Feeding five thousand

The 'feeding of the five thousand' is one of the Seven miracles of Christ, the seven signs performed by Christ Jesus in his three years on earth, as related in the Gospels how Christ expected the apostles to understand the symbolism in the schema FMC00.041 below.

There is also an esoteric deeper meaning to this (1910-09-10-GA123), that

• During the waking state we are aware of what Christ's power transmits to us from the Sun-forces radiating from the seven day-constellations; we receive the nourishment that is destined for men of the fourth epoch, the ‘fourth thousand’.
• And in our clairvoyant state during sleep we are made aware, through the forces radiating from the five night-constellations, of what applies to the immediate future, to the ‘fifth thousand.’

Food that is destined for men of the fourth epoch, that is to say for the ‘four thousand’, comes down from Heaven through the seven day-constellations, the seven ‘heavenly loaves’; and men of the fifth epoch — the ‘five thousand’ — are fed through the five night-constellations, the five ‘heavenly loaves.’ The point of division between the day-constellations and the night constellations is indicated by specific mention of the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes.

A secret is touched upon here. Indication is given of something deeply significant, namely the magical intercourse of Christ with His disciples. Christ makes it clear to them that He is not speaking of the old leaven of the Pharisees but is bringing down heavenly food to them from the Sun-forces of the Cosmos.

See also: Twelve as seven and five.

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.041 summarizes the relationships between seven, five and twelve are explained by Rudolf Steiner in the lectures referenced.

Lecture coverage and references

1910-01-12-GA117A

In 1910-01-12-GA117A, the twelve baskets are presented as an image for the twelve limbs or parts of the body of Christ. The strong spirit has a physical side effect of becoming tipsy or drunk, and that is why people were so under influence of the spirit they became clairvoyant as at that moment glimpsed the twelve parts of Christ.

1910-09-10-GA123

see: Twelve as seven and five#1910-09-10-GA123

Unknown author and date - 'Loaves and Fishes'

Notes to this extract

• origin
  • the text below appeared on two sources sites: one site (www.inward-bound.net) went offline, the other is a post by David Lorimer (click for full link) www.beinsadouno.com/board/forums/. The last site states it is a talk by Beinsa Douno, however this appears incorrect.
  • No exact date given, nor any validated check of this talk yet.
• authorship
  • This text comes with an important disclaimer. It needs to be stressed that this text does not read like other talks by Beinsa Douno. Not only tone, but also specifics make it suspicious, for example a) the link to Tibet, and that even Jesus went to the East for wisdom, b) the language of astrological houses, etc. It's as if the text makes publicity for the so-called (but not at all?) secret Wesak festival and wisdom of the East. Coming from the Master for the slavic people working in Central Europe, talking about and pointing to the wisdom of the Himalayas is at the least uncommon or odd. So one wonders if an existing lecture was not perhaps adapted.
  • one reader confirmed (2025-05-06) - knowing the text and its origin for many years - that this was a talk by Omraam - Mihail Ivanov. And for context (quoted from this reader): that within the Bulgarian Society of the brotherhood, there is a group of people who try to justify the image of Ivanov, and in doing so are proliferating lies about Beinsa Douno (and what he has said, what famous people in the world supposedly have said about him, etc). Apparently certain people have indeed not only edited the talks/lectures by Beinsa Douno, but also hidden all that was unlawfully done by Omraam. This lecture is such an example where the name of Beinsa Douno instead of the true author.

.

I told you how Christ nourished 5000 people with five loaves and two fishes. There is much spoken about this miracle. Now I will treat this story in such a way as to show you how many occult things are hidden there.

[introduction]

There are many plausible attempts to explain this miracle, but in order to understand the Bible we shouldn’t take it literally. All the things we see in Nature – in the mineral kingdom, the plants, the animals, the people – are revealed to our eyes as separated, without any obvious connection. Sometimes we delude ourselves, looking at things without grasping the links between them, which are in fact always there. Only more advanced people see that there are links everywhere.

There are three worlds: 1.The world of facts 2.The world laws and 3. The world of principles. Many facts are linked with each other and there is a law that governs them. One law governs many facts, which could be separated. Laws are governed by a higher world – that of the principles. So, one principle governs many laws, one law governs many facts. If we want to study all the facts in Nature, they are so numerous that we will fail. We need to understand the law that governs the numerous facts in all four kingdoms: the kingdom of the Illuminated, the kingdom of the angels, the archangels, and the Gods.

