Category Archives: Festival

Deepening the Grail

July 10, 2022Biography, Calendar of the Soul, Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Community, Festival, History, Insight, Meditation, Quote~hag

Lately I have been finding it hard to live the life of a consistent, focused meditant. Summer often has that effect on my concentration. Although every day I try to tune into the 10:10 Thought-Seed Meditation, even if it’s just for a few minutes. My work with the 6 ‘Basic Exercises’ has been more general, on a ‘as needed’ basis lately (O equanimity my old elusive friend don’t leave me now 😉

My Circle Meditation is more structured, which helps me keep a good grounded rhythm. These powerful mantras done 3x’s a day, given by Rudolf Steiner to the Youth 100 years ago this October, connect me with the Michaelic forces, ever enlivened by the seasonal energies, to combine personal development with the social & cultic aspects of Spiritual Science. More & more as I get older (yep during this St. John’s-Tide I experience my natal return every year) I am feeling the need to essentialize – to use the doubled-edged sword of my thinking to cut away what does not serve. All the unhealthy patterns can no longer be tolerated.

When I look across at the parallels to this phase in my life with my 1^st 7 years, it is as if my heart is being transplanted into the Sun. I feel the Sun is within me, like my heart-sense is becoming a cognitive organ; & that those joined in good will are shining out with it. When I can heal the Sun-spots, my true Sun-Self becomes an eye, an ear, as well as an organ of warmth. “We stand within the light, we touch spirit-beings with our light-organs.” * Then we not only feel part of the Sun, we perceive ourselves “on the other side of the Sun”. * This then allows us to experience the whole universe within our being. And we become the human center point for the joining of the Earth with the Sun.

Dear friends, there is a powerful esoteric call for us to support the creation of a New Sun-Earth. Not a me first earth. This is how the secret of the Grail can be revealed – as Christian Morgenstern says: “I lift my heart to you as a true vessel of the Grail …”* It is an experience of being totally imbued with the Spirit of eternity which fills the receiving soul of the Grail at the Sun-altar. Here Spirit, & the Soul Forces of Thinking, Feeling & Willing, unite. This is the Sophianic / Michaelic reality that we can build – a Temple in the New Jerusalem of the Heart, where the Amfortas in us is healed.

See you there –

Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

*GA 212

10 July 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars“: As Bella Luna waxes from gibbous to full, it crosses Scorpius and Sagittarius.

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
SAINT JOHNSTIDE III
The Chalice of the Senses
v14
Completely open to the senses’ revelation
I lost my own impulse;
thought’s dream seemed, numbing me,
to rob me of myself,
but waking now there comes
in all the senses’ glory cosmic thought.

This is the first verse of the Soul Calendar’s second quarter that Karl König describes as the voice of the Baritone, who will now be incarnating spirit with imaginative insight. His final verse is at Michaelmas, after which in his mirror verses the Soprano will be inspired to birth the Spirit Child at Christmas. This week’s mirror verse is her final one.

NEW YEAR
The Chalice of the Spirit
v39
Completely open 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.

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.

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

1509 – Birthday of John Calvin, an influential French theologian & pastor during the Protestant Reformation

1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain

1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States

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

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.

1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.

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.

Click here to register!

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:

+ World History in the Light of Anthroposophy – And as a Foundation for Knowledge of the Human Spirit, GA 233: Lecture IV, 27 December 1923 ~ Lecture V, 28 December 1923 ~ Lecture VIII, 31 December 1923, Dornach + The Easter Festival In Relation to the Mysteries, GA 233A, lecture IV. The Mysteries of Ephesus. The Aristotelian Categories, 22nd April, 1924, Dornach.

Click here to register today!

*More Detail TBA for SESSION 2 and 3!

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 Initiative 2:30 -3:30 pm ET

Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries?

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Change your hearts and minds!”

June 30, 2022Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Community, Festival, History, Poetry, Upcoming Events~hag

~Corn & clouds & cattle are gods renewing…
I am the god of myself…
Lift me up imagination into creation
To the Genie of Genesis
Where the gods give us their hands
I feel Her here
At the back of my head…
~hag

Who is this John the Baptist? (continued)

Before JB baptizes Jesus, opening the way for the cosmic Christ, he brings about an opening for many people, preparing them for their roles as disciples of Christ. By baptizing with water, JB brought about an initiatory near death experience, loosening the etheric body, so they could remember their life as a spiritual being. Into this experience of the past, John spoke his mighty admonition: “Change your hearts and minds!”

After the dove descended on Jesus & He became the Christ, & John the Baptist said, “He must increase and I must decrease’” JB was in prison until his beheading. Then his role changed from that of the “voice of one calling in the wilderness“, to a more inward voice, heard in the stillness of the soul.

Herod who had made him prisoner is haunted by this inner voice. Herod’s wife is also affected & wants to silence this uncomfortable voice, so she has John the Baptist beheaded.

The spirit, or angel, of John the Baptist, becomes the guardian of the apostles, appearing especially in the “rich young man”, Lazarus continuing his mighty task thru him. It is Lazarus, who undergoes the first initiation in the ‘New Mysteries’, accomplished thru Christ Jesus, achieving the name John. But Instead of being performed in the secret inner sanctum of the temple, as it was in the past, this new initiation was done as an example, out in plain sight. It is not coincidence that they both take on the name John, because Johannes E-O-Ah is a powerful title sounding a high stage of initiation.

Lazarus John, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’, is able to remain mindful thru the events of Passion Week. He is there in full consciousness on Golgotha at the “Turning Point of Time” with Mary the Mother. And, along with Mary Magdalene, he is able to behold the Risen Christ on Easter Sunday.

Lazarus John, who we now call St. John the Divine, becomes the writer of the Gospel of St. John, the most spiritual book in the New Testament. He lives a long life, taking Mother Mary with him to the island of Patmos in Greece, where he is able to receive the prophetic vision of the Book of Revelation, with help from John the Baptist & other heavenly sources, bringing us a vision of the future destiny of humankind.

And the voice of John the Baptist can still be heard today, reminding us to, ‘Make Straight the path’.

~hag

28 June 2022– “Speaking with the Stars”: Comet PanSTARRS is gliding through the rich constellation Ophiuchus. Already well above the southeastern horizon at sunset, this region is on view all evening, so you can afford to wait for true darkness to fall before you go hunting. The comet’s white dust tail should now be pointed northward.

Sunrise: 5:35 A.M. – Sunset: 8:33 P.M. – Moonrise: 6:35 A.M. – Moonset: 10:11 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (2%)

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (The Present Age, Wikipedia)

1924 – First World Power Conference founded by D.N. Dunlop

The World Power Conference was conceived by the Scotsman Daniel Nicol Dunlop, a entrepreneur & Theosophist who later joined Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophical Society. He organized the first meeting which took place in London on 30 June 1924 & attracted 1,700 attendees from 40 nations. It was deemed so successful that the conference was established as a recurring event. In the beginning, the World Power Conference convened on a regular schedule every six years.

D.N. Dunlop was a pioneer of modern community building—in two areas in particular: industry & economics, & the sphere of the free spiritual life. In 1924 he founded the World Power Conference, opened by the Prince of Wales in London that year. This was the first international conference to invite engineers & industrialists from all over the world (including Germany & Russia, two former World War adversaries), with the purpose of establishing a basis for co-operation & co-ordination in the production & technological use of energy resources within a modern world economy.

In 1929 a worldwide assessment of raw materials & energy resources was published in book-form with the title Power Resources of the World. The WPC gave birth to a permanent institution—the World Energy Council—that has its headquarters in London & has since held regular congresses in different capital cities throughout the world. The website of this private international organization records a short history of the institution which focuses on the profiles of five leading figures, beginning with Dunlop: ‘Shortly after World War I, Scotsman Daniel Dunlop, a visionary working in the British electricity industry, decided to bring together leading energy experts for a World Power Conference to discuss current and emerging energy issues. In 1923, he began working with countries around the globe to establish national committees that would stimulate attendance and prepare for technical participation at such a conference. The First World Power Conference was held the next year, 1924, in London and attracted 1,700 delegates from 40 countries. The meeting was so successful that those attending decided to establish a permanent organisation to continue the dialogue begun at the conference.’

Within the spiritual-cultural sphere, Dunlop was a pioneer of the ‘summer school’—an idea which he actively pursued and brought to practical realization during his theosophical phase. Dunlop maintained that the ‘summer school’ was not in conflict with pure individual striving, but could potentize it— offer it fulfillment. For true individualism, if developed far enough, is exactly what socially conscious communities need if they are to progress.

To a large extent these summer schools were gatherings of ‘communities of free spirits’. Following his encounter with Rudolf Steiner in 1922, Dunlop organized the great summer schools of Penmaenmawr &Torquay. According to Rudolf Steiner, these were ‘recorded in the Golden Book of the Anthroposophical Movement’. Steiner himself characterized Dunlop as a ‘far-seeing’ anthroposophist with visionary goals, endowed with clear and delicate perception, and remarkable human sensitivity & tact’. Despite Steiner’s very high public regard for him—Dunlop chose to remain in the background of events.

Daniel Nicol Dunlop met Rudolf Steiner in person in 1922. It was the Dutch manager Joseph van Leer who brought them together. They sat at the table together – Rudolf Steiner who spoke no English & Daniel N. Dunlop who spoke no German. Joseph van Leer stepped in as translator but what he didn’t see was that Rudolf Steiner took the hand of Daniel Dunlop & held it, under the table, during the whole of the conversation. In 1934, during one of his famous summer schools, Dunlop shared the memory of this with his friend Walter Johannes Stein. He made an even more interesting statement, that Rudolf Steiner on this occasion said to him, ‘We are brothers.’

Eleanor Merry, also an active member of the early British Anthroposophical Society, worked intensively with Dunlop for the last 14 years of his life during which time he told her that Rudolf Steiner gave him an insight into a former life of his where he, Dunlop, had been a member of the innermost circle of the Order of the Knights Templar ‘connected to all the ancient mysteries’ and had also worked within a secret society among the Templars’. Dunlop’s most deeply rooted intention was to serve the supra-personal goals of humanity, thereby sacrificing all personal & trivial motives & deeds.

May his deeds take fruit in us.

~hag

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

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

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

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

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

This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

This will be a Zoom conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:

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

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

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

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let us know whether you’ll be attending in person or via Zoom.

To inquire about accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House,
contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org

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

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

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

Johannes

June 27, 2022Biography, Festival, History~hag

Who is this John of St. John’s-Tide?

Studying Rudolf Steiner’s work on the Gospels, we gain profound insights that have the power to touch deep truths buried in the unconscious regions of our soul, regarding one of the most powerful personalities in the history of humankind. In the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist, right after the mighty description of the evolution of the cosmos, we read: “There came a man, send from God, his name was John.” (John 1.6.)

In the original Greek, Johannes, is made up of the vowels “E – O – Ah“, three very powerful Eurythmy gestures. The “E” represents the upright human being – one arm pointing toward heaven, the other grounding toward the earth; an admonition to be here now. The “O” is a round gesture of “inwardness”, an embracing of the soul. The “Ah” is an opening to heavenly revelation; both arms raised in a V, becoming a vessel that opens to heaven, a gesture of “vision”.

The Gospel of St. Luke describes the birth of John; how an angel appeared to the priest Zechariah, telling him, “your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, & you shall call him John.” (Luke 1.13.) The angel also foretells the task of this being John: “… even from his mother’s womb will he be filled with the Holy Spirit. And he will turn many sons of Israel to the Lord their God again. He will be his forerunner and will pave his way, bearing within him the spirit and power of Elijah, to change men’s hearts so that fathers shall rediscover the meaning of childhood, and those who have become alienated from God shall find the meaning of Good again. So shall he make a well-prepared people ready for the Lord “(Luke 1.15-17.)

The birth of John takes place just after the height of Summer, on June 24^th, framed by the births of the two Jesus children. On the one hand, the birth of the Matthew Jesus child on January 6th, with the visitation of the ‘three wise men from the East’, taking place in Bethlehem. And later, we hear of the other birth, of the Luke Jesus child, on December 24^th, with the heavenly revelation to the shepherds.

In another mystery, we see the spiritual body or angel of Gautama Buddha, which appears in the etheric-astral realm, first, in the meeting between Elizabeth, (just before John the Baptist is born), with Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1.39-56.) & then also at the revelation to the shepherds (Luke 11.8-15.).

Rudolf Steiner tells us that the Gospel of St. Luke brings us a new form of Christ-centered Buddhism, expressing the kind of love & compassion, that can be understood by even the simplest souls. The connection of the Buddha to John the Baptist & his mysterious influence on Christianity can be seen throughout his incarnation.

John the Baptist’s sermon at the river Jordan shows how the teachings of Buddha come forward in a new form. – Just like the Buddha declared certain truths & warnings in his famous sermon at Benares some five hundred years before, so too did JB speak in a similar way. Buddha says: “Do not think, because you are a Brahman, you are able to advance …“. John changes this admonition to fit his time, saying: “Do not think, because you are children of Abraham …” Buddha gave the teaching of love & compassion – JB gave the parable of the man who has two coats, how we must share with those that have none. And just as the monks came to Buddha with questions, now the tax collectors & soldiers come to John the Baptist.

After his life as an ascetic, JB begins publicly preaching & baptizing. In the 5^th Gospel, Steiner describes how JB was close to the community of the Essenes, as well as with his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth.

Yep there’s more tomorrow

Until soon ~hag

27 June 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Today’s sunset is the latest of the year! – even though the solstice was on the 21st. This slight discrepancy, arises from the tilt of Earth’s axis and the ellipticity of Earth’s orbit.

Here is an interesting painting: ‘John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene’ by Angelo Puccinelli, bringing these 2 important individualities working with Christ on earth, together. Just as the Baptizer prepared the way for the arrival of the Messiah, Mary Magdalene was chosen to prepare the hearts of the apostles for the visitation of the Resurrected Christ. And in her connection to The Sophia, in our time now, she works to prepare the way for us to receive the Christ in the etheric.

John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene ~Hans Memling

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives)

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

444- Deathday of Cyril of Alexandria, early Church father, prompted the murder of Hypatia

1654 – Deathday of Johann Valentin Andreae – writer of “The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz“

1844 – Deathday of Joseph Smith – Founder of Mormonism

1880 – Birthday of Helen Keller – deaf-blind author & activist. Read her Biography from AFB

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

The Future is Calling

June 25, 2022Biography, Community, Festival, Poetry, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

~I am the beat
I am the flame
I am the heat
Say my name

~hag

Blessings friends as we traverse together the 4 weeks of St. John’s-Tide. Last night we gathered in community to do a biodynamic prep stir to honor the elementals & spiritualize the Earth, break bread, build a bonfire to celebrate the Sun & to create the Festival of the future, working with the energies of the one we call John the Baptist. Thru a few leading thoughts by Rev. Jeana Lee about Metanoia, & taking the concept of increase & decrease into a heart-felt sharing, we used sound vibration & the most precious of all: conversation, to name what we will to be in the future, as well as what we want to transform during the expansiveness of this season.

Below are some of the art works we did last year based on the indications we worked with from the Four Seasons and the Archangels, Lecture IV: The St. John Imagination by Rudolf Steiner

“The Sun-gold, formed in the heights, in the dominion of Uriel, during high summer, passes down to weave and flow through the depths of the Earth, where it animates the elements.

Then you will come to feel that all this is a kind of background for the cosmic, light-filled deeds of Uriel, and a clear impression of the countenance and gaze of Uriel will come before you.

We feel a deep longing to understand this remarkable gaze, directed downwards, and we have the impression that we must look around to find out what it signifies. Its meaning first dawns upon the mind when as human beings we learn to look with spiritual eyes still more deeply into the blue, silver-gleaming depths of the Earth in summer. And we see that weaving around these silver-gleaming crystalline rays are shapes — disturbing shapes, I might almost call them — which continually gather and dissolve, gather and dissolve again. Here the moral world-order does not exist only in ourselves as abstract impulses.

On the other hand, all that is in human virtue and human excellence rises up with the silver-gleaming lines and is seen as the clouds that envelop Uriel (red). It enters into the radiant Intelligence, transmuted into cloud-shaped works of art.

It is impossible to look towards the increasingly earnest gaze of Uriel, directed towards the depths of the Earth, without also seeing there something like wing-like arms, or arm-like wings, raised in earnest admonition, and this gesture by Uriel has the effect of imparting to mankind what I might call the historic conscience. Here at high summer appears the historic conscience, which at the present time has become uncommonly feeble. It appears, as it were, in Uriel’s warning gesture.

And now if we have gained the impression of the connection of human morality with the crystalline element below and of human virtues with the shining beauty above, and if we take these connections into our inward experience, the real St. John Imagination will come to meet us.

So to spiritual observation there appears, as a kind of culmination, this picture: Above, illuminated as it were by the power of Uriel’s eyes, the Dove (white). The silver-sparkling blue below, arising from the depths of the Earth and bound up with human weaknesses and error, is gathered into a picture of the Earth-Mother (blue). Whether she is called Demeter or Mary, the picture is of the Earth-Mother. So it is that in directing our gaze downwards, we cannot do otherwise than bring together in Imagination all those secrets of the depths which go to make up the material Mother of all existence; while in all that is concentrated in the flowing form above we feel and experience the Spirit-Father of everything around us. And now we behold the outcome of the working together of Spirit-Father with Earth-Mother, bearing so beautifully within itself the harmony of the earthly silver and the gold of the heights. Between the Father and the Mother we behold the Son (see Plate V). Thus arises this Imagination of the Trinity, which is really the St. John Imagination. The background of it is Uriel, the creative, admonishing Uriel.

All this, too, would have to sound forth in musical tones — tones which carry these motifs on their wings and make them part of human experience. Here it is that Imagination passes over into Inspiration.

The human being lives in a certain sense as an embodied Inspiration, as a being brought into existence by Inspiration, in the Mysteries of the heights and depths and in the Mysteries of their conjunction. He lives in the Mysteries to which the Spirit-Father points upward; the Mysteries to which the Spirit-Mother points downwards, the Mysteries which are united by the fact that the Christ, though the working together of the Spirit-Father and the Spirit-Mother, stands directly before the human soul as the sustaining Cosmic Spirit.

Here in these nine lines are the Mysteries of the Heights, the Mysteries of the Depths, and the Mysteries of the Midst, which are also those of the inner being of man. And then we have the whole gathered up as a cosmic statement of these Mysteries of the Heights, the Depths and the Midst, sounding out as though with organ and trumpet tones:

Es werden Stoffe verdichtet
Es werden Fehler gerichtet
Es werden Herzen gesichtet.

Substances are densified,
Errors judged and rectified,
Hearts are sifted”

Here you have that which can permeate the human being at midsummer, supporting him, exalting him, confirming him — the St. John Imagination filled with Inspiration, the St. John Inspiration filled with Imagination — in these words:

Schaue unser Weben Das leuchtende Erregen Das warmende Leben	}	The Heights
Lebe irdisch Erhaltendes Und atmend Gestaltetes — Als wesenhaft Waltendes	}	The Depths
Fühle dein Menschengebeine Mit himmlischen Scheine Im waltenden Weltenvereine	}	The Midst The inner being of Man.
Es werden Stoffe verdichtet Es werden Fehler gerichtet Es werden Herzen gesichtet. Behold our weaving, The kindling radiance, The warming life. Live in the earth’s sustaining, And in the form-giving breathing, With the power of true being. Feel your very bones suffused With heavenly glory In the presiding yoga of the worlds. Substances are densified, Errors judged and rectified, Hearts are sifted”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

25 June 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1767 – Mexican Indians riot sending the Jesuit priests home

1767 – Deathday of Georg Philipp Telemann, a German Baroque composer & multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. Telemann one of the most prolific in history, was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the godfather & namesake of his son & to George Frideric Handel. Telemann made an important link between the late Baroque & early Classical styles.

1822 – Deathday of E. T. A. Hoffmann, a Prussian Romantic author of fantasy & horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman & caricaturist. His stories form the basis of Jacques Offenbach’s famous opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He is also the author The Nutcracker of which the famous ballet is based.

1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn & the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical & religious significance.

1910 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris

1924 – Beginning of the Curative Pedagogical Course by Rudolf Steiner in Dornach

1940 –France officially surrenders to Germany

1947 –The Diary of Anne Frank is published

1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea

1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade

1991 – Croatia & Slovenia declare independence from Yugoslavia

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

‘His Name is John’

June 24, 2022Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Chicago Event, Community, Festival, History, Insight, Poetry, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Speaking with the Stars, Upcoming Events~hag

The Festival of St. John’s Tide starts on the fixed date of June 24, the birthday of John the Baptizer

The name John is really a title, it represents a certain level of initiatation – the best of humanity, devoted to what is beyond the little self, alive to the revelation of the spirit. At the center of history, the summons of JB was to turn inward, & confront the lower self. St. John’s Day is a perfect time to re-assess & re-balance ourselves in this metanoia.

In the prologue of the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist right after we hear the ‘Word’ in the beginning, John, the 1st Adam is proclaimed. This Gospel emphasizes the divine spark in humanity, & connects us to its supreme form as the Logos Himself. The ‘disciple whom Jesus Loved’ received the forces of the beheaded John the Baptist, at the rising of Lazarus, earning him the title John as well.

The Last Old Covenant Prophet: John the Baptist and Forerunner of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ | Baptism of christ, John the baptist, Orthodox icons

Just as the Son of God who was buried in matter is born again in Jesus of Nazareth – So it is for every individual human being – there is a mighty experience, which may be called the birth of the higher self – The divine Ego is born of the striving human being. Awakening to Initiation is possible, & when it is taken up, life as we know it, opens to new dimensions.

When the human principle in Jesus of Nazareth had reached its highest development, & his body had become an expression of the spirit within him, he was ripe to receive the Christ in the Baptism by John. His body had unfolded its full power, like the radiant Sun at Midsummer.

ABSTRACT SUNSHINE OF HAPPINESS textural impasto palette knife oil painting detail Ana Maria Edulescu Painting by Ana Maria Edulescu — Ana Maria Edulescu

This had been prophesied. The spirit was to be born out of the darkness, like the Sun which increases in power towards solstice, waxing strong until St. John’s day, & then begins to move inward.

JB was able to behold the approach of Jesus of Nazareth, as the increase of the Sun, & say ‘I must decrease, as the Sun decreases after midsummer day.’ But The Christ as the spiritual Sun will increase, & ‘his Light will shine forth from out of the darkness.’

It was the Baptist’s mission to proclaim this: ‘He who was announced by the prophets of old, the Son of the spiritual realms, born of the spirit, behold, He hath appeared.’

John the Baptist is ever active since this turning point of time. He has lived many a life of renunciation, then, he came to prepare the way, thru baptism. And when we ‘make straight the path’, the inner spirit-light can shine forth ever more brightly, reflecting the Christ light.

This is how the universal Ego of humanity is reborn in freedom, & the condition fulfilled for the rebirth of the individual higher self in every human being.

This is the most vital event in the evolution of each individual human: the rebirth of the immortal being which can issue forth from the ordinary Ego. This is inseparable from the greatest of all events, the deed of Christ on Golgotha ‘As the meaning of the Earth‘.

Dear friends, Be awakened! There are forces trying to distract us from this truth – working to prevent us from becoming divinely human. May we be alert to the signs, & vigilant in our striving to practice Spiritual Science.

Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Orthodox icon of St John the Baptist GOLD LEAVES 22k | Etsy

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

24 June 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: A power packed Planetary line-up for this Feast Day of John the Baptizer

Sunrise: 5:32 A.M. – Moonrise: 2:35 A.M. – Moon Phase: Waning crescent (19%)

Feast Day of John the Baptist. Rudolf Steiner revealed his other lives as Elijah, Raphael, Novalis in GA 120 & in the Mystery Dramas. Steiner also gave indications that he was the 1st Adam, & that he is an inspirer of John the Evangelist/Christian Rosenkrantz.

1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn

The Mysterious Phenomenon of Dancing Plague ~ Psy Minds

1374 – A sudden outbreak of ‘St. John’s Dance’ causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations & begin to jump & twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion

The History Press | Freemasonry: The first Masonic Grand Lodge

1717 – The first Freemasonic Grand Lodge is founded in London. Benjamin Franklin was a member.

1812 –Napoleon invades Russia

Mary Pickford at the Op? | MuskokaRegion.com

1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million-dollar contract

Walther Rathenau assassination... - RareNewspapers.com

1922 – Assassination of Walther Rathenau, a German statesman who served as Foreign Minister during the Weimar Republic.

1938 – A 450 metric ton meteor hits Chicora, Pennsylvania

1976 – Deathday of Rudolf Kreutzer entrepreneur, anthropsopher

2004 – In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional

Lonesome George Was the Last Pinta Island Tortoise

2012 – Lonesome George, the last subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies

20 Brief Facts about the Life and Death of St. John the Baptist [+TEST] - The Catalog of Good Deeds — Sergey Metelitsa

St. John’s Poem:
Hot horns of light
Frame the dreaded Forerunner…
Wild Pan the Baptist
With wort & rue in his pouch
Carob & raw honey on his breath,
Anoints the mistletoe
In the oak-grove.
The God has gone into the grain
The Sun is on the water
The edge of the rioting rose
Begins to melt
Its scent is heavy on the heat
Stealing the breath
From the hot mouth of God
Her infer-red ruby steams
The magnetic stains of light
To guide the Summer-Tide Soul
Into the labyrinth
Where the Oak King crests
And gives way
To the Dark Holly Twin
~hag

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

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

Please Bring Food & Drink to Share in Community

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

RSVP for address & directions

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Category Archives: Festival

Deepening the Grail

“Change your hearts and minds!”

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

Johannes

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

The Future is Calling

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

‘His Name is John’

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

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

NO COST for attendees

Share this:

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ETNO COST for attendees

Share this:

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ETNO COST for attendees

Share this:

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ETNO COST for attendees

Share this:

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

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

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

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ETNO COST for attendees

Share this:

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

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

NO COST for attendees

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

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

NO COST for attendees