The Cosmic Roots of Easter
Mysteries Behind Spring's Emergence
Ancient origins of festivals and holidays are fascinating to discern, seeking back through the mists of time. Can there be more behind them than mere arbitrary calendar dates celebrating seasonal changes and ancient traditions, especially the movable high holy day of Easter?
The Hermetic Axiom As Above ~ So Below has a far more profound interpretation than modern orthodox consciousness allows, with its materialistic limits. The ancient concept of an atom was, for example with gold, the smallest bit that could still contain the essence of that which on Earth is gold and in the heavens is the Sun. Nothing like modern atomic theory with it’s subatomic ‘particle zoo’ calculated from destruction of atomic nuclei.
There are threads of knowledge to pursue in gaining a greater knowledge on these matters. For comprehension one must elevate their consciousness by creating higher organs of cognition via unprejudiced observation of qualitative earthly and cosmic processes and their relationships. Rudolf Steiner pointed to Goethe’s scientific process to engender such, for those who strive for higher knowledge.
Cosmic Connections - The Kolisko Method
Lili Kolisko was a great unsung 20th century scientist who, via decades of crystallization experiments in sync with geocentrically-observed cosmic relationships, described qualitative connections between the seven wandering star luminaries of old — Sun, Moon, visible planets — and the seven noble metals, as was canon in alchemy and ancient mystery schools; i.e. Gold-Sun, Silver-Moon, Mercury-Mercury, Copper-Venus, Iron-Mars, Tin-Jupiter, Lead-Saturn.
In the early 1920’s Kolisko was inspired by the spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner to verify if there is any truth to these ancient alchemical conceptions of the connections between metals and planets.
She devised a method for experimentally investigating the workings of these macrocosmic forces into earthly substance, termed Capillary Dynamolysis, or Steigbild (Rising Picture), the resultant pictures chromatograms. The process consists of crystallizing metallic salts from solution into filter paper, creating distinctly characteristic images.
Kolisko demonstrated through this method the influence of the planets on substances, especially metals, revealing formative forces affected by astronomical conjunctions, oppositions and eclipses.
Heaven and Earth herein meet, recorded by this chemical process.
Kolisko performed decades (1920s-1960s) of these crystallization experiments. She apologizes in her books that she did not have the funds for color photographs of all the chromatograms. We thankfully discern what we can from her great work, with focus. Cognitive treasures within are far more valuable than gold.
Chromatograms were also utilized in researching cosmic and subtle formative forces working in the domain of agriculture, investigating disease-creating energetic imbalances in plants, animals and humans. (See Agriculture of Tomorrow)
Gold & the Sun - Solar Eclipse 29 June 1927
For the solar eclipse on 29 June 1927, Kolisko carried out experiments before, during and after the darkening of the Sun. She describes them as follows:
“On 27 June [5:19AM] we have a normal picture of gold..”
“..whereas on 28 June [5:19AM] it has become somewhat cloudy. Various specks and strokes have made their appearance and the picture looks almost dirty …”
“The picture obtained at the time of the eclipse [29 June, 5:19AM] manifests the above-mentioned phenomenon still more strongly. A large number of specks have appeared. The colours are not so luminous as on other occasions; their tones are mostly brownish-red dirty violet. It is altogether an unpleasing picture.”
“On June 29th at 5:19 p.m. the picture of the gold has become quite clean again; the colours are more luminous but they have not yet assumed their natural, inherent beauty and purity.”
During a later solar eclipse on 20th May, 1947, Kolisko carried out further research at Greenwich when the path of the eclipse was elsewhere on the planet, and found that each eclipse produced specific effects reflected vividly on the filter paper no matter where the physical Sun was at the time.
About these experiments she wrote:
“It means that we must look upon the sun not only as a heavenly body streaming down light and warmth to the earth from one particular spot, but surrounding, enveloping the whole globe with its sphere. When something spectacular happens, such as a total eclipse, certainly we see it happen at a definite place, observing the moon covering the sun, but the whole sunsphere is affected, and the whole earth participates in it.”
Further experiments have been carried out to study the behavior of gold in relation to other metallic salts during eclipses. It was discovered that the relationship of gold to lead is the least disturbed, but in the solution of silver and gold, the lunar influences completely eclipse the sun-yellow sediment, leaving a washed-out grayish violet colour which turned to black.
Just as living beings are in some way affected by solar eclipses, so also are these other ‘inert’ substances changed in their inner texture. As the Sun’s strength wanes, so does the working of gold appear to weaken on Earth. In olden times it was common among native people all over the world to kindle fires during solar eclipses, or shoot burning arrows towards the Sun to help return its light and strength.
Easter — A Movable Festival
Kolisko chose certain of these festivals for further experimentation, and again found gold expressing the Sun’s influence — truly the ‘Earthy Sun’ of the alchemists. The pictures formed by gold salts were very beautiful in the spring, especially at the exact time of the Spring Equinox. But the most striking appeared on the day fixed by the Astronomer Royal as Easter Sunday 1929. This day continues an ancient tradition of celebrating the emergence of life from the darkness of winter, with its symbolic egg from which the Sun was said to be born.
Easter Sunday is the main movable holy day in the Christian calendar, upon which others are pegged. It is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox, still set by cosmic timing. In rare years, the Full Moon lands on the Spring Equinox, raising the question of which day should be chosen as Easter, the following Sunday or the first Sunday following the subsequent Full Moon a month later.
The year 1943 presented this very problem. The Astronomer Royal and the Church held different opinions concerning the date of Easter Sunday. According to the Astronomer Royal the first Sunday after Full Moon after the Spring Equinox fell on March 28th. That means Easter should have been early in 1943. The Church Tradition ruled, that the Easter Moon fell a month later and therefore Easter Sunday was fixed by the Church authorities to be on 25 April 1943.
Kolisko performed numerous diverse dynamolysis experiments on and surrounding these days. To compare these experiments, from the standpoint of the scientist alone, it would be rather difficult to find a basis for judgment. We have to look at them from an artistic point of view as well. Scientists may judge definitely, but they must look with the eye of an artist.
Kolisko made a choice from these experiments according to these principles; 28 March, and 25 April experiments with Gold chloride and Silver nitrate. She selected 28 March “without doubt.”
Nature celebrated the Easter Festival on 28 March, 1943. It was an early Easter, and everybody could see this reflected in Nature. Seeds germinated early, trees were covered with blossoms, Spring flowers were abundant.
Concerning the 28 March Gold & Silver chromatogram, she wrote:
“Never, in all the years of experimenting with gold and copper, has a similar picture been formed. It stands there unique in its beauty of colour and strangeness of form.”
Strangely enough, the day judged Easter Sunday that year by the Church authorities, produced pictures which were judged as a whole, to be more or less insignificant. This glorious rising of life forces of this early Easter was definitely over a month later on 25 April that year:
“..the colours run into each other and form a chaotic mixture ; they are blurred and show a tendency to deteriorate quickly. We certainly would not call this a specially beautiful result.”
Kolisko Institute 2019 Easter Experiments
In 2019 the rare Full Moon – Spring Equinox simultaneity again occurred, renewing the debate regarding the “real” Easter day: 24 March or 21 April 2019.
The Kolisko Institute investigated this situation by observing the growth of wheat seeds on those dates.
1. Water was collected (from a well) on three specific days:
On 21 March, on the Spring Equinox day;
On 24 March, first possible Easter dates;
On 21 April, second possible Easter date.
2. On each of the two possible Easter dates 540 seeds were placed in small dishes, watered with the water collected on that day, allowed to grow for five days and then weighed.
3. The control in comparison was done in the following fashion: The same number of 540 seeds were placed in small dishes next to the other seeds and watered with the water collected on the spring Equinox day.
The seeds that had been watered with the spring Equinox water grew identical on both dates 24 March and 21 April. This removed the question of whether the seeds growing a month later would have an additional boost simply because of the passing of the season.
In this graph the original data is presented as percent difference to control such that if the growth with the Equinox water is taken as baseline:
The growth on 24 March is seen as being less by more than 20%;
The growth on 21 April is enhanced by over 10%.
Curiously, the Kolisko Institute experiments appear to show Easter as occurring on the later date, 21 April 2019, whereas in Lili Kolisko’s 1943 experiments the earlier date, 28 March 1943, appeared to be the one Nature responded to as the birth of Spring.
There is much to discern and consider here. While I have some thoughts, it is a puzzle, there are further parameters to consider. So I shall leave it to the reader to cogitate upon it all for now. Please feel free to discuss in comments.
We are dealing here with a nascent spiritual science, one which is grounded in the material realm, yet looks upward to natural cosmic forces for answers, rather than downward, to inside contrived atomic collisions.
The choice of direction is always yours.
“It will be understandable that I now venture to demonstrate that we can find Spirit in Matter. True Science will lead us to the acknowledgment of spiritual facts. The unison of Science, Art and Religion must come in the near future. Scientists must arise who are at the same time endowed in their souls with the qualities of an artist and a priest. Science must again become a holy Art, if an unholy natural science is not to lead mankind to destruction.” — Lili Kolisko
References:
Spirit in Matter - A Scientist’s Answer to the Bishop’s Queries by L Kolisko:
Working With the Stars In Earthly Substance by L Kolisko:
Kolisko Institute 2019 Easter experiments:
Agriculture of Tomorrow by E & L Kolisko:
Metal Power - Soul Life of the Planets by Alison Davidson:
My documentary on Kolisko’s Saturn-Lead experiments:
Workings of the Stars In Earthly Substances
Brilliant! b4 cognizing further, first thing that comes to my mind is affect on the base metals in the body, and also the position of the stars at the time. Thank you Thomas.