The Cycle Of The Year As A Path Of Initiation

In ancient times, humanity possessed an innate knowledge of the spiritual foundations of existence acquired through inwardly accompanying the cycle of the year and the great seasonal festivals connected to it.By following the spiritual path of the cycle of the year. Prokofieff penetrates the deeper esoteric realities of the seven Christian festivals, and shows that these festivals are spiritual facts that exist independently of religious traditions and cultural customs.Working with the festivals in an esoteric sense can provide a true path of initiation, ultimately enabling the individual to experience the being of the earth, Christ.

In ancient times humanity possessed an innate knowledge of the spiritual foundations of existence. Such knowledge could be acquired through inwardly accompanying the cycle of the year and its connected great seasonal festivals. But this instinctive knowledge had to be lost in order for human beings to discover individual freedom. In our time, as Sergei O. Prokofieff demonstrates in this comprehensive work, ‘... this knowledge must be found anew through the free, light-filled consciousness of the fully developed human personality’. Tracing the spiritual path of the yearly cycle, Prokofieff penetrates to the deeper esoteric realities of the seven Christian festivals of Michaelmas, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Whitsun and St John’s Tide. Basing his research on the work of the twentieth-century initiate Rudolf Steiner, he reveals how these festivals are spiritual facts that exist independently of religious traditions and cultural customs. Working with the festivals in an esoteric sense can provide a true path of initiation, ultimately enabling an experience of the Being of the Earth, Christ. The journey of study through this book can thus lead the reader to an experience of the modern Christian-Rosicrucian path, along which ‘... it is possible to take the first steps towards life in partnership with the course of cosmic existence’.

Details the process of spiritual initiation from aspirant to the highest Adept • Explains the characteristics of each stage of initiation, including the associated psychological issues that need to be faced to move to the next stage • Explores the long history of the Mystery traditions from ancient Egypt, Babylonia, and India to the modern Theosophy of Blavatsky and Bailey • Reveals how the Brotherhood of Spiritual Adepts is increasing global tensions to prepare humanity for the Age of Aquarius and spiritual revelation As the precessional cycle transits from Pisces to Aquarius, great shifts in spiritual evolution are on the horizon--not for all of humanity as many in the New Age movement have generously hypothesized but for those who have undertaken the necessary spiritual preparation and initiatory work. Drawing from his deep immersion in the Mystery traditions of both East and West, author J. S. Gordon investigates the initiatic path from ancient times to modern day, detailing the step-by-step process of initiation and the sequence from spiritual aspirant to the highest Adeptship. He explains the natural logic and characteristics of each stage of initiation, including the associated problems and psychological issues that need to be faced in order to move forward to the next stage. He shows how humanity is naturally inclined to spiritual evolution and the development of higher consciousness. We are part of the overall evolutionary process of Nature, a system guided by the most highly evolved Adepts and extending beyond Earth to the entire kosmos. Exploring the long history of the Mystery schools beginning with ancient Egypt, Babylonia, and India, Gordon examines the sacred metaphors and allegories of esoteric philosophy, metaphysics, occult science, and the Science of the Seven Rays as well as the Adept-inspired theosophical works of H. P. Blavatsky and A. A. Bailey. He looks at the Adept Hierarchy of the Great White Himalayan Brotherhood and considers in detail two much-discussed mysteries: The Jesus-as-Christ mystery and the Maitreya-Buddha mystery. Revealing how advancement--spiritual, scientific, and cultural--erupts out of tension, he explains how the Adepts have been increasing local and global tensions to prepare humanity for the Age of Aquarius, thereby creating the ideal preconditions for spiritual evolution and an eventual restoration of the Mysteries in our own modern era.

No story is so well known, nor perhaps any so little understood, as the birth of Jesus. Its mystery steals into every heart as days shorten into winter. And commercialism's thickening veneer has neither quieted the cry of every soul nor stilled its urge to penetrate through it all to an understanding of this most magnificent event in all creation. A lifetime of studying and teaching the bible in a restless search for its deeper meaning eventually lead Edward R. Smith to a reference to Rudolf Steiner. With characteristic intensity and skilled research techniques developed during successful careers as a tax lawyer and business person, Smith works to bring the insights he discovered in anthroposophy, or spiritual science, to the heart of mainstream Christianity. He began this immense task in The Burning Bush, which is volume one of his anthroposophical commentary on the bible. This small volume, The Incredible Births of Jesus, derives from the larger work and focuses on the Nativity. Distilling all his research into a brief narrative to convey the significance of this amazing event is a challenge that Smith rises to with conviction. Completely aware of its immense importance for humanity and conscious of the inner conflicts that Rudolf Steiner's insights may cause a modern Christian, the author shares his path to understanding. It is a path that offers not only hope to humanity but a way to comprehend the bible as the story of human development from the far distant past into the far distant future.

Dedicated to the centenary of Rudolf Steiner's first proclamation of Christ's appearance in the etheric realm of the Earth, this book discusses various aspects of that event that had not previously been addressed adequately. Sergei Prokofieff points to three themes of primary importance, all of which are connected directly with the tasks of the Society that Rudolf Steiner founded: The preparation of humankind for the Second Coming Working with Christ as the Lord of Karma Recognizing in Anthroposophy the spiritual language through which questions can be posed to the etheric Christ today Prokofieff describes these and other critical undertakings, such as forging a strong relationship with Michael and the importance of recognizing the adversarial forces attempting to falsify Christ's Second Coming. The Appearance of Christ in the Etheric is of relevance to every individual who wishes to take an active role in fulfilling the needs of our time.

We live in a world characterized by intolerance, war, environmental degradation, and economic collapse. By contrast, is it possible to build a society in which tolerance, love, and peace are the abiding principles? In this positive and inspiring book, van Dijk shows how, beginning with our personal development, we can contribute to such a new and transformed world. She describes how we can develop a universal spiritual consciousness--what she calls "Christ Consciousness." The author emphasizes that the Christian mysteries took place on the physical plane, distinguishing with great clarity between Jesus as a human being, the incarnation of Christ on Earth, and the Cosmic Christ. She builds bridges between the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner, the Nag Hammadi writings, and the gospels of Mary Magdalene and Judas, culminating in a comprehensive and wide-ranging picture of the Christ. By gaining insight into the nature of Christ's being and undertaking practical exercises described here, each of us can achieve the new Christ Consciousness. In ancient times, selected individuals underwent rites of initiation in secret mystery schools. Any student who made public the knowledge obtained there was put to death. In our time, however, the spiritual mysteries have become open and available to all. Initiation, van Dijk tells us, involves "walking the inner path to all-embracing love, which is known in Gnostic and esoteric lore as Christ, the highest divine Being," leading to sublime, cosmic-orientated consciousness that comes into existence when the higher self exists wholly within the individual human being.

Prokofieff develops and expands Rudolf Steiner's occult research, leading the reader to an understanding of Novalis's crucial future mission amongst humanity, and indicating how this mission receives its form from the roots of its rich karmic past.

Based on the author's experience of the suprasensory being behind spiritual science (Anthroposophy), this volume is the culmination of Sergei Prokofieff's twenty-five years of work on Rudolf Steiner's spiritual impulse. He shows that the being Anthroposophia is not merely a poetic image or an abstract concept, but an actual spiritual entity who works in the higher worlds to benefit earthly evolution and bring to humanity "the new revelation of the heavenly Sophia, the divine wisdom." In the first part of the book, Prokofieff describes the path that led him to experience the being Anthroposophia--a path that is clearly outlined so that it can be followed by the reader as well. In the second part, beginning with Steiner's relatively few statements on the subject, the author considers the position of the living Anthroposophia in the cosmic hierarchy--specifically her relationship to Christ, to the heavenly Sophia, and the to Archangel Michael. Finally available in paperback, this work will be of special interest to all those who have a close connection to Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy.