Monthly Archives: March 2021

Positive Listening

March 2, 2021Remembering, Storytelling~hag

Here is the spoken word on the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast

For our Lucky 13th Day of Lenten-Tide – ’ I am Marching in like a lion with a wee fairy tale that celebrates the power of Positivity & the blessings of the music of Spring.

Once upon a time a 100 years ago, or was it yesterday…A joyous thoughtful Queen married a kind & loving King from a distant land. During the wedding feast, he was poisoned by 3 evil Dukes who wanted to control the kingdom. They set up rumors that it was the Queen herself that had murdered the King. The Queen became very sad & nothing could cheer her up. What once was a joy became a burden. The constant undermining of the evil Dukes created enmity & doubt within the court & the Queen who was once revered became suspect. Having no way of defending herself the Queen became stormy & very negative indeed. She soon fell ill & no one in all the court knew the true cause of her sickness or how to bring about a cure. The Queen still worked hard to make the Kingdom great, but because her efforts were received with suspicion, now she never smiled & went about fought & weary.

“The Queen needs daintier food,” thought the Court Cook, so he served broiled peacock eggs on toast, & pomegranates with cream, & wild honey, O & the cheese-cakes as light as feathers, but the Queen just became fat & even more grouchy & negative.

“The Queen needs medicine,” declared the Court Physician, so he searched the countryside for growing things & he brewed rose-leaf tea, & he made a potion of basil flowers mixed with rosemary, that he distilled with dew gathered at sunrise, & wild honeysuckle from the fields by the sea. But the Queen only wanted coffee, & would have none of it.

“Perhaps music will divert the Queen,” suggested the Court Jester. “It might make her forget her woes.”

The Court Herald hastened thru the streets, calling as loudly as he could: “Music for the Queen! Music for the Queen! Riches & honor for whoever can play a healing tune – one that will make her majesty forgo her sorrow.”

Immediately the palace was filled with music, some of it quite beautiful & some played by the very famous of the famous in all the land. But it was deemed either too loud or too soft, too high or too low by the Queen. A sweet singer came with his lute & regaled the Queen. But at the end the Queen was still weak & sorrowful. A harpist from a far country came & played music that sounded like the mighty wind on high mountain tops & the rushing flow of great valley streams. But the Queen slightly moved was still only able to thank the harpist & request that he be paid for his pains & bid him journey back to his home. Later, there came a trumpeter who gave great battle calls on his horn, but the Queen covered her ears to shut out the sound & looked even sadder than ever because the sound only gave her a headache.

So it seemed as if not even music would make the Queen well, & since no one suspected what the 3 evil Dukes were about, no one knew what to do & so pallor of gloom hung about the kingdom. The Queen spoke her mind at the palace meetings, & what she said was true, & certainly for the good of all, but her pain-tinged tone came across as harsh & no one wanted to listen. The evil Dukes played off her pain & kept the rumors going to keep her off balance.

Meanwhile, way down in the valley, there lived a little boy called Gladheart who tended sheep. He was the youngest of five brothers, & there was little room & less food for them in their mother’s house. But Gladheart had been given his name because he was always full of love & smiled over even a crust of bread, ever since he was a baby. Now that he was a strapping lad of ten with a great flock of ewes & lambs to tend & drive through sun & storm, he had even more smiles & kind words for all; & he played his fiddle all the day long, filling the valley with his sweet songs. When he heard of the Queens sorrow, Gladheart said: “I must go & play before her majesty.”

“They will only laugh at your old fiddle,” said his brothers, but the eldest agreed to tend the sheep for a day, & Gladheart set out for the palace.

“The Dukes will have naught to do with a shepherd lad dressed in goatskin & bearing an old fiddle,” the guards at the door said. But Gladheart touched the strings with the bow & such a blithe tune came forth that the guards opened the door wide, & Gladheart went inside.

At first the sight of the Queen sitting so bent & sorrowful on the throne with a face as frowning & sad as a storm frightened Gladheart. But he took courage & stood as straight as he could in front of the Queen, & began to play on the fiddle a tune that he had learned while working in the fields with his sheep.

