Category Archives: Festival

Tu’ B’Shvat

January 29, 2021Festival, History, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

Here is today’s ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast

The occult Knapp in 2020 | Tree of life art, Consciousness art, Occult — Mikael Benaane

“If we learn, in nature, to receive the soul element together with sense perception, then we shall have the Christ relationship to outer nature. This Christ relationship to outer nature will be something like a kind of spiritual breathing process… When we make our way through the world with an awareness that together with everything we see, everything we hear, there is soul and there is spirit flowing into us, and with the awareness that at the same time soul is flowing from us out into the world, then we shall have gained the awareness needed by humankind for the future.” ~Rudolf Steiner (GA 194)

The Cadeusus / The Tree of Life | Symbols, Ancient symbols, Sacred geometry

29 January 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Mercury is heading southwest in his retrograde dance. The solar system’s smallest planet is high in the west at sunset next to the the Wolf Moon.

Image result for full february moon painting

Snow Moon all aglow
Hunger Moon watch us grow
Wolf Moon howling low
Quickening Moon help us know

~hag

It’ time to celebrate Tu B’Shvat – the “New Year for the Trees ” which occurs every year around the Full Quickening/ Wolf Moon, which signals the Cross Quarter between Winter Solstice & Spring Equinox. This is when the sap begins to rise.

Kabbalists have used the tree as a metaphor to understand the relationship between the spiritual & physical worlds. Spiritual Science tells us that the human being is a reversed plant. Our head is the root. The higher spiritual realms are where these roots come from, which then ultimately manifests their influence through branches & leaves – our heart & lungs & limbs, our thinking, feeling & willing in the world.

In the 16th century, the Kabbalists compiled a Tu B’Shvat “Seder*,” similar to the Seder for Passover. It involves enjoying the fruits of the tree, & discusses philosophical & Kabbalistic concepts, like the idea that by eating with the highest intention we can repair the ‘fall’. The ‘sin’ against the Tree of Knowledge was that Adam & Eve ate its fruit before it was ripe.

So, what is it about waiting (perhaps, wading) that transforms knowledge from hurtful to healthy? Do we have faith that the spring will come & everything will grow & ripen in its season?

Through conscious eating, we have a daily opportunity to correct a part of our soul, so deep & intrinsic that it reaches back into the Garden of Eden.

The custom on Tu B’Shvat is to eat fruits from the seven species for which the Earth is praised: “…a land of wheat and barley and (grape) vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and (date) honey” (Deut. 8:8).

On Tu B’Shvat, it is also customary to eat a “new fruit” something we have not yet tasted this year.

This festival lets us ask: Am I getting the spiritual food I need, to truly live with grace, or is my tree being blown down by the forces of information overload & rampant materialism?

Am I part of a strong community, providing a warm & nurturing environment? Or am I cast into the pale bleak anonymity of urban life & cyberspace?

Am I looking to future generations knowing that I am providing them with the proper foundations for their lives?

The word “Shvat” is also related to the Hebrew word for a staff or rod. A staff can be used as a symbol of power; or as a cane to lean on. This is an underlying theme of the month.

So as we open our thinking, feeling & willing to align with the rising sap, in gratitude for the fruits of life; we can use this time to focus on the idea of consciously using our daily behavior as a medium for spirituality.

Tu B'Shevat Seder: Honest Ritual | Food, Seder, Cheese board

*Tu B’Shvat seder

PREPARATIONS: lots of fruit, including: The seven species:

Figs, Dates, Pomegranates, Olives, Grapes(or raisins) wheat = Challah bread and barley, various nuts with the shells (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, coconut), and fruits with peels (oranges, pomegranates, avocado) Other fruits with edible seeds (e.g. blueberries) Other fruits with inedible pits (e.g. peaches, plums) Wine or grape juice, both white and red. Charity box

THE SEDER BEGINS

The leader asks: Why do we celebrate the New Year for the trees on Tu B’Shvat?

All say: Since the Holy Temple was destroyed, farmers could no longer bring the First Fruits (Bikkurim) as an offering. So on Tu B’Shvat we offer the “fruit of our lips,” in praise for all the fruit trees in the world.

A participant says: Tu Bishvat marks a new period for taking tithes, a portion of which is given to the poor. Therefore: “When a person is privileged to eat in the presence of Love, they must show appreciation by giving charity to the poor and feeding them, just as The Source in Her bounty feeds them.” (“Zohar” – Parshat Trumah) At this point it is appropriate to pass around a ‘pushka’ to collect tzedakah. After the seder, the money should be donated to a worthy cause.

A participant says: The Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashana says that Tu B’Shvat is New Year for the TREE (singular). This reference to a singular tree alludes to “The Tree” — the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. “And The Divine said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb-yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit of its kind.’ ‘Fruit tree’ means the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which put forth blossoms and fruit. ‘Bearing fruit’ is the tzaddik, the basis of the world. ‘Of its kind’ means all the human beings who have in them the spirit of holiness, which is the blossom of that tree. This is the covenant of holiness, the covenant of peace — and the faithful enter into that kind and do not depart from it. The Tzaddik generates, and the tree conceives and brings forth fruit of its kind.” (“Zohar” – Bereishit 33a)

Meditation: “One should intend that they are eating at the celestial table, in the Garden of Eden before the Divine Presence.” (“Raishit Chochma” — Shar HaKedusha)

Take a few moments and think deeply about being in the company of The Divine… sitting at the table of The One… experiencing the sublime spiritual pleasure of a relationship with the Creator Herself.

A participant says: humanity’s name — “Adam” — is derived from the word Earth, adama. And Eve = “a living being’. While humanity is at once the pinnacle of creation, we are also dependent on the earth for our most basic needs. The Torah, refers to the human being as a “tree of the field” (Deut. 20:19). Our sages learn from this verse a prohibition against any needless destruction. In other words, fruit trees serve as the archetype for our relationship and responsibility to our environment. It was through a mistake in eating unripe fruit that caused Adam and Eve’s exile from the Garden of Eden. Eating fruit is a metaphor for our interaction with this world. Correct usage leads to a perfected world and spiritual bliss. Misuse can lead to destruction and spiritual degradation. The seder of Tu B’Shvat is our opportunity to rectify the past iniquity and return once again to our rightful place within the Garden.

All say: Adam and Eve by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil created consequences. To get back to wholeness we eat our fruit today with pure intentions, as if from the Tree of Life.

A participant says: In the Talmud, Rabbi Abbun said: “Each life form, especially fruit, is entrusted to a specific angel”. By saying a blessing over a fruit, we empower that angel to reproduce more of that fruit. The Talmud says that someone who eats and doesn’t say a blessing is considered a thief. Why? Because every aspect of God’s creation is inherently holy. A blessing re-infuses the world with holiness. Eating without a blessing, however, lowers the level of holiness in the world without replacing the loss — and is regarded as theft.

A participant says: The Baal Shem Tov, was once visiting the home of Rabbi Yaakov Koppel. When Rabbi Yaakov danced in front of his Shabbos table for an hour, the Baal Shem Tov asked to explain this unusual custom. Rabbi Yaakov replied: “Before I taste physical food, I absorb the food’s spiritual essence. In doing so, I become so excited that I sing and dance!”

The leader says: Everything in the physical world is a metaphor for a deeper spiritual concept.

Eating is to the body, what knowledge is to the soul. When we eat, we internalize the good part of the food — and through that we grow and develop. Similarly, when we learn a new piece of information, we must “chew it over,” digest it, and integrate it into our very being. Only then can we truly grow in wisdom and spirituality.

GRAIN PRODUCTS

Now comes the part we’ve been waiting for: drinking wine and enjoying other delicacies! Wheat and barley are the first two of the seven species. “A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olives and honey” (Deut. 8:8).

The leader says: Before saying the blessing, let us pause and reflect on our good fortune. A blessing is a “thank-you note” to our Creator. The sages say: “Who is the wealthy person? The one who is happy with what they have.” The more we appreciate our gifts, the more sincere is our thanks, and the more sublime is our pleasure. Recite the blessing on the bread: “Baruch Ata Adon-ai, Elohai-nu, Melech HaOlam ha-motzie lechem min ha-aretz.” “Blessed are you, Creator of the Universe, who fashions bread from the Earth.”

Meditation: Savor each bite of the cake or bread. Appreciate that The Divine loves us and created everything for our good.

FRUIT – On Tu B’Shvat, we eat the fruit by which The Divine praises the Earth. As the verse says: “The trees have borne their fruit, fig tree and vine have yielded their strength. Children be happy & rejoice”.

The order of eating will be: olives, dates, grapes, figs, pomegranates.

“Baruch Ata Adod-nai Elohai-nu Melech HaOlam boray pri ha-aitz.” “Blessed are you Creator of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the tree.”

If there is a seasonal fruit at the table which you have not yet tasted this season, say the following additional blessing before eating the fruit: “Baruch Ata Ado-noi, Elohai-nu Melech HaOlam, sheh-he-che-yanu vi-kee-yimanu vi-hee-gee-yanu laz-man ha-zeh.” “Blessed are You Creator of the Universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.”

Take each fruit one by one, as the appropriate paragraph below is recited. Enjoy the many unique flavors and textures. Reflect on the reality that the Creator of time and space wants us to take pleasure in everything that is in the world.

Participants take turns saying the following paragraphs:

Olives: “The Divine called your name ‘a green olive tree, nice and beautiful fruit.’” (Jeremiah 11:16)

“Your children shall be like olive plants around your table.” (Psalms 123:3)

The Sages taught: “Just as olive oil brings light into the world, so do the people bring light into the world.” (Midrash — Shir HaShirim Raba 1:2) & so may it be

Dates: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree” (Psalms 92:13). The righteous are fruitful and sweet, just like a date palm. “Your stature is like a palm tree” (Song of Songs 7:8). “No part of the palm tree is wasted. The dates are for eating; the Lulav branches are for waving in praise on Sukkot; the dried thatch is for roofing; the fibers are for ropes; the leaves are for sieves; and the trunk is for house beams. So too, every one us is needed

Grapes: “Just as a vine has large and small clusters and the large ones hang lower, so too the people: Whoever labors in Torah and is greater in Torah, seems lower than his fellow [due to his humility].” (Midrash – Vayikra Raba 36:2)

Figs: Rabbi Yochanan said: “What is the meaning of ‘He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit’? (Proverbs 27:18) Why is the Torah compared to a fruit tree? Figs on a tree do not ripen all at once, but a little each day. Therefore, the longer one searches in the tree, the more figs he finds. So too with Torah: The more one studies, the more knowledge and wisdom one finds.” (Talmud – Eruvin 54a)

Pomegranates: “Let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us see if the vine has flowered, if the grape blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates have budded. There I will give you my love.”

“If the pomegranates have budded.” These are the little children who are like the many seeds of a pomegranate.” (Midrash – Shir HaShirim Rabba 6:11)

For discussion: Rami Bar Yechezkel once came to Bnei Brak and saw goats grazing under a fig tree. Honey was dripping from the figs and milk from the goats — and they became intermingled. He said: “Behold, a land flowing with milk and honey!” (Talmud – Ketubot 111b) Share a story or experience where life flowed with the sweetness of milk & honey.

WINE: At the Tu B’Shvat seder, it is traditional to drink four cups of wine, similar to the Passover Seder.

First Cup – pure white

Second Cup – pale pink (white with a drop of red wine)

Third Cup – darker pink (with more red added)

Fourth Cup – almost totally red (with only a drop of white)

A participant says: White wine represents nature in potential. Red wine represents nature in full bloom. On this day, we begin to leave the winter behind and move into a period of renewal and the fullness of life. It is stated in the Zohar: “Wine has two colors — white and red. White is from the right side [of kindness]; red from the left side [of strength and judgment].”

As we progress from white to red, we move from potential to actuality. We are able to appreciate The Divine discernment as well as kindness. We see The Divine design and goodness in the world with increasing clarity.

A participant says: “Wine rejoices the heart of man.” This refers to the wine of Torah. Yayin (Hebrew for wine) equals 70, the numerical value of Sod, meaning “secret.” [Wine represents the hidden aspects of the Torah.] (“Zohar” — Parshat Pinchas).

A participant says: The Talmudic section dealing with agriculture is called “trust in The Divine.” When a farmer plants a seed, trust in The Divine gives him the strength to survive the winter. On Tu B’Shvat we begin to see that trust rewarded. Similarly, when we plant a seed for personal growth, it requires trust and patience to survive the ‘cold,’ before we see the fruits of our labor.

We will now drink four cups of wine (or grape juice) in conjunction with four different categories of fruit. Each of these pairs correspond to each of the four spiritual realms (from lowest to highest):

action — asiah

formation — yetzirah

creation — briah

emanation of pure Spirit — atzilut

Each level becomes more spiritual and connected to the Creator. As we eat, we elevate the fruits — and ourselves — through the various levels, rising higher and higher.

A participant says: The Almighty said: “Although wine can be a source of trouble in this world, in the future I shall make it only a source of joy, as it says: ‘And it shall come to pass on that day, that the mountains will drip with sweet wine’ (Yoel 3:18).” (Midrash – Vayikra Raba 12:5)

Pour the first cup of wine (all white):

All say the following blessing, and then drink from the wine

“Baruch Ata Adon-ai Elohai-nu Melech HaOlam boray pri ha-gafen.” “Blessed are Creator of the Universe who creates the fruit of the vine.”

Slow down and really enjoy the taste of the wine. The most prestigious universities offer courses in wine tasting. There’s a lot to appreciate in life. Be a connoisseur!

The leader says: We now eat fruits with inedible shells or peels. For example: nuts, pomegranate, oranges, avocado. The edible part of the fruit corresponds to perfection and purity, while the inedible is connected to deficiency and impurity. This is parallel to the realm of action (asiah), the lowest of the spiritual worlds — a world which is enveloped by materialism, just as the fruit is enveloped in its peel/shell.

A participant says: Rabbi Tarfon compared people to a pile of walnuts. If one walnut is removed, each and every nut in the pile is shaken and disturbed. So too, when a single person is in distress, every other person is shaken. (Midrash – Shir HaShirim Raba 6:11)

A participant says: “As it is the virtue of a nut to be closed in from all sides, so too the Heavenly Chariot which goes out of the Garden of Eden is hidden on all sides. And just as the four sections of a walnut are untied at one side and separated on the other, so are all parts of the Heavenly Chariot united in perfect union — and yet each part fulfills a specific purpose.” (“Zohar” – Shmot 15b)

Meditation: As you toss away the peels and shells, see one of your bad character traits (anger, impatience, etc.) being tossed away. In your mind’s eye, picture the bad trait as the shell. Then, as you toss it away, feel the trait leaving you. That’s not the real you. The real you is the fruit… delicious and nourishing. See the trait going into the compost to release that energy & create a fertile loom for your true fruit.

CUPS 2, 3,4 – Drink the second cup — pale pink (white with a drop of red).

The leader says: We now eat fruits with inedible pits. For example: dates, olives, peaches, plums, cherries. This stage is comparable to the realm of formation (yetzirah). The edible parts of the fruit represent holiness. Pits represent impurities which have penetrated the holiness. As the color of the wine begins to gets darker, we can start to see potential turn into reality. The inedible part has now moved from the outside to the inside of the fruit. This is an advancement toward purity. In addition, the inedible part is no longer waste; it is a seed with potential to grow.

Meditation: Imagine one of your bad traits as this seed. Really see it. Then, see that trait growing and developing into something great. This trait no longer holds you back, but propels you forward. Many great people have turned their faults into assets. You too can become great.

Drink the third cup of wine (dark pink).

The leader says: Now we eat fruits that are completely edible: blueberries. This is the realm of creation (briah), the highest level in the created world. (The three lower worlds — asiyah, yetzirah, and briah — are referred to as ma’aseh bereishit, “the act of creation.”)

Meditation: Things are coming close to their full potential. Even the seeds are now edible. They not only have future potential, but are also delicious and ready to eat right now. Think about an area of life you would like to improve. Picture your ideal self. Realize the real you. Now, for the rest of Tu B’Shvat, actually be that person. Act as if you’re already there. The experience can be transformational.

Drink the fourth cup (red with a drop of white).

The leader says: We now taste the fruit on the table with the best fragrance. This is comparable to the realm of pure Spirit (atzilut). This level is called the ma’aseh merkava, “the act of the Chariot.” The prophet Ezekiel saw a Chariot in his vision relating to the mysteries of creation.

A participant says: In Leviticus 23:40, the Etrog is described as pri aitz hadar — “fruit of the majestic tree.” The Etrog is the most spiritual of all trees, as it’s fruit and bark both have fine taste and smell.

On Tu B’Shvat, it is fitting to pray for a beautiful Etrog during the coming Sukkot.

A participant says: The sense of smell is the purest and most elevated. It is through the nose that The Creator invested Adam with a soul, as it says, “The Divine breathed into man’s nostrils a breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). Since there is no perceptible physical matter to smell, it is the most spiritual of the five senses. Burning the fragrant incense was designated as the holiest act of the Jewish year — performed by the Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur.

CONCLUSION – The leader says: Eating 12 different fruits is significant, since this corresponds to the 12 different arrangements of the four-letter ineffable Name of The Divine. Upon eating the 12th fruit, we recite the verse: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit each person under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Micah 4:3-4)

After-blessing: After enjoying all the wonderful pleasures that The Divine has given us, we complete the process with a meaningful, heartfelt thanks to the Creator.

Let’s all go around a say what we are grateful for.

A participant says: “Rabbi Abba taught: There is no greater indication of the impending redemption than that which the verse (Ezekiel 36:8) states: “And you, mountains, you shall give forth your branches and you shall bear your fruit for all people, & love will come.” (Talmud – Sanhedrin 98a)

Conclusion: And so with that we come to the end of the Tu B’Shvat seder. We have only touched the surface of the true meaning of the holiday and of the significance of trees and fruit in The Divine creation. That is the beauty of the wheel of the year. Each turn of the wheel we celebrate the same holidays, yet each year we grow and develop many new insights.

The rest of the evening is spent singing and dancing. Next year in a whole & peaceful World!

Blessed Be…

***

‘Tree of Life’ Feast & ‘Candlemas’ Festival 2 February 2021 – 5:30-7pm
In the Schreinerei of the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4248 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago

The RSB Festivals Committee invites you to celebrate the Cross-quarter between Winter Solstice & Spring Equinox, called by some: Groundhogs Day, Brigid’s Day
or Imbolc – the lambing season, The Feast of the Purification of Mary, & Tu’B’Shavat*- the “New Year for the Trees”.

All are invited to a Potluck consisting of fruits & nuts & seeds-the gifts of the trees. And then Nancy Melvin will facilitate a beeswax candle making workshop – a Candlemas tradition.

The Seven Species Quilt Blocks Machine Embroidery Designs set for 5x5 hoop | Embroidery design sets, Machine embroidery quilts, Free machine embroidery designs

*Tu B’Shvat offers a unique opportunity for insight into life & personal growth. Throughout the centuries, Kabbalists have used the tree as a metaphor to understand the One relationship to the spiritual & physical worlds. The higher spiritual realms are roots that ultimately manifest their influence through branches & leaves in the lower realms. In the 16th century, the Kabbalists compiled a Tu B’Shvat “Seder,” somewhat similar to the Seder for Passover. It involves enjoying the fruits & discussing philosophical & Kabbalistic concepts associated with the ‘Tree of Life’. Among other things, the Seder is a great way to appreciate the bounty that we so often take for granted, & to develop a good & generous eye for the world around us.

Suggestions for this special POTLUCK: lots of fruit! including: The seven species:
Figs, Dates, Pomegranates, Olives, Grapes (or raisins) wheat (Challah bread) &
Barley. Various nuts with the shells (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, coconut),
and fruits with peels (oranges, pomegranates, avocado)
Other fruits with edible seeds (e.g. blueberries)
Other fruits with inedible pits (e.g. peaches, plums)

Donations Welcome http://donate.rschicago.org/

For more info. contact Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg hag@rschicago.org

Freedom & Justice for All

January 17, 2021Festival, History, Insight, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

Dear friends –

I put out a call to see if anyone was interested in being part of a presentation around the True Spirit of America, & I thank you for your responses!

Sharleen Leonard encouraged us to join “The People’s Inauguration Jan. 21 -31 and then continue the conversation from the spiritual science perspective and Steiner’s Threefold Community insights”.

Anyone who knows me or has read my sharing’s knows I don’t endorse either one of the political parties here in America. I believe the 2-party-system is fundamentally flawed.

I am a 3-fold champion thru & thru. For me it’s about freedom of choice, so if anything, I vote Green Party. And I don’t mix politics with Anthroposophy, I work from the Cultural Life of the 3-fold social order. That being said, I decided to partner up with The People’s Inauguration because of their positive attitude about empowering the people to stand up & take responsibility as citizens of this world.

On the web site it says: Only we can bring our communities together, tend our wounds, and begin the labor of reckoning, reimagining and remaking our nation block-by-block, heart-to-heart.

We need healing, justice, and renewal. Let’s create a moral vision for the America we could be.

January 21st kicks off 10 days of virtual conversations, artistic expressions, music performances, teach-ins, vigils and around-the-table family ceremonies. Some events will focus on grief and healing; others on justice and reckoning, others on joy and rising. All of them will have one thing in common: the expression of a “people’s oath” that recommits us to our core values and to one another.

Will you join us?

Now I am not someone who likes to repeat after someone else. Nor would I ask anyone to take a vow outside of what they create for themselves. But I do think it is a good idea to think about what it is that we as individuals feel is important to stand for. I see what they have proposed as a template, a way to get us started in thinking about what we want our world to be like, & what We the People are going to personally do to go about making it happen.

“I, ___________
do solemnly vow
that I will faithfully execute my role
in healing, reimagining, and rebuilding
our country,
and will to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend
dignity, justice, and joy
for myself and for all around me,
and that I will do so with love.”

The idea of joining together with the greater community, & bringing Anthroposophy out into the world, seems vital. So I agreed to share my presentation with this wider audience:

Reclaiming the Wisdom of America an interactive Zoom Presentation with

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg in conjunction with ‘The People’s Inauguration’ (more details TBA)

Sunday 24 January 2021 2 pm – 4 pm CST

Friends, the Folk Spirit of America known to the Original Native Peoples, as Columbia, perceived also by the American Revolutionaries as an Indian goddess, has been usurped by Uncle Sam, her opposite in every way. Our destiny, if ‘We the People’ will it, is to take back her divine power, to manifest a true Land of the Dove.

Time: Jan 24, 2021 02:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=Q1RNcDliYS9QK3JDV1hNQ1pxUmwwZz09

Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: dove

One tap mobile – Dial by your location – Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: 664936 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF

HUSHED UP HISTORY — Miss(ing) Columbia: America's Forgotten Warrior...

I then got a phone call from a long time nemis who does not on the whole attend my presentations, who has his own very definite political views, who proceeded to tell me that this was an unholy match; that politics don’t belong in the Anthroposophical Society, & that the organization I am affiliating myself with espouses beliefs that he finds offensive.

I thanked him for his feedback, but was quite shaken. And then I remembered that when I 1^st came to the Chicago Branch many years ago, I brought forth the idea of doing a July 4^th Festival, with the theme of Columbia as the Spirit of America, & I was told no, it could not be done, & it never was.

I took it out to Hyde Park where there is a Statue of the Republic from the The World’s Columbian Exposition -a world’s fair held in Chicago in 1893

Daniel Chester French's original statue The Republic at the World's Columbian Exposition of… | World's columbian exposition, Columbian exposition 1893, World's fair

And then out of the blue I found this quote from Rudolf Steiner: ‘There are still many Anthroposophists who think that something may be reached by argument with the opponent. Nothing can do us more harm than success in setting forth our truths in the form of argument; for people do not hate us because we say something that is not true, but because we say the truth. And the more we succeed in proving that we say the truth, the more they will hate us. Of course this cannot prevent us from stating the truth. But it can prevent us from being so naïve as to think that it is possible to progress by argument.

Only positive work enables us to progress; and of course truth should be represented as strongly as possible, so as to attract as many pre-destined souls as possible, for these are far more numerous in the present time than is generally assumed. These souls will find the spiritual nourishment needed for the time when no destructive, but constructive work will have to be done, if human development is to follow an ascending, not a descending curve.’ ~ Rudolf Steiner – GA 221 – Knowledge Pervaded with the Experience of Love – Dornach, February 18, 1923

the art of living in integrity Painting by Danvy Pham | Saatchi Art — Davy Phame

Friends, I will proceed with the presentation, & I am open to your thoughts about the idea of bringing in this connection to The People’s Inauguration. If I am in error I want to adjust so as to be in moral integrity.

Thank you for your kind attention.

(I am still looking for someone to assist with the hosting, so contact me if you want to be part of the team)

~hag

***

The Calendar of the Soul - Compilation - Anthroposophy, By Rudolf Steiner, Inner Work, Waldorf Books - The BEarth Institute

The Caldendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner this week’s verse & its mirror, translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler, & with quotes from American authors in ‘metro.co.uk’ re. ‘blue Monday, saddest day of the year’ tomorrow…’In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.’ Abraham Lincoln
‘Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.’ Zig Ziglar
‘In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.’ Robert Frost
‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ Martin Luther King Jr
‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.’ Henry Thoreau

Russian winter Painting by Anna Kasso | Saatchi Art — Beli Gofolski

v42,
WINTER AND ONWARD
The soul in gloom of winter moved
to bring to light her life’s own force
her impulse is to guide it far
and in the dark forefeel
through warmth of heart
the life the senses will reveal.
v11,
MIDSUMMER WISDOM
It rests this sun’s high hour with you
to recognise the call of wisdom:
In you, absorbed in worlds where beauty lies,
through all your feeling realise:
the human I can lose itself
and find itself within the Cosmic I.

Joan of Arc vs. ‘the proud boys’

January 7, 2021Festival~hag

Painting Joan of Arc with Donato Giancola. one of the most moving pieces of modern art. ever. | Joan of arc, Concept art world, Saint joan of arc — Donato Giancola

EPIPHANY’s Transcript Transmission: Joan of Arc vs. ‘the proud boys’ on the ‘I Think Speech Podcast‘

Dear friends, reports of an armed militia at the Capital were just coming in as I was ineptly trying to iron out all the tech stuff – The news put me on edge, I was distracted, nothing was going right, like it did at practice &, well, it’s no excuse but, I regret to inform you that I neglected to push the record button during our epic Festival: Joan’s Epiphany: ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ featuring the premier of Nancy Poer’s magnum opus, JOAN OF ARC – HER GIFTS FOR OUR TIME. The good news is you can still watch the amazing film on youtube.

But Nancy’s beautiful remarks & the many inspiring comments from participants, as well as the powerful eurythmy session are only inscribed in the ethers. (Lucien did not want his “Singing Through Joan of Arc Passage” recorded, so that was all good)

I am so sorry, I should have tried harder to get a tech assistant (please if you have experience with running zoom & want to team up, let me know) Needless to say I woke up to many emails from folks who were called away from our offering, compelled with disgust to follow what was unfolding with the violent mob of white men that stormed the Capitol. You of course were looking forward to the recording. So, while I cannot give you a replay of our Festival; which was interestingly enough, acting as a counterforce to that mob of bullies waving the Confederate flag; I can share the thoughts on ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ that I offered & give a sort of transcript of our event…

I began by thanking the Festival’s committee, for making it possible to meet in person in the Elderberries space, which was difficult because the heating system went down in the August tornado, so folks had to labor to put up tarps & bring in space heaters so we could gather where Lucien’s amazing tapestry hangs, the piece integral to his artistic offering. It is literally ‘The Passage’ which he sings thru to Joan.

Folks gathered, & I opened the space with a prayer that Steiner gave in Berlin, January 1915, around Epiphany, Joan of Arc’s birthday, dedicated to those who were fighting & dying in the 1^st world war, which was just then really heating up. At that time every one of Steiner’s lectures had an opening & closing verse devoted especially to those sacrificed young souls who were crossing the threshold in droves at that time. And so let us offer it today in remembrance of their sacrifice, as well as acknowledging those that are crossing the threshold now as spiritual warriors.

Out of courage shown in battle,
Out of the blood, shed in war,
Out of the grief of those who are left,
Out of the people’s deeds of sacrifice –
Spirit fruits will come to grow,
If, souls with knowledge of the spirit,
Turn their mind to spirit realms.

YES, this is our work today dear friends, to turn our minds to spirit realms. Anthroposophy tells us that it can often be the karma of those that die before they reach the age of 72, to offer up their unused etheric forces, to help fortify human evolution, & as Nancy mentioned during our planning call the other day, Steiner says ‘Don’t waste it’. For me, that is one of the particular reasons why we have chosen to work with the energies of Joan of Arc here at the Branch, since Michaelmas.

Nancy Jewel Poer | Waldorf Educator, Death Doula | Sacred Childhood

Nancy Jewel Poer, who has worn many hats: Waldorf Educator, Home Death Consultant, Writer, Life Coach, & Film-maker, to name but a few; has been working with the energy of Joan of Arc for many years. Somehow Dottie Zold mentioned to Nancy that we had dedicated our Michaelmas festival to Joan, & that we planned to go deeper with this work for our Epiphany festival, & Nancy was very enthusiastic about this idea; so I asked her if she wanted to bring something. Well she immediately said yes, & began her systematic research gathering images & quotes from Joan’s trial. Then with her team, Joseph & Kai, out there at White Feather Ranch, in the beautiful Sierra foothills; they worked tirelessly thru-out the entire Holy Nights, laboring long hours, to artistically render the life story of this amazing Michaelic warrior, in a film.

Nancy acknowledged her team & said a few words before we streamed the video. (Being the non-tech bungler that I am, we had a few issues with sound at the beginning, so it’s good that you can just go to the youtube anytime to take in JOAN OF ARC – HER GIFTS FOR OUR TIME

Vtg. JOSEF M KOZAK Original Artwork “JOAN OF ARC” Painting/Drawing Framed-Signed | eBay

Afterwards, many folks made comments & asked questions – so many striking thoughts shared in the chat. Then I went on to speak about Epiphany, which is often defined as a sudden, intuitive insight into the essential meaning of reality – We can certainly say Joan of Arc had an epiphany – a revelation -a call to duty. Epiphany is also often described in relation to the appearance or manifestation of a deity, which we of course know was the case with Joan.

3 Kings Painting by Nicole Vilardo — Nicole Vilardo

In the festival year, Epiphany is also called 3 Kings Day, The Adoration of the Magi, when after following the Star of Bethlehem, the students of Zarathustra bring their gifts to their reincarnated teacher – And how interesting that this year WE got to follow Jupiter & Saturn; our Christmas Star shining some insights into our vision of 2020 –

Romanesque Style Baptism of Christ For Hereford Cathedral - egg tempera and gold leaf on gessoed panel

AND we must also remember, what the Eastern Orthodox still hold dear, the occult truth that Epiphany commemorates the manifestation of Christ, at the Baptism in the Jordan – the birth of the Cosmic Being of Love on Earth -a mighty moment in time – a seed, that we need to nurture & unfold – that we must strive to understand & live into.

Greta Thunberg mural in Florence - Wanted in Rome — Florence Mannini

I learned the other day that Greta Thunberg – another truly Michaelic Soul – was born on January 3^rd just 3 days before Epiphany, on the 9^th Holy Night, which if you are following the path, from Jesus to Christ, as I do, during the Holy Nights, brings us into the realm of the Cherubim, who we see holding the flaming sword, guarding the threshold to the garden of paradise – So that’s interesting.

The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations: Steiner, Rudolf: 9780880102056: Amazon.com: Books

But what I was called to bring today was inspired by what Rudolf Steiner says in the ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations – specifically5^th Lecture: The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It, which is where our opening verse came from; & is all about ‘reversal events’ in connection between Joan of Arc’s deed & the start of the 1^st world war.

Steiner gave the lecture in Berlin, in January 1915 – 501 years after Joan of Arc’s auspicious birth, right at the start of what has been called the Great War. It made a deep impression on me. I hope it moves you to take action as it did me. For I have felt called to ask myself: What is the true mission of The Maid of Orleans? Which leads me to ask: What is OUR mission, as Anthroposophers? Or even better: What is the task of humanity at this time; & how does it relate to Joan of Arc’s deed?

Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist with a Donor - Mates, Joan. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

Jehanne or Joan is the feminine form of Johannes or John, which is, in the case of John the Baptist & St. John the Divine, a title of initiation – so right there we have a mighty clue.

Why Knights Templar Gave False Confessions of Depravity - HISTORY

The powers working thru her directed her to battle against the inflammatory Luciferic forces of deception prevailing in humanity at that special time, right before the beginning of the Consciousness Soul Age. Steiner indicates that this began a year after Joan’s birth, in 1413. And during the call we talked about how the Knight’s Templers were burned at the stake a hundred years earlier in 1314. Looking closely here we must consider the reversal of the numbers from 1314 to 1413. Obviously a topic for another talk, but important to contemplate in regard to Joan’s mission.

And as Nancy’s film so beautifully shows, Joan of Arc, with the aid of Michael, (& his helpers St. Catherine & St. Margaret) was able to vanquish the seductive Luciferic forces which were vying to prevent this shift in human consciousness.

Zodiac Seals - Drawn by Rudolf Steiner | Rudolf steiner, Zodiac, Spiritual artwork

Steiner describes the miracle of her birth, how she went thru a sort of pre-earthy initiation during the potent time of the 13 Holy Nights, incarnating on Epiphany, the day the Christ came into a human being at the Baptism!

And we can also point to her equally auspicious death. Yes it was gruesome; she endured so much, not unlike like the Templars & the sacrifice of The Christ. In her case, it occurred because all the selfish Luciferic forces of her enemies joined together to bring about her death by fire. At her witch trial she said that within 7 years after of her death…”the English would meet with a much greater reversal of fortune than any they had known before”. We can see here, that the soul of Joan of Arc continued working across the Threshold to shape these events after her death – That what the spiritual powers want to bring about, will occur, whatever the external conditions may be. She was inspired into on earth by spiritual powers for 7 years, & then after 7 years of her working from the Spiritual world, the ‘reversal of fortune’ came for England. We must remember that many great individualities are working with us from across the threshold.

Lord Stanhope and the Mysterious Death of Kasper Hauser | Regency Explorer

The Maid’s adversaries were able to bring about her death, but they were not able to prevent her mission. This reminds me of the mission of Casper Hauser. It would interesting to investigate these connections.

The power behind the will of the Maid of Orleans – the forces of Michael, are working still against the immoral Luciferic forces that rage in the world. And Dear friends, it’s obvious that weare also having to deal with hostile forces in our time, but now-a-days the selfish, vain, inflaming forces, have teamed up with the hardening, materialistic forces of Ahriman, that have been building up especially since the industrial age. These forces are in evidence everywhere, especially if we turn our attention not only to the all-pervasive electronic or mechanical element, but also thru, what Anne Dale called during our Holy Nights study, ‘The Black Mirror’ – cyber-space; which can be a distractive shrouding for the reappearance of Christ in the etheric realm, if we are not awake & consciously consecrating this medium in the name of Christ.

Awakening to the presence of Christ in the realm of formative forces is OUR calling, our mission, for our time!!! –

If we remain unconscious of these forces, the elemental beings behind every sense impression become enslaved by Lucifer or Ahriman. Yes friends, Spiritual science tells us that if we don’t meet the spirit behind what we take into ourselves, if we don’t meet the world with reverence & wonder, with gratitude & awe; just habitually unconsciously gulping it all up like junk food, then we are feeding the dragon within, which seeks to stupefy us – keeping us from fulfilling our divine mission of releasing these elemental forces, which can then help us to develop new spiritual organs to receive the Etheric Christ!

The Formation of a New Etheric Heart Organ

This resonates to what Lucien Dante Lazar was speaking to in regards to developing the etheric heart, the prompt for our Social Sculpture after his “Singing through Joan of Arc Passage”

Corona Virus genetics pattern guides CVOID-19 Diagnosis assays

Otherwise these inflaming & sclerotic forces are what make us sick. And they influence our entire earthly life, laying the groundwork for societal effects like pandemics – & creating the fear based events happening NOW all over the globe.

Some brilliant person on the call likened it to how in Joan’s time the Bishops of the Church were given complete authority over human beings, & how the modern materialistic Scientists running the plandemic now are the new Bishops controlling reality in our time.

Do you see how these 2 forces are working together – to inflame our anxiety, (or in the case of ‘The Proud Boys’ inflame the false ego) which then makes us run into the arms of blind control..? (or to take up guns & seek to take control)

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand - Wikipedia

Ok, that was a lot, but it is a sort of groundwork for me to talk about the reversal events in the connection between Joan of Arc’s deed & the start of the 1^st world war, from the lecture I mentioned earlier. There Steiner speaks about how a sort of denial of the build up to the 1^st World War had been present for a long time in the astral world, but was held back by something that was also astral: by the fear, doubt & hatred held in the feeling life of human beings. These negative astral forces were able to hold the war back, to prevent it, for a while. Steiner says: “…at 1st a fearful denial was able to stop war from breaking out. But then with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, there emerged a ‘REVERSAL EVENT’ – this recalls the words from Joan of Arc: “the English would meet with a much greater reversal than any they had known before”.

So do you see, in that case of Joan’s time, the selfish Luciferic forces which Joan was able to hold back for a time, made a reversal & came back to destroy the English after her death – that her sacrifice was what tipped the scales for it to happen. And in this case of the world war, all the elements of fear from the Ahrimanic powers, began to gather around the sacrificed soul of the Archduke, creating a focal point, ‘a tear at the threshold’.

File:Giuseppe Arcimboldo - The Vegetable Gardener - WGA00841.jpg - Wikimedia Commons — Giuseppe Arcimboldo

I know it’s hard to think about this; but we do know that anything that has a specific character on the physical plane will have the opposite character in the spiritual world. Everything is reversed. An element that had a blocking effect, keeping the 1^st World War at bay, was now acting in the opposite way, as a spur, an incitement, to war. So we see that a flip of the elements of fear, of the deceiving Ahrimanic elements, became a catalyst for war; which now a 100 years later, has led to the events of our present age, where there is constant war, in all realms of society. Which we are seeing, as we speak with an armed mob, somehow moving past the police to smash into the U.S. Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory; where they then spent several hours inside the building, vandalizing offices & the House floor.

Wormhole time vortex loop — Stock Video © davstudio #230966068

Friends, we know that there are powerful energies at any point of transition; this is such a point in time. – Will we step in with our positive energies demanding change, bringing good will into focus? A transition especially at the gate of birth & death is a powerful yet vulnerable time. When we send positive thoughts to meet that threshold, those energies become healing forces. But there are those, in what Steiner calls the ‘dark brotherhoods’, who seek to harness that power for destructive purposes. I mourn for those folks who are dying all alone in the locked down nursing homes, without friends & family, without human touch, without the possibility of the 3 day vigil. What is happening for their souls?

But, fear not dear friends, Steiner tell us that when we name & recognize what is happening in the physical realm, we can reverse it in the spiritual realm!

We must not try to deny these materialistic Ahrimanic elements. And we must cultivate the forces to purify our astral body so the inflaming vainglory Luciferic elements don’t inflate our false ego, or make us want to escape. We must bring our focus to the adversarial forces, which are meant to strengthen us. We must develop the courage of Michael to see it as something that is necessary in our time, something that has to be present, so that we can learn to reverse it thru our heart-thinking – transforming these forces thru love.

Illustration art canvas Religious icon wall art t shirt joan of arc graphic tee Saints wall decor jeanne d'arc do not be afraid religious iconography saint joan I WAS BORN FOR

WE – have to be the ones to reverse it. When we are awake, & able to recognize what the adversarial powers are doing in the world, it is our job to reverse it. We are the ones we have been waiting for – And as Joan said ‘I was born for this’. We were born for this; & we are not alone. The question is: How do we make it possible for divine spiritual forces, the ‘ever present help of the spiritual world’, to enter into our actions? – Without seeking to run away & hide, without pulling the covers over our heads; or sleeping thru this opportunity; without blindly following the materialistic narrative? How do we offer conscious resistance to this deceptive Ahrimanic element in our age, the way resistance was offered to the Luciferic element at the time of Joan of Arc?

Will Chakra: Thought Forms | Chakrology — Alex Grey

The antidote dear friends is: Building thought-forms that forge a path forward, towards a spiritualization of human culture! We must cultivate our ability to form ideas & concepts into a thinking-will for good – A heart-thinking – activating the Cultural Sphere. This is what the Festival Life does so beautifully. It helps us spiritualize human relationships, thru art, & science, & education, & spirituality – to bring spirit to matter, & matter to spirit.

