Today we stand at the Eve of Beltane-May Day, which this year is also Orthodox Good Friday & Holy Saturday – so interesting. Here we see how the mysteries of birth & death bring us to the same portal seen from different sides. This morning as the birds call in the Sunrise, while moving the etheric forces in eurythmy, I couldn’t help but feel how all the Green World is charged with new life beneath the light of the growing sun.
This is a time when the faeries are powerfully stiring in the elements. These spirit-beings, are of a middle nature betwixt the human being & the Angels. For they are creatures of light & energy -of ‘force’ rather than ‘form,’ who can shift their shape as they please, not being bound by the laws of the physical world.
Today, a new awareness of these beings is returning, as people are awakening to the reality of worlds beyond the limit of the five senses – Their energies are especially potent & accessible during these Cross-Quarter times. More & more folks are cultivating relationships with the elemental beings. These believers are often visionaries, poets & artists, but really anyone who refuses to be influenced by the modern materialistic world-view can work with them.
It seems that, with the current crisis on Earth, we are especially called to reconnect with these Beings of Light who share our planet home. When we ignore, or even worse, pollute, degrade & lay waste to the land, sea & skies, we are destroying their world, too. We tear apart the exquisitely woven tapestry of all creation.
And so the spiritual beings behind these elements are bringing messages thru our current world crisis, urging us to change our ways, from living in separateness, to an awareness of our interconnectedness with all beings, visible & invisible, in the great Web of Life.
Friends, we don’t need special psychic powers to connect with faeries – just the willingness to open the heart & mind, as a child might do. This Beltane season, take a faery walk in Nature, where there are trees & plants, or a body of water. Find a place to sit, & get grounded, taking some deep breaths:
Inhale sunlight & create an imagination of a wave of green light rising from the land beneath you, rising up your body to connect you with the Earth below. Exhale & sense a wave of golden light flowing down from the heavens thru your body, connecting you with the Sun & Stars. Do this several times until you feel relaxed & charged with the energy of Earth & Sky.
Look around, & notice 3 natural things that are calling out to you. Send a vortex of light from the Sun thru your heart & connect with them in the way that each needs.
Now extend that connection to everything around you. Rest & be at peace in this feeling of oneness.
Perhaps you might ask for a message from the Faery realm. Open to receive impressions that may come to you. The response may manifest as a feeling, or a movement of light, a sparkling out of the corner of your eye, a rising within of a joyful energy; or it may come as words or images in your mind’s eye. Be open for signs from the animal kingdom, bird or insect movements, winds or calls that may carry a message for you. Send back peace, & love & gratitude…
It helps to be consistent, to reach out & connect thruout the seasons. Be a spiritual scientific researcher & document your impressions – Which can reveal hidden patterns. What is the communication like in the mornings, at high-noon, at sunset or midnight…?
The elemental beings need us to prove that we are committed to cultivating a dialogue – trust develops & a relationship emerges…Then we can share our stories around the Beltane fires & watch the sparks rise within our own formative forces & in the world…
Beltane Blessings
~hag
30 April 2021 – “Speaking with the stars”: Have you gone out to greet Mercury and Venus after sunset yet? They’re still quite low in the northwest even in bright twilight. Venus especially.
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (so thankful for rsarchive.org/)
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (From the Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner & Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Walpurgis Night, In Germanic folklore Walpurgisnacht, also called Hexennacht, literally “Witches’ Night” – the eve of the feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Francia. In Goethe’s Faust we see 2 scenes: ‘Romantic Walpurgis Night’ the night of a witches’ meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, a range of wooded hills in central Germany; and later in Part 2 a ‘Classical Walpurgis Night’ is featured.
65 – Seneca, teacher of Nero, murdered
1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
1812 – One version of history tells us today was the Birthday of the enigmatic Kaspar Hauser. According Rudolf Steiner Kaspar Hauser was, in fact the hereditary prince of Baden, who was born 29 September 1812. According to ‘history’, the prince died on 16 October 1812. But in truth, he had been switched with a dying infant, & only released from the dark brotherhood that had tried to stop his divine mission, 16 years later as Casper Hauser in the streets of Nuremberg, Germany. His parent were Charles, Grand Duke of Baden & Stéphanie de Beauharnais, cousin by marriage & adopted daughter of Napoleon. As Charles had no surviving male progeny, his successor was his uncle Louis, who was later succeeded by his half-brother, Leopold. Leopold’s mother, the Countess of Hochberg, was the alleged culprit for the plot. The Countess was supposed to have disguised herself as a ghost, the “White Lady”, when kidnapping the prince. Her motive, evidently, would have been to secure the succession for her sons. But of course those who study Anthroposophy know,there is much more to this story.
From Rudolf Steiner:“An author, in order to indicate the mystery of his life, wrote that as he was carried out to burial the sun was setting on the one horizon and the moon was rising on the other. I speak, as you know, of Caspar Hauser. If you disregard all the pros and cons that have been asserted, if you look only at what has been fully verified, you will know that this foundling — who was one day simply there in the street, and who since he did not know whence he came, was called the Child of Europe — could neither read nor write when he was found. At an age of twenty years he possessed nothing of what is gained through the intellect but he had a remarkable memory. As they began to instruct him, as logic entered his soul, his memory disappeared. This transition in consciousness was accompanied by something else. He possessed at first an incredible, an entirely inborn truthfulness and it was precisely in this truthfulness that he went more and more astray. The more he nibbled, so to say, at intellectuality, the more it vanished. There would be many things to study were we to enter deeply into this human soul which had been artificially held back. It is not difficult for the student of Spiritual Science to credit the popular tradition, so unacceptable to the learned people of to-day, which relates that while Caspar Hauser still knew nothing, while he still had no idea that there were beings besides himself of different form, he exercised a remarkable effect upon quite savage creatures. Savage animals humbled themselves and became mild, something streamed from him that made such beasts gentle, although they savagely attacked anyone else. We could in fact penetrate deeply into the soul of this remarkable personality, so enigmatic to many, and you would see how things that cannot be explained from ordinary life are led back through Spiritual Science to spiritual facts. Such facts cannot be learnt by speculation but only by spiritual observation, though they are comprehensible to an unbiased and logical thinking.:
1877 – Birthday of Alice B. Toklas, an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century. Life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein
1885 – The Niagara Reservation becomes New York’s first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial & commercial use
1939 – The 1939-40 New York World’s Fair opens
1945 – Adolf Hitler commits suicide
1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held to protest the Company’s refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom
News from the Central Regional Council: 1. Transitions 2. Looking for new CRC members 3. Our Whitsun Festival 4. A NEW theme for our Study GroupThe Central Regional Council’s ‘Great American Eclipse’ pageant in St. Louis 1. Marianne Fieber is stepping down as the representative of our region on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. We thank Marianne for her generous and warm contributions in the past several years. She will be missed but, of course, we support her decision and wish her well. See you around, dear friend! Here below are a few words from Marianne Fieber: Dear Anthroposophical Members and Friends of the Central Region, In 2005 I had the great privilege to share the work I had begun with Songtrails at a regional gathering in Chicago, IL entitled The Living Map Festival. Perhaps many of you have experienced a Songtrail or heard reports from recent events. Working with the Regional Council at that time was a profound and life-changing experience for me. My work with Songtrails has blossomed beyond my wildest dreams and I have led many individuals in experiencing a Spirit of Place while actively feeling oneself as a bridge between the earth and heavens. By weaving songs, verses, prayers with walking and stories of the land, a deep personal relationship is built with a place. Shortly after that event, I was asked to join the Central Regional Council. That was over 15 years ago. Throughout that time I have met and worked with so many colleagues, members and friends through collaborative co-creation of weekend conferences, gatherings and artistic experiences with the intention of deepening a living experience of Anthroposophia in our region. I am a Central Regional being – born and raised here in the Midwest. No doubt about that. I have traveled quite a bit throughout the world and country, but feel at home here in the Heartland. It was an honor to succeed Dennis Dietzel (MN) in serving as the representative of our region on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. It is hard to describe the transformation I have undergone through the rich studies and discussions, contemplations about the direction the ASA might take to meet what the world was asking of us as spiritually striving human beings in the present and future. It is time I now pass the torch of regional representation to Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. She will be stepping into this new role of service beginning in June, 2021. With gratitude, Marianne Fieber for the Central Regional Council 2. LOOKING FOR NEW COLLEAGUES For quite some time now we have been casually thinking about new colleagues. We cannot be casual any longer. As Marianne steps back, it will be important to find new regional members who are ready to step into a collaborative leadership role and help weave the work within our region into the future. The future is always evolving and the work of cultivating anthroposophy throughout our vast region is dynamic and vital. Working regionally is an infinitely rewarding opportunity to serve Anthroposophia. We encourage anyone interested to join us. What are we up to: The CRC hosts a monthly online study group. We have been doing this long before the pandemic to cultivate connection among our members and friends both within our region and beyond. We are just completing a cycle of lectures entitled Manifestations of Karma and will be moving into a new cycle and theme (more details below). We are currently co-creating the national Annual General Meeting conference ”Building the Temple of the Heart” 8-10 October 2021 in our region. It is being imagined as a hybrid online, streaming and in-person event with groups throughout our region. Planning meetings for that national event have begun on a monthly basis with the national leadership. Our Festival programmingin celebration of the seasons and spiritual impulses within the course of the year continues. (see belwo) Conversations have begun regarding inter-regional