Category Archives: Speaking with the Stars

Cahokia Eclipse

~Jane Hudson

Greetings Friends – Today on this anniversary of the Founding of the Esoteric Youth Circle by Rudolf Steiner, I am slowly emerging like the waxing crescent after the New Moon from 3 days in the Underworld. I seek to reflect a sliver of illumination around our Michaelmas 2023 Speaking with the Stars Retreat at ‘Sun City’ – the ancient Native American settlement 5 hours south of Chicago on the Cahokia Mounds state historic site.

We packed up ‘The Beast’ a van gifted to us, & set off down I-55 on Friday the 13th. The sky was muted with a mantle of fog as we traveled, diffusing the fall colors in an Atlantean – ‘Mists of Avalon’ blur. Soon the clouds burst into a pelting torrential downpour that came & went as we hydroplaned down the highway. The farms & wild prairie grass of the Heartland pulsing golden in the silver rain. CG held the wheel, meeting the rainfall with humor & grace, as I pointed out the scenic inspirations along the way & DJ’d the ride with world music.

As we neared Joliet IL. the sky lifted & we pulled off looking for a place to run our dog Winnie (Winifred J. Rabbit) who was also attending the vigil. We weren’t using our devices, just the trusty Rand McNally. We were looking for The National Shrine & Museum of St. Thérèse of Lisieux – the Little Flower – a Carmelite Nun & Doctor of the Church, just off the highway. I always loved the Carmelites who follow the ‘Most Pure Heart of Mary, Christ Jesus & the prophet Elijah to live in God’s presence’.

The “Little Way” of St. Thérèse is a simple approach to a spiritual life that seeks to find holiness thru everyday life – to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. It’s about trust – living a life where ‘small daily sacrifices’ make life a great deed.

I made the mistake of turning on my phone to help us find it, & that allowed Ahriman to send us on a wild goose chase. Well, we got lost. But inadvertently, as the adversarial beings are meant to do, we were led right where we needed to go – granting us the opportunity to put Trust to the test.

And somehow we ended up at ‘Waterfall Glen’, a nature wildlife preserve with trails, & fishing, famous for its glacial lake. It was perfect. The rain stopped just as we pulled up. Ah, such majesty. We took a thoughtful, refreshing hike around the primordial lake with Winnie in the lead.

Without much more ado we arrived in Springfield, IL. home of Honest Abe & settled into the Bungalow house that would be our retreat center for the next nights.

~hag

I picked this place because it is across the street from Oak Ridge Cemetery – a State Historic Site – home of Lincoln’s Tomb. Working with the dead has led me to visit many Burial Grounds – a favorite past time of mine. Our pilgrimage there amongst the rolling hills dotted with founding families & civil war heroes was peaceful & reverent. We extended our inner vision to connect to the Spirit of Place, not just of the Cemetery, but of the larger whole – The Genius Loci of Springfield IL. & the Heartland in general, which helped form the Genius of a great man like Abraham Lincoln.

We shared a delicious meal & prepared for the Michaelmas 2023 annular solar eclipse & our trip to Cahokia. Using the black & white of charcoal drawing how do we live into the qualities of Light & Dark? Tying the eurythmy gestures for “I Think Speech”, & working with various prayers, verses & mantras like: The Lord’s Prayer, The Foundation Stone Meditation, The Verse for the Michaelic Age, The 1010 Thought-Seed mantras, etc, we embody our Speaking with the Stars.  Toning & improvisational singing, as well as harmonizing our favorite Michaelmas Songs is a powerful way to bring unity to community.

~Nancy Melvin

I was thinking to apportion out parts & do a reading together of ‘From Light Through Darkness Into New Light’ a Mystery Drama type Pageant I wrote for the ‘Great American Eclipse’ of 21 August 2017, which the Central Regional Council of the ASA enacted as part of our retreat in St. Louis, but I decided to save it for the big gathering we will have during the solar eclipse on the octave of Easter 8 April 2024.

The next morning 14 Oct. 2023, after bagels & homemade biscuit sandwiches we made our way to the sacred Cahokia Mounds near Horseshoe Lake State Park, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.

The atmosphere still had that Watery ‘Mists of Avalon’/ Atlantean quality with occasional cloud bursts. The hanging waves made the fall colors more vibrant, the etheric essence of the plant world more evident, spread out; deeper, richer.

As we drove the mists lifted. We arrived an hour before the eclipse began to get a lay of the vast landscape, tuning-in to the Genius Loci of this place, so different from where we had just come from.

