This year there is an eeriness behind the strings of lights wrapped around town by masked men – Forced cheer behind the red bows & Santa hats. Although I have to say it was sweet that the ‘Black Friday’ madness was halted in its grasping tracks.
We were all still in a state of shock when Easter came & went. Now it seems folks will do anything to acquire a semblance of moving forward. But in addition to these lights, the stark admonition of Advent is tapping us. And the Earth’s edging reflections slowly approached the waxing moon, in her fullness, in an attempt to swallow her up in darkness. Did you have any interesting dreams this morning? Starting at 1:32 am CST till 5:53 am this morning, while you were probably still asleep, the Bull’s eye took a big bite of Bella Luna. Steiner calls eclipses safety-valves, “In Human Questions, Cosmic Answers”, he says: ‘the lunar eclipse, exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. People do not, as a rule, act in full consciousness, but the facts are nevertheless real — just as real as the attraction of a magnet for small particles of iron.’
Use the Moon to find the bright orange star Aldebaran: the fiery eye of the Taurus– the brightest star in the constellation. Aldebaran was honored as one of the Four Royal Stars in ancient Persia along with Regulus, Antares, & Fomalhaut. The name of the star derives from the Arabic word for “the follower” as it seems to follow the Pleiades, an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus.
We are going to have a Solar eclipse before the end of 2020. Today on 30 November a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse took place at in Taurus.
The second eclipse is going to be way more important, since it’s going to be a Total Solar Eclipse occurring on 14 December in Libra.
A Full Moon always counter balances the forces coming from the Sun. As we know, a lunar eclipse happens during a Full Moon, because the Sun, Earth & Moon are aligned in this order, with the Earth getting in the way, casting a shadow.
From a Hermetic perspective, a New Moon (solar eclipse) relates to Willing & a Full Moon (lunar eclipse) to Thinking. Since a New Moon is the beginning of a fresh cycle, it always starts with an act of will. Only at the end of a cycle can we stop & examine what we have done. That moment of clarity & awareness, which we can grasp thru our thinking, comes with the Full Moon.
Novel intuitions are now erupting from my unworthy but willing heart, awakening me from any trance I’ve been ensnared in, so that I may defy all obstructions that would hinder my ability to express my soul’s code. Unique capacities are being liberated, potentials activated.
For I know – There is a demand for r-evolution, a rally cry, that summons us to rise – to reach – for the stars – to research – the God within, to find the eternal spirit in each other, to live a real life, bringing the light of wisdom to make love come true, & it can only be found in you – eternally residing inside our shared heart-beat, which holds us in common with the wholeness of the Uni-verse, from Alpha to Omega, from the seed to the stars.
~hag
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feast of Saint Andrew born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. “The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family. He was a fisherman like his brother St. Peter. Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that he will make them “fishers of men.” Andrew told Jesus about the boy with the loaves and fishes (John 6:8), & when Philip wanted to tell Jesus about certain Greeks seeking Him, he told Andrew first (John 12:20–22). Andrew was present at the Last Supper, & was one of the four disciples who came to Jesus on the Mount of Olives to ask about the signs of Jesus’ return at the “end of the age”. (Mark 13:30) Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion. In the Western Esoteric tradition, Andrew is associated with the astrological sign of Virgo.
1961 – Deathday of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer a German scientist, soil scientist, leading advocate of biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophist & student of Rudolf Steiner.
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer began work with Rudolf Steiner in 1920 to develop & install special diffuse stage lighting for eurythmy performances on the stage of the first Goetheanum.
After Steiner’s death in 1925, Pfeiffer worked in the private research laboratory at the Goetheanum in Dornach. He became manager & director of the 800-acre experimental biodynamic Loverendale farm in Domburg in the Netherlands. This farm was set up to carry out some of the agricultural studies of the Goetheanum laboratory. The work of testing & developing Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course of 1924 was an international enterprise coordinated by Pfeiffer at the Natural Science Section of the Goetheanum.
Pfeiffer’s most influential book ‘Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening’ was published in 1938 simultaneously in at least five languages, English, German, Dutch, French, & Italian.
The following year, just months before the outbreak of World War II, Pfeiffer ran Britain’s first biodynamics conference, the Betteshanger Summer School & Conference, at the estate of Lord Northbourne in Kent. Pfeiffer’s Betteshanger Conference is regarded as the ‘missing link’ between biodynamic agriculture & organic farming.
Pfeiffer first visited the U.S. in 1933 to lecture to a group of anthroposophists at the Threefold Farm in Spring Valley, New York on biodynamic farming. His consulting was essential to the development of biodynamic agriculture in the U.S.
