Monthly Archives: July 2017

Consolidation

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

30 July 2017 – Astro-Weather: 1st Quarter Moon is in Libra, look to Her upper left for Spica & Jupiter at dusk, & far right for Scorpius & Saturn.

Starry Scorpius is sometimes called “the Orion of Summer” for its brightness & its prominent red supergiant (Antares in the case of Scorpius, Betelgeuse for Orion). But Scorpius passes a lot lower in the south than Orion. That means Scorpius has only one really good viewing month: July – which is almost over. Catch Scorpius in the south-southwest now right after darkness is complete.

Look for the 2 stars especially close together in the tail. These are Lambda Upsilon Scorpii, known as the Cat’s Eyes. The cat is tilting his head & winking – pointing west (right) by nearly a fist-width toward Mu Scorpii, look for a much tighter pair known as the Little Cat’s Eyes.

By the time morning twilight starts to paint the sky, brilliant Venus already dominates the scene. The planet rises around 4 am CDT. It’s hard to mistake the Goddess of Love for anything else she shines far brighter than any other object in the morning sky.

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Sarah Born

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

“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

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

762 – Baghdad is founded

1626 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people

1733 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts

1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare & Medicaid

1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again

1818 – Birthday of Emily Brontë

1863 – Birthday of Henry Ford

1898 – Deathday of Otto von Bismarck, 1st Chancellor of Germany

1894- Birthday of Ernst Lehrs a German anthroposophist, science teacher in the 1st Waldorf School in Stuttgart, lecturer & writer. Having fought in World War I, he then studied science & graduated with a PhD in 1923. In 1935 he moved to The Netherlands, where he worked as a teacher, before moving to Britain as a Jewish refugee from the Nazis. In 1952 he returned to Germany & worked as a lecturer at the newly established course in anthroposophic special education in Eckwälden, where he remained until his death.

In his important work “Man and Matter”, Ernst Lehrs talks about how today’s researcher is an uninvolved spectator, he reveals not only how science has led inescapably to the illusions it believes in today, but more important how we may correct in ourselves the misconceptions science brings into our views through today’s education, giving us a spiritual understanding of nature based on the work of Goethe; which requires an activation of the cognitive consciousness, leading the true researcher back to themselves.

Ernst Lehrs was a personal pupil of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, one of the 12 founding members of the Esoteric Youth Circle.

Written by Ernst Lehrs  a few days after the burning of the 1st Goetheanum: “His (Rudolf Steiner’s) open criticism in various directions concerning the Society & the various activities within it in the weeks leading up to the fateful Christmas-New Year’s time, made one clear about the fact that it was due to the failure on the part of the Society that the necessary spiritual protection was missing from the building. Yet, it was out of an experience of this failure that the impulse for the Youth Course arose, as well as what led to the coming about of our specific endeavor. Thus the idea arose among us that we should ask Rudolf Steiner if, & how we could contribute to the Anthroposophical Society ‘consolidating’ itself again – as one of us put it. With this in mind, we asked to be allowed to speak with him. In the Glass House, on January 3, 1923, we asked about our helping toward consolidation of the Society, Rudolf Steiner answered in a calm tone with emphatic earnestness; “Just keep yourselves consolidated, & the Society will be consolidated.” Then he gave the advice that we should sit together on a regular basis & in symposium-like conversations, reflect again & again upon the foundational impulse of our group.”

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Sulamith Wulfing

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~The eye is open 
Watching 
Old men grip & grasp 
Blinking at Women yearning
Streaming with children spinning dizzy 
Vapors rise
Flesh falls
The eye recalls
The beauty of an ordinary Summer day
It sees me 
Looking for you

~hag

***

Preparing for the 2nd Harvest: Lammas Day

The Wheel turns from St. John’s Tide with its message of the inner Christ Sun and the mirroring of the Holy nights, to the Sun in the heart of the lion (or at least it’s where Regulus, the heart of the lion, was a couple of thousand years ago!) Lammas, or Loaf mas, a cross quarter festival traditionally celebrated at the beginning of August, marks the point when we leave the Garden, and earn our own way, “by the sweat of our brow”.

The harvest of grain, and the baking of bread, represents the first child of the cosmic union of Sun and Earth. It symbolizes the essence of humanity, born from this union, for the loaf is more than a gift of nature, it is made by the combined forces of nature with the will forces of human activity.

