19 June 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Here it is two days from Summer Solstice, & the conspicuous Summer Triangle asterism dominates the eastern sky in late evening.
325 – 1stCouncil of Nicea concludes & promulgates the Nicene Creed
1566 –
Birthday of James VI of Scotland & I of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots. He sponsored the translation of the Bible into English
that would later be named after him: the Authorized
King James Version. Sir Anthony
Weldon claimed that James had been termed “the wisest fool in Christendom”. He was the patron of Frances Bacon, William Shakespeare, Joacob
Boehme & Jacob Balde.
James’s visit to Denmark, sparked an interest in the study of witchcraft, which he considered a branch of theology. He attended the North Berwick witch trials, the first major persecution of witches in Scotland under the Witchcraft Act 1563. Several people were convicted of using witchcraft to send storms against James’s ship, most notably Agnes Sampson. James became obsessed with the threat posed by witches & wrote Daemonologie in 1597, a tract opposed the practice of witchcraft & that provided background material for Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth.
1623 – Birthday of Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher & child prodigy.
1844 – Deathday of Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, defender of Goethean science, a French naturalist who established the principle of “unity of composition”. His scientific views had a transcendental flavor.
1862 – The U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford.
1867 –
Deathday of Maximillian I. Seeking
to legitimize French rule in the Americas, Napoleon III invited Maximilian to
establish a new Mexican monarchy for him. Many foreign governments refused to
recognize Maximilian’s claim or regime. His self-declared empire collapsed, &
he was executed by the Mexican government.
1917 – The solar eclipse of June 19, 1917
1936 – The solar eclipse of June 19, 1936
1953 – Julius & Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York
1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate
2012 –
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requests
asylum in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy for fear of extradition to the US after
publication of previously classified documents including footage of civilian
killings by the US army
~ ~ ~
Weltenwärme (World Heat) Summer – In radiant heights where, Glistening in the sun, The friendly dragonflies are Flitting out rays of warmth Which blend into the space around. There, tarry thou, my soul; For, thinking of me, they weave From sadness, strength. Already I can feel How they are sensing me; How warmth streams from them, Permeating me. The spirit dissolves In cosmic interweaving, The earthly heaviness Into light of the future. ~Rudolf Steiner
~~~
In our time now at the Summer Solstice, the Sun enters the
fixed stars of Gemini, the Twins; which puts the Earth in the opposite stars of the Archer; the constellation which is
associated with the Winter Solstice.
This is the vertical axis of the
life of Sun & Earth.
The equinoxes of Spring & Autumn hold the horizontal axis, forming the great cross of nature, the seasonal life & symbol of Earth. Upon this cross we have the Christian festivals, with St. John’s & Christmas coinciding with this vertical axis, & Easter & Michaelmas along the horizontal axis.
Judith Pillar
When
thinking about the the in-breath & out-breath, the living cycle of the soul
of the Earth, we learn from Rudolf Steiner, that at Summer Solstice the Earth
soul & spirit (which is now the Christ) are fully exhaled out to the
periphery of the cosmos, to become intermingled with the grandeur of the
highest cosmic mysteries, where the true forces of life exist among the stars.
The soul of the Earth is dreaming now in the heights. The forces which live in
the seeds are held now in these summer dreams of the Earth in union with the
hierarchies, & it is this dreaming which is brought back into the Earth to
become assessable during the sacred time of the Holy Nights.
The summertime union between the sun & earth is actually a re-union between the spiritual beings of the sun & their human offspring. Through ‘the great window of heaven’ we experience this interaction which helps us develop an awareness of our higher “I”. We can contemplate this dynamic & bring it to life in our soul most strongly at this time of year.
Rudolf Steiner tells us that at
midsummer the Trinity reveals itself out
of the heart of this cosmic activity. A sounding, like the music of the
spheres, that calls us to explore our own inner harmony with the cosmos. To
answer the echo that unites us to the eternity of the Trinity.
Also important: Can we learn, to be still & small enough to hear the voice of conscience?
Bruce Rimell
At the fullness of Summer, the light is so bright that it leaves no room for the shadow to hide. High Noon is the hour of judgment – a good time to remember what John said “Then you shall know the truth, & the truth will set you free.”
Metanoia by Botticlelli
This is true if we respond to the summertime call for a ‘metanoia’- a review of life that brings us to want to engage in repentance, a call to ‘make straight the path’
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898)
For when our ‘little ego’ decreases, we grow in Christ. The true power of our higher “I” will increase like Christ increases in earth existence. Just as John the Baptist, 1st had to decrease, then after the beheading, he was able to distillate his Spirit-Self to become the guardian angel of the apostles, especially Lazarus John, his name sake.
Da Vinci
Johannes E – O – Ah – nes…Following this archetypal gesture we can see that John the Baptist has become one of the main
impulse givers towards group work -guiding community life for us even today.
~hag
***
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!
16 June 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Full Honey Moon officially arrives at 3:31 am CDT tomorrow morning, but it looks completely illuminated all night. Sweet Bella Luna appears low in the southeast as the Sun sets & climbs highest in the south around 1 am. The Full Moon resides among the background stars of southeastern Ophiuchus, sliding into western Sagittarius by daybreak.
Don’t be surprised if your friends ask you what that
bright object sitting next to the Moon is -You can impress them by answering Jupiter right away. The Benevolent
King, showing himself on this Father’s Day reached opposition last week, holding
space with Venus, which doesn’t rise
until morning twilight is well underway.
