In my dream last night I ask the dragon: ‘What light is more radiant than the Sun?’ The dragon being caught off guard answers off the cuff. ‘A light born from out of the darkness of the human soul!’ And just as he says this, the dragon immediately turns into an angel! We are both astonished, but I take it in stride, & then it comes to me to say:
Anne Stokes
‘Is this the secret of the demons then?’. ‘Yes’, says the angel, ‘When the light of the Sun – the Word, entered into the darkness of the earth, a seed was set for a New Sun. This New Sun is the Light born from darkness. This is Christ in you.
The demons work to keep this truth from the consciousness of humanity; & so you must seek it from the wisdom of Isis-Sophia spread out in the starry heights.
Penelope Bukleson
There, written like a script, is her wise reflection. Re-member her, & the way is revealed, in which evil can be used against itself, so that it can be transformed into goodness – But, it must be thru the human consciousness imbued with an Active Love-filled Will, that it shall come to light.’
And so it is – from a Longest Night – Great Conjunction inspiration…
~hag
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22 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Use the waxing gibbous moon to find the red planet Mars. Mars isn’t exactly blazing now, as it was some months ago when Earth was passing between it & the sun. But Mars is still bright, & still very red, a stunning sight high in the sky at nightfall.
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Darrel Septle
O Rex Gentium – Prince of Peace
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.
O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.
Isaiah had prophesied: “For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 – “He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4
304 – Deathday of Saint Florian a Christian holy man, and the patron saint of Linz, Austria; chimney sweeps; soapmakers, & firefighters. The “Florian Principle” (known in German language areas as “Sankt-Florians-Prinzip”) is named after a somewhat ironic prayer to Saint Florian: “O heiliger Sankt Florian, verschon’ mein Haus, zünd’ and’re an”, equivalent to “O Holy St. Florian, please spare my house, set fire to another one”. This saying is used in German much like the English “not in my back yard”, when the speaker wants to point out that some person tries to get out of an unpleasant situation by an action that will put others in that very same situation. The name Florian is considered synonymous with fireman in the German speaking world. In some cases call for a fireman will actually be spoken as calls for Florian.
856 – Damghan earthquake kills an estimated 200,000 people, the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history
1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts & performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) & Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano)
1851 – India’s first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India
1890 – Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kentville &Kingsport, Nova Scotia.
1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia becomes the first asteroid discovered using photography
1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City
1942 –Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon
1989 – Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East & West Germany
1989 – Deathday of Samuel Beckett, Irish author, poet, & playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons of coal fly ash slurry
2010 – The repeal of the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama
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POD (Poem Of the Day)
~Darkness gives Way to light… Confusion to understanding… My green heart Witch was pitched into the fire Sizzles like fresh kill… & the stars fade like memory The instant before dawn… High in the East, Bella Luna rounds space Opening like a laughing eye… That which can be named must exist… That which is named can be written… That which is written is remembered… What is remembered lives… Let the rest Rest… ~hag
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Wednesday 23 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.Two Turning Points in Time – The Mystery of Wisdom, and The Mystery of Will
In 1923/24, during the Christmas Conference, Rudolf Steiner presented humanity with the Foundation Stone Meditation: an amazingly rich imagination, planted in our hearts and shining brightly like a guiding star. Steiner also gave us many other gifts during that time which we will ponder in our hearts.
Leading thoughts, verses, songs and imaginations will be woven together in this artistic offering before the Holy Nights.
Special guest Lucien Dante Lazar will provide a sprinkle of musical interludes throughout our event.
We will be joined by our old friend Dennis Dietzel in this performance.
We will go into small breakout groups to explore the theme: “How does the Foundation Stone Meditation speak to you?”
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83533262486 Meeting ID: 835 3326 2486 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 835 3326 2486 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kclU2SSTF
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar,
Folks have been asking for more insights into how to actually do the 10:10 Thought-Seed Project. Well friends, there is no right or wrong. It can be as simple as picturing yourself as a being of light; radiating wholeness, sharing truth, activating Will, blending colors, with all the other human souls aligned with love & light, shining together, to permeate the atmosphere with good will – illuminating the whole Earth. Short & sweet, you can do this anywhere, anytime.
Deb Safferal
If you want to elaborate, you may want to build an imagination to help you “Think Light”. Sometimes I like to use these Steiner verses as a lead in: In purest outpoured light Shimmers the godhead of the World In purest love toward all that lives Outpours the godhood of my soul I rest within the godhead of the world There shall I find myself Within the godhead of the world (Repeat, knowing you are shimmering along with the godhead)
Or this verse: More radiant than the sun Purer than the snow Subtler than the ether Is the Self The spirit within my heart I am that Self That Self am I
Kelly Treely
And of course our go-to verse from Waldorf Teacher & Esoteric Circle member Herbert Hahn, is the anchor for the Thought-seed for me every day: “When I think light, my soul shines, When my soul shines, the earth is a star, When the earth is a star, then I am, a true human being”.
in reverse:
I am a true human being When the earth is a star The earth is a star When my soul shines My soul shines When I think light.
Paul Carter
Perhaps you might want to picture Mighty Spiritual Beings noticing our shining. Then we become a beacon which calls for a response. Powerful forces reply, by 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 every dis-ease into the light of healing wholeness…
Every day is different; you may want to feel into the sense of what is needed, for yourself, & for the world in that moment.
Lately before saying the verse, I have been setting the stage by creating Thought-pictures using my guardian angel as an energy enhancer. I invoke the angelic presence into my thinking, inviting this being to work with me to purify my astral forces, so that I may be a fit vessel for the light. I say: Spirit Triumphant Flame thru the weakness of my faint-hearted soul Consume my self-seeking Burn up my egoism Enkindle compassion That selflessness That living stream in humanity May flow as a well-spring of Spiritual Re-birth.
Mandy Parker
I also picture the guardian angels of the all of you out there shining with me.
I can continue to build circles within circles, expanding out from the human, to the angelic; & then I bring in the Archangelic forces, which I picture as Columbia, the Being of America; joining in harmony with all the other Folk Spirits of the various national cultures, going beyond borders, into the universality of our unique humanness.
Kristena West
This then opens the threshold to the Archai, The Time-Spirit who holds the zeitgeist of the Age – Michael, who beckons us to work with him & the Being of Wisdom, The Sophia, to redeem the Cosmic Intelligence.
