CONNECT. PROTECT. ACTIVATE.

Chicago Event, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars

21 January 2017 – Astro-Weather: The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 6:14 pm CST. It then she is 251,602 miles from Earth’s center.

Mars by William Turners

Mars continues to put on a nice show these January evenings. It appears above the southwestern horizon once twilight fades to darkness, though it’s easier to find by looking to the upper left of brilliant Venus. The Red Planet currently lies among the background stars of Pisces the Fishes.

Is your sky dark enough for you to see the winter Milky Way? After dinnertime it runs vertically up & across the zenith: from Canis Major low in the southeast, up between Orion & Gemini, through Auriga & Perseus almost straight overhead, & down through Cassiopeia, Cepheus, & Cygnus to the northwest horizon.

Early in the dawn of Sunday the 22nd, spot the waning crescent Moon hanging in the southeastern sky. Below it is Antares. Look to the left of Antares for Saturn. The same distance lower left of Saturn is Mercury

***

Reuben Mento

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

259 – Deathday of St. Fructuosus, bishop of Tarragona arrested during the persecutions of Christians under the Roman Emperor Valerian. He was burned at the stake in the local amphitheatre

Domenichino

304 – Feast Day of St. Agnes of Rome a virgin–martyr, 1 of 7 women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape survivors, virgins, & the Children of Mary. Agnes is depicted in art with a lamb.The name “Agnes” is derived from the feminine Greek adjective meaning “chaste, pure, sacred”

1793 – After being found guilty of treason Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine

1841 – Birthday of Édouard Schuré, a French philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist, music critic, & publicist of esoteric literature. Born in the old cathedral city of Strasbourg, as a young boy he experienced certain events that, as he described them many years later, “Ieft traces upon my thoughts, to which my memory returns ever and again.” The result of these events he called “inner vision, evoked by impressions of the external world.” The first of these experiences occurred shortly after the death of his mother, when he & his father visited a resort in Alsace.  On the walls of one of the buildings the ten-year-old boy saw a remarkable series of frescoes, depicting the world of undines, sylphs, gnomes & fire-spirits. Before these representations of the Elemental Beings, the boy was transported into another world, the world of creative fantasy. Like a talisman, the pictures awakened the magic forces of wonder in the child soul, & the result was a new perception.

Not long after the death of his father, which occurred when Schure was fourteen, he visited Paris, & saw for the first time the classical sculptures in the Louvre. The beauty of the Venus di Milo, of Dionysus, of the wounded Amazon, penetrated deeply into the boy, awakening in him a love & appreciation for the world of ancient Greece, which was to play so significant a role in his later work as a playwright. In these sculptures Schure became aware of the fact that a divine beauty can be made manifest in physical substance through the magic of art. At about this same time Schure read a description of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece, & the inner pictures this evoked were so vivid, so compelling, that he dedicated himself to the task of recreating the sacred drama of Eleusis for modern humanity. For Schure was convinced that through the experiencing of such a drama, people of modern times can acquire a totally new conception of the relationship between the spiritual striving of the ancient world & the religious conceptions of today.

Parallel with these experiences of soul & spirit, Schure’s early years were devoted to formal education. Eventually he received his degree in law at the University of Strasbourg, but he never entered into practice. He visited Germany, remaining there for a few years, during which time he wrote Histoire du lied published in 1868. In this book he expressed his love for music & poetry which had been enhanced by his personal acquaintance with Richard Wagner, then living in Munich.

Shortly after his return from his travels in Germany, Schure married the sister of his friend, the composer Nessler.  They moved to Paris, where Schure continued his writing & studies, making friends with some of the most important men & women in the cultural life of France of his time. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Schure & his wife went to Italy.

In Florence Schure made the second great friendship of his life.  One day Malvida von Meysenbergs, the devoted admirer & helper of the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, introduced Edouard Schure to a Greek lady, Margherita Albana Mignaty. The meeting made a profound impression upon Schure, an impression he was to recall clearly in the last year of his life: “When I saw those great sunny radiant eyes directed questioningly upon me, I felt my consciousness almost desert me, for my whole being seemed called upon to reveal itself.” In the presence of this beautiful woman, so reminiscent of the women of the classical Greece he so deeply loved, Schure once again found access to the spiritual world opening within him. In Margherita Albana Mignaty he discovered a soul to whom the unseen world was as immanent as the physical. This direct relationship with the spiritual world was the result of the death of her child, which had taken place some years before. Through their many conversations, Schure’s own spiritual perception broadened & deepened beyond anything he had previously imagined. He referred to her as his Muse, & saw in her a “spirit that moves mountains, a love which awakens and creates souls, and whose sublime inspiration burns like a radiant light.” on one occasion he asked her how she acquired such precise knowledge of the spiritual history of humankind, such intimate details concerning long-forgotten antiquity. Her reply was profoundly simple: “When I wish to penetrate to the very depths of a subject, I shut myself in my room and reveal myself to myself.” Through the inspiration of Margherita Albana Mignaty ‘as a testimony of a faith acquired and shared,’ Schure’s book The Great Initiates came into being.

Schuré now turned increasingly to the esoteric & the occult, his major influence being the famous French occultist-scholar Fabre d’Olivet.  In 1884, he met the founder of the Theosophical Society Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Although unwelcome in the Theosophical Society, he nevertheless entered.

