Holy Night 7 applied to July

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

It is such an important question to ask: Who is the master of our soul? We could ask this question throughout each day and perhaps get different answers according the situations we are in. At this stage in human development our focus must be on allowing our I Am to become master of our soul. Although, so often our astral has the upper hand. When our astral commands our soul we are dealing with our constructed self. When our astral gains the upper hand our lower emotional responses come into play.

We will not find the answers we seek if we allow our astral to be in command. We yearn for answers as we watch the behavior of many people who sink into their astral. We cannot point out to them that they are allowing their astral to take control, that will only exacerbate their behavior. All we can do is to act through our I Am, our Higher Self, as much as we can and hope to be an example to others. Yet, so often we will attract criticism – at least this will confirm that we are behaving in a higher way. If we take offence then we know that our astral is in command.

No task is more important now than to enter into truth. Sometimes this can be painful because we begin to see things as they really are. It is only when we accept the truth of any situation that we know we have entered into the spiritual aspect of life. Then the spiritual worlds open up to us.

“It is not a matter of forcing ourselves into the spiritual worlds – as if we could do that! It is a matter to dedicating ourselves to the task of being open to the truth. In this way, we enter into the truth and it enters into us. If we can do this in all purity, without egotistical motives, the truth will be revealed to us.” Kristina Kaine Who is Jesus : What is Christ? Vol 3

At the same time we must ask how we strengthen the goodwill in ourselves? The spirit of goodwill is without prejudice. When we can see the spiritual aspect of situations we don’t judge those who cannot. We can only hope that one day they will see what we see. This is the mystery of activity, that we attend to our inner activity and hope to inspire others to do the same.

Angel Weighing a Soul – Ridolfo di Arpo Guariento