Waldorf/Steiner Community Courses and Programs
Sophia Institute Festivals Studies
Michaelmas Studies -- Week 5 -- (October 27 - November 02) |
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Please join us for a free 12 week study during the Michaelmas Season beginning on Michaelmas Day, September 29th. We will turn to legends about St. Michael which take us back in time and to different phases of the development of the consciousness of humanity. St. Michael is being portrayed in these legends in different ways and with differing tasks.
Our common studies include the study material found here following. Please study the stories and legends provided for the week in the following way turning to the study material and the subject material on three days during the week. Step 1 / Day 1: Study the stories and legends for the week by reading them to yourself or to your small group, ideally in a semi formal setting during a dedicated period of time. Step 2 / Day 2: Recall and retell from memory the stories and legends for the week to yourself or to your small group, ideally in a semi formal setting during a dedicated period of time. Share observation regarding the content, and the mood and emotional aspects you are experiencing regarding the stories and legends for the week. Step 3 / Day 3: Turn to artwork, for instance watercolor painting, and create artwork out of your contemplations of the stories and legends for the week with emphasis on recalling and deepening the mood and emotional aspects you are experiencing regarding the stories and legends for the week. Please feel free and encouraged to join the conversation by posting comments, artwork and observations via this submission form. |
Michael and the Mystery of Golgotha
On the field of Golgotha, nailed to the Cross, spreading out the arms, the hands full of blood and wounds, there hung the Christ on the Holy Cross in the earth's center, Christ raising up by Himself the work of His Divine Hands: This world of four measurements - consisting of length, of breadth, of height, of depth. The angels ascended and descended between heaven and earth. They gathered into a single community. The forces of Heaven bow down before His voluntary suffering.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The heavenly powers in their ninefold order —Angels, Archangels, Archai, Dynameis, Kyriotetes, Principalities, Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim stood before Him, before the Throne of Glory, descending and ascending in their given order. And the dead rose from the graves, came nigh to the Cross, forsaking their death-bed, bowed down before His suffering that heals the world.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
There died the two thieves nailed to the Cross. Saphet and Themech died under the torture of the Cross, died in the din faintness of death. Their thoughts died, their shattered and guilt-laden minds faded away; darkness blinded the eyes.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The eyes of the senses and darkness blinded the eyes of the spirit. Their hearts went out in prayer: O Lord, have mercy upon us the fallen. Raising crosswise her arms to the Son Who hangs on the Cross with outspread arms, the Holy Mother of God sinks down at the Holy Cross. The sword of sorrow has pierced her heart. Her heart is baptized with the baptismal of tears. Torn is her heart, torn to its depth. All her tears have been shed, and dry are her eyes.
O Heavenly King, My Son!
Three stars like unto the candles of God radiate out of the darkness. They ray out of the Virgin Mother, who did give the inconceivable, wondrous, inscrutable birth to the world's Light and Savior.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
At the rising of the sun there open up twelve gates, twelve others in the West, twelve on the ocean. From all the paths from the upper and lower abodes of Heaven there come the heavenly powers gathering in front of the Cross. Two angels brought in an old man, supporting him under the arms, venerable, frail Adam, the First-Born, and led him before the Countenance of the Lord.
Christ hangs on the Cross. His head has sunk down. Worshipped is He by all the nations, illuminating and forgiving the sins of those who by their faith have ascended to Heaven. Bitter gall was He given to drink, the One and Primeval He Who is the Eternal without beginning nor end.
And there sounded a Voice from the Cross: "For thy sake and thy children's sake, am I come down to earth, have I descended from Heaven to the Cross, have been nailed to the Cross. On this day I fulfill the Covenant and forgive thy trespasses!" And Adam sighed: "Thus it has been Thy Will. Thus it has been Thy Will, O Lord, my God!"
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The angels, the heavenly hosts were rejoicing, praising before Adam the Christ Who redeems through his blood the sin of the first-born. Past are the dark nights, vanished is the grief, and from the Cross ascended the angels, in fear and joy, upward to the Heaven of Heavens, to the Throne of Glory, praising the Christ before the Heavenly Father!
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The heavenly hosts, all the nine rank — Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Principalities, Kyriotetes, Dynameis, Archai, Archangels, Angels — ascended to the Throne of God praising the Divine Suffering. And one of the angels in the holy circle, he who beheld more than the others of wondrous countenance, stood before the Cross, immovable, looking silently at the Christ. How could it be?
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The Son of God, the beloved Son, the Brother, the Creator of earth and heaven is sold for thirty pieces of silver and hangs on the Cross! He is suffering, covered with blood from head to foot. No one is helping. Forsaken is He. No one protects Him, innocent does he hang on the Cross! The angel saw naught but the Christ; only at Christ did the angel gaze. Endure it he could not. Tortured, he presses together his fingers. Smoke, like unto blue rings of incense is wafted upward between his pointed wrists. White shimmers the spear in his hand, shimmers above the smoldering shaft. And the tempestuous wings, blue like the lightning, rustle angrily like an eagle's wings. Immovable, silent, he cannot and will not behold the Christ on the Cross. All the heavenly hosts looked at one another full of wonder. They ask the angel to ascend to the Throne of Glory to praise the Son before the Father! His heart was glowing. A single thought was flaming up out of his burning heart. He alone can and will and must rise up to protect the Christ. He can castigate the cities and villages, the fields the hills and forests. He will destroy the whole world, extinguish the crown of the sun to expiate for the Cross and the torment.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
Alone, immovable, unshaken, silent there flamed before the Cross the grim avenger, the loftiest angel, the victor over the enemies, the Archangel Michael. In the snow-white, boiling whirlpool, there ascended the heavenly hosts from the Cross to the throne above the garland of stars, chanting songs of praise. And the Christ commanded the angel to ascend to heaven to relinquish the Cross.
Fulfill the Law!
But the angel stood faithfully before the Cross and would not leave it: Thou seest, O Lord, that I cannot endure Thy crucifixion! And God commanded the angel anew to leave the Cross.
Fulfill the Law!
But the angel moved not; unshaken, firm, inflexible, faithful did he stand before the Cross: How can I go, O Lord? And for the third time there came a voice from the Cross, commanding the angel to ascend to Heaven.
Fulfill the Law!
And shadows, hearkening to the spirit, were quivering above the pallid head. Trembling, the angel took one step away from the Cross. There he stood and turned around. Dark shadows whirled across the white forehead, the tempestuous wings were beating like unto those of an eagle, and the eyes were blue and deep like unto an abyss in the forest: To see this torment, to have power for alleviating it and not be permitted to do so! Demand it not, O Lord, demand it not! Thou seest my flaming heart, Thou knowest my love, it has no boundaries, it follows no command. Wherefore do I have power if thou forbiddest me to end Thy torment? Thy Law, Thy Word, Thy Will I cannot resist-but my love I cannot quench!
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
And so great was the fire of love, so bitter was the torment, so immeasurable the suffering all the thoughts, all the paths of the heart were blazing. The angel could not surrender, could not fulfill God's Commandment. He opened his hand. Softly the flame glided out of it and the flame was blue hot vivid. And the fire scorched and burned. Gray turned the darkness. The seven circles of Heaven drew themselves together, and the circles of earth were trembling.
In the roaring of the fourfold divided, fearful trombones of mourning, there arose the four winds from the four corners of the copper-hued sky. Rustling they came from East and West, from North to South. Who shows the way unto them? Where to do they blow? They cannot rest. In frenzy, they churn up the sea, which billows up and threatens to drown the whole earth. And the pillars of hell are trembling.
But in the thunder's roaring and moaning, the suffering becomes ever sharper. The ire finds no outlet, and the angel hurls the spear into the darkness of earth where fear is hiding, where there dwells slander and persecution, where the loss is mourned, where the tortured heart beats in vain where the useless compassion is dissolving, where the sheath of protection is decaying. The spear, tearing asunder the darkness like lightning, strikes the Temple, severs the cupola, shatters the forecourt, breaks up the walls into two parts, rents in two the curtain of the Temple. Thus does the angel testify before mankind, so that it should know and see the torment and the Cross.
And at the same hour the Christ called out, praising the Father God and God's inborn son gave up the spirit. And the great angel of light, the Word of God, overcame death in dying
Praised be Thy Patience
Praised be Thy Torment
Praised be Thy Power,
O Lord God!
- Russian Legend
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The heavenly powers in their ninefold order —Angels, Archangels, Archai, Dynameis, Kyriotetes, Principalities, Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim stood before Him, before the Throne of Glory, descending and ascending in their given order. And the dead rose from the graves, came nigh to the Cross, forsaking their death-bed, bowed down before His suffering that heals the world.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
There died the two thieves nailed to the Cross. Saphet and Themech died under the torture of the Cross, died in the din faintness of death. Their thoughts died, their shattered and guilt-laden minds faded away; darkness blinded the eyes.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The eyes of the senses and darkness blinded the eyes of the spirit. Their hearts went out in prayer: O Lord, have mercy upon us the fallen. Raising crosswise her arms to the Son Who hangs on the Cross with outspread arms, the Holy Mother of God sinks down at the Holy Cross. The sword of sorrow has pierced her heart. Her heart is baptized with the baptismal of tears. Torn is her heart, torn to its depth. All her tears have been shed, and dry are her eyes.
O Heavenly King, My Son!
Three stars like unto the candles of God radiate out of the darkness. They ray out of the Virgin Mother, who did give the inconceivable, wondrous, inscrutable birth to the world's Light and Savior.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
At the rising of the sun there open up twelve gates, twelve others in the West, twelve on the ocean. From all the paths from the upper and lower abodes of Heaven there come the heavenly powers gathering in front of the Cross. Two angels brought in an old man, supporting him under the arms, venerable, frail Adam, the First-Born, and led him before the Countenance of the Lord.
Christ hangs on the Cross. His head has sunk down. Worshipped is He by all the nations, illuminating and forgiving the sins of those who by their faith have ascended to Heaven. Bitter gall was He given to drink, the One and Primeval He Who is the Eternal without beginning nor end.
And there sounded a Voice from the Cross: "For thy sake and thy children's sake, am I come down to earth, have I descended from Heaven to the Cross, have been nailed to the Cross. On this day I fulfill the Covenant and forgive thy trespasses!" And Adam sighed: "Thus it has been Thy Will. Thus it has been Thy Will, O Lord, my God!"
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The angels, the heavenly hosts were rejoicing, praising before Adam the Christ Who redeems through his blood the sin of the first-born. Past are the dark nights, vanished is the grief, and from the Cross ascended the angels, in fear and joy, upward to the Heaven of Heavens, to the Throne of Glory, praising the Christ before the Heavenly Father!
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The heavenly hosts, all the nine rank — Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Principalities, Kyriotetes, Dynameis, Archai, Archangels, Angels — ascended to the Throne of God praising the Divine Suffering. And one of the angels in the holy circle, he who beheld more than the others of wondrous countenance, stood before the Cross, immovable, looking silently at the Christ. How could it be?
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
The Son of God, the beloved Son, the Brother, the Creator of earth and heaven is sold for thirty pieces of silver and hangs on the Cross! He is suffering, covered with blood from head to foot. No one is helping. Forsaken is He. No one protects Him, innocent does he hang on the Cross! The angel saw naught but the Christ; only at Christ did the angel gaze. Endure it he could not. Tortured, he presses together his fingers. Smoke, like unto blue rings of incense is wafted upward between his pointed wrists. White shimmers the spear in his hand, shimmers above the smoldering shaft. And the tempestuous wings, blue like the lightning, rustle angrily like an eagle's wings. Immovable, silent, he cannot and will not behold the Christ on the Cross. All the heavenly hosts looked at one another full of wonder. They ask the angel to ascend to the Throne of Glory to praise the Son before the Father! His heart was glowing. A single thought was flaming up out of his burning heart. He alone can and will and must rise up to protect the Christ. He can castigate the cities and villages, the fields the hills and forests. He will destroy the whole world, extinguish the crown of the sun to expiate for the Cross and the torment.
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
Alone, immovable, unshaken, silent there flamed before the Cross the grim avenger, the loftiest angel, the victor over the enemies, the Archangel Michael. In the snow-white, boiling whirlpool, there ascended the heavenly hosts from the Cross to the throne above the garland of stars, chanting songs of praise. And the Christ commanded the angel to ascend to heaven to relinquish the Cross.
Fulfill the Law!
But the angel stood faithfully before the Cross and would not leave it: Thou seest, O Lord, that I cannot endure Thy crucifixion! And God commanded the angel anew to leave the Cross.
Fulfill the Law!
But the angel moved not; unshaken, firm, inflexible, faithful did he stand before the Cross: How can I go, O Lord? And for the third time there came a voice from the Cross, commanding the angel to ascend to Heaven.
Fulfill the Law!
And shadows, hearkening to the spirit, were quivering above the pallid head. Trembling, the angel took one step away from the Cross. There he stood and turned around. Dark shadows whirled across the white forehead, the tempestuous wings were beating like unto those of an eagle, and the eyes were blue and deep like unto an abyss in the forest: To see this torment, to have power for alleviating it and not be permitted to do so! Demand it not, O Lord, demand it not! Thou seest my flaming heart, Thou knowest my love, it has no boundaries, it follows no command. Wherefore do I have power if thou forbiddest me to end Thy torment? Thy Law, Thy Word, Thy Will I cannot resist-but my love I cannot quench!
Praised be Thy Patience, O Lord!
And so great was the fire of love, so bitter was the torment, so immeasurable the suffering all the thoughts, all the paths of the heart were blazing. The angel could not surrender, could not fulfill God's Commandment. He opened his hand. Softly the flame glided out of it and the flame was blue hot vivid. And the fire scorched and burned. Gray turned the darkness. The seven circles of Heaven drew themselves together, and the circles of earth were trembling.
In the roaring of the fourfold divided, fearful trombones of mourning, there arose the four winds from the four corners of the copper-hued sky. Rustling they came from East and West, from North to South. Who shows the way unto them? Where to do they blow? They cannot rest. In frenzy, they churn up the sea, which billows up and threatens to drown the whole earth. And the pillars of hell are trembling.
But in the thunder's roaring and moaning, the suffering becomes ever sharper. The ire finds no outlet, and the angel hurls the spear into the darkness of earth where fear is hiding, where there dwells slander and persecution, where the loss is mourned, where the tortured heart beats in vain where the useless compassion is dissolving, where the sheath of protection is decaying. The spear, tearing asunder the darkness like lightning, strikes the Temple, severs the cupola, shatters the forecourt, breaks up the walls into two parts, rents in two the curtain of the Temple. Thus does the angel testify before mankind, so that it should know and see the torment and the Cross.
And at the same hour the Christ called out, praising the Father God and God's inborn son gave up the spirit. And the great angel of light, the Word of God, overcame death in dying
Praised be Thy Patience
Praised be Thy Torment
Praised be Thy Power,
O Lord God!
- Russian Legend
Michael and the Risen One
Michael: Rise up, Oh Lord, the Child of God,
To Whom so humbly we submit.
Rise up, Thou Comforter Divine,
Who cleansest us from every guilt.
Now will be perfect every thing
Since Thy new body was prepared
In place of that which was Thy sheath,
Since Light of Heaven round Thee flows.
Rise up, Oh Lord, we pray of Thee
Who want to serve Thee at all times,
Rise up, Oh Lord, and leave the grave,
Thou Who to all men bringeth joy!
Show Thee in all Thy holiness
That filleth Thy entire grave!
Rise up, Who art both Man and God,
Henceforth Thou wilt be ever spared
All torment, suffering, and all grief.
Rise up from wounds and pain
And shed Thy light on all thy chosen ones.
Jesus: Now have been fulfilled all things
That were eternally prepared:
That I should die a bitter death
To give to mankind back the Grace.
And thus have I arisen now
And will redeem Adam and Eve
And all the ones beloved by Me,
That to the Joy they will be born
Which they through Lucifer have lost.
- From the Rejentime Easter Play, 15th century
To Whom so humbly we submit.
Rise up, Thou Comforter Divine,
Who cleansest us from every guilt.
Now will be perfect every thing
Since Thy new body was prepared
In place of that which was Thy sheath,
Since Light of Heaven round Thee flows.
Rise up, Oh Lord, we pray of Thee
Who want to serve Thee at all times,
Rise up, Oh Lord, and leave the grave,
Thou Who to all men bringeth joy!
Show Thee in all Thy holiness
That filleth Thy entire grave!
Rise up, Who art both Man and God,
Henceforth Thou wilt be ever spared
All torment, suffering, and all grief.
Rise up from wounds and pain
And shed Thy light on all thy chosen ones.
Jesus: Now have been fulfilled all things
That were eternally prepared:
That I should die a bitter death
To give to mankind back the Grace.
And thus have I arisen now
And will redeem Adam and Eve
And all the ones beloved by Me,
That to the Joy they will be born
Which they through Lucifer have lost.
- From the Rejentime Easter Play, 15th century
Michael According to Manichean Conceptions
The Manicheans taught that the really good was nothing but the transformed evil. This conception appears in the following legend. Michael succeeds Satanael as leader of the Heavenly Hosts. He obtains his full power by taking one syllable from Satanael's name and adding it to his own name. Thus Satanael becomes Satan, while Michael is invested with his mission.
Michael and Evil
And Satanael saw that the Lord God was worshipped and praised by all the angels. He became envious and decided to be equal to God. He bethought himself in his pride: I will place my throne on the clouds High up in Heaven and be equal to the Almighty. The Lord God, Who guessed Satanael's thoughts, wanted to hurl him and his evil hosts down from Heaven. And God sent the Archangel Michael unto Satanael. Michael went unto him. But Satanael singed the Archangel Michael with his fire.
Michael went unto the Lord, saying: "I did as Thou hast commanded. But Satanael has singed me with his flames." Then the Lord God raised Michael's rank. Michael, who heretofore had been called Michel, was now called Michael; while Satanael was henceforth called Satan. And the Lord God commanded the Archangel Michael to strike Satan's shoulder with the scepter of the Lord and hurl him, together with his evil hosts, down from Heaven.
Then the Lord God sent Michael anew to Satan, but Michael succeeded not to come near his throne. Again he was singed by the flames. Yet Michael, gathering up all his strength, struck Satan with the scepter and hurled him into the depth together with his hosts. These, like unto raindrops, flew for three whole days and three nights through the air. On the third day, all the angels came together in Heaven and Michael was chosen by God as Leader of the Heavenly Hosts. And the gates of Heaven were closed. But the fallen angels remained outside. Some were suspended on the mountains; some fell into abysses; some remained in the air; some came down to earth where they became the tempters of man. And here they have remained ever since.
— Ancient Bulgarian Legend
Michael went unto the Lord, saying: "I did as Thou hast commanded. But Satanael has singed me with his flames." Then the Lord God raised Michael's rank. Michael, who heretofore had been called Michel, was now called Michael; while Satanael was henceforth called Satan. And the Lord God commanded the Archangel Michael to strike Satan's shoulder with the scepter of the Lord and hurl him, together with his evil hosts, down from Heaven.
Then the Lord God sent Michael anew to Satan, but Michael succeeded not to come near his throne. Again he was singed by the flames. Yet Michael, gathering up all his strength, struck Satan with the scepter and hurled him into the depth together with his hosts. These, like unto raindrops, flew for three whole days and three nights through the air. On the third day, all the angels came together in Heaven and Michael was chosen by God as Leader of the Heavenly Hosts. And the gates of Heaven were closed. But the fallen angels remained outside. Some were suspended on the mountains; some fell into abysses; some remained in the air; some came down to earth where they became the tempters of man. And here they have remained ever since.
— Ancient Bulgarian Legend
Michael and the Doubter
A hermit, who had been assailed by doubts concerning the justice of God, went forth in search of this justice. Leaving his hut and the quiet forest, he wandered towards the next road. Here a youth joined him and followed him on his pilgrimage. At night they came to a castle, where both were courteously received. When they wandered on the next morning, the youth brought forth a cup which he had stolen in the castle.
The second night they spent with a miser, to whom the youth presented the stolen cup. They passed through a village. Here the uncanny youth entered a miserable house and asked for a drink. No sooner had they left the village when the house went up in flames and burned down. Then they hastened towards the mountains. Lamenting and wailing came out of a lonely hut. They found parents bewailing their child's illness. The youth prepared a potion and gave it to the child, which died at once after drinking it.
The hermit became frightened and he hesitated to follow his suspicious companion, who had engaged the child's father as guide. But the hermit was overcome by wrath, when his fearful companion threw the guide from the nearest bridge into an abyss. But the companion soared upward, transforming himself into the Archangel Michael. "Thou hast," spake Michael, "been on the search for the justice of God. Now thou hast seen a part of it. The cup that I took away from the good people was poisoned. The miser, to whom I gave it, will receive the reward for his sins. The poor people, whose house I burned down, will build it anew and find a treasure in the rubbish. The child whose death I caused would have become a criminal and sinner, for his father, whom I hurled into the abyss, was a robber and murderer. Thus things that may seem unjust to men are just in the eyes of God." Thereupon the hermit returned to his cell and was healed from all doubts.
- German Legend
The second night they spent with a miser, to whom the youth presented the stolen cup. They passed through a village. Here the uncanny youth entered a miserable house and asked for a drink. No sooner had they left the village when the house went up in flames and burned down. Then they hastened towards the mountains. Lamenting and wailing came out of a lonely hut. They found parents bewailing their child's illness. The youth prepared a potion and gave it to the child, which died at once after drinking it.
The hermit became frightened and he hesitated to follow his suspicious companion, who had engaged the child's father as guide. But the hermit was overcome by wrath, when his fearful companion threw the guide from the nearest bridge into an abyss. But the companion soared upward, transforming himself into the Archangel Michael. "Thou hast," spake Michael, "been on the search for the justice of God. Now thou hast seen a part of it. The cup that I took away from the good people was poisoned. The miser, to whom I gave it, will receive the reward for his sins. The poor people, whose house I burned down, will build it anew and find a treasure in the rubbish. The child whose death I caused would have become a criminal and sinner, for his father, whom I hurled into the abyss, was a robber and murderer. Thus things that may seem unjust to men are just in the eyes of God." Thereupon the hermit returned to his cell and was healed from all doubts.
- German Legend
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