Since time began, people have observed the influence that the stars and the cycles of the zodiac  have on our lives.  These, in ancient times, were valid correlations. This ancient mystery wisdom has been lost, and people today tend to disregard this important aspect of spiritual study. It is important to remember, that all human beings have free will. We are all "I AM" and these influences do not dominate our lives. They can, however, and do influence aspects of life. It is a fundamental principle, then, that...

​

​

"Rather than the stars RULING life, life should rule the stars - for humanity was created a little bit higher than all the rest of the whole universe, and is capable of harnessing, directing, enforcing, the laws of the universe."

ECRL 5-2

​

 

provided profound insights into the cycles, cadences, and movements of the human being, the world, the stars, and the cosmos, all of which are interrelated.  These insights can provide a path for a seeker to reconnect with the true spiritual meaning behind and within cadences that characterize the life-path of all living things. These insights were based on the spiritual vision of an initiate, not superstition, as is widely circulated today on the nature of the spiritual meaning of the Zodiac. As it the case almost everywhere, "astrologers" have become synonymous with unprovable hackery and nonsense...and rightfully so.

 

These individuals, most of whom are dubious at best, exist far away from any genuine spiritual insight provided by way of initiation wisdom. The lack of scientific spiritual insights, however, of these individuals does not mean that there is not a genuine source of spiritual science within the Zodiac that can be explored through the vision and wisdom of a genuine spiritual initiate in the modern age. The dubious try to follow corrupted old practices and insights of the Zodiac and Astrology passed down from ancient times, which were once the sphere of the valid activity of the initiates but have long since become corrupted. There are certain fundamental principles, however, that continue.

 

This summary, therefore, relies exclusively on the insights of Dr. Rudolf Steiner and those who pursued this area of study connected to his stream of activity. The Zodiac is a vital aspect of spiritual research, as we live within small and larger cycles that govern human development and existence. One will feel a connection to the higher beings who silently speak to us through the stars and the cadences of the cosmos, which affects all things. It is a fact that behind all physical phenomena is a spiritual or hidden manifestation of the world of the spirit, which is to say, the divine and eternal, that animates all living things.

​

The zodiac is an expression of the 12 aspects of the human being in animal and human forms. The term "Zodiac" is from the Greek and Latin zodiakus, derived from “circle of the figures”, being the Greek for the sculptured figure of an animal. ​The Zodiac consists of 12 houses, or cycles, which require 2,160 years to complete in succession using the background of a fixed star. Completion of 12 houses occurs regularly throughout human history. Different spiritual-historical events have occurred in certain houses of the Zodiac. In light of Anthroposophy, this is not a coincidence, as modern astronomers observe without the insights of initiation wisdom. To pass through 12 houses of the zodiac, 25,920 years (12 x 2,160) is required. The number 25,920 is an astronomical, spiritual, and physical cadence. The number 12 can be found throughout the world and in spiritual texts and cadences of the human being.

​

Dr. Steiner observed that the number 25,920 ties to the average number of breaths that an average human being takes in a full day (25.920/24 hours/60 minutes = 18 breaths per minute on average). The average number of breaths taken by a person during the day (25,920 Days / 365 Days per year = 72 Years). This is an average, not a rule for each individual.

​

As the planets move through the zodaic, they too have a certain influence and correlation to the human being. Thus, one must consider how a certain planet influences other planets in relation to its position in the zodiac to derive inner meaning from the cadences of spiritual activity. These often correspond to key moments in history.  This scope of this summary is the zodiac.

​

 

Examples of the number 12 include:

​​

(1) The 12 aspects of the human being.

(2) The 12 houses of the zodiac and 12 constellations.

(3) 12 months in a calendar year.

(4) 12 lunar cycles

The 12 Gods of Olympus.

(5) The 12 Tribes of Israel. Ishmael - the first-born son of Abraham - has 12 sons/princes (Genesis 25:16), and Jacob also has 12 sons, who are the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

(6) The 12 Apostles.

(7) 24 Hours in a Day divided into 2 cycles of 12 hours each.

(8) The 12 ribs of the human being.

(9) The 12-sided (12 pentagonal faces) Dodecahedron (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid)

(10) The 12 Days of Christmas.

(11) The 12 Labors of Herakles.

(12) The 12 Knights of King Arthur's and the Holy Grail.

(13) The 12 Gates in the Book of Revelations.​​​​

(14) 12 years: the number of years that Jesus spent in Egypt before returning to Palestine.

(15) The Chinese zodiac also has 12 signs representing a 12-year cycle for time-reckoning.

(16) 12 inches in a foot.

(17) A standard color wheel typically features 12 distinct colors. These colors are organized into three categories: primary (red, yellow, blue), secondary (orange, green, violet), and tertiary (red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet).

(18) The 12 Aesir gods in Norse mythology.

​

​

​

​Quotes from Dr. Steiner:

​

​(1) "A Zodiac consists of twelve constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. For the materialistic astronomer, these are simply group pictures. Though the clairvoyant knows, that they have not simply been placed into space, but that their constellations correspond to spiritual beings who are grouped around in this belt in the sky. Once beings have completed their sun-existence, they will become such a Zodiac. This too goes through a kind of evolution." -Rudolf Steiner, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA098/English/SOL2023/098-13_1908-02-08.html

 

 

(2) "...These spirits (guiding spirits of humanity) have been acknowledged as regents in symbols, for instance, in the zodiac, with the sun moving through them. Enhancement of conscious awareness in microcosmic evolution also corresponds to the stages in the macrocosm. So that the number 12 has always been important and there have always been 12 guiding spirits everywhere: 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles, 12 knights of the Grail.

 

Both macrocosmically and microcosmically, 12 is therefore the sacred number on which everything is based. 7 are in action, 5 have other work to do. For the physical planet, only 7 come into consideration, which is also why only 7 of the 12 principles of the human being are taught." -Rudolf Steiner, Part II: 6. Evolution and Involution—GA 89. Awareness - Life - Form (2001)—Rudolf Steiner Archive

​​

​

(3) "According to occult teaching, every body consists of twelve members. The one uppermost is called the Ram; the adjacent one, the Bull; the one with the hands, the Twins; the chest is called the Crab; everything in the region of the heart is the Lion; below it—the trunk—is the Virgin; the hips, the Scales; below this, the Scorpion; and still farther down: the thigh, the Archer; the knee, the Goat; the lower leg, the Water-carrier; and the feet, the Fishes. The human body, then, is divided into twelve members..." -Rudolf Steiner, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA112/English/AP1948/19090707p02.html

 

 

(4) "The distribution of forces in our earth existence may be conceived as follows:—on the one side forces are descending from the Zodiac and, on the other, forces are ascending to the Zodiac. Such is the mysterious interplay between the Zodiac and our earth. Forces descend and forces ascend. This is the mysterious “heavenly ladder” upon which forces are descending and ascending." - Rudolf Steiner, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA102/English/AP1961/19080127p01.html

​

​

(5) "The ancient wisdom therefore spoke of the Zodiac or Animal Circle, not of the Man Circle, as corresponding to the forces of formation. The forces of form manifest themselves in the animal kingdom in a great variety of forms, while in Man they manifest essentially in one form covering the whole human race; but they are the forces of the animal kingdom, and as we evolve beyond them and become Man, we must go out beyond the Zodiac.

 

Beyond the Zodiac lies that upon which we, as human beings, are dependent in a higher sense than we are upon all that exists within the Zodiac, that is, within the circle of the fixed stars. Beyond the Zodiac is that which corresponds to our Ego. With the astral body—which the animal also possesses—we are fettered to a dependence upon the Macrocosm, and the building up of the astral vehicle takes place in accordance with the will of the Stars. But with our "I" or Ego we transcend this Zodiac." - Rudolf Steiner, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA201/English/RSP1972/19200418p01.html

​​

​

(6) Notes from Steiner Lecture: " The signs of the zodiac act on the physical body, on our twelve senses. We have seven upper or light senses and five lower or dark senses; these latter extend from hearing to smelling. The planets act on the etheric body. The relationship between the sun, moon, and Earth acts on the astral body. The sun alone acts on the ego. The seven upper or light senses and the five lower or dark senses:

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...When man was created, the powers came from the twelve signs, and we were connected to these powers. They were also the tools of the gods, who could hear, see and so on with the help of these powers. Now man has wrested himself from these powers, and he now stands on his own. This means that he can go arbitrarily from one sign to another, while the sun, which has not wrested itself free, has to go through the signs one after the other. If the gods on earth want to give or hear, they have to work through these powers." -Rudolf Steiner, https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA265a/English/SOL2025/19130520fm.html

​

​

​

(7) "... all astrological Mysteries in ancient time were in reality Mysteries of Light, — in the times, I mean, before the arrival of the Mystery of Golgotha. Only, here again we must remember that the ancient Astrology was not pursued with the abstract calculations of to-day, but with an atavistic clairvoyant power. Man did not merely observe the mineral-physical world of stars above him; in those most ancient times, he had an organ with which to behold the secret of the constellations. It was, especially, a customary art in certain Mysteries of olden time, to observe the Moon establishing its various positions through the constellations of the Zodiac...

 

Likewise the other planets in their several constellations were brought home to the consciousness of men...

 

They knew, moreover, that the Mystery of human death is connected with what is thus spoken to man by the starry constellations. Throughout the ever-changing association of the fixed stars with the several planets, they saw the expression, as it were, of a language which he who sojourns in the body hears from the Earth, while at the same time the souls of the dead perceive it from the other side. They were clearly conscious of the fact that when a man gives himself up with devotion to the language of the stars, he lives in that element which receives the human being when he passes through the Gate of Death." -Rudolf Steiner, On the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Times, GA 180, III. Realities Beyond Birth and Death https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA180/English/AM1929/19171229p01.html *This is an abridged quote.

​

​

​

(8)  "When we study the threefold human form in its relation to the Cosmos, we can say that man is shaped and moulded by cosmic forces but these forces work upon him in many different ways. The changing position of the Sun in the zodiacal constellations through the various epochs has been taken as an indication of the different forces which pour down to man from the world of the fixed stars." -Rudolf Steiner, Cosmic Forces in Man, GA 209, 1. Cosmic Forces in Man

 

​

​

(9) "...the changes on the earth are closely connected with certain constellations of the stars. This is a most significant fact. At the beginning of spring the sun rises in a certain zodiacal constellation. The sun began to rise in the constellation of Aries (the Ram) 800 years before Christ; before that epoch it rose in the adjacent constellation of Taurus (the Bull). About 2,600 years are required for the passage through one constellation. The circuit through the whole twelve constellations is known in occultism as a Cosmic Year." -Rudolf Steiner, Theosophy of the Rosicrucian, GA 99, V. Man's Communal Life Between Death and a New Birth. Birth into the Physical World. https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA099/English/RSP1966/19070529p01.html

​

​

​

(10) "In ANY influence, will - a self, the ego, the I Am - is the greater force TO be dealt with, but as numbers do influence, as astronomical and astrological conditions do influence, a KNOWLEDGE of same certainly gives an individual a foresight into relationships with individuals."  -Edgar Cayce reading 311-3

​​

​

​

​

Meditations:

​

Meditations on the cadences of the year, and the zodiac, and how the human being is connected to the cosmos can bring us into a living feeling of connection to the spiritual hierarchies. The following works provide a meditative path to reflect upon the inner cadences of the year.

 

(1) The 12 meditations, as moods, can be used in correlation with "The Calendar of the Soul" by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, which provides weekly meditations for the entire year. There are several translations of this work in print.
 

(2) The 12 Virtues can be found in Rudolf Steiner's works, including Soul Exercises: Word and Symbol Meditations, 1903–1924 (CW 267), The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner.  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Exercises-Meditations-Collected-Steiner/dp/088010628X

​

​

Quotes below are from the book "The Virtues, the Seasons of the Soul" by Herbert Witzenmann which is available as a free download on this website on the Free Books and Works page at https://www.sunarchive.org/free-books

​