It was a lovable tune, like a dozen twittering birds & a little wandering wind & the voice of a rippling brook all joined with the sounds of the little Sun singers, the bees, the katydids, & the crickets. As the Queen listened, her bent shoulders straightened & her face became bright with life. She reached out her hands to Gladheart. “I’ve heard that tune before, when I was a young lass & all I knew was love ,” – It makes me well to hear it now. What is it about, lad?”

“It is about the Spring-time, your majesty,” said Gladheart. “It is the song that I learned from the fields when winter is finally over. And if your majesty will come with me to my sheep pasture, you may hear it there every day.”

No one could understand why the Queen was suddenly so positive & full of life, or why she went often to sit with Gladheart & the sheep, but they were all very happy over it. All except the 3 evil Dukes, who continued to plot, even though they were obliged to give Gladheart the riches & the honor that had been promised to whoever could heal the Queen. And because of the healing music the Queen was reminded that Love was all that mattered, & from then on she could find nothing else but beauty & good in the world.

snip, snap, snout, this tale is all told out

xox~hag

THe morning planets - Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn - low in the east before sunrise March 3, 2021.

2 March 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Have you seen Mercury (occult Venus), Jupiter & Saturn yet? Jupiter is brightest. All three Spiritual Beings are exceedingly low in the sky before sunup. Mercury, our sun’s innermost planet, has a conjunction with the king planet Jupiter on March 5. It reaches its maximum elongation from the Sun for the year on March 6.

Deathday of a Modern Knight | Reverse Ritual | Rudolf steiner, Rudolf, Steiner

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Dr. jur. Guenther Wachsmuth (1893 - 1963) - Genealogy

1963 – Deathday of GUENTHER WACHSMUTH, a jurist, economist, anthroposophist, author & first Secretary and Treasurer of the Anthroposophical Society.

LIFE

He was the second son of a pediatrician in Dresden. He studied law at Oxford and Munich. In 1914 he volunteered as a war volunteer and was placed in Russia. After the War he continued his studies in Munich and graduated in 1919. In that same year he had his first personal encounter with Rudolf Steiner.

After the fire of the first Goetheanum he was personal assistant to Steiner. He was an active support for the construction of the second Goetheanum. At the founding of the Anthroposophical Society in 1923 he became a board member. He would later be treasurer and secretary and continue his work until his death in 1963.^[1]

PUBLICATIONS

WORKS

The Etheric Formative Forces in Cosmos, Earth and Man: A Path of Investigation into the World of the Living. Vol. 1 translated by Olin Dantzler Wannamaker. 1932. Anthroposophic Press, New York.^[2]
The Evolution of Mankind: Cosmic Evolution, Incarnation on the Earth, The Great Migrations, Spiritual History. Translated by Norman Macbeth. 1961, Philosophic-Anthroposophic Press (Dornach, Switzerland) ^[3]
The Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner from the Turn of the Century to his Death. 1955, Whittier Books (New York), Translated by Olin D. Wannamaker and Reginald E. Raab^[4]
Reincarnation as a Phenomenon of Metamorphosis. 1937. Anthroposophic Press, R. Steiner Publishing Co. (New York, London).^[5]
The Ethereal World in Science, Art and Religion. From the Way of Man to Control the Image Forces. Anthroposophical Philosophisch-Verlag, Dornach 1927.
The Evolution of the Earth. Cosmogony and Geology, An Organic Becoming. Anthroposophical Philosophisch-Verlag, Dornach 1950.
Cosmic Aspects of Birth and Death. Contributions to Karmic Research. Anthroposophical Philosophisch-Verlag, Dornach 1956, 3 A. 1990.

LITERARY WORKS

Kepler’s secret world. Drama in 12 pictures. Hybernia, Basel / Dornach 1946
Noah. Dramatic Sketch in 7 pictures. Hybernia, Basel / Dornach Dornach 1948
The division of the earth. Drama of a new era. Hybernia, Dornach 1954
Archangel in the council. Drama in 8 images with prelude and epilogue. Geering, Dornach 1961

EDITOR

Gaea Sophia. Yearbook of the Natural Science Section of the Free School at the Goetheanum, Volumes I-VI, Dornach / Stuttgart / Basel 1926-1932
Goethe in our time. Rudolf Steiner Goetheanismus as a research method, Dornach 1949

EXTERNAL LINKS

German National Library

The Etheric World in Science, Art, and Religion
Volume II by Dr. Guenther Wachsmuth, 1927

The Etheric Formative Forces in Cosmos, Earth & Man by Dr. Guenther Wachsmuth, 1932

The General Anthroposophical Society - Founding at Christmas 1923 Presided over by Rudolf Steiner. With Marie Steiner - Ita Wegman - Albert Steffen - G… | Oculto

The Initiative Forum Radio Show is on each day at 1 pm CST. HOSTED BY dj UV-RAY (aka Ultra-Violet Archer) The theme is ’soundtrack for social change.’ Come join in it’s free https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84967635723?pwd=NjIrTXM5VWRNTTFlQkEzZG1EMTBCUT09

Greetings from YIP13, We are happy to present the 2021 Initiative Forum program
ARE YOU LISTENING 3 -7 March Check out the Program

The schedule is packed full of workshops, lectures and open spaces – we’ve made sure that there are opportunities to participate no matter what time zone you’re in. We are excited to welcome over 15 different contributors to the forum including Orland Bishop, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Nora Rahimian, Diane Longboat, and Helmy Abouleish. Check out the full list on our website’s contributor page!

And of course, there will also be time in the mornings for movement workshops, and time in the evening
for open mics, pajama parties, and radioshow hangouts.

We are so excited to connect with you under the theme “Are you listening” and to co-create this worldwide community with you!

Our sliding scale tickets are available on our website.

See you on March 3rd for day one of “Are You Listening” Initiative Forum 2021.
Until then enjoy our pre-forum specials on our social media.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @initiative_forum_2021_. -YIP13

For more info. contact Initiative Forum

Weaving a non-gendered Feminist Reality with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg*Friday 5 March 2021 – 6:30 am – 8 am Central Time as part of the The International Youth Initiative Program Initiative Forum

What are the qualities of the Divine Feminine? How can we use them to empower an innovative way of thinking, feeling & willing, to create a new world, where the human being is free?

Have paper & colored pencils at the ready for this hands-on workshop.

Here is a link to the full programand the list of contributors

*Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Past Video Recordings

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WAYS TO ENGAGE:

The ARC (Anthroposophical Resorce Center in Atlanta) is inviting you to a Six Basic Exercise Practice Group. Time: weekdays 9 am PT / 11am CT / 12:00 PM ET

Each weekday you are invited to join in a 15 minute practice group focusing on Rudolf Steiner’s foundational exercises. We begin the time each day with a 5 minute leading thought focusing one aspect of the practice. We will follow that with a 5 minute period in which we turn off our cameras and practice on our own. After the five minute bell, we take 1-2 minutes to journal about our experience and the end the call with a 3 minute closing thought. Come when you can, and leave when you must.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/266986103?pwd=bXU4a0EvMmJkMDZTR0Rqcm0xZ0pUZz09 Meeting ID: 266 986 103 Passcode: 345338

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Wednesdays 9:30-11:00am CT – True and False Paths in Spiritual Investigation, by Rudolf Steiner. We incorporate ‘The Calendar of the Soul’, eurythmy, focused discussion and seasonal artistic explorations in our study. All are Welcome. Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com We meet in person in the Branch Library or join via Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/98689103462’Meeting ID: 986 8910 3462

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Fridays 12noon – 1:30pm CT. The Esoteric Path Through the Nineteen Class Lessons by Sergei O. Prokofieff. A serious study for Members of the School of Spiritual Science. Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

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Sundays 7-9pm CT. Our international group is studying The 5^th Gospel by Rudolf Steiner. We meet weekly EXCEPT ON THE 4TH SUNDAY Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com, Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/98201185799?pwd=NUliUWw3UVAxZzI0Y2NKSnI5eHhzdz09 Meeting ID: 982 0118 5799 Passcode: peace

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3 March – 7 March 2021 The International Youth Initiative Program (YIP) invites you to the ‘Initiative Forum: Are you Listening’ The week is packed full of workshops, lectures and open spaces – we’ve made sure that there are opportunities to participate no matter what time zone you’re in. We are excited to welcome over 15 different contributors to the forum including Orland Bishop, Nora Rahimian, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Diane Longboat, and Helmy Abouleish. Check out the full list on our website’s contributor page!

