when Sun and Moon met at 25° Cancer. From Anne Catherine:
I saw Jesus conversing with Mary alone. She was weeping at the thought of his exposing himself to danger by going to Jerusalem. He comforted her, telling her that she must not be anxious, that he would accomplish his mission, and that the sorrowful days had not yet come. [Visions, vol. 1, pp. 477–78]
At long last, on the night that spans August 12th and 13th, the peak of the Perseids will appear! The extraordinary politeness of our New Moon—which will remain invisible throughout the night—is not to be overstated.
The hours between midnight and 0600 will offer the best viewing opportunities. During this time span, you’ll see Perseus move from the eastern horizon to the ecliptic zenith (due south in the northern hemisphere). Plan to stay put for an hour to enjoy the year’s best display of shooting stars!
From Elisabeth Vreede:
[In summertime, as Ahriman] creeps near, desiring to make the human being his prey through dreaminess (through a diminished consciousness), the cosmic iron comes to humanity through the shooting stars. Then, in miniature, there sparkles in the human blood just such a shower of shooting stars as is to be seen on a grander scale in the firmament. [Anthroposophy and Astrology, p. 248]
To my knowledge, the Perseids constitute the only such shower with a moving radiant. Over its course (which lasts several weeks), the radiant begins at the upper part of our hero, Perseus, and gradually moves through the ‘sword’ in his right hand. Battle-ready! Steiner, of course, identified the special relationship between the Perseid meteor shower and the Archangel Michael:
When in high summer, from a particular constellation, meteors fall in great showers of cosmic iron, then this cosmic iron (which carries an enormously powerful healing force) is the weapon which the gods bring to bear against Ahriman—who, as dragon-like, tries to coil round the shining forms of men.
[Over] the dragon, there rises the figure of Michael—Michael with his sword! But we shall picture this rightly only if we see the space where Michael displays his power and his lordship over the dragon as filled not with indifferent clouds, but with showers of meteoric iron. These showers take form from the power that streams out from Michael’s heart; they are welded together into the sword of Michael, who overcomes the dragon with his sword of meteoric iron. [5/Oct/1923, Dornach]
(Incidentally, it has been determined that the blade of the iron sword found in Tutankhamun’s tomb was, indeed, composed of material from a meteorite!)
Regal Jupiter, at its degree of exaltation (15° Cancer), will close out our week. Steiner’s phrase for this placement—To become spirit-permeated—assumes greater force when Jupiter is exalted. When positioned here, wisdom (Jupiter) summons the imagination of the center of Cancer as a place where one might gather the nectar of higher thinking. And thus might our cosmic purpose be known! (Anne Catherine received the stigmata when Jupiter was exalted.)
Many blessings on your week!
~ Julie H.
Image: Giotto’s Exorcism of the Demons at Arezzo, 1297–1300