Archangels, Astrosophy, & the Planets

- “The thoughts of the Gods are not as the thoughts of men. The thoughts of men are images, the thoughts of the gods are living beings.” -Rudolf Steiner quoted by  

-“...the many stars in the heavens are but the outer signs of colonies of gods. Where the stars sparkle in the heavens there are, in reality, colonies of spiritual Beings. But you must not imagine that these gods have their consciousness only in Venus, or only in the Sun, or in Mercury, or in Sirius. They have their main habitation, the focal point of their existence in these several spheres, and this is true of all spiritual Beings of the cosmos who have anything to do with the earth. 

 
But it is impossible to say of their existence in the cosmos that they have their dwelling-place only in Mars, only in Venus, and so forth. Paradoxical as it will seem, I am nevertheless obliged to say that the Divine Beings who belong to the earth and who people Mars, Venus, Jupiter or another of the planets — also the Sun — would be blind if they inhabited only one of these spheres. 

 
They would live, they would be active — just as we can walk about and take hold of things even if we have no eyes; but they would not see — I mean, of course, in the way in which Divine Beings ‘see’ — they would lack a certain faculty for perceiving what is happening in the cosmos. But this, my dear friends, will lead you to ask: Where, then, is the eye of the gods, where is their organ of perception? 

This organ of perception is provided by the Moon, our neighbor in the cosmos — in addition to all its other functions. All the Divine Beings belonging to the Sun, to Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, have their eye in the Moon and are at the same time in the Moon.” -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume II, Lecture XIII.  https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240530p01.html

- "...in the Mysteries, secrets of the Cosmos  were expressed in terms derived from the stars and constellations.  There were times when the teachers in the Mysteries made use of words and images taken from the courses of the stars and their mutual  relationships. Such images were a means of expressing what man experiences spiritually when he attains consciousness of the  Divine-Spiritual.

What was it that the Mystery-wisdom was able to read in this stellar script? The secrets of the Godhead pervading the world! The order of the  stars was the visible expression of the Godhead. Men turned their gaze to the heavens, saying: There the Godhead reveals himself; the order and  harmonies of the stars are for us the manifestation of the Divine.  According to this view, therefore, the God of all the worlds was made manifest in the order of the stars." -Rudolf Steiner, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA123/English/RSP1965/19100904p02.html

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Through the insights and work of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, and others who have pursued this area of spiritual-scientific study, there is a living structure that characterizes and connects the divine beings of the spiritual worlds with humanity and the world. Their activities correlate to spheres of activity, cadences, and influences that are aligned to the planets of the solar system and the bodies of the universe. 

The cycles and manifestations of the bodies of the universe contain profound mysteries beyond purely physical aspects. Dr. Steiner founded a body of wisdom to explore and document these mysteries through a spiritual-scientific path that was called "Astrosophy"; star wisdom.  Since his death in 1925, those who succeeded him have continued his work.

 
One of the leading persons in the 20th century who continued this area of study was Dr. Elizabeth Vreede (1879-1943); a founding member of the Anthroposophical Society. Her work inspired others including Willi Sucher who carried on this area of research until his death in America in 1985. Dr. Steiner lectured and wrote about the mysteries of the cosmos and how the seemingly infinite bodies and movements of the universe reveal divine relationships to the human being and the world. Each human being is somehow an expression of the influences of the spiritual-cosmic bodies of the universe.

For example, between death and rebirth each human soul moves through the planetary spheres, inhabited by angelic beings of a unique character whose task and mission is to bring a unique influence to humanity.  We are born in alignment with these influences and cycles which, in turn, provide the cadences and windows of our karma and destiny. While we live our earthly lives, we are influenced by these spheres of activity in hidden ways.

The symbols of higher and divine truths in the heavens are uncovered, at least in part, by mathematics and an understanding of physics and nature which reflects and leads to a study of Astronomy. Then, when permeated with a deeper wisdom by way of Anthroposophy, previously hidden truths regarding human destiny, history, the human being, and the universe can be considered and observed. 

In recent centuries, once objective facts have devolved into superstition and "Astrology"; a path of cosmic conception based on superstition that has little, or no, validity in the modern age (depending on where you look). When permeated with genuine initiation wisdom, however, such as we find in Anthroposophy, this area of study becomes an objective principle in the world, the human spirit, and the cosmos.

According to Dr. Steiner, the 7 spiritual planetary spheres in order of alignment proceeding from the earth outward are the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.  Each sphere is characterized by a group of higher or angelic beings and characteristics, including the seven leading archangels. Dr. Steiner stated that there are many archangels whom he also referred to as "folk souls" who bring a unique influence to humanity through cultures and nations at specific moments of history.  

Dr. Steiner observed that the reigns, or regencies, of the 7 leading Archangels occur sequentially in increments of 300-400 years (average of 354 years). The current regency is led by the Archangel Michael, Archangel of the Sun, and began in 1879 AD and shall last until about 2300AD when the Archangel Oriphiel will assume the leading role.

Unless otherwise noted, the quotes below were quoted from his lecture The Spiritual Individualities of the Planets (refer to link above).

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Michael.

Regency Cycle: Began 1879. Will Continue for 300-400 Years.

Day of the Week: Sunday

Spiritual Exercise: Right Judgment. Take action only after fully reasoned deliberation. All unthinking behavior and trivial actions should be kept under observation and away from the soul. One should always have well-weighed reasons for everything. Abstain from doing anything for which there is no significant reason. 

Organ: Heart

Process: Harmony / Balance

Color: White

Metal: Gold

Tree: Ash

On Michael

(1) "Michael...works intensely into the spiritual being of man...he is the administrator of the Cosmic Intelligence." -Steiner, Rudolf. Karmic Relationships, Volume III, https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/19240803p01.html

(2) "Michael, and with him those who are the Michael spirits even among men, continues to take this stand: I am the Ruler of the Intelligence. And the Intelligence must be so ruled that there shall not enter into it any illusion nor false fantasy, nor anything that would restrict the human being to a dark and vague and cloudy vision of the world." -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume 3, Lecture 8 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240801p01.html

(3) "And every time a Michael Age returned, it happened upon earth too that Intelligence as a means to knowledge became not only cosmopolitan as I have already said, but became such that men were filled through and through with the consciousness: We can after all ascend to the Divinity."

-Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume 3, Lecture 8 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240801p01.html

(4) "...the Being whom we may call Michael, and who belongs to the Hierarchy of the Archangels — whatever name we may give him — this Being does exist. There are many Beings of the same hierarchical rank, but this particular Being who is known esoterically by the name of Michael is as superior to his companions as the Sun is to the planets — Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and so on.  

He — Michael — is the most eminent, the most significant Being in the Hierarchy of the Archangels. The ancients called him the ‘Countenance of God’. As a man reveals himself by his gestures and the expression of his countenance, so in ancient mythology Jehovah was understood through Michael." -Rudolf Steiner,  Occult Science and Occult Development, Lecture II, Christ at the Time of the Mystery of Golgotha and Christ in the Twentieth Century, May 2, 1913. https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/19130502p01.html;mark=135,36,45#WN_mark

(5) "Now that the Intelligence will be down among men upon the earth, having fallen from the lap of Michael and from his hosts, — now in this new Age of Michael, men will have to become aware of the way of their salvation. They must not allow their Intelligence to be overcome by sinfulness; rather must they use this age of Intelligence to ascend to the spiritual life in purity of Intelligence, free from all illusion." -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume 3, Lecture 8 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240801p01.html

(6) "This indeed is the time of great decisions — the great crisis to which the sacred books of all time have referred — for in reality the present age is meant. Such indeed is the peculiar nature of the Michael impulses: they are fraught with great decisions, and they become decisive especially in this our age." -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume 3, Lecture 9 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240803p02.html

(7) "Michael is a Spirit filled with strength, and he can only make use of thoroughly brave men, men full of inner courage." -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume 3, Lecture 9 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240803p02.html

(8) "...a great change took place in the last third of the nineteenth century with respect to the life of human thought. Before that time man could only feel how thoughts formed themselves in his own being; from the time indicated he is able to raise himself above his own being; he can turn his mind to the Spiritual; he there meets Michael, who proves his ancient kinship with everything connected with thought. He liberates thought from the sphere of the head; he clears the way for it to the heart; he enkindles enthusiasm in the feelings, so that the human mind can be filled with devotion for all that can be experienced in the light of thought.

The Age of Michael has dawned. Hearts are beginning to have thoughts; spiritual fervour is now proceeding, not merely from mystical obscurity, but from souls clarified by thought. To understand this means to receive Michael into the heart. Thoughts which at the present time strive to grasp the Spiritual must originate in hearts which beat for Michael as the fiery Prince of Thought in the Universe." -Rudolf Steiner,  Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 26, At the Dawn of the Michael Age. https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_c01.html

(9) "The spiritual Being who from the beginning directed his gaze towards mankind is Michael. He so orders the divine activities that in one part of the Cosmos mankind may exist. And his own activity is of the same nature as that which is revealed later in man as intellect; but this intellect is active as a force that streams through the Cosmos, ordering ideas and giving rise to actual realities. In this force Michael works. His office is to rule the cosmic intellectuality. And he wills the further progress in his domain, which consists in this: — that which works as intelligence throughout the whole Cosmos should later become concentrated within the human individuality. 

As a result the following takes place: — there comes a time in the evolution of the world when the Cosmos subsists no longer on its own present intelligence, but on the cosmic intelligence belonging to the past. For the present intelligence must then be sought in the stream of human evolution. What Michael desires is to keep the intelligence, which is developing within humanity, permanently in connection with the Divine-Spiritual Beings." -Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 26, Section 5. The Experiences of Michael in the Course of His Cosmic Mission https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_c05.html

(10) "...the Michael Mission is one of those that are repeated again and again in rhythmical succession in the cosmic evolution of mankind. In its beneficial influence on earthly mankind it was repeated before the Mystery of Golgotha. It was connected in that time with all the active revelations which the Christ-Force — as yet external to the Earth — had to pour down to the Earth for the unfolding of mankind. After the Mystery of Golgotha, the Michael Mission enters the service of what must now be achieved in earthly humanity through Christ Himself. 

In its repetitions, the Michael Mission now appears in a changed and ever-progressing form. The point is that it appears in repetitions. The Mystery of Golgotha, on the other hand, is an all embracing World-event, taking place once only in the whole course of the cosmic evolution of mankind." -Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 2, Section 14. A Christmas Study: The Mystery of the Logos https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_c14.html

On the Sun: 

(11) "In the midst of all these deeds and impulses of the planetary individualities stands the Sun, creating harmony between the liberating and the destiny-determining planets. The Sun is the individuality in whom the element of necessity in destiny and the element of human freedom interweave in a most wonderful way. And no one can understand what is contained in the flaming brilliance of the Sun unless he is able to behold this interweaving life of destiny and freedom in the light which spreads out into the universe and concentrates again in the solar warmth. Nor can we grasp anything essential about the nature of the Sun as long as we take in only what the physicists know of it. 

