Holy Nights - Rudolf Steiner Archive

12 Holy Nights & Epiphany
The Birth of the Christ Within Ourselves

First Apocalyptic Seal by Clara Rettich (1911)

http://192.168.1.40/blog/HolyNights.html

♍︎ Virgo—Dec 25 (September)
♎︎ Libra—Dec 26 (October)
♏︎ Scorpio—Dec 27 (November)
♐︎ Sagittarius—Dec 28 (December)
♑︎ Capricorn—Dec 29 (January)
♒︎ Aquarius—Dec 30 (February)
♓︎ Pisces—Dec 31 (March)
♈︎ Aries—Jan 1 (April)
♉︎ Taurus—Jan 2 (May)
♊︎ Gemini—Jan 3 (June)
♋︎ Cancer—Jan 4 (July)
♌︎ Leo—Jan 5 (August)

The twelve Holy Nights between Christmas and Epiphany are an opportunity to reflect on the twelve celestial forces represented by zodiac to stream into ourselves, cleaning out what no longer serves us to manifest our highest selves during the twelve months of the upcoming year. From December 26 through Epiphany on January 6, we prepare for the year to come. Also known as Three Kings Day, Epiphany celebrates the Christ's birth in mankind.

These twelve Holy Nights reflect the the difference between the time it takes the Moon to meet the Sun from one time to the next over the course of a year. The Sun takes about 365 1/2 days to complete its orbit (around the zodiac), while and Moon, with a month of 29 1/2 days, has an annual 12-month cycle of 354 days. This, we have the gap of 11.5 days. See The Twelve Holy Nights by Willi Sucher.

In this guide, we offer a compilation of verses and occult wisdom taught by Rudolf Steiner for contemplation during the Holy Nights in preparation for the upcoming year. These verses and insights for the 12 months, moods, and zodiacs can then be revisited throughout the course of the year. First, is a brief synopsis of the sources. Second, is a practice guide. Consider practicing these groupings of 12 that align with the months of the year together with the 52 verses of Calendar of the Soul.

Twelve consonants and seven vowels

In Rudolf Steiner's lectures on Eurythmy as Visible Speech, he identifies twelve sounds of the consonants of the alphabet and seven vowels. "When we take the consonants really according to their innermost nature, grouping those letters together that are somewhat similar in sound, we get the twelve consonants. Thus we have twelve consonants and seven vowels. We arrive at the nineteen possibilities of sound when we see the consonantal element in the Zodiac, and the vowel element in the moving circle of the planets. This is the language of the heavens; whenever a planet stands between two signs of the Zodiac, in reality a vowel is standing between two consonants. The constellations arising through the motions of the planets are indeed a heavenly utterance that sounds forth with infinite variety. And that which is here uttered is the being of man. Small wonder, then, that in the possibilities of gesture and movement the cosmos itself is brought to expression.

Such thoughts as these enable us to realize that in eurhythmy we are really reviving the temple dancing of the ancient Mysteries, the reflection of the dance of the stars, the reflection of the utterances of the gods in heaven to human beings below upon the earth. It is only necessary, by means of spiritual perception, to find once again in our age the possibility of discovering the inner meaning of the gestures in question.

12 members of the human body

Rudolf Steiner refers to the human body as the "temple of the Godhead." We can "search the human figure for the hidden secrets of the spiritual world" to find knowledge that is of utmost importance to the human heart and soul. We have twelve members that at first appear as a unity of one form, but in reality the twelve forces of the cosmos work actively through us and out into the world through our actions. https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA137/English/RSP1964/19120608p01.html

4 x 12 Human Being

Four = fourfold man x Twelve = 1+2 = 3 classes in each hierarchy; together, 4+3 = 7 fold man and nature of things

4 x 12 = 48 = 4+8 = 12 = 1 + 2 = 3 = Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) reflected in all things.

Twelve Senses

Rudolf Steiner maps twelve human senses to the zodiac in many lectures, including one given on August 12, 1916. https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA170/English/RSP1990/19160812p01.html In notes taken by Rudolf Steiner's contemporaries during earlier lectures, one finds these twelve senses further described.https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA265a/English/SOL2025/19130520fm.html and https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA265a/English/SOL2025/19130512fm.html

Today, then, we have discovered nineteen gestures; twelve static, and seven permeated with movement—of which latter one is quiescent only because rest is the antithesis of movement. (In the Moon we have movement annulled by its very velocity.) https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA279/English/APC1956/19240707p02.html

The list of the letters pertaining to the zodiac and seven vowels are provided here: https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA279/English/APC1956/19240708p02.html

Twelve Virtues

For right action in the world, we must digest and transform what we receive. Rudolf Steiner expounded upon H. P. Blavatsky's assignment of virtues to the zodiac signs with his addition of qualities and powers the virtues become with practice. Begin practicing each virtue around the 21st of the previous month until the 1st of the month after next, for example: Devotion from March 21 to May 1, etc. /Lectures/GA267/English/SOL2025/04_Twelve_Virtues.html

Twelve shades and Seven Primary World-Outlooks

"We had better arrange the twelve world-outlooks in the form of a circle (see Diagram 11), and quietly observe them. They are possible, and one must know them. They really stand in such a relation to one another that they form a mental copy of the Zodiac with which we are now so well acquainted. As the sun apparently passes through the Zodiac, and as other planets apparently do the same, so it is possible for the human soul to pass through a mental circle which embraces twelve world-pictures. Indeed, one can even bring the characteristics of these pictures into connection with the individual signs of the Zodiac, and this is in no wise arbitrary, for between the individual signs of the Zodiac and the Earth there really is a connection similar to that between the twelve world-outlooks and the human soul." https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA151/English/RSP1991/19140122p02.html

♄ Saturn—Gnosis
♃ Jupiter—Logicism
♂ Mars—Voluntarism
○ Sun—Empiricism
♀ Venus—Mysticism
☿ Mercury—Transcendentalism
☾ Moon—Occultism
♁ Earth

Twelve Moods

In his remarks before a Eurythmy presentation of the Twelve Moods on August 29, 1915, Rudolf Steiner articulated a primary them for each period of the Zodiac. https://rsarchive.org/Articles/GA040/English/MP1984/TwlMoo_words.html Further, he provided a verse that expresses precisely the mood in which each line expresses the working of the planet in question. From the Introduction, "In each verse the first line carries the Sun's radiance; the second line takes us to the gentle warmth of Venus; the third, to the ego-impelled activity of Mercury; the fourth, to the outgoing aggressiveness of Mars; the fifth, to wisdom-illumined Jupiter; the sixth, to the profound, contemplative mood of Saturn; and the last line, to the creative strength of the Moon, reflecting back the Sun line at the beginning of the verse."https://rsarchive.org/Articles/GA040/English/MP1984/TwlMoo_intro.html It is in essence a twelve/seven membered poem leading us "to be able to say, 'Ah, yes! Mars in Scorpio!' With another line, he would have to say, 'Jupiter in Libra,”'and so forth." https://rsarchive.org/Articles/GA040/English/MP1984/TwlMoo_words.html

The Song of Initiation

Insert background information

https://rsarchive.org/Articles/GA040/English/MP1984/TwlMoo_song.htm

Twelve Commandments

Rudolf Steiner mapped the ten commandments to the zodiac and further added the eleventh and twelfth as the love by which the law is abolished. "The Ten Commandments and the eleventh and twelfth, love, by which the law is abolished. The number \(\pi\) ( ♊︎ \(+\) ♌︎ ) is the transformation into the new commandment, spiritual love, by which the law is overcome. \(\pi =\) Christ. The divided power of love \( \)♓︎. The united power of love \(=\) ♊︎." https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA091/English/SOL2026/19061004p01.html

Breviary

In his lectures to priests, Rudolf Steiner offered twelve verses to be used in a breviary-like manner.² The last one is for the time in autumn leading up to November 23rd and ends with the question, "How do I find the world in my darkness? Advent answers that question the next month with the Word flowing through heaven and earth and coming to earth in Jesus. Then for the Christmas season, the Christ speaks the Word and a new ancestor of mankind reveals Spirit creates matter. We follow the breviary throughout the course of the year to find this Spirit in our own lives and in the world.

Festivals

The festivals are taken from Rudolf Steiner's lectures as well as the Calendar of the Soul. Further information is added from a lecture given by Willi Sucher, a student of Rudolf Steiner, entitled, The Twelve Holy Nights.

Twelve Disciples/States of Consciousness

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA093a/English/RSP1982/19050926p01.html

Twelve Tribes of Israel

12 sons of Jacob. "The positions and relation-ships of the planets in the Zodiac formed constellations from which was drawn the language used to proclaim the deeds of the Gods in the Universe. The firm bond demonstrated in the Zodiac and in the relations of the planets to the twelve constellations was to come to expression in the blood-kinship of the descendants of Abraham. The twelve sons of Jacob, also the twelve tribes of the Hebrew people are therefore images of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac." https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA123/English/RSP1965/19100904p02.html

Twelve Cranial Nerves

12 elements of nature (earth, water, wind, fire, thunder, ice, force, time, flower, shadow, light, moon)

Other examples

12 elements
12 petaled lotus: Heart chakra
Carbon 12 (12 protons, 12 neutrons, 12 electrons; HOYLE STATE = HOLY STATE: excited, spinless, resonant state of carbon 12; nucleosynthesis of carbon in helium brings statis
Mass is exactly 12 (6 protons, 6 neutrons) like small cupola
Foundation Stone Meditation
Twelve Thrones of Goetheanum - see Last Address

Zodiac & Planetary Symbol Key

7 Upper/ascending forces

♈︎ Aries (April)
♉︎ Taurus (May)
♊︎ Gemini (June)
♋︎ Cancer (July)
♌︎ Leo (August)
♍︎ Virgo (September)
♎︎ Libra (October)

5 Lower/descending Forces

♏︎ Scorpio (November)
♐︎ Sagittarius (December)
♑︎ Capricorn (January)
♒︎ Aquarius (February)
♓︎ Pisces (March)

7 Planetary Influence

♄ Saturn
♃ Jupiter
♂ Mars
○ Sun
♀ Venus
☿ Mercury
☾ Moon
♁ Earth

♍︎ Virgo
September (Sep 8 - Oct 12)

Sound: B

Mood

Becoming achieves the power ‘to be’,
Into what is, the might of becoming dies.
Achievement resolves the desire to strive
Into prevailing will-force of life.
In dying, there ripens prevailing of worlds,
Forms disappear within forms.
What has come to be, may it feel what is!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

But he was in world-midnight seeing
How Homer, Socrates and Goethe too
Within his ego's deepest being
Their sharp soul-arrows shot—(at who?).
And their quite undiminished center
By karma into him did enter,
In him into still grander being grew.

Breviary: Advent

The Word flows through heaven and earth
It spoke authoritatively to Moses on the mountain
It forms world beings, for the revelation to man
It weaves in the human interior, through itself to the hidden

It shines as the sun from the light into the darkness
It lives in Christ, bright out of the darkness, gentle in the brightness
It comes to earth in Jesus.

Breviary: Christmas

In the earthly man, He speaks from nature of the mystery of the world
In him, He works as the creative power of the world, full of light
In him, He speaks the Word about his own nature
In his speaking, the gate of death and darkness opens.

In Him a new ancestor has appeared for man
Through Him reconciliation with the heights of the world is achieved
Through Him matter reveals Spirit, Spirit creates matter.

Festivals

Winter Solstice (N. Hemisphere) ~ December 21
Advent = Four Sundays/Weeks before Christmas
Christmas = December 25
Holy Nights = December 26-January 6
Saint John's (the the Apostle) Day = December 27

♑︎ Capricorn
January (Jan 5 - Feb 8)

Sound: L

Holy Night: Dec 29

"This is connected with the Prophet Nathan, who was the son of David and deeply connected with the prophecy of the Christ Events. He was a personality to whom the heavens lay open. The ancient name for Capricorn was the Gate of the Gods. Nathan saw through this gateway, and he took an active part in the preparation of the physical body for the Christ." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

This is the "goat-fish" or "sea-goat" which is half flowing water and half animal on land. it represents flexibility and a meeting of the environment (but in the negative can become rigidity).

Human Form and Senses

Elbows; knees
Sense of Sight

Virtue

Courage becomes redemptive power.

Commandment

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

World-Outlook

Spiritism. This is the idea that there is more than just one spirit, but rather a hierarchy.

Mood

May what is coming, rest on what has been.
May what has been, surmise what is to come,
For a vigorous present existence.
Through inward life-withstanding
May world-beings' guard grow strong,
May life's working might blossom forth,
May what has been endure what is to come!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

“And so you feel old Homer's genius move
Most strongly in your conscious reach?"
"Oh, no! such things I do not love,"
Thus spake with pointed speech
The Initiate. "I never for Maya strove;
Old Homer in my present incarnation
Would rest his mind in mystic meditation."

Breviary: Jesus' youth until his preparation for death

And walking on earth, the power of Wisdom grew in Him
And He could not be reached by the tempter
The Son of the lost human being
The healing power of the world
The disciple finds in his Being
From it He taught
And founded the Kingdom of the Spirit in the sphere of the senses.

Festivals

Holy Nights = December 26-January 6
Epiphany/Three Kings Day = January 6

♒︎ Aquarius
February (Feb 9 - Mar 8)

Holy Night: Dec 30

"This is connected with David (the star of Waterman). David lived a strange life. He could not become a King because of Saul, but lived in caves, often in danger of death. He gives us the impression of a man swimming in a stream whose waves carry him along, hence also his failures, though he is at times guided by cosmic powers to prepare the way for the physical body of the Christ. He is guided at times by a spiritual illumination, and this constellation is connected with human existence in the past, when people were as selfless as a plant. David was not selfless, but even so, he was an instrument used by destiny to bring about this coming event." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Sound: M

Human Form and Senses

Lower arms and legs
Sense of Warmth

Virtue

Discretion becomes meditative power.

Commandment

Let not thyself be lustful.

World-Outlook

Pneumatism

Mood

May what is bounded yield to the boundless.
What feels the lack of bounds, may it create
Bounds for itself in its depths;
May it raise itself in the current,
As wave, flowing forth, sustaining itself,
In becoming, shaping itself to existence.
Set yourself bounds, oh boundless!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

“O mystic transformed Socrates, I seek
In vain a trace in you of that great Greek.
He was as wise as you are egoistic.”
“Cease slandering,” (replied the Mystic).
“That man knows most, who knows he naught doth know,”
Said Socrates. And I know nothing, so
I stand securely on Socratic peak.

Breviary: Lent

The earth sinks from its original state
An abyss is destined for the good sense
Earthly man has lost the heritage of eternity
The sick require healing
A leader must arise for the directionless
The light must shine for him in the darkness
The power of the senses must turn spiritually.

Festivals

Candlemas/Presentation of Jesus at the Temple = February 2 (40 days after Christmas)

♓︎ Pisces
March (March 9 - April 13)

Sound: N

Holy Night: Dec 31- Jan 1

"This day is the end of the year and a day of destiny; for most people think of both past and future and feel the weight of destiny, their own destiny as well as that of the world and humanity. This is the Day of St. Sylvestrus, an early Pope of Constantine the Great, who was actively involved in making Christianity a state of religion of the Roman Empire. This time was the time of darkness for Christianity, because it then lost much of its esoteric nature and became exoteric and externalized, making it an instrument of power. We can be interested in Raphael’s cartoon in the Victoria Albert, which portrays the calling of Peter. Christ called Peter three times and Peter felt it as a reproach, you may remember, and when he enquired about John’s destiny, he was told that it would come to the fore later, which it did in Revelations." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Human Form and Senses

Hands and feet
Sense of Hearing

Virtue

Magnaminity becomes love.

Commandment

The law of the lower Self: Love one another.
The divided power of love (♓︎ Pisces), through the transformative power of the Christ (\(\pi\) ( ♊︎ \(+\) ♌︎ )becomes the united power of love (♊︎) in Gemini.

World-Outlook

Psychism

Mood

In what is lost, may the loss find itself,
In what is gained, may the gain lose itself,
In what is comprehended, may comprehending seek itself
And sustain itself by sustaining.
Through becoming, uplifted to existence,
Through existing, interwoven with the becoming.
May the loss be gain in itself!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

“And which of Goethe's sunbeams then doth lurk
Within you, is at present showing
Your soul the path to riper fruits of knowing?”
The Seer then grasps his sharpest quirk—
“No! Goethe's light, too bright, does but confuse!
Preferring then to dream his art, I choose
The depth of sleep in which to do my work!”

Breviary: Easter

I see heaven's radiance
I feel the grave as a spiritual effect
Death comes to me as a physical fall
The resurrection is placed before my spirit
The resurrection lives in my prayers
The Risen One lives in me
My mind is directed towards Him.

Festivals

Spring Equinox ~ March 20
Palm Sunday & Holy Week ~ The Sunday and Week before Easter
Easter ~ the first Sunday after the first full moon after Spring Equinox

Aries ♈︎
April (April 14 - 30)

Sound: V

Holy Night: Jan 1

"This is New Year’s Day, and the Baptism Day of the Jesus Child—The Names-giving Day. This conjures up mighty Christian Imaginations. The Child was named Jesus, and the naming of the Child then was a much deeper event then it is now. Much had been perceived supersensibly by Mary at the Annunciation. It was this Jesus who was later the bearer of the Christ. Then it was John the Baptist who cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God”, as Jesus advanced to the Baptism at the Jordan, when he was prepared to receive the Christ Ego. In Hebrew he would be called the “Ram of God”, and it is this event and knowledge that illuminates the constellation of Aries for us." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Human Form and Senses

Upright Posture; (head)
Sense of Language/Word

Virtue

Devotion becomes sacrificial power.

Commandment

I am the Lord your God.

World-Outlook

Idealism

Mood

Arise, oh shining light,
Take hold of growth and becoming,
Lay hold of the weaving of forces,
Yourself ray forth, life-wakening.
In face of resistance, gain;
In stream of time, disperse;
Oh shine of light, abide!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

How brightly his eyes are blinking;
In his head there stumbles his thinking,
By pleasures of brooding consumed.
Mid storms his fine memories following,
In wonderful images wallowing
That on branches of knowledge once bloomed,
Through mystical fever-nights loomed.

Breviary: Easter to Pentecost:

The supersensible has revealed itself
The meaning of good is the germ of existence
The sensory sphere is only appearance
Truth secretly rules being
I permeate myself with the power of the Risen One
I want to be a disciple of the Risen One
With Him, I want to be a being of another world.

Festivals

Easter ~ the first Sunday after the first full moon after Spring Equinox

♉︎ Taurus
May (May 1 - June 15)

Sound: R

Holy Night: Jan 2

"I have to move more quickly now, because I have overstepped my time, and can only say that these next three Nights represent the Three Kings. This Taurus constellation represents Melchoir, for it is the constellation of the Bull, which symbolizes that mighty kingly nature that is associated with gold." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Human Form and Senses

Forward direction; (larynx)
Sense of Thought

Virtue

Equilibrium becomes progress.

Commandment

You shall not make for yourself a graven image.

World-Outlook

Rationalism

Mood

Brighten, oh glory of being,
Reach into the power of becoming,
And weave the thread of life
Through worlds imbued with being,
In mindful revelation,
Into radiant life-awareness.
Oh glory of being, appear!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Soon spooks through his whirring brain,
In fooling somnambulem mood,
By heart-felt enjoyment pursued,
A ghostly and galloping train,
A vision, with clarity showing
How out of the cosmos, stridently crowing,
A chorus of spirits wail in refrain.

Breviary: Whitsun/Pentecost

Insight in the spirit can live,
In a new world, the meaning of good will take effect
In the Spirit, Truth carries itself
In the image of the mind, it reveals itself
It loosens my tongue
It frees my soul
It unites the divine with the human.

Festivals

Whitsun/Pentecost ~ 50 days after Easter Sunday

♊︎ Gemini
June (June 16 - July 20)

Sound: H

Holy Night: Jan 3

"Here we have Caspar with the Frankincense, which is an earthly substance that has also that duality, in that it also rises to the heavens as smoke, and then it becomes a quite different substance and consistency. There is that twofoldness within it that we associate with this sign." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Human Form and Senses

Symmetry; twins; head and feet; (shoulders; spine)
Sense of Self

Virtue

Perseverance becomes loyalty.

Commandment

The law of the higher Self: Love one another.
The divided power of love (♓︎ Pisces), through the transformative power of the Christ (\(\pi\) ( ♊︎ \(+\) ♌︎ )becomes the united power of love (♊︎) in Gemini.

World-Outlook

Mathematism

Mood

Reveal yourself, life of sun,
Stir up what tends to rest,
Embrace what desires to strive
Towards a mighty prevailing of life,
Towards a blessed knowing of worlds,
Towards a fruitful maturing of growth.
Oh life of sun, endure!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

The Ego resplendent is sailing away
From a thinking based on mere physical clay,
On spiritual wings upborne,
Is kicked by a greatly superior scorn
From the path of ennobled living,
And cosmic ethereal striving,—
Is ousted with little delay.

Breviary: St. John's Tide

In the becoming of space and time, the Spirit weaves
In the darkness of matter, the Spirit is powerfully active, forming images
A being awakens in the sleep of the sensory world.

Festivals

Summer Solstice ~ June 20
Saint John's (the Baptist) Day = June 24

♋︎ Cancer
July (July 21- Aug 3)

Sound: F (also V in German)

Holy Night: Jan 4

"This represents Belthazaar, who brought the myrrh, which sign has within itself a certain bitterness of Earth and yet a heavenly sweetness at times. In some connections, it has been associated with the beehive." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Human Form and Senses

Breast enclosure
Sense of Touch

Virtue

Unselfishness becomes catharsis (emotional purification).

Commandment

You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.

World-Outlook

Materialism

Mood

You resting, luminous glow,
Engender warmth of life,
Enwarm the life of soul
To meet with vigor each test
And permeate itself with spirit
In quiet, light-outstreaming.
You luminous glow, gain strength!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Outside the mere body already unfolding,
By spiritual messengers properly led,
By spiritual love conveniently fed,
By wise tomfoolery starkly sped,
Is the tenebrous soul's beholding:
In the wide and infinite expanses
Of cosmical spirit it swims and dances.

Breviary: Transfiguration, Paul & the time of ripening

The Spirit rises from the world of becoming
In the darkness, light is born
The Spirit rests in the web of the senses
The Spirit lives in my life.

Festivals

Transfiguration = August 6

♌︎ Leo
August (Aug 4 - Sep 7)

Sound: T (Tao)

Holy Night: Jan 5

"Here we have Simeon’s Day, when Jesus was brought to the Temple and Simeon cried, “All is fulfilled. Now I can behold the One Who is the Bearer of the Sun.” This brings us a new, rich imagination of the constellation of Lion, as the place of the Spiritual Sun of the universe." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Human Form and Senses

Upper Interior, Heart
Sense of Life

Virtue

Compassion becomes freedom.

Commandment

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest.

World-Outlook

Sensationalism

Mood

Invigorate with senses' might
Matured existence of all worlds,
Perceptive element of beings,
Toward the firm resolve 'to be'.
In the surging shine of life,
In the prevailing pains of growth,
With senses' might, arise!

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

What sounds so tremendously gripping,
So pregnant with spirit but void of ideas,
With love universal so splendidly dripping,
That keenly his high heart hears?
Advanced to the grade of the Lion,
There is fine new regalia to try on,
—Up the steep path of knowledge he's tripping.

Breviary: Transfiguration, Paul & the time of ripening

The Spirit rises from the world of becoming
In the darkness, light is born
The Spirit rests in the web of the senses
The Spirit lives in my life.

Festivals

Transfiguration = August 6

Holy Night: Epiphany - Jan 6 - Jump to Capricorn

"Now, what of the 13th Night, 6 January, you may ask? This is Epiphany, and it commemorates the Baptism of Christ, as Christ entered the corporeal being of Jesus. But this happened 30 years later. Therefore, Epiphany has a special quality in that we commemorate what happened 30 years previously. At this Epiphany, we may also go back to 30 years previously when another spiritual Being was born on the 13th Holy Night of Epiphany. This will become for us the real Festival of the Baptism of an ethereal Being that comes metaphorically to Its Spiritual Jordan and receives into His Being the Being of the Great Cosmic I Am.

Looking back to 1920, and the whole year that followed, we will realize that Rudolf Steiner gave his most important lectures then, and at Michaelmas, the Goetheanum was opened under that heading as its aim: The unity of Science, Art, and Religion. This belongs to that Being born at Christmas 1920. At that time, Rudolf Steiner gave his lecture on the “Search for the New Isis” (the Divine Sophia). To me this lecture has been continuously illuminating in my studies, and has become almost as a gospel, in fact.

What we have to contemplate with great gravity is that Being Who was born then approaches the end of the thirty years that prefaces the Ministry and approaches the Jordan for Baptism, by which we may experience and be endowed with the power of the I Am of the universe." Willi Sucher, January 6, 1953

Resources

How Spirit Works in Nature, GA 351, Lecture 1. On the Nature of Butterflies, 8 October 1923.
Lectures and Courses on Christian Religious Work II, GA 343, Lecture 27 (see also Lecture 26), 9 October 1921.
For a description of the planetary incarnations (Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan), epochs (Polaric, Hyperborean, Lemurian, Atlantean, Post Atlantean, 6th and 7th), and cultural periods of the Post Atlantean Epoch (Ancient Indian, Ancient, Persian, Egyptian-Chaldean, Greco-Roman, 5th/present, future 6th & 7th), see An Outline of Occult (Esoteric) Science, Chapter IV, GA 13.
Birth of the Light, Signs and Symbols of the Christmas Festival, GA 90a, 19 December 1904, Berlin.

Pre-Earthly Deeds of Christ

We are pleased to offer three different translations of Signs and Symbols of the Christmas Festival for comparison: (i) Lisa D. Monges, (ii) Dorothy S. Osmond, and (iii) Anna R. Meuss

The Rudolf Steiner Archive

12 Holy Nights & EpiphanyThe Birth of the Christ Within Ourselves

Twelve consonants and seven vowels

12 members of the human body

4 x 12 Human Being

Twelve Senses

Twelve Virtues

Twelve shades and Seven Primary World-Outlooks

Twelve Moods

The Song of Initiation

Twelve Commandments

Breviary

Festivals

Twelve Disciples/States of Consciousness

Twelve Tribes of Israel

Twelve Cranial Nerves

12 elements of nature (earth, water, wind, fire, thunder, ice, force, time, flower, shadow, light, moon)

Other examples

Zodiac & Planetary Symbol Key

♍︎ VirgoSeptember (Sep 8 - Oct 12)

Sound: B

Holy Night: Dec 25 (midnight 24th - midnight 25th)

Human Form and Senses

Virtue

Commandment

World-Outlook

Mood

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Breviary: Anticipation of the gifts of maturity

Festivals

♎︎ LibraOctober (Oct 13 - Nov 9)

Sound: Ts

Holy Night: Dec 26

Human Form and Senses

Virtue

Commandment

World-Outlook

Mood

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Breviary: (Michealmas) - harvest of nature's gifts

Festivals

♏︎ScorpioNovember (Nov 10 - 30)

Sound: Z

Holy Night: Dec 27

Human Form and Senses

Virtue

Commandment

World-Outlook

Mood

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Breviary: leading up to November 23

Festivals

♐︎ SagittariusDecember (Dec 1 - Jan 4)

Sound: G

Holy Night: Dec 28

Human Form and Senses

Virtue

Commandment

World-Outlook

Mood

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Breviary: Advent

Breviary: Christmas

Festivals

♑︎ CapricornJanuary (Jan 5 - Feb 8)

Sound: L

Holy Night: Dec 29

Human Form and Senses

Virtue

Commandment

World-Outlook

Mood

The Song of Initiation, a Satire

Breviary: Jesus' youth until his preparation for death

Festivals

♒︎ AquariusFebruary (Feb 9 - Mar 8)

Holy Night: Dec 30

Sound: M

Human Form and Senses

Virtue

12 Holy Nights & Epiphany
The Birth of the Christ Within Ourselves

♍︎ Virgo
September (Sep 8 - Oct 12)

♎︎ Libra
October (Oct 13 - Nov 9)

♏︎Scorpio
November (Nov 10 - 30)

♐︎ Sagittarius
December (Dec 1 - Jan 4)

♑︎ Capricorn
January (Jan 5 - Feb 8)

♒︎ Aquarius
February (Feb 9 - Mar 8)

♓︎ Pisces
March (March 9 - April 13)

Aries ♈︎
April (April 14 - 30)

♉︎ Taurus
May (May 1 - June 15)

♊︎ Gemini
June (June 16 - July 20)

♋︎ Cancer
July (July 21- Aug 3)

♌︎ Leo
August (Aug 4 - Sep 7)