Balance

December 29, 2019Celestial Event, Festival, History, Insight, Remembering, Winter~hag

Dear Friends – We meet again & once again at this the half way point, the 6^th Holy Night. Our dear Dr. Steiner tells us: To truly know the world, look deeply within your own being; to truly know yourself, take real interest in the world. Along with our inner work during this sacred Time Out of Time, we have been following the cosmic conversation between humanity & the fixed stars of the zodiac.

Image result for venus and the moon Painting — Phyllis Mahon

We have also been tuned into the dance of the wandering stars & the intimate convo happening right now between the goddess of love & beauty, & the crescent moon, waxing Bella Luna.

Image result for sirius and Procyon Painting — Darrell Brown

Tonight we can add to the exchange, Sirius, the Dog Star, sparkling low in the southeast. And Procyon, the Little Dog Star, which shines to the left of Sirius. Soon after they rise the two canine stars will be at the same height above the horizon. And whenever Sirius, our “Winter Star,” twinkles low in the southeast, Vega, the “Summer Star,” twinkles low in the northwest. I love how the heavens direct & reflect our work. The last couple of Holy Nights we have been dealing with this picture of polarities within the human being.

Image result for libra scales — Valerie Anderson

Tonight the 6th Holy Night brings us into balance. It is the Feast Day of King David, ancestor to Jesus. And relates to the Constellation of Libra, the Scales (ruling the kidneys & lumbar region) The Sphere of the Dynamis, Spirits of Movement, Virtues or Mights –

♈ ARIES
♉ TAURUS
♊ GEMINI
♋ CANCER
♌ LEO
♍ VIRGO

♎ LIBRA

♏ SCORPIUS
♐ SAGITTARIUS
♑ CAPRICORN
♒ AQUARIUS
♓ PISCES

In Libra we come to the center of the Zodiac, the balance between the below -the lower signs which we have just traversed, considered the ‘dark signs’ where humanity still needs work; & the above – the upper zodiac, referred to as the ascended signs, where we are headed in our evolution.

Image result for Dynamis, the Spirits of Movement

From the Sphere of the Dynamis, the Spirits of Movement, dwelling in the Sun, bring the entire solar system into a state of mutual equilibrium. The reciprocal balance of the individual planets under their guidance finds a living expression in what Pythagoras called the ‘Music of the Spheres’, which reigns in the cosmos. On Earth they work from the periphery to balance the forces of the Thrones raying out from the center of the Earth, giving us such beautifully diverse landscapes.

These forces began to manifest on Old Moon, when the job of the Sprits of Movement was to bring a right relationship to the bodies of the Sun & Moon, which had separated from each other, creating a position in the cosmos that resembled a giant pair of scales needing to be balanced.

When The Christ Being made his descent thru the Constellation of the Scales, the 3^rd pre-earthly deed was accomplished, counteracting the threat in the thinking life, to redeem the human astral body (thinking, feeling, & willing). If Christ had not sacrificed his own perfected Astral Body or Spirit-Self, uniting once again with the Nathan Soul, the human Ego would not have been able to come thru, & a balance between these 3 soul forces would have been broken, creating a separation into 3 races of human being: Thinking would have manifested in a type of Eagle-human; Feeling into a Lion-type; & Willing in a Bull-like human; creating in the astral body a dragon-like nature.

This sacrifice made it possible for the Dynamis to advance, evolving upwards into the ascending aspect of the Zodiac. Humanity will also advance when we take our thinking to the next level, in freedom. This is possible when we open to the opportunities availed us thru the Christ-Impulse, the work of Michael, our current Time Spirit, & our connection to Anthroposophia.

Image result for apollo lyre painting — Charles Philippe Lariviere

The Sphere of the Dynamis, the Spirits of Movement, dwelling in the Sun, bring the entire solar system into a state of mutual equilibrium. The reciprocal balance of the individual planets under their guidance finds a living expression in what Pythagoras called the ‘Music of the Spheres’. In the Greek mysteries the initiates saw Apollo as the harmonizer of humanity’s thinking, feeling & willing by way of the lyre, which sounded with the harmonious tones of the human soul.

Here we see the connection with King David who was a shepherd & a King, a lyre player holding many of these harmonizing traits.

Image result for buddha holding scales painting

The region of the scales is also related to the Buddha. Rudolf Steiner tells us that Buddha was able to achieve in himself a perfect balance between macro & microcosm – thru an inspiration from the Spirits of Movement. The spiritual Star, of Buddha rose in the region of the Scales.

For this reason Buddha was able to donate his perfected Astral body which resounded as the ‘choir’ of heavenly hosts heard by the Shepherds at the birth of the Luke Jesus.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Virtue-Contentment-Becomes-Self-Composure.jpg — *Jan de Kok*

Our task on this Holy Night is to practice the Virtue for Libra: Contentment becomes Self-composure. Can we balance the scales, come into equanimity, which leads to self-composure? How can we continue to strive & yet feel at peace, achieving a contentment that composes us in the harmonious image of the Buddha.

Image result for nativity choir of angels with shepherds painting — William Blake

Today as I endeavor to stand in balance with my thinking, I am indebted to our devoted community of Anthroposohers, brought together thru our beloved teacher Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Let us seek to bring the highest evolution to bear.

Until Soon

Xox ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Image result for winter triangle summer triangle together painting — Joan Miro

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

8th Night of Hanukkah

The Feast Day of King David, ancestor to Jesus. There are various Old Testament reports on David: God is angered when Saul, Israel’s king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice, & later disobeys a divine instruction to not only kill all of the Amalekites. Consequently, he sends the prophet Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, to be king instead.

God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. Saul’s courtiers recommend that he send for David, a man skillful on the lyre, wise in speech, & brave in battle. So David enters Saul’s service as one of the royal armor-bearers, & plays the lyre to soothe the king whenever the evil spirit is upon him.

War comes between Israel & the Philistines, & the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Saul’s army, declares that he can defeat Goliath. Refusing the king’s offer of the royal armor, he kills Goliath with his sling. Saul inquires the name of the young hero’s father.

Saul sets David over his army. All Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him (“What else can he wish but the kingdom?”). Saul plots his death, but Saul’s son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his father’s schemes & David flees. He becomes a vassal of the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but Achish’s nobles question his loyalty, & he is left behind to guard the camp when the Philistines march against Saul. Jonathan & Saul are killed, &David is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, & war ensues until Ish-Bosheth is killed.

With the death of Saul’s son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron & David is anointed king over all Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, & makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan forbids it, prophesying that the temple would be built by one of his sons. Nathan also prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David: “Your throne shall be established forever.”

During a battle to conquer the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David seduces Bathsheba, & causes the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite. In response, Nathan prophesies the punishment that shall fall upon him: “the sword shall never depart from your house.” In fulfillment of these words David’s son Absalom rebels. The rebellion ends at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim. Absalom’s forces are routed, & Absalom is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree, & killed by Joab, contrary to David’s order. Joab was the commander of David’s army. He laments the death of his favorite son: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you”. When David is old & bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son & natural heir, declares himself king. Bathsheba & Nathan go to David & obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba’s son Solomon as king, according to David’s earlier promise, & the revolt of Adonijah is put down. David dies at the age of 70 after reigning 40 years, & on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God

Image result for thomas becket archbishop of canterbury

1170 – Deathday of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II

1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed by the United States, taking back all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River. The ‘treaty’ was not approved by the Cherokee National Council nor signed by Principal Chief John Ross, & yet it became the legal basis for the forced removal known as the Trail of Tears

1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment

1890 – Deathday of Spotted Elk (Lakota: OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH) highly renowned chief of the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux. He was killed by the US Army at Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation South Dakota, with at least 250 members of his tribe

1926 – Deathday of Rainer Maria Rilke, a Bohemian-Austrian poet & novelist,

1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101

1975 – Bomb Explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 111 people & injuring 74

1989 – Czech writer, philosopher & dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia. Havel first rose to prominence within the Prague theater world as a playwright. He used the absurdist style to critique communism. After participating in Prague Spring & being blacklisted he became more politically active & helped found several dissident initiatives such as the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. His political activities brought him under the surveillance of the secret police & he spent multiple stints in prison, the longest being nearly four years. Havel’s Civic Forum party played a major role in the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. He assumed the presidency & was reelected in a landslide the following year. Havel was instrumental in dismantling the Warsaw Pact & expanding NATO membership eastward. He was very controversial, granting general amnesty to all those imprisoned under communism. Havel’s political philosophy was one of anti-consumerism, humanitarianism, environmentalism, civil activism, & direct democracy. He supported the Czech Green Party from 2004 until his death. He received numerous accolades during his lifetime including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the Four Freedoms Award, the Ambassador of Conscience Award,& others. He is considered by some to be one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century. The International airport in Prague was renamed to Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2012

1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation’s 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of the potentially deadly ‘bird flu’.

1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives

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Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,
4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

You are invited to the Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House! This year we intend to report on the great progress we have made with breeding, testing, and getting our high quality, nutrient efficient corn out together with our farmer, university, and company colleagues.

However, we also need now to consider, does it make sense to do research and to breed crops for organic farmers if the farmers are going out of business?

The last few years have been very tough for farmers and there is a real danger that we will lose the smaller scale farmers who practice biodynamic and organic farming. It is increasingly clear that farmers cannot do it alone. Consumer awareness and action are critical for ensuring the best food possible and a healthy planet.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Zinniker_petra___Mark.png

Therefore, this year we will highlight Mark and Petra Zinniker, who run the oldest biodynamic farm on the continent in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. They will share with us the amazing things they have been doing to produce the healthiest food possible, while at the same time, saving the planet through their farming methods.

We will share with you our problems, our plans, and our hopes. Please forward this invitation and the attached flier to anyone who is concerned about food and water quality, climate, and planet health.

Sunday, December 29, 2019

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

7194 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Please RSVP by contacting Bente Goldstein at: (262) 642-9738 or benteg@centurytel.net

Then dear friends, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm We will hold the Holy Nights ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch

PLEASE CONTACT HAZEL IF YOU WANT TO CAR POOL

Innocents

December 28, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, History, Remembering, Winter~hag

28 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

7th Night of Hanukkah

The ‘slaying of the innocents’ by Herod – This Massacre is the biblical account of infanticide by the Roman-appointed King of the Jews. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi. In typical Matthean style, it is understood as the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy: “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.’’

893 – An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia

1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated

1856 – Birthday of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States. Rudolf Steiner speaks of his Arab incarnation as Muawiya & in many other lectures he exposes his imperialism.

1868 – Birthday of D.N. Dunlop, a Scottish entrepreneur, founder of the World Power Conference, & a theosophist-turned-anthroposophist. Dunlop led the anthroposophical “Human Freedom Group”, & introduced the idea of anthroposophical Summer Schools. Rudolf Steiner & Dunlop both expressed their intimate spiritual connection & respect for one another. In 1928 he organized the first & only World Conference on Anthroposophy & in 1929 he was elected General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain. He had a great friendship with Eleanor Merry, who supported his work. Dunlop enlisted the help of fellow anthroposophist Walter Johannes Stein in the hope of founding a World Economic Organization, but his death prevented this.

1908 – The Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy killing between 75,000 & 200,000 – See Rudolf Steiner’s lecture – The Deed of Christ and the Opposing Spiritual Powers: Earthquakes

Image result for Count Carl W. von keyserlingk

1928 – Deathday of Count Carl W. von keyserlingk – Worked closely with Rudolf Steiner to bring about the birth of the Bio-Dynamic movement.

1939 – Deathday of Joseph Maurice Ravel a French composer, pianist & conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy. Ravel was internationally regarded as France’s greatest living composer

1969 – Deathday of Rudolf Hauschka, an Austrian chemist, author, inventor, entrepreneur & anthroposophist. He was the founder of the company Wala Heilmittel GmbH & inventor of a “rhythmic” production process that excluded the use of alcohol as a preservative of plant extracts & can preserve the extract for over 30 years. ‘Dr. Hauschka’ is the brand name given to the range of skin care & cosmetics made by the Wala company from his research

1973 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States

1989 – Earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 1113 people

2009 – 143 people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura

2010 – Arab Spring: Popular protests begin in Algeria against the government

2014 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes into the Karimata Strait en route from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard

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5^th Holy Night: December 28-29, Constellation of Scorpio, Scorpion/Eagle (ruling the genitals) The Sphere of the Exusiai, the ‘Elohim’, Spirits of Form, Powers – Virtue: Patience becomes understanding

The Spirits of Form working from the region of the Scorpion/Eagle preserved & regulated all that was accomplished on Old Saturn by the Higher Hierarchies. Then, as Rudolf Steiner explains, in the Old Testament, these 7 ‘Elohim’ who’s chief Jehovah, sacrificed his abode on the Sun to become the regent of the Moon, acted as the creator god.

In the Atlantis-epoch, when the human being faced a distortion of the 7 vital organs from the adversarial powers, that would have made our organs selfishly fight against each other, there was a need for the 2^nd pre-earthly deed of Christ. Working in the realm of the Elohim with the Nathan Soul, Christ sacrificed his etheric forces so that human language could be objective – able to channel creatively the word of god in truth.

When I look around at society today, I ask myself: Was this sacrifice in vain? How can we honor this divine gift of speech & bring it back into sacredness?

Today the Elohim form the body of the Sun, & so light is their lowest manifestation – like an outer garment, while their essence is related to spiritual light. When the human ego uses these divine gifts of, uprightness, speech & thinking, to further our evolution, we are also striving toward this spiritual light. We see this in the imagination of the soaring eagle. But those that are selfish & seek to hide from the light, echo the image of the scorpion.

In Leonardo da Vini’s Last Supper, we see a picture of these 2 polarities in the nature of Judas & John the Evangelist within the Zodiacal Circle of personalities around The Christ.

It is interesting to think that after the Spirits of Form, working from the constellation of Scorpio, had endowed the human being with the possibility of the Higher Ego, there occurred the division of humanity into to 2 sexes.

The result of this was that some forces which had been used to reproduce could then be employed to form the human brain, which became the physical foundation for our Ego-Consciousness. One of the consequences of this was that there became the possibly for the substance of Love to be distorted – a confusion between spiritual love & sensual love. To enter selfishly into the astral realm we run the danger of falling under the influence of certain demonic beings which threaten humanity with a total darkening of ego-consciousness; where the scorpion stings itself to death.

In contrast to this we see the eagle in St. John, leaning on the breast of Christ-Jesus – the 1^st to be initiated into the Christened Initiation of the ‘Word’. As Christian Rosenkreutz, this enigmatic individuality continues to work with The Christ in His aspect of Lord of Karma, to assist those who are striving to rise to the highest levels of the Eagle-Ego.

Can we approach the New Year with the desire to transform the selfish scorpion into the far-reaching sight of the Eagle, & the Peace of the Dove? To let our speech be light-filled, in-forming the highest ideal, with Good Will & Patient Love!

See you in the striving

Xox ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Holy Nights 2019 -2020 Theme: The Christmas Conference Renewed! – Christmas Eve 24 Dec. thru Epiphany Eve 5 January

Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering. Here is the Link to Register

Then from 7:30pm – 8:30pm we will take up our own study of the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ from The Christmas Conference 1923/1924. (There are copies of ‘The Red Book’ in the Library)

Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm except:

24 Dec. at NOON (no meeting at the branch)

*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is hosting this nation wide event, meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm

*28 Dec. Olaf practice 3 pm – 5 pm – Performance at 7 pm.

*Sunday 29 December 2019 – Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019, 4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

*5 January 2020 – NOTE: Last Holy Night! Special Branch Event with the Centreal Regional Council

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1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST.

2^nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1^st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43

*3rd Holy Night: Thursday 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven. 1st hour hosted by us the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago: “The Vast & Holy Night” a liminal performance of spoken word & eurythmy honoring the dark from which the light is born.Our study: The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 68

4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John –1^st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98

*5th Holy Night: Saturday 28 December 2019 – The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson with Debra Barford & Mary Tom 3pm – 5pm practice 7 pm – 9 pm performance. Come gather to work with the Legend of Olaf Åsteson in the afternoon to be part of the community ensemble 3pm – 5pm with a dinner break returning for the performance open to all from 7 pm – 9 pm. $10 Donation Encouraged. Contact Debra Barford for more info.

or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch

6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019, 4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

However, we also need now to consider, does it make sense to do research and to breed crops for organic farmers if the farmers are going out of business?

Sunday, December 29, 2019

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

7194 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Please RSVP by contacting Bente Goldstein at: (262) 642-9738 or benteg@centurytel.net

Then dear friends, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm We will hold the Holy Nights ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by The Rockford TN. Group. Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering. Here is the Link to Register

PLEASE CONTACT HAZEL IF YOU WANT TO CAR POOL

7^th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1^st hour hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138

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– NYE–The 13^th Hidden NightTuesday 31 December 2019-2020

7:30 pm – 1 am – $20 + Potluck Food & Drink to Share

Live Music & Folk Dancing with Jutta & the HiDukes – 8 -9:30pm

Biography Playshop

Spacial Dynamics & the Loving Kindness Meditation with Deborah Rogers

Cut Away & Call in – A Ritual of Renewal

Seeking the Holy Grail Within – with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Lead (Wax) Casting Divination for the NY

More TBA…

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8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1^st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183

9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1^st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192

10^th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1^st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204

11^th Holy Night: Saturday 4 January 2020 – 1^st hour hosted by Brian Gray. Our study: The Envy of the Gods – the Envy of Human Beings, Looking back to the burning of the Goetheanum, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 231

*12th Holy Night: Sunday 5 January 2020 – Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ – 1^st hour hosted by The Central Regional Council. Our Study: On the Right Entry into the Spiritual World – The responsibility Incumbent on us, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 260

for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Aim your Arrow

December 27, 2019Uncategorized~hag

Related image Johfra Bosschart

4th Holy Night: Feast of St. John, Constellation of Sagittarius, Centaur/Archer (ruling the hips & thighs) The Sphere of the Archai, Principalities, Spirits of Personality

The Greek word Archai literally means ‘Beginnings’. Rudolf Steiner gives as the German equivalent Urbeginne: Ur-beginnings, First Beginnings, Primal Beginnings. They are the Beings who attained the human stage at the beginning of our evolutionary cycle, on Old Saturn. Their guidance can be illustrated thru the example of the child overcoming the forces that pull us toward the earth, moving from the crawling stage, learning to stand upright, & then walking – a victory of our human nature over the animal nature. In Dr. Steiner’s lectures on the Apocalypse of St. John, they are described as ‘The eldest of the ‘Elders’ of mankind.

This relates to the 1^st of the pre-earthly deeds of Christ, made in connection with the Nathan Soul in the realm of the Archai. This sacrifice occurred in the Lemuria epoch when humanity was 1^st assuming an upright position. The counter force to this uprightness disconnected human beings from the spiritual forces of the earth, making it possible for adversarial powers working against the true path of development, to bring disarray to the 12 sense organs. Christ had to descend from his lofty heights to overcome this threat, working thru the Nathan Soul who later incarnated as Jesus of the Luke Gospel, to harmonize the forces of the 12 Zodiac.

Then on Old Sun, the Archai were connected with the forces of thinking in relation to the physical brain. Now, their task is to bestow on humanity the forces necessary for ego-consciousness to arise thru thought, signified by the Archers arrow within the bow. Another name for the Archai is ‘Spirits of Personality’ since Ego consciousness is individualized to become the personality.

Humanity will have the possibility of gaining something of the impulses of Spirit-Man when the point of the Spring Equinox moves into the region of the Archer – revealed simultaneously with its counter-image – the ‘War of All against All’. At that time humanity will divide into 2 main ‘races’ – those that will hold the animal qualities of the Centaur & those that stand upright, setting the arrow of thought into motion as the Archer.

The imagination of the arrow that has been consciously released from the bow is a picture of the human will directed towards a definite purpose. The final aim of the whole of earthly evolution is the attainment of the Vulcan condition – when humanity will rise to that plane on which the Spirits of Personality -The Archai – stand at the present time.

Are we willing to develop our aim in service of that sublime Christ-Revelation which germinates in the Earth, & works from the highest spiritual realms, directing our highest intentions for inner development in order to guide humanity to this mighty impulse?

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Virtue: Control of speech & thinking (minding one’s tongue) becomes a feeling for the truth

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

“The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.” ~T.S. Eliot

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Feast Day of St. John the apostle. Rudolf Steiner speaks of an earlier incarnation as Hiram (GA 93, 264,265)

5^th Century – Feast day of Saint Nicarete a woman of Nicomedia who became a saint as a disciple of St. John Chrysostom. She left her home specifically to study theology & practice devotion & care for the poor in Constantinople. She became a follower of John Chrysostom & worked as a physician as well as a healer for the poor. She cured John Chrysostom of a stomach ailment. Later, when Chrysostom was sent into exile from Constantinople, she went with him

537 – The Hagia Sophia is completed

1521 – The Zwickau prophets arrive in Wittenberg disturbing the peace & preaching the Apocalypse. Philip Melanchthon cannot silence them. Martin Luther is being held in protective custody at the Wartburg castle at this time. He is later released & is able, by his preaching, to regain the peace

1571 – Birthday of Johannes Kepler, German mathematician, astronomer, & astrologer. “Johannes Kepler was as much a natural scientist of an earlier time as of a later one. He drew his thoughts from external observation, but in his inner experience he had an absolute feeling that spiritual Beings are there when man is receiving his thoughts from Nature. Kepler felt himself to be partly an Initiate, and for him it was a matter of course that he experienced his abstract building up of the universe artistically.It is extraordinarily valuable, from a scientific point of view, to immerse oneself in the progress human thought has made through such a man as Kepler. But one is more deeply stirred when one steeps oneself in Kepler’s life of soul, in that soul-life which in later times did not work with such intensity and inwardness in any other natural scientist, certainly not in any authoritative teacher of mankind at large. For between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries the feeling was entirely lost that through thought the human soul is brought into connection with the divine-spiritual.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Younger Generation: Lecture VIII, 1922 see also Christ and the Spiritual World: The Search for the Holy Grail, 1914

1822 – Birthday of Louis Pasteur, French chemist & microbiologist

1918 – The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins

1929 – Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin orders the “liquidation of the kulaks as a class”

1935 – Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism

1939 – The Erzincan earthquake shakes eastern Turkey. At least 32,700 people were killed

1945 – The International Monetary Fund is created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations

1948 – Deathday of Marie Steiner von Sivers – wife of Rudolf Steiner & one of his closest colleagues. She made a great contribution to the development of anthroposophy, particularly in her work on the renewal of the performing arts – speech & drama, & the new art of eurythmy. She was also chief editor & publisher of Rudolf Steiner’s literary estate.

Marie von Sivers was born to an aristocratic family in Włocławek, Poland, then part of Imperial Russia. She was well-educated & was fluent in Russian, German, English, French & Italian. She studied theater & recitation with several teachers in Europe.

Marie von Sivers “appeared one day” at one of Rudolf Steiner’s early lectures in 1900. In the autumn of 1901, she posed the question to Steiner, “Would it be possible to create a spiritual movement based on European tradition and the impetus of Christ?” Rudolf Steiner later reported: With this, I was given the opportunity to act in a way that I had only previously imagined. The question had been put to me, and now, according to spiritual laws, I could begin to answer it.

Marie von Sivers collaborated with Steiner for the rest of his life & carried his work beyond his death in 1925 until her own death in 1948. She accompanied him & helped him as secretary, translator, editor, & organizer of his lecture tours & other public activities. She assisted Steiner’s work with her own resources & in 1908 founded the Philosophical-Theosophical Press (later Philosophical-Anthroposophical) to publish Steiner’s work.

Starting in 1912, Rudolf Steiner developed the art of eurythmy. With Marie’s guidance, it developed in three directions: as a stage art, as an integral part of Waldorf pedagogy, &as a therapeutic method. Under her tutelage, two schools of eurythmy were founded, in Berlin & in Dornach, Switzerland.

Marie von Sivers, made a study of purely artistic speaking. She gave introductory poetry recitals at Steiner’s lectures & assisted him in the development of the four Mystery Dramas (1910-1913). With her help, Steiner conducted several speech & drama courses with the aim of raising these forms to the level of true art.

On 24 December 1914, von Sivers married Rudolf Steiner. Beginning in 1914, Steiner drew up a succession of wills naming Marie Steiner-von Sivers as heir to his entire work & property & his successor in the leadership of the anthroposophical movement.

In GA 12, 27, 126 1910 Rudolf Steiner speaks of her earlier incarnations as Hypatia & Abertus Magnus

Image result for 8 – Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship

1978 – Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship

1979 – The Soviet Union invades the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

2008 –The Gaza War, also known as Operation Cast Lead or the Gaza Massacre. Israel launches a three-week armed conflict against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip & Israel

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Dear Holy Nights Community, We are so thankful you are co-creating this wonderful series with us! Due to the amazing registration response (over 700 people and counting!), all the recordings will be listed on one site, www.anthroposophy.org/holynights. The recordings will be posted the same day as each live session.

Your support of ASA programs makes this series and our webinars and events possible! If you’d like to support more work like this, go to this link. And many thanks for your contributions to our end-of-year campaign!

Warmly,
Laura

PS- Remember to light your candle with us each night….

World Initiation

December 26, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Uncategorized~hag

Cosmic Christmas Blessings on this “the World Initiation Night” From Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts by Rudolf Steiner, A Christmas Study: The Mystery of the Logos. Christmas, 1924

Image result for cosmic christmas painting

“ My Dear Sisters and Brothers…If the consciousness soul is able to strengthen itself sufficiently, to look back in inner vision to its divine-spiritual origin, it finds the cosmic Logos, as the Being who can lead it back. It fills itself with the mighty picture which reveals what took place on Golgotha. The beginning of this understanding is the loving comprehension of the Cosmic Christmas, the World Initiation Night, the festive remembrance of which is celebrated each year.

…The warmth of love is present in its highest form when it goes out to the Jesus child who appears on Earth during the World Initiation Night. In this way the human being has allowed the highest earthly spiritual fact, which was at the same time a physical event, to work upon his soul; he has entered upon the path on which he may receive Christ into himself…

Image result for christmas in the heart painting — Jonny J. Petros

To turn the human heart in love to these great cosmic facts: this is the true content of the festival of remembrance approaching the human being each year when he contemplates the World Initiation Night of Christmas. If such love as this lives in human hearts, it permeates the cold light-element of the consciousness soul…

To feel and experience Christmas in this way will enable the soul to realise how the glory of the divine-spiritual beings – whose images are revealed in the stars – announces itself to the human being, and how the human being’s liberation from the powers striving to alienate him from his origin takes place within the precincts of the Earth.”

Image result for annular solar eclipse of 2019 dec 26

Today 26 December 2019, on this 3rd Holy Night, We are in the aura of a Solar Eclipse. The Moon moves into an exact position opposite the Sun, eclipsing its light. This annular eclipse is not total, so Bella Luna does not cover the Sun completely, but leaves a Corona or “Ring of Fire”, a glow of sunlight radiating out of the darkness, visible to those who live in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia & Micronesia. The effects, have created a typhoon in the already troubled Philippines.

But my friends, the energies of an eclipse are global.

They occur in 19 year cycles marking endings & new beginnings. On December 25, 2000, there was a Solar eclipse. Think back to that time. What was changing & evolving for you then? What is changing & evolving for you now, 20 years into the 21^st Century?

We are very near to the end of this year & this decade. We are also extremely close to a New Year, 2020, a new decade. We are in the current of change that leads to the next phase of civilization. And it’s right in our faces. We are in transition. We are pulling away from the last great epoch; famous for its revolutions (the French, American, & the Industrial) with its all-consuming “Global Expansion” & “World” wars. Some of us are striving to be in the center of the current, surfing the waves of change with both trepidation & hope – willing to think & act for the benefit of the planet & its peoples. Others recoil & retrench into old patterns & habits that seem to offer comfort & security. Evolution is a messy, process that moves in cycles. May we awaken to the opportunities of our time.

Today is also the Feast of St. Stephen the first martyr. He was a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem where he aroused the enmity of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, he made a long speech denouncing the authorities who then stoned him to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later have his Damascus experience to serve the Christ as Paul.

In Europe today is Mummer’s Day, or ” Darking Day” an ancient Cornish celebration that occurs every year on Boxing Day in Cornwall, where people take part in the traditional custom of guise dancing. And of course Boxing Day is celebrated the day after Christmas Day when folks like the mail carrier receive a ‘Christmas-box’. It originated in the United Kingdom, but is very popular in Canada, where this was the day to exchange gifts, or return the ones not wanted.

Today is the 5th day of Chanukkah & the 1^st Day of Kwanzaa – a week-long celebration that honors the African American heritage, culminating in a feast & gift-giving. The 7 candles in a candelabra symbolize the seven principles of Kwanzaa: Unity, Self-Determination, collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, Faith.

3rd Holy Night: Constellation of Capricorn, (ruling the knees & bones)

The Sphere of the Archangel, Fire-Spirits

Virtue: Courage becomes the power of redemption

Rudolf Steiner tells us that the birth of Jesus could only occur in the seasonal round during the influence of Capricorn, when the Earth is frozen & dark, ie. purified of the Ahrimanic forces, with the light of the outer Sun, focused into Spiritual Sun within. These forces were gifted to us from the Archangels on Old Sun. So whenever we perceive light, with our eyes, or with our hearts, the Archangels are behind it.

So today, here in Chicago, with the weather in the 60’s – I can’t help thinking of this Steiner quote from The Cycle of the Year: “While the summer out-breathing occurred, the Earth was ahrimanized. Woe if Jesus had been born into this ahrimanized Earth! Before the cycle is completed again and December approaches, which brings about the birth of the Christ Impulse in the ensouled Earth, the Earth must be purified by spiritual forces, from the Dragon, from the Ahrimanic forces. And the purifying force of Michael, which subdues the evil Ahrimanic forces, must unite itself, from September into December, with the in-flowing earth breath, so that the Christmas festival may approach in the right way, and the birth of the Christ Impulse take place in the right way…”

Image result for global warming painting

Is this global warming a sign of the coming incarnation of Ahriman in the West?

This push of activity from Ahriman manifests itself every year in the sphere of the Goat, where he is the chief antagonist of the 12 Archangels. Ahriman hopes ever & again at this darkest & coldest time of the year to prevent the rising of the spiritual sun in the earthly sphere. And every year he is overcome by the Archangel Michael so that the Christ Sun may rise for the earth. How can we as Michaelites help in this endeavor?

We see this image of Ahriman depicted, especially in the Middle Ages, thru the imagination of ‘Satan’ portrayed with the horns & lower body of a goat -all the negative characteristics of the animal nature – a tradition followed by Goethe in his character of Mephistopheles with cloven feet.

Interesting to think that the 7th American cultural epoch will stand under the sign of the goat. How can we prepare the way in the purity of the ideal?

The Ancient Persians knew that the 12 Archangelic Beings, operating from the 12 signs of the Zodiac, work thru the 12 main nerves that connect the human brain with the rest of our body, in order to gradually summon forth what appears today as our intelligence. And Human intelligence is most awake, most light filled, at this time of the year which stands under the ruler-ship of the cosmic forces proceeding from the region of the goat.

Zarathustra called them the 12 envoys of the great Sun-Spirit Ahura-Mazdao, & described them as a kind of cosmic aura surrounding the Sun, holding space for the Christ-Impulse that was to be born in the sphere of Earth.

The Archangels worked thru the 12 disciples as their representatives. In our time these Beings are the inspirers of the Holy Nights. Each of the Archangels have their own qualities.

The Archangel Gabriel for instance had the task of bringing the divine forces to bear in the womb of Mary.

Capricorn is connected to the knee. Bending the knee is a sign of reverence, helping us draw near to the Archangels who rule the element of speech. So when we kneel in prayer, we spiritualize our speech.

What would it be like to make speaking a truly conscious act? To make everything we say a prayer, a blessing, an expression of reverence, aligned with truth, filled with grace?

Ayse Domeniconi – “The Visitor”, from the series”Night”

According to spiritual science, in the Venus epoch there will arise from the knee-cap, the outer form of the human head.

Image result for kneeling in prayer painting — Patrica Ventke

May we bend our knee to speak from spirit-fired, christened heads & hearts.

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Holy Nights 2019-2020 – The New Mysteries of the ‘Christmas Conference’ Renewed! Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm CST to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering – Hosted by the Anthrophosophical Society in America with Organizers: Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster, and Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.
Each gathering will begin with an opening verse and acknowledgment of the zodiac constellation corresponding to that night. Then a special offering will be shared by different friends representing many North American groups, branches, and regional councils. These unique contributions will range from meditative readings and thoughtful poems, to enlivening eurythmy and artistic activities, to insight into the cosmic script of the zodiac. This will be followed by work with the Foundation Stone Meditation and conclude with a closing verse.
December 24 12 noon CST
December 25 – 30 6:30 PM CST
December 31 “Hidden Night” – No Meeting
January 1 – 5 6:30 PM CST

The gatherings will be recorded for later viewing if you are not able to join us live. Register using the button above to access both the live presentations and recordings.

Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering.

Here is the Link to Register

Then from 7:30pm – 8:30pm CST we will take up our own study of the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ from The Christmas Conference 1923/1924. (There are copies of ‘The Red Book’ in the Library)

Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST except:
24 Dec. Zoom Call at NOON CST (no meeting at the branch)
*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is Hosting this Nation-wide event. Meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm CST.
*28 Dec. Olaf Åsteson practice 3 pm – 5 pm CST – Performance at 7 pm CST.

1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST – A Goethean Conversation

2nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43

*3rd Holy Night: Thursday 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven. 1st hour hosted by us the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago: “The Vast & Holy Night” a liminal performance of spoken word & eurythmy honoring the dark from which the light is born. Our study: The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 68

4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John -1st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98

*5th Holy Night: Saturday 28 December 2019 – The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson with Debbie Barford & Mary Tom 3pm – 5pm practice 7 pm – 9 pm performance. Come gather to work with the Legend of Olaf Åsteson in the afternoon to be part of the community ensemble 3pm – 5pm with a dinner break returning for the performance open to all from 7 pm – 9 pm. $10 Donation Encouraged. Contact Debra Barford for more info.

or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Lisa Dalton

6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Rockford TN. Group.William Rogers

4 pm – 6 pm You are invited to the Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House! This year we intend to report on the great progress we have made with breeding, testing, and getting our high quality, nutrient efficient corn out together with our farmer, university, and company colleagues.

However, we also need now to consider, does it make sense to do research and to breed crops for organic farmers if the farmers are going out of business?

Sunday, December 29, 2019

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 7194 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Drinks and snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by contacting Bente Goldstein at: (262) 642-9738 or benteg@centurytel.net

Then dear friends, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm We will hold the Holy Nights ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering. Here is the Link to Register

PLEASE CONTACT HAZEL IF YOU WANT TO CAR POOL

for those who opt to stay in the City – Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 110

7th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Eastern Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138

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– NYE–The 13th Hidden Night Tuesday 31 December 2019-2020
7:30 pm – 1 am – $20 + Potluck Food & Drink to Share
Live Music & Folk Dancing with Jutta & the Hi-Dukes ™ 8 -9:30pm
Biography Playshop
Spacial Dynamics & the Loving Kindness Meditation with Deborah Rogers
Cut Away & Call in – A Ritual of Renewal
Seeking the Holy Grail Within – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Lead (Wax) Casting Divination for the NY
More TBA…

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8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183

9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192

10th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204

11th Holy Night: Saturday 4 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Brian Gray. Our study: The Envy of the Gods – the Envy of Human Beings, Looking back to the burning of the Goetheanum, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 231

*12th Holy Night: Sunday 5 January 2020 – Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ – 1st hour hosted by The Central Regional Council. Alberto Loya, Marianne Fieber, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer Ginsberg. Our Study: On the Right Entry into the Spiritual World – The responsibility Incumbent on us, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 260

for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

The Christian Community in North America

Winter Youth Conference 2020

THE COURAGE TO LOVE THE WORLD THAT WE’RE IN

For young people ages 14-19 – January 17 – 20, 2020 MLK weekend in Washington DC

WHAT DO YOU LOVE? -WHAT IS IN NEED OF YOUR LOVE?

Rev. Carol Kelly, Rev. Paul Newton, Anna Silber, Samuel Parker, Ultra-Violet Archer, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

fee $300 (Financial assistance available)

contact Rev. Carol Kelly carolkelly.cc@gmail.com

full flyer: Christian community DC2020

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30 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2020 Prep-makers conference at Michael Fields Institute

Fellowship of Preparation Makers Gathering

BD 501 and 508 – Tools to bring the cosmic light into the earth.

January 30^th – February 2^nd, 2020

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, N8030 Townline Rd, East Troy, WI

The mission of the Fellowship of Preparation Makers is to ensure that good quality biodynamic preparations are available now and into the future throughout North America.

Schedule:

Thursday, January 30th

10—10:30 am Registration for Chromatogram Intensive

10:30am Chromatogram Intensive – All levels welcome. Presenter: Ryann Herring

12 —1pm Lunch on your own

1-3pm Chromatogram Intensive

3—5pm Registration and Social Time

5-6:30pm Supper

7-8:30pm Welcome from Perry Brown, and Candlemas Festival with Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Friday, January 31st

7:30-8:30am Registration, Breakfast and Social Time

8:30– 10 am History of Fellowship of Prep Makers, and Introductions.

10-10:30am Morning Break

10:30–12:30pm Why Biodynamics? Presenter: Mac Mead

12:30-1:45pm Lunch

2-3:30pm How the cosmic works in the earth? Presenter: Hugh Courtney

3:30-4pm Afternoon Break

4-6pm Different ways to make and use BD501 & BD508. Practical hands on session with Marjory House and Lloyd Nelson

6-7:30 pm Supper

7:30-9pm The Journey of a Prep Maker, A history circle, Facilitator: Brian Wickert

Saturday, February 1st

7:30-8:30 Registration, Breakfast and Social Time

8:30-10am History of Silica on Man’s Evolution (Lamuria to today) Presenter: Mac Mead

10-10:30am Morning break

10:30– 12pm Silica and the Human Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler

12-1:30pm Lunch

1:30-3pm Interpretation of Chromatograms Presenter: Ryann Herring

3-3:30pm Afternoon Break

3:30-5pm Kolisko Institute Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler

5-7pm Supper

7-8:30pm Quality Comparison of BD501 & 508 Show and tell how you make and use the preps. Facilitator: Wali Via

8:30 pm Evening Social/Brew City Drifters

Sunday, February 2nd

7:30-8:30 am Breakfast & Social Time

8:30-10am Round Table Discussion: Peppering for Pests and Weeds Panel: Mac Mead and Hugh Courtney

10-1-:30 Morning Break

10:30– Noon Fellowship presentations, evaluations and closing circle.

Noon Lunch

Registration and Lodging

Full Conference Fee $250

Single Day $125

Single Talk $25

Single Meal $15

Chromatogram Intensive $25

Homestays Available

Airport pickup from MKE available

Questions:
Allison Pratt-Szeliga
apszeliga@michaelfields.org
262-642-3303×107

Home stay and airport transportation arrangements will be handled by:
Petra Zinniker
petrazinniker@gmail.com
262-581-7574

We will work to provide home stays for everyone who requests one. Some homes will be free and others may have a cost. Please contact Petra with your requests. Home stays will be reserved on a first come first served basis.

Local accommodations are also listed below:
Quality Inn & Suites (1.8 miles away)
2921 O’Leary Ln, East Troy, WI 53120•(262) 684-2183

Alpine Valley Resort (1.6 miles away)
W2501 Co Rd D, Elkhorn, WI 53121•(262) 642-7374

BD 501 and 508 preps for quality comparison:
If you have them, please bring or send BD 501 and BD 508 preps for quality comparison and closing ceremony.
Preps can be mailed to Petra Zinniker, N 7399 Bowers Rd, Elkhorn, WI 53121

Presenters:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Mac Mead

Hugh Courtney

Marjory House

Lloyd Nelson

Dr Kamsler

Ryan Herring

Wali Via

Sponsors: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Demeter, Biodynamic Association

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The Central Regional Council and the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology present: View this email in your browser

Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology
— an Easter-Tide RetreatMaundy Thursday 9 April 2020 Noon thru Easter Sunday at 3 pm
Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL AAP:James A. Dyson, M.D., Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., and David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.CRC:Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa DaltonEurythmist: Mary RuudActivities:Art-ActsStar WisdomThe Karma ExercisesExperiential PAGEANT on Holy Saturday: ‘Know Thyself’Easter Sunrise SongtrailOptional service at the Christian CommunityCommunal meals and time for ConversationLectures:‘Living into Karma through the Senses’‘How to find the Self in a Sea of Karma’‘Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn Path’‘The Gesture of Karma’‘Christ as Lord of Karma — how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology?’(Program subject to change) $125 Conference fee includes 1 meal a dayFor more information and to register, contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@peoplepc.com

***

Festivals for the Dead. Then & Now. Renew, or Create Your Own Tradition.

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year. Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, ‘Anthroposopher’, working as the Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.

2nd Holy Night: Christmas 2020

December 25, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, History, Insight, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Winter~hag

Here is the ‘I Think Speech Podcast for The 2nd Holy Night: CHRISTMAS 2020

“With Christmas there should pour into our hearts the fundamental human feeling of love — the fundamental feeling that says: compared with all other forces and powers and treasures of the world, the treasures and the power and the force of love are the greatest, the most intense, the most powerful.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis

Yes, Love – It’s not a sentimental feeling – Love is a crowning force.

On December 25th, we are invited to consider the historical events behind the first Christmas. Using the lens of Anthroposophy, or spiritual science, we can see that a thoughtful way to approach the birthday of Jesus is thru the two Nativity stories in the Gospels, each very different from the other. I spoke to this yesterday in the podcast for the 1^st Holy Night.

St. Matthew’s Gospel points to what we might call the Solomon Jesus, a re-incarnation of the great sage Zarathustra, actually born earlier in a fine house under the star of Bethlehem, where he is visited by the Magi, & then the holy family fled to Egypt to escape the persecution of Herod.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is nativity-707x1024.jpg — Giotto

The Gospel of St. Luke points to what we can call the Nathan Jesus, born in a humble stable in Nazareth, a pure divine soul never incarnated before, that part of Adam that stayed in the spiritual world & prepared the way for the Christ.

The two Jesus children unite when the Luke child is twelve & the Matthew child is 14. We find this story in Luke 2:41-52 when his parents find him teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. As Rudolf Steiner explained in the ‘Fifth Gospel’, which we are reading together every night for our Holy Nights Study, the Luke Nathan Jesus takes on the highest soul forces (“I”) of the wise Matthew Jesus who sacrifices his life on the physical plane.

Jesus in Asia” by RS Sugirtharajah — RS Sugirtharajah

Shortly before the Baptism in the Jordan, when Jesus of Nazareth was 30 years old, that Solomon soul part leaves Jesus & enters Mary, to make room for the Christ at the Baptism by John. Mary takes on this soul part & it opens in her the Divine Sophia. This is beautifully described in Stiner’s 5^th Gospel.

During the Renaissance, some artists knew of these profound secrets, & painted this occult theme often showing 2 or 3 sacred children: the Luke Nathan Jesus as a boy & a second older boy, The Jesus from the Matthew Gospel, along with John the Baptist (cousin of the Luke Jesus)

The Shepherds' Sign of the Manger (Luke 2:1-20) -- Christmas Incarnation — Gerard van Honthorst

2^nd Holy Night: Christmas Day – The Birth of the Luke Jesus.

Constellation of Aquarius, (Ruling the calves, & ankles of the human body) Symbol: The Water-Bearer

The Sphere of the Angeloi, also called ‘Sons of Life’ or ‘Sons of Twilight’

The region of Aquarius, the Water-bearer is connected with the hierarchy of the angels, who have a special affinity with the outward element of water. Inwardly they are connected to the etheric body in human beings, which not only provides the physical body with life, but is also the tableau in which memory is written. That is why the etheric body is called the ‘Water of Life’ in the bible, & why the angels are called the ‘Sons of Life’ in various mystery traditions. It is also why angels are known to be the holders of the ‘memory’ of our past doings. And this is why they are considered to be our Guardian Angels.

We see these two qualities of the etheric body illustrated in the various mystery traditions – The water of Lethe, which is the draught of remembrance, & Eunoe, the draught of forgetfulness.

File:Gaston Brussiere23.jpg - Wikimedia Commons — Gaston Bussière

There is a connection with the Egyptian river on which the boat of Isis travels; which represents the life of the soul. It is also known as the Nepenthe given to Isolde which allows her to forget her duty to marry Mark so that she can fall in love with Tristan.

Image result for john the baptist and st. john the divine painting — Murillo

This 2^nd Holy Night, is also connected to the two initiates named John in the gospels. John the Baptist & John the disciple Jesus loved, writer of the St. John Gospel & Revelations.

The sign of the Water-bearer represents both the angel & the spiritualized human soul on our way to the next stage of our evolution, empowering us to achieve Imaginative & Moral Cognition which enables us to come into our angel stage.

John the Baptist was the representative of this stage in human development. He received a special initiation in which he experienced the Sun at Midnight from the constellation of the Water-bearer, & for this reason he was able to baptize with water to loosen the etheric bodies of those he initiated.

Image result for st. john the divine with eagle painting — Cosme Turo

The second Johannes, who we know as the disciple Jesus loved, or St. John the Divine, is always represented by the Eagle, connected to the higher “I”.

Judas the Iscariot - And It Was Night | Christopher Williams | oil painting — Christopher Willams

The lower Ego is the Scorpion represented by Judas.

This is the night in which we can draw close not only to our angels who guide us & shine the spirit downwards into our souls, but also to the two John individualities who achieved ahead of time, what we are still striving to attain.

“The Christmas mystery must be found anew. We must become as devout with Nature as the shepherds were devout in their hearts. We must become as wise in our inner intuition as the Magi had become in their observation of planets and stars in space and time.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis

25 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As The ‘Christmas Star’: Jupiter & Saturn move apart, they’re sinking quite low in the southwest at twilight.

Image result for spirit child painting — Megan Kasper

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Festival of Jesus’s birth – Christmas

304 – Deathday of Saint Anastasia – “Anastasia the Deliverer from Potions”, “Anastasia the Healer” or “Anastasia of Sirmium – venerated as a healer & exorcist. Her relics lie in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar, Croatia. She is one of seven women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass

336 – 1st documented celebration of Christmas in Rome

1156 – Death day of Peter the Venerable, French abbot of Cluny. Despite his active life & important role in European history, Peter’s greatest achievement is his contribution to the reappraisal of the Church’s relations with the religion of Islam. He was well known for collecting original sources on & writing about Islam & also as the author of vast amounts of correspondence, reflecting his almost encyclopedic knowledge of theological questions. His writings are counted as some of the most important documents of the 12th century. He took a long sabbatical journey to Spain to study with Islamic scholars of all ranks & published the first Latin edition of the Koran

Image result for isaac newton quotes we build too many

1642 – Birthday of Isaac Newton, English physicist & mathematician

1923 – Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner

1977 – Deathday of Charlie Chaplin

1983 – Deathday of Joan Miro, painter

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December 24- January 5 (No Meeting December 31)

OVER 1000 PEOPLE REGISTERED!

Daily Schedule:

11:00-11:10am CST – Welcome and silent contemplation with the new zodiac image and virtue

11:10-11:20 am CST – Divine Feminine Sharing

11:20-11:30 am CST – Group Sharing and Closing

** Recordings Posted Daily **

December 24 First Holy Night Presenter: Angela Foster
December 25 Second Holy Night Presenter: Laura Scappaticci
December 26 Third Holy Night Presenter: Joyce Reilly
December 27 Fourth Holy Night Presenter: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
December 28 Fifth Holy Night Presenter: Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose
December 29 Sixth Holy Night Presenter: Ultra-Violet Archer
December 30 Seventh Holy Night Presenter: Deb Abrahams-Dematte
~ ~ December 31 – Pause ~ ~
January 1 Eighth Holy Night Presenter: Lelan Harris
January 2 Ninth Holy Night Presenter: Michele Mariscal
January 3 Tenth Holy Night Presenter: Claudia Knudson
January 4 Eleventh Holy Night Presenter: Jolie Luba
January 5 Twelfth Holy Night Presenter: Timothy Kennedy

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The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Our Annual Holy Nights
December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021

*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates.

The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together

on Zoom from 7 pm – 8 pm CST

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92592034861?pwd=Mmo0eURaWDVqYVlabTdSY1ltcUFxdz09

Meeting ID: 925 9203 4861 – Passcode: Peace

On Tuesday, December 29th, 6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,

we will join The ARC in Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily

This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09 Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe

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New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call

Masked ball Painting by Marcel Garbi | Saatchi Art

Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 6 pm-10:10 pm CT

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

6 pm CST – Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar

8 pm– 9:30 pm CST – Live Music with Jutta and the Hi-Dukes

10:10 pm CST – Project Thought-Seed

The evening ends at 10:30 pm

$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

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Nancy Poer

Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST

Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041

Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer

We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar,

+ An Artistic exploration, Singing & Eurythmy

http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

Blessings of the Season
~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Festivals & Events Coordinator
for the Rudolf Steiner Branch
of The Anthroposophical Society

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Balance

Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,
4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

Innocents

Holy Nights 2019 -2020 Theme: The Christmas Conference Renewed! – Christmas Eve 24 Dec. thru Epiphany Eve 5 January

Aim your Arrow

World Initiation

30 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2020 Prep-makers conference at Michael Fields Institute

Fellowship of Preparation Makers Gathering

2nd Holy Night: Christmas 2020

Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

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Holy Nights 2019 -2020 Theme: The Christmas Conference Renewed! – Christmas Eve 24 Dec. thru Epiphany Eve 5 January

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30 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2020 Prep-makers conference at Michael Fields Institute

Fellowship of Preparation Makers Gathering

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Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,
4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute