“… These Holy Nights stand as though established out of the wise, hidden depths of the human soul, as if to say: Experience the Christ Festival in all its profundity; but then plunge during the Holy Nights into the Holiest Mysteries of the Cosmos; – and this means into the universal land whence Christ descended to the earth” ~Rudolf Steiner, 21 December 1911
4th Holy Night: Feast of St. John the Evangelist, Constellation of Sagittarius, Centaur/Archer (ruling the hips & thighs) The Sphere of the Archai, Principalities, Spirits of Personality. Virtue: Control of speech and thinking becomes a feeling for the truth.
Here is a shorter version on the “I Think Speech’ Podcast
The Greek word Archai literally means ‘Beginnings’. Rudolf Steiner gives as the German equivalent Urbeginne: Ur-beginnings, First Beginnings, Primal Beginnings. They are the Beings who attained their human stage at the beginning of our evolutionary cycle, on Old Saturn. In Dr. Steiner’s well-known lectures on the Apocalypse of St. John, they are described as the eldest of the ‘Elders’.
The Archai rule the region Sagittarius, the Archer or Centaur; representing the imagination of the two opposite poles in the human being – the human & the animal, the higher & the lower Self. In a child the forces of the horizontal, the crawling stage, are overcome by the walking stage & signify a victory of the human nature over the animal nature. The Archai, are the ones who inspire uprightness in the human being because they were undergoing their human stage when the foundations of the physical body of human beings were laid down at the beginning of the creation of our cosmos – on old Saturn.
The Archai were then connected with the forces of thinking, in relation to the physical body on Old Sun. One could say their task now, is to bestow on humanity the forces necessary for “I” consciousness to arise thru thought, which is signified by the arrow inside the bow.
The higher “I” enters the ‘person’ & is individualized to become what we call the ‘personality’. That is why the Archai are sometimes called the ‘Spirits of Personality’.
So on this Fourth Holy Night, when we look up to the heavens to the region of Archer, may we see cosmically the connection between the Archai, & our uprightness, knowing that with our physical being (that which is the most perfect & the oldest) we may be the highest being on earth, but we are also in the process of becoming the lowest being of the hierarchies – which is in some ways the most important being in creation, for we are the only ones that have ‘Free Will‘. We can choose to not be bound to the physical body, we are free to find our way to the Spirit by our own efforts!
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27 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars:” The Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaks the morning of January 3, will begin ramping up today. But since Bella Luna is almost full in the sky between now and the shower’s peak it will be hard to see; however, given its expected maximum rate of 120 meteors per hour, patient observers still stand a good chance of catching bright shower meteors as the peak approaches. This is particularly true as the Quadrantids often produce bright fireballs.
The shower’s radiant lies in the extinct constellation — Quadrans Muralis. Today, that sits in the constellation Boötes, home to the familiar bright star Arcturus. The region rises after midnight & stands highest in the eastern sky before dawn, so early mornings for the next several days will be the best time to hunt down shower meteors.
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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feast Day of St John the Evangelist/ Apocalypst. Rudolf Steiner speaks of an earlier incarnation as Hiram Abiff (GA 93, 264,265) & a future life as Christian Rosencrantz…
The Gospel of St. John ~Rudolf Steiner -From the intro: here lays the foundation for a new Christology out of Steiner’s insights into the Gospel of St. John. He says it is not a book of instruction, but a force that can become active within our souls. As Marie Steiner says in her introduction, “With this book we penetrate into the innermost structure of Rudolf Steiner’s activities. For all his endeavors had this one goal — to pave for the world the way to Christ.”
5th Century – Feast day of Saint Nicarete a woman of Nicomedia who became a saint as a disciple of St. John Chrysostom. She left her home specifically to study theology & practice devotion & care for the poor in Constantinople. She became a follower of John Chrysostom & worked as a physician as well as a healer for the poor. She cured John Chrysostom of a stomach ailment. Later, when Chrysostom was sent into exile from Constantinople, she went with him
537 – The Hagia Sophia is completed
1521 – The Zwickau prophets arrive in Wittenberg disturbing the peace & preaching the Apocalypse. Philip Melanchthon cannot silence them. Martin Luther is being held in protective custody at the Wartburg castle at this time. He is later released & is able, by his preaching, to regain the peace
1571 – Birthday of Johannes Kepler, German mathematician, astronomer, & astrologer. “Johannes Kepler was as much a natural scientist of an earlier time as of a later one. He drew his thoughts from external observation, but in his inner experience he had an absolute feeling that spiritual Beings are there when man is receiving his thoughts from Nature. Kepler felt himself to be partly an Initiate, and for him it was a matter of course that he experienced his abstract building up of the universe artistically.It is extraordinarily valuable, from a scientific point of view, to immerse oneself in the progress human thought has made through such a man as Kepler. But one is more deeply stirred when one steeps oneself in Kepler’s life of soul, in that soul-life which in later times did not work with such intensity and inwardness in any other natural scientist, certainly not in any authoritative teacher of mankind at large. For between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries the feeling was entirely lost that through thought the human soul is brought into connection with the divine-spiritual.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Younger Generation: Lecture VIII, 1922 see also Christ and the Spiritual World: The Search for the Holy Grail, 1914
1822 – Birthday of Louis Pasteur, French chemist & microbiologist
1948 – Deathday of Marie Steiner von Sivers – wife of Rudolf Steiner & one of his closest colleagues. She made a great contribution to the development of anthroposophy, particularly in her work on the renewal of the performing arts – speech & drama, & the new art of eurythmy. She was also chief editor & publisher of Rudolf Steiner’s literary estate.
