Greetings on this Feast of St. Stephen - the first Christian martyr. This name is also a title, meaning: 'reward, honor, renown, fame'. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was a deacon in the early Church of Jerusalem. He was accused of blasphemy by the high priests of the temple. At his mock trial, Angels spoke thru him, denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment. When the stunned Pharisee’s regained their bearings, they led the people in stoning him death. Saul of Tarsus, a Roman citizen & one of the Pharisee, participated in the execution of St. Stephan. After his Damacus experience Saul became Paul the Apostle.
In the Renewal of the Christian Mysteries, there are 3 Christmas services - One @ the Midnight hour, One at Dawn, & the Daytime service (which is preceded by a special Children’s service) The Epistle insert prayer changes for each service. In our striving to ‘see the Sun at Midnight’ on the ‘World Initiation Night’ of Christmas Eve, we meet Christ, the Healer of our Astral Body. We ‘divine it’ – we picture it – 1st as an imagination in our petitioning contemplation, then when we are in the Spiritual world, in sleep or mediation, we receive the healing impulse to strengthen our spirit. At the Dawn service we receive a Christic healing of our Etheric Body - our lips – our speech is blessed, our Blood, & our will, are fortified. At the Day Service, we see the mighty picture of Christ revealing The ‘Father Ground of the World’, & thru the Holy Spirit, bringing a healing to our physical bodies. So even though I was, tired & wired from attending all 3 services, I stayed up again on Christmas Night till Midnight, living into these pictures. And the contemplation will continue as we engage with the Consecration of the Human Being every day during the Holy Nights.
3rd Holy Night: Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven, Constellation of Capricorn, The Goat (ruling the knees & bones) The Sphere of the Archangel, Fire-Spirits. Here is the shorter version of the 3rd Holy Night on the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast. 
Spiritual Science gives us the picture that the birth of Jesus could only occur in the seasonal round during the influence of Capricorn, when the Earth is frozen & dark, ie. purified of the Ahrimanic forces, with the light of the outer Sun, focused into the Spiritual Sun within. These forces were gifted to us from the Archangels on Old Sun. So whenever we perceive light, with our eyes, or with our hearts, the Archangels are behind it. I can’t help thinking of this Steiner quote from The Cycle of the Year: “While the summer out-breathing occurred, the Earth was ahrimanized. Woe if Jesus had been born into this ahrimanized Earth! Before the cycle is completed again and December approaches, which brings about the birth of the Christ Impulse in the ensouled Earth, the Earth must be purified by spiritual forces, from the Dragon, from the Ahrimanic forces. And the purifying force of Michael, which subdues the evil Ahrimanic forces, must unite itself, from September into December, with the in-flowing earth breath, so that the Christmas festival may approach in the right way, and the birth of the Christ Impulse take place in the right way…” Is this global warming a sign of the coming incarnation of Ahriman in the West? Today in Chicago its 45 degrees!
This push of activity from Ahriman manifests itself every year in the sphere of the Goat, where he is the chief antagonist of the 12 Archangels. Ahriman hopes ever & again at this dark & cold time of the year to prevent the rising of the Spiritual Sun in the earthly sphere & in our human Soul. And every year he is overcome by the Archangel Michael so that the Christ Sun may rise for the Earth. How can we as Michaelites help in this endeavor?
We see this image of Ahriman depicted, especially in the Middle Ages, thru the imagination of ‘Satan’ portrayed with the horns & lower body of a goat -all the negative characteristics of the animal nature – a tradition followed by Goethe in his character of Mephistopheles with cloven feet. Interesting to think that the 7th American cultural epoch will stand under the sign of the goat. How can we prepare the way in the purity of the ideal?
The 12 Archangels were the 1st beings to receive the Christ into themselves during the epoch of Ancient Persia. The Persians knew that the 12 Archangelic Beings, operating from the 12 signs of the Zodiac, work thru the 12 main nerves that connect the human brain with the rest of our body, in order to gradually summon forth what appears today as our intelligence. And Human intelligence is most awake, most light filled, precisely at the time of the year which stands under the rulership of the cosmic forces proceeding from the region of the goat.
Zarathustra (who later became the Matthew Jesus) called them the 12 Amshaspands, the envoys of the great Sun-Spirit Ahura-Mazdao, & described them as a kind of cosmic aura surrounding the Sun, holding the Christ-Impulse that was to be born in the sphere of Earth.
Capricorn is connected to the knee. So when we kneel in prayer, we spiritualize our speech. Bending the knee is a sign of reverence, helping us draw near to the Archangels who rule the element of speech. According to spiritual science, in the Venus epoch there will arise from the knee-cap, the outer form of the human head.
The Archangels worked thru the 12 disciples as their representatives. In our time these Beings are the inspirers of the Holy Nights.
Each of the Archangels have their own qualities. The Archangel Gabriel had the task of bringing the divine forces to bear in the womb of Mary May we bend our knee to speak from spirit-fired, christened heads & hearts ~hag Holy Nights Flash Cards overview
Here is the recording of Winter Solstice w/ Mysteria Mystica Americana MAA Special gift from the Grand Lodge of MA: Richard Cloud, Hazel Archer, Lisa Dalton + guests: Michael Draskovic, Russell Blackstone These ADVENT recordings are my gift to you~hag.:.
The Fellowship of Preparation Makers' annual gathering, to be held this year in Viroqua, WI. Registration and further info will be posted on their page as it becomes available: https://www.biodynamics.com/content/fellowship-preparation-makers .
If you want to support the Spiritualization of the Earth thru the Biodynamic Farming done on Zinniker Farm, you are invited to become a paid subscriber, with all donations going directly to the farm Virtue: Courage becomes the power of redemption Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day “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, Hanover, 26th December, 1911
26 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Look for the bright waxing gibbous moon to shine in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Bella Luna appears to clip the top of Orion’s upraised club. Despite the lunar glare – you should be able to glimpse the two major signposts in Taurus: the bright star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster, otherwise known as the Seven Sisters. During the moon’s trek through Taurus in December 2020, it passes to the south of the Pleiades & then to the north of Aldebaran.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feast of St. Stephen venerated as the Proto-martyr or first martyr of Christianity. According to the Acts of the Apostles he was a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him & was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later himself become a follower of Jesus Mummer’s Day, or ” Darking Day” is an ancient Cornish midwinter celebration that occurs every year on Boxing Day in Cornwall. It was originally part of the pagan heritage of midwinter celebrations that were regularly celebrated, where people would take part in the traditional custom of guise dancing, which involves disguising themselves by painting their faces or wearing masks
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day on which post-men, errand-boys, & servants of various kinds expect to receive a ‘Christmas-box’. It originated in the United Kingdom, but is very popular in Canada, where this was the day to exchange gifts, or return the ones not wanted
1st Day of Kwanzaa – a week-long celebration that honors African heritage, culminating in a feast & gift-giving. It was created by Maulana Karenga and was first celebrated in 1966–67. Seven candles in a candelabra symbolize the seven principles of Kwanzaa: Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together. Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle
Greetings Friend, you currently a free subscriber to Cognitive Ritual. Thank you for receiving my workings freely offered. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. ALL donations go to support Zinniker Farm - The oldest Biodynamic Farm in America! Together we can spiritualize the Universe. XOX ~hag
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Thursday, 26 December 2024
Goat Stoned Saint
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a Spring-dialogue between Worlds
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