Today I woke with the thought: The great revolution that has to happen for the world to be saved – will be organized thru intentional networks of grace.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate”. ~Carl Jung
Katherine Skaggs
“If there is light in the soul, There will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, There will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, There will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, There will be peace in the world.” Chinese proverb
Leana Paepple
Yes, it’s true, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions & states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, & being Love is a supreme creative act.
Christi Mider
It may seem like a paradox, but I believe that softening our heart & gently tending its wounds will protect us from evil. What I am finding is that building a fortress & defending ourselves behind it will only make us more vulnerable. Healing our own heart is the single most powerful thing we can do to change the world. Our own transformation will enable us to withdraw so completely from evil that we learn not to contribute to it, not with one word, one thought, or one breath.
Alex Grey
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” ~Chuang Tse
1984 – Bhopal disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000–600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
1992 – The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching A Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.
1992 – A test engineer for Sema Group uses a personal computer to send the world’s first text message via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague.
1997 – In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People’s Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
2012 – At least 2475 people are killed after Typhoon Bopha makes landfall in the Philippines.
Bert Manggely
“Every thought and every feeling is a reality, and if I let myself think that someone is a bad man or that I don’t like him, then for anyone who can see into the astral world the thought is like an arrow or thunderbolt hurled against the other’s astral body and injuring it as a gunshot would. I repeat: every thought and every feeling is a reality, it is often much worse to see someone harbouring bad thoughts about another than to see him inflicting physical harm. When we make this truth known we are not preaching morality but laying a solid foundation for it. If we speak the truth about our neighbour, we are creating a thought which the seer can recognise by its colour and form, and it will be a thought which gives strength to our neighbour. Any thought containing truth finds its way to the being whom it concerns and lends him strength and vigour. If I speak lies about him, I pour out a hostile force which destroys and may even kill him. In this way every lie is an act of murder. Every spoken truth creates a life-promoting element; every lie, an element hostile to life. Anyone who knows this will take much greater care to speak the truth and avoid lies than if he is merely preached at and told he must be nice and truthful“.~ Rudolf Steiner – GA 95 – At the Gates of Spiritual Science – Lecture II: The Three Worlds
Siloh Sophia
POD (Poem Of the Day)
I feel the fire burning – my thoughts spark the flame A voice calls out the question Echoing with my name. Hidden in dark chambers – a purpose dwells deep Be patient to unveil Her So what’s unlocked, will never sleep
Where is Love to pulse in rhythm? Pain ringing the alarm: What you reap, this you sow. Then will the seed be watered, & then begin to grow And crack the code to Freedom To let the Sun of Wisdom speak from the heart & flow. ~hag
At Elderberries Urban 1st Aid – Art as Medicine 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
Urban First Aid – Art As Medicine is initiating a Johannine Painting Circle that will begin on Thursday, December 3rd at the Elderberries space on Lincoln Avenue, next to the Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago. Nancy Melvin will be our instructor during the season of Advent.
Calling all wistful painters who long to explore but are afraid for lack of skill.
We will work very simply. Not painting an image, rather an exercise in perception, a meditation using simple brush work to develop a keen eye for relationships, worked in silence with the finest of watercolor paints and papers.
Immersing ourselves in the flow of the year, we open ourselves to the Advent season. The richest botanical colors of the year have flared and now passed. Bold yellows and sharp puce, flaming reds, dark burgundies and deep blue greens dominated our vision just last week. Let us come together to find color on our paint brushes and immerse ourselves in the elementary color exercises given to First Graders at a Waldorf School.
Angela Lord’s book, Color Dynamics is a practical workbook that you can purchase from Hawthorn Press to augment our sessions if you’d like. After attending the first session to learn the set up, practice and clean up, you can miss our group and still do the work at home with your own materials and join us when you can. Socially distant tables with paints and paper provided.
There are no paywalls. You are invited to make a contribution that will help the cost of supplies and initiative. A sliding scale from $0 to $15. If you’d like to gift a higher amount this will support others who are unable to contribute financially.~Nancy Melvin
Nancy Melvin is a watercolor, lazure, natural dye and textile artist who is married to a trompe l’oeil muralist who also specializes in signage, oils, gold leaf and woodblocks. They run Melvin Studio together and raised two Waldorf students. Nancy taught at Chicago Waldorf and Great Oaks Waldorf School before founding MADE HERE, her clothing line currently at Union Handmade, 3860 N. Lincoln Ave and Buddy in the Chicago Cultural Center.
***
Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
Stay tuned for details. For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
***
Nancy Poer
Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CT
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar, + Singing & Eurythmy
This year there is an eeriness behind the strings of lights wrapped around town by masked men – Forced cheer behind the red bows & Santa hats. Although I have to say it was sweet that the ‘Black Friday’ madness was halted in its grasping tracks.
Burnel Trepp
We were all still in a state of shock when Easter came & went. Now it seems folks will do anything to acquire a semblance of moving forward. But in addition to these lights, the stark admonition of Advent is tapping us. And the Earth’s edging reflections slowly approached the waxing moon, in her fullness, in an attempt to swallow her up in darkness. Did you have any interesting dreams this morning? Starting at 1:32 am CST till 5:53 am this morning, while you were probably still asleep, the Bull’s eye took a big bite of Bella Luna. Steiner calls eclipses safety-valves, “In Human Questions, Cosmic Answers”, he says: ‘the lunar eclipse, exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. People do not, as a rule, act in full consciousness, but the facts are nevertheless real — just as real as the attraction of a magnet for small particles of iron.’
Use the Moon to find the bright orange star Aldebaran: the fiery eye of the Taurus– the brightest star in the constellation. Aldebaran was honored as one of the Four Royal Stars in ancient Persia along with Regulus, Antares, & Fomalhaut. The name of the star derives from the Arabic word for “the follower” as it seems to follow the Pleiades, an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus.
We are going to have a Solar eclipse before the end of 2020. Today on 30 November a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse took place at in Taurus.
The second eclipse is going to be way more important, since it’s going to be a Total Solar Eclipse occurring on 14 December in Libra.
A Full Moon always counter balances the forces coming from the Sun. As we know, a lunar eclipse happens during a Full Moon, because the Sun, Earth & Moon are aligned in this order, with the Earth getting in the way, casting a shadow.
From a Hermetic perspective, a New Moon (solar eclipse) relates to Willing & a Full Moon (lunar eclipse) to Thinking. Since a New Moon is the beginning of a fresh cycle, it always starts with an act of will. Only at the end of a cycle can we stop & examine what we have done. That moment of clarity & awareness, which we can grasp thru our thinking, comes with the Full Moon.
Brook Spoalman
Novel intuitions are now erupting from my unworthy but willing heart, awakening me from any trance I’ve been ensnared in, so that I may defy all obstructions that would hinder my ability to express my soul’s code. Unique capacities are being liberated, potentials activated.
For I know – There is a demand for r-evolution, a rally cry, that summons us to rise – to reach – for the stars – to research – the God within, to find the eternal spirit in each other, to live a real life, bringing the light of wisdom to make love come true, & it can only be found in you – eternally residing inside our shared heart-beat, which holds us in common with the wholeness of the Uni-verse, from Alpha to Omega, from the seed to the stars.
Feast of Saint Andrew born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. “The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family. He was a fisherman like his brother St. Peter. Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that he will make them “fishers of men.” Andrew told Jesus about the boy with the loaves and fishes (John 6:8), & when Philip wanted to tell Jesus about certain Greeks seeking Him, he told Andrew first (John 12:20–22). Andrew was present at the Last Supper, & was one of the four disciples who came to Jesus on the Mount of Olives to ask about the signs of Jesus’ return at the “end of the age”. (Mark 13:30) Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion. In the Western Esoteric tradition, Andrew is associated with the astrological sign of Virgo.
1961 – Deathday of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer a German scientist, soil scientist, leading advocate of biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophist & student of Rudolf Steiner.
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer began work with Rudolf Steiner in 1920 to develop & install special diffuse stage lighting for eurythmy performances on the stage of the first Goetheanum.
After Steiner’s death in 1925, Pfeiffer worked in the private research laboratory at the Goetheanum in Dornach. He became manager & director of the 800-acre experimental biodynamic Loverendale farm in Domburg in the Netherlands. This farm was set up to carry out some of the agricultural studies of the Goetheanum laboratory. The work of testing & developing Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course of 1924 was an international enterprise coordinated by Pfeiffer at the Natural Science Section of the Goetheanum.
Pfeiffer’s most influential book ‘Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening’ was published in 1938 simultaneously in at least five languages, English, German, Dutch, French, & Italian.
The following year, just months before the outbreak of World War II, Pfeiffer ran Britain’s first biodynamics conference, the Betteshanger Summer School & Conference, at the estate of Lord Northbourne in Kent. Pfeiffer’s Betteshanger Conference is regarded as the ‘missing link’ between biodynamic agriculture & organic farming.
Pfeiffer first visited the U.S. in 1933 to lecture to a group of anthroposophists at the Threefold Farm in Spring Valley, New York on biodynamic farming. His consulting was essential to the development of biodynamic agriculture in the U.S.
Pfeiffer developed an analytical method using copper chloride crystallization & used this technique as a blood test for detecting cancer. As a result, Pfeiffer was invited to the U.S. in 1937 to work at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. While in the U.S., he continued to consult with those interested in biodynamic farming & helped to form the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association in 1938.
In 1940 he immigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland with his wife Adelheid, escaping the advance of German troops into France. They brought with them their son Christoph & daughter Wiltraud.
With the advent of World War II in Europe, Pfeiffer took his family to Kimberton, Pennsylvania, where Alaric Myrin offered Pfeiffer the opportunity to create a model biodynamic farm & training program.
Starting in the late 1930s he taught biodynamic farming & gardening at the Kimberton Farm School. One of his students, Paul Keene, who worked & studied with Pfeiffer there for two years & shortly thereafter co-founded Walnut Acres, recalls: “… he helped bring all of life together for us in a definite coherent pattern”.
Aiming to continue his work training biodynamic farmers, Pfeiffer bought a farm in Chester, New York, where a small colony arose focused on farming, education, & the administration of the Biodynamic Association.
His copper chloride sensitive crystallization theory brought him an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Hahnemann Medical College & Hospital in Philadelphia in 1939. He studied chemistry & became a professor of nutrition in 1956. Pfeiffer wrote on the dangers of pesticides & DDT a& Rachel Carson consulted with him when she was writing Silent Spring.
In 1961, at his home in Spring Valley, N.Y., he suffered from a series of heart attacks, lingering for several days, but ultimately was not given the proper medical care & died. His wife subsequently took over the operation of their farm in Chester, New York.
Pfeiffer was a pioneer of biodynamic agriculture in Europe, Britain, & America. He is most widely known for his innovative work in composting. He conducted extensive research on the preparation & use of biodynamic compost & was the inventor of BD Compost Starter, a compost inoculant. For many years Pfeiffer served as a compost consultant to municipal compost facilities.
***
POD (Poem Of the day)
~you & i are pure as dream lasting as music opulent as the Goddess… We are given the gift of becoming… ~hag
***
Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
The Karma Project with the Central Regional Council“…We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of karmic consciousness…”
At Elderberries Urban 1st Aid – Art as Medicine 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
Urban First Aid – Art As Medicine is initiating a Johannine Painting Circle that will begin on Thursday, December 3rd at the Elderberries space on Lincoln Avenue, next to the Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago. Nancy Melvin will be our instructor during the season of Advent.
Calling all wistful painters who long to explore but are afraid for lack of skill.
We will work very simply. Not painting an image, rather an exercise in perception, a meditation using simple brush work to develop a keen eye for relationships, worked in silence with the finest of watercolor paints and papers.
Immersing ourselves in the flow of the year, we open ourselves to the Advent season. The richest botanical colors of the year have flared and now passed. Bold yellows and sharp puce, flaming reds, dark burgundies and deep blue greens dominated our vision just last week. Let us come together to find color on our paint brushes and immerse ourselves in the elementary color exercises given to First Graders at a Waldorf School.
Angela Lord’s book, Color Dynamics is a practical workbook that you can purchase from Hawthorn Press to augment our sessions if you’d like. After attending the first session to learn the set up, practice and clean up, you can miss our group and still do the work at home with your own materials and join us when you can. Socially distant tables with paints and paper provided.
There are no paywalls. You are invited to make a contribution that will help the cost of supplies and initiative. A sliding scale from $0 to $15. If you’d like to gift a higher amount this will support others who are unable to contribute financially.~Nancy Melvin
Nancy Melvin is a watercolor, lazure, natural dye and textile artist who is married to a trompe l’oeil muralist who also specializes in signage, oils, gold leaf and woodblocks. They run Melvin Studio together and raised two Waldorf students. Nancy taught at Chicago Waldorf and Great Oaks Waldorf School before founding MADE HERE, her clothing line currently at Union Handmade, 3860 N. Lincoln Ave and Buddy in the Chicago Cultural Center.
***
Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
Stay tuned for details. For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
***
Nancy Poer
Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CT
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar, + Singing & Eurythmy
In Sidereal Astrosophy, we look to the wisdom revealed in the position of the star-beings present now in the dome of the sky. During the 4 weeks of Advent (the 1st Sunday of Advent begins today November 29th 2020) the Sun is passing through the stars of Scorpio. The term “Advent” – is Latin for ‘that which is coming’. So this is the time of preparation, of waiting in the dark, for the return of the light, at Winter Solstice, & it is deeply connected with the challenge of the Scorpion. – Can we overcome the consequences of error & evil that has separated us from our true divine nature? Advent can be seen as the time of transforming the fallen parts of our souls, so we can truly meet the Christmas birth. It is a Winter Metanoia – a reflection of the Summer-tide call for repentance by John the Baptist, born opposite the Christ child on the wheel of the year.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the darkness & death of nature mirror the descent of humanity from the light into the darkness of matter at the Fall. This time of Advent, reflects our journey away from the Divine Sun into the lower realm as represented by Scorpio – in the course of the rebellion called the ‘War in Heaven’ with the later infusion of Luciferic tendencies upon the human astral body.
Rudolf Steiner describes this rebellion in Occult Science: An Outline, & from another perspective in, The Spiritual Hierarchies and their Reflection in thePhysical World: “Beings from the sphere of the Mights (Dynamis), to put it tritely, were detached; they were placed in the course of evolution so as to bring about obstacles instead of acting as progressive influences. We have come to know this as the War in Heaven….[later in Lemurian times]..The beings who stayed behind, whom we call Luciferic beings approached the human astral body –they were unable to reach the “I” – and injected into the astral body the results of the War in Heaven…humans now had been given the possibility of error and evil, but at the same time also received the capacity to rise above error and evil through their own strength…Thus we can see that only because the Dynamis were given adverse orders did humans receive the possibility of reaching their goal by means of their own powers, something that even the Seraphim cannot attain through their own endeavors. That is the crucial fact…Humans have to fulfill a completely new mission in the world, the mission we have just characterized, and descended into the earthly world in order to accomplish it. Christ came into the world as man’s free helper; not as a God working from above, but as the first-born among many.”
Advent is that time of the year when we can come to terms with the consequences of the error & evil that is in our own astral nature, reflected in our society so strongly today, as well as doing the work to develop the strength to overcome these tendencies, so that we might prepare the way for the birth of Christ in us at Christmas-tide. This is our activity now for every human being during Advent. It is in this confrontation & transformation of evil in our lives, in our time, that we can begin to renovate the stars of Scorpion, to offer back to the divine what has fallen away, out of freedom.
Advent is a true festival of our current time in world evolution – a karmic call for humanity to awaken to our path of spiritual development with its focus on the confrontation with evil.
The transformation of the Scorpion, not this time into the eagle, but into the dove, this must be our work – Opening to the Christ flame, the true I Am, born anew in the chalice of the heart at Christmas.
Also interesting to note that tomorrow 30 November 2020, is a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse! What is seeking to be born from the shadow? What is longing for deliverance?
The Christian Community reading for this week speaks of this turbulent time:
Raphael
1st Advent – Luke 21:25-36
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth, the nations will be constricted with anxiety and doubt with the advent of these spiritual revelations, as before a roaring sea and waves. And men will lose their inner strength of soul out of fear and foreboding of what is coming over the living earth: for the dynamic powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, in the sphere of life, with dynamic power and great radiant glory.
And when these things begin to happen, stand upright and lift up [raise] your soul to the spirit, for your deliverance draws near.
Amen, the truth I say to you: this present age of Man’s being shall not pass away until all has happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Guard yourselves lest the perceptive power of your hearts be smothered by an excess of food and drink and by over-concern with the cares and worries of life, and the light of these spirit events break upon you suddenly like a snare…for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. So be awake in the spirit at all times, praying, so that you may have the strength to live through all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man”.
We celebrate Advent to awaken our connection with the cosmic purpose in the Universe. Can we use this time to become more aware of the way in which we are disconnected from our source? Can we strive to awaken our purpose, as we work to remember our Divine origin.
Sri Aurobindo
I think of the Mother God gestating the emergent body of Jesus within her. Every breath she takes, every beat of her heart, every thought in her mind, devoted to forming the perfect human being capable of holding the divine.
I think of the approaching soul of Jesus, the pure, innocent Nathan soul, described in Luke’s Gospel, preparing to enter into this immaculate body – This soul which has never incarnated into a human being before.
I can’t help comparing that original purity & dignity of humanity with the way people treat each other now-a-days – so much derision, disrespect & hatred, all the discrimination, how can these lies appear to so many as truth, a selfishness that they are willing to kill for?
Then I try to think about how this is part of some great plan to wake us up, to divide the wheat from the chaff, so that we can reclaim our place in the universe as conscious, Christened human beings.
During this time, we deepen our relationship to the world around us by recognizing & celebrating the strength & beauty of all four kingdoms of the natural world.
During the first week, we pay tribute to the mineral world.
Bet Tarkenson
During the second week, we focus on the plant kingdom.
In the third week, we celebrate the kingdom of animals.
And the fourth week speaks to the human being, & our destiny as Angel Beings.
As we pass through these weeks, it moves us toward a deeper understanding of our place in the universe, of all that supports us, & all that we aspire to, as well as all that needs our care & protection.
The four candles represent many four-fold wonders, such as the four seasons of the year or the four virtues of Peace, Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul, , translated by Roy Sadler, helps:
v35, Advent, Can I absorb true being that it may find itself anew within my soul’s creative urge? I feel a power trusting me to make myself with modesty a member of the Cosmic Self.
v35 and its mirror, v18, are the only question verses. If we rise to the Advent challenge and become a member of the Cosmic Self the Spirit Child can be born in us in a month’s time at Christmas. Six weeks later the Soul Calendar has a unique line, its only trochaic one. Rudolf Steiner describes the iambic rhythm as the meditative movement the soul requires to relate to the world. But at Candlemas just one line, ‘Eingedenk vollzogener Geistgeburt’, balances all the other Soul Calendar lines. If we can become a member of the Cosmic Self at Advent, feel the Spirit Child set free from womb of soul at Christmas & are mindful of the Spirit’s Birth fulfilled at Candlemas, Easter can arise in our souls and what follows progress.
v44, Candlemas, And when I grasp the senses’ new allure the clarity of soul, mindful of the spirit’s birth fulfilled, imbues the world’s bewildering, sprouting growth with my creative will of thinking.
The Candlemas mirror at Whitsuntide, and the verse for the southern hemisphere now, v9, And when I let my own will go life’s cosmic warmth, the summer’s herald, will fill my soul and spirit being; my spirit vision is commanding me to lose myself in light, and ardently my foresight’s calling, ‘lose yourself to find your Self’.
Advent Sunday’s mirror at Lammastide as the soul becomes pregnant with the Spirit Child, v18, Can I make wide my soul that she unite with seed of Cosmic Word conceived? I feel my foresight asking me to find the strangth my soul will need to form her spirit garment worthily.
***
29 November 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna comes Full at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning CST. She shines between Aldebaran below, & the Pleiades above. Aldebaran is easier to see through the moonlight than the 7 Sisters are.
A penumbral eclipse of the Moon happens early Monday morning for North America. The Moon’s north side will skim through the penumbra, the pale outer fringe, of Earth shadow. The Moon will be deepest into the penumbra at mid-eclipse, at 3:43 a.m. Monday morning CST. WE may see a trace of shading on the Moon as much as 45 minutes before & after that time.
1898 – Birthday of C.S. Lewis, one of the Inklings
1939 – Deathday of Eugen Kolisko, an Austrian-German physician & educator, born in Vienna. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna, & in 1917 became a lecturer of medical chemistry. Eugen Kolisko is remembered for his pioneer work in anthroposophy. He was introduced to anthroposophy through his classmate, Walter Johannes Stein. In 1914, he first attended lectures given by Rudolf Steiner. Consequently, he became a member of the Anthroposophical Society, & in 1920 was invited as an instructor to the newly established Waldorf School at Stuttgart by Emil Molt.
Kolisko specialized in preventative medicine, & at the Waldorf School he worked with other teachers in creating a curriculum that focused on the spiritual & physical development of school children. He was instrumental in construction of several artistic therapies, such as anthroposophic music therapy & eurythmy. During the 1930s, he left the Waldorf School in Stuttgartbecause of the Nazi’s, relocating to England in 1936, where he undertook the establishment of a private educational institute. Kolisko died of cardiac failure outside London.
1947- UNO divides Palestine
***
Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
The Karma Project with the Central Regional Council“…We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of karmic consciousness…”
At Elderberries Urban 1st Aid – Art as Medicine 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
Urban First Aid – Art As Medicine is initiating a Johannine Painting Circle that will begin on Thursday, December 3rd at the Elderberries space on Lincoln Avenue, next to the Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago. Nancy Melvin will be our instructor during the season of Advent.
Calling all wistful painters who long to explore but are afraid for lack of skill.
We will work very simply. Not painting an image, rather an exercise in perception, a meditation using simple brush work to develop a keen eye for relationships, worked in silence with the finest of watercolor paints and papers.
Immersing ourselves in the flow of the year, we open ourselves to the Advent season. The richest botanical colors of the year have flared and now passed. Bold yellows and sharp puce, flaming reds, dark burgundies and deep blue greens dominated our vision just last week. Let us come together to find color on our paint brushes and immerse ourselves in the elementary color exercises given to First Graders at a Waldorf School.
Angela Lord’s book, Color Dynamics is a practical workbook that you can purchase from Hawthorn Press to augment our sessions if you’d like. After attending the first session to learn the set up, practice and clean up, you can miss our group and still do the work at home with your own materials and join us when you can. Socially distant tables with paints and paper provided.
There are no paywalls. You are invited to make a contribution that will help the cost of supplies and initiative. A sliding scale from $0 to $15. If you’d like to gift a higher amount this will support others who are unable to contribute financially.~Nancy Melvin
Nancy Melvin is a watercolor, lazure, natural dye and textile artist who is married to a trompe l’oeil muralist who also specializes in signage, oils, gold leaf and woodblocks. They run Melvin Studio together and raised two Waldorf students. Nancy taught at Chicago Waldorf and Great Oaks Waldorf School before founding MADE HERE, her clothing line currently at Union Handmade, 3860 N. Lincoln Ave and Buddy in the Chicago Cultural Center.
***
Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
Stay tuned for details. For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
***
Nancy Poer
Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CT
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar, + Singing & Eurythmy
‘I THINK SPEECH‘ Welcome to this PODCAST of my spiritual research into the ‘New Mysteries’ of ‘The Word’. May we rise in our thinking to meet the science of Love through Wisdom, in the true communion of the Reverse Ritual.
Светлана Соло
Rudolf Steiner’s 82 ‘Karmic Relationships’ lectures, which he gave after the Christmas Conference, from February thru September, 1924, can be read as given in volumes 1-8 translated into English, which are arranged by location; or as Fred Amrine recommends, they can be worked with sequentially by date. Lecture # 49 in the series, was not included in the English volumes. It only appears in the lectures on ‘The Festivals and Their Meaning’ as ‘The Whitsuntide Festival – Its place in the study of Karma’, given in Dornach on 4 June 1924.
Yesterday after my ‘Monday Musing’Angela Foster, who facilitates the 6B, contacted me saying what I spoke about reminded her of this ‘hidden’ lecture. Anthroposophy Atlanta has worked with Fred Amrine who postulates that this singular lecture was the center point of the whole series, a real turning point. Angela felt compelled to share it because of its reference to Time in relation to the Sun. I had of course worked with it in the past as Festivals coordinator, but looking at it in the light of Karma & in regards to the origin of Time, as well as in light of our Thought-Seed Project, brings its significance alive anew. Here are a few inspiring highlights:
“Our true being lies in the ego; and it is the ego which both suffers karma and creates it…
The moment, we really take hold of Man as he stands within the Universe, we become able to discover the relationships between the several instrumental members of man’s nature, the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body and the corresponding entities, the corresponding realities of Being, in the Cosmos.
In regard to the etheric body of man, we find spread out in the Cosmos the universal Ether… The cosmic Ether is fundamentally of like nature with what we find in the human etheric body. In the same way we can speak of a similarity between what is found in the human astral body and a certain astral principle that works through all things and all beings out in the far-spread Universe.
Steiner drew this on the board at this point
The Ether is like an empty nothingness to you. But when you regard the etheric environment as a totality, you behold the blue sky, of which we also say that it is not really there but that you are gazing into empty space. Now the reason why you see the blue of the sky is that you are actually perceiving the end of the Ether. Thus you behold the Ether as the blue of the heavens. The perception of the blue sky is really and truly a perception of the Ether. We may therefore say: In that we perceive the blue of the sky we are perceiving the universal Ether that surrounds us. In fact the boundary of the supersensible world becomes visible here.
Every star that we see glittering in the heavens is in reality a gate of entry for the Astral. Wherever the stars are twinkling and glittering in towards us, there glitters and shines the Astral…In all this wonderful configuration of radiant light, the invisible and super-sensible astral body of the Cosmos makes itself visible to us…In the starry heavens, we actually behold an expression of the soul-life of the cosmic astral world.
Think how living it all becomes when we know that the stars are an expression of the love with which the astral Cosmos works upon the etheric Cosmos — for this is to express it with perfect truth. Think then of those mysterious processes when certain stars suddenly light up at certain times. Stars that were not there before, light up for a time, and disappear again. For it is true indeed that in epochs when divine Beings desire to work in an especial way from the astral world into the etheric, we behold new stars light up and fade away again. (including comets)
The etheric body is laid aside soon after death. It is only the astral world that shines in towards us through the stars that has significance for the Ego in the life between death and a new birth. And in that world which glistens in towards us through the stars, in that world there live the Beings of the Higher Hierarchies with whom man forms his Karma between death and a new birth.
Indeed, when we follow this Ego in its successive evolutions through lives between birth and death and between death and a new birth, we cannot remain within the world of Space at all. For two successive earthly lives cannot be within the same space. They cannot be within that Universe which is dependent on spatial co-existence. Here therefore we go right out of Space and enter into Time. This is actually so. We go out of Space and come into the pure flow of Time when we contemplate the Ego in its successive lives on Earth.
Now consider this, my dear friends. In Space, Time is still present, of course, but within this world of Space we have no means of experiencing Time in itself. We always have to experience Time through Space and spatial processes. For example, if you wish to experience Time, you look at the clock, or, if you will, at the course of the sun. What do you see? You see the various positions of the hands of the clock or of the sun. You see something that is spatial. Through the fact that the positions of the hand or of the sun are changed, through the fact that spatial things are present to you as changing, you gain some idea of Time. But of Time itself there is really nothing in this spatial perception. There are only varied spatial configurations, varied positions of the hands of the clock, varied positions of the sun. You only experience Time itself when you come into the sphere of the soul’s experience. There you do really experience Time, but there you also go out of Space. There, Time is a reality, but within the earthly world of Space, Time is no reality.
David Brook
On Earth we experience Time only through Space — through points in Space, through the positions of spatial things. On Earth we do not experience Time in its reality at all. Once you grasp this, you will say: “Really to enter into Time we must go out of Space, we must put away all things spatial.”
Darwin Leon
Thoughts about repeated lives on Earth were possessed only by those human beings and groups that were able to conceive Time in its pure essence, Time in its spaceless character…Then we have a conception of what was called “God” by those peoples who centered their outlook to the world of space alone.
Van James
And now he may gaze upon the Christmas Mystery — the new-born Child, the Representative of Humanity on Earth, who, inasmuch as he is entering into childhood, is born into this world of Space. In the fullness and majesty of this Christmas thought, as he gazes on the Child that is born on Christmas Night, he exclaims: “Ex Deo Nascimur — I am born out of the Divine, the Divine that weaves and surges through the world of Space.”
When a man has felt this, when he has permeated himself through and through with it, then he may also recall what Anthroposophy has revealed to us about the meaning of the Earth. The Child on whom we are gazing is the outer sheath of That which is now born into Space. But whence is He born, that He might be brought to birth in the world of Space? According to what we have explained to-day, it can only be from Time. From out of Time the Child is born.
Ron Candrell
If we then follow out the life of this Child and His permeation by the Spirit of the Christ-Being, we come to realise that this Being, this Christ-Being, comes from the Sun. Then we shall look up to the Sun, and say to ourselves: “As I look up to the Sun, I must behold in the sunshine that Time, which in the world of Space is hidden. Within the Sun is Time, and from out of the Time that weaves and works within the Sun, Christ came forth, came out into Space, on to the Earth.”
What have we then in Christ on Earth? In Christ on Earth we have That, which coming from beyond Space, from outside of Space, unites with the Earth.
Ananda Telli
When we look up from the Earth to the Sun, we are at the same time looking into the flow of Time.
Now from this there follows something of great significance. Man only looks up to the Sun in the right way (even if it be but in his mind) when, as he gazes upwards, he forgets Space and considers Time alone. For in truth, the Sun does not only radiate light, it radiates Space itself, and when we are looking into the Sun we are looking out of Space into the world of Time. The Sun is the unique star that it is because when we gaze into the Sun we are looking out of Space. And from that world, outside of Space, Christ came to men.
Peter fenffe
At the time when Christianity was founded by Christ on Earth, man had been all too long restricted to the mere Ex Deo Nascimur, he had become altogether bound up in it, he had become a Space-being pure and simple.
Christ came to bring the element of Time again to men, and when the human heart, the human soul, the human spirit, unite themselves with Christ, then man receives once more the stream of Time that flows from Eternity to Eternity. What else can we human beings do when we die, i.e. when we go out of the world of Space, than hold fast to Him who gives Time back to us again? At the Mystery of Golgotha man had become so great an extent a being of Space that Time was lost to him. Christ brought Time back again to men.
Joffa Boschart
If, then, in going forth from the world of Space, men would not die in their souls as well as in their bodies, they must die in Christ, We can still be human beings of Space, and say: Ex Deo Nascimur, and we can look to the Child who comes forth from Time into Space, that he may unite Christ with humanity. But since the Mystery of Golgotha we cannot conceive of death, the bound of our earthly life, without this thought: “We must die in Christ.” Otherwise we shall pay for our loss of Time with the loss of Christ Himself, and, banished from Him, remain held spell-bound. We must fill ourselves with the Mystery of Golgotha. In addition to the Ex Deo Nascimur, we must find the In Christo Morimur. We must bring forth the Easter thought in addition to the Christmas thought. Thus the Ex Deo Nascimur lets the Christmas thought appear before our souls, and in the In Christo Morimur the Easter thought.
The Sun not only radiates the light; the Sun creates the Space itself. And the movement of the Sun is only a spatial movement within this created Space. Outside of Space it is a movement in Time. What seems apparent to us — namely, that the Sun is speeding on towards the constellation of Hercules — is only a spatial image of the Time-evolution of the Sun-Being.
To His intimate disciples Christ spoke these words: “Behold the life of the Earth; it is related to the life of the Cosmos. When you look out on the Earth and the surrounding Cosmos, it is the Father whose life permeates this Universe. The Father-God is the God of Space. But I make known to you that I have come to you from the Sun, from Time — Time that receives man only when he dies. I have brought you myself from out of Time, (“Time,” as here used, is what we usually designate as “Eternity”, i.e. a continuous, unbroken time-experience.) If you receive me, you receive Time as eternity, and you will not be held spell-bound in Space. But you find the transition from the one trinity — Physical, Etheric and Astral — to the other trinity, which leads from the Etheric and Astral to Spirit-Selfhood. Spirit-Selfhood is not to be found in the earthly world, just as the Earthly-Physical is not to be found in the Cosmos. But I bring you the message of it, for I am from the Sun.”
When those to whom Christ revealed these things had let the revelation sink deep into their being, then the moment came when they experienced the working of this mighty concept, in the fiery tongues of Pentecost. At first they felt the falling away, the discarding of the earthly-Physical as death. But then the feeling came; This is not death, but in place of the physical of the Earth, there now dawns upon us the Spirit-Selfhood of the Universe. “Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus.”
George O’Neil, Gisela O’Neil
Thus may we regard the threefold nature of the one half of the year. We have the Christmas thought — Ex Deo Nascimur; the Easter thought — In Christo Morimur; and the Whitsun thought — Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus.
In the interconnection of the Christmas, Easter and Whitsun festivals we understand the human freedom on Earth.
It is indeed the language of the stars which sounds towards us from the thoughts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide; from the Christmas thought, inasmuch as the Earth is a star within the Universe; from the Easter thought inasmuch as the most radiant of stars, the Sun, gives us his gifts of grace; and from the Whitsun thought inasmuch as that which lies hidden beyond the stars lights into the soul, and lights forth again from the soul in the fiery tongues of Pentecost.
Meditate this through, ponder it well; then for all the descriptive foundations I have already given you for an understanding of Karma, you will gain a right foundation of inner feeling.
Try to let the Christmas, Easter and Whitsun thoughts, in the way I have expressed them to you to-day.
Bert Kaplin
Just as once upon a time at the first Whitsun Festival something shone forth from each one of the disciples, so the thought of Pentecost should now become alive again for our anthroposophical understanding. Something must light up and shine forth from our souls…about the inner connections of Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide”.
Michael Richardson
“I hear the Word of the Sun, It reads: Let light shine into your heart, To strengthen your human power. Heart light shining You will be healthy Through the Solar Word”. ~Rudolf Steiner, 6 November 1922
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All are welcome to join our Study of Karmic Relationships, every Wednesday 9:30 am – 11 am Central Time. We are currently in Volume 7. https://zoom.us/j/98689103462 Meeting ID: 986 8910 3462
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24 November 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”:Mars shines about a fist-width to the upper left of the waxing gibbous Moon this evening.
Feast Day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Catherine of the Wheel, a Christian virgin saint, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess & a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, & was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years after Catherine’s martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to & counselled her. Some modern scholars consider that the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life & murder of the Greek philosopher Hypatia, with reversed roles of Christians & pagans.
1632 – Birthday of Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher & scholar. Rudolf Steiner speaks of a former incarnation as Philo of Alexandria in GA 88, 24 August 1924
Cathy Millerkin
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (OK so what is it about this day which has brought so many ‘natural’ disasters…?)
1667 – A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing over 80,000 people.
1759 – An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut & Damascus & killing over 40,000 people.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
1839 – A cyclone slams into south-eastern India, with high winds & a 40-foot storm surge destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave swept inland, taking with it 20,000 ships & thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted from the disaster.
1915 – Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
1947 – Red Scare: The “Hollywood Ten” are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
1950 – The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 1353 people, injuring over 160
1960 – The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated, turning them into “symbols of both popular and feminist resistance”. In 1999, in the sisters’ honor, 25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
1987 – Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph &a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.
1996 – An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 126 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida & winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees & flipping trailers.
2000 – The Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 1,226 people dead in Azerbaijan.
2008 – Cyclone Nisha strikes northern Sri Lanka, killing 1,500 people & displacing 90,000 others while dealing the region the highest rainfall in nine decades.
2009 – Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away & 1,222 people perish in the torrents.
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Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT The Karma Project
The Karma Project Manifestations of Karma Study Group December 2, 2020 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“… We have now learned that it is possible to seek out accidents or other causes of illness due to karmic effects. In due course we will deal with the details of such processes, such as the way in which the forces in deeper levels of consciousness work within the human being, or to what extent our ordinary consciousness may avoid such accidents. We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of consciousness; in like manner we must be able to understand how it is that human beings take certain measures to render such infections less and less effective; in other words, that through our ordinary consciousness we are able to avert certain consequences by means of hygiene.“
~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 6, “Karma in Relation to Accidents”, Hamburg, 21 May, 1910 … focus of the December 2 meeting.
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among four 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 collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “Manifestations of Karma.” This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996.
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:
If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Agenda for our Study Call
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by five volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Laura – pg. 106 to 110 Ana – pg. 111 to 115 Camille – pg. 116 to 120 Alberto – pg. 121 to end 8:05 Conversation 8:28 Close with verse
Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…” The many faces of The Sophia
24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021
International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine.
Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group
Everyday 9 am – 9:30 am PT, 10 am – 10:30 am MT, 11 am – 11:30 am CT, 12 pm – 12:30 pm
stay tuned for details
Our Annual Conscious NYE gathering 8 pm 1 am
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613
This Years Theme is a Masked Ball –
Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA
$20 per person
Stay tuned for details
Joan’s Epiphany 6 January 2021 ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ 2 pm – 4 pm CT
In-person at Elderberries Chicago & online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar – Eurythmy
One tap mobile +13126266799,,7052931041# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,7052931041# US (New York)
Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aeoRtxhpwY
I woke up this morning thinking about the concept of time. And so it formed the theme for my ‘Monday Musing‘, a short weekly offering that I share with our 6B group, working with Steiner’s ‘6 Basic Exercises‘ (see more about that below)
Chronos, depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as an old bearded man turning the Zodiac Wheel is the personification of Time in pre-Socratic philosophy; giving rise to the allegory of “Father Time” wielding the harvesting scythe during the Renaissance.
The Greeks also had another name for Time, personified by his son Kairos, whose name means ‘the right, critical, or opportune moment’.
Rembrandt
Aristotle & his followers discussed the importance of kairos in their teachings as one of the most fundamental laws of the universe: ‘the uniquely timely; the radically particular’.
It has association with both archery & weaving – hitting the target; & the perfect moment in which the shuttle must pass thru threads on the loom.
In the ancient solar allegories, time becomes separated into seasons. The divisions of Time were personified & seen to pay homage to the Triune Deity, enthroned above the firmament.
The spirit of each second, every hour, was seen as an angel. Each day of the week represents the Beings of the Planetary Spheres – The Months: The Spiritual Beings of the Zodiac constellations.
David Nebatt
And of course, in Anthroposophy, we speak about the ‘Turning Point of Time’, with Christ’s deed on Golgotha; & Steiner’s deed of the Christmas Conference.
Einstein’s discoveries exploded our concept of time. He showed us that time is created by things; that time is eternal until things act upon it. He demonstrated that time is relative, moving more slowly if an object is moving fast. And that events don’t always happen in a set linear order. Of course it’s true that many events in the Universe can be put into sequential order, but time is not always segmented neatly into the past, the present & the future. Einstein showed that some equations work in either direction. And, although some physicists say that time is an illusion, our time perception – our sense of time – does exist. And it exists to serve a purpose for us in this life.
Amanda Sage
Here’s what Steiner says about time in ‘The World of the Senses and the World of the Spirit’ lecture 4: “What we, experience in the soul is subject to time. In the outer world things happen in such a way that they are spread out in space and also follow one another in time. Before we can come to the occult truth about all this we must put the question: How then does space stand in relation to time? In this anthroposophical course of lectures we come quite innocently up against a very great philosophical question, one upon which countless heads have been broken!…
We come, to the relation of time to space.
We can put memories behind us, and yet keep them, like continually cast-off skins — in this possibility lies the reality of our soul-life. So you have a continuous re-shaping of the soul-life. During this expansion and contraction one thing is unquestionably present, and that is inner spiritual movement. Movement! Soul-life is movement. And this expansion and contraction gives forms. Therein live your feelings, thoughts, impulses of will.
If you consider how this soul-life is at times in quicker motion and at times in slower motion, you will perceive that it is really Will itself which brings it into motion. If you stimulate your Will you can bring the thoughts and feelings into quicker flow; if the Will is indolent then it all moves along more slowly. You need the Will in order to expand your life of soul.
Within your soul-life: will, wisdom, movement, form, weave and live. Now you will see that these are the names for the successive hierarchies — Spirits of Will, Spirits of Wisdom, Spirits of Movement, and Spirits of Form. In presenting our soul-life in this manner we have, so to say, surprised the hierarchies in one spot, we have really caught them inside us. There they reveal themselves in a most singular way in the inner soul-life of the human being — and they reveal themselves in such a way that their activity is entirely unspatial, it is eternal.”
That makes me think of that famous line from Parsifal: ‘Here time becomes space’. Wagner wanted to portray the home of the Grail as a mystical place, outside of earthly constraints, like how it is in the spiritual world. And then the question becomes: How do we bring that back to earth – To ask the right question at the right time?
So in working with the ‘Will Exercise’, the 2nd of the 6 Basic, I often picture the ‘Hands of time’ – this idea of my will working thru my limbs. I think of my beating heart, or the rhythm of a drum keeping time – the rhythm of the seasons, the cycles of the moon, the pulsing stars.
This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, a yearly place holder in time to help us remember & practice being grateful.
Sulamith Wulfing
Next week we enter the time of Advent, the time of waiting, the time of preparing, of creating a manger in our hearts for the light to be reborn.
And in the Holy Nights we are in a sort of ‘Time out of Time’where we can make Time a Sacred Space.
Dali
Time is our initiator, sacrificing itself by popping up out of the eternal to help us find our way on the path of life. Creating milestones that we can use as a foundation within the flow.
Tamara Adams
We can think about the time or phase of our life…Maiden, Mother, Crone. These aspects don’t replace one another, each phase builds on the next & then they can work together in wholeness, just like the 6 Basic Exercises.
Bella Candor
Yes, for me, time is relative. It needs to be in relationship to something. I can remember that I am always in the right place at the right time – Each moment a journey. We go on a trip & say, yay, wow, were making good time. So let’s remember that Time is on our side, yes it is.
Arrati Morjoto
So I’ll close by asking: Are you taking time for yourself? Maybe we need to give ourselves a ‘Time Out’? Isn’t that part of what the Corona Crisis is bringing us? Let’s live into the eternal Now, & make Time our ally; working with us to firm up our Will.
~hag
The ARC (Anthroposophical Resorce Center in Atlanta) holds a Six Basic Exercise Practice Group weekdays 9 am PT/ 11 am CT / 12:00 pm ET. All are invited to join in a 15 minute practice group focusing on Rudolf Steiner’s foundational exercises. We begin the time each day with a 5 minute leading thought from Angela Foster, focusing one aspect of the practice. We will follow that with a 5 minute period in which we turn off our cameras and practice on our own. After the five minute bell, we take 1-2 minutes to journal about our experience and the end the call with a 3 minute closing thought. Come when you can, and leave when you must. Monday Musing with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg; and Friday’s are open discussion led by Joan Jackeal.
23 November 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Starting an hour before sunrise, both Mercury & Venus are easy to spot in the brightening sky. Mercury, just rising among the stars of Libra; Venus is impossible to miss due east of bright Spica.
“People will have to learn through the idea of karma that they may not repudiate their earlier deeds with their later deeds. A certain consequentiality in life, a readiness to take on the consequences of what one has done, will have to emerge in human evolution. When one looks more closely, one sees how far removed from this people still are. A greater feeling of responsibility for one’s actions, a greater awareness of karma, that is what a study of this sort might yield.” ~Rudolf Steiner
Belenca Kentloo
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feast day St. Columban, Stories claim that as he walked in the woods, it was not uncommon for birds to land on his shoulders to be caressed, or for squirrels to run down from the trees & nestle in the folds of his cowl. He was a strong defender of Irish traditions. The following are the principal miracles attributed to his intercession: Procuring food for a sick monk and curing the wife of his benefactor Escaping injury while surrounded by wolves Causing a bear to evacuate a cave at his biddings Producing a spring of water near his cave Replenishing the Luxeuil granary Multiplying bread and beer for his community Curing sick monks, who rose from their beds at his request to reap the harvest Giving sight to a blind man at Orleans Destroying with his breath a cauldron of beer prepared for a pagan festival Taming a bear and yoking it to a plough.
1644 – John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.
1889 – The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1924 – Edwin Hubble‘s discovery, that the Andromeda “nebula” is actually another island galaxy far outside of our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times.
1978 – Cyclone kills about 10,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka.
1978 – The Geneva Frequency Plan goes into effect, realigning many of Europe’s longwave & mediumwave broadcasting frequencies.
1981 – Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit & support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1992 – The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Jerzy Bettler
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~Yes, it’s true My tone is often sharp, never flat A briny crusted argot. With cutting honesty I push into fathomless oceans Reaching out to the ancient Mother who is all gristle Bitter Trusting in nothing but death Scoured by truth & karma. My single solace, the fate That defines the map Of a star spoken sentence Striking out in pure tones Of too bright a light. ~hag
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Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT The Karma Project
The Karma Project Manifestations of Karma Study Group December 2, 2020 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“… We have now learned that it is possible to seek out accidents or other causes of illness due to karmic effects. In due course we will deal with the details of such processes, such as the way in which the forces in deeper levels of consciousness work within the human being, or to what extent our ordinary consciousness may avoid such accidents. We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of consciousness; in like manner we must be able to understand how it is that human beings take certain measures to render such infections less and less effective; in other words, that through our ordinary consciousness we are able to avert certain consequences by means of hygiene.“
~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 6, “Karma in Relation to Accidents”, Hamburg, 21 May, 1910 … focus of the December 2 meeting.
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among four 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 collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “Manifestations of Karma.” This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996.
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:
If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Agenda for our Study Call
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by five volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Laura – pg. 106 to 110 Ana – pg. 111 to 115 Camille – pg. 116 to 120 Alberto – pg. 121 to end 8:05 Conversation 8:28 Close with verse
Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…” The many faces of The Sophia
24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021
International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine.
Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group
Everyday 9 am – 9:30 am PT, 10 am – 10:30 am MT, 11 am – 11:30 am CT, 12 pm – 12:30 pm
stay tuned for details
Our Annual Conscious NYE gathering 8 pm 1 am
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613
This Years Theme is a Masked Ball –
Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA
$20 per person
Stay tuned for details
Joan’s Epiphany 6 January 2021 ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ 2 pm – 4 pm CT
In-person at Elderberries Chicago & online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar – Eurythmy
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