Symbolos stems from the Greek sym- + ballein. Together, these elements mean something like "cast together," since ballein means "to cast" or "to throw." Compare, for instance, to the term "ballistic," or to the term "diabolic," or diabolos, which is, being interpreted, "to cast asunder." "Symbol" is on my mind in light of the beginning of Advent season today, particularly because of a line in the Gospel According to Luke, in which it is written, following the annunciation to the shepherds and their arrival to praise the newborn, that "Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (2:19). The word rendered in English as "pondered" is συμβάλλουσα (symballousa), which is literally something like "symbolized," or, as per the etymology outlined above, "cast [them] together." Mary is understood to represent the "good earth" in the Parable of the Sower, in which seeds of knowledge can ripen into the fruits of wisdom and understanding. The "good earth" is, literally interpreted, the receptive soul in whom the Divine Word can incarnate.
What a delightful image! I happened to be writing today with an image of red clay (אָדָם) which is an aluminum silicate. But clay has an ambivalent quality: malleable when wet, petrified when dry. And out of that clay, over aeons, developed something new that was no longer opaque to the light but receptive and radiant. Out of the mineral clay crystallizes something no longer dark, but receptive to the light. As Ruskin says, what the flower is the vegetable world, a crystal is to the mineral world. A new crystallized form of clay emerges: sapphire. Transparent to the light and radiant in her brilliance. Out of ruddy clay of Israel was refined the star of the sea.
According to what Steiner said somewhere, possibly GA 149, lecture 1, the Divine Sophia arose out of the 29th Aeon, and supplied "Desire" as the fundamental agent of the incentive for human incarnation on Earth. Thus, She became the primordial Achamod. This act would lead to the further realization of the descent of "The Mothers", which is nothing less than establishing the crystalline affinities which Steiner spoke about in the famous "Saint John's Imagination" lecture from the "Four Seasons and the Archangel" series from 1923. When we carry this analogy further, we come to the seminal event in which Christ looks down from the Cross of Golgotha, and sees "His Mother, and His Mother's sister Mary, wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene", ref. John 19:25. As well, standing nearby is Lazarus-John, the "Disciple Whom Christ Loved", and He brings the Mother and this New Son together, and She enters his household.
This act sets the stage for the Apocalypse of Saint John some years later, but the Mother was there in order to not only bring forth the necessary images of the Mystery of Ephesus, but also to create the several crystalline affinities, which are represented in the Seven Occult Seal pictures. Thus, the Apocalypse represents the seminal interpretation of Goethe's descent of the Mother's in Faust II.
Hi Max. I appreciate being able to read this again. I wrote to Hazel yesterday and referred to lecture 1 of GA 149, which also concerns the "Lamb", which is the outer form of the Divine Silence, which indicates how far back we have to go to find Jesus.
I read a lot of articles online and elsewhere. I can often agree, but there is often a "but", a small addition that I miss, a one-sidedness. Here, in this article, I can agree 100% and feel deeply addressed. Thank you.
The Christ in me is born anew with every heartbeat and comes into our "blood" and tries to stay alive and grow within us. With sufficient self-knowledge, we know how little this happens.
I found great value in this Advent reflection, and find it a glorious introduction to what can be found in the Gospel of Luke, especially, as this expresses the compassion and love of Christ. I see the divine seed in its highest form as the Holy Spirit, and where "Christ in me" is achievable, like Paul did on the road to Damascus.
As indicated, Mary seems to me, with abundant clarity, to embody, manifest, and symbolize the receptive soul, which is the only one from which Christ can be born. For that reason, I don’t have much patience for the Protestant iconoclasts’ attempts to diminish Mary’s status. Perhaps it is common knowledge but the celebration of Christmas itself was prohibited for a century in the Colonies because it was deemed “too pagan.” That’s an example of the same fundamentalist literal-mindedness that besets us from the side of many scientists, and only appears to be substantially different but is an expression of the same impulse.
Speaking of Damascus and iconography: today is the feast day of St. John of Damascus, who settled the question, in my view: “The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God.”
I see it all as a matter of receiving the divine seed, i.e., The Holy Spirit. Whether it is the Parable of the Sower and the Soils, which involves the ability to discern the "Word", which Christ makes direct and careful effort to explain to His disciples in plain language, or the means with which Angel Gabriel chooses two women to give birth by the Holy Spirit, as well as the means by which the Matthew Jesus child's birth is informed to Joseph in a dream, we are dealing with the Holy Spirit conceived in the womb of three women. This is the benchmark of human evolution. My experience is that Pentecost can be received at any opportune point in time, for example, February 28, 2001, which was Ash Wednesday that year. John of Damascus had the right idea of an adhering experience of the Spiritual Helper that Christ promised to His disciples, and which they collectively experienced at the first Pentecost. That is when they became Apostles, and began to remember every word with understanding. Paul had no chance until he was knocked off his horse, struck blind, and found on the street named straight. This is the path.
Mary, as a virgin, gave birth to a virgin child who had never been born before. This is the Christ-child, who was named Jesus. Luke's gospel describes this geneaology very effectively in chapter 3, and it traces back 77 generations to Adam and the Son of God. Thus, "Mary" gave birth to a very special child, but he was still fundamentally human. He lived for thirty years until the time was right for the Baptism by his cousin John, and this is when Christ entered from the Sun.
This idea is considered as pagan as the idea of the Christmas Tree, which has become condoned out of convenience. But, to talk of Christ as the Spirit of the Sun, still gets one excommunicated in the conventional orders for heresy.
In the Zohar, Mah מה “what” is the "edge of heaven below" (Malkuth) while Mi מי "who" is the "edge of heaven above" (Binah). Malkuth being the proper abode of the Shekinah, but in a spiritually estranged state, she withdraws to higher spheres.
Joining Mi מי "who" and Aleh אלה "these", we get the name of God אלהים "Elohim" -- the suggestion being that the Whoness of all "these things" is God. But God remains neti, neti: none of these, but the whoness of all these things.
Another parable worthy of our time in the Advent season is the Parable of the Sheepfold. The Good Shepherd. This one is allegorical in scope because it summarizes the work of Christ over three years in protecting his flock, i.e., fellowship, and makes clear that He has come to Earth in order to lead His sheep to the Father. Here is a good example:
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” John 10
As such, this parable is meant to be pointed directly at the Pharisees, and their doubts and denial of Christ as the Messiah. In context, it is the final winter season, and Christ is walking in the Portico of Solomon in deep contemplation over the event that is celebrated at that time, which is the Feast of the Dedication, or Hanukkah. As the Being of Light, He wonders why they have picked up stones to throw at Him again. He would go to the place where He was baptized by John, and think about it some more.
It is interesting to consider that the actual Being of Light is opposed by those in Jerusalem who celebrate the so-called, "Festival of Light", i.e., Hanukkah. I think this failure to recognize still infects the world today with its malicious intent. Ukraine-Russia; Israel-Hamas. It is a sad state of affairs for the Advent that we like to focus on. Regards.
Symbolos stems from the Greek sym- + ballein. Together, these elements mean something like "cast together," since ballein means "to cast" or "to throw." Compare, for instance, to the term "ballistic," or to the term "diabolic," or diabolos, which is, being interpreted, "to cast asunder." "Symbol" is on my mind in light of the beginning of Advent season today, particularly because of a line in the Gospel According to Luke, in which it is written, following the annunciation to the shepherds and their arrival to praise the newborn, that "Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (2:19). The word rendered in English as "pondered" is συμβάλλουσα (symballousa), which is literally something like "symbolized," or, as per the etymology outlined above, "cast [them] together." Mary is understood to represent the "good earth" in the Parable of the Sower, in which seeds of knowledge can ripen into the fruits of wisdom and understanding. The "good earth" is, literally interpreted, the receptive soul in whom the Divine Word can incarnate.
Doesn't Goethe's Faust, part II, speak of the Mother's sacrifice into the interior of the Earth?
What a delightful image! I happened to be writing today with an image of red clay (אָדָם) which is an aluminum silicate. But clay has an ambivalent quality: malleable when wet, petrified when dry. And out of that clay, over aeons, developed something new that was no longer opaque to the light but receptive and radiant. Out of the mineral clay crystallizes something no longer dark, but receptive to the light. As Ruskin says, what the flower is the vegetable world, a crystal is to the mineral world. A new crystallized form of clay emerges: sapphire. Transparent to the light and radiant in her brilliance. Out of ruddy clay of Israel was refined the star of the sea.
According to what Steiner said somewhere, possibly GA 149, lecture 1, the Divine Sophia arose out of the 29th Aeon, and supplied "Desire" as the fundamental agent of the incentive for human incarnation on Earth. Thus, She became the primordial Achamod. This act would lead to the further realization of the descent of "The Mothers", which is nothing less than establishing the crystalline affinities which Steiner spoke about in the famous "Saint John's Imagination" lecture from the "Four Seasons and the Archangel" series from 1923. When we carry this analogy further, we come to the seminal event in which Christ looks down from the Cross of Golgotha, and sees "His Mother, and His Mother's sister Mary, wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene", ref. John 19:25. As well, standing nearby is Lazarus-John, the "Disciple Whom Christ Loved", and He brings the Mother and this New Son together, and She enters his household.
This act sets the stage for the Apocalypse of Saint John some years later, but the Mother was there in order to not only bring forth the necessary images of the Mystery of Ephesus, but also to create the several crystalline affinities, which are represented in the Seven Occult Seal pictures. Thus, the Apocalypse represents the seminal interpretation of Goethe's descent of the Mother's in Faust II.
Hi Max. I appreciate being able to read this again. I wrote to Hazel yesterday and referred to lecture 1 of GA 149, which also concerns the "Lamb", which is the outer form of the Divine Silence, which indicates how far back we have to go to find Jesus.
I read a lot of articles online and elsewhere. I can often agree, but there is often a "but", a small addition that I miss, a one-sidedness. Here, in this article, I can agree 100% and feel deeply addressed. Thank you.
The Christ in me is born anew with every heartbeat and comes into our "blood" and tries to stay alive and grow within us. With sufficient self-knowledge, we know how little this happens.
Ottmar
I appreciate the kind words, Ottmar, so thank you for that and I'm pleased to know you found some value in the reflection.
I found great value in this Advent reflection, and find it a glorious introduction to what can be found in the Gospel of Luke, especially, as this expresses the compassion and love of Christ. I see the divine seed in its highest form as the Holy Spirit, and where "Christ in me" is achievable, like Paul did on the road to Damascus.
thank you, Steve.
As indicated, Mary seems to me, with abundant clarity, to embody, manifest, and symbolize the receptive soul, which is the only one from which Christ can be born. For that reason, I don’t have much patience for the Protestant iconoclasts’ attempts to diminish Mary’s status. Perhaps it is common knowledge but the celebration of Christmas itself was prohibited for a century in the Colonies because it was deemed “too pagan.” That’s an example of the same fundamentalist literal-mindedness that besets us from the side of many scientists, and only appears to be substantially different but is an expression of the same impulse.
Speaking of Damascus and iconography: today is the feast day of St. John of Damascus, who settled the question, in my view: “The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God.”
I see it all as a matter of receiving the divine seed, i.e., The Holy Spirit. Whether it is the Parable of the Sower and the Soils, which involves the ability to discern the "Word", which Christ makes direct and careful effort to explain to His disciples in plain language, or the means with which Angel Gabriel chooses two women to give birth by the Holy Spirit, as well as the means by which the Matthew Jesus child's birth is informed to Joseph in a dream, we are dealing with the Holy Spirit conceived in the womb of three women. This is the benchmark of human evolution. My experience is that Pentecost can be received at any opportune point in time, for example, February 28, 2001, which was Ash Wednesday that year. John of Damascus had the right idea of an adhering experience of the Spiritual Helper that Christ promised to His disciples, and which they collectively experienced at the first Pentecost. That is when they became Apostles, and began to remember every word with understanding. Paul had no chance until he was knocked off his horse, struck blind, and found on the street named straight. This is the path.
Mary, as a virgin, gave birth to a virgin child who had never been born before. This is the Christ-child, who was named Jesus. Luke's gospel describes this geneaology very effectively in chapter 3, and it traces back 77 generations to Adam and the Son of God. Thus, "Mary" gave birth to a very special child, but he was still fundamentally human. He lived for thirty years until the time was right for the Baptism by his cousin John, and this is when Christ entered from the Sun.
This idea is considered as pagan as the idea of the Christmas Tree, which has become condoned out of convenience. But, to talk of Christ as the Spirit of the Sun, still gets one excommunicated in the conventional orders for heresy.
In the Zohar, Mah מה “what” is the "edge of heaven below" (Malkuth) while Mi מי "who" is the "edge of heaven above" (Binah). Malkuth being the proper abode of the Shekinah, but in a spiritually estranged state, she withdraws to higher spheres.
Joining Mi מי "who" and Aleh אלה "these", we get the name of God אלהים "Elohim" -- the suggestion being that the Whoness of all "these things" is God. But God remains neti, neti: none of these, but the whoness of all these things.
Another parable worthy of our time in the Advent season is the Parable of the Sheepfold. The Good Shepherd. This one is allegorical in scope because it summarizes the work of Christ over three years in protecting his flock, i.e., fellowship, and makes clear that He has come to Earth in order to lead His sheep to the Father. Here is a good example:
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” John 10
As such, this parable is meant to be pointed directly at the Pharisees, and their doubts and denial of Christ as the Messiah. In context, it is the final winter season, and Christ is walking in the Portico of Solomon in deep contemplation over the event that is celebrated at that time, which is the Feast of the Dedication, or Hanukkah. As the Being of Light, He wonders why they have picked up stones to throw at Him again. He would go to the place where He was baptized by John, and think about it some more.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10&version=NASB1995
It is interesting to consider that the actual Being of Light is opposed by those in Jerusalem who celebrate the so-called, "Festival of Light", i.e., Hanukkah. I think this failure to recognize still infects the world today with its malicious intent. Ukraine-Russia; Israel-Hamas. It is a sad state of affairs for the Advent that we like to focus on. Regards.