The site was practically deserted. There were only a few folks around the main areas. The overview of the region with its 94 Ceremonial Mounds rising up out of the prairie, which was once productive farmland, deeply stirs the soul.

We chose to make a pilgrimage on the Blue Nature/Cultural trail, a 5 1/2-mile hike that often intersected with the 10 mile Red trail, & the Yellow shorter Tour trail. We started by walking the periphery thru the forest & marsh areas. At 1st the wildlife was abundant & bounding.

Then as the eclipse began – The shift was palpable. Everything stilled. The trees hushed, with not a squirrel or bird to be seen or heard. Even Winnie stayed with us on the path.

When we came to a Mound or a particularly beautiful tree or other striking feature in the landscape we would organically stop & linger – to contemplate, pray, make a gesture, or sing as the spirit moved us.

CG & Winifred J. Rabbit = Bros. of Christ Woodhenge in the background

Around the max time at the height of the eclipse we quite naturally found ourselves at ‘Woodhenge’. We were the only ones there in that vast circle, which once held 3 interconnecting circles of 5, 7, & 12 posts marking out the measure of the human being, the Wandering Planets & the Fixed Stars of the zodiac. We walked to the center post & sat down facing in the direction of the tallest & largest Ceremonial ‘Monks Mound’, where the Sun rises at the Spring Equinox. At this still point during the greatest darkness we held a silent vigil.

We felt called to ascend ‘Monks Mound’ where there is a panoramic view that includes the St. Louis Arch across the mighty Mississippi. Amazing to ponder that this site marking the stars of Ursa Major, was made without the use of the wheel, beasts of burden, or metallurgy, the mound technology was highly refined, taking hundreds of years of dedication. This agri-culture fostered widespread commerce, artistic expression, & monumental architecture. The model for this urban world was nothing less than the cosmos itself. The epitome of their ritual center was a four-tiered pyramid covering fourteen acres, rising a hundred feet into the sky—the tallest structure in the United States until 1867.

~Andis Kaulins

We decided we wouldn’t eat any food until the eclipse ended. We continued our journey passed the ‘Twin Mounds’ thru the ‘Stockade areas’ where we were attracted to ‘Mound 72’ which had a unique quality about it. We could see that it was laid out differently than the other mounds – its long axis is on a Northwest-Southeast orientation.

We discovered it is the only burial mound! More than 250 skeletons were recovered in various states of preservation there. And one burial spot separate from the rest consisted of a young man & woman in their early 20’s resting on a platform of shell beads that was laid out in the shape of a falcon. The residents of Cahokia were buried in cemeteries around the perimeter of the grounds. So some conclude this was a special ritual burial site. We spent a commanding time of contemplation there.

Later as we were walking out of a forested area, there was a murmuration of Starlings undulating over ‘Fox Mound.’ Then we realized that the eclipse had just ended!

When hiking to a picnic bench, Winnie scared 2 wild animals out of the bush. Yes, the deer were coming back into sight, but these looked like fat wooly sheep!?!

And then all the rest of that day & the next we must have seen at least 8 different bird murmurations on our travels speaking in the mysterious language of the air & sky! Video of murmuration

I won’t go into all the details about our digestion time the rest of that day & the next, except to say we had some intense discussions, great meals, artistic sharings, & more cultural explorations around Springfield before heading home – The landscape completely transformed in the sunshine, hung with low holographic clouds that wanted in on the conversation which is always more priceless than gold!

~Betsy

And friends, we can remember that the effects of this solar eclipse series are still reverberating – this energy has repercussions that reach into every kingdom of Nature, penetrating into the Spiritual Worlds where our Beloved Dead & the Unborn- our Descendants dwell in their life between death & new birth – Working, as we must – to heal the Earth. We don’t have to be in the ‘eclipse path’ – We don’t have to ‘see it’ thru cardboard glasses or a device – to do the work of holding the light.

The Battle of the Soul continues…

Shine on dear Michaelic Souls…

~hag

~Lydia Celmer

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler

MICHAELMAS 111
Soul Sunpower’s Awakening
v28
I can, revived within,
now feel my own wide breadth of being,
my strength of sun-empowered soul
whose radiance of thinking solves life’s riddles
and lifts the wish-fulfilling wings
left lame by hope.

The COTS verses can also be imagined in a 24 hour rhythm.
The summer is the soul’s sleeptime in drowsiness of senses.
This verse, the first mention of active human thought,
can be a meditation every morning on awakening,
in an inner light that dawned in the mirror verse.

