Mystical Lamb

The Mystical Lamb is the symbol of the Christ, his divine sacrifice to humanity, and as the future group soul of humanity, see also Unification and Second Adam.

The Lamb appears in the Book of Revelation as an esoteric symbol:

“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the Earth.” (Rev. 5:6)

The symbol for the Mystical Lamb, as shown in Schema FMC00.068 below, can be read in a microcosmic and macrocosmic way:

macrocosmos:
- 1 for Unity,
- 3 for the Trinity of The three Logoi,
- 7 for the Seven creative spirits, and
- 12 for the Twelve guiding spirits of a solar system chain with seven planetary stages of evolution.
microcosmos:
- 1 for the true spiritual Human 'I'
- 3 for the Human astral body,
- 7 for the Human etheric body - influenced by the seven planetary influences of the solar system
- 12 for the Human physical body - made up from the twelve zodiacal influences, see Zodiac man

.

The symbol also represents the three Logoi and the cycle of our solar system evolution with seven planetary stages of evolution: from Old Saturn, Old Sun and Old Moon, via Mars and Mercury as the pivotal Earth stage, to Future Jupiter, Future Venus, and Vulcan (the renewed Old Saturn at the higher stage). See Schema FMC00.068C.

Aspects

the mystical lamb as the name of Christ in the Book of Revelation; Christ is called 'the Lamb' 28 times in Revelation (see a.o. Chapter 5)
- illustrated in the second apocalyptic seal (Schema FMC00.384 below) as the future group soul of humanity or see Second Adam. In the Book of Revelation, the Eagle, Lion and Bull refer to the third, fourth and fifth epochs; whereas they come together in the Christ in the sixth epoch. The lamb in the center is better visible in the upper left corner of Schema FMC00.368
- also appears on the third apocalyptic seal, see Schema FMC00.350).
relationship between the three symbols of the five pointed star, six pointed star, and the seven pointed star symbol (Schema FMC00.068 below), see Note 1 in the Discussion area
the drawing in 1908-01-27-GA102 sketching the structure of the Mystical Lamb versus bodily principles and zodiac signs (not shown), see also the link with zodiac aspect on Twelve as seven and five
the term Lamb has multiple meanings
- in the Greco-Latin cultural age the Sun was in the zodiac sign Aries, hence the lamb (GA090, lecture tbc)
- the lamb as symbol of sacrifice

Illustrations

Symbol

Schema FMC00.068 shows original drawings of the Mystical Lamb symbol by people who attended the lecture of 1907-04-22-GA104A, showing the numbers 1 - 3 -7 - 12.

See also variants and Discussion Note 1 - Symbol of the Mystical Lamb.

Schema FMC00.068A puts the two drawings from two lectures next to each other for comparison. On the right the eyes are drawn with the symbols for the planets, and the stars are not drawn because a comment is made with regards to the 24 spirits of rotation of time (see extract below).

Schema FMC00.068B illustrates the pentagram and hexagram forms of which the symbol is made up. The hexagram also represents the three opposite triangles, one descending and one ascending.

Schema FMC00.068C illustrates,

in the middle:the cycle of planetary stages in the solar system evolution and the central point (see also Schema FMC00.068 insert below).
on the right: the three Logoi cycle from Schema FMC00.010A. It shows how the blue cycle creates the foundation, which the second green transforms and the third purple finalizes.

Structurally

Schema FMC00.656: illustrates the relation between the human being and the Mystical Lamb from a cosmic perspective based on structural bodily principles or members of being

Above right: the starting point based on the lecture of 1908-01-27-GA102

Below right: Schema FMC00.471 illustrates how Man and the great cosmic being (see also the 25920 lectures) called the Mystical Lamb relate. In red the two divine higher principles of the monad. On the right axis the corresponding zodiac signs. The cosmic being is called the lamb because it's higher principle corresponds to Aries. It sacrifices its lower members as a source of eternal life and love, hence the insert upper right of the most famous artistic depiction of the lamb, from the painting by Van Eyck (1432).

Above middle: Rudolf Steiner held various lectures where he spoke of the Christ Impulse in the language of the zodiac. An example is added with Schema FMC00.373 as a link with the above.

Below middle: reference made to other Schema FMC00.472 and variants besides Schema FMC00.471 and variants, as both use the same representation. Study of the five schemas taken together allows to deepen once contemplation of many various perspectives represented.

Below right: is shown the CoC-ladder of twelve Conditions of Consciousness, as a way to build conscious awareness that the twelve CoC states are not the same as the 12 bodily principles.

illustrates the relation between the human being and the Mystical Lamb from a cosmic perspective based on structural bodily principles or members of being Above right: the starting point based on the lecture of 1908-01-27-GA102 Below right: Schema FMC00.471 illustrates how Man and the great cosmic being (see also the 25920 lectures) called the Mystical Lamb relate. In red the two divine higher principles of the monad. On the right axis the corresponding zodiac signs. The cosmic being is called the lamb because it's higher principle corresponds to Aries. It sacrifices its lower members as a source of eternal life and love, hence the insert upper right of the most famous artistic depiction of the lamb, from the painting by Van Eyck (1432). Above middle: Rudolf Steiner held various lectures where he spoke of the Christ Impulse in the language of the zodiac. An example is added with Schema FMC00.373 as a link with the above. Below middle: reference made to other Schema FMC00.472 and variants besides Schema FMC00.471 and variants, as both use the same representation. Study of the five schemas taken together allows to deepen once contemplation of many various perspectives represented. Below right: is shown the CoC-ladder of twelve Conditions of Consciousness, as a way to build conscious awareness that the twelve CoC states are not the same as the 12 bodily principles.

Other

Schema FMC00.348 shows the second of the seven apocalyptic seals, the two left illustrations are sketches provided by Rudolf Steiner as indications, the two on the right are paintings by Clara Rettich of 1907 and 1911. It shows the past with the four group souls that led upto current humanity, and in the center the Mystical Lamb symbol of the Christ group soul as the future group soul of humanity, see also Unification and Second Adam.

FMC00.349 shows the central detail of the Adoration of the Mystical Lamb, the large 15th century alterpiece painting with twelve panels in the Cathedral of Ghent, Belgium. It was painted by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck and completed in 1432.

Lecture coverage and references

Book of Revelation, Ch. 5

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits^[a] of God sent out into all the Earth.
⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
⁸ And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
⁹ And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
¹⁰ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
¹¹ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
¹² Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
¹³ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the Earth, and under the Earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

further references in the Book of Revelation

Chapter 5: a Lamb as it had been slain (Worthy)

Chapter 6: the Lamb opening the Book (Judging)

Chapter 7: the Lamb in the midst of the throne (Feeding)

Chapter 13: the Lamb slain (life-giving)

Chapter 14: the Lamb on Mount Sion (leading)

Chapter 15: the Lamb of the song (ruling in justice and truth)

Chapter 17: the Lamb in battle (overcoming)

Chapter 19: the Lamb of the marriage supper (loving)

Chapter 21: the Lamb of New Jerusalem (giving light) <-> Future Jupiter

Chapter 22: the Lamb of the throne (reigning forever)

1907-04-22-GA104a

An explanation for the above image is given by Rudolf Steiner, hereby an excerpt from 1907-04-22-GA104a

This is, the occult sign of the lamb. The lamb receives the book with the seven seals.
“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” (Rev. 5:6)
The seven corners of the sign are called “horns.”
But what do the “eyes” mean? In occult schools the signs of the seven planets are written next to the seven eyes. The seven eyes signify nothing other than the seven planets, while the names of the planets designate the spirits incarnated in them as their intelligence. “Saturn” is the name of the soul of Saturn. The names of the planets come from the spirits of the seven planets found around the Earth. These have an influence on human life. The lamb, Christ, contains all seven. Christ is the alpha and the omega [editor: see also IAO] ; the seven planets are related to him like members to an entire body.
The entwining of the lines of the sign portray in a wonderful way the interaction between the seven planets. From Saturn one rises to the Sun, from there down to the Moon, then on to Mars, Mercury, and so forth. The same thing is expressed in the names of the seven days of the week: Saturday, Saturn; Sunday, the Sun; Monday, the Moon; Tuesday, Mardi, Mars; Wednesday, Mercredi, Mercury; Thursday, Jeudi, Jupiter; Friday, Vendredi, Venus.
Christ is the regent of all these world spheres; their actions constitute only part of his being; he unites them all.
In Rosicrucian schools a lamb is often drawn as a sign for the intelligence of the Sun.

1907-04-27-GA096

... and again a few days later on 1907-04-27-GA096 (SWCC)

Occult symbols of this have existed through the ages.
A seven-cornered sign is the symbol of the good sun spirit. The seven corners symbolize the seven planets. In occultism, the stars are drawn into the figure [heptagram] in the form of seven eyes. They bind it all together. At the same time we also have the days of the week if you follow this line.

In the distant past, time could not yet be measured by external methods based on the way the sun moves around the earth. Early occultists thought of special regents for the orbit of the sun, and they were right in their thinking. The whole system was orbiting, and time was determined in relation to the twelve signs of the zodiac: Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Scales, and so on. As you know, one cycle in the evolution of a cosmic system is called a manvantara, and this is always followed by a pralaya, a state of rest. They alternate like day and night, with both night and day of 12 hours duration. Those 12 hours correspond to the vast periods of time in the cosmic day that were regulated by the ancient rulers of the circling of the zodiac. I would need to draw 24 masters of rotations around this sign. If I were to draw it, you'd have the heptagon here, then the seven eyes for the seven stars, and the 24 ancient rulers, 12 for the night and 12 for the day.

The pentagram is the symbol for the human being. A black magician uses it with the two 'horns' pointing upwards and the single peak pointing down. On completion of this development, the 'good' will have developed seven 'horns'. That is the sign of the Christ spirit, the good sun spirit is also called 'the lamb'.

Having gained this insight, let's read the passage where John receives the book sealed with seven seals as it is given in chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation:
'And immediately I was in the spirit. And behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardius stone ... And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting'
I have presented them to you in the twenty-four hours of the cosmic day, night and day. And then, moving on to chapter 5:
'And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of god sent forth into all the earth.'
This occult sign forms the background to John's writing of the secrets of cosmic existence in his Book of Revelation.

1908-01-27-GA102

With regards to the 'eyes', in 1908-01-27-GA102 reference is made to the Archai (SWCC)

.. there are beings whose lowest member is the ‘I’, and who don't have a physical nor etheric nor astral body in our sense but whose I streams outwards (without these three sheaths). They are therefore beings who send forth ‘I’ in all directions. These Beings have an eighth, a ninth, and a tenth member; they are described in the Apocalypse as beings who are “full of eyes”.

longer extract

When we speak of man in terms of Spiritual Science we say that the whole Man .. is a seven-fold being, consisting of physical body, etheric body, astral body, I, spirit-self, life-spirit, spirit-man. His development is not yet complete but will be when his sevenfold being has fully developed. But in the great cosmic All there are beings other than man, beings of a different nature. There are, for example, beings in the cosmos of whom we cannot say that, like Man, they have the physical body as one of their members. There are beings of whom we must speak differently.
The members of which Man is composed can be enumerated as follows:

