Dear friends – As we continue to ride the St. John’s Tide I thought to share this interesting painting I came across many years ago: ‘John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene’ by Angelo Puccinelli – This unlikely pairing brings 2 important yet truly diverse individualities working with the Christos, together. Just as the Baptizer prepared the way for the arrival of the ‘Anointed One’, Mary Magdalene was chosen to anoint the ‘Anointed One’ & to prepare the hearts of the disciples to become apostles thru the teachings of the Risen Christ.
~El Greco – Mary Magdalene
And in her connection to The Divine Sophia, in our time now, she works to prepare the way for us to receive the Being of Love in the etheric.
What would it be like to use our natural Summer connection with the wide expances of the etheric environment, to make an offering in the spirit of the New Mysteries?- To let stream up with enthusiasm the cosmic thoughts that have been revealed to us by the Gods & give them back as deeds of Good Will in the world…Just as the extremes of JB & MM have modeled each in their own way…?
Zechariah writing, “His name is John”.
Pontormo, on a desco da parto, c. 1526.
The Gospel of St. Luke describes the birth of John the Baptist – How The Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Highpriest Zechariah, telling him, “your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, & you shall call him John.” (Luke 1.13.) The angel also foretells the task of this being John: “… even from his mother’s womb will he be filled with the Holy Spirit. And he will turn many sons of Israel to the Lord their God again. He will be his forerunner and will pave his way, bearing within him the spirit and power of Elijah, to change men’s hearts so that fathers shall rediscover the meaning of childhood, and those who have become alienated from God shall find the meaning of Good again. So shall he make a well-prepared people ready for the Lord “(Luke 1.15-17.)
In the prologue of the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist right after we hear: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God” – John the Baptist, as the 1st Adam is proclaimed. This Gospel, inspired by the Virgin Sophia, emphasizes the divine spark in humanity, & connects us to the Logos.
~El Greco – John the Evangelist and John the Baptist
The writter of this Gospel – The ‘Disciple whom Jesus Loved’ received the forces of the beheaded John the Baptist, at the rising of Lazarus, earning him the title John as well.
Rudolf Steiner rising from his sick bed for the last time to speak about this connection, chose for his Michaelmas Theme the lecture: THE INDIVIDUALITY OF ELIAS, JOHN, RAPHAEL, NOVALIS, GA 238
And when we choose to take up our task as the 10th Hierarchy of Love & Freedom, making oursleves worthy to work with these great helpers of humanity – as we fulfill the conditions for the conscious rebirth of our individual Higher Self – our spirit-light can shine forth ever more brightly, reflecting the Christ light – This is how the Universal Ego of humanity can be reformed into a New kind of Christened Group Soul – so we can become co-creators of the New Jerusalem.
Dear friends – Be awakened within the dream – We must change our hearts & minds! There are forces trying to distract us from these deep esoteric truths – working to prevent us from achieving our divine human destiny. May we be alert to every sign, & vigilant in our striving to practice Spiritual Science.
Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg
27 June 2023– “Speaking with the Stars”: This evening, the bright waxing gibbous moon will glow near Spica, the brightest star in Virgo the Maiden. The moon and Spica will set a few hours after midnight. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul; The Present Age)
444- Deathday of Cyril of Alexandria, early Church father, prompted the murder of Hypatia
1654 – Deathday of Johann Valentin Andreae – writer of “The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz”
1844 – Deathday of Joseph Smith – Founder of Mormonism
1880 – Birthday of Helen Keller – deaf-blind author & activist. Read her Biography from AFB
https://i0.wp.com/reverseritual.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/adam-kadman.jpg?ssl=1
“John the Baptist could therefore rightly say: ‘I baptise you with water.’ This was the same as saying to his intimate disciples, as he might well have done, that he had received the Aquarius Initiation. *The movement of the Sun through the Zodiac as seen with physical eyes is in the direction from Leo to Virgo; the spiritual movement is from Aquarius to Pisces.* Consequently John the Baptist was able to proclaim something that would work as the forces of the Sun in Pisces and not in Aquarius; also that the Being who was to come would give a higher kind of Baptism than he himself was able to give. The spiritual Sun progresses from Aquarius to Pisces and when this happens the Aquarius Baptism becomes a Baptism with spiritual water — Pisces, the Fishes. Hence the ancient symbol of fishes for the Being who was the bearer of the Christ. Just as John, through very special influences, had received the Aquarius Initiation, so all the mysteries enacted around and in Jesus of Nazareth belonged to a Pisces Initiation. The Sun had moved forward, spiritually, from one zodiacal constellation to another, indicating that Jesus of Nazareth had passed through a Pisces Initiation.
All this is hinted at in St. Mark’s Gospel but such things have to be presented in pictures. Christ Jesus draws to Himself those who are seeking that of which Pisces is the symbol. Hence His first disciples are all of them fishermen. The indication of the Sun’s progression into Pisces is clear when we read the words of John the Baptist: ‘I have baptised you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’ And as Christ passes along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, that is to say, when the Sun has moved so far that its counterpart could be seen rising in Pisces, the fishermen known as Simon and Simon’s brother, James and James’s brother, are inspired to follow Him.”
