Upon the Subject of 33 1/3

As it was aforesaid, the time periods are not in actuality comparable. An example of this can be of a student who on the same day must attend four classes. To each class he has been committed to produce papers for which he has worked upon for weeks leading up to the submission date. One might think that as the papers were orderly brought in during the one day that this was indeed but the culmination of just one day's work.

The fact that Christ may work two sets of time simultaneously is not to be dismissed as the one. It is necessary because the 'deadlines' are significant to the progress and determination of a larger humanity; and in this instance it is as though He skips out of our time during that one day and achieves 'catch up' in between sessions.

The significance of 33 1/3 is, masonically, a Sun division. Working backwards, if the sixty minutes that comprise an hour were each given 33 1/3 increments the value of the increments would be 2,000 for that hour.

In this 'one hour', every year passed in the last nineteen plus centuries was as an increment. Every 33 1/3 years was as a minute.

It, (time) had to alter. So in this instance the 'minute' being one day of the Sun, becomes a degree-divisioning of 33 1/3. Therefore, the full day of Christ is 48,000 years, all up.

[The above remarks relate to questions arising from Robert Powell's Christian Hermetic Astrology.]

"Thus the etheric body of Christ contained all the experiences from the moment of birth in Bethlehem to the resurrection, comprising a time span of 33 1/3 years. But whereas at the death of the human being the etheric body, generally speaking, dissolves back into the cosmos, in the case of Christ his etheric body did not dissolve but has remained preserved. More than this, it has been - and continues to be - active, unfolding its activity every 33 1/3 years. Since the Mystery of Golgotha, therefore, the 33 1/3-year rhythm has played a role in the cosmic order, just as the planets always have done, e.g. Jupiter's 12-year rhythm and the 29 year rhythm of Saturn. In contrast to the planetary rhythms, which are specified in terms of cosmic space (that is, by their passage against the background of the zodiacal constellations, so that a planet's rhythm is determined by the time period that elapses between its conjunction with a given fixed star until its return to conjunction with the "same" fixed star), the 33 1/3-year rhythm is a purely temporal rhythm, specified by the duration of the life of Jesus Christ.

"However, since the commencement of the New Age at the start of the twentieth century, the 33 1/3-year rhythm has begun to play a much more significant role than hitherto. This has to do with the second coming of Christ. For, whereas the first coming was an event on the physical plane, the second coming is taking place on the etheric plane of existence, that is, in the realm of life forces. And it is especially Christ's etheric body that is active here."
-Robert Powell

Upon the Subject of the Saturation of the Earth through to the Inner Core

 Descent into Hell, Copperplate print by Pieter van der Heyden on a drawing by Bruegel

 [The below remarks by B.Hive, relate to questions arising from Robert Powell's Christian Hermetic Astrology, on our Christ's present journey through the inner Earth.]
 
THERE is a picture of our Christ supporting a massive rock ledge, with all of his might and intent that one by one folk may issue forth from their captivity and out into freedom. That were it not for this solitary being, those souls would be still held within those dark and unloving recesses.

There are three points to be made here:

1. The souls and the beings which are transformed and thereby freed by the Christ are not as overcome, but released. There is a slight but grave distinction in perspective here. As He makes His way throughout the lower spheres He does so overcoming only those trace elements of decadent residue, of which the beings are made free of.
2.  The process, if you will, takes time because Christ meets every soul and being who inhabits the realm naturally - He is before each and every one individually and completely. As you can begin to imagine this actually takes more than a considerable time; much more, and is in point of fact, largely accomplished outside of our time for the greater part. Our time period does not relate accordingly to what needs to take place and is 'doing' in those altered regions.
3. There is little said, and for good reasons, about those parts of a man which are intimately associated to him, which abide in the nether-regions of the lower spheres. Each layer in is as an actual sphere - picture spheres within spheres. The outer Earth is this too, whilst a greater one extends also out from that. However, every soul of Man has a part/portion/parcel of self actually held within each sphere, higher and lower, relative to him. This is not even taking into account those beings too, which are primarily connected with him in time, to his actions past and to the fulfilling of their future design. No, this is moreover relating to Man's earthly warranty, his 'toes' which extend into the very depths; and for Christ to save the whole Man, these 'toes', these lower limbs of Man's being, must be loosened from the mud and rock and brought up as each sphere amalgamates within another.

