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The “Seminarhof Drawehn” in Kassau is situated on the edge of a small village and it has grown out of an old farmstead. Its centre is a beautiful 12-angular building with a spiral roof. Its large windows open a wide view over fields and forests.
During the meeting we followed a rhythm of longer and shorter meditations alternating with sharing in smaller and larger groups and walks in nature.
For this year’s programme, the preparation team had planned more free time for exchanges, and the meeting was also one day longer. We spent the exact time of the equinox in meditation and contemplation on the energy manifesting at the moment of entry into Aries.
We talked in smaller and bigger groups about what moves us, how we keep the inner connection in the flood of information in everyday life and how we live with the influences of the present time.
We also delved into Sri Kumar’s message for the year 2022/23, and a fascinating input on the current planetary constellation seen through the symbolic language of Greek mythology opened up a deeper understanding. Sunday evening, a group member led us through an exercise on the symbols and qualities of the seven rays.
Sunday morning after meditation, we gathered outside for a small fire ritual. Despite the wind and icy temperature, it was a sublime experience to welcome the new year with the fire and the rising sun.
Next year’s meeting will again take place at the same place at the beginning of spring, while a shorter meeting is planned for the autumn equinox 2022 in Hamburg.
In the scriptures, creation is described as an expression of the first, second and third logos, or three fires coming from one source. We can consider these three fires as will, love and wisdom and intelligent activity. They are the cosmic or electric fire, the solar fire and the fire by friction, the invisible fire in matter.
These three fires are associated with the three fire signs of the zodiac. Aries represents the electric fire; Leo represents the transforming fire, and Sagittarius is the fire by friction. Even though we describe them as three qualities, the three fires are only one fire called “Agni”.
From this source, the stardust comes forth as a ray of fire known as the great serpent Ananta, the cosmic Kundalini or the serpent of eternity. The stardust forms into stars or solar systems. This process is symbolically represented in the picture.
From the unity in the centre emerges the three points symbolizing the three logoi or the three fires. The fire pervades the space in which the serpent of eternity becomes visible. It is surrounded by the stardust from which suns and galaxies are formed. For the design of the stardust, I transformed a NASA/Hubble photo of a ring galaxy. The serpent of eternity and the fire at the background were generated with elements from different images.
The symbolism of Aries is visualised in the thirteen Aries paintings done between 2010 and 2022. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.
This is about an exchange with a friend from the US who is member in my English online study group. She reacted on a communication which was distributed last Saturday via the internal mailing list of the World Teacher Trust. Although it is a bit specific, it might be of interest of some blog readers.
The mailing list communication was about questions asked by some group members and answers given by Master KPK. I give here the related question/remark:
Q: “Saturn starts transit of Dhanishta from 6th March 2022 till 31st March 2023.” A: “Saturn’s stay in Dhanishta is very significant to bring about needed changes for the better at all levels. Invoke Master CVV with deeper intent and relate to Saturn Regulations throughout this period. It is also beneficial if Occult Meditations are also followed. Learn to accept things as they come in and around and see what best can be done at your level.”
My friend is a profound teacher of esoteric astrology but is not so familiar with the Eastern wisdom of using elements from Vedic astrology for meditative work. So here is our exchange:
Q: “Can you please explain Dhanishta, Saturn in Dhanishta? This is Vedic astrology? Would it be then Saturn in Aquarius? or Capricorn? Or? I don’t understand. What would it be in Vedic & in western astrology?”
A: “Dhanishta, ‘Wealthy Wind’, is a constellation of the 27 Nakshatras, being especially important in Aquarian age. The vernal equinox entered from Pisces into Aquarius (‘Aquarian Age’). Please see here about Dhanishta meditation (We do here since many years…)
Master KPK had noticed beginning of the 90s that during the Dhanishta time there is an extra influx of Aquarian energies, which is coming in via the Moon each month, and also via Sun once a year during about 18 days. And during the transit of any planet through this constellation, the planet brings in specific extra Aquarian energies.
This is not Vedic astrology, it is spiritual astrology, which you can use whether following the one or the other system. To me, it seems that Master wants us to get aware of the different time qualities of the zodiac of 27 divisions, the Nakshatras. These are practiced in lunar astrology, but you can take it also with solar with the respective divisions of the zodiac. For this, the Master has given the correspondences between the 2 systems in his books & talks.
However, he gave a certain indication to where Dhanishta begins and ends in solar astrology, and also the beginning and ending in both systems in his book on Nakshatras. Then, a German astrologer pointed out about a year ago that in the lunar zodiac there is not a clear beginning of the zodiac like in the solar system, with vernal equinox, 0° Aries, and that the Master had given different beginning points of Ashwini at different situations, thus impacting also the beginning and ending of Dhanishta calculations from a solar perspective. (There are plenty of astrological systems defining the beginning of Ashwini differently. In India, the government has defined the beginning of Ashwini to be used for official calculation of festivals but besides these there are various other definitions.)
The Master has reacted last year on the arguments of the German astrologer and has taken away all indications of parallels between solar and lunar systems in his Nakshatra book. There was a difference to the indications given before, esp. in the “Aquarian Master” book. On the basis of these indications, the astrological softwares used in WTT, like “Smoon” and the software to calculate the astro-data used for the Astro Diary are functioning. It was agreed to continue with these definitions, taking them as “immovable” for the calculations.
So you can take what has been given in the Aquarian Master book for observing the transits of planets through Dhanishta and thus, linking to extra influx of Aquarian energies. (This is what Master recommended when speaking about Saturn’s transit through Dhanishta. For us, from solar astrology view, it is not in Capricorn but in Aquarius. For lunar astrology, it is in Capricorn. I give you the details for a detailed, profound understanding, since you are teaching and can help establish clarity about this important point.
Read the chapter on Dhanishta in the “Aquarian Master“, there it also says: “The Dhanishta constellation according to the lunar calendar which is called in Sanskrit as ‘Niryana’ exists between 23 degrees 20 minutes of Capricorn and the last 6 degrees 40 minutes of Aquarius. The difference between the two systems is 23 degrees and 20 minutes, which is reconcilable. Dhanishta is the constellation through which the Energies of Synthesis or Aquarian Energies visited the planet Earth. Master CVV’s birth Moon is in the constellation of Dhanishta. This is not a mere coincidence. The Master of the Aquarian Age chose the Aquarian constellation to transmit Aquarian Energies to the planet and the planetary beings.” … (Another aspect of the mail) Learning the Saturnian way has many dimensions – adjusting to Dharma, the Law, and the aspects Saturn teaches. By honouring them, one gets support from Saturn. For this, The Saturn Regulations are recommended, esp. during times of intense Saturn impacts, also the use of the sound SAM and visualising the 3 black points (in the head, over the 2 eyes and the 3rd), see the book on Saturn.”
Q: “There is much here to learn & integrate & understand, Ludger. Dhanishta is a constellation? The 23rd constellation in the 27 Nakshatras. Each of the 27 have their own name. Dhanishta is one of the names of the constellations. One of the lunar mansions? There are 27 lunar mansions or Nakshatras? The moon travels or orbits thru these lunar mansions. This information is new to me. I am learning.”
A: “Yes, there is an ocean of profound wisdom, where I am also just dabbling a little at the shores. And yes, Dhanishta is one of these lunar mansions or constellations, Nakshatras. They are considered to be constellations. Please see enclosed the no more published list of these constellations / Nakshtras from the old version of the book on Nakshatras of the Master, I clustered it from there. Have a look there with the zodiacal degrees – as I said in the last mail, these differ a bit from what Master gave in the Aquarian Master book. So you might discover which of your birth planets / node gets the special blessings of Dhanishta energy, and this is definitely something to ponder on! It gives a special amount of Aquarian energies.
If it is the 23rd constellation depends on your way of counting, it is not so in all ways, but only when you start with Ashwini. When you start with Krittika, the scissors (cutting the circle of the equator, it correspond(ed) to Vernal Equinox, see my image Aries – Sun Cuts the Equator of Mother Earth), it is the 21st one. So, in the enclosed PDF, from the German book on Spiritual Astrology, you find it as the 21st. (And written as Dhanishtha – in English, th in English digraph is different from the th in Indian languages, there, it is and aspirated t)…”
The commencement of the year is in Pisces and its tangible commencement is in Aries. Even while concluding the yearly cycle, Pisces prepares the seeds for manifestation of the new cycle.
Some days ago, a friend and astrologer from Seattle sent me a photo of a letter of C.G. Jung from a correspondence with professor B.V. Raman, an Indian astrologer / editor from Bangalore dated September 6th 1947. I transformed the photo into a PDF for easier sharing.
In the letter, Jung does the following interesting statements: “Since you want to know my opinion about astrology I can tell you that I’ve been interested in this particular activity of the human mind since more than 30 years. As I am a psychologist I am chiefly interested in the particular light the horoscope sheds on certain complications in the character. In cases of difficult psychological diagnosis I usually get a horoscope in order to have a further point of view from an entirely different angle. I must say that I very often fund that the astrological data elucidated certain points which I otherwise would have been unable to understand. From such experiences I formed the opinion that astrology is of particular interest to the psychologist, since it contains a sort of psychological experience which we call “projected” – this means that we find the psychological facts as it were in the constellations. This originally gave rise to the idea that these factors derive from the stars whereas they are merely in a relation to synchronicity with them. I admit that this is a very curious fact which throws peculiar light on the structure of the human mind. What I miss in astrological literature is chiefly the statistical method by which certain fundamental facts could be scientifically established.
Hoping that this answer meets your request I remain yours sincerely C.G. Jung”
The letter reminds me of the explications Dr. E. Krishnamacharya (Master EK) in his book “Wisdom of the Heavens” (PDF), where he gives excellent explications on the nature of astrology. This might answer what Jung gives as missing in astrological literature about establishing certain fundamental facts statistically:
” ‘Is astrology a science or an art?’ You can further enquire. It is a science while learning and art while applying. It has the same position as that of medicine and law… Healing is an art though medicine is a science. Same is the case with astrology. … When a prescription fails to cure, when a legal advice fails to restore justice, or when a prediction fails to come true, the fault is in the practitioner but not in the science… Man can foresee that there will be a sunrise tomorrow and if he does not kill himself in the name of religion or politics. Such experience forms the basis for the Wisdom of the Heavens. Whenever the basis is illumined by the sacred lamp of pure perception through the torch of quest, there is the development of the astrological science. Through this wisdom, man can foresee the will of his Creator and await His command… We prefer to follow such sciences. We read the symbols of this science and interpret in terms of man’s tendencies, seeds, reactions and results. We teach what we know. We interpret what we see. If man were to talk to His Father it is through the vault of Heavens. The wisdom of the stars should be the language… Astrology is the true key of spiritual wisdom which we call the ‘Science of Man’.”
The Earth has a Hierarchy of Teachers popularly known as the White Brotherhood. The head of the Hierarchy is called the World Teacher. The World Teacher in the present cycle is known as Lord Maitreya. The word “Maitreya” comes from the Sanskrit root “Mitra”, meaning friend. Maitreya is a sage of great brilliance; his teachings are of synthesis, unity of existence, and love and wisdom.
Though little known, the Indian Puranas contain information about him. The Vishnu Purana is a question-answer session between Parasara, the teacher and the student, Maitreya. Maitreya received the wisdom under a ficus (fig) tree at the eastern entrance to a cave which is said to be at Sravasti, in a region north of Mount Kailash. It is today called Shigatse by the Tibetans. It is believed that the ficus tree is still there even today and that he continues to bless the entire planet and humanity during the morning and evening hours.
To visualise this scene, I used a photo of a ficus tree at the Sun temple of Konark, India. I created the figure of Maitreya by fusing an extract from the painting “Transfiguration” by Fra Angelico and a picture of the head of Maitreya. The background was designed with elements of photos of the Himalayas and the Alps and of a sunrise taken during a flight over India.
The symbolism of Pisces is visualised in the twelve Pisces paintings done between 2010 and 2021. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.
Since 1.5 years, I am collaborating with the ANIMA project. ANIMA is a non-profit communication channel aiming to share contents that may uplift our consciousness and raise our vibration. You find here a blogpost about the Spanish launch in August 2020. And this blogpost is now about the launch of the new English branch of activities.
Once a month, I meet with the core team of Anima for discussing strategic questions and the development of the project. It is a small but extremely dedicated team doing all activities as volunteer activities in a highly professional way, and with a tremendous output of communication activities, mainly via YouTube videos. And they are doing a great networking including many different helpers (in case, you would like to help them, you can contact them via the link). I like very much the lively exchanges bringing in plenty of good ideas allowing also me to reflect on the work I am doing in the context of WTT and Circle of Good Will.
Some months ago, the team decided to step up their activities and produce also material in English. So, they adapted their website and created the ANIMA Channel. Recently, they opened an English-Only channel on YouTube.
They have already produced quite a number of English short videos about different topics related to living spirituality in daily life and right living. Have a look and subscribe to their channel or one of their playlists.
Not directly related to ANIMA, but going into the same direction of uplifting consciousness: This morning, I received a mailing about the launch of “Children in the light”, a new activity organised by Latin American sisters and brothers, through Zoom, in Spanish, starting today, Saturday 5 February, at 19:00 (Europe) via Zoom. Join : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85617974333. Zoom ID: 856 1797 4333, Code: om.
When composing the new Lunar Messenger of the symbolism series on the symbolism of the monkey, for the Aquarius newsletter (still unpublished), I discovered that there is a profound difference between the Western and the Eastern understanding of the famous symbolic representation of the three monkeys:
While the three monkeys today in the West usually stand for “not wanting to see, hear or say anything” in order to ignore unpleasant things, in the East they symbolise three wise monkeys:
One monkey has his eyes covered, thus showing “I do not see the unimportant”. Another monkey covers his ears: “I do not listen to the unessential”. The third monkey covers his mouth: “I do not speak or eat unnecessarily”. These are instructions to be applied by a disciple of the Master’s precepts. In this way we prevent undesirable things and diseases from entering us.
When searching photos of the symbol for a future video on the three monkeys, I came across the following photo of the Indian Prime Minister Modi presenting the gift of a copy of statues of the three monkeys to the then US-president Trump and his wife Melania on 24 February 2020. The statues are in the garden of the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India.
The photo with these three persons and the three monkeys, chosen as a gift from India to America, is highly symbolic of the much-needed “fusion of the wisdom of the East and the strength of the West” to overcome the global antagonisms. “East” and “West” do not mean locations on the planet but “material” and “spiritual”. There is much “west” in the “East” and much “east” in the “West”.
Extract of the official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks
Extract of the official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks
Friends sent me this morning the information that today a great one has passed over: Thích Nhất Hạnh. The Buddhist monk left his body at the age of 95 (1926 – 2022) in Vietnam. In the 60s, he had been a leading voice in the opposition to the Vietnam war. and later had impacted the lives of millions of people. Here you can read about his life story.
I heard about Thich already many years ago, and consciously in the 90s through Buddhists among the Vietnamese refugees for whom I worked for 11 years. They had fled from Vietnam during the second wave exodus, and Switzerland had taken particularly vulnerable people from East Asian refugee camps. I met a lot of Vietnamese refugees, first in the integration centre for recognised refugees where I was teaching German language and first integration, and later as a head of “An Lac”, in the 90s a psycho-social meeting and counselling centre for South-East Asian refugees. Some of them deeply venerated Thich and spoke to me about his importance and a bit about their Buddhist life.
I never felt drawn to Buddhism but I was deeply impressed about the life and message of Thich, which largely is of a universal nature. He has taught mindfulness and right attitude towards life in a profound way. There are centres around the world, a central one, Plum Village in France.
My friend Robert from Spain sent me the following beautiful lines of Thich:
Oneness
The moment I die I will try to come back to you as quickly as possible. I promise it will not take long. Isn’t it true I am already with you, as I die each moment? I come back to you in every moment. Just look, feel my presence. If you want to cry, please cry. And know that I will cry with you. The tears you shed will heal us both. Your tears are mine.
Group energy is of great help for our spiritual progress. In a group meditation there develops a flow of energy. We are recharged and we can more easily experience a higher consciousness and a greater presence of spirit.
The energies always flow from the higher to the lower. The sun rays are streaming from the Sun to the Earth. The higher energies work through us when we feel the needs of others and respond to them. These energies strengthen the group consciousness, and they help manifest acts of goodwill in the world. Group work brings the inner light to the outside and intensifies the connection to the higher circles.
To illustrate this cooperation, I arranged in the lower part of the picture a group gathered around a table by joining pictures of two different groups. For visualising the influx of higher energies, I used a photo of a dahlia, elements of a picture of the earth, created with the software WorldWind.earth, as well as a picture of a star in the upper part of the picture. I designed the downpour of light with photos of a glass crystal held in front of a lamp. The light of the star shines through the earth globe and is reflected in the hearts of the group members.
The symbolism of Aquarius is visualised in the twelve Aquarius paintings done between 2010 and 2021. For detailed detailed descriptions please see the ludgerphilips.org website.
