Monthly Archives: February 2017

Brigid’s Quickening Comet Eclipse

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10 February 2017 – Astro-Weather:

Tonight is the Full Quickening Moon, Sacred to the Celtic Goddess Brigid – powered this evening by the constellation of Leo; with the Sun in Aquarius. It is also a Lunar Eclipse, which occurs at 6:43pm CST. This ‘Penumbral’ Eclipse can be understood as a ‘shadow eclipse’. And there is a lot of power hidden in the shadow. Yes, the shadow knows! We all have a shadow side lurking within, a term used by Carl Jung to describe our unconscious self. The Shadow follows us everywhere, there’s no getting away from it. It’s hard to grasp & yet we must strive to embrace this part of ourselves & bring the dark into the light, to release the energy locked up in the illusions of fear.

This shadow eclipse is the kick-off for ‘The Great American Eclipse’ on August 21, 2017 – a Total Solar Eclipse that will sweep across the mainland of the US for the first time in 137 years.

We have 2 pairs of eclipses this year – one pair this month, the other in August. So tonight’s eclipse is the opening act in a 4-act play:

1. Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Full Moon: 10 February 2017
2. Annular Solar Eclipse New Moon: 26 February 2017
3. Partial Lunar Eclipse Full Moon: 7 August 2017
4. TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: 21 August 2017, ‘The Great American Eclipse’

Act Two will occur two weeks from now, on 26 February 2017, when we will have an Annular Solar Eclipse New Moon.

Rudolf Steiner was born on 25 February 1861, but because he almost died, they baptized him on 27 February, which was ‘officially’ recorded as his birthday. So this middle day 26 February in Steiner’s birth story is significant. The Solar eclipse, on Sunday February 26th 2017 indicates a new phase of Steiner’s influence, which is especially potent for the next six months! We will celebrate Steiner’s birthday along with the solar eclipse by analyzing his horoscope.

Astrologer Victoria Martin will expound on some classic interpretations of Rudolf Steiner’s Birth chart – For instance did you know he was born on a Full Moon, near the zenith of the sky aligned to Saturn? Victoria will also go further by adding the fixed stars, which according to Brian Gray at Steiner College, are basic components in Astrosophy.

Victoria will also do 3-minute readings for each participant to see where their birthdays fit in Steiner’s horoscope!

This can be even more precise if the entire horoscope of participants is available, so please email your date, time, and place of birth to viccimartin@gmail.com.

We can also look into the 2017 trends if there is interest! And Hazel Archer Ginsberg will give a brief overview of the phases in Rudolf Steiner’s life.

 $10 Donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

There is another celestial event taking place this evening – we will have a cosmic visitor – Comet 45P –- showing up in the heavens at the same time as the lunar eclipse/full moon. Comet 45P is a short-period comet discovered by the team of Minoru Honda on 3 December 1948. It revolves around the Sun every 5.25 years. We have experienced 13 visits from 45P since its discovery.

Think back  about 5 years ago to 2011-2012 – pivotal years to be sure. What was going on for you then? How have you changed since then? Another key time period associated with this comet is 1995-1996.

Also think back to 31 December 2016 which is when Comet 45P reached exact contact with its star (& ours), the Sun. Because of this timing, it was dubbed ‘the New Year Comet’. This clearly makes Comet 45P a bringer of energies that will affect all of 2017 – a critical year for humanity, similar to the turning point of 2012, which also included a visit from Comet 45P.

It will return in 2022. What will life on earth be like then?

Comet 45P is GREEN in color, which resonates with the green of the Earth as well as the heart chakra. It’s about connecting the core of earth with the center of our heart in light & love.

Comet 45P is in front of the constellation Hercules now & will be in Hercules on the day of its closest approach on February 11. Then it will fade as it passes through the constellations Corona Borealis, Boötes, Canes Venatici & Ursa Major, moving into Leo by the end of February. The myth of Hercules will have special meaning now & for the rest of the year.

From an article by Dr Elizabeth Vreede:

“The Comet represents an element that does not wholly enter the usual sphere of cosmic law. Although they still contain a trace of the direct working of spiritual powers, indeed, of the very highest — the Seraphim and Cherubim. Before ordinary law may be broken through, the very highest power and insight is required. The various comets, indeed, are agents of a very special nature in our planetary system, their polar antithesis being in the moons.

Just as the moons are a kind of corpse which the planetary system trails along with it, so, on the other side, the comets may be spoken of as constant purifiers of the spiritual atmosphere within the solar system.
In earlier times men thought of them as the “scavengers of God,”
and many superstitions have gathered around them. To the eye of Spirit, too, the mission of the comets is perpetually to expel impure astral forces from the Cosmos or to introduce new impulses.”

Click here for a video of the Comet 45P’s path through the constellations.

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

547 – Death day of St. Scholastica, foundress of the women’s branch of Benedictine Monasticism. The patron saint of nuns, & convulsive children. She is invoked against storms & rain. The most commonly told story about her is that she would go & visit her twin brother Benedict of Nursia near his abbey once a year, They would spend the day praying & discussing sacred texts. Sensing the time of her death was drawing near, Scholastica asked him to stay with her for the evening so they could continue their discussions. Not wishing to break his Rule, Benedict refused, insisting that he needed to return to his cell. At that point, Scholastica closed her hands in prayer, & after a moment, a wild storm started outside. Benedict asked, “What have you done?”, to which she replied, “I asked you & you would not listen; so I asked my God & he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me & return to your monastery.” Benedict was unable to return to his monastery, & they spent the night in discussion. Three days later, from his cell, her twin saw her soul leaving the earth & ascending to heaven in the form of a shining white dove

630 – Feast Day of St. Austrebertha. A popular legend states that one day, while looking for the donkey whose task it was to carry the laundry of the monks to the convent, she came across a wolf. The wolf admitted to killing the donkey & begged for forgiveness. Austrebertha forgave the wolf but commanded him to carry the laundry himself, a task that the wolf performed for the rest of its life

1258 – Baghdad falls to the Mongols, & the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed

1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriar’s Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence

1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars & 130 locals dead

1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination

1763 – French & Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war & France cedes Quebec to Great Britain

1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians & the Prussians

1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs a symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea

1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia

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Geraldine Balen

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~May I stand in the midst of celestial fire
Until my heart is molten golden
May I walk on earth radiant in thought
My body curve toward the will of heart
A heliotropic dance propelling
My breath in calm waters
Toward destiny…
~hag

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Some thoughts about eclipses :

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, something totally different takes place on the earth. Usually the rays of the sun penetrate down to the earth & the forces or rays of our will stream out to meet the sun. At an eclipse, our will forces radiate out into the darkness, & there is a period of time, short as it is, in which all that is of the nature of human will, good will as well as ill intention etc, flows out into universal space in an abnormal way since it is not met & offset by the sun. Ordinarily, the physical sunlight unites with the radiations of human will streaming towards it. When there is an eclipse, the forces of will flow unhindered into cosmic space.

Steiner describes this as a ‘safety valve’ a way to ‘let off steam’. All those human will forces, the beautiful as well as the ugly, are able to leave the earths atmosphere.

The old initiates knew these things. They saw that at such a moment all the unbridled impulses & 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 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”.

And again, when there is an eclipse of the moon, the man of today merely says: ‘Now the earth comes between the sun & the moon; so we see the shadow cast on the moon by the earth.’ That is the physical explanation. But in this case also the ancient initiates knew that a spiritual reality was behind this physical fact. They knew that when there is an eclipse of the moon, cosmic thoughts stream through the darkness down to the earth; & that such thoughts have a closer relationship with the subconscious  or shadow side than with the conscious side of the human being.

The old initiates often made use of a certain simile when speaking to their pupils. “Visionaries and dreamers love to go for rambles by moonlight, when the moon is full. There are, however, certain people who have no wish to receive the good thoughts coming to them from the cosmos, but who, on the contrary, are desirous of getting hold of evil, diabolical thoughts. Such people will choose the moment of a lunar eclipse for their nocturnal wanderings”.

So as Steiner said, eclipses of the sun & moon, recurring as they do in the course of every year, can be looked at as “safety-valves” -there to avert danger, to provide an outlet at the right moment. One of the safety-valves which makes its appearance in the cosmos is the solar eclipse, which serves the purpose of carrying out into space in a ‘Luciferic way‘, the ‘evil’ that spreads over the earth, in order that ‘evil may work havoc in a wider, less concentrated sphere’.

The other safety-valve, the lunar eclipse, exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. People ruled by their unconscious selves. These facts are just as real as the attraction of a magnet for small particles of iron. Such are the forces at work, in the cosmos.

Rudolf Steiner also gave us hints as to how to come to terms with ‘evil’. He reveals that the gods themselves called their opponents into being. Lucifer is an Archangel which has stayed behind in evolution & Ahriman is a retarded member of the Archai.

Humanity, striving toward Freedom, stands as the 10th Hierarchy & has the task of integrating the gifts of Nature & Spirit, while accepting the responsiblity & finding the strength to lead evil (i.e.: Lucifer & Ahriman) back to the good.

One of my family’s traditions: In Italy, the Moon was represented by a mirror, so during a lunar eclipse, we would cloud the mirror with our breath, a very old tradition. It was believed that a wolf swallowed the Moon during an eclipse & that by breathing on the mirror we would cause the wolf to cough it up & return it to the sky.

Many cultures have these kind of imaginations. The Vikings tell a tale about two wolves who wish to eat the Sun & Moon. Skoll (repulsion) goes after the Sun & Hati, running ahead of the Sun, goes after the Moon. When either are caught, there is an eclipse. When this happens, the people on Earth rush to rescue the Sun or Moon by making as much noise as they can in hopes of scaring off the wolves.

Today in the modern world, we must take up the active sword & protective shield of Michael, & stand as warriors against the dark.
See you there
xox

~ Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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DIGITAL Pandora: Imaging HOPE by Gretchen Steele

Art Opening 7 pm – 9 pm Friday February 17th, 2017 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

A Performance Art Exhibit & Gallery Reception with an opportunity for participants to create their own collage art to be shown at the Closing exhibit March 31st, 2017

DIGITAL Pandora: Imaging HOPE is a multi-media art exhibit including work inspired by the myth of Pandora as a narrative of hope – by Gretchen Steele

The exhibit includes multi-media collages on paper, large-scale (5’ x 5’) collaged fabric prayer cloths, a performance art piece titled Embodied Compass ll: Reliquary Immersion, and a participatory SEA (Socially Engaging Artwork) inviting viewers to collaborate in a collaged community mural using a images (from the artist’s photo bank of the previous performance piece, Embodied Compass l: Digital Pandora) and marker-based drawing materials.

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An evening Discourse &  Full day Workshop with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg at

Fostering Sustainable Agriculture through Research, Education and Policy since 1984

What is Anthroposophy?

Friday March 3rd 2017,  Potluck Social 5:30 pm  Lecture –7 pm – 9 pm

A Hands-on Discourse with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

What can the human being (anthropos) of today do to recognize our inherent wisdom (sophia) to access the source of spiritual knowledge, for our own inner development, and for the evolution of the earth and all of humanity?

What would it be like to support each other in community, as we strive to penetrate the mystery of our relationship with the spiritual world?

How does this ‘Spiritual Science’ built on the research of Rudolf Steiner, speak to the riddles of existence: our artistic needs, the truth of karma, the mystery of evil, life after death and so much more?

Come Explore this Modern Path of Initiation with:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year– Presenter, Poet, & Trans-denominational Minister.

Register here

Also:

 Saturday March 4th 2017 –

A Experiential Three Part Workshop* with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity’

Some of the topics treated in this experiential workshop are: The nature of the brain, the development of speech, angelic beings, ancient language, Zarathustra, Buddha, & Christ.

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity: Some Results of Spiritual-Scientific Research into Human History and Development’ consists of three sections. Each section was originally a lecture (6, 7, & 8 June 1911) but was subsequently reworked by Steiner & cast into the form of an essay.  It is available without a fee at Rudolf Steiner Archives 

Session #1 – 10 am – 12 noon:
• Introductions
• The divine wisdom working in the human being in the 1st three years of life.
• Through inner striving we can contact again and consciously build on this wisdom which is connected to the Christ impulse.
• Activity- Biography work: Our 1st conscious memory – a preview of the “I”.

Noon – 1:30 pm – Lunch

Session #2 – 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm:
• The childlike condition of humanity in ancient times, directed by higher spiritual beings.
• A look into the evolution of these guiding spirits –progressive as well as regressive –
• Revealing the necessity of the ‘two kinds of evil’.
• The importance of Spiritual Science to avoid error.
• Activity – Labyrinth Walk

3:30 pm – 4 pm – Break

Session #3 – 4 pm – 6 pm:
• A survey of the Post-Atlantean age, our present epoch.
• The Christ connection with the progressive spiritual beings
• Modern science as the work of the regressive spiritual beings
• A peek into the future
• Activity – The Golden Legend & The Rose Cross Mediation: An artistic rendering

*(Workshops can be taken as a whole or individually, details to follow)

Register here

Michael Fields W2493 County Rd ES
East Troy, WI 53120, USA

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good sore

Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Speaking with the Stars

6 February 2017 – Astro-Weather: Venus appears brilliant in the early evening sky starting a half-hour after sunset. The Goddess of Love will remain the evening sky’s brightest point of light through late March, 10 times brighter than the second-brightest object, Jupiter. Venus lies among the background stars of Pisces the Fishes, slightly east of that constellation’s Circlet asterism.

David Borden

The sky’s biggest asterism (informal star pattern) is the Winter Hexagon, & the Moon shines inside it tonight & tomorrow night. Start with brilliant Sirius at the Hexagon’s bottom. Going clockwise from there, march through Procyon, Pollux & Castor, Menkalinan & Capella high up, Aldebaran down to Capella’s lower right, down to Rigel in Orion’s foot, & back to Sirius. Betelgeuse sparkles inside the Hexagon, south of the Moon this evening.

The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 10:02 am CST – 229,172 miles away from us

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

628 – Feast day of Amandus, the patron saint of all who produce beer: brewers, innkeepers & bartenders. He is also the patron of vine growers, vintners & of the Boy Scouts. He was of noble birth but at the age of twenty he became a monk against the wishes of his family. From there he went to became a pupil of bishop Austregisilus. There he lived in solitude in a cell for fifteen years, living on no more than bread & water.

After a pilgrimage to Rome, he was made a missionary bishop in France, he evangelized the pagan inhabitants of Ghent, later extending his field of operations to all of Flanders. Initially he had little success, suffering persecution & undergoing great hardships. However, after performing a miracle (bringing back to life a hanged criminal) the attitude of the people changed & he made many converts. He founded a monastery at Elnon where he served as abbot of for four years. Amandus was made a bishop in 628.

Returning to France in 630, he angered Dagobert I by attempting to have the king amend his life. In spite of the intervention of Saint Acarius, Amand was expelled from the kingdom. Later Dagobert asked him to return & tutor the heir to the throne. Amand however declined. In 633, Amandus founded two monasteries in Ghent; one at Blandinberg, & the other named for St. Bavo. His next missionary task was among the Slavic people of the Danube valley in present-day Slovakia but this was unsuccessful. Amand went to Rome & reported to the Pope. While returning to France, he is said to have calmed a storm at sea. In 639, he built an abbey near Tournay

1347 – Birthday of Dorothea of Montau, the guardian of the country of the Teutonic Knights & patron saint of Prussia. Born to a wealthy farmer from Holland, she was married at the age of 16 to the swordsmith Adalbrecht of Danzig (Gdańsk), an ill-tempered man in his 40s. Almost immediately after marrying she began to experience visions. Her husband had little patience with her spiritual experiences & abused her. Later, both made pilgrimages to Cologne, Aachen, & Einsiedeln. While Dorothea, with her husband’s permission, was on pilgrimage to Rome, he died in 1389. Of their nine children eight died. The surviving daughter, Gertrud, joined the Benedictines.

In the summer of 1391 Dorothea moved to Marienwerder (Kwidzyn), & with the blessing of the Teutonic Order, established a hermit’s cell against the wall of the cathedral. She never left that cell for the rest of her life.

Dorothea led a very austere life. Numerous visitors sought her advice & consolation, & she had visions & revelations

1465 – Birthday of Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician & theorist

1582 –Birthday of Mario Bettinus, Italian mathematician, astronomer, & philosopher

1612 – Birthday of  Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician, theologian, & philosopher

1695 – Birthday of  Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss-Russian mathematician & theorist

1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance & the Treaty of Amity are signed by the United States & France signaling official recognition of the new republic

1748 – Birthday of Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher & founder of the Illuminati. After Pope Clement XIV’s suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, Weishaupt became a professor of canon law, a position that was held exclusively by the Jesuits until that time. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced to the empirical philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Fede. Both Feder &Weishaupt would later become opponents of Kantian idealism.

“At a time, however, when there was no end of making game of and abusing secret societies, I planned to make use of this human foible for a real and worthy goal, for the benefit of people. I wished to do what the heads of the ecclesiastical and secular authorities ought to have done by virtue of their offices…” ~ Adam Weishaupt

On 1 May 1776 Weishaupt founded the “Illuminati” in the Electorate of Bavaria. He adopted the name of “Brother Spartacus” within the order. The character of the society was an elaborate network of spies & counter-spies. Each isolated cell of initiates reported to a superior, whom they did not know: a party structure that was effectively adopted by some later groups.

Weishaupt was initiated into the Masonic Lodge “Theodor zum guten Rath“, at Munich in 1777. His project of “illumination, enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of superstition and of prejudice” was an unwelcome reform. He used Freemasonry to recruit for his own quasi-masonic society, with the goal of “perfecting human nature” through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature, freed of government & organized religion. Presenting their own system as pure masonry, Weishaupt & Adolph Freiherr Knigge, who organized his ritual structure, greatly expanded the secret organization.

Weishaupt’s character & intentions have been variously assessed: from those such as the Abbé Barruel & John Robison who regarded him as a ‘human devil’ & saw his mission as one of malevolent destructiveness, to those who view him as a humane & benign, albeit willful, social reformer. Writing on this topic, Dr. Tony Page comments: “Weishaupt’s plan was to educate Illuminati followers in the highest levels of humanity and morality (basing his teachings on the supremacy of Reason, allied with the spirit of the Golden Rule of not doing to others what one would not wish done to oneself), so that if Illuminati alumni subsequently attained positions of significance and power (such as in the fields of education and politics), they could exert a benevolent and uplifting influence upon society at large. His project was utopian and naively optimistic, and he himself was certainly not without flaws of character – but neither he nor his plan was evil or violent in and of themselves. It is one of the deplorable and tragic ironies of history that a man who tried to inculcate virtue, philanthropy, social justice and morality has become one of the great hate-figures of 21st-century ‘conspiracy’ thinking.”

After Weishaupt was exiled, he received the assistance of Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg & lived in Gotha writing a series of works on illuminism, including A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism (1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), & An Improved System of Illuminism (1787).

After Weishaupt’s Order of Illuminati was banned & its members dispersed, it left behind no enduring traces of an influence, not even on its own former members, who went on in the future to develop in quite different directions.

1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia

1895 – Birthday of Babe Ruth

1918 – British women over the age of 30 get the right to vote

1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 185 people & injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history

1952 – Elizabeth II becomes queen regnant of the United Kingdom & the other Commonwealth realms upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya

1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit

1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished

1976 – In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka

1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe

1996 – Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, & all 189 people inside the airplane are killed. This is the worst accident/incident involving a Boeing 757

2012 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits near the central Philippines off the coast of Negros Island causing at least 151 deaths & injuring 112 others

2013 – A 8.0 magnitude earthquake hits the Solomon Islands killing 101 people & injuring 117 others

2016 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits southern Taiwan, killing at least 138 people & injuring over 530 more

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Catherine Molland

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Good sore
Like wiggling a loose tooth…
The shoveling & sledding
Loosening the whole of me
Thump blood mingling
With the elementals awakening…
~hag

***

Helena Nelson Reed

Mysteries of the Celtic Goddess Brigid

Thursday February 9th 2017 -7 pm
at the Theosophical Society in America
1926 North Main Street
Wheaton, IL 60187

Invoking the Practical Alchemy of the Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid 
To Purify, Awaken, & Galvanize Your Head, Heart, and Hands

Brigid’s festival is the 1st of the cross-quarter days in the wheel of the year, a time of spiritual re-dedication and initiation. Brigid invites us to forge and shape ourselves, as the tools of our own destiny. Come Renew Yourself. Together we will thaw the winter & rouse the mysteries growing within…

Hazel Archer Ginsberg is a Spiritual Midwife, and Trans-denominational Minister, working in an eclectic style that inspires connections – initiating us into the magic, waiting to be revealed, in the cycle of the seasons. Festivals Coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society. Lecturer, Promoter, Blogger, Poet & Performance Artist.  www.ReverseRitual.com.

$10 nonmembers   $5 members

Live Webcast

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Charm the plow, & kiss the candle

Celestial Event, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Remembering, Speaking with the Stars

2 February 2017 – Astro-Weather: Today is Groundhogs Day, where the fate of winter rests on the shoulders of a furry rodent, for those muggles who believe in a more modern folklore.  If he the sticks his head out of his burrow this morning & sees his shadow, we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter. But if the weather is cloudy, it means spring is right around the corner.

