Category Archives: Soul to Soul

Gain the powers of the Sun

Celestial Event, Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Spring

26 May 2917 – Astro-Weather: While twilight is still bright – Can you catch the thin crescent Moon just above the west-northwest horizon where she is about to set? And how about  Mars to her upper right?

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Devin Beal

“In the karma of every single Anthroposophist is written: Become a person of initiative; observe whether out of the hindrances of your body or any other hindrances that thwart you, you do not discover initiative to be the center of your being. Suffering and joy for you will actually depend on whether or not you can discover personal initiative. As if in letters of gold, there should always stand before the soul of the Anthroposophist: ‘Initiative is part of your karma; much of what meets you in life will depend on whether you can bring this initiative to consciousness.'”  —Rudolf Steiner

National Paper Airplane Day

604 – Deathday of St. Augustine of Canterbury

1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000

1521 – Luther outlawed. Called for the burning of his books and called for his arrest. Frederick the Wise of Saxony protected Luther by hiding him in Wartburg Castle. Luther worked tirelessly on a complete translation of the Bible into German. Luther answering charges of heresy before the Diet of Worms in 1521.

1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.

1828 – Kasper Hauser appears in Nuremberg on Whit Monday “The Child Of Europe”

1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.

1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.

1976 – Deathday of German Philosopher Martin Heidegger

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Gabriela Garza Padilla

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I have
Fallen face down upon the earth
To gain the powers of the stars…
~hag

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Ascension part 2

For 40 days after the Resurrection, the apostles received from the risen Christ his esoteric teachings, essentially the contents of the 5th Gospel given to us by Rudolf Steiner. -Then the apostles witnessed The Christ, being received into the clouds, passing out of their sight – an expansion of His being, like a flower unfolding into the universe.

John Martin

Rudolf Steiner tells us, that at the time of the Ascension the apostles beheld the vivid spiritual reality of what would have happened to earth existence if the mystery of Golgotha had not occurred. – It was revealed to them that human bodies would have so deteriorated that the whole of humanity would have perished.

Edvard Munch

Our physical bodies have earth-gravity, but our etheric bodies have sun levity, so if Christ’s deed had not taken place our etheric bodies would have left the physical for good & the existence of humankind would have inevitably come to an end, having no formative forces to give them life.

Image result for christ in the sun

We know that Until the Mystery of Golgotha, the sun was the dwelling place of The Christ. Because Christ’s deed unities his being with the earth, the etheric nature of the human being, in its upward striving, can unite itself with the power & impulse of Christ in the etheric of the earth.

The human etheric body, which was in danger of being drawn out towards the sun, like clouds, & dispersed –is held together, contained by Christ, thru His cosmic deed, so that we are not dispersed, but can remain individuals.

 

Christ remains in union with the earth, which rescues for the earth the sunward-striving etheric body. -But to be able to take effect in a human being’s spirit & soul nature, The Christ impulse must also be able to penetrate into the human soul during sleep. And this is only possible if a person consciously recognizes the significance of the Mystery of Golgotha. The spiritual effect can only proceed from a true recognition of its content.

Larry Young

Humankind must come to realize that on the one hand Christ holds back the etheric body in its urge towards the sun; but on the other hand, humankind’s ego & astral body, can receive the Christ impulse only in the time between falling asleep & waking – which is only possible when knowledge of this impulse has been acquired in waking life.

Tomorrow: Another layer

~Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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An invitation from Petra Zinniker (from the oldest Biodynamic farm in the USA) ‘We will have the 2017 spring prep day this Saturday, May 27th. This includes taking out the preps from last fall and stuffing the deer bladders with yarrow.

We will start at 1:30pm and end with a potluck supper. Bring clothes and shoes so you can “dig in” and a dish to pass. Hope to see you there’.

Zinniker Family Farm  – N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121 – 262-642-5775 zinnikers@zinnikerfarm.com www.zinnikerfarm.com

There will be some folks from the branch who will be taking the short road trip (about an hour) to attend. If you would like to join us contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

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Sunday May 28th 2017 – 3 pm – 6 pm “I” See Heaven”The Closing Event for the New Art Exhibition by astrologer Victoria Martin

The heavens and stars are symbols of spirit and magic! Here in “I“ See Heaven” are large-scale illustrated paintings of mystic verses. Many stellar traditions are represented via Zoroastrian, Hebrew, Jain, Vedic, Arabian, Islamic and Mesopotamian sacred texts. Some paintings are interactive or provide pose-inside photo ops! Participate in an artistic exercise: “Aura Drawing”, Healing drinks & more…

at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

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PDF Exploring the Mysteries of St John’s-Tide

Friday June 23rd 2017  – Zinniker Family Farm N 7399 Bowers Rd. Elkhorn, WI 53121

Pot Luck 6:30 pm – Bee & Stag Bon-fire & Drum Circle 8 pm

We begin with the setting Sun, in the dark of the New Moon.  Thru the drumming of our collective heart-beat, circle dancing, singing to the stars, & blessing the earth, we will celebrate the bright reflection of the Divine within ourselves & each other.

$10 – All Donations go to the Zinniker farm – Bring a folding-chair & your drum, shaker or music maker (or borrow one of ours)

For more info.  Hazel (at) ReverseRitual.com

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St. John’s Festival: Cosmic Rapture Grounded in Jubilant Hearts

Sunday June 25th 2017, 2 pm – 4 pm – at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society 4249 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL. 60618. MAP

Come join our Initiatory Workshop/Ritual, to discover the New Mysteries of St. Johns-Tide. To pass the test of Summer we will explore many questions:

  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?
  • Who is the mysterious Archangel of Summer?
  • Who is John the Baptist? What do his sayings “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And “He must increase, but I must decrease.” really mean?
  • What is the secret to healing the ‘soul-fever’ so prevalent in society today?
  • What is the mystery of the Dragon-fly, & other elemental beings?
  • How can we understand the ‘Cycle of the Year as Breathing Process of the Earth’?

 Together we will work to strengthen our true “I”, enlivening our will forces with various social-artistic exercises, Including: ‘Seeing into the Etheric World’ thru the ‘After-Image’, Eurythmy, & an exploration of Karmic investigations.

$30– (or pay what you can, no one will be turned away for lack of funds, contact Hazel if you’d like to do work exchange) All materials included

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – is a Spiritual Midwife, and Trans-denominational Minister, working in an eclectic style that inspires connections – initiating us into the magic, waiting to be revealed, in the cycle of the seasons.   Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year

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The  Center of Anthroposhopyis holding a PDF foundation year training at Urban Prairie this summer

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

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3 Secrets-100 years after Fatima

Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars

13 May 201 – Astro-Weather:  3 main stars shine after dark in May: Arcturus high in the southeast, Vega much lower in the northeast, & Capella in the northwest.

In early dawn Sunday morning, look for Saturn lower right of the Moon. Much farther to the lower right of this pair is fiery Antares.

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The 100 year anniversary of The Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima: Between May 13 & October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, in Portugal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

Sali Duren

~In the dream
A multitude of lights
Fluttered, becoming birds:
Hawks, herons, ibis, geese, flamingo, quail, vultures, lapwings & owls –
They stormed my head
Calling to each other
Then settled in the branches of my arms…
~hag

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TONIGHT: Saturday May 13th 2017, 7:30 pm – 9 pm

‘Proffered Words and the Landscape of Gratitude’ A poetic journey into the heart of a life written and performed by Joen Dealande (Barbara Danner)

$10 Love Donation

After the show Join us for an open conversation about the Elderberries Initiative

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 Harry Clark

Sunday, May 14, 2017- a Mother’s Day Treat

***12:30 pm at the Christian Community 2135 W. Wilson Ave, Chicago

Beat the Devil!  Performed by Glen Williamson

Based on Goethe’s play (Parts I and II) (Ninety minutes including an intermission. Yes, the whole story!)

