Descent of the Avatar from Sirius to Earth via the Comet - 2
13 December 2009, inks, pencils, crayons and photo work
This is the same image as the “Descent of the Avatar from Sirius to Earth via the Comet 1”. I casually held a lamp behind the picture and saw how it was shining brightly. I took a picture with my camera.
The Birth of the Soul / Venus from out of Space / Ether / Jupiter and Time / Matter / Saturn
15 December 2009, inks, pencils, crayons and photo work
I am very much fascinated by the symbols of cosmogenesis, the creation of cosmic existence. How can the apparent something come out of seeming nothingness? The wisdom teachings explain that when creation comes into existence, there is the manifestation of time into space. In space you find the potential manifestation and when this happens the cosmic fire appears. I tried to depict it in this painting.
So for this picture I used a photo of the old astrological clock at the Zytglogge-Turm (Time-Clock-Tower) in Berne, as a symbol of the different time cycles governed by Saturn. Saturn also stands for matter.
At the top I placed a photo of a galaxy, as a symbol of space, and also of the spirit.
In the middle you see the famous Venus of Botticelli standing in a shell. Venus is the symbol of the soul, and the shell represents the female principle.
Consciousness manifests out of spirit and matter inter-penetratingly. So the hair of Venus is drawn into the whirl of the cosmic movement of the stars. And the shell holding her emanates from the centre of the clock, of time.
The naked Venus is also Isis or Mother Nature in her full beauty. Here she does not emerge out of the ocean, but out of fire, the cosmic principle of heat or the flames of the solar principle.
The Energy of Synthesis
20 December 2009, inks, pencils, crayons and photo work
This picture visualises the inpour of the energies of synthesis. You see Master CVV in his typical pose sitting in front of a lotus, a symbol of unfoldment, on the blue globe, representing the earth, surrounded by the downpour of light. The globe is penetrated by electric blue waves.
At the top you see Sirius from where the energy is said to have originated, together with the Great Bear on the right and the Pleiades on the left. According to esoteric astrology, these three form a great triangle of forces and have a profound energetic relation to our solar system. A picture to meditate upon.
The Lord of the Violet Flame and Chintamani
24 December 2009, pencils, crayons and photo work
Christmas 2009 was very silent – the rest of the family was in bed with flu; I took care of them and did 4 paintings in 5 days.
At winter solstice that year I took a photo of a beautiful Portea flower lying on the snow in the garden and with rising sun in the background. I took this photo as the initial point for the painting, another one of a crystal cave near the Grimsel hydropower station – the station is deep inside the Alps and on the way there is the cave. Then I added an extract of a painting of the Lord of the Violet Flame, St. Germain.
The Violet Flame is particularly related to the mineral kingdom and the violet ethers. The wisdom teachings say that there are huge subterranean caves with gems in the Himalayas and that the beautiful gem of Chintamani is in Shamballa. Sri Kumar said in a seminar that it is within the forehead of Sanat Kumara and that sometimes it is given to the Hierarchy. It has the power of manifestation. Besides the centre of Chintamani on the planet, there is also a centre of Chintamani in every human being which is generally dormant, but can be experienced when we ascend in awareness, plane after plane.
So you see in the centre of this picture the Chintamani gem in the cave temple with its radiance coming from the heart of St. Germain. Yellow and violet flames are coming down to vitalize the powerful crystals in the cave. So the painting is an invitation for visualisation.
Music of the Soul – Full Moon
29 December 2009, pencils, crayons and photo work
This is the last one of the 12 first paintings of the new series, which I called Images of Synthesis. I didn’t know that a rupture and a pause of nearly 2 months would come for some personal reason after having done this most thrilling painting.
At the beginning of the 90ies, I translated the book “Music of the Soul” by Master EK into German. This work put me into a state of rapture, and I experienced a touch of the music of Sri Krishna’s flute. I experienced this state again while painting this picture.
I took the picture of a classical painting of Lord Krishna with his peacock (on the left) and playing his flute on the banks of the river Yamuna. I transformed it and started painting, intensifying the colours, creating a vision-like ambiance. May the sound of Krishna’s flute vibrating through the colours transport you to the experience of His presence.
Metamorphosis – from personality to the soul / consciousness, to the super-soul / universal consciousness, the Mother of the World
20 March 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
This painting is an expression of a process of metamorphosis I went through.
At the bottom of the painting you see an extract of a painting of John Everett Millais, called Ophelia, which impressed me deeply. A flower is sprouting from there with a young lady as a symbol of transformation. And above you see the Great Mother surrounded by a rainbow of energies, emerging from the waters, with the deep look of infinite space.
So this painting illustrates how from out of old shadows and wounds new impulses of life sprout. The past gets transformed to grow into vaster dimensions of experiences.
Aries
13 April 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
The Wisdom Teachings explain that each year at the beginning of Aries there is a fresh new impulse coming from Higher Circles to be received by the Lord of the Planet, Sanat Kumara, and the sublime beings surrounding him in the second ether of the ashram of Shamballa in the Gobi desert. This energetic impulse is later, at Taurus full moon, handed on to Spiritual Hierarchy and their disciples to be further transmitted and disseminated at Gemini full moon to humanity at large, as a new vital impulse carrying life onwards.
This painting is done on a photo of the head of Master CVV. At the top you see the 12 signs of the zodiac blazing forth from the centre of light. The signs of the cardinal cross are forming the arms of the Swastika, where Cancer at the bottom is symbolising the descent of souls into matter. The nose and the eyebrows are forming the glyph of Aries. Through the nose, there is the down-breath of cosmic energies onto our earth. The part of the mouth is formed by Mount Kailash standing out high above the horizon. It is said to represent the head of Lord Shiva receiving the downpour of the cosmic flow of Ganga, the etheric waters of space.
The flames around Mount Kailash / the mouth represent the ashram of Shamballa.
Leo – The Mother on the Lion
27 June 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
Leo is ruled by the Sun. Here you see the glyph of the Sun in the upper centre showering streams of light downward. The full moon of Leo is the future festival of Hierarchy, and many masters of wisdom are born in this sign. In the centre you see the three great Masters, Kuthumi, Maitreya and Morya.
The cave of the Heart is said to be the cave of the lion, and the pulsation is called its roar. You see the glyph of Leo as the cave of the Lion. The Mother sitting on the Lion with Ganesha on her arms is a symbolic presentation of the majestic energy of Leo.
Virgo – The Light in Matter
18 July 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
I used a photo of a rose lily as a symbol of purity and virgin Nature. The figure of the Virgin merges with the lily with the pistil at her womb, a sign of her creative power.
The Virgin holds an ear of corn in her right hand, to nourish the world, and in her left the symbol of Mercury, as a lamp of spiritual light. Mercury is the ruler of Virgo.
Above her head you see seven stars, presenting the seven rays of light, and from the centre the light descends upon her and surrounds her. She is the representative of the Mother of the World, from whom the entire creation manifests through seven planes. So she is surrounded by the seven colours of the rainbow on the blue background, the cosmic consciousness. Behind the Virgin you see the sphere of the earth in red with seven seeds, germinating for future harvests. Around the lily you see a meadow with flowers on a reddish background, signs of the growth of spiritual unfoldment.
Aquarius – Eternal Flow of the Sound of Life
30 October 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
Aquarius is the manifestation of the eternal flow of life out of the unknown source. The waters are flowing out of the Aquarian pot, from seeming nothingness on the other side. The sun god Apollo with his seven-stringed lyre illustrates the musical vibrations bringing forth the Creation. Here you see Apollo with his lyre and the Aquarian pot. The pot in his hand becomes the sun from where the musical vibrations spread through space. From out of the pot there is a continuous flow of lotuses, the principle of unfoldment. On one of these lotuses you see CVV, the Aquarian master, floating on the expanse of the waters of space.
Pisces – Fusion. Synthesis of Existence
06 November 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
Spiritual astrology says that Pisces represents the blessing through the look of the eyes of the Mother.
For this picture I used an image of Maria and transformed it into blue. I surrounded it with the ring of eternal existence. The fishes surround her on the ascending and descending arc of the circle / of evolution. On the top of the left side, one fish is gliding through the depth of space, where you see the sign and the constellation of Pisces. At the bottom on the right side, the other fish is diving into the depth of matter, where you see a group of souls incarnated into human bodies on the material plane. You can discover Sri Kumar standing at the left side of the picture, and the author sitting at the bottom right side. The night-blue colours represent the background of existence, the potential space in which all forms manifest.
The Cosmic Man – Dance of the Light
14 November 2010, pencils, crayons and photo work
In the background of the picture you see two huge eyes and a mouth. From above, the light of the third eye is pouring in – a representation of the cosmic person with many planes of expression.
In the centre you see a globe, our earth, with the face of the Lord of our Planet, Sanat Kumara. At the same time it is the iris of an eye presenting the circle of our planets. This again is surrounded by the wheel of the zodiac. The starry background is surrounding the scene, as it is always surrounding our earthly existence, whether we are aware of it or not. The picture represents the mysterious dance of the light through the spheres of creation.
Taurus – Receiving the Milk of Wisdom
11 March 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
At Taurus full moon there is a downpour of energies from cosmic centres down to earth. Spiritual Astrology says that these energies are coming down via a brilliant star near the constellation of the Pleiades, Aldebaran. It is also called the eye of the bull. You see this star at the top of the picture. Buddha is the representative of this energy on earth, so you see him between the two horns of the bull. They represent the “antennas” for the reception of the energies of Divine Will. In Eastern symbolism Shiva is the embodiment of the Will aspect, and he is visualised in form of a Lingam. The bull Nandi is his vehicle, and it is always placed looking at Shiva in form of the Lingam.
At the lower centre of the image there is a black Lingam. A waterfall is flowing over the it. All around the Lingam are the many images of the Masters of Wisdom. In the centre of it you see Lord Maitreya, Master Morya, and Master Kut Humi. They are spreading the light of wisdom. It is said that the Masters milk the cosmic cow and nourish humanity with this milk of wisdom.
Gemini – Union beyond Duality
16 April 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
According to the ancient Indian tradition, Gemini represents a pair of supplementaries, subjectivity and objectivity. Subjectivity is called the Lord and objectivity is called the power of the Lord in relation to his Lady. Gemini is worshipped as the temple of the Lord, at the entrance of which there are two pillars. The picture shows on three planes, between and above the pillars, Lord Krishna and Radha as a symbol of duality and union.
On the physical plane they are surrounded by an aura of light. On the solar plane you see them in the network of the energies linking the planets. And on the cosmic plane they are one with the far-away stars.
Leo – The Mother with the Lion
11 June 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
In eastern wisdom it says that one of the forms of the Divine Mother is the shape of Saila Putri. She is regarded as a form of Parvathi and is also called the Daughter of the Mountain, the personification of the Himalayas. She is said to exist even today and to live in the form of an 18 years old woman accompanied by a white lion. From time to time she gives her presence to the initiates in the Himalayas through the roar of the lion which accompanies her.
For this picture I didn’t want to use an Indian-looking woman. I searched for a lady with royal posture and I found a figure of Elisabeth of Thuringia, queen of Hungary. It is said that once when she was threatened by her husband, a transformation of bread into roses happened to protect her. I gave her a huge rose as the symbol of the Heart. In the background I fused the pictures of a sunrise above Mount Everest and a panorama of Mount Kanchenjunga. And the white lion lies in his fiery cave, which is the symbol of the Heart Centre.
Virgo – Purity and Holiness of Virgin Nature
19 June 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
Virgo is the sign of the original nature, which is also called the virgin nature. She is an expression of sublime purity and transparency. She is the guardian of the spirit descended into matter and ripening there in silence and secrecy. So you see her represented as a woman radiating light and purity. She is sitting amidst withering flowers indicating that the heat of the summer is over and that the seeds are ready to fall down and go into the ground. She is holding an ear of corn in one hand and a flame of light in the other, the symbol of the light of consciousness, which is brought down by Mercury, the messenger of the Gods. He is the ruler of the sign of Virgo.
Libra – The Mother with the Tiger in the Jungle of the City
11 July 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
In many of the pictures I use symbols of the east and transpose them into a western setting. For this picture I took the inspiration of Durga, the impermeable mother with the tiger, who is ruling the time of Libra. It is considered to be the time of the descent of the spirit into the life in densest matter. In this phase of life you can easily get lost on your way and forget the purpose of your life.
I visualised this life in densest matter as the life in a metropolis and took a photo of a street canyon in New York. For Durga, I used a painting of an English Pre-Raphaelite painter illustrating nature and transformed its position, colours and expression. I added a sword and a lotus – the sword as a symbol of strength and the lotus as the symbol of unfoldment. I used a picture of a Siberian tiger which is about to jump. I then worked out the etheric movements of city life as the movements of the energy which surrounds the figure of Durga.
Antaryami – The Lord in the Heart
30 July 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
In Indian wisdom the inner consciousness is also called the Master in the Heart, the Indweller, Antaryami, or Ishvara.
For this picture I took an Indian picture of Ishvara and put it into a huge lotus and a sunrise. Then I gave expression to the radiance of the indweller, who is said to be shining with golden light. His expression is full of serene peace and focus on the inner dimensions.
Scorpio – The Dark Mother and the Consequences of Blindness
01 August 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
The qualities related to Scorpio are hidden activities, power, as well as the loss of consciousness and death.
I used a photo of the burning oil platform Deepwater Horizon, which has sunk in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, surrounded by fire-fighting vessels in their futile attempt to save the platform from sinking. I arranged a black-and-white drawing of the Kali, representing the dark and fearful aspect of Nature as part of the divine, and integrated it into the image. It thus becomes a symbol of human arrogance exploiting Nature and thinking that they can escape from the consequences. Kali holds a sword in one hand and a stab with a skull surrounded by a serpent in the other – symbols of the vital energy of Kundalini. The serpent can bring death, but can also resuscitate consciousness to ascend to the higher spheres. Between her feet you see the Yantra of Kali, the power which keeps man in the clutches of desires and sex as long as these energies are not directed towards ascent.
The fire of the burning platform becomes one with the fury of the Divine Mother, the halo mingled with the dark clouds of the burning oil look like an apocalyptic beacon of destruction.
Expansion and Fulfilment
27 August 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
Laskhmi is worshipped in India as the Mother of Splendour, in golden-yellow colours. She represents wealth, good luck and beauty.
For this image I used a picture of Lakshmi and placed behind her a NASA photo of a sunrise over the earth. Lakshmi is always presented holding lotuses and showering her blessings in the form of gold coins. She is accompanied by elephants. So I placed an Indian and an African elephant on either side. The central sun of our system is Alcyone in the Pleiades, the constellation of the 7 Mothers. Spiritual astrology says that from there energies come down to our system. So I digitally created a downpour of a starry flow over our planet. May spiritual blessings pour down on the onlookers.
Sagittarius: The Tree of Wisdom and the Waters of Life
03 September 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, representing the teacher and the search for wisdom. In the Eastern teachings the cosmic Jupiter is symbolised by Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, the incarnation of divine wisdom. The principle of the Teacher on the cosmic plane is Lord Dattatreya, the higher potency of Lord Maitreya, who is worshipped as the world teacher. Dattatreya is illustrated as a youth with 3 heads. The tree related to Jupiter, wisdom and meditation, is the Ficus Religiosa.
I started with a photo of a statue of Ganesha reading a book of wisdom. Behind him there is the trunk of a Ficus Religiosa. In its crown there are the three heads of Lord Dattatreya. Above you see the eyes of Lord Narayana. Looking into these magical eyes leads you to the inner dimensions. The brilliance of the higher energies is visualised in the white flame between the eyes, hinting at the third eye, the divine opening.
I created with crayons the movements of the ascending and descending etheric flow and the flames surrounding the heads of Dattatreya. I was fascinated by the innocence of the childlike looks that are full of divine peace and radiance.
As for Lord Ganesha, he seems to enjoy sitting there under the Ficus tree and reading the book of eternal wisdom. Everything is a part of the flowing movements and the mystery of Creation.
Capricorn: Aditi – the Mother of Light and the Birth of the Twelve Lights
11 September 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
In the Vedas Aditi is the original light, the light of the world, from which the 12 basic qualities of light emerge. They are the 12 sons of Aditi, the qualities of the 12 signs of the zodiac. In spiritual astrology the qualifies of the signs are not identical with the constellations, but are the great thought forms that impregnate the space around a globe and shape the energies of the beings into certain specific qualities. I visualised the 12 qualities as 12 radiant energy centres around the Mother holding a child, like in the presentation of Mother Mary with the infant Jesus Christ. I took the inspiration from a picture of the Hungarian painter Franz Dvorak.
Aquarius – The Mother with the Aquarian Pot
01 October 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
Traditionally Aquarius is presented as a man bearing the pot from which the waters of life pour down. For this image I chose to take a female figure for the water bearer. I came across an image of a Madonna by Botticelli. I added an Aquarian pot instead of Jesus, and created a downpour of light from a sunset. I also integrated golden rays and a NASA picture of the earth. At the end I created an opening on the backside of the pot, as a symbol that the energy is pouring out into manifestation on one side, but on the other side there seems to be nothing coming into it.
Now the Mother is blessing the earth with the Aquarian energies.
Opening the Sheaths of the Soul towards the Greater Light
11 October 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
For many years till I was in the mid-40ies I had the feeling that my life hasn’t yet come to flourish, and that I was in a bud-like state. I knew that there were veils around the soul, which slowly started to unfold and widen. This was the origin of this painting.
To visualise the closed state, I took a photo of a water lily bud and that of an egg and fused them together. I then added the figure of a woman inspired by a pre-Raphaelite painting. She is holding a dove in her hand which is waiting to fly. The sheaths open in the upward direction allowing the soul in incarnation to unite with its counterpart which is radiating in the light of pure consciousness.
Pisces – The Mother Blessing the Earth Through the Grace of her Looks
22 October 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
In the Eastern wisdom Meenakshi is the Mother who blesses the earth through the grace of her looks. For the Mother I took an illustration of an Indian goddess, but replaced her eyes by bright blue eyes. For me, they symbolise the unfathomable depth of the motherly love. Her light radiates from the centre of her forehead. Beside the earth you see the hands of Meenakshi; they hold and bless the earth, whose aura thus becomes a radiant blossom.
Aries – The Mother Principle and the Descent in 10 Steps into Creation
20 November 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work
According to the Wisdom teachings, the Cosmic Person is the supreme God principle self-existing without mother and father. From there the Mother principle comes down and conceives the creation in her womb as her child. She comes down in 10 steps through 4 planes up to the gross material plane. The Mother is represented as a young lady, the planes are represented as spheres, and the10 points of the Pythagorean decade symbolise the complete creation. Its centre lies at the womb of the lady, the top of the triangle at her heart centre. She is standing in a lotus, the principle of unfoldment. In her inner she carries a form of Lord Vishnu, the Lord of permeation. There is a visualisation exercise where you imagine the Divine – be it Christ, Vishnu or whosoever –standing over the solar plexus and the meditator becoming one with him. The delicate figure of the Mother is standing in the area of tension between the seminal emergence and the tremendous power of the manifesting energies. She carries in her heart this tension between the delicacy and and the power of the presence of Vishnu.
Taurus – The Woman in the Heart of Man
12 February 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
This painting in a way is a continuation of the Aries painting. I took a silhouette of a man and placed a picture of Lakshmi sitting on a lotus to be in the cave of man's heart. She is showering her grace and thus the energy centres unfold. You also see an unfolding “heart above the head” at the centre of the huge lotus at the top, the connection to the cosmos. The body is interwoven by energy lines.
Gemini – Saraswathi and Mercury
17 March 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
The sign of Gemini is ruled by Mercury, who in the east is represented by Saraswathi, the goddess of wisdom. For Mercury I used the photo of a brass statue from the 19th century. And for Saraswathi I found an illustration of the goddess flying on her vehicle, the swan. It is holding a lotus flower in its mouth, symbol of the messages of the divine Word conveyed to Mercury.
Mercury is holding a rod surrounded by serpents. It is a representation of the vertebral column, with the wings of the Ajna Centre, and the pineal gland, the seat of the higher awareness. In his other hand he holds a purse filled with gold coins, being the God of merchants, and he wears the winged cap of the fast messenger. The keyboard in the background is a symbol expressing that the whole creation is done with the letters of the divine Word. And behind the keyboard you see a NASA photo of the surface of the planet Mercury.
The Master May Call
24 March 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
Ever since I came to know about Master CVV (1868-1922), I was deeply fascinated. For me his piercing look is full of energy, and he does tremendous work in the subtle planes.
To give an expression to the etheric call of the Master, I worked over two photos I took in 2006 at an installation of huge old loudspeakers on the roof of the Kunsthalle Berne (Art Gallery). This installation was done by Pavel Büchler, a Czech born artist living in UK. I was fascinated by the “silent loudspeakers”, overlooking a noisy square. The artist was searching for something which is “beyond the communication”, something which is beyond sound, beyond form, even beyond manifestation.
I already explained the meaning of the May Call Day with the picture “May Call – Receiving the Energies of Synthesis”.
Virgo – Kwan-Yin, the Mother of Grace
12 May 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
Kwan Yin is a female figure of the Buddha of compassion. She came to me mind while I was searching for a picture for Virgo.
I took the photo of a statue of Kwan Yin in the house of a friend. Her look is totally turned inwards. Above her head you see the light of the sun in a huge flower. The light is pouring down on her right and left, I represented it with the picture of a waterfall. Her head is surrounded by spheres of light, from where emerges a circle of moon phases, with the full moon / new moon behind her head. The warm golden yellow symbolises the power of her loving compassion for all beings.
Libra – Birth of the New Earth
16 June 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
The picture came to me from out of the experiences of the previous months and weeks, culminating in receiving notice of termination of my work contract after 21 years of service. I felt free, after a very turbulent time. I saw the old structures collapsing, and at the same time felt the seed of the new sprouting, though not yet manifest.
At the top you see a skyline - brightly illuminated high-rise buildings on a burning ground which is about to crumble down. In the depth there is the formation of a new globe out of shining etheric flowers manifesting in a field of deep blue. A group of angels are observing the beauty with rapt attention.
There is a tremendous contrast between the subtlety of the new earth and the display of grandeur of the old structures, which are ready to sink into the abyss.
Sagittarius – Kalki, The Rider on the White Horse
05 August 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
In the Eastern Puranas Kalki is described as the 10th Avatar who comes to close the Dark Age. We see him riding on a white horse, symbol of the purified energy of life. From above the mountains white eagles are coming down, messengers of the spirit.
Aquarius – The Twin Gods and the Downpour of Cosmic Energies
25 September 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
The painting shows the downpour of cosmic energies down to our planet. At the top you see winged horses, the Ashwins, the Vedic twin Gods. Below there are the two seers Vasishta (on the right) and Agastya (on the left). They are guiding spiritual Hierarchies on our earth. In the centre of the upper triangle there is the pot of Aquarius from where the waters of life are pouring out incessantly. In the centre of the lower triangle there is a picture of Uranus who receives the energies for our system. And below you see a triangle of mountains surrounding a huge lotus into which the energies are received. You see the Blue Mountains of the Nilagiris in the front, Mount Kailash in the right back, and the “Swiss Himalayas”, the Matterhorn at the left. And if you look closely, you see in the centre of the downpour a Deva figure.
Taurus: The Magic Flute of Krishna
21 December 2012, pencils, crayons and photo work
For this picture I took the photo of a Krishna statue here in my room, chose for the yellow background an image of an extract of the Isenheim Altarpiece, by Matthias Grünewald, and another for the dome of stars at the top, from the stage set for The Magic Flute of Mozart by Karl Friedrich Schinkel; then I integrated the image of a peacock(bottom left), Krishna’s bird. I put the statue to dark blue; so the image emerged in violet - the right magical colour for Krishna with a “magic flute”.
Cancer: The Descent of the Solar Angel into the Body
28 February 2013, pencils, crayons and photo work
Cancer is the sign of the return of the soul into a physical body and thus it is related to the process of reincarnation. The Moon is also the symbol of the generative life which gives birth to forms.
In the upper part of the image you see the Moon and behind it the glow of the Sun. Two angelic figures, solar angels, observe the descent of a soul into the embryo in the womb of the mother. You see the embryo head downwards behind the descending soul. Another name for the soul, the I AM, is the Solar Angel. It is the eternal part in man which in the cycle of evolution goes through series of incarnations. The body is also called the Lunar Angel; it serves as a vehicle for the incarnation of the Solar Angel. For the left angel I chose an extract from a painting of Franz Dvorak, and for the one on the right side an extract from a painting of Edward Robert Hughes; a drawing of William Hunter for the embryo in the uterus. For the illustration of the descending solar angel, I took an image of Ilmatar, the virgin spirit of the air, by Robert Wilhelm Ekman.
