HOW AND WHY ASTROLOGY 'WORKS'

excerpt from about p.64 > in the book "Communicating with the spirit world, laws and purposes", by the German org.edition as was written by the priest and spiritual researcher, Johannes Greber. The book was published in German in 1937. And it was translated from the German original text. Note that the word 'od' is translated with ETHERIC energy here,  as it is the same. More about it and the etheric body inArthur Powell's book: 'the etheric body'. link.  Rø.)

Greber – Communication with the Spirit World, page 64:

(remark that od and odic must be the same as the theosophy word, 'etheric'. rø.)

  "....Their growth and their taking material form,
are subject to those selfsame laws of odic/'etheric'  condensation.
“The od of individual material organisms comprises a mixture of od of
the most varied strength and kinds, produced by wonderful laws unknown to you  mortals.    The  mixture  is  different  in  human  beings  than  in  animals, different in animals than in plants, and different in plants than in minerals.

“This  difference  in  od  mixture  obtains  not  only  between  the primary stages  of  nature,  but  also  between  individual  organisms  within  the  same stage.  Thus the odic/'etheric'  composition of the various human races differs: that of the  Negro  is  not  the  same  as  that  of  the  white  man  or  of  the  Indian. 

Furthermore, not all members of the white race have the same odic/'etheric'  composition.    This  is  true  also  for  all  the  other  races  of  mankind.    Every individual  has  his  own  odic/'etheric'   composition.    There  are,  therefore,  no  two human  beings  with  exactly  the  same  od,  and  the  same  applies  to  animals, plants and minerals.  

 “Since,  therefore,  the  physical  structure  of  a  living  organism  results from  the  condensation  of  the  odic/'etheric'   mixture  peculiar  to  that  organism,  each body has its own individual physical properties.  In every living being, flesh, bones,  nails,  hair,  and  all  other  parts  of  the  body  have  their  distinctive characteristics, which are based on the odic/'etheric'  composition of the individual in question.

“In your human eyes it is one of nature’s deep secrets how od, which
exists  in  an  ethereal  form  and  is  invisible  to  you,  can  be  condensed  into tangible matter.  That it is possible you know from your own daily experience,  for  you  can  see  that  your  body  does  not  grow  by  the  direct application to it of finished matter.  You know that the acorn does not grow into an oak by having more and more bits of oak wood attached to it, but that its growth represents a process taking place within the organism.  You know, furthermore, that the food you eat does not attach itself to the inner surfaces of  your  body  and  promote  growth  in  that  way,  but  that  an  unknown something flows into all parts, great and small, of your entire body, condensing into flesh, bone,  nails,  hair and  other  tissue,  and  by  thus condensing becomes matter.  

“That ‘something’, which is unknown to you, is ‘od’.
“Where,  you  may  ask,  does  this  od,  which  is  so  necessary  for  the
formation  and  support  of  all  living  beings,  come  from?    You  can  find  the answer yourself, if you stop to think about what the needs of your physical existence are: you require air, water and food.  But not everything present in the  air,  water  or  food  can  be  utilized  by  the  body.    Above  all,  it  cannot  be assimilated by the various parts of your body in the form in which it occurs in the air, water or food, that is to say, not in its material form.  Even air is matter.    Everything  must  first  be  converted  into  an  ethereal  form,  and conducted in the form of od to all parts of the body, great and small.

“The conversion of the material nutrients into od proceeds by way of
the dissolving that takes place in your bodies during the process of digestion.
“The air you breathe comprises a material mixture of od, from which
your  lungs  extract  only  those  parts  of  the  od  that  your  bodies  require, exhaling those they cannot use, in the process of breathing.

“Water  also  has  an  odic/'etheric'   composition  of  its  own.    The  od  of  water  is needed  most  of  all  by  the  bodies  of  human  beings,  animals  and  plants,  for these bodies are for the most part a condensation of the od taken from water. 
Therefore,  water-od  predominates  in  the  foods  derived  from  the  plant  and animal kingdoms, so that when you eat this food, you generally also receive the  necessary  quantity  of  water-od.    Because  the  od  of  water  plays  so important a role in all bodies, they cannot go without it for any great length of time.  Your professional fasters may be able to do without solid food for weeks on end, but if they were deprived of water, they would soon die.  For the same reason animals and plants perish when denied the od of water for a prolonged period.

“Now  you  also  understand  why  the  torture  of  thirst  is  the  greatest
torture that any living being can experience; it constitutes death in its most painful form.

“The od of the air is needed not so much for building up the structure
of the body, but mainly for producing the various power currents that carry out  the  dissolving  of  food  and  its  conversion  into  od,  the  mixing  of  the various  kinds  of  od,  and  finally  their  ultimate  condensation  into  bodily matter.  All dissolving is caused by hot odic/'etheric'  currents and all condensation by cold ones.  For this reason you cannot live more than a few moments without the  od  of  the  air,  for  where  this  is  absent,  all  other  odic/'etheric'   activity  ceases
automatically.

“Now  we  still  need  the  answer  to  the  question:  where  does  the  od
found in air, water and food come from?
“It comes from the earth, which as a heavenly body possesses an odic
mixture and an odic radiation that contain every kind of od required for the support  of  all  living  beings  on  it.    The  terrestrial  od  consists  of  the  od peculiar to the earth as a heavenly body; in addition, the earth absorbs into its  own  odic  mixture  the  odic  radiation  of  all  the  heavenly  bodies  within

Greber – Communication with the Spirit World p. 66

range of the earth.  Each of these heavenly bodies has a specific od peculiar to itself, of a nature and composition not found in any other heavenly body.
“According  to  the  position  of  those  heavenly  bodies  with  respect  to
the earth, their odic/'etheric'  radiation will have a greater or lesser effect upon it, and since the position of the heavenly bodies relative to each other changes every second,  the  odic/'etheric'   radiations  sent  to  the  earth  by  those  bodies  will  vary accordingly.

“The blending of the od of your earth with that of the heavenly bodies
around it is of the greatest importance to life and growth upon the earth.
“You  must  also  remember  that  every  kind  of  od  possesses  powers
peculiar to itself.  To the extent, then, that the bodily od of an infant at the
moment of its birth stands under the one-sidedly strong influence of the od of  one  or  more  heavenly  bodies,  to  that  extent  the  infant’s  own  odic/'etheric'  composition will be affected.  At the time of birth, this composition is, as it were, still fairly neutral, but at that instant it is given a fixed permanent trend by the odic/'etheric'  radiations and mixtures acting upon it. 

“If, in producing a mixture in a glass, you pour in a large amount of
one  substance,  that  reduces  the  amounts  you  can  add  of  other  substances.  The whole mixture will then be characterized by that substance of which you added  a  large  amount  –  in  color,  smell,  taste  and  other  external  features. 

You cannot later reduce the amount of the substance of which you added too much, nor can you dilute it by adding larger amounts of other substances, for the glass cannot be filled beyond its capacity.

“The  same  is  true  of  the  od  mixture  of  a  newborn  infant.    The  total amount of od is predetermined and cannot be increased.  If, now, a particular type  of  od  constitutes  the  major  component  of  the  whole,  it  will  determine the  infant’s  growth  and  development  for  all  time.    Since  the  different  od types each develop completely individual vital energies, the particular nature of  the  major  component  of  the  od  will  give  to  the  newborn  infant  –  in addition  to  its  individual  physical  characteristics  –  an  individual  set  of character traits.  

“It is, therefore, neither superstition nor idle fancy to assume that one
can  draw  conclusions  about  a  person’s  physical  nature  and  character  from the  moment  of  his  birth.    The  influence  of  the  od  of  the  heavenly  bodies upon  your  life  on  earth,  upon  your  vital  energies,  your  character  and  your temperament  is  much  greater  than  you  realize.    You  yourselves  have  a saying: ‘He was born under a lucky (or an unlucky) star’..  This refers to the effect  exerted  by  the  odic/'etheric'   radiation  of  a  heavenly  body  on  living  beings  at
the moment of their birth.

Greber – Communication with the Spirit World p67

“All  this  is  so  closely  related  to  the  great  questions  of the destiny of
human beings that I could not entirely refrain from speaking of it.
“All  bodies  of  terrestrial  beings  are  therefore  condensed  od,  derived
from  the  odic  radiation  of  the  earth  and  that  of  its  surrounding  heavenly bodies.

