​by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
The Twelve World Views that weave human life and the world together.

There is not one world view, which needs to be defended or is valid above all, but rather there are twelve world views. The world does not allow us to observe or think it from a one-sided point of view, but rather reveals itself when one can gather different viewpoints. As the zodiac offers the sun the opportunity to shine its light to the earth from twelve principally different places, so we human beings can practice taking on a stance that can ‘go around’ something and observe and cognise it from twelve different viewpoints. Only then will understanding be an act of revelation in which the reality of human and earthly life as one can be experienced.

​by John-Peter Gernaat
Michaël started by referring to the contemplation that was provided by Reingard in the December newsletter as an excellent starting point for this topic.

He spent some time speaking of the importance of rhythm. Rudolf Steiner stated that rhythm restores power. Nature is built on rhythms: day and night; plants budding, flowering, bearing fruit and dispersing seeds; animals have migratory rhythms and mating rhythms. Humans alone do not have outer rhythms imposed on them; we must create our own rhythms. People who rise and sleep with the sun experience a power from this rhythm. We live in a world that supports a lack of rhythm. We need to work at establishing a healthy rhythm in our lives.

Rhythm comes with sacrifice. Everything in life comes at a cost but the gain can be greater than the cost. The Christian cycle is a rhythm we can adopt and so is the rhythm of the Act of Consecration of Man.

When we look at Mary – as Reingard did in the December contemplation – she, Mary, is already conscious and present. This is the meaning ascribed to the book she holds in so many artworks depicting the moment of the Annunciation. In this state of consciousness and presence the angel can come. The translation of the opening words of the angel are generally “fear not”, but the words in Greek are in the passive form and could be better translated as “in yourself, don’t retreat” or “stay in the present”.

The state that is asked of us for prayer is a state of being present. When we are present angels can come.

Formerly prayer required an intermediary. We could feel our connection to the divine through a saint or through a guru. In the case of a guru, he would take charge and we would sit at his feet and we would withdraw from society in order to be with the guru. We would ‘go up a mountain’ or ‘go to the source’.

Mary is neither with a guru nor in a temple, she is alone. Zacharias, on the other hand, is in the temple when the angel appears to him. Today, in our prayer life, we no longer need to ‘go to the mountain’ or ‘into the temple’, we need to go into ourselves and create the space and the presence to be in that space.

When we read the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well the conversation that occurs is an unexpected one (no Jewish man would speak with a Samaritan woman). Jesus speaks of a spiritual relationship: if she forms a rhythmical relationship (just as the relationship is to her drawing water daily from the well) with the Christ the power of God is restored. The ’spring’ we once sought ‘up the mountain’ or ‘in the Temple’ has shifted into us, but we must recognise it. The way we generally read this passage makes Christ a guru to the woman, but it may be that the correct way to read what Jesus says in asking her about her husband (a relationship to a ‘Lord and Master’) is to consider the question as: “go to your spiritual source”. Then the response of the woman makes more sense, which is to say that she has no husband (no spiritual source at present and then to be able to confirm what Jesus says to her. In this way she can say: “I have had five gods and in terms of the one I worship now I’m not certain that I have a relationship to him”. In this reading she becomes a representative of all humanity: seeking but not in a true relationship.

The fact that the ‘mountain’ and the ‘temple’ has moved into us means that our inner disposition becomes relevant. The birth of Christ in us requires preparation. We must put time into this preparation. It is not like fish eggs where the life is prepared externally to the parent fish. For an internal birth there must be an internal development. For Christ to be born in us requires rhythmical praying. When we pray it is necessary that we include our thinking in our praying. When a woman is pregnant, she will at some point experience a profound realisation that she is developing a new life within her body. When we carry the Christ in us this insight and understanding is similarly profound and has significance for the whole world.

by John-Peter Gernaat
​
Rev. Frimut Husemann presented two talks on 8th December and 15th December.

Contemplating the world within the human being we note that we take in the world through our senses. We can experience this in infants: they hear adults speak and learn to form words by imitation; they fall, cry and try again and again to stand. We know from the person know as Kasper Hauser who was held in a dark prison till age fourteen that his senses were fully developed nonetheless, but he lacked understanding. He saw a tree and assumed it was ready-made like that. He had to be shown that a seed planted in the soil germinates and grows into a plant.

