an anthroposophical view
Rudolf Steiner - who founded anthroposophy in the beginning of this century - mentioned the planetary qualities throughout many of his books and lectures. Since then many people have developed these ideas to experience them as a living force in their lives. The following is meant to be a short introduction to the qualities with the wish that it will make you curious enough to start your own research into this subject which has fascinated so many.
You can read this off-line by downloading the zip-file Planetary Qualities (HTML, 349 K). You can also go directly to the Contents.
Planetary qualities influence our astral body. The astral body is the whole field of our thinking, feeling and doing in the world. But our higher Self (or I), when we get to know it, can control this astral body and purify it.
In the anthroposophical way of working with the planetary qualities you do not look at the astrological chart of any individual. By describing the planetary energies and qualities you try to inspire the listener to look into himself and find the planetary influences.
The goal of working with these qualities is to harmonize them, balance them within yourself. In learning to harmonize the qualities you first have to learn to locate them, then to see that the world cannot function without them and finally to love the qualities, not only those you have, but also those you still have to develop. Recognizing these qualities gives us a handle for better understanding of our fellow man.
This presentation is not a finished product; it is not complete. It is intended as a starting point. In this presentation I have started by giving short sketches of the psychological planetary aspects you can find in yourself. Naturally no one has only Venus or only Mars qualities. It is always a combination. Usually you will find that if you have many of the qualities of one planet the qualities of the opposite planet will be less developed. To harmonize the planetary qualities within yourself you then can try to consciously develop those opposite qualities. Suggestions for this can be found under the heading schooling task.
I have also tried to indicate how you can find the planetary qualities in the world that surrounds us, in the plants and metals. This is done by trying to find analogues for certain aspects of the planetary qualities. This is meant to be a starting point for further research, not an end product. By trying to find these analogies we can learn much about the planets and ourselves.
In the last article I have tried to make a bridge from the planetary qualities we can find in ourselves to a way of working with the Eight-fold Path of Buddha, which Steiner advises to practice to develop the Vishuddha (or fifth) chakra.
The use of pronouns in connection with the planets is according to the Western way. This does not mean that qualities attributed to these planets are limited to one sex. Both men and women have these qualities.
More information about Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy can be found at:
The Anthroposophical
Society
Anthroposophische Gesellschaft in Dornbach (Switzerland):
http://www.goetheanum.ch
Rudolf Steiner Archive and e.Lib
We offer summaries of his books translated from the original German
to English, a catalogue of holdings, a chronological listing of his
lectures (over 6000), and a few of his books and lectures for
interested readers to contemplate:
http://www.rsarchive.org
FORUM
Zeitschrift für Erziehung, Umwelt und Gesundheit. Die erste
anthroposophische Zeitschrift im Internet :
http://www.anthroposophy.com
Author: Bibi van
Bussel.
Most recent update: August 1999.
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Mastrigt.