Planets

In each planetary stage in the evolution of our solar system, planets are created in the different stages to accomodate spiritual beings at various levels of development. Later on they are merged again.

Planets - or better the the planetary symbols in general - describe, and their influences relate to:

• the spiritual communities of beings at different levels of development, other than those of current humanity on Earth
• the large planetary spheres, each with an etheric, astral and spirit perspective. Their individual influences interpenetrate (like russion dolls) and influence all we see in nature's kingdoms on Earth.
• the physical planets or material planetary bodies that we observe with our visual sensory perception and waking consciousness. This is from where we start our naming, thinking and relating to the planets. The physical planets are ahrimanic-material 'indents' in the planetary spheres (see 1912-04-08-GA136 and FMC00.271A).

The spiritual beings corresponding to the planetary spheres have an influence on Earth and humanity. One finds this expressed in the language of astrology, or also in initiation and the evocation of the planetary beings (eg Franz Bardon's second book PME: Practice of Magical Evocation)

Aspects

• The activities of these two categories of higher hierarchies differ from one another as regards the individual planets (1912-04-10-GA136, see Planetary spirit#1912-04-10-GA136; see also Schema FMC00.274):
  • every planet of our planetary system has its own Spirit of Form, its own Spirit of Motion.
  • the activities of the higher hierarchies (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Spirits of Wisdom) are the same for all the individual planets of our planetary system
• In the planetary system we find certain states or conditions through which the Earth also passes (1924-09-09-GA354)
  • Jupiter today represents a condition toward which the Earth is now striving, which it will attain only in the future. It consists almost entirely of air, but somewhat denser than the air of the Earth.
• There are many planets that are not to be seen with physical eyes, such as those in the first, second, and third elementary kingdoms. Only when such a planet within creation enters the mineral kingdom can it be seen. (1907-09-15-GA101)
• naming of the days of the week and link to the names of the planets, see Schema FMC00.558 on Overview of solar system evolution

physical planets

• the current physical planets observed in the solar system were all part of the creation in the current fourth physical CoL of planetary stage Earth (1909-04-18-GA110 and 1909-06-09-GA109 as shown on the middle row in Schema FMC00.298 on Earth rounds perspective)
• process of formation of a planetary body, see 1912-04-08-GA136 below as well as FMC00.271 and FMC00.271A on The two etheric streams
• Bode's law on the relative distance of the planets to the sun and eachother
• lemniscatory planetary orbits
• ratios between planets, oa 2:5 ratio Jupiter and Saturn
• the ring around a planet such as Saturn
  • see 1909-04-18-GA110 for belt formation (in general), and see also FMC00.272 and FMC00.272A on The two etheric streams
  • whereas the inner part of the planet Saturn develops 'illness' in its most radical concentration, the encircling forces surrounding the body bring about 'healing' (1923-11-09-GA230)

solar system 'model'

• in the solar system, the sequence of the planets, and which planets to be considered, depends on the worldview, and is different for the mineral science vs spiritual science worldview and knowledge framework. See also next bullet point and aspect.
  • In mineral science: Uranus, Neptune (and prev. Pluto) are included, and Mercury is closest to the Sun.
  • In spiritual science Uranus, Nepture are not included as part of the regular solar system evolution, and Mercury and Venus are reversed (name and position-wise). See more below in the other aspects.
• planets as part of our solar system - different sequences of the planetary bodies in the Ptolemaic and Copernican models
  • Ptolemaic model: Earth at the center and everything in the universe revolves around the Earth. The Sun and Moon are also regarded as 'planets' (because really planetary spheres with spiritual beings and their influences are meant). Planet closest to the Sun is called Venus, planet closest to Earth is Mercury in this spiritual scientific model.
  • Copernican model: Sun at the center and planets revolve around the Sun. Planet closest to the Sun is called Mercury, planet closest to Earth is Venus in this more physical-materialistic scientific model.
  • in the many lectures, Rudolf Steiner uses both models (and hence sequences). When the spiritual influences are described, the Ptolemaic esoteric sequence is always used. In some lectures however no attention is given to the sequence and the planets are just described in the Copernican sequence (eg 1924-06-07-GA327). In various lectures, different qualifications are given pointing to the differences between both models, both for the sequence of the planets and the Mercury/Venus naming.

the different planets

• Mercury and Venus 'reversal' in the sequence of the planets from the Sun
  • "in the course of time a change has taken place in the names of these two planets. The planet that is called Mercury today was formerly Venus, and the planet called Venus today was formerly called Mercury. Therefore you should think of these designations reversed, so that they do not correspond with current astronomical designations. The planet lying nearer the Sun must be known as Venus and the planet lying farther away from the Sun must be known as Mercury." (1910-03-22-GA119)
  • this reversal happened in order to conceal certain things (1908-09-05-GA106) at the time the worldview was changed from the Ptolemaic to the Copernican system (1909-04-15-GA110 and 1921-05-05-GA204)
• planetoids - see Planetoid belt
• Uranus and Neptune
  • were added later to our solar system, they do not belong to the regular solar system evolution (1909-04-15-GA110, 1909-04-18-GA110 quote B, 1912-04-08-GA136, 1917-03-13-GA175)
  • Uranus is a sphere for a community of being that were so young in their evolution (at the start of the solar system evolution for the Earth) that they scarcely fitted to take part in further development of our regular solar system evolution. Uranus is the sphere for beings which had to remain at a very backward stage ... and has "but slight connection with earthly existence" (1908-02-15-GA102)
  • astrologers still have an inkling that their influence are beyond anything personal (1924-04-23-GA323)

Vulcan

• see Vulcan

Venus

• current Venus is esoteric Mercurius
  • and the number 5 (see Book of Ten Pages) - pattern of orbit as seen from earth showing five petals, perigee and apogee defined by two pentagrams

Mercurius

• current Mercurius is esoteric Venus

Mars

• substance and nature of the planet
  • Mars is as a large globe cooled down to the density of waters (1909-04-17-GA110)
  • Mars is not densely solid as earth is solid today, it consists of a more or less fluid mass, not as fluid as water but more like a sort of jelly. There are also dense components, but tnot as densely solid as on Earth. (1924-09-09-GA354)
• canals:
  • on Mars there is something rather similar to our trade winds, only the air currents on Mars are much more full of life, much more watery .. currents of fluid, watery air. You know that on the earth today, the trade winds blow from the south to the north, from the north to the south. These streamings were once much denser than the air; they were currents of fluid, watery air: so it is on Mars today. (1924-09-09-GA354)
• beings
  • beings from Mars visiting Earth - see quotes by Daskalos on Extra terrestrial intelligences
  • “human beings” on Mars are as they were on the earth at that time, still without bones (1924-09-09-GA354)
• evolutionary stage
  • Mars is like what the Earth was like in a much earlier age, it's in a condition similar to that of the Earth in an earlier epoch. Everything on Mars is much more full of life than on the earth .. everything is still more or less living. (1924-09-09-GA354)
  • Mars of today is a repetition of Old Moon. It stands on the same place to which the boundary of the ancient Moon extended. It is the other part of Old Moon; one part is our own Moon, which is but a shell; but the living part of it, which represents its other pole is Mars. (1909-04-17-GA110)

Saturn

• Saturn is a body made of the substance of warmth. The ring formations of Saturn also arise because of this, because with each Saturn we have to do with a neutral space of warmth, a stratum of soul's warmth, and with one of physically cognisable warmth. (1909-04-17-GA110)

planetary spheres and their influences

• in contemporary culture this is also referred to sometimes as the celestial spheres (re wikipedia page for celestial spheres). The celestial spheres also included the zodiac, but were mainly the planetary spheres including sun and moon
  • from wikipedia: "the spheres were the fundamental entities of the cosmological models developed by Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and others".
  • see also Schema FMC00.536
• for the planetary influences, see:
  • Overview Golden Chain (eg Schema FMC00.260)
  • astrology, and the planetary hours schedule of spiritual influences as used in alchemy
• see also the seven metals and their planetary correspondences

planetary influences on the plant kingdom

• see plant kingdom and Plant kingdom#References and further reading, as well as Planets#Working on plant kingdom

planetary influences on the human being

• planets in astrology: in astrology planets and zodiac signs, and houses, represent a kind of symbolic psychological language for the inner constitution of the psyche or soul
• spiritual identity of outer and inner planets: 'destiny-determining' planets and 'liberating' or 'human-inwardly-freeing' planets (1923-07-27-GA228)
  • Sun: interweaving life of destiny and freedom - creates harmony between the liberating and the destiny-determining planets.
  • Mars
  • Jupiter: the thinker - spiritual beings are helpers of human nature for the unfolding of human wisdom.
  • Saturn: guardian of memory - the human being owes all that he has of the universe’s soul-spiritual past.
• correspondence between planets and organs:
  • already to be found in ao Paracelsus
  • moon <-> brain; venus <-> kidneys; mercury <-> lungs; sun <-> heart; mars <-> gall (bladder); jupiter <-> liver; saturn <-> spleen
  • see also Schema FMC00.161 on seven life processes, and compare with Schema FMC00.160 on spiritual scientific physiology

planets as communities of spiritual beings - evocation

• correspondence of realm of influence of the various spiritual hierarchies and the planetary spheres
  • see Franz Bardon's book PME Part II Chapters 4 to 11 for names, descriptions, and seals for evocation
    • 28 principals of lunar sphere, 72 genii of mercurian zone, 90 venusian intelligences, 36 intelligences of the martian sphere, 12 genii of the jupiter sphere, 49 intelligences of the saturn sphere
• see also:
  • Planets hosting beings at various stages of evolution

various other aspects

• see also Schema FMC00.508 on Interpenetration of astral and spirit worlds

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.003: provides an overview of the Earth embedded further into the planetary spheres.

