Isis Sophia II
by Willi Sucher
Introduction to the 1951 Edition
For more than 24 years the author of this book has endeavored to find a new approach to the age-old riddle of the connection of the heavenly world of the stars with earthly events. After occupying himself for many years with the whole complex of astrology, he is convinced that it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation of the relationship between the stars and the human being. Astrology, as it stands today, merely states the fact that such a relationship exists, and only finds it by purely empirical practice. Because of this modern viewpoint, it must be admitted that astrological practice of any kind is put under the suspicion of superstition, and is similar to the using of a tool without knowing its properties and reliability. This is one of the reasons why the modern scientific mind rejects astrology. The supposition of a connection between the stars and human destiny does not fit into the modern picture of the universe. According to modern astronomy the cosmos of the stars is like a gigantic machine. It is, of course, obvious that a machine, no matter how perfect it may be, cannot “make” destiny.
Unless we find a new and spiritual conception of the universe, there is no hope of reconciling the views of astrology with the modern scientific mind. It becomes more and more evident that a purely mechanical and mathematical picture of the cosmos does not suffice. The concept of the cosmos as a machine has been developed on the basis of earthly technology. Such considerations must sooner or later suggest the shortcomings of this conception of the universe, for we know perfectly well that a machine does not create itself, nor does it operate on its own accord. The minds of the inventor and of the operator are indispensable, although they cannot be seen with eyes. Even the most ingenious explanations of the nature of the universe as a machine cannot hide the fact that behind it must stand an invisible cosmic mastermind, who has set the machine in motion.
To find this invisible cosmic mastermind, or in other words, to gain a knowledge of a divine cosmic world seems to be utterly impossible to modern natural scientific discipline. Yet, the author, having been a scholar of Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual science for 30 years, has convinced himself of the existence of a cosmic spiritual world that is no longer closed to the cognition of the human being. The practice of what has been described by Rudolf Steiner as the modern path to higher knowledge can open the gate of knowledge to this world of cosmic existence and intelligence. This book is a humble attempt to describe experiences and discoveries in relationship to a new spiritual star wisdom.
Willi O. Sucher 1951