Category Archives: Autumn

Comet Halley Rides Again

21 October 2019 – Astro-Weather: Our cosmic conversation continues: The Orionids – Peak these next few days.

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The meteor shower of the Mighty Hunter Orion is underway, with the earth traveling once again through the trail of cosmic dust left by Halley’s Comet.

Although the Orionid meteor shower peaks tonight & early tomorrow morning, a fat crescent Moon shares the sky & will hide some of the fainter “shooting stars.” Your best bet is to find an observing site where you can place the Moon behind a building or trees.

The variable star Algol in Perseus reaches minimum brightness around 11:04 pm CDT. If you start tracking it this evening, you can watch it more than triple in brightness by dawn. This eclipsing binary star runs through a cycle from minimum to maximum & back every 2.87 days. Algol remains visible all night, passing nearly overhead around 2 am.

From an article by Dr Elizabeth Vreede: ” Comets represent an element that does not wholly enter the usual sphere of cosmic law, although they still contain a trace of the direct working of spiritual powers, indeed, of the very highest — the Seraphim and Cherubim. Before ordinary law may be broken through, the very highest power and insight is required. The various comets, indeed, are agents of a very special nature in our planetary system, their polar antithesis being in the moons. Just as the moons are a kind of corpse which the planetary system trails along with it, so, on the other side, the comets may be spoken of as constant purifiers of the spiritual atmosphere within the solar system. In earlier times men thought of them as the “scavengers of God,” and many superstitions have gathered around them. To the eye of Spirit, too, the mission of the comets is perpetually to expel impure astral forces from the Cosmos or to introduce new impulses.”

María León

Last Quarter Moon occurred this morning at 7:39 a.m. CDT.

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The Branches & Group Pre-conference at the AGM in Atlanta 2019

Dear friends – I have been on quite a journey since my Summer trip to London & Cornwall, encountering powerful mirrors & milestones. I have been dealing with some debilitating health issues which make it difficult to be at the computer. But I have been traveling quite a bit offering programs, workshops & festivals. Recently my beloved husband & attended the AGM of the ASA in Atlanta which reached a Christ-in-the Etheric level of vibration, thatI have never before experienced in this communal way. I’m not sure how to put it into words. Martin Luther King Jr. was truly present in the Spirit of place…

I got home last night from the mountains of Asheville NC. where the community gathered at SOLA to meet themselves as a soul in the spirit worlds; exploring at 1st the many traditions of All Hallows which prepared the way for our journey into the life between death & rebirth.

I made a deep connection to the spirit of the mountain which continues to resonate!

Thanks to all who have reached out to say they have missed the RR blog.

I hope to get back into the rhythm soon

Blessings to all

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As the sun relates to the constellations during the course of the year, there are contemplations -even meditative practices- that correspond to these relationships. Bringing these contemplations into daily practice is a moral activity that brings a conscious change that everyone may experience. Here is such a practice from the Calendar of Virtues: For Scorpio – (October 21 – November 20.)

Patience becomes Insight [Opposite: Loss of Temper]

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Image result for Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, & Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch

1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, & Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch

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1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French & Spanish fleet under Admiral Villeneuve

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1833 – Birthday of Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist & engineer, invented dynamite & founded the Nobel Prize

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1867 – The Medicine Lodge Treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in western Oklahoma

Image result for Thomas Edison invents the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb

1879 – Thomas Edison invents the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb

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1892 – Opening ceremonies for the World’s Columbian Exposition are held in Chicago, though because construction was behind schedule, the exposition did not open until May 1, 1893

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1945 – Women’s suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time

Image result for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun & other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA

1959 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun & other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA

Image result for Comet Ikeya–Seki approaches perihelion, passing 279,617 miles from the sun

1965 – Comet Ikeya–Seki approaches perihelion, passing 279,617 miles from the sun

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1969 – Deathday of Jack Kerouac

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Frank Cadogan Cowper

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~this morning it was dark when i awoke…
i noticed the West window held a dying flame
as i watched a swallow darting thru the shadows, catching moths…
Night bristles on her back…
in her mouth melts a berry of god-thought,
desire folded into her wings…
she swoops, she dives in dark dreams, perfect in the dawning…
~hag

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Image result for Shemini Atzeret,

Immediately following the seven-day festival of Sukkot comes the festival of Shemini Atzeret,  The holiday at the end of Sukkot, during which are recited prayers for rain, & Simchat Torah (October 23-25, 2016) when we conclude — & begin anew — the annual Torah reading cycle. The holiday is marked with unbridled rejoicing, especially during the “hakafot” procession, as we march, sing & dance with the Torah scrolls.

On Simchat Torah,” goes the chassidic adage, “we rejoice in the Torah, & the Torah rejoices in us; the Torah, too, wants to dance, so we become the Torah’s dancing feet.”

As the month of Tishrei comes to a close, we have experienced & celebrated the most powerful moments of the Jewish year. As the Torah reading cycle comes to an end, & we start reading the Torah all over again, what new lessons, insights, & inspiration will we derive this time around?

Shemini Atzeret Rain Feast, this ritual reflects a theology wherein people help to carry out the work of God. The story of Ḥoni Ha-M’ageil:

Long ago, in the Land of Israel, there was a terrible drought. Usually the rain fell in abundance between Shemini Atzeret and Passover, but this year there hadn’t been a drop, and Passover was only a couple of weeks away! The people were almost ready to give up hope. Without rain, there would be no crops and no way to survive. In desperation, they turned to a man named Ḥoni Ha-M’ageil, Ḥoni the Circle Drawer, and asked him to pray for rain. Ḥoni had an especially close relationship with God and a strong desire to help others. He instructed the people to bring their ovens, which they kept outside in those days, into their homes, so that the ovens would not be destroyed by rain. And then he prayed for rain. The people were hopeful. But no rain fell.

Some people would have given up then, after praying to no avail, but not Ḥoni. He was a persistent man. Ḥoni then drew a circle in the sand and stood right in the middle of it and said, “Ribbono shel Olam! Master of the Universe, Your children have turned to me, because I am almost like a member of Your family. I swear by Your Great Name—I will not move from this circle until You take pity on Your children!”

Suddenly it began to drizzle. Some people would have stopped then, with their promise to bring rain fulfilled, but not Ḥoni. Ḥoni could hear his disciples saying, “We look to you to save us from death. This drizzle will not be enough.”

So Ḥoni said to God, “This is not what I wanted. I wanted enough rain to fill up every cistern, ditch, and cavern.”

Then it began to rain violently. Some say that each individual raindrop was the size of a softball, if not larger. Most people would have stopped then, and gone inside to seek shelter from the storm, but not Ḥoni. Ḥoni could hear his disciples saying, “We look to you to save us from death. This storm is powerful enough to destroy the whole world!”

So Ḥoni said to God, “This is not what I meant either. I am asking You for the rain of blessing and graciousness.”

Now it rained the right way, but there was still so much water that the Israelites had to head for high ground. They all gathered at the Temple Mount, the highest point then in Jerusalem.

Then Ḥoni’s disciples came up to him and said, “Just as you prayed for it to rain, now pray for it to go away!”

Ḥoni prayed once again, “Ribbono shel Olam! Master of the Universe, Your children are a delicate people. They cannot endure too much or too little of anything. May it be Your will that the rain cease and there be relief for the world.”

The wind began to blow, the clouds dispersed, and the sun shone bright once again. The people went out into the fields and were able to gather fresh mushrooms and vegetation for a great and wonderful feast.

In the absence of Ḥoni Ha-M’ageil, we must come with a plan that cannot fail. We ask that You bless the earth with rain, But realize that action works as a chain, So we will pour the first few drops, & pray ‘til Pesach it never stops.

(Pass pitchers of water around for participants to pour (very lightly) in all directions outside of the circle. Once everyone has poured water, recite together:

So too, may Adonai shower us all with blessing and provide for the needs which are most pressing. We pray for all to enjoy a harvest of bounty, Here in the United States and in every county. May no one go hungry even once this year, Whether friend or stranger, far or near. Let our deeds reinforce our heartfelt prayers.Let us take action before taking our chairs.

Participants exit the circle & retrieve the food they brought to donate. Then participants pack the food into boxes, which will be taken to a local food pantry.

When all of the donations have been packed, recite together: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ הַמֵּכִין מָזוֹן לְכָל בְּרִיּוֹתָיו. Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai, ha-mei-chin ma-zon l’-chol b’-ri-yo-tav. Blessed are You, Adonai, who provides enough food for all of Your creations.

After this part of the ritual, everyone can enjoy a festive meal in the sukkah.

The joyous climax of Simchat Torah is the dancing of hakafot (lit. “circles”), during which we dance & sing with the Torah scrolls.

chochmah velo k’silut, tevunah velo kalut rosh. Lamdeinu Torat chesed she’taachilenu bayamim haba’im uvechol sha’ah. Amen.

Source of Life, every year you plant within us a new tree of life. May it be your will that this year our interpretations will blossom forth kindness and not cruelty, wisdom and not foolishness, awareness and not thoughtlessness. May you teach us a Torah of love that will nourish us in the coming days at every hour. Amen.

Or try this: During the hakafot let your dance be a reflection of the new wisdom you want to receive in the coming year.

Simchat Torah is also a symbolic move from death to life – the death of Moses & of the old year, the birth of the New Year & the newly created plants, animals, & humans. It is the rebirth of the Torah. That makes Simchat Torah a good time to celebrate all renewals & transformations.

If you have experienced a major change during the year, such as the loss of a loved one or a relationship, a wedding, conversion, coming out, or birth of a child, you can recite the following prayer as the Torah scroll used for Deuteronomy is exchanged for the Torah scroll used for Genesis (or as the Torah scroll is rolled from one place to another).

