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LIVING THE INITIATIC YEAR
As many of you know from reading Dr. Gilbert’s SPIRITUAL INITIATION IN THE WESTERN TRADITION text, the Rosicrucian teachings preserve the deepest knowledge of the Western Spiritual Tradition. Rosicrucianism holds within it keys to the inner teachings of many great Western Mystery schools, in an easily understandable modern form; this includes profound insights from the Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew, and other schools of initiation, including the hidden Sophia stream of the Divine Feminine. Unfortunately these deeper Rosicrucian teachings can be difficult to find in a coherent form today. In response to many requests from students over the last 5 years, we are pleased to announce that the Vesica Institute will be offering a four-part Rosicrucian knowledge and practices training in 2008. Students attending the entire series will meet four times in the year, each time for a three day weekend. All classes will be held at the Vesica Institute office in Asheville, N.C. Our four meetings are scheduled just before, or on, the four major Seasonal Festivals in the Cycle of the Year. We will explore in the course how these seasonal festivals are part of a universal process of spiritual initiation, through which a human being learns to resonate fully with the Breathing process of the Earth and with forces coming from the higher worlds. Particular emphasis is given to the work of Rosicrucian teacher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), whose hundreds of volumes of collected works are a modern encyclopedia of esoteric knowledge. A wide variety of other teachers and traditions will also be tapped in this training, with hard to find (or hard to understand) spiritual insights presented clearly and concisely. This special seminar series is intentionally not affiliated with any external spiritual or Rosicrucian organizations. The student is autonomous. This course is intended to provide the individual with the knowledge and practices needed to independently connect to spiritual realities with discernment, without needing the intermediary of any external control structure or teacher; this is a core principle of the original Holy Grail tradition. This seminar series deals with living spiritual realities, not abstract symbolism or philosophy. Although maximum benefit will be derived from attending the entire series, it is possible to attend individual classes. __________________________________________ SPRING: EASTER TOPICS
__________________________________________ SUMMER: ST. JOHN'S TIDE TOPICS
The Earth goes through a Breathing Process in the cycle of the Year, with the Summer being the moment of the Earth’s maximum outbreath. The Earth’s Energy Field expands outward into space in the Summer, creating the growth of plants and causing the Human Energy Field to expand outward as well. This is the time of greatest enjoyment of physical incarnation.
The Maximum Yang energy point of the Summer is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the Year. This course will be held on the weekend of the Summer Solstice, allowing us to explore its energies directly. Whereas Angels watch over individual human beings (“Guardian Angels”), Archangels have expanded their consciousness to watch over entire groups and nations of people (these are what the Germans call “Volksgeist”, whch means ‘Folk Spirit’.) One of the Foundations of the Western Esoteric Tradition (shared in almost identical form in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) is the knowledge of the Four Primary Archangels, which guard the Four Directions of Space and govern the Four Seasons. These beings are quite real, but of an order of Spiritual Magnitude much larger than a Human Being. We will discuss the activities of the Archangels in the Summer, and the activities of the Elemental beings of the Earth during this time (including the critical difference between Elemental beings and Angelic beings.) We will also establish an Esoteric Christian geometric form in our energy field to resonate with the Archangel of this season.
It is essential to practice both Active (where we use the power of the Mind to create thoughtforms and affect things around us) and Receptive (where we clear the mind to be able to directly perceive subtle spiritual realities) forms of meditation to develop our spiritual potential. Active meditations (not balanced by Receptive practices) leave us unable to discern spiritual realities from our own mental projections; Receptive practices (not balanced by Active meditations) leave us passive and unable to take actions in higher worlds.
Our receptive Meditations will anchor us in the Three Centers of the Human Astral Body. Our active Meditations will work with visualizations of Light, Color and Shape to activate functions in the human Energy Field. This is our first public offering of a rare Rosicrucian spiritual practice: a meditative journey through the 7 spiritual spheres which lie between Earth and the Stars, known in classical traditions as the “Seven Heavenly Halls.” This is the modern version of the journey described in the “Egyptian Book of the Dead” as a passage through 7 Spiritual Gates. This same knowledge was presented in different cultural form in the Jewish Hekhaloth (“Heavenly Halls”) tradition of the Second Century A.D., as the Seven Heavenly Halls journey of the Merkavah (the “chariot” of the activated human subtle bodies). Why was this knowledge of the “7 heavenly Halls” so important to masters in the ancient tradition, and why is it important for us to remember it today? Because every human being after death must make this exact Journey through the 7 Heavenly Halls, in order to reach the higher levels of Spirit. In the ancient world it was understood that this knowledge was essential preparation, in order to be able to consciously navigate this journey after death -- or even to attain this journey, and a direct view of the Divine World, through meditation while still incarnated in our current lifetime. The Rosicrucian version of this practice featured in this course, makes much clearer and more direct the experiences of each of the 7 Halls than is the case in the veiled texts of earlier cultures.
FALL: MICHAELMAS __________________________________________ WINTER: ADVENT AND THE HOLY NIGHTS
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