2 February 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The biggest star formation is the Winter Hexagon. It fills the sky in the east & moves south these next few evenings. Start with brilliant Sirius at its bottom. Going clockwise from there, march up through Procyon, Pollux & Castor, Menkalinan & Capella on high, down to Aldebaran, then to Rigel in Orion’s foot, and back to Sirius. Betelgeuse shines inside the Hexagon, off center.
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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary The 40th day of the Christmas-Epiphany season, commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Joseph & Mary brought the child into the Temple, & when Simeon & Anna the prophetess, saw Him, they knew the prophesy of ‘The Chosen One’ had been fulfilled. We see the connection between the Buddha & Jesus of Nazareth in the stories of Asita & Simeon. When Asita, the great Indian sage, saw Siddhartha as a young child, before he had reached Buddhahood, he was able to recognize what the child would become. It was Asita’s heart’s desire to see the Buddha before he died, so he wept because he was an old man & would not live to see him become the Buddha. This wise seer was then reborn in the time of Jesus as Simeon introduced in Luke 2:29-30 as the temple priest who waits for the Messiah. He recognizes the Buddha in the Nathan Jesus, so he praises god & says now he can die happy, having fulfilled his heart’s desire.
Mariä Lichtmess – Candlemas, Christian Churches bless the candles to be used for the New Year.
Imbolc – Among the Celts, the pagan celebration of Imbolc honors the Triple Goddess Brigid, associated with purification & the fires of the forge to call in the sun. Folks would carry torches & cross the fields in procession, praying to the goddess to purify the ground before planting.
In churches, the torches were replaced by blessed candles whose glow was supposed to take away evil & symbolize that Christ is the light of the world. They would then take the candles to their homes to bring protection thruout the New Year. In 1372 this celebration would also be associated with the purification of Mary at the Temple (similar to the churching of women).
Crêpes with their round form & their golden color are reminiscent of the sun, an appropriate symbol during Candlemas, as this is the time of the year when the days get longer. It is also the time of year when the roots begin to stir.
Feast of the Bear – From antiquity to the Middle Ages, bears were a cult symbol of the Germans, Scandinavians & the Celts. On this day they celebrated the end of hibernation. This was around the time when the bears would leave their dens to see if the weather was mild. For a long time, the Catholic Church sought to eradicate these pagan practices. To do this, it instituted the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple which is celebrated on February 2, which corresponds to the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. However, the celebrations of the bear & the return of the light continued, with bonfires & other torchlight processions. Pope Gelasius I in the fifth century therefore instituted the feast of candles, or Candlemas. From the twelfth to the eighteenth century, Candlemas was called “chandelours” which means bear in French, in many areas (including the Alps, Pyrenees, Ardennes) where the memory of the cult of the bear was still very present. There is also the Aosta Saint-Ours, & Saint Blaise (which means “bear”). Candlemas is also the beginning of the carnival period; the bear is the carnival animal par excellence.
Feast of Persephone – In addition, the Festa candelarum in Rome commemorated the search for the Goddess of Light Persephone, by her mother the Goddess of Life Demeter, kidnapped by the King of the Other World Hades,. The festival of candles symbolizes the return of the Light. The myths of Sleeping Beauty or Theseus & Ariadne, for example relate to the release or liberation of the light (Dawn of the year) by the “solar knight”.
Feast day of Cornelius a Roman centurion. He is depicted in the New Testament as a God-fearing man who always prayed & was full of good works & deeds. Cornelius receives a vision in which an angel of God tells him that his prayers have been heard, he understands that he’s chosen for a higher alternative. The angel then instructs Cornelius to send the men of his household to Joppa, where they will find Simon Peter, who is residing with a tanner by the name of Simon (Acts 10:5ff).
The conversion of Cornelius comes after a separate vision given to Simon Peter (Acts 10:10–16) himself. In the vision, Simon Peter sees all manner of beasts & fowl being lowered from Heaven in a sheet. A voice commands Simon Peter to eat. When he objects to eating those animals that are unclean according to Mosaic Law, the voice tells him not to call unclean that which God has cleansed.
When Cornelius’ men arrive, Simon Peter understands that through this vision the Lord commanded the Apostle to preach the Word of God to the Gentiles. Peter accompanies Cornelius’ men back to Caesarea. When Cornelius meets Simon Peter, he falls at Peter’s feet. Simon Peter raises the centurion & the two men share their visions. Simon Peter tells of Jesus’ ministry & the Resurrection; the Holy Spirit descends on everyone at the gathering & they all begin speaking in tongues, praising God
1786 – Birthday of Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, a French mathematician, physicist & astronomer. Binet’s Formula expressing Fibonacci numbers in closed form is named in his honour.
