“…Whoever absorbs the Temple Legend receives something which, in a specific way, shapes his thinking in an orderly fashion. And it [all] depends on ordered thinking. This Temple Legend is as follows:
Once one of the Elohim united with Eve, and out of that Cain was born. Another of the Elohim, Adonai or Jehovah-Yahveh, thereupon created Adam. The latter, for his part, united with Eve, and out of this marriage Abel was born. Adonai caused trouble between those belonging to Cain’s family and those belonging to Abel’s family, and the result of this was that Cain slew Abel. But out of the renewed union of Adam with Eve the race of Seth was founded.
Thus we have two different races of mankind. The one consists of the original descendants of the Elohim, the sons of Cain, who are called the Sons of Fire. They are those who till the earth and create from inanimate nature and transform it through the arts of man. Enoch, one of the descendants of Cain, taught mankind the art of hewing stone, of building houses, of organising society of founding civilised communities. Another of Cain’s descendants was Tubal-Cain, who worked in metal. The architect Hiram-Abiff was descended from the same race.
Abel was a shepherd. He held firmly to what he found, he took the world as it was. There is always this antithesis between people. One sticks to things as they are, the other wants to create new life from the inanimate, through art. Other nations have portrayed the ancestor of these Sons of Fire in the Prometheus saga. It is the Sons of Fire who have to work into the world the wisdom, beauty and goodness from the all-embracing universal thought, in order to transform the world into a temple.
King Solomon was a descendant of the lineage of Abel. He could not build the temple himself; he lacked the art. Hence he appointed the architect Hiram-Abiff, the descendant of the lineage of Cain. Solomon was divinely handsome. When the Queen of Sheba met him, she thought she saw an image of gold and ivory. She came to unite herself with him.
Jehovah is also called the God of created form, the God who turns what is living into a living force, in contrast with that other Elohim who creates by charming life out of what is lifeless. To which of these does the future belong? That is the great question of the Temple Legend. If mankind were to develop under the religion of Jehovah all life would expire in form. In occult science, that is called the Transition to the Eighth Sphere. But the point in time has now arrived when man himself must awaken the dead to life. That will happen through the Sons of Cain, through those who do not rely on the things around them, but are themselves the creators of new forms. The Sons of Cain themselves frame the building of the world.
When the Queen of Sheba saw the temple and asked who the architect was, she was told it was Hiram. And as soon as she saw him, he seemed to her to be the one who was predestined for her. King Solomon now became jealous; and indeed, he entered into league with three apprentices who had failed to achieve their master’s degree, in order to undermine Hiram’s great masterpiece, the Molten Sea. This great masterpiece was to be made by casting it. Human spirit was to have been united with the metal. Of the three apprentices, one was a Syrian mason, the second was a Phoenician carpenter, and the third was a Hebrew miner. The plot succeeded: the casting was destroyed by pouring water over it. It all blew apart. In despair the architect was about to throw himself into the heat of the flames. Then he heard a voice from the centre of the earth. This came from Cain himself, who called out to him: ‘Take here the hammer of the world’s divine wisdom, with which you must put it all right again.’ And Cain gave him the hammer. Now it is the spirit of man which man builds into his astral body, if he is not to let it remain in the condition in which he received it. This is the work which Hiram now had to do. But there was a plot against his life. We shall proceed from there next time.
I wanted to recount the legend up to this point, to show how, in the original occult brotherhoods, the thought lived, that man has a task to fulfil; the task of restructuring the inanimate world, of not being satisfied with what is already there. Wisdom thus becomes deed through its penetration of the inanimate world, so that the world should become a reflection of the original and eternal spirituality.
Wisdom, Beauty, Strength are the three fundamental words of all Freemasonry. So to change the outer world, that it becomes a garment for the spiritual — that is its task. ~Rudolf Steiner, THE TEMPLE LEGEND, GA 93. PART II. Concerning the Lost Temple and How it is to be Restored (In connection with the Legend of the True Cross, or Golden Legend), 15 May 1904, Berlin
1 July 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: On the eastern side of the sky, the Summer Triangle holds sway after dark. Its top star is Vega, the brightest on that entire half of the sky. The brightest star to Vega’s lower left is Deneb. Farther to Vega’s lower right is Altair, with fainter Tarazed just above it. The Milky Way (if you have deep darkness) runs across the Triangle just inside its bottom edge. As evening grows late and even Altair rises high, look left or lower left of Altair, by hardly more than a fist, for the compact little constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin. ~earthsky.org
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
July 1 is the 182nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 183 days remain until the end of the year.
550 – Birthday of St. Gall, one of the twelve companions of St. Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. They took with them learning and the written word. Their effect on the historical record was significant as the books were painstakingly reproduced on vellum by monks across Europe. Many of the Irish texts destroyed in Ireland during Viking raids were preserved in Abbeys across the channel. A popular story has it that as Gall was travelling in the woods of what is now Switzerland he was sitting one evening warming his hands at a fire. A bear emerged from the woods and charged. The holy man rebuked the bear, so awed by his presence it stopped its attack and slunk off to the trees. There it gathered firewood before returning to share the heat of the fire with Gall. The legend says that for the rest of his days Gall was followed around by his companion the bear.
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~From our own
Bodies we give
Birth to all time
In its season…
Look now
With new eyes
& see the wise star within…
~hag
The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) “We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17 Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 16 “The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I) AND Chapter 17 “Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link. * Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org |
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group. This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.” The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010. This will be a Zoom conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference: Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106 Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com Agenda for this meeting (Central Time) 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Stefano – chapter 16 Camille – chapter 17 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse |
Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question
Workshop & Annual Meeting with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America
Saturday 16 July 2022
In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in
Ann Arbor & on Zoom
Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm
& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET
NO COST for attendees
The Parzival Quest, is calling to humanity at this time of the Consciousness Soul. Explore aspects of this Quest through art, and movement, via embodiment processes and sensing gestures in the tangible and intangible sheaths of being human. Inspired by devout anthroposophist, artist Michael Chekhov, and guided by CRC member, Chekhov master teacher Lisa Dalton.
Then stay for supper and for the Central Region’s ‘Annual Meeting’—we haven’t had one since 2019, so it’s about time to fill you in on what’s happening!
Alberto Loya is stepping down from the CRC. He’s been with the Council since 2009—thank you for your many contributions, Alberto! We look forward to sharing memories and tributes during the meeting.
And Mary Mertz who has been working with the CRC for the last year will be offically inducted onto the Council.
2:00 pm ET– Welcome, singing, Chekhov movement, biography work
3:30 – 3:45 pm ET– Break
3:45 – 5:00 pm ET – Our Parzival Quest and Question
5:00 pm ET – Be our guest for dinner
6:30 – 7:30 pm ET – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz, as well as giving reports on 2020 and 2021.
The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya,
working with Mary Mertz
Please RSVP to Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com
If you can’t attend the workshop, we hope you can join in the
Annual Meeting.
Let us know whether you’ll be attending in person or via Zoom.
To inquire about accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House,
contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org
Zoom meeting info (please note — passcode required)
Jul 16, 2022
The zoom can be accessed from 2 pm. You are welcome to attend all or part of the workshop. The main event will be the Parzival Quest from 3:45 pm – 5 pm Eastern Time & the AGM 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86449905249
Meeting ID: 864 4990 5249
Passcode: 923117
Renewing the Mysteries:The Founding of The Christian Community & the Burning of the First Goetheanum Spring Valley, NY – August 8-13, 2022 REGISTER NOW!* lectures * artistic workshops * conversation * evening performances I will be offering a program on Tuesday 9 August for the Free Initiative 2:30 -3:30 pm ET |
Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries? The keynote speaker is Daniel Hafner, priest of the Christian Community. He will address this theme with a particular focus on the colored windows of the First Goetheanum. The Act of Consecration of Man will be celebrated during the week and there will also be a Class Lesson for members of the School of Spiritual Science. Venue: SPRING VALLEY, NY, Threefold Community, and The Christian Community *REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THIS EVENT: A conference on the scale currently planned requires that a minimum number of participants register by July 20th. INFO OR QUERIES: Rev. Paul Newton paulknewton@msn.com (845) 517-4101 Sponsored by The Christian Community Spring Valley Area and the Threefold Branch of the Anthroposophical Society |
By coincidence I published this Steiner lecture this morning:
https://martyrion.blogspot.com/2022/07/yoga-union-of-purusha-and-prakriti-sons.html
Hi Larry – I love these syncronicities. The Temple Legend is an important thing to contemplate. In my work with the Rose Cross it is very powerful. This particular version even though it is incomplete is full of potent clues into many aspects of our exsistence.
Coincidence is God’s way of saying “Yo!’
haha, YES! There are clues everywhere tapping us on the shoulder, whispering in our ear…Throwing the brick off the roof!
Its beautiful when we are interweaving these things together…
Blessings dear Brother…
XOX