11 June 2020 – Today is the Death-day of Alexander the Great. On this day in 1924, Rudolf Steiner wrote a letter to Ita Wegman, from Koberwitz, during the Whitsun Agricultural Course, speaking about her incarnation as his former pupil, when he was Aristotle, & she, Alexander The Great.
Aristotle & Alexander, just as before, when they worked as Eabani & Gilgamesh; & as Cratylus & Artemisia, after death, they continued to be active in the spiritual world for a long period of time.
In 869 AD the entelechies of Aristotle & Alexander met, in the spiritual world, with Haroun al-Raschid & his counselor.
This coincided with the Council of 869 in Constantinople during which the concept, of spirit was eliminated from the 3-fold human being, & was replaced with the polarized concept of body & soul.
Haroun al-Raschid & the opposing forces that he represented did not want Christianized Aristotelianism, only the teaching of natural science that has gradually assumed the form of today’s scientific materialism, devoid of any true concept, any reverence for divinity or creation; devoid of spiritual science.
This meeting was a spiritual confrontation that in earthly life was later reflected in the Quest for the Holy Grail & the striving for a union of early European Christianity with the Arabic cultures that had preserved Aristotle’s works.
“For the natural science that Aristotle was able to pass on to Alexander needed for its comprehension souls that were still touched with the spirit of the Ephesian age, the time that preceded the burning of Ephesus. Such souls could only be found over in Asia or in Egypt, and it was into these parts that this knowledge of nature and insight into the Being of Nature were brought, by means of the expeditions of Alexander. Only later in a diluted form did they come over into Europe by many and diverse ways – especially by way of Asia Minor, Africa and Spain – but always in a very diluted or, as we might say, sifted form. The writings of Aristotle that came over into Europe directly were his writings on logic and philosophy. These lived on, and found fresh life again in medieval scholasticism.”
“…For we can see how the expeditions of Alexander and the teachings of Aristotle had this end in view: to keep unbroken the threads that unite humanity with the ancient spirituality, to weave them as it were into the material civilization that was to come, so they might endure until such time as new spiritual revelations should be given… Both streams [Aristotle and Alexander] have lasted up to the very moment when it is possible to begin a renewed life of spirit.” ~Rudolf Steiner, World History and the Mysteries in the Light of Anthroposophy, 1910.
They did not fully incarnate again until the 8th & 9th centuries. This time under the ruler-ship of the Archangel Raphael, connected with Mercury, to bring to light the emergence of the Quest for the Holy Grail – one of the 1st new manifestations of Christ now working as the Spirit of the Earth.
Of that incarnation Rudolf Steiner said, in a private conversation: “I was obliged to incarnate in a stream completely foreign to me in order to acquire the Christian fervor which I needed for the Thomas Incarnation.“
Brief indications by Rudolf Steiner point to the figures of Schionatulander (Ita Wegman) & Sigune (Rudolf Steiner), who play an important, yet mostly overlooked role, in the Parsifal legend.
Sigune lives by the side of Herzeleide, she loves Schionatulander but she longs to read the stellar script, called “Brackenseil” – the leash belonging to the hound whose name is “Gardevias” — Guardian of the Pathways. (Does this indicate that Sigune is still reluctant to make the descent into incarnation from the world of stars?)
She yearns to read further in the 12-fold stellar script – of Brackenseil. In the attempt to bring it to her, Schionatulander is killed by Orilus who is actually looking for Parsifal. Schionatulander dies instead of Parsifal; & he becomes a guardian spirit of Parsifal guiding his further steps.
Sigune then becomes the bearer of this new striving to transform the cosmic Intelligence thru the Christ Impulse, & incarnates again in the family of the Aquinos near Naples. He enters the Order of the Dominicans. From the quiet “cloister cell” he exercises a world-wide influence as the most illustrious scholar of the ecclesiastical system of thought, known as Scholasticism. He is Thomas Aquinas. His teacher – Albertus Magnus.
To grasp spiritual reality in pure thinking, to lead pure thinking with mathematical precision from idea to idea, from judgment to judgment — this was the faculty developed by Scholasticism & bequeathed to the spiritual history of humankind, above all through its great teachers: Albertus Magnus (Marie Steiner) & Thomas Aquinas (Rudolf Steiner).
The Arabian culture adhered firmly to the idea of cosmic, universal Intelligence. Thomas Aquinas taught of the personal, human Intelligence, of personal, human thinking & personal immortality. The Arabians persisted in their contention that every human being can be fructified by the universal Intelligence, but that there is no personal thinking, no personal immortality. After death a human being passes into the ocean of Cosmic Intelligence, so they said, where there is no personal immortality. For Thomas, whose thinking was combined with fervent piety, the world of Ideas was connected with spiritual reality which comes to expression in the world of the senses around us, behind which are Beings he calls “Intelligences”.
Along the way, our thinking evolved from the cosmic realms of “Intelligences” to realms of human intelligence such as exists today. We progressed from the Grail Castle to King Arthur’s Castle. This was the message carried by Reginald of Piperno, the young Dominican (Ita Wegman), to Aquinas, the older Dominican (Rudolf Steiner).
In the same series of lectures, reference is also made to the fact that in the “Arthurian stream” it was not yet realized that the Cosmic Intelligence had fallen away from Michael & had now come to human beings.
The Teachers of Chartres behind the stream of the Grail Castle, were representative of the Intelligence that had now become Christian & human – a “polar contrast” to the Castle of King Arthur.
The message brought from Alanus ab Insulis by Reginald of Piperno, the young Dominican, was that the Teachers of Chartres, now in the spiritual world, had realized the significance of personal immortality, realized that the Intelligence had become human, were aware of the Christian thinking in the Grail stream, & its connection with the world of stars, but that this knowledge would have to sleep for a time in the spiritual world, so that the intellect could be born in freedom.
And now in our time the 2 streams must merge, to create a unity within the world.
From the Karmic Relationships lectures: “Aristotle and Alexander had centuries earlier witnessed, from the spiritual world, the departure of Christ from the sphere of the Sun towards Golgotha. This called forth in their souls “the challenge to set a new beginning – not to continue what had been on the earth before this mystery, but to begin completely anew.”
“Henceforth, Aristotle and Alexander must work – who already in antiquity were equal to the concepts and ideas of the fifth post-Atlantean age.” – Karmic Relationships, 1924.
Poem written by Rudolf Steiner to Ita Wegman:
There, where the light
In face of green demons
Is tremulous,
And the primordial Powers
Born of the light
To wrestling men
Proclaim the riddle,
Which from the demons
Only by men can be enticed forth
And brought to the Gods
There soul found soul
In order to offer someday to waiting Gods
The secrets of demons
In a darkened place
That light may be born,
Where for want of this deed
Eternal darkness held sway.
Such a place there is
It must vanish
Make it someday vanish,
So speaks the admonishing
Gaze of Michael.
The Age of Love & Freedom is characterized by the fact that human beings must learn to see thru the attacks made by the ‘demons’. We cannot run. We cannot hide. We are called to summon their secrets from these demons – to learn what is behind their working – to gain insight, responsibility & wisdom. And to pass on these mysteries of ‘evil’ to the Hierarchies- our ever present helpers, to receive the knowledge we must gain from this encounter.
We are progressing from head to heart in the advent of the Consciousness Soul age. We must learn the secret that the Fox told the Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.”
Let us step outside, into the world, to meet our self, to meet each other, to stand in the glory of the Sun. And at night, under the myriad canopy of stars we will be invited to open our heart & share in the cosmic conversation of our collective evolution.
~hag
323 – Deathday of Alexander The Great
1184 BC – Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned
1194 – Fire at Chartres Cathedral
1346 – Birthday of Charles IV (the last initiate to become Holy Roman Emperor)
1364 – Deathday of Agnes of Hungary, patroness of Konigsfelden monastery
1924 – Rudolf Steiner sends Ita Wegman a letter speaking about her incarnation as Alexander The Great.
1963 – Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam
1963 – John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that would revolutionize American society. Proposing equal access to public facilities, end segregation in education and guarantee federal protection for voting right
1994 – End of Soviet occupation of East Germany
***
POD
~Birthed by a bird song
Foretold in the stars
All that I am
Released in a Summer Storm
Said I should fly
~hag
***
Friday 19 June 2020 – Front Range Anthroposophical Café presents:
‘RING of FIRE’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
- What is the Spiritual Significance of a Solar Eclipse on Summer Solstice?
- How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?
We look forward to seeing you on Friday 19 June 2020 shortly before 6 pm (Pacific), 7 PM (Mountain) 8 pm (Central), 9 pm (Eastern).
Here is the link to our Anthroposophical Café and all you need to do to join us is click on it: https://zoom.us/j/294724669.
Warmly, Karen vann Vuuren, Tom Altgelt, Jamie York, and our growing circle of Café Friends – It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
***
In this post you write,
“Brief indications by Rudolf Steiner point to the figures of Schionatulander (Ita Wegman) & Sigune (Rudolf Steiner), who play an important, yet mostly overlooked role, in the Parsifal legend.”
Yeet in this other post: https://reverseritual.com/beyond-alexander-the-great/ you write the opposite,
“This points us to the figures of Schionatulander (Rudolf Steiner) & Sigune (Ita Wegman), who play an important, yet mostly overlooked role, in the Parsifal legend.”
Which one is it do you think?
O gosh, that’s so funny, yes, it’s easy to reverse things, haha
Schionatulander (Rudolf Steiner) & Sigune (Ita Wegman),
Dear Hazel,
What seems most important concerning Thomas Aquinas is that his incarnation was prepared in the 12th century by Alan de Lille of the School of Chartres. Rudolf Steiner had indicated in lectures from 1911 involving the birth of Christian Rosenkreutz, GA 130, that a school existed in Europe that could not be named at the time in which this preparation was conducted. We now know that it was the School of Chartres that Steiner reveals and explains here:
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240713p01.html
This is the place where the so-called “College of Twelve” were developed and numbered in anticipation of the birth of Christian Rosenkreutz. As such, Thomas Aquinas becomes the 12th. His role was to be the redemption of Aristotle as the leading figure of our fifth cultural epoch. This was imparted as part of the College, whose task was to nurture CR in regaining strength from his previous ordeal as Lazarus at the time of Christ.
Yes, So beautiful to live into these relationships.
Thank you!
Yet, how do we account for this revelation from lecture III of GA 238:
“Alexander and Aristotle themselves lived on. Once only they paid as it were a fleeting visit to the earth in the first Christian centuries in a district not without interest for the Anthroposophical Movement. Then they returned again into the spiritual world and they were together in the spiritual world at a certain time after Haroun al Raschid and his counsellor had left the physical plane once more.”
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA238/English/APC1957/19240910a01.htm
Yes, this is intriguing…
Feeling inspired after reading your post… just what I needed… some perspective…
Thank you dear Hazel…
xoxo
So interesting to look at the long term to see the big picture that we each shape with the threads of our lives intertwining & manifesting life tapestry…
May we weave a whole cloth in wise
harmony
Dear Hazel, Sigune and Schionatulander are not widely known, they play a minor role in the Parzival saga. The Swiss author Adolf Muschg, in his novel Der rote Ritter, The Red Knight (that is Parzival of course) fully explains the relationship between the two on the soul level, highly recommendable. Sigune and Schionatulander are a lovers.
Why do you relate Sigune to Rudolf Steiner and Schionatulander to Ita Wegman and not vice versa? Schionatulander brings the „Brackenseil“ with the 12 stars, the zodiac, the connection to the spiritual world (not only the soul world of the planets) to Sigune. But Sigune lets the Brackenseil go and asks Schionatulander a second time to bring it to her, back to her. Schoinatulander tries to do so but pays with his life for it. Well this gives the most famous motive of their story, Sigune mourning the dead Schionatulander on her laps.
This is what the German wiki says among others about Sigune: Sigune shows her loyalty to the dead man by lamenting for him all her life and testifying to a kind of religious marriage with the dead man before God. Finally, Sigune dies as an incluse in an abandoned hermitage in prayer for the dead knight and proves once again her boundless love for Schionatulander. The burial of Sigune in the sarcophagus of Schionatulander, which was arranged by Percival, symbolises a union of the two lovers in death. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigune
Ottmar
Greetings O –
Thank you for the further research, is it in English?
I have thought alot about the relationship of Sigune & Schionatulander, perhaps you are right that it should be reversed…?
I couldnt find a translation into English, sorry. There are some anthroposophists who have written about this novel like Sophie Pannitschka.
Like Aristotle, Thomas and Rudolf Steiner were the “leading figures”, the “spiritual teachers”, Schionatulander was also the “leading” figure in respect to Sigune.
There are some special features with this “couple” though. Sigune and Schionatulander were lovers and not co-workers. Muschg in his novel shows it was a very special couple. (I think his work his a piece of what we call “exact phantasy”, a piece of art that is an image of a spiritual truth.)
Rudolf Steiner told us that great individualities of the pre-christian era often come back in their first christian incarnation as much less important or weaker persons, see Hamlet and others. A transformation takes place; it s not only a continuation of previous incarnations. This in a way applies to this couple as well.
Yes, that is why i feel drawn to reverse the attributes, to give Steiner a female incarnation,
& it also seems to point to a through-line connected to Enkidu, the wild man…
A more general question can be connected with this: When does the sex change from one incarnation to the next and when doesnt it. For which reasons? After how many incarnations is it necessary to change the sex? etc.
Yes, to me it like an in-breath & an out-breath, we must have both.
But for great initiates like Steiner, perhaps that is not the case…
Hazel, you mentioned Cratylus and Artemisia at the Mystery of Ephesus, and yet, it can be shown that Cratylus lived at the time of Socrates as a young man. Socrates was born about ten years after the death of Heraclitus of Ephesus.