We are called to live into the 3rd week of Advent. The first week is sacred to the physical mineral realm, the 2nd week to etheric plant world, & this 3rd week honors the animal kingdom & the astral realm which we share with them.
As a city girl I am close to cats & dogs; I am lucky to be able to go up to the Zinniker Farm & commune with the creatures there, but it is not often enough that I get to be up close & personal with the majority of the animal world. All too often, society teaches us to fear animals, neglect them, misuse them, harm them, kill them, eat them. And in doing so, we also harm ourselves & the environment. No doubt that this Corona Crisis is trying to get us to see a connection between the abuse of animals & the appearance of harmful viruses in the world.
Each type of animal represents a soul mood, an archetypal imprint out-pictured in the constellations of the zodiac; cast off reflections of ourselves in the astral realm.
At Christmas-tide we look to the symbol of the manger surrounded by these pure archetypes of the soul world, & see there its reflection in our own hearts, waiting to give birth to the child of light.
As we embark upon this 3rd week of Advent, we meet the Air Trial which asks us to develop sense free thinking – A thinking that does not kill. But in order to develop this thinking we must first develop, fortitude & presence of mind.
Sense Free thinking is a form of perception that allows us to see both sides of the truth, & the spirit behind all things. And in the moment when the spirit behind what we see is noticed, we find the genesis of thought.
Sense based Thinking is like the antlers of an animal that we might find in the forest. The spirit, is like the deer that animated the anthers, it is no longer there but has left evidence that a being was once enlivening the cast off antlers.
So sense free thinking is seeing both the deer & it’s antlers at the same time, knowing they are one. Modern science & medicine in particular often look at the human body as a cadaver & think they know what a human being is.
To ‘Practice Spirit Beholding’, which we hear in the 3rd panel of the foundation stone meditation, the mind needs to be open, quiet, present & awake – ‘Practice Spirit Beholding in stillness of thought’.
When we reach the Air Trial, nothing holds us up. We are left hanging in the air. We have no Ground on which to stand, we must create our own moral uprightness, which builds new organs within us. This is the aim of human development, to be upright. We can’t let fear take the ground from under our feet, or our breath away; we must stand on the Foundation Stone & look inward to find “Where the eternal goals of the gods, Bestow the light of cosmic being, On your own I, For free and active willing”.
Yes, friends, the Foundation Stone is the secret code, the key that unlocks the human soul, the prescription & antidote for what ails thee. We hear how the will that was living in us from the past must now be transformed into thinking. The light bestowed upon us for our free willing by the hierarchy of angels – the Sons of Light, lives in the elemental beings behind all the things we see, & when we think light we carry them into us.
Sense free thinking is a creative consciousness, which can only be achieved thru having a will that is free & a soul that is balanced. This trial requires that our “I” to hold together thinking, feeling & willing, thru our own efforts.
Yesterday was the feast of Santa Lucia, a triumph of the light after much suffering. The legend says she was blinded as punishment for her faith. And how interesting that according to Astrosophy, which takes into account what was happening in the heavens during the life of Christ on earth, this time of year, corresponds to the ‘Healing of the man born blind’ in the Gospel of John.
We can think how our eyes were created by the light of the Sun, whose light is now waning, so that the spiritual light within can be set ablaze, thru our thinking will. The ‘Sun stands still’ at the Winter solstice & then is born anew. PER SPIRITUM SANCTUM REVIVISCIMUS, We unite ourselves in the spirit, In the spirit we live again…
~hag
14 December 2021- “Speaking with the Stars”: The Geminid meteors, which are not like other meteor showers, are peaking. The Geminids are not caused by a comet, but by fragments of an asteroid, called Phaethon, the son of the Sun God Helios who crashes the chariot of the Sun. The “radiant” point is near Castor, the mortal brother in the constellation of the Twins.
What are the asteroids? There is an asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter & Mars. Spiritual Science tells us that the planetary spheres carry the memories of the previous or future evolutionary cycles of Earth Evolution: Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon, with future Jupiter & Venus phases.
In Occult Science, Rudolf Steiner describes the cycles of Ancient Moon and the development of our astral nature, when a ‘Great Cosmic War’ took place between the higher evolutionary beings & those beings who rebelled or remained behind during this cycle. The results or remnants of this War are what we see in the asteroid belt.
These Geminid meteors coming from the asteroid belt during Advent, occurring with the Sun in Scorpion, can be taken as an awakening warning, a cautionary tale. So, as we approach this Christmas, passing through Advent, thru Scorpio, thru the Geminid meteors & the memory of the Great Rebellion against the Sun beings, we are called to prepare the way for the Light of Christ that is to be born anew in us; a spiritual deepening, & a recognition of the deed of sacrifice – of the higher to the lower, as seen in the myth of the Gemini twins, to bring redemption to the Earthly. (For more details see Jonathan Holton’s article astrosophy.com)
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1546 – Birthday of Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer & chemist – Steiner speaks of this individuality as also being: Herzeleide, the mother of Parzival & Julian The Apostate, & the inspirer of Schelling. see Karmic Relationships: Esoteric Studies – Volume IV lecture 5 & Lecture 6
1833- Kasper Hauser is attacked with a knife.
1875 – Death day of Kasper Hauser’s tutor G.F. Daumer
1997 – Deathday of Owen Barfield
Holiday Market at the Rudolf Steiner Branch
4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
18 December 2021 – from 11 am – 4 pm
Handcrafted gifts, décor & toys
Featuring Live Music, Puppetry & Candle Dipping!!!
If you would like to be a vendor contact Elizabeth Kelly
eilisaineariadne@gmail.com
Thursday 23 December 2021 – The Eve of the Eve –
11 am PT / 12 pm MT / 1 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm UTC
A Christmas Festival with Christian Community Priest Rev. Jeana Lee,
Movement with Lucien Dante Lazar
‘Divine Love and the Holy Child Within’
This will be a hybrid in-person & Zoom event
Featuring our 2 camera technology with Mary Spalding
Doors open at 12:30 pm (Zoom Room open 12:45 pm for Social time)
Snacks to Share Encouraged
Suggested donation $15.00 –
At the door or via the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal donation site –
*Please make a note on the first line – type in: “Christmas Fest”!
The Festival will be recorded
Time: Dec 23, 2021 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=Vk1XcDJqT0lKeHYzWXZJNlRYNlRvZz09
Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Passcode: Christmas
For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Storytelling during the Holy Nights 2021-2022
Hosted by the Anthroposophical Society in America
”The purpose of a story is to be an ax that breaks up the ice within us.”
~ Franz Kafka
Click to Register!
All around the world the season of midwinter is the traditional time for community bonding through storytelling. In laying the groundwork for the 100-year anniversary of the Christmas Conference, we bring the ancient Sumerian saga “The Epic of Gilgamesh” to life. Rudolf Steiner explored this story in Occult History during the Holy Nights of 1910; and again with the lectures “World History in the Light of Anthroposophy” given during those fateful Holy Nights in 1923 for the re-founding of the Society.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the oldest written tale on Earth. The Sumerian version dates from around 3000 B.C. Later it was compiled from 12 clay tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform.
It is the “Hero’s Journey” of human evolution, a story of friendship, and a quest for the meaning of life – revealing Steiner’s core mission of bringing karma and reincarnation to the west.
Myths, fairytales, historical epics, and sagas open us up to powerful archetypes behind the human condition, revealing clues to ourselves – from the past, the present, and the future. What will we uncover about ourselves and each other during this year’s Holy Nights adventure in storytelling?
Tune in for any or all of the episodes of this dramatic reading, re-worked by Hazel Archer from various translations, and featuring friends from around the world.
What: The Epic of Gilgamesh: Story Telling during the Holy Nights hosted by the ASA, Hazel Archer, and friends.
