Category Archives: Speaking with the Stars

Lord of Karma

Festival, Insight, Lecture, Poetry, Quote, Remembering, Soul to Soul, Speaking with the Stars, The Bridging Project: Life & Death

Wednesday May 4, 2016 – On This Day: Past/Present/Future:

st. florian-strasbourg

250 AD – Feast day of St. Florian the patron of Upper 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. 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.

Demarcation line

1493 – The Division of the world: The Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI decreed in a Papal Bull that all lands west & south of a pole-to-pole line one hundred leagues west & south should belong to Spain. Portugal objected because its status & rights had been omitted & overlooked. King John II of Portugal began negotiations directly with King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of Spain to push the line west & allow him to lay claim to lands discovered east of it. The result was the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Hermann Beckh Mark

1875 – Birthday of Hermann Beckh a pioneering German Tibetologist & prominent promoter of anthroposophy.

Due to his unusual memory skills, & his many interests & talents, his peers encouraged him towards law. It became clear to him that he was not made out to be a judge when he had to impose a fine on a poor married couple for stealing wood. He paid the couple’s fine out of his own pocket & left his position.

He later took up the study of oriental languages, Indology, & Tibetology. In 1907, he received his doctorate with a thesis on Kalidasa’s poem Meghaduta.

In 1911, he met Rudolf Steiner & Friedrich Rittelmeyer, which led to his intensive study of Steiner’s work. On Christmas Day, 1912, he became a member of the Anthroposophical Society.

In 1916, Beckh was drafted into military service, shortly after he published two volumes about the Buddha & his teachings. Stationed in the Balkans, he was called to work in the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Due to his task, he learned the Scandinavian languages in addition to: English, French, Italian, Classical Greek & Latin, Hebrew, Egyptian, Sanskrit, Tibetan & Old Persian.

From 1920 onwards, he worked as a lecturer of anthroposophy. In March 1922, he joined the Circle of Priests of The Christian Community & worked until his death as a priest, seminary teacher, lecturer, independent researcher & writer. In 1928, “Mark’s Gospel: The Cosmic Rhythm” was published, in which he related the narration of the gospel of Mark to the path of the sun through the twelve zodiac signs. In Beckh’s exposition, Mark’s gospel could be understood more in connection with the “earthly” signs seen in the planets, & John’s gospel more in connection with the “stellar” zodiac  of the fixed stars. At the time of The Mystery of Golgotha the planets & the constellations were together, not separate as they are now, due to the progression of the equinoxes.  In the Introduction to the sequel, “The Cosmic Rhythm, the Secrets of the Stars & Earth in the Gospel of John” (1930), Beck favorably mentioned Wilhelm Kaiser’s “Die geometrischen Vorstellungen in der Astronomie” (1928), & referred to The Novices of Sais, of Novalis.  Beckh died in Stuttgart, in 1937.

Eta shower

For the next few nights: METEORS FROM HALLEY’S COMET. Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, source of the annual Eta Aquariid meteor shower.  It peaks from May 4 – 8th, 2016

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eagle sun

~My heart pulses with power

In the balance of the elements

Beatbeatbeat

I am the eagle in the light of the Sun

My wings beat in time to my thoughts…

I am a Taurus Bull in the pleasure glade

Glad am I – the thoughts that love felt

I fly to the far edge of sky

I rest in the deep folds of earth

I am a child of eternity

I am Free

~hag

~   ~   ~

jacobs ladder Yoram RaananYaram Raanan

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – A Festival of Ascension, part 4 of a Lecture by ~Hazel ArcherGinsberg

For the person who on earth worked to understand the mystery of Golgotha, this picture of the ascension after death becomes an affirmation, but for the soul that has not worked towards true spiritual knowledge, it is a picture of reproach.  Helping us seek in freedom to understand this mystery in our next life.

Rudolf Steiner tells us: ‘It is the Christ-impulse that works on after death; it is this impulse under whose influence man frees himself from the Moon-sphere, penetrates the starry Sun-sphere, & from the impulses given to him by beings of the starry world is there able to work upon the forming of the physical organism for his next earthly life’. Dornach 15 Sept. 1922

Christ takes this Moon-Karma upon Himself, enabling the soul to find the path of the true Ascension, which leads to the world of the fixed stars. –

So in the scene of the Ascension we have an indication of the all-encompassing influence of the Christ Being, as the Lord of Karma, upon the life of the human soul after death.  –

It was for this reason that when the apostles experienced the Ascension, which was for them not only the proof of the vast significance of the Christ for the life of every human soul after death, but was at the same time, the event thru which they were able to attain the knowledge of a new relationship between microcosm & macrocosm – Revealing the secret, that the human soul can come into contact with the cosmic sphere where Christ derived the forces for His Resurrection Body – The sphere of the Father, where the Atma, or future Spirit Human, is derived.

And now, since in the resurrection, Christ has united the forces of the Cosmic Midnight Hour directly with earth evolution, this created a bridge for all human beings over the cosmic abyss – Unlocking the gate between this Cosmic Midnight Hour & the Mid-Day Moment of Cosmic Existence.  This then provided the opportunity for The Holy Spirit, who illuminates individual ego-consciousness, to be able to appear in earthly evolution among the 12 at Whitsun, flashing in thru this opened gate, to pour into them the true knowledge of the Mystery of Golgotha & the Ascension in full wisdom.

Since that time, Easter, Ascension & Whitsun/Pentecost, have remained inseparable from one another – they form the foundation of the only moveable feasts in the cycle of the year, which succeed one another in accordance with cosmic law, having to do with the alignment of Sun, Full Moon & Earth after the Spring Equinox. –

In this way the inner substance of this great 3-fold Festival, can illuminate this turning point of time for all Humanity.

To read the entire lecture:  Ascension 2014 Climbing Jacobs Ladder

Tomorrow we explore the connection between Ascension & the Transfiguration.

Until soon

Blessings & Peace –

~hag = Hazel ArcherGinsberg

Current Festival & Program Events

Slow Silver

Celestial Event, Insight, Poetry, Speaking with the Stars

mercuryretroMabel Lockwood

Mercury retrograde (starts today April 28, 2016 & goes till May 27th 2016) This messenger of the gods usually goes retrograde 3 times a year, but in 2016 it is going retro 4 times. This one is also more significant because it give us a total of 5 planets in retrograde right now – along with Saturn, Jupiter, Mars & Pluto! This is very rare & is going to amplify the effects overall.

Mercury retrograde has such a negative reputation; yet it is just a normal pattern in the cycle of life. In fact, Mercury retrograde is very necessary for helping us awaken our consciousness, fulfilling the specific purpose of thinking differently. When we learn how to use this liberating energy it will work in our favor. The first step is to understand the role of Mercury, the planet of communication. It rules over how we express ourselves, how we think & how we communicate our ideas & feelings to the outside world.

When Mercury goes retrograde, it helps us to shift our focus away from expressing outwardly, giving us the opportunity to go within, to work out how we really feel & how we really want to express our ideas & thoughts with the world.

When Mercury goes retrograde, it gives us time to experience those deeper parts of our psyche in order to tune into our soul truth. It is a powerful time to get real with ourselves. It gives us the gift of holding truth close to the heart.

Mercury retrograde does come with a few annoyances, but underneath it is such a powerful time of regeneration & healing. In order to work with Mercury Retrograde it is important not to make any new decisions that are binding or require a contract. The reason for this is because we are in an “assessing truth” phase.

Mercury Retrograde however, is a really good time to revisit the past to assess whether our way of communicating with the world has benefited us or needs to be changed.

Learning how to work with others, being able to communicate truthfully is one of the themes during this time. Take things slow, to keep things simple, to get in touch with that inner voice.

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Wisdom!!! Jake BaddeleyReg Tiopy

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~TODAY I am everywhere 

I greet myself in the gentleman with the thought of his mother, Clinging to some far off corner of his mind…

Over there, I stand in she, Who is the only song of her dying grandfather…

And beyond, in them, That will soon come to be, Rising up, In the aroma, Of their great granddaughters bread, Which will feed them, In time…

TODAY I am the world…

& today – Who are You…?

~hag = ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

 

Part 1: A Reason Why? – The 1st in a 12 part series

Celestial Event, Insight, Lecture, Speaking with the Stars

sun spiral to flower

Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Rosicrucian/Christian Initiation, in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being. (Part 1, an introduction)

My Anthroposophical research, which I use to deepen my inner development, strengthening my thinking, feeling & willing, & to which I work to apply in the creation of Festivals, has taken me into many territories touched on by Rudolf Steiner. In relation to the cycle of the year, this includes the realms of the ancient mysteries up through Rosicrucianism & deep onto the path of the “New Mysteries” where Spiritual Science lays the course for our Modern Initiation.  But up until 2 years ago I really hadn’t explored the theme of the ‘interior of the earth’; in part because it seemed so overwhelming.

Then when I started working with the Central Regional Council on our ‘Speaking with the Stars’ project, I began investigating cosmic/earthly events, such as the rare tetrad series of eclipses that occurred throughout 2014 & 2015. (the spiritual significance of an eclipse an overview)

This warranted my attention as festivals Coordinator, since the dates corresponded to Easter/Passover & Michaelmas/Sukkot (the Jewish harvest festival) for 2 years in a row!

