Introduction
On December 24 the 12 Holy Nights begin.
The Twelve Days of Christmas start on
December 25.
The 12 Holy Nights are symbols for the 12 forces of the soul that live in us. And so this indication is valid forever, not only for the 12 Holy Nights.
On January 1 at noon we have the Sun as close as possible to the Earth* and that is why there are just five and half days before and five days and a half later, which is the time of the 12 Holy Nights. These nights, the darkest of the year, are closest to the Sun's Spirit, and this means that the Spiritual Sun shining from inside the Earth makes it translucent and illuminates everything from the inside, not as it is afterwards when the Sun illuminates the Earth from above, from the outside.
You have to enter these 12 Holy Nights wide awake and very conscious. It is important that on the first night (December 24), we only stay awake until one or two in the morning. On the other nights, if possible, try to go to bed regularly at the same time; it is of principal importance to live in a regular rhythm at this time, if this is not possible in the active life, one has to try to do so internally. Those who cannot be silent in the external life should seek constantly to be inwardly aware of the sanctity of the time. It is important to perform daily duties without losing sight of this realization, of the sacredness of the time, allowing nothing unhealthy, no ugly movement to enter the soul, remaining always attentive and severe on oneself in this regard.
During the experience of Christmas, with its 12 Holy Nights, we sow the seed for the next 12 months. Therefore, these 12 days are important, if for example we make mistakes on the first day, we lay a seed, which, in the first month, will germinate negatively in the blood. We must try to pass the 12 holy days properly, according to the Law, because we need each year to work on our rebirth, and we cannot lose any year.
Holy Night 8: New Year's Eve
The cross on the hilt of the sword. Sacrifice. The man with the Christ Sword of Power that cannot hurt, speaks the language of the truth. It is the night of fear and horror.
The Mystery:
A Knight with the Spear of the Will and the Sword of Knowledge has a dog beside him, as a symbol of obedience. Behind him are death and the devil. At a certain level of knowledge, a mistake or a wrong move can quickly lead to perdition. Victory is achieved by the fullness of divinity, with a consciousness of responsibility, and an unfailing loyalty to the tasks ahead in life.
Eighth Contemplation:
In the eighth Holy Night, we stand on the precipice between two rounds of time [with the transition into a New Year]. There has to be a crucifixion. All that has served our growth during the past year must now be crucified, it must die. Imagine the consequences if Jesus had not been crucified?
All our precious thoughts, feelings, and actions that have brought us this far can be put to rest. As we step over the threshold into the New Year, we can raise them to a new level. When we sacrifice all that is precious in our soul, that served us throughout the year, we can put it to service for others. The depth of feeling that we experienced for spiritual truth can become compassion for the misfortune of others. Not just, "I'm sorry," but a real experience of the crushing sorrow that is felt by them.
The new thoughts that we were able to think in our soul because we understood some spiritual truth now paves the way for living Inspiration in our spirit. Even though that spiritual truth was like gold for us we must loosen our grip on it. We can never possess spiritual truth; it belongs to the universe. If we let it go, it will come back to us when we need it. If we hang onto it, we may not be able to find it when we need it.
The new actions that we were proud to put in place during the year must also be crucified. To hang onto them proudly is egotistical. Through our will we reveal who we really are; we allow others to know us and we can know them. To try to know others without revealing anything of ourselves is destructive for all concerned.
As we take this next step, we are reassured by the presence of Christ Jesus who took it before us.
The world of good and the world of evil are not merely what they appear to be in external maya where with our ability to form judgements we confront evil and good merely in finding the one to be sympathetic and the other antipathetic. No, the world of good is the world of creativity, and evil is the stifling angel advancing across the world with his scythe. And with every evil we commit we help the stifling angel, we take his scythe into our own hands and participate in the processes of death and decay. The concepts we glean from spiritual foundations give strength to our whole view of the world. This is what is strong, and it is what human beings must from now on take up in the future development of civilization and culture, for this is what they will need. Until now good gods have taken care of us, but in our fifth post-Atlantean period the time has come when our destinies, when good and evil are once more in our own hands. And that is why it is necessary for human beings to know the meaning of good in its creativity and of evil as a deathdealing principle.
Notes
* Perihelion: This was the date of the perihelion at the time when Rudolf Steiner gave this meditation to Herbert Hahn. The earth's orbit around the sun is not a circle. The earth's orbit around the sun is slightly elliptical. Therefore, the distance between the earth and the sun varies throughout the year. Furthermore, this elliptical orbit is also moving.
At its nearest point on the ellipse that is the earth's orbit around the sun, the earth is 91,398,199 miles from the sun. This point in the earth's orbit is known as perihelion, and it occurs [on January 4 in 2022].
The earth is farthest away from the sun [on July 4, 2020], when it is 94,507,635 miles from the sun. This point in the earth's orbit is called aphelion.
** Knight, Death and the Devil copper relief depicting the famous engraving by German artist Albrecht Durer from 1513. The work features an armored knight riding on his horse with his dog beside him as he is followed by the Devil and the angel of death from the cliff and woods near him.
