Holy Supper symbolism - bread and wine

The bread and wine used at the Holy Supper by Christ-Jesus, symbolically represent the two lower kingdoms: the mineral and the etheric kingdom or the elements earth and water.

Man is to transform his lower bodily principles and redeem those kingdoms (see Man's transformation and spiritualization)

Bread and wine are also outward symbols that reference two preparations used in the ancient Mysteries, to replace what could previously be accomplished by blood relationships.

Aspects

• body of Christ as spirit of the Earth
  • Christ-Jesus' statement that the bread and wine are products of the mineral Earth
• transubstantiation
  • 1922-04-13-GA211 below is to be combined with coverage on: Christ Module 5 - Initiation and spiritualization#Transubstantiation
• monstrance
  • the monstrance or sanctissimum (or 'sanctum sanctorum') as symbol of the transubstantiation - see Schema FMC00.191
• Man can use the mineral's quietness and closure, and the desireless chaste plant, as future vantage points of inspiration for Man's own development (see Schema FMC00.173).
• see also: Holy Supper symbolism - apostles

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.173 maps the earthly kingdoms of nature to this in terms of their deepest characteristics, and how they are relevant symbolic inspiration for Man in the whole. Taken from Force substance representation.

See also Christ Module 4 - principle in image and story, oa how the symbol of the chaste plant was used in the Ancient Mysteries.

Monstrance

Schema FMC00.191: depicts several BBD drawings of the monstrance or sanctissimum (or 'sanctum sanctorum') as symbol of the transubstantiation: the shining, like a small Sun, in the sanctissimum wherein the host is carried on a crescent cup.

The monstrance represents the Sun and the Moon, and the symbol shows the sun (the Christ, the spirit) gains victory over the moon (the physical, as the influences that gave human beings their physical form come from the moon) through the Mystery of Golgotha.

What is currently merely an empty symbol, was once a reality in the (semi-)ancient mysteries. The priest initiate experienced how preserved fermenting substances in sacred crystalline vessels became transformed in such a way that he saw a small sun or a small natural monstrance in the crystalline vessel, as the substances spread sunshine around them. The priest saw how the substances and forces shone in the sacred crystalline vessels, and knew how the transubstantiation occurred. (1924-09-05-GA346 - see Greek mysteries#1924-09-05-GA346).

Today the sanctissimum in the Mass shows the rays of the Sun, but the connection of the Christ with the Sun and the reality behind the symbol have been totally lost. (1924-07-11-GA237)

Compare with the symbol of new moon at Easter and Schema FMC00.116 on Holy Grail : the spiritual sun Christ (host) shines in the 'crescent cup'. The GA343A lecture uses this description of sunlight and moonlight (see also 1908-05-20-GA103).

Also (not as a symbol but conceptually): on Schema FMC00.468 on Christ Module 5 - Initiation and spiritualization .. the physical holder or cup is Man's lower bodily structure, and the Christ Impulse fructifies this and so through "not me, but the Christ in me" .. Mankind and future Earth become a Sun. More on this 'starting to shine' on Christ Module 7 - Cosmic dimension

Schema FMC00.191A: shows illustrations, on the right, of the roman catholic symbol of the monstrance or sanctissimum, and left the cup and host as the central ritual of the roman catholic mass. The deep meaning of this symbol of Christianity and transubstantiation as part of the ancient mysteries has been lost, but has been elucidated by Rudolf Steiner in various lectures (references see Schema FMC00.191)

The roman catholic insignia IHS means Jesus. IHS comes from the Latinized version of the Greek ιησους or (in capitals) ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, hence IHSOUS in Latin letters, of which the first three letters in capitals IHS(ous). The Greek name is transliterated as and pronounced iēsous, the Hebrew name is transliterated and pronounced yeshūa, in Latin it becomes Iesus. More correctly would be Christ or Christ-Jesus.

Lecture coverage and references

1909-04-10-GA109

title: 'The Macrocosmic and Microcosmic Fire. The Spiritualization of Breath and Blood'

see also:

• Man's transformation and spiritualization#1909-04-10-GA109
• Etherization of blood#1909-04-10-GA109

1909-04-11-GA109

continues on the spiritualized fire.

