***

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th.  In 1531 a “Lady from Heaven” appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City.  She identified herself as the “Mother of the True God” & instructed him to have the bishop build a church on the site & left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth.  The tilma should have deteriorated within 20 years but shows no sign of decay after 485 years.  It to this day defies all scientific explanations of its origin.

In the earliest account of the apparition, the Nican Mopohua, the Virgin Mary tells Juan Bernardino, the uncle of Juan Diego, that the image left on the tilma is to be known by the name “The Perfect Virgin, Holy Mary of Guadalupe”.

Alternative names that sound similar to “Guadalupe”, Tecuatlanopeuh which translates as “She whose origins were in the rocky summit“, & Tecuantlaxopeuh “She who banishes those who devoured us.”

Following the Conquest in 1519–21, the Spanish destroyed a temple of the mother goddess Tonantzin at Tepeyac outside Mexico City, & built a chapel dedicated to the Virgin on the site. Newly converted natives continued to come from afar to worship there, often addressing the Virgin Mary as Tonantzin.

A Spanish version of the Nahuatl term, Coātlaxopeuh, which is interpreted as meaning “The one who crushes the serpent,” may be referring to the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl.

According to another theory the juxtaposition of Guadalupe & a snake may indicate a nexus with the Aztec goddess of love & fertility, Tonantzin (in Nahuatl “Our Revered Mother“), who also went under the name of Coatlícue (“The Serpent Skirt“). This appears to be borne out by the fact that this goddess had a temple dedicated to her on the very Tepeyac Hill where Juan Diego had his vision, the very temple which had recently been destroyed at the behest of the new Catholic authorities.

Some describe her as the Woman of the Apocalypse from the New Testament’s Revelation 12:1, “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” She is also described as a representation of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1929 & 1951 photographers claimed to have found a figure reflected in the Virgin’s eyes; upon inspection they said that the reflection was tripled in what is called the Purkinje effect, commonly found in human eyes. An ophthalmologist, later enlarged an image of the Virgin’s eyes by 2500x & claimed to have found not only the aforementioned single figure, but images of all the witnesses present when the tilma was first revealed before Zumárraga in 1531, plus a small family group of mother, father, & a group of children, in the center of the Virgin’s eyes, fourteen people in all.

In 1936 biochemist Richard Kuhn analyzed a sample of the fabric & announced that the pigments used were from no known source, whether animal, mineral or vegetable. Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, who photographed the icon under infrared light, declared from his photographs that portions of the face, hands, robe, & mantle had been painted in one step, with no sketches or corrections & no visible brush strokes.

The image has layers of meaning for the indigenous people of Mexico who associated her image with their polytheistic deities, which further contributed to her popularity. Her blue-green mantle was the color reserved for the divine couple Ometecuhtli & Omecihuatl; her belt is interpreted as a sign of pregnancy; & a cross-shaped image, symbolizing the cosmos & called nahui-ollin, is inscribed beneath the image’s sash. She was called “Mother of maguey,” the source of the sacred beverage pulque. Pulque was also known as “The milk of the Virgin.” The rays of light surrounding her are seen to also represent maguey spines.

On 14 November 1921 a bomb hidden within a basket of flowers brought by an anti-Catholic secularist damaged the altar, but left the tilma unharmed. A brass standing Crucifix, bent in the explosion, is now preserved at the shrine.

Her message of love & compassion, & her universal promise to help & protect all humankind, as well as the story of the apparitions, are described in the “Nican Mopohua,” a 16th century document written in the native Nahuatl language.

Accounts state that The Virgin Mary appeared four times before Juan Diego & one more before Juan Diego’s uncle. According to these accounts the first apparition occurred on the morning of December 9, 1531, when a native Mexican peasant named Juan Diego saw a vision of a maiden at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac, which would become part of Villa de Guadalupe, a suburb of Mexico City. Speaking to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl language (the language of the Aztec empire), the maiden identified herself as the Virgin Mary, “Mother of the very true deity”& asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor.

Based on her words, Juan Diego then sought out the archbishop of Mexico City, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, to tell him what had happened. As the bishop did not believe Diego, on the same day, Juan Diego saw the Virgin Mary for a second time (the second apparition); she asked him to keep insisting.

On Sunday, December 10, Juan Diego talked to the archbishop for a second time. He instructed him to return to Tepeyac Hill, & ask the lady for a miraculous sign to prove her identity. That same day the third apparition occurred when Diego returned to Tepeyac  &, encountering the Virgin Mary reported the bishop’s request for a sign; she consented to provide one on the following day (December 11)

By Monday, December 11, however, Juan Diego’s uncle Juan Bernardino had fallen sick & Juan Diego was obliged to attend to him. In the very early hours of Tuesday, December 12, Juan Bernardino’s condition having deteriorated overnight, Juan Diego set out to Tlatelolco to fetch a priest to hear Juan Bernardino’s confession & minister to him on his death-bed.