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA124/English/RSP1985/19101212p03.html
We have been hearing Mark 1 at the altar:
Mark 1
New International Version
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God,[b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[c]—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[d]
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Jesus Announces the Good News
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
Jesus Heals Many
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant.[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
Footnotes
Mark 1:1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One.
Mark 1:1 Some manuscripts do not have the Son of God.
Mark 1:2 Mal. 3:1
Mark 1:3 Isaiah 40:3
Mark 1:8 Or in
Mark 1:8 Or in
Mark 1:13 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested.
Mark 1:40 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
Mark 1:41 Many manuscripts Jesus was filled with compassion
The Testimony of John
19 This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am a voice of one calling in the solitude of the soul, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John 1
The unknown One that stands among the people is Jesus, the Pisces Initiate. He approaches John the next day and John says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the One I said has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me. I did not recognize him (until now)”.
Yes, The turning point in Time brought a shift into the age of Pisces which we are now experiencing.
I would say that Jesus of Nazareth was more than a Pisces Initiate – a uniter of the whole Zodiac – One in the Sun
“John the Baptist had necessarily to receive an Aquarius Initiation, the expression indicating that the Sun was standing in the constellation of Aquarius. Try to understand it in this way: On the day or light side of the Zodiac lie Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, then Libra. The constellations on the night or dark side of the Zodiac are Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Since the last two lie on the night side, the Sun’s rays coming from them must not only traverse physical space but they must send the *spiritual light of the Sun*, which passes through the Earth, through spiritual space. Aquarius Initiates received this name because they were able to confer the water-baptism, that is to say, to enable men, while immersed in water, to be sustained by the power of the spiritual Sun.
[….]
If we trace the course of the Sun in the heavens we find that as the physical Sun sets the spiritual Sun begins to rise. In its day or summer course *the Sun progresses from Taurus to Aries*, and so on; in its night or winter course it will reveal to us the secrets of the Initiation of Aquarius or Pisces. Physically, the Sun’s course is from Virgo to Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries; spiritually its course is from Virgo to Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius to Pisces. The spiritual counterpart of the course of the physical Sun is its passage from Aquarius to Pisces.
Consequently John could say: He must increase but I must decrease. My mission is one of which you will have a picture when the Sun passes from the sign of Aquarius to that of Pisces. I am an Aquarius Initiate and I am not worthy to give you the secrets of the Sun in Pisces. I am not worthy to unloose the shoe-latchet of the One I am to proclaim to you.”
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA124/English/RSP1985/19101218p02.html
Yes, that was part of the Forerunner’s mission. Very powerful contemplation.
As well, we have a further contemplation in considering Aries and Taurus at the top of the Son of Man arrangement. Aries represents the raising of Lazarus, the other Forerunner, and Taurus represents Cephas, who asks, “What about this man”? on the Sea of Tiberius, some forty days after the resurrection of Christ.
We have to look at it like this; the spiritual Sun appears to move every day through the signs of the zodiac in the order of seven daytime signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra; and then five nighttime signs: Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
The physical Sun moves in retrograde from Taurus to Aries to Pisces to Aquarius and so forth. These are the longer periods of 2160 years, and why we are presently in the sign of Pisces since 1413 AD. We are 610 years into Pisces, and this will eventually lead to the entry into Aquarius around 3573 AD. This movement of the physical Sun molds the human being according to cultural goals of spiritual advancement.
https://youtu.be/ozwO_HX8rf8
We have to live through this first.
haha Yes & we are
Luke 18:31 – ‘He who was announced by the prophets of old, the Son of the spiritual realms, born of the spirit, behold, He hath appeared.’
My version of Luke 18:31 begins:
31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” 34 But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+18&version=NASB1995
This finishes the time spent in Ephraim, and on the way to Bethany they pass through Jericho, where blind Bartimaeus receives his sight.
The problem with this assertion about Lazarus (Evangelist John), and John the Baptist is that Lazarus has died, as both the Gospel of John, ref. chapter 11, and the Gospel of Luke, ref. chapter 16, tell us. Luke is quite specific in saying that the Soul and Spirit of Lazarus has crossed the Threshold and resides in Abraham’s bosom, and with no possibility of returning to Earth. Thus, the raising of Lazarus can only be the physical body and the etheric remnant known as the Linga Sharira. This is the miracle that Christ performed as the vessel for the return of the Soul and Spirit of John the Baptist, who had not crossed the Threshold with his beheading, but was working in close conjunction with Christ as the Elijah-John stream from the outside, as described with particular clarity in the Gospel of Mark lectures of Rudolf Steiner.
When the event of the first Pentecost occurred, Lazarus-John, who was first proclaimed as the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved, gained his name as an Apostle – John the Evangelist. It is still the Baptist, having returned to Earth in another body, but with a higher calling, owing to Christ. His experiences in life make him very qualified to transcribe the Book of Revelation in old age. He remembers is cousin very well.
——-
~El Greco – John the Evangelist and John the Baptist
“The writer of this Gospel – The ‘Disciple whom Jesus Loved’ received the forces of the beheaded John the Baptist, at the rising of Lazarus, earning him the title John as well.”