Can you see a dot of ink on a page? No, it is not something you can appreciate through your senses. It is something we grasp through knowing. Look at a triangle:

​by John-Peter Gernaat

The Ankh

The images are of the burial complex of Pharaoh Unas, 9th and final Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty, built in the 24th century BC (Wikipedia). When a Pharaoh died there was a birth. This is reminiscent of out Christmas altar image where there is a birth on earth and a death and revelations in the heavens.

The purpose of the pyramid built over the burial complex was to ensure that the death of the Pharaoh did not represent his spiritual death. It created a path to Ra so that the dead Pharaoh could rule with the living Pharaoh. This made the living Pharaoh a representative of God on Earth. The same title as taken by Caesar and by the Pope. In these later pyramids the ritual of death is more clearly revealed than in the older pyramids.

The western chamber, where the sarcophagus stands, represented the underworld, The Antechamber into which the passage opens represented the earth while the eastern chamber represented the heavens.

The funeral ritual began at sunset. The mummy of the Pharaoh was taken into the underworld chamber and a calf was slaughtered. At midnight the mummy was closed in the sarcophagus. To the right and the left of the entrance to this chamber were two statues. The etheric body of the Pharaoh, the Ka, and the astral body of the Pharaoh, the Ba, were united with one of these statues each. The priest would speak the words and these words would become reality. These two statues were then moved through the low doorway into the eastern chamber where the Ka was set in the northern room and the Ba in the southern room. In the middle room the “I” could be free. It was transported on a ship (a bark) for the next month to life in conjunction with the sun.

The path leading into the funeral complex was sealed with 3 huge stones that fell out of the ceiling to seal the passage after the funeral party left.

These rituals were rituals of authority in the sphere of the Father God.

The Ka is represented by Seth and Ba by Horus. Seth can be equated with Ahriman and Horus with Lucifer. We all have Horus and Seth in us and an empty space where the Christ can be grasped by the I. The first communion in the Act of Consecration is “Take this into your thinking”. As the service continues the communion with the soul and the body occurs.

Joachim Spiegel has written a book on the Rituals of the Egyptians. From his research we know words from the rituals: “You were born for the reason you have Horus in you. You were born for the reason you have Seth in you.” The body of the dead Pharaoh was given into the arms of Atum, who in the Egyptian cosmology is the first god who created the creator gods and goddesses.

​We were asked to describe this image factually. You should do so yourself before reading on.

We see a man, an older man, dressed in robes supported by a staff, contemplating a man, a younger man, who is undressed who is perched on a support. The young man is looking out at the world. Once his hands held a spear. He was a hunter. Behind the younger man is a child who is asleep. At the same level as the child is an animal who is awake. This image represents the three ages of Man, childhood, adulthood and old age.

One cannot see the expression of individual artists in Greek art, all artist developed the style of the time, but there was a development in the style that occurred over a period of a century. In Egyptian art there was no development. It was authoritarian and grave-like. In Greek culture there was no real understanding of death. Greek culture was all about life and the enjoyment of life. Greek culture expressed the appreciation of the temple of the human body, especially the male body. There is no expression of egoism in the body or any inhibitions in its portrayal.

In the image above we can see the child sleeping at the level of the legs of the man. This represents the sphere of the will. Here the child is unconscious while the animal is fully conscious. This image also represents the three levels of consciousness. This image was found on a grave and the legs of the younger man stand free of the relief, i.e. they are fully three dimensional. This represents an old man looking back on his life just before death. The Greek culture was the first culture where an individual reflected back on himself. This is the first time we see the ideal of freedom coming to the fore. It is not yet real freedom, but the idea of freedom was developing. This image was made in the late classical period of Greek art between 360 BC and 390 BC.

In ancient Egypt one can imagine the pyramid. The Pharaoh's name is carved into the top pinnacle of the pyramid: the name of god. The sun (Ra) shines in the pyramid and he, Ra and the Pharaoh, rule the world. On the ground at the base of the pyramid stands the living Pharaoh, the Son of God.

In Greek architecture, the temples had changed and become a representation of a house for the gods.

Socrates began to think independent thoughts that were against the stream of thinking of his time and the result of this blasphemy was death. He could have fled Athens and avoided death, but he was culturally, an Athenian first and foremost and therefore would not flee from death and accepted his death as the will of the judges.

The Greek culture was the first European culture and also the last oriental culture. It reached a new level of consciousness.

Initiations at Eleusis continued until 480 BC. The Parthenon was built between 477 BC and 438 BC by Pericles at the height of the ancient Greek Empire. The Persians attempted to invade and conquer Greece between 492 BC and 478 BC. One of the decisive battles was won by the Greeks at Salamis where they destroyed the Persian naval supremacy. Eleusis overlooked Salamis and the bay of Salamis where the naval battle was fought on 28th September (Michaelmas) and as a result of this battle in 480 BC the initiation ceremony could not take place at Eleusis and the spiritual beings deserted the temple.

The image (above) is of the priestesses of Demeter and Persephone initiating a young man. Demeter holds the staff with the ears of wheat sprouting from the top. The staff of Persephone has the burning torch at the top. In this relief of the archetype of the initiation the initiate is Triptolemus who was either a prince or a god and received the secrets of agriculture from Demeter and her daughter Persephone.

In the Eleusinian mysteries the men to be initiated sat in the dark all night and at midnight the priestess of Persephone would take them one by one into the place of initiation. As he enters he sees a light and hears the toning of a gong. The priestess of Demeter says words: “The strong wife will bear a strong son”, at which point the initiate has a vision of the mother and child. At dawn they to go a cave where they spread water symbolising flow and procreation then they plant wheat seeds at a cemetery that produce crop in the next season.

This was the last shadow of the ancient mystery initiations which foreshadowed the Christ. These mysteries were held at Michaelmas under the guidance of Michael. These mystery initiations foreshadow the Act of Consecration.

Frimut shared some political history about the Greco-Persian wars. Xerxes led the invasion of 480 BC. Xerxes defeated the Spartan and Allied armies in the battle of Thermopylae and the Greek navy that had been protecting the flanks of their army retreated to the island of Salamis. Xerxes now invaded most of Greece and the city of Athens was evacuated except for a small army. Xerxes defeated this army and laid waste to Athens. The Greek Allied navy remained offshore of the island of Salamis hoping to lure the Persian navy into battle. The navies met in the cramped straits of Salamis and the size and number of Persian ships created chaos that the Allied fleet took advantage of and defeated the Persian navy. Xerxes retreated to Asia Minor.

Thirty years later the Greek culture reached its peak. Many towns paid Athens to defend them. Athens used this money to rebuild the city. Criminality in ancient times grew the culture. This continues to this day where we steal from the poor to build the culture of the rich. This is not a Christian way of behaviour.

We celebrate Christmas and Easter every day even though the festivals that celebrate these events occur at specific times.

​by John-Peter Gernaat
These words appear in 1 Corinthians 13.

Hope is connected to our physical body. Our body is the instrument with which we can work in the world. A new baby represents hope for a family. While we are alive we have hope; while there is breath, there is hope. We have no knowledge of what awaits us beyond the threshold of death. Life gives hope for growing and fulfilling our task.

Faith is connected with growth – buds – in some languages. Faith is connected with the astral, the feeling body. We grow where we know. We grow in awareness, knowledge and memory. We motivate ourselves through curiosity and ideals. Faith in my knowledge comes through experience.

Love is connected with the etheric body. It is not connected with feeling, the astral body. Its essence is in the life body. Love has to do with life. The fire of love creates enthusiasm. Hate, anger and cynicism destroy energy. Pure water is an expression of the etheric and is also an expression of love – it is fluid, adaptable, and fills the space it occupies.

How can we live with these words in 2020?

Without love, hope and faith go cold and die. Love carries hope and faith.

Considering the opposites:
The opposite of hope is despair, hopelessness.
The opposite of love is fear and hate. (Fear is a physical expression that weakens us, while hate is a destructive force.)
The opposite of faith is doubt, undermining.
By considering these opposites we get a sense of the reality of love – hope – faith. In overcoming the opposites we can own the quality. We gain strength from the positive.

We looked back as a group at events of 2019 …

​by Robyn de Klerk
David and Chandré brought us a game to play. It is a boardgame they have created that demonstrates the importance of the Threefold Social Order and it is called EVOLUTIONISE. As we embarked upon a new year and a new decade, we sat down together in groups of three to discover what this is all about. We played the game over the course of three days, each day building upon our previous experience. This was necessary as the game seems very complicated at first but as you go along the logic of the process begins to emerge.

As a parable for the Threefold Social Order Rudolf Steiner gave the human being, which has three separate, related systems - the nervous system, the cardiovascular system and the digestive system. If any of these fails to function efficiently or attempts to operate outside of its proper place then disturbance results which in turn affects the body as a whole. All three need to be balanced and communicating clearly for health to be maintained.

