Planets

Jupiter and Venus were good (the Auspicious Ones), while Saturn and Mars were evil (the Nefarious Ones).

Sun figures: Enlightenment and wisdom.

Moon figures: Law and ethics.

Mars figures: Leadership and conflict resolution.

Mercury figures: Communication and commerce.

Jupiter figures: Spiritual guidance and prosperity.

Venus figures: Love and beauty.

Saturn figures: Discipline and lasting impact.

Maldek

Planets and distance to the sun

Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner’s lecture, as per the provided transcript, offers an intricate and esoteric perspective on the planets, particularly focusing on the stages of cosmic evolution. His approach is deeply rooted in anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy he founded. Here’s a summary of what Steiner explains about the planets:

Ancient Planetary Stages of Evolution
Steiner describes the evolution of the Earth through preceding planetary stages, namely Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon, and then the Earth itself. These are not to be understood as physical planets in the modern astronomical sense, but as distinct phases or conditions of consciousness and spiritual evolution.

Ancient Saturn
In Steiner’s cosmology, Ancient Saturn is the earliest stage of Earth’s evolution. It is characterized primarily by warmth; it’s a condition or state rather than a physical entity. Steiner argues that Ancient Saturn consisted solely of warmth, and its existence can be understood through clairvoyant investigation rather than physical observation.

Ancient Sun
The next stage is Ancient Sun, where warmth from the Saturn stage condenses into a gaseous or air form. Steiner mentions that alongside this condensation, there’s an ascent to a more etheric, rarefied state – the light ether. During this stage, life is said to be clothed in elements of warmth, light, and air.

Ancient Moon
Following the Ancient Sun stage is Ancient Moon. Steiner describes this phase as having warmth as the middle condition, with a consolidation into air or gas below, and further into water. Above the condition of light, he introduces the concept of ‘sound ether’ or ‘numerical ether,’ which organizes material existence.

Earth
The Earth stage adds another level of condensation and rarefaction. Below the warmth, air, and water, the solid or earthy condition is added. Above light and sound ether, life ether is introduced. This stage represents a complex interplay of densifying and etherizing processes.

Spiritual Beings and Planetary Conditions

Steiner emphasizes that these planetary conditions are manifestations of spiritual beings. For example, the Elohim are associated with the Sun stage and the creation of light. The spiritual activities and beings are more important than the physical aspects in his cosmology.

Genesis and Planetary Evolution

He connects these stages to the Biblical account of Genesis, arguing that the creation story is an esoteric description of these planetary stages. The ‘days’ of creation are seen as periods of activity by different spiritual beings or hierarchies.

The Elohim and Their Activities

In these planetary stages, the Elohim play a crucial role. They initiate key processes in each stage and delegate tasks to subordinate beings like the Archai or Time Spirits.

Steiner’s explanations are symbolic and metaphysical, blending spiritual insights with esoteric interpretations of biblical texts and traditional Christian angelology. It’s important to approach his teachings as part of a spiritual, philosophical system rather than a scientific account of planetary development.

The Nabataean Agriculture

The book describes, in various passages, the religious practices of rural Iraq, where paganism persisted long after the Islamic conquest.

Some of the book’s descriptions suggest links between these Iraqi pagans, whom Ibn Wahshiyya called ‘Sabians’, and ancient Mesopotamian religion.

The cult recognized seven primary astral deities: the Sun, the Moon, and the five known planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, and Mars).

Of these Jupiter and Venus were good (the Auspicious Ones), while Saturn and Mars were evil (the Nefarious Ones).

The gods are all subordinated to the Sun, the supreme being.

There are other gods besides the seven; the text describes the fixed stars such as Sirius as gods, and refers to the Mesopotamian god Tammuz as well as to Nasr, a pre-Islamic Arabian deity.

Ibn Washiyya’s description of the Tammuz ritual is particularly valuable, as it is more detailed than any other Arabic source.

In this ritual, people would weep for Tammuz, who was “killed time after time in horrible ways,” during the month of the same name.

Ibn Wahshiyya also explains that the Christians of the region had a very similar practice, the Feast of Saint George, and speculates that the Christians may have adapted their custom from the Tammuz ritual.

Jesus and the Essenes

S: I will give them their Roman names which you probably are very familiar with . They are known by many names, but these are possibly the most familiar. (He spoke slowly as though thinking.) To the inside is Mercury and Venus or Mathusias (phonetic) and Terra and Mars and Jupiter and Saturn… Let’s see, after Saturn comes Urana and Neptune and Pluto. And out past Pluto there is one called – let’s see, I believe they gave it the name of Juna. Whose idea it was to name them after these, I have no idea. I think that is all of them . I know there are ten. Juna, the one out past the farthest, they say that it has a very erratic orbit. It is not elipt, but swings in and out, and does a kind of a loop around Pluto. It takes a great deal of time to complete its orbit.

He gestured with his hands to show something that went in and out among the others.

D : Do any of the planets look different?

S: On the model they are all the same, but they really are larger and smaller. They are each individual to each other. Nothing is the same in the universe. (His childish enthusiasm was bubbly in his desire to share his knowledge) Even two ants that you would look at and think, these are identical. There is something about the one that the other one does not have. There is nothing in the universe that is identical.

D : Can you tell me, as we move out from the sun , approximately the relative size of each planet?

S: (He may have been referring to a map or chart here) As the sun is here, and you have a small one, and you have like two that are fairly small, and you have one that is getting larger. And each one gets larger for a while. And then it is like it reaches mid-point, and then they begin again to decrease in size. The largest one is Jupiter and the smallest is Juna. And each one has moons, which are many in some of these. But they are not added to the model. We are just told that they are there. The larger a planet the more moons that it has. Saturn has rings that were made of… They say that possibly these was another planet that was there and it collected it and it is called… rings. As you look at it, you may see these. There are many hundreds and hundreds of them about it. These are also not on the model. We are told these things and we have seen these with the stargazers. Our planet is Terra. It has the one moon that has no air about it.

S: (He may have been referring to a map or chart here) As the sun is here, and you have a small one, and you have like two that are fairly small, and you have one that is getting larger. And each one gets larger for a while. And then it is like it reaches mid-point, and then they begin again to decrease in size. The largest one is Jupiter and the smallest is Juna. And each one has moons, which are many in some of these. But they are not added to the model. We are just told that they are there. The larger a planet the more moons that it has. Saturn has rings that were made of… They say that possibly these was another planet that was there and it collected it and it is called… rings. As you look at it, you may see these. There are many hundreds and hundreds of them about it. These are also not on the model. We are told these things and we have seen these with the stargazers. Our planet is Terra. It has the one moon that has no air about it. I asked if he had ever heard of another planet that exploded many, many years ago. I was thinking about the theory of the creation of the asteroid belt. There was supposed to be something between Jupiter and Mars.

S: Probably hit Jupiter. I know not of this. It is said that our universe is still new and still changing, so this is very possible.

D : How do you know about all these planets? You surely can’t see all of them , even with your stargazers? S: I have not seen them . It is said that much of the knowledge of our system, as we know it, has been handed down for many, many generations.

D : Do you know who made this model? S: It is said that the Kaloo did.