New Moon/pod/The Mystic Death

Insight, Lecture, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote

new moon The Bark of the Moon, guarded by the Divine Eyes.

TODAY is the New Moon in Aries. On April 7th 1348 the University of Prague was founded by Charles the 4th, the last true initiate on the Imperial Throne. This is also the death day of Poet Edouard Schure’ 1929, & Henry Ford, 1947.

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spring human

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~the plug has been lifted from the unguent jar

the 7 seals have been broken

the hour has been written,

& is now

unrolled in the false spring

where thunder speaks after the lightning strikes…

Are you listening ?

~hag

~   ~   ~

death plus cardplaying

The 5th Stage: (Part 6 of the 12 part series) Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being.

In gradual illumination The 5th stage of initiation is revealed as The Mystic Death. We have seen with the earlier stages, that even in the grip of the greatest of all suffering, the disciple recognizes that the world of the senses is illusion. The veil of the temple is ‘rent in twain.’ Now we are able to consciously cross the abyss.

We can imagine that we are leaving a turbulent city behind us, entering a peaceful, dense forest. Yes, at 1st it is dark, but the noise gradually stops & the silence becomes complete. We finally begin to be aware of what lies beyond the silence, to pass what Steiner calls “the zero point”. And sound arises again for the inner ear from the other side of existence. We become aware of the dead, of descending into the world of shades, but then the darkness breaks, & a new light- the astral light shines out. This is the experience of the soul of those able to consciously cross the threshold – to shine forth from out of the Intellectual Soul & orient life there. They are then “in contact with the inverse quality of everything, just as in arithmetic, beneath the zero point, we enter into the growing series of negative numbers.”  

We need to lose all, in order to gain all. This applies to our own existence. In the moment of losing all, we appear to die to ourselves & it is in the world around us that we begin to live again. We pour our life out into our surroundings & it flows back to us again, ever enriched.

When the initiate absorbs the power of Christ into the Intellectual Soul they develop “virtues which go from like to like” –which shine out into the world. We really see the other – What lives in the soul passes “from Ego to Ego”. “Subject & predicate are equal,” as in the 5th Beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”. 

Steiner fills it out with “Blessed or God-filled are they who develop love; for as they radiate forth love, it will return to them again.”  

What goes forth returns again, what dies will be reborn. The Mystic Death is the antidote to the 5th layer of the inner earth, called the Fruit Earth. This realm of expansive growth has a soul-like quality, struggling to gain shape & form. Its substance consists of burgeoning, teeming, out of control energies, like a virus. In this layer we find life in its most original state, which was found “on the earth’s surface when nothing lifeless had yet developed.” Steiner tells us that it must be contained for if it got out into the atmosphere it would be act like a virus.

Here we learn that, without the transformation of the Mystic Death there would be no mercy.

When the initiate has passed this stage, the time has come for the next.

Until soon

Blessings & Peace –

~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg

aura

 

Raphael/POD/Bearing the Cross

Insight, Lecture, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Spring

Raphael-Sanzio-The-Canigiani-Madonna-Oil-Painting

TODAY IS: the Birth & Death Day of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Known to us simply as Raphael Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Born April 6, 1483 – Died April 6, 1520 (aged 37) in Rome. (Pineas/Elias/John the Baptist/Raphael/Novalis -Karmic Relationships Vol.4 lecture 11)

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

tree of life anthro

   O Tree of Life

   Now is not your Winter

   The red-rose-vine will entwine

   The ever greening bough

   In a slow motion rapture

~hag

~   ~   ~

tree & roots

The 4th Stage: (Part 5 of the 12 part series) Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being.

Before the Mystery of Golgotha we had the picture of Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders. On the modern path it is: The Bearing of the Cross, which refers to the Sentient Soul, Giving us the virtue of carrying “the world in one’s conscience”.

Here in this 4th stage of initiation we see an extension in the life of the feeling to an identification with the whole Earth – the end of the feeling of separateness.

In modern times, the human being strongly identifies with the body. For instance: Spinoza’s Ethics, tells us that the basic fundamental idea of the human being is ‘The body in action.’ The disciple must cultivate the notion that in the sum-total of things, their own body is not more important than any other body, whether it be the body of an animal, a tree or a piece of marble. The Self is not bound by the skin; it is united with the great entity of the universe, just as our hand is united with the rest of our body. That is why the disciple must live into every other being, & identify with the Spirit of the Earth.

To identify ourselves with all beings doesn’t mean that the body is to be despised. We must bear the body with dignity as we would some sacred object – just as Christ bore His Cross.

The Spirit must wield the body as the hand wields the hammer. At this stage the disciple must be conscious of the occult powers that are latent within the body.

The 4th Beatitude gives us a clue: “Blessed are they that hunger & thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Or as Steiner reveals:  “The Ego must work to spiritualize the Sentient Soul enabling us to feel the outpouring of brotherly love as righteousness; a longing similar to what we previously experienced unconsciously as the physical longing we call hunger and thirst.”

We must thirst for the things of the soul. This strengthening of the Sentient Soul is the medicine for the 4th layer in the interior of the earth, called the Form Earth. This layer holds the negative of every form found in the mineral layer; for example a rock in this realm would look like a plaster cast, creating negative space.

Steiner tells us that in contemplation on this stage of initiation, called The Bearing of the Cross, the stigmata may even appear. This is the sign that the disciple is ripe for the next step.

Where will this lead us?

Tune into tomorrow

Until soon

Blessings & Peace –

~hag = ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Wednesday Right Standpoint2

107 years ago today Rudolf Steiner laid the foundation stone for the Rosicrucian Temple of the “Frances of Assisi” Lodge in Malsch – April 5-6, 1909

Celestial Event, Insight, Lecture, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Spring

easter resurrection!

Dear Friends – I am resurrecting my practice of writing a poem a day for the ReverseRitual Blog. Here is my offering for today April 5th 2016:

I stare into the Sun

Fore-gathering

Noetic sight

Into squinting syllables.

Watch it pour out honeyed unguents –

A sweet viscus light

Overflowing the ashen cup of night.

My I’s washed

With April snow

Floating like a shaken globe

Falling fragrant on the flower.

~   ~   ~

anthrosofi

The 3rd Stage: (Part 4 of the 12 part series) Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being.

Here we see an extension of equanimity into positivity & open mindedness. At this stage we must learn to brave the world morally & intellectually, with a special emphasis on abstaining from anger – even when everything we hold dear is being attacked. To develop the capacity to remain engaged but detached when everything is tumbling down around us – to be able to say “Yes” when the rest of the world says “No”, that is what must be achieved before the next step can be taken. Rudolf Steiner calls this stage: The Crowning with Thorns, which leads us to the Guardian of the Threshold.

This gives rise to a new symptom, or indication, recognized by those who work with the class lessons as the power to detach the faculties of Thinking, feeling, & willing. We must learn to separate & also to re-unite them at will.

So long as some outer event carries us away, we are immature. If we are not masters of our own impulses, our actions may have a shattering influence in all worlds.  The disciple must be able to remain positive & open minded in the face of any event, no matter how catastrophic.

That is the only way to reach freedom.   

The separation of Thinking, feeling, & willing actually produces a change in the brain that is symbolized by the Crown of Thorns.

Dr. Steiner warns that if the disciple has not properly achieved the earlier stages, tries to go too fast, or receives wrong guidance, the change in the brain may lead to insanity – which is an involuntary separation of these faculties without the possibility of their reunification by  the inner will. The disciple must bring about the separation by an act of conscious volition.

So here we meet the phenomenon known as the Guardian of the Threshold, which Steiner calls the appearance of the lower double. It is often dreadful, for it is the offspring of all our urges & unresolved karma – All impulses of will, selfish desires & chaotic thoughts, which appear to the Initiate in visible form – our own personification in the astral world. This form must be met before we can find the higher Self. 

