Warm Christmas Greetings to all!
I recently made a discovery that changes the perspectives I set out at the close of the previous article on Kalki Avatar and Valentin Tomberg, and felt the need to share this with my readers.
In that article, I pointed to the Hindu prophecy of the incarnation of Kalki Avatar, which refers to the Sun, Moon and Jupiter finding their place between 4°-17° Cancer. I noted that in Valentin Tomberg’s life, this alignment very nearly occurred in July/August 1931, and occurred properly on August 1, 1943. On the other hand, I noted that in our time, the alignment once again happened properly on July 26, 2014 and would (similar to July/August 1931) come close to occurring on August 11, 2026. I painted the picture that we were perhaps moving through the years 1943-1931 in reverse, from a certain point of view.
However, I have now found an earlier instance of the gathering of Sun, Moon and Jupiter between 4°-17° Cancer; in fact, this would seem to be the event which fulfilled the Hindu prophecy, which specifically stated that when this alignment occurs at the end of the Kali Yuga, Kalki would incarnate on Earth. According to Rudolf Steiner, Kali Yuga ended in 1899. The first alignment of Sun, Moon, and Jupiter in this portion of Cancer occurred July 26-27, 1919, when Jupiter was nearly 5° Cancer and the Sun was around 9° Cancer. The Moon traveled between these two over the course of the 26-27 of July. There is a remarkable similarity between this alignment of the three planets, and the one that occurred exactly 95 years later on July 26, 2014.
This lends us a new perspective to the advent of Kalki overlighting Maitreya. Valentin Tomberg was only 19 years old when this alignment occurred. If we consider July 1919 – April 1920 as a gestational period, as I suggested in terms of the 1931 alignment in the previous article, this focuses on the exact time period of Tomberg’s life when he was being introduced to the Hermetic Martinism of G.O. Mebes. This would prove to be the seed of a mode of spirituality which would grow and develop up until the end of Tomberg’s life (culminating in Meditations on the Tarot), unlike his relationship with Anthroposophy.
This relationship with Anthroposophy instead seems to find its origin around the year 1919 (actually as early as 1917), then grow and develop up until around the time of the alignment of July 1931. Tomberg is developing himself as a student and teacher of Anthroposophy up until this time period; then, between July 1931 and the next true alignment on August 1, 1943, we see the height of Tomberg’s role as teacher of anthroposophy and proclaimer of the Etheric Christ. After this time period, his relationship to Anthroposophy as a spiritual movement disappears, albeit his inner connection to Rudolf Steiner only seems to strengthen from this point onward.
Similarly in our time, there is another true alignment of these three planets between 4°-17° Cancer after the approximate alignment on August 11, 2026, one that is once again almost exactly 95 years later than the alignment on August 1, 1943: on July 31, 2038, the Sun will be at 13° Cancer, and Jupiter at 15° Cancer, with the Moon traveling between them.
So our perspective shifts somewhat through this. Instead of looking at the years 2014-2026 as a passage through 1943-1931 in reverse, perhaps we can look at the entire period from 2014 through 2038 as a kind of repetition at a new octave of the years 1919 through 1943, 95 years later. It is interesting in this case to note that there are some interesting resonances when we look 95 years ahead of Rudolf Steiner’s biography to the life of Robert Powell. For instance, 95 years on from November 1879, when Rudolf Steiner was first coming into contact with the work of Goethe, brings us to November 1974, when Robert’s first publication was released: the Christmas 1974 edition of the Mercury Star Journal. In 1900, Rudolf Steiner left behind what had been his main adult career of science and philosophy, and became involved with the Theosophical Society; 95 years later, in 1995, Robert Powell took his life work in a very new direction with the co-founding of the Sophia Foundation with Karen Rivers.
For those who are more intimately familiar with the biographies of both Rudolf Steiner and Robert Powell, there are many other revealing resonances that can be found. I will leave it to the reader to discover them for him or herself. Perhaps pay attention to:
1879 – 1891 vs 1974 – 1986
1891 – 1900 vs 1986 – 1995
1900 – 1913 vs 1995 – 2008
1913 – 1922 vs 2008 – 2017
1922 – 1925 vs 2017 – 2020
What this perspective offers us is the notion that possibly this period from 2014 through 2026 is merely a build-up of sorts for the activity of Kalki Avatar and Maitreya in our time, just as 1919-1931 was for the life of Valentin Tomberg. And we can be open to the idea that perhaps the communities that are receptive to the impulses which can be given by Kalki Avatar in our time come in a great variety of forms: for example, in 1919-20, Valentin Tomberg was becoming deeply involved in no less than three spiritual streams: Anthroposophy, Hermetic Martinism, and the Sophiology of Vladimir Solovyov. In a way, his life work was to weave these three together in one way or another; originally, it seems he attempted to allow the latter two to shine through Anthroposophy. In the end, however, it was Hermeticism that was able to accommodate the spirits of both Anthroposophy and Sophiology.
