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reported by John-Peter Gernaat Genesis 2 verses 8-9 states: “And the Lord God (correctly translated this is YHWH [Yahweh] of the Elohim) planted a garden … And out of the ground made the Lord God (YHWH of the Elohim) to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (King James Version). The trees that are good to look upon and good for food, whether these refer to the trees as we know them or the precursors to these trees, we know. The pine tree has become the yuletide tree because it is good to look at and most of us have grown up with peach trees, apricot trees, loquat trees or avocado pear trees. But the two trees in the ‘midst of the garden’ are unique. We have never seen them. So, what are they? Refer back to the first talk on the Old Testament Study where we established that “in the beginning” refers to a specific beginning. It is not the beginning of all creation by God, but rather the beginning of this cycle of time that Rudolf Steiner tells us is called Earth. There were three great cycles of time before this related to the development of humanity and the ongoing development of the hierarchies, and before that the hierarchies of heaven experienced their origins of development before time as we know it. Rudolf Steiner helps by telling us that there are seven esoteric trees related to the development of the human being. They are not physical trees, but the best picture with which to describe our development, is a tree. These seven esoteric trees are:
This is how these trees are described:
The two trees that stand in the midst of the garden therefore frame this Earth cycle of time. Knowledge is not information. Knowledge is arrived at through lived experience. The knowledge of good and evil is the ability to discern one thing from another including the nuances that become apparent with time. It therefore becomes obvious that eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil becomes possible in the course of this cycle of time. The temptation of Eve was therefore not that this fruit was not our destiny, but that we needed time to develop in order to ‘digest’ what this tree offers. Adam and Eve eating of the fruit was not wrong but the time for eating it was premature. One can think of a teenager: the moment a teenager gains information about something, they believe they have the ability to engage with that information. Take driving a car for example: a teenager who understands the mechanics of driving believes they are capable of driving, but fail to recognise the psychological maturity that is required to drive in traffic and to manage the situation of driving the car. This is how Eve and Adam approached the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As a result, humanity has been trying to manage that for which we were not yet ready. This cycle of time and the ones to follow within the great Earth cycle aim at preparing humanity to become the Tree of Life in the future, a reality in the next great cycle of time. The tree of life appears in some form in all cultures. In ancient India, in the Vedas, when Sanskrit was being born – a language that still contains the essence of the thing it describes – the Tree of Life was associated with the banyan tree – and in particular to one banyan tree on the banks of the river Ganges. In the Akkadian culture the tree of life was clearly as an esoteric tree as it was planted in water and protected by two Kar fish that swam around the base of the tree in opposite directions crossing paths twice a day. They protected the tree from a poisonous toad. The image of these fish remains to this day in that the ancient Persian culture saw them in the heavens in Pisces. In ancient Egypt the tree became the tree of life and death.
The next image of the Tree of Life is the Cross: the tree of death and life. This is again an image of the future of humanity. That is where we are heading. To understand the temptation in the garden of Eden more accurately we need to look at the end of Genesis 2 and the beginning of Genesis 3: Gen 2:25 “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field that the Lord God (YHWH of the Elohim) had made.” ‘Subtle’ is also translated as ‘crafty’. ‘More crafty’ or ‘more subtle’ suggest a comparison, yet there is no obvious comparison in these two sentences. Until we look at the root of the words. Both the words translated as ‘naked’ and ‘crafty’ have the same root word. The word serpent can also be translated in many different ways, as it is derived from two root sounds. Michaël’s personal translation is ‘whispering prognosticator’ – whispering coming from the sound a snake makes. It is foretelling the future, i.e. that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is our destiny in this cycle of time. A better translation of the two sentences would be: “The man and the woman were both crafty but were not aware of it. The whispering prognosticator within was the most crafty part of all.” Eve, therefore, is tempted by a whisper of her future destiny. Adam recognises it too when she speaks of it and does not resist. Adam and Eve are not separate beings but one community. Eve is a characteristic within that is interested in the future. Adam and Eve had an innate awareness of something that had not yet surfaced to conscious awareness. Eve decided to take the next step. One could say that they were naked or unclothed: that is, there was no subtlety to their consciousness. They had a sentient soul but the mind soul and the consciousness soul still had to develop. The “whispering prognosticator” is “cursed among”, to translate it correctly, “dumb beings” and “wild passions”. These aspects of our being must be brought into our consciousness. Luciferic temptation is when we convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing against a nagging consciousness that is telling us the opposite. The serpent is therefore that Luciferic tempter within us. This story in Genesis stands as a warning that we should not eat of the Tree of Life until we become the Tree of Life. In the book of Revelation the Tree of Life is described as two avenues on either side of the River of Life producing fruit – virtues – in each month of the year (12 virtues). This is a picture of our future; the two avenues represent all of humanity. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the incarnation of the Ego. The Tree of the Life is the development of Spirit Self as described by Rudolf Steiner. The Tree of the Word is the development of Life Spirit. The Tree of the Harmony with God is the development of the Spirit Human (Spirit Man). The incarnation of the ‘I am’ became possible through the incarnation of Christ. Christ-in-us brings about the healing caused by the premature eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. by Javier Kirigin Saturday 5 December, started off as a rainy day, but that did not deter the intention of participating in an outing which included a 2,5 km walk at the David and Chandré Wertheim Aymes property in North Riding, who had graciously opened their home to the community for a fund-raising event. This was a special family event for the Kirigin family, who were joined by a young couple who would soon be emigrating to Holland: Lola’s nephew/godson and his wife, as well as Lola’s sister, Maria. The weather cleared as we walked, with slight intermittent drizzle. David led us on the promenade which was very captivating in the sense that one walks through at least two types of terrain one of which is a rain forest type vegetation which makes one realise that very close to the city there are still golden pockets of nature which transport one into the countryside. This route was especially delineated on the property, to allow for a 2,5km cycle during the strict lockdown. The fresh air, after the overnight rain, was very invigorating for the walkers and for the Wertheim Aymes dogs. These creatures were so invigorated that they chased a Guinea fowl (tarentaal voëls) to the top of a (almost 10m) high tree. I’ve never seen tarentaal flying in all my time in South Africa, which spans several decades. I’ve seen them running fast but never flying to such a height. One of the dogs was so energetic that it knocked Chandré as she was greeting us at the entrance. She twisted her ankle, but I believe she has now fully recovered …… the joys & risks of being owners of sturdy strong (ridgeback/“lion”) dogs. Once the walk was completed, we had excellent arabica coffee to complement our picnic. The conversation was also very stimulating with snippets of Mihail and Natalia’s chess achievements and Natalia’s life in Russia from where she hails. They were both junior chess champions in South Africa and Russia respectively. We engaged with David, or rather he engaged us, in the Three-Fold Social Order from the works of Rudolf Steiner where we once again attempted to comprehend that societies are healthier when the three spheres of society: Economy, Cultural and Politics function independently of one another. These are related to the famous cry of the French Revolution: fraternité, liberté, egalité.
All in all, an enjoyable albeit a little wet Saturday. Thanks to Chandré and David for the hospitality and making their home available for this fund raiser. The pleasure of being in the company of this combination of people brought out some very interesting conversations, including David’s adventurous journeys from his sailing days and some hair-raising accounts of his experiences through Africa, particularly Mozambique as a young man with his father, Guy. I realised that both David & Javier have an incredible spirit for adventure which is well worth remembering and sharing with others, perhaps as future novel community event/s …? (Lola Kirigin) by John-Peter Gernaat
