2 August 2018 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Evenings this week are a great time to explore the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. This star group lies due south & is at peak altitude between 11 pm & 12 am. The brightest stars within the constellation form the shape of a teapot — a distinctive asterism once you’ve found it — though it’s misshapen this year with the presence of Saturn just north of these stars & the central regions of the Milky Way pass through Sagittarius, so it’s wroth a glance.
***
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
“To cultivate Spiritual Science is no abstract pursuit. To cultivate Spiritual Science means to open the doors to those influences from beyond the earth which have been seeking to come down to the earth since the last third of the nineteenth century. The cultivation of Spiritual Science is in very truth a cosmic event of which we ought to be fully conscious” ~ Rudolf Steiner
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
March against Violence TODAY in Chicago
216 BC – The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae
Feast day of “The Virgen de los Angeles” (the Virgin of the Angels) is Costa Rica’s patron saint, also known as La Negrita. According to tradition, La Negrita, the Black Virgin, is a small (less than a meter tall), representation of the Virgin Mary found on this spot on August 2, 1635 by a native woman. As the story goes, when she tried to take the statuette with her, it miraculously reappeared twice back where she’d found it. The townspeople then built a shrine around her. In 1824, the Virgin was declared Costa Rica’s patron saint. La Negrita now resides on a gold, jewel-studded platform at the main altar in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. Each August 2, on the anniversary of the statuette’s miraculous discovery, pilgrims from every corner of the country (and beyond) walk the 22 km from San José to the basilica. Many of the penitent complete the last few hundred meters of the pilgrimage on their knees.
1832- Birthday of Henry Steel Olcott – an American military officer, journalist, lawyer & the co-founder & 1st President of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. From 1874 on, Olcott’s spiritual growth & development with Helena Blavatsky & other spiritual leaders would lead to the founding of the Theosophical Society. In 1875, Olcott, Blavatsky, & others, notably William Quan Judge, formed the Theosophical Society in New York City. Olcott financially supported the earliest years of the Theosophical Society & was acting President while Blavatsky served as the Society’s Secretary. In December 1878, they left New York in order to move the headquarters of the Society to India.
1921 – Birthday of Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor & actor
1922 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, one of the people who invented the telephone
1922 – A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China killing more than 50,000 people
1924 – The last of Rudolf Steiner’s “19 Class Lessons” was given in Dornach.
1934 – Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg
1939 – Albert Einstein & Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon
1943 – Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months
1968 – Deathday of Antonio d’Achille , Aquinas scholar
1969 – Deathday of Anna Samweber – an active co-worker in Berlin with Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner-von Sivers. Her anecdotes & recollections were recorded by Jacob Streit during an intensive two days shortly before Anna’s death. They contribute a warm & intimate picture of Rudolf Steiner, the man, & his work. “Frau Dr Steiner owned a lovely diamond watch with her initials inscribed on the lid. It was broken, and I had to take it to a well-known watchmaker who lived a long way from the Motzstrasse (the house at 17 Motzstrasse in Berlin was where Rudolf and Marie Steiner lived from 1903 – 1913, and where the work of the Anthroposophical Society was carried on). It was late on a cold and foggy November evening when I made my way in the direction of Nollendorfplatz, where the building site for a subway was situated. I was walking along a long, wooden blank wall when suddenly two human shapes appeared from the dark and attacked me. I remembered that once Rudolf Steiner had told me that if ever I was in need I could call on him. So when these two attackers went for me, the one holding me from behind so that the other could rob me, I called inwardly and spontaneously: ‘Doctor, help me!’ At the same moment both fellows fell back like lightning and were gone. When Rudolf Steiner came for breakfast the next morning he greeted me with the words ‘Good morning, Sam. What was the matter that you cried so loud last night?’ When I told him about my experience and he had listened quietly, he said simply: ‘But I did help you, didn’t I?’ “ ~Anna Samweber from her book Erinnerungen an Rudolf Steiner (Reminiscences of Rudolf Steiner)
***
TODAY is the Feast of St. Peter’s Chains – In commemoration of the miraculous deliverance of St. Peter, the visible head of the church, from prison. The entire event is described in the Acts of the Apostles, by St. Luke. Herod Agrippa, ruled over Judaea, with the title of king. During his evil reign, he beheaded, James the Great, brother of St. John. Herod then seized St. Peter, intending to make away with him in the same manner. Peter was taken prisoner, chained & locked in a narrow dungeon.
On the eve of his execution, an Angel appeared. Although heavily laden with chains, the holy Apostle was sleeping peacefully, guarded by the Angel, whose brightness illumined the dank dungeon. Just before dawn the Angel tapped Peter on the side to wake him, saying: “Arise quickly. Put on your sandals & cloak & follow me.” The Apostle, who thought it all a dream, obeyed & followed the Angel, the tight harsh chains falling from his hands. They passed the first & second watches without attracting attention, & reached the iron gate which led to the main street. The gate opened without the aid of human hands. After that the Angel vanished & was seen no more. Peter proceeded immediately to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the faithful were assembled in prayer.
When he knocked at the door, a servant, named Rhode, came, & asked who was there. Judging by the voice that it was Peter, she was so greatly startled with joy & astonishment, that, without opening the door, she ran back to announce the news. They believed that it must be his guardian Angel. Meanwhile, the Saint repeated knocking at the door. They opened it & saw, with amazement, their beloved shepherd safe & free from chains. Their joy on beholding him was as great as had been their grief when he was taken prisoner. Having given the sign for silence, St. Peter related all that had happened to him. They gave thanks to Divine Providence when he had ended, & learned to trust in future to the heavenly power & mercy.
***
The year is 1100. The date is August 2nd. The monks in the abbey at Gloucester are celebrating the holy-day of St. Peter in Chains. One of the monks wakes from a strange dream in which God promises to strike down the wicked King who has abused the Holy Church. His superior, Abbot Serlo, on hearing of the dream sends a warning to the King, William the Red, who has oppressed all of England with taxes & disgusted many with his licentiousness & blasphemy. Red, as he is called, receives the message the following day while preparing to indulge in one of his favorite sports, hunting, in the New Forest.
Although there are no longer any people dwelling in the New Forest — they were all cleared out by Red’s father, William the Conqueror — there are rumors that it’s a hotbed of pagan activity. And August 2 is an important pagan holy-day. The Saxons call it Lammas, the Loaf-Mass. William the Red laughs at the warning from the monks & goes out hunting. A short time later, he is dead, struck in the chest by a stray arrow, & his brother, Henry, who was in the hunting party is riding hot-foot for Winchester & the crown.
Now some people say that William the Red was a Lammas sacrifice, that having made a wasteland of his kingdom, he was killed by the people (or the Gods) as a sacrifice to bring new life to the land. And some people say his brother Henry had him assassinated. And some people say that both versions are true.
This story comes to my mind when I think of Lammas because this tale of sacrifice & hunting, a dying King & a wasted land, embodies many of the dominant themes of Lammas, one of the four seasonal quarter-days, & perhaps the least well-known.
The Celts celebrate this festival from sunset August 1 until sunset on the actual cross quarter day which this year falls on August 7th 2018. They call it Lughnasad after the God Lugh. It is the wake of Lugh, the Sun-King, whose light begins to dwindle after the summer solstice.
The Saxon holiday of Lammas celebrates the harvesting of the grain. The first sheaf of wheat is ceremonially reaped, threshed, milled & baked into a loaf. The grain dies so that the people might live. Grain has always been associated with Gods who are killed & dismembered & then resurrected from the Underworld by the Goddess-Gods like Tammuz, Osiris & Adonis. Eating this bread, the bread of the Gods, gives us life. If all this sounds vaguely Christian, it is. In the sacrament of Communion, bread is blessed, becomes the body of Christ & is eaten to nourish the evolution of the faithful. And All are Welcome at the Table.
In Christo Morimur
***
How To Know, Confront, and Work with Evil
A Weekend Workshop with Rev. Bastiaan Baan
At the Christian Community, 2135 W. Wilson Chicago, Il. 60625
Saturday 4 August 2018, 10 am – 8 pm
Sunday 5 August 2018, 11:45am – 5 pm
Fee is a Sliding Scale $25 – $100
Please Rsvp to Rev. Ann Burfeind
***
by Grace Kahn
20 August 2018 ~MORAL MONDAY~ CHICAGO 7 pm – 9 pm
“When The Trees Melt Away In A Sun Soaked Cotton Dream”
A going going gone Party for the CWS Class of 2018 –
an Art Exhibit with Musical Performances from the Youth at Elderberries Chicago 4251 N. Lincoln Ave.
Illustrations by Grace Kahn, Work by Shanti Rogers, Art booth by Liz Rosu-Rosenberg
Songs from “Beyond Blue and Red” by Ultra-Violet Archer
Chance Schneider & DJ Grapefruit Effect
$10 Donation –MORE or less (Youth under 21 FREE)
***
How We Will: Organizing a Bare Bones Threefold Cultural Revolution
30 Aug. 2018 at 12 PM to 3 Sep. 2018 at 2 PM
Registration is now openfor How We Will 2018 –
The ever growing list of Contributors: Plus new additions being added everyday
Hosted by The Elderberries 3Fold Cafe Chicago & Urban First Aid – Art As Medicine 4251 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618-2953
A central theme which we will explore at the forum will be the theory and practice of Social Three-folding, developed by Rudolf Steiner. Organizing for systemic change – a separation of powers into three different spheres of action fostering:
In the Economics Realm –a moral imagination of Kinship
In Rights/Governance – Equality
In Culture/Education/Spirituality – Freedom
Through lectures, capacity building workshops, and collaborative design, we will develop ourselves as change agents with Three-folding activists from around the world. What new tools, skills, levels of listening, mindfulness, forms of capital and alternative currencies, and generative ideas can we gain in order to truly develop our cultural voice and potential to connect and heal our relationships, communities, nations, and the earth?
Come to the How We Will Forum to learn, listen deeply, and dig in with other communities that we might grow together, unified by a common vision of creating a more equitable world.
CHICAGO FRIENDS – WE NEED HOUSING!
We will also be building out the cafe space two weeks before and two weeks after for those who can come early &/or stay and help get this Elderberries 3Fold Cafe Chicago up and running!
In honor of this forum Steiner Books is offering a 25% discount on all Social Responsibility titles until 7/31/2018 with the code: SR0718.
***