~In my mind
I scoop up the blue virtue of sky & set it in my heart
Then my fingers fly out & circle above like a hawk
Serpents writhing in purposeful talons
Tempered by a 1000 doves
Feathering the clouds into a white fire
& I weep, for without love or loss or pain
I would never learn peace…
~hag

“The teachers in the Mysteries said: “Every year at Midsummer, a solemn offering must be made to the Upper Gods in gratitude for the thoughts they vouchsafe to humanity; for if this is not done, it is all too easy for the Luciferic powers to invade man’s thinking and he is then permeated by these powers.

He can avoid this if every Summer he is mindful of how the Upper Gods have given him these thoughts, and at the Midsummer season lets his thoughts flow back again, as it were, to the Gods.” In this way the men of olden times tried to safeguard themselves from Luciferic influences.

The leaders of the Mysteries called together their pupils and enacted that solemn rite at the culmination of which the thoughts that had been revealed by the Upper Gods were now offered up to them in upward-streaming feelings.

The external rite consisted in solemn words being spoken into rising smoke which was thus set into waves. This act was merely meant to signify that the offering made by man’s inmost soul to the Upper Gods was being inscribed into an outer medium — the rising smoke — through form-creating words.

The words of the prayer inscribed into the rising smoke the feelings which the soul desired to send upwards to the Gods as an offering for the thoughts they had revealed.” 

~Rudolf Steiner, The Spiritual Communion of Mankind 

“…Now, man must learn to know the etheric and astral elements outside himself. This he can do only through the reverent deepening of spiritual science…

This is what Anthroposophy intends when it speaks of a renewal of the festivals…

We must come once more to an inner understanding of what the cycle of the year can mean to humanity in this connection; it can then be something even loftier than it was for man long ago”…~Rudolf Steiner, The Cycle of the Year as Breathing-Process of the Earth

~hag

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Near the Solstice, the twilight lingers well past 9 o’clock.

18 June 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Big Dipper hangs down by its handle high in the northwest. Spot the star at the end of its handle, the highest one. That’s Alkaid, the tail of Ursa Major.

Now spot the Sickle of Leo much lower and in the west. The brightest star about two fists upper left of the Sickle is Denebola, the tail of a different carnivore: Leo.

About one third of the way from Alkaid to Denebola is a fainter star: Cor Caroli (Alpha Canum Venaticorum).

And what is two thirds of the way down that line? Nothing? Look again, maybe in a darker sky. You’re looking into the big, dim Coma Berenices star cluster. The cluster’s brightest members form a sort of upside-down Y.

Feast Day of Archangel Uriel

1178 – Five Canterbury monks see the  Giordano Bruno crater  being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon’s distance from the Earth are a result of this collision

1812 – War of 1812 began when the U.S. declares war on Great Britain, Canada, & Ireland

1815 –The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte

1865 – Deathday of Antonie Wierz – Belgian romantic painter & sculptor

1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote

1900 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats & their families

1901 – Birthday of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov of Russia

1916 – Death day of Helmuth von Moltke, said by Steiner to have been Pope Nicholas I.

1924 – Rudolf Steiner travels to Koberwitz & Lauenstein to give the curative pedagogy lectures

1929 – Deathday of Michael Bauer – German teacher, author , lecturer, president after Carl Unger of the Anthroposophical Society

1940 – Appeal of 18 June by Charles de Gaulle

1971 – President Richard Nixon declares that illegal drugs are “public enemy number one”, which becomes popularized as the “War on Drugs“.

1979 – In Vienna, President Jimmy Carter & Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)

1983 –Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space

Friday 24 June 2021 – St. Johns-Tide Bon-Fire & Prep-Stir Social Gathering
7 pm CT Pot-Luck Dinner at the Home of Hazel Archer & Chuck Ginsberg

Join Rev. Jeana Lee in a St. John’s contemplation by the fire

Please Bring Food & Drink to Share in Community

This is an offical ‘Merry Prepstir‘ synchronized application,
linking us to Biodynamic workers around the world,
so that ‘The Earth May Be Healed’.
We will be working with BD 500 Horn Manure & 501 silica 

RSVP for address & directions

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC            The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) “We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17 Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 16 “The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I) AND Chapter 17 “Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link. *  Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work.  Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two 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: “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. This will be a Zoom conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer).  To connect to the audio/video-conference: Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106 Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com  Agenda for this meeting (Central Time) 7:15  Welcome and Introductions         7:18  Verse 7:25  Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers           Stefano – chapter 16           Camille – chapter 17 7:50  Conversation 8:25  ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28  Close with verse

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

A day long Workshop & AGM with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Saturday 16 July 2022 – In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in Ann Arbor & on Zoom

2 pm – Welcome, Singing, Chekhov movement, Biography work

3:30 – 3:45 pm – Break

3:45 – 5 pm – Our Parzival Quest and Question

5 pm – Be our guest for Dinner

6:30 – 7:30 pm – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to longtime member Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz onto the Council

The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya, working with Mary Metz

Please RSVP to Mary Metz mary.mcginnis@juno.com

To Inquire about Accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House Contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org