History of the turning point
This is a very interesting drawing, not often mentioned in Anthroposophic circles, but it is a key for much knowledge. Buddha's ellipse goes back to the middle of the old Moon period and Socrates ellipse goes forward to the middle of the new Jupiter period:
"Thus there is one stream of human development that goes as far as the Buddha and ends with him; and there is another stream that begins with Socrates and goes on into the distant future. Socrates and the Buddha stand next to one another like the nuclei of two comets, if I may be allowed such an image. In the case of the Buddha, the light-filled comet's tail encircles the nucleus and points far back into the indeterminate perspectives of the past; in the case of Socrates the comet's tail of light encircles the nucleus in the same way but points far, afar into the indeterminate distances of the future. Two diverging comets going in succession in opposite directions whose nuclei shine at the same time . . . Half a millennium passes, and something like a uniting of these two streams comes into being through Christ Jesus."
Steiner in Gospel of Mark: Lecture 4
What is a spiritual stream? Steiner talk about the Aristotelian and the Platonic streams, although the Platonic in reality is the Socratic stream.
Gautama was the stream, the prime bodhisattva that incarnated again and again all over the world, like the bodhisattva Sig, representing Odin, but in many many others, known down through history.
Zur Menge sprach Christus, man möchte sagen, wie ein populärer Buddha; zu
seinen intimen
Schülern sprach er wie ein höherer Sokrates, wie ein
spiritualisierter Sokrates. 139.84f
Buddha
In der Zeit der Erdentwickelung, wo die Sonne sich von der Erde trennt, hat sich das schon vollzogen, was man nennen kann den Vorrang, den der Christus über den Luzifer und die anderen Planetengeister erlangt hat. Später dann trennten sich heraus die Venus, trennten sich heraus Merkur. Es trennten sich mit der Venus Wesenheiten, die zuerst mitgegangen waren, die aber nicht fähig waren, in der Sonne zu bleiben; die trennten sich los und bevölkern die Venus. Nun war mitgegangen, und für diese Venusbewohner zunächst als ein Abgesandter des Christus, der Sonne, diejenige Wesenheit, welche dem späteren Buddha zugrunde liegt. Der Christus hat ihn zuerst auf die Venus geschickt, und in der Tat machte der Buddha allerlei Entwickelungszustände hier durch; und als dann die Seelen von der Venus zur Erde zurückkamen, da waren die gewöhnlichen Menschenseelen natürlich wenig entwickelt; der Buddha aber, der zurückkam und dann mit den Venusseelen zur Erde herunterstieg, der war eine so hoch entwickelte Wesenheit, daß er nun ein Bodhisattva und dann früh ein Buddha werden konnte. So haben Sie in dem Buddha einen alten Abgesandten des Christus, der die Aufgabe hatte, vorzubereiten das Werk des Christus auf der Erde. Weil also der Buddha seine besondere Beziehung hatte zu dem Christus, weil er wie ein Vorläufer von ihm vorausgeschickt worden war, so brauchte er nicht auf der Erde das Christus-Ereignis abzuwarten. 137.202f Er hatte dadurch so viel voraus, daß er sich durch die atlantische Zeit hindurch bis in die nachatlantische Zeit zum Buddha entwickeln konnte, vor dem Erscheinen des Christus. Und wir wissen ja auch, daß er sich später zeigte in dem astralischen Leibe des Jesusknaben des Lukas-Evangeliums. 133.159 Die Christuswesenheit beseelte schon die großen Propheten, (ebenso) war es noch möglich, daß die Christus-Wesenheit sich wie eine Art Unterbewußtsein verkörpern konnte in dem Buddha. 106.133 Wir wissen, daß dieselbe Individualität, die als Gautama Buddha im Osten auftrat schon früher einmal im Westen gewirkt hat, und daß gewisse Legenden und Überlieferungen, die an den Namen Bodha oder Wotan anknüpfen, es mit derselben Individualität zu tun haben, wie der Buddhismus mit dem Gautama Buddha im Osten. 131.177
Moses - Joshua
Moses had lead the Israelites out of captivity, but he can't follow them into the new future, this is the task of Joshua. His name was Hoshe'a the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Yehoshu'a (Joshua in English) (Numbers 13:16) the name by which he is commonly known. The name is shortened to Yeshua in Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8:17).
That Joshua could more than his Lord's Prayer can be seen from this: At Gibeon Joshua asked Yahweh to cause the sun and moon to stand still, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. This event is most notable because "there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Yahweh hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Yahweh fought for Israel." (Joshua 10:14)
Lievegoed: "Ehrenfried Pfeiffer has told me that Rudolf Steiner said that Joshua was an incarnation of Christian Rosenkreutz." See Smith
Barnabas 12:8
What again saith Moses unto Jesus (Joshua) the son of Nun, when he giveth him this name, as being a prophet, that all the people might give ear to him alone, because the Father revealeth all things concerning His Son Jesus?
Barnabas 12:9
Moses therefore saith to Jesus the son of Nun, giving him this name, when he sent him as a spy on the land; Take a book in thy hands, and write what the Lord saith, how the Son of God shall cut up by the roots all the house of Amalek in the last days.
[The Apocalypse of John?]
See Barnabas
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King Hiram
King Hiram is the master of the Freemasons, where Hiram Abiff is going to make his masterpiece, building the Temple of God, by request from King Solomon. Hiram Abif is later incarnating as Elisha and King Hiram as Elijah, where Elisha is taking over after Elijah, as the builder of the new Temple, the next planetary incarnation of Earth called new Jupiter.
King Hiram is born around 1000BC, ruled from 980BC to 947BC.
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Elijah - Elisha
Elijah destroyed the worship of the outer gods, that was his mission and of giving the Mantle to his successor, Elisha.
Elijah was born in Tishba of Gilead into the Levite tribe 900-800BC. Elijah lived during the Kingship of the sixth King of Israel, Ahab (854-873 B.C) son of Omri. He ruled Samaria for twenty two years. Ahab was married to a wife named Jezebel. She was the Daughter of the King Ethbaal of Sidon and worshiped Baal. (I Kings 16:29-31). Ahab, with the help of his wife, continued his father’s political motives worshiping the outer god Baal. All citizens were to worship the idols of Baal. The worshipers of the single God were persecuted with fire and sword. Idols and temples were everywhere. Evil times were all over the land. In every direction were build gloomy idols and temples.
The Ravens of Elijah
Like Odin is Elijah connected to the ravens. No rain fell upon the earth for three years and the drought became so intense the land begun to dry out. Animals were dying all over from lack of food and water and people suffered from not having water to drink. Elijah himself suffered together with the people near the brook of Cherith, surviving only from the little water coming from the brook, and food brought to him by the ravens morning and night. “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening. (I Kings, 17:6) For twelve months Elijah stayed by the brook, in solitude and prayer.
The end of the outer gods
Ahab, as was told by Elijah, went up to Mount Carmel. There he summoned the Prophets of Baal 450 in number and ordered them to pray to Baal and prove to the people that Baal is the true
god. The prophets of Baal sacrificed and prayed all day long asking their god to send fire , but to no avail. From morning to night they were praying
“Hear us ,O Baal, hear us. And there was no voice” (I Kings 18:20-29). Then came
the time for Prophet Elijah to do his part. Elijah took twelve stones one for each of the twelve sons of Jacob to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He then prayed saying: “O Lord, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, prove that our God is the God of Israel. I m your servant and I have done all these at your command” (I Kings 18.30-39). Immediately the Lord sends fire down and burned up the sacrifice. And the people immediately shouted “The Lord is God; The Lord alone is God” (I Kings 18:39).
Ahab having no other choice ordered according to the word of Prophet Elijah the prophets of Baal to be slaughtered. Immediately clouds appeared in the sky and the heavens opened and rain came down and the drought ended.
Prophet Elijah following the event at mountain Carmel, left and walked all day. When evening came he slept under a tree and the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep saying: “arise eat and drink for you have along way to go” and Elijah did as the Lord commanded him. Morning came an Elijah left and walked for forty days and forty nights and came by the mountain Horeb. At the mountain he found a cave and stayed. And Lord appeared again to him saying. Leave the mountain and go to Damascus to anoint Hazael as King of Syria and Jehu as king of Israel and Elisa to be your successor to carry on the prophetic mission. (I Kings, 19:1-17) Elijah did as the Lord commanded him.
He was ascended to heaven in whirlwind as Elisha saw with his own eyes. The two men as they were passing on together in the country beyond Jordan and while they engaged in holy conversation, “behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings, 2:11).
Buddha - Socrates
Gautama Buddha was the prime bodhisattva that incarnated again and again all over the world, like the bodhisattva Sig, representing Odin, but in many many others, known down through history.
Buddha ended the time of the outer gods, he preached that there was no gods, preparing the time of Christ, where God became an inner god, ending the period of the tribe consciousness, where people were led from the outside.
A central tenet in his teachings were reincarnation and karma, how we are led through life following dharma, led to people we have shared karma with, from earlier incarnations, so we can transform our karma to wisdom through understanding.
The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BC to 483 BC, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BC or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BC. However, at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all other historians. The discovery of a possible Buddhist shrine dated to 550 BC at the Maya Devi Temple, Lumbini may push back the Buddha's birth date.
Buddha - Maitreya
As Maitreya is the heir to Buddha it would be natural to see Socrates as an incarnation of Maitreya.
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John - Johannes
John (Johannes) the Baptist was the announcer of Christ, and has worked as such under the name of the avatar Oannes, until the birth of Christ on the Earth, there John the Evangelist takes over as the announcer of Christ. John the Baptist dies and John the Evangelist should not die until Christ returns.
The name “John” came from the Hebrew Johanan which combined Yahweh or Yah with “Anna.” And the “Anna” meant “grace.” The Christ event was an event of grace, as we find in the Prologue of John’s Gospel. The name “John” was unique in New Testament times because then it could be connected only with the source of grace, the Christ. In the New Testament, the name “John” had to describe one who was a forerunner or announcer of the Christ. This is why so much emphasis is laid on the fact that the Baptist had to be called “John” in the birth story in Luke’s Gospel.
From "Salient Points" by Edward R. Smith.
Uther Pendragon - King Arthur
Pendragon means the dragons head, and the dragon is Adam Kadmon, the masterform for humanity, and the teacher of humanity. Also known as Oannes.
King Arthur was Uther Pendragons heir, the one to lead humanity in the next æon. King Arthur was the first who got a full developed I, symbolized through the two egged sword he was the only man able to draw.
In the Historia Regum Britanniae, one of the earliest texts of the Arthurian legend, only Uther is given the surname "Pendragon", which is explained as meaning "dragon's head". Uther Pendragon or Welsh: Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.
A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae, and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in most later versions. He is a fairly ambiguous individual throughout the literature, but is described as a strong king and a defender of the people. According to Arthurian Legend, Uther, through circumstances and Merlin's help, tricks the wife of his enemy Gorlois, Lady Igraine, and sleeps with her. Thus Arthur, "the once and future king," is an illegitimate child (though the later legend emphasizes that the conception occurred after Gorlois' death and that therefore he was legitimated by Uther's subsequent marriage to Igraine). This act of conception occurs the very night Uther's troops dispatch Gorlois. This theme of illegitimate conception is repeated in Arthur's siring of Mordred by his own half-sister Morgause in the later prose romances. It is Mordred who will eventually mortally wound King Arthur in the Battle of Camlann. (Wiki)
Oannes was the name given by the Babylonian writer Berossus in the 3rd century BCE to a mythical being who taught mankind wisdom. Berossus describes Oannes as having the body of a fish but underneath the figure of a man. He is described as dwelling in the Persian Gulf, and rising out of the waters in the daytime and furnishing mankind instruction in writing, the arts and the various sciences. Oannes and the Semitic god Dagon were considered identical. The name "Oannes" was once conjectured to be derived from that of the ancient Babylonian god Ea, but it is now known that the name is the Greek form of the Babylonian Uanna (or Uan) a name used for Adapa in texts from the Library of Ashurbanipal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adapa
Socrates
Socrates was the first person with an inner 'I', leading the new development of the 'I' conscious in man. In contrast to previous philosophers like Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Democritus that tried to explain the nature, the outer world, Socrates tried to explain the inner world, he was interested in ethics. It was his axiom that no one would knowingly do a bad thing, so understanding was important. Not knowing the law, but understanding the why of the law.
Socrates (470/469 BC – 399 BC) was aclassical Greek (Athenian) philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes.
Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Plato's Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the field of epistemology, and the influence of his ideas and approach remains a strong foundation for much western philosophy that followed.
''In Plato there dwelt the soul of the younger Dionysos''.
Things which are true have to be told for the sake of the further evolution of humanity. The wise old teacher of Dionysos was born again, and in his further incarnation was none other than Socrates. Socrates is the reincarnation of old Silenus, he is the reincarnated teacher of Dionysos. And Dionysos himself, that reincarnated being in whom verily lived the soul of Dionysos of old, was Plato. One only realises the profound meaning of Greek history if one enters into what was known—not of course to the writers of external history — but to the Initiates who have handed down the tradition from generation to generation right up to today — knowledge which can also be found in the Akasha Chronicle.
Spiritual Science can once more proclaim that Greece in its early period harboured the teacher of humanity whom it sent over to Asia in the journey conducted by Dionysos, whose teacher was Silenus. What Dionysos and the wise Silenus were able to do for Greece was renewed in a manner suited to a later age by Socrates and Plato. In the very time when the Mysteries were falling into decay, in the very time in which there were no more Initiates who could still see the younger Dionysos clairvoyantly in the holy Mysteries, that same Dionysos emerged as the pupil of the wise Silenus, he who had himself become Socrates — emerged as Plato, the second great teacher of Greece, the true successor of Dionysos.
One only recognises the meaning of Greek spiritual culture in the sense of ancient Greek Mystery-wisdom when one knows that the old Dionysian culture experienced a revival in Plato. And we admire Platonism in quite another way, we relate ourselves to it in its true stature when we know that in Plato there dwelt the soul of the younger Dionysos.
Alexander the Great
Short after the dead of Socrates, Alexander the Great was born, and where Socrates introduced the new road of humanity in the occident, Alexander was to break the military power of the orient, for the new ideas to develop in peace.
For almost 200 years Egypt had been occupied by Persia who had incorporated it into the growing empire, and assuming the Egyptian crown by right of conquest the Persian king had ruled in absentia through a satrap, exploiting its vast grain reserves and taxing its people. The Persians showed relatively little respect for the ancient traditions and were deeply unpopular, and the Egyptians' had rebelled so often parts of the country remained virtually independent.
Alexander was therefore hailed as Savior and Liberator, and as the people's choice and legitimate heir he was offered the double crown of the Two Lands.
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Alexander the Great |
Alexander the Great |
Anointed as pharaoh in Memphis on 14 November 332 bc, named him the 'son of the gods' according to traditions dating back almost 3,000 years, interestingly enough the Olympias' called him the son of Zeus.
Alexander ordered a city to be built at the mouth of the river Nile, Alexandria would become one of the major cultural centers in the Mediterranean world in the following centuries.
Blavatsky on Alexander:
Those great characters who tower like giants in the history of mankind, like Siddhartha Buddha and Jesus in the realm of the spiritual, and Alexander the Macedonian and Napoleon the Great in the realm of physical conquest are but the reflected images of human types which had existed — not ten thousand years before, as cautiously put forward in Isis Unveiled, but for millions of consecutive years from the beginning of the Manvantara.
Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born in Pellain 356 BC, Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, until by the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into present-day Pakistan.[1] He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders.
During his youth, Alexander was tutored by the philosopher Aristotle until the age of 16. When he succeeded his father to the throne in 336 BC, after Philip was assassinated, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He had been awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's military expansion plans. In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid empire, ruled Asia Minor, and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire.i[›] At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.
Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylonin 323 BC, the city he planned to establish as his capital,[3] without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander's surviving generals and heirs.
From Wikipedia
See also The Rise and Fall of Alexandria.
On Oannes
In Greek John is Johannes and Adam is called Oannes by the Babylonians.
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"At
first they led a somewhat wretched existence and lived without rule
after the manner of beasts. But, in the first year after the flood
appeared an animal endowed with human reason, named Oannes, who rose
from out of the Erythian Sea, at the point where it borders Babylonia.
He had the whole body of a fish, but above his fish's head he had
another head which was that of a man, and human feet emerged from
beneath his fish's tail. He had a human voice, and an image of him is
preserved unto this day. He passed the day in the midst of men without
taking food; he taught them the use of letters, sciences and arts of all
kinds. He taught them to construct cities, to found temples, to compile
laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He
made them distinguish the seeds of the earth, and showed them how to
collect the fruits; in short he instructed them in everything which
could tend to soften human manners and humanize their laws. From that
time nothing material has been added by way of improvement to his
instructions. And when the sun set, this being Oannes, retired again
into the sea, for he was amphibious. After this there appeared other
animals like Oannes." An account rendered by Berossus, a Babylonian priest of the 13th century B.C. |
The central panel focuses upon a Sacra Conversazione, a gathering of saints around the Virgin. However, the narrow vertical openings between the columns reveal a continuous landscape with ruins and buildings in which small episodes from the lives of the two male saints are enacted. The two wings each depict episodes from the lives of the standing figures of the two St Johns on either side of the Virgin. The left wing features the Beheading of St John the Baptist and the right wing St John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos. In addition to these realistic portrayals, the carved groups on the two capitals above each saint also depict key moments from their lives.
The composition of the triptych as a whole is not only ingenious in narrative terms, with the different components interlocking spatially and thematically; it is also new in many respects as far as the portrayal of the Virgin Mary in heaven and the Apocalypse are concerned. The iconographical forebears of such a grouping of saints sitting and standing around an enthroned Virgin are few and far between. The only extant examples are, in fact, the Virgo inter Virgines from the circle of the Master of Flémalle in Washington and a similar composition, this time set in a room, by Rogier van der Weyden, several fragments of which have survive. They are not, however, comparable in formal terms. This clear monumental composition, with two symmetrical standing male saints and two sitting female saints, forming a tetramorph around the Virgin, must have seemed very new. As is the case with the architecture, Memling appears to have developed here upon Jan van Eyck's Virgin with Canon van der Paele. The Apocalypse is new too. There is no sign of any other representation prior to Memling in which the Book of Revelation is played out before St John's eyes in its entirety in a single, undivided painting. Only in the Beheading of StJohn the Baptist did Memling prefer to paraphrase a Van der Weyden composition (St John altarpiece, Berlin, Staatliche Museen). However, the stylised terseness and enclosed character of the latter give way here to dramatic action in the open air, with a high degree of realism.
From Sct. John Alterspiece.
