TODAY is the Feast Day of Fulbert of Chartres, Bishop of Chartres from 1006 to 1028. A highly esteemed teacher – his pupils called him “venerable Socrates”. He was a strong opponent of the rationalistic tendencies which had infected some dialecticians of his time.
Letters he wrote from 1004–1028 gave much insight into life in his day. He also wrote poetry & many sermons on the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was responsible for the advancement of the Nativity of the Virgin’s feast day on September 8.
When, in about 1020, the cathedral of Chartres burned down, Fulbert at once began to rebuild it in greater splendor.
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April 10th is also the Feast Day of St. Magdalen of Canossa. Born in northern Italy in 1774, Magdalen knew her mind—and spoke it. At age 15 she announced she wished to become a nun. After trying out her vocation with the cloistered Carmelites, she realized her desire was to serve the needy without restriction. For years she worked among the poor & sick, & with delinquent or abandoned girls.
In her mid-twenties Magdalen began offering lodging to poor girls in her own home. In time she opened a school, which offered practical training & religious instruction. As other women joined her in the work, the new Congregation of the Daughters of Charity emerged. Over time, houses were opened throughout Italy.
They focused on the educational & spiritual needs of women, which continues to this day.
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According to Rudolf Stiner’s Calendar of the Soul, this is the Birth Day of the prophets Daniel & Ezekiel. As well as the day Wagner received the inspiration for Parsifal in Zurich, 1857.
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Calendar of the Soul: Third Week [April 10, 2016 – April 16, 2016]
Thus to the World-All speaks,
In self-forgetfulness
And mindful of its primal state,
The growing human I:
In you, if I can free myself
From fetters of my selfhood,
I fathom my essential being.
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Soren Carlsen
The 8th Stage: (Part 9 of the 12 part series) Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being.
Not until the distant future will humanity be able to develop the higher members which correlate to the 8th & 9th stages. Steiner referred to them in his lectures on esoteric Rosicrucianism, correlating them to the innermost layers of the interior earth.
As we continue into these final stages on the path, we see that they are a heightened development of the 1st & 2nd stages, related to the physical & etheric bodies.
In his Rosicrucian writings Steiner used a lexicon in keeping with the time before the Mystery of Golgotha, but for our purposes we will continue to use the life of Christ as our narrative, calling the 8th stage of the Christian Initiation: The Ascension.
For 40 days after the Resurrection, the apostles received esoteric teachings from the Risen Christ. When the Christ returned ‘to sit at the right hand of the Father’ at the Ascension, He became the bridge between the above and below; opening the way for humanity to become the 10th hierarchy.
Since the 20th century, The Christ can be experienced in the etheric of the earth, & because of the Ascension, the human soul can begin to come into contact with the cosmic sphere where Christ derived the forces for His Resurrection Body – The macrocosmic sphere of the Father, where the Atma, or future Spirit man, is derived.
Also at this high stage of initiation the disciple can begin to know the Christ Being, as the Lord of Karma.
As to the 8th & 9th Beatitudes, Steiner brings us back to Occult science, reminding us that as we evolve from epoch to epoch, we don’t just jump right into the new paradigm; there are always some souls who are ahead of the curve, & others that take a while longer to acclimatize.
For example, what the Christ-Impulse brings, enters into evolution for ALL of humanity, – but it doesn’t enter all at once, it comes in such a way that something still remains from the earlier stages of evolution, leaving the way open for Freedom. It is therefore necessary that those who, in freedom, understand the Christ-Impulse, should stand firm. If they are inwardly permeated by the force that proceeds from the Christ-seed, & stand firm on that foundation, they will be able to develop the force of steadfastness illustrated in the 8th Beatitude which corresponds to the Life-Spirit:
“Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”
Here we see it thru Steiner: “Blessed are they who stand under the new order, who stand under Christ and who suffer persecution from that which remains over from the old order!”
Now is a good time to stop & hear a reminder from the good Dr. Steiner to “beware superiority”. He warns us that, especially when the student rises up to the higher levels on the path, there is a danger of thinking we know better than others that may still be working thru the old dispensation. There is a danger of becoming the persecutor ourselves, of criticizing, or feeling the need to censor those on a different path. Having a righteous attitude, calling other anthroposophers “heretic” because they strive in their own way, will only open the student up to the forces of the adversaries that lay in wait on the path.
The 8th layer of the inner earth is in opposition to the Life-Spirit. It is called The Splinterer or Fragmenter. In the Pythagorean School it was called ‘Sphere of Numbers”. The occult schools refer to it as the Shatterer.
Steiner describes this 8th layer: “Everything evil is prepared, organized and brought into the world from here. Quarrelsome people are so constituted that this layer has a special influence on them. This region is the seat of all disharmony, immorality and unrest. Everything there strives against the other; it is the opposite of love. If a black magician were to succeed in reaching it, and some do have the power, the evil in him would grow tremendously more powerful.”
But if humanity succeeds in progressively ridding itself of the immorality of trying to dictate or impose their will onto others, but instead, replaces this unrest with the love & compassion of allowing free will, this zone will calm down.
This will in turn influence the attitudes of all human beings. In the 8th stage of Initiation We must all work together in harmony in order to overcome this disruptive force. That is why this layer was laid into the earth, so that human beings could develop harmony, like a protective sheath for ourselves within the group. All the work we do with our study groups, & the festivals, to build community, make us earnest warriors working together with the guidance of Michael.
The Ascension is the seed of the Second Coming, and the Second Coming is the fulfillment of the Ascension.
This builds the sacred space for the mystery of the Sophia. (Do a Hallelujah & say amen) Which we will explore next…
Until soon
Blessings & peace –
~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg
