Tag Archives: storytelling

What’s your Story?

Raffi Dylan

 “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change  something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” from ‘Critical Path’~ Buckminster Fuller

Working with the Word in ‘Steiner Archetypal Speech’ is a learning to breathe the light of Christ and the sound of Christ . The speech forming force is the Christ force of love, and an antidote to the fear which the dark force is currently spreading round the globe. Breathe in light-life and love, not dark death and hate. Find yourSelf, Enliven the Word, Free the World”. ~Geoff Norris, Speech Artist

Darrel Hamon

This time we are living in will be one which our descendants, if they choose to be born, will tell stories about. We are the characters & narrators of this story-telling. So it’s up to us to pick the theme. Will the leitmotif be: A glorious new Turning Point in Time, where we learn to breathe light, & collectively outwit the nemesis, to undo an ancient knot, freeing humanity, to fulfill our divine purpose? Or will the chronicle twist around a convoluted plot, which ends with a whimper, as the decline of civilization blindly unfolds? Or perhaps the story will never even get written; just sound bites punched up with numbers & charts spit out by machines. – A repeated promotion of fear, feeding the propaganda, laying the ground for the global dosing. If we allow this dead-end scenario, what of our descendants?  Will their DNA still be human? Will we step up, or succumb to the slide?

Mysteries Unfolding with Cat Charissage | Making Meaning, Making Soul
Cat Charissage

I resonate with the story that Geoff Norris is speaking: “This is how the larynx becomes the generative organ of the future, giving birth to the etheric babe . Speech mysteries abound. The Mysteries of Ephesus entered this realm, the Artemis mysteries, which have been Christened in the Sprachgestaltung – in Steiner Speech . The Christ force is the speech forming force and this speech force is the future – the logos”.

May we join our gifts together, to inspire & inscribe the true story of our fate.

~hag

To gear us up to heal the present may we enter into the mythos of the past to prep us for the hero’s journey of the future:

The Epic of GilgameshStorytelling during the Holy Nights 2021-2022
Hosted by the Anthroposophical Society in America Click to Register! 

”The purpose of a story is to be an ax that breaks up the ice within us.”
~ Franz Kafka

All around the world the season of midwinter is the traditional time for community bonding through storytelling. In laying the groundwork for the 100-year anniversary of the Christmas Conferencewe bring the ancient Sumerian saga “The Epic of Gilgamesh” to life. Rudolf Steiner explored this story in Occult History during the Holy Nights of 1910; and again with the lectures “World History in the Light of Anthroposophy” given during those fateful Holy Nights in 1923 for the re-founding of the Society. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the oldest written tale on Earth. The Sumerian version dates from around 3000 B.C. Later it was compiled from 12 clay tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform. 

It is the “Hero’s Journey” of human evolution, a story of friendship, and a quest for the meaning of life – revealing Steiner’s core mission of bringing karma and reincarnation to the west. 

Myths, fairytales, historical epics, and sagas open us up to powerful archetypes behind the human condition, revealing clues to ourselves – from the past, the present, and the future. What will we uncover about ourselves and each other during this year’s Holy Nights adventure in storytelling?

Tune in for any or all of the episodes of this dramatic reading, re-worked by Hazel Archer from various translations, and featuring friends from around the world.

WhatThe Epic of Gilgamesh: Story Telling during the Holy Nights hosted by the ASA, Hazel Archer, and friends.

Time: 22 minutes daily at 9 am PT / 10 am MT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET / 5 pm UTC

Dates:  December 24, 2021- January 5, 2022 for 13 consecutive days  
Can’t join us live? No problem. Each gathering will be recorded and posted on our Holy Nights page (link will be emailed upon registration).

HowRegister Here!  Then check your email for confirmation with the Zoom registration link. 

Cost: This event is free with suggested donations of $25, $50, $100
Your donations help us create events like this one!
Register Here! 
www.anthroposophy.org/holynights

Alex Grey

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” ~Chuang Tse

Thanakrit Santikunaporn

3 December 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: A total solar eclipse will occur tonight starting at 1:33 am CST. A solar eclipse occurs when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned during a new moon (syzygy).

In “Human Questions and Cosmic Answers” Rudolf Steiner states:An eclipse of the sun is due to the fact that the moon comes between the sun and the earth, cutting off the rays of the sun.”

At the time of a solar eclipse, for instance, something totally different takes place in the part of the earth affected from what is happening when there is no eclipse. When we know that on the one hand the rays of the sun penetrate down to the earth and on the other hand the forces or rays of will stream out to meet the sun.  At an eclipse, these forces radiate into the darkness, and there ensues a period of time, short though it may be, in which all that is of the nature of will upon the earth flows out into universal space in an abnormal way. It is different altogether from what takes place when there is no eclipse. Ordinarily, the physical sunlight unites with the radiations of will streaming towards it. When there is an eclipse, the forces of will flow unhindered into cosmic space.

The old initiates knew these things. They saw that at such a moment all the unbridled impulses and instincts of humanity surge out into the cosmos. And they gave their pupils the following explanation. They said: Under normal conditions the evil impulses of will which are sent out into the cosmos by human beings are, as it were, burned up and consumed by the rays of the sun, so that they can injure only man himself, but can do no universal harm. When, however, there is an eclipse of the sun, opportunity is given for the evil which is willed on earth to spread over the cosmos. An eclipse is a physical event behind which there lies a significant spiritual reality.”

So dear friends before bed make a prayer of protection & light for those on the other side who will be subject to these unbridled forces.

Toni Agresi

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Holiday Market at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 
4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
18 December 2021 – from 11 am – 4 pm

Handcrafted gifts, décor & toys
Featuring Live Music, Puppetry & Candle Dipping!!!

If you would like to be a vendor contact Elizabeth Kelly 
eilisaineariadne@gmail.com

Dear friends – Please Join Us as move toward the Winter Festival Season:

Thursday 23 December 2021 – The Eve of the Eve –
11 am PT / 12 pm MT / 1 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm UTC

A Christmas Festival with Heart-Opening Movement by Lucien Dante Lazar
& a talk by our Christian Community Priest Rev. Jeana Lee

‘Divine Love and the Holy Child Within’

This will be a hybrid in-person & Zoom event
Featuring our 2 camera technology with Mary Spalding

Doors open at 12:30 pm (Zoom Room open 12:45 pm for Social time)
Snacks to Share Encouraged

Suggested donation $15.00
cash payment at the door or via the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal donation site –

*Please make a note on the first line – type in: “Christmas Fest”!
The Festival will be recorded

Time: Dec 23, 2021 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=Vk1XcDJqT0lKeHYzWXZJNlRYNlRvZz09
Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Passcode: Christmas

For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

Eurythmy for the Holy Nights with Jan Ranck
‘Tuning to the Stars’:
Sacred Geometry, the Planets and the Zodiac

LIVE IN-PERSON 26-30 Dec. 2021
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4 pm – 5 pm
And at 7pm on 31 Dec. as part of our Annual NYE Gathering (details below)

$100 for all 6 sessions, or $22 for each individual session.

Make your payment using the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal
or QuickPay with Zelle to chase@rschicago.org
(Please indicate in the notes that it is for the “Holy Nights Eurythmy”)

Cash at the door, or send a check to:
Rudolf Steiner Branch
4249 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618-2953
USA

For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

* Jan Ranck – Born in the USA, Jan Ranck studied music and comparative arts at Indiana University in Bloomington. She accompanied the London Stage Group on their 1976 USA tour and went on to study eurythmy at the Eurythmeum in Dornach with Lea van der Pals, where she subsequently taught. In 1984 she joined the faculty of The London School of Eurythmy. She left there to complete her eurythmy therapy training in Stuttgart in 1989, moving afterward to Israel, where she founded and directed the Jerusalem Eurythmy Ensemble (1990) and the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy (1992) and was an instructor in the Jerusalem Waldorf Teacher Bachelor Program in David Yellin Academic College from 1999. Jan has held Master Classes at various venues worldwide, including the Goetheanum and the MA Program in Eurythmy held at Emerson College and Spring Valley. She is the representative for Israel in the International Eurythmy Therapy Forum.

Friday 31 December 2021
Doors open at 6:30 pm 

Join us for our Annual NYE Conscious Community Gathering –
The Theme for 2022 is Cabaret – a Cultural Sharing!

All are invited to take the stage with an offering.

Circles Edge & other Waldorf alum will also perform

Please bring Festival Food & Drink to share

$20 Cash at the door or Make your payment using the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal or QuickPay with Zelle to chase@rschicago.org
(Please indicate in the notes that it is for the “NYE”)

All proceeds go to support the Rudolf Steiner Branch – the young People hosting & The Band (Can’t make it? Send a $ gift PayPal)

7 – 8 pm – Eurythmy with Jan Ranck (separate fee $22 see above)

8 pm – Potluck Social

8:30 pm – Circles Edge & Friends warm the stage & host the open mic

10:10 pm – Thought-Seed Circle

10:30 pm – Clean-up…;)

For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

Tuesday 4 January 2022 – (Zoom Details TBA) 
11 am PT / 12 pm MT / 1 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm UTC

a talk with Christian Community Priest & Lenker for North America
Rev. Craig Wiggins: ‘From Bethlehem to Golgotha: Birthing the Christ within at Epiphany’

The Festival Life: Practical Journeys into the New Mysteries

Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year

“To celebrate a festival really means to unite oneself in spirit with the cosmic spirit”.  ~Rudolf Steiner

Our festival life is structured to include activities that stimulate head, hands and heart. We engage our thinking through lectures on Spiritual Science, learning, as Goethe did, what lives behind the laws of nature, engaging in creative thinking outside the box, like Einstein demonstrated, opening to insight and intuition to better solve the problems of the world. Movement and artistic endeavors motivate our will forces, creating balance and beauty, channeling creativity in a purposeful way that deepens our thoughts through action. Activities like storytelling, biography sharing, and singing consciously involve our feeling life, reducing stress, stimulating our imagination, creating connections and goodwill.

By strengthening our thinking, feeling and willing we lead more conscious lives, better able to serve the greater community -involved parents, good neighbors, mindful citizens, purposeful workers in our chosen fields of work in the world.

The Greek meaning of the word festival is “Shining Day”.

The festivals not only commemorate great historical events, cosmic truths and traditions; they are in themselves spiritual events that manifest in seasonal rhythms, and carry a significance that grows and deepens with the development of human evolution. The celebration of the festivals let us practice what Steiner calls ‘the Reverse-Ritual’ – The idea of ‘Openness to Above’.  Instead of invoking Spirit down, as in days of old, we rise to the spirit, in our thinking. We study and celebrate these ‘Shining Days’ to sustain and renew ourselves and the world.

A festival has the quality of lifting us out of the ordinary and into the mysteries and magic of the rhythm of the seasons. Throughout history, festivals have emerged from people’s connection with their spiritual life and their search for the meaning of human existence.

“Through various festivals and rituals we acknowledge and celebrate our connection to and our responsibility toward each other and the world.” Celebrating festivals can bring us consciously to what we all experience instinctively in our daily lives, the changing cycles of the seasons and of life itself.  ~excerpted from Festivals by Marilyn Pelryme.

“Celebrating festivals illuminates our life on earth with spiritual meaning and shows us the significance of our human existence in the universe. We human beings stand between the two worlds uniting them in ourselves. We are the crossing point where the upper circle representing the heavens flows into the lower one belonging to the earth.”  ~Evelyn Frances Derry

Some Upcoming Festivals at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, Il. 60618 

Michaelmas 2015: Sept. 27, 6:30pm – 11:30pm

All Souls:  Nov. 8, 2015, 2pm – 4pm

Holy Nights 2015 -2106: Sunday Dec. 27- Wed. Dec. 30, 7pm – 9pm…Thursday Dec. 31 – NYE – 7pm – 1am…Jan. 1-5 7pm – 9pm

Holy Week 2016: March 20th – Palm Sunday 2pm – 4pm…March 21-26th – 7pm – 9pm…March 27th Easter Sunday – 2pm – 4pm

Pentecost: Sunday May 15, 2pm – 4pm

St. John’s: Sunday June 19, 2016 – 2pm – 4pm

Michaelmas 2016: Sunday Sept. 25th – 2pm – 4pm

I look forward to exploring these cycles with you

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg