Category Archives: Insight

Towards the Heights

Celestial Event, Festival, Insight, Lecture, Quote, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

May 1st 2016 – Orthodox Easter

Good Friday Arid RosenArid Rosenkratz

880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.

1707 – The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1785 – Kamehameha I, the king of Hawaiʻi, defeats Kalanikūpule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

786 – In Vienna, Austria, Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time

1851 – Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition in London.

1884 – May day proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States

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veil easter sunRuby Lun

Calendar of the Soul  Sixth Week [May 01, 2016 – May 07, 2016]

There has arisen from its narrow limits

  My self and finds itself

  As revelation of all worlds

  Within the sway of time and space;

  The world, as archetype divine,

  Displays to me at every turn

  The truth of my own likeness.

~   ~   ~

jacobs-ladderChagall_Marc Chagall

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – A Festival of Ascension, part 1 of a Lecture by ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Ascension comes when the season of blossoming is reaching fullness. Trees & plants, stirring upwards in growth, have been touched by the warmth & light from above, & show forth the blessing of the heavens in color & scent. The whole of nature reaches upwards towards the heights.

The longing of the human soul strives upward also, in unison with nature, seeking the touch of world-warmth from the sun. This mood of ascension attunes all of life to the cosmic expanses.

However closely heaven & earth are aligned, their relationship is not always the same. In this we see the miracle of the seasons –the breathing-in, & the breathing-out, of the earth soul.

At the time of the Ascension of Christ, nature celebrates the ascension of the soul of the earth. – It is not by chance that the 40 days between Easter & Ascension coincide with this season.

Every year, when the earth breathes out in the springtime, the mystery of the Ascension of Christ, Who is the Spirit of the Earth, is renewed.

The stars in their constellations are shifting into their Summer places now, & the planets tread the ordered measure of their courses around them. These dots of light in the distance, point us to the spiritual beings who direct the life of the universe.

From this point of view, Ascension is a festival of the hierarchies.

Remember, that when Christ descended thru the heavens, & came into human form, the hierarchies lost His presence. They could only find Him by looking into the depths – bearing witness to  the God Who entered physical existence to remind earthly humanity of its cosmic citizenship.

At the Ascension, the mystery of the resurrection was brought back to the company of heaven – Signaling the return of the lost world of earth into the community of the stars. Since that time, the life of this planet is renewed with the cosmic forces that stream earthward.

The sacrifice of Christ initiated on earth, was the antidote to the consequences of death brought on by the Fall – the redemptive deed that turns death into life.

The Concentrated seed of Christ’s deed continues to grow in the earth thru this connection to the stars.

This reconnection was prefigured in the story of Jacob from the Old Testament. Thru his dream of the stairway to heaven, Jacob gave us the prophecy of the Ascension – A golden ladder set between heaven & earth, on which choirs of angels & our beloved dead can ascend & descend.

When the Risen Christ returned ‘to sit at the right hand of the Father’, at the Ascension, He became the bridge between the above & below.

The Christ impulse dwells in the earth, & extends into the Divine Presence, to fulfill the prophecy of Jacobs ladder, so that thru this deed, mankind is brought near again to cosmic beings.

As the Christ has ascended, so too, in the fullness of time will humanity be transfigured. The company of the hierarchies wait, for us, their younger siblings to ascend in our thinking to meet them in fellowship, as they work all the while at our sides.

Tomorrow we will continue this theme

until soon

~hag = ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

(to read the whole lecture on Ascension click: Ascension 2014 Climbing Jacobs Ladder)

Walpurgisnacht

Celestial Event, Insight, Poetry, Remembering

Walpurgisnacht Fritz_Roeber_Fritz Roeber

April 30 – Walpurgis Night, In Germanic folklore Walpurgisnacht, also called Hexennacht, literally “Witches’ Night” – the eve of the feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Francia.  In Goethe’s Faust we see 2 scenes: ‘Romantic Walpurgis Night’ the night of a witches’ meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, a range of wooded hills in central Germany; and later in Part 2 a ‘Classical Walpurgis Night’ is featured.

This is the Eve of Beltane or May Day. Beltane, the old Celtic name for May Day, means bright fire or fire of Bel, the name of the Solar force, whose feast marks the beginning of the 2nd half of the year.

Wood from 9 sacred trees is gathered, & the great Bel-fire is built & ritualistically ignited on the hill, by the High priestess or Arch-Druid. The people would jump these ‘need-fires’ for fertility, healing & protection.

Torches lit from it were carried home to re-light the hearth fires. The folk would walk their animals in-between them to ensure a productive season – this is the mating season after all for man & beast.

There were other May Day customs: like walking the circuit of one’s property, repairing fences & boundary markers, processions of all kinds, archery tournaments, Morris dances, sword play, & of course making merry with music & drinking.

May morning is a time when the veil between the worlds can easily be pushed aside; but instead of the spirits coming into our realm from the other side, which is the case with Halloween, the polar opposite of Mayday on the wheel of the year -the fairies can enchant us over into their mystical realms.

This is a magical time, perfect for gathering ‘wild’ water, especially the May morning dew, or water from hidden wells & springs. These wild waters were collected & used to bath in for beauty, or to drink for health.

May Day is considered the start of summer – the time of milk & honey. This sensuous fertile energy is totally universal, & can be applied on many different levels. When we acknowledge these creative forces in the dance of our lives, it takes us to our own personal, modern-day version of dancing around the maypole, where we weave & combine the opposing energies within ourselves, blending them into one balanced source.

So yes, whether you know it or not, there will be at least one song that plays in your sub-conscious head on this eve of the 1st day of May, when you become perhaps, the Queen of the May, or Jack-in the Green. Our body like the body of the earth instinctively knows its Beltane, the time of vitality & passion & new growth. And the wisdom of our spirit seeks the natural union of polarities that occur at this time, giving us the opportunity for integration, in the alchemical dance of our souls…

Because under all the sexual innuendo & frivolity, it’s really all about the inner mystic marriage, the union of fire & water -opposites complimenting each other, to become one, bringing all the elements into balance.

You’ll just have to go dancing naked in the forest preserve on your own time…

For now, let’s work to unify the polarities of our being, by sparking the new fire of creative fertility & passion, & marrying it with the beautiful, healing waters of compassion & pure love. So we can truly celebrate the marriage feast of our lives, with a grounded, mindful joy.

So if it is your will – light your Bel-fire, marry it to the water, by floating it in the chalice of your choice. Take the time you need there…To do or not, what you will…Whisper your marriage vows into the water…or dance the 1st dance…or smash the glass…whatever your ceremony calls for…short simple or silent…it doesn’t matter…a 3 day bacchanal, with dancing puppets…it’s all good…cause it’s all about what’s inside…Peace & Love ~hag

Kaspar_hauserself portrait

1812 – Birthday of – the enigmatic Kaspar Hauser

1877 – Birthday of Alice B. Toklas, an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century. Life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein.

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 winter solsticeDiamond liberty

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Today i am

A yawning abyss – The mouth of the cave – The eye of a crocodile

The mother of Jackals & birds – The essence of rotting flowers

A sorceress serving – The lion walking in light…

Today, who are YOU…?

~hag

~   ~   ~

Ascension DaliSalvador Dali

Tomorrow I will begin a series on Ascension

Until Soon

xox

A Question in Reflection

Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering

April 29, 2016 – On This Day:

joan-of-arc-dante-gabriel-rossetti-1351031293_orgGabriel Rossetti

1429 – St. Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orleans defeated the English at Orleans & began the process that ended with England’s complete expulsion from the continent in 1558.

St. Catherine of Siena

Feast day of St. Catherine of Siena. She was the 23rd child of Jacopo & Lapa Benincasa & grew up as an intelligent, cheerful & intensely spiritual person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her appearance in order to attract a husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace, & she was given a room of her own for prayer & meditation.

She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18 & spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer & austerity. Gradually a group of followers gathered around her. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction & encouragement for her followers, began to take more & more note of public affairs. Opposition & slander resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world & speaking with the candor & authority of one completely committed to Christ. Despite the controversy her public influence reached great heights. In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes & putting even saints on opposing sides.

Catherine ranks high among the mystics & spiritual writers. Her spiritual testament is found in her book ‘The Dialogue’.

65 AD – Seneca a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, & humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature, was murdered. He was a tutor & later advisor to Emperor Nero.

1945 – Adolf Hitler commits suicide.

1945 – The Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops.

1970 – Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong.

1974 – Watergate scandal: United States President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the scandal.

2004 – Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.

2016 – Orthodox Good Friday – also: 4th Quarter Moon

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clouds-halo

~Light stands behind

The clouds gifting rain

A question in reflection

Hovers

Moving about in my bones

Rise up I shout

There is work to do

~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Current Festival & Program Events

 

Slow Silver

Celestial Event, Insight, Poetry, Speaking with the Stars

mercuryretroMabel Lockwood

Mercury retrograde (starts today April 28, 2016 & goes till May 27th 2016) This messenger of the gods usually goes retrograde 3 times a year, but in 2016 it is going retro 4 times. This one is also more significant because it give us a total of 5 planets in retrograde right now – along with Saturn, Jupiter, Mars & Pluto! This is very rare & is going to amplify the effects overall.

Mercury retrograde has such a negative reputation; yet it is just a normal pattern in the cycle of life. In fact, Mercury retrograde is very necessary for helping us awaken our consciousness, fulfilling the specific purpose of thinking differently. When we learn how to use this liberating energy it will work in our favor. The first step is to understand the role of Mercury, the planet of communication. It rules over how we express ourselves, how we think & how we communicate our ideas & feelings to the outside world.

When Mercury goes retrograde, it helps us to shift our focus away from expressing outwardly, giving us the opportunity to go within, to work out how we really feel & how we really want to express our ideas & thoughts with the world.

When Mercury goes retrograde, it gives us time to experience those deeper parts of our psyche in order to tune into our soul truth. It is a powerful time to get real with ourselves. It gives us the gift of holding truth close to the heart.

Mercury retrograde does come with a few annoyances, but underneath it is such a powerful time of regeneration & healing. In order to work with Mercury Retrograde it is important not to make any new decisions that are binding or require a contract. The reason for this is because we are in an “assessing truth” phase.

Mercury Retrograde however, is a really good time to revisit the past to assess whether our way of communicating with the world has benefited us or needs to be changed.

Learning how to work with others, being able to communicate truthfully is one of the themes during this time. Take things slow, to keep things simple, to get in touch with that inner voice.

~   ~   ~

Wisdom!!! Jake BaddeleyReg Tiopy

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~TODAY I am everywhere 

I greet myself in the gentleman with the thought of his mother, Clinging to some far off corner of his mind…

Over there, I stand in she, Who is the only song of her dying grandfather…

And beyond, in them, That will soon come to be, Rising up, In the aroma, Of their great granddaughters bread, Which will feed them, In time…

TODAY I am the world…

& today – Who are You…?

~hag = ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

 

Ripening/Bridging

Central Regional Council, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

April 27, 2016 -Looking at the past to see the present, co-creating the future:

Socrates

470 BC- Birth Day of Socrates; teacher of Plato

“Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune”.~Socrates

399 BC – Death Day of Socrates. The Karma Lectures of Rudolf Steiner (vol. 4/10) indicate that this was his teacher G.T. Schroer.

Tariq ibn Ziyad

711 BC –Islamic conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula…The Karma Lectures of Rudolf Steiner indicate Darwin to be a later incarnation (vol. 1/10)

1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield

1810 – Beethoven composes Für Elise.

1861 – American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.

Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_Quote

1882 – Death day of Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, & poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism & a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society. Emerson wrote on a number of subjects, never espousing fixed philosophical tenets, but developing certain ideas such as individuality, freedom, the ability for humankind to realize almost anything, & the relationship between the soul & the surrounding world. “Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul”. He remains among the linchpins of the American Romantic Movement, & his work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers & poets that have followed him…The Karma Lectures of Rudolf Steiner (vol. 4/10) indicate that he was formerly known as Tacitus – considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians.  He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature. He is known for the brevity & compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.

1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.

1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.

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dove_looking_in_mirror

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~As my soul ripens

I polish the metal of Venus –

Looking past the bronze mirror

Reflecting the dove

In the olive grove.

Today

I nourish my purpose in time…

~hag

~   ~   ~

RS art alexander the great

“What is told as “history” today must first cease to be called “history.” In not too distant a future, instead of speaking of all the things contained in history as it is told today, people will speak of the spiritual impulses standing behind the historical evolution, impulses which are only perceived as if in a dream by human beings. These are the spiritual impulses that call man to freedom, and make him free, because they raise him to the world from which intuition, inspiration, and imagination come. For what happens outwardly on the physical plane, what constitutes outer history loses its meaning as soon as it has occurred, if not seen as a spiritual impulse… What is now called “history” is a “corpse-history” compared with the reality of what constitutes karma”. ~Historical Necessity and Freewill Lecture 5, by Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 15 December, 1917

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sunset

TONIGHT!

The Bridging Project: Life and Death from Soul to Soul
Our first video/phone conference is Wednesday April 27, from 7:15 to 8:30pm CST – Special guest, Marianne M. Dietzel, will share her knowledge about “Communicating with our Beloved Dead”.

We will also check-in with the Question:
What inspires you to be part of this bridging project?

To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Option 1. Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended) https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/284737589

Option 2. Call in using your telephone.
United States: +1 (571) 317-3116
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9372
Access Code: 284-737-589
Option 3. You can use a combination of Options 1 and 2 (computer and phone)

Each Quarterly, Wednesday evening call, will be from 7:15 – 8:30pm CST

We have begun our study with Rudolf Steiner’s 2nd lecture from the cycle entitled ‘Historical Necessity and Freewill’ given in Dornach, December 9, 1917. This collection of lectures has been republished under the title: “The Influence of the Dead on Destiny”, Steiner Press. This will provide the study content for our work together – in addition to inviting special guests to offer fruits from out of their research and work.

Meeting Schedule:

April 27th with guest Marianne Dietzel: Communicating with our Beloved Dead

August 10th with guest Maureen Flannery: Home Funeral Alliance; Prompts for writing poetry for the dead

October 26th with guest Dwight Ebaugh: Life between Death and Re-birth

February 1st 2017 with guest Mark Miller: Spirit Parks, an alternative to cemeteries

May 3rd 2017 TBA

May love of hearts reach out to love of souls
May warmth of love ray out to Spirit-light
Even so would we draw near to you
Thinking with you Thoughts of Spirit
Feeling in you the Love of Worlds
Consciously at one with you
Willing in silent being. ~Rudolf Steiner

Blessings to ALL, from the members of the Central Regional Council: &Hazel Archer Ginsberg; Raven Garland; Alberto Loya; Marianne Fieber-Dhara; Dennis Dietzel