KOLISKOEFFECT(KOLISKOEXPERIMENTS)
The Kolisko effect refers to modifications in the behavior of metallic solutions dur-
ing certain aspects—particularly during conjunctions—involving the planet tradi-
tionally said to rule the metal involved. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposo-
phy (an offshoot of Theosophy), taught astrology in many of his lectures, including
the astrological principle that the Sun, Moon, and planets rule certain metals. Tra-
ditionally, the Sun has been thought to rule gold; the Moon, silver; Mercury, mer-
cury; Venus, copper; Mars, iron; Jupiter, tin; and Saturn, lead. Steiner claimed,
among other things, that as long as substances were in a solid state, they were sub-
ject to the forces of the Earth, but if they were in a liquid state, the planetary forces
came into play.
In the early twentieth century one of Steiner’s students, Lilly Kolisko, began a
series of experiments designed to demonstrate this link empirically. While her experi-
ments were diverse, Kolisko’s basic technique was to prepare solutions in which par-
ticular metallic salts had been dissolved and then record the pattern that these solu-
tions made when they crystallized onto filter paper. Her hypothesis was that major
aspects involving the traditional seven planets (which included the Sun and Moon)
would affect the corresponding metal and thus modify the resulting patterns. Kolisko
reported marked success. Particularly memorable are experiments during which Sat-
urn was occulted (eclipsed) by the Sun or the Moon. During these occultations, the
crystallization of lead salts was either delayed or completely obstructed. These experi-
ments and others are recorded in Kolisko’s Workings of the Stars in Earthly Substance,
Das Silber und der Mond,and Saturn und Blei.
While some researchers have reported negative or mixed results in attempts to
replicate Kolisko’s experiments, others have reported success. Theodore Schwenck, in
a laboratory of the Swiss Weleda Company, found that the crystallization pattern of a
relevant solution was markedly influenced by the Mars-Saturn conjunction of 1949,
an experiment that was replicated by Karl Voss in 1964. In 1967, another anthro-
posophist, Agnes Fyfe, published a paper in which she reported that the precipitation
of carefully prepared iron-silver solutions was delayed during the half hour following
exact conjunctions between Mars (ruler of iron) and the Moon (ruler of silver).
Beginning in 1972, Nicholas Kollerstrom began a series of experiments involving con-
junctions and other aspects between Mars and Saturn, the Moon and Saturn, and the
Moon and Mars. He succeeded in experiments where the metals used corresponded to
the planets involved in the conjunction. He also found that Mars-Saturn conjunc-
tions (which are less fleeting than aspects involving the transiting Moon) produced
especially marked effects that typically lasted several days. He also found that the peak
influence of conjunctions involving planets other than the Moon always occurred
afterthe conjunctions were exact, as if the effect of the disturbance in the Mars-Sat-
urn “energies” was delayed in reaching Earth.
These studies do not exhaust the list of researchers who have successfully repli-
cated Kolisko’s experiments. Needless to say, the Kolisko effect stands out as an inter-
esting phenomenon that merits close examination by anyone attempting to either
support or debunk astrology from an empirical perspective.
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [387]
Kolisko Effect (Kolisko Experiments)