Category Archives: Community

Festival of Offering

Biography, Calendar of the Soul, Community, Festival, History, Upcoming Events

Greetings & Happy New Year Dear Friends – While I was at the ‘Fire in the Temple’ Holy Nights Gathering, my soul was filled with life changing spiritual treasures which I have been eager to spill from the fullness of my loving cup. But somehow I couldn’t find the words that would begin to convey this powerful social & deeply evocative experience.

Camphill Beaver Run in Pennsylvania, is in the same neck of the woods where I travel for my AAP trainings at Camphill Kimberton – located in what some folks call the ‘Keystone’ or ‘Quaker’ State outside the City of Brotherly Love, where the Appalachian Mountains run thru the center, with the Allegheny & Pocono mountains rolling thru the Camphill communities rich with Biodynamic agriculture & the selfless impulse of service initiated by Dr. Karl Konig.

I always travel a day before the convergence commences – It gives me a chance to commune with the Spirit of Place & get a lay of the land. The weather was super mild & sunny, so I hiked around, drawn to a flowing brook where I strongly felt the aura of the indigenous Lenape of the Algonquin Tribe, whose name means “the real people”.

Later in conversation at the Whitestone house where I was staying, I had a long conversation with a co-worker & teacher at the Karl Konig School. I learned that when Dr. Konig went on a lecture tour to Silesia he met & married Tilla Maasberg, who was a Moravian. It was thru her that Konig was brought into a deep connection with the social & religious impulses of the “Herrnhut” brotherhood which was dear to Tilla.

The village of Herrnhut “The Lord’s Watch,” came about thru a little band of Moravian fugitives asking if they might take asylum on the land of Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf, who agreed to shelter them on his estate.

Count Zinzendorf was dismayed at the division between denominations & longed to unite the different factions in a spiritual peace. He was the first to speak of “Ecumenism.”

Herrnhut become a gathering place for many religious exiles. Folks spoke different languages – customs & creeds varied. Lutherans, Schwenkfelders, Separatists, Reformed & Brethren, lived side by side. As we might well imagine, squabbles developed. But then the community began a Bible study, holding all-night prayer vigils where they could confess & confront their sins in good will with one another, to work thru their karma. The community established “bands” – groups of 2 or more who would commune together encouraging each other spiritually.

The Holy Spirit moved thru their hearts, & the differences dissolved. Folks embraced one another in forgiveness & a spirit of love. Christ became central to their thinking.

They established a 24 hour around-the-clock prayer vigil which lasted one hundred years!

The Herrnhut Brotherhood was a busy & industrious community fostering arts & crafts & team work: spinning, weaving, carpentry, pottery, & farming…

Herrnhut became a remarkable experiment in what a Christian community could be, as well as a major catalyst for social reform. Dr. Konig brought some of this impulse into his anthroposophical Camphill intiative.

I knew Karl Konig had been in an internment camp with several other Anthroposophists, where he worked on his drawings for the Calendar of the Soul, but I had not known about this piece of history. It was fascinating to learn that he was introduced to this stream. I am always amazed how our biographies bring us into contact with various people & influences that go on to form the destiny of our lives.

I carried this enlightening conversation deeply into my thinking, & found this powerful impulse living thru my experience of the “Festival of Offering” which we were invited to participate in twice during the gathering.

This service is held every week at Beaver Run in the magnificent Rainbow Hall – a mini Goetheanum with a vaulted stage dome that has colored windows, which they open for color therapy sessions twice a week.

For the Festival of Offering the stage is set all in red – red curtains in the background, a red altar with a sharply peaked triangular top & 2 thrones with the same shape. In the center in a thick blue frame is ‘The Study of Christ for the last supper’, by Leonardo da Vinci.

Below that are 7 white candles in black holders, taller on the ends, tapering down to the middle. 3 lay people dressed all in black carry the service, which is a sublime evocation that includes prayers & a seasonal Gospel inspired reading. At the end these co-worker officiants come thru the congregation & touch our third eye in a call & response benediction.

This service is full of profound reverence which speaks to the heart of every “I”. What I found most compelling was the magic moments when after looking upon the scene of the red altar, one closes the eyes – & the striking after image pulses in – the red altar becomes pure etheric green – the image of Christ shimmers from blue to purple to red – the center transforms into a Sun filled yellow. The black candle sticks & the 3 servers in black, glow white & yellow with red aura outlines – it’s incredible – awe inspiring – exhilarating!

A veritable training for our etheric vison! I am still holding these images which are forever etched in my mind’s eye, purifying & imprinting these Christened etheric vibrations into all my sheaths.  