Pfeiffer developed an analytical method using copper chloride crystallization & used this technique as a blood test for detecting cancer. As a result, Pfeiffer was invited to the U.S. in 1937 to work at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. While in the U.S., he continued to consult with those interested in biodynamic farming & helped to form the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association in 1938.
In 1940 he immigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland with his wife Adelheid, escaping the advance of German troops into France. They brought with them their son Christoph & daughter Wiltraud.
With the advent of World War II in Europe, Pfeiffer took his family to Kimberton, Pennsylvania, where Alaric Myrin offered Pfeiffer the opportunity to create a model biodynamic farm & training program.
Starting in the late 1930s he taught biodynamic farming & gardening at the Kimberton Farm School. One of his students, Paul Keene, who worked & studied with Pfeiffer there for two years & shortly thereafter co-founded Walnut Acres, recalls: “… he helped bring all of life together for us in a definite coherent pattern”.
Aiming to continue his work training biodynamic farmers, Pfeiffer bought a farm in Chester, New York, where a small colony arose focused on farming, education, & the administration of the Biodynamic Association.
His copper chloride sensitive crystallization theory brought him an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Hahnemann Medical College & Hospital in Philadelphia in 1939. He studied chemistry & became a professor of nutrition in 1956. Pfeiffer wrote on the dangers of pesticides & DDT a& Rachel Carson consulted with him when she was writing Silent Spring.
In 1961, at his home in Spring Valley, N.Y., he suffered from a series of heart attacks, lingering for several days, but ultimately was not given the proper medical care & died. His wife subsequently took over the operation of their farm in Chester, New York.
Pfeiffer was a pioneer of biodynamic agriculture in Europe, Britain, & America. He is most widely known for his innovative work in composting. He conducted extensive research on the preparation & use of biodynamic compost & was the inventor of BD Compost Starter, a compost inoculant. For many years Pfeiffer served as a compost consultant to municipal compost facilities.
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POD (Poem Of the day)
~you & i are
pure as dream
lasting as music
opulent as the Goddess…
We are
given the gift
of becoming…
~hag
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Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
The Karma Project with the Central Regional Council“…We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of karmic consciousness…”
~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 6, “Karma in Relation to Accidents”,
link: https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100521p01.html
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82715186258
Meeting ID: 827 1518 6258
For more info. contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
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Thursday’s Dec. 3/10/17 for Advent 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm CT
Johannine Painting Circle with Nancy Melvin
At Elderberries Urban 1st Aid – Art as Medicine 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
Urban First Aid – Art As Medicine is initiating a Johannine Painting Circle that will begin on Thursday, December 3rd at the Elderberries space on Lincoln Avenue, next to the Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago. Nancy Melvin will be our instructor during the season of Advent.
Calling all wistful painters who long to explore but are afraid for lack of skill.
We will work very simply. Not painting an image, rather an exercise in perception, a meditation using simple brush work to develop a keen eye for relationships, worked in silence with the finest of watercolor paints and papers.
Immersing ourselves in the flow of the year, we open ourselves to the Advent season. The richest botanical colors of the year have flared and now passed. Bold yellows and sharp puce, flaming reds, dark burgundies and deep blue greens dominated our vision just last week. Let us come together to find color on our paint brushes and immerse ourselves in the elementary color exercises given to First Graders at a Waldorf School.
Angela Lord’s book, Color Dynamics is a practical workbook that you can purchase from Hawthorn Press to augment our sessions if you’d like. After attending the first session to learn the set up, practice and clean up, you can miss our group and still do the work at home with your own materials and join us when you can. Socially distant tables with paints and paper provided.
There are no paywalls. You are invited to make a contribution that will help the cost of supplies and initiative. A sliding scale from $0 to $15. If you’d like to gift a higher amount this will support others who are unable to contribute financially.~Nancy Melvin
Nancy Melvin is a watercolor, lazure, natural dye and textile artist who is married to a trompe l’oeil muralist who also specializes in signage, oils, gold leaf and woodblocks. They run Melvin Studio together and raised two Waldorf students. Nancy taught at Chicago Waldorf and Great Oaks Waldorf School before founding MADE HERE, her clothing line currently at Union Handmade, 3860 N. Lincoln Ave and Buddy in the Chicago Cultural Center.
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Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=ai94YmhnS1k3cWN3TFFlL3ozTDgxdz09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Peace
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
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Wednesday 23 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83533262486
for more info. contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
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24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021, 11 am – 11:30 am CT
ASA Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…”
International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine.
Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group.
27 December – Leading Thoughts by ~hag
29 December – with Ultra-Violet Archer calling in on the Full Moon from Sweden
For more info. contact Tess Parker tess@anthroposophy.org
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Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 8 pm-1 am CT
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago
This Year’s Theme is a Masked Ball – Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA
$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/
Stay tuned for details. For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
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Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CT
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar, + Singing & Eurythmy
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