1882 – Birthday of James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, & poet
1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda
1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday
1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States & south-eastern Canada, killing 112
1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution
1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress & promises to release Nelson Mandela
2007 – The worst flooding in Indonesia in 300 years begins. Death toll 804
2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New 300 dead
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This is a time of blessing the seeds…
of calling forth & rekindling the sacred fires…
our ancient symbol of invigoration…
of becoming…of rebirth…
So let’s rise in our thinking to inspire Brigid…
Goddess of the forge, of poetry & healing…
to come & inspire us…
that we may heal ourselves & each other…
that we may see our creativity become fertile…
enflaming us with the passion of our purpose…
making us fertile ground for the promise of spring…
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Holy water…Sacred flame
Brigid we invoke your name
Bless my hands, my head, my heart
Source of healing, song & art.
I know, it’s easy to forget so soon after the ‘polar vortex’, that at this time of year when the skies are steel grey, that stirring in the wind, is the spark of spring – waiting, to be ignited by the passion of our purpose…Can you feel the energy of the earth…Quickening…I feel it groaning & stretching in the earth of my body…Like a snake trying to shed its skin…I just want to be a molting bird…Dancing in the silent belly of February…
We know, She awakens in the womb of her slumber…So much to do…So much to Be…Can you feel Her growing rhythms…Her song ever sung…‘Being is Becoming’…
She…has many names…Today we call Her Brigid…Goddess of the forge, of creativity & poetry…Great Goddess of healing…whose feast-day marks the waxing light…called by some, Candlemas, others, groundhog’s day, still others, Imbolc…the lambing season…the time of year when the belly of the great mother quickens with the growing light…
A time to purify & get fertile…So let’s charm the plow…Kiss the candle…& gather the wood to kindle a need-fire…as a welcoming beacon…to call back our dormant power…to heat up, our potential, & re-seed our creativity…as we add fuel to the fire of our community…One spark warms us all…A purifying fire, that burns clean & opens the way to the true power of love & light from deep within us…from the ancient & immortal tribes…from all the quarters of the cosmos…to come & warm our circle…to bring, their respected dimensions, into the eternity, of our lives, now…
Our reality…which is open & ever changing…for we have a lot to honor in ourselves today…as we stand on the waning side of Bella Luna…Whispering the promise of passion like a communal prayer that builds…Into the arrows of Eros, embracing our true heart in the eternal now of Valentine’s Day…And as we call in the Yin Pig of Chinese New Year on the new Moon.
So, let us sing in the forces…Coming up from the center of our true free will, & call the power of our striving humanity into our rhythm of growing light…Together may we will thaw the winter & rouse the mysteries growing within…
~hag
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Click HERE to see a video from a program called: ‘Mysteries of the Celtic Goddess Brigid’ that I did at the Theosophical Society
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Anthroposophy Atlanta welcomes Hazel Archer Ginsberg for a weekend of Spiritual Science, Art, Community, and Sharing, March 8th – 10th, 2019
Spinning Destiny with
the Fates – Friday, March 8, 2019
6:30 pm refreshments, 7:00 pm talk, Decatur, GA
Through an exploration into the evolution of human consciousness, we will explore the legends of the Greek Moirae and the Nordic Norns, the Orphic Hymn and the Prose Poem Edda. Hazel will share some of her original art & song, and group discussion will be encouraged.
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From Necessity to Freedom – The Evolution of Human Consciousness, Social Sculpture & Experiential Discourse Saturday, March 9, 2019 10am – 3pm,* Decatur, GA
How can I co-create with Destiny, to spin the thread of my life with integrity, to heal and clear the collective karma, & achieve my True Becoming? We will we stand before the “Daughters of Necessity” that we will transform into “Freedom Fighters” to meet our true calling; asking: “What is my Highest Purpose?” From the vaporous cleft of Mount Parnassus, and the birthplace of Greek Philosophy, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and the Holy Grail – From Prophecy to Warning, from Fate to Karma, From Destiny to Free Will!
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10 am –11 am – The ever-evolving Human Consciousness – Scrying with the Sibyls –
The Hebrew Prophets and the Sistine Chapel
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11:30 – Socratic Questioning – You have to ask the right question to get the
right answer
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12:30 pm – Lunch (light lunch provided)
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1:30 pm – Once Upon A Time NOW – The new story
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2:00 pm – Weaving Past, Present and Future
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2:30 – 3pm – Open Discussion – Rudolf Steiner’s poem: “Destiny”
*Come as you can–all are welcome to attend any part, or all of the workshop!
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The Golden Legend and
The Rose Cross Meditation – Leading Thoughts & Discourse Sunday 10 March
2019, 3 pm – 5 pm with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Social Art with Angela Foster
Using our head, hands & heart we will enact this powerful Rosicrucian tool
given to us by Rudolf Steiner, as a soul path of initiation, using imaginative
cognition to build spiritual etheric forces; a Metamorphoses of Self & of
World evolution.
Location: Decatur GA
(details TBA). Suggested donation $0-100. Please RSVP to Angela Foster so
we can plan the space & refreshments: ARC@thirdbody.net
https://anthroposophyatlanta.org/…
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is the founder of the website and blog Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year (www.reverseritual.com). She is an Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, and “Anthroposopher.” She works as the Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch as well as with the Traveling Speakers Program, and she serves on the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.
