‘‘ANTHROPOSOPHIA: OUR ALCHEMICAL SOUL JOURNEY – A UNION OF WISDOM & LOVE”.
The original idea for the Soul Journey 1st came thru as part of an Easter-Tide Retreat that the Central Regional Council co-created with the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology (AAP) based on the Psychology of Karma, since the CRC theme in 2020 was Karma & Reincarnation. The Journey was then called: ‘Know Thyself: Sophia-Christos’& was to be enacted on Holy Saturday 2020.
We were all set to bring in James A. Dyson, M.D. from Britain, along with folks from around the country: Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., & David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D. & the CRC crew: Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, David Howerton, Lisa Dalton, Eurythmist: Mary Ruud & myself. Registration was in full swing when the lockdown was announced…And so the Easter weekend retreat had to be canceled.
The project lay in state until it became clear that it wanted to rise up with the Sophia – reworked to serve as the heart of the Sophia Rising Convergence.
This Soul Journey strongly engages the will – the most underdeveloped soul force for most people. We recognized going in that anything new can push people out of their comfort zones, & yet it was a clear calling from the spiritual world – a wake-up call – to help folks step up in this challenging time which calls for us to become more fully embodied in our free willing.
The Journey is meant to be a new way of engaging with Spiritual Science, a practical extension, going beyond simply hearing a lecture where we sit & receive the imparted wisdom of a presenter. That is the old conference mode, which of course is still embraced, & was very powerful indeed at the Convergence.
I realized that many folks didn’t really understand what Steiner means by the ‘New Mysteries’, this inspired me to give the Prelude before the Journey.
In the Journey as a New Mystery, we activate our will thru enthusiastic feeling, to create a living experiential striving as individuals within a sacred space of other striving souls, co-creating a Holy Grail – a thinking-heart vessel for Anthroposophia.
The Journey is meant to set the stage for our individual ongoing inner development; a modern initiation, to assist in an evolutionary birthing process, allowing the wisdom from within the free human being to emerge, to personally engage & empower the Anthroposophia within.
The Soul Journey went thru dozens of revisions, a true initiation for me in letting go, of refining, of creatively getting to the essence of soul & spirit, inventing new ways of using the Word. This really stretched me as an artist & as a human being, putting me to the test, asking me to be selfless in a very practical way, to reshape the vision so that it would truly serve the highest good. This was a hard lesson, but much needed for my personal growth. I grew up in an abusive family where I had to learn to stick up for myself. My mother was so selfless that she became a victim, dying young, & I vowed never to let that happen to me. But thru Anthroposophy I have come to know that being selfless doesn’t have to mean getting stept on, that in truth it is the ultimate embodiment of the Christ Impulse. And so I am truly grateful for the humbling resistance that karmicly came my way thru this process.
The New Mysteries when met with intention opens the way to a conscious quest, which I understand not everyone is ready, willing or able to take on – Yet it is a question at the core of Being Human – the quest living in the question of how to ‘Know Thy Self’.
Along with reverence, this is the 1st step of inner development, which is ongoing – preparing the seeking soul for an Alchemical Union of the Sophia-Christos within…
Before we can make this unification we must meet Trials of the Soul which reveal the obstacles on our path to wholeness. And so the Journey begins by passing thru 3 stages: 1st – The ‘Harrowing of Hell’, (It was Orthodox Holy Saturday after all) where we face the hindrances to our Thinking, Feeling & Willing…2nd – We stand before the Guardian of the Threshold to see ourselves for what we are…something most of us try to avoid…Then strengthened by the courage of Michael, we encounter ‘the tempter’ & ‘the deceiver’…Coming into balance, we enter the 3rd stage: ‘Paradiso’ – Where we redeem the New Isis-Sophia – we gather up the dismembered parts into a wholeness – to foster Anthroposophia within our soul, & to manifest SOPHIA RISING: Unveiling the Wisdom of Being Human, in the world…
To get there we are empowered to become our own Charon to ferry our souls across the river Achero to meet ourselves on the inside. Dante tells us: “Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.” He also lets on that: “The path to paradise begins in hell”.
And so on Orthodox Holy Saturday 2022 we made our descent; which led to our Resurrection…The various ArtActs prepared & paved the way; including getting grounded with The ‘Constitutional Eurythmy Exercise’ & the ‘Meditation for Protection’…etc.
The Journey then progressed in our striving to consciously cross the abyss. We encountered the Time Spirit Michael, Son of The Sophia, who holds for us the countenance of the Being of Love, & waits for us to redeem the Cosmic Intelligence through our earnest heart-thinking.
We go on to meet ‘the farmer’ in the spiritualizing of the Earth. The Christ as the Being of Love & the Sophia in her Cosmic, & human aspects are introduced – The joining of Warmth – to the Light of human Understanding…
Many questions are posed. We are continually asked to make our ‘Declaration of Intent’. We can contemplate: What gifts will we bring to the world? What intentions will we consecrate in the Temple of our Heart? What do we want to come forth from this conscious union of: Soul & Spirit – Wisdom & Love – Warmth & Light. The questing is always enhanced by the ArtActs of eurythmy, singing; & at the end with a recitation of ‘Destiny’ by Rudolf Steiner:
The wishes of the soul are springing The deeds of the will are thriving The fruits of life are ripening… I feel my destiny – My destiny finds me I feel my star – My star finds me I feel my goals in life – My goals in life are finding me Life grows more radiant about me Life grows more challenging for me Life grows more abundant within me. My soul and the world are one great unity.
We conclude the Journey with the Easter Mood Calendar of the Soul Verse & the Halleluiah in Eurythmy.
If you want a copy of the ‘Script’ which has all the verses, songs, Steiner quotes & my research in a beautifully spiral bound edition with art work – Just email me. I can mail it to you for a donation of $20 or more – I have 15 left.
The initiation continues for me, every day & especially in night school now that the Journey has been inscribed into the ethers. I am wrestling with my own doubts & fears, & the sting of imagined scorn. Did the Journey truly serve? Or was it not able to be received? Did it come too soon, missing the mark – the definition of sin…?
What I strive for is to be a Christ imbued Human Being which will unveil the Anthroposophia with the courage of Michael to serve humanity.
Please share your experience – even if it is a criticism, Any & ALL feedback is important if we are to be Spiritual Scientific researchers in earnest. The Journey did not end on Orthodox Holy Saturday, but must continue to unfold like the Mystery of Golgotha when the seed of a New Sun was planted into the ever evolving Earth & into the Temple of our Hearts…
From Necessity to Freedom – The Evolution of Human Consciousness
From the vaporous cleft of Mount Parnassus, and the birth place of Greek Philosophy, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and the Holy Grail – From Prophesy to Warning, from Fate to Karma, From Destiny to Free Will.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings
We appreciate your support of the ongoing work of The Faust Branch in making these offerings available. Admission for lectures: Faust Branch members $5, non-members $10. No one excluded for lack of funds. Admission fees may be made via PayPal
Sophia Rising: Unveiling the Wisdom of Being Human, a recapitulation
The inscription of the New Isis: “I am, the Past, the Present & the Future, every mortal should lift my veil” was a living motif for our Convergence – an invitational undercurrent that layered in with the overlay of Orthodox Holy Week, which I pointed out was being celebrated in places like the Ukraine – A reflection also of the 3 panels of the Foundation Stone Meditation.
The 18 ‘Soul Journey’ leaders got to meet & rehearse in the ‘Kiva Room’, early on Orthodox Maundy Thursday, warming & sanctifying the space. We came together for the 1st time as a group in person under the enlivening direction of Lisa Dalton. We set the 123 chairs into a mandala that formed a 4-fold elemental cross with an encircling center & an open periphery. Thru speech, eurythmy & the dramatic arts we worked to activate the energy which became the heart of the Convergence.
Maria Ver Eecke leading us in Eurythmy gestures
That evening in a soft opening thru the warmth of Tess Parker‘s welcoming, we continued the mood of a true recapitulation of Maundy Thursday, giving us the new Sacrament. We came together, in our case to receive a bountiful dessert reception sweetening the ‘ArtActs’ which were revealed for the 1st time & then built-up thru out the time together in preparation for our ‘Soul Journey’ – Singing, with former Waldorf Teacher Jill McCormick, who was recommended by local Micky Leach – Eurythmy, with Maria Ver Eecke, therapeutic eurythmist for the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY – And Speech Recitation with Lisa Dalton, master teacher in the Michael Chekhov Technique. These ‘ArtActs’called in the future while bringing us fully into the present.
Orthodox Good Friday gave us the morning to explore the many sacred sites in Santa Fe. It was like being at summer camp seeing so many Anthroposophists out & about, meeting in synchronistic karmic ways around town.
After lunch we gathered our diverse experiences into a communal present moment thru our official opening with Tess.
UVA & the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Micky Leach wove in the past to help us attune to the Spirit of Place, which was an ever present Being among us. Santa Fe’s unique blend of Spanish & Native Cultures against the majesty of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains & the spectacular sunsets over the Jemez range, have made a deep imprint into my soul. The early Native American inhabitants called Santa Fe “Dancing Ground of The Sun“; while the founding frontiersman at the turn of the 20th century referred to it as “The City Different.” During our early planning team meetings we took to dubbing it Saint Fae to honor the elementals, or The Iron (fe) of the Divine Feminine…
Tess & Angela
Then Angela Foster led us in ‘Weaving Earth’ with a ‘soil stir’ inviting everyone to mix in the soil they brought from their holy grounds. How perfect to begin our journey grounded on the Earth, honoring the Mother who holds us all on Earth Day. I contributed some horn silica made on the oldest Biodynmaic Farm in America by Petra & Mark Zinniker.
Soil Stir
The ‘Heart Math’ sessions that Michele Mariscalbrought thru out our time together, always helped center us in the present.
Mary Stewart pointed up the eclipse picture questioning & connecting the past cycles with what is to come, in our ever present responsibility to join the cosmic conversation in our “Speaking with the Stars’.
The evening ‘Fireside Chats‘ gave folks a chance to be in the present thru sharing & informative conversation.
Holy Saturday, holding the imprint of ‘The Harrowing of Hell’ started early with ‘Weaving Ether’ thru the ‘ArtActs’. (23 April was also the last day of Passover; Shakespeare’s Birth & Deathday; the Feast of St. George; in 215 BC – A temple dedicated to Venus Erycina is completed in Rome; & in 1879 Notre Dame burns)
The wildfires were beginning to redden the air with smoke as the winds howled outside, dust devils swirling.
Stephanie Georgieff streaming in from Bulgaria took us deep into the past with the history of Our lady of Guadalupe, revealing also her connection to the starry worlds with indications she received from Astrosopher Brain Gray.
In our ‘Weaving Stories’ session led by Tess Parker, we touched into all 3, tracing our relationship to the Sophia from early childhood, into the now, with a chance to inform the future.
I gave a ‘prelude’ to the ‘Soul Journey’ to set the stage for Anthroposophia:
Prelude .:. A 100 years ago in 1922 Rudolf Steiner was bringing Spiritual Science to public audiences of 3000 or more. Many of the lecture themes involved the impulse for a renewal in the social sphere, emphasizing the transition from old to new methods of inner development. Steiner was attacked many times by the old guard, & his life threated by Nazi factions, for bringing to the public what was considered secret teachings before the New Michael Age. But Steiner knew that at the beginning of the 20th Century the spiritual world was calling for a renewal of the Mysteries, to foster the mission of the Consciousness Soul in the New Michael Age…Steiner called it the ‘New Mysteries’.
We are about to enter the very heart of our Sophia Convergence, & you are invited to step into a deeply intensive experiential Soul Journey into these New Mysteries…What do we mean with this phrase ‘New Mysteries’? Well, in the old mysteries the human being was like a passive vessel thru which the gods worked. The spiritual powers overshadowed the unconscious soul forces of the human being…The gesture was a pouring in – like a triangle pointing down – symbol for water. The New Mysteries, empower us with the opposite gesture – a rising up – like the symbol of fire – the triangle rising up – like the tongues of fire rising up from the heads of the apostles.
Steiner referred to this as the Reverse Cultus or Reverse Ritual, which sounds strange in English, but is a fancy way of saying: We must now do the work, we must choose out of our own free will, to rise up in our thinking to meet the spiritual, in ourselves, in each other & in the world…We are called to take up the indications for inner development given by Spiritual Science to activate Anthroposophia within our soul forces.
And the concept of ritual must also be renewed. Steiner says it is an action of the will, done in reverence. The reversal means we do it with this new gesture of rising up in awakened consciousness.
And of course we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater – we are meant to bring the 2 triangles together to form a 6 pointed star – symbol of the Alchemical Marriage of fire & water – Steiner gives us the 6 basic essential exercises to develop this 6 pointed star in our etheric heart.
The lecture which Steiner gave 100 years ago in 1922, on New Year’s Eve, an hour before the fire began burning in the 1st Goetheanum, was called: “THE SPIRITUAL COMMUNION OF HUMANKIND: Spiritual Cognition is a True Communion, the Beginning of a Cosmic Ritual Suitable for the Human Being of the Present Age”. This concept shows that when we spiritualize our thinking we are consummating a new kind of communion.
Steiner gave this concept right at a powerful moment of transition, when the 1st Goetheanum was about to become a burnt offering, sacrificed, & inscribed into the ethers, like the Temple of Artemis, in Ephesus – At this historic moment Steiner talks about the New Mysteries. In it we hear: “The first beginning of what must come to pass if Anthroposophy is to fulfil its mission in the world, is that the human being’s whole relationship to the world must be recognized to be one of cosmic ritual or reverse cultus…”
Here Steiner is referring to the fact that the supersensible Michaelic School must now be enacted here on Earth…Maybe you’ve heard of this Michael School? Maybe you have a remembrance of being there, in the 14th & 15th Centuries in the life between death & rebirth – perhaps with many sitting here today? The idea that we go to school & then just leave those teachings behind doesn’t make sense does it? We are meant to bring those teachings into our lives now on earth.
We know that with the burning, & thru the early death of Rudolf Steiner, the adversarial forces were able to diffuse this important impulse…But now, dear friends, after 100 years, these New Mysteries are calling to be renewed. We are meant to continue Steiner’s work. And this Soul Journey, is our humble attempt to at least begin to ‘follow that good star’ which Rudolf Steiner showed us at the Christmas Conference… And of course, the 1st prerequisite for the New Mysteries is that they must be received in complete freedom.
Ok, that is my little prelude…So now we have our lunch time – a time to not only socialize – but to mentally, physically, & emotionally prepare…For – ‘‘ANTHROPOSOPHIA: OUR ALCHEMICAL SOUL JOURNEY – A UNION OF WISDOM & LOVE”.
From Necessity to Freedom – The Evolution of Human Consciousness
From the vaporous cleft of Mount Parnassus, and the birth place of Greek Philosophy, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and the Holy Grail – From Prophesy to Warning, from Fate to Karma, From Destiny to Free Will.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings
We appreciate your support of the ongoing work of The Faust Branch in making these offerings available. Admission for lectures: Faust Branch members $5, non-members $10. No one excluded for lack of funds. Admission fees may be made via PayPal
27 April 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: This is a great week to wake up early and look at the planets all in a line! The crescent Moon will glide by Venus and Jupiter, forming a lovely triangle on Tuesday morning, April 26, and especially Wednesday morning, April 27. Look an hour before sunrise. At the end of the week (Sat, 30th), Venus & Jupiter converge for their big conjunction. See info: Almanac.com/night-sky-april
470 BC- Birth Day of Socrates; teacher of Plato – “Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune”.~Socrates
399 BC – Death Day of Socrates. The Karma Lectures of Rudolf Steiner (vol. 4/10) indicate that this was his teacher ‘s father G.T. Schroer.
711 BC –Islamic conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula…The Karma Lectures of Rudolf Steiner indicate Darwin to be a later incarnation (vol. 1/10)
1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield
1810 – Beethoven composes Für Elise.
1861 – American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1882 – Death day of Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, & poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism & a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society. Emerson wrote on a number of subjects, never espousing fixed philosophical tenets, but developing certain ideas such as individuality, freedom, the ability for humankind to realize almost anything, & the relationship between the soul & the surrounding world. “Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul”. He remains among the linchpins of the American Romantic Movement, & his work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers & poets that have followed him…The Karma Lectures of Rudolf Steiner (vol. 4/10) indicate that he was formerly known as Tacitus – considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature. He is known for the brevity & compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.
1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
“On Good Friday, 1857, Wagner was sitting in the Retreat, “the sanctuary on the green hill.” Looking out over the fields watching the plants come to life, sprouting from the earth, an inkling arose in him of the Power of the germinating force emerging from the Earth in response to the rays of the sun: a driving force, a motivating force that permeates the whole world and lives in all beings; a force that must evolve, that cannot remain as it is; a force that, to reach higher stages, must pass through death. Watching the plants, he felt the force of sprouting life, and turning his gaze across the Lake of Zürich to the village; he contemplated the opposite idea, that of death — the two polar concepts to which Goethe gives such eloquent expression in his poem, Blessed Longing.
And until thou truly hast, This dying and becoming, Thou are but a troubled guest O’er the dark earth roaming.
Goethe rewrote the words in his hymn to nature saying: “Nature invented death to have more life; only through death can she create a higher spiritual life.”
On Good Friday, as the symbol of death came before humankind in remembrance, Wagner sensed the connection between life, death and immortality. He felt a connection between the life sprouting from the earth and the Death on the Cross, the Death that is also the source of a Christian belief that life will ultimately be victorious over death, will become eternal life. Wagner sensed an inner connection between the sprouting life of Spring and the Good Friday belief in Redemption, the belief that from Death on the Cross springs Eternal Life. This thought is the same as that contained in the Quest for the Holy Grail, where the chaste plant blossom, striving towards the Sun, is contrasted with human desire filled nature. On the one hand Wagner recognized that human beings are steeped in desires; on the other he looked towards a future ideal — the ideal that human beings shall attain a higher consciousness through overcoming their lower nature, shall attain a higher fructifying power, called forth by the Spirit.
Looking towards the Cross, Wagner saw the blood flowing from the Redeemer, the symbol of Redemption, being caught in the Grail Chalice. This picture, linked itself within him to the life awakening in nature. These thoughts were passing through Wagner’s soul on Good Friday, 1857. He jotted down a few words that later became the basis from which he created his magnificent Good Friday drama. He wrote: “The blossoming plant springs from death; eternal life springs from the Death of Christ.” At that moment Wagner had an inner awareness of the Spirit behind all things, of the Spirit victorious over death.
For a time other creative ideas pushed those concerned with Parsifal into the Background. They came to the fore once more near the end of his life, when, clearer than before, they conveyed to him a person’s path of knowledge. Wagner portrayed the path to the Holy Grail to show the cleansing of a human beings’ desire nature. As an ideal this is depicted as a pure holy chalice whose image is the plant calyx’s chaste fructification to new creation by the sunbeam, the holy lance of love. The sunbeam enters matter as Amfortas’ lance enters sinful blood. But there the result is suffering and death. The path to the Holy Grail is portrayed as a cleansing of the sinful blood of lower desires till, on a higher level, it is as pure and chaste as is the plant calyx in relation to the sunbeam. Only he who is pure in heart, unworldly, untouched by temptation, so that he approaches the Holy Grail as an “innocent fool” filled with questions of its secret, can discover the path.
This idea led to his wonderful artistic interpretation of the Good Friday tradition, so that it can truly be said that Wagner has succeeded in bringing religion into art, in making art religious.
In his artistic new creation of the Good Friday tradition, Wagner had the ingenious idea of combining the subject of faith with that of the Holy Grail. On the one hand stands the belief that humankind will be redeemed, and on the other, that through perfecting its nature humanity itself strives towards redemption; the belief that the Spirit permeating humankind — a drop of which lives in each individual as his higher self — in Christ Jesus foreshadowed humanity’s redemption. All this arose as an inner picture in Wagner’s mind already on that Good Friday in 1857 when he recognized the connection between the legend of Parsifal and Redemption through Christ Jesus.
We can begin to sense the presence of the Christ within mankind’s spiritual environment when, with sensitivity and understanding, we absorb the story of the Holy Grail. And it can deepen to concrete inner spiritual experience when we sense the transition from the midnight of Maundy Thursday — events of Maundy Thursday — to those of Good Friday, which symbolize the victory of nature’s resurrection.
Wagner’s Parsifal was inspired by the festival of Easter. He wanted new life to pour into the Christian festivals, which originally were established out of a deep understanding of nature. This can be seen especially in the case of the Easter festival, which was established when it was still known that the constellation of Sun and Moon affected human beings. When the spirit was regarded as a reality it was sensed in all things. If we could still sense what was bequeathed to us through traditions in regard to the festivals, then we would also have a feeling for how to celebrate Good Friday. Richard Wagner did have that feeling, just as he also perceived that the words of the Redeemer: “I am with you to the end of the world,” called human beings to follow the trail that led to the lofty ideal of the Holy Grail. Then people who lived the Truth would become redeemers.
Mankind is redeemed by the Redeemer. But Wagner adds the question: “When is the Redeemer redeemed?” He is redeemed when He abides in every human heart. As He has descended into the human heart, the human heart must ascend. Something of this was also felt by Wagner, for from the motif of faith he lets sound forth what is the mystical feeling of mankind in these beautiful words from Parsifal:
Greatest Healing Wonder – Redemption for the Redeemer!
These words truly show Wagner’s deep commitment to the highest ideal a person can set himself: to approach that Spiritual Power that came down to us and lives in our world. When we are worthy, we bring what resounds at the dose of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal: Redemption for the Redeemer” ~ Rudolf Steiner, Supersensible Knowledge, Lecture XII, Richard Wagner and Mysticism From death comes life
15 April 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: This evening Bella Luna is not quite full – It will be exact at 1:55 tomorrow afternoon CDT. Look below the Moon after dark for Spica glimmering through its glare. Much farther to the Moon’s left shines brighter Arcturus. During dawn tomorrow morning the 16th, spot Venus shining in the East. Upper right of it are Mars and then Saturn, much fainter. Lower left of Venus Jupiter is also coming into view. WOW The Spiritual world is lining up for an Easter Parade!
1452 – The Birthday of Leonardo da Vinci – According to the spiritual scientific research of Rudolf Steiner this individuality incarnated before as Augustine, Judas Maccabee & then…
“What is inscribed in the Akasha Chronicle between the earth and the moon is of special importance because it is there that among other things all imperfections are recorded. It should be realized that the inscribing of these imperfections is governed by the view that every record there is of significance for the individual’s own evolution, either furthering or hindering his progress. Because it is there inscribed in the Akasha Chronicle between earth and moon, it also becomes significant for the evolution of the earth as a whole. The imperfections of really great men are also recorded in that sphere. One example of tremendous interest for clairvoyant observation is Leonardo da Vinci. He is a spirit of greatness and universality equaled by few others on earth, but compared with what he intended, his actual achievements in the external world in many respects remained incomplete. As a matter of fact, no man of similar eminence left as much uncompleted as Leonardo da Vinci. The consequence of this was that a colossal amount was inscribed by him in the Moon sphere, so much indeed that one is often bound to exclaim, “How could all that is inscribed there possibly have reached perfection on the earth!”
At this point I want to tell you of something that seemed to me quite significant when I was studying Leonardo da Vinci. I was to give a lecture about him in Berlin and a particular observation made in connection with him seemed to be extremely important. It fills one with sadness today to see on the wall of the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan the rapidly disappearing colors that now convey no more than a faint shadow of what the picture once was. If we remember that Leonardo took sixteen years to paint this picture, and think of how he painted it, we gain a definite impression. It is known that he would often go away for a long time. Then he would return to the picture, sit in front of it or many hours, make a few strokes with the brush and go off again. It is also known that many times he felt unable to express what he wished in the painting and suffered terrible fits of depression on this account. Now it happened that a new prior was appointed to the monastery at a time when Leonardo had already been working at the picture for many years. This prior was a pedantic and strict disciplinarian with little understanding of art. He asked impatiently why the painter could not finish the picture, reproached him for it and also complained to Duke Ludovico. The Duke repeated the complaint to Leonardo and he answered, “I do not know whether I shall ever be able to complete this picture. I have prototypes in life for all the figures except those of Judas and Christ. For them I have no models, although in the case of Judas, if no model turns up I can always take the prior. But for the Christ I have no prototype.”
What I want to say is that when one looks today at the figure of Judas in the picture that has almost completely faded, a shadow is to be seen on this figure, a shadow that cannot be explained in any way, either by the instreaming light or by anything else. Occult investigation finds that the painting was never as Leonardo da Vinci really wanted it to be. With the exception of the figures of Judas and the Christ he wanted to portray everything through light and shadow, but Judas was to be portrayed in such a way as to give the impression that darkness dominated the countenance from within. This was not intended to be conveyed by external contrasts of light and shadows. In the figure of Christ the impression was to be that the light on His countenance was shining from within, radiating outwards from within. But at this point disharmony beset Leonardo’s inner life, and the effect he desired was never produced. This affords a clue when one is observing the many remaining inscriptions made by Leonardo in the Moon sphere. It is an example of something that could not be brought to fulfillment in the earth sphere.
When the period following that of Leonardo da Vinci is investigated, it is found that Leonardo continued to work through a number of those who lived after him. Even externally there can be found in Leonardo’s writings things that later on were demonstrated by scientists and also by artists. In fact, the whole subsequent period was under his influence. It is then discovered that the inscribed imperfections worked as inspirations into the souls of Leonardo’s successors, into the souls of men who lived after him.
The imperfections of an earlier epoch are still more important for the following epoch than its perfections. The perfections are there to be studied, but what has been elaborated to a certain degree of perfection on the earth has, as it were, reached an end, has come to a conclusion in evolution. What has not been perfected is the seed of the following divine evolutionary process. Here we come to a remarkable, magnificent paradox. The greatest blessing for a subsequent period is the fruitful imperfection, the fruitful, justifiable imperfection of an earlier period. What has been perfected in an earlier epoch is there to be enjoyed. Imperfection, however, imperfection originating in great men whose influences have remained for posterity, helps to promote creative activity in the following period. Hence, there is obviously tremendous wisdom in the fact that imperfections remain in the neighborhood of the earth, inscribed in the records of the Akasha Chronicle between earth and moon.
This brings us to the point where we can begin to understand the principle that perfection signifies for the different epochs the end of a stream of evolution, and imperfection, the beginning of an evolutionary stream. For imperfection in this sense men should actually be thankful to the gods.” ~Rudolf Steiner Life Between Death and Rebirth Man’s Journey through the Cosmic Spheres after Death
‘The Devil Presenting Saint Augustine with the Book of Vices’; painting by Michael Pacher, fifteenth centuryJudah Maccabee by Arthur Szyk
“Among the five sons of Mattathias is one who is already called Judas in the Old Testament. He was the one who at that time fought more bravely than all the others for his own people. In his whole soul he was dedicated to his people, and it was he who was successful in forming an alliance with the Romans against King Antiochus of Syria (I Maccabees, Chap. 8). This Judas (Maccabeus =The Hammer) is the same who later had to undergo the test of the betrayal, because he who was most intimately bound up with the old specifically Hebrew element, could not at once find the transition into the Christian element, needing the severe testing of the betrayal. Again, if we look at the purely artistic aspect, how wonderfully do the two figures stand out: the grand figure of the Judas in the last chapters of the Old Testament and the Judas of the New Testament. It is remarkable that in this symptomatic process, the Judas of the Old Testament concluded an alliance with the Romans, prefiguring all that happened later, namely the path that Christianity took through the Roman Empire, so that it could enter into the world. If I could add to this something that can also be known but that cannot be given in a lecture to an audience as large as this, you would see that it was precisely through a later reincarnation of Judas that the fusion of the Roman with the Christian element occurred. The reincarnated Judas was the first who, as we might say, had the great success of spreading Romanized Christianity in the world. The treaty concluded by the Judas of the Old Testament with the Romans was the prophetic foreshadowing of what was later accomplished by another man, who is recognized by occultists as the reincarnation of that Judas who had to go through the severe soul-testing of the betrayal. What through his later influence appears as Christianity within Romanism and Romanism within Christianity is like a renewal of the alliance concluded between the Old Testament Judas and the Romans, but transferred into the spiritual.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Gospel of Mark: Lecture 2
“If we let his “Last Supper” work on us, we find two things of which we can say that they do not altogether agree with Leonardo’s view of the principles of painting. One is the figure of Judas. From the reproductions and also to a certain extent from the shadowy painting in Milan, one gets the impression that Judas is quite covered in shadow — he is quite dark. Now when we study how the light falls from the different sides, and how with regard to the other eleven disciples the lighting conditions are represented in the most wonderful manner in accordance with reality, nothing really explains the darkness on the face of Judas. Art can give us no answer as to the wherefore of this darkness. This is fairly clear as regards the Judas figure. If we now turn to the Christ Figure, approaching it not according to Spiritual Science but according to the external view, it only produces, as it were, something like a suggestion. Just as little as the blackness, the darkness of the Judas figure seems justifiable, just as little does the “sunniness” of the Christ Figure, standing out as it does from the other figures, seem to be justified, in this sense. We can understand the lighting of all the other countenances but not that of Judas nor that of Christ Jesus. Then, as if of itself, the idea comes into one’s mind: surely the painter has striven to make evident that in these two opposites, Jesus and Judas, light and darkness proceed not from outside but from within. He probably wished to make us realize that the light on the face of the Christ cannot be explained by the outer conditions of light, and yet we can believe that the Soul behind this Countenance is itself a light force, so that It can shine of Itself, in spite of the lighting conditions. In the same way the impression with respect to Judas, is, that this form itself conjures up a shadow which is not explained by the shadows around it.
