Yep, the harvest season is upon us once again…The Jewish New Year has begun, Sweet with the seal of At-One-ment…& now, the ancient celebration of Sukkot comes, to bring community together for a unique opportunity to experience an amazing blend of Honoring the Ancestors, Giving Thanks, & opening to receive prosperity’s blessings…
“When you sit in the Sukkah, ‘the shade of faithfulness,’ the Shechinah spreads Her wings over you…”
When our daughter was in 3rd grade we started celebrating Sukkot – In the Waldorf pedagogy this age is all about leaving the garden of paradise, The children live into stories about Moses & the wandering in the desert, & learn to build shelters. Her class was very close, so we had gatherings in our sukkah every year to share food, tell stories, create Autumn art, Invite in the Matriarchs of the Torah, & many other loving ancestors, & perform the ancient ritual of waving the Lulav, for blessings of abundance…
The Festival of Sukkot is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year- Yom Kipper, to one of the most joyous. This festival is sometimes referred to as the ‘Season of our Rejoicing’. Sukkot begins at Sunset tonight when the Full Hunters Moon starts to rise, & lasts for seven days.
The word “Sukkot” means “booths,” & refers to the temporary dwellings that we build to celebrate this holiday. The name of the holiday is frequently translated as “The Feast of Tabernacles,” & Like Passover & Shavu’ot, Sukkot has a dual significance: Historical & Agricultural.
The holiday commemorates the forty-year period during which the Hebrew People were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Sukkot is also a harvest festival, & is sometimes referred to as the ‘Festival of Ingathering’.
The Gospel of John Chapter 7 gives a powerful account of ‘The Festival of Tabernacles’:
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
This is harvest time, so we decorate the sukkah with the bounty of autumn, dried squash & corn, pumpkin & gourds, all the vegetables that make you think of Halloween & Thanksgiving. Building & decorating a sukkah is a fun, family project, much like decorating the Christmas tree.
Another observance related to Sukkot involves what are known as The Four Species, etrog (a citrus fruit, representing the heart), a palm branch (in Hebrew, lulav, representing the spine of the upright human being), two willow branches (arava, representing our eyes) & three myrtle branches (hadas, representing our lips & tongue). We take these four plants & use them to “rejoice.” The six branches are bound together & referred to collectively as the lulav. The etrog is held separately in the left hand. With these four species in your right hand, one recites a blessing & waves the species in all six directions (east, south, west, north, up & down, symbolizing the fact that the Divine is everywhere).
Ushpizot is an Aramaic word meaning guests. According to Jewish tradition, each night of Sukkot, a different set of guests is invited to rejoice with us in the Sukkah. While the custom of inviting Ushpizin, seven biblical male leaders, has been widely celebrated, there are also medieval sources that suggest inviting the seven female prophetesses: Sarah (Genesis 16,21), Miriam (Exodus 2:1-9; 15:20-21), Deborah (Judges 4-5), Hannah (I Samuel 25), Huldah (II Kings 22:10-20), and Esther (Book of Esther).
So come join us in spirit, with thoughts of World Peace, & be part of this experiential celebration…What great leaders, proud Matriarchs or daring Daddies would you like to invite into the sukkah…? Let this ancient tradition made new, empower you…
Blessings & Peace
~hag
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler MICHAELMAS II Soul Springtime v27 To fathom my depths of being arouses longing, ardently divining, that I, self-contemplating, find myself as gift the summer sun’s bequeathed my autumn mood in germinating seed, warm spring of strength to motivate my soul.
Karl König descibes how the spirit-germ of the self is a reflection of the Michael being, which illumined by the Sun of Christ begins to develop and grow in Christ light. “The more conscious this seed is of itself, the more graciously will the Sun of Christ shine upon it. For it is in the growing darkness of autumn and winter that the dawning of His Spirit-Sun begins. The self of man, which has now arisen, has to find it.” It is the turning point of the Soul Calendar’s year. The soul’s attention now turns inward, longing to know herself. In last week’s mirror verse a fiery Michaelic will power expressed itself.
MICHAELMAS Michaelic Firepower v26 Natura, in the being of my will I bear thy soul of motherhood and in my will enkindled firepower my spirit impulses are tempered, steeled, that feeling of the selfhood formed from them bear I in me.
This is the summer’s gift and can be compared to each night’s gift of sleep when higher beings implant a moral purpose in us. May this motivate our winter souls.
9 October 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Full Hunters Moon next to Juipter! A full moon is always opposite the sun. So all full moons rise in the east around sunset. And all full moons set in the west around sunrise. But full moons have different characteristics, mostly related to their paths across the sky. And, shortly after they rise, full moons closest to the autumnal equinox follow a path across the Northern Hemisphere sky that makes a narrow angle with respect to the eastern evening horizon. So – in the early autumn you might see a bright moon in the east shortly after sunset for several evenings in a row.
Greetings on this the fixed date start of the Michaelmas Season. The arrival of autumn always signifies a test. Are we willing to breathe in, after the out-breath of Summer? Are we willing to consciously harvest all the sense perceptions we have gathered? Are we willing to preserve & begin to digest all these life forces which we have received, giving us the reserves we need to courageously go into the dark of the year?
Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis
Around the Fall Equinox, when the Sun enters the constellation of Virgo, our morality is tested – & in Libra; the sign of the scales, human beings are indeed weighed on that stern measure. Will our inner strength hold up, when the support of nature is withdrawn?
During the growing season nature supports our human consciousness, it’s a gift given to us from the cosmos; but for the harvest we must work to fashion our own self-consciousness, if we are to remain inwardly awake.
Spiritual Science tells us that human consciousness is ever evolving. Less than 150 years ago, 143 to be exact, humanity experienced a huge shift in consciousness.
And so it was, around the end of the 19th century, that 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, with Michael standing before us as the King & herald of all the hierarchies.
And so as we strive to create the Festival of the future – which we call Michaelmas, we are invited to stand in balance between the light & the dark, to look back to the fruits of the past, & to prepare by looking to what is coming toward us from the future.
To look where we have been, & to where we are going. 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.
Vlad Apetrei & Irene Olid
But who is this powerful spiritual being? Rudolf Steiner has given us many indications. For day let’s start by looking at the name. Michael, is a question, for it means ‘Who is like god’? Questions are good, they help us think. But how can we possibly experience this earnest Sun-Being?
Well, we can sense his forces in the meteor showers that start in late August & go thru November. We can witness the power of Michael behind the shooting stars, strengthening our blood with cosmic iron, waging war there against anxiety, fear & hate, creating an inner process that penetrates our earthly thoughts with cosmic Thoughts – that our hearts may begin to have thoughts. And so it is that today I want to make a small attempt at understanding what spiritual science calls Imaginative cognition, or Heart-Thinking.
And we can start by asking a question. How can humanity, the Earth citizen, become once more a citizen of the Cosmos? – Well, it certainly won’t be by head-thinking alone. For in the intellect we are isolated from the world, isolated from the cosmos, because everyone has their own head; & in that head, their own thoughts. But In Heart-Thinking it’s not like that. Imaginative cognition takes us further in our evolutionary journey. The mysterious German word, Gemüt, which Steiner uses to describe Heart-Thinking- means something like: ‘the mind warmed by a loving heart & stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power’.
It is not dependent solely on the head, but on the rhythmic system, bringing us back to where we belong, as a being in the cosmos. For in the cosmos rhythm holds sway. You’ve heard of the ‘Music of the Spheres’ right? -Everything in sync, harmonious, in perfect balance. Until…
Gustave Doré
Once upon a time, another high spiritual being stood in his appointed place in the choir, looking up the ladder to the highest hierarchies with the thought, ‘hmm it sure would be nice to be god. It would be easy to enslave all these do-gooders. Maybe I’ll just cut the line’.
So with some other minions this being endeavored to storm the gates of heaven. Well needless to say, Michael, along with other Sun-Beings, felt the commotion coming from this agitated thinking. So Michael, as choir master, guardian of the Cosmic Intelligence=the power or intelligence that keeps the rhythms of the cosmos intact – had to hold the fort; & with the help of the other righteous angels, they cast the trouble makers out of heaven, in order to keep the Music of the Sphere’s harmonious.
And ironically because that high being wanted to rise higher, before its time, he actually fell back, becoming more hardened & densified, taking on what we would call, using the language of imagination, the super-sensible form of a serpent or dragon.
Elena Polenova
So there’s our famous story. But, you may ask, where is the dragon now?
Spiritual Science tells us that the dragon now lives within the human being. The outer cosmic conflict of Michael & the Dragon was transferred to the inner human being, because only in human nature can the Dragon now find his sphere of action. But fear not my friends, because of that, Michael now works with us to fight the dragon within our human nature. Michael has given humanity the opportunity to take up the cosmic intelligence into our heart-thinking.
Remember that picture of the 9 Angelic Realms? Spiritual Science says we have a cosmic aim within world evolution linked with the further development of the elemental beings. These spirits behind nature, dwelling in the mineral, plant, & animal kingdoms, seek to rise to a higher existence in the evolutionary process, BUT this can only be accomplished by passing through human beings!
When we enter into a right relationship with them, (that’s what the true meaning of morality is: right relationship) when we use heart-thinking to awaken consciously to our experience of nature, enlivening our sense perceptions with wonder, awe & reverence, the elemental beings can attain to this higher stage of evolution.
Rudolf Steiner tells us that we can develop a Gemüt content to our thinking, which shows us how every blossom bears testimony to the existence of an enchanted elemental being within it; & that thru our Heart-Thinking we can learn to feel the longing in this elemental being hoping to be released by us, instead of being delivered up to the Dragon.
And so, my dear friends, this is what I wanted to bring to you today: The idea that Heart-Thinking, is the modern antidote to the dragon – Heart-Thinking which empowers our will to consciously receive sense impressions, to let in the Spiritual Sun; the source of the Resurrection-forces; which enable the human intelligence to unite again with the cosmic intelligence.
In the spirit-realms, Michael’s battle with the dragon has been concluded victoriously. It is here on earth that humanity still has to complete it, in alliance with Michael – Whose gesture is no longer only that of battle. He raises his hand beckoning. The hand that was stretched out aggressively, in a threatening manner against the adversarial forces, has changed in our time, & is now beckoning. We don’t kill the dragon folks, we tame it.
Our work today is to begin to feel this transformation reflected in Michael’s gesture. As Guardian of Cosmic Intelligence, Michael counts on us to become free human beings, that we may return this gesture in kind.
I leave you now with a question, Could this someday lead to a true healing of the adversarial forces? And finally: Who is like god?
Tomorrow I will continue with part 2 of ‘The Festival of Life Tour’.
29 September 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As twilight fades, look southwest for the waxing crescent Moon — now with its horns fairly near vertical. Orange Antares is off to her left. Between them is white Delta Scorpii, second in brightness to Antares.
The Feast Day of St.Michael & All the Heavenly Hosts, also called MICHAELMAS
1227 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades. A man of extraordinary culture, energy, & ability Frederick II was called stupor mundi (the wonder of the world), by Nietzsche, also the first European, the first modern ruler – by many historians, Frederick established in Sicily & southern Italy a modern, centrally governed kingdom with an efficient bureaucracy.
He was a King of Germany, of Italy, & Burgundy. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage & his connection with the Sixth Crusade.
He was frequently at war with the Papacy, hemmed in between Frederick’s lands in northern Italy & his Kingdom of Sicily (the Regno) to the south. Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist.
Speaking six languages (Latin, Sicilian, German, French, Greek & Arabic, Frederick was an avid patron of science & the arts. He played a major role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, saw the first use of a literary form of an Italo-Romance language, Sicilian. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature & on what was to become the modern Italian language.
He was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational.
1571 – Birthday of Caravaggio, Italian painter
1717 – An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city’s architecture & making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city
David Newbatt.
1812- Birthday of Caspar Hauser, grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Theories link him with the grand ducal House of Baden.These claims, & his subsequent death by stabbing, sparked much debate & controversy.
“…It was the case of that human being, so enigmatic for many people, who was once placed into this city in a mysterious way, and who in just as mysterious a way met his death in Ansbach. An author, in order to indicate the mystery of his life, wrote that as he was carried out to burial the sun was setting on the one horizon and the moon was rising on the other. I speak, as you know, of Caspar Hauser. If you disregard all the pros and cons that have been asserted, if you look only at what has been fully verified, you will know that this foundling — who was one day simply there in the street, and who since he did not know whence he came, was called the Child of Europe — could neither read nor write when he was found. At an age of twenty years he possessed nothing of what is gained through the intellect but he had a remarkable memory. As they began to instruct him, as logic entered his soul, his memory disappeared. This transition in consciousness was accompanied by something else. He possessed at first an incredible, an entirely inborn truthfulness and it was precisely in this truthfulness that he went more and more astray. The more he nibbled, so to say, at intellectuality, the more it vanished. There would be many things to study were we to enter deeply into this human soul which had been artificially held back. It is not difficult for the student of Spiritual Science to credit the popular tradition, so unacceptable to the learned people of to-day, which relates that while Caspar Hauser still knew nothing, while he still had no idea that there were beings besides himself of different form, he exercised a remarkable effect upon quite savage creatures. Savage animals humbled themselves and became mild, something streamed from him that made such beasts gentle, although they savagely attacked anyone else. We could in fact penetrate deeply into the soul of this remarkable personality, so enigmatic to many, and you would see how things that cannot be explained from ordinary life are led back through Spiritual Science to spiritual facts. Such facts cannot be learnt by speculation but only by spiritual observation, though they are comprehensible to an unbiased and logical thinking.
All this has only been said in order to show you that the modern consciousness has evolved from another, an age-old-state when man was not in direct touch with outer objects in the modern sense, but on the other hand was in connection with facts and beings of the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Apocalypse of St. John, Spiritual Science — The Gospel — The Future of Mankind
1902 – Deathday of Émile Zola a French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, & an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France & in the exoneration of the falsely accused & convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J’accuse. Zola was nominated for the first & second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 & 1902. His death from carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected to have been murder
1924 – Ludwig Polzer holds his 1st First Class Lesson
1954 – The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed
1957 – Twenty MCi of radioactive material is released in an explosion at the Soviet Mayak nuclear plant at Chelyabinsk
1981 – Deathday of Adolf Arenson, German composer & Anthroposopher. Arenson editied many of Rudolf Steiner’s works, & composed the music for many of the plays & productions. Steiner mentions him at the end of Wonders of the World lecture 1
2008 – Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers & Washington Mutual, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history
Some of the Chicago folks from ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’ 2021
Greetings friends – This is a dynamic moment in time…let’s strengthen and enkindle connections within our community and beyond. Last year’s annual conference theme was ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’ – now we can imagine entering this temple to connect with other striving souls around the World.
Join us in-person for a Community Gathering to celebrate Michaelmas as we stream the tour of the model of the first Goetheanum live from Dornach, Switzerland, followed by leading thoughts from Rev. Daniel Hafner, with Velsum Voicesas the capstone, & a potluck meal to end the afternoon.
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613 on 29 September 2022 the Feast Day of Saint Michael and All the Heavenly Hosts Doors open at 11:30 am Noon CT – Live stream 1:15 pm CT – Velsum: singing: ‘Enkindling Connections-& The Heart Rose’ 1:30 pm – 3 pm Potluck – Please Bring Food & Drink to Share
Dear friends – The Michaelmas Season is here. The oblique angle of the Sun cuts across the shadows like a sword. The days grow shorter & the harvest has begun
Biodynamic agriculture has a keen focus on tuning into the natural rhythms of the Earth, & the cosmos. The alteration between night & day can be seen as the Earth breathing in & out, so it is with each turn on the wheel of year – there is a seasonal cycle in tune with the Earth’s journey around the Sun. Once a year in the Autumn the planet takes a deep breath in, as everything comes to harvest & slowly goes into a Winter dormancy.
So it’s time to gather on the land for the Fall Prep Day at the Zinniker Farm. October 1st, 2022. Suggested donation: $20 per person in support of the Stewardship of Zinniker Farm We’ll start at 1:30pm. Dress for comfort with layers. Please bring a dish to pass for the evening potluck & bonfire.
As always in the fall we will be filling horns for the BD 500 Horn Manure Preparation: It is a powerful means for structuring the soil It stimulates soil microbial activity of the soil and the production of humus It regulates the pH balance of the soil It stimulates seed germination and root development, in particular vertical growth, increasing depth of root systems It improves the development of leguminous plants (Fabaceae) and nodule formation It helps dissolve minerals even in deep layers (alios) and can helps counteract excessive salt levels.
We won’t need to make any of the compost preparations, so we will spend the remaining time with application of the preparations. We will learn how to add the preparations to the compost pile and stir and spray Horn Manure.
When Rudolf Steiner founded the‘New Mysteries’ thru Anthroposophia at the Christmas Conference of 1923-24, he laid the foundation on earth for a new “cultus”, which had been part of the Michael School in the Super-sensible world during the 18th & 19th Centuries. He referred to this practical aspect of the New Mysteries as: the “Cognitive Ritual”, the “Ritual of Knowledge”, the “Spiritual Communion of Humanity”, the “Cosmic Communion”, the “World Ritual”, the “Reverse Ritual”, or “the “Cosmic Ritual”. How is it different from the Sacramental Communion? And why is it important for us today?
The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Mater Dolorosa) The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
The Prophecy of Simeon. (Luke2:34–35)
The escape and Flight into Egypt. (Matthew2:13)
The Loss of the Child Jesusin the Temple of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:43–45)
The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Via Dolorosa.
The Crucifixion of Jesuson Mount Calvary. (John 19:25)
The Piercing of the Side of Jesus, and His Descent from the Cross. (Matthew 27)
The Burial of Jesusby Joseph of Arimathea. (John 19:40–42)
921 – At Tetin, Saint Ludmila, a Czech saint, the grandmother of Saint Wenceslaus, widely referred to as Good King Wenceslaus, is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law, Drahomíra, who was jealous of Ludmila’s influence over Wenceslaus. Antonín Dvořák composed his oratorio Svatá Ludmila for her
1254 – Birthday of Marco Polo, Italian merchant & explorer
1616 – The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy
1821 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, & Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain
1916 –Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme World War I
1935 – The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship
1935 – Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag bearing the swastika
1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt & Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the World War II Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
1945 – A hurricane strikes southern Florida & the Bahamas, destroying 366 airplanes & 25 blimps at Naval Air Station Richmond, 230 die
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hit the Kanto Region in Japan killing 1,077
1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour, kills 23
1963 – 16th Street Baptist Church bombing , an act of white supremacist terrorism, in Birmingham, Alabama, occurred when four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the front steps of the church.Described by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity”. The explosion killed four girls & injured 22 others.
No prosecutions ensued of the Klan members involved until 1977, when Robert Chambliss was tried & convicted of the first degree murder of one of the victims, 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair. Thomas Blanton & Bobby Cherry were each convicted of four counts of murder & sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 & 2002, but Herman Cash, was never charged .
