Swallow the light & praise the spectrum

4 April 2017 – Astro-Weather : Near the end of twilight at this time of year, Arcturus, the bright “Spring Star” climbing in the east (well to the left of brighter Jupiter), shines at the same height as Sirius, the brighter “Winter Star” descending in the southwest’

Saturn rises shortly after 1am CDT & climbs high in the south by the time morning twilight begins. The ringed planet lies in the northwestern corner of Sagittarius the Archer, where it appears nearly stationary relative to the background stars, getting ready for its retrograde journey starting tomorrow!

***

Remedios Varo

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.”~ H.G. Wells

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

El Greco

33 AD – The Easter Resurrection

1st day of Sham el-Nisim -an Egyptian national holiday marking the beginning of spring. The name of the holiday is derived from the Egyptian name of the Harvest Season, known as Shemu, which means a day of creation. According to annals written by Plutarch during the 1st century AD, the Ancient Egyptians used to offer salted fish, lettuce, & onions to their deities on this day.

After the Christianization of Egypt, the festival became associated with the other Christian spring festival, Easter. Over time, Shemu morphed into its current form & its current date, As Egypt became Arabized, the term Shemu found a rough phono-semantic match in Sham el-Nessim, or “Smelling/Taking In of the Zephyrs,” which represents the way in which Egyptians celebrate the holiday.

Early in the morning of this day, many folks, especially women, break an onion, & smell it; & in the course of the afternoon many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, or go in boats, generally northward, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell the air, which on that day they believe to have a wonderfully beneficial effect. People spend all day out picnicking in any space of green, public gardens, on the Nile, or at the zoo. Traditional food eaten on this day consists mainly of fesikh (a fermented, salted and dried grey mullet), lettuce, scallions or green onions, tirmis, and colored boiled eggs

April 5-6, 1909 – Rudolf Steiner laid the foundation stone for the Rosicrucian Temple of the “Francis of Assisi” Lodge in Malsch  

1969 –Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities

If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read “Vietnam.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967

***

Maria Gracia-Plotter

POD (Poem Of the Day)
~Drink the cup of heaven – She told me
Let grace roll down your head like the blessings of baptism
Drink in the Earth to let the young sprouts unfurl within
According to their purpose…
Swallow the light & praise the spectrum
That spills out the threads of eternity…
…Then you may Be the fire feed with breath Begotten...
~hag

***

Sarah Bettle

The Harmony of the Universe at the Moment of the Mystery of Golgotha “ by Willi Sucher

“The moment of the (original) Mystery of Golgotha, that is, the time from the 3rd to the 5th of April 33 AD, displays a unique situation in the cosmos. During those days there existed a harmony throughout the heavens, right down to the Earth, which did not exist before and will not return (if at all) for 26,000 years.”

The essence of this essay by Astrosopher Willi Sucher is that the ‘3 Zodiacs’ were aligned:

  1. The Constellations (the fixed Stars or astral body of the cosmos – World Soul)
  2. The Signs (associated with the seasons, with the yearly rhythms of life in nature – an image of the etheric, or life forces, in the universe)
  3. The Houses (that which radiates as space segments from the geographical point where one stands – an image of the physical body)

“At the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, particularly on Easter Sunday just before sunrise, these space sectors were oriented into space in perfect harmony. This wonderful harmony of the three Zodiacs, between heaven and Earth, is a vivid symbol, or image of the resurrection body that was then re-established.

The disharmony before was connected with the ‘Fall’ of humanity, and with the corruption of the spirit body. The ‘Fall’ in Paradise did not mean that only Adam and Eve went through those experiences, the entire universe was affected and changed in that moment. The position of the Earth was changed.

We are faced in our work with the difference between the geocentric and heliocentric world conceptions. Rudolf Steiner, on the basis of his spiritual investigations, pointed out that in the medieval Rosicrucian schools the pupil was first introduced to the geocentric view. Then, when the pupil had learned this, he was told that this is how it should be, but that it is not so on account of the ‘Fall.’ The Earth had thereby lost its central position. That which happened in Paradise affected the entire Earth and therefore the possibility of disharmony entered cosmic history.

However, on that Sunday morning, 5 April 33 AD, just before sunrise, the original harmony was re-established. The cosmos was jubilant about what happened when the Christ rose from the grave of the Earth. At the same time it was the hope of all future Earth existence and of all future humanity. “~Summary & excerpt from Astrosopher Willi Sucher’s Cosmic Christianity

Jacopo di Cione

And so it is my friends, that the Easter garden begins to bloom, that our souls can behold, like the Magdalana before us, The Risen One as the gardener of the New Jerusalem.

The Tomb becomes the altar, a sacred place to commune with the gods – with the souls of the departed as our intermediaries. The tomb becomes the Round table, and the Parsifal question leads us to find Christ in the etheric.

This will be the subject of our Easter-Tide Discourse

Until soon

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Kari Marie Olson

The Bridging Project
Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul
April 5, 2017 – 7:15 pm CST 

This dulling of human feelings of wonder is connected with what was not taken up in the age approaching the twentieth century. If we wish to speak of the causes of our present catastrophic events, we will find that these causes are not human actions, but instead are sins of omission. This is the essential point.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Historical Necessity and Freewill, Lecture 6, “New Spiritual Impulses in History – Their Rejection by the Materialistic World Conception and the Result of the Catastrophic Events of World War I” … Our focus for the April 5 meeting

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided amongst six volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.

This collection of lectures has been republished under the title: “The Influence of the Dead on Destiny”, here is the link:
https://steiner.presswarehouse.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=179577
The following is the link to the audio book and lectures:
http://www.rudolfsteineraudio.com/influencedeaddestiny1917/influencedestinydead1917.html

This will be a “go-to-meeting” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer).  To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Option 1.  Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended)
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/328407941
Option 2.  Call in using your telephone.
United States: +1 (312) 757-3117
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9373
Access Code: 328-407-941
Option 3. You can use a combination of Options 1 and 2 (computer and phone). If you use the phone, please turn off the audio on your computer.

Please join us!
Agenda for our Study Call

7:15 Verse
7:18 Welcome and Introductions
7:25 Study led by six volunteers
Alberto – beginning to page 79
Marianne D – page 79 to 81
Hazel – page 81 to page 83
Raven – page 83 to page 85
Marianne F-D – page 85 to 87
Travis – page 87 to end
8:05 Conversation
8:20 Identify volunteers for the next study call, June 14
8:25 Share initial thoughts regarding Central Region gatherings in August (time of the solar eclipse) and November (All Souls)
8:28 Close with verse

***

EASTER-TIDE EVENTS for 2017: (PLEASE NOTE: THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE HAS CHANGED FROM THE PRINTED CALENDAR)

Holy Week Gatherings:

This year we dedicate our study to those who have crossed the threshold. We will be reading to the dead from Chapter 5 of ‘An Outline of Esoteric Science’, entitled ‘Initiation’. We will incorporate ‘The Calendar of the Soul’ verse for Easter,  Group eurythmy, & focused discussion.

Study: 9 April 2017, Palm Sunday 2 pm – 3 pm

*SPECIAL EVENT: 3 pm – 6 pmWork Party at the branch with Elisabeth Swisher & the youth from CWS – All are Welcome

Study: 13 April 2017, Maundy Thursday 7 pm – 8 pm  

Study: 14 April 2017, Good Friday 7 pm – 8 pm

***

15 April 2017, Holy Saturday – Our Easter-Tide Festival:
‘The Mystery of Golgotha – Then & Now’
2 pm – 4 pm

What was the Mystery of Golgotha?
What is the Mystery now?
What will it be for the future?
~Art Projections & Discourse with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Group work: Based on Baruch Urieli’s
Learning to Experience the Etheric World,
Empathy, the After-Image and a New Social Ethic’

$10 Donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged

***

16 April 2017, Easter Sunday – 4 pm – 6 pm

The Midwest Eurythmy Group will perform
The Easter Verse from the Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner & Bach Fugue Bb minor ‘5 Voices’ & Prelude #22

Then we will gather for our study & the reading to the dead from Chapter 5 of ‘An Outline of Esoteric Science’, entitled ‘Initiation’ – We will incorporate an Artistic Activity related to the study, Group Eurythmy, & Focused Discussion.

$10 Donation goes to support the Midwest Eurythmy Group
& Snacks to Share Encouraged
(Hazel will bring her famous slow cooked leg of lamb :

at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

***

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.