This is, as already said, a hypothesis of Spiritual Science, but one that has developed in me in the course of many years and we may believe that the more we considered the problem the more we would find it substantiated. According to this hypothesis one can understand how Leonardo, who strove to be true to nature in all his work and study, worked with trembling brush to present a problem that could only be justified with respect to this one figure. We can then understand that he might well be bitterly disappointed, indubitably so, because it was impossible by means of the then existing art to bring this problem to expression with complete truthfulness and probability. Because he could not yet do what he wanted, he finally despaired of the possibility of its execution and had to leave a picture behind him which still did not satisfy him, and the question as to the feelings with which Leonardo left his picture can be answered in full accord with the whole figure and spiritual greatness of Leonardo. He left it with a feeling of bitterness, realizing that in his most important work he had set himself a task, the execution of which could never be satisfactory with the means available to man. If in the centuries to come no eye will see the picture Leonardo had conjured on to the wall at Milan — that, in any case, was certainly not what lived in his soul. If we picture him thus before his most important creation, we are indeed tempted to ask: What secret really lay behind this figure?”
“…We see very little of Leonardo by looking at his external creations; we get the idea that this soul has still to carry out something in a super-sensible existence and we say to ourselves: Oh! We understand! In order that this soul, in the whole course of its collective existence, which runs through many earth lives, could always reveal something to mankind, it had in its Leonardo existence to pass through a life in which it was only able to bring to expression the very smallest part of what lived within it. Such souls as Leonardo are world riddles and life riddles — world riddles incarnate… Leonardo’s greatness only becomes evident to us when we get an inkling of what he could NOT accomplish. ~Rudolf Steiner, Leonardo da Vinci – His Spiritual and Intellectual Greatness At the Turning Point of the New Age
Kaysha Siemens
‘Velsum’ (Victory in Wholeness) an Anthroposophical Musical Initiative created by Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer performing New Nightingale, New Roseon Easter Sunday
Live streaming from the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago. Join us in-person or online.
PLEASE NOTE: BELOW IS THE NEW ZOOM CODE – AND NEW TIME – (Please disregard the last notices & use the new link to register for this event even if you think you have already registered – sorry for the confusion)
This offering will not be recorded – it is meant for Easter Sunday only.
These 2 Christened voices came together for the “Building the Temple of the Heart” 2021 ASA AGM conference & have gone on to co-create a new musical genre that they call: Ancient Futurism. This past year they have been workshopping this initiative at Angelic Organics Farm graciously hosted by Haidy & Farmer John Peterson, who have put culture back into Agriculture by building a Temple stage to host Anthroposophical events in their glorious Barn building. The Debut of Velsum occurred there on Lazarus Saturday 2022.
Easter Sunday 17 April 2022 Doors open at 12:30 pm CDT 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, Il. 60618 NEW TIME: Performance 1-2pm CDT Potluck Easter Feast 2-3 pm CDT
$10 or more suggested donation goes to the artists –
Chicago Friends – Please Bring Hardy Festive Food & Drink to Share
Meeting ID: 859 6497 5651 One tap mobile +13126266799,,85964975651# US (Chicago) +16468769923,,85964975651# US (New York)
Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 859 6497 5651 Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kb1j1PB3WRFor more info. contact Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel@ReverseRitual.com
“Modern humanity is passing over a threshold at which stands a Guardian, a Guardian grave and full of meaning. And this grave Guardian speaks: “Cling not to what has come as a transplant from olden times; look into your hearts, into your souls, that you may be capable of creating new forms. You can only create these new forms when you have faith that the powers of knowledge and of will for this spiritual creation come out of the spiritual world.”
It is only through spiritual-scientific knowledge of the passing of the threshold in our present day that can give the Christ-form to this chaos.” ~Rudolf Steiner, THE SEARCH FOR THE NEW ISIS, DIVINE SOPHIA, GA 202, Lecture III https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19201225p01.html
I stare into the Clouds Fore-gathering Noetic sight Into squinting syllables. Watch it pour out honeyed unguents – A sweet viscus half-light Overflowing the ashen cup of night. My I’s washed With April showers Splashing like a stepped in puddle Falling fragrant on the flower. ~hag
6 April2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The waxing crescent Moon passes the Pleiades, Aldebaran, and Aldebaran’s surrounding Hyades, just after the end of twilight.
Gloria Ssaili
“What is to be the starting force & impulse for events in social & ethical life must come out of the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, New Spiritual Impulses in History” Dornach 16 December, 1917
582- Death & Feast Day of Eutychius of Constantinople, Toward the end of his life, Eutychius maintained an opinion that after the resurrection the body will be “more subtle than air” & no longer a tangible thing. This was considered heretical, because it was taken as a denial of the doctrine of physical, corporeal resurrection.
TODAY in 1483 – Good Friday – Birthday of Raphael – Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
TODAY in 1520 – Good Friday – Deathday of Raphael – Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
“It must seem strange that Raphael was the same person as a thorny character like John the Baptist.How could it happen that this thorny man, who had to pave the way for the Mystery of Golgotha in such a violent way, reappeared as the gentle, pliable, charming Raphael? But look at this. Raphael’s father, Giovanni Santi, died when Raphael was eleven. He was a painter. He was not a great painter so far as external achievements go, but he had great ideas in his head, although he could not put them on canvas because he had no technical skill. He was also a poet. There was a great deal of fantasy in him, but the physical capacities simply were not there. He went early through the portal of death, and then his forces worked into his son. In Raphael’s hands and imagination worked all that his father could send into the physical world. One can say that the old Giovanni Santi was a painter without hands in the supersensible world, for in a wonderful karmic relationship he supplied, in combination with the Christ-filled individuality of the Baptist, what came to expression in Raphael. The supersensible world had to work with the physical world to achieve this result. It shows how the so-called dead are able to influence those who have been left behind…” ~ Rudolf Steiner, On the Relationship with the Dead, 23 April 1913
Raphael, as we know from was an Italian painter & architect of the High Renaissance. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop &, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace. From 1517 until his death, Raphael lived in the Palazzo Caprini in the Borgo, in rather grand style in a palace designed by Bramante. He never married, & was thought to be bi-sexual. He is said to have had many affairs, but a permanent fixture in his life in Rome was “La Fornarina”, Margherita Luti, the daughter of a baker (fornaro) named Francesco Luti from Siena.
The story goes that Raphael’s premature death on Good Friday, which was also his 37th birthday, was caused by a night of excessive sex with Luti, after which he fell into a fever &, not telling his doctors that this was its cause, was given the wrong cure, which killed him. At his request, Raphael was buried in the Pantheon.
His funeral was extremely grand, attended by large crowds. The inscription in his marble sarcophagus, an elegiac distich written by Pietro Bembo, reads: “Ille hic est Raffael, timuit quo sospite vinci, rerum magna parens et moriente mori”, meaning: “Here lies that famous Raphael by whom Nature feared to be conquered while he lived, and when he was dying, feared herself to die.”
1472 –Birthday of Lucas Cranach the Elder, a German Renaissance painter & printmaker
Madonna del Cardellino by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
1520 – Good Friday – Deathday of Raphael
1869 – Celluloid is patented
1930 – Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire,” beginning the Salt Satyagraha
1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit
1971 – Deathday of Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, & conductor
Zat Rana
1992 – Deathday of Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer
2015 – Deathday of Ray Charles
he Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation April 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“The pupils of the Grail were told of a state which humans would attain in future. Possessed of clear, alert consciousness, their being would be purified, the substance of the human body would become as pure and chaste as that of the plant, and their organs of reproduction transformed.” ~ from Chapter 12
Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 12“The Higher Calyx” and Chapter 13“The Resonant Chalice,” excerpts from Steiner’s lectures given at Nuremberg on 2 December 1907 (GA 92) and Stuttgart 16 September 1907 (GA 101) … will be the focus of the April 6 meeting.
Chapters 12 and 13 in the book can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link A transcript of the 2 December 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link A transcript of the 16 September, 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu or Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.comThere is a knighthood of the 21st century whose riders do not ride through the darkness of physical forests as of old, but through the forest of darkened minds. They are armed with a spiritual armor and an inner sun makes them radiant. Out of them shines healing, healing that flows from the knowledge of the human being as a spiritual being. They must create inner order, inner justice, peace and conviction in the darkness of our time. ~Karl Konig Agenda for this meeting (CST)
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Michael – Chapter 12 Tom – Chapter 13 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
“The pupils of the Grail were told of a state which humans would attain in future. Possessed of clear, alert consciousness, their being would be purified, the substance of the human body would become as pure and chaste as that of the plant, and their organs of reproduction transformed.” ~ from Chapter 12
Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 12“The Higher Calyx” and Chapter 13“The Resonant Chalice,” excerpts from
Steiner’s lectures given at Nuremberg on 2 December 1907 (GA 92) and Stuttgart 16 September 1907 (GA 101) … will be the focus of the April 6 meeting.
Chapters 12 and 13 in the book can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link A transcript of the 2 December 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link A transcript of the 16 September, 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu or Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.comThere is a knighthood of the 21st century whose riders do not ride through the darkness of physical forests as of old, but through the forest of darkened minds. They are armed with a spiritual armor and an inner sun makes them radiant. Out of them shines healing, healing that flows from the knowledge of the human being as a spiritual being. They must create inner order, inner justice, peace and conviction in the darkness of our time. ~Karl Konig Agenda for this meeting (CST)
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Michael – Chapter 12 Tom – Chapter 13 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
On April 5, 1909 Rudolf Steiner laid the Foundation Stone for the Malsch Temple and Branch. This amazing structure can still be visited today, built by student E. A. Karl Stockmeyer using indications from Rudolf Steiner. In the Temple are 14 columns that support an oval-shaped cupola. The capitals form a row of carved images depicting the planetary metamorphosis of the earth’s evolution – these images are drafts used later in the First Goetheanum.
Here is an extract from Steiner’s address given by Bernard Lievegoed in his book ‘About the Salvation of the Soul’:
“We wish to sink the foundation stone of this temple into the lap of our Mother Earth, beneath the full moon’s rays which shine on us within the sprouting green plant-world that surrounds the building. And just as the moon reflects the bright sunlight, we wish to reflect the light of divine-spiritual beings. We want to trustfully turn to our majestic Mother Earth, who lovingly supports and protects us, and confide to her the building’s charter (the words of the charter follow)
Together with the charter, we wish to sink our blessing, all of us assembled here, who will often remember this moment which made our souls and hearts glow. Then our sentiments will continue supporting and protecting this temple and the existence of the Malsch lodge. We also wish to entreat for this stone and the Malsch Lodge the benediction of the Masters of Wisdom and the Harmony of Feelings, and the benediction of all the Higher Beings, all the spiritual hierarchies who are connected to the earth’s evolution. We also entreat that they stream their forces into this Foundation Stone, which continue to act in order that everything thought, felt, willed and done is consistent with them and is penetrated with their spirit.
May the light of the East Radiate over this building; May the spirits of the West reflect it back. May the spirits of the North condense it And the spirits of the South make it warm, So that the spirits of the East, West, North and South stream through the building.
Our Mother Earth was condensed in pain. Our mission is to re-spiritualize her, release her, in that we by the strength of our hands transform her into a spiritual work of art. May this Stone at the same time be a first foundation stone for the freeing and transformation of our planet Earth, and may the force of this Stone increase thousands of times over.
When we were still resting in the lap of the Godhood, lovingly cared for by divine forces, the all-embracing, penetrating Father-Spirit weaved in us. But we were still unknowing, not yet possessing independence. So we descended into matter in order to learn here how to develop self-consciousness. Then came evil, then came death. But Christ was also active in matter and helped us to triumph over death. Therefore when we die in Christ, we live. We will overcome death and spiritualize matter, make it divine through our great force. In us will awaken the force of the Holy Spirit. Thus resonate hear these words:
Ex Deo Nascimur, In Christo morimur, Per Spiritum sanctum reviviscimus.
Out of the Godhead we are born. In Christ death becomes life. In the spirit’s cosmic thoughts the soul awakens”.
Jerry Greene
Pod
~Drink the cup of heaven – She told me Let grace roll down your head like the blessings of baptism Drink in the Earth to let the young sprouts unfurl within According to their purpose… Drink in the light & praise the spectrum That spills out the threads of eternity… …Then you may Be the fire feed with breath Begotten… ~hag
5 April 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Today is the day! Mars and Saturn in an intense conversation face to face. They rise about two hours before dawn in Capricornus. Compare and contrast their colors. This is an amazing chance to see both Mars’ orangey-red deserts and Saturn’s stunning rings, all in a single glance.
Not to be outdone, Venus sits to the pair’s east-northeast, having crossed into Aquarius yesterday. Earth’s sister planet is an unmissable morning star. a
Jupiter and Neptune continue the planetary parade, rising about 50 minutes before the Sun.
2005 – Deathday of Saul Bellow – Born in a suburb of Montreal, in 1915, Bellow was raised in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago, received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honors in sociology and anthropology. While writing he regularly attended study groups on Anthroposophy. He kept a photo of Steiner on his desk, practiced Steiner’s meditation exercises, bought his books by the bagful, and pursued the Steiner scholar Owen Barfield for further illumination. Charlie Citrine, the Bellowish protagonist of the future Nobel laureate’s next novel, Humboldt’s Gift, could be found intently studying Steiner’s Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment in a Madrid hotel room.
Bellow wrote a foreword to The Boundaries of Natural Science, a book of Steiner’s lectures, and often spoke warmly of Anthroposophy, remarking: “It puts back into life a kind of magic we’ve been persuaded to drop…When Steiner tells me I have a soul and a spirit, I say, yes, I always knew that.”
April 8, 9, 10 (2022) Daily: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Lecturers: James A. Dyson, MD and Simon Kuttner, PhD, with AAP Faculty offering embodying exercises
How does the Being of Psycho-Sophia gradually incarnate alongside Anthropo-Sophia? How does this incarnation reveal the winding path back to the Spirit from brain-bound materialism? And, how might working with this picture, through our own individual efforts, actually make a difference – to me and to the world?
Contemplating Psychology’s evolution in the Light of Spiritual Science imbues psychological theories with the Life of Spiritual Science by discovering the many anthroposophic treasures hidden within them. Conversely, we can enliven our understanding of Spiritual Science through the lens of these theories, ground-breaking in their time.
A journey through humanity’s exploration into soul development aids us in awakening to our own soul forces, conflicts, vulnerabilities, and blind spots: our own will-activating insights thereby contributing to the development – right now! – of the new art form of Relationality. We invite you to join us as we track the birth of Psycho-Sophia, from Body, through Soul, into Spirit, and her inspirited dance with Anthropo-Sophia!
Lecturers: Their biographies can be found on our website at: Who we are
March 25 presentation to Front Range Anthroposophical Café [Recording]
Upcoming Q&A sessions
April 7, Thursday, with Brian Gray and David Tresemer, 9 AM Mtn time
April 20, Wednesday, with Eve Burnham and David Tresemer, 10 AM Mtn time
Tune in to our Zoom broadcasts, brief presentations of aspects of this course, with lots of time for Q&A. Intended to total 20 minutes in length. These are given on different days so you might find one that would work best for you. Each of these brief sessions will be different!
Star Wisdom comes alive through active embodiment within each participant, made possible by working together in the instrument of the StarHouse—or within your sacred imagination in your own home. This immersion facilitates each participant forming conscious relationships with zodiacal and planetary beings.
Join us for an exploration, based on spiritual science and star wisdom, into the following themes:
This course, to train practitioners in Star Wisdom will take place in the StarHouse June 2022. It is designed to train beginners who are willing to ride a steep learning-curve, and long-time astrologers.
Our teaching weaves experiential activities (embodiment) and conceptual learning so you learn it more thoroughly.
On-line too: The course will also be on-line (live-streamed, interactive). A manager on our end will coordinate actively with those attending via Zoom, including relaying questions to the presenters for comment. (We plan that the event will be filmed and edited, and parts of it made available as a course through our website.)
Our approach to astrology is informed and inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indications found sprinkled throughout his six thousand lectures, as it has been developed by a small group of astrosophers over several decades. This deeper understanding of, and interaction with, the heavens is based on:
A sidereal (star-based) view of the heavens, emphasizing the active and dynamic role of the beings working from stars and constellations
Equal length zodiacal signs (relating to the lineage of Zarathustra), equal houses, and recognizing the Earth’s role and significance to the birth chart
Anthroposophy (thus called astrosophy, with its particular guidance for understanding the beings indwelling the zodiacal and planets)
Identifying and working with spiritual themes in our lives in a way made practical by the research of Robert Powell, and the indications of cosmic Christianity, as understood through Anthroposophy.
And other features that we will teach.
Some topics that we will cover:
New and traditional methods for interpreting a birth chart
Zodiacal constellations in the birth chart
Understanding the meaning in the patterns of the moving planets
Planetary aspects in the birth chart
The important role of the twelve equal houses, in the birth chart
How transiting planets interplay in the time-stream of life, presenting challenges and opportunities
Determining the time of conception and its own chart
The care necessary to regard the information of a person’s sacred birth moment with reverence and understanding
The importance of understanding reincarnation and karma for human development
The journey between death and rebirth, and why that is important for human destiny
Human Life phases: the 7-year periods of our life biography and the relation of those periods to the planetary spheres
The role of self-development for a practitioner of New Astrology
Commitment: This intensive requires participation in five-plus full days.
Dates: Begin Thursday evening, June 23, 2022, 7 PM, through midday Tuesday June 28. On June 24-27, we will go from 9 AM to 5 PM. Evenings are for homework, integration, and optional study groups. Lunches will be provided, including the last day, Tuesday.
Limits: Enrollment will be limited to 24 in-person participants and others will participate on-line. In-person will go through an application process. More important than years practicing astrology is your motivation to learn. Our present on-line courses (New Astrology, series 1 and series 2) will be made available to all registered participants and can provide a strong foundation to a motivated person with little experience. After application for In-person participants, one of our team will arrange a phone call to interview you.
Scholarship program: We plan to have a scholarship program to which those of means can contribute. Please consider contributing to this fund to support others taking this course.
Costs: Cost of on-site/in-person for the whole course $1100. On-line (live-streaming) $800. A deposit will hold your place.
Meals and Snacks: Lunches provided every day including Tuesday (just after the end of the course). Dietary restrictions are queried on the application. Snacks and tea are provided mid-morning and mid-afternoon every day.
Lodging: You will need to find your own lodging and transport. Some lodging is available in nearby residences, and the Retreat Cabin near the StarHouse. These can fill up quickly, so please make your request soon. Other lodgings nearby are the Boulder Adventure Lodge (a-lodge.com), which fills up in summertime quickly. More information will be sent after registration.
The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation April 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“The pupils of the Grail were told of a state which humans would attain in future. Possessed of clear, alert consciousness, their being would be purified, the substance of the human body would become as pure and chaste as that of the plant, and their organs of reproduction transformed.”~ from Chapter 12 Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 12“The Higher Calyx” and Chapter 13“The Resonant Chalice,” excerpts from Steiner’s lectures given at Nuremberg on 2 December 1907 (GA 92) and Stuttgart 16 September 1907 (GA 101) … will be the focus of the April 6 meeting.
Chapters 12 and 13 in the book can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link A transcript of the 2 December 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link A transcript of the 16 September, 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link * Please considergiving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Michael – Chapter 12 Tom – Chapter 13 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
The Anthroposophical Society in America presents: Sophia Rising: Unveiling the Wisdom of Being Human in Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ April 21-24, 2022 Hotel Santa Fe Hacienda and Spa
Join us in New Mexico, the ‘land of enchantment’, resonant with light ether and deep history, as we enliven Sophia. Join together in community as Sophia emerges and rises in her many facets and expressions- past, present, and future.
Come and experience Sophia Rising as we honor the elements, the landscape, and each other.
VENUE & TRAVEL
Our gathering will take place at the lovely Native American-owned Hotel Santa Fe. We recommend you book your stay with the hotel to create a connected communal atmosphere for our gathering. The hotel has a full restaurant, pool, hot tub, and spa, as well as kivas and cozy sitting areas. Please call or email to make reservations with our special room rate for suites at $179/night. Each suite includes a refrigerator, microwave and sitting area. So much of what Santa Fe has to offer is within walking distance from the hotel.
**Ask for ASA Gathering to book with our special rate of $179/night for a suite. **
Registrants will receive suggested activities from our local organizers to explore in Santa Fe before or after our gathering. Extending your stay? The special ASA hotel rate is available for 3 days prior to and 3 days after the ASA gathering.
HOTEL and VENUE ADDRESS: 1501 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 Phone: (877) 259-3409
TICKETS The ticket price includes access to all conference activities, snacks, coffee/tea and beverages, dessert reception Thursday, dinner Friday, lunch Saturday and brunch on Sunday.
Early Bird Only with Room Booking – After 2/26 more tickets will be released!
SCHEDULE (subject to minor changes)
THURSDAY, April 21
7 pm Gathering Together – with a dessert reception
7:30- 8:30 pm ArtActs: Past – Present – Future Eurythmy, and Singing,
FRIDAY, April 22
Explore Santa Fe on your own and continued arrivals
1:00 – 2:30 pm Welcome: Spirit of Placewith organizers
WEAVING EARTH Opening Ceremony with Angela Foster and friends
2:30pm-3:00pm Break
3:00-4:30 pm Encountering the Celestial Goddess Anthroposophia with Mary Stewart Adams
HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
4:30-4:45 pm Break
4:45- 6:00 pm WEAVING AIR ArtActs Eurythmy, Singing, and Speech
6:00-7:30 pm Dinner Together*
7:30 pm Fireside Chats – Story and Sharing – Breakout circles led by friends and organizers 8:30 pm
Stargazing with Mary Stewart Adams
SATURDAY, April 23
Breakfast – On your own
8:30 – 9:30 am WEAVING ETHER Eurythmy
9:30 – 10:00 am Break
10:00 -11:15 am The Virgin of Guadalupe: Sophia Rising in the Americaswith Stephanie Georgieff – The Virgin of Guadalupe is one of the first recorded apparitions in the Americas. Revealing herself to a Nahuatl Native and ultimately to the Bishop of New Spain and his entourage in December of 1531, this image has continued to inspire countless souls for nearly 500 years. The symbolism and timing of her appearance presents deep mysteries for our age, and points to the ultimate Sophianic impulse for the present and future of Humanity.
11:30 – 12:30 pm WEAVING STORIES Biography Work
12:30 – 2:00 pm Lunch Together*
2:00 – 4:00 pm ‘ANTHROPOSOPHIA: OUR ALCHEMICAL WEDDING’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg and Friends. At the heart of this convergence isa Grand Experiential Soul Journey to ‘Know Thyself’’ – A Temple Experience in the New Mysteries, built up and worked on during all the WEAVING sessions, preparing us to enter a deeply intensive initiatory experience – a ‘Movable Feast’ with various stations engaging us in group eurythmy, singing, Steiner verses, color gestures in art, and a telling of the New Isis Myth. Passing through Trials of the Soul we meet powerful Spiritual Beings on the way to our sacred marriage – a union of Warmth and Light, so that we can unveil the ‘Sophia Rising’ within ourselves, and the world.
4:00 – 4:30 pm Break
4:30 – 5:30 pm WEAVING COLOR Invoking Natura: Sensing the Cosmic within the Earthly Pastels with Helen-Ann Ireland
8:00-9:30 pm WEAVING COMMUNITYSophia Rising- Past, Present, and FutureMC’d by Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer. Sign up to bring something to share! Poetry, Instruments, Story
SUNDAY, April 24
8:00 – 9:00 am WEAVING LIGHT Bathe in the Natural Warmth and Harmony of the Metal Gold with Helena Hurrell – A metal color light therapy experience inspired by the glass windows at the Goetheanum
9:00-10:30 am WEAVING FIRE with Carrie Schuchardt HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
10:30 – 12:00pm Brunch Together*
12:00-1:00 pm WEAVING WATERWater Ritual with Joyce Reilly and Friends WEAVING WHOLENESSClosing with Angela Foster and Friends
Notes: *Meals marked with an asterisk are included in the price of the ticket – Coffee, tea, and snacks will also be provided through the conference
A quiet ‘Sanctuary Room’ will be provided for contemplation
PRESENTERS AND GUIDES (Not a full list-more to come!)
Mary Stewart Adams is a Star Lore Historian, and host of the weekly public radio program and podcast “The Storyteller’s Night Sky”. Through her research in spiritual science and her education in literary arts, Mary has developed a unique, humanities-based approach to understanding our relationship with the stars. Her work is further augmented by an extensive knowledge of ancient mythologies and fairy tales, which she relates to the research and ideas of contemporary astronomy in order to understand the new star wisdom of astrosophy.
Eyahnna DalBo (artist of the Sophia Rising painting) came to anthroposophy 30 years ago when her daughter attended a Waldorf school. Her studies have included an undergraduate degree in fine art and graduate work in psychology using the arts for healing. In her private practice, she developed various energetic modalities. Her experience with subtle energy fields gave her the opportunity to teach and take part in designing a curriculum for a 2-year program focusing on energy healing. As a consultant, she initiated numerous therapeutic programs to assist in pioneering the field of art therapy. Through the gift of an apprenticeship with indigenous people she was able to bring their practices and ceremonies to what she offered deepening her ability to be of service. As an artist, she continues to utilize the spoken word, movement, sound, and visual imagery to honor and create a field that fosters awareness, growth, and transformation.
Angela Foster has been an active student of anthroposophy since 2008. After growing up in Texas, Angela is now embracing life in Atlanta, Georgia as an artist, teacher, and mom of two daughters, shepherd to two mini sheep. As a conscious practitioner of “beginner’s mind”, Angela has completed programs in foundation studies in Anthroposophy numerous times and is currently enrolled in Foundation Studies in Goethean Science through the Nature Institute. She and her husband manage the Anthroposophical Resource Center (ARC) an initiative in Decatur, Georgia that offers space for community events and serves as a little house for Anthroposophia.
Stephanie Georgieff, MS is an author, podcaster and pilgrim. Residing mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, she has written several books on The Divine Feminine as presented through the genre of The Black Madonna, The Virgin of Guadalupe and The Divine Sophia. She has spoken at conferences and venues throughout North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The Black Madonna Speaks is her latest endeavor, a weekly podcast exploring the mysteries of The Black Madonna from an Anthroposophical and Esoteric Chritian perspective, along with artists, poets, authors and scholars on the subject.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings.
Helena Hurrell joyfully met Anthroposophy in San Fransisco in 1977 and has been working with individuals and groups as a Waldorf educator since 1981 and then throughout her life trained to become a therapist while living in Australia, the UK and North America. She is currently in private practice in Colorado blending the therapeutic work she offers through her love of color ~ as an Art and Metal Color Light Glass Therapist trained in the UK and Germany. Both of these trainings are certified by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. Metal Color Light Therapy is a relatively new initiative originated by the late Marianne Altmaier who developed this therapy and training out of her deep interest in and knowledge of the Goetheanum windows in Dornach. Helena’s website: www.helioscenter.org
Helen-Ann Ireland has been involved in anthroposophical studies for over 30 years as a Waldorf teacher, member of the School for Spiritual Science, Class holder, and now as chair of the Anthroposophical Society of America. A special interest has been in the area of the Divine Feminine and the Being of Sophia.
Michele Mariscal has 30 years of experience in the health and wellness field. She is a skilled facilitator in soft skills, speaker, coach and author. She is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist as well as a Trainer and Coach with the Institute of HeartMath. She facilitates greater heart-based living for individuals and organizations Michele is also a five-time author with her most recent publication of Growing Through Grief – The Alchemy of Healing from Loss.
Joyce Reilly Joyce studied psychology in college and was fascinated by the idea of a therapeutic community. She has worked in Camphill for many years, and is trained as a Waldorf and Therapeutic teacher. She founded Gheel House, a therapeutic community near Kimberton Pennsylvania, still thriving after 37 years. Joyce’s interests expanded to international conflict work and refugee resettlement. She works with organizations such as the Janusz Korczak Association, Karuna Peacebuilders, Kiwimbi International, Good Grief, the Worldwide Storytelling and Puppetry Association, and especially with the New York Anthroposophical Branch, and also works part-time at the local public library. Joyce is also trained in Psychosynthesis therapy and Anthroposophical psychology – currently practicing as a life coach and counselor.
Carrie Schuchardt co-founded The House of Peace in 1990, a home that is a physical and spiritual refuge for victims of war in a community with adults with special needs. In the last 15 years over 400 refugees from approximately 30 countries have been received in the healing embrace of The House of Peace, giving supportive assistance in establishing themselves in the US. In addition to the daily work of The House Peace, Carrie participates in many activities for the conversion of consciousness and policies from war to peace. Carrie has begun a network of women who witness publicly, Women Weeping, where women dress in mourning carrying symbolic lifeless children in order to help people feel what is rarely expressed in the media: the grief of hundreds of thousands of mothers in war zones around the world who lose their children to the terrible violence of war.
Maria Ver Eecke is presently the therapeutic eurythmist for the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY. She taught eurythmy for forty years in Waldorf schools, a charter school, and a home-school program. Maria met anthroposophy in Maseru, Lesotho, when she was a class teacher in an English-medium preparatory school. Currently she is the editor of the newsletters for the Eurythmy Association of North America and the Association of Therapeutic Eurythmy in North America.
