Chapter 8 (part 4)

But the constellation has still another woman, wherein it breeds out its substance, namely, the moon, she being the wife of all the planets, but especially of the sun." 3 ( Mysterium , xi. 31.) p. 171 "As the stars, full of desire, draw unto themselves the power of the sun, likewise the sun penetrates also powerfully into the stars, so that they receive their light from the power of the sun. The stars then send again their ignited power as their product into the elements." ( Grace , ii. 26.) But as the stars have their origin from the world of light and from the world of darkness, not only the good, but also the evil, existing in the terrestrial world comes from them. "With the creation of the constellation good and evil became manifest, for in them is manifest the wrathful fiery power of eternal nature, as well as the power of the holy spiritual world, as an outbreathed essence. Thus there are many dark stars which we cannot see, and there are many shining ones which we see." 1 ( Mysterium , x. 36.) "The evil, like the good, in all things comes from the stars; and as the creatures upon the earth are in their qualities, likewise are also the stars." ( Aurora , ii. 2.) "All that lives and exists is awakened and brought to life by the stars, for they are not only fire and water, but they also possess hardness and softness, sourness and sweetness, bitterness and darkness, even all the powers of nature, and everything that is contained in the earth." ( Threefold Life , vii. 46.) "The constellation is the cause of all arts and science, also of all order and harmony in this world, because it awakens the trees and metals, enabling them to grow. In the earth is everything that is contained within the stars; p. 172 the constellation ignites the earth, and all this taken together is only one spirit." 1 ( Threefold Life , vii. 48.) In their relations to the earth and the elements, the stars act the part of a higher, living, and, so to say, male power. "The stars are a quintessence, a fifth form of the elements, and, so to say, the life of the four." ( Threefold Life , vii. 45.) "The starry sky rules in all creatures as it were in its own property. This sky is the man, and 'matter,' or the watery form, is his wife, who gives birth to what heaven creates." 2 ( Three Principles , vii. 33.) "The upper desires the lower and the lower the higher. The hunger of that which is above is directed powerfully to the earth, and the hunger of the earth strives for that which is above. Thus, compared with each other, they are like body and soul, or like man and woman, generating children with each other." ( Grace , v. 19.) But it must be understood that there is a distinct life in the earth. This is proved by her products, and also by her desire for the sun, in consequence of which she is continually turning around. 3 "If you behold the earth and the rocks you will acknowledge that there is a life in them; for if this were p. 173 not so, there would be in them neither gold nor silver, and neither herbs nor grasses." ( Aurora , xix. 57.) "Each being desires the other. That which is above desires that which is below, and the lower desires the higher.