19 December 2017 – Astro-Weather: The five brightest stars of Cassiopeia are usually called a W. At dusk the W stands nearly on end very high in the northeast. It soon turns over to become a flattened M even higher in the north.
Although Uranus reached opposition exactly two months ago, it remains a commanding presence. The outer planet climbs highest in the south around 7:30 pm CST when it appears two-thirds of the way to the zenith, in southeastern Pisces, just west of the star Omicron Piscium.
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Odilon Redon
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Looking at the past to see the present, co-creating the future: “History, historical life, will only be seen in the right light when a true consciousness of the connection of the so-called living with the so-called dead can be developed” ~Rudolf Steiner – The Living and the Dead
Rembrandt
Abraham and the Three Angels, c. 1630s – early 1640s
According to Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research in the original Calendar of the Soul today is the Birthday of Abraham interestingly regarded as the father of the faithful by all 3 monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, & Islam
Abraham and Lot by Wenceslaus Hollar
Birthday of Lot, nephew of Abraham
Also celebrated today: O Radix Jesse
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Isaiah had prophesied: “A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Isaiah 11:1 “On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10 Jesse was the father of King David, & Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David & be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). see Also: Isaiah 45:14, Isaiah 52:15 & Romans 15:12
150 – Deathday of Clement of Alexandria. His parents were educated pagans, having rejected paganism as a young man due to its perceived moral corruption, he travelled in Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine & Egypt. In his Protrepticus he displays an extensive knowledge of Greek mythology & mystery religions, which could only have arisen from the practice of his family’s religion. In Greece, he encountered the Ionian theologian, Athenagoras of Athens; while in the east, he was taught by the Assyrian, Tatian, & a Jew, Theophilus of Caesarea. In around 180, Clement reached Alexandria, where he met Pantaenus, who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement studied under Pantaenus, & was ordained to the priesthood by Pope Julian before 189.
As his three major works demonstrate, Clement was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy to a greater extent than any other Christian thinker of his time, & in particular by Plato & the Stoics. His secret works, which exist only in fragments, suggest that he was also familiar with pre-Christian Jewish esotericism & Gnosticism. In one of his works he argued that Greek philosophy had its origin among non-Greeks, claiming that both Plato & Pythagoras were taught by Egyptian scholars. Among his pupils were Origen & Alexander of Jerusalem. Clement is regarded as a Church Father & is venerated as a saint in Coptic Christianity, Ethiopian Christianity & Anglicanism
1776 – Thomas Paine publishes a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled “The American Crisis“. The first was released during a time when the Revolution was still viewed as an unsteady prospect. The opening lines are as follows: “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman”.
The pamphlet, read aloud to the Continental Army on December 23, 1776, three days before the Battle of Trenton, attempted to bolster morale as well as shame neutrals & loyalists toward the cause: “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph”.
Along with the patriotic nature of The American Crisis, it displayed Paine’s strong deist beliefs, inciting the laity with suggestions that the British are trying to assume powers that only God should have. Paine states that he believes God supports the American people, “that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent“.
Paine believes that Britain is essentially trying to enslave America. See The American Crisis – Common Sense pamphlet – The Age of Reason
1848 – Deathday of Emily Brontë, English novelist & poet
1907 – 239 coal miners die in the Darr Mine Disaster in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania
1915 – Birthday of Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter & actress
1927 – Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh & Ashfaqulla Khan are executed by the British Empire
1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
1941 –Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres
1972 –The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, & Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth
1974 – Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution
2012 – Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea
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Clavis Artis
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~I have come
To this dark world
Like a satellite streaking —
I am the open eye gleaming —
A laser, sculpting, reality
With precise rays of promise
Sparking eternity —
Come Beloved, bring forth your art
& let us co-create the heart…
~hag
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Liba WS
We swiftly sidle toward the midnight hour of the year. All of Creation is holding its breath at this deep time, anticipating the birth, within each human heart, of wonder, & a willingness to cooperate in a living way with everything & everyone.
May we kindle the warm glow of good will to transform our emotional default setting to one of peace & kindness. Each moment awaits our imaginative dedication.
So let’s toss all that is neither beautiful nor useful into the roiling cauldron of re-birth, that Time is so kindly providing us. Let us compost all past-patterns of self-sabotage, personal & collective. And let us humbly bow at the threshold of this New Year, to release & redeem all that we do not wish to take with us through the new door of Epiphany (20 KMB 18).
Remorse is said to be the highest of the negative states – that sinking feeling that can grip us when we fall for the compelling illusion of separateness, & forgot that we are all in one large, pulsing, shape-shifting-according-to-collaborative-intent-reality-dream. How will your thoughts add to this picture?
The Sufi say: “Estafirahlah” “forgiveness of self and others.” And part of what “to forgive” means is “to give energy for change.”
The protoplasm of reality is particularly susceptible to imprint now, by the power of word, story & metaphor – Allowing ourselves one true hyperbole: Never before has the power of human story-telling been so essential in determining what dies & what lives.
Let us dedicate ourselves to animating a truly desirable story – A love story.
We are here to re-dedicate ourselves to the responsibility of manifesting the highest qualities of the human being.
So, wherever we are, at this time of the Solstice, let us visualize & dedicate our unique & absolutely necessary Medicine, into the collective cauldron, to ladle ourselves up a big heaping cup of All-Heal.
‘The Medicine that makes whole’, brings into bubbling accord the elixir of Divine, Dynamic, Reverent, Integrity & Ingenuity.
See you there
Xox ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg
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The Story of Being Human – Holy Nights 2017-2018
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society, & Elderberries Chicago. All gatherings are Pay-What-You-Will, no one turned away for lack of funds $10 Suggested Donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged
Tuesday 26 December 2017, at 7 pm – The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson with Mary Tom & Debbie Barford on Lyre
“Olaf Åsteson, Olaf the son of earth, experiences various secrets of the cosmic All whilst he is transported into the macrocosm during the thirteen shortest days. And the Nordic legend which has been extricated from old accounts, tells of these experiences Olaf Asteson had between Christmas and New Year up till Epiphany… Let us hear the legend of Olaf Asteson, the earth son, who during the time in which we are now, experienced the secrets of cosmic existence in his meeting with the earth spirit. Let us listen to these experiences.”
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27-30 December 2017 – at 7pm – The Story of Being Human: Fairy-Tales for adults – a Journey thru the Holy Nights
The Fairy-tale leads us to our true humanity, where great kingdoms preside within, filled with ancient forests, remote castles, giants, witches, lovers, dreams & visions of Star Beings & the Earth Herself.
Shepherded by Joen Dealande & a series of guest artists, we will use Drama, Eurythmy, Painting, Needle-Felting, & Sculpting, to live into the gesture of our Human karma & Destiny.
Wednesday, 27 December at 7 pm – Grimm’s Fairy Tale ‘Star Money’ – Guest Artist: Deborah Rogers, Needle Felting.
Thursday, Friday & Saturday 28-30 December 2017 at 7pm – Grimm’s The Queen Bee. Guest Artist: Nancy Melvin Bees Wax sculpting
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NYE Sunday December 31st (The 13th Hidden Holy Night)
8pm – 1am
Our annual Family Friendly Community Gathering with music by Jutta & the High Dukes, Games with Kris & Alex Boshell, Interactive Speech Formation with Joen Dealande, Lead Casting, Crafting, Singing & more TBA
$20 – ($10 goes to the band & $10 goes to the Branch ‘Furnace Fund’)
This is the eve of the Full Wolf Moon which happens to be a Super Moon
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NO gathering 1 January 2018
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2 – 4 January 2018 at 7pm – The Fairy-Tale Trail Continues
with The Romanian Tale – The Enchanted Pig. Guest Artists: Singing with Elisabeth Swisher & Painting with Nancy Melvin
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Friday January 5th Eve of Epiphany (3 Kings) 7pm – 9 pm
A special 12th Night Gathering, The Foundation Stone Meditation: Eurythmy & Speech with Mary Ruud & Joen Dealande…
For more info. Contact Festivals Coordinator: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg Hazel@ReverseRitual.com
Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society, 4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618 (map) Check out our Web site! Chicago, IL (Anthroposophical Society in America)
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SAVE THE DATE:
Lazure Workshop with Nancy Melvin –
January 20-21 9am-5pm
$100 for the weekend
(1/2 the proceeds go toward the ‘Furnace Fund’ for the Branch)
Learn the secrets of the Lazure painting method from an expert, while helping to beautify the Elderberries 3-Fold Cafe!
for more info. Contact Nancy Melvin melvinstudiochicago@gmail.com
