Seven Trees and Seven Planets

by Johannes Hemleben

From the 1988 Edition of the Golden Blade

An Anthroposophical Journal

https://www.waldorflibrary.org/images/stories/Journal_Articles/GoldenBlade_1988.pdf

“You should know that every star in the sky is nothing other than a herb grown in the spirit, which some earthly herb or other resembles. … And the stars might be likened to the casting-mould, which is the model from which the finished cast is formed. … Thus every star begets through its formative power a kindred herb on the earth. … And so every herb is an earthly star, and looks upwards towards the heavens, and every star is a celestial herb. … And the celestial herbs look down upon the earth to the herbs which they have begotten. If you only knew the link, you would say: This star is called Stella rosmarini (the Star of Rosemary). This one is called Stella absynthii (the Star of Absinth*)….”

– Theophrastus Paracelsus

Theophrastus Paracelsus was one of the last men to carry within him as a natural such influences can already be substantiated today with hard scientific proofs, the ancient symbolism of the stars and their connection with the kingdoms of nature is expressed in profound, yet easily accessible imagery, which unites to an organic whole phenomena which may seem at first to lie far apart. If we say that the birch is the tree of Venus, the goddess of grace and beauty, and the oak belongs to the waring Mars, we have characterized these trees more exactly than the modem botanist who informs us that the birch or Betula alba belongs to the family Betulaceae and the oak, or Quercus robur to the family Fagaceae, etc.

“When Rudolf Steiner was faced with the task of designing columns for the first Goetheanum, which was later burned down at the end of 1922, he recognized the spiritual necessity that there should be seven columns, and chose for each one of a different kind of wood.** Old tradition, which associated each tree or groups of trees with a certain planet were re-awakened to a new life and significance by the eye of the seer and the hand of the artist. We shall attempt, with the help of these seven trees, to discover a path which will lead us from the Moon over Mercury and Venus to the Sun, and from there over Mars and Jupiter to Saturn. For reasons which cannot be set out here in detail, the sequence of columns in the First Goetheanum was a different one. We shall be following the ancient description of the seven “planetary spheres”, which were imagined enveloping the earth in concentric arrangement. The visible planet, the Sun or the Moon was only regarded as the outer sign of the living totality of its sphere.

* Wormwood Artemisia absinthia
** See the article by Geitraud Goodwin “Seven  Planets – Seven  Woods”, in this issue (to be published on Aether Force soon)

THE MOON

As a faithful satellite and companion the Moon encircles the Earth, gliding across the night sky like a silver barque. Although its power may seem small when compared to the Sun, it was venerated throughout the ancient world for its special virtues.

The Greeks looked up to the goddess Artemis (the Diana of the Romans) as the deity of the Moon. In an ancient Orphic hymn we find the following lines addressed to Artemis:

Hear, me, O Queen,
Much entreated daughter of Zeus, …
Helper in the pangs of birth, …
Well disposed to thy consecrated servants,
Send plentiful fruits to the Earth,
Peace, and Health with golden tresses,
Drive forth illness and woe
To the far mountain peaks.

Birth and childcare, fertility and health are the forces through which the Moon goddess is felt to be working. She succours women in the pains of labour. As a guardian she protects the youth, especially girls. Each year a Festival of Midwives was celebrated in Sparta. at which the midwives brought their infants into the Temple of Artemis. In Ephesus she was portrayed as the mother whose body is adorned by innumerable breasts, the high symbol of fertility. Home and hearth are sacred to her. She is the guardian of wild and domesticated animals, and of agriculture. She was worshipped as the embodiment and essence of fertility.

In recent years experiments, carried out primarily by anthroposophical scientists, farmers and gardeners, have helped confirm the validity of old peasants’ proverbs about the significance of the Moon for all growth and decay in the plant world. Numerous plants, for instance, germinate and grow much more strongly when planted a few days before Full Moon, than when entrusted to the earth just before New Moon. Further, the historical experiments of Lili Kolisko have shown that the ancient association of silver with the Moon is fully justified. These experiments demonstrate that the waxing and waning light d the Moon works formatively into silver solutions even in the darkroom.

There can be no doubt left today that the Moon does not only live in the ebb and flow of the tides, but works into the lives of plants and animals, and even affects metals. The ancient picture of the Moon as regulator of the processes of fertility and reproduction assumes a new and modem relevance. And so it is no longer surprising that the cherry should be named as the tree of the Moon. One can experience this kinship most strongly when the Full Moon in May guides over the silvery ocean of cherry blossoms. One feels clearly how in these warm spring nights a gentle life is stirring in the crowns of the fruit trees, for which the presence of the Moon is absolutely necessary. Once the flowers have been pollinated, the fruit slowly begins to swell. As in the bulging grapes on the vine, the water which is drawn up out of the each through the stem and branches, and is normally evaporated through the leaves and flowers, is now held back in the fruit. The cherry tree overladen with its ripe fruits is a perfect symbol of the fertility forces of the Moon and its goddess Artemis. To be sure, the Sun also plays an essential role in the ripening process, helping in the magical transformation of the green into the ripe red. But in the refreshing, cool taste of a sweet or sour cherry a fine aroma can be discerned, which seems more akin to the Moon element.

In the inner life of man the forces of fertility and reproduction pose a danger when they are not allied with the purity of soul. For this reason, Artemis is also the goddess of chastity and purity. She protects the region entrusted to her from abuse and contamination. The cherry tree speaks words of clear admonition to man:

“O Man, transform like the plant the lower into the upper, purify thy desires. Ripen and gather the fruits of life”.

MERCURY

The elm is the tree of Mercury, the winged and agile messenger, whose task it was to mediate between gods and men. The Greeks called him Hermes, and honoured in him the patron of physicians, merchants and thieves – and indeed of all human activities which demand quick and mobile intelligence.

A physician must never become dogmatic if he would be true to his calling. No two illnesses are alike, and if two people suffer from the same malady, their doctor must have the mobility of thinking to assess what is individual in each case, and never to tire on the quest for new means of healing. The symbol of Mercury is the caduceus, a staff entwined by two serpents. This is the emblem of the power which enables the human soul to place even the forces of the adversary, the serpent into the service of his intelligence. A true physician is able to understand and make use of the most deadly poisons for the healing of the sick.

The merchant, too, stands in the service of Mercury, and works with the living forces of this god. It is his task to mediate between people in the exchange of goods, and his vocation demands continual wakefulness and quickness of thought. Like the physician, he must learn to see every situation as something quite new, and must never be tempted to fall back into habitual judgements. His mind surveys whole regions and continents, and the arrangements he makes must take account of all eventualities. Still today we find Mercury portrayed in many cities and centres of trade.

Even the thief is inspired by the divine messenger. If we try to understand his “trade” without regard for questions of good and evil, it is quite clear that he has particular need of the gift of a nimble mind. Of all men, he least of all may allow himself any form of dogmatism; he must be prepared for every possibility, and must meet each new and unforeseen turn of events with lightning speed. Modern criminal experts can render astonishing accounts of the cunning intelligence which is often applied in sophisticated burglaries. The thief abuses through impure motives the same soul faculties which the true physician uses for healing, and the genuine merchant for “service to the customer”.

The metal of Mercury is quicksilver (or mercury). It alone of all metals remains in a fluid state at room temperature. Its symbolic power is so apparent that we call people of volatile temperament “mercurial” or “quicksilvery”. Also the fact that all compounds of Mercury are fugitive and volatile, reveals the active principle of this element, which the ancients simply called “Mercury”. In the measurements of warmth and air pressure, Mercury renders service in thermometers and barometers by virtue of its sensitive response to external influences.

The same quality appears in the plant kingdom, and notably among the trees, as the elm. Close observation shows us that the leaves of the elm are extraordinarily variable in size and shape. No leaf is like the next. To be sure, this could be said of every tree. In a whole forest no two leaves are alike. But this power to create manifold forms reaches its peak among our native trees in the elm. It is the same mercurial principle, now on the level of the plant. This impression is re-inforced by the fact that the seeds of the elm are winged. The god Mercury, as pictured in ancient vase paintings, is often shown with winged. The god Mercury, as pictured in ancient vase paintings, is often shown with winged sandals. As divine messenger, he must speed through the world with swift flight to fulfil his tasks. Similarly, the seeds of the elm, lifted on the wings of the wind, carry their germinal power far abroad through the world. The exceptionally fast growth of elm saplings, and the strong tendency to sprout fresh shoots from runners, testify equally to the vitality of Mercury.

For a number of years a mysterious sickness has stricken the elms, decimating countless trees. One cannot help wonder whether there might be a hidden thread connecting the widespread ossification of human intelligence to the tragic disappearance of the beautiful elms? Or are the side-effects of our intellectual culture, such as machines and generators of electrical current, co-responsible for this puzzling epidemic?

If we as human beings try to activate in ourselves the forces which are at work in the elm, we will hear the call to imbue our lives with the living, vitalizing order which is a gift of Mercury. What makes the “bourgeois” life of today so deadly tedious and godforsaken is the fact that all events, insofar as they are the result of human intentions, are repetitive and stereotyped. But if we enliven the power of Mercury within us, we will begin to approach each new event, even the most everyday situation, as something new an unique. As long as what is new remains novel and sensational, it has the power to stimulate, and is felt to be more or less alive. But to make eternally new and individual our encounters with the things and people we meet every day, this is the call which comes to us from Mercury through quicksilver and the elm:

“O man, be active, be alert, lively and quick”.

VENUS

From Mercury let us turn to the graceful evening and morning star, the goddess Venus. Her metal is the malleable copper, her tree the birch. Ancient myths tell of her miraculous birth from the foam of the sea. When the sunlight is broken and mirrored a thousandfold by the foam and spray of the ocean waves, we marvel at the wondrous play of colours which arises where the dark water is lifted up into the realm of air and light. In every manifestation of beauty, in every passing grace in the realm of appearances, the virginal goddess Venus, the Aphrodite of the Greeks, is born. Flowers, their petals still glistening with dewdrops, and visited by butterflies in sunlight, these are the natural altars of the goddess. When the rising and sinking sunlight embosses the clouds of evening and morning with gold, and makes them glow in all colours, she seems to soar through the atmosphere, and we feel a breath of her being, bathed in beauty. In all that is delicate and fragrant in nature, in the fine, virginal soul qualities of all beings, Venus is loving!

The birch with its radiant white bark, its fine, hair-like, hanging branches, and the delicate green of its foliage, is her sacred tree. From a purely biological point of view, we know that of all our forest trees the birch has the shallowest roots and the greatest craving for light. Like a token from a higher, nobler world, the birch takes its place in our bleak and northern landscapes, and reminds the wanderer that beyond storm, mist and rain there are sphere which are woven out of pure delicacy. Of the birch Friedrich Doldinger wrote the lines:

In den engelweissen Birken                    In the angel-white birches
Klagt des Zeitenschicksals Wind.         The wind bemoans our fateful times.
Durch die engelweissen Birken             Through the angel-white birches
Schwebt Sixtina mit dem Kind.            Wafts Sixtina with the child.

The dangers of Venus are obvious. Voluptuous delight in beauty for its own sake, sentimentality and a resulting irresoluteness in the life of soul. One cannot only wish to be surrounded by birches and flowers. Whoever does so will lose sight of his earthly tasks and fall into rapturous dreaming. These are the opposite perils to those of Mercury. Too much mobility in the thinking can easily bind one too deeply to the earth. How easy it is to go astray in one of the mercurial professions. A single step may turn the honest merchant to a thief. Venus does not seduce the intellect, but the feeling soul, therefore the dangers of mons Veneris (the hill of Venus) in the Tannhauser legend. – And yet it would not be right to exclude the realm of Venus from our lives. The life of feelings would be deprived and impoverished. The pure sphere of Venus in the human world is that of the fine arts and poetry. Whoever resists the gifts of this sphere will become coarse and dull in his inner life, even beneath the cloak of manly dignity and detachment. Coarse hands are good for chopping wood. There they are in their right place. But woe betide in which the hands of artists are compelled to be idle.

The call of the birch admonishes:

“O Man, work on thy soul. With tenderness marvel at the beauty of the world”.

THE SUN

All trees, indeed all plants are children of the Sun. And yet there are some, like the fungi and many shade-loving plants, that are more remote from its influence, while others betray a strong kinship. In this sense the ash can be regarded as the tree of the Sun.

In Apollo the Greeks worshipped the spirit of the Sun. He bore the appellation Phoebes the pure and radiant. With golden lance and golden arrows he overcomes his adversaries, the powers of darkness. His being is light-filled and harmonious, his abilities universal. He is master in music, and heals what is afflicted by the powers of darkness. The male youth enjoys his special protection, and together with his sister, the Moon goddess Artemis, he is guardian over flocks and herds.

The traveler who visits the temples of Apollo in Greece can receive a strong impression of the spiritual in nature, to which the Greeks were so particularly sensitive. The myth tells that the Sun god Apollo and the Moon goddess Artemis were born on the island of Delos. The small, rocky island is crowned by a mountain. Standing on its summit, one can experience the daily birth of the Sun and Moon from the depths of the ocean in exceptional beauty.

Al Bassac on the Peloponnesos one can still visit a relatively well-preserved temple of Apollo. Bathed in the clear sunlight of the high mountains, it rests in quiet solitude. Here one is alone beneath the blue ether and the golden ray of the Sun. We feel the presence of its spirit.

The Sun tree of the south is the palm, that of the north, the ash. From its slender trunk the Teutons carved their elastic spears. Growing in the open, the trees develop broad, noble crowns of light-filled foliage, spread out above the high, straight trunks. Just as ll life on earth has its source in the Sun, the Nordic peoples saw in the World-Ash Yggdrasil the foundation and origin of all created things.

The spirit of the Sun and of its metal gold is darkened and obscured today, as though by ominous clouds. The sombre fact that near big cities and centres of industry everything is coated with a layer of grime and soot, lhat the atmosphere is pervaded by the fumes of chemical plants – this has become an image which could be applied no less to the plight of many human souls. The burdens of modem life lie over them like an
ashen grey incrustation. With apathetic faces and weary eyes, people gaze into the drab monotony of a world ruled by technology. What is most disturbing is not the fact that people should live in poverty and deprivation, but that they should learn to feel at home in the morass of disgrace and depravity. Whoever has an ear for the speech of the sacred tree of the Sun, the ash, perceives its challenge to strive for inner nobility in the conduct of life. The ash admonishes us with the words: “O Man, be upright and noble. Waste not thyself on what is unworthy; be mindful of thy human dignity”.

MARS

In Greek mythology we learn that Mars was detested by all the other gods for his coarseness and brutality. The art-loving Greeks could not muster up much reverence for a god of battle. Only the wild, unruly Thracians, and the austere Spartans, show a closer affinity to him. But the Romans are a true nation of Mars. The role which they played in world history always rested on their strength of arms. “Roma lmmortalis” is a true city of dominion, which even today retains the iron fasces* as its emblem. Under the patronage of Mars the Roman legions conquered the world empire of the Caesars.

When John the Evangelist’, the Seer on Patmos, had his mighty vision of the Risen One, he beheld Him shining like the Sun, holding seven stars in his hand, but from his mouth there extended a double-edged sword. John experiences the being of Christ uniting the power of the seven planets as though in one hand. In Christ dwells the fullness and universality of the godhead: love and sternness, joy and earnestness life and one side beauty. Whoever perceives but one side of His being misjudges Him and misrepresents Christianity. Even the power of the sword and of Mars must live in Him. In the attitude of a true warrior, unwilling to tolerate injustice, ready to protect the weak and to endure hardships, the ancient war god of the pagan peoples is resurrected in Him. “And from His mouth there came a sharp, two-edged sword!”.