K’shem shehaTorah niglelet mimakom lemakom besimcha uveshalom, ken eglol mimakom lemakom berachamim uve’ratzon.

Just as the Torah is rolled from place to place amid joy and peace, so too may I roll from place to place like refreshing rain, surrounded by compassion and good will.

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Until Soon

Blessings & Peace

 ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Halloween at the Theosophical Society in America
1926 North Main Street
Wheaton, IL 60187

Thursday 31 October 2019 – 7 pm9 pm

Beloved – You are an eternal being. This moment is part of a grand journey. Awaken to your destiny by exploring the worlds beyond the veil, connecting to your karmic group, calling in your future self…Make this Halloween a night to remember. Come be part of a conscious community. Contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com if you want to carpool.

~ALL HALLOWS EVE~ The DESCENT OF THE GODDESS
at the Theosophical Society in Wheaton, IL.
https://www.theosophical.org/programs/lectures

ON hALLOWEEN tHURSDAY 31 oCTOBER 2019

A tour of the Origins of this Feast for the Dead thru many cultural expressions & A RITUAL PERFORMANCE OF ‘The Descent of Inanna’
+ a Circle of Remembrance
(Share the names of those who have died this year)

Register

Contact Hazel to carpool from the city

$10 nonmembers, $5 members Live Webcast

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also: Friday 1 November at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 7 pm – 9 pm

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also: 10 am – 2 pm, 16 November 2019 in Nashville Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share – Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – 

For more info. contact Cathy Green cgreen@grasslandaquatics.com – Or Barbara Bittles blbittles@comcast.net

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also: 1 pm – 5 pm, Sunday 17 November 2019 Knoxville/Maryville

For more info. contact Bill Rogers wmerogers@gmail.com

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. Founder of www.reverseritual.com – Lecturer, Essayist, Poet, Performer, & “Anthroposopher.” Hazel is the Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.

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Preserve The Light

Micheal Blinkel

From The Anthroposophical Society in America – The Anthroposopher – Hazel Archer Ginsberg – Preserve The Light

Gemüt – Heart-Thinking = ‘The mind warmed by a loving heart & stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power’

Jermey Worl

From ‘The Symphony Of the Creative Word’ ~Rudolf Steiner

Gnomes:
You dream your Self,
And shun awakening.

I maintain the life-force in the root,
It creates for me the body of form.

Undines:
You think the deeds of Angels
And know it not.

I bestir the water’s power of growth,
It forms for me substance of life.

Sylphs:
Creative might shines to you,
You divine it not;
You feel its strength
And live it not.

I quaff the airy force of life,
It fills me with the power of being.

Fire-beings:
Divine Will offers you strength,
You accept it not.
With its strength you can will,
Yet thrust it from you.

I consume the striving power of fire,
Into soul-spirit it releases me.

Chorus of gnomes: O human being – Strive to awaken!

Undines: O human being – Think in the Spirit!

Sylphs: O human being – Live creatively breathing existence!

Fire-beings: O human being – Receive in love the Will-Power of the Gods!

Philly bleen

Michael & The Virgin

Andrea Kowch

Greetings dear friends on this Autumnal Equinox.

The arrival of autumn always signifies a test.

At the ‘Turning point of Time’ around the time of the Fall Equinox, the Sun stood in the constellation of Libra; the sign of the scales, & human beings were indeed weighed on that stern measure. And even today we can ask ourselves: Can we find our balance? Will our inner strength hold up, when the support of nature is withdrawn?

Liane Collot d’Herbois.

But we also have a new question that comes with what is referred to as ‘The Precession of the Equinoxes’ which spans a period of 25,920 years – a cycle termed a ‘Platonic Year’ – over which time the constellations appear to slowly rotate around the earth. Each sign of the zodiac stands behind the rising sun on the vernal equinox for about 2,000 years. At the Time of Christ the Sun rose in Aries on the 1st day of Spring. And in our time now at the Vernal Equinox it is the constellation of Pisces, with Virgo behind the sun starting at the time of the Autumnal Equinox & all thru the Michaelmas season.

Merry Chantel

My point is that now standing with Michael, we need to look for the Divine Feminine, to reveal not only the secret of a bountiful harvest, but the archetype of the Virgin, representing true wholeness, who waits to be recognized in the heavens & honored on the earth -Leading us to the unveiling of the New Isis-Sophia which gives us the wisdom to understand the Christ Impulse.

Johfra Bosschart

During the growing season nature supports our human consciousness, it is a gift given to us from the cosmos. But for the harvest we must work, not only to sow the fields on earth but also to fashion our own self-consciousness, if we are to remain inwardly awake during the dark of the year.

So as we’ve seen, & as Spiritual Science tells us – human consciousness is ever evolving, & around 1879, humanity experienced a huge shift in consciousness, & the fixed date of September 29th came to be called: The Feast Day of St. Michael & All the Heavenly Hosts. The old legends always preface the famous story of the battle against the dragon, with an enumeration of the 9 Angelic Realms, & there in the center is Michael, standing before us as the King & herald of all the hierarchies.

And so as we strive to create this festival of the future, now; we are invited to contemplate the Angelic Choirs – that we may look to our future selves – that we may think, here & now, that step by step, we can courageously build our own strong & steady rung on the ladder of evolution, teaching us to count the human being as the 10th hierarchy.  It is to this that the mighty Sun-being Michael directs our gaze, so that we can become once again beings of the cosmos.

Great Platonic Year = 25,920 years

The human being takes 18 breaths a minute 

One hour 18 x 60 = 1080

24 hours: 1080 x 24 = 25,920

72 (the life span of the human being) x 360 = 25,920

Let us stand in unity with our Time-Spirit Michael, along with the wisdom & wholeness of the Virgin, as we put heart-thinking into practice in our every thought word & deed.

~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

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Frank Agrama

Dear Friends,

Below is an Overview as well as the Full Schedule of Activities for our Michaelmas Festival Weekend. Calling to those who would take up the spirit of Rudolf Steiner’s last address:

…You, disciples of Spirit-Knowledge,
Take Michael’s Wisdom beckoning,
Take the Word of Love of the Will of Worlds
Into your soul’s aspiring, actively!”

Our work begins at the Branch with World Eurythmy Day Tuesday 24 September 2019 With Therapeutic Eurythmist & President of Athena, Mary Ruud 7PM-9PM $10 Donation

Weekend Overview:

“The ‘I’ Awakens” a Michaelmas Festival for ALL…Saturday, 28 Sep. 9 AM – 6 PM at Urban First Aid Chicago – Art As Medicine & the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago.

Bonfire 7:30 pm – 9 pm at the Archer-Ginsberg home

$25 – $100 Donation (or pay what you can) to support the Elderberries Initiative Potluck Snacks, Lunch & Dinner, Encouraged!

6 AM – Sunday 29 Sept. Sunrise Gathering at Montrose Beach Bird Sanctuary “The Magic Hedge”

8 am – Field trip to Angelic Organics Biodynamic farm 1547 Rockton Road, Caledonia, IL 61011 (Contact Hazel if you want to carpool)

Bring food & drink to share & a donation to support the farm

29 Sept. Working with Michael in Heaven and on Earth – An Upper Midwest Michaelmas Festival 10 AM – 6 PM

$25 – $100 Donation (or pay what you can) to support Angelic Organics

PLEASE RSVP robert.karp@newspiritventures.com for catered dinner Questions, call Robert at 414.477.1170

Michaelmas Weekend Schedule in Full:

Saturday, 28 Sep. 9 AM – 6 PM

The ‘I’ Awakens” a Michaelmas Festival for ALL…(come & go as you will)

  • 9 AM Singing with Nancy Melvin
  • Eurythmy with Sea-Anna Vasilas, Eurythmist from Spring Valley, NY
  • Check-in
  • Speech Work on the Foundation Stone Meditation
  • Biography Work with Sea-Anna Vasilas

12 PM – 1:30 PM Potluck Lunch

  • Singing with Nancy Melvin
  • Eurythmy with Sea-Anna Vasilas
  • At 2pm We will gather in the Upper Room of the Branch for:

‘The Evolution of the Michael Principle Throughout The Ages’ – Original art collages & Leading Thoughts with Hazel Archer Ginsberg. Synopsis of Indra with Felicia White, Mithras with Elisabeth Swisher, Marduk & ‘The Babylonian Creation Myth’ with Jonathan Hadley, & ‘The Epoch of Gilgamesh’ with Mary Spalding

  • Speech Work on the Foundation Stone Meditation

3:30 PM – 4 PM Break

  • Singing Nancy Melvin
  • Eurythmy & Biography Work with Sea-Anna Vasilas
  • Soul Art with Frank Agrama Verse 26 for Michaelmas:
  • ‘Starry World Movement’ (based on the Michaelmas Verse ) with Dottie Zold, Felicia White & Nancy Melvin
  • Speech Work on the Foundation Stone Meditation

6 PM – Potluck Dinner

7:30 PM – Bonfire

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Sunday 29 Sept. 6 AM – Sunrise at the ‘Magic Hedge’ Bird Sanctuary

  • Speech Work on the Foundation Stone Meditation
  • Thoughts from the Night Check-in
  • Eurythmy & Biography Work with Sea-Anna Vasilas
  • Potluck Breakfast
  • 8 AM –Carpool to Angelic Organics Farm 1547 Rockton Road, Caledonia, IL 61011 (Contact Hazel if you want to carpool, meet us at Montrose Harbor no later than 8AM)

Working with Michael in Heaven and on Earth – An Upper Midwest Michaelmas Festival Sunday, September 29th from 10 AM to 6 PM (with potluck lunch & catered dinner) at Angelic Organics Farm

Schedule:

9:30 am – Arrive and settle in, coffee and rolls served

10 am – Songtrail – This walking tour of Angelic Organics Farm will integrate: • Stories from John Peterson’s life on the farm and his efforts to imbue the farm and its buildings with spiritual, social and artistic impulses inspired by his love of the first Goetheanum • Singing and poetry led by Joen Delande • Movement and biography exercises led by Robert Karbelnikoff

PLEASE BRING A POEM OR SONG TO SHARE DURING THE SONGTRAIL

1 pm POTLUCK LUNCH, please bring a dish to share

2:00 pm – Chorus of the Elementals (from Rudolf Steiner’s Symphony of the Creative Word) with Hazel Archer Ginsberg

2:30 pm – Working with Michael in Heaven and on Earth How are the adversaries working in the realm of food and agriculture? Who is Michael and how do we strengthen his presence in our lives, our food, our farms, our families? Leading thoughts from Walter Goldstein, Bente Goldstein, John Peterson, and Robert Karbelnikoff, interspersed with poetry and music from Joen Delande and followed by conversation and work in small groups

5:00 -Closing Reflections

5:30 – Catered supper prepared with food from the farm,

Suggested Donation $20 per person PLEASE RSVP robert.karp@newspiritventures.com Questions, call Robert at 414.477.1170

Directions • Exit I-90 East on Rockton Road • Drive 4 1/4 mi until road turns to gravel. • Once Rockton Road turns to gravel, drive another 1/4 mi east. • You will come upon a small, old cemetery on your right, and a converted limestone schoolhouse on your left (Haidy and John’s home.) • Just past the cemetery, turn right into the 1/4 mi long driveway to the Angelic Organics farmstead. • Turn right off the driveway onto the service drive just north of the farmstead. • Park along the fenceline. • Enter the big barn through the milkhouse. Come to the kitchen.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception

8 November 2018 – “Speaking with the Stars”: A thin crescent Moon hangs very low over Jupiter during bright twilight. Fainter Mercury is off to their left.

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Alison Lee

 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1308 – Deathday of John Duns Scotus, Scottish priest, Scholastic philosopher, & academic, considered to be one of the three most important philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages (together with Thomas Aquinas & William of Ockham),

1674 – Deathday of John Milton, English poet & philosopher. He wrote at a time of religious flux & political upheaval, & is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.

Image result for 1892 – The New Orleans general strike begins

1892 – The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black & white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time.

Image result for Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.

1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.

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1901 – Gospel riots: Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.

Image result for 1917 – The first Council of People's Commissars

1917 – The first Council of People’s Commissars is formed, including Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky & Joseph Stalin.

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1923 – Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.

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1933 –New Deal: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed.

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Now I seize
Darkness by its arms & shake it…
The souls of ancient swallowed women fall out
From the belly of obscurity…
The old She, the few, the many, the forgotten
Walk back into being
With me...
~hag

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James Christensen

Empathy is the most radical of human emotions,” says activist Gloria Steinem.

What does she mean by “radical”? I think the word implies audacity, fierceness, & extreme courage. It connotes a revolt against the status quo, a transcendence of what’s normal & habitual. And that’s exactly the spirit we can bring to our expression of empathy in the near future  – an extravagant ability to feel what others are feeling.

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“As soon as you concern yourself with the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ of your fellows,” said Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the martial art of aikido, “you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter.  Testing, competing with, & criticizing others weakens & defeats you.”

Can we proceed according to the theory that we can feed our strength & power & freedom by accepting other people just the way they are?

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Assume that one of the surest ways to be happy & successful is to judge no one –  including ourselves. Yet: “The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.” Will we, in freedom, take up the Anthroposophical task to “Know Thy Self”!

Be rigorous as you uncover any lies you’ve been telling yourself; knowing that Cosmic fortune will bless you if you are like an elemental force that unapologetically obeys the laws of your own highest nature.

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And to end these thoughts for today: “The future is already here,” says science fiction writer William Gibson. “It’s just not very evenly distributed.”

Image result for future love painting

Our job, my friends, is to locate hotbeds of Good Will where the future is concentrated, & put ourselves in the midst of them. It’s time for us to escape from the false, sludgy places where the past is masquerading as the present.

Are you ready to thrive on the purposeful activation of the new?

~hag

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The Changing Nature of Childhood Health & Illness
Lecture: Dr. Thomas Cowan, M.D.

Nov 15, 2018 — Morning Lecture
10:30am—12noon; Location: 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60618 (Elderberry Cafe, next to Rudolf Steiner Branch); childcare available for additional $5 cash donation at day of event as needed. Click link below for tickets and more info.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-changing-nature-of-childho…

Nov 15, 2018 — Evening Lecture

7:00 pm—8:30pm; Location: 2135 W. Wilson Ave. Chicago, IL 60625 (The Christian Community Church) Click link below for tickets and more info.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-changing-nature-of-childho…

Tickets are $12. No tickets sold at the door. A rare opportunity to hear Dr. Cowan in Chicago. This event will sell out.�

Please join us in welcoming world-renowned doctor and author Dr. Thomas Cowan, M.D. from San Francisco, CA as he describes his research and experience with today’s children and their health, based on his newest book, Vaccines, Autoimmunity and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness.We are providing two opportunities to hear Dr. Cowan speak. We will provide childcare for the morning session in an adjoining space to the lecture, to help parents of young children attend. Childcare will not be available for the evening lecture.

Dr Thomas Cowan M.D. is board-certified in anthroposophic medicine. He is a founding board member of the Weston A Price Foundation and is author ofThe Fourfold Path to Healing,a companion book to Nourishing Traditionsby Sally Fallon. He writes the “Ask the Doctor” column in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts. He is author of Human Heart, Cosmic Heart(A Doctor’s Quest to Understand, Treat and Prevent Cardiovascular Disease). He has three grown children and currently practices medicine in San Francisco where he resides with his wife Lynda Smith Cowan.

This series is presented and sponsored by:

Waldorf Learning Support
http://arcturus.info

Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program

http://arcturus.info

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Image result for money painting
Friday 16 November COMMUNITY MEETING: 7 pm – 9pm
Money as ‘New Mystery’ facilitated by Chuck Ginsberg
Continuing of discussions on Steiner’s 3-fold Social Organism, we will delve into the economic sphere

 

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Friday 30 November 2018 – 7 – 9 pm 
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE MYSTERY OF THE APOCALYPSE with Margaret Shipman
‘Apocalypse’ today almost always means war, but its primary definition is REVELATION. the Book of Revelations seems warlike until we begin to delve into the messages, seals, trumpets and bowls as stages of initiation! We will explore the complexities of this amazing book of the Bible by taking a journey through the 7-pointed star and the Apocalyptic Seals of the 1907 Munich Conference.
AND:

Saturday 1 December 2018 – 10 am – noon 
THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE
How can we begin to understand the importance of The Christmas Conference of 1923/24? Can it be understood as so profound to consider it a second turning point of time?
We will take a journey with the foundation stone, beginning with the laying of the first stone, a physical one, for the first Goetheanum, in 1913. Then — through the phoenix experience of the 1922/23 fire, and its journey back to earth a year later—we find it again, as a foundation stone meditation planted into our hearts. The introduction of The Foundation Stone Meditation was a central focus of the Christmas Conference week. It was one of three great gifts which Rudolf Steiner brought at this time as powerful spiritual tools for human evolution.

Margaret Shipman has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society for 30 years and considers the work of Rudolf Steiner to be the core of her life. In 2002 she started a national study group for anthroposophy – ‘Geographically Engaged Members Studygroup’, or G.E.M.S. She is also a cellist and pianist and spent 36 years repairing and making instruments of the violin family. She co-authored the book titled Violin Restoration with her mentor, Hans Weisshaar, who was in the second-ever Waldorf class and met Rudolf Steiner as a child.

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***


Wed. 5 December 2018 CRC Zoom Call 7:15pm – 8:30pm – Reincarnation & Karma 
with special guest: Dr. Ross Rentea: “A presentation from the karma and the work together of Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman”

Steiner considered I. Wegman a true “friend”, companion over many incarnations, and invaluable helper. In her incarnation in the 20th century she collaborated with him in writing a book, asked decisive questions that led to the Christmas Foundation Conference, the First Class, and more. We will look especially at their working together on the “Fundamentals of Therapy” a work on which R. Steiner put finishing touches until hours before crossing the threshold.

Ross Rentea, MD, has been practicing anthroposophical medicine in Chicago for 35 years. He is a member of the Anthroposophical Society(1972), the First Class of the School for Spiritual Science(1974), the Physicians Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (1984) and the Christian Community (1976). He has served on the Board of the American College of Anthroposophic Medicine. He has lectured nationally and internationally, and published and written numerous scientific research articles and recently (2017) the book “Childhood Illnesses and Immunizations”. Besides anthroposophical medicine his current interests are in better understanding the seven Rhythms of the Foundation Stone. He is a co-founder of the True Botanica Company www.truebotanica.com and the Lili Kolisko Institute for Anthroposophical Medicine www.koliskoinstitute.org .

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***


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

The newly renovated (& lazured) Elderberries 3-Fold Space is currently available for rental on PEER SPACE for classes, events, meetings, retreats, art exhibits, family parties, etc…

 

“America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law”

Dear friends –

It’s not for nothing that American Elections are always held right around the time of the Cross- Quarter, between Autumn Equinox & the Winter Solstice, when the Sun enters the sign of the Scorpion – The darkening of year when we celebrate Halloween & All Souls & The Day of the dead…etc…

Image result for rudolf steiner dark brotherhoods

Rudolf Steiner gave many indications about the work of the ‘dark brotherhoods’ who enslave the dead, harnessing the forces of these deceased human beings, who were so materialistic in life that they are able to be held back from entering the light, kept in the sphere around the earth so that these immoral occult groups, who are in turn working with powerful adversarial beings, can pervert & use them for their own selfish purposes, with the goal of hindering the course of true human evolution.

