Category Archives: The Bridging Project: Life & Death

From Light Thru Darkness Into New Light

Reflections from the ‘Great American Eclipse’ & the CRC ‘Speaking from Soul to Soul with the solar eclipse’ Retreat.

It was a destiny moment. And we all knew it. We had chosen, to incarnate at this time in history. We had chosen, to gather in a karmic knot at this Threshold Moment, to stand together as human beings, united with a common purpose; to explore the spiritual significance of this cosmic/earthly event with Christ Consciousness. Had we stood together like this in lives past, we wondered?

I felt honored to be in a circle with these kindred spirits, 37 intrepid souls, coming from all around the United States, & as far away as the Philippines & Germany, to work & witness & hold the light.

When our Chicago caravan arrived in St. Louis, we saw, not just 1 rainbow, but a sheet of rainbows melting in & out of the clouds as we circumambulated the  Mother-House.

And work we did; embodying the New Mysteries of the Will, thru folk eurythmy, song, powerful verses, including the Foundation Stone, & deep discussions, as insights arose within us. Together we envisioned, co-created & staged the pageant: ‘From Light Through Darkness Into New Light’.

All the while we held the picture of the larger cycles, acknowledging the 100+ year rhythm of Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas, the 3-Fold Social Organism, and lectures involving the ‘double’, & the ‘Occult Background of World War I’; actively exploring ‘Cosmic & Human Metamorphoses’ & the Mystery of Golgotha.

In thinking of the eclipse as a ‘living being that comes into & out of incarnation’ (from Astrosopher Elizabeth Vreed), it was interesting to contemplate the past, present & future thru the Saros cycle of this eclipse series, which was born on January 4th 1639,  repeating every 18 years, 11 days. This ‘eclipse being’ will bring 77 eclipse events. The ‘Great American eclipse’ was its 22nd pass over the sun. The series ends on April 17, 3009. (The longest eclipse will occur on June 25, 2522, with a maximum duration of totality for 7 minutes, 12 seconds!)

We all felt the pressing import from the fact that this eclipse would touch only America, especially at this time in history, creating a need in us to be fully conscious. We asked ourselves: Could this solar eclipse be a herald to the Western incarnation of Ahriman – or an occasion calling for another sacrifice of the Christ, like the pre-earthly deeds, the Mystery of Golgotha, & the 2nd crucifixion in the etheric? We wanted to name the adversary, but we did not dwell there, & these beings were not part of the pageant.

In the evening – we immersed ourselves in a meditation envisioning our human heart as an expanding Sun, (from Peter Seleg’ book: The Ensouled Sun of Man: A Heart Meditation, which was given to Ita Wegman’s mother Henriette for her 73rd birthday by Rudolf Steiner) Then we stood together in freedom, holding the reigns in the 3-Fold Social organism of the Cultural Realm, with its emphasis on education & spirituality, to meet our own ‘Portal of Initiation’. With thanks to our dear Dr. Steiner, we dedicated our pageant to our beloved dead, to the spirit of the Mississippi River, & all of America, our angels & all the spiritual beings working for the light. After quoting Dickens:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. . .”

We presented our pageant to the spiritual world. (for the photo album click here)

On the morning of the eclipse we arrived early at Bee Tree Park, & while we circled up, 8 hawks circled above us. It was blazing hot & dripping humidity, & the sky was crystal clear, as we stood on the deck overlooking the River. Some of us lay in the partial shade so we could comfortably look up at the dazzling sky as the moon slowly slid over the sun. We watched the quality of the light change around us & in nature. The trees provided a lightshow, imprinting crescent-shapes thru the leaves onto the steamy grass. Someone said the people looked transparent, like angels. The energy was very dis-incarnating, folks were giddy or overwhelmed with emotion, others chatting away. I had wanted to stay at the Mother-House during the eclipse so we could be contemplative & undisturbed in our spiritual scientific activities, but my colleagues on the CRC team wanted to be there in that lovely public setting, & so it was.  And even though we had reserved the overlook, a small crowd of local families had also gathered. Some of us did speak out Steiner’s Sun-Heart Verse, & The Michael Meditation; we held onto the Lord’s Prayer & sang a-bit, but it was clear, the group was dispersed in the crowd, & we each stood alone, with only our personal double & the guardian at the Threshold. It was as if the sound was pressurized, & yet at the same time, it was being sucked up & out, dissipating in the growing dark.