Of all the potent content, the loving hospitality, the living example of a healthy co-working community, the deep conversations & connections, of which I will attempt to share over the next days – This Festival of Offering touches me like a flash of revelation that has beckoned me across the Threshold into an active vison of the etheric Christ…

I pray I can continue to carry this revelation into the practical envisioning of the etheric Goetheanum, as we head toward the Centennial renewal of Anthroposophy – the opening of the tomb of Christian Rosenkreutz – giving us the opportunity to read & speak the ‘Temple of the Word’ that was imprinted into the starry script when the ‘Johannes Bau’ became a burnt offering – a sacrifice like the 2nd crucifixion which was an offering that makes possible the opening of our etheric sight. May we all see 2023 as The Year of WE!

~hag

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
Here are the Christmas and New Year verses that I’m sorry I didn’t send Hazel in time for her Christmas Eve post. I hope you’ve all had enlightened Holy Nights, and now at Epiphany may the fiery force of the Cosmic Word arise in you from the heart’s love world, the first of just 3 mentions of love in the Soul Calendar.

CHRISTMAS
The Spirit Child
v38
I feel the Spirit Child set free
from spell in womb of soul;
in heart’s bright radiance
from seed of holy Cosmic Word
the heaven’s fruit of hope
is growing into farthest worlds
rejoicing from my being’s ground of God.

NEW YEAR
The Chalice of the Sense of Self
v39
Devoted to the spirit’s revelation
I win the light of Cosmic Being;
thought’s clarifying power grows
to give me who I am
and waking in me
from thinking’s power Selfhood’s feeling flows.

EPIPHANY
Love’s Offering
v40
And when I am in spirit’s depths
then in my ground of soul
the heart-formed love world fills
my self-bound vain delusions
with power of the World Word’s fire.

The mirror verse:
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”.

Candlemas – a Cross-Quarter Festival Heralding Spring – with Willow Summer & Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Wednesday 25 January 2023 – Program – 3 pm – Potluck – 5 pm, Please Bring Food & Drink to Share

Storytelling: The Alchemy of Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid,

The Year of the Water Rabbit –

Tu B’Shvat –

Rudolf Steiner’s Seed Meditation – from ‘How to Know Higher Worlds’

‘Charm the Plow’ – Bless & Consecrate the Farm tools

Three Springs Community Farm 15300 Bodega Hwy, Bodega, CA 94922

Contact Willow for more info.

Velsum Voices Presents: ‘New Nightingale, New Rose’

A Benefit Concert to support Nancy Jewel Poer and the community events at White Feather Ranch

Saturday, 28 January 2023, at 2 pm PT

In the Peace Garden at White Feather Ranch, Placerville, CA

All Ages – Love Donation – Contribute what you will

Come join us for Velsum’s West Coast Debut!

Dress in warm clothes for a hearty heart-filled afternoon of music and celebration. We will have an outdoor fire. If it is too chilly we can meet in the Ranch House. Pack your own picnic lunch or dinner.

Can’t make the concert? You can still Donate to Nancy’s web site

*RSVP to receive directions to White Feather Ranch  hazel@reverseritual.com

‘Velsum‘ is a musical initiative formed through Lucien Dante Lazar and Ultra-Violet Archer. The songs are inspired to develop our human capacity for Love and Logic. Velsum is a celebration of harmony, rhythm, prayer, and the human voice. Each song is permeated with a sincere interest in the other, the self, the world, and the cosmos. ‘”Velsum’s music is a product of listening.” We hope that by listening to these songs, you feel heard. ~Velsum

Lucien and Ultra met as children at the Chicago Waldorf School, and became friends and collaborators as young adults. They now write, record and perform original music through the initiative Velsum. They debuted the show ‘New Nightingale, New Rose’ last winter at Angelic Organics Farm, and have performed it throughout the Midwest. Through weaving harmonies, poetic recitations, and movement, New Nightingale, New Rose invites the audience on a quest for love and wisdom.  A joyful experience awaits young and old!

Here is a short video clip of Velsum, and here you can find their link to all links! https://linktr.ee/velsum

~Velsum: Ancient Futurism~ Lucien Dante Lazar and Ultra-Violet Archer 

Here is a short video clip of Velsum find them on Instagram, Bandcamp, apple music, soundcloud, spotify, youtube

Ultra-Violet Archer – (b. Chicago, IL, 1999) is a songwriter and music producer, exploring music as a tool for healing and storytelling. After studying at Oberlin College & Conservatory and spending a year in Järna, Sweden, at the International Youth Initiative Program, she currently studies music at Columbia College Chicago. She strives to make music that invites people to honor the parts of themselves they feel but can’t yet put into words.  https://linktr.ee/UltraVioletArcher

Lucien Dante Lazar (b. Chicago, IL, 1994) is an interdisciplinary artist whose praxis is founded in the intersections of art, science, and spirituality. He received his BA from Bard College (2016), his MFA from California College of the Arts (2020), and is currently working on his PhD in the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness program at California Institute of Integral Studies. His dissertation will concern the pedagogy of spiritual development through the diversity of the arts.