AUTUMN EQUINOX
Dawning Soul Light
v25
I may, belonging to myself now,
begin to shine a dawning inner light
across the darkening of space and time.
To sleep is nature’s urge;
the depths of soul shall wake
and bear the sun’s warm glow
through winter storms and snow.

October 28–29, 2023 Partial Lunar Eclipse

~Alex Gray

All Souls Festival – Election Day 7 November 2023

Community Prep-Stir / Bon-fire

Celebrating: The Festival of the Dead, & Martinmas

7 – 9 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile

Please Bring a jar for the prep

RSVP Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

The reprise of the 2017 Great American Eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse

Stay tuned for details about a Retreat for this Solar Eclipse Event in Fort Worth, Texas

Begins: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Maximum: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 1:41 pm 1.005 Magnitude
Ends: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Duration: 2 hours, 39 minutes
Totality: 2 minutes, 34 seconds

Lunar Eclipse Sep 18, 2024

Stepping into the Eclipse

Greetings Friends – Are you, like me, feeling the anticipation of the upcoming solar eclipse on Saturn-day 14 October 2023, (the day after Friday the 13th)? This stellar event is a prelude to the reprise of the total “The Great American Eclipse” we will experience 8 days after Easter in 2024. This weekend we will be standing in the shadow of that Friday, the 13th in October 1307, when King Philip IV of France, in league with Pope Clement V ordered all Templars to be rounded up & thrown in prison.

And today with the tensions in Isreal & Palestine, the palor of the corona crisis still hanging in the air, along with the ever-growing descent into the dark of the year, there is a feeling of unease, along with a morbid curiosity, & yes, excitement around witnessing this dramatic cosmic & earthly event. This has set in motion some dire predictions, peaking deep anxiety about the state of the world. Or on the other end we have the Pollyanna’s.

But friends, fearful interpretations or Luciferic revelings around these signs in the heavens are not helpful, we need to understand the Spiritual Science involved so that as upright human beings we can meet this event, adding our speaking to the stars. Humanity is not meant to lie down in fear as helpless victims to these “evil omens” The apocalyptic world we live in needs us to step up – to be courageous & creative as we go into the dark moon phase, awaiting our moment to uphold the Sun during the eclipse times, employing our Michaelic sword & shield.

In this Age of Michael, we are called to develop our Consciousness Soul, applying discernment, & overcoming selfish egotism to foster inclusion, to build & awaken true community. To do this we must participate imaginatively in these milestone times. We can perform actions together in person, AND on the inner planes that will bond & strengthen us, giving power to our collective working. ‘When 2 or more are gathered’, we become a beacon that calls in The Christ, as the meaning of the Earth, as the Cosmic Being of the Sun, & as the Son of the Holy Trinity – opening us to a reality where our highest human evolution can be set in motion.

So the question is: “What positive effects can we contribute for the good of humanity, for Mother Earth & the Universe?”

This is an opportunity to be active & creative – To enact the true Rosicrucian connection between Art, Science & Spirituality. The stars are waiting for us join the cosmic conversation. They are ever speaking – Now it’s our turn to embody The Word with them.

What can we do in anticipation & in reply to the solar eclipse on Saturday & the entire eclipse cycle we are in now? For those who would like to take up some indications from Anthroposophy, be encouraged to read Steiner’s amazing lectures called HUMAN QUESTIONS AND COSMIC ANSWERS, GA 213 – This is what the CRC worked with during the ‘Great American Eclipse’ of 2017.

To better understand that an eclipse is ‘Being’, made up of various forces, we can take up the insights of Rudolf Steiner who describes how at a solar eclipse the shadow cast upon the Earth, blocking out the Sun, creates a kind of funnel pathway that allows for dark, destructive forces coming from the immorality living in human beings on earth to be released into the cosmos without the force of the Sun to check them. The solar eclipse provides a kind of ‘Safety valve‘ for these destructive forces to pour out into the cosmos. So it may seem that this may alleviate some of the current tensions on earth. However we must also acknowledge the intense activity of the adversary beings who during a solar eclipse are also released from the mediating forces of the cosmic Sun allowing their ‘evil’ energies to infect all worlds.

It is precisely during this time that the Sun forces in the Earth, enriched thru Christ’s deed, working now thru the conscious human being, must be called forth.

An eclipse of the sun is due to the fact that the moon comes between the sun and the earth, cutting off the rays of the sun.

At the time of a solar eclipse, for instance, something totally different takes place in the part of the earth affected from what is happening when there is no eclipse. When we know that on the one hand the rays of the sun penetrate down to the earth and on the other hand the forces or rays of will stream out to meet the sun.  At an eclipse, these forces radiate into the darkness, and there ensues a period of time, short though it may be, in which all that is of the nature of will upon the earth flows out into universal space in an abnormal way. It is different altogether from what takes place when there is no eclipse. Ordinarily, the physical sunlight unites with the radiations of will streaming towards it. When there is an eclipse, the forces of will flow unhindered into cosmic space.

The old initiates knew these things. They saw that at such a moment all the unbridled impulses and instincts of humanity surge out into the cosmos. And they gave their pupils the following explanation. They said: Under normal conditions the evil impulses of will which are sent out into the cosmos by human beings are, as it were, burned up and consumed by the rays of the sun, so that they can injure only man himself, but can do no universal harm. When, however, there is an eclipse of the sun, opportunity is given for the evil which is willed on earth to spread over the cosmos. An eclipse is a physical event behind which there lies a significant spiritual reality”. Rudolf Steiner -Human Questions Cosmic Answers.

~hag

There are many practical spiritual activities we can do to be helpful during these heightened times. We have suggested here working with the 1010 Thought-Seed concept to build a positive egregore that can meet these moments with healing & uprightness.

And remember friends, the core here is to apply the best of our soul forces: Thinking Truth. Feeling Reverence & Love. Willing & doing ‘The Good’. We have the mighty Michaelmas-Tide energy working with us now, let’s use it to enact the concept of ‘conscious death’ with the Resurrection forces of Easter – to take interest in the world beyond the selfish comforts of our little self. To be kind-hearted with our sisters & brothers, AND with those we may disagree with. To be thankful to the Animal, Plant, & Mineral kingdoms, who will also be experiencing these events. To be receptive to the opportunities that the ‘Dark Before the Dawn’ can bring. And then to fully participate in that dawning!

~hag

11 October 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”

The 1st New Moon after the Autumnal Equinox – Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse

GLOBAL EVENT:Annular Solar Eclipse
LOCAL TYPE:Partial Solar Eclipse in Cahokia Mounds State Historic SIte, Illinois
BEGINS:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 10:32 am
MAXIMUM:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 11:57 am 0.634 Magnitude
ENDS:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 1:27 pm
DURATION:2 hours, 55 minutes

All are welcome to meet on the inner planes during any part of the duration of the Solar eclipse – which Spiritual Science tells us is like the releasing of a safety valve – allowing the unbridled astral urges of the adversarial forces living in humanity, which are normally held in check by the spiritual beings working in the rays of the Sun, to instead surge out to infect the cosmic spaces, including our beloved dead & the unborn. (More on this soon)

We are all set for the Michaelmas Speaking with the Stars retreat 13-15 October 2023 at Cahokia Mounds – a sacred Mississippian Indian site in Collinsville, Illinois, called by the ancients: Sun City.

Annular solar eclipse total phases composite panorama during Totality , moon covers the sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” shot using mylar solar film , very rare natural event Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned. A total eclipse , An annular eclipse , A hybrid eclipse, partial eclipse

Save the Dates for Community Workings

October 14Annular Solar Eclipse
October 21-22Orionids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak
October 23Venus at Greatest Western Elongation
October 28Full Hunter’s Moon and Partial Lunar Eclipse

All Souls Festival – Election Day 7 November 2023

Community Prep-Stir / Bon-fire

Celebrating: The Festival of the Dead, & Martinmas

7 – 9 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile

Please Bring a jar for the prep

RSVP Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

The reprise of the 2017 Great American Eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse

Stay tuned for details about a Retreat for this Solar Eclipse Event in Fort Worth, Texas

Begins: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Maximum: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 1:41 pm 1.005 Magnitude
Ends: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Duration: 2 hours, 39 minutes
Totality: 2 minutes, 34 seconds

Lunar Eclipse Sep 18, 2024

Epistle

Greetings friends – Besides our Sunday Communion at the Christian Community Church here in Chicago, we also have services on Tuesdays & Thursday mornings. Not many folks come out on the weekdays, unless it falls on a Feast Day, so it’s essentially an offering for the Beloved Dead, & for the Beings of the Spiritual World. These intimate times are my favorite & I often serve at the altar on these days.