We may continue to face ever more challenging times ahead of us. Note that 95 years after the death of Rudolf Steiner was the onset of the extreme reactions to Covid-19 in March of 2020—again a kind of resonance at another level between the time of Steiner and that of Robert Powell, as this has resulted in a very challenging time for the Sophia Foundation—as it has for any organization that has as its focus bringing people together in living community. But when we consider the life of Valentin Tomberg, we see that in 1927 he joined the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science; from that time on for the next seven years, he became increasingly devoted to reigniting the flame that had burned so brightly for Rudolf Steiner in the last two years of his life. Perhaps, then, in the coming year—95 years after 1927—we can rededicate ourselves to that upon which we were intensively focused in the years leading up to 2020. For so many—certainly for me—life has felt like a never-ending interruption ever since the start of the covid tyranny. Can we find the will forces and the opportunities to bring back to living reality the activities, relationships, and initiatives that were just beginning for us in 2018 and 2019? Even in the knowledge that there is the strong possibility that our efforts may once again be greatly frustrated, as they were for Valentin Tomberg…perhaps 2030 will be a dreadful reappearance of the tragic split of the Anthroposophical Society in April 1935…but the stars incline, they do not compel!
I do think it is worth noting that while Valentin Tomberg was discovering the Tarot of Marseilles through the work of Mebes between July 1919 and April 1920, a kind of pinnacle was being reached in a certain direction through Rudolf Steiner’s work. This was the time period when the picture of the Threefold Social Organism was getting quite a lot of attention from the general public, and for a moment seemed like a viable solution for what was left of Germany post-World War I. The first Waldorf School was opened in Stuttgart following the watershed lecture cycle Study of Man. The scientific courses on light, warmth, and medicine began. Work had almost reached a certain level of completion on the Goetheanum, which would lead it to its official opening in September 1920.
This was the time period of Anthroposophy when a real focus on practical initiatives and the social life began to be the primary focus. What is ironic about this is that it seems that this is the main piece of Anthroposophy that was missing for Valentin Tomberg. He seemed to see only two sides to Anthroposophy: Aristotelians who were solely interested academic and spiritual research, and Platonists who were soulfully devoted to Christ first and foremost. He identified with the latter, and when it seemed to him that Christology (and the Platonist stream as he understood it) had no place in the eyes of the Vorstand, then Anthroposophy had failed. Unfortunately, Tomberg never got the chance to really become engaged in the practical initiatives—biodynamic farming, curative work, anthroposophical medicine, Waldorf education. It is in this realm that the research of the so-called Aristotelian becomes service to others; it is here that one’s inner connection to Christ becomes real, as Christ is encountered in and through the other—in the social realm, as well as in the kingdoms of nature.
This limited and polarised experience of Anthroposophy lead Valentin Tomberg to the point of despair, even going so far as to say that the path of the consciousness soul is no longer valid; that instead there is only a combined path of the intellectual soul (through traditional Catholicism), and of manas (by descending with Christ into the sub-earthly spheres on the path he takes in his Second Coming). But surely, the path of the consciousness soul is alive and well, primarily in the realm of the will. Biodynamic farming, Camphill, Waldorf education, Uriel and Weleda…all continue to bear the seeds of the threefold social order, waiting for fertile earth. And amongst the diehard practitioners in these fields, the cognitive path that is proper to the consciousness soul—that of Goethean observation and ethical individualism as exercised in the Philosophy of Freedom—is also alive and well.
So perhaps—and hopefully—the time from July 2014 to July 2038 may after all be a journey back in time, a mirror reflection of August 1943 through July 1919. Perhaps our efforts, our karma, and the realm of the dead who work with us will allow the journey to 2038 to be a rediscovery of that which was lost to Valentin Tomberg—and all of mankind—in 1919: the truly practical Christening of the Earth, and the remedy for the ills of our time, through the widespread recognition and application of the living image of the threefold social organism.
Tree/House 
Thank you Joel.
Cecille O’Brien Greenleaf VMD 650.533.0074/greenleafvmd.com
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Hi Joel,
I am appreciating that which you wrote concerning VT and Kalki and Maitreya. As I arrived at the end of the addendum I became a bit troubled. Two things: Christ is encountered in and through the other: yes – where two or more are gathered. And also upon the Altar of Holy Mass? For me, the encounter is personal and very real.
And: the intellectual soul is connected to traditional Catholicism- ? For me, traditional Catholicism is mystical, beautiful, holy – not intellectual….
so perhaps you are saying “both and” regarding the Aristotelian path of service through cognition, and the path of ? Communion via the priestly stream?
Perhaps VT saw that the people involved with anthroposophy were more about the knowledge rather than service and that is why he was in despair? And ….perhaps those who partake of holy Mass could come to see it and participate in it as a service ….which I am not sure is happening. But I need to work with this thought more. In summary,
This- my line of questioning – is a mere segment of a whole vista that is being opened up for me at this time, which is greatly aided by what you have written. Thank you.
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Hi Kelly,
Certainly it isn’t my intention to disparage the religious life with what I’ve written here. Simply to point out that it seemed as though for Tomberg there was only the “Gold King” of the cognitive path and the “Silver King” of the mystical/religious path. Not only that, but in his experience these two were at odds with each other (inasmuch as the “cognitive” anthroposophists with whom he came into contact didn’t seem able to take up a living relationship to Christ and Christianity). I’m merely pointing to the fact that there is also the “Bronze King” of the vocational path, and that even though Tomberg had ample opportunity to make relationships with individuals and groups that were walking that path in the Netherlands and England, he never was able to do so. And part of that seems to be a certain social awkwardness he struggled with his whole life—making it also difficult for him to attempt to cultivate the social path—the “Mixed King” who must be replaced by the Youth.
I suppose what I’m getting at is that in reality the cognitive path and devotional path cannot *truly* exist in isolation from each other. Each can only find its realisation in the vocational path; conversely, our work in the world will only be effective if it is infused with both proper knowledge and religious fervour. In Tomberg’s time, probably the best example of the three streams working together with each other in order to bring about the 4th—the healthy social life—was found in Camphill. Religious life and anthroposophical knowledge grounded in meaningful work—this is the threefold essence of social therapy.
The eucharist is surely essential for salvation inasmuch as it is essential for building up the resurrection body within the human being. But it is a moment in which we are served by Christ and the spiritual world. It is the in-breath. The necessary out-breath—where we can serve Christ and the spiritual world—comes when we work in the physical world in a social context. Increasingly it is in this context where we experience the fullness of Christ. I would very much hesitate to claim that I am serving anyone when I take the eucharist—this is the place I come to for nourishment, as a weak and frail human being, so that I can gain the strength to serve others. I suppose this may be different for others, but there is a strong temptation in some circles to confuse mystical experience/devotional life with having “done something” for and with the world. Inasmuch as I identify as a Rosicrucian—who wishes to actively wed the mundane physical to the sublime spiritual—I need to avoid such thoughts.
As to your other question concerning the intellectual soul and its relationship to Catholicism, I will quote here directly from Valentin Tomberg before unpacking his words a little bit. This is from his notebook ca October 1943:
“(Dr.) In the future (i.e. from now on) there will be no more spiritual science, but only the 14 stations of the Cross (which actually represent the 7 steps of Christ’s Passion in a form more understandable to the world) and esoterically – the way Christ is now going at his etheric Second Coming: 1. The way in and through the elemental world, 2. The way in the subterranean spheres (the interior of the earth) and 3. The way into the human world.
All teachers will go this way and teach it – the Maitreya will also go it completely.
Thus, there will no longer be a path of the consciousness soul – only the path of the rational soul (the 14 stations of the Cross or the 7 steps of the Passion) and the path of the manas [the higher Self] – i.e., the path of the etheric Christ.”
Now, it is clear to me from this statement that he is pronouncing death on the path of the *Age* of the Consciousness Soul—that of the union of the cognitive Goethean path with the vocational Rosicrucian path. His solution is to turn on the one hand to the spiritual path that began in the *Age* of the Intellectual (or Rational) Soul—Roman Catholicism. Up until he writes Meditations on the Tarot, he seems to draw on the spiritual resources of this prior Age in the form of both Scholastic philosophy as well as Catholic mysticism and spiritual exercises (so it is not necessarily an “intellectual” path per se, merely associated with a certain time period in terms of its origin). On the other hand he turns to the gestating spiritual path of the coming Age of Manas (or Spirit Self), which has as its aim the Christening of Humanity, Nature and Sub-Nature, but with the focus primarily on inner spiritual development and mysticism rather than outer deed in terms of vocation and the social life. Tomberg found his way into an “older” cognitive and mystical path, and attempted to cultivate those that belonged to the future simultaneously, but felt he could not engage with the one “of the time.”
Again, my intention is not to say that he was wrong to *include* those other paths—he was simply in error to exclude the bridge between them, the path of the Consciousness Soul, which is brought to best expression in the Philosophy of Freedom (the first part of which deals with cognition, the second with human action). And to be sure, he couldn’t really escape from it in reality. Goetheanism pervades the Scholastic and Justinian methodology of his works on jurisprudence; and by the end of his life, we could say that Meditations on the Tarot in particular (but also Lazarus, Come Forth) are examples of using the method of Philosophy of Freedom on the raw material supplied by both Roman Catholicism and Hermeticism (akin to Rudolf Steiner applying this method to the raw material supplied by Theosophy and creating Anthroposophy). And certainly he came a step closer in his relationship with both the vocational and social paths in doing so. His vocation towards the latter part of his life was increasingly in the realm of, and with, the Dead. We could say that Meditations on the Tarot was a “group project” of Tomberg with a number of deceased souls (or “Unknown Friends”). But the vocational and social paths can only be completely realised by bringing this “work with the dead” into union with a concrete “work with the living.”
So it isn’t just a “both-and” of Aristotelians vs Platonists. This is exactly the false dichotomy which blinded Tomberg from seeing the fullness of things, just as it continues to blind people today. It is the three (Warm Heart, Enlightened Head, Single Purpose) bringing about the 4th (the Body Social). Aristotelians and Platonists are both Michaelites, and therefore two different streams of the cognitive path. In terms of actual examples of reincarnated Aristotelians and Platonists, if there is a generality that can be thrown out there, it is that Aristotelians tend to be more scientifically oriented (particularly medically), whereas Platonists are more artistically oriented (particularly in the realms of eurythmy and drama).
And no, Tomberg was not in despair because he saw those in Anthroposophy were more interested in knowledge than service. He dismissed Waldorf education as being not such a big deal, and could not find his way to engage properly with the work that Zeylmans van Emmichoven was doing. Even though he was friends with Stephan Lubienksi for most of his life, he did not seem to be that interested in Lubienski’s work in Camphill. He simply was not a socially adept or work-oriented person. The paramount for him up to the time he left anthroposophy was in the religious and devotional life, and the development of an anthroposophical Christology centred around the Lord’s Prayer.
A clue as to why Tomberg abandoned Anthroposophy and declared the path of the consciousness soul DOA may have been a sense of failure on his own part, and a recognition of his own shortcomings that led to an impasse with the anthroposophists with whom he could not find a way to work. His dear, life-long friend Stefan Lubienksi says about him:
“Until 1941 Tomberg was spiritually the richest man in Europe, he knew an incredible amount. He has given up this wealth: He no longer knows anything, but he can pray like no one else, and the spiritual world needs it so much that someone prays not in his personal name, but in the name of humanity in the attitude of the Lord’s Prayer, very piously and humbly. Tomberg lacked true piety in Anthroposophy. […] His life in West Germany immediately after the war [as an interpreter in camps for forced labourers and prisoners of war], this life and experience taught him solidarity with the “poor” (yes, also spiritually poor) ordinary people. He also saw how important the Church was for these uprooted people.”
Harrie Salman writes of Lubienski:
“Lubienski pointed out what radiant traces ‘the silent work of Valentin Tomberg, which was entirely devoted to the Christ,’ has left in the spiritual sphere of the earth. Shortly before his death, Lubienski spoke with his friend Dieter Brüll about Tomberg’s conversion to Catholicism. Lubienski felt that Tomberg had completed the purification, but not the purification of pride, so that ‘it could happen that the spiritual world closed in on him, he lost his visionary consciousness, except for an opening to the Christ – who remained present for him to the last’. When, according to Lubienski, the spiritual world closed in on Tomberg is not known.”
