Category Archives: Calendar of the Soul

Think Being

Guilio Romano

I think my thought.

AND, I am a thought – thought by the Hierarchies of the cosmos.

My eternal being interweaves. I can think how the thought of the Hierarchies is eternal. And when I have been thought out by one sphere of the Hierarchies, then I am passed on—just like the thought of the teacher is passed on to the pupil—from one Being to another, in order that each choir of angels may ponder me in my eternal, true nature.

And so it is; that I feel myself within the thought-world of the Cosmos.

May I make of myself a fit food for the gods – That I may add to the body of Anthroposophia, working consciously with Michael & The Christ in me…

~hag

3 July 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Waxing Bella Luna forms an isosceles triangle with Regulus and Algieba. ~skyandtelescope.com

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
SAINT JOHNSTIDE II
The Spirit Bond
v13

And when I am in senses’ heights
the gods’ true Word from spirit fire-worlds
is flaming in my depths of soul:
Foreseeing, seek your vision, find your star,
divine in spirit ground
the spirit bond with who you are.

A key word in the German is ‘ahnend’, often translated as ‘divining’ or ‘dawning vision’, here as ‘foreseeing’. It’s the only word whose sound I also bring into English. The ‘ah’ sound opens in us a feeling for the future. Last week’s verse asks us to seek our true self in cosmic warmth and light… for our higher self, our ‘star’, to shine in us.
Karl König describes the Soul Calendar as having 4 voices. This is the last verse of the first quarter, the voice of the Tenor, uniting with the spirit through the senses. Next week will be the first verse of the Baritone, incarnating spirit with imaginative insight.

The mirror verse.
EPIPHANY
Love’s Offering
v40

And when I am in spirit depths
then in my ground of soul
the heart-formed love world fills
my self-bound vain delusion
with power of the World Word’s fire.

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

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

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

Cornelius the Centurion | For All the Saints
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

 Deathday of Cornelius – a Roman centurion who is considered to be the first Gentile to convert to the faith. Cornelius receives a vision in which an angel who instructs Cornelius to send the men of his household to Joppa, where they will find Simon Peter. The conversion of Cornelius comes after a separate vision given to Simon Peter (Acts 10:10–16) himself. In the vision, Simon Peter sees all manner of beasts & birds being lowered from Heaven. A voice commands Simon Peter to eat. When he objects to eating unclean animals, the voice tells him not to call unclean that which God has cleansed. When Cornelius’ men arrive, Simon Peter understands that through this vision the Lord commanded the Apostle to preach the Word of God to the Gentiles.

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

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

1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy

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

1883 – Birthday of Franz Kafka, Czech-Austrian author who describes threshold experiences. His characters often display a fear of the spirirt. Kafka met Rudolf Steiner in March 1911, in Prague

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

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

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

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

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC
           The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation
July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

“We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17

Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 16 “The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I)
AND
Chapter 17 “Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link. 

Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work.  Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two 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 Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

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:

Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106

If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com 

Agenda for this meeting (Central Time)
7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Stefano – chapter 16
          Camille – chapter 17
7:50  Conversation
8:25  ID volunteers for next meeting
8:28  Close with verse
Regelio de Egusquiza

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

Workshop & Annual Meeting with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Saturday 16 July 2022
In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in
Ann Arbor & on Zoom

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET

NO COST for attendees 

The Parzival Quest, is calling to humanity at this time of the Consciousness Soul. Explore aspects of this Quest through art, and movement, via embodiment processes and sensing gestures in the tangible and intangible sheaths of being human. Inspired by devout anthroposophist, artist Michael Chekhov, and guided by CRC member, Chekhov master teacher Lisa Dalton.

Then stay for supper and for the Central Region’s ‘Annual Meeting’—we haven’t had one since 2019, so it’s about time to fill you in on what’s happening!

Alberto Loya is stepping down from the CRC. He’s been with the Council since 2009—thank you for your many contributions, Alberto! We look forward to sharing memories and tributes during the meeting.

And Mary Mertz who has been working with the CRC for the last year will be offically inducted onto the Council.

2:00 pm ET– Welcome, singing, Chekhov movement, biography work
3:30 – 3:45 pm ET– Break
3:45 – 5:00 pm ET – Our Parzival Quest and Question
5:00 pm ET – Be our guest for dinner
6:30 – 7:30 pm ET – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz, as well as giving reports on 2020 and 2021.
 
The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya,
working with Mary Mertz 

 Please RSVP  to Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com

If you can’t attend the workshop, we hope you can join in the
Annual Meeting.

Let us know whether you’ll be attending in person or via Zoom.
  
To inquire about accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House,
contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org

Zoom meeting info (please note — passcode required)
Jul 16, 2022

The zoom can be accessed from 2 pm. You are welcome to attend all or part of the workshop. The main event will be the Parzival Quest from 3:45 pm – 5 pm Eastern Time & the AGM 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86449905249
Meeting ID: 864 4990 5249
Passcode: 923117

Renewing the Mysteries:The Founding of The Christian Community
& the Burning of the First Goetheanum

Spring Valley, NY – August 8-13, 2022
REGISTER NOW!* lectures * artistic workshops * conversation * evening performances
I will be offering a program on Tuesday 9 August for the Free Initiative 2:30 -3:30 pm ET
Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries?

