Since early January 2020, when news first broke of a strange respiratory disease connected with a wild animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has become clear that the world is facing the worst pandemic since the onset of Spanish flu at the end of the First World War. But unlike the situation in 1918, the Covid-19 strain of coronavirus is able to spread much faster around today’s hyper-mobile world, in which more than 12 million of us take commercial flights every day.
The virus seems to have its most damaging impact on people with poor health or compromised immune systems. Beside the lungs and respiratory tract, the virus can also affect the oesophagus, heart, kidneys, ileum and bladder. Coming to a diagnosis isn’t easy – the patient may have a cough or fever or be short of breath – but there are also many cases of asymptomatic infection, making an outbreak significantly harder to contain. Some cases are so mild that they never reach the notice of medical professionals. But others as we know are much more serious: at the time of writing, the death toll worldwide is 4,970; while 126 countries are so far affected, with 134,511 recorded cases. The website Worldometers has a daily update of these totals.
Here in Britain, a leaked government memo seen by the Sun newspaper indicated that the government is planning for up to 80 per cent of the population becoming infected with the coronavirus in a worst-case scenario; and in the “reasonable worst case” would result in around half a million people in the UK dying from the disease. This does seem to me to be absurdly pessimistic; the Sars virus outbreak in 2002/3, which also emanated from China, led to predictions of an ultimate death toll in the UK very similar to that predicted now for Covid-19. In the end the total number of deaths was nil and the number of cases recorded only four.
The worst-affected EU country at the moment is Italy, which has 15,113 cases as of today’s date, resulting in 1,016 deaths. But nobody knows where all of this is going or how long it might last; perhaps the best one can do is to avoid the plethora of misinformation and disinformation on social media and just look only at reputable sources, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), whose website has detailed information about the various types of coronavirus.
The WHO describes coronaviruses as “zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.” Commenting on the widespread belief that Chinese traditional medicine may have caused the outbreak, Wuhan inhabitant Wang Xiuying wrote in the London Review of Books that traditional medicine in China holds that some animal parts have near-magical properties: “Pangolin scales are supposed to help new mothers produce milk; manta ray gills clear the lungs and cure chickenpox; the penises of pandas, tigers and bears can do the same trick as Viagra; a bit of monkey brain can make you smarter.”
And in a recent article in The Spectator, Matt Ridley spelt out a possible connection between the current coronavirus pandemic and bats:
“I’m no Nostradamus, but 20 years ago when I was commissioned to write a short book about disease in the new millennium, I predicted that if a new pandemic did happen it would be a virus, not a bacterium or animal parasite, and that we would catch it from a wild animal. ‘My money is on bats,’ I wrote. We now know that the natural host and reservoir of the new coronavirus, Covid-19, is a bat, and that the virus probably got into people via a live-animal market in Wuhan.
This is not the first disease bats have given us. Rabies possibly originated in bats. So did, and does, Ebola, outbreaks of which usually trace back to people coming into contact with bat roosts in caves, trees or buildings. Marburg virus, similar to Ebola, first killed people in Germany in 1967 and is now known to be a bat virus. Since 1994 Hendra virus has occasionally jumped from Australian fruit bats into horses and rarely people, with lethal effect. Since 1998 another fruit-bat virus, Nipah, has also infected and killed people mainly in India and Bangladesh. Sars, which originated in China in 2003, is derived from bats, though possibly via civet cats. So is Mers, a similar bat-borne coronavirus that’s killed hundreds of people and camels in the Middle East since 2012. (…) Probably, captured pangolins, on sale in the live-animal market in Wuhan and mainly imported from Malaysia, had somehow caught the virus from bats. Pangolins are globally endangered because of demand from China.”
I have seen three respectable clinical studies (here, here and here) which back up Matt Ridley’s assertion of a connection between Covid-19 and bats; and this reminded me of Rudolf Steiner’s comments on bats, given in Lecture 5 of the cycle “Man as Symphony of the Creative Word.”
Be that as it may, all that this tells us is the likely source of the infection rather than the more interesting question of why it has happened. Let us put aside the conspiracy theories such as those of Dr Francis Boyle, the man who was apparently responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-terrorism Act of 1989, the American-implementing legislation for the biological weapons convention, which was later adopted worldwide. Dr Boyle says that coronavirus is a weaponised biological warfare agent that came out of the BSL-3 biowarfare lab at the University of North Carolina. Read the whole article from Natural News in which Dr Boyle sets out his allegations and then draw your own conclusions. While I’m completely prepared to believe that the biowarfare lab at UNC is very far from Rudolf Steiner’s ideal of the “laboratory table as altar”, personally, I’m unconvinced by Dr Boyle’s assertions. It’s also worthwhile looking at the website of Full Fact, a UK-based fact-checking charitable organisation, for a selection of other paranoid conspiracies about coronavirus.
So why is the world facing a pandemic of coronavirus? As an anthroposophist, I’m inclined to take a particular view on the causes of modern illness, which is that illnesses are brought about by the conditions and circumstances which we human beings create for ourselves – and not just by our actions but also our feelings and thoughts. I’m going to quote now from the book Illness and Healing by Judith von Halle, who says that since the beginning of the age of the consciousness soul, illnesses are increasingly becoming an expression of the soul-spiritual state of the whole human race and that humanity needs to see itself as a social organism which can fall ill just as much as the individual standing within it:
“We have to regard it as a tragic fate but at the same time as evidence and illustration of the context described here that the Spanish flu (…) broke over humanity like a scourge during the First World War – at a time therefore when huge losses of human life were already being inflicted. At this time, scientific advances had not only brought new developments in scientific medicine but also in the field of technology and thus in the domain of warfare. Machine guns and nerve gas are just two of the countless inventions of the modern age (…) which human beings used in a bestial way to rob their brothers of health and life. All this ensued from the dishonest politics of the time, from delusional ideas about nations and races, law and history. The beast that humanity created at this time in its thinking and emotions finally took a form corresponding to such thinking and emotions as countless millions of viruses.”
In an esoteric lesson given on 5th December 1907 (ie long before the First World War had started), Rudolf Steiner made a connection between the formation of bacilli and the god Mammon (Ahriman). Commenting on this, Judith von Halle says:
“No one today, at least, will doubt the link between Mammon and the commercial position of chemical and pharmaceutical companies in western society, which benefit financially from the ever-increasing outbreaks of epidemics. Humanity’s way of thinking has become so corrupt that it can no longer even realise how absurd it is that production of medicines is subject to financial interests – for instance that the treatment of millions of people with AIDS is, in all seriousness, dependent on the activities of profit-oriented stock market speculators.”
Referring to the rise of epidemics, Judith von Halle says that:
(…) “the organism of humanity is showing the same reaction to poor treatment as the earth organism does to the treatment which it receives. As reaction to the general deeds of humanity, the organism of humanity throws up epidemics, while the earth organism is rent with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Those who have not caused the harm are usually in fact the ones who suffer most. (…) … the social organism can only be brought back into equilibrium by innocent people having in a certain sense – with Christ as exemplar – to give up their health and life for that of the perpetrators. This will continue until humanity eventually learns, bitterly, that it is a single organism, and that through chauvinistic nationalism or economic disparity it differentiates itself into either less or more advantaged social groups or nations, and in doing so cuts off its own limbs, like arms and legs. Then we will realise that our thinking and actions have inevitably impacted on the overall social organism.”
According to Dr Dietrich Klinghardt of the Klinghardt Institute, there does seem to be a connection between the worst cases of coronavirus infection and places where there is the highest degree of 5G installation. Wuhan was one of the first cities in China for the rollout of 5G technology. In Washington USA, there have been six deaths from coronavirus infection in the same hospital (Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland). Kirkland has prided itself as being one of the first towns in the US wired for 5G. Evergreen Hospital has, according to Dr Klinghardt’s measurements, the highest levels of WiFi exposure ever measured in a hospital. (Though I have to record that Full Fact UK, referred to above, regards any connection between 5G and coronavirus as false; nevertheless, to my mind the possibility that 5G compromises the human immune system and therefore makes us more vulnerable to viruses seems highly probable.) The only attention that 5G gets in the British mainstream media is whether or not the Chinese company Huawei should have any part in building the UK’s 5G infrastructure. If the current pandemic raises people’s awareness of the health dangers of 5G, it will have done some good.
What are some other unexpected benefits that may emerge from this crisis? Here are a few, in no particular order:
- The coronavirus, by itself, will not put an end to our current form of globalisation. But by serving as a reminder of how the health of humanity has been mutually dependent across borders for millennia, the latest outbreak could prompt a rethinking of how the world works together.
- The crisis is a reminder to American politicians that there are major faults in the USA health system. Health in the USA is a perfect example of the late J.K. Galbraith’s observation that in America there is an obscene divide between private affluence and public squalor. The usual political responses won’t work – diseases can’t be deterred with overwhelming military force or bombed into submission. The federal government can’t bankrupt the virus through a heavy set of economic sanctions. Covid-19 doesn’t care how much money you make or what a big shot you are in society. This crisis could cause many more Americans to recognise that their health system is in need of fundamental reform.
- Passenger aviation is in big trouble, because it’s clear that the virus has spread via air travel – and now the airlines have also been hit by Trump’s travel ban on Europeans flying to the US. Airlines worldwide are now in survival mode, with many implementing emergency cost-cutting measures and cutting back their flight schedules. The owners of Flybe said the coronavirus was the final blow that pushed Europe’s largest regional airline into administration this month. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the impact of the coronavirus could cost passenger airlines up to $113 billion (£87bn) in lost revenues this year. But the rest of us could be seeing bluer, less polluted skies, as was evident before when flying had to stop in 2010 after erupting volcanoes in Iceland stopped many flights.
- Both coronavirus and climate change are crises that need humanity to unite to plan for better outcomes. The drop in global emissions caused by the coronavirus is also evidence of the level of its impact on global economic activity. No doubt many of you will have seen the astonishing “before and after” pictures issued by NASA and the European Space Agency of nitrogen dioxide pollution over China prior to the crisis and the amazing reduction in that pollution since.
- Governments around the world need to help economies and societies that have suffered through coronavirus to recover by starting the shift to a low emissions future. They could seize this moment to enact new climate policies, remove subsidies for fossil fuels or raise taxes on carbon dioxide emissions, since lower oil prices resulting from the fight between Russia and Saudi Arabia make it less likely that consumers will feel the same level of impact as when prices were high.
- There may be greater acceptance of the need to make sacrifices and accept restraints for both the common good and personal wellbeing. This could pave the way for many more of us to understand that, if we are to address the climate crisis not only are huge shifts in government regulation needed but also in the personal behaviour and expectations of consumers.
We live in apocalyptic times – there’s even a vast plague of locusts in Africa. The coronavirus pandemic is of course a global tragedy. But coronavirus is also helping to strengthen recognition of our interdependence – that everyone’s health and wellbeing is everyone else’s business – and it could increase recognition that compassion and empathy are essential parts of what it means to be a human being. Will the pandemic produce changes in society which make us more willing to act on the climate crisis and the other issues which threaten life on earth at the present time? In the end, it’s up to all of us, as it always has been.
anthropopper 
Ah, the signs of the time. Thank you so much Jeremy for all your research. You bring up some important subjects for us as we examine our lifestyles. Some great quotes from Judith von Halle. So much truth in this blog – I’ll be sharing it with friends. Sadly, here in Alberta, Canada the message about moving away from oil & gas won’t go over well – people in this province have gone from living high on the hog and having all the toys a few years back, to severely cutting back on budgets, but they keep hoping the prices will rebound. Hard to leave old habits I guess. You’re right when you conclude that it’s up to all of us – we may question what we as individuals can do, but even the weakest of us who are familiar with the spiritual world can change a nation.
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There is so much speculation in here that can’t easily be addressed. I won’t go into the esoteric aspects, but sometimes those speculations aren’t based on correct facts. For example, the coronavirus deaths in Washington happened at a nursing home called the Life Care Center. The reason for the deaths were because the people were very old and in such poor health that they already needed round the clock care. 5G? No.
As for health systems, the terrible US heath system is rated as the best in the world for handling epidemics. The UK is second, and the Netherlands third.
The fact is that no one is prepared very well for something like this. Italy seems to have a pretty good health system, but it has been a disaster. Should they think about changing their system?https://www.statista.com/chart/20629/ability-to-respond-to-an-epidemic-or-pandemic/
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Well, Herb, I hope for the sake of the 18 million Americans without any medical insurance that you’re right about the US being number one for handling epidemics. That’s certainly what Trump claimed in a prime-time television address, adding that ‘the virus will not have a chance against us’ and ‘no nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States.’ But it’s hard to take those assurances seriously when Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of America’s most respected scientists of pandemic diseases, testified to Congress the next morning that America’s health system is ‘failing’ and that the crisis is going to get much worse before cases begin stabilizing. Who are you going to believe: Trump or the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases?
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Trump lays it on thick, so you can’t take him seriously, but it wasn’t me or Trump who rated America’s health system, as I showed in my link. It was an objective source. The virus came later to the US because Trump shut down traffic to China earlier than any other Western country, and he was called a racist for doing that. Fauci himself said that this gave the country more time to prepare,
The American problem is not enough tests. The CDC, a government agency, has messed that up. The fact is that no one has bern able to handle this. It will likely be with us for years. It’s not an American problem and it’s not a 5G problem, it’s a world problem.
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Hi Herb,
Are you by any chance the Herb who attended Emerson College in the mid 1970’s? If so, hi from Martin Stevens – we shared the top of a house in Forest Row. martinstevens@juno.com
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Will this situation become the new normal? Black swan initiating global transformation?
An unexpected benefit could also be that people start seeing strengthening their immune systems by natural means is a better (long term) response than engineered medicines/vaccines that become redundant once the virus starts mutating (which already is happening, I understood) – so to prevent being caught in an endless cycle of engineering (Prof. Boyle’s account the virus has been engineered in the USA; was object of paid-for knowledge transfer to China where it may have leaked in Wuhan was not rebuked by facts, but by censoring it) and counter-engineering.
So (to refer back to your previous alarming post, Jeremy – as always thank you): mainstreaming regenerative food systems (its mission bringing back life forces) and ecosystem-restoring agriculture integrated in landscaping, creating healthy rural employment opportunities and a nature-driven, down-scaled economy, embedded in regenerative cultures and Peaceful global governance. Francis Edmunds always told us that it changed his life when the circumstances forced him to start growing his own food during WWII.
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Hi Martin,
No, that’s not me. I went to an equivalent place in the States and am now a retired Waldorf teacher. I send you my best. May this virus stay far away from you and yours.
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Thanks for replying Herb.
I live in a fairly remote part of the Amazon jungle in northern Peru and so far there are no cases of contagion here.
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Once again an insightful and thoughtful essay Jeremy.
I appreciate how you were able to come up with some positive aspects of the otherwise alarming scenario.
I tend to agree with your conflation of coronavirus and 5G. They both appear to be mutually supporting elements in the ongoing creation of the 8th sphere.
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If the second half of the 20th century was a period of increasing cosmopolitanism (from the archangel Michael to easyJet), then the first two decades of the 21st century have seen a strong backlash against this impulse. The instances of the backlash are various – terrorism (false flag or real), islamaphobia, immigration fears, assorted nationalisms (Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Brexit), identity as opposed to consensual politics, and so on.
And now we have a “foreign-born” health scare in COVID19. From a certain perspective, it doesn’t really matter what the source of the fear is, however challenging it is to try and glimpse the real causes. What matters are the regressive effects on humanity’s soul life. And even here, there are already signs of a positive reaction to the negative; see for example the “Andra tutto bene” campaign in Italy.
Also, irrespective of debates about natural or man-made causes of COVID19, is the question cui bono. For me, that’s the one to watch.
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Josef Graf has sent me an interesting article called: “Coronavirus – Meeting Covid-19 head on with Anthroposophy” and is willing to send a copy to anyone who would like to receive it. Please write direct to Josef at: jgraf5@yahoo.ca
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I always appreciate your articles, Jeremy. I requested that Graf article and will just keep an open mind. I was shocked to actually see something resembling a Presidential address, the first ever from this so-called “president.” It was becoming hard to remember what a Presidential address used to look like.
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Cui bono? Who benefits? Good question Bresbo. In the unverifiable scenario where this specific corona virus variant was engineered in a biological warfare lab in USA and knowledge was shared between Chinese and Americans for dirty money (this is how Prof. Francis Boyle describes it see the link in Jeremy’s post. He states that if research was done that this in itself is already illegal and criminal) the recipients of the money benefited from it. That is a very plausible motive. The virus in its “natural” condition is carried by bats and much less contagious. Subsequently it was accidentally leaked from the lab in Wuhan. Nobody benefits directly. Who benefits from illegal (research for) biological warfare? Probably based on strategic game theory thinking similar to strategies related to nuclear arms: if we have all have enough, nobody will dare to use it. This is the opposite to positive, collaborative thinking and future scenarios where nation-states will no longer by definition compete with each other to protect their self-interest and internal security. We will co-create a world with open borders, governance will serve healthy (micro, meso, macro) food&shelter systems and thriving ecozones. And wealth will spread evenly. Cui bono? Maybe humanity and “the community of life” will benefit ultimately from this rude awakening and a hoped for breakthrough of positive strategic policy development towards the common good, sovereign people instead of sovereign states, and the wellbeing of future generations?
