Monthly Archives: December 2020

Co-Workers Unite

Você sabe o que é uma egrégora?
Dante Sagredo

10:10 Testament: After tuning into the 10:10 How To many folks shared how they approach co-creating the egregore. Quite a few like to make a sacred space 1st. Some by acknowledging the elemental forces; others thru calming their breath, making a circle of protection, or by lighting a candle.

Some of us are visualizing working directly with the the Spiritual Beings of the season. Most everyone reports picturing all of us shining together to make the earth glow with our positive intentions & common light.

O QUE É UMA EGRÉGORA? | Espaço de Suzana
Rebecca Buerendale

It’s true, the human being is meant to become a co-worker with spiritual beings -a participator in Divine spiritual activity.

When we strive to know our inner life, we see its reflection outside in the world of the stars, the clouds, the kingdoms of nature, with all that spiritually belongs to the physical world. And within us, there is our world of the soul. We must now see that these 2 worlds belong to one another, & that only thru their mutual interreacting with each other, does evolution proceed.

Oil Painting - As Above, So Below
Harriett Forman Barrett

Outside in space, the infinite world is unfolding. Within, is our soul-world must also be reveled to our consciousness. We do not always notice that what lives within us shoots forth & blends with what is outside in the world at large, we are not always aware that we are the stage on which this union is carried out. What is within us forms the one side, & what is outside in the universe — is the other side; these 2 must unite in order that the evolution of the world may proceed harmoniously.

Steiner reminds us that, our meaning, the meaning of life, consists in this — that we must take part in this co-creation consciously. The ordinary intellect knows little of these things. But the more we progress & participate in spiritual knowledge, the more we become conscious that in us lives the point where the 2 sides of the world exchange their opposite forces, & unite, so that evolution may advance.

Temperance Tarot Card Meanings | Biddy Tarot

Thru the teaching of the spiritual world we learn that in us is the stage where the adjustment of forces takes place. We feel how within us, like a focal point, the Divine world of spirit dwells, how it unites with the world outside, & how these 2 mutually fructify one another.

As Above so below Painting by Kim Rahal
Willow Hunkley

When we feel ourselves to be the scene where all this takes place, & know that we take part in it, we find our right place in life, grasp the whole meaning of life, & realize that what at first is unconscious in us, will become more & more conscious thru our progress in Anthroposophy.

40+ Tarot 1 The Magician ideas in 2020 | the magicians, tarot, the magician  tarot

All ‘magic’ is based on this. What is Magic? It can be defined as: the Science & Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.

Of course, it is necessary that we strive to be morally mature, so that what is not purified within us shouldn’t get indiscriminately mixed up with what is in the world without care of consequences & the right soul mood of service. Then we can participate in a selfless way with Divine spiritual activity. This is the right hand path of magic. This is where freedom enters. With this we become independent beings.

ACEO PRINT OF PAINTING RYTA CROW RAVEN FANTASY GOTHIC ART SURREALISM WORLD  STAGE | eBay

We have to regard the whole universe not only as a stage, but as a field for co-operation. Now we start to see how we can think about the meaning of life. Meaning enters into our life. We become co-actors in the world process.

As Above So is Below Painting by Andrew McDonnell
Andrew McDonnell

The world is divided into two opposing camps & we are placed in the middle, in order to bring them together. How long will it take to become united? – When we have actually reached the point at which the Divine consciousness has been recapitulated in our own consciousness.

Seeds UnderGroundLoveSeries Painting by Manami Lingerfelt
Manani Lingerfelt

So after we begin to grasp the idea of the immeasurable responsibility we have, then we can start to know that thru our striving we are pollinating seeds, that spring up for the spiritual worlds, kernels that would not be able to develop without the human being.

Does the Divine consciousness need this for its own perfection, for its own development? Perhaps not. But the Divine consciousness is not selfish. It wishes that an infinite number of beings may have the same divine content as it has.

As Above, So Below | Tania Marie
Tiana Marie

As humanity evolves further, the outer world will have become our inner world.

To unite Divinity with what is external, to make inward what is external — these are the 2 directions in which humanity makes progress in evolution. We will resemble Divinity more & more, & will at last become more & more inwardly enriched. In the Vulcan stage of evolution everything will have been fructified. Everything external will have become internal. To become inwardly enriched — is to become Divine. That is the aim & the meaning of life.

As above so below tree art canvas flip painting
Adelaide Parker Brown

Dear friends, This is an affirmation of our work with the 10:10 Thought-Seed, that we are called to be co-workers with the Spiritual world to unfold our highest destiny. These thoughts were confirmed & inspired by the following lecture from Rudolf Steiner:

Art in Monte Rio - drawing - "As Above, So Below"
Monte Rio

“We can now estimate what it means when, directing our gaze into vastness of space we say: It is Divinity that fills it, and Divinity is that which must be united with the Earth-seed. “In me is the meaning of life!” — man may exclaim. The gods have set before them certain aims; but they have also chosen the stage on which these aims are to be carried out. The souls of men are the stage. Therefore, if the human soul looks but deeply enough into itself, and does not only try to solve problems in the vastness of space, it finds within itself the stage where gods are accomplishing their deeds — and man himself is taking part in them. That is what I tried to express in the words which can be found in my Mystery Play, The Soul’s Probation how in man’s inner being the gods work, how the meaning of the world finds expression in the soul of man and how the meaning of the world will live on in the soul of man. What is the meaning of life? It is, that this meaning lives in man himself. This I tried to express in the words which the soul addresses to itself:

Within thy thinking cosmic thought doth live,
Within thy feeling cosmic forces play,
Within thy will do cosmic beings work;
Abandon thou thyself to cosmic thought,
Experience thyself through cosmic force,
Create thyself anew from cosmic will.
End not at last in cosmic distances,
By fantasies of dreamy thought beguiled.
Do thou begin in farthest spirit-realms
And end in the recesses of thy soul.
The plan Divine then shalt thou recognise
When thou hast realised thy Self in thee.

That, my dear anthroposophical friends, is the meaning of life, as man must understand it at present…It is of the essence of real love that it is also an equilibrium of polarities. At the point where anthroposophical thoughts find entrance to a soul, the other pole is stimulated and agreement found. It is this that can work like an anthroposophical “Music of the Spheres.” When we work thus in harmony with the spiritual world, when we really are living anthroposophical life, we also live united in this life…

As Above So Below • Zero Point - Nina Kathrin ۵ Intuitive Art - Drawings &  Illustration, Fantasy & Mythology, Mythology, Other Mythology - ArtPal
Nina Kathrine

Such spiritual subjects are an expression of the Spirit of Love and are consecrated to the Spirit of Love amongst true anthroposophists. This love, through the touchstone we possess, will be instrumental in the exchange of our spiritual content; it will be something through which we not only receive, but through which we are also stimulated more and more to anthroposophical efforts. In this way Anthroposophy will become a means of spreading a love that touches the inmost depths of the human soul. Such love lives on. For as members of the Anthroposophical Movement, we have something that causes the love of those who are separated in space to endure until Karma again unites us on the physical plane. So we remain united and find the true cause for remaining so in the fact that with all the best in our souls, with the best of our spiritual powers, we have together risen to Divine spiritual heights. In this way, we also desire, my dear friends, to continue to be united with one another. ~ Rudolf Steiner, On the Meaning of Life, LECTURE 2 ‘Human Participation in Evolution’ 24th May, 1912

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Pin by RanishaArt // Floral & Landsca on Landscape oil paintings | Starry  night van gogh, Van gogh art, Paintings famous

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

Lucien Dante Lazar will open & close the program with some live piano music

And Mary Ruud will lead us in some Group Eurythmy to cap the evening

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=ai94YmhnS1k3cWN3TFFlL3ozTDgxdz09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Peace

http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

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The Great Conjunction: Jupiter and Saturn Align in Aquarius December 2020 -  Forever Conscious

Monday 21 December Winter Solstice Grand Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn,

Biodynamic Prep-Stir 5 pm – 6:30 pm CST

at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub 4252 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago

Christmas Star:” Saturn-Jupiter Great Conjunction 2020

All are welcome to bring festive food & drink to share

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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.Two Turning Points in Time – The Mystery of Wisdom, and The Mystery of Will

In 1923/24, during the Christmas ConferenceRudolf Steiner presented humanity with the Foundation Stone Meditation: an amazingly rich imagination, planted in our hearts and shining brightly like a guiding star.  Steiner also gave us many other gifts during that time which we will ponder in our hearts.

Leading thoughts, verses, songs and imaginations will be woven together in this artistic offering before the Holy Nights.

Special guestLucien Dante Lazar will provide a sprinkle of musical interludes throughout our event.

We will be joined by our old friend Dennis Dietzel in this performance.

We will go into small breakout groups to explore the theme: “How does the Foundation Stone Meditation speak to you?”

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If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
May this Advent Season permeate our hearts with Love and Joy – The CRC – Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton

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A Rose By Any Other Name: ASA Online Holy Nights 2020/2021

“The light of Christmas should shine as a light of peace, a light that brings peace outside only because first of all it sheds an inner peace into the hearts of human beings.” 
-Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis, Divine Sophia, December 24, 1920

We are approaching a new season where we enkindle an inner light that shines into the darkness of winter. Where meaning for the year ahead can be cultivated, and reflection on the year past can bring new insights. 

Last year many of you joined us each night to bring beauty and connection into the holiday season.  This year you are invited to join us again for a time of contemplation and community during the  ASA Online Holy Nights. 

Each 30 minute gathering will open with a meditative time with the new zodiac image and the virtue of the day, plus an artistic/writing prompt. Then a short offering will be shared about this special time of year as related to the Divine Feminine.   

What: ASA Online Holy Nights Seed: A Rose By Any Other Name hosted by the ASA Sophia Group and friends around the country. 

When: 9-9:30am Pacific / 11 am – 11:30 am Central / 12-12:30pm Eastern on December 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and January 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Note: No meeting on December 31). Can’t join us live? No problem. Each gathering will be recorded and posted on our Holy Nights page.

HowRegister Here. Then check your email for a confirmation with the Zoom registration link. 

Cost: Your donations help us create events like this one! This event is free with suggested donations of $25, $50, $100/ /

Schedule of Presenters

12/24 Angela Foster

12/25 Laura Scappaticci 

12/26 Joyce Reilly 

Sunday 12/27 Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

12/28 Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose 

Tuesday 12/29 Ultra-Violet Archer

12/30 Deb Abrahams-Dematte 

12/31 No Meeting

1/1 Lelan Harris 

1/2 Tess Parker 

1/3 Claudia Knudson

1/4 Jolie Luba 

1/5 Timothy Kennedy 

Special Recording Notes: This gathering will be recorded each day and include all content and live attendees in the video.

Click here for an online bulletin board where you can find and post other Holy Nights events, gatherings and activities.

Register Here Today!

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The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to 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 Gospelby 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 Anthroposophy 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

Masked ball Painting by Marcel Garbi | Saatchi Art

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 Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar

7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes 

10:10 pm 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 CT

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 Luicen Dante Lazar,

+ An Artistic exploration, Singing & Eurythmy

http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

Waking in the heart of the other

COVID-19 in California Dec. 2019? Common Sense vs Greed; art by Bea Garth –  Eos: The Creative Context
“That Moment,” by Bea Garth, copyright 2019

Dear friends, I thought to share a consideration of this picture of what I am calling ‘Initiation thru the other.

Willem Zeylmans van Emmichoven Nachlass – Ita Wegman Institut

Willem Zeylmans van Emmichoven speaks of this in his work ‘The Foundation Stone: Philosophers Stone to the Stone of Love.

Grail Graphics | Pamela Matthews | Visionary Art
Maha Chohan

To start, I feel it is important to consider that Rudolf Steiner consciously brought down the being Anthroposophia, starting around 1913. I imagine it had its genesis with the meeting of his soul mate Ita Wegman; so really the stage was set 10 years earlier when they first met in that lifetime. If we consider that they met in 1902,  just as he was beginning to be able to speak to the Mysteries, we can see a 3 x 7 year period of Anthroposophia in their midst.

Dodecahedron Art | Fine Art America
Kendell Ryan

An understanding of the ancient tradition connected to ‘The Sophia’ is that the soul mate mediates the ‘substance’, the dew, of understanding that is needed for a turning point to take place. We see this with Abraham; with Moses, & in later traditions with Novalis & Sophia among others.

Willem Zeylmans van Emmichoven speaks of Rudolf Steiner as having ‘brought down’ the Foundation Stone that would be implanted into the hearts of the members in this way: “It has already been mentioned that the Foundation Stone was guided down from spiritual heights by Rudolf Steiner, and received into the souls of all those present…” To begin to understand the qualities of this 3×7 year transformation from the Philosophers Stone, to a Stone of Love, we have to look at the laying of this Foundation Stone in September of 1913: ““The Stone of our soul has been laid into the earth; may it be a token of striving for knowledge, for love, for strong action, a symbol of humankind…This symbol of the human soul shall become a token of the human soul. With the first strokes made upon this our True Building I consecrate you to be a token of the human soul…The Stone has now been transformed from symbol to token. And now let us entrust it to the kingdom of the condensed elements, the earth, into which our soul was lowered so that it might develop through human evolution that which was to be its earth mission. The Stone is no longer a token; it is sheathed when we entrust it to the earth. Thrice the human soul rises up to the three secrets of existence: First they are symbols; then they are tokens when the soul reads the eternal world word; but the profoundest depths of the world secrets are vividly bound to the soul when this soul is able to create its own sheath out of the kingdom of the hierarchies. So be sheathed!” ~Rudolf Steiner, as part of the ceremony.

Angel of Unconditional Love by Pamela Matthews | Visionary art, Angel art,  Fantasy paintings
Pamela Matthews

Something magical happens for the Earth itself; which also corresponds to what we find 21 years later in 1923, when instead of ‘in the earth’ we find this Stone, this new stone, this Stone of Love, now being implanted as an Imagination into the hearts of the members.

Christos Sophia - FIFTY8
TJ Hikaru

In order for us to receive this Stone of Love, in our time now, we can prepare ourselves over the course of the Holy Nights, just as the original Christmas conference was a preparation, so that our hearts can work in ‘harmonious collaboration’, & that our ‘goodwill’ can be ‘imbued with love’ – This is the ‘substance’ – the soil of what must become in future times individually & collectively – ‘The New Earth’. What takes place at the Christmas Conference is a laying into the ‘Heart’ of humanity the ‘Word’ -The truth of the future, which must become, now – 1st in our hearts.

The suffering of the burning of the beloved Goetheanum was the prerequisite brought to us in order to awaken to the next level. This suffering, prepared us for the new Imagination. Rudolf Steiner was then able to find fertile ground for the New Mysteries within us.

Christ on the Cross with Mary, John and Mary Magdalene 2 Painting by Master  of the... | 1st Art Gallery

I also hold the imagination that thru the great tragedy of the fire, Steiner was deeply united with the being of Anthroposophia – reminiscent of Lazarus-John ‘taking the mother into himself’. This was also a sacrifice for us, towards a preparation of our own ability to meet the Christ in the etheric world – a true turning inside out.

Rudolf Steiner Painting School | Gallery - Rudolf Steiner Painting School
Depru Razel

From 1913 to 1923 we find a real coming to know this Being as an Image of the human soul forces. And it was because of this intimate ongoing working/creating relationship with this Being that Steiner could penetrate so deeply into the 3-fold system of the human soul – connecting it to the resurrection of our own soul forces which must occur in order for us to give birth to the “I”.

Course for Young Doctors

This experience also allowed the good doctor to take up work with the ‘young doctors’ – the medical community in a new way. Empowering those who had the good will, courage & devotion to what was laboring to take place; a healing modality that serves not only the physical life, but has the ability to penetrate into the spiritual worlds, to become a healing co-worker with the hierarchal beings & The Christ.

Medical Titles - Mercury Press of the Fellowship Community

Over 800 students came together. A powerful inner call brought them to Dornach at that time of unrest. It was that ‘substance’ developed thru the pondering in their heart, this awakening in their heart, which became the rich soil for this new initiative to be planted.

A University of Michigan Medical School alumnus confronts anthroposophic  medicine at his alma mater – Science-Based Medicine
David Gorski

During the Christmas Foundation Meeting Steiner emphasized the ongoing karmic relationships that were in the room, so as to encourage these friends to realize that a new day must come forth where we find our common humanity & commitment to Michael, & his mission on behalf of Christ & humankind.

Arts Organization - Rudolf Steiner Arts Studio
Tellie Xin

This Imagination of our collective karma, our duty & responsibility to each other, & to the future of human evolution, can’t be birthed in the proper manner without the ‘substance of love’ which is often born forth from what looks like suffering.

This ‘suffering’ is really our soul asking to be met consciously in the 3-fold body where thinking, feeling, & willing is transformed, so that the “I” can truly alight, unfold, & meet its rightful ongoing destiny, in equanimity.

Rudolf Steiner's Work on Karma – April 26-27 — The Portland Branch of the  Anthroposophical Society in America
Helen Broadly

Looking at what was needed then, as now: harmonious collaboration, good will, love toward the other…we can invite the Being Anthroposophia into our midst, & ask ‘How can I be, so that I may serve?’

Wellspring: May 2013

Rudolf Steiner shares that Anthroposophia ‘knocks on the portal of our hearts, saying ‘Let me in, I am you, I am your true nature’. How can we understand this practically, to achieve Initiation in today’s time?

Revelation 3:20 - The meaning of Jesus knocking on your door
William Holman Hunt

What is required of us, & what it has to do with the other, is the basic bottom line of this journey to Initiation: selflessness, surrender, consciousness, & a willingness to listen – to hear what is, & what is not working, cultivating an ability to see how we are in every situation we meet. ‘One step forward in spirit development, three steps forward in moral understanding.’

The Sophia Sun

The Foundation Stone Meditation is a working to assist us on this initiatory path.

Zeylmans tells us: “That Foundation Stone which receives from the Universal and Human Love, its substance, from the Universal and human Imagination, its living picture quality and form, and from the Universal and Human Thoughts, radiating Light. And then at all times – if we are mindful of this present moment, the light of it will ray into our hearts, spurring on our action, kindling our thinking, our feeling, our willing.”

The Spiritual Battle Between Humans and Machine | Threefold Directory
David Newbatt

A conscious ‘waking in the heart of the other’ helps us untie karmic knots, AND  it’s also the perquisite for our ability to develop relationships with the Spiritual beings who welcome us into their realms, to become conscious co-workers on behalf of Earth evolution.

Pentagram, Hexagram and the Vesica Pisces | Sacred geometric, Sacred  geometry math, Geometric drawing

Zeylmans asks us to consider what it must be like, what must come about, if we are to transmute the hexagram into a pentagram. Ultimately what he is speaking of is the marriage of Wisdom to Love, the conscious birth of the “I” thru love & light. And this has to do specifically with the transformation of the heart forces as they relate to how we are with the other, especially in the most difficult relationships & circumstances. (This is where the 6 Basic Exercises help)

Dodecahedron In A Metatron's Cube Painting by Maya B
Maya Daertin

No matter how righteous I think I am, a higher way is being asked for against all odds. And what I am also realizing is that this higher way, these gifts of excruciating moments, must also be transformed so that the suffering is not suffering for sufferings sake! The soul must gain something, & recognize that the suffering is actually a gift, that I am called to return with love.

Dodecahedron Painting by Symona Colina
Samona Colina

Entering into the spiritual worlds requires a turning inside out, a reversal, which is the part of the mystery of converting the Philosophers Stone into the Stone of Love; & the key to ‘Initiation thru the other’ which is what is being called for now.

Dear friends, let us find each other in the light of these thoughts.

~hag

Serpent Bearer Eclipse

14 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Today’s New Moon Solar Eclipse starts this morning at 7:33:55 am CST & ends at 12:53:03 pm CST

At a solar eclipse the shadow of the moon cast upon the Earth, blocks out the Sun, creating a dark funnel that allows for destructive, unbridged astral forces, living mostly in the sub-consciousness of human beings, to be released into the cosmos without the energy of the Sun to balance them. The good news is that a solar eclipse acts as a release valve for these destructive forces to leave the Earth. But, we must also be aware that the adversarial beings, which seem to be working extra hard these days, are also not being counteracted by the healing forces of the Sun, & so they become intensified as well – Which means that the human being needs to step up & hold the Sun forces for the earth at the time of a solar eclipse.

The Astrology of April 2019 - South Node Conjunct Saturn And Pluto -

With the Moon & Sun conjunct the South Node, which represents our past karma, this total solar eclipse can also signify endings, losses, goodbyes or a karmic reckoning.  This is an important chapter written in the stars of 2020, which culminates in the grand conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn at the Winter Solstice, the time of the rebirth of the light.

Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 21 December 2020 -  skyatnightmagazine

Many of us have been following the conversation after sunset between these planetary beings, speaking to us about the cosmic wisdom held by Jupiter & the warmth of Saturn’s cosmic memory –

2020, December: Morning Star Venus in East – When the Curves Line Up

As well as Venus as morning star with the sunrise. And today with the solar eclipse the goddess of love will be unveiled – to stand alone with Bella Luna in Ophiuchus – the “Serpent-bearer” – which is considered by some to be the ‘13th constellation’ which overlaps between Scorpio & Sagittarius in the zodiac.  

Ophiuchus

Astrologer Victoria Martin says: ‘The solar eclipse is on the foot of the Shaman Ophiuchus. It is also aligned with stars in the Scorpion and Hercules. It is also close to the galactic Center and the arrow of Pabil-Sag the warrior-irrigator.’

Ophiuchus, The 13th Zodiac Sign -

Ophiuchus is deeply related to Scorpio & the evolution of humanities struggle with the dragon, or death forces.  It is not part of the original 12 archetypal constellations from the ancient star wisdom of Babylonia, it only came into consciousness in Greek times as the serpent bearer. From Jonathan Hilton: ‘For the Greeks it was seen as Apollo struggling with the serpent who guarded the Oracle’s cave in Delphi.  How’s that for an imagination to ponder!  Then in later Greece he was seen as representing the priest who was slain by two serpents sent by the Gods to punish him for warning the Trojans about the Trojan Horse.  (a shift from a God constellation to a Priest constellation) But in Roman myths, he was more associated with the healer Asclepius (also a human, not a god) who learned how to prevent or delay death through medicines learned from the serpent.  Very different than Greek consciousness.  The human was learning mastery.  And now?  How might we see him?   As one who represents our own struggle with the dragon forces and the death perspective of materialism and its impact on life and health.  Also a healer, but now perhaps the “inner” healer called for in our times.  In any case, Ophiuchus is not to be dismissed as not relevant when the sun passes through it, which is from Nov 29-Dec 18 when it enters the Archer, even though he is not one of the 12.  He is on the ecliptic above the lower body, with the stinger of Scorpion that dips low below the equator.’

The circulation of Light Painting Photography Techniques That Produce  Awesome Works | Thinking Genius

Here again, dear friends, we have an opportunity to stand face to face with the dragon, holding the sun rays within our hearts to ‘Think Light.’

~hag

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sun head | Sun art, Celestial art, Medieval art

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Original Watercolor Painting Chanukah Menorah 5th Night | Etsy
Jeva Silvano

5th night of Hanukkah

Carrington, Leonora - Porkopolis
Leona Carrington

Yesterday started the 3rd week of Advent: The first week of Advent is sacred to the physical mineral realm, the 2nd week to etheric plant world, & this 3rd week of Advent honors the animal kingdom & the astral realm which we share with them.

As a city girl I am close to cats & dogs, but it is not often that I get to be up close & personal with the majority of the animal world. All too often, society teaches us to fear animals, neglect them, misuse them, harm them, kill them, eat them. And in doing so, we also harm ourselves & the environment. Perhaps this Corona Crisis is trying to get us to see a connection between the abuse of animals & the appearance of harmful viruses in the world.

Chinese Zodiac Animals in Harmony Painting by Kerima Swain
Karima Swain

Each type of animal represents a soul mood, an archetypal imprint out-pictured in the constellations of the zodiac; cast off reflections of ourselves in the astral realm.

Christmas Quilt Fabric Panel - Nativity Barn - 100% Cotton Baby Jesus in  Manger with Animals and … | Christmas fabric panels, Nativity, Christmas  nativity

At Christmas-tide we look to the symbol of the manger surrounded by these pure archetypes of the soul world, & see there its reflection in our own hearts, waiting to give birth to the child of light.

SALE: AIR Element Alchemy Symbol Watercolor Energy Painting | Alchemy  symbols, Painting, Symbols
~hag

As we embark upon this 3rd week of Advent, we meet the Air Trial which asks us to develop sense free thinking – A thinking that does not kill. But in order to develop this thinking we must first develop, fortitude & presence of mind.

Sense Free thinking is a form of perception that allows us to see both sides of the truth, the spirit behind all things. And in the moment when the spirit behind what we see is noticed, we find the genesis of thought.

Georgia O'Keeffe | Summer Days | Whitney Museum of American Art
Georgia O’Keeffe

Sense based Thinking is like the antlers of an animal that we might find in the forest. The spirit, is like the deer that animated the anthers, it is no longer there but has left evidence that a being was once enlivening the cast off antlers.

So sense free thinking is seeing both the deer & it’s antlers at the same time, knowing they are one. Modern science & medicine in particular often look at the human body as a cadaver & think they know what a human being is.

To ‘Practice Spirit Beholding’, which we hear in the 3rd panel of the foundation stone meditation, the mind needs to be open, quiet, present & awake – ‘Practice Spirit Beholding in stillness of thought’.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated the World in a Dream of Her Own Making - Paul  Bond Fine Art
Paul Bond

When we reach the Air Trial, nothing holds us up. We are left hanging in the air. We have no Ground on which to stand, we must create our own moral uprightness, which builds new organs within us. This is the aim of human development, to be upright. We can’t let fear take the ground from under our feet, or our breath away; we must stand on the Foundation Stone & look inward to find “Where the eternal goals of the gods, Bestow the light of cosmic being, On your own I, For free and active willing”. Yes, friends, the Foundation Stone is the secret code, the key that unlocks the human soul, the prescription & antidote for what ails thee.  We hear how the will that was living in us from the past must now be transformed into thinking. The light bestowed upon us for our free willing by the hierarchy of angels – the Sons of Light, lives in the elemental beings behind all the things we see, & when we think light we carry them into us.

Sense free thinking is a creative consciousness, which can only be achieved thru having a will that is free & a soul that is balanced. This trial requires that our “I” hold together thinking, feeling & willing, thru our own efforts.

Quincey Packard

Yesterday besides being the 3rd Sunday of Advent & the 4th night of Hanukkah it was also the feast of Santa Lucia, another triumph of the light after much suffering. The legend says she was blinded as punishment for her faith. And how interesting that according to Astrosophy, which takes into account what was happening in the heavens during the life of Christ on earth, this time of year, corresponds to the ‘Healing of the man born blind’ in the Gospel of John.

Pin on Mandala

We can think how our eyes were created by the light of the Sun, whose light is now waning, so that the spiritual light within can be set ablaze,  thru our thinking will.   The ‘Sun stands still’ at the Winter solstice & then is born anew. PER SPIRITUM SANCTUM REVIVISCIMUS, We unite ourselves in the spirit, In the spirit we live again…

~hag

***

Pin by RanishaArt // Floral & Landsca on Landscape oil paintings | Starry  night van gogh, Van gogh art, Paintings famous

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

We will begin with live Music by Lucien Dante Lazar

And end the program with Eurythmy with Mary Ruud

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=ai94YmhnS1k3cWN3TFFlL3ozTDgxdz09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Peace

http://donate.rschicago.org/

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

***

A Rose by Any Other Name Painting by Mary Benke


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 the full schedule contact Tess Parker tess@anthroposophy.org

Register Here. Then check your email for a confirmation with the Zoom registration link. 

***

Rudolf Steiner – Esoteric Indications about Christmas for Herbert Hahn –  Giorgio Tarditi Spagnoli

The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Holy Nights December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021 

Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates. 

