ST. PAUL Equality ~ 6
January 1955
It is one of the most
comforting things to know that the rhythms of the cosmos and also the patterns
of movements of the planets are a kind of ground archetype of what lives in a
quite different fashion within the human realm, especially the realm of the human
spirit. Those three Great Conjunctions, of which we have been speaking, took
place about the time of Christ, and they take place at three different points
of the Zodiac. There are only those three points during the time of Christ. In
the interval of 60 years they repeat themselves. They always repeat themselves
in approximately the same place, though there is one phenomenon connected with
this that makes it more interesting. These points move and thus, in time, all
those three points rotate through the Zodiac. The complete rotation of any one
of these points, that means the return to the same position, takes about 2,600
years. This is the triangle that is inscribed into the cosmos. All the triads,
all having to do with threefoldness, are connected with it. It also comprises
the three great ideas of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. These
are impulses that are deeply connected with the events of 2,000 years ago. They
are practical impulses with regard to social life and many other concerns of
human life in a very true sense.
Today we will speak about
the corner of the star-triangle in Lion. Golgotha took place April 3rd in 33 AD, and
shortly after, in 34 AD, the Great
Conjunction took place in Lion. This is connected with St. Paul and with the
spreading of Christianity. One cannot imagine what would have happened if St.
Paul would not have existed. We can really see the development of the inner
growth of Christianity in the movement of this Great Conjunction in Lion. It is
now in the constellation of Ram.
What is the St. Paul-line in
Christianity? St. Paul had been a great enemy of the Christians. On the way to
Damascus he had the experience of the Christ. It was such a tremendous
experience and the light was so powerful that he was blinded for several days. The
Christianity of St. Paul is different from the one of the Apostles. He had
never seen the Christ while he was indwelling the body of Jesus; he was the
first to experience the Christ in the Father, in the etheric. St. Paul is, in a
certain sense, the guarantor for those who did not see Christ in the flesh, for
it is because of his experience that all humanity are able to experienced
Christ, but now it is in the etheric body. Thus we can experience the
Christianity of Paul in the spiritual sense.
Thus it is connected with
the Second Coming. St. Paul was never involved externally in the events of
Palestine like the Disciples. Therefore he experienced Christ in this different
form, after He had entered the Earth. This is the fundamental difference from
the experience of the Disciples: that Christ had suffered death and was now
united with the Earth, present in the Earth. Thus we can understand that this
Paul-line is deeply connected with what is going through humanity with the call
of equality. It is a yearning for equality; that is the archetype for all
humanity on Earth. It is not of equality as equaling things out, but in the
sense it is as dignity, lifting up ones selfhood. Now this conjunction of
Saturn and Jupiter took place in 34 AD around
the time of the conversion of Saul to Paul. This event is at present
commemorated on the 6th of January
the moment of Epiphany. This moment is closely connected with St. Paul at
Damascus, only he experienced it three years later. Thus this event in 34 AD is connected with the incarnation of Christ into the
Earth. We cannot go into details now, but the night of the Last Supper and
during the following three days, the Moon is of great importance. If we look at
the position of the Moon during these three days, then we have something like a
portal, like a pathway leading us straight into all that which is connected
with the union of Christ with the Earth, that which is really the foundation of
the Pauline Christianity, and it leads straight to this Great Conjunction.
Let us look at the movement
of the Great Conjunction, which was first in Lion and connected with the
conversion of Saul/Paul. This constellation of Lion is deeply connected with
the whole cosmos, especially with the Sun, with beings in the Sun working with
this Great Conjunction. Sun powers are streaming through Lion and Sunlight was
the experience of Paul. These Sun forces will be experienced again, this
experience of the new cosmic light that has its root in the past. Everything
that works into the future has its roots in the past.
If we go back into India, we
hear of the famous warrior Ahrjuna (the Bhagavad-Gita) who had to fight an
important battle. While he was contemplating, Krishna the cosmic Christ talked
with him. It is worthwhile to read this poem, to read about the cosmic
imagination that Ahrjuna had and which made him decide to fight the dragon. This
Sun-majesty of Christ came to Paul and also comes to all of present humanity.
The Great Conjunction took
place in the middle of the 2nd
to the 5th centuries in Virgin. The Virgin is a beautiful
constellation. It is not easy to penetrate into these high beings, but there
are also other beings below in the Hydra, the water-serpent. The Hydra was one
of the monsters Hercules killed. That dragon is opposed to the virgin. We have
in those centuries a Christianity which is, in a sense, rather withdrawn, for
instance, in Manichean Christianity and Gnostic Christianity. However, we also
have another Christianity that comes up, which is not so subtle; it is the
Christianity of Rome. These two streams of Christianity were at great odds. Great
battles took place for the recognition of the events of Palestine. Many people
could not understand that Christ had appeared in a physical body. On the one hand
there was the struggle of inner Christianity and on the other hand Rome the
Hydra.
In Scales, in the middle of
the 5th to 6th
centuries, we have truly a time when the experience of Christ, who had united
with the Earth and who was working within this planet, was very much in
balance. It was the exiting time of the migration of peoples. The leader of the
Huns, Attila, died. He set the migration going. It was the time when the Nordic
element, the Germanic tribes, the Goths, all came in touch with Christianity. Many
fine things developed, but everything was in upheaval. The date of King
Arthurs conversion to Christianity in 536 was also when the Great Conjunction
was in Scales.
The Great Conjunction in
Scorpion can bring great crises. By now it was difficult to experience the
spiritual reality of Christ, and during the 9th century the Great Conjunction took place in the sting
of Scorpion. In 868 there was the Council of Constantinople. Pope Nikolas, who
prepared the decisions that were taken at the Council of Constantinople, died
when the conjunction was in the sting of Scorpion. At this time the body, soul,
and spirit were not considered as being one any longer. That was the root of
later materialism. Also slight alterations in the Holy Mass were made by Pope
Nikolas. Before, the Mass was read for the experience of the Risen Christ. This
was lost more and more, and through these alterations in the Mass, such as the
refusal of the cup, the door was closed. These things were a tragic necessity,
which had to come to pass for the sake of freedom in humanity.
However, this was not the
only dismal aspect. This series of conjunctions was also connected with the
Grail movement. A split had taken place in humanity, and a provision had to be
made so that the experience of the risen Christ was not lost. In the cup of the
Holy Grail, that which in the Celtic stream is called the transparent stone, is
spirit in matter. That is the great heritage of the Christian movement. It was
a new beginning, and spiritual beings worked who made this new beginning. There
may come a time in the future when this constellation of Scorpion can be
experienced as the dove, the Holy Spirit.
When this conjunction
occurred in Archer, there was a definite split between the Christians whose
past could not experience the Risen Christ (there are many things connected
with it) and the Christians that were prepared to work out into practical life
that experience of the spirit in matter (really of Christ having united with
the Earth) and into practical life. In England it was the time of Alfred the
Great. It was the time when one found organizations, so to speak, everywhere in
civilization creating the first beginnings of culture. That was initiated by
certain centers on the continent. They were occult centers that were connected
with the Grail tradition.
About the middle of the 14th century this conjunction was in Goat. It was the time
when Thomas Becket was murdered. Then more and more we come to the time where
the experience of the risen Christ is hidden in true equality. Another
conjunction is connected with 1225 and the Magna Carta. On the continent, Henry
IV went to Canossa to ask the Pope for forgiveness. That is the one side of
Goat that is involved in the water, i.e., its fish-tail. As far as the ibex
reaches out into cosmic light and warmth, the fish-tail reaches into the depth
of the water. In the heights we find the school of Chartres, which is Pauline
Christianity in its truest sense. Francis of Assisi died during a conjunction
in Goat. The opposite position then was Genghis Khan who invaded Europe. On
one hand there are the Sun forces and on the other the forces behind the
upheavals of the Earth. Thomas Aquinas lived during this time also.
The Waterman is a time when
we have two streams. One developed into Protestantism, but also other things
happened during these years. For instance, Christian Rosenkreutz went to
Palestine, and there he had the experience of Damascus. In a sense it was a
fruitful time, similar to the Sun entering Waterman, when everything comes into
life again.
When this conjunction
entered Fishes, it was the end of the 18th century and into the 19th
century. The Fishes are held together by a ribbon of stars, they are holding
the Alpha and the Omega (the beginning and the end). Theology broke down
completely at that time, along with many other things. The French Revolution,
which rose out of a yearning for equality, took place. The Risen Christ raises
humanity to a higher level. Old and new meet which is also a type of conjunction.
A new experience of the Risen Christ takes place. Jakob B๖hme was a great
mystic and a humble man. In his humble state he was experiencing the Risen
Christ and that which can shine through the Risen Christ. Swedenborg, also a
forerunner, was an exact scientist who suddenly became a mystic. (Somewhat like
the conversion of St. Paul, although more like a caricature.) Then there was
the development of Romanticism in England and on the continent. This is the
dawn of the Risen Christ.
The conjunction was in Ram
in 1881. Ram reminds us of the Golden Fleece, the new aspect, that shinning
world which brings new impulses. However, Ram is also looking backward to
ancient forms of existence and ancient times. Rudolf Steiner describes, that
about this time was the beginning of the Age of the Archangel Michael, who is
the countenance of Christ. The conjunction came again in 1940 during the time
of the Second coming of the Christ, when we were able to experience and even
perceive Christ in the etheric. But the old in humanity worked as well and
burst out in 1940. We must go back to the Great Flood to find the root of this
the time of Noah. Toward the end of the century, exactly in the year 2,000,
another conjunction will take place in Ram/Bull, and the oldest forces will
again rise up even more. To save the dignity of humanity, we will have to fight
against forces of darkness which we can not yet conceive. I shall be with you
always. This will hold humanity in the future.
Thus we read in this
particular Great Conjunction the slow progress of humanity, of Pauline
Christianity, of a realization of the Christ Impulse, and of the Christ Being;
in fact, as Chr its united with the Earth and is working with the Earth when He
said, I shall be with you always. The realization of spirit in matter, in
practical life, and how we can get a grip on this kind of Christianity is that
which we can read in the progress of this Great Conjunction through the Zodiac.
We have followed these three
groups of Great Conjunctions, and we can consider it an interesting historic
investigation, but I think it is more. For present humanity it is like a kind
of guarantee that Christianity is a reality, that those things which happened
in Palestine to humanity 2,000 years ago are still present now as.
Rudolf Steiner pointed out
that unless we find the wisdom again that works in the cosmos, Christianity will
be lost. Here we try to find practical ways.