Anyone who remembers the movie Yentl with Barbara Streisand may remember the great debates among the rabbinical scholars that occurred in studying the scriptures (and the Talmud, the commentary on the scriptures). This is because the Hebrew people have the possibility of interrogating the origins of the words of scripture and their various meanings and how these can give rise to different interpretations of the texts. We lose this in the translation of the Old Testament in that our modern languages often suggest one interpretation that is presented as the true meaning. A quick chronology of the Earth Cycle of Time as given to us by Rudolf Steiner is that the recapitulation of Old Saturn occurred in the Polarean stage, the recapitulation of Old Sun in the Hyperborean stage and the recapitulation of Old Moon in the Lemurian stage. It is during the Lemurian stage that YHWH (Yahweh) takes on the task of creating the Heavens and Earth (more accurately: the sky and earth in a form we might recognise as the unfolding of the earth and sky we know, as these were physical creations), YHWH, as an Elohim, is a being of the sun sphere who deliberately moves to the moon sphere for this task. Genesis 4 could be translated as: “I have personally made/created a man in the same way that YHWH has”. Eve has the same power to reproduce that YHWH has to create. Adam recognises this in the part of his full humanity that is Eve. Adam and Eve are a community in the Garden and yet Adam observes in the Eve part of the human condition something that is not in him (the part that is distinctly referred to as Adam): the ability to reproduce. This ability becomes more manifest once humanity leaves the Garden in that Eve cannot reproduce without being in direct connection with Adam. The first child of Eve is produced in a non-sexual way – Cain is a being of Eden. The second child is produced with Adam, and Abel is a being of the earth. When Cain presents his offering to YHWH it is an offering of the sun sphere which YHWH has left. The offering of Abel is of the moon sphere, it is an offering that interests YHWH. In order for Cain to be initiated into the earth, to become fully connected with the earth, he must spill blood. The story of Genesis 4 is therefore a story of the initiation of humanity from Eden into earth and as a consequence we do not get along with one another. The path of Cain is a hard path. It leads from living with nature to overcoming nature, controlling nature in the building of cities. The full redemption of nature will arise when we have moved into the ultimate city, the place of our future life: the New Jerusalem. Genesis 6 is another story of initiation. A more correct translation of what YHWH saw when he looked at the earth is: “And YHWH saw the exceedingly great depression in the heart of humans”. Humanity had fully arrived into the experience of an earthly life. Nature is not Eden, it invades and must always be kept at bay if we are to hold a space for our existence on earth. YHWH recognised one human being who could rise above this state of ‘depression’. YHWH takes the condition he recognises in Noah (Noah means ‘quiet resting place’) and creates something new within humanity: hope. This is the initiation stage of humanity in what Steiner calls the Atlantean stage. Noah is reborn out of a womb of water with all of his passions. Noah plants a vineyard and drinks of the wine. This experience opens up his constitution to connect with the “I”. In early post-Atlantean times alcohol helped humanity connect with the “I”, which was not yet experienced by the human being as being incorporated (felt and connected within the physical bodily organisation). Nowadays alcohol disconnects the human being from the “I”, as the “I” is incorporated in our physical constitution. Noah opens up in his constitution to connect with something new and in connecting with the “I” takes leadership into himself. reported by John-Peter Gernaat Revelation 21:14 “And the wall of the city rested on twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:19-20 “The foundations of the city wall were adorned with precious stones of every kind: The first foundation with jasper, the second with lapis lazuli, the third with chalcedony the fourth with emerald, the fifth with sardonyx the sixth with carnelian, the seventh with chrysolite, the eighth with aquamarine beryl, the ninth with olivine topaz, the tenth with chrysoprase, the eleventh with jacinth, the twelfth with amethyst. It is no coincidence that in the twelve Holy Nights of 2017 we studied the twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem (see the January 2018 newsletter or the news page on the website). This article also reminded us that it was the third successive year in which a twelve-foldness had been studied. This study was preceded by the Twelve Virtues – these are soul qualities that become spiritual virtues – and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac. Subsequently we have studied the twelve World Views. Why twelve? Even when the ancient Babylonians looked into the night sky and recognised the influence of stellar constellation on humanity, they knew there would be twelve constellations in the band that embraces our vision, even though they could initially find only eleven. When they looked more closely they found a constellation of stars they had initially ascribed to part of Scorpio that then they saw not a living being, but an object used by the god of justice: Libra, the scales. Jacob has twelve sons and from the root of his sons the twelve tribes of Israel arose. These twelve tribes also find their way into the description of the New Jerusalem; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed one above each of the twelve gates to the New Jerusalem. The twelve tribes provide entry into the New Jerusalem while it is now the twelve apostles that form the foundation of the city wall. Twelve is the completion of space in as much as seven is the completion of time (Genesis – the seven days of creation.) When we connect with the twelve-foldness we are connecting with the purpose of humanity. We can begin to live these qualities and relate them to ourselves as disciples in The Christian Community. We work into the seven-foldness in Holy Week and have begun to experience the nine-foldness in the days between the Ascension and Whitsun. We are part of building a cosmic organisation for the future of humanity. This lives within the bigger intention of our Christian community as a community organisation. In linking the Apostles to the Foundation Stones we will also link them to the Sign of the Zodiac they represent and the soul quality that transforms into a spiritual Virtue. The studies of the past years begins to form a bigger picture. The Gospels name the twelve disciples of Jesus and also mention and even name other disciples as well. How were the twelve apostles identified? We have the answer in Acts 1:21 when Peter stood up in the midst of the brother – about one hundred and twenty names – and after speaking about Judas says: “‘Let his task as leader pass to someone else’”. Peter then describes the character of the person who would be worthy of receiving the apostolate of Judas. “‘Therefore, one of the men who walked with us during the time when the Lord Jesus shared his life with us, from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up – one of these men must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’” This provides the complete requirement for being an Apostle of Christ Jesus. When we recall the talks about the Foundation Stones we recall that the fixed stars represent the silicate minerals of the earth. The walls of the New Jerusalem are founded on the power radiating from the stars. Silicate provides strength in the human body where calcium provides the structure (bones of the skeleton). The Foundation Stones are described as having many kinds, and with kinds comes colours. These colours are derived from metals that become trapped (taken up into) the structure of the silicate mineral to provide the colour by trapping light that shines on the stone. Six of the stones are translucent and six are opaque and when we place the stones listed above in a circle the opaque mineral appears opposite the translucent one. The tribes of Israel inscribed on the gates by which all enter the city represents our history and lineage. We do not enter the city without a full history of a tribal life; many connections to many peoples. The foundations of the New Jerusalem, our new and future home, is built on our new unique ability to bear the self. Each of the Foundation Stones represents a unique quality of one of the Apostles. We can also recall that the same twelve stones, although in a different order, were sewn into the breastplate of the High Priest. At that stage of human history these stones were borne at the heart level of the human and the twelve tribes were inscribed on the stones. It was important that all of humanity be kept together. Now it is the development of the individual that is important and the names of the twelve tribes are no longer inscribed on the foundations of our dwelling place. Both Matthew and Mark present a list of the twelve disciples in the same order. Some of these disciples appear by other names in the other Gospels, especially John. Jude is also called Thaddeus, Matthew is also called Levi, he was a tax collector and Nathanial is called Bartholomew. The Gospel of John (John 1: 35-41) describes that Andrew and another disciple of John the Baptist are the first to follow Jesus. Andrew, after staying with Jesus the whole day, then goes to tell his brother that they have found the Messiah. John 1: 43-45 tells us the next day Jesus finds Philip and Philip finds Nathanial. In Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 4: 18-22) Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilea and sees Simon and his brother Andrew and calls them to follow him. As he continues walking Jesus seen James and his brother John and calls to them to follow him. It is not until chapter 9 that Matthew describes his own calling. Chapter 10 begins: “And he called together the twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits … ”. Matthew then lists the disciples. This is the order of their apostates (given their mission). The list is: “The first is Simon who was given the name Peter. Then come Andrew, his brother, and James the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.” Tradition has it that Matthew was the last disciple and is swapped with Judas in order to have Judas last on the list. When we link the Apostles with the Foundations of the New Jerusalem we will follow the order that places Matthew last on the list. What are the qualities we can determine that is common to the twelve disciples? Firstly, they were all seekers. The first two were disciples of John the Baptist and when he points to Jesus on the day after the baptism they leave John to follow Jesus. It is of value to consider what they heard John the Baptist say. Anyone who was spiritually awake saw that the life force of the human being rose like a serpent. This is the same image that is described in the Vedic scriptures as the rising kundalini. However, after being baptised by John in the River Jordan the experience changed and those who were baptised saw the etheric life force of the human being was changing to that of a resting lamb. Therefore, when John the Baptist says, speaking to himself after gazing on Jesus as he walks by, “see the Lamb of God” this picture had real meaning to the seeking men who followed John and had been baptised by him. They understood that John the Baptist spoke of the etheric life force of God present in a new human development. Jesus asks them what they are seeking. Their response is that they want to know where he lives – has pitched his tent (we will return to this concept in relation to Peter saying at the Transfiguration that he will pitch three tents). Then Jesus says, “follow me”. Nathanial comes from a spiritual stream represented by the fig tree. Hence Jesus saying, “I saw you sitting under a fig tree” and Nathanial reacting to the significance of this statement. It is likely that Philip belongs to this same stream as he sought out Nathanial. It is also very possible that Andrew was of this same spiritual stream and in his seeking joined with John the Baptist. James is described as the son of Alphaeus. But so is Matthew. They are not brothers as Andrew and Simon Peter, and the other James and John are blood brothers. It is therefore possible that ‘son of Alphaeus’ refers to a brotherhood – a spiritual brotherhood or spiritual community – rather than the father of these men (although Alphaeus was not an uncommon name and having two unrelated men having a father of the same name is very possible). Thomas is not the name of the disciple although it has been carried into Christian tradition as a first name. It is rather an Aramaic phrase that means ‘twin’ in as much is this is translated into Greek as ‘Didymus’. He is therefore not called Thomas Didymus or Thomas the Twin, but rather he is the twin (ta'oma') translated into Greek as the twin (didymus). This immediately suggests that he too is part of a brotherhood, being a twin with other men. The nature of this brotherhood is clarified by his reaction to the other disciples who see the Risen One on the first evening after the Resurrection in the upper room where Thomas is absent. Thomas says that his requirement is to investigate reality for himself with his own senses to determine its nature. This also explains Christ’s response to Thomas that his is not the only path – the path that requires sense-reality – to understanding the Risen Christ, but that people on a path that can feel or think into the Christ-reality are equally valid (“‘Blessed are those who find my power in their hearts, even when their eye does not see me.’”). It may therefore be that the grouping of disciples of Thomas, Matthew and James (the son of Alphaeus) are all part the same brotherhood of the sons of Alphaeus and therefore spiritual seekers within a community. There is also a tradition that regards Matthew as displaying characteristics of an Essene. Simon is referred to as the Zealot and also, in his translation, by Saint Jerome, as the Cananean. It is more likely that he was at the Wedding Feast in Cana rather than Cana being his home town. Cana is significant as the place where the first manifestation of the glory of God occurs, when Jesus turned the water into wine. This is the same power of the sun that ripens the grape on the vine manifest in a human being. Connecting Simon to this recognition of an aspect of the Christ may indicate a spiritual path of seeking that he was following. Thaddeus, also known as Judas or Jude, and Simon are often referred to as the “brothers of the Lord”. It is not clear whether this means that they were the sons of Mary, wife of Joseph of the royal line of David, or that they were relatives, e.g. cousins, or that this referred to a specific brotherhood of spiritual seeking. It does, however, connect Thaddeus and Simon. Judas Iscariot is in many ways an outsider within the circle of the twelve. Yet the man to whom the lot fell to replace Judas, Matthias, has a connection to Simon, suggesting that Simon, Thaddeus and Matthias may have been connected through the same spiritual brotherhood of seeking. Secondly, they all answer the call of discipleship; the discipline of following every step of the way. Thirdly, they become witnesses to what they had experienced. They speak from intimate knowledge of what they had lived through with Jesus and not from hearsay. The Greek for witness is ‘martur’ from which we derive martyr. The twelve apostles are all martyrs whether this results in a martyr’s death or not. Each disciple received an apostolate – a sending – and must become the foundation on which a community of Christians can arise. A further description of each of the Apostles, how and why they are grouped together in groups of three and how they are linked to the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem will be included in the twelve newsletters of 2021. This month will include a full description of Simon Peter.
by Rev. Michaël Merle Christ says: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). In John 21 we hear Christ ask Simon Peter, “Do you love me?” and tasks him with tending the flock of the new church. Peter is tasked with tending to the life of the community of Christians. We could say that John is tasked with speaking the truth in his initiation that provides him with the possibility to enter consciously into the spiritual world. A striking example of John speaking truth is in his letter where he writes: “God is Love” (1 John 4). James becomes the carrier of the way. After he is beheaded in Jerusalem his body is returned to Spain where his apostolate had taken him and is buried where the church of Santiago de Compostela (the field of stars) stands that is reached by the Camino de Santiago – the Way of Saint James. As a group, Peter, James and John have a close relationship with Jesus. They are among the first disciples called by Jesus and they are called out from among the twelve to be present at significant events that formed a part of their path of initiation. The first of these is when Jesus takes them up onto the mountain and is transfigured. In the Transfiguration they see a living picture of the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets in Christ. They are men of the Jewish faith and know the Law of Moses and the Prophets. The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths or Tents), Sukkot, is spoken of by the Prophets so that in the future humanity will permanently ‘live in the tent’: it will be a feast without end. When the disciples of John the Baptist follow Jesus and ask where he resides, they are asking him where he ‘has pitched his tent’. The prologue of John which says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” can be directly translated as: “The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us”. When Peter asks Jesus whether he should erect three tents he sees in the picture of the Transfigured Christ with Moses and Elijah the fulfilment of scripture. Jesus responds that the fulfilment of scripture is not a completed event but an ongoing process. The second time these three disciples are called out is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Even though they are intimate friends of Jesus they cannot maintain daylight consciousness to witness the event. Peter will again refuse to bear witness to Jesus only a few hours later, before the cock crows. Peter is challenged to bear witness to the Christ before the crucifixion and he cannot. It is only after the Resurrection that most of the apostles find the possibility to bear witness and become martyrs. We know quite a bit about Peter and John from the scriptures, but less about James. Peter is a man with an evolving journey. He is Simon and when he is called Jesus names him Cephas, the stone (the foundation stone), which is Petrus in Latin. He was a seeker as Simon and accepting his discipleship he becomes Peter. Then, after the Resurrection when he is tasked with tending the Life of the flock of the followers, he is called Simon (out) of John. He takes another step in his evolving to become a ‘John’ or Simon Peter John. This may indicate a stage of development. The Johanine consciousness is one of a deep recognition of Christ. It is a step in initiation. It may be viewed that Simon the seeker becomes Peter the disciple and then in his apostolate he becomes a ‘John’, he becomes Peter (working out) of John (a true Johanine consciousness). Tradition tells us that when Peter is condemned to be crucified, he refuses to die in the same manner as his Lord and is crucified upside down. The upside cross is a symbol for Peter. Another symbol for Peter is the crossed keys representing the keys to the Kingdom. This symbol has been transferred to the Pope (who is seen by Catholics as the successor of Peter). When the Apostles are related to the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem the order is not as in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark but rather according to the apocryphal story of their calling. The first of the Foundation Stones is jasper, or more correctly heliotrope (bloodstone). It is a stone of green speckled with red. The red of the strength of life in the blood. Green is the colour of copper that tarnishes to green. It is the green of Venus related to sacrifice, Friday, Easter and Resurrection. This is the Foundation Stone aligned with Peter. Each stone is connected to a soul quality that must be transmuted to a spiritual virtue. Heliotrope is connected with Pisces. Pisces represents the Kar fish that swim in opposite rotation around the base of the Tree of Life (from the early Zarathustrian tradition). Pisces is also seen as two ichthyocentaurs, Aphros and Bythos – Sea Foam and Sea Depth – who carry Aphrodite (Venus) from the sea to the seashore. Rudolf Steiner related Pisces with magnanimity. Peter is magnanimous and must develop this to the spiritual virtue of love (“Do you love me?” – at the time of asking he had not yet transformed affection to love.).
by Robyn de Klerk
(from Reingard's New Year's Eve Contemplation) This coming year is going to confront us all with something really enormous We are experiencing a phenomenal world event, a Cosmic event We need to link with that from an earthly point of view How am I going to meet this ? A new attitude. A new approach. An openness to be aware: What comes towards us ? \({[ Hold ]})/ : We have a capacity to hold that sense of Wonder, that unburdened soul-attitude, come what may... Then I can be present Then I will find my answer Through remembering childlike purity: Beauty & Wonder Truth & Wonder Goodness & Wonder Presence... We have capacities that are going to be woken up Capacities that we didn't know we had We need circumstances to challenge us in order to wake them up We will be able to face what we encounter Move towards catastrophes with trust We will be able to deal with this We have much more power than we realise Trust & Confidence We are co-creators in the divine orchestration Choose to be in the move and flow Rise like an eagle on the