Fifth Gospel : From the Akashic Record by Rudolf Steiner (Trade Paper) for  sale online | eBay

The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner https://wn.rsarchive.org/Religion/GA148/English/RSPC1950/FG1950_index.html

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 Anthroposophy 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

Masked ball Painting by Marcel Garbi | Saatchi Art

New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call, as we will gather for our Annual NYE event. This year’s theme is “A Masked Ball” 6 pm till 10:30 pm 

6 pm Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar

7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes 

10:10 pm Project Thought-Seed 

The evening ends at 10:30 pm

$20 donation

Nancy Poer

Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST Joan’s Epiphany: What Joan of Arc Calls for Today In-Person at Elderberries & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago and 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 Spirit Serving It” by Rudolf Steiner, with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar

We will also share an artistic exploration, singing and Eurythmy.

This event has a new Zoom Code https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041

For more info, contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

Peace and Good Will to All, Deborah Rogers on behalf of the Rudolf Steiner Branch Festivals Committee

Lucy Bride

30+ Saint Lucy ideas | saint lucy, saints, santa lucia

What do Norse Vikings, Swedish farmers, an Italian peasant girl, & an English Bishop have in common? Well since today is the feast of St. Lucia you have a clue. The interesting story is in who & the why. Let’s start with the Norse Vikings. According to the old Julian calendar, December 13 was the darkest day. In modern times with our Gregorian calendar, we know this to be the Winter Solstice, usually falling on December 21st or 22nd; the shortest day & the longest night for those of us, like the Vikings, in the Northern Hemisphere. This darkest day was not a day to be out on a boat, better to be inside, possibly burning a log to keep warm -a tradition that would later become part of the winter festival – the burning of the Yule Log. But in those days, December 13 was the time of year when the ancient pagan Scandinavian farmers offered sacrifices in honor of good crops for the coming summer. These sacrifices would usually involve building a ceremonial fire to light the night.

Elisabet Megner

The name Lucia comes from Lux which means light. An old legend from Sweden, names Lucia as the bride of light. The story says that on December 13, Lucia will appear riding in a lusse-cart, similar to a chariot, & if the cart breaks down, you will get lice in your hair. On Lucia night, the threshing of grain must be finished to insure a bountiful crop the next year, the horses should have on winter shoes, & all new-born babies should be baptized before Lucia night or the trolls would come & whisk them away forever. The people who lived in Vermland claimed Lucia was the queen of supernatural beings & was a worker of miracles.

To understand why we celebrate St. Lucia Day today, we need to look at the actual person. An English bishop from the Seventh Century, St. Aldhelm, gave us the story of St. Lucia as we know it today.

St. Mark’s Basilica,  Venice, Chiesa d’Oro

Santa Lucia was born around the year 300 A.D. to a wealthy Sicilian family. Although her father died when she was a baby, he left plenty of money for Lucia & her mother to be cared for. As she grew Lucia learned of The Christ & was raised in the Christian faith. She made a secret vow never to marry but instead to spend her life serving the poor. Her mother was unaware of this vow, & pressed her to marry a man who was pagan. Although she resisted, Lucia became engaged to this man.

St. Agatha - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
Gruesome martyrdom of St. Agatha

Around that time, her mother suffered from unexplained bleeding, & Lucia persuaded her to go to the tomb of St. Agatha to pray. Miraculously, her mother was healed. After this, Lucia told her mother of her vow never to marry, & persuaded her that in gratitude to God they should give away their wealth to the poor of the city. So, by candlelight, the mother & daughter went about the city secretly ministering to the poor. Some even said she would bring food to the poor people living in caves, & that because she needed both hands to carry the food, she strapped candles to her head.

As a result of her vow, the young man she had been engaged to was furious. Not only did he lose the opportunity of having the beautiful Lucia as his wife, he also missed out on the great amount of money that would have been her dowry that he would have received in the event of their marriage. He went to the governor & accused her of both being a Christian, & aiding other Christians. At that time, it was illegal to be a Christian. Lucia was called before a judge & given the chance to renounce her faith, but she refused.

The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy, Master of the Figdor Deposition, c. 1505 - c.  1510 - Rijksmuseum

The judge ordered her to be taken away & executed, but the soldiers who came to drag her away could not budge her. Instead, they put wood around her & laid a fire beneath her, but the fire would not light. Finally, the judge called forth one of the soldiers & told him to kill her with his sword, which he did.

Many years later, Sweden was in the grip of a terrible famine. At the height of that dark, icy winter, hunger & suffering were at their worst. People were reduced to grinding tree bark to bake into bitter bread. But on the long night of Santa Lucia Day a brilliantly lit ship came sailing across the stormy waters of Lake Vannern. At the helm stood a beautiful young woman dressed all in white, with a face so radiant that there was a glow of light all about her head. As the vessel touched shore, great quantities of food & clothing appeared with her for the starving. When asked her name, she simply replied “Lucia”. When all were fed & cared for, the vessel disappeared as quickly as it had come. To this day, the people of Sweden celebrate the remembrance of Lucia, & how she came to save the people of their country.

The emblem of eyes on a cup or plate recalls her torture & suffering & reflects popular devotion to her as protector of the light which brings sight. In paintings St. Lucy is frequently shown in Gothic art holding her eyes on a golden plate. She also holds the palm branch, symbol of victory over evil.

The story of St. Lucia resonated particularly in Scandinavia where it became mingled with those earlier Norse legends. Today it is one of the very few saint days observed in Scandinavia. Put the two together, the religious & the folklore, & you create a warm & joyous day dedicated to the finding of light in the darkness.

My daughter, who is attending the YIP program in Jarna Sweden called to say, that they do indeed celebrate this joyful fest, which begins before dawn. Traditionally it is the oldest girl in the family rising to make saffron buns & Coffee for her parents. She wears white, with a red sash & a wreath of candles on her head. Other girls in the family are dressed in white as attendants & the boys are dressed as “star boys” with pointy star hats.

Sulamith Wulfing

In the pedagogy of the Waldorf schools, the 2nd grade studies the Saints, so they take up this festival. The youngest in the class wears the candle crown & the class processes thru the hallways singing:
Santa Lucia, Thy light is glowing
All through the darkest night, comfort bestowing
Dreams float on wings of night,
Comes then the morning light
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

Through silent winter gloom, Thy song comes winging to
Waken the Earth anew, Glad carols bringing,
Come thou, oh queeen of Night,
Wearing thy crown so bright,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

Santa Lucia, Christmas foretelling,
Fill hearts with hope and cheer, Dark fear dispelling,
Bring to the world’s call,
Peace and goodwill to all,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

Advent/Christmas Children's Program | Gethsemane Lutheran Church

Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucy’s Day is viewed as an event signaling the arrival of Christmastide, pointing to the birth of the Light on Christmas Day. It is said that to vividly celebrate Saint Lucy’s Day will help one live the long winter days with enough light.