But even as the light slowly waned into an odd twilightish glow, there came a nod from the heavens, & I knew the stars were waiting for us to speak to them, encouraging us to stand with them to hold the light ensouled in our Human Heart-Sun.  And as the eclipse was coming closer to totality I knew I WAS “speaking to the stars” with Michael, The Christ-Messenger, at my side, courageously holding the Consciousness Soul, contributing Heart-Thinking to create a positive evolution for humanity & for Mother Earth.

And O was it beautiful!- astoundingly magnificent! – awesome in its might! – invoking wonder & awe! I gasped & shuttered, overcome with emotion & deep reverence. The diamond effect was glorious. At the maximum totality time stood still. A collective in-breath held for what felt like an eternity in those few minutes.  And there in that strange twilight, Venus the Goddess of Beauty was laid bare, off to the right, with Regulus the heart of Leo the Lion beaming out on the left; 2 centennials of Love flanking the solar eclipse, revealed only as the veil of light was removed in the darkening. The image that flashed up in my mind was that the eclipse was a crater or black hole that took me into the center of the earth & then spit me out into cosmic spaces, where I touched the veil of Isis. Salt tears poured from my eyes & mixed with the sweat on my face. It was hard to catch my breath again & resume a steady rhythm. A dear one laid their hands upon my head.

When the diamond appeared again signaling the end of totality, & the slow  beginning of the Sun’s return, I began to softly sing, ‘The Earth, the Air, the Fire the Water, Return, Return, Return, Return’… a song suggested by my dear CRC colleague…but I was told to ssshhh by a person who then promptly turned her back to the sky & started chatting. That shook me, it woke me up as if from a spell, & I came back fully into myself. I then knew I had to leave the public area & go off on my own. I followed the crescent-light from the leaves & walked into the trees. Soon I found I was on a path going down to the River. It was steep, so I walked slowly, willing with the hierarchies, moving my limbs with keen awareness. I came to a little rock outcropping where a dear member of our group, who had come all the way from the Philippines to join us, was sitting. She was like a sweet forest nymph there in the strange light. She spoke to me in kind whispers, a balm to my raw, open-heart, telling me, Yes, I was on a path to the River & that others were there. I slipped & slid on the steep hill, the bright russet dirt, dusting my slick skin. I had to cross a train track – just in time – I found a rope to help me climb the rest of the way down, before a train clicked & clacked by.  And there on the shore were 4 lone pilgrims, each on their separate chosen spot by the Rivers edge. When I appeared from the cliff they all came together & we waded into the muddy water, singing ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘This little Heart of Mine’, & some other gospel spirituals while the moon continued to move off, making way for the Sun Renewed. Two more friends soon appeared & came down to the River asking to be baptized. Such joy in the returning light.

Soon I needed to ascend, back up from the bottom land at the River’s edge, up into the trees once more, to catch the crescent show before the eclipse had completely ended. On my way to the tracks I glanced down & found a piece of petrified wood that has rings which look like the progression of an eclipse. A dear one with pockets carried it up for me. I was surprised how easy the ascent was compared to the descent.

When I reached the overlook, only a few friends were still there. I was surprised that folks would leave before the completion of the eclipse; it was eerie to see the place so deserted. The 6 of us made a little altar of found objects from nature in the center of the overlook, & a dear one lead us in a spiraling contraction- expansion. Just as we finished, Thunder roared. And just as the eclipse was ending we saw a rainbow in the same direction the Moon had moved off into, & again the Thunder sounded, echoing in the distance. Just then my Chicago friends pulled up in the car, shouting ‘curb-side service for the Queen of the Sun’!

When we got back to the Mother-House, we showered, rested & broke bread with the sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who had created a diorama made-up of Oreo cookies showing the stages of the eclipse, & who served moon-pies for desert. Then we gathered to hear leading thoughts from Steiner’s 5th Gospel.