Adding to the panorama are, to their right, fainter Antares & the other stars of upper Scorpius
Happy Father’s Day to all you benevolent Kings out there!
100 years
ago, In June 1917 Rudolf Steiner spoke for the 1st time about Three-Folding…Are
we ready to carry this seed to the next stage…?
“Understanding of the world as it actually is, ability to bring spiritual knowledge right down into the practical life of humanity, into the stubborn spheres of technical industry & economics, as well as into the thinking, the moral life & the actions of the human being – this is one side of Rudolf Steiner’s challenge. The other is the development of the inner life of soul which generates love for human beings and the wisdom to promote their spiritual & social wellbeing…The inspirer of the 20th century has lived among us, & lives among us still. Is it not for us to work as laborers unto harvest?” ~D.N. Dunlop, “Rudolf Steiner and the fulfillment of the Quest.
1361 – Deathday of Johannes Tauler, a disciple of Meister Eckhart, one of the most important Rhineland Mystics. He promoted a neo-platonist dimension in the Dominican spirituality of his time
1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois
1901 – Deathday of Herman Grimm, son of one of the “Brothers Grimm” compilers of indigenous folk tales. His reputation is that of the arch-Romantic, Gründerzeit art historian, he was viewed as the intellectual successor of Goethe. His approach to art history was through the “Great Masters,” & a biographical account of art history. Rudolf Steiner spoke about his past lives as Pliny the Younger & Beatrice of Tuscany.
1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated
1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle & subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called “Bloomsday”
1911 – IBM founded in Endicott, New York
1920 – Dr. Rudolf Steiner, & Dr. Ita Wegman, founded “Futurum AG“, in Arlesheim, Switzerland, & “Der Kommende Tag AG (an incorporated company to encourage economic & spiritual values) in Stuttgart Germany. Both companies merged for economic reasons, & today is known as Weleda.
1932 – D.N. Dunlop plans “International Association for the Advancement of Spiritual Science”
1936 – Deathday of Emil Molt, used concepts of the 3-fold social order in his business. He was the founder of the first Waldorf School, where Rudolf Steiner was the pedagogical director. Steiner spoke of him as the individuality called Charlemagne.
Emil Molt, orphaned at 13, was born in southern Germany. After finishing high school he was apprenticed to Emil Georgii in the town of Calw, in the Black Forest. There he learned about money, his powerful work ethic, & wonderful customer service. He was diligent & a quick study, valued by his employer, who took the unusual step of asking him to work a year beyond his obligation.
During this time Molt met his wife-to-be, & felt an immediate inner connection. But he was not yet in a position to marry. At 19 he went to serve his obligatory year of military service in Ulm. When he was finished, he signed a four-year contract with a German-run export business in Greece, & moved to Patras. After one year, in which he learned much about international trade, Greece got into a war with Turkey over Crete, & lost. Germany had sided with Turkey, & so Germans were unpopular.
Molt was offered a position in Stuttgart with the son of Emil Georgii (who was also called Emil) which he accepted. He was finally in a position to marry his beloved Berta, with whom he had been corresponding continually. They got married & they settled down in Stuttgart to manage a cigarette manufacturing company owned by the younger Emil Georgii. Molt traces the ups & downs of the business, & tells the story of how he eventually came to be director & part owner of the Waldorf Astoria cigarette company. Under Molt’s direction the brand was highly successful. Molt was a sensitive & progressive manager, he experimented with such novelties as open-book management.
World War One was devastating to Germany, & difficult for the Waldorf Astoria cigarette company. But Waldorf fared better than most of its competitors due to Molt’s foresight in buying several years worth of raw materials at the start of the war, before Germany’s foreign currency became worthless (most of the tobacco came from Greece & Turkey). At the end of the war Molt had too many workers, because Molt had hired replacements for those that went off to fight. When the soldiers returned from the front, Molt did not want to simply fire the replacements. Instead he kept everyone on the payroll, & worked them half days. In the afternoons he held adult-education classes for his workers, & paid for them to attend. He offered courses in history, geography, paper-making, tobacco cultivation, as well as literature. These were popular, but the workers, unaccustomed to learning, found the courses tiring. This made him realize that to make a difference, education had to come to children, & so he started thinking of a school for the children of his workers.
Molt first heard Rudolf Steiner speak in 1904, & became a member of the Theosophical Society in 1906. Stuttgart was a hub of anthroposophical activity, & Steiner came through many times. The area had the first dedicated branch house (in 1911) & regular meetings. After the First World War Steiner spoke several times in lectures about things that could be done, & Molt felt called upon to act.
Molt & several other Stuttgart-based anthroposophists tried to establish the Threefold Social Order in Baden-Württemberg, but despite their tremendous efforts, this did not come about. But Molt did take his idea of a school for his worker’s children, which he had shared with the workers to great enthusiasm, to Rudolf Steiner, who took it up. Molt earmarked a substantial sum from the company profits to pay for the school. The school was opened within six months. For the first year it was a “company” school, with the teachers being paid as employees of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company. A year later, in 1920, the school was made independent, at the insistence of the teachers. A charitable foundation was established to own & manage the school, & the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company continued to pay the tuition of the factory worker’s children. Many new pupils joined. Enrollment went from around 300 to 1,100 students in about 5 years. The school was considered a model, & other schools were founded shortly thereafter in other cities. In 1928 a Rudolf Steiner School as far away as New York was established.
While the school flourished, business went downhill in the 1920’s. Molt bought out his partners in the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company. Inspired by the idea of a business association to fund anthroposophical work he & several other Stuttgart-based anthroposophists donated their businesses, becoming shareholders in “Die Kommende Tag”. The association was poorly managed, & collapsed a year later. The Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company, its prized asset, was sold by the association to some banks, who kept Molt on as manager. Molt lost his entire investment, as did many others. In 1928 the banks sold their interest to the largest cigarette manufacturer in Germany, which was in the process of buying out & liquidating the competition. Molt read about the sale in the newspaper, & was shortly out of a job, the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company relegated to history.
At his death in 1936 the Waldorf School was being slowly strangled by the Nazi’s, & was shut down a few months later. But the model survived. After the war, it reopened, & today there are over 900 recognized Waldorf Schools worldwide.
1961 – Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union
1963 –Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space
1967 – The Monterey Pop Festival begins
1976 – Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd
2008 – California began issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples
***
Alessandro Sicioldr
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~The eye opens differentiating
Colors in the light
Recalling me in this now
Knowing my name
It watches my heart
Wags my tongue
& Hangs the sky with Moon & Star
It is
Yesterday & tomorrow
A million years traveling
To reach the flowers in my hand
~hag
***
This Years’ Road trip to the ‘Villes’
István Orosz
I am still digesting our potent journey thru the Easter Paradox of 2019. The road trip from Chicago thru Louisville, to Nashville & Knoxville was a true culminating Whitsun event. My dear friend Elisabeth Swisher, the lead driver in our higher octave ‘Thelma & Louise’ adventure, was a godsend.
The power of the thriving Fox Hollow bio dynamic farm shone like a beacon in the atmosphere around Louisville as we made our way to visit a music festival at the botanic gardens outside the city. The rains always seemed to let up as soon as we arrived somewhere, making the air fragrant with life forces.
No trip to Nashville would be complete
without a visit to the home of the world’s only full-size replica of the
ancient Parthenon – nicknamed the “Athens of the South”; the centerpiece
of the 1897 Centennial Exposition, where a number of buildings were based on
ancient originals. The Parthenon was the only one preserved by the Knights of
Pythias.
Forty-six Doric columns encircle the building. The largest bronze doors in the world, weighing 7.5 tons each, stand at the East & West entrances.
But what draws me back is the featured colossus of Athena Parthenos, the tallest indoor sculpture in the Western world.
Many other sculptures & friezes are also direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 BC.
Brigitta Gallaher
After taking in these ancient influences, we made our way to Barbara Bittles gracious home away from home, where the community gathered for a wonderful potluck meal before the 1st presentation on the Rose Cross in the evening. Barbara’s home is a true sanctuary, we worked in ‘The Chapel’ where she hosts the Christian Community Act of Consecration quarterly. The room is imbued with reverence & Barbara’s good will; it was an honor to share my offerings there again this year. Cathy Green & Elisabeth Swisher led us in song, we did folk eurythmy, & we worked with Rudolf Steiner’s indications for ‘Preparation, Illumination, Initiation’ to warm the ground of our souls for this important meditation. Fruitful conversation ensued, & we all took potent spiritual thoughts into our sleep.
The next day Mary Bryan, felt inspired in
the night to make up beautifully rendered copies of the mantras for everyone to
work with. Thank you dear Mary!
The Workshop the next day was sublime:
*Singing with Cathy Green: ‘Down by the River *Folk Eurythmy: ‘I Think Speech’ *The ‘Easter Paradox’ of 1924 – 1943 -2019 *Social Sculpture: Are you a ‘Springtime’ or an ‘Autumn person’? *The 3-Fold Movable Feast: The Resurrection – Antidote to the ‘fall’ The promise of Ascension leading to the 2nd Coming Whitsun: Festival of United Soul Endeavor *Singing with Elisabeth Swisher – Da Pacem Cordium (Peace to every heart) *Labyrinth of Vitae Sophia *Eurythmy: Foundation Stone
We discussed impressions from both the ‘Esoteric’ & the ‘Ecclesiastical’ Holy Weeks:
What a powerful experiment, researching, observing, listening, asking questions, being open to the messages within & around us during this extended opportunity to live into the 3-fold Festival of Easter during this paradox year.
some of the group from Nashville
At the end of our workshop, it was such a blessing that again the elemental spirits gave us space to walk the labyrinth & end with the Foundation Stone Meditation, in Barbara’s lovely garden.
A few times during our work, especially when we were singing, I had a clear image of Don Brakebill, Charlotte’s beloved husband from Maryville, where we were headed next, standing & singing with us. An imagination of him dressed in white, peaking around a corner, waving with a bright smile on his face. I said to the group: ‘Don is at the Threshold’. And I had a feeling Whitsun would be his birth day into the spiritual world.
After another wonderful social meal we hit the road making our way to Bill & Bonnie Rogers’ beautiful domicile in Knoxville. We stopped in town 1st for a Southern meal in Market Square where we met some interesting young folks at a resale shop. We got to talking about art & life, & danced among the racks of fun second hand clothes (E & I both found a treasure to take home!)
We sat up till late drinking tea sharing deep insights with dear Bill & Bonnie, such thoughtful, deep thinkers, kind & attentive, their hospitality attuned to beauty & every comfort.
Whitsun morning we received word that Don had indeed made his transition early Whitsun morning. Up until recently Charlotte still brought Don to all the study group sessions where every once in a while he would add the perfect comment even though he had been suffering with Alzheimer’s for about 12 years. I remember last year when I came to give a presentation he told a few stories of his life on the farm where he grew up, & joined enthusiastically in the singing, which was his great love. Read more about his life here
a portion of the Knoxville group that stayed late. Bonnie is holding a picture of Charlotte & Don.