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Correlation (link, connection) isn’t Cause and ‘Russia Isn’t the Only Country Pushing Coronavirus Disinformation‘
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/russia-iran-coronavirus-bioweapon/
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/conspiratorial-virus/
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Foot-and-Mouth disease is a viral disease and, according to Steiner (1923), viral diseases like polio and influenza (in contrast to bacterial diseases) are ‘brain illnesses‘:
The cow has horns in order to reflect inwards the astral and etheric formative forces, which then penetrate right into the metabolic system so that increased activity in the digestive organism arises by reason of this radiation from horns and hoofs. If one wants to understand Foot-and-Mouth disease, i.e. the retro-action from the periphery to the digestive tract, one must know of this connection. Our remedy for Foot-and-Mouth disease is based on the recognition of this. In the horn, therefore, we have something which by its inherent nature is fitted to reflect the living etheric and astral streams into the inner life organs. GA0327/19240612
When I see people suffering from influenza, I must always turn my attention to something other than the symptoms that the doctors pay heed to, because the flu is actually a kind of brain illness. The flu is really an illness of the brain! Etc. GA0348/19230120
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German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.
Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.
There was no comment immediately available from the U.S. embassy in Berlin when contacted by Reuters over the report.
“The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,” a Health Ministry spokeswoman said, confirming a quote in the newspaper.
“In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac,” she added.
Welt am Sonntag also quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists’ work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, “but only for the United States.”
CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, in which it said: “The company rejects current rumors of an acquisition”.
The firm said it was in contact with many organizations and authorities worldwide, but would not comment on speculation and rejected “allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its technology.”
A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin “has a great interest” in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.
She cited Germany’s foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-EU, so-called third countries “if national or European security interests are at stake”.
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Thank you, Hans. There was an interesting opinion-piece about this in today’s Guardian newspaper:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/16/trump-coronavirus-vaccine-big-pharma-president-drugs-industry-profit
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Hi Jeremy, I received this Rudolf Steiner quote from a friend yesterday –
“As we know, people today are haunted by a fear we can compare with the medieval fear of ghosts. It is the fear of germs. Objectively, both states of fear are the same. Both fit their respective age: People of the Middle Ages held a certain belief in the spiritual world; therefore quite naturally they had a fear of spiritual beings. The modern age has lost this belief in the spiritual world; it believes in material things. It therefore has a fear of material beings, be they ever so small. Objectively speaking, the greatest difference we might find between the two periods is that ghosts are at any rate sizable and respectable. The tiny germs, on the other hand, are nothing much to write home about as far as frightening people is concerned. Now of course I do not mean to imply by this that we should encourage germs, and that it is good to have as many as possible. That is certainly not the implication. Still, germs certainly exist and ghosts existed also, especially as far as those people who held a real belief in the spiritual world are concerned. Thus, they do not even differ in terms of reality.
However, the important point we want to make today is that germs can become dangerous only if they are allowed to flourish. Germs should not be allowed to flourish. Even materialists will agree with this statement, but they will no longer agree with us if we proceed further and, from the standpoint of proper spiritual science, speak about the most favourable conditions for germs. Germs flourish most intensively when we take nothing but materialistic thoughts into sleep with us. There is no better way to encourage them to flourish than to enter sleep with only materialistic ideas, and then to work from the spiritual world with the ego and the astral body on those organs that are not part of the blood and the nervous system. The only other method that is just as good is to live in the centre of an epidemic or endemic illness and to think of nothing but the sickness all around, filled only with a fear of getting sick. That would be equally effective. If fear of the illness is the only thing created in such a place and one goes to sleep at night with that thought, it produces afterimages, Imaginations impregnated with fear. That is a good method of cultivating and nurturing germs. If this fear can be reduced even a little by, for example, active love and, while tending the sick, forgetting for a time that one might also be infected, the conditions are less favourable for the germs.”
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA154/English/AP1990/19140505p01.html
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The quote from Steiner is the key and i think this is our karma from Christ with this mass fear via media (media is the key) to get compassion for other people in the world since we all depend on each other in this physical reality only like never before (rise in consciousness). Ofc Ahriman will use this fear with full force in all aspects.
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Thank you, Gary. The Steiner quotation you give has also just been circulated to members by the general secretary of the ASinGB, Marjatta van Boeschoten. She also attached an article about corona virus by Dr Georg Soldner, co-leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum:
https://goetheanum.co/en/news/the-corona-virus
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Gc-photo -art: I studied microbiology – OK 60 years ago- but then Bacteria were very real- at least in my Petri dishes. And the place to find the MOST bacteria is in a compost heap. Are lawn trimmings and weeds afraid of rotting or what?
Just to refer to ‘Germs’ is not helpful.
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In my posts of March 13 and 14, I suggested that the accounts of Prof. David Boyle on the origin of the corona virus were not rebuked by facts but only censored. That is no longer the case. There is a stream of media comments and interviews from which I learned that it’s not only Boyle, but his observations should be understood in a context of right wing politicians and lobbyists in the US. They accuse China of not only accidental but deliberate leaks from the Wuhan Virology Lab. Also there is a frame of Chinese, Persian and Russian fingers pointing at US military intervention, if not outright biological warfare. The by then unverifiable scenario, in which this specific corona virus variant would have been engineered in a lab (in US and/or China) and possibly accidentally leaked, has now been countered by consensus among experts. The most likely origin is the widespread bat population in China. The virus most probably mutated to a for human beings contagious variant by natural process. The Wuhan Laboratory for Virology is beyond doubt and operates strictly according to universal safety standards. So far the media and experts’ consensus. I happily concur, as I absolutely don’t want to be seen as part of any left or right wing conspiracy lobby.
However, by doing a bit of research I found out several disturbing, what I consider so far, facts: 1. State sponsored corona virus “gain of function” research has been undertaken in US, in contradiction to the Biological Weapons Convention 2. Collaboration between the Wuhan Virology Lab and highest security labs in the US has been going on for years 3. Doubts about the safety of the Wuhan Lab have been expressed, by both Chinese and US experts. 4. My later post exposed that dubious economic interests at the highest level are closely engaged with the engineering “business” of viruses and vaccines (inclusive Donald Trump according to Reuters).
I raise this not in order to foster fear or suspicion, but as a reminder that critical questions regarding the seemingly routinely operating weapon industry need our attention and full resistance In Peace building we all can unite.
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Men made or not but I doubt, because all big viruses came from China and it has to do with eating animals.
We know eating animals have a reaction from the spiritual world via Ahriman and Lucifer.
Chinese who practice some form of Esotery (Taoism) don’t eat animals (who are retarded humans).
We know after death we are facing the I of the group souls of all animals.
Bacteria’s are beings from old Moon they can only live in a body and Ahriman got power over them. Steiner said there are also bacteria’s who are formed from human lies and they are also feed from materialistic thoughts every night. Fear to get the virus from sick people is countered by some love and compassion for the sick. Fear from bacteria that is pushed is untruthfulness a big lie propaganda. Bacteria can only multiply on a sick ground and Ahriman can only incarnate on sick social and unhuman ground. We need spiritual hygiene that no one speaks about. Today Materialism Steiner said is equal to an infection. Computer the carrier of digital algorithm information is also similar to bacteria carrying the information to multiply.
Now Corona is a normal season virus just with higher speed of spread and we will combat him, it affects people with low immune system mostly, others don’t even notice it.
Now the reaction of Government’s is normal but we have to ask what Ahriman will do now with the Karma we accumulated?
International Fear, money, lies, social separations (no handshaking), mass vaccination (vaccine against the spirit?) hostility between people for goods etc.
Ahriman is not evil in the full sense, so it’s about us waking up in spirituality and what we need for this
Is finally a free spiritual science. Till we don’t have this we will be confronted with those plagues. It’s up to us how serious we are with our spiritual science, God, Christ. It’s a battle between spirits of lies and truth. Everything in between what we see is just a distraction.
Warheit heilt!
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This is an interesting explanation of the Corona situation (3 minutes long from 1 hour 30 mins):
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Personally I didn’t find this helpful or convincing but YMMV.
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After the ghastly happenings of the first world war, Rudolf Steiner was at pains to speak about fear, which at the time was bad enough. Today, fear has all but taken root in our world. On Radio 4, learned academics ponder that the stock markets are driven by ‘greed or fear’ and are quite happy with such tepid phraseology. This is to say the Sentient Soul, where the individual has regressed to a former state of ‘fight or flight,’ which is more comfortable than advancing to meet the challenges of our Fifth Epoch. Should the true extent of the danger ever dawn on them, they would be panicking with their stockbroker brothers, all grasping for whatever they might grasp as they imagine themselves falling off the edge of a cliff. Fear is easily inflamed by the imagination… Harry and Lucy acting together as the Wyrd Brothers in a symphony of the Sentient Soul.
Fear can only be tackled by grasping nettles, so to speak. It is intimate and personal – necessarily so, and it should come as no surprise to any true Anthroposophist that fear is the direct result of a person’s unwillingness to engage with the task of the Fifth Epoch: to become conscious of one’s own conscience. This cannot be done by academic posturing, which in itself is a regression to a previous age and thus the Sentient Soul. I will add that I was disappointed by von Halle’s book on dementia, which skirted the problem and made no attempt to determine how dementia is a product of an inability to leave the comfort zone – that is to say, deal with one’s own inner nature and the fears that must be dealt with if the process is to be instigated. The alternative is regression and its handmaiden, degeneration. But had she entertained the specifics, her audience would not be able to think as they pleased and would find other authors to pander to their collective indecisiveness.
The Coronavirus outbreak (such as it isn’t) brings problems that are somewhat greater than the long overdue collapse of the NHS in Britain. The government, in its attempt not to panic itself by instituting harsh measures has done too little too late and has only advised people not to visit public places like theatres – and thus the theatres cannot draw on their insurance policies to cover their immediate expenses. The government have papered over these cracks by offering loans, the like of which are a true worry to a business: too sparing in their generosity and too strict in their terms. I will add that where I work as a mechanic, the shop side has seen its income literally evaporate. The only thing a desk-ridden business owner can do in this instance is to look to the bottom line and lay off staff. In the world of the Sentient Soul, the only tools available to their consciousness are objective, that is to say, the realm of ‘Purchase Money.’ It is a blunt tool and means the only things a businessman can do is to look to his account books to cut his costs. Concepts like Insurance Money and Gift Money (Mind Soul and Consciousness Soul in the life of the individual) are utterly foreign to the administrator sitting behind his desk, counting his pennies.
For a business to take out a loan after a ‘hit’ of this kind is quite out of the question: it will be hard enough for a company to get back on its feet, leave alone pay off debts incurred by fumbling government intervention. It does not help that the deregulated banking industry in the UK has led to extortionate rents that in minor British cities are as high as those of a European capital.
The issue at stake is not that of economic recovery, but of the genuine possibility that the extravagant fear-mongering in the media will lead to an irredeemable slump. The Conservatives have done it before, but the economy was in better shape back then and could stand being bludgeoned by them. Rudolf Steiner did tell us that it is humanity itself that must create the foundations for its own destruction, and given the nexus of problems facing us, it is entirely possible that the fear mongers have overstepped the mark on this occasion. But then, that is the nature of the subconscious: it’s hard for them to know what its effects are until it becomes obvious to their dull wits – by which time it is long too late . What is more ominous is that fear mongers do not monger fear because they understand the subconscious. If they did, they would measure their words with a lot more care; they are prey to Harry’s little games just as the stockbrokers they goad.
As a side note, whilst a huge number of people are infected with the Coronavirus and many have died – the marketers came up with the sinister ‘Covid 19’ to keep eyes glued to the box – there is a much more potent bug doing the rounds that has collected a quarter of a million souls this year already. It’s around three times as infectious as Covid 19, but nothing is done save plaster over the cracks with expensive vaccinations. After all, it’s not easy to use common influenza as a weapon of disruption in the media, is it?
You have been duly warned. Take care and make sure you bought enough spaghetti to ensure that your family is heartily fed up of the stuff by the time the scare’s blown over.
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Hi, Silver Moon. My youngest son works as a mechanic in a Porsche branch. Even there spare parts are running out.
In Financial Markets there is clear concept called: The Fear Factor. someone wrote a jolly good novel about it too. (something to while away the Social Isolation)
As an elderly person with pre-existing health problems , I will have no chance against Novel Corona. Thus I have to consider whether my current pack of toilet paper will be redundant , or whether to eat that box of chocolates now instead of keeping them for Easter.
I ‘did’ Intensive Care 20 years ago, involving a lot of ‘germs’ . I remember being very annoyed at the moment when a voice told me not to die. Next time I guess I will be allowed to go.
As I mentioned in reply to gc-photo-art, I studied Microbiology in the distant past ( 1960s ,just this side of Atlantis) As an Anthro-Waldorf child I had never had vaccinations but no one at the Uni even asked. TB or Typhoid or Tetanus, we just got on with growing the bugs (without any fear!)
And now back to my World Population and Re-incarnation Hobby Horse.
There may be a shortage of humans in the spiritual world if they are all down here. The Grim Reaper may NEED a harvest.
I won’t see it from this side but in 20 years there may well be a New World Order, with smaller population and a lot more wisdom. Or not.
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Hi Jaromer,
I am also getting to be an old dinosaur these days but getting to talk to you and Silver Moon helps to keep some semblance alive. As such, it becomes what we personally think about things. My experience has been written on long troves right here on this place, i.e., the Anthropopper blog, and so I don’t feel that I have/need to defend myself. Rather, it is you who would rather carefully select someone to speak to when you could have talken to the science of the spirit itself,
No matter though. We can do it now if you like. Dictionary, glossary, encyclopedia, They all help the cause of knowledge. Why support a weak link when the strong has always been there?
Steve
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Hi Steve,
My daughter thinks I am losing my marbles and anyway I never was very bright having failed my PhD. So forgive me if I do not full ‘twig’ what your are getting at in your reply.
I have a history of being Devils Advocate among Anthropops. In Botton Village it was never fully decided whether I was a Cynical Sceptic or a Sceptical Cynic. In Dornach in 1989, one or two people were pissed off because asked awkward questions or presented alternative suggestions.
No one likes to have their belief system questioned.
I have sincere admiration and awe for those who can live in ‘both worlds’, seeing the physical world with spiritual insight and have spiritual insight with the full understanding of the physical. For example the late Nick Thomas.
On the other hand I have to practice patience when I hear or read a load of “Anthrowaffle”. This probably means that I have not matched my own knowledge and thinking that of the other and so I miss the point.
I do believe that Rudolf Steiner saved my life during a long period of nasty depression. Essentially that Opting Out is not an Option. Reading the words of the Master often told me precisely what I needed to know.
At other times I read RS and wish “he hadn’t said that”. Then I reread the painstaking introductions, disclaimers , explanations and “excuses” in “Occult Science” but then wonder again: Is it me or is it Him?
I wonder about the relationship between: FAITH, BELIEF, KNOWLEDGE.
What do your Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias have to say about that?
Oh and I HAVE paid a contribution to the AS in GB. An act of FAITH perhaps?
John
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I’m not sure now what I was getting at in my reply but largely just wanted to touch base. I like provocative postings which give useful thoughts and perspective. As such, let me ask. Can and do you conduct your own research and investigations into the spiritual causes and background of things? There is a very well-developed means for doing so which Steiner refers to briefly in Occult Science as a kind of “intermediate path” in which exact thinking is cultivated. Since most of us are not highly clairvoyant in terms of the disciplines involved in meeting the guardians of the threshold, which is daunting business, we have other means by which it is possible to reach the pure thought world by the simple process of withdrawing the senses from their objects of attention and going inward to practice sense-free thinking. This then intensifies as the pure thought world is readily accessed. It is the same world that philosophers like Aristotle found existed, and still does, between the Earth and the Moon, or sublunary sphere, as Steiner describes in the first lecture of volume III of Karmic Relationships, on the Karma of the Anthroposophical Movement.
Thus, I am intrigued by your sceptical cynicism/cynical scepticism remark, and whether you were ever able to get over it with due and diligent study and training? If the pure thought world exists, and we can gain access to it for doing spiritual investigations, then why not make the effort in order to know something for sure. Surely, if you have been around anthro’s for years you must know about this kind of practice and the certitude it gives those who might have the courage to speak out, but then maybe you saw it as arrogance, leading to what did you call it ? -“anthrowaffle”. Interesting term, much like ‘twaddle’, which Steiner knew his critics thought of his findings.
But who really does research today involving the tools for looking stuff up and going through the process of dialectics, and I mean the renewal of the lost art and science of dialectics traceable back to the Greek age, where the Socratic Oath was truly taken seriously. It’s called School, and the only real school is one where the true self is found and revealed in immediate conscious awareness. We even have glimpses of such a potential by simply sitting or walking, or being in quiet solitude.
Suffice to say that Rudolf Steiner didn’t discover and reveal every occult truth and its meaning and relevance. He left a great deal for us to carry on with in the pursuit of further elaboration. This blog of Jeremy’s has been a wonderful opportunity.
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A letter from the virus –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-SyZiwXKs0&feature=youtu.be
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Very good!
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Dr. Thomas Cowan, M.D. hypothesizes that Coronavirus may be history repeating itself and caused by 5G. Shot at the Health And Human Rights Summit in Tucson, Arizona on March 12, 2020. Camera, sound and editing by Joshua Coleman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUw1Rzbde5U&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1Pn5oXS-m79hMX19eLJDOoM3Pxy1YpX3X1XF7-VR0rwJ_StPp96Afnd44
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Today, 4 April I see report in Daily Mail online that ? ‘good’ people are burning down the G5 masts in Birmingham and Merseyside because of publicity about Link between G5 and Corona.
The information is clearly not limited to Anthropopper.
Question: What is the difference between “a conspiracy theory” and “solid
antroosophical warnings”.???
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That is a good question. There is a prominent opponent of anthroposophy, an academic at Marquette University here in the United States, a professor of modern German history no less, who takes every opportunity to characterize every anthroposophist living today as a conspiracy theorist owing to the wacky ideas propounded by Rudolf Steiner. His school is owned and run by the Jesuits, which we surmise is largely behind his opposition to the Science of the Spirit. Oh, indeed my lad, John, many discussions over the years are so much “water under the bridge” with what it means for anthroposophy to have the courage to speak out about conspiracies.
Steve
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The ‘overlap’ of conspiracy theories and serious anthroposophical consideration is interesting. I have mentioned elsewhere that I was not vaccinated as a child. My parents were anthros. However, the ‘Anti Vaxxers’ are not (necessarily) anthros. The recent response from the Medical Section on the topic is moderate and reasonable.
Yesterday my buddhist son, (3 year retreat, Tibetan speaker) jokingly suggested the reason I had not won the Lotto jackpot was because of 5G, so time to burn the masts.(He lives in Birmingham, UK, where the masts have burned) . Then he went right off the rails and suggested that the Black Death in 14th C. was caused by introduction of Dial Up Internet. His mistake of course is that Bubonic Plague is caused by a Bacterium and NOT by a virus. The radio, radar, cell phone coincidences refer to VIRUS pandemics. (and what about Polio virus epidemics in 40s and 50s- Television transmissions??)
Which once again shows the danger of throwing out the word ‘Germs’ without knowing anything about them.
These conversations are enlivening and sending me back to basics and Steiner’s 12 points of view. A helpful step towards freedom.
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That’s what is called academic freedom, and it is independent from the institution. From his historians point of view, he only criticizes conservative anthroposophists (followers, Platonists).
E.g. the source of the Steiner quotation on viruses in Cowan’s 5G conspiracy theory is still pending.
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Sent this comment to a friend concerning above remark:
Anthropopper blog is currently discussing conspiracy theories and why they exist, and whether anthroposophy is to blame for some of it. I had to tell of the Marquette University professor who labels all anthroposophists as ‘conspiracy thinkers’ thanks to Rudolf Steiner. Apparently, Steiner needs to be taken more “with a grain of salt” in order to satisfy his critical opponents. This is considered ‘progressive’.
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Steve, does he really ‘characterize every anthroposophist living today’ or ‘all anthroposophists’ as conspiracy theorists? Indeed, in the Jesuit tradition, he strictly separates (historical) knowledge from (personal) belief.
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You obviously haven’t spent time on the Waldorf Critics list, but yes, he does characterize all anthro’s as conspiracists owing to RS. He may relent a bit in favor of Zander, and even Clement, but in the main his argument is a one-note recitation with lots of bibliographic reference lists. In terms of content, he has no real acquired knowledge, but merely the prejudices inherent when ignorance condemns personal belief, which just might have more to its veracity. In terms of the historicity of the Jesuits, we all know their Catholicism, which rejects spiritual evolution and reincarnation, and sees only Jesus the man. We also know how much the Jesuits of recent time censored Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in publishing his findings and writings, which acknowledged the Cosmic Christ to their chagrin. So, Ton, are you admitting by your weak argumentation that you are a kind of ‘straw-man’, like our fair Herr professor? He earned it on many occasions, and maybe the same goes for you.
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Steve, I’m letting this through but just a gentle reminder – “play the ball, not the man”.
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Isn’t is more complicated, this thing with the Jesuits? Conspiracy theories build a wobbly bridge between personal belief and scientific knowledge.
“Of course, the Jesuits are furiously fighting the Masonic communities, the Masonic communities are furiously fighting the Jesuit communities; but superiors of the Freemasons and superiors of the Jesuit community belong to the higher degrees of a special brotherhood, form a state within the state that embraces the others.” CW 167
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It is more complicated, and especially on those rare occasions when the Masons and the Jesuits combine forces to achieve a certain aim, like the burning of the Goetheanum. They both held a shared reason for doing so. Steiner noted that a whole new quarter of opposition began with those lectures in which he compares and contrasts the Jesus-centered Jesuits and the Christ-centered Rosicrucians, ref. GA131, lecture 1.
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Steiner (1920): “… that it is precisely Jesuitism which wants to keep science, actual knowledge, on the purely experimental or observation field. Take a look – but take a close look – at the scientific literature that comes from the Jesuits: it is the most materialistic imaginable in its outlook, in its way of thinking; it endeavors to preserve knowledge entirely in the sensual world and to strictly separate the knowledge that is only supposed to have to do with sensual observation or with the facts to be observed through experiment, from what should be the subject of faith or revelation. A bridge should never be built in the sense of this way of thinking between what is external science and what is belief.” CW 197
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I would like to add a comment to the video I just submitted stating that new 5G technology is the cause of the new corona pandemic. The virus outbreak does not necessarily have only one cause. Although technically the hygiene and cruelty to wildlife at the Wuhan wetmarket may have been the direct and physical cause (although there is no 100% proof), other factors may also contribute to the “body” of the actual crisis. Including the way we relate spiritually to the animal world, research and ongoing (underground) exchanges on biological warfare, geopolitical dynamics (including the violation by the US of the verdict of the International Court of Justice regarding sanctions targeting Iran), the introduction of new 5G radiation technology as well whether we react with fear or spiritual strength, or both. Cause and effect may have to be understood as a complexity of factors with multiple dimensions. Full understanding and the common will to face the huge challenge to transform this complexity towards the beginning of a new positive era may be the decisive factor in how “the crisis of 2020” will be assessed in the history books of the future.
It’s a pity that your conference at Emerson College on the End of Capitalism did not take shape. Because that is what may be happening at this very moment! (If this is the Future we Want). But the conference would have been forced to be cancelled anyhow – because of corona crisis …
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Yes, Hans – we should never let a good crisis go to waste! We do not want to go back to “normal” after this…
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I have been worried for years about this kind of technology. Steiner warned in his final leading thought about the threat of technical science in bringing down the human race and driving it below the threshold of the objective plane of being. Thus, the theme of “beware the technocracy” can be found in many of the comments that reside in the recesses of the Anthropopper blog that are of current relevance. We need to be careful about possible effects of 5G in just being logged on because it could cause problems. I am willing to experiment with it.
Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts: From Nature to Sub-Nature
As well, we have that interesting diagram of the sub-earthly which was conveyed in the lecture on “Etherization of the Blood”, 1 October 1911, GA 130. This clearly points to a driving down of humanity below its legitimate level of being, and an over dependence on intellectualism.
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Hans, you wrote to Jeremy:
“It’s a pity that your conference at Emerson College on the End of Capitalism did not take shape. Because that is what may be happening at this very moment! (If this is the Future we Want). But the conference would have been forced to be cancelled anyhow – because of corona crisis …”
Well, it was supposed to take place last year, and had some very supportive ideas to include. And yet, could any crisis really avert what exists to take place in the virtual world? No, I don’t think so.
https://anthropopper.wordpress.com/2017/06/
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I agree whole-heartedly with Hans and Jeremy: we do not want to go back to “normal” after this. May the “after” be a stage beyond materialistic dead ends. I’m sure many of you know of Illya Prigogine. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his theory of “dissipative structures” which successfully refuted Newton’s Law of Entropy. As I understand it, he demonstrated that things never simply run down and come to a halt. Rather, things move along, come into each others field of influence and interact and bounce off each other and as these “perturbations” increase there is a “flip” and a “new” something emerges.
You also are aware of the “Hundredth Monkey” theory? I am seeing both of these theories playing out in real time in a number of my patients – those that are elderly but cognitively intact. Yes, understandably they are more afraid of dying at this time of Covid 19. But their awareness of what they have been keeping unconscious to themselves is increasing. Some are making leaps of internal connections. Superficially, this can be viewed as as “finishing business” because they think death is imminent. But this process seems to be bypassing habitual defense mechanisms in a way I’ve rarely seen. I ask myself does this relate to the two theories above? Are perturbations increasing, globally, and precipitating a coming “flip”. Are the higher octaves of our 5 senses kicking-in in a more widespread manner?
Maybe this pandemic, which in my mind is linked with the war of all against all, is providing us with the impetus to move beyond our narcissistic, materialistic adolescence. I feel the presence of Michael. I feel like a midwife and a warrior. I’m remembering a Castaneda quote: “The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.”
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Hi Kathy,
I would agree that it all appears like living in apocalyptic times, and a kind of “racing toward Armageddon”, which would imply the so-called War of All Against All of the 7th cultural epoch. And yet, let us not forget that living in the 5th epoch, the epoch of the Consciousness/Spiritual Soul, means a great deal toward protecting and preserving the Intellectual Soul, which forms the ground of the Consciousness Soul. As such, we should not forget what it means to prepare for the sixth epoch, or the time of Christ. Christ spoke about how His time had not yet come at the Marriage in Cana, and yet later on spoke about how the hour was at hand for the crucifixion of the Son of God. So, what does this mean?
In previous discussions it has been shown that the present-day Intellectual Soul is in jeopardy of being lost and forfeited into the Eighth Sphere for many people who refuse to accept any deeper conception of life than the outer-external. Thus, extreme dementia is an old-age disease which is not only becoming an epidemic but also is being found to exist even in earlier years, in an early onset form, as we all try to adapt to the present age of rather extreme materialism from an intellectual standpoint.
So, I like what your personal and professional observations are telling you. Yet, we need to know more about it in order to relate it to spiritual science. The earth is in a process of ascension since the Pisces age began in 1413. This means that the intellectual apprehension of the world, and its inevitable materialism, is ours to behold, The only way this is possible is through increased vibrational frequencies that inhere to an earth that is in the ascent mode. That is why destructive EMF’s are being exploited in order to undermine the natural and normal progression to the next level of self-realization, which is the Sixth Cultural Epoch, or Time of Christ. Sorath would like nothing better than to have us forget all about this important point in time, and rather fret and frustrate about the present world situation and therefore invest in racing to the so-called, “end times” where the judgment of the world becomes the pox of a defeated world humanity. Not so, of course. Steiner’s focus was always on how the present Fifth Epoch exists to lead rather directly and conscientiously to the Sixth Epoch, in which the Christ Consciousness will predominate.
Of course, Sorath is against all this and why we find so much turmoil and blasphemy today, which is largely propagated by the technological advantage. Simpler times, like Thoreau said, can always be invoked. Yet, to have all the technological advantages, and duly appreciate them, while maintaining a level and harmonious balance, is even better, don’t you think.
Steve
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Great stuff Steve. A real conversation between initiates. I am so ashamed that my ignorance prevents me fully appreciating it.
As I mentioned yesterday my search is for the relation between FAITH, BELIEF and KNOWLEDGE.
In the above text there is a strong flavour of: “We KNOW through Rudolf Steiner.” Does this mean you have FAITH in what ” Der Doktor hat gesagt” or that you BELIEVE that it IS correct or that you have confirmed the Master’s observations through your own spiritual investigations. If it is the latter congratulations.
But Steve, what the **** are “Vibrational Frequencies that inhere to an earth” It seems you BELIEVE in them but do you KNOW they exist and if so HOW? And how are they related to Electro Magnetic Frequencies?
Despite seeing the Sun rise in the morning and set in the evening I do Believe that the phenomena are produced by the rotation of the Earth. I have Faith in heretical views of Galileo, not to mention my Daughter who is a professor of Astrophysics. However, if that is Knowledge it is second hand knowledge at best. On the other hand it is second hand knowledge that has stood the test of time.
As I said , sometimes my questions piss people off. Sorry.
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I wrote recently about a sure path of spiritual investigation based on thinking in the silence and stillness of Thought Itself. As such, the third stanza of the Foundation Stone Meditation is highly applicable to what can be achieved by personal effort.
Soul of Man
Thou livest in the resting head
which from eternal sources unlocks world thoughts to thee
Practice Spirit Awareness in stillness of thought
Where eternal aims divine grant cosmic being’s light to thy very self
to use as it wills and thou shall live in truth in depths of human spirit
For the spirit’s cosmic thoughts do reign in cosmic being,
light imploring
Ye Spirits of Soul: Angels, Archangels, Archai
Let prayers arise from the depths which in the heights will be heard
It Speaks: In the Spirits Cosmic Thoughts the Soul Awakens
(Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimum)
One important factor to consider is that the Copernican model of the solar system is incomplete and thus has failed to take fully into account what is going on. Astrophysics has arisen in large respects as a result of this incomprehension. The earth has several motions, or curves, and the true nature of its second curve is not that it revolves around the Sun, but rather, moves through the Ether, which rises and falls. The Ether vibrates with Life Force, and so this boring into the Ether is associated with varying frequencies as the earth ascends and descends in evolutionary arcs. I’m sure you have grokked at least some of this. This second motion of earth, which Copernicus misunderstood completely, causes the Sun to fall behind fractionally every day by 3.3 seconds, and this falling behind creates precession of the equinoxes, which is the true nature of the third axiom, or backward movement of the Sun, with the earth following. There is also a fourth curve, which is based on the nature of the earth to follow the path of a lemniscate, or figure-eight. The nature of this curve is a matter of spiritual-scientific investigation still going on.
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Dear Steve,
Thank you for wise forbearance and guidance. Your words are a timely reminder of my neglect of spiritual striving.
This thread is concerned with Corona virus, so I guess I had better mention it to justify being included. So today I went and ‘booked’ a funeral. Not something one does every day but the Corona situation gives a sense of urgency to making sensible arrangements. Taking out a funeral plan was something I intended to do years ago but didn’t. As an act of love it saves others having to deal with a lot of rigmarole, and there is a surprising amount of detail and procedure needed even to be allowed to die.
The nice undertaker was aware of aspects of the current situation- plenty of corpses but limited profit from posh funerals. He mentioned that last week a family returned from their Italian skiing holiday in 3 urns.
As I said, not an everyday experience.
And so back from the dull, materialistic blinkered world view to the interesting world or worlds of — Deeper Meanings.
Copernicus, good old Nicholas in his room on the Baltic coast, where he made very few observations but worked with the Mesopotamian tables from the distant past. Stuck with the ‘perfect circles’ his model did not match that of the genius Ptolomy as a predictive tool.
Many years ago I asked physics colleague if it would be possible to plot a flight path to Mars based on a Geocentric model. He thought for a moment then said: ‘Probably but I would not like to have to do the maths’
Of course, for us Pops, that was a silly question because we KNOW through Rudolf Steiner that there is nothing physical beyond the blue of the sky.Lecture: S-5750: 4th June, 1924 | Dornach | GA0236 . So no space ship to Mars, what a silly idea.
So now “The Ether”. This is where we are back to dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Which Ether? The ‘luminiferous ether’ which carries or doesn’t light waves but turned out to be unnecessary. Or is the Ether of The Etheric Realm (the one starting above the blue of the sky)?
the Ether, which rises and falls, ok but relative to WHAT?
Is this a conceptual problem or a language problem?
Now I BELIEVE that plants have an etheric body because I have observed , or imagined I have observed it, when I spent some time intensly working with Goethean Observation. I don’t see etheric ‘auras’ every day but I am pretty sure that I DID when I was working in that way. On the other hand I am not up to speed on deep space Ethers.
I do remember reading something about planetary Lemiscate paths, but I am too thick to grasp the idea, or even to remember the source.
However, I have a strong micro-cosmic Lemniscate picture/experience. That is of a psycho-spiritual orbiting around Lucifer and Ahriman. The point where the orbit crosses itself is a sacred space (?Christ Point) of perfect Balance . The problem is to stay in that point.
If I could hold it I am sure I could appreciate your ‘pictures’ more easily.
Steve, this is much more fun than sorting out certificates and insurance policies. Thank You.
John
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John, you have hit on some important findings, and maybe most importantly, the relation of Christ at the point of intersection of the lemniscate loops. But, where can we take this highly anthroposophical discussion when coronavirus is the topic at hand? We know that sickness, disease, and death are the wise counterbalance of the Gods to the invasion of Lucifer into the human astral body, which extends into the Sentient Soul. And, we know that the proliferation of mendacity in the human condition is owing to Ahriman/Satan, which is counterbalanced by Karma and its quality of retribution. Thus, in a perfect world we should be germ-free, but the original geocentric plan was changed, and ditched in favor of a heliocentric model which would seek the Sun as our leader. From Lords of the Earth, living in fine physical phantom bodies, to densification due to mineral substance, this became the basis for the microbiological relationships that feed viruses, which are expressions of Luciferic and Ahrimanic infiltration into the weak and fallen human being.
But, spiritual science is also alchemical in nature, and experienced on a mental level that penetrates the body with Life Spirit; that is its power for living. The upcoming age of the Spirit-Self requires the regenerative power of Life Spirit for the Etheric Body. We have all had viral infections over the years, and survived (for the most part). So, this too shall pass, I hope, because I also believe in hope.
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On the lemniscatory movement of the planets a free PDF (199 pages) is available:
Click to access The_Lemniscatory_Path_System.pdf
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Yes – see also the excellent work of Hartmut Warm: https://www.keplerstern.com
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Thank you Ton, thank you. I had heard of the lemniscatory planetary orbits but did not have the full text. Now I have and it will keep me out of mischief during lockdown.
So far I have only reached page 14 of 199 and already having to try to control the ‘windmills of my mind’, whose movements are getting complicated.
I also have an image of poor William of Occam lying in a pool of blood having cut his throat with his own razor and I am reminded of the words of King Alfonso X of Castile on reading the retranslated ‘Almagest’ in the 13th Century:
“If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking on the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler.”
Roland Schrapp has done an extraordinary job of sorting out obscure hints and ‘making sense’ of them. I look forward to rest of the story.
Unfortunately I will not be able to share it with my daughter. Ah well.
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Yet, Rudolf Steiner is very explanatory here in a way that should impress an astrophysicist. I am referring to his Astronomy Course, and wherein he discusses the various movements of the planets as “Cassini Curves”. Here is a selection:
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA323/English/LR81/search=mode?query=cassini&mode=context
Of course, this all has a much larger and deeper explanation when we consider how and why the several planets move in this fashion. It is because they have been called to work their respective Cosmic Intelligences into the earth evolutionary system that now demands organic life, or Nature. This begins “in the day that the Lord God created earth and heaven”, ref. Genesis 2:4. Prior to this no actual material manifestation had taken place. It was all in the Mind of God, Who created Man in His Image, according to Genesis 1:26-27.
