The Mystery of Emerging Form

The Mystery of Emerging Form: Imma von Eckardstein’s Drawings of the Constellations: A Biological Perspective

Contemporary science views our planet as an insignificant speck of dust in the vastness of space, with its four kingdoms as a random assemblage of atoms. Yvan Rioux presents a radically different perspective, demonstrating an indissoluble relationship between Heaven and Earth. Over eons of existence, the four kingdoms have manifested a creative power that perpetually brings forth new expressions. With the goal of bridging science and spirit, Rioux helps revive the old intuitive awareness of an intimate communion between the outer perceptible life of nature, the inner life of the soul, and the majestic spiritual formative forces that preside as architects—an organic whole in which all levels evolve together.

The Earth, nesting in its solar system, is connected with the Milky Way and the twelve constellations. The impact of the stars as an influence on human behavior has been known for millennia. In the original edition of Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul, illustrations of the twelve of the constellations by Imma von Eckardstein were published for the first time. These intuitive drawings differ greatly from the traditional images, but Steiner stressed their importance for our modern consciousness. The images invite us to comprehend formative forces in their various guises in the kingdoms of nature. By exploring the gifts of each constellation, the author uses Imma’s drawings as a template to elucidate the emergence of twelve basic forms as the common denominators of all creatures, leading eventually toward the human form.

“The [new] images of the zodiac constellations represent actual experiences connected with the waking and sleeping of particular spiritual beings. In these images we have a knowledge that needs to be renewed at this time.” —Rudolf Steiner (1912)

About the Author

YVAN RIOUX was taught by Christian Brothers and Franciscans and a keen naturalist as a boy. He studied biology at Montreal University, but it left him cold, as it didn’t deal with anything living. Working for ten years as a biodynamic farmer in Québec, however, he encountered living ecosystems. Later, in Montreal, he taught on the relationship between human physiology and nature. In 1992 he moved to England with his two boys and joined a family of two girls and their mother, Gabriel Millar, who became his muse. Retiring ten years ago, he decided to write about his knowledge gained from twenty-five years of teaching experience, culminating in his previous publication, The Mystery of Emerging Form.