We can grasp the nature of the Sun only when we know something of its nature of spirit and soul. In that realm, it is the power which imbues with warmth the element of necessity in destiny, resolves destiny into freedom in its flame, and if freedom is misused, condenses it once more into its own active substance. The Sun is as it were the flame in which freedom becomes a luminous reality in the universe; and at the same time the Sun is the substance in which, as condensed ashes, misused freedom is molded into destiny — until destiny itself can become luminous and pass over into the flame of freedom." -Rudolf Steiner, The Spiritual Individualities of the Planets, GA 228, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/SpInPl_index.html

(12) "It is the duty of the investigator into the spiritual world to draw the attention of humanity to the spiritual fact that Michael has taken over the spiritual guidance of human affairs. Michael does what he has to do in such a way that he does not thereby wield an influence over human beings; but they may follow him in freedom, in order with the Christ power to find the way out of that sphere of Ahriman which they were obliged to enter." -Rudolf Steiner,  

Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 26, 4. Michael's Task in the Sphere of Ahriman  https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_c04.html

(13) "It is the task of Michael to lead man back again, on paths of Will, whence he came down when with his earthly consciousness he descended on the paths of Thought from the living experience of the Supersensible to the experience of the world of sense." -Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 26

Section 3. The Way of Michael, and What Preceded It, https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_c03.html

(14) "The rulership of Gabriel  is characterised by the fact that his impulses enter strongly into the  physical bodily nature of man. Michael, on the other hand, works  intensely into the spiritual being of man. You can tell this from the  very fact that he is the administrator of the Cosmic Intelligence. But  Michael's impulses are strong and powerful. Taking their start from the  spiritual, they work through and through the human being. They work into  the spiritual, thence into the soul-nature, and thence again into the  bodily nature of man.
 

Now in the karmic connections of life, these super-earthly forces are  constantly at work. Beings of the higher Hierarchies are working with  man and upon him. It is thus that the karma of a man takes shape. And so  it is with the Michael-forces. Working as they do upon the whole human  being, they work also very strongly into his karma. Gabriel-forces work  only very little — I do not say not at all — but very little into the  essential karma of a human being. Michael-forces on the other hand work  very strongly into his karma.
 

If, therefore, certain human beings — and this in the last resort  applies to you all, my dear friends — if certain human beings are  especially connected with the stream of Michael, their individual karmas can only be understood when thought of in connection with the stream of  Michael.
 

Now Michael is a Spirit who stands in a special relationship to the Sun  and to all Sun-impulses. This being the case, we shall realise what a  profound significance his impulses must have for those who are  especially exposed to them. In effect, his forces will work right into the physical organization. For Michael-men therefore (if we may use this  term), we must connect the physical phenomena of health and illness  with karma in an even higher degree than for Gabriel- or Raphael-men, or  the like. 

Things in the universe are very complicated; and although  Raphael is the Spirit most intimately connected with the art of Healing,  nevertheless it is Michael who brings the karma of men nearest of all to health and to disease." -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Karmic Relationships III, GA 237, 9. The Michaelites: Their Karmic Impulse Towards The Spiritual Life, The Working of Ahriman into the Once Cosmic and Now Personal Intelligence https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240803p02.html

(15) "An especially important event took place on the astral plane in November 1879. Since then esoteric life has taken on a quite different direction. The esoteric stream that lived in mankind since the 14th century was replaced by a new one. Previously all occult life took place very quietly and hidden from the outer world under the direction of the archangel Gabriel (“annunciation”). 

Something quite similar to a birth took place on the astral plane in 1879. What had slowly ripened since the 14th century could now be carried into the world in a freer way, even though only for a few people. For Gabriel's rule was followed by that of the archangel Michael. He's the radiant sun that lets esoteric wisdom shine out into a small host of people. Materialism is included in the divine plan of creation and it has a purpose in the whole world. But the time has now come for the esoteric sun to shine brightly under Michael's radiant direction. For materialism's dark forces are increasing." -Rudolf Steiner, Esoteric Lessons I, GA 266, Number 25, München, 12-5-'07, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA266/English/UNK1998/19071205e01.html 

(16) "What would the earth be without the sun? The sun surrounds earth with  warmth and light. But we have to consider the activity of such a  heavenly body on another, non-materialistic level. This sun is not only a physical body floating in space, it is inhabited  by spiritual beings. In each ray of sunshine is not only physical light,  but also spiritual activity streams to us. 

There are high beings who live in the light and warmth of the sun and  who work into the earth from there, flooding us with light and warmth. -Rudolf Steiner – GA 108 – The Way of Knowledge – Pforzheim, 17 January 1909, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA108/English/Singles/19090117p01.html

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Gabriel

Day of the Week: Monday

Spiritual Exercise: Right Word.  Speak only that which has sense and meaning with regards to higher development. All talking for the sake of talking, in the gossipy sense, is harmful. Casual conversation filled with disjointed remarks should be avoided. Never speak without cause. Be gladly silent. Find the medium between talking too much and too little. First, listen quietly and allow others to express an idea, then reflect on what has been said.

Organ: Reproductive

Process: Reproduction

Color: Purple

Metal: Silver

Tree: Cherry

On Gabriel:

(1) "We have learnt to know Gabriel as the Christmas Archangel. He is then the cosmic Spirit; we have to look up above to find him. During the summer Gabriel carries into man all that is effected by the...formative forces of nourishment. At midsummer they are carried into man by the Gabriel forces, after Gabriel has descended from his cosmic activity during the winter to his human activity in summer, when his forces stream through the Earth and it is winter on the other side." -Rudolf Steiner, The Four Seasons and the Archangels, GA 229 Lecture V. The Working Together of the Four Archangels, Dornach, 13 October, 1923 -https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA229/English/RSP1968/19231013p01.html

(2) "For Gabriel is the herald of birth, and works upon man through his physical form and substance: Michael opens the path to the spirit." - Rudolf Steiner, The Festivals and Their Meaning IV: Michaelmas https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/Michaelmas/MicMas_foreword.html

(3) "Now the Michael impulses — and this is of great importance for the karma of every single anthroposophist — the Michael impulses are of a kind to enter deeply and intensely into the whole being of man. We know from previous descriptions that the rulership of Michael, if so we may call it, beginning for earthly life at the end of the eighteen-seventies, was preceded by the rulership of Gabriel; and I have described how the rulership of Gabriel is connected with forces that go through the line of physical inheritance — forces related to physical reproduction." - Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships III, GA 237, 9. The Michaelites: Their Karmic Impulse Towards The Spiritual Life, The Working of Ahriman into the Once Cosmic and Now Personal Intelligence, 3 August 1924, Dornach, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19240803p02.html

(4) "The rulership of Gabriel is characterised by the fact that his impulses enter strongly into the physical bodily nature of man." - Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships III, GA 237, 9. The Michaelites: Their Karmic Impulse Towards The Spiritual Life, The Working of Ahriman into the Once Cosmic and Now Personal Intelligence, 3 August 1924, Dornach, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19240803p02.html

(5) "Gabriel-forces work only very little — I do not say not at all — but very little into the essential karma of a human being. Michael-forces on the other hand work very strongly into his karma." - Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships III, GA 237, 9. The Michaelites: Their Karmic Impulse Towards The Spiritual Life, The Working of Ahriman into the Once Cosmic and Now Personal Intelligence, 3 August 1924, Dornach, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19240803p02.html

On the Moon: 

(6) "Anyone capable of observing the mirror-pictures thrown back by the Moon in all directions would have the whole universe before him in reflection. Only that which is within the Moon — that and that alone remains, if I may so express it, the Moon's secret; it remains hidden, just as what is behind a mirror remains hidden. What is behind the outer surface of the Moon, in the innermost sphere of the Moon, is significant above all in its spiritual aspect. The spiritual Beings peopling this innermost sphere of the Moon are Beings who shut themselves off in strict seclusion from the rest of the universe. They live in their Moon “fortress”.  

If we succeed in fathoming...the Moon-mystery of the universe — we realise that these Beings who have now entrenched themselves in the Moon fortress were once the great Teachers of earthly humanity; but all consciousness of the realities, of spirit and soul hidden in this fortress has been lost. What is still transmitted to the Earth from the heavens represents only what the outer surface, the walls, as it were, of the Moon fortress radiate back from the rest of the universe.

This Moon-mystery was one of the deepest secrets in the ancient Mysteries, for it is the primal wisdom that the Moon enshrines within itself. What the Moon is able to reflect from the whole universe forms the sum-total of the forces which sustain the animal world of the Earth, especially the forces that are connected with the sexual nature of animals; these forces also sustain the animal element in man and are connected with his sexual nature in its physical aspect. So the lower nature of man is a product of what radiates from the Moon, while the highest wisdom once possessed by the Earth lies concealed within the Moon fortress.

As you will remember, I told you that the Beings who were once the great primeval Teachers of humanity are connected with man's karma; it was they who brought the ancient wisdom to mankind. They did not live on the earth in physical bodies but in etheric bodies, and at a certain point of time they departed from the earth to establish their abode in the Moon; and there we encounter them during the first phase of our life between death and a new birth. These are the Beings who engrave a record of men's karma into the cosmic ether, in an unerring script of soul-and-spirit." -Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships Volume II, Lecture XVI, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240629p01.html 

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Raphael
Day of the Week: Wednesday

Rotation Around the Sun: .241 Years
Spiritual Exercise: Right Standpoint.  To live in accordance with Nature and Spirit. Seek not to be overwhelmed by the external trivialities of life. Seek to avoid all that brings unrest and haste into life. Hurry over nothing, but also not to be indolent (one who seeks to avoid exertion). To look on life as a means for working towards higher development and to behave accordingly.

Organ: Lungs/Breathing System
Process: Blood
Color: Yellow
Metal: Quicksilver
Tree: Elm

On Raphael: 

(1)  "Raphael is the Spirit most intimately connected with the art of Healing." 

(2) " Raphael...leads man into the secrets of healing nature, of the healing cosmos."  https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA229/English/RSP1968/19231012p01.html

(3)  "Raphael is the spirit of spring, and in autumn, as he travels round the Earth, he engenders the forces of human breathing. Hence we can say: While during autumn Michael is the cosmic spirit up above, the cosmic Archangel, at Michaelmas Raphael works in human beings — Raphael who is active in the whole human breathing-system, regulating it and giving it his blessing."  -Rudolf Steiner,The Four Seasons and the Archangels, GA 229, V. The Working Together of the Four Archangels, Dornach, 13 October, 1923 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA229/English/RSP1968/19231013p01.html

On Mercury: 

(4) "Mercury is not interested in things of a physical, material nature as such, but in whatever is capable of co-ordination. Mercury is the domain of the Masters of co-ordinative thinking; Jupiter, the habitation of the Masters of wisdom-filled thinking. When a human being comes down from pre-earthly life into earthly existence, it is the Moon impulse that provides the forces for his physical existence. Venus provides the forces for the basic qualities of heart and temperament. But Mercury provides the forces for capacities of intellect and reason, especially of intellect. The Masters of the forces of co-ordinative knowledge and mental activity have their habitation in Mercury." -Rudolf Steiner,  The Spiritual Individualities of Our Planetary System’s Destiny-Determining and Human-Inwardly-Freeing Planets, GA 228, 27 July 1923, Dornach, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/SpInPl_index.html

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Anael
Day of the Week: Friday

Rotation Around the Sun: .61 Years
Spiritual Exercise: Right Memory.  Learn as much as possible from life. Nothing goes by without giving you a chance to gain experiences that are useful for life. If you have done something wrongly or imperfectly, that becomes a motive for doing it rightly or more perfectly later on. If you see others doing something, you observe them with the like end in view (yet not coldly or heartlessly). Do nothing without looking back to past experiences which can be of assistance in your decisions and achievements. You can learn from everyone, even from children if one is attentive.