We can tell that everything has a form or body in which its contents are displayed, but also something more essential – its meaning. Forms and facts are visible to all, everyone is able to see things but if we do not see the links between them, we will fail to understand their contents. And, more importantly, we need to rise higher – to the world of the spirit - in order to understand their meaning. We have to study the form, the content and the meaning. The average person stops at the point of studying the facts. Scientists and philosophers go deeper, studying the content. The Illuminated, the Prophets and the Masters understand the deep meaning and the meaning of all things in life.

There are things in this lecture which seem separated, but with your help and with your good will we will attempt to rise enough so to understand their meaning. This evening I will work as an artist who will create a picture in front of your eyes.

[the miracle]

In the story of the five loaves and the two fishes we are told about a child who gave them to Jesus, and then about 5000 people except the women and the children. We know that number of women and children at this time was far greater than the men, so there was a big crowd of people around Jesus.

[zodiac]

But let’s forget the bible story for a moment and look at the circle of the Zodiac. In fact, we can understand it only by turning to astrology, because all the symbols in the Bible are taken from the Living Zodiac.

You know that in one year the Sun passes through all the zodiacal signs and the living point of the spring equinox - where the eclipse crosses the equator - moves in a direction which is contrary to the Sun. Every 2.160 years this point changes its place in the zodiacal constellations, which is followed by changes in all areas of life. There are forces that start to have an impact on mankind from this moment through the new constellation. The initiates in Atlantis were able to see the present and the future using this link. They knew what forces were hidden in the signs and forecasted the events to take place when the point of the spring equinox changes its place. All this was written on the pyramids by the Egyptian initiates. The Chaldeans had deep knowledge of astrology.

Each religion is founded on two constellations – the opposite signs in the circle of Zodiac. It is said that the Christian religion was founded on the signs of Pisces and Virgo, so the axis Pisces - Virgo is the Christian axis. This evening we will not study the other axes - this study would require a great deal of time. The religion that is of interest to us for the moment the one along the Pisces-Virgo axis.

[Virgo]

We find the symbols of Pisces and Virgo everywhere in the New Testament, but we also find them in all other religions, because the symbol of Virgo exists since time immemorial. In all religions we find the symbol of the virgin: Isis in Egypt, Devinata, who gave birth to Krishna in India, she bore a lotus in the water. This is an eternal image in Nature. The Virgin represents pure nature, untouched and holy, which produces, which creates the eternal Son of humanity, the higher Self, or – as we call Him – Christ.

[Pisces]

The symbol of Pisces is found also in all religions. Jesus always used symbols, for instance: “If you ask your father to give you a bread, will he give you a stone, or if you want fish, will he give you a snake?” These words are not accidental.

The symbols fish – bread represent the axis Pisces – Virgo, because Virgo is always represented as a young girl, bearing spike of wheat, which gives bread.

Christ always worked, spoke, thought and healed with this axis. Then we will see how many miracles could be done with the help of this axis if Man builds his life on it. The Pisces are mentioned everywhere in the Testament, as well as the bread. In the story about the five wise and the five foolish virgins we hear about oil and lamps. They are again the same symbols. The fishes and the bread were the two things, with which the disciples of Jesus Christ worked, because He taught them the secrets hidden in the bread and the fishes.

[astrologically]

Let us now study Pisces and Virgo from the astrological point of view. We will see that the ruler of Virgo is Mercury and the ruler of Pisces is Jupiter (together with Neptune and Venus, but Jupiter prevails). Mercury is the young boy and Jupiter the stable man.

All planets influence certain periods of human life:

• the Moon rules over the birth and first years,
• childhood is ruled by Mercury,
• from puberty the influence of Venus starts,
• the Sun follows it – when Man decides to create home, some social status, chooses his work,
• Mars impacts the grown up Man, who fights for his family, defends his security,
• Jupiter rules over the ripe years of Man – the father of a large family, whose children respect and obey him, who is respected and has his place in society.
• Saturn is the grandfather, who prepares himself for the other world.

So Pisces is related to Jupiter and Virgo to Mercury. Virgo symbolizes purity and Pisces mercy, benevolence, love and generosity.

You must know that the Christian epoch, represented by both signs attempted to develop in the souls of the people the virtues of the Virgo- Pisces axis which means of both principles – the masculine as Mercury and the feminine – Vines. That is why both principles are blended in the Christian religion: mercy, benevolence, goodness, purity and chastity. Jesus Christ represents the axis between sixth and twelfth houses of the horoscope.

Jesus Christ, who represented this axis was born from a Virgin and is revealed as Pisces JHTIS (fish in Greek). Every letter of the Greek word JHTIS is the first letter of the following sentence: Jsus Christos Teos Ios Sotiris, which means Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour. So, Christ was born from a Virgin and represented all the qualities of the Pisces, so it was His axis.

