Table of Contents
A reading from Rudolf Steiner Press Audio gives his lecture on the three Magi as his esoteric claim, not as a church chronicle. He says the symbolism stayed quiet until the 15th century, and that 6 January is the day ancient Egypt marked the finding of Osiris. The loss of Osiris, in his account, is a change near the middle of an earlier age. A divine mind he calls Manas was scattered, and human bodies became what Egyptian mystery speech named the graves of Osiris, until a revelation of love set it loose. Desire, or Kama, is selfish love. Christ, in Jesus of Nazareth, is love without egoism, and Steiner calls that figure the risen Osiris. The Magi are initiates of earlier streams, bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold stands for wisdom, frankincense for feeling that must be refined, and myrrh for death and for life that comes through it. A star leading the kings to a cave is, for him, the soul seen as a bright aura. At the crucifixion he says the divine being departs.
Key points
- Steiner links the 6 January feast of the kings to the Egyptian festival of finding Osiris.
- The disappearance of Osiris means, for him, that a divine mind was scattered into human beings.
- He calls ordinary desire selfish love, and Christ the bringer of love without egoism.
- The three gifts are symbols in his lecture, wisdom, refined feeling, and death that leads to life.
- The guiding star is, on his account, the soul perceived as an aura, and the divine being departs at the crucifixion.
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Short quotes
Jesus in Bethlehem these three offerings are full of meaning and in keeping with the whole
Rudolf Steiner, On the Three Magi
He says the three gifts carried to Bethlehem are meaningful, not a random list of treasures. Watch at 1:49
bringer of Love free of all egoism is Christ who appeared in the body of Jesus
Rudolf Steiner, On the Three Magi
Christ, in this lecture, is love without self seeking, present in the body of Jesus. Watch at 5:17
mystical fact then consummated at the moment of Christ's death the Divine being had departed from
Rudolf Steiner, On the Three Magi
He places a departure of the divine being at the death on the cross. Watch at 10:22
Video by Rudolf Steiner Press Audio. Watch on YouTube.