Rudolf Steiner would go on to describe this cooperative effort of the planets in an esoteric lecture concerning “Man As Offspring of the Stars”, GA204, 5 May 1921.
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And thank YOU Steve! I often misunderstand RS lectures because I look from the wrong side of the curve. GA 323 is rather exeptional. It also hurts that I have a real struggle with mathematics. An equation with 2 nested complicated square roots arouses great anxiety. This is where I have to have FAITH in the presenter so that I can BELIEVE his argument. I tried this with Arthur Zajonc’s book on quantum physics- beyond me- A-Z is one of those who can live ‘in both worlds’. Same with Nick Thomas on Space and Counterspace. I did ask my daughter to see if the maths made sense. She took one look, said: ‘Bloody Steiner’ and would not open the book. Which raised the question of whether Anthro authors with a real tale to tell might get a wider audience by not mentioning RS!
In the case of the Casini Curve lecture I am encouraged not to ‘think outside the box’ but rather ‘outside the circle.’ Very inspiring.
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What does it mean to look from the wrong side of the curve? A circle is described as the curve of constant quotient, which means it can also appear as a line. A lemniscate (Cassini curve), which can be either proportional (earth), or disproportional (planets), is described as the curve of constant product, or “be fruitful and multiply”. The ellipse is a further distinction, as is the hyperbola. Even counter-space has a sphere and a curve. We need counter-space for Venus and Mercury.
Remember, Spiritual Science is the study of Man, and not so much that of calculations. As such, A-Z’s quantum physics is largely non-anthroposophical, as is any serious treatment of atoms and particles.
Do you remember the May 2000 planetary alignment? Steiner spoke about it indirectly exactly 79 years before it began, GA204, 5 May 1921. All five naked eye planets clustered around the Sun on its opposite side for thirteen days and traveled their respective curves. Two years later, it reoccurred at night in relation to the Moon. Very important.
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Hi Steve
Looking from ‘the wrong side of the curve’ refers to Figure 9 in GA 323. RS suggests taking the circle BEYOND the straight line so that it bends AWAY from the mathematical centre point to form an imaginary circle with the Centre outside.
This picture somehow causes exciting responses in me. I do not KNOW what they MEAN but the imagination FEELS positive and exciting.
A-Z’s Quantum book is a text for Physics students and not for ‘us pops’. However, I wanted to see if he attempted to take quantum ideas to ‘a next level.’ However, the maths lost me very quickly.
The fact that A-Z can be both an academic physicist and a ‘pop’ and several other things , arouses my admiration. Have some individuals achieved a personal synthesis of the 12 points of view?
This is not a skill I notice in some Pops, who only have ONE point of view.
Just as daughter Kathy is stuck in hers.
John
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Here is where Schrapp gets into early trouble with his thesis, which wants to continue to support the Copernican model that Steiner often said would one day need to be overthrown in favor of a necessary return to the Ptolemaic model.
1.0.2 Method of calculation and Reality
“For several centuries humanity has looked at the planetary motions in our solar system as circular orbits in the sense of Copernicus, with slight elliptical changes in the sense of Kepler’s laws. On this basis, the planetary positions can be calculated quite well, not only for nearby times, but also for times far in the past or in the future. The fact that we are today able to use manned spacecraft to navigate and explore the moon or unmanned probes to the various planets seems to be an
irrefutable confirmation of the correctness of the Copernican system.”
Now, what strikes me as important is where Roland Schrapp says that Steiner made so many (seemingly) contradictory remarks about the planetary movements that it becomes the challenge, and his challenge, to try to resolve them in favor of continuing the Copernican model of the solar system. Yet, as long as his thesis leaves out Man, or let’s say Humanity, it will continue to be an unresolved paradox for a long time still to come.
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“For several centuries HUMANITY has looked at the planetary motions in our solar system as circular orbits in the sense of Copernicus”
To say HUMANITY is realistically incorrect. Aristarchus of Samos proposed a heliocentric model of the Solar system c. 200 BC and no one took it seriously UNTIL Copernicus nearly 2000yrs later. And Copernicus was ignored for nearly a century after his publication.
Tycho Brahe came up with a compromise model, with the Sun and planets circling the earth, which interestingly would fit with the Schrapp model.
Kepler reworked Brahe’s results to get the elliptical orbits and Galileo was persecuted for promoting them.
OK so that was 500 years ago. However, my point is that only a minute fraction of HUMANITY has the slightest interest in the structure of the solar system. There are some funny but sad you tube videos where people are interviewed in the street and demonstrate incredible ignorance. IN USA people were shown a world map but could not name a single country, not even Canada or Mexico (taking a lead from their president no doubt). U.S.University Students had to think carefully when asked which ocean washed the East coast.
I would suggest that Astronomy and it’s interpretation is a minority sport, perhaps on a par with Curling as far as HUMAN interest is concerned.
Basically HUMANITY could not care less whether the Earth or the Sun is at the core of the solar system.
Which, in turn raises the question as to WHY the Spiritual World should feel concern about the opinions of tiny minorities?
Just pouring some oil on the fire. OK?
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Have you ever considered the importance of UNDERSTANDING in your equation of Faith, Belief and Knowledge? You see, understanding is a kind of progressive process that occurs over time and experience. That is why years after a kind of knowledge occurs in life we can look back on it with a deeper knowing, which is due to understanding, or gnosis. Thus, the Memory Review grows and extends as we get older, and eventually becomes a life-long process in remembrance.
I can assure you that belief in Steiner is a KNOWING which is very personal and arises out of what exists as human potential. I hope I have indicated something that might be useful in gaining the sure-handed certitude that overcomes the foibles of the sceptic, or cynic. Being a so-called “devil’s advocate” really has no future. Why? Because nobody is really ‘pissed off’ by the inquiring mind of the DA, but is rather thankful for the opportunity to clarify in the pursuit of this fourth component of the equation, i.e., Understanding.
Steve
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Hi Steve,
Last point first. At school (Michael Hall) we had one teacher who said :” if you do not understand something take the opposing view and ask the other to explain his version. ” This procedure was NOT welcomed, particularly by the most devoted Anthropop teachers. Oh and Eurythmy teachers. They KNEW the TRUTH but were not prepared to justify it. So an earnest desire for help with UNDERSTANDING was met with rejection. ” No Gnosis for you my lad.” (I hope you appreciate the lighthearted nature of this )
In relation to Lucifer-Ahriman Lemniscate Rudolf Steiner’s Statue “Representative of Man” (if we are allowed to say that in these gender sensitive days). has long been an inspiration and help in meditation/contemplation.
For several years I worked with the Foundation Stone- trying to be receptive so that it could work on/with me. I did not achieve Nirvana but perhaps it moved something.
I BELIEVE quite a few things that are impossible to PROVE, except by experience. However, there comes a semantic and real problem when it comes to distinguishing “sense free thinking” and “non sense thinking”.
As Sherlock Holmes noted: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” When if comes to Spiritual Revelation it is worth making sure the message is genuine. As did Gideon . (Judges 6, 36-40).
I am enjoying this diversion from Coronas statistics.
John
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Me too, John, I am enjoying it immensely, and I was especially impressed with your citing of that lecture about where the physical ends and the blue ether begins, ref. 6/4/24, GA236. This then leads to the starry astral world, and beyond that, the Realm of the Spirit-Selfhood, which Steiner also referred to as the “Fiery Tongues” somewhere. Thus, it would appear that the means for individual Pentecost is impendingly possible, and even approaching. Now, here is my take on the corona virus, which I feel is reaching the end of its incubation phase, and it seems to have paralleled the 40 days of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Palm Sunday, i.e., Feb 26 – Apr 5 this year. 40 days is a significant measure of importance when we consider what it truly means to suffer, like Christ suffering the various tests of the temptation. I only began to recover when Lent began, and I had never consciously applied myself to it before. But, I know now it is an exceedingly important lead-up to Easter. I think as long as we refer somehow to the virus, we can keep talking, and after that it would be a pleasure to do so elsewhere. But, I think people are getting something useful from this patter.
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If “Spiritual SCIENCE” is to justify it’s name, then its “Knowledge” must be consistent and verifiable. Referring to GA236 again please compare it with :
e.g. the moment Felix Baumgartner steps out of his cabin.
Now back to Covid-19 and its significance for humanity.
Somewhere (sorry no chapter and verse) Ita Wegman (who incidentally personally invited my grandfather to join The School of Spiritual Science- but that is another story) MAY have said that some psycho-spiritual problems are so deeply embedded in a person that only a physical illness can bring about catharsis and inner healing. I have previously mentioned that I suffered from long term depression UNTIL 20 years ago I was ill enough to spend a month in Intensive Care, in artificial coma on a respirator. When I finally regained consciusness and moved to a normal hospital room , where I spent another 2 months, I was amazed to notice that I was NOT DEPRESSED!
Perhaps not ‘verification’ and statistically insignificant BUT—-.
The fact that Covid-19 (unlike e.g. Ebola) has already caused WORLD WIDE physical, economic, social and psychological changes might suggest (and only suggest) that it has an evolutionary, world historic function, which may bring Healing to a Sick Humanity. And who did that 2000years ago?
Happy Easter .
John
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I think spiritual science IS consistent and verifiable. Now, in that lecture here is the seminal place that describes what is truly unique about the Earth; that it is physical, and as such, represents the limit of physical-material substantiality. In other words, the earth is mineralized through and through, just as our human bodies are mineral. Until materialism is overcome with a higher priority and valuation system, we will continue to get sick due to the viruses that will continue to plague the earth in its present densified condition. Matter in itself is not harmful as long as the underlying truth is known, but the LIES about it is a different story. Ahriman has loved creating astrophysics, and prides himself on it.
“If we enter as fully as possible into the situation as we stand here, within the Universe, as human beings on this Earth, we shall say to ourselves: “We as human beings have a physical body: where, then, is the Physical in the Universe?” Here I am returning to something which I have already pointed out. The physical science of to-day expects to find everything which is on the Earth existing also in the Universe. But the physical organisation itself is not to be found in the Universe at all. Man has in the first place his physical organisation: then in addition he has the etheric and the astral. The Universe on the other hand begins with the Etheric. Out there in the Cosmos the Physical is nowhere to be found. The Physical exists only on the Earth, and it is but empty fancy and imagination to speak of anything physical in the far Universe. In the Universe there is the Etheric and the Astral. There is also a third element within the Universe which we have yet to speak about in this present lecture, for the Cosmos too is threefold. But the threefoldness of the Cosmos, apart from the Earth, is different from the threefoldness of the Cosmos in which we include the Earth.”
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/Dates/19240604p01.html
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Dear Steve, forgive my pathetic pedantry. However, the picture clearly shows a BLACK sky above and the BLUE sky below Felix. He and his cabin are clearly therefore in the Etheric Realm. So there is an anomaly between the observed situation and RS-s rather dogmatic statement. This does not help with conversations with my Ahrimanic Daughter.
Secondly, Jeremy pointed out in his very first post that the English expression : ‘Spiritual Science’ is unfortunate (Geisteswissenchaft- one word =Humanities, but separate the elements and Google gives ‘Spiritual Science’ ) Semantics and dictionaries again. So what did RS mean?
Oddly enought it was that very mistranslation that attracted my Grandfather to attend the 1923 Summer School in Penmanmauer.
Sometimes I get the impression that when RS was speaking to the ‘faithful’ he was , at least at times, describing immediate spiritual insight or vision. At such moments the pictures are to be taken as gifts and not analysed intellectually word for word. A view I have used to defend criticism from others.
OK so I am hypocrit.
But Steve- if the blue sky is not the limit, what is? Robots on Mars? Or is it Fake News?
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Nice catch, I think, but wouldn’t the blue that surrounds the earth be proof of the etheric outermost limit of the earth’s atmosphere, and the black being the realm of the starry (astral) world? Steiner did say earlier in this lecture, and likely less dogmatically, that the blue sky and even its white/gray cloud cover on those especially sunless days represent the transition from physical to etheric. We see it but it is not physical in terms of what constitutes the earth proper. As for rovers on Mars you make your own judgment if that is possible. Steiner is also known for saying that the moon is impenetrable and vulcanized since the separation of the earth-moon prototype in the Lemurian epoch. As such, it bears the Law of Repulsion in the same way that the Sun bears the Law of Attraction. Earth is centered between in order to get the right balance, speed and tempo. That way we don’t grow old too fast. I know you have heard that one.
Steve
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The English translation ‘shining so majestically, and with the magic wonder of the night in the blue of the heavens’ (CW 236) should be: ‘shining so majestically in the blue of the heavens, but also with the magic wonder of the night’. Thus, both black and blue are manifestations of the etheric.
In Steiner‘s question “We as human beings have a physical body: where, then, is the Physical in the Universe?”, the physical body (mineral matter with a spiritual human form) is compared with the Physical in the Universe (mineral matter without a spiritual form). Cf. Leading Thoughts nr. 147 (CW 26).
Also, in the deep subsurface Mars is icy (cf. Steiner CW 354: ‘more like the consistency of jelly, or something of that kind’), not dusty.
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For some reason I can’t open your website or page. I suppose you already know that – or perhaps it is only on my end. I have tried several different days. Ati _____________________________________ Ati Petrov DHHP
To live without any existential security, out of pure confidence in the certainty of the ever-present help from the spiritual world, is the demand of our time. Rudolf Steiner
>
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Hello Ati, I’m mystified by what you say, particularly as you’ve managed to send a comment!
Best wishes,
Jeremy
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Jaromer, thank you for pointing to, and questioning, how do we know what we think we know? I find there are vital distinctions among belief, knowledge and direct experience. I see them as relating to the Luciferic function (belief, feeling), the Ahrimanic (thought, concepts, theories) and Christ (direct experience. love, connectedness). I understand Steiner to be saying that we, the Human Being, can stand with Christ at the fulcrum. My conviction is that what we “feel”, or “think” we know is meaningless without the lived experience at the balance point.
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Hi Kathy,
Risking seeming superficial, in these uncertain times I ‘feel’ that a good aim is to stop feeling guilty and to enjoy an ice cream with a clear conscience while I still can.
This is not about giving up hope of course. Next week I will be planting seeds and potatoes on Good Friday in FAITH that the Easter Moon will provide extra Etheric impulses to germination and growth. I don’t KNOW if this helps or even if I BELIEVE it. But I DO it.
As a consequence I will try to avoid a fatal dose of Corona before harvest time. Which is a bit before the 6th Cultural Epoch but if my Karma is favourable , I may enjoy home grown veg. in this Incarnation.
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Hi, Jaromer,
You don’t sound superficial at all. Eating ice cream with a clear conscience is my life’s goal. I listen to both sides. Luci says: “ICE CREAM – yum, yum, yum,..you deserve this…you were made for this”. Ahri says: “Eat the ice cream…it will provide you with calcium and protein – and any negative effects of the sugar can be fixed with a mechanical pancreas”. And at the fulcrum the still, small voice says…”love the ice cream, the eating of the ice cream, the maker of the ice cream,,,but know you do not live by ice cream alone”. Which, in turn, reminds me to weed my asparagus bed and know that I am both God and the weaver of my karma.
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https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/The-evidence-on-Covid-19-is-not-as-clear-as-we-think/amp
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Thanks for posting this, gc-photo-art.. Confirms my “gut-feeling”. The potentially positive outcome of CV, as comet Atlas in Draco starts to become visible in the coming weeks, is that if we can grasp it, this global event could be a Metanoia – a John the Baptist moment for a re-evaluation of how we want to live and society to function. Is everyone noticing how Natura is breathing more easily now that the world is slowing down ?
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The same can be said for the normally bright star Betelgeuse, which has astronomers over the world wondering why its brightness has diminished since February. Thankfully, this week shows signs of the beginning of recovery. Could it be a sign?
https://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week/the-sky-this-week-2020-march-24-31
Yet, remember what Christ said about a generation needing and looking for signs. Maybe it is merely the writing on the wall. If we need hope then let’s give it to ourselves without conditions, like the freedom inherent in unconditional love. I feel better just by saying that. Thanks.
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For information, here is one quote from RS on comets from;
“The Book of Revelation and the Work of the Priest” (Lecture 16, Dornach 20 Sept 1924, GA 346 )
“The fact that there is cyanide in comets is most important, for distributed over the earth in tiny amounts this substance is needed for the purification of astral bodies. There is an immensely great cosmic physician at work in the cosmos who is more or less constantly busy administering therapies like this. Just think: What we see above us as a comet in the sky in one period then becomes atomized as I have described; it comes down from the sky in showers of fire; later it is in the soil and still later it moves from the soil into the plants, into their roots, stems, leaves and flowers. We eat the cometary deposit, the cometary leaven that is given to the earth by the cosmos, we eat it with our very bread. When the apocalyptist contemplates this phenomenon he sees favourable effects from one comet and unfavourable effects from another rising up before his spiritual vision. The Beast will be let loose from its imprisonment in the earth; that is what the comet is in the cosmic sense. that the Beast will be let loose is significant for the development of human beings. Such things are exceedingly powerful realities, great and significant points in the evolution of humanity and of the earth.
In 1933, dear friends, there would be a possibility for the earth and everything living on it to perish if there did not exist also that other wise arrangement that cannot be calculated. Once comets have taken on other forms calculations can no longer be accurate. What needs to be said in the sense meant by the apocalyptist is: Before the Etheric Christ can be comprehended by human beings in the right way, humanity must first cope with encountering the Beast who will rise up in 1933. This is what the apocalyptic language tells us. Here a view of spirit unites with a view of nature. What is there in the cosmos becomes clear to us in its fundamental spiritual character. Take the way the peasants described what they saw in 1872 as they stood and watched the shower of light, and add to it what the spirit tells us as I have described it, and compare this with many of the descriptions in the Book of Revelation, and you will see that even the very words used match one another. You will see that the Book of Revelation is speaking of actual natural events.”
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Steiner’s calculation of the year 1933 was based upon the predicted appearance of Biela’s comet with its period of 6.6 years. But in 1845 the comet split in two (the apocalyptic ‘two-horned beast’). The remains were observed by Steiner in 1872 as the Andromedids meteor shower (the same might have been the case around 1999).
“That is, if the comet had remained the way it was, there would have been a real catastrophe in 1933, for all the oceans would have flooded the earth in such a way that all creatures on earth would have perished. But it broke up into particles before then and was absorbed by the earth; the earth feeds on this world substance. So there will be no collision in 1933 — it’s not too far away; but what the earth has absorbed will come up from the earth then as a spiritual reflection. Etc.” GA0346/19240920
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The reason that the comet split in two is because the re-enactment of the Mystery of Golgotha was to occur in the etheric world. That is what prevented the catastrophic event of 1933, although the rise of Hitler of Germany did occur. The ground for all this is Kaspar Hauser, the child of Europe, and how his angelic spirit sacrificed it all for the future. He would eventually replace Michael as archangelic regent in the pantheon of the Gods as we know it. Michael, as such, would rise to the rank of Archai, or leading Time Spirit of our present age. As such, Kaspar Hauser can be likened to a very gentle spirit, much like Jesus of Nazareth was.
Steiner was very slim on what he had to say about Kaspar, and would only reveal it in the first lecture of GA104, and then years later on his sick bed, according to that fellow named Peter. Can’t remember the last name other than ‘T’. Well, he wrote of the mystery of Kaspar Hauser.
Terry Boardman has written an excellent series of articles, though, in which the esoteric significance of Kapsar Hauser is delineated. He gives a great deal to Peter Tradowsky’s work; yes, just remembered it. 🙂
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The Andromedids meteor shower with its period of 6.6 years was expected in 1879, but it didn’t appear, like it did on November 27, 1872.
In 1907 and in 1917, Steiner described the apocalyptic fall of the dragon and his angels occuring in November 1879 (GA0266/19071018 and GA0177/19171020).
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How I wish I could grasp this concept that we would simply perish but for “that other wise arrangement that cannot be calculated”. The closest I’ve come is in brief moments of knowing (not sure how to convey this) that I am involved in witnessing – necessary as witness? Do you make anything of this in Steiner context?
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Yes. Witnessing is both natural and spiritual observation, yet our present consciousness is largely externally oriented because we possess a Luciferic ego since early childhood entry. The Christ Ego is something still far off but Anthroposophy exists to help make the connection. So, for an example of “that other wise arrangement that cannot be calculated” (based on natural science), we have what occurred between 1845 and 1852 in the life of Biela’s Comet. It was then that this comet first appeared diminished, and the reason was due to a very wise and necessary arrangement, i.e., the second Mystery of Golgotha in the Etheric World. The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser is associated with this occurrence.
“You will only arrive at a real insight into the way that the world is designed if you see that all natural events become spiritual events, and that all spiritual occurrences have the intensity of natural occurrences. Then you will connect moral things with natural things in evolution and you will no longer say that faith should be the only content of religious life and you will be more inclined to make knowledge the content of religious life. That is something you can gain through a more intensive study of the Apocalypse.”
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA346/English/UNK1995/19240920v02.html
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I’m in a bit of cognative dissonance here.
On the one hand I’m reading ‘The Invisible Rainbow’ by Arthur Firstenberg referred to by Tom Cowan MD which makes the compelling argument that the trigger for COVID-19 is not contagion but seasonal variations in solar radiation, while on the other hand yesterday I drove two young German Waldorf volunteers to Tarapoto in northern Peru (see my blog http://www.perucalling25.blogspot.com ) so that they can take a repatriation flight back to Germany. For this two hour car journey I had to get police permission to travel, wear a mask and disposible gloves and was stopped by military troops at various checkpoints. It felt like I was in some kind of dystopian sci-fi movie and all the while I was wondering, is this all some kind of elaborate hoax? What’s the real story here?
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“Dystopian sci-fi movie” is a perfect description of an Ahrimanic world, isn’t it? I feel the same inner recoil/disbelief when I hear the many people I know who dismiss the findings of science and the lessons of history. They are energized by conspiracy websites and put their faith in demigods. They need drugs to rest and withdraw, and drugs to get up and get moving: It’s as though we are living on the heroin – meth continuum. We are morphing into a cross between robots and animals. I am praying that this virus will precipitate a new element – “flip” us into another level of consciousness (a-la Prigogine’s “dissipative structures”.) Will it allow for a genuine encounter with Christ in the etheric – right here among us? I’m often in a state of disbelief that we are living this right now.
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For the patients arriving in masses in hospitals all over the world and dying when there is no spare ventilator, or the oxygen supply is overloaded (Watford, UK) The ‘Hoax’ is not funny.
AS infection numbers rise- and the illness has appeared on small islands from the Falklands to Shetland on the Atlantic side- I wondered ‘How bad is it’ and googled. “History’s deadliest pandemics”. So far Covid-19 is minor compared with the Black Death of 14th C. which may have sent nearly half of the then incarnated souls back over the threshold.
When, and I say when and not IF, I get corona that will be my ‘recall’. However, Covid -19 may force social and economic reforms or not. And if not my ‘feeling’ is that there may be a ‘proper’ pandemic this century leaving a smaller world population for the 22nd.
An observation is that European Politicians are being infected but the White House in Washington seems immune. ????
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Hello Kathy and all poppers,
Thank you all for a very personal, by times mind boggling, intimate, heartwarming and often humorous conversation. In the perspective of the corona crisis (health/technology, economy, climate, and so culture) our own crossing and the fundamental transformation of the Earth civilization, let me try to re-frame the narrative of the re-emergence of the Christ in the etheric, as was said to be announced by the Bodhisattva of the 20st century. As far as we can contribute to enabling the phenomenon, one thing is, as far as I can see, would be to creating a genuine universal language for this. Because this process which may have started in the 20st century has not come to fulfillment yet and can only become reality through highs and lows when everybody can “see” it happen. I am perfectly allright with Michael as the master of the Spiritual School (allthough I don’t like his sword and feel sorry for countries who venerate the dragon like China, Bhutan … and Wales), and the re-emergence of the Christ in the etheric (of the Earth) for (part of) the broader anthroposophic movement. But for all the people of the world this is not the language or imagination they can perceive, become aware of, the course of this process (because of real cultural and religious barriers). This is an important obstacle for the very urgent break through which is so much needed to counter the present multiple crisis.
By now, many people feel familiar with Mother Earth as Nature permeated with ether forces and love. And the transformation to the female persona representing the etheric certainly matches a modern expectation. But it feels like going back, while we need a bold step forwards. Therefor please consider this story from the Ramayana I was made aware of recently.
After many challenges in her life and multiple tests she has to endure, and a final decision of her husband to give priority not to her but to the emporium he is King of, Sita, the wife of Rama and daughter of Bhoomi (Earth), decides to return to the Earth where she is embraced by her Mother.
There are millions of interpretations of the Ramayana and one is that this signifies Sita’s pity death. But why not translating our understanding, our awareness, our feeling, our consciousness and our will towards action related to the re-emergence of the Christ in the etheric, into the universal language of the Ramayana and celebrate Sita’s return to the Earth as the transformation we long for to encounter?
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It is said that the Earth began to emit an aura of light when the Mystery of Golgotha took place. And ever since, It has been on the path of becoming a Sun. Sergei Prokofieff’s last book, a comprehensive tome, is entitled: “And The Earth Becomes A Sun.” The transformation will become future Jupiter. I see this metamorphosis occurring, and every once in a while am reminded of the evidence of “Earth Shine”, which is proof of this aura of Light since the Deed of Christ.
We need to try to communicate somehow with our whole being, and this would be in the spirit of “Flesh Made Word”, which is the progressive aim of the various incarnations of the Maitreya Bodhisattva, and there have been maybe 25 incarnations so far, including the one for the 20th century. The experience of Christ in the Etheric Body is what is behind this spiritual emergence movement that seems to be growing exponentially the last few years. People seeking change, and not afraid to try and test
new ways of being and behaving. So, would not the flesh need to bear the Word in gesture and deed? I think this is the objective, however large or small.
Steiner forecasted the imminent reappearance of Christ to begin to occur in the second third of the 20th century, c. 1933, and made a point of conducting an initiation at the Christmas Conference of 1923 involving the recitation of the Foundation Stone Meditation over the course of the nine days. He would go on to reveal later, as part of revealing the karma of the anthroposophical movement, ref. GA237/238, that quick reincarnations by the end of the century, including himself, could be expected. This was in order to have this experience of Christ within the Etheric Body as a confirmation. At least, that was his intent if it has happened, or is happening. I know that I can attest to experiencing a sublime “Voice of Consoling Words”, very much needed, in early May of 1980, and then spent the next fourteen years trying to figure out who it was. Two connected 7-year periods is called a Grail. In 1987, I began to study Anthroposophy, which Steiner had once characterized as the transformed “Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz”, ref. Barr Document, part II, September 1907. In April 1994, in reading the little lecture on “Etherization of the Blood”, Steiner answers a question on what will the experience of the Etheric Christ be like. He says it could appear like a voice giving consolation, and I knew then the Being of my experience. I feel it must be a growing experience, and not so much for the future still to come. At least, Anthroposophists are aware, and preparing.
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I was fortunate enough to have had a direct experience of the Etheric Christ back in 2007 albeit in an anthroposphically unorthodox way. Since then my life has never been the same though not necessarily easier. Once you have crossed the ‘veil’ and returned this world tends to be viewed differently and one realises this is indeed not our true home.
I was ruminating about conspiracy theories while working in my woodshop: Those two words put together are now generally used pejoratively as a put down for anyone who questions the mainstream narrative. This is tricky as there undoubtedly are and have been real conspiracies down through history. As an example we have the Kennedy assassination. Nobody in my close social circle believes the official ‘lone gunman’ narrative. How about you?
In recent years we have had what I think of as ‘The Big 3’ viz; 9/11, crop circles and chemtrails. Having done my own investigations I’m pretty sure that 19 hijackers with box cutters did not bring down at least 3 steel-framed buildings in New York, nor do I believe what most average people in the UK have been brainwashed to think; namely that Doug and Dave armed with ropes and planks made all the designs found in cereal and other field crops after quaffing a few pints in the local pub. And following personal conversations with 2 high-security clearance military officers, one in the UK and another in the USA I am reasonably sure that ‘Operation Cloverleaf’ is a real covert atmospheric operation. Some in my social circle agree with me, others do not – no problem, we agree to differ.
Then we come to ‘junk conspiracy’. For example the recent phenomenon of supposedly intelligent people getting quite worked up on ‘Flat Earth’. I’ve tried to follow their reasoning but as a lifetime ocean sailor I’ve seen too many boats and landfalls come up over the curve of the planet to be able to go down that road very far.
I did however go further down the ‘Fake Moon Landings’ path. There is a pretty coherent argument to be made that indeed the whole Apollo program was bogus, but in the end, having weighed the two perspectives, I have come back around to thinking that yes, we did go to the moon.
Back to the present moment and the COVID-19 crisis: Correct me if I’m wrong but I do not believe Rudolf Steiner directly predicted this particular unfolding drama of worldwide virus contagion. But more or less 100 years ago he did predict the formation of an 8th sphere which I correlate to virtual reality and transhumanism. Somehow 5G seems to be linked to Coronavirus, Wuhan was the first city for full 5G rollout as I understand it.
Here are my questions: Are we being told the whole story by the mainstream media? Is this an ‘op’ – a ‘planned-demic’ to quote Joseph Farrell?
I’d be interested in any answers…
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“But more or less 100 years ago he did predict the formation of an 8th sphere which I correlate to virtual reality and transhumanism.”
Steiner indicates what the 8th sphere is in GA254, lecture 5. The goal of the occult movement is to launch the 8th sphere as a bogus sphere among the seven sacred planets, which means it is gaining rotational power through reception of mineral substance. In truth, the 8th sphere is the Counter Earth, which was known as such by Pythagoras and his main student Philolaus back in Greek times. So, it has a functional purpose of great importance, the creation of the outer external world of phenomena; the whole appearance world of Maya. We live in Maya/Illusion every day as soon as we turn our eyes and ears to the outer world; it is the natural tendency. Lucifer and Ahriman reside in conjunction with the outer-external world, and divert our attention to the senses. Otherwise, we would be faced with going inward and meeting the so-called “Lesser Guardian of the Threshold”, which requires much preparation in order to do safely. By diverting attention to the outer world, we take the easier path of living in Maya, and invested in the five senses.
As well, Matter is the outcome of this Counter Earth/8th Sphere, and materialism as its evolutionary consequence today. Theoretical, Practical, and Technological Materialism becomes the useful bane of our existence in valuing matter.
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This contribution is VERY wide ranging. “The Earth becoming a Sun” requires me to run through about 13 of the 12 points of view but probably is just ignorance.
However, I have long carried the thought that The Earth became Christ’s Body after Golgotha and “that we tread on His body” as we walk around. If the Earth is Christ’s physical body it would be expected that His Etheric body would surround it like an aura. However, in recent history ‘we the people’ have treated His body very badly.
The only place where I consciously ‘imagined’ experiencing an Etheric glow was looking over an area that had been cultivated with love and BD preparations for over 50 years.
On a second point, the Consoling Words from and unknown source. During a course on psychology and counselling the class was addressed by someone working in psychiatry. She reported that an increasing number of patients were appearing who ‘heard voices’ but were clearly NOT mentally ill (e.g. so called schizophrenics). No, just people who heard voices. If the border between the ‘seen and unseen’ is weakening perhaps the same applies to heard and unheard. They needed reassurance but no medical action.
Personally I BELIEVE without evidence that Angels can and do speak Consoling Words that are articulated by another person ‘who just happens to say the right thing at the right moment’ and thus saves my life and guides my karma.
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Steiner in his time referred to viruses as ‘poison‘ (the original meaning of the word virus), like smallpox poison and rabies poison. E.g. to catch cold is a poisoning from above by external warmth (GA0230/19231110).
“What poisons is the centripetally active [force] — of the nerve-sense system — which leads the outer world inward — it leads the outer world inward after cooling it (making it into mere form), so that through it the spiritual penetrates inward directly. Etc.” (see: The invisible man within us, GA0221/19230211).
Thus, viruses could be described as poisonous ‘plant-minerals’. Bacteria (bacilli, gut flora) on the other hand, can be considered as parasitic ‘plant-animals’ (cf. GA013_c04-05), active in man from below upward.
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According to Steiner‘s two-sided view (public lecture, 1909) bacilli or bacteria are not the primary causes of disease, but still ’pathogenic agents of the most dreadful kind’:
“One cannot object from a superficial point of view that the [bacilli or] bacteria are not pathogenic agents of the most dreadful kind. However, one cannot deny on the other side that either the human being is strengthened in certain respects and is protected against the influence of such pathogenic agents or he is not. He is not protected if he has cut himself out of his strength [resistance] by unreasonable life-style.” GA0057/19090114
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This article from Smithsonian Magazine gives a good review of the Pandemic of 1918, and wherein the Virus only became infectious on a large scale because of the close proximity of the army recruits preparing to enter the European theater of war. As such, it was due to unsanitary conditions that the virus was infested with germs and bacteria, and spread like wildfire.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/
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In the larger, more spiritual, context I ask myself: is trust in a literal, materialistic definition, or explanation, of “gravity” (for instance) a conspiracy theory? Gravity, as we experience it, is not an eternal, spiritual truth, but a “law” that applies to the 3D earth phase of our journey. If it is true, as I understand Steiner to be saying, that the spirits/entities that maintain this dimension are standing down/withdrawing – leaving us to step up to maintain it if we choose/want to…and if we have (or should have by now) evolved far enough to begin to maintain the materialistic laws of nature -WHILE KNOWING THEY ARE ILLUSIONS – then our varying states of confusion, disbelief, are more than justified.
The question, then, is what do I do to “fill” that place in me empty of certainty/security? As I explain my own experience to myself – and when I can do it in a sense of surrender (GOD, I HATE that word and can only really “do” it when I’m at the end of my rope!)…that space is filled by the living Christ. Twice, He has said to me: “You are not alone”. I wanted answers, but in the brief moments I “heard” Him – I knew that what I heard was what I truly needed.
On a clinical basis, I think conspiracy theories grow out of deep-seated existential fear that we have to surrender without reassurances – jump in without knowing how to swim. (Sartre said man is “condemned” to choose without any reassurance of the outcome of our choices.) To avoid this radical activity, we desperately grasp ANY explanation for what we only dimly sense. Superstition and paranoia and conspiracy-convictions share the same root, expressing itself on multiple levels. Distilled down, I think it’s most often a way of screaming: “It’s not me…it’s not my fault…I’m scared”.
Where I live some of the most common conspiracy theories are: 1) my neighbor’s not a Christian…how can I trust him? 2) Michael Bloomberg and the Sierra Club closed our two coal-burning power plants so we’;d have no more jobs and revenue (one-third of county budget) and the liberals will control our lives and make our daughters have abortions. 3) Why should we have to count sponges in surgery?- they just want to tell us what to do. 4) You outsiders keep asking questions – but you don’t know what trouble you can stir up around here. 5) You can’t trust science – it’s all lies. 6) The Holocaust never happened. 7) Those crop circles that showed up on 2004 were made by satellites controlled by scientists in Columbus. And these are believed by much of the older generation. The younger, surf conspiracy websites and find confirmation for a lot of what their elders believe – and way, way more….
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Kathleen, I am not going to reply or comment on your points but I DO recognise your description of your soul state and struggles. Particularly the fear of insecurity and ‘surrender’. Also the ‘saving grace’ that can come ‘at the end of your rope.
‘Give all your troubles to Jesus’ sounds a bit naive in an anthroposophical context but is has always been part of the Christian Faith. And it works, or He works when we let Him.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me. A sinner. ” An old prayer. The last two words are important and not always easy to say.
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Here is what I wrote to Hazel’s blog this evening:
Hazel, you wrote:
“This Easter alignment –Sun in Pisces, Moon in Virgo, is the key that unlocks the Grail Castle, opening the way to the Resurrection.”
How important it is to say that. Most people think the Sun passes into Aries at the first point of the Vernal Equinox, c. 19/21 March. And yet, we know time and again how Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul verses do accompany a more precise pathway of Sun through the signs of the Zodiac. For example, the Sun is in the sign of Pisces from 9 March to 13 April, before it enters Aries on the 14th.
As well, we know of the Piscean Initiate, who his own cousin John, an initiate of Aquarius, knew he could not even fasten the sandle of, and yet declares in chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, as Jesus approaches for the baptism , was “The Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world. And yet, John admits that he did not know it until just that moment. Then, the next day, after the baptism, his cousin walks by again, and John, standing with two of his disciples, says: “Behold the Lamb of God”. It was only then that they began to take notice.
29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” 32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts
35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.”
So, it is good to review how it started when we consider how it came to an end; a glorious end no less. One that continues on and on, no less.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+1&version=NASB
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Jaromer, thank you for your heart-felt response. This is my ongoing trial. Viewing myself as a sinner and perpetually in need of mercy feels like surrendering to corporate religion and all that is false in this suffering world. It’s through Steiner I learned how a major piece of the Catholic power play in the first few centuries after the crucifixion was to reduce us from a 3-part to a 2-part creation. Organized religion (I guess Western religion) has tried to brainwash us into believing a human being is just a body and a soul. They derive their power by convincing us we have no immortal spirit. This life feels genuinely unlivable (to me) without a sense of our innate, un-earned, immortality. But finding that part without entanglement with luciferian presumptions is the trial. And accepting that I am a sinner feels like capitulation to Ahriman.
As I understand, Lucifer lead those who “fell away” during the Old Sun and Ahriman leads those who fell during Old Moon? I guess failure to resolve this tug-of-war (God vs Individual spirit?) will determine who falls away during the Earth???
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Actually, the spiritual beings now popularly known as Lucifer and Ahriman were both involved in the Old Moon evolution, where they worked on the element of coarseness seen as needed for this Ancient Moon, or 3rd Sphere. As such, they were held over in the transition from Old Moon to Earth evolution, or the 4th Sphere. And they both gained in spiritual progress by remaining involved in the earth. Their main function was to snatch mineral substance coming over from the moon to the earth, and thereby create the Eighth Sphere. And this is how they gained entry into the human astral, and etheric, bodies in order to become influential there. We have only been able to become free and individual human beings because of their presence, and the challenge to overcome them. As well, the creation of the Eighth Sphere is what has beget the outer-external world of phenomena, or Maya. We evolve in appearance between birth and death, but the underlying reality is always there as well. Spiritual Science is the means to know the difference, and be able to acquaint with both. A mental alchemy can be found here with great psychological implications.
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Dear Kathleen, There is, perhaps, merit in keeping things simple. I try to find where I am and what is my relationship with this world and the next. For me, consideration of explanations on the cosmic scale are interesting and may give a perspective on ‘Life, the world and everything’. However, such considerations can also be a distraction from knowing where I AM NOW. Corporate religion was never my thing. But finding a personal way to accept my status as ‘ a sinner’ , and that was hard because Pride is a powerful hindrance, allowed me to meditatively kneel at the foot of the Cross and offer all my pain, confusion and sin to the One who was suffering so much that what I had to add could not make it worse. Not just on Good Friday but repeatedly. Until I experienced being held and supported.
Now I will cheerfully argue about anything and question everything because I have nothing to lose and I enjoy it.
May you enjoy an experience of renewed life and joy this Easter.
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Dear Jaromer, I woke this Easter morning with a lighter heart and a clear thought: “Now we have closer contact with the collective unconscious”..for what it’s worth, My Friend…Kathy.
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These sentiments are always worth hearing, and yet, what if it can be shown that the real issue is one of achieving the personal and individual consciousness out of the general and collective? Please look at this:
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA026/English/RSP1973/GA026_c01.html
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The collective unconscious, as I understand it, Steve, is the joint product of we individual creatures who think we are, each of us, all on our own. It’s not the One Spirit, Itself, from which we spring. As a human being, “living” that I am not “alone” is my life’s work. I remember, at 4 or 5 years old, learning that my mother didn’t “see” the world I saw. I remember making the choice to believe my own experience and not hers – and, in a sense, lost my home and family and all sense of belonging in this world. (That is, the human world – emersion in nature was different). And, still, I am juvenile/rebellious enough to be pissed that striving to be who/what I am has so frequently led to me feeling alone – like an impostor in this world.
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Very interesting comments. I, too, remember at the young age of five or six years old wondering about the aloneness I felt, and so I asked what I believe was my first question: “Now that I am individualized out of the former condition in which I felt a part of the general gestalt, am I related to anyone?” And a Voice came back immediately and said: “You are one with Me.” I felt glorified by those words, and gained the confidence to go forth in the world and succeed. Now, this is different than the words I heard when I was nearing 30 years of age. Those words came to me without a question. They spoke: “You are so worthy, and you always have been”. These I found out later were the consoling words that one can hear from Christ. The first voice was the Father, and the second voice was the Son. In early 2001, the Holy Spirit spoke out of my own voice on my knees, and it asked for help in a crisis, which was an earthquake which put us all in jeopardy. Thankfully, we were saved.
Steiner spoke of these three meetings, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the first part of GA175, Cosmic and Human Metamorphosis. I came across these lectures a couple of years ago, and gained a lot in confirming the nature of what I had experienced from before, and especially the first and third experiences. The experience of the Etheric Christ was confirmed in 1994, after fourteen years of seeking and wondering, and then reading that lecture, “Etherization of the Blood”, GA130, 1 October 1911.
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Below is the response from a biomedical student to one of the viral videos on 5G (not the American Anthro one) which a lot of people have viewed..
It provides some interesting science on how the virus is thought to work and some thought-provoking views on the 5G video under consideration.
> https://youtu.be/LrlDIdj4XK4
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I lent my copy of ‘The Incarnation of Ahriman’ to my eurythmist step daughter some time back, but as I recall Rudolf Steiner did predict an actual human incarnation of this being in the first decades of the 21st century.
That’s now folks!
In the past I’ve considered various candidates; first and foremost The Pedo Pope, then Barack Obama after reading ‘Masquerade’ by Kevin Dann.
Now I’m wondering, could it be Bill Gates?
Just wondering…
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I can’t imagine anyone less Ahrimanic than Barack Obama. I know left is right and black is white in this world – but thanks for the heads up not to read that book.
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The thing about Barack Obama is that he possessed a very Luciferic personality, which Ahriman has the power to disguise himself as in order to appear not to be the incarnation. As such, it was in Obama’s first term as POTUS that the orchestrated event of the murder of Osama bin Laden occurred in May 2011. Obama never ended the phony “war on terror” by withdrawing american troops, but only escalated the war by attacking Libya and maintaining the unnecessary presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In other words, he was a largely useless person between GWB and our current incumbent, DJT. So, indeed, I would consider him a serious candidate for the Ahrimanic incarnation in the years between 2009 and 2016. These were pivotal years in which the present third millennium had a chance to stand free and attain a certain liberation in terms of spiritual progress. Obama, seen as the guiding light of a new kind of democracy, failed on all accounts when he could have succeeded in the same spirit as JFK. Yet, the difference is also clear. JFK was not Ahriman incarnate, and Barack Obama capitulated on every campaign promise he ever made, which makes him the master of mendacity, or lies, which is the domain of Ahriman. So, take your pick and make your choice, but for me, Barack Obama’s two terms as POTUS have proven to be the biggest disappointment in U.S. History. Things would be better right now if it weren’t for Obama’s weak and lying leadership. Just look at this diagram in which Steiner depicts the way it was at the end of 1919. America on the right has total control of the so-called “Economic Life”, and this is due to the fact that Sorath rules the world from the west. Would anyone disagree that this configuration has changed in our present time? No, it hasn’t, and why presidents follow the dictates of Sorath whether they are inclined more to Lucifer or Ahriman. Only JFK appears to have wanted to escape into freedom, and we all know what happened to him.
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“Masquerade [2015] uncovers the secret history of President Barack Obama, both the many lies about his biography and his “eternal” biography – his three previous incarnations, as Joseph Stalin, the Grand Inquisitor Fernando Valdés, and the Roman Emperor Caracalla. Drawing on the prophesies of Rudolf Steiner, Daniel Andreev, and Jeane Dixon, history professor Dr. Dann identifies Obama as the one chosen by Satan to become the Antichrist, …“
The present American president is more acting like the false prophet (the ram) in Revelation 13, representing the Beast (the leopard-bear-lion), buying and selling in his name, and worshipping his image. The Russian autocratic leader appeared in the Western world on New Year’s Eve 1999, at the beginning of the third millenium. He started his political career as a fourty year old ‘John Henry Smith’ (cf. Steiner, CW 195) in European St. Petersburg. He soon became the world’s richest and most powerful mafia boss of the 21st century, acting as a spiritual model for many autocrats today.
Cf. Belton (2020), https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/12/putins-people-by-catherine-belton-review-relentless-and-convincing, and Boardman (2019), http://threeman.org/?p=2905
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It’s not just me. Today I heard from someone in Dornach that Bill Gates is being wondered about there too. It’s a meme apparently and not surprising considering his proposal for a vaccination microchip tatoo…
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Here is the diagram and lecture I referred to earlier. It clearly indicates that Sorath, the anti-Christ, works from out of the west, and indeed, Bill Gates, in spite of all his wealth and philanthropy, and futuristic thinking (which can be dangerous), works from out of the west. In fact, and I’ll admit it, we both live here in the Pacific Northwest, near Seattle. Yet, I see him as more of a misguided “do gooder”, than Ahriman. You know, one of those who tread the ‘road to hell paved with good intentions’.
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA194/English/AP1945/19191215p01.html
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Can a meme be correlated to the Hundredth Monkey theory? Yet, we humans seem to be more susceptible to propaganda than monkeys, who are only responding to truly useful trends in development, as seen by the researcher, who is, of course, a human.
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Steve, I completely concur with your comments above regarding Obama’s two terms as POTUS. Of course it was symbolically wonderful that a non-white person was elected to the White House but where the rubber met the road his presidency was marked by much mendacity as you observe. For this reason I found Dr Dann’s book ‘Masquerade’ quite compelling as he examines Obama’s previous four incarnations with what I found to be an interesting metahistorical perspective.
Regarding the assassination of JFK it was nothing less than a coup de etat, the good guys lost and we have had the bad guys in power ever since, to put it in very simplistic terms.
Listen to Bob Dylan’s new 17 minute song, ‘Murder Most Foul’ for a highly imaginative artistic rendering of 5 decades since this povotal event. The old boy at 78 can still knock out incredible lyrics…
BTW I used to live in Port Townsend WA before moving to Peru in 2006.
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Dear Martin,
If you have lived in Peru for the last fourteen years, then you must have made a critical decision in 2006 when GWB was in his second term in office. Was it to leave the insanity of the commercial life with its propaganda and lies? I am reminded of H.D. Thoreau, who spent a night in jail for civil disobedience. In the morning, his mentor and father figure, R. W. Emerson came to call on him and ask how he was doing. Thoreau asks: “Why aren’t you in here”?
While I have not read the book by Kevin Dann, I do seem to remember a collaboration with Robert Powell concerning the ahrimanic incarnation, with Obama as the leading candidate. Yet, it seems to me that in any consideration of such a thing, it would be important to look to find a kind of Judas figure working to support such an incarnation. For me, this was William Jefferson Clinton, the last POTUS of the 20th century. This man did more to “grease the skids” and prepare for the eventual War on Terror than anyone on the planet. Just consider two items of concern on his watch:
1) The mass genocide in Rwanda in 1994, which was clearly a matter of terrorism; and,
2) The Eastern European genocide of the ethnic Albanians at the hands of the Serbs, which occurred throughout Clinton’s two terms [1993-2000].
So, I see Bill Clinton as the one that prepared the ahrimanic incarnation as a kind of Judas Iscariot figure. His betrayal has to be looked at in reverse. While Judas betrayed Christ, this Judas supports the anti-Christ, and it is most important to see that. America possesses the anti-Christ, Sorath, and this goes back many years. This fact has been largely confirmed in the period from 1898 to 1998, which constitutes Sorath’s last hundred years before its third incarnation. Much recent historical and scholarly evidence exists to prove that America intervenes in the world wherever it chooses. Thus, this third incursion of Sorath in 1998 was a rather seamless transition from the second.
Would anyone doubt it other than an ostrich with its head in the sand, or maybe even a poor partisan politician today with the wool over its eyes?
Steve
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And I’m a New York City Rockette masquerading as a 74 yo with “666” interwoven in a tattoo on my ass that says “MOTHER”. We’ve stepped through the looking glass, Gentlemen.
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Kathy, the world is filled with ethical individualists, and I suspect that they are equally moral in nature. So, what would a rather crude comment like this mean, other than it acquaints with your own rather distorted viewpoint. We don’t really live in a virtual reality show, and yet it is possible that this pandemic which has never been seen in this century, and yes, some of us are getting into our ’70’s, is a really extraordinary display of Sorath, who is experiencing ‘fear’ that we humans are closing in on the prize, i.e., the great revelation.
So, it becomes a matter of vigilance, rather than snarky opposition. Steiner was very kind when the Goetheanum burnt to the ground. He was disappointed in the members of the anthroposophical movement for not protecting the structure, and yet he knew why. He explains it in the course, GA257, Awakening to Community.
The only consolation I can give you is that new knowledge exists as a cultural imperative, and yet whole libraries with books in print are closed today, and we are being encouraged to seek the virtual and online alternative. Personally, I don’t find this encouraging or acceptable. Now, whether it has to be accepted as the ‘new normal’ is a matter of opinion.
Steve
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Steve, if you don’t endorse my “crude” and “distorted” comments, let me be more direct. Wallowing in conspiracy theories is a popular form of mental masturbation and will not lead to “the great revelation”. There is nothing remotely anthroposophic about them. Also, you wrote “we don’t really live in a virtual reality show”…Really? I work with scores of people alienated enough from their spiritual nature that they suffer from just that. They are entangled in the roots of psychological defense mechanisms that undermine the free and responsible ego. Life is escape from the Self for them. They suffer and don’t know the roots of their suffering.
And before you attribute the pandemic to Sorath, consider it’s effects: people learning they don’t know what to do with themselves? Possible collapse of a predatory financial system? An equal-opportunity survival task for people of all colors and creeds? These perturbations are becoming, collectively, more conscious. Sorath may be the means (I don’t know and don’t care) – but the quest is holy.
Also, I am 74 yo and just might have a tattoo on my ass. Did you think of that???
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Anthroposophy explains a great deal concerning underlying motivations that could be considered conspiratorial for the reason that events and their causes are not understood until these motives are revealed. I refer to the diagram recently presented here. “Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive”.
https://anthropopper.wordpress.com/2020/03/12/coronavirus-what-is-its-significance-for-humanity-at-this-time/#comment-48848
Of course I knew that you, Kathy, work with clients possessing distorted views and issues of self worth, etc., and need help. We all need help, and free and open communications are useful, don’t you think? As for the tattoo, well, I don’t even want to imagine it 🙂
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Keep it up Kathy and Steve. This conversation is just what I need in lockdown, Laughter the Best Medicine as the dear old Readers Digest taught.
The subject is serious but I try not to take MYSELF too seriously .
By the way DtRump is the reincarnation of Jabba the Hut. The resemblance is uncanny.
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Steve, “free and open communications are useful” only when they are genuine revelations of the SELF – not the “other”. Saying “I see Bill Clinton as a kind of Judas Iscariot figure” and “Bill Gates is a misguided do-gooder” don’t qualify. Minimally they are a waste of time. But the danger is when they cascade into full-blown, mantra-like, man-made myths Some people refer to these as “egregores”, I think. But whatever they are, they are, themselves a form of contagion – conspiracy myths that distract us from finding ourselves and completing the work we are here to do.
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Kathy,
My position is that I like communicating with people on a range of subjects associated with spiritual science. Thus, issues like the advent of ahriman, and especially its relation to Sorath seem highly important for consideration today. Spiritual Science is all about “finding ourselves” in order to complete “the work we are here to do.” But, here is what is problematical with that, and why it is a challenge today. Spiritual Science is truly a cultural imperative on an educational level. Yet, it has to be taken in on a theoretical/conceptual level in the beginning because we “all too human humans” have sunk below our true SELF in order to become (ostensibly) free and individual human beings forever, and that means eternal and immortal. In today’s environment, which is the Consciousness Soul age, people resist taking in anything new which cannot be immediately confirmed by sense perception and the logic of the cognition of a three-dimensional worldview.
Now, what pertains most closely to your profession, psychology, is the potential for higher consciousness through Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition, and it can be shown that this is afforded as a result of the initial intake of spiritual science as a conceptual model. Over time, a kind of mental alchemy ensues/ arises because the soul can be deeply affected by the revelations of spiritual science. But, one has to do it in order to know and perceive it for sure. So, the only “real contagion” is the one associated with the stubborn resistance to studying spiritual science and gaining its results, which can and do lead to certain ‘Imaginative’ renderings like about Bill Clinton as a kind of Judas Iscariot in reverse.
And, it is possible to prove these assertions in so-called ‘real time’ according to the history of just the last hundred years or so, i.e, 1898-2020. If one pays attention, and tries consistently to be objective in terms of what is going on in the world, it can be easily seen who the evil-doers are, and of course, for the reason that Sorath has had a migratory path from the east to the west since 666 AD. As such, that diagram speaks volumes about what has taken place since Sorath (Azuras) took up residence in the west. Ahriman was recast to the east, where Lucifer had previously been, and the “self-seeking Lucifer” was installed in the Center, where Christ had been seen as the central Impulse. Thus, the Christ was cast out, and that is why Rudolf Steiner experienced so much opposition to his professed form of Esoteric Christianity.
Steiner’s ‘Representative of Man’ sculpture had a very precise Idea to convey, and that is why two years before he even began to sculpt it in 1917, he spoke here about what it needed to express, ref. lecture, Christ in Relation to Lucifer and Ahriman, 18 May 1915. Now, there is also an ‘Anti-Representative of Man’ sculpture which has to be Imagined because it does not exist in sculptural form, but does actually exist in visible, perceptible, and cognitive form. It possesses this disarrangement which casts out the Christ in the center, and replaces with the ‘self-seeking Lucifer’, and puts Ahriman over in the East. Yet, the whole model, which is necessarily an Imaginative production, wants to especially transfer the West to the central position, and wherein the “Sorath Head” has to be formed. We have discussed this vision before, but this is where we are at with the power that Sorath has gained in world domination coming from out of the West; for the Economic Life to rule the world will destroy the other two, i.e., the Rights Life, and the Spiritual-Cultural Life.
And this is what is happening today. Ignorance is a poor substitute for Knowledge. And here in America we have maybe the weakest representation of true knowledge. Thus, the very place where Sorath’s platform is made manifest also ensures that its citizens are the one’s made most feeble and weak. And I would more than suggest that this is what you are observing and assessing in your clientele. I also worked in a very difficult situation as a rehabilitation counselor within a prescribed paradigm. Maybe you are constrained this way.
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Steve,
The “potential for higher consciousness” is NOT “a result of the initial intake of Spiritual Science as a conceptual model” – it PRECEDES it, it is the very GROUND of it. Conceptual models become traps if we don’t grasp this. Steiner warned us of this many times. I’m afraid I’ve have come to experience your meanderings as a gigantic, slobbering monster. I don’t think you are the monster, but that you are chained to it.
Jaromer provides us with the perfect metaphor: Jabba the Hut. One of Jabba’s most recent reincarnations may be our national poster child for malignant narcissism! Why,not? His rampant, abstract, claims chain us to the materialistic, outrageously over-verbalized system he wallows in. You might label him as an “anti-representative of man”. But if Spiritual Science is really all about “finding ourselves…so we can complete the work we’re here to do”, the question is: how do you, Steve, break your chains to Jabba?
For what it’s worth, here is how I work at it: (1) I realize that no matter how dressed up in intellectual/abstract speech, “imaginative renderings” about others are a waste of time; (2) I work to rid myself of the constraints of my prescribed paradigms – any vast, detailed theories, (or interpretations of theories), 3) I try to keep my responses more personalized and shorter….OOPS!
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Kathy, I’ve let this through but would be grateful if in future you could steer away from what might be perceived as personal criticisms of other commenters.
All commenters please note: we are now getting some distance away from comments on the significance of coronavirus for humanity. I shall be grateful if you will keep your comments relevant to that topic.
Thank you,
Jeremy
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No can do, Jeremy. I find a number of things expressed in this blog to be critical of others – though perhaps, at times, in a more scholarly fashion – without you wrapping knuckles. I won’t be labeled the “bad child”. But thanks for the heads up…Kathy
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I’m not labelling you or anyone else as a ‘bad child’. And I recognise that I’m not always consistent with moderation. But I hope all commenters will read the Comments & Moderation Policy guidelines and try to bear them in mind when contributing a comment to the blog: https://anthropopper.wordpress.com/comments-moderation-policy/
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Kathy, I think that what you find as Intellectual soul abstractions only appears that way on the surface. In truth, without the consciousness soul in operative mode, none of these musings/renderings would have had any motive power to be expressed. What I am anxious for are responses which express the warm-hearted “Gemut” because this allows the conversation to enter immediately into a more intimate, caring, and deeper level. Take the present pandemic, although it is forcing us to isolate and face our tendencies to be individualistic and anti-social, it is also seeing a reappraisal of the current ‘normal’ , and wherein people are feeling the need to reach out, share, and care about the ‘Other’. Hearts are warming up over this crisis.
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Oh, Steve, here is what I’m saying:…”intellectual soul abstractions (that) only appear that way on the surface” – by any other name are??? Jeremy’s admonishment has highlighted my overall negativity and disappointment in this blog. I turned to it because for the last 20 years I’ve lived in a place where Anthroposophy would be regarded as witchcraft. In Akron and New York there were wonderful A. communities. We had Waldorf schools and ran coops and met and studied together. When I found this blog I hoped to feel connected again. Instead, it’s often impossible to trace much of what we talk about to Steiner at all. Except for you – but, often, about 80% of what you talk about makes me question – have I really been reading/studying Anthroposophy for over 50 years?
Your last message above is different than many of your others. It wasn’t a tome. It feels to be coming more from YOU than your intellect. And I do, also, see evidence that this pandemic may be the blessing I hope it is. Thank you.
One other thing. I’m not sure about my future on this blog. I’m living among a lot of far-right, well-armed conspiracy buffs. Even the peaceful “hippies” in the hills who drum and grow pot are conspiracy fanatics. Most of my clients are chained by denial and projection enabled by conspiracy theories. It infuriates me to be reading anthroposophists who think they know the “real” agendas behind the work of Obama, Bill Gates, etc. – or anyone other than themselves, actually. Even, Trump, of course – our inner Lucifer. (Understand, my point isn’t Lucifer, it’s the “inner me”.) It makes me go for my sword – not with my clients, of course – but with myself and with those who should know better. So, what I’m saying is I won’t politely read and not personalize my comments in the future. Thanks for listening…Kathy
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Kathy and Steve,
The dialogue between you, interesting though it is, has got some distance from the subject of this post. May I suggest that it would be best continued through exchange of emails between you? Please let me know if you are willing to be put in email contact with each other.
Best wishes,
Jeremy
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Dear Steve,
Thanks for your message above.
I left the USA because of increasing creeping Orwellianism. I remember seeing a bumper sticker that said ‘1984 was supposed to be a warning, not an instruction manual’.
Your assertion that Bill Clinton played a kind of Judas role to Obama is currently simmering in my psyche. I think it’s highly likely.
Interesting that you bring up Thoreau in this discussion. Kevin Dann wrote a good biography called ‘Expect Great Things. the Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau’ and ‘The Road to Walden: 12 Life Lessons from a Sojourn to Thoreau’s Cabin’ after completing ‘Masquerade’.
You strike me as someone who may have a good handle on Trump. He is a highly enigmatic figure to me; relatively better than Hillary Clinton despite being obnoxious as a human being and somehow ‘the man of the moment’ in the Big Picture of unfolding world evolution. I’d be intersted in any of your comments.
all the best
Martin Stevens
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Steiner (1910) specifically discussed the relation of epidemics and hygienic measures to karmic causes and their spiritual compensation:
“… man is urged to seek in the external world for compensating effects of karmic causes which he himself has incorporated within his organism. He may, for instance, be driven to a place where he will encounter an infection which will offer him the compensation sought for, or he may even be driven by this need for compensation to what might be termed a ‘fatal accident.’ …
It is a fact that, at the present time, many influences and causes are removed which would otherwise have been sought for as adjustment for certain karmic matters with which mankind had burdened itself in earlier periods. But, in removing these influences we only remove the possibility of man’s succumbing to their external effects. We make his external life more pleasant, and also more healthy, but what he would otherwise have sought as a karmic adjustment in the corresponding disease, will now have to be sought in another direction. …
There has been hardly a single epoch in which so many people have had such pleasant external conditions as is the case today and yet go about with such stagnant and empty souls. That is why such people rush from sensation to sensation. When means permit, they travel from town to town in order to see something, or if they are forced to remain in the same town, they rush night after night from pleasure to pleasure. Yet for all this the soul remains empty, realises the void, and in the end does not know what to seek in the world to fill it.“ GA0120/19100526
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Tonmajoor, you have found a typical Steiner comment for a subject like this, so It shouldn’t surprise anyone. Of course, other comments that he made lead some anthroposophists to always be looking for a conspiracy, often with America involved. We certainly see this on the anthropopper blog. With Steiner you can usually find something that fits what you want to see. There’s a lecture for everything.
There is a particular detail about coronavirus that is being ignored in these comments. It mostly kills the elderly. In the area where I live, about 40% of the deaths have been in nursing homes, not a likely place for a person to go looking for his karmic death. He is about to die very soon, coronavirus or no coronavirus. This makes me think that Steiner’s comments in this lecture are for the most part not very relevant. This situation reminds me of the great novel by Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey. But that’s an essay unto itself.
The more interesting thing is what it does to people who are younger and will not die from it (what they take from it politically, socially and economically), and what it does to politicians and to scientists. Furthermore, it is having an impact in a very broad sense on social relations, economics, and international relations that is likely to be very significant. Will the virus lead to more globalization or will it fracture the world and take us back towards the nation state?
China is very important it this picture, but no one commenting on this blog thinks to even mention China. This country will be crucial to what comes out of this. Will it become more or less powerful? Will Western countries turn away from China or be more beholden to it? Will China become more or less open, more repressive and secretive or less so? Will it become even more nationalistic? More belligerent? For those interested in the great Russian mystic and philosopher, Vladimir Soloviev, it may be pertinent that he predicted a Mongol attack on the West before the coming of the anti-Christ. He also predicted an Islamic attack on the West, a united Europe (the EU?) and the creation of a new state of Israel before the anti-Christ would come. Those three predictions have already happened. If I remember correctly, the Jewish people in this new Israel would be very much involved in rising up against this anti-Christ. Will Soloviev get this right, too? But what is this Mongol attack?
These are the areas to look to, I think, for its meaning. But to predict where this might bring us is a fool’s errand. There are many possibilities, and we must keep a watch on which direction this takes us. There are likely to be many swerves along the way.
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The process of death is age-related too:
“As I’ve mentioned on other occasions, you will find a beautiful passage in Goethe’s Faust where the term “growing young” is used in place of “being born,” “growing young” rather than “growing old.” In other words, we start to grow young when we are born. This is based, of course, on the conception of the soul pre-existing birth. But the forces it will need to enable it to work through the body into which the child is born must have been acquired, while the etheric body is growing young in the aging physical body of the previous earth life.
… it makes a tremendous, an enormous difference whether an individual dies in extreme old age or as a youngster, perhaps even in childhood. For the etheric body of someone who dies in youth has not yet grown young. … But the force inherent in such an etheric body remains in existence, just as forces in the physical world do; they are not lost.
When a person can live to what is considered a normal old age — say seventy or eighty — his etheric body has grown very young. The whole fruit of his life experience lodges in this young etheric body, is imprinted on and expressed in it, and the astral body then takes possession of it. Etc.” GA0163/19150905
Soloviev: “At that time, there was among the few believing spiritualists a remarkable person — many called him a superman — who was equally far from both, intellect and childlike heart.” https://www.goodcatholicbooks.org/antichrist.html
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As I wrote, there is a Steiner quote for everything, but I don’t see where this helps. Can you help me to decipher how this explains the coronavirus and its particular deadly effect on those at the end of life? Naturally the aged and weak are more susceptible to every illness, not just coronavirus.
The sunspot idea is intriguing, but the vast majority of minimal sunspot activity over the centuries has not resulted in a pandemic. You can’t choose just a couple of dates and think you have shown anything. Apparently we have entered a time of lower sunspot activity than normal and that has often meant calmer times. If you go back and look at important historical events, you will find that they often happened during maximum sunspot activity, something I find interesting. For example, there was maximum sunspot activity at the time of the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the American Civil War, the 1848 revolutions in Europe, the Franco-Prussian war, WWI and the communist revolution, WWII and even the 9/11 Islamist attack on NY. There has also beens speculation that sunspots are related to climate and thus an explanation for any climate change we may be experiencing.
Let me add that one result of this pandemic is the increased fear it has created. The media is especially guilty of trying to create fear, and this fear has spread like a parallel pandemic perhaps worse than the physical illness. It’s almost as if the pandemic was a method of spreading fear throughout humanity. And fear is not a good thing.
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OK. Generally speaking, older people are more susceptible to pneumonia than younger people. The Spanish flu pandemic occurred in younger people at the end of the war, and after a sunspot maximum (1917). The Covid-19 pandemic manifests more in elderly people, and after a sunspot minimum (2019) within a grand minimum.
War and retirement are contrary phenomena.
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But we have had dozens of sunspot minimums without a pandemic that particularly singled out the elderly. You might find that on occasion there are big apple harvests when there is minimal sunspot activity, but that does not tell us that less sunspot activity gives us more apples.
Hundreds of thousands of elderly people throughout the world die every year from ordinary influenza and pneumonia no matter what the sunspot activity might be. I don’t see how this line of thinking gets us anywhere. If pandemics killing the elderly were common when sunspot activity is low, you would have something, but that’s not what we see.
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Only the Spanish flu seems to have particularly singled out the elderly. The idea is about historically new pandemics (influenza excluded) during the Spörer minimum (1400-1520), the Maunder minimum from 1645-1715, the Dalton minimum from 1790-1830, and the Modern minimum from 2002-present.
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The 1918 Spanish flu did not single out the elderly. The unusual thing about it was that it killed the young, the old, and even those in the middle during the so-called prime of life.
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I should add that there were pandemics, also from Asia, in 1957 and 1968, one when there were maximum sunspots and the other minimum. They both affected the elderly in the usual way but both also saw an increased risk among the relatively young. It’s certainly appears that this supposed sunspot connection is barking up the wrong tree.
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Herb, the Spanish flu pandemic (wiki) was unusual because of the war-related bacterial superinfection (at a sunspot maximum):
“The first wave had resembled typical flu epidemics; those most at risk were the sick and elderly, while younger, healthier people recovered easily.
… malnourishment, overcrowded medical camps and hospitals, and poor hygiene, all exacerbated by the recent war, promoted bacterial superinfection. This superinfection killed most of the victims, typically after a somewhat prolonged death bed.”
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There has been a lot written about the 1918 flu. It has been studied, and as I wrote, it attacked the young and those in the prime of life as well as the old. For example:
“‘Furthermore, in the 1918 pandemic most deaths occurred among young adults, a group that usually has a very low death rate from influenza. Influenza and pneumonia death rates for 15- to 34-year-olds were more than 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years (Linder and Grove, 1943; Simonsen et al., 1998) (Figure 1-2). The 1918 pandemic is also unique among influenza pandemics in that absolute risk of influenza mortality was higher in those younger than age 65 than in those older than 65. Strikingly, persons less than 65 years old accounted for more than 99 percent of all excess influenza-related deaths in 1918–1919 (Simonsen et al., 1998). In contrast, the less-than-65 age group accounted for only 36 percent of all excess influenza-related mortality in the 1957 H2N2 pandemic and 48 percent in the 1968 H3N2 pandemic. Overall, nearly half of the influenza-related deaths in the 1918 influenza pandemic were young adults aged 20 to 40 (Simonsen et al., 1998) (Figure 1-2). Why this particular age group suffered such extreme mortality is not fully understood… The 1918 influenza had another unique feature: the simultaneous infection of both humans and swine. Interestingly, swine influenza was first recognized as a clinical entity in that species in the fall of 1918…’’
“When 1918 influenza case rates by age (Jordan, 1927) are superimposed on the familiar “W”-shaped mortality curve (seen in Figure 1-2), a different perspective emerges (Figure 1-3). As shown, those <35 years of age in 1918 accounted for a disproportionately high influenza incidence by age. Interestingly, the 5 to 14 age group accounted for a large fraction of 1918 influenza cases, but had an extremely low case mortality rate compared to other age groups (Figure 1-3). Why this age group had such a low case fatality rate cannot yet be fully explained. Conversely, why the 25 to 34 age group had such a high influenza and pneumonia mortality rate in 1918 remains enigmatic, but it is one of the truly unique features of the 1918 influenza pandemic.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22148/
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Ton, would you say that Rudolf Steiner “was urged to seek in the external world for compensating effects of karma forces which he himself had incorporated within his organism”? Does this describe what happened when the first Goetheanum burnt down?
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The old karma might have been the burning of the temple in Ephesos (see GA0233/19231231), the building of the first Goetheanum would be the compensating effect, and the new karma the decision to build the second Goetheanum after the burning of the wooden building.
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Herb and Tom, thank you for your observations. I, too, think that a nursing home seems an unlikely place for a person looking for his karmic death – if such a death is conceptualized as what person ‘A” needs to experience or atone for. But the elderly are working through aspects of their development right to the end. Part of my work for the last 20 years has been in long term care facilities. The “karmic” aspect I see playing out here is both very individualized and also broader than individual karmic deficiencies/problems. For instance, over the last 6 weeks two of my patients have decided not to let the virus take them. They chose to die on their own terms. One refused his breathing treatments and died in less than two days. One decided to end dialysis and lived for 2 weeks. Both died in peace. I think it had a lot to do with not accepting any longer that they were victims/slaves to their conditions. Others, whom we help stay in contact with their families electronically, are more concerned with their children and grandchildren than with themselves. I am blessed to be able to work with such proud warriors.
Might Steiner’s teachings about individuals seeking “compensation sought for” extend to Mankind in general? I seem to remember him addressing this. Is there a whole-earth karma? Might not this time of virus be serving as a catalyst? With half of the planet insisting on getting back to materialism as usual (and tattoo parlors), and others focused on a more visceral engagement with death and the deeper meaning of human behaviors and interactions – it feels to me to be a real karmic workout period. Haven’t we, collectively harmed her so badly that the Earth, Herself, produced this experience? And I also ask your question: what are the ones who don’t die going to do with this? Are they going to wake up and correct our karmic failings? Are they going to stop drinking the cool-ade and join Michael?
