Goethe and Granite
Goethe’s deep and lifelong interest in granite is well known. This essay explores his investigations into the secrets of its enigmatic nature, his belief that it precipitated from a primal ocean in which fire and water peacefully coexisted, and that […]
Book review: Rainbows, Halos, Dawn and Dusk
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Four Pieces on Granite
Here you will find Goethe’s well-known essay on granite, plus three shorter pieces he wrote between January 1784 and August 1785.
Earth’s Third Movement, a Copernican Enigma
The three planetary movements of the Earth as first described by Copernicus are her daily axial rotation, her annual revolution around the Sun, and her equinoctial precession during a Platonic year. This essay explores Steiner’s belief that modern astronomers were […]
The Ice Age, Precession, and the Year 1250
This essay takes a look at an important astronomical event in 1250, how it is related to the most recent (and a future) Ice Age, and the astronomical background to Steiner’s interpretation of the event.
The Great Conjunction on the Winter Solstice 2020
This astronomical event, repeating rhythmically every 20 years, is one of the most prominently visible in the night sky, and received a lot of attention in 2020 from the public as well as from professionals. The present article emerged from […]
Goethe’s Alchemical Experiments
While a student in Leipzig Goethe became seriously ill, and was forced to return home to Frankfurt on his nineteenth birthday. He was taken into the care of Dr Metz who gave him a mysterious remedy, and advised him to […]
Goethe climbs a Mountain
After two years in the oppressive atmosphere of the Weimar court Goethe is in need of a break, and heads for the Harz Mountains. He soothes his conscience by visiting a depressed young man, and visits several ore mines and […]
Searching for the Primeval Plant
Goethe’s search for the primeval plant began in the garden behind his cottage in Weimar, and ended in the Botanical Gardens of Palermo in Sicily. But the end of his search was only the beginning of his growing botanical insight […]
Goethe opens a Mine
Soon after his arrival in Weimar Goethe was given the responsibility of reopening a derelict copper and silver mine near the impoverished village of Ilmenau. Seven years later he officially opened the mine with a rousing speech to the miners, […]
Goethe’s Conundrum – Integrating Basalt into the Harmony of Nature
Goethe’s lifelong interest in the origins of basalt motivated him to attempt a resolution of the Neptunist dispute, climb Vesuvius, and explore the Bohemian volcanics. He met Beethoven, faced down the formidable geologist Leopold von Buch, and fell in live […]
Goethe’s Second Swiss Journey
In the autumn of 1779 Goethe accompanied Duke Carl August on a three-month Grand Tour of Switzerland. He made his first geognostic observations in the Birs Gorge, wrote poetry, met the well known Genevan geologist de Saussure, and risked life […]
Rainbows, Halos, Dawn And Dusk book review
Rainbows, Halos, Dawn and Dusk The appearance of colour in the atmosphere and Goethe’s Theory of Colours. By Johannes Kühl Adonis Science Books ISBN 978 – 0932776 – 48 – 8 www.adonispress.org This book explores the captivating colours that […]
What is Goethean Science
What is Goethean Science? Although this question has received diverse answers from practitioners of Goethean science, they often share a common form – the form of classification. Two species of the genera science are imagined, Goethean science and normal science (or […]
The Astronomy
Sol gold is, and Luna silver we declare; Mars yron, Mercurie is Quyksilver; Saturnus leed, and Jubiter is tyn, And Venus coper, by my fathers kyn. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales Once a month, the Moon meets each of the planets. When […]
Experimental Procedure
The Sun produces gold; the Moon silver; Saturn lead; and Mars iron. Proklos of Byzantium, 5th century A.D. Some more practical details may not come amiss, for readers who wish to get their hands on some equipment. The paper: cut out […]
Kolisko Experiments over Mars conjunctions – in May (Saturn & Venus) and July (Jupiter) of 2002
An account by Guy Desbiolles* The evening sky of May 2002 allowed us to see all the traditional planets with the naked eye. (Fig1). So I also wanted to try to follow their movements with the Kolisko method. For the […]
Gold, the sun-metal
Kolisko’s gold-experiments require sunlight to perform them. One rises a solution of gold (1% gold chloride) up a filterpaper in diffuse daylight, preferably not direct sunlight. Gradually a photochemical (i.e., light-sensitive) reaction then takes place, so that colloidal gold precipitates.In […]
Moon Saturn Experiments
All the seven planets have opened their metal gates Goethe, West-Ostlicher Divan 3 June 1970 Conjunction This experiment followed a conjunction between the Moon and Saturn, which happened at 1.32 am on June 3rd, 1970. These old pictures show filterpaper-pictures […]
Mars Saturn Experiments
Kolisko has shown us the way to a new chemistry, a chemistry full of life, because it is in reality the forces of life which reach right down into the mineral world, creating there a realm of inner music in […]
Moon – Mars Experiments
He who knows what iron is, knows the attributes of Mars. He who knows Mars, knows the qualities of iron. Paracelsus A conjunction is a meeting in the sky, and happens when two heavenly bodies have the same celestial longitude. The […]
A Chemical Theatre
A type of symbolism which can be traced back to sources much more ancient than any we have for alchemy is the association of metals with the planets.’ F.Sherwood Taylor, Origins of Greek alchemy, Ambix I p.46. Experiments with metal […]
Metal-Planet Correspondences
‘I believe that the work of Lilly Kolisko has provided for us a foundation stone upon which future alchemical experimentation can be built … I hope that her work can be continued and extended as I can see that upon […]
Experiments at Moon-Saturn conjunctions using the capillary dynamolysis method of Lilly Kolisko
Dirk Rohde Editorial introduction: The following is a translation by David Heaf of an article which appeared in Elemente der Naturwissenschaft (79, 2003 (2), pp. 123-131). In it, Dirk Rohde was responding to an earlier article by Václav Záveský in the same […]
Historical Background to the Science Group of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain
David J. Heaf April 1999 Introduction This account aims to do no more than give a background, mention the key individuals and institutions involved and their dates and main subject areas. For fuller details of the content of the research […]