Quote from Robert Powell's article SUB-NATURE AND THE SECOND COMING:

Concerning the lost Kingdom of the Mother, it is interesting to consider Rudolph Steiner's words to Countess Johanna von Keyserlingk at the end of the Agricultural Course (Whitsun 1924), at which he laid the foundations for a new and conscious relationship to Demeter through a spiritually-based agriculture (biodynamic farming):

Rudolph Steiner was good enough to come up to my room, where he spoke with me about the Kingdom in the interior of the Earth. We know that at the moment Christ's blood flowed onto the Earth a new Sun-globe was born in the Earth's interior. My search had always been to penetrate the depths of the Earth, for I had seen raying up from there an Earth-core of gold, which Ptolemy designated as the "Archetypal Sun". I could not do otherwise, again and again, than to bring this golden ground into connection with the land of Shamballa, of which Rudolph Steiner had spoken. He had recounted how this land had disappeared from the sight of human beings and that Christ would open the door to those human beings seeking it, to lead them to the "sunken, fairy-tale land of Shamballa" of which the Hindus dream . . .

 I asked Rudolph Steiner, "Is the interior of the Earth of gold, originating from the empty space within the Sun, actually belonging back there again?" He replied, "Yes, the interior of the Earth is of gold." For the sake of certainty, I asked him further, "Herr doctor, If I stand here upon the ground, then beneath me, deep in the interior of the Earth, is the golden land. If I were to attain to freedom from sin and were to remain standing in the depths, the demons would not be able to harm me and I would be able to pass through them to the golden land. Is this so?" He replied, "If one passes through them together with Christ, then the demons are unable to harm one, but otherwise they would be able to destroy one!" He added the significant words, "However, they are able to become our helpers. Yes, this is so. The path is right, but it is very difficult".

Secret Matthew Gospel

Is the canonical Gospel of Matthew a genuine reproduction of Matthew's original autograph? Apparently not.

In SOD - Son of Man, page 46, Samuel F. Dunlap, quotes Jerome:

Writing to the Bishops Chromatius and Heliodorus, he complains [Jerome] that "a difficult work is enjoined, since this translation has been commanded me by your Felicities, which St. Matthew himself, the Apostle and Evangelist, DID NOT WISH TO BE OPENLY WRITTEN. For if it had not been SECRET, he (Matthew) would have added to the evangel that which he gave forth was his; but he made up this book sealed up in the Hebrew characters, which he put forth even in such a way that the book, written in Hebrew letters and by the hand of himself, might be possessed by the men most religious, who also, in the course of time, received it from those who preceded them. But this very book they never gave to any one to be transcribed, and its text they related some one way and some another.

This in turn is quoted in Isis Unveiled by H. P. Blavatsky, volume 2, chapter 4.

From this quote it is difficult to believe that Jerome was not in possession of the authentic Matthew - Chaldee language, Hebrew letters.

I did track down the original source of the above quote.

It comes from the preface to a "Pseudo-Matthew". Now whether or not the the Gospel is "pseudo" or not may be a matter of opinion; and whether Jerome's letter is real or not might also be a matter of conjecture. By the same token, we might question whether certain documents have been deemed spurious purely because they don't fit in with the status quo.

From the Wiki on the Gospel of the Nazarenes:

higher criticism argues that the canonical Gospel of Matthew is not a literal reproduction of Matthew's original autograph, but was rather the production of an unknown redactor, composed in Greek posthumous to Matthew. This aligns with Jerome's assessment, in which he stated, "Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and aforetime publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek, though by what author is uncertain."(Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, Chapter 3) 

Also on the above wikipedia entry, is a list of variances between the Canonical Matthew and the extant reconstructed text of Gospel of the Nazarenes.

So what proof do we have that Jerome didn't write the introductory letter that appears in the Gospel of the Pseudo Matthew?

 More about this Gospel:

"A narrative of the flight into Egypt is adorned with poetic wonders. The dragons, lions, and other wild beasts of the desert adore the infant Jesus. At His word the palm-trees bow their heads that the Holy Family may pluck their fruit. The idols of Egypt are shattered when the Divine Child enters the land. The "Gospel of the Nativity of Mary" is a recast of the Pseudo-Matthew, but reaches only to the birth of Jesus. It is extant in a Latin manuscript of the tenth century."

Swan Initiation

There is an expression "swan song" which means death or dying. This expression comes from the thought (Middle Ages) that swans sung before they died. It is a clue to the Swan level of initiation.

