79 thoughts on “René Querido”

1. Hazel,

   I would like to dedicate this sonnet I wrote in 1987 to René Querido who died the day before St. John’s day in 2004:

   =================================

   SAINT JOHN’S TIDE

   The earth breathes out its summer truth in leaves —-
   umbrellas over tattered planet skin —-
   revealing memories of winter fears. Earth grieves
   for negligence, the purely mortal sin.

   At Saint John’s Tide, the children shout
   and leap across the fiery abyss
   of twigs that symbolize the burning out
   of last year’s sins —- they do believe in this.

   He leapt for joy inside his mother’s womb,
   when news of cousin Jesus’ coming filled
   the universe —- two sisters in one room
   possessing every hope that gods had willed.

   The turning point of human history:
   the pregnant earth is still a mystery.

   ==============================
   from “Post-Existential Sonnets,” Folio I
   by Tom Mellett, Austin, Texas, 1987
   ==============================

   https://steiner98.tripod.com/Sonnets/index.html

   Reply

   1. Dear Tom, thank you for sharing your wonderful St. John’s sonnet with us! And for dedicating it to Rene Querido, who died on 23 June 2004. I’m certain that Rene appreciates your sonnet very much. Blessings to you, old friend!

      Reply

2. HOW RENÉ QUERIDO LOVINGLY GUIDED ME THROUGH A MOMENTOUS KARMIC CRISIS JUST 12 HOURS AFTER HIS DEATH.

   by Tom Mellett

   After Jennifer and I went through an amicable divorce in Austin, TX in 1998, I moved to the Nashville, TN area where I taught undergraduate physics labs at Vanderbilt University. When that adjunct position was eliminated in late 2002, I applied for teaching at a Waldorf high school and was hired in 2003 by Highland Hall in Northridge, CA in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles. I taught the Physics main lesson blocks in the HS and also a few math classes.

   I had a good experience that first school year 2003-04, enjoyed the students, parents and fellow faculty as well as the Anthroposophists living in the area.

   But I began to feel more and more that the job was just not right for me. And so at the end of the school year in early June 2004, I decided that I would quit my position and move on. And yet, I also wanted to stay. So for about 2 weeks I really agonized over my decision. The scales were 50-50, so I honestly didn’t know what to do.

   But in that position of balance, it would only take a feather to make a “tipping point” and thus make my decision either way.

   During mid-June, there was a week of faculty meetings about the previous year and what to expect and work on for the next school year.

   Wednesday, June 23, 2004 was a deadline day for each faculty member to sign his or her contract for the coming year — or not.
   I knew I had to decide my fate on that day.

   Because the timing is so important here, I must speak about Time Zones. Brian Gray stated that René died at 2:45 AM, the morning of June 23 in Bristol, England. But in my Time Zone, René died at 6:45 PM, the evening of Tuesday, June 22.

   I slept through that night and got up at my usual 5 AM, but I was feeling terrible. The deadline was just a few hours away and I was in both a terrifying and depressing state of indecision. I was all alone, feeling I could not speak to anyone about my plight. I even started wailing and weeping.

   Around 7 AM my time, I had to start getting ready for the school meeting. Perhaps it was starting focused physical activity that calmed me down a bit and broke the spell of my emotional funk and self-pity. But then I suddenly felt awash in a deep feeling of serenity. My despair had transformed into a genuine peace of mind. And then I heard a voice in my head, which I took to be my own.

   It said: “Just stick it out one more year. You’ll be fine.”

   OK, that was the “tipping point.” I knew I had just made my decision to sign on for the next school year. Then my serenity turned into great relief. I exhaled mightily and happily got ready to go to school just like any other day.

   But just as I was opening the door of my room to leave, around 7:30, the phone rings. Who is calling me so early? I answer it and I hear the voice of Barbara Bittles, a friend and Anthroposophist in Nashville.

   She said: “Hi Tom, I called to tell you the news that René Querido died last night. I know you were close to him in Sacramento so I felt I needed to tell you as soon as I could.”

   As I got over the initial shock, I remember while driving and arriving to the school I said: “Thanks René, you imitate my voice very well.”

   As it turned out, I did stick out the year but quit after that. But had I quit back on René’s death day, I would not have met Annalea Bennett who became my life partner for the next 16 years until her death in 2021. Now that’s a story for another time.

   So thank you Hazel and Brian (and Maverick for mentioning Brian). How wonderfully you all inspired me to really celebrate René’s birthday. I’m so glad to share this “cosmos of love” with you all.

   Tom

   Reply

   1. Thank you Tom for sharing such a personal story. And thank you Hazel, and Brian, for inspiring him by sparking that insight. This has been an inspiring journey you’ve taken us on Hazel. May Mary and Sophia give you pleasant dreams. Cheers.