Schema FMC00.536: illustrates a spiritual scientific cosmogony with various representations dating from the middle ages. The various spheres represent the planes or worlds of consciousness with the seven planetary spheres and the fixed stars, the spiritual hierarchies and the Logos or 'god'.

This representation takes the human kingdom perspective on Earth as the center, and shows how creation is made up of these spiritual hierarchies and their influences from the various worlds. It is therefore a graphical way to depict, in a single picture, a worldview and understanding of the make up of the cosmos and what underlies the Cosmic fractal. All images position creation: Man and humanity (with the kingdoms of nature and Earth), in a frame (with God the creator and) main elements: (1) the planetary spheres modulating (2) zodiacal spiritual influences, as linked to (3) the spiritual hierarchies. This puts Man at the center of divine creation, solar system and cosmos, being the crown of creation rather than just another speck in the wide empty universe, as is the case in the contemporary materialistic worldview of mineral science.

Sources and commentary on the full-sized versions will be added on the Schema variants and topic page (to be added).

Lecture coverage and references

Overview coverage

In the 1990s, Rick Bobbette produced an introductory overview from Rudolf Steiner lectures. Though his website pages went offline, a copy is on rsarchive, see here. For the planets, see the three subsections on that page.

The relevant references on Mercury-Venus and Uranus-Neptune were checked against and/or included if missing, in the section below.

Reference extracts

1907-09-15-GA101

Everything visible in creation stands in the sign of the four. There are many planets that are not to be seen with physical eyes, such as those in the first, second, and third elementary kingdoms. Only when such a planet within creation enters the mineral kingdom can it be seen. Four is, therefore, the number of the cosmos or of creation. With the entrance into the fourth condition a being becomes fully visible to eyes that can see external things.

1909-04-15-GA110

Certainly one has built upon it all sorts of world systems, the Kant-Laplace system, for instance; but there one reaches a point where there were continual discoveries, a point which is no more scientifically quite honest. For later on, by purely physical observation, two planets have been added to it — we have not touched on them yet, but later we will show what they signify for our system — these are Uranus and Neptune. When one describes this world system one certainly should turn people's attention to the fact that in reality these two planets Uranus and Neptune, very much impair the truth of the calculation. If one accepts the Kant-Laplace system, then, according to it, Uranus and Neptune should move with their moons as the other moons move around the other planets. But they do not; we even have among those outer planets, these two lately discovered planets, one which behaves in a very strange way. In reality, if the Kant-Laplace system is correct, somebody must, after having split off the rest of the planets, [have] turned the axis in such a way that it revolved at 90°, for its course is different from that of the other planets. These two differ greatly from the other planets of our solar systems. We shall see later how it is with them, but now we simply call attention to the fact that with the Copernican system we have only to do with a calculation, with something established as an hypothesis, as an assumption, at a time when man had gone completely adrift from the perception of spiritual co-relations and of what lies spiritually at the foundation of external happenings. But the old Ptolemaic system is not merely a physical system, it is one which was still derived from spiritual observation, when one knew that planets are boundary marks for certain realms where the higher Beings held sway. We must design our whole solar planetary system in a different way if we are to characterise these realms of control correctly.

1909-04-17-GA110

quote A

When you consider Saturn, you would be quite mistaken if you imagined it to be a globe such as could be compared with any other world's globe, with Jupiter or Mars, for instance. What is there is nothing more than a space of warmth. And you can see it in the way you do only because you are looking at it through an illuminated space of light. Just think, how would a thing that is unilluminated appear if you looked at it through a space full of light? It would appear bluish to you. You can observe this with common candle-light; it looks blue in the middle and around it there is a kind of radiance. I say this, being conscious that I run the danger of appearing to be talking nonsense in the opinion of the whole school of mechanical optics of modern times. But it is a fact. Modern physics does not know why the whole space of heaven appears blue. It seems blue, because in reality it is dark, is black, and is seen through illuminated space. All that is dark, seen through light, appears blue. Therefore, Saturn seems a blue globe when you look at it. All that has been said agrees completely with the facts of science, but not with the fanciful theories which are imagined. It would lead us too far if I explained to you why the ring formations of Saturn also arise because of this, because with each Saturn we have to do with a neutral space of warmth, a stratum of soul's warmth, and with one of physically cognisable warmth. Thus the illusion arises, when one observes those different strata through illuminated space; it is as if one saw a globe of gas with a sort of ring of dust around it; it is but an optical delusion, for Saturn is today but a body made of the substance of warmth.

quote B

• Each 'Saturn' must be regarded. as a being consisting of warmth substance, and everything connected with it is to be explained from that standpoint.
• Each 'Jupiter', which is nothing else than a solar stage of development, is a form consisting of gas and warmth. So it is with the Jupiter of today which is a repetition of the former Jupiter, the ancient Sun. Certainly the conditions of space and motion do somewhat change. For the Jupiter of to-day is not on the same spot as the former one was, but essentially it is the same.
• Now we go further and must explain Mars in the same way. We must explain it as a large globe cooled down to the density of waters, and we must also see in it a point, where a ball of compressed water has formed, and become differentiated from the surrounding much thinner water. It is formed by the same process, as Jupiter, all the single balls of water which are produced on its circumference are at a certain point again brought to a standstill. Just as the movement is hindered on Saturn by the Lion, on Jupiter or the Sun by the Scorpion, which brings death, so on Mars these balls of water are also stopped; only the details are a little different on Mars. The Mars of today is a repetition of Old Moon. It stands on the same place to which the boundary of the ancient Moon extended. It is the other part of Old Moon; one part is our own Moon, which is but a shell; but the living part of it, which represents its other pole is Mars.
  • When speaking of Mars as the third condition of our planetary development, this condition corresponds to that of the ancient Moon. Mars was essentially a body of water. On Mars, or Old Moon — call it as you will — the astral body was organised into man, so that he received his first consciousness. The body of that man consisted of the moon substance or moon-water. Just as the body of the man of to-day is formed out of the substance of the Earth, so was the body of the man of that day formed of fire, air, and water. According to the densest substance in him, you might have called that man the water-man. He became this especially, because the astral body was infused into him. He was not yet a man with an I, but a man with astral endowments. This entrance of the astral took place because, at a certain place, the stimulus was again given. Then what was on the circumference moved round and returned to the place where it had started from. This was the region of the Zodiac which is designated as the Waterman. So that you have to see in the Waterman that sign of the Zodiac which gave consciousness to man on the ancient Moon or ancient Mars after he had circled once around its circumference..

And now we pass on to the earth, this is the fourth evolutionary condition. The first three are a repetition one of the other; a Saturn is formed, then a Sun is formed, and leaves behind it a Jupiter; a Moon is formed, and leaves behind it a Mars; and last the earth appears, and all those things I have described; the departure from it of the Sun, and of that dross-like part which is our present Moon. You know that the first foundation for the Ego was prepared in old Lemuria, when the present Moon separated from the earth. This was only possible because once again from the surrounding circumference the impulse to rotation was given. Then, that which had received the stimulus, after having rotated once, was ripe to receive the earliest beginnings of the Ego germ. This happened in Lemurian times, and we here point to that part of the Zodiac which is called the Bull, the reason for this being, that man, during the time these names were given, had very concrete and very clear feelings. This name originated in the Mystery teachings of Egypt and Chaldea. It is there that the origin of this designation is to be found, and it is only in real Occultism that the consciousness of the true significance of the Word exists at the present day. The first stirring of ‘I am’ finds expression in speech, in tone; but all tone-formation is related in a certain way which cannot be touched on here, but which every Occultist knows, and which may be explained some time in more intimate lectures; all tone formation has a very definite relation to the processes of propagation, which you can perceive in the fact that the voice of the male changes when sex maturity is reached. There is here a hidden correspondence. All that is associated with these faculties and processes of the human being, was comprised, for ancient consciousness, in the bull nature of man. And. the name given to that particular constellation has its origin in the fact that it has now the same importance for the earth which Lion had for Saturn, Scorpion for the Sun, and Waterman for the Moon. With the Egyptian age, came the third post-Atlantean period of civilisation. The first was the old Indian, the second the old Persian, the third the Egyptian. These periods of civilisation are the corresponding repetitions — as we have often repeated — of the whole processes of development of the earth. The Lemurian epoch was the third epoch of the earth. Therefore Egyptian Occultism repeats in a spiritual reflection the essential parts of the occurrences of Lemurian times. That which happened in Lemurian tunes was best known by the Egyptian mystery priests, for it is reflected in the special features of the Egyptian civilisation. Therefore the culture of Egypt was closely related to the constellation of the Bull, and to the cult of the Bull generally.