The keynote speaker is Daniel Hafner, priest of the Christian Community. He will address this theme with a particular focus on the colored windows of the First Goetheanum.

The Act of Consecration of Man will be celebrated during the week and there will also be a Class Lesson for members of the School of Spiritual Science.

Venue: SPRING VALLEY, NY, Threefold Community, and The Christian Community

*REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THIS EVENT: A conference on the scale currently planned requires that a minimum number of participants register by July 20th.

INFO OR QUERIES: Rev. Paul Newton paulknewton@msn.com
(845) 517-4101

Sponsored by The Christian Community Spring Valley Area and the Threefold Branch of the Anthroposophical Society

He Prepared Us

Today 26 June 363 the Deathday (Murder) of Julian the Apostate

JULIAN THE APOSTATE / HERZELEIDE/ TYCHO DE BRAHE    ~ Rudolf Steiner

“In tracing the thread of evolution which enters into the spiritual life of the present time, and we left off with the individuality of Julian the Apostate. I told you that this individuality was next incarnated in one who is only known by legendary accounts, whose secret is contained in the Parsifal legend, in the name of Herzeleide.

In this life as Herzeleide, the soul of Julian the Apostate entered into a far deeper inner life. The soul – life of the individuality was deepened, as was indeed necessary after the many storms and inner moods of opposition which he had undergone in his life as Julian the Apostate.

This later life as Herzeleide – spread itself out over the former life as Julian the Apostate like a warm embalming cloud. Thus the soul grew more intense and deep and inward, and grew richer, too, in manifold impulses of the inner life.

Now this soul was among those who had carried over something of the ancient Mysteries. Julian had lived within the substance of the ancient Mysteries at a time when their light was still radiant in many ways. Thus he had received into himself much spirituality of the cosmos. All this had been as it were pressed back during the incarnation as Herzeleide; but it was none the less pressing forth in the soul, and thus arising in him once more, in a Christianised form, which he had undergone as Julian the Apostate.

For the same individuality reappears in the 16th century as Tycho de Brahe and stands face to face with the Copernican world – conception which emerges within Western civilisation at that time.

The Copernican world – conception pictures the universe in a way, which if followed to its logical conclusions would tend to drive all spirituality out of the cosmos in man’s conception of it. The Copernican world – picture leads at length to a mechanical, machine – like conception of the universe in space. It was after all in view of this Copernican picture of the world that the famous astronomer said to Napoleon: he had searched through all the universe and he could find no God. It is, indeed, an entire elimination of spirituality.

The individuality of whom I am now speaking, who had now returned as Tycho de Brahe, could not submit to this. Thus we see Tycho de Brahe accepting in his world – conception what is useful of Copernicanism, but rejecting the absolute movement of the earth ascribed to it according to the Copernican world – picture. In Tycho de Brahe we see things united with true spirituality.

When we consider the course of his life, it is indeed evident how a karma from ancient time is pressing its way forth with might and main into this life as Tycho de Brahe, seeking to enter the substance if his consciousness. Such is his spirituality. We remember how his Danish relatives sought to hold him fast at all costs in the profession of a lawyer, and we see how, living as a tutor, he steals the hours by night in which to commune with the gods. And here an extraordinary thing appears. All this is contained in his biography.

We shall see presently how deeply significant it is for a true estimate of this individuality of Tycho de Brahe — Julian – Herzeleide. With the most primitive instruments contrived and manufactured by himself, he discovers considerable errors in calculation which had entered into the determination of the orbits of Saturn and Jupiter. We have this remarkable scene in the life of Tycho de Brahe. As a young man with the most primitive instruments with which other people would not dream of trying to accomplish anything, he feels impelled one day to seek the exact places of Saturn and Jupiter in the heavens.

In his case all these things are strongly permeated with spiritual content. And this spiritual content leads him to a conception of the universe such as we must have if we are striving once again to the modern science of Initiation, when at length we come to speak of spiritual beings as we speak of physical men on earth. For in reality we can ever meet them, and there is in fact only a difference in quality of being as between those Individualities who are now on the physical plane and those who are discarnate, living between death and a new birth.

These things kindled in Tycho de Brahe an extraordinarily deep and penetrating vision of spiritual connections. I mean the connections which appear when we no longer regard everything on earth as though it was caused by earthly impulses alone, and on the other hand consider the stars only in mathematical calculations, but when we perceive the interplay of impulses from the stars with the historic impulses within mankind.

In Tycho de Brahe’s soul there lived instinctively what he had brought with him from his life as Julian the Apostate. In that former life it had not been permeated with rationalism or intellectualism. It had been Intuitive, imaginative – for such was the inner life of Julian the Apostate. With all this he succeeded in doing something that made a great sensation.

He could make little impression on his contempories with his astronomic opinions, differing as they did from Copernicus, or with his other astronomical achievements. He observed countless stars and made a map of the heavens which alone made it possible for Kepler afterwards to reach his great results. For it was on the basis of Tycho de Brahe’s mapping of the stars that Kepler discovered his famous laws.

Sultan Soliman

But none of these things could have made so great an impression on his contempories as a discovery relatively unimportant in itself, but very striking. He foretold almost to the day the death of the Sultan Soliman, which afterwards occurred as he had foretold it. Here we see ancient perceptions working into a later time in a spiritual intellectuality. Perceptions which Julian the Apostate had received light up again in modern time in Tycho de Brahe.

