Thoughts from the ASA General Secretary
On September 20, 1913, Rudolf Steiner laid the Foundation Stone for the First Goetheanum
On this day 112 years ago, Rudolf Steiner laid the 12-sided double dodecahedral Foundation Stone into the hill at Dornach, a foundation for the building of the first Goetheanum. By all historical accounts, it was a stormy night, and Rudolf Steiner specifically cited the position of the planet Mercury as evening star. It was three days before autumn equinox, 1913, and there had been a Total Lunar Eclipse a few days earlier, though not visible in Europe. During the eclipse, Mercury was at superior conjunction with the Sun (on the opposite side of Sun from Earth), a messenger of the gods witnessing, as though from the Sun, the shadow of the Earth reflected back on itself by the Full Moon. It was into this dark abyss the Foundation Stone was laid ~ where it is most needed.
The image above is a diagram of the first Goetheanum that was built over the next ten years on the site, with notes imagining the meaning in the sequence of windows.
Here in 2025, autumn equinox is preceded by a partial solar eclipse, visible in the southern hemisphere over parts of Australia, the Pacific, the Atlantic, and Antarctica. Rather than witnessing our own shadow reflected back to us as during a lunar eclipse, the solar eclipse serves as a safety valve, like on a steam engine, rhythmically opening through the course of the year to release steam and avert danger¹.
The sequence of celestial “steps” leading up to this year’s equinox has been fascinating, with Moon conjunct Venus at the star Regulus on Friday, September 19 (Venus Day); Moon at dark phase opposite Saturn on Saturday, September 20 (Saturn’s Day); Moon partially eclipse Sun at New Phase on Sunday, September 21 (Sun’s Day); until finally, it’s equinox, Monday, September 22, 2025 (Moon’s Day) at 2:19 pm EDT.
Mary Stewart Adams
Mary Stewart Adams has been General Secretary and President of the Anthroposophical Society in America (ASA) since Autumn, 2023.
This article is published with permission of the author.
Reference
¹Rudolf Steiner, Human Questions and Cosmic Answers, Lecture 1, June 25, 1922, GA 213).
Featured image: Stone Dodecahedron
In-text image: courtesy of Mary Stewart Adams