So we can see here that it was a recognition of his own pride and lack of piety that led Tomberg to abandon the modern cognitive path—he was more brilliant than he could handle, and it rubbed everyone the wrong way. He could only find his way to the social path by being brought into contact with the suffering “common people” during World War II, after he had given away his “riches” of knowledge. For him, the cognitive path led only to pride and jealousy—”and if your left eye cause you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away.” However, his own inability in terms of integrating the cognitive path into his overall spiritual life by no means invalidates it once and for all.
And if there is anything that proves that to me in modern times, it has been the capacity of millions upon millions of people—in the midst of the most overwhelming “mass formation psychosis” event in history—to question given narratives and think for themselves. The consciousness soul is alive and well! But you notice it tends to be alive and well amidst those who are to one degree or another religious, and are to one degree or another “working class”. The three—free cognition, religious devotion, and practical work—need each other, and it is those of us who have been able to find our voice out of those three against tyranny who can create the 4th (the Body Social) in the time to come.
Peace,
Joel
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Hello Joel,
Oh how a real conversation about all of this would please me. May I say a few things?
Thank you. Your reply deserves much more from me than I can give right now. So a few things. I have the same experience of revival when I receive the body and blood of Christ! At that moment it is by Grace alone that I am changed, and I can only, and rightly, surrender to receive in deepest humility. It is during the other parts of the Holy Mass that much is , and many are, happening ! It is during those parts of Holy Mass that I believe a great service is being done for the World – above, below, and around. In community we praise The Holy Trinity, and we pray for one another and for those for whom no one prays, and for the dead, and we together seek to become one body on Christ’s Resurrection body – and one Spirit with His Spirit. We remember His sacrifice and salvific power. We grow as an organism, the Church. Light is manifest that is sometimes blinding! Joy overflows- this alone affects the world. But yes- the reason, the reason I go to Holy Mass is to humble myself to receive Him, my salvation.
This deserves more but I do not wish to try to convince….only share. Maybe I can say more later.
And so I thank you for clarifying that the age of the rational soul coincided with the arising of the first Christian Community through the scholastic period.
I am sure I have not comprehended all that you have written fully, yet I do sense that you are hard on VT. Throughout MOT he warns repeatedly about inflation, and I could say so much about why he felt the need to do so, as I am sure you also could.
Maybe you could speak to the fine line between self- assertion and humility. Or actually you did….perhaps by stating the solution is in all three realms of cognition, devotion, and service. This sounds very Catholic to me…🥰
VT has served many so profoundly. How I wish I could have experienced his silence! Actually, the Sophia Grail Circles serve well for that. But to be with VT in prayer …..
I am grateful…so very grateful…..for the riches I experience from my bodhisattva friends, as imperfect as they are.
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Dear Joel,
Am just now discovering your site and this discussion touches on so many issues I have been pondering for the last few years–how refreshing to encounter others whose spiritual path also unites Catholicism and Steiner’s teachings!
My question may be a little bit afield, but would really be interested in your perspective please: found your website by searching for Maitreya/ Kalki Avatar and the Anti-Christ. The reason is, many Christians are highly suspect of a “New Age Anti-Christ” who is associated with the Ascended Masters, including St. Germaine, and who may claim to be Maitreya / Kalki Avatar. This article is a good example: https://www.newagetoamazinggrace.com/maitreya-a-purpose-driven-false-christ.html
It is long but I believe the first few paragraphs will give you the general tenor.
Would you care to comment, in light of your knowledge of Anthroposophy?
Thank you very much.
Peace be with You,
Durga
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PS Here is a very good summary of what I would really appreciate your perspective on, from your knowledge as a serious student of Steiner and Thomberg, again not to read the whole article which is long but to give your feedback on the basic ideas. I know that Steiner broke away from Theosophy, but being not so well versed in Steiner myself, would like to know if anything in here contradicts his teachings–for example, he too spoke about the existence of benevolent extra-terrestrials who are coming down more frequently to help humankind evolve, as did the Master Peter Deunov. Anyway, if you would be so kind as to give your opinion on the general content contained here–thank you so much!
Click to access Maitreya__Crop_Circles__and_the_Age_of_Light._Benjamin_Creme_s_UFO_Thought__Lukas_Pokorny_2021_.pdf
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