~Franck Giraud

In this life, I am, at the core a solitary person – inwardly inclined. A meditant. Socially shy & awkward. And yet on the one side – my choleric nature makes me an active seeker – ever striving to unveil the New Mysteries, so folks often see me as a fiery extrovert. But my watery melancholic side is very much an introverted devotee – a contemplative hermit in service to the Christic Sophia. I AM, an ‘As above so Below’ – ‘Know Thyself’ introspector – a rhythmic cultivator of the Anthroposophia within.

So when I do a presentation, or attend a conference, or go out in public in anyway, I really have to psych myself up. (In the tropical Zodiac I am a double Cancer with a Pisces Moon)

Being a student of Spiritual Science I know I must come out of my shell to be ‘a person of initiative’ – that all the inner work must be tried on the stage of humanity – in karmic relationship – in community.

I thoroughly resonate to this Adam Bittleson quote:

“In the new mysteries the whole earth becomes an altar…Our friends & colleagues become for us, the terrible & wonderful actors in the ceremony of our initiation.” 

So interesting that the Conference I have just returned from – a 101 year celebration of the founding of The Christian Community, was called ‘Fire in the Heart’. In my mind these words are a kind of continuation from the title of the ASA Conference I spearheaded called: ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’. And perhaps a precursor for the upcoming play “Fire in the Temple” a Centennial offering dramatizing Rudolf Steiner’s final months – & a showing of us to ourselves.

I am living into this juxtaposition of the words: Temple, Heart, Fire…It feels very Rosicrucian – Alchemical – Perfect for our time now.

Without going into the details of the conference with all its glory – from the Spirit of Place that is the Driftless Region of the Heartland – The powerful effect of participating daily in the Act Consecration & Close of Day services with 3 Priests & our Lenker – The experiential Art making, the breakout Workshops, Talks, evening Artistic Offerings, good Food & Conversation… I thought instead to digest outloud – sharing what at our Closing Plenum was called: a ‘Gem (I think of it as a Flower) & a Seed’ – our personal take away, & our hopes for the future of renewal.

It’s funny, when I was younger it was hard for me to hold back – I had a tendency to stay wide awake while others spoke, not very patiently waiting to have my say. I am still working on this of course. But since I have made it my intention for many years to consciously transform this tendency – to counteract that egotism so that I can really listen – recently what I have found is that I feel caught in-between – Yes, I can more easily yield to the other; but now I have a hard time waking back up to myself after falling asleep in the other – hmmm…

Our current Soul Calendar Verse describes this perfectly:

I find myself being more quiet, letting the space be open for others to speak my thoughts, which is good. I am relating, & the echo is resonate. But sometimes it feels like my unique experience, which is hard to access, let alone express in a sound bite, is left unrevealed.

(I guess that’s why I have this blog & podcast & do presentations eh 😉

This is the eve of the eve of my natal return, so it feels right to share my introspection. Today’s post is simply the setup for the next few essays in which I will attempt to process this most recent initiatory experience, which is tied into the workshop presentation I gave at the “Fire of the Heart’ Conference, coming from my burning question: ‘How can we tune into the Etheric Christ?’ Which was based on my work with what Steiner calls the ‘After-Image’, & with insights on Empathy & a New Social Ethic from Baruch Urieli’s book “Learning to Experience The Etheric World”.

Stay tuned

~hag

10 July 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Slowly making its way across Leo, Mars passes north of Regulus at 3 am CDT. You can view them this evening in the west after sunset, with the Red Planet now slightly northeast of the star. If you’re in a dark location, you can use Venus and Mars as guides to find the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system. It’s along this plane that dust from past cometary passes settles, scattering sunlight to create the zodiacal light. Once darkness falls, look for a faint, cone-shaped glow extending along the ecliptic, spreading upward from Cancer through Leo. The ecliptic continues along the sky and passes just north of Spica, Virgo’s bright alpha star, which lies east of Leo.

Sunrise: 5:40 A.M.
Sunset: 8:30 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:40 A.M.
Moonset: 2:02 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (43%)

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (RSarchives) 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul; The Present Age, Wikipedia)

Nikola Tesla Day

138 – Deathday of Emperor Hadrian, Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian is known for building Hadrian’s Wall, which marked the northern limit of Britannia. He also rebuilt the Pantheon & constructed the Temple of Venus & Roma. An admirer of the Greeks, he is considered by some to have been a humanist, & he is regarded as one of the Five Good Emperors.

Described by T.H. Meyer as being a former incarnation of Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz – the first to be informed by Rudolf Steiner about his idea of ​​a social threefold structure , alongside Otto Lerchenfeld & Walter Johannes Stein . He introduced them to the governments of Austria & the Czech Republic thru his brother Arthur, head of the cabinet of Emperor Charles I.

In 1935 Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz tried to prevent the split in the Anthroposophical Society ; after he failed to do so, he resigned in 1936 & worked as a freelance publicist & lecturer until his death.

165 – Deathday of Felicitas of Rome is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. A legend presents her as the mother of the seven martyrs: Alexander, Vitalis, Martialis, Januarius, Felix, Philip, Sylvanus. In Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul we see listed for today the Fairy Tale The Seven Ravens (Sieben Bruder) by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

1212 –London burns to the ground

1856 – Birthday of Nikola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, & futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system

1871 – Birthday of Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, & essayist

1921 –‘Bloody Sunday’: 160 people are killed & 161 houses destroyed during rioting & gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland

1923 – Rudolf Steiner invites L. Polzer-Hoditz to Belin to discuss Threefolding. (See above about the Emperor Hadrian)

1925 – Scopes Trial: the so-called “Monkey Trial” – a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world

1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.

1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. As many as 60,000 people come to hear Dr. King as well as Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, & Peter, Paul and Mary.

1975 – Deathday of Marie Savitch – One of eurythmy’s pioneers, Marie Savitch was director of the Goetheanum stage group for many years and oversaw much of the early development of eurythmy.

1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.

I will be heading out for our next training 1-7 August 2023

Here is a newsletter with an article I wrote about my expereince working with Steiner’s Inner Realities of Evoultion