In the writings of Basil Valentinus, the Swan represents the third level of initiation - Raven and Peacock being first and second. In this level Inspiration as the Divine Word, the harmony of the Spheres, sounds forth.
 

"In the third degree he meets death and must sing the Swan's song. He then dies to everything earthly."

 

- Notes from Walter Stein's The Ninth Century

The next stage, is often shown as The White Swan. Now the alchemist begins to experience the inner world as being light filled - the initial inner brightness which is often erroneously mistaken for true illumination. This is merely a first conscious encounter with the etheric world, and in comparison with physical sense experience is for many souls so overpowering as to be pictured as bright white light. The alchemical tradition recognised this and symbolised this stage as the White Swan. The swan is a bird which is rarely seen in flight, but rather swimming upon lake or river, gracefully moving on the surface of water- in soul terms, on the soul's surface, its etheric interface with the physical.

-Adam McLean, The Birds in Alchemy

More on the Swan as the Aum, taken from:

The Voice of the Silence by H. P. Blavatsky

I found this interesting, that the parts of the bird were "parts" of the AUM. I wonder if this was pictured in meditation?:

"Kala Hamsa, the "Bird" or Swan. Says the Nada-Bindu Upanishad (Rig Veda) -

"The syllable A is considered to be its (the bird Hamsa's) right wing, U, its left, M, its tail, and the Ardha-matra (half metre) is said to be its head."

"Some Sanskrit mystics locate seven planes of being, the seven spiritual lokas or worlds within the body of Kala Hamsa, the Swan out of Time and Space, convertible into the Swan in Time, when it becomes Brahma instead of Brahma (neuter).

A Yogi who bestrides the Hamsa [Swan] (thus contemplates on Aum) is not affected by Karmic influences or crores of sins."

Through contemplation on the AUM the student passes from the world of images to the world of God - the Archetypes.

From the Contents Rudolf Steiner's of 

Esoteric Lessons Part III: Berlin, 12-21-'04

AUM, I acknowledge myself or I am: A. 

I acknowledge mankind or man is: U. 

I acknowledge the Godhead or God is: M. (Or I acknowledge life: M)

Feel responsible for every thought, feeling and action. Every moment that we experience in this way brings us forward a little. What would I be without other human beings? Helpless. Streets are paved by others. When I get up in the morning people have already worked for me. My karma is connected with that of other men. I may have been an accomplice to a murderer because I didn't improve him in a previous life. One man's gain is someone else's loss. Teachers taught me. People worked for me from the moment I was born. So do good for all mankind.

Kundalini & the Ego

Dr. Steiner did give Kundalini exercises to some of his pupils- this was only after a thorough preparation. Working with the Kundalini is part of initiation, only the Western path is a top-down approach (this being the only way true freedom is assured).

H.P. Blavatsky was of course, firmly against any dabbling in Kundalini exercises- as she was against any "sitting for yoga".

Meher Baba and Goethe are given by Tomberg as examples of two paths. We do not admire Goethe because he was the ideal human being but because of the inner power of his striving after the realization of the gods' (Christ's) ideal. Inner striving after repeated failure is the real test of a man, the success of entering Nirvana is not.

We strive towards the temple which Rudolf Steiner speaks of, only by working through our many imperfections.

Meher Baba was not just someone who applied some yoga exercises and became "enlightened". Folk did undoubtedly experience divinity whilst in his presence. There was a spiritual purity around the man - he was a God-man. Considering he took a vow of silence, he must have had more going for him than just spiritual instructions.

His gift, one would say, was oneness with Father God, rather than union with Christ. Though the Gospel says no one comes to the Father but by Christ, there are paths which bypass Christ. This freedom is also a gift of Christ - they use Him "passively".

Tomberg goes into detail about this as well. It is only on Vulcan that the human being will reach its highest ideal of standing only before Father God. So that is a long way off, and by bypassing all that development we miss out on that great ideal which has been the Divine Plan all along.

Those who choose the Luciferic "lifestyle" will not be obliterated. But some extremists will have suicided out from humanity and become less than human. Dr. Steiner talks about them having dragonlike forms with animal heads.

The trouble with all of this is, that right now humanity is not strong enough to resist the temptation of that blissful existence in favor of the work to be done here on earth. That is why we have to be shielded from it in the after death state.

