So many forces interweaving in the imagination of St. John’s Eve, but I think I’d like to center on the idea that, in the new mysteries we strive at St. John’s Tide toward an enhanced awareness of our will forces – Rudolf Steiner speaks about how we are dreamy in our feeling & asleep in our willing, so we really have to make an effort to follow John the Baptist & ‘make straight the path’, an effort to enable the higher ego to come to expression ever more fully in the mysterious recesses of our personal priorities with respect to our will.

The summertime union between the sun & earth is actually a re-union between the spiritual beings of the sun & their human offspring. In the Summer-Tide, through ‘the great window of heaven’ we experience this interaction between humanity & the sun forces, which helps us develop an awareness of our ego. We can contemplate this dynamic & bring it to life in our soul most strongly at this time of year.

Rudolf Steiner tells us that at midsummer the Trinity reveals itself out of the heart of this cosmic activity. A sounding, like the music of the spheres, that calls us to explore our own inner harmony with the cosmos. To answer the echo that unites us to the eternity of the Trinity.

Also important: Can we learn, to be still & small enough to hear the voice of conscience?

At the fullness of Summer, the light is so bright that it leaves no room for the shadow to hide. High Noon is the hour of judgment – a good time to remember what John said “Then you will know the truth, & the truth will set you free.”

So as we lift up our hearts to meet ‘the heights & depths of the universe’, where we feel ‘Not I, but Christ in me’ – To say as John the Baptist said “He must increase, but I must decrease” we respond to the summertime call for a yearly Metanoia, reviewing of our deeds, looking with courage to the errors of the past, enduring all the pain self-knowledge brings, so that someday, with hearts lifted, we may say:  Yes, I am, and Christ in me!

For the true power of our Ego will increase like Christ increases. And when our false ego decreases, we grow in Christ. Just as John the Baptist, after he was beheaded, concentrated his spirit self into the apostles, especially Lazarus John.

Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

23 June 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The central stars of the constellation Lyra, forming a small triangle & parallelogram, dangle to the lower right from bright Vega high in the east. The two brightest stars of the pattern, after Vega, are the two forming the bottom of the parallelogram: Beta & Gamma Lyrae, or Sheliak & Sulafat. They’re currently lined up vertically. Beta is the one on top.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1456 – Birthday of Columbus

1868 –Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer.”

1887 – The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada creating the nation’s first national park, Banff National Park

1894 – The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris

1910- Birthday of Jean Anouilh. One of France’s most prolific writers after World War II, much of Anouilh’s work deals with themes of maintaining integrity in a world of moral compromise. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for Becket or Honour of God & his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles’ classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain’s Vichy government.

1942 –The first time the gas chamber at Auschwitz is used on a train full of Jews from Paris

1947 – The United States Senate overrides Harry Truman’s veto of the Taft–Hartley Act

1960 – The Food & Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first oral contraceptive pill in the world – recalled in the U.S. in 1988, along with other first-generation high-estrogen COCPs

1985 – A terrorist bomb aboard Air India Flight 182 brings the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard

2001 – The 8.4 Mw earthquake shakes coastal Peru. A tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, & 2,687 injured

2006 – Rene Querido, General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Teacher, writer (The Golden Age of Chartres) pupil of W.J. Stein.

***

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~The Spirits of Will flash code in the lightning
Love speaks
Truth in the deep rolling thunder
The Gnomes know its Midsummer
Fat Undines splash against the warm fecund earth
& steam up in a vital whiff
Of ozone wafting in the moist air
Filling my breath with purple sky
I walk home
~hag

***

Friday 26 June & Sunday 28 June, 2020 Goethe’s Primordial Plant Workshop with Victoria Martin 

Friday 26 June & Sunday 28 June, 2020 – Goethe’s Primordial Plant: Urpflanze Magic Art Workshop with Victoria Martin – Create your own Totem Plant Portrait on 8 x 32 Archival Canvas.

$15 – $25 (or pay what you will) includes Tuition & All Materials. Space is limited to 10, so please reserve your spot.

Friday 26 – Doors open 4:30pm, Lecture, Demo & Art Making: 5 pm – 6:30 pm, Critique & Soiree 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Sunday 28 – Doors open: 2:30pm, Lecture, Demo & Art Making: 3 pm – 4:30 pm, Critique & Soiree: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Please bring Paleo Snacks to share. RSVP by Thursday June 25 Contact viccimartin@gmail.com or call 312-961-3380.

~Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago Festivals & Programs Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

Sat. 27 June 2020 Werbeck Singing workshop 9 am – 5 pm

9 am – 3:30 pm Sat. 27 June 2020 with Alicia Burns at Elderberries 3-Fold Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

$25-$65 or pay it forward

…the human voice needs no training, it is already there, finished and perfect as an entity. What the voice is waiting for is liberation. We should speak of freeing the voice, or better yet uncovering the voice, and not voice-training. ~ Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström, creator of the Werbeck Singing Method

Details TBA. for more info. contact Frank Agrama

***

August 8-18 ‘Classroom Alive’ Youth Open-Source Learning in Chicago

We’re starting up with Culture in our community – join young people here in Chicago for a 10 day walking journey – Classroom Alive Chicago!

Exploration & experiencial learning all over Chicagoland, starting at at Elderberries 3-Fold Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultrual Hub 4251 N. Lincolon Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

for more info. contact Ultra-Violet Archer, or Frank Agrama

Details TBA #ClassroomAliveChicago2020

Thank you for forwarding this flier for any interested young people –

Co-sponsored in part by The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Festival & Program Coordinator

August 20-23, 2020 Questions of Courage Youth Conference at Elderberries

Questions of Courage 2020 in Chicago – August 20-23 Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost and 3Fold Cultural Hub 4251 N. Lincolon Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

August 20: Check-in, share conversation, build the ground for the journey together.

August 21-22: Travel to Wisconsin Move together towards the land, link up with Farmer John and Haidy Angelic Organics Biodynamic Farm, and also with Dana and Phil Burns at Healing Traditions and Alizur farm. Connect with the land, plants, animals, and one another, through creative explorations and “roughin’ it” type amendments. Sleep under the stars or indoors.

August 23: Return to Chicago Enter back into the metropolitan context, into the social questions of urban life, and close the gathering together at Elderberries, setting the ground for future work out of questions of courage that are present.

Other locations and collaborators are currently in dialogue, and will be updated here.

The gathering is essentially about stepping into the living natural element, step by step, making an integral connection, with one another, ourselves, and the elements that support us here on the Earth…”

registration: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdY7KXHkjUPV2h9UD…/viewform

Thank you Elderberries for giving us an anchor to build our heartland gathering around!

***

August 27-30, HOW WE WILL 2020

At Elderberries 3-fold Bio-Dynamic Outpost

for more info. contact Frank Agrama or Dottie Zold

Details TBA Co-sponsored in part by The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago -Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Festival & Program Coordinator

***

“He Must Increase but I Must Decrease.” (John 3:30)

John the Baptist – born in the light of the Summer Sun, just after the Solstice, 6 months before his cousin Jesus, whose birth is celebrated just after the Winter Solstice.

Along with references to the light of the Sun, there are many lamp & fire symbols in the Old Testament that prepare the way for the Christ, who appeared before incarbation as ‘flames of fire’ & ‘clouds of glory’, such as the burning bush (Exodus 3), & the refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”(Psalm 119:105)

Solomon compares prayer with a lamp, & teaching with light, (Proverbs 6:23) “like the shining of the sun, burns evermore, and leads to eternal rest.”

Rabbis were often called “Lamps of the Law,” & David was “The Lamp of Israel” (2 Samuel 21:17). Compare the remarkable parallel spoken of in the prototype of the Baptist:  “Then stood up Elias the prophet, as fire, and his word was kindled like a lamp” (Ecclesiasticus 48:1). This speaks to the promised light which was to appear, & Elias as the torchbearer who kindles the lamb to light the bridegroom’s way.

“He was not the Light, but came to bear witness to the Light” (John 1:8). Here we see the distinction between the lamp (John the Baptist) & the Light (The Christ)

2 Peter 1:19 tells us: “We also have the message of the prophets, which has been confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to this message, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

John the Baptist, as the Forerunner of the Christ, is the flame signal of the Messiah, the last Old Testament form of the pillar of fire, or the candlestick in the temple. “He was the burning and shining lamp (λύχνος, not φῶς) and there was nothing you wanted more than to bask for a while in that light”. (John 5:35) Here we experience the Baptist as Christōsphoros, the harbinger of the Christ-Light (Φωσφόρος) – the “Light-Bearer”,

 “John replies in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.” (John 1:23)

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22). We also find that, under the symbol of lamps of fire, the messengers of God, are repeatedly set forth (Matthew 5:14-16; Matthew 25:1-8; Revelation 1:20; Philippians 2:15).

Like the call of conscience from John the Baptist, the need arises to let the light of the higher ego shine into our being.

Let us seek to know the will forces that through our deeds become part of the earth’s being, & make straight the path to the New Jerusalem.

(See also these references: John 1:5, John 1:7, John 1:8, John 1:9; & compare John 3:19-21, John 8:12; John 9:5; John 12:46)

Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Steller is the golden seed from which the corn arises,
Earthly is the Sun on the hill from which spirals day…
My body nourishes some unfolding time & purpose
My heart lifts like the Moon
& power quivers on the water…
I shine bronze & gold
& silver in the mirror of the unveiled Isis…
Today
The fixed stars & the circling planets are glad…
~hag

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

22 June 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna, after completing her task at New Moon time for the Solar eclipse, is a thin crescent returning to the evening sky as Castor & Pollux are disappearing for the season.

Feast of St. Thomas More, “a man for all seasons,” literary scholar, lawyer, father of four & chancellor of England. He would not support Henry VIII’s divorce & remarriage. Beheaded on Tower Hill, London, 1535

1527 Deathday of Niccolo Machiavelli – “The Prince”

1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe

1805 – Birthday of Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian politician, journalist & activist for the unification of Italy spearheading the Italian revolutionary movement. Freemason – Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy. Rudolf Steiner speaks of him as a Hibernian initiate with Garibaldi & Cavour

1839 – Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, & Elias Boudinot are assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota, which had resulted in the Trail of Tears

1941 –Hitler invades the Russia in Operation Barbarossa

1942 – Pledge of Allegiance formally adopted by Congress

1969 – The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to water pollution, & spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act & the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency

1978 – Charon, a satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto, is discovered by American astronomer James W. Christy

1990 – Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.

2002 – An earthquake measuring 6.5 Mw strikes northwestern Iran killing 261 people & injuring 1,300 others

2010 – Deathday of Ekkehard Meffert anthroposophist who studied geology, geography, philosophy (with a thesis on Cusa), Education, politics & history. Best known for his biography of Mathilde Scholl, one of the first esoteric students of Rudolf Steiner.

***

Friday 26 June & Sunday 28 June, 2020 Goethe’s Primordial Plant Workshop with Victoria Martin 

Friday 26 June & Sunday 28 June, 2020 – Goethe’s Primordial Plant: Urpflanze Magic Art Workshop with Victoria Martin – Create your own Totem Plant Portrait on 8 x 32 Archival Canvas.

$15 – $25 (or pay what you will) includes Tuition & All Materials. Space is limited to 10, so please reserve your spot.

Friday 26 – Doors open 4:30pm, Lecture, Demo & Art Making: 5 pm – 6:30 pm, Critique & Soiree 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Sunday 28 – Doors open: 2:30pm, Lecture, Demo & Art Making: 3 pm – 4:30 pm, Critique & Soiree: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Please bring Paleo Snacks to share. RSVP by Thursday June 25 Contact viccimartin@gmail.com or call 312-961-3380.

~Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago Festivals & Programs Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

Sat. 27 June 2020 Werbeck Singing workshop 9 am – 5 pm

9 am – 3:30 pm Sat. 27 June 2020 with Alicia Burns at Elderberries 3-Fold Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

$25-$65 or pay it forward

…the human voice needs no training, it is already there, finished and perfect as an entity. What the voice is waiting for is liberation. We should speak of freeing the voice, or better yet uncovering the voice, and not voice-training. ~ Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström, creator of the Werbeck Singing Method

Details TBA. for more info. contact Frank Agrama

***

August 8-18 ‘Classroom Alive’ Youth Open-Source Learning in Chicago

We’re starting up with Culture in our community – join young people here in Chicago for a 10 day walking journey – Classroom Alive Chicago!

Exploration & experiencial learning all over Chicagoland, starting at at Elderberries 3-Fold Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultrual Hub 4251 N. Lincolon Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

for more info. contact Ultra-Violet Archer, or Frank Agrama

Details TBA #ClassroomAliveChicago2020

Thank you for forwarding this flier for any interested young people –

Co-sponsored in part by The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Festival & Program Coordinator

August 20-23, 2020 Questions of Courage Youth Conference at Elderberries

Questions of Courage 2020 in Chicago – August 20-23 Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost and 3Fold Cultural Hub 4251 N. Lincolon Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

August 20: Check-in, share conversation, build the ground for the journey together.

August 21-22: Travel to Wisconsin Move together towards the land, link up with Farmer John and Haidy Angelic Organics Biodynamic Farm, and also with Dana and Phil Burns at Healing Traditions and Alizur farm. Connect with the land, plants, animals, and one another, through creative explorations and “roughin’ it” type amendments. Sleep under the stars or indoors.

August 23: Return to Chicago Enter back into the metropolitan context, into the social questions of urban life, and close the gathering together at Elderberries, setting the ground for future work out of questions of courage that are present.

Other locations and collaborators are currently in dialogue, and will be updated here.

The gathering is essentially about stepping into the living natural element, step by step, making an integral connection, with one another, ourselves, and the elements that support us here on the Earth…”

registration: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdY7KXHkjUPV2h9UD…/viewform

Thank you Elderberries for giving us an anchor to build our heartland gathering around!

***

August 27-30, HOW WE WILL 2020

At Elderberries 3-fold Bio-Dynamic Outpost

for more info. contact Frank Agrama or Dottie Zold

Details TBA Co-sponsored in part by The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago -Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Festival & Program Coordinator