thermal and be carried upwards with our awake presence A new state of Being A birthing into Humanity We are not alone Around the world people are reaching out Whatever one does affects the whole organism Strengthen these powers The staff with which we walk We can know Truth We are in a flow of revealing the beauty of potential A flow of Cosmic Love We are able and called upon each day in this year, continually again and again, to be in an awake state, and to desire to be in this awake state To be initiators of awakening ourselves Circumstances are here to facilitate this It will pull me up into places I came here for New generations are arising all the time We are nurturing the Future I want what is coming I meet it by Rev. Paul Corman By the time that you read this, the Christmas season and the strange year 2020 may well have ended and a new one, 2021, may have begun. It is logical, in the sacred days and nights of Christmas, and even if the holy nights have ended, we can well take advantage of what they provide for and encourage us to do: think about what has been and what is to come. In ancient Rome, the 1st of January, indeed, the entire month, was dedicated to the god Janus. He was the god of the state, the god of doors, beginnings, portals, transitions, endings, changes, steps in any process and transformations. Vicissitudes and the uncertainties of life were associated with him, and one looked to him for help in these situations. The doors and thresholds to homes, public buildings, even places of worship, were consecrated to him. He symbolised the becoming in life and evolution. He was depicted with two faces, one looked back, contemplating and watching over the past; the other face looked forward, contemplating and watching over the future. He could look back and ahead at the same time. We can find in the figure of Janus much of what Christ later incarnated and brought down to Earth, especially the reality of becoming. However, Christ inserted a new element into all that Janus represented. Christ permeated vicissitude and uncertainty with hope, faith and trust, and above all with divine love, as a driving force of destiny, of what already was, but still in need of being understood and amended or perhaps forgiven or thanked, and also of all that was as yet to come. In addition to being just logical, looking back and forward during this season of transition of the years, it can be said that we have an obligation to take a few moments, day or night, to enter into what Janus represents: a contemplation of what was and a consideration of what will come, while reflecting on what Christ has given us to care for and apply to living: His love. There is a saying that elucidates this: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” With these words we arrive again at this festival time, which reveals the essence and work of Christ as it is expressed all year long in the Act of Consecration of Man: "Christ in us.” In this time of year so propitious to looking both back and forward, we can find ourselves engaged in the three different, but compatible, thought processes mentioned above: contemplation, consideration, reflection. Reflection has to do with a mirror and the image it “reflects”. This form of thinking is excellent for analysing a project or problem, but not as useful for appreciating a work of art. When we reflect, we take distance from the object of our reflection, perhaps weighing what course of action we should take with respect to it. We are, in some way or other, seeking what to do, how best to engage our will in relation to the object. Reflection belongs more to the world of God the Father. It is a moon–like event. In contemplation we become more mindful of our heart than of our intellect. When we contemplate something, we are looking to think of it "with-the-temple", the abode of the divine. We take into the temple of our soul, the object of our contemplation in hopes that divine light will illuminate our thoughts from within. We hope that Christ will be at home in the temple of our being, in our contemplations. It is more of a sun–like happening. In consideration, our intention is to think about something with the stars, the “sidereal”. We make an inward movement to approach the world of the stars and ideals, the source of divine thinking, to give the spiritual world an opportunity to be present in our earthly thinking. Consideration can bring us into the sphere of the Holy Spirit through its affinity to the cosmic world and workings of the stars. by Eva Knausenberger On the first day of 2021 a memorable conversation stands out for me because two words were mentioned: "worthy opponent". A friend my age remembered her mother; their past relationship was difficult and beset by misunderstandings. – I know quite a few 'children' who have or had difficulties with their parents; – yet what I found so remarkable were the words my friend said: "my mother is no longer a worthy opponent" she has Alzheimer's. Lest you think that this is a dismissive remark, let me tell you that it wasn't meant that way. A worthy opponent is someone worth facing and arguing with, in the hope that understanding, a peaceful and fruitful togetherness is possible when we meet on common ground rather than on opposite sides. However, an opponent is nowadays understood to be the enemy, someone who must be silenced and taken out of action. Opposing viewpoints tend to divide people. Covid 19 is a prime example because even though invisible, Covid-infectiousness threatens us all. Is Covid a worthy opponent? I imagine, that if we treat the virus as the enemy, it will become an enemy; If we treat it as a challenge to learn healing strategies, – not only our physical bodies but the damaged, abused, polluted physical world and our relationship to both, we may well find that Covid is a friend, albeit a stern and unforgiving one if we fail to be worthy of the challenge. Is worthiness worth fighting for? What is it anyway? A picture comes to mind of Jacob wrestling with the angel: "I will not let you go unless you bless me". |
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