Category Archives: Celestial Event

Perseus

August 10, 2023Celestial Event, Upcoming Event~hag

What can we acquire in our present age from ancient myth & legend? Every year we have the Perseid meteor shower to awaken us from our Summer slumber. Perseus is the oldest of the Greek heroes, 3 generations before Hercules, long before the Trojan War.

~Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze statue in Florence

The Perseus legend was a favorite subject in painting & sculpture – the earliest scenes from mythology appearing in art.

His tale in a nutshell: Acrisius, the king of Argos, had a beautiful daughter named Danae. The king was told by the Oracle of the Sun god Apollo that Danae’s son would take over his fertile land. To thwart the prophecy, Acrisius imprisoned his daughter in a bronze, underground chamber.

~The amorous adventures of Zeus. Danae Gubaidullin Raushan

But Zeus came to the entombed Danae in the form of a shower of golden light entering thru a crack in the roof of her chamber. And Perseus was the demigod offspring of this unusual union between Zeus, the King of the gods, taking advantage of the Sun god’s omen, to appear as a shower of golden light, & Danae, a human being from the fertile plain – Princess of the golden agricultural Argos of ancient Greece.

~Walter Crane

Perseus had a calling. Aided by Hermes & the Goddess Athena, he pressed the Graiae, the prophetic witch sisters of the Gorgons, into helping him by seizing the one eye & one tooth that the sisters shared between them – not returning it until they provided him with winged sandals (which enabled him to fly), the cap of Hades (which conferred invisibility), a curved adamant sickle-sword, to decapitate Medusa, & a bag in which to conceal her serpent head. Since the gaze of Medusa turned all who looked at her to stone, Perseus guided himself by the reflection in a shield given to him by the wise Athena. He beheaded Medusa, the only Gorgon who was mortal, when she was asleep. From the blood that spurted from her neck sprang Chrysaor & Pegasus, her two sons by Poseidon. He then returned to Seriphus, where his mothe Danae had taken refuge, to rescue her by turning the wicked ruler Polydectes & his supporters to stone at the sight of Medusa’s head.

A further deed attributed to Perseus was his rescue of the Ethiopian princess Andromeda when he was on his way home with Medusa’s head. Andromeda’s mother, Cassiopeia, had claimed to be more beautiful than the sea nymphs, so Poseidon punished Ethiopia by flooding & plaguing it with a sea monster. An oracle informed Andromeda’s father, King Cepheus, that the ills would cease if he exposed Andromeda to the monster, which he did. Perseus, passing by, saw the princess, & fell in love with her. He turned the sea monster to stone by showing it Medusa’s head, & went on to marry Andromeda.

Later Perseus gave the Gorgon’s head to Athena, who placed it on her shield. He gave his other accoutrements, including most notably the winged sandals, to Hermes. He then accompanied his mother back to her native Argos, where, as fate would have it, he accidentally struck her father, Acrisius dead when throwing the discus, thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would kill his grandfather.

The chief characters in the Perseus legend, Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Pegasus, & the sea monster (Cetus), all figure in the night sky as constellations.

This is the peak weekend to receive, like Danae, the shooting stars which can turn wishes into the birthing of deeds. Perseus, a reflection of the mighty Archai Michael, must be reborn in us. We must cut off the head of the old way of thinking where the fates bind us, so we can consciously ‘Speak with the Stars’, thru the heart – in freedom – upholding Wisdom, with healing wings. Then we can reveal the underworld, & forge the golden light into an iron will for good.

~hag

10 August 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Perseid meteors have been streaking through Earth’s atmosphere since mid-July. But the moon is now waning, just in time for the shower’s peak on the mornings of August 11, 12 and 13. ~earthsky

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Ultra-Violet Archer – winner of the first annual Sound Opinions Music Prize

~Dali

Sunday 13 August 2023 – Prep-Stir – Potluck – Bonfire –

*To celebrate The 2^nd Harvest = Lammas

*The Perseid Meteor Showers, Venus/Sun Conjunction

*The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

*And a bon voyage Blessing for Ultra-Violet Archer

7 – 9 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile

Please Bring Food & Drink to share, & a jar for the prep

RSVP Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

“Love is…(part 5)

July 30, 2023Biography, Calendar of the Soul, Celestial Event, Community, History, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

“Love is the result of Wisdom that has been reborn in the I”

This shimmering Steiner Quote is one of my guiding lights. When I saw it included in the promo for “The Mysteries of Healing: Realizing Anthroposophia” Conference, It was one more reason I knew I had to go.

Here are my reflections so far: part 1 – part 2 – part 3 – part 4

As I mentioned yesterday The Arts have a very enlivening, community building, therapeutic effect. Every day we had group singing. The evolutionary piece entitled ‘Ahura Mazdao’ given by Diane Barnes was a treasure to work with. (Diane gave me a copy of the music to work with, so excited, thank you)

From Rudolf Steiner: “…Let us try to condense into simple language the doctrines which Zarathustra tried to inculcate into his disciples. He spoke thus: “Man, as we perceive him, is not merely composed of a physical body, for this physical body is but the outer manifestation of the Spirit. Just as the physical body is nothing but the manifested crystallisation of the Spiritual in man, so the Sun, in so far as it is a body of luminous matter, is nothing but the external body of a spiritual Sun.” The spiritual part of man is spoken of as the “Aura” — or “Ahura,” to use the old expression — in distinction to his physical body and in the same sense the spiritual part of the physical Sun may be called the “Great Aura,” for it is all-embracing. Zarathustra called that which lies behind the physical Sun, Aura Mazda or Ahura Mazdao — the Great Aura. With this spiritual essence behind the Sun, all spiritual experiences and conditions are bound up, just as the existence and well-being of plants, animals and all that lives on Earth are bound up with the physical Sun. Behind the physical Sun lives the spiritual Lord and Creator, Ahura Mazdao. This is the derivation of the name “Ormuzd,” Spirit of Light. While the Indians searched mystically in the inner self to find Brahma, the Eternal, shining like a luminous centre in man, Zarathustra pointed his disciples to the great periphery, showing them that the mighty Spirit of the Sun, Ahura Mazdao, the Spirit of Light, dwelt in the physical body of the Sun. Ahura Mazdao has to face his enemy — Ahriman, the Spirit of Darkness — just as man, who bears within himself the enemies of his good impulses, strives to raise his real spiritual being to perfection and has to battle against his lower passions, desires, and the delusive images of lying and falsehood.” ~ Rudolf Steiner, GA 60 ZARATHUSTRA

We had a session of Eurythmy with Linda Larson. And Therapeutic Speech with Molly McIntire, who right away announced: ‘Clear speaking forms the organs’, & I could feel myself standing more upright.

We worked to harmonize our breathing, realizing that Rhythmic Speaking has an ordering effect. Long short, or short, long – the heartbeat.

Dynamic Speaking – Frees & strengthens – Alliteration helps us breathe the stars down to the earth. This is the Nordic Stream.

Stylistic Speaking has an awakening effect. There are different styles, Lyric, Epic, Dramatic. So much fun.

And Gesture-Filled Speaking has a purifying effect.

Active – Straight line, quick to the point
Thoughtful – Self-Centered, rounder tones
Seeking – Asking/Begging
Standing your ground – Holding off Blocking
Antipathy – Flying away
Sympathy – Reaching out, Gentle

We did lip sounds relating to the “I” to free the Feeling life, P,B,F,M,W

Tongue & Teeth Sounds to enliven Astral Thinking T,D,N,S,F,TH,L,

Plate -Back of the Mouth Sounds for the Etheric will, Cg,Ng, eRRR

How powerful Steiner’s Speech & Drama Course of 1924, must have been, where he describes the revelation of speech as relating to the Greek Gymnastics. Every time we speak, the words run, leap off the diaphragm, wrestle off the vocal cords, hit the discus of the tongue, to fly like the javelin out the mouth with intention toward the goal, landing the target like a shot-put.

I loved working with Molly, I look forward to collaborating with her in the future.

Everyday I am feeling better. Thanks for all your well wishes

xox

~hag

30 July 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks today, although the brightening Moon will make spotting shower meteors a challenge. Fortunately, the Moon sets about three hours before sunrise, providing a short but effective window for trying to catch early-morning meteors. An hour before sunrise, the radiant is above the southwestern horizon. The Southern Delta Aquariids’ radiant lies in Aquarius, about halfway between the star 3rd-magnitude Skat and the similarly bright star Deneb Algedi in eastern Capricornus. This year, however, there’s another landmark to help you find it: Saturn is above (northeast of) the radiant. So, you can find Saturn in the sky and drop down a little to locate the point from which shower meteors will appear to radiate.

However, once you’ve found this point, look a little south or west of it — this is where you’re likely to spot the best meteors with the longest trains, rather than at the radiant itself. The Southern Delta Aquariids are expected to produce roughly 25 meteors per hour around the peak, so while it’s not going to be a stunning show, you can expect to catch at least a few bright shooting stars.

Sunrise: 5:57 A.M.
Sunset: 8:16 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:08 P.M.
Moonset: 2:54 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (94%) ~astronomy.com

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

Karl König described the Soul Calendar’s 4 quarters as 4 voices:
1 – the Tenor, with sense perception conceiving spirit;
2 – the Baritone, with imaginative insight incarnating spirit;
3 – the Soprano, with inspiration for the spirit’s Christmas birth;
4 – the Alto, with intuitive love for a new spring world.
And in these pivotal, mirror verses of the Cosmic Word
I’ve put in the words, not present in the original,
of imagine & inspire (& intuit in v43, v17’s opposite)

LAMMAS
The Bread
v17
The Cosmic Word,
I’ve had the grace to lead
through senses’ gates to soul ground, speaks:
‘Imagine in your spirit’s depths my world expanse
to find in future Me in you’.

ADVENT III
The Wine
v36
The Cosmic Word,
mysteriously urging to be heard,
is speaking in my depths of being:
‘Inspire your life’s endeavour with my spirit light
to sacrifice yourself through Me’.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

TODAY 30 July in 1894- Birthday of Ernst Lehrs a German anthroposophist, science teacher in the 1^st Waldorf School in Stuttgart, lecturer & writer. Having fought in World War I, he then studied science & graduated with a PhD in 1923. In 1935 he moved to The Netherlands, where he worked as a teacher, before moving to Britain as a Jewish refugee from the Nazis. In 1952 he returned to Germany & worked as a lecturer at the newly established course in anthroposophic special education in Eckwälden, where he remained until his death.

In his important work “Man and Matter”, Ernst Lehrs talks about how today’s researcher is an uninvolved spectator, he reveals not only how science has led inescapably to the illusions it believes in today, but more important how we may correct in ourselves the misconceptions science brings into our views through today’s education, giving us a spiritual understanding of nature based on the work of Goethe; which requires an activation of the cognitive consciousness, leading the true researcher back to themselves.

Ernst Lehrs was a personal pupil of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, one of the 12 founding members of the Esoteric Youth Circle, which celebrated its 100 year anniversary on 16 October 2022.

Written by Ernst Lehrs a few days after the burning of the 1^st Goetheanum: “His (Rudolf Steiner’s) open criticism in various directions concerning the Society & the various activities within it in the weeks leading up to the fateful Christmas-New Year’s time, made one clear about the fact that it was due to the failure on the part of the Society that the necessary spiritual protection was missing from the building. Yet, it was out of an experience of this failure that the impulse for the Youth Course arose, as well as what led to the coming about of our specific endeavor. Thus the idea arose among us that we should ask Rudolf Steiner if, & how we could contribute to the Anthroposophical Society ‘consolidating’ itself again – as one of us put it. With this in mind, we asked to be allowed to speak with him. In the Glass House, on January 3, 1923, we asked about our helping toward consolidation of the Society, Rudolf Steiner answered in a calm tone with emphatic earnestness; “Just keep yourselves consolidated, & the Society will be consolidated.” Then he gave the advice that we should sit together on a regular basis & in symposium-like conversations, reflect again & again upon the foundational impulse of our group.”

“How can I do the Good?”

July 25, 2023Biography, Celestial Event, History, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

Greeting Friends – I am fresh from “The Mysteries of Healing: Realizing AnthropoSophia” Conference, put on by the AHA, spearheaded by Dr. Melissa Greer of Carah Medical Arts, a non-profit, Community-supported practice, working with Social 3-folding. In Gaelic Carah means “friend”. In Welsh it means “love” between friends and neighbors. In Indonesian it means “the way” and “wise”.

The Steiner verse spoken each day by Molly McIntyre set the soul mood:

“Wisdom in the Spirit
Love in the Soul
Power in the Will:
They guide me
They hold me
I trust them.
I offer myself to them”.

More than 80 dedicated Anthro doctors, therapists, various practitioners & inter-related souls, gathered on the sacred land of Camphill Soltane to ask “How can I do the Good?”.

The impulse to renew the ancient mysteries of healing brought by Ita Wegman to Rudolf Steiner 100 years ago, was alive & palpable.

August 1923 was a profound turning point for the ‘Movement’, which led to the new founding of the Society, with Rudolf Steiner uniting us to AnthropoSophia at the Christmas Conference.

During that potent time in Penmaenmawr = “Head of the Great Stone”, & Ilkley – there on the North coast of Wales, dotted with ancient Neolithic pre-Druidic ritual sites – & more than 250 large spirals, & a curved swastika carved into the rocky outcroppings, a break-thru occurred for Rudolf Steiner & Dr. Ita Wegman.

Connecting to the healing impulse radiating there brought further evidence of the ‘Northern stream‘, described often by Spiritual Science & in Germanic mythology – giving us glimpses into the Druidic, Trotten & Hibernian mystery school traditions.

The Druid Priests in particular were healers, working with the elemental realms to create remedies & medicines. This is captivatingly described by Steiner in THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS, 26 August 1923, Penmaenmawr & in other lectures including: MAN IN THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE: “The actions of the sun on plants was revealed to the Druid Priest; he could see that a particular kind of plant-life flourishes at a particular time when the sun is active in a particular way. He could trace the spiritual activity of the sun and see how it pours and streams into flower, leaf and root; and it was the same with animals...We see it best of all in what the Druid priests possessed as a science of healing.”

Interesting to contemplate the connection between the veneration of the Druid Priests working with mistletoe, a parasitic plant that never touches the earth, intwining instead around a mighty oak tree – & the fact that Ita Wegman was one of the first to use Mistletoe (Viscum album) as a healing remedy for cancer.

Thinking of the Druids as a Priest – as well as a Healer, made me recall the Pastoral Medicine lectures – which Steiner gave just a few days after he had returned from Penmaenmawr…!

Are not the Priests Healers, & the Doctors Priests…?

Yes, I know – at that time Steiner saw the 2 streams as being separate. But more & more it seems we are being called to marry the streams. Perhpas when Ita Wegman asks her question, she is seeing a more integrated reality – a true renewal of the ancient mysteries. Dr. Ursula Flatters mentioned that according to her journals, Ita Wegman had been mulling over this question for 10 years.

During the various talks by Dr.’s Ursula Flatters, James Dyson, Marion Debus – many times their experience showed that to “do the Good” we have to let go of our ego-driven-human-will; this opens the space for the inspiration & intution of our Higher “I” – Anthroposophia, & the Holy Spirit to enter-in the work of healing.

More about that soon.

In ‘Mysterien- und Geisteschichte der Menschheit’, Gunther Wachsmuth reports what was experienced by Rudolf Steiner at the stone circle now known as the ‘Twelve Apostles’, on Ilkley Moor, constructed over 9000 years ago.

And in “The Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner.” Wachsmuth writes: “During his trips to England, In Penmaenmawr, Steiner visited a Druid circle: In keeping with the spiritual atmosphere of the place, the conversation centered on the Mysteries of the Druids and their opposite pole in Europe, the cult of Mithras, by which the Southern Mysteries were contrasted to the Northern Mysteries seen here. Before Steiner’s spiritual eye the ancient Druid culture came to life upon the spot. Indeed he himself seemed to change into a Druid priest, speaking with intimate knowledge and understanding as he began to explain the arrangement and the function of the stones, a unique and strange picture, as now in the loneliness of this lofty plateau Rudolf Steiner entered into the midst of the Druid circle. He told me to lift my gaze above the stones towards the mountain peaks surrounding the plateau, and described to me, with an intensity in his retrospect as if the event were occurring at that moment, how once the Druid priests, through viewing the signs of the zodiac passing along the horizon in the course of the year, were able to experience the spiritual cosmos, the beings within it, and their mandates to humanity.”

From Rudolf Steiner a month later in MICHAELMAS AND THE SOUL-FORCES OF MAN: “…In the immediate vicinity of Penmaenmawr were to be found two such sun-circles adjoining each other; and in this particular neighborhood, where even in the spiritual life of nature there is so much that has a different effect from that of nature elsewhere, what I have set forth in various anthroposophical lectures concerning the Druid Mysteries could be tested with the utmost clarity.

There is indeed a quite special spiritual atmosphere in this region where — on the island of Anglesea — the Society of King Arthur had a settlement…

…these sun-circles are arranged in the number twelve, like the twelve signs of the zodiac; and on the mountain we had climbed we found a large sun-circle and nearby a smaller one. If one had ascended, perhaps in a balloon, and looked down upon these two Druid circles, ignoring the insignificant distance between them, the same ground plan would have presented itself — there is something profoundly moving about this — as that of the Goetheanum in Dornach which was destroyed by fire.”

Steiner’s “Druidenstein painting“,“ which he gifted to Ita Wegman after their experiences in Penmaenmawr, depicts the shimmering etheric & astral overlay powerfully resonate there, shown in dramatic stages.

I’m sure there are others better able than myself to share a Spiritual Scientific artistic study of the color details & what the images all represent, so I’ll just emphasize that for me, this imagination describes the Druid Priests being able to perceive The Mystery of Golgotha – written on the Sun-drenched tapestry of the elemental world, & in the stellar script, at the Turning Point of Time. A fulfillment of the teachings foreseen for thousands of years in the ancient Mystery Schools. The Cosmic Christ had taken human incarnation, & thru the medicine of his blood permeating the body of the Earth, a healing seed was set into all realms which they perceived.

I picture The Druid Priests working deeply in a sort of ‘biodynamic’ way with the earth thru their healing practices, to prepare the way in the far distant future, for our Earth to become a New Sun…

These potent imaginations along with my impressions of the conference will continue to unfold in a series of essays that I will strive to assemble before I go off to the AAP training 1-8 August…

Until soon

~hag

25 July 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Look for Bella Luna as the 1st quarter Moon near the bright star Spica in Virgo the Maiden.

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
On Saturday the sun entered the sign of Leo,
whose Eurythmy gesture is Enthusiasm,
THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE YEAR
The Spirit’s Treasure
v16
My foresight is commanding me
to harbour inwardly the spirit’s gift
that God’s fruit ripen
in ground of soul
for Selfhood’s harvest.

In the mirror verse the sun enters the sign of Capricorn.
WINTER SOLSTICE – ADVENT IV
The Midnight Sun
v37
My heart anointed impulse strives
to bear the spirit light
into world-winter-night
that shining seeds of soul
take root in cosmic ground,
and in the senses’ dark
God’s all-transfiguring Word resound

Syzygy

July 17, 2023Celestial Event, Festival, Upcoming Event~hag

Greetings dear friends on this New Moon in Gemini – the constellation of the Twins

We have an opportunity to tune into the tide of etheric forces waving in to nourish the Cosmic Seed of manifestation that is available to us now. This syzygy of Sun & Moon is in conjunction with the head of Pollux – the Immortal Twin of Gemini – the boxer – the protective warrior, part of our “I” that can help us confront the current opposition with Pluto reflecting our unconscious shadow side.

Tomorrow I leave for another spiritual adventure at Camphill Soltane, in Glenmoore PA, for the 2023 AHA Biennial Conference: “The Mysteries of Healing: Realizing AnthropoSophia”. So I will be off-line until next week. Although, because…

Saturday 22 July is the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene I have prepared a surprise!

Actually I was the one surprised on my birthday by Velsum (who are on tour right now on the East coast!) They made a magical video of the song we wrote together, which they performed during our Easter Festival: “Mary Magdalene & the Women at the Tomb”. I had hoped they would re-record it since the sound on the live stream we did on Holy Saturday did not capture its true essence.

I have set it up on my YouTube channel to Premier on MM’s Feast Day at 12 am.

I believe that if you go to the page you can turn on the notification to receive this resplendent gift that keeps on giving, at that time…

Why does Mary Magdalene resonate with so many of us these days? What image comes to mind when you hear her name?… A woman with long red hair holding a vessel of Spikenard ointment, or a skull, & book? Who is this ‘She, who anoints ‘The Anointed One’ – Do you see her as a holy witness – holding sacred space at the rocky entrance to the tomb? And before that for her brother Lazarus/John while he was in the underworld communing with John the Baptist as part of the first Christian Initiation…? Or maybe what speaks to you is the fact that she was the 1st to see the Risen Christ, initially as the Gardener – spiritual symbol of the cultivation of a New Garden of Paradise – a New Adam & Eve, a New humanity in the New Jerusalem that can come to be, because of the Resurrection…Perhaps you resonate with the 3 Mary’s –depicted as The Sacred Myrrh Bearers, who used essential oils to assist the dead at the threshold…

In the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, she uses the Greek word Anthropos, which means the true human being – So maybe we can see her as the 1st AnthropoSophia – vested with the authority of the Risen One to proclaim the good news of the Resurrection to the rest of the disciples. This is the image that lived in ‘The Angelic Doctor’ – our dear Thomas Aquinas, who named her ‘The Apostle of the Apostles’.

Or maybe you are familiar with her many legends that speak of her life after Pentecost? Do you see her holding a red egg, or being ministered by the Angels outside her hermits cave…?

For me, Art is a powerful way to unlock the essence of spiritual truth, which speaks directly to our soul, as well as helping to reveal the spiritual science of these mysteries. And Velsum’s powerful video of “The Santifier” opens us to the eternal Being of Mary Magdalene & her significance for us today Enjoy.

Until soon

Xox

~hag

Temple, Heart, Fire

July 10, 2023Biography, Calendar of the Soul, Celestial Event, Community, History, Upcoming Event~hag

~Franck Giraud

In this life, I am, at the core a solitary person – inwardly inclined. A meditant. Socially shy & awkward. And yet on the one side – my choleric nature makes me an active seeker – ever striving to unveil the New Mysteries, so folks often see me as a fiery extrovert. But my watery melancholic side is very much an introverted devotee – a contemplative hermit in service to the Christic Sophia. I AM, an ‘As above so Below’ – ‘Know Thyself’ introspector – a rhythmic cultivator of the Anthroposophia within.

So when I do a presentation, or attend a conference, or go out in public in anyway, I really have to psych myself up. (In the tropical Zodiac I am a double Cancer with a Pisces Moon)

Being a student of Spiritual Science I know I must come out of my shell to be ‘a person of initiative’ – that all the inner work must be tried on the stage of humanity – in karmic relationship – in community.

I thoroughly resonate to this Adam Bittleson quote:

“In the new mysteries the whole earth becomes an altar…Our friends & colleagues become for us, the terrible & wonderful actors in the ceremony of our initiation.”

So interesting that the Conference I have just returned from – a 101 year celebration of the founding of The Christian Community, was called ‘Fire in the Heart’. In my mind these words are a kind of continuation from the title of the ASA Conference I spearheaded called: ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’. And perhaps a precursor for the upcoming play “Fire in the Temple” a Centennial offering dramatizing Rudolf Steiner’s final months – & a showing of us to ourselves.

I am living into this juxtaposition of the words: Temple, Heart, Fire…It feels very Rosicrucian – Alchemical – Perfect for our time now.

Without going into the details of the conference with all its glory – from the Spirit of Place that is the Driftless Region of the Heartland – The powerful effect of participating daily in the Act Consecration & Close of Day services with 3 Priests & our Lenker – The experiential Art making, the breakout Workshops, Talks, evening Artistic Offerings, good Food & Conversation… I thought instead to digest outloud – sharing what at our Closing Plenum was called: a ‘Gem (I think of it as a Flower) & a Seed’ – our personal take away, & our hopes for the future of renewal.

It’s funny, when I was younger it was hard for me to hold back – I had a tendency to stay wide awake while others spoke, not very patiently waiting to have my say. I am still working on this of course. But since I have made it my intention for many years to consciously transform this tendency – to counteract that egotism so that I can really listen – recently what I have found is that I feel caught in-between – Yes, I can more easily yield to the other; but now I have a hard time waking back up to myself after falling asleep in the other – hmmm…

Our current Soul Calendar Verse describes this perfectly:

I find myself being more quiet, letting the space be open for others to speak my thoughts, which is good. I am relating, & the echo is resonate. But sometimes it feels like my unique experience, which is hard to access, let alone express in a sound bite, is left unrevealed.

(I guess that’s why I have this blog & podcast & do presentations eh 😉

This is the eve of the eve of my natal return, so it feels right to share my introspection. Today’s post is simply the setup for the next few essays in which I will attempt to process this most recent initiatory experience, which is tied into the workshop presentation I gave at the “Fire of the Heart’ Conference, coming from my burning question: ‘How can we tune into the Etheric Christ?’ Which was based on my work with what Steiner calls the ‘After-Image’, & with insights on Empathy & a New Social Ethic from Baruch Urieli’s book “Learning to Experience The Etheric World”.

Stay tuned

~hag

10 July 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Slowly making its way across Leo, Mars passes north of Regulus at 3 am CDT. You can view them this evening in the west after sunset, with the Red Planet now slightly northeast of the star. If you’re in a dark location, you can use Venus and Mars as guides to find the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system. It’s along this plane that dust from past cometary passes settles, scattering sunlight to create the zodiacal light. Once darkness falls, look for a faint, cone-shaped glow extending along the ecliptic, spreading upward from Cancer through Leo. The ecliptic continues along the sky and passes just north of Spica, Virgo’s bright alpha star, which lies east of Leo.

Sunrise: 5:40 A.M.
Sunset: 8:30 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:40 A.M.
Moonset: 2:02 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (43%)

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul; The Present Age, Wikipedia)

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856. The 10th of July is celebrated as #TeslaDay - a great day for students to learn about … | Science curriculum, Tesla, Science

Nikola Tesla Day

138 – Deathday of Emperor Hadrian, Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian is known for building Hadrian’s Wall, which marked the northern limit of Britannia. He also rebuilt the Pantheon & constructed the Temple of Venus & Roma. An admirer of the Greeks, he is considered by some to have been a humanist, & he is regarded as one of the Five Good Emperors.

Described by T.H. Meyer as being a former incarnation of Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz – the first to be informed by Rudolf Steiner about his idea of a social threefold structure , alongside Otto Lerchenfeld & Walter Johannes Stein . He introduced them to the governments of Austria & the Czech Republic thru his brother Arthur, head of the cabinet of Emperor Charles I.

In 1935 Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz tried to prevent the split in the Anthroposophical Society ; after he failed to do so, he resigned in 1936 & worked as a freelance publicist & lecturer until his death.

165 – Deathday of Felicitas of Rome is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. A legend presents her as the mother of the seven martyrs: Alexander, Vitalis, Martialis, Januarius, Felix, Philip, Sylvanus. In Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul we see listed for today the Fairy Tale The Seven Ravens (Sieben Bruder) by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

1212 –London burns to the ground

Nikola Tesla quote: The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will...

1856 – Birthday of Nikola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, & futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system

1871 – Birthday of Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, & essayist

1921 –‘Bloody Sunday’: 160 people are killed & 161 houses destroyed during rioting & gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland

1923 – Rudolf Steiner invites L. Polzer-Hoditz to Belin to discuss Threefolding. (See above about the Emperor Hadrian)

1925 – Scopes Trial: the so-called “Monkey Trial” – a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world

1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.

1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. As many as 60,000 people come to hear Dr. King as well as Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, & Peter, Paul and Mary.

1975 – Deathday of Marie Savitch – One of eurythmy’s pioneers, Marie Savitch was director of the Goetheanum stage group for many years and oversaw much of the early development of eurythmy.