Beauty expresses itself through many and various forms – a work of art, a beautiful flower. Beauty shines through the form. On the subtle planes the limitations of the material form fall away and beauty shines more radiantly. Beauty in the form is governed by Venus, ruler of Taurus. In our body, Taurus rules the lower part of the head and the neck. There are seven etheric centres above the neck related on the solar level with the seven stars of the Pleiades. They are also called the seven mothers who nourish the disciple after his spiritual birth with glandular secretions in this region in the body.

In the centre of the image, you see Apollo, the solar God, holding his seven-stringed lyre, symbol of the seven planes of creation. He is surrounded by flowers expressing divine beauty. From below, a serpent is lifting up its head. Apollo is raising the currents of the Kundalini energy to flow upwards and reach the Ajna centre. There, you see the shining star of the awakened centre.

Above the neck, there are seven stars linked to the seven stars of Pleiades. On the left side, in the vastness of the night-blue sky, you see a golden globe surrounded by a sphere of light and flowers. I created it with the help of a photo of Venus, from Nasa. For the figure of Apollo and for the flower meadow I worked on photos of friends.

The symbolism of Taurus is visualised in the twelve Taurus paintings done between 2010 and 2021. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and from the standpoint of light it is celebrated as the true beginning of the year. It is the sign of the birth of a new idea, which starts unfolding its activity. Each time a planet enters into Aries, a cycle is completed and a new one begins.

Aries is the highest point of enlightenment and at spring equinox the sun is also at the highest point at the equator. In our body, Aries is in the upper part of our head, it is the radiant light of the head centre. In the Vedas Aries is also worshipped as the head of the cosmic person called Purusha.

The symbolism of Aries is visualised in the twelve Aries paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

In Aries the Sun is exalted. Aries represents the midheaven and the midday where the Sun gives the brightest light. Aries is considered the head of the sun signs and also Aries represents the actual head of man. The highest solar centre in man is the Sahasrara, the head centre. When we stand vertically on the Earth, our head aligns with the midheaven. When the Sun is at the midheaven at noon, we can line up with the Sun. In this way we can align with the light in our head and connect with the greater centre of the Sun. This helps us to rise up from personality to soul consciousness and connect with divine consciousness.

The picture shows a group of people gathering at spring equinox and aligning and connecting to the higher energies. The circles around the Sun indicate the three planes of the Sun, the physical plane, the soul plane and the spiritual plane.

The colour of Aries is red. The shades of red along the central axis outline the figure of the solar angel through whom the energy pours down. The arced horizon line was designed with a photo of the Bernese Alps as an expression of the inner striving upward. At the top right you can see the Aries constellation and Mars, the ruler of the sign, and its glyph is at the top left.

The symbolism of Aries is visualised in the twelve Aries paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Nine days ago, there was the first spring day with clear blue sky. A week before it was ice cold and snow on the fields. Now the temperature had jumped up. We went out for a walk around Schlosswil, a little village in the surroundings with a castle from the 13th and 16th century. Here are some impressions for you to enjoy.

On the website of the castle it says that there are almost 400 paintings distributed throughout the castle. The apartment corridor is decorated with a cow picture gallery (18th/19th c.) with 31 paintings.

Pisces speaks of the wheel of creation and of cyclical endings and beginnings. For seers, time is a flowing current or stream in which the past, present and future merge. The symbol of Pisces is a symbol of synthesis. It contains two fishes moving in opposite directions. Although the Pisces fishes appear as two, they are actually one. In truth, there is neither beginning nor ending, but a single continuous movement in which we think we see beginnings and endings, depending on our levels of perception and understanding.

The symbolism of Pisces is visualised in the eleven Pisces paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

For some weeks, I was pondering on the image for Pisces but the direction remained hidden. Going through my photo collections, I was attracted by pictures from an early morning walk along the beach in Visakhapatnam, India. The waves and the wet sand were mirroring golden rays. The meeting of sky, earth and water spoke of the cycles of time and of the endings and beginnings characteristic of Pisces.

While searching I joined a Zoom lecture of Sri Kumar and I was thrilled to hear him explain in detail the meaning of the rod of initiation and how to meditate upon it. The very word initiation means entering into oneself. That rod of initiation is in us; it is normally dormant but it can be awakened. It is a pole of light upon which there is a sphere of light, like a golden club – the rod of power or the weapon Lord Vishnu is holding in his hand. It is a symbolic representation of the inner side of our cerebro-spinal column and our head. I started drawing and contemplating.

I fused the picture of a golden club with a photo of a Bronze sculpture of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion (from the Metropolitan Museum). I arranged them in the centre of the image. Avalokiteshvara holds the rod of initiation. On his eyes and forehead, you see a lighted triangle with a central point, symbol of the basic trinity and the oneness. The meditative calmness of Avalokiteshvara, the eternal observer of everything, is in maximum contrast to the ever-changing movement of the waves of time and life. He remains blessing and protecting the beings through his looks.

The symbolism of Pisces is visualised in the eleven Pisces paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

Aquarius is related to the waters of space. Madame H.P. Blavatsky says, “Space is potential. Space pulsates.” In space there are innumerable waves, which are the background of every existence in the phenomenal world. The subtle intelligences distribute them through the pulsations and vibrations. They are all an aspect of the Aquarian energy. The symbol of Aquarius hints at this with two electric lines or two waves in space.

The symbolism of Aquarius is visualised in the eleven Aquarius paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

The constellation Aquarius is called ‘The Man in the Heavens’. The Masters of Wisdom recognised him as the archetype of man and called him Manu. The Heavenly Man has descended into the forms of the many human beings. As Manu, he leads mankind to perfection in accordance with the spiral movement of evolution. Master EK describes this development as spirally moving hieroglyphs.

In Aquarius it is recommended to meditate upon the glittering body of the Heavenly Man and how the stars of the constellation emanate forth the light of spiritual realization. Within us, the light pours down through all centres from the point of Aquarius at the top of the forehead.

The picture shows the light streaming down from the head of the Heavenly Man. A spiral comes forth from his heart. The background of the picture shows the hieroglyphs of a piece of the Tabula Smaragdina (Emerald Tablet). In this text Hermes Trismegistos taught the relationship between man and the Heavenly Man with the words “As above, so below”.

The predominant colour of the painting is between deep blue and violet. It is described as the colour of Aquarius. The actual colour appears as colourless to the human eye, since the human eye cannot recognise this colour. At the upper left corner, you see the stars of the constellation Aquarius and on the right side the Aquarius glyph.

The symbolism of Aquarius is visualised in the eleven Aquarius paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.

A friend just shared this beautiful “Hogmanay“, a Scottish word for New Year Celebration. It is a drone ballet filmed due to Covid19 restrictions on locations in the Scottish Highlands and partly placed into shots taken around Edinburgh. The Hogmanay is a farewell to the old year and a welcome to the new one, accompanied with poetic words spoken in Scottish and Gaelic and subtitled. Sublime!

Already in the past, I had blogged about drone ballets such as “Weightless“.

Capricorn is symbolically represented with the face of a goat (Capra) and the coiled tail of an animal; it stands for Chronos-Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn. The focus and aim of Capricorn is the mountain top. His qualities are a strong, unwavering will, constant diligence, patience, and unceasing striving toward the goal. May the power of Saturn be helpfully at our side so that we may patiently continue our journey on the path upward even through difficult terrains.

The symbolism of Capricorn is visualised in the eleven Capricorn paintings done between 2010 and 2020. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.