‘The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.’ Proverbs: 31:1
The word king should be understood to mean the human spirit. The word mother should be understood to mean the Lord; the Divine mother who taught him.
‘What, my son? And what, the son of my womb?’ (31: 2)
The word son should be understood to mean a person who is on Earth.
‘And what, the son of my vows?’ (31: 2)
Mother-nature always has vows for her children.
‘Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.’ (31: 3)
The first thing is not to give your strength to women. In this context, the word woman is understood to mean the human heart, which has deviated from the right Path. Therefore, give not your strength to it. The destroyer shall be understood to mean one of the vices of the human mind, namely pride.
‘It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.’ (31: 4, 5)
The first rule for the human spirit is not to drink wine. Strong drink should be understood to mean processed wine, which has in it a little honey, sugar, and black pepper. Wine should be understood to mean money. Even the best of people, when given money, lose their self-control. Wine also implies all the weaknesses, which blur the human mind, either thoughts, desires, or actions, which distort wishes. In a human being one’s good thoughts and desires are afflicted. Anybody, who afflicts one’s desires, distorts the internal judgement. Just like you distort your internal judgement, in the same way you will look externally, and the same way you will look internally too. This is the Divine law: one represents the physical world externally, while internally – one represents the Divine world. The people around you can never make your world better than you have made it yourself. And those of you, who wait for their happiness to come from elsewhere, beguile themselves; therefore, they end up disillusioned. Do not expect your happiness to come from somewhere else - it is within you.
Who should be given wine and strong drink?
‘Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.’ (31:6, 7)
Give strong drink to those who have hardships, while wine – to those who are sad, angry, or gloomy. Give drink and food to bad, angry people! You can’t understand why you should give food and drink to bad people, and not to good people. You can’t imagine this contradiction. If you have a hard strap, which is of no use, you have to place it in oil to get softer, don’t you? Soft straps are not to be put in oil. This implies that the energy, which is hard, has to be fed and put in oil to get softer. Aggrieved people, because they are hard, let them have wine and bread then they will become fit to work. Good people have this softness per se.
‘Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.’ (31: 8)
To "open your mouth for the dumb" means that the smart people should defend those who can’t speak; while those who can speak should not defend themselves.
‘Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.’ (31: 9)
You women, who are mothers, should judge righteously. When you are in the judge’s seat, you should forget all of your personal relations; you should not think about yourself, you should be one with God, with humankind, i.e. God’s interests should be your interests, and the interest of humankind should also be your interest. The big includes the small interests, while the small does not include another small within itself.
‘Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.’ (31: 10)
A virtuous woman should be understood to mean a good heart. The Scripture reads, "I shall give them a heart made of flesh, and I shall deprive them of the heart made of stone." A virtuous woman implies a good heart. It is better to acquire such a heart than precious stones.
‘The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.’ (31: 11)
A man should be understood to mean the human mind that also has a heart. It reads, "The heart of her husband does safely trust in her," because the heart that is meant is wise. Think for the sake of your heart! As long as one wish of yours allows you to think, it is a wise wish, but if it does not allow you to think, it is dangerous. Note how a mood of anger influences you – you fly into a fury right away and you do not consider the implications. This is the silly woman inside you, i.e. the silly heart.
Spoils imply all the joys for which we strive. All the joys originate in the heart; it is the soil where Divine good grows.
‘She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.’ (31: 12)
By not disappointing anybody, by not offending anybody, you will have more friends and more people who love you.
‘She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.’ (31: 13)
Christ says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7: 7) So, according to this line the heart obviously seeks. Seeking – this stands for the wise desires of human beings. She has been seeking during all the days of her life. What has she been seeking? Wool and flax. Wool and flax have two different features: wool retains the warmth, while flax releases it. It is hygienic to wear flax clothes in summer and woollen clothes in winter. Jewish priests always wore flax under-clothes. A wise woman always seeks and works wool and flax; wool and flax denote two noble desires. Woollen and flaxen threads make the best of fruit. The hands here denote that this woman has a wise will, so that she can weave something out of the wool and flax. Flax – this is the thought, and wool – this is the desire. When she can feel and think, she knows what to weave out of all this. Wool implies ardent desires, and flax shows a little bit of equanimity. While the expression "and works willingly with her hands" means that she develops everything using her will.
‘She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.’ (31: 14)
This means that she has a steering wheel and she can steer the ships. Which one is the human steering wheel? This is our tongue. Ships stand for the mouth, where she places the food from afar, from within. So, she is aware that she is like the merchants’ ships.
‘She riseth also while it is yet night,’ (31: 15)
This means that the Sun does not see her in bed. She is up before the master comes.
‘and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.’ (31: 15)
Her household – this is her body. The heart, the mind, and all the desires – these are her servants, to whom she gives instructions.
‘She considereth a field, and buyeth it:
With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.’ (31:16)
She considers a field with her eyes, because the eyes are a source of the Truth. She sees what is useful and what is not, and she buys the field. The field should be understood to mean the external conditions of the physical field, which God has given to us. The fruit of her hands should be understood to mean the world of her heart. The vineyard means that all noble thoughts and desires are planted in her. Such a person is said to be magnetized.
‘She girdeth her loins with strength,
And strengtheneth her arms.’ (31: 17)
The expression "she girds her loins with strength" should be understood to mean her will. She is a woman who develops her body; does exercises, she is not idle. Her body is very well developed; there is no infirmity. She can tell the difference between her movements, desires, and thoughts very well and thus she strengthens her arms.
‘She perceiveth that her merchandise is good:
Her candle goeth not out by night.’ (31: 18)
The word night should be understood to mean the time when she is beset with grief and misfortunes. But even then her candle does not go out. A woman who, when in trouble, can say, "So far I have been regularly to church, I have believed in God, but from now on I will not go to church," is a woman without a candle.
‘She layeth her hands to the spindle,
And her hands hold the distaff.’ (31: 19)
Contemporary people discovered that the Earth spins around its axis like a spindle. And women have long believed that since the Earth spins around its axis, they should also spin around themselves. Which is to say that every woman should turn both her sides to the Sun. Joy and grief are the two sides of women and every woman has to turn simultaneously according to both of them. The side, which is the joy, is light; and the other side – the grief, is dark. This is why women should spin their spindles! When grief comes, spin your spindle! Stand up and ask, "Is my spindle spinning?" And what are you doing? You leave the distaff and say, "The Earth does not spin." No, the Earth spins all the time. This is why women should also spin all the time. If the Earth stops spinning, all people would die, while thanks to this mother, you all have clothes. The distaff stands for the Divine world. This spun thread shows where energy comes from. The distaff-ful of wool stands for the Solar system. The distaff is to be fixed at the waste belt. The Milky Way stands for the belt of the human spirit. The Solar system aspires to this belt. Everybody has to have a distaff-ful of wool. If the spindle stops spinning or if there is no distaff or distaff-ful, everything turns upside down.
‘She stretcheth out her hand to the poor;
yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.’ (31: 20)
You cannot stretch out your hands to the poor, until you wash and spin your wool. The word poor in this line means all seeds that are still not sown. You open your hand, take these seeds, sow them in the garden – and this is one good deed you can do. Once you open your hand to the poor, you are in agreement with the Divine will. When you help somebody else, you help the weak, not the strong, and the poor are the future of the world.
‘She is not afraid of the snow for her household:
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.’
Scarlet clothes in esoteric language mean magnetic clothes. There are people who are prone to any disease - they are naked. Any person, who loses one’s temper and who experiences doubts, is naked. And, indeed, Adam and Eve after the sin lost their clothes, and as a result they could not withstand the external struggle. This is exactly where the strength of Christianity resides – anybody can get clothes. When we start acquiring these magnetic clothes, we notice one Force within us. This fact can be found in everyday life too: when we put on certain clothes, we experience a pleasant sensation, special warmth, but the moment we take off these clothes, we experience an unpleasant sensation. Grief is nothing else but an indication that our clothes were stolen. When we have our clothes on, we are cheerful and merry. This is a very true law. When your children are cheerful, they are in clothes, but try to take their clothes off – grief is fast to come. So, the cause of all the sufferings that you experience is that you do not have such clothes. If you were clairvoyants, you would see what you look like with these clothes on and with these clothes off.
‘She maketh herself coverings of tapestry;
Her clothing is silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sitteth among the elders of the land.’ (31: 22, 23)
The husband stands for her mind. When her mind speaks, everybody will listen to her, because the husband of such a woman is decent. If she is idle, nobody will listen to her, because her husband is not decent.
‘She maketh fine linen, and selleth it;
And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour are her clothing;
And she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom;
And in her tongue is the law of kindness.’ (31: 24-26)
Everybody needs this law of kindness. Think about these lines on your own; I will elaborate on them some other time.
‘She looketh well to the ways of her household,
And eateth not the bread of idleness.’ (31: 27)
This woman will never take just any food; she chooses healthy food in all respects. It is known that idleness is the mother of all vices. Altogether, contemporary educated people have become very idle. They go to church to lie to God, they light a candle and they say, "Let's pray, let’s light a candle or two, so something might come our way." They take a lottery ticket, and after that, they go and sit in cafes and wait for something to come their way from this ticket. When the draw day comes and when they see that there is nothing for them, they buy a new ticket and start on their way to the church to light a candle and to pray again. They buy shares, but the sale rate falls at times and then they lose everything. Such people are idle. No, you will work; you will develop everything in you! The misfortunes that you have suffered so far are your past and by suffering, you actually pay your old debts. Why does she not eat bread of idleness? In contemporary society, there are many such examples of people eating bread of idleness: a lad courts the girl of a family; he is in nice clothes, has a good house, but has certain debts. He wants to marry this rich girl so that she could pay his debts. The father and mother are in a hurry to catch him, without being aware of his material status and they get the young ones married. The creditors, one after another, start claiming their policies and they say, "Now he is rich, he will pay his debts." The parents are dismayed and say, "How strange, he was a very good person." Yes, but because you united with this idle man, you will bear the consequences. When a spirit comes and tells you that you can have an easy life, you should not put money on that horse and should not believe these promises.
‘Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously,
But thou excellest them all.’ (31: 28, 29)
It is true that mothers, like these, are respected by their children and the world respects them too. In these lines, Solomon describes the ideal woman or the aspiration of the human soul.
‘Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain:
But a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.’ (31: 30)
The words fears the Lord mean that each woman, who is devout, will be praised.
‘Give her of the fruit of her hands;
And let her own works praise her in the gates.’ (31: 31)
Study the whole chapter this month.
You will make the effort to experience the strength of these old formulas, to see what magic power the distaff possesses. When you are in low spirits, you will do the following experiment: picture in your mind ten kilograms of wool; you will take a big cauldron and should picture yourself washing this wool little by little. You will wash it once, twice, three, four, five times until it is absolutely clean. Then you take one of the carders that the gypsies have and should start carding it. Keep carding it for about half an hour, and then make it into distaff-fuls. Then you place it in big carding machines and make it into big distaff-fuls. Take one of the already prepared distaff-fuls, put it on the distaff to start spinning. I would like you to describe to me what feelings you experience before you start spinning. You will prepare a detailed description similar to the one produced by a natural scientist while observing certain processes under a microscope. Pay attention what thought comes to mind after each distaff-ful. We have this formula about the carding and spinning of wool from Esotericism and for half an hour it will contribute much more than a pedagogue for a whole year. You will do this experiment with the wool at least four times a month. If one of you falls ill with the Spanish disease1, let her wash the wool while in bed.
If these experiments yield results, they will be true and authentic. What we have invented and concocted cannot be experimented with. Do not let knowledge into you that cannot impart strength to you. When some thought comes to mind, dwell upon it, keep it for a day or two in your heads and if nothing comes out of it, then it is a futile thought. Do not retain desires and thoughts that contribute nothing. You should be spinning the spindle all the time, the thread should constantly run from above and thus you should spin two or three spindles. You should start running such a process in your mind. It does not take praying only - it takes work also. What does the word praying imply? Breathing is of significance provided your blood circulates. The moment the blood enters the lungs and gets purified – this is what praying stands for. If there is no blood in your lungs, what is the point of you taking in air and praying? And in order to pray, there must be air to purify the blood. Sometimes you pray but you do not know for what. You say, "God, bless us!" but you do not know in what you want to be blessed. You say, "Lord, please, let my situation improve!" Is your situation bad indeed? But you may say, "I want to be like other people”. Are you not like other people? Now in order to pray, food has to be chewed by your teeth, to get into your stomach, and the stomach will do its job – it will convert it into juices, which will penetrate your lungs and only then you can start praying. Only conscious people can pray. Some ask, "Why should we pray?" To get your blood, thoughts, and desires purified! If you do not pray voluntarily, then the Providence will set up conditions for you to pray. Even the toughest people pray: when sick they call the doctor and say, "Please, doctor, help me!" When the Lord places you in deprivation, you are fast to find your way to a creditor and pray the creditor. The Lord made it a law that one should pray. Some people say, "I do not want to pray to God." All right – choose somebody else, whoever takes your fancy. There are people who pray to their horses; they tell the horses, "Come on, gee, gee-up, horse!" You pray to your horse to help you drive your load. From a purely psychic point of view, praying is a necessary law. To pray to God – this is the right thing to do, this is like fresh air. If you do not pray, you will fall further down and down. All the environments that you will fall into are less pure. If you are not in the mood to pray, go down to your stomach and do some work there.
When you do these experiments, you should not have selfish aspirations, but all of you have to start studying the Divine laws, the way you study subjects at school – natural sciences, Bulgarian language, and geometry and so on. Everybody who has come to the School has to verify what is true and what is not. This is not like newspapers; newspapers can announce that a city has fallen and within a day or two, they may announce that the city was recaptured etc. For example, newspapers announced that the Romanians2 had invaded the country and everybody was in low spirits. Last night there was an article saying the Romanians did not invade. Somebody comes to you and tells you that you are heading into trouble, and you start worrying – this is how the Romanian invades your head. You resemble that maid who dreamt that she got married and she had a child and then the child died. She got up in the morning and told her mother about her dream. Both of them were upset and started crying. You create many troubles in your mind by such fictional things. A woman says, "I heard that the sisters do not think well of me," – this is how the Romanians invade her head. Shortly she says, "No, I was wrong, they think well of me," – the Romanian leaves her head. Both are equally true. A priest may tell you that you are a heretic, but I tell you that you are not – the Romanians have invaded and left your head.
When you enter a School, you have to have a critical mind, in order to examine things, to have an attitude to the Invisible world and to these laws. This is the only viable way to build a solid character. While now you expect everything to be granted to you. I want you to wash, card, and spin the wool yourselves. If you do not know how to spin and card, I will teach you. This is the only way for people to become noble and elevated. One has to work and to work and to work again! I do not say you have to labour, I say you have to work. Difficulties and labour I leave for the people, because these belong to the world.
When you are gloomy and grieved, tell yourself, "I should get some work done!"
Master’s lecture,
Delivered on 5 December 1918.
1 The Spanish disease was how the virus flu was originally known.
2 The Romanians – referring to the military actions in the region of South Dobroudja during WW1.
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