Every morning the Sun rises a little later, & every evening our Sol sets ever earlier. Darkness takes the light, slowly into its somber realm. As we move from Virgo the Virgin, who helps us with our spiritual harvest, into the sign of the scales, Libra, we can think how it is the only constellation that is not a living creature; it owes its origin to the realm of created things, of mechanics. According to Rudolf Steiner it was only incorporated into the imagery of the Zodiac later in order to delineate the world of light in the upper signs more clearly from the 5 lower “nightly” signs. It is entirely dependent on the outer world, best expressed in its function of “deliberation”.
In ancient Greece the descent of the Sun into the Autumn region of the dark zodiac signs was seen in the image of the abduction of Persephone, stole away from her mother Demeter, by Pluto, lord of the underworld (who is active in a challenging aspect with Venus now see yesterday’s post) The Greeks hid their faces in fear from the powers of darkness & waited longingly for the return of Persephone who would awaken to new life in the Spring.
But since the descent of Christ into the shadow realm of death, in order to reconquer it for the realm of light, human beings can look at the descent into the realm of darkness in a different way – thru the image of the mighty Archangel Michael standing next to the Virgin, with her staff of life, & in former times, bearing the balance of the world in his hands – carrying the resurrection into the dark in order to realize our true human potential in the confrontation with the forces of evil.
This individuation process can only be fulfilled in the realm of earth & death – Here the human being of the present time is threatened with the danger of giving in to the lower driving forces which powerfully press in from our unconscious sense perceptions.
Here the scales, must be stepped into, to become the sign of the ‘Representative of Humanity’, appearing before our soul, pointing the way forward, to balance us between levity & gravity.
In the Zodiac it is between the grain-bearing Virgin & the death-dealing Scorpion. There is a separation of the “wheat from the chaff’ – the weighing, in the “Scales of Judgement.”
Will the being of Michael which we must enliven within ourselves, be able to maintain the balance of the world? That is the most earnest question which is spoken by his gaze. In the realm of the spirit his victory is assured, But on earth???
This question touches on our human contribution to the Michael Imagination – it has to do with the crisis of the “I”, which exists for everyone today. Is the average human being awake to this aspect? -Ready & able to work to overcome this crisis of humankind on earth?
If we take this into our soul-life we can take up this challenge, knowing that the outcome depends on our behavior, with even the smallest matters, as well as the great tests of our times. Thru this commitment we can rise to become a spiritual comrade, a co-shaper & co-creator of the divine earthly world. We are called in the Age of Michael to rise from being a ‘servant of God’ to being a ‘friend & brother/sister of Christ’ as promised in the Gospel of St. John 15:15.
In looking up to this world destiny of the human being in the dark time of the year which is now setting in, we must find the inner emphasis that is so easily lost today, because we lose our balance to the swings of the pendulum in our soul-life. The approaching winter can invoke (in some) the hum-bug that is possessed by greed, like an old man seeking to dispel the fear of death thru selfish pleasure or grabby possession. The balance of the soul swings back & forth between melancholy & self-satisfied control, until it can find its center in the true “I”.
The image of the scales can become for us the means to orient our soul & spirit at this turning point in the year.
October: “Satisfaction Becomes Serenity” or Contentment becomes Self-composure. This Virtue suggests a call to balance, not a settling in to mendacity, or a false sense of security. But a serenity in recognizing that we are just where we are meant to be in our striving.
~hag
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
MICHAELMAS IV
Michaelic Hope
v29
To have the inner fire
to kindle thinking’s radiance
and draw the meaning of experience
from worldwide spirit’s well of power
is now for me the summer’s heritage,
is autumn’s peace… and winter’s hope.
The spirit of the world has now activated the soul with Michaelic will-power, the fruit created from the soul’s darkness in the mirror verse, and now as the outer world becomes gloomier, an inner light shines, the autumn spirit presence becoming radiant with thought, the gift of the summer’s heritage.
AUTUMN PRELUDE IV
The Fruit Of Will
v24
In constant self-creation
the soul grows self-aware;
the spirit of the world strives onward
in new self-knowledge re-enlivened,
creating from the darkness of the soul
the conscious harvest of the will.
the sense of selfhood’s harvest of the will.
23 October 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”:
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – You tell me…What happened in history today, that YOU think made an impact on world karma?
1901 – Deathday of Adalbert Graf von Keyserlingk, son of Count Karl & Countess Joanna Keyserlingk, who wrote ‘Birth of a New Agriculture : Koberwitz 1924 and the Introduction of Biodynamics’ which describes the 12 day ‘agriculture course’ at Whitsun 1924 on the Koberwitz estate. They turned the castle belonging to the estate into a hospitable place with a cosmopolitan touch, which also accommodated, among others, the founding priest of the Breslau congregation of the Christian Community Rudolf Meyer for 3 years. The first Act of Consecration in Silesia was celebrated in Koberwitz.
1956 – Secret police shoot several anti-communist protesters, igniting the Hungarian October Revolution.
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~I festoon the grey day
With laser eyes & fierce cackles that call the wind to deliver me
Like a seed blown home
To fertile caverns…
I smell change a-coming
Shapes turning leaves into souls
Sheathed in paper hats torn from the mundane head
Born anew into the eternal flesh
Of freedoms reign
~hag
ThanK you for helpful insights into libra, my mother, my rising sign, the art and your poem (leaves as souls)
Hi Judy –
Yes, Libra is such an interesting threshold sign a dividing line between the ascending & descending signs. It’s great that you know your natal charts, it really helps to be able to apply these cosmic milestones to our individual lives to see the micro in the macro…Thanks for tuning in
It is a day late, but on October 23, 42 BCE Mark Antony defeats Caesar’s assassins at Philippi
https://historyonthisday.com/events/roman-republic/battle-of-philippi/
This is just one event, but what struck me about this was the cultural overlapping during this time. Julius Caesar, from what I’ve read, was seen in good light. I don’t know if this is a fair assessment, but perhaps this was a marking of the downfall of the Greco/Roman cultural stream. It is shortly before the time of Christ, first of all. Secondly, you also have Cleopatra in Egypt – yet another cultural overlay of Greco-Roman influence superimposed on Egyptian. So here, you have three overlappings all in one time frame, and pretty much in a similar geographical region.
“Herman Grimm saw the further progress of humanity in this way — as a continual supplanting of older cultural cycles by newer ones and an interplay of older cycles with newer ones. Each new cultural cycle has its task, that of introducing something new into the general development of humanity. The old remains extant for a while and still interacts with the new.”
GA62 The Worldview of Herman Grimm
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA062/English/eLib2019b/GrimmH_index.html
If we were 2000 years in the future from now, how would we view events happening now? Would we be able to see the cultural (epoch) overlays?
I saw this on soical media today. And it really speaks to your point Kyle & to the fact that there are forces trying to keeop us stuck in the old Roman Catholic control mode:
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Well, because that’s the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that’s the gauge they used. So, why did ‘they’ use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder ‘What horse’s ass came up with this?’, you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses’ asses.)

Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse’s ass.
And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important? Ancient horse’s asses control almost everything!
Wow, that sure is interesting! And to think how much our current culture is influenced by this system of roads. This reminds me of something from lecture 8 in the Gospel of John, which I just read:
“ Does the use of this spiritual force mean spiritual progress? Whoever faces the fact must acknowledge the following: You build railroads indeed, but they carry, practically, only what you need for your stomachs; and when you yourself travel, you do so only because of something that has to do with your physical needs. Does it make any difference from the standpoint of Spiritual Science whether we grind our own corn with a few stones or obtain it from a distance by means of the telegraph, ships, etc.? A tremendous spiritual force is employed, but it is used in an entirely personal sense. What then will be the meaning of what men thus negotiate? Apparently not Anthroposophy, in other words, not spiritual realities. When the telegraph and steamships are used, it is in the first place a question of how much cotton will be ordered to be sent from America to Europe, etc.; in other words it is a question of something that has to do with personal needs. Mankind has descended to the profoundest depths of personal necessity, of physical personality.”
It is amazing to think just how much spiritual energy is used surrounding today’s commerce. And that’s a good point, what really is the difference how we obtain food? The amount of resources and energy used to transport something could easily be obtained within walking distance – if not from the backyard! We’d also find ourselves more tuned into the rhythms/cycles of the seasons.
This quote from Steiner’s Gospel of John is even more apropos today!
Thanks
Libra is bridge between the elemental and divine? The fulcrum is in the center of our being, neither above or below, without direction, in or out. The scales are the essence of human, a balance of opposites, neutral point of duality, the presence from which art and beauty spring, the alchemical moment, love in action and when on the fulcrum she is still we are blessed and free, being without substance or form.
Thank you Nicholas – Libra is the balance between the above & below, the light & the dark, the 7th of the upper – the dividing line to the lower 5.
The 12 = the 7 planets with the human being as 5-pointed star. May we all strive to find & keep that balance
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/usa/chicago
If you click on Mercury you can trace the very waning crescent moon near Mercury with the Sun still in Virgo. Venus is not depicted at all. Yet, we know that RS etched definite dates in the Calendar of the Soul paintings in 1912 of when the Sun actually moves from sign to sign. That date for Libra is October 13 to November 9. So, has the Sun been undergoing a form of regression-retardation over time since 1912?
This graphic would have the waning moon in Virgo with Mercury and the Sun on October 23rd. The pace of the Sun’s movement still leaves it a distance from Libra. What is going on? Please look at this, Hazel because we definitely need to delineate.
Steve – I can’t seem to use the link you provided in the way you are perhaps seeing it.
Unfortunately, I can’t start the video display for Mercury but possibly you are not seeing the place where the several planets are indicated, i.e, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars? This is where you can click on Mercury and see where the Sun is still in Virgo.
My ephemeris says the Sun goes into Libra today…
Shouldn’t that be Scorpio? Libra from September 23 to October 23 according to the western tropical zodiac calculation. Yet, here is an interesting bit from the Wikipedia article on the constellation Libra:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra_(constellation)#Astrology
“As of 2002, the Sun appears in the constellation Libra from October 31 to November 22. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Libra from the northern autumnal equinox (c. September 23) to on or about October 23, and in sidereal astrology, from October 16 to November 15.”
Steiner’s sidereal dates are October 13 to November 9 in the painting attributed to Libra from the Calendar of the Soul.
Thanks Steve – so important to be aligned…
Does this mean for our birth charts, we should go off of sidereal?
It certainly gives a powerful prespective
Right! Well, I’ve always thought I had Leo Sun, Sag Moon, and Libra rising. Sidereal has me with a Cancer Sun, Scorpio Moon, and Virgo rising. Big difference! I mean, I suppose that could be valid for me… but how to know for sure?
try it on & see…
That’s what I am doing. I am actually relieved that I get to move past the Cancer Sun & Cancer rising – Pieces Moon – too much water!
& the tropical Zodiac also says I have NO AIR.
The Sidereal says I am Gemini Sun, which brings in the air or thinking quality that I know I am especially working with in my older years…
Sidereal would indicate the *actual* parameters of the Zodiacal sign involved. This chart indicates the standard tropical dates, and those of two further developers, Cyril Fagan, and Walter Berg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_and_tropical_astrology#Astronomic_zodiac
Steiner’s own dating, which corresponds to the Calendar of the Soul given in April 1912 has similarities. His dates are:
Aries – April 14 to April 30
Taurus – May 1 to June 15
Gemini – June 16 to July 19
Cancer – July 20 to August 3
Leo – August 4 to September 7
Virgo – September 8 to October 12
Libra – October 13 to November 9
Scorpio – November 10 to November 30
Sagittarius – December 1 to January 4
Capricorn – January 5 to February 8
Aquarius – February 9 to March 8
Pisces – March 9 to April 13
If you can access the Moon display here, it clearly indicates what would be a second New Moon in Virgo for October 25, 2022. The
previous one was on September 25, 2022.
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/usa/chicago
Thanks Steve – So interesting that these dates for the Sidereal are different in these 3 cases…It really proves what Steiner is always saying about how science misses the essence when it just about numbers.
The link says: The dates the Sun passes through the 12 astronomical constellations of the ecliptic listed are ONLY accurate to the year 2011. The dates will progress by an increment of one day every 70.5 years. The corresponding tropical and sidereal dates are given as well.
My point here is that nothing is etched in stone forever…in this case it changes every 70 years…So the indications that Steiner gave in 1912 need to be adjusted…
We know this has to be true. If the Sun is still in Virgo on October 25th, then the predicted entry of the Sun into Libra can be seen occurring around October 30. Thus, Steiner’s dates of October 13 to November 9th for Libra have clearly changed in order to account for the mobile and advancing Universe. This would also account for the two New Moons in Virgo on September 25 and October 25 considering that the Sun is in the sign of Virgo from around September 16 to October 30. Steiner’s dates for Virgo were September 8 to October 12. What seems clear in this revising of dates is the recognition of a 13th Zodiacal Constellation, which is Ophiuchus. Recognizing Ophiuchus as even more effective than Scorpio has been discussed here before. There is definitely a secret to numbers, and maybe the most mysterious is accorded to 13.