The Body Astrea

The Body Astrea is not to be confused with the astral composite-slag which impregnates physical matter. The Body Astrea is a finer light body which faithfully mirrors the cosmic aspects of starry configurations and their qualities.

The veritable map of the Zodiac, light and as incorporeal as the gossamer strands in fairy legend, this 'starry' body is our carrier into the cosmic realms, and is in the likeness of Christ whose Body Astrea is all that is the Zodiac.

Therefore, one cannot separate the synthesis of astreaic membrane from the Christ; even though He has not as yet, awakened the astral realms which adhere to the planet. Those astral spaces are timeless, and they are unruly. However the astral world which is attracted to the manifested physical world is by nature and in actuality, immature by comparison to the starry body around which a man's physical organs do gravitate.

-B.Hive

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.