Ring of Fire

June 9, 2021Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, History, Insight, Poetry, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

Listen: the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast

The dance goes on. Two weeks after May’s total lunar eclipse, the Sun, Moon and Earth align again on Thursday, June 10th. This time, the Moon glides between the Earth and the Sun to grace the morning sky with an annular eclipse. The eclipse is central but not total because the Moon is near apogee, its most distant point from Earth. Its apparent diameter will be shy of completely covering the Sun, leaving a “ring of fire”.

Try to watch the eclipse from the Great Inland Sea of Chicago where the blazing crescent and its glitter path should be nothing short of spectacular. Many of us will be tempted to look at the rising Sun at the horizon where haze often attenuates its light. Be careful. A momentary glance might be OK, but never stare at the Sun even for a second. Infrared light can cook your retinas and permanently damage your vision. Keep eclipse glasses at the ready.

Global Event: Annular Solar Eclipse

Local Type: Partial Solar Eclipse, in Chicago

Begins: Thu, Jun 10, 2021 at 5:15 am

Maximum: Thu, Jun 10, 2021 at 5:18 am

Ends: Thu, Jun 10, 2021 at 5:39 am

Duration: 24 minutes

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul, Anthrowiki, Wikipedia Commons)

53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.

68 – The Roman emperor Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. Nero’s rule is associated with tyranny & extravagance. He is known for many executions, including that of his mother. Nero was rumored to have had captured Christians dipped in oil & set on fire in his garden at night as a source of light. This view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius & Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Nero’s reign. Facing a false report of being denounced as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide, the first Roman emperor to do so.

“Think of all that history recounts of Nero. In face of such a personality it seems as if life could be mocked and scorned with impunity, as if the utterly flippant disregard for life displayed by one in a position of great power and authority, brought no consequences. Anyone hearing of Nero’s deeds must be dull-witted if he is not driven to ask: What becomes of a soul such as this, who scorns the whole world, who regards the life of other men, nay even the existence of a whole city, as something he can play with? “What an artist is lost in me!” is a saying attributed to Nero, and it seems to be in line with his whole attitude and tenor of mind. Utmost flippancy, an intense desire and urge for destruction, acknowledged even by himself — and the soul actually taking pleasure in it all!

One can only be repelled by the story, for here is a personality who literally radiates destruction. And the question forces itself upon us: What becomes of such a soul?

Now we must be quite clear on this point: Whatever is discharged, as it were, upon the world, is reflected in the life between death and a new birth, and discharged in turn upon the soul who has been responsible for the destruction. A few centuries later, that is to say, a comparatively short time afterwards, Nero appeared again in the world in an unimportant form of existence. During this incarnation a certain balance was brought about in respect of the mania for destruction, the enthusiasm for destruction in which he had indulged as a ruler, simply out of an inner urge. In that next life on earth something of this was balanced out, for the same individuality was now in a position where he was obliged to destroy; he was in a subordinate position, acting under orders. The soul had now to realise what it is like when such acts are not committed out of free will while in a position of supreme power.

Matters of this kind must be studied quite objectively and all emotion avoided — that is absolutely essential. In a certain respect, such a destiny calls for pity — for to be as cruel as Nero, to have a mania for destruction as great as his, is, after all, a destiny. There is no need for hatred or censure; moreover such an attitude would prevent one from experiencing all that is required in order to understand the further developments. Insight into the things that have been spoken of here is possible only when they are looked at objectively, when no hostile judgment is passed but when human destiny is really understood. Things disclose themselves quite clearly, provided one has the faculty for understanding them … That this Nero-destiny came vividly before me on one occasion was attributable to what seemed to be chance — but it was only seemingly chance.

One day, when a terrible event had occurred, an event of which I shall speak in a moment and which had a shattering effect throughout the region concerned, I happened to be visiting a person frequently mentioned in my autobiography: Karl Julius Schröer. When I arrived I found him profoundly shocked, as numbers were, by what had happened. And the word “Nero” fell from his lips — apparently without reason — as though it burst from dark depths of the spirit. To all appearances the word came entirely out of the blue. But later on it became quite clear that in reality the Akashic Record was here being voiced through human lips. The event referred to was the following. —

The Austrian Crown Prince had always been acclaimed as a brilliant personality, and great hopes were entertained for the time when he would ascend the Throne. Although all kinds of things were known about the behaviour of the Crown Prince Rudolf, they were accepted as almost inevitable in the case of one of such high rank; nobody dreamt for a moment that the things told about him might lead to any serious, tragic conflicts. It was therefore an overwhelming shock when it became known in Vienna that the Crown Prince Rudolf had met his death in mysterious circumstances near the Convent of the Holy Cross, outside Baden, near Vienna. Details gradually came to light and at first there was talk of a “fatal accident” — indeed this was officially announced. Then, after the official announcement, it became known that the Crown Prince had gone to his hunting lodge accompanied by the Baroness Vetsera and that there they had both met their death…” ~Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume II: Lecture V https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA236/English/RSP1974/19240427p01.html

