Category Archives: Soul to Soul

Time Signals from the Universe

October 14, 2016Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

14 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: Saturn remains a gorgeous sight in the evening sky all week. It stands high in the southwest an hour after sunset & doesn’t set until 10pm CDT. The ringed world shines among the background stars of southwestern Ophiuchus

This is the time of year when the Big Dipper lies level in the north-northwest in mid-evening. Look two fists at arm’s length above it for Kochab, the brightest star in the bowl of the Little Dipper.

***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Pokrova Bogorodicy

The Intercession of the Theotokos or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox & Byzantine Churches.

The Slavic word Pokrov, like the Greek Skepê has a complex meaning. First of all, it refers to a cloak or shroud, but it also means protection or intercession. It is often translated as Feast of the Intercession.

According to Eastern Orthodox Sacred Tradition, the apparition of Mary the Theotokos occurred during the 10th century at the Blachernae church in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) where several of her relics (her robe, veil, & part of her belt) were kept. St. Andrew the Blessed Fool-for-Christ, saw the dome of the church open & the Virgin Mary enter, moving in the air above him, glowing, surrounded by angels & saints. She knelt & prayed with tears for all in the world. The Virgin Mary asked Her Son, Jesus Christ, to accept the prayers of all the people entreating Him & looking for Her protection. Afterwards, She spread Her veil over all the people in the church as a protection.

St Andrew turned to his disciple, St. Epiphanius, who was standing near him, & asked, “Do you see, brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?” Epiphanius answered, “Yes, Holy Father, I see it and am amazed!”

According to the Primary Chronicle of St. Nestor, the inhabitants of Constantinople called upon the intercession of the Mother of God to protect them from an attack by a large Rus’ army. The feast celebrates the destruction of this fleet.

1582 – Because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain

Francis Blackwell Mayer

1773 – Just before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, several of the British East India Company’s tea ships are set ablaze at the old seaport of Annapolis, Maryland

1884 – The American inventor, George Eastman, receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film

1888 – Louis Le Prince films first motion picture: Roundhay Garden Scene

1894 – Birthday of E. E. Cummings

1898 – The steamer ship SS Mohegan sinks after impacting the Manacles near Cornwall, United Kingdom, killing 506

1908 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the World Series. Their last win to date…GO CUBBIES!

1912 – While campaigning in Milwaukee, Theodore Roosevelt, is shot & mildly wounded by John Schrank, a mentally-disturbed saloon keeper. With the fresh wound in his chest, & the bullet still within it, Roosevelt still carries out his scheduled public speech

1913 – Senghenydd colliery disaster, the United Kingdom’s worst coal mining accident claims the lives of 439 miners

1933 – Nazi Germany withdraws from the League of Nations & World Disarmament Conference

1943 – Prisoners at the Nazi German Sobibór extermination camp in Poland revolt against the Germans, killing eleven SS guards, & wounding many more. About 300 of the Sobibor Camp’s 600 prisoners escape, & about 50 of these survive the end of the war

1944 – Linked to a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is forced to commit suicide

1952 –Battle of Triangle Hill is the biggest & bloodiest battle of the Korean War

1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis begins

1964 – Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence

1964 – Leonid Brezhnev becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ousting former leader Nikita Khrushchev, sending him into retirement as a nonperson in the USSR

1968 – Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army & U.S. Marine Corps will send over 24,000 soldiers & Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there

1968 – Apollo program: The first live TV broadcast by American astronauts in orbit performed by the Apollo 7 crew

1979 – The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., draws 100,000 people

1981 – Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges the U.S. Federal Government with holding Richard Marshall of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner

1981 – Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt one week after the assassination of the President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat

1982 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs

1984 – “Baby Fae” receives a heart transplant from a baboon

1994 – The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the establishment of the Oslo Accords & the framing of the future Palestinian Self Government

***

MY POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Libra, Lady Justice:

My meetings with you have been quick & fleet

From thought to meaning

From plus to fraction;

Is life fair in a moment’s interaction?

You, bestow desires, or passions deplete,

& decide from the start, but are discreet,

Allowing judgement to change thru action –

By disavowing outside distraction

The scales are now replete

~hag

***

Dali

Shared by Jonathan Hilton of the Astrosophy Research Center

“…Might it be possible that we do not notice certain rhythms of time with regard to more subtle rhythms of human existence—for instance, our cultural life, and so on—because we have not yet developed a proper sense for time beyond our merely physical requirements? The fact that we live in an age in which prophets appear, proclaiming a glorious ascent of humanity in the future, while others speak of ultimate decline, shows that humanity has not achieved a universally valid cognition of ‘cultural time’. Humanity today is like a congregation of human beings, who have lost their sense of time—through some strange accident—and are now quarreling among themselves as to whether it is morning or evening. Therefore, it is not astonishing that modern humanity has managed to put itself into a cultural and social crisis that has no example in history. We also need time signals from the universe with regard to the foundation of cultural life.” (Willi Sucher, Time Signals from the Universe)

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Autumn: A Guided Meditation

October 13, 2016Autumn, Meditation, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

13 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: The gibbous Moon lights the southeastern sky after dark. Look upper left of it, by a couple of fists at arm’s length, for the Great Square of Pegasus tilted up onto one corner. Far lower right of the Moon is Fomalhaut

Isao Tomoda

***

“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” ~H.G. Wells

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Feast Day of Edward the Confessor, the last king of the House of Wessex. Some portray this king’s reign as leading to the disintegration of royal power in England.

Feast Day of Gerald of Aurillac, who suffered illness as a child, & in later life became blind. He seriously considered joining a religious order, but was persuaded against it. Nevertheless, secretly tonsured under his habitual cap, he consecrated his life in service to God, gave away his possessions, took a personal vow of chastity & prayed the breviary each day. He is the patron saint of the disabled, handicapped, & physically challenged.

54 – Emperor Claudius is poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson Nero succeeds him

1307 – Hundreds of Templars in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into a “confession” of heresy. Once freed of the Inquisitors’ torture, many Templars recanted their confessions. Some had sufficient legal experience to defend themselves in the trials, but in 1310 Philip blocked this attempt, using the previously forced confessions to have dozens of Templars burned at the stake in Paris. With Philip threatening military action unless the pope complied with his wishes, Pope Clement finally agreed to disband the Order, citing the public scandal that had been generated by the confessions. At the Council of Vienne in 1312, he issued a series of papal bulls, which officially dissolved the Order. As for the leaders of the Order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had confessed under torture, retracted his confession & insisted on his innocence. But he was declared guilty of being a relapsed heretic & was sentenced to be burnt at the stake in Paris on 18 March 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, calling out from the flames that both Pope Clement & King Philip would soon meet their end. Pope Clement died only a month later, & King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year

Mariotto Albertinelli

1474 – Birthday of Mariotto Albertinelli, an Italian High Renaissance painter of the Florentine school. He was a close friend & collaborator of Fra Bartolomeo & their joint works appear as if they have been painted by one hand

1582 – Because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain

1773 – The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier

1792 –The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid

1917 – The “Miracle of the Sun” is witnessed by an estimated 100,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal. The people had gathered because the 3 shepherd children, who originally claimed to have seen Our Lady of Fátim, had predicted that at high noon the lady who had appeared to them several times would perform a great miracle. According to many witnesses, after a period of rain, the dark clouds broke & the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It was said to be significantly duller than normal, & to cast multicolored lights across the landscape, the people, & the surrounding clouds. The sun was then reported to have careened towards the earth before zig-zagging back to its normal position. Witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became “suddenly & completely dry, as well as the wet & muddy ground that had been previously soaked because of the rain that had been falling.” According to reports, a panorama of visions, including those of Jesus, Our Lady of Sorrows, & of Saint Joseph blessed the people. The event lasted approximately ten minutes

1962 – The Pacific Northwest experiences a cyclone the equal of a Cat 3 hurricane. Winds measured above 150 mph at several locations; 446 people died

1972 – An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashes outside Moscow killing 174

1972 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina & Chile. By December 23, 1972, only 16 out of 45 people lived long enough to be rescued

1976 – A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashes in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, killing 100 (97, mostly children, killed on the ground)

1983 – Ameritech Mobile Communications (now AT&T) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago

1988 – Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian writer regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, to explore themes of existentialism. wins Nobel Prize in Literature; the only Arab to win the prize. As a consequence of his outspoken support for Sadat’s Camp David peace treaty with Israel his books were banned in many Arab countries. Mahfouz was on an Islamic fundamentalist “death list”. In 1994 an Islamic extremist succeeded in attacking the 82-year-old novelist by stabbing him in the neck outside his Cairo home. He survived, permanently affected by damage to nerves of his right upper limb. After the incident Mahfouz was unable to write for more than a few minutes a day & consequently produced fewer & fewer works

1992 –Antonov Airlines crashes near Kiev, Ukraine killing 80

2010 – The Copiapó mining accident in Copiapó, Chile comes to an end as all 33 miners arrive at the surface after surviving a record 69 days underground awaiting rescue

***

MY POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I travel the back of a snake

An unbroken seal on the book of myself

Giving my mind the pleasure of creation

My heart thinks

& love opens the way…

~hag

***

Autumn: A Guided Meditation

You float…you feel a gentle breeze began to dance you through the air like a leaf in the fall. This is a very comforting feeling, like being carried in your mother’s arms. There is no fear. You spin through the sky, flying over fields & forests…

As the wind gently releases, you slowly begin to sink down toward a wilderness of trees. Gently, Gently…You reach the ground landing on a well-trodden path.

You begin, now, to walk the path heading in a familiar direction. As you walk, you notice the 1st hint of color changing the trees…& the silence, broken only by the gentle breeze…the song of birds & other animals. Ahead of you, the path opens up to a larger area. You arrive at this place, & know that it is a Sacred Place.

It may be a grove, or a shady spot under a large tree. It may be a clearing, or a meadow. It may be a stone-circle, or a temple. However it appears to you, you know this is a Sacred Place, it feels safe & powerful.

Enter this Sacred Place…You may wish to remove your shoes because the ground is holy…You may wish to make an offering, or sing a blessing…As you enter this place, you see the bright figure of a woman ahead of you. She looks very familiar. She calls your name, & asks you to come forward. You are unable to make out her face, as she is engulfed in a brilliant glow. She leans forward; you close your eyes, & embrace. As you stand in the arms of this bright woman, she whispers a truth to you. It is a well-reasoned, logical truth. It may be something you already know, but are unaware of. It may be something which makes wonderful sense to you, & makes your mind open with wonder. It may be a mystical teaching which will require further thought. Whatever it may be, you know you are blessed by this amazing teaching…

Then the bright woman braids a chain of flowers into your hair…you touch your fingers to your head knowing your mind has been forever changed, opened, to all the possibilities of positive thinking that will transform your thoughts into things…

You spin with joy, noticing all at once, that the bright woman has vanished & now, standing before you, is a dark figure, looking strangely familiar. Again, you are unable to make out her face. But you notice she is carrying a bundle over her shoulder. She lays her burden down on the ground at your feet. The dark woman speaks to you, with a voice that resonates in a similar way as the first figure; yet deeper, more mellow & mysterious…She calls you by name, & asks you to come forward. You do so. You close your eyes, & embrace this dark woman…Your embrace is a full of compassion & warmth.

She gently whispers a truth in your ear. It is a truth which you feel is right. The truth touches your heart & frees your soul. You feel like a bird, soaring through the skies, singing a song of joy. When you open your eyes you become aware that the dark woman has vanished, & the bundle she was carrying & left at your feet has transformed into a large piece of rich honey-colored amber. You pick it up & hold it in your hand…the sun calls you to lift the amber up…bring it up into the light…let the sunshine merge with this solid symbol of your vitality…breathe in the pranic life-force emanating from your true purpose made manifest…

Put this treasure in your pocket, as you leave the Sacred Place…forever knowing that the sacred place goes where your intention flows…Knowing that union is possible between the many parts of our beings…walk in confidence… balanced in the light & dark of your most authentic self…walk the path toward the wilderness.

You pass the trees, & notice that the colors of their leaves are becoming more pronounced. You see the squirrels busy collecting nuts, & the birds beginning their southward journey. You pass the point where you began walking on this path.

You begin ascending a large hill. You walk upward…upward…up the hill, until you reach the top. There you find that you can see the surrounding countryside all around you. You have an amazing view of your Sacred Place. As you stand there in the sun, you feel your mind & body as it begins to change. Knowing in every cell of your being that we all sink into the earth like a seed in its season, released into the fertile earth. Feel the last wave of the Summer heat vanish, you are in a warm blanket of earth, waiting, listening, waiting…feeling the loving arms of Mother Earth transforming you…

Put on the colors of autumn, & feel the breezes washing you. A glad gust takes hold of you, & floating in the air, you dance away from the wilderness…away from the Sacred Place…Back to yourself. As the wind loosens its grip…you land, back into yourself, grounded, renewed & ready to walk the talk…Ready to Be…Ready to Begin, the labor of love, called your life…

See you there

xox

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

May you be sealed for a good year in the Book Of Life

October 12, 2016Autumn, Festival, Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

12 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: Although the Orionid meteor shower doesn’t peak until next week (the morning of the 21st), you should see a few “shooting stars” associated with it before dawn these next few days. The Moon-free observing conditions in the morning sky now offer better viewing prospects than the waning gibbous Moon will at the shower’s peak. These meteors appear to radiate from the northern part of the constellation Orion the Hunter

As evening grows late, below the Moon — about two fists at arm’s length — for Fomalhaut: the “Autumn Star” & the bright mouth of faint Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish

***

Those who work with the Original indications in the Calendar of the Soul know that Rudolf Steiner lists the birth & death days, as well as other significant occurrences of various individualities, along with the dates in the calendar. He said of this: “What is presented here can be useful to those who wish to follow the path of mankind’s spiritual development” ~Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Francisco Goya

Fiestas del Pilar -Feast Day of Our Lady of the Pillar – the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in connection with an ancient Spanish tradition that she appeared to the Apostle James the Greater as he was praying by the banks of the Ebro at Zaragoza. Mary is often depicted carrying the Child Jesus on her arms resting above a pillar, sometimes carried by angelic cherubs. The Virgin Mary is invoked under this title as the Patroness of Spain

1279 – Nichiren Daishonin, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, is said to have inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon – a venerated calligraphic mandala image inscribed with Sanskrit and Chinese characters on a plank of Japanese camphorwood

Piero della Francesca

1492 – Deathday of Piero della Francesca, Italian mathematician & painter

1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal & Spain.

1654 – The Delft Thunderclap (a gunpowder store exploded) devastating the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people & wounding over 2000

1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips

1845 – Deathday of Elizabeth Fry, an English prison reformer, social reformer &, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist. She has sometimes been referred to as the “angel of prisons”. She was depicted on the Bank of England £5 note

Unicursal Hexagram

1875 – Birthday of Aleister Crowley, an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, & mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century.

Born to a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family, Crowley rejected this fundamentalist Christian faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering & poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers & Allan Bennett.

Moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland, he went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu & Buddhist practices in India. He married Rose Edith Kelly & in 1904 they honeymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should adhere to the code of “Do what thou wilt” & seek to align themselves with their Will through the practice of magick.

After an unsuccessful attempt to climb Kanchenjunga & a visit to India & China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry, novels, & occult literature. In 1907, he & George Cecil Jones co-founded a Thelemite order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated the religion.

After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into another esoteric order, the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to become the leader of its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs. Through the O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia, & North America.

Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting & campaigned for the German war effort against Britain, later revealing that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the British intelligence services. In 1920 he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, & the Italian government evicted him in 1923. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany, & England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.

Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter, bisexual & an individualist social critic. He was denounced in the popular press as “the wickedest man in the world”. Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over Western esotericism & the counter-culture, & continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time.

1915 -Deathday of Edith Louisa Cavell a British nurse, celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination & in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War, for which she was arrested. She was accused of treason, found guilty by a court-martial & sentenced to death. Despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. She is well known for her statement that “patriotism is not enough”.

1918 – A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Cloquet, Minnesota

1964 – The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits

1992 – A 5.8 earthquake occurred in Cairo, Egypt. At least 1510 died

1994 – The Magellan spacecraft burns up in the atmosphere of Venus

2005 – The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched, spent five days in orbit

Freethought Day is October 12, the annual observance by freethinkers & secularists of the anniversary of the effective end of the Salem Witch Trials

***

Kurt Plinke

MY POD (Poem Of the Day)

~This morning it was dark when I awoke…

I noticed the West window held a dying flame

As I watched, a swallow darting thru the shadows

Flit, catching moths

Night bristles on her back…

In her mouth melts a berry of god-thought,

Desire folded into her wings…

She swoops, she dives in dark dreams, perfect in the dawning…

~hag

***

During the time of Michaelmas a shift occurs within us, echoing outside of us in nature, & reflected in various cultural expressions & traditions. At the height of ‘The High Holy Days’, or ‘Days of Awe’ is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which comes ten days after Rosh Hashanah, the ‘Head of the New Year’ & refers to the annual Jewish observance of fasting, prayer & repentance, which started last night at sunset.

It is the moment in time to dedicate mind, body, & soul to reconciliation –
with God, our fellow human beings, & ourselves. A time to turn to those who we have wronged, acknowledging the pain we might have caused. At the same time, being willing to forgive & to let go of the offenses & the feelings of resentment they provoked in us.

This journey for both seekers & givers of pardon mirrors the journey a soul takes after death.

According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person’s fate for the coming year into the ‘Book of Life’ on Rosh Hashanah, & waits until Yom Kippur to “seal” the verdict.

Yom Kippur is a day of hope & optimism, in addition to a solemn day of soul-searching. The Day of Atonement provides a unique awareness of one’s own character & track record, as well as the opportunity to upgrade relationships with relatives, friends, associates & the community at-large.

Yom Kippur’s focus on forgiveness, highlights humility, fallibility, soul-searching faith, compassion, thoughtfulness, being considerate, accepting responsibility & magnanimity.

The ‘birthday’ of the World & of the 1st human beings, Adam & Eve, are celebrated on Rosh Hashanah, on this Day of Atonement, Human-beings are given an opportunity to recreate themselves spiritually, each year, on Yom Kippur, which is an Acadian word for Forgiveness & Genesis.

Yom Kippur is observed on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, whose astrological sign is Libra. Libra symbolizes key themes of Yom Kippur: scales, justice, balance, truth, symmetry, & sensitivity. Libra is ruled by the planet Venus (Noga, נגה, in Hebrew), which reflects divine light & love of other people.