William Blake
Of course we could keep going up the ladder of the 9 Angelic realms to build higher circles of light by rising in our thinking – all the way – to meet the godhead in the Trinity.
Daniel Holeman
And then gathering & contracting that energy back down into the Earth, & into ourselves, to empower us in our becoming – the 10th Hierarchy of Freedom & Love – And the Earth – a sacred planet, a Star – the Sun of the New Jerusalem.
How do you do 10:10?
D.P. Dyyard
~Together we create a circle of protection & light In the Christic center Which has its eternal point within our heart – Ever reflecting out to the periphery of eternal becoming. ~hag
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10 December 2020 = “Speaking with the Stars”: On the next 3 mornings look east before sunrise. The waning crescent moon & dazzling planet Venus will be beautiful in your early-morning sky. The illuminated or day side of the moon will be pointing right at Venus on December 11 and 12. The lit side of a waning crescent always points eastward, or in the moon’s direction of travel in front of the constellations of the zodiac.
According to the original Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner, Today is the Birthday of Judith. The book from the Apocrypha, named after her, tells the lesser known story of this beautiful widow who plied enemy Assyrian General Holofernes with cheese & wine until he fell into a drunken stupor. Judith then beheaded the general in his sleep, & his soldiers fled in fear, saving her people from the Assyrians. This story is the subject of much renowned artwork. And is told at Hanukkah (This 8 day festival starts tonight)
1198 – Deathday of Averroes, Arabian philosopher, astronomer, most famous for his commentaries on Aristotle’s works, which had been largely forgotten in the West. It was through the Latin translations of Averroes’ work, beginning in the twelfth century, that the legacy of Aristotle was recovered in the West. Averroes attempted to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Islamic theology & to demonstrate that philosophy & theology were two paths to understanding the same truth. Rudolf Steiner refers to him a lot in his lectures on Karmic relationships.
1520 – The Burning the Papal Bull of Excommunication by Martin Luther. Because of constant attacks from the Roman Church, Luther was forced to shape his ideology into an autonomous theology. During the years 1520-1521 he worked on the three great works “Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation”, “The Babylonian Captivity” & “The Freedom of the Christian Man”, thereby emotionally cutting himself off from Rome.
The inquisition against Luther was taken up again in 1520, partly because of these works. The peak of the inquisition came, with the Papal Bull of excommunication in which Luther was ordered to recant his teachings.
Luther reacted in protest. He burned the Papal Bull (“Exurge Domine”) along with the book of church law & many other books by his enemies on December 10, 1520 in Wittenberg where the Luther Oak (Luthereiche) stands today. He is said to have yelled: “Because you, godless book, have grieved or shamed the holiness of the Father, be saddened and consumed by the eternal flames of Hell”.
This behavior caused a conclusive and irrevocable break with Rome. On January 3, 1521 the Pope excommunicated Luther.
The Emperor, however, felt forced to accept Luther because of the pro-Luther mood in the empire & because of the influence of various princes who were hoping to weaken the Pope’s political influence through Luther. As a result, the rebel was guaranteed safe escort on his trip to the Imperial Diet of Worms.
1884 – Birthday of Albert Steffen, poet, painter, dramatist, essayist, & novelist. He joined the Theosophical Society in Germany in 1910, & the Anthroposophical Society in 1912. He was 1 of the original Vorstand members, & became its president after the death of founder, Rudolf Steiner. Steffen was chief editor of the society’s journal, Das Goetheanum, from 1921-1963. At an early age his senses were especially attuned to all of nature. “As a child it always seemed to me as though a human countenance peeped forth from every blossom. From the tulip, that of a Turkish maiden; from the chrysanthemum, that of a Japanese dancer; from the sunflower of Inca King; from the geranium a Moorish boy.”~AS
By age 14 he had intuitively ‘understood’ that the human soul goes through the process of reincarnation. At age 21 he moved to Berlin, & 2 years later, to Munich. There he became a freelance writer & published his first novel, ‘Ott, Alois and Werelsche’ in 1907.
In Berlin, Steffen 1st heard a lecture by Rudolf Steiner. He writes: “I recognized immediately the leader of humanity: the wisdom on his brow, the love pervading his eye, the conscience in his word.”
In 1914, the beginning of World War I, Steffen was 29. At that time he was making frequent visits to Dornach. Of his experience there, he wrote: “Harmony reigned through a single man’s God-founded spirit,”…“Carving the Goetheanum capitals and architraves furthered me as a shaper of words.” In 1920, at the age of 35 Steffen moved to Dornach. In 1921 he was asked by Rudolf Steiner to be editor of the newly founded ‘Das Goetheanum’ weekly periodical.
On New Year’s 1923 Steffen witnessed the destruction by fire of the 1st Goetheanum, despite all efforts to save it. At the Christmas Conference Rudolf Steiner named Steffen to head the Section for Belles Lettres in the newly constituted Anthroposophical Society & named him Deputy Chairman. Of Albert Steffen he said: “The members of Vorstand are, I believe, chosen in the right way. Albert Steffen has already been an anthroposophist before he was born; this must be recognized with regard to him” (The Christmas Conference).
In an article which appeared in Das Goetheanum February 22nd, 1923, Steiner wrote about Steffen: “Within the Anthroposophical Movement, the spirit of such a poet, if rightly felt, should be experienced as the bringer of a message from the spiritual sphere.”… “That he wishes to work in this Movement, should be felt as a good destiny.”
F W Zeylmans van Emmichoven, a Dutch Anthroposophist, wrote that Rudolf Steiner wanted the members of the Vorstand to recognize themselves & each other against the background of the spiritual streams to which they belonged, “to cultivate fraternal feeling even between strongly contrasting personalities.”
Rudolf Steiner died in 1925; Steffen was with him in his last days. He expressed his reverence & thankfulness for this great initiate’s being & gift to humanity, recreating a ‘memory picture’ for the reader – ‘In Memoriam, Rudolf Steiner’.
After Steiner’s death, in accordance with his wishes, Albert Steffen became Chairman of the Society, serving to keep a center point of balance amidst contrasting personalities & divergent streams, which he was not able to do.
“Let this be for us our cosmic goal: – To paint a living picture for the soul which the claws of death cannot despoil, which lights the darkest dungeon deep below – take a new earth with us when we go, which no evil shadow e’er can soil, no tide nor flood can ever wash away, no wind that blows can ever bleach or blight, will never yield to acid’s poisoned bite, will never melt in fire’s burning ray, that’s brighter than the sun’s own visage is – but only Christ himself can give us this!” ~Albert Steffen, Adonis Spiel / Eine Herbstfeier
Albert Steffen is also concerned with how the forces of growth & becoming are victorious. He writes: “Everywhere Christ emerges from the elements. With the lifting power with which he rolled the stone from the grave, support your body, with the light forces with which he permeates the plants, renew your life! With the air of heaven with which he sends you thoughts, like butterflies, fill your words. Guide your ego from rock to forest to the clouds, right up to the sun, by shaping, condensing, transforming and purifying it. Gaze upon your destiny from above, with starry eyes.” Steffen’s work is grounded in a living experience of the eternal. It conveys a quality which helps transform our consciousness of the earth, helping to redeem & heal.
One of Steffen’s friends was the American poet-dramatist Percy MacKaye. They spoke a similar inner language & conversed together through poetry. In an essay, ‘The Excellence of Albert Steffen’, Percy MacKaye seeks to describe his friend. “How shall I sketch his portrait for the reader? The solemnity of Savonarola, illumined by the radiance of Shelly, the staunch piety of William Penn (in black quakerish hat), all twinkled over and merrified by the arch smile and skipping gait of the marble faun himself – on a holiday, the athleticism of an alpine skier, subdued to the tender solitude of St Francis feeding the birds.”
In Steffen’s dramas one can discover interweaving themes. One is that of the victory of the spirit reborn in Christ over physical death & the forces of destruction & chaos. This is an aspect of the struggle for transformation of evil into good, a teaching of Manes who lived in the third century after Christ. Strength is called forth to release worn-out thought forms in order to grasp a deeper clarity; this leads to acts of sacrifice, inspired through love. Their example has a transforming effect, both on the people within the play & in the audience.
‘Friend’ – (from the Anglo-Saxon root: freon – to love) is defined as ‘one disposed to promote the good of another’. – Steffen describes how he aspires to view others: “The developed person does not judge others and thus set them back, but lets them stand and understands them.”
1896 – Deathday of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, & philanthropist. Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron & steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon & other armaments. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes.
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Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
We will begin with live Music by Lucien Dante Lazar
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
On Tuesday, December 29th,6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,we will join Anthroposophy Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe
New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call, as we will gather for ourAnnual NYE event. This year’s theme is “A Masked Ball” 6 pm till 10:30 pm
6 pm Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar
7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes
10:10 pm Project Thought-Seed
The evening ends at 10:30 pm
$20 donation
Nancy Poer
Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CSTJoan’s Epiphany: What Joan of Arc Calls for Today In-Person at Elderberries & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago and online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc, we welcome special guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, “The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Spirit Serving It” by Rudolf Steiner, with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar
We will also share an artistic exploration, singing and Eurythmy.
The Feast Day of The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception:
The Blessed Virgin Mary in Her aspect of The Immaculate Conception has been called the patroness of the United States, & 8 December is the octave of her feast for our country & for the virtue of piety. We celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 9 months before her birth celebrated on 8 September. Although it is not officially part of Advent, in celebrating this feast we can easily enter into the spirit of Christmastide, for it is like the hope & truth of the dawn that grows within us all. Mary is our guide, & mother along the path of the Sun.
The vigil of the Immaculate Conception is an opportune time to lighta special Advent candle in Mary’s honor expressing symbolically the words of Isaias, “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of this root.” I usually put a beeswax candle in a candleholder covered with white silk, tied with red & blue ribbon. I place this before my statue of Our Lady.
From the womb of Our Lady, comes the light of the world. The candle represents Christ, who dispels all darkness.
“Behold a branch is growing Of loveliest form and grace. As prophets sung, foreknowing; It springs from Jesse’s race. And bears one little flower. In midst of coldest winter, At deepest midnight hour. Isaiah hath foretold it In words of promise sure, And Mary’s arms enfold it, A Virgin meek and pure. Through God’s eternal will, This Child to her is given At midnight calm and still.
Joachim & Anna are the parents of the Luke Mary.
Interestingly enough, the name Anna (or Hannah in the Hebrew) means “full of grace” – and indeed the mother of Mary was at one time full with the one who is called “full of grace”! Joachim is a variant form of the Hebrew name Jehoiachin and can mean “God will establish” or “The Lord exalts” or “God has granted a son.” Fitting names for the ones who would bear & raise the child Mary who would become the Mother of God!
Joachim was of the tribe of Judah, & a descendant of King David. St. Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, of the tribe of Levi as was Aaron the High Priest..
Joachim & Anna had been married for fifty years, & were barren. They lived devoutly & quietly, using only a third of their income for themselves & giving a third to the poor & a third to the Temple. Joachim had done this since he was 15-years-old, & God multiplied his flocks, so the couple was well provided for. They longed for a child but remained childless into their old age.
When they were in Jerusalem to offer sacrifice to God, the High Priest, Issachar, upbraided Joachim, “You are not worthy to offer sacrifice with those childless hands.” This caused the aged couple great grief. Then the two of them gave themselves to prayer to God that He would work in them the wonder that He had worked in Abraham & Sarah, & give them a child to comfort their old age.
Joachim took his flocks & went to a high mountain, refusing to return home in shame. Meanwhile, Anna prayed in her garden. God sent the Archangel Gabriel to each of them, who gave them tidings of the birth of “a daughter most blessed, by whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed, & through whom will come the salvation of the world.“ Each promised to have their child raised in the Temple as a holy vessel of God. The archangel told Joachim to return home, where he would find his wife waiting for him in the city gate. The Archangel told Anna to wait at the gate. When they saw one another, they embraced, & this image is the traditional icon of their feast.
Anna conceived shortly thereafter. This Conception of the Most Holy Mother of God is celebrated by the Church on December 8 & the Nativity of the Theotokos is celebrated on September 8.
Joachim & Anna took Mary, at the age of three, to the temple to be dedicated to the service of the Lord, & presented her to the priest Zechariahs. The parents then, after offering up her sacrifice (according to the custom of the time), left the Virgin with other maidens in the apartments of the temple to be brought up there.
Robert Morse
The Ave Maris Stella, is another vesper hymn for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Even the cook can be part of the octave of the Immaculate Conception, for it is time to make Moravian Spritz. These gingerbread cookies are made for the vigil of the Immaculate Conception since Mary, too, “gave forth sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm and yielded a sweet odor like the best myrrh.” The cookies must stand for ten days in the refrigerator before baking, & are then shaped into Christmas figures, especially hearts. (Later on in the season, when we come to Candlemas, we could cut the cookies into the form of candles & turtle-doves)
The Immaculate Conception as the Patroness of the United States reminds us that the hope of Peace in the world does not rest in force of arms, but rather in prayers & social action & with recourse to the intercession of Our Lady. The octave of the Immaculate Conception furnishes an admirable occasion for a renewal of true love for our country. St. Thomas Aquinas associates the virtue of piety with the cardinal virtue of justice.
8 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Tonight, & thru out these long December nights, you can find the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. The Heavenly Chariot – with its brilliant yellow star Capella – starting the journey in the northeast at early evening, flying overhead around midnight & finishes up in the northwest at dawn.
“We understand only the very smallest part of human history and of our own life if we consider it in its external aspect, I mean in that aspect which we see from the limited view-point of our earthly life between birth and death. It is impossible to comprehend the inner motives of history and life unless we turn our gaze to that spiritual background which underlies the outer, physical happenings”. ~Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture III
3 – Deathday of Saint Eucharius, venerated as the first bishop. He lived in the second half of the 3rd century. According to an ancient legend, he was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, & was sent to Gaul by Saint Peter as bishop, to preach the Gospel. He came to the Rhine where Maternus his companion died. St. Peter gave his pastoral staff to Eucharius, &, upon being touched with it, Maternus, who had been in his grave for forty days, returned to life. The Gentiles were then converted in large numbers. Among other miracles related in the legend, an angel announced to him his approaching death & pointed out Maternus as his successor. Eucharius died on December 8, having been bishop for twenty-five years, & was interred in the church of St. John outside the city. The staff of St. Peter, with which Maternus had been raised to life, was preserved at Cologne until the end of the 10th century when the upper half was presented to Trier, & was afterwards taken to Prague by Emperor Charles IV to become ever after the staff of the Pope.
1542 – Birthday of Mary, Queen of Scots
1765 – Birthday of Eli Whitney, American engineer, invented the cotton gin
1854 – In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin
1953 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his “Atoms for Peace” speech, which leads to an American program to supply equipment & information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, & research institutions around the world
1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning & crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 181 people on board
1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200
1969 – Olympic Airways Flight 954 strikes a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 190 people in the worst crash of a Douglas DC-6 in history
1972 – United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 145. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737
1980 – Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. Earlier that day, photographer Annie Leibovitz had been to the Lennons’ apartment to do a photo shoot for Rolling Stone magazine. Delayed by a late limousine, they left their apartment to mix the song “Walking on Thin Ice” (an Ono song featuring Lennon on lead guitar) at the Record Plant Studio. As Lennon & Ono walked to a limousine, shared with the RKO Radio crew, they were approached by several people seeking autographs. Among them was Mark David Chapman. It was common for fans to wait outside the Dakota to meet Lennon and ask for his autograph. Chapman, a 25-year-old security guard from Honolulu, Hawaii, had previously traveled to New York to murder Lennon in October (before the release of Double Fantasy), but had changed his mind & returned home. Chapman silently handed Lennon a copy of Double Fantasy, & Lennon obliged with an autograph. After signing the album, Lennon asked, “Is this all you want?” Chapman smiled & nodded in agreement. Photographer & Lennon fan Paul Goresh took a photo of the encounter. Chapman had been waiting for Lennon outside the Dakota since mid-morning, & had even approached the Lennons’ five-year-old son, Sean, who was with the family nanny, Helen Seaman, when they returned home in the afternoon. According to Chapman, he briefly touched the boy’s hand.
The Lennons spent several hours at the Record Plant studio before returning to the Dakota. Lennon had decided against dining out so he could be home in time to say goodnight to his son, before going on to the Stage Deli restaurant with Ono. Lennon liked to oblige any fans who had been waiting for long periods of time to meet him with autographs or pictures, once saying during an interview with BBC Radio’s Andy Peebles on 6 December 1980: “People come and ask for autographs, or say ‘Hi’, but they don’t bug you”. The Lennons exited their limousine on 72nd Street instead of driving into the more secure courtyard of the Dakota.
The Dakota’s doorman, Jose Perdomo, & a nearby cab driver saw Chapman standing in the shadows by the archway. As Lennon passed by, he glanced briefly at Chapman, appearing to recognize him from earlier. Seconds later, Chapman took aim directly at the center of Lennon’s back & fired five hollow-point bullets at him in rapid succession from a range of about nine or ten feet away. Lennon, bleeding profusely staggered up five steps to the security/reception area, saying, “I’m shot, I’m shot”. He then fell to the floor, scattering cassettes that he had been carrying. The concierge, Jay Hastings, first started to make a tourniquet, but upon ripping open Lennon’s blood-stained shirt & realizing the severity of his multiple injuries, he covered Lennon’s chest with his uniform jacket, removed his blood-covered glasses, & summoned the police.
They reported that Chapman had dropped the revolver to the ground & was holding a paperback book, J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.
Realizing the extent of his injuries, the policemen decided not to wait for an ambulance & immediately carried Lennon into their squad car & rushed him to St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
Dr. Stephan Lynn, head of the Emergency Department, who had been called in again after having just returned home after a 13-hour-long work shift, received Lennon in the emergency room at Roosevelt Hospital a few minutes before 11:00 pm.
When Lennon arrived, he had no pulse & was not breathing. Dr. Lynn, two other doctors, a nurse & two or three other medical attendants worked on Lennon for ten to 15 minutes in a desperate attempt to resuscitate him.
Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival in the emergency room at the Roosevelt Hospital at 11:15 pm by Dr. Lynn.
The surgeon also noted—as did other witnesses—that, at the moment Lennon was pronounced dead, a Beatles song (“All My Loving”) came over the hospital’s sound system.