Virgo: The Sons and Daughters of the Virgin
12 April 2013, pencils and photo work
The book “Spiritual Astrology” is a storehouse of profound concepts of wisdom, which let images come to my mind’s eye. Thus when reading the chapter on Virgo impressions came to me of purity and virginity, of the world saviours as the Sons of the Virgin, of the rainbow of creation, the veil of the Mother of the World.
I wanted to give a new perspective to the often misunderstood concept of the Virgin and to replace the child with a group of great messengers of God and World Saviours. I used a painting of Fra Angelico for the central figure of the Virgin. I added a helix galaxy structure and a rainbow in the background above her head, forming the Eye of God. The head and the halo of the Virgin at the centre symbolise that the World Mother is the first emanation from the background of creation. She is sitting on a red and golden veil, the sheath covering the pure existence and giving rise to the multitude of expressions in space. Full of loving attention the Mother is looking at the group of messengers of the pure Light, which are inserted into the form of the infant Jesus, who is holding in his left hand the ball of the globe. Wrapped into her blue robe you see smiling people who feel blessed and protected through her presence. Her Light is radiating into all directions.
The White Island
06 July 2013, pencils and photo work
The Eastern wisdom teachings describe the most sublime plane of our planet as a field of radiant light. It exists in us as the plane of pure existence, the diamond consciousness in the head centre. It is also called Sweta Dipa, the White Island, full of divine brilliance and splendour. Another name for it is Shamballa, a hidden place on the etheric plane of the Gobi Desert.
Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World and the highest being on earth, lives there, and within his forehead there is the beautiful gem of Chintamani, the philosopher’s stone of heavenly origin. He and his team of sublime beings incessantly assist the evolution of the beings on earth.
I tried to depict the White Island in an ocean of bluish light, rising above the earthly sphere. In the lower part of the picture you perceive the outlines of India seen from space at night, with the lighted centres. Above the island you see the head of the Lord of the World, with the resplendent jewel of Chintamani on his forehead. For this I chose a photo of a Buddha statue from Tibet taken by a friend, and I transformed it a bit. For the jewel I used several layers of a photo of a blue diamond. Sanat Kumara is surrounded by seven flames in rainbow colours, symbolising his team of collaborators. I created them based on photos of prismatic reflections on the walls of my room. The whole scene seems to be floating on a field of dark night blue, representing the background of existence.
Capricorn – Varaha and Varuna
4 September 2013, pencils and photo work
For several weeks, I meditated on the symbolism of Capricorn but no complete picture came up. There was just an idea but I thought that the complex symbolism cannot be depicted in an appealing way. However, the impulse for the painting continued. And during the work on the picture it slowly manifested. Its symbolism is not easy to be understood by a Westerner. In short: The earth is lifted up from matter to spirit.
At the bottom you see the head of Varaha, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu as the White Boar. The Puranic lore describes how he lifts up the earth from out of the depth into manifestation, and from matter to spirit. Varaha is particularly worshipped in Capricorn.
This month is the dawn of the solar year and also the dawn of the great time cycle of our creation called a Manvantara. The earth is depicted as floating on the surface of the waters of space; it is supported by Varaha and surrounded by a huge etheric lotus flower, the symbol of unfoldment. Behind, there is a great sunrise, and from beyond the sun a dragon rising. On its back you see Varuna, depicted as a five years old boy with four arms. As they move through space the trident in Varunas hands, representing Neptune, is creating lines of force, which are the guiding lines for the Aquarian age. The white dragon, the vehicle of Varuna, is called Makara in the Vedic scriptures, meaning Capricorn.
Pisces – Ascension, the Light of the Higher Bridge
28 October 2013, pencils and photo work
The signs of the zodiac have their correspondences in the body. Pisces is not only associated with the feet but also with the area above the head, with the pineal gland and the pituitary body. When the higher consciousness awakens, a light starts to manifest between these two glands and gives rise to an ascension via this higher bridge of light beyond the limitations of the body. Pisces represents the ascent of man into God; it is therefore also called the sign of completion, of the meeting of the “alpha and omega” of creation.
For this picture I used a picture of Jesus and of the transfiguration of the Christ, from a painting of Fra Angelico (1442). I transformed this painting and fused the face of the Christ with a picture of Maitreya. I arranged two photos of sunrises on the front of the image of Jesus, thus generating the view of the radiant etheric centres. I increased the intensity of the eyes which are observing the observer and created a fusion of the subjective and the objective spheres.
For the upper background, I warped a photo of waves rolling onto a beach, producing the impression of the vastness of the etheric ocean of space associated with Neptune, the ruler of Pisces. And the colour of the sign is that of the pure sky in bright daylight. I further worked on the head centre in the middle of which you see the blessing figure of Christ.
Taurus – Receiving the Flow
27 December 2013, pencils and photo work
In the symbolism of Puranic scriptures the flow of life is described as the cosmic waters of space that had to be brought down to earth from the plane of the creator, Brahma. There was no one on earth who could receive the intensity of the fiery flux called Ganga (Ganges) but Shiva, the Lord of Divine Will. So a solar king ardently prayed for a long time until Shiva agreed to receive Ganga.
Shiva, who carries the crescent moon on his head, opened his hair, and when Ganga came down, she was caught in the hair and her impact was reduced before she was allowed to descend from his head to the heart and then to the planes.
The head of Shiva represents Shamballa and the heart of the planet is Spiritual Hierarchy. The human beings live in the planes. Each year in Aries, a new annual impulse is received in Shamballa and in Taurus it is passed on to Hierarchy and in Gemini to humanity.
For this painting I chose a picture of Shiva with a beautiful smile. I transformed it a bit, added the crescent moon onto Shiva’s head and placed a picture of Mount Kailash into the background. Then I created the sphere with the downpour of the energies onto Shiva’s head and from there, changing colours to golden yellow, down to earth. The air is filled with the flow of etheric energies.
It must be like this to stand in the full flow of life.
Gemini – The Son of the Sun and the Great Cycles of Time
09 February 2014, A 5, pencils and photo work
The Eastern wisdom describes the unfoldment of the creational activity in tremendous time cycles called Manvantaras. They cover periods far before the creation of our present earth and go into cycles of far distant future times. A Manvantara is ruled by a solar intelligence called Manu and the Manu presiding over the present cycle is called Vaivasvata. Vaivasvata is the son of the Sun; he is the mind of the Sun and is also called the light of the soul. The Sun is called the weaver, Vivasvata; he weaves the globe of light around itself. The very meaning of Vaivasvata Manu is “the weaver of the light of the soul”, of the divine plan on earth.
This painting visualizes Vaivasvata Manu as emerging from the Sun in the background. Behind his head you see the radiance of the solar light and his headpiece has the form of the solar material shown in images of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT). His youthful face reminds of him being the son of the Sun.
The sages describe the creation as emerging from out of a golden egg. You see a golden egg-shape in the background and the Manu surrounded by a wheel of 14 egg-shaped figures each containing the colours of the rainbow, representing the 14 Manvantaras and the 7 planes of each creation. The whole is contained in a huge lotus, the symbol of unfoldment. Vaivasvata is in the midst of the lotus, and inside the Sun you see a higher octave of the lotus out of which the Manvantaras emerge.
Creating this picture was a strange experience. It seemed that it didn't want to come out. And while working on it, I wasn't satisfied with the way it developed and on several occasions wanted to destroy it. In the end, I realised that my concepts of how the picture should look like were blocking its emergence.
Cancer – Cosmic Musicians and the Moon Principle
02 March 2014, pencils and photo work
Pure, sublime music is associated with the Divine. The soul naturally responds to high quality music, and we get absorbed into its enchanting vibrations. At the beginning of creation, when space begins to awaken, there is a first group of cosmic devas. The scriptures call them the Gandharvas, the musicians, because they are the intelligences who produce periodicities and durations. They are the blissful devas, the musical waves beyond creation. The musical hierarchy is presided over by Soma, the cosmic lunar principle, which exists on all planes. In astrology, his energy is presented through Neptune; on the planetary plane it is Venus; on the plane of our earth it is the satellite Moon.
In the centre of the picture you see three spheres representing the moon principle, composed from photos of the moon and a Chinese ivory carving. I placed a picture of the constellation of Cancer in the background. The outer, bluish sphere is touching a lower sphere representing the reflective principle or the transmission of the lunar energies to the Earth.
In the upper part of the picture you see three angels with flageolets, taken from the works of the English Pre-Raffaelite painter Edward Burne Jones (1833-1899). I worked them over to represent the Devas of the musical hierarchy. The musical vibrations penetrating the cosmos are visualised by the rays descending from the cosmos.
Virgo – The Mother and the Maturing of the Souls
10 May 2014, pencils and photo work
The earthy sign of Virgo symbolizes the slow growth in the “womb of time” through conflicts and crises to reach the light of the soul. When we have gained a pure mind, it can reflect the divine Light. When the Light gets born in the virgin mind, this is called the “birth in Light”. The light of primordial nature is described as the Mother of the World. She penetrates all the seven planes of existence. These planes are said to be the veils of the Mother, and they are also depicted as a rainbow around her head. It says that her eyes transmit the rays of grace uplifting the souls to their pristine nature.
For this picture I used the image of a little statue of the Virgin with a star-filled veil. Around her head you see the colours of a huge rainbow, the planes of creation. In the background I placed two galaxies from the constellation of Virgo, depicting the cosmic eyes of the Virgin.
In the lower sphere I arranged an extract of a group photo and on each person’s face I placed a layer of a sunrise, illustrating the reflection of the divine Light in the human minds. They are the souls maturing in the matter to experience the birth in the Light.
Aquarius - Apollo and the Song of Light
16 October 2014, pencils and photo work
On a very subtle plane, colour and sound converge and become one. This plane is related to Aquarius and to a supra-cosmic musical intelligence whom the Vedas call Vena the Gandharva. The Vedas say, he merrily sings the “song of light”. The Greek Apollo is no other than Vena; through his influence the sound- and light principles of the higher planes are expressed in identical scales.
Meditating on these correspondences, an image arose in me of Apollo with a musical instrument super-imposed on his face and light pouring down from above.
For the painting I chose a black and white photo of a head of Apollo and converted it into light yellow. I found the picture of a beautiful classical instrument, the “Viola d’Amore” (Viola of Love). It is used like a violin and has a sweet, warm sound. There are 6 or 7 playing strings on the top and the same number of “sympathetic strings” below – a beautiful symbol of the 6 pairs of signs of the zodiac or of the 7 planes of creation in the manifest and in the subtle spheres. I placed the instrument on the face of Apollo so that the upper part with the pegs and the head is like a stair towards the spheres of light. There is a second viola merging with the face of Apollo and a part of a nearly invisible third one surrounding the head like an aureole.
For the background, I first took a photo of Uranus and merged it with another one of a star cluster from the constellation Aquarius. Though you don’t recognize these elements anymore, they are there in the “background” of this painting. And the light coming from above looks like pouring down from out of the nearly invisible Aquarian pot.
Pisces – The Tablet of the Universe
17 November 2014, pencils and photo work
In Eastern wisdom, the content of space is called Akasha. The impressions of the past cycles of life are recorded in the ‘Akashic records’, a kind of subtle photography. In ‘Spiritual Astrology’, Pisces represents this ‘tablet of the universe’ on which an initiate can read the past, present and future of the whole creation. Pisces also preserves the information about the human frame and its relationship with the frame of the cosmic man, which is hidden in the depths of our consciousness.
To illustrate the opening of the sacred content of space with its subtle records, I used an image of the stained glass windows of a Gothic cathedral, which I transformed and duplicated. For the cosmic man I extracted from an Indian painting the face of Ishvara, the Master consciousness of the universe and in our own being. On his forehead, you see the path of light connecting the pineal and pituitary – the representatives of the two fishes of Pisces. And above there is the crown of the head centre.
Below, I placed the “blue marble” of our Earth as the sphere of our life. I super-imposed the image of an embryo, symbolizing that our frame is made in the image and likeness of the cosmic man and that it is in a process of unfoldment.