373 – Feast Day of Ephrem the Syrian, Turkish hymnographer & theologian

597 – Feast day of Columbanus the Elder, Irish Celtic Christian. Rudolf Steiner speaks about him as the individuality Iona in GA 178, where the sacredness of Ireland is described. http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA178/English/RSP1966/19171119p02.html

1311 – Duccio’s Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled & installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy

1870 Deathday of Charles Dickens

1915 – William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States’ handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania

1934 – Donald Duck made his debut in the Silly Symphonies cartoon “The Wise Little Hen.”

1940 – Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II

1941 – The Christian Community is banned in Germany

1954 – McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.

In Thought Amongst The Clouds Painting by Jeremy Aiyadurai — Jeremy Aiyadurai

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~i carry into the clouds
the life of earth,
the breath of my body
a pulse of prose
gained from pain
the twists of fate
given into with pleasure
an opening to moisture
an opportunity seized & released…
~hag

Angela Foster

Summer Practice & Research Group – 6 Essential Exercises & Eightfold Path

Beginning Saturday June 12 and ending July 24.

9:00 – 9:15 am PT / 10 am MT / 11 am CT / noon ET / 5 pm UTC / 6 pm CET

Daily 15-minute Zoom for 42 days (6 weeks)

You are invited to join with a group of friends as we explore Rudolf Steiner’s 6 Essential Exercises alongside the Eightfold / Daily Exercise Path.

This is a practice group AND a research group. We are experimenting with weaving our attention with weekly rhythm of the 6BE and the daily rhythm of Eightfold Path/ Daily Exercises. You are encouraged to bring a journal to make notes and keep track of your progress.

Zoom Link (Use this link for more details.)

Free

‘Preparing the Way’ an experiential St. John’s-Tide Festival

23 June 2021, Doors open at 5:30 pm with a Potluck -Program from 7-8:30 pm

In-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4248 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, 60618

The program is evolving – There is a possibility that world-renowned eurythmist Jan Ranck from the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy will lead us in group eurythmy (TBA)

Other activities may include:

Art – Mary Spalding

Spacial Dynamics – Deborah Rogers

Singing – Elizabeth Kelly

Group discussion – Hazel Archer

If Jan Ranck is leading – $20 pre-pay online or $30 at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds)

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer

St. John the Baptist and Uriel the Archangel of Summer –

An Experiential Festival with Geoff Norris, Elizabeth Carlson, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer

Sunday 27 June 2021 on Zoom: Noon – 1:30 pm PT / 1 – 2:30 pm MT / 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT / 3 – 4:30 pm ET / 8 – 9:30 pm London Time / 9 – 10:30 pm CET

Metanoia – Can you hear the voice of conscience? – Make straight the path, for at the fullness of Summer, the light is so bright that it leaves no room for the shadow, a time to remember what St. John said “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Musicial Performance by Lucien Dante Lazar

Speech – Geoffrey Norris

Eurythmy- Elizabeth Carlson

Living into St. John’s-Tide – Lisa Dalton

Leading Thoughts – Hazel Archer

Hazel Archer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: St. John’s
Time: Jun 27, 2021 02:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=TkMwcGVVdk5GTVJmVzVJS2s5YVFtQT09

Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Passcode: Uriel

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer Hazel@reverseritual.com

Getting Hitched

June 8, 2021History, Insight, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

Listen to this on the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast

Yes, it’s Wedding season. I had a call with a nervous bride yesterday. I am officiating her Wedding this weekend. It was originally meant to be last year but was postponed because of the world crisis, & tensions are still running high around how to create a sacred space where all feel comfortable gathering.

Besides a funeral, celebrating a marriage is the ultimate social event, a ritual merger, as well as a personal milestone. I think we are all ripe for union. It doesn’t have to be a traditional union between 2 lovers, there are many ways to satisfy this universal fiat. Perhaps committing to walk down the aisle with your most loyal muse – or pledging your mutual support & undying agape with a soul friend. It certainly is high time to say “I do” to your community – to espouse yourself to a pet project – or get hitched to a star.

What symbol, moral principle, or ideal might you link yourself to? You may even want to tie the knot with your preferred power tool, beloved animal companion, or sacred happy place – Come on – Pop the Question, jump over the broom,or stand under the Chuppah of your imagination, to tie the knot with your higher Self.

