The Twelve Apostles of the New Jerusalem – Andrew

by Rev. Michaël Merle

Andrew is one of the disciples of John the Baptist who hears John say, “There goes the Lamb of God”. Andrew is considered the younger brother of Simon who is called Peter; it is clear that Simon is Andrew’s senior on the path of development that these two brothers are following. Upon hearing the words of John, Andrew goes in search of people with whom he can share this message. The first person he finds is his brother Simon whom he leads to Jesus. Andrew is one of two disciples of John who hear John the Baptist say these words as he gazed at Jesus and who then leave John to deliberately follow Jesus. Their discipleship with John provides them with some knowledge of what the words of John mean. In this discipleship they are well prepared for the discipleship to come: as disciples of the Christ.

At this time, anyone who was spiritually aware, experienced the etheric body as a rising serpent. The Ancient Vedas speak of the life force as the rising of the kundalini (a picture of rising serpents). Through the baptism by John the person being baptised had a new experience that moved in them as they took the first breath of life after being submerged in the waters of the Jordan to the point of the etheric being loosened as a precursor to death; they could now experience the life force as a resting lamb. Therefore, the words that John speaks of Jesus expressed that he saw in Jesus the etheric force of God in a new human development.

It is therefore noteworthy that when Jesus describes the Pharisees as a brood of vipers this is not an insult but rather a recognition of the level of development of the Pharisees. He could see that they understood the old nature of the etheric life force.

Through the spiritual preparation that Andrew has undergone, he can recognise the Christ. Andrew is ready to take up an apostleship and he goes out to find others. His words to his brother Simon are, “We have found the Messiah”.

The name Andrew in Greek means man. Andrew is a representative of what it means to be human. He has developed a capacity that was not present in Adam in that he, Andrew, can discern the path. Andrew takes a role that Adam could not.

Peter, when later asked by Jesus, affirms the words of Andrew when he says to Jesus: “You are the Christ”. Andrew has a spiritual insight and says to Simon that Jesus can tell him who he is. Jesus makes a prophetic announcement when Simon is brought to him. This role of Andrew is not insignificant. Andrew plays a key role in introducing people to Jesus.

Andrew is connected with the second stone of the Foundation of the New Jerusalem. It is called by a descriptor that means blue stone: sappheiros. As the stones of the Foundation of the New Jerusalem are silicates through their connection to the zodiac and the fixed stars, the most common precious blue stone of the time was lapis lazuli. The stone is connected with Aquarius, the water bearer, a human being. TheSumerians experienced him as a god through whom the water flowed from his left hand to his right hand.

The soul quality connected with lapis lazuli is discretion or the freedom to decide. This soul quality is to be transmuted to the spiritual quality of meditative power.

Lapis lazuli

The attributed coat of arms for Andrew