Mirrored

Cam Smith

“It is doubtless correct that the ‘Christ in us’ is not really different from what theological teaching terms the ‘Holy Spirit’, but it seems to me that we should nevertheless make a distinction between these two concepts in relation to something else.

The Holy Spirit & the Christ within, are one & the same, but at different stages of development.

One could also say that the ‘Holy Spirit’ is the (female) Mother principle of the (male) Son principle of Christ.

We owe the ‘Christ within’ to the development which proceeds in us through the ‘Holy Spirit’ (or Christ-Creator)” ~ from a letter to Wilhelm Hubbe-Schleiden written by Rudolf Steiner. From the book ‘The Archetypal Feminine, Chapter 4: Isis-Sophia and the Great Mother by Manford Schmidt-Brabant

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Steller is the golden seed from which the corn arises,
Earthly is the Sun on the hill from which springs god’s day…
My body nourishes some unfolding time & purpose
My heart lifts like the Moon
& power quivers on the water…
I shine cooper – bronze
& silver in the mirror of the unveiled Isis…
Today
The fixed stars & the circling planets are glad…

~hag

Chart showing relationship of Big Dipper and Arcturus.

21 May 2022- “Speaking with the Stars”

Sarazhin, Denis_Wind
Holy Spirit as Wind Denis Sarazhin

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (RSarchve.org)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY ( From Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul, The Present Age Mag., Wikipedia, RSarchive.org)

Bernardino Luini

Birthday of Mary Magdalene, sister of Martha & Lazarus.The Gospels of Luke & Mark say 7 demons were cast out of her by Jesus. She became one of Jesus’ most celebrated disciples. Within the four Gospels she is named at least 12 times, more than most of the apostles. She is most prominent in the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus, John 19:25–26 notes that she stood by the cross, near the Virgin Mary & the Apostle whom Jesus loved. According to all 4 Gospels,[Matthew 28:1–8] [Mark 16:9–10] [Luke 24:10] [John 20:18] she was, either alone or as a member of a group of women, the 1st to testify to the resurrection of Jesus. John 20 & Mark 16:9 specifically name her as the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection.

“…As the Spiritual Soul is the principle in which the Spirit Self develops, this principle is called the “mother of Christ,” or, in the occult schools, the “Virgin Sophia.” Through the fertilisation of the Virgin Sophia the Christ could be born in Jesus of Nazareth. In the occult school of Dionysius, the Intellectual Soul was called “Mary,” and the Sentient Soul “Mary Magdalene.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Gospel of John (Basle): Lecture V

1265 – Birthday of Dante – according to Rudolf Steiner “…Dante became a seer at the age of thirty-five”. “…All leaders of mankind, who were aware of how the higher spiritual life of man arises out of his lower nature, have comprehended the significance of Easter. Dante therefore described his awakening — in his Divine Comedia — as taking place on Good Friday.”

“…Dante had a friend and teacher Brunetto Latini, who, as I think you will recognise from what we shall presently say, may be described as an Initiate in the true sense of the word.”

“…When you follow the teaching of the Templars, there at the heart of it is a kind of reverence for something of a feminine nature. This femininity was known as the Divine Sophia, the Heavenly Wisdom. Manas is the fifth principle. the spiritual self of man, that must be developed, for which a temple must be built. And, just as the pentagon at the entrance to Solomon’s Temple characterises the fivefold human being, this female principle similarly typifies the wisdom of the Middle Ages, This wisdom is exactly what Dante sought to personify in his Beatrice. Only from this viewpoint can Dante’s Divine Comedy be understood. Hence you find Dante, too, using the same symbols as those which find expression in the Templars, the Christian knights, the Knights of the Grail, and so on. Everything which is to happen [in the future] was indeed long since prepared for by the great initiates, who foretell future events, in the same way as in the Apocalypse, so that souls will be prepared for these events.” ~ Rudolf Steiner, The Temple Legend

1471 – Birthday of Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, & mathematician

1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification. Rudolf Steiner speaks about him qite a bit in his Karmic Relationships series.