~hag

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s orginal Calendar of the Soul, Anthrowiki, Wikipedia Commons)

8 June 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: See if you can find Draco, the dragon, with its body and tail coiling around Ursa Minor and its head facing towards Lyra and Cygnus. The two bright stars of Rastaban and Eltanin are the dragon’s eyes and are very close to the bright star Vega.

Rastaban is a yellow-white coloured bright giant or supergiant star, almost 1,000 times as luminous as our Sun! Eltanin appears similarly very bright, but much more orange in colour.

632 – Deathday of the prophet Muhammad in Medina.

793 – 1^st Viking raid in England, sack of the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria – the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles.

1191 – Richard the Lionheart (also known in Occitan as Oc e No (Yes and No), arrives in Palestine beginning his crusade

1768 – Death day of Johann Joachim Winckelmann a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman & Roman art. “The prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology”, Winckelmann was the father of the discipline of art history. His writings influenced: Lessing, Herder, Goethe, Hölderlin, Heine, Nietzsche, George, & Spengler. Winckelmann was homosexual, & open homoeroticism informed his writings on aesthetics. This was recognized by his contemporaries, such as Goethe

1783 – Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people & starts a seven-year famine

“…Now there are occasions when the very substance of the passions of the Fire-Earth begins to rebel. Aroused by men’s passions, it penetrates through the Fruit-Earth, forces its way through the channels in the upper layers and even flows up into and violently shakes the solid Earth: the result is an earthquake. If this passion from the Fire-Earth thrusts up some of the Earth’s substance, a volcano erupts. All this is closely connected with man. In Lemurian times, the upper layer was still very soft and the Fire-layer was near the surface. Human passions and the “passion-substance” of this layer are related; when men give rein to evil passions they strengthen its passions, and that is what happened at the end of Lemurian times. Through their passions the Lemurians made the Fire-Earth rebellious, and in this way they brought the whole Lemurian continent to destruction. No other cause for this destruction could be found except in what they had themselves drawn forth from the Earth. Today the layers are thicker and firmer, but there is still this connection between human passions and the passion-layer in the interior of the Earth; and it is still an accumulation of evil passions and forces that gives rise to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

How man’s destiny and will are related to happenings in the Earth can be seen from two examples which have been occultly investigated. It has been found that persons who have been killed in an earthquake appear in their next incarnation as men of high spiritual quality and faith. They had progressed far enough to be convinced by that final stroke of the transitoriness of earthly things. The effect of this in Devachan was that they learnt a lesson for their next lives: that matter is perishable but spirit prevails. They did not all come to realise that, but many of them are now living as people who belong to some spiritual-theosophical movement.

In the other example, the births which occurred during a time of frequent earthquakes were investigated. It was found that all those born at about the time of an earthquake, though not exactly in its area, were, surprisingly enough, men of a very materialistic cast of mind. The earthquakes were not the cause of this; rather it was these strongly materialistic souls, ripe for birth, who worked their way down into the physical world by means of their astral will and let loose the forces of the Fire-Earth layer, which proceeded to shake the Earth at the time of their birth.

Man transforms his dwelling-place and himself at the same time, and when he spiritualises himself, he spiritualises the Earth also. One day, at a later planetary stage, he will have ennobled the Earth by his own creative power. Every moment when we think and feel, we are working on the great structure of the Earth. The Leaders of mankind have insight into such relationships and seek to impart to men the forces which will work in the true direction of evolution”. http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA095/English/RSPAP1986/19060904p01.html

“The following is an example of the relationship that exists between the human will and telluric cataclysms: in human beings who perish as a result of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions one notices, during their next incarnation, inner qualities which are quite different. They bring from birth great spiritual pre-dispositions because, through their death, they were brought in touch with forces which showed them the true nature of reality and the illusion of material life.

One has also noticed a relationship between certain births and seismic and volcanic catastrophes.

During such catastrophes materialistic souls incarnate, drawn sympathetically by volcanic phenomena — by the convulsions of the evil soul of the earth. And these births can in their turn bring about new cataclysms because reciprocally the evil souls exert an exciting influence on the terrestrial fire. The evolution of our planet is intimately connected with the evolution of the forces of humanity and civilizations.