In 2014 we experienced a Lunar Eclipse on April 15th – the 1st day of Passover; it was also Holy Tuesday. Those who follow the life of Christ during Holy Week know, that on Holy Tuesday the scene is the verbal sparring  with the high priests in the temple – Christ bends the Mars spirit to His purposes, & in the evening, an Apocalyptic future is revealed. (So much to ponder when you consider that on this day we also had the 1st of a series of 4 eclipses!)

Then in 2015, in light of the fact that the dates of Easter matched the dates of the original Mystery of Golgotha (April 5, 33AD); & specifically because we experienced a Full Lunar eclipse on April 4th – again the 1st day of Passover & also, Holy Saturday; described as Christ’s descent into the inner earth – well this seemed like a powerful indication that I should look into these realms in connection with what Steiner calls the ‘Christian Initiation.’ When I saw that the Solar Eclipse of the Harvest Moon, on the 1st day of Sukkot, Sept. 28, 2015, was on Michaelmas eve, I knew I would gather with other Michaelites to hold the light during these eclipses.

And so it is that I humbly present this essay as an overview, which is meant to tie together the seemingly diverse subjects of:

  1. The Interior of the Earth,
  2. A map of the Modern path of Initiation,
  3. The practical application of the occult meaning of The Sermon on the Mount,
  4. And a picture of the 7 & 9 fold Human Being.

To bring to light the trials & great rewards on this path. What is this modern path? How is it different from the ancient mystery schools?  Well for one thing, it holds the essence & mission of the Christ impulse at its core. Following the life of Christ, we can consciously work on each stage of our 7-fold nature, advancing the evolution of humanity to reveal & live into our 9-fold being.

Of the many things the disciple discovers on this path, we learn that the past, the present & the future- which is in a process of continuous change – are inscribed into the layers of the inner earth as a living chronicle, much like the akashic records. The Earth bears in her own special way, the soul-spiritual deposits from all epochs of world evolution – from Old Saturn on…

As the disciple traverses the path of initiation, making the descent through its layers, they encounter these past eras. Meeting noble achievements, as well as confronting stunted spiritual beings that have chosen to remain behind rather than ascend.

Rudolf Steiner in his commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John describes the goal of these adversarial beings as the formation of an anti-Jupiter evolution, a division within humanity described in the gospels as the goats & the lambs – what Steiner calls a ‘cinder ball of reversed spiritualization’ – The initiate must work to counteract this division.

So even if you don’t see yourself as consciously being on the path of initiation, with every inner & outer action we are collaborating with great spiritual beings, with the so-called dead, & with each other, in creating the karma of the world; responsible with all of humanity for what occurs.

St. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, through his unique Christian initiation as Lazarus, was the 1st to enter these realms. He took Christ’s teaching to heart & put them into practice.

One of these great teachings is The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ – an occult instruction that reveals that The Beatitudes are a remedy to the inner layers of the earth; a healing medicine that can be applied by us today to counteract the adversarial powers working against the highest goals of evolution.

Of course the ‘Great Work’ of initiation is done every day, thru our every thought, word, & deed, but every year at Easter-Tide we can experience a Cosmic recapitulation of the Christian Initiation, providing impedance for our work.

It is important to remember that Easter is a movable feast, determined by a cosmic alignment. 1st the Sun must enter into the sign of Spring, then it waits for the Moon to come into its vernal fullness, then the Planetary Beings, whose names correspond with the days of the week, come into play. We are meant to connect to the Solar forces, so when the first Sun-day after the Full Moon of Spring arrives, then it is time to keep the Easter festival.  This is intended to remind us of an event whose significance lies, not merely within the course of earth-evolution, but within the whole world-order into which humankind has been placed.

Rudolf Steiner gives the Christian Initiation 7 stages (the 7-fold human being)  The 8th & 9th stages, which can be achieved in future times, are defined by Steiner in his lectures on the Rosicrucian stream as part of the 9-fold Human; & are described as advancements of the 1st and 2nd stages.  #10 is, of course, its own category.

Tomorrow we will explore the 1st 3 stages.

Until soon – Blessings & Peace

~hag = Hazel Archer Ginsberg

 

 

 

 

Recapitulation of the Laying of the Foundation Stone?

Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, Insight, Quote, Speaking with the Stars

mercury seal color!