“An  example  taken  from  nature  will  illustrate  to  you  this  process  of
dissolution and condensation:
“You  know  that  moisture  from  the  ground  and  from  bodies  of  water evaporates under the influence of heat, although this is generally
imperceptible  to  your eyes.  At a certain height above the earth, the vapor, which was invisible at lower levels, condenses into a thin, barely perceptible veil of mist.  As condensation progresses, this veil becomes distinctly visible as a cloud, which grows denser and denser under the influence of cold, until, after  condensing  even  more,  it  falls  to  the  ground  as  rain  or  snow.    If  the water is chilled still further, it condenses into ice and becomes a solid.  Here you have the condensation, step by step, of an ethereal substance invisible to
your eyes into solid matter, which you cannot only see and touch, but which also exhibits considerable resistance.  Thus the sheet of ice that covers your streams,  ponds  and  rivers  is  solidified  water,  of  the  same  composition  and distinctive properties as the water from which it is formed and which in turn is condensed vapor.

“Thus,  just  as  vapor  rises  from  the  earth  and  step  by  step  turns  into solid matter as ice, only to dissolve again into water and back into vapor, so it  is  with  all  terrestrial  bodies.    They  are  derived  from  the  od  of  the  earth, invisible  to  you,  which  is  condensed  into  matter  by  the  process  of  growth and  which  returns  to  the  od  of  the  earth  after  the  death  of  the  living organism.  The words ‘of earth thou art, to earth shalt thou return’ therefore apply  to  all  terrestrial  beings.    This  is  the  continual  cycle  that  will  endure until  all  matter  is  finally  dissolved  into  od  and  not  re-condensed  into material bodies.  Later I will have more to tell you about this.

“From what I have said you can deduce that in every terrestrial being
there are three forms of od: the od of the spirit embodied in this being; the somewhat more condensed od that is still invisible to the human eye and that is the body’s life force; and the od that has become solid matter, which you call the body.

“The  od  representing  the  life  force  of  the  body  always  remains
connected with the od of the spirit and hence with the spirit itself.  It is the
bodily  ‘fuel’  under  the  control  of  the  spirit,  just  as  your  terrestrial  power current is the ‘fuel’ at the engineer’s command.  If, therefore, the ‘fuel’ for

Greber – Communication with the Spirit World p.68

the  body  is  diminished  below  the  point  required  to  maintain  life,  the  spirit departs from the body and corporeal death ensues.  Similarly, the machinist abandons  his  machine  when  he  can  no  longer  keep  it  running  for  lack  of power.

“When terrestrial bodies die, the odic/'etheric'  force remains with the spirit, for earthly  bodies  possess  no  independent  odic/'etheric'   force  of  their  own;  only  the spirits that have taken possession of the bodies have such force.

“Nevertheless,  the  spirit  can  with  its  own  odic/'etheric'   force  through  the exercise  of  its  willpower  strengthen  the  od  of  its  body,  which  may  have become  weakened  by  sickness;  it  can  stimulate  the  activity  of  sluggish bodily  organs  and  thereby  eliminate  injurious  matter  from  the  system.    In these  circumstances  it  is  of  course  essential  that  the  weakened  body  avoid eating harmful foods, and that it promote the effect of the spirit od by means of  a  wholesome  diet.    To  use  another  concrete  metaphor,  the  spirit  in  this case works by its own odic/'etheric'  energy like a powerful pressure pump upon the
physical od and on the conductor of the odic/'etheric'  current, namely, the blood. "

end extract- taken from the book of
Johannes Greber:_Communication-With-the-Spirit-World
link; https://galactic.no/rune/lydboker/may2016upload/JohannesGreber_Communication-With-the-Spirit-World/johannes_greber_communicateSpirit_world.pdf

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the od-body/energy must be what the theosophists call THE ETHERIC BODY, which is  "a coupling body" between astral and physical body. rø-remark.

https://rune.galactic.to/spesBoker/EthericBody_ArthurPowell.pdf

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german: johGreber_VerkehrMit_der_Geisterwelt_1932.pdf

NEDERLANDS: johannes-greber-omgang-met-gods-geestenwereld-zijn-wetten-en-zijn-doel-persoonlijke-ervaringen-van-een-rk-priester link