th and all its inhabitants were involved at the time of the separation
from the sun. Before fertilization, the plant is in the same condition as
was the whole earth before the sun separated from it. After the
fertilization of the blossom, however, the condition of the plant is that
of the earth after the separation of the Sun had taken place, while the
moon-forces were still active in it.

Those who have thoroughly assimilated the idea to be gained by a
comprehension of this separation of the sun, will now be able to interpret
correctly the significance of the process of plant fertilization, when it
is said that "the plant previous to fructification is in a 'sun state,'
and afterward in the 'moon state.' " Indeed, it may be said of even the
smallest occurrence in the world that it can be fully understood only when
the reflection of great cosmic events is recognized in it. Otherwise its
inner nature remains just as unintelligible as Raphael's Sistine Madonna
would be for one who could see only a small blue speck, while the rest of
it remained covered.

Everything that happens to man is a reflection of all those great cosmic
events that have to do with his existence. Those who wish to understand
the observations made by clairvoyant consciousness of the phenomena taking
place between birth and death, and again between death and a new birth,
will be able to do so if they first acquire the faculty of interpreting
imaginative observations by means of conceptions gained by reflecting upon
great cosmic events. These contemplations, indeed, furnish the key to a
comprehension of human life. Therefore the study of Saturn, Sun, and Moon
are, from the standpoint of occult science, at the same time a study of
man.

Through inspiration one arrives at a knowledge of the relationships
between the beings of the higher world, and a further stage of cognition
makes it then possible to recognize the inner essential nature of these
beings themselves. This stage of cognition is known to occult science as
that of intuitive cognition.(32)

Cognition of a sense-being implies standing outside of it, and judging it
according to outer impressions. Intuitive cognition of a spiritual being
implies being at one with it; uniting oneself with the inner nature of
that being. Step by step, the occult student ascends toward such
cognition. Imagination leads him no longer to consider phenomena as the
external qualities of beings, but to recognize them as