~George Mason
Greetings Dear Sisters & Brothers on this auspicious Eve of the Full Harvest Moon, coupled with the ancient Jewish celebration of Sukkot, which brings the community together for a unique opportunity to experience an amazing blend of Honoring the Ancestors, Giving Thanks, & opening to receive prosperity’s blessings…Yes, the season of in-gathering is upon us once again…Sweet with the seal of At-One-ment…
In the New Christian Mysteries this is also the Eve of The Feast Day of St. Michael & All the Heavenly Hosts. Referred to as Michaelmas, a season that really begins during the Perseid Meteor showers, is celebrated specifically on September 29th, & lasts until The Feast of All Hallows.
~hag
TODAY – 99 years ago – on 28 September 1924, Rudolf Steiner rose from his sick bed where he worked at the foot of his unfinished sculpture – the ‘Representative of Humanity’, to give what has been referred to as: THE LAST ADDRESS, GA 238, THE INDIVIDUALITY OF ELIAS, JOHN, RAPHAEL, NOVALIS. Rudolf Steiner died 6 months later on 30 March 1925.
On the eve of Michaelmas, Steiner gives a mysterious example of what is called ‘Spiritual Economy’ – which he had been revealing all thru 1923 in his ‘Karmic Relationships’ series – the idea that powerful individualities can share the results of their initiations which have developed their various bodies: physical, etheric, astral & I, with other worthy souls for the purpose of furthering human evolution.
In this last public lecture, he gives a truncated glimpse into the special relationship between John the Evangelist, who in earlier incarnations was Cain, Hiram Abiff, Christian Rosenkreutz, Count of St-Germain…& John the Baptist, who was the first man Adam, the Zealot Phinehas-grandson of Aaron & great-nephew of Moses, then the prophet Elijah, the painter Raphael, & the poet Novalis…
It is up to us now as part of the Centennial renewal to take up the threads.
Thru Steiner’s 5th Gospel we can understand that John the Baptist worked with all the apostles from the spiritual world after his beheading, becoming like the “overshadowing spirit of the disciples”
And in particular JB participated, along with other powerful individualities, in the first Christian initiation of a human being by Christ Jesus: the ‘Raising of Lazarus’ = An integration of the pure essence at the core of the ancient Mystery Schools with the New Christian Mysteries working simultaneously. And here we see this principle of ‘Spiritual Economy’ or as Marie Steiner called described it: “incorporation secrets, the line of interception of individualities”. For while Lazarus was undergoing this new 4-day initiation, JB endowed Lazarus with his Consciousness Soul which he had achieved as Elijah, & the advanced level of his astral body as Spirit-Self. Bestowing on Lazarus the initiatory title John, which signifies the Air (Hebrew=Ruach) Initiation. Steiner describes the title John as “one who has awakened his higher self, who governs the occult forces of air”.
~Van Gogh
From the Last Address we hear: “At the rising of Lazarus, the spiritual being of John the Baptist, who since his death had been the overshadowing spirit of the disciples, penetrated from above into Lazarus as far as the Consciousness-Soul. The being of Lazarus himself, from below, intermingled with the spiritual being of John the Baptist from above. After the rising of Lazarus, this Being is Lazarus-John, the disciple whom the Lord loved. And he was then able to write the Gospel of John & the Book of Revelation”. ~Rudolf Steiner
This initiation of Lazarus-John, as a representative of future humanity, pre-figured on the micro-level the death & resurrection that Christ Jesus accomplished macrocosmically on Golgotha. Since this was such an important task, other powerful individualities not able to be mentioned at that time by Steiner in the Last Address, were involved:
The Being known as Zarathustra, who had incarnated as the Matthew Jesus, visited by his followers the 3 Magi, merging with the Nathan Soul of the Luke Jesus at age 12, who then left the body of Jesus of Nazareth at the Baptism by JB to allow the Christ to enter, worked now from the Moon Sphere, offering Lazarus his advanced etheric-body (Buddhi).
And it was Aristotle, who later became Rudolf Steiner, working with Michael from the Sun sphere at the Turning Point of Time, made his powers of Atman (Spirit-Man) available to Lazarus-John.
Christ himself bestowed the Higher “I”.
The Raising of Lazarus ~Juan De Flandes
Lazarus’ sister Mary Magdalene kept his physical body intact enough to rise from the grave (even though Martha his other sister said “by this time there is a bad odor…”) Mary worked thru the advanced power of her Sentient Soul to hold him grounded in the physical while he underwent the initiation.
Perhaps that is why some say ‘the Disciple who Jesus loved’ looked like a woman. Some say it was even Mary…
And so dear friends on this eve of Michaelmas thru the inspiration of Rudolf Steiner’s ‘Last Address’, as well as comments he made in connection to other incorporations, such as between Demetrius & Kaspar Hauser, which Steiner spoke about to Count Polzer-Hoditz a few weeks before he died, we can see that at the ‘Raising of Lazarus’ we are dealing with a new kind of Initiation where a human being stands before Christ, reaching from the earthly depths to the highest heavenly heights – Assisted thru the interception of spiritual organs of high initiates working from the Spiritual Worlds: John the Baptist, Zarathustra, Aristotle, & the Apostle of the Apostles Mary Magdalene.
May more threads of our evoultion continue to connect us in our seeking to be ‘Christ in me’.
~hag
28 September 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The full moon closest to the equinox, or Harvest Moon – rises just before sunset. It’s the last of 4 full supermoons in a row in 2023. Also, on September 28, look for the full super Harvest Moon to be about halfway between the 2 planets, very bright Jupiter and golden Saturn.
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
551 BC – Birthday of Confucius, Chinese teacher, editor, politician, & philosopher of the Spring &Autumn period of Chinese history
1203 – Deathday of Alanus ab Insulis, Theologian, poet, teacher at Chartres. Alan’s philosophy was a sort of mixture of Aristotelian logic and Neoplatonic philosophy. The Platonist seemed to outweigh the Aristotelian in Alan, but he felt strongly that the divine is all intelligibility and argued this notion through much Aristotelian logic combined with Pythagorean mathematic
“Do not hold as gold all that shines as gold”
In the Anticlaudianus he sums up as follows: Reason, guided by prudence, can unaided discover most of the truths of the physical order; for the apprehension of religious truths it must trust to faith. This rule is completed in his treatise, Ars catholicae fidei, as follows: Theology itself may be demonstrated by reason. Alainus even ventures an immediate application of this principle, & tries to prove geometrically the dogmas defined in the Creed
Rudolf Steiner speaks extensively about this powerful Platonic individuality in many place such as: Karmic Relationships: Esoteric Studies – Volume III, lecture VI – THE SCHOOL OF CHARTRES
1899 – Deathday of Giovanni Segantini,an Italian painter known for his large pastoral landscapes of the Alps. He was one of the most famous artists in Europe in the late 19th century. In later life he combined a Divisionist painting style with Symbolist images of nature. He was active in Switzerland for most of his life.
TODAY in 1924 – Rudolf Steiner gave his ‘Last Address’ in Dornach GA 238 ‘The Individuality of Elias, John, Raphael, Novalis’ with the Michael Meditation:
Springing from Powers of the Sun,
Radiant Spirit-powers, blessing all Worlds!
For Michael’s garment of rays
Ye are predestined by Thought Divine.
He, the Christ-messenger, revealeth in you —
Bearing mankind aloft — the sacred Will of Worlds.
Ye, the radiant Beings of Aether-Worlds,
Bear the Christ-Word to Man.
Thus shall the Heralds of Christ appear
To the thirstily waiting souls,
To whom your Word of Light shines forth
In cosmic age of Spirit-Man.
Ye, the disciples of Spirit-Knowledge,
Take Michael’s Wisdom beckoning,
Take the Word of Love of the Will of Worlds
Into your soul’s aspiring, a c t i v e l y !
1978 – Deathday of Pope John Paul I, born Albino Luciani, served as Pope until his sudden suspicious death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history.
30 September 2023 – Our Annual Michaelmas Festival & Zinniker Farm Day – Biodynamic preparation making and Michaelmas 2023 – Food for Thought
The time for biodynamic preparation making is upon us. We will be making and burying the chamomile, yarrow and dandelion compost preparations. This offers hands on activity. We will be walking through grass and working in the soil. Please dress accordingly and be ready to get dirty.
After the potluck join Hazel Archer-Ginsberg in an experiential activity at the bon-fire called: Food for Thought –
Bounty: What spiritual gifts have you harvested in your life so far this year?
Farewells: What no longer serves? What is over? Say good-bye/ thank you.
Preserves: What will you keep as seed for the future?
Date: September 30th, 2023 at the Zinniker Farm
Time: 1:30pm, potluck dinner
Please bring a dish to share
Suggested donation: $15-25 for more info.
