Advent - Waiting and Watching

The Earth is still and quiet now. The last leaves are falling from the trees, colouring the landscape with brown, orange, red, gold, the tints of sunset. The late autumn winds hurry them on their way, and as December begins, we see many bare branches reaching out to the sky, stark and black against the sky as though in urgent supplication.

Days are approaching their shortest. The lessening of the sun's light is very noticeable now. Fields wait quietly for the next year's sowing; the landscape's greens are darker, the deep conifers shadowy and still, the grass no longer growing.

We are at the beginning of Advent, the time of waiting expectantly for the birth of Christ. It happened once in history, and it will happen again and again in our hearts at the time of the winter solstice for as long as the Earth remains.

The church marks the beginning of the liturgical year, yet another new start, new opening of opportunity, new hope for spiritual pilgrims.

The Advent season lasts four weeks, and culminates in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the time when the longed-for birth will take place in the dark, small, quiet cave of our spirit; the new birth in Essence that we celebrate each Christmas. It happens every year, yet is always new.

Commercially, Christmas is in full swing already, shrilly demanding that we hurry to buy more and more unnecessary things, telling us that Christmas means spending money. But we Christians, and especially all of us in the Work, know better.

When we remember the position of the Earth in the Solar System now, we may recall from previous years that we are approaching a very significant area. This is a deep esoteric teaching from many traditions, and science confirms its importance in unexpected ways.

In the northern hemisphere we are tilting away from the Sun, and this shift is what brings about the seasons of autumn and winter. At the solstice we will be tilted as far away as is possible for us, hence the lessening of the light and the withdrawal of warmth.

At the same time, our planet is aligning itself with the axis of the galaxy: we are experiencing less solar light, but more energies from the furthest reaches of the Milky Way and from galaxies beyond this.

We can measure - to some extent - the influence of solar flares and radioactive materials as they bombard the Earth's poles. This activity increases for us during our winter period, and we may see some of its effects for ourselves if we're lucky enough to witness the beautiful display of the Northern Lights.

But the effects of the particles reaching the Earth are very far-reaching, and we don't know what all of them are. We do know that they affect magnetism and communications. They disrupt radio waves and cause computer failures; we don't know what their effects on our bodies and spirits may be.

Not long ago, wi-fi technology was regarded as completely benign. Only recently have scientists begun to track some of its negative effects, and have found that some people experience health problems, both mental and physical, when exposed to it.

Imagine, then, what effects - for good or ill - may result from the increase in radiations coming from the Sun itself and from beyond! From Sirius, the Sun of the Sun, and from huge stars and supernovae much further away than we can picture! We don't know what they may be, but we can surmise that many of us will be affected in ways we can't measure but may well experience if we can become sufficiently conscious.

The Work shows the relationship of Earth to other planets, Suns and galaxies in the magnificent diagram of the Ray of Creation. It bears repeated study, especially at cosmically significant times of the year, so that we can be more aware of how the human being is affected by differing frequencies, differing substances - or hydrogens - coming to us from the Sun or from outer space.

The important thing is to remember that we have a chance now - during Advent and Christmas - to experience something completely new within our psychology. This new birth may take place in our Essence, but we must prepare ourselves for it through quiet contemplation, self-remembering, and prayer.

 The majority of people are still unaware of its happening. Rushing around, asleep in their dreams of material riches, they don't understand the real enrichment that is possible for them, if only they would awaken now.

The universe has been designed by an intelligence so much greater than ours that we can't begin to grasp it. We may call that intelligence "God", as long as we remember that its creative activity manifests in our emotions as well as in our thoughts; in our surroundings - the macrocosm - as well as in our inner world, our own microcosm.

The increased help that comes to us each year must come from a place beyond ourselves. It cannot come from ourselves. We cannot heal ourselves. We did not create ourselves, and - quite contrary to the misguided and ignorant "New Age" teachings so popular now, that purport to show us how to grab hold of more "stuff" - we cannot create anything new without that help from outside, from God.

That is why Advent is a time of quiet waiting, but it is not the quietness of inactivity. We increase our personal work now, taking more time to remember ourselves, to observe ourselves, to detach ourselves as far as we can from all that is turned only towards Life.

Our Personality, and our False Personality, manifests in the chatter of various I's now, urging us to buy, eat, drink, party, and so on, as if this is the way to celebrate a new birth! But deep within, most people know otherwise, and we in the Work must redouble our efforts to disidentify from all those I's that turn us away from our Higher Centres, from our Essence, from God.

The Sun itself has a "God", and that "God" is the star we know as Sirius. It is from the Sun, from Sirius, and from the far ends of the universe that new possibilities speed their way to us now.

Advent is a time of seeming sleep for the Earth, but it is the time above all when we in the Work must awaken - or else miss these wonderful opportunities for another year.

To awaken, our own store of higher hydrogens must increase. We must have gold in order to create more gold. If we are not prepared, we will miss this great opening. Therefore, it's wise to use all means possible - traditional rituals such as candles, music, pictures, increased readings, longer periods of meditation and special attention exercises - to make ourselves ready for it.

Ready, in four weeks, to celebrate Christmas.