Marie von Sivers was born to an aristocratic family in Włocławek, Poland, then part of Imperial Russia. She was well-educated & was fluent in Russian, German, English, French & Italian. She studied theater & recitation with several teachers in Europe.
Marie von Sivers “appeared one day” at one of Rudolf Steiner’s early lectures in 1900. In the autumn of 1901, she posed the question to Steiner, “Would it be possible to create a spiritual movement based on European tradition and the impetus of Christ?” Rudolf Steiner later reported: With this, I was given the opportunity to act in a way that I had only previously imagined. The question had been put to me, and now, according to spiritual laws, I could begin to answer it.
Marie von Sivers collaborated with Steiner for the rest of his life & carried his work beyond his death in 1925 until her own death in 1948. She accompanied him & helped him as secretary, translator, editor, & organizer of his lecture tours & other public activities. She assisted Steiner’s work with her own resources & in 1908 founded the Philosophical-Theosophical Press (later Philosophical-Anthroposophical) to publish Steiner’s work.
Starting in 1912, Rudolf Steiner developed the art of eurythmy. With Marie’s guidance, it developed in three directions: as a stage art, as an integral part of Waldorf pedagogy, &as a therapeutic method. Under her tutelage, two schools of eurythmy were founded, in Berlin & in Dornach, Switzerland.
Marie von Sivers, made a study of purely artistic speaking. She gave introductory poetry recitals at Steiner’s lectures & assisted him in the development of the four Mystery Dramas (1910-1913). With her help, Steiner conducted several speech & drama courses with the aim of raising these forms to the level of true art.
On 24 December 1914, von Sivers married Rudolf Steiner. Beginning in 1914, Steiner drew up a succession of wills naming Marie Steiner-von Sivers as heir to his entire work & property & his successor in the leadership of the anthroposophical movement.
In GA 12, 27, 126 1910 Rudolf Steiner speaks of her earlier incarnations as Hypatia & Abertus Magnus
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December 24- January 5 (No Meeting December 31)
OVER 1000 PEOPLE REGISTERED!
Daily Schedule:
11:00-11:10am CST – Welcome and silent contemplation with the new zodiac image and virtue
11:10-11:20 am CST – Divine Feminine Sharing
11:20-11:30 am CST – Group Sharing and Closing
** Recordings Posted Daily **
December 24 First Holy Night Presenter: Angela Foster
December 25 Second Holy Night Presenter: Laura Scappaticci
December 26 Third Holy Night Presenter: Joyce Reilly
SUNDAY December 27 Fourth Holy Night Presenter: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
December 28 Fifth Holy Night Presenter: Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose
Tuesday December 29 Sixth Holy Night Presenter: Ultra-Violet Archer
December 30 Seventh Holy Night Presenter: Deb Abrahams-Dematte
~ ~ December 31 – Pause ~ ~
January 1 Eighth Holy Night Presenter: Lelan Harris
January 2 Ninth Holy Night Presenter: Michele Mariscal
January 3 Tenth Holy Night Presenter: Claudia Knudson
January 4 Eleventh Holy Night Presenter: Jolie Luba
January 5 Twelfth Holy Night Presenter: Timothy Kennedy
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The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Our Annual Holy Nights
December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021
*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates.
The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together
on Zoom from 7 pm – 8 pm CST
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92592034861?pwd=Mmo0eURaWDVqYVlabTdSY1ltcUFxdz09
Meeting ID: 925 9203 4861 – Passcode: Peace
On Tuesday, December 29th, 6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,
we will join The ARC in Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily
This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09 Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe
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New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call
Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 6 pm-10:10 pm CT
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago
6 pm CST – Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar
8 pm– 9:30 pm CST – Live Music with Jutta and the Hi-Dukes
10:10 pm CST – Project Thought-Seed
The evening ends at 10:30 pm
$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
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Nancy Poer
Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
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 Lucien Dante Lazar,
+ An Artistic exploration, Singing & Eurythmy
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
Blessings of the Season
~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Festivals & Events Coordinator
for the Rudolf Steiner Branch
of The Anthroposophical Society