Organ: Kidney
Process: Digestion/Intestines
Color: Green
Metal: Copper
Tree: Birch

On Venus: 

(1) " The planet Venus is again different. In a certain way — how shall I put it? — Venus wards off the universe. She is difficult to approach; she does not want to know anything about the universe. Her attitude is that if she were to expose herself to the external universe, she would lose her virginal nature. She is deeply shocked when any impression from the external universe attempts to approach her. She has no desire for the universe and rejects every would-be partner. It is very difficult to express these things, because the circumstances and conditions have to be described in terms of earthly language. 

On the other hand, Venus is highly responsive to everything that comes from the Earth. The Earth is, so to speak, her lover. Whereas the Moon reflects the whole surrounding universe, Venus reflects nothing at all of the universe, wants to know nothing of it. But she lovingly reflects whatever comes from the Earth. If with the eyes of soul we are able to glimpse the mysteries of Venus, the whole Earth with its secrets of the life of soul is there before us once again. 

The truth is that human beings on Earth can do nothing in the secrecy of their souls without it being reflected back again by Venus. Venus gazes deeply into the hearts of human beings, for that is what interests her, that is what she will allow to approach her. Thus the most intimate experiences of earthly life are reflected again from Venus, in a mysterious and wonderful way. In the reflection she transforms everything, just as a dream transforms the happenings of physical existence. Venus transforms the occurrences of earthly life into dream-pictures. In reality, therefore, the whole sphere of Venus is a world of dream. 

The secrets of men in their earthly existence are transformed by Venus into dream-pictures of infinite diversity. She has a very great deal to do with poets, although they are not aware of it. I said before that Venus wards off the rest of the universe. She does not, however, repel everything in the same way. In her heart, Venus repels what approaches her from the universe but not what comes from the Earth. As I said before, she declines every would-be suitor, but for all that she listens attentively to the utterances of Mars. She transforms and illumines her dreamlike experiences of earthly things with what is communicated to her from the universe through Mars.

All these things have their physical side as well. Impulses go out from these sources into what is done and what comes into existence in the world. Venus receives into herself everything that comes from the Earth and she listens always to Mars — but without any desire that he shall be aware of having her attention. And from this process — only of course the Sun is there to regulate it — spring the forces which underlie the organs connected with the formation of human speech."

(2) "For the element of love is associated with the name of Venus. Vision of the Venus-sphere corresponds to the period of human life following the onset of puberty."  - Steiner, Rudolf. Karmic Relationships, Volume II, Lecture XII https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240529p01.html

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Samael
Day of the Week: Tuesday

Rotation Around the Sun: 1.88 Years
Spiritual Exercise: Right Deed.  Your external actions should not be disturbing for your fellow men. Where an occasion calls for action out of your inner being: Deliberate carefully how you can best meet the occasion – for the good of the whole, the lasting happiness of man, the eternal. Where you do things of your own accord, out of your own initiative: consider most thoroughly beforehand the effect of your actions.

Organ: Spleen
Process: Bones
Color: Blue
Metal: Lead
Tree: Cypress, Fir

On Samael: 

-" Samael ruled for 354 years and 4 months and impressed his influence strongly upon humanity. Under Samael's reign, in the year of the world 1656, the universal flood occurred, as the Book of Genesis clearly shows. It is a remarkable fact, as the ancient philosophers tell us, that each time Samael, the Genius of Mars, governs the world, a complete change occurs in some great monarchy: religions and castes are overturned; great persons and princes are exiled; laws are changed — as one can easily see in the historians. Such changes do not occur right at the beginning of Samael's reign, but only as it enters its second half. The same is true for all the other planetary Spirits, as history shows. That is, the influence of the secondary powers [Archangels] reaches its height when the stars reach the zenith of their revolution."

On Mars: 

-"It is difficult to find appropriate expressions for these things, but Mars may be called the great “Talker” in the planetary system. Unlike Jupiter, who withholds his wisdom in the form of thoughts. Mars is constantly blurting out to the souls in his sphere whatever in the cosmos is accessible to him — which is not everything. Mars is the most talkative planet in our system, and he is particularly active when human beings talk in sleep or in dream. Mars has a great longing to be always talking, and whenever some quality in human nature enables him to make a man loquacious, he stimulates this tendency. Mars does little thinking. He has few thinkers, but many talkers, in his sphere. 

The Mars Spirits are always on the watch for what arises here or there in the universe and then they talk about it with great zest and fervour. Mars is the planetary individuality who in the course of the evolution of humanity instigates human beings in manifold ways to make statements about the mysteries of the cosmos. Mars has his good and his less good sides — he has his Genius and his Demon. His Genius works in such a way that men receive from the universe the impulses for speech; the influence of his Demon results in speech being misused in many and various ways. In a certain sense Mars may be called the Agitator in our universe. He is always out to persuade, whereas Jupiter wants only to convince."

Now the Mars Beings imbue everything with an element of aggressiveness — be it in the domain of physical, psychical or spiritual qualities. Nay more, they make a man combative, warlike by nature. This warlike element is compatible not only with attack but also with retreat — otherwise wars could not be waged! I think this was obvious enough during the World War."  - Steiner, Rudolf. Karmic Relationships, Volume II, Lecture XII https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240529p01.html

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Zachariel
Day of the Week: Thursday

Rotation Around the Sun: 11.86 Years
Spiritual Exercise: Right Habit. Integrate daily, weekly, and productive exercises into a habit. Take care to do nothing that lies beyond your powers, but also ensure to leave nothing undone that lies within them. Look beyond the everyday, the momentary, and to set yourself aims and ideals  connected with the highest duties of a human being. For instance, in the sense of the prescribed exercises, to try to develop yourself so that afterwards you may be able all the more to help and advise one’s fellow-men, though perhaps not in the immediate future.

Organ: Spleen
Process: Bones
Color: Blue
Metal: Lead
Tree: Cypress, Fir

On Jupiter:

-"Jupiter is the Thinker in our planetary system, and thinking is the activity cultivated by all the Beings in his cosmic domain. Creative thoughts received from the universe radiate to us from Jupiter. Jupiter contains, in the form of thoughts, all the formative forces for the different orders of cosmic Beings. Whereas Saturn tells of the past, Jupiter gives a living portrayal of what is connected with him in the cosmic present. But what Jupiter reveals to the eye of spirit must be grasped with thoughtful intelligence. If a man does not himself make efforts to develop his capacities of thinking, he cannot, even if he is clairvoyant, approach the mysteries of Jupiter, for they are revealed in the form of thoughts and can be approached only through a genuine activity of thinking. Jupiter is the Thinker in our universe. 

When efforts to bring clarity of thought to bear upon some weighty problem of existence are unsuccessful because of physical, etheric, and especially astral hindrances, the Jupiter Beings come to the help of mankind. A man who has tried hard to apply clear thinking to some problem but cannot get to the root of it, will find, if he is patient and works inwardly at it, that the Jupiter powers will actually help him during the night. And many a one who has found a better solution for some problem during the night, as though out of dream, than during the previous day, would have to admit, if he knew the truth, that it is the Jupiter powers who imbue human thinking with mobility and vigor.

Jupiter is in a certain respect impenetrable and his revelations remain in the unconscious if a man does not bring to them clear and active light-filled thoughts of his own. And that is why in ancient times, when active thinking was still at a very early state of development, the progress of humanity was in truth always dependent upon the relation between Jupiter and Saturn. When Jupiter and Saturn together formed a certain constellation, many things were revealed to our ancestors in those days. Modern man has to depend more upon receiving the memory of Saturn and the wisdom of Jupiter separately in the course of his spiritual development.

Acquaintance with the Beings of the Jupiter-sphere makes a very remarkable impression. — One must of course have passed the age of 56 before this experience is possible. — The first impression is one of astonishment that Beings like those belonging to the Jupiter-sphere can exist at all. — I mean that as a man on earth one is astonished, not as a man between death and rebirth; for then, of course, one is actually connected with these Jupiter Beings. They are Beings who need not ‘learn’ anything, because the moment they take form — I cannot say ‘the moment they are born’ as you will presently see — they are already wise, supremely wise. They are never stupid, never unwise. They are as men on earth would often like to be — men who do not appreciate the blessings of being taught and would prefer to be wise directly they are born. 

These Beings on Jupiter are not ‘born’; they simply arise out of the whole organism of Jupiter. Rather in the way that we see clouds forming out of the atmosphere, so do these Beings arise out of Jupiter, and once they are there they can be regarded as embodied wisdom. Neither do they die; they are merely transformed, they undergo metamorphosis. Jupiter is in essence weaving wisdom. Picture yourselves standing, let us say, on the Rigi, and looking down at the clouds. And now imagine that you are looking, not upon weaving clouds of water-vapor but upon weaving wisdom itself, weaving thought-images which are actually Beings. — Then you will have an impression of Jupiter." - Steiner, Rudolf. Karmic Relationships, Volume II, Lecture XII https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240529p01.html

Archangel/Time-Spirit: Oriphiel
Day of the Week: Saturday

Rotation Around the Sun: 29.55 Years
Spiritual Exercise: Right Opinion.  One should pay special attention to the ideas that arise within the self. Try to consider and think only on significant thoughts as constructive and meaningful. Dismiss passing and fleeting ideas and thoughts. Learn, little by little, to separate the essential from the non-essential, the eternal from the transitory, etc.  Seek to be still inwardly and avoid unfavorable criticisms, rejections, and judgements. Avoid the quick response inwardly to an idea or opinion.

Organ: Spleen
Process: Bones
Color: Blue
Metal: Lead
Tree: Cypress, Fir

On Oriphiel:

(1) "The period in which Anael reigns is the age of love; before him is Oriphiel who brings the wrath of the Gods." -Rudolf Steiner, Esoteric Lessons I, GA 266, Number 22, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA266/English/UNK1998/19071026e01.html

(2) "And when we go even further back, we are approaching more and more the  Mystery of Golgotha, but have not yet reached it. We find there the  reign of Zachariel, who bears the Jupiter forces in his impulses, and  the reign of Anael — with whom we are getting very close to the Mystery  of Golgotha — who bears the Venus forces in his impulses. Then we come  to the time when the brilliance of the Mystery of Golgotha asserted  itself against a profound spiritual darkness on earth — under the reign  of Oriphiel, who bears the Saturn forces in his impulses." -Rudolf Steiner, Lectures to the First Class, Volume III, GA 270, Lecture XX (Recapitulation of Lesson I) https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA270/English/eLib2018c/19240906y01.html

(3)  "Michael's radiant rule will be followed by a dark, terrible age that starts about 2300. Together with Michael, a dark God has begun his rule — the God Mammon (Author's Note: This is another name for "Ahriman"). For occultism Mammon isn't just the God of money. He's the leader of all base, black forces. And his hosts attack men's bodies and souls to corrode and ruin them. There's a lot of talk about bacterial today, and they influence a lot of things. In future they'll increase in a terrifying way, and many human bodies will waste away from terrible diseases and plagues. 