1922-04-13-GA211

quote A - v1

In those mysteries into which the resurrected Christ sent His message there still existed the knowledge that in ancient times the human being possessed the highest knowledge of matter, “metabolic knowledge.” The way was sought to reawaken this ancient knowledge of matter — although not in the way of primeval mankind, nor in the way of the “hashish-eaters,” who wished, through the effects of certain material substances, to gain a knowledge which cannot be obtained without them.

The way to reawaken this ancient knowledge of matter was striven for, but in a different manner, namely through clothing the Mystery of Golgotha in certain mantric forms, chiefly in the structural forms of the mystery of Revelation, Offering, Transubstantiation, Communion, by presenting the Holy Supper through the giving of bread and wine to the worshipper. Poison was not given, but the Holy Supper was offered him, wrapped in the mantric formulas of the Holy Mass, in the fourfold form of the Mass — Gospel, Offering, Transubstantiation, Communion.

For after the Communion, after the fourth part of the Holy Mass, the actual Communion of the Faithful occurred, and an endeavor was made to give them at least an intimation of the fact that a certain wisdom must be regained which leads to the goal of ancient 'metabolic knowledge'.

The human beings of today can hardly imagine this 'metabolic knowledge', because they have no idea how much more, for instance, a bird knows than a Man — although not in an intellectual, abstract sense; or how much more even a donkey knows than a Man, a donkey, which is an animal living entirely in the metabolic system. It is, however, only a dull knowledge, dreamlike knowledge. Today there exists a degeneration of what primeval Man once possessed in his metabolic system.

It was out of the first Christian teachings, however, that the Sacrament of the Altar was conceived in order to lead mankind to regain a knowledge of the immortal of the human soul.

quote A - v2 alternative translation

In the Mysteries into which Christ sent His message, it was still known that men once possessed a sublime knowledge born of the working of material substances, born of metabolism. No attempt was made to awaken the old matter-born knowledge of spirit-reality in the manner in which this had been done in primeval humanity in order to acquire, through the workings of matter, knowledge not otherwise accessible. An attempt was made in quite another way to awaken this matter-born knowledge, namely, by clothing the Mystery of Golgotha in ritual, in mantric formulae, above all in the whole structure of the Mystery as Revelation, Offering, Transubstantiation , Communion, in the administration of the sacrament of the Eucharist. It was not poisons, therefore, but the Lord’s Supper, clothed in what arises from the mantric formulae of the mass, and from its fourfold membering: Gospel, Offering, Transubstantiation, Communion. For the intention was that after the fourth part of the Mass, the Communion, actual communion among the faithful should take place, with the aim of giving an intimation, at least, that thereby a knowledge leading to what was once achieved instinctively by the old metabolism-born knowledge must be re-acquired.

Monstrance

linked to transubstantation, see Christ Module 5 - Initiation and spiritualization#Transubstantiation

1924-03-12-GA353

The Roman Catholic religion has completely forgotten these things in the words it uses. But if you attend mass and it is a solemn mass, you will see the 'sanctum sanctorum', the monstrance, on the altar. The host inside, and here rays.

What does it represent? It is the sun, and inside it the moon.

The whole monstrance tells us in its form that Christianity arose from a view in which people acknowledged not only the moon, as the Jews did, but also the sun. As human beings are under the moon influence at birth, so was the Christ under the sun influence at his birth.

One might say that in that case every human being could be born twice, coming under the sun influence in the course of life. But it is not quite like that. The influence on Christ Jesus was directly on the human I. Where does the moon influence go when we are in the womb? Well, gentlemen, I told you that human beings consist of physical body, ether body, astral body and I. The moon influence is on the astral body, so that the astral body, which is at an unconscious level in the human being, is influenced by the moon. The sun influence in the Christ was on the I. The I, however, is independent.

