Percy Bysshe Shelley praises the wind for the role it plays in the cycle of life, death & rebirth, & implores it to scatter his poetry over the earth in order to aid humankind. Shelley uses stark imagery to portray vivid scenes of the natural world, & demonstrate the wind’s unrivaled power to both destroy & preserve. Though the ode has a plangent, slightly ominous tone, Shelley ends the poem with the promise of spring.
The first stanza opens with an incantation. Shelley proceeds to paint a scene of fall leaves & dried seeds being blown by the wind, made wonderfully eerie by a palette of colors: “yellow, black and pale, hectic red.” In this stanza, death is referenced multiple times; Shelley refers to the leaves as fleeing dead ghosts, before describing the seeds as corpses inside their grave. The first stanza, like the next two, ends with Shelley calling for the wind to hear him. In the second stanza, the wind is depicted whipping up a mighty storm, likened to a “dirge of the dying year”, furthering Shelley’s reference to death. Curiously intriguing is Shelley’s references to both Christianity & Greek mythology throughout this stanza; the storm clouds are described as being, “shook from the tangled bough of Heaven, Angels of rain and lightning”, & the ending line of the stanza, “Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst!” likens the approaching storm to doomsday. Yet Shelley also uses an image of a Maenad’s hair to describe the lightning. In the third stanza, Shelley writes of the Mediterranean being awoken from its blissful summer sleep by the west wind. The first half of the stanza is filled with images of the calm blue ocean & the azure moss, the sweet flowers & the sea blooms. However, this is then contrasted by the ocean’s power, which causes the serene foliage to grow “gray with fear”.
Stanzas four & five introduce the speaker’s motives for the first time. Shelley longs that he might feel the wind’s power in the way that the clouds, waves & leaves do. Conforming to the standard of the Romantic period, Shelley also references his childhood & loss of innocence by lamenting that the passing of time has hindered his ability to feel as “tameless, swift, and proud” as the wind. The last stanza implements another common Romantic symbol: the lyre. Shelley implores that the west wind take control of him in order to, “drive his dead thoughts over the universe” in order to fertilize the birth of new ideas, as dead leaves fertilize the new growth of plants. Shelley goes on to compare himself to a slowly dying hearth whose ashes & sparks are scattered among mankind. It is fitting that, after illustrating the power of the earth, the water, & the mighty west wind, Shelley ends the poem with a vivid image of fire. After all, though fire can be seen as the epitome of destruction, fire ultimately represents rebirth, like the flame of the phoenix, & a clean slate, like fertile, soot-blackened soil. Out of Shelley’s fiery metaphor comes his hopeful question, “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
Ode to the West Wind BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY I O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
With living hues and odours plain and hill:
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh hear!
II
Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky’s commotion,
Loose clouds like earth’s decaying leaves are shed,
Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,
Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread
On the blue surface of thine aëry surge,
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge
Of the horizon to the zenith’s height,
The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge
Of the dying year, to which this closing night
Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre,
Vaulted with all thy congregated might
Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere
Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: oh hear!
III
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams
The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,
Lull’d by the coil of his crystalline streams,
Beside a pumice isle in Baiae’s bay,
And saw in sleep old palaces and towers
Quivering within the wave’s intenser day,
All overgrown with azure moss and flowers
So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou
For whose path the Atlantic’s level powers
Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below
The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Thy voice, and suddenly grow gray with fear,
And tremble and despoil themselves: oh hear!
IV
If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;
If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;
A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share
The impulse of thy strength, only less free
Than thou, O uncontrollable! If even
I were as in my boyhood, and could be
The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven,
As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed
Scarce seem’d a vision; I would ne’er have striven
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.
Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
A heavy weight of hours has chain’d and bow’d
One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.
V
Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:
What if my leaves are falling like its own!
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like wither’d leaves to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguish’d hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawaken’d earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
***
24 February 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Under the feet of Orion, & to the right of Sirius in early evening now, hides Lepus the Hare. Like Canis Major, this is a constellation with a connect-the-dots that really looks like what it’s supposed to be – a crouching bunny, with his nose pointing lower right, his faint ears extending up toward Rigel (Orion’s western foot), & his body bunched to the left. His brightest 2 stars, Beta & Alpha Leporis, form the front & back of his neck.
Feast Day of St. Matthias, who, according to the book of Acts, was
chosen by the apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following his betrayal &
his subsequent death. This calling is
unique, since his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, who had already
ascended into heaven, & it was also made before the descent of the Holy
Spirit.
For superstitious reasons, when the Romans began to bring their calendar into line with the solar year, they chose not to place their extra month of Mercedonius after February but within it. February 24—known in the Roman calendar as “the sixth day before the Kalends of March”—was replaced by the first day of this month since it followed Terminalia, the festival of the Roman god of boundaries. After the end of Mercedonius, the rest of the days of February were observed & the New Year began with the 1st day of March. The overlaid religious festivals of February were so complicated that Julius Caesar opted not to change it at all during his 46 bc calendar reform. The extra day of his system’s leap years were located in the same place as the old month but he opted to ignore it as a date. Instead, the sixth day before the Kalends of March was simply said to last for 48 hours & all the other days continued to bear their original names. Although February 29 has been popularly understood as the leap day of leap years since the late Middle Ages, no formal replacement of February 24 as the leap day of the Julian & Gregorian calendars has occurred. The exceptions include Sweden & Finland, who enacted legislation to move the day to February 29. This custom still has some effect around the world, for example with respect to name days in Hungary.
1582 – With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.
1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed on the Choctaws in Mississippi.
1919 – The 1st public performance of Eurythmy in Zurich.
1920 – The Nazi Party (NSDAP) was founded by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich, Germany
Today 2-22-2020 on the 144th anniversary of Ita Wegman’s Birth* I wanted to offer this write-up on The Weekend Intensive for the School of Spiritual Science.
Kerry Bold
The timing of Valentine ’s Day weekend was perfect for my husband Chuck & I to get away. We have always loved the rhythm of the ‘Mid-Winter Break’ which is still part of us from our daughter’s Waldorf School days. But the snow fairies decided to give us a little storm, which wasn’t bad comparatively speaking for Chicago, yet had the effect of delaying our flight 5 hours.
Gino Ver Eecke as Beniedictus, Maria Ver Eecke as Lucifer in the Mystery Dramas
It all worked out, since I often like to come to an event the day before to get acclimatized, & the delay actually allowed Gino Ver Eecke, our host, to come pick us up. We made it into ‘Spring Valley’ just in time for Gino to dash off to the Three Fold Auditorium to help with the lights for the dress rehearsal of the ‘Festival for the Unborn’ which was performed on Saturday night. The cold had followed us from Chicago, but even though it was dark, I wanted to show Chuck a little of Spring Valley, which had been my home over my Mystery Drama years, so we bundled up & took a walk-about.
The next morning was Valentine’s Day. Gino had to work, but we had time to commune while he prepared elaborate meals for the day to accommodate his special diet meant to combat Lyme’s, which a lot of folks in the area have – fresh juices & smoothies & soup for the evening meal, before he left.
The wood burning stove made the house, decorated with the loving ascetic of eurythmist Maria Burbank Ver Eecke, warm & cozy. Chuck & I had a leisurely honeymoon morning, & then took another walk out in the cold sunshine to visit the ‘Hand & Hoe’ – the Fellowship Community’s organic cafe & hand-crafted merchandise emporium, selling goods from across the Threefold Community. It’s my favorite place to go on Friday’s as they serve a homemade pizza & soup lunch & sell organic products from the Pfeiffer Center’s biodynamic fields, as well as milk from their our own dairy! The store is stocked full of hand-dipped candles, books printed from Mercury Press, home-made bread, crystals, & more! I always end up buying a few gifts & books there. I picked up the ‘12 Moods’ by Rudolf Steiner, a hand knitted cap (I had forgot to bring one from home) & a beautiful hand crafted stained glass window piece for Gino & Maria.
Polly with her new stained glass, the 2 doggies are somewhere too
The greenhouse in the Pfeiffer garden already had kale & lettuces growing. We took refuge from the cold there, blessing the land, the bees & all who work so lovingly to redeem the earth.