What does this have to do with astronomy? Groundhog Day celebrates one of the 4 cross-quarter days. February 2 is the traditionally celebrated date betwixt the winter solstice & the vernal equinox. (The actual cosmic alignment happens tomorrow when the Sun reaches 15 degrees Aquarius & is called by some, Candlemas, still others Brigid’s Day or Imbolc – the lambing season – the time of year when the belly of the great mother quickens with the growing light*)

Right after dark this week, face east & look overhead. The bright star there is Capella, the Goat Star. To the right of it, by a couple of finger-widths at arm’s length, is a small, narrow triangle of stars known as “the Kids.” Although they’re not exactly eye-grabbing, they form a never-forgotten asterism with Capella.

Jupiter rises around 10 pm CST & climbs highest in the south about an hour before morning twilight commences. The benevolent god shines against the backdrop of Virgo, just north of that constellation’s brightest star, Spica.

This morning, viewers get a bonus because this giant appears to have a “black eye.” It is actually the dark shadow of Ganymede, the solar system’s largest moon, which crosses Jupiter’s north polar region from 1:51 to 4:25 am CST

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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 –  means ‘in the belly’ or ‘in the milk’ – ‘the lambing season’. 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 powers of the sun. Folks would carry torches & cross the fields in procession, praying to the goddess to purify the ground before planting. Crêpes are a tradtional food, with their round form &  golden color -reminiscent of the sun, an appropriate symbol during Imbolc, as this is the time of the year when the days get longer, & the roots begin to stir.

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 became associated with the purification of Mary at the Temple (similar to the churching of women).

Lupercalia – The ancient Romans celebrated this festival in honor of Lupercus, & Feralia the god & goddess of fertility & shepherds. A theme of purification was also present. There was a custom of the Vestal Virgins offering cakes made with wheat from the old crop so that the following crop would be fruitful. (more on the above feasts to follow on another BLOG)

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 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.

 Frederic Leighton

Feast of Persephone  – In addition, the Festa candelarum in Rome commemorated the search for the Spring Goddess Persephone, by her mother the Goddess of Life, Demeter, kidnapped by the King of the Other World Hades. This festival 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”.

 Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

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.  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.

Delphine Lebourgeois

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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Carol Buchman

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Let the crystals fall
To add form to the light
Thru the white I will see
The single star that calls to me
The gibbous moon falls away so that I may live
Free to stumble
Free to fly with my snow angel
Listening, waiting, willing
The sap to rise
~hag

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Genny Rosen

A Glimpse into
Brigid, the Alchemical Triple Goddess
of the 4 fires & the purifying waters
which gives birth to healing.

 A long time ago, nigh the beginning, near the waters of a sacred well, at the first crack of pink in the young morning of the Cross-Quarter between Winter & Spring, at the very threshold – the goddess Brigid slipped into the world, & the waters of the world rippled with joy.

Up rose a column of fire – out of the head of the new goddess – that burned to the very sky. Brigid reached up & broke away a flaming plume from her crown & dropped it on the ground before her. There it leapt & shone, creating a new hearth.

Then from the fire of her hearth, Brigid used both hands to draw out a leaping tongue of heat, swallowed it, & felt the fire burn straight to her heart. There stood the goddess, fire crowning her head, fire leaping inside her heart, glowing & shooting from her hands, & dancing on the hearth before her.

The waters of the sacred well quickened as Brigid built a chimney of brick about her hearth. Then she formed a roof of thatch & walls of stone. And so it was that by the waters of the sacred well the goddess built the forge in which she keeps the 4 fires which have served the world evermore.

Out of the fire in Brigid’s hands baked the craft of bending iron. Out of the fire on Brigid’s hearth & the waters of her sacred well came the healing potions, teas, & tinctures. Out of the fire on Brigid’s head flared out writing & poetry. Out of the fire in Brigid’s heart spread the warmth of compassion.

Word of the gifts of Brigid’s fire traveled deep & wide. People flocked to learn from Brigid the secret of using fire to soften iron & bend it to the shape of their will. The people called it smithcraft, & made wheels, pots, & tools that did not break.

All the medicine plants of the earth were gathered & brought to the house of the goddess. With their leaves, flowers, bark, & roots, they offered themselves to the waters of her sacred well. Brigid made healing brews. She gave a boy with weak teeth an infusion of the dandelion root. She gave a young woman the decoction of raspberry leaf to help her womb carry a child. An old bent man, took from Brigid wintergreen bark for his ache & black cherry juice for the gout. She gave comfrey to a girl with a broken leg & blue cohosh to another to bring her moon-blood without pain. Brigid infused motherwort, licorice root, & dried parsley for a woman who was becoming a crone. “Cup a day,” said Brigid, “that you stay supple & strong.”