The Hebrew word Kippur, כיפור (atonement/repentance), is a derivative of the Biblical word Kaporet כפורת (the cover of the Holy Ark in the Sanctuary), & Kopher, כופר (the cover of Noah’s Ark & the Holy Altar in the Temple). Yom Kippur resembles a spiritual cover (dome), which separates the holy from the mundane, or materialism. The Kippah, כיפה (skullcap), which covers one’s head during prayers, reflects a spiritual dome.

Yom Kippur calls for repentance — Teshuvah (תשובה in Hebrew). The root of Teshuvah is similar to the root of the Hebrew word for return, שובה, & שביתה, the cessation of mundane thoughts, actions & eating. It is also similar to the root of Shabbat, שבת. Yom Kippur is also called Shabbat Shabbaton — the supreme Sabbath.

The Hebrew spelling of “fast” (צם/צום) reflects the substance of Yom Kippur. It is also the root of the Hebrew word for “reduction” & “shrinking” (צמצום) of one’s wrong-doing, & the root of the Hebrew words for “eternity” (צמיתות).

“May you be sealed for a good year in the Book Of Life” – is the traditional greeting on Yom Kippur.

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Fellowship of Doing

October 11, 2016Insight, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul~hag

11 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: Vega is the brightest star very high in the west at nightfall. Arcturus, equally bright, is getting low in the west-northwest. The brightest star in the vast expanse between them is Alphecca — the crown jewel of Corona Borealis

Mercury & Jupiter appear side by side in this morning’s twilight sky. Jupiter, which shines slightly brighter, lies to Mercury’s right.

***

“What is to be the starting force & impulse for events in social & ethical life must come out of the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, New Spiritual Impulses in History” Dornach 16 December, 1917

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo, Syria. The third deadliest earthquake in history with over 230,000 killed

1582 – Because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain

1634 – The Burchardi flood: killed around 15,000 in North Friesland, Denmark & Germany

1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder’s Stand

1890 – The Daughters of the American Revolution is founded

1906 – San Francisco public school board sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States & Japan by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools

1918 – The Puerto Rico earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 1116 people

1958 –NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 which falls back to Earth & burns up

1962 – Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years

1968 –NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele & Walter Cunningham aboard

1972 – A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker

1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a spacewalk

2000 – NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission, using Space Shuttle Discovery

***

My POD (Poem Of The Day)

~Before the hawk sailed

In the space between the mountain & the moon

Before magic made the Word

Before Isis was veiled

I flourished in the mirrored sea

Waiting for this life

With you

~hag

***

Representing Anthroposophy: Transforming the World. An overview of our Fall Conference & AGM, 7-9 Oct. 2016 in Spring Valley, NY.

Opening every session, Eurythmy Spring Valley brought the 250 folks who gathered for the event, The Michael Imagination from Rudolf Steiner’s Last Address, inviting us as “disciples of Spirit-Knowledge”, to Take Michael’s Wisdom into our soul’s aspiring, actively!”

In the pre-conference assembly for the School of Spiritual Science, Virgina Sease pondered with us the responsibility to build the body that holds the stream of the Being of Anthroposophy; to bring to bear the human Gemut in a ‘Festival of Knowledge’.

On Oct. 7^th, after remembering those who have crossed the Threshold, we heard how things stand now with a balanced budget, and the success of the ever growing Michael Support Circle, as we asked ourselves: How do we meet the World?

Hearing a bit of the biographies of those in the General Council, it’s always interesting to see the influence of the various daughter-initiatives which brings people to Anthroposophy. Before delving into the selection process for the new General Secretary, we heard the history of Henry Monges, the 1^st General Secretary for the US, and we followed the stream of continuity, that strives to be a transparent, breathable form, allowing change, initiating interaction & connection.

Torin Finser spoke of the idea of a ‘Recognition Society’, where we really meet each other, soul to soul, in a ‘School of Unselfishness’, in a ‘Fellowship of Doing’. We heard several times throughout the weekend, of the old practice of ‘sponsorship’, as a way of reaching out to, and acknowledging those who are seeking to do good work. Could this be revived in our time?

We had presentations from Groups, speaking to how they work to represent Anthroposophy in the world. The 1^st to share was the NYC Branch. Their storefront bookstore brings in a lot of folks from off the street. Instead of trying to push anthroposophy, their method is to ask: What brought them in? What questions are living in them? They also co-sponsor many events with other spiritual groups, providing space to seekers from various traditions.

Dottie Zold and the young folks from the Elderberries Café in LA brought their contrasting way of working, primarily with youth and social issues.

We heard from John Beck, director of communications, whose inspired initiative is to bring Spiritual Science into the universities as part of a ‘Foundation for the Humanities’, a kind of moral science, so needed in our educational system. A good way to apply our “Identity Initiative.”

Elizabeth Roosevelt spoke to the changes within the Eastern Region, as they work to perhaps sub-divide the geographical areas to better serve.

The hard working Judith Kiely, from the Rudolf Steiner Library, gave a report. And we heard about the work of the Prison Outreach Program. After each session, our facilitated conversations were enlivening.

Fred Dennehy shared insights into ‘The Art of the Mysteries: Esoteric Meaning in Sophocles and Shakespeare’, to prep us for the artistic presentations in the Development of Consciousness through Drama -scenes from Odeipus Rex, and A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream in eurythmy. Stunning!

The next morning, Virginia Sease spoke to, ‘Why Anthroposophy needs America’. She referenced a lecture Rudolf Steiner gave to the workers that said: ‘Americans would develop a materialistic caricature of anthroposophy instinctive to a spiritual comprehension of the outer world’. We heard of the ‘shining time of America’, in the Age of Aquarius, 4400 AD. We were reminded of the contributions of individualities like Ralph Waldo Emerson, who didn’t call themselves anthroposophists, but who worked none the less in the school of Michael. We looked at the polarity to this school that wants to literally freeze the body (cryogenics) and cultivate the geographic double that seeks to harden the intellect and will, but can’t take hold of the heart or feeling realm. The Native Americans knew this.

Virginia reminded us that 10 years after the laying of the Foundation Stone in 1913, Steiner spoke for the 1^st time about the need to experience anthroposophy with the heart, with a ‘living beingness’ that connects us to the essence of Anthroposophia, who came in with Michael to share a universal task, from 2 different perspectives, knocking on our hearts door, that we may live the call from the Foundation Stone Meditation to: Practice SPIRIT-RECALLING, Practice SPIRIT-MINDFULNESS, Practice SPIRIT-BEHOLDING – That we may develop our relationship to the Christ Being. That we may truly embody: ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’.

As the sharing from groups continued, we heard from the Berkshire-Taconic Branch, and the Threefold Branch in Spring Valley, about their insights and challenges in representing anthroposophy in their communities. What came through most clearly is the fact that these successful branches consciously work to be inclusive with all the Steiner initiatives, going so far as to have ‘wandering conversations’ that visit the various sites in their area. Also strong – cultivating the desire to connect with the suggested themes of the year from the Goetheanum.

Herbert Hagens brought his wisdom and humor to our understanding of the adversarial powers in ‘Through Light and darkness’ setting the stage for scenes from Steiner’s 2^nd Mystery Drama, presented by Barbara Renold’s troupe.

On Sunday we learned about the Collegium of the School of Spiritual Science formed in 1986, working with the section leaders as well as holding the General Section, now referred to as the Universal Human Section.

The Council of Anthroposophical Organizations shared their very important work of connecting the various initiatives, a glorious list of cooperation.

We thanked Marion Leon for her amazing contributions, and heard the remarkable history of Virginia Sease’s years with the Society, as we then welcomed Joan Sleigh.

Torin Finser as the ‘Ferryman’ literally passed the oar to John Bloom, our new General Secretary, who asked: “Can we be an invitation? He spoke of the need to tap, beyond the members, an ‘inverse endowment’, a spiritual endowment, that fosters a radical interest in the other, a regenerative social 3-folding where we are all endowment managers to this legacy. We must take the risk to transform ourselves and the world, awakening to our task as Americans, adding to the evolution of human consciousness. A dance between the “I” and the world. John emphasized that whenever we have a crisis it is an opportunity to be more fully human, to build community, to be more active. He stressed that sustainability calls for us to ask the Percival question, and to be of service. He noted how working for the RSF enabled him to free up his time so that he can serve – one of the goals of social 3-folding.

Joan Sleigh, the 1^st mother to be a representative on the Vorstand, envisions English, as well as other international languages having more of a presence in Dornach. She will labor to network, bringing collaboration, inclusiveness, and the acceptance of others, into what she sees as her role of ‘servant leadership’. She shared a picture given to her by Torin Finser, of the horizontal & the vertical – a cross – that brings into balance our individuality from the cosmos, with the cosmopolitan consciousness of the ‘One World’ or ‘as Wendell Berry says: ‘Only World’- the penetration of the genius of the land, extending beyond ourselves to ‘Guard the solitude of the other’ and yet to recognize the need to see, hear and tend to the other, bringing the cosmos, the environment & the earth into play, so that we can influence and challenge the world with anthroposophical ideas.

There were various breakout groups & night-time camp fires. Throughout the conference we were graced with the presence of two Native American Elders. And the enlivening power of the youth, who are looking to be more visible in the society. They seek more intergenerational conversations. They want to ask – what they call ‘uncomfortable questions’, like: Where is the moral-social responsibility in our society? Can we be more inclusive of race and more conscious of elitism? Are we truly an open society? Can there be a representative from the youth section on the General Council?

The weekend ended with an offering of The Foundation Stone Mediation by Eurythmy Spring Valley that was profound, and left us with an afterimage of courage, hope and beauty, in our collective striving.

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of The Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago, and the Central Regional Council of The Anthroposophical Society

Reverse Ritual – Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year

Purpose & Direction

October 5, 2016Autumn, Insight, Lecture, Poetry, Remembering, Rudolf Steiner Quote, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars~hag

5 October 2016 – Astro-Weather: The waxing crescent Moon appears to the right of Saturn this evening; & lower look for Antares. The two stand high in the southwest an hour after sunset & remain on view past 8 pm CDT

Ruddy Mars continues to put on a nice show in October’s evening sky. The Red Planet shines brightly & appears high in the south-southwest once twilight fades to darkness.

Also after dark, look just above the northeast horizon, far below high Cassiopeia for bright Capella on the rise.

***

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

International World Teachers’ Day

610 – Coronation of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Empire’s official language. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. Then peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires.

Heraclius soon experienced a new event, the Muslim conquests. Within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia & Egypt.

Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats & Serbs in the Balkans. He tried to repair the schism in the Christian church by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. Eventually, however, this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute.

Heraclius was long remembered in the Western church for his reputed feat in recovering the True Cross, which had been captured by the Persians.

After a tour of the Empire Heraclius returned the cross on March 21, 630. For Christians of the Western Medieval Europe, Heraclius was the “first crusader”. The iconography of the emperor appeared in the sanctuary at Mont Saint-Michel. The story was included in the Golden Legend, the famous 13th century compendium of hagiography, and he is sometimes shown in art showing scenes of Heraclius & Constantine I’s mother Saint Helena, traditionally responsible for the excavation of the cross.

The scene usually shown is Heraclius carrying the cross; according to the Golden Legend he insisted on doing this as he entered Jerusalem, against the advice of the Patriarch. At first, when he was on horseback (shown above), the burden was too heavy, but after he dismounted & removed his crown it became miraculously light, & the barred city gate opened of its own accord

6^th Century – Feast day of Saint Placidus & Saint Maurus, disciples of Saint Benedict. Legend has it that Saint Maurus was sent a dream – an order from Saint Benedict’s to rescue Placidus from drowning. Maurus ran across the surface of the lake below the monastery, & drew Placidus safely to shore.

1789 – French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles to confront Louis XVI of France about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, & have the King & his court moved to Paris.

1793 – French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France

1864 – The Indian city of Calcutta is almost totally destroyed by a cyclone; 60,000 die

1948 – The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000, equivalent to almost 10% of the USSR’s Turkmen population. Due to censorship by the national (Soviet Turkmen) government, the event was not widely reported in the USSR’s media. Historians tend to agree that the ban on reporting the extent of the casualties & damage did not allow the central Soviet government to allocate enough financial resources to adequately respond

1966 – Near Detroit, Michigan, there is a partial core meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor

1970 – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded

1982 – Chicago Tylenol murders: Johnson & Johnson initiates a nationwide product recall in the United States for all products in its Tylenol brand after several bottles in Chicago are found to have been laced with cyanide, resulting in seven deaths

1986 – Israeli secret nuclear weapons are revealed. The British newspaper The Sunday Times runs Mordechai Vanunu’s story on its front page under the headline: “Revealed — the secrets of Israel’s nuclear arsenal”

***

My POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Simply finding

The driving force present in my soul depths…

When I look within, I find a strong yearning

A powerful force living as a seed

Gestating future development

As we press on into the Autumn…

~hag

***

Part 5, From the Michaelmas 30 September 2016 Lecture: Heart-Thinking: Michael Beckoning by ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Remember that picture of the 9 Angelic Realms? Spiritual Science says we have a cosmic aim within world evolution linked with the further development of the elemental beings. These spirits behind nature, dwelling in the mineral, plant, & animal kingdoms, seek to rise to a higher existence in the evolutionary process, just as we do, BUT for them, this can only be accomplished by passing through conscious human beings!

When we enter into a right relationship with them, (that’s what the true meaning of morality is: right relationship) when we use heart-thinking to awaken consciously to our experience of nature, enlivening our sense perceptions with wonder, awe & reverence, the elemental beings can attain to this higher stage of evolution.

Rudolf Steiner tells us that we can develop a Gemüt content to our thinking, which shows us how every blossom bears testimony to the existence of an enchanted elemental being within it; & that thru our Heart-Thinking we can learn to feel the longing in this elemental being hoping to be released by us, instead of being delivered up to the Dragon.