In 1900, the actress Marie von Sivers came into contact with him because she intended to translate his works into German (The Great Initiates, The Sacred Drama of Eleusis & The Children of Lucifer). At the German Section of the Theosophical Society, he met the Austrian philosopher & later founder of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner. In 1906, Sivers brought about a meeting between Schuré & Steiner. Schuré was deeply impressed & thought of Steiner as an authentic ‘initiate’ in line with his The Great Initiates. After hearing Steiner lecture in Paris for the first time in 1906, Schuré in an ecstatic state ran home & wrote down the entirety of the lecture from memory. This first lecture, & the other lectures in the series (which Schuré wrote down) were published as Esoteric Cosmology. Subsequently, Steiner & von Sivers staged Schuré’s esoteric dramas at the Theosophical Congresses in Berlin & Munich. Schuré’s The Children of Lucifer, served as a precursor of Rudolf Steiner’s own esoteric dramas. In 1908 Schuré brought out Le Mystère Chrétien et les Mystères Antiques, a French translation of Steiner’s work Christianity as Mystical Fact & the Mysteries of Antiquity. Édouard Schuré was often visited by Rudolf Steiner in Barr, Alsace. Steiner produced many of Schure’s plays. In speaking about his book The Great Initiates Steiner says: “Édouard Schuré speaks about the ‘Great Illuminated,’ the Great Initiates, who have looked deeply into the background of things, and from this background have given great impulses for the spiritual development of mankind. He traces the great spiritual deeds of Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Pythagoras and Plato, in order to show the unification of all these impulses in Christ…. The light streaming from Schuré’s book enlightens those who wish to be firmly rooted in the spiritual sources from which strength and certainty for modern life can be drawn.”~Rudolf Steiner

1861 – Feast Day of St. Meinrad a hermit known as the “Martyr of Hospitality”

1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to  congregate in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor

1924 – Deathday of Vladimir Lenin

1950 – Deathday of George Orwell

1959 – Deathday of Cecil B. DeMille

1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica killing 137

1961 – 435 workers are buried alive when a mine in Coalbrook, South Africa collapses

1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. 1 of the 4 bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup

2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 529 & leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless

***

Bee Herman

~I saw her
Soul in the universe
Lady of crossed destinies
Lady of vibrations
She is the name of spirit
Pronounced into form
Cut into wax tossed into flames
She brings the secret paths
She plots my life with divine will
Her name is holy mine

~hag

***

https://reverseritual.com/festivals-2/festival-dates/current-festival-events/

The Bridging Project – Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul
Central Regional Council’s Audio/Video Conference
February 1st, 2017 – 7:15 pm CST

Guest Speaker Mark Miller, Architect – Builder – Director, will talk about ‘Spirit Parks’  “How We Design Places To Connect With The Dead” 

www.zenplusarchitecture.com
www.phaus.org

Details to follow

***

Saturday 4 February 2017,  3 pm at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

The Madonna Sequence

Presented by Debra Barford & Christine Culbert

The Madonna Pentagram, was first recommended by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in 1911 as an enlivening, curative therapy. Raphael’s paintings of the Madonna express secret truths. These images invite us to look into the deeper significance of the flow of energy stimulated within us as our attention is guided through the five-pointed-star-like movement of the images in relation to one another, accompanied by the appropriate tones on the lyre. Rudolf Steiner described the healing effects of Raphael’s Madonna’s in August 1908, and between 1908 and 1911 he directed Dr. Felix Peipers to arrange fifteen images as a therapeutic meditation. Sometimes called the Raphael Madonna Series, these fifteen pictures invite our active contemplation. Each image can awaken inner pictures that lift us into communion with realms beyond the physical world, stirring our feelings of wonder and reverence and opening our souls to divine mysteries.

$10 donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged

***

Mysteries of the Celtic Goddess

brigid-helena-nelson-reedBrigid by Helena Nelson Reed

Thursday February 9th 2017 -7 pm
at the Theosophical Society in America
1926 North Main Street
Wheaton, IL 60187

Invoking the Practical Alchemy of the Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid
To Purify, Awaken, & Galvanize Your Head, Heart, and Hands

Brigid’s festival is the 1st of the cross-quarter days in the wheel of the year, a time of spiritual re-dedication and initiation. Brigid invites us to forge and shape ourselves, as the tools of our own destiny. Come Renew Yourself. Together we will thaw the winter & rouse the mysteries growing within…

Hazel Archer Ginsberg is a Spiritual Midwife, and Trans-denominational Minister, working in an eclectic style that inspires connections – initiating us into the magic, waiting to be revealed, in the cycle of the seasons. Festivals Coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society. Lecturer, Promoter, Blogger, Poet & Performance Artist.  www.ReverseRitual.com.

$10 nonmembers   $5 members

Live Webcast

***

DIGITAL Pandora: Imaging HOPE by Gretchen Steele

Art Opening 7 pm – 9 pm Friday February 17th, 2017 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

A Performance Art Exhibit & Gallery Reception with an opportunity for participants to create their own collage art to be shown at the Closing exhibit March 31st, 2017

DIGITAL Pandora: Imaging HOPE is a multi-media art exhibit including work inspired by the myth of Pandora as a narrative of hope – by Gretchen Steele

The exhibit includes multi-media collages on paper, large-scale (5’ x 5’) collaged fabric prayer cloths, a performance art piece titled Embodied Compass ll: Reliquary Immersion, and a participatory SEA (Socially Engaging Artwork) inviting viewers to collaborate in a collaged community mural using a images (from the artist’s photo bank of the previous performance piece, Embodied Compass l: Digital Pandora) and marker-based drawing materials.

***

The 156th Anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s Birthday on the New Moon/Solar Eclipse

Sunday February 26th 2017, 3 pm – 5 pm

We will celebrate Steiner’s birthday and the solar eclipse by analyzing his horoscope in the most respectful manner.  Astrologer Victoria Martin will expound on some classic interpretations of Rudolf Steiner’s Birth chart – For instance did you know he was born on a Full Moon, near the zenith of the sky aligned to Saturn? Victoria will also go further by adding the fixed stars, which according to Brian Gray at Steiner College, are basic components in Astrosophy.

The Solar eclipse, on Sunday February 26th 2017 indicates a new phase of Steiner’s influence, which is especially potent for the next six months!

Victoria will also do 3-minute readings for each participant to see where their birthdays fit in Steiner’s horoscope!

This can be even more precise if the entire horoscope of participants is available, so please email your date, time, and place of birth to viccimartin@gmail.com.

