Here is the spoken word piece called ‘Positive Listening‘ on the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast
Greetings friends – In our 6BE practice group we have been working with the 4th exercise of Positivity. Here is 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
5 March 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”
New Astrology Emerging. (here)
Star Wisdom comes alive through active embodiment within each participant, made possible by working together in the instrument of the StarHouse—or within your sacred imagination in your own home. This immersion facilitates each participant forming conscious relationships with zodiacal and planetary beings.
Register here
Join us for an exploration, based on spiritual science and star wisdom, into the following themes:
This course, to train practitioners in Star Wisdom will take place in the StarHouse June 2022. It is designed to train beginners who are willing to ride a steep learning-curve, and long-time astrologers.
Our teaching weaves experiential activities (embodiment) and conceptual learning so you learn it more thoroughly.
On-line too: The course will also be on-line (live-streamed, interactive). A manager on our end will coordinate actively with those attending via Zoom, including relaying questions to the presenters for comment. (We plan that the event will be filmed and edited, and parts of it made available as a course through our website.)
Our approach to astrology is informed and inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indications found sprinkled throughout his six thousand lectures, as it has been developed by a small group of astrosophers over several decades. This deeper understanding of, and interaction with, the heavens is based on:
- A sidereal (star-based) view of the heavens, emphasizing the active and dynamic role of the beings working from stars and constellations
- Equal length zodiacal signs (relating to the lineage of Zarathustra), equal houses, and recognizing the Earth’s role and significance to the birth chart
- Anthroposophy (thus called astrosophy, with its particular guidance for understanding the beings indwelling the zodiacal and planets)
- Identifying and working with spiritual themes in our lives in a way made practical by the research of Robert Powell, and the indications of cosmic Christianity, as understood through Anthroposophy.
- And other features that we will teach.
Some topics that we will cover:
- New and traditional methods for interpreting a birth chart
- Zodiacal constellations in the birth chart
- Understanding the meaning in the patterns of the moving planets
- Planetary aspects in the birth chart
- The important role of the twelve equal houses, in the birth chart
- How transiting planets interplay in the time-stream of life, presenting challenges and opportunities
- Determining the time of conception and its own chart
- The care necessary to regard the information of a person’s sacred birth moment with reverence and understanding
- The importance of understanding reincarnation and karma for human development
- The journey between death and rebirth, and why that is important for human destiny
- Human Life phases: the 7-year periods of our life biography and the relation of those periods to the planetary spheres
- The role of self-development for a practitioner of New Astrology
Enrollment and Application Reister here
Commitment: This intensive requires participation in five-plus full days.
Dates: Begin Thursday evening, June 23, 2022, 7 PM, through midday Tuesday June 28. On June 24-27, we will go from 9 AM to 5 PM. Evenings are for homework, integration, and optional study groups. Lunches will be provided, including the last day, Tuesday.
Limits: Enrollment will be limited to 24 in-person participants and others will participate on-line. In-person will go through an application process. More important than years practicing astrology is your motivation to learn. Our present on-line courses (New Astrology, series 1 and series 2) will be made available to all registered participants and can provide a strong foundation to a motivated person with little experience. After application for In-person participants, one of our team will arrange a phone call to interview you.
Scholarship program: We plan to have a scholarship program to which those of means can contribute. Please consider contributing to this fund to support others taking this course.
Costs: Cost of on-site/in-person for the whole course $1100. On-line (live-streaming) $800. A deposit will hold your place.
Meals and Snacks: Lunches provided every day including Tuesday (just after the end of the course). Dietary restrictions are queried on the application. Snacks and tea are provided mid-morning and mid-afternoon every day.
Lodging: You will need to find your own lodging and transport. Some lodging is available in nearby residences, and the Retreat Cabin near the StarHouse. These can fill up quickly, so please make your request soon. Other lodgings nearby are the Boulder Adventure Lodge (a-lodge.com), which fills up in summertime quickly. More information will be sent after registration.
Questions about the course
Tune in to our Zoom broadcasts, brief presentations of aspects of this course, with lots of time for Q&A. Intended to total 20 minutes in length. These are given on different days so you might find one that would work best for you. Each of these brief sessions will be different!
- March 14, Monday, 6 PM Mtn.
- March 28, Monday, 9 AM Mtn. (morning)
Register here
The Anthroposophical Society in America presents: Sophia Rising: Unveiling the Wisdom of Being Human in Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ April 21-24, 2022 Hotel Santa Fe Hacienda and Spa
Join us in New Mexico, the ‘land of enchantment’, resonant with light ether and deep history, as we enliven Sophia. Join together in community as Sophia emerges and rises in her many facets and expressions- past, present, and future.
You will be an active participant in this gathering that will engage storytelling and biography, art and color, eurythmy and movement, singing and speech, with offerings from speakers Carrie Schuchardt, Mary Stewart Adams, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Stephanie Georgieff, and more.
Come and experience Sophia Rising as we honor the elements, the landscape, and each other.
VENUE & TRAVEL
Our gathering will take place at the lovely Native American-owned Hotel Santa Fe. We recommend you book your stay with the hotel to create a connected communal atmosphere for our gathering. The hotel has a full restaurant, pool, hot tub, and spa, as well as kivas and cozy sitting areas. Please call or email to make reservations with our special room rate for suites at $179/night. Each suite includes a refrigerator, microwave and sitting area. So much of what Santa Fe has to offer is within walking distance from the hotel.
HOW TO BOOK: Email stay@hotelsantafe.com or call reservations at 877-259-3409
**Ask for ASA Gathering to book with our special rate of $179/night for a suite. **
Registrants will receive suggested activities from our local organizers to explore in Santa Fe before or after our gathering. Extending your stay? The special ASA hotel rate is available for 3 days prior to and 3 days after the ASA gathering.
CLICK HERE to post on our room and rideshare board to coordinate with other participants.
AIR TRAVEL: Fly to Albuquerque or Santa Fe (note that flights are more limited and subject to the weather as Santa Fe is a small airport.)
There is a shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe or car rentals available. Uber or Lyft is available if you fly into Santa Fe.
HOTEL and VENUE ADDRESS:
1501 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: (877) 259-3409
TICKETS
The ticket price includes access to all conference activities, snacks, coffee/tea and beverages, dessert reception Thursday, dinner Friday, lunch Saturday and brunch on Sunday.
No refunds after March 21, 2022
STANDARD TICKET (After 2/26): $350
SUPPORTER TICKET: $425
EXHIBITORS: If you are interested in being an exhibitor please fill out this form.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: Limited assistance is available, please fill out this form.
Early Bird Only with Room Booking – After 2/26 more tickets will be released!
SCHEDULE
(subject to minor changes)
THURSDAY, April 21
7 pm Gathering Together – with a dessert reception
7:30- 8:30 pm ArtActs: Past – Present – Future Eurythmy, and Singing,
FRIDAY, April 22
Explore Santa Fe on your own and continued arrivals
1:00 – 2:30 pm Welcome: Spirit of Place with organizers
WEAVING EARTH Opening Ceremony with Angela Foster and friends
2:30pm-3:00pm Break
3:00-4:30 pm Encountering the Celestial Goddess Anthroposophia with Mary Stewart Adams
HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
4:30-4:45 pm Break
4:45- 6:00 pm WEAVING AIR ArtActs Eurythmy, Singing, and Speech
6:00-7:30 pm Dinner Together*
7:30 pm Fireside Chats – Story and Sharing – Breakout circles led by friends and organizers 8:30 pm
Stargazing with Mary Stewart Adams
SATURDAY, April 23
Breakfast – On your own
8:30 – 9:30 am WEAVING ETHER Eurythmy
9:30 – 10:00 am Break
10:00 -11:15 am The Virgin of Guadalupe: Sophia Rising in the Americas with Stephanie Georgieff – The Virgin of Guadalupe is one of the first recorded apparitions in the Americas. Revealing herself to a Nahuatl Native and ultimately to the Bishop of New Spain and his entourage in December of 1531, this image has continued to inspire countless souls for nearly 500 years. The symbolism and timing of her appearance presents deep mysteries for our age, and points to the ultimate Sophianic impulse for the present and future of Humanity.
11:30 – 12:30 pm WEAVING STORIES Biography Work
12:30 – 2:00 pm Lunch Together*
2:00 – 4:00 pm ‘ANTHROPOSOPHIA: OUR ALCHEMICAL WEDDING’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg and Friends. At the heart of this convergence is a Grand Experiential Soul Journey to ‘Know Thyself’’ – A Temple Experience in the New Mysteries, built up and worked on during all the WEAVING sessions, preparing us to enter a deeply intensive initiatory experience – a ‘Movable Feast’ with various stations engaging us in group eurythmy, singing, Steiner verses, color gestures in art, and a telling of the New Isis Myth. Passing through Trials of the Soul we meet powerful Spiritual Beings on the way to our sacred marriage – a union of Warmth and Light, so that we can unveil the ‘Sophia Rising’ within ourselves, and the world.
4:00 – 4:30 pm Break
4:30 – 5:30 pm WEAVING COLOR Invoking Natura: Sensing the Cosmic within the Earthly Pastels with Helen-Ann Ireland
5:30 – 6:00 pm WEAVING STORIES Biography Conversation
6:00 pm Dinner – On your own
8:00-9:30 pm WEAVING COMMUNITY Sophia Rising- Past, Present, and Future MC’d by Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer. Sign up to bring something to share! Poetry, Instruments, Story
SUNDAY, April 24
8:00 – 9:00 am WEAVING LIGHT Bathe in the Natural Warmth and Harmony of the Metal Gold with Helena Hurrell – A metal color light therapy experience inspired by the glass windows at the Goetheanum
9:00-10:30 am WEAVING FIRE with Carrie Schuchardt
HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
10:30 – 12:00pm Brunch Together*
12:00-1:00 pm WEAVING WATER Water Ritual with Joyce Reilly and Friends
WEAVING WHOLENESS Closing with Angela Foster and Friends
Notes: *Meals marked with an asterisk are included in the price of the ticket – Coffee, tea, and snacks will also be provided through the conference
A quiet ‘Sanctuary Room’ will be provided for contemplation
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER See you Santa Fe!
PRESENTERS AND GUIDES (Not a full list-more to come!)
Mary Stewart Adams is a Star Lore Historian, and host of the weekly public radio program and podcast “The Storyteller’s Night Sky”. Through her research in spiritual science and her education in literary arts, Mary has developed a unique, humanities-based approach to understanding our relationship with the stars. Her work is further augmented by an extensive knowledge of ancient mythologies and fairy tales, which she relates to the research and ideas of contemporary astronomy in order to understand the new star wisdom of astrosophy.
Eyahnna DalBo (artist of the Sophia Rising painting) came to anthroposophy 30 years ago when her daughter attended a Waldorf school. Her studies have included an undergraduate degree in fine art and graduate work in psychology using the arts for healing. In her private practice, she developed various energetic modalities. Her experience with subtle energy fields gave her the opportunity to teach and take part in designing a curriculum for a 2-year program focusing on energy healing. As a consultant, she initiated numerous therapeutic programs to assist in pioneering the field of art therapy. Through the gift of an apprenticeship with indigenous people she was able to bring their practices and ceremonies to what she offered deepening her ability to be of service. As an artist, she continues to utilize the spoken word, movement, sound, and visual imagery to honor and create a field that fosters awareness, growth, and transformation.
Angela Foster has been an active student of anthroposophy since 2008. After growing up in Texas, Angela is now embracing life in Atlanta, Georgia as an artist, teacher, and mom of two daughters, shepherd to two mini sheep. As a conscious practitioner of “beginner’s mind”, Angela has completed programs in foundation studies in Anthroposophy numerous times and is currently enrolled in Foundation Studies in Goethean Science through the Nature Institute. She and her husband manage the Anthroposophical Resource Center (ARC) an initiative in Decatur, Georgia that offers space for community events and serves as a little house for Anthroposophia.
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 Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings.
Helena Hurrell joyfully met Anthroposophy in San Fransisco in 1977 and has been working with individuals and groups as a Waldorf educator since 1981 and then throughout her life trained to become a therapist while living in Australia, the UK and North America. She is currently in private practice in Colorado blending the therapeutic work she offers through her love of color ~ as an Art and Metal Color Light Glass Therapist trained in the UK and Germany. Both of these trainings are certified by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. Metal Color Light Therapy is a relatively new initiative originated by the late Marianne Altmaier who developed this therapy and training out of her deep interest in and knowledge of the Goetheanum windows in Dornach. Helena’s website: www.helioscenter.org
Helen-Ann Ireland has been involved in anthroposophical studies for over 30 years as a Waldorf teacher, member of the School for Spiritual Science, Class holder, and now as chair of the Anthroposophical Society of America. A special interest has been in the area of the Divine Feminine and the Being of Sophia.
Michele Mariscal has 30 years of experience in the health and wellness field. She is a skilled facilitator in soft skills, speaker, coach and author. She is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist as well as a Trainer and Coach with the Institute of HeartMath. She facilitates greater heart-based living for individuals and organizations Michele is also a five-time author with her most recent publication of Growing Through Grief – The Alchemy of Healing from Loss.
Joyce Reilly Joyce studied psychology in college and was fascinated by the idea of a therapeutic community. She has worked in Camphill for many years, and is trained as a Waldorf and Therapeutic teacher. She founded Gheel House, a therapeutic community near Kimberton Pennsylvania, still thriving after 37 years. Joyce’s interests expanded to international conflict work and refugee resettlement. She works with organizations such as the Janusz Korczak Association, Karuna Peacebuilders, Kiwimbi International, Good Grief, the Worldwide Storytelling and Puppetry Association, and especially with the New York Anthroposophical Branch, and also works part-time at the local public library. Joyce is also trained in Psychosynthesis therapy and Anthroposophical psychology – currently practicing as a life coach and counselor.
Carrie Schuchardt co-founded The House of Peace in 1990, a home that is a physical and spiritual refuge for victims of war in a community with adults with special needs. In the last 15 years over 400 refugees from approximately 30 countries have been received in the healing embrace of The House of Peace, giving supportive assistance in establishing themselves in the US. In addition to the daily work of The House Peace, Carrie participates in many activities for the conversion of consciousness and policies from war to peace. Carrie has begun a network of women who witness publicly, Women Weeping, where women dress in mourning carrying symbolic lifeless children in order to help people feel what is rarely expressed in the media: the grief of hundreds of thousands of mothers in war zones around the world who lose their children to the terrible violence of war.
Maria Ver Eecke is presently the therapeutic eurythmist for the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY. She taught eurythmy for forty years in Waldorf schools, a charter school, and a home-school program. Maria met anthroposophy in Maseru, Lesotho, when she was a class teacher in an English-medium preparatory school. Currently she is the editor of the newsletters for the Eurythmy Association of North America and the Association of Therapeutic Eurythmy in North America.