Imagine an anthroposophical conversation taking place in real time. Suppose someone says,
(1) Plants have such perfume because their flowers are sensitive noses for everything that streams into the universe from Venus.
What happens physically when something like (1) is said?
The causal theory of the reference of names, proposed in 1980 by the logician Saul Kripke, holds that when something like (1) is uttered or otherwise realized in a mind, and a name is contained in it, a causal chain connecting that utterance or mind to the initial baptism of the object to which the name refers is invoked. Thus when we say or think “Venus,” we are connected physically to a moment in time and space when the first person to say or think “Venus,” and thereby to give it an objective status, actually did so.
In a real sense, on Kripke’s theory, when we use the name, we resonate with the dawning of Venus in human consciousness.
Are we thereby connecting with Venus herself? Possibly. We will probably need a lot of experience with Goethean conversation before we will be in a position to say whether or not Venus actually seems to be present in a careful conversation that makes reference to her.
For now, let us say:
(P3) Principle of causal reference (names invoke objects).
Pursuing Venus
It has taken a while to get some kind of a handle on this one, Carl.
The trail of another thread has crossed this path at last. We cannot research a hypothetical situation, except in highly charged imagination, so I would like to slowly move on to real experience. After considering the I am tree - I am moon ideas I suggest the following.
So let us converse about Venus and look out for the presence of Venus as we go. We may notice that we are engaged in a Venus process. What's that? Here we may already waver in our thinking. If the presence that is revealed has the attributes that we call Venus, then we may say: we thought about you and you showed up - success! By the way - we continue - what do you call yourself? Diana, she responds and vanishes. Who was that? Planet, goddess, mythical imagination, personal projection, Scrooge's supper? What ever we answer, we cannot be sure who turned up. We think we had the Venus we named in the room, but was it really Venus? How can we identify her accurately so that we can do this experiment for real? Seances have suffered the same problems. You call up somone and it could be anyone who responds.
Invocation is not a careless matter, especially if objects are our target. If percepts invoke concepts and in a similar manner names invoke objects, then the name that we call a percept will invoke the concept that calls that percept IAM.
Kripke seems to me to be saying that names invoke what I have been naming as percepts, but I am only relying on Carl's sketch above. This all seems to touch on the spirit remembering that the Foundation Stone Meditation asks us to practice. For integrity of Carl's line, I suggest we do not switch channels from Venus.
Carl - can we make this one into a Michaelmas research question?
Michaelmas
Sure, John, but here I think real-time interaction is probably going to prove preferable. Michealmas is a wonderful time of the year, and the Spirit of this time is especially exalted, but it seems to me that actual movements in one another's presence are what we really want to muster. Those and the thoughts of course. And the thoughts can be shared on the internet.
Already achieved
I accept your caution, Carl, but...
Look at the parallel thinking that occurred when you and I engaged with Valdi yesterday. I would not say it was a Venus invocation, nor that it was not. But a single spiritual being was invoked by us both out of the thinking we were doing separately (illusion) at the same time (roughly).
I suggest that those events demonstrate that concepts brought into movement correlate to the deeds and names of spiritual beings. Our example was relevant to the theme and process of the magical invocation of objects.
The principle holds good. The object is not yet proven. I am not sure if I have made my point here.
The object is proven
OK Carl, I have to accept that this one is as near as dammit proven.
Today a wonderful article came through the post in New View magazine. Topic: VENUS!
This is dangerous knowledge - have you had any synchronicity around this thread?
At the end of said article comes this meditative verse from Rudolf Steiner:
The World Soul reveals herself
On the cross of the World Body.
She lives through five rays brilliant:
Through Wisdom, Love, and strength of Will;
Through sense of All, and sense of I:
And finds so in Herself
The Spirit of the World.
Venus
Well, actually I did dream last night of a love goddess, after making the Beauty Court post. The unusual thing was that after I woke up and went back to sleep, she came back. This is highly unusual for me. Generally, when such a wonderful Being appears in a dream, she registers her presence and then disappears for good.