We can also look into the 2017 trends if there is interest! And if time allows Hazel Archer Ginsberg will give a brief overview of the phases in Rudolf Steiner’s life.

 $10 Donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

For more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

An evening Discourse &  Full day Workshop with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg at

Fostering Sustainable Agriculture through Research, Education and Policy since 1984

What is Anthroposophy?

Friday March 3rd 2017,  Potluck Social 5:30 pm  Lecture –7 pm – 9 pm

A Hands-on Discourse with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

What can the human being (anthropos) of today do to recognize our inherent wisdom (sophia) to access the source of spiritual knowledge, for our own inner development, and for the evolution of the earth and all of humanity?

What would it be like to support each other in community, as we strive to penetrate the mystery of our relationship with the spiritual world?

How does this ‘Spiritual Science’ built on the research of Rudolf Steiner, speak to the riddles of existence: our artistic needs, the truth of karma, the mystery of evil, life after death and so much more?

Come Explore this Modern Path of Initiation with:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year– Presenter, Poet, & Trans-denominational Minister.

Register here

Also:

 Saturday March 4th 2017 –

A Experiential Three Part Workshop* with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity’

Some of the topics treated in this experiential workshop are: The nature of the brain, the development of speech, angelic beings, ancient language, Zarathustra, Buddha, & Christ.

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity: Some Results of Spiritual-Scientific Research into Human History and Development’ consists of three sections. Each section was originally a lecture (6, 7, & 8 June 1911) but was subsequently reworked by Steiner & cast into the form of an essay.  It is available without a fee at Rudolf Steiner Archives 

Session #1 – 10 am – 12 noon:
• Introductions
• The divine wisdom working in the human being in the 1st three years of life.
• Through inner striving we can contact again and consciously build on this wisdom which is connected to the Christ impulse.
• Activity- Biography work: Our 1st conscious memory – a preview of the “I”.

Noon – 1:30 pm – Lunch

Session #2 – 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm:
• The childlike condition of humanity in ancient times, directed by higher spiritual beings.
• A look into the evolution of these guiding spirits –progressive as well as regressive –
• Revealing the necessity of the ‘two kinds of evil’.
• The importance of Spiritual Science to avoid error.
• Activity – Labyrinth Walk

3:30 pm – 4 pm – Break

Session #3 – 4 pm – 6 pm:
• A survey of the Post-Atlantean age, our present epoch.
• The Christ connection with the progressive spiritual beings
• Modern science as the work of the regressive spiritual beings
• A peek into the future
• Activity – The Golden Legend & The Rose Cross Mediation: An artistic rendering

*(Workshops can be taken as a whole or individually, details to follow)

Register here

Michael Fields W2493 County Rd ES
East Troy, WI 53120, USA

 

‘Only in the darkness can we see the stars’

Chicago Event, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

16 January 2017 – Astro-Weather: Orion is the brightest of the 88 constellations, but his main pattern is surprisingly small compared to some of his dimmer neighbors. The biggest of these is Eridanus the River, enormous but hard to trace. Dimmer Fornax the Furnace, to Eridanus’s lower right, is almost as big as Orion! Even the main pattern of Lepus, the Hare cowering under Orion’s feet, isn’t much smaller than he is.

Mars continues to put on a nice show these January evenings. It appears to the upper left of Venus, above the southwestern horizon once twilight fades to darkness. The Red Planet currently lies among the background stars of Aquarius.

Mars, Venus, Neptune in the Waterman by John Seeker of from the Astrosophy Center

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy

1477 – Birthday & Deathday (1547 ) of Johannes Schöner, a renowned German polymath. He was a priest, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, cosmographer, cartographer, mathematician, globe &scientific instrument maker & editor/ publisher of scientific tests. He published of Copernicus’ “De revolutionibus” in Nürnberg in 1543. He enjoyed a European wide reputation as an innovative & influential globe maker & cosmographer- as one of the continent’s leading & most authoritative astrologers.

1547 – Ivan IV of Russia a.k.a. Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia

1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain

1838 – Birthday of Franz Brentano an influential German philosopher, psychologist, & priest whose work strongly influenced not only students Edmund Husserl, Sigmund Freud, Kazimierz Twardowski, Alexius Meinong, Carl Stumpf, Anton Marty, Christian von Ehrenfels, and Tomáš Masaryk, but many others whose work would follow &make use of his original ideas & concepts. Rudolf Steiner recalls the obituary he gave of Brentano as part of his lecture The Case for Anthroposophy where he also speaks about the Separation of the ‘Psychological from the Non-Psychological’ in Franz Brentano.

1901 – Deathday of Arnold Böcklin a Swiss symbolist painter. Rudolf Steiner speaks about him in an incarnation as an Arthurian Knight

1909 – Ernest Shackleton‘s expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.

1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring Prohibition

1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard

1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the Führerbunker

SOP with his wife Astrid

1954 – Birthday of Sergei O. Prokofieff – a Russian anthroposophist. He was the grandson of the composer Sergei Prokofiev. Born in Moscow, he studied fine arts & painting at the Moscow School of Art. He encountered anthroposophy in his youth, & soon made the decision to devote his life to it. Prokofieff, wrote his first book, Rudolf Steiner and the Founding of the New Mysteries, while living in Soviet Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was a co-founder of the Anthroposophical Society in Russia. At Easter 2001, he became a member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society in Dornach, Switzerland. Prokofieff was a prolific author; at the core of his work is an attempt to develop a deepened understanding for Christianity on the basis of Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual-scientific research. Prokofieff left us a treasure trove of Works

1957 – Deathday of Arturo Toscanini an Italian conductor, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail & sonority, & his photographic memory.] He was at various times the music director of La Scala Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, & the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Later in his career he was appointed the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–54), & this led to his becoming a household name through his radio & television broadcasts & many recordings.