The friends from the Knoxville area gathered for a generous potluck lunch before the workshop, & with one heart dedicated Whitsunday to Don, who we all felt was with us in spirit.
Workshop activities: *Leading Thoughts & original art-collage projections *‘The Golden Legend’ + Plant / Human: our future evolution *Building the Image of the Rose Cross *Folk Eurythmy: ‘IAO’ *Social Sculpture: Are you an ‘Autumn Person’ (RED) or a ‘Spring-time Person’ (BLUE) ? Folk Eurythmy: Hallelujah for Don
Many insights were shared by the participants; thoughts about the connections of the Rosicrucian stream with Freemasonry, insights gleaned from our biographies highlighted by the artistic work, discussions pointing up connections from other studies, all interweaving & enlivening the day’s theme.
After the workshop we took a walk in nature among yellow butterflies & views of the river, as we processed all that we had experienced. We ended the day by watching a compelling documentary featuring quotes by Rudolf Steiner, about 5G, which we must all educate ourselves about. (Although I don’t recommend watching it right before bed)
After a lovely breakfast, with our dear friends Bill & Bonnie, on colorful china from Bulgaria, Elisabeth & I hit the road. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing our biographies, & listening to a Neil Gaiman book on CD. We stopped for the best BBQ in Tennessee & took a nature walk in a lovely State Park before finding ourselves back on the shores of the Great Inland Sea of Chicago, full, & grateful for such an enriching journey.
The Easter Paradox of 2019 was a true milestone,
whose research will continue to live within me, a conduit from the original ‘Turning
Point in Time’ – thru Steiner’s Paradox experience in 1924 – & Lili Kolisko’s
powerful experiments in 1943…
Having heard the call to action, may our
work at this year’s 3-fold Paradox add to the etheric energies that this cosmic
& earthly opportunity has given us, to help enliven our future evolution.
331 – According to Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul, today is the birthday of Julian the Apostate. This individuality is spoken about many times by Steiner. Most notably in the Easter Paradox lecture of 23 April 1924: “By Roman times the Star Wisdom had been lost. The Roman Emperor Julian the “Apostate” tried to re-introduce it, but it was not meant to be, & he was murdered. The advent of Christ brought the ancient Star Religion to life again- but in a new form- teaching that the Sun God now had his place on the Earth, accessible to all humanity, not just the initiates. But those in power denounced this as superstition. People were only expected to believe in the external, historical life of Jesus in Palestine. Consequently the Church became the supreme authority in how & what people should think, which ignored the whole cosmic setting of the Easter event.”
In the Karmic Relationship lecture Vol. 4 lecture 6 he speaks about his other incarnations as Herzeloyde, & Tycho Brahe.
1861 – Deathday of Camillo of Cavour, an Italian statesman & a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification, throughout the Second Italian War of Independence & Garibaldi’s campaigns. After the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, Cavour took office as the first Prime Minister of Italy; he died after only three months in office.
Cavour put forth several economic
reforms in his native region of Piedmont in his earlier years, & founded
the political newspaper Il Risorgimento.
In Karmic Relations vol. 1 lecture 4
Steiner speaks of him as an initiate from Alsace.
1882 – More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed when a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbor
1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.
1892 – The Chicago “L” commuter rail system begins operation
1934 – New Deal: The U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
1944 – D-Day -155,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II.
1961 – Deathday of Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist & psychotherapist
1968 – Assassination ofRobert F. Kennedy, Democratic Party senator from New York, brother of 35th President John F. Kennedy, dies from gunshot wounds inflicted on June 5
1982 – The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon
2002 –A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece & Libya; estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb
1875 –
Birthday of Thomas Mann, German
novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, &
the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic & ironic
epic novels are noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist &
the intellectual. His analysis & critique of the German soul used
modernized German & Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Goethe,
Nietzsche & Schopenhauer.
~ ~ ~
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~The Hive hums
Wings grow out of the ether of my bones
In anticipation of the rite
Steeped in royal jelly
I contemplate the hexagramma mysticum
& prepare to dance the lemnisus infinitorum…
~hag
~ ~ ~
In preparing for the Ecclesiastical Whitsun:
The imagination living in me as I get ready to take my presentations on road, is of Mother Mary, as the central point, the Heart of the Heart of humanity – the pivotal 13th position holding the circle together – the Virgin Maria Sophia.
***
Food For Thought @ Elderberries Sunday 9 June 2019, 6 pm – 8 pm
You’re invited to the first ever FOOD FOR THOUGHT – an evening for inter-generational connection and community re-forming with food and live music!
Join us for a POTLUCK DINNER & OPEN CONVERSATION
Sunday, June 9th, 6-8 pm, Elderberries Chicago 4251 N. Lincoln Ave
As our community grows and changes, we invite you to come reconnect and reflect on how we will continue to create meaningful relationships. Join us in a space striving to become a community cultural hub for social and creative experiences that are inclusive, wholesome and healing. Elderberries 3Fold Cafe needs our support to raise the rent and carry this mission forward into reality — will you stand with us, as a growing generation, and as a community in transition?
RSVP to uvarcher@gmail.com
***
The ‘Easter Paradox’ Workshop
The 2nd Coming leading to a “World Whitsun”
Eurythmy: A – I stand for myself, U- I stand for humanity, M – I stand for Life
Social Sculpture: Are you an ‘Autumn Person’ or a ‘Spring-time Person’? Through Art, the bridge between science & spirit, we warm the ‘I’, to open the heart, in support of healthy community.