      Reply

3. RQ gave a mention of Clifton Furness in “The School of Chartres: Its Importance For Our Time”.

   “‘ During the last year of his life — the sheer activity of Rudolf Steiner grows more and more overwhelming. He travels from Dornach to Stuttgart in March 1924 to deliver lectures to the Waldorf teachers and a public course on pedagogy. He then goes on to Prague, returns to Dornach and visits Paris , Bresslau and Koberwitz to inaugurate the biodynamic impulse. This is followed, upon his return to Dornach, by the Medical Cycle, a series of lectures on eurythmy, and in July by the Karmic Relationships of the Anthroposophical Society ( vol 3 ). After this we find him in Arnheim , Holland, where the theme of the karma of the Society receives a new emphasis and during the same week a pedagogical course is given. Once again, Rudolf Steiner returns to Dornach and after about a fortnight he sets out for what is to be his last journey outside Switzerland, a three week trip to England with a two – week lecture engagement in Torquay, a visit to Tintagel, and about a week in London.
   During this whole period of intense travelling, we find that almost without interruption Rudolf Steiner gives two or three or sometimes four lectures a day. This is especially the case when he returns finally to Dornach early in September and delivers in the course of 20 days no fewer than 71 lectures on karma, pastoral medicine, speech and drama, on theology for the priests of the Christian Community, and addresses to the members of the School of Spiritual Science. He also speaks to the workmen engaged in the rebuilding of the second Goetheanum.
   The overall theme of Chartres has to placed against this background. It is significant that Rudolf Steiner only begins to speak about the School and the Masters of Chartres in July 1924 in Dornach , 63 years this summer. ( article was written in 1987 ) And we should note that he himself was 63 at the time. This subject receives further treatment , much like a theme with variations, in Arnheim and then in Torquay and finally in London, all in under seven weeks.
   The question arises: Why did Rudolf Steiner not broach this theme earlier? We know, for instance, that he visited Chartres and had important conversations with Edouard Schurè inside the cathedral about the relationship between John and Baptist and John the Evangelist, in May 1914 when, incidentally, the work of the building of the first Goetheanum was just under way. Rudolf Steiner admired the cathedral greatly and there well have been other visits. It should also be noted that in 1917 during his Christmas lectures of that period in Dornach — in other words, seven years before the great karma lectures in 1924 — Alanus ab Insulis is briefly mentioned. Rudolf Steiner there draws our attention to the fact that Alain de Lille might not have been born in Lille, the town in northern France, but that his origins should be traced to the west, to the Celtic world,
   as Alan de L’lle — that is Allan of the Island or Islands. This implies.Ireland , Wales, Cornwall, Scotland — in fact Hibernia — and they Alanus ab Insulis can be looked upon as a mystery name .
   But it is only in the summer of 1924 that Rudolf Steiner reveals the importance of the Chartres masters , such as Bernardus Silvestris , Bernard of Chartres, John of Salisbury, Alanus ab Insulis and a number of others, not only for their role in the Middle Ages, but also in relation to our own time. He tells us this it is now at the end of this century that the great masters of Chartres and their pupils will be able to reincarnate ( on one occasion Rudolf Steiner marks the beginning of this period to start in 1950 ). He also spoke of the special destiny that hovers over the Anthroposophical Society, for it is intended that the Platonists of Chartres work in concert with the Aristotelian stream so that civilisation might not fall into utter ruin at the turn of the millennium.
   I will offer three reasons why I think that these revelations could not have been given at an earlier time. First, the Christmas Foundation Meeting with the total reforging of the Society — both in its esoteric and exoteric nature — had to take place. Second, the central importance of Michael as the guardian and leader of our age , enabling the new Mysteries to be inaugurated, had to be inscribed in the hearts and minds of the members.
   And the third reason relates to an individual, a young American member, Clifton Furness , an enthusiastic choirmaster from New England whose story is all – too – little known. Perhaps it is appropriate as 63 years have elapsed, to relate it briefly. In the summer of 1924 , Clifton Furness set sail from New York to Cherbourg with the express purpose of meeting Rudolf Steiner. On his way through France he made a slight detour to Chartres. He was impressed and deeply moved by the magical beauty of the cathedral. Before he set out on his way to Switzerland, he brought a number of large reproductions of the cathedral, illustrating the architecture, the statues and the stained glass windows. Upon arrival in Dornach he met Rudolf Steiner in the Schreinerei, the carpenter’s shop where the lectures had been held since the destruction of the Goetheanum, and was given a warn welcome . With typical youthful and New World enthusiasm, Clifton showed Rudolf Steiner his prized reproductions of Chartres and asked him spontaneously whether he might hang them up on the wooden walls of the Schreinerei. Rudolf Steiner readily agreed. That very evening, on the 13th July , he gave the first lecture on Chartres to a crowded hall. But it seemed as if Rudolf Steiner was addressing only the young American musician . I have it on good authority that Clifton went up to Rudolf Steiner after the lecture and told him that, though he knew no German, he had understood every word. I have heard it said that Clifton Furness returned to the United States shortly thereafter, continued to teach music, and died a few years later, still a young man.
   Does it go too far to suggest that an individuality who was probably deeply connected with the Chartres impulse was needed for Rudolf Steiner to speak out about the school and its importance in the past , present and future? We know of several parallel instances. It has been established that the presence of certain people enabled Rudolf Steiner to speak about certain themes which otherwise he could not have broached. Some cases in point include the presence of Edouard Schuré, of Christian Morgenstern, of Dr Zeylmans at particular lectures. The revelations regarding Christian Rosenkreutz would not have been given had not the founding members in Neuchatel ( Switzerland ) decided to name the group after this great master, and had they not asked Rudolf Steiner to give the inaugural address.
   The theme of Chartres, begun so suddenly and so powerfully in Dornach, received momentous variations in Arnheim during three lectures on 18, 19 and 20 July ( Karmic Relationships, vol 6). There particularly the pictures began to emerge of the two ways that Aristotelians and Platonists have worked in the past , and that a third way will now have to arise as part of the karma of the Anthroposophical Society. But the stern warning is sounded that, as everything nows depends on the freedom of the individual, this vital cooperation of the working on Earth of the two streams might also fail to occur. We are called upon not to miss this earnest , far – reaching opportunity, heavy in consequences,for the future of mankind.
   In ancient Greece, Plato passed the torch onto Aristotle. Their collaboration on Earth was minimal and they represented two different, yet complementary, world – views. In Rudolf Steiner’s early commentaries on Goethe’s scientific works we find the following characterisation : “The world – view of Aristotle does not stand in contradiction with that of Plato. The difference lies rather in the way in which both men approach reality ( the world of ideas, the world of the senses). For Plato the world of the senses is merely a springboard in order to reach the world of ideas . For Aristotle the opposite is the case. He wished to explain the world of the senses. He sought this explanation through ideas . One might say that in fact both philosophers share the same view, only their interests are rooted in opposites . ”
   In the Middle Ages, and particularly in Chartres, the great Platonic masters ( some of whom have been mentioned above) were inspired spiritually by the great Aristotelians who were not yet born , but were preparing their incarnations which were to take place a little later. The Golden Age of Chartres can be said to have lasted 200 years, from the arrival of Fulbertus in Chartres around the year AD 1000 to the death of Alanus ab Insulis in AD 1203. The Aristotelian inspiration from across the threshold covers this period. Interestingly enough, among the more than one thousand statues at Chartres, not one of Plato is to be found, but two can be easily identified in the west and in the north porches as representing Aristotle. We also find that this is corroborated by the writings of John of Salisbury ( 1120 – 1180 ), one of the great masters born in Old Sarum near Stonehenge, a friend of Thomas Becket ,who rose to the eminence of becoming Bishop of Chartres during the last years of his life.
   In turn , the great Platonists of Chartres after their death inspired the Dominican Aristotelians , such as, Thomas Aquinas ( 1225 – 1274 ) and Albertus Magnus ( 1193 – 1280 ) who mainly taught in Paris .
   Both now we are to elaborate a remarkable and lofty Imagination of happenings in the spiritual world. The souls of the Platonists of Chartres who had died met the Aristotelians who had not yet incarnated and a great council took place in supersensible realms during some twenty years or so, the period that elapsed between the death of Alanus ab Insulis ( 1203 ) and the birth of Thomas Aquinas ( 1225 . A spiritual council took place in which both streams participated, the two streams working intimately in unison to shape a lofty Sun – permeated Michaelic Christianity for the salvation of mankind in the future. This was a preparation for what was to come about in the Light Age after Kali Yuga had come to an end in 1899.
   In the framework of this article only the merest hint can be given of the sublime mighty panorama that Rudolf Steiner unfolds for us — for those who wish to dedicate themselves actively to the renewal of the Mysteries under the guidance of Michael.
   Today we stand at the threshold as has been said, of a tangible co – operation of Aristotelians and Platonists on Earth — face to face, hand in hand, so to speak. Can we recognise one another? Can we mutually learn to respect and support one another in spite of our differences? Can we fathom the nature of each stream and its transformed manifestation from ancient Greece, through the Middle Ages and into our own time? And can the different and yet complementary tasks come to clear social expression, visible to the world at large? Such questions and challenges invariably arise as part of the karma of the Anthroposophical Society and perhaps now, 60 years later ( written in 1987) they arise more poignantly than ever before. In conclusion, we shall have to mention the special variations given to the theme in England, in the Torquay lectures ( 12, 14 and 21 August) , in those given in London ( two lectures on 24 August and one on 27 August), and in eleven public lectures entitled “True and False Paths in Spiritual Investigation’. These lectures were also given in Torquay in August 1924 and contain important references to the Chartres impulse.
   The fact that Rudolf Steiner now lectures in the west of England on Celtic soil ( at the invitation of D. N. Dunlop and Mrs Merry) prompts the revelation of a totally new dimension. On 21 August 1924, in the last of the Torquay lectures, we hear:
   ‘ Remembering what was especially characteristic of the teachers of Chartres, we may say: in some measure they still preserve within them .the old traditions of nature teeming with life and being, as opposed to an abstract material nature. And this was why there still hovered over the School of Chartres elements of that Sun – Christianity which the hero’s of Arthur’s Round Table as Knights of Michael had striven to implant as an impulse in the world. In a remarkable way the School of Chartres stands midway between the Arthur principle in the north and the Grail principle in the south…so that when these men spoke of Christ they saw His impulse working on in earthly evolution in the sense of the Grail conception and at the same time they saw in Him the downpouring impulse of the Sun. ‘ One cannot help but wonder to which extent a visit to Tintagel by Rudolf Steiner, accompanied by a few friends, played a part in bringing the relation of Chartres to both the Arthurian cosmic stream and the more inward Grail stream into such sharp focus.
   This very theme is further elaborated in the last of the London lectures on 27 August, shortly before his final return to Dornach ( via Stuttgart where a brief stop is made on 3 September to give what was destined to be a farewell address to the teachers of the first Waldorf school ). The lectures in Torquay and London contain many riddles regarding the Being of Christ and the meeting of the Arthurian and Grail streams ( AD 869) .The very name Alanus ab Insulis — Alan of the Islands — seems to combine the two. When Joseph of Arimathea arrived in Glastonbury from Jerusalem after his long imprisonment, carrying the Grail chalice, he was accompanied by his sister and his brother – in – law Bron. In 1200 Robert de Boron tells us in his’ L” Histoire du Saint Gral’ how over the years , Joseph’s sister with her husband Bron gave birth to 12 sons , the youngest of whom bore the name Allan. He became the head of the first brotherhood of the Grail.
   More than a thousand years later, in the Mystery name of Alanus ab Insulis, we encounter the meeting of the Celtic cosmic Arthur stream from the islands in the northwest with the Grail impulse of Allan coming from the southeast”

   Reply

   1. Hi Kyle – Thank you for bringing this provocative quote from Rene Querido.
      When I 1st read his book I felt a deep resonance. I could see everything he was describing.

      The importance of our task to bring the 2 streams into collaboration is one of my main themes
      I didn’t remember the piece about the American Clifton Furness coming in for a short life to bring the Chartres impulse to Rudolf Steiner, so that this great initiate could open that portal for us.

      The Celtic connection with Allan of the Island or Islands, rings pure & true.

      We have often made reference & contemplated the interplay between the Platonists of Chartres & the Aristotelians who had not yet incarnated -Their great council in spiritual world “working intimately in unison to shape a lofty Sun–permeated Michaelic Christianity for the salvation of humankind in the future.”
      And that now we have to work together, as both streams are here now on earth.

      My contribution is always around the renewal of the Mysteries under the guidance of Sophia/Michael/Christ.

      I was recently part of a conference put on by the Anthroposophical Health Association where the Torquay lectures were a mayor theme- This is when Ita Wegman asked Steiner if they might initiate a renewal of the Druidic Mysteries of healing.

      The overlay of the Life Spirt of the Being of Christ coming in, around the same time as the meeting of the Arthurian & Grail streams. And the counter force seen in the Ecumenical council of 869 & the convocation in the spiritual world of Aristotle & Alexander the great with Haroun al Raschid & his wise Counsellor. ie. The Aristotelian stream trying to reconcile with the stream of Arabism – is an important thread…

      I am not familiar with Robert de Boron’s book’ L” Histoire du Saint Gral’, but I love the idea that there are connections & clues, espeically in manes, hidden waiting to be uncovered…

      Thanks again. Great to have you stimulating the conversation

      Reply

      1. “He (Rudolf Steiner) tells us this it is now at the end of this century that the great masters of Chartres and their pupils will be able to reincarnate ( on one occasion Rudolf Steiner marks the beginning of this period to start in 1950 ). He also spoke of the special destiny that hovers over the Anthroposophical Society, for it is intended that the Platonists of Chartres work in concert with the Aristotelian stream so that civilisation might not fall into utter ruin at the turn of the millennium”. The Golden Age of Chartres

         Clifton Furness wrote a little book of his memory of Rudolf Steiner when he met him in July 1924.

         https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn6m69&seq=5

         Reply

         1. I was thinking after responding to Kyle’s post, about Steiner said after the burning of the 1st Goetheanum, that it was the 1st time the dark brotherhoods of the both streams came together.

            So here we see that the adversarial forces know the power & importance of this alchemical marriage.

            I feel that here in our conversations we are attempting to bring the 2 streams into play.

            Wow this find from Clifton Furness is amazing, I can’t wait to dig in on this Labor Day 2023…
            Thank you Steve

            Reply

            1. Yes, Steiner revealed somewhere in GA 265, which is the Mishraim stream of esoteric lessons, that the Jesuits and Freemasons combined to burn down the Goetheanum. It was one of those rare occasions that these adversaries join forces. Normally, they oppose each other.

               Wondering where the Chartrains are has been a huge meditative study for me. In Anthroposophy, of course, we represent the combination intended. The rest will come when the world wakes up. By then, we will be more than a fringe society.

               Reply

               1. After recently going over Lect. 1 of GA 199 (August 6, 1920 – in the series Spiritual Science as a Foundation for Social Forms), it doesn’t surprise me to hear that the Jesuits may have joined forces with the Freemasons. I was shocked with a few of Steiner’s charachterizations in that lecture, and remember thinking that if I was a Jesuit I’d be a tad upset with his allegations. He talks about mystics as being childish, because they haven’t grown out of brooding over their internal makeup, and he mentions Jesuits towards the end. Steiner feels that human beings should grow out of the idea that they have “spirit” within them after their first seven-year phase of life – that it’s really only their metabolism seething inside them – I imagine a Jesuit (and others) would be offended with that. He also denigrates those who think “atomistically”, referring to them as feeble-minded. It certainly sounded to me like he was stirring up the pot, perhaps in an attempt to justify Anthroposophy from their attacks against it? Whatever his thinking was, he definitely managed to gain some enemies who must have seen him as some type of heretic. I’m trying to stay neutral on what he proposed, but have to admit I was offended myself on my first few readings of that lecture.

                  Reply

                  1. Of course we have to remember that when we use a broad term like ‘the Jesuits’ or the ‘Freemasons’ we are not talking about the majority of human beings who use those titles, just the ones who knowingly use occult means for evil purposes.

                  2. Wow. I have studied GA 199, and will have to review that lecture. I can’t imagine this: “Steiner feels that human beings should grow out of the idea that they have “spirit” within them after their first seven-year phase of life – that it’s really only their metabolism seething inside them”.

                     Steiner has definitely been critical of the Jesuits, as well as the Catholic church overall. Lecture 1 of GA 131 is where he differentiates between the Jesus-centered Jesuits, and the Christ-centered Rosicrucians. It was a matter of how the exercises that develop the Will are properly conducted. The Rosicrucians practice the methods found in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment, and the Jesuits follow the more secretive Loyola exercises.

                  3. Perhaps what Steiner was saying is that in each phase of life the spiritual beings withdraw so that we can develop in freedom

                  4. That’s a possibility Hazel – I’ll keep that in mind. The way I saw it is that in the first seven years the spirit is active, as it has been since conception, aiding in the development, but then Steiner says the child “loses” that spiritual connection. I’m not sure if that English word is the correct translation to describe what happens, so he may have meant something else. We’ve all heard of children who “see”/perceive a world that’s invisible to others, and then when they get among their peers, they wonder why others don’t see the same invisible entities. Many of them just give up their beliefs and adapt to the material world of their peers. Based on this, my own feeling is that the spirit is not so much “lost” as it becomes submerged, or buried in some deep recesses of consciousness, perhaps even subconsciousness. So it’s not ever lost; it’s just ignored, set aside as the child moves on to other areas of development. I believe it’s there, as part of what Steiner refers to in KOHW as that which lies latent within us, just waiting to be awakened.

                  5. What you describe is certainly true. & It’s not just peer pressure, but the whole educational system & many aspects of what is soically acceptable

                  6. It must have been the Jesus-loving Jesuits he spoke against – later in Lect. 1 he points out that some who say they are followers of Jesus are actually either followers of Ahriman, or followers of Lucifer. It’s not clear that he’s referring to Jesuits, but here’s the excerpt:

                     “It is quite easy to assume that one belongs to a certain good being. Just because you call a being good, however, does not make it so. Anyone can say, for instance, “I acknowledge Jesus, the Christ,” but in the spiritual world, one cannot follow a program. The whole manner in which the concepts and images of this Jesus, of Christ, fill such a person’s soul indicates that it is merely the name of Jesus, the Christ, that he has in mind. Actually he is a follower of either Lucifer or Ahriman, but calls whichever it is by the name of Jesus or Christ.”

                  7. Yes, I think this kind of reversal a lot.
                     People that use the name of JC as an excuse to perform for hate crimes etc…

                  8. It must have been the Jesus-loving Jesuits he spoke against – later in Lect. 1 he points out that some who say they are followers of Jesus are actually either followers of Ahriman, or followers of Lucifer. It’s not clear that he’s referring to Jesuits, but here’s the excerpt:

                     “It is quite easy to assume that one belongs to a certain good being. Just because you call a being good, however, does not make it so. Anyone can say, for instance, “I acknowledge Jesus, the Christ,” but in the spiritual world, one cannot follow a program. The whole manner in which the concepts and images of this Jesus, of Christ, fill such a person’s soul indicates that it is merely the name of Jesus, the Christ, that he has in mind. Actually he is a follower of either Lucifer or Ahriman, but calls whichever it is by the name of Jesus or Christ.”

                     Just saw your previous comments about me mangling what Steiner said in Lect. 1 – very nice that you gave the full excerpt, but you didn’t say how I mangled it. I stick by what I said, after having read the lecture through many times. The first few times I read it I was offended; I wondered how someone could write something so offensive to others. He was obviously feeling the sting of their attacks on Anthroposophy, but I don’t think he handled it with grace. Having said that, it was all necessary – that he stir things up I mean, since the first Goetheanum needed to be removed, in order for the second one to stand (Hebrews 10:9 – God removes the first, in order to establish the second).

                  9. In reading that lecture from GA 199, I must say, Maverick, you sure have mangled what Steiner was conveying. I’ll cite an important passage:

                     “We must also become clear about our inner life. Many people seek the spirit inwardly. To begin with, the spiritual cannot be found in the inner realm of man. Truly objective evaluation of every abstract form of mysticism bears this out. What today is sometimes — nay, often — called mysticism consists of brooding over one’s inner self, attempting to seek self-knowledge by introverted brooding. What is discovered by practicing such one-sided mysticism? One certainly finds interesting things. When we look into the human being and find all those inwardly pleasant experiences arising which we call mystical — what are they really? They are just the very things that point us toward material existence. We do not discover matter in the external world where the sense phenomena are found; we come upon matter in our inner being. This brings us to the point where we can characterize these things correctly. Regarded from the most comprehensive point of view, it is the body’s metabolism that seethes and boils there within the human interior and which flames up into consciousness as one-sided mysticism, mistaken by many to be the spirit that can be found in the inner self. It is not the spirit, it is the flame of metabolism within man. We find matter not in the external world, we find it in ourselves. We find it precisely through one-sided mysticism. That is why a great many people who do not want to be materialists deceive themselves. They excuse their not wanting to be materialists by saying, “Out there is base matter; I shall rise above it and turn to my inner being, for there I will find the spirit.”

                     Actually, spirit is neither without nor within. Outside are the interweaving phenomena; within ourselves is matter, constantly seething and boiling substance. This metabolic processing of matter kindles the flames that leap into consciousness and form the mystic impressions. Mysticism is the inwardly perceived corporeal matter of the metabolism. That is something that cannot be logically refuted, but must be traced back to actual processes when man yields in a one-sided way to the metabolism”.

                     And, when Steiner is speaking of the Jesuits, he is referring to the attacks upon him and Anthroposophy, which can also be found in GA 197 (Polarities in Human Evolution), and GA 198 (Roman Catholicism). The concern refers to this matter:

                     “More than once, I have pointed out how Catholic clerical factions, especially here in Switzerland, are now resorting to a web of lies in order to destroy spiritual science. Those of you who have been here have witnessed a number of examples of what the Catholic Jesuits come up with in the attempt to destroy anthroposophy. Consider the attacks made by Jesuit seminarists with weapons that are certainly not nice. I need not characterize this; those who have not informed themselves can easily do so.

                     For Switzerland and Central Europe, where these things happen, are all part of the world. So, too, is America. I recently received a magazine published in America in which anthroposophically oriented spiritual science is characterized, while, at the same time, the Jesuits in Europe denounced spiritual science as a threat to the Catholic Church and to Christianity. You know by now that Reverend Kully stated that there are three evils in the world. One is Judaism, the other Freemasonry, but the third — worse than all of them, even worse than Bolshevism — is what is taught here in Dornach. This originates from the Catholic side, and is how anthroposophy is characterized.”

                  10. Just included a reply to your comments here on another comment – you don’t say how I mangled it? Are you saying I was wrong to feel offended by what he wrote?

                  11. This is how I think you mangled it, although likely without ill intention. You wrote this:

                      “Steiner feels that human beings should grow out of the idea that they have “spirit” within them after their first seven-year phase of life – that it’s really only their metabolism seething inside them”.