The Present

Biography, Community, Festival, Upcoming Event

Blessings dear friends on this eve of the eve of Adam & Eve’s day –
For many years I have offered readings for each of the Holy Nights, but this year I will be at the ‘Fire in the Temple’ conference at Beaver Run in Penn. – fasting from all things cyber.

I will also work with the indications given by Astrosopher Jonathan Hilton in a reverent Speaking with the Stars during this Holy Time out of Time, as well as the Midnight star pictures given by Alan Thewless.

It came to me this afternoon that along with reading Steiner’s 5th Gospel, I will also work with the Gospel of John, as given in the New Testament & from the lectures by Steiner, while exploring how I can link my heart to the 1st Goetheanum inscribed into the ethers after the burning 100 years ago, to work towards a Cosmic New Year, & prepare for the renewal of the Christmas Conference in 2023.

“When Jesus of Nazareth died on the Cross, at that moment there was born for the earth something that was previously to be found only in the Cosmos.

The death of Jesus of Nazareth was the birth of the Cosmic Love within the sphere of the earth.

This is, so to speak, the first knowledge we are able to read from the Fifth Gospel.” ~Rudolf Steiner , THE FIFTH GOSPEL, GA 148, Lecture II

Here is the link to the recording of Adriana’s presentation  The ‘Envy of the Gods’ – The ‘Envy of Human Beings’.

And here is her Power Point Presentation

In this time of reflecting back & looking forward, in my imagination I see the future as a line arcing out in front of us. The past is a line extending behind. But space is curved. So at that mysteries midpoint in the leminscate, the future meets the past – & the eternal circle is joined in wholeness. And guess what? – we call that, The Present – The Now – A sacred space, the place, in time & space, where we can meet ourselves wherever we go. We even meet ourselves when we greet each other. And so we can share this present together, this gift of now, unwrapping it together in the spirit of Peace, Love & Wisdom…

Open to the dark
of the vast universe between stars…
The mystery of the tomb
& the waiting womb

Wrap this darkness gently about you like a comfortable blanket…Float gently now in its depths…Grow here, nourished by an invisible cord that connects you to the Source of all life…Floating gently in the dark…Softly rocking in the dark…And although it is dark, we realize that what surrounds us is not empty, but – like the womb – full of life. Take a moment now to sense the swirling, nurturing energy of the dark.

And now, as the energy increases, there is a spark…& the dark gives birth – See that spark of new life now as it glows, watch that spark now, watch it as it grows. Glowing brighter & brighter, it grows into a flame. And as you look at this flame, its light fills you with warmth…the light fills you with love. And as you feel the increased love & warmth within you, the visible intensity of the flame slowly diminishes, & as it does, in its place, slowly coming to light, is the outline of a present. A gift…Becoming more tangible, until you can see its form clearly. Look how it is wrapped in a glistening filament of light.
This gift has your name on it, inscribed with glimmering fire. Is your name written in a special color? Is the inscription special in any other way? Approach your wrapped present now more closely. What shape is it? How big is it? What color is the wrapping? Pick it up: Is it light? heavy?
And now go ahead, unwrap your gift…How easy or difficult is it to unwrap? Does it take time to reveal itself? Do you need a tool to loosen the binding? Or does the veil just drop away…?

When you finish opening your present….Receive your gift. What is it? Look at it carefully. Experience it fully. Accept it. Accept your gift with joy. Feel your heart warm with the love of this present moment, the continuous universal love with which this gift is given to you again & again.
And now, if it is your will, from your heart, send out gratitude for this gift, send out thanks for this gift, send it out – like light – like a bright beacon back to the Great Mother, back to the Father Ground, out to the Universe – Send out your eternal thanks for this gift of now…

Now, it’s important to find a place for this gift. A safe space where you can access this gift, a place to put this gift to work, so that when you use it, what you share may bless the world, as well as give you the strength you need during the whole of the New Year. What is your gift to the world?

Lighting a candle:
Deep in the ground of the human soul
Of victory assured
The Spirit-Sun is living
All through the winter of the inner life
The faithful heart divines it. ~Rudolf Steiner

See you in the dark
Find you in the light
On Epiphany…
Xox
~hag

Amy Giacomelli.

~Follow the Star~

Epiphany Friday 6 January 2023

Option to Join us 1st for ‘The Word on Fire’- Eurythmy with Jan Ranck 4:30 pm ($25 suggested contribution)

Potluck: 6 pm – Festival: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

To cap the Holy Nights, we gather to co-create an Epiphany on the Birthday of Joan of Arc, recalling the gifts of the Magi, & the Baptism, for an art-full community envisioning of the New Year 2023

Eurythmy with Jan Ranck

Song Circle with Velsum Voices

Leading Thoughts with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Please Bring Food & Drink to Share

$10 more or less Love Donation Encouraged

For more info contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society
4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618 (map)
https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar 
www.rschicago.org/donate

Sun Stands Still

Biography, Celestial Event, Community, Festival, History, Poetry, Upcoming Events, Winter

Welcome Friends on this Winter Solstice 2022 –

Entering into the Longest Night
Entering into the Birth of Light
Consecrating the prophetic Nativity
Of a new Solar year
In Yule-Tide Exultation
In the light of Transformation…

The battle between old & new – Dark & Light…

The Winter Solstice is the dark before the dawn, a time of renewal, giving us the most primordial myths of humankind: In Old Norse mythology, the Sun goddess was swallowed up by the wolf of darkness, but was reborn as her daughter, the maiden goddess of the underworld, who rose again to illumine the world.

