Ninth Holy Night applied to September

January 1-2 – Virgo

Now follow the three nights of the crown.

Detachment from intellect alone, or separate the intellect from the earthly bondage and purposefulness. It is the Triple Holy Night in which the lower self surrenders and there remains only the desire to serve, to give oneself.

Rudolf Steiner’s indications for the Holy Nights given to Herbert Hahn

9. Heilige Nacht

1./2.  – Jungfrau

Nun folgen die drei Nächte der Krone.

Loslösung vom Nur-Intellekt oder die Loslösung des Intellektes von der irdischen Gebundenheit und Zweckhaftigkeit. Es ist die dreimal heilige Nacht, in der das niedere Ich abfällt und nur der Wunsch bleibt, zu dienen, sich hinzugeben.

Contemplation by Kristina Kaine

Intellect is everything connected with forming concepts and mental pictures. As a stand-alone activity it can be quite lifeless and quite isolating. When we read spiritual information trying to make sense of it we can become trapped in our intellect and may be inclined to draw diagrams and make dot points. This is fine in the beginning but unless we progress from there, then all we have is second-hand information, we haven’t made it our own. We can only wear the crown when we have experienced truth firsthand. We do this by infusing our thinking with will.

Thinking is an etheric activity and our goal is to make it as pure as possible. We arrive at pure thinking when our thoughts are not stimulated by an external object, our thinking is then sense-free which makes it selfless. This is why our lower self surrenders and we have the desire to serve.

What do we serve? We serve the purpose of creation. As each of us manages to experience pure thinking, we contribute in a selfless way to evolution. Our ego steps out of the way, no longer a disruption to self and others.

Therefore in our reading, in our contemplation and in the way we apply what we have read to the way we live our life, we align ourselves with the earth’s purpose. We let go of our habitual responses to life and we remain open to new ways of being, new ways of seeing and we find new ways to contribute. This selflessness is not altruistic, it does not sacrifice self for others, we stand in community with others working for the greater good in every possible way.