~The Miraculous birth of Zarathustra
Greetings Friends – The Miraculous birth of someone who has a special destiny, is a big theme in myth & legend. These powerful tales often include interventions by a deity, an angel, some sort of supernatural elements, or profound astronomical signs, often accompanied by barreness in old age, or other hardships. Sometimes complex plots around the birth are related to creation myths or the progress of human evolution.
In the story of Krishna, the deity Vishnu is the agent of conception & also the offspring. Because of his sympathy for the earth, the divine Vishnu descended into the womb of Devaki & was born as her son, Krishna.
In Ancient Mesopotamia we hear that Ea (Sophia) Conceives Marduk. The conception of Horus by Isis is understood in terms of the Egyptian doctrine of parthenogenesis.
Mithra was born from the rock.
The Second Book of Enoch contains a section, called ‘Exaltation of Melchizedek’, which says that the Priest/King Melchizedek was conceived of a virgin, Sopanima, a brother of Noah – born after she died! Melchizedek sat on the bed beside her corpse, already fully grown, speaking & blessing the Lord, dressed with the badge of priesthood. Forty days later, Melchizedek was taken by the archangel Gabriel (Michael in some manuscripts) to the Garden of Eden to keep him safe from the Deluge without having to be in Noah’s Ark. Then later:
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he is the priest of the most high God.” — Genesis 14:18–20
There is also a reflection in the Old Testament story of Hannah (also spelled Anna) the mother of the prophet Samuel. Childless, she prayed for a son, promising to dedicate him to God. Her prayers are answered, & she brings forth Samuel, giving him up to the Temple for religious training.
Alexander the Great (with the help of Artemis) the Ptolemies, & the Caesars were said to have been “virgin-born.”
Romulus & Remus, the legendary twin founders of the city of Rome, were born to a Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia, & raised by the Wolf Goddess.
The virgin Chimalman conceived Quetzalcoatl by swallowing an emerald.
Huitzilopochtli’s mother was Coatlicue – She of the Serpent Skirt. One day, while sweeping she discovers a bundle of feathers on the ground. She decides to save them placing them next to her heart. Without realizing, the feathers impregnate her.
~Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo, The Nativity of the Virgin Mary
I could go on & on with examples…But why am I thinking about this today – Well, According to the original Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner, TODAY is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Mary’s September birth, with the Sun in the constellation Virgo, has ‘officially’ been celebrated since the 6th century. Also noteworthy – the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is nine months earlier on 8 December.
St. Augustine connects Mary’s birth with the work of The Christ. He tells the earth to rejoice & shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed...
Today the barren Anna claps her hands for joy, the earth radiates with light, kings sing their happiness, priests enjoy every blessing, the entire universe rejoices, for she who is queen and the Father’s immaculate bride buds forth from the stem of Jesse”
Anne, the mother of Mary, first appears in the 2nd-century Apocryphal Gospel of James. Anne & her husband, Joachim, (name of a pillar in the sacred Temple) are infertile, but God hears their prayers & Mary is conceived without sexual intercourse. – The story goes that Anna prayed beneath a laurel tree near their home in Galilee. Gabriel appeared & said: “Anne the Lord hath heard thy prayer & thou shalt conceive & bring forth, & thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world” Anna replied: “As the Lord my God liveth, I will bring this child as a gift to the Lord thy God in all Holiness.”
When Mary was 3 years old, Anna & Joachim took Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem where she entered into the inner Sanctuary, & they never saw her again in that life.
Legend has it that the body of “Good Saint Anna” was brought to France by Saint Mary Magdalene in 47 AD
Happy B-day BVM. May your miraculous birth work to awaken the virtuous tasks at hand, so that we may live into the potential of our human nobility…
~hag
~Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
8 September 2023 – “Speaking with the stars”: The waning crescent moon is near the twin stars of Gemini: Castor & Pollux. Bright Venus (occult Mercury) will rise below them as morning twilight begins. Also, look for the bright star Procyon of Canis Minor the Lesser Dog shining nearby. Can you see earthshine glowing on the moon?
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1504 – Michelangelo’s David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence
1565 – The Knights of Malta lift the Ottoman siege of Malta, the climax of an escalating contest between a Christian alliance & the Islamic Ottoman Empire for control of the Mediterranean
1637 – Deathday of Robert Fludd, a prominent English Paracelsian physician & occultist, an astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist & Rosicrucian apologist.
1900 – Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people
1941 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins
1949 – Deathday of Richard Strauss, German composer
1978 – Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, provoked 700-3000 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran
1988 – Deathday of Dr Rita Leroi a few days before her 75th birthday. She attended the Stuttgart Waldorf School as a child. She went on to became a Clinical Assistant at the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim. She developed a deep interest in cancer & the Iscador treatment of this disease. In 1954 she married Dr Alexandre Leroi who was the leader of the Society for Cancer Research & Director of the Hiscia Research Institute in Arlesheim. It is here that Iscador is produced & researches into the many problems to be solved in developing it into an effective remedy are undertaken. In October 1963 the Lukas Klinik, devoted to the care & treatment of cancer patients, opened in Arlesheim & Rita Leroi became its Director & selected to be President of the International Anthroposophical Medical Association
Saturday 23 September 2023
Community Prep-Stir / Potluck / Bon-fire Celebrating
*Autumnal Equinox
*Yom Kippur
*Michaelmas Festival
6 – 8 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile
Please Bring Food & Drink to share, & a jar for the prep
30 September 2023 – Our Annual Michaelmas Festival & Zinniker Farm Day
Biodynamic preparation making and Michaelmas 2023 – Food for Thought
The time for biodynamic preparation making is come up again very soon.
We will be making and burying the chamomile, yarrow and dandelion compost preparations. This offers hands on activity. We will be walking through grass and work in soil. Please dress accordingly and be ready to get dirty.
After the potluck join Hazel Archer-Ginsberg in an experiential activity at the bon-fire called: Food for Thought –
Bounty: What spiritual gifts have you harvested in your life so far this year?
Farewells: What no longer serves? What is over? Say good-bye and thank you.
Preserves: What will you keep as seed for the future?
Date: September 30th, 2023 at the Zinniker Farm
Time: 1:30pm, potluck dinner
Please bring a dish to share
Suggested donation: $15-25 for more info.
