*******Left off the list below were the 7 grains. There are 7 principal grains
of the world, each showing the "signature" of one of the planets. In describing
"ancient Saturn", for example, Dr. Steiner said it was a sphere which then
ramified into innumerable little spheres contained within the large one, like a
blackberry. All formations in nature which show this have the form-signature
showing Saturn's influence--- as for instance, corn with its kernels.
The Sun, from most ancient times, has always been associated with the number
3 (and its double, 6), and wheat was called the threefold grain with its germ,
starch and bran layers (its name in Latin was even 'the threefold one'). The
Moon, on the other hand, rules over water, and that grain which must be grown in
water and was always considered Yin in the East, rice, thus shows its affinity
with the Moon.
Incidentally, these 3 Saturn, Sun & Moon grains are associated with the
Western (corn) and Eastern Hemispheres (rice), and the Middle between them
(wheat). I've noted that people in the Western world tend to be active and those
in the Eastern more passive; and what active people often need to deal with
stress is B vitamins---and the mark of B-vitamins in Nature is any yellow
vegetables, so corn is the grain for Westerners, and was the sacred one to the
American Indians.
Mars shows an affinity with the oats, which energize one and we like to serve
hot, like that fiery planet. (The tree ruled by Mars, the oak, even has a
similar name.) The "Mercury signature" in Nature is to make things roll up into
little balls or spheres, as the element Mercury or quicksilver does---and this
is exactly the appearance of millet. Mercury makes things appear "watery", like
a drop of water, and millet shows its affinity for water in that it dissolves
instantly on cooking. (It's also the grain which has a PhD almost identical to
water, neutral.)
Jupiter is associated with rye, which is a heavy and ponderous grain but one
capable of a multitude of uses, like the liver which Jupiter rules; and Venus,
which rules music and art, rules barley, which the art-loving Greeks made their
sacred drink from.
If anyone here has anything they'd like to contribute about the grains or the
planets, feel free to add to this.
I know some Waldorf kindergartens use the "grain of the day" in making the
snacks for the little ones, just as some teachers wear the Color of the Day.

-Starman

>
> The Chaldean Order of the Spheres---Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus,
Mercury, Moon ---is the order of the visible planets from the slowest-moving to
the fastest. Now, if you start on any day, and say the first hour of the day
(sunrise) is ruled by Saturn, then the next by Jupiter, the next by Mars, and
continue---and then after the 7th hour ruled by the Moon you repeat the order
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon again--- the 24th hour comes
out ruled by Mars, and so the first hour of the second day (sunrise) will be
found to be ruled by the SUN.
> If you continue this order of the hours, the 24th hour of the second day
will be found to be ruled by Mercury, and so the first hour of the third day is
the MOON's.
> Then, the first hour of the 4th day is ruled by Mars, the 5th day by
Mercury, the 6th by Jupiter and the 7th by Venus. Only then, after 7 x 24 hours,
does the order begin a day once again with the first planet Saturn.
> This is where the order Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus
comes from. This same peculiar order is used for the days of the "week" all over
the world, and all derived from this same use of the Chaldean Order of the
Spheres.
> Thus the period of 7 days is a reflection of the great Days of Brahm, the 7
great periods of the world. This is where Dr. Steiuner got his names for the
first three world-ages, the "Saturn state", the "Sun", and the "Moon". In
Steiner's lectures he notes that Mars symbolizes the first half of the evolution
of our Earth state, and Mercury the second half. Then, beyond the future states
of Jupiter and Venus, he names the 7th world "Vulcan" after the planet closer to
the Sun than Mercury which has been seen many times but then not seen again,
because it is not yet constantly physical in nature.
> And incidentally, beyond these he sees 5 more stages of development, which
however are impossible to put into words until one is closer to the Vulcan
state. See his book "Cosmic Memory", the chapter "The Life of Saturn."
>
> Dr. Starman
>
>
>
> > > LilOleMiss@A... writes:
> > > > Dr. Starman, I've neglected the planets in their deeper aspects, and I'm
very glad you've introduced them here! Although your information here is a
mystery to me, I've of course understood enough from RS to realize the 7 planets
greatly influence all of us.
> > I simply don't know how. Perhaps if I can absorb this to some degree, this
part of AP won't be so foreign to me. Now to see what I'm able to make of this.
Thanks!
> > > > Sheila
> > >
> > > *******Glad to. They are certainly very important in many
> > respects. All change or evolution goes in cycles of seven. These 7 phases of
the "world of form" or etheric world thus show up everywhere. In older Eastern
religion and Theosophy they were the 7 chakras or principles, and of course
light with its 7 colors and tone with its 7 notes of the scale. There are also 7
series of atomic weights in the table of elements, and seven "space systems" in
the world of crystals. The plant world shows seven main divisions, and in fact
all living creatures are "located" by a system of 7 levels of being ---Kingdom,
phyla, class, order, family, genus and species. In the Christian religion this
is the 7 stars and
> > candles in the Book of Revelations, the 7 angels, churches, etc. In fact
Revelations is the record of what happens when the seven "seals" of the "sealed
Book" (which is ourselves),
> > are "opened"---the opening of the 7 chakras---and the 7 parts of the Lord's
Prayer are likewise an invocation of each center or principle. These are the 7
planets, and the postive development of each plane or level gives the 7 Virtues,
while its negative side is the 7 Deadly Sins. The astral world above the etheric
nonetheless manifests in and through it, and thus moral things are found also
sevenfold; 7 dimensions to the Soul World, for instance (see THEOSOPHY). The 3
lowest of these are what we call the solid, fluid and gaseous states of matter,
while the 4 higher are the 4 primary ethers; this is rflected in ancient
astrology in the 3 lower or "inner" planets (Moon, Mercury & Venus) and 4 Outer
Planets (Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn).
> >
> > The order of the planets below, which is that of the days of the week, is
used all over the world, and was derived from an old formula using the Chaldean
Order of the Spheres, that very order of the inner & outer written above.
> > Starman
> > >
> > > > Perhaps a little more of what the planets are might be in order. It
does little good to arrange them in an abstract diagram; the Theosophical
Society was full of such diagrams. What the seven planets represent is seven
dimensions or planes, the seven phases of the elemental or etheric world. The
physical world is the only level of reality we can perceive with our senses, and
just as the physical body we have as our part of it is formed by 7 endocrine or
ductless glands, so the physical is formed by the etheric, and this is 7-
fold.
> > > >
> > > > 1. SATURN
> > > > INTERVAL: TONIC NOTE: G
> > > > SATURDAY--BLUE--Metal: LEAD
> > > > Beech tree
> > > > Vowel: U (oo) Organ: Spleen
> > > > Archangel: Oriphiel Gnosticism
> > > >
> > > > 2. SUN
> > > > INTERVAL: SECOND NOTE: A
> > > > SUNDAY--WHITE--Metal: GOLD
> > > > Ash
> > > > Vowel: AU (ow) Organ: Heart
> > > > Archangel: Michael Empiricism
> > > >
> > > > 3. MOON
> > > > INTERVAL: THIRD NOTE: B
> > > > MONDAY--VIOLET--Metal: SILVER
> > > > Cherry Tree
> > > > Vowel: Ei (oy) Organ: Brain
> > > > Archangel: Gabriel Occultism
> > > >
> > > > 4. MARS
> > > > INTERVAL: FOURTH NOTE: C
> > > > TUESDAY--RED--Metal: IRON
> > > > Oak tree
> > > > Vowel: E (Ay) Organ: Gall
> > > > Samael ***or URIEL?? Voluntarism
> > > >
> > > > 5. MERCURY
> > > > INTERVAL: FIFTH NOTE: D
> > > > WEDNESDAY--YELLOW--Metal: QUICKSILVER
> > > > Elm tree
> > > > Vowel: I (ee) Organ: Lungs
> > > > Archangel: Raphael Transcendentalism
> > > >
> > > > 6. JUPITER
> > > > INTERVAL: SIXTH NOTE: E
> > > > THURSDAY--ORANGE--Metal: TIN
> > > > Maple tree
> > > > Vowel: O (oh) Organ: Liver
> > > > Archangel: Zachariel Logic
> > > >
> > > > 7. VENUS
> > > > INTERVAL: SEVENTH NOTE: F
> > > > FRIDAY--GREEN--Metal: COPPER
> > > > BIRCH tree
> > > > Vowel: A (Ah) Organ: Kidneys
> > > > Archangel: Amael or Anael Mysticism*
> > > >
> > *The terms "Mysticism", "Empiricism" etc. are from Steiner's fascinating
astrology (in the lectures called "Human and Cosmic Thought") in which he
identifies 12 philosophical points of view associated with the signs, and then
within these 7 "Moods of Soul" associated with the planets.