Today’s Gospel reading was from Ephesians 6: 10-20 – the last part of the last chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, authored by Saul who after his Damacus experience became Paul the Apostle.

I work closely with the synoptic Gospels. But I admit I have not spent much time with Peter & Paul who tend to prick my feminist sensibilities. But this Michaelic letter attributed to Paul set me on fire – It speaks directly to what we are facing now, especially in light of the up-coming Solar eclipse this Saturday 14 October 2023 – The 1st New Moon after the Autunmal Equinox.

When I got home, I picked up my bible & started reading Ephesians, where we are told in the first verse that it was written by “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1:1)

This book is an epistle, meaning it’s a letter. And Paul wrote this particular letter, addressed to the Church in Ephesus, while he was being held captive as a prisoner in a Roman jail! .

Ephesus was once part of Greece, which today is near the western shores of modern-day Turkey, where the Aegean Sea meets the coast of Ionia.

The city was famous in its day for the Ancient Mystery School & Temple dedicated to Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which was burnt to the ground by an arsonist on 21 July 356 BC, the day Alexander the Great was born.

Rudolf Steiner speaks about the connection of Ephesus & the Temple of Artemis with the burning of the 1st Goetheanum in the ‘World History in the Light of Anthroposophy’ lectures he gave in the evenings during the Christmas Conference. We have referred to these lectures many times here on RR. They offer many occult clues that are very insightful, especially now 3 months before the 100 year anniversary of the Christmas ConferenceWhen Steiner opened the New Mysteries of Anthroposophia to the world.

~Sigmund Gleismüller

Patmos an Island in Ephesus is where St. John the Divine wrote the Gospel of John, & the Book of Revelation thru the inspiration of Mother Mary, who lived with him there, & continued to inspire him after Her Assumption. Lazarus-John, who was ‘The Disciple whom Jesus Loved’ died many years later in that same place.

~Matthias Grünewald

From John 19:26-29, we hear: 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”

Before going to prison, the Apostle Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus, speaking boldly, leading daily discussions, & doing extraordinary miracles by the power of God (Acts 19).

I would like to share what I heard read from the altar today by Rev. Jeana Lee:

Ephesians 6: The Armor of God

Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 6, 10-20 Translation by Rev Craig Wiggins

“What it comes to in the end is this: Let his strength and might flow through you in order to serve the Lord. Put on the full armor of God that you may withstand all the well-aimed attacks of the devil. For what we face is not a fight against blood and flesh, but against spirit-beings, against Archai, against Exousiai, against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time, against beings that are themselves powers of evil in the heavens and on the earth.

Therefore take up the God-given armor, so that you can withstand the evil on the day that it reaches its climax. You should stand there as those who follow everything through to the end.

Stand upright and gird your loins with truthfulness.

Strive for righteousness and balance in your judgement. It will shield your middle like a breastplate.

Shoe your feet with the readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace to all you meet.

Have faith in God that will provide you with a shield with which you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Think about the mystery of Christ’s deed of salvation that will protect your head as a helmet.

And grasp the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God in your speaking.

May this armour protect you in all your supplications and prayers, when you, at the right times, lift up your souls to the spirit and, in wakefulness and with tireless effort, make your intercessions for all who would know Christ’s healing power.

Take me, Paul, into your prayers as well, so that when I open my mouth the strength of the Word may be given me and I may courageously and openly expound the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am a messenger in chains.”

May we put this powerful Michaelic imagination to work for ourselves in the world!

~hag

10.10.23 – “Speaking with the Stars”: In the dawn twilight look for dazzling Venus (occult Mercury) in conjunction with Regulus – the Heart of Leo the Lion. Bella Luna in her waning mood will also be visible in the dome of the morning sky!

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Today 10.10 begins the 16 day Hindu Festival for the dead Shradh Ekadashi. Offerings are also made to Vishnu ‘one who is everything and inside everything’ known as The Preserver within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma, the Sustainer & Shiva, the Destroyer.

680 – Deathday of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Mohammed, beheaded by the forces of Yazid, led by the son of Caliph Muawiyah, who Rudolf Steiner tells us was reincarnated as Woodrow Wilson.

1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 30,000–50,000 in the Caribbean.

1913 – President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal.

1957 – The Windscale fire results in Britain’s worst nuclear accident

1973 – U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax

1980 – The 7.1 Mw  El Asnam earthquake shakes northern Algeria, killing 20,633 and injuring 80,369

The 1st New Moon after the Autumnal Equinox – Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse

GLOBAL EVENT:Annular Solar Eclipse
LOCAL TYPE:Partial Solar Eclipse in Cahokia Mounds State Historic SIte, Illinois
BEGINS:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 10:32 am
MAXIMUM:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 11:57 am 0.634 Magnitude
ENDS:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 1:27 pm
DURATION:2 hours, 55 minutes

All are welcome to meet on the inner planes during any part of the duration of the Solar eclipse – which Spiritual Science tells us is like the releasing of a safety valve – allowing the unbridled astral urges of the adversarial forces living in humanity, which are normally held in check by the spiritual beings working in the rays of the Sun, to instead surge out to infect the cosmic spaces, including our beloved dead & the unborn. (More on this soon)

We are all set for the Michaelmas Speaking with the Stars retreat 13-15 October 2023 at Cahokia Mounds – a sacred Mississippian Indian site in Collinsville, Illinois, called by the ancients: Sun City.

Annular solar eclipse total phases composite panorama during Totality , moon covers the sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” shot using mylar solar film , very rare natural event Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned. A total eclipse , An annular eclipse , A hybrid eclipse, partial eclipse

Save the Dates for Community Workings

October 14Annular Solar Eclipse
October 21-22Orionids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak
October 23Venus at Greatest Western Elongation
October 28Full Hunter’s Moon and Partial Lunar Eclipse

All Souls Festival – Election Day 7 November 2023

Community Prep-Stir / Bon-fire

Celebrating: The Festival of the Dead, & Martinmas

7 – 9 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile

Please Bring a jar for the prep

RSVP Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

The reprise of the 2017 Great American Eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse

Stay tuned for details about a Retreat for this Solar Eclipse Event in Fort Worth, Texas

Begins: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Maximum: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 1:41 pm 1.005 Magnitude
Ends: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Duration: 2 hours, 39 minutes
Totality: 2 minutes, 34 seconds

Lunar Eclipse Sep 18, 2024

Michaelmas as Moveable Feast

Listen to ‘I Think Speech’

Dear friends – What would it be like to re-think the Michaelmas-Tide as a Moveable Feast like Easter?

When living into the Festival Life in the Cycle of the Year as a Path of Initiation, many occult realities are waiting to be unveiled, renewed & applied. One such open secret which we have been exploring here is the connection between Michaelmas & Easter.

The goal of the Michaelmas Festival is to be reborn at the time of death. And the maxim of Easter is that we must die to be reborn.

Michaelmas which has been called a Festival of the Future, that we are co-creating NOW, is celebrated on the fixed date of 29 September – the Feast Day of St. Michael & All The Heavenly Hosts.

But we also know that it is a Season – a Tide – that begins with the Perseid Meteor Showers – bringing in the Cosmic Iron needed to fortify our blood – the antidote to the luciferic forces of Summer’s expansion, at the end of August.

We are entering now the next phase: The Draconid Meteor Showers radiating from the Dragon’s Eyes – the stars Eltanin & Rastaban – in the constellation Draco.

Then in late October we encounter The Orionid Meteor Showers taking us into the All Souls Season.

~Umbra Perchiazzi

Recognizing this Michaelmas-Tide has brought many powerful Festival experiences.

“Life after death
Life before birth
Only by knowing both
Do we know eternity”

~ Rudolf Steiner

We know that Easter-Tide: The Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost events are Moveable Feasts – determined by a cosmic alignment: The 1st Sunday after the 1st Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox.

~Umbra Perchiazzi

What will it do for our experience to bring in the cosmic connection of the alignment of Sun, Moon & Earth to Michaelmas? To include a contemplation of the timing of the New Moon after the Autumnal Equinox..? Something long time RR contributor Steve Hale has suggested over the years.

Because of the meteoric activity, which brings a cosmic clearing on all levels, I had not felt a strong urge to reverse the Easter alignment & apply it to the Michaelmas Season.

But this year I noticed that the first New Moon after the Autumnal Equinox on Saturday 14 October 2023, will be a Solar Eclipse!

So this caught my attention, & is leading me to consider bringing a consciousness of the Movable Feast into this cosmic coincidence.

Although I do feel that the 1st Sunday after the Autumnal Equinox after the 1st New Moon which is Oct. 15 this year, feels too far in, & way too close to the All Souls Season to count as the Start of the Michaelmas – perhaps it can be seen as the herald of the end?

Just as it is interesting to parallel it with 15 August: The Feast of the Assumption of the BVM, as a start.

And which we can also connect to the creation of a New Vidar/Ramael Festival that we can conceive of around that August time – a heralding of the Michaelmas Fest.

So dear friends, I am proposing we take advantage of this calling to attend the Solar Eclipse on the 1st New Moon after the Autumnal Equinox as Michaelic Warriors for Peace – Holding the powers of the Sun during the time of darkness.

All are invited to tune into our Project Thought-Seed (Egregore 10:10) which is all about co-creating an imagination of the Earth as a Sun.

Find the timing of the eclipse for your neck of the woods & tune in.

We must become spiritual warriors, & endeavor to take up the practice of building up positive imaginations on the inner planes as a counterforce to the adversarial forces working in all worlds. This is a “key-call” to the Spiritual Powers aligned with love & light, to enlist their aid.

Our Good Will becomes a cosmic energy field for healing: “Seed ideas in the group mind of humanity”, of our highest intentions for the evolution of humanity – that the Earth may become a Sacred Planet – a Sun – & every Human Being a Star.

“What is sown in our highest thought will grow and bear seed.”

We can picture Mighty Spiritual Beings noticing our shining. Then we become a beacon which calls for a response. Powerful forces will reply -sending their protection & energy to us on Earth. Then we can work with them to collectively surround any disharmony, embracing with compassion all discord, bringing dis-ease into the light of healing wholeness…

Here is the Meditative Thought-Seed I love to work with:

For Thinking:
When I think light, my soul shines,
When my soul shines, the Earth is a star,
When the Earth is a star, I am, a true human being”.

~Herbert Hahn
In Reverse:
I am, a true human being
The Earth is a Star
My soul Shines
I think Light

For Feeling:
When I feel Love, my heart sings
When my heart sings, the Earth resounds
When the Earth resounds, I am, a true I AM
In Reverse:
I am, a True I Am
The Earth Resounds
My Heart Sings
I Feel Love

For Willing:
When I will life, my hands help
When my hands help, the Earth heals
When the Earth heals, I am, a free human being
In Reverse:
I Am, a Free Human Being
The Earth Heals
My Hands Help
I Will Life

~hag

We can also employ this powerful Verse
for the Michaelic Age:

We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror
Of what approaches us from the future.

We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations
About the future.

We must look forward with absolute equanimity
To whatever may come.

And we must think only that whatever comes
Is given to us by a cosmic guidance full of wisdom.

It is part of what we must learn in this age, namely,
To live without any security in material existence
And to live with pure trust in the ever-present help
of the spiritual world.

Truly, nothing else will do if our courage is not to fail us.

For this let us seek awakening
To the reality of the spirit
From within ourselves,
Every morning and every evening.

Together, Dear friends we can co-create a New Michaelmas-Tide – a circle of protection & light, in the Christic center of the Universe, which has its eternal point within our heart – Ever reflecting out to the periphery of eternal becoming.

The 1st New Moon after the Autumnal Equinox – Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse

GLOBAL EVENT:Annular Solar Eclipse
LOCAL TYPE:Partial Solar Eclipse in Cahokia Mounds State Historic SIte, Illinois
BEGINS:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 10:32 am
MAXIMUM:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 11:57 am 0.634 Magnitude
ENDS:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 1:27 pm
DURATION:2 hours, 55 minutes

For those who would like to gather in person I will be facilitating a Michaelmas Speaking with the Stars retreat 13-15 October 2023 at Cahokia Mounds – a sacred Mississippian Indian site in Collinsville, Illinois, called by the ancients: Sun City. We will gather to co-create ‘a New Group-Soul United in Christ’ thru Art-Acts, & other activities to consciously rise in our thinking, collectively building a cogitative imagination of Sophia-Michael-Christ, embracing all worlds with love & light. We will be working in the ‘Woodhenge’ zodiac site, as well as Monks Mound, & the Mississippi River trail. Space is limited contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

~hag

For in the past, festivals used to bind human beings strongly together. Just think, for instance, of all that has been done and said and thought in connection with festivals for the whole of civilisation.

In our epoch, Western humanity’s development has again reached a point where we are confronted with the necessity of bringing forth new forms of the venerable, sacred ideals of religion, art and science.

This is what can enter physical life through the establishment of festivals directly out of the spirit – to do something that connects the earth with the heavens, that reconnects physical with spiritual conditions.

If to-day one could see the working of the whole universe when Autumn approaches, if one could decipher the whole face of the universe, and acquire creative force out of it, then the establishment of such a festival would reveal, not only the will of human beings, but also the will of Gods and Spirits. Then the Spirit would again be among humankind!” ~Rudolf Steiner – Michaelmas VII: The Creation of A Michael Festival Out Of The Spirit

6 October 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna in her Last Quarter Phase

Like the Solar Wheel of the year – There are 8 Lunar Phases in the 29.53 day cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter &Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous & Waning Crescent.

Interesting to observe & ponder:

A New Moon in Gemini appears highest at the Summer Solstice & in Sagittarius it is lowest at the Winter Solstice.

A First-Quarter Moon appears highest at the Spring Equinox & lowest at the Autumn Equinox.

The Full Cold Moon appears highest at the Winter Solstice & the Strawberry-Honey Moon is lowest at the Summer Solstice.

A Last-Quarter Moon appears highest at the Autumn Equinox (Michaelmas-Tide) & lowest at the Spring Equinox (Easter-Tide)

Annular solar eclipse total phases composite panorama during Totality , moon covers the sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” shot using mylar solar film , very rare natural event Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned. A total eclipse , An annular eclipse , A hybrid eclipse, partial eclipse

Save the Dates for Community Workings

October 14Annular Solar Eclipse
October 21-22Orionids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak
October 23Venus at Greatest Western Elongation
October 28Full Hunter’s Moon and Partial Lunar Eclipse

All Souls Festival – Election Day 7 November 2023

Community Prep-Stir / Potluck / Bon-fire

Celebrating: The Festival of the Dead, & Martinmas

6 – 8 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile

Please Bring Food & Drink to share, & a jar for the prep

RSVP Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

Lunar Eclipse Mar 25, 2024

The reprise of the 2017 Great American Eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse

Stay tuned for details about a Retreat for this Global Total Solar Eclipse Event in Fort Worth, Texas

Begins: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Maximum: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 1:41 pm 1.005 Magnitude
Ends: Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Duration: 2 hours, 39 minutes
Totality: 2 minutes, 34 seconds

Lunar Eclipse Sep 18, 2024

Anthem

POD (Poem Of the Day)

I feel the fire burning – my thoughts spark the flame
A voice calls out the question
Echoing my name
Hidden in dark chambers – a purpose dwells deep
Be patient to unveil Her
What is unlocked, will never sleep
Where is Love to pulse in tempo
Pain ringing the alarm: What you reap, this you sow
Then will the seed be watered, & then begin to grow
So crack the code to Freedom
From the heart a rhythmic flow
To let the Sun of Wisdom speak
A cosmic anthem we all know

~hag

~Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.

27 August 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Earth flies between the sun and Saturn on placing the ringed planet opposite the sun – at opposition – in our sky. Saturn at opposition is in the dim constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. In addition, if you have a dark sky, you can see the dim but pretty constellation Capricornus the Sea-goat. It has the shape of an arrowhead. Indeed, you can see them crossing the sky all night, traveling along the ecliptic, the same path the sun travels during the day. Also, the bright star Fomalhaut is nearby.

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler

At times I imagine the Calendar’s verse development as if it were a human biography, with each verse number having a meaning in itself.
The senses’ dream in early summer can resemble child experience, new gifts and beginnings in the second quarter teenage creative imagination, v20 is like a trial to become adult (Overcoming Lucifer) and now v21, the magic 3×7, offers the key to the door that opens life’s destiny in its mirror verse, 32: 4×8.
After 52 years can the 53rd birthday become a resurrection that ‘unites with light as one’ and proceeds through the years of verses with conscious destiny?

AUTUMN PRELUDE I
The Key To Selfhood’s Door
v21

I feel a strange new strengthening,
fruit-bearing power of becoming;
I sense the seed maturing
and on a starlit loom
a dawning vision weaving
the pathway to my real being.

ALL HALLOWTIDE III
The Gift Of Destiny
v32

I feel my own fruit-bearing power
present me to the world
and strengthen my innate intent
to turn towards the clarity
within life’s web of destiny

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Saturday 23 September 2023

Community Prep-Stir / Potluck / Bon-fire

*Autumnal Equinox

*Yom Kippur

*Michaelmas Festival

6 – 8 pm at the Lucchesi-Archer-Ginsberg domicile

Please Bring Food & Drink to share, & a jar for the prep

RSVP Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

30 September 2023 – Michaelmas Festival & Zinniker Farm Day

for more info.