KINGS – Brotherhood ~ 4 January 1955 There is a beautiful legend which is contained in scanty remains from Christian Gnostic humanity. It speaks of the descent of Christ from the cosmos. In descending through the spheres, Christ upset the order of the starry cosmos so that the astrologers were unable to make any predictions with regard to the exact incarnation. This is also true with regard to the birth of Jesus. The contradictions are so complete that it is almost impossible to disentangle them. It has to do with the Roman chronology, which had changed and had come into disorder. The nativities are a closed gate; however, with regard to the other end — the ascension — we have Golgotha, Good Friday until Easter, and that is different. There, on the foundation of the Mystery of Golgotha, one can attain the most grand aspects of the cosmic background of Christ. There have been attempts to bring disorder into that realm of the Mystery of Golgotha as well. The 3rd of April 33 AD is the reliable date for Good Friday. On the foundation of this date of the 3rd of April, we can have the most penetrating and inspiring insights into the cosmological background of the Christ Being. We talked about the three Great Conjunctions. They were based on the 3rd of April. In one aspect of the sky there is a kind of taking together of the three Great Conjunctions. We said that the first one took place in 7 BC in the constellation of Fishes. It is the Shepherds’ stream, connected with the birth of Jesus according to the gospel of St. Luke. Then another one took place in 14 AD in the constellation of Archer, which was connected with the stream of the Kings. Finally, we had a third conjunction in the constellation of Lion connected with St. Paul. These Great Conjunctions appear in intervals of 20 years. The Kings’ conjunction of 14 AD was preceded by an opposition in the same place, with Saturn standing in Archer and Jupiter being opposite in Twins. It took place about 16 BC and is also connected with the whole stream. From St. Mathew we hear that the Kings were guided by a star. These Kings were the last representatives of the ancient supreme star wisdom. Of course that ancient star wisdom was quite different from the star wisdom of today. We know from ancient documents that they knew about the coming of the Messiah and also when the event was going to happen. They knew that they had to wait for the Great Conjunction. They read in the cosmic events that which took place in the spiritual world. They could read what they saw in the sky. We have the proof from tablets found in Mesopotamia that they knew, for instance, that when Venus stood in a certain position in the sky that something special had happened in the spiritual world that certain decisions had been taken by Divine Beings. It was this sort of wisdom that the Three Kings knew. They were called kings because they knew what the intention of the divine world was. This was really the meaning of royal capacity. The child described in the Gospel of St. Mathew is different from the one described in the Gospel of St. Luke; we need only compare the story of the two gospels and we will notice their difference. Rudolf Steiner has spoken about the two children in lectures on the Gospels, for instance in his book called The Spiritual Guidance of Mankind and also The Fifth Gospel. St. Mathew relates the royal (King) line of Solomon, and St. Luke relates the priestly (Shepard) line of Nathan. The Three Kings realized that the great initiate from ancient times had incarnated. In ancient times he was called Zarathustra, and he inaugurated the ancient Persian time. In the totality of the whole configuration of the sky, they read that the moment had come for the incarnation of the Zarathustra soul. The two streams — the Zarathustra Jesus and the other Jesus, which is more connected with a being from the very first beginning of humanity on one hand and on the other hand with the Buddha in humanity — were represented by the two Jesus children that were referred to in the two gospels. When they were 12 years old they were in the temple. It was then, at the temple, when the union between these two streams took place. The Nathan child didn’t really have an ego incarnated in his body. The Zarathustra individuality united with the Nathan child, who was not fully incarnated but had tremendous heart forces. Thus that overwhelming wisdom coming from the Nathan child in the temple was really from the Zarathustra ego; for the corporeal side of the Zarathustra child died, sacrificing himself. The two streams were thus united in one corporeal being. This uniting took place about 12 AD. During the 18 years after the union, the two streams were preparing the body of Jesus for the Christ. This Kings’ stream also underwent similar developments as did the Shepherds’ stream, which we described last time. The stream of the Kings went through terrible crises before the birth of Jesus which was connected with the total breaking down of the ancient Mysteries, the ancient science of initiation. We have indications of this breaking down described in Dr. Steiner’s Fifth Gospel. Demons were taking hold of the altars in the mysteries. As the star-triangle is rotating, the last conjunction of the three was in Scorpion. It is very difficult to follow this Kings’ stream. It is a stream of the science of initiation, and it had the destiny of going through a complete change. The stream of the Kings can only see its rejuvenation through the extinguishing of itself — to go through Golgotha and Resurrection. This is a very difficult task; therefore, it is very much hidden beneath the surface. A few centuries after Christ we will find that this corner of the star-triangle has moved further on into Goat, and since then through Waterman, Fishes, and so on. The conjunction has arrived in Virgin in our time, in 1861 and again in 1921. What happened then? Well, generally these are very difficult to understand, however, we can read in the autobiography of Rudolf Steiner and can find a kind of representative characterization of his life. He was able to realize the intentions of the cosmic world. He was a man who was able to respond to what was to be fulfilled on Earth, to respond to what was wanted, desired, intended in the heights of the spiritual cosmos — to speak to the stars but not to look at them as just points in the sky for making decisions and resolutions. In 1921 he gave special lectures on science and astronomy. There is the so-called Astronomy Course, for example, and we have not yet begun to come to the end of the tasks given in there. There the Kings of old have gone through transformation, and we have to do the same. At the time of the Holy Kings, they looked up into the sky, calculated, in a sense — one did it differently from today — the events which were to come by looking in the sky. Now the kings have changed. Some people are still looking out into the sky. Those are the modern astronomers. They calculate, as one also calculates the great machines. We must find a new astronomy, a new astrology, new ways of calculation, a creation of a new star wisdom. These great astronomy lectures took place in 1921. In ancient times the kings were the providers of the food, so to speak. For instance, King Arthur had to look after the sustenance of the people. During those times, kingship was on aristocratic levels, but that cannot be done any longer. The Kings had to do with economy, but they also had to look toward the stars for agriculture. To these qualities we must now add a new star wisdom, and that is to recognize the rhythms in nature and the cosmos. Then we can again become a “king”. We can see from all this that the Kings’ stream is active below the surface of humanity today. To speak of the royal, the Kingly stream really means to speak about the initiates, the science of initiation in humanity. There are very few initiates in our time. In ancient times there were not only the single kings, there was also the whole court around them. This is changed in our time. There has been a tremendous change. The principle of initiation must become a matter of every human being. In ancient times it was a matter of innermost, secret sanctuary. Since Christ, however, the mysteries are no longer secret. They are only secret in so far as there is no capacity in an individual to understand them. Christ opened initiation to everyone at the raising of Lazarus. That is the reason why they said, “He is betraying the mysteries.” Christ opened them to all those who could develop these capacities. The Kings’ stream will come through a final crisis. You can see how difficult it is to find the stream of the Kings in history. At the time when this corner of the star-triangle went through Fishes, it was at the time of the 8th, 9th, and toward the end of the 10th century. During those centuries the Holy Grail was inaugurated. That was one of the mightiest stepping-stones of the development of the Kings’ stream. With regard to the Shepherds, we had a kind of crisis in Bull — Bull equals Power. The Kings Great Conjunction in Bull was during the time of the crusades. During this time contact with Arabism took place, which was a great temptation. As a matter of fact, when the events took place with regard to this corner of the star-triangle, the great Thomas Aquinas kept the balance against Arabism. Thomas Aquinas was just one of the great individualities who fought against Arabism. This battle is connected with the Great Conjunction in Bull. Very important events took place at the end of the 14th century until the middle of the 16th century when the Great Conjunction entered the constellation of Twins. A great deal of ancient and partly decadent mysticism was streaming into Europe. A sharp division took place, as it was also the time when a new science of initiation, on the basis of the Grail Christianity, was founded in the middle of the 15th century. That was the time of the mysterious personality of Christian Rosenkreutz. The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is connected with the Great Conjunction in Twins as being the scepter of modern initiation. During those years, true Rosicrucian initiation was inaugurated. The conjunction in Crab was in the 16-17th century. In Crab there was complete disruption. Spiritual Rosicrucianism and state-craft became completely divorced. Machiavelli wrote Il Principle (The Prince), which was completely divorced from real initiation. Everywhere there was decay of reality and initiation. Because of a strange development in England, the personality of James III — the Wise Fool — became the last who had the true initiation. One can also learn a great deal by investigating the 30 years war. Then the Great Conjunction of the Kings went into Lion. That comprises the end of the 18th and middle of the 19th centuries. The Sun forces could not come through. During those years quite a number of secret orders were formed, and there was also present one great mysterious personality, Count St. Germaine, who always tried to prevent the disaster of the French Revolution. He would appear suddenly in places and then disappear again. We do not even know with certainty who this great individuality was. Rudolf Steiner has indicated that he was Christian Rosenkreutz. In the conjunction in Virgo, there is the great danger of the dragon. On one side of Virgin lies the dragon who threatens the woman with the child. In 1861 a great individuality entered the world, Rudolf Steiner, who spoke of the magic of freedom and of the Archangel Michael, the great fighter of the dragon. Dr. Steiner was born when the Great Conjunction of the Kings entered Virgin. He was the first, really, to bring the new art of initiation in a new language suitable for our age. He pointed out that this science of initiation is needed by modern humanity more than anything else. Only the acceptance of this science of modern initiation will save humanity from total disaster. Rudolf Steiner said that Oswald Spengler, who wrote The Decline of the West, will become truth unless modern humanity accepts the science of initiation. We can see how important such a stream is in humanity. It concerns the development of each human being. In the future, when the conjunction enters Scorpion, a great crisis will occur. The Shepherds yearn for spiritual freedom, the Kings must develop brotherhood. The danger of the Kings’ stream is arrogance and over-emphasis of the self. It is a deadly, serious matter to see how the Kings’ attitudes, which really belong to ancient pre-Christian times, lives on, so to speak, and will possibly bring themselves and perhaps even parts of humanity into great disaster. Brotherhood is the task, the great problem of the Kings. This can only be achieved by spiritual science. In economics we have come to a point, which is quite obvious, that the abstract thinking does not lead anywhere. Economics must become universal. Such personalities such as Henry Ford worked, in one way, toward kingship of the future. Abstract thinking simply doesn’t lead anywhere in politics, in state-craft, in economy, etc. The modern “king” must take into account the science of initiation and a knowledge of the spiritual world. Only then can the Kings realize the economic sphere. This was only a brief sketch and there are limitations. One of them is time. I hope to show that the Kings are not only a lovely story but belong to our time; they belong to the road toward the humanity of the future.