Category Archives: Insight

May you be sealed for a good year in the Book Of Life

October 12, 2016Autumn, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

12 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: Although the Orionid meteor shower doesn’t peak until next week (the morning of the 21st), you should see a few “shooting stars” associated with it before dawn these next few days. The Moon-free observing conditions in the morning sky now offer better viewing prospects than the waning gibbous Moon will at the shower’s peak. These meteors appear to radiate from the northern part of the constellation Orion the Hunter

As evening grows late, below the Moon — about two fists at arm’s length — for Fomalhaut: the “Autumn Star” & the bright mouth of faint Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish

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Those who work with the Original indications in the Calendar of the Soul know that Rudolf Steiner lists the birth & death days, as well as other significant occurrences of various individualities, along with the dates in the calendar. He said of this: “What is presented here can be useful to those who wish to follow the path of mankind’s spiritual development” ~Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Francisco Goya

Fiestas del Pilar -Feast Day of Our Lady of the Pillar – the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in connection with an ancient Spanish tradition that she appeared to the Apostle James the Greater as he was praying by the banks of the Ebro at Zaragoza. Mary is often depicted carrying the Child Jesus on her arms resting above a pillar, sometimes carried by angelic cherubs. The Virgin Mary is invoked under this title as the Patroness of Spain

1279 – Nichiren Daishonin, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, is said to have inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon – a venerated calligraphic mandala image inscribed with Sanskrit and Chinese characters on a plank of Japanese camphorwood

Piero della Francesca

1492 – Deathday of Piero della Francesca, Italian mathematician & painter

1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal & Spain.

1654 – The Delft Thunderclap (a gunpowder store exploded) devastating the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people & wounding over 2000

1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips

1845 – Deathday of Elizabeth Fry, an English prison reformer, social reformer &, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist. She has sometimes been referred to as the “angel of prisons”. She was depicted on the Bank of England £5 note

Unicursal Hexagram

1875 – Birthday of Aleister Crowley, an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, & mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century.

Born to a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family, Crowley rejected this fundamentalist Christian faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering & poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers & Allan Bennett.

Moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland, he went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu & Buddhist practices in India. He married Rose Edith Kelly & in 1904 they honeymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should adhere to the code of “Do what thou wilt” & seek to align themselves with their Will through the practice of magick.

After an unsuccessful attempt to climb Kanchenjunga & a visit to India & China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry, novels, & occult literature. In 1907, he & George Cecil Jones co-founded a Thelemite order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated the religion.

After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into another esoteric order, the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to become the leader of its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs. Through the O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia, & North America.

Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting & campaigned for the German war effort against Britain, later revealing that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the British intelligence services. In 1920 he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, & the Italian government evicted him in 1923. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany, & England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.

Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter, bisexual & an individualist social critic. He was denounced in the popular press as “the wickedest man in the world”. Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over Western esotericism & the counter-culture, & continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time.

1915 -Deathday of Edith Louisa Cavell a British nurse, celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination & in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War, for which she was arrested. She was accused of treason, found guilty by a court-martial & sentenced to death. Despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. She is well known for her statement that “patriotism is not enough”.

1918 – A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Cloquet, Minnesota

1964 – The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits

1992 – A 5.8 earthquake occurred in Cairo, Egypt. At least 1510 died

1994 – The Magellan spacecraft burns up in the atmosphere of Venus

2005 – The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched, spent five days in orbit

Freethought Day is October 12, the annual observance by freethinkers & secularists of the anniversary of the effective end of the Salem Witch Trials

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Kurt Plinke

MY POD (Poem Of the Day)

~This morning it was dark when I awoke…

I noticed the West window held a dying flame

As I watched, a swallow darting thru the shadows

Flit, catching moths

Night bristles on her back…

In her mouth melts a berry of god-thought,

Desire folded into her wings…

She swoops, she dives in dark dreams, perfect in the dawning…

~hag

***

During the time of Michaelmas a shift occurs within us, echoing outside of us in nature, & reflected in various cultural expressions & traditions. At the height of ‘The High Holy Days’, or ‘Days of Awe’ is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which comes ten days after Rosh Hashanah, the ‘Head of the New Year’ & refers to the annual Jewish observance of fasting, prayer & repentance, which started last night at sunset.

It is the moment in time to dedicate mind, body, & soul to reconciliation –
with God, our fellow human beings, & ourselves. A time to turn to those who we have wronged, acknowledging the pain we might have caused. At the same time, being willing to forgive & to let go of the offenses & the feelings of resentment they provoked in us.

This journey for both seekers & givers of pardon mirrors the journey a soul takes after death.

According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person’s fate for the coming year into the ‘Book of Life’ on Rosh Hashanah, & waits until Yom Kippur to “seal” the verdict.

Yom Kippur is a day of hope & optimism, in addition to a solemn day of soul-searching. The Day of Atonement provides a unique awareness of one’s own character & track record, as well as the opportunity to upgrade relationships with relatives, friends, associates & the community at-large.

Yom Kippur’s focus on forgiveness, highlights humility, fallibility, soul-searching faith, compassion, thoughtfulness, being considerate, accepting responsibility & magnanimity.

The ‘birthday’ of the World & of the 1st human beings, Adam & Eve, are celebrated on Rosh Hashanah, on this Day of Atonement, Human-beings are given an opportunity to recreate themselves spiritually, each year, on Yom Kippur, which is an Acadian word for Forgiveness & Genesis.

Yom Kippur is observed on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, whose astrological sign is Libra. Libra symbolizes key themes of Yom Kippur: scales, justice, balance, truth, symmetry, & sensitivity. Libra is ruled by the planet Venus (Noga, נגה, in Hebrew), which reflects divine light & love of other people.

The Hebrew word Kippur, כיפור (atonement/repentance), is a derivative of the Biblical word Kaporet כפורת (the cover of the Holy Ark in the Sanctuary), & Kopher, כופר (the cover of Noah’s Ark & the Holy Altar in the Temple). Yom Kippur resembles a spiritual cover (dome), which separates the holy from the mundane, or materialism. The Kippah, כיפה (skullcap), which covers one’s head during prayers, reflects a spiritual dome.

Yom Kippur calls for repentance — Teshuvah (תשובה in Hebrew). The root of Teshuvah is similar to the root of the Hebrew word for return, שובה, & שביתה, the cessation of mundane thoughts, actions & eating. It is also similar to the root of Shabbat, שבת. Yom Kippur is also called Shabbat Shabbaton — the supreme Sabbath.

The Hebrew spelling of “fast” (צם/צום) reflects the substance of Yom Kippur. It is also the root of the Hebrew word for “reduction” & “shrinking” (צמצום) of one’s wrong-doing, & the root of the Hebrew words for “eternity” (צמיתות).

“May you be sealed for a good year in the Book Of Life” – is the traditional greeting on Yom Kippur.

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Fellowship of Doing

October 11, 2016Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul~hag

11 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: Vega is the brightest star very high in the west at nightfall. Arcturus, equally bright, is getting low in the west-northwest. The brightest star in the vast expanse between them is Alphecca — the crown jewel of Corona Borealis

Mercury & Jupiter appear side by side in this morning’s twilight sky. Jupiter, which shines slightly brighter, lies to Mercury’s right.

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“What is to be the starting force & impulse for events in social & ethical life must come out of the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, New Spiritual Impulses in History” Dornach 16 December, 1917

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo, Syria. The third deadliest earthquake in history with over 230,000 killed

1582 – Because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain

1634 – The Burchardi flood: killed around 15,000 in North Friesland, Denmark & Germany

1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder’s Stand

1890 – The Daughters of the American Revolution is founded

1906 – San Francisco public school board sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States & Japan by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools

1918 – The Puerto Rico earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 1116 people

1958 –NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 which falls back to Earth & burns up

1962 – Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years

1968 –NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele & Walter Cunningham aboard

1972 – A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker

1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a spacewalk

2000 – NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission, using Space Shuttle Discovery

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My POD (Poem Of The Day)

~Before the hawk sailed

In the space between the mountain & the moon

Before magic made the Word

Before Isis was veiled

I flourished in the mirrored sea

Waiting for this life

With you

~hag

***

Representing Anthroposophy: Transforming the World. An overview of our Fall Conference & AGM, 7-9 Oct. 2016 in Spring Valley, NY.

Opening every session, Eurythmy Spring Valley brought the 250 folks who gathered for the event, The Michael Imagination from Rudolf Steiner’s Last Address, inviting us as “disciples of Spirit-Knowledge”, to Take Michael’s Wisdom into our soul’s aspiring, actively!”

In the pre-conference assembly for the School of Spiritual Science, Virgina Sease pondered with us the responsibility to build the body that holds the stream of the Being of Anthroposophy; to bring to bear the human Gemut in a ‘Festival of Knowledge’.

On Oct. 7^th, after remembering those who have crossed the Threshold, we heard how things stand now with a balanced budget, and the success of the ever growing Michael Support Circle, as we asked ourselves: How do we meet the World?

Hearing a bit of the biographies of those in the General Council, it’s always interesting to see the influence of the various daughter-initiatives which brings people to Anthroposophy. Before delving into the selection process for the new General Secretary, we heard the history of Henry Monges, the 1^st General Secretary for the US, and we followed the stream of continuity, that strives to be a transparent, breathable form, allowing change, initiating interaction & connection.

Torin Finser spoke of the idea of a ‘Recognition Society’, where we really meet each other, soul to soul, in a ‘School of Unselfishness’, in a ‘Fellowship of Doing’. We heard several times throughout the weekend, of the old practice of ‘sponsorship’, as a way of reaching out to, and acknowledging those who are seeking to do good work. Could this be revived in our time?

We had presentations from Groups, speaking to how they work to represent Anthroposophy in the world. The 1^st to share was the NYC Branch. Their storefront bookstore brings in a lot of folks from off the street. Instead of trying to push anthroposophy, their method is to ask: What brought them in? What questions are living in them? They also co-sponsor many events with other spiritual groups, providing space to seekers from various traditions.

Dottie Zold and the young folks from the Elderberries Café in LA brought their contrasting way of working, primarily with youth and social issues.

We heard from John Beck, director of communications, whose inspired initiative is to bring Spiritual Science into the universities as part of a ‘Foundation for the Humanities’, a kind of moral science, so needed in our educational system. A good way to apply our “Identity Initiative.”

Elizabeth Roosevelt spoke to the changes within the Eastern Region, as they work to perhaps sub-divide the geographical areas to better serve.

The hard working Judith Kiely, from the Rudolf Steiner Library, gave a report. And we heard about the work of the Prison Outreach Program. After each session, our facilitated conversations were enlivening.

Fred Dennehy shared insights into ‘The Art of the Mysteries: Esoteric Meaning in Sophocles and Shakespeare’, to prep us for the artistic presentations in the Development of Consciousness through Drama -scenes from Odeipus Rex, and A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream in eurythmy. Stunning!

The next morning, Virginia Sease spoke to, ‘Why Anthroposophy needs America’. She referenced a lecture Rudolf Steiner gave to the workers that said: ‘Americans would develop a materialistic caricature of anthroposophy instinctive to a spiritual comprehension of the outer world’. We heard of the ‘shining time of America’, in the Age of Aquarius, 4400 AD. We were reminded of the contributions of individualities like Ralph Waldo Emerson, who didn’t call themselves anthroposophists, but who worked none the less in the school of Michael. We looked at the polarity to this school that wants to literally freeze the body (cryogenics) and cultivate the geographic double that seeks to harden the intellect and will, but can’t take hold of the heart or feeling realm. The Native Americans knew this.

Virginia reminded us that 10 years after the laying of the Foundation Stone in 1913, Steiner spoke for the 1^st time about the need to experience anthroposophy with the heart, with a ‘living beingness’ that connects us to the essence of Anthroposophia, who came in with Michael to share a universal task, from 2 different perspectives, knocking on our hearts door, that we may live the call from the Foundation Stone Meditation to: Practice SPIRIT-RECALLING, Practice SPIRIT-MINDFULNESS, Practice SPIRIT-BEHOLDING – That we may develop our relationship to the Christ Being. That we may truly embody: ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’.

As the sharing from groups continued, we heard from the Berkshire-Taconic Branch, and the Threefold Branch in Spring Valley, about their insights and challenges in representing anthroposophy in their communities. What came through most clearly is the fact that these successful branches consciously work to be inclusive with all the Steiner initiatives, going so far as to have ‘wandering conversations’ that visit the various sites in their area. Also strong – cultivating the desire to connect with the suggested themes of the year from the Goetheanum.

Herbert Hagens brought his wisdom and humor to our understanding of the adversarial powers in ‘Through Light and darkness’ setting the stage for scenes from Steiner’s 2^nd Mystery Drama, presented by Barbara Renold’s troupe.

On Sunday we learned about the Collegium of the School of Spiritual Science formed in 1986, working with the section leaders as well as holding the General Section, now referred to as the Universal Human Section.

The Council of Anthroposophical Organizations shared their very important work of connecting the various initiatives, a glorious list of cooperation.

We thanked Marion Leon for her amazing contributions, and heard the remarkable history of Virginia Sease’s years with the Society, as we then welcomed Joan Sleigh.

Torin Finser as the ‘Ferryman’ literally passed the oar to John Bloom, our new General Secretary, who asked: “Can we be an invitation? He spoke of the need to tap, beyond the members, an ‘inverse endowment’, a spiritual endowment, that fosters a radical interest in the other, a regenerative social 3-folding where we are all endowment managers to this legacy. We must take the risk to transform ourselves and the world, awakening to our task as Americans, adding to the evolution of human consciousness. A dance between the “I” and the world. John emphasized that whenever we have a crisis it is an opportunity to be more fully human, to build community, to be more active. He stressed that sustainability calls for us to ask the Percival question, and to be of service. He noted how working for the RSF enabled him to free up his time so that he can serve – one of the goals of social 3-folding.

Joan Sleigh, the 1^st mother to be a representative on the Vorstand, envisions English, as well as other international languages having more of a presence in Dornach. She will labor to network, bringing collaboration, inclusiveness, and the acceptance of others, into what she sees as her role of ‘servant leadership’. She shared a picture given to her by Torin Finser, of the horizontal & the vertical – a cross – that brings into balance our individuality from the cosmos, with the cosmopolitan consciousness of the ‘One World’ or ‘as Wendell Berry says: ‘Only World’- the penetration of the genius of the land, extending beyond ourselves to ‘Guard the solitude of the other’ and yet to recognize the need to see, hear and tend to the other, bringing the cosmos, the environment & the earth into play, so that we can influence and challenge the world with anthroposophical ideas.

There were various breakout groups & night-time camp fires. Throughout the conference we were graced with the presence of two Native American Elders. And the enlivening power of the youth, who are looking to be more visible in the society. They seek more intergenerational conversations. They want to ask – what they call ‘uncomfortable questions’, like: Where is the moral-social responsibility in our society? Can we be more inclusive of race and more conscious of elitism? Are we truly an open society? Can there be a representative from the youth section on the General Council?

The weekend ended with an offering of The Foundation Stone Mediation by Eurythmy Spring Valley that was profound, and left us with an afterimage of courage, hope and beauty, in our collective striving.

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of The Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago, and the Central Regional Council of The Anthroposophical Society

Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year

Purpose & Direction

October 5, 2016Autumn, Insight, Lecture, Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

5 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: The waxing crescent Moon appears to the right of Saturn this evening; & lower look for Antares. The two stand high in the southwest an hour after sunset & remain on view past 8 pm CDT

Ruddy Mars continues to put on a nice show in October’s evening sky. The Red Planet shines brightly & appears high in the south-southwest once twilight fades to darkness.

Also after dark, look just above the northeast horizon, far below high Cassiopeia for bright Capella on the rise.

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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

International World Teachers’ Day

610 – Coronation of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Empire’s official language. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. Then peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires.

Heraclius soon experienced a new event, the Muslim conquests. Within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia & Egypt.

Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats & Serbs in the Balkans. He tried to repair the schism in the Christian church by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. Eventually, however, this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute.

Heraclius was long remembered in the Western church for his reputed feat in recovering the True Cross, which had been captured by the Persians.

After a tour of the Empire Heraclius returned the cross on March 21, 630. For Christians of the Western Medieval Europe, Heraclius was the “first crusader”. The iconography of the emperor appeared in the sanctuary at Mont Saint-Michel. The story was included in the Golden Legend, the famous 13th century compendium of hagiography, and he is sometimes shown in art showing scenes of Heraclius & Constantine I’s mother Saint Helena, traditionally responsible for the excavation of the cross.

The scene usually shown is Heraclius carrying the cross; according to the Golden Legend he insisted on doing this as he entered Jerusalem, against the advice of the Patriarch. At first, when he was on horseback (shown above), the burden was too heavy, but after he dismounted & removed his crown it became miraculously light, & the barred city gate opened of its own accord

6^th Century – Feast day of Saint Placidus & Saint Maurus, disciples of Saint Benedict. Legend has it that Saint Maurus was sent a dream – an order from Saint Benedict’s to rescue Placidus from drowning. Maurus ran across the surface of the lake below the monastery, & drew Placidus safely to shore.

1789 – French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles to confront Louis XVI of France about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, & have the King & his court moved to Paris.

1793 – French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France

1864 – The Indian city of Calcutta is almost totally destroyed by a cyclone; 60,000 die

1948 – The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000, equivalent to almost 10% of the USSR’s Turkmen population. Due to censorship by the national (Soviet Turkmen) government, the event was not widely reported in the USSR’s media. Historians tend to agree that the ban on reporting the extent of the casualties & damage did not allow the central Soviet government to allocate enough financial resources to adequately respond

1966 – Near Detroit, Michigan, there is a partial core meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor

1970 – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded

1982 – Chicago Tylenol murders: Johnson & Johnson initiates a nationwide product recall in the United States for all products in its Tylenol brand after several bottles in Chicago are found to have been laced with cyanide, resulting in seven deaths

1986 – Israeli secret nuclear weapons are revealed. The British newspaper The Sunday Times runs Mordechai Vanunu’s story on its front page under the headline: “Revealed — the secrets of Israel’s nuclear arsenal”

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My POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Simply finding

The driving force present in my soul depths…

When I look within, I find a strong yearning

A powerful force living as a seed

Gestating future development

As we press on into the Autumn…

~hag

***

Part 5, From the Michaelmas 30 September 2016 Lecture: Heart-Thinking: Michael Beckoning by ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Remember that picture of the 9 Angelic Realms? Spiritual Science says we have a cosmic aim within world evolution linked with the further development of the elemental beings. These spirits behind nature, dwelling in the mineral, plant, & animal kingdoms, seek to rise to a higher existence in the evolutionary process, just as we do, BUT for them, this can only be accomplished by passing through conscious human beings!

When we enter into a right relationship with them, (that’s what the true meaning of morality is: right relationship) when we use heart-thinking to awaken consciously to our experience of nature, enlivening our sense perceptions with wonder, awe & reverence, the elemental beings can attain to this higher stage of evolution.

Rudolf Steiner tells us that we can develop a Gemüt content to our thinking, which shows us how every blossom bears testimony to the existence of an enchanted elemental being within it; & that thru our Heart-Thinking we can learn to feel the longing in this elemental being hoping to be released by us, instead of being delivered up to the Dragon.

So my dear friends, when the flowers fade in the autumn, we can choose not to turn away in antipathy from the decay, instead we can enter into right relationship by warming our mind with a loving heart, & with a sense of wonder, stimulate our soul’s imaginative power; knowing that we are succeeding, thru our Heart-Thinking, in contributing to the progress of spirit in the world. We can enable, thru our awakened consciousness, the elemental beings to slip out of their blossoms when they wither & become seed. We can lead the elemental being up into the spirit for which it yearns, when we can permeate ourselves with the powerful strength of Michael.

To do this we must really live into & experience the cycles of the seasons. Some folks, (who may be overly fond of their intellects) may think that ‘the festivals are just for kids & old ladies’, but what a shame for them – since they will miss the opportunity to tread the initiatory path of the New Mysteries, laid out by Rudolf Steiner thru the working of the festivals.

Today we can stand, after the time of balance provided by the Fall Equinox, & look across the circle to the Spring Equinox, the time of sprouting, the time when the Resurrection forces of Easter-Tide grow in us. We can re-member what we took in then, & re-experience Spring as the birth of elemental beings longing for the spirit, & then in Autumn, we can call up in ourselves these Resurrection forces – because now, during the fall, is when we really need them, to activate the liberation of the elemental beings from the dying plants; & this in turn fortifies us for the dark of the year.

Does anyone else find it an open secret that we call Autumn, the fall? Doesn’t it remind you of the fall from paradise? No mere coincidence I think.

Spiritual Science tells us that the transformation of nature is part of our own destiny – Just as the blood circulation inside us is essential for our existence, the circulation of the elemental beings between earth & the heavens is indispensable for us as well. This is how we can be Michaelic warriors in the battle with the Dragon.

So can you see? That what leads to true a Michaelmas Festival must be a deed of human heart-thinking, a Gemüt event, that can experience the cycle of the seasons as a living reality.

Rudolf Steiner reminds us: “A person who looks out into space & sees the shooting stars should say to himself, with reverence for the gods: ‘What is happening in the great expanse of space has its minute counterpart continuously in myself. Out there are the shooting stars, while in every one of my blood corpuscles iron is taking form. My life is full of shooting stars, miniature shooting stars.”

This process is continuous, but it is especially important at the end of summer, because the sulphur process of the dragon is at its peak. When human beings are ‘shining like glow-worms saturated with sulphur’, then when autumn approaches, the counter-force of iron comes in from the cosmos to bring a balance. This is a good example of the connection between the inner human & the cosmos.

While the sulphur rises in bluish-yellow clouds from the lower part of the human being towards the head, the iron-forming process rays out from our head, & pours like a stream of meteors into the life of our blood.

This is a picture of the human being at Michaelmas. We must learn to make conscious use of this meteoric force in our blood. The ability to experience in our blood circulation the pulse-beat of the outer existence of the stars is the preparation needed for the Michael Festival.

In the sun circles of the Mithras & ancient Druid Mysteries, the great language of the heavens was deciphered, & then applied to earthly things. The disciple was taught to perceive the course of the seasons within, by means of the heart organization; they knew that the human heart was really a subconscious sense organ. What they studied when they looked at themselves thru their heart, was the spirit of the sun’s annual passage through the zodiac. In this way the disciples experienced themselves as a higher being, riding on their lower nature; (the Bull) & so it was fitting that the cosmos would be arranged in a circle around them; in this manner cosmic spirituality was experienced.

As modern spiritual scientists we can foster a spirit of reverence for the ancient cultures & work to rediscover how to apply the heart-science that is appropriate now.

And so, my dear friends, this is what I wanted to bring to you today: The idea that Heart-Thinking, is the modern antidote to the dragon – Heart-Thinking which empowers our will to consciously receive sense impressions, to let in the spiritual sun; the source of the Resurrection-forces; which enable the human intelligence to unite again with the cosmic intelligence.

In the spirit-realms, Michael’s battle with the dragon has been concluded victoriously. It is here on earth that humanity still has to complete it, in alliance with Michael-Whose gesture is no longer only that of battle. He raises his hand beckoning. The hand that was stretched out aggressively, in a threatening manner against the adversarial forces, has changed in our time, & is now beckoning. We don’t kill the dragon folks, we tame it.

Our work today is to begin to feel this transformation reflected in Michael’s gesture. As giver of Cosmic Intelligence, Michael counts on us to become free human beings, that we may return this gesture in kind.

I leave you now with a question, Could this someday lead to a true healing of the adversarial forces? And finally: Who is like god?

In service to love

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

I leave for the AGM early Tomorrow, 6 October, 2016. I will not have internet, so my posts will resume on Monday 10 October.

Xox

Take up the Cosmic Intelligence into our Heart-Thinking

October 2, 2016Autumn, Insight, Lecture, Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

2 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: Tonight marks the unofficial start of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Although the Orionids won’t peak for nearly three weeks (on the morning of October 21), you should start to see a few showers in the Moon-free early morning hours. These meteors appear to radiate from the northern part of the constellation Orion the Hunter.

A twilight challenge: About a half hour after sunset, look for Venus very low in the west-southwest through the twilight. To its right is the thin crescent Moon. Although Venus is still lurking low, it’s on its way to shining high & brilliant this winter.

Even as the stars begin to come out in twilight, Cassiopeia is already higher in the northeast now than the sinking Big Dipper is in the northwest. Cassiopeia’s broad W pattern is almost standing on end.

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Islamic New Year

Mehregān (Persian: Mithra Festival) is a Zoroastrian & Persian festival, celebrated since the Zoroaster era to honor the Yazata of “Mehr” which is responsible for friendship, affection & love. It is also widely referred to as Persian Festival of Autumn

The International Day of Non-Violence – The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, referred to in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national festival celebrated in India to mark the occasion of the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the “Father of the Nation”. It is one of the three national holidays of the country

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, Catholics set up altars in honor of guardian angels as early as the 4th Century, & local celebrations of a feast in honor of guardian angels go back to the 11th Century

1187 – Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule

1452 – Birthday of Richard III of England, the last king of the House of York. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of the historical play Richard III by William Shakespeare

1552 – Conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, The Grand Prince of Moscow. His conquests transformed Russia into a multiethnic & multicontinental state spanning almost one billion acres. Ivan managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval state to an empire & emerging regional power, & became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All the Russias.

Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan’s complex personality: he was described as intelligent & devout, yet given to rages & prone to episodic outbreaks of mental instability, that increased with his age, affecting his reign. In one such outburst, he killed his groomed & chosen heir Ivan Ivanovich. This left the Tsardom to be passed to Ivan’s younger son, the weak & intellectually disabled Feodor Ivanovich.

Ivan’s legacy is complex: he was an able diplomat, a patron of arts & trade, founder of the Moscow Print Yard, Russia’s first publishing house, a leader highly popular among the common people (see Ivan the Terrible in Russian folklore) of Russia, but he is also remembered for his paranoia && arguably harsh treatment of the Russian nobility. The Massacre of Novgorod is regarded as one of the biggest demonstrations of his mental instability & brutality

1803 – Deathday of Samuel Adams, American philosopher & politician

1869 – Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian activist & philosopher

1925 – John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system

1928 – The Opus Dei, is founded by Josemaría Escrivá.

1937 – Dominican Republic ‘strongman’ Rafael Trujillo orders the execution of the Haitian population living within the borderlands; approximately 20,000 are killed over the next five days

1941 – World War II: In Operation Typhoon, Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow

1942 – World War II: Ocean Liner RMS Queen Mary accidentally rams & sinks her own escort ship, HMS Curacoa, off the coast of Ireland, killing 239 crewmen

1947 – Deathday of P. D. Ouspensky, a Russian mathematician & esotericist known for his expositions of the early work of the Greek-Armenian teacher of esoteric doctrine George Gurdjieff, whom he met in Moscow in 1915. He shared the (Gurdjieff) “system” for 25 years in England & the United States, having separated from Gurdjieff in 1924 personally, for reasons he explains in the last chapter of his book In Search of the Miraculous, a recounting of what he learned from Gurdjieff during those years. After Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff, he taught the “Fourth Way”, as he understood it, to his independent groups.

Gurdjieff proposed that there are three ways of self-development generally known in esoteric circles. These are the Way of the Fakir, dealing exclusively with the physical body, the Way of the Monk, dealing with the emotions, & the Way of the Yogi, dealing with the mind. What is common about the three ways is that they demand complete seclusion from the world. According to Gurdjieff, there is a Fourth Way which does not demand its followers to abandon the world. The work of self-development takes place right in the midst of ordinary life. Gurdjieff called his system a school of the Fourth Way where a person learns to work in harmony with his physical body, emotions & mind. Ouspensky picked up this idea & continued his own school along this line.

He finally gave up the system in 1947. (“A Record of Meetings”, published posthumously) “you must make a new beginning” after confessing “I’ve left the system”

Marcel Duchamp

1968 – Deathday of Marcel Duchamp, French painter & sculptor

1990 – Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 is hijacked & lands at Guangzhou, where it crashes into two other airliners on the ground, killing 128

1996 – The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton

1996 – Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru, killing 70

***

27^th Week in the Calendar of the Soul: AUTUMN

When to my being’s depths I penetrate

There stirs expectant longing

That self-observing, I may find myself

As a gift of summer sun, a seed

That warming lives in autumn mood

As germinating force of soul.

~Rudolf Steiner

***

Part 2, From the Michaelmas 30 September 2016 Lecture: Heart-Thinking: Michael Beckoning by ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

But who is this powerful spiritual being? Rudolf Steiner has given us many indications. For day let’s start by looking at the name. Michael, is a question, for it means ‘Who is like god’? Questions are good, they help us think. But how can we possibly experience this mighty Sun-Being? Well, we can sense his forces in the meteor showers that start in late August & go thru November. We can witness the power of Michael behind the shooting stars, strengthening our blood with cosmic iron, waging war there against anxiety, fear & hate, creating an inner process that penetrates our earthly thoughts with cosmic Thoughts – that our hearts may begin to have thoughts.

And so it is that today I make a small attempt at understanding what spiritual science calls Imaginative cognition, or Heart-Thinking.

And we can start by asking a question. How can humanity, the earth citizen, become once more a citizen of the cosmos? – Well, it certainly won’t be by head-thinking alone. For In the intellect we are isolated from the world, isolated from the cosmos, because everyone has their own head, & in that head, their own thoughts. But In Heart-Thinking it’s not like that, Imaginative cognition takes us further in our evolutionary journey. The mysterious German word, Gemüt, which Steiner uses to describe Heart-Thinking- means something like: ‘the mind warmed by a loving heart & stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power’.

It is not dependent solely on the head, but on the rhythmic system, bringing us back to where we belong, as a being in the cosmos. For in the cosmos rhythm holds sway. You’ve heard of the ‘Music of the Spheres’ right? Everything in sync, harmonious, in perfect balance. Until…

Once upon a time, before time, when another high Sun-Being stood in his place in the choir, looking up the ladder to the highest hierarchies with the thought, ‘hmm it sure would be nice to be god, I’d look so fine sitting up there with the Thrones. I sure would love to sing something different…a solo, that’s what I need, instead of just being here in my place in the choir. Maybe I’ll just skip the line’. Well needless to say Michael, along with some other spiritual beings, felt the commotion coming from this agitated thinking, & tried to reassure the ‘wanna-be’ that yes, someday they will all have full freedom to hit the high notes, but that the time was not yet ripe. But this deva would have none of it, so with some other minions he endeavored to cut the line, & storm the gates of heaven. So Michael, as choir master, guardian of the Cosmic Intelligence, the power or intelligence that keeps the rhythms of the cosmos intact – had to hold the fort, & with the help of the other righteous angels, they cast the trouble makers out of heaven, in order to keep the Music of the Sphere’s harmonious.

And ironically because that high being wanted to rise higher before his time, he actually fell back, becoming more hardened & densified, taking on what we would call, using the language of imagination, the super-sensible form of a serpent or dragon. So there’s our famous story.

But, you may ask, where is the dragon now?

Spiritual Science tells us that the dragon now lives within the human being. The outer cosmic conflict of Michael & the Dragon was transferred to the inner human being, because only in human nature can the Dragon now find his sphere of action. But fear not my friends, because of that, Michael now works with us to fight the dragon within our human nature. Michael has given humanity the opportunity to take up the cosmic intelligence into our heart-thinking.

We continue our exploration tomorrow

Until soon

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

New Moon: Harbinger of new beginnings & festivities

September 30, 2016Autumn, Chicago Event, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

30 September 2016 – Astro-Weather: Humans have always had a fascination with lunar events—& with the rise of the Internet, all kinds of moon moments have become media sensations. Consider super moons, harvest moons, & the rare super blood moon total eclipse.

Today sky-watchers may be tempted to add another lunar moniker to the list: a “black moon,” popularly defined as the second new moon in a month. However, it’s not exactly going to make for good sky-watching.

New moons occur when the moon’s orbit takes it between Earth & the sun, leaving the lunar orb’s unilluminated side facing Earth. At night, this phase of the moon is impossible to see: Since new moons are in the same part of the sky as the sun, they rise and set with the sun & are overwhelmed by its glare.

New moons can be readily seen only when they pass directly in front of the sun, causing solar eclipses. Otherwise, sky-watchers must look to the days before or after a new moon, when just a sliver of the moon’s sunlit side is visible from Earth. (The Noble Qur’an categorically requires physical Moon sighting (with the naked eye) to confirm the beginning & ending of the Islamic months such as Ramadan & Zil-Hajjah. The Qur’anic term for the Crescent Moon is al-Hilal which means “the sighted Moon.”)

Usually, new moons occur only once a month, but because there’s a slight disjunct between the moon’s phases—a 29.5-day cycle, on average—& the Gregorian calendar, some months can have two new moons: one at the beginning & one at the end. This double-dipping occurs once every 32 months or so.

In this sense, a black moon is like the blue moon, conventionally understood as the second full moon in a month. But let’s be clear: This new moon—like any astronomical event—doesn’t bring ill tidings or herald the end of days, despite the astrological fear-mongering that has been seeping through the web.

If anything, this black moon is a harbinger of new beginnings & festivities: On the evening of October 2, the barely visible waxing crescent moon will shine on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. And on October 3, the growing crescent will mark the beginning of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar.

New Moon occurs at 7:11 pm CDT

***

When we look up to the wonder of the starry world, when we contemplate the whole process of the universe with its glories and marvels, then we are led at last to the feeling that all the glory that lies open to our view in the whole universe that surrounds us only has meaning when it is reflected in an admiring human soul. -~Goethe

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Sigmund Gleismüller

395 – John the Evangelist settles in Patmos to write the Apocalypse

Caravaggio

420 – Deathday of St. Jerome also called Hieronymus, Roman priest, theologian, patron saint of translators, librarians & encyclopedists. Rudolf Steiner speaks of him in From Jesus to Christ lecture 4, saying he had to ‘falsify’ the Gospel of St. Matthew, because it was too esoteric for folks at the time:

When we know this, we understand that the original Gospel of Matthew could not be imparted without further preparation because men were not ripe to receive what was in it. For if Jerome, a Father of the Church, was himself not ripe for what it contained, then certainly other men were not. Those who were originally in possession of these communications, the Ebionites, did not impart them because, if received by unripe persons, they would have been so distorted that they must have led to what Jerome meant when he said that they would serve not for edification but for destruction. Now Jerome understood this; yet he allowed himself to impart in a certain way the Gospel of Matthew to the world. ~Rudolf Steiner

1207 – Birthday of Rumi, Persian mystic & poet

1791 – The first performance of The Magic Flute, the last opera by Mozart to make its debut, took place at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria

1791 – The National Constituent Assembly in Paris is dissolved; Parisians hail Maximilien Robespierre & Jérôme Pétion as “incorruptible patriots”

1882 – Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin

1914 – Birthday of Johannes Tautz – a Historian, Religious scholar, Anthroposophist, Author & Waldorf teacher. After the German capitulation, Tautz was imprisoned by the Czechs, Americans & Russians but managed to escape in the summer of 1945 back to his family in Bad Boll. He was soon approached by Erich Gabert in Stuttgart to join the Waldorf School that was about to be opened as its German & History teacher. On 1 November 1945 he stood before his first 9th grade at the Free Waldorf School, Uhlandshöhe.

Soon Johannes Tautz decided to look up his “predecessor”, the first history teacher at the Waldorf School, Walter Johannes Stein. The conversations with Stein provided an orientation & inspiration for all of his further work as a teacher, lecturer & writer; in his lecturing work at national & international conferences and in the “Hague Circle”, a coordinating international group of Waldorf teachers.

He likewise received particular guidance from Emil Bock regarding a Christological view of world history & from Jürgen von Grone about the destiny of Germany &in particular to the figure of Helmuth von Moltke.

In 1966 Tautz held three lectures about the spiritual background to National Socialism, which later appeared in print under the title Attack of the Enemy – The Occult Inspiration Behind Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in 1976. In it he looks at a number of personalities connected with questionable occult practices with which leading Nazis had been close during the time of the movement’s growth.

In 1979 he edited a collection of biographical portraits together with Gisbert Husemann of the circle of founding Waldorf teachers around Rudolf Steiner.

Together with a young friend, Thomas Meyer, he visited the daughter of Walter Johannes Stein, Clarissa Johanna Muller, in Ireland where she was living in order to look through her father’s literary estate. They found the typescript of Stein’s dissertation annotated by Rudolf Steiner, letters & meditations of Steiner for Stein, his mother & for his brother, who fell in a mysterious manner in WWI. Letters & notes of Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz, Eliza von Moltke, Ita Wegman, D.N Dunlop & many other personalities were discovered & formed the basis of Tautz’s biography of Stein in 1989

In 1993 he initiated the editing of a collection Rudolf Steiner’s letters & notes to Eliza von Moltke together with the post mortem communications & the letters of Helmuth von Moltke himself. The decision to publish these was to prevent or anticipate a partial publication without an appropriate commentary on the subject that had been announced. A previous instance of this content being used had been in the book The Spear of Destiny by Trevor Ravenscroft which, in the opinion of Tautz had been written “without the necessary protection of background knowledge for the deeply-penetrant & difficult to understand material.” Further reading

1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlaws “intentional bombings of civilian populations”

1962 – Labor leader César Chávez founds the National Farm Workers Association, which later becomes United Farm Workers

1982 – Cyanide-laced Tylenol kills six people in the Chicago area. Seven are killed in all

1993 – The 6.2 Mw Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 & injuring 30,000

1999 – The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of 2 technicians, many others affected by radiation poisoning, in Japan’s second-worst nuclear accident

2009 – The 7.6 Mw Sumatra earthquake shakes central Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). 1,115 people dead, many injured & left homeless

***

“Do you know what you are?
You are a manuscript of a divine letter.
You are a mirror reflecting a noble face.
This universe is not outside of you.
Look inside yourself;
everything that you want,
you are already that.”

~Rumi

***

Michaelmas is not just a day; it is a season that extends from September 29, the Feast of St. Michael & All The Heavenly Hosts, to October 31, All Hallows Eve. It is a time for harvest, a time for work, a time for storing away that which we need for the cold dark months to come.

The autumn is an exceptional time. In many parts of North America, the trees are ablaze with splendid color— the scarlet maples, the twittering yellow aspens, the orange sumac. The evening skies come alive as meteor showers streak across the dark canopy like blazing arrows. This cosmic metallic presence is absorbed into our blood from the very air we breathe, invigorating our blood with its homeopathic qualities of iron. Darkness starts to wrap around us & we are moved inside to the comfort of our homes. Our thought life also goes inward. The dreamy mood of summer is replaced by a new vigor that seems to aid us in our tasks. Beyond external observation, what does all of this mean?

An ancient intuitive wisdom placed a festival at each of the four turning points of the solar year. The autumn festival was named after the archangel Michael, the heavenly warrior. The name Michael is Hebrew, & its meaning is a question: “Who is like God?” Legend tells that Michael, along with Gabriel, Uriel & Raphael, were sent out into the cosmos by God to seek a name for man. With sublime spirit-power, Michael, as the messenger of God, proclaimed man’s earthly name: “Adam.”

There are many other legends of Michael, the most notable being of his confrontation in heaven with the rebellious angels, led by Lucifer, who sought to overthrow God. The forces of Michael cast them out of heaven & held them in control in their earthly form as dragons. Michael did not slay the dragon, but through inner forces was able to hold it in control, at the tip of his spear.

If we examine this story, we can begin to find the meaning of Michaelmas & the task of Michael. The dragon is not an external reality, but rather lives within all humankind, represented by cold, dead, rationalistic & pragmatic thinking.

It is alive within every mortal as a potentially evil force. Michael’s message to humanity is not to try to slay the dragon within ourselves, for we would not live in freedom if we did, but rather to overcome it with consciousness. It is the consciousness in our thinking which calls for exactitude & selflessness, as well as the strength of will needed to follow a moral path in life. Michaelmas is a festival of inner strength & initiative. It is a time when our higher being can conquer anxiety & fear, for it is the task of Michael to awaken humankind to the eternal within.

In earnest wakefulness & practiced Peace –

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

TONIGHT!!!

Michaelmas Festival: 7 pm –9 pm Friday 30 September, 2016

Optional Community Potluck Dinner 5pm – 6:45pm at The Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago

Heart-Thinking: Michael Beckoning

7pm – The Midwest Eurythmy Group will perform the Michaelmas Verse from Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul

Activating Our ‘Gemut’: The mind warmed by a loving heart & stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power – Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Verse for the Michaelic Age: ALL

We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what approaches us from the future. We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations about the future.

We must look forward with absolute equanimity to whatever may come. And we must think only that whatever comes is given to us by a cosmic guidance full of wisdom.

It is part of what we must learn in this age, namely, to live without any security in material existence and to live with pure trust in the ever-present help of the spiritual world.

Truly, nothing else will do if our courage is not to fail us. For this let us seek awakening to the reality of the spirit from within ourselves, every morning and every evening. ~Rudolf Steiner

Copper Rod Eurythmy: ALL

If I’m to be a valiant knight, Then there’s a battle I must fight , And I must choose right from the start, Not strength of arm But strength of heart, My sword shall of good steel be made, And love the keenness of the blade

Piano & Voice – Kristen Wray & David Wray performing Nacht und Träume + Ganymed – By Franz Schubert. Kristen Wray is a fiber and metal weaving artist, an energy healing practitioner, as well as a classically trained singer. David Wray is a classics professor at the University of Chicago specializing in ancient Roman poetry. Kristen and David regularly perform together in music student recitals on the university campus.

$10 Donation & Snacks to Share Encouraged

For more info. Contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer Ginsberg Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Category Archives: Insight

May you be sealed for a good year in the Book Of Life

Fellowship of Doing

Purpose & Direction

Take up the Cosmic Intelligence into our Heart-Thinking

New Moon: Harbinger of new beginnings & festivities

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