In order for a society to thrive it is essential that it recognise and define the three spheres on which it relies for its existence. These are the Liberty Sphere (yellow), the Equality Sphere (blue) and the Economic Sphere (red). Knowing and understanding this is the aim of the game. Without this clarity life can just feel like a big bowl of confusion... which is exactly where the game starts.

by John-Peter GernaatThe twelve-fold nature of the world has held an interest for me for a long time. Growing up I once heard about twelve points of view that make up any situation. I seem to recall that the perspective was attributed to Rudolf Steiner. I heard that no situation can be fully understood until all twelve points of view have been examined. The result of hearing this was to place very little value on my own point of view in any situation, and rather to listen carefully to everyone else’s point of view. One thing I learned from this was that other did not perceive me as judgemental and that I could be welcomed into many circles where my own point of view would have precluded me. It created a certain tension within my being, however, for two reasons: firstly, I was not being true to my own values and secondly, my father held very strong views and I was his polar opposite which would not gain me much respect. On the other hand I could discover that in every point of view one can find the true human being.

I have asked about Rudolf Steiner’s perspective on the twelve world views from several people I respected and received very little guidance. In presenting her introduction Reingard said that the priests would try to approach this subject in the sermons during the Holy Nights, but admitted that it was a daunting task.

I did not have the good fortune of a Waldorf education and have had to learn about the nature of the human being from the outside, as it were. I learned about the four temperaments at an early age from the reading my parents did together. Later in life I discovered that these have become prominent in the field of work. I first encountered “Personality Plus” by Florence Littauer in relation to sales: how one can quickly determine a person’s “Personality” and adapt the sales message to that temperament. Later, in management training, I encountered the “Colour Personalities” of leadership. More recently I discovered that they are also referred to as “North, South, East and West Personalities”. Essentially, they are all the same and look at attributes of the choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic temperaments, both negative and positive, and how understanding them allows us to understand and work more easily with other people.

One day I was given a book by Max Stibbe, “Seven Soul Type”. Max Stibbe was one of the great pedagogues in the Waldorf Movement. He describes the development of a human being from birth to adulthood. The first seven years of a child’s development are directed towards to development of the physical body and allowing the development of the body and all its various functions to development without interference is the task of those overseeing the care of children during this period.

The temperament of a child awakens after the age of seven and teaching in this period of seven years should be directed at helping the child overcome the one-sidedness of their temperament in order to shape the character of the adult. He says that a character trait, anchored in the human temperament, is hard to change. Hence the interest in the temperaments by so many people.

At puberty the soul life becomes free and with it the emergence of an individual inner world. The seven soul types that Max Stibbe presents are a relationship of this inner world to the ‘outer world’. Carl Jung described two relationships: the introvert and the extrovert. Max Stibbe recognised that the introvert and the extrovert can be either active or passive in their inner world dealing with the outer world. There are also souls that have a more balanced relationship with the outer world or fluctuate easily between an inward turning and an outward turning. This too can be active or passive. This gives rise to six soul types with the seventh, probably not yet found in the world, which can bring complete balance between the inward turning of the soul life and the outward turning of the soul life as well balance between the inner world relating actively or passively to the outer world.

Finally, Max Stibbe reminds us that from the age of 21 the spirit becomes free and we should look to the twelve paths of human development. The only guidance he gives is to study the twelve disciples of Christ who each clearly represent one of these twelve paths. The guidance he also provides is that “we can look on the physical body as a trinity consisting of the nerve-sense system, the rhythmic system and the metabolic-limb system; the life body can be seen as fourfold; the soul organism as sevenfold; the human spirit as twelvefold”.

In my youth I turned to “obsolete astrological methods” (Max Stibbe’s words in quotes) to understand the twelvefold nature of the human spirit, and with some success. I once had to interview a large number of young adults for a number of positions. I was working with a person from the human resources discipline. I took the CVs we had received from all the candidates and based on their date of birth, their astrological sign and whatever my intuition provided from their CV and created a profile of each candidate. Before each interview I provided the human resources person with my profile and she was astonished how accurate this profile of each candidate was.

From the perspective of twelve points of view on every situation to a twelvefold nature of the human spirit the Twelve World Views that have been unfolded during these Holy Nights have excited my desire to understand our human nature.