                      Then, I gave the paragraph that explains what it is all about. Matter exists within our inner being to be annihilated. Metabolism is the process, which is very spiritual, as well as functional. Here it is:

                      “We must also become clear about our inner life. Many people seek the spirit inwardly. To begin with, the spiritual cannot be found in the inner realm of man. Truly objective evaluation of every abstract form of mysticism bears this out. What today is sometimes — nay, often — called mysticism consists of brooding over one’s inner self, attempting to seek self-knowledge by introverted brooding. What is discovered by practicing such one-sided mysticism? One certainly finds interesting things. When we look into the human being and find all those inwardly pleasant experiences arising which we call mystical — what are they really? They are just the very things that point us toward material existence. We do not discover matter in the external world where the sense phenomena are found; we come upon matter in our inner being. This brings us to the point where we can characterize these things correctly. Regarded from the most comprehensive point of view, it is the body’s metabolism that seethes and boils there within the human interior and which flames up into consciousness as one-sided mysticism, mistaken by many to be the spirit that can be found in the inner self. It is not the spirit, it is the flame of metabolism within man. We find matter not in the external world, we find it in ourselves. We find it precisely through one-sided mysticism. That is why a great many people who do not want to be materialists deceive themselves. They excuse their not wanting to be materialists by saying, “Out there is base matter; I shall rise above it and turn to my inner being, for there I will find the spirit.

                      Actually, spirit is neither without nor within. Outside are the interweaving phenomena; within ourselves is matter, constantly seething and boiling substance. This metabolic processing of matter kindles the flames that leap into consciousness and form the mystic impressions. Mysticism is the inwardly perceived corporeal matter of the metabolism. That is something that cannot be logically refuted, but must be traced back to actual processes when man yields in a one-sided way to the metabolism”.

                  12. Thank you for this quote Steve connecting one-sided mysticism with attempting to seek self-knowledge by introverted brooding & the body’s metabolism that seethes and boils there within the human interior…I am trying to be awake in myself as to this tendency – to have discernment around this

                  13. This lecture is very contentious, and it’s not a stretch to see how it would cause divisions in various groups. I haven’t experienced such a lecture from Steiner – this is the first for me. Just in this one subject you’ve raised here Steve, Steiner (and, I’m assuming you, since you’re defending him) is saying that the human being is nothing more than an animal, if we’re to take his words the way they’ve been translated, that the spiritual cannot be found within the human. This thought he raised completely counters thoughts like the one in Galatians 2:20, which he always liked to refer to:
                      “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith”.
                      Does he now want to say that Christ lives in us through our metabolism, if as he’s saying, there’s nothing spiritual within us? If that’s the case, then Christ is living in everything that has metabolism. Steiner would even be contradicting himself – this is what he said the following day, in Lect. 2: “We know from the many books on anthroposophy that man is composed of a soul-spiritual part (blue) and a physical part (red), as illustrated in my sketch.” He’s obviously trying to stir things up in Lect. 1 by saying that the spiritual cannot be found “without nor within”. And to say that there is no matter in the external world? only phenomena? I have to remind myself that these lectures have been translated and may not reflect accurately what he was trying to convey.

                      I’m also wondering if he wasn’t struggling for control over his ego in this lecture – this question arises for me because, as I mentioned in an earlier comment – I’ve not had this kind of reaction reading a Steiner lecture before, and it intrigues me why this is the case. I know he begins the lecture with a great deal of praise for the Waldorf school in Stuttgart, a school which he can’t seem to avoid mentioning his part in: “. I can say this because it is possible to remain objective even if one is wholeheartedly involved in the project and even if, in a certain sense, one has been its instigator.” It’s a strange way of speaking; it’s like he’s standing back and examining himself, and is quite pleased with what he sees. Self-examination is a good practice, but to praise his own contribution at the beginning of a public lecture? This is why I’m wondering if the attacks against Anthroposophy weren’t getting to him, and he felt the need for some self-justification?

                      We can only wonder how he might have edited this lecture if he’d had the time to do so. This lecture seems to be one that could use some editing by a translation scholar, as some of the English words are a problem. Since I’m not a translation scholar, I’ll leave that task for someone else. Even if the translation is good, the lectures were never edited, so it’s quite possible Steiner would say “That’s not what I meant at all.”

                  14. I’m reading Lect.3 in this GA 199 series as preparation for our study group tomorrow. I’m going to propose something radical, but first let me mention something I’ve come across in reading Lect. 3. It has to do with something I mentioned in an earlier comment, that I found Steiner’s accusation that those who think “atomistically” to be “feeble-minded” somewhat offensive. First, Steiner explains his reasoning in Lect. 3 – he states “You see, there are no atoms out there as materialists imagine. Out there is the world of imaginative, inspired and intuitive elements, and as this world affects us, the impressions of it arise in the outward sense perceptions. ” He speaks of “out there” because, in the paragraph just prior, he said this: “Man, however, is in a sense forced out of the spiritual world.” The reason there is a threshold to be crossed is because, in Steiner’s age, and still for the majority of humanity, man has been in this condition of being forced out of the spiritual world.

                      Now for what will seem radical. Steiner spoke to those who were in the early stages of spiritual science, where he states this as one of the goals: “This is what we try to attain through spiritual science, namely to enter into this objective soul-spiritual world. We come into a higher sphere by penetrating through our outer senses into that which is covered for us by a veil within the sense world.” A hundred years later, we have souls who have practiced spiritual science, some of whom are transitioning from being “forced out of the spiritual world”, who through their meditative practice, are becoming proficient at living, for the most part, in the spiritual world – for them, there no longer remains a threshold to cross. Steiner’s teachings on how to “know the higher worlds” has so penetrated their minds that they no longer need to transition from the sense-world; they are experiencing the reality of “Manas”, their Spirit-self, which is always in the spiritual world. Sure, they may go back and forth between worlds at times, as this is a gradual, evolutionary process. To express it in the words of Dr. Joe Dispenza’s most recent book, they’re “Becoming Supernatural”. Quantum science is beginning to reveal truths that are just becoming part of our consciousness – that there is no without or within, there’s no need to cross a threshold, because as Paul stated in Acts 17:28 so long ago: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” Quantum science is giving us scientific evidence that Spirit is everywhere and in everything, that what we commonly refer to as God is all there is. We’re evolving to a consciousness where we can change Steiner’s statement that “spirit is neither without nor within”, to saying that “Spirit is all there is; there’s no longer any without or within”. Steiner spoke to a certain age, and what he said was within the realm of human consciousness then, but we shouldn’t expect that our consciousness won’t evolve; there are new parameters of human consciousness that will appear as science, especially quantum science, shows us that, while it was necessary for our development that we experience being “forced out of the spiritual world”, as we evolve we will experience our connection to what Dispenza calls the “unified field of consciousness” – that whether we’re without or within we’re always One when we walk with Spirit. We will become more and more “supernatural”. Knowing this helps me to understand why I felt somewhat offended, because consciousness is changing, ascending to greater heights.

                  15. Maverick, I have not read the whole lecture recently, but my impression is that Steiner is referring to people who ONLY think “atomistically” to be “feeble-minded”.
                      From what I know of you & what you have described so beautifully here is that you are striving to live into: “Spirit is all there is; there’s no longer any without or within”. This is a high ideal, which begins with the thought that it is true, & we are of course in need of constant adjustment to make sure that Christ as the Being of Love is holding the center in our lives as we stand on earth. May we all make this our goal.

                  16. I see that you have made this course (GA 199) very problematical for yourself. This is because you have to have your understandings to be your own way, instead of being entirely objective. I’m going to quote something here (yes, another extract), but it will help make sense for what you seem to be failing to see in Steiner’s attempt to explain serious issues in September 1920 when the effects of WWI were still rife, and new party platforms were trying to “save the day”, so to speak. In short, what I perceive your major issue involves concerns “within and without” not being spiritual. ‘Within’ is metabolic, in terms of matter needing to be annihilated, and ‘without’ is external phenomena. So, where’s the Spirit?
                      It is Above and Below. You know: “As above, so below”. You think about it. Now, here is my quote, which is about being objective.

                      “Do not misunderstand what is said here and imagine that anyone who is able, as an initiate, to experience the spiritual world as well as the physical world must give up all other human feelings and sensations which are of value here in the physical world and exchange them for those of the higher worlds. This is not so. He does not exchange one for the other, but he acquires one in addition to the other. If, on the one hand, he has to spiritualize his feelings, he must, on the other, strengthen much more those feelings which are of use for working in the physical world. In this way we must interpret those words used in connection with an initiate, namely, that he must, in a certain sense, become a homeless person. It is not meant that in any sense he must become estranged from his home and his family as long as he lives in the physical world, but these words have at least this much significance, that by acquiring the corresponding feelings in the spiritual world, the feelings for the physical world will experience a finer, more beautiful development. What does it mean to be homeless? It means that one without this designation cannot, in the true sense of the word, attain initiation. To be a homeless man, means that he must develop no special sympathies in the spiritual world similar to those he possesses here in the physical world for special regions or relationships. The individual human being in the physical world belongs to some particular folk or to some particular family, to this or that community of the state. That is all quite proper. He does not need to lose this; he needs it here. If, however, he wished to employ these feelings in the spiritual world, he would bring a very bad dowry to that world. There, it is not a question of developing sympathy for anything, but of allowing everything to work upon him objectively, according to its inherent worth. It could also be said, were this generally understood, that an initiate must be, in the fullest sense of the word, an objective human being.” GA 103, lecture XI, 30 May 1908

                  17. Not problematic for me; rather, a deep learning experience. It was more problematic for Steiner in his day, as he managed to make enough enemies that they burned his prized building, not to mention poisoning him. I only hope that my search for knowledge isn’t making it problematic for others who aren’t yet able to perceive the changes in human evolution; one of those changes being the introduction of quantum science onto the scene. People have such spiritual potential if they chose to pursue it, but sadly many are stuck in the old ways, or perhaps they don’t welcome the extra effort required to adapt to change.

                  18. Adversarial forces work thru human beings to try & stop initiates like Steiner. They killed Christ remember.
                      But the seed for our Christic evolution works on. And we all have our role to play.

                      May we have tolerance & compassion for the stuckness
                      ever asking how we can help motivate change for the highest good…

                  19. I don’t know anything about Quantum physics itself, all I know is that we must Spiritualize Science – it must become Spiritual Science – what is important is to spiritualize our scientific world-view

                  20. It is Quantum Science that has its basis in atomistic thinking . It leads to feeble mindedness. The origin of atoms is something quite unusual. This short lecture explains modern materialism in relation to Democritus, who only thought the concept. When what churns in the metabolism meets the outside world of external phenomena, then atoms and molecules can appear for the purpose of counting them, and shaping a worldview.

                      https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA254/English/RSP1973/19151016p01.html

                      What Steiner was prophesying here is the advent of that science that leads to feeble mindedness because it is unreal. Quantum physics is the creation of phantoms. Fortunately, most people are not scientists because we are grounded in the mineral sense, and our astral body is perfectly extended to the outermost end of the nervous system. Scientists see and feel Quantum, and need to do sophisticated mathematics, like inferential and differential calculus. Check out the lecture for the seemingly unusual reason for why this happens. Cheers.

                  21. The reason you don’t know anything about quantum physics is because you perceive spirit, and not atoms, which are figments, phantoms, conjectures, inventions of the mind. And, most important, you think, and even think about your thinking, which is reflection. Reflection is also reflexion, which is will-based.

                      “Nobody can ever have seen atoms, for they are conjectures, inventions of the mind. Apart from the reality, therefore, there must be some instigation which prompts man to think out an atomistic world. Something must instigate the proclivity in him to think out an atomistic world—nature herself most assuredly does not lead him to form an atomistic picture of her! With a trained physicist — and I am not speaking hypothetically here for I have actually discussed such matters with physicists — with a trained physicist one can speak about these things because he has knowledge of external physics. He could never have hit upon atomism! He would have to say — as indeed was the conclusion reached by shrewder physicists in the eighties of last century: Atomism is an assumption, a working hypothesis which affords a basis for calculation; but let us be quite clear that we are not dealing with any reality. — Thoughtful physicists would prefer to keep to what they perceive with the senses, but again and again, like a cat falling on its feet, they come back to atomism.”
                      GA 254, lecture 3, 16 October 1915

               2. Thanks for the link, Steve. I was looking all over for the web for the Lotus Petals.

                  Hazel, what strike me significant about your dream was the Ichthys (fish symbol). As you know, Philip K Dick was influenced by this symbol and it happened in the most peculiar of ways. The woman who delivered his pain medication – the one that was wearing a pendant of the Ichthys – apparently was unknown to the pharmacy which made the delivery. It was as though she came out of know where. And when PKD asked her what it meant, she said it was the early Christian symbol.

                  I have some thoughts on this. We hardly ever associate the Fish symbol with Christianity – even though some still do – but mostly the Cross. I wouldn’t dare imply that the Cross is the wrong symbol to be looking at, but, what of the Fish? Also, how does it happen that the bulk of 2000 years of Christianity is filled with ‘suppression’? What PKD postulated, and I am paraphrasing, that in the last 2000 years we have lived in an age of Christian Imperialism, which is not at all what the Early Christians practiced, but something totally different.

                  Not to dwell too much on that, for brevity sake, I’d like to bring up the Ichthys again. If you draw out this symbol, it is essentially a vesica piscis. There you have ‘two’ spheres interlocking with each other. Again, I find that extraordinary that your dream, Hazel, has this symbol in it – especially underneath the Chartres.

                  I don’t know how to explain all of it right now, but I feel there has to be something to the early Christians and the Aristotelian and Platonic streams. PKD had this belief that the early Christians were coming back now. This went hand in hand with another one of his beliefs that Rome – specifically 70 AD Rome – exists now, as though the time was somehow superimposed over the other.

                  I guess that is a kind of illustration of ‘hermetic law’ (i.e. Kybalion) where if there is an out pour of ‘truth’, you’ll have an equal amount of resistance in the opposite direction, which is in this case, ‘suppression’. And I think that is what happened in Christ’s time, is that Truth came out and Suppression followed, but now it seems to be a trend that keeps changing, Truth (anthroposophy) followed by Suppression… and perhaps now the upswing is that Truth comes out once again. And it always seems to be roles of the same players involved.

                  That’s kind of why I find PKD’s testament fascinating. I mean, he truly believed that Thomas came back, and actually came back – through him – as in ‘worked’ through him. So, if someone like him is taken with some credibility, this implies that the early Christians are trying to work through us.

                  Try bringing that up in any church today. That is the thing… like what PKD was speaking about, referring to Joachim de Fiore, we are approaching what is called a Third Age of Christianity. That is, where the individual receives holy revelations – completely bypassing the Church. I don’t mean to sound iconoclastic, and not trying to bash on all the good that comes from being part of a Church… but with Christ in the Etheric, I would think it implies that anyone can potentially have the means of being in direct contact/relationship with Christ. This is meta cultural and goes directly to the individual, whereas much of Christianity now is cultural… Christianity in a Third Age would probably be more meta cultural in character.

                  I don’t mean to go off on several tangents here, but that is what I have thought about in terms of these Aristotelian Platonist streams coming together. If we go back, specifically, to the Quadrivium – numbers, music, geometry, cosmology – this all is purely in the realm that concerns the individual’s relationship with the world outside themselves (physical, spiritual worlds, what have you). So there is enough to go on to establish a ‘fusion’ with Christ (like Lightning), because there is enough evidence right before us. It is very hard to question things, such as, this is a cube or this is a dodecahedron… so I would think at some point that it would be hard to deny Christ in the Etheric. Ha! I know, that’s a bit of a jump.

                  But yeah, Early Christians. The Eternal Recurrence. Might things just repeat sometimes, that we’ve been here before? Is Past, Present, Future, all that different?

                  Reply

                  1. Thanks KJ – Amazing – the symbol that you have further defined as the Ichthys, was, when I tripped on the brick dislodging it, in my night school image, seen standing up, the crossing point of the ‘tail’ as its base & the Vesica Piscis open & pointing to the heavens…I remember thinking in my dream as it was happening, ‘oops, wow, I have just flipped the lemniscate of Mary’ –

                     I often feel that there is a deeper reality – the spiritual world just below the surface of the everyday, which if we are given grace we can access thru inner development, & also sometimes get a glimpse of in dreams.

                     I relate to PKD’s vision of the imperialism of Rome superimposed over our present time –the counterimage to the spiritual reality – a counterforce that keeps us from experiencing the true Christic reality – This Roman Catholic impulse dominates especially in our Rights realm – in the corrupt judicial system.

                     Interesting to think about the early Christians reincarnating again now, as well as the Teachers of Chartres.

                     And This picture you give of the a ‘fusion’ like lightning, with the etheric Christ gives me thrillbumps!

                     We never simply ‘repeat’ – like the saying that tells us we can never step into the same river twice, its always changing. The Past, Present, & Future are ever overlaying each other, interweaving like the model of our DNA – & we are the ones who can link the vortex to spiral upward or downward…

                     And of course it’s always a little of both, with that meeting in the middle that is so important

                  2. Would you mind elaborating on this?

                     “I remember thinking in my dream as it was happening, ‘oops, wow, I have just flipped the lemniscate of Mary’”

                     I have often wondered how the Pisits Sophia plays into this. The lemniscate always have some intersecting point, and this has been my understanding of what is meant by “The Culmination”. We’ve seen the lemniscate diagram showing the “point” in terms of spiritual evolution as the Christ on Earth or perhaps it’s the MoG. Either way, that is a pretty distinct point. But what if there was another lemniscate occurring here, and that there is or has been a recent “point”. Is that what you meant by “flipped” the lemniscate?

                     I’d like to think that points are also portals. If you have an Aeon such as Christ descending into a physical body, that of Jesus, there very much is a portal going on there. A flipped lemniscate makes sense, because essentially our planets move in lemniscate fashion which an ordinary camera in the same position can even record… but it’s not only ‘one’ lemniscate pathway. Same thing with music, you can literally see many lemniscates forming and moving all the time, making different tones. So, why couldn’t there be another lemniscate of a spiritual nature which interplays with the super sensible world and the physical? I really don’t see how distinctive borders between the spiritual and physical even possibly exist. Only our perception of it gives us the impression that there is an actual physical world that is distinctly different than the spiritual. Ok, I suppose it is different, but I’m surmising that it’s much more porous.

                  3. I guess, besides envisioning the Vesica Piscis as the Cosmic Yoni of the Divine Feminine – I also see it along with the Ichthys as 1 side of the lemniscate. And we are meant to fill in the other side.

                     This symbol of infinity shows 2 separate but contiguous arms. One is the womb of the supersensitive world, the other is the birth into the earthly world. The center of the lemniscate is a kind of birth channel.

                     Existence, to speak in the language of the lemniscate, is a continuous flow from the outside to the inside & vice versa, in always new cycles, each time richer than what we have brought about in previous life turns.

                     In my observation this morning, the lemniscate reminded me of the shape & lines of the lips – A channel thru which the verb is transformed into the Word made flesh.

                     Yes the connection with the Turning Point of Time, Christ at the center, & with music – The octave being the meeting point, Brings a potent resonance of understanding

                     Could it be that we as human beings are the center point between the above & below?
                     And this notion of flipping, perhaps it’s the movement from yin to yang…Spirit to matter, matter to spirit…?

                     Interesting to bring the picture of The Pisits Sophia in.
                     How do we manage our yearning for the light, when we are in the dark?
                     Could it be that we as human beings are the center point between the above & below?

                  4. This is a great dialogue. I am paying attention to it. The Vesica Piscis definition, and the Ichthys symbol, which represents Pisces, is also a means to reveal the Eighth Sphere to occult perception. Once revealed, it can be made to appear in plain sight. Then, we just have to understand it, i.e., its purpose and function.

                  5. I was thinking about what you said, Hazel, about ‘filling the other side’ of the lemniscate. The picture that came to mind, was that we usually see this symbol in 2 dimensional form – if that makes sense. Like a drawing on paper. But I’m sure is more elaborate than that. I suppose another area where this is the case is in the cosmos itself. We are really put in a difficult position to try and fit a comprehensive model of our universe on a piece of paper. At any rate, you made me think of that… that perhaps there are ‘many’ directions where the lemniscate can go.

                     And yes, that’s what I am leaning towards that we ‘are’ the center points. And as you say, that center is essentially a channel, the center of the Vesica Piscis. If that is the case, then what are ‘we’ a channel ‘for’? I can only think of one example, and that is Jesus then Christ. Isn’t that what the Solar Spermatika is? Not many people would equate Jesus with the Feminine, or would they? But in a way of looking at it, he ‘did’ receive the Sun, and thus became it.

                     I can only gather that is what’s occuring now. That more and more people are realizing they are on the receiving end of a solar impulse, but we don’t know that we are actually channels for it. And it is quite possible that the solar light we recieve might be very dim at first but eventually grow. And as Steiner had pointed out in the age of Oriphiel, that it is individuals who shine this light outwardly from within them – and that is during, what is termed a ‘Dark’ age. However ‘dark’ it may be, it might be an age of miracles, too… if we take in consideration corresponding opposites, that is.

                     I want to share a passage here, since it’s falls into this theme, and is the first place I heard the term ‘Solar Spermatika’. PKD, of course. Apologies I bring him up too often! And not to say I take his word on everything, but definitely something to think about:

                     “One could speculate that this is the purpose of human beings: Why We Are Here — to serve as the recipient “female” “mothers” for the implantations of the solar spermatika, the divine seeds. Curiously, this would bear on Doris’ point about the item in Catholic Agitator that Jesus’ healing activities were not only primary, it was that which most crucially angered the Romans. I asked her, “Why the hell would healing these bodies for us be a primary act on His part, especially since these bodies will die anyhow; they’re healed, but they aren’t made into anything but what they are, i.e., they aren’t immortal.” Well, if these bodies are to serve as the “wombs” for the solar spermatika, then healing such a body would be “pre natal care,” and certainly logically crucial. [. . .]”

                  6. https://reverseritual.com/lemniscate/

                  7. This conversation needs to continue, either here, or on another thread. It is too important to just ignore due to the kerfuffle of something else. I am inviting it with some important instruments for investigation. They are simple explanations of what in reality constitutes a fact that is being overlooked today; a new paradigm shift when nobody wants any such thing. You see, virtual reality (VT), and the prevailing quantum nonsense, which produces new discoveries nearly everyday, has blunted any sense for what could prove to be a real shift into the Consciousness Soul Age.

                     These three documents are designed to represent a start. Kyle and Hazel have shown the incentive:

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

                     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisces_(astrology)

                     https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Pisces_symbol_%28bold%29.svg/800px-Pisces_symbol_%28bold%29.svg.png

                     These are preliminary considerations, but I would like to leave with a kind of hint at the meaningful significance of it all. It comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 1, when John is asked by the Priests and Levites about who he is, and what he is doing. He says:
                     “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.

                     29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John 1: 26-31

                     This action of John is very much a part of the Pisces symbol, and its mystery; John the Aquarian, and Jesus the Piscean.

                  8. Thanks Steve for these link references.
                     I love this idea that The Vesica Piscis is like a lens. & in the connection with the ichthys symbol in Latin, “vesica piscis” literally means “bladder of a fish”. In Italian, it means almond – it is traditional at an Italian wedding to serve Sugar coated Almonds. Also shaped like a lemon. My Strega Nona Grandmother would put nails into a lemon & hang it in places that needed protection. In the Jewish tradition we see this shape in the Etrog – the yellow citron used during Sukkot as one of the four species. After the holiday, eating the etrog or etrog jam is considered a good remedy for a woman to have an easy childbirth.

                     This turning inside out of the Vesica Piscis is what we see in the symbol of Pisces – the fish is derived from ichthyocentaurs – made up of 2 different words, ichthyo = centaur – & the Greek ikhthis (ιχθύς) “fish”; a creature that has the upper body of a human, the lower half of a horse, with the tail of a fish – This mythological creature aided Aphrodite when she was born from the sea”.

                     Lamb of God = Aries Alpha
                     Pisces = Omega

                     So much here!

                  9. Hi Steve, I’m glad you brought up the Eighth Sphere here. In light of this discussion, I’m reminded of what you had shared awhile ago about the ‘notched’ system. I’d have to look back which course this was, but there was a diagram that showed a literal ‘notch’ which essentially was it’s own ‘walkaway’ system. And with that, wrested the light coming from the spiritual world. I hope I’m summarising that well, but I know you know what I mean here.

                     With that in mind, that does make the Christ event all the more interesting to see in that framework. Wouldn’t that make a literal ‘Light’ that pierces through this notched system and essentially invades it? Of course, that’s a good thing if this ‘invader’ is actually the ‘liberator’. Solar impulse piercing through, and spreads like dendritic light (a Tree), into the ‘notched out’ world. I hope I’m making sense.

                  10. We are certainly synchronized today! If I am not mistaken, isn’t that a fish fin at the top of the 7th Occult Seal Picture? In looking at the Pisces symbol, I see the curve on the right joining to the curve on the left through the horizontal line, which can be looked upon as:
                      1) right curve = waning crescent moon
                      2) horizontal line = new moon
                      3) left curve = waxing crescent moon

                      Steiner describes the “notch” as the phosphoric effect of Lucifer in enabling an actual physical and perceptible astronomical system of outer observation. As such, we only see the “notch” of a planet through a telescope. The whole hierarchical field of the planet is obscured because a telescope is just an eyepiece. Yet, modern astronomy thinks it can discern all the properties of a planet by merely looking at its ‘notch’. They don’t see the grand field that makes up Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, etc.

                      This is from GA 136, Spiritual Beings in the Heavenly Bodies and in the Kingdoms of Nature. There is a nice diagram that I will locate if interested. I thought I was the only one up at 1:30 am. This is great.

                  11. Synchronized, indeed! Just to add to what you wrote… notice how the center point of the Vesica Piscis is strikingly similar to a spearhead. If we take this analogy further, the shaft of the spear could be akin to “light”. We are getting into Parsifal territory with piercing the veil. But “what” organ do we use to pierce the veil? Is not the spearhead the spiritual eye? Are not ‘eyes’ the same as portals in the sense as we’ve been discussing here?

                      It’s fascinating to think that our physical eyes perceive the wrested light, Luciferic, yet we have another – rather dormant – eye that can perceive the super sensible. I don’t think our regular eyes can withstand the intensity of real spiritual light the same as our “third” eye can.

                  12. Fascinating that our conversation has taken us to the chalice & the spear!

                  13. I think it is worthwhile to take a moment to look at these comments from late November 2021. Kyle, you were trying to keep the focus on the Eighth Sphere, and even seeing the intersection of spheres, which is depictive of the Vesica Piscis.

                      https://reverseritual.com/i-hear-the-word-of-the-sun/#comments

                      I found your plea, coming at that time, very touching. We had actually arrived at a full-scale demonstration, and even made a movie of these intersecting spheres, which would seem to prove the Vesica Piscis as an observable phenomenon with a basis in reality.

                  14. Kyle, you wrote:

                      “It’s fascinating to think that our physical eyes perceive the wrested light, Luciferic, yet we have another – rather dormant – eye that can perceive the super sensible. I don’t think our regular eyes can withstand the intensity of real spiritual light the same as our “third” eye can.”

                      This is profound because it speaks to the Lens, which is depicted at the intersection of the Vesica Piscis. Also, the bladder, which is a bodily organ. Now, here is the scenario. When Jahve, as the outer expression of Christ, was guiding the descending arc of evolution, since Noah, human perception consisted of the following order:
                      1) Outside in
                      2) Right-side up
                      3) Forward

                      When Christ incarnated at the Turning Point of Time, this configuration became reversed to the following order:

                      4) Inside out
                      5) Upside down
                      6) Backward

                      Thus, Christ is the Spirit guiding our inner development, and this even requires that the human eye receive a lens in order to make the eye like a camera. This lens exists to accommodate the outer-external world of phenomena. If the lens of the eye was not given as a blessing, we would have to get used to walking on our heads; such is the profundity of this entry of Christ two thousand years ago.