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Dear all,
Allow me to come back to the origins of the corona virus and the connection with biological warfare. After reading Jeremy’s post I initially did some quick research which led me into a kind of right wing conspiracy trap. And, as this was quite embarrassing, some deeper online research to double check things. I found out disturbing facts about biological warfare and possible links to the present pandemic. I left it there because I felt within my limitations I could not draw conclusions.
Now here is an article which went further than I could. It still is inclusive, but it brings to light facts which are far reaching. As well as some more “stories”.
Here is the link:
https://www.salon.com/test/2020/04/24/did-this-virus-come-from-a-lab-maybe-not–but-it-exposes-the-threat-of-a-biowarfare-arms-race/?fbclid=IwAR1a3E9f01vdpKCTjG6GMfNNnrIn6vrmZbUEKyyX1Yeot3q-kg4tEfA1hZk
In reaction to Herb, its not only about America, but China as well and surprisingly (for me) there is a strong Dutch connection! Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Institute of Viroscience, got by 1st January 2020 (!) big eurofunding for running a European consortium on viroscience research.
https://www.erasmusmc.nl/en/research/departments/viroscience
The article of Sam Husseini in particular highlights the research of Rotterdam professor Ron Fouchier. This research was commented by Prof. Boyle, USA, who has been mentioned in these columns before.
I leave it to the experts what Rudolf Steiner would have said about the apocalyptic perspectives unearthed in this article.
Hans
PS The picture I included earlier was the book cover of Sita’s Ramayana by Samitha Arni with illustrations of Moyna Chitrakar. May Mother Earth help us to conquer back our public health.
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I misspelled the word “inconclusive”. And I intended to say that Boyle made alerting comments on the Rotterdam research.
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“Three grand minima of solar activity on record–the Sporer minimum (1450-1550 AD), Maunder minimum (1650-1700 AD) and the Dalton minimum (1800-1830) have all been marked by a preponderance of pandemics–Small Pox, English Sweats, Plague and Cholera.”
Click to access sunspot-cycle-minima-and-pandemics-the-case-for-vigilance-2332-2519-1000159.pdf
“The current solar cycle, Cycle 24, is declining and predicted to reach solar minimum – the period when the Sun is least active – late in 2019 or 2020.” https://www.weather.gov/news/190504-sun-activity-in-solar-cycle
“We must ask ourselves: In what constellation were we living when, in the nineties [of the 19th century], the present influenza epidemic [1918] appeared in its benign form? In what cosmic constellation are we living at the present time? By virtue of what cosmic rhythm does the influenza epidemic of the nineties appear in a more acute form today? … certain pathological manifestations in the emotional life are seen to be connected with cosmological phenomena such as the periodic appearance of sun spots.” GA0185/19181020
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A physical connection between sunspots and pandemics was also suggested by Steiner (1922 and 1923): the pineal gland.
“The human immune system may change with the seasons, becoming more resistant or more susceptible to different infections based on how much light our bodies experience.. … Melatonin, a hormone primarily secreted at night by the pineal gland, is a major driver of such changes.“
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/why-do-dozens-diseases-wax-and-wane-seasons-and-will-covid-19
“When this drying up of the cerebellum happens in the head, so that man cannot control his muscles, at first this affects all those muscles which are dependent on a little gland in the head, the so-called pineal gland. If that happens, a man gets influenza. If the evil goes further, influenza changes to a complete paralysis.” GA0351/19231031 (cf. GA0348/19221227)
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Ton, here is a perfect example of Steiner constructing a wacko conspiracy theory by today’s standards:
“We must ask ourselves: In what constellation were we living when, in the nineties [of the 19th century], the present influenza epidemic [1918] appeared in its benign form? In what cosmic constellation are we living at the present time? By virtue of what cosmic rhythm does the influenza epidemic of the nineties appear in a more acute form today? … certain pathological manifestations in the emotional life are seen to be connected with cosmological phenomena such as the periodic appearance of sun spots.” GA0185/19181020
Steiner here is apparently referring to these 11 year periods of sunspots, and wherein a more benign form occurred in the 1890’s, which became more acute in 1918. Today, the present corona virus in its active form could be related to the SARS virus of 2002/2003, but in a more acute form. So, what constellation could we be referring to with this present outbreak? My guess is Orion, which had the rather unusual experience last Fall of seeing the normally bright start Betelgeuse diminish in brightness for several months into 2020. Also, the Atlas comet in the sign of Draco.
As well, although I don’t know if the Sun’s corona can be measured for indications of reduction in brilliance, this could be a possible factor. Hazel Archer-Ginsberg has drawn attention to this recently, and I feel it is important.
Finally, this quote seems very pertinent in today’s critical situation:
“My dear friends, that which goes on externally, which the astronomers describe, is after all only the outer side. You know that approximately every 11 years we have a period of Sun-spots, when in the shining of the Sun upon the earth certain places are darkened, covered with spots or blotches. This was not always so. In very ancient times the Sun shone down as a uniform disc of light. There were no Sun-spots. Moreover, after some thousands of years the Sun will have very many more spots than it has today. The Sun is growing ever more spotted. This again is the outer manifestation of the fact that the Michael Power, the Cosmic Power of Intelligence is still decreasing. In the increase of the Sun-spots in the course of Cosmic Evolution is revealed the Sun’s decay; the Sun within the cosmos grows increasingly dim and old. And at the appearance of a sufficiently large number of Sun-spots, the other Planetary Intelligences recognised that they would now no longer be ruled by the Sun. They resolved no longer to allow the earth to be dependent on the Sun, but to make it dependent henceforth on the entire cosmos directly. This took place through the planetary Counsels of the Archangels. Notably under the leadership of Oriphiel, this emancipation of the Planetary Intelligences from the Sun-Intelligence took place. It was a complete separation of Cosmic Powers that had hitherto belonged together. The Sun-Intelligence of Michael and the Planetary Intelligences gradually came into cosmic opposition one with another.”
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA237/English/RSP1977/19240808p01.html
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Wickramasinghe (2017) explained the SARS outbreak 2002 as the beginning of a sunspot low: “The modern period 2002-2017 has been characterised by the lowest solar activity since the Dalton minimum (Figure 1a).“
Since 1979, he adheres to a bizar panspermia hypothesis (with Hoyle), while Steiner had sticked to a hormonal explanation of epidemics. “More significantly, in our view, during solar minimum, new viruses, bacteria and other microscopic biological entities can penetrate the interplanetary magnetic field barrier and reach the stratosphere.“
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To combine the last two posts, as I understand them, do we agree that Steiner is saying that sunspots, like liver spots, indicate the aging and eventual death of the sun? But, also, sunspot lows are associated with increased viruses on earth. Does this mean the death of the sun, itself, releases energy that protects the stratosphere – that the sun sacrifices itself for life on earth?
It is disturbing (though not surprising) to me to learn that Steiner said the planetary Counsels of Archangels, because they knew the sun was dying, opted for a “complete separation of cosmic powers that had hitherto belonged together” and that “Earth should no longer be ruled by the sun, but by the whole cosmos”. Does this mean the human being is left to the mercy of any given cosmic power? Is this being reflected in our predatory, multinational corporate economy that’s killing the Earth and all Its species of life? And whose effects on climate are producing new viral and bacterial dangers?
Steiner said (in a related vein): ” We might ask why they (referring to Lucifer and Ahriman) do not submit to the will of the gods who guide normal progress. They simply do not . We have to accept that as a fact.”(5 March 1920). I really struggle with accepting that I just have to accept such a fact. And I think a similar struggle is being played out on other octaves with the need to change our behaviors because of the virus. The pull to stay unconscious, asleep, on automatic, is powerful.
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You see, that’s it, you have hit the nail on the head exactly when you say, “The pull to stay unconscious, asleep, on automatic, is powerful”. As for L & A, we are in the unique position of opposing them consciously because we know who they are and what they do, for both good and ill.
The issue here is the sacrifice of Michael in releasing his hold on the Cosmic Intelligence as Leader, in order to allow it to fall to earth and become the personal and individual intelligence of humanity. This occurred in the 9th century, and enabled the other Planetary Intelligences to gain a foothold of their own. The Sun has been dying ever since, and this why the renewal of the Cosmic Intelligence of Michael is not only imperative, but also very possible through Spiritual Science. But people are resisting it in favor of their precious personal and individual intelligence, which wants to have nothing to do with it, and clings ever more closely to materialism. Thus, the crisis is one of choosing ignorance or knowledge at an important turning point in time.
Sun spots indicate perturbations, but what is their source in arising? As well, these solar minimums and maximums. Steiner has indicated in numerous places that the Sun has no real physical existence, and if one were to actually go where the Sun is they would experience the Ether as an absorbent force; thus suction. The Sun is empty space, even emptier than empty. Counter-Space. Now, how do the solar physicists deal with that? Where do they get their data?
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What interests me about this query, and I get to be the respondent of my own posting, pardon me, is that if the the sun is dying since Michael sent down the personal and individual intelligence into mankind, then it must be our resolve through spiritual science to sent it back up to him. Does that make sense? Steiner has been called, ‘the emissary of Michael” for just this particular purpose, and it seems convincing to me.
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Ton, how would you compare the physical phenomena of solar activity and 5G in terms of impact on humanity’s constitution?
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I would suggest the comparison of the effect of radio frequency radiation (5G) and solar activity (sun spots, polar light) specifically on the hormone melatonin (pineal gland)…
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As I understand neuro-chemicals, melatonin is involved in relaxed, dreamy, non-specfic states of consciousness. It predominates in sleep states and in depression. It is converted to seratonin in the presence of full-spectrum light which is associated with alertness, clarity and the capacity (courage?) to cope. I never thought before that the pull to stay unconscious and the action of certain defense mechanisms are likely associated with melatonin predominance in the synaptic cleft (!)
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See Pubmed: Melatonin secretion rises as solar activity increases during the ascending limb [1996-2000] of the 23rd sunspot cycle [Bartsch, Tübingen, 2014].
Thus, melatonin secretion decreases (more alertness and courage) as solar activity diminishes (e.g. during new pandemics and grand sunspot minima).
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Since people are now onto melatonin and serotonin, I can recommend a novel by the French writer Michel Houellebecq called Serotonin. Parts of it are a bit pornographic, but it’s an on the money portrayal of what has been going on in Western societies and its effect on individual people. The same is true of his previous novel, Submission.
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I have kept quiet for a bit because I tend to get frivolous. However,
An aspect of the current pandemic has been The Separation of people in quarantine of Social Distancing.
Another aspect is that people are allowed to ‘meet and interact’ only electronically. (As we are doing on this blog but we are not e.g. the EU heads of state trying to find a common way forward.
AND Even Religion is now celebrated via Ahriman’s web with live streamed services from empty churches – a unique Easter.
Today in Germany a minister is proposing a law to force employers to allow those who now have to work from home to be allowed to continue to do so after Distancing rules are lifted. On the one hand there is good reason to reduce unnecessary commuting and so on. BUT it is another step in keeping human beings apart.
Who gains and who loses both materially and spiritually from alienation?
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Jaromer, I, too, originally thought the increased use of electronic media because of the virus would entrap us more deeply in Ahriman’s web. And that may be A’s objective. But I’m re-thinking that now. One of the first things that happened with some of my patients was to question continuing to live by artificial/mechanical means: eg. breathing treatments and dialysis. I’m hoping the virus is giving us the opportunity to be more sensitized to the differences between genuine and artificial connection…mechanical connection. And to examine how we have been allowing ourselves to be “on automatic” (robotic) during our waking hours. I’m thinking of how many times I’ve observed a group of people sitting around a table in a restaurant and most or all of them are on their phones. Once the restrictions are no longer necessary, I wonder – will there be as much of it?
And those church services. How often was all that group worship used to keep ourselves asleep – chanting and sermonizing without a clue about how a genuine connection with the spiritual world is experienced? Most “religious” people I know would think my most genuine experiences are “evil” and Steiner must be Satan. (I live in a rural, very conservative, community.) And also, it may be that nothing Ahriman can throw at us is more destructive than our fundamental assumption – shared by “religious” and secular folks alike – that we really do live by bread alone, in a material world that’s “real”. And we drink the cool-aide every day to cooperate with a predatory economic “religion” that is killing us and the whole earth – and this pandemic might just be able to bring it to its knees – worldwide. I hope, I hope… .
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Thematically, Steiner related an ‘asuric’ power to black magic (CW 104a), to the fallen life ether (CW 130), to Anglo-American economic life, to cultural disease and death (CW 121 and 194), and to intellectual Arabism and Bolshevism (CW 346).
The third adversary power (Asuras, Sorat) seems to be connected with the first beast at the abyss (CW 270), with Old Saturn (Archai, CW 99 and 100), with the post-atlantean era (CW 266) and with the consciousness soul (CW 107).
This adversary power was called ‘Behemoth’ in Job 40, and the two-horned ‘beast out of the earth’ (ram) in Revelation 13. It can be described as a human power, apart from the seven-headed ahrimanic sea-monster Leviathan (leopard) and the luciferic bird Ziz (dragon).
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The two significant and extended places where Rudolf Steiner spoke about the “two-horned beast” out of the earth were these two courses:
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA346/English/UNK1995/Apocal_index.html
https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA184/English/RSP1965/ThrStr_index.html
Now, what is important about GA346 is that it was Steiner’s very last lecture-course, and by his own admission, put him into exhaustion. It challenges the priests of the Christian Community to establish a fourth mystery epoch for our time using the Book of Revelation as its means.
Of course, this brings into strong relief the workings of the anti-Christ, Soradt, in three successive periods, beginning in 666 AD, through 1332, and now in our time, since 1998. Steiner wanted the priests to take this up as a charter for their future activity. The earlier course, GA184 from October 1918, is important for setting up how the advent of Soradt has a certain relationship to 333 AD, as the midpoint of the 4th cultural epoch.
Now, what came out of Soradt’s first evolutionary surge/phase/period/ incarnation, and maybe we need to decide how we want to characterize this activity of Soradt, is the Eighth Ecumenical Council of 869 AD, which demonstrates infiltration into the Roman church for the purpose of abolishing the Spirit in the true human trinity of body, soul, and spirit. Humanity became a dualistic being at this point, and its influence continues to sustain to this today.
It would be good, if anyone is interested, to draw attention to what Vlad Soloviev actually experienced in vision on his return to Russia in 1898. Steiner spoke about him and his earlier incarnation of the 4th century in the final volume of Karmic Relationships, lecture 8.
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Steiner indicated, successively:
“a bodily incarnation for Sorat. That will be the incarnation in flesh of the demon of the sun.“ GA0104a/19090520
“In the year 666 there could have come — visibly for ordinary people, particularly for men of the West — an important being who would not have entered the physical plane, but would have made himself very clearly perceptible to mankind even in an external way, so that they would have become his victims.” GA0184/19181011
“He will show himself before the end of this century already, and he will appear in a great many people as a being by whom they will be possessed. Etc.“ GA0346/19240912
Also, in his notebooks Steiner had mentioned the year 333 B.C. and the cutting of the Gordian knot by Alexander the Great. The time from 333 B.C. to 333 A.D. was the period, in which the threat existed to sink into the kingdom of the beast (CW 205, not translated).
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Hi Ton, and thanks for your glossary of comments concerning Sorat. I suspect that this comes from the compendium of that fellow who took the time to find every place that Rudolf Steiner referred to anything, and then referenced it.
Now, here is the place I find really interesting because it refers to a black magician. You wrote:
“a bodily incarnation for Sorat. That will be the incarnation in flesh of the demon of the sun.“ GA0104a/19090520
It can be shown that the leader of the Academy of Gondishapur in 666 AD was just such a black magician, and as such had the power to effectuate the “luciferic double” in its students. The most indicative of students was Haroun -ar Raschid, who would reincarnate as Francis Bacon. As well, Haroun’s counselor, Ya Ya, who would reincarnate as Amos Comenius.
Yet, no one has ever indicated to this day who the black magician was that rose to the leadership of the Academy of Gondishapur. Now, what if it can be shown that it was King Solomon of old biblical times?
And then, in furthermore, what if it can be shown that Solomon reincarnated as James, who would eventually launch the advent of the so-called “New World”? You know, Steiner had reasons for calling James a very strange personality, and wherein it would be good to know about the reasons why, ref. GA185, lectures 1 & 2.
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1) …”humanity became a dualistic being at this point”: Does this mean the time man acquiesced to the church and accepted the doctrine that we are not immortal spirits? But this doesn’t mean we really ARE dualistic beings. We just THINK we are – so we give over our power/responsibility to Monsanto, etc. and any devil-who-made-me-do-it.
2) I’ve never read Steiner to be saying we are separate from – or wholly other than – this array of immortal “gods” who influence earth history (Luci, Ahri, Sor, etc.). And when those spiritual beings (“Archangels Counsel”) opted for “a separation of cosmic powers” weren’t they supposedly cast to Earth by Michael? Aren’t they us? Otherwise we live in a universe of good guys and bad guys and there is no end to the conspiracies we have to foment to amuse and mutilate ourselves.
3) And isn’t the question for humanity at this point – how do we engage in this time of pandemic to reinstate ourselves as immortal spirits – each, uniquely, but essentially, ONE?
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We are immortal spirits, regardless of pandemic or not. We don’t have to be reinstated, but we DO have to rise up out of a kind of general complacency,lethargy, indolence, apathy, or whatever it may be called, in order to take this present-day “personal individual intelligence”, and integrate it with the Cosmic Intelligence of Michael. This will restore the dying Sun to its former condition which prevailed in more ancient times when the general collective consciousness was ours as a natural inheritance.
So, the work is to be ours through will and effort, which is the substance of self-initiation. It is interesting that in times of solar minimum, complacency is the norm, and in times of solar maximum, agitation is present. Complacency/Agitation in terms of the Human Spirit comprised of individual members all imbued with Ego consciousness at a certain level of development. Spiritual Science is really a school, but with few people really wanting to go inside.
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