This creates the true unselfish Freedom we need in order to enter into a true Sister/brotherhood, with Equity. This is the prerequisite foundation needed to manifest the 3-fold social organism. Which we can only do if we stop listening to the prejudices & propaganda currently pounding us deeper into the false narratives – a voice that speaks loudly at times, or can be the faintest of whispers from the dragon within.

I have to admit that part of me was, I don’t think excited is the right word, more like called to be awake, when I heard that during our Joan’s Epiphany Festival, people were storming the Capital – Hey, we need a revolution, I only wish it wasn’t fueled by the selfish Luciferic forces working thru the inflamed egos of mad men with confederate flags & machine guns.

Free Stock Photo of The Statue of Freedom Online | Download Latest Free Images and Free Illustrations

If it had been peaceful protestors calling on Columbia the Spirit of America, seeking to free the children locked in cages, they would have been shot dead on the steps. Or people asking for an open unbiased scientific examination of the current corona crisis, demanding we follow the money, they would have been shot dead on the steps. Or black people demanding justice & a stop to systematic racism, they would have been shot dead on the steps.

The only revolution that can work is a complete revolution in our thinking, feeling & willing. Otherwise we are just being played between these 2 adversarial forces.

We can generate the great strength we need to offer a conscious resistance to these inflaming & hardening forces by approaching the spirit, not only thru the inner powers of revelation & faith, like in the case of Joan of Arc; but by concentrating our powers of understanding on what spiritual science has to give, starting with common sense; which gives us the moral foundation that opens us to divinely inspired wisdom, filling us with light. And when we take ahold of ourselves with this attitude, we can consciously work with what Michael, the Spirit of our Age, has to give us now in our time – Meeting every test & trail with a conscious heart-thinking, motivated by the wisdom of love.

In the opening verse Steiner reminds us:
‘Spirit fruits will come to grow,
If, souls with knowledge of the spirit,
Turn their mind to spirit realms’.

7 Surprising Facts About Joan of Arc - HISTORY

And so dear friends, as we remember the deeds of Joan of Arc, especially during this season of Epiphany, we are also reminded of our current task, to name & tame the modern beasts, to take our will forces in hand, to flip evil on its head, to reverse it, so that it serves the good – Like dear Greta Thunberg & many, many, people young & old, who have dedicated themselves to be Spiritual Warriors for Peace, & the light of truth. See you in the 10:10. Blessings dear ones, thank you for being part of this Spiritual Revolution.

~hag

Epiphany 2021

January 6, 2021Festival~hag

Image result for epiphany painting — Fernando Gallego.

Here is the shorter version in the ‘I Think Speech Podcast‘

January 6^th is The Feast of Epiphany, In Greek: epi-phanos which means shining forth, manifestation, striking appearance or vision of The Divine.

This day is also called: 12th night, featuring ‘The Lord of Misrule’; Three Kings Day; The feast of La Bafana; The Feast of Recognition; The Adoration of the Magi; The Manifestation of God.

In ancient Egypt the 6th of January was celebrated as the Festival of Osiris – revealing the mystery of the re-membering of the Sun-god. As you know, Osiris was overcome by his enemy Typhon or Set, & the Goddess Isis, his beloved, seeks & eventually finds the 14 pieces of him buried all around the world. This notion of finding Osiris is a prefiguring of the Festival of The Three Kings, who also went looking for their representative of the Sun god. This ‘Epiphany’ was also celebrated by the Assyrians, the Armenians & the Phoenicians. Everywhere it is a Festival connected with a kind of universal baptism — a rebirth from out of the water.

In the Act of Consecration, in the Epistle at Epiphany, a word shines out like a star: Grace. 6 times it shines thru: ‘Star of Grace’, ‘Light of Grace’, ‘Grace appearance of the world’s light’…Proclaiming that the shining forth of the Grace of Christ is our Epiphany.

Epiphany, like Easter & Pentecost are Holy Days traditionally set aside for initiation rites, emphasizing the mysterious relationship between the elements of fire & water, which invokes the ability to see into the formative forces of the etheric realm.

In both the Eastern & Western churches the feast of Epiphany additionally commemorates the marriage at Cana (see John 2:1-11), at which Christ performed his first miracle, an allegory for the mixing of water & wine=liquid fire, changing water into fire, which the ancients called The Alchemical Marriage, or the Great Work…

Epiphany, has been observed since before AD 194, so it is much older than our Christmas celebrations. It has always been a profoundly esoteric festival of the highest rank.

At one time the Nativity & Epiphany were celebrated together & were referred to as the 1^st & 2^nd nativity; the 1^st as the birth of the physical vessel prepared thru many generations from Adam down thru the House of King David; & the 2^nd being Christ’s manifestation into that vessel, linked with the cosmic event of Christ’s baptism by John in the Jordan; & then moving with the blood into the earth in the death & resurrection of Easter.

The Three Kings from the East were wise men initiated into the mysteries of the stars by Zarathustra. They followed the starry script written in the heavens that was foretold by the ancient prophets, to Bethlehem, where they paid homage to the Christ-child & presented him with gold, frankincense & myrrh.

Gold reflects the kingship of The Christ as a ‘Solar King’. Frankincense, the incense of seership & worship, for meditative & invocational purposes, symbolizes his priestly role, & myrrh, a purifying substance used in healing & burial embalming, points to the crucifixion & resurrection.

The 3 kings represent the evolution of humanity, & show in their inclusiveness that The Christ Impulse is for all of humankind.

The twelve days of Christmas ends with the Feast of Epiphany which comes with its own traditions, rituals & symbols for the common folk. Carolers go from house to house; & in many homes the Christmas Tree is taken down & burnt in a big bonfire.

For the children this is an especially joyous occasion because, when the tree is taken down they get to “plündern” (raid) the tree of the sweets – the chocolate ornaments wrapped in foil or cookies, which have replaced the sugar plums, & become the raiders’ rewards.

January 6th is also called Oiche Nollaig na mBan, Women’s Christmas, when the Irish men take on household duties for the day & the women relax & celebrate together.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is la-Bafana-hearth.bmp

The Witch of Christmas, La Befana, is also celebrated on the Epiphany – The legend of La Befana began thousands of years ago & remains to this day a tradition practiced by many folks with an Italian heritage (my father’s people are from Montefegatesi, the highest of the Bagni di Lucca villages in Tuscany) also practiced in many Waldorf schools.

The Legend: This story takes place at the time of the birth of the Matthew Jesus. La Befana is an old woman who lives in a house in the hills of Italy. Befana spends her days sweeping & baking, when she’s not needed as a healer. One night, Befana notices a bright light in the sky, she thinks nothing of it & goes back to her work. Later, a glorious caravan led by Three Wise Men stop & ask La Befana for directions to Bethlehem inviting her to join them in their search for the Christ Child. But Befana is too busy & knows nothing of this far-away place nor the birth of a special baby. After the caravan disappeared over the hills, she remembered that box of old toys that she had collected over the years, many that were tossed out because they were broken. She had fixed & re-painted them, handing them out to every child who needed one, because she loved seeing them smile. So she placed some baked goods & gifts for the Christ-child in a sack, took her broom to help the new mother clean & raced out after the caravan in search of the Baby Jesus. La Befana was soon lost. And just as she was getting very tired, angels appeared from the bright light, the magic star in the sky to give flight to La Befana on her broom –it was a night of miracles after all. She searched & searched for the Baby Jesus.

La Befana still searches, even today, after all these centuries. And so, every year on the eve of the Epiphany, whenever La Befana comes to a house where there is a child, she drops in to see if it might be the child she seeks. It never is, but Befana leaves a gift anyway. For La Befana has come to realize, over the years, that her searching is not vain, that in a way, the Christ Child is found in all children.

Ever since then the old wise woman has been known as “La Befana” or simply “Befana.” In fact, Befana’s name comes from the ancient Greek word “epifania” which means “epiphany.”

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is la-Bafana-snow-hill.jpg

This celebration, in remembrance of the Magi’s visit, often includes purifying rites & benedictions with water. Water set out by the fireplace on the eve of the Epiphany (the night that La Befana flies the skies) is said to have sacred properties that can ward off evil spirits & is used in critical moments of a family’s life.

Celebration of the Epiphany can be traced as far back as the 9th century, & is one of the most popular Italian feasts especially in the backcountry or in the hills. In the time when our grandparents were children, La Befana was tremendously popular & was awaited with a mixture of joy & anxiety. Children hung hand-knitted stockings on the fireplace & wrote long letters to her expressing their wishes. Often they were disappointed as their families had little money to spend on gifts; however, sometimes they found little hand-sewn dolls & puppets in their stocking. If they had been bad, their stockings were filled with onions, garlic & coal. In modern-day Italy some shops sell carbone or black rock candy that actually looks like pieces of coal.

La Befana Cake: Honouring The Old Witch of Winter – Gather Victoria

And to celebrate this day, people would gather together on Epiphany morning to & chestnuts, & fruit pancakes.

My Waldorf girl learned this song at school many years ago:

Babuska, Babuska, she sweep & sweep all day
Babuska, Babushka, would not take time away.
Kings came ariding 1, 2, 3
Over the land & over sea
Following following yonder star
Calling out to them from afar
But Babuska, Babuska, she sweep & sweep all day
Babuska, Babushka, would not take time away.
~hag

Image result for epiphany chalking the door 2019

Another tradition is to sprinkle the doorways with holy water; & the mistress of the house would write with chalk K + M + B with the number of the year above the house or barn door & say: “Kaspar, Melchior, “Balthasar, behütet uns auch für dieses Jahr, vor Feuer und. ‘Protect our home from the perils of fire & water’.

20+K+M+B+21…Our modern family does this every year…

You may have seen it, especially if you’ve been to Germany or other parts of Europe – a mysterious series of letters & numbers, looking to all the world like an equation, inscribed in chalk over a doorway.

The letters are also an abbreviate of the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedicat: “May Christ bless the house.” The “+” signs represent the cross.

I remember the days when I would go to the Epiphany Mass with my grandma, & they gave out satchels of blessed chalk, incense, & containers of holy water blessed especially for Epiphany. Another common practice, that my Straga-ma always observed was to save a few grains of the Epiphany incense until Easter, so that it could be burned along with the Easter candle.

Practicing traditions like the chalking of the doors helps us to awaken to the mysteries behind the Holidays. It is a practical concrete way to observe & it serves as an outward sign of our dedication to being more conscious in our thinking, feeling & willing. To consciously take the time to bless our homes – the place where many of us will make the greatest strides in our spiritual growth, through observance of daily meditation, spiritual reading to the dead, & work offered freely with love – is vital.

It also serves as a reminder of the wise welcoming that the Magi gave to the Christ Child. We can also strive to be as welcoming to all who come to our homes. To greet the Christ within every body that crosses our threshold.

Blessings & Peace ~hag

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

THE MYSTERIES (Die Geheimnisse) A Lecture by Rudolf Steiner given
Cologne 1907

“…K. M. B…. these letters represent the names of the Three Holy Kings: Kaspar, Melchior, Balthasar…these three wise men of the East who brought offerings of three human virtues which are symbolized…self-knowledge in the gold; self-piety, that is the piety of the innermost self — which we can call self-surrender — in the frankincense; and in the myrrh self-consummation and self-development, or the preservation of the eternal in the self.

The first king was the representative of the Asiatic races; the second, the representative of the European peoples; and the third, the representative of the African races. Wherever people wanted to understand Christianity as the religion of earthly harmony they saw in the three kings and their homage a union of the different lines of thought and religious movements in the world into the One principle, the Christian principle…Those who had penetrated into the principles of esoteric Christianity saw in Christianity not only a force which had affected the course of human development, but they saw in the Being embodied in Jesus of Nazareth a cosmic world-force — a force far transcending the merely human that prevails in this present age. They saw in the Christ-principle a force that indeed represents for mankind a human ideal lying in a far distant future, an ideal which can only be approached by our understanding the whole world more and more in the spirit.

The esoteric Christian looks on the universe as he looks on the human body. When he looks on the human body he sees it as consisting of different limbs: the head, arms, hands, and so on. When he looks on the human body and sees the movements of hand, eye, etc., these are for him the expression of the inner spiritual and psychic experiences. In the same way as he looked through the human limbs, and their movements, into that which is eternal, spiritual in man, the esoteric Christian regarded the movements of the stars, the light that streams down from the stars to humanity, the rising and setting of the sun, the rising and setting of the moon, as the external expression of divine-spiritual Beings pervading all space. All these natural phenomena were to him deeds of the gods, gestures of the gods, expressions in mime of those divine-spiritual Beings, as also was everything that occurs among mankind, when people establish social communities…

In the long Christmas winter night the novice was far enough advanced to have a vision at midnight. The earth was then no longer a veil for the sun, which stood behind the earth. It became transparent for him. Through the transparent earth he saw the spiritual light of the sun, the Christ-light. This fact, which marks a profound experience for the mystery-novice, was recorded in the expression: To see the sun at midnight.

The esoteric Christian felt that through absorption in Christian Esotericism he approached more and more that power of inward vision through which he could imbue his feeling, thinking and his will-impulses in gazing into this spiritual sun. Then the Mystery-novice was led to a vision of the greatest importance: As long as the earth is opaque the separate parts appear inhabited by people of different confessions, but the unifying bond is not there. Human races are as scattered as the climates. Human opinions are scattered all over the earth and there is no connecting link. But in the degree in which men begin to look through the earth into the sun by their inner power of vision, in the degree in which the “star” appears to them through the earth, their confessions will flow together to one great united Brotherhood. And those who guided the great separated human masses in the truth of the higher planes, towards their initiation into the higher worlds, were known as “Magi.” They were three in number, as in the various parts of the earth various powers express themselves. Humanity had, therefore, to be led in different ways. But as a unifying power there appears the star, rising beyond the earth. It leads the scattered individuals together, and then they bring offerings to the physical embodiment of the solar star, appearing as the star of peace. Thus was the religion of peace, of harmony, of universal peace, of human brotherhood, connected cosmically and humanly with the ancient Magi, who laid the best gifts that they had in store for humanity before the cradle of the Son of Man incarnate. http://wn.rsarchive.org/Le…/19071225p01.html;mark=167,29,40…

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is joan-of-arc-Eugene_Thirion.jpg — Eugene Thirion

1412 – The Birthday of Joan of Arc

1828 – Birthday of Herman Grimm – Grimm’s father was Wilhelm Grimm, & his uncle Jakob Grimm, the philologist compilers of indigenous folk tales (“Brothers Grimm”). His other uncle was the painter engraver Ludwig Emil Grimm. Grimm’s reputation is that of the arch-Romantic, Gründerzeit art historian. He viewed himself as the intellectual successor of Goethe. His approach to art history was through the “Great Masters”, & arranging significance of art through a biographical account of art history. His tastes both typified & led German & continental taste. Homer, Dante & Shakespeare were the great writers of their age; in art, only Raphael & Michelangelo could compare. The nineteenth century’s adoration of Raphael is in large part Grimm’s doing.

POD (Poem Of the Day)

394px-Joan_of_Arc,_by_Gaston_Bussiere — Dante Gabriel Rossetti

~Reveling in gratitude
Thinking the Angel of Joan
Opening the gifts of the Magi
Chalking doors for Epiphany
Blessing brooms with La Bafana
Getting baptized by John
Standing with the Christ
Singing with the Spheres…
~hag

***

Joan of Arc. By Charles-Amable Lenoir. Digital Art by Tom Hill

Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST

Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost
& online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041
Meeting ID: 705 293 1041

As a celebration of the Birthday of Joan of Arc
We welcome special Guest Nancy Jewel Poer,
who will be premiering her Magnum Opus:
JOAN OF ARC – HER GIFTS FOR OUR TIME,
a film featuring Kai Migliaccio & Jospeh Seserman

We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’
by Rudolf Steiner, with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Social Sculpture: Singing Through Joan of Arc “The Passage”
with Luicen Dante Lazar, + An Artistic exploration

Group Eurythmy with Mary Ruud

$ 10 donation at the door or http://donate.rschicago.org/

Enter on the branch side 4249 N. Lincoln
& proceed thru the Schreinerei into the Elderberries Space

Pot luck afterward in the Schreinerei – Please Bring Food to Share

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

12th Holy Night: Adam Kadmon

January 5, 2021Festival~hag

Today‘s ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast

Greetings dear friends, I woke up this morning with an earache, hanging on to the edges of a dream in which I lived with an old healer woman. I was her assistant helping her make plant medicines for the little village. She was stern & the work was hard, but I got to be out in nature gathering the plants which I loved. She was always telling me ‘be prepared, get ready’ but I never really knew what she meant.

Then one night the 3 kings arrived in the village with their caravans & came to visit the old woman. By now I am lucidly saying to myself in the dream, O geez this is La Bafana, I need to talk about her on Epiphany. Anyway in the dream I served the 3 wise men wine & cakes & sat by the fire listening to them speak about the stars. After they left the old woman said ‘& what will you bring’? I awoke feeling my angel was there. My left ear throbbing, thinking about what I would bring for the Festival tomorrow, entitled ‘Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’.

It’s interesting now to see that today’s 12^th Holy Night deals with Aries the Ram, which represents the head, & in which the eurythmy gesture covers the ears.

The Mystic Teilhard de Chardin and the Heart of Jesus — Integral Christian Network — Bento Keller

Our journey, dear friends, taking us on the path from Jesus to Christ, is a divine archetype that every human being may follow thru the 12 regions of the Zodiac – & beyond, into the compass of the Holy Spirit & now on the Eve of Epiphany, we get a glimpse into the sphere of the Mystic Lamb.

We started in the feet with Pisces & the incarnation into the human realm on Christmas Eve –& now we have arrived at Aries, ruling the head – a glimpse of our reunion with the godhead. This is the prototype for our microcosmic metamorphosis from matter to spirit – a model for spiritualizing ourselves & the Earth. Let us receive this day the gifts of the ‘Three Kings’.

Aries is ‘at the head’ of the whole zodiac circle of ‘Adam-Kadmon’ – the Alpha to Omega Archetype of Humanity –from which the Christ descended – passing thru each sign – each Angelic realm – into the Spirit & Soul of the Sun, for the pre-earthly deeds.

Yay, I know I am falling into Anthro-speak, & this term pre-earthly deeds deserves its own seminar, but basically, we can think that there was a lot of preparation that had to happen in our evolution before the Christ could bring His impulse of Universal Love to earth. Human beings are gifted with these pre-earthly deeds in the 1^st 3 years of life, when so much happens, we learn to stand upright & walk, we learn to speak & we learn to think & call ourselves “I”.

But let me get back to the fact that it is no coincidence that the sphere of the Mystic lamb in Aries stood in the heavens at the exact time of the Baptism, when the Christ being descended from the Sun into the vessel of the Nathan Jesus of the Luke Gospel, in order to perform, 3 years later, His 4th & most important deed on the hill at Golgotha, everything else was a preparation for this deed.

The Ghent Altarpiece: supreme divine art | Visit Gent — Van Eyck’s Ghent Altar Piece

In John 1:35-36, the Baptist says: “Look, there is the Lamb of God”. With these words we hear a testimony of the cosmic connection of Christ with the heavenly region of the Ram, thru which Christ entered our cosmos from the realms beyond the zodiac.

It is thru this portal outside of The Trinity, related to more than our cosmos alone, that the ‘Voice from Heaven’ speaks at the baptism: “This is my Beloved Son, today I have begotten Him” or as Matthew 3:16-17 tells it: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in him will I revel myself!”

From the Aries constellation flows the source of Christ’s spiritual influence in the cosmos which then spreads its emanations towards the 1st 7 ‘light or ascended’ zodiac signs, which goes down to the region of the Scales. This may be called the body of the Mystic Lamb.

Towards LIBER SOPHIA: a new Gnostic and Thelemic Mass?

And from Virgo to Pisces we have the body of the Divine Sophia. The overlapping center where they meet is where the ‘Mystic or alchemical Marriage’ takes place, an initiatory process in the New Mysteries open to humanity now. (Remember: the 13 Hidden Holy Night is New Year’s Eve, the center between the above & below, where we see the Sun at Midnight)

Hebrews 10; The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. Sacrifices - YouTube

Those initiated in the ancient Jewish rites had an inkling of the connection between, what they called the ‘Messiah’ & the region of the Ram. This is seen in the practice of sacrificing lambs for the ‘sins of Israel’. The Passover was a pre-figuring of The Christ, the new ‘Sacrificial Lamb’ – freely offered as the medicine redeeming humanity from the fall, & ending the need for blood sacrifice.

The Bible Journey | John begins baptising — Dennis Pennington

John the Baptist was a leading initiate of the Jewish mysteries. In his earliest incarnation as ‘Adam’ – he was the 1st man to take up a physical existence on earth. Because of this he was given the task of baptizing people in preparation for the descent of Christ -the 1st God to enter physical existence on earth. His task was to sort the Lambs – those ready for the new initiation, from those not ready in that life. And Eve had the task of giving birth to the Matthew Jesus.

What did Jesus really look like, as a Jew in 1st-century Judaea?

After the baptism, Christ-Jesus became the new archetype of the human being, which had fallen into disarray thru ‘the fall of Adam’. The human body was intended in the beginning to be more spiritual, but instead, it entered more deeply into materiality then what was intended by the gods. But thru the Resurrection, we can achieve the rise of Adam-Kadmon – the perfected human being – in times to come. It is for this reason that John the Baptist says that he (as the old Adam) must decrease, while Christ (the new Adam) must increase.

Later after John the Baptist dies, his spirit is able to unite with Lazarus/John during his initiation by Christ into the New Mysteries – so that Lazarus becomes John the Divine. In the Book of the Apocalypse he reveals the connection of Christ with the Sphere of the Mystic Lamb, in his description of the Heavenly Lamb who guards the Book of Seven Seals.

And so, thru our journey of Jesus to Christ we see the earthly reflection in the 13 Holy Nights between the festivals of Christmas to Epiphany, of our human evolution back to the Godhead. And at Epiphany, the festival of the Birth of Christ into the earthly body of humanity in the man Jesus, we get an insight into the journey that a god took to become human. For at the moment of the Baptism, the highest Trinity is reflected in the depths of earthly existence: the Holy Spirit as the Dove (Bull), the Son-Principle as the Lamb (Ram) & the Father-principle as the Voice from the Heavens beyond the zodiac – those realms where human imagination has yet to penetrate. But it is from there, from the bosom of the Father/Mother, that Christ descended into our cosmos. And from there He worked from the sphere of the Sun, as the 13th in the circle of the 12 – the Divine Spirit of our solar system; & then at the Baptism He descends from the Sun to the Earth, in order that the Earth may become a Sun.

Earth and Sun Energy Original Acrylic Painting Abstract | Etsy — Helen Gerpew

It is ‘The Great Work’ of Being Human, to Become, each of us, a Sun – Recognizing & acknowledging this spark of Divinity in everyone we meet – supporting & adding to this light – to do as my friend Teddy Mowrey, who crossed the threshold 3 years ago now, said: “I resolve to Improve my awareness of the Christ in me, bringing it consciously into recognition of the Christ in others. The Christ in me responds to the Christ in you”. Thank you Teddy, I am still living into these living words that you have left us. To me this is the perfect expression of the Virtue: Devotion becomes the power of sacrifice.

Sun, Earth, Sky Painting by Zachia Middlechild | Saatchi Art — Zakia Middlechild

To be devoted, is a commitment to act out of free will, selflessly, -to actively consecrate – to devote our life, like the 3 Kings did, to give our gifts – And thru this giving to be reborn, to rise up out of the waters newly baptized – ready to become a devoted human being, ready to serve.

Amazon.com: abstract art, sun, mother earth, strange art, weird art, freaky art, alternative art, creation art, acrylic painting, 24x36 canvas: Handmade — Bolo Benny

Thank you to those intrepid souls who have willingly taken this powerful journey from 2020, thru the Holy Nights opening the way into 2021. May we devote this year to becoming one with the Earth-Sun. See you at 10:10, until then. Blessings & peace.

~hag

***

Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CST

Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost
& online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041
Meeting ID: 705 293 1041

Social Sculpture: Singing Through Joan of Arc “The Passage”
with Luicen Dante Lazar, + An Artistic exploration

Group Eurythmy with Mary Ruud

For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Category Archives: Festival

Tu’ B’Shvat

Freedom & Justice for All

Joan of Arc vs. ‘the proud boys’

Epiphany 2021

12th Holy Night: Adam Kadmon

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: