Holy Night 8 applied to August

December 31 – January 1 – Leo

The cross on the sword pommel: the sacrifice. Girded with the sword of the power of Christ, the tongue speaks the truth, without being able to wound. It is the night of re-setting.

Mystery: The knight, the fighter with the lance of the will and the sword of knowledge. The dog as symbol of obedience, at his side. Behind him death and the devil! At a certain level of knowledge any false step leads to quicker ruin, and victory is won through fulfilling and being tirelessly true to Leo’s tasks.

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

8. Heilige Nacht

31./1. – Löwe

Das Kreuz am Schwertknauf: Das Opfer. Umgürtet mit dem Schwert der Christuskraft spricht die Zunge die Wahrheit, ohne verletzen zu können. Es ist die Nacht des Ent-setzens.

Mysterium: Der Ritter, der Streiter mit der Lanze des Willens und dem Schwert der Erkenntnis. Der Hund als Symbol des Gehorsams, ihm zur Seite. Hinter ihm Tod und Teufel! Auf bestimmter Erkenntnisstufe führt jeder falsche Schritt schneller ins Verderben, der Sieg wird errungen durch das Erfülltsein und der unermüdlichen Treue gegenüber den Aufgaben des Löwen.

Eighth Contemplation: Kristina Kaine

As we stand on the border of a new year, and look back over the year just passed, we can experience all the events of the past along side the empty future. It is “the night of resetting”. This is a good time to commit ourselves to be “girded with the sword of the power of Christ” which enables us to “speak the truth without being able to wound”.

Over the last two nights we have been reading the words of Rudolf Steiner about the presence of Christ in our lives. This Christ is full of power and we must strengthen ourselves to hold it within us. If we create imaginations of this being at work in our lives we will unite more closely with him. He will work through us for we are his co-workers.

The final words from Rudolf Steiner’s lesson about Christ brings us to a pinnacle.

“All our striving and wrestling is in vain as long as this higher life doesn’t fill us. It alone can wash everything out of our nature that’s still unpurified, like a clean, pure stream. This is the soul-ground from which this purifying light-life can ascend. There we must seek our dwelling, at his feet and in devotion to him. Then he will transform us himself and stream through us with his divine love-life until we become illumined and pure as he is, become like him. Until he can share his divine consciousness with us.

Our soul must become pure and wise through his light — then it can unite with his life. This then is the union of Christ and Sophia, the union of Christ’s life with the human soul that has been purified by his light.” Esoteric Class by Rudolf Steiner September 24, 1907

If we pause and think about these words which describe what is taking place within us, we can surely be filled with awe. Blessings on the year ahead dear friends, may we all be strengthened by the extraordinary events of 2020.

All the 2020 Holy Nights can be found here https://esotericconnection.com/blog/

Available on Amazon:

The Holy Night Reflections written between 2011 – 2016  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M730YAV/

The Reflections written between 2016 – 2021 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SBMRY7L/

Art: The Wilton Diptych panel 1395