Pisces is ruled by Neptune, who helps us to merge our lower consciousness (personality) into the higher consciousness or group-consciousness. I used a photo of Neptune to create the background of the image and to give it the mystic note, for Neptune is the soul of our solar Logos and is linked to the cosmic soul of our universe.
Gemini – The Messenger of Light
24 February 2015, pencils and photo work
Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the Greek Hermes; he is the Lord of Speech. Gemini is related to the vocal cords and Visuddhi, the throat chakra. Through the vocal cords, the air connects the inner with the outer space. The word is expressed through our breath by the messenger, symbolized by Mercury. In meditation, the throat centre is also the entrance into the element of space called Akasha in the East.
The doorway of Gemini is symbolized by the two pillars of the glyph of Gemini, representing the polarity of seeming opposites or the dual nature of the mind. The colour of the Gemini and the throat chakra is described as a shade of green which produces blue; it has a great healing effect. The crystals of copper sulphate give an idea of this colour.
In this image, you see Mercury standing between two bluish pillars. There is an influx of yellow-green light from above. Mercury wears a hat with two wings, which are depicted partly concrete, partly etheric - symbol of the Messenger of the Gods or the Light; it radiates through his eyes. His face is half light blue, half golden yellow, representing the dual nature of the mind and of the Buddhic plane. His throat centre of bluish-green colour radiates into space.
I created its colour with the help of a photo of crystals of copper sulphate. And Mercury with the help of a plaster bust of Mercury by the French artist François Rude.
Cancer – Narada’s Neptunian Music
26 March 2015, pencils and photo work
Sublime music can raise the consciousness beyond the mental to the level of the soul. This quality is related to Cancer. When music is properly used, it can open the awareness to cosmic planes of consciousness. Such experiences of oceanic consciousness are governed by Neptune. The cosmic teacher working through the power of divine music is called Narada. He is the cosmic musician whose thought, word and deed are musical. He bestows the word of the Lord with the sounds of his musical instrument, the Veena.
Pondering on Neptune, an image came to my mind which I had seen some decades ago, a round stone with a face. I finally found it googling – it was the famous “Mouth of Truth”, a stone face from an ancient Roman fountain probably representing Oceanus. I used it as the starting point, reworked it and merged it with a photo of Neptune. I surrounded it with a huge greenish wave in the vastness of the star-strewn space.
In the foreground you see Narada carrying his celestial Veena, a seven-stringed musical instrument representing the seven planes of creation or the seven tissues of the body. It is said to sing by itself and elevate people to the state of pure experience. I extracted the form of Narada from a vintage print and fused it with the surrounding waters of space.
Leo – The Tree of the Universe and the Cosmic Teaching Principle
17 April 2015, pencils and photo work
Leo is related to the heart centre; it is the heart of Spiritual Hierarchy. In the Vedic symbolism Leo is called the dog, meaning the Dog Star, Sirius. Our planetary Hierarchy is a replica of the Great White Brotherhood on Sirius whose Lord is Dattatreya. He is the teaching principle in the universe.
The Eastern Puranas compare the space globes of the universe with the fruits of a banyan tree and the suns with the seeds inside the fruit. Many trees line the roads to the garden of God. This reminds me of the astronomical concept of superclusters of galaxies called Laniakea (Hawaiian ‘immeasurable heaven’) which look like flows or branches of huge trees.
In the background of the painting I put a clustered photo of the known universe and super-imposed on it the structure of a tree. I made a photo of the statue of Dattatreya on my meditation altar, depicted as a being with one body and three heads, symbolizing the divine trinity coming out of unity. He is always depicted with a cow, symbolizing the universe. In his six hands he holds various symbols representing cosmic dimensions. In the branches of the tree you see two galaxies and in the centre a star nebula also called the “eye of God”. I placed a picture of Sirius into its centre.
In the foreground you see the symbol of the cosmic teaching principle, the triangle within a circle and the central point, which is placed at the heart centre of Dattatreya. The circle is surrounded by 12 stars, representing the twelve aspects of the zodiac or of the one original light, Aditi.
Virgo – Mother Nature Protecting the Solar Child
14 May 2015, pencils and photo work
Occult symbolism is a way of describing subtle truths, which to a common understanding appear as contradictory or nonsense. An intuitive approach helps gain deeper insights.
Virgo stands for the slow unfoldment of the soul on the spiritual path, secretly growing through crises in the womb of material life. The aspirant is compared to a child, whose soul / Sun silently develops a pure, virginal nature under the protection of Mother Nature. Nature again is a reflection of the spirit and thus is compared to the Moon, who is the ruler of Virgo on the subtle planes.
Meditating on the painting for the month of Virgo, I received the image of a chasm at the bottom in which there was the soul and at the top the head of the Divine Mother. The chasm was like penetrating through the seven planes of creation. A few days later the hint came, Isis and Osiris. I googled for a statue of these Egyptian gods and studied about their symbolism. In the plethora of meanings I found that Osiris, the “Lord of Truth”, is compared to the Sun. Isis is described as his wife, his sister and even his mother, and also as the Virgin Earth. I found the image of a grey stone statue with Isis protecting the child Osiris. Her headgear is like a solar disc hiding the true spiritual sun, thus being the “moon” to the higher sun, which is carried by Mother Nature. Osiris wears a headgear like a receptacle receiving the divine flame.
I transformed the statue into golden colour and did some digital restoration. I then created the chasm penetrating through the seven planes and surrounded Isis-Osiris by an aura of radiating energy - the veil unveiled. When the clouds of conceptualisation are left aside, the symbolic presentation provides a view of Mother Nature protecting the Solar Child.
Pisces – Alpha in Omega, Omega in Alpha
12 November 2015, pencils and photo work
Pisces is seen as the end of the zodiacal year which leads to the next annual cycle beginning with the vernal equinox. For a disciple on the spiritual path Pisces is the beginning of the cycle, since he moves in the retrograde direction towards the origin. In mundane astrology, Pisces corresponds to the feet, whereas for the disciple it is located above the head. In the body of the yogi, it is related to the pineal gland and the pituitary body which aid to produce light of the Higher Bridge to cosmic realms of consciousness. This light is the expression of the eternal NOW, the fusion of the beginning and the ending of creation.
The picture I received in meditating on Pisces consisted of two globes touching each other with a light in between and a head below. I understood the spheres of the globes as the contact of the past with the future in the light of the presence. The two touching spheres give the glyph of the sign of Pisces. I created it by fusing several photos of the Earth, the star Fomalhaut of the Pisces constellation and a lotus.
For the head I fused a wood-carved and a porcelain head of the Bodhisattva Quan Yin, the female correspondence of Buddha worshipped especially in the Far East. She is the Goddess of Mercy and thus a form of the World Mother related to Pisces. On the crown, symbolising the head centre, she wears a figure of Buddha, the light of the jewel in the Lotus. On her front I integrated the bridge of light between the pineal and the pituitary linking to the cosmic light.
The deep blue light of the background fuses the stars of the firmament with the night lights on earth and the aura of Quan Yin into one whole.
Virgo – The Rainbow Aura of the World Mother
14 May 2016, pencils and photo work
Virgo is the month of the World Mother, the universal awareness or the basis of creation. She is called Gayatri in the Vedas, the Light of the World, and worshipped with the famous Gayatri mantra. She is depicted with five visible faces and a sixth invisible one. Of the five faces, the one on the extreme right represents the brilliant solar light and the face on the extreme left the soothing light of the moon. In between there are the three faces of the primary colours in the order of red, golden yellow and blue. The invisible face in the background stands for the absolute light of the background.
The World Mother is depicted with the aura of the rainbow indicating the seven planes of existence or the seven rays of the original Light. Each plane is subdivided again into seven sub-planes creating the kaleidoscopic beauty of creation.
To depict the World Mother, I used an Indian image of the Mother and transformed it by changing the colours and replacing the faces with extracts of women portraits of Western painters mainly from the 19th century. I kept the colour expression of the faces. Then I created a circular rainbow aura around the Mother and added seven rainbow hemispheres on a blue starry background indicating the expansion of universal awareness through all the planes of creation.
Scorpio - Mars the Kumara and the Six-Armed Cross
18 July 2016, pencils and photo work
Scorpio is ruled by Mars. On the mundane planes, the Martian principle is related to blood, fight and conflicts. In the East, the sublime aspect of Mars is visualised as Kumara, the ‘I AM’ consciousness (This is explained in the book ‘Mars. The Kumara’ by Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar). We can visualise the Kumara as light emerging from our centre into six directions – east, west, north, south, above and below. The six-armed cross represents the six dimensions. He is described as an eternal youth of sixteen years. He holds a spear, as a powerful celestial weapon. We can identify with it as the energy inside our cerebrospinal column piercing through the lower nature.
The Kumara constitutes the axis of Taurus-Scorpio around which the zodiac is formed. Taurus is ruled by Venus and Scorpio by Mars. The masculine energy of Mars in association with Scorpio kills the evil and gives birth to the serpent of wisdom. The feminine qualities of Venus soften the masculine quality of power and bring about beauty.
To depict this symbolism I transformed the image of a statue of the Kumara holding the spear. I constructed the radiant six-armed cross emanating from the centre. I put it at the centre of a ring galaxy (photo by NASA). Behind the Kumara I placed a red rose forming the reddish aura as a symbol of the beauty aspect of Venus. The stem of the rose is fused with the vertical axis. I transformed its leaves into a serpent-like form on which the Kumara is standing.
Sagittarius – Seven Seers and Seven Layers of Consciousness
11 August 2016, pencils and photo work
The Eastern wisdom describes seven working intelligences in creation which exist as seven principles on the cosmic plane. They are called the Seven Seers / Rishis or Seven Judges. They have incarnated as the seven stars of the Great Bear and have externalised as seven rays. This principle also expresses on earth as seven great sages, as seven layers of consciousness and as the seven energy centres of the human body.
Spiritual Astrology explains that Sagittarius is the sign of judgement and that the seven judges are related to this sign. Sagittarius is the sign of aspiration to noble goals where the spiritual student dreams of becoming seer whose plans are one with the cosmic plan.
At the start of this image, I worked on a photo of the Great Bear. Seven rays in the colours corresponding to the related Seven Seers come down to earth. There, the Seven Rishis are depicted as seven flames, which I superimposed on the shape of the Earth. One of the flames is radiating in a human silhouette, where a line in rainbow colours represents the seven centres. The silhouette is standing on a radiant blueish sphere, looking to the Earth. The globe, surrounded by a subtle aura, appears like the pupil of a great seer. The image has a background of blue, the colour of Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius.
Aquarius - The Aquarian Pot and the Eternal Dancer
8 October 2016, pencils and photo work
The Wisdom Teachings describe the process of manifestation as a tunnel, where on one side there is the creation and on the other side there is a seeming vacuum, the potential space. This is illustrated by the symbol of the Aquarian pot. It has two openings: from one side you see a continuous downpour of water, but on the other side there is no water coming in. It seems that it is coming from out of nowhere and that some magic is giving birth to the creation.
The waves of the ocean of space are coming from that source in rhythmic, dancing-like movements. The Lord of this vibrating principle in creation is Shiva as the eternal dancer called Nataraja. If he concludes his dance, the creation comes to an end.
For the image, I took the photo of a statue of the dancing Shiva in my study room and created an Aquarian pot with streams of water pouring down. The pot is glowing in violet and blue - the colours of Aquarius. The surrounding arc of flames stands for the sphere into which the manifestation is happening. Shiva is dancing in the flow of waters which unfolds into the spectral colours. He is surrounded by serpent-like forms on a starry background symbolising the vibrations of space. The rhythmic pulsation of space is represented by his little drum on the left side. The globe in the lower background is representing the earth receiving the Aquarian energies.
Pisces - The Great Fish and the Seed of the Universe
14 November 2016, pencils and photo work
Pisces represents the dissolution of an old state followed by a gap and the beginning of a new cycle. The stories of smaller and bigger deluges correspond to the monthly cycles of new moon and full moon or the ending and beginning of the solar year. The Wisdom Teachings explain that the Earth, the solar system and also the universe go through such cycles. There are periodical dissolutions called Pralayas. The seeds of the previous creation are preserved through the “flood” in a vehicle symbolised by a ship, and the Lord in the form of a Great Fish takes the seeds to the new creation.
I visualised the cycle by a circle with a central point, symbol of the Sun. At the same time the central point is also like a Sun from where a stream comes forth. The water of the flood is partly submerging the circle. To this transition point the Great Fish has drawn the boat with the Manus, the seeds of the new creation. The depiction of the Manus was created based on an old Mahabharata illustration of Ramanarayanadatta Astri.
Gemini – Ardhanari, the Male-Female God
18 February 2017, pencils and photo work
When creation comes forth from the background of absolute existence, it manifests as existence with awareness. It is also called Father-Mother, the interplay of the male-female God. We don’t say it is male and female because it is an inseparable unity. It is the Ardhanari of the Indians, the Hebrew Adonai or the Greek Hermaphroditus. Ardhanari is usually depicted with the right side being the male Shiva and the left side being his consort Shakti, his energy.
In astrology, the male-female God is called the soli-lunar principle, the light and its reflection. It is associated with Gemini, where the unity is bifurcated into two. In our body, the left eye is associated with the Mother, the lunar principle and the Ida Nadi (subtle nerve); the right eye is associated with the Father, the solar principle and the Pingala Nadi; whereas the Son is the Sushumna and the Ajna centre or the third eye.
For the face of Ardhanari, I fused photos of a Durga statue and of the central face of a Dattatreya statue, symbolizing Vishnu. At the right eye, I created the aureole of the radiant sun, at the left side the crescent moon surrounded by a field of dark blue. I transformed an image of Aldebaran, the “Eye of the Bull”, to be the third eye; and Regulus, the blue-white star of the constellation of Leo, is placed at the centre of the crown.
Cancer - Artemis, Layers of Reflection
18 March 2017, pencils and photo work
The visible Moon is just the physical body containing the Moon principle. Moon is the Lord of Cancer and it is related to our mind. Like the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, our mind reflects the solar light of the internal Sun principle, the soul. Moon also reflects the light of the higher Moon called Soma in the Eastern scriptures. Soma, the divine musician, presides over the cosmic mind; his rays are received by the Moon via Neptune. Moon stands for the female principle, the mother. It stimulates the fertilisation and the birth and growth of the fauna and flora on earth. Cats attract the magnetism of the Moon; therefore the Egyptians considered them as sacred. Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and of the Moon, can be understood as a symbol of the mind and quick thoughts.
To depict these spiritual dimensions, I worked on the image of a bust of Diana/Artemis with a contemplative countenance. The face is surrounded on one side by a cat and on the other by orchids dotted with starry reflections. On the top you see moon light from beyond reflecting on the bluish globe of Neptune and coming down to the sphere of the Moon. The Moon again fuses with the head of Artemis.
Virgo - The World Mother and the Four States of the Word
17 May 2017, pencils and photo work
The World Mother is the most sublime aspect of creation. She is the unlimited light of consciousness that emerges from the background of existence as the pure virgin nature. Virgo represents this aspect of the Logos as Mother. From there, the creation emerges in four states. They are called the stages of utterance of the Creator. The objectivity is the fourth state; three states of emanation of the Word are hidden in the subjectivity. The objective state is like the vocal sentence of our speech. Prior to that, there is the mental sentence coming from an idea, and prior to that the idea emerges from consciousness.
To depict the World Mother I transformed the photo of a statue of the Mother standing at the Godavari River in Rajahmundry, India. The four states of the Word are illustrated by different circles. At the heart centre and in the background you see the Sri Yantra, a symbol of the Mother, which contains the wisdom of the goddess.
The “landscape” where the Mother is standing is created with a lotus flower. For the background colours I used the photo of a sunrise in the Nilagiris. The stars of the Pleiades constellation, the seven Mothers, are generated with the help of the Stellarium software.
The Cosmic Person
24 August 2017, pencils and photo work
According to the wisdom teachings the basic pattern of the human being comes from the structure of the Cosmic Person called Purusha in the East. We as an inner person are in essence the same as the Cosmic Person. Looking within creates the contact to the Person within and thereby opens the doors to meet the Cosmic Person outside. The Inner Person is called the Higher Self or the Soul. Its outer shade is the lower self or the personality. The outer Cosmic Person is called the Super-Soul. When we contemplate on the Person within we start realising our identity with the Cosmic Person.
For the image “Sagittarius – Sagittarian Contemplation” I had created a silhouette of the cosmic person with a NASA photo of a star field in the Sagittarius constellation. I now took it as a stand-alone image and reworked it a bit as per the shape, the stars and the colours.
Aquarius - The Lord of the Eye
17 october 2017, pencils and photo work
According to the Eastern wisdom teachings, the whole creation is brought forth through an impulse coming from the background of existence. It is described as a light emerging from the “Eye of Shiva”. At the end of one creation, all is again absorbed into this eye of the lord of divine will until the next creation is brought forth.
The passage of emergence and mergence is called the point of Aquarius. In the human body, it corresponds to the higher third eye at the top of the forehead. When this “Eye of Shiva” is opened in us, it is like a lightning expressing the divine will and passing through the whole system. This eye can create and destroy; therefore, the knowledge about it cannot be given to the present humanity which is selfishly oriented.
To visualise the first impulse I fused images of ripples on a water surface, of a galaxy and of sunrises. I transformed a photo of a statue of Shiva (Wikimedia: Kachnar City, author Shivam S.) holding a trident with a drum and a mala, symbols of the vibration of sound and of the ether. The serpent around his neck represents the kundalini energy lifted up to the creative planes. From out of his third eye, the impulse of electric fire penetrates all planes of existence.
Gemini - The First Pair on the Threshold of the Temple
12 February 2018, pencils and photo work
The point of the birth of objectivity from subjectivity is visualised as the gate of the temple linking the inner space with the outer space. It is symbolised by the glyph of Gemini ♊︎ or the Greek letter ‘Pi’, Π. Pi is the path from the circumference to the centre or the origin; it is called the path from visibility to invisibility. Pi stands for wisdom; the upper line of the symbol projects two vertical lines meaning that the duality emerges from the unity. Gemini is worshipped as the birth of the first Androgyne, the male-female God, the divine pair of Shiva and Shakti.
The centre of the image shows the gate of the temple formed by a duplication of the Greek letter Pi. The gate is standing on the periphery of the circle whose centre is the sun. The sun is located in the middle of the upper line of the symbol. The circle reflects again in the lower part of the image representing objectivity. On the surface of the water the light reflects like a path of light leading to the gate. In the inner of the gate there is a lingam of light, a symbol of the divine. From out of it comes forth the first pair.
Cancer - The Reflections of the Divine Mother
13 March 2018, pencils and photo work
The primordial light permeating creation is called the Mother of the World. The seers realized different stages of reflection of this light into the various states of creation. The reflection is called with different names at different planes but all are understood as expressions of the moon principle. The satellite of our Earth is just one dimension of this principle. Neptune is seen as a higher dimension, and on a supra-cosmic plane the principle is called Soma in the Eastern scriptures. The reflective principle functions in us as the mind, mirroring the light of the soul. The sixteen phases of the ascending and of the descending moon phases are called the sixteen syllabled name of the Divine Mother. They correspond to gradations of light and of consciousness.
For the illustration of the Divine Mother I reworked a Chinese painting of Quan Yin. The halo around her head is formed by merging an image of the Sun and of Neptune. She holds Neptune in her hands, lying in the crescent. From there, water, the vital energy, pours down to Earth. For the downpour I used a photo of the Staubbach Fall in the Bernese Alps. The bottom is created from a view over the lake of Geneva seen from an airplane. In the background of the Mother there is a dark blue moon representing the background of the cosmic moon principle. It is surrounded by the bright and the dark halves of the moon phases, where the lower sphere forms another crescent. Above the upper half you see a sphere of stars indicating the vast dimension of the Divine Mother.
Virgo - Spiritual Light and Spiritual Food of Mankind
18 May 2018, pencils and photo work
Virgo represents the “womb of time” wherein the spiritual seeker is slowly matured through profound crises. He needs to grow into the light of knowledge and learn to use his free will in a responsible way. When nature considers him mature she leaves him to himself for further evolution to higher consciousness. Our earth is also in a slow process of ripening in the womb of the Mother Nature.
Virgo stands for the virgin nature of the Divine Mother. She is depicted with an ear of corn in one hand and a light in the other. They symbolise the spiritual food for the souls and the spiritual light which lightens the way.
For the illustration of the Virgin I reworked a photo (by Sailko, Wikimedia) of a statue of Hera, the Greek queen of the gods. In her womb I placed a human silhouette on the globe surrounded by a field of light. The goddess is walking on a forest path. In her right hand she carries two ears of corn and in her left hand she carries a flame lighting the way. The ears are pointing to the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, the mothers of the seven aspects of form life. In esoteric astrology, this constellation is deeply linked to Virgo.
Gemini - Through the Throat Centre
23 February 2019, pencils and photo work
Gemini is related to the throat centre which is governed by the element akasha, the content of space; it is represented by the light of the blue or white sky. Gemini stands for duality in creation. In Eastern wisdom, it is symbolised by a male and a female and not by twins. The throat centre is governed by Mercury, the ruler of Gemini. The right use of speech enables us to rise above duality and reach the unity of consciousness.
To visualise the throat centre, I reworked the colours of a water lily. One of its petals forms the pathway leading through the portal of the glyph of Gemini, symbol of the vocal cords. The duality of male and female is depicted by the faces of Hermes/Mercury and of Aphrodite/Venus looking at each other. Over the head of Mercury there is a picture of the planet Mercury.
Virgo – The World Mother, Planetary Chains and Root Races
09 May 2019, pencils and photo work
From the background of space, there are periodic emanations of creation. They are seen as the radiations of the World Mother coming down through seven planes and in seven colours. Therefore, the Mother is symbolically depicted with a rainbow around her head. The Secret Doctrine speaks of sequences of time periods with a periodicity of seven like the biblical seven days of creation. There are units of seven planetary incarnations called a planetary chain and seven great cycles of humanity called the root races.
To illustrate the World Mother, I transformed a picture of Mary into the blue colour of the background. She is surrounded by a rainbow and seven globes of the planetary chain of our Earth. The globe at the bottom symbolises the physical manifestation of the fourth globe.
Radiant orbs around the Earth indicate the different stages of matter. The chain of seven smaller orbs above the Earth stands for the descent and ascent through the seven root races; the chain carries the glyph of Virgo. At the upper right corner, you can see the outline of the constellation.
Aquarius – The Magic of Creation
10 October 2019, pencils and photo work
Before something appears, it is potentially present. Aquarius stands for the manifestation out of a potential state. Aquarius is the point of transformation where the invisible becomes the visible and the visible becomes the invisible. The symbol of Aquarius shows waves in space; the vibrations pour forth from the pot of Aquarius as the waters of life. The constellation Aquarius is called the Heavenly Man. During the month Aquarius he showers down a stream of spiritual light from his water jar. The Masters of Wisdom called this cosmic man the Manu, the prototype of man. He guides mankind through the cycles of time. In the present Age of Aquarius, spiritual evolution is accelerated to an unimaginable degree. Rishi Agastya, called Master Jupiter in the Theosophical circles, is the ruler of Aquarius.
For the figure of the celestial man I reworked a statue of Agastya from Java (Wikimedia: Photo Dharma) and merged the face with a picture of Master Morya. In his hands he holds the glyph of Aquarius with waves swinging like lightning. The zodiacal arch with the figure of Aquarius was created from a photo of the astrological clock of the ‘Zytglogge Tower’ in Bern. In the upper left corner, you can see the contours of the Aquarius constellation. The star in the hub of the wheel indicates the point of origin of the creational cycle; the play of colours of two Gothic window rosettes with twelve spokes stands for the variety and rhythm of cosmic unfoldment.
When I looked at the picture for several days, I realized that the figure with the Aquarius glyph looks like a magician. Aquarius is also the month of magic - to manifest something out of the apparent nothing. In Sanskrit, the month of Aquarius is called Magha, which means magic. The wheel of creation with its many colours is Maya in essence, an illusion that hides the truth of existence.
Pisces – Spiralic Ascent
31 October 2019, pencils and photo work
Time moves cyclically. Every day is a time cycle, also every week and every year. As long as we remain in our old thought patterns and always do the same thing, we move in circles. As we evolve, we progress from circle to spiral – progressing spirally and ascending the path of evolution. When we learn to be useful to ourselves and to the environment, each turn of the spiral takes us to a higher plane of consciousness, until, freed from the limitations of matter, we finally move into higher circles. In the zodiac, the transition from Pisces to Aries offers the possibility of ascension; symbolically, it is called the resurrection from death.
The lower part of the picture shows the pair of fish swimming in different directions. The background of the painting is formed by the images of a spiral galaxy and a blue spiral, from the centre of which several spirals rise. Above there is the head of Phanes, a god of Greek mythology, whose name means "the appearing, the shining one". He is regarded as the first-born of creation and as a light bearer. The figures of the zodiac surrounding him are based on a Phanes bas-relief (Wikimedia: Sailko).
Above on the right you can see the glyph of the fishes and above it the constellation of the zodiac sign.
Aries - Sun cuts the Equator of Mother Earth
1 December 2019, pencils and photo work
On his seeming journey from south to north, the Sun cuts the equator at spring equinox. It is the beginning of Aries and the Sun is directly overhead at the equator. The equator is an imaginary circle around the earth. South of the equator is the tropic of Capricorn and north of the equator is the tropic of Cancer; at both of these points the Sun seemingly changes direction. In Spiritual Astrology, cutting the circle is seen as the beginning of a new cycle.
The image visualises the Sun cutting the equator from an inner perspective. Inwardly, the equator corresponds to the navel centre. The picture shows Mother Earth sitting inside the globe and the Sun at her navel cuts the plane of the equator. Above and below are the two tropics. At her heart there is the shape of India and the Himalayas as her breast jewel. The North Pole is at the top of her head.
For the Mother Earth I used a statue of Quan Yin. The globe lies in a huge lotus, signifying the principle of unfoldment. The detail of the globe is created with the help of a picture from WorldWind.earth using NASA images. The reddish colour is from the overlay of a photo of a sunrise over India at a Christmas morning. The red Capricornian sunrays are seen as the blood of the Sun, the saviour.
In the upper left corner, you see Mars, the ruler of Aries, and in the right corner there is the constellation Aries.
Taurus - Transmitting the Impulse of Consciousness
13 December 2019, pencils and photo work
As per the Eastern Scriptures, Sanat Kumara is the Lord of our planet and he lives in Shamballa. Shamballa is a place in the etheric plane around the Gobi Desert. Each year in Aries, the Plan or the seed for the year is received by Sanat Kumara and his team from higher circles. It is like a tremendous impulse of consciousness, a stream of energy fertilising the planet. This impulse is stepped down in Shamballa, and at Taurus full moon, it is passed on to the ashram of Hierarchy in the ethers of the Himalayan range. At Gemini full moon it is further distributed to the disciples working on the physical plane. They form the link with humanity and endeavour to manifest the Plan during the remaining nine months of the year.
The picture illustrates the transmission of this grand impulse. At the top you see Sanat Kumara and his team of Dhyan Chohans – Siddhas or perfect beings. The semicircle is open towards the top, like a receptacle for the reception of the sublime energies depicted in electric blue. The other segments of circles indicate the spheres of Spiritual Hierarchy and of humanity.
Below there is the Himalayan range with Mount Everest, composed of several photos. In the central axis, you see a group, created with a photo of statues of a blessing Buddha. There are seven larger flames representing the seven major groups of Masters.
At the bottom, you see a group of disciples, created from a segment of a May Call group photo. The disciples receive the flames in their heart centres. The many dots of light in the background are created with a nightlight picture of our planet (by NASA), indicating the global network of Light.
Detail image of Taurus: Sanat Kumara
13 December 2019, pencils and photo work
As per the Eastern Scriptures, Sanat Kumara is the Lord of our planet and he lives in Shamballa. Shamballa is a place in the etheric plane around the Gobi Desert. Each year in Aries, the Plan or the seed for the year is received by Sanat Kumara and his team from higher circles. It is like a tremendous impulse of consciousness, a stream of energy fertilising the planet. This impulse is stepped down in Shamballa, and at Taurus full moon, it is passed on to the ashram of Hierarchy in the ethers of the Himalayan range. At Gemini full moon it is further distributed to the disciples working on the physical plane. They form the link with humanity and endeavour to manifest the Plan during the remaining nine months of the year.
Virgo - Blessing of the Mother
21 May 2020, pencils and photo work
For the divine light to express itself through us, a pure virginal mind is the prerequisite. Virgo is sign and time, when the germ of the soul matures - the probationary period on the spiritual path. After proper preparation through inner purification, the divine light can shine through us. Thus, the divine can descend into us to bless and uplift through the eyes and the voice.
It is said that the Father blesses through the Mother and thus gives birth to the Son of God in man. This is the Immaculate Conception and birth. The seven colours of the rainbow represent the unfolding grace of the Divine. The one white ray manifests through the seven colours of the rainbow.
On the left side of the picture you can see the profile of a statue of the World Mother, created with the help of the photo of a Durga statue in the Blue Mountains of South India. The germs of the maturing souls in the sphere of the earth were created with the help of the photo of a flower at the San Francisco airport. This sphere is limited by the rainbow against the vastness of blue space. Its seven colours stand for the seven planes of existence, whose seventh plane is the radiant light of the universe, which we perceive as darkness. In this darkness we can see the glyph and the stars of the constellation Virgo.
Libra – The Exaltation of Venus
25 June 2020, pencils and photo work
Libra symbolises the fall of man into the cycle of birth and death. Through the development of sex consciousness, we have lost the awareness of our original state of immortality. This is represented as a fall from the Sahasrara, the head centre, to the Muladhara, the base centre. By directing the consciousness towards the higher centres, the lower centres are slowly neutralised and the polarity of sex is transcended. This is called the reversal of the wheel. The path from Libra to Aries in the reversed direction completes the journey. The opposition between Mars and Venus, between the male and the female, is transformed into a marriage; they unite and find their harmony. It is the marriage of the lamb, Aries, with the bride, Libra.
The image shows the stylised wheel of the zodiac with the central axis of Aries at the top and Libra at the bottom. In the central axis you see the figure of Venus, the symbol of the soul linking the opposite poles. Venus helps us to rise from the mundane identity to the awareness of being the soul. The figure is wearing a veil, the veil of nature. She is surrounded by colours of light blue and rose, colours related to Venus. For this, I used a painting of Venus from an unknown painter of the British School.
Libra represents the experience of dense matter and the death of consciousness. I illustrated this density through rock faces on the left and right side. The figure embedded in the rock at the bottom left symbolises the past, the one on the right stands for the future. Venus in the centre is the experience of the presence.
At the top on the left side you see the constellation of Libra and on the right side you find Venus designed with a NASA photo from the space probe Magellan.
Aquarius - The Spiral Hieroglyphs of Ages
28 October 2020, pencils and photo work
The constellation Aquarius is called 'The Man in the Heavens'. The Masters of Wisdom recognised him as the archetype of man and called him Manu. The Heavenly Man has descended into the forms of the many human beings. As Manu, he leads mankind to perfection in accordance with the spiral movement of evolution. Master EK describes this development as spirally moving hieroglyphs.
In Aquarius it is recommended to meditate upon the glittering body of the Heavenly Man and how the stars of the constellation emanate forth the light of spiritual realization. Within us, the light pours down through all centres from the point of Aquarius at the top of the forehead.
The picture shows the light streaming down from the head of the Heavenly Man. A spiral comes forth from his heart. The background of the picture shows the hieroglyphs of a piece of the Tabula Smaragdina (Emerald Tablet). In this text Hermes Trismegistos taught the relationship between man and the Heavenly Man with the words "As above, so below".
The predominant colour of the painting is between deep blue and violet. It is described as the colour of Aquarius. The actual colour appears as colourless to the human eye, since the human eye cannot recognise this colour. At the upper left corner, you see the stars of the constellation Aquarius and on the right side the Aquarius glyph.
Pisces – The Rod of Initiation
30 November 2020, pencils and photo work
For some weeks, I was pondering on the image for Pisces but the direction remained hidden. Going through my photo collections, I was attracted by pictures from an early morning walk along the beach in Visakhapatnam, India. The waves and the wet sand were mirroring golden rays. The meeting of sky, earth and water spoke of the cycles of time and of the endings and beginnings characteristic of Pisces.
While searching I joined a Zoom lecture of Sri Kumar and I was thrilled to hear him explain in detail the meaning of the rod of initiation and how to meditate upon it. The very word initiation means entering into oneself. That rod of initiation is in us; it is normally dormant but it can be awakened. It is a pole of light upon which there is a sphere of light, like a golden club - the rod of power or the weapon Lord Vishnu is holding in his hand. It is a symbolic representation of the inner side of our cerebro-spinal column and our head. I started drawing and contemplating.
I fused the picture of a golden club with a photo of a Bronze sculpture of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion (from the Metropolitan Museum). I arranged them in the centre of the image. Avalokiteshvara holds the rod of initiation. On his eyes and forehead, you see a lighted triangle with a central point, symbol of the basic trinity and the oneness. The meditative calmness of Avalokiteshvara, the eternal observer of everything, is in maximum contrast to the ever-changing movement of the waves of time and life. He remains blessing and protecting the beings through his looks.
Taurus – Apollo and the Seven Centres above the Neck
24 January 2021, pencils and photo work
Beauty expresses itself through many and various forms – a work of art, a beautiful flower. Beauty shines through the form. On the subtle planes the limitations of the material form fall away and beauty shines more radiantly. Beauty in the form is governed by Venus, ruler of Taurus. In our body, Taurus rules the lower part of the head and the neck. There are seven etheric centres above the neck related on the solar level with the seven stars of the Pleiades. They are also called the seven mothers who nourish the disciple after his spiritual birth with glandular secretions in this region in the body.
In the centre of the image, you see Apollo, the solar God, holding his seven-stringed lyre, symbol of the seven planes of creation. He is surrounded by flowers expressing divine beauty. From below, a serpent is lifting up its head. Apollo is raising the currents of the Kundalini energy to flow upwards and reach the Ajna centre. There, you see the shining star of the awakened centre.
Above the neck, there are seven stars linked to the seven stars of Pleiades. On the left side, in the vastness of the night-blue sky, you see a golden globe surrounded by a sphere of light and flowers. I created it with the help of a photo of Venus, from Nasa. For the figure of Apollo and for the flower meadow I worked on photos of friends.
Leo - The Man-Lion. Opening the Heart Centre
23 April 2021, pencils and photo work
Leo is related to our heart centre. The heart is the home of the soul. By turning inward, we enter the cave of the heart, lion's den. The heart centre when opened transforms us into the man-lion.
In the Eastern Puranas, the opening of the heart centre is symbolically veiled in the story of Narasimha, the Lord with the head of a lion and the form of a man. The story tells of a father and his son. The son knows that the Lord is within as well as without, even within a pillar. The father doubts this, and he breaks open the pillar. Out of the pillar Narasimha manifests to help his disciple Prahlada and to kill the tyrannical father. Killing the father by ripping open the chest represents the transformation of man through the opening of the heart centre and overcoming the limitation of the lower self.
The image was designed with a photo of a lion's head and a photo of a statue in the temple of Simhachalam, India. It depicts Narasimha opening the chest of Hiranyakashipu. The stone structures on the right and left indicate the opened column. It is a symbol of the column of consciousness, our vertebral column, from which the centres emerge like flowers.
Virgo - Ydun giving the Apples of Immortality
26 May 2021, pencils and photo work
Creation comes forth from light, which, in the Vedas, is called Aditi or the Mother of the World. We are part of this original light and are, by our very nature, immortal beings of light. However, having forgotten our true identity and having assumed a false identity, we have become mortal. Whenever violation of the natural law threatens to lead humanity to self-destruction, immortal divine beings descend to earth to once again give the law and help humanity recognise its original identity. The immortals pave a way through which mortals can once again find access to the subtle realms. When the etheric body is built from out of golden light, we can experience immortality once again.
In Norse mythology, Ydun is the goddess of immortality. She guards the golden apples that confer eternal youth and thus immortality.
The figure of Ydun in the centre of the painting was created using a photo of a statue of Ydun by the Danish sculptor Herman Wilhelm Bissen (1798 - 1868). Ydun descends from the golden light to grant access to immortality with her apples. The sphere of the upper part of the picture shows the subtle world, the lower part of the picture indicates the dense physical world - both created with images from the virtual globe "NASA World Wind". The light structures at the bottom were designed with autumn-coloured leaves foliage of the ivy called Virginia creeper.
Libra - The Wheel of Creation
25 June 2021, pencils and photo work
In the wisdom teachings, creation is described as a wheel without beginning and end, which appears cyclically. Each new cycle has its own freshness, but the basic structures remain largely the same. When the impulse for a creation comes, the wheel begins its movement and radiates time and space. The point at the beginning of creation radiates and expands becoming a globe. With the movement of time, rays of light come forth. Objectivity emerges from subjectivity. The forms gradually take on denser matter; the cosmos and its stars are born and form the visible creation.
The underlying essence of everything is called Narayana in the East, the indwelling God Vasudeva and the all-pervading God Vishnu. Libra symbolises the principle of the fulcrum that causes the wheel to turn.
For the visualisation of the Wheel of Creation, I used a photograph of the Sombrero Galaxy taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA/ESA). I worked on the image of a statue of Vishnu as Vishvarupa, the embodiment of the cosmic person. It stands on the serpent Ananta, the endlessness. Its many heads symbolise the variety of phenomena. The planes of creation emerging from the centre of existence are indicated by the rainbow circle.
Scorpio - Guarding the Threshold to the Underworld
6 August 2021, pencils and photo work
On his symbolic journey through the zodiac, the Sun in Scorpio reaches the darkness of the underworlds. Scorpio stands for loss of consciousness and death experiences. These experiences often seem frightening because they reflect encounters with the dark aspects of our personality not yet purified. Scorpio enables us to enter into the silence for inner transformation and ascension to the light.
Scorpio represents the threshold to the infernal worlds. At this threshold a Master watches over the planet and its beings, ensuring that no one falls into the nether worlds. The Master is symbolised by the three-headed watchdog called Sarama in the East and Cerberus (Kerberos) in Greek mythology. Sarama stands for the dog star Sirius, the watchdog of our system. Master Jupiter is this watchdog.
To illustrate this symbolism, I transformed a Wikimedia photo by Matthiasberlin showing a group of statues from the archaeological museum of Heraklion, Greece. It depicts the three-headed Cerberus at the threshold of the underworld, surrounded by Hades/Pluto, the regent of the underworld, and his wife Persephone. She represents the part of the immortal soul that goes through the experiences of birth and death.
Capricorn - Peak of Search and Dragon of Wisdom
8 October 2021, pencils and photo work
Capricorn, tenth sign of the zodiac, is called "the mountain". It is the mountain of initiation, a symbol of the spiritual quest of the personality to unite with the light of the soul. After climbing to the peak and absorbing the “light supernal”, the initiate returns to assist those who are captive in matter. Capricorn represents the dawn of the year. The golden rays of the morning sun, the winter solstice sun, pour forth a spiritual light and activity that help the souls free themselves from matter and rise up again.
The energy of Capricorn supports the development of the golden etheric body and also the diamond causal body. In mythology they are represented as golden and diamond dragons. Since ancient times, high beings have lived on earth called Nagas in spiritual wisdom. They are sacred serpents or dragons holding the light of wisdom. Like serpents, they live in hidden caves in the mountain regions. The Nagas can be regarded as embodiments of the Kundalini energy. They are the ascending serpents and are radiant and divine by nature. The descending serpents are represented as black and are poisonous by nature. The Nagas do a lot of good for humanity. Some of them are also said to be able to fly.
For the illustration of the Dragon of Wisdom, I photographed a dragon statue in a Tai Chi centre in Hamburg. The mountain in the background was designed with a photograph of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Andes, which a pilot friend, flying over, had photographed. The essence of wisdom streaming down from the sun enters and illuminates the dragon. In his hand he holds a golden glowing orb, symbol of the gift of wisdom for humanity.
Aries - The Three Great Fires and the Serpent of Eternity
8 January 2022, pencils and photo work
In the scriptures, creation is described as an expression of the first, second and third logos, or three fires coming from one source. We can consider these three fires as will, love and wisdom and intelligent activity. They are the cosmic or electric fire, the solar fire and the fire by friction, the invisible fire in matter.
These three fires are associated with the three fire signs of the zodiac, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Aries represents the electric fire; Leo represents the transforming fire, and Sagittarius is the fire by friction. Even though we describe them as three qualities, the three fires are only one fire called "Agni".
From this source, the stardust comes forth as a ray of fire known as the great serpent Ananta, the cosmic Kundalini or the serpent of eternity. The stardust forms into stars or solar systems. This process is symbolically represented in the picture.
From the unity in the centre emerges the three points symbolizing the three logoi or the three fires. The fire pervades the space in which the serpent of eternity becomes visible. It is surrounded by the stardust from which suns and galaxies are formed. For the design of the stardust, I transformed a NASA/Hubble photo of a ring galaxy. The serpent of eternity and the fire at the background were generated with elements from different images.
Leo – The Jewel in the Lotus
8 Mai 2022, pencils and photo work
When pondering on which new image might develop, I contemplated on the inner vertical alignment from the heart to the head centre and its planetary correspondence: As there is an individual head centre, the Sahasrara, there is also a Sahasrara of the Earth called Shambala.
The innermost point of the head centre is called the Jewel in the Lotus. And there is a corresponding jewel at the innermost point of the planetary head centre called Chintamani. Both gems are referred to with the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM.
The image of two wheels forming the number 8 showed up in contemplation. I formed each wheel with the help of the symbol used on the cover of the book “The Teachings of Sanat Kumara” by Dr K. Parvathi Kumar. The graphic contains eight sections. I placed a miniature form of the symbol into the centre of each wheel as the jewel in the lotus. For visualising Sanat Kumara, the lord of Shambala, I reworked the photo of an old Bodhisattva bust, probably of Lord Maitreya, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I arranged the centre of the upper wheel as the Sahasrara of Sanat Kumara; the lower wheel leads downward from his Ajna centre, a star forming the contact point. In the centre of the lower wheel there is an image of the earth showing the Eastern hemisphere. I finally worked on the colours of the structure to give expression to the circulation of the energies.
Jungfrau – Meditation über die Weltmutter
8. Juni 2022, Farbstifte und Fotoarbeit
Die Arbeit der Jungfrau ist das Beschützen, Nähren und innere Reifen, damit die Seele hervorstrahlen kann. Jungfrau repräsentiert die Weltmutter, das universale göttliche Bewusstsein, das sich durch die sieben Farben, sieben Klänge und sieben Ebenen der Schöpfung zum Ausdruck bringt. Diese Mutter der Welt ist das subtile Licht, das sich hinter den materiellen Formen befindet. Indem wir über die Mutter meditieren, können ihr Licht und ihre Herrlichkeit durch uns hindurchscheinen, und wir beginnen, mit ihr zu verschmelzen.
Das Bild zeigt eine Darstellung der Göttin Lakshmi, die mit der rechten Hand Fülle ausschüttet und mit der linken Hand segnet. Statt Lotusse, dem östlichen Symbol der Entfaltung, hält Lakshmi nun Rosen in ihren beiden anderen Händen. Auch ihr Sitz wurde statt mit einem Lotus mit einer Rose gestaltet.
Ich platzierte die göttliche Mutter in einem Kornfeld. Das Korn ist ein Ausdruck des Prinzips der Fülle und Vervielfältigung: Durch Wachstum und Reifen kommen aus einem Korn zahlreiche Körner hervor und geben uns Nahrung. Das Licht des Hintergrunds gestaltete ich mit mehreren Fotos von Sonnenaufgängen. Es strahlt durch die Gestalt der Mutter hindurch und verschmilzt mit ihr.
Virgo - Meditation on the World Mother
8 June 2022, pencils and photo work
The work of Virgo is that of protection, nurturing and inner maturing so that the soul can shine forth. Virgo represents the World Mother, the universal divine consciousness that expresses itself through the seven colours, seven sounds and seven planes of creation. This Mother of the World is the subtle light behind the material forms. By meditating on the Mother, her light and splendour can radiate through us, and we begin to merge with Her.
The image shows a representation of Goddess Lakshmi pouring out abundance with her right hand and blessing with her left. Instead of lotuses, the Eastern symbol of unfoldment, Lakshmi now holds roses in her other two hands. Her seat was also designed with a rose instead of a lotus.
I placed the divine Mother in a cornfield. The grain is an expression of the principle of abundance and multiplication: Through growth and ripening, numerous grains emerge from one grain and give us nourishment. I created the light of the background with several photos of sunrises. It shines through the figure of the Mother and merges with her.
Sagittarius – Preparing the Dawn
2 September 2022, pencils and photo work
In Spiritual Astrology, Sagittarius is considered the messenger of the dawn, and it rules the two hours before sunrise. This time corresponds to the dawn of the day, the first phase after the new moon, the month before the solstice of Capricorn and the preparation of the World Mother for the awakening of a new creation from out of the background of space.
At dawn, a surge of energy rushes through the atmosphere, reviving the bodies of living beings, and the Lords of the Seven Rays prepare the souls on the subconscious levels for the awakening of the Light. Thus, this time before dawn contains highest spiritual potency and is therefore most suitable for spiritual activities.
In the background of the picture there is the photo of a beginning dawn during a flight over India. Overlaying this, there is the photo of large stone statues taken in the car park of the Vietnamese Buddhist monastery Tu Vien Kim Son in Watsonville, California. In the foreground you see Quan Yin as a symbol of the Mother of the World. She holds a staff and an egg-shaped sphere in her hands. She is seated on a lion, suggesting the sign of Leo, ruled by the sun. The Buddha resting in the background evokes representations of Vishnu, resting on the serpent of time in the ocean of space.
The star at the top alludes to the cosmic source of light. Below are the seven stars of the Great Bear, symbol of the seven cosmic rays. The seven different coloured spheres of light in the lower part of the picture indicate the terrestrial reflection of the rays that bring a fresh impulse to life. And the Moon, like the Mother, is a reflector of light.
Aquarius - The Manu and the Spirals of Time
1 November 2022, pencils and photo work
The principle of the cosmic mind is called Manu in the wisdom teachings. He is the archetype of man, "The Man in the Heavens". The Manu decides the nature of our development, our bodies and where we are born. He gives the law of human evolution and its spiral movement through the cycles of time. This law is called the Law of Manu. The stages of evolution are called Manvantaras.
According to the Eastern teachings, there are 14 Manvantaras. These are great cycles of time, over each of which a Manu rules. The ruler of the present Manvantara cycle is the Manu Vaivasvata.
On the planet, the Manu acts as the planetary mind; but he also lives as a person on Earth. The Manu shapes the new models of the bodies that suit the Aquarian Age. The new energies emanate from the stars of the constellation Aquarius. The symbol of Aquarius as a man with a vessel has its origin in the Vaivasvata Manu of the Indian scriptures.
For depicting the Manu I used a photo of a statue from the 7th century of a pensive Bodhisattva Maitreya from the National Museum of Korea. I designed the background on the basis of a NASA photo of a galaxy. I fused it with elements of a photo of a plant with spiral leaf patterns I had taken in a botanical garden in Berne in 2010.
Pisces - Saraswathi and the Flow of Energies
3 December 2022, pencils and photo work
Pisces is a sign of synthesis that unites opposites. The two fishes of the symbol Pisces are swimming in opposite directions but forming a complementary unity. The two fishes can be thought of as spirit and matter. Spirit and matter are apparent opposites that together give rise to universal consciousness. This consciousness is the underlying current that balances the opposing forces and allows creation to exist.
The flow of consciousness is called 'the Word'. In the East, it is worshipped as the Mother of the World in the form of Saraswathi, Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom. Saraswathi directs the movement of all things, which we can meditate as a circular flow of energies in the wheel of creation. It is a flow of light and sound through all seven planes of creation. Symbolically, this is represented by the seven-stringed musical instrument Vina, on which Saraswathi eternally plays her music, keeping the process of creation in harmony.
For the design of the picture I used elements of the NASA photo of a star nebula in the background. I integrated the photo of a rainbow over streams of the Iguazu waterfalls, seen from the Brazilian side. The colours of the rainbow symbolize the seven planes of creation. Above, I inserted a Saraswathi depiction by Raja Ravi Varma from 1894. Saraswathi is playing on a Vina, as a peacock with its multiple colours watches nearby.
The Mother Principle, Dattatreya and the Descent in 10 Steps into Creation
Painting from 20 November 2011, reworked on 30 April 2023, pencils, crayons and photo work
According to the Wisdom teachings, the Cosmic Person is the supreme God principle self-existing without mother and father. From there the Mother principle comes down and conceives the creation in her womb as her child. She comes down in 10 steps through 4 planes up to the gross material plane. The Mother is represented as a young lady, the planes are represented as spheres, and the10 points of the Pythagorean decade symbolise the complete creation.