Thus you see, that it is not all so easy to indicate the real events which happened during the origin of our heavenly bodies, and all connected with them. For how do celestial bodies originate? Our Saturn, our Jupiter, our Mars have in fact originated thus, that at first spheres were formed on them. One after the other of these is killed, and when nothing more is called into life, all the spherical forms, which previously constituted the shells, finally mass together into a body, and this becomes the visible Planet. In fact, any such celestial body as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, originated thus, that at first a kind of shell was formed. This shell, through the agglomeration of the special forms, was condensed to that formation which then is revealed visibly in space. You have here no mechanical process taken from the dreary Kant-Laplace theory about the world's creation, but you have the living origins of those formations springing from the spiritual interaction of the Hierarchies, as we see them to-day in the heavenly bodies, in Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.

1909-04-18-GA110

is a key lecture to understand the physical planets of our current solar system

quote A

Thus we see, that the planets of the present day which are visible to us in the heavens must be thought of as having originated during the time which we call the fourth period of the evolution of the Earth.

In speaking of Old Saturn, I spoke of a globe of fire or of a large fiery egg, and then of a revolving motion. And it was in fact originally a sort of ball or egg. Whilst that globe, which corresponds to the very first Old Saturn condition, is revolving, the following is gradually formed: it acquires a sort of girdle, which does not surround the whole egg, but which is there as a sort of broad band. And within that belt these single forms collect which are being formed all around.

(Diagram.)

This belt formation is a general Cosmic law. This law - which rests on an accumulation in the form of an equator or belt - you can see exemplified in the Cosmos, as far as your sight can reach, in the Milky Way, which owes its existence to that law. When you look at the Milky Way, stretching like an external belt around the heavens, with the stars shining sparsely in between, you must think of its being the result of that law which causes things to draw together into a belt as soon as a rotatory process begins.

Our world system, as we have it, has really the form of a bean; it is not round, as is usually accepted, and the belt is drawn around as a distant equator.

You must also think of such a belt when a planet originates.

If - trivially speaking - one took an egg desiring to make a diagram on it of these various conditions, one would have first to paint such a belt around it, with red if you like. One would not paint the whole egg red, but only just a belt. Along this belt assemble those bodies which were selected to form later a heavenly body. One would have to draw on it a point where all these were gathered together.

Quote B

That which happened in the beginnings of our evolution, before the Saturn development, we must place outside, beyond the Zodiac. Primeval wisdom called it the Crystal Heaven, and in that crystal heaven were deposed all the deeds of the Beings of a former evolution. They formed, so to speak, the foundation on which the new Beings began to create.

As we said before, all this is extremely difficult for the modern mind to understand, because it is in the habit of considering matter only, and because it is not in the habit of conceiving that outside of three dimensional space matter can disappear and re-appear at another place after it has passed through other dimensions. You cannot grasp this so long as your ideas remain in the space of three dimensions; for this goes beyond the three dimensions. Therefore, it cannot be seen until it returns again from the other side into the space of three dimensions. In the meantime, it is in other dimensions.

It is a thing which we have to grasp; for the conditions of our world's origin have manifold connections, and something which is to be found in some one place may often have a complicated connection with something else which is in quite a different place outside three dimensional space.

We have said that our planetary formation began with the ancient Saturn, and it really did begin then. It then advanced to Jupiter. When the whole creation of Jupiter began, all the Beings in the surrounding space also took part in it as you know. But just as all the Beings who are active within the whole expanse of our planetary system are developing further, so also are the Beings outside our system, those who are sending in their influence from surrounding spaces. As some of the surrounding Beings withdrew, so did also some of the Beings who were outside in universal spaces; some of these also withdrew; and as Jupiter contracted, something was also withdrawn by the Beings who retired, something which had nothing to do with our evolution at all, but which along with the withdrawing Beings formed first Uranus, and then Neptune during the Mars development. The names of Uranus and Neptune were, of course, not chosen to suit the subjects in the way the Ancients chose names; although in the name Uranus some meaning still is left; it was given when people still had some feeling for the meaning of names; therefore, all that lies outside our circle was generically called Uranus.

Thus we see that the two planets which our astronomers of the present day consider as having the same significance as the other planets stand on a totally different footing, and fundamentally speaking have nothing to do with the creation of our world; they represent those worlds which have come into existence because Beings who, during the Saturn period, still had something to do with us, have withdrawn and have found their places of habitation outside our world. We shall gather other facts from this, for instance, that those planets have retrograding moons, and so on.

in DE:

Wir haben gesagt, unsere Planetenbildung begann mit dem alten Saturn. So hat sie auch wirklich begonnen. Dann schritt sie weiter bis zum Jupiter. Als nun die ganze Schöpfung am Jupiter anging, da waren, wie Sie wissen, alle die Wesen des Umkreises auch dabei tätig. Aber geradeso wie die Wesen innerhalb der ganzen Verteilung des Planetensystems wirken und sich fortentwickeln, so auch die Wesen da draußen, die aus dem Urukreis hereinwirken. Wie also sich gewisse Wesenheiten von innen her zurückziehen, so ziehen sich auch von denen, die da draußen sind im Weltenraume, gewisse Wesenheiten zurück. Und geradeso wie zusammengedrängt worden ist der Jupiter, so wurde auch zusammengedrängt durch Wesen­heiten, die sich zurückzogen, etwas, was mit unserer Entwickelung nichts zu tun hat, sondern was, mit sich zurückziehend Wesenheiten, zunächst der Uranus und, während der Marsentwickelung, der Neptun geworden ist. Die Namen Uranus und Neptun sind natür­lich nicht mehr in der Weise gewählt, wie die Alten ihre Namen für die Sache passend gewählt haben, obwohl gerade im Namen Uranus noch ein Sinn ist. Er ist ja gegeben worden, als man noch eine kleine Ahnung hatte von der richtigen Namengebung, deshalb hat man dasjenige, was außerhalb unseres Kreises liegt, zusammen­gefaßt unter dem Namen Uranus.

1909-06-09-GA109

see also Schema FMC00.298 on Earth rounds perspective

During the recapitulation of the Saturn embodiment, Uranus, Vulcan and Saturn separated from the Earth.

During the recapitulation of the Sun embodiment, Jupiter and Mars separated.

After the sun had left the Earth, Mercury and Venus separated from it.

After the separation of the sun, the Earth cast out the moon.

The dispersal of Old Moon was brought about by the forces of the progressed beings who drew out the solar body, while the normal and retarded beings produced the moon circling around it. In all the mysteries these happenings were called the strife in heaven. The detached planetoids are the ruins of that battlefield. It is here that the primal secret of the origin of evil must be sought.

1912-04-08-GA136

The lecture of 1912-04-08-GA136 describes how a physical planet emerges at the boundary of two opposing spiritual influences. The lecture focuses on the hollow indent produced by the luciferic SoF, it does not go into how that hollow is filled with mineral matter due to the ahrimanic influences.

If you consider the planets — Mars, Saturn or Jupiter for instance — which are outside in cosmic space; as you see them with your physical eyes, or with the telescope, you have in the form revealed to you, not merely the Spirits of Form. Let us take, for example, the planet which for a long period of time, has been reckoned as the outermost one in our system; Uranus and Neptune were added later, as we shall see; but to begin with we will consider Saturn as the outermost. If we look at Saturn with physical vision we find him outside in cosmic space, a sort of luminous globe (leaving his rings out of the question). To the spiritual scientist who follows the spiritual events in the cosmos, this globe which is seen out there is not what the occultist calls Saturn; to him Saturn is that which fills the whole space bounded by the apparently elliptical orbit of Saturn.

You know that astronomy describes an orbit of Saturn which it interprets as the path of Saturn round the Sun. We will not at present discuss the accuracy of that statement, but if you take this accepted concept and here in the center imagine the Sun (S), and the outer circle as the orbit of Saturn, as astronomy conceives it, then everything which is within this orbit of Saturn, within the ellipse of Saturn, is to the occultist Saturn. For to him not only is that which the external eye sees as the most external physical matter, Saturn; not only that which gleams in the heavens, for the occultist knows, occult vision teaches him that, as a matter of fact, a sort of accumulation exists which extends from the Sun to the orbit of Saturn (a,a,a, in the diagram). So that if with occult vision we regard this orbit of Saturn, we have a sort of etheric filling in of the whole space: (the wide crosslines). That which lies within this orbit we must think of as filled with matter, not however in the form of a globe, for we have to do with a very flattened ball, a lens. Looked at from the side, we should if we had the Sun at (S¹) have to draw the Saturn of the occultist thus: — as a much flattened ball, and at (a¹), would be that which is designated the physical Saturn.

