April 2, 2025

# The Heavens

# The Order of St. Anne's

There is no published Rule. No official liturgy. No habit or monastic seal. And yet, throughout C.S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy, we glimpse the outlines of a kind of holy order—a pattern of life woven quietly through the characters who remain faithful, and in sharp contrast with those who do not.

We might ask:
Could we reverse-engineer from these books a rhythm of life? A daily rule—not for monks or mystics only, but for ordinary people who wish to live in deeper alignment with the good order of the cosmos Lewis calls us to remember?

And if so, what would such a life look like?

Interestingly this necessitates building a theology of heaven, but in the sense of 'the heavens', NOT the afterlife. (see Appendix)

# The Spiritual Atmosphere of the Trilogy

Across Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, Lewis paints a picture of life in right relation—both with others and with the heavens. This is not moralism. Nor is it escapism. Rather, it’s attunement—to truth, beauty, hierarchy, humility, silence, courage, and obedience.

Each book offers contrasts:

• Ransom’s learning versus Weston’s domination.
• The Green Lady’s obedience versus the Un-man’s temptation.
• The household at St. Anne’s versus the technocratic horror of Belbury.

These contrasts form a kind of spiritual grammar. And if we read the trilogy as a theological map rather than just a set of stories, we begin to see a way of life unannounced, but clearly valued.

# A Rule for a Modern-Day Anglican?

Could an Anglican—or any modern believer—fashion from these books a rule of daily life? Not a reenactment of medieval customs, but a faithful response to the deep currents running through Lewis’s vision?

Here is one possible beginning.

# Morning: Begin with Alignment

• Reading (15 min): A passage from the Psalms or Gospels, followed by a short reading from Lewis (Letters to Malcolm, The Weight of Glory, or a section from Perelandra).
• Silent Reflection (5–10 min): Sit in silence. Ask: Where am I misaligned today? Where might I choose presence over power?
• Spoken Prayer: Use a version of the Collect for Purity or the Prayer of Humble Access.

# Daytime: Labor, Listening, and Resistance

• Work as Participation, Not Possession. In Perelandra, Ransom learns to live with the rhythms of the floating islands—sleeping when they drift, eating what they offer, moving when they move. His body adjusts to a world not built for control. In That Hideous Strength, Jane begins to embrace small acts of ordinary care, like preparing food or tending space, not as servitude, but as solidarity. The good characters labor not to dominate their world, but to join it—quietly resisting the pull to master what should be received.
• Fast from Efficiency for Efficiency’s Sake. Deliberately do one task slowly today. Listen while you do it.
• Practice Embodiment: Take a short barefoot walk. Touch the soil. Stretch. Eat something fresh and unprocessed.
• Speak Less, Mean More: Like the eldila, speak with intention. Let words be weighty, not noisy.

# Evening: Recollection and Reorientation

• Evening Reading: A chapter from one of the trilogy books. Ask: Who in this scene am I most like today?

• Reflective Journal Prompt:

  Where did I encounter the “Inner Ring” today—and how did I respond?
  What would Maleldil say of my heart posture in that moment?

• Family or Household Practice: Share aloud one moment of “resistance to the Bent” from the day. If alone, record it.

# Weekly Anchors

• Sabbath Attunement: Set aside digital input for one 3–4 hour block. Read. Walk. Pray. Listen.
• Cosmic Remembrance: Practice “planetary meditation” once a week—reflecting on Lewis’s planetary intelligences (see Planet Narnia by Michael Ward). Ask: What quality of divine order is this world asking me to remember today?
• Embodied Obedience: Learn a Psalm by heart. Recite it while doing physical tasks (gardening, cooking, sweeping).

# Some Core Virtues to Cultivate (and Counter)

# A Final Thought

Lewis never gives us a blueprint—but he gives us a resonance. The Ransom Trilogy is a mythic reminder that the soul's alignment matters, that obedience is not repression but invitation, and that ordinary people—gardeners, philologists, cooks—may be participants in the great cosmic dance.

If we live rightly, we may find ourselves already within a kind of spiritual order.
Not with vows or vestments, but with a strange, growing readiness—to serve when the eldila call.

Perhaps the Order of St. Anne’s is less a place and more a posture.
And the holy rule begins here: “In your obedience, be joyful.”

# Appendix A

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# Meditations on the Planetary Intelligences

A Companion to the Ransom Cosmology

C.S. Lewis drew on a rich medieval understanding of the planets—not as cold, dead spheres, but as intelligences, each expressing a divine aspect of created order. These planetary spirits are not to be worshiped, but attended to as poetic windows into deeper spiritual realities.

Below are seven meditations—one for each planet—designed for weekly rotation or personal reflection. Each includes key virtues, temptations, and a prayer to help align the soul.

# Sol (The Sun – Sol Invictus)

Virtues: Glory, clarity, generosity, spiritual kingship
Temptations: Pride, domination, self-exaltation

Reflection:

• Where have I been given warmth or visibility?
• Have I used that radiance to give life—or to demand attention?

Prayer:

Giver of true light, let me bear warmth without burning, clarity without cruelty, and glory without grasping. Align me with your radiant joy.

# Luna (The Moon – Luna Regina)

Virtues: Rhythm, reflection, receptivity, humility
Temptations: Instability, false mirroring, moodiness

Reflection:

• Am I ashamed of my own waxing and waning?
• What do I reflect today—light or shadow?

Prayer:

Mistress of tides and time, teach me to wax and wane in peace, to reflect what is good, and to remain faithful in changing light.

# Saturn (Old Father Time)

Virtues: Endurance, gravity, mortality, wisdom
Temptations: Despair, fatalism, spiritual coldness

Reflection:

• Where have I mistaken slowness for failure?
• What limits might become sanctifying?

Prayer:

Ancient of Days, steady me under weight. Teach me the wisdom of endings, and bless what is slow, heavy, and holy.

# Mars (The Red Lord)

Virtues: Courage, discipline, righteous wrath, sacrifice
Temptations: Harshness, violence, domination

Reflection:

• Where is courage being asked of me—not as aggression, but as quiet faithfulness?
• What fear needs a steady, not showy, answer?

Prayer:

Lord of sharpness and strength, arm me with patience. Let my anger become justice, and my courage become peace.

# Venus (The Lady of Love)

Virtues: Beauty, harmony, joy, fertility
Temptations: Vanity, lust, emotional manipulation

Reflection:

• Have I received beauty without grasping it?
• Where am I invited to delight without possession?

Prayer:

Bright Lady, teach me holy pleasure. Let beauty soften me. Let joy disarm me. Let love pass through me without possession.

# Jupiter (Jove – The Just and Magnanimous)

Virtues: Justice, festivity, mercy, laughter
Temptations: Shallow optimism, self-congratulation

Reflection:

• Am I just and joyful—or one without the other?
• Where is abundance already overflowing unnoticed?

Prayer:

Jove the generous, teach me to laugh without mockery, rule without pride, and feast without forgetting the poor.

# Mercury (The Messenger, Quick of Mind)

Virtues: Eloquence, learning, wit, subtlety
Temptations: Deceit, fragmentation, cleverness for its own sake

Reflection:

• Is my speech clear, or cunning?
• Am I using language to reveal or to obscure?

Prayer:

Swift-footed one, teach me to speak cleanly, to think playfully, and to learn without becoming scattered. May I carry truth with beauty and delight.

# Optional Weekly Rhythm

Let each planetary meditation be not a superstition but a symbolic recalibration—a chance to tune your inner ear to the music of the spheres and to walk each day in deeper alignment with the Great Dance.

# Appendix B

# A week in the Great Dance

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C.S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy does not describe a cold, mechanical universe. It sings. Each planet—Sol, Luna, Mars, and the others—is imagined not merely as a physical object but as a bearer of emotional and spiritual atmosphere. In Lewis’s view, to live wisely is to live in emotional harmony with the Great Dance.

This guide, A Week in the Great Dance, offers a rhythm of feeling: one emotional tone for each day of the week, honoring the traditional planetary associations and interpreted through the lens of Christian devotion. The goal is not mood manipulation, but emotional alignment with divine reality.

# Sunday – SOL

Emotion Honored: Gratitude, Awe, Benediction
Planet: The Sun (Sol)
Scripture: Psalm 19 (“The heavens declare the glory of God…”)

# Practice

• Begin in awe: step outside into sunlight and offer thanks aloud.
• Read the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28–36) and let the radiance of Christ inform your view of others.
• Name and bless 3 people—vocally, prayerfully, or through written words.
• Sit in stillness for 10 minutes: What do I feel grateful for that I didn’t earn?

# Monday – LUNA

Emotion Honored: Vulnerability, Receptivity, Inner Quiet
Planet: The Moon (Luna)
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3 (“To everything there is a season…”)

# Practice

• Review the emotional tone of last week: were you waxing or waning?
• Write one thing you are receiving from God—not accomplishing.
• Walk in rhythm with your breath, repeating a short prayer like: “Lord, I receive.”
• Practice gentleness with yourself. Today honors holy softness.

# Tuesday – MARS

Emotion Honored: Righteous Anger, Resolve, Courage
Planet: Mars
Scripture: Ephesians 6 (“Put on the whole armor of God”)

# Practice

• Confront something you've been avoiding—courageously but calmly.
• Write a short “battle psalm” or prayer to express righteous indignation without resentment.
• Consider where you are called to stand firm—not in violence, but in clarity.
• Before hard conversations, trace a small cross on your palm. Speak under its sign.

# Wednesday – MERCURY

Emotion Honored: Curiosity, Playfulness, Clarity of Thought
Planet: Mercury
Scripture: Proverbs 25:11 (“A word fitly spoken…”)

# Practice

• Read a poem aloud. Let your voice carry meaning, not just sound.
• Write a question you don't know the answer to—then carry it through the day.
• Fast from unnecessary speech until noon.
• Practice linguistic hospitality: speak clearly, kindly, and only as needed.

# Thursday – JUPITER

Emotion Honored: Joy, Generosity, Just Delight
Planet: Jupiter
Scripture: Isaiah 61 (“To give them a garland instead of ashes…”)

# Practice

• Prepare or share a joyful meal with another person.
• Give something away today: money, time, praise—expecting nothing in return.
• Read Psalm 103 aloud as a declaration of joy.
• Laugh on purpose. Let it be clean, real, and holy.

# Friday – VENUS

Emotion Honored: Tenderness, Beauty, Love
Planet: Venus
Scripture: Song of Songs 2:10–13 (“Arise, my love…”)

# Practice

• Beautify something small—your desk, a meal, your words.
• Reach out gently to a strained relationship—without controlling the outcome.
• Light a candle and pray: “Lord, let me be a bearer of delight, not demand.”
• Reflect on how God has delighted in you—even in your unfinishedness.

# Saturday – SATURN

Emotion Honored: Grief, Patience, Sober Wisdom
Planet: Saturn
Scripture: Psalm 90 (“Teach us to number our days…”)

# Practice

• Mark 3 hours of digital silence as a sign of holy restraint.
• Reflect on something lost this week. Grieve it honestly.
• Do a slow, ordinary task (laundry, sweeping) as a liturgy of patience.
• End the day with a quiet prayer: “Lord, teach me how to wait without despair.”

# A Rhythm for Remembering

Each day honors not just a planet or a practice, but a holy emotional tone—an interior orientation drawn from the deep Christian past and refracted through the spiritual lens of Lewis’s planetary imagination.

"Let my soul walk this cosmos in rhythm with the Maker’s joy.
Let the stars not rule me—but remind me.
Let each day's emotion become a window—not a wall."

# Appendix C

# Naming the Days

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# The Planetary Week and the Christian Imagination

Each day of the week whispers a name we did not invent.

Sunday. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday.

We repeat them without thinking. But the names have histories—ancient, mythic, and surprisingly coherent. And they invite us, if we dare, to imagine the week as a liturgical space, not just a productivity grid.

# The Days and Their Origins

Here is a quick map of the planetary week as we know it today in English:

The Romans named the days after the seven visible celestial bodies, which they associated with particular deities. When Germanic peoples adopted the seven-day structure, they translated most of the names into their own pantheon—but preserved the order.

What resulted is a beautiful hybrid: a planetary pattern layered with mythic resonance that continues to shape our timekeeping even now.

# But What Has This to Do With Christ?

At first glance, it may feel strange—even dangerous—for Christians to engage with planetary or mythic symbolism. But this concern misunderstands both history and imagination.

The early church lived in a world saturated with pagan time. The months, days, and even hours were named after gods and celestial movements. Rather than reject these wholesale, the church often redeemed and reframed them.

C.S. Lewis understood this instinct well. He did not worship the old gods—but he believed their symbols could be purified. In The Discarded Image and The Ransom Trilogy, Lewis imagines the planetary intelligences not as idols, but as angels—servants of the true God, each bearing an aspect of divine glory.

“The characters of the planets, as conceived by medieval astrology, symbolized spiritual and moral qualities rather than merely physical traits,” Lewis wrote. “They were not to be worshipped, but understood.”

# Redeeming the Week

So what might it mean to redeem the week today?

It might mean treating each day not as a blank slate of productivity but as a spiritual invitation.

• Sunday: Glory and blessing.
• Monday: Quietness and reflection.
• Tuesday: Strength and courage.
• Wednesday: Speech and clarity.
• Thursday: Joy and largesse.
• Friday: Love and tenderness.
• Saturday: Sobriety and grief.

Not in superstition. Not in legalism. But in awareness.

Each day could be a lens. A psalm tone. A theme in the symphony of your life.

# A Christian Week, Sanctified by Feeling

Lewis’s genius was to take what had been discarded—and sing it again in a Christian key. Not because the old notes were perfect, but because they hinted at something real.

The days of the week are already formed in us. They are the trellis on which we live. What if we trained our affections by aligning our prayers, reflections, and emotions with this ancient order?

To do this is not to submit to astrology or paganism. It is to remember that "every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights..." (James 1:17)

The heavens still declare the glory of God. And time—structured rightly—can help us remember.

Want to live this rhythm?

Start with the guide A Week in the Great Dance, which offers emotional and prayerful reflections for each planetary day of the week.

You don't need to change your schedule. Just change your attention.

Let the days speak.

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