Spirit-Man

Life-Spirit

Spirit-Self

Ego

Astral Body

Etheric Body

Physical Body

Now there are beings whose lowest member is the etheric body; they too are sevenfold, having an eighth member, higher than spirit-man. We begin to enumerate thus: etheric body, astral body, and so forth, finishing with a member above our spirit-man (atma).
There are other beings whose lowest member is the astral body; above spirit-man they have an eighth and yet a ninth member.
Again there are beings whose lowest member is the ‘I’ and who therefore have not a physical nor an etheric nor an astral body in our sense but whose I streams outwards without the three sheaths. They are therefore beings who send forth ‘I's’ in all directions. These beings have an eighth, a ninth, and a tenth member; they are described in the Apocalypse as beings who are “full of eyes”.
Then there are beings in whom spirit-self (manas) is the lowest member. They have yet an eleventh member.
And finally there are beings whose lowest member is the life-spirit and who have yet a twelfth member. You must therefore think of beings who, just as Man's lowest member is a physical body, have life-spirit (budhi) as their lowest member and above, a highest member best designated by the number 12. These are most sublime beings, far transcending everything that Man is able to conceive.
How is it possible to form any kind of idea of these most wonderful, most sublime beings?
When we try to characterize Man, in one aspect, it is obvious that with respect to the universe, he is a being who receives. The things and beings of the world are outspread around you; you perceive them, you form concepts of them. Just imagine that the world around you were empty, or dark. You could have no perceptions, nor would there be anything of which you could form concepts. You have to rely upon receiving from outside the content of your inner world.
It is characteristic of Man that he is a being who receives; he receives the content of his soul-life, his inner life, from outside; things must exist in the world if his soul is to have content. The nature of Man's etheric body is such that it could experience nothing in itself were it not beholden to the whole surrounding universe for all experiences, for everything that enters into it.
These beings of whom I have just told you, who have life-spirit as their lowest member, are in an entirely different position. In respect of their life, these beings are not dependent upon receiving anything from outside; they are “givers,” they are themselves creative. You know from what I have often told you, that the ‘I,’ the ego, works in the etheric body and that ‘Budhi’ is nothing else than a transformed etheric body. In respect of substance, therefore, the life-spirit too is an ether body. The twelfth member of these sublime beings is also an ‘ether body’ but one which pours forth life, which works in the world in such a way that it does not receive life but gives it forth, offers life in perpetual sacrifice.
And now let us ask: Can we conceive of a being who is in any way connected with us and who radiates life into our universe? Is it possible to conceive of life that is perpetually streaming into the world, imbuing the world with life?
...
... there are other beings whose lowest sphere of operation is Man's highest.
Let us try to conceive of these beings whose lowest sphere of operation is Man's highest (Libra in the zodiac). When we relate Man to the zodiac, he reaches to Libra.
The Being whose innermost nature belongs wholly to the Zodiac, whose forces belong wholly to the Zodiac, who only manifests in planetary life through his lowest member, which corresponds to Libra (as Man's lowest member corresponds to Pisces), this is the Being who spreads life throughout the whole of our universe: [picture]

Just as Man receives life into himself, so does this Being radiate life through the whole of our universe. This is the Being Who has the power to make the great sacrifice and Who is inscribed in the Zodiac as the Being Who for the sake of our world offers Himself in sacrifice.
Just as Man strives upwards into the Zodiac, so does this Being send us His sacrificial gift from Aries - which is related to Him as Libra is related to Man.
And just as man turns his I upwards to Libra, so does this Being radiate His very Self over our sphere in sacrifice.
This Being is called the “Mystical Lamb,” for Lamb and Aries are the same; therefore the description ‘Sacrificial Lamb’ or ‘Ram’ is given to Christ. Christ belongs to the cosmos as a whole. His I reaches to Aries and thus He becomes Himself the “Great Sacrifice,” is related with the whole of mankind and in a certain sense the beings and forces present on the earth are His creations. The configuration of forces is such that He could become the Creator of these beings in the constellation of Aries, or the Lamb.
The designation “Sacrificial Lamb” or “Mystical Lamb” is drawn from the heavens themselves.

read further on: Golden vessels interchanging#1908-01-27-GA102

1908-03-24-GA102

.. the “Mystical Lamb” is the Sun-Spirit who holds the secret of lifting not only the spirits away from the Earth but of redeeming the bodies, spiritualizing them, after many incarnations have been passed through. The possessor of the love mystery is the Sun-Spirit whom we call the Christ, and since He has an interest not only in the individuality, but directly in each single personality of the Earth, we call Him the “Great Sacrifice of the Earth” or the “Mystical Lamb.”

1909-08-31-GA113

These twelve points of the Zodiac were not alone the real and veritable world symbols for the very oldest divine spiritual beings, but the symbols themselves were thought to correspond, in a certain sense, with reality.

Discussion

Note 1 - Symbol of the Mystical Lamb

The symbol also appears on the third apocalyptic seal (see Schema FMC00.350), hence it is interesting to study it together with the five and six pointed stars. Rudolf Steiner covers these symbols in more depth in the esoteric lessons.

five pointed star as symbol of etheric body, six pointed as symbol of astral body (1906-11-06-GA266/1, 1906-11-14-GA266/1, 1906-12-01-GA266/1)
five and six pointed stars and the Logoi, see eg Schema FMC00.010A on Creation by the three Logoi
an elaborate buildup in the context of the Parsifal story develops a rosecrucian symbol in 1909-08-27-GA266/1 and 1909-08-30-GA266/1, see Schema FMC00.394 on Parsifal
pentagram with the point turned downwards as symbol of black magic (1906-12-01-GA266/1)