Daily Archives: November 12, 2022

Bestowing

We continue from yesterday’s Martinmas insights gleaned from the AAP seminar working with ‘Inner Realities of Evolution’

With the sacrifice –
A joyful self-surrendering –
Transformed into a deed,
From the Spirits of Will –
Rising like incense to the Cherubim,
In the ebb & flow of warmth,
The beginnings of our element of fire
On ancient Saturn – The ‘realm of space-less eternity’ –
Time
The offspring
Of the Thrones & the Spirits of Harmony
Is born.

After a recapitulation of this spiritual activity, in the Ancient Sun stage, there is an atmosphere of enlivening bliss & devotion, as the Spirits of Wisdom witness the willing sacrifice of the Thrones.

This inspires the Kyriotetes to give or bestow their Wisdom into the mix, which becomes the essence behind what we know of as air; enhancing the warmth. This gift is preserved in Time. The birth of bestowing in the universe by the Spirits of Wisdom on ancient Sun in turn gave birth to the Archangels who are the receivers of the giving. But they don’t keep what they receive for themselves, they reflect it back – this becomes light.

We can remember that whenever wind or light occurs, the gifts of the Spirits of Wisdom are whirling out to us. And wherever light appears, hidden behind it are the Archangels; but they are only able to ray forth light because they reflect back the bestowing virtue of the Spirits of Wisdom which has streamed out to them.

JJ Pinkerton

Steiner asks us to:  “Imagine the Spirits of Wisdom situated at the centre of the Sun absorbed in contemplation of the vision of the sacrificing Thrones; and by reason of this vision, radiating forth their own being; and receiving back their radiating being which they sent forth, receiving it reflected back from the surface, so that they receive it back as light. Everything is illuminated…Their own being meets them coming back from outside. They see their own inner being outspread in the Cosmos — and reflected back as light, as the reflection of their own being.

The inner and the outer are the two opposites which we now meet. The earlier and the later are transformed into the inner and the outer; and “Space” is born! Space comes into existence through the bestowing virtue of the Spirits of Wisdom on ancient Sun.”

We can now picture a globe of inner space. In the center, Saturn is recapitulated, we see the Thrones kneeling before the winged Cherubim, sacrificing their own being.  

Then we witness The Spirits of Wisdom surrendering in devotion to this vision at the center of this globe. Their reverence coalesces into an image of sacrificial incense, as air ascending, which streams outward & condenses into clouds at the periphery. The Archangels are born of these clouds of smoke. The gift of the incense is radiated back from them in the form of light. Their essence of light illuminates the interior, creating space. The bestowing of the Spirits of Wisdom are taken back in, becoming the sphere of ancient Sun, consisting of: glowing warmth or heat, the air of sacrificial incense, & light.

Peter Yelling

What a glorious picture, inspiring a heightened mood that invites us to joyfully give of ourselves too, in imitation of these Higher Beings.

And what a blessing to have that essence fully received, so the a gesture in kind comes back – transformed – A gift that keeps on giving – A bestowing that engenders a reciprocation that shows us to ourself.

We can think about how without receiving, giving is incomplete. In a way they are one & the same. Receiving differentiates itself from giving only in terms of time. Receiving occurs in response to giving.

Joseph Iorusso

But what happens when something is given – that is not received?

We will explore what has been called ‘The Sacred Wound’ in the next installment when we enter the ancient Moon embodiment of Earth…

Until then

I leave you with this thought: May we give of ourselves unselfishly;  for as Steiner lays out in this lecture: “a person who is unable to create a spirit of self-surrender cannot achieve higher knowledge. What is the opposite of this attitude of self-surrender? It is self-will, the assertion of one’s own will. These are 2 poles in the souls’ life: loss of self in what one is contemplating, & self-willed assertion of what lies within the self. These are 2 great opposites. If you wish to attain real knowledge & permeate yourself with wisdom, self-will is lethal.

In ordinary life, we know self-will only as prejudice – & prejudices always destroy higher insight.”

So much to ponder as we strive for true becoming

~hag

Elizabeth Wang