The harvest season is a time of judgment. We are called upon to sift through the things that have grown up during the past half-year, and decide what we will keep and what we will cut away. We must make choices, and act on them. The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, into the time of release.

In astrology, the moon, five eighths past the new moon, is called the “disseminating moon”. During this phase, what has built up in the waxing cycle begins to be released into the environment. We start to see the results of our work. At Lammas, the sun is five-eighths of the way around the Wheel from Winter Solstice. Growth has reached its peak, and the life of the Sun God has begun to bleed off into the fruit and grain.

The King is Dead Long Live the King – for now is also the time of sacrifice, of death in service of life. Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too unripe to be eaten, must be plucked anyway. These are culls, removed so they won’t drain the life force from the good fruit. If everything was left on the tree, the life force would be diluted, or worse, the bad fruit could weigh down a branch until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, or sometimes killing the tree. The culls are taken so the rest of the fruit, and those who depend on the crop for survival, might live.

John Barleycorn must die… ‘Cut in half and buried, then beaten with sticks, and finally crushed between stones’… as the song goes, nevertheless rises once again. Bread is the perfect sacrifice for “Loaf Mass” or Lughnassadh as the Celtics called it, for they knew that this festival is more than just the first fruits of the earth — it also involves the first fruits of human labor. Grain is processed by human craft, and joined with the four elements to make the staff of life.

We will explore this ancient, yet ever renewable Cross-Quarter holiday, further tomorrow.

In gratitude ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Kari Marie Olsen

The Bridging Project Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul

2 August 2017 – 7:15 pm CST(8:15 pm EST)

With special guest Gisela Wielki, sharing her many years’ experience working with the so-called dead from the perspective of a Christian Community Priest

 ***

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

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

click here for a List of possible  activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

 

Metanoia

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Insight, Poetry, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Summer, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

Get ready folks – Today’s New Moon, ignites the sequence that leads to the Great American Solar Eclipse on the next New Moon August 21st 2017  – Both Sun & Moon are in Leo the Lion. And tomorrow Mercury, cozying up to Regulus -the hear-star of Leo, begins His pre-shadow phase moving toward retrograde, which hits stationary on August 12th & extends until Sept 19th 2017.

The Messenger of the gods retraces His steps in order to gather up our past thoughts, words & deeds – giving us a chance to consciously work with the Archangel of Summer Uriel & the spirit of John the Baptist, for a ‘Metanoia’ – a transformative change of heart.

Mercury is the only planet that was invoked by Rudolf Steiner at the laying of the Foundation Stone, in the 1st Goetheanum. When the Johannesbau became a burnt offering to the gods, the Foundation Stone was laid as a Meditation into our hearts at the Christmas Conference.

Mercury the messenger of the gods is seeking now to gather up the best of what lives in human hearts to carry our speaking sun-ward through the shadow – From light through darkness into new light.

This is a clarion call dear friends – May human beings hear it.     

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1967 – Detroit Riots: In Detroit, also known as the 12th Street riot. It began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, just north of the corner of 12th Street (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) & Clairmount Avenue on the city’s Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons & observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest & most destructive riots in the history of the United States, lasting five days.

Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit, & President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in both the 82nd & 101st Airborne Divisions. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, & more than 2,000 buildings destroyed.

***

Vladamir Kush

POD (Poem Of the Day)
~I travel inwardly
I gather berries that have fallen
Fully ripened to the ground
& swing the scythe under hot blue skies…
What is remembered, lives...
~hag

***

The eclipse will be one of two New Moons in the heart of Leo. The first one today will open the eclipse portal, occurring at 0 degrees Leo 44 minutes = the 1st degree of Leo. And the second one, the ‘Great American Eclipse’ on 21  August 2017, will be in the last degree of Leo. So the entire sign of Leo is engulfed in this event.

In 1979 there was a total solar eclipse visible from only a portion of the northwestern region of America. In 1918 there was a Total Solar Eclipse visible across the lower 48 states. The total solar eclipse of 13 June 1257 covered the entire USA, but it also swept across the ocean & the Hawaiian Islands.

The same thing happened with the otherwise-All-American eclipses of 4/13/804 and 1/26/529, which just barely nicked Newfoundland.

You have to go all the way back to 29 July of the year 436 to find an eclipse that hit ONLY what would become mainland America, like this next one!

We will continue to explore the spiritual significance of the Solar eclipse.

To read the PDF Article in Das Goetheanum

PDF Click to read the PDF of the Pageant: From Light Thru Darkness into New Light’ – A ‘New World Drama’ for the ‘Great American Eclipse’

For a List of possible PDF activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

To join  the CRC for the Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST click here to register 

Tomorrow, we look into what it might mean to have Mercury in retrograde at the same time.

until soon

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Gazing into Unbornness on the Full Moon

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Summer

8 July 2017 – Astro-Weather: The Full Thunder/Buck/Rose/Blessing Moon is low in the southeast as the stars come out. Look far to Bella Luna’s upper left for Altair, and far to Her upper right for Saturn. La Luna resides among the background stars of Sagittarius the Archer throughout the night.

***

“History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man“. Percy Bysshe Shelley

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Feast day of Aquila & Priscilla, Companions of the Apostle Paul. When Paul came to Corinth (probably in the year 50), he met them as tentmakers who had just arrived from Rome, because the Emperor Claudius had recently expelled the Jewish community. They all went together to Ephesus. Aquila & Priscilla are mentioned six times in the New Testament (Acts 18:2,18,26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19), & the reader will note that in the odd-numbered mentions, Aquila’s name comes first, while in the even-numbered mentions, Priscilla’s comes first, as if to emphasize that they are being mentioned on equal terms.

Feast day of Saint Kilian an Irish missionary bishop & the Apostle of Bavaria. He was beheaded with 2 of his companions. Their skulls, inlaid with precious stones, have been preserved to this day. On St Kilian’s day, a glass case containing the three skulls is removed from a crypt, paraded through the streets before large crowds, & put on display in Würzburg Cathedral (dedicated to Kilian).

1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem which took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade

1579 – Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan

1625 – Birthday of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer & engineer. Cassini discovered four satellites of the planet Saturn & noted the division of the rings of Saturn; the Cassini Division was named after him.

1730 – A magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 of Chile’s coastline, death toll unknown

by Joseph Severn

1822 – Deathday of Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the major English Romantic poets, one of the most influential. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political & social views, Shelley did not see fame during his lifetime, but recognition for his poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets & writers that included Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Love Peacock, & his own second wife, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, including his father-in-law, the philosopher William Godwin.

Shelley’s theories of economics & morality, for example, had a profound influence on Karl Marx; his early—perhaps first—writings on nonviolent resistance influenced both Leo Tolstoy & Mahatma Gandhi. Henry David Thoreau‘s Civil Disobedience was apparently influenced by Shelley’s writings and theories on non-violence in protest and political action.

Shelley became a lodestone to the subsequent three or four generations of poets, including important Victorian & Pre-Raphaelite poets such as Robert Browning and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He was admired by Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Leo Tolstoy, Bertrand Russell, W. B. Yeats, Upton Sinclair & Isadora Duncan. Shelley’s popularity and influence has continued to grow in contemporary poetry circles.

St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian: A Romance is a Gothic horror novella written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1810 was published anonymously as “by a Gentleman of the University of Oxford” while the Shelley was an undergraduate. The main character is Wolfstein, a solitary wanderer, who encounters Ginotti, an alchemist of the Rosicrucian or Rose Cross Order who seeks to impart the secret of immortality.

1831 – Birthday of John Pemberton, chemist & pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola

1838 – Birthday of Eli Lilly, chemist, & businessman, founded Eli Lilly a global pharmaceutical company

1838 – Birthday of Ferdinand von Zeppelin German general & businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company

1839 – Birthday of John D. Rockefeller, founded the Standard Oil Company

1876 – White supremacists kill five Black Republicans in Hamburg, South Carolina

1908 – Birthday of Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States

1926 – Birthday of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross a Swiss-American psychiatrist, pioneer in near-death studies & the author of the groundbreaking book ‘On Death & Dying’ where she first discussed her theory of the five stages of grief

1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22

1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.

2010 – The Solar Impulse completed the first 24-hour flight by a solar powered plane

2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza

***

 Kari Marie Olson

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I stand before the mirror looking back in time
Gazing into unbornness – the other side of eternity
I am roused
To walk the circuitous path of the unseen
From no-thing – I come to thought
To birth
A-become
~hag

***

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

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

***

3 Dead Presidents

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Speaking with the Stars, Summer

4th of July 2017 – Astro-Weather:  Waiting for fireworks to start? Point out some sky sights to folks around you. The waxing gibbous Moon is almost due south at dusk. Look lower left of it for orange Antares, one of the brightest “red” supergiants in the sky. Left of Antares is Saturn. Meanwhile, much farther to the right of the Moon, Jupiter shines brightly in the southwest.

No holiday better epitomizes summer in the United States than Independence Day. And the season’s namesake asterism — the Summer Triangle — will be on prominent display as fireworks ring out across the land. The trio’s brightest member, Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp, stands nearly overhead in late evening. The asterism’s second-brightest star, Altair in Aquila the Eagle, then lies about halfway from the southeastern horizon to the zenith. Deneb, the luminary of Cygnus the Swan, marks the Summer Triangle’s third corner. Although it is this asterism’s dimmest star, it’s the brightest point of light in the northeastern sky.

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1054 – A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, & Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence of the 13 States is adopted by the Second Continental Congress

1807 – Birthday of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician

1826 – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States, dies the same day as John Adams, 2nd president of the United States, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. (see article below)

1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published In Brooklyn.

1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & its sequels.

1872 – Birthday of Calvin Coolidge, lawyer & politician, 30th President of the United States

1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.

1902 – Deathday of Vivekananda, Indian monk & saint

1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.

1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia & his family

1934 – Deathday of Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist & chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

***

THE “AMERICAN” or “THREEFOLD” VERSE by Rudolf Steiner given to Ralph Courtney, a pioneer of Anthroposophy in North America for the Threefold Group in New York City, which later established the Threefold Community in Spring Valley (now Chestnut Ridge). This verse for the American spirit speaks of the inner unity of human beings and of support from the spiritual world for our efforts:

“May our feeling penetrate to the center of our hearts –
And seek, in love, to unite with those who share our goals,
And with the spirits who look down benevolently
On our hearts earnest strivings.
Sending us strength from realms of light, to illuminate our love“.

***

 

Thomas Jefferson & John Adams were ideological opposites & election rivals, but the two Founding Fathers reconciled late in life—which made their nearly simultaneous deaths on July 4, 1826, all the more meaningful. On the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson uttered his last words, “Is it the fourth yet?” before passing away. Later that same day, Adams also died, but not before saying, “Thomas Jefferson survives,” unaware his dear friend had already passed on.

Five years later, on July 4, 1831, James Monroe, the last presidential Founding Father, died as well. The fifth U.S. president had attempted to write an autobiography, but was unable to complete it as his health slowly deteriorated after his wife died the year before.

Interesting that there has only been 1 president born on the 4th of July – Calvin Coolidge, the nation’s 30th president, in 1872.

“Three of the four presidents who have left the scene of their usefulness & glory expired on the anniversary of the national birthday, a day which of all others, had it been permitted them to choose [they] would probably had selected for the termination of their careers,” wrote the New York Evening Post the day after Monroe’s death.

Adams served as the second president from 1797 to 1801, followed by Jefferson, who served until 1809. But long before the 13 colonies had won their independence, Adams & Jefferson played vital roles in creating the document that declared men were created equal & entitled to “life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness.”

Adams, in a letter to a friend in 1822, recalled how Jefferson was placed on the committee to write the document. “Mr Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775 and brought with him a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent at composition. Writings of his were handed about, remarkable for the peculiar felicity of expression,” Adams wrote.

The irascible Adams also described why he insisted that Jefferson write the draft: “Jefferson proposed to me to make the draught. I said I will not; You shall do it. Oh No! Why will you not? You ought to do it. I will not. Why? Reasons enough. What can be your reasons? Reason 1st. You are a Virginian, and Virginia ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason 2d. I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular; You are very much otherwise. Reason 3d: You can write ten times better than I can. ‘Well,’ said Jefferson, ‘if you are decided I will do as well as I can.’”

The importance of July 4 might have surprised some Founding Fathers. The Continental Congress declared freedom from Britain on July 2 & approved the Declaration on Independence on July 4. Most members signed the document in August.

Adams thought Americans would remember July 2 as their “Day of Deliverance” from Britain. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, he wrote, “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

While Adams & Jefferson represented their states in the Continental Congress, a teenage Monroe dropped out of college in 1776 to fight in the Revolution, enlisting in the 3rd Virginia Regiment, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Many historians consider Monroe the last president from the Founding Fathers.

Adams & Jefferson would live to see the country expand well beyond the original 13 states. Adams was 90 when he died of a heart attack. Jefferson had been in declining health for years before dying at 83.

“People interpreted their deaths in a religious manner,” said Michael Meranze, a U.S. history professor at UCLA. “It was clearly taken symbolically as both the birth and growth of the early republic.”

In 1826, for instance, Rep. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts delivered a two-hour-long eulogy in Boston suggesting their deaths were a sign that God was protecting the nation.

“As their lives themselves were the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their happy termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs that our country and its benefactors are objects of His care?” Webster said.

~ Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

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

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

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Glyph in the Wind

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Summer

3 July 2017 – ASTRO-WEATHER : Look to the lower right of Bella Luna at nightfall for Spica; to the right of Spica shines bright Jupiter. Look to the lower left of La Luna for orange Antares; left of Antares is pale-yellow Saturn. These star-&-planet pairs form a roughly symmetrical pattern with the Moon this evening.

If you ever thought the Sun’s distance controlled temperatures here on Earth, today should convince you otherwise. At 3 pm CDT, our planet reaches its most distant point from the Sun for 2017. At this so-called aphelion, the two are 94.5 million miles apart, some 3.1 million miles farther away than they were at perihelion in early January. The Northern Hemisphere’s warm temperatures at this time of year arise because the Sun passes nearly overhead at noon; during winter, the Sun traces a low path across the sky.

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Looking at the past to see the present, co-creating the future:

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Those who work with the Original indications in the Calendar of the Soul know that Rudolf Steiner lists the birth & death days, as well as other significant occurrences of various individualities, along with the dates in the calendar.  He said of this: “What is presented here can be useful to those who wish to follow the path of mankind’s spiritual development” ~Rudolf Steiner

 Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

Deathday of Cornelius – a Roman centurion who is considered to be the first Gentile to convert to the faith. Cornelius receives a vision in which an angel who instructs Cornelius to send the men of his household to Joppa, where they will find Simon Peter. 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 & birds being lowered from Heaven. A voice commands Simon Peter to eat. When he objects to eating unclean animals, 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.

283 – Deathday of Anatolius. Prior to becoming one of the great lights of the Church, he enjoyed considerable prestige at Alexandria, & was credited with a rich knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, physics, rhetoric, dialectic, & astronomy. He was one of the foremost scholars of his day in Aristotelean philosophy.

Deathday of St. Norbert of Xanten, who avoided ordination to the priesthood & even declined an appointment as bishop. One day as he rode to Vreden, a thunderbolt struck him off his horse. After this near-fatal accident, his faith deepened, he renounced his appointment at Court & returned to Xanten to lead a life of penance. St Norbert was a great devotee of the Eucharist & Our Lady.

1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy

1863 – The U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, PA, ended after three days. It was a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated

1940 –In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet is bombarded by the British fleet causing the loss of three battleships, 1,200 sailors die.

1944 –Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration

1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing a connection between Europe & Asia over the Bosphorus.

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I reach for the story
As I walk in the legend…
May I meet myself
In every tree & rock
Quickened by tendrils of light…
Holy & perfect is the search
Which lives by fire in the embrace of spirit…
Watch as I burst into flames
Like a Sun Flower remembered by my lover...

~hag

***

As the power of ‘Independence’ reverberates in our collective consciousness…

Can we rise in our thinking to meet “Freedom, Equality, & Fraternity”…While imagining that the “bombs bursting in air” are beautiful, gentle fireworks of realization & enlightenment, Going off like light bulbs in American minds…

Working towards a Global Interdependence Independence Day. A mutual dependency upon the independence of every nation & its people…Imagine everyone celebrating our differences with great admiration & respect…

We have all heard of Betsy Ross right? I just love this enterprising woman who led a very interesting life. She was actually disowned as a Quaker because she married an Episcopalian, who was later ironically killed while guarding a munitions dump. So here she was a young widow, telling George Washington that she thought the 5 pointed Star would look much better on the flag then his idea of having 6 pointed stars, true story.

I can just picture her sitting in the back room of the small upholstery business she ran by herself, with this mighty symbol that she helped design, laid out on her sweet lap, sewing away.

Now I’m not much for nationalism with all its borders & power over others kind of patriotism, but I must admit I love to see a well-made flag flapping in the breeze. All flags are cool – Crests with their ancient symbols, & especially those colorful banners you see on the porches of houses, shaped like butterflies or autumn leaves.

I’m just a sucker for a glyph in the wind, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good flag burning, don’t get me wrong I love America, I just think fire rituals are very powerful & impacting. And as a matter of fact, at the BBQ I went to on July 4th a few years ago, the wind blew the table cloth decorated with American flags into a candle where it caught fire & I was the 1st (& only one) to shout yeah, burn the flag, burn the flag…I don’t think the Ginsberg’s totally get my sense of the dramatic…but I digress…

We all know what we’re talking about when we say ‘the 4th’ right…But when was the last time you stopped to think about what ‘the 4th’ is really all about. When I looked on the internet it gave me hit after hit on picnic ideas, & recipes for apple pie, hints on BBQ techniques, free patriotic screen savers, many downloadable versions of the “rockets’ red glare” with animated fireworks displays; & yet somehow they forgot to mention the fact that fireworks were a Chinese invention, an ancient art form that we took & made into gun powder.

I’m serious, is baseball & burnt wieners all there is?

Does anyone want to give us some history here, or a brief overview of the meaning of Independence Day? I was never much good with all the details, the dates & names & such, so history isn’t my strong point, but I’m always able to get the big picture, & it seems to be about freedom from oppression… ‘No taxation without representation’…& all that…the center point being the Declaration of Independence.

When was the last time you read this important document of our countries origin? You can print it off the net. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”

Now before we all jump up & start pledging allegiance here, let’s remember that these ‘Founding Fathers’ with all their Masonic symbolism & righteousness, denied women the right to vote, & considered the Native American people to be “savages”. There is a direct reference to them as such in the document itself, & they felt justified in the systematic genocide of these highly spiritual people in the name of gentrifying the frontier. And of course most of these men were slave owners, participating in the unjustifiable atrocity of buying & selling human beings, virtually destroying the royal kingdom of the African people, employing many hideous human rights violations, enslaving them, raping, beating or working them to death. Can these sickening offences ever truly be rectified? Such a bitter legacy to add to our melting pot.

The rest of the document goes on to give a laundry list of the crimes against the colonists by the king of Great Britain, whose name happens to be George the 3rd…(who says history doesn’t repeat itself, many of these same crimes were perpetrated not so long ago by George Bush & his dynasty)

Have we gained independence from one tyranny all those years ago, only to allow it to happen again on a world scale? Maybe it’s time to open our eyes & read the fine print of our birthright, reclaim our rights & go forward as a united community of World people, in peaceful justice, in equity, in reason, with compassion, having come through so much pain, to really start to, not just declare our independence, but to really live it…As individuals, as well as with the united community of the whole planet…

We have a strong voice…this is our world…our sacred space & we can sing any reality we want to…& I don’t know about you, but I’d rather sing ‘America the Beautiful’, or even something like, ‘It’s A Small World After All’, then the war worshiping ‘Star Spangled Banner’ any day…

So for our next song, I’ll get off the soap box, & let the power of our united heart-beats, our collective rhythm be our anthem…to bring healing & forgiveness to the old wounds & hope for the future… blessed be…

Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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The Bridging Project Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul

July 5th, 2017 – 7:15 pm CST(8:15 pm EST)

With special guest Gisela Wielki, sharing her many years’ experience working with the so-called dead from the perspective of a Christian Community Priest

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Designing & implementing a windrow compost system for small to large farms
July 8, 2017 Field Day
9am-3pm, $70 (lunch included)
In the Big Brown Barn 
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
W2493 County Rd ES, East Troy, WI 53120

This field day workshop brings us on-site the Curtes Farm near West Bend, WI where Grounded LLC processes its hot controlled fermented compost. Explore the steps involved in choosing your compost site location, resources, tools and machinery, and how to best design, manage, and implement a windrow compost system for small to large farm operations.

This course will open discussions on how integrating biodynamic compost preparations can aid in the fermentation process and how high quality compost can reclaim damaged soils, build natural humus structure, and alleviate environmental impacts resulting from less ideal manure management styles.

Instructor: Angela Curtes, owner GROUNDED LLC www.groundedllc.net

For questions and to register email worshops@michaelfields.org

or call 262-642-3303 x 100 To register online go to www.michaelfields.org

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The  Center of Anthroposhopyis holding a PDF 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 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

***