In the picture, the centre of the decade lies at the womb of the lady, the top of the triangle at her heart centre. She is standing in a lotus, the principle of unfoldment. In her inner she carries a form of Dattatreya, the Cosmic Lord of Yoga. He is an embodiment of the Trinity, the synthesis of the First, Second and Third Logos. The decad is the ancient most symbol of Dattatreya. Since ancient most times he is evoked by the seers through this symbol.
There is a visualisation exercise where you imagine the Divine – be it Christ, Dattatreya or whosoever –standing over the solar plexus and the meditator becoming one with him. The delicate figure of the Mother is standing in the area of tension between the seminal emergence and the tremendous power of the manifesting energies. She carries in her heart this tension between the delicacy and the power of the presence of Dattatreya.
Leo – The Mystery of the Dog-Star
3 May 2023, pencils and photo work
The constellation of the Dog Star is called Sarameya Mandala in Sanskrit. The main star of the Dog Star constellation is Sirius. Sirius is the most brilliant star in the night sky. In Vedic symbolism, Sirius is personified as Lord Dattatreya. Dattatreya is the Master principle in creation; he is the Cosmic Teacher. Dattatreya is always depicted surrounded by four dogs. The dog represents vigilance, a great ability to listen and loyalty. The dogs are the guru, the teacher. Those who are attentive enough can hear the Master's voice speaking from within.
If we engage with Lord Dattatreya, we will find that what is said is very mysterious and mystical. It is beyond our understanding. But when we connect with this sublime figure, known by the seers of ancient times, magical, mysterious transformations take place within us.
The Vedic seers perceived that the highest energies of love and compassion come into our system from Sirius and can only be received by the heart centre. These energies from Sirius come to us through the south. The Dog Star moves around the South Pole. It is the southern star. Sirius is located in Scorpio; it enters our system through the Central Sun of Leo, Regulus.
I designed Lord Dattatreya with a photograph of a statue standing on the South Pole of the Earth. Four dogs surround him. The representation of the globe was generated with the help of an image from WorldWind.earth, which uses NASA images. For the design of the Dog Star, I used an etching by Hugo de Groot, a Dutch humanist (1583-1645). At the top right you can see the Leo glyph, on the left the constellation of Leo. The earth is surrounded by 12 stars, indicating the 12 Adityas, the cosmic correspondences of the signs of the zodiac. At the centre of the image and of the globe, the Dog Star also radiates at the heart of Lord Dattatreya.
Virgo - The World Mother and the Seven Seers
7 June 2023, pencils and photo work
Virgo helps us to develop virgin energies within us. Virginity is a state of purity in thought, word and deed, through which we can attain connection with profound wisdom. On every plane we are guided by teachers as we undertake to transform ourselves to become more refined beings.
Because of the subtlety or density of matter, there are seven planes of existence. Thus, Seven Seers or Rishis have appeared in creation. They are related to the Seven Rays and exist within us as the seven centres. The Seven Seers work on all seven planes for the Mother of the World.
We are highly recommended to acknowledge the presence of the Seven Seers in our being on a daily basis. We can visualize the Seven Seers from the head centre to the base centre and also feel their existence on the planet. This will gradually establish a connection with these most exalted beings of the planet.
For the dome of stars of the background, I used the stage design for The Magic Flute, Hall of Stars in the Palace of the Queen of the Night, by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1847-49). I designed the World Mother with photos of a statue of Mary and a depiction of Mary.
The illustration of the Seven Seers builds on a photo by Dslcards / Wikimedia of the Apostles frieze in the Baltaha Monastery, Portugal, and a column statue of an apostle from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A Himalayan scene shimmers in the background and the constellation of the Great Bear, the cosmic equivalent of the Seven Rishis, can be seen in the upper right.
Scorpio - Fusion of Individual, Groupal and Planetary Kundalini
10 August 2023, pencils and photo work
A few weeks before his transition November 2022, Master KPK (Dr K. Parvathi Kumar) gave a prayer called "Master CVV Sharing". It refers to Master CVV's mission to connect the spiritual groups and share the creation and building of an energy grid around the Earth, thus helping to uplift humanity and the Earth into the realms of Light.
The prayer is intended to remind us to consciously connect the individual Kundalini with the group Kundalini and with the Kundalini of all spiritual groups that are oriented towards the Hierarchy. From there the spiritual Kundalini may merge with the Kundalini of Humanity and the Earth Kundalini, and further with the Kundalini of the Hierarchy, and up to Shambala. All global groups may remain connected and the energies be shared with all groups to uplift the Earth to the Kings of Beauty.
The image visualises the linking and merging of the individual Kundalini with the Kundalini of the global groups. For this I used elements from various earlier paintings. The image is centred on the central axis as the planetary Kundalini and indicates the spiritual upward movement leading beyond our planet.
At the bottom, you see individual persons forming a group, the rainbow snippets symbolizing the different Kundalinis. Out of the group rises a greater form with a longer Kundalini symbolizing the humanity. It is looking up to the huge lighted form symbolizing the Hierarchy and Shambala with a white spot at the top surrounded by an aura of light. The white central axis over the planet might be seen as the Kundalini of the Earth aligned with the higher centres.
Sagittarius - Alignment from Individual to Universal Consciousness
15 September 2023, pencils and photo work
In Spiritual Astrology, Sagittarius is considered the most exalted Sun sign, very favourable for spiritual practices. In the body, Sagittarius is located in the higher Muladhara centre (root chakra) at the lower end of the spine. This centre is the entrance to the path of light called the Sushumna. We can imagine that we enter the light in the Muladhara and quickly move up to the Sahasrara, the head centre. Then we can contemplate on the radiant light in the spine and the head.
Especially during the first 7 days after the entry of the Sun into Sagittarius, the Sushumna column opens wide and the light is flowing upwards like an arrow to the Sahasrara. This is called "the path to Narayana", the universal consciousness. Lord Krishna epitomises this universal consciousness. He says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Among the twelve months of the zodiac, I am Sagittarius."
The image visualises the ascent of light from individual consciousness in the body (planetary consciousness) to the soul (solar consciousness) and spirit (cosmic consciousness). These layers are represented by the red-brownish earthly sphere below, from which rises the silhouette of the body with the centres of light. Above this the sphere of the sun, the soul, arches in fiery colours. The blue sphere indicates the magic of the cosmic dimension; it is represented by Krishna playing the flute, surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, with Sagittarius at the top, and the depth of the black starry sky.
The design of the image visualises the realisation that in reality we internally, are the planetary, solar and cosmic consciousness. The image arrangement illustrates the invisible path of ascension through the planes.
Pisces – Chintamani, the Philosopher’s Stone of Heavenly Origin
23 November 2023, pencils and photo work
In various paintings by Nicholas Roerich, Chintamani is depicted as the treasure of the world. He also painted Chintamani as an extraterrestrial jewel which, according to Tibetan and Mongolian legends, is brought to the humans on the back of a white horse, Erdeni Mori, to enlighten the consciousness of humanity in times of darkness.
According to the wisdom teachings, Chintamani, the Philosopher's Stone, is a beautiful self-radiating jewel that is kept in Shambala, the ashram of Sanat Kumara, and is sometimes given to the Hierarchy.
There is also a dormant centre of Chintamani in every human being. We can visualise it as the jewel on the crown of our head in the centre of the thousand-petalled lotus. From there, this energy is sometimes brought to the forehead. It is a state of being that gives us bliss and enables us to realise the purpose of our life. The jewel of Chintamani reminds us of this goal.
To visualise the centre of Chintamani on the head, I used photos of a Buddha statue, a crystal and a gemstone as well as flower elements. The sparks of light connect with the stars and indicate the cosmic nature of Chintamani's origin.
In the background of the picture is an opening spiral, the beginning of which is not recognizable. It symbolizes the evolution of consciousness. From the center between the eyebrows, lines form a vessel that opens up into space. They indicate the opening of the personality to the soul and the merging with the Supersoul. The sign of Pisces stands for oceanic union with the cosmic consciousness.
Aries - The Impulse of the Divine Will
18 December 2023, pencils and photo work
The fire sign Aries is associated with the energies of Will. The Aries glyph symbolises the strength and power of Aries just like the ram it represents. Aries is the impulse or birthplace of true ideas that unfold into activity. In Vedic wisdom, Rudra is the lord of Will and Fire. It is the Will that leads creation from seeming nothingness to manifestation. Rudra is usually referred to as Shiva and on the supra-cosmic level as Agni, the deva of fire. Shiva means the auspicious one who bestows bliss.
Rudra is peaceful, blissful and embodies calmness. People with a calm, balanced attitude can express power in a much stronger way than the seemingly powerful. The Will both builds as well as destroys. With the power of will and the appropriate fire, the Lord can remove obstacles such as pride and egoism of the personality and thus bring out the hidden light of the soul.
The colour of Rudra is pure red, which represents Divine Will. The will of Rudra can be invoked by meditating on the red colour of the sky during the morning hours. However, only advanced students can work with red; all others are advised to contemplate the softer colour variations of orange or pink.
The image is an expression of the energies of will with the hues of fire. From beyond the upper edge of the picture and from higher circles, the impulse precipitates down and appears in the form of the Aries glyph. From there, a fiery stream flows downwards.
The head in the centre of the picture was created using a photo of a Shiva statue. The statue shows an inward-facing expression with a peaceful, blissful smile. I surrounded the head with blazing fire, through which a leaping ram is rushing forth. The image of the ram comes from a fresco in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, Italy, created by Francesco del Cossa between 1468 and 1470. It has been digitally restored and integrated into the flaming tones of the painting.
Scorpio – The Indweller of the Cave of Consciousness
16 August 2024, coloured pencils and photo work
When we turn our senses and our mind deeply inwards through regular contemplation, we gain access to the divine Will and experience a state of blissful be-ness. We can imagine how the fiery spark of the I AM consciousness spreads from the inner centre in all directions.
In the wisdom teachings it is said that the Lord of Will is Mars, the Kumara. He is also called ‘Guha’, the indweller of the inner cave of consciousness. His colour is of molten gold or that of pure liquid honey. The cave is the vertebral column in our body.
To symbolise the inner spark of divine Will, I used the 2008 photo of an oil lamp in the darkness of the shrine in a small cave, which is located inside the larger Borra cave system in Andhra Pradesh, India. I included a night light image of an earthen Buddha statue, taken in 2009 at the home of friends in Germany.
On the ground and to the left next to the smiling Buddha is a scorpion, which poses no danger when in the presence of divine peace. The foliage surrounding the statue can be seen in the background, merging into the numerous points of night light of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The space image was generated with the help of WorldWind.earth, which uses NASA images. The lights in turn merge into the starry sky, where the constellation of Scorpio can be seen on the right.
From the innermost light of the divine spark, 7 rays rise up and indicate the connection between microcosm and macrocosm.
Sagittarius - Hayagriva, The Lord of Cosmic Consciousness
17 September 2024, coloured pencils and photo work
In Indian temples one finds depictions of beings with human bodies and the head of an animal. They embody various sublime aspects of wisdom that can only be revealed when there is a deeper understanding.
The horse-headed god Hayagriva, an avatar of Vishnu, is a symbol of cosmic wisdom. It is said that Hayagriva returned the divine wisdom of the Vedas to the creator Brahma when the latter lost them due to arrogance. Humility is needed to attain and maintain wisdom.
The symbol of the horse’s head contains the hints to meditate on our head as the head of a white horse and to chant sacred sound formulas. HA is the sound of the Ajna centre, YA is the sound of the head centre - HAYA. By meditating on the light in the head and connecting the brow centre with the head centre with a radiant white glow, this meditation can expand our consciousness and reveal to us all science and wisdom from within. It is considered particularly auspicious to worship Hayagriva in this way each Thursday and in the month of Sagittarius.
To construct the image, I used a photo of a stone relief depicting a meditating Hayagriva in a Japanese temple. Over this I placed two images of the centre of our galaxy, the Galactic Centre which is in Sagittarius. With the help of the photo of the head of a Hayagriva statue in Rajahmundry, South India, I created the Hayagriva figure in the milky white colour associated with Hayagriva.
The upper part of the picture shows a detail of a zodiacal representation with Sagittarius above Hayagriva's crown.