Thig an nathair as an toll = The serpent will come from the hole

Greetings friends – Blessings of Brigid’s Day to you!

I arrived home after the being part the amazing Fellowship of Prep – Makers Gathering at Michael Fields Institute in East Troy WI. & my friend said: ‘What’s going on? You’re glowing ‘like a Saint’! Ha! I said, Well it is St. Brigid’s Day & yes, it’s true, my Soul Forces are brimming -For I have tasted the living waters, from a deep well, springing up from the alchemical heart of this love imbued community.

I must take it all into my sleep, & when the spirit moves me, I will to pour it out so that you too may drink from this powerful font…

Until then…Embrace your shadow…And spark the light within…

Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which way he will, it falls opposite to the sun; short at noon, long at eve. Did you never see it? ~Henry David Thoreau

Yes friends today is 2 , 2, 2020– “Speaking with the Stars“: Comet PanSTARRS makes its way northward along the Milky Way near the Perseus-Cassiopeia border. Tonight, this visitor from the distant Oort Cloud passes highest in the north during the early evening hours.

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, which mark the midpoints between the solstices & equinoxes. 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 Pisces)

Darlene Davis

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.

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.

1372 – Mariä Lichtmess – Candlemas, Christian Churches bless the candles to be used for the New Year.

Imbolc – the start of the lambing season – the time of year when the belly of the great mother quickens with the growing light. Among the Celts, thecelebration of Imbolc honors the Triple Goddess Brigid, associated with purification & the fires of the forge to call in the sun. Folks would carry torches & cross the fields in procession, praying to the goddess to purify the ground before planting.

Brigid, whose name means “The Exalted One,” The Triple Goddess of poetry (fire in the head), healing, & smith-craft. She was born at sunrise while her mother was walking over a threshold, & so “was neither within nor without.” This is the state known as liminality, from the Latin, limen: a threshold – the state of being “in between” Space & Time.

Saint Brigid was renowned for her gift of healing. She wove the first piece of cloth in Ireland & wove into it healing threads which kept their power for centuries. Many healing wells & springs were named after her

Doris Planter

The legend of Brigid portrays the archetypes of the Maiden, Mother & Crone.

Crêpes with their round form & their golden color are made, reminiscent of the sun, an appropriate symbol during Candlemas, as this is the time of the year when the days get longer. It is also the time of year when the roots begin to stir.

This is traditionally a time of purification — so clean your house! If you have any Christmas greenery lingering, burn it now.

Willa Frigit

Make your own Brigid’s crosses & hang them up, especially in the kitchen where her influence can bless your food. The cross of Saint Brigid is a fiery sun-wheel turning.

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

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.

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.

Francis-Davis-Millet

Thesmophoria: The Festival of Persephone & Demeter – In addition, the Festa candelarum in Rome commemorated the search for the Goddess of Light Persephone, by her mother the Goddess of Life Demeter, kidnapped by the King of the Other World Hades,. The festival of candles 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”.

Bart Linder

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 therefore 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.

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 & deeds.  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 1,122

1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress & promises to release Nelson Mandela

***

Shelby McQuilkin

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Beneath the crust of ice I hear
A ready roar
Rumble up from the tap root
Of the dogwood tree
It knows my secret name
Witch will rise with the sap
When Brigid-Bride calls me…
~hag

Devon Blake

The candle I am burning tonight contains “Brigid’s Fire” brought across the ocean to Chicago from Kildare, Ireland several years ago. This flame has a story that reaches back into pre-Christian times. Scholars suggest that priestesses kept a sacred fire lit to invoke the Triple Goddess Brigid to protect their herds & to provide a fruitful harvest.

When St. Brigid built her monastery & ‘Catholic church’ in Kildare in the 6th Century she continued the custom of keeping the fire alight. The flame was tended by the nuns of St. Brigid up to the suppression of the monasteries in the sixteenth century. The sacred flame was re-lit in 1993 by Mary Teresa Cullen, the leader of the Brigidine Sisters at that time, at the opening of a justice & peace conference. It now burns as an eternal flame in the middle of Kildare, “a beacon for justice, peace, truth & care of the earth”. To “keep the flame within the candle”, we do not blow the flame out, but rather extinguish it with ‘holy water’ on our fingers. The flame can be transferred to a fresh candle when the one you are using runs its course. BRIGID’S Fire has been inspirational to many for prayer or meditation.

Light a candle of your own & dedicate it to that part of Brigid that lives within you. Look deeply into the candle…Gaze into the flame for a few moments…now close your eyes…can you still see the image of the flame against your eyelids…yes, it burns there, an eternal flame in the darkness…Now see it growing brighter & brighter, in your minds eye…open your eyes begin to look deeper & imagine you are standing at a threshold filled with the warm red, gold & blue light of a brilliant fire…Imagine, in fact, know, that you are standing at the entrance to a mighty forge, blazing like the sacred-heart in the middle a wintery forest…there in the center is a fervent fire roaring with life…& in front of it stands the image of a woman…Thick, auburn hair tied back, with a few rippling curls framing her shining face…

She is dressed in dark green with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing strong loving arms…you know Her…She is part of you…She is the Goddess Brigid, standing over a large anvil, where all her concentration is focused…She beats with a steady rhythm, creating cosmic designs on a gleaming sheet of soft bronze with a great hammer…she works hard at her craft… concentrated & focused…& now, She looks up, & smiles at you warmly…She has finished Her creation & holds it up to the light of the fire for you to see…& As you look at it, it seems to continually change shape: first it appears to be a leaf, then a globe, & now it has become a star…a fiery sun-wheel turning…Brigid laughs, musically, from deep within Her belly, & tosses the star into the air, where it sails into the night sky & takes its place among the resplendent constellations…This work done for now, Brigid turns towards you, & asks:

“What have you come here to create?/ think on this question & let your mind Meditate you…what would you like to create…? what would you like to see grow, in health & strength this year? what will you forge for yourself, your family, your community, the Earth, whether great or small, personal or for the wider world…for I am here to help ya…Like the break O day I come I hear your call my sweet city Druids like the cockerel, calling forth the sun, herald of the new day, & you see, we’re standing at the threshold, that mysterious, luminal place, on the brink between winter & spring, where anything’s likely to happen & most certainly will if we make it so, yes like a fiery arrow, I am come, to kindle within ya a new vitality, Can you feel the upwelling, like a tiny spark looming up from the coals of the home fires, Forth-flaring from the sheltering-soil like sap rising, Swift-sprouting like a crocus in the snow… Aye, you see, tings are shifting already, for now it is I that’s calling the deep part of you to come forth, Like the snake coming up from it’s hole, Ignited by the passion of purpose…”

***

Registration is now open for the Easter-Tide Retreat: “Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology“, presented by the Central Regional Council and the Association for Anthroposophic PsychologyView this email in your browser

Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide Retreat

Maundy Thursday 9 April 2020 Noon through Easter Sunday at 3 pm
Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL

AAP:James A. Dyson, M.D., Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., and David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.

CRC:Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa Dalton

Eurythmist: Mary Ruud

Activities:

• Art-Acts
• Star Wisdom
• The Karma Exercises
• Experiential PAGEANT on Holy Saturday: ‘Know Thyself’
• Easter Sunrise Songtrail
• Optional service at the Christian Community
• Communal meals and time for Conversation

Lectures:

• ‘Living into Karma through the Senses’
• ‘How to find the Self in a Sea of Karma’
• ‘Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn Path’
• ‘The Gesture of Karma’
• ‘Christ as Lord of Karma — how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology?’

(Program subject to change)

$140 Conference fee includes 1 meal a day and artistic supplies

Click here for program information and to register

If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@peoplepc.com