~O the beauty & terror of it all… The whisper of the gods The crying children The red flowers faded in the last golden light… The names of all the Powers Shouting out From the bent blades of yellow grass By clouds, by rocks underwater By dark mouths Of caves, by dead men Under the chilled asphalt & in the heart of swirling leaves… ~hag
Join Angela Foster, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Deb Abrahams-Dematte for a “Topic Workshop” – INVITATION: SOPHIA WORKING at the AGM online
Sat. 10 October 12:30-2:00pm PT // 2:30 pm – 4 pm CT // 3:30-5:00pm ET
~hag
What is your relationship to Anthroposophia? How can we cultivate this ‘living being’ to awaken our will, for the active participation in personal and world destiny? To inform our breakout session we will call up quotes like:
~hag
The ‘New Isis Myth’ will be told by Hazel as a seed for our future work.
‘Soul to Soul’ on-line Festival with the Central Regional Council & Special Guests
Halloween 31 October 2020, Saturday 11 am – 1 pm PT / 1 pm – 3 pm CT / 2pm – 4pm ET
Stay tuned for details
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Our Annual All Souls Festival:The Connection Between Epidemics, the Souls of the Dead, & the Spiritual World – Leading thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.
With Group Eurythmy, Singing, Social Sculpture while reading the names of the dead & Break out Sessions.
2 pm – 4 pm CDT Sunday 8 November 2020
In-person at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & 3 fold Cultural Hub, in conjunction with the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave.
& On-line (details coming soon)
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8 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Draconid meteor shower is ramping up this evening to a peak tomorrow morning. The shower’s radiant in Draco the Dragon is northwest of Vega; you’ll want to look somewhat away from the radiant for the best chance to catch these slow-moving meteors.
Tonight is one of your last chances to catch Mercury in the evening sky. By 30 minutes after sunset, the tiny planet is high in the southwest. It sets 15 minutes later, well on its way to inferior conjunction with the Sun on October 25. After that, the solar system’s smallest, speediest planet will become an early morning object in November. As the planet sinks out of sight in the deepening twilight, you’ll see several bright stars pop into view: Antares, the red heart of Scorpius, & orange-hued Arcturus, the brightest star in Boötes. Look farther south & you’ll also see Jupiter & Saturn amid the stars of Sagittarius. Directly overhead, the Summer Triangle still rules, comprised of the bright stars Deneb, Altair, & Vega.
1871 – Slash-and-burn land management, months of drought, and the passage of a strong cold front cause the Peshtigo Fire, the Great Chicago Fire & the Great Michigan Fires to break out
1939 – World War II: Germany annexes western Poland.
1969 – The opening rally of the Days of Rage occurs, organized by the Weather Underground in Chicago. The Days of Rage demonstrations were a series of actions taken over a course of three days by a counterculture-era group ‘Students for a Democratic Society’. The group planned the October 8–11 event as a “National Action” built around John Jacobs’ slogan “bring the war home”. The resolution read, “The Elections Don’t Mean Shit—Vote Where the Power Is—Our Power Is In The Street”. It was adopted by the council, prompted by the effects of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity in August.
1982 – Poland bans Solidarity & all other trade unions.
1990 – Second Intifada: Israeli police kill 170 Palestinians & wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock.
2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.
2005 – The 7.6 Mw Kashmir earthquake leaves 86,000–87,351 people dead, 69,000–75,266 injured,& 2.8 million homeless.
2014 – Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with Ebola, dies.
The Living Word: The dictionary translates the German word Gemüt as “heart, soul, mind,” seeming to imply, “take your choice.” But the word Gemüt must not be thought of as having these three separate meanings, but as a unified concept embracing all three. We can think of Gemüt, as meaning something like: The mind warmed by a loving heart and stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power. Or it might be described as: The soul in a state of intuition arising from the working together of heart & mind. I like to call it Heart-Thinking.
Wendy McCoy
Gemüt is a very beautiful & comprehensive word which every student of anthroposophy should try to be on intimate terms.
“This human Gemüt dwells in the very center of the soul life.” ~Rudolf Steiner
In striving to understand what Heart-Thinking is, I’d like to invite you to practice a little experiment. I will relate a picture Steiner gave, & you can work to use your ‘soul’s imaginative power’ to try & ‘see’ it.
Steiner gives the imagination of a dragon writhing around the animalistic part of humanity. Perhaps you can feel it there in your lower chakras, even coiling up around the heart in some folks.
But then – also, behind us, at the back of the head, – picture the cosmic figure of Michael, towering, radiant, retaining his cosmic nature but reflecting it in our higher human nature, so that our etheric body, that part of us that holds our formative, life forces, reflects etherically the cosmic figure of Michael. Can you feel it there in your back space?
Rembrandt
Then, Steiner says, there becomes visible in the human head, a kind of protective helmet, whose power pours down the spine, into the heart, causing blood to flow down from the heart to the limbs – moving the power of Michael in a leminscate, from head to heart to limbs, so we can put our will into action.