Alex Grey

Let those on the side of light call to our beloved dead to send a counter force of love & support from the spiritual world to inspire & activate the good for all.

 Image result for uncle SAM

Let us rise in our thinking to meet the true Folk-Spirit of America, Columbia, whose name comes from the word “columba” meaning “Dove of Peace” – to dethrone the false Uncle Sam with his war mentality.

 

Today, & every election day, I ask Her to guide us & empower us, inspiring us to re-member our true human heritage in this time of muddled ethics & selfish falsehoods.

How I wish Her statue was still behind the Speaker’s chair in the House of Representatives. We need the virtues She represents, now more than ever, to remind us to strive towards our highest ideals.

Image result for libertas roman goddess of liberty

Personifying values in the form of goddess has a long history; Libertas, goddess of liberty, among others. Our own Statue of Liberty, actually entitled Liberty Enlightening the World, is directly modeled on classical depictions of Libertas.

“…Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
‘ With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
~These words, written by Emma Lazarus, are engraved inside the statue of Columbia Liberty.

Image result for britanniaImage result for HelvetiaRelated image

The UK was represented as Brittannia, France as Marianne, & Switzerland as Helvetia.

The Statue of Freedom atop the dome of the Capitol combines symbols of Liberty & Columbia: she wears a classical gown & a helmet topped with the distinctively American eagle. Unifying the two, atop the legislative heart of American government, is a statement that these ideals are the pinnacle of what it means to be American.

Whether you think of her as an archetype, a Folk-Spirit, or an old goddess with a new name, Columbia is the personified ideals of liberty & freedom in America. She represents virtues that the best of humanity can unselfishly strive toward.

But have we as a people lost sight of these values? Has she left us? Have we deserted her?

America as goddess, with its personalization of the emerging nation of the United States was founded before the Revolutionary War. She was represented in simple Native American garb, standing in contrast to the Old World’s overly grand caricature.

Image result for Thomas Paine, included Her in his poem, the "Liberty Tree,"

Another patriot leader, Thomas Paine, included Her in his poem, the “Liberty Tree,” referring to Her as “The Goddess of Liberty.

“In a chariot of light, form the regions of the day,
The Goddess of Liberty came,
Ten thousand celestials directed her way,
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the gardens above,
Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
And the plant she named Liberty Tree.

The celestial exotic stuck deep in the ground,
Like a native it flourished and bore;
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around,
To seek out this peaceable shore.
Unmindful of names or distinctions they came,
For freemen like brothers agree;
With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued,
And their temple was Liberty Tree.

Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old,
Their bread in contentment they ate,
Unvexed with the troubles of silver or gold,
The cares of the grand and the great.

But hear, O ye swains (a tale most profane),
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain
To cut down this guardian of ours.
From the East to the West blow the trumpet to arms,
Through the land let the sound of it flee;
Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer,
In defense of our Liberty Tree.”

Image result for lady liberty stamps

 As the USA became a nation, Lady Liberty became the official symbol of some of its newly formed states. In addition, Lady Liberty images appeared on coins, paintings, stamps, & in sculptures throughout the land, including the colossal bronze Statue of Freedom, which was commissioned in 1855 & in 1863 set on the top of the dome of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, where it can still be seen today. As well as the Statue of the Republic, now in Jackson Park, Chicago, formally part of the Columbian Exhibition of 1893.

 

The most famous depictions of the American Freedom Goddess, the Statue of Liberty, was a gift from France to the United States in honor of America’s 100th birthday, designed by French Freemason & sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi with the assistance of engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. The head of Lady Liberty’s statue wears a crown with solar rays, similar to the crown on the Colossus of Rhodes, a magnificent monument to the Sun God Helios that once stood astride a Greek harbor & was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The seven rays on Liberty’s crown represent the seven continents & seven seas. The torch Liberty holds in Her right upstretched hand is the Flame of Freedom, & underneath Her feet are broken chains representing overcoming tyranny & enslavement. The tablet Liberty holds in Her left hand is inscribed with July 4, the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence & the birth of the USA as a nation. Her flowing gown is similar in design to depictions of Libertas.

Image result for statue of liberty

Liberty relies upon itself, invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive and composed, and knows no discouragement.” ~From Walt Whitman’s Preface to Leaves of Grass (1855)

Doesn’t this description sound a lot like qualities held by our Time-Spirit Michael?

Louis Janmot

What would it be like to rise in our thinking to meet Columbia? To bring Her qualities to bare once again in our great land?

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat, Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law”!

~”America the Beautiful” lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates, music composed by church organist & choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark

Image result for midterm elections 2018

As the midterm elections occurs today,  we are called upon to direct the clear shining of Michael’s thoughts, Columbia’s inspiration for Equality, Freedom,  & Sister/Brotherhood, & the transforming Christ Will, into the unconscious realm of the dragon where Venus now meets the poison sting of Scorpion.

The last segment of the Michael imagination can be a meditative force as you make your way to GO VOTE:

Ye, the disciples of spirit knowledge,
Take Michael’s wisdom beckoning,
Take the Word of Love of the Will of Worlds
Into your soul’s aspiring, actively!
~Rudolf Steiner

***

The Karma Project – A Western Approach to Reincarnation & Karma – November 7, 2018 – 7:15 pm CST (8:15 pm EST)

“ … something is present in us that is like a more sensible person who gladly turns to the eternal, divine, spiritual powers that live in and animate the world. Then, in our inner life, we become certain of a higher inner individuality existing behind the outer one. Through thought exercises such as these, we become aware of the eternal spiritual core of our being. This is extraordinarily significant. And once again, this is something we can actually do”. ~Rudolf Steiner, A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma, Chapter 4, “Knowledge of Reincarnation and Karma through Thought-Exercises”, Stuttgart, 20 February, 1912 … focus of the November 7 meeting!

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided amongst five volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.

This collection of lectures has been republished by Anthroposophic Press under the title: “A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma”

This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Option 1. Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended)
https://zoom.us/j/320455319

Option 2. Call in using your telephone.

United States: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656
Access Code: 320-455-319
Option 3. You can use a combination of Options 1 and 2 (computer and phone). If you use the phone, please turn off the audio on your computer to prevent audio feedback.

Please join us!
Agenda for our Study Call

7:15 Welcome and Introductions
7:18 Verse
7:25 Study led by six volunteers
Mary – pages 53 to 56
Nick – pages 56 to 60
Hazel – pages 60 to 63
Travis – pages 63 to 65
Alberto – pages 65 to end
8:05 Conversation
8:25 Identify volunteers for our next study call (Chapter 5): January 9
8:28 Close with verse

***

Friday 30 November 2018 – 7 – 9 pm
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE MYSTERY OF THE APOCALYPSE with Margaret Shipman
‘Apocalypse’ today almost always means war, but its primary definition is REVELATION. the Book of Revelations seems warlike until we begin to delve into the messages, seals, trumpets and bowls as stages of initiation! We will explore the complexities of this amazing book of the Bible by taking a journey through the 7-pointed star and the Apocalyptic Seals of the 1907 Munich Conference.
AND:

Saturday 1 December 2018 – 10 am – noon
THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE
How can we begin to understand the importance of The Christmas Conference of 1923/24? Can it be understood as so profound to consider it a second turning point of time?
We will take a journey with the foundation stone, beginning with the laying of the first stone, a physical one, for the first Goetheanum, in 1913. Then — through the phoenix experience of the 1922/23 fire, and its journey back to earth a year later—we find it again, as a foundation stone meditation planted into our hearts. The introduction of The Foundation Stone Meditation was a central focus of the Christmas Conference week. It was one of three great gifts which Rudolf Steiner brought at this time as powerful spiritual tools for human evolution.

Margaret Shipman has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society for 30 years and considers the work of Rudolf Steiner to be the core of her life. In 2002 she started a national study group for anthroposophy – ‘Geographically Engaged Members Studygroup’, or G.E.M.S. She is also a cellist and pianist and spent 36 years repairing and making instruments of the violin family. She co-authored the book titled Violin Restoration with her mentor, Hans Weisshaar, who was in the second-ever Waldorf class and met Rudolf Steiner as a child.

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***


Wed. 5 December 2018 CRC Zoom Call 7:15pm – 8:30pm – Reincarnation & Karma
with special guest: Dr. Ross Rentea: “A presentation from the karma and the work together of Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman”

Steiner considered I. Wegman a true “friend”, companion over many incarnations, and invaluable helper. In her incarnation in the 20th century she collaborated with him in writing a book, asked decisive questions that led to the Christmas Foundation Conference, the First Class, and more. We will look especially at their working together on the “Fundamentals of Therapy” a work on which R. Steiner put finishing touches until hours before crossing the threshold.

Ross Rentea, MD, has been practicing anthroposophical medicine in Chicago for 35 years. He is a member of the Anthroposophical Society(1972), the First Class of the School for Spiritual Science(1974), the Physicians Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (1984) and the Christian Community (1976). He has served on the Board of the American College of Anthroposophic Medicine. He has lectured nationally and internationally, and published and written numerous scientific research articles and recently (2017) the book “Childhood Illnesses and Immunizations”. Besides anthroposophical medicine his current interests are in better understanding the seven Rhythms of the Foundation Stone. He is a co-founder of the True Botanica Company www.truebotanica.com and the Lili Kolisko Institute for Anthroposophical Medicine www.koliskoinstitute.org .

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***


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

The newly renovated (& lazured) Elderberries 3-Fold Space is currently available for rental on PEER SPACE for classes, events, meetings, retreats, art exhibits, family parties, etc…