We know from Spiritual Science that just when the age of darkness, Kali Yuga, was ending, as the new Michaelic age was coming in, Ahriman was banished from the spiritual world, (as Lucifer was in the Lemurian time) thrown down to earth after a long battle with the choir master, the holder of the Cosmic Intelligence, the Archangel Michael.

The human being is now the arena where these adversarial beings work; so depending how much we recognize & strive to transform these beasts within us, we are all, collectively, responsible for world as we know it.

But, while we are preoccupied by this inner battle which often occludes our consciousness, outside forces like: social constraints, economic hardship, political corruption, media propaganda, fear of contagion, climate change, materialism, denial of spirit, pollution of all kinds, including vaccines, & the deadening power of sub-nature, seen in telecommunications & especially 5G, take their toll.

These deadening influences lame our soul forces of thinking, feeling & willing; & weaken our physical, etheric & astral bodies, & can even go so far as to kill the Higher ego living in our blood.

But dear friends, don’t let this stop us from hearing the clarion call awakening us to the fact that we are also living in the time of a momentous event: Since the 20^th Century Christ has made a second coming – a re-appearance in the etheric aura of the Earth. It is for this that we were born, & of which we must live in to.  

And, once we get past these next few months, 2020 is a remarkable year from a cosmic standpoint. The outer planets of Jupiter & Saturn will remain close thruout the year, culminating in their alignment in a great conjunction near the time of the Winter Solstice, an energy we are called to live into during the Holy Nights.

Astrosopher Willi Sucher suggested that in this potent conjunction, we can experience ‘momentous decisions’ taking place.

Saturn, representing Cosmic Memory, – the world of the Father Ground, –

meets the divine creative thoughts of Jupiter, the beneficent King.

This conversation between Jupiter & Saturn is a preparation for a new creation.

This same alignment preceded the birth of the Matthew Jesus in 7 BC,

& coincided with Paul’s initiation by The Risen Christ on the road to Damascus in 34 AD.

My friends, we are invited to join this cosmic conversation: Consider events in your own life, & in the world, during the times of most recent great conjunctions of Jupiter & Saturn in the years 1981 & 2000.

AND to further our “Speaking with the Stars’, know that this is all happening during the time of a ‘solar minimum’ – a period of low magnetic activity on the Sun, which is connected with the 11-year alignment cycle of Jupiter, Earth & Venus (occult Mercury, The healing power of Love). (*read about the solar maximum that occured 99 year ago today at the bottom)

Interesting to note, that solar minima also occurred in 1879 – the beginning of Michael’s Reign; in 1901-when Rudolf Steiner began his public Theosophical work; in late 1912 – at the founding of the Anthroposophical Society; in 1923 – around the time of the Christmas Conference, when the re-founding of the Anthroposophical Society under Rudolf Steiner took place; & in 1933, Steiner’s date for the beginning of Christ’s reappearance in the etheric.

Over the course of the past few months, dazzling Venus (occult Mercury, the healing messenger) has flown eastward to her current perch high on the ecliptic among the departing stars of Winter.  Tomorrow she comes to a screeching halt & goes retrograde, west of the star El Nath, the second-brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, the Bull.  Next week she will begin the plunge toward the Sun, dropping toward the horizon like a pearl in an ocean of light.  Enjoy the views of her over the next couple of weeks, because by the end of May she will be lost in the glare of the Sun.

Jupiter & Saturn received a call from the waning gibbous Moon just before dawn this morning.  The two planets are now in close conversation, well-placed for viewing in the southeast as morning twilight begins to brighten the sky. The two planets also assume retrograde motion, Saturn today & Jupiter  Thursday May 14^th 2020. They both reside in the stars of western Capricornus as summer creeps ever closer.

Ruddy Mars is now well to the east of Jupiter & Saturn, drifting from eastern Capricornus into the stars of Aquarius.  You will find his pink-hued glow low in the southeast in the growing morning twilight. 

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

***

The 103rd year anniversary of The Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima: Between May 12 & October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, in Portugal.

Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners & for the conversion of Russia. The third visionary, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun & died in 2005 at the age of 97.

Mary gave the children three secrets. Since Francisco died in 1919 & Jacinta the following year, both of the Spanish flu, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927, concerning devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell.

Pope John Paul II was supposed to reveal the third secret in 2000; but we only received a part which spoke of a “bishop in white” who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets & arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination attempt against Saint John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

Yesterday, Pope Francis headed to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in northern Portugal to celebrate the centenary of the first appearances of the Virgin Mary as described by three shepherd children on May 13, 1917.

Fatima is a small city in central Portugal where the landscape is dry & rocky. For centuries, people made their living raising sheep & other animals Some people wonder about a connection to Islam because the village has the same name as the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite daughter.

In May 1917, three shepherd children — two girls & a boy — claimed they saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The children described Mary as “a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun.” Mary told the children that praying the rosary would end what was then called The Great War — World War I— which left 17 million dead.

According to the children, Mary appeared to them six times that year. In one appearance, Mary said a miracle would occur on Oct. 13, 1917. Initially the children were scolded & even threatened with death for spreading what were considered baseless stories. But pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Fatima on that date & awaited Mary’s appearance. In what came to be called the “Miracle of the Sun,” many reported seeing visions in the sky while others reported miracles of healing. A newspaper of the day reported, “Before their dazzled eyes the sun trembled, the sun made unusual & brusque movements, defying all the laws of the cosmos, & according to the typical expression of the peasants, ‘the sun danced.’”

In 1930, the Catholic Church declared the events at Fatima “worthy of belief,” & chapels, sanctuaries, shrines & other memorials to the events popped up.

Fatima attracts between 5 – 6 million pilgrims a year, making it one of the most popular shrines in the world. The largest numbers come on May 13 — the anniversary of the first apparitions.

Pope Francis will be the fourth pontiff to visit Fatima; Pope Paul VI marked the 50th anniversary in 1967, John Paul II went three times & Benedict XVI visited once.

While there, Pope Francis will canonize the shepherd children — Jacinta & Francisco, & Lucia dos Santos.

Lucia dos Santos became a Carmelite nun &, in 1941, wrote her memoirs. In them, she said Mary gave the children three secrets, or prophecies, two of which she revealed at that time. The first secret was a vision of hell that Mary showed to the children, full of lakes of fire with screaming souls in torment. The second was that World War I would end — it did, a little more than a year after the children saw their first apparition — & that another great war would come if the people of Russia were not converted to Catholicism. They weren’t, & World War II began in 1939. There was also a prediction that Russia would “spread her errors throughout the world,” which many believe is a reference to Soviet communism.

Sister Lucia wasn’t eager to share the third prophecy, but was compelled to write it down in the case of her untimely death. She told Rome the secret could be revealed in 1960, but the Vatican decided to keep it sealed to avoid inflaming the wild speculation that was already connected with the so-called Third Secret of Fatima. Sister Lucia died in 2005 at age 97.

In 2000, then-Pope John Paul II — now St. John Paul — ordered the secret published. The prophecy is said to be an apocalyptic vision of a terrible persecution. The publication hardly dampened the fervor over the Third Secret since the assassination attempt against John Paul took place on May 13, 1981 — the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima — as he rode around St. Peter’s Square wearing his white cassock, the traditional vestment of the Bishop of Rome. It seemed like a near-fulfillment of the prophecy & John Paul said that he believed the Virgin Mary saved his life by guiding the bullet past a major artery. He later sent the bullet to Fatima where it was placed in the crown of the original image of Our Lady of Fatima, fitting perfectly into the only empty space left available when the crown was made 40 years earlier.

But all of the Third Secret has not been published in full. And it is thought that people like Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — later Pope Benedict XVI — have worked to actively suppress it.

***

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Fingering the rags of my exquisite mortality
I leap up from matter to ride the current of spirit
Swirling like incense on the altar
7 grains of frankincense
Smoldering in the flame
7 sparks dancing in the ethers
Reaching, always reaching
Up, out, into
The 7 stars
Splitting the northern sky
There I nestle with my sisters
In the lap of the bear
Ever watchful & awake in my striving
~hag

***

Anthroposophy Atlanta Lunch & Learn (Zoom Call) – “Crowning” with Hazel Archer-Hazel Archer Ginsberg, and Eurythmist Raven Garland – Is this ‘global pandemic’ entreating us to awaken to the etheric realm that we share in common with the earth? Perhaps the coronavirus is an admonition for us to reconnect to the sun-forces now imbued with the Etheric Christ, waiting to be recognized and employed in these current evolving conditions – an invitation for all of humanity to rise to a higher stage of initiation – a Crowning re-birth.

For our first call, we have invited our friend from Chicago, Hazel Archer Ginsberg to share some of her work. To support Hazel’s content, we are thrilled that Raven Garland will lead us in simple, yet powerful eurythmy at the end of the call. Please join us if you are able! It is free-of-charge and everyone is invited.

“Crowning” With Hazel Archer Ginsberg and Raven Garland
Time: May 18, 2020, 11:30 am – NOON CDT – 12:30 pm – 1 pm ET – Zoom link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77977043476

Meeting ID: 779 7704 3476
Password: HAZEL

May 21st, 7:15 – 9 pm ‘Spirit Beholding’ Ascension Festival 2020 with the CRC

Zan Newstrom

“…Like an evening vapor after the sunset…” ~Novalis –
A free online Ascension Festival with the Central Regional Council –
Ascension Thursday – May 21, 2020 – 7pm – 8:15pm CDT (8pm – 9:15pm EDT)

Join the Central Regional Council and special guest Raven Garland on an artistic exploration of the Mystery of Ascension. We will offer leading thoughts, intermingled with poetry and Eurythmy, to be followed by open conversation.

In the clouds, between the depths of earth and heavenly heights, in the sphere of the etheric realm, we see the primal image of metamorphosis.

Is this global pandemic entreating us to ‘Practice Spirit Beholding’ to awaken to the etheric realm we all share in common with the earth?

We can ‘Practice Spirit Recalling’ to remember we received our etheric body on Old Sun. In practicing ‘Spirit-Sensing’ we may feel perhaps the Coronavirus is an admonition for us to reconnect to the sun-forces now imbued with The Etheric Christ, waiting to be recognized and engaged in the current evolving conditions. This is an invitation for all of humanity to rise to a higher stage of initiation – a global Coronation.

The fulfillment of the secret promise of the Ascension is the Second Coming. Will we choose to participate?

FREE – ALL are Welcome 

This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:

Option 1. Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86998748216…

The PASSWORD is: Ascension

Option 2. Call in using your telephone.
United States: +1 (346) 248 7799 or +1 (312) 626 6799
Access Code: 869-9874-8216
The PASSWORD is: Ascension

Option 3. You can use a combination of Options 1 and 2 (computer and phone). If you use the phone, please turn off the audio on your computer to prevent audio feedback.

For more info. contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@peoplepc.com

May Hope Spring Eternal –

The CRC – Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa Dalton
Eurythmyst: Raven Garland

“In heavy clouds let Him ascend
And so also let Him downward tread.
In cooling streams let Him be sent,
in flames of fire blaze His descent,
In air and essence, sound and dew,
To permeate our whole earth through”.
~Novalis

***

~Vitae Sophia~ A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

 Online Whitsunday, 31 May 2020 from 10am–11:15am EDT Zoom Call*

Through leading thoughts and conversation we are called to redeem the ether spheres to create an Ecclesia, a chalice for The Sophia. Then the spirit flame can spread out to become what Steiner called a “World Whitsun”, which began in earnest at the Christmas Conference. The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is especially strong now during this ‘pandemic’. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create a new culture where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength is enhanced by weaving our gifts together, kindling our social world in conscious community.

*Join Zoom Meeting on computer https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85927907854 Meeting ID: 859 2790 7854

or Dial in by phone: Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbEIk8kgk1 Meeting ID: 859 2790 7854

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year. Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, ‘Anthroposopher’, working as the Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.

Sponsored by the Anthroposophical Society in New Hampshire

For more info. contact deb@anthroposophy.org

***

THE GREAT GEOMAGNETIC STORM OF MAY 1921: 99 years ago this week, people around the world woke up to some unusual headlines.

“Telegraph Service Prostrated, Comet Not to Blame” — declared the Los Angeles Times on May 15, 1921. “Electrical Disturbance is ‘Worst Ever Known’” — reported the Chicago Daily Tribune. “Sunspot credited with Rail Tie-up” — deadpanned the New York Times.

They didn’t know it at the time, but the newspapers were covering the biggest solar storm of the 20th Century. Nothing quite like it has happened since.

It began on May 12, 1921 when giant sunspot AR1842, crossing the sun during the declining phase of Solar Cycle 15, began to flare. One explosion after another hurled coronal mass ejections (CMEs) directly toward Earth. For the next 3 days, CMEs rocked Earth’s magnetic field. Scientists around the world were surprised when their magnetometers suddenly went offscale, pens in strip chart recorders pegged uselessly to the top of the paper.

Then the fires began. Around 02:00 GMT on May 15th, a telegraph exchange in Sweden burst into flames. About an hour later, the same thing happened across the Atlantic in the village of Brewster, New York. Flames engulfed the switch-board at the Brewster station of the Central New England Railroad and quickly spread to destroy the whole building. That fire, along with another one about the same time in a railroad control tower near New York City’s Grand Central Station, is why the event is sometimes referred to as the “New York Railroad Superstorm.”

What caused the fires? Electrical currents induced by geomagnetic activity surged through telephone and telegraph lines, heating them to the point of combustion. Strong currents disrupted telegraph systems in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the UK and USA. The Ottawa Journal reported that many long-distance telephone lines in New Brunswick were burned out by the storm. On some telegraph lines in the USA voltages spiked as high as 1000 V.

During the storm’s peak on May 15th, southern cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta felt like Fairbanks, with Northern Lights dancing overhead while telegraph lines crackled with geomagnetic currents. Auroras were seen in the USA as far south as Texas while, in the Pacific, red auroras were sighted from Samoa and Tonga and ships at sea crossing the equator.