The Apostles and the Cosmic Aura of Christ
"And the wall of the city has twelve foundation stones, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb" (Rev.21:14).
"And the city stands four square. . ."(Rev.21:16).
"And he measured its wall, of a hundred and forty-four cubits, man's measure, that is, its angel's measure" (Rev.21:17).
"And it had a wall great and high with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels . . ."(REV.21:12).
We know from Steiner's lectures that the New Jerusalem, the Jupiter Planetary Condition is created out of the Christ-imbued soul/EGO forces of all humanity.
"And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (REV.12:1).
"And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of ISRAEL "(REV.7:4).
We see that the Book of Revelation moves from seven letters, seals, trumpets and bowls to the number twelve of which I have cited a few examples. This is the condition of physical time and space.
The earth then passes over into its astral condition of form which is a
prefiguration of its future planetary condition of Jupiter.
Returning to the above passages we see that the city has twelve foundation stones with the names of the twelve Apostles. The new human soul forces that would begin to create the conditions for the astral condition of form and eventually the Jupiter Period were to begin in the Apostles. They were to consciously take up the Christ forces that lived in the Cosmic Aura ('fleeing youth') of Christ and that the Cosmic spiritual impulses that stream from the constellations toward earth and humanity were to be taken up by each individual Apostle for each individual constellation.
They were to be the seed forces of this new direction of ascension just as Abraham was a seed force for all of humanity for a new consciousness and form of cognition. Buddha was also a seed force for all of humanity for the impulse of compassion. That which worked from the constellations was to be taken up by the Apostles and mediated through Christ. The twelve foundation stones, that is, the constellations were to begin to work into the human soul at a higher and more conscious level and it was to begin with the Apostles.
However, the Apostles failed in their mission. Between the arrest of Jesus and the Pentecost Lazarus/John was then the carrier of the Cosmic aura, the 'fleeing youth' of Christ since John the Baptist was the group soul and unitary consciousness of the twelve Apostles. It may have been that at the Pentecost the bond of the Cosmic Aura of Christ and the Apostles was then restored which is why we read it as so in REV.21:14).
The Book of Revelation also describes the city as "four square". This is a cube. If I recall correctly Steiner remarked that the cube is a symbol of the EGO. The EGO is impressed upon by all twelve constellations as well as the nine hierarchies and the Holy Trinity. The city (Jupiter) is built/created from the Christ imbued EGO forces of humanity.
It is measured in "144 cubits, man's measure, its angel's measure." Here we again see the forces of the twelve constellations in their higher measure (12x12) living in humanity during the Jupiter condition as humanity has now reached the level of their present angels.
The Book of Revelation also speaks of a great wall with twelve gates. At the gates were twelve angels. This may possibly be a reference to the Twelve World Initiators who live among the twelve constellations that initiated Christ during the Sun Period. [see lecture X from 'Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy' June 12, 1912 GAO137].
A symbolic picture of the human being is addressed in the picture of the woman clothed with the sun carrying a child. This is a picture of the Spirit Self and within it the EGO's sun-like forces. Though in the Book of Revelation this picture of the future human soul and EGO predates the New Jerusalem condition its prefiguration is given to us nonetheless. Her head is surrounded by twelve stars (constellations) while under her feet are the forces of the moon (material forces) which are subdued by her ( a reference to this escapes me for now/ it may have been Bock or Prokofieff).
Lastly,
"And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of ISRAEL "(REV.7:4).
We can see here that humanity has ascended to its Jupiter consciousness. The one hundred and forty-four thousand are sealed. The spiritual streams of the constellations, the Twelve World Initiators, the nine hierarchies and the Holy Trinity are sealed within the consciousness of humanity. Humanity's number is 144,000. A symbolic number for the Jupiter consciousness of humanity.
The forces of ISRAEL are also then sealed within the soul and EGO of each human Being. That is, the forces of ISIS (the Divine Sophia), RA (the forces of the Sun Elohim) and EL (of God/Christ).
In his lectures on speech Steiner speaks of the R sound which is to be understood as a sound that rolls in waves and streams outwardly. The A (ah) sound is the sound of awe and reverence. When we picture the sound of RA we picture the sound that rolls out mightily and majestically from the sun towards the earth, humanity and out towards the constellations.
Rick Distasi
