Monthly Archives: May 2017

Shavuot

Celestial Event, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Spring

30 May 2017 – Astro-Weather: Jupiter appears halfway to the zenith in the southern sky during twilight this week & doesn’t set until around 2 am CDT. The brilliant planet shines among the background stars of Virgo, northwest of the Maiden’s brightest star, Spica.

Johfra Bosschart 

Look for Cassiopeia as twilight fades out, down near the north horizon: a wide, upright W.

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Eugene Thirion

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

I turn to history not for lessons but to confront my experience with the experience of others and to win for myself a sense of responsibility for the state of the human conscience. ~ Zbigniew Herbert  (Poet) 1924 – 1998

François Chifflart

1431 – Deathday of Joan of Arc, French martyr & saint, burnt at the stake by the British under Duke of Bedford

1593 – Deathday of Christopher Marlowe, English poet & playwright

Paul Delaroche

1672 – Birthday of Peter the Great Czar of Russia.  He led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist & medieval political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, based on The Enlightenment.

1778 – Deathday of Voltaire, French philosopher & author. Rudolf Steiner speaks of him as being a former pupil of the mysteries in Karmic Relationships Vol. 2.

1806 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel

1935 – Deathday of Daniel Nicol Dunlop , a Scottish entrepreneur, founder of the World Power Conference & other associations, a theosophist-turned-anthroposophist. Thought to have been a Templar in a former life. Dunlop saw Rudolf Steiner for the first time when he was still General Secretary of the German Section of the Theosophical Society, both of them expressed their intimate spiritual connection &respect for one another.  Dunlop started the anthroposophical “Human Freedom Group & anthroposophical Summer Schools. In 1928 he organized the first & only World Conference on Anthroposophy & in 1929 he was elected General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain. He had a deep friendship with Eleanor Merry, who supported his work, especially after the death of his own wife, Eleanor in 1932. As a result of conflicts & power struggles within the General Anthroposophical Society, leading to its splintering in April 1935, Dunlop was expelled together with a number of other leading members. He died shortly afterwards of an appendicitis. Dunlop enlisted the help of fellow anthroposophist Walter Johannes Stein in the hope of founding a World Economic Organization, but his death prevented this.

1936 – Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz resigns from the General Anthroposophical Society on the 1 year anniversary of his friend D.N. Dunlop’s death, in protest after many of his contemporizes were expelled from the Society.

1937 – Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot & kill 10 labor demonstrators

1989 –The 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators

1998 – The 6.5 Mw Afghanistan earthquake killed over 5,000

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~In the wind I hear what I see –
A low hum of vitality
The bell of flowers singing…
With the bright blade of spirit I turned new ground,
Planted seed & watched,
Beneath my hand things happened –
Grapes & wheat
In time I will serve
Wine & bread...
~hag

***

Shavuot is a spring holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah, the first harvest, &the ripening of the first fruits. In the bible, Shavuot is called by various other names: Feast of Weeks, Feast of The First Fruits & Feast of the Giving of the Law. The festival begins this year at sunset May 30th thru June1, 2017.

The farmers of Israel begin their spring harvests with the barley crop at Passover. The harvest continues for seven weeks as the other crops & fruits began to ripen. As each fruit ripened, the first of each type would not be eaten but instead the farmer would tie a ribbon around the branch. This ribbon signified that these fruits were Bikkurim, or the first fruits.

At Shavuot the farmers would gather the Bikkurim into baskets & bring them to the city of Jerusalem where they would be eaten in the holy city. The farmers living close to Jerusalem would bring fresh fruits, while those who had to travel a long distance carried dried raisins & figs. This joyful occasion was celebrated with the music of fifes, timbres, & drums. As the pilgrims approached the city walls they were greeted by the inhabitants of the city.

Along with being a Harvest holiday & celebrating the spiritual journey of Ruth, Shavuot celebrates the Revelation of Torah.

On Shavuot, folks light candles, decorate with greenery, eat dairy food, study Torah, attend prayer services, & read the Book of Ruth.

The Legends and Customs of Shavuot:

Many of the traditions & customs of Shavuot have evolved from the legends & stories describing the experiences of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. According to tradition the Israelites actually overslept on the morning of G-d’s visit. To compensate for this negligence, Jews hold a vigil on the eve of Shavuot. They stay awake from dusk to dawn, keeping themselves busy with the readings of the Torah & the Talmud. A digest of readings has evolved called Tikkun Leil Shavuot, the “Restoration of Shavuot Eve,” which includes selections from the Torah, the Prophets, the Talmud, & the Zohar.

Another Shavuot custom is the eating of dairy foods. One explanation states that this comes from a passage in the Torah which reads: “And He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey”.

Another explanation comes from a legend stating that before the visit from G-d the Jews did not keep kosher or follow the Kashrut (dietary) laws. It was on this first Shavuot that they found out that their utensils were nonkosher. So finding themselves without kosher meats or utensils the Israelites were forced to eat only dairy foods. Today Jews celebrate Shavuot by eating blintzes, cheesecake, & other dairy dishes.

Another legend tells the story of the Israelites finding Mount Sinai blooming and lush with greenery & flowers. From this legend grew the custom to decorate the Jewish home & synagogue with tree branches & flowers. Some temples decorate the Torah scrolls with wreaths of roses.

The Greek version of this festival is called Pentecost…meaning 50 days after the resurrection of the Christ…when the new law of, ‘love thy neighbor as thy self ‘, was engraved in the heart, with the fire of the holy spirit, among roaring winds & tongues of fire.(This year this moveable feast is on June 4th, 2017) It is also called Whitsunday after the white robes worn by those baptized with fire during this vigil…in Italy it was customary to scatter rose petals from the ceiling to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues resting on the heads of the prophets…in France they blow trumpets to suggest the sound of the mighty wind which accompanied the descent of the holy spirit…in Russia the congregation carries flowers & sheaves of barley…

We will explore this further as the week goes on…

Until soon ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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PDF Exploring the Mysteries of St John’s-Tide

Friday June 23rd 2017  – Zinniker Family Farm N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121

Pot Luck 6:30 pm – Bee & Stag Bon-fire & Drum Circle 8 pm

We begin with the setting Sun, in the dark of the New Moon.  Thru the drumming of our collective heart-beat, circle dancing, singing to the stars, & blessing the earth, we will celebrate the bright reflection of the Divine within ourselves & each other.

$10 – All Donations go to the Zinniker farm – Bring a folding-chair & your drum, shaker or music maker (or borrow one of ours)

For more info.  Hazel (at) ReverseRitual.com

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St. John’s Festival: Cosmic Rapture Grounded in Jubilant Hearts –

Understanding the evolving human consciousness, we move ecstatic-ritual into Heart-Thinking

SATURDAY June 24th 2017, 1 pm – 4 pm – at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

To pass the test of Summer we will explore many questions:  

  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?
  • Who is the ‘John’ of St. John’s-Tide?
  • What is the mystery of the Bee & Stag? The Dragon-fly, & other elemental beings?
  • Who is the mysterious Archangel of Summer?

Together with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Karen Hartz. We will work to strengthen our true “I” – Enlivening our Will Forces, with Social-Artistic Exercises

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The  Center of Anthroposhopyis holding a PDF foundation year training at Urban Prairie this summer

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The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 stay tuned for details

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Über die aesthetische Erziehung des Menschen

Celestial Event, Festival, Spring

Dear Friends –

Here is my last installment for this year’s thoughts on Ascension, which I like to call the Festival of the Elements.

Josephine Wall

When we attune ourselves to beings such as Raphael, Archangel of spring, we can awaken to the way spiritual entities constantly interact with earth thru the elements.

Jose Hanmel

The messengers of cosmic warmth in the rays of the sun activate the ascension of the element of water. Through its union with air, clouds originate. In the cloud, between depths of earth & heavenly heights, in the sphere of the etheric realm, a mobile balance manifests.

Blossoms & fruits are in reality not just products of earth but heavenly forms filled with earthly substance, like us.

The phantom body of Christ is a reconstituted New Adam, & the Resurrection Body points us in the direction of our future evolution, not back to the garden, but going forward toward the New Jerusalem. Materializing & dematerializing at will.

The ‘ Resurrection Body’ encompasses the whole of humanity – Rudolf Steiner calls it a redeeming of the  group-soul of mankind. It is like a cell that is multiplying; growing ever more evident in the etheric realm.

The expression “Put on the resurrection body” used by the apostle Paul is a true picture of what can happen for us. An imaginative picture of this is secreted in the allegory of the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz .

Goethe’s Fairy Tale is another powerful imagination that captures the essence of the Ascension.

It’s been said that The Green Snake & the Beautiful Lily which is full of esoteric symbolism, was born out of Goethe’s reading of The Chymical Wedding .

Goethe’s Tale was written as a response to a work by Friedrich Schiller called ‘Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man’.  Über die aesthetische Erziehung des Menschen

One of the central ideas discussed so often by by Goethe & Schiller centered on the question of human freedom. Schiller was trying to build an inner bridge between reality & the ‘ideal human being’.

Schiller wrote his ‘Letters’ during the time of the French Revolution, which was driven by a desire for outer social changes, to enable human beings to become free.

But both Schiller and Goethe recognized that freedom cannot be ‘imposed’ from the outside, it must arise from within. So Goethe took this inspiration & set about writing a Fairy Tale that would show, in imaginative pictures, the way in which a human soul could become whole & free by bridging the abyss between the human & the divine within.

For 40 days Christ lived in the concentrated form of the Phantom & resurrection body, which was perceptible, to the apostles. The Concentration then changed into expansion, conveying to the universe the mystery of death, & the secret of death into life.  So Now, at the Ascension, the wisdom of the resurrection that had been brought forth in the depths, was made known in the heights, & the expansion fulfills the cycles of time.

Matter is spirit burst into visibility. The crucifixion was an undoing of this process.

The phantom or resurrection body of Christ is no longer purely human comprised as we are of the Imagination of the Spirits of Form, the Inspiration of the Spirits of Wisdom, with an aura by the Spirits of Will. It is the body of a reconstituted new Adam pointing us in a new direction of our future evolution, not back to the garden, but going forward toward the New Jerusalem. Materializing & dematerializing at will.

This ‘body’ encompasses the whole of humanity – Rudolf Steiner calls it the group-soul of mankind. It is like a cell that is multiplying. The expression “put on the resurrection body” used by the apostle Paul is a true picture of what can happen for us. This is really what is meant by the Chymical Wedding.

May we all called to the marriage feast as we prepare to receive the baptism by fire from the Holy Spirit

xox ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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PDF Exploring the Mysteries of St John’s-Tide

Friday June 23rd 2017  – Zinniker Family Farm N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121

Pot Luck 6:30 pm – Bee & Stag Bon-fire & Drum Circle 8 pm

We begin with the setting Sun, in the dark of the New Moon.  Thru the drumming of our collective heart-beat, circle dancing, singing to the stars, & blessing the earth, we will celebrate the bright reflection of the Divine within ourselves & each other.

$10 – All Donations go to the Zinniker farm – Bring a folding-chair & your drum, shaker or music maker (or borrow one of ours)

For more info.  Hazel (at) ReverseRitual.com

***

St. John’s Festival: Cosmic Rapture Grounded in Jubilant Hearts –

Understanding the evolving human consciousness, we move ecstatic-ritual into Heart-Thinking

SATURDAY June 24th 2017, 1 pm – 4 pm – at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

To pass the test of Summer we will explore many questions:  

  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?
  • Who is the ‘John’ of St. John’s-Tide?
  • What is the mystery of the Bee & Stag? The Dragon-fly, & other elemental beings?
  • Who is the mysterious Archangel of Summer?

Together with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Karen Hartz. We will work to strengthen our true “I” – Enlivening our Will Forces, with Social-Artistic Exercises

***

The  Center of Anthroposhopyis holding a PDF foundation year training at Urban Prairie this summer

***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 stay tuned for details

***

On the high tide of blessings

Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars

28 May 2017 – Astro-Weather: Look high in the northwest after darkness falls this week & you’ll be greeted by the familiar sight of the Big Dipper. The Dipper is the sky’s most conspicuous asterism. It makes up the body & tail of Ursa Major the Great Bear. Use the Pointers, the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl, to find Polaris, which lies due north. Polaris marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. On evenings in late May, the relatively faint stars of this dipper arc directly above Polaris.

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

“We understand only the very smallest part of human history and of our own life if we consider it in its external aspect, I mean in that aspect which we see from the limited view-point of our earthly life between birth and death. It is impossible to comprehend the inner motives of history and life unless we turn our gaze to that spiritual background which underlies the outer, physical happenings”. ~Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture III

Remedios Varo

585 BC – the 1st prediction of a solar eclipse by the Greek philosopher & scientist Thales, which occurs while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in Halys, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other eclipse dates can be calculated

1892 – In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club

1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.

1995 – The 7.0 Mw Neftegorsk earthquake shook the Russian settlement of Neftegorsk, with 2,989 deaths &750 injured. The settlement was never rebuilt.

1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

Cecil Dee

~To my body I gave the power of my heart
Bee love & create I said
Beat within the grace of the world’s rhythm
A pulsing radiant sun
In tune with the music of becoming
A ferry thru dark churning waves
An oasis flowing with fresh waters
On the high tide of blessings
To open my head
In pure thought unfolded
~hag

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Chris Manvell

Ascension part 4

When the apostles experienced the Ascension, which was for them not merely the proof of the whole immeasurable significance of the Christ for the life of every human soul after death, but was at the same time, the event thru which they were able to attain the fullest most all-encompassing knowledge of the new relationship between microcosm & macrocosm.

Because of the Ascension the human soul can come into contact with the cosmic sphere where Christ derived the forces for His Resurrection Body. The sphere of the Father, where the Atma, or future Spirit Human, is derived.

Temple du Pont

And now, since in the resurrection, Christ has united the forces of the cosmic midnight hour directly with earth evolution, this created a bridge for all human beings over the cosmic abyss, unlocking the gate between the cosmic midnight hour & the midday moment of cosmic existence. 

The Ascension provided the opportunity for The Holy Spirit, who illuminates individual ego-consciousness, to be able to appear in earthly evolution among human beings at Whitsun, to pour into them the true knowledge of the Mystery of Golgotha & the Ascension in full wisdom.

Rachel Hammel

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is a direct consequence of the Resurrection & the Ascension.

The events of Easter, Ascension & Whitsun form the foundation of the only  moveable feasts in the cycle of the year, which succeed one another in accordance with a strictly cosmic law, having to do with the alignment of Sun, Full Moon & Earth after the Spring Equinox.

Ninette Sombart

At the Baptism the Christ Being united with the physical body of Jesus of Nazareth & therefore was united with earthly evolution as a whole.

At the Transfiguration Christ permeates the etheric body of Jesus. In the scene of the transfiguration, Christ reveals his higher sun nature –to the 3 chosen disciples – A visionary manifestation of the fully transformed etheric body, which radiates light like a Sun.

Alexandr Ivanov

Ascension relates to the Transfiguration & Whitsun to the Baptism. We see in the Ascension the metamorphosis of the scene of the Transfiguration; -& in Whitsun, the transformation of the Baptism by John in the Jordan.

In the Ascension Christ showed the connection to the spiritual Sun forces, which became manifest in the Transfiguration, with the etheric bodies of all human beings.

When Christ entered into Jesus at the Baptism, His Sun-Being took over the ego of Jesus. –After the resurrection the Christ impulse can live within mankind without taking over the ego-consciousness. But in order for this to happen Christ had to Ascend.

10 days after the Ascension or 50 days after the Resurrection, Christ sent the Holy Spirit- that Divine Being of the Trinity that does not overpower, but enhances the ego of humankind.

