Here is the Podcast of today’s offering on ‘I Think Speech’.

I am holding in my consciousness that we are in the season of Epiphany, which is often defined as a revelation, I can’t help picturing it as cartoon image of the lightbulb over the head -indicating a sudden, intuitive insight – where it all makes sense. An Epiphany is often related to the appearance or manifestation of a spiritual being or phenomenon  – But I don’t think a true Epiphany happens by chance, or comes as some fliting flash that fades away.

I think of the example of what we hear in the book of Matthew – how the Magi prepared, perhaps for lifetimes before they made it to Epiphany.  And in the 5^th Gospel we read how Jesus of Nazareth was prepared 1^st thru 42 generations, & then for 30 years, before he received the Christ in the Baptism by John in the Jordan. And we have to work thru all of the 13 Holy Nights to reach the Epiphany, which is not just a day, but a season, that takes us into the 1^st stirrings of Spring.

Thru all that is happening to darken or distract us in the world, I have been trying to live into this, to see thru a glass darkly, looking, always searching, for the light hiding in the shadows, which can reveal the revelation – allow the appearance.

I have been thinking about the ‘appearance’, ‘the manifestation’, the advent of Christ, in the etheric world. And it just so happens that 111 years ago today, Rudolf Steiner gives the 1st lecture ever on the Etheric Reappearance of The Christ (see link below) Sometimes when i contemplation this amazing mystery, it comes to me in the picture of an assembly – a convocation, a summit. But mostly I see it as an intimate meeting; or a like blind date, where we are introduced thru a mutual friend – thru our connection to Anthroposophia, which gives us the wisdom to see with new eyes. We receive from this part of ourselves the invite – the entre to the cosmic party. It’s an open invitation, but it takes more than just spinning around 3 times to remove the blindfold –  to lift the veil that separates us from meeting this reality.

The Christ, in his rhythmical Presence, presses forward into the etheric realm, into the realm of the formative forces which envelop the earth to fortify & maintain all life; & Steiner says “Humanity on its natural path of development touches on that sphere with our soul forces” – So that gets me asking, Ok, how do we do our part, on this natural path, to develop those soul forces of Thinking, Feeling & Willing, in this new way? How do we employ Imagination, Inspiration & Intuition without expectation, with the utmost faith & patience, to achieve the 1^st glimmering – an awakening of our etheric eyes, a new supersensible sensing, which can experience the life-body?

Steiner says “We think we see with our eyes, but we don’t literally see with these outer organs. They are a kind of microscope, or telescope, or camera, a fairly dead body in us. We see by means of it, with etheric activity.”

He explains that we perceive colors as the result of etheric activity. If we look at green & afterwards at a white sheet of paper, we see it’s reversal as red. (hmm the Christmas colors, go ahead get out your crayons & give it a try) This seeing is due to the continuation of the etheric activity of the eye, which answers to the impressions of colors. We see a balance. We never see an actual color as it is, but always a balance.

We produce complementary colors thru the etheric activity of our eye; & what we see – the final physical effect, is a balance, even if we are not consciously aware of it. (Think 3D Glasses!)

But when we do make it our intention to be conscious, we became co-creators of this new etheric sight.

 

For more practical exercises in seeing into the etheric, I recommend working with Baruch Urieli’s amazing book: Learning to Experience The Etheric World – with the very interesting sub-title: Empathy, the After-Image & a New Social Ethic.

Rudolf Steiner suggests in his lectures ‘From Jesus to Christ’, (Which is what the Holy Nights are all about) that it is our own etheric activity which lightens up that sphere in which the Etheric Christ is present.

And I have come to see that thru our own activity in connection with The Sophia as a Being of Light, we can shed some Light on Love, waiting in the realm of our formative forces for us to perceive & interact with.

It is an activity, which in its clarity, & beauty, can be strengthened not only thru the specific spiritual discipline of the 6 Basic exercises, & the meditative path, but thru moral development, which brings a balance, in wholeness.

Working the 8-fold path & the 6B are certainly key. And for me right now Equanimity is helping to give a flow to my moral progress. When we take hold of the reins of our emotions & steer them where we want to go, it improves the etheric light which we can pour from our heart down into the limbs & then back up to our head,& out thru our eyes, into the etheric world to light up the Christ.

Yes, friends, today is the New Moon, of the New Year, the perfect time take up this awareness.

12 January 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Tonight, treat yourself to a visit with a mythical beast, the constellation Monoceros the Unicorn. Focus in on the bright stars Betelgeuse, Sirius & Procyon. They make a triangle, which is sometimes called the Winter Triangle. Orion & Rigel & Betelgeuse are there too.

Greetings friends, today is my Half Birthday! My astrologer friend Victoria Martin says 1/2 b-day’s are the ‘low point of the natal year’…grrr…I have been feeling that last week, but now I am pulling up & out…With the New Moon!

And for this next cycle I plan to practice true listening – without presupposing, classifying, improving, controverting, evaluating, approving or  disapproving – without dueling with what is being said – without rehearsing the rebuttal in advance…

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do”. ~Leonardo da Vinci

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1908 – A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time

1910 – Rudolf Steiner gives the 1^st lecture ever on the Etheric Reappearance of The Christ, to members in Stockholm Sweden. At the same time as the “initiation” of Krishnamurti in Adyar. True Nature of the Second Coming – Preparation for this Event through the Development of Etheric Vision ~RS Then on January 25^th Rudolf Steiner begins the series The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric for the members in Dornach

1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to require states to give women the right to vote.

1918 – The Minnie Pit Disaster coal mining accident occurs in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 555 men & boys die

1932 – Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.

1942 –President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the National Labor Board.

2010 – An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing over 100,000 people & destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince

***

Beowulf said: “Light holds you, Grendel. Light has you in its power. You, who have shunned the Sun, meet me, once stung by bees that drank the Sun. There’s honey in my veins, Grendel, a liquid sunlight that can kill you quite. These fingers that you feel are ten great stars. Stars have no fear. I do not fear you, Grendel. I do not fear, therefore I do not fight. I only hold you, child of Cain. I only fix you fast in your own evil, so that you cannot turn it out on any other. It is your own evil, Grendel, that undoes you. You must die, creature of night, because the light has got you in a last embrace.”

***

The Karma Project Manifestations of Karma Study Group January 13, 2021 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

“… So when that which otherwise would be produced by the regular forces of the Earth is destroyed, a correction is brought about which on the whole works beneficially – even though man cannot see it at first – because there is a higher reason at work than can be perceived by man.  When the hail drives down into the fields, we can say that on the old Moon these forces which work in the hail were the regular ones, just as those are that work beneficially today in rain and sunshine; but no they rush in order to correct that which otherwise would be produced by the luciferic influence.  And when the regular course is re-established, they rush in again to effect further correction.  Everything that leads to further progressive evolution belongs to the forces of the Earth itself.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 7, “Karma in Relation to the Forces of Nature, Volcanic Eruptions, Earthquakes and Epidemics”, Hamburg, 22 May, 1910 … focus of the January 13 meeting. The lecture can be found online at the RS Archive (eLib) by clicking this link: https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100522p01.htmlThe Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing  study conversation.  The study has been divided among four volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “Manifestations of Karma.”  This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996. This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer).  To connect to the audio/video-conference: Video Conference Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85492572055 Meeting ID: 854 9257 2055 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago) Dial by your location         +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)         +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)         +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)         +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)         +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)         +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 854 9257 2055 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kclU2SSTF If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu

Agenda for our Study Call  7:15  Welcome and Introductions         7:18  Verse 7:25  Study led by five volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers           Mary – pg. 126 to 130           Hazel – pg. 131 to 136           Stefano – pg. 136 to 141           Lindy – pg. 141 to end 8:05  Conversation 8:28  Close with verseDestiny I bear within me what has Been I feel within me what is Becoming In willing, I carry both toward the Future  Faith looks upon what has Been And is founded upon Truth  Trust looks upon what will be And is founded upon Hope  Love Embraces Here and Now Eternal Becoming Eternal Being ~Rudolf Steiner

What we need is an Epiphany! What we need is a connection not only to our nation’s God, but to our nation’s forgotten Goddess: Columbia, the Great Dove. Maybe our motto should be something like ‘All for one & one for all’? Recognizing that we need to give love out into the world to have it reflected back to us.

Do folks know what DC stands for? District of Columbia? –Look for her, she is everywhere hidden in plain sight. She stands faithfully balancing the scales in front of the Department of Justice –

She is the source of Inspiration & Knowledge displayed at the entrance to the Department of Education-

She is the Goddess of New Life, harvest & abundance, who offers her sheaves of Wheat at the Department of Agriculture –

She stands guard atop the Capitol Building in her original aspect of the Indian Queen.

And until recently she stood behind the podium of the Speaker of the House. It was taken down by the current administration.

In fact, when the original founders of this country built the ‘District of Columbia’, they called it the Holy City, & envisioned it as a Temple to this Goddess. But who is she? And how is it that we as a nation have come to forget her, despite her ubiquitous presence atop the nation’s most prominent institutions of power?

Columbia comes from the word “Columba” meaning “dove”. From the beginning, when Columbia was first revealed as the Goddess of this land, she was seen by the native peoples as an Indian Queen, a guardian of Liberty, freedom & a generous provider of plenty.

After the colonists came to America seeking freedom from oppression, Columbia changes, she is then pictured wearing the cap of freedom, later seen in the French revolution, & holds a cornucopia. The eagle & the rattlesnake are sacred to Her.

She is known as a guardian spirit. In the terminology of Anthroposophy she is The Archangel, or Folk Spirit of the American People.

But, the Folk Spirit Columbia of the Original Native Peoples, perceived also by the American Revolutionaries as an Indian goddess, has been usurped by Uncle Sam, her opposite in every way.

The true Spirit of America is a strong & beautiful peer of all the other national cultures, interestingly enough all personified by the Divine Feminine. The American Revolution later inspired the French Revolution, which became the catalyst for their gift of the Statue of Liberty.

And did you know that the song ‘Hail Columbia’ was actually the National Anthem, until it was changed in 1931 to the Star-Spangled banner?, a song glorifying war.

As the authentic potential of the American People, Columbia has hardly manifested. Her destiny, if ‘We the People’ will it, is to take back Her divine power, to manifest a true Land of the Dove.

For many immigrants who end their long journey to freedom at Her feet, justice & hope are personified in Her form. America’s true folk spirit welcomes with the promise of ‘life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness’. She offers these gifts to the world’s downtrodden as they enter the New World seeking a New Life; asking the world to give Her their ‘tired, poor & huddled masses’.

Have you ever really looked at the symbolism in the statue? The seven points of her crown represent the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters.

And These words, from the sonnet “The New Colossus” written by Emma Lazarus, are engraved inside the statue of Liberty. “Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand – A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame – Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name – Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand – Glows world-wide welcome; ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Can we renew this conception in our thinking now? Let us reclaim our past, this will give us the courage to love the world that we are in.

~hag

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