We The Italians | Santa Lucia celebration in Italy

St. Lucy is the patron saint of the city of Syracuse (Sicily). On 13 December a silver statue of St. Lucy containing her relics is paraded through the streets before returning to the Cathedral. Here, it is traditional to eat whole grains instead of bread on 13 December. This usually takes the form of cuccia, a dish of boiled wheat berries often mixed with ricotta & honey, or sometimes served as a savory soup with beans.

St. Lucy is also popular among children in some regions of North-Eastern Italy, where she is said to bring gifts to good children & coal to bad ones the night between 12 & 13 December. According to tradition, she arrives in the company of a donkey & her escort, Castaldo. Children are asked to leave some coffee for Lucia, a carrot for the donkey & a glass of wine for Castaldo. They must not watch Santa Lucia delivering these gifts, or she will throw ashes in their eyes, temporarily blinding them.

In Hungary & Croatia, a popular tradition on Saint Lucy’s Day involves planting wheat grains that will eventually be several centimeters high on Christmas; this new wheat serves as symbolic of the new life born in Bethlehem, the Nativity, & a candle is sometimes placed near the new plant “as a symbol of the Light of Christ”.

In Denmark, the Day of Lucy (Luciadag) was first celebrated on 13 December 1944, as an attempt “to bring light in a time of darkness, a passive protest against German occupation during the Second World War, but it has been a tradition ever since.

Historically Norwegians considered what they called Lussinatten the longest night of the year & no work was to be done. Between Lussi Night & Yule, trolls & evil spirits, in some accounts also the spirits of the dead, were thought to be active outside. It was believed to be particularly dangerous to be out during Lussi Night. According to tradition, children who had done mischief had to take special care, since Lussi could come down through the chimney & take them away, & certain tasks of work in the preparation for Yule had to be finished, or else the Lussi would come to punish the household. The tradition of Lussevaka – to stay awake through the Lussinatt to guard oneself & the household against evil, has found a modern form through throwing parties until daybreak. Another company of spirits was said to come riding through the night around Yule itself, journeying through the air, over land & water. This might be an echo of the myth of the Wild Hunt, called Oskoreia in Scandinavia, found across Northern, Western & Central Europe.

Swedish History - Hans Högman

Legend also has it that farm animals talked to each other on Lussinatten, & that they were given additional feed on this longest night of the year.

In Saint Lucia, a tiny island in the Caribbean named after its patron saint, St. Lucy, 13 December is celebrated as National Day. The National Festival of Lights & Renewal is held the night before the holiday. In this celebration, decorative lights (mostly bearing a Christmas theme) are lit in the capital city of Castries; artisans present decorated lanterns for competition; & the official activities end with a fireworks display. In the past, a jour ouvert celebration has continued into the sunrise of 13 December.

Inferno - Sophomore English: World Literature

Dante also mentions Lucia in Inferno Canto II as the messenger “of all cruelty the foe” sent to Beatrice from “The blessed Dame” (Divine Mercy), to rouse Beatrice to send Virgil to Dante’s aid. She has instructed Virgil to guide Dante through Hell & Purgatory.

Prayers to Lucia
Della Bazel

What would it be like to use this feast day as an opportunity to ‘see’ the growing darkness with eyes of hope, knowing that in the dark womb the light will be reborn, again & yet again.

~hag

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Geminid meteors best on December 13-14 | Tonight | EarthSky

13 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars“: See the Geminid meteor shower – always a highlight of the meteor year – tonight until Monday’s dawn. The peak time a is centered on 1 am. With no moon, the shower is expected to be grand this year!

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Church Bulletins: Advent Covers | Advent art, Christmas art projects,  Christmas art

Today is the not only St. Lucia’s feast Day, it is also the 3rd Sunday of Advent dedicated to the Animal kingdom, & the 4th Night of Hanukkah

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Prints. The Anthroposophical A3 Soul Calendar Print | Etsy

THE CALENDAR OF THE SOUL by Rudolf Steiner, translated by Roy Sadler
The Quartet associated with this week’s verse relates the Winter Solstice
(December 21st is most often in the week of v37, but not when Christmas is on
a Thursday, Friday or Saturday) to its complementary verse 5 weeks later, then
its opposite, Summer Solstice verse, coming now in the southern hemisphere,
and finally the verse, after 4 Saint Johnstide ones, in the week of July 24th. On
July 23rd the sun enters the sign of Leo with the eurythmy gesture of Enthusiasm.
So this week of soul transfiguration, with the first mention of the heart since the
1st week of March, as we prepare for the coming Great Jupiter-Saturn Configuration,
has its prescient mirror verse in the Enthusiasm of the Year.
v37,
My heart-annointed impulse strives
to bear the spirit light
into world-winter-night
that shining seeds of soul
take root in cosmic ground,
and in the senses’ dark God’s all-
transfiguring Word resound.
v42,
The soul in gloom of winter moved
to bring to light her life’s own force
her impulse is to guide it far
and in the dark forefeel
through warmth of heart
the life the senses will reveal.
v11,
It rests this sun’s high hour with you
to recognise the call of wisdom:
In you, absorbed in worlds where beauty lies,
through all your feeling realise:
the human I can lose itself
and find itself within the Cosmic I.
& then
after 4 weeks of Saint Johnstide, culminating
in the soul’s reception of the spirit’s gift in v15
(the mirror of the Christmas verse),
v16,
My foresight now demands
I harbour well the spirit’s dower
that its divine gift ripen
and bear the fruit that will endow
my ground of soul with who I am.

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The Mysteries of the East and of Christianity by Rudolf Steiner

Thoughts from Rudolf Steiner’s lecture: Mysteries of the East and of Christianity, # 4 given in Berlin, 7 February 1913 – a lecture recommended to me by Steve Hale, so I took it in & here is what I have gleaned:

All Mysteries have 4 levels of Initiation:

1.        Approach to the Boundary of Death;

2.        Becoming acquainted with the Life of the Elementary World;

3.        Beholding the Sun at Midnight;

4.        Standing before the Upper and the Lower Gods.

This Standing before the Upper & the Lower Gods occurs when the aspirant understands, 1st the forces which rule everything that belongs to the physical side of the human being, the part which remains behind in sleep as physical & etheric body — this has to do with the Lower Gods. In relation to the Upper Gods it is a knowing of the forces connected to the innermost being, working thru various incarnations – the “I” & the astral body.

Osiris Isis Stock Illustrations – 300 Osiris Isis Stock Illustrations,  Vectors & Clipart - Dreamstime

The experiences undergone by human souls within the Mysteries of ancient times, point to the tragic impression made on Egyptian souls when in the course of their Initiation they came face to face with the changes that had affected the Cosmic Power known as Isis in the Egyptian Mysteries. From the Osiris legend we learn that the spouse of Isis was overcome by the enemy & torn away from her. This changed situation in the life of Isis had an effect in the higher worlds known as the “fate of Gods”. It also affected the soul of humanity, which was experienced in later Egyptian times as being raised into spiritual worlds to became a participant in the fate of Osiris, the God who was dying to the higher worlds & then descending into the earthly region.

akg-images -

Let us enter into the tragic mood of one about to be initiated during the Egyptian epoch. “Formerly, when I entered the spiritual worlds, I found Osiris permeating cosmic space with the Creative Word and its meaning, which represent the ground-forces of all being and development. Now the Word has become mute and silent. The God who was called Osiris has forsaken these realms. He is preparing to penetrate into other regions; he has descended into the Earth-region in order to enter into the souls of men.

The Burning Bush « ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE

The Christ Being who had been known spiritually to human souls in earlier days 1st became manifest in physical life when Moses heard in the physical world the Voice that in earlier ages had been heard only in the spiritual worlds: Ejeh asher Ejeh!” — “I AM THE I AM, Who was, and is, and will be”. And then this Being who, as the Creative Word, had gradually become lost to the experience of the candidate for Initiation, transferred His life into the Earth-region so that He could gradually come to life again in the souls of earthly humanity; & in this new life, rising to ever higher & higher glory, will consist the further development of the Earth, even to the end of the Earth-evolution.

Natalya Yeshchenko

Let us follow the evolution of the Earth, to see that for spiritual sight this Creative Word now goes forward like a stream which disappears for a certain time below the Earth’s surface, in order to reappear later at another place.

Holy Grail Painting by Alla Shliakhova | Saatchi Art
Alla Shilakova

How did it reappear? It became visible in the “Holy Grail”, guarded by the Grail Knights. The phrase the “Holy Grail”, involves a reappearing of the essence of the Eastern Mysteries. In every later epoch the earlier experiences of humanity must appear again, but in a fresh form.

iloveyoumorethancoffee | Jesus, Crucifixion, Christ

In the dawn of our 5th cultural epoch there is also a repetition, & then also something is added, something new which must come from the Consciousness Soul to provide supporting forces for our new initiation. Our New Mysteries must have centers where human souls can recall the secrets poured into human evolution thru the Egyptian-Chaldaic soul, & the secrets poured out in the 4th  post-Atlantean epoch, the Graeco-Latin time, during which the Mystery of Golgotha took place. And to that must be added a new element – a redeeming of the New Isis-Sophia.

Newthink Alchemy

The Mysteries often find expression in various legends which correspond to secrets in which the human soul has participated. In the Grail Mysteries are revealed secrets related to the Cosmos, to the in-pouring of the forces of the Zodiac, of the Planetary beings, & particularly to the secrets connected with the co-operation of the Sun & Moon, in their shifting influences, as they pass thru the signs of the Zodiac.

Arthurian legend, the knights of the round table Painting by European School

During the start of the 5th epoch, these forces inspired certain individuals, called “The Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table”, who became the instruments, the vehicles, of cosmic influences issuing from the Sun & Moon during their passage thru the signs of the Zodiac. Into the 12 Knights flowed the inspirations from the 12 directions of the Zodiac. The inspirations which came from the spiritual forces of the Sun & Moon were represented by King Arthur & his wife Guinevere. So here we see in King Arthur’s Round Table the humanized Cosmos.

Why Were Medieval Knights Often Pictured Fighting Giant Snails?

The Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table journeyed far & wide & slew monsters & giants. These imaginations point to the purifying of the forces in the astral body.

Everything that had to be recapitulated from the epoch in which the Mystery of Golgotha took place was concentrated in the influences that streamed forth from the secrets of the Holy Grail.

In the present day also the human soul must be open to these influences if we are to be initiated, if we are to have an understanding for the spiritual nature of our times. The Holy Grail is surrounded by many, many mysteries which can show us to ourselves.

Today souls are thirsting to vitalize something in the physical & etheric bodies which we have had to abandon as lifeless because the impressions they once absorbed do not penetrate into modern consciousness. This is the disturbing impression received today by the candidate for Initiation.

Inner Development: Meditation Its Being and Effect and its Significance for  the Future

We sense that there is something in us that is withdrawn from the sovereignty of our soul, something that is dead. By working upon this dead part, the Luciferic & Ahrimanic forces are exposed. When we work to acquire more & more freedom, the Luciferic & Ahrimanic forces insinuate themselves into that part of us which has been withdrawn from the sovereignty of the soul. That is why so many people in modern times feel as if there were 2 souls dwelling in them – as if one wanted to tear itself away from the other.

100+ Art on "the Holy Grail" ideas in 2020 | art, arthurian, king arthur  legend

The Holy Grail was & is that which can nurture that living portion of the soul so that it can become master of the dead part.

Carl Grünwedel: The Temple of the Holy Grail. Art Print, Canvas on Stretcher
 Carl Grünwedel

Montsalvat, the sanctuary of the Holy Grail, is the school in which one has to learn, for the sake of the living part of the human soul, something that there was naturally no need to learn in the Eastern & Egyptian Mysteries. One needs to learn what has to be poured into the still living part of the soul in order to become master of the part of the physical body that has died, & the part of the soul that has become unconscious. We learn that the secrets of the Grail bring the Intellectual soul a New Conscious Wisdom.

When the Initiate of the Middle Ages wanted to present in picture form what he had to learn in order to permeate with the new wisdom the living part of his soul, he spoke of the Castle of the Holy Grail & of the new wisdom — which is in fact the “Grail” that flows out from it.

2200x2480 Evil Castle Dark Fantasy 2200x2480 Resolution Wallpaper, HD  Fantasy 4K Wallpapers, Images, Photos and Background

And when he wanted to indicate that which is hostile to this new wisdom, he pointed to the domain which was the most vicious & hostile to the Grail – the gathering-place of all the forces which attack the human being – the evil Castle Merveil.

Spiritual wisdom can be carried anywhere today, because we are living in a time of transition from life in space & time, into more spiritual forms of time. We have reached a transition stage leading towards the 6th Epoch & these things are no longer tied to particular localities; but in the Middle Ages it had to be sought in certain definite places.

Legend tells us that the Castle of the Grail is situated in the West of Europe.

Images for 327404. AMREI SKALICKI. "KLINGSOR" from Parsifal by Richard  Wagner, mixed technique. - Auctionet
AMREI SKALICKI

The evil Castle Merveil is in Southern Calabria; closely connected with a figure who glimmers across from the Middle Ages as a legendary being, but is well known to anyone acquainted with the nature of the Mysteries: a personality who was quite real: Klingsor, the Duke of Terra de Labur.

In the middle of the Middle Ages, Calot bobot in Sicily was the seat of the goddess Iblis, the daughter of Eblis; & among all evil unions which have taken place within the Earth’s evolution between beings in whose souls there were occult forces, the one known to occultists as the worst of all was between Klingsor & Iblis, the daughter of Eblis. Iblis is a kind of feminine aspect of Eblis, the Mohammedan Lucifer, & with her, the evil magician Klingsor united his own evil arts, thru which he worked against the Grail. And the hostility to the Grail was enacted in that fastness of Iblis, “Calot bobot

Edwin Austin Abbey

Everything that was undertaken by this power hostile to the Grail, & which also wounded Amfortas, can be traced back to the alliance which Klingsor had contracted with the stronghold of Iblis, Calot bobot; & all the misery & suffering which we see embodied in the Grail legend thru Amfortas is an expression of that pact. For this reason the soul must still be strongly armed even to-day when it comes into the neighborhood of those places from which emanate hostile influences.

Transform Us – Hood Memorial Christian Church
Jerry Tolman

So we have on the one hand the Kingdom of the Grail, & on the other the evil Kingdom, Chastel Merveille, with all that came from the pact between Klingsor & Iblis playing into it. The whole change which had taken place in the Intellectual soul is portrayed, in a legendary way, in the antithesis between “Montsalvat” & “Chastel Merveille”.

In the “Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table” we see a repetition of all that the candidate for Initiation had to experience thru the Sentient Soul. In all that was grouped around the Holy Grail we are shown what can be experienced in modern times by the Intellectual Soul – Now everything that we must go thru, so that we can make the good part of our double nature strong enough to penetrate into the mysteries of the spiritual worlds in modern times, must be enacted in the Consciousness Soul. This is the new thing that has to be added. This is crystallized in the figure of Parsifal.

Parsifal by Regelio de Egusquiza - Art Renewal Center
Regelio de Egusquiza

All the legends connected with King Arthur & the Round Table represent the repetition of the experiences of earlier ages in the Sentient Soul; all the legends & narratives which are directly connected with the Holy Grail, apart from Parsifal, represent what the Intellectual Soul had to go thru. And all that finds expression in the figure of Parsifal, this ideal of the later Initiation in the Consciousness Soul, represents the forces which must now be made our own.

The whole nature of modern Initiation has a more inward character. Much more than in the old Initiation, the external must be cleansed & purified thru the strengthening of the inner, so that this inner part becomes sovereign over the outer.

Grappling with the monsters of the American Psyche” (part 3) by Bradford  Riley | Rileybrad's Blog
Lilly Yager

A special feature of our time is that these attacks from Klingsor & Iblis, as they gradually lay hold of people, are insinuating themselves into intellectual life, particularly the intellectual life that bears on education, with its popularization of modern science. When a person becomes “cleverer & cleverer”, certain vital forces necessary for the human organism are worn away. And when such a person has taken into himself only these typical dregs of modern education, in his next incarnation he will lack the forces that are required for properly building up the human organism. The more intellectual a person is, the more of an imbecile will they be in a later incarnation. If thoughts are not permeated by the wisdom of the spirit, then the souls occupied with thinking only about material things will find in later incarnations that they are unable to use their brains properly; their brain-forces will be too weak to lay hold of things. A soul which today is occupied merely with calculating debit & credit, or with the usages of commercial & industrial life, or absorbs only the ideas of materialistic science, is filling itself with thought-pictures which in later incarnations gradually darken the consciousness, because the brain would be an unformed mass & so no longer capable of being taken hold of by the forces of thinking.

Evil vanishes. Egusquiza and Wagner´s Parsifal in the Museo del Prado -  Exhibition - Museo Nacional del Prado

The forces belonging in particular to the Consciousness Soul must be infused with inner spiritual knowledge. We must overcome “apathy and doubt” just as Parsifal  had to do in his own soul. Yes, it may be that the ‘motley fool’ is still discernible through the raiment of the spiritual, as with Parsifal. But that is not the point. What matters is that there should be present in the soul the impulse toward spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding — that impulse which is inextinguishable in Parsifal & brings him at last, in spite of everything, to the stronghold of the Holy Grail.

The more we can look into our self & try to exercise honest self-knowledge, the more we will find how conflict is raging unconsciously in our soul; a conflict within the Intellectual Soul that needs to be healed by yielding to the heart-thinking of the Consciousness soul.

Self-knowledge is an initiation in itself; & it is becoming more & more difficult to discern with all the present propaganda that taps into our deeply hidden passions which are often raging undetached under the surface, ready to subconsciously sabotage our higher self.  

Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung | Castillo de Neuschwanstein | Idea y  Orígenes | Sagas | Parsifal

When we approach the new Mysteries we must feel that we are confronting our self in such a way that we will choose to strive after the virtues of Parsifal, while at the same time knowing that we also carry the wound of Amfortas. In our time we carry within us this double nature — aspiring Parsifal, wounded Amfortas. That is what our self-knowledge must show us. Then from this recognition forces will flow, which we must unify. And when we do our part it brings humanity as a whole a little further in the course of world-evolution.

In our Intellectual Soul, in the depths of our inner life, there must be a meeting between Amfortas, wounded in body & soul, with Parsifal, whose task is to cultivate the Consciousness Soul. And yes, it’s true, that in order to gain freedom for our self we must go through the “wounding” of Amfortas, & become acquainted with the Amfortas within our self, so that we may also come to know Parsifal.

Father, Father, What Ails Thee Digital Art by Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham

Just as it was right for Egyptian times that one should rise up into the spiritual worlds in order to know Isis, so is it right for our times to start with the spiritual nature of this world, & thru it to rise into the higher spiritual worlds. A wish to deny the Amfortas-nature will only keep us wounded. In order to develop the forces of Parsifal in our human nature, the Amfortas-nature in us must be recognized -in ourselves – & in the other so that we can ask: “What ails thee”.

Amazon.com: The Damsel of The Sanct Grael by Dante Gabriel Rossetti - 18" x  27" Premium Canvas Print: Posters & Prints
Rossetti

Legends, which call forth pictures of deep soul-processes, can lead our deeper premonitions, towards the nature of the New Mysteries of Isis-Sophia to come.

Much to ponder

~hag

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BBC - History - British History in depth: The Legend of the Holy Grail  Gallery

 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

12 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: It’s Venus & Bella Luna – what are they whispering?

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Pin by RanishaArt // Floral & Landsca on Landscape oil paintings | Starry  night van gogh, Van gogh art, Paintings famous

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

We will begin with live Music by Lucien Dante Lazar

And to end the program: Eurythmy with Mary Ruud

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=ai94YmhnS1k3cWN3TFFlL3ozTDgxdz09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Peace

http://donate.rschicago.org/

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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A Rose by Any Other Name Painting by Mary Benke


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 the full schedule contact Tess Parker tess@anthroposophy.org

Register Here. Then check your email for a confirmation with the Zoom registration link. 

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Rudolf Steiner – Esoteric Indications about Christmas for Herbert Hahn –  Giorgio Tarditi Spagnoli

The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Holy Nights December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021 

Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates. 

Fifth Gospel : From the Akashic Record by Rudolf Steiner (Trade Paper) for  sale online | eBay

The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner https://wn.rsarchive.org/Religion/GA148/English/RSPC1950/FG1950_index.html

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 Anthroposophy 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

Masked ball Painting by Marcel Garbi | Saatchi Art

New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call, as we will gather for our Annual NYE event. This year’s theme is “A Masked Ball” 6 pm till 10:30 pm 

6 pm Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar

7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes 

10:10 pm Project Thought-Seed 

The evening ends at 10:30 pm

$20 donation

Nancy Poer

Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST Joan’s Epiphany: What Joan of Arc Calls for Today In-Person at Elderberries & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago and 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 Spirit Serving It” by Rudolf Steiner, with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar

We will also share an artistic exploration, singing and Eurythmy.

This event has a new Zoom Code https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041

For more info, contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

Peace and Good Will to All, Deborah Rogers on behalf of the Rudolf Steiner Branch Festivals Committee