So my dear friends, when the flowers fade in the autumn, we can choose not to turn away in antipathy from the decay, instead we can enter into right relationship by warming our mind with a loving heart, & with a sense of wonder, stimulate our soul’s imaginative power; knowing that we are succeeding, thru our Heart-Thinking, in contributing to the progress of spirit in the world. We can enable, thru our awakened consciousness, the elemental beings to slip out of their blossoms when they wither & become seed. We can lead the elemental being up into the spirit for which it yearns, when we can permeate ourselves with the powerful strength of Michael.

To do this we must really live into & experience the cycles of the seasons. Some folks, (who may be overly fond of their intellects) may think that ‘the festivals are just for kids & old ladies’, but what a shame for them – since they will miss the opportunity to tread the initiatory path of the New Mysteries, laid out by Rudolf Steiner thru the working of the festivals.

Today we can stand, after the time of balance provided by the Fall Equinox, & look across the circle to the Spring Equinox, the time of sprouting, the time when the Resurrection forces of Easter-Tide grow in us. We can re-member what we took in then, & re-experience Spring as the birth of elemental beings longing for the spirit, & then in Autumn, we can call up in ourselves these Resurrection forces – because now, during the fall, is when we really need them, to activate the liberation of the elemental beings from the dying plants; & this in turn fortifies us for the dark of the year.

Does anyone else find it an open secret that we call Autumn, the fall? Doesn’t it remind you of the fall from paradise? No mere coincidence I think.

Spiritual Science tells us that the transformation of nature is part of our own destiny – Just as the blood circulation inside us is essential for our existence, the circulation of the elemental beings between earth & the heavens is indispensable for us as well. This is how we can be Michaelic warriors in the battle with the Dragon.

So can you see? That what leads to true a Michaelmas Festival must be a deed of human heart-thinking, a Gemüt event, that can experience the cycle of the seasons as a living reality.

Rudolf Steiner reminds us: “A person who looks out into space & sees the shooting stars should say to himself, with reverence for the gods: ‘What is happening in the great expanse of space has its minute counterpart continuously in myself. Out there are the shooting stars, while in every one of my blood corpuscles iron is taking form. My life is full of shooting stars, miniature shooting stars.”

This process is continuous, but it is especially important at the end of summer, because the sulphur process of the dragon is at its peak. When human beings are ‘shining like glow-worms saturated with sulphur’, then when autumn approaches, the counter-force of iron comes in from the cosmos to bring a balance. This is a good example of the connection between the inner human & the cosmos.

While the sulphur rises in bluish-yellow clouds from the lower part of the human being towards the head, the iron-forming process rays out from our head, & pours like a stream of meteors into the life of our blood.

This is a picture of the human being at Michaelmas. We must learn to make conscious use of this meteoric force in our blood. The ability to experience in our blood circulation the pulse-beat of the outer existence of the stars is the preparation needed for the Michael Festival.

In the sun circles of the Mithras & ancient Druid Mysteries, the great language of the heavens was deciphered, & then applied to earthly things. The disciple was taught to perceive the course of the seasons within, by means of the heart organization; they knew that the human heart was really a subconscious sense organ. What they studied when they looked at themselves thru their heart, was the spirit of the sun’s annual passage through the zodiac. In this way the disciples experienced themselves as a higher being, riding on their lower nature; (the Bull) & so it was fitting that the cosmos would be arranged in a circle around them; in this manner cosmic spirituality was experienced.

As modern spiritual scientists we can foster a spirit of reverence for the ancient cultures & work to rediscover how to apply the heart-science that is appropriate now.

And so, my dear friends, this is what I wanted to bring to you today: The idea that Heart-Thinking, is the modern antidote to the dragon – Heart-Thinking which empowers our will to consciously receive sense impressions, to let in the spiritual sun; the source of the Resurrection-forces; which enable the human intelligence to unite again with the cosmic intelligence.

In the spirit-realms, Michael’s battle with the dragon has been concluded victoriously. It is here on earth that humanity still has to complete it, in alliance with Michael-Whose gesture is no longer only that of battle. He raises his hand beckoning. The hand that was stretched out aggressively, in a threatening manner against the adversarial forces, has changed in our time, & is now beckoning. We don’t kill the dragon folks, we tame it.

Our work today is to begin to feel this transformation reflected in Michael’s gesture. As giver of Cosmic Intelligence, Michael counts on us to become free human beings, that we may return this gesture in kind.

I leave you now with a question, Could this someday lead to a true healing of the adversarial forces? And finally: Who is like god?

In service to love

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

I leave for the AGM early Tomorrow, 6 October, 2016. I will not have internet, so my posts will resume on Monday 10 October.

Xox

Cognitive Ritual

~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian

Category Archives: Soul to Soul

Time Signals from the Universe

Autumn: A Guided Meditation

May you be sealed for a good year in the Book Of Life

Fellowship of Doing

Purpose & Direction

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