The people were healed & wanted Brigid’s recipes. “But we can’t remember which plants for which healings, where to gather them or how long to steep them,” they told Brigid.

The fire on Bridget’s head blazed bright. She took up a blackened stick & made marks with it on a flat piece of bark. “These are the talking marks,” She said. “They are the way to remember what you don’t want to forget.”

The talking marks also let the people write down the stories of her wisdom. Here is one that fits for us today:

Once 2 men, came to Brigid, both had a terrible case of leprosy.

“Bathe yourself in my well.” said Brigid to the 1st man. And so it was that at every place the healing waters touched, the man’s skin turned whole again.

“Now bathe your friend,” said Brigid.

Repulsed, the man backed away from his friend. “I won’t touch him,” he said.

“Then you are not truly healed,” said the goddess. With that truth revealed, the 1st man’s leprosy returned & the goddess herself bathed & healed the 2nd man.

“Return to me with compassion,” she said to the 1st man. “There find your healing.”

The folk hold the wisdom of the goddess close; & every year on Imbolc they thank Brigid for her well of wisdom & her fires of hand, hearth, head & heart.

Brigid is a Triple goddess holding the archetype of the Maiden, Mother & Crone. In her maiden aspect, she is said to charm new life into the cold heart of Winter, with her white birch wand, to help him open his eyes to the promise of Spring. Imbolc literally means ‘in the belly’ it is the lambing season after all, when the milk begins to flow.

Traditionally a time of purification — so clean your house! Brigid will thank you for it. If you have any Christmas greenery lingering, burn it now. And bathe with warm milk for health & beauty.

Leave a silk ribbon on your doorstep for Brigid to bless: It can then be used for healing purposes

Give an offering: cake, buttered bread & milk will do — outside your door: Brigid & her cow are said to walk through the neighborhood tonight. In the city it is proper to give food to the homeless.

Make your own Brigid Cross, a fiery sun-wheel & hang it up, especially in the kitchen where her influence can bless your food.

Meditate upon what you would like to see grow in health & strength this year: for yourself, your family, your community, the Earth, & ask for Bride’s blessing upon your prayers.

When my daughter was young, we would gather with other Waldorf families during this magical time to honor & explore the power of the Triple Goddess within us, through storytelling, crafting fiery Sun-Wheel’s around the fire, sharing a potluck meal, & making a scavenger hunt in the woods.

Now is the time of the stirring, when the sap begins to rise & the waters to flow. While frost still bites & winds still blow, the light is growing stronger, & life begins to wake. It is the time of year when the belly of the great mother quickens with the growing light, for this is the feast of Brigid – the midwife of the New year who births the sun. Through the union of fire & water, we can work the magic to bring in healing & call in the spring.

Thank you, Brigid, for the smith-craft of your forge, the soothing healing teas, the talking marks, & for the warmth of compassion. May we use it wisely to prepare for growth & renewal, performing the ancient rituals of spring cleaning, purifying & anointing the body electric, awakening the spirit within…A time of spiritual re-dedication, of self-blessing & initiation, of affirming & energizing creative work…A time of blessing the seeds & consecrating the garden tools…A time to purify & get fertile, so let’s charm the plow, & kiss the candle, to re-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 all…

~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

Come join me in a ritual celebrating the Mysteries of the Celtic Goddess

Brigid by Helena Nelson Reed

Thursday February 9th 2017 -7 pm
at the Theosophical Society in America
1926 North Main Street
Wheaton, IL 60187

Invoking the Practical Alchemy of the Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid 
To Purify, Awaken, & Galvanize Your Head, Heart, and Hands

Brigid’s festival is the 1st of the cross-quarter days in the wheel of the year, a time of spiritual re-dedication and initiation. Brigid invites us to forge and shape ourselves, as the tools of our own destiny. Come Renew Yourself. Together we will thaw the winter & rouse the mysteries growing within…

Hazel Archer Ginsberg is a Spiritual Midwife, and Trans-denominational Minister, working in an eclectic style that inspires connections – initiating us into the magic, waiting to be revealed, in the cycle of the seasons. Festivals Coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society. Lecturer, Promoter, Blogger, Poet & Performance Artist.  www.ReverseRitual.com.

$10 nonmembers   $5 members

Live Webcast

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