$15

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Current Festival & Program Events

 

 

 

 

In Moral Steps of Time

Celestial Event, Central Regional Council, Chicago Event, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Spring

2 May 2017 – Astro-Weather: The First Quarter Moon hangs high in the southwest as darkness falls, then sinks steadily toward the western horizon throughout the evening hours. Our satellite officially reaches First Quarter phase at 9:47 pm CDT among the background stars of Cancer the Crab. It will remain on view until it dips below the horizon after 2 am.

María León

The annual eta Aquarid meteor shower is underway. These meteors are pieces of Halley’s Comet, hitting Earth’s atmosphere above Earth’s surface. In the days ahead our planet will cross a network of debris streams from the comet, producing a drizzle of eta Aquarids numbering 10 to 30 meteors per hour in the northern hemisphere & perhaps twice that number in the southern hemisphere.

Activity could increase on May 4th when Earth grazes a dust trail released by Comet Halley in the year 616. The strongest activity is seen around May 6th.

The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the dark hours just before dawn when the constellation Aquarius is rising in the east.

Tomorrow Mercury comes out of retrograde.

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1519 – Death Day of Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, & architect.

“…We know how Leonardo worked at the “Last Supper”. He often went and sat on the scaffolding and brooded for hours in front of the wall, then he would take a brush and make a few strokes and go away again. Sometimes he only went and stared at the picture and went away again. When he was painting the Christ Figure, his hand trembled. Indeed, if we put together all that we can find concerning this subject we must say that neither outwardly nor inwardly was Leonardo happy when painting this world-renowned picture. Now there were people at that time in Milan who were displeased with the slow progress of the picture, for instance a Prior of the monastery, who could not see why an artist could not paint such a picture quickly, and complained to the Duke. He too thought the affair had lasted too long. Leonardo answered: “The picture is to represent Jesus Christ and Judas, the two greatest contrasts; one cannot paint them in one year; there are no models for them in the world, neither for Judas nor for Christ”. After he had been working at the picture for years, he said he did not know whether he could finish it after all! Then he said that if finally he found no model for Judas he could always use the Prior himself! It was thus extraordinarily difficult to bring the picture to a conclusion but within himself Leonardo did not feel happy. For this picture showed the contrast between what lived in his soul and what he was able to represent on the canvas. Here it is necessary to bring forward a hypothesis of Spiritual Science, which may be reached by anyone who studies what can by degrees be learned about this picture.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Leonardo da Vinci, His Spiritual and Intellectual Greatness, At the Turning Point of the New Age

1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker

1729 – Birthday of Catherine the Great of Russia, the longest-ruling female leader of Russia. The Catherinian Era, is often considered the Golden Age of the Russian Empire & the Russian nobility. She enthusiastically supported the ideals of The Enlightenment, thus earning the status of an enlightened despot. As a patron of the arts she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, a period when the Smolny Institute, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe, was established.

1772 – Birthday of Novalis, the pseudonym & pen name of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, poet, author, mystic, & philosopher of Early German Romanticism. His study of mineralogy & management of salt mines in Saxony, was often ignored by his contemporary readers Novalis concerned himself with the scientific doctrine of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, which greatly influenced his world view, transforming Fichte’s Nicht-Ich (German “not I”) to a Du (“you”), an equal subject to the Ich (“I”). This was the starting point for Novalis’ Liebesreligion (“religion of love”) dedicated to his beloved Sophie who died of tuberculosis.

“…When we consider the life of Novalis, what an echo we find there of the Raphael life for which Hermann Grimm had so fine an understanding! His beloved dies in her youth. He is himself still young. What is he going to do with his life now that she has died? He tells us himself. He says that his life on Earth will be henceforth to “die after her”, to follow her on the way of death. He wants to pass over already now into the super-sensible, to lead again the Raphael life, not touching the Earth, but living out in poetry his magic idealism. He would fain not let himself be touched by Earth life.

When we read the “Fragments” of Novalis, and give ourselves up to the life that flows so abundantly in them, we can discover the secret of the deep impression they make on us. Whatever we have before us in immediate sense-reality, whatever the eye can see and recognise as beautiful — all this, through the magic idealism that lives in the soul of Novalis, appears in his poetry with a well-nigh heavenly splendour. The meanest and simplest material thing — with the magic idealism of his poetry he can make it live again in all its spiritual light and glory.

And so we see in Novalis a radiant and splendid forerunner of that Michael stream which is now to lead you all, my dear friends, while you live; and then, after you have gone through the gate of death, you will find in the spiritual super-sensible worlds all those others — among them also the being of whom I have been speaking to you today — all those with whom you are to prepare the work that shall be accomplished at the end of the century, and that shall lead mankind past the great crisis in which it is involved.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Individuality of Elias, John, Raphael, Novalis – The Last Address – Dornach, Michaelmas Eve, 1924

1933 – Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler bans trade unions

1945 –Fall of Berlin: The Soviet Union announces the capture of Berlin & Soviet soldiers hoist their red flag over the Reichstag building

1952 – The world’s first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg

1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.

1986 –The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster

1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define & execute the European Union’s monetary policy

2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military

2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people & leaving millions of people homeless

2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.

2011 – Osama bin Laden, is killed by the United States special forces in

2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave over 2,500 people dead

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

Valerie Sjodin

~The portals of perception
Raw & cluttered await
The revealing –
It is my Self I see –
A 1000 colors swirling in liquid light
A star covered in rising clouds
Hung by a thread from its ocean Moon
Hail Self
Traversing eternity
In moral steps of time
Where the Guardian beckons
~hag

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Linda Yelson

Dear Friends – As we move deeper into the glories of Spring, under the cosmic fortitude gracing us from the annual eta Aquarid meteor showers, & the guidance of the Archangel Raphael – I will be more sporadic in my blog offerings, as I prepare for some upcoming lecture events & workshops, which I hope you will attend…

Until soon

Xox ~!Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Exploring the Mysteries of Mid-Summer: Then & Now

Bee & Stag Bon-fire / Drum Circle (at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute)

8 pm – 10 pm Friday June 23rd  2017

We begin with the setting Sun, in the dark of the New Moon, by enlivening the ecstatic elements practiced by our ancient ancestors, at the time of the Summer Solstice. Thru the drumming of our collective heart-beat, circle dancing, singing to the stars, blessing the earth, & celebrating the bright reflection of the Divine within ourselves & each other, we shall pour our dream-consciousness out into the cosmos.

$20? – Bring your drum, shaker or music maker (or for $5 borrow one of ours)

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Cosmic Rapture Grounded in Jubilant Hearts

10 am – 12 noon Saturday June 24th 2017 (at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute)

Then in the clear light of day, Come Join our Initiatory Workshop/Ritual, as we expand our Celebration into the 21st Century, to discover the New Mysteries of St. Johns-Tide.

To pass the test of Summer we will explore many questions:

  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide,

to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?

  • Who is the mysterious Archangel of Summer?
  • Who is John the Baptist? What do his sayings “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And “He must increase, but I must decrease.” really mean?
  • What is the secret to healing the ‘soul-fever’ so prevalent in society today?
  • What is the mystery of the Dragon-fly, & other elemental beings?
  • How can we understand the ‘Cycle of the Year as Breathing Process of the Earth’?

Together we will work to strengthen our true “I”, enlivening our will forces with various social-artistic exercises, Including: ‘Seeing into the Etheric World’ thru the ‘After-Image’, Eurythmy, & an exploration of Karmic investigations.

$20? – All materials included

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, and the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society. Founder of Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year– Presenter, Poet, & Trans-denominational Minister

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

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John Stolfo

Michaelmas & the Horn of Plenty – Fall Festivals Ancient and New –

Saturday, September 23rd 2017, 1 pm – 5 pm (at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute)

Saturday September 30th 10:30 am – 4:30pm ( at the Theosophical Society)

Come join our Experiential Workshop/Ritual celebrating the Autumnal Equinox. We will look back to the fruits of the past, and prepare for what is coming toward us from the future. Our ancestors called this Sabbath Harvest Home or Mabon. The Hebrew folk count this as part of the High Holy Days. In Greece and Rome it is dedicated to Dionysus, or Persephone & Demeter.  Today, we are invited to stand with the powerful Archangel Micha-el, in balance, between the light and the dark, as we create the ‘festival of the future’, which we call ‘Michaelmas’.

Hazel Archer Ginsberg is a Spiritual Midwife, and Trans-denominational Minister, working in an eclectic style that inspires connections – initiating us into the magic, waiting to be revealed, in the cycle of the seasons.  Festivals Coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society. Lecturer, Promoter, Blogger, Poet & Performance Artist www.ReverseRitual.com

Current Festival & Program Events

 

Be the Tree

Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, Spring

28 April 2017 – Astro-Weather: As twilight fades in the west, spot Aldebaran & Mars to the lower right of the crescent Moon

Gray Crawford

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“What is told as “history” today must first cease to be called “history.” In not too distant a future, instead of speaking of all the things contained in history as it is told today, people will speak of the spiritual impulses standing behind the historical evolution, impulses which are only perceived as if in a dream by human beings. These are the spiritual impulses that call man to freedom, and make him free, because they raise him to the world from which intuition, inspiration, and imagination come. For what happens outwardly on the physical plane, what constitutes outer history loses its meaning as soon as it has occurred, if not seen as a spiritual impulse… What is now called “history” is a “corpse-history” compared with the reality of what constitutes karma”. ~Historical Necessity and Freewill Lecture 5, by Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 15 December, 1917

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Arbor Day – The first Arbor Day took place in 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton, a journalist & politician. Throughout his career, Morton worked to improve agricultural techniques when he served as President Grover Cleveland’s Secretary of Agriculture. But his most important legacy is Arbor Day.

Morton set an example by planting orchards, shade trees & wind breaks. He proposed that a special day be set aside dedicated to tree planting & increasing awareness of the importance of trees.  Nebraska’s first Arbor Day was an amazing success.  More than one million trees were planted.

Today all 50 states celebrate Arbor Day although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate, usually the last Friday in April.  Arbor Day is also now celebrated in other countries including Australia.  Variations are celebrated as ‘Greening Week’ of Japan, ‘The New Year’s Days of Trees’ in Israel, ‘The Tree-loving Week’ of Korea, ‘The Reforestation Week’ of Yugoslavia, ‘The Students’ Afforestation Day’ of Iceland & ‘The National Festival of Tree Planting’ in India.  Julius Sterling Morton would be proud.  Sometimes one good idea can make a real difference.

For the homeowner, Arbor Day is an excellent opportunity to take stock of the trees on your property & plan for the future. Inspect your trees. Note any broken branches or evidence of disease or insect infestation. Think about how planting new trees might improve the look of your property or provide wind or heat protection.  Take a trip to your local nursery to see what’s available to get new ideas. Walk around your neighborhood. Are there any public areas where tree planting or tree maintenance might make a real difference to your community?  Talk with your neighbors.  Find out what their opinions are.  And, oh yes, plant a tree.

1945 – Benito Mussolini & his mistress Clara Petacci are executed by a firing squad consisting of members of the Italian resistance movement

1967 –Boxer Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army & is subsequently stripped of his championship and license

1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.

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Rick Stevens

 

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I come
To the stony place hidden
In the nook of a willow
By the great inland sea
It has the shape of memory
In its fragrance
My weeping unfurls
Into the earth
To be taken
Up by the thirsty laurel
Which bursts into bloom
With the souls of the dead
Like pale yellow flowers yet to come
Again like Spring
~hag

 

High notes of intention

Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars

27 April 2017 – Astro-Weather: Look for the thin crescent Moon low just after sunset. Gaze below Aldebaran & Mars there in the west-northwest in the twilight

Today the Moon also reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth. Try to glimpse an ashen light faintly illuminating the Moon’s dark side. This is “earthshine,” – sunlight reflected by Earth that reaches the Moon & then reflects back to our waiting eyes

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Feast day of Our Lady of Montserrat – One of the Black Madonnas of Europe, (“the little dark-skinned one” or “the little dark one”)- Believed by some to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the Church. The Patron Saint of Catalonia, an honor she shares with Saint George. The famed image once bore the inscription ”Negra Sum Sed Formosa” (Latin: I am Black, but Beautiful).

The hymn to the Virgin of Montserrat, known as “el Virolai” is sung at noon on her feast day & begins with the words: “Rosa d’abril, Morena de la serra…” (April rose, dark-skinned lady of the mountain…). Therefore, this virgin is sometimes also known as the “Rosa d’abril”

Feast Day of St. Zita, the Italian patron saint of maids, often appealed to in order to help find lost keys. Born in Tuscany in the village of Monsagrati, not far from Lucca. At the age of 12, she became a servant in the Fatinelli household. For a long time, she was unjustly despised, overburdened, reviled, & often beaten by her employers & fellow servants for her hard work & obvious goodness. The abuse did not deprive her of her inward peace, & her love of those who wronged her. Her faith gradually moved the family to a religious awakening.

Zita often said to others that devotion is false if slothful. She considered her work assigned to her by God. She always rose several hours before the rest of the family to pray.

One anecdote relates a story of Zita giving her own food to the poor. One morning, Zita left her chore of baking bread to tend to someone in need. Some of the other servants told on her & when they went to investigate, they claimed to have found angels in the kitchen, baking the bread for her.

St. Zita died peacefully in her sleep & a star appeared above the attic where she lay. After 150 miracles were proven, she was canonized in 1696.

Her body was exhumed in 1580, discovered to be incorrupt, but has since become mummified. St. Zita’s body is currently on display for public veneration in the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca.

On her feast day families bake a loaf of bread in her honor.

470 – Birthday of Socrates – teacher of Plato. “Socrates gathers his pupils around himself, but how does he feel in relation to them? His manner of treating these pupils has been called the art of a spiritual midwife because he wished to draw out from the souls of his pupils what they themselves knew, and what they were to learn. He put his questions in such a manner that the fundamental inner mood of the souls of his pupils was stirred to movement. He transmitted nothing from himself to his pupils, but elicited everything from them. The somewhat dry and prosaic aspect of Socrates’ view of the world and the way he presented it comes from the fact that Socrates actually appealed to the independence and to the innate reasoning power of every pupil.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Gospel of Mark: Lecture 4

399 BC – Deathday of Socrates 

711 – Tarik ibn Ziyad, (who according to the spiritual scientific research of Rudolf Steiner in Karmic relationships Vol. 1 Chapter 10, reincarnated as Darwin) leads his army into Gibraltar

1667 – John Milton, blind & impoverished, sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for 10 pounds

1882 – Deathday of R.W.Emerson 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, & he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays & more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

Emerson gradually moved away from the religious & social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating & expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism in his 1836 essay “Nature”. Following this work, he gave a speech entitled “The American Scholar” in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. considered to be America’s “intellectual Declaration of Independence”.

Emerson wrote most of his important essays as lectures first & then revised them for print. His first two collections of essays, Essays: First Series (1841) & Essays: Second Series (1844), represent the core of his thinking. They include the well-known essays “Self-Reliance”, “The Over-Soul”, “Circles”, “The Poet” &”Experience”. Together with “Nature”, these essays made the decade from the mid-1830s to the mid-1840s Emerson’s most fertile period.

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. Emerson’s “nature” was more philosophical than naturalistic: “Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul”. Emerson is one of several figures who “took a more pantheist approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world.”

He remains among the linchpins of the American romantic movement, & his work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers & poets that followed him. When asked to sum up his work, he said his central doctrine was “the infinitude of the private man.” Emerson is also well known as a mentor & friend of Henry David Thoreau, a fellow transcendentalist.

(Spoken of by Rudolf Steiner as Tacitus in Vol 2 lecture 5, of Karmic Relationships. Tacitus was considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, & is known for the brevity & compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics )

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~The Moon gate is freshly oiled
A Scythe cutting a way
Thru Mystery
Reverberating in my swelling heart
With high notes of intention
& the will toward freedoms mind…
~hag