“I know not what my past still has in store for me”

July 16, 2019Celestial Event, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Speaking with the Stars, Uncategorized~hag

16 July 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars“:

PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF THE THUNDER MOON: It’s happening tonight – Bella Luna will pass through the shadow of Earth, off center, plunging 65% of the lunar disk into darkness. This movie created by space artist Larry Koehn shows how the 3-hour eclipse will unfold:

The eclipse begins at approximately 20:00 UT, reaching maximum coverage an hour and a half later. The timing favors observers in Africa and the Middle East, with some visibility in South America, Europe, Asia and Australia as well. North Americans will see none of the eclipse–only a normally bright full Moon east of Saturn. Bella Luna shines near the border between the constellations Sagittarius the Archer & Capricornus the Sea Goat.

According to folklore, July’s full Moon is the “Thunder-Buck Moon,” named after the booming electrical storms of northern summer & honoring the rack of the horned creatures. This is the last significant lunar eclipse until May 2021, when the “Flower Moon” will be shadowed, so tune in!

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Pietro Novelli

Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, Christian hermits living in the Holy Land during the late 12th & early to mid-13th century. They built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the “Lady of the place.” Our Lady of Mount Carmel was adopted in the 19th century as the patron saint of Chile, in South America.

Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular, a sacramental associated with promises of Mary’s special aid for the salvation of the devoted wearer. Since the Middle Ages, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been related to Purgatory, where souls are purged of sins in the fires. In some images, she is portrayed as accompanied with angels and souls wearing Brown Scapulars, who plead for her mediation.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel was seen in the apparitions of Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal, by Lúcia Santos & her co-visionary companions Jacinta & Francisco Marto & as many as 70,000 witnesses of the extraordinary events during the Miracle of the Sun. She also appeared to Saint Simon Stock to whom she gave the Brown Scapular. The Garabandal apparitions, in Spain, were reported to be images of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. Also in Acquafondata, Italy, the apparition of the Virgin of Mount Carmel, was seen on July 16, 1841. There is still today a small sanctuary on the site.

622 – Mohammed’s flight from Mecca, which came to determine the beginning of the Islamic calendar. He hid in a cave where a spiders web quickly grew over the entrance so that the enemy was fooled into thinking he wasn’t there.

1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western & Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.

1879 – Birthday of Elisabeth Vreed – Dutch philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer & anthroposopher. Elisabeth Vreede came into contact with Theosophy in her home growing up. She was interested early on in the starry sky, read the works of Camille Flammarion & learned French at the same time. At the University of Leyden she studied mathematics, astronomy, philosophy (especially Hegel) & Sanskrit. She was also actively involved in student life, founding a boat club, & was a council member of the students’ union.

Her first meeting with Rudolf Steiner took place at the Theosophical Congress in London in 1903. Vreede was leader of the mathematics & astronomy sections in the Goetheanum in Dornach from 1926 till 1935. In her capacity as leader of the Mathematical-Astronomical Section she wrote a monthly letter, then available by subscription, about both modern astronomy & classical astrology in the light of spiritual science. The letters included explanations of the fundamentals of astronomy & discussions of astrology in the modern world, with reference to such topics as the precession of the equinoxes, comets, solar & lunar eclipses, & the meaning of the Christian holidays such as Easter & Whitsun. The Letters in English translation were published in 2007 with the title Astronomy and Spiritual Science.

In 1935 the separation within the Anthroposophical Society took place & she was expelled from the executive council & excluded along with her long-time friend & co-member, Dr. Ita Wegman from the board of directors. She was also cut off from the observatory & archives that she herself helped assemble.

The last years of her life became more lonely. She was cut off from her friends abroad by the War. The death of Ita Wegman at the beginning of March, 1943, was a great shock for her.

Rudolf Steiner said of her: ‘this individuality does not wish to be recognized …’ Elisabeth Knottenbelt in her memoirs describes statements about her: that ‘she incarnated too early’ for the sake of serving Rudolf Steiner. “for this task [the work with Rudolf Steiner] she had assumed the sacrifice of a premature incarnation. One who, for the sake of a spiritual mission, comes in this way to earth too early must forego a lot. To a great extent one leaves one’s karmic circle of human beings behind in the spiritual word. Her life was thus really a quite lonely one, only a few persons were grouped around her without any real connection.”

Here is a quote from a letter written by her prior to her removal from the executive council: “The Being of Anthroposophy – I myself have always felt it as a spiritual being newly created by Dr. Steiner, as it were the first hierarchical Being that men have begotten, quite young and still underdeveloped, as is the case with a child—a Being that must now begin to develop further through our common work as a ‘community of knowledge’, and with the cooperation of its creator from the spiritual world. Just for this reason I find it so painful when attacks are continually made against part of the active members such as to exclude them from the work, from creating together the Being of Anthroposophy.”

Read her biography from the Astrosophy Research Center

1942 – Holocaust: Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup.The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Winter Velodrome in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.

1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

1948 – The city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel, the largest offensive by Israeli forces in the north of Palestine in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Israeli aircraft bombed Saffuriya village & caused panic among the population; many of the villagers fled northwards toward Lebanon, others found shelter in Nazareth, leaving about 100 elderly people behind. Nazareth surrendered to the Israelis.

1969 –Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida. The 1st ‘moomwalk’ 20 July 1969.

1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies when his plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. His wife, Carolyn Bassette & sister-in-law are also killed

2007 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 & 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing 280 people, injuring at least 5800 & damaging a nuclear power plant.

2014 – Deathday of Ruth Zinniker – The biodynamic movement owes so much to Ruth and the whole Zinniker family. Their farm has been a source of inspiration for thousands of people, many of whom came there to work as apprentices when they were young people and have gone on to be important leaders in the biodynamic movement. Ruth had a place in her heart for all these people and many others. She warmed the movement with her social gesture and her fiery enthusiasm. Thank you dear Ruth, thank you Zinniker family, for all you have given to help seed the biodynamic movement in North America. — Robert Karp

***

TOD (Thought Of the day)

“I know not what my past still has in store for me,” testified the Indian spiritual poet Tukaram… I believe most of us can say the same thing, & here’s why: The events that happened to us once upon a time keep transforming as we ripen. They come to have
different meanings in light of the ever-new experiences we have. What seemed like a setback when it first occurred may eventually reveal itself to have been the seed of a blessing. A wish fulfilled at a certain point in our history might come back to haunt us later on. I bring up these ideas, because I think we are all primed to reinterpret our past, so we can co-create a more truthful now, to beget a more beautiful future…

***

From Rudolf Steiner’s Human Questions Cosmic Answers: “…when there is an eclipse of the moon, the man of today merely says: “Now the earth comes between the sun and the moon; hence we see the shadow cast upon the moon by the earth.” That is the physical explanation. But in this case also the old initiate knew that a spiritual reality was behind the physical fact. He knew that when there is an eclipse of the moon, thoughts stream through darkness down upon the earth; and that such thoughts have a closer relationship with the subconscious life than with the conscious life of the human being. The old initiates often made use of a certain simile when speaking to their pupils. It is; of course, necessary to translate their words into modern language, but this is the gist of what they said: “Visionaries and dreamers love to go for rambles by moonlight, when the moon is full. There are, however, certain people who have no wish to receive the good thoughts coming to them from the cosmos, but who, on the contrary, are desirous of getting hold of evil, diabolical thoughts. Such people will choose the moment of a lunar eclipse for their nocturnal wanderings.

Eclipses of the sun and moon, recurring as they do in the course of every year, may really be looked upon as “safety-valves.” A safety-valve is there to avert danger, to provide an outlet for something or other — steam, for instance — at the right moment. One of the safety-valves which makes its appearance in the cosmos and to which we give the name of a solar eclipse, serves the purpose of carrying out into space in a Luciferic way, the evil that spreads over the earth, in order that evil may work havoc in a wider, less concentrated sphere. The other safety-valve, the lunar eclipse, exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. people do not, as a rule, act in full consciousness, but the facts are nevertheless real — just as real as the attraction of a magnet for small particles of iron. Such are the forces at work, in the cosmos.”

The tradition on the Italian side of my family: My Strega Nona told us that Bella Luna was a great mirror reflecting the Sun, & that during a lunar eclipse, we must practice the very old tradition of breathing on a mirror. We had a contest who could fog up the mirror the most. Grandmother told us that a wolf swallowed the Moon during an eclipse & that our breath would cause the wolf to cough it up & return it to the sky.

Image result for wolf eating the moon painting

My Irish mother used to tell us the Viking tale about two wolves who wish to eat the Sun & Moon. Skoll (repulsion) goes after the Sun & Hati, running ahead of the Sun, goes after the Moon. When either are caught, there is an eclipse. When this happens, the people on Earth rush to rescue the Sun or Moon by making as much noise as they can in hopes of scaring off the wolves. So we would bang on pots & pans to drive the wolfs away.

The lesson here my friends is that as human beings we must participate in these cosmic conversations. We must be involved – active – co-creators in the ever evolving interchange.

~hag

Free Lady Liberty

July 4, 2019Summer~hag

4th of July 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: No holiday better epitomizes summer in the United States than Independence Day. And the season’s namesake asterism — the Summer Triangle — will be on prominent display as fireworks ring out across the land. The trio’s brightest member, Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp, stands nearly overhead in late evening. The asterism’s second-brightest star, Altair in Aquila the Eagle, then lies about halfway from the southeastern horizon to the zenith. Deneb, the luminary of Cygnus the Swan, marks the Summer Triangle’s third corner. Although it is this asterism’s dimmest star, it’s the brightest point of light in the northeastern sky.

If you ever thought the Sun’s distance controlled temperatures here on Earth, today should convince you otherwise. At 5 p.m. CDT, our planet reaches its most distant point from the Sun during 2019 – aphelion. The Northern Hemisphere’s warm temperatures at this time of year arise because the Sun passes nearly overhead at noon; during winter, the Sun traces a low path across the sky.

Sign	Sidereal Dates	Tropical Dates	Calendar of the Soul
Aries	April 15– May 15	March 21– April 20	April 14 – April 30
Taurus	May 16– June 15	April 21– May 20	May 1 – June 15
Gemini	June 16– July 15	May 21– June 20	June 16 – July 20
Cancer	July 16– Aug 15	June 21– July 22	July 21 – August 3
Leo	Aug 16– Sept 15	July 23– Aug 24	Aug 4 – Sept 7
Virgo	Sept 16– Oct 15	Aug 25– Sept 22	Sept 8– October 12
Libra	Oct 16– Nov 15	Sept 23– Oct 22	Oct 13 – Nov 9
Scorpio	Nov 16– Dec 15	Oct 23– Nov 21	Nov 10 – Nov 30
Sagittarius	Dec 16– Jan 14	Nov 22– Dec 21	Dec 1 – Jan 4
Capricorn	Jan 15– Feb 14	Dec 22– Jan 20	January 5– Feb 8
Aquarius	Feb 15– March 14	Jan 21– Feb 19	February 9– March 8
Pisces	March 15– April 14	February 20– March 20	March 9– April 13

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1054 – A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, & Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence of the 13 States is adopted by the Second Continental Congress

1807 – Birthday of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician

1826 – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States, dies the same day as John Adams, 2nd president of the United States, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. (see article below)

1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published In Brooklyn.

1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & its sequels.

1872 – Birthday of Calvin Coolidge, lawyer & politician, 30th President of the United States

1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.

1902 – Deathday of Vivekananda, Indian monk & saint

1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.

1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia & his family

1934 – Deathday of Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist & chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

***

THE “AMERICAN” or “THREEFOLD” VERSE by Rudolf Steiner given to Ralph Courtney, a pioneer of Anthroposophy in North America for the Threefold Group in New York City, which later established the Threefold Community in Spring Valley (now Chestnut Ridge). This verse for the American spirit speaks of the inner unity of human beings and of support from the spiritual world for our efforts:

“May our feeling penetrate to the center of our hearts –
And seek, in love, to unite with those who share our goals,
And with the spirits who look down benevolently
On our hearts earnest strivings.
Sending us strength from realms of light, to illuminate our love“.

***

Thomas Jefferson & John Adams were ideological opposites & election rivals, but the two Founding Fathers reconciled late in life—which made their nearly simultaneous deaths on July 4, 1826, all the more meaningful. On the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson uttered his last words, “Is it the fourth yet?” before passing away. Later that same day, Adams also died, but not before saying, “Thomas Jefferson survives,” unaware his dear friend had already passed on.

Five years later, on July 4, 1831, James Monroe, the last presidential Founding Father, died as well. The fifth U.S. president had attempted to write an autobiography, but was unable to complete it as his health slowly deteriorated after his wife died the year before.

Interesting that there has only been 1 president born on the 4^th of July – Calvin Coolidge, the nation’s 30th president, in 1872.

“Three of the four presidents who have left the scene of their usefulness & glory expired on the anniversary of the national birthday, a day which of all others, had it been permitted them to choose [they] would probably had selected for the termination of their careers,” wrote the New York Evening Post the day after Monroe’s death.

Adams served as the second president from 1797 to 1801, followed by Jefferson, who served until 1809. But long before the 13 colonies had won their independence, Adams & Jefferson played vital roles in creating the document that declared men were created equal & entitled to “life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness.”

Adams, in a letter to a friend in 1822, recalled how Jefferson was placed on the committee to write the document. “Mr Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775 and brought with him a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent at composition. Writings of his were handed about, remarkable for the peculiar felicity of expression,” Adams wrote.

The irascible Adams also described why he insisted that Jefferson write the draft: “Jefferson proposed to me to make the draught. I said I will not; You shall do it. Oh No! Why will you not? You ought to do it. I will not. Why? Reasons enough. What can be your reasons? Reason 1st. You are a Virginian, and Virginia ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason 2d. I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular; You are very much otherwise. Reason 3d: You can write ten times better than I can. ‘Well,’ said Jefferson, ‘if you are decided I will do as well as I can.’”

The importance of July 4 might have surprised some Founding Fathers. The Continental Congress declared freedom from Britain on July 2 & approved the Declaration on Independence on July 4. Most members signed the document in August.

Adams thought Americans would remember July 2 as their “Day of Deliverance” from Britain. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, he wrote, “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

While Adams & Jefferson represented their states in the Continental Congress, a teenage Monroe dropped out of college in 1776 to fight in the Revolution, enlisting in the 3rd Virginia Regiment, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Many historians consider Monroe the last president from the Founding Fathers.

Adams & Jefferson would live to see the country expand well beyond the original 13 states. Adams was 90 when he died of a heart attack. Jefferson had been in declining health for years before dying at 83.

“People interpreted their deaths in a religious manner,” said Michael Meranze, a U.S. history professor at UCLA. “It was clearly taken symbolically as both the birth and growth of the early republic.”

In 1826, for instance, Rep. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts delivered a two-hour-long eulogy in Boston suggesting their deaths were a sign that God was protecting the nation.

“As their lives themselves were the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their happy termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs that our country and its benefactors are objects of His care?” Webster said.

~ Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

‘It’s a small world after all’

July 3, 2019Festival, History, Insight, Remembering, Speaking with the Stars, Summer~hag

3 July 2019 – “Speaking with the stars”: Arcturus, the brilliant yellow-orange star high in the southwest after dark, is the leading light of Bootes the Cowherd. The constellation’s brightest stars form a kite shape extending up from Arcturus. The kite is rather narrow, bent a bit left at the top, about two fists at arm’s length.

Moon, Mercury, Mars, Pollux, Castor very low at dusk, July 3-4, 2019

While evening twilight is still fairly bright, the thin waxing crescent Moon guides the way to the low line of Mercury, Mars, Pollux, & Castor disappearing into the sunset, .

Tomorrow, the 4^th of July 2019, the Earth is at aphelion, its farthest from the Sun for the year.

***

Looking at the past to see the present, co-creating the future:

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Those who work with the Original indications in the Calendar of the Soul know that Rudolf Steiner lists the birth & death days, as well as other significant occurrences of various individualities, along with the dates in the calendar. He said of this: “What is presented here can be useful to those who wish to follow the path of mankind’s spiritual development” ~Rudolf Steiner

Image result for Cornelius_the_Centurion Gerbrand van den EeckhoutGerbrand-van-den-Eeckhout — CGerbrand van den Eeckhout

Deathday of Cornelius – a Roman centurion who is considered to be the first Gentile to convert to the faith. Cornelius receives a vision in which an angel who instructs Cornelius to send the men of his household to Joppa, where they will find Simon Peter.

The conversion of Cornelius comes after a separate vision given to Simon Peter (Acts 10:10–16) himself. In the vision, Simon Peter sees all manner of beasts & birds being lowered from Heaven. A voice commands Simon Peter to eat. When he objects to eating unclean animals, the voice tells him not to call unclean that which God has cleansed. When Cornelius’ men arrive, Simon Peter understands that through this vision the Lord commanded the Apostle to preach the Word of God to the Gentiles.

283 – Deathday of Anatolius. Prior to becoming one of the great lights of the Church, he enjoyed considerable prestige at Alexandria, & was credited with a rich knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, physics, rhetoric, dialectic, & astronomy. He was one of the foremost scholars of his day in Aristotelean philosophy.

Deathday of St. Norbert of Xanten, who avoided ordination to the priesthood & even declined an appointment as bishop. One day as he rode to Vreden, a thunderbolt struck him off his horse. After this near-fatal accident, his faith deepened, he renounced his appointment at Court & returned to Xanten to lead a life of penance. St Norbert was a great devotee of the Eucharist & Our Lady.

1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy

1863 – The U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, PA, ended after three days. It was a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated

Image result for 1940 âIn order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet is bombarded by the British fleet causing the loss of three battleships, 1,200 sailors die.

1940 –In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet is bombarded by the British fleet causing the loss of three battleships, 1,200 sailors die.

1944 –Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration

1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing a connection between Europe & Asia over the Bosphorus.

***

As the power of ‘Independence’ reverberates in our collective consciousness…Can we rise in our thinking to meet “Freedom, Equality, & Fraternity”…While imagining that the “bombs bursting in air” are beautiful, gentle fireworks of realization & enlightenment, going off like light bulbs in American minds…

Working towards a Global Interdependence Independence Day. A mutual dependency upon the independence of every nation & its people…Imagine everyone celebrating our differences with great admiration & respect…

We have all heard of Betsy Ross right? I just love this enterprising woman who led a very interesting life. She was actually disowned as a Quaker because she married an Episcopalian, who was later ironically killed while guarding a munitions dump. So here she was a young widow, telling George Washington that she thought the 5 pointed Star would look much better on the flag then his idea of having 6 pointed stars, true story.

I can just picture her sitting in the back room of the small upholstery business she ran by herself, with this mighty symbol that she helped design, laid out on her sweet lap, sewing away.

Now I’m not much for nationalism with all its borders & power over others kind of patriotism, but I must admit I love to see a well-made flag flapping in the breeze. All flags are cool – Crests with their ancient symbols, & especially those colorful banners you see on the porches of houses, shaped like butterflies or autumn leaves. I’m just a sucker for a glyph in the wind.

We all know what we’re talking about when we say ‘the 4th’ right…But when was the last time you stopped to think about what ‘the 4th’ is really all about. When I looked on the internet it gave me hit after hit on picnic ideas, & recipes for apple pie, hints on BBQ techniques, free patriotic screen savers, many downloadable versions of the “rockets’ red glare” with animated fireworks displays; & yet somehow they forgot to mention the fact that fireworks were a Chinese invention, an ancient art form that we took & made into gun powder. I’m serious, is baseball & burnt wieners all there is?

Does anyone want to give us some history here, or a brief overview of the meaning of Independence Day? I was never much good with all the details, the dates & names & such, so history isn’t my strong point, but I’m always able to get the big picture, & it seems to be about freedom from oppression… ‘No taxation without representation’…& all that…the center point being the Declaration of Independence.

When was the last time you read this important document of our countries origin? You can print it off the net. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”

The rest of the document goes on to give a laundry list of the crimes against the colonists by the king of Great Britain, whose name happens to be George the 3rd…(who says history doesn’t repeat itself, many of these same crimes were perpetrated not so long ago by George Bush & his dynasty)

Have we gained independence from one tyranny all those years ago, only to allow it to happen again on a world scale? Maybe it’s time to open our eyes & read the fine print of our birthright, reclaim our rights & go forward as a united community of World people, in peaceful justice, in equity, in reason, with compassion, having come through so much pain, to really start to, not just declare our independence, but to really live it…As individuals, as well as with the united community of the whole planet…

We have a strong voice…this is our world…our sacred space & we can sing any reality we want to…& I don’t know about you, but I’d rather sing ‘America the Beautiful’, or even something like, ‘It’s A Small World After All’, then the war worshiping ‘Star Spangled Banner’ any day…

America Guided By Wisdom, 1815 (litho) engraved by Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848)

So for our next song, I’ll get off the soap box, & let the power of our united heart-beats, our collective rhythm be our anthem…to bring healing & forgiveness to the old wounds & hope for the future… blessed be…

‘We can rise with the fire of freedom
Truth is the fire that burns our chains
& you can stop the fire of destruction
Healing is the fire running through our veins’.

Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Solar Eclipse +

July 2, 2019Celestial Event, Insight, Meditation, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Speaking with the Stars, Summer~hag

Light workers, ready, set, go: July 2019 is coming in strong – with solar & lunar eclipses, several tense oppositions in Cancer-Capricorn, & Mercury Retrograde conjunct Mars!

Steiner speaks about the fact that an eclipse has a ‘malignant effect’’ – one that is necessary, as a safety valve, to ‘avert danger, to provide an outlet for something’.

A solar eclipse provides an opportunity for ‘the evil which is willed on earth’ to flow out into universal space. All the unbridled impulses of humanity surge out into the cosmos. When there is no eclipse, these evil impulses of will which are sent out into the cosmos by human beings are burned up & consumed by the rays of the sun, so that they can injure only humanity itself, & can do no universal harm.

The lunar eclipse exists for the purpose of allowing the ‘evil thoughts’ which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are ‘desirous of being possessed by them’.

It seems that sometimes humanity needs to blow off stream, sending out our built up impulses into the cosmos at the solar eclipse. And with a lunar eclipse it’s the cosmos’ turn to stream toward the human being – in an ‘exchange of evil. This is important for humanity to know, so that we can be conscious of what is happening, & step up.

2 July 2019 – Total Solar Eclipse in Cancer, a the North Node eclipse which is about embracing the new.

This total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Chile & Argentina just before sunset. Some regions in the Pacific & in South America, including locations in Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, & Paraguay will see a partial solar eclipse.

Since we are dealing with an eclipse of the Sun, it would be important to remember how Michael remained on the Sun as the ruling power of the great cosmic kingdom of the Christ & guardian of the Christ-mysteries in the cosmos.

The Michael Meditation is a powerful imagination that can help us bring into focus the cosmic & earthly Michael-Mystery for our time, pointing up our responsibility as Anthroposophers to take on the task of our Time-spirit.

MICHAEL MEDITATION from Rudolf Steiner’s last lecture

Springing from Powers of the Sun,
Radiant Spirit-powers, blessing all Worlds!
For Michael’s garment of rays
You are predestined by Thought Divine.
He, the Christ-messenger, reveals in you —
Bearing mankind aloft — the sacred Will of Worlds.
You, the radiant Beings of Æther-Worlds,
Bear the Christ-Word to Man.
Thus shall the Herald of Christ appear
To the thirstily waiting souls,
To whom your Word of Light shines forth
In cosmic age of Spirit-Man.
You, the disciples of Spirit-Knowledge,
Take Michael’s Wisdom-beckoning,
Take the Word of Love of the Will of Worlds
Into your souls’ aspiring, a c t i v e l y !

Another thought I had was to also work with this ‘Heart-Meditation’ given to Ita Wegman’s mother, Henriette Wegman for her 73rd birthday by Rudolf Steiner (from Peter Seleg’ book: The Ensouled Sun of Man: A Heart Meditation)

“Center your attention in your heart. Imagine there is a small, transparent globe at the center of your heart. Then slowly expand this globe, allowing it to widen through your body, the room, and onward out and out. Keep its shape as it expands, through and around the Earth. Let it expand slowly beyond the Earth, through each planetary orbit: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, and farther to the outer planets until it reaches the fixed stars of the Zodiac. Let it rest there, feeling held by the periphery and the powers that stream from it toward the Earth. Then, slowly, contract this globe again, so it passes back through all the spheres, until it is within your own heart again”. ~Rudolf Steiner

This speaks to the spiritual nature of the human heart in connection with the cosmic heart in our Day-Star – this is the work of Michael since the mystery of Golgotha- it gives us an imagination of the modern path to Christ.

Since the Moon briefly blocks out the rays of the Sun during a solar eclipse, the will impulses streaming out from humanity find their way into the spiritual world without being “mediated” by the spiritual influences of the Sun during the shadow time.

What should we do during a total solar eclipse? Practice ‘Good Will’. Feel the beauty. Think the truth. Be creative, kind, generous in your reverence – Call in your Higher Self. And stand with Michael, holding the sword & shield of the Sun, as a true human being.

3 July 2019 – Venus Enters Cancer

8 July, 2019 – Mars is conjunct Mercury, & then a few hours later, Mercury goes retrograde

9 July 2019 – Chiron in Aries Goes Retrograde

Image result for Sun Conjunct North Node, Opposite Saturn & South Node in Cancer opposite Capricorn.

Also on 9 July 2019 – Sun Conjunct North Node, Opposite Saturn & South Node in Cancer opposite Capricorn.

11 July 2019 – Mars in Leo Square Uranus in Taurus

12 July – hag’s natal return!

14 July 2019 – Sun in Cancer Opposite Pluto in Capricorn

Image result for lunar eclipse in capricorn july 2019

16 July 2019 – Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn, a South Node Lunar Eclipse, which is about releasing the old.

From Rudolf Steiner: And again, when there is an eclipse of the moon, the man of today merely says: “Now the earth comes between the sun and the moon; hence we see the shadow cast upon the moon by the earth.” That is the physical explanation. But in this case also the old initiate knew that a spiritual reality was behind the physical fact. He knew that when there is an eclipse of the moon, thoughts stream through darkness down upon the earth; and that such thoughts have a closer relationship with the subconscious life than with the conscious life of the human being. The old initiates often made use of a certain simile when speaking to their pupils. It is; of course, necessary to translate their words into modern language, but this is the gist of what they said: “Visionaries and dreamers love to go for rambles by moonlight, when the moon is full. There are, however, certain people who have no wish to receive the good thoughts coming to them from the cosmos, but who, on the contrary, are desirous of getting hold of evil, diabolical thoughts. Such people will choose the moment of a lunar eclipse for their nocturnal wanderings”

19 July 2019 – Mercury Retrograde Re-enters Cancer. Mercury Retrograde is about RE. Re-doing, re-searching, re-viewing, re-examining, re-inventing, re-thinking, re-scheduling…

21 July 2019 – Venus in Cancer Opposite Pluto in Capricorn. Some call this is a “femme fatale” aspect.

Also 21 July 2019 – Mercury in Retrograde Conjunct Sun in Cancer

22 July– Sun Enters Leo

28 July 2019 – Venus Enters Leo

29 July 2019 – Sun in Leo Square Uranus in Taurus

Image result for july 2019 eclipse season — Michelle Knight

The Astrology of July features the return of Eclipse Season, with both a Solar Eclipse in Cancer TODAY on the New Moon July 2nd, & a Lunar Eclipse on the Full Thunder-Buck Moon, in the Sun’s opposite sign of Capricorn, which takes place on July 16th with the Moon also conjunct transformative Pluto.

These lunations are big astrological news, but as we saw above, there’s more. July also contains a full 3 weeks of Mercury in retrograde, through the signs of Leo, & then Cancer, & with the start of this retrograde period slated to be quite an intense moment because, as Mercury begins to move backward through early Leo, it will be in close conjunction with feisty Mars & in square with the startling trickster energy of Uranus!

There are the usual suspects as well: Saturn with Pluto, a close parallel, Jupiter with Neptune, in square, & prominent Chiron in semi-sextile aspect to Uranus. With all this outer planet activity, the transformational beat continues, as we can clearly see in our own lives & as well in the trending of the surrounding zeitgeist.

Most astrologers feel that the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, & Pluto that comes up in mid-November 2020 will be the peak of massive societal change, & that we are in stage 3 or 4 of this major transition. And every one of us might in fact be going through a similar transformative cycle during these pivotal years leading up to 2020, depending on how vigilant we may have been. We will all want to recognize that this is the time to tune in ‘as above so below, as within so without’.

And remember: The effects of an eclipse are said to last 6 months!

These kinds of challenging alignments call us to be awake, in our “Speaking with the stars”. An eclipse, an opposition, a retrograde, or a square admonishes us to take action.

When we consciously join the cosmic conversation & work with these intense energies, we are able to co-create the flow with awareness & intention, instead of spending our energies combating or swimming against the tide.

~hag

Click to read a revision of my pageant for a solar eclipse “From Light thru Darkness into New Light”

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Tornado Watch

June 28, 2019Chicago Event, History, Meditation, Poetry, Speaking with the Stars, Summer~hag

28 June 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As evening grows late, even the lowest star of the Summer Triangle shines pretty high in the east now. That’s Altair. It’s a good 3 or 4 fists at arm’s length below or lower right of bright Vega. A marker for Altair is its little buddy Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae), above or upper left of it by about a finger’s width at arm’s length. Look left of Altair, by hardly more than one fist, for compact little Delphinus, the Dolphin. And above the midpoint between Delphinus & Altair look for even smaller, dimmer Sagitta, the Arrow.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

The Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Latin: Sollemnitas Sacratissimi Cordis Iesu) is a solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This great feast in the Church is always celebrated on the octave day of Corpus Christi, the feast which celebrates the Body & Blood of Christ. Corpus Christi falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (which itself falls on the Sunday after Pentecost), which means the feast of the Sacred Heart falls nineteen days after Pentecost Sunday. The following day is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so these two devotions to the hearts of Jesus and Mary are side-by-side on the liturgical calendar.

Feast of Saint Vitus, a Christian saint from Sicily. He died as a martyr during the persecution of Christians by co-ruling Roman Emperors Diocletian & Maximian in 303. Vitus is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers of medieval Roman Catholicism. Saint Vitus’ Day is celebrated on 28 June on the Gregorian Calendar.

In the late Middle Ages, people in Germany & countries such as Latvia celebrated the feast of Vitus by dancing before his statue. This dancing became popular & the name “Saint Vitus Dance” was given to the neurological disorder Sydenham’s chorea. It also led to Vitus being considered the patron saint of dancers & of actors, comedians, dancers, of entertainers in general a& epileptics. He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks & oversleeping.

1712 – Birthday of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher & polymath

1831 – Birthday of Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist, composer, & conductor; friend of Herman Grimm.

Image result for Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria & his wife Sophie

1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria & his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo; this is the casus belli of World War I.

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1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the state of war between Germany & the Allies of World War I.

1950 – Korean War: Suspected sympathizers are executed in the Bodo League massacre.

Image result for South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge

1950 – Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul & leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge in an attempt to slow North Korea’s offensive. The city falls later that day.

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1950 – Korean War: North Korean Army conducts the Seoul National University Hospital massacre. Over 900 doctors, nurses, patients & wounded soldiers, were killed. The Korean People’s Army shot or buried the people alive. The civilian victims alone numbered 1900.

Image result for Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity

1964 – Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

1969 – Stonewall riots begin in New York City, marking the start of the Gay Rights Movement.

Image result for 1973 â Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists & nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.

1973 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists & nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~i am the mud
between the toes of the Beloved…
make of me a poultice for the healing,
that from our commingling
the lotus may take root –
a strong foundation
for the blossoming…
~hag

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Summer-Tide is a time of relationships & harmony…Showing us how we are connected to the cosmos, to nature & its rhythms…with the longer days the pineal gland receives more light & we feel creative power shining in on us.

Here is a little guided meditation for this time of year:

Make yourself comfortable…as we share the air…taking a deep breath… filling your belly…thrilling your lungs…Let your body sink deep & Relax…

As your awareness is internalized, connect with the Breath of Life, gently moving through you…Make all your senses alert to the breath…Enjoy its power & simplicity…Feel the sustaining energy behind the breath…Feel the life force coursing through your cells & thoughts…

Direct your inner vision to a large field, a field of glorious, full, sunflowers…It the dawning of a new day…a perfect Summer morning, with a white-cloud-dotted clear sky,& a warm sun beginning to dazzle the world with its light…The sunflowers are tall & abundant, swaying in the warming breeze blowing across the field…Listen to the rustle of their music, dancing in the harmony of the elements together…Their beautiful, rich color casting a golden glow all around you…

There is a path ahead, meandering through the flowers, many much taller than you are, magnificently facing the sun absorbing its rays…You follow this path, slowly & leisurely, feeling every part of your feet making contact with the fertile earth…The sunflowers lining the path acknowledge you, every step of the way, whispering of riches & abundance, of the golden prosperity of your soul…

Image result for st john's wort painting — Eugeny Khara

You look down to your right & see a large patch of St. John’s Wort in full bloom…Receiving permission from the plant spirit, you begin to harvest the bright yellow blossoms, putting them reverently into the pouch at your hip…

Thanking the glorious medicine of this spirit you move on down the path, feeling the heat rising with the sun, inflaming your souls purpose…

Image result for pennyroyal flower painting

You stop to drink from a clear stream…& as you begin to stand, you notice a patch of pennyroyal…You commune with its magic, gathering the fragrant leaves into your pouch…Feeling enlivened & in rhythm with the height of summer, you are lead to wisteria & roses…Fields of thyme & mugwort & chamomile…

This is where the plant fairies dance & play in the lengthening shadows…You are called to look up to the sky, & you see the first pink traces of dusk approaching… As you come to the end of this path, your heart is at peace…

A little way ahead there is an opening…You make your way there, seeing that it is a small mound with magnificent oaks & a pristine pond… Under one of the oak trees, on the edge of the pond there is a blazing campfire crackling as the sky turns orange-crimson…You are at home here…Your fire is born of oak & fir tree branches…The flames call out to you, whispering your secret name…You offer up the harvest pouch you filled with love & summer herbs, casting it into the blue core of the flames…throwing in with it all thoughts of negativity…all obstacles…all pain…all worries, into its hot light of transformation…& as it burns free…take in the rising fragrance of your healing harvest…feeling cleansed…& energized

The twilight lingers, Our Day Star-Sun Takes its time to set triumphantly in the west…The sky is a canvas, & Mother Nature is expressing all her creativity…

Her grand design is reflected on the still pond at your feet…When you look at the pond, you see that it is a perfect reflection of your life, & on its surface you are able to see or experience all parts of who you are…What you are…What you will to become…

Your soul’s beauty, vastness & great love blend, with the sunset colors, & the pond’s liquid shimmer…As the light fades, a soft breeze ripples across the pond, & the colors are set into motion. There is a sweet music in the air of flutes, & harps, bells & drums…a light begins to surface from the pond…you see a form crystallizing…You realize this is the spirit of Mother Earth come to dance with you…She hovers over the pond & in a sublime voice speaks to you…

“I have come, for you have honored me, by honoring yourself…I have come, for many do not know of Me…I have come through you…Your life & mine are the same…Your welfare & mine are the same…What is good for you is good for me…When you feel love, I feel love…So won’t you share your goodwill with others? Won’t you share your goodwill with the planet? Won’t you share your goodwill with yourself? I ask, for I see you are willing & able…I see you are a bright power…You are full of courage & light…You are a transformer of reality…Transform the reality that no longer serves you…& as you do, link with others who know Me, & recognize the family of Life…When you recognize in someone, what you know inside to be true, seek to expand that truth…for as light is shared & love is grown, so shall the world change…You are my feet & hands, my eyes & voice…You do not live alone…The world is yours to craft as you choose…Choose freedom…Choose the way that creates the best for all; children, women, men, bodies of water, mountains, the land, all life…I gift you with Life & the ability to care for it…Embrace this gift.”

Take a moment now & pledge to the Mother what you will do to help the world, the environment; to help others; & to help yourself.

Cultivate the blessings received & the vision of your Divine-self in your heart-soul…Resolve to act on your life-purpose & make it real…

Gradually bring your experience to the present once again, to the here & now…Feel your body refreshed & renewed, here & now, in time & space, in your own sacred space…know you are sacred… know you are here…& Gently, joyfully, when you are ready, open your eyes…to see the unity of the cosmic community to which you belong…& say – Blessed be…

~hag

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29-30 June 2019 Biography Work. Your Unique Life, Your Unique Path by Thania Keppel Coaching LLC

Everybody’s life is UNIQUE!

We are all at different stages in our lives and we are all unique individuals. That’s why there is no “one size fits all” solution to our issues.

We all have the frustrating experience of events in our lives that keep repeating themselves (challenging personal or professional relationships, accidents, failures, illnesses, etc.) That’s because the school of life doesn’t allow us to skip important lessons. Only when we have completed our “homework” or overcome a certain challenge will we be able to move to the next level.

In this two-day Biography workshop you’ll learn how to live in harmony with yourself. You’ll develop a personal roadmap to your life through immersion into the rhythms and cycles of your life, supported by hands-on activities. You’ll understand how to best connect with those around you: Your clients, your spouse, your partner, your children, your employees and the entire community!

If you are tired of going in circles and are ready to take control of your life this workshop is for you!

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In The Now Sessions at the Elderberry Cafe

4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago Saturday 29 June 2019 from 8 p-m – 11 pm with Sibu Joseph

The In the Now Sessions gather people with two Intentions. First that we enter the Now without restricting what manifests. And second that we do so for the good of All. The Rhythms provided by the Dog Beach Drummers will aid in our group resonance and the drum circle is open to all who wish to play. If your passion is the visual arts please bring your gear and paint with us, some materials will be on site for use. And if your passion is dance bring your heat and let’s get down in a space where all of our creative energies have the opportunity to manifest our highest Intentions.

The entrance fee is 10 dollars but no one will be turned away for financial reasons. This is a no smoking and alcohol free venue so please respect the space. There is plenty of street parking in the area and easily accessible by public transportation.

May the Unity and Love that emerges when we gather to share our passions shine throughout the universe. Namaste

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Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

“I know not what my past still has in store for me”

Free Lady Liberty

‘It’s a small world after all’

Solar Eclipse +

Tornado Watch

29-30 June 2019 Biography Work. Your Unique Life, Your Unique Path by Thania Keppel Coaching LLC

In The Now Sessions at the Elderberry Cafe

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29-30 June 2019 Biography Work. Your Unique Life, Your Unique Path by Thania Keppel Coaching LLC

In The Now Sessions at the Elderberry Cafe

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