Spiritual Contemplation
Spiritual Christmas - 06 - Your magic gifts
Spiritual Christmas - English
27-12 Narrative 6 Chapter 6 of the Aquarian Gospel: The children�s massacre by King Herod�s order
Narrative:
Narrative 6, for the evening of 27 December: The children�s massacre by King Herod�s order
Reflection:
Reflection 6, for 27 December: Your magic gifts
Narrative:
Narrative 6, for the evening of 27 December: The children�s massacre by King Herod�s order
Chapter 6 of The Aquarian Gospel: The children’s massacre by King Herod’s order
Now, when the magian priests did not return to tell him of the child that had been born a king, King Herod was enraged. And then his courtiers told him of another child in Bethlehem, one born to go before and to prepare the people to receive the king. This angered more and more the king; he called his guards and bid them go to Bethlehem and slay the infant John, as well as Jesus who was born to be a king.
He said, “Let no mistake be made, and that you may be sure to slay these claimants to my throne, slay all the male children in the town not yet two years of age.” The guards went forth and did as Herod bade them do.
Elizabeth knew not that Herod sought to slay her son, and she and John were yet in Bethlehem; but when she knew, she took the infant John and hastened to the hills. The murderous guards were near; they pressed upon her hard; but then she knew the secret caves in all the hills, and into one she ran and hid herself and John until the guards were gone.
Their cruel task was done; the guards returned and told the story to the king. They said, “We know that we have slain the infant king; but John his harbinger, we could not find.” The king was angry with his guards because they failed to slay the infant John; He sent them to the tower in chains.
And other guards were sent to Zacharias, father of the harbinger, while he was serving in the Holy Place, to say, “The King demands that you shall tell where is your son.” But Zacharias did not know, and he replied, “I am a minister of God, a servant in the Holy Place; how could I know where they have taken him?”
And when the guards returned and told the King what Zacharias said, he was enraged and said, “My guards, go back and tell that wily priest that he is in my hands; that if he does not tell the truth, does not reveal the hiding place of John, his son, then he shall die.”
The guards went back and told the priest just what the king had said. And Zacharias said, “I can but give my life for truth; and if the king does shed my blood the Lord will save my soul.” The guards again returned and told the king what Zacharias said. Now, Zacharias stood before the alter in the Holy Place engaged in prayer. A guard approached and with a dagger thrust him through; he fell and died before the curtain of the sanctuary of the Lord.
And when the hour of salutation came, for Zacharias daily blessed the priests, he did not come. And after waiting long the priests went to the Holy Place and found the body of the dead. And there was grief, deep grief, in all the land. Now Herod sat upon his throne; he did not seem to move; his courtiers came; the king was dead. His sons reigned in his stead.
Reflection:
Reflection 6, for 27 December: Your magic gifts
Your magic gifts
The sun rises in the east. A sunrise is the promise of new opportunities. If the ‘great nostalgia’ was like a fog full of unborn forms, then the rise of the inner sun is the beginning of a completely new development. The newborn soul begins to grow. It allows itself to be guided by a star, the star of Bethlehem, the five-pointed star, also known as the pentagram.
All through the ages the pentagram has been the lofty symbol of the reborn man, the new man. It is also the symbol of the universe and its eternal genesis in which God’s Plan comes to manifestation. The pentagram is also the five-pointed star of Bethlehem which shines above the cave of birth after the light birth, thus showing the way to the Magi.
In the Bible, the earthly birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is described in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, which both recount the story of a group of people who saw a light and therefore set out to worship the newborn one.
With Luke, it was the shepherds who received a message from an angel that caused ‘the glory of the Lord’ to shine around them, while Matthew relates a story about the Wise Men or Magi from the East, the region of the dawn, who set out on their journey because they had seen a special star appear.
In The Aquarian Gospel not only is the story of the shepherds mentioned but also that of the Magi, to make it clear that inner Christianity, the path of the inner light birth, is a path for everyone: for shepherds and wise men. That is, for the illiterate and for scholars, for the poor and for the rich, for people nearby and for people far away. But above all, it signifies that it is a twofold way in which the inner and the outer man proceed together.
But this simple story of the wise men from the East tells us even much more. The first six verses of chapter 60 of the Old Testament Book of Isaiah read:
Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord’s glory has shone upon you. Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the Lord will shine upon you; God’s glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance.
Lift up your eyes and look all around: they are all gathered; they have come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters on caregivers’ hips. Then you will see and be radiant; your heart will tremble and open wide, because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you; the nations’ wealth will come to you. Countless camels will cover your land, young camels from Midian and Ephah. They will all come from Sheba, carrying gold and frankincense, …
Light, darkness, kings, frankincense, and gold: these elements are also included in the story of the Magi in the Gospel of Matthew.
The magic priests come from the East, from beyond the Euphrates (literally ‘the land of great fertility’), from across the river. Coming from ‘across the river’ or from ‘across the sea’ is a veiled reference to ‘coming from another plane of existence’. Once the light birth has taken place, and the star is shining above the cave of birth, three spiritual forces begin to flow in.
And one took gold, the symbol of nobility; another myrrh, the symbol of dominion and of power; frankincense the other took, the symbol of the wisdom of the sage.
Isaiah reads:
the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you; the wealth of the nations shall come to you. According to the legends, the names of the Magi were Melchior, Balthazar, and Kaspar.
Melchior is presented as an old white man from Europe who offers gold; Balthazar as a black African from Ethiopia who gives myrrh, and Kaspar as a beardless young man from Asia offering frankincense.
What function do the three wise men serve anyway? Are they kings? Are they priests? Or are they perhaps magicians? In the teachings of inner Christianity, the characters in the Gospels are to be considered aspects of ourselves. We are much more than we usually realize, and we are also much richer than we usually think. Melchior, Balthazar, and Kaspar are aspects of ourselves.
Melchior means ‘king of his city’ and symbolizes the king in us – the principle in ourselves that directs our lives.
Balthazar means ‘God protects’ and symbolizes the priest in us – the principle in ourselves that maintains a living connection between the domain of the personality and the domain of the soul.
Kaspar means ‘treasurer’ and symbolizes the magician in us – the principle in ourselves that builds and realizes.
The king, the priest and the magician correspond respectively to the head, the heart and the hands. And their attributes are knowledge, love, and deed. Within the nature-born human being there are three inner personalities focused exclusively on the domain of the personality. As soon as they place themselves in the service of the new soul, then however, knowledge, love and deed will be manifested from a different dimension, a different domain. Then they will be transformed into gold, myrrh, and frankincense.
Head, heart, and hands, as they are now led by the new soul, are the magic gifts that are brought to us. They provide the human being on the path everything needed to work from the fervent desire that each path in life may be light, that every deed may be crowned with goodness and that all that lives may thrive through our intermediary.
That is the royal art of building, the Ars Magica, the art of Magic. It is: to build the new temple of the soul (Jesus), based on purified life orientation (Mary) and purified thought (Joseph). If that process is taking place within you, then your individual path will be of great significance for the world and humanity. Then in you, the prophecy of Isaiah becomes reality:
Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord’s glory has shone upon you. Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the Lord will shine upon you; God’s glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance.