Category Archives: Insight

Sobornal Sophia

December 30, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, Insight, Winter~hag

7^th Holy Night: December 30-31, Constellation of Virgo, Virgin (ruling the abdomen & digestive system) The Sphere of the Kyriotetes, Spirits of Wisdom, Dominions

The imagination of the Heavenly Virgin, as an indication of the cosmic being of the The Divine Sophia – the Archetypal Wisdom of the World – depicted in the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse of St John, as the woman clothed with the Sun, wearing a crown of stars & standing on the sickle moon with the dragon at her feet – reveals to us its profound connection with this Hierarchy. The ancients knew that the 12 stars corresponded to the Old Saturn evolution (Steiner’s Apocalyptic seal shows 9 stars- the process of a gradual formation of the Zodiac); the Sun image reflects the Old Sun phase (the Virgin gives birth to the Sun & is then clothed by the Sun: a picture of the birth of the etheric body) & the sickle moon to the Old Moon evolution (resulting in the origin on Earth of silver, the metal that testifies to the overcoming of the lower Moon-Forces by the higher forces of the Sun)

We find all these qualities in the being of the Mary of the Luke Gospel , an earthly reflection of this Heavenly Sophia – the twin soul of the Nathan Jesus. The Mary of the Matthew Gospel was the earlier incarnation of Eve the 1^st earthly woman.

In the 5^th Gospel, Rudolf Steiner tells us that at the Baptism, the 2 Marys became united to create a vessel for The Divine Sophia, in the same way that the 2 Jesus children, united at the steps of the Temple in Jerusalem, to create the perfect vessel for The Christ.

After this merging, the Mary of the Matthew Gospel became the earthly reflection of the Divine Sophia, opening the way for humanity to become the lowest member of the Sobornal (collective) being of the Sophia. Rudolf Steiner named her Anthroposophia, the force of the Wisdom that lives in the soul of humanity. This archetype carries the contemplation of the sacrifice offered by the Thrones (8^th Holy Night) to the Cherubim (9^th) to induce the Kyriotetes to radiate out their essence of Wisdom, which for us becomes the virtue depicted by the ‘Mother of God’ as selfless giving.

In order to receive the experience of the Christ, this Wisdom had to ‘pierce Mary’s heart like a sword’ (Luke 2:35) so that there might pour forth from Mary-Sophia the highest virtue of true giving, into the hearts of humanity. At the foot of the cross, John the disciple Jesus loved, is asked by Christ-Jesus to take this Sophia-Wisdom-the Mother of God-into his ‘house’ or soul. Thru this he becomes known as ‘John the Divine’ because he is embodied by the Divine Sophia, which enables him to write his Gospel & the Book of Revelations. This is also outpictured in his later incarnation, as ‘The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz‘.

Matthaus Merian

Interesting that Steiner speaks about the Virtue for Virgo as steadiness of feeling –To experience all the joys & sorrows of Mary & to stand in steadiness of feeling, what a task. And how simple & beautiful that the way to get there according to Steiner is thru Courtesy.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Virtue-Courtesy-becomes-steadiness-of-feeling-Jan-de-Kok.jpg

So on this 7th Night let us look within, with a steadiness of feeling, to find the realm of The Virgin, the modest wisdom of wholeness, that strengthens our connection to the being of Anthroposophia. May we seek to acquire the steady wisdom that gives birth to The Christ within.

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

30 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars“: Can you spot the thin crescent Moon at the twilight time? Look low in the southwest just after the Sun goes down. Bella Luna is conversing with shiny Venus.

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Image result for steiner's apocalyptic seal woman clothed with the sun'

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

8th Night of Hanukkah

1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis signed between the United States the Council of Three Fires (united tribes of Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi) living on the Illinois & Milwaukee rivers. The tribes, their chiefs, & their warriors had to relinquish all right, claim, & title to land which connected Chicago & Lake Michigan with the Illinois River. Today, Indian Boundary Park in West Ridge, Chicago commemorates this Treaty. In exchange the tribes were to be paid $1,000 in merchandise over 12 years

1825 – The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States & the Shawnee Nation. In this treaty, the Shawnee gave up their lands to the United States near Cape Geredeau. In return for Cape Geredeau, the United States government gave the Shawnee a sum of 11,000 dollars & leased to them a blacksmith shop for five years providing all tools & 300 pounds of iron annually

1853 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building over a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona & southwestern New Mexico

1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 655

1916 – This is the 103rd year anniversary of the deathday of Grigori Rasputin, the Russian mystic, spiritual healer & monk, whose name became proverbial for the intrusion of occult influence on politics – murdered in the midst of the WW1. Rasputin was the spiritual & medical adviser to Tsar Nicolas II of Russia, the last Russian Emperor, his wife Alexandra, & their daughter Anastasia. He called himself the “secretary of the Tsar’s soul”. He prophesied that his death would lead to the demise of the Tsardom. And so it was, that 2 months after his death, in the February Revolution of 1917, the monarchy was abolished, & the Bolsheviks took power in Russia. The royal couple was murdered & only Anastasia survived exiled in the West, never recognized as the true heir. Rasputin’s murder was initiated by the British secret service at a decisive phase of the war to prevent a peace treaty. His reputation became fraught with accusations of decadence, so it’s interesting to read some statements about him from Rudolf Steiner. Even more intriguing are the after-death messages from Helmuth von Moltke’s soul that Steiner transmitted to Eliza Moltke his widow, which speak to Molke’s encounter with Rasputin’s soul in the after-life.

“When the Russian Tsar & Tarina used the inner experiences of Rasputin for the purposes of government, the people had a right to be afraid of that, because revelations from the spiritual world should only have a role in spiritual life, not in the political field. In this field only what has become our sound reason by way of the spiritual revelations should intrude. Rasputin had not developed sound reasoning, although he had revelations”. ~Rudolf Steiner 14 Feb. 1920 Dornach

“Rasputin worked directly on the will. That should not be. But people want that. He really is an unrestrained man, the ‘Rasputin’ (Russian: one without a path) Everything said about him is true, but he is nevertheless a God-Seer, that is an occult term for a grade of initiation. It is only thru him that the spiritual world, the Russian Folk-Spirit, can now take effect in Russia, thru nobody else.” ~Rudolf Steiner according to Assya Turgeneva in the early years of WWW1, recorded in her book Erinnerugen an Rudolf Steiner

Image result for 1936 – The United Auto Workers union in the Flint, Michigan, stages its first sit-down strike.

1936 – The United Auto Workers union in the Flint, Michigan, stages its first sit-down strike. Workers occupied several General Motors plants for more than forty days, & repelled the efforts of the police & National Guard to retake them. A wave of strikes followed, but were put-down by the end of the decade, as the courts & the National Labor Relations Board ruled that sit-down strikes were illegal & that strikers would be fired

2009 – A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 40,000 US gal. of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River

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Image result for Happy 2020 — “Behold the Sun
At the midnight hour;
Build with stones in the lifeless ground,
Thus in decay and in the night of Death
Find the Creation’s new beginning,
Young morning’s strength;
Glory in the heights the eternal Word of Gods;
Shelter in the depths the Powers of Peace.
In darkness dwelling, create a Sun.
In matter weaving, know the joy of Spirit”!
~Rudolf Steiner Schmidt Number: S-1456

– NYE–The 13th Hidden Night Tuesday 31 December 2019-2020
7:30 pm – 1 am – $20 + Potluck Food & Drink to Share
Live Music & Folk Dancing with Jutta & the Hi-Dukes ™ 8 -9:30pm
Biography Playshop
Spacial Dynamics & the Loving Kindness Meditation with Deborah Rogers
Cut Away & Call in – A Ritual of Renewal
Seeking the Holy Grail Within – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Lead (Wax) Casting Divination for the NY
More TBA…

Balance

December 29, 2019Celestial Event, Festival, History, Insight, Remembering, Winter~hag

Dear Friends – We meet again & once again at this the half way point, the 6^th Holy Night. Our dear Dr. Steiner tells us: To truly know the world, look deeply within your own being; to truly know yourself, take real interest in the world. Along with our inner work during this sacred Time Out of Time, we have been following the cosmic conversation between humanity & the fixed stars of the zodiac.

Image result for venus and the moon Painting — Phyllis Mahon

We have also been tuned into the dance of the wandering stars & the intimate convo happening right now between the goddess of love & beauty, & the crescent moon, waxing Bella Luna.

Image result for sirius and Procyon Painting — Darrell Brown

Tonight we can add to the exchange, Sirius, the Dog Star, sparkling low in the southeast. And Procyon, the Little Dog Star, which shines to the left of Sirius. Soon after they rise the two canine stars will be at the same height above the horizon. And whenever Sirius, our “Winter Star,” twinkles low in the southeast, Vega, the “Summer Star,” twinkles low in the northwest. I love how the heavens direct & reflect our work. The last couple of Holy Nights we have been dealing with this picture of polarities within the human being.

Image result for libra scales — Valerie Anderson

Tonight the 6th Holy Night brings us into balance. It is the Feast Day of King David, ancestor to Jesus. And relates to the Constellation of Libra, the Scales (ruling the kidneys & lumbar region) The Sphere of the Dynamis, Spirits of Movement, Virtues or Mights –

♈ ARIES
♉ TAURUS
♊ GEMINI
♋ CANCER
♌ LEO
♍ VIRGO

♎ LIBRA

♏ SCORPIUS
♐ SAGITTARIUS
♑ CAPRICORN
♒ AQUARIUS
♓ PISCES

In Libra we come to the center of the Zodiac, the balance between the below -the lower signs which we have just traversed, considered the ‘dark signs’ where humanity still needs work; & the above – the upper zodiac, referred to as the ascended signs, where we are headed in our evolution.

Image result for Dynamis, the Spirits of Movement

From the Sphere of the Dynamis, the Spirits of Movement, dwelling in the Sun, bring the entire solar system into a state of mutual equilibrium. The reciprocal balance of the individual planets under their guidance finds a living expression in what Pythagoras called the ‘Music of the Spheres’, which reigns in the cosmos. On Earth they work from the periphery to balance the forces of the Thrones raying out from the center of the Earth, giving us such beautifully diverse landscapes.

These forces began to manifest on Old Moon, when the job of the Sprits of Movement was to bring a right relationship to the bodies of the Sun & Moon, which had separated from each other, creating a position in the cosmos that resembled a giant pair of scales needing to be balanced.

When The Christ Being made his descent thru the Constellation of the Scales, the 3^rd pre-earthly deed was accomplished, counteracting the threat in the thinking life, to redeem the human astral body (thinking, feeling, & willing). If Christ had not sacrificed his own perfected Astral Body or Spirit-Self, uniting once again with the Nathan Soul, the human Ego would not have been able to come thru, & a balance between these 3 soul forces would have been broken, creating a separation into 3 races of human being: Thinking would have manifested in a type of Eagle-human; Feeling into a Lion-type; & Willing in a Bull-like human; creating in the astral body a dragon-like nature.

This sacrifice made it possible for the Dynamis to advance, evolving upwards into the ascending aspect of the Zodiac. Humanity will also advance when we take our thinking to the next level, in freedom. This is possible when we open to the opportunities availed us thru the Christ-Impulse, the work of Michael, our current Time Spirit, & our connection to Anthroposophia.

Image result for apollo lyre painting — Charles Philippe Lariviere

The Sphere of the Dynamis, the Spirits of Movement, dwelling in the Sun, bring the entire solar system into a state of mutual equilibrium. The reciprocal balance of the individual planets under their guidance finds a living expression in what Pythagoras called the ‘Music of the Spheres’. In the Greek mysteries the initiates saw Apollo as the harmonizer of humanity’s thinking, feeling & willing by way of the lyre, which sounded with the harmonious tones of the human soul.

Here we see the connection with King David who was a shepherd & a King, a lyre player holding many of these harmonizing traits.

Image result for buddha holding scales painting

The region of the scales is also related to the Buddha. Rudolf Steiner tells us that Buddha was able to achieve in himself a perfect balance between macro & microcosm – thru an inspiration from the Spirits of Movement. The spiritual Star, of Buddha rose in the region of the Scales.

For this reason Buddha was able to donate his perfected Astral body which resounded as the ‘choir’ of heavenly hosts heard by the Shepherds at the birth of the Luke Jesus.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Virtue-Contentment-Becomes-Self-Composure.jpg — *Jan de Kok*

Our task on this Holy Night is to practice the Virtue for Libra: Contentment becomes Self-composure. Can we balance the scales, come into equanimity, which leads to self-composure? How can we continue to strive & yet feel at peace, achieving a contentment that composes us in the harmonious image of the Buddha.

Image result for nativity choir of angels with shepherds painting — William Blake

Today as I endeavor to stand in balance with my thinking, I am indebted to our devoted community of Anthroposohers, brought together thru our beloved teacher Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Let us seek to bring the highest evolution to bear.

Until Soon

Xox ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Image result for winter triangle summer triangle together painting — Joan Miro

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

8th Night of Hanukkah

The Feast Day of King David, ancestor to Jesus. There are various Old Testament reports on David: God is angered when Saul, Israel’s king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice, & later disobeys a divine instruction to not only kill all of the Amalekites. Consequently, he sends the prophet Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, to be king instead.

God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. Saul’s courtiers recommend that he send for David, a man skillful on the lyre, wise in speech, & brave in battle. So David enters Saul’s service as one of the royal armor-bearers, & plays the lyre to soothe the king whenever the evil spirit is upon him.

War comes between Israel & the Philistines, & the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Saul’s army, declares that he can defeat Goliath. Refusing the king’s offer of the royal armor, he kills Goliath with his sling. Saul inquires the name of the young hero’s father.

Saul sets David over his army. All Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him (“What else can he wish but the kingdom?”). Saul plots his death, but Saul’s son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his father’s schemes & David flees. He becomes a vassal of the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but Achish’s nobles question his loyalty, & he is left behind to guard the camp when the Philistines march against Saul. Jonathan & Saul are killed, &David is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, & war ensues until Ish-Bosheth is killed.

With the death of Saul’s son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron & David is anointed king over all Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, & makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan forbids it, prophesying that the temple would be built by one of his sons. Nathan also prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David: “Your throne shall be established forever.”

During a battle to conquer the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David seduces Bathsheba, & causes the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite. In response, Nathan prophesies the punishment that shall fall upon him: “the sword shall never depart from your house.” In fulfillment of these words David’s son Absalom rebels. The rebellion ends at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim. Absalom’s forces are routed, & Absalom is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree, & killed by Joab, contrary to David’s order. Joab was the commander of David’s army. He laments the death of his favorite son: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you”. When David is old & bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son & natural heir, declares himself king. Bathsheba & Nathan go to David & obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba’s son Solomon as king, according to David’s earlier promise, & the revolt of Adonijah is put down. David dies at the age of 70 after reigning 40 years, & on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God

Image result for thomas becket archbishop of canterbury

1170 – Deathday of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II

1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed by the United States, taking back all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River. The ‘treaty’ was not approved by the Cherokee National Council nor signed by Principal Chief John Ross, & yet it became the legal basis for the forced removal known as the Trail of Tears

1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment

1890 – Deathday of Spotted Elk (Lakota: OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH) highly renowned chief of the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux. He was killed by the US Army at Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation South Dakota, with at least 250 members of his tribe

1926 – Deathday of Rainer Maria Rilke, a Bohemian-Austrian poet & novelist,

1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101

1975 – Bomb Explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 111 people & injuring 74

1989 – Czech writer, philosopher & dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia. Havel first rose to prominence within the Prague theater world as a playwright. He used the absurdist style to critique communism. After participating in Prague Spring & being blacklisted he became more politically active & helped found several dissident initiatives such as the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. His political activities brought him under the surveillance of the secret police & he spent multiple stints in prison, the longest being nearly four years. Havel’s Civic Forum party played a major role in the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. He assumed the presidency & was reelected in a landslide the following year. Havel was instrumental in dismantling the Warsaw Pact & expanding NATO membership eastward. He was very controversial, granting general amnesty to all those imprisoned under communism. Havel’s political philosophy was one of anti-consumerism, humanitarianism, environmentalism, civil activism, & direct democracy. He supported the Czech Green Party from 2004 until his death. He received numerous accolades during his lifetime including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the Four Freedoms Award, the Ambassador of Conscience Award,& others. He is considered by some to be one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century. The International airport in Prague was renamed to Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2012

1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation’s 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of the potentially deadly ‘bird flu’.

1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives

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Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,
4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

You are invited to the Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House! This year we intend to report on the great progress we have made with breeding, testing, and getting our high quality, nutrient efficient corn out together with our farmer, university, and company colleagues.

However, we also need now to consider, does it make sense to do research and to breed crops for organic farmers if the farmers are going out of business?

The last few years have been very tough for farmers and there is a real danger that we will lose the smaller scale farmers who practice biodynamic and organic farming. It is increasingly clear that farmers cannot do it alone. Consumer awareness and action are critical for ensuring the best food possible and a healthy planet.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Zinniker_petra___Mark.png

Therefore, this year we will highlight Mark and Petra Zinniker, who run the oldest biodynamic farm on the continent in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. They will share with us the amazing things they have been doing to produce the healthiest food possible, while at the same time, saving the planet through their farming methods.

We will share with you our problems, our plans, and our hopes. Please forward this invitation and the attached flier to anyone who is concerned about food and water quality, climate, and planet health.

Sunday, December 29, 2019

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

7194 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Please RSVP by contacting Bente Goldstein at: (262) 642-9738 or benteg@centurytel.net

Then dear friends, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm We will hold the Holy Nights ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch

PLEASE CONTACT HAZEL IF YOU WANT TO CAR POOL

2nd Holy Night: Christmas 2020

December 25, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, History, Insight, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Winter~hag

Here is the ‘I Think Speech Podcast for The 2nd Holy Night: CHRISTMAS 2020

“With Christmas there should pour into our hearts the fundamental human feeling of love — the fundamental feeling that says: compared with all other forces and powers and treasures of the world, the treasures and the power and the force of love are the greatest, the most intense, the most powerful.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis

Yes, Love – It’s not a sentimental feeling – Love is a crowning force.

On December 25th, we are invited to consider the historical events behind the first Christmas. Using the lens of Anthroposophy, or spiritual science, we can see that a thoughtful way to approach the birthday of Jesus is thru the two Nativity stories in the Gospels, each very different from the other. I spoke to this yesterday in the podcast for the 1^st Holy Night.

St. Matthew’s Gospel points to what we might call the Solomon Jesus, a re-incarnation of the great sage Zarathustra, actually born earlier in a fine house under the star of Bethlehem, where he is visited by the Magi, & then the holy family fled to Egypt to escape the persecution of Herod.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is nativity-707x1024.jpg — Giotto

The Gospel of St. Luke points to what we can call the Nathan Jesus, born in a humble stable in Nazareth, a pure divine soul never incarnated before, that part of Adam that stayed in the spiritual world & prepared the way for the Christ.

The two Jesus children unite when the Luke child is twelve & the Matthew child is 14. We find this story in Luke 2:41-52 when his parents find him teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. As Rudolf Steiner explained in the ‘Fifth Gospel’, which we are reading together every night for our Holy Nights Study, the Luke Nathan Jesus takes on the highest soul forces (“I”) of the wise Matthew Jesus who sacrifices his life on the physical plane.

Jesus in Asia” by RS Sugirtharajah — RS Sugirtharajah

Shortly before the Baptism in the Jordan, when Jesus of Nazareth was 30 years old, that Solomon soul part leaves Jesus & enters Mary, to make room for the Christ at the Baptism by John. Mary takes on this soul part & it opens in her the Divine Sophia. This is beautifully described in Stiner’s 5^th Gospel.

During the Renaissance, some artists knew of these profound secrets, & painted this occult theme often showing 2 or 3 sacred children: the Luke Nathan Jesus as a boy & a second older boy, The Jesus from the Matthew Gospel, along with John the Baptist (cousin of the Luke Jesus)

The Shepherds' Sign of the Manger (Luke 2:1-20) -- Christmas Incarnation — Gerard van Honthorst

2^nd Holy Night: Christmas Day – The Birth of the Luke Jesus.

Constellation of Aquarius, (Ruling the calves, & ankles of the human body) Symbol: The Water-Bearer

The Sphere of the Angeloi, also called ‘Sons of Life’ or ‘Sons of Twilight’

The region of Aquarius, the Water-bearer is connected with the hierarchy of the angels, who have a special affinity with the outward element of water. Inwardly they are connected to the etheric body in human beings, which not only provides the physical body with life, but is also the tableau in which memory is written. That is why the etheric body is called the ‘Water of Life’ in the bible, & why the angels are called the ‘Sons of Life’ in various mystery traditions. It is also why angels are known to be the holders of the ‘memory’ of our past doings. And this is why they are considered to be our Guardian Angels.

We see these two qualities of the etheric body illustrated in the various mystery traditions – The water of Lethe, which is the draught of remembrance, & Eunoe, the draught of forgetfulness.

File:Gaston Brussiere23.jpg - Wikimedia Commons — Gaston Bussière

There is a connection with the Egyptian river on which the boat of Isis travels; which represents the life of the soul. It is also known as the Nepenthe given to Isolde which allows her to forget her duty to marry Mark so that she can fall in love with Tristan.

Image result for john the baptist and st. john the divine painting — Murillo

This 2^nd Holy Night, is also connected to the two initiates named John in the gospels. John the Baptist & John the disciple Jesus loved, writer of the St. John Gospel & Revelations.

The sign of the Water-bearer represents both the angel & the spiritualized human soul on our way to the next stage of our evolution, empowering us to achieve Imaginative & Moral Cognition which enables us to come into our angel stage.

John the Baptist was the representative of this stage in human development. He received a special initiation in which he experienced the Sun at Midnight from the constellation of the Water-bearer, & for this reason he was able to baptize with water to loosen the etheric bodies of those he initiated.

Image result for st. john the divine with eagle painting — Cosme Turo

The second Johannes, who we know as the disciple Jesus loved, or St. John the Divine, is always represented by the Eagle, connected to the higher “I”.

Judas the Iscariot - And It Was Night | Christopher Williams | oil painting — Christopher Willams

The lower Ego is the Scorpion represented by Judas.

This is the night in which we can draw close not only to our angels who guide us & shine the spirit downwards into our souls, but also to the two John individualities who achieved ahead of time, what we are still striving to attain.

“The Christmas mystery must be found anew. We must become as devout with Nature as the shepherds were devout in their hearts. We must become as wise in our inner intuition as the Magi had become in their observation of planets and stars in space and time.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis

25 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As The ‘Christmas Star’: Jupiter & Saturn move apart, they’re sinking quite low in the southwest at twilight.

Image result for spirit child painting — Megan Kasper

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Festival of Jesus’s birth – Christmas

304 – Deathday of Saint Anastasia – “Anastasia the Deliverer from Potions”, “Anastasia the Healer” or “Anastasia of Sirmium – venerated as a healer & exorcist. Her relics lie in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar, Croatia. She is one of seven women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass

336 – 1st documented celebration of Christmas in Rome

1156 – Death day of Peter the Venerable, French abbot of Cluny. Despite his active life & important role in European history, Peter’s greatest achievement is his contribution to the reappraisal of the Church’s relations with the religion of Islam. He was well known for collecting original sources on & writing about Islam & also as the author of vast amounts of correspondence, reflecting his almost encyclopedic knowledge of theological questions. His writings are counted as some of the most important documents of the 12th century. He took a long sabbatical journey to Spain to study with Islamic scholars of all ranks & published the first Latin edition of the Koran

Image result for isaac newton quotes we build too many

1642 – Birthday of Isaac Newton, English physicist & mathematician

1923 – Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner

1977 – Deathday of Charlie Chaplin

1983 – Deathday of Joan Miro, painter

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December 24- January 5 (No Meeting December 31)

OVER 1000 PEOPLE REGISTERED!

Daily Schedule:

11:00-11:10am CST – Welcome and silent contemplation with the new zodiac image and virtue

11:10-11:20 am CST – Divine Feminine Sharing

11:20-11:30 am CST – Group Sharing and Closing

** Recordings Posted Daily **

December 24 First Holy Night Presenter: Angela Foster
December 25 Second Holy Night Presenter: Laura Scappaticci
December 26 Third Holy Night Presenter: Joyce Reilly
December 27 Fourth Holy Night Presenter: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
December 28 Fifth Holy Night Presenter: Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose
December 29 Sixth Holy Night Presenter: Ultra-Violet Archer
December 30 Seventh Holy Night Presenter: Deb Abrahams-Dematte
~ ~ December 31 – Pause ~ ~
January 1 Eighth Holy Night Presenter: Lelan Harris
January 2 Ninth Holy Night Presenter: Michele Mariscal
January 3 Tenth Holy Night Presenter: Claudia Knudson
January 4 Eleventh Holy Night Presenter: Jolie Luba
January 5 Twelfth Holy Night Presenter: Timothy Kennedy

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The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Our Annual Holy Nights
December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021

*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates.

The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together

on Zoom from 7 pm – 8 pm CST

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92592034861?pwd=Mmo0eURaWDVqYVlabTdSY1ltcUFxdz09

Meeting ID: 925 9203 4861 – Passcode: Peace

On Tuesday, December 29th, 6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,

we will join The ARC in Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily

This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09 Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe

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New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call

Masked ball Painting by Marcel Garbi | Saatchi Art

Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 6 pm-10:10 pm CT

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

6 pm CST – Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar

8 pm– 9:30 pm CST – Live Music with Jutta and the Hi-Dukes

10:10 pm CST – Project Thought-Seed

The evening ends at 10:30 pm

$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/

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

***

Nancy Poer

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 & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041

Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer

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 Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar,

+ An Artistic exploration, Singing & Eurythmy

http://donate.rschicago.org/

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

Blessings of the Season
~Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Festivals & Events Coordinator
for the Rudolf Steiner Branch
of The Anthroposophical Society

Adam & Eve’s Day

December 24, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, History, Insight, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

24 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Look for the Christmas star within; & then look up & out to see Orion shining in the East, his three-star Belt is nearly vertical, pointing down to where Sirius, the brightest star of the night, will rise around 7 pm. When Sirius is low next to the horizon it often twinkles miraculously, flashing the vivid sacrifice of the color beings.

1st Holy Night: Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day

Constellation of Pisces, The 2 Fishes

The Sphere of the Human Being (ruling the feet)

Virtue: Magnanimity Becomes Love

Image result for pisces painting — Jill Hamilton

‘From the light, thru the darkness, into new light’ – this is the path of human evolution symbolized by the region of the 2 Fishes. One fish swims down into the physical, where we are graced with 2 feet to walk upright upon the earth, until we are ready to swim back up to spirit.

It’s thought-provoking to remember that each epoch is ruled by a prevailing constellation, guided by a particular Time Spirit. Right now we are in the age of Pisces, guided by Michael. For our contemplation of the Holy Nights, it is interesting to think back to the last time the forces from this region of the Zodiac were raying down their influence. Rudolf Steiner’s research tells us it was when the Sun separated from the earth. The Christ-Being left the Earth with the Sun. The light that was within, began to shine from outside us.

And this constellation will be active again when the Inner Spiritual Sun, won thru individual freedom, begins to rise out of the darkness in the human soul. This is possible because Christ made the descent & united Himself with earthly evolution thru the mystery of Golgotha, gradually awakening the higher Sun-Self in humanity, making us worthy to become the 10^th Hierarchy.

This has been the work of the Mystery schools since Lemurian times, referred to as the initiation of the Fishes. We see this reflected in many cultural legends: The great Manu learns of the impending flood from the Fishes. While in the Gilgamesh epic Enkidu is called ‘Son of the Fish’. The Guardian of the Grail receives the name the Fisher-King…etc…

John the Baptist had the task of preparing Jesus of Nazareth for the Fish-initiation which he performed at the Baptism in the Jordan. And of course the closest disciples of Christ-Jesus were fishermen (Luke 5:10). Later the ancient symbol of the Fishes came to be associated with those that could be called the Bearer of the Christ.

How striking it is to think that at the 1^st Christmas, the symbol of the Fishes pointed, not only back, to the epoch when Christ left the Earth together with the Sun; but also prophetically, to our time now, (since the 1930’s) where humanity has the possibility to experience the ‘Second Coming’ of Christ in the etheric; & then to the future time, when Christ will shine fully once again within the free & conscious human soul.

Image result for alpha and omega painting

So here on the 1^st Holy Night, in the constellation of Pisces, we find the Alpha & Omega of human evolution, expressing the very essence of Anthropos.

On this night what would it be like to hold a picture of our past selves, informing our present & future selves?

Blessings & Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Christmas Eve = Adam & Eve’s Day – the start of the 13 Holy Nights which are especially fruitful for mystical deepening.

Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italian Americans)

Juleaften (Denmark)/Julaften (Norway)/Julafton (Sweden)

Nittel Nacht (certain Orthodox Jewish denominations)

Nochebuena (Spain and Spanish-speaking countries)

1818 – The first performance of “Silent Night” takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria

1851 – The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., burns.

1865 – Jonathan Shank & Barry Ownby form The Ku Klux Klan.

1905 –Birthday of Howard Hughes, American businessman, engineer, & pilot

1914 – Deathday of John Muir, Scottish-American geologist, botanist, & author, founded Sierra Club

1914 – the Wedding of Rudolf Steiner to Maria Von Shivers

***

Image result for angels christmas painting — Ven Dex

Christmas Mood
I feel as from enchantment freed
The spirit-child within the womb of soul,
In clear serenity of heart
The holy Cosmic Word has now begotten
The heavenly Fruit of Hope,
Which grows rejoicing into worlds afar
Out of my being’s Godly ground.
~Rudolf Steiner

***

The 12 days of Christmas or 13 Holy Nights fall between Adam & Eve’s day & 3 Kings Day, exemplifying 2 paths, one of a god towards humanhood & the other, of a human toward godhood.

The Paradise Play, the Shepherds’ Play & the 3 Kings’ Play are known as the Oberufer Christmas Plays, ancient tales 1st collected by Rudolf Steiner’s teacher Karl Julius Schroer, named after the Austrian village of Oberufer, an island in the Upper Danube. This river’s source begins in the Black Forest of Germany & flows through Bavaria & Austria. It was from this magical region that these powerfully symbolic plays came.

The first, called The Paradise Play, tells the story in the book of Genesis of the creation of the world, & of Adam & Eve’s expulsion from the garden of Eden after they succumbed to the temptation to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge too soon, the tree of Good & Evil. It is from this primordial tree that we get the modern tradition of the Christmas tree; in the olden days they called it the Paradise Tree. And Christmas Eve, used to be referred to as the Feast of Adam & Eve. Since the fall from paradise represents that point in human evolution, which precipitated the necessity for the incarnation of Christ.

Image result for oberufer shepherds play old

The Shepherds’ Play, tells the story of the proclamation of the Birth of Nathan Jesus to the shepherds in the field. This is the nativity story told in the Gospel According to Luke.

Image result for oberufer the Kings Play old days

The third of the Oberufer Plays is the Kings Play, which tells of the visit of the 3 wise men, the Magi, to the birthplace of the Zarathustra Jesus child, & of the murderous atrocities of Herod in his attempt to destroy the New born King. This is the nativity story told in the Gospel According to St Matthew, usually performed on the 5th or 6th of January, 12th night, the feast of Epiphany, or 3 Kings day.

The knowledge of these 2 Jesus Children given to us to consider by Rudolf Steiner as early as 1909, is also revealed in many examples of Renaissance art. This open secret is supported in many of the apocryphal gospels, in Gnostic texts & especially in the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in a cave by the Essene enclave near Nazareth, some 40 years after Steiner spoke about these mysteries.

The Kingdom of the New Jerusalem will be able to come into the world when “The Two Become One, & the Outer Becomes as the Inner’. This quote expresses the occult reality of the coming together of the 2 Jesus children to create the perfect human vessel for the Christ. And so it came to be that the prophesy was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.

& Now my friends, the rest is up to us.

***

Holy Nights 2019-2020 – The New Mysteries of the ‘Christmas Conference’ Renewed! Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm CST to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering – Hosted by the Anthrophosophical Society in America with Organizers: Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster, and Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.

Each gathering will begin with an opening verse and acknowledgment of the zodiac constellation corresponding to that night. Then a special offering will be shared by different friends representing many North American groups, branches, and regional councils. These unique contributions will range from meditative readings and thoughtful poems, to enlivening eurythmy and artistic activities, to insight into the cosmic script of the zodiac. This will be followed by work with the Foundation Stone Meditation and conclude with a closing verse.
December 24 12 noon CST
December 25 – 30 6:30 PM CST
December 31 “Hidden Night” – No Meeting
January 1 – 5 6:30 PM CST

The gatherings will be recorded for later viewing if you are not able to join us live. Register using the button above to access both the live presentations and recordings.

Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering.

Here is the Link to Register

Then from 7:30pm – 8:30pm CST we will take up our own study of the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ from The Christmas Conference 1923/1924. (There are copies of ‘The Red Book’ in the Library)

Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST except:
24 Dec. Zoom Call at NOON CST, afterwards we will decorate the tree with the signs & symbols
*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is Hosting this Nation-wide event. Meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm CST.
*28 Dec. Olaf Åsteson practice 3 pm – 5 pm CST – Performance at 7 pm CST.

*29 Dec. Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House! 4-6pm Zoom call 6:30pm up there

1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST – A Goethean Conversation

2nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43

*3rd Holy Night: Thursday 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven. 1st hour hosted by us the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago: “The Vast & Holy Night” a liminal performance of spoken word & eurythmy honoring the dark from which the light is born. Our study: The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 68

4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John -1st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98

*5th Holy Night: Saturday 28 December 2019 – The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson with Debbie Barford & Mary Tom 3pm – 5pm practice 7 pm – 9 pm performance. Come gather to work with the Legend of Olaf Åsteson in the afternoon to be part of the community ensemble 3pm – 5pm with a dinner break returning for the performance open to all from 7 pm – 9 pm. $10 Donation Encouraged. Contact Debra Barford for more info.

or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Lisa Dalton

6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Rockford TN. Group.William Rogers

4 pm – 6 pm You are invited to the Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House! This year we intend to report on the great progress we have made with breeding, testing, and getting our high quality, nutrient efficient corn out together with our farmer, university, and company colleagues.

However, we also need now to consider, does it make sense to do research and to breed crops for organic farmers if the farmers are going out of business?

Sunday, December 29, 2019

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 7194 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Drinks and snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by contacting Bente Goldstein at: (262) 642-9738 or benteg@centurytel.net

Then dear friends, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm We will hold the Holy Nights ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering. Here is the Link to Register

PLEASE CONTACT HAZEL IF YOU WANT TO CAR POOL

for those who opt to stay in the City – Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 110

7th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Eastern Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138

***

***

8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183

9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192

10th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204

11th Holy Night: Saturday 4 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Brian Gray. Our study: The Envy of the Gods – the Envy of Human Beings, Looking back to the burning of the Goetheanum, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 231

*12th Holy Night: Sunday 5 January 2020 – Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ – 1st hour hosted by The Central Regional Council. Alberto Loya, Marianne Fieber, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer Ginsberg. Our Study: On the Right Entry into the Spiritual World – The responsibility Incumbent on us, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 260

for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Still

December 21, 2019Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, History, Insight, Remembering~hag

Today on Winter Solstice, when the ‘Sun Stands Still’, Let us pause to reflect on the many customs associated with this powerful storytelling time of year.

Image result for dark before the dawn painting — Keey Withers

It is the dark before the dawn, the time of renewal, giving us the most primordial myths of humankind. The Sun of Mid-Winter draws in its breath, opening in new life at this time of deepest darkness.

In Old Norse mythology, the Sun goddess was swallowed up by the wolf of darkness, but was reborn as her daughter, the maiden goddess of the underworld, who rose again to illumine the world.

Image result for isis in the underworld painting

The esoteric meaning of this time of year can be gleaned from the ancient mystery schools. Initiates into the Mysteries of Isis had to undergo a ceremony of death & rebirth in which they entered the underworld to gaze upon the “sun at midnight.” This ceremony, speaks of the journey of the soul into the fecund depths of the subconscious mind, & even deeper into the great dark sea of space from which all creation comes forth, where it could be purified & born anew.

Dion Fortune describes this process in her book, The Sea Priestess:

Sink down, sink down, sink deeper and more deep
Into eternal and primordial sleep.
Sink down, be still, forget and draw apart,
Sink into the inner earth’s most secret heart.
Drink of the waters of Persephone,
The secret well beside the sacred tree.
Waters of life and strength and inner light –
Eternal joy drawn from the depths of night.
Then rise, made strong, with life and hope renewed,
Reborn from darkness and from solitude…

Throughout the ancient world, people gathered at sacred sites as far apart as Newgrange in Ireland & the temple of Karnak in Egypt, to celebrate the miracle of the sun’s return at the darkest time of the year. In the pitch-black sanctuaries of caves & earth chambers, our ancestors waited for the birth of new light & life.

Image result for cave of the soul painting — Beckwith Carplax

At a time when the fate of our planet & all her creatures hangs in the balance, let each of us journey down into the cave of the soul to drink from the secret well of wisdom & find the hidden flame within the dark — then return bearing our own unique gift of Light for the world.

May we re-member what came before, so that we can reflect on the now & create the future anew.

The ancient Romans celebrated from December 17^th to December 24^th with a festival called Saturnalia, during which all work was put aside in favor of feasting & gambling. The social order was reversed, with masters waiting on their slaves.

Saturnalia is named after Saturn, who is often depicted with a sickle, like the figures of Death or Old Father Time. Astrologically speaking, Saturn is saturnine: gloomy, old, dutiful & heavy, like the metal associated with it: lead. He was the god who ate his own children rather than let them surpass him.

For new life to flourish, for the sun to rise again, it is necessary to vanquish this gloomy old fellow. Therefore, the feasting & merriment of the midwinter season are required in order to combat the forces of gloom.

The day following the Saturnalia, was the Juvenalia, a holiday in honor of children, who were entertained, feasted & given good luck talismans. After vanquishing the Old King, it’s time to celebrate the New Year’s Baby.

Christ’s birthday was not celebrated on December 25^th until the 4th century. Before then, December 25^th was best known as the birthday of the Persian hero & sun-god, Mithra (an earlier form of Michael). The myth tells that he sprang up full-grown from a rock, armed with a knife & carrying a torch. Mithra journeyed into the underworld, winning gifts for humankind before his miraculous rebirth.

Lenaia was a women-only Athenian midwinter festival. They held ecstatic dances where a bull, representing Dionysus, was cut into nine pieces.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Mithras-solinvictus.jpg

In 274 AD, the Roman emperor Valerian declared December 25^th the Birthday of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun.

In the early years of Christianity Christ’s birthday was celebrated on January 6^th known to us now as Epiphany, represented by the Wise Magi, Kings who could read the omens in the starry script. The Eastern Orthodox folks knew that this was connected with the Baptism, when the Cosmic Christ Being entered into human form.

On the same date in pre-Christian times, this was when the Virgin Kore gave birth, celebrated in Alexandria with a festival called the Koreion. The image of the goddess, decorated with gold stars, was carried seven times around her temple as the priests cried, “The Virgin has brought forth the new Aeon!”

Image result for horus light of the world

This ritual recalls the Egyptian ceremony re-enacting the birth of Horus, the sun-god to Isis. All lights in the city were doused while Isis circled the sarcophagus seven times, then brought forth Horus who was called “the Light of the World.”

Image result for isis horus madonna and child

Statues of Isis holding the newly born sun god on her lap, presenting him to the world, prefigure the later Madonna & child archetype.

In Europe on Winter Solstice the ceremonies involved kindling the new light with a Yule log. Oak was popular in the north of England, birch in Scotland & ash in Cornwall & Devon, all associated with the Sun.

Image result for Cailleach Nollaich carved in wood

In some parts of the Scottish highlands, the head of the household finds a withered stump and carves it into the likeness of an old woman, the Cailleach Nollaich or Christmas Old Wife, the goddess of winter, the hag of night, the old one who brings death. Burning her image drives away the hardships of winter & protects the occupants of the household from death.

The Yule log is brought into the house with great ceremony, & decorated with holly & ivy & evergreens. Some prefer to use the Yule log as a decoration & place candles on it instead, transforming it into a candelabra. It is lit with a piece of last year’s log as described in Herrick’s poem, “Hesperides:”

Come bring with a noise
My merry, merry boys
The Christmas log to the firing
With the last year’s brand.
Light the new block,
And for good success in his spending
On your psalteries play:
That sweet luck may
Come while the log is a-teendling.

In Italy, the Yule log is called the Ceppo, & families gathered around the hearth pouring libations of wine upon the glowing wood, linking the Yule log with the custom of wassailing, & pouring out libations to the trees in the orchard.

Image result for yule log burning ancient

The Yule log is left to burn all night, &, if possible, throughout the 12 Holy Nights. The ashes are kept for good luck. They have magical properties & can be scattered in the field to fertilize the soil or sprinkled around the house for protection.

Another ancient midwinter custom is decorating with greens. The Romans decorated with rosemary, bay, laurel, holly, ivy & mistletoe. The holly & ivy were both important midwinter plants in Great Britain & Ireland, as seen in the mysterious medieval carol which mentions the rivalry between them, with the Ivy representing the cold gloominess of winter, & the Holly King, the jolly spirit of the season.

The Christmas tree is of more recent origin. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated comes from Riga in Latvia in 1519, when a group of local merchants carried an evergreen bedecked with flowers to the marketplace, where they danced around it & then burned it.

Image result for christmas tree oberufer

Another possible source is the custom in 15th century Germany of hanging apples on a fir tree as a prop for the Oberufer plays performed on Christmas Eve, depicting Adam & Eve being driven out of Paradise.

Image result for battle between light and dark painting — Sumpra Tanz

Many traditions focused on this human battle between the dark & the light within. May we be willing to look into the dark before calling in the light.

Image result for hanukkah candles next to christmas tree

This is a natural time for letting go & saying farewell. Since this is the season when animals hibernate & nature sleeps & we can turn inward too. Then when you light your Hanukkah candles or your Christmas tree, do so with the intention of bringing light into the world. What are the ways in which you can help make the world lighter?

***

Online Holy Nights Gatherings:“May Human Beings Hear It”

Hosted by the Anthrophosophical Society in America
Organizers: Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster, and Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Each gathering will begin with an opening verse and acknowledgment of the zodiac constellation corresponding to that night. Then a special offering will be shared by different friends representing many North American groups, branches, and regional councils. These unique contributions will range from meditative readings and thoughtful poems, to enlivening eurythmy and artistic activities, to insight into the cosmic script of the zodiac. This will be followed by work with the Foundation Stone Meditation and conclude with a closing verse.
December 24 1:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada / 6:00 PM GMT)
December 25 – 30 7:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada / 12:30 AM GMT)
December 31 “Hidden Night” – No Meeting
January 1 – 5 7:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada / 12:30 AM GMT)

The gatherings will be recorded for later viewing if you are not able to join us live. Register using the button above to access both the live presentations and recordings.

Wise Cosmos is pleased to participate in this inaugural Holy Nights series sponsored by Anthroposophical Society in America. Brian Gray will be the featured presenter on January 4th.

Holy Nights 2019-2020 – The New Mysteries of the ‘Christmas Conference’ Renewed! Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm CST to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Organized by: Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster, & Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering.

Here is the Link to Register

Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST except:
24 Dec. Zoom Call at NOON CST (no meeting at the branch)
*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is Hosting this Nation-wide event. Meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm CST.
*28 Dec. Olaf Åsteson practice 3 pm – 5 pm CST – Performance at 7 pm CST.

1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST – A Goethean Conversation

2nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43

4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John -1st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98

or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Lisa Dalton

6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Rockford TN. Group.William Rogers

However, we also need now to consider, does it make sense to do research and to breed crops for organic farmers if the farmers are going out of business?

Sunday, December 29, 2019

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 7194 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Drinks and snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by contacting Bente Goldstein at: (262) 642-9738 or benteg@centurytel.net

PLEASE CONTACT HAZEL IF YOU WANT TO CAR POOL

for those who opt to stay in the City – Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 110

7th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Eastern Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138

***

***

8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183

9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192

10th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204

for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Category Archives: Insight

Sobornal Sophia

Balance

Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,
4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

2nd Holy Night: Christmas 2020

Adam & Eve’s Day

Still

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Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute

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Mandaamin Institute’s 2019 Open House Sunday, 29 December 2019,
4 pm -6 pm / Holy Nights 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Institute