We shall understand still better what is in question if we add an idea which we can gain in a similar manner from occult science with regard to Jupiter. External physical astronomy knows as Jupiter that shining body which revolves round the Sun as the second planet (the inner circle). That to the occultist, is not Jupiter: to him, Jupiter is all that lies within the orbit of Jupiter (narrow sloping lines). Looked at from the side, we should have to draw Jupiter so that if we put wide sloping lines for Saturn, we can put narrow sloping lines for Jupiter. That which astronomy describes is only a body (bl) which is, so to speak, on the outermost limits of the true occult Jupiter.

What I am here saying is not a mere theoretical idea or fancy, the fact actually is, that matter, not coarse physical matter but fine etheric matter, fills the space within the orbit of Saturn in its lenticular, flattened, ball-like form, as drawn here. It is just as much a fact that the second smaller space for Jupiter is filled with a different etheric substance which permeates the first; so that there is simple etheric substance only between the two orbits; within, the two etheric substances permeate one another, mutually permeate one another.

Now let us ask: What is the task of the Spirits of Form in this whole disposition?

That Spirit of Form which forms the basis of Saturn, sets a boundary, gives form to this etheric substance which in an occult sense we call Saturn. Thus the outermost line in the formation of Saturn has been shaped by the Spirit of Saturn, which is also a Spirit of Form. In the same way the line of Jupiter was formed by the Spirit of Form allotted to Jupiter; the line of Mars by the Spirit of Mars, which is a Spirit of Form. Now we may ask:

Where then actually dwells the Spirit of Form which corresponds to Saturn, or Jupiter, or Mars? If we can speak of a place in which these beings are, where is this place?

In the ordinary sense of the word we cannot so do; we can only say: The spiritual beings which we call the Spirits of Form work as forces within the etheric substance I have just mentioned; but they all have a common center, and this is none other than the Sun. Thus if we seek for the actual place whence the Spirits of Form work, the Spirits of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, etc., as also the Spirit of Form belonging to our Earth — if we seek for the center, the starting point from which the Spirits of Form work — we find it in the Sun. That means that the Spirits of Form corresponding to our planets, comprise, as it were, a synod or council of Spirits, having its seat in the Sun, and from there sets boundaries to certain etheric substances, certain masses of ether, so that what we call occult Saturn, occult Jupiter, comes into being. Now let us ask:

How would it be if the Spirits of Form alone were to work?

1921-01-15-GA323

explains that inner planets are within space and polar coordinates, but outer planets such as mars and jupiter require etheric counterspace coordinates - see Mathemathics of the etheric (SWCC)

In like manner you must proceed if you are trying to understand the curves formed in the Heavens by the apparent paths of Venus and Mercury on the one hand, Jupiter and Mars on the other, I mean quite simply the apparent paths as we observe them with our eyes, — the loops and all.

If you use polar coordinates for example, then for the loop of Venus you may make the origin of your coordinate system in three-dimensional space. Here you can do so.

But you will not come to terms with reality if you adopt the same principle when examining the curve of Mars. In this case you must start from the ideal premise that the origins of any relevant system of polar coordinates will be outside three-dimensional space. You are obliged to take the coordinates in this way. In the former case you may start from the pole of the coordinate system, taking coordinates in the normal way, as in Figure 6.

But if you do this for the one planetary curve — say for the path of Venus with its loop — you will do equal justice to the paths of Jupiter or Mars with their loops, only by saying to yourself: This time I will not pre-suppose a polar-coordinate system with an origin such that I always have to add a piece to get the polar-coordinates, as in Figure 6. No, I will take as origin of my polar-coordinate system the encompassing Sphere (Fig. 6a), i.e. what is there behind it, indeterminately far. Then I get such coordinates as these (dotted lines), where in each case, instead of adding, I must leave so much out. The curve I then obtain also has something like a centre, but the centre is in the infinite sphere.

It might prove necessary then, for more profound research into the paths of the planets, that we make use of this idea:

• In constituting the paths of the inner planets we must indeed attribute to these paths some centre or other within ordinary space.
• But if we want to think of centres for the path of outer planets such as Mars or Jupiter and so on, we must go right outside this ordinary space.

We have to overcome space; we must transcend it. If you are conscientious in your efforts to comprehend the phenomena, the mere ideas of three-dimensional space will not suffice. You must envisage the interplay of two kinds of space.

• One of them, with the ordinary three dimensions, may be conceived as issuing radially from a central point.
• The other, which is all the time annulling and extinguishing the first, may not be thought of as issuing from a point at all. It must be thought of as issuing from the encompassing sphere — that is, the sphere infinitely far away. While in the former case the "point" is of zero areas which it turns outward, and a point with the area of an infinite spherical surface which it turns inward. Geometrically it may suffice to conceive the notion of a point abstractly. In the realm of reality it will not. We shall not do justice to reality with the mere notion of an abstract point. In every instance we must ask whether the point we are conceiving has its curvature turned inward or outward; its field of influence will be according to this.

But you must think still farther, there is a another thing.

1922-06-30-GA213

The relation of the planets to the human organism

1923-07-27-GA228

Spiritual identity of planets: 'destiny-determining' planets and 'liberating' or 'human-inwardly-freeing' planets

(SWCC)

Today I want to clarify certain deep world-mysteries, the knowledge of which has been lost in modern civilization.

[Jupiter]

When a person attempts to fathom any of the significant enigmatic questions concerning the possibilities of his own being, and then comes up against human physical and etheric obstacles, and especially when he comes up against human astral obstacles, and he is on the wrong tack, then the beings of Jupiter step in and help him.

The beings of Jupiter are really the helpers of human nature for the unfolding of human wisdom.

And whomever has properly tried to work out in clear thinking an enigmatic question of the possibilities of his own being, and cannot come to a groundbreaking insight, if the person patiently keeps it in mind and continues to work on it, he finds that the Jupiter beings actually help him during the night.

And many who have come to a better understanding of a day-riddle at night, as if out of a dream, many would have to admit, if they were really to look at the truth, that the Jupiter-powers bring spirited animated impetus into human thinking, if I may so depict it.

To Jupiter the human being owes all that he really knows of the universe’s present spiritual state.

[Saturn]

To Saturn the human being owes all that he has of the universe’s soul-spiritual past. As therefore Saturn is the guardian of memory of the universe, Jupiter is the thinker of the universe.

It was due to intuition that it was normal in ancient Greece, where people lived intimately with the presence of spirit, it was normal then to hold Jupiter in high honor. A stimulus to the whole development of the human being is given also through the part played by Jupiter in the cycle of the year.

You all know that as far as his apparent movement is concerned, Saturn moves slowly, very slowly, round his orbit, taking some 30 years. Jupiter moves faster, taking about 12 years.

Because of this quicker movement Jupiter is able to bring satisfaction to Man's need for wisdom more quickly.

And when in a certain sense a person’s destiny is expressed in the World-All, when at that very time there exists a special relationship between Jupiter and Saturn, then there may come into a person’s destiny a wonderful illuminated glimpse, in which, with thinking, much will be revealed in the present concerning the past.

But, as already said, 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 thinking of his own.

[Sun]

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 elements of destiny-necessity and 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 solar warmth.

... We can grasp the nature of the Sun only when we know something of its nature of soul and spirit.

[editor: see Threefold Sun]

In that realm, it is the power which imbues warmth in the element of necessity in destiny,

which transmutes destiny into freedom in its flame,

and if freedom is misused, which 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 World-All,

and at the same time the Sun is the substance, as condensed ashes, in which misused freedom is molded into destiny, until destiny itself can become luminous and pass over into the flame of freedom.

1923-11-09-GA230

(SWCC)

.. try to gain an idea of what may be studied in regard to that cosmic body which, as the spiritual object most deserving of study, is situated at the outer boundary of our planetary system.

• In the centre of this body we find those forces concealed which, if you think of them as concentrated upon the Earth, are the illness-inducing forces, and
• surrounding this same body the encircling forces reveal themselves as the forces which bring about healing.

Anyone sensitive to such things will see encircling health in the rings of Saturn, and this in a more distinct way than it can be perceived in what surrounds the Earth, because there we stand in the midst of it.

A Saturn ring is something essentially different from what astronomers have to say about it. It is encircling health, where-as the inner part of Saturn develops illness; it is the illness-inducing element seen in its most radical concentration.

Thus we see in Saturn, which is situated at the outer-most boundary of our planetary system, the very same process at work which we continually bear within ourselves through our digestive and circulatory organism. But we also find, when we look at all this, that our spiritual gaze is directed further to the worlds of the first and second hierarchy, to the beings of the second hierarchy (H2) and to the beings of the first hierarchy (H1). If with our spiritual eye we are attentive to Saturn and its ring, we shall be led to these upper hierarchies, as they survey with satisfaction the illness-inducing and health-restoring processes.

1924-04-23-GA323

The planetary system as it is today is really an inorganic structure because as far as Saturn [Translator's note: In the German, the text gives Jupiter, but the sense appears to indicate Saturn.] it came out of what was once a single cosmic body, whereas Uranus and Neptune came from beyond and joined themselves to it. As antiquity did not discover Uranus and Neptune, Saturn was taken to be the outermost planet and it is still justifiable today to go as far as Saturn.

Astrologers still have an inkling of these things for they connect Uranus and Neptune only with those human qualities which transcend the personal, make a man a genius, go beyond the individual personal element — where he is concerned with things that no longer have to do with his personal development. All astrological statements are to this effect. Uranus and Neptune only come into play when a man becomes a genius or strives to transcend the human element, when his organization has the tendency to expand or decay too strongly.

Uranus and Neptune are planets who have behaved like tramps in the universe and were then held captive by the planetary system belonging to our earth.

The near and the far heavenly bodies regulate what is in the human being — the moon regulates his form, Saturn — working from the earth — the formless spiritual, inasmuch as Saturn breaks down form, dissolves it inwardly all the time. And the sun brings about rhythm between the two.

1924-09-09-GA354

Written question: Mars is near the earth. What effect does that have upon the earth? What is known about Mars?

Dr. Steiner: There has been a great deal of talk recently about the nearness of Mars to the earth, and the newspapers have made utterly futile statements without even a rudimentary understanding of what this means. We must not attach prime importance to these external circumstances in the planetary constellations due to the relative positions of earth and sun, because the influences arising from them do not really amount to very much. It is interesting that there has been all this talk about the proximity of Mars, because every planet, including the moon, is constantly coming nearer to the earth, and the planets are undergoing a process that will finally end in all of them uniting again with the earth, forming a single body.

Of course, if it is imagined, as most people imagine today, that the planets are solid bodies just like the earth, the expectation could well be that if they were to unite with the earth, this would mean the end of all life on our globe! But no such thing will happen, because the degrees of density of the various planets are not the same as that of the Earth.

If Mars, for instance, were actually to come down and unite with the earth, it would not be able to lay waste the land but only to inundate it. For as far as investigation is possible — it can never be done with physical instruments but only through spiritual science, spiritual vision

[Mars]

Mars consists primarily of a more or less fluid mass, not as fluid as our water but, shall we say, more like the consistency of jelly, or something of that kind. There are also dense components, but they are not as densely solid as those of our earth. Their consistency would be more comparable to that of the antlers or horns of our animals, which form out of the general mass and dissolve back into it again. So we must realize that the constitution of Mars is entirely different from that of our earth.

Now a great deal is said about “canals” existing on Mars. But why “canals”? There is nothing to be seen except lines, and these are called canals. In one sense that is correct, but in another, incorrect. As Mars is not solid to the degree that the earth is solid, one cannot, of course, speak of canals as we know them on the earth. But it can be said that on Mars there is something rather similar to our trade winds. You know that the warm air from the Torrid Zone of the earth, from Africa, streams toward the cold North Pole, and the air from the cold North Pole streams back toward the central region of the earth. So that if looked at from outside, such lines would indeed be seen, but they are the lines of the trade winds, of the air currents in the trade winds. There is something rather similar on Mars.

Only everything on Mars is much more full of life than on the earth. The earth is a dead planet in a far stronger sense than Mars, on which everything is still more or less living.

I want to mention something that can help you to understand the character of Mars' relation to the earth. We know that the sun, to us the most important of all the heavenly bodies, is the sustainer of a very great deal on the earth. Think of the sun as we know it from day to day. At night you see the plants drawing in their blossoms because the sun is not shining on them. By day they open again to be irradiated by the sun. Very many things depend upon the spread of sunlight over one part of the earth and the spread of darkness over another part when the sun is not there. But if you think of a whole year, you could not conceive of the plants growing in the spring if the sun's power did not return. Again, when the sun loses power in the autumn, the plants fade away, all life dies and snow falls.

Quite obviously, life on the earth is connected with the sun. Indeed, we humans would be unable to breathe the air around us if the sun were not there, if the rays of the sun did not make the air suitable for us to breathe. The sun is undeniably the most important heavenly body for us. Just think what a different story it would be if the sun were not-as it appears-to go around the earth every twenty-four hours but instead took twice that time! All life would be slower. So all life on earth depends upon the revolution of the sun around the earth. In reality, of course, the sun does not revolve around the earth, but that is how it appears.

The influence of the moon is of less significance for man, but nevertheless it is there. When you remember that the tides ebb and flow according to the moon, that they have the same rhythm as the moon's revolution, you will realize with what kind of power the moon works upon the earth. And then it will also be clear that the time of the moon's rotation around the earth has a definite significance. If you were to investigate how the plants develop when the sun has shone upon them, you would also find evidence of the influence of the moon. Thus the sun and the moon have a tremendous influence upon the earth. We can recognize the lunar influence from the time of the rotation, that is, from the time it takes for the moon to become full moon, new moon, and so on. We can recognize the influence of the sun from its rising and setting, or from the fact that it acquires its power in the spring and loses it in the autumn.

And now let me tell you something. You all know of the existence of the grubs of cockchafers. These little worm-like creatures are particularly harmful when they eat up our potatoes. There are years when the potatoes are unharmed by these troublesome little maggots, and then there are years when simply nothing can be done because the grubs are everywhere at work. Well now, suppose there has been a year when the grubs have eaten nearly all the potatoes — if you wait now for four years, the cockchafers will be there in great numbers, because it takes them four years to develop from the grubs. There is a period of approximately four years between the appearance of the grubs — which, like all insects, first have a maggot form before becoming a chrysalis — and the fully developed insect. The grub needs four years to develop into the cockchafer. Naturally, there are always cockchafers, but if there are only a few grubs some year, four years after that there will only be a few cockchafers. The number of cockchafers depends upon the number of grubs that were present four years earlier.

We can see quite clearly that this period of time is connected with the rotation of Mars. The course of propagation of certain insects shows us the kind of influence that Mars exercises upon the life of the earth. But the influence is rather hidden. The influence of the sun is quite obvious, that of the moon not obvious to the same extent, and the influence of Mars is hidden. Everything for which intervals of years are needed on the earth — as in the case of grubs and cockchafers — is dependent upon Mars. So there you see a significant effect of Mars.

Of course someone may say that he doesn't believe this. Well, gentlemen, we ourselves can't possibly make all the experiments, but anyone who doesn't believe what I've said should do the following: he should take the grubs he has collected in a year when they are very numerous and force their development artificially in some container. Within the same year he will find that the majority of them do not develop into cockchafers. Such experiments are never made because these things are not believed.

However, we come now to the essential point.

• The sun has the most powerful influence of all. But it exerts its greatest influence upon everything on the earth that is dead, that must be called to new life every year — while the moon influences only what is living.
• Mars exerts its influence only upon what exists in a more delicate form of life, in the sentient realm.
• The other planets have their influence upon what is of the nature of soul and spirit.

so

• The sun, then, is the heavenly body that works the most strongly; it works into the very minerals of the earth. In the minerals the moon can do nothing — nor Mars.
• If the moon were not there, no animal creature could live and move about on the earth; there could only be plants on the earth, no animals.
• Again, there are many animal creatures that could not have intervals of years between the larva-stage and the insect if Mars were not there.

You see how closely all things are connected. For instance, we might ask ourselves: When do we human beings become fully grown? When do we stop in the process of our development? Obviously very early, at the age of about twenty or twenty-one. And yet even then something continues to be added. Most people do not actually grow any more, but something is added inwardly. Until about our thirtieth year we do really “increase”; but then, for the first time, we begin to “decrease”. If we compare this with happenings in the universe, we get the time of the rotation of Saturn.

So the planets exercise their influence upon the more delicate conditions of growth and of life. Hence we can say: When, like all the planets, Mars comes near the earth, we must not attach primary importance to this outer nearness.

What is of far greater importance is how things in the universe are connected with the finer, more delicate states and conditions of life.

[Mars]

You must remember that the constitution of Mars is quite different from that of the earth. As I said, Mars is not densely solid in the sense in which today the earth is solid.

But I described to you quite recently how the earth too was once in a condition when mineral, solid matter took shape for the first time, how there were then gigantic animals which, however, had as yet no solid bones. Mars today is in a condition similar to that of the earth in that earlier epoch and therefore also has upon it those living beings, those animal beings which the earth had upon it at that time. And “human beings” on Mars are as they were on the earth at that time — still without bones. I described this to you when I was speaking of an earlier period of the earth. These things can be known. They cannot become known by the means employed in modern science for acquiring knowledge; nevertheless it is possible to know these things. If, then, you want to have an idea of what Mars is like today, picture to yourselves what the earth was like in a much earlier age: then you will have a picture of Mars.

You know that on the earth today, the trade winds blow from the south to the north, from the north to the south. These streamings were once much denser than the air; they were currents of fluid, watery air: so it is on Mars today. The air currents on Mars are much more full of life, much more watery.

[Jupiter]

Jupiter consists almost entirely of air, but again somewhat denser than the air of the earth. Jupiter today represents a condition toward which the earth is now striving, which it will attain only in the future.

And so in the planetary system we find certain states or conditions through which the earth also passes. When we understand the planets in this sense, we understand them rightly.

Franz Bardon in PME

on the planetary spheres

The spheres and their influences

Earth

Our physical world, with its three kingdoms, mineral, plant and animal, is the lowest of the spheres. The physical body of a human being has an analogous connection with these three kingdoms.

Moon

As a planet, the Moon influences all the liquids on our earth.

However, the Moon sphere is also analogous to the astral body and the astral matrix of a human being. On the other hand, the zone girdling the earth also has an effect upon the vital energy of a human being.

Mercury

Mercury influences the gaseous state of our earth.

The mental body of an individual is subject to the Mercurian sphere.

The Mercurian sphere is analogous to the mental sphere of human beings. That is why the genii of the Mercurian sphere exert the greatest influence upon the spirit, i.e. the mental body, of a human being. If, for example, a genius of the Mercurian zone wanted to have an effect upon the astral sphere of a human being, he would have to make the effort and assert his influence in accordance with the laws of analogy by way of the Moon sphere and then the zone girdling the earth.

Venus

As a planet, Venus influences the fruitfulness of our earth in the plant and animal kingdoms.

On the other hand, the Venusian sphere is responsible for the sympathy, love and reproduction of mankind.

Sun

As a planet, the Sun influences the physical life on our planet in all three kingdoms,

whereas the sphere of the Sun maintains the life of the mental, astral and physical bodies through the individual matrices.

Mars

The influencing of all powers, forces or energies in all three kingdoms is subject to Mars.

As a planet, Mars has the greatest effect in the animal kingdom and on human beings in the form of self-preservation, i.e. survival instinct,

whereas the Martian sphere awakens the impulse and propensity for life within a human being. The Martian sphere affects one's character, attributes, and all energies, powers and abilities.

Jupiter

As a planet, Jupiter has an effect on harmony and lawfulness, whereas

the sphere of Jupiter controls the karmic evolution and righteousness or fairness in a person, guides him on his path to perfection and in his endeavor to strive for the highest in accordance with his maturity.

Saturn

On our earth, Saturn, as a planet, has an effect upon the destiny of all three kingdoms, mineral, plant and animal. In its most subtle form here on earth, Saturn is known as ether.

On the other hand, the Saturnian sphere controls the destiny of human beings, also known as karma. Humans are indebted to this sphere for its greatest influence, which is the gift of intuition by which Divine Providence reveals Herself in accordance with the individual's maturity. Divine Providence also expresses Herself in the conscience of those who are not magically schooled.

Mercury and Venus

1908-06-20-GA104

describes the Copernican reversal of Mercury and Venus

Here I come to a point where a little secret, so to say, must be unveiled, one which may only be divulged at this point. In truth if we wish to speak esoterically, as the writer of the apocalypse has done, we must speak of Mercury as the morning star. By the morning star he meant Mercury: I have given the direction towards thine 'I', to the morning star, to Mercury.

.

You may still find in certain books of the middle ages, which describe the true state of affairs, that the stars of our planetary system are enumerated thus: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and then Earth is followed - not as it is now - by Venus, Mercury .. but by the reverse: Mercury, Venus.

1908-09-05-GA106

Here I would like to add one thing, because misunderstandings have crept into the naming of the planets.

In all occult nomenclature, what astronomers call Venus is called Mercury, and vice versa.

Astronomers know nothing of the mysteries behind this, because in the past it was not desired that the esoteric names should be revealed. This happened in order to conceal certain things.

1909-04-12-GA106

€œBut consider the situation that arose. Within the sanctuaries of knowledge one could speak of spiritual beings who surround the cosmic bodies. Outside, people came to speak more in terms of physical matter as sense perception became increasingly sharper.

When the Holy Rishis uttered the word Mercury - they never actually used this word, but let us use it to make ourselves clear - did they mean the physical orb in the cosmos? No, not even the ancient Greeks, when speaking of Mercury implied the physical planet but rather the totality of spiritual beings inhabiting it. When the word Mercury was spoken in the sanctuaries of knowledge, it referred to supersensible worlds, to spiritual beings.

When the pupils in these sanctuaries pronounce Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in their respective languages, they were referring to a sequence of spiritual beings. Today, these words refer to the coarsest physical substance of the planets, and the most important part is thereby omitted.

1909-04-15-GA110

You must picture the Earth as the starting point and around it a sphere of influence reaching up to the moon. This is followed by a realm reaching up to Mercury, then one to Venus, and then one up to the sun.

Now you may be astonished at the sequence of the planets as I have given it here. You might think that if this is the Earth and this is the sun, that I should draw Mercury in the immediate vicinity of the sun, and then Venus. But that is not correct. The names of these two planets have been interchanged by a later astronomy. What is called Mercury today was known in ancient teachings as Venus, and the planet referred to as Venus nowadays was always known as Mercury.

We cannot rightly understand what is said about Venus and Mercury in ancient writings if we assume them to refer to the present planets of these names.

At the time when the world system was turned topsy-turvy, when the Earth was robbed of its central position, not only the perspective was completely altered, but the opportunity was taken of interchanging the names of Mercury and Venus.

1910-03-22-GA119

is an important lecture to read in full, as it positions the planetary influences against Man's soul and consciousness experiences - see also Schema FMC00.388 on Three levels of sleep

€œThe moon revolves around the Earth and the planets usually called Mercury and Venus are nearer to the Sun and revolve around it.

I emphasize here that in the course of time a change has taken place in the names of these two planets. The planet that is called Mercury to-day was formerly Venus, and the planet called Venus today was formerly called Mercury.

Therefore you should think of these designations reversed, so that they do not correspond with current astronomical designations. The planet lying nearer the Sun must be known as Venus and the planet lying farther away from the Sun must be known as Mercury.

1912-04-13-GA136

€œThus these normally developed Spirits of Motion so work down from the planets that they succeed one another in the process of human evolution, and reveal themselves in the great civilization impulses in the evolution of the earth which reach out beyond the sphere of the Spirits of the Age. Thus, for example, from that Spirit of Motion who worked down from the planet which present-day astronomy calls Venus, and which ancient astronomy called Mercury (for these two names have been exchanged), from that Spirit of Motion came originally the impulse of the civilisation which was expressed in Buddhism.

1912-04-14-GA136

If we observe the planet Saturn in our system we find that the life stream which permeates the earth directly from him is connected with the substance we call lead: so that we have a basic substance which is inwardly animated by Saturn. From Jupiter we get tin as main substance; from Mars, iron; and in the occult sense, from Venus, copper. With regard to Mercury we must take into consideration that he was later confused with Venus.

The life-activity (in the sense of true occult nomenclature) produced creatively by Mercury, on account of its greater proximity when it penetrated the earth-organism, bears a still greater resemblance to the planet itself, for Mercury stands nearer to the Earth than the other planets. Therefore this substance has been given the same name as the cosmic body itself, namely, Mercury or quicksilver.

[and continuing]

These are the principal substances which are connected in their etheric body with the corresponding planets of our system. If we recollect how we had to speak of all that works from the planetary system, with regard to the group-souls of the animals and the astral bodies of the plants, we find it is always a question of the beings in connection with the Spirits of Motion, either with themselves or their offspring, who work in their totality on the earth from the planets of the system. Thus we must also reckon as belonging to the sphere of the Spirits of Motion, that which etherically permeates the mineral substances.

Now if we wish to consider what belongs to the mineral kingdom as astral body, we have to ascend, as it were, to a still higher world. In the whole sense of our past considerations it will be clear, that as we had to ascend from the astral body of the plant to the group-I, from the planets to the sun — to the fixed star; so with regard to the mineral kingdom, if we pass from the etheric body to the astral body we must again ascend to the fixed star.

1921-05-05-GA204

€œJust as this ancient astronomy was subsequently obscured after the fourth century and physical astronomy took the place of the old etheric astronomy in the fifteenth century

1924-06-07-GA327

Rudolf Steiner explicitly employs the Ptolemaic usage:

The Earth is surrounded in the heavenly spaces, first by the Moon and then by the other planets of our planetary system. In an old instinctive science wherein the Sun was reckoned among the planets, they had this sequence: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Without astronomical explanations I will now speak of this planetary life, and of that in the planetary life which is connected with the earthly world.

The juggling around of Moon, Venus and Mercury sequences in what follows shows that for this purpose the actual pattern is not important, as for the significant listing of the pattern of planetary influences the Ptolemaic sequence is used

Uranus and Neptune

1907-09-13-GA101

€œOur present Saturn received its name in ancient times when the wise ones could still give meaningful names to things. It was given its name out of its very nature. Today, this is no longer done. Uranus, for example, does not have such a justified name since it was discovered later.€

1908-02-15-GA102

€œThus there were beings at the very beginning of our Earth who were scarcely fitted to take part in further development, who were still so young in their whole evolution that any further step would have destroyed them. They had to receive a sphere of action, so to speak, on which they could preserve their complete youthfulness. This scene of action was the cosmic body which we call Uranus, and which therefore has but slight connection with earthly existence.

Uranus has become the theatre for beings which had to remain at a very backward stage.

€œThen evolution proceeded. Apart from Uranus, all that forms our universe was contained in an original pap-like mass.

1909-04-15-GA110

Certainly, for mere physical observation, it coincides at first completely. Certainly one has built upon it all sorts of world systems, the Kant-Laplace system, for instance; but there one reaches a point where there were continual discoveries, a point which is no more scientifically quite honest.

For later on, by purely physical observation, two planets have been added to it — we have not touched on them yet, but later we will show what they signify for our system — these are Uranus and Neptune. When one describes this world system one certainly should turn people's attention to the fact that in reality these two planets Uranus and Neptune, very much impair the truth of the calculation. If one accepts the Kant-Laplace system, then, according to it, Uranus and Neptune should move with their moons as the other moons move around the other planets.

But they do not; we even have among those outer planets, these two lately discovered planets, one which behaves in a very strange way. In reality, if the Kant-Laplace system is correct, somebody must, after having split off the rest of the planets, [have] turned the axis in such a way that it revolved at 90°, for its course is different from that of the other planets. These two differ greatly from the other planets of our solar systems. We shall see later how it is with them, but now we simply call attention to the fact that with the Copernican system we have only to do with a calculation, with something established as an hypothesis, as an assumption, at a time when man had gone completely adrift from the perception of spiritual co-relations and of what lies spiritually at the foundation of external happenings.

But the old Ptolemaic system is not merely a physical system, it is one which was still derived from spiritual observation, when one knew that planets are boundary marks for certain realms where the higher Beings held sway. We must design our whole solar planetary system in a different way if we are to characterise these realms of control correctly.

1909-04-18-GA110

see higher on this page

1912-04-08-GA136

Let us take, for example, the planet which for a long period of time, has been reckoned as the outermost one in our system; Uranus and Neptune were added later, as we shall see; but to begin with we shall consider Saturn as the outermost. If we look at Saturn with physical vision we find him outside in cosmic space, a sort of luminous globe (leaving his rings out of the question). To the occultist who follows the spiritual events in the cosmos, this globe which is seen out there is not what the occultist calls Saturn; to him Saturn is that which fills the whole space bounded by the apparently elliptical orbit of Saturn.

1912-04--14-GA136

It is to be noted that the two outermost planets now reckoned as belonging to our system by physical astronomy - Uranus and Neptune - did not originally belong to our solar system; they came much later into the sphere of attraction of our system: they then joined company and remained with it. They cannot therefor be reckoned in the same sense as the other planets as belonging to our system from Saturn onwards, for they, so to speak, belonged to it from the beginning.

1916-07-30-GA170

€œThen we consider yet another planet, one not known to the ancient Hebrews, They were, however, aware of its sphere, which they thought of as beyond the planets; they thought of it as the crystal sphere that formed the vault of the heavens. Much later it was discovered that one could speak of Uranus as being there. But we can consider Uranus, even though it was discovered much later. The only difference is that the ancient Hebrews thought of a sphere in the place where Uranus was later located

1917-03-13-GA175

Now the ancients rightly considered Saturn the most distant planet from our solar system; it is the farthest away. From the standpoint of materialistic astronomy it is quite justified to add Uranus and Neptune to our system; but they have a different origin and do not belong to the solar system; so that we may speak of Saturn as the outermost planet of our system.

1920-03-26-GA312

It is time today that the whole Copernican system was re-examined and superseded by another. The so-called outer planets are Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus and Neptune are only members of the solar system in an astronomical sense; they do not really belong to it by origin; they are foreign bodies that have become attracted and attached to our system. They are guests, invited to our planetary system, and we are right to omit them.

1920-05-02-GA201

Thus we may say that if we regard Saturn as the outermost planet. The other two, Uranus and Neptune, regarded today as of equal standing with Saturn, are really fugitives that have wandered in.

1922-11-26-GA219

€œThey appear to us in such a way that between death and rebirth we look back in gratitude to the outermost planet of our earthly planetary system - for Uranus and Neptune are not Earth planets; they were added at a later stage.

1924-07-06-GA317

in context of astrological interpretation of a birth chart horoscope

Consider the human being. We divide him into certain members. In accordance with that memberment which arranges the whole nature and being of man rather from the etheric principle, we divide him, as you know, into physical body, etheric body, sentient body, which last we then bring into relation with sentient soul; after that we have intellectual or mind soul (which the Greeks call soul of force or power), and consciousness or spiritual soul. And then we come to spirit-self, life-spirit and spirit-man. And all these several members reveal themselves to us as forming together a single, relatively independent whole; taken all together, they compose man.

But now, the way in which the members are put together to compose man, differs in each single human being. One person will have a little more power and strength in his ether body, and correspondingly less in his physical body; another a little more power in the consciousness soul; and so on.

And right in the midst of all these members stands man in his very own individuality, which individuality goes through repeated earth lives and has the task of bringing under control this whole connection of various members, has the task of uniting them, on the principle of freedom, under one individual ordering.

And now let us see how that which comes to man from cosmic realms unites itself with these several members. The influence of the Sun, which works strongly on man as a whole, works strongest of all on the physical body. In connection with the etheric body we find that the strongest influences come from the Moon; in connection with the sentient body it is the influences of Mercury that work with special strength; and in the sentient soul we have the strongest influences of Venus. The strongest influences of Mars serve to help the development of the intellectual or mind soul, and of Jupiter the consciousness or spiritual soul, whilst Saturn brings its influences to bear especially on the spirit self.

And the members that have not yet developed in man find their support in Uranus and Neptune — the vagrants, so to speak, among the planets, who attached themselves at a later time to our planetary system. In Uranus and Neptune therefore we shall expect to find planetary influences which, under normal conditions, exert no very strong influence upon the constellation at birth.

Spirit-Man	—	Neptune
Life-Spirit	—	Uranus
Spirit-Self	—	Saturn
Consciousness or spiritual soul	—	Jupiter
Intellectual Soul	—	Mars
Sentient Soul	—	Venus
Sentient Body	—	Mercury
Ether Body	—	Moon
Physical Body	—	Sun

Franz Bardon in PME

Uranus

The planet Uranus is responsible for magical development on our earth, whereas the Uranian sphere allows human beings to recognize all the phenomena of magic.

[see p 349] ... the influences of the uranian sphere reach no farther than the moon sphere ... the uranian sphere will not have any effect on our zone girlding the Earth until the next cycle of evolution ... the intelligences of the uranian sphere control and direct magic and the kabbalah and their practical use in accordance with the universal laws of the macrocosm

Neptune

Neptune keeps the cosmic order of precedence of planet Earth in equilibrium. Human beings are indebted to the influence of the Neptune sphere, which gives mankind the knowledge of the path of perfection, but also the knowledge of the cosmic language, i.e. the Kabbalah.

Pluto

[see p 350] .. there is one more sphere, the plutonian sphere ... which will only have an effect on our zone girdling the Earth until the second day of brahma or the next cycle of evolution .. at that point our Earth will be inhabited by an entirely different race of human beings .. governed by different laws    

other version of the Pluto quote

Beyond this there exists another sphere, the Pluto sphere; but the magician, in his present state of development, cannot profit anything from that sphere, for it will have no effect on the zone girdling our earth before the so-called Second Day of Brahma, the next cycle of evolution.  The surface of our Earth will then be inhabited by quite a different race of people, who will have a different skin color and different laws from ours.

Discussion

Note 1 - About Uranus and Neptune, and 1909-04-18-GA110

The quote about Uranus and Neptune contains a few intriguing elements:

a) After Old Saturn, Steiner uses Jupiter-evolution and Mars-evolution, in a context as if it refers to Old Sun and Old Moon.