Now the Christ impulse can enter human souls thru the mediation of the Holy Spirit, so that we can retain ego-consciousness without being overwhelmed by Christ’s powerful sun nature. The benevolent Sun, that gives life generating warmth to all existence, is a bridge, connecting the macrocosm with the microcosm.

Friends, I hope you can stay with me on this, There is still 1 last part

Until soon ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Sunday May 28th 2017 – 3 pm – 6 pm “I” See Heaven”The Closing Event for the New Art Exhibition by astrologer Victoria Martin

The heavens and stars are symbols of spirit and magic! Here in “I“ See Heaven” are large-scale illustrated paintings of mystic verses. Many stellar traditions are represented via Zoroastrian, Hebrew, Jain, Vedic, Arabian, Islamic and Mesopotamian sacred texts. Some paintings are interactive or provide pose-inside photo ops! Participate in an artistic exercise: “Aura Drawing”, Healing drinks & more…

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

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Art Opening Saturday June 10th 4 pm – 7 pm – The Englewood Arts Collective is Passionate about community work and the power of contemporary art to serve as a conduit for social awareness. Each of the artists are eager to use their skills to challenge public perception of Englewood and Chicago’s South Side, and to demonstrate a truer reflection of the community they all have deep connections with. They aim to inform the general public about the significance and importance of people within a community narrating their own story and image.

Artists:

Tonika Lewis Johnson: http://www.tonijphotography.com/ Her photography project, “From the INside,” seeks to challenge the negative perception of Englewood as  a crime-infested community plagued with poverty, by offering beautifully artistic images of happiness and normalcy from an “insider” perspective.


Sterling Price http://southsideweekly.com/whpk-veteran-pugs-atomz/ also known as Pugs Atomz, an internationally known rapper, Radio Host,  designer, and painter, raised in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. He has released numerous albums, and his music and art has been featured in movies, sports, and video games. Currently, he is also Creative Director of Iridium Clothing Co..

Joe Nelson https://www.joenelsonart.com/ painter, muralist, and graphic designer from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. His works include large outdoor murals, wood sculptures, and customized vinyl toys to oil canvases. His pieces intersect humor, human behavior, and city life.

Jovanna Jackson is a mosaic, ceramic muralist, and knitter from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. The content of her pieces varies from abstract to representations of nature, or to love and relationships, increasing self-love and peace. Some of her public art is located in Millennium Park, entitled “Lily a day.” And look for her most current work at Hamilton Park Cultural Center, where she completed a residency holding ceramic and mosaic workshops for the community.

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PDF Exploring the Mysteries of St John’s-Tide

Friday June 23rd 2017  – Zinniker Family Farm N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121

Pot Luck 6:30 pm – Bee & Stag Bon-fire & Drum Circle 8 pm

We begin with the setting Sun, in the dark of the New Moon.  Thru the drumming of our collective heart-beat, circle dancing, singing to the stars, & blessing the earth, we will celebrate the bright reflection of the Divine within ourselves & each other.

$10 – All Donations go to the Zinniker farm – Bring a folding-chair & your drum, shaker or music maker (or borrow one of ours)

For more info.  Hazel (at) ReverseRitual.com

***

St. John’s Festival: Cosmic Rapture Grounded in Jubilant Hearts –

Understanding the evolving human consciousness, we move ecstatic-ritual into Heart-Thinking

SATURDAY June 24th 2017, 1 pm – 4 pm – at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

To pass the test of Summer we will explore many questions:  

  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?
  • Who is the ‘John’ of St. John’s-Tide?
  • What is the mystery of the Bee & Stag? The Dragon-fly, & other elemental beings?
  • Who is the mysterious Archangel of Summer?

Together with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Karen Hartz. We will work to strengthen our true “I” – Enlivening our Will Forces, with Social-Artistic Exercises

***

The  Center of Anthroposhopyis holding a PDF foundation year training at Urban Prairie this summer

***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 stay tuned f

BD Preps

Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars

21 May 2017 – Astro-Weather: The thickening crescent Moon, now below the heads of the Gemini twins, shines near Gamma Geminorum (Alhena), the brightest star in the twins’ feet. Meanwhile, far to the Moon’s lower right, Mars is passing between the horn-tips of Taurus (Beta & Zeta Tauri) The 3 form a diagonal line

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Georges de La Tour.

Birthday of Mary Magdalene, sister of Martha & Lazarus.The Gospels of Luke & Mark say 7 demons were cast out of her by Jesus. She became one of Jesus’ most celebrated disciples. Within the four Gospels she is named at least 12 times, more than most of the apostles. She is most prominent in the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus, John 19:25–26 notes that she stood by the cross, near the Virgin Mary & the Apostle whom Jesus loved. According to all 4 Gospels,[Matthew 28:1–8] [Mark 16:9–10] [Luke 24:10] [John 20:18] she was, either alone or as a member of a group of women, the 1st to testify to the resurrection of Jesus. John 20 & Mark 16:9 specifically name her as the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection.

“…As the Spiritual Soul is the principle in which the Spirit Self develops, this principle is called the “mother of Christ,” or, in the occult schools, the “Virgin Sophia.” Through the fertilisation of the Virgin Sophia the Christ could be born in Jesus of Nazareth. In the occult school of Dionysius, the Intellectual Soul was called “Mary,” and the Sentient Soul “Mary Magdalene.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Gospel of John (Basle): Lecture V

Sandro Botticelli

1265 – Birthday of Dante – according to Rudolf Steiner “…Dante became a seer at the age of thirty-five”. “…All leaders of mankind, who were aware of how the higher spiritual life of man arises out of his lower nature, have comprehended the significance of Easter. Dante therefore described his awakening — in his Divine Comedia — as taking place on Good Friday.”

“…Dante had a friend and teacher Brunetto Latini, who, as I think you will recognise from what we shall presently say, may be described as an Initiate in the true sense of the word.”

“…When you follow the teaching of the Templars, there at the heart of it is a kind of reverence for something of a feminine nature. This femininity was known as the Divine Sophia, the Heavenly Wisdom. Manas is the fifth principle. the spiritual self of man, that must be developed, for which a temple must be built. And, just as the pentagon at the entrance to Solomon’s Temple characterises the fivefold human being, this female principle similarly typifies the wisdom of the Middle Ages, This wisdom is exactly what Dante sought to personify in his Beatrice. Only from this viewpoint can Dante’s Divine Comedy be understood. Hence you find Dante, too, using the same symbols as those which find expression in the Templars, the Christian knights, the Knights of the Grail, and so on. Everything which is to happen [in the future] was indeed long since prepared for by the great initiates, who foretell future events, in the same way as in the Apocalypse, so that souls will be prepared for these events.” ~ Rudolf Steiner, The Temple Legend

1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification

1907 – Bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco

1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing over 2,100 men

1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”

2006 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java leaving more than 5,700 dead & 37,000 injured.

2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park & meet Hibakusha.

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Susan Bale

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Steller is the golden seed from which the corn arises,
Earthly is the Sun on the hill from which springs god’s day…
My body nourishes some unfolding time & purpose
My heart lifts like the Moon
& power quivers on the water…
I shine bronze & gold
& silver in the mirror of the unveiled Isis…
Today
The fixed stars & the circling planets are glad…
~hag

***

 

Ascension part 3

The festival of Ascension is a mystery not only of the forces of the macro-cosmic kingdom of the Son, into Earth-existence, but also the connection that opens us to the forces proceeding from the sphere of the Father.

The gospel of mark tells us: ‘Then the Lord, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into the heavenly spheres & sat down at the right hand of the World-Father as the fulfiller of His deeds’.

As a result of the conversations over the 40 days with the presence of The Risen Christ, the apostles were able to receive the primal sources of a new imaginative clairvoyance – removing the veil hiding the true image of death which is really a facet of the Father-God in the aspect of Creator – what is born must die, but thru Christ death becomes life.

The scene of the ascension brought to manifestation the inner content of death as a revelation of man’s higher, imaginative consciousness, which has its source in the kingdom of the divine Father.

According to the 5th gospel, the Ascension was for Christ Himself an event which is comparable only with death in human life, where the human becomes a fully spiritual being again.  –  At that moment the true meaning of death was made manifest to the apostles, they beheld it with their own eyes to be a process of union with the world of the Divine.

From that ‘turning point of time’ onward, Rudolf Steiner tells us that, one of the 1st experiences of every human being after death, is a contemplation of Christ’s Ascension, which can reveal to the person’s soul, the true picture of death & its connection to the spiritual world that lies closest to the earth, & with the highest sphere of the Father.

For the person who on earth worked to understand the mystery of Golgotha, this picture of the ascension after death becomes an affirmation, but for the soul that has not worked towards true spiritual knowledge, it is a picture of reproach.  Helping us seek in freedom to understand this mystery in our next life.

Rudolf Steiner tells us: ‘It is the Christ-impulse that works on after death; it is this impulse under whose influence man frees himself from the Moon-sphere, penetrates the starry Sun-sphere & from the impulses given to him by beings of the starry world, is there able to work upon the forming of the physical organism for his next earthly life’. Dornach 15 Sept. 1922

Christ takes our Moon-Karma upon Himself, enabling our soul to find the path of the true Ascension, which leads to the world of the fixed stars.

In the scene of the Ascension we have an indication of the all-encompassing influence of the Christ Being, as the Lord of Karma, upon the life of the human soul after death.

Tomorrow: yet another layer unveiled

Until soon

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Current Festival & Program Events

Gain the powers of the Sun

Celestial Event, Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Spring

26 May 2917 – Astro-Weather: While twilight is still bright – Can you catch the thin crescent Moon just above the west-northwest horizon where she is about to set? And how about  Mars to her upper right?

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Devin Beal

“In the karma of every single Anthroposophist is written: Become a person of initiative; observe whether out of the hindrances of your body or any other hindrances that thwart you, you do not discover initiative to be the center of your being. Suffering and joy for you will actually depend on whether or not you can discover personal initiative. As if in letters of gold, there should always stand before the soul of the Anthroposophist: ‘Initiative is part of your karma; much of what meets you in life will depend on whether you can bring this initiative to consciousness.'”  —Rudolf Steiner

National Paper Airplane Day

604 – Deathday of St. Augustine of Canterbury

1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000

1521 – Luther outlawed. Called for the burning of his books and called for his arrest. Frederick the Wise of Saxony protected Luther by hiding him in Wartburg Castle. Luther worked tirelessly on a complete translation of the Bible into German. Luther answering charges of heresy before the Diet of Worms in 1521.

1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.

1828 – Kasper Hauser appears in Nuremberg on Whit Monday “The Child Of Europe”

1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.

1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.

1976 – Deathday of German Philosopher Martin Heidegger

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Gabriela Garza Padilla

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I have
Fallen face down upon the earth
To gain the powers of the stars…
~hag

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Ascension part 2

For 40 days after the Resurrection, the apostles received from the risen Christ his esoteric teachings, essentially the contents of the 5th Gospel given to us by Rudolf Steiner. -Then the apostles witnessed The Christ, being received into the clouds, passing out of their sight – an expansion of His being, like a flower unfolding into the universe.

John Martin

Rudolf Steiner tells us, that at the time of the Ascension the apostles beheld the vivid spiritual reality of what would have happened to earth existence if the mystery of Golgotha had not occurred. – It was revealed to them that human bodies would have so deteriorated that the whole of humanity would have perished.

Edvard Munch

Our physical bodies have earth-gravity, but our etheric bodies have sun levity, so if Christ’s deed had not taken place our etheric bodies would have left the physical for good & the existence of humankind would have inevitably come to an end, having no formative forces to give them life.

Image result for christ in the sun

We know that Until the Mystery of Golgotha, the sun was the dwelling place of The Christ. Because Christ’s deed unities his being with the earth, the etheric nature of the human being, in its upward striving, can unite itself with the power & impulse of Christ in the etheric of the earth.

The human etheric body, which was in danger of being drawn out towards the sun, like clouds, & dispersed –is held together, contained by Christ, thru His cosmic deed, so that we are not dispersed, but can remain individuals.

 

Christ remains in union with the earth, which rescues for the earth the sunward-striving etheric body. -But to be able to take effect in a human being’s spirit & soul nature, The Christ impulse must also be able to penetrate into the human soul during sleep. And this is only possible if a person consciously recognizes the significance of the Mystery of Golgotha. The spiritual effect can only proceed from a true recognition of its content.

Larry Young

Humankind must come to realize that on the one hand Christ holds back the etheric body in its urge towards the sun; but on the other hand, humankind’s ego & astral body, can receive the Christ impulse only in the time between falling asleep & waking – which is only possible when knowledge of this impulse has been acquired in waking life.

Tomorrow: Another layer

~Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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An invitation from Petra Zinniker (from the oldest Biodynamic farm in the USA) ‘We will have the 2017 spring prep day this Saturday, May 27th. This includes taking out the preps from last fall and stuffing the deer bladders with yarrow.

We will start at 1:30pm and end with a potluck supper. Bring clothes and shoes so you can “dig in” and a dish to pass. Hope to see you there’.

Zinniker Family Farm  – N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121 – 262-642-5775 zinnikers@zinnikerfarm.com www.zinnikerfarm.com

There will be some folks from the branch who will be taking the short road trip (about an hour) to attend. If you would like to join us contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

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Sunday May 28th 2017 – 3 pm – 6 pm “I” See Heaven”The Closing Event for the New Art Exhibition by astrologer Victoria Martin

The heavens and stars are symbols of spirit and magic! Here in “I“ See Heaven” are large-scale illustrated paintings of mystic verses. Many stellar traditions are represented via Zoroastrian, Hebrew, Jain, Vedic, Arabian, Islamic and Mesopotamian sacred texts. Some paintings are interactive or provide pose-inside photo ops! Participate in an artistic exercise: “Aura Drawing”, Healing drinks & more…

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

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PDF Exploring the Mysteries of St John’s-Tide

Friday June 23rd 2017  – Zinniker Family Farm N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121

Pot Luck 6:30 pm – Bee & Stag Bon-fire & Drum Circle 8 pm

We begin with the setting Sun, in the dark of the New Moon.  Thru the drumming of our collective heart-beat, circle dancing, singing to the stars, & blessing the earth, we will celebrate the bright reflection of the Divine within ourselves & each other.

$10 – All Donations go to the Zinniker farm – Bring a folding-chair & your drum, shaker or music maker (or borrow one of ours)

For more info.  Hazel (at) ReverseRitual.com

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St. John’s Festival: Cosmic Rapture Grounded in Jubilant Hearts

Sunday June 25th 2017, 2 pm – 4 pm – at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

Come join our Initiatory Workshop/Ritual, to discover the New Mysteries of St. Johns-Tide. To pass the test of Summer we will explore many questions:

  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?
  • Who is the mysterious Archangel of Summer?
  • Who is John the Baptist? What do his sayings “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And “He must increase, but I must decrease.” really mean?
  • What is the secret to healing the ‘soul-fever’ so prevalent in society today?
  • What is the mystery of the Dragon-fly, & other elemental beings?
  • How can we understand the ‘Cycle of the Year as Breathing Process of the Earth’?

 Together we will work to strengthen our true “I”, enlivening our will forces with various social-artistic exercises, Including: ‘Seeing into the Etheric World’ thru the ‘After-Image’, Eurythmy, & an exploration of Karmic investigations.

$30– (or pay what you can, no one will be turned away for lack of funds, contact Hazel if you’d like to do work exchange) All materials included

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 & 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

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The  Center of Anthroposhopyis holding a PDF foundation year training at Urban Prairie this summer

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The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 stay tuned for details

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