Holy Night 2 for February

December 25-26 – Aquarius

Night of John. The Eagle of the soul circling high on its wings and looking back from a great height, observes its own life. And now the man recognizes the Laws of Karma.

The Mystery: Choosing the narrow and difficult path or the path that is wide and easy.

For those who are born of flesh it is hard to find the path of the spirit.

Bhagavad Gita: A selfish life, or a life devoted to humanity?

Rudolf Steiner’s indications for the Holy Nights given to Herbert Hahn
Translation from German by Laura Zanutto 2015 adjusted by Mark Willan 2016

2. Heilige Nacht

25.-26. Dezember – Wassermann

Nacht des Johannes. Der Adler der Seele kreist hoch auf seinen Schwingen, schaut zurück aus grosser Höhe und betrachtet sein eigenes Leben. Und jetzt erkennt der Mensch die Gesetze des Karma.

Das Mysterium: Den schmalen und schwierigen Pfad oder den breiten und einfachen Weg wählen. Für den, der aus dem Fleische geboren ist, ist es schwer den Pfad des Geistes zu finden.

Bhagavad Gita: Ein eigennütziges Leben, oder ein der Menschheit gewidmetes Leben?

Second Contemplation: by Kristina Kaine 2019

Spiritual knowledge always remains a mystery to those who do not devote themselves to unwrapping it. When we stand in the special day we call Christmas, we have the opportunity to awaken to its inner secrets.

Rudolf Steiner asks this question in a lecture he gave on December 26, 1911 published in Festivals and Their Meaning:

“Why was it that the festival of Christ’s birth was set back thirteen days and became the festival of the birth of Jesus? To understand this we must penetrate into deep mysteries of human existence.”

He then talks about the life of a seed in the depths of the earth and compares it to the growth of the soul.

“Just as the force contained in the seed of every plant is bound up with the physical forces of the earth, so is the inmost being of the human soul bound up with the spiritual forces of the earth. And just as the seed of the plant sinks into the depths of the earth at the time we know as Christmas, so does the soul of man descend at that time into deep, deep spirit-realms, drawing strength from these depths as does the seed of the plant for its blossoming in spring. What the soul undergoes in these spirit-depths of the earth is entirely hidden from the ordinary consciousness. But for one whose eyes of spirit are opened the Thirteen Days and Thirteen Nights between the 24th of December and the 6th of January are a time of deep spiritual experience.” Rudolf Steiner

If we are bound up in time and space Steiner’s words may be difficult to understand. In spirit, time and space have no boundaries. Also, do we recognize the difference between the man Jesus who was born on December 25, and the Cosmic Spirit Christ who was born into the body of Jesus on January 6.

On Christmas day of all days we face The Mystery. “Choosing the narrow and difficult path or the path that is wide and easy.” Which is the best path for us to take? Could it be that the narrow path becomes wide if we remain open to new ideas? Our greatest challenge as we live on this earth is to face difficulties with openness. Difficulties are puzzles to be solved. They absorb us until we see all the detail. Then we can see how a difficulty can dissolve if we enter it openly.

We have many choices to make in this life on the earth, the important thing is that we make the choices for ourselves. We will make these choices more perfectly if we remain open to soul and spirit.

The Holy Night Reflections written between 2011 – 2016 are available on Amazon

St John on Patmos by Hans Baldung Grien 1511