The Christian initiate enters into Nirvana because of need, not because of want. It is a process of activity and rest which is consistent throughout the Cosmos. All activity or all rest are extremes which both lead to decline.

Interestingly, the original purpose of hairshirts was to keep the mystics from disincarnating while they were experiencing times of great bliss.

Most definitely, the ancient Indian philosophy is extremely complex - and not all are in agreement. Not all the Eastern paths are of the "egoless" way - and we know the dangers of egotism. We all know cases of the spiritual student who has become overcome with egotism - which is really the result of a weak selfhood. An extreme of this is when we think that we are totally independent. This is the temptation of turning stones into bread. Normally our need for food tells us that we are not so independent, that the world is not a construction of own.

Rudolf Steiner elaborates on this in his Gospel of Matthew lectures:

A stubborn factor arising in one who is striving for esoteric development is the tendency to occupy himself solely with his own personality. It is precisely in those who want to find their way into the spiritual world that the habit is so often found of loving to talk about their own cherished personality, concerning themselves with it every moment of the day. Whereas in other circumstances people may deliberately refrain from adopting this attitude when they make efforts to develop or perhaps when they first become anthroposophists, they now begin to pay great attention to their own Ego; and then illusions arise on all hands, illusions from which they were formerly diverted by the ordinary demands of life.

Why does this happen? It is because such people are incapable of coping with what rises up from their own inner nature. They are utterly at a loss to know how to deal with what is happening in themselves. Formerly they were alert and readily attracted by the external world; now they are diverted to their own inner world and all sorts of feelings and emotions that were within them begin to rise up.

Why is this? What such a person really wants is to be an 'I', an Ego, entirely independent of the external world. But then he often falls into the error of wanting to be treated like a child who is told clearly what he must do. He wants to be anything rather than a man who sets his own direction and aim in accordance with what esoteric life teaches him. He has not yet begun to reflect about it, but he has the feeling that dependence upon the external world is a disturbing factor, especially when he wants to be absolutely untrammelled and give all his attention to the dictates of his own egoism.

But there is one fact, trivial though it may seem, that prevents him from detaching his bodily life at least from the surrounding world; this fact is that human beings are obliged to eat. It is a trivial fact but it is fatally true. We can learn from it how powerless we are without the world around us. It is a trenchant example of our dependence upon the surrounding world without which we could not live; we are really like a finger on our hand: if we cut it off it withers. A quite trivial consideration can therefore show us the extent to which we are dependent upon the surrounding world.

Egoism at its highest pitch may take the form of the wish: If only I could become independent of the surrounding world; if only I were myself capable of conjuring into existence by magic that which as an ordinary human being I need in physical life but which causes me to be so strongly aware of my dependence upon the world around! Such a wish may actually arise in those who are seeking to attain Initiation. Even hatred may be aroused by the realization that one is dependent on the environment and incapable of conjuring the means of nourishment into existence by magic. It seems strange to say this, but although wishes that soon arise on a small scale when a person is striving to develop appear paradoxical, in their extreme form they become downright absurdity. A man is usually quite unaware that he has such wishes. In point of fact no human being has them so strongly that he is deluded into claiming the power to create food by magic, to sustain life, by something not derived from the external world, from Malkhut. But in an extreme case someone might believe: If only I were able to live so entirely in my astral body and Ego that I could rely for my needs entirely on my own wishes, I should no longer be dependent on the surrounding world!

This form of temptation does arise. And in the case of the One who was to undergo it in its greatest intensity, it is characterized by the saying that the Tempter confronting Christ Jesus bade Him turn stones into bread. This is temptation in its extreme form. The descent into a man's own inner being is described most wonderfully in St. Matthew's story of the Temptation.

The second stage comes after the aspirant for Initiation has penetrated into his astral body and is confronted by all the emotions and passions that could have made him into an utter egoist.

Perceiving all this, instead of resisting and overcoming it, a man would like to cast himself down into the etheric body and physical body. This is a situation that may well be described as hurling oneself into the abyss. And this is how it is actually described in St. Matthew's Gospel: man casts himself down into what he has not hitherto been able to spoil to any considerable extent, namely, the etheric and physical bodies. But the passions and emotions must first have been overcome. The Christ Being knows this and facing the Tempter, having overcome the forces by His own power, declares: Thou shalt not tempt the Being to whom thou should'st surrender thyself!

end of quote