The brand of sin will be stamped on men's bodies for all to see. Another archangel — Oriphiel — will rule then. He must come to shake men up to their true vocation through terrible tortures. So that this can happen in the right way a small group of people must be prepared today to spread esoteric life in the black age 400–600 years from now.

...But when dark powers rage most terribly, the brightest light also shines. Oriphiel has ruled before. That was the time when Christ appeared on earth. Bad powers of degeneration and decadence were ruling everywhere on earth then. And the human race could only be shaken higher by terrible means. Oriphiel is called the archangel of wrath, who purifies mankind with a strong hand.

The story in the Bible where Christ swings a scourge to chase the money changers out of the temple has a deep meaning. Back when things were darkest on earth, Christ appeared as the savior of mankind. Oriphiel's reign ended 109 years after Christ's appearance, and he was replaced by Anael. Then came Zachariel, then Raphael; Samael ruled during the Renaissance and Gabriel from the 16th century until 1879. Then Michael began to rule, and circa 2300 Oriphiel, the terrible archangel of wrath, will be ruling things. And as once before, spiritual light will shine into darkness brightly and radiantly. Christ will appear again on earth, although in a different form than before. We're called upon to receive him and to serve him."   -Rudolf Steiner, Esoteric Lessons I, GA 266, Number 25, München, 12-5-'07, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA266/English/UNK1998/19071205e01.html  *Author: This is an abridged quote. 

On Saturn:

(4) "The nature of Saturn is such that he receives many diverse impulses from the universe but allows none of them to stream back — at all events not to the Earth. Saturn too, of course, is irradiated by the Sun, but what he reflects of the solar rays has no significance for earthly life. Saturn is an entirely self-engrossed heavenly body in our planetary system, raying his own being into the universe. When we contemplate Saturn, he tells us always what he is. Whereas the Moon — contemplated in its external aspect — tells us about everything else in the universe, Saturn tells us nothing at all about the impulses he receives from the universe. He speaks only of himself, tells us only what he himself is. And what he reveals gradually is a kind of memory of the planetary system.

Saturn presents himself to us as the heavenly individuality who has steadfastly participated in whatever has come to pass in our planetary system and has faithfully preserved it in his cosmic memory. He is silent about the cosmic Present. He receives the things of the cosmic Present into himself and works upon them in his life of spirit and soul. True, the hosts of Beings indwelling Saturn lend their attention to the outer universe, but mutely and silently they receive the happenings in the universe into the realm of soul, and they speak only of past cosmic events. That is why Saturn is like a kaleidoscopic memory of our planetary system. As a faithful informant concerning what has come to pass in the planetary system, he holds its secrets of this kind within himself.

The Beings associated with Saturn are Beings who by their very nature take no heed at all of what they do in the immediate present; they act as it were unconsciously, under the sway of much loftier Beings into whose world they enter on reaching maturity. But as soon as they have done something, it stands there in powerful, living remembrance. On Saturn, man is the past, only the past."  - Steiner, Rudolf. Karmic Relationships, Volume II, Lecture XII https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240529p01.html

Comets

In scientific-astronomical terms, comets are theorized to originate by way of two sources; the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt. The Oort cloud is theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetismals surrounding the Sun and can be found at the most distant region of our solar system. The nearest objects in the Oort Cloud are thought to be many times farther from the Sun than the outer reaches of the Kuiper Belt.

The second origination point is theorized to be the Kuiper Belt; a doughnut-shaped region of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is home to Pluto and most of the known dwarf planets and some comets.  Generally speaking, gravitational forces, and collisions, are thought to be the cause of comets as they come to life and make a path through the solar system.

There are two types of comets; (1) long-period comets; which take more than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun and typically originate from the Oort Cloud, and (2) short-period comets; those which take less than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun and originate from the Kuiper Belt. 

From Anthroposophy

(1) "If we take our earth and the sun as representing normal evolutionary stages, the comet has not advanced to this normal stage. It corresponds in our cosmos to the feminine in the human being." -Steiner, Rudolf. Mysteries of the Universe, Comets and the Moon, Lecture IV

(2) “A comet is an assemblage of Kama, desire-substance, without the corresponding spiritual substance. The comet gets as far only as the  astral body. The visibility of comets arises from the powerful friction caused by the astral body passing through etheric substance.” -Steiner, Rudolf. "At the Gates of Spiritual Science", 1970, pg. 146

(3) “Is there perhaps something in our solar system that brings about, as a kind  of mirror-image on earth, the contrast between man and woman? Yes, this  higher polarity can be designated as the contrast between the cometary and lunar natures, between comets and the moon. Just as the contrast of sun - earth is reflected in our head and limbs, so in feminine and masculine is reflected the contrast of comet - moon,” -Steiner, Rudolf. "The Reappearance  of Christ in the Etheric", 1983, pg. 57

(4) "All this hangs together with the laws underlying the movements of Sun, earth, and so on, and the way in which these continue day by day and year by year. Into this regular process, there intervenes the rarer, yet in a certain respect recurrent, appearances of the comets. They come upon the process of Cosmic happenings like a new citizen entering the horizon of man and wife. Through the appearance of a comet in the cosmos, something is actually brought about in the life of humanity which could not occur in the ordinary process of life. 

If evolution is to continue, there must be, not only that which repeats itself day by day, but something new must be introduced into it. Just as something quite special enters the life of a family with the birth of a new earth-citizen, so something quite different enters the progress of the human race on earth through the appearance of a comet, which breaks through the ordinary process of cosmic existence. It is actually as though something new were born, when a comet appears." -Steiner, Rudolf. "The Christ Impulse and the Development of Ego Consciousness", Lecture V,  Correspondences Between the Microcosm and the Macrocosm, Berlin, 9th March, 1910)

(5) "Altogether, we must look upon the comet as a fleeting thing. In relation to Sun and Earth, it is a phenomena of compensation between ponderable and  imponderable matter, a meeting of the two kinds of matter, which do not immediately balance-out as when light extends in air.  

...Follow the comet and its movement. It is a mutual friction of ponderable and imponderable matter that moves through space. It comes into being at every moment and passes away again.”  -Steiner, Rudolf. "The Relation of the Diverse Branches of Natural Science to Astronomy", undated typescript, pp. XVIII, 9-12 emphasis Steiner's. This is an abridged quote.

Sun Spots, Michael, and Comets

(6) "You are, of course, familiar with the phenomenon of the Sunspots which appear with a certain regularity. Dark spots are observed on the Sun. These Sun-spots and their meaning are the cause of much dispute in material science, but a more accurate research would reveal the following. A constant impulse arises from within the Sun to throw out Sun-substance into the Universe through these dark portals. And the Sun-substance thus thrown out appears within our solar system in the form of comets, meteors and shooting stars. 

Now it is particularly in our age that the Beings who rule over the Universe from within the Sun are casting forth these comets, meteors and shooting stars. They did so in earlier times as well, but in our time this activity of theirs has a new significance. You will remember I said how in earlier times it was the purely spiritual impulses in the starry system that were particularly at work. In our time it is the impulses contained in the iron thrown out from the Sun that have special significance for human beings. And these impulses are used by Him whom we know as the Michael Spirit, in the service of the spiritual in the Cosmos." -Dr. Rudolf Steiner, Supersensible Man, Lecture III, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA231/English/APC1961/19231117a01.html

Lunar and Solar Eclipses

(7) "If we consider a lunar eclipse occurring in a certain year, then there will be a certain date when the eclipse can occur. The lunar eclipse occurs on the same date about every 18 years, and in the same constellation. There is a periodical rhythm in the lunar eclipse, a rhythm of 18 years. That is just a quarter of a cosmic day and just a quarter of a man's life. Man, if I may so express it, endures four such periods of darkness. Why? Because in the Universe everything is in numerical harmony. On the average, Man has in accordance with the rhythmic activity of his heart, not only 72 years of life, but 72 pulse beats, and approximately 18 respirations — again the quarter — in the minute. 

This numerical accord is expressed in the Universe by the rhythm between the 18 years — the Chaldean Saros period, so-called because the Chaldeans first discovered it — and the Solar period; and it is the same rhythm as is also to be found in man in the inner mobility between his respiration and his pulse-beats. Plato said, not without reason: ‘God geometrises, arithmetises’... 

Thus our 72 years of life, to which is coordinated also our heart and pulse activity, goes through the Saros period four times; because in our heart and pulse activity we have our breathing activity, as it were, four times over. Our whole human organism is constructed on the lines of the Universe, but we only see into its significance when we bear in mind another connection." -Rudolf Steiner,  

Man — Hieroglyph of the Universe, GA 201, Lecture Fourteen, 14 May 1920, Dornach, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19200514p01.html

(8) "Eclipses of the sun and moon, recurring as they do in the course of every year, may really be looked upon as “safety-valves.” A safety-valve is there to avert danger, to provide an outlet for something or other — steam, for instance — at the right moment. One of the safety-valves which makes its appearance in the cosmos and to which we give the name of a solar eclipse, serves the purpose of carrying out into space in a Luciferic way, the evil that spreads over the earth, in order that evil may work havoc in a wider, less concentrated sphere. 

The other safety-valve, the lunar eclipse, exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. In matters of this kind people do not, as a rule, act in full consciousness, but the facts are nevertheless real — just as real as the attraction of a magnet for small particles of iron. Such are the forces at work, in the cosmos — forces no less potent than the forces we analyse and investigate today in our chemical laboratories." -Rudolf Steiner,  Human Questions and Cosmic Answers, GA 213, 1. Sunlight and Moonlight, Eclipses and Man's Life of the Soul, 25 June 1922, Dornach, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19200514p01.html

Rudolf Steiner: "History of the Solar System" (Audio):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgcH10xD17I 

Rudolf Steiner, "Planetary Spheres and Their Influence on Man's Life on Earth and in the Spiritual Worlds" https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/PlanSphere/PlnSph_index.html

Rudolf Steiner Lecture, "The Universe": https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/Univrs_index.html;mark=549,55,59#WN_mark

Rudolf Steiner Lecture Series, "Human Questions and Cosmic Answers", GA213, 4 Lectures, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA213/English/APC1960/HumCos_index.html

Rudolf Steiner, "The Spiritual Individualities of the Planets", GA228, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19230727p01.html

Rudolf Steiner, "The Alphabet", GA 209, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA209/English/Singles/19211218p01.html

Rudolf Steiner, "Karmic Relationships", Volume II, Lecture XII, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240529p01.html

Essay on Rudolf Steiner's Star Knowledge (R.S.W.Bobbette, 1998): https://wn.rsarchive.org/RelArtic/BobbetteRSW/steiner2_011.html

The Cosmic Feminine Essay (R.S.W.Bobbette, 1998), Regarding the Spiritual Nature of Comets: https://wn.rsarchive.org/RelArtic/BobbetteRSW/steiner2_008.html

Rudolf Steiner's "The relation of the diverse branches of Natural Science to Astronomy" Lecture Series:  https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA323/English/LR81/AstCrs_index.html

Elizabeth Vreede, Anthroposophical/Astrosophy Founder (Book on Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Anthroposophy-Astrology-Astronomical-Letters-Elizabeth/dp/0880104902/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1642963871&refinements=p_27%3AElizabeth+Vreede&s=books&sr=1-1

Willi Sucher Homepage (Astrosophy): https://www.astrosophy.com/

Note:  His works are also available for a free download on the "Free Works" page of this website and on the homepage above.