[see: Schema FMC00.369]

If you look at the Zodiac, you will see that every year at the beginning of winter the constellation of Virgo rises on the horizon on 24th or 25th of December. On the opposite side are the Pisces, in the height of the sky could be seen the Twins and opposite them there is the Sagittarius. The Virgo is on the east point, and the Pisces are on the west and this is not accidental.

[fishes - migration of the eels]

Let us study the fishes a little.

During the last century, in studying eels, scientists were surprised to find that all eels living in the rivers and near to the coasts of the sees were female. They couldn’t understand how they spawn, because they never found roe in them. They supposed that these fishes are hermaphrodites, because they didn’t find male specimens. They developed a number of theories to explain the spawn of the eels in Europe till the day when, by an exploration of the ocean, vast numbers of eels were observed, moving at a depth of 500 m towards the Sargasso Sea. A fundamental investigation of this question led to the conclusion that all eels from Europe gather at this place to lay their spawn there. The small eels, which are hatched from the eggs, return with the ocean-flow to Europe, from where their parents came. This return takes two years during which the small eels reach maturity and the females move to the rivers, lakes and marshes. The scientists didn’t find the answer to the question why the eels from all the world spawn in this place, how they recognize this place. This is a millennium-old tradition of this species. Eels are the only fish which undertake such a journey.

There are hidden secrets in these facts. The eels are similar to snakes, and Jesus Christ says: “If you ask your father for a fish, will he give you a snake?”

Why do eels, which are like snakes, cross the ocean?

Those who study the flow of the atmosphere and the winds, tell that moving clouds are also formed above the Sargasso Sea at a height of 1000 metres and then cross the ocean, they come from west to east over Europe and dissipate over Russia. This is strange and the true reason remains unknown, because scientists attempt to explain these events only physically, but these explanations are not sufficient.

There is one place where the eels spawn and in the same place the mass of clouds are formed which then travel to Europe. What lies at this point? What is the miraculous force at work here?

Everyone who studies Nature knows that all events are linked with each other, that nothing happens by chance. What is a secret for common science isn’t a secret for divine science, because the first one studies the facts separately, without discovering the link between them, which reveals the true underlying reasons.

In this place is Atlantis, the disappeared continent. Long ago there was some great undertaking there. There are also other currents passing through this point, but these are not the main reasons for the facts that we are studying now. They happen under the influences coming from one another point on the globe.

The migration of the eels happens every year in a certain time – they choose the moment when the Sun leaves the sign of Scorpio and enters Sagittarius. At this time all the eels from Europe form a miles-long cordon through the ocean. There is a circulation of eels in both directions. From east to west they need 6 months to reach the place where they spawn and from west to the east the young eels need 2 years for their return to the coasts. The old eels leave Europe in the autumn and return slowly in the spring.

[bringing it back -> the yearly Wesak ceremony in Agarta in the Himalayas]

Today’s lecture is connected with this return of the eels because today the Sun is in Taurus and this night the moon will enter Sagittarius at midnight. Occultists and their disciples know that every year there is a gathering of the most advanced disciples, who travel like the eels. Where do they go? To the big ceremony of Wesak in India, in a place well known by initiates. There all the Initiates gather. When? At the full moon in May every year. Today we have the full moon in Sagittarius after midnight in 14th of May. All true disciples and initiates leave their physical bodies and travel to this place in India to participate in the great ceremony of Wesak together with the great Masters of the humanity. Only those who go there today and in the next few days will know what happens there.

I have permission to tell you all these things now, despite the fact that it is usually forbidden speak of them. These are holy things and must not be shared with everyone, but the great Masters who take part in this ceremony have no fear of anything, because people who are not able to go beneath into the realms of the content and meaning of things will not understand anything even if the great secrets of nature were to be revealed before him. They will be still attached to their physical bodies on Earth. On the other hand, those who understand will strive towards this place. They will strive there, where the great Masters of humanity give out an immortal food – the two fishes and five loaves.

Ponder on the meaning of the following correlation:

• At a latitude of 75 degrees East and longitude 30 degrees North – there is Agarta in the Himalayas where the Wesak ceremony takes place.
• At 75 degrees West and 30 degrees North is the place where the eels spawn, where the mass of clouds is also formed.

Both points are related to each other.

Agarta is the gathering of advanced beings, who create magnetic and electric currents, which radiate from the town of the initiates and concentrate in the other gathering in the Atlantic ocean.