In Greece & Rome, midwinter marked the birth of Sun gods, such as Mithras & Dionysus, who died & journeyed into the underworld, winning gifts for humankind before their miraculous rebirth.

Dahlia Khodur

In the Hellenistic world, initiates into the Mysteries of Isis had to undergo a ceremony of death & rebirth in which they entered the underworld to gaze upon the “Sun at Midnight.” This ceremony, which had its origins in ancient Egypt, speaks of the journey of the soul into the fecund depths of the subconscious mind, where we meet the Guardian at the Threshold, which opens to the dark sea of spirit from which all creation comes forth, purified & born anew.

To this day people gather at sacred sites as far apart as Newgrange in Ireland & the temple of Karnak in Egypt, to celebrate the miracle of the Sun’s return at the darkest time of the year – In the pitch-black sanctuaries of caves & earth chambers, to wait for the birth of new light & life.

All ways we must honor the dark before calling in the light.

The esoteric meaning of this time of year can be gleaned from the ancient mystery schools & its essence applied consciously now.

Let each of us journey down into the cave of the soul to drink from the secret well of wisdom & find the hidden flame within the dark – then return bearing our own unique gift of Light for the world.

The hag has gone to seed – & become bone…a fresh soul-frame for the new year. Let us stand in uprightness at the door & dare to open the portal to face the abyss – To release ourselves from the outer world for a sacred moment, that we may invoke our own immaculate conception – That we may surrender to the ‘waking dreaming’ – To celebrate the dark, where the inner life is honored & nurtured by the many Marys within…

The power of Peace – The Birth of Love – The Light of Wisdom

… ‘The wine dark sea’…
… The active dark womb…
… The dark space between the stars…

Let the Power of Faith lead us from the darkness into the birth of our own unique inner light…

The Darkness is coming…
But never fear…
The darkness is coming…
But the light is near…
The darkness is coming…
The darkness is here…

Engel Kunst


The gift of the light (Gesture: Both hands scoop up light & bring it to your heart)
We thankfully take, But nothing may be, Just alone for our sake.
The more we give light (Hands move outward) The one to the other
It shines & spreads life (Arms move out horizontally, spreading light)
Growing still further,
Till every spark is set aflame. (Right hand in front of chest shows the proof of a flame.)
Till every heart, Joy shall proclaim. (Eurythmy Ah — arms up, palms upward)

~hag

21 December 2022 “Speaking with the Stars”: The winter solstice occurs at 3:48 pm CST today.

Mercury reaches greatest elongation east of the Sun (20°) at 9 am CST this morning. The solar system’s smallest planet is visible in the evening twilight.

Nearby, blazingly bright Venus is to Mercury’s west (lower right). Although Venus is closer to the horizon, it’s so bright that it will remain easy to spot until it sets about an hour after the Sun. In just a few days, a delicate crescent Moon will join this pair in the Christmas Eve sky.

Finally, Mars passes north of the bright red giant Aldebaran in Taurus at 10 pm CST tonight.

Sunrise: 7:19 A.M.
Sunset: 4:38 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:22 A.M.
Moonset: 2:55 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (4%)

Resurrection of the Temple (The first Goetheanum) by Rita de Cassia Perez, Adriana’s mother

TONIGHT: The ‘Envy of the Gods’ – The ‘Envy of Human Beings’ Presented by Adriana Koulias*

A Winter Solstice offering preparing us for the Centennial commemoration of the burning of the first Goetheanum.

21 December 2022, at 5 pm PT, 6 pm MT, 7 pm CT, 8 pm ET

Here is a link to the World Clock for your time zone

Online & in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

Dear Friends – This special presentation is supported by your generous donations. $10-$50 or pay what you will www.rschicago.org/donate (credit card or PayPal)

Please type ‘Adriana’ to designate your payment

For those attending in-person doors open at 5:30 pm for our Potluck meal.

Please bring food & drink to share.

For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618(map) https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar www.rschicago.org/donate

You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Adriana Koulias

Time: Dec 21, 2022, 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89586637726

Meeting ID: 895 8663 7726

One tap mobile

+13092053325,,89586637726# US

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Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbtvb8sTRI

 Work on building the First Goetheanum, which was designed and supervised by Rudolf Steiner, began after the laying of the double dodecahedron foundation stone on the 20th of September 1913. Construction proceeded for a decade under enormous difficulties in the political, economic and cultural realms, brought on by the advent of the First World War. After the war when the building was near completion, the First Goetheanum was destroyed by an arsonist on New Year’s Eve 1922/1923.

This NYE 2022-23 will be the 100th anniversary of this event and the world is again facing many difficulties, political, economic and social.  Adriana’s lecture will explore what Rudolf Steiner meant by the ‘Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human beings’ and how a consciousness of this during the coming 12 Holy Nights can provide the necessary strengthening for the coming twelve months.

During this presentation Adriana will speak about the three gifts given by Rudolf Steiner in 1913: The naming of Anthroposophy, The Fifth Gospel, and The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the First Goetheanum. She will explore with us how we can link our hearts to the old Goetheanum during the coming 12 Holy Nights to prepare ourselves for the coming 12 months in 2023, so we can work towards a Cosmic New Year.

In this way we will celebrate the Jubilee of the Christmas Conference and the resurrection of the living impulse of the First Goetheanum in the most auspicious way.

For Rudolf Steiner tells us: ‘My dear friends, may this link our hearts to the old Goetheanum which we had to consign to the elements. May it link our hearts also to the Spirit, to the Soul of this Goetheanum. With this vow before whatever is best within our being we want to live on not only into the new year. In strength of deed, bearing the spirit, leading the soul we want to live on into the new cosmic year.’ ~Rudolf Steiner, ‘The Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human Beings.’

Adriana Koulias was born in 1960 in Brazil. Adriana moved to Australia when she was 9 years old where she lives today. She has studied art, operatic singing and nursing.  She has been studying Anthroposophy (awareness of our humanity) as given by Rudolf Steiner for 33 years and has since 2002-3 integrated this knowledge into several novels and a number of books, international lectures and articles online and in magazines.

Human Wisdom

Calendar of the Soul, Community, Festival, History

Yes, dear Friends we have arrived at The 4th week of Advent.

By meeting the temptations of the first 3 weeks of Advent, we arrive at the Threshold to the Temple of the human being – the doorway to the Higher “I”.

This is the week that resonates with the human kingdom with its challenge to come to know what it means to be truly human.

The human being is an arena of great mystery.

Not only is Advent a time of preparation, an inner exercise of Becoming present, since the word Advent comes from the Latin advenire, we are invited “to arrive”.

But before we can arrive to open the present of Love’s Light – we must make our passage thru Advent, where we meet the fire, water & air trials. Part of this preparation is facing up to the  forces of Lucifer & Ahriman which are actively working in us. Inner & outer obstacles are an essential part of our experience. We must find our human wisdom – & the only way forward is to use the gift of wisdom in service to humanity.

William Adolphe Bouguereau

Gaining insight into ourselves is not an easy task – & it is not meant to be. what’s important is that we plunge willingly into the not knowing – consciously taking the journey towards true knowledge – wisdom of the Self. The Greek word ‘seauton’ speaks of our potential.

This journey of knowing ourselves is a lonely path, & yet it requires interaction with others. We become a mirror to each other. If this causes conflicts with others, it is a clue that we have stirred up a memory of a karmic connection from a former life. If such memories remain unconscious, or are denied, antipathy, & antagonism arises.

Antagonism is our signal to “Know Thyself”. The incarnation of Jesus created antagonism from the moment of birth. The family of the Matthew Jesus had to go to Egypt to escape the massacre of the innocents. And the family of the Luke Jesus had to travel to Bethlehem while Mary was heavy with child – giving birth in a sable!

As we discussed in our work with “Inner Experiences of Evolution” – when we work to “Know Thyself” we may go thru many growing pains, like dealing with rejection, which at its core is like a death. Our growth comes in with how we handle this adversity. Can we see that it gives us an opportunity to change our hearts & minds? What would it be like to transform resentment for those that push our buttons, into immense gratitude for the person who is acting as the catalyst for us to overcome our moral failings?

At the heart of this work is acceptance. We are who we are for a reason. We are in a karmic group for a reason. This reason is embedded in the purpose of our life.

This final week of Advent asks us to stop criticizing human behavior – Instead we can understand that we all have the same “Know Thyself” task – Then Love wells up – the new kind of love that was born in Bethlehem. With this understanding Christmas no longer oscillates between abstract mysticism, sentimentalism or materialism;  it is a practicalopportunity in our lives to give birth (which is painful) to a new aspect of ourselves.

Through the light of the Christ star we are guided to “Know Thyself”. Perhaps like at the altar of the Christian Community Churches, we can picture 2 Christmas trees – For only when the Tree of Life & the Tree of Knowledge become one within us will The Christ be born in the inner manger we are preparing for him.

At the heart of this activity, it is helpful to know that along with the regenerative gifts of the Archangel Gabriel present at this season, upheld by the earnest wisdom of the Archangel Uriel below; we can also experience Michael’s sword which thru our conscious intention separates our lower ego from our Higher Self. This gives us the opportunity to unite thinking, feeling, & willing, in freedom.

The gifts of the Three Kings, which comes as the culmination of the 12 Days of Christmas, reminds us of this.

~hag

18 December 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
ADVENT IV – WINTER SOLSTICE
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.

The sun enters the sign of Capricorn, the bridge between the heights and the depths. In the mirror verse the sun enters the sign of Leo, whose spiritual attitude is flaming enthusiasm, the power to incarnate the spirit’s summer gift in soul ground that soul seeds of the Cosmic Word now root in cosmic ground, transfiguring our feeling for the whole of life and birthing their heavenly fruit, the Spirit Child, our higher Self, at Christmas.

THE SUN ENTERS THE SIGN OF LEO
Enthusiasm For The Spirit’s Gift
v16
My foresight is commanding me
to harbour inwardly the spirit’s gift
that in the ground of soul
divine fruit ripen
for Selfhood’s harvest.

v16 is the week between Saint Johnstide and Lammas.

Next week’s verse, 38, is always in Christmas week,
so this verse is only in the week of the Winter Solstice
when Christmas is between Sunday and Wednesday,
but this impulse to carry the Spirit Light, the Christ Light, into the world
with heightened consciousness for our spiritual work is shining in our hearts
in the days before the solstice for the world’s need at the turning of its time.
It is the first of the seven appearances of the heart between now and verse 48.

what is prana and pranayama? - Matrika Yoga

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

The 1st Night of Hanukkah begin tonight at sunset

1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia & China

1803 – Deathday of Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, & poet – associated with the periods of Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, & Weimar Classicism.

1829 – Deathday of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, biologist, & academic – an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred & proceeded in accordance with natural laws. He gave the term biology a broader meaning by coining the term for special sciences, chemistry, meteorology, geology, & botany-zoology

1863 – Birthday of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Rudolf Steiner has some very interesting things to say about his assassination  

1865 – US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the USA

1878 – Birthday of Joseph Stalin, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union

1879 – Birthday of Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter & educator

1958 – Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched

1966 – Saturn’s moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker

1972 –President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th

1973 –Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev & Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union

1990 – International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers & Members of Their Families is adopted.

1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments

The 4th Sunday of Advent – 18 December 2022 
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 2 pm – 3:30 pm CST 
(after Rev. Jonah Evans talk at the Christian Community)

The Individuality of Conscience and the Goetheanum 
with Lucien Dante Lazar

Out of our conscience, we witness the Christ in the other. And through this Seeing, our I is born within us, whose self-conscious interior is the I of God. This is a mystery of John the Baptist.



When Love enters the human heart as an awakening to freedom, the Wisdom of form enters our awareness, and color, that majesty of Light, teaches us about creation. This is a mystery of the painter Raphael.

When the Word approaches us, inspiring us in our language to find the Heavenly Sophia as intellect, we write truth and honor the New Revelation of the Christ and His marriage to Sophia. And out of this marriage, we learn about ourselves. This is a mystery of Novalis.

On this last Sunday of Advent dedicated to the Human Being & the Angels, we will engage in these three Christian gifts through the social encounter, our working with color, and our thinking through language. And we will strive to harmonize these three incarnations of this significant individuality with the birth, death, and resurrection of the Goetheanum.

$10-$50 or pay what you will at the door or online www.rschicago.org/donate(credit card or PayPal)

For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator 
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map) 
https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar 
www.rschicago.org/donate

Resurrection of the Temple (The first Goetheanum) by Rita de Cassia Perez, Adriana’s mother

The ‘Envy of the Gods’ – The ‘Envy of Human Beings’

Presented by Adriana Koulias*

A Winter Solstice offering preparing us for the Centennial commemoration

of the burning of the first Goetheanum.

21 December 2022, at 5 pm PT, 6 pm MT, 7 pm CT, 8 pm ET

Here is a link to the World Clock for your time zone

Online & in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

Dear Friends – This special presentation is supported by your generous donations. $10-$50 or pay what you will www.rschicago.org/donate (credit card or PayPal)

Please type ‘Adriana’ to designate your payment

For those attending in-person doors open at 5:30 pm for our Potluck meal.

Please bring food & drink to share.

For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618(map) https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar www.rschicago.org/donate

You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Adriana Koulias

Time: Dec 21, 2022, 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89586637726

Meeting ID: 895 8663 7726

One tap mobile

+13092053325,,89586637726# US

+13126266799,,89586637726# US (Chicago)

Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbtvb8sTRI

 Work on building the First Goetheanum, which was designed and supervised by Rudolf Steiner, began after the laying of the double dodecahedron foundation stone on the 20th of September 1913. Construction proceeded for a decade under enormous difficulties in the political, economic and cultural realms, brought on by the advent of the First World War. After the war when the building was near completion, the First Goetheanum was destroyed by an arsonist on New Year’s Eve 1922/1923.