Then off we went to pick up some food supplies at The Hungry Hollow Co-op established in 1973 as a buying club by parents at Green Meadow Waldorf School. The Co-op has the best fresh squeezed juice bar ever. It is a source for local Biodynamically grown produce, & strives to conduct business in an environmentally & socially responsible manner, which is evident in the pervasive mood of good will living in the folks there.
Anyone who has been to ‘Spring Valley’ knows it’s a magical mecca for Anthroposophia. For 1 thing, upstate NY is beautiful, the land rolls with hills & dales, flowing creeks thru the forest, the ethers verdant with elemental forces, dotted by powerful granite boulders churned up from the ice age glacier.
The Threefold community is home to a wide variety of initiatives rooted in the work of Rudolf Steiner. Chuck & I took advantage of our free day & explored everywhere, soaking up the spiritual striving that lives so strongly here.
That night Barbara Renold set a mood of urgent action with the opening words of welcome, reminding us that the School of Spiritual Science is the antidote for the adversarial powers that have such a grip on humanity at this time of the Consciousness Soul Age. We in the School have a great responsibility to work with this sanctified gift from the Being of Michael thru Rudolf Steiner. Barbara also acknowledged the important role that Ita Wegman played in the School.
This made me smile in grateful remembrance of my portrayal of Ita Wegman there at the Three Fold Auditorium. It was not long ago that Lemniscate Arts staged a reading of the new play called ‘Steiner’, featuring the 2 women closest to him. I could really feel the spiritual presence of these powerful individualities, Dr. Steiner, Marie Steiner von Sivers & Dr. Wegman, working from all worlds.
Class Lesson 1, was given by the formidable Dorothea Mier, the premier Eurythmy performer & teacher from Dornach. Dorothea took over the leadership of Eurythmy Spring Valley in 1980. Since 2006 she has stepped back as lead teacher, but still has her hands in everything. Our hostess Maria, one of her eurythmy students from way back, does a great imitation of Dorothea saying “I marvel at the Father”, which captured the beauty & reverence with which Dorothea had presented the lesson.
The next morning brought Herbert
Hagens to the podium with a free rendering of Class Lesson II, revealing
how working deeply with the Lessons can foster potent insights, connections
& patterns; a true process of initiation. We come to know the ‘Threshold’,
in Time, Space & through the heart – 3 ways that bring us to the same
Threshold, speaking from the past, present & future. Herbert pointed out
that there are 5 questions asked of us in the 1st tablet. He shared
with us the German work Stimmung = ‘tuning
in to a mood’, & said there are 4 moods in Lesson 2; with 3 warnings. He
named the 3 beasts as Ahriman, the Asuras & Sorat, which was intensely
unsettling yet truly eye-opening. But fear not, O human being, for at the end
we can find Love in the 2nd Hierarchy thru the rays of the Sun.
During the Lesson there
was a strange rather unnerving high pitched sound piercing the atmosphere,
which perfectly outpictured the forces of these beasts. It took a lot to
overcome what felt like a nail in the head. At the break it was good to find
out that I was not alone, others had heard it too, & that it was
remedied. So interesting since the night
before Herbert had mentioned how he always likes to get the same room at the
hotel because he is so sensitive to noise, hums & such.
There were about 60
participants, so we divided into 2 groups for our conversations, which were a
wonderful way to share thoughts, & experiences, as well as explore various
questions that were living in us.
Barbara Renold, lead us
in Speech, helped by a student from China, taking us thru 5 languages to work
with The Guardian’s Call: ‘O Human Being, Know Yourself’. We were asked to think about how we represent
Anthroposophy in the world. Can I be truly present? Not letting the beasts
interfere. Can I stand with, & as, the ‘Representative of Humanity’,
reflecting back what a human being can truly be? Is it my will to actively work
with the Being of Michael – “Who is like god’ – holding the countenance of
Christ, so that I can give this gift – this present to the world. What a joy to
embody the Logos with Barbara’s enthusiastic teaching.
Dorothea Mier took us on the stage to work thru experiencing the effects of the beasts in Eurythmy. What an honor to get a taste of her powerful instruction, which was profound & engaging.
There was a splendid exhibit by Anthro-Artist Larry Young at the Cafe, what a thrill!
Lunch at the Three Fold Café, was healthy, delicious & abundant. There was plenty of time to socialize, to meet new folks, & old friends, engaging in meaningful conversation. The weekend was set up wonderfully so that there was also ample time to just rest & digest all that we have taken in.
I had experienced a
powerful free rendering by Rudiger
Janisch at the last AGM in Atlanta. In this afternoon session, he again took
us deep & wide with Class Lesson III; writing on the board to give us a
good overview that showed how we can work with the mantras vertically &
horizontally, listening for instruction on what to do, developing a mood of
soul & the moral faculty that helps us find the rhythms, noting clues as to
the overcoming of these beasts. Things like heeding the headings, studying the architectural
motifs in the 1st Goetheanum showing The Guardian over the windows
& doors. He reminded us to approach these Lessons with the ‘Beginners Mind’,
so that we see the other for the 1st time without the prejudice of
memory. Be in the moment. Warm the thinking with feeling. Know that the other
is I. And re-member ‘Wisdom lives in the light’.
Another amazing meal at the Threefold Café, where Chuck got Dorothea to give us a glimpse into her biography by asking her how she came to eurythmy. What a powerful karmic tale!
The ‘Festival for the Unborn’ was a revelation, with offerings in Eurythmy, Spoken Word, a Lyre Ensemble, Cello performance, Speech Choir, & a few thoughts on embryology by Dr. Karnow. The Threefold Auditorium was packed. As the festival Coordinators, Melissa Lyons, who I lived with during my Mystery Drama visits, & Jennifer Kleinbach organized this amazing offering, with Melissa performing in the Eurythmy piece ‘Dance of Planets’ with the other eurythmists from the exceptional Festivals performing group. Jennifer directed the whole affair & shared her considerable talents as Speech artist & MC. Dorothea Mier did an amazing solo piece, opening us to the etheric realm, which poured forth from her every gesture. The poetry by Eve Olive, interspersed with the live music, the exquisite eurythmy & speech work, made the program into an invocation to the unborn, whose presence was palatable, creating in my imagination a picture of human souls listening & waiting at the rainbow bridge.
I have always coupled the Unborn with the so-called Dead, in my ‘All Souls’ Festivals, since for me the womb & the tomb are both portals to the spiritual world, the same Threshold seen from different angles. It was interesting to tease them apart. It created an intense concentration for me, pointing up what Steiner said about how those working with him would return after a very short time in the spiritual world, about 80 years. I have been living with this for some time. It is the impedance for my dedication to the Elderberries 3 Fold Initiative that we are working to give birth to in Chicago, which since our Michaelmas festival has linked up with the biodynamic famers. It really confirmed for me the responsibility we have as Anthroposophers to create the fertile foundations for the unborn to return, & how this relates to the sister movements like Waldorf education & biodynamics. And also how important it is to strive to know our own prenatal commitments, echoing the words of The Guardian, to Know Thy Self, which we heard throughout the weekend, so that we can make manifest the destiny we signed up for, remembering & implementing the blueprint we created with the highest spiritual beings before we came into this life.
The evening was resplendent, giving us the perfect impulse to take into our sleep. So potent in fact that I awoke in the middle of the night recalling the dreams I had about my daughter before she was born, which revealed her name to me.
Class Lesson IV was a sublime free rendering by Judith Brockway-Aventuro, which was clarifying & succinct. Through her blackboard work we saw the movement from the preceding Lessons & got perspectives in how we must: stand firm & feel what the depths of earth are asking of us; lovingly receive the warmth of the Sun to strengthen us for good works ; & how through bravery & grace we find our true humanity, by lifting our thoughts to the spiritual world.
At the break Herbert asked me to sit on the panel for the closing conversation. It was great to see folks head on & to share a few thoughts. This initiative will continue with 3 Lessons each, starting up again 6-8 November 2020, alternating & cycling thru with February dates in 2021 dates & beyond, as we approach the 100 year anniversary of the School for Spiritual Science, inaugurated after the re-founding of the Society with the movement at the Christmas Conference.
After many wonderful goodbyes, we took Maria & Gino out to a place called Bare Burger for a lovely organic lunch. What a joy to spend time with these 2 amazing human beings. We had Gino out to Chicago awhile back to give a lecture, & it is my hope that Maria will come, perhaps for the big Waldorf 100 here in June! She graciously drove us to the airport for an uneventful flight where we were able to begin digesting all that we had received.
Upon my return I dove
right into my next project: the
Easter-Tide Retreat: “Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology“, presented by the Central Regional Council and
the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology. I have just finished the epic ‘pageant’ – an inner initiation taking us
thru the ‘Harrowing of Hell’ on Holy Saturday, leading to the Alchemical
Marriage of The Sophia-Christos within, as part of this amazing Easter-Tide
Retreat…Come join us in Chicago…
1632 – Galileo’s Dialogue
Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people
1732 – Birthday of George Washington, American general & politician, 1st President of the United States
1788 – Birthday of Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher & author
1876 – Birthday of Ita Wegman, founder of Anthroposophical medicine & close collaborator of Rudolf Steiner. She also developed a special form of massage therapy, called rhythmical massage, & other therapeutic treatments.
Ita Wegman, as she was known throughout her life, was born as Maria Ita Wegman in Indonesia, the first child of a Dutch colonial family. Around the turn of the century, she returned to Europe (she had visited before) & studied therapeutic gymnastics & massage. In 1902, when she was 26, she met Rudolf Steiner for the first time. Five years later she began medical school at the University of Zurich, where women were not discriminated to study medicine. She was granted a diploma as a medical doctor in 1911 with a specialization in women’s medicine & joined an existing medical practice.
In 1917, having opened an independent practice, she developed a cancer treatment using an extract of mistletoe following indications from Steiner. This first remedy, which she called Iscar, was later developed into Iscador & has become an approved cancer treatment in Germany & a number of other countries.
By 1919 she had a joint practice together with two other doctors, also women. In 1920 she purchased land in Arlesheim, where she opened her own clinic, the Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut, the first center for anthroposophical medicine. In 1922 she founded a therapeutic home for mentally handicapped children, Haus Sonnenhof, also in Arlesheim, & co-founded a pharmaceutical laboratory, Weleda, that has since grown into a significant producer of medicines & health-care products.
In the following year, Rudolf Steiner asked Wegman to join the Executive Council of the newly reformed Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. She also directed the Medical Section of the research center at the Goetheanum. Together, Wegman & Steiner wrote what was to be Steiner’s last book, Extending Practical Medicine, which gave a theoretical basis to the new medicine they were developing. The book was partly written while Wegman cared for Steiner, who was already terminally ill. Wegman founded a new medical journal, Natura, the following year.
In 1936, the clinic opened a second home in Ascona, Switzerland. Shortly thereafter, difficulties between Wegman & the rest of the Executive Council flared up, & Wegman was asked to leave the Council; in addition, she & a number of supporters had their membership in the Anthroposophical Society itself withdrawn. The medical work flourished, however, & Wegman travelled extensively in support of the rapidly growing movement to extend medicine’s limits; she was especially active in the Netherlands & England during this time. Wegman died in Arlesheim in 1943, at the age of 67.
Ita Wegman is a close collaborator of Rudolf Steiner thruout many incarnations including: Alexander the Great to Steiner’s Aristotle; Gilgamesh & Ebani… On the Work of the Archangel Michael by Ita Wegman
1943 – Deathday of 1943 – Hans & Sophie Scholl, German activists. Sophie a German student along with her brother Hans were anti-Nazi political activists, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. They were convicted of high treason after distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU).
In the early summer of 1942, Scholl, his sister Sophie, Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, & Alexander Schmorell, co-authored 6 anti-Nazi Third Reich political resistance leaflets. Calling themselves the White Rose, they instructed Germans to practice nonviolent resistance against the Nazis. The group had been horrified by the behavior of some German soldiers on the Eastern Front, where they had witnessed cruelty towards Jews in Poland & Russia.
Hans & Sophie Scholl & Christopher Probst were beheaded by Johann Reichhart in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison. The execution was supervised by Dr. Walter Roemer, the enforcement chief of the Munich district court. Scholl’s last words were “Es lebe die Freiheit!” (“Long live freedom!”). Shortly thereafter, most of the other students involved were arrested & executed as well.
1932 – Birthday of Ted Kennedy, an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts for over forty years from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died & is the fourth-longest-continuously-serving senator in United States history, having served there for almost 47 years.
For many years, Ted Kennedy was the most prominent living member of the Kennedy family, & he was also the last surviving, longest-living, & youngest son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. & Rose Kennedy. He was the youngest brother of John F. Kennedy—the 35th President of the United States—& Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both victims of assassination, & the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.
1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly was successfully cloned.
***
Bel Osnat
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~Out of chaos came the light
Out of will came life…
~hag
***
Ita Wegman – The Courage to Heal – A Circles of Renewal Initiative 7 pm – 8:30 pm Saturday 22 February 2020
Ita Wegman ~ The Courage to Heal 7 pm Saturday 22 February 2020 – on the anniversary of her birth in 1876 A Community conversation around: The history of the friendship between Ita Wegman & Rudolf Steiner – From Mesopotamia, ancient Greece, the Fire, the re-founding of the Society with the Movement, the Split – hatred in the world, the Reconciliation with Marie Steiner, Qualities of meeting the other, – 8thfold path revisited…
A Circles of Renewal – Biodynamic Outpost Initiative at Elderberries General Store 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. 60618
For more info. contact Frank Agrama 323-445-9615
***
3-Fold Breakfast & Lunch Conversations
Every day there will be open conversations on 3-folding: 8am – 11am – Coffee, Tea & Oatmeal 2pm – 5pm – Soup Free Will Donation
A Circles of Renewal – Biodynamic Outpost Initiative at Elderberries General Store 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. 60618
And a study of the Agriculture lectures every Friday 7-8:30 pm
For more info. contact Frank Agrama 323-445-9615
***
KNOW THYSELF – Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide Retreat 9 -12 April 2020,
A popular view of karma is cause and effect or tit-for-tat. Karma, however, is so much more complex, interesting, and important. The soul work of karma has to do with the unfolding of our individuality through the elements, through the ethers, and very much through relationships.
Rudolf Steiner named his core mission as bringing karma and reincarnation to the West; his teachings deserve interpretation and practical enlivening. The Central Regional Council has been exploring this theme for many months. Anthroposophic Psychology gives a unique contribution to the soul work of karma. For this conference the CRC is partnering with the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP of North America) to present ideas and experiences concerning karma—and how it impacts upon personal psychology.
Tentative Schedule
Thursday April 9
Noon: Registration & Group Lunch (provided)
2:00-3:15 Welcome and ArtActs (Interactive Artistic Activity)
3:30-5:30 Star Wisdom and Karma – David Tresemer, Ph.D.
5:30-7:00 Dinner (on your own)
7:00-9:00 (Evening Presentation) “The Karma Exercises” – Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.
Friday April 10
9-10:15 ArtActs
10:30-12:30 Living into Karma—through the Senses —James A. Dyson, MD.
12:30-2:00 Lunch (on your own)
2:00-3:15 ArtActs
3:30-5:30 How to Find the Self in a Sea of Karma – Roberta Nelson, Ph.D. This is part 1 of a deep inquiry into finding one’s self.
5:30-7:00 Group Dinner (provided)
7:00-9:00 Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn path — James A. Dyson, MD.
Saturday April 11
9-10:15 ArtActs
10:30-12:30 How to Find the Self in a Sea of Karma – Roberta Nelson, Ph.D. This is part 2 of a deep inquiry into finding one’s self.
12:30-2:00 Lunch (on your own)
2:00-3:15 ArtActs
3:30-5:30 The Gesture of Karma – David Tresemer, Ph.D. Guest to this presentation will be Lisa Loving Dalton.
5:30-7:00 Group Dinner (provided)
7:00-9:00 PAGEANT: ‘Know Thyself’ by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg,
Sunday April 12
Easter SunriseSongtrail at the Lake with Marianne Fieber
At the Christian Community 2135 W. Wilson Ave · Chicago, Il 60625
9:30 Children’s Stories
10:00 Children’s Service
10:30 Adult Easter Service
11:30 Potluck Feast
12:30LEADING THOUGHTS: Christ as Lord of Karma—how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology? – James Dyson, MD.
1:30 Gatheringexperiences and reflections.
2:30 CRC business
3:00 Closing
***
Sacred Gateway: Conscious Living, Conscious Dying, and the Journey Beyond April 16-19, 2020 in Detroit, MI.
The Sacred Gateway: Conscious Living, Conscious Dying, and the Journey Beyond 2020
04/16/2020 – 2:00 PM – 04/19/2020 -1:00 PM PT
Description
The Sacred Gateway: Conscious Living, Conscious Dying, and the Journey Beyond CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
April 16 – 19, 2020 Detroit Waldorf School Detroit, MI
Bring a new consciousness to your own life and death
Support those who are crossing and who have crossed over
Expand your practice and knowledge of working with the dying
Through interactive workshops, triad sharing, keynote discussions with Rev. Patrick Kennedy, Sandra LaGrega and Jennifer Fox, Dr. Melinda Toney, and Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, and more, as well as experiential and artistic activities, we will consciously explore the spiritual and practical aspect of human life and death.
7pm Screening of a Will For The Woods Detroit Waldorf School Auditorium- Open to the public! $10 Suggested Donation
Friday, April 17
10:00-1:00p Registration Opens 10:00-12:00p Choose from two pre-conference activities at the Detroit Waldorf School
Exploring the Beauty of home funerals and green burial: Photo essay and Q&A with Merilynne Rush, MS, End-of-Life Doula Trainer and Home Funeral Guide (Open to the public. Donation accepted at the door)
The Story of Detroit: A Walking Songtrail (Meet in the school playground. Approx. two mile walk)
12:00p Bag Lunch (For Purchase) 1:00p Conference Opening 1:45-3:00p Keynote Discussion with Rev. Patrick Kennedy: Befriending Death 3:00-3:30p Break 3:30-5:00p Three-Day Themed Workshops (Chosen on site. Choose one theme and attend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
ALL WORKSHOPS CHOSEN ON SITE Fuller descriptions coming soon!
From Loss to Connection Through the Arts: Reading, Writing and Drawing with Marianne Dietzel and Maureen Flannery Together we will invite our loved ones across the threshold to join us in experiencing practices thet connect and heal. We will read to the dead, write prose and poetry, and draw from gestures of nature.
BIOGRAPHY: GIFTS OF REVIEWING LIFE AND CONNECTING TO LIFE AFTER DEATH Sandra LaGrega and Jennifer Fox
A HOME DEATH CARE STORY: CONSCIOUS DYING AND THE HOME VIGIL~BASED ON DYING OF WAYNE TONEY Dr. Melinda Toney, Carole Schoaf, and Katherine Blackburn
MULTI-CULTURAL APPROACHES: ANCIENT AND MODERN/ SACRED AND ESOTERIC: FESTIVALS FOR THE DEAD. THEN AND NOW. RENEW OR CREATE YOUR OWN TRADITION Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Julia Torres and Guests
5:30-6:30 Choose: Eurythmy (Movement), Singing, or Poetry 6:30 Evening Appetizer Reception (Included in registration fee) 7:30-9:00 Evening Performance
Saturday April 18 – All workshops chosen on site/Saturday Lunch and Dinner for purchase
7:30-9:00 Evening Performance with Sarah Putnam: Little Gidding by TS Elliot followed by Memento Mori Ritual
Sunday, April 19 – All workshops chosen on site
8:00 Coffee/Tea/Breakfast Snacks (Included in Registration Fee)
8:30-9:15 Choose: Eurythmy (Movement), Singing, or Poetry
9:30 – 11:00 Three Day Themed Workshops
11:30-1:00 Green Burial Ceremony and Closing
Full conference: $280 Supporter (This level provides scholarships for other attendees!) $195 Standard ASA Member Rate/$215 Non-Member Rate/$60 Youth CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Please Note: Cancellation fee of $35 before April 9. No refunds after April 10.
Comfort Inn Detroit at 1999 E Jefferson Ave has a block of rooms available for us. Please go to this link for the $124.00 nightly rate. Breakfast is included, as well as shuttle rides to and from the Detroit Waldorf School. You can also call 313-567-8888 and say that you are with the Sacred Gateway group.
Today, 13 February 2020, God willing & the snow doesn’t cause delays, I am going to The First Class Intensive Weekend at the Threefold Center in Spring Valley New York – so I wanted to make my V-Day post today in honor of the anniversary of Rev. Richard Dancey’s Valentine’s death day.
And so it is, that now it’s three years since Richard Dancey died, & Valentine’s Day has taken on a much deeper dimension. He comes up in my thoughts at all the obvious times, when I’m at the Christian Community where his picture graces the sacristy, & many times when I am writing my blog. He always encouraged me to write & inspired me so much over the years with his amazing storytelling.
This morning when I woke, this picture of “The Path of Shambhala” by Nicholas Roerich was in my mind’s eye.
Shambhala =”the golden place of peace/tranquility/happiness/just-so”.
In Tibetan Buddhist & Hindu traditions, Shambhala is a mythical kingdom hidden in the Hollow Earth.
Hindu texts such as the Vishnu Purana mention Shambhala as the birthplace of Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu who will usher in a new Golden Age (Satya Yuga)
The Kalachakra, a Buddhist text, prophesies that when the world declines into war & greed, & all is seems lost, the 25th Kalki king, Lord Maitreya, will emerge from Shambhala with a huge army to vanquish “Dark Forces” & usher in a worldwide Golden Age. Using calculations from the Kalachakra Tantra, scholars put this date at 2424 AD.
The legends, teachings & restorative practices associated with Shambhala are older than any of these organized religions. Shambhala may very well have been an indigenous belief system, of ‘sun worshipers’ yet to come, with amazing healing abilities, wisdom & long life.
The idea of Shambhala is said to have “outer”, “inner”, &”alternative” meanings. As the 14th Dalai Lama noted during his 1985 Kalachakra initiation, Shambhala is not an ordinary country:
“Although those with special affiliation may actually be able to go there through their karmic connection, nevertheless it is not a physical place that we can actually find. We can only say that it is a pure land, a pure land in the human realm. And unless one has the merit & the actual karmic association, one cannot actually arrive there”.
During the late-19th century, Theosophical Society co-founder HP Blavatsky alluded to the Shambhala myth, giving it currency for Western occult enthusiasts. Madame Blavatsky, who claimed to be in contact with a Great White Lodge of Himalayan Adepts, mentions Shambhala in several places.
Later esoteric writers further emphasized & elaborated on the concept of a secret land inhabited by a hidden mystic brotherhood whose members labor for the good of humanity.
Alice A. Bailey claims Shamballa is an extra-dimensional or spiritual reality on the etheric plane, a spiritual centre where the governing deity of Earth, Sanat Kumara, dwells as the highest Avatar of the Planetary Logos of Earth, & is said to be an expression of the Will of God.
Nicholas and Helena Roerich led a 1924-1928 expedition aimed at Shambhala.
French Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh in present day Afghanistan, also offering the Persian Sham-i-Bala, “elevated candle” as an etymology of its name.
In a similar vein, the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple.
And of course our beloved Dr. Steiner spoke about Shamballa many times, especially in regards “The Reappearance of the Christ in the Etheric”
But none of all that really mattered when Richard Dancey stood in the Upper room at the Rudolf Steiner Branch & told us the legend of Shambhala on Easter 4 years ago .
And now Today I relive the tale of this mythical place that he told us that bright Easter afternoon, & the feeling it invoked in me resonates still – fuel for the journey into this inner realm that lives within each of us – A spiritual reality illuminated by his enthusiasm & magical ability to carry us all along in the telling. I will continue to follow this journey with you Richard, knowing you are living into this future reality in the spiritual world today, paving the way for us all.
Blessings dear friend
‘May my heart-love reach to soul-love. May my love’s warmth shine to spirit-light. Thus, I draw near to you. Thinking spiritual thoughts WITH you, Feeling cosmic love IN you, Willing in spirit THROUGH you – Weaving with you One in experience’.
~Rudolf Steiner
~Walk willingly between fire & ice… Where the shadows of forever & the light of Now Clutch & release the world… The empty filling & the full emptying… So live with the certainty That your Yin loves your Yang Over & over, in to the out… & dance the joy of movement ever changing… ~hag
The Truth about Valentines’ Day ~According to hag
The eve of the ides of February is the time when St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated. Have you ever wondered where this hearts & flowers frivolity came from? Well it wasn’t always about chocolates & sappy hallmark cards. Let’s look back to the origins of this Holiday & set the record straight. For one thing, Valentinus was a very common Roman name meaning strong, effective fertility. Please excuse me if I must commit a little history here, but basically the church fathers were trying to replace a very potent ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia with a Christian martyr named Valentinus, to usurp the power of this rite of great antiquity. Now don’t get me wrong, frivolity has its place, & so it was in the festival of Lupercalia, a ritual of purification & fertility, sacred to the Wolf-Goddess Rumina. Maybe you’ve heard of Her, the She-Wolf & founder of Rome?
The festival of Lupercalia was celebrated on the ides of February (the 15th)…& name ‘February’ comes from the Latin word ‘februare’, meaning tools of purification.
The rite began in the cave of the She-Wolf, where legend has it, the founders of the city, Romulus & Remus, were suckled by the Wolf-Goddess. As fate would have it a sacred fig tree (symbol of the feminine sex) grew outside the cave & vestals would come, with cakes made from the corn of last year’s grain harvest, laying them beneath the fig tree as offerings.
Meanwhile Rumina’s priests would preside over the sacrifice of a goat. Now this was a pretty big deal since this was the only time of year a goat was used as a sacrifice. It was an offering given to the guardian angels associated with the crops, & the ancestral guardians, as well as the guardians of the city & community. The priests would mark their foreheads with its blood, which was then ritualistically wiped clean with a ‘Februare’ or tool of purification, which was, in this case, wool, dipped in the milk of the goat. The priests would then dress themselves in the skin of the sacrificial animal, & using strips of the hide they would fashion a scourge, another tool of purification. They would then jog around in their little loincloths, running up & down Rome’s seven hills, wielding their strips of hide, ‘purifying’ anything & anybody in their path.
Women seeking pregnancy & easy childbirth lined the streets, extending hands, or baring their bodies, to afford a better target, to be briefly & symbolically ‘purified’ as they passed by.
Fertility, of course, is worthless without sex, so as time passed, sex became the festival’s primary focus for the average Roman citizen, & the occasion took on a character much like carnival.
When the church tried to ban it, the people needless to say, stubbornly resisted. Hence the substitute of St. Valentine’s Day emerged, with its more innocent version of love.
And let’s face it folks, the real Cupid was not the cute little cherub he is today, but rather, a very randy Roman God responsible for a more tangible fertility.
So all the frivolous frivolity aside, let’s take ourselves back to the days when the Wolf Goddess Rumina, was at the heart of this time of celebration, as we purify & purge all of our afflictions & ills before we begin to plant the new seeds of creativity. For by the ancient calendars, Winter is ended by the ides of February, & Spring, a season of new beginnings, has arrived.
So on Valentine’s Day, let’s remember the potent powers of the Wolf, asking Her to spare the herds, taking only what She must, to keep us free & fertile & abundant, like the crops – as fruitful, & as wild as we want to be.
Peace & Blessed Bee…
~hag
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KNOW THYSELF – Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide Retreat 9 -12 April 2020,
April 16 – 19, 2020 Detroit Waldorf School, Detroit, MI
Bring a new consciousness to your own life and death
Support those who are crossing and who have crossed over
Expand your practice and knowledge of working with the dying
Through interactive workshops, triad sharing, keynote discussions with Rev. Patrick Kennedy, Sandra LaGrega and Jennifer Fox, Dr. Melinda Toney, and Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, and more, as well as experiential and artistic activities, we will consciously explore the spiritual and practical aspect of human life and death.
7pm Screening of a Will For The Woods Detroit Waldorf School Auditorium- Open to the public! $10 Suggested Donation
Friday, April 17
10:00-1:00p Registration Opens 10:00-12:00p Choose from two pre-conference activities at the Detroit Waldorf School
Exploring the Beauty of home funerals and green burial: Photo essay and Q&A with Merilynne Rush, MS, End-of-Life Doula Trainer and Home Funeral Guide (Open to the public. Donation accepted at the door)
The Story of Detroit: A Walking Songtrail (Meet in the school playground. Approx. two mile walk)
12:00p Bag Lunch (For Purchase) 1:00p Conference Opening 1:45-3:00p Keynote Discussion with Rev. Patrick Kennedy: Befriending Death 3:00-3:30p Break 3:30-5:00p Three-Day Themed Workshops (Chosen on site. Choose one theme and attend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) ALL WORKSHOPS CHOSEN ON SITE Fuller descriptions coming soon!
From Loss to Connection Through the Arts: Reading, Writing and Drawing with Marianne Dietzel and Maureen Flannery Together we will invite our loved ones across the threshold to join us in experiencing practices thet connect and heal. We will read to the dead, write prose and poetry, and draw from gestures of nature.
BIOGRAPHY: GIFTS OF REVIEWING LIFE AND CONNECTING TO LIFE AFTER DEATH Sandra LaGrega and Jennifer Fox
A HOME DEATH CARE STORY: CONSCIOUS DYING AND THE HOME VIGIL~BASED ON DYING OF WAYNE TONEY Dr. Melinda Toney, Carole Schoaf, and Katherine Blackburn
MULTI-CULTURAL APPROACHES: ANCIENT AND MODERN/ SACRED AND ESOTERIC: FESTIVALS FOR THE DEAD. THEN AND NOW. RENEW OR CREATE YOUR OWN TRADITION Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Julia Torres and Guests
5:30-6:30 Choose: Eurythmy (Movement), Singing, or Poetry 6:30 Evening Appetizer Reception (Included in registration fee) 7:30-9:00 Evening Performance
Saturday April 18 – All workshops chosen on site/Saturday Lunch and Dinner for purchase
7:30-9:00 Evening Performance with Sarah Putnam: Little Gidding by TS Elliot followed by Memento Mori Ritual
Sunday, April 19 – All workshops chosen on site
8:00 Coffee/Tea/Breakfast Snacks (Included in Registration Fee)
8:30-9:15 Choose: Eurythmy (Movement), Singing, or Poetry
9:30 – 11:00 Three Day Themed Workshops
11:30-1:00 Green Burial Ceremony and Closing
Full conference: $280 Supporter (This level provides scholarships for other attendees!) $195 Standard ASA Member Rate/$215 Non-Member Rate/$60 Youth CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Please Note: Cancellation fee of $35 before April 9. No refunds after April 10.
Comfort Inn Detroit at 1999 E Jefferson Ave has a block of rooms available for us. Please go to this link for the $124.00 nightly rate. Breakfast is included, as well as shuttle rides to and from the Detroit Waldorf School. You can also call 313-567-8888 and say that you are with the Sacred Gateway group.
Festivals for the Dead. Then & Now. Renew, or Create Your Own Tradition.
with 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 & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.
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~Vitae Sophia~ A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor
Eurythmy: AUM = A – I stand for myself, U- I stand for humanity, M – I stand for Life
Social Sculpture: Steiner’s ‘Blue Dot Exercise’- Through Art, the bridge between science & spirit, we warm the ‘I’, to open the heart, in support of healthy community.
What are my gifts-What are my tools? How can I place them in right relationship within the social realm? How can I hone them to strengthen and enhance the world?
Enter the Labyrinth of Vitae Sophia – Human hearts, once warmed, can rise up to meet the source of wisdom, like flowers turning toward the sun.
Living into the Foundation Stone of Love – How can we take our individual Inner Whitsun & expand it, into what Steiner calls the “World Festival of Knowledge” a path leading from ‘Sprit Recollection’, to ‘Sprit Sensing’, to ‘Sprit Beholding’?
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 & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.
3 June 2020 – a Round Table Discussion 7 pm – 9 pm on ‘The Sophia’ with John Bloom, Joan Sleigh, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Carrie Schuchardt at The House of Peace in Ipswich, MA.
~The secrets of the ethers Push thru the bossy wind Striving to awaken & reveal Will you listen?
Sheri Nome
Beyond the shouting there speaks: We need Truths in their wild state- Insurrectionary Beauty that Excites our Curiosity- Outrageous Goodness that drives us to perform heroic acts of lusty Compassion- Ingenious Justice that endlessly affirms us – Tricky Freedom that is never permanent but must be reinvented & reclaimed every day, & a totally-serious-yet-always-laughing Love that schemes and dreams about how to transform the suffering & increase the Wisdom of every Sentient Being. ~hag
11 February 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The next constellation east of Orion is dim Monoceros the Unicorn.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – “What is presented here can be useful to those who wish to follow the path of humankind’s spiritual development” ~Rudolf Steiner, from the original Calendar of the Soul, of which this section of the blog is dedicated.
Feast day of Saint Blaise. From being a healer of bodily ailments, he became a physician of souls, then retired for a time to a cavern where he remained in prayer. As bishop of Sebastea, Blaise instructed his people as much by his example as by his words, & by many miracles. From all parts, the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily & spiritual ills. He is said to have healed animals (who came to the saint on their own for his assistance) & to have been assisted by animals.
The governor was jealous, Blaise was arrested. When he was led away, the story goes, they met a poor woman whose pig had been seized by a wolf. At the command of Blaise, the wolf restored the pig to its owner, alive & unhurt. When he had reached the capital & was in prison awaiting execution, the old woman whose pig he had saved came to see him, bringing two fine wax candles to dispel the gloom of his dark cell.
In 316, Agricola, the governor of Cappadocia sent to kill the Christians, arrested the bishop Blaise. As he was being led to jail, a mother set her only son, choking on a fish-bone, at his feet, & the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, & beheaded him. Consequently, Saint Blaise is invoked for protection against injuries and illnesses of the throat.
In many places on the day of his feast the blessing of St. Blaise is given: 2 burning candles, blessed on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (“Candlemas”), are held in a crossed position by a priest over the heads of the faithful or the people are touched on the throat with them. At the same time the following blessing is given: “May Almighty God at the intercession of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, preserve you from infections of the throat and from all other afflictions“. Then the priest makes the sign of the cross over the faithful.
Blaise is considered one of the ‘Fourteen Holy Helpers’. His cult became widespread in Europe in the 11th & 12th centuries & his legend is recounted in the 14th-century Legenda Aurea. Saint Blaise is the saint of the wild beast.
In iconography, Blaise is represented holding two crossed candles in his hand (the Blessing of St. Blaise), or in a cave surrounded by wild beasts, as he was found by the hunters of the governor. He is often shown with the instruments of his martyrdom, steel combs. The similarity of these instruments of torture to wool combs led to his adoption as the patron saint of wool combers in particular, & the wool trade in general
Joy McAllen
Feast Day of St. Gobnait, Irish patron Saint of BeeKeepers. She was born in County Clare in the 5th or 6th Century, & is said to have been the sister of Saint Abban. She fled a family feud, taking refuge in the Aran Islands. Here an angel appeared & told her that this was “not the place of her resurrection” & that she should look for a place where she would find nine white deer grazing. She found the deer at the place now known as St. Gobnet’s Wood.
Celtic lore held bees in high esteem, believing the soul left the body as a bee or a butterfly. Gobnait is said to have added beekeeping to her life’s work, developing a lifelong affinity with them. She started a religious order & dedicated her days to helping the sick. She used honey as a healing aid. She is credited with saving the people at Ballyvourney from the plague.
One story tells of how she drove off a brigand by sending a swarm of bees after him and making him restore the cattle he had stolen.
St Gobnait’s well is situated to the North of Ballyagran. It is said that a white stag can sometimes be seen at the well.
660 BC – Traditional date for the founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu
AD 55 – Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman emperor-ship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome. This clears the way for Nero to become Emperor
1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England
1650 – Deathday of René Descartes, French mathematician & philosopher
1790 – The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery
1847 – Birthday of Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph
1858 – Bernadette Soubirous’s first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France. ‘I Am the Immaculate Conception’ – Today is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, & we celebrate her message of peace, & healing. In 1858, a 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, was gathering firewood in the countryside when a beautiful woman, standing on a rock in a natural grotto, appeared to her. This began a series of 18 apparitions in which Bernadette spoke & prayed with the woman. On one visit, the mysterious woman instructed Bernadette to dig into the dry ground & drink from the spring that flowed there. Although no spring was visible, Bernatdette scratched at the ground & a spring began to bubble up. To this day, the waters continue to flow, which have a miraculous healing property. Lourdes is well-known for the many miracles of healing that have taken place there over the years
1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state
1937 – A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers
1971 – Eighty-seven countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, & Soviet Union, sign the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters
1978 – China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare & Charles Dickens
1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
1981 – Around 100,000 US gallons of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 108 workers
1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner
2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak & the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests
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KNOW THYSELF – Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide Retreat 9 -12 April 2020,
Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology – An Easter-Tide Retreat
April 9 – 12, 2020 – Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL
AAP: James A. Dyson, M.D., Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., and David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.
CRC: Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa Dalton
Eurythmist: Mary Ruud
A popular view of karma is cause and effect or tit-for-tat. Karma, however, is so much more complex, interesting, and important. The soul work of karma has to do with the unfolding of our individuality through the elements, through the ethers, and very much through relationships.
Rudolf Steiner named his core mission as bringing karma and reincarnation to the West; his teachings deserve interpretation and practical enlivening. The Central Regional Council has been exploring this theme for many months. Anthroposophic Psychology gives a unique contribution to the soul work of karma. For this conference the CRC is partnering with the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP of North America) to present ideas and experiences concerning karma—and how it impacts upon personal psychology.
Conference Fees (includes 1 meal per day & art supplies):
2:00-3:15Welcome and ArtActs (Interactive Artistic Activity)
3:30-5:30Star Wisdom and Karma – David Tresemer, Ph.D.
5:30-7:00 Dinner (on your own)
7:00-9:00 (Evening Presentation) “The Karma Exercises” – Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.
Friday April 10
9-10:15 ArtActs
10:30-12:30Living into Karma—through the Senses —James A. Dyson, MD.
12:30-2:00 Lunch (on your own)
2:00-3:15 ArtActs
3:30-5:30How to Find the Self in a Sea of Karma – Roberta Nelson, Ph.D. This is part 1 of a deep inquiry into finding one’s self.
5:30-7:00 Group Dinner (provided)
7:00-9:00Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn path — James A. Dyson, MD.
Saturday April 11
9-10:15 ArtActs
10:30-12:30How to Find the Self in a Sea of Karma – Roberta Nelson, Ph.D. This is part 2 of a deep inquiry into finding one’s self.
12:30-2:00 Lunch (on your own)
2:00-3:15 ArtActs
3:30-5:30The Gesture of Karma – David Tresemer, Ph.D. Guest to this presentation will be Lisa Loving Dalton.
5:30-7:00 Group Dinner (provided)
7:00-9:00 PAGEANT: ‘Know Thyself’ by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, the CRC, and consultant Margot Hodgson, LPC
Sunday April 12
Easter SunriseSongtrail at the Lake with Marianne Fieber
At the Christian Community 2135 W. Wilson Ave · Chicago, Il 60625
9:30 Children’s Stories
10:00 Children’s Service
10:30 Adult Easter Service
11:30 Potluck Feast
12:30LEADING THOUGHTS: Christ as Lord of Karma—how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology? – James Dyson, MD.
1:30Gatheringexperiences and reflections.
2:30CRC business
3:00Closing
CRC: Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa Dalton
AAP:
James A. Dyson, MD, Senior Faculty, Assoc. for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP), North America; Faculty Member, English International Training in Anthroposophic Medicine
Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., licensed addiction and clinical counselor; Faculty Chair for Assoc. for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP), North America. Contributor to The Counselor … as if Soul and Spirit Matter.
Susan Overhauser, Ph.D., licensed psychologist, California; Associate Presenter for Assoc. for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP), North America.
David Tresemer, Ph.D., President, Assoc. for Anthroposophic Psychology. Editor and contributor, The Counselor … as if Soul and Spirit Matter; editor, Slow Counseling; column in Lilipoh for the last seven years. Author of Star Wisdom & Rudolf Steiner.
About AAP: The foundation course in the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP) is a three-year (three times a year) training, starting up again in April 2021. See www.AnthroposophicPsychology.org
P.O. Box 2180, Boulder, Colorado 80306
E: Admin@AnthroposophicPsychology.org
Web: AnthroposophicPsychology.org
Activities:
Art-Acts
Star Wisdom
The Karma Exercises
Experiential PAGEANT on Holy Saturday: ‘Know Thyself’
Easter Sunrise Songtrail
Optional service at the Christian Community
Communal meals and time for Conversation
Lectures:
‘Living into Karma through the Senses’
‘How to find the Self in a Sea of Karma’
‘Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn Path’
‘The Gesture of Karma’
‘Christ as Lord of Karma — how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology?’
April 16 – 19, 2020 Detroit Waldorf School, Detroit, MI
Bring a new consciousness to your own life and death
Support those who are crossing and who have crossed over
Expand your practice and knowledge of working with the dying
Through interactive workshops, triad sharing, keynote discussions with Rev. Patrick Kennedy, Sandra LaGrega and Jennifer Fox, Dr. Melinda Toney, and Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, and more, as well as experiential and artistic activities, we will consciously explore the spiritual and practical aspect of human life and death.
7pm Screening of a Will For The Woods Detroit Waldorf School Auditorium- Open to the public! $10 Suggested Donation
Friday, April 17
10:00-1:00p Registration Opens 10:00-12:00p Choose from two pre-conference activities at the Detroit Waldorf School
Exploring the Beauty of home funerals and green burial: Photo essay and Q&A with Merilynne Rush, MS, End-of-Life Doula Trainer and Home Funeral Guide (Open to the public. Donation accepted at the door)
The Story of Detroit: A Walking Songtrail (Meet in the school playground. Approx. two mile walk)
12:00p Bag Lunch (For Purchase) 1:00p Conference Opening 1:45-3:00p Keynote Discussion with Rev. Patrick Kennedy: Befriending Death 3:00-3:30p Break 3:30-5:00p Three-Day Themed Workshops (Chosen on site. Choose one theme and attend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) ALL WORKSHOPS CHOSEN ON SITE Fuller descriptions coming soon!
From Loss to Connection Through the Arts: Reading, Writing and Drawing with Marianne Dietzel and Maureen Flannery Together we will invite our loved ones across the threshold to join us in experiencing practices thet connect and heal. We will read to the dead, write prose and poetry, and draw from gestures of nature.
BIOGRAPHY: GIFTS OF REVIEWING LIFE AND CONNECTING TO LIFE AFTER DEATH Sandra LaGrega and Jennifer Fox
A HOME DEATH CARE STORY: CONSCIOUS DYING AND THE HOME VIGIL~BASED ON DYING OF WAYNE TONEY Dr. Melinda Toney, Carole Schoaf, and Katherine Blackburn
MULTI-CULTURAL APPROACHES: ANCIENT AND MODERN/ SACRED AND ESOTERIC: FESTIVALS FOR THE DEAD. THEN AND NOW. RENEW OR CREATE YOUR OWN TRADITION Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Julia Torres and Guests
5:30-6:30 Choose: Eurythmy (Movement), Singing, or Poetry 6:30 Evening Appetizer Reception (Included in registration fee) 7:30-9:00 Evening Performance
Saturday April 18 – All workshops chosen on site/Saturday Lunch and Dinner for purchase
7:30-9:00 Evening Performance with Sarah Putnam: Little Gidding by TS Elliot followed by Memento Mori Ritual
Sunday, April 19 – All workshops chosen on site
8:00 Coffee/Tea/Breakfast Snacks (Included in Registration Fee)
8:30-9:15 Choose: Eurythmy (Movement), Singing, or Poetry
9:30 – 11:00 Three Day Themed Workshops
11:30-1:00 Green Burial Ceremony and Closing
Full conference: $280 Supporter (This level provides scholarships for other attendees!) $195 Standard ASA Member Rate/$215 Non-Member Rate/$60 Youth CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Please Note: Cancellation fee of $35 before April 9. No refunds after April 10.
Comfort Inn Detroit at 1999 E Jefferson Ave has a block of rooms available for us. Please go to this link for the $124.00 nightly rate. Breakfast is included, as well as shuttle rides to and from the Detroit Waldorf School. You can also call 313-567-8888 and say that you are with the Sacred Gateway group.
Festivals for the Dead. Then & Now. Renew, or Create Your Own Tradition.
with 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 & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.
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~Vitae Sophia~ A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor
Eurythmy: AUM = A – I stand for myself, U- I stand for humanity, M – I stand for Life
Social Sculpture: Steiner’s ‘Blue Dot Exercise’- Through Art, the bridge between science & spirit, we warm the ‘I’, to open the heart, in support of healthy community.
What are my gifts-What are my tools? How can I place them in right relationship within the social realm? How can I hone them to strengthen and enhance the world?
Enter the Labyrinth of Vitae Sophia – Human hearts, once warmed, can rise up to meet the source of wisdom, like flowers turning toward the sun.
Living into the Foundation Stone of Love – How can we take our individual Inner Whitsun & expand it, into what Steiner calls the “World Festival of Knowledge” a path leading from ‘Sprit Recollection’, to ‘Sprit Sensing’, to ‘Sprit Beholding’?
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 & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.
3 June 2020 – a Round Table Discussion 7 pm – 9 pm on ‘The Sophia’ with John Bloom, Joan Sleigh, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Carrie Schuchardt at The House of Peace in Ipswich, MA.
Thig an nathair as an toll = The serpent will come from the hole
Greetings friends – Blessings of Brigid’s Day to you!
I arrived home after the being part the amazing Fellowship of Prep – Makers Gathering at Michael Fields Institute in East Troy WI. & my friend said: ‘What’s going on? You’re glowing ‘like a Saint’! Ha! I said, Well it is St. Brigid’s Day & yes, it’s true, my Soul Forces are brimming -For I have tasted the living waters, from a deep well, springing up from the alchemical heart of this love imbued community.
I must take it all into my sleep, & when the spirit moves me, I will to pour it out so that you too may drink from this powerful font…
Until then…Embrace your shadow…And spark the light within…
Sorgin Flosser
Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which way he will, it falls opposite to the sun; short at noon, long at eve. Did you never see it? ~Henry David Thoreau
Cliff Smith
Yes friends today is 2 , 2, 2020– “Speaking with the Stars“: Comet PanSTARRS makes its way northward along the Milky Way near the Perseus-Cassiopeia border. Tonight, this visitor from the distant Oort Cloud passes highest in the north during the early evening hours.
Today is Groundhogs Day, where the fate of winter rests on the shoulders of a furry rodent, for those muggles who believe in a more modern folklore. If he the sticks his head out of his burrow this morning & sees his shadow, we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter. But if the weather is cloudy, it means spring is right around the corner.
What does this have to do with astronomy? Groundhog Day celebrates one of the 4 cross-quarter days, which mark the midpoints between the solstices & equinoxes. February 2 is the traditionally celebrated date betwixt the winter solstice & the vernal equinox. (The actual cosmic alignment happens tomorrow when the Sun reaches 15 degrees Pisces)
Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary The 40th day of the Christmas-Epiphany season, commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Joseph & Mary brought the child into the Temple, & when Simeon & Anna the prophetess, saw Him, they knew the prophesy of ‘The Chosen One’ had been fulfilled. We see the connection between the Buddha & Jesus of Nazareth in the stories of Asita & Simeon. When Asita, the great Indian sage, saw Siddhartha as a young child, before he had reached Buddhahood, he was able to recognize what the child would become. It was Asita’s heart’s desire to see the Buddha before he died, so he wept because he was an old man & would not live to see him become the Buddha. This wise seer was then reborn in the time of Jesus as Simeon introduced in Luke 2:29-30 as the temple priest who waits for the Messiah. He recognizes the Buddha in the Nathan Jesus, so he praises god & says now he can die happy, having fulfilled his heart’s desire.
We see the connection between the Buddha & Jesus of Nazareth in the stories of Asita & Simeon. When Asita, the great Indian sage, saw Siddhartha as a young child, before he had reached Buddhahood, he was able to recognize what the child would become. It was Asita’s heart’s desire to see the Buddha before he died, so he wept because he was an old man & would not live to see him become the Buddha. This wise seer was then reborn in the time of Jesus as Simeon introduced in Luke 2:29-30 as the temple priest who waits for the Messiah. He recognizes the Buddha in the Nathan Jesus, so he praises god & says now he can die happy, having fulfilled his heart’s desire.
1372 – Mariä Lichtmess – Candlemas, Christian Churches bless the candles to be used for the New Year.
Imbolc – the start of the lambing season – the time of year when the belly of the great mother quickens with the growing light. Among the Celts, thecelebration of Imbolc honors the Triple Goddess Brigid, associated with purification & the fires of the forge to call in the sun. Folks would carry torches & cross the fields in procession, praying to the goddess to purify the ground before planting.
Brigid, whose name means “The Exalted One,” The Triple Goddess of poetry (fire in the head), healing, & smith-craft. She was born at sunrise while her mother was walking over a threshold, & so “was neither within nor without.” This is the state known as liminality, from the Latin, limen: a threshold – the state of being “in between” Space & Time.
Saint Brigid was renowned for her gift of healing. She wove the first piece of cloth in Ireland & wove into it healing threads which kept their power for centuries. Many healing wells & springs were named after her
Doris Planter
The legend of Brigid portrays the archetypes of the Maiden, Mother & Crone.
Crêpes with their round form & their golden color are made, reminiscent of the sun, an appropriate symbol during Candlemas, as this is the time of the year when the days get longer. It is also the time of year when the roots begin to stir.
This is traditionally a time of purification — so clean your house! If you have any Christmas greenery lingering, burn it now.
Willa Frigit
Make your own Brigid’s crosses & hang them up, especially in the kitchen where her influence can bless your food. The cross of Saint Brigid is a fiery sun-wheel turning.
Leave a silk ribbon on your doorstep for Brigid to bless: It can then be used for healing purposes.
Meditate upon what you would like to see grow in health & strength this year: for yourself, your family, your community, the Earth, & ask for Bride’s blessing upon your prayers.
Lupercalia – The ancient Romans celebrated this festival in honor of Lupercus, & Feralia the god & goddess of fertility & shepherds. A theme of purification was also present. There was a custom of the Vestal Virgins offering cakes made with wheat from the old crop so that the following crop would be fruitful.
Francis-Davis-Millet
Thesmophoria: The Festival of Persephone & Demeter – In addition, the Festa candelarum in Rome commemorated the search for the Goddess of Light Persephone, by her mother the Goddess of Life Demeter, kidnapped by the King of the Other World Hades,. The festival of candles symbolizes the return of the Light. The myths of Sleeping Beauty or Theseus & Ariadne, for example relate to the release or liberation of the light (Dawn of the year) by the “solar knight”.
Bart Linder
Feast of the Bear – From antiquity to the Middle Ages, bears were a cult symbol of the Germans, Scandinavians & the Celts. On this day they celebrated the end of hibernation. This was around the time when the bears would leave their dens to see if the weather was mild. For a long time, the Catholic Church sought to eradicate these pagan practices. To do this, it instituted the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple which is celebrated on February 2, which corresponds to the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. However, the celebrations of the bear & the return of the light continued, with bonfires & other torchlight processions. Pope Gelasius I in the fifth century therefore instituted the feast of candles, or Candlemas. From the twelfth to the eighteenth century, Candlemas was called “chandelours” which means bear in French, in many areas (including the Alps, Pyrenees, Ardennes) where the memory of the cult of the bear was still very present. There is also the Aosta Saint-Ours, & Saint Blaise (which means “bear”). Candlemas is also the beginning of the carnival period; the bear is the carnival animal par excellence.
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
Feast day of Cornelius a Roman centurion. He is depicted in the New Testament as a God-fearing man who always prayed & was full of good works & deeds. Cornelius receives a vision in which an angel of God tells him that his prayers have been heard, he understands that he’s chosen for a higher alternative. The angel then instructs Cornelius to send the men of his household to Joppa, where they will find Simon Peter, who is residing with a tanner by the name of Simon (Acts 10:5ff).
The conversion of Cornelius comes after a separate vision given to Simon Peter (Acts 10:10–16) himself. In the vision, Simon Peter sees all manner of beasts & fowl being lowered from Heaven in a sheet. A voice commands Simon Peter to eat. When he objects to eating those animals that are unclean according to Mosaic Law, the voice tells him not to call unclean that which God has cleansed.
When Cornelius’ men arrive, Simon Peter understands that through this vision the Lord commanded the Apostle to preach the Word of God to the Gentiles. Peter accompanies Cornelius’ men back to Caesarea. When Cornelius meets Simon Peter, he falls at Peter’s feet. Simon Peter raises the centurion & the two men share their visions. Simon Peter tells of Jesus’ ministry & the Resurrection; the Holy Spirit descends on everyone at the gathering & they all begin speaking in tongues, praising God
1786 – Birthday of Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, a French mathematician, physicist & astronomer. Binet’s Formula expressing Fibonacci numbers in closed form is named in his honour.
Delphine Lebourgeois
1882 – Birthday of James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, & poet
1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda
1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday
1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States & south-eastern Canada, killing 1,122
1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress & promises to release Nelson Mandela
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Shelby McQuilkin
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~Beneath the crust of ice I hear A ready roar Rumble up from the tap root Of the dogwood tree It knows my secret name Witch will rise with the sap When Brigid-Bride calls me… ~hag
Devon Blake
The candle I am burning tonight contains “Brigid’s Fire” brought across the ocean to Chicago from Kildare, Ireland several years ago. This flame has a story that reaches back into pre-Christian times. Scholars suggest that priestesses kept a sacred fire lit to invoke the Triple Goddess Brigid to protect their herds & to provide a fruitful harvest.
When St. Brigid built her monastery & ‘Catholic church’ in Kildare in the 6th Century she continued the custom of keeping the fire alight. The flame was tended by the nuns of St. Brigid up to the suppression of the monasteries in the sixteenth century. The sacred flame was re-lit in 1993 by Mary Teresa Cullen, the leader of the Brigidine Sisters at that time, at the opening of a justice & peace conference. It now burns as an eternal flame in the middle of Kildare, “a beacon for justice, peace, truth & care of the earth”. To “keep the flame within the candle”, we do not blow the flame out, but rather extinguish it with ‘holy water’ on our fingers. The flame can be transferred to a fresh candle when the one you are using runs its course. BRIGID’S Fire has been inspirational to many for prayer or meditation.
Light a candle of your own & dedicate it to that part of Brigid that lives within you. Look deeply into the candle…Gaze into the flame for a few moments…now close your eyes…can you still see the image of the flame against your eyelids…yes, it burns there, an eternal flame in the darkness…Now see it growing brighter & brighter, in your minds eye…open your eyes begin to look deeper & imagine you are standing at a threshold filled with the warm red, gold & blue light of a brilliant fire…Imagine, in fact, know, that you are standing at the entrance to a mighty forge, blazing like the sacred-heart in the middle a wintery forest…there in the center is a fervent fire roaring with life…& in front of it stands the image of a woman…Thick, auburn hair tied back, with a few rippling curls framing her shining face…
She is dressed in dark green with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing strong loving arms…you know Her…She is part of you…She is the Goddess Brigid, standing over a large anvil, where all her concentration is focused…She beats with a steady rhythm, creating cosmic designs on a gleaming sheet of soft bronze with a great hammer…she works hard at her craft… concentrated & focused…& now, She looks up, & smiles at you warmly…She has finished Her creation & holds it up to the light of the fire for you to see…& As you look at it, it seems to continually change shape: first it appears to be a leaf, then a globe, & now it has become a star…a fiery sun-wheel turning…Brigid laughs, musically, from deep within Her belly, & tosses the star into the air, where it sails into the night sky & takes its place among the resplendent constellations…This work done for now, Brigid turns towards you, & asks:
“What have you come here to create?/ think on this question & let your mind Meditate you…what would you like to create…? what would you like to see grow, in health & strength this year? what will you forge for yourself, your family, your community, the Earth, whether great or small, personal or for the wider world…for I am here to help ya…Like the break O day I come I hear your call my sweet city Druids like the cockerel, calling forth the sun, herald of the new day, & you see, we’re standing at the threshold, that mysterious, luminal place, on the brink between winter & spring, where anything’s likely to happen & most certainly will if we make it so, yes like a fiery arrow, I am come, to kindle within ya a new vitality, Can you feel the upwelling, like a tiny spark looming up from the coals of the home fires, Forth-flaring from the sheltering-soil like sap rising, Swift-sprouting like a crocus in the snow… Aye, you see, tings are shifting already, for now it is I that’s calling the deep part of you to come forth, Like the snake coming up from it’s hole, Ignited by the passion of purpose…”
