Continuing this essay.
Arguably Jünger’s greatest work, an essay on the unease of time, from the world revolution to the earth revolution. As a successor to the philosophies of history of Herder and Hamann here Jünger struggles with poetry, myth, Spengler’s morphology, prehistory, and the interim at the end of history.
Because of the importance of this work I suggest comparing it with other translations, such as the one provided by Ormlore. And feel free to offer any suggestions if you have any experience translating or reading German.
9
In arguing for or against the importance of horoscopes, each side should only present arguments that have been developed in their field. This already applies to the question whether the role of birth is not overestimated because it has only a transitory significance in relation to conception. In fact, in the history of astrology, already among the Babylonians and especially in the Hellenistic period, the conception horoscope was often favoured over the birth horoscope. Hence the hours and days considered favourable for conception were known; the Greek would say, ‘I am planting a man,’ as one says, ‘I am planting a tree.’
In itself this distinction is, of course, of secondary importance; for if we take the time of destiny as a whole it passes through things no less than astronomical or mechanical time. But it is not divisible in the same way; the hours follow each other, although they are not the same. Here the same difference prevails as between the ecclesiastical and the astronomical year. Festivals are not evenly distributed, and fall on different calendar days, and the name "festival" also includes death and suffering. The festive year conceals the great horoscope of man, the alignment of his life with the solar year. It is a clock which the churches do not create, but which they interpret as an addition, just as the role of the priest has always been an addition. It is a wheel in whose spokes they turn, which is why the feasts are older than the churches. The introduction of a new universal time, for example for technical or economic reasons, will affect the Church not only in its ritual, as a time-setting authority, but also in its core: as a time-receiving power.
If the time of destiny runs through everything, albeit in a different rhythm than the astronomical, the knowledge of a few knots should suffice to judge the net and anticipate what can be caught in it. Conception, birth, and death must necessarily be connected, and it should be possible to identify favourable and unfavourable days. The difference between birth and reproduction horoscopes would be secondary. In fact, in astrological practice one attempts to deduce the constellation from important life dates, especially when there is doubt about the hour of birth or when it arrives at important crossroads.
The real difficulty in calculating such a relationship lies not so much in the findings as in their judgement. We know too little about the significance of encounters. This becomes more apparent in our dreams. What we consider great may turn out to be void, what we consider misfortune may be fortune, and vice versa. Winning the lottery may herald our misfortune, a wound may save us from death in the cauldron battles. The one who comes must first tell the one who is born what is important to them. The judgement changes with the peculiarity of the personal destiny and its task. Therefore, from each date, including the date of birth and conception, one can only draw conclusions, approximations, but not certain statements. Of course, these conclusions may concern things more important than the historical events of life, namely, the causes through which these events depend and by which they are shaped. How deep this goes depends on the interpretive point of view of the one who approaches.