Time: 22 minutes daily at 9 am PT / 10 am MT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET / 5 pm UTC
Dates: December 24, 2021- January 5, 2022 for 13 consecutive days
Can’t join us live? No problem. Each gathering will be recorded and posted on our Holy Nights page (link will be emailed upon registration).
How: Register Here! Then check your email for confirmation with the Zoom registration link.
Cost: This event is free with suggested donations of $25, $50, $100
Your donations help us create events like this one!
Register Here!
www.anthroposophy.org/holynights
Eurythmy for the Holy Nights with Jan Ranck
‘Tuning to the Stars’:
Sacred Geometry, the Planets and the Zodiac
LIVE IN-PERSON 26-30 Dec. 2021
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4 pm – 5 pm
And at 7pm on 31 Dec. as part of our Annual NYE Gathering (details below)
$100 for all 6 sessions, or $22 for each individual session.
Make your payment using the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal
or QuickPay with Zelle to chase@rschicago.org
(Please indicate in the notes that it is for the “Holy Nights Eurythmy”)
Cash at the door, or send a check to:
Rudolf Steiner Branch
4249 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618-2953
USA
For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
* Jan Ranck – Born in the USA, Jan Ranck studied music and comparative arts at Indiana University in Bloomington. She accompanied the London Stage Group on their 1976 USA tour and went on to study eurythmy at the Eurythmeum in Dornach with Lea van der Pals, where she subsequently taught. In 1984 she joined the faculty of The London School of Eurythmy. She left there to complete her eurythmy therapy training in Stuttgart in 1989, moving afterward to Israel, where she founded and directed the Jerusalem Eurythmy Ensemble (1990) and the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy (1992) and was an instructor in the Jerusalem Waldorf Teacher Bachelor Program in David Yellin Academic College from 1999. Jan has held Master Classes at various venues worldwide, including the Goetheanum and the MA Program in Eurythmy held at Emerson College and Spring Valley. She is the representative for Israel in the International Eurythmy Therapy Forum.
Friday 31 December 2021
Doors open at 6:30 pm
Join us for our Annual NYE Conscious Community Gathering –
The Theme for 2022 is Cabaret – a Cultural Sharing!
All are invited to take the stage with an offering.
Circles Edge & other Waldorf alum will also perform
Please bring Food & Drink to share
$20 Cash at the door or Make your payment using the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal or QuickPay with Zelle to chase@rschicago.org
(Please indicate in the notes that it is for the “NYE”)
All proceeds go to support the Rudolf Steiner Branch – the young People hosting & The Band (Can’t make it? send a $ gift PayPal)
7 – 8 pm – Holy Nights Eurythmy with Jan Ranck (separate fee $22 see above)
8 pm – Potluck Social
8:30 pm – Circles Edge & Friends warm the stage & host the open mic
10:10 pm – Thought-Seed Circle
10:30 pm – Clean-up…;)
For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Hazel, the December Full Moon occurs on the 18th, just after the end of the Geminid period of asteroid fragments falling to earth from December 4th to the 17th. So, the Full Moon of December’s Advent season comes in the sign of Gemini on the 18th. The Sun is at the same time in the sign of the Archer, Sagittarius. So, I have to ask you why you are still holding to this idea of the Sun in Scorpio over the four weeks of Advent?
You wrote:
“These Geminid meteors coming from the asteroid belt during Advent, occurring with the Sun in Scorpion, can be taken as an awakening warning, a cautionary tale. So, as we approach this Christmas, passing through Advent, thru Scorpio, thru the Geminid meteors & the memory of the Great Rebellion against the Sun beings, we are called to prepare the way for the Light of Christ that is to be born anew in us; a spiritual deepening, & a recognition of the deed of sacrifice – of the higher to the lower, as seen in the myth of the Gemini twins, to bring redemption to the Earthly.”
I think it is possible that one’s doppleganger can get the upper hand at times and this causes the dilemma of a kind of retardation in the Sun’s actual movement through the signs of the Zodiac. This year seems to be your situation. Sagittarius is a Fire sign, and bears the arches of the two great lights in the sky, ref. Genesis, 1. Thus, what better of a sign to bullseye the parameters of Advent in its four weeks?
Likely, your cautionary tale is your own, with the reservations that you have since Thanksgiving, when the Sun *was* still in Scorpio. But, we don’t need to extend it for four more weeks! Salvation is seen in the progression from Scorpio to Sagittarius.
I am quoting the preeminent astrosophy Jonathan Hilton https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dcad692abb42404596a69ca/t/61b7ac2391192b7cd7546395/1639427107379/The+Geminids+12.13.21.pdf
There are several dates for the Sun in the sign of Scorpio:
Tropical Zodiac = October 23 to November 22
Sidereal Astronomy = November 16 to December 15
Steiner’s COS = November 10 to November 30
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpio_(astrology)
As well, from this week’s USNO website:
“December’s Full Moon occurs at the apex of one of the most visually attractive asterisms in the sky, Popularly known as the Great Winter Circle or Winter Hexagon, the asterism is delineated by seven colorful first magnitude stars. It surrounds the magnificent constellation of Orion, the Hunter. Orion is visible from every inhabited part of the Earth, and is one of the few constellations that can be easily identified from urban locations. The Hunter’s brightest stars are the rose-tinted Betelgeuse and icy-blue Rigel. Between these two are three blue-hued stars that mark Orion’s belt.”
https://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week/the-sky-this-week-2021-december-14-21-1
Then, it dawned on me. Between Scorpio and Sagittarius is the still largely not acknowledged sign of Ophiuchus. When Rudolf Steiner says that the Sun moves from Scorpio to Sagittarius on December 1, he may not have had the insight for calculating the period of the Sun in this sign. In Ophiuchus, the sting of Scorpio passes over to the squeeze of the Serpent; also having some dread. Do you think this is the possibility we have here, Hazel? Jonathan?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiuchus
I have a friend who works with this Ophiuchus, interesting
Yes, indeed. Ophiuchus skirts the ecliptic between Scorpio and Sagittarius and has designs on being the 13th sign of the Zodiac, but both astronomers and astrologists today refrain from having to recalculate their parameters. Is it the idea of too much work in order to bring in the 13th? This is no different than when the 13th was brought into the College of Twelve, when Christian Rosenkreutz was born. As well, to see the Christ as the 13th in the centre of the Twelve Bodhisattvas is a proof. Arthur as the 13th among 12 knights of the round table.
Hazel, this could be our offset in transferring Scorpio to Sagittarius based on my Steinerian time parameter. Does Jonathan Hilton deal with this anywhere? How about your friend? I am really interested at this point. Leaving Ophiuchus out of account this time of year when the Sun actually goes there could prove to be something of importance, don’t you think? We only need to know our challenges within the Advent season. So, bring it on because truth is what we need in this day and age.
Victoria Martin viccimartin@gmail.com
she is very open to discussing her work
Cool, thank you. I am also very open about discussing my work. I look for all the friends I can get. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I came 🙂
Hazel, I was reminded on another blog that Owen Barfield, who died on December 14, 1997, as you note, was friends with C.S. Lewis, who died on November 22, 1963. They had a kind of ‘great war’ for about five years, in which Barfield, the anthroposophist, waged a battle with Lewis, the atheist who eventually became a Christian of a certain renown which lasts to this day. It was Owen Barfield’s influence on his friend, C.S. Lewis, concerning the central influence of the Christ Event in human evolution that eventually caused his friend to convert to Christianity, although Lewis continued to despise Steiner and anthroposophy on the surface of his convictions.
That friendship reminds me of ‘Estella & Mary’ the 2 characters in the prologue of the 1st Mystery Drama – Estella is the CS Lewis Character & Mary the die hard Anthro.
I always wanted to write the 5th Drama where we see them in the next life & the unfolding of how Mary’s influence on Estella has taken hold…