2nd Holy Night: Christmas 2020

Silent Night ... Holy Night ... Painting by maha rukab | Saatchi Art
Maya Rukba

Here is the ‘I Think Speech Podcast for The 2nd Holy Night: CHRISTMAS 2020

AltartoDoor500w
Anneli Anderson

With Christmas there should pour into our hearts the fundamental human feeling of love — the fundamental feeling that says: compared with all other forces and powers and treasures of the world, the treasures and the power and the force of love are the greatest, the most intense, the most powerful.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis

Yes, Love – It’s not a sentimental feeling – Love is a crowning force.

StarAngel
Anneli Anderson

On December 25th, we are invited to consider the historical events behind the first Christmas. Using the lens of Anthroposophy, or spiritual science, we can see that a thoughtful way to approach the birthday of Jesus is thru the two Nativity stories in the Gospels, each very different from the other.  I spoke to this yesterday in the podcast for the 1st Holy Night.

File:Epifanía Monaco Uffizi 01.JPG - Wikimedia Commons
Epifanía Monaco Uffizi

St. Matthew’s Gospel points to what we might call the Solomon Jesus, a re-incarnation of the great sage Zarathustra, actually born earlier in a fine house under the star of Bethlehem, where he is visited by the Magi, & then the holy family fled to Egypt to escape the persecution of Herod.

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Giotto

The Gospel of St. Luke points to what we can call the Nathan Jesus, born in a humble stable in Nazareth, a pure divine soul never incarnated before, that part of Adam that stayed in the spiritual world & prepared the way for the Christ.

Fresco San Ambrosius in Milan

The two Jesus children unite when the Luke child is twelve & the Matthew child is 14. We find this story in Luke 2:41-52 when his parents find him teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. As Rudolf Steiner explained in the ‘Fifth Gospel’, which we are reading together every night for our Holy Nights Study, the Luke Nathan Jesus takes on the highest soul forces (“I”) of the wise Matthew Jesus who sacrifices his life on the physical plane.

Jesus in Asia” by RS Sugirtharajah
RS Sugirtharajah

Shortly before the Baptism in the Jordan, when Jesus of Nazareth was 30 years old, that Solomon soul part leaves Jesus & enters Mary, to make room for the Christ at the Baptism by John. Mary takes on this soul part & it opens in her the Divine Sophia. This is beautifully described in Stiner’s 5th Gospel.

During the Renaissance, some artists knew of these profound secrets, & painted this occult theme often showing 2 or 3 sacred children: the Luke Nathan Jesus as a boy & a second older boy, The Jesus from the Matthew Gospel, along with John the Baptist (cousin of the Luke Jesus)

The Shepherds' Sign of the Manger (Luke 2:1-20) -- Christmas Incarnation
Gerard van Honthorst

2nd Holy Night: Christmas Day – The Birth of the Luke Jesus.

Constellation of Aquarius, (Ruling the calves, & ankles of the human body) Symbol: The Water-Bearer

David Taulbee Anderson.

The Sphere of the Angeloi, also called ‘Sons of Life’ or ‘Sons of Twilight’

Jessie Binny

The region of Aquarius, the Water-bearer is connected with the hierarchy of the angels, who have a special affinity with the outward element of water. Inwardly they are connected to the etheric body in human beings, which not only provides the physical body with life, but is also the tableau in which memory is written. That is why the etheric body is called the ‘Water of Life’ in the bible, & why the angels are called the ‘Sons of Life’ in various mystery traditions. It is also why angels are known to be the holders of the ‘memory’ of our past doings. And this is why they are considered to be our Guardian Angels.

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We see these two qualities of the etheric body illustrated in the various mystery traditions – The water of Lethe, which is the draught of remembrance, & Eunoe, the draught of forgetfulness.

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Gaston Bussière

There is a connection with the Egyptian river on which the boat of Isis travels; which represents the life of the soul. It is also known as the Nepenthe given to Isolde which allows her to forget her duty to marry Mark so that she can fall in love with Tristan.

Image result for john the baptist and st. john the divine painting
Murillo

This 2nd Holy Night, is also connected to the two initiates named John in the gospels. John the Baptist & John the disciple Jesus loved, writer of the St. John Gospel & Revelations.

The sign of the Water-bearer represents both the angel & the spiritualized human soul on our way to the next stage of our evolution, empowering us to achieve Imaginative & Moral Cognition which enables us to come into our angel stage.

Leonardo da Vinci

John the Baptist was the representative of this stage in human development. He received a special initiation in which he experienced the Sun at Midnight from the constellation of the Water-bearer, & for this reason he was able to baptize with water to loosen the etheric bodies of those he initiated.

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Cosme Turo

The second Johannes, who we know as the disciple Jesus loved, or St. John the Divine, is always represented by the Eagle, connected to the higher “I”.

