Here’s the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast version for your Listening Pleasure.
Greetings Friends – As you know I get a lot out of exploring the various feast days & birth & death days inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s “Calendar of the Soul,”: with its weekly verses that express how the changing seasons in the natural , & in our own inner lives are helping our consciousness evolve.
According to this original ‘Calendar of the Soul’, Today January 2nd is the Feast Day of Abel, a keeper of sheep. A shepherd accepts life as the Creator provides it.
And of course we all know that according to the Bible, he was the first person to die; slain by his brother Cain. Cain was fundamentally opposed to the life of a simple shepherd. His destiny was to offer up the work of his will, cultivating & changing what was given in nature. A lot to contemplate here.
And it’s interesting that today is also the Feast Day of Seth, whose name means ‘placed’ or ‘appointed’, in Judaism, Christianity, & Islam, Seth is recognized as the third son of Adam & Eve, appointed as a replacement for Abel, holding the qualities of both older brothers in a balance.
Rudolf Steiner shares a story called “The Golden Legend” which was imparted to the pupils of occultism in the form of an image. The legend tells that Seth, was called by Michael to approach the Cherubim with the flaming sword guarding the gate of Paradise. He was found worthy & was allowed to enter. There he found the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life with their branches intertwined into one tree. From this tree Seth took three seeds, following the command of the Angel who guided him. He kept the three seeds and when Adam died, he placed them into Adam’s mouth. And a tree grew out of Adam’s grave; this tree revealed a writing in flaming letters — the words: “Ejeh Asher Ejeh. I am who was- Who is- & Who shall be.”
Seth took some wood from this tree and many things were made out of it: among them the branch which became the magic rod of Moses.
And this tree multiplied; from its wood the portal of Solomon’s temple was made. And later on, when it had passed through many other destinies, it became the Cross upon which the Savior hung. And so the legend connects the wood of the Cross of Golgotha with the tree which grew out of Adam’ s grave from the seeds of the Tree of Paradise.”
And in a minute you will see why I am interweaving these seemingly diverse images together when we will explore the obvious connections with the 9th Holy Night.
But 1st the foundation is laid to show that today is also the Birthday of Melchior, the oldest member of the Magi. The King of Persia who brought the gift of gold to Jesus.
It is also the deathday of Theodorus of Cyrene an ancient Libyan Greek who lived during the 5th century BC. The only first-hand accounts of him that survive are in 3 of Plato’s dialogues, but he is famous for the mathematical theorem now known as the Spiral of Theodorus, which is the perfect lead in for the 9th Holy Night which is represented by the symbol of a Vortex – a representation of the Constellation of Cancer, The Crab (ruling the ribcage) This is the Sphere of the Cherubim – Remember, that was the being guarding the gates of paradise who allowed Seth to enter. The Cherubim are the Spirits of Harmony.
The Circle of the 12 Zodiac can be traced back to the dance of the Cherubim working from the world-periphery down into our primal beginnings in the ethers of Old Sun, to create a kind of cosmic thorax, a protective rib cage around the Sun/heart.
The sign of the Crab stands at the highest point of the circle of the zodiac, embracing the whole circle in its protective shell. The Crab is a modification of the vortex, an ancient occult symbol, which out-pictures the harmonious transition between cycles.
Steiner tells us: “In the higher worlds, there is a process which appears also in the physical world: the rotation of a vortex. You can observe this phenomenon if you watch a starry nebula. There you see a spiral. That is on the physical plane. But you can observe it on all planes. You find that one spiral swirls into the next”
All transitions: including World Evolution, in its various transformations thru out time; the shift from great & small; the precession of the equinox’s; & even the seasonal round, are directed by the Cherubim– the spirits of harmony. They take-up the designs of the Seraphim, the ‘architects of the gods’ above them, & move it toward expression by handing it down to the Thrones. Here we see the harmonious interaction that occurs between the hierarchies.
The spirals of the vortex provide the revolving movement, while the space in-between the arms of the vortex relates to a rest, or pralaya, a pause before the spiral transitions into a new phase.
Some ‘revolutions’ from 1 condition to another can take a more dynamic character, something more drastic like the flood; or the ultimate example of the ‘Turning Point of Time’- Christ’s entry into world evolution (Matt: 21-25 describes this kind of forceful expression shown in particular scenes from the life of Jesus)
Interesting to note, that John the Baptist, was Born under the sign of the Crab, who in previous lives had been Elijah & before that Adam, the first earthly man, who then became after his death, a kind of group soul for the apostles, fortifying them like a protective shell, around their human zodiac circle; a rib-cage around Christ-Jesus, the Sun-heart of the 12.
John the Baptist was able to recognize the pure nature of the Nathan Soul living in Jesus of Nazareth, that part of himself that was separated out before the fall, held back in the Sun sphere, so that it could unite with Christ in His descent to earth. ( The meeting of Mary with her cousin Elizabeth shows this)
We see a connection with the Cherubim & Adam (JtB) & Eve (the Matthew Mary) at the fall, when the human being was cut off from the Trinity-the realm beyond the Zodiac, & the way was barred by the Cherub with the flaming sword.
This is a pre-figuring of John’s ‘Voice of Conscience’, which proceeds from the realm of the Cherubim. Our impulses of will, sprung from Conscience, was/& is, a necessary requirement for an understanding of the Christ impulse.
And It was the Buddha who prepared the way for Conscience to arise during the time of Ancient India, which stood under the sign of the Cancer/Crab at that time in history. Many of John the Baptist’s sermons were a reflection of the Sermon at Benares, because the angel of Buddha was inspiring him.
The Age of the Consciousness Soul is a further preparation for this morality of conscience, because ego consciousness requires a lighting up of thought in the will. This is an ability to understand the intentions behind actions – Moral Cognition – which is the seat of the will. Ever asking: Are we willing to heed the voice of conscience, & foster the imaginative inspiration from the realm of the Cherubim in our heart-thinking?
Perhaps we need to practice the Virtue: Unselfishness becomes catharsis. Aristotle coined the term catharsis-which comes from the Greek meaning “to cleanse or purge” so that the way may be opened; then we can transition gracefully in our journey back to the Godhead.
See you in the spiraling vortex.
& May our transitions be grace full ~Hag
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2 January 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Just as the stars are coming out of the twilight, face north & look up. Cassiopeia is now a flattened M shape canted at an angle. Only an hour or so later, the M is horizontal! Why? Constellations passing near the zenith appear to rotate rapidly with respect to your direction “up.”
The Quadrantid meteor shower is predicted to peak in the hours before dawn January 3rd, The light of the waning gibbous Moon will dilute your view of the fainter meteors, but the occasional bright one should shine through.
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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
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Nancy Poer
Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar,
+ An Artistic exploration, Singing & Eurythmy
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
Blessings of the Season
~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Events & Festival Coordinator
for the Rudolf Steiner Branch
of The Anthroposophical Society
