Journal for Star Wisdom 2017

Journal for Star Wisdom 2017 includes articles of interest concerning star wisdom (Astrosophy), as well as a guide to the correspondences between stellar configurations during the life of Christ and those of today. This guide comprises a complete sidereal ephemeris and aspectarian, geocentric and heliocentric, for each day throughout the year. Published yearly, new editions are available beginning in October or November for the coming new year.

According to Rudolf Steiner, every step taken by Christ during his ministry between his baptism in the Jordan and the Resurrection was in harmony with―and an expression of―the cosmos. Journal for Star Wisdom is concerned with these heavenly correspondences during the life of Christ. It is intended to help provide a foundation for cosmic Christianity, the cosmic dimension of Christianity. It is this dimension that has been missing from Christianity in its two-thousand-year history. Readers can begin on this path by contemplating the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets against the background of the zodiacal constellations (sidereal signs) today in relation to corresponding stellar events during the life of Christ. In this way, the possibility is opened for attuning, in a living way, to the life of Christ in the etheric cosmos.

This year’s journal begins with Robert Powell’s article on the Jupiter rhythm underlying Christ’s descent through the Earth’s subearthly spheres, opening the path to Shambhala, the new paradise. Next is an article by Estelle Isaacson on the Earth Mother indwelling the golden realm of Shambhala, the heart of Mother Earth. Claudia McLaren Lainson’s first article is “The Sun Chronicle in the Life of Jesus Christ,” followed by “The Sabbath Door: The Truth Shall Set Us Free.” Nicholas Kollerstrom contributed an article on the chart of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ―to which Robert Powell added an addendum. Julie Humphreys’ article is “Awaking to the Ideals of Truth,” taking fresh approaches to the theme of truth addressed by Claudia McLaren Lainson, whose third is “The Sphere of Mars and Gautama’s Heavenly Deed.” Estelle Isaacson’s second article, “The Archangel Michael and the Double of Humanity,” follows. Claudia McLaren Lainson contributed the article “Behold, We are to Make all Things New” to introduce her monthly commentaries for 2017. 

The monthly commentaries are supported by monthly astronomical previews by Claudia McLaren Lainson, offering opportunities to observe and experience the stellar configurations physically during 2017. Direct interaction between us on Earth and the heavenly beings of the stars develops our capacity to receive their wisdom-filled teachings. 

CLAUDIA McLAREN LAINSON is a teacher and Therapeutic Educator. She has been working in the field of Anthroposophy since 1982, when she founded her first Waldorf program in Boulder, Colorado. She lectures nationallyis the founder of Windrose Farm and Academy near Boulder. Claudia most recently founded the School for the Sophia Mysteries at Windrose. She is the author of The Circle of Twelve and the Legacy of Valentin Tomberg.

Estelle Isaacson is a contemporary mystic and seer, whose first books were published by LogoSophia in 2012: Through the Eyes of Mary Magdalene: Early Years and Soul Awakening. In volume 1 in her trilogy on the life of Mary Magdalene, Estelle Isaacson presents her visions of the life of Christ as seen through Magdalene’s own eyes. Volume 2, Through the Eyes of Mary Magdalene: From Initiation to the Passion, enters the profound mysteries of Christ’s Passion, culminating in the Resurrection. Estelle is coauthor with Robert Powell of Gautama Buddha’s Successor: A Force for Good in Our Time(2013) and The Mystery of Sophia: Bearer of the New Culture: The Rose of the World(2014).

Nicholas Kollerstrom, the director of New Alchemy Press, has long been interested in Hermetic matters. For thirty years he has produced Britain’s lunar gardening calendar Planting by the Moon. He has also been a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society for more than two decades and has published academic articles on the history of astronomy. For eleven years he was a Fellow of University College London in its Science and Technology Studies Department, though his somewhat unorthodox views made it difficult for him to continue in that capacity. His articles for Mercury Star Journal (edited by Robert Powell) consider evidence for lunar-sidereal rhythms in vegetable growth. His latest book, Metal-Planet Affinities: The Alchemical Bridge between Heaven and Earth,reviews work he has been involved with since the 1970s, based on the pioneering work of Lily Kolisko. 

Julie Humphreys is a graduate of Stanford and a former pediatric nurse and Waldorf mom. An early interest in astrology lay dormant for more than three decades until she was introduced to the sidereal system, the works of Robert Powell, and the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich. She has taken great joy in researching astrological phenomena for the Journal for Star Wisdom. Julie lives in Carmel, California, where shooting stars and the Milky Way are often visible.

Daniel Andreev (1906–1959) was born in Berlin. His father was the well-known Russian writer Leonid Andreev. His mother Alexandra Veligorsky died during childbirth. Daniel's father, overcome with grief, gave up Andreev to Alexandra's sister Elizabeth Dobrov, who lived in Moscow. It was a critical event in Daniel Andreev's life, for in contrast to many of the Russian intelligentsia at the time, the maintained its Russian Orthodox faith. Daniel's childhood included contact with persons as his godfather Maxim Gorky. Daniel was conscripted as a noncombatant in the Soviet Army in 1942, and after the war he returned to writing fiction and poetry. Daniel Andreev was arrested in 1947, along with his wife and many of his relatives and friends, and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, while his wife received twenty-five years of labor camp. All of previous writing was destroyed. With the rise of Khrushchev, Andreev's case was reviwed and his sentence reduced to ten years. He was released to his waiting wife in 1957, his health ruined following a heart attack in prison. While in prison, he had written the first drafts of The Rose of the World and Russian Gods (a collection of poetry), as well as The Iron Mystery, a play in verse. Andreev spent the last two years of his life finishing his work on these works. Andreev's wife Alla, realizing the negative reception the books would get from the Soviet authorities, hid them until the mid-seventies, but didn't publish them until Gorbachev and glasnost. The first edition of The Rose of the World (100,000 copies) quickly sold out, and since then several editions have been equally popular in Russia.