Judas the Iscariot -  And It Was Night | Christopher Williams | oil painting
Christopher Willams

The lower Ego is the Scorpion represented by Judas.

This is the night in which we can draw close not only to our angels who guide us & shine the spirit downwards into our souls, but also to the two John individualities who achieved ahead of time, what we are still striving to attain.

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The King and the Shepherd by Edward Burne-Jones

The Christmas mystery must be found anew. We must become as devout with Nature as the shepherds were devout in their hearts. We must become as wise in our inner intuition as the Magi had become in their observation of planets and stars in space and time.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis

25 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As The ‘Christmas Star’: Jupiter & Saturn move apart, they’re sinking quite low in the southwest at twilight.

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Megan Kasper

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Lorenzo Monaco

Festival of Jesus’s birth – Christmas

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304 – Deathday of Saint Anastasia – “Anastasia the Deliverer from Potions”, “Anastasia the Healer” or “Anastasia of Sirmium – venerated as a healer & exorcist. Her relics lie in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar, Croatia. She is one of seven women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass

336 – 1st documented celebration of Christmas in Rome

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1156 – Death day of Peter the Venerable, French abbot of Cluny. Despite his active life & important role in European history, Peter’s greatest achievement is his contribution to the reappraisal of the Church’s relations with the religion of Islam. He was well known for collecting original sources on & writing about Islam & also as the author of vast amounts of correspondence, reflecting his almost encyclopedic knowledge of theological questions. His writings are counted as some of the most important documents of the 12th century. He took a long sabbatical journey to Spain to study with Islamic scholars of all ranks & published the first Latin edition of the Koran

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1642 – Birthday of Isaac Newton, English physicist & mathematician

1923 – Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner

1977 – Deathday of Charlie Chaplin

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1983 – Deathday of Joan Miro, painter

***


December 24- January 5 (No Meeting December 31)

OVER 1000 PEOPLE REGISTERED!

Daily Schedule:

11:00-11:10am CST – Welcome and silent contemplation with the new zodiac image and virtue

11:10-11:20 am CST – Divine Feminine Sharing

11:20-11:30 am CST – Group Sharing and Closing  

** Recordings Posted Daily **

December 24 First Holy Night Presenter: Angela Foster
December 25 Second Holy Night Presenter: Laura Scappaticci 
December 26 Third Holy Night Presenter: Joyce Reilly 
December 27 Fourth Holy Night Presenter: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
December 28 Fifth Holy Night Presenter: Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose 
December 29 Sixth Holy Night Presenter: Ultra-Violet Archer
December 30 Seventh Holy Night Presenter: Deb Abrahams-Dematte
~ ~ December 31 – Pause ~ ~
January 1 Eighth Holy Night Presenter: Lelan Harris
January 2 Ninth Holy Night Presenter: Michele Mariscal
January 3 Tenth Holy Night Presenter: Claudia Knudson
January 4 Eleventh Holy Night Presenter: Jolie Luba 
January 5 Twelfth Holy Night Presenter: Timothy Kennedy 

***

The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Our Annual Holy Nights
December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021 

*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates. 

The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together 

on Zoom from 7 pm – 8 pm CST

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92592034861?pwd=Mmo0eURaWDVqYVlabTdSY1ltcUFxdz09

Meeting ID: 925 9203 4861  – Passcode: Peace

On Tuesday, December 29th, 6 pm – 8:30 pm CST, 

we will join The ARC in Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily 

This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09 Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578  Passcode: Goethe

***

New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call

Masked ball Painting by Marcel Garbi | Saatchi Art

Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 6 pm-10:10 pm CT

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

6 pm CST – Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar

8 pm– 9:30 pm CST – Live Music with Jutta and the Hi-Dukes 

10:10 pm CST – Project Thought-Seed 

The evening ends at 10:30 pm

$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

***

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

http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

Blessings of the Season
~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Festivals & Events Coordinator
for the Rudolf Steiner Branch
of The Anthroposophical Society

5 thoughts on “2nd Holy Night: Christmas 2020

  1. You printed in this blog that the Luke child was born in Nazareth instead of Bethlehem. You might want to correct that, for both children were born there. Only the Luke couple were just visiting to pay their taxes, while the Matthew couple lived there and then had to flee to Egypt; while the Luke couple returned to Nazareth.

    1. Yes, the two children were born in Bethlehem, with the two solstices separating their respective births. The Luke child was taken back to Nazareth, and the Matthew child lived in Bethlehem and received the gifts of the three Magi. This was when he was two years old, and then the father, Joseph, received in a dream the call to take the mother and son into Egypt to be safe from the persecutions. On return, when it was indicated that Herod had died, the father decided to go to Nazareth to live, just to be on the safe side.

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