What are my gifts-What are my tools? How can I place them in right relationship within the social realm? How can I hone them to strengthen and enhance the world? Leading Thoughts & original art-collage projections with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Enter the Labyrinth of Vitae Sophia – Human hearts, once warmed, can rise up to meet the source of wisdom, like flowers turning toward the sun.
Eurythmy: Living into the Foundation Stone of Love – How can we take our individual Inner Whitsun & expand it, into what Steiner calls the “World Festival of Knowledge” a path leading from ‘Sprit Recollection’, to ‘Sprit Sensing’, to ‘Sprit Beholding’?
10 am – 1 pm Saturday 8 June 2019 -4804 Sewanee Road, Nashville, TN 37220. for more info. contact Cathy Green cgreen@grasslandaquatics.com
***
‘Preparation, Illumination & Initiation’ – The Rosy Cross
Incorporating ‘The Golden Legend’, & the Plant vs. Human Kingdoms, To enliven our work with ‘The Rose Cross Meditation’.
Using our head, hands & heart we will enact this powerful Rosicrucian tool given to us by Rudolf Steiner, as a soul path of initiation, using imaginative cognition to build spiritual etheric forces; a Metamorphoses of Self & of World.
Friday 7 June 2019, 7-9pm4804 Sewanee Road, Nashville, TN
also:
Sunday, June 9, 2019, Bonnie and Bill Rogers’ house, 12:00pm – 1:00pm Pot Luck lunch, 1:00pm – 5:00pm Presentation
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.
3 June 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The New Moon near the horns of the sidereal Bull occurred predawn, at 4:02 am. CDT. In Her New phase, Bella Luna crosses the sky with the Sun veiled by our Day Star’s glare & so remains hidden, or as the ancients liked to say: The goddess is taking Her monthly initiation in the Underworld.
This is the time of year when Leo the Lion walks downward toward the West, on his way to departing into the sunset in early summer. Right after dark, look for Regulus, his forefoot, & Denebola in the Lions Tail. (featured at the Spring Equinox Full Moon)
“Greek philosophy beautifully compared the human soul with a bee. The world of colour and light offers the soul honey which it brings with it into the higher world. The soul must spiritualize sense experience and carry it up into higher worlds.” ~Rudolf Steiner 1906
545 – Deathday of Saint Clotilde – patron saint of Les Andelys, Normandy. Wife of the Frankish king Clovis I, & princess of the kingdom of Burgundy. In 511, the Queen founded a convent for young girls. The natural spring there is known for healing skin diseases.Queen Clotilde’s cult made her the patron of queens, widows, brides & even those in exile. In Normandy she was venerated as guarding the lame & those who suffered violent death from ill-tempered husbands.
1924 – Deathday of Franz Kafka a German novelist & short story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work, which fuses elements of realism & the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists faced by bizarre or surrealistic predicaments & incomprehensible social-bureaucratic powers, & has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, & absurdity. His best known works include “Die Verwandlung” (“The Metamorphosis”), Der Process (The Trial), & Das Schloss (The Castle). The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those in his writing. Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today part of the Czech Republic. He trained as a lawyer, & after completing his legal education he was employed with an insurance company, forcing him to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family & close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained & formal relationship. He became engaged to several women but never married. He died in 1924 at the age of 40 from tuberculosis.
1943 – The founding of the Nachlassverein by Marie Steiner
1989 – Deathday of Ayatollah Khomeini, Iranian religious leader & politician
2013 – The trial of United
States Army private Chelsea Manning
for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland
***
Jenn Nelson
POD (Poem Of the day)
~Look, I have light In my eyes & on my skin… The star is warming… And everything alive is turning Into something else Deep in the alchemical Heart Of some annihilating Ever creative fire That is burning unnoticed Waiting to touch Me & you… ~hag
***
Hanns Memling
In the
10 Days…
Dear friends, as seekers on the
path, have you ever felt utterly alone, overwhelmed, or even a bit lost? Rudolf
Steiner speaks of this in ‘How to know Higher
Worlds’ & in the ‘5th
Gospel’.
We have an opportunity, especially at this time of year, to recognize & acknowledge that uncomfortable feeling of isolation that can come from our striving; a mirroring of the experience of the disciples those 10 days between Ascension & Whitsun, when waiting feels like wrestling.
ITHELL COLQUHOUN
Since the time of Christ’s Ascension,
humanity can now follow in the expansion of the one who has ascended to heaven.
A path up to the heights has been prepared for us to tread. There, we grow wings. For this to happen we must let the ground of
our soul become warm. Just as air only
rises when it becomes warm, so it is with our inner being. If our soul does not become warm with enthusiasm,
it does not rise to meet the heights.
Meditation & prayer are
ways of warming our “I” so that our soul can carry out its own ascension.
Not the type of prayer consisting of mere words recited by rote from the head—which does not warm the soul’s ground—& not the kind of prayer into which all sorts of wishes & desires make an appeal ‘for something.’
But a meditation, like the Foundation
Stone, spoken from the heart, from the feeling human nature, which not only
warms the soul of the individual, but adds light to the community of other
souls who are also working to build the ‘Dodecahedron of Love’ with unselfish
feeling. This allows our soul to ascend to where our True Self exists.
The soul’s union with the spirit then comes to be; & only in this way does the human being become complete. Our “I”, which until it is cultivated, merely hovers above us, but with this kind of warmth, we then become filled with the Higher Self. In this way during the 10 days, we can do our part to approach that sphere out of which the flames of Whitsun descend.