We shared the budding insights from our eclipse experience. I had come to realize that the woman who had ssshhhed me had given me a great gift, becoming a mirror to my double. At breakfast the next morning I was grateful that we were able to share perspectives with love. In the age of the Consciousness Soul we are meant to bump up against each other. Steiner made karma & reincarnation the focus of his work, & this must become our work as well. After sharing, we closed with the Foundation Stone Mediation & the Hallelujah in eurythmy, which we repeated upon awakening the next morning to end our retreat.

Driving home, our little caravan decided to stop at the Cahokia Mounds, to bring our radiant energy to the dead buried there in the remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization – one of the greatest cities of the world, larger than London in AD 1250. This was the perfect capper to our retreat, especially since it was part of our ‘Bridging Project’ working with the ‘so-called dead’. We sent them our love as we stood at the center of ‘Woodhenge’, a cosmic map aligned with the zodiac, cedar logs marking out the place of the Sun at the equinoxes & Solstices; then we climbed ‘Monks Mound’ the highest & most sacred of the 100’s of mound sites. The thunder clouds gathered & the wind, now chilly, brought us into balance between the past, the present & the future.

With reverence & wonder

~ Hazel Archer Ginsberg 

Der Fokus

Greetings Friends –

Manami Lingerfelt

Just a quick note before I head off to the Central Regional Council Retreat ‘Speaking From Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse’ in St Louis. Here is the official article I was asked to write for the Der Fokus page in Das Goetheanum.

I wrote at least 4 versions covering this cosmic/earthly event from various angels. Here is one version in English.

Paul Nash

No matter where you are on 21 August 2017 during the ‘Great American Eclipse’ I hope you will join with those of us working to hold the light.

Here is a link with some ideas for activities

Also, check-out the pageant “From Light Through Darkness into New Light

See you on the other-side

xox

Blessings & Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg 

PS. Those of you in the Chicago area, come check-out this Youth Initiative ‘The Dawn Before the Dark’ at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Sat. Aug. 19 2017, 6 pm-10 pm (see details below)

Current Festival & Program Events

From Chaos into Purpose

7 August 2017 – Astro-Weather: The fixed date of the 2nd Harvest known as Lammas is popularly celebrated on August 1st or 2nd – but Today the Cross-Quarter of Lammas is exact –When the Sun reaches 15% of Leo – This day marks the actual midpoint between the Summer Solstice & the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Full Moon of August is called The Corn or Sturgeon Moon (exact at 1:11 pm CDT). Bella Luna rises around sunset. Once it’s dark, try to see through the moonlight to find the Moon resting in the northeastern corner of the constellation Capricornus the Sea Goat. That’s where the Corn Moon always resides at this time of year.

When the Sun, Earth, & Moon line up in space, eclipses sometimes come in pairs. So, as everyone in North America readies for The Great American solar eclipse on August 21’st (occurring at new Moon), a partial lunar eclipse sneaks in just two weeks earlier  – TODAY – at the preceding full Moon.

This glancing encounter with Earth’s core shadow, the umbra, takes nearly 2 hours from start to finish, visible from the Eastern Hemisphere.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 119 & is # 61 of 82 eclipses in the series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 13 centuries.

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

“If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful flowers, what might not the heart become in the long journey towards the stars?”~ G K Chesterton

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James Christensen

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Look, how
The charm is everywhere…
How it rests between the breath…
How it comes when called
Forth from chaos into purposeful hands,
Light to my feet
It fills my head with heat
~hag

***

Persian Scholar Al-Biruni (C.E. 973-1048)

Taking into consideration what we talked about from the research of Rudolf Steiner in yesterday’s Blog offering, it is important to be as conscious as possible today during the Lunar eclipse, which is working to attract, & bring to the surface, our lowest, animalistic urges & unconscious impulses.

Today when the Earth comes between the Sun & Moon, we can picture the shadow that moves over the moon as being an assemblage of the human shadow-self, acting as a magnet for the adversarial powers.

Knowing that the spiritual significance of a lunar eclipse exists for this purpose, we can use this opportunity to bring our shadow self to light – to recognize our responsibility to make conscious what is usually in the dark – to bring healing & integration to our souls.

This is an important step toward the work we are called to do during the solar eclipse.

We must recognize that this build-up of shadow-forces, culled from human beings today, will be part of what is released into the spiritual world at the time of the solar eclipse. Could the adversarial beings be using these dark forces to bring about a 3rd crucifixion? The 1st Mystery of Golgotha was on the physical realm, the 2nd occurred in the etheric realm – let me explain:

Steiner tells us, that after the 1st Mystery of Golgotha, The Christ united with the Earth, no longer in an individual physical body, He can be recognized in a being belonging to the Hierarchy of the Angels. Kind of hard to imagine, but think back to that clue from the Old Testament: ‘And the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses’/ Steiner says: ‘As an angel, Christ could always be found by those who were clairvoyant…In this angel form, He has always been united with evolution’. Steiner doesn’t say so directly, but it makes me think of the connection with the Nathan Soul, the Angel Being he worked with in the Pre-Earthy Deeds – the original Adam Kadmon – that pure, innocent soul part which separated off from Adam, the 1st Human, before the fall.

Through the coming of this new age of Michael, humanity can gradually begin to understand all that the Christ Impulse signifies. It wasn’t possible to really understand it before this. For instance starting in the 16th century thru the beginning of the 19th Century, when influences were coming in from the spiritual world from the Archangel Gabriel to bring modern science, there also entered into humanity a very materialistic world view that was antagonistic to spiritual insights. So more & more, as human beings passed into the spiritual worlds at the gate of death, they brought with them these materialistic ideas, which were polluting these higher realms & which prevented their souls from taking up fortifying spiritual influences for their next lives. Because of this another sacrifice was needed.

So, Steiner tells us, Christ, who had taken on the outer form of this Angelic Being, suffered an ‘extinction of consciousness’, as a result of the opposing forces that had been brought into the spiritual worlds by these materialistic souls who had passed thru the gate of death. These ‘seeds of earthly materialism’ which were increasingly carried into the spiritual world & which caused more & more darkness, built, what Steiner calls, the ‘black sphere of materialism.’ Christ took this black sphere into His Angelic being, for the purpose of transforming it- putting into action the Manichean principle that takes on evil in order to redeem it. This black sphere caused a ‘death by suffocation’ for the Angel Being in which the Christ is manifesting himself since the Mystery of Golgotha. 

This sacrifice by Christ in the 19th century is comparable to the sacrifice on the physical plane through the Mystery of Golgotha & can be called the 2nd crucifixion of Christ, on the etheric plane. This spiritual death by suffocation, which brought about the extinction of consciousness in the Angelic Being, is a repetition of the Mystery of Golgotha in the etheric.

It took place to make possible a revival of the Christ consciousness, which wasn’t accessible to human souls on earth at the time of the original Mystery of Golgotha. This revival makes it possible for humanity to gain clairvoyant vision starting in the 20th century. So what was lost in the way of consciousness by humanity in the individuation process brought on by the necessity of modern science, will arise again as a new form of clairvoyant vision.

Steiner names the starting date as 1933. The 2nd World War with its Nazism tried to cover this revelation up.

It was for the sake of humanity that this Being suffered an extinction of consciousness in the etheric world, so that thru this sacrifice humanity could gain a resurrection of consciousness that will lead us to perceive the Etheric Christ.

And so the question I am living with today is: Does this series of eclipses point to another “black sphere of materialism” that could cause an extinction of Christ’s astral body? And what does that mean? Will that sacrifice bring a sea-change in human consciousness as the others have?

In this time of the Consciousness Soul, human beings we are called to actively participate in this cosmic & earthly event, in awakened consciousness.

Holding the light in love

~ Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Transfiguration

6 August 2017 –The Eve of the Full Corn Moon – Tomorrow’s partial Lunar eclipse herald’s the Solar eclipse on the New Moon 21 August  2017. And even though we won’t see the Lunar eclipse here in America, its impact affects all.

“…of an eclipse of the moon, the man of today merely says: “Now the earth comes between the sun and the moon; hence we see the shadow cast upon the moon by the earth.” That is the physical explanation. But in this case also the old initiate knew that a spiritual reality was behind the physical fact. He knew that when there is an eclipse of the moon, thoughts stream through darkness down upon the earth; and that such thoughts have a closer relationship with the subconscious life than with the conscious life of the human being. The old initiates often made use of a certain simile when speaking to their pupils. It is; of course, necessary to translate their words into modern language, but this is the gist of what they said: “Visionaries and dreamers love to go for rambles by moonlight, when the moon is full. There are, however, certain people who have no wish to receive the good thoughts coming to them from the cosmos, but who, on the contrary, are desirous of getting hold of evil, diabolical thoughts. Such people will choose the moment of a lunar eclipse for their nocturnal wanderings…”

Acting as a “safety-valve, the lunar eclipse, exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. people do not, as a rule, act in full consciousness, but the facts are nevertheless real — just as real as the attraction of a magnet for small particles of iron. Such are the forces at work, in the cosmos.” ~Rudolf Steiner, Human Questions and Cosmic Answers.

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

The Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ – “We find the transfiguration scene in all the evangelists except St. John. This is significant. Let us clarify the meaning of this scene. What takes place? Jesus goes with three disciples Peter, James and John, up a mountain: this means into the inner sanctuary where one is initiated into higher worlds and where one also speaks in occult language. The disciples were carried up into a higher state of consciousness. They saw then that which is not transitory but eternal. Moses and Elias appear and Jesus himself with them. What does this mean? In occult science the word Elias means the same as El — the goal, the way. Moses is the spiritual scientific word for truth. By the fact that Elias, Moses and Jesus appear you have the fundamental Christian truth: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus himself says — this is a fundamental Christian mystical truth — “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” (John, ch. 14, v. 6) ~ Rudolf Steiner, The Gospel of St. John, 3rd Lecture

Alexandr Ivanov.j

70 AD- The Second Temple of Jerusalem is destroyed by Roman legions under Titus. For 420 years, the 2nd Temple constituted a divine presence – the point where heaven & earth met. Its presence is sorely missed, its absence mourned.

1945 – The Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, an act of genocide on President Harry Truman’s orders.

***

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~In the cardboard sky
The Thunder gods gather in
A procession of chattering dark wind
Laying eggs of other lives
Of blue souls in weaving sighs
Where incense rises in long dreams
To be weighed
In the over-ripe fruit trees
~hag

***

Rudolf Steiner gave us a lot of hints on to how to come to terms with ‘Evil’. He calls it evil because it ‘misses the mark’, but he reveals that the gods themselves called their opponents into being. Humanity, striving toward Freedom, stands as the Tenth Hierarchy & has as its task to integrate the vast gifts of Nature & Spirit while accepting the possibility, & finding the strength to lead evil (i.e.: Lucifer & Ahriman) back to the good.

“In the Primal Beginning was the Word
And the Word was with God
And a God was the Word.
The same was in the Primal Beginning with God.
It was there where all things came into being,
And nothing came into being but through the Word.
In the Word was the Life, and the Life was the Light of men.

In the Primal Beginning is the Thought,
And the Thought is with God,
And a God-like being is the Thought.
In it is Life,
And the Life shall become the Light of my Ego.
And may the Divine Thought shine into my Ego
That the darkness of my Ego may grasp the Thought Divine.

In the Primal Beginning is the Thought,
And Infinite is the Thought.
And the Life of the Thought is the Light of the Ego.
May light-giving Thought fill the Darkness of my Ego,
That the Darkness of my Ego may grasp the Living Thought
And live and weave in its Divine Primal Beginning.

In the Primal Beginning is Memory,
And the Memory lives on further,
And Divine is the Memory.
And the Memory is Life.
And this Life is the Ego of Man
Which streams into Man himself,
Not he alone, the Christ in him.
When he remembers the Divine Life
In his Memory is the Christ.
And as the radiant Life of Memory
Christ will pour Light
Into every Darkness of the immediate present.

In the Primal Beginning was the power of Memory.
The power of Memory shall become Divine;
And a Divinity shall the power of Memory become.
All that arises within the Ego shall become
Something which has arisen
Out of the Christ-permeated, God-permeated Memory.
In it shall be the Life;
In it shall be the radiant Light
Which, out of the Thinking which remembers,
Shines into the Darkness of the present time.
May that Darkness as it is to-day
Comprehend the Light of the Memory
Which has become Divine!”

~Rudolf Steiner, Background of the Mystery of GolgothaPre-Earthly Deeds of Christ, March 7th, 1914

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The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

click here for a List of possible  activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register  

 

“We shall come rejoicing”…

1st August 2017 – Astro-weather: This evening the waxing gibbous Moon forms a triangle with Antares to Her lower left & brighter Saturn more directly to Her left.

Dariusz Slusarski.

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

 “History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man”. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

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 [Note 9] who created for this Grail, this sacred chalice, a temple on Mont Salvat”  ~Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 16, 1921

30 BC – Augustus Octavian enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic

30 BC – Deathday of Mark Antony, Roman general & politician

1464 – Deathday of Cosimo de’ Medici, Italian ruler

1469 – Louis XI of France founds the chivalric order called the Order of Saint Michael in Amboise

1714 – Deathday of Queen Anne of Great Britain

1819 – Birthday of Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, & poet

1842 – The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia. A parade was held by over 1,000 members of the black Young Men’s Vigilant Association on Philadelphia’s Lombard Street between 5th & 8th streets in commemoration of the 8th anniversary of the end of slavery in the British West Indies.  As the paraders neared Mother Bethel Church, they were attacked by an Irish Catholic mob. The rioters moved west, setting fires & attacking firefighters & police as they went, heading for the home of African-American leader Robert Purvis. Purvis & his home were reportedly saved from the Irish mob solely by a Catholic priest’s intervention.

Requests to the mayor & police for protection initially led to the arrest of several of the victims & none of the rioters. Over three days of attacks, the 2nd African American Presbyterian Church, the abolitionist Smith’s Hall, & numerous homes & public buildings were looted, burned & mostly destroyed. The mayor had credible evidence of a plan to burn several local churches, which he ignored. Eventually, as the rioting began to subside, the local militia was brought in to restore order.

1936 – The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler

1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City

***

Jeff Gooden

 

(Lammas/ Lughnassad poem – Aug. 1st )

CORN RIGS & WHEELS [15 degrees Leo]

CICADAS TRANCE
IN THETA WAVES OF SOUND

THE SICKLES REAP IN BORDERTIME
OPENING THE GATEWAY TO THE WEST

DRAGONS FLY
INTO THE MOUTH
OF THE HOLLOWMAN –
HIS EYES BLAZE
AS HE GLIMPSES HER WAITING WOMB
ALL RIPE & HOT – HER PHOENIX TOMB
A FIERCE ALCHEMICAL FURANCE –
BAKED IN THE LION FIRE
OF TETRAMORPH ANGELS
JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE
GRIND THE GRAIN
TO MAKE THE BREAD & BEER

MOULDED 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 SPIKED WHEEL OF CATHERINE…
IS SET AFLAME –
THE BLAZING DISK ROLLS IN IMMOLATION
TO IT’S DECLINE

BURN THE OLD STRAW EFFIGY
AT THE FUNERAL GAMES
TO BLESS THE FIRST GRAINS

WATCH SOTHIS RISE –
MORNING FIRST SCORCHER
CELESTIAL JACKAL
HERALD OF THE NEW YEAR –

FLOOD THE FIELDS
WITH YOUR SCINTILLATING SERUM

& WE MEET ONCE AGAIN
ONCE AGAIN, ONCE AGAIN
IN A YEAR & A DAY
TO BEHEAD THE LOAF
& EAT…

~hag

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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.

So perhaps you’d like to 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 the mother Earth. If you have a garden, add something you’ve harvested–herbs or onion or corn–to your bread. 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.

 

Shape the dough in the figure of a man or a woman & give your grain-person a name. If he’s a man, you could call him Lugh, the Sun-King, or John Barleycorn, or the Pillsbury Dough Boy, or Adonis or Osiris or Tammuz.

Pauline Campanelli in The Wheel of the Year suggests names for female figures: She of the Corn, She of the Threshing Floor, She of the Seed, She of the Great Loaf (these come from the Cyclades where they are the names of fertility figures), Freya (the Anglo-Saxon and Norse fertility Goddess who is also called the Lady & the Giver of the Loaf), the Bride (Celtic) and Ziva or Siva (the Grain Goddess of, the Ukraine, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia).

Another way to honor the Grain Goddess is to make a corn doll. This is a fun project to do with kids. Take dried-out corn husks and tie them together in the shape of a woman. She’s your visual representation of the harvest. As you work on her, think about what you harvested this year.

Give your corn dolly a name, perhaps one of the names of the Grain Goddess or one that symbolizes your personal harvest. Dress her in a skirt, apron & bonnet & give her a special place in your house. She is all yours till the spring when you will plant her with the new corn, returning to the Earth that which She has given to you.

“we shall come rejoicing”…

xox  ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Kari Marie Olson

The Bridging Project – Between Life and Death from Soul to Soul
August 2, 2017 – 7:15 pm CST (8:15 pm EST)
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to our conversation with special guest Gisela Wielki.
 
Gisela Wielki was born and raised in Germany. Obtained her degree in early childhood education, followed by a three year study at the Seminary of the Christian Community in Stuttgart (ordained in 1970.) Gisela was sent to the New York Congregation in 1972, and then lived in Chicago from 2002 to 2010 as a one of the founding directors of the English speaking seminary. Gisela has spent many years working with children, youth and young adults in Christian Community summer camps, youth and young adult conferences
Please read to prepare for the session:
Our theme for the evening shall be multifaceted:
 
Death is not the final stage of life
There is no deathday without a birthday
What is death? Who is death?
Not so, death is not just an entry into a new state of consciousness.
Death and the significance of the body
Death and the building of a new body through Christ and with Christ
Pen and paper may be useful
 
Option 1. Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended)
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/762393301
Option 2. Call in using your telephone.
United States: +1 (312) 757-3129
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9350
Access Code: 762-393-301
Please join us!
Agenda
7:15 Welcome and introductions
7:18 Verse
7:20 Introduce guest speaker
7:25 Guest Speaker: Gisela Wielki (50 minutes) 8:15 Q&A – Please state your name, location before asking a question
8:28 Close with verse

 

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The Central Regional Council is hosting a Bridging to the ‘Great American Eclipse’ in St. Louis – August 19-22, 2017 

Speaking from Soul to Soul with the Solar Eclipse At the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse, St. Louis, Missouri August 19, 5 PM CST through August 21, 5pm CST

Read the article from Das Goetheanum

RETREAT CONTENT: At this Central Regional retreat, we take The ‘Bridging Project’ into the realm of ‘Speaking with the Stars’. In the life between death and re-birth the human being is engaged in an intimate conversation with the ‘Stars’. We will prepare for, view and work to hold the light during the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse’, which will sweep from West to East across all of America, and will be visible in the St. Louis area on Monday August 21st 2017. Through the social arts of folk eurythmy, song, study, color, meditation, and an interactive pageant*, we will engage with the spiritual significance of this powerful cosmic and earthly event. Afterward we will process, share and continue the conversation, working to understand the mysteries of the will. 

click here for a List of possible PDF activities to do around the Solar Eclipse

RETREAT LOCATION: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse is located just south of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, overlooking the Mississippi River(https://www.csjsl.org/motherhouse-services/take-a-tour.php). On Monday, we will travel to a TBD park or nature area about one hour south of St. Louis to experience the full solar eclipse, returning to The Motherhouse in the late afternoon.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is at the discretion of the participants (not included in retreat cost). The planning team will try to facilitate ride sharing opportunities if you request our assistance.  The closest airport is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (Code: STL) ( http://flystl.com/)

LODGING PLANS: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Motherhouse has 8 single and 2 double rooms available for the CRC conference. A few rooms have private bathrooms, and there are several shared bathrooms across the hall from the bedrooms. Rooms will be assigned on a first-registration basis to conference participants. If capacity allows, we will try to accommodate additional participants, whether at Carondelet or at local members’ homes.

MEALS: Meals will be provided by the Sisters of Carondelet during the fixed times listed below. Conference participants not staying at The Motherhouse are also able to order meals through this registration form. Vegan, vegetarian, non-dairy and gluten-free diets can be accommodated if requested in advance. Coffee, tea and ice water will be provided. Breakfast: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM $7 Lunch: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM $10 Dinner: 5:15 AM – 6:15 PM $11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Sisters of Carondelet are environmentally conscious, and no disposable water bottles are allowed in the property (but re-usable bottles are allowed)  Additional information will be provided to registered participants in July

click here to register