Advent Week 2

During the second week of Advent we can come closer to understanding the spiritual faculty of Inspiration, the second stage of knowledge which gives us access to the higher worlds. In fact though Inspiration we hear the inner world, a world that is silent to our external ears. Inspiration is not the primitive consciousness of premonition, it is a very conscious faculty.

Inspiration is connected with our rhythmical being, which includes our breathing also referred to as inspiration. Inspiration is not separate from Imagination, Inspiration rises within Imagination. Our Imaginations take on a new life. As Rudolf Steiner puts it:

“When the Imaginations begin to unveil their meanings in ‘silent speech’ to the observer, the world of Inspiration arises within the Imaginative world.” Stages of Higher Knowledge Ch 4

Our Imagination arises through pure thinking; a thinking that is free of our senses and memory. This thinking is experienced ‘in the moment’, free of earthly bias. Our Inspiration rises out of pure feeling. Rudolf Steiner explains that our feelings are reflections, mirrored in our own organism, of Inspiration that comes to us from the universe. Again these feelings are free of bias and unlike our earthly feelings, which are not usually fully conscious, the feelings experienced through spiritual Inspiration are very conscious and we are fully in control of them. This means that if we are repulsed by something we can quickly feel something attractive about it.

At this time of the year when the Angels draw close to the earth to assist us to prepare for the Christmas birth, we have a greater opportunity to perceive them and experience the work they do behind the scenes. Being able to approach spiritual beings gives us the opportunity to understand their work and even participate in it. In this way we enhance the experience of Christmas on this earth. The more people who can do this, the more powerful Christmas will be.