This NYE 2022-23 will be the 100th anniversary of this event and the world is again facing many difficulties, political, economic and social.  Adriana’s lecture will explore what Rudolf Steiner meant by the ‘Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human beings’ and how a consciousness of this during the coming 12 Holy Nights can provide the necessary strengthening for the coming twelve months.

During this presentation Adriana will speak about the three gifts given by Rudolf Steiner in 1913: The naming of Anthroposophy, The Fifth Gospel, and The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the First Goetheanum. She will explore with us how we can link our hearts to the old Goetheanum during the coming 12 Holy Nights to prepare ourselves for the coming 12 months in 2023, so we can work towards a Cosmic New Year.

In this way we will celebrate the Jubilee of the Christmas Conference and the resurrection of the living impulse of the First Goetheanum in the most auspicious way.

For Rudolf Steiner tells us: ‘My dear friends, may this link our hearts to the old Goetheanum which we had to consign to the elements. May it link our hearts also to the Spirit, to the Soul of this Goetheanum. With this vow before whatever is best within our being we want to live on not only into the new year. In strength of deed, bearing the spirit, leading the soul we want to live on into the new cosmic year.’ ~Rudolf Steiner, ‘The Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human Beings.’

Adriana Koulias was born in 1960 in Brazil. Adriana moved to Australia when she was 9 years old where she lives today. She has studied art, operatic singing and nursing.  She has been studying Anthroposophy (awareness of our humanity) as given by Rudolf Steiner for 33 years and has since 2002-3 integrated this knowledge into several novels and a number of books, international lectures and articles online and in magazines.

Hope in the final phase

Community, Festival, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Upcoming Events

Sorry I missed acknowledging The Feast Day of The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary yesterday, my RR site was being held hostage by cyber gremlins…Today is a new day…

In the last essay, Love is Moral, we looked at how we need to bring morality into our intellect NOW – as a preparation for the 6th Cultural epoch to unfold with the virtue of Love. 

In FAITH, LOVE, AND HOPE – GA 130 Steiner goes on to share how Hope is the key to what is needed for the 7th Cultural Epoch “in order to face the next catastrophe, and to begin a new life, just as was done in this present post-Atlantean age.

Thinking on this during the 2nd week of Advent when we consider the Plant Kingdom & the etheric realm with its ‘Water Trial’, this quote raises in me a contemplation of the Great Flood – a great ‘catastrophe’ – a severe trial – that became a new beginning in our evolutionary process. I think on how Christ was baptized with water; & that a baptism by fire comes after, bringing with it the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Wim Carrette

In looking further into what is calling from the future, we can know that, if Hope is not cultivated, if what Spiritual Science has to offer is denied, then when our external culture, with its materialistic proclivity comes to a climax in the 7th – the final phase of the post-Atlantean epoch, bringing with it no fulfilment of Hope, but leaving instead “utter desolation”, people will say:

“We have wireless installations — undreamt of by our ancestors — to transmit our thoughts all over the earth, and what good does it do us? The most trivial, unproductive thoughts are sent hither and thither, and human ingenuity has to be strained to the utmost to enable us to transport from some far distant region, by means of all kinds of perfected appliances, something for us to eat; or to travel at high speeds round the globe. But in our heads there is nothing worth sending from place to place, for our thoughts are cheerless; more-over, since we have had our present means of communication, they have become even more cheerless than when they were conveyed in the old snail-like fashion.” ~Rudolf Steiner

In short, without hope, despair and desolation are all that our civilization can spread over the earth.

But, in the last – the 7th cultural epoch, souls who have accepted the spiritual in life, will become enriched, and rise above the ruins of the external life of culture. Their surety that this acceptance of the spiritual has not been in vain will be a strong force of hope within them — hope that after a great catastrophe a new age will come for human beings, when there will appear in external life, in a new culture, what has already been prepared spiritually within the soul.

And so Steiner ends these lectures on Faith, Love & Hope by assuring us that if we permeate our whole being with Spiritual Science, we will advance step by step: from our age of Faith, which we must cultivate now more than ever, thru the next age of Love, so that the angels can work in our astral body, & then into the final phase of Hope, to give us the strength to navigate thru a purifying catastrophe by fire, which will make way for the New Jerusalem. It’s up to us to do this work consciously. For if we can each do our part – if humanity can take on these virtues – a great teacher & helper will work with us – The Maitreya Buddha – who Steiner calls the “truest, most beautiful, of all human souls”

As always dear friends, See you in the Striving

~hag

9 December 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The waning gibbous Moon this evening forms a big, nearly equilateral triangle with Mars high to its upper right and Capella high above the Moon.

Sunrise: 7:10 A.M.
Sunset: 4:34 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:38 P.M.
Moonset: 8:44 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (98%)

DomenicoTiepolo

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1923 – 1st extract of Rudolf Steiner’s autobiography ‘The Course of My Life’ in Das Goetheanum, with the birthdate of 27 February 1861

Holiday Market at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 
4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
10 December 2022 – from 11 am – 4 pm

Handcrafted gifts, décor & toys
Featuring Live Music, Puppetry & Candle Dipping!!!

If you would like to be a vendor contact Elizabeth Kelly 
eilisaineariadne@gmail.com

The 4th Sunday of Advent – 18 December 2022 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 2 pm – 3:30 pm CST (after Rev. Jonah Evans talk at the Christian Community)

The Individuality of Conscience and the Goetheanum with Lucien Dante Lazar

Out of our conscience, we witness the Christ in the other. And through this Seeing, our I is born within us, whose self-conscious interior is the I of God. This is a mystery of John the Baptist.

When Love enters the human heart as an awakening to freedom, the Wisdom of form enters our awareness, and color, that majesty of Light, teaches us about creation. This is a mystery of the painter Raphael.

When the Word approaches us, inspiring us in our language to find the Heavenly Sophia as intellect, we write truth and honor the New Revelation of the Christ and His marriage to Sophia. And out of this marriage, we learn about ourselves. This is a mystery of Novalis.

On this last Sunday of Advent dedicated to the Human Being & the Angels, we will engage in these three Christian gifts through the social encounter, our working with color, and our thinking through language. And we will strive to harmonize these three incarnations of this significant individuality with the birth, death, and resurrection of the Goetheanum.

$10-$50 or pay what you will at the door or online www.rschicago.org/donate (credit card or PayPal)

For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map) https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar www.rschicago.org/donate

Resurrection of the Temple (The first Goetheanum) by Rita de Cassia Perez, Adriana’s mother

The ‘Envy of the Gods’ – The ‘Envy of Human Beings’

Presented by Adriana Koulias*

A Winter Solstice offering preparing us for the Centennial commemoration of the burning of the first Goetheanum.

21 December 2022, at 5 pm PT, 6 pm MT, 7 pm CT, 8 pm ET Here is a link to the World Clock for your time zone

Online & in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

Dear Friends – This special presentation is supported by your generous donations. $10-$50 or pay what you will www.rschicago.org/donate (credit card or PayPal)

Please type ‘Adriana’ to designate your payment

For those attending in-person doors open at 5:30 pm for our Potluck meal. Please bring food & drink to share.

For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map) https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar www.rschicago.org/donate

You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Adriana Koulias

Time: Dec 21, 2022, 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89586637726

Meeting ID: 895 8663 7726

One tap mobile +13092053325,,89586637726# US +13126266799,,89586637726# US (Chicago) Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbtvb8sTRI

 Work on building the First Goetheanum, which was designed and supervised by Rudolf Steiner, began after the laying of the double dodecahedron foundation stone on the 20th of September 1913. Construction proceeded for a decade under enormous difficulties in the political, economic and cultural realms, brought on by the advent of the First World War. After the war when the building was near completion, the First Goetheanum was destroyed by an arsonist on New Year’s Eve 1922/1923.

This NYE 2022-23 will be the 100th anniversary of this event and the world is again facing many difficulties, political, economic and social.  Adriana’s lecture will explore what Rudolf Steiner meant by the ‘Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human beings’ and how a consciousness of this during the coming 12 Holy Nights can provide the necessary strengthening for the coming twelve months.

During this presentation Adriana will speak about the three gifts given by Rudolf Steiner in 1913: The naming of Anthroposophy, The Fifth Gospel, and The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the First Goetheanum. She will explore with us how we can link our hearts to the old Goetheanum during the coming 12 Holy Nights to prepare ourselves for the coming 12 months in 2023, so we can work towards a Cosmic New Year.

In this way we will celebrate the Jubilee of the Christmas Conference and the resurrection of the living impulse of the First Goetheanum in the most auspicious way.

For Rudolf Steiner tells us: ‘My dear friends, may this link our hearts to the old Goetheanum which we had to consign to the elements. May it link our hearts also to the Spirit, to the Soul of this Goetheanum. With this vow before whatever is best within our being we want to live on not only into the new year. In strength of deed, bearing the spirit, leading the soul we want to live on into the new cosmic year.’ ~Rudolf Steiner, ‘The Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human Beings.’

Adriana Koulias was born in 1960 in Brazil. Adriana moved to Australia when she was 9 years old where she lives today. She has studied art, operatic singing and nursing.  She has been studying Anthroposophy (awareness of our humanity) as given by Rudolf Steiner for 33 years and has since 2002-3 integrated this knowledge into several novels and a number of books, international lectures and articles online and in magazines.