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Drama of the Universe a New Interpretation

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Drama of the Universe a New Interpretation The Drama of the Universe A New Interpretation By Willi Sucher Published by: Astrosophy Research Center, Inc. P.O. Box 13 Meadow Vista, CA 95722 THE DRAMA OF THE UNIVERSE A New Interpretation Copyright © Astrosophy Research Center, Inc. 2006 ISBN 1-888686-07-3 Editors: Roberta van Schilfgaarde and Darlys Turner For publication prices, room rates, and questions, please contact: Astrosophy Research Center, Inc. P.O. Box 13 Meadow Vista, CA 95722-0013 Phone: 530-878-2673 E-mail: [email protected] Website: AstrosophyCenter.com 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles, or copies that are not for sale but for private use. Printed in the United States of America Auburn, CA CONTENTS TO THE READER 4 PART ONE CHAPTER I The Structure of the Universe 6 CHAPTER II The World of the Fixed Stars 20 Mythology of the First Group 22 Mythology of the Second Group 24 Mythology of the Third Group 28 Mythology of the Fourth Group 30 Mythology of the Fifth Group 32 PART TWO CHAPTER I Events in Nature and in the Cosmos 34 CHAPTER II The Interplay Between Cosmos and Earth The Planets and Their Spheres 46 CHAPTER III History and the Cosmos 52 CHAPTER IV The Background of Ideas - Discoveries - Inventions - History of Science 73 CHAPTER V The Connection of the Individual with the Cosmos 88 CHAPTER VI Incarnation and the Stars 100 CHAPTER VII Death and the Cosmos - A new relationship 116 CONCLUSION 124 The Drama of the Universe TO THE READER We intend to deal in the present book with an investigation of the interrelationship between Cosmos, Earth, and the human being. What is the practical value of such a study? Can it in any way help to improve the conditions of existence on our planet? The cosmos is the stage of all factual and potential existence of which we can think. We cannot escape the fact that we are a part of it, however small. The part must be, at least to a certain extent, dependent on the whole. Therefore, our existence cannot be satisfactorily accomplished unless we know the nature, the purpose, and the workings of the universe around us. Otherwise we may, in our ignorance, act against the meaning and laws of cosmic life. This would lead inevitably, sooner or later, to our expulsion from the cosmos. It could cause the elimination of the human race. We know that any living organism is performing such processes of expurgation. Yet, here already our difficulties start. We know a great deal about the cosmos, but we do not agree on the interpretation of our perceptions. Some conclude that the universe of the stars is nothing but a gigantic machine. More recently, some favor the comparison with an unimaginably huge atomic reactor. Others do not agree with this picture of a mechanical universe. For instance, Arthur Harding, in his popular book Astronomy, points out that the composition of certain constellations of fixed stars provides evidence that they were grouped according to a pre-arranged plan and were not placed in the sky at random. If there is a pre-arranged plan, we must assume that intelligence of universal magnitude is the creator and the operator of the cosmos. However, wouldn’t it then be wiser to try to understand the intentions and purposes of that “intelligence” and not only the result of the “great machine”? Sir James Jeans in his book, The Mysterious Universe, went even further: “The concept of the universe as a world of pure thought throws a new light on many of the situations we have encountered in our survey of modern physics… If the universe is a universe of thought, then its creation must have been an act of thought... The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine.” Here is the picture of a cosmos that is the complete opposite of the robot universe. Of course, Jeans followed the idealistic philosophy of Berkeley; nevertheless, it is enough to disturb the possible settlement of the question in favor of one-sided mechani- cal views. It is this “master mind”, or college of such, which interests us. For without knowing its or their mind, at least in very crude outlines, we cannot possibly hope to get the affairs of humanity in order. Otherwise we might now and then do the correct thing by chance, but one adverse deed might destroy all preceding achievements. Until now, humanity has had some safety-devices, such as conscience or religious guidance etc., which seem to have been fairly efficient. Are they still operating as they did some two hundred or more years ago? Hadn’t we better look around for means of guidance adequate to our current needs, because we have developed self-consciousness and are attempting emancipation from traditional bonds of behavior and direction? 4 A New Interpretation It all sounds very well that we ought to understand the meaning and the purpose of the great universe, of which we are a part. Is it not terrifyingly ambitious to attempt such a thing? To try to answer this question and to show that there might be a road to solving these and other problems is the purpose of this book. We are fully aware that we can do little more than take the first few tottering steps toward achievement, but a beginning must somehow be made. If we desire to understand the minds of people, we study their features, their movements, and their work. We listen to the sound of their speech. A still deeper insight can come through knowledge of their biography. We might thus obtain a part-picture of their personality, which will not prevent us, however, from enlarging our impressions by patiently waiting for more indications of character in the course of time. In a similar way, we imagine the course of research that we want to take in order to come anywhere near an accomplishment of our intentions with regard to the cosmos. We shall study, as far as our means permit, the workings of the stars in nature, in history, and in the life of the individual human being. This we regard as a contemplation of the features, the movements, and the activities of that supreme “intelligence” working behind the visible stars, just as the mind of a person expresses itself in words, gestures, and deeds. Thus we might be able to start on the road to deeper insight for the sake of getting in tune with the will of the Creator(s). , 1958 [Note: Willi Sucher always used the best available astronomical data at the time. Many years after this book was written, it was discovered that the perihelion-aphelion line of Neptune had more erratic movements than the other planets and actually weaved back and forth over several constellations. It is always best to verify information when possible.] 5 The Drama of the Universe PART ONE CHAPTER I THE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE The Solar System We must first of all find a common language in order to investigate intelligently the influences of the cosmos on the Earth and on human beings. In other words, we will require a fairly efficient knowledge of the solar system in which we live and also of the sidereal worlds beyond. Not many people have the time these days for an intensive study of astronomy; therefore, we will give a description of the universe in brief outlines, particularly of certain aspects that we shall require for our later studies in this book. There exist plenty of handbooks on astronomy, from a popular point of view and also more complicated scientific works. It may, therefore, seem superfluous to add to that which already exists. However, it is our experience that most people find it difficult to extract from the vast existing literature on this subject just that which is essential, particularly for the studies we have in mind. This present chapter should by no means be regarded as a substitute for the reading of books on astronomy, as we will not be able to do more than recapitulate the most essential aspects, which may lead to a thorough study of the matter, if desired. Our solar system has the shape of a gigantic disk, which is embedded in a still larger universe that appears, even through the latest and biggest telescopes, to be infinite. Thus our smaller universe is like a pancake lying in a frying pan. This fact we want to express in diagram 1. It shows us the Sun at the center, according to the modern Copernican conception of the universe; around it the orbits of the planets are arranged. The distances of these orbits in our drawing, from the center, are proportional to the mean distances of the planets from the Sun, as modern astronomy has calculated them. Unfortunately, we were unable to insert the orbits of the outer planets: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, which have been discovered only during the last two hundred years. Their orbits would fail, according to their relative distances from the Sun, far beyond the edge of the page. The picture in diagram 1 is fairly correct. The planets’ orbits are lying, apart from minor divergences about which we shall hear later, on one common plane. They are also nearly concentric.
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