Holy Nights Gatherings 2022-23

Observing the Hundredth Anniversary of the Goetheanum Fire which took place during the Holy Nights. What was the purpose of this first Goetheanum, and how might it inspire us now?

Astrosophist Jonathan Hilton characterizes this Advent time, which has largely become so outwardly busy and materialistic, as a time suited for inwardly meeting and striving to transform the lower self in preparation for Christmas: “ We often think of Advent as a time of blessing and lights, but in reality it is a time of meeting the darkness in ourselves. So, during this season we are called annually, in the cycle of the year, to encounter the scorpion in us, the untransformed lower astral nature, the “death” perspective of our own underworld. We are also called to take up the task of transformation in order to ever and again prepare ourselves for the birth of the spirit child, the Sun child within. This is the challenge of the Sun passing through Scorpion every Advent season.”

And so with the help of our ‘mighty companions’ we make our way to Christmas when, somewhat lighter and brighter, we can experience this ‘birth of the Sun child within’. This is the beginning of the Twelve Holy Nights which culminate on January 6 with Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. What will be our task at this juncture in the cycle of the year?

Together, on three separate afternoons, we will take up the mystery of the First Goetheanum, its purpose, the fire and the conditions which led to it, and the example that Rudolf Steiner set for us in how he responded afterward. All can have some indications for our time.

We will begin and end with the Halleluiah in eurythmy, as an experience of the First Goetheanum.