“…many Initiates of bygone days appear again as personalities who with the concepts and notions prevailing to-day cannot be recognised as former Initiates because they are obliged to use the body which their epoch provides. Garibaldi is just such an example…In Hibernia, in Ireland, there were deep and penetrating Mysteries whose influences still made their way across to Europe in the early centuries of the spread of Christianity. And there one finds an Initiate whose path in the 8th to 9th centuries after the founding of Christianity led him from Ireland to the region corresponding approximately to modern Alsace. Under the stormy conditions then prevailing, this Initiate achieved much for the cause of true Christianity. To this Initiate came three pupils from different quarters of the world — three pupils who entrusted themselves to him. These three pupils came to him — one from far away, another from nearer at hand. But in the Irish Mysteries there was an inviolable decree that an Initiate to whom pupils had entrusted themselves must not abandon them in the later incarnation but must accomplish in earthly life something that will hold them to him, something that establishes a bond between him and these pupils. The Initiate of whom I am speaking was born again as Joseph Garibaldi, with that visionary quality of will which in olden times had been able to express itself in a quite different form from that possible in a body belonging to the 19th century. Garibaldi received only a very inferior education, quite unlike the education that was typical of the 19th century. The three others I have named were the pupils who in the past had come to him from different parts of the world. But the impulse working from the one incarnation over into the other was far deeper and more potent than external principles of action…And so in spite of the radical difference in sentiment and conviction, Garibaldi could not abandon, for example, Victor Emanuel...” ~Rudolf Steiner

1907 – Bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco

The Guardian

1941 – The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing over 2,100 men

Dear friends of astrosophy, As a tribute to Willi Sucher on his death date, May 21, 1985, Jonathan Hilton is announcing and posting his new book on astrosophy. The link is on the homepage: https://www.astrosophy.com/ ~With warm greetings, Jonathan Hilton, Astrosophy.com

2006 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java leaving more than 5,700 dead & 37,000 injured.

Yoram Raanan

Announcing an exciting Event on Ascension Thursday, May 26th   7 – 8:30 pm Eastern time.

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – Celebrating the Festival of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Eurythmy with Maria Ver Eecke

“In heavy clouds let Him ascend
And so also let Him downward tread.
In cooling streams let Him be sent,
In flames of fire blaze His descent,
In air & essence, sound & dew
To permeate our whole earth thru” ~Novalis

Ascension is a Festival of the Elements, & of the Hierarchies, it relates to the Transfiguration & the fulfillment of the promise of the ‘Second Coming’. Together we will explore the mystery of ‘As Above so Below’.

            Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a trans-denominational minister, essayist, lecturer, performer, and poet. She writes and curates ‘Reverse Ritual, Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year’ and the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast. Hazel’s been the Cultural Events and Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago for over 10 years. She is a member of the Central Regional Council, the School for Spiritual Science, the Esoteric Youth Circle, and the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.

                  Register by contacting Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, by Sunday, May 22nd. You will receive an email with the zoom link on Tuesday May 24.

Hope to see you there!! – YES! Please feel free to spread the word!

Yours, Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, for the the Eastern Region

A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community

with the Eastern, Central and Western Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Sunday 29 May 2022 – 3 – 4:30 pm PT, 4-5:30 MT, 5-6:30 pm CT, 6-7:30 pm ET

We will be working with Rudolf Steiner’s THE FIFTH GOSPEL GA 148, Lecture II, 2 October 1913, Oslo

The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, our individual “I”, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is strongly felt during this time of the consciousness soul age. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create this type of culture, and the opportunity is here for each of us to meet, human to human, where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength comes from our personal development and is enhanced by weaving our gifts together with others, knitting our social world in conscious community.

For more info. contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

Topic: All Regions Whitsun

Time: May 29, 2022 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

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The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC
Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation
June 1, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“Anyone who approaches these mysteries today must feel that they are confronting and challenging themselves by striving for the virtues of Parzival, while knowing that — because of modern conditions — they are in fact someone else also, the wounded Amfortas. Today we bear this divided nature within us: aspiring Parzival, wounded Amfortas. That is what self-knowledge must lead us to feel. From this recognition will flow the forces which make a unity again of this duality, and will thus advance us a little further in world evolution.”~ from Chapter 15,  Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 15 “Acknowledging Amfortas,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Berlin on 7 February 1913 (GA 144, lecture IV), will be the focus of the June 1 meeting.

