The Third Holy Night - Goat/Capricorn

GOAT/CAPRICORN

The Archangels rule the Region of the Goat or Capricorn. The Archangels have a special relationship to the birth of the inner sun and the foremost of these Archangels at the time of Christ was Michael.  Rudolf Steiner tells us that the Archangels were able to imbibe the wisdom of the sun and to create light from it, and so the light in the cosmos is their gift. For this reason they have a particular relationship to the heart which is like an inner sun, and the light the heart engenders within the human being. Michael battles with the dragon of darkness every Autumn so that the Christmas season, the season of the Goat, can be experienced in the right 'light', preventing thereby, the darkening of the Christ Impulse.

John the Baptist was able to experience the midnight sun and this became the Waterman initiation. Such an initiation always reveals the circle of twelve archangels that form the cosmic aura around the sun in rainbow colours. In the north in the depths of winter darkness, this is an inner experience, here in the south it is an outer one. Those of us in the south, have the opportunity to observe the sun around the midday hour, on a warm summer's day. At such times, if the conditions are favourable, one is able to see a corona - a rainbow around the sun. This is a gift of grace which we carry with us into the depths of winter, and the memory of it can help us to observe the inner sun (the midnight sun) and the corona of the archangels around it who are the heavenly inspirers of the Holy Nights which occur at the time of their greatest influence. These are the Masters of Wisdom of Feelings and Sensations and their task is to shine down to earth the twelve cosmic aspects of Christ. They were the inspirers of the twelve disciples who, as their representatives, had the task of reflecting these twelve aspects physically, outwardly on earth.

On earth it is the Archangel Gabriel who announces to Mary the Birth of Jesus. In the heavens it was through the gateway of Capricorn, or the Goat, the region of the Archangels, that Christ descended into the sheaths of Jesus at the Baptism in the Jordan, bypassing the region of the angels altogether, to bring with him the Baptism of Fire we spoke of -  the baptism of the spirit. Air and Fire, are the lowest physical elements in which Archangels can become manifest on earth.

How do we draw close to the Archangels?

At this time of the year, our words must become spiritualised if we want to draw close to the archangels who rule the element of speech. Capricorn is also connected to the knee  - bending the knee is a sign of reverence - kneeling in prayer for instance - spiritualised speech.

This night also has a special relationship to Zarathustra, the individuality who was the most exalted pupil of the Sun oracle and so capable of observing Christ in the corona of the sun. He was incarnated again as the Matthew Jesus from the lineage of Solomon, and he sacrificed his abode in Jesus at the Baptism in order to make way for the being of Christ.

So, dear friends, when we look upwards on this night to the region of the Goat, may we see the connection between Christ, the Archangels, specially the being of Michael, and Master Jesus, the individuality of Zarathustra, the great Persian king, who sang his Hymns to the sun. May our words in the day express the warmth and light of the spirit that has entered into us at night because we have drawn close to Michael and the Masters of Wisdom. Perhaps we might even wake up in our sleep a moment to see the sun at midnight!

Let
Love
Warmed
Words
Light-
Filled
Live!