Category Archives: Poetry

Rioting Roses

Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars

2 August 2017 – Astro-Weather: The waxing gibbous Moon stands at its highest point above the southern horizon as darkness falls this evening. If you look a few degrees Her lower left, you can’t miss Saturn. The glorious ringed planet shows up nicely against the backdrop of southern Ophiuchus on any clear night.

Bella Luna reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 12:55 pm CDT today. It She is 251,671 miles from Earth’s center.

***

Gina Bigalow

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

“An ethical misunderstanding, a clash, is impossible among ethically free human beings. Only someone who is ethically unfree, who obeys natural drives or the conventional demands of duty, will thrust aside someone who does not follow the same instincts and the same demands. To live in love of action, and to let live in understanding of the other’s will, is the fundamental maxim of free human beings.” — Rudolf Steiner, The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

216 BC – The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of Cannae

Feast day of “The Virgen de los Angeles” (the Virgin of the Angels) is Costa Rica’s patron saint, also known as La Negrita. According to tradition, La Negrita, the Black Virgin, is a small (less than a meter tall), representation of the Virgin Mary found on this spot on August 2, 1635 by a native woman. As the story goes, when she tried to take the statuette with her, it miraculously reappeared twice back where she’d found it. The townspeople then built a shrine around her. In 1824, the Virgin was declared Costa Rica’s patron saint. La Negrita now resides on a gold, jewel-studded platform at the main altar in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. Each August 2, on the anniversary of the statuette’s miraculous discovery, pilgrims from every corner of the country (and beyond) walk the 22 km from San José to the basilica. Many of the penitent complete the last few hundred meters of the pilgrimage on their knees.

1832- Birthday of Henry Steel Olcott – an American military officer, journalist, lawyer & the co-founder & 1st President of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. From 1874 on, Olcott’s spiritual growth & development with Helena Blavatsky & other spiritual leaders would lead to the founding of the Theosophical Society. In 1875, Olcott, Blavatsky, & others, notably William Quan Judge, formed the Theosophical Society in New York City. Olcott financially supported the earliest years of the Theosophical Society & was acting President while Blavatsky served as the Society’s Secretary. In December 1878, they left New York in order to move the headquarters of the Society to India.

1921 – Birthday of Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor & actor

1922 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian engineer, invented the telephone

1922 – A typhoon hits Shantou, Republic of China killing more than 50,000 people

1924 – The last of Rudolf Steiner’s “19 Class Lessons” was given in Dornach.

1934 – Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg

1939 – Albert Einstein & Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon

1943 – Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months

1968 – Deathday of Antonio d’Achille , Aquinas scholar

1969 – Deathday of Anna Samweber – an active co-worker in Berlin with Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner-von Sivers. Her anecdotes & recollections were recorded by Jacob Streit during an intensive two days shortly before Anna’s death. They contribute a warm & intimate picture of Rudolf Steiner, the man, & his work. “Frau Dr Steiner owned a lovely diamond watch with her initials inscribed on the lid. It was broken, and I had to take it to a well-known watchmaker who lived a long way from the Motzstrasse (the house at 17 Motzstrasse in Berlin was where Rudolf and Marie Steiner lived from 1903 – 1913, and where the work of the Anthroposophical Society was carried on). It was late on a cold and foggy November evening when I made my way in the direction of Nollendorfplatz, where the building site for a subway was situated. I was walking along a long, wooden blank wall when suddenly two human shapes appeared from the dark and attacked me. I remembered that once Rudolf Steiner had told me that if ever I was in need I could call on him. So when these two attackers went for me, the one holding me from behind so that the other could rob me, I called inwardly and spontaneously: ‘Doctor, help me!’ At the same moment both fellows fell back like lightning and were gone. When Rudolf Steiner came for breakfast the next morning he greeted me with the words ‘Good morning, Sam. What was the matter that you cried so loud last night?’ When I told him about my experience and he had listened quietly, he said simply: ‘But I did help you, didn’t I?’ “ ~Anna Samweber from her book Erinnerungen an Rudolf Steiner (Reminiscences of Rudolf Steiner)

***

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~My soul is a trembling veil…
The rioting roses churn my nectar…
I fly in a frenzied froth that caps my vision…
Will you dance the leminscate
In serpent flight with me…?
~hag

***

Lammas is also a festival of regrets and farewells, of harvest & preserves. Reflect on these topics, alone in the privacy of your journal, or share them with others around a fire.

Regrets: Think of the things you meant to do this summer or this year that are not coming to fruition. You can project your regrets onto natural objects like pine cones & throw them into the fire, releasing them. Or you can write them on dried corn husks or on a piece of paper and burn them.

Farewells: What is passing from your life? What is over? Say good-bye to it. As with regrets, you can find visual symbols and throw them into the fire, the lake or the ocean. You can also bury them in the ground, perhaps in the form of bulbs which will manifest in a new form in spring.

Harvest: What have you harvested this year? What seeds have your planted that have borne fruit? Find a visual way to represent these, perhaps creating a decoration for your house which represents this harvest for you. Or you could make a corn dolly or learn to weave wheat, which was used by early farmers as a resting place for the harvest spirits.

Preserves: This is also a good time for making preserves, either literally or symbolically.
As you turn the summer’s fruit into jams, jellies & chutneys for winter, think about the seeds you will keep to plant next year. How can you keep them sweet in the store of your memory?

Cathy Cassetti

Speaking of sweet: The traditional day for the blessing of beehives is August 8th. The last day of the honey harvest, so the bees will be sure to have enough fuel for the winter.

Bee Love –

xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Kari Marie Olson

The Bridging Project – Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul

August 2, 2017 – 7:15 pm CST (8:15 pm EST)

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to our conversation with special guest Gisela Wielki.

Gisela Wielki was born and raised in Germany. Obtained her degree in early childhood education, followed by a three year study at the Seminary of the Christian Community in Stuttgart (ordained in 1970.) Gisela was sent to the New York Congregation in 1972, and then lived in Chicago from 2002 to 2010 as a one of the founding directors of the English speaking seminary. Gisela has spent many years working with children, youth and young adults in Christian Community summer camps, youth and young adult conferences

Please read to prepare for the session:

Our theme for the evening shall be multifaceted:

Death is not the final stage of life

There is no deathday without a birthday

What is death? Who is death?

Not so, death is not just an entry into a new state of consciousness.

Death and the significance of the body

Death and the building of a new body through Christ and with Christ

Pen and paper may be useful

Option 1. Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended)

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/762393301

Option 2. Call in using your telephone.

United States: +1 (312) 757-3129

Canada: +1 (647) 497-9350

Access Code: 762-393-301

Please join us!

Agenda

7:15 Welcome and introductions

7:18 Verse

7:20 Introduce guest speaker

7:25 Guest Speaker: Gisela Wielki (50 minutes) 8:15 Q&A – Please state your name, location before asking a question

8:28 Close with verse

***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

click here for a List of possible  activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

 

“We shall come rejoicing”…

Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

1st August 2017 – Astro-weather: This evening the waxing gibbous Moon forms a triangle with Antares to Her lower left & brighter Saturn more directly to Her left.

Dariusz Slusarski.

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

 “History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man”. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathea – according to all four Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after the crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, & also with the Grail legend.

“One must penetrate to an understanding of the Mystery of the Bread, which is said to have been broken by Christ Jesus in the same chalice in which Joseph of Arimathea caught His blood. As legend tells it, this chalice was then removed to Europe, but was preserved by angels in a region high above the surface of the earth until the arrival of Titurel [Note 9] who created for this Grail, this sacred chalice, a temple on Mont Salvat”  ~Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 16, 1921

30 BC – Augustus Octavian enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic

30 BC – Deathday of Mark Antony, Roman general & politician

1464 – Deathday of Cosimo de’ Medici, Italian ruler

1469 – Louis XI of France founds the chivalric order called the Order of Saint Michael in Amboise

1714 – Deathday of Queen Anne of Great Britain

1819 – Birthday of Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, & poet

1842 – The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia. A parade was held by over 1,000 members of the black Young Men’s Vigilant Association on Philadelphia’s Lombard Street between 5th & 8th streets in commemoration of the 8th anniversary of the end of slavery in the British West Indies.  As the paraders neared Mother Bethel Church, they were attacked by an Irish Catholic mob. The rioters moved west, setting fires & attacking firefighters & police as they went, heading for the home of African-American leader Robert Purvis. Purvis & his home were reportedly saved from the Irish mob solely by a Catholic priest’s intervention.

Requests to the mayor & police for protection initially led to the arrest of several of the victims & none of the rioters. Over three days of attacks, the 2nd African American Presbyterian Church, the abolitionist Smith’s Hall, & numerous homes & public buildings were looted, burned & mostly destroyed. The mayor had credible evidence of a plan to burn several local churches, which he ignored. Eventually, as the rioting began to subside, the local militia was brought in to restore order.

1936 – The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler

1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City

***

Jeff Gooden

 

(Lammas/ Lughnassad poem – Aug. 1st )

CORN RIGS & WHEELS [15 degrees Leo]

CICADAS TRANCE
IN THETA WAVES OF SOUND

THE SICKLES REAP IN BORDERTIME
OPENING THE GATEWAY TO THE WEST

DRAGONS FLY
INTO THE MOUTH
OF THE HOLLOWMAN –
HIS EYES BLAZE
AS HE GLIMPSES HER WAITING WOMB
ALL RIPE & HOT – HER PHOENIX TOMB
A FIERCE ALCHEMICAL FURANCE –
BAKED IN THE LION FIRE
OF TETRAMORPH ANGELS
JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE
GRIND THE GRAIN
TO MAKE THE BREAD & BEER

MOULDED CHRYSOKOLLA –
THE KNEADED WICKERMAN
FULFILLS THE SACRIFICE
& SITS UPON HER ALTAR –
NEXT TO BRAIDED CORN DOLLIES
& MOIST CAKE

AT THE TOP OF THE HILL –
THE SUN
COVERED WITH PITCH & TAR
& TIED TO THE SPIKED WHEEL OF CATHERINE…
IS SET AFLAME –
THE BLAZING DISK ROLLS IN IMMOLATION
TO IT’S DECLINE

BURN THE OLD STRAW EFFIGY
AT THE FUNERAL GAMES
TO BLESS THE FIRST GRAINS

WATCH SOTHIS RISE –
MORNING FIRST SCORCHER
CELESTIAL JACKAL
HERALD OF THE NEW YEAR –

FLOOD THE FIELDS
WITH YOUR SCINTILLATING SERUM

& WE MEET ONCE AGAIN
ONCE AGAIN, ONCE AGAIN
IN A YEAR & A DAY
TO BEHEAD THE LOAF
& EAT…

~hag

***

“Bringing in the Sheaves” – Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve: Now begins the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves.

So perhaps you’d like to bake a loaf of bread on Lammas. If you’ve never made bread before, this is a good time to start. Honor the source of the flour as you work with it: remember it was once a plant growing on the mother Earth. If you have a garden, add something you’ve harvested–herbs or onion or corn–to your bread. If you don’t feel up to making wheat bread, make corn bread. Or gingerbread people. Or popcorn. What’s most important is intention. All that is necessary to enter sacred time is an awareness of the meaning of your actions.

 

Shape the dough in the figure of a man or a woman & give your grain-person a name. If he’s a man, you could call him Lugh, the Sun-King, or John Barleycorn, or the Pillsbury Dough Boy, or Adonis or Osiris or Tammuz.

