Holy Night 7 2017

December 30-31 – Cancer

The serpent on the sword pommel: wisdom. We should busy ourselves with uplifting readings. It is the night of the great command.

The mystery of activity: who exercises command over our soul? Who is the master of our soul, the doer of our deeds? We have the freedom to strengthen the goodwill in ourselves.

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

Translation from German by Laura Zanutto 2015 adjusted by Mark Willan 2016

7. Heilige Nacht

30./31. –  Krebs

Die Schlange am Schwertknauf: Weisheit. Man soll sich mit erhebender Lektüre beschäftigen. Es ist die Nacht des großen Befehles.

Das Mysterium der Tätigkeit: Wer befiehlt über unsere Seele? Wer ist der Herr unserer Seele, der Täter unserer Taten? Wir haben die Freiheit, den guten Willen in uns zu stärken.

Seventh Contemplation: Kristina Kaine

We do not walk through this world alone. Yet sometimes it feels as though we do. As we deal with life’s challenges we can feel very alone. These are the times when we let life happen to us. It is during these times that we should call ourselves to action. Karma is our call to action, it is not something that is inflicted upon us. We chose our karma specifically so that we could meet it with equal force. We meet it with the sword of wisdom.

We gain this wisdom by reading and absorbing esoteric knowledge. This knowledge deepens as we share our understanding of it with like-minded souls. Rudolf Steiner spoke of the way Christian Morgenstern absorbed esoteric knowledge before his death in 1914.

“while he was connected with us, he absorbed into his being our teaching about the Christ. He absorbed this anthroposophical teaching, binding it to his soul until it became the very spiritual heart-blood of his soul; he received it in such a way that for him it was enfilled with the substance of the Christ. The Christ Being flowed into him in the teaching. The Christ, as He lives in our Movement, passed over likewise into his soul.” Rudolf Steiner. Christ and the Human Soul Lecture 2 13.7.1914

We must reassure ourselves that we are not alone, Christ lives in us. We can become aware of him if we want to. All we have to do is decide to do it. We could say, “I know you are there, speak to me and I will listen.” Rudolf Steiner spoke these beautiful words in the same lecture.

“Permeation with the Christ Impulse can be felt as most precious inner soul-warmth, as comfort in the most difficult circumstances, as support in the worst abysses of life. And why? Because he who is truly permeated with the Christ Impulse finds that in whatever conquests his soul achieves, however imperfect they may appear in earthly life, there lies this Christ impulse as the assurance and guarantee of fulfillment for them.” 13.7.1914

Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Odilon Redon,