Holy Night 1

THE HOLY NIGHTS

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. Parallel with the experience of the plant-seed in the depths of the natural earth, there is a spiritual experience in the earth’s spirit-depths — verily a parallel experience. And the seer for whom this experience is possible either as the result of training or through inherited clairvoyant faculties, can feel himself penetrating into these spiritual depths. During this period of the Thirteen Days and Nights, the seer can behold what must come upon man because he has passed through incarnations which have been under the influence of the forces of Lucifer since the beginning of earthly evolution.

The sufferings in Kamaloca that man must endure in the spiritual world because Lucifer has been at his side since he began to incarnate on the earth — the dearest vision of all this is presented in the mighty Imaginations which can come before the soul during the Thirteen Days and Nights between the Christmas Festival and the Festival of the 6th of January, the Epiphany.

At the time when the seed of the plant is passing through its most crucial period in the depths below, the human soul is passing through its deepest experiences. The soul gazes at a vista of all that man must experience in the spiritual worlds because, under Lucifer’s influence, he alienated himself from the Powers by whom the world was created.

This vision is clearest to the soul during these Thirteen Days and Nights. Hence there is no better preparation for the revelation of that Imagination which may be called the Christ Imagination and which makes us aware that by gaining the victory over Lucifer, Christ Himself becomes the Judge of the deeds of men during the incarnations affected by Lucifer’s influence. The soul of the seer lives on from the festival of Jesus’ birth to that of the Epiphany in such a way that the Christ Mystery is revealed. It is during these Thirteen Holy Days and Nights that the soul can grasp most deeply of all, the import and meaning of the Baptism by John in the Jordan.

The Birth of the Sun-Spirit as the Spirit of the Earth

THE THIRTEEN HOLY NIGHTS

A Lecture by Rudolf Steiner, given in Hanover, 26th December, 1911

Holy Night 1

December 24-25 – Capricorn

Christmas Eve, when Christ is born in the soul. The soul asks: Can I, with all my weaknesses, deficiencies and passions, be heard?

Symbol: The stable of Bethlehem, where the Light of the World is born in humility and poverty. The Voice of Silence penetrates the soul and teaches to joyfully affirm the good in us and in others.

Capricorn. The Divine Spirit is born in Matter. Spirit and Matter, the Alpha and Omega touch and life comes into being.

Mystery: The seeking soul in the darkness of a pathless forest.

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

1. Heilige Nacht in Bezug auf Januar

24./25. Dezember – Steinbock

Der Heilige Abend, an dem Christus der Seele geboren wird. Und die Seele fragt: kann ich mit all meinen Schwächen und Mängeln und Leidenschaften erhört werden? Symbol: Der Stall von Bethlehem, in dessen Niedrigkeit und Armut wurde das Licht der Welt hineingeboren. Die Stimme der Stille dringt zur Seele und lehrt sie, das Gute in uns und den Anderen freudig zu bejahen. Steinbock. Göttlicher Geist wird im Stoff geboren. Geist und Stoff, das A und O berühren sich und es entsteht Leben.

Mysterium: die suchende Seele im Dunkel eines weglosen Waldes.

First Contemplation: by Kristina Kaine

Do we dare look at the darkness of our soul? The dark thoughts, the gloomy feelings and our weak and indecisive will? This is our stable. We live in a world that would usher us into the glamorous inn and hide the stable away from us. If we allow this to happen our I Am will not be born in our soul.

Our I Am is the Alpha and Omega; it existed in the beginning and we give birth to it at the end. This is our purpose; it is part of who we are. We can only fathom the mystery by engaging with our I Am; which is why the “soul seeks the mystery in a dark and trackless forest.” It is dark because we do not shine the light of our I Am in our soul, and because we avoid going there it is trackless. If we have the courage to go to the stable we will give birth to who we really are. The stable is our life here on this earth. If we can accept this, and look into our dark soul with the light of our I Am, the difficulties in our soul will disappear just like magic. Then we have nothing to fear. Kristina Kaine 2012

Art: Mystical Nativity by Botticelli

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

The Holy Nights contemplations written between 2016 and 2021 are available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08SBMRY7L/