The Guardian of the Threshold, is a phenomenon of astral vision since ancient times. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead it is referred to as the ‘evil pilot’. It is the origin of all the myths concerning the struggles of Heroes with monsters- of Perseus & Hercules of St. George & Siegfried…

So what is our work here? In striving toward this stage of initiation we must be able to find strength within our own Ego under the influence of Christ, to purify our astral bodies here on earth.

The 3rd Beatitude is a help for this: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

It is the antidote to the 3rd layer of the inner earth known as the Vapor Earth. Some of the outer characteristics described by Steiner’s clairvoyant vision speak of it as displaying a will-like expression capable of enormous expansion, like a cancer. “Life present at every point”. The substance is imbued with inner forces resembling passions and urges.

This is a realm of inverted feeling; joy becomes sorrow; sorrow is joy. The original quality of any feeling or sensation is extinguished & converted into its opposite.  

The 3rd Beatitude thru Steiner is: “Blessed and filled in their astral bodies with God are those who become meek thru the power of their own Ego, who can foster calmness and equanimity within themselves; all comfort and well-being on earth shall be their reward, they will inherit the kingdom of earth.”

As we know, the astral body was incorporated into the human being during the Moon evolution, & the Luciferic beings who gained influence over humanity at that time established themselves specifically in the astral body, in an attempt to keep the human being from reaching our highest earthly goal.

This influence was also inscribed into the planetary spheres. We saw on Holy Wednesday of this year an eclipse of the vernal full moon (that’s 3 years in a row that we have had a lunar eclipse during Holy Week) But there was another Planetary alignment happening that day as well! Around the eclipse of the Vernal Full Moon in Libra, which sets up the rhythm of the movable feast of Easter every year, Mercury, ruler of Wednesday, & herald of the spiritual world, also stood in conjunction with Sun & Moon & Earth, gathering up the message humanity offers to the gods.

Then some 40 days later, during the ten days from Ascension to Pentecost, we will see, Mercury will come to another conjunction to return the message from our vernal queries in a rare configuration called a ‘transit’- which only happens 13 or 14 times each century!

~from The Astronomical Letters of Elisabeth Vreede September, 1928, p. 121 “When Mercury Stood in Libra: The approaching opening of the Goetheanum at Michaelmas brings before the soul that September evening when the foundation stone of the house dedicated to spiritual science was laid at nightfall by Dr. Steiner in a solemn ritual. With an invocation of the hierarchies, the foundation stone, the double dodecahedron, “symbol in its twofold twelvefoldness of the striving human soul, was sunk as microcosm into the macrocosm, “let down “into the condensed kingdom of the elements.” To this stone was added the document that contained the solemn vow of humankind toward the spiritual world. This document closed with the words: “Laid by the Johannes Building Association…on the twentieth day of September 1880, after the Mystery of Golgotha, that is, 1913 after the birth of Christ, when Mercury as evening star stood in Libra, the Balance.”

Mercury, in the same transit that occurred on Holy Wednesday 2016, was a cosmic witness to the laying of the foundation stone at the 1st Goetheanum, the only celestial body mentioned in this sacred ceremony!

When the seed of individuality was planted into the astral body during the Old Moon phase, a possibility for humanity to become disconnected from the spiritual world was also implanted into the Mercury sphere.

By laying the foundation stone at the time of the Mercury transit, was Rudolf Steiner working to heal this possible rift?

Since the descent of Christ to earth, when it became possible for our Ego to be imbued with the Christ Impulse, humanity has been sanctioned to fulfill the mission of the earth by finding the power within to bridle the astral body & drive out the Luciferic influences.

Steiner on the 3rd Beatitude: “Those who can curb their astral body, who are so strong that they cannot be moved to anger without the consent of their Ego, who are even-tempered & inwardly strong enough to overcome the astral body, will fulfill the purpose of earthly evolution.”

So in the 3rd Beatitude we have the formula to overcome the cancerous urges of the 3rd layer of the inner earth.

Where will we find ourselves tomorrow?

Until soon

Blessings & Peace – ~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg at ReverseRitual@gmail.com

anthroposopia3

Equanimity: The 2nd Stage

Insight, Lecture, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Uncategorized

“I am — It thinks — She feels — He wills” ~Esoteric Lessons by Rudolf Steiner 

Buddhaeyes

The 2nd Stage: (Part 3 of the 12 part series) Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being.

Next we contend with the 3rd of the 6 basic exercises, & meet the 8-fold path in the teachings of the Buddha, at this 2nd stage of the Christian Initiation called by Steiner: The Scourging.

We know that life brings all kinds of suffering— physical, moral, intellectual, even spiritual. The disciple must endure suffering with perfect equanimity of soul & heroic courage. We can’t run away, we must conquer physical & moral fear.

When we become fearless, Steiner tells us we may be able to see, in lucid dream, the scene of the Scourging. As our compassion deepens we may begin to see ourselves in the Christ Who is scourged.

Certain symptoms or indications in physical life accompany this event: There is an intensification in the life of feeling, a wider sense of what can be called a love of life.

Steiner gives us the example in the life of Goethe – his sublime intelligence on the one hand, but also his intense sympathy with all living beings, which gave him the key to unlock the mysteries of nature.

This is a refinement & an extension of the forces of life. So you see, this is connected to the etheric body, which gives the compensation for the trial of the Scourging. When the neophyte acquires a feeling of love for all beings this gives a sense of living in the heart of Nature herself.

This correlates to the 2nd Beatitude – the antidote to the 2nd layer of the inner earth, called the

Fluid Earth, which is held under tremendous pressure by the Mineral Earth. Steiner describes this layer as ‘dimly sentient’, calling its effect ‘negative of life’, it destroys & dissolves, expels & kills all life, it is a realm of death.

The 2nd Beatitude is a balm for this: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

The medicine of this stage proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount as revealed by Steiner expands this Beatitude: “Blessed or God-filled are they who do not banish sorrow, but who endure it, developing the power of Ego whereby they can find the Paraclete or Holy Spirit who reveals itself thru the ego”.

Doing the work prescribed at this stage opens the way for the emerging powers of the Ego to “Build the Hut” for the Wisdom of Christ to dwell in, this is a precursor to the achievement that will be seen in the 9th stage to come.

veil paint crystals

Tomorrow we go deeper

Until soon

Blessings & Peace – ~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Faust workshop / The Working of the Spirit: Reading / Lecture part 2

Chicago Event, Lecture, Quote, Rudolf Steiner Quote

Faust-Goethe-14

Anthroposophical Perspectives on Goethe’s Faust, a weekend workshop with Frederick Amrine – April 8-10, 2016 – Suggested donation $50 for the weekend or $20 per day at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago

Friday April 8th, 7pm-9pm “Faust as a White Magician: Re-enchanting the World” is about Goethe’s Faust as a critique of Baconian science and as precursor of a science of the spirit. 

Saturday April 9th, 2pm -4pm “Faust at the Thresholds: Overcoming the Red Devils and the Black Devils” centers on the mystery of evil, specifically the temptations of Lucifer and Ahriman as described by Rudolf Steiner.

Sunday April 10th, 2pm – 4pm “Rudolf Steiner on Faust in the Light of Mystery Wisdom” explores Steiner’s great contribution to Faust scholarship – seeing the work as a revelation of the teachings of the Greek mystery religions.

Frederick Amrine is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in German Studies at the University of Michigan, where he teaches literature, philosophy and intellectual history. He has an international reputation as a scholar of Goethe.

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mystery-drama-300x200

Lemniscate Arts presents: Opening the Realm of New Mystery Drama –The Working of the Spirit – Saturday May 21 and Sunday May 22, 2016 

10:30am to 6:30pm Each day is a staged reading in full with breaks, of the new drama The Working of the Spirit. At the Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society, 4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago. Contribution $15.00 – $45.00 per presentation

During the past four years separate initiatives have been underway by artists devoted to the work of Rudolf Steiner to create new mystery dramas based upon Rudolf Steiner’s four Mystery Dramas.

A trope of actors will arrive in Chicago to rehearse May 18, 19, & 20 with the readings happening May 21 & 22. They are filling in some of the parts with local actors. At this time the part of Felix is still open. If you are familiar with this character from Steiner’s Mystery Dramas & would like to read this part contact director Marke Levene 707-695-2969

The troupe is also looking for housing in Chicago. If you have space for an actor to stay in your home contact Barbara Richardson brichardson@centerforanthroposophy.org

A Mystery Play is a dramatic form that has been passed down through the ages. It differs from other plays by showing on stage the connection between the spiritual world and the earth; it reveals the activity of the spiritual beings who work from the heavens to help or hinder human beings in their earthly lives.

For tickets go towww.workingofthespirit.org Tel: 207-841-4760 Lemniscate Arts, One International Blvd, Suite 400, Mahwah, NJ 07495 registered 501(c)3 

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Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society, 4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618 (map) calendar of events Check out our Web site! Chicago, IL (Anthroposophical Society in America)

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grass

The 1st Stage: (Part 2 of the 12 part series) Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being. 

The 1st stage in what Steiner calls “The Christian Initiation” has qualities described in ‘How to Know Higher Worlds’ as Reverence. It is a preparatory exercise of a moral character, relating to the scene where Christ washes the feet of the disciples before the Passover Feast – an example of the profound humility & devotion of the Master to His disciples & the work.

In a deeper sense, the story relates to the evolution of all beings in Nature. The scene is really a reference to a profound occult law that says: ‘The higher is a product of the lower’. At 1st this may seem counter-intuitive, but when we really think about it, we see that the plant could not exist without the mineral, the animal needs the plant. And humanity sustains life from the plants & animals.

So the esoteric meaning of the 1st Stage called ‘The Washing of the Feet’ is that the Cosmic Being of The Christ, because of His vastness, could not have accomplished His great deed on earth without being centered in the circle of the 12, an earthly representation of the zodiac.  We see this same configuration in the initiation of Christian Rosenkreutz – another example of a sacred container for the spirit. The higher needs the chalice of the lower to support it.

This stage corresponds to the physical body & to the 1st layer of the inner earth, called the Mineral Earth. This topmost layer is like an eggshell containing everything known to natural science. Thin & fragile, it allows volcanic eruptions from deeper layers to emerge.

Rudolf Steiner felt compelled to speak for the 1st time about the interior of the earth at Easter in 1906, because Mt. Vesuvius had just erupted on April 6th. The San Francisco earthquake hit on April 18th. Valparaiso Chile had an 8.2 magnitude quake August 16th, & then the next day, the Aleutian Islands got struck by a devastating magnitude 8.35 quake.

So even though these signals were loud & clear that the topic of the interior of the earth was calling out to be heard & heeded, Steiner found his audience reluctant or unable to engage in this intense, difficult topic at that time.

He then began to work with Christ’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’ in connection with this theme; regarding the Beatitudes as the antidote, the medicine needed to work in these realms.

Steiner came to see that the 1st Beatitude is the remedy for this 1st layer of the inner earth: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”

Ok, sure, I went to bible school as a child, I remember the Sermon on the Mount, I’ve heard these Beatitudes before, but I was never really able to penetrate them. So I was thankful that Steiner took it upon himself to re-work them for our understanding:

Steiner B1: “Blessed are they who are beggars for the spirit, for if they develop their Ego ruled outer bodies in the right way, they will find within themselves the kingdom of heaven.”

And so we realize that we are not meant to beg for material things; we must strive for knowledge of the spirit. This is the 1st step, which leads to a ripening of our Ego forces, which will then begin to work down into the physical body, so we can become the grail that holds ‘the Kingdom of heaven’ within. – We see the achievement of this in stages 8 & 9.

Steiner tells us that there are certain symptoms or indications that give proof that the aspirant is on the right track. The affirmation for this 1st stage of initiation comes when, thru meditation on the theme of ‘The higher as product of the lower’, the neophyte gains a vision of the Washing of the Feet in the astral world during sleep.

Then the candidate is ready to pass to the second stage of the Christian initiation.

Tomorrow we will investigate further

Until soon – Blessings & Peace

~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg

(c) Shipley Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
(c) Shipley Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

painting by Jacopo Tintoretto