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March 3, 2021 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT. The Karma Project – The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing monthly study conversation, Manifestations of Karma. If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81681631480 Meeting ID: 816 8163 1480

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Tuesday 23 March 6:30-8:30pm Appreciating Our Differences Through Looking at Temperaments – The Center for Biography and Social Art warmly invites members of your community to attend this workshop in person or online. “How do we solve the riddle which each individual presents to us? We solve it by approaching each person in such a way that harmony results between them and us.” – Rudolf Steiner. Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrdeyvrzgqE9AnBYQ3hIc5KuxMvZa0rmW_ Warmly, Kathleen, center4biography@gmail.com Center for Biography & Social Art biographysocialart.org

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28 March 28 – 4 April, 10:10 am CT – Holy Week & Easter Festival 2021 The 8-Fold Path to the Easter Elementals. Starting on Palm Sunday then thru-out Holy Week, including Easter Morning, we will meet every day on Zoom at 10:10 am CT to create together a Thought-Seed based on a Herbert Hahn Verse “When I think light, my soul shines, When my soul shines, the earth is a star, When the earth is a star, then I am, a true human being. We will then work with indications for that day from Rudolf Steiner’s/The Buddha’s 8 –fold Path, known as the ‘Weekday Exercises’ (5 min) Holy Week chart. $10 Suggested Donation.Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95633444828?pwd=Wk56K08vK2dNQUhhK0Q2S09zQWJrQT09 Meeting ID: 956 3344 4828 – Passcode: bee

4 April, 2–4 pm CT. Easter Festival for the Elementals– Eurythmy-Mary Ruud, Hazel Archer–The New Sun, Keynote withInes Katharina (Founder of the Biodynamic Emerald Honeybee Sanctuary) Ines will connect the Easter Thought with the Elemental Beings & the flight of the Queen Bee. $10 Suggested Donation. Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95633444828?pwd=Wk56K08vK2dNQUhhK0Q2S09zQWJrQT09 Meeting ID: 956 3344 4828 – Passcode: bee

Social Studies

March 1, 2021Festival, History~hag

Heart love art abstract drawing free image

This quote from Rudolf Steiner is my contemplation for the 12^th day of Lenten-Tide: “What anthroposophical knowledge enkindles in us with its pursuit of the supersensible is love of humanity. It teaches us how precious a human being is and imbues us with a feeling for human dignity…spiritual science stimulates the will to a capacity for what I have described in my Philosophy of Freedom as moral intuition….Anthroposophy is in a position to show how this love of duty goes on growing into love of humanity and thus becomes the real quickener of social life. We can gain insight into the huge, burning social problem that confronts us today only if we take the trouble to realize the connection between freedom, love, man’s being, spiritual and natural necessity.”

Stars of the Winter Hexagon explained in the March Sky Tour — https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/march-find-the-winter-hexagon/

1 March 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”

March Comes in Like a Lion and Goes Out Like a Lamb | Flickr — Dixey Moore

MARCH in like a lion…Out like a lamb – The sun rise was particularly clear & layered with colors this blustery morning – the winds blowing the wispy clouds away to reveal hot pink & orange & a crazy yellow.

March is abundant with ‘Holy Days’, finding voice through many cultural expressions.

Nowruz Novruz Persian New Year'S - Free photo on Pixabay

The 13th is the New Moon, as well as our time to ‘Spring Forward’ for the dubious ‘Daylight Savings Time’. It also happens to be the Iranian New Year celebration, Norooz, or ‘New Day’.

In 622 AD, Mohammed led his followers from Mecca to Medina to escape assassination. According to the story, when his pursuers reached the cave where Mohammed & his followers had taken shelter for the night, they found a dove nesting in front of it & the entrance covered by a spider’s web. So the pursuers passed on, leaving them in peace. Mohammed continued on to Medina, where he & his followers were able to worship freely. Muslims consider this flight — or Hijrah — to be the beginning of their calendar year. People worship quietly on this day, which begins with the 1st sighting of the crescent moon, & in keeping with the rebirth of nature is also considered the 1st day of Spring.

14 March is Marie Steiner von Sivers Birthday

Assassination of Julius Caesar Drawing by English School

The 15th is the famous Ides of March; which we all know is the day Julius Caesar was warned by the soothsayers to beware; the day he was assassinated. But did you know that according to the ancient Roman calendar, the Ides of March was considered New Year’s Day, & marked the 1st day of Spring?

March 17, brings us the ‘wearing of the green’ for St. Patrick’s Day. This former pagan used the shamrock to teach folks about the Trinity.

We celebrate Spring or Vernal Equinox, on 20 March this year, also known as: Alban Eilir, Eostar, the Feast of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Lady Day, Festival of Trees, NawRuz, Ostara, & the Rites of Spring – when the Sun, because of the ‘precession of the equinoxes’, enters the sign of Pisces, as opposed to the lunar cycle used by the ancients.

Day & night are equal, poised & balanced, but about to tip over to the side of light. It is sacred to the twilight time of dawn, youth, the morning star & the East. The Saxon goddess, Eostre (from whose name we get the direction East & the name of the Holiday Easter) is a dawn goddess, like Aurora & Eos. Just as the dawn is the time of new light, so the Vernal Equinox is the time of new life.

The Equinox is all about harmony & balance – that brief yet eternal time of equilibrium, when day & night are of equal length.

Annunciation embroidery, St Mary's... © Julian P Guffogg :: Geograph Britain and Ireland — Julian P. Gufogg

Two other holidays also get mixed up in this ancient symbolism of Spring’s fertility. March 25th is called the ‘Annunciation of Mary.’ – the day that the Angel Gabriel announced that Mary, the Christian version of The Sophia, was pregnant with the son of god ; who is born 9 months later, on Dec. 25th. How’s that for a nice little spring fertility symbol.

Passover begins at Sundown on 27 March, the eve of the Full Vernal Moon.

File:Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The 28^th begins Holy Week with Palm Sunday – look for details below about joining us in marking this time.

Rudolf Steiner’s Deathday comes on Holy Tuesday, 30 March this year. (Stay tuned for details on a Zoom gathering on this day)

Evans, Knossos and the Minoans – Facts and Forgeries – Crete

It is also fitting that March is International Women’s month, since this is the time of the rebirth of nature. It’s a gentle reminder that we give birth to the future. The future is in our hands, the hands of the midwife, the lap of the mother, & the hands of the Peacemaker.

Moody Monday Reads: Bluesy News | Sky Dancing — Sharon Molerus

So let’s honor ourselves & thank the powers of love & light, knowing, March may come in like a lion, but it goes out like a lamb – As we re-conceive of ourselves in alignment with the powers of Spring…

Peace & Blessed Bee…

~hag

Someone asked what I could possibly mean by the title of my Yip 13 Initiative Forum presentation ‘Weaving a non-gendered Feminist Reality’ – Here are my thoughts: In bringing the Being of Anthroposophia to these young people, I feel it is important to emphasize that the Divine Feminine is in all human beings no matter what sex they present on earth. I know young people think about these things & I am hoping to bring an awareness that The Being of Anthroposophia, like all spiritual beings are universal. And once we get going, what will emerge is the fact that what we are tuning into are attributes of the universal human being – The Wisdom of the Human Being which is non-gendered – But Yes, it’s important to put an emphasis on the Divine Feminine qualities because they are often overlooked or degraded. We must unveil & re-member them to achieve wholeness -to truly become Anthroposophia -To focus especially on those qualities that have been forgotten or coopted -So that we have the full spectrum of colors, & qualities to manifest our highest human destiny. We must strive to bring the Wisdom of the Divine Feminine into our humanness.