What would happen if the sun influence were the same as the moon influence on human beings? Well, as individual human beings we do not have much say where our birth is concerned. We are simply sent into the world at birth. If the sun influence were exactly the same as the moon influence we might receive it, say, at the age of 3021 and we would have no say in it at all. We would suddenly be another person at the age of 30, and would actually forget what we did before. Just imagine that you would be going about as young people until you were 29, and then you would reach the age of 30 and you would all be reborn. You then meet someone who has not yet reached the age of 30 ²¹ and he would say: 'Good morning, Erbsmehl!' 'Huh? I don't know him! I've only been here from today. I don't know anything about it.' That is how it would be if the sun would influence everyone in their 30th year, say. You'll find this highly improbable, gentlemen, but it is nevertheless true. It has merely been forgotten because history is always being falsified, so that people do not hear of this.

Something very similar to this existed in earlier times, though it was not as drastic as that. But in very early times, about 7000 or 8000 years ago, it really was the case that in India, for example, people would no longer know about the earlier part of their life once they reached the age of 30; they would then be completely new people. And others would be kind to them and say: 'Go to the local authority' — I am using modern terms — and there they would be told who they were and what their name was. This transformation gradually grew less and less marked, but it did happen. Even in ancient Egypt the situation would be that people simply did not remember their childhood when they were 50 years old, their memories only went back to the age of 30; they would hear about the rest from others, just as we hear from others in the family how we behaved as babies or at the age of 2. Historians do not tell us about humanity changing such a lot on earth, but it is nevertheless true.

Due to special circumstances Jesus of Nazareth was the last human being to receive the sun influence at a time when others could no longer do so. It says so in the Gospels, but people tend to misinterpret it. You see it says in the Gospels that Jesus asked John to baptize him in the River Jordan. A dove descended during the baptism. This was a sign of the sun influence. Sun nature thus entered into Jesus. And that was the last time. He was the last to receive this sun nature. Other people in his time could no longer do so because their bodies were no longer ripe for it. He was the last.

Let us go back to the people who lived in the ancient Orient. There everyone was able to say: Tn the course of life the sun has an influence on the human being; a new nature is gained with this.' At the time when Christ Jesus lived it was generally no longer possible to say so. The priests only knew it because they had heard about it from others, not from inner perception.

Something had to take the place of sun veneration. In earlier times, before the time of the Jews, people had venerated the sun because they knew that the sun had this tremendous influence during their lifetime. Now they were no longer able to venerate the sun because they no longer received its influence. Who took the place of the sun? Christ Jesus himself! Christianity was such that people had a sun religion as well as their star religion; it pointed directly to the sun. When Christ Jesus had received this sun influence as the last human being to do so, people could only point to him and say: 'The sun spirit dwells in him.'

This was a tremendous change. It was an unbelievable revolution to think that Christ Jesus had brought down to earth the element which until then had only been seen in the sun.

In the old days, and in the early days of Christianity, the Christ was therefore always called the Sun. You still find the term 'the Sun, the Christ' everywhere in the Gospels, for people knew about this. Later it was forgotten. You can see it in the monstrance at every solemn mass.

But when someone actually says that it is so, for you can see it, he is considered a heretic and persecuted as a misbeliever. For it was always considered dangerous in the Christian Church to tell the truth about the stars and also about the sun.

Well, gentlemen, why should that be so? ... [continued]

1924-03-26-GA353

By the sixth century all understanding of the spirit had really been lost, and people believed one could only speak of the human destiny of Christ Jesus. They did not see the living Christ, who is spirit, but only Jesus, the mortal human being, and their interpretation was that this was the Christ. The event of his death thus gained real importance from the sixth century onwards.

You see, materialism was already playing a role then. And we can really see materialism develop when we study the evolution of Christianity. Many things that happened in later times would not have happened without this.

As I told you, gentlemen, the knowledge that the Christ is a spirit coming from the sun, a spirit who lived in Jesus, the human being, is reflected in a symbol we can see on every altar today during high mass: the monstrance - the sun at the centre and the moon supporting it. This made good sense when people still knew that the Christ was a spirit from the sun.

What is kept in the monstrance? A wafer made of flour. How did the flour come into existence? It came into existence because the sun's rays reach the earth, the sun lets light and warmth come to the earth, the corn grows and is made into flour. It is therefore a real sun product. We may call it substance created by sunlight. For as long as people knew this, the whole had meaning.

What is more, the moon was shown as a sickle because this seemed the most important aspect. And as I told you, the powers that give human beings their physical form come from the moon.

The whole had meaning when people still knew these things to be what they are. But they gradually lost significance. Let me tell you something that will show you the significance that lies in such things. The Turks, or Muslims, as I told you, considered only the one God, not the three forms. They related everything to the Father God. What sign did they have to use therefore? The moon, of course. The Turks therefore have the half moon for their symbol.

Christendom ought to know that their symbol is the one where the sun gains victory over the moon. And the early Christians had this as their main sign — that the sun gains victory over the moon through the Mystery of Golgotha.

What does this mean, however? You see, now everything is topsy-turvy in the life of the spirit. For if you understand what the image of the sun signifies you say to yourself: 'Anyone who knows about this image of the sun assumes that human beings have free will in life, that something can enter into them that has significance for life.'

Those who believe only in the moon will think that human beings were given everything at birth and cannot do anything of their own accord. That, of course, is Turkish fatalism. And the Turks still know something of this today. In a way they are wiser than the Europeans, for the Europeans once had the sun for their sign but they have forgotten its significance.

If you consider that people really no longer knew anything of the spiritual Christ you will understand why in medieval times — around the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth centuries — disputes suddenly arose about the meaning of the eucharist. It has meaning only for those able to see an image of a spiritual quality. This they were no longer able to do and so they fell into dispute.

Some would say: 'The bread truly changes into the body of Christ on the church altar.' Others could not believe this, for they could not imagine the bread to have become flesh, seeing it looked just the way it did before. Disputes thus arose in the Middle Ages that were to have dreadful consequences. Those who said it did not matter whether the thing could be understood or not, but they believed that the bread had indeed become flesh, later became the Roman Catholics. Those who said they could not believe this and that the whole could at most have symbolic meaning later became Protestants.

1924-07-11-GA237

That was a very different way of partaking in the Mass. Now the human beings of whom we have been speaking (who in their souls underwent the conditions I described, who looked down on to the earth and perceived this strange Catechism-teaching, which would have been so impossible for them) — they, in their religious worship too, had more or less preserved the old Christian custom of not allowing a man to take part in the whole Mass till he had undergone a longer preparation. They were still conscious of an exoteric and an esoteric portion in the Mass. They regarded as esoteric all that was done from the Transubstantiation onward.

Now once more they looked down and beheld what was going on in the outer ritual of Christendom. They saw that the whole Mass had become exoteric. The whole Mass was being enacted even before those who had not entered into any special mood of soul by special preparation. “Can a Man on earth really approach the Mystery of Golgotha, if in unconsecrated mood he witnesses the Transubstantiation?” Such was their feeling as they looked down from the life that takes its course between death and a new birth: “Christ is no longer being recognised in His true being; the sacred ceremony is no longer understood.”

Such feelings poured themselves out within the souls whom I have now been describing. Moreover they looked down upon that which became a sacred symbol in the reading of the Mass, the so-called Sanctissimum wherein the Host is carried on a crescent cup.

It is a living symbol of the fact that once upon a time the great Sun-Being was looked for in the Christ. For the very rays of the Sun are represented on every Sanctissimum, on every Monstrance.

But the connection of the Christ with the Sun had been lost. Only in the symbol was it preserved; and in the symbol it has remained until this day.

Yet even in the symbol it was not understood, nor is it understood today. This was the second feeling that sprang forth in their souls, intensifying their sense of the need for a new Christ-experience that was to come.

Related pages

• Holy Supper symbolism - apostles
• Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci
• Christ Module 5 - Initiation and spiritualization
• Christ - base study modules 1 to 7
• Force substance representation.

References and further reading

• Alfred Heidenreich: 'The communion service and the ancient mysteries'
• Dietrich von Asten: Sacramental and spiritual communion (1985) (in DE: Kultische und geistige Kommunion)
• Colin J. Humphreys: 'The mystery of the last supper: reconstructing the final days of Jesus' (2011)
• Judith von Halle: 'Das Abendmahl. Vom vorchristlichen Kultus zur Transsubstantiation: Beiträge zum Verständnis des Christus-Ereignisses' (2013)