A challenging Mars-tone rings out to us from the oak tree, which roots firmly and solidly in the earth, its craggy bark and tough wood defying power of storm and its gnarled branches stretching upwards to the heavens:

“O Man, take root in the depths, and reach to the heights. Be stalwart and strong. Be a fighter, knight and protector”.

JUPITER

The sphere of Jupiter is that of life imbued with wisdom. Still today we call an older person who is benevolent and good-humoured a ‘Jovial” or Jupiter person.

The ancients experienced the god of wisdom ~ Zeus is his Greek name – as the supreme god who directs the course of human destiny from the lofty heights of Olympus. It is not easy for us to understand the feelings aroused in Greece by the mention of the name Zeus. We live today in the age of insurance. Whatever cruel blow of destiny may strike, modern man is insured against it. Insured against death and fire,
against lightning and hailstorms, against accident and theft. He looks upon the weather with distrust. She is a coquette, who acts on whimsical impulse. The Greek had a different relation to the wholeness of nature. In the passage of clouds, in the roll of thunder and the flash of lightning he felt the revelations of sublime wisdom. It is Zeus who presides over wind and weather, and all the powers of nature bow to his rulership. If it is not his will, not even the Sun can reach the earth with its rays. His attendants  are the goddesses of the Hours, who serve the weather and the seasons. Growth and decay, life and death, blessing and prosperity, lie in the hands of the god of wisdom. He who guides the clouds holds sway over all life with an almighty hand. This is why the thought of Zeus was reassuring and calming to the Greek mind: he acts out of wisdom.  This is why so many modern people are nervous and anxious- despite all our insurance policies – for they believe in the god of chance in nature and destiny.

* This was written in 1931. The fasces was a bundle of small iron axes, bound together and carried by the lictor, a servant of the magistrate. It is the origin of the modern word “fascism”. – Translator’s note

The tree of Jupiter is the maple, his metal is tin. This association seems more difficult to grasp than that of the trees already mentioned. Perhaps there is a clue for us in the fact that the maple is a favourite choice for planting along tree-lined avenues in the richer quarters of our cities. With its broad, shady crown and the spreading, hand-like leaves with their five lobes, it gives the streets a soothing, restful quality, for which the hectic city-dweller consciously or unconsciously longs. To learn from the maple, we must first become calm. The bustling, fussy mentality of those who do not allow themselves a minute of stillness, because they would not know how to fill it, has no place under the maple. But to those who are ready to hear, this tree proclaims:

“O Man, overcome haste and hurry within thee. Seek for hours of quiet, in which goodness and wisdom can be born”

SATURN

According to old tradition the beech and needle forests stand under the rulership of dusky Saturn, the most distant of all the planets known to the ancient world. If, after walking over a sunny wildflower meadow, or through a windswept, ripening cornfield, we enter the sombre shade of the forest, we will discern at once a dramatic change of mood. The forest makes us earnest and silent. People who live for long in the forest become taciturn. They take on the qualities of Saturn: inwardness and seriousness.

The metal of Saturn is lead. Our civilization has taught us all too well the symptoms of lead poisoning. Therefore the adage: “My limbs feel like lead”. One could equally well say: “My limbs feel like Saturn”, for heaviness takes hold of the human soul when the influence of Saturn becomes too dominant. But if the soul can bear it in strength, the virtue of Saturn is one of the noblest we can attain.

Saturn has always been shown as an old man. The privilege of youth is frivolity, but the fruit of age is genuine earnestness. The caricature of earnestness is deliberate Solemnity and an artificial dignity of bearing. The truly earnest person will seek to avoid both. Whoever has learned to penetrate beyond surface appearances, knows that true life can only be attained through bitter experience and death. Optimism without regard for the deep tragedy which resides in all human and earthly destiny, is superficial. Uncompromising strictness with oneself and full understanding for all earthly suffering are the demands of Saturn. Therefore the hourglass and sickle which are the symbols of this Planet. Of his sphere Rudolf Steiner wrote the words:

Es werden Fehler gerihtet,                          Here faults find their judgement,
Es werden Herzen gesichtet.                      Here hearts are read.

Thus sounds the admonition which the trees of the dark forests, the firs, cypresses
and beeches, direct to man:

“O Man, feel responsibility for the need of the times. Take up with fervour and in
earnestness the task which life has given thee”. – Translated by John Meeks

On the following pages appears the complete set of speeches, which might be entitled: “Of the Seven Trees, the Seven Planets, and their Speech to Man”. Each verse is accompanied by a drawing of the tree and a sprouting twig in spring by Helene Aurell.

* The choice of the beech and the needle trees as representatives of Saturn is the only
departure from the series of trees chosen by Rudolf Steiner for the seven columns in the
First Goetheanum. The Saturn column was shaped from the wood of the hornbeam
(Carpinus betulus), a tree not very typical of the “dark forest”. The qualities of Saturn
may be more clearly revealed in the hornbeam’s hard, inelastic wood than in its outer
form.

Es spricht der silberne Mond zur Maienzeit durch den blühenden Kirschaum, dessen Blüten in Sommer zu Früchten reifen:

“O Mensch, verwandle gleich der Pflanze das Untere in das Obere läutere die Triebe. Werde reif und ernte Lebensfrüchte”.

Thus speaks the silvery Moon in May through the flowering cherry tree, whose
blossoms ripen to fruit in summer:

“O Man, transform like the plant the lower into the upper, purify thy desires.
Ripen, and gather the fruits of life”.

 

Es spricht der quecksilberne Merkur durch das lcbendige Wachstnm dce Ulme und
deren geflügelte Samen:

“O Mensch, bcwege dich, sei regsam, lebendig und schnell”.

Thus speaks quicksilvery Mercury through the living growth of the elm:

“O Man, bestir thyself! Be alert, lively and swift”

Es spricht die kupferne Venus durch die jungfräuliche, weiss-schimmernde Birke, die
schwach wurzelt, und viel Licht trinkt:

“O Mensch, bilde an deiner Seele. In Zarltheit bewundere liebend die Schönheit aller
Welt”.

Thus speaks coppery Venus through the virginal, white-shimmering birch, which
has shallow roots and drinks much light:

“O Man, work on thy soul. With tenderness marvel at the beauty of the world”.

Es spricht die durchlichtete, hochragcnde Esche, der Baum der goldencn Sonne:

“O Mensch, sci aufrecht und vornehm. Vergeude dich nicht an Unwürdiges. Sei dir
deines Mcnschenadels wohl bewusst”.

Thus speaks the light–filled, high towering ash, tree of the golden Sun:

“O Man, be upright and noble. Waste not thyself on what is unworthy; be mindful
of thy human dignity”.

 

 

Es spricht der knorrige Eichbaum, der Diener des eiserman Mars:

“O Mensch, wurzele in Tiefen und rage in Höhen. Sei kraftvoll und stark. Sei Kämpfer, Ritter und Schützer”.

Thus speaks the gnarled oak tree, servant of iron Mars:

“O Man, take root in the depths and reach to the heights. Be stalwart and strong. Be a fighter, knight and protector”.

 

 

 

Es spricht der Ahorn mit seinen gespreiteten Blättern, der Baum des Jupiter, dem das
Zinn heilig ist:

“O Mensch, tiberwinde die Hast und die Hetze in dir. Suche Stunden der Ruhe, in
dencn Gille und Weisheit geboren werden können”.

Thus speaks the maple with its wide-spreading leaves, the tree of Jupiter, to whom
Lin is sacred:

“O Man, overcome haste and hurry within thee. Seek for hours of quiet, in which
goodness and wisdom can be born”

 

 

Es spricht der bleieme Saturn durch die Bäume des dunklen Waldes, durch Tanne,
Buchen und Zypressen:

“O Mensch, fühle die Verantwortung fur die Not deiner Zeit und der ganzen
Menschheit. Ergreife mit Innigkeit und Ernst die Aufgabe, die dir das Leben stellt“.

Thus speaks leaden Saturn through the trees of the dark forest – through fir, cypress
and beech:

“O Man, feel responsibility for the need of the times. Take up with fervour and in
earnestness the task which life has given thee”.