Dear Friends – TODAY: Holy Wednesday March 23rd 2016, around the eclipse of the Vernal Full Moon in Libra, which sets up the rhythm for the movable feast of Easter every year, Mercury, ruler of Wednesday, & herald of the spiritual world, also stands in conjunction with Sun & Moon & Earth, gathering up the message humanity offers to the gods.

Then some 40 days later, during the ten days from Ascension to Pentecost,
Mercury will come to another conjunction to return the message from our vernal queries
in a rare configuration called a ‘transit‘- which only happens 13 or 14 times each century!

When Mercury Stood in Libra: ~from The Astronomical Letters of Elisabeth Vreede September, 1928, p. 121 “The approaching opening of the Goetheanum at Michaelmas brings before the soul that September evening when the foundation stone of the house dedicated to spiritual science was laid at nightfall by Dr. Steiner in a solemn ritual. With an invocation of the hierarchies, the foundation stone, the double dodecahedron,
“symbol in its twofold twelvefoldness of the striving human soul, was sunk as microcosm into the macrocosm, ” let down “into the condensed kingdom of the elements.” To this stone was added the document that contained the solemn vow of humankind toward the spiritual world. This document closed with the words: “Laid by the Johannes Building Association…on the twentieth day of September 1880, after the Mystery of Golgotha, that is, 1913 after the birth of Christ, when Mercury as evening star stood in Libra, the Balance.”

mercury-god

Mercury, in the same transit happening today on this Holy Wednesday 2016,
was a cosmic witness to the laying of the foundation stone, the only celestial body
mentioned in this sacred ceremony!

When the seed of individuality was planted into the astral body during the Old Moon phase, a possibility for humanity to become disconnected from the spiritual world was also implanted into the Mercury sphere.

By laying the foundation stone at the time of the Mercury transit, was Rudolf Steiner working to heal this possible rift?

(Read more from Willi Sucher on Mercury/Sun conjunctions in ‘Cosmic Christianity’ pp.92-98)

Dodecahedron3

<< Wednesday, Mercury Day, is the turning point. Towards evening a scene stands out which, takes on a special significance on this middle day of balance. A presentment of the Last Supper hovers round the community at the table. The country town of Bethany, quiet as it is, has shortly before been the scene of the raising of Lazarus, the event which had given the signal for battle.

Two women also belong to the community at table, Martha and Mary Magdalene, whom the Gospel of St. John states to be the sisters of Lazarus. They have been led by the hand of Providence into this circle, which is more related by the spirit than by blood. The brother and sisters of Bethany became the intimate friends of Christ through healings of the spirit, the soul and the body.

As they all sit at the table with the disciples, Mary is recorded as having anointed the feet of Christ with precious spikenard ointment and wiped them with her hair. St John’s Gospel says that the whole house was filled with the perfume. But what was does her act of anointing signify? It is the type and symbol of a sacramental act. Therefore, when others declare her deed extravagant and become indignant, Christ can accept what this woman does as a sacrament of death, as a fulfillment of the Last Anointing. And one can feel how Mary has been able to deepen the natural forces of earthly love and transmute them into religious devotion, and the capacity for sacrifice.

Then the solemn stillness is suddenly broken by a figure who forms a complete contrast to
Mary Magdalene. It is one of the apostles and when he sees the deed of Mary he loses self-control. This is Judas. He says that the precious money which has just been squandered could have been given to the poor, and thus many social needs might have been relieved. St. John’s Gospel, however, makes it plain that his real motives are not the ostensible ones. The Gospel openly calls him a thief. It may well be that the anger which Judas felt at the deed of Mary Magdalene gave the final impetus to his act of betrayal. In uncontrolled irritation he goes out to those who lie in wait for the Christ. The second crucial event of the Wednesday is the betrayal by Judas.

Both Judas and Mary Magdalene are typical Mercury people; they are active and temperamental. One of the virtues of their nature is that they are never tedious; something is always happening round them. Mary Magdalene, however, subdues her restlessness and transforms it into devotion, peace and the capacity for love.

Judas is the type of the restless man who must always be outwardly active. He pretends to want something for the poor. However good and commendable social activity may be, it is often only self-deception. The underlying motive is not always a genuine social impulse, but very often one’s own inner restlessness. In Judas this kind of mercurial soul meets with a dark fate. His unrest springs from a deeply hidden fear, and it leads to his betrayal of Christ Jesus. Such a soul cannot show devotion; above all, it cannot love.

Thus, in the two figures, Mary Magdalene and Judas, two roads separate, as at a crossroads. One leads to the realization of the nearness of Christ; the other into the dark night, into tragedy and suicide.

Mercury, who for the Greco-Roman world was both the God of Healing and also the God of
merchants and of thieves, comes now into the orbit of the Christ Sun.
The scene in the house of Lazarus and her sisters at Bethany shows how Mercury, the God of Healing, can himself be healed by the Sun of Christ.» ~excerpt from “The Three Years” by Emil Bock

Easter-Tide Study throughout Holy Week
(Chapter 10 of “The Three Years” by Emil Bock)
at The Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago

March 21-26th, 7pm-9pm

Including The 7-pointed Star in Eurythmy –
(Steiner called it the Heptagram of the Mystic Lamb)

If you would like a copy of the text contact Hazel ReverseRitual@gmail.com

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mystery of golgatha
Easter Festival:
‘A Path to the Dawning’
4pm -6pm, Easter Sunday March 27th
at The Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago

Midwest Eurythmy Group to Perform:
‘Hallelujah’ & the Easter Calendar of the Soul Verse by Rudolf Steiner

Lecture: Encountering the Inner Layers of the Earth as a Christian/Rosicrucian Initiation,
in relation to the Beatitudes and the 9-fold human being. by Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Live Music: Clark Remington – Prelude and Fugue by Bach

Group Eurythmy – Hallelujah

$10 donation goes to the Midwest Eurhythmy Group

A side-dish to Share Encouraged! (We will have our traditional Lamb Roast!)

For more info. Contact Hazel ReverseRitual@gmail.com

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spring emerging!!!

Member Initiative Event:

Beauty in Motion – Countering the Machine Civilization
with Kelly Calegar from Durham, NC

Easter Monday March 28th 12:45pm – 3pm
at the Christian Community 2135 W. Wilson Ave Chicago, Il 60625
Donation goes to the Christian Community

The Divine Will is revealed in movement. In this endeavor we will be moving together
in choreographed geometric forms for the integration of mindfulness and warmth of heart.
All of our actions are grounded in movement, including our speech, which involves
the movement of air through the larynx. The movements of the heavenly bodies are
intimately related with the beat of heart and lung. Aligning with the Divine Will
changes the way we move through space, and relate to each other.
It births Grace and Beauty in our ‘life body’, which we share with a human world
lacking in both Grace and Beauty – qualities of the Divine Feminine.

“Our purpose is to imitate, to absorb the movement of the world into ourselves
through our limbs. What do we do then? We dance. . .All true dancing has arisen from
imitating in the limbs the movement carried out by the planets, by other heavenly bodies
or by the earth itself. . .When the limbs carry out the harmonious cosmic movements
of the universe, …the soul… begins to sing.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Study of Man, p. 144

For more information contact Deborah Rogers: beewisdom33@yahoo.com

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Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society,
4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618
Check out our Web site!
Chicago, IL (Anthroposophical Society in America)http://www.anthroposophy.org/groups/chicago-il/

 

Holy Week

Celestial Event, Chicago Event, Festival, Speaking with the Stars

Rudolf Steiner speaks about the Mystery of Golgotha as a spiritual event that takes place on the stage of humanity. The events leading up to this mystery are a preparation for this sublime deed that stands at the center of attention for a living cosmos. The Earth is the spiritual center during the sacred Holy Week.

But this position is not arrived at simply because it is Palm Sunday on our calendar, it defined by a relational gesture occurring between Sun & Moon relative to Earth each year. Our task is to discern the meaning in this gesture by considering when in the course of the Holy Week it takes place.

Each year, the date of Easter is determined by the First Full Moon after the Sun crosses the celestial equator, which we refer to as the Vernal Equinox. (Palm Sunday, 11:30am) Easter does not immediately follow the Vernal Equinox, this would imply a dictatorial nature in the Sun. Rather, the Sun returns north of the celestial equator, & waits…The Sun waits for the Moon to arrive at Full phase, which means it stands opposite the Sun from the Earth, occurring for the first time in the year below the celestial equator. This Full Moon will always occur during the Holy Week, but it will be on a different day from one year to the next.

What does it mean when the Full Moon falls on the Wednesday of Holy Week?
What can it mean when that Full Storm Moon is totally eclipsed by the shadow of the Earth? (Lunar eclipse, March 23rd, 6:47am in Libra)

Come join our Easter-Tide Study throughout Holy Week
(Excerpts from “The Three Years” by Emil Bock)

Beginning: Palm Sunday March 20th, 2pm-4pm, (which is also the Vernal Equinox!)
then, M-F: March 21-26th, 7pm-9pm

And our Easter Festival: A Path to the Dawning, 4pm -6pm, Sunday March 27th

If you would like a copy of the text contact Hazel ReverseRitual@gmail.com

lunar-eclipse-cartoon-lrg.en

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Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society,
4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618