collaboration and initiatives toward strengthening our Anthroposophical communities throughout our continent. If you are interested in talking about how you might be ready to step in to work with the CRC, please email Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu 3. Save the dates for Sangraal – a Pentecost Pilgrimage & Whitsun Festival with the Central Regional Council. an experiential ‘Pageant’ written by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, taking us on a Quest from The Cauldron of Ceridwen, to The Holy Grail, & into The Sacred Vessel of the Sophia. Join us on Whitsunday 23 May 2021, at 11 am PT / 12 noon MT / 1 pm – 2:30 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 8 pm CETZoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81181550712 Meeting ID: 811 8155 0712 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kBw1EgrIRMore details will be provided in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned! 4. A NEW Theme for our Study Group After working with Karma & Reincarnation for 3 years the CRC has chosen a new Theme: The Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation for our study group, beginning with the June 2nd session. The book is available for purchase from Steiner Books and Amazon. The lectures may also be found on the RS Archive (eLib). We will provide links to the lectures, as possible, in the emails that contain the details for each monthly session. Note: for our May 5th session we will be reading Chapter 11 of the Manifestations of Karma book (the last chapter of the book). The Karma Project – Manifestations of Karma Study Group May 5, 2021 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) “This is the other aspect of the karma of higher beings — that we develop a power of love which is not confined to humanity alone but which penetrates right into the cosmos. We shall be able to channel this love into beings higher than ourselves, and they will accept this as our offering. It will be a soul sacrifice. This sacrifice in soul will rise up to those who once poured their gifts upon us like the smoke of incense rising up to the spirits in times when human beings still possessed the gifts of the spirit. In those days they were only able to send up the symbolic smoke of sacrifice to the gods. In times to come they will send up streams of love to the spirits and out of this offering of love higher forces will pour down to humankind, which will work, with ever-increasing power, in our physical world, directed by the spiritual world. These will be magical forces in the true sense.“~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 11, “Individual Karma and Shared Karma”, Hamburg, 28 May, 1910 … focus of the May 5 meeting. The lecture can be found online at the RS Archive (eLib) by clicking this link: https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100528p01.html The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among four volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “Manifestations of Karma.” This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996. Video Conference Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81210110113 Meeting ID: 812 1011 0113 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdBJRUquk5 If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Agenda for our Study Call 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by three volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Camille – pg. 202 to 207 Travis – pg. 207 to 212 Mary – pg. 212 to 218 Hazel – pg. 218 to end 8:05 Conversation 8:28 Close with verse Living into the Spheres of Cosmic Life and Cosmic Light: Easter, Ascension, Whitsun in the Calendar of the Soul with Luigi Morelli, Hazel Archer and Geoff Norris – Zoom Host Frank Agrama 13 May 2021 Ascension Thursday 5- 6:30pm PT / 6-7:30 pm MT / 7 pm – 8:30 pm CT / 8-9:30 pm ET / 1 am – 2:30 am GMT / 2 am – 3:30 am CET Join Zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=TStPVnpFRzlwZ0NpRURBZDNyYnpBQT09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Ascension Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF Welcome – Frank Agrama Verse #6 – Geoff Norris Ascension: The Secret Teachings, The Elementals, & The Etheric Christ – Hazel Archer Calendar of the Soul – Luigi Morelli – For those who are familiar with the Calendar of the Soul we could say that during spring and summer we follow the ascent of cosmic life, cosmic light, cosmic warmth and cosmic Word as gifts bestowed upon the human being by the cosmos. By being receptive to them we strengthen our connection to cosmos and Self. We will briefly explore the dynamics of the year, then look at what qualities of soul we need to develop as we move into spring and summer, most particularly from Easter to Ascension and Whitsun. We will look at the verses of the calendar in conjunction with the artistic renditions of Anne Stockton and Karl König, drawn for each of the verses. We will ask ourselves: How can we live into and grow from this time of the year? How can we deepen our inner relationship to the event of Ascension? What can we receive and what can we give? Break-out Groups Group Speech Work with Geoff Norris “Angels, in the early morning May be seen the Dews among, Stooping — plucking — smiling — flying — Do the Buds to them belong?” ~Emily Dickenson Closing Thoughts– Hazel Archer For more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer Events & Festivals Committee of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society, 4249 North Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60618 (map) https://donate.rschicago.org/ Sangraal: A Pentecost Pilgrimage & Whitsun Festival with the Central Regional Council an experiential ‘Pageant’ written by Hazel Archer, taking us on a Quest from The Cauldron of Ceridwen, to The Holy Grail, & into The Sacred Vessel of the Sophia. Join us on Whitsunday 23 May 2021, at 11 am PT / 12 noon MT / 1 pm – 2:30 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 8 pm CET Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81181550712 Meeting ID: 811 8155 0712 Dial by your location Meeting ID: 811 8155 0712 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kBw1EgrIR After working with Karma & Reincarnation for 3 years the CRC has chosen a new Theme: ‘The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation’ You are also invited to get the Book & Join us for study sessions through out the year as well. contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu for more info |