This is important because a big part in how we conquer the dragon is being able to recognize it. So with our Heart-thinking we can wake up to this & say: Ok, yes, the power of the Dragon is working within me, I might not see it – but I can feel it as a force that wants to drag me down below my true self. But in the spirit I also ‘see’ the luminous Angel whose cosmic task has always been the vanquishing of the Dragon.
I concentrate my Gemüt upon this glowing figure, I let its light stream into my heart-thinking, so that my illumined & warmed soul forces can bear within it the strength of Michael. And out of a free resolution I will be able, through my alliance with Michael, to conquer the Dragon’s might in my own lower nature.
So…How did you do with our little experiment?
Some folks find it easy to work with imaginative pictures & some folks are more comfortable working with the intellect. We all, thru our individual temperaments & karma, tend to relate either to the head or the heart. (-the 2 streams: Platonic & Aristotelian) Of course our work is to bring them into balance- (The Shepherds must become Kings & the Kings-Shepherds)
~hag
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Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner, Translation and leading thoughts by Roy Sadler
Karl Koenig describes the Soul Calendar as being like a choir of 4 voices. In 13 quartets each voice harmonizes with 3 others in the developmental process of the year. From Easter till the first week of July the Tenor unites with the spirit through perceptive feeling; the Bass then incarnates the spirit with imaginative insight until Michaelmas:
v26, Natura, in the being of my will I bear thy soul of motherhood; and in my will-enkindled firepower my spirit impulses are tempered, steeled, that feeling of the selfhood formed from them bear I in me.
This is the culmination of the 1st half of the Soul Calendar, the turning mirror point. From this week the soprano develops her inspired will for the spirit’s Christmas birth:
Jackie Knight
v27, To fathom my depths of being arouses longing, my divining’s ardour, that self-observing I discover I’m the gift of summer sunlight in a seed that’s germinating in me in a warm autumnal mood to vitalize my soul force.
Dahl Fara Bard
From Epiphany till Easter the Alto will unite with the world with intuitive love. Her last week’s verse for the southern hemisphere’s springtime was her final one, the opposite of Michaelmas. It is this week’s complementary verse for us:
B. Thomsom
v52, When drawn from depths of soul the spirit is communing with the beauty arising from the springlife’s cosmic harmony, then streaming from the heavens life’s force revitalises human forms and powerfully binds the spirit’s being to the human presence.
Its Easter mirror is the southern hemisphere’s verse now, our opposite one:
Kristen Homberg
v1, When streaming into human sense the sun across the world’s expanse is speaking and joy from depths of soul is with the light as one in seeing, then drawn from sheath of self thoughts rise to far horizons and dimly bind the human being to the spirit’s presence.
4 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars:” Pluto is stationary & will now reverse its westerly motion, making a tight turn to begin moving east. You can find the dwarf planet this evening after sunset, sinking toward the horizon between Jupiter & Saturn in the south. The trio is northeast of Sagittarius’ Teapot asterism, to the upper left of the handle in the sky.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
“To truly know the world, look deeply within your own being; to truly know yourself, take real interest in the world.” Rudolf Steiner
Feast Day of Crispus & Gaius, Martyrs baptized by St. Paul at Corinth, Greece. Crispin headed the local Jewish synagogue. Gaius served as St. Paul’s host & was praised by St. John. Before being martyred, Crispin served as the bishop of the Aegean Islands, & Gaius served as bishop of Thessalonica, Greece.
1 Corinthians 1:14 – I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius
Acts 10:48 – So he ordered that Crispus and Gaius be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
Acts 18:8 – Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his whole household believed in the Lord. And many of the Corinthians who heard the message believed and were baptized.
Romans 16:23 – Gaius, who has hosted me and all the church, sends you greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you greetings, as does our brother Quartus.
3 John 1:1 – The elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth
1515 Birthday of Lucas Cranach the Younger, He is known for portraits & mythical scenes
1582 – Deathday of Saint Teresa of Ávila, a prominent Spanish mystic, saint, Carmelite nun, theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer & author during the Counter Reformation.
Her books, which include her autobiography (The Life of Teresa of Jesus) & her seminal work El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle), are an integral part of Spanish Renaissance literature as well as Christian mysticism & Christian meditation practices. She also wrote Camino de Perfección (The Way of Perfection).
Teresa of Avila was born in 1515. Her paternal grandfather, was a marrano (Jewish convert to Christianity) & was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to the Jewish faith. Her father, bought a knighthood & successfully assimilated into Christian society. Teresa’s mother, was especially keen to raise her daughter as a pious Christian. Teresa was fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, & ran away from home at age seven with her brother Rodrigo to find martyrdom among the Moors.
When Teresa was 14 her mother died; this resulted in Teresa becoming grief-stricken. This prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. Along with this good resolution, however, she also developed immoderate interests in reading popular fiction (consisting, at that time, mostly of medieval tales of knighthood) & caring for her own appearance. Teresa was sent for her education to the Augustinian nuns at Ávila.
In the monastery she suffered greatly from illness. Early in her sickness, she experienced periods of religious ecstasy through the use of the devotional book the Third Spiritual Alphabet. This work, consisted of directions for examinations of conscience & for spiritual self-concentration (known in mystical nomenclature as oratio recollectionis). She also employed other mystical ascetic works.
She claimed that during her illness she rose from the lowest stage, “recollection”, to the “devotions of silence” or even to the “devotions of ecstasy”, which was one of perfect union with God. During this final stage, she said she frequently experienced a rich “blessing of tears.”
The kernel of Teresa’s mystical thought throughout all her writings is the ascent of the soul in four stages (The Autobiography Chs. 10-22):
The 1st Devotion of Heart, is mental prayer of devout concentration or contemplation. It is the withdrawal of the soul from without & especially the devout observance of the passion of Christ & penitence
The 2nd Devotion of Peace, is where human will is surrendered to God. This is by virtue of a charismatic, supernatural state given by God, while the other faculties, such as memory, reason, & imagination, are not yet secure from worldly distraction. While a partial distraction is due to outer performances such as repetition of prayers & writing down spiritual things, yet the prevailing state is one of quietude
The 3rd Devotion of Union, is absorption in God. It is not only a supernatural but an essentially ecstatic state. Here there is also an absorption of the reason in God, & only the memory & imagination are left to roam. This state is characterized by a blissful peace, a sweet slumber of at least the higher soul faculties, or a conscious rapture in the love of God
The 4th Devotion of Ecstasy, is where the consciousness of being in the body disappears. Sense activity ceases; memory & imagination are also absorbed in God or intoxicated. Body & spirit are in the throes of a sweet, happy pain, alternating between a fearful fiery glow, a complete impotence & unconsciousness, & a spell of strangulation, sometimes by such an ecstatic flight that the body is literally lifted into space. This after half an hour is followed by a reactionary relaxation of a few hours in a swoon-like weakness, attended by a negation of all the faculties in the union with God. The subject awakens from this in tears; it is the climax of mystical experience, producing a trance. Indeed, she was said to have been observed levitating during Mass on more than one occasion.
Teresa is one of the foremost writers on mental prayer, & her position among writers on mystical theology is unique. In all her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences. Her deep insight & analytical gifts helped her to explain them clearly. Her definition was used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” She used a metaphor of mystic prayer as watering a garden throughout her writings.
Around 1556, various friends suggested that her newfound knowledge was diabolical, not divine. She began to inflict various tortures & mortifications of the flesh upon herself. But her confessor, the Jesuit Saint Francis Borgia, reassured her of the divine inspiration of her thoughts. On St. Peter’s Day in 1559, Teresa became firmly convinced that Jesus Christ presented himself to her in bodily form, though invisible. These visions lasted almost uninterrupted for more than two years. In another vision, a seraph drove the fiery point of a golden lance repeatedly through her heart, causing an ineffable spiritual-bodily pain.
I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it…
This vision was the inspiration for one of Bernini’s most famous works, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.
The memory of this episode served as an inspiration throughout the rest of her life, & motivated her lifelong imitation of the life & suffering of Jesus, epitomized in the motto usually associated with her: Lord, either let me suffer or let me die.
Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours. ~Teresa of Ávila
1582 – Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, & Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15
1669 – Deathday of Rembrandt
1970 – Deathday of Janis Joplin
2006 – Wikileaks is launched by Julian Assange
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Clarence Carter
My POD (Poem Of the Day)
~I set ablaze the withered limb To liberate the ripened fruit Witch thrives Within the tree… ~hag
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Join Angela Foster, Deb Abrahams-Dematte & myself for a “Topic Workshop” at the AGM online Sat. 10 October 12:30-2:00pm PT // 2:30 pm – 4 pm CT // 3:30-5:00pm ET
INVITATION: SOPHIA WORKING
We will explore the Being Anthroposophia, talk about the upcoming International Sophia Conference in 2022 & I will tell the “NEW ISIS MYTH” that I adapted from Rudolf Steiner.
“When you sit in the Sukkah, ‘the shade of faithfulness,’ the Shechinah spreads Her wings over you…”
Jo Jayson
The Shechinah is the Divine Feminine Presence, made manifest especially when the harvest season is upon us.
The Jewish New Year has begun, Sweet with the seal of At-One-ment…& now, the ancient celebration of Sukkot comes, to bring community together for a unique opportunity to experience an amazing blend of Honoring the Ancestors, Giving Thanks, & opening to receive prosperity’s blessings…
Please join us in spirit as we: Share food, Tell stories, Create Autumn Art, Invite in the Matriarchs of the Torah, & many other loving ancestors, & perform the ancient ritual of waving the Lulav, for blessings of abundance…
The Festival of Sukkot is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays of the year- Yom Kipper – to one of the most joyous. This festival is sometimes referred to as the ‘Season of our Rejoicing’. Sukkot begins tonight & lasts for seven days.
The word “Sukkot” means “booths,” & refers to the temporary dwellings built to celebrate this holiday frequently translated as “The Feast of Tabernacles,” & Like Passover & Shavu’ot, Sukkot has a dual significance: Historical & Agricultural.
The holiday commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Sukkot is also a harvest festival, & is sometimes referred to as the ‘Festival of Ingathering’.
Silvia Gent
This is harvest time, so we decorate the sukkah with the bounty of autumn, squash & corn, pumpkin & gourds, all the vegetables that make you think of Halloween & Thanksgiving. Building & decorating a sukkah is a fun, family project, much like decorating the Christmas tree.
Another observance related to Sukkot involves what are known as The Four Species, etrog (a citrus fruit, representing the heart), a palm branch (in Hebrew, lulav,representing the spine of the upright human being), two willow branches (arava, representing our eyes) & three myrtle branches (hadas, representing our lips & tongue). We take these four plants & use them to “rejoice.” The six branches are bound together & referred to collectively as the lulav. The etrog is held separately. With these four species in hand, one recites a blessing & waves the species in all six directions (east, south, west, north, up & down, symbolizing the fact that the Divine is everywhere).
Ushpizot is an Aramaic word meaning guests. According to Jewish tradition, each night of Sukkot, a different set of guests is invited to rejoice with us. While the custom of inviting Ushpizin, seven biblical male leaders, has been widely celebrated, there are also medieval sources that suggest inviting the seven female prophetesses: Sarah (Genesis 16,21), Miriam (Exodus 2:1-9; 15:20-21), Deborah (Judges 4-5), Hannah (I Samuel 25), Huldah (II Kings 22:10-20), & Esther (Book of Esther).
Laura Duhan
So come join us in spirit, with thoughts of peace & healing, to be part of this experiential celebration…What great leaders, proud Matriarchs or darling Daddies would you like to invite into the sukkah…? Let this ancient tradition made new, empower you to meet the Supernal Mother, The Shechinah waiting to be redeemed…
3 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna reaches apogee — the farthest point from our planet in its orbit from Earth.
Finally starting to noticeably wane from Full, our satellite rises near Uranus tonight. You will find the pair between the bright stars Hamal in Aries & Menkar in Cetus.
Southwest of the duo is bright Mars in Pisces. Keep looking west, past Pisces, to find Neptune in eastern Aquarius.
508 BC – Deathday of Lucretia an ancient Roman woman whose fate played a vital role in the transition of Roman government from the Roman Kingdom to the Roman Republic. She committed suicide after being raped by an Etruscan king’s son was the immediate cause of the anti-monarchist rebellion that overthrew the monarchy. As a result of its sheer impact, the rape itself became a major theme in European art & literature
Deathay of Jarius. The record of the daughter of Jairus is a combination of miracles of Jesus in the Gospels (Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56) The story immediately follows the exorcism at Gerasa. Jairus, a patron or ruler of a Galilee synagogue, had asked Jesus to heal his 12-year-old daughter. As they were traveling to Jairus’ house, a sick woman in the crowd touched Jesus’ cloak & was healed of her sickness. Jesus turned round to the woman & says: “Take heart, daughter,” your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Moments later, a messenger arrived with the news that Jairus’ daughter had died, & he was advised not to trouble Jesus any further. However, Jesus responded: Be not afraid, only believe. (Mark 5:36) Jesus continued to the house, where he informed all those present that the girl was not dead but asleep. He then went upstairs & restored the little girl to life. In Mark’s account, the Aramaic phrase “Talitha Koum” (transliterated into Greek as ταλιθα κουμ meaning, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) is attributed to Jesus
Deathday of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a Syrian Christian theologian & philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the set of works commonly referred to as the Corpus Areopagiticum or Corpus Dionysiacum, portraying himself as the Athenian convert of Paul of Tarsus mentioned in Acts 17:34 (Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus) This attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given great authority in subsequent theological writing in both East & West. His works are mystical & show strong Neoplatonic influence. For example he uses Plotinus’ well-known analogy of a sculptor cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image.
In a letter addressed to Polycarp, pseudo-Dionysius asks “What have you to say about the solar eclipse which occurred when the Savior was put on the Cross? At the time the two of us were in Heliopolis and we both witnessed the extraordinary phenomenon of the moon hiding the sun at the time that was out of season for their coming together…. We saw the moon begin to hide the sun from the east, travel across to the other side of the sun, and return on its path so that the hiding and the restoration of the light did not take place in the same direction but rather in diametrically opposite directions.…” This is illustrated in an astronomical fresco in the main gallery of the Escorial Library, near Madrid, Spain, which shows Dionysius the Areopagite observing an eclipse at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.
Luke, 23-45 (It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. 45The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle) We can notice a quadrant & an astrolabe in the hands of the amazed men!
287 AD – Deathday of Saint Candidus. The Golden Legend states that he was a commander of the Theban Legion, which was composed of Christians from Upper Egypt. He opposed Maximian, who had ordered them to harass the local Christians in his name, stating that “we are your soldiers, but we are also servants of the true God. We cannot renounce Him who is our Creator and Master, and also yours even though you reject Him.” Candidus, along with St. Maurice, the other staff officers & 6,600 soldiers, were martyred at the Swiss town of Saint Maurice-en-Valais
1226 – Deathday of Francis of Assisi, Italian friar & saint. Based on a study of the life of Francis of Assisi, Rudolf Steiner shows how the development of morality is based on the belief in the Divine at the bottom of every human soul, on the boundless love that springs from this belief, and on the hope for each human soul that it can find its way back to the Divine. Anthroposophical Ethics…St. Francis, Lecture III
1250 – Deathday of Gilbertus Anglicus. His major work, the Compendium Medicinae, written in Latin, running to seven books, is an attempt to provide a comprehensive encyclopedia of medical & surgical knowledge as it existed in his day. He quotes extensively from Roger of Palma, & acknowledges that his work is indebted to Greek physicians including Galen, Hippocrates & Theophilus Protospatharius, & Arab physicians such as Averroes & Avicenna.
1884 – Birthday of, Paul Foster Case, an American occultist, founder of Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), original member of Alpha et Omega, an organization that inherited the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Paul Foster Case played the organ in the Congregational Church, where his father was a deacon. In childhood, he started working to have lucid dreams. Rudyard Kipling, spurred his interest in their correspondence, confirming that such a phenomenon is possible, & can be developed.
Case became a member of the Order of Alpha et Omega, but he was distrustful of Enochian Magic. He explored certain practical ceremonial magic, with his sometime partner Moina Mathers.
Case was fascinated by the “New Thought” movement, he met William Walker Atkinson, & co-authored the modern literary mystification “The Kybalion”, as one of the anonymous “three wise men”.
from my library
Case studied various yoga’s & the karma of past lives, & was said to have worked with “the healer Dr. Fludd” who claimed that the Count Saint-Germain had sent him to be his teacher.
1942 – Spaceflight: The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. It is the first man-made object to reach space.
1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon to become the world’s third nuclear power.
1962 – Project Mercury: Sigma 7 is launched from Cape Canaveral, with astronaut Wally Schirra aboard, for a six-orbit, nine-hour flight.
1963 – A violent coup in Honduras pre-empts the October 13 election, ends a period of reform, & begins two decades of military rule.
1981 – The hunger strike by Provisional Irish Republican Army & Irish National Liberation Army prisoners at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after 7months & 10 deaths.
1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight. (Mission STS-51-J)
1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories, is officially opened
1990 – German reunification: The German Democratic Republic ceases to exist & its territory becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. East German citizens became part of the European Community, which later became the European Union. Now celebrated as German Unity Day
1995 – O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson & Ronald Goldman
2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is signed by President George W. Bush – commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, & supply cash directly to banks
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Ok so here’s something to chew on to clear the palate :
Being, Quantity, Quality, Relation, Space, Time, Position, Possession, Action, Suffering. ~Aristotle’s Katēgoriais or Praedicamenta.
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All Souls Festival:
The Connection Between Epidemics, the Souls of the Dead, & the Spiritual World – Leading thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.
With Group Eurythmy, Singing, Social Sculpture while reading the names of the dead & Break out Sessions.
In-person at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & 3 fold Cultural Hub, in conjunction with the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave.
2 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”- Regulus was a bit below Venus at dawn.
And at sunset, The counterpart to Venus – Mars & Bella Luna make a striking pair. Later in the night, watch as they slowly draw farther apart.
Happy Friday dear friends –
Friday is sacred to the goddess Venus & named after Freyja, Old Norse for “The Lady”. In Norse mythology, she is associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold. Freyja is a member of the Vanir, a group of gods associated with health, fertility, wisdom, & the ability to see the future. Many tales tell of her using ‘Seidr’, (pronounced “SAY-der”) = cord, string, web” – a form of pre-Christian Norse magic or shamanism concerned with discerning the course of fate & working within its structure to bring about change, which was done by weaving new events into being.
James Doyle Pemrose
Like Thor with his Hammer called Mjöllnir, Freyja wears the necklace Brísingamen, a brilliant golden torc created by the dwarves, the master craftsmen of the Norse cosmos. The first part of the name Brísingamen is “brísing” – a poetic term for fire or amber, gleaming like the sun – the dwarves that made the necklace were from the Brísinga tribe. The second part, “amen” means necklace of torc or metal.
Here is the story of how she came to possess Brísingamen:
Being a goddess of beauty, Freya naturally was very fond of glittering adornments, and, of precious jewels. One day, while wandering through Asgard, she came to the borders of Svartalfheim, the underground kingdom of the dwarves. There she was greeted by Dvalin and his three brothers. Little did she know, they had laid a trap for her – they had set up their forge in the opening of a deep, wide, rocky cave and were fashioning the most wonderful necklace of gold that was ever seen. “Do you like it?” said Dvalin, “this is Brisingamen, the Brising Necklace – it is the morning star, the rainbow, the moon and the fruitfulness of earth.”
Beside herself, with the beauty of what lay before her – for it sparkled like fire – she stopped, transfixed, to watch them at their work, until the necklace was finished there in her viewing.