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing marked a turning point in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement & contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation
1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere
1971 – The first Greenpeace ship sets sail to protest against nuclear testing on Amchitka Island
1972 – A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight is hijacked
1974 – Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board
2008 – Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history
Free Money Day is an annual, global event held since 2011 as a social experiment to promote sharing & alternative economic ideas. The day is held annually on September 15, the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers’ 2008 filing for bankruptcy. Participants offer their own money to passing strangers at public places, two coins or notes at a time. Recipients are asked to pass on one of the notes or coins to someone else
International Day of Democracy …’democracy is a universal value based on the freely-expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems, and their full participation in all aspects of life’
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler AUTUMN PRELUDE III The Yield Of Summer v23 In autumn haze the senses’ lure fades; a mist arising veils the light’s revealing. In widths of space I see the autumn landscape fall asleep; the summer’s yielded me her being for me to reap.
In this week’s mirror verse, for the Celtic Wise Woman festival at Samhain [‘Summer’s End’], the summer’s being begins to shine as the summer of the soul, the cosmic light living on with inner power. HALLOWEEN Sun Inspiration v30 In sunlight of my soul spring thought’s ripe fruits; all feeling turns to sureness of self-awareness. I joy to sense the autumn’s rousing of the spirit; within me will the winter wake the summer of the soul.
Sophie Takata
You are invited:Saturday/Sunday 24-25 September 2022 The BDANC Fall Michaelmas Gathering hosted Gloria Decater at Live Power Community Farm, Covelo
Saturday: *Honoring the Cow *Honoring the Elementals – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg *Hands on prep making with Harald Hoven *The Evolution of Biodynamic Legacy Farms – Old farms that need new farmers – Round table discussion with Gloria Decater and Chuck Ginsberg
*Bridging Heaven and Earth through Singing, Storytelling and Biography Work with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
The Michaelmas 2022 Bridging Project at Live Power Farm
We will work in conscious community to connect beyond the threshold for the future evolution of the Earth. Spiritual Science brings us many teachings on communicating with the ‘so-called dead’, working with the spiritual hierarchies, & coming to know the Christ as the meaning of the Earth. We can learn what our beloved dead & the unborn can teach us about what it means to be human in a spiritual sense here on Earth.
*Discussion about Sequential Spraying for Drought Remediation with Michael Aldinger *Catered dinner
Sunday: *Eurythmy – with Cynthia Hoven *Anthroposophical Salon – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg and Nancy Poer
For details, accommodations, meal reservations and schedule see www.bdanc.org
Live Power Community Farm is a seasoned, long-time biodynamic farm whose farming family have passed through many seasons of soul, soil and spirit. Gloria Decater, whose husband Stephen crossed the threshold last year, is currently in the process of exploring how the future incarnation of this living farm individuality needs to evolve. Although the CSA aspect of the farm is on hold right now, Gloria has been continuing to host educational activities for children and adults.
PURCHASING PREPARATIONS: Preps must be ordered at least three days in advance – by Sept 21st – to be picked up at the meeting. These BD preparations are hand made by groups of BDANC practitioners on various BD farms around NORCAL. Supervision and distribution by Harald Hoven.
Horn Manure (500) $5 members/$7 non-members
Horn Silica (501) $3 members/$4 non-members
Compost Prep Set (502-507) $18 members/$21 non-members
Contact Harald Hoven – Phone: (916) 837-8776 Email: hhoven@att.net
“From Gondishapur to Covid-19 and the 4th Industrial Revolution” with Richard Ramsbotham
Sun, Sep 25 at 3:00pm EST
How are our modern day approaches to pandemics, technology advancements and governments influenced by thinking impulses originating in The Academy of Gondishapur?
Richard Ramsbotham was born in Northumberland in 1962. After attending Cambridge University and Emerson College he taught literature at Warsaw University (1989-1993) and then trained at the Artemis School of Speech and Drama. Since then he has worked as a teacher, lecturer, writer and theatre director. He is the author of ‘Who Wrote Bacon? Shakespeare, Bacon and James 1’; ‘An Exact Mystery – the Poetic Life of Vernon Watkins’; several plays and many articles on cultural, historical and current themes (e.g. 9/11 and Covid-19). He has also translated and directed Rudolf Steiner’s 4 Mystery Dramas. He is the co-founder of Fourfold Living Arts, an initiative bringing together the performing arts with the exploration of important cultural and current themes.
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Shining a Light into the Darkness
Path of Knowledge inner development is itself a process of shining light into the darkness.
As social challenges are intensifying, we are called upon more urgently to develop new capacities in understanding the human being, nature and medicine in wholeness. This series will focus on historical thinking influences which still darkly affect the soul of every modern human being.
Because we see everywhere today that the “light shines into the darkness and the darkness comprehends it not”, what is our response to the recognition of darkness which lives within the thinking of each of us?
This series is open to all who study anthroposophy.
Proceeds will benefit anthroposophic organizations worldwide.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2022 / 3PM EST “From Gondishapur to Covid-19 and the 4th Industrial Revolution” Richard Ramsbotham
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2022 / 3PM EST “The Lives of Francis Bacon and the Anvil of Scientific Materialism” Richard Ramsbotham
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2022 / 3PM EST “Jesuitism, Bolshevism, and Americanism” Rev. Patrick Kennedy
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022 / 1PM EST “Kaspar Hauser: Understanding his Task as Related to the World Today. How Does our Time Reflect the Events of the 19th Century and Transform Them?” Richard Steel
SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2023 / 3PM EST “Living Picture Imaginations: Healing from the Effects of Propaganda” Dennis Klocek
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023 / 3PM EST “Overcoming Materialistic Thinking: Anthroposophic Pharmacy as a Modern Rosicrucian – Alchemical Path” Albert Schmidli
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2023 / 3PM EST “What is Christianized Thinking in Medicine? Illness and Healing as Threshold Experiences“ Michaela Gloeckler, MD
SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2023 / 3PM EST “After Auschwitz. Reflections on the Future of Medicine and Society” Peter Selg, MD
SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2023 / 3PM EST “Meeting Christ in the Etheric in Response to the Challenges of Our Times” James Dyson, MD
Continuing on from yesterday’s “Awakening to Community” exploration of theAAP training (Association for Anthroposophical Psychology) I will open with a question Alan Thewless began his seminar with: What is the soul’s connection to the whole cosmos?
The astral body is music! – The etheric body works out of the rhythms of cosmic sculpture, with the astral body moving in the cosmic melody – We are the Rhythm & Melody of the Uni-verse!
The 7 planets living in our organs & chakras are the bridge to the Music of the Spheres! We go out to the periphery & then come back into the center of ourselves.
tobiasart
Saturn is as the Guardian to the Solar System – a boundary to the Stars of the constellations – from the sense world to the spiritual world, holding the energy of the ‘Priest’.
Jupiter asks: What is wisely working in us? The Kingly energy
Mars is our critical thinking – bringing us necessity & discernment: Yes or no; affirming our individuality – our ability to assert ourselves. We can ask: Am I being too critical, to harsh? The warrior.
In the Sun Sphere we say Yes to who we are. The administrator
We come to earth to give this something to the world – we come to care, bringing in the Venus quality of faithfulness & our gift of experiencing & creating beauty – to be & to give Love. The Care Giver
Once this love is part of us we can truly share & teach, working out of the Mercury sphere. The teacher.
The Moon brings our digested experience into our thinking. The Artist.
The planets – the wandering stars – are connected with Time – the vowels. The constellations of the Zodiac – the fixed Stars – bring us the concept of Space – the formative forces of the consonants. Our etheric body is the bridge between the 2.
Experiencing the cosmos within us, as well as out in nature, revitalizes our etheric being & the universe responds with joy at our interaction.
Alan asked: Which planetary quality do you most resonate to? Then we were invited to stand with a group of our fellows each in their chosen place. I was with the Saturn group – the Priests. What about you?
More tomorrow…Until soon (BTW: you can still join our cohort for the 3 year the training)
~hag
20 August 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The last-quarter Moon shone between Mars and the Pleiades early Friday morning the 19th. On Sunday morning the 21st it’s between the horntips of Taurus: Beta and fainter Zeta Tauri.
Chirila Corina
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day – “…Suppose that you could take the human being as you see him here and turn him inside out so that his inside — the heart, for instance — would become the outer surface. If this could be done taking hold of him in the inmost heart and turning him inside out like a glove, then man would not remain man as we see him here; he would enlarge into a universe. For if we had the faculty to concentrate in a single point within our heart, and then to turn ourselves inside out in spirit, we could become this world that we otherwise experience between death and a new birth. That is the secret of the inner side of the human being. The heart of the human being is also a world turned inside out. That is how the physical, earthly world is really connected to the spiritual world. We must get used to this “turning inside out.” If we do not, we will never get the right idea concerning how the physical world that surrounds us here relates to the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, TODAY 100 years ago – THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY, PART 2: THE MYSTERY OF TRUTH, GA 214, I. Meditation: The Path to Higher Knowledge, 20 August 1922, Oxford
Vidar at the gates of Shambala by Daniel Ospina
Dear freinds – Anthroposophy gives us the opportunity to work with the Cycle of the Year as a modern path of Initiation into the New Mysteries. In our striving we not only renew, but we are being called from the future to co-create entirely new Festivals.
Join us in doing Spiritual Scientific research into the Being called Vidar –
Vidar-mas? – An exploration that may perhaps lead into a new Festival for this Archangel of our Time.
Having received insights from Are Thoresen at the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago last week, we are taking up our own research into the new Archangel Vidar, who stands as Guardian to the Threshold of the Etheric Realm, in protection of the Nathan Soul, opening the Northern Stream of Initiation to those who would approach the Etheric Christ . In a recent spiritual experience, Are Thoresen suggested that August 20th may be the Feast Day of Vidar..?
All are invited to join us, where ever you are, in reading a lecture by Rudolf Steiner which brings to life this new Archangel Vidar.
We welcome your feedback as to whether or not August 20th resonates as a new Feast Day that we might call Vidar-mas..?
Meeting in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago or wherever you are 20 August 2022, at 5 pm PT / 6 pm MT / 7 pm CT / 8 pm PT
From Maverick a student of Astrosophy: “On the sheets given us by the Star House called “Sun Chronicle of the Christ Events”, Aug. 20th shows the Sun in sidereal longitude at 2 to 3 degrees in Leo – where the Sun is at home in the sign it rules. The Christ events occurring then are: Aug.20th – the conversation at Jacob’s well (so the 1st time Christ Jesus revealed to anyone other than the disciples that He was the Messiah), and Aug. 20/21st – the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago
Dear friends – As Anthroposophers we are called to do active Spiritual Scientific research, not take any persons word for anything. So being that the Festival Life can be a path of initiation into the New Mysteries, we thought to explore this Being Vidar further in connection to our task in this age of understanding the etheric Christ, which Rudolf Steiner speaks about in GA 121, the lecture we will study together today. By doing so we are in no way suggesting that we are to replace Michael as the Time Spirit holding the Zeitgeist of the age, or that this exploration would in any way eradicate Michaelmas as the true Christian Festival that it is.
Druidic gravestone of Vidar found in Niederdollendorf near Colonge
“…The communications given out from Rosicrucian sources must be tested rather than believed, tested not superficially by the superficial methods of modern science, but ever more conscientiously…The more you test them, the more you will find them confirmed from this source. You must accept nothing on authority. The best students of Spiritual Science are those who take what is said as a stimulus in the first place and test it by the facts of life itself. For in life too, at every stage of life, you can test what is given out from the sources of Rosicrucianism. It is far from my intention in these lectures to lay down dogmas and claim that the facts are such and such and must be believed. Verify them by an exchange of views with people of able and active mind and you will find confirmation of what has been said as a prophetic indication of the future manifestation of Christ. You need only open your eyes and verify it objectively; we make no appeal to belief in authority. This need to test everything received from Spiritual Science should become a kind of basic attitude permeating our whole approach.
I should like to impress upon you, therefore, that it is not anthroposophical to accept a statement as dogma on the authority of this or that person; but it is truly anthroposophical to allow oneself to be stimulated by Spiritual Science and to verify what is communicated by life itself.” ~Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE INDIVIDUAL FOLK SOULS, GA 121, 11. Nerthus, Freyja and Gerda. Twilight of the Gods. Vidar and the new Revelation of Christ, 17 June 1910, Oslo
The Central Regional Council (CRC) came together at the Rudolf Steiner House in Ann Arbor, MI. July 14 – 17, 2022, to do some creative team building in preparation for our AGM & Conference: “Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest & Question.” Even though we meet every month with the community online for our study call around our current theme, this was our first AGM since 2019, & our first hybrid event!
The old fraternity house that is the headquarters for the ASA was donated to the Society by Ernst & Katherine Katz. (working with many others on the Board of the Ann Arbor group, including Peter & Mary Smith, Alan Cottrell, Bill Bottom, Sayhan Ege…) Dr. Katz was a professor of physics at the University of Michigan. He taught courses in both natural science & spiritual science to college students over the years. He also led anthroposophical study groups, which attracted people from all around the Central Region, enriching the spiritual lives of many people, young & old.
I like to call it the Mother House. It is certainly holds the aura of Anthroposophia. Many ghosts past & present can be seen haunting the steep stairs & industrial kitchen. Besides the many dorm rooms, the ASA has offices here as does the Prison Outreach. The amazing library holds a wonderful model of the first Goetheanum. The front garden is a marvel. The main eurythmy/lecture room that we used for our workshop looks out onto the spacious backyard which we embodied to full advantage.
As part of the conference we enacted a condensed version of the Parzival story enhanced by Chekhov-inspired movement with Lisa Dalton, artistic activity, & biography work. In the drama, written by Mary Mertz, who has a deep affinity with the tale from her Waldorf days, the mature Parzival looks back at his youthful failings & strivings to see how his suffering helped him win through to peace of soul, in his becoming – a servant of humanity, & a keeper of the Holy Grail.
~hag
This morning when I woke up still immersed in the Parzival tale, this line testified by the Indian spiritual poet Tukaram was ringing in my heart: “I know not what my past still has in store for me,” … I believe most of us can say the same thing about our karma. More & more I am coming to see that the events that happened to me once upon a time keep transforming as I ripen. They come to have different meanings in light of the ever-new experiences that I meet on my life’s journey. What seems like a setback when it first occurs may eventually reveal itself to have been the seed of a blessing. And of course I also see that a wish fulfilled at a certain point might come back to haunt us later on. This is all part of the Quest.
The many local participants joined us afterward for singing, dinner & conversation. And then, as part of the AGM, we honored Alberto Loya for his 13 years of dedicated service to the Central Region as a CRC member. Attendees in person & via Zoom, which included four CRC alum, shared memories & tributes. Many remarked on his joyous equanimity & servant leadership. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us, Alberto!
We also welcomed Mary Mertz of Salina, Kansas to the CRC. She has been working with the Council for the last year & looks forward to collaborating with members all over the Central Region.
We thanked Camille Vettraino for her work with the CRC over the past year, & introduced Michael Gratsch, of Pinckney, MI, as our newest coworker.
After some lovely moments by the fire-pit, enjoying meals in the backyard & around town, the newly formed CRC team ended our retreat with a Socratic walkabout in the local Arboretum, solidifying future plans to connect with & serve the Region.
We are grateful to the staff at the Rudolf Steiner House for hosting us, & to all who were able to attend the workshop & AGM. We look forward to our continued work together.
May the words of Angelus Silesius with which we ended our pageant continue to resonate: “May wisdom shine through us May love grow within us May strength penetrate us That in us may arise Helpers of humankind Servants of the holy things Steadfast and true.”
~The Central Regional Council: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg (IL), Lisa Dalton (TX), Mary Mertz (KS), working with Michael Gratsch (MI)
20 July 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Tonight the last-quarter Moon will rise around Midnight with Jupiter to her upper right – moving as the night progresses between Jupiter and Mars – high in the southeast. Bella Luna is in her last quarter.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul; The Free Social Encyclopedia)
~hag
According to Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul today is the Feast Day of the Prophet Elijah (John the Baptist, Raphael, Novalis)
Roots and Renewal – An online series hosted by the Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America
Join us for an exciting series where we will turn our attention toward the 100-year renewal and celebration of anthroposophy. On July 21 we will kick off the series and begin to mark significant milestones of this 100-year jubilee! We hope you will join the Eastern, Central, and Western Regional Councils as they host this engaging program.
What: An online series marking significant milestones in the 100-year renewal of anthroposophy
Where: Online through Zoom. Recordings will be shared via email.
When: July 21, 2022 at 3pm PT/ 4pm MT/ 5pm CT/ 6pm ET
Future dates are September 16 and October 16, 2022 *More details below
Contribution: Free! All donations are gratefully accepted to support the work of the regional councils.
SESSION 1: From Artemis to the Representative of Humanity and Beyond
July 21, 2022 at 3pm PT/ 4pm MT/ 5pm CT/ 6pm ET
Join the Regional Councils of the ASA to explore the connections between the burning of the Temple of Ephesus, the birth of Alexander the Great on 21 July 356 BC., and the burning of the 1st Goetheanum 100 years ago in 1922. This session will be enlivened with group eurythmy, singing, and break-out sessions. This session will be recorded and emailed after the live presentation.
We will be working with a compilation of Rudolf Steiner’s insights from these lectures:
SESSION 2: 100 years with the ‘Movement for Religious Renewal’16 September 1922 – 2022
A panel of Christian Community Priests from the Regions, including Rev. Craig Wiggins
September 16, 2022 at 3pm PT/ 4pm MT/ 5pm CT/ 6pm ET
SESSION 3: The Founding of ‘The Esoteric Youth Group’16 October 1922 – 2022
A snapshot into the biographies of the original members of the Circle. From The Esoteric School – Esoteric Lessons 1913-1923, in the collected works of Rudolf Steiner
October 16, 2022 at 3pm PT/ 4pm MT/ 5pm CT/ 6pm ET
“You know that among the many clichés which became current in the nineteenth century, it was said that the great pioneer of the nineteenth century closed his life by calling out to posterity: “More light!” As a matter of fact Goethe did not say “More light!” He lay on his couch breathing with difficulty and said: “Open the shutters!” That is the truth. The other is the cliché that has connected itself with it. The words Goethe really spoke are perhaps far more apt than the mere phrase “More light”. The state of things at the end of the nineteenth century does indeed arouse the feeling that our predecessors have closed the shutters. Then came the younger generation; they felt cramped; they felt that the shutters which the older generation had closed so tightly must be opened. Yes, my dear friends, I assure you that although I am old, I shall tell you more of how we can now attempt to open the shutters again.” ~ Rudolf Steiner – GA 217 – THE YOUNGER GENERATION – Lecture 1 – Dornach, 3 October 1922
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 Initiative2:30 -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