Umberto Boccioni
On the one hand, the Whitsun flames have warmth, & on the other hand, they possess light. Their warmth must arise out of human hearts like a fire. Then the Spirit responds out of the sphere of the Father, where The Christ & the Father are One. The light flame of the Spirit sinks down, joining the warmth flame of the praying heart. The light flame from above answers to the warmth flame from below. Only when we actively strive, with sufficient patience & endurance, working to become warm, may we hope for illumination. Becoming warm is our task, then illumination is the answer from heaven.
Dana Burk
As the gifts of light from a
higher realm come towards us, Whitsun expands into the world – But only if our thinking
can change into heart-thinking; which will have an effect on the whole activity
of human life, softening the prevailing intellectual forces which are so rigid
& dark, with a cold hard cleverness.
Once the human being begins to truly think with warmth, then the Holy Spirit enters our heart-thinking, for then our True Higher Self thinks in us.
Jane Spakowski
Let us sit in the loneliness together
during days, feeling the blessing of Christ’s Grace bestowed on us thru the Ascension.
Knowing that in the future, which we are creating in each moment even now, a new
thinking, a new culture, can finally come into being from the breath that
touches us out of the Spirit of the coming Pentecost.
Food For Thought @ Elderberries Sunday 9 June 2019, 6 pm – 8 pm
You’re invited to the first ever FOOD FOR THOUGHT – an evening for inter-generational connection and community re-forming with food and live music!
Join us for a POTLUCK DINNER & OPEN CONVERSATION
Sunday, June 9th, 6-8 pm, Elderberries Chicago 4251 N. Lincoln Ave
As our community grows and changes, we invite you to come reconnect and reflect on how we will continue to create meaningful relationships. Join us in a space striving to become a community cultural hub for social and creative experiences that are inclusive, wholesome and healing. Elderberries 3Fold Cafe needs our support to raise the rent and carry this mission forward into reality — will you stand with us, as a growing generation, and as a community in transition?
RSVP to uvarcher@gmail.com
***
The ‘Easter Paradox’ Workshop
The 2nd Coming leading to a “World Whitsun”
Eurythmy: A – I stand for myself, U- I stand for humanity, M – I stand for Life
Social Sculpture: Are you an ‘Autumn Person’ or a ‘Spring-time Person’? Through Art, the bridge between science & spirit, we warm the ‘I’, to open the heart, in support of healthy community.
What are my gifts-What are my tools? How can I place them in right relationship within the social realm? How can I hone them to strengthen and enhance the world? Leading Thoughts & original art-collage projections with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Enter the Labyrinth of Vitae Sophia – Human hearts, once warmed, can rise up to meet the source of wisdom, like flowers turning toward the sun.
Eurythmy: Living into the Foundation Stone of Love – How can we take our individual Inner Whitsun & expand it, into what Steiner calls the “World Festival of Knowledge” a path leading from ‘Sprit Recollection’, to ‘Sprit Sensing’, to ‘Sprit Beholding’?
10 am – 1 pm Saturday 8 June 2019 -4804 Sewanee Road, Nashville, TN 37220. for more info. contact Cathy Green cgreen@grasslandaquatics.com
***
‘Preparation, Illumination & Initiation’ – The Rosy Cross
Incorporating ‘The Golden Legend’, & the Plant vs. Human Kingdoms, To enliven our work with ‘The Rose Cross Meditation’.
Using our head, hands & heart we will enact this powerful Rosicrucian tool given to us by Rudolf Steiner, as a soul path of initiation, using imaginative cognition to build spiritual etheric forces; a Metamorphoses of Self & of World.
Friday 7 June 2019, 7-9pm4804 Sewanee Road, Nashville, TN
also:
Sunday, June 9, 2019, Bonnie and Bill Rogers’ house, 12:00pm – 1:00pm Pot Luck lunch, 1:00pm – 5:00pm Presentation
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.
30 May 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The watery king Neptune rises around 2 am CDT high in the east-southeast as twilight commences.
A gigantic asterism you may not know is the Diamond of Virgo, some 50° tall and extending over five constellations. It currently stands upright in the south after the stars come out.
Start
with Spica, its bottom. Upper left
from Spica is bright Arcturus. Almost
as far upper right from Arcturus (as you face south) is fainter Cor Caroli, almost overhead. The same
distance lower right from there is Denebola,
the 2nd-magnitude tail-tip of Leo
(remember, this was where the Spring Full Moon fell right after the Equinox) And
then back to Spica.
The
brightest, bottom three of these stars, form a nearly perfect equilateral
triangle. Maybe we should call this the “Spring Triangle” to parallel those of summer & winter?
I turn to history not for lessons but to confront my experience with the experience of others and to win for myself a sense of responsibility for the state of the human conscience. ~ Zbigniew Herbert (Poet) 1924 – 1998
1431 – Deathday of Joan of Arc, French martyr & saint, burnt at the stake by the British under Duke of Bedford.
Burned at the stake as a heretic after a politically-motivated trial, Joan was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Born of a fairly well-to-do peasant couple in Domremy-Greux (southeast of Paris), Joan was only 12 when she experienced a vision and heard voices that she later identified as St. Michael the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. During the Hundred Years War, she led French troops against the English and recaptured the cities of Orléans and Troyes. This enabled Charles VII to be crowned as king in Reims in 1429. Captured near Compiegne the following year, she was sold to the English and placed on trial for heresy and witchcraft. Professors at the University of Paris supported Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvis, the judge at her trial; Cardinal Henry Beaufort of Winchester, England, participated in the questioning of Joan in prison. In the end, she was condemned for wearing men’s clothes. The English resented France’s military success–to which Joan contributed. On this day in 1431, she was burned at the stake in Rouen, and her ashes were scattered in the Seine River. A second Church trial 25 years later nullified the earlier verdict, which was reached under political pressure. Remembered by most people for her military exploits, Joan had a great love for the sacraments, which strengthened her compassion toward the poor. Popular devotion to her increased greatly in 19th-century France and later among French soldiers during World War I. Theologian George Tavard writes that her life “offers a perfect example of the conjunction of contemplation and action” because her spiritual insight is that there should be a “unity of heaven and earth.” Joan of Arc has been the subject of many books, plays, operas, and movies. “Joan of Arc is like a shooting star across the landscape of French and English history, amid the stories of the Church’s saints and into our consciousness. Women identify with her; men admire her courage. She challenges us in fundamental ways. Despite the fact that more than 500 years have passed since she lived, her issues of mysticism, calling, identity, trust and betrayal, conflict and focus are our issues still.” (Joan of Arc: God’s Warrior, by Barbara Beckwith)
1593 – Deathday of Christopher Marlowe, English poet & playwright
Paul-Delaroche
1672 – Birthday of Peter the Great Czar of Russia. He led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist & medieval political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, based on The Enlightenment.
1778 – Deathday of Voltaire, French philosopher & author. Rudolf Steiner speaks of him as being a former pupil of the mysteries in Karmic Relationships Vol. 2.
1806 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel
1935 – Deathday of Daniel Nicol Dunlop , a Scottish entrepreneur, founder of the World Power Conference & other associations, a theosophist-turned-anthroposophist. Thought to have been a Templar in a former life. Dunlop saw Rudolf Steiner for the first time when he was still General Secretary of the German Section of the Theosophical Society, both of them expressed their intimate spiritual connection &respect for one another. Dunlop started the anthroposophical “Human Freedom Group & anthroposophical Summer Schools. 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 deep friendship with Eleanor Merry, who supported his work, especially after the death of his own wife, Eleanor in 1932. As a result of conflicts & power struggles within the General Anthroposophical Society, leading to its splintering in April 1935, Dunlop was expelled together with a number of other leading members. He died shortly afterwards of an appendicitis. Dunlop enlisted the help of fellow anthroposophist Walter Johannes Stein in the hope of founding a World Economic Organization, but his death prevented this.
1936 – Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz resigns from the General Anthroposophical Society on the 1 year anniversary of his friend D.N. Dunlop’s death, in protest after many of his contemporizes were expelled from the Society.
1937 – Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot & kill 10 labor demonstrators
1989
–The 33-foot high “Goddess of
Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student
demonstrators
1998
– The 6.5 Mw Afghanistan earthquake killed
over 5,000
***
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~In the clouds I hear what I see – A low hum of vitality The bell of flowers singing… With the bright blade of spirit I turned new ground, Planted seed & watched, Beneath my hand things happened – Grapes & wheat In time I will serve Wine & bread… ~hag
***
Rita De Cassia Perez.
Cloud Gazing Thoughts of Ascension
When we attune ourselves to beings such as Raphael, Archangel of Spring, we can awaken to the way spiritual entities constantly interact with earth thru the elements.
The messengers of cosmic warmth in the rays of the sun activate the ascension of the element of water. Through its union with air, clouds are born. In the cloud, which is between the depths of earth & the heavenly heights, in the sphere of the etheric realm – a mobile balance manifests. – We see it in the blue sky, dancing with the ever changing clouds. It is the primal image of metamorphosis, of organic forming & transforming, the never-resting developing, blessed by the heights. For this reason, blossoms & fruits are in reality not just products of earth but heavenly forms filled with earthly substance, like us.
Michael Torevell
And so for 40 days after the Resurrection, amidst this seasonal activity, the apostles received from The Risen Christ His esoteric teachings; essentially the contents of the 5th Gospel given to us by Rudolf Steiner.
Benvenuto Tisi
Then they witnessed The Christ, being received into the clouds, moving out of their sight – an expansion of His being – like the unfolding of a lotus flower into the universe. Rudolf Steiner tells us, that at the same time, the vivid spiritual reality of what would have happened to earth existence if the mystery of Golgotha had not occurred; came into their consciousness. It was revealed to them that human physical bodies would have so deteriorated that all of humanity would have perished.
Edvard Munch
Our physical bodies have earth-gravity,
but our etheric bodies have sun levity, so if the Christ deed we call The
Ascension had not taken place, our etheric bodies would have left the physical
for good as well, & the existence of humankind would have come to an end,
having no formative forces to give them life.
We know that until the Mystery of
Golgotha, the sun was the dwelling place of the Christ. The human etheric body,
which was in danger of being drawn out towards the sun, like clouds, &
dispersed –is held together, contained thru this cosmic deed, so that we are
not dispersed, but can remain as individuals.
Christ remains in union with the earth, which rescues for the earth the sunward-striving etheric body. –But to be able to take effect in a human being’s spirit & soul nature, the Christ impulse must also be consciously recognized. The spiritual effect can only proceed from a true recognition of its content.
The mystery here is that in the festival of Ascension opens us
to the forces proceeding from the sphere of the Father.
This is big folks, the gospel of Mark tells us: ‘Then the Lord, after He had
spoken to them, was taken up into the heavenly spheres & sat down at the
right hand of the World-Father as the fulfiller of His deeds’.
As a result of the conversations over the 40 days with The Risen Christ, the apostles were able to receive the primal sources of a new imaginative clairvoyance, removing the veil hiding the true image of death, which is really a facet of the Father-God in the aspect of Creator. – What is born must die, but thru Christ death becomes life. This revelation of the apostles’ higher imagination brings the true content of death with its connection to the kingdom of the divine Father into perceptive.
At the moment of the Ascension the
mystery of death was made manifest not only to the immortal spiritual beings
who, being eternal have no experience of death, but also to the apostles, for they
beheld it with their own eyes to be a process of union with the world of the
Divine.
From
that turning point of time onward, Rudolf Steiner tells us that, one of the 1st experiences of
every human being after death is a contemplation of Christ’s Ascension; which
can reveal to the person’s soul, the true picture of death & its connection
with the highest sphere of the Father.
As
the Christ has ascended, so too, in the fullness of time will humanity be
transfigured. The company of the hierarchies wait, for us, their younger
siblings to ascend in our thinking to meet them in fellowship, as they work all
the while at our sides.
And another thing to contemplate:
Just as the experience of the Ascension lies between Easter & Whitsun, so between Good Friday & Easter lies the event known as Christ’s Descent into Hell. Both hold the image of Christ disappearing from sight.
By His death Christ opened up the
paths of the higher spheres for those exhausted souls trapped in Kamaloca, so
they could ascend into the upper planetary realms & be renewed.
The Descent into Hell rescued the heavenly forces for humanity; the Ascension rescued the formative forces.
Kristena West
At the Baptism, The Christ Being united with the physical body of Jesus of Nazareth & was therefore united with earthly evolution as a whole.
David Taulbee Anderson
At the Transfiguration Christ permeates the etheric body of Jesus. In the
scene of the transfiguration, Christ reveals his higher sun nature, to the 3
chosen disciples, a visionary manifestation of the fully transformed etheric
body, which radiates light like a Sun.
These
events are mirrored, & transformed by the mystery of Golgotha, Ascension relates to the Transfiguration & Whitsun to the Baptism.
In
the Ascension, Christ showed the connection to the spiritual Sun forces which
became manifest in the Transfiguration, with the etheric bodies of all human
beings.
When Christ entered into Jesus at
the Baptism, His Sun-Being took over the ego of Jesus, the Zarathustra soul had
to leave the body or be completely overpowered.
After the resurrection the Christ impulse can live within mankind without taking over the ego-consciousness. But in order for this to happen, Christ had to Ascend.
Peter Brindle
Then after 10 days He sent the Holy Spirit- that divine Being of the Trinity that does not overpower, but enhances the individual ego of human beings. –RS. So now the Christ impulse can enter human souls thru the mediation of the Holy Spirit, so that we can retain our “I” in freedom.
Sören Emil Carlsen
My friends, The
Christ-Revelation ‘coming in the clouds’ is here- Showing us the bridge that
brings a harmonizing spring-dialogue between the worlds.
At the
Ascension, Christ becomes “Lord of the
heavenly forces upon earth”.
The
fulfillment of the secret promise of the Ascension, is the Second
Coming.
It was said to the apostles, “He
will come again, in like manner, as you have seen Him go up into the clouds of
heaven.”
The
Ascension is the seed of this Second Coming, & the Second Coming is the
fulfillment of the Ascension.
A Journey thru the ‘Easter Paradox’ of 2019, thru Ascension into Whitsun as a ‘United Soul Endeavor’
Eurythmy: A – I stand for myself, U- I stand for humanity, M – I stand for Life
Social Sculpture: Are you an ‘Autumn Person’ or a ‘Spring-time Person’? Through Art, the bridge between science & spirit, we warm the ‘I’, to open the heart, in support of healthy community.
What are my gifts-What are my tools? How can I place them in right relationship within the social realm? How can I hone them to strengthen and enhance the world? Leading Thoughts & original art-collage projections with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Enter the Labyrinth of Vitae Sophia – Human hearts, once warmed, can rise up to meet the source of wisdom, like flowers turning toward the sun.
Eurythmy: Living into the Foundation Stone of Love – How can we take our individual Inner Whitsun & expand it, into what Steiner calls the “World Festival of Knowledge” a path leading from ‘Sprit Recollection’, to ‘Sprit Sensing’, to ‘Sprit Beholding’?
Also on 7 May at the Rudolf Steiner House in Ann Arbor MI, the headquarters for the Anthroposophical Society in America
also:
10 am – 1 pm Saturday 8 June 2019 -4804 Sewanee Road, Nashville, TN 37220. for more info. contact Cathy Green cgreen@grasslandaquatics.com
also
11-12 June 2019, Ashville, TN. for more info. contact Marnie Muller
***
‘Preparation, Illumination & Initiation’ – The Rosy Cross
Incorporating ‘The Golden Legend’, & the Plant vs. Human Kingdoms, To enliven our work with ‘The Rose Cross Meditation’.
Using our head, hands & heart we will enact this powerful Rosicrucian tool given to us by Rudolf Steiner, as a soul path of initiation, using imaginative cognition to build spiritual etheric forces; a Metamorphoses of Self & of World.
Friday 7 June 2019, 7-9pm4804 Sewanee Road, Nashville, TN
also:
12 Noon Potluck, Program 1 pm -5 pm Whitsunday 9 June 2019, In Knoxville, TN. for more info. contact William Rogers wmerogers@gmail.com
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.