1969 – Soviet spacecraft perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, & the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk

Marta Lebeck

1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects

2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry

2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia’s new president. She becomes Africa’s first female elected head of state

***

Eliza Leahy

POD (Poem Of theDay)

~The truth
Of what we call our knowing
Is both light & dark…
Humans are always dying & waking…
The rhythm between – We call life…
Wake-up!
Some miracle is about
To happen…
~hag

Tina Yu

***

May the echo of these words, spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. reverberate in our hearts, stimulate our minds & inspire our hands to action:

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience ask the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.”

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

“Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

“By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists … Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.”

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

‘We shall overcome someday’

Xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

 ***

Current Festival & Program Events

UPCOMING EVENTS:

The Bridging Project – Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul
Central Regional Council’s Audio/Video Conference 
February 1st, 2017 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CST (call instructions to follow)

Guest Speaker Mark Miller, Architect & Director of ‘Spirit Parks’  

will talk about “How We Design Places To Connect With The Dead” 

www.zenplusarchitecture.com
www.phaus.org

For more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

The Madonna Sequence

Presented by Debra Barford & Christine Culbert

Sunday 3 February 2017, 3 pm 

The Madonna Pentagram, was first recommended by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in 1911 as an enlivening, curative therapy. Raphael’s paintings of the Madonna express secret truths. These images invite us to look into the deeper significance of the flow of energy stimulated within us as our attention is guided through the five-pointed-star-like movement of the images in relation to one another, accompanied by the appropriate tones on the lyre. Rudolf Steiner described the healing effects of Raphael’s Madonna’s in August 1908, and between 1908 and 1911 he directed Dr. Felix Peipers to arrange fifteen images as a therapeutic meditation. Sometimes called the Raphael Madonna Series, these fifteen pictures invite our active contemplation. Each image can awaken inner pictures that lift us into communion with realms beyond the physical world, stirring our feelings of wonder and reverence and opening our souls to divine mysteries.

at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

$10 donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged

For more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

Celtic Mysteries 

Thursday February 9th 2017, 7 pm – 9 pm
at the Theosophical Society in America
1926 North Main Street, Wheaton, IL 60187

(contact Hazel if you’d like to take a road trip to Wheaton)

 Invoking the Practical Alchemy of the Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid 
To Purify, Awaken, & Galvanize Your Head, Heart, and Hands

Brigid’s festival is the 1st of the cross-quarter days in the wheel of the year, a time of spiritual re-dedication and initiation. Brigid invites us to forge and shape ourselves, as the tools of our own destiny. Come Renew Yourself. Together we will thaw the winter & rouse the mysteries growing within…

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year– Presenter, Poet, & Trans-denominational Minister.

$10 nonmembers   $5 members

 Live Webcast

***

DIGITAL Pandora: Imaging HOPE by Gretchen Steele

Art Opening 7 pm – 9 pm Friday February 17th, 2017

In the space next to the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

A Performance Art Exhibit & Gallery Reception with an opportunity for participants to create their own collage art to be shown at the Closing exhibit March 31st, 2017

 DIGITAL Pandora: Imaging HOPE is a multi-media art exhibit including work inspired by the myth of Pandora as a narrative of hope – by Gretchen Steele

The exhibit includes multi-media collages on paper, large-scale (5’ x 5’) collaged fabric prayer cloths, a performance art piece titled Embodied Compass ll: Reliquary Immersion, and a participatory SEA (Socially Engaging Artwork) inviting viewers to collaborate in a collaged community mural using a images (from the artist’s photo bank of the previous performance piece, Embodied Compass l: Digital Pandora) and marker-based drawing materials.

For more info. contact Gretchen Steele

 

***

25 February 2017 – 7 pm – 9 pm

Celebrating the 156th Anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s Birthday

on the eve of the New moon/Solar Eclipse

Come celebrate this great initiate with Insights gained thru looking into his natal chart with Victoria Martian & an overview of his life, by Hazel Archer Ginsberg

$10 Donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged

For more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

***

Mark your Calendars for Another ‘Field-Trip’ opportunity:

An evening Discourse & Full day Workshop with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg at

Michael Fields W2493 County Rd ES
East Troy, WI 53120, USA

What is Anthroposophy?

Friday March 3rd 2017,
Potluck Social 5:30 pm – Lecture, 7 pm to 9 pm

A Hands-on Discourse with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

What can the human being (anthropos) of today do to recognize our inherent wisdom (sophia) to access the source of spiritual knowledge, for our own inner development, and for the evolution of the earth and all of humanity?

What would it be like to support each other in community, as we strive to penetrate the mystery of our relationship with the spiritual world?

How does this ‘Spiritual Science’ built on the research of Rudolf Steiner, speak to the riddles of existence: our artistic needs, the truth of karma, the mystery of evil, life after death and so much more?

Come Explore this Modern Path of Initiation with:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year– Presenter, Poet, & Trans-denominational Minister.

Register here

Also:

Saturday March 4th 2017 –

A Experiential Three Part Workshop*

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity’

Some of the topics treated in this experiential workshop are: The nature of the brain, the development of speech, angelic beings, ancient language, Zarathustra, Buddha, & Christ.

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity: Some Results of Spiritual-Scientific Research into Human History and Development’ consists of three sections. Each section was originally a lecture (6, 7, & 8 June 1911) but was subsequently reworked by Steiner & cast into the form of an essay.  It is available without a fee at Rudolf Steiner Archives 

Session #1 – 10 am – 12 noon:
• Introductions
• The divine wisdom working in the human being in the 1st three years of life.
• Through inner striving we can contact again and consciously build on this wisdom which is connected to the Christ impulse.
• Activity- Biography work: Our 1st conscious memory – a preview of the “I”.

Noon – 1:30 pm – Lunch

Session #2 – 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm:
• The childlike condition of humanity in ancient times, directed by higher spiritual beings.
• A look into the evolution of these guiding spirits –progressive as well as regressive –
• Revealing the necessity of the ‘two kinds of evil’.
• The importance of Spiritual Science to avoid error.
• Activity – Labyrinth Walk

3:30 pm – 4 pm – Break

Session #3 – 4 pm – 6 pm:
• A survey of the Post-Atlantean age, our present epoch.
• The Christ connection with the progressive spiritual beings
• Modern science as the work of the regressive spiritual beings
• A peek into the future
• Activity – The Golden Legend & The Rose Cross Mediation: An artistic rendering

*(Workshops can be taken as a whole or individually, details to follow)

Register here

Michael Fields W2493 County Rd ES
East Troy, WI 53120, USA

(If you are interested in car-pooling contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Epiphany of ‘Chalking the Door’

Festival

Kathryn Carpenter Penlas

You may have seen it, especially if you’ve been to Germany or other parts of Europe – a mysterious series of letters & numbers, looking to all the world like an equation, inscribed in chalk over a doorway.

Epiphany (also known as Twelfth Night, Theophany, or Three Kings Day) marks the occasion of a time-honored Christian tradition of “chalking the doors.” The formula for the ritual — adapted for 2017 — is simple: take chalk of any color & write the following above the entrance of your home: 20 + K + M + B + 17.

The letters have two meanings: 1st they represent the initials of the Magi — Kaspar, Melchior, & Balthazar — who came to visit the Jesus of the Matthew Gospel.

The letters are also an abbreviate of the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedicat: “May Christ bless the house.” The “+” signs represent the cross.

And the “20” at the beginning & the “17” at the end mark the year.

Taken together, this inscription is performed as a request that Christ bless the house & those who dwell therein throughout the entire year.

The chalking of the doors is a centuries-old practice throughout the world, though it appears to be someone less well-known in the United States. It is, however, an easy tradition to adopt, & a great practice where we can dedicate ourselves to the ideals of the Christ-Impulse from the very beginning of each year.

The timing for the chalking of the doors varies somewhat in practice. In some places, it is done on New Year’s Day. More commonly, it is performed after 6pm on the Eve of Epiphany, or on the morning of January 6th— the traditional Feast of the Epiphany — the 12th Day of Christmas.

When I was growing up, all the old Italian ladies would do it after Epiphany Mass. It can be done at any church, home, or dwelling.  In the very old days the blessing was done by either a priest or the head of the family, but here in the US, it’s usually the grandmothers or the children that want to do it! This blessing can be performed simply by just writing the inscription & offering an intention or short prayer, or more elaborately, including songs, prayers, processions, the burning of incense, & the sprinkling of holy water.

I remember the days when I would go to the Epiphany Mass with my grandma, & they gave out satchels of blessed chalk, incense, & containers of holy water blessed especially for Epiphany. Another common practice, that my Straga-ma always observed was to save a few grains of the Epiphany incense until Easter, so that it could be burned along with the Easter candle.

Practicing traditions like the chalking of the doors helps us to awaken to the mysteries behind the Holidays. It is a practical concrete way to observe & it serves as an outward sign of our dedication to being more conscious in our thinking, feeling & willing. To consciously take the time to bless our homes – the place where many of us will make the greatest strides in our spiritual growth, through observance of daily meditation, spiritual reading to the dead, & work offered freely with love – is vital.

It also serves as a reminder of the wise welcoming that the Magi gave to the Christ Child. We can also strive to be as welcoming to all who come to our homes. To greet the Christ within every body that crosses the threshold.

Below, are some examples of how this ceremony can be performed.

Some of the prayers are from the book, The Twelve Days of Christmas, by Elsa Chaney, some are from memory.

The feast of manifestation, or Epiphany, is traditionally celebrated the 12th day after Christmas, January 6th. Sometimes this feast is moved to New Year’s Day or the Sunday between January 2 & January 8.

Prayer:

On entering the home,

Leader : Peace be to this house.
All: And to all who dwell herein.

All: From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His healing and His death.

All Pray: The Magnificat. During the Magnificat, the room is sprinkled with holy water and incensed. After this is completed,

Leader: the Our Father is recited. . .
And lead us not into temptation

All: But deliver us from the evil.
Leader: All they from Saba shall come
All: Bringing gold and frankincense.
Leader: O Lord, hear my prayer.
All: And let my cry come to You.

Leader: Let us pray. O God, who by the guidance of a star did on this day manifest The Christ.

All: Amen.

Leader: Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee—Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.

All: And people shall walk in your light and kings in the splendor of your rising, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us all.

Leader: Let us pray.
Bless, + O Lord God almighty, Bless this home, that in it there may be health, purity, the strength of victory, humility, goodness and mercy, the fulfillment of The law of love, the thanksgiving to God the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. And may this blessing remain upon this home and upon all who dwell herein. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

After the prayers of the blessing are recited, each room of the home is sprinkled with Epiphany water and incensed. The initials of the Magi are inscribed upon the doors with the blessed chalk. (The initials, K (or C or G), M, B, which can also be interpreted as the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” which means “Christ bless this house”.)

Example: 20 + C + M + B + 17 

Another possible prayer to say during your Chalking:

May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us; and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Christ who is your incarnate Word, now and forever. Amen.

God of heaven and earth, you revealed your Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Loving God, bless this household. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness, and abiding in your will. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Another version starts with Blessing the Chalk

Call. Our help is the Being of Christ:

Response. The maker of heaven and earth.

Call. The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in:

Response. From this time forth for evermore.

Let us pray – Loving God, bless this chalk that it may be helpful to us; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Using the blessed chalk mark the lintel of your front door (or front porch step) as follows: 20 + C + M + B + 17 while saying: The three Wise Men, Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of God’s Son who became human. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.

Then offer the following prayer: Visit, O Divine One, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live or visit here with the gift of your love; and grant that we may manifest your love to each other and to all whose lives we touch. May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, comfort, and strengthen us in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen

“Chalking the door” is a way to celebrate & literally mark the occasion of the Epiphany & Christ’s blessing of our lives & home. With time the chalk will fade. As it does let the meaning of the symbols written sink into the depths of our heart & be manifest in our words & actions.

However you do it, it’s a rich tradition, a worthy invocation of Christ’s blessing, & a great conversation starter for your guests. For every person who asks about the inscription, there’s an opportunity to share this open mystery of the Magi & of the descent of Christ at the baptism.

Xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

FYI: 1st of all, I want to thank everyone who took on the task of being part of the Holy Nights Journey. Your encouragement, support & insights made the path light yet ever deeper. I feel so blessed. And I look forward to our co-creation thru-out the Seasonal Round, which always gives us opportunity for connection & growth.

Secondly – I will be taking a bit of a break from the daily offerings to work on some upcoming lectures, which i hope you will attend:

Mysteries of the Celtic Goddess

brigid-helena-nelson-reedBrigid by Helena Nelson Reed

Thursday February 9th 2017 -7 pm
at the Theosophical Society in America
1926 North Main Street
Wheaton, IL 60187

Invoking the Practical Alchemy of the Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid
To Purify, Awaken, & Galvanize Your Head, Heart, and Hands

Brigid’s festival is the 1st of the cross-quarter days in the wheel of the year, a time of spiritual re-dedication and initiation. Brigid invites us to forge and shape ourselves, as the tools of our own destiny. Come Renew Yourself. Together we will thaw the winter & rouse the mysteries growing within…

Hazel Archer Ginsberg is a Spiritual Midwife, and Trans-denominational Minister, working in an eclectic style that inspires connections – initiating us into the magic, waiting to be revealed, in the cycle of the seasons. Festivals Coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society. Lecturer, Promoter, Blogger, Poet & Performance Artist.  www.ReverseRitual.com.

$10 nonmembers   $5 members

Live Webcast

***

An evening Discourse &  Full day Workshop at

Fostering Sustainable Agriculture through Research, Education and Policy since 1984

Friday March 3rd 2017,  Potluck Social 5:30 pm  Lecture –7 pm – 9 pm

What is Anthroposophy?

A Hands-on Discourse with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

What can the human being (anthropos) of today do to recognize our inherent wisdom (sophia) to access the source of spiritual knowledge, for our own inner development, and for the evolution of the earth and all of humanity?

What would it be like to support each other in community, as we strive to penetrate the mystery of our relationship with the spiritual world?

How does this ‘Spiritual Science’ built on the research of Rudolf Steiner, speak to the riddles of existence: our artistic needs, the truth of karma, the mystery of evil, life after death and so much more?

Come Explore this Modern Path of Initiation with:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year– Presenter, Poet, & Trans-denominational Minister.

Also:

 Saturday March 4th 2017 –

A Experiential Three Part Workshop* with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity’

Some of the topics treated in this experiential workshop are: The nature of the brain, the development of speech, angelic beings, ancient language, Zarathustra, Buddha, & Christ.

‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity: Some Results of Spiritual-Scientific Research into Human History and Development’ consists of three sections. Each section was originally a lecture (6, 7, & 8 June 1911) but was subsequently reworked by Steiner & cast into the form of an essay.  It is available without a fee at Rudolf Steiner Archives 

Session #1 – 10 am – 12 noon:
• Introductions
• The divine wisdom working in the human being in the 1st three years of life.
• Through inner striving we can contact again and consciously build on this wisdom which is connected to the Christ impulse.
• Activity- Biography work: Our 1st conscious memory – a preview of the “I”.

Noon – 1:30 pm – Lunch

Session #2 – 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm:
• The childlike condition of humanity in ancient times, directed by higher spiritual beings.
• A look into the evolution of these guiding spirits –progressive as well as regressive –
• Revealing the necessity of the ‘two kinds of evil’.
• The importance of Spiritual Science to avoid error.
• Activity – Labyrinth Walk

3:30 pm – 4 pm – Break

Session #3 – 4 pm – 6 pm:
• A survey of the Post-Atlantean age, our present epoch.
• The Christ connection with the progressive spiritual beings
• Modern science as the work of the regressive spiritual beings
• A peek into the future
• Activity – The Golden Legend & The Rose Cross Mediation: An artistic rendering

*(Workshops can be taken as a whole or individually, details to follow)

Register here

Michael Fields W2493 County Rd ES
East Troy, WI 53120, USA

12th Holy Night: Eve of Epiphany – The Sphere of the Mystic Lamb

Celestial Event, Festival, Insight, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Winter

5 January 2017 – Astro-Weather: First-quarter Moon (exact at 1:47 pm CST). Our satellite rises in the east around noon but doesn’t become prominent until the Sun sets around 5 pm, by 6 pm it appears in the south nearly two-thirds of the way to the zenith. The Moon’s half-lit orb then lies among the background stars of southern Pisces. This evening, look to the upper right of the Moon for the Great Square of Pegasus. A diagonal through two corners of the Square points toward the Moon.

Orion is now well up in the east-southeast after nightfall, with his three-star Belt nearly vertical. The Belt points up toward Aldebaran & even higher, the Pleiades. In the other direction, it points down to where bright Sirius rises to twinkle furiously around 7 pm CST.

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

TODAY – According to the original Calendar of the Soul:

The Eve of Epiphany

137 – Deathday of Pope Telesphorus, traditionally considered as being the 7th Roman bishop in succession after Saint Peter. In ancient Greek myth, Telesphorus was a son of Asclepius. He frequently accompanied his sister, Hygieia. He was a dwarf whose head was always covered with a cowl hood or cap. He symbolized recovery from illness, as his name means “the accomplisher” or “bringer of completion” in Greek. Representations of him are found mainly in Anatolia & along the Danube. Telesphorus is thought to have been a Celtic god in origin.

Feast day of Saint Simeon Stylites (the Greek word style means pillar) a Syriac ascetic saint who achieved fame for living 47 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo (in modern Syria)

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 Van Eyck’s Ghent Altar Piece

12th Holy Night:  January 5-6, 2017 Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ –Constellation of Aries, Ram (ruling the head) The Sphere of the Mystic Lamb

Our journey, taking us on the path from Jesus to Christ, is a divine archetype that every human being may follow thru the 12 regions of the Zodiac – & beyond, into the compass of the Holy Spirit & now on the Eve of Epiphany, we get a glimpse into the sphere of the Mystic Lamb.

David-Taulbee-Anderson

This last & highest region – Aries the Ram, is ‘at the head’ of the whole zodiac circle of ‘Adam-Kadmon’ – the Alpha to Omega Archetype of Humanity –from which the Christ descended – passing thru each sign – each Angelic realm – into the Spirit & Soul of the Sun, for the pre-earthly deeds.

It is no coincidence that the sphere of the Mystic lamb in Aries stood in the heavens at the exact time of the Baptism, when the Christ being was ‘born’ into the Sun-Soul/body of the Nathan Jesus, in order to perform, 3 years later, His 4th & most important deed on the hill at Golgotha. In John 1:35-36, the Baptist says: “Look, there is the Lamb of God”.  With these words we hear a testimony of the cosmic connection of Christ with the heavenly region of the Ram, thru which Christ entered our cosmos from the realms beyond the zodiac. It is thru this portal outside of The Trinity, related to more than our cosmos alone, that the ‘Voice from Heaven’ speaks at the baptism: “This is my Beloved Son, today I have begotten Him” or as Matthew 3:17 tells it: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

Giusto de Menabuoi

From the Aries constellation flows the source of Christ’s spiritual influence in the cosmos which then spreads its emanations towards the 1st 7 ‘light or ascended’ zodiac signs, which goes down to the region of the Scales. This may be called the body of the Mystic Lamb. And from Virgo to Pisces we have the body of the Divine Sophia. The overlapping center where they meet is where the ‘Mystic or alchemical Marriage’ takes place, an initiatory process in the New Mysteries open to humanity now. (Remember: the 13 Hidden Holy Night is New Year’s Eve, the center between the above & below, where we see the Sun at Midnight)

Peter Paul Reubens

Those initiated in the ancient Jewish rites had an inkling of the connection between, what they called the ‘Messiah’ & the region of the Ram. This is seen in the practice of sacrificing lambs for the ‘sins of Israel’. The Passover was a pre-figuring of The Christ, the new ‘Sacrificial Lamb’ – destined to be led to the slaughter for ‘the sins of the world’. This sacrifice was the medicine redeeming humanity from the fall, & ending the need for blood sacrifice.

Peter Paul Rubens

John the Baptist was a leading initiate of the Jewish mysteries. In his earliest incarnation as ‘Adam’ – he was the 1st man to take up a physical existence on earth. Because of this he was given the task of baptizing people in preparation for the descent of Christ -the 1st God to enter physical existence on earth. His task was to sort the Lambs – those ready for the new initiation, from those unfit in that life. And Eve had the task of giving birth to the Matthew Jesus.

Christ-Jesus became the new archetype of the human being, which had fallen into disarray through ‘the fall of Adam’- The human body was intended in the beginning to be more spiritual, but instead, it entered more deeply into materiality then what was intended by the gods. But thru the Resurrection, we can achieve the rise of Adam-Kadmon – the perfected human being – in times to come. It is for this reason that John the Baptist says that he (as the old Adam) must decrease, while Christ (the new Adam) must increase.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Later after John the Baptist dies, his spirit is able to unite with Lazarus/John during his initiation by Christ into the New Mysteries – so that Lazarus becomes John the Divine. In the Book of the Apocalypse he reveals the connection of Christ with the Sphere of the Mystic Lamb, in his description of the Heavenly Lamb who guards the Book of Seven Seals.

Frank Yoneur

And so, thru our journey of Jesus to Christ we see the earthly reflection in the 13 Holy Nights between the festivals of Christmas to Epiphany, of our human evolution back to the Godhead. And at Epiphany, the festival of the Birth of Christ into the earthly body of humanity in the man Jesus, we get an insight into the journey that a god took to become human.  For at the moment of the Baptism, the highest Trinity is reflected in the depths of earthly existence: the Holy Spirit as the Dove (Bull), the Son-Principle as the Lamb (Ram) & the Father-principle as the Voice from the Heavens – from those realms where human imagination has yet to penetrate. But it is from there, from the bosom of the Father/Mother, that Christ descended into our cosmos. There He worked from the sphere of the Sun, as the 13th in the circle of the 12  – the Divine Spirit of our solar system; & then at the Baptism He descends from the Sun to the Earth, in order that the Earth may become a Sun.

It is ‘The Great Work’ of Being Human, to Become, each of us, a Sun – Recognizing & acknowledging this spark of Divinity in everyone we meet – supporting & adding to this light – to do as my friend Teddy Mowrey resolves:  “…Improve my awareness of the Christ in me, bringing it consciously into recognition of the Christ in others. The Christ in me responds to the Christ in you”.

Ninette Sombart

Let us gleam in 2017

Xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Jan de Kok

Virtue: Devotion becomes the power of sacrifice

11th Holy Night: The Sphere of the Holy Spirit

Celestial Event, Festival, Insight, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Winter

4 January 2017 – Astro-Weather: Today at 11 am CST, Earth reaches perihelion – the closest point to the Sun during its year-long orbit, The two are then 91.4 million miles apart. It surprises many people to learn that Earth comes closest to the Sun in the dead of winter, but the cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year arises because the Sun lies low in the sky

In early evening at this time of year, the Great Square of Pegasus balances on one corner high in the west. The vast Andromeda-Pegasus constellation runs all the way from near the zenith (Andromeda’s foot) down through the Great Square (Pegasus’s body) to fairly low in the west (Pegasus’s nose).

