Cosmology Reborn: Star Wisdom

Printed to Order

The Star Wisdom series (previously Journal for Star Wisdom) includes articles of interest on 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 generally available beginning in October or November for the coming new year.
According to Rudolf Steiner, every step taken by Christ during his ministry between the baptism in the Jordan and the resurrection was in harmony with--and an expression of--the cosmos. Star Wisdom is concerned with these heavenly correspondences during the life of Christ and is intended to help provide a foundation for cosmic Christianity, the cosmic dimension of Christianity. It is this dimension that, by and large, has been missing until now from Christianity and its the 2,000-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, who is now--since the onset of his Second Coming in 1933--spiritually present in the etheric aura of the Earth

This year sees the publication of volume one of the series Star Wisdom. The title was chosen in commemoration of a 1919 lecture by Rudolf Steiner, "Cosmogony, Freedom, Altruism," in which he indicates the development of a living Cosmology to be the task of the Anglo-American West. The first article in this volume (by Joel Park) illumines that lecture from the standpoint of Astrogeography. It is followed by an article by Robert Powell, describing the development of Astrosophy and introducing a new galactic perspective for casting horoscopes. Claudia McLaren Lainson addresses the historical gesture of Saturn-Pluto conjunctions in her first article. This is followed by a second article from Joel Park that outlines his recent research into the timeline of events in the Parzival story. Next is Estelle Isaacson with a vision of the miracles surrounding the Second Coming. This is followed by an assessment by Kevin Dann on Cosmology as it has developed in America since 1919. Julie Humphreys offers an illuminating piece on the historical gesture of Uranus in Aries, followed by the second article by Claudia McLaren Lainson, offering a hermetic perspective on the events of our time. The final article is an otherwise out-of-print piece from the archives of Robert Powell on the Lunar Calendar.

Continuing the tradition of Journal for Star Wisdom, monthly commentaries (supported by Julie Humphrey's astronomical previews for each month plus monthly ephemerides) are provided by Claudia McLaren Lainson, offering readers the opportunity to connect spiritual with the stellar configurations during 2019. This direct interaction between human beings on Earth and the angels and other heavenly beings connected with the stars will help interested readers toward developing the capacity to receive the wisdom-filled teachings of the angelic hierarchies.

Joel Matthew Park is a husband, father, and Christian Hermeticist based in Copake, New York. From 2011 to 2019 he was a life-sharing coworker at Plowshare Farm (a Camphill affiliate), farming and candlemaking with people from a variety of countries, ages, and developmental backgrounds. During this time, he earned a certification in Social Therapy from the School of Spiritual Science through the Camphill Academy. He has been living and working in Camphill Village Copake since 2019. After a time devoted to elder care, he has become increasingly involved in teaching in the Camphill Academy, on topics such as Stargazing, the Karma of Vocation, Theosophy, the Human Soul, the Festival Year, and Philosophical Perspectives. Joel has been a student of Anthroposophy since 2008 and a Christian Hermeticist since 2010. In 2014, he met Phillip Malone; together, the two of them have been investigating the Tarot of Marseilles since 2016. Since then, Joel has led two retreats on "Tarot and the Art of Hermetic Conversation" (2017 and 2019). The fruits of Joel and Phillip's collaboration in this realm can be found at the-unknown-friends.com. In 2015, he joined the Grail Knighthood, a group-spiritual practice offered through the Sophia Foundation. Through this, he met Robert Powell, whose work he had been studying since 2009. Since then, Joel has been working actively with him to continue the karma research Robert began in 1977 and exemplifies in works such as Hermetic Astrology, volumes I and II, and Elijah, Come Again. Joel's first contribution was to the Journal for Star Wisdom 2018 (published Nov. 2017), after which he became editor for the journal's continuation, the Star Wisdom series. The first volume of this series was published in November 2018. A selection of Joel's writings can be found on his TreeHouse website, treehouse.live.

Robert A. Powell, PhD, is an internationally known lecturer, author, eurythmist, and movement therapist. He is founder of the Choreocosmos School of Cosmic and Sacred Dance, and cofounder of the Sophia Foundation of North America. He received his doctorate for his thesis The History of the Zodiac, available as a book from Sophia Academic Press. He is the author and coauthor of numerous work, including The Sophia Teachings (a six-tape series), as well as numerous books on star wisdom (Astrosophy), the divine feminine (Sophia), the Christian Mysteries, and sacred movement. He has also been a contributing editor of the annual journal Star Wisdom. He translated the spiritual classic Meditations on the Tarot and co-translated Valentin Tomberg's Lazarus, Come Forth! Robert teaches a gentle form of healing movement: the sacred dance of eurythmy, as well as the Cosmic Dances of the Planets and signs of the zodiac. Through the Sophia Grail Circle, Robert facilitates sacred celebrations dedicated to the Divine Feminine. He has also offered numerous workshops in Europe and Australia, and with Karen Rivers, cofounder of the Sophia Foundation, and has led pilgrimages to the world's sacred sites since 1996.

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.

Kevin Dann, Ph.D., has taught history at SUNY Plattsburgh, the University of Vermont, and Rutgers University. His books include Lewis Creek Lost and Found (University Press of New England, 2001); Across the Great Border Fault: The Naturalist Myth in America (Rutgers University Press, 2000); and Bright Colors Falsely Seen: Synaesthesia and the Search for Transcendental Knowledge (Yale University Press, 1998).

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).