A transcript of the entire lecture 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:

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There is a knighthood of the 21st century
whose riders do not ride through the darkness
of physical forests as of old,
but through the forest of darkened minds.
They are armed with a spiritual armor
and an inner sun makes them radiant.
Out of them shines healing,
healing that flows from the knowledge
of the human being as a spiritual being.
They must create inner order, inner justice,
peace and conviction in the darkness
of our time. ~Karl Konig

Agenda for this meeting (CST)
 7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Mariarosa – pages 117-123b
          Marianne – pages 123b-129
7:50  Conversation
8:25   ID volunteers for next meeting
8:28  Close with verse

34 thoughts on “Mirrored

  1. Well, I was blessed to be there – there was an aura of loving community present. Both you and Maria contributed to that, and of course Diane is a wonderful host. It was so good to feast on thoughts of the Ascension – I can’t recall if you said it, or if the thought just popped up, that Ascension is an ongoing process, i.e. that every time we enter the spiritual world, if Christ is in us, the Logos is ascending into the clouds. I’m still reveling in that thought, so thank you. Cheers. Hoping to see you on Sunday, virtually.

  2. The risen Christ definitely had a different form. Mary didn’t recognize him at the tomb, thinking he was the gardener. Likewise with the two followers on the road to Emmaus – not till he broke bread with them did they know who He was. Just read Lecture 2 of the Fifth Gospel in preparation for Sunday’s joint Whitsun festival, and Steiner also points out that He had a different form. Also, John in Revelation 1 sees the one “like a Son of Man”, who certainly appeared in a different form, otherwise John would have recognized Him right away.

    1. This is very good on your part, but we don’t need to joust. Mary did experience the gardener at the empty tomb, who she did not recognize. This is the Master Jesus, who had been the Zarathustra Ego behind the Nathan Jesus for 18 years. Why would she know him until he first appears? Then, she experiences her own “Rabboni”, which is the Nathan Jesus that had been incorporated with Christ for three years. You see, there is a difference. So, when we consider all this and then the very important article from Luke 24, about the two men returning to Emmaus, we get a further clue. One of the two is Cleophas, who was the husband of the extant Mary, who had been the stepmother of Jesus. She was there when Christ was crucified, and so, he returns to Emmaus after the experience of the empty tomb, and wonders who this naive man is who appears to him, seemingly not knowing anything about what has been going on for the last three days.

      Then, it gets good because the Nathan Jesus presents himself fully with the scope of what has actually been going on for generations. I am so glad that you give this from Luke 24. As you obviously know, Cleophas and the other, rush back to Jerusalem in order to give testament of what they have just experienced. As such, they become witnesses of Christ’s first presentation to the disciples on the evening of the first day.

    2. Yes, makes sense that The Christ after the Resurrection would appear in an etheric or angelic form, which was at first unrecognizable.
      Our task is to develop a new conscious clairvoyance, which was bestowed on the disciples during the 40 days…but to do that we must first trust that we don’t have to ‘see’ to believe. The essence of the Christ is everywhere – we make the choice to recognize it or to deny it…
      Thanks for being at the Ascension presentation Maverick, it meant a lot that you chose to be there to share in that community building moment…
      Thank you…

      1. Christ appears after the resurrection in a completely spiritual form. This is facilitated by the Nathan Jesus, who is recognizable to all the disciples because He has been with them for the three years. Christ implemented something at the Last Supper that would necessarily alter the consciousness of the disciples and make them receptive to His appearance in a more etheric form. Thus, physical sight became clairvoyant in their etheric bodies, and this is how they were able to perceive Him.

        There is a controversial doctrine in which this conversion of appearance from physical to phantom is made a matter of discussion. Steiner was a follower of what is called, “Docetism”, which means that Christ eventually appeared in His spiritual body with the resurrection.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docetism

        I, too, was contemplating your presentation while it was occurring. Kudos for another opportunity to contribute thoughts on the 10:10 wheel of circular movement.

        1. For me nothing of the life of Christ can be described as illusion – And I doubt that Steiner was a ‘follower’ of this thought…He brought in for us the hard to describe concepts of the reality of the Resurrection body which I spoke about as being derived from the sphere of the Father, & the Phantom body, which of course sounds strange in English, but which is the beginning of what will become for us Sprit Man…

          I wish you would have added to the conversation last night…Thanks for being there…
          xox

          1. I was referring to this aspect of Docetism, which is clearly anthroposophical:

            “Other groups who were accused of docetism held that Jesus was a man in the flesh, but Christ was a separate entity who entered Jesus’ body in the form of a dove at his baptism, empowered him to perform miracles, and abandoned him upon his death on the cross.”

  3. My sense tells me that we don’t really understand the Christ. I encountered a question this morning that strongly challenged me. It was this – in the Transfiguration, “did Moses and Elijah give strength to the Christ, or gain strength from HIm?” My first reaction was, “I’ve got this – obviously they gave Him strength”. But then it hit me that I don’t really have a true understanding of how great and powerful this Christ being that lives in me is. Of course, I like to think I do, but then it hits me how ignorant of a posture that really is. Now my answer to the question is that they gained strength from Him, strength they’d need to stand courageously as they’d face death as the two witnesses in Rev. 11, since neither of them had to experience death when they incarnated as Moses and Elijah. I see a bit of this same attitude in your comment here – like me, you feel you have an understanding of this being. I now feel that we all are in some sort of illusion that our finite minds can comprehend the Christ being. Trying not to be critical, but I just feel that we’re all in this illusion together.

    1. True, to Understand the Christ we must know The Sohia, the Wisdom of Christ…
      Perhaps the question can be framed differently…Maybe the ‘giving of strength’ is not the point to the tablau shown in the transfiguration?
      It seems to me these 3 beings are each standing in their own power, holding their own in the roles that they have taken on to bring the Christ impulse to bear in the world. We must strive to imitate that in our own lives. Imitatio Christi…

      I certainly would never say I ‘Understood’ the Christ or even that I could claim the Christ is in me…I can only seek & strive…

    2. Steiner describes the significance of the Transfiguration in his lectures on the Gospel of Mark. Christ wanted to give a very special experience to Peter, James, and John, His inner three disciples. He is prompting them to ask about reincarnation in order to get them to realize that Elijah did return in order to declare the Messiah. He returns as John the Baptist. By placing the figures of Moses and Elijah on either side of Christ, which prompts Peter to want to set up three tabernacles, the flow of Time is expressed. Moses represents the Past, as seen with Genesis, Christ represents the Present, as seen with the turning point of time, and Elijah represents the Future, which flows into the Book of Revelation.

  4. We as individuals are now the “upper room”; that is, Christ is in us so that our minds, influenced by our hearts, are now practising what Dr. Bolte-Taylor calls, in her recent book, “Whole-Brain Living”, now that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. The throne room scene is now complete and balanced – this has been accomplished through the Mystery of Golgotha. The only thing hampering its complete realization is our consciousness level. Just like the disciples in the first Upper Room, we’re unaware of exactly what the Godhead is doing. Some of us, like Hazel for example, have more of a head start in that understanding, so it’s fitting and proper that she coax us along in our understanding. Appreciate your insights Hazel; I’m trying to adjust to the artistic way you present them, since I don’t have an artistic bent.

    1. It is very interesting to consider the meaning of the “Upper Room” as it relates to the disciples. We know that Christ gave the Last Supper there, and that the Event of Pentecost, which occurred ten days after the Ascension of Christ, also took place there in the “Upper Room”. To say that “we as individuals are now the upper room” is an awesome insight, Maverick. Yet, as you indicate, what is the level of our consciousness today, some two millennia after the Mystery of Golgotha.

      We have much to chew and digest if we were to analyze the nature and potential of an actual increase of consciousness in our day and age, and yet, it was the outset of the 20th century, in the double zero year of 1900, that it all broke forth. In 2022, we of the gnostic orientation lament to some extent, and it is very justifiable if one looks at the pathetic world situation today, and if Steiner predicted that it was going to get worse, we still have these soothing words of overall encouragement in facing the rigors of what it means to have a Christ as Savior:

      “Until the Mystery of Golgotha, Christ’s dwelling-place was the sun. Therefore in that the etheric body of man strives towards the sun, it is striving towards the Christ. Now picture to yourselves the scene on the day of the Ascension. In spiritual vision the disciples see Christ Himself rising heavenwards. A vision is conjured before them of how the power, the impulse of Christ unites itself with the etheric nature of man, in its upward striving; of how at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha man was facing the danger of his etheric body being drawn out into the sun like a cloud, but how, in its sunward streaming, it was held together by Christ. This picture must be understood, for in truth it is a warning. Christ is akin to those forces in man which naturally strive towards the sun and away from the earth, and will always do so. But Christ remains in union with the earth. Thus the Christ Impulse holds man securely on the earth.

      In this picture of the Ascension, something more is manifest to the disciples. Suppose that the Mystery of Golgotha had not taken place and that numbers of men had become clairvoyant to the degree to which the disciples became clairvoyant at this moment. These men would have seen the etheric bodies of certain human beings departing from the earth in the direction of the sun, and they would have come to this conclusion: ‘This is the path man’s etheric body is taking. The etheric-earthly element in man is being drawn away into the sun.’ But now, by carrying to its fulfilment the Mystery of Golgotha, Christ has rescued for the earth this sunward-striving etheric body. And thereby is manifest the fact that Christ remains united with mankind on the earth. Thus something else became apparent here, namely that through the Mystery of Golgotha Christ brought to pass within earth-evolution a cosmic event. Christ came down from the heights of spirit, linked Himself with humanity in the man Jesus of Nazareth, fulfilled the Mystery of Golgotha, united His evolution with that of the earth. It was a cosmic Deed accomplished for the whole of humanity.”

      https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/AscenPent/19230507p01.html

      1. I like where you’re going with your thoughts here Steve – this seems to me to be one of your best comments, drawing us in with your imaginative vision of what it would have been like to have been there with the disciples in the days between Golgotha and Pentecost. A couple of thoughts that came up while reading your comment: You say near the end that Christ did a “cosmic deed”; actually, here on Earth, if we’ll take the time to look outwards and reflect, the hierarchies are daily, moment by moment, doing cosmic deeds for our benefit. The difference that I see in the Ascension is that Christ ascended in full view of his disciples, as if to say “You can and will also do what I’m doing; I’m showing you this as a Pattern, an Example, so that you’ll follow Me”. The lesson was not lost on them, even on Paul who wasn’t present – he was able to say “For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21) You also refer to our etheric body, and its upward striving. All that you said is quite true, but we also need to take into account what Steiner revealed to us (GA 174, Lecture 19) that our etheric body is confined within our cerebral system, a confinement that was part of a system of confinement designed by our Creator, along with higher beings, a system which is also used to confine our astral body and ego. We can’t deny that our etheric body strives to be free, but this comes with a danger if we haven’t prepared ourselves for it through initiation. Steiner tells us “The etheric body, when it is freed, has mainly ahrimanic characteristics [my note – to the uninitiated soul]. Envy, jealousy, avarice and similar states will be pathologically exaggerated, always in connection with a kind of spreading into the environment, a kind of letting oneself go.” If this sounds like our current state of affairs, it demonstrates the danger of humanity freeing their etheric bodies without going the path of the disciple of Christ, having the 3-year initiation period “in the desert”, and concluding with this time rich in meaning between Golgotha and Pentecost.

        As I read your first paragraph and visualize myself being in the Upper Room, I realized a couple of things. First is that the “Judas” in me has to go – the part of me that has my own idea of how life should go. That part of my character can’t stay in the same “room” with those who will remain loyal and devoted to the higher plan for my life. The other thought that came was that there will be times when I’ll fall asleep even after being asked to pray with/for the Christ. If I could get into my consciousness the seriousness of what’s taking place, I’d probably make more effort to stay awake. But the truth is that I don’t yet perceive all that’s happening on a cosmic level, and my tendency is still to think that today is just another day in the life of a disciple of the Master of Masters.

        1. There is a very enigmatic moment during the Ascension event. It could be related to the Transfiguration experience that occurred for Peter, James, and John. For Christ to ascend right before the eyes of all the disciples could definitely be seen as also a transfiguration. Two mysterious figures stand with them, and give encouraging words of consolation:

          The Ascension

          9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

          https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+1&version=NASB1995

  5. Beautiful article, and POD. And thank you for informing us on Jonathan Hilton’s new book, and all the exciting programs coming up. Cheers.

      1. Hi Hazel,

        One of the important lectures that Rudolf Steiner gave concerning Ascension and Pentecost is this one from May 7, 1923.

        https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/AscenPent/19230507p01.html

        Herein, he actually describes what the disciples experienced when the Christ ascended after the 40 days of the resurrection. This is when they experienced the Mystery of Golgotha in their etheric bodies. Then, ten days later, at Pentecost, they experienced the Mystery of Golgotha in their astral bodies, which made them Apostles. This is what we mortal humans still need to understand to this day.

        Maybe you can make something of this on May 26th, which is a Thursday. June 5th appears to be still open, and it is a Sunday, which is a very good day!

        1. Yes, This is part of what I will Bring on Ascension Thursday. The Mystery of Golgotha brings a renewal of our Physical body, Ascension gives the opportunity for a revival of our etheric & Pentecost prepares out astral body for the Spirit Self…
          I am working with the Regional Councils to bring the Whitsun festival online the Sunday before 29 May, since I am doing an in person Festival on Whitsunday 5 June in Viroqua…

          1. I was wondering why you were bumping up Pentecost to May 29th! This is all the better, though, because I can send this now concerning the descent of the Realm of the Spirit-Selfhood, which is another name for what descended upon the heads of the Apostles. It is in our future, as well.

            https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/AscenPent/19240604p01.html

            “Yet the Cosmos too is threefold, for what the Cosmos lacks at the lowest level, it adds above. In the Cosmos the Etheric is the lowest: on the Earth the Physical is the lowest. On Earth the Astral is the highest; in the Cosmos the highest is that of which man has to-day only the beginnings — that out of which his Spirit-Self will one day be woven. We may therefore say: In the Cosmos there is, as the third, the highest element, the Spirit-Selfhood.

            Now we see the stars as expressions of something real. I compared their action to a gentle stroking. The Spirit-Selfhood that is behind them is indeed the Being that lovingly strokes, — only in this case it is not a single Being but the whole world of the Hierarchies. I gaze upon a man and see his form; I look at his eyes and see them shining towards me; I hear his voice; it is the utterance of the human being. In the same way I gaze up into the far Spaces of the world, I look upon the stars. They are the utterance of the Hierarchies, — the living utterance of the Hierarchies, kindling astral feeling. I gaze into the blue depths of the firmament and, perceive in it the outward revelation of the etheric body which is the lowest member of the whole world of the Hierarchies.

            Now we may draw near to a still further realisation. We look out into the far Cosmos which goes out beyond earthly reality, even as the Earth with its physical substance and forces goes down beneath cosmic reality. As in the Physical the Earth has a sub-cosmic element, so in Spirit-Selfhood the Cosmos has a super-earthly element.

            Physical science speaks of a movement of the Sun; and it can do so, for within the spatial picture of the Cosmos which surrounds us, we perceive by certain phenomena that the Sun is in movement. But that is only an image of the true Sun-movement — an image cast into Space. If we are speaking of the real Sun it is nonsense to say that the Sun moves in Space; for Space itself is being radiated out by the Sun. The Sun not only radiates the light; the Sun creates the Space itself. And the movement of the Sun is only a spatial movement within this created Space. Outside of Space it is a movement in Time. What seems apparent to us — namely, that the Sun is speeding on towards the constellation of Hercules — is only a spatial image of the Time-evolution of the Sun-Being.

            To His intimate disciples Christ spoke these words: “Behold the life of the Earth; it is related to the life of the Cosmos. When you look out on the Earth and the surrounding Cosmos, it is the Father whose life permeates this Universe.

            The Father-God is the God of Space. But I make known to you that I have come to you from the Sun, from Time — Time that receives man only when he dies. I have brought you myself from out of Time.

            If you receive me, you receive Time, and you will not be held spell-bound in Space. But you find the transition from the one trinity — Physical, Etheric and Astral — to the other trinity, which leads from the Etheric and Astral to Spirit-Selfhood. Spirit-Selfhood is not to be found in the earthly world, just as the Earthly-Physical is not to be found in the Cosmos. But I bring you the message of it, for I am from the Sun.”

            The Sun has indeed a threefold aspect. If one lives within the Sun and looks down from the Sun to the Earth, one beholds the Physical, Etheric and Astral. One may also gaze on that which is within the Sun itself. Then one still sees the Physical so long as one remembers the Earth or gazes down towards the Earth. But if one looks away from the Earth one beholds on the other side the Spirit-Selfhood. Thus one swings backwards and forwards between the Physical and the nature of the Spirit-Self. Only the Etheric and Astral in between are permanent. As you look out into the great Universe, the Earthly vanishes away, and you have the Etheric, the Astral and the Spirit-Selfhood. This is what you behold when you come into the Sun-Time between death and a new birth.”

            I’ll send the better version to your other e-mail 🙂

            1. This year I am doing the Whitsun Festival with some colleagues from the Eastern & Western Regions & it is always hard to get everyone to agree on when works best, many of us had other commitments on the actual Whitsunday…

              Yes this is one of my fav. lectures from Stiner, very esoteric. I really dig into this part espeically: Physical science speaks of a movement of the Sun; and it can do so, for within the spatial picture of the Cosmos which surrounds us, we perceive by certain phenomena that the Sun is in movement. But that is only an image of the true Sun-movement — an image cast into Space. If we are speaking of the real Sun it is nonsense to say that the Sun moves in Space; for Space itself is being radiated out by the Sun. The Sun not only radiates the light; the Sun creates the Space itself. And the movement of the Sun is only a spatial movement within this created Space. Outside of Space it is a movement in Time. What seems apparent to us — namely, that the Sun is speeding on towards the constellation of Hercules — is only a spatial image of the Time-evolution of the Sun-Being.

              1. Hazel, this is a very good excerpt from that lecture to quote. I find it quite extraordinary, in fact, when we consider something else. Some five years before the lecture on June 4th, which demonstrates unequivocally that Christ is the Being of Time, Steiner gave a lecture which was designed to announce a so-called, “New Revelation”. This is the lecture from December 20, 1918, and wherein Steiner indicates that the Spirits of Formative Forces, the Exusaia, have passed the regency of earth evolution on to the Spirits of Time, or Archai, which is led by Michael.

                https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA186/English/C52/19181220p01.html

                Thus, from this point forward, all anthroposophical endeavors became practical works in Time from the former works in Space, owing to the Exusaia, who were all about the creating of ‘Universal Human’ from bottom to top. This is how we have the explosion into the various works of the so-called “daughter movements” today. Time undergoes a further compression in the 20th century, and Michael is the One overseeing it on behalf of the Christ.

                Now, in the 21st century of the 3rd millennium, we carry on with all this business. Time is our key element. It even involves adjusting our calendar coordinates in order to accommodate conflicting agendas, which means celebrating Whitsunday a week in advance for the cyber audience. This is just one of those adjustments.

                The real goal is to advocate for the descent of the Spirit-Selfhood, which I see that you have strained out of your remark. Why is that? Isn’t that what we seek to achieve as the collectivity known as Humanity?

              2. There is no straining. There are of course many layers, each of which must be penetrated with consciousness, otherwise the golden thread becomes an abstract slogan…The descent happens, it is up to us to meet it…I create the ecclesia with you & all those who ‘Will Time’ & then it is up to each of us, to not only receive, but to hone, & put to work this Spirit-Self into our right-livelihood…The co-creation of the chalice can be most effectively done in-person on Whitsunday in the upper room. The public event on the 29th will set the stage…The interesting thing is that because of the Ascension, Time is again linked with Space – Christ ‘sits at the right hand of the Father’, & so it is for us that we can be gathered in cyber Space & link up with each other & most importantly – become one with the Trinity…

              3. ‘Christ ‘sits at the right hand of the Father’

                My understanding is that Christ is in the Astral World, which has made it possible to experience Christ in the Etheric Body. Eventually, Christ will ascend to Lower Devachan, and we will experience Him in the Astral Body, and then Higher Devachan, where He will be experienced in the Ego. These are all levels of the Upper Room. As such, Christ is still an evolutionary being, and still working on behalf of humanity and the earth. No time yet for sitting.

              4. The image in Mark’s Gospel is not a literal sitting of course, more like a ladder or a leminscate between the Ground of the Father, where Christ’s Resurrection forces derive, & from which we will achieve the stage of ‘Spirit Man’, looping back to us here on earth at whatever stage of development we are at…

              5. It is important to differentiate between Christ and Jesus. Christ ascends into the clouds, which is indicative of His entry into the Etheric realm of the Earth in order to continue to evolve there for the good of humanity. Jesus is the one that ascends to the right hand of the Father. Christ indicates this in several places in the Gospels towards the end, concerning the destiny of the Son of Man.

                When Mary Magdalene reunites with Jesus at the empty tomb, as indicated in John, 20:17, he says: “Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;”

                Thus, Christ enters earth evolution until the very end of Time, and Jesus goes to the Father. His Spirit becomes subject to reincarnation.

        2. Finally got the time to read the lecture you highlighted in your comment, Steve. It’s a good one to better understand the disciples’ experience, no doubt. Those ten days, between Ascension and Pentecost, must have been a real time of soul-searching for the disciples – they had half the picture from the Ascension, but had to wait for the other half until – well, they didn’t know when? They couldn’t have known that it would be ten days until they received the other half.

          Only one comment I have on this lecture – Steiner says that it’s ONLY through Anthroposophy that humanity can know the complete picture, and that only through spiritual understanding. I disagree with him on that – my own feeling is that it’s only through the prayer of Christ, as recorded for us in John 17, that we can know the full picture. I see Anthroposophy as a sign-post, one that points to the complete picture, while the complete picture is only made knoweable because of the words of the Logos in John 17. Jesus said in John 14:16 that He would ask the Father to send the Helper, and in John 17:24 we read the fulfillment of that promise – His request that we might be with Him where He is, and that we may behold His glory. This can only be made possible through the Holy Spirit. It’s only because of the Christ’s DESIRE that we be “with Him” that we can understand the Christ Consciousness as we presently do.

          1. I like very much that you see in this chapter a kind of essence of Christ and how we can see the veritable faith in knowing that it is true at the same time. Anyone who concentrates attention on this chapter 17 can experience an epiphany of sorts. Yet, who will do it? That is why Steiner’s encouragement concerning the Gospel of John is about how it contains a larger astral force which is designed to come right down into the etheric body. Thus, the Gospel of John contains the essence of the so-called, ‘New Mysteries’. This astral force is astounding, and has to be applied to the other three gospels.

            This is why Steiner comes across as kind of arrogant. The complete picture still has to be considered by the extant human being. One still has to reflect upon itself. That is why the Ego has broken forth. Does that make sense?

            1. Interesting thought Steve – thanks for this. I can sense your high regard for the Gospel of John also. There are times when I brush Steiner’s words off as being somewhat arrogant, but when I stop and appreciate the level of cognizance he was at, I have to commend him for managing the level of self-control he had. He managed to keep a spirit of humility; perhaps it was through his occasional sense of humor?

              1. Yes, I think his sense of humor likely helped him from time to time in order to appease the stress of what he was revealing to the unwashed. Now, when you see him as being arrogant, it seems to say a lot about you. Why would that be? Do you know more of what is going on? Faith in Paul is good for what it is worth, but Steiner gave a new advantage. He never left Faith in the lurch, but only advocated for the Gnosis that would help to understand Saul’s conversion to Paul. This is exactly where we are at today in terms of the anthroposophical faith and gnosis. As such, they combine as a synthesis, which produces a third component. This is the threat that we have been talking about. The War of All Against All is a very real threat. Some take it seriously, and it has little humor to it, but Steiner had a flair for giving the dark side of humor.

  6. Hi Hazel,

    In the first lecture of GA 149, “Christ In The Spiritual World And The Search For The Holy Grail”, Rudolf Steiner makes something very clear concerning the Divine Sophia, or “Wisdom”. He says that She separates off from Herself “Desire”, or ‘Achamod’, at the 29th Aeon. And, this is how the ground for the Material World begins.

    I have been contemplating this lecture for two days, and grokking into your wonderful presentation to the Faust branch about the Sibyls, which has so many wonderful paintings coming from Michael Angelo on the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

    Now, here is something that caught my eye. Isn’t it interesting that when Siddhartha Gautama reached 29 years of age, he received enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and it was all about the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path of Enlightenment?

    And do we not know that this was about the problem of “Desire”, and how to overcome it on a higher level of knowledge and being? Could Mother Sophia be working here?

    https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA149/English/RSP1963/19131228p01.html

    1. Well, we certainly know that the Astral body of the Buddha palyed a role in the Luke Jesus, so it makes sense that these beings are all working together

      1. Yes, indeed. And we even have evidence that behind the Buddha, who formed the Heavenly Host of the Angeloi at the birth of the Nathan Jesus, is His predecessor, Krishna. And we know about the identity of Krishna. Thus, the Buddha saw in the infant born in the manger in Bethlehem at the winter solstice, the successor to Krishna. Now, isn’t that extraordinary?

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