The early 20th century Austrian philosopher and esotericist Rudolf Steiner once wrote: The more abundantly the harmony of the cosmos fills the soul, the more peace and harmony there will be on the earth. This idea is quite different from one that I commonly hear, which is that the earth and, consequently, humanity as a whole, is an insignificant speck in the vastness of space.
Now, whereas the ancients saw the heavens as a mighty script written by the gods, Rudolf Steiner pointed out that in our time, after the consequences and achievements of the scientific revolution, which was like a fall of the ancient gods, the writing of the stars can now be imagined as our own deeds, inscribed into the cosmic spaces.
So what might we be inscribing this week, when all the naked-eye planets have aligned in the morning sky, as though called to attend the stillness of Tuesday’s solstice moment?
The Moon can guide us, drawing our attention to the thought life and to our dreams as it passes by Saturn, which it did on Sunday, followed by a meeting with Jupiter on Tuesday, Mars on Wednesday, and then Venus and Mercury at the weekend. It’s as though the planets have all lined up in order for the Moon to tidy up each sphere as she goes, so that at new phase on June 28th, one week exactly from Solstice, we can step forward into the summer season with renewed clarity.
So here is my wish for all of us, from John Keats’ poem Endymion, about the shepherd who fell in love with the moon, that what we are inscribing into the cosmic spaces in this season be as sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