Tycho de Brahe is indeed one of the most interesting of human souls. In the 17th century he passed on through the gate of death and entered the spiritual world. Now in the spiritual currents which I have described as those of Michael, this being, Tycho de Brahe — Julian the Apostate – Herzeleide, constantly emerges. In one or another of the supersensible functions he is in fact always there. Hence too we find him in those great events in the supersensible world at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century which are connected with the stream of Michael.

I told you already of the great supersensible School of instruction in the 15th, 16th centuries which stood under the aegis of Michael himself. Then there began for those who had been within this School a life which took its course in such a way that activities and forces unfolded in the spiritual world worked down into the physical, worked in connection with the physical world. For example, in the time that immediately followed the period of the supersensible School of Michael, an important task was allotted to an individuality of whose continued life I have often spoken — I mean the individuality of Alexander the Great.

I have already spoken, here at Dornach too, of Lord Bacon of Verulam as the reincarnated Haroun al Raschid. We know how intense and determining an influence Bacon’s conceptions had on the whole succeeding evolution of the spiritual life, notably in its finer impulses and movements. Now the remarkable thing is this, that in Lord Bacon himself something took place which we may describe as a morbid elimination of old spirituality. For such spirituality he had after all possessed when he was Haroun al Raschid.

And thus we see, proceeding from the impulse of Lord Bacon, a whole world of daemonic beings. The world was literally filled supersensibly and sensibly with daemonic beings. (When I say “sensibly” I mean not of course, visibly, but within the world of sense.)

Now it chiefly fell to the individuality of Alexander to wage war against these daemonic idols of Lord Bacon, Francis Bacon of Verulam. And similar activities, exceedingly important ones, were taking place on earth below. For otherwise the materialism of the 19th century would have broken in upon the world in a far more devastating way even than it did. Similar activities, taking place in the spiritual and in the physical world together, were allotted to the stream of Michael, until at length at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century there took place in supersensible regions what I have already described as the enactment of a great and sublime supersensible ritual and ceremony.

In the supersensible world at that time a cult was instituted and enacted in real imaginations of a spiritual kind. Thus we may say: At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century there hovers in the immediate neighbourhood of the physical world of sense a great supersensible event, consisting in supersensible acts of ritual, an unfolding of mighty pictures of the spiritual life of beings of the universe, the Beings of the Hierarchies in connection with the great ether – workings of the universe and the human workings upon the earth.

I say “in the immediate neighbourhood”, meaning of course, adjoining this physical world in a qualitative, not in a spatial sense. It is interesting to see how at a most favourable moment a little miniature picture of this supersensible cult and action flowed into Goethe’s spirit. Transformed and changed and in miniature we have this picture set down by Goethe in his fairy story of the ‘Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily’…

There was, then, a great supersensible action in which those above all took part who had partaken in the stream of Michael, in all the revelations supersensible and sensibly of which I have told you. Now here again and again the individuality who was last present upon earth in Tycho de Brahe, plays a very great part. And it was his constant striving to preserve the great and lasting impulses of what we call paganism, of the old life of the Mysteries. It was his striving to preserve it in effect towards a better understanding of Christianity.

He had entered Christianity when he lived as the soul of Herzeleide. Now it was his striving to introduce into the Christian conception all that he had received through his Initiation as Julian the Apostate. For it was this especially which seemed so important to the souls of whom I have spoken. The many souls who are now to be found in the Anthroposophical Movement or strive towards this  Movement with sincerity are united with all these spiritual streams.

By its very essence and nature they feel themselves attracted by the School of Michael, and Tyche de Brahe had a great influence in this.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, especially at the end of the 19th century, these souls have descended to the earth, prepared not only to feel the Christ as He is felt in the various Confessions, but to feel Him and behold Him as the Cosmic Christ in His universal majesty and glory. The souls were prepared for this even supersensibly, between death and a new birth. They were prepared by such influences as that of Tycho de Brahe, of the soul who was last incarnated in Tycho de Brahe.”

      ~Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships Volume 4, Dornach, 16th September, 1924

Darren Mulvenna

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
SAINT JOHN’S TIDE
At the Altar of the Senses
v12

The world’s light-glancing beauty
compels me from the depths of soul
to free the god-enwoven powers of my life
in cosmic flight, forsake myself
and trusting, seek my Higher Self
in worldwide cosmic warmth and light.

The mirror verse:
EPIPHANY II
At the Altar of the Heart
v41

The soul’s creative power
from depths of heart aspires
to fire the forces of the gods
to right activity in human life
and form itself in human love
and human deeds.

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC
           The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation
July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

“We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17

Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 16 “The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I)
AND
Chapter 17 “Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link. 

Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work.  Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two 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 Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

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:

Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106

If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com 

Agenda for this meeting (Central Time)
7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Stefano – chapter 16
          Camille – chapter 17
7:50  Conversation
8:25  ID volunteers for next meeting
8:28  Close with verse
Regelio de Egusquiza

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

Workshop & Annual Meeting with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Saturday 16 July 2022
In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in
Ann Arbor & on Zoom

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET

NO COST for attendees 

The Parzival Quest, is calling to humanity at this time of the Consciousness Soul. Explore aspects of this Quest through art, and movement, via embodiment processes and sensing gestures in the tangible and intangible sheaths of being human. Inspired by devout anthroposophist, artist Michael Chekhov, and guided by CRC member, Chekhov master teacher Lisa Dalton.

Then stay for supper and for the Central Region’s ‘Annual Meeting’—we haven’t had one since 2019, so it’s about time to fill you in on what’s happening!

Alberto Loya is stepping down from the CRC. He’s been with the Council since 2009—thank you for your many contributions, Alberto! We look forward to sharing memories and tributes during the meeting.

And Mary Mertz who has been working with the CRC for the last year will be offically inducted onto the Council.

2:00 pm ET– Welcome, singing, Chekhov movement, biography work
3:30 – 3:45 pm ET– Break
3:45 – 5:00 pm ET – Our Parzival Quest and Question
5:00 pm ET – Be our guest for dinner
6:30 – 7:30 pm ET – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz, as well as giving reports on 2020 and 2021.
 
The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya,
working with Mary Mertz 

 Please RSVP  to Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com

If you can’t attend the workshop, we hope you can join in the
Annual Meeting.

Let us know whether you’ll be attending in person or via Zoom.
  
To inquire about accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House,
contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org

Zoom meeting info (please note — passcode required)
Jul 16, 2022

The zoom can be accessed from 2 pm. You are welcome to attend all or part of the workshop. The main event will be the Parzival Quest from 3:45 pm – 5 pm Eastern Time & the AGM 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86449905249
Meeting ID: 864 4990 5249
Passcode: 923117

Renewing the Mysteries:The Founding of The Christian Community
& the Burning of the First Goetheanum

Spring Valley, NY – August 8-13, 2022
REGISTER NOW!* lectures * artistic workshops * conversation * evening performances
I will be offering a program on Tuesday 9 August for the Free Initiative 2:30 -3:30 pm ET
Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries?

The keynote speaker is Daniel Hafner, priest of the Christian Community. He will address this theme with a particular focus on the colored windows of the First Goetheanum.

The Act of Consecration of Man will be celebrated during the week and there will also be a Class Lesson for members of the School of Spiritual Science.

Venue: SPRING VALLEY, NY, Threefold Community, and The Christian Community

*REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THIS EVENT: A conference on the scale currently planned requires that a minimum number of participants register by July 20th.

INFO OR QUERIES: Rev. Paul Newton paulknewton@msn.com
(845) 517-4101

Sponsored by The Christian Community Spring Valley Area and the Threefold Branch of the Anthroposophical Society

Beneficent Protector King

On June 19, 1910, the governor of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first “Father’s Day.” However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the United States.

The “Mother’s Day” we celebrate today has its origins in the peace-and-reconciliation campaigns of the post-Civil War era.

The campaign to celebrate the nation’s fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm. On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines. Slowly, the holiday spread.

However, many men continued to disdain the day. So struggling retailers & advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father’s Day a “second Christmas” for men, promoting goods such as neckties, hats, socks, pipes & tobacco, golf clubs & other sporting goods, & greeting cards. When World War II began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops & support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution.

In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday at last. Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.

May all Father’s be the beneficent protector king, compassionate, helpful & wise.

Timothy Foley

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
SUMMER SOLSTICE
Midsummer Wisdom
v11

It rests this sun’s high hour with you
to recognise the call of wisdom:
‘In you, absorbed in worlds where beauty lies,
through all your feeling realise:
the human I can lose itself
and find itself within the Cosmic I’.

This was the mirror verse, towads the end of January.
EPIPHANY III
Intuiting The Spring
v42

The soul in gloom of winter moved
to bring to light her life’s own force
her impulse is to guide it far
and in the dark forefeel
through warmth of heart
the life the senses will reveal.

19 June 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars

Star chart showing Big Dipper with line to Arcturus continuing to Spica.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ‘ending’ of slavery in the United States.

325 – 1st Council of Nicea concludes & promulgates the Nicene Creed

1566 – Birthday of James VI of Scotland & I of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots. He sponsored the translation of the Bible into English that would later be named after him: the Authorized King James Version. Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed “the wisest fool in Christendom”. He was the ‘inspirer’ of Frances Bacon, William Shakespeare, Joacob Boehme & Jacob Balde.

James’s visit to Denmark, sparked an interest in the study of witchcraft, which he considered a branch of theology. He attended the North Berwick witch trials, the first major persecution of witches in Scotland under the Witchcraft Act 1563. Several people were convicted of using witchcraft to send storms against James’s ship, most notably Agnes Sampson. James became obsessed with the threat posed by witches & wrote Daemonologie in 1597, a tract opposed the practice of witchcraft & that provided background material for Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth.

1623 – Birthday of Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher & child prodigy. 

1844 – Deathday of Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, defender of Goethean science, a French naturalist who established the principle of “unity of composition”. His scientific views had a transcendental flavor.

1862 – The U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford.

1867 – Deathday of Maximillian I. Seeking to legitimize French rule in the Americas, Napoleon III invited Maximilian to establish a new Mexican monarchy for him. Many foreign governments refused to recognize Maximilian’s claim or regime. His self-declared empire collapsed, & he was executed by the Mexican government.

1917 – The solar eclipse of June 19, 1917

1936 – The solar eclipse of June 19, 1936

1953 – Julius & Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York

1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate

2012 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requests asylum in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy for fear of extradition to the US after publication of previously classified documents including footage of civilian killings by the US army

Sea Cooke

Friday 24 June 2021 – St. Johns-Tide Bon-Fire & Prep-Stir Social Gathering
7 pm CT Pot-Luck Dinner at the Home of Hazel Archer & Chuck Ginsberg

Join Rev. Jeana Lee in a St. John’s contemplation by the fire

Please Bring Food & Drink to Share in Community

This is an offical ‘Merry Prepstir‘ synchronized application,
linking us to Biodynamic workers around the world,
so that ‘The Earth May Be Healed’.
We will be working with BD 500 Horn Manure & 501 silica 

RSVP for address & directions

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC
           The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation
July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

“We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17

Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 16 “The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I)
AND
Chapter 17 “Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link. 

Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work.  Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two 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 Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

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:

Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106

If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com 

Agenda for this meeting (Central Time)
7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Stefano – chapter 16
          Camille – chapter 17
7:50  Conversation
8:25  ID volunteers for next meeting
8:28  Close with verse
Regelio de Egusquiza

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

A day long Workshop & AGM with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Saturday 16 July 2022 – In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in Ann Arbor & on Zoom

2 pm – Welcome, Singing, Chekhov movement, Biography work

3:30 – 3:45 pm – Break

3:45 – 5 pm – Our Parzival Quest and Question

5 pm – Be our guest for Dinner

6:30 – 7:30 pm – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to longtime member Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz onto the Council

The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya, working with Mary Metz

Please RSVP to Mary Metz mary.mcginnis@juno.com

To Inquire about Accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House Contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org

Our Whitsun Adventure

We hit the road well before dawn on Whitsunday, & made our way to Viroqua WI in the heart of the “Driftless” Region. This term, I was told, denotes the absence of ‘glacial drift’ – This distinctive terrain, branded by its steep rugged landscape, is part of the Kickapoo River Valley. A local friend mentioned that it has the largest concentration of cold water streams in the world, which comes from having been bypassed by the last continental glacier, giving the rivers time to carve deeply into the ancient bedrock creating the unique landforms characterized by limestone, dolomite, & gypsum caves, springs & crazy cool sinkholes.

This small town of less than 5000 people is an oasis of Spiritual Science.   We drove straight to the Viroqua Co-op to get our bearings. Then off to “The Turning Place” an Anthroposophical library in the Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School, part of the Landmark Center, home of the Youth Initiative High School. The Central Regional Council had one of our annual retreats here when our theme was ‘Speaking with the Stars’, so the space holds fond memories for me.

Coming up the steps we literally ran into Kyle J & his beloved Ashley who drove in from Minneapolis! Those that take the time to read the comments at the bottom of these posts will often see his contributions.  We have been corresponding like this for a good while, but Whitsunday 2022 was the 1st time we actually met in person. Kyle mentioned that the driftless region had come up recently in several conversations; so when he heard I was coming in, he decided to follow the synchronicities & make the trip with Ashley.

What an honor to share a Pentecost experience with all the striving souls who hold sacred space in the region – entrepreneurs, fiber artists, kindergarten teachers, eurythmists, folks working with biodynamics, 3-folding, homeopathy, bio-geometry, Waldorf Education…etc… long time anthroposophers & newbies alike, sitting in community.

We broke bread with KJ & Ashley afterwards & got a chance to really commune. They feel like family.

We settled into our cozy digs at the homestead of long time Waldorf Kindergarten teacher Shannon Landis. I stayed with Shannon back in 2009 when I 1st came to Viroqua to do a 10 day puppetry training with Suzanne Down. Every day I did my meditations in her amazing garden. One afternoon she was doing a prep stir & invited me to join her. It was my very 1st time, & I have been hooked ever since.

Then CG & I started the maiden journey of what became our many nature adventures by hiking in Sidie Hollow, recommended by the local rock shop owner.

Early each morning, after meditation, breakfast & conversation we hit the trails. Kickapoo Valley Reserve was perfect for a misty walk by the river.

After taking in the overlook at Wildcat Mountain State Park, we found Hemlock Trail (my absolute fav.) a fairy land of soft red pine nettles next to caves carved out by the Kickapoo River, winding up the mountain side.

Jacob Hundt founder of Thoreau College invited VelsumVoices of Ancient Futurism, with singers Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer to perform as part of their capstone events, so Lucien, who was a guest teacher at the College, & Ultra-Violet were also in town.

We gathered them up after a rehearsal & drove a short distance thru the rolling hills of pastoral farm land to The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse WI, which Angela Foster told me about years ago.

at the shrine, nestled in a staue of a child & an angel protecting the unborn, was a mama Robin & 2 chicks

The grounds feature a half mile meditation trail that winds up a luscious hill dotted with art & sculptures representing aspects of Our Lady. To experience this with Lucien & Ultra made it even more special. On the way back we stopped in Coon Valley to explore the quaint town. We spotted fields of lovely wild flowers on the sides of the road, which Lucien & Ultra went back to harvest the next day, as thank yous for the friends that hosted them.

CG & I found the Hillboro Hill Trail right down the street from Shannon’s place. The winding topography almost got us lost. We eventually followed the laughter of the kids in a little summer camp, & made it back with tired feet.

Outside of town at the Tractor Supply I found a good pair of hiking boots. While making our way we discovered a marvelous local cheese shop – when in Wisconsin this is a must, but we are picky & only wanted raw. They came thru with amazing raw local sheep, goat & buffalo cheese.

In our wanderings we found a charity thrift shop where we got a full set of vintage dishes for $8. Yep, we hit every thrift in the area looking specifically for Gnome statuary. I love a treasure hunt. No Gnomes to be found, but I managed to come home with a few unique gifts.    

Breakfast at the mountain home of Mary Christenson was a delight. So interesting to learn more about her practice of homeopathy, & the bio-geometry taught by Dr. Ibrahim Karim, which a local group has been studying together thruout this time of world crisis.

Then the night of the Velsum show was upon us. A good crowd arrived in joyful anticipation. Mary Spading & Mark Lazar made the trip from Chicago with our professional camera’s to capture the magic. Lucien & Ultra created a numinous atmosphere thru subtle colored lighting & a stage glittering with votives.

Kaysha Siemen

Velsum = Triumphant Wholeness – Their offering: New Nightingale, New Rose (which received its inception spark at the ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’ ASA Conference – incubated & hatched at Angelic Organics Farm)was tailored to align with what was living in that Whitsun moment. Fresh Eurythmic inspired choreography – their voices ever dynamic & power full – a glorious alchemical weaving – bending space/time into a sublime octave of eternal resonance – Opening the portal to the Spiritual World for All to enter – Removing the veil to the New Mysteries, allowing us to trust that a Christic future is possible – & is indeed ever birthing thru The Word that vibrates a Divine Essence in their Speech & Song – Inviting every soul in attendance to join in a dance with their Higher Self – Every heart pulsing with agape – Every larynx vibrating in sympathy. Many wept salutary tears of Joy – The gifts of the Holy Spirit descended, & all rose up to receive what they needed. 

Everyone stayed for the Q&A after the show. It’s always interesting to hear what is living in people, what touched them. There is a longing to honor & participate in the sacred, to be cracked open by the truth of spirit radiating out to them thru these young people. And when they share their insights, the ebb & flow, the interleavening in their artistic process, to receive a glimpse of the inspirations they cultivate, feels like a benediction.  

At the Ice cream social afterward, all were aglow – numerous diverse conversations & sharings flowered forth. I learned from Toby Grotz & Kate Bradley, who hosted Velsum, that they want to create a co-op to build their own power plant off the grid for the whole of Viroqua. Many young people from the College were there, imagining their next steps out in the world. Dr. Paul Grenier, a beautiful human being & amazing chiropractor, invited Ultra to come for an adjustment -So many talented folk engaging their gifts to serve community.

When we were making our way home, on one of the charming farm roads, we found our Gnome – a version of Gandalf if he was the King of the Gnomes. We were also called to find a statue of Christ with the Sacred Heart that also came home with us – the perfect ending to our Whitsun adventure.

May the Whitsun Spirit prevail for us all

~hag

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
After a late Easter there has to be 2 verses this week as we move from the Easter lunar calendar to the ordinary solar one.
I choose to always let v38 be the Christmas verse.

TRINITY – Corpus Christi
Lose Yourself In Light
v9

And when I let my own will go
the coming of the summer’s warmth
will fill my soul and spirit being;
my spirit vision is commanding me
to lose myself in light and ardently
my foresight’s calling: ‘lose yourself
to find your Self’.
TRINITY II
Soul Consecration
v10

To summer’s heights
the sun’s majestic being rises;
it takes my human feeling far and wide
and into the sublime, the cosmic harmony
wherein a dawning vision’s intimating faintly,
‘in future you will know:
a holy being felt you now’

Lab

3757 - Madonna on a Crescent Moon with a cloak of stars - Museum ...

Dear Friends – Our work on earth began with a push & a pull – an often painful, laborious, process of ‘Spirit becoming matter’. Since the ‘Turning Point of Time’ we are called to make the equally labor-some return – to consciously strive to spiritualize matter.

And since the advent of the current age of Michael as Time Spirit, our mission is to redeem the adversarial forces, in particular that side of ‘modern science’ that wants to keep us stuck in matter.

We are called, dear friends, to transform the laboratory bench into an altar.

The moment we work from a place of reverence, & wonder – a sacred space where interest is generated by the warmth of love, we are consecrating matter, recalling, sensing & beholding the spirit in Nature, to co-create a ‘Spiritual Science.’

With Heart-Thinking, the Christ Impulse will permeate the “I” of the scientist. And Spirit, Science, & Art will radiate out as a healing force in the world.

That’s what I am thinking about today, as I sit in this time between Easter & Ascension

What are you thinking?

Marilyn Wilson

POD

I have fallen down upon the earth, to gain the powers of the stars…~hag

Michelle Tripp

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated
 with added titles by Roy Sadler

ASCENSION
The Risen Self
v6

Arisen from my own persona
my real self appears
as revelation of the spheres
that in the powers of time and space
the world is showing me as paradigm
that is divine and everywhere portrays
the image in whose mirror I come true.

Ascension can be felt as the climax of the Soul Calendar’s spring verses,
and its mirror, in the first full week of Lent after the week of Ash Wednesday,
as the first spring verse, wherein we ask for the divine strength to accompany
the joy in growth of nature.
LENT II
Joy Will Arise
v47

From worldwide womb will rise
the joy of growth, enlivening the senses’ glory;
and may it find my strength of thought
defended by the strength of God,
the living bedrock of my being.