“Will you sell me that necklace for a treasure of silver?” she asked, “for, indeed, I have never seen a fairer one, and I know I cannot live without it!”
“No!” answered the dwarves, “all the silver in the world would not buy from us the Brisingamen!” Stunned and desperate she cried, “Will you sell it to me for a treasure of gold?” “No!” barked the dwarves; “All the gold in the world could not buy it from us!”
Heartbroken, Freya pleaded “Well, is there any treasure in the world for which you would sell me that necklace, for now that I have seen Brisingamen, life without it is not to be endured!”
“Yes!” chimed all four dwarves, “there is a treasure for which we would sell Brisingamen – you can buy it from each of us – that treasure is your love. To each of us you must be wedded for a day and a night – for of such space is a marriage among the Dwarves of Svartalfheim – and then Brisingamen shall be yours.”
Kasia Krzysztofowicz
Silently and listening to a deep certainty never known to her before, feeling as if in a dream, she said, “Yes! For Brisingamen I will wed even with you!” So, the four dwarfish weddings were held in distant Svartalfheim.
Dani Kaulakis
Freyja, is often depicted in a cloak of falcon feathers, riding a chariot pulled by two cats, accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni. Freyja rules over her heavenly field, Fólkvangr, where she receives half of those who die in battle. The other half go to the god Odin’s hall, Valhalla. Within Fólkvangr lies her hall, Sessrúmnir. Freyja assists other deities by allowing them to use her feathered cloak, in matters of fertility & love.
Freyja is attested to in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; & in several Sagas of Icelanders; in the short story “Sörla þáttr”; in the poetry of skalds; & on into the modern age in Scandinavian folklore.
Freyja & the goddess Frigg ultimately stem from a single goddess common among the Germanic peoples; connecting her to the Valkyries, female battlefield choosers of the slain; & put her relation to other figures in Germanic mythology, including the thrice-burnt & thrice-reborn Gullveig/Heiðr, & the 1st century CE “Isis” of the Suebi. Freyja’s name appears in numerous place names in Scandinavia, with a high concentration in southern Sweden.
Various plants in Scandinavia once bore her name, but it was replaced with the name of the Virgin Mary during the process of Christianization. Cowslips (Primula veris) were traditionally associated with Freya, as was their domestic cousin Primrose (Primula vulgaris). Two old names for the Cowslip flower were “Lady’s Keys” or “Password”, as they could be used to travel magically to her hall, Sessrumnir, & get you in the door.
Dora Keltz
Rural Scandinavians continued to acknowledge Freyja as a supernatural figure into the 19th century, & Freyja inspires various works of art even today.
So dear friends, Perhaps now on Friday’s you may think on her & receive a blessing.
Mehregān (Persian: Mithra Festival) is a Zoroastrian & Persian festival, celebrated since the Zoroaster era, celebrating the Persian god Mithra (an earlier incarnation of Michael), & to honor the Yazata of “Mehr” which is responsible for friendship, affection & love. It is also widely referred to as Persian Festival of Autumn. Mehrgān was celebrated in an extravagant style at Persepolis. Not only was it the time for harvest, but it was also the time when the taxes were collected. Visitors from different parts of the Persian Empire brought gifts for the king all contributing to a lively festival.
If the gift-giver needed money at a later time, the court would then return twice the gift amount. Kings gave two audiences a year: one audience at Nowruz & another at Mehregān. During the Mehregān celebrations, the king wore a fur robe & gave away all his summer clothes.
Nowadays for this celebration, the participants wear new clothes & set a decorative, colorful table. The sides of the tablecloth are decorated with dry marjoram. A copy of the Khordeh Avesta (“little Avesta”), a mirror & a sormeh-dan (a traditional eyeliner or kohl) are placed on the table together with rosewater, sweets, flowers, vegetables & fruits, especially pomegranates & apples, & nuts such as almonds or pistachios. A few silver coins & lotus seeds are placed in a dish of water scented with marjoram extract.
A burner is also part of the table setting for kondor/loban (frankincense) & espand (seeds of Peganum harmala, Syrian rue) to be thrown on the flames.
At lunch time when the ceremony begins, everyone in the family stands in front of the mirror to pray. Sharbat is drunk & then—as a good omen—sormeh is applied around the eyes. Handfuls of wild marjoram, lotus & sugar plum seeds are thrown over one another’s heads while they embrace one another.
The International Day of Non-Violence
1869 – Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian activist & philosopher –referred to in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national festival celebrated in India to mark the occasion of the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the “Father of the Nation”. It is one of the three national holidays of the country
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, Catholics set up altars in honor of guardian angels as early as the 4th Century, & local celebrations of a feast in honor of guardian angels go back to the 11th Century
1552 – Conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, The Grand Prince of Moscow. His conquests transformed Russia into a multiethnic & multicontinental state spanning almost one billion acres. Ivan managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval state to an empire & emerging regional power, & became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All the Russias.
Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan’s complex personality: he was described as intelligent & devout, yet given to rages & prone to episodic outbreaks of mental instability, that increased with his age, affecting his reign. In one such outburst, he killed his groomed & chosen heir Ivan Ivanovich. This left the Tsardom to be passed to Ivan’s younger son, the weak & intellectually disabled Feodor Ivanovich.
Ivan’s legacy is complex: he was an able diplomat, a patron of arts & trade, founder of the Moscow Print Yard, Russia’s first publishing house, a leader highly popular among the common people (see Ivan the Terrible in Russian folklore) of Russia, but he is also remembered for his paranoia && arguably harsh treatment of the Russian nobility. The Massacre of Novgorod is regarded as one of the biggest demonstrations of his mental instability & brutality
1803 – Deathday of Samuel Adams, American philosopher & politician
1925 – John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system
1928 – The Opus Dei, is founded by Josemaría Escrivá.
1937 – Dominican Republic ‘strongman’ Rafael Trujillo orders the execution of the Haitian population living within the borderlands; approximately 20,000 are killed over the next five days
1947 – Deathday of P. D. Ouspensky, a Russian mathematician & esotericist known for his expositions of the early work of the Greek-Armenian teacher of esoteric doctrine George Gurdjieff, whom he met in Moscow in 1915. He shared the (Gurdjieff) “system” for 25 years in England & the United States, having separated from Gurdjieff in 1924 personally, for reasons he explains in the last chapter of his book In Search of the Miraculous, a recounting of what he learned from Gurdjieff during those years. After Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff, he taught the “Fourth Way”, as he understood it, to his independent groups.
Gurdjieff proposed that there are three ways of self-development generally known in esoteric circles. These are the Way of the Fakir, dealing exclusively with the physical body, the Way of the Monk, dealing with the emotions, & the Way of the Yogi, dealing with the mind. What is common about the three ways is that they demand complete seclusion from the world. According to Gurdjieff, there is a Fourth Way which does not demand its followers to abandon the world. The work of self-development takes place right in the midst of ordinary life. Gurdjieff called his system a school of the Fourth Way where a person learns to work in harmony with his physical body, emotions & mind. Ouspensky picked up this idea & continued his own school along this line.
He finally gave up the system in 1947. (“A Record of Meetings”, published posthumously) “you must make a new beginning” after confessing “I’ve left the system”
1968 – Deathday of Marcel Duchamp, French painter & sculptor
1990 – Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 is hijacked & lands at Guangzhou, where it crashes into two other airliners on the ground, killing 128
1996 – The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton
1996 – Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru, killing 70
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All Souls Festival:
The Connection Between Epidemics, the Souls of the Dead, & the Spiritual World – Leading thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.
With Group Eurythmy, Singing & Break out Sessions.
In-person at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & 3 fold Cultural Hub, in conjunction with the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave.
Ahura Mazdah spake to Zarathustra: “When I created Mithras, who possesses the cosmic intelligence, I created him to be as venerable, as praiseworthy as Myself: Ahura Mazda”.
Zarathustra looked into the brilliant light & declared: “Him, the powerful Yazata (= worthy of worship or veneration), the mighty Mithras towering above all creatures, I shall honor Him Who owns the wide fields of the intelligences, Who knows the right sayings, Who is silent, yet earnest, Who has a thousand ears, Who is fair, Who has ten thousand eyes, Who stands on a broad rampart, Who is mighty and sleepless and vigilant.
Mithras we look to: Him Who owns wide fields of eternity, the vigilant one, Whose dwelling is as wide as the universe. It is built within matter. It is spacious, exposed to no needs, radiant, and offering shelter all around. Eight helpers of Mithras are dwelling as his spies on all the mountains, on all the ramparts. …
Mithras, the owner of wide fields of light, drives around raising His arms for the sake of safety. He guides His fair chariot, able to withstand all dangers and encrested with golden ornaments, to the radiant House of Praise. The chariot is drawn by four white steeds which are immortal and enjoy the nourishment of the spirit. Their front hoofs are fashioned of gold, their hind ones of silver.”
Then are enumerated the hosts accompanying Mithras at the right and left as he descends. The story goes on: In the chariot of Mithras, who owns wide fields of universe, there are a thousand bows…Moving through the air they fly on the head of the Devas. In the chariot of Mithras, who owns wide fields of intelligences, there are a thousand arrows, golden-pointed, furnished with vulture feathers, set with barbs, beautifully fashioned…Moving through the air, they fly on the heads of the Devas. (The same is said of spears, axes, daggers, clubs, and clubs with a hundred studs.)
Sorely afraid is the evil-doing Anra Mainyav (=Ahriman) and all the other evil beings. Ahriman shivers in fear declaring: “Let us in no wise expose ourselves to the blows of Mithras, who owns wide fields of light, waxing and working earnest for our despair. Mayest thou not, O Mithras, wax furious and send blows against us, thou, who art the most valiant of the Yazata and ownest wide fields of light.”
– From the Avesta, the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism.
Zarathustra, Revealing the Sacred Names of Mithras in the fight against Ahriman: “Mayest thou bestow grace upon me, providence and destiny, when I am writing down these first transmitted Mysteries. I am writing them down for my child, Immortality, the Mystic worthy of this our might, which the great God Helios Mithras has given to me at the hands of his Archangel, so that I, an eagle, may enter Heaven and envisage all”. (Then it is said of Mithras:)
“O Lord, Who hast closed with the spirit-breath the fiery keys of Heaven, thou two-bodied One, reigning over the fire, the light’s creator and guardian, breathing light, invigorated by fire, spirit-radiant, fire-rejoicing, radiantly beauteous, light-dweller, flame-whirler, light-creating, fire-planting, fire-enraged, lightning-swept, light-glorified, light-expanded, light-supporting, star-conqueror: Reveal to me the names that have not been known to mortal nature; the names never pronounced by a human tongue in lucid language, never pronounced by a human sound, or a human voice. Reveal to me the eternally living and reverenced names of you O great servant of Ahura Mazda and of man. – From a Mithras Liturgy of the Avesta.
~adapted by hag
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Mary Gulfleisch
1 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Full Harvest Moon 5:05 pm cdt TODAY! You can watch our beloved satellite clear the horizon & rise in the east just moments after sunset & remain visible in the sky all night. It’s the first of two Full Moons this month — the second -a Blue Moon will occur on All Hallows Eve October 31.
Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation (26° from the Sun) at 11 am CDT Today. You can spot the solar system’s smallest planet this evening, in the southwest 30 minutes after sunset, By then, some of the brightest stars should be popping out of the twilight: Arcturus, Vega, Deneb, Altair, and Fomalhaut. Jupiter & Saturn should appear about the same time.
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George Mason
“History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of humanity”. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley
286 -Feast Day of Saint Piatus, a Belgian saint, native of Benevento, Italy, Tradition states that he was ordained by Dionysios the Areopagite. He was martyred under Maximianby having the top of his skull sliced off. He may be recognized in depictions holding the sliced portion of his skull. Some of his relics can be found at Chartres Cathedral
331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela
1811 – The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives in New Orleans
1814 – Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to redraw Europe’s political map after the defeat of Napoleon the previous spring
1847 – Birthday of Annie Besant a prominent British socialist, theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer, orator & supporter of Irish & Indian self-rule.
In 1890 Besant met Helena Blavatsky. She became a member of the Theosophical Society & a prominent lecturer. She established the first overseas Lodge of the International Order of Co-Freemasonry, Le Droit Humain. Over the next few years she established lodges in many parts of the British Empire. In 1907 she became president of the Theosophical Society, whose international headquarters were in Adyar, Madras. She also became involved in politics in India, joining the Indian National Congress. When World War I broke out in 1914, she helped launch the Home Rule Leagueto campaign for democracy in India. This led to her election as president of the India National Congress. In the late 1920s, Besant travelled to the United States with her protégé & adopted son Jiddu Krishnamurti, whom she claimed was the new Messiah & incarnation of Buddha. Krishnamurti rejected these claims in 1929.
She is thought to be the reincarnation of Giordano Bruno…?
1880 – First electric lamp factory is opened by Thomas Edison
1890 – Yosemite National Park is established by the U.S. Congress
1908 – Ford puts the Model T car on the market at a price of US$825.
1910 – Los Angeles Times bombing: by union members belonging to the International Association of Bridge & Structural Iron Workers. The explosion started a fire which killed 21 newspaper employees & injured 100 more.
1918 – Arab forces under T. E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia”, capture Damascus
1924 – Birthday of Jimmy Carter, American lieutenant & politician, 39th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
1928 – General Secretary Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union introduces its First five-year plan, including the creation of “kolkhoz” collective farming systems that stretched over thousands of acres of land & had hundreds of peasants working on them. This essentially destroyed the kulaks as a class, & also brought about the slaughter of millions of farm animals that these peasants would rather kill than give up to the gigantic farms. To meet the goals of the first five-year plan the Soviet Union began using the labor of its growing prisoner population. This disruption led to a famine in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan as well as areas of the Northern Caucasus.
1957 – First appearance of In God we trust on U.S. paper currency
1961 – The United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is formed, becoming the country’s first centralized military espionage organization
1964 – Japanese Shinkansen (“bullet trains“) begin high-speed rail service from Tokyo to Osaka
1985 – The Israeli Air Force bombs Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headquarters in Tunis
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My POD (Poem Of The Day)
~I looked in & saw the dragon writhing In rags of mortality Spitting the cold fire of fear Binding & Hardening… & yet my blood was hot Pulsing with scintillating sparks Forged From the sword of the Archai… Now my tongue flicks flames Licking the fingers of gods Knowing I am Free ~hag
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All Souls Festival:
The Connection Between Epidemics, the Souls of the Dead, & the Spiritual World – Leading thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.
With Group Eurythmy, Singing & Break out Sessions.
In-person at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & 3 fold Cultural Hub, in conjunction with the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave.
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