                      Another factor of importance is the Lemniscate, which is a figure-eight design in which two loops are intersected in the middle. Christ made this especially for the purpose of connecting the outer dimension of Jahve, with His own inner dimension, in order that an uninterrupted flow of past, present, and future could arise.

                      This becomes especially important in the transition from the fourth to the fifth cultural epoch. That is when the knot in the middle needs the lens in order to bring about the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods of outer-external development. The Lemniscate represents the yoking of past and future through the ever-presence of Christ. The Mystery of Golgotha is very real, although there are some who think it is pure myth. They are the atomists infecting the world with science, which is what gets taught today in schools.

                  15. reading Emil Bock’s wonderful work on the Apocalypse of John:
                      The difference between the right-hand path and the left-hand path in spirituality is this:
                      The right-hand path spiritualises matter.
                      The left-hand path materialises spiritual things.

                  16. 8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 11 I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. Genesis 9

                      ———–

                      Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

                      5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” Luke 4

                  17. Hi Hazel,

                      It is important to show how the Jahve stream is a descending arc of evolution in which Noah experiences the flood, and then the further events of a downward-tending evolution, i.e., involution. Thus, the dynamics comprised of: Outside in, rightside up, and forward, are assuredly owing to Jahve.

                      When Christ incarnated, this is all reversed, like turning a glove inside out. Steiner gave a course in which he expressed this very well. You see, when we die, everything is turned inside out, and what was inward is now turned outward. “Tat tvam asi” becomes the experience in the life between death and rebirth. In other words, ‘That Thou Art’, with special emphasis on Art, which pertains to the next life on Earth.

                      https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA109/English/AP1978/RosEso_index.html

4. Dear Steve, I appreciate your point. This is not the place to rehash questions about Occult Mercury and astronomical Venus – there are many different points of view! – but rather, I accept your suggestion that if one considers that Occult Mercury was at Aldebaran at the passing of Rene Querido, it could well indicate the healing forces streaming from the Holy Spirit are accompanying Rene at his spiritual birth into life between death and rebirth. Thanks for your suggestion.

   Reply

5. One of my two spiritual fathers. In my prayers every night with much love and gratitude. Thank you for this wonderful article, Hazel. Much love to you, too.

   Reply

   1. Isn’t it amazing how when we think of the dead we all receive a blessing…
      Yes, let’s keep the prayers & gratitude flowing between the worlds

      Reply

6. I was drawn to this interaction between Dr. Stein and Querido: “For a number of years Stein had asked me to indicate the subjects on which he was to speak at Michael Hall on Wednesday evenings. I asked him again and again what he wanted to talk about, but for at least four years he steadfastly refused to respond and insisted that I choose the topic of the talk.”

   I believe Stein, in choosing this way of deciding what to present, was very wise, especially after reading this comment Steiner made in Karmic Relationships, vol. 8, lect. 7: “One must never speculate about the spiritual world in research, never invent anything, but only make the preparations for enabling something to reveal itself from the spiritual world. Anyone who believes he can force the spiritual world to reveal this or that to him will be very greatly mistaken; nothing but errors will come of it. Preparation must be made for what one may hope to receive out of the spiritual world more or less by grace.”

   It may be that Stein had received some insight into how Steiner was able to decide what to present, and this kind of approach would certainly have been part of his thinking. If one who’s presenting is ready to take the chance of introducing errors, then they may go ahead and attempt to “force the spiritual world” to reveal this or that, but much more responsible would be to rely on grace.

   Reply

   1. Yes, I too reflected on that interaction.
      It’s also important to bring what the community needs. It’s like how the initiate has be asked something before he can bring the spiritual insights forth.
      Or how we should’nt try to over explain things to children or teenagers, just answer the questions or themes that come from them

      Reply

7. Greetings,
   The Mystery of the Holy Grail…
   from link,
   https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA144/English/RSP1972/19130207p01.html

   1. The Being who had been known spiritually to human souls in earlier days first became manifest in physical life when Moses heard in the physical world the Voice that in earlier ages had been heard only in the spiritual worlds: “Ejeh asher Ejeh!” — “I AM THE I AM, Who was, and is, and will be”.
   2. Fundamentally speaking, the phrase the “Holy Grail”, with all that belongs to it, involves a reappearing of the essence of the Eastern Mysteries,
   3. They were secrets related to the Cosmos, to the in-pouring of the forces of the Zodiac and of the Planets, but particularly to the secrets connected with the co-operation of the Sun and Moon, and to the shifting influences of the Sun and Moon as they pass through the signs of the Zodiac.
   4. That is what is mysterious and so hard to understand in a nature such as Goethe’s; but by the same token it brings to light many hidden aspects of the human soul in modern times. Everything brought about by the duality of human nature lays hold, in the first place, of the Intellectual Soul, and the Intellectual Soul divides into those “two souls”, whereof one can sink fairly deeply into matter and the other can rise into the spiritual.
   5. It is because modern man is so fond of surrounding himself with Maya that he wants to deny Amfortas. For how delightful it sounds when we hear it said: “Humanity is always advancing!” Yes, but this “advance” follows a very tortuous path. And in order to develop the forces of Parsifal in human nature, the Amfortas-nature in man must be recognised.
   6. it was right for Egyptian times that one should rise up into the spiritual worlds in order to know Isis, so is it right for our times to start with the spirituality, the spiritual nature, of this world, and through it to rise into the higher spiritual worlds.
   @100 years ago such wisdom about multiple dualities!awesome!
   namaste,mkyogi

   Reply

   1. Thank you, great Steiner lecture!
      It seems humanity is stuck in the unrecognized Amfortas stage. We must have the courage to develop past the adolescent stage into our adulthood in freedom – this is the modern Quest for the Holy Grail.

      Reply

      1. Greetings
         True,how people interpret Holy grail and kundalini their ways,, e.g.
         https://www.anne-marie.eu/en/kundalini-symbols-holy-grail/
         https://www.anne-marie.eu/en/the-knights-templar-and-the-holy-grail/
         How come modern medical science labelled this as bacterial infections?
         1.recent corona vaccinations silenced pine-al/ piturity glands/kundalini
         related activities.
         2 In past I used Cephalexin group of antibiotics to silence kundalini activities.
         these too are dangerous life threatening side effects .cure is worse than discomforts..
         The question is modern medical science knows all this in their ways,prescriptions are difficult to get in USA,anyway kundalini and prana both must go for shushumna nadi awakening.an ounce of practice worth
         tons of knowledge.sivananda.
         namaste mkyogi

         Reply

8. Fascinating biography. I had heard of him, but only started to appreciate who he was after our local study group started studying his book on The Mystery of Love, which Brian Gray introduced me to. Would like to read more bio’s like this of current anthroposophical figures. I learned much from this article, and it also raised more questions in my mind. I hadn’t come across that side of Steiner that was counselling others on these spiritual beings reincarnating (Rasputin, Umi) – I guess when you’re lecturing in many places, as Steiner was doing, you come across all sorts of “influences”. You’ve probably had some experience with that in your travels, Hazel.

   Reply

   1. Not sure if it was the residue from the Full Blue Corn/Sturgeon Moon or if Night School was kicking into gear for the Fall Session, but I had a series of interesting encounters last night. I dreamt I was being led thru some tunnels that I knew were underneath the Chartres Cathedral. The being leading me was humming in deeply resonate tones, which vibrated thru my whole being. She was holding a flame what seemed to be coming right out of her hand. I stumbled over a brick in the stone floor & when I looked down, in the half darkness I saw a design that looked like the Christian fish symbol. I called out to the leader but she had gone ahead & now it was quite dark & when I tried to go forward I kept tripping on the many loose bricks. Each time my foot hit the stones a tone rang out, but I couldn’t see what symbol was on them. I was reaching out my hands to try & feel my way when I touched a wall that was so soft my hand seemed to sink right in…& then I woke up.

      Later after my meditation & other various morning duties, I saw that Tom Mellett had reminded me in a commet from yeaterday that today was René Querido’s birthday. He wasn’t my teacher in person, but his books have been a powerful guide for me.

      The underpinnings of reincarnation & our karmic relationships need to be given more thought. But for some reason folks don’t like to try & apply it in their lives. I can understand that most people don’t feel they have the facilities to do this kind of research because it can most certainly be fraught with egoism & illusion. But if we are to heal the breach after Steiner’s death within the society, if we are to go forward with our mission as Anthroposophers, then we must at least begin to look at those we encounter & seek to understand the work we came here to do – & then do what we must to heal whatever past moon karma is in the way so that we can achieve our mission.

      Yes, in my travels I have bumped up against much & many ‘influences’ – And as the messenger have often been ‘killed’. Perhaps because I myself killed many in the past…sigh…Ok, then, all I can do is continue to strive at my own inner development…

      Reply

      1. Oh my, what a fascinating dream. I do hope you give it the full attention it deserves; you’ve been greatly blessed to receive such insights. You’re the best one to interpret it, but the bricks or whatever they were that kept tripping you up were obstacles to your smooth progress in discovering such a mystery. If only you’d been able to keep up with the being with the flaming light; I hope you’re blessed with another such opportunity, and can explore more. I wonder if those obstacles were people who haven’t been blessed with such insights, and who would trip you up with doubts? Dante certainly had his share of obstacles to deal with in his journey to paradise; fortunately he had Virgil as someone who knew the “terrain” and the beings in that terrain, to be his guide. Virgil, as representative of logic and reason, could only be of help in the inferno and purgatorio though; I believe Dante’s help was transferred to Cato in paradise, but I’d have to check that. If you recall, Virgil’s deficiency was a lack of faith – that lack was the only reason he was stuck in “limbo”.

         Reply

         1. I see the obstacles as being the vices of my lower nature, which are opportunities to grasp that 1st stone with the Christian fish symbol…

            Let’s not forget Beatrice
            xox

            Reply

            1. Definitely we can’t forget Beatrice, and the force of Love she generated to make Dante’s journey a possibility. She didn’t need to think of him – she was in a place of bliss – but similar to the way Christ thought of us, she DID think of him, and went out of her way to give him a vision. Without that vision, he may have ended his life – his spirits were that low – just as it says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish … “.

               Reply

               1. alas, sometimes I feel the vision can be a stumbling block, when others prefer to put their heads in the sand…
                  But as you say the Christ Love that Beatrice represents our goal

                  Reply

                  1. Sounds like it could be part of the karma of others you agreed to take on, your relationships with those who put their heads in the sand? I wonder if Beatrice sometimes questioned whether it was worth her trouble to enlighten Dante?

                  2. Yes, we need each other to make the pearl.
                     Being an ideal archetype i would imagine Beatrice stands outside of that antipathy…

      2. You probably already know this, but watch for synchronicities. Such a gift as you received may be reinforced in your waking life; those beings in the spiritual world are pretty amazing in the creative ways they get “the message” across to you. Cheers.

         Reply

         1. O yes, that is already happening. Some insights came forth from the book I am reading, & when we did our reading for the dead the Gospel we choose spoke directly as well…
            I have always been blessed with the grace of synchronicities, maybe because I know to look for them.
            Clues are everywhere
            xox

            Reply

            1. Thank you, Hazel, for publishing Thomas Meyer’s wonderful interview of Rene Querido. I was blessed to sit at Rene’s feet from 1979 to 1991 as a student and colleague at Rudolf Steiner College, and I stayed in touch with Rene until his death on 23 June 2004. At the end of the biography it is stated that Rene Querido died in 2006, but I assure you that his death date is 23 June 2004. Thank you again for your excellent work!

               Reply

               1. Hi Brian
                  The powerful spiritual aura of those Rudolf Steiner College days still graces us.
                  Thank you for adding to that energy. What a karmic blessing to have such a master teacher.
                  Thank you for the correction on Rene Querido’s death day, I am a terrible typist…
                  Do you feel it would be of benifit for us to know anything about his death chart?

                  Reply

                  1. Rene Querido died at 2:45 AM Greenwich Mean Daylight Time in Bristol, UK, on 23 June 2004. He died the day before St. John’s Day. At the moment of his death, Venus was conjunct the bright star Aldebaran (the Bull’s Eye), and the Moon was conjunct Regulus, the Heart of the Lion, in the same position the Moon had been at the original Whitsun (Pentecost). Rene was an excellent teacher and mentor to younger folks, and his presence was truly inspiring. Thank you for asking, dear Hazel.

                  2. O thank you dear Brian for this glimpse into what shall truly be another potent incarnation –
                     Ah the eve of St. John’s, so powerful.
                     & Aldebaran, I believe is one of the 4 ‘Royal Stars’, or ‘Guardians of the Sky’ – also called one of the ‘Archangel stars’, In this case “Watcher of the East”, since it’s the bull’s eye of Taurus, associated with Michael.

                     And Regulus, another ‘Royal Star’ is associated with the healing Archangel Raphael. Moon conjunct the Heart of the Lion makes me think that Occult interests will prevail…O to think of the connection to the original Whitsun gives me thrill-bumps!

                     Thank you for these insights which I can now bring into my meditation for this soul.

                  3. Dear Hazel, thank you for your warm response. However, I made a mistake in saying that the Moon at Regulus at Rene’s death was in the same position as the original Whitsun Moon. At the original Whitsun/Pentecost, the Moon was in 24 degrees of the Lion in the Babylonian Sidereal Zodiac, whereas Regulus (where Rene’s death Moon appears) is at 5 degrees of the Lion in that Zodiac, at Regulus. Hence I was mistaken, and would like to retract that part of my earlier statement – so sorry!
                     Since the Moon represents imaginative thoughts and mental pictures, perhaps we could interpret Rene’s death Moon at Regulus as his fulfilling Rudolf Steiner’s statement, “Hearts are beginning to have thoughts – the Age of Michael has dawned.” Rene often enthusiastically referred to this quote. And perhaps his death Venus at Aldebaran could refer to his faithful vision that the Holy Spirit’s World-All Thoughts (Taurus, the Bull) will awaken universal love in all human beings (Venus).
                     One more interesting fact: Rene’s death Sun stood in the same position as his birth Moon in the Twins, perhaps reflecting Rene’s fulfilling his imaginative thoughts (Moon) with loving deeds (Sun).
                     If there is a way to correct my earlier mistake, I would be very grateful. Thank you for this wonderful service you are performing, dear Hazel!

                  4. Thanks for taking the time to check & make the correction.
                     Yes, The Michaelic task of practicing Heart-Thinking.
                     & The connection of Taurus with the Holy Spirit is such a beautiful mystery
                     How interesting to contemplate the Sun Moon shift from birth to death…

                  5. Brian wrote:

                     “And perhaps his death Venus at Aldebaran could refer to his faithful vision that the Holy Spirit’s World-All Thoughts (Taurus, the Bull) will awaken universal love in all human beings (Venus).”

                     Yet, if this is Occult Mercury in the real sense of the planet, what would Mercury in Aldebaran mean for the passing of RQ? Healing forces are always needed here in the earthly domain.

                  6. Also, RQ died on Wednesday, which is Mercury Day. And the Sun was in the sign of Gemini since June 16, according to Steiner’s sidereal astrology engraved in the COTS. And, he was 77 years old. The Moon was waxing crescent at 5.74 days into the New phase, which began on June 18.

               2. Brian! How wonderful to meet you here on Hazel’s blog! Just yesterday (on René’s B-day), Maverick mentioned you and it felt like a lighting strike from the spiritual world impelling me to contact you as soon as possible and here we are.

                  Let me tell the other readers here that you and I were classmates at Rudolf Steiner College in that magical Teacher Training class of ’81. After 42 years, I’d like us to celebrate an alumni reunion! Well, we’re doing it right now!

                  And of course it is René Querido who brought us together now on Hazel’s blog that I have nicknamed: the Almanac of Anthroposophy. I just reminded her of René’s birthday and she took it from there and here we are.

                  I really do dearly want to speak with you, Brian, about how my destiny with anthroposophy has finally blossomed this year after decades in spiritual darkness! (I always was a late bloomer.)

                  In fact, it was your correction of the death year of René that suddenly evoked the memory of how René lovingly intervened at a crucial karmic crossroads in my life just 12 hours after his death!

                  That destiny is now fulfilled and I will write it up as a separate comment in this posting.

                  Brian, you are a loving and beautiful living representative of René Querido on earth right now and I want to express my gratitude to you — and to René through you.

                  Stay tuned for my tribute to René.

                  With much love and affection.

                  Tom

                  Reply

                  1. I look forward to hearing more stories of the RSC glory days

                  2. Dear Tom, it has been a long time – 42 years, as you state – since we have seen each other at RSC. Yes, Rene was a dynamic leader, teacher, author, lecturer and translator whose magnetic personality fascinated everyone. The second Rudolf Steiner book that I read was The Spiritual Hierarchies and Their Reflection in the Physical World. When I was in the Foundation Year program which Rene expertly guided, I asked him if he had read The Spiritual Hierarchies lectures – it was tremendously important and awakening for me. Rene then told me that he translated those lectures into English, so I checked my copy and sure enough, I read “translated by R. M. Querido.” It was then that I fully recognized that Rene was my teacher, and that RSC was my destiny. I dedicated my life to teaching and caring for RSC from 1979 until it had to close its doors in 2017. Rene was continually my inspiring guide, and I rarely taught a subject without referring to a story Rene told us. And Tom, I remember your warm presence in our classes those 2 years at RSC, and it’s great to hear how Rene inspired you and continued to guide your destiny. Rene is a great soul from the School of Michael, a cosmopolitan genius who was devoted to kindling the teachings of Rudolf Steiner in the hearts, minds and will impulses of future generations. His sense of humor was contagious, and his humanity and wisdom was remarkable. We were really blessed to have Rene as a teacher and inspiring friend, and I owe so much to him. Rene is near the head of my prayer list, and he remains a wise counselor and guide from across the threshold.
                     So thank you, dear Tom, for helping to facilitate our warm remembrance of Rene and all those wonderful years of his teaching! Blessings and love and all best wishes to you, and to all who read this!

                  3. Thanks Brian – it’s heartwarming to hear your words on Rene Querido. I watched a video on Solari.com dedicated to spiritual science (https://spiritualscience.solari.com/), a discussion Catherine Austin Fitts and Thomas Meyer had on a visit they had at Chartres. I find it interesting they have this common bond through Chartres, and the one book Thomas mentioned for its many valuable insights, was by Rene Querido – “The Golden Age of Chartes”. Guess I’ll be ordering a copy to see why it comes so highly recommended. Like the Biblical verse about Abel in Hebrews 11:4, he (Rene) “being dead, yet speaketh”.

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