1987 – An Israeli army tank transporter kills four Palestinian refugees & injures seven others – one of the events which sparked the First Intifada
1988 – A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing 57 people & injuring 50 others
***
J.W. Waterhouse
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~I rise from the center of myself, Fire on wick, Burning, tossing back shadows… Patient & plain as day… ~hag
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Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
We will begin with live Music by Lucien Dante Lazar
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
On Tuesday, December 29th,6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,we will join Anthroposophy Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe
New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call, as we will gather for ourAnnual NYE event. This year’s theme is “A Masked Ball” 6 pm till 10:30 pm
6 pm Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar
7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes
10:10 pm Project Thought-Seed
The evening ends at 10:30 pm
$20 donation
Nancy Poer
Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CSTJoan’s Epiphany: What Joan of Arc Calls for Today In-Person at Elderberries & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago and online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc, we welcome special guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, “The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Spirit Serving It” by Rudolf Steiner, with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar
We will also share an artistic exploration, singing and Eurythmy.
‘I THINK SPEECH‘ Welcome to this PODCAST of my spiritual research into the ‘New Mysteries’ of ‘The Word’. May we rise in our thinking to meet the science of Love through Wisdom, in the true communion of the Reverse Ritual.
Светлана Соло
Rudolf Steiner’s 82 ‘Karmic Relationships’ lectures, which he gave after the Christmas Conference, from February thru September, 1924, can be read as given in volumes 1-8 translated into English, which are arranged by location; or as Fred Amrine recommends, they can be worked with sequentially by date. Lecture # 49 in the series, was not included in the English volumes. It only appears in the lectures on ‘The Festivals and Their Meaning’ as ‘The Whitsuntide Festival – Its place in the study of Karma’, given in Dornach on 4 June 1924.
Yesterday after my ‘Monday Musing’Angela Foster, who facilitates the 6B, contacted me saying what I spoke about reminded her of this ‘hidden’ lecture. Anthroposophy Atlanta has worked with Fred Amrine who postulates that this singular lecture was the center point of the whole series, a real turning point. Angela felt compelled to share it because of its reference to Time in relation to the Sun. I had of course worked with it in the past as Festivals coordinator, but looking at it in the light of Karma & in regards to the origin of Time, as well as in light of our Thought-Seed Project, brings its significance alive anew. Here are a few inspiring highlights:
“Our true being lies in the ego; and it is the ego which both suffers karma and creates it…
The moment, we really take hold of Man as he stands within the Universe, we become able to discover the relationships between the several instrumental members of man’s nature, the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body and the corresponding entities, the corresponding realities of Being, in the Cosmos.
In regard to the etheric body of man, we find spread out in the Cosmos the universal Ether… The cosmic Ether is fundamentally of like nature with what we find in the human etheric body. In the same way we can speak of a similarity between what is found in the human astral body and a certain astral principle that works through all things and all beings out in the far-spread Universe.
Steiner drew this on the board at this point
The Ether is like an empty nothingness to you. But when you regard the etheric environment as a totality, you behold the blue sky, of which we also say that it is not really there but that you are gazing into empty space. Now the reason why you see the blue of the sky is that you are actually perceiving the end of the Ether. Thus you behold the Ether as the blue of the heavens. The perception of the blue sky is really and truly a perception of the Ether. We may therefore say: In that we perceive the blue of the sky we are perceiving the universal Ether that surrounds us. In fact the boundary of the supersensible world becomes visible here.
Every star that we see glittering in the heavens is in reality a gate of entry for the Astral. Wherever the stars are twinkling and glittering in towards us, there glitters and shines the Astral…In all this wonderful configuration of radiant light, the invisible and super-sensible astral body of the Cosmos makes itself visible to us…In the starry heavens, we actually behold an expression of the soul-life of the cosmic astral world.
Think how living it all becomes when we know that the stars are an expression of the love with which the astral Cosmos works upon the etheric Cosmos — for this is to express it with perfect truth. Think then of those mysterious processes when certain stars suddenly light up at certain times. Stars that were not there before, light up for a time, and disappear again. For it is true indeed that in epochs when divine Beings desire to work in an especial way from the astral world into the etheric, we behold new stars light up and fade away again. (including comets)
The etheric body is laid aside soon after death. It is only the astral world that shines in towards us through the stars that has significance for the Ego in the life between death and a new birth. And in that world which glistens in towards us through the stars, in that world there live the Beings of the Higher Hierarchies with whom man forms his Karma between death and a new birth.
Indeed, when we follow this Ego in its successive evolutions through lives between birth and death and between death and a new birth, we cannot remain within the world of Space at all. For two successive earthly lives cannot be within the same space. They cannot be within that Universe which is dependent on spatial co-existence. Here therefore we go right out of Space and enter into Time. This is actually so. We go out of Space and come into the pure flow of Time when we contemplate the Ego in its successive lives on Earth.
Now consider this, my dear friends. In Space, Time is still present, of course, but within this world of Space we have no means of experiencing Time in itself. We always have to experience Time through Space and spatial processes. For example, if you wish to experience Time, you look at the clock, or, if you will, at the course of the sun. What do you see? You see the various positions of the hands of the clock or of the sun. You see something that is spatial. Through the fact that the positions of the hand or of the sun are changed, through the fact that spatial things are present to you as changing, you gain some idea of Time. But of Time itself there is really nothing in this spatial perception. There are only varied spatial configurations, varied positions of the hands of the clock, varied positions of the sun. You only experience Time itself when you come into the sphere of the soul’s experience. There you do really experience Time, but there you also go out of Space. There, Time is a reality, but within the earthly world of Space, Time is no reality.
David Brook
On Earth we experience Time only through Space — through points in Space, through the positions of spatial things. On Earth we do not experience Time in its reality at all. Once you grasp this, you will say: “Really to enter into Time we must go out of Space, we must put away all things spatial.”
Darwin Leon
Thoughts about repeated lives on Earth were possessed only by those human beings and groups that were able to conceive Time in its pure essence, Time in its spaceless character…Then we have a conception of what was called “God” by those peoples who centered their outlook to the world of space alone.
Van James
And now he may gaze upon the Christmas Mystery — the new-born Child, the Representative of Humanity on Earth, who, inasmuch as he is entering into childhood, is born into this world of Space. In the fullness and majesty of this Christmas thought, as he gazes on the Child that is born on Christmas Night, he exclaims: “Ex Deo Nascimur — I am born out of the Divine, the Divine that weaves and surges through the world of Space.”
When a man has felt this, when he has permeated himself through and through with it, then he may also recall what Anthroposophy has revealed to us about the meaning of the Earth. The Child on whom we are gazing is the outer sheath of That which is now born into Space. But whence is He born, that He might be brought to birth in the world of Space? According to what we have explained to-day, it can only be from Time. From out of Time the Child is born.
Ron Candrell
If we then follow out the life of this Child and His permeation by the Spirit of the Christ-Being, we come to realise that this Being, this Christ-Being, comes from the Sun. Then we shall look up to the Sun, and say to ourselves: “As I look up to the Sun, I must behold in the sunshine that Time, which in the world of Space is hidden. Within the Sun is Time, and from out of the Time that weaves and works within the Sun, Christ came forth, came out into Space, on to the Earth.”
What have we then in Christ on Earth? In Christ on Earth we have That, which coming from beyond Space, from outside of Space, unites with the Earth.
Ananda Telli
When we look up from the Earth to the Sun, we are at the same time looking into the flow of Time.
Now from this there follows something of great significance. Man only looks up to the Sun in the right way (even if it be but in his mind) when, as he gazes upwards, he forgets Space and considers Time alone. For in truth, the Sun does not only radiate light, it radiates Space itself, and when we are looking into the Sun we are looking out of Space into the world of Time. The Sun is the unique star that it is because when we gaze into the Sun we are looking out of Space. And from that world, outside of Space, Christ came to men.
Peter fenffe
At the time when Christianity was founded by Christ on Earth, man had been all too long restricted to the mere Ex Deo Nascimur, he had become altogether bound up in it, he had become a Space-being pure and simple.
Christ came to bring the element of Time again to men, and when the human heart, the human soul, the human spirit, unite themselves with Christ, then man receives once more the stream of Time that flows from Eternity to Eternity. What else can we human beings do when we die, i.e. when we go out of the world of Space, than hold fast to Him who gives Time back to us again? At the Mystery of Golgotha man had become so great an extent a being of Space that Time was lost to him. Christ brought Time back again to men.
Joffa Boschart
If, then, in going forth from the world of Space, men would not die in their souls as well as in their bodies, they must die in Christ, We can still be human beings of Space, and say: Ex Deo Nascimur, and we can look to the Child who comes forth from Time into Space, that he may unite Christ with humanity. But since the Mystery of Golgotha we cannot conceive of death, the bound of our earthly life, without this thought: “We must die in Christ.” Otherwise we shall pay for our loss of Time with the loss of Christ Himself, and, banished from Him, remain held spell-bound. We must fill ourselves with the Mystery of Golgotha. In addition to the Ex Deo Nascimur, we must find the In Christo Morimur. We must bring forth the Easter thought in addition to the Christmas thought. Thus the Ex Deo Nascimur lets the Christmas thought appear before our souls, and in the In Christo Morimur the Easter thought.
The Sun not only radiates the light; the Sun creates the Space itself. And the movement of the Sun is only a spatial movement within this created Space. Outside of Space it is a movement in Time. What seems apparent to us — namely, that the Sun is speeding on towards the constellation of Hercules — is only a spatial image of the Time-evolution of the Sun-Being.
To His intimate disciples Christ spoke these words: “Behold the life of the Earth; it is related to the life of the Cosmos. When you look out on the Earth and the surrounding Cosmos, it is the Father whose life permeates this Universe. The Father-God is the God of Space. But I make known to you that I have come to you from the Sun, from Time — Time that receives man only when he dies. I have brought you myself from out of Time, (“Time,” as here used, is what we usually designate as “Eternity”, i.e. a continuous, unbroken time-experience.) If you receive me, you receive Time as eternity, and you will not be held spell-bound in Space. But you find the transition from the one trinity — Physical, Etheric and Astral — to the other trinity, which leads from the Etheric and Astral to Spirit-Selfhood. Spirit-Selfhood is not to be found in the earthly world, just as the Earthly-Physical is not to be found in the Cosmos. But I bring you the message of it, for I am from the Sun.”
When those to whom Christ revealed these things had let the revelation sink deep into their being, then the moment came when they experienced the working of this mighty concept, in the fiery tongues of Pentecost. At first they felt the falling away, the discarding of the earthly-Physical as death. But then the feeling came; This is not death, but in place of the physical of the Earth, there now dawns upon us the Spirit-Selfhood of the Universe. “Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus.”
George O’Neil, Gisela O’Neil
Thus may we regard the threefold nature of the one half of the year. We have the Christmas thought — Ex Deo Nascimur; the Easter thought — In Christo Morimur; and the Whitsun thought — Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus.
In the interconnection of the Christmas, Easter and Whitsun festivals we understand the human freedom on Earth.
It is indeed the language of the stars which sounds towards us from the thoughts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide; from the Christmas thought, inasmuch as the Earth is a star within the Universe; from the Easter thought inasmuch as the most radiant of stars, the Sun, gives us his gifts of grace; and from the Whitsun thought inasmuch as that which lies hidden beyond the stars lights into the soul, and lights forth again from the soul in the fiery tongues of Pentecost.
Meditate this through, ponder it well; then for all the descriptive foundations I have already given you for an understanding of Karma, you will gain a right foundation of inner feeling.
Try to let the Christmas, Easter and Whitsun thoughts, in the way I have expressed them to you to-day.
Bert Kaplin
Just as once upon a time at the first Whitsun Festival something shone forth from each one of the disciples, so the thought of Pentecost should now become alive again for our anthroposophical understanding. Something must light up and shine forth from our souls…about the inner connections of Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide”.
Michael Richardson
“I hear the Word of the Sun, It reads: Let light shine into your heart, To strengthen your human power. Heart light shining You will be healthy Through the Solar Word”. ~Rudolf Steiner, 6 November 1922
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All are welcome to join our Study of Karmic Relationships, every Wednesday 9:30 am – 11 am Central Time. We are currently in Volume 7. https://zoom.us/j/98689103462 Meeting ID: 986 8910 3462
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24 November 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”:Mars shines about a fist-width to the upper left of the waxing gibbous Moon this evening.
Feast Day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Catherine of the Wheel, a Christian virgin saint, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess & a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, & was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years after Catherine’s martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to & counselled her. Some modern scholars consider that the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life & murder of the Greek philosopher Hypatia, with reversed roles of Christians & pagans.
1632 – Birthday of Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher & scholar. Rudolf Steiner speaks of a former incarnation as Philo of Alexandria in GA 88, 24 August 1924
Cathy Millerkin
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (OK so what is it about this day which has brought so many ‘natural’ disasters…?)
1667 – A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing over 80,000 people.
1759 – An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut & Damascus & killing over 40,000 people.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
1839 – A cyclone slams into south-eastern India, with high winds & a 40-foot storm surge destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave swept inland, taking with it 20,000 ships & thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted from the disaster.
1915 – Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
1947 – Red Scare: The “Hollywood Ten” are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
1950 – The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 1353 people, injuring over 160
1960 – The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated, turning them into “symbols of both popular and feminist resistance”. In 1999, in the sisters’ honor, 25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
1987 – Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph &a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.
1996 – An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 126 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida & winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees & flipping trailers.
2000 – The Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 1,226 people dead in Azerbaijan.
2008 – Cyclone Nisha strikes northern Sri Lanka, killing 1,500 people & displacing 90,000 others while dealing the region the highest rainfall in nine decades.
2009 – Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away & 1,222 people perish in the torrents.
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Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT The Karma Project
The Karma Project Manifestations of Karma Study Group December 2, 2020 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“… We have now learned that it is possible to seek out accidents or other causes of illness due to karmic effects. In due course we will deal with the details of such processes, such as the way in which the forces in deeper levels of consciousness work within the human being, or to what extent our ordinary consciousness may avoid such accidents. We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of consciousness; in like manner we must be able to understand how it is that human beings take certain measures to render such infections less and less effective; in other words, that through our ordinary consciousness we are able to avert certain consequences by means of hygiene.“
~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 6, “Karma in Relation to Accidents”, Hamburg, 21 May, 1910 … focus of the December 2 meeting.
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among four volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “Manifestations of Karma.” This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Agenda for our Study Call
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by five volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Laura – pg. 106 to 110 Ana – pg. 111 to 115 Camille – pg. 116 to 120 Alberto – pg. 121 to end 8:05 Conversation 8:28 Close with verse
Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…” The many faces of The Sophia
24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021
International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine.
Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group
Everyday 9 am – 9:30 am PT, 10 am – 10:30 am MT, 11 am – 11:30 am CT, 12 pm – 12:30 pm
stay tuned for details
Our Annual Conscious NYE gathering 8 pm 1 am
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613
This Years Theme is a Masked Ball –
Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA
$20 per person
Stay tuned for details
Joan’s Epiphany 6 January 2021 ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ 2 pm – 4 pm CT
In-person at Elderberries Chicago & online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar – Eurythmy
One tap mobile +13126266799,,7052931041# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,7052931041# US (New York)
Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aeoRtxhpwY
I woke up this morning thinking about the concept of time. And so it formed the theme for my ‘Monday Musing‘, a short weekly offering that I share with our 6B group, working with Steiner’s ‘6 Basic Exercises‘ (see more about that below)
Chronos, depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as an old bearded man turning the Zodiac Wheel is the personification of Time in pre-Socratic philosophy; giving rise to the allegory of “Father Time” wielding the harvesting scythe during the Renaissance.
The Greeks also had another name for Time, personified by his son Kairos, whose name means ‘the right, critical, or opportune moment’.
Rembrandt
Aristotle & his followers discussed the importance of kairos in their teachings as one of the most fundamental laws of the universe: ‘the uniquely timely; the radically particular’.
It has association with both archery & weaving – hitting the target; & the perfect moment in which the shuttle must pass thru threads on the loom.
In the ancient solar allegories, time becomes separated into seasons. The divisions of Time were personified & seen to pay homage to the Triune Deity, enthroned above the firmament.
The spirit of each second, every hour, was seen as an angel. Each day of the week represents the Beings of the Planetary Spheres – The Months: The Spiritual Beings of the Zodiac constellations.
David Nebatt
And of course, in Anthroposophy, we speak about the ‘Turning Point of Time’, with Christ’s deed on Golgotha; & Steiner’s deed of the Christmas Conference.
Einstein’s discoveries exploded our concept of time. He showed us that time is created by things; that time is eternal until things act upon it. He demonstrated that time is relative, moving more slowly if an object is moving fast. And that events don’t always happen in a set linear order. Of course it’s true that many events in the Universe can be put into sequential order, but time is not always segmented neatly into the past, the present & the future. Einstein showed that some equations work in either direction. And, although some physicists say that time is an illusion, our time perception – our sense of time – does exist. And it exists to serve a purpose for us in this life.
Amanda Sage
Here’s what Steiner says about time in ‘The World of the Senses and the World of the Spirit’ lecture 4: “What we, experience in the soul is subject to time. In the outer world things happen in such a way that they are spread out in space and also follow one another in time. Before we can come to the occult truth about all this we must put the question: How then does space stand in relation to time? In this anthroposophical course of lectures we come quite innocently up against a very great philosophical question, one upon which countless heads have been broken!…
We come, to the relation of time to space.
We can put memories behind us, and yet keep them, like continually cast-off skins — in this possibility lies the reality of our soul-life. So you have a continuous re-shaping of the soul-life. During this expansion and contraction one thing is unquestionably present, and that is inner spiritual movement. Movement! Soul-life is movement. And this expansion and contraction gives forms. Therein live your feelings, thoughts, impulses of will.
If you consider how this soul-life is at times in quicker motion and at times in slower motion, you will perceive that it is really Will itself which brings it into motion. If you stimulate your Will you can bring the thoughts and feelings into quicker flow; if the Will is indolent then it all moves along more slowly. You need the Will in order to expand your life of soul.
Within your soul-life: will, wisdom, movement, form, weave and live. Now you will see that these are the names for the successive hierarchies — Spirits of Will, Spirits of Wisdom, Spirits of Movement, and Spirits of Form. In presenting our soul-life in this manner we have, so to say, surprised the hierarchies in one spot, we have really caught them inside us. There they reveal themselves in a most singular way in the inner soul-life of the human being — and they reveal themselves in such a way that their activity is entirely unspatial, it is eternal.”
That makes me think of that famous line from Parsifal: ‘Here time becomes space’. Wagner wanted to portray the home of the Grail as a mystical place, outside of earthly constraints, like how it is in the spiritual world. And then the question becomes: How do we bring that back to earth – To ask the right question at the right time?
So in working with the ‘Will Exercise’, the 2nd of the 6 Basic, I often picture the ‘Hands of time’ – this idea of my will working thru my limbs. I think of my beating heart, or the rhythm of a drum keeping time – the rhythm of the seasons, the cycles of the moon, the pulsing stars.
This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, a yearly place holder in time to help us remember & practice being grateful.
Sulamith Wulfing
Next week we enter the time of Advent, the time of waiting, the time of preparing, of creating a manger in our hearts for the light to be reborn.
And in the Holy Nights we are in a sort of ‘Time out of Time’where we can make Time a Sacred Space.
Dali
Time is our initiator, sacrificing itself by popping up out of the eternal to help us find our way on the path of life. Creating milestones that we can use as a foundation within the flow.
Tamara Adams
We can think about the time or phase of our life…Maiden, Mother, Crone. These aspects don’t replace one another, each phase builds on the next & then they can work together in wholeness, just like the 6 Basic Exercises.
Bella Candor
Yes, for me, time is relative. It needs to be in relationship to something. I can remember that I am always in the right place at the right time – Each moment a journey. We go on a trip & say, yay, wow, were making good time. So let’s remember that Time is on our side, yes it is.
Arrati Morjoto
So I’ll close by asking: Are you taking time for yourself? Maybe we need to give ourselves a ‘Time Out’? Isn’t that part of what the Corona Crisis is bringing us? Let’s live into the eternal Now, & make Time our ally; working with us to firm up our Will.
~hag
The ARC (Anthroposophical Resorce Center in Atlanta) holds a Six Basic Exercise Practice Group weekdays 9 am PT/ 11 am CT / 12:00 pm ET. All are invited to join in a 15 minute practice group focusing on Rudolf Steiner’s foundational exercises. We begin the time each day with a 5 minute leading thought from Angela Foster, focusing one aspect of the practice. We will follow that with a 5 minute period in which we turn off our cameras and practice on our own. After the five minute bell, we take 1-2 minutes to journal about our experience and the end the call with a 3 minute closing thought. Come when you can, and leave when you must. Monday Musing with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg; and Friday’s are open discussion led by Joan Jackeal.
23 November 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Starting an hour before sunrise, both Mercury & Venus are easy to spot in the brightening sky. Mercury, just rising among the stars of Libra; Venus is impossible to miss due east of bright Spica.
“People will have to learn through the idea of karma that they may not repudiate their earlier deeds with their later deeds. A certain consequentiality in life, a readiness to take on the consequences of what one has done, will have to emerge in human evolution. When one looks more closely, one sees how far removed from this people still are. A greater feeling of responsibility for one’s actions, a greater awareness of karma, that is what a study of this sort might yield.” ~Rudolf Steiner
Belenca Kentloo
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feast day St. Columban, Stories claim that as he walked in the woods, it was not uncommon for birds to land on his shoulders to be caressed, or for squirrels to run down from the trees & nestle in the folds of his cowl. He was a strong defender of Irish traditions. The following are the principal miracles attributed to his intercession: Procuring food for a sick monk and curing the wife of his benefactor Escaping injury while surrounded by wolves Causing a bear to evacuate a cave at his biddings Producing a spring of water near his cave Replenishing the Luxeuil granary Multiplying bread and beer for his community Curing sick monks, who rose from their beds at his request to reap the harvest Giving sight to a blind man at Orleans Destroying with his breath a cauldron of beer prepared for a pagan festival Taming a bear and yoking it to a plough.
1644 – John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.
1889 – The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1924 – Edwin Hubble‘s discovery, that the Andromeda “nebula” is actually another island galaxy far outside of our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times.
1978 – Cyclone kills about 10,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka.
1978 – The Geneva Frequency Plan goes into effect, realigning many of Europe’s longwave & mediumwave broadcasting frequencies.
1981 – Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit & support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1992 – The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Jerzy Bettler
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~Yes, it’s true My tone is often sharp, never flat A briny crusted argot. With cutting honesty I push into fathomless oceans Reaching out to the ancient Mother who is all gristle Bitter Trusting in nothing but death Scoured by truth & karma. My single solace, the fate That defines the map Of a star spoken sentence Striking out in pure tones Of too bright a light. ~hag
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Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT The Karma Project
The Karma Project Manifestations of Karma Study Group December 2, 2020 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“… We have now learned that it is possible to seek out accidents or other causes of illness due to karmic effects. In due course we will deal with the details of such processes, such as the way in which the forces in deeper levels of consciousness work within the human being, or to what extent our ordinary consciousness may avoid such accidents. We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of consciousness; in like manner we must be able to understand how it is that human beings take certain measures to render such infections less and less effective; in other words, that through our ordinary consciousness we are able to avert certain consequences by means of hygiene.“
~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 6, “Karma in Relation to Accidents”, Hamburg, 21 May, 1910 … focus of the December 2 meeting.
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among four volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “Manifestations of Karma.” This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu Agenda for our Study Call
7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by five volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Laura – pg. 106 to 110 Ana – pg. 111 to 115 Camille – pg. 116 to 120 Alberto – pg. 121 to end 8:05 Conversation 8:28 Close with verse
Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…” The many faces of The Sophia
24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021
International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine.
Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group
Everyday 9 am – 9:30 am PT, 10 am – 10:30 am MT, 11 am – 11:30 am CT, 12 pm – 12:30 pm
stay tuned for details
Our Annual Conscious NYE gathering 8 pm 1 am
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613
This Years Theme is a Masked Ball –
Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA
$20 per person
Stay tuned for details
Joan’s Epiphany 6 January 2021 ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ 2 pm – 4 pm CT
In-person at Elderberries Chicago & online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar – Eurythmy
One tap mobile +13126266799,,7052931041# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,7052931041# US (New York)
Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aeoRtxhpwY
Nancy Poer