• There are other lectures too where this pattern appears. In the text below, we could try to read it with Jupiter replaced by Old Sun, and Mars by Old Moon. However in this lecture he uses Old Saturn, Sun and moon evolutionary stages, so why would be then be not consistent just a bit later in the lecture. Hence we disregard this.
• However, see Schema FMC00.413 showing the Old Saturn cycle in detail. Jupiter and Mars split off during CoL 6 and 7 of the Old Saturn cycle, and resp. archangels and angels left. This is in a phase where the in-breathing of the cosmic cycle started towards the pralaya.

b) Before the relevant quote Steiner talks about what lies outside the zodiac, as related to a cycle before the start of our current solar system evolution. The center and circumference can be related to the pralaya between planetary stages of evolution, or the Cosmic breath of Brahma. We can expect some things from a pralaya to re-appear "out there in space .. re-appearing again in the circumference".

See also Schema FMC00.077B to get a feel for what is meant here with 'outside the girdle of solar system and zodiac', read lecture in full and/or see the underlined below and the sentences in bold in the last three paragraphs. "Nothing to do with our evolution" seems to refer to 'stardust' from the previous planetary cycle and before the maha-pralaya, and is around in the circumference.

c) In the quote he then refers to these beings outside our space.

1909-04-18-GA110

source: 1909-04-18-GA110 and reference quotes higher on this page

[part I - setting the scene]

Let us now consider this further development of matter, and with this I am touching on what I said will perhaps be impossible for you to understand with the comprehension of the present day. It is a fact that the earth is continually contracting, hence matter tends towards the centre from all sides. And now I say — be it understood consciously, not only fully conscious of the law of the conservation of force, but also fully conscious of facts known to every occultist — I say: Matter draws together more and more towards a centre, and the strange thing is that in that centre matter disappears.

Imagine that you have a piece of something which contracts more and more towards its centre. In its centre it disappears. It does not get pushed over to its other side, it absolutely disappears into nothing in its own central point! So that you can imagine to yourselves that, as the material parts contract towards the centre, the whole of the earth will some day disappear in that central point. But this is not all: in the same measure in which it disappears in the central point, it reappears again in the circumference. Out there in space it is coming back again. At one point in space matter disappears and emerges again at another. Out there it is coming forth anew. The substance disappears in one place and from outside it returns again. But it returns in such a way that it brings back with it all that the beings who have worked on the planets have imprinted on its substance; naturally not in its present form, but in a form which this transformation has given to it. In this way you see the Cathedral of Cologne returning from the other side, its material particles having disappeared in the centre. Nothing, absolutely nothing, of that which has been accomplished on a planet is ever lost, it all comes back again from the other side.

That which happened in the beginnings of our evolution, before the Old Saturn development, we must place outside, beyond the Zodiac. Primeval wisdom called it the Crystal Heaven, and in that crystal heaven were deposed all the deeds of the Beings of a former evolution. They formed, so to speak, the foundation on which the new Beings began to create.

As we said before, all this is extremely difficult for the modern mind to understand, because it is in the habit of considering matter only, and because it is not in the habit of conceiving that outside of three dimensional space matter can disappear and re-appear at another place after it has passed through other dimensions. You cannot grasp this so long as your ideas remain in the space of three dimensions; for this goes beyond the three dimensions. Therefore, it cannot be seen until it returns again from the other side into the space of three dimensions. In the meantime, it is in other dimensions.

It is a thing which we have to grasp; for the conditions of our world's origin have manifold connections, and something which is to be found in some one place may often have a complicated connection with something else which is in quite a different place outside three dimensional space.

[part II - key section]

We have said that our planetary formation began with the Old Saturn, and it really did begin then. It then advanced to [Jupiter/Old Sun?]. When the whole creation of [Jupiter/Old Sun?] began, all the beings in the surrounding space also took part in it as you know. But ..

• just as all the beings who are active within the whole expanse of our planetary system are developing further,
• so also are the beings outside our system, those who are sending in their influence from surrounding spaces. .

As some of the surrounding beings withdrew, so did also some of the beings who were outside in universal spaces; some of these also withdrew; and as [Jupiter/Old Sun?] contracted, something was also withdrawn by the beings who retired, something which had nothing to do with our evolution at all, but which along with the withdrawing beings formed first Uranus, and then Neptune during the [Mars /Old Moon?] development.

The names of Uranus and Neptune were, of course, not chosen to suit the subjects in the way the ancients chose names; although in the name Uranus some meaning still is left; it was given when people still had some feeling for the meaning of names; therefore, all that lies outside our circle was generically called Uranus.

Thus we see that the two planets which our astronomers of the present day consider as having the same significance as the other planets stand on a totally different footing, and fundamentally speaking have nothing to do with the creation of our world; they represent those worlds which have come into existence because beings who, during the Old Saturn stage, still had something to do with us, have withdrawn and have found their places of habitation outside our world. We shall gather other facts from this, for instance, that those planets have retrograding moons, and so on.

Notes

1/ The last paragraph clearly links Uranus and Neptunus to the Old Saturn stage. see Schema FMC00.413 showing the Old Saturn cycle in detail. Jupiter and Mars split off during CoL 6 and 7 of the Old Saturn cycle, and resp. archangels and angels left. This is in a phase where the in-breathing of the cosmic cycle started towards the pralaya.

2/ In our current Earth stage of planetary evolution, so current physical solar system with the planets, Uranus is listed to appear during the recapitulation of the Old Saturn stage, see Schema FMC00.298

3/ The quote 1908-02-15-GA102 above seems to imply that Uranus and Neptunus contain beings which are at a very early stage of evolution, and they will only join the evolution in our solar system later on (as is also stated by Franz Bardon (quote not on this page but in book)).

Other - from older note (lateral side thought, disregard)

Regarding the underlined, there may or may not be a link between something else, quite exceptional, that happened during the Old Sun stage, and afterwards during it's contraction.

• Schema FMC00.019 on Luciferic beings and their influences. Certain Cherubim wrestle themselves free. Something extra-ordinary happens here, which may be correlated, as Steiner talks about the contraction
• War in heaven (The 'War in heaven' happened between two classes of the Spirits of Motion, the more advanced and the ones who had remained behind, during the contraction of Old Sun to Old Moon), and specifically: War in heaven#Excerpts .28under development.29

Related pages

• Astronomy
• Worldview Spiritual Science
• Planets hosting beings at various stages of evolution
• Vulcan
• Planetary hours

References and further reading

• Georg Wilhelm Maag: 'Planeteneinflüsse' (1927)
• Elisabeth Vreede: 'Astronomy and Spiritual Science'
• H.E. Casparé: 'De Sterren- en planetenwereld' (1975)
• Adam Bittleston: 'The seven planets' (1985)
• Friedrich Oberkogler: 'Tierkreis- und Planetenkräfte in der Musik : vom Geistgehalt der Tonarten' (1987)
• Hermann Bauer: 'Über die Lemniskatischen Planetenbewegungen : Elemente einer Himmelsorganik' (1988)
• John Meeks: 'Planetensphären-Planetenkörper : Versuch eines Ansatzes Goetheanistischer Himmelskunde'
• Heinrich Schwentek: 'Eine planimetrische Beschreibung der räumlichen Organisation unseres Planetensystems' (1991)

Working on plant kingdom

• Werner Schüpbach: 'Pflanzengeometrie : die geometrische Organisation der höheren Pflanzen und deren Beziehung zum Planetensystem' (1944)
• Joachim Schultz:
  • 'Pflanzen, Planeten, Goldener Schnitt' (1968)
  • 'Tierkreisbilder und Planetenlicht : Versuche zum Studium ihrer Wirkungen auf das Pflanzenwachstum' (1987)
• Thomas Michael Schmidt: 'Musik und Kosmos als Schöpfungswunder : von der mathematischen Harmonie der Töne und Planetenbewegungen' (1974)
• Maurice Martin: 'Die Pflanze zwischen Erde und Kosmos : Goethes Urpflanze als Abbild von Planetenkräften und der Stoffesleib der Pflanze als Abbild von Tierkreiskräften' (1980)
• Bernard C.J. Lievegoed: 'Planetenwirken und Lebensprozesse in Mensch und Erde : Beiträge zum Verständnis des Wirkens der von Rudolf Steiner für die Landwirtschaft angegebenen Heilpflanzen-Komposte' (1950). Also in NL 1975 as 'Planetenkrachten en levensprocessen : een bijdrage om de werking van de door Rudolf Steiner genoemde compostpreparaten voor de landbouw beter te leren begrijpen'

In the human soul

• Willem Frederik Veltman: 'Menschentypen : Planetenwirkungen in der menschlichen Seele' (1997 in DE, original in NL 1993 as 'Mensen en planeten : Een kosmisch georiënteerde psychologie')
• Henk de Brey: 'Planetenprocessen in de ziel' (2021)

Various (unqualified)

• George Bode: 'De nieuwe planeten : Persephone en Vulkanus als aanvulling op Uranus, Neptunus en Pluto' (1981)