POD
~I am a form in the flame
Seen only if one gazes long into the fire…
Clouds of smoke tear like a shroud
& I see the shine of other hidden ones,
Faces aglow with heat
Flashing like lightning, speaking with thunder…
Rising in the offering
The scent of my prayer
An incense of hope & wonder…
~hag

This season of Whitsun-tide is the world-festival of the NOW, highlighting the challenging relationships of Self & community. How do we work as individuals to transform our ingrained sympathies & antipathies? How do we purify our astral nature in order to make ourselves into a vessel worthy to receive the Holy Spirit, giving us the possibility of manifesting the ‘Spirit Self’ – healing the formative forces of our Life-Spirit, which will provide the capacity to create new social forms..?

In ancient times the human being experienced the True Self, the Higher I AM, in the cosmos outside of them, in the Sun sphere, thru initiation, by leaving the body – This was outpictured in the time of the ancient Summer Solstice Festivals – Which have now become mysteries of St. John the Baptist, where the Spirit is called to become manifest, by appling the powers of the Archangel Uriel.

The Whitsun-tide inaugurates a new age, when human beings thru a personal path of self-guided catharsis comes to an awakening of the Higher I AM in “their inmost being” as a force of transformative power, which is the force of love. The Greek word for grace is, “charis”, which means the free love from God. 

This brings us back to the great social question of our time: the individual in relation to the whole – the community, & the cosmos.

Only by a social & personal catharsis which allows the true spirit of freedom, the true I AM, to eclipse our small personal egotism & the lower impulses of our nature, can a new community & new language of universal sister/brotherhood be created. 

Only out of the spiritual recognition of the universal Human Being, will the ideas & applications of a new approach to fraternity in economics; equality in human rights; & freedom in the cultural/spiritual life, be accomplished. 

May we strive to serve this goal out of the spirit of The Sophia.

~hag

Sophia Community Circle – WEDNESDAY 2 JUNE 2021 9:30 am PT / 10:30 am MT / 11:30 am CT / 12:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm GMT / 6:30 pm CET We are She – She are We – Embodying Love in Wisdom with Hazel & Ultra-Violet Archer 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  Ultra-Violet Archer – Songwriter and Music Producer, exploring music as a tool for healing and storytelling. Currently studying at the International Youth Initiative Program in Sweden. After two years at Oberlin College and Conservatory, she will be transferring to Columbia College of Chicago’s ‘Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music’ program this fall. Click here to find the links to her original releases and YouTube channel. She also sings and produces for the band Circle’s Edge. When she’s not making music, you can find her foraging for edible plants, reading fantasy novels, or hosting women’s circles!  Here is a link to Ultra’s final project for YIP  The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation 2 June 2021 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)   “When the pupil has recognized all the elements from which he must liberate himself, a sublime being of light stands before him whose beauty is difficult to describe in human language. This encounter takes place when the sundering of the organs of thinking, feeling and will extend to the physical body, so that their reciprocal connection is no longer regulated by themselves but by higher consciousness, which has now entirely liberated itself from physical conditions. The organs of thinking, feeling and will, have then become instruments under the sway of the human soul, which exercises its dominion over them from supersensible regions. The soul, thus liberated from all bonds of the senses, is now confronted by the second Guardian of the Threshold”~Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 27, “The Parzival Saga as Modern Initiation”, excerpts from Steiner’s How to Know Higher Worlds … focus of the June 2 meeting. Note: we are starting with Chapter 27 as it provides foundational concepts. We will continue with Chapters 1 & 2 in the following session (July 7). This lecture can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link 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 as: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail — from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106 Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcHr5EVwrv If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Agenda for this meeting (CST)   7:15  Welcome and Introductions         7:18  Verse 7:25  Study led by four volunteers ote: CRC team will ID volunteers           Marianne – pg. 179 to 186           Laura – pg. 186 to 194           Travis – pg. 194 to 199           Alberto – pg. 199 to end 8:05  Conversation 8:28  Close with verse