Meet me in the Upper Room“Maundy” comes from the Latin term mandatum= commandment - “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, love one another."On Maundy Thursday a holy stillness descends. The deep red sun is setting in the west, faced by the silver disc of the rising Paschal Moon in the East. It is the curfew of Passover-tide, when the destroying Angel is out making rounds, as it did long ago in the final plague upon Egypt. Christ Jesus & His disciples have gathered in the Coen-ac-ulum - theUpper Room, which the Essene Brotherhood has placed at their service - situated on the Holy ground of Mount Zion, where a Sun-Sanctuary has existed from times immemorial. And of course, where there is great light, there is great darkness - a counter-force - & so it was that immediately opposite that Holy place, also on its own traditional spot, stands the house of Caiaphas, the ancestral home of the Order of the Pharisees, where a circle has also gathered. They can scarcely give thought to the coming Feast, for they are actively crafting a plan of hatred & enmity. While the devout are preparing for the feast, these enemies are preparing to give the order – “Seek to arrest Him, but not at the Feast”. Unconsciously they are fulfilling part of the 23rd Psalm: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies” The Pascal lamb on the table, & words of John the Baptist ring true once again: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” For thousands of years the Passover lamb was a prophetic custom, & now the fulfillment of the prophecy is at hand. A heavy spiritual foreboding fills the room; separation & tragedy rest in the air. Christ’s deed of sacrifice throws its foreshadow on the consciousness of the disciples who will soon face a heavy test themselves. Starting in that Sacred coenaculum on Mount Zion, all the ancient pre-Christian blood-sacrifices were called to forever cease. For a Divine Cosmic Being has now entered this world, carrying to Earth a seed of heavenly forces - a new moral impulse for the evolution of humanity. The Passover lamb is superseded by the pure image of the sacrificial deed of Divine Love. For on the table of the Holy Meal, there is bread & wine. And to the astonishment of the disciples, Christ takes up these substances - creating a new covenant - & a new deed is forever imprinted into the world. These elements are not on the table by accident. They symbolize what was a hidden initiatory rite which has always existed, & now comes to light. While the exoteric blood-sacrifices were carried out in the Temple externally by the people, High Rites were performed in hidden sanctuaries - Esoteric Sun-Mysteries - where bread & wine were always known to be the symbols of the Sun-God. On the very spot where the Christic circle is now gathered at the Last Supper, the sanctuary of Melchizedek once stood. It was from this Holy place that he took forth bread & wine, carrying them down to the valley of Cedrone to dispense to Abraham. Now bread & wine became more than mortal food - more than occult prophetic symbols. The Divine Sun-Spirit is present in Christ - His soul surrenders itself & streams into the bread & wine. In the twilight of the Upper Room, the bread & wine are enveloped with a shining Sun-aura - they become body & blood of the Sun-Spirit Himself. All the Sun-Mysteries of antiquity were a symbolic prophecy; at this moment, they grow into fulfillment. In the transition from the blood offerings of the past, to the bloodless offering of bread & wine, the whole idea of sacrifice changed. Ancient sacrifices were always material offerings. Now the sacrifice of the soul is founded anew, & there begins the tradition of inner sacrifice - done in freedom. The lunar sacrifices of antiquity are at an end; the solar sacrifice of Christianity comes into being. Christianity, dawns with the Sunset of Maundy Thursday. By performing this significant act, Christ brings about a 4-Fold Wholeness, anticipating the four parts of the central Christian sacrament - And of which we as Anthroposophers must transform further - into the Reverse Cultus – no longer only calling the Spirit down - but rising in Spirt - rising in our soul forces of Thinking, Feeling & Willing to meet the Spiritual world, in our striving to become co-creators with source. This is the true imagination of the 6-pointed star. We must create the triangle pointing up, to meet the triangle pointing down. This becomes the sacred alchemy of fire & water which we must metamorphose into the Dodecahedron of Love. These New Mysteries of AnthropoSophia can be consciously formed in our imagination as we continue to live into this picture of Holy Week. Before the Meal, Christ follows the custom observed in the Order of the Essenes, washing the feet of each of the disciples, including Judas. A deeply moving picture, vast in its full initiatory significance of the highest service: Christ completely surrendering Himself in loving devotion, upon which His death will soon set the seal - The meal is followed by a discourse. This is recorded by St. John in the wonderful “Farewell Discourses” where we hear 2 of the I am Statements: ‘I am the way, the truth & the life”, & “I am the true Vine’. As well as a prefiguring of the energies of the Holy Spirit. The discourse ends in the High Priestly Prayer (St. John 14-17). The Washing of the Feet sums up in a ceremonial act the essence of Christ’s teaching: “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another.” The Washing of the Feet is the last of the parables, not just spoken, but fully enacted. It teaches Love & service as the ultimate purpose of the Christ Gospel. The stream of Cosmic Love speaks with the Spirit of Wisdom thru The Christ. This is a precursor to the Wisdom of AnthropoSophia & the unveiling of Isis, which is our task to take up now & in the future. At this stage, in order for Christ’s deed to transpire, the Sacred Round Table breaks up dramatically. St. John’s Gospel tells us: “It was night”. It is a strict regulation of the Passover that after dark no one may leave the protection of the house. If he does so, he meets the Destroying Angel. In spite of this, Judas does go out. For it was also night within Judas - the adversarial powers possessed him. The soul of Judas could not abide the Mystery of the New Sacrament of Love & service. On the evening before, as the consecrated mood of Mary Magdalene’s anointing unfolded in the house at Bethany, he was already seized with the demon of unrest. In the Upper Room he has met the sacramental substance for the second time. There is no Peace within him, so he cannot receive the blessing of peace thru the ceremony. Instead it has the opposite effect, throwing him into the hands of the the Destroying Angel, who displaces his ego, & possesses him. Ahrimanic spirits make him their pawn. Judas storms over to the house opposite, where Caiaphas & his circle are waiting. & yet, a golden shimmer mingles with the chilly night for the Christ has enacted this new sacred rite - renewing what was perserved in secret for 2000 years before by Melchizedek, who carried the bread & wine to Abraham - Now this bloodless sacrament is available for all humankind. The shining aura which people reacted to on Palm Sunday radiating from the Being of Christ has now contracted into much deeper levels - like a banked fire slowing working down into the bones of the human vessel of Jesus of Nazareth. And yet on that Maundy Thursday the world receives a prefiguring of Ascension Thursday, 6 weeks later - When the seed of light, which began to grow in the Upper Room, begins to spread over the whole aura of the Earth - waiting for us to meet it. ~hag, Matthew, John & Emil Bock You are welcome to listen to the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast on the theme of Holy Thursday. 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 to Cognitive Ritual: Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian, with all donations going directly to the farm Here’s the link to a compendium of Free Video PresentaionsThe Cognitive Ritual is a Free Will Offering to All worlds. Please Share freely 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 |
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Meet me in the Upper Room
a Blessing & a curse
Congratulations – you have made it to the mid-point of Holy Week - On this the Full Paschal Moon where the April Fool meets Ostara the Goddess of Spring - reminding us that ‘The Best Fool is the Fool for Love’ Wednesday, is Mercury Day, & Today we meet the Mercurial figures of Lazurus, Mary Magdalene, Martha & Judas. Towards evening a scene unfolds in the quiet town of Bethany, beyond the Mount of Olives, where not too long ago the scene of the raising of Lazarus took place - The ‘miracle’ that pushed the authorities into murderous action. Lazarus along with the disciples of Christ are gathered round his table - Lazarus who has earned the title John - ‘The one whom Jesus loved’ - the one described as resting on the heart of JC at the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. Martha & Mary Magdalene, are the sisters of Lazarus-John, it is in their ancestorial home that they have gathered. Each one of these 3 has had their own specific karmic event - bringing a radical transformation in the fulfillment of their life’s destiny. For Lazarus it was the awakening from the grave – the 1st Christian Initiation outpicturing the redemption of the physical body, & the coming in of new “I” forces, thru the spirit of John the Baptist, who was working with him across the threshold, as well as the Magdalene who held the sacred space during his descent. For Mary Magdalene, Myrrhophores, & former Priestess of Isis, it had been the freeing & purifying of her astral body, with the casting out of the 7 demons. The long-suffering Martha is said to be the woman who was healed of the issue of blood. Thru the Christ, her etheric formative forces were restored. As they all sit at the table with the disciples, Mary Magdalene anoints the feet of Christ with precious spikenard ointment, wiping his feet with her hair. Spikenard is a sacred oil used for thousands of years by Death Doulas, as a spiritual tool to assist in bringing a clarity of self-reflection to those about to cross the Threshold. The scent is described as an evocation of the perfume of the lost Garden of Eden – It is sacred to the Planet Venus, & the honeybees, & is associated with the Crown Chakra. Nard oil has strong, warm, musky notes, similar to the aroma of healthy earth. This oil inspires right deed & harmonizes the relationship between heaven & earth. St John’s Gospel says that the whole house was filled with this heady mystical fragrance. Mary Magdalene had performed a similar act a year & a half previously. But what does her act of anointing signify now? It is a sacramental act – the fulfillment of the ‘Rite of Last Anointing’ performed right before death. And yet, the solemn stillness is suddenly broken by the green demon of jealousy that has seeped into the unconscious soul corners of the disciples, especially in the one who forms an opposite polarity to Mary Magdalene. When Judas sees the deed of the Magdalene, he loses all self-control. He says that the precious oil could have been sold for supplies, or given to the poor. The Magdalene’s selfless anointing enrages him, providing the final impetus to his betrayal - For in his mind Jesus was meant to publicly lead an earthly political insurrection. But this was not to be. Interestingly enough both Judas & Mary Magdalene are typical Mercury people; they are active & temperamental. One of the virtues of their nature is that something is always happening around them. Mary Magdalene, however, trains her restlessness & transforms it into devotion, peace & the capacity for love. This intense devotion allows her to be ‘The One who anoints the Anointed One’, the first to meet & behold the Risen Christ – Becoming the ‘Apostle to the apostles’. Judas pretends to want something for the poor. But no matter how ‘good’ & commendable social activity may be, it is often only self-deception. The underlying motive is not a genuine social impulse, but his own inner desire for power - which leads to his betrayal - & his own dark fate. Such a soul cannot show devotion; & above all, it cannot love. A selfish person is not capable of real love; for love is possible only where the soul has turned passion into compassion & peace. So, we see in these 2 diverse individualities, 2 separate paths - like at a crossroads - One leads to the Christic Wisdom of Love - the other, into tragedy & suicide. Marta, the other sister of Lazarus, is transitional type, somewhere between those 2. Martha is constantly active as well, her service & devotion are genuine - & yet, the unrest which was healed in her body, has remained in her discontented soul. These Mercurial characters of Holy Wednesday show us the crossroads which we must face before we can hope to find a place at the table on Maundy Thursday – able to truly participate in the mystery of the Sacrament. Judas is the man without ritual. He loses self-control when he comes into the realm of true ceremonial worship, so foreign & anathema to him. Mary Magdalene is the sacramental soul. Martha is the striving soul. Mercury, the God of Healing, is a messenger of the gods – But he is also the patron of merchants & thieves. On this Holy Wednesday He comes into the orbit of the Christ Sun. The scene in the house of Lazarus & Mary & Martha shows how Mercury, the God of Healing, can himself be healed by the Sun imbued Christ impulse. Mary Magdalene, as a great Initiate, was able to serve her role, knowing the right time to perform the last anointing. ~hag, inspired by the Gospel of Matthew 26:3-16, the Gospel of John 12, & indications from Christian Community Priest Emil Bock 1 April 2026 - “Speaking with the Stars” 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 to Cognitive Ritual: Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian, with all donations going directly to the farm Here’s the link to a compendium of Free Video PresentaionsThe Cognitive Ritual is a Free Will Offering to All worlds. Please Share freely 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 © 2026 Hazel Archer-Ginsberg |
Meet me in the Upper Room
“Maundy” comes from the Latin term mandatum= commandment - “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, lov...






