This is a quote from Eleanor Merry’s Calendar of the Soul Commentary,
When our thinking can unite with the light of the Sun, it becomes creative
for the future. And when we can be quickened within by the same powers
that quicken the outer world into life, then will joy infill our deeds,
and they will be in harmony with the deeds of Cosmic Beings.”

Charles Hill

May 22, 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Last-quarter Moon (exact at 1:43 p.m. CDT). Bella Luna rises around 1 am CDT in Aquarius, with Saturn now glowing about a fist & a half to herupper right. By Monday’s early dawn the Moon & Saturn are higher in the southeast, forming a big triangle with Fomalhaut very low below them. Far to the Moon’s left by then are bright Jupiter & little Mars.

Mannaah Blackwell

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchve.org)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY ( From Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul, The Present Age Mag., Wikipedia, RSarchive.org)

334 BC – The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus.

337 – Birthday of Constantine the Great, Roman emperor.

1802 – Death-day of Martha Washington, 1st First Lady of the United States

1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer. Ilona Schubert is credited with connecting him in a former life to Merlin.

1934 – Deathday of Pekka Ervast – the founder of Finnish Section of Theosophical Society. He was a writer, lecturer, linguist, and clairvoyant – very versatile in languages. He learned to read French at the age of five or six. Ervast’s mother died when he was eight years old and he then began to have ‘extrasensory perception’. At the age of twelve he wrote a comparative grammatical study of nine different languages.

In January 1894, Ervast got acquainted with Theosophy through a Swedish translation of Esoteric Buddhism by A. P. Sinnett: “I read a few sentences from the first chapter. There was talk about a brotherhood of adepts, how there has always been and still are human beings who have deeper knowledge about the secrets of nature and life than any scientist. I could read no more. I was overwhelmed by so great a shudder of joy that I was compelled to throw myself on the couch. My whole being sounded as in one voice: this is true, this is true…The aftermath was so immense I could not read anything on that day. I couldn’t think anything else. As if from a revelation I had gained a certainty that adepts do exist and a human being can participate in divine knowledge.” The next year he joined the Scandinavian Section of the Theosophical Society.

In 1896 he went through an experience of rebirth, which formed the basis for his theosophical work: “On October 13, 1896, in the middle of the day, the agony of my soul had reached an utmost point…There seemed to be a dark cloud before my eyes, and I felt as if my pain would transfer itself into the cloud. I then thought, such is life. At the same time the cloud tore apart as if struck by lightning, and the rays of the sun shone warmly on my face, bright but not dazzlingly. Gradually this lovely light surrounded me on every side, so I was as if in a sea of light, and eventually it filtered inside me, filled me, and lit me up totally, so I and my whole being became like a pure light…My old life was wiped away…”

During the years 1896-1898, Ervast belonged to the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society. He was its representative in Finland. He joined the esoteric school led by Mrs. Katherine Tingley. Ervast intensively followed meditation instructions of the esoteric school.

Ervast started regular lecturing and writing on Theosophy early on in his theosophical career; theosophical work was his full-time occupation. It is worth noting that Theosophy in Finland attracted mainly persons belonging to the so-called working class, whereas in other parts of the Western world Theosophy was more popular among the higher classes.

When the Theosophical Society in Finland was founded in 1907, Ervast was the first to serve as General Secretary, a position he held for ten years. The TS in Finland grew quickly into a vibrant organization.

Ervast and other theosophists founded a commune Tuonenkylä in 1910. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 was a great disappointment for Ervast. He had believed that theosophists on both sides of the war would follow the ideal of the universal brotherhood and declined to go to war. Ervast was an unconditional pacifist: according to his interpretation, the non-resistance of evil is the cornerstone of Esoteric Christianity (this is well in line with ahimsa in Hinduism and Buddha’s teachings on non-violence).

Ervast published two of his main works during the war time: The Esoteric School of Jesus (the contemporary translation is called The Divine Seed) and The Key to the Kalevala, which is available in English as a free ebook. The former is a detailed investigation of the ethical teachings of Jesus from the perspective of Esoteric Christianity, and the latter is an exploration of the spiritual meaning of the Finnish National Epic, the Kalevala.

The Order of the Star in the East was under intense interest among the theosophists in Finland and elsewhere. However, Rudolf Steiner, who was the Head of the German Section of the T. S. at the time, was very critical towards teachings of Krishnamurti as a new World Teacher. Ervast was also critical. He met Steiner when he visited Helsinki in a lecture tour in 1912 just before Steiner left the T. S.

Ervast founded a new society, The Finnish Rosy Cross (Ruusu-Risti) in the tradition of Rosicrucianism. Ervast lectured on the special status of Jesus Christ in the spiritual evolution of humanity.  Hs teaching on the Christ concur with Rudolf Steiner’s teachings. Ervast remained prolific to the end of his life.

Pekka Ervast wrote over 100 books in several languages:

1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. President to ever hold a patent.

1885 – Death-day of Victor Hugo. Prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was exposed under the Arc de Triomphe during the night. Rudolf Steiner indicates he was a Hibernian Initiate in the Karma lectures vol. 2 lec. 14.

Now there is a personality upon whom the Initiation rites and ceremonies of the Hibernian Mysteries had made a profound impression; they had a deep effect upon his inner life and his experiences were of such intensity that he forgot the Earth altogether. Then, after this personality had lived through an incarnation as a woman, when the impulses of earlier Initiation showed themselves merely in the general disposition of the soul, he came to the Earth again as an important figure in the 19th century. He had lived out the consequences of his karma in the Saturn-sphere — the sphere where one lives among Beings who, fundamentally speaking, have no present. It is a shattering experience to look with clairvoyant vision into the Saturn-sphere, where Beings live who have no present but only look back on their past. Whatever they do is done unconsciously; any action of theirs comes to consciousness only when it has happened and is inscribed into the world karma. Acquaintance with these Beings who draw their past after them like a spiritual comet’s tail, has a shattering effect. The personality of whom I am speaking, who had at one time been initiated and had thus transcended earthly existence in a certain sense, bore his soul to these Beings who take no part in the present, and elaborated his karma among them. It was as if everything that had been experienced hitherto in an Initiate-existence now illumined with majestic splendour all the past earthly lives. This past was brought to fruition by what had been experienced through the Hibernian Initiation. When this personality appeared again on Earth in the 19th century he had now, by contrast, to unfold impulses for the future. And when, on descending from the Saturn-sphere, this soul, with its gaze into the past illumined by the light of Initiation, arrived on Earth, it presented this contrast: a firm foothold on the Earth while gazing into the future and giving expression to far reaching ideas, impulses and perceptions. This Hibernian Initiate became Victor Hugo.”

1906 – The Wright brothers are granted a U.S. patent for their “Flying-Machine”.

1947 – Cold War begins: President Harry S. Truman – The Truman Doctrine – established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. The Truman Doctrine effectively reoriented U.S. foreign policy, away from its usual stance of withdrawal from regional conflicts not directly involving the United States, to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. ~ history.state.gov

Yoram Raanan

Announcing an exciting Event on Ascension Thursday, May 26th   7 – 8:30 pm Eastern time.

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – Celebrating the Festival of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Eurythmy with Maria Ver Eecke

“In heavy clouds let Him ascend
And so also let Him downward tread.
In cooling streams let Him be sent,
In flames of fire blaze His descent,
In air & essence, sound & dew
To permeate our whole earth thru” ~Novalis

Ascension is a Festival of the Elements, & of the Hierarchies, it relates to the Transfiguration & the fulfillment of the promise of the ‘Second Coming’. Together we will explore the mystery of ‘As Above so Below’.

            Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a trans-denominational minister, essayist, lecturer, performer, and poet. She writes and curates ‘Reverse Ritual, Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year’ and the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast. Hazel’s been the Cultural Events and Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago for over 10 years. She is a member of the Central Regional Council, the School for Spiritual Science, the Esoteric Youth Circle, and the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.

                  Register by contacting Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, by Sunday, May 22nd. You will receive an email with the zoom link on Tuesday May 24.

Hope to see you there!! – YES! Please feel free to spread the word!

Yours, Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, for the the Eastern Region

A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community

with the Eastern, Central and Western Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Sunday 29 May 2022 – 3 – 4:30 pm PT, 4-5:30 MT, 5-6:30 pm CT, 6-7:30 pm ET

We will be working with Rudolf Steiner’s THE FIFTH GOSPEL GA 148, Lecture II, 2 October 1913, Oslo

The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, our individual “I”, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is strongly felt during this time of the consciousness soul age. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create this type of culture, and the opportunity is here for each of us to meet, human to human, where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength comes from our personal development and is enhanced by weaving our gifts together with others, knitting our social world in conscious community.

For more info. contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

Topic: All Regions Whitsun

Time: May 29, 2022 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7050174041?pwd=WkNaNDlPS0VIMTJUUkE1ZkFMaDh5dz09

Meeting ID: 705 017 4041

Passcode: Whitsun

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC
Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation
June 1, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“Anyone who approaches these mysteries today must feel that they are confronting and challenging themselves by striving for the virtues of Parzival, while knowing that — because of modern conditions — they are in fact someone else also, the wounded Amfortas. Today we bear this divided nature within us: aspiring Parzival, wounded Amfortas. That is what self-knowledge must lead us to feel. From this recognition will flow the forces which make a unity again of this duality, and will thus advance us a little further in world evolution.”~ from Chapter 15,  Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 15 “Acknowledging Amfortas,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Berlin on 7 February 1913 (GA 144, lecture IV), will be the focus of the June 1 meeting.

A transcript of the entire lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link. Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work.  Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing  study conversation.  The study has been divided among two 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 Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail — from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

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:

Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106

Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106
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There is a knighthood of the 21st century
whose riders do not ride through the darkness
of physical forests as of old,
but through the forest of darkened minds.
They are armed with a spiritual armor
and an inner sun makes them radiant.
Out of them shines healing,
healing that flows from the knowledge
of the human being as a spiritual being.
They must create inner order, inner justice,
peace and conviction in the darkness
of our time. ~Karl Konig

Agenda for this meeting (CST)
 7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Mariarosa – pages 117-123b
          Marianne – pages 123b-129
7:50  Conversation
8:25   ID volunteers for next meeting
8:28  Close with verse