Advent & Christmas
A Time of Transformation
December 2, 2025
Advent offers a profound opportunity for personal transformation during the four weeks leading to Christmas. The rays of the cosmic forces that flowed through the world in warm summer heights must now work in our human nature to enliven seeds of wisdom buried in cold winter depths. Through the Twelve Holy Nights until Epiphany, we fill our souls with spiritual forces so they may emerge from the dense earth in the spring's warm air to be carried into the world through our actions. Like a caterpillar weaving a chrysalis filled with summer sunshine, we must sheath ourselves in spirit to break down, reconnect, and reemerge in an enlightened form. Then, like a butterfly, we might "enjoy the activity of a sun-being" arising from the light which has first been imprisoned.1
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:
I lack the strength of my will
The sense of good wants to work
I see a world that destroys itself
In the destruction I must seek the light of becoming for myself
Darkness spreads in me
dying in the world in being human
How do I find the world in my darkness?
Advent answers that question the next month. For the Advent season:
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 hiddenIt 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.
Now the Christmas season:
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.
And in the time following Christmas, when we reflect on those parts of the Gospel that deal with 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.
Advent prepares us for this birth of the Christ, the Sun God, within ourselves. Over time, since the fall of the original perfect Adam, the human etheric body lost its contact with spiritual forces and the physical body began to dry and harden. Through the deeds of Jesus Christ, humanity was graced with a path out of the dark realms of material world. No longer would we be subject to death and eternal entombment in this material world. We were granted the possibility of eternal life with the rest of the cosmic realms should we choose to develop ourselves appropriately through our free will.
Long preparations were required for such an exalted, spiritual being as the Christ to incarnate here on Earth as a man. 3 In his lecture entitled Birth of Light, Steiner explains how the four weeks of Advent represent the four prior Post-Atlantean cultural periods (Indian, Persian, Chaldean, Greco-Roman). 4 Advent signifies the evolution of the universe itself—from Unity to Duality to Trinity and, ultimately, to the present four-fold human being. We are the only beings on earth with a physical body like the highest body of the minerals, an etheric body like the plants, an astral body like the animals, and a human I/ego.
The lighting of candles in the Advent wreath is a wonderful tool for contemplating the meaning of each week.
| Week 1 | UNITY | In the beginning was the Word/Brahman | Indian (Rishis) | Physical Body; Minerals |
| Week 2 | DUALITY | The Fall, Good/Evil, Light/Darkness Division of the Sexes |
Persian (Zarathustra) | Etheric Body; Plants |
| Week 3 | TRINITY | Father, Son, Holy Spirit | Egyptian-Chaldean (Isis, Osirus, Horus) | Astral Body; Animals |
| Week 4 | CHRIST BORN IN MAN | The Word Made Flesh | Greek-Roman (Christ Jesus) | Ego; Human Being |
Not only is Advent a symbol of human evolution, but it also shows us our path to return to God (the Word or Logos) through the Christ being born in us each Christmas. With the lighting of the fifth candle of the Advent wreath, we recognize the birth of the Christ within ourselves in our present time — the fifth cultural period of the Post-Atlantean epoch. Through the prior deeds of the Christ, we can now evolve as human beings to once again become fitting raiment for the original Word of God that rang forth in the beginning. With the light of the Christ shining within us, we can rejoin the Harmony of the Spheres.
Christmas as a Continuation of the Ancient MysteriesIn Signs and Symbols of the Christmas Festival, Steiner shows us the relationship of the ancient mysteries and to the Christmas mystery.5 He explains that while the custom of decoration a Christmas tree is a relatively recent phenomenon, the celebration of Christmas is old. In the darkness of winter, the most ancient Mysteries of all religions everywhere celebrated this sun festival. It was not merely a festival of the sun in the sky, but one that leads us to "a divination of the sources of existence." Great detail is offered describing the process by which initiates would enter a dark cave, to witness around midnight, the “Harmony of the Spheres” and the rainbow colors that would light up the dark space. This was referred to as "Seeing the sun at the midnight hour." In such initiates, the sun of the Spirit alone would then live in their inner being and radiate over all darkness of matter. While we now speak of a Christos, the ancient Mysteries spoke of a Sun Hero "who embodies the same ideal as is connected with the Christos in Christianity."
Today, we follow these same rhythms of the sun with our festivals. Christ Jesus, a Sun Hero, brings light into the dark winter through our very souls if we accept Him. The Christmas tree symbolizes the Tree of Paradise, which represents all material nature here in the Earthly realm. Steiner also offers symbols to adorn the tree which represent the stages of earthly and human evolution.
- □ symbolizes the fourfold nature of man: physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego
- △ symbolizes the higher man: spirit self, life spirit, and spirit man
- above the triangle is the symbol for the Tarot (a T combined with the Greek Ρ symbol for rho) which records all world events from beginning (alpha Α) to end (omega Ω).
- ☥ the Tao (I am) is placed above as one rises higher in spiritual development
- ⛤ the star of mankind adorns the pinnacle. Steiner states, "It is the star that all wise men follow as did the priest-sages in ancient ages."
The stages of Earth evolution flow through the human evolutionary path upward. One might contemplate our current position in the center of the cross. See how the half circle below the cross of the T in the Tarot moves to the top of the T in the ankh. We must enliven the spiritual Sun within our hearts and raise it into heartfelt thinking. Thus, the Tao or the Ankh represents everlasting life in the Sun Hero, Christ.
Shining the Light of Christ this Christmas
Christmas is the birth of Christianity itself—changing the path of human evolution from death to eternal life in Christ. Steiner's message delivered in 1906 rings true today.
[The star atop the Christmas tree] symbolizes the earth that is born on the Night of Consecration, because the most sublime light radiates from the deepest darkness. Man lives on toward a state when the light shall be born in him, when one significant saying shall be replaced by another, when it will no longer be said, “The Darkness does not comprehend the Light” but when the truth will resound into cosmic space with the words, “Darkness gives way to the Light that radiates toward us in the Star of Mankind, Darkness yields and comprehends the Light.”
This shall resound from the Christmas celebration, and the spiritual light shall radiate from it. Let us celebrate Christmas as the festival of the most lofty ideal of the Idea of Mankind, so that in our souls may rise the joyful confidence: Indeed, I, too, shall experience the birth of the higher man within myself. The birth of the Savior, the Christos, will take place in me also.
In Festivals of the Seasons, Steiner further elaborates on the meaning of the Christmas tree as not only representing the evolution of humanity, but also the meaning of the Holy Trinity itself.6 The Christ is born three times: 1) once as God the Father, the Word, the Logos Who permeates the world; 2) once as Man with the birth of Jesus Christ and Christianity; and 3) again and again, within the souls of those who can awaken the Word of the Spirit in their innermost being — the Holy Spirit. He continues:
For without this last birth Christianity would not be complete, nor would Anthroposophy be capable of grasping the Christian Spirit did it not understand that the Word brought home to us year after year is not intended to remain theory and dogma, but is to become both Light and Life—a force, indeed, by which we may contribute spirituality to life in this world as well as gather spirituality for ourselves—and so be one with the other—incorporated with the Spirit for all Eternity.
Thus, it is up to us to rise to the occasion during the darkness of winter to accept the spiritual Sun within our own hearts. Steiner leaves us with this beautiful verse, beckoning us to accept this mission:
See the Sun
About the midnight hour,
And build with stones
Amid the lifeless clay,
Finding that as we pass
To the dark night of Death
Creations new come forth—
Young morns arise to power—
The heights above reveal
The Gods’ eternal Word,
And depths below shall guard
The peaceful Place of Rest.Dwelling in Darkness,
Oh! create a Sun!
And while ye weave the web,
Oh I recognise
The blissfulness of Spirit.
This Christmas, we invite you to explore our collection of Dr. Steiner's lectures pertaining to the season, some of which are highlighted on our Festivals page.7 Please also explore our Christmas articles from previous years.8
This is a transformative time for the Rudolf Steiner Archive as we work to discover, innovate, and create solutions to make the work of Rudolf Steiner more accessible online in English. If you value this service, please give generously to help us continue to offer this service at no cost to the public. Together, we can help bring Anthroposophy to life.
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. See also Pre-Earthly Deeds of Christ, GA 152, 7 March 1914, Pforzheim, in which Steiner outlines three stages of this preparation taking place in the Lemurian and Atlantean epochs.
- 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 Festivals of the Seasons, Lecture 5. The Christmas Tree: A Symbolic Rendering December 21, 1909.
- Visit our Festivals Topic page to find selected lectures on the significance and meaning of Christmas.
- Past articles on Christmas: Christmas: The Birth of the Light for the Redemption of Humanity, December 10, 2023 and Christmas: A Turning Point in Human Evolution, December 2, 2022.