Pauline Campanelli in The Wheel of the Year suggests names for female figures: She of the Corn, She of the Threshing Floor, She of the Seed, She of the Great Loaf (these come from the Cyclades where they are the names of fertility figures), Freya (the Anglo-Saxon and Norse fertility Goddess who is also called the Lady & the Giver of the Loaf), the Bride (Celtic) and Ziva or Siva (the Grain Goddess of, the Ukraine, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia).

Another way to honor the Grain Goddess is to make a corn doll. This is a fun project to do with kids. Take dried-out corn husks and tie them together in the shape of a woman. She’s your visual representation of the harvest. As you work on her, think about what you harvested this year.

Give your corn dolly a name, perhaps one of the names of the Grain Goddess or one that symbolizes your personal harvest. Dress her in a skirt, apron & bonnet & give her a special place in your house. She is all yours till the spring when you will plant her with the new corn, returning to the Earth that which She has given to you.

“we shall come rejoicing”…

xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Kari Marie Olson

The Bridging Project – Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul
August 2, 2017 – 7:15 pm CST (8:15 pm EST)
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to our conversation with special guest Gisela Wielki.
 
Gisela Wielki was born and raised in Germany. Obtained her degree in early childhood education, followed by a three year study at the Seminary of the Christian Community in Stuttgart (ordained in 1970.) Gisela was sent to the New York Congregation in 1972, and then lived in Chicago from 2002 to 2010 as a one of the founding directors of the English speaking seminary. Gisela has spent many years working with children, youth and young adults in Christian Community summer camps, youth and young adult conferences
Please read to prepare for the session:
Our theme for the evening shall be multifaceted:
 
Death is not the final stage of life
There is no deathday without a birthday
What is death? Who is death?
Not so, death is not just an entry into a new state of consciousness.
Death and the significance of the body
Death and the building of a new body through Christ and with Christ
Pen and paper may be useful
 
Option 1. Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended)
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/762393301
Option 2. Call in using your telephone.
United States: +1 (312) 757-3129
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9350
Access Code: 762-393-301
Please join us!
Agenda
7:15 Welcome and introductions
7:18 Verse
7:20 Introduce guest speaker
7:25 Guest Speaker: Gisela Wielki (50 minutes) 8:15 Q&A – Please state your name, location before asking a question
8:28 Close with verse

 

***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

click here for a List of possible PDF activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

 

Consolidation

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

30 July 2017 – Astro-Weather: 1st Quarter Moon is in Libra, look to Her upper left for Spica & Jupiter at dusk, & far right for Scorpius & Saturn.

Starry Scorpius is sometimes called “the Orion of Summer” for its brightness & its prominent red supergiant (Antares in the case of Scorpius, Betelgeuse for Orion). But Scorpius passes a lot lower in the south than Orion. That means Scorpius has only one really good viewing month: July – which is almost over. Catch Scorpius in the south-southwest now right after darkness is complete.

Look for the 2 stars especially close together in the tail. These are Lambda Upsilon Scorpii, known as the Cat’s Eyes. The cat is tilting his head & winking – pointing west (right) by nearly a fist-width toward Mu Scorpii, look for a much tighter pair known as the Little Cat’s Eyes.

By the time morning twilight starts to paint the sky, brilliant Venus already dominates the scene. The planet rises around 4 am CDT. It’s hard to mistake the Goddess of Love for anything else she shines far brighter than any other object in the morning sky.

***

Sarah Born

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

“We understand only the very smallest part of human history and of our own life if we consider it in its external aspect, I mean in that aspect which we see from the limited view-point of our earthly life between birth and death. It is impossible to comprehend the inner motives of history and life unless we turn our gaze to that spiritual background which underlies the outer, physical happenings“.  ~Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture III

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

762 – Baghdad is founded

1626 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people

1733 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts

1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare & Medicaid

1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again

1818 – Birthday of Emily Brontë

1863 – Birthday of Henry Ford

1898 – Deathday of Otto von Bismarck, 1st Chancellor of Germany

1894- Birthday of Ernst Lehrs a German anthroposophist, science teacher in the 1st Waldorf School in Stuttgart, lecturer & writer. Having fought in World War I, he then studied science & graduated with a PhD in 1923. In 1935 he moved to The Netherlands, where he worked as a teacher, before moving to Britain as a Jewish refugee from the Nazis. In 1952 he returned to Germany & worked as a lecturer at the newly established course in anthroposophic special education in Eckwälden, where he remained until his death.

In his important work “Man and Matter”, Ernst Lehrs talks about how today’s researcher is an uninvolved spectator, he reveals not only how science has led inescapably to the illusions it believes in today, but more important how we may correct in ourselves the misconceptions science brings into our views through today’s education, giving us a spiritual understanding of nature based on the work of Goethe; which requires an activation of the cognitive consciousness, leading the true researcher back to themselves.

Ernst Lehrs was a personal pupil of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, one of the 12 founding members of the Esoteric Youth Circle.

Written by Ernst Lehrs  a few days after the burning of the 1st Goetheanum: “His (Rudolf Steiner’s) open criticism in various directions concerning the Society & the various activities within it in the weeks leading up to the fateful Christmas-New Year’s time, made one clear about the fact that it was due to the failure on the part of the Society that the necessary spiritual protection was missing from the building. Yet, it was out of an experience of this failure that the impulse for the Youth Course arose, as well as what led to the coming about of our specific endeavor. Thus the idea arose among us that we should ask Rudolf Steiner if, & how we could contribute to the Anthroposophical Society ‘consolidating’ itself again – as one of us put it. With this in mind, we asked to be allowed to speak with him. In the Glass House, on January 3, 1923, we asked about our helping toward consolidation of the Society, Rudolf Steiner answered in a calm tone with emphatic earnestness; “Just keep yourselves consolidated, & the Society will be consolidated.” Then he gave the advice that we should sit together on a regular basis & in symposium-like conversations, reflect again & again upon the foundational impulse of our group.”

***

Sulamith Wulfing

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~The eye is open 
Watching 
Old men grip & grasp 
Blinking at Women yearning
Streaming with children spinning dizzy 
Vapors rise
Flesh falls
The eye recalls
The beauty of an ordinary Summer day
It sees me 
Looking for you

~hag

***

Preparing for the 2nd Harvest: Lammas Day

The Wheel turns from St. John’s Tide with its message of the inner Christ Sun and the mirroring of the Holy nights, to the Sun in the heart of the lion (or at least it’s where Regulus, the heart of the lion, was a couple of thousand years ago!) Lammas, or Loaf mas, a cross quarter festival traditionally celebrated at the beginning of August, marks the point when we leave the Garden, and earn our own way, “by the sweat of our brow”.

The harvest of grain, and the baking of bread, represents the first child of the cosmic union of Sun and Earth. It symbolizes the essence of humanity, born from this union, for the loaf is more than a gift of nature, it is made by the combined forces of nature with the will forces of human activity.

The harvest season is a time of judgment. We are called upon to sift through the things that have grown up during the past half-year, and decide what we will keep and what we will cut away. We must make choices, and act on them. The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, into the time of release.

In astrology, the moon, five eighths past the new moon, is called the “disseminating moon”. During this phase, what has built up in the waxing cycle begins to be released into the environment. We start to see the results of our work. At Lammas, the sun is five-eighths of the way around the Wheel from Winter Solstice. Growth has reached its peak, and the life of the Sun God has begun to bleed off into the fruit and grain.

The King is Dead Long Live the King – for now is also the time of sacrifice, of death in service of life. Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too unripe to be eaten, must be plucked anyway. These are culls, removed so they won’t drain the life force from the good fruit. If everything was left on the tree, the life force would be diluted, or worse, the bad fruit could weigh down a branch until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, or sometimes killing the tree. The culls are taken so the rest of the fruit, and those who depend on the crop for survival, might live.