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

TODAY – According to the original Calendar of the Soul:

Girolamo da Santacroce

Balthasar

Melthusalah

The book of Titus is a Pastoral Epistle-letter from Paul to a church leader-written  approximately 66 A.D. as a guide to Titus, a Greek believer, in his leadership of the churches on the island of Crete, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you” (1:5)

1504 – Deathday of Isabella I, Queen of Castile. She was married to Ferdinand II of Aragon. Their marriage became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. After a struggle to claim her right to the throne, she reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, & unburdened the kingdom of the enormous debt her brother had left behind. Her reforms & those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms. Isabella & Ferdinand are known for supporting & financing Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the New World & to the establishment of Spain as the first global power which dominated Europe & much of the world for more than a century

1785 – Birthday of Jacob Grimm, a German philologist, jurist, & mythologist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm’s law (linguistics), the co-author with his brother Wilhelm of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie &, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm & the editor of Grimm’s Fairy Tales

1786 – Deathday of Moses Mendelssohn,  a German Jewish philosophe. His ideas from the ‘Haskalah’, formed the ‘Jewish enlightenment’ of the 18th & 19th centuries. Born to a poor Jewish family in Dessau, Principality of Anhalt, & originally destined for a rabbinical career, Mendelssohn educated himself in German thought & literature & from his writings on philosophy & religion came to be regarded as a leading cultural figure of his time. He also established himself as an important figure in the Berlin textile industry, which was the foundation of his family’s wealth. Moses Mendelssohn’s descendants include the composers Fanny & Felix Mendelssohn & the founders of the Mendelssohn & Co. banking house

1849 –Deathday of Franz Xaver Gabelsberger a German inventor of a shorthand writing system, later known as Stenograph.

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11th Holy Night: 3-4 January 2017, Constellation of Taurus, Bull (ruling the neck & throat/larynx ) The Sphere of the Holy Spirit –

                                                                                

Congratulations Dear Holy Nights traveler – you have made it beyond the threshold – past the 9 Angelic realms, into the Sphere of the Holy Spirit!

It may seem odd at 1st that this Divine Realm is represented by what appears to be such an ‘earthly’ image – Taurus the Bull!? But we only need to contemplate the image of the sacred cow, with its potent digestive activity which is vast like the universe – & trace this imagination into the astral cosmos – which reveals its true form – as the dove! Rudolf Steiner encourages us to see that, what is astral in the Dove, becomes physical in the cow/bull.

(Holy Spirit hovering above the waters before creation Byzantine Mosaic)

Our ancestors of ancient India, Egypt, Babylon, Greece & Asia Minor, knew this, & made the cow sacred – revealing the significance of the cult of the bull or calf. The occult knowledge of this connection can be seen in Egypt for instance in depictions of the Sun-god Ra in the aspect of a falcon, bearing on its head a solar disc, sitting between the 2 horns of the heavenly cow; or in Babylon, with its images of the winded bulls (Shedu).

From Spiritual Science we know that the principle of the Holy Spirit works thru the sphere of the Moon, & the Son-principle works thru the sphere of the Sun. So the bull reflecting the activity of the Holy Spirit is connected to the Moon gods & goddeses – like the Sumerian Moon-god, pictured with the body of a bull.

In the Mysteries of ancient Egypt, the image of Isis arose out of the union in the lunar sphere of 2 cosmic streams coming from the heavenly regions of the Virgin (the constellation of Virgo) & the Bull (Taurus). When the influence of Virgo prevailed, then the image of Isis, usually seen holding her son Horus, out-pictured the energies of the Divine Sophia or World-Soul (Moon) a pre-figuring of The Virgin Mary. But if the Bull prevailed, Isis was depicted with the Sun disc between the bull’s horns, showing her connection with the World-Spirit (or Sun aspect).  The relationship of Isis with Osiris, a pre-figuring of The Christ, further indicates the transition from the Lunar Logos to the Solar Logos, which corresponds to the shift from the 3rd to the 4th cultural epoch, when The Christ is born on earth.

(It’s important to note that on Old Moon the Luciferic principle chose not to evolve to the Sun-Sphere, but wanted egoistically to remain behind in the Moon Sphere, yet cut off from the true Holy Spirit. We see this debased, Luciferic representation of the Holy Spirit, which does not seek to find The Christ, in the Greco-Roman era as the cult of Mithras -the god whose task was to slay the bull of passions & egoism, & in the time of Moses, as the cult of the Golden Calf)

At the baptism in the Jordan, it is the Holy Spirit which enables the descent of Christ, to be ‘born’ into the Sun-Soul of Nathan, in the body of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, emanating from the region of the Bull, was seen by John the Baptist through the agency of his angel, in the form of a Dove above the head of Jesus. (John 1:32-34) Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

Picasso

There is another significant aspect which connects the influence from the region of the Bull, which rules the larynx, giving us the gift of speech, with the future working of the Holy Spirit. Speech connects us with others in a loving marriage of souls, & Rudolf Steiner takes this metaphor even further  to say that the Larynx will one day not only speak forth words, but will become a creative organ, a higher version of the organs of reproduction! “…we must understand that the larynx in its full transformation, when man has become chaste again, will turn like a flower to the spiritual Sun. The calyx of the flower, when the larynx is pure, becomes a chaste chalice, ready to be fructified by the Spirit, to be offered to the ‘Holy Lance of Love’. This is a symbol of the Holy Grail, its highest Ideal” (GA 98 May 11, 1907)

May we begin this transformation of our speech NOW, in order to bring to birth the Spirit of Christ, as a moral creative force, within our human soul. This will fructify the soul of our communities (Think Whitsun), & pollinate the Soul of the Earth.

 Barbara Holden

Freed thru the working of the Christ-Impluse in the soul of humanity, the Luciferic principle will turn from being adversarial, to becoming the servant of the redeemed Holy Spirit, The New Isis-Sophia.

 Lori maden

May we ride the Bull in full consciousness & peace

Xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

  Jan de Kok

Virtue: Equilibrium becomes progress