Sothic cycle

The Sothic cycle (also called Sothic period or Canicular period) spanned a period of 1460 Julian years in ancient Egypt. This is how long it takes for the heliacal rising of Sirius, i.e. its first appearance after about 70 days of invisibility in the eastern morning sky immediately before sunrise, to pass once through an entire year of the Egyptian calendar. This date shifts over time because the Egyptian calendar counted 365 days, but the actual length of the tropical year is about 365 1/4 days (365 x 4 = 1460). The heliacal rising of Sirius was considered to herald the imminent flooding of the Nile and was celebrated with the Sothis festival, the Egyptian New Year. In fact, around 2000 BC, the two events roughly coincided. Coincidentally, the spring equinox, which is constantly shifting due to the precession of the Earth's axis, also passes through the 365-day calendar in 1460 years.

The Egyptian mysteries, founded by Thot-Hermes (Trismegistus), the legendary inaugurator and teacher of Egyptian culture, are said to go back to that time which was three Sothic cycles before the year 1322 BC, which marks the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, i.e. to the 6th millennium BC.

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Antworten der Geisteswissenschaft auf die großen Fragen des Daseins, GA 60 (1983), ISBN 3-7274-0600-3 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.