John Barleycorn must die… ‘Cut in half and buried, then beaten with sticks, and finally crushed between stones’… as the song goes, nevertheless rises once again. Bread is the perfect sacrifice for “Loaf Mass” or Lughnassadh as the Celtics called it, for they knew that this festival is more than just the first fruits of the earth — it also involves the first fruits of human labor. Grain is processed by human craft, and joined with the four elements to make the staff of life.

We will explore this ancient, yet ever renewable Cross-Quarter holiday, further tomorrow.

In gratitude ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Kari Marie Olsen

The Bridging Project Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul

2 August 2017 – 7:15 pm CST(8:15 pm EST)

With special guest Gisela Wielki, sharing her many years’ experience working with the so-called dead from the perspective of a Christian Community Priest

 ***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

click here for a List of possible  activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

 

Metanoia

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Insight, Poetry, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Summer, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

Get ready folks – Today’s New Moon, ignites the sequence that leads to the Great American Solar Eclipse on the next New Moon August 21st 2017  – Both Sun & Moon are in Leo the Lion. And tomorrow Mercury, cozying up to Regulus -the hear-star of Leo, begins His pre-shadow phase moving toward retrograde, which hits stationary on August 12th & extends until Sept 19th 2017.

The Messenger of the gods retraces His steps in order to gather up our past thoughts, words & deeds – giving us a chance to consciously work with the Archangel of Summer Uriel & the spirit of John the Baptist, for a ‘Metanoia’ – a transformative change of heart.

Mercury is the only planet that was invoked by Rudolf Steiner at the laying of the Foundation Stone, in the 1st Goetheanum. When the Johannesbau became a burnt offering to the gods, the Foundation Stone was laid as a Meditation into our hearts at the Christmas Conference.

Mercury the messenger of the gods is seeking now to gather up the best of what lives in human hearts to carry our speaking sun-ward through the shadow – From light through darkness into new light.

This is a clarion call dear friends – May human beings hear it.     

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1967 – Detroit Riots: In Detroit, also known as the 12th Street riot. It began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, just north of the corner of 12th Street (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) & Clairmount Avenue on the city’s Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons & observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest & most destructive riots in the history of the United States, lasting five days.

Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit, & President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in both the 82nd & 101st Airborne Divisions. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, & more than 2,000 buildings destroyed.

***

Vladamir Kush

POD (Poem Of the Day)
~I travel inwardly
I gather berries that have fallen
Fully ripened to the ground
& swing the scythe under hot blue skies…
What is remembered, lives...
~hag

***

The eclipse will be one of two New Moons in the heart of Leo. The first one today will open the eclipse portal, occurring at 0 degrees Leo 44 minutes = the 1st degree of Leo. And the second one, the ‘Great American Eclipse’ on 21  August 2017, will be in the last degree of Leo. So the entire sign of Leo is engulfed in this event.

In 1979 there was a total solar eclipse visible from only a portion of the northwestern region of America. In 1918 there was a Total Solar Eclipse visible across the lower 48 states. The total solar eclipse of 13 June 1257 covered the entire USA, but it also swept across the ocean & the Hawaiian Islands.

The same thing happened with the otherwise-All-American eclipses of 4/13/804 and 1/26/529, which just barely nicked Newfoundland.

You have to go all the way back to 29 July of the year 436 to find an eclipse that hit ONLY what would become mainland America, like this next one!

We will continue to explore the spiritual significance of the Solar eclipse.

