Category Archives: Poetry

Root Rays

October 3, 2021Autumn, Calendar of the Soul, Central Regional Council, Chicago Event, Community, Festival, History, Meditation, Poetry~hag

10:10 Thought-Seed Meditation as antidote to the madness

Clear your mind of what fills it now & live into the Word…Make yourself comfortable, as we share the air…taking a deep breath…filling your belly…Thrilling your lungs…Let your body sink deep & Relax…Set the rhythm with your breath…& as your awareness is internalized, fully connected with the Breath of Life, gently moving through you…Make all your senses alert to this life force…Enjoy its power & perfect simplicity…feel the sustaining energy behind every molecule of oxygen in every breath… Feel the life force coursing through your cells & thoughts…& when you are ready, become a channel open to the abundant potency pouring into this planet from the Heart of the Sun that we all share…feel the honey-gold radiance of the Sun infusing your will with the power to manifest Love…Reach out with your Heart-Self & let your thoughts attract & connect with the radiant-golden healing energy of our Day Star, as its power merges with your ripening heart…

Feeling balanced in this loving energy, let your feet sprout thick limber roots that pull this pure illuminated Love deep into the core of this planet, infusing all life with the brilliance of connective intelligence, healing all hate…oxidizing all dis-ease in the root rays of the solar power harmonizing with our planet made sacred…

Remember that you are unique in the light that fuels your gifts…& when we all add our divine sparks together, we fuel the fires of transformation to create positive change…as we find ourselves intertwined in this circle of life, forming the wholeness in the Sun-Heart beating in rhythm with the pulse of our Mother Earth…we know we are all beacons of this vivid starburst of evolution…Look around this amazing world with your mind’s eye, & see the fields, ripe with the end of summer’s abundance…

Find yourself in the center of this abundance holding a large willow basket, eager to begin your autumn harvest…Step first into an expanse of sweet corn…See the tall, regal, green stalks…

Observe a ripe golden ear which seems to be reaching out to you…Under its wispy silk, kernels sparkle like precious gold shining through…Let it remind you of your own riches, both tangible & intangible…Reach out & pick this ear of corn & put it into your basket…

Leave the corn field, & enter an apple orchard…See the beauty of these trees…these majestic symbols of the Great Goddess Herself…Feel the fullness of her boughs…the ripeness of her ruby red apples, the fruit of knowledge…Reach up, way up, & pick two…Put one in your basket & eat the other…Taste & enjoy this perfect fruit…For in this gracious garden, tasting the fruit of knowledge is never forbidden…

Now move toward an onion field, which beckons to you…Once green, now browning spikes, point up to you, tempting you to dig below…Pull gently & the ground gives birth to an iridescent, opal bulb, full of body & character & strength…A vegetable with the power to make you feel the beauty of your tears of joy…Add this to your growing harvest…

Notice ahead thick bushes of ripened raspberries, Sharp brambles protecting their precious, succulent garnets…The juicy nectar of these berries reminds you of your own sensuality, your own ability to feel, express, extend all that is sweet & loving & honest to others…Take your time here, & pick plenty of these supple jewels for your basket…

Step away now & look around you, Find a patch of fruit or vegetables that appeals to you…Enter it, admire its offerings, select a precious jewel of your own to harvest…Choose a resource that will sustain you in the upcoming time of cold & darkness…glean some warmth & light & savor its presence…

With your arms now laden with this basket of bountiful treasures, it is time to rest…Take your harvest to a clover covered knoll in the still warm sun, just beyond, to sit & bask in the glory of its healing heat…Rest in contentment knowing you have gathered in all that you need, to give you strength & balance, peace & nourishment in the winter days to come…

Put yourself back in the sky now…Become the Sun once again…Shine down upon yourself & your hardy harvest…Absorb the energy of the fruits of your labors, bless the seeds you planted in the Spring & nurtured to fruition through the Summer…

Become One with the Spiritual Sun…Shine down upon all that is good & giving…spread the light of hope & peace, love & understanding, to all you shine upon…Everything you have touched with your luminous rays is vibrating in harmony, in the eternal truth of our authentic self…

Begin to integrate & cultivate these blessings received…opening to the vision of our Divine-Self, in the wholeness of our heart soul, we can Resolve to act on our own unique life-purpose & make it ever more real…ever more whole…

Gradually bring your experience to the present once again, to the here & now…Feel your body refreshed & renewed, here & now, in your room, in your sacred space…know you are sacred…know you are here for a reason…

& Gently, joyfully, when you are ready, open your senses…to see the unity of your community… know in your heart of hearts that the journey we have taken together, whether near or far, in the flesh, or thru the net, is full of effulgent effective power which we manifest for ourselves & for the planet, a healing harvest of love’s light…

Blessed be…

~hag

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RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
MICHAELMAS
Michaelic Firepower
v26
Natura, in the being of my will
I bear thy soul of motherhood
and in my will enkindled firepower
my spirit impulses are tempered, steeled,
that feeling of the selfhood formed from them
bear I in me

The Michaemas movement from v26 to 27 is the Soul Calendar’s second mirror point.

MICHAELMAS II
Soul Springtime
v27
To fathom
my depths of being
arouses longing, ardently divining,
that I, Self-contemplating, find myself
as gift the summer sun’s bequeathed
my autumn mood as warming seed
of germinating soul force.

Here are some notes edited from Eloise Krivosheia (Calendar-of-the-Soul-Verse-27-2020.pdf (anthroposophyla.org).

At Easter the soul turned to outer nature and the cosmos. Turning inwardly now it longs to know itself in its spiritual depths, arousing “Ahnung” (that I always translate with an “ah”, sound for the future, felt as a presience of the divine). In warm attentiveness to the summer’s sun-gift the soul is able to recognize the summer’s secrets, which as a seed will germinate will forces. Now with the powerful gift of the summer sun the spiritual sun can consciously expand within my inner being all through the autumn.

Karl König descibes how the spirit-germ of the self is a reflection of the Michael being, which illumined by the Sun of Christ begins to develop and grow in Christ light. “The more conscious this seed is of itself, the more graciously will the Sun of Christ shine upon it. For it is in the growing darkness of autumn and winter that the dawning of His Spirit-Sun begins. The self of man, which has now arisen, has to find it.”

3 October 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

508 BC – Deathday of Lucretia an ancient Roman woman whose fate played a vital role in the transition of Roman government from the Roman Kingdom to the Roman Republic. She committed suicide after being raped by an Etruscan king’s son was the immediate cause of the anti-monarchist rebellion that overthrew the monarchy. As a result of its sheer impact, the rape itself became a major theme in European art & literature

Deathay of Jarius. The record of the daughter of Jairus is a combination of miracles of Jesus in the Gospels (Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56) The story immediately follows the exorcism at Gerasa. Jairus, a patron or ruler of a Galilee synagogue, had asked Jesus to heal his 12-year-old daughter. As they were traveling to Jairus’ house, a sick woman in the crowd touched Jesus’ cloak & was healed of her sickness. Jesus turned round to the woman & says: “Take heart, daughter,” your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Moments later, a messenger arrived with the news that Jairus’ daughter had died, & he was advised not to trouble Jesus any further. However, Jesus responded: Be not afraid, only believe. (Mark 5:36) Jesus continued to the house, where he informed all those present that the girl was not dead but asleep. He then went upstairs & restored the little girl to life. In Mark’s account, the Aramaic phrase “Talitha Koum” (transliterated into Greek as ταλιθα κουμ meaning, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) is attributed to Jesus

Deathday of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a Syrian Christian theologian & philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the set of works commonly referred to as the Corpus Areopagiticum or Corpus Dionysiacum, portraying himself as the Athenian convert of Paul of Tarsus mentioned in Acts 17:34 (Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus) This attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given great authority in subsequent theological writing in both East & West. His works are mystical & show strong Neoplatonic influence. For example he uses Plotinus’ well-known analogy of a sculptor cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image.

In a letter addressed to Polycarp, pseudo-Dionysius asks “What have you to say about the solar eclipse which occurred when the Savior was put on the Cross? At the time the two of us were in Heliopolis and we both witnessed the extraordinary phenomenon of the moon hiding the sun at the time that was out of season for their coming together…. We saw the moon begin to hide the sun from the east, travel across to the other side of the sun, and return on its path so that the hiding and the restoration of the light did not take place in the same direction but rather in diametrically opposite directions.…” This is illustrated in an astronomical fresco in the main gallery of the Escorial Library, near Madrid, Spain, which shows Dionysius the Areopagite observing an eclipse at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.

Luke, 23-45 (It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. 45The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle) We can notice a quadrant & an astrolabe in the hands of the amazed men!

287 AD – Deathday of Saint Candidus. The Golden Legend states that he was a commander of the Theban Legion, which was composed of Christians from Upper Egypt. He opposed Maximian, who had ordered them to harass the local Christians in his name, stating that “we are your soldiers, but we are also servants of the true God. We cannot renounce Him who is our Creator and Master, and also yours even though you reject Him.” Candidus, along with St. Maurice, the other staff officers & 6,600 soldiers, were martyred at the Swiss town of Saint Maurice-en-Valais

1226 – Deathday of Francis of Assisi, Italian friar & saint. Based on a study of the life of Francis of Assisi, Rudolf Steiner shows how the development of morality is based on the belief in the Divine at the bottom of every human soul, on the boundless love that springs from this belief, and on the hope for each human soul that it can find its way back to the Divine. Anthroposophical Ethics…St. Francis, Lecture III

1250 – Deathday of Gilbertus Anglicus. His major work, the Compendium Medicinae, written in Latin, running to seven books, is an attempt to provide a comprehensive encyclopedia of medical & surgical knowledge as it existed in his day. He quotes extensively from Roger of Palma, & acknowledges that his work is indebted to Greek physicians including Galen, Hippocrates & Theophilus Protospatharius, & Arab physicians such as Averroes & Avicenna.

1884 – Birthday of, Paul Foster Case, an American occultist, founder of Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), original member of Alpha et Omega, an organization that inherited the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Paul Foster Case played the organ in the Congregational Church, where his father was a deacon. In childhood, he started working to have lucid dreams. Rudyard Kipling, spurred his interest in their correspondence, confirming that such a phenomenon is possible, & can be developed.

Case became a member of the Order of Alpha et Omega, but he was distrustful of Enochian Magic. He explored certain practical ceremonial magic, with his sometime partner Moina Mathers.

Case was fascinated by the “New Thought” movement, he met William Walker Atkinson, & co-authored the modern literary mystification “The Kybalion”, as one of the anonymous “three wise men”.

The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order: An Interpretation of the Rosicrucian Allegory & An Explanation of the Ten Rosicrucian Grades - Kindle edition by Case, Paul Foster. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ — from my library

Case studied various yoga’s & the karma of past lives, & was said to have worked with “the healer Dr. Fludd” who claimed that the Count Saint-Germain had sent him to be his teacher.

1942 – Spaceflight: The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. It is the first man-made object to reach space.

1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon to become the world’s third nuclear power.

1962 – Project Mercury: Sigma 7 is launched from Cape Canaveral, with astronaut Wally Schirra aboard, for a six-orbit, nine-hour flight.

1963 – A violent coup in Honduras pre-empts the October 13 election, ends a period of reform, & begins two decades of military rule.

1981 – The hunger strike by Provisional Irish Republican Army & Irish National Liberation Army prisoners at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after 7months & 10 deaths.

1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight. (Mission STS-51-J)

1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories, is officially opened

1990 – German reunification: The German Democratic Republic ceases to exist & its territory becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. East German citizens became part of the European Community, which later became the European Union. Now celebrated as German Unity Day

1995 – O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson & Ronald Goldman

2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is signed by President George W. Bush – commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, & supply cash directly to banks

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~have you seen it…?
how the fist of order tries to hold back chaos
how chaos oozes between the grasp of fingers held without purpose
how the sun is born & dies 12 hours later
how the weights swing in the scale
balanced on the fingertip of a god…?
~hag

Greetings friends – It is a true esoteric deed to be an active participant
at a spiritual convocation, & a rare honor to host such an historic hybrid event
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago. (see this link to find a hybrid Host Center in your neck of the woods)

Don’t miss this opportunity to be counted as a foundational member
of the construction team ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’.

Monday October 4^this the Deadline for Registering
for this ASA Annual Conference and Members Meeting
7-10 October 2021 online and in-person

1st make sure you are registered at https://www.anthroposophy.org/fallconference and have indicated that you will be attending in person at the RSBranch Chicago.
Then Register with the Chicago Branch using PayPal.
For more info. contact Jenny Doty

(Meal plan in Chicago consists of 3 lunches, 3 dinners, coffee, tea. AND snacks will include some veggies from Angelic Organics – Sign up now so we know how much food we need!!!)

THURSDAY, October 7 – CENTRAL TIME

*Special in-person activities – (*Vendor load in 9 am – 3 pm
For those in the pageant: Tech rehearsal – 3 pm)

*5 pm Dinner in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’

6:30- 8:00 PM Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Members Meeting
(Note: This portion is free and open to all members)

FRIDAY, October 8 – CENTRAL TIME

*9:30 AM In the Upper Room our Class Reader Clark Remington
will give Lesson XI for the School of Spiritual Science
(Note: There will be no online gathering for the Class Lesson)
11:15 AM Snack Break in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
11:30 AM What is the School of Spiritual Science?
                           A conversation led by Helen-Ann Ireland, open to all
12 Noon LUNCH in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
1:00 PM Conference Opening
2:00 PM The Stairway of Surprise: Rudolf Steiner’s 6 Basic
Exercises with Michael Lipson
3:00 PM 30-minute Snack Break in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
3:30 PM   Thinking / Clear Thinking with the New Orleans Hub
Doing / Right Action with the Austin Hub
                          Musical Interludes by Morgan Vallat
4:30 PM Biography with Janey Newton
5:00 PM 60-minute Break *DINNER in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
6:00 PM         Singing with Dennis Dietzel and the Twin Cities group
6:15 – 7:15 PM  Building the Temple through Spiritual Research: Sections
of the School of Spiritual Science as Columns of the Temple

8:00 PM Optional opportunity to attend a ‘Close of Day Serve’ at our local
Christian Community Church 2135 W. Wilson Ave. (Walkable)

SATURDAY, October 9 – CENTRAL TIME
(*For those in the pageant: Breakfast at 8 am – Tech rehearsal – 9 am)

11:00 AM Eurythmy with Mary Ruud
11:15 AM The Life of the Heart in Space, Time and Eternity with
Michaela Glöckler
12:30 PM   Biography with Janey Newton
1:00 PM   60-minute Break *LUNCH in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
2:00 PM   Eurythmy with Mary Ruud
2:15 PM Feeling / Equanimity with the Twin Cities Hub
Loving / Positivity with the Northern Michigan Hub
Opening / Open-mindedness with the Ann Arbor Hub
Musical Interludes by Morgan Vallat
3:30 PM 60-minute Snack Break in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
4:30 PM Exploring the Heart Connections between Chartres
Cathedral and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival with
Brian Gray
5:45 PM Biography with Janey Newton
6:15 PM 60-minute Break *DINNER in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’
7:15-8:30 PM  Thanking / Inner Harmony / Wholeness with the Chicago /
Youth Section Hub

SUNDAY, October 10 – CENTRAL TIME
~Everyone is invited to wear white and black for this capstone offering~ (*For those in the Pageant- Breakfast at 8 am – Run Through – 9 am)

11:00 AM Singing with Dennis Dietzel and the Twin Cities group
Experiential Pageant: ‘Building the Temple of the Heart- The Royal Art: A Social Pilgrimage of the Soul’ by Hazel Archer featuring the 6 HUBS, Friends and Hosts, Dennis Dietzel, Mary Ruud, Katherine Thivierge & YOU
12:15 PM ART ACT with Lisa Dalton- Break – (Timing Subject to change)
1:00-2:00 PM Conversation and Conference Closing
LUNCH in the RS Branch ‘Schreinerei’

For Questions about registration contact Jenny Dotty

For more info. about the Conference Contact
Cultural Events Coordinator Hazel Archer
https://www.rschicago.org/
official RSBranch Calendar

For those who are longing for a deep dive: The Applied Anthroposophy Course (AAC) brings transformative online content into the alchemy of individual and group inner work. The mission is to explore the urgent issues of our time through the lens of spiritual philosophy, awakening meaning, inner reflection, and outer action.

I will be facilitating one of the Chrysalis Groups: ‘The Cycle of the Year as a Path of Initiation into the New Mysteries’ –

The Royal Art of community awaits your participation.

See you there

~hag

“Jubilee” (יובל)

September 14, 2021Community, Festival, History, Poetry~hag

Cloud Gazing on the eve of Yom Kippur

During the Days of Awe we remember the first human being, Adam Kadmon; as well as the fall from Paradise which connects us to the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur – highlighting fallibility, bringing a focus on forgiveness, soul-searching faith, compassion, humility, thoughtfulness, accepting responsibility & magnanimity.

I am pondering this opportunity on the wheel of the year as I sit in my garden, taking in the 1^st signs of death with the harvest. My gaze moves up with my thoughts, following the dazzling beauty of the clouds.

A very interesting meditation cloud gazing; part Rorschach, part cosmic divination. I have always felt called to watch the sky. I set aside time for this activity every day. Even for 5 minutes, much can be revealed. I remain watchful & act as witness to the messages – in the formations, in the wind, in my body, in all of nature.

How is dawn speaking today? What will dusk want? Noon brings its own power. The hummingbirds this year seem particularly urgent in their quest for sweetness. The milk weed is running with bright orange beetles. The Monarch & the cardinal couple talk & sway on the long stalks of Joe Pie weed eating seeds. The golden rod are bursting with buzzing mason bees. O look the Michaelmas daisies are huge this year. And my goodness the way the spider web catches the light…

I send out gratitude & love, & listen for the echo of the elementals.

Yes, despite the challenges it brings, 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 our own character & track record, as well as the opportunity to upgrade relationships with relatives, friends, associates & the community at-large.

Moving through the clouds is that a choir of Angels, see it there…? They seem so active & willing to connect with those who are keen to look up & read the starry script, to intuit the augury without falling into illusion, to witness without judgment, to get out of the way & yet to participate fully.

The etheric realm is an open secret for those who have eyes to see. We can meet the Being of Christ in what weaves between us; this is the only way to atone. Look in, look up & join in the co-creation of our evolution.

See you there

~hag

14 September 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna shines in the lid of the Sagittarius Teapot. The Teapot is tilting and pouring to the right, like always in September.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

We are the echo of the future ~W. S. Merwin

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Helena-of-Constantinople-discovers-the-True-Cross.jpg

Feast of the Cross – According legend the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena & Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, on this same date, with a portion of the cross placed inside it.

Other legends explain that in 614, that portion of the cross was carried away from the church by the Persians, & remained missing until it was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. Initially taken to Constantinople, the cross was returned to the church in 629.

1321 – Deathday of Durante degli Alighieri – known as Dante

1486 – Birthday of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, German Occultist, theologian, astrologer, & alchemist

1723 – Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta. de Vilhena, a Portuguese nobleman was the 66th Prince of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Unlike many other Grand Masters, he was benevolent & popular with the Maltese people

1741 – George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah

Image result for 1752 â The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar

1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2)

Image result for 1901 â U.S. President William McKinley dies

1901 – U.S. President William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, & is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt

1940 –The Ip massacre: The Hungarian Army, supported by local Hungarians, kill 158 Romanian civilians in Ip, Sălaj, a village in Northern Transylvania, an act of ethnic cleansing

1943 – World War II: The Wehrmacht starts targeting several Greek villages death toll over 500 people

1960 – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded

1960 – Congo Crisis: With CIA help, Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power in a military coup, suspending parliament & the constitution

1969 – The US Selective Service selects September 14 as the First Draft Lottery date

My POD (Poem Of the Day)

~in the sky
bright as Nuit’s belly above Her lover,
the Sun glints like cool yellow jasper…
the body of heaven lies smooth & firm as an egg…
it is a joy to lick the wind…
~hag

HAZEL’S APO DANCE-A-THON 2021

Greetings kindred souls – This year for the APO fund raiser I plan to hold a Dance-A-Thon & Biodynamic Prep-stir on Friday 24 September 2021 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America – Chicago

Featuring Waldorf Alum DJ ‘Grapefruit Effect’ + Circle’s Edge

It’s a potluck community gathering, so please bring food & drink to share – Along with your donation to this amazing program.

We also plan to read some poetry from some of the inmates who are working with Anthroposophy!

If you live out of town you can dance in your neck of the woods in solidarity with us. Please show your generous support…

Donate here https://secure.anthroposophy.org/np/clients/anthroposophy/campaign.jsp?campaign=226&fundraiser=66673&

Xox ~hag, hazel@reverseritual.com

Hidden behind the Mirage

September 11, 2021Community, History, Poetry, Remembering~hag

I know you are tired dear friend. It’s all so much. And I know today is an emotional day. But together we can continue to ask urgent & difficult questions, so that we may share healing, which often comes thru shattering insights. These will help us achieve humanity’s highest evolution. Next year when we hit the third 7 year cycle, the possibility of the “I” can come in – IF – we look past the dust swirling in the repeated mirage, & meet this event with our collective Higher “I”.

Mandali: India and the World | Dhruvi Acharya | Ann Arbor District Library — Dhruvi Acharya

We can’t rest until we reveal what lies at the root of the corona – our individual & collective Crown – & the worldwide stranglehold it has caused. It’s all connected. What are the deeper, spiritual realities? Which entities stand behind these attacks on humanity? What can we do to meet them? How can we be spiritually hygienic? What therapeutic practices can we employ for ourselves & the world?

Is this present & ever mutating pandemic meant to be seen as part of a series of world-events – Will we dare to follow the threads? All of humanity is being called upon to respond in a radically transformative way. How do these events point to real questions of individual freedom – not a selfish me 1^st freedom, but a true collective freedom based on love, good will & compassion toward everyone?

And above all, how does all this relate to the essential event of our time – The revealing of the Christ in the etheric; which remains largely hidden behind the veil of materialism?

What if in our work of deep listening & presencing, we see this milestone as the tolling of the bell – as a Spiritual epiphany…!?!

A vibration, that with our intention for healing, sets our bundles of rumbling DNA into initiation mode – where uncanny revelations are imminent…yay, I know it’s hard to be shaken awake in the middle of our regularly scheduled programing – And yep, it doesn’t matter if we’re a true believer or a work-a-day couch surfer- we are all invited to have our pat certainties torn out by the roots & replaced with a throbbing vision of cosmic hoopla… For Long-standing versions of reality are mutating – Stories that have remained fixed, are about to acquire unexpected wrinkles…& from the crack in the godhead new possibilities are pouring forth…

What I pray is that we won’t be satisfied with mediocre half-truths…That it is ok be focused on cutting out waste, fraud, & delusion; that it’s ok to be itchy to know more about the unacknowledged games that are being played…Frustration, I hope, will be our holy fuel…Unsweetened lemonade, I trust, will be our rejuvenating drink… These are blessings, my friend, not curses…We can see thru the misplaced acceptance of warped chunks of either or-ness…

Here stands a gaping opportunity to make a break for effervescent responsibility – True Human Freedom…And to take advantage, we’ll need to travel much lighter -So please peel off your heart-armor – polish your sun-shield – Power the rust off your sword – Wipe that forty-pound sneer of scorn & doubt off your face – Bury your broken-down theories by the wayside, & donate all your unnecessary props to the birds & the bees – Strip down – for where we’re going, all you’ll need is your good will & a fresh attitude…

As we strive to stand together in the light of wisdom’s humble love

~hag

Millions of Americans Commemorate 9/11 Terror Attacks

I end this 9/11 epiphany with:

THE “AMERICAN” or “THREEFOLD” VERSE sent by Rudolf Steiner to Ralph Courtney, a pioneer of Anthroposophy in North America for the Threefold Group in New York City, which later established the Threefold Community in Spring Valley (now Chestnut Ridge). This verse for the American spirit speaks of the inner unity of human beings and of support from the spiritual world for our efforts:

May our feeling penetrate
To the center of our hearts –
And seek, in love, to unite with those who share our goals
And with the spirits who look down benevolently
on our hearts earnest strivings
Sending us strength from realms of light
to illuminate our love.

9/11 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars: Look left of the thick crescent Moon for the head stars of Scorpius & farther left for orange Antares. ~skyandtelescope

“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”~Benjamin Franklin

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Birthday of Abraham, ancestor of the Semitic Hebrews & Arabs

354 – Deathday of Saints Protus & Hyacinth mentioned in “Depositio Martyrum”

Image result for Captain William Morgan,

1826 – Captain William Morgan, an ex-freemason is arrested in Batavia, New York for ‘debt’ after declaring that he would publish The Mysteries of Free Masonry. This sets into motion the events that led to his mysterious disappearance

1830 – Anti-Masonic Party convention; one of the first American political party conventions

1851 – Christiana Resistance: Escaped slaves stand against their former owner in armed resistance in Christiana, Pennsylvania, creating a rallying cry for the abolitionist movement

1893 – Parliament of the World’s Religions opens in Chicago, where Swami Vivekananda delivers his speech on fanaticism, tolerance & the truth inherent in all religions

1919 – U.S. Marines invade Honduras

1921 – Nahalal, the first Jewish settlement in Palestine, as part of a Zionist plan to colonize Palestine creating a Jewish state, later to be called Israel

1932 – Deathday of Fritz Lemmermayer an Austrian writer, journalist & closest childhood friend of Rudolf Steiner in Vienna. Fritz was a passionate anti-materialist, he wanted to devote his life to the creation & maintenance of spiritual values.

In 1883 he completed his novel “The Alchemist”. Rudolf Steiner met Lemmermayer again in 1886 in the circle of the poet Marie Eugenie delle Grazie. An extensive correspondence attests to the close friendship between the two (see GA 38 ).

In ” My Life ” Steiner says: Fritz Lemmermayer, with whom I was later on terms of intimate friendship, I came to know at one of delle Grazie’s afternoons. A highly noteworthy man. Whatever interested him he expressed with inwardly measured dignity. In his outward appearance he resembled equally the musician Rubinstein and the actor Lewinsky. With Hebbel he developed almost a cult. He had definite views on art and life born out of the sagacious understanding of the heart, and these were unusually fixed. He had written the interesting and profound romance, Der Alchemist(3), and much besides that was characterized by beauty and depth. He knew how to consider the least things in life from the view-point of the most vital. I recall how I once saw him in his charming little room in a side-street in Vienna together with other friends. He had planned his meal: two soft-boiled eggs, to be cooked in an instantaneous boiler, together with bread. He remarked with much emphasis while the water was heating to boil the eggs for us: “This will be delicious!” In a later phase of my life I shall again have occasion to speak of him (see GA 028, p 141f )

Lemmermayer & Steiner joined the ranks of the Viennese artist circle in the house of the protestant priest Alfred Formey. In 1891 Lemmermayer was vice president of Schrifstellerbundes Iduna , named after Iduna , the Norse goddess of youth & immortality a counterweight against the currents of naturalism.

Lemmermayer became a member of the Anthroposophical Society in 1920. He Steiner on many trips through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland & England. This led to his 1929 published memories, where he spoke about Rudolf Steiner, Robert Hamerling & other personalities of the Austrian intellectual life of the 80s. In addition, Lemmermayer published in the weekly ” Das Goetheanum “.

1940 – George Stibitz performs the first remote operation of a computer

1941 – Ground is broken for the construction of The Pentagon

1941 – Charles Lindbergh’s Des Moines Speech accusing the British, & the Roosevelt administration of pressing for war with Germany

1943 – World War II: Start of the liquidation of the Ghettos in Minsk & Lida by the Nazis

1950 – Korean War: President Harry S. Truman approved military operations north of the 38th parallel

1954 – Hurricane Edna hits New England as a Category 1 hurricane, causing significant damage & 129 deaths

1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state, 129 people die

1968 – Air France Flight 1611 crashes off Nice, France, killing 89 passengers &six crew

1974 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashes in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 69 passengers & two crew.

1976 – A bomb planted by Zvonko Bušić is found at New York’s Grand Central Terminal

1978 – Janet Parker is the last person to die of smallpox, in a laboratory-associated outbreak

1982 – The international forces that were guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel’s 1982 Invasion of Lebanon leave Beirut. Five days later, several thousand refugees are massacred in the Sabra & Shatila refugee camps

1988 – The St. Jean Bosco massacre takes place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

9/11 – 2001 – Two hijacked aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third smashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, & a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in a series of coordinated attacks by ???

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Bloom upright skeleton
With soft flowers of bitter dust
Fetid in Autumn’s withering
Bloom, heart-head dreaming
My Crone womb carries you forward
Willing the grave to sprout from within
Bloom, soul-forces purified & ready
Let tears embrace the wind
To wipe blank eyes screen fixed & unfocused
Bloom now in freedom won

~hag

Labor Pains

September 5, 2021History, Poetry~hag

Some thoughts on the Origins of Labor Day

Most folks probably don’t think of Labor Day as a holiday commemorating struggle & death. But that’s what it used to be.

The period between the Civil War & the Great Depression was a time of massive upheaval: The industrial revolution swept in, & millions of Americans were forced to leave their farms & move to cities in search of work in the newly-formed rail, steel, textile, & shipping industries.

Economic policymaking was ad hoc & primitive. Massive recessions regularly created mass poverty & threw enormous numbers of people out of work. The rules, both legal & social, were still being formed for how employers could treat employees, & how the wealth they all collectively produced would be distributed.

Inequality soared to enormous heights by the end of the period. The minimum wage, the 40-hour work week, laws against child labor, & more were only instituted after pitched political combat. Unions were growing as the one avenue by which workers could fight for their interests, & the economy saw waves of regular strikes & work stoppages that would be unheard of today.

Sometimes, the battles were literal: Employers & politicians were not shy about busting unions with police forces & hired enforcers. Riots, deaths, & bombings were not uncommon.

The first inklings of America’s Labor Day took shape in 1882, when the Central Labor Union (CLU) met in September in New York City for a labor festival. Peter McGuire, a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), who was inspired by a parade in Toronto in 1872 in support of a strike against 58-hour work weeks may have been the 1^st to propose the idea of a ‘Labor Day’. Other research points to Matthew Maguire, a machinist & member of the Knights of Labor. But somehow or another, the idea for a parade & yearly holiday to honor American workers was hatched.

The first parade of the new project was held in Manhattan on Sept. 5, 1882. It started out small, but then a band showed up, & workers’ groups from various industries began to flow in. Eventually the parade swelled to 10,000. After that initial success, various state & municipal governments began naming an official day to commemorate labor.

Then a massive recession hit in 1893. The job losses were devastating — & the frustration crystallized in a nationwide strike against the Pullman Company, a railroad car manufacturer & founder of one of the most infamous company towns in America, keeping the workers in appalling living conditions.

Railroad baron George Pullman created his eponymous town in 1880 just outside Chicago. It was a model of capitalist feudalism, with workers offered housing in line with their position in the company. Residents worked for Pullman’s company & their rent was automatically docked from their paychecks. They even had to bank at Pullman’s crooked bank. But Pullman’s business plummeted when the recession hit. Hundreds were laid off & wages were deeply cut — yet rents in the town did not decline.

In response, 4,000 of Pullman’s workers went on strike on May 11, 1894. On June 26, the American Railroad Union — led by Eugene V. Debs — called for a supporting boycott. One hundred & fifty thousand railway workers in 27 states joined the strike, refusing to operate Pullman rail cars. The massive halt to the rail industry & the interruption of U.S. mail cars set off a national crisis. Congress & President Grover Cleveland, looking to save face, rushed through a bill declaring Labor Day a national holiday. Cleveland signed it on June 28, 1894. He was backed by the AFL — the more conservative portion of the labor movement — which threw the first official Labor Day parade that year.

But it was a brutally ironic gesture. Six days later, under pressure from the furious leaders of the rail industry, & facing the virtual shutdown of U.S. mail trains, Cleveland invoked the Sherman Antitrust Act to declare the stoppage a federal crime. He sent in 12,000 federal troops to break the strike. Days of fighting & riots ensued, as strikers overturned & burned railcars, & the troops responded with violent crackdowns. Over 30 workers were killed before the strikers were dispersed & the trains restarted.

Debs was sent to prison, where he read Marx for the first time, setting him on the path to becoming arguably America’s most famous socialist.

Cleveland & others picked the September date for Labor Day as a kind of alternative to May Day, which had by then arisen as the principal day of celebration for workers’ movements around the world. On May 1, 1886, over 250,000 workers struck in Chicago, shutting down 13,000 businesses to demand a shorter work week for equal pay. After several days of peaceful protest, an ‘unknown assailant’ threw a bomb at police in Haymarket Square on May 4. The police responded by firing into the crowd, killing scores of people.

So it’s understandable that many on the left view Labor Day as a cynical ploy — a lazy apolitical three-day weekend, which distracts from the remembrance of when workers fought & died for the basic human decency of a shorter work week.

But you could also look at Labor Day as a remembrance of a time when the labor movement was a force to be reckoned with. Since the heyday of the New Deal, American membership in labor unions has collapsed. Millions of workers in modern service industries face capricious employment, low pay, & dismal conditions. Inequality has returned to its pre-Great-Depression levels, & the shared prosperity of the era immediately after the New Deal is a distant memory. Even the 40-hour work week is falling by the wayside.

All of which makes Labor Day ripe for reclaiming, in the name of some long-unfinished business.

~Jeff Spross

▷ Whispers of autumn by Rachael Dalzell, 2020 | Painting | Artsper (947466) — Rachael Dalzell

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
AUTUMN PRELUDE III
The Yield Of Summer
v23
In autumn haze
the senses’ lure fades;
a mist arising veils
the light’s revealing.
In widths of space I see
the autumn landscape fall asleep;
the summer’s yielded me
her being, and I reap.

In this week’s mirror verse, for the Celtic Wise Woman festival at Samhain
[‘Summer’s End’], the summer’s being begins to shine as the sun of the soul.
HALLOWEEN
Sun Inspiration
v30
In sunlight of my soul
ripe fruits of thought arise;
all feeling turns to sureness
of self-awareness.
I joy to sense
the autumn’s rousing of the spirit;
within me will the winter wake
the summer of the soul.

5 September 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Deathday of Nathanael (Hebrew נתנאל, “God has given”) of Cana in Galilee, a disciple of Jesus Christ, mentioned in the Gospel of John in Chapters 1 & 21.

Jesus immediately characterizes him as “an Israelite in whom is no deceit”. Steiner said this is a reference to the fact that Nathanael had been initiated & had received the title “The Israelite.” Jesus’ quote: “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you”, shows their connection in the super-sensible world.

Deathday of Gaius Marius Victorinus, born in Africa he became a Roman rhetorician & Neoplatonic philosopher. He translated 2 of Aristotle’s books from ancient Greek into Latin: The Categories & On Interpretation

Deathday of Zacharias the Prophet, father of John the Baptist. He performed the priest’s office in Jerusalem during the reign of Herod. The Lord appeared before him, standing on the right side of the altar & said “Fear, not Zacharias,” assuring him that his prayer was well pleasing & it had inclined God to a great act of mercy. The Archangel Gabriel then visited Zacharias’ wife Elizabeth who had long been barren & told her that she would give birth to a son who would be called John, whose name signifies grace.

Zacharias said to the angel, “Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is well stricken in years.” The angel answered, “I am Gabriel, that stands in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shall be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things be performed, because thou believes not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.”

Then the prophecy was fulfilled & John was born, & after Zacharias had written John’s name on a writing tablet, his mouth was filled with the Holy Spirit, his tongue was loosed, & he spoke, praising God.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem & the Magi came from the East, they told Herod of the newborn king. Herod sent soldiers to slay all the children in Bethlehem, he especially remembered hearing about the miraculous birth of John. “What manner of child shall this be? Will this child be the King of the Jews?” He decided to kill John. The executioners could not find them, but the slaughter of innocents began.

When Elizabeth heard these cries, she took John & fled into the mountains. When she saw soldiers drawing near, she prayed to God & cried out to the rocky mount nearby and said, “O mountain of God, receive a mother and her child!” Immediately the mountain was split & she entered hiding herself & John from the executioners.

The soldiers returned to Herod, having not found the child, & Herod sent word to Zacharias in the temple saying, “Surrender your son John to me.” Saint Zacharias replied, “You will kill my body, but the Lord will receive my soul.” The executioners straightway fulfilled Herod’s command & fell upon Zacharias between the temple & the altar. His blood was spilt on the floor & became hardened like rock as a witness against Herod & a testimony to Zacharias.

My POD (Poem Of the Day)

~the barley grows in straight rows,
the stalks unfurl following their divine purpose…
Truth rides visibly thru the world
Have you not seen it?
Drink in the light & praise the cup of forever
spilling out the golden flow of eternity…
Let grace roll down your head like holy oil
warmed in the hands of SHE…
~hag

Featuring Waldorf alum DJ Grapefruit Effect & Circle’s Edge with Ultra-Violet Archer

It’s also a potluck community gathering, so please bring food & drink to share – Along with your donation to this amazing program.

We also plan to read some poetry from some of the inmates who are working with Anthroposophy!

If you live out of town you can dance in your neck of the woods in solidarity with us. Please show your generous support…

Xox ~hag, hazel@reverseritual.com

Donate here https://secure.anthroposophy.org/…/anth…/campaign.jsp…

Festival Gathering: Tuesday 28 September on the eve of Michaelmas with Rev’s Jeana Lee & Victoria Capon

Meeting The Dragon With Our Four Fold Being – A talk and collaborative sculptural creation

Potluck at 5:30
Talk at 7pm

At the Rudolf Steiner Branch, 4249 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618

Bring Food & drink for the potluck & a found objects to help build the dragon!
Then our inspiration can come to life through our collaboration.

Jeana Lee was recently ordained as a priest of the Christian Community Movement for Religious Renewal and sent to the congregation in Chicago. Previously she taught chemistry and math at Green Meadow Waldorf high school. She enjoys swimming in the lake and is interested in questions of sin and redemption.

Victoria Capon hails from the east coast and is new to Chicago. Before attending seminary she taught at the Waldorf School of Cape Cod. Now she is happily settling into serving the chicago CC congregation and exploring the Windy City

Come & build with us

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Join us at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago

1st make sure you are registered at https://www.anthroposophy.org/fallconference and have indicated that you will be attending in person at the RSBranch Chicago.
Then Register by October 1st with the Chicago Branch using PayPal (this requires that you have a PayPal account of your own).

Register and write a check and it mail by October 1st to: Rudolf Steiner Branch, Attn: Jenny Doty 4249 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60618

Details for the in-person conference:

$75 will cover the expenses for facilities, 3 lunches and 3 dinners, snacks, and printing.

You will enjoy a pre-AGM dinner on Thursday Oct. 7 Doors open at 5 pm (AGM starts promptly at 6:3opm CT)
Lunch and Dinner on Fri.and Sat.
and Lunch post-conference on Sunday.
As well as Snacks/Coffee-Tea during the breaks.

$40 will cover only the bare expenses – no meals
Be a Master Builder Patron for $100 or more, to help pay for the tech costs!

Registration Link

For any other questions, please contact Jenny Doty at jenny.meyer17@gmail.com

World-Wide

September 3, 2021Chicago Event, Festival, History, Insight, Poetry, Rudolf Steiner Quote~hag

Greetings friends – I posted this in 2016 – It seems appropriate to revisit today…& everyday…

“The hatred and antipathy in the world today can indeed be followed by international love with healing in its wings. This is indeed possible. But we are living in an age when all that is possible must be consciously, deliberately and freely striven for by human beings. There must be knowledge of the conditions requisite for uniting the peoples of the Earth, in order that, as a result of this knowledge, each individual people may help to make the waves of love follow those of hatred. Human love alone has power to heal the wounds of hatred. If humankind has no wish for this love, chaos will remain. That is the terrible alternative now facing human beings who have knowledge. Those who realise its terrors know that the souls of human beings dare not sleep, for otherwise, as a result of the powerlessness caused by the sleep into which the souls of the peoples have fallen, the healing waves of love will not be able to flow over the waves of hatred.

Human beings who realise this will acquire the kind of knowledge that flows from a spiritual conception of the relationships between the peoples. They will take this knowledge into their feeling — love for humanity will be born. They will take this knowledge into their will-deeds for humanity will be accomplished. The evolution of the age, with all the terrible paralysis that is appearing at the present time, places a solemn duty before the soul: to gather together all that can unite humankind in love and array it in opposition to the destructive elements that have made their appearance in recent times. This quest for loving unification, for unifying love is not merely a vague feeling. To those who understand the conditions of life today, it is the very highest duty of humanity.” ~ The Peoples of the Earth in the Light of Anthroposophy, A Lecture given by Rudolf Steiner, Stuttgart, March 10th, 1920 http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/19200310p01.html

Venus and Mercury in twilight, Sept. 5, 2021

3 September 2021 -“Speaking with the Stars”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

frederick-douglass-quotes-about-education-18

1838 – Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery

1939 – World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand & Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allies

1939 – World War II: The United Kingdom & France begin a naval blockade of Germany that lasts until the end of the war. This also marks the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic

1941 – The Holocaust: Karl Fritzsch, deputy camp commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, experiments with the use of Zyklon

1942 – World War II: Dov Lopatyn leads an uprising in the Ghetto of Lakhva, in present-day Belarus

1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Italy begins on the same day that U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower & Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign the Armistice of Cassibile aboard the Royal Navy battleship HMS Nelson off Malta

1944 – Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank & her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork camp to the Auschwitz concentration camp

1959 – Birthday of my beloved husband Chuck Ginsberg :0

1962 – Deathday of E. E. Cummings

~talk is cheap…
uncover your face…
thru your own light come remembering
that the god you seek is within –
the truth you chase lives behind your eyebrows
look again…
Give from your body birth to all time & its seasons…
hum a song that lives in the quiet cypher of rain
sing for the gods hidden in tears
& laugh – for love is eternal…
~hag

Featuring Waldorf alum DJ Grapefruit Effect & Circle’s Edge with Ultra-Violet Archer

It’s also a potluck community gathering, so please bring food & drink to share – Along with your donation to this amazing program.

We also plan to read some poetry from some of the inmates who are working with Anthroposophy!

If you live out of town you can dance in your neck of the woods in solidarity with us. Please show your generous support…

Xox ~hag, hazel@reverseritual.com

Donate here https://secure.anthroposophy.org/…/anth…/campaign.jsp…

Festival Gathering: Tuesday 28 September on the eve of Michaelmas with Rev’s Jeana Lee & Victoria Capon

Meeting The Dragon With Our Four Fold Being – A talk and collaborative sculptural creation

Potluck at 5:30
Talk at 7pm

At the Rudolf Steiner Branch, 4249 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618

Bring Food & drink for the potluck & a found objects to help build the dragon!
Then our inspiration can come to life through our collaboration.

Come & build with us

Join us at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago

1st make sure you are registered at https://www.anthroposophy.org/fallconference and have indicated that you will be attending in person at the RSBranch Chicago.
Then Register by October 1st with the Chicago Branch using PayPal (this requires that you have a PayPal account of your own).

Register and write a check and it mail by October 1st to: Rudolf Steiner Branch, Attn: Jenny Doty 4249 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60618

Details for the in-person conference:

$75 will cover the expenses for facilities, 3 lunches and 3 dinners, snacks, and printing.

$40 will cover only the bare expenses – no meals
Be a Master Builder Patron for $100 or more, to help pay for the tech costs!

Registration Link

For any other questions, please contact Jenny Doty at jenny.meyer17@gmail.com

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Category Archives: Poetry

Root Rays

“Jubilee” (יובל)

Hidden behind the Mirage

Labor Pains

World-Wide

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