<div id="meditmois">\n<h2>Monthly Meditation</h2>\n<ul id="meditnav">\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_01_2020:url]">January</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_02_2020:url]">February</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_03_2020:url]">March</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_04_2020:url]">April</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_05_2020:url]">May</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_06_2020:url]">June</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_07_2020:url]">July</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_08_2020:url]">August</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_09_2020:url]">September</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_10_2020:url]">October</a></li>\n<li><a href="[meditmonth_11_2020:url]">November</a></li>\n<li class="active"><a href="[meditmonth_12_2020:url]"><span style="color: #ffffff;">December</span></a></li>\n</ul>\n<h1>The life-giving inner forces of the donkey and the ox</h1>\n<div class="stack-column" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 30%; vertical-align: top; width: 30%;">\n<table style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4" align="center">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align="center"><a href="https://www.prosveta.fr/resources/sites/@site_id/images/images_medit/nativite-botticelli.jpg" class="fancybox" id="single_image" title="The Mystical Nativity - Sandro Botticelli (c. 1500-1501)"><img style="width: 100%; max-width: 350px;" src="https://www.prosveta.fr/resources/sites/@site_id/images/images_medit/nativite-botticelli-min.jpg" alt="The Mystical Nativity" width="350"></a><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>"The Mystical Nativity"</strong> - Sandro Botticelli (c. 1500-1501)<br><a href="https://www.prosveta.fr/resources/sites/@site_id/images/images_medit/nativite-botticelli.jpg" class="fancybox" id="single_image" title="The Mystical Nativity"><em>(click to enlarge)</em></a></span></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</div>\n<div class="stack-column" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 50%; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;">\n<table style="width: 100%; float: left;" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class="omapenseesmall" align="justify" valign="top">'...When <strong>Mary and Joseph</strong> sought refuge in the inn, they found that there was no room for them… But then he finds a <strong>stable</strong>, and stable and <strong>manger</strong> are also <strong>symbols</strong>; symbols, <strong>first and foremost of poverty and difficult material circumstances</strong>. Yes, for someone in whom the Spirit dwells, this will always be the way: people will not appreciate them and will refuse to let them in to their homes. But <strong>thanks to the Light that radiates from them and shines above the manger, others will see them and come to them from afar</strong>.<br> And now let’s look at the question of the <strong>stable</strong>: in this stable there were no sheep and no shepherds, only an <strong>ox</strong> and a <strong>donkey</strong>. Why was this? For centuries, humans have been repeating this story without understanding it because they have lost the universal symbolism. The <strong>stable</strong> represents our <strong>physical body</strong>. And what does the <strong>ox</strong> represent? Well, you know that in ancient civilizations the ox or bull was seen as the <strong>generative principle</strong>. In ancient Egypt, for instance, Apis the bull was the symbol of <strong>fertility</strong> and <strong>fecundity</strong>. The bull is ruled by <strong>Venus</strong> and represents <strong>sexual energy</strong>. The <strong>donkey</strong>, on the other hand, is ruled by <strong>Saturn</strong> and represents the <strong>personality</strong>, our <strong>lower nature</strong>, the <strong>‘old Adam’</strong>, who is obstinate and headstrong but a <strong>good servant</strong>. And these two beasts were there to serve Jesus.<br>But how could they serve him? Well, this is where I am going to reveal a <strong>great mystery</strong> to you.</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</div>\n<div class="stack-column" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 80%; vertical-align: top; width: 80%;">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class="omapenseesmall" align="justify">When people first begin to work seriously to <strong>become better people</strong>, they come into sharp conflict with the <strong>forces</strong> of their <strong>personality</strong> and <strong>sensuality</strong>. An <strong>initiate</strong> is someone who has achieved <strong>the mastery of these two kinds of energy and knows how to put them to good use</strong>. They are not exterminated, you see; nowhere does it say that these two beasts were driven off or slaughtered: they remained there, in the stable. But what were they doing there? <strong>They were warming the infant Jesus with their breath</strong>. And this means that when an initiate manages to transmute their <strong>inner ox and donkey and make them servants</strong>, the ox and donkey keep the new-born babe in them warm and <strong>nourished with their breath</strong>. Their energies are no longer a source of suffering and no longer torment them and knock them off balance: they become <strong>life-giving inner forces</strong>.<br><strong>Breath</strong> is a <strong>sign of life</strong>, and the breath of the ox and donkey is a reminder of that breath through which <strong>God breathed a soul into the first human being</strong>. The ox and the donkey served the child Jesus, and this means that all those in whom <strong>Christ</strong> dwells will be served by their personality and their sensuality, for <strong>these two forces can be extraordinarily useful</strong> once we know how to harness them to a task.'</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</div>\n<div class="results-content">\n<div class="result-content-icones" dir="ltr">\n<div class="result-content-title">[P0209AN]</div>\n<div class="result-content-img">[P0209AN:image|width=100]</div>\n<div><a href="https://www.prosveta.fr/en/flip-through/P0209AN?backurl=!back&amp;backlabel=Back"><img style="width: 100%; max-width: 40px; height: auto;" title="Flip Through" src="https://www.prosveta.fr/resources/sites/3/images/infos/flipping.png" alt="Flip Through" width="40"></a></div>\n<div class="result-content-price">[P0209AN :price][widget:addbutton|ref=P0209AN:text=Add]</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<hr>\n<div id="bloc_medit">[bloc_medit:text]</div>\n</div>