To read the PDF Article in Das Goetheanum

PDF Click to read the PDF of the Pageant: From Light Thru Darkness into New Light’ – A ‘New World Drama’ for the ‘Great American Eclipse’

For a List of possible PDF activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

To join  the CRC for the Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST click here to register 

Tomorrow, we look into what it might mean to have Mercury in retrograde at the same time.

until soon

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Gazing into Unbornness on the Full Moon

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Summer

8 July 2017 – Astro-Weather: The Full Thunder/Buck/Rose/Blessing Moon is low in the southeast as the stars come out. Look far to Bella Luna’s upper left for Altair, and far to Her upper right for Saturn. La Luna resides among the background stars of Sagittarius the Archer throughout the night.

***

“History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man“. Percy Bysshe Shelley

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Feast day of Aquila & Priscilla, Companions of the Apostle Paul. When Paul came to Corinth (probably in the year 50), he met them as tentmakers who had just arrived from Rome, because the Emperor Claudius had recently expelled the Jewish community. They all went together to Ephesus. Aquila & Priscilla are mentioned six times in the New Testament (Acts 18:2,18,26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19), & the reader will note that in the odd-numbered mentions, Aquila’s name comes first, while in the even-numbered mentions, Priscilla’s comes first, as if to emphasize that they are being mentioned on equal terms.

Feast day of Saint Kilian an Irish missionary bishop & the Apostle of Bavaria. He was beheaded with 2 of his companions. Their skulls, inlaid with precious stones, have been preserved to this day. On St Kilian’s day, a glass case containing the three skulls is removed from a crypt, paraded through the streets before large crowds, & put on display in Würzburg Cathedral (dedicated to Kilian).

1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem which took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade

1579 – Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan

1625 – Birthday of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer & engineer. Cassini discovered four satellites of the planet Saturn & noted the division of the rings of Saturn; the Cassini Division was named after him.

1730 – A magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 of Chile’s coastline, death toll unknown

by Joseph Severn

1822 – Deathday of Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the major English Romantic poets, one of the most influential. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political & social views, Shelley did not see fame during his lifetime, but recognition for his poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets & writers that included Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Love Peacock, & his own second wife, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, including his father-in-law, the philosopher William Godwin.

Shelley’s theories of economics & morality, for example, had a profound influence on Karl Marx; his early—perhaps first—writings on nonviolent resistance influenced both Leo Tolstoy & Mahatma Gandhi. Henry David Thoreau‘s Civil Disobedience was apparently influenced by Shelley’s writings and theories on non-violence in protest and political action.

Shelley became a lodestone to the subsequent three or four generations of poets, including important Victorian & Pre-Raphaelite poets such as Robert Browning and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He was admired by Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Leo Tolstoy, Bertrand Russell, W. B. Yeats, Upton Sinclair & Isadora Duncan. Shelley’s popularity and influence has continued to grow in contemporary poetry circles.

St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian: A Romance is a Gothic horror novella written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1810 was published anonymously as “by a Gentleman of the University of Oxford” while the Shelley was an undergraduate. The main character is Wolfstein, a solitary wanderer, who encounters Ginotti, an alchemist of the Rosicrucian or Rose Cross Order who seeks to impart the secret of immortality.

1831 – Birthday of John Pemberton, chemist & pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola

1838 – Birthday of Eli Lilly, chemist, & businessman, founded Eli Lilly a global pharmaceutical company

1838 – Birthday of Ferdinand von Zeppelin German general & businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company

1839 – Birthday of John D. Rockefeller, founded the Standard Oil Company

1876 – White supremacists kill five Black Republicans in Hamburg, South Carolina

1908 – Birthday of Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States

1926 – Birthday of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross a Swiss-American psychiatrist, pioneer in near-death studies & the author of the groundbreaking book ‘On Death & Dying’ where she first discussed her theory of the five stages of grief

1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22

1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.

2010 – The Solar Impulse completed the first 24-hour flight by a solar powered plane

2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza

***

 Kari Marie Olson

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I stand before the mirror looking back in time
Gazing into unbornness – the other side of eternity
I am roused
To walk the circuitous path of the unseen
From no-thing – I come to thought
To birth
A-become
~hag

***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register 

***