Ponder on this strange relation between the disciples and the eels which could be regarded also as true disciples. There are “eels” among men – or people who are more advanced then others and who know where they must go. The disciples – eels know that they must go to the point of 75 degrees West and 30 degrees North. Here they can learn many things, the eel spawn there in the course of milliards of births. There are also milliards of births in Agarta in the sense of feelings and thoughts. The human eels spawn warm feelings and thoughts to be spread out all over the world. If we study the atmosphere we will find also the corresponding miracle. The clouds travel in the bright space, the eels, in the ocean’s depth, where the currents are tempered, far from the surface. The disciples also like to rise high in the atmosphere, to reach the stable levels, where a great calm reigns.

All these events are similar, and they take place symmetrically in the both sides of the Greenwich meridian.

The human eels starts their pilgrimage in May, the true eels – in October and November – the opposite months. They go back when the disciples hurry to Himalayas. This is not an accident. If we understand the events and ponder on them, we will find out many marvelous things.

[parenthesis]

I told you that the events in nature are fragmented and your task is to find the links between them.

For instance the simple presence of oxygen and hydrogen is not enough to produce water. We must blend them. Oxygen is the masculine principle and hydrogen is the feminine one. Oxygen is our mind and hydrogen the heart. We study a lot of facts, all sciences, all philosophies. We understand them excellently, know all moral instructions, all true paths, but when we have to apply these to manifest what we know, there appears a contradiction between our heart and our mind. The mind knows one thing, but the heart feels differently. This duality exists inside us, in society, among nations, everywhere where humanity exists.

Our hearts are not in a tune with our minds, so hydrogen is not united with oxygen in us, consequently we are dry due to the lack of water in us. The future disciples will understand this and will unite the heart and the mind in order to receive water. To be deprived of water means to be deprived of love. All diseases of the nervous system are result of this. For instance neurasthenia is due to the lack of water in the nerves. Here I mean not physical water, because, in addition, there is astral, mental and spiritual water. There will come a time when our mind and heart will be harmonized, they will work in union. To achieve this we must: first put our knowledge to work, and second, feel according the advice of our conscience. We know much about angels and the heavenly life, but our feelings contradict this knowledge. This duality produces all illnesses, as well as all dissatisfaction and troubles. So water symbolizes the link between mind and heart.

[back to main thread]

Now we know that the eels follow a natural law, as well as the advanced disciples, who are attracted to Agarta, where there exists a certain kind of magnetism which impacts pure souls. You have to understand that the axis, connecting Agarta with the Sargasso sea is the axis of Jesus Christ. This is the axis Pisces–Virgo, along which all initiates achieve the birth of their Higher Self.

The initiates go to this place to eat from the two fishes and the five loaves in order to enable the possibility of the divine principle to be born in their souls – the principle of Christ. Some day all human eels will set off for this bright place, attracted by its influence, the light, the purity which dwells there. Maybe this evening some of you will go there, will see miracles happen and will understand many things. Doubt didn’t bring any achievements to us, it brought duality which is true death. Doubt, criticism and hatred create a gap between our soul and the universe which destroys life and retards our elevation.

If people knew the danger of doubt they would throw it away with the words: ”You are my eternal enemy. You stand on my way towards understanding the secrets of nature. From now on I will not follow your advice, I will not hesitate and check if the truth exists or not. You tell me that this is stupid and useless, but you are doubt and I know that you are the worst of teachers.”

[human physiology]

Pay attention to something I told you: Jesus and the apostles nourished 5.000 people with two fishes and five loaves. We know that the words in Bible are measured. Study the human being anatomically, then turn to physiology, which establishes the links between the parts of the body and their functions. The third study is the psychological one, which will reveal things that are higher. The science corresponding to anatomy is astronomy, which describes the world and classifies the subjects as planets, suns, comets and nebula. Astrology, which explains the links between the constellations and the different areas of life, ruled by them, represents the physiology of the world. The Kabbala is the psychology of the world.

Let’s look the human body and search for the places of Pisces and Virgo in it. According to astrology, Virgo is connected with the solar plexus and Pisces rule the feet. The solar plexus and the feet are linked and represent the axis of Jesus Christ.

The sympathetic nervous system consists of ganglia and nerves. There are three pairs of sympathetic ganglia situated in the base of the brain, 12 pairs parallel to the spinal column and four pairs linked with the stomach and four intrinsic pairs of ganglia. The first three pairs – the brain glands - symbolize the spiritual word or the Kabbala, the next 12 pairs parallel to the spinal column represent the world of Nature – Astrology. The next four are the four elements of the alchemists and the left ones are a reflection of the matter of hell. So, Virgo rules the solar ganglia, whose form is like that of the sun. There are two ganglia below it, whose form is like two fishes. In the very solar plexus there are five ganglia, which represent the five loaves. In this way we come to the five loaves and the two fishes. This might seem strange but this is the truth. There are two fishes – female and male, linked to each other. The male and the female eels, which live separately, meet in Sargasso sea when the Moon enters Sagittarius to spawn there. Their separate life and their meeting are remarkable.

[statement requiring checks]

Jesus Christ left Palestine, whose latitude is 30 degree to visit the Himalayas,

[editor: Rudolf Steiner seemed to insist (to be checked - explicitly or not) that this is not true, so this is strange and sheds doubt on this origin of this text potentially]

... to eat divine food and to learn all about human nature. He was ready to be introduced to the great secrets, lying on the axis Pisces - Virgo. He remained in Agarta to study there for a long time, and at 30 he returned to Palestine, and nourished the people with the five loaves and two fishes. But these were not physical fish.

[cord]

You know that the baby is linked in a womb of the mother with a cordon and feed /nourishes/ in this way. This cord – the link with the mother, who represents also Nature, the Virgo, is cut after birth, but there remains another, invisible one, which connects the baby directly with the navel of the virgin Nature, the universe, which nourishes it. This cord sustains life through the solar plexus, which is ruled by Virgo, who is Nature.

What is the meaning of the two fishes, why are they placed there? Whoever is skilled in how to use them, can travel through the space.

This can only be done by one who is free, who has developed the two fishes and the five loaves in themselves, which are the five virtues: Good, Justice, Love, Wisdom, Truth.

Mercury was the child who brought the two fishes and the five loaves. The crowd are all the cells of the whole body, who are fed every day on the five loaves and two fishes from the solar plexus. If the last one doesn’t work well and fails to transmit the Divine food, all cells will hunger and die. The solar plexus is Virgo, but also the Son, born by Virgo – the supreme consciousness, the intuition born in Virgo which nourishes our cells.

People who don’t realize this, who have no love and light in themselves, don’t manifest in themselves the newborn Jesus. That is why they are not able to nourish the multitude of their cells and they starve. Regardless of possessing the two fishes and the five loaves in their solar plexus, they nourish themselves only physically, because the supreme consciousness, Jesus Christ, the intuition, the light, the Divine Love is not yet born in them. In this case they will search for somebody else to nourish them.

How can one provide a nourishment to all others?

I can tell you better how to nourish yourselves every day through your own solar plexus, to show you a way to receive from the abundant source of life, so that your thirst will be satisfied. It is simple and easy. You only need to know how to want it, to strive for it.

Only the pure one can enter into Agarta. You can enter there only being pure in your deeds, your food, your feelings and thoughts. The washing of your feet and purifying them is connected with your solar plexus. By reaching this state you will be able to travel, to forecast the future, to nourish all your cells. All will be content then and 12 basketfuls of crumbs will be left for the dogs and the others. This will happen in Love and Purity, through the signs of Pisces and Virgo which build the axis of Christianity.

Why did Christ represent this axis and why He was crucified?

He came in order to nourish mankind, to reveal Purity, Love and Wisdom. Let us turn again to the axis Virgo – Pisces. Virgo rules the sixth house, Pisces rules the twelfth one, which brings difficulties in life. Christ healed the ill people through His purity by telling them: ”Only with fasting and prayer can you send away the devils and rule over the spirits.” He expelled evil spirits from ill people, and they left the sufferers under his command, but entered the Pharisees and Sadducees. The demons would like to remain in the sufferers, who nourished them with their sins. By expelling them, Christ had to pay for the debts of the ill ones. In this was his sacrifice: He had to apply His force in order to pay for the relief of the ill ones from evil spirits. He knew that He would suffer and would be crucified. In the twelfth house Judas met him. Jesus knew that someone would betray Him in the twelfth house of the Pisces. But Judas was a collective being and the role which he played was necessary. The sacrifice of Christ was that, being innocent, He gave people freedom, wisdom, light, which flow through Virgo, and because of this he was obliged to suffer in Pisces.

In finishing, I will tell you that you will not be able to understand either the Truth and the New Testament or the secrets of Nature, without being really pure. People must eat pure food, have pure feelings, think of pure things, do pure deeds. Whatever they say, without living in this way, all will be closed before them. They will knock at the door and cry in vain – all the doors will remain closed.

Contemporary humanity has to feel itself as one. All have to stand up on their feet and realize that they are sent to be free, to serve and to work for the great benefit of all.

Related pages

• Twelve as seven and five
• Seven miracles of Christ