“Bringing in the Sheaves” – Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve: Now begins the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves…”
Today 1 August 2023 on this Thunder-Buck Full Moon, we meet the 2nd Harvest (the 1st was the herb harvest at St. John’s). The Feast of Lammas or Lughnasadh begins today & goes thru August 8th when we hit the astrological Cross-Quarter between Summer Solstice & Fall Equinox. It is a long season bringing us all the way thru Summer.
It is also the Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathea – According to all four Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after the crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, & also with the Grail legend.
“One must penetrate to an understanding of the Mystery of the Bread, which is said to have been broken by Christ Jesus in the same chalice in which Joseph of Arimathea caught His blood. As legend tells it, this chalice was then removed to Europe, but was preserved by angels in a region high above the surface of the earth until the arrival of Titurel who created for this Grail, this sacred chalice, a temple on Mont Salvat” ~Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 16, 1921
The Wheel turns from St. John’s Tide with its message of the inner Christ Sun and the mirroring of the Holy nights, to the Sun in the heart of the Lion (or at least it’s where Regulus, the heart of the lion, was a couple of thousand years ago!) Lammas, or Loaf mas, a Cross-Quarter festival traditionally celebrated at the beginning of August, marks the point when we leave the Garden, and earn our own way, “by the sweat of our brow”.
The harvest of grain, and the baking of bread, represents the first child of the cosmic union of Sun and Earth. It symbolizes the essence of humanity, born from this union, for the loaf is more than a gift of nature, it is made by the combined forces of nature with the will forces of human activity.
The harvest season is a time of judgment. We are called upon to sift through the things that have grown up during the past half-year, and decide what we will keep and what we will cut away. We must make choices, and act on them. The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, into the time of release.
In astrology, Bella Luna, when she is five-eighths past the New Moon, is called the “Disseminating Moon”. During this phase, what has built up in the waxing cycle begins to be released into the environment. While today in the Lunar cycle we have reached the Full Thunder-Buck Moon; In looking at the relationship of Earth & Sun at this time of year – We start to see the results of our work we are beginning a ‘Disseminating phase’. Because At Lammas, the Sun is five-eighths of the way around the Wheel from Winter Solstice. Growth has reached its peak, & the life of the Sun God has begun to bleed off into the fruit & grain.
Bailey Dreggle
The King is Dead Long Live the King – for now is also the time of sacrifice, of death in service of life. Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too unripe to be eaten, must be plucked anyway. These are culls, removed so they won’t drain the life force from the good fruit. If everything was left on the tree, the life force would be diluted, or worse, the bad fruit could weigh down a branch until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, or sometimes killing the tree. The culls are taken so the rest of the fruit, and those who depend on the crop for survival, might live.
John Barleycorn must die… ‘Cut in half and buried, then beaten with sticks, and finally crushed between stones’… as the song goes, nevertheless rises once again. Bread is the perfect sacrifice for “Loaf Mass” or Lughnassadh as the Celtics called it, for they knew that this festival is more than just the first fruits of the earth — it also involves the first fruits of human labor. Grain is processed by human craft, and joined with the four elements to make the staff of life.
So bake a loaf of bread on Lammas. If you’ve never made bread before, this is a good time to start. Honor the source of the flour as you work with it: remember it was once a plant growing on mother Earth. If you have a garden, add something you’ve harvested–herbs or onion or veggies. If you don’t feel up to making wheat bread, make corn bread, or gingerbread people, or popcorn. What’s most important is intention. All that is necessary to enter sacred time is an awareness of the meaning of your actions.
Yes, Friends we are still riding the St. John’s-Tide.
Since my experience at the altar last Sunday I have been extra keen on tuning into the Archangel of Summer – Uriel, whose name in Hebrew stands for ‘the radiance & fire of God’. Rudolf Steiner describes Uriel as ‘weaving his being out of the golden radiance of the elemental beings intertwining with the Sun’. If we follow his ‘grave, judicial eyes’, we are directed down towards the crystal realm of the earth, where this fiery being shows us how human thinking, feeling & willing actually affect the earth realm.
Uriel’s gesture is a warning, indicating what we ought to do to receive the baptism of repentance. For just like John the Baptizer, this Archangelic being admonishes us to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Can we rouse ourselves to see that up above in the clouds, appear shining pictures of beauty, of virtue – our highest goals – woven out of the Sun-gold, which humanity can take in, AND must contribute to as well, so that ultimately, we can achieve that radiance for ourselves & for the Earth.
We can use the golden, fiery, radiant light, to lift ourselves up from complacency, to repair the breach – giving us the will to work for a more perfect future.
Uriel calls us to transform our vices into virtues.
If we can understand the connection of human morality with the crystalline element below, & of human virtues with the shining beauty above — & if we take these connections into our inner experience, Steiner tells us that the real St. John’s Imagination will come to meet us.
What is arising here is an Imagination of the Trinity, which Steiner tells us, is the true St. John Imagination – with the admonishing Archangel of Summer Uriel in the background.
After reading my experience a friend sent me this Steiner quote:
“In the elements of fire, of water, of air and of earth we have only an outer expression. Behind what our eyes see as fire, and what we feel as heat, is a real spiritual entity, which only has its outer expression in the outer fire.
Behind what we inhale as air, behind what enters our eyes as light, and behind what our ears perceive as sound, are active beings, spiritual and divine, whose outer garments we are only beholding in fire, in water, and in all that surrounds us in the different realms of nature.
In the teaching of the mysteries, there is an experience called: the ‘passage through the elementary worlds.’ One then becomes aware that living beings are hidden behind the fire. We become intimately acquainted with fire, as something quite different from what it appears to be in the world of the senses. We become acquainted with the fire-beings, with what is the soul of the fire.
Just as our souls are hidden behind our bodies, so the soul and spirit of fire is hidden by the outward appearance of fire which we perceive with our senses.
We penetrate into a spiritual domain when we experience the soul and spirit of fire in this way. To use the terms of occult science, we now move among the fire-gods, ‘living in the element of fire’.
When one has acquired true self-knowledge, one can ascend to experiencing the beings in the elements of fire, of water, of air and of earth. These four classes of gods or spirits live a real existence in the elements, and a person who has reached the stage which has just been described is in touch with the divine spiritual beings of the elements.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The East in the Light of the West, Lecture two, 24 August 1909.
These Beings wait for us to tune into their essential nature, so that we can work together to spiritualize matter with the Light of Love.
~hag
16 July 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Look southeast after dark tonight and you should immediately spot the bright star Altair in Aquila, which anchors another point of the Summer Triangle (along with Deneb, from last night, and Vega in Lyra). ~astronomy.com
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler SAINT JOHNSTIDE IV The Spirit’s Gift v15 I feel, as if spellbound, the weaving of spirit in the glory of the world; it’s veiled my own being in drowsiness of sense to give to me the strength that in my narrow bounds I’m powerless to give myself.
The soul is given the strength to be pregnant and at Lammas she will conceive the Cosmic Word for the Spirit Child’s birth in this week’s mirror verse. CHRISTMAS The Spirit Child v38 I feel the Spirit Child set free from spell in womb of soul; in heart’s bright radiance from seed of holy Cosmic Word the heaven’s fruit of hope is growing into farthest worlds rejoicing from my being’s ground of God.
Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, by Christian hermits living in the Holy Land during the late 12th & early to mid-13th century. They built a chapel conceived of in chivalric terms as the “Lady of the place.” Our Lady of Mount Carmel was adopted in the 19th century as the patron saint of Chile, in South America.
Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular, a sacramental associated with promises of Mary’s special aid for the salvation of the devoted wearer. Since the Middle Ages, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been related to Purgatory, where souls are purged of sins in the fires. In some images, she is portrayed as accompanied with angels and souls wearing Brown Scapulars, who plead for her mediation.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel was seen in the apparitions of Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal, by Lúcia Santos & her co-visionary companions Jacinta & Francisco Marto & as many as 70,000 witnesses of the extraordinary events during the Miracle of the Sun. She also appeared to Saint Simon Stock to whom she gave the Brown Scapular. The Garabandal apparitions, in Spain, were reported to be images of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. Also in Acquafondata, Italy, the apparition of the Virgin of Mount Carmel, was seen on July 16, 1841. There is still today a small sanctuary on the site.
622 – Mohammed’s flight from Mecca, which came to determine the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western & Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.
1879 – Birthday of Elisabeth Vreede – Dutch philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer & anthroposopher. Elisabeth Vreede came into contact with Theosophy in her home growing up. She was interested early on in the starry sky, read the works of Camille Flammarion & learned French at the same time. At the University of Leyden she studied mathematics, astronomy, philosophy (especially Hegel) & Sanskrit. She was also actively involved in student life, founding a boat club, & was a council member of the students’ union.
Her first meeting with Rudolf Steiner took place at the Theosophical Congress in London in 1903. Vreede was leader of the mathematics & astronomy sections in the Goetheanum in Dornach from 1926 till 1935. In her capacity as leader of the Mathematical-Astronomical Section she wrote a monthly letter, then available by subscription, about both modern astronomy & classical astrology in the light of spiritual science. The letters included explanations of the fundamentals of astronomy & discussions of astrology in the modern world, with reference to such topics as the procession of the equinoxes, comets, solar & lunar eclipses, & the meaning of the Christian holidays such as Easter & Whitsun. The Letters in English translation were published in 2007 with the title Astronomy and Spiritual Science.
In 1935 the separation within the Anthroposophical Society took place & she was expelled from the executive council & excluded along with her long-time friend & co-member, Dr. Ita Wegman from the board of directors. She was also cut off from the observatory & archives that she herself helped assemble.
The last years of her life became more lonely. She was cut off from her friends abroad by the War. The death of Ita Wegman at the beginning of March, 1943, was a great shock for her.
Rudolf Steiner said of her: ‘this individuality does not wish to be recognized …’ Elisabeth Knottenbelt in her memoirs describes statements about her: that ‘she incarnated too early’ for the sake of serving Rudolf Steiner. “for this task [the work with Rudolf Steiner] she had assumed the sacrifice of a premature incarnation. One who, for the sake of a spiritual mission, comes in this way to earth too early must forego a lot. To a great extent one leaves one’s karmic circle of human beings behind in the spiritual word. Her life was thus really a quite lonely one, only a few persons were grouped around her without any real connection.”
Here is a quote from a letter written by her prior to her removal from the executive council: “The Being of Anthroposophy – I myself have always felt it as a spiritual being newly created by Dr. Steiner, as it were the first hierarchical Being that men have begotten, quite young and still underdeveloped, as is the case with a child—a Being that must now begin to develop further through our common work as a ‘community of knowledge’, and with the cooperation of its creator from the spiritual world. Just for this reason I find it so painful when attacks are continually made against part of the active members such as to exclude them from the work, from creating together the Being of Anthroposophy.”
1942 – Holocaust: Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup.The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Winter Velodrome in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.
1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
1948 – The city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel, the largest offensive by Israeli forces in the north of Palestine in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Israeli aircraft bombed Saffuriya village & caused panic among the population; many of the villagers fled northwards toward Lebanon, others found shelter in Nazareth, leaving about 100 elderly people behind. Nazareth surrendered to the Israelis.
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies when his plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. His wife & sister-in-law are also killed
2014 – Deathday of Ruth Zinniker – The biodynamic movement owes so much to Ruth and the whole Zinniker family. Their farm has been a source of inspiration for thousands of people, many of whom came there to work as apprentices when they were young people and have gone on to be important leaders in the biodynamic movement. Ruth had a place in her heart for all these people and many others. She warmed the movement with her social gesture and her fiery enthusiasm. Thank you dear Ruth, thank you Zinniker family, for all you have given to help seed the biodynamic movement in North America.
Then I will be heading out for our next training 1-7 August 2023
I greet you dear friends from deep inside the St. John’s Tide, where I am swimming with the Virtue of the Month: ‘Unselfishness Becomes Catharsis’ – which is acting like a Catalyst for the Call of Conscience – ever issuing forth from the Spirit of John the Baptizer – answering the Universal need that arises to Let the Light of the Higher “I” shine into our being.
At our Spring Biodynamic Prep-making Work-day on Zinniker Farm, Margaret took me aside & told me how much it meant to her that in 2017 I led a powerful St. John’s Festival on the farm. She said that year she was going thru a difficult time as her mother was making the transition into the spiritual world. She shared how the drumming & my leading thoughts on the Season, helped her come to a place of peace – This was a catalyst, she emphasized, that allowed her to let go of fear & worry – Which then allowed her mother to pass over peacefully. Margaret said she has been wanting to thank me for years, & asked if I might lead another Drum Circle to celebrate St. John’s Day this year..?
I often suffer from self doubt – thinking what I do doesn’t matter, isn’t wanted, or that someone else can do it better; so I was very grateful to hear that our gathering had meant so much. And I enthusiastically agreed to bring the St. John’s Festival alive again on the farm.
The Zinniker’s wanted to make it a low-key community celebration, not a workday; & Margaret wanted to bring her Christian Community friends together, & I wanted to serve the Spiritual World, the Community – the land & the Farmers. And so it was that More than 50 folks came from near & far.
Gathering around in a big circle before the sumptuous potluck meal, I looked around at the bright shining faces, & felt ‘Words of Flame’ rise-up within me, as if the Baptist was standing with us.
In my minds-eye, the circle of human beings became a Christened periphery, with the blazing bonfire – a point at the center, creating the astrological symbol of the Sun.
The flaming point seemed to move out into vertical & horizontal lines to create a Cross within the Circle – the planetary symbol for Earth – & the alchemical sign for Salt – the cube shaped mineral-crystal – outpictured in the Holy of Holies & the cubic altar of The New Jerusalem.
We had ‘Squared the Circle’ bringing in the 4 Elements.
Acknowledging these Nature Beings fostered on the sacred land maintained by the Zinniker Family, we directed our human Reverence & Gratitude to connect &enliven the Christic impulses, Living into each Quarter.
Because the land was so dry, after giving Recognition with Thanks & Praise,to the Elements, we appealed specificallyto theUndinesfor somerain to ease the drought. We made the intention that during the Drum Circle we would do a Rain Dance.
By establishing ‘The Great Cross of Nature’ – we experience the Seasonal Round – We see how the Equinoxes of Spring & Autumn hold the Horizontal Axis, the balance of Resurrection & Renunciation – Easter & Michaelmas.
And coinciding with the Vertical Axis we meet the polarity of the Solstices – 3 days after the Summer Solstice is the Birthday of The Forerunner, John the Baptizer; & 3 days after the Winter Solstice brings us the fixed date of Christmas – the Birthday of the Luke Jesus.
When thinking about the Living Cycle of the Soul of the Earth, the in-breath & out-breath – now – during the Summer-Tide – we feel ourselves fully exhaled out to the periphery of the cosmos –
We are a circle, within a circle With no beginning, and never ending
Intermingled with the grandeur of the highest Cosmic Mysteries, where the Divine forces of life exist among the Stars.
The Soul of the Earth is dreaming now in the heights, in union with the Angelic Hierarchies;& it is this dreaming which is brought back into the Earth to become assessable to our thinking during the Sacred Time of the Holy Nights.
Epiphany, the last of the Holy Nights, coincides with the Baptism of Jesus by John – the birth of Christ on Earth – the fulfillment of John the Baptizers mission.
And just as John the Baptist, the last Old Testament Prophet, had to decrease; when our ‘little ego’ decreases, we grow in Christ.
At the fullness of Summer, the light is so bright that it leaves no room for the shadow to hide. Summer is associated with High Noon – the hour of judgment – “Then you shall know the truth, & the truth will set you free.”
This can happen if we respond to the Summertime call for a ‘Metanoia’- from the Greek μετάνοια – a transformative change of heart & mind – a Spiritual Conversion, brought in thru Repentance / Atonement; a review of our Conscience; a call to ‘make straight the path’.
Then the power of our Higher “I” will increase, just as the Christ impulse is ever increasing in Earth existence.
After his sacrifice, John the Baptizer, was able to distillate his Spirit-Self to become like a guardian angel for the apostles, especially Lazarus John, his name-sake – Johannes – E – O – Ah – nes.
Following this archetypal gesture from ‘the voice of one crying in the Wilderness’ we can see that John the Baptist has become one of the main impulse givers towards a new kind of group work – guiding community life for us today.
After the delicious repast, I acted as Master of Ceremonies & sparked the space for artistic sharings out of the community. Many folks came forth with a story, song or poem. Rev. Jeana Lee brought a wonderful overview of Christianity. Velsum sang. Gregory & Alexander brought some Irish tunes on violin & cello to get the crowd dancing. A few young people including Emma & Ultra taught us some songs. And this led naturally into the Drumming & Song Circle in earnest.
The clouds rolled in as we sang “Air I am, Fire I Am, Water, Earth & Spirit I am”. The lingering twilight brought a few fireflies which receieved our serenade. Soon lightning flashes could be seen striking in the dusky clouds above. We felt ourselves rise together in ‘Ripening Glory’ –
We sang to Mark & Lucien, & Jack’s dad who recently passed away, to celebrate their St. John’s Day Birthdays.
When it was too dark to find our shoes we closed the circle, feeling that the reverberations of our sounding added to the ‘Music of the Spheres’ – An echo that unites us to the eternity of the Trinity – Reminding us to explore our own inner harmony with the cosmos – For at Midsummer the Trinity reveals itself out of the heart of this cosmic activity.
Substance of Earth Essence of Light Grace of Heaven In Us Unite
Our carload made it back to the city by 1 am; the thunder building. By 3 am our Rain Dance started to pay off – What a gift! There was no doubt. Faith is real – effecting change & cooperation between Spirit & Matter – Thought & Deed –
Blessings as we continue to unfold this St. John’s Tide.
~hag
The wise one built their house upon the Rock, And the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down and the waters came up, But the house on the Rock stood firm.
So build your life on the Being of Love, And the blessings will come down. The blessings come down as your prayers go up, So build your life on Love.
26 June 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: This evening and tomorrow evening, the waxing crescent – and 1st quarter – moon sit along the southern edge of the star pattern known as the Spring Triangle – an asterism made of the bright stars Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman, Spica in Virgo the Maiden and Denebola or sometimes Regulus in Leo the Lion at its corners. Bella Luna and the Spring Triangle will be visible until after midnight. ~Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler SAINT JOHN’S TIDE At the Altar of the Senses v12 The world’s light-glancing beauty compels me from the depths of soul to free the god-enwoven powers of my life in cosmic flight, forsake myself and trusting, seek my Self in cosmic light and warmth.
The mirror verse: EPIPHANY II At the Altar of the Heart v41 The soul’s creative power from depths of heart aspires to fire the forces of the gods to right activity in human life and form itself in human love and human deeds.
Greetings dear friends on this Eve of the Summer Solstice –
Listen – a mysterious chorus is magicing the atmosphere, vibrating in the twilight of this long lingering day. Look – there – as the sapphire sky merges into cobalt blue – there – bright in the West – spreading on the wings of Venus, holding the occult powers of Mercury, we meet the Holy Grail.
Supporting from below, we see The Dioscuri = Castor and Pollux – The Twins of Gemini, showing us our immortal human-ness.
And there – Capping Space – Above the Goddess of Healing Love, stands virile Mars.
Dear Ones, Will you endeavor to read the starry script? – What will come forth with the pronouncing of the secret name inscribed there on the cup?
20 June 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”
And so it is that for 3 days ‘The Sun Stands Still‘ at Solstice. In our present age, our Day-Star- Sun enters the fixed stars of Gemini, the Twins; which puts Mother-Earth in the opposite stars of the Archer -the constellation connected to the Winter Solstice. This is the vertical axis in the life of Sun & Earth.
The Equinoxes of Spring & Autumn hold the horizontal axis, forming ‘The Great Cross’ of nature – the seasonal life & symbol of Earth.
Upon this cross we have the Christian festivals, with St. John’s & Christmas coinciding with this vertical axis, & Easter & Michaelmas along the horizontal axis.
Judith Pillar
When thinking about the breathing, living cycle of the Earth, we learn from Spiritual Science, that at Summer Solstice the Soul & Spirit of the Earth, (which is now imbued with the Christ) are fully exhaled out to the periphery of the cosmos, to become intermingled with the grandeur of the highest cosmic mysteries, where the primal forces of life exist amongst the stars.
The soul of the Earth is dreaming now in the heights. The forces which live in the seeds are held now in these Summer dreams of the Earth in union with the hierarchies, & it is this dreaming which is brought back into the Earth to become assessable during the sacred time of the Holy Nights.
The Summertime union between the Sun & Earth is actually a re-union between the spiritual beings of the Sun & their human offspring. Through ‘the great window of heaven’ we experience this interaction which helps us develop an awareness of our higher “I”. We can contemplate this dynamic & bring it to life in our soul most strongly at this time of year.
~Father Tambera
At Midsummer the Trinity reveals itself out of the heart of this cosmic activity – A sounding in the music of the spheres, that calls us to explore our own inner harmony with the cosmos – an answering echo that unites us to the eternity of the Trinity.
At this time when the ‘Sun Stands Still’ – Can WE learn to be still enough to hear the voice of conscience?
~hag
~Kindling Radiance~ A Community Festival Gathering Celebrating St. John’s-Tide Saturday, June 24, 2023 at Zinniker Farm 5:30 pm – Potluck – Please bring food & drink to share 6 – 7 pm – Artistic Offerings – Poem, Song?… Express yourself! 7 – 9 pm – Bonfire Drum & Song Circle w/ Hazel & Ultra-Violet Archer
Why a St. John’s Festival? At this time of year, when daylight hours are the longest, “the soul of the earth rises in longing toward the heights, seeking communion with the universe, with the light and warmth of the sun… and the stars.” ~Rudolf Steiner.
Three days after the Summer Solstice, we celebrate St. John the Baptist – a lone voice calling to us from the wilderness to change our hearts and minds – so that we can connect to the ‘True Vine’ & receive the new impulse of Love raditating into the world. Come join us as we come together as a community to support the Farm & celebrate the glories of Summer.
If you are in the area, come join us as we celebrate St. John’s-Tide on the Zinniker Farm. Can’t make it in person? You can still support the Zinniker Farm and their regenerative work with your good will and contributions.
Regenerative farming is Stewardship that provides true results for the healing of the Earth. It is time to make a lasting investment.
“Bringing in the Sheaves” – Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve: Now begins the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves…”
Preparing for the 2nd Harvest: Lammas Day – We will explore this ancient, yet ever renewable Cross-Quarter holiday.
The Harvest fest of Lammas or Lughnasadh begins today until August 7th when we hit the astrological Crossquarter between Summer Solstice & Fall Equinox.
It is also the Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathea – According to all four Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after the crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, & also with the Grail legend.
“One must penetrate to an understanding of the Mystery of the Bread, which is said to have been broken by Christ Jesus in the same chalice in which Joseph of Arimathea caught His blood. As legend tells it, this chalice was then removed to Europe, but was preserved by angels in a region high above the surface of the earth until the arrival of Titurel who created for this Grail, this sacred chalice, a temple on Mont Salvat” ~Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 16, 1921
The Wheel turns from St. John’s Tide with its message of the inner Christ Sun and the mirroring of the Holy nights, to the Sun in the heart of the lion (or at least it’s where Regulus, the heart of the lion, was a couple of thousand years ago!) Lammas, or Loaf mas, a cross quarter festival traditionally celebrated at the beginning of August, marks the point when we leave the Garden, and earn our own way, “by the sweat of our brow”.
The harvest of grain, and the baking of bread, represents the first child of the cosmic union of Sun and Earth. It symbolizes the essence of humanity, born from this union, for the loaf is more than a gift of nature, it is made by the combined forces of nature with the will forces of human activity.
The harvest season is a time of judgment. We are called upon to sift through the things that have grown up during the past half-year, and decide what we will keep and what we will cut away. We must make choices, and act on them. The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, into the time of release.
In astrology, the moon, five eighths past the new moon, is called the “disseminating moon”. During this phase, what has built up in the waxing cycle begins to be released into the environment. We start to see the results of our work. At Lammas, the sun is five-eighths of the way around the Wheel from Winter Solstice. Growth has reached its peak, and the life of the Sun God has begun to bleed off into the fruit and grain.
Bailey Dreggle
The King is Dead Long Live the King – for now is also the time of sacrifice, of death in service of life. Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too unripe to be eaten, must be plucked anyway. These are culls, removed so they won’t drain the life force from the good fruit. If everything was left on the tree, the life force would be diluted, or worse, the bad fruit could weigh down a branch until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, or sometimes killing the tree. The culls are taken so the rest of the fruit, and those who depend on the crop for survival, might live.
John Barleycorn must die… ‘Cut in half and buried, then beaten with sticks, and finally crushed between stones’… as the song goes, nevertheless rises once again. Bread is the perfect sacrifice for “Loaf Mass” or Lughnassadh as the Celtics called it, for they knew that this festival is more than just the first fruits of the earth — it also involves the first fruits of human labor. Grain is processed by human craft, and joined with the four elements to make the staff of life.
Dear friends, in my ever striving to craft my humanness, I have decided to take the Association for Anthroposophical Psychology (AAP) Training. And from there I will drive the 2 hours to Spring Valley to be part of the ‘Renewing the Mysteries Conference’. I will be offline until Aug. 16, 2022.
Cicadas trance In theta waves of sound The sickles reap in boarder-time Opening the gate to the West
Dragons fly Into the mouth Of the Hollowman His eyes ablaze As he glimpses Her waiting womb All ripe & hot – Her phoenix tomb A fierce alchemical furnace.
Baked in the lion fire Of tetramorph Angels John Barleycorn must die.
Grind the grain To make the bread & beer
Molded chrysokolla The kneaded Wickerman Fulfills the sacrifice & sits upon Her altar Next to braided corn dollies & moist cake.
At the top of the hill The Sun covered with pitch & tar & tied to the wheel of Catherine Is set aflame The blazing disk rolls in immolation To its decline
Burn the old straw effigy At the funeral games to bless the 1st grain
Watch Sothis rise Morning 1st scorcher Celestial Jackal Herald of the New Year Flood the fields With your scintillating serum
Where we meet again & once again In a year & day To behead the Loaf & eat…
~hag
What is this day? It is the day of Lammas. What is the meaning of this day? It is the mystery of the corn What is the mystery of the corn? That which is cut down will rise again. Who will rise again? We will rise again. Who will rise again? We will rise again. Who will rise again? We will rise again.
Andrea Kowch
So bake a loaf of bread on Lammas. If you’ve never made bread before, this is a good time to start. Honor the source of the flour as you work with it: remember it was once a plant growing on mother Earth. If you have a garden, add something you’ve harvested–herbs or onion or veggies. If you don’t feel up to making wheat bread, make corn bread, or gingerbread people, or popcorn. What’s most important is intention. All that is necessary to enter sacred time is an awareness of the meaning of your actions.
AVAILABLE:Continuing Education Units (CEUs) Available
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EXPLORE the interpenetrating mysteries of Body, Soul & Spirit DISCOVER the illusive secrets of your own Psyche ILLUMINATE the journey from lower self to Higher Self
Annael Pavlova
Music Workshop Introducing: New Impulses in Music
When: August 5 & 6 – 2022
Friday night @ 6:30 – 9:00***** and *****Saturday @ 9:30 -12:00 and @ 2:00 – 4:30
On Silvernail Rd. Pewaukee (just south of I-94 / at the SS EXIT)
About our instructor: Veronika Roemer
In her own words she says “Music speaks to our souls, and through its three basic elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm, it speaks directly to our three soul forces of thinking, feeling, and willing. When making music, we are always encountering all three of these forces in an interweaving, harmonious process. Music is nourishment for our souls.” In this workshop she will be introducing participants to these instruments and illustrating the following characteristics that make them essential “for our time”. In short, she will show how
the “sound quality brings healing to the inner ear” and helps the listener reconnect to their inner musician.
the “technical ease of the instruments” makes them accessible to everyone.
the “movements in space make musical realities visible, like the movement from tone to tone, or of one chord to the next.”
the “group processes reconnect people. Because connections are built through music and not talking, the social aspects of the group processes are more subtle offering an extra bonus to the musical work”. Finally, music lifts the mood and allows people to laugh and enjoy themselves and others.
Veronika has extensive training and experience. Her initial training was gained at the Musikakademie in Basel and Musikhochschule in Zurich Switzerland inclusive of orchestral and string quartet performance in Europe followed by a student Foundation year at Emerson College and five additional years teaching and instructing for them as faculty. She also has multiple years of study and instruction at the Dorian School of Music Therapy. From 1998-2013 she was a resident and co-worker at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills developing a music program for adults with developmental disabilities continuing as an instructor for the group through 2021 as well as instructing for the Camphill Academy at Beaver Run and at the Kimberton Waldorf School. Currently she is a founding faculty member for the SunGate Educational Community and active member of the Lyre Association of North America. Wherever she goes she is happiest to be making music with people.
Veronika is returning to visit us in Wisconsin where she lived (in Wales) from 1990-1998 and had a connection to the Prairie Hill Waldorf School. At that time she began her family of five children and was the founding mother of the Rafael Foundation for New Impulses in Music and a local lyre group.
In each workshop session we will sing, play various instruments such as bordun lyres, wood, and metal instruments, do rhythm games and more.
We are delighted to have Veronika return to present these workshops and hope that you can attend. Come for one or come for all!
For more information or to RSVP contact: Gail Sauter- Rafael Foundation for New Impulses in Music 262-391-8939 or sauterg96@gmail.com
David Newbatt
Renewing the Mysteries: The Founding of The Christian Community & the Burning of the First Goetheanum Spring Valley, NY – August 8-13, 2022 REGISTER NOW!* lectures * artistic workshops * conversation * evening performances Hazel Archer-Ginsberg will be offering a program on Tuesday 9 August for the Free Initiative2:30 -3:30 pm ET – ‘From The Jealousy of the Gods & Man to Artemis & the New Isis’
Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries?
The keynote speaker is Daniel Hafner, priest of the Christian Community. He will address this theme with a particular focus on the colored windows of the First Goetheanum.
The Act of Consecration of Man will be celebrated during the week and there will also be a Class Lesson for members of the School of Spiritual Science.
Venue: SPRING VALLEY, NY, Threefold Community, and The Christian Community
