I could give a rich play-by-play review of the entire ASA ‘Willing the Good Conference’, but what is living in me to share as a true after-image, the most powerful soul resounding is:
The social realm is the new stage of initiation.
More & more I find, that in the human social encounter (even in the medium of cyber space, when properly redeemed thru positive intention) thru a simple comment, an offhanded phrase spoken in the moment – the unplanned karmic happenstance becomes a living thread that can lead us thru the labyrinth of our habitual thinking. A flash of synchronistic truth transforms into a golden life-line freely given, a universal tether pulling us up from a personal abyss, into a shared illumination; a moment of instruction, a grace that sparks clarity or affirmation.
Lectures or leading thoughts can wash over us & leave us feeling full & bright.
And then, in a 3 minute session, if we let ourselves become a listening vessel, & allow ourselves to be real, & vulnerable, true human encounters become a place of revelation, a wellspring, nourishing us roots to crown – giving us the courage & fortitude to continue to potentize our homeopathic dose of ‘Willing the Good: Love, Action, Healing’ – A beginning manifestation of the ‘Culture of Selflessness’, which invokes deep connection, creating thru us, a vessel for Anthroposophia in the world.
Preparing the future with you
~hag
“What is it that really underlies these things? What is it that is trying to work its way out to the surface in human destinies and human evolution?” We may characterize it as follows: — Man wants to have a social order, he wants to give the life of humankind in society a social structure within which, in harmony with the age of the spiritual soul, he may become conscious of what he is, and knows himself to be, as a spiritual being — in his human dignity, in his significance and force as Man. Within the social order, he wants to find himself as a human being among fellow human beings.” ~Rudolf Steiner: The Fundamental Social Demand of Our Times, LECTURE 1, The Transforming of Instinctive into Conscious Impulses
(Dear friends in the School of Spiritual Science: Out of one such encounter this weekend, a few of us will be creating a study group to work with Sergei O. Prokofieff’s book: “The Esoteric Path Through the Nineteen Class Lessons”. Please contact me for details)
***
‘Thinking’ in the Soul Calendar by Rudolf Steiner, Translated by Roy Sadler
This week:
v28,
I can, revived within,
now feel my own wide breadth of being,
my strength of sun-empowered soul
whose radiance of thinking solves life’s riddles
and lifts the wish-fulfilling wings
that hope left lame.
& its opposite in the southern hemisphere now,
v2,
Arising into senses’ all-enwoven outwardness
thought’s power sheds its separate strand;
the spirit worlds will find again
the offspring who in them
must find its human seed
but in itself the fruit of soul.
Thinking is mentioned just 4 times in between v2 & 28:
v4, Beltane,
I feel the being resonant with mine,
speaks feeling that perceives
and in the sunlit world unites
with all that shines;
it would endow illumined thought with warmth,
and marry man and world.
v7, Ascensiontide,
My Self is threatening to flee,
drawn strongly by the world’s inviting light.
Now you, my foresight, dawn your star in me
and firmly as of right
replace the power of thought
that in the senses’ glory
will lose itself.
v8, Whitsun,
In concert with the god’s creating
the senses’ power grows;
it overwhelms the mind’s force,
dampening it down to dream.
When bonding with my soul
would be a holy being
my thinking must be stilled
in dreamlike presence satisfied.
& v14 (2 octaves before v28),
Completely open to the senses
I lost my own impulse;
thought’s dream seemed, numbing me,
to rob me of myself,
but waking, even now, there comes to me
in all the senses’ glory cosmic thought.
So the Tenor experience till v13 (qv Oct. 4th re. the 4 voices)
is to release thought, endowing it with the summer’s warmth
for the Baritone to ensoul dream experience with cosmic thought
and begin to glisten this week’s Soprano voice with
sun-empowered radiance of thinking.
To quote a phrase from the approaching Halloween verse, v30,
the summer of the world becomes the summer of the soul.
We have moved into the 2nd half of the Soul Calendar,
& now the cosmic summer’s dreamtime activates human thinking.
The verses can be imagined in a 24 hour rhythm.
Each morning dawns with a new reviving gift.
We can meditate this week’s verse every morning when we wake!
& v2 with a slight change in lines 1 & 3 can help us into sleep…
To sleep in all-enwoven outwardness
thought’s power sheds its separate strand;
the spirit worlds will find again
their human offspring,
whose soul must find her seed in them,
but in herself the fruit.
The last 3 lines are an alternative translation of the 1st version.
I invite readers if they wish to suggest which they prefer in the
comment section, & also any thoughts they might like to offer
about my translations & descriptions I’ve added last week & this.
~Roy Sadler
***
Those who work with the Original indications in the Calendar of the Soul know that Rudolf Steiner lists the birth & death days, as well as other significant occurrences of various individualities, along with the dates in the calendar. He said of this: “What is presented here can be useful to those who wish to follow the path of mankind’s spiritual development” ~Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
12 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: At dawn tomorrow Tuesday the 13th, Bella Luna in her waning crescent sheath dances with Venus. Look for Regulus to Luna’s upper right & orange Gamma Leonis, only a little fainter than Regulus, to the Moon’s upper left.
The constellation Cetus the Whale is rising in the southeast as darkness falls.
Freethought Day – the annual observance by freethinkers & secularists of the anniversary of the effective end of the Salem Witch Trials
Fiestas del Pilar -Feast Day of Our Lady of the Pillar – the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in connection with an ancient Spanish tradition that she appeared to the Apostle James the Greater as he was praying by the banks of the Ebro at Zaragoza. Mary is often depicted carrying the Child Jesus on her arms resting above a pillar, sometimes carried by angelic cherubs. The Virgin Mary is invoked under this title as the Patroness of Spain
1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips
1875 – Birthday of Aleister Crowley, an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, & mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century.
Born to a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family, Crowley rejected this fundamentalist Christian faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering & poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers & Allan Bennett.
Moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland, he went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu & Buddhist practices in India. He married Rose Edith Kelly & in 1904 they honeymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should adhere to the code of “Do what thou wilt” & seek to align themselves with their Will through the practice of magick.
After an unsuccessful attempt to climb Kanchenjunga & a visit to India & China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry, novels, & occult literature. In 1907, he & George Cecil Jones co-founded a Thelemite order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated the religion.
After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into another esoteric order, the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to become the leader of its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs. Through the O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia, & North America.
Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting & campaigned for the German war effort against Britain, later revealing that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the British intelligence services. In 1920 he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, & the Italian government evicted him in 1923. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany, & England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.
Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter, bisexual & an individualist social critic. He was denounced in the popular press as “the wickedest man in the world”. Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over Western esotericism & the counter-culture, & continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time.
***
‘Soul to Soul’ on-line Festival with the Central Regional Council & Speical Guests
Halloween 31 October 2020, Saturday 11 am – 1 pm PT / 1 pm – 3 pm CT / 2pm – 4pm ET
Stay tuned for details
***
The Connection Between Epidemics, the Souls of the Dead, & the Spiritual World – Leading thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Group Eurythmy, Singing, Social Sculpture while reading the names of the dead, & Break out Sessions.
2 pm – 4 pm CDT 8 Nov. 2020 Our Annual All Souls Festival
In-person at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & 3 fold Cultural Hub, in conjunction with the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave.
& On-line (details coming soon)
2 pm – 4 pm CDT Sunday 8 November 2020
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62322453/170541127.0.1542156756.0.jpg?resize=288%2C161&ssl=1)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2553013-5a4513ed842b170037977eb0.jpg?resize=237%2C173&ssl=1)