Behind the objective laws of Nature there are in reality always spiritual laws; and a clairvoyant cannot, for instance, cross a dry piece of meadow land, or a flooded region, or perceive a volcanic eruption, without realising that spiritual powers, spiritual beings, are behind all phenomena in Nature. A volcanic eruption is for him also a moral deed, although the moral element may perhaps lie on an entirely different plane than we may, at first, imagine. Those who always confuse the physical and the higher worlds will say: — “If innocent people perish through a volcanic eruption, how can we suppose this to be a moral deed.” But at first, we need not consider this opinion; for it would be just as cruelly narrow-minded as the opposite one — namely, to consider this eruption as a punishment inflicted by God upon the people who live near the volcano. Both opinions are only the result of the narrow-minded mentality here on the physical plane. But this is not the point in question; far more universal things must be taken into consideration. Those people who live on the slopes of a volcano and whose possessions are destroyed through an eruption, are perhaps without any guilt in this life. But this will find its balance later on, and does not imply a merciless attitude on our part (to consider it as such would again be a narrow-minded interpretation of the facts). In the case of volcanic eruptions, for instance, we find that in the course of the evolution of the earth human beings cause to certain things; and because these things occur, the entire evolution of humanity is held up. For this very reason, good Gods must work in a certain way in order to establish the balance — and such phenomena in Nature sometimes bring about such a balance. Very often, this connection can be seen only by penetrating into occult depths. Thus, adjustments occur in the case of things brought about by human beings — things which are in opposition to the spiritual course of mankind’s true development. All events, even if they are mere phenomena of Nature, have something moral in their depths, and the bearers of this moral element; which lie behind the physical facts, are spiritual beings. Thus, if we imagine a world where it is impossible to speak of a division between the laws of Nature and spiritual laws — in other words, a world where justice rules as a law of Nature — then this world would be Devachan. And in Devachan we need not think that actions which deserve punishment are punished arbitrarily; for there, the immoral element destroys itself and the moral one progresses, with the same necessity with which a flame sets fire to combustible material”. http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/19120225p01.html

1794 – Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution’s new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France

1876 – Deathday of Georges Sand born Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, recognised as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era

1867 – Birthday of Frank Lloyd Wright

1921 – Opening of the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim

1949 – The celebrities Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.

1949 – George Orwell’s book 1984 is published

Eurythmists Alicia and Robert Santacroce

1965 – Deathday of Eurythmist of Nora Stein-von Baditz, wife of Walter Johannes Stein, an Austrian philosopher, Waldorf school teacher, Grail researcher, & one of the pioneers of anthroposophy.

1967 – Israeli airplanes attacked the USS Liberty in the Mediterranean during the 6-Day War between Israel & its Arab neighbors. 34 U.S. Navy crewmen were killed. Israel later called the incident a tragic mistake due to the mis-identification of the ship. The U.S. has never publicly investigated the incident

2001 – Marc Chagall’s painting “Study for ‘Over Vitebsk” was stolen from the Jewish Museum in New York City. The 8×10 painting was valued at about $1 million. A group called the International Committee for Art & Peace later announced that they would return the painting after the Israelis & Palestinians made peace.

‘Preparing the Way’ an experiential St. John’s-Tide Festival

23 June 2021, Doors open at 5:30 pm with a Potluck -Program from 7-8:30 pm

In-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4248 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, 60618

The program is evolving – There is a possibility that world-renowned eurythmist Jan Ranck from the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy will lead us in group eurythmy (TBA)

Other activities may include:

Art – Mary Spalding

Spacial Dynamics – Deborah Rogers

Singing – Elizabeth Kelly

Group discussion – Hazel Archer

$20 pre-pay online or $30 at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds)

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer

St. John the Baptist and Uriel the Archangel of Summer –

An Experiential Festival with Geoff Norris, Elizabeth Carlson, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer

Sunday 27 June 2021 on Zoom: Noon – 1:30 pm PT / 1 – 2:30 pm MT / 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT / 3 – 4:30 pm ET / 8 – 9:30 pm London Time / 9 – 10:30 pm CET

Musicial Performance by Lucien Dante Lazar

Speech – Geoffrey Norris

Eurythmy- Elizabeth Carlson

Living into St. John’s-Tide – Lisa Dalton

Leading Thoughts – Hazel Archer

Hazel Archer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: St. John’s
Time: Jun 27, 2021 02:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=TkMwcGVVdk5GTVJmVzVJS2s5YVFtQT09

Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Passcode: Uriel

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer Hazel@reverseritual.com

Koberwitz remembered

June 7, 2021Celestial Event, Festival, History, Insight, Storytelling~hag

Listen to this on the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast

As we ramp up toward the solar eclipse, let’s tune into the power of our Day-Star Sun – to lubricate our imagination – Ever listening to that little birdy, or the iridescent insect that has lighted on the fragrant flower of the neighbors catalpa tree. Are you weaving in the wave with the cicadas yet? The Elemental world invites you to be inspired into. The fixed & wandering stars radiate rampant probabilities into the intuition of our willing will. Will we – think the liquid lightning of invocation – Meet the many ambrosial realities available to our warmth of feeling, to receive the luscious healing balms flowing forth from the beginning of time – as we reclaim the NOW…!?!

Let’s dare to become intimate with the primal pool of possibilities – Ready, set, go – Engage – Draw up Michael’s majestic mojo to transcend our personal habits thru our communal intention to serve.

In the sliver of the Crescent Moon, as she wanes into New, & waits to comes in between the Earth & the Sun, blocking the light – casting shadows on the Earth from the Underworld – it’s an excellent time to communicate with our own alien shadows – those unknown inner-species that unconsciously drive us to the fallen angels. Let’s take this time to search for our misplaced teddy bears, & throw gluten free bread crumbs to the odd ducks in our life – our faithful karmic goads & co-creators – & maybe even call up some empathy for a well-meaning zombie or 2 – & those that don’t share your worldview…

Stay in Love

~hag

History – Dr. Lorand's Professional Biodynamics

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s orginal Calendar of the Soul, Anthrowiki, Wikipedia Commons)

Agriculture Course: Lecture 6 — Rudolf Steiner

7 June 1924 – Beginning of the “Agricultural Course” on the Koberwitz estate of Count & Countess Keyserlingk – Founding of bio-dynamic agriculture by Rudolf Steiner.

By the time Rudolf Steiner was cajoled into presenting the Agriculture Course, he was well experienced in planting an ‘impulse’- the seeds of an idea, & witnessing the ensuing manifestation. Steiner’s Agriculture Course comprised just 8 lectures presented over a 10 day period in the Whitsun-tide of 1924, 7 to 16 June, at the small village of Koberwitz, Silesia (now Kobierzyce, Poland).

Count Carl Keyserlingk was an anthroposophist, & the estate manager of 18,500 acres at Koberwitz. He managed 18 farms, with more than 1000 workers. So Keyserlingk was keen for Steiner to present a course for farmers. There was some disquiet among the farmers because of the rapid change in agricultural practices in the wake of the supply of cheap synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer flowing from the adoption of the Haber-Bosch process for the ‘fixing’ of gaseous nitrogen which was first demonstrated in 1909 & which was then rapidly industrialized on a grand scale for explosives, & after WWI, for fertilizer.

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s account relates that: “Count Keyserlingk set to work in dead earnest to persuade Dr. Steiner to give an agricultural course. As Dr. Steiner was already overwhelmed with work, tours & lectures, he put off his decision from week to week. The undaunted Count then dispatched his nephew to Dornach, with orders to camp on Dr. Seiner’s doorstep & refuse to leave without a definite commitment for the course. This was finally given.”

Keyserlingk was the driving force behind the agriculture course. He was described by Elisabeth Vreede, who was at the course, as “one to whom farming itself was a priestly office” According to the Astrosopher: “Count Keyserlingk had realised the dire need for a complete revival of cultural methods”.

Agriculture Course: The Birth of the Biodynamic Method (CW 327 ...

Steiner described his Agriculture Course as: “A course of lectures containing what there is to be said about agriculture from an anthroposophical point of view.” Steiner stated that “the contents of these lectures were to serve, in the first place, as working material for the Association of farmers which had just been founded in the Anthroposophical Society”. Steiner stressed the importance of practical demonstrations: “As to the farmers – well, if they hear of these things from a fellow-farmer, they will say, “What a pity he has suddenly gone crazy!” … But eventually when he sees a really good result, he will not feel a very easy conscience in rejecting it outright”. He empowered the Agricultural Experimental Circle (AEC): “enhance it and develop it by actual experiments and tests. The farmers’ society – the “Experimental Circle” that has been formed – will fix the point of time when in its judgment the tests and experiments are far enough advanced to allow these things to be published”. He stressed the importance of confidentiality: “No kind of communication was to be made about the contents of the Course until such time as the members of the Association felt impelled to speak out of the results of their own experimental work”. It was critical that a project development plan was set in place at Koberwitz for two reasons, firstly, because the Agriculture Course was never repeated &, secondly, although up to this point Steiner had engaged in a comprehensive schedule of travelling & lecturing, he was seriously unwell, & his public life & life itself were drawing to a close. The continuing vitality of Steiner’s agricultural ‘impulse’ was dependent on Steiner successfully passing the baton to others. The AEC began with 60 members of the Koberwitz Course (out of the course’s total enrollment of 111), with Ernst Stegemann & Carl Keyserlingk appointed by Steiner as chairmen.

By 1929, the Natural Science Section of the Goetheanum reported the positive news that the work of translating Steiner’s ‘hints’ was by then a global enterprise: “Dr. Steiner’s new methods for Agriculture have been investigated and applied on a practical and on an experimental basis.

Rudolf Steiner's Koberwitz (Kobierzyce, Poland) - Birthplace of Biody…

Steiner was prophetic in much of what he taught. He presented the farm as “a living organism”. He spoke against a purely chemical view & a chemical reductionist view, & he insisted on the criticality of provenance. Long before the costs of nitrogen pollution were monetized, Steiner, with great vision, put it in a nutshell: “There is a big difference between nitrogen and nitrogen. He spoke of “the degradation of the products of agriculture” & observed that: “Nowadays people simply think that a certain amount of nitrogen is needed for plant growth, and they imagine it makes no difference how it’s prepared or where it comes from. Where it comes from, however, is not a matter of indifference.” Steiner urged the adoption of a holistic view, & he stated that “we’ve lost the knowledge of what it takes to continue to care for the natural world.” He urged his listeners to take “the macrocosmic approach”& to “see individual plants as parts of a single whole.” He was critical of the approach where living things are “neatly pigeonholed into separate species & genera”, adding: “But that is not how things are in nature. In nature, and actually throughout the universe, everything is in mutual interaction with everything else.”

Agriculture: A Course of Eight Lectures by Rudolf Steiner

“The most important thing is to make the benefits of our agricultural preparations available to the largest possible areas over the entire earth, so that the earth may be healed and the nutritive quality of its produce improved in every respect. That should be our first objective.” ~Rudolf Steiner

‘Preparing the Way’ an experiential St. John’s-Tide Festival

23 June 2021, Doors open at 5:30 pm with a Potluck -Program from 7-8:30 pm

In-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4248 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, 60618

The program is evolving – There is a possibility that world-renowned eurythmist Jan Ranck from the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy will lead us in group eurythmy (TBA)

Other activities may include:

Art – Mary Spalding

Spacial Dynamics – Deborah Rogers

Singing – Elizabeth Kelly

Group discussion – Hazel Archer

Further contributions welcome.

Other activities may include:

Art – Mary Spalding

Spacial Dynamics – Deborah Rogers

Singing – Elizabeth Kelly

Group discussion – Hazel Archer

$20 pre-pay online or $30 at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds)

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer

St. John the Baptist and Uriel the Archangel of Summer –

An Experiential Festival with Geoff Norris, Elizabeth Carlson, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer

Sunday 27 June 2021 on Zoom: Noon – 1:30 pm PT / 1 – 2:30 pm MT / 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT / 3 – 4:30 pm ET / 8 – 9:30 pm London Time / 9 – 10:30 pm CET

Musicial Performance by Lucien Dante Lazar

Speech – Geoffrey Norris

Eurythmy- Elizabeth Carlson

Living into St. John’s-Tide – Lisa Dalton

Leading Thoughts – Hazel Archer

Hazel Archer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: St. John’s
Time: Jun 27, 2021 02:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=TkMwcGVVdk5GTVJmVzVJS2s5YVFtQT09

Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Passcode: Uriel

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF

For more info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer Hazel@reverseritual.com

Forewarned

June 6, 2021Celestial Event, History, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Speaking with the Stars~hag

Listen to ‘I think Speech’

The outbreath of Summer advances. And as the physical power of the Sun intensifies, & as we move thru the month of June, we are anticipating the Solar eclipse on the New Moon – the image of a dragon crawling closer & closer, ready to swallow the sunlight. Its maw open to inhale the ‘evil’ fumes that will rise up from the unbridled desires of humanity. The dragon’s coils have already grabbed Mercury in its grip, seeking to corrode the metal of healing, & confuse our thinking & communication…

Rudolf Steiner explained that during a Solar Eclipse the soul substance of human will infused with ‘evil’ is expelled out in the cosmos. And since a New Moon is about starting a new cycle this has the effect of laming the will for the entire eclipse cycle.

The Sun is in Gemini whose task, when unimpeded, is about creating balance & connection – putting polar realities in communication with each other – an opportunity for change.

Something that I am beginning to learn, is that eclipses always fall on one of the ‘nodes’ – points of intersection between the orbit of the Moon & the path of the Sun in the ecliptic. The Sun, the Moon & the Earth can be perfectly aligned only when the luminaries are sitting on one of the nodes. Otherwise we would have an eclipse every month!

10 June brings us a North Node eclipse. In medieval astrology the nodes were called the Head & Tail of the Dragon.

The North Node is the Head of the Dragon & was considered similar to a “little Jupiter” with its tendency to increase & expand things. The positive side of this is the beneficent king, but the negative side can be seen like an explosion. We can relate this to what Steiner says about a solar eclipse as being a safety valve that lets the often unconscious ‘evil’ impulses living in the astral body of the human being, which are usually mediated by the sun, explode out into the cosmos.

So get ready friends – we will soon experience sudden & unpredictable impulses expanding out from the unbridled will of the human being, growing rapidly – compulsively & instinctively – a Highlighting of our collective shadow.

This eclipse involves Gemini’s ruling planet – Mercury – in a tight conjunction with the Sun & the Moon at the time of the eclipse.

Mercury is literally in front of the Sun & the Moon – this is called an ‘inferior conjunction’. (In a ‘superior conjunction’, Mercury would be beyond the Sun) This is significant because not only the Moon, but also Mercury is going be affected by the solar eclipse –bringing out the shadow side of the messenger of the gods – the thief, the con-artist, the deceiver, the liar – associated with the vice of Envy.

I share these thoughts so that we can live into the phrase: to be forewarned is to be forearmed…

~hag

Ephesians 6:10-18: Be forewarned and forearmed in your spiritual conflict:

“In conclusion be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless resource. Put on God’s complete armour so that you can successfully resist all the methods of attack from evil. Our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armour of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. Take your stand then with truth as your belt, righteousness your breastplate, the Gospel of peace firmly on your feet, salvation as your helmet and in your hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Above all be sure you take faith as your shield, for it can quench every burning missile the enemy hurls at you. Pray at all times with every kind of spiritual prayer, keeping alert and persistent as you pray for all people.”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s orginal Calendar of the Soul, Wikipedia Commons)

331 – According to Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul, today is the birthday of Julian the Apostate. This individuality is spoken about many times by Steiner. Most notably in the Easter Paradox lecture of 23 April 1924: “By Roman times the Star Wisdom had been lost. The Roman Emperor Julian the “Apostate” tried to re-introduce it, but it was not meant to be, & he was murdered. The advent of Christ brought the ancient Star Religion to life again- but in a new form- teaching that the Sun God now had his place on the Earth, accessible to all humanity, not just the initiates. But those in power denounced this as superstition. People were only expected to believe in the external, historical life of Jesus in Palestine. Consequently the Church became the supreme authority in how & what people should think, which ignored the whole cosmic setting of the Easter event.”

In the Karmic Relationship lecture Vol. 4 lecture 6 he speaks about his other incarnations as Herzeloyde, & Tycho Brahe.

1861 – Deathday of Camillo of Cavour, an Italian statesman & a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification, throughout the Second Italian War of Independence & Garibaldi’s campaigns. After the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, Cavour took office as the first Prime Minister of Italy; he died after only three months in office. Cavour put forth several economic reforms in his native region of Piedmont in his earlier years, & founded the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. In Karmic Relations vol. 1 lecture 4 Steiner speaks of him as an initiate from Alsace.

1882 – More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed when a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbor

1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.

1892 – The Chicago “L” commuter rail system begins operation

1934 – New Deal: The U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission

1944 – D-Day -155,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II.

1961 – Deathday of Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist & psychotherapist

1968 – Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Democratic Party senator from New York, brother of 35th President John F. Kennedy, dies from gunshot wounds inflicted on June 5

1982 – The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon

2002 –A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece & Libya; estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb

1875 – Birthday of Thomas Mann, German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, & the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic & ironic epic novels are noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist & the intellectual. His analysis & critique of the German soul used modernized German & Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Goethe, Nietzsche & Schopenhauer.

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
TRINITY II
For Consecration Of The Soul
v10
To summer’s heights
the sunlight’s being rises;
it lifts my human feeling far and wide
and into the sublime, the cosmic harmony
wherein a dawning vision’s intimating faintly,
‘in future you will know:
a holy being felt you now’.

‘The Human Being: Hieroglyph of the Universe’

June 5, 2021Celestial Event, History, Poetry, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

3d illustration of a crop circle close up Stock Photo | Adobe Stock

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I am leaping forth
Ripping veils
Making naked the essential
Streaking light with sound
Tamping down the dirt
To make the circle round
& the Earth glad.
The Stars notice
When I sing
~hag

Today dear friends, CG & I are going up to Zinniker – the oldest bio-dynamic farm in the USA. It’s our turn to bring the bounty back to the city for our co-op.

Biodynamic Day | The Farm at Walker Jones

Our friend Rand Carter, one the forces behind the Merry Prep-stirs initiative, has been traveling around the Heart-land, driving from his bio-dynamic farm in Florida. We will take him up to Zinnikers for the day. It’s supposed to be in the 90’s. We’ll be dancing with the cows & working in the hay.

Thinking of heat reminds me a of lecture 16 ‘The Human Being: Hieroglyph of the Universe’ by Rudolf Steiner, summerized for your reading easy:

“Christianity will not be understood until it has penetrated even into the physics of our Earth, until we understand how, even in physical things, the Christian substance works in the world-existence. We have not grasped Christianity until we can say to ourselves: Precisely in the domain of heat such a change is taking place in the human being that through it matter is being destroyed and a purely picture-existence comes forth out of the matter; but through the union of the human soul with the Christ-substance this picture-existence is made into a new reality.

All proofs of freedom fail; our task is not to prove freedom, but to take hold of it. It is grasped when one understands the nature of sense-free thinking. Sense-free thinking however needs again the connection with the world, and this connection it does not find unless it unites with what has been introduced into the evolution of the world as new substance through the Mystery of Golgotha.

Thus the bridge between natural and moral cosmogony lies in a right understanding of Christianity. It might at first appear very strange that just those who uphold the modern creeds — as well as ancient creeds that extend their influence into modern life — do not desire a science leading towards Christianity, but desire a science as materialistic as possible, so that an unscientific faith may hold its own alongside of it.

In this connection we might say: Modern materialism and reactionary Christianity are very closely related, for the latter has driven humankind into the conception that things spiritual must not be penetrated by true knowledge. Knowledge must be kept free from the Spiritual, must be kept away from it, must extend only to the material. Thus on the one hand stands the advocate of one or other creed, who says: ‘Science extends only to what is sense-perceptible; all else must be grasped by faith alone. On the other side stands the materialist, who says: science extends only to what is sense-perceptible; and faith I have given up’.

Spiritual Science is not related to materialism. I think I have now shown how the possibility of permeating the moral law with what we can know of nature, and conversely, of permeating nature-knowledge with moral law — is bound up with Spiritual Science. For the illusion which figures today in external science as the human being, that delusive picture which shows the human being as a configuration of mineral substance, simply does not exist. The human being is just as much organized into the Fluid element as into the Solid; also into the element of Air, and above all, into that of Heat. When we come as far as Heat, we find the transition to the soul-and-spirit nature, for in Heat we have already the transition from Space to Time; and that which is of the soul flows in the temporal. Beyond Heat we pass more and more out of Space into Time, and it becomes possible, by the roundabout way here indicated, to seek the moral in the physical.

We can develop warmth for our fellows morally — soul-warmth, which is the counterpart of physical warmth. Why do we speak of ‘warm’ feelings? Because we feel, we experience that the feeling we call ‘warm’ gives the picture of outer, physical warmth. The warmth percolates into the picture. What today is only soul-warmth will in a future cosmic existence play a physical part, for the Christ-Impulse will live therein. What today is simply picture-warmth in our world of Feeling — will live on, that it may become physical when the Earth-warmth has disappeared, for it is what the Christ-Substance, the Christ-Nature is.”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s orginal Calendar of the Soul, Wikipedia Commons)

5 June 2021 – Speaking with the Stars”: Mars stands left of Pollux and Castor this week. Meanwhile, Venus shines at Castor’s feet.

World Environment Day 2020 - Lawyers for Lawyers

World Environment Day – raising global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature & the planet Earth.

70 – Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem.

Benjamin West Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity From The Sky painting - Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity From The Sky print for sale — Benjamin West

1752 – Benjamin Franklin flew a kite for the first time to demonstrate that lightning was a form of electricity

1827 – Athens fell to the Ottomans.

1832 – The ‘June Rebellion’ breaks out in Paris in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy of Louis Philippe

File:Aff ciwl orient express4 jw.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris

1915 – Denmark amends its constitution to allow women’s suffrage

1917 – American men began registering for the World War I draft

1924 – Ernst F. W. Alexanderson transmitted the first facsimile message across the Atlantic Ocean

1933 – President Roosevelt signed the bill that took the U.S. off of the gold standard

1967 – The Six Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan began today

Forty-five years ago, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles | Kennedy jr, Kennedy, Ambassador hotel

1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

HIV-AIDS The Greatest Lie of 21st Century: Roy Chowdhury, Biswaroop: 9786202309738: Amazon.com: Books — until now

1981 – The first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS

Public viewing of Venus' transit of the sun is today | Nebraska Today | University of Nebraska–Lincoln

2012 – The last transit of Venus of the 21st century begins

Sharing by artist Zakir Hussain Shaikh | ArtZolo.com — Zakir Hussain

Video Recordings

‘I think Speech’ Podcasts

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Ring of Fire

Getting Hitched

Koberwitz remembered

Forewarned

‘The Human Being: Hieroglyph of the Universe’

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