In order to avoid being delayed by the Virgin & ashamed at having failed to meet her on the Monday as agreed, Juan Diego chose another route around the hill, but the Virgin intercepted him & asked where he was going (fourth apparition); Juan Diego explained what had happened & the Virgin gently chided him for not having had recourse to her. In the words which have become the most famous phrase of the Guadalupe event & are inscribed over the main entrance to the Basilica of Guadalupe, she asked: “No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?” (Am I not here, I who am your mother?). She assured him that Juan Bernardino had now recovered & she told him to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill, which was normally barren, especially in December. Juan followed her instructions & he found Castilian roses, not native to Mexico, blooming there. The Virgin arranged the flowers in Juan’s tilma, or cloak, & when Juan Diego opened his cloak before archbishop Zumárraga on December 12, the flowers fell to the floor, & on the fabric was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The next day, on December 13, Juan Diego found his uncle fully recovered, as the Virgin had assured him, & Juan Bernardino recounted that he too had seen her, at his bed-side (fifth apparition); that she had instructed him to inform the bishop of this apparition & of his miraculous cure; & that she had told him she desired to be known under the title of Guadalupe.

The bishop kept Juan Diego’s mantle first in his private chapel & then in the church on public display where it attracted great attention. On December 26, 1531 a procession formed for taking the miraculous image back to Tepeyac where it was installed in a small hastily erected chapel. In course of this procession, the first miracle was allegedly performed when an Indian was mortally wounded in the neck by an arrow shot by accident during some stylized martial displays executed in honour of the Virgin. In great distress, the Indians carried him before the Virgin’s image & pleaded for his life. Upon the arrow being withdrawn, the victim made a full & immediate recovery.

Juan Diego’s tilma has become Mexico’s most popular religious & cultural symbol, & has received widespread ecclesiastical & popular support. In the 19th century it became the rallying call of American-born Spaniards in New Spain, who saw the story of the apparition as their own Mexican origin & infusing it with a sense of mission & identity –also legitimizing their armed rebellion against Spain.

The earliest mention of the miraculous apparition of the Virgin is a page of parchment (the Codex Escalada) which was discovered in 1995 &, according to investigative analysis, dates from the sixteenth century. This document bears two pictorial representations of Juan Diego & the apparition, several inscriptions in Nahuatl referring to Juan Diego by his Aztec name, & the date of his death: 1548, as well as the year that the Virgin Mary appeared: 1531. It also contains the glyph of Antonio Valeriano; & finally, the signature of Fray Bernardino de Sahagun that was authenticated by experts.

An incredible list of miracles, cures & interventions are attributed to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Each year an estimated 10 million people visit her Basilica, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world. Altogether 24 popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Juan Diego was canonized in 2002, under the name Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.

May we be worthy of the miraculous

Xox

~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~today Proud Mary said:
“Big wheel keep on turning”…
What comes around goes around
So let the great wheel spin
As we sit at the hub of the universe
& create the day…

***

12 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Geminid Meteor shower, usually one of the best of the year, should be at its peak late tonight & tomorrow night. But the waning gibbous Moon will light the sky, so only the brightest few meteors will shine through. You might see one every several minutes on average from midnight to dawn, if you have a wide-open view of the sky overhead & shield the glare from Bella Luna from your eyes.

***

 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

“…what man lives through historically, what he lives through socially, what he lives through in the ethical relationships between people,  all this really has the value of a dream, of sleep…People will consider history in quite another way when this has reached their living consciousness; they will no longer consider as history the fable convenue that is usually called history today; but they will realize that historical life can only be understood when that which is dreamed and slept away in usual consciousness, and contains the influences of the deeds, impulses and activities of the so-called dead, is sought in this historical life. The deeds of the dead are interwoven with the impulses of feeling and will of the so-called living. And this is real history.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

1098 – First Crusade: Siege of Ma’arrat al-Numan: Crusaders breach the town’s walls & massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they reportedly resort to cannibalism

1408 – The Order of the Dragon, is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, king of Hungary

1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter “S” [***] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland

1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy & proclaim himself Emperor of China

1935 – Lebensborn Project,  was founded by Heinrich Himmler, an SS-initiated, state-supported association in Nazi Germany with the goal of raising the birth rate of “Aryan” children via extramarital relations of persons classified as “racially pure & healthy” based on Nazi racial hygiene & health ideology. Lebensborn encouraged anonymous births by unmarried women, & mediated adoption of these children by likewise “racially pure and healthy” parents, particularly SS members & their families. Lebensborn expanded into several occupied European countries with Germanic populations during the Second World War.

1941 – Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery

1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad

1950 – Paula Ackerman, the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services

1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom

1979 – The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia &Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, & generating a large tsunami

1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board.

1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills 335 & injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains.

***

13 – 14 December 2019

Rudiger Janisch

“The Spiritual Goetheanum, the threefold human being and the threefold social impulse”

Friday 13 December , 7 – 9 pm

Saturday 14 December, 9 am – noon

Rüdiger has been working in Curative Education and teaching in professional training programs in Germany and the United States for over 40 years. A long-time student of anthroposophy, he serves on the Collegium of the School for Spiritual Science in North America. His contributions to adult education methods were recognized in the context of an international research project sponsored by the European Union. He has been a member of the core faculty of a joint ‘Training for Trainers’ program supporting Curative Education and Social Therapy in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member of the M.S. Ed program in Waldorf Remedial Education at Antioch University N.H. Having taught many different aspects of anthroposophy and Curative Education, he currently is focused on action research and the development of artistic and experiential approaches to the spiritual scientific study of the human being.

Fro more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

Dear friends –
Besides our regular study, The Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago has been chosen to host one of the 12 Holy Nights, in a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by the Anthroposophical Society of America.

Our night is Thursday December 26th.

As part of our offering we will be presenting a dramatic reading entitled “The Vast & Holy Dark” which features voice & eurythmy. If you would like to participate there are a few opportunities to meet at the branch to play with the words & to do eurythmy. Please come to any of them that work for you:

Monday Dec. 16th at 11 am
Wed. Dec 18th at 11 am

If you want to be part of this please contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

You are also welcome to simply come as a representative of our branch & observe.

Please arrive by 6 pm on Dec. 26th.

---

***

Holy Nights 2019-2020 – The New Mysteries of the ‘Christmas Conference’ Renewed! Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm CST to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster.  

Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering.  

Here is the Link to Register

Then from 7:30pm – 8:30pm CST we will take up our own study of the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ from The Christmas Conference 1923/1924. (There are copies of ‘The Red Book’ in the Library)

Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST except:
24 Dec. at NOON CST (no meeting at the branch)
*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is Hosting this Nation-wide event. Meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm CST.
*28 Dec. Olaf Åsteson practice 3 pm – 5 pm CST – Performance at 7 pm CST.

1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST – A Goethean Conversation

2nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43

*3rd Holy Night: Thursday 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven. 1st hour hosted by us the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago: “The Vast & Holy Night” a liminal performance of spoken word & eurythmy honoring the dark from which the light is born. Our study: The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 68

4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John -1st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98

*5th Holy Night: Saturday 28 December 2019 – The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson with Debbie Barford & Mary Tom 3pm – 5pm practice 7 pm – 9 pm performance. Come gather to work with the Legend of Olaf Åsteson in the afternoon to be part of the community ensemble 3pm – 5pm with a dinner break returning for the performance open to all from 7 pm – 9 pm.  $10 Donation Encouraged. Contact Debra Barford for more info.

or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Lisa Dalton

6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Rockford TN. Group. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 110 William Rogers

7th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Eastern Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138

***

– NYE–The 13th Hidden Night Tuesday 31 December 2019-2020
7:30 pm – 1 am – $20 + Potluck Food & Drink to Share
Live Music & Folk Dancing with Jutta & the Hi-Dukes ™ 8 -9:30pm
Biography Playshop
Spacial Dynamics & the Loving Kindness Meditation with Deborah Rogers
Cut Away & Call in – A Ritual of Renewal
Seeking the Holy Grail Within – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Lead (Wax) Casting Divination for the NY
More TBA…

***

8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183

9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192

10th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204

11th Holy Night: Saturday 4 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Brian Gray. Our study: The Envy of the Gods – the Envy of Human Beings, Looking back to the burning of the Goetheanum, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 231

*12th Holy Night: Sunday 5 January 2020 – Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ – 1st hour hosted by The Central Regional Council. Alberto Loya, Marianne Fieber, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer Ginsberg. Our Study: On the Right Entry into the Spiritual World – The responsibility Incumbent on us, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 260

for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

30 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2020 Prep-makers conference at Michael Fields Institute

Fellowship of Preparation Makers Gathering

BD 501 and 508 – Tools to bring the cosmic light into the earth.

January 30^th  – February 2^nd, 2020 

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, N8030 Townline Rd, East Troy, WI

The mission of the Fellowship of Preparation Makers is to ensure that good quality biodynamic preparations are available now and into the future throughout North America.

Schedule:

Thursday, January 30th

10—10:30 am   Registration for Chromatogram Intensive

10:30am   Chromatogram Intensive – All levels welcome. Presenter: Ryann Herring

12 —1pm  Lunch on your own

1-3pm  Chromatogram Intensive

3—5pm  Registration and Social Time

5-6:30pm  Supper

7-8:30pm   Welcome from Perry Brown, and Candlemas Festival with Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Friday, January 31st

7:30-8:30am   Registration, Breakfast and Social Time

8:30– 10 am   History of Fellowship of Prep Makers, and Introductions.

10-10:30am  Morning Break

10:30–12:30pm  Why Biodynamics? Presenter: Mac Mead

12:30-1:45pm Lunch

2-3:30pm  How the cosmic works in the earth? Presenter: Hugh Courtney

3:30-4pm Afternoon Break

4-6pm  Different ways to make and use BD501 & BD508. Practical hands on session with Marjory House and Lloyd Nelson

6-7:30 pm Supper

7:30-9pm  The Journey of a Prep Maker,  A history circle, Facilitator: Brian Wickert

Saturday, February 1st

7:30-8:30 Registration, Breakfast and Social Time

8:30-10am  History of Silica on Man’s Evolution (Lamuria to today) Presenter: Mac Mead

10-10:30am  Morning break

10:30– 12pm  Silica and the Human Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler

12-1:30pm Lunch

1:30-3pm  Interpretation of Chromatograms  Presenter: Ryann Herring

3-3:30pm  Afternoon Break

3:30-5pm  Kolisko Institute  Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler

5-7pm  Supper

7-8:30pm  Quality Comparison of BD501 & 508  Show and tell how you make and use the preps. Facilitator: Wali Via

8:30 pm  Evening Social/Brew City Drifters

Sunday, February 2nd

7:30-8:30 am  Breakfast & Social Time

8:30-10am  Round Table Discussion: Peppering for Pests and Weeds Panel: Mac Mead and Hugh Courtney

10-1-:30  Morning Break

10:30– Noon  Fellowship presentations, evaluations and closing circle.

Noon  Lunch

Registration and Lodging

Full Conference Fee $250

Single Day $125

Single Talk $25

Single Meal $15

Chromatogram Intensive $25

Homestays Available

Airport pickup from MKE available

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

Questions:
Allison Pratt-Szeliga
apszeliga@michaelfields.org
262-642-3303×107

Home stay  and airport transportation arrangements will be handled by:
Petra Zinniker
petrazinniker@gmail.com
262-581-7574

We will work to provide home stays for everyone who requests one. Some homes will be free and others may have a cost. Please contact Petra with your requests. Home stays will be reserved on a first come first served basis.

Local accommodations are also listed below:
Quality Inn & Suites (1.8 miles away)
2921 O’Leary Ln, East Troy, WI 53120•(262) 684-2183

Alpine Valley Resort (1.6 miles away)
W2501 Co Rd D, Elkhorn, WI 53121•(262) 642-7374

BD 501 and 508 preps for quality comparison:
If you have them, please bring or send BD 501 and BD 508 preps for quality comparison and closing ceremony.
Preps can be mailed to Petra Zinniker, N 7399 Bowers Rd, Elkhorn, WI 53121

Presenters:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Mac Mead 

Hugh Courtney 

Marjory House 

Lloyd Nelson

Dr Kamsler

Ryan Herring 

Wali Via

Sponsors: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Demeter, Biodynamic Association

***

The Central Regional Council and the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology present: View this email in your browser

Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide RetreatMaundy Thursday 9 April 2020 Noon thru Easter Sunday at 3 pm Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL AAP:James A. Dyson, M.D., Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., and David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.CRC:Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa DaltonEurythmist: Mary RuudActivities:Art-ActsStar WisdomThe Karma ExercisesExperiential PAGEANT on Holy Saturday: ‘Know Thyself’Easter Sunrise SongtrailOptional service at the Christian CommunityCommunal meals and time for ConversationLectures:‘Living into Karma through the Senses’‘How to find the Self in a Sea of Karma’‘Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn Path’‘The Gesture of Karma’‘Christ as Lord of Karma — how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology?’(Program subject to change) $125 Conference fee includes 1 meal a dayFor more information and to register, contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@peoplepc.com

***

Festivals for the Dead. Then & Now. Renew, or Create Your Own Tradition.

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year. Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, ‘Anthroposopher’, working as the Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.

***

11 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: While Venus & Saturn have an exquisite conjunction in the early evening, the annual Geminid meteor shower peaks under the bright light of The Full Long Nights Moon. Venus gleams in the southwestern sky after sunset. Wait another 30 minutes & you should see Saturn just upper right of the planet of Love.

The Full Long Nights Moon officially arrives at 11:12 pm CST tonight 12/11/19. You can find Bella Luna rising in the east around sunset & peaking high in the south just before midnight. She dips low in the west by the time morning twilight starts to paint the sky.

The Full Moon sits among the background stars of Taurus the Bull early this evening, just west of the Hyades star cluster. As the night wears on, Earth’s satellite slides through the northern fringes of this V-shaped star group. The conjunction affords a good opportunity to witness Bella Luna’s dance.

Rabbit’s Catch – A Native American Tale, told to me by my dear friend Grandmother Tuli who has since passed on. Tuli lived on the Micmac Reservation in Canada most of her life, but had come to live in Chicago with her granddaughter, Meli. They used to come out to my Full Moon drum circles at the lake back in the day. Here is what I remember of that story:

Long ago, Rabbit was a great hunter. He lived with his grandmother in a lodge which stood deep in the Micmac forest. It was winter & Rabbit set traps & laid snares to catch game for food. He caught many small animals & birds, to give to his grandmother, until one day he discovered that some mysterious being was robbing his traps. Rabbit & his grandmother became hungry. Though he visited his traps very early each morning, he always found them empty.

At first Rabbit thought that the robber might be a cunning wolverine, until one morning he found long, narrow footprints alongside his trap line. It was, he thought, the tracks of the robber, but they looked like moonbeams. Each morning Rabbit rose earlier & earlier, but the being of the long foot was always ahead of him & always his traps were empty.

Rabbit then made a trap from a bowstring with the loop so cleverly fastened that he felt certain that he would catch the robber when it came. He took one end of the thong with him & hid himself behind a clump of bushes from which he could watch his snare. It was bright moonlight while he waited, but suddenly it became very dark as the moon disappeared. A few stars were still shining & there were no clouds in the sky, so Rabbit wondered what had happened to the moon.

Someone or something came stealthily through the trees & then Rabbit was almost blinded by a flash of bright, white light which went straight to his trap line & shone thru the snare which he had set. Quick as a lightning flash, Rabbit jerked the bowstring & tightened the noose. There was a sound of struggling & the light lurched from side to side. Rabbit knew by the tugging on his string that he had caught the robber. He fastened the bowstring to a nearby sapling to hold the loop tight.

Rabbit raced back to tell his grandmother, who was a wise old woman, what had happened. She told him that he must return at once to see who or what he had caught. Rabbit, who was very frightened, wanted to wait for daylight but his grandmother said that might be too late, so he returned to his trap line.

When he came near the trap, Rabbit saw that the bright light was still there. It was so bright that it hurt his eyes. He bathed them in the icy water of a nearby brook, but still they smarted. He made big snowballs & threw them at the light, in the hope of putting it out. As the snowball hit the light, he heard them sizzle & saw them melt. Next, Rabbit scooped up great pawfuls of soft clay from the stream & made many big clay balls. He was a good shot & threw the balls with all of his force at the dancing white light. He heard them strike hard & then his prisoner shouted.

Then a strange, quivering voice asked why he had been snared & demanded that he be set free at once, because he was the Man in the Moon & he must be home before dawn came. His face had been spotted with clay &, when Rabbit went closer, the moon man saw him & threatened him & all of his tribe if he were not released at once.

Rabbit was so terrified that he raced back to tell his grandmother about his strange captive. She too was much afraid & told Rabbit to return & release the thief immediately. Rabbit went back, & his voice shook with fear as he told the Man in the Moon that he would be released if he promised never to rob the snares again. To make doubly sure, Rabbit asked him to promise that he would never return to earth, & the Moon Man swore that he would never do so. Rabbit could hardly see in the dazzling light, but at last he managed to gnaw through the bowstring with his teeth & the Man in the Moon soon disappeared in the sky, leaving a bright trail of light behind him.

Rabbit had been nearly blinded by the great light & his shoulders were badly scorched. Even today, rabbits blink as though light is too strong for their eyes; their eyelids are pink, & their eyes water if they look at a bright light. Their lips quiver, telling of Rabbit’s terror.

The Man in the Moon has never returned to earth. When he lights the world, one can still see the marks of the clay which Rabbit threw on his face. Sometimes he disappears for a few nights, when he is trying to rub the marks of the clay balls from his face. Then the world is dark; but when the Man in the Moon appears again, one can see that he has never been able to clean the clay marks from his shining face.

Thank you Grandmother Tuli, your stories live on in us…

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

361 –Julian the Apostate enters Constantinople as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.

***

13 – 14 December 2019

Rudiger Janisch

“The Spiritual Goetheanum, the threefold human being and the threefold social impulse”

Friday 13 December , 7 – 9 pm

Saturday 14 December, 9 am – noon

Rüdiger has been working in Curative Education and teaching in professional training programs in Germany and the United States for over 40 years. A long-time student of anthroposophy, he serves on the Collegium of the School for Spiritual Science in North America. His contributions to adult education methods were recognized in the context of an international research project sponsored by the European Union. He has been a member of the core faculty of a joint ‘Training for Trainers’ program supporting Curative Education and Social Therapy in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member of the M.S. Ed program in Waldorf Remedial Education at Antioch University N.H. Having taught many different aspects of anthroposophy and Curative Education, he currently is focused on action research and the development of artistic and experiential approaches to the spiritual scientific study of the human being.

Fro more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

Holy Nights 2019-2020 – The New Mysteries of the ‘Christmas Conference’ Renewed! Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm CST to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster.  

Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering.  

Here is the Link to Register

Then from 7:30pm – 8:30pm CST we will take up our own study of the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ from The Christmas Conference 1923/1924. (There are copies of ‘The Red Book’ in the Library)

Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST except:
24 Dec. at NOON CST (no meeting at the branch)
*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is Hosting this Nation-wide event. Meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm CST.
*28 Dec. Olaf Åsteson practice 3 pm – 5 pm CST – Performance at 7 pm CST.

1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST – A Goethean Conversation

2nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43

*3rd Holy Night: Thursday 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven. 1st hour hosted by us the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago: “The Vast & Holy Night” a liminal performance of spoken word & eurythmy honoring the dark from which the light is born. Our study: The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 68

4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John -1st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98

*5th Holy Night: Saturday 28 December 2019 – The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson with Debbie Barford & Mary Tom 3pm – 5pm practice 7 pm – 9 pm performance. Come gather to work with the Legend of Olaf Åsteson in the afternoon to be part of the community ensemble 3pm – 5pm with a dinner break returning for the performance open to all from 7 pm – 9 pm.  $10 Donation Encouraged. Contact Debra Barford for more info.

or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Lisa Dalton

6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Rockford TN. Group. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 110  William Rogers

7th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Eastern Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138

***

– NYE–The 13th Hidden Night Tuesday 31 December 2019-2020
7:30 pm – 1 am – $20 + Potluck Food & Drink to Share
Live Music & Folk Dancing with Jutta & the Hi-Dukes ™ 8 -9:30pm
Biography Playshop
Spacial Dynamics & the Loving Kindness Meditation with Deborah Rogers
Cut Away & Call in – A Ritual of Renewal
Seeking the Holy Grail Within – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Lead (Wax) Casting Divination for the NY
More TBA…

***

8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183

9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192

10th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204

11th Holy Night: Saturday 4 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Brian Gray. Our study: The Envy of the Gods – the Envy of Human Beings, Looking back to the burning of the Goetheanum, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 231

*12th Holy Night: Sunday 5 January 2020 – Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ – 1st hour hosted by The Central Regional Council. Alberto Loya, Marianne Fieber, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer Ginsberg. Our Study: On the Right Entry into the Spiritual World – The responsibility Incumbent on us, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 260

for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

***

30 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2020 Prep-makers conference at Michael Fields Institute

Fellowship of Preparation Makers Gathering

BD 501 and 508 – Tools to bring the cosmic light into the earth.

January 30^th  – February 2^nd, 2020 

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, N8030 Townline Rd, East Troy, WI

The mission of the Fellowship of Preparation Makers is to ensure that good quality biodynamic preparations are available now and into the future throughout North America.

Schedule:

Thursday, January 30th

10—10:30 am   Registration for Chromatogram Intensive

10:30am   Chromatogram Intensive – All levels welcome. Presenter: Ryann Herring

12 —1pm  Lunch on your own

1-3pm  Chromatogram Intensive

3—5pm  Registration and Social Time

5-6:30pm  Supper

7-8:30pm   Welcome from Perry Brown, and Candlemas Festival with Hazel Archer Ginsberg

Friday, January 31st

7:30-8:30am   Registration, Breakfast and Social Time

8:30– 10 am   History of Fellowship of Prep Makers, and Introductions.

10-10:30am  Morning Break

10:30–12:30pm  Why Biodynamics? Presenter: Mac Mead

12:30-1:45pm Lunch

2-3:30pm  How the cosmic works in the earth? Presenter: Hugh Courtney

3:30-4pm Afternoon Break

4-6pm  Different ways to make and use BD501 & BD508. Practical hands on session with Marjory House and Lloyd Nelson

6-7:30 pm Supper

7:30-9pm  The Journey of a Prep Maker,  A history circle, Facilitator: Brian Wickert

Saturday, February 1st

7:30-8:30 Registration, Breakfast and Social Time

8:30-10am  History of Silica on Man’s Evolution (Lamuria to today) Presenter: Mac Mead

10-10:30am  Morning break

10:30– 12pm  Silica and the Human Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler

12-1:30pm Lunch

1:30-3pm  Interpretation of Chromatograms  Presenter: Ryann Herring

3-3:30pm  Afternoon Break

3:30-5pm  Kolisko Institute  Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler

5-7pm  Supper

7-8:30pm  Quality Comparison of BD501 & 508  Show and tell how you make and use the preps. Facilitator: Wali Via

8:30 pm  Evening Social/Brew City Drifters

Sunday, February 2nd

7:30-8:30 am  Breakfast & Social Time

8:30-10am  Round Table Discussion: Peppering for Pests and Weeds Panel: Mac Mead and Hugh Courtney

10-1-:30  Morning Break

10:30– Noon  Fellowship presentations, evaluations and closing circle.

Noon  Lunch

Registration and Lodging

Full Conference Fee $250

Single Day $125

Single Talk $25

Single Meal $15

Chromatogram Intensive $25

Homestays Available

Airport pickup from MKE available

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

Questions:
Allison Pratt-Szeliga
apszeliga@michaelfields.org
262-642-3303×107

Home stay  and airport transportation arrangements will be handled by:
Petra Zinniker
petrazinniker@gmail.com
262-581-7574

We will work to provide home stays for everyone who requests one. Some homes will be free and others may have a cost. Please contact Petra with your requests. Home stays will be reserved on a first come first served basis.

Local accommodations are also listed below:
Quality Inn & Suites (1.8 miles away)
2921 O’Leary Ln, East Troy, WI 53120•(262) 684-2183

Alpine Valley Resort (1.6 miles away)
W2501 Co Rd D, Elkhorn, WI 53121•(262) 642-7374

BD 501 and 508 preps for quality comparison:
If you have them, please bring or send BD 501 and BD 508 preps for quality comparison and closing ceremony.
Preps can be mailed to Petra Zinniker, N 7399 Bowers Rd, Elkhorn, WI 53121

Presenters:

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Mac Mead 

Hugh Courtney 

Marjory House 

Lloyd Nelson

Dr Kamsler

Ryan Herring 

Wali Via

Sponsors: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Demeter, Biodynamic Association

***

The Central Regional Council and the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology present: View this email in your browser

Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide RetreatMaundy Thursday 9 April 2020 Noon thru Easter Sunday at 3 pm Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL AAP:James A. Dyson, M.D., Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., and David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.CRC:Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa DaltonEurythmist: Mary RuudActivities:Art-ActsStar WisdomThe Karma ExercisesExperiential PAGEANT on Holy Saturday: ‘Know Thyself’Easter Sunrise SongtrailOptional service at the Christian CommunityCommunal meals and time for ConversationLectures:‘Living into Karma through the Senses’‘How to find the Self in a Sea of Karma’‘Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn Path’‘The Gesture of Karma’‘Christ as Lord of Karma — how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology?’(Program subject to change) $125 Conference fee includes 1 meal a dayFor more information and to register, contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@peoplepc.com

***

Festivals for the Dead. Then & Now. Renew, or Create Your Own Tradition.

with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year. Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, ‘Anthroposopher’, working as the Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.

***

11.11.19 – “Speaking with the Stars”:  ‘There’s a little black spot on the Sun today’ ~Sting

Today is the 7th & last installment of: 11.11.19 – ‘Mercury Dances across the Face of the Sun’ – Read the 1^st, 2^nd ,  3^rd , 4^th 5^th , 6th chapters.

Greetings friends on this 11.11.19 – Here in Atlanta the transit commences at 7:36 am EST when the tiny disc of Mercury begins to cross the Sun’s blazing disc.  It will take just under two minutes for the planet’s disc to fully ingress onto Old Sol, & Mercury will slowly move across the Sun for the next several hours.  Mid-transit will occur at 11:20 am, & egress from the solar disc will occur between 1:02 pm & 1:04 pm, when the transit ends. 

I am holding you in my thoughts this morning at Sunrise as Mercury the fleet messenger in his retro-parade dances around between the Earth & our Day Star Sun, at ‘inferior Conjunction’; where he reaches the same ecliptic longitude as the Sun, passing the torch to humanity. Will we take it up & hold it high? 

The other ingredient necessary for a transit is that it has to occur at one of the two points in Mercury’s orbit where his orbital plane crosses the ecliptic. 

These two events coincide every few years near May 8 or November 10.  Transits of Mercury occur 13 or 14 times per century and can occur at regular set intervals ranging from 3.5 to 13 years between events. Jonathan Hilton of the Astrology Center gives us indications from Willi Sucher about Mercury specific to the ‘Three Years of Christ’s activity on the Earth in relation to the so-called “7 Signs” as archetypes for how humanity might ultimately work with these conjunctions of Mercury’. 

The work of the “winged messenger of the gods” is that of the communication of cosmic intelligence to earthly intelligence, & today in our time it is also about assisting Michael to help humanity redeem our earthly intelligence, raising it again to cosmic intelligence, co-creating heart-thinking as a true spiritual cognition.

In the original Calendar of the Soul, Rudolf Steiner says that on November 9^th ‘Faust makes his descent to the ‘Mothers’. Even though we celebrate Halloween & All Souls earlier as a fixed date, these festivals are determined by a cosmic alignment: The actual Cross-Quarter is anywhere between November 7-9^th )

The opposite date, in general in May/June, is the time of Whitsun, bringing us the power of the Holy Spirit, of which I spoke about in an early installment.  In November’s descent we contemplate the All Souls journey where we meet death & are born into the spiritual world; in May we celebrate the transformative power of the Holy Spirit calling in our future self, a rebirth of the Divine Isis-Sophia within.

~With thanks & praise to Everyone who has been part of this amazing journey. Special thanks to USNO, Jonathan Hilton whose insights are always enlightening, & Steve Hale a true human being willing to generously share his powerful heart-thinking! xox

“We understand only the very smallest part of human history and of our own life if we consider it in its external aspect, I mean in that aspect which we see from the limited view-point of our earthly life between birth and death. It is impossible to comprehend the inner motives of history and life unless we turn our gaze to that spiritual background which underlies the outer, physical happenings”. Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture III

 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Feast Day of Martin of Tours. Each 11/11 the younger children have a Lantern Walk to celebrate Martinmas, a festival of inner light in the outer darkness of the approaching winter. St Martin was a soldier in Rome in the 4th century. Legend says that one wintry night he met a poor beggar, half-naked & freezing. Martin removed the heavy military cloak from his shoulders &, drawing his sword, cut it in two, giving half to the beggar. That night, Christ appeared to Martin in a dream, wrapped in the same piece of cloak Martin had given the beggar, & said: “Martin has covered me with this garment.”

Martin became the patron saint of beggars, drunks & outcasts, dedicating his life to assisting pariahs. As we journey into the darkest time of the year, it is increasingly important for each of us to kindle warmth & light within our hearts, which becomes a beacon of light to the world. Martin’s cloak can remind us to share with those in need.

The gently glowing lanterns of Martinmas will give way to the candles of the advent spiral as we draw nearer to the Solstice, showing how our inner light must shine ever brighter against the cold. As nature sleeps, we must be wakeful!

Celebrating Martinmas serves as a reminder that each of us has a divine spark that we must ferry out into the world & share with others. The children hear the story of St. Martin, sing songs &, as darkness falls, venture out into the night with their lanterns walking along a path lit with glowing luminaries, carefully carrying their lanterns in a mood of quiet reverence. This symbolic act brings home the deeper truth, in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.): “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”

1788 – Birthday of Baron Joseph von Spaun, an Austrian nobleman, & honorary citizen of Vienna; best known for his friendship with the composer Franz Schubert.

1918 – Armistice of 11/11 ending the fighting in the First World War between the Allies & Germany – also known as the Armistice of Compiègne after the location in which it was signed – &the agreement that ended the fighting on the Western Front. It went into effect at 11 a.m. Paris time on 11 November 1918 (“the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”), & marked a victory for the Allies & a complete defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender. The Germans were responding to the policies proposed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points of January 1918. Although the armistice ended the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty, the Treaty of Versailles.

1821 – Birthday of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian philosopher & author

1855 – Deathday of Soren A. Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, theologian, & cultural critic who was a major influence on existentialism & Protestant theology in the 20th century. He attacked the literary, philosophical, & ecclesiastical establishments of his day for misrepresenting the highest task of human existence—namely, becoming a free human being in an ethical & religious sense.

1887 – August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer & George Engel are executed as a result of the Haymarket affair. It began Tuesday May 4, 1886, as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day & in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast & ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers & at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded.

The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of international May Day observances for workers. The site of the incident was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1992, & a public sculpture was dedicated there in 2004.

1904 – Birthday of Alger Hiss, American lawyer & spy

1922 – birthday of Kurt Vonnegut

1966 – Deathday of Hilde Boos-Hamburger, painter & co-worker with Rudolf Steiner EXPERIENCES IN PAINTING THE CUPOLAS OF THE FIRST GOETHEANUM by Hilde Boos-Hamburger

“Every artistically striving person making closer acquaintance with Rudolf Steiner and his anthroposophy is likely to have experienced in a quite individual manner the agreeable shock: here lie all the possibilities for the further development of art. In one way or another it may have gone with him as with the writer of these recollections when she first read through (not yet actually studied!) the book Theosophy, without understanding the essential, yet riveted by the crystal-bright formation of this work, and having to say to herself: Even if I cannot survey it, it is nonetheless evident: Here lies a comprehensive work of art! This first impression did not deceive, for with every subsequent work taken up, every book, every lecture, not to mention the Mystery Dramas, there opened up new experiences and vistas previously undreamed of. – These will surely be found most felicitously expressed in the poem by Christian Morgenstern (1871–1914) dedicated to Rudolf Steiner:

To beauty does your work lead:
For beauty in the end
Streams in through every revelation
That surrounds us.
Out of human-sufferings
Upward to ever higher harmonies
You release the dizzying feeling,
Till, united
In accord with the
Inestimable proclaimer of GOD
And HIS never-to-be-grasped splendor
It vibrates in the love-light
Of blessedness….
From beauty does your work come, to beauty does it lead.”

1992 – The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests

2000 – Kaprun disaster: One hundred fifty-five skiers & snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria

2012 – A strong earthquake with the magnitude 6.8 hits northern Burma, killing at least 2226 people

***

My POD (Poem Of the Day)

~The outstretched wings of a bird, like wind in the fire,
Gives me guidance as the journey continues deeper into the dark
Together we carry the unending rhythm of the light…
~hag

***

Thought for Martinmas 11/11/19

Every one of us is a mix of good and evil. And it’s prime time for everyone to become hyper-alert about how the two play out in us. Once we  acknowledge our own part in feeding the darkness, then we will have a lot more credibility as a fighter for beauty, truth, peace, love, goodness, & justice.

~hag

***

How about a Road-Trip?

THE ALL SOUL’S SOUTHERN TOUR!
Take the Journey of the Soul
in the Life Between Death & Rebirth
in the warm hospitality of our Branch Buddies in the South:

Quick overview of the week:

Nov 10, 1st Class Lesson at the ARC in Atlanta GA

11.11.19 – Martinmas / Mercury Transit Gathering 4:11 pm – 6:11 pm at the Martin Clinic

Nov 12, Hazel and Deb Abrahams-Dematte will be in Atlanta, send any thoughts for must-see spots before we head out on the road trip

Nov 13, Gathering at Helene Burkarts’ ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 10 am-2 pm (see below)

Nov 14, Tuscumbia site visit, Helen Keller’s birth place

Nov 15, Memphis, death place of MLK, home of Elvis Presley

Nov 16, Nashville program ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 10 am – 2 pm

Nov 17 Knoxville program ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 1 pm – 5 pm

Nov 18 return to ATL

11/11/19, at the Martin Clinic – Humanizing Medicine – in Atlanta GA, 4:11 pm – 6:11 pm with a community potluck to follow

On this auspicious day we will gather to look at the mystery of 11:11, & the connections between, Martinmas, MLK, The Journey of the Soul, Armistice Day, The laying of the Foundation Stone, & a Rare Cosmic Alignment – The Transit of Mercury across the Sun. 

‘Speaking with the Stars’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Storytelling with Enid Hancock

Leading thoughts with Mark Hancock, Angela Foster 

Votive Art with Angela Foster

Biography work with Jolie Luba

Together we will sprinkle the BD preps around the Clinic

$10-$20 or pay what you will

For more info. contact Angela Foster

***

ALL SOULS JOURNEY – Exploring the Life between Death & Rebirth

10 am – 2 pm, Wednesday 13 November 2019, Auburn, Alabama, Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share – Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – for more info. contact Helena Burkhart

***

10 am – 2 pm, Saturday 16 November 2019 in Nashville TN
Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share – 
Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – 
For more info. contact Cathy Green  Or Barbara Bittles 

***

1 pm – 5 pm, Sunday 17 November 2019 Knoxville TN
Community Potluck Dinner – Please Bring a dish to Share – 
Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – 
For more info. contact Bill Rogers

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a spiritual midwife and trans-denominational minister working in an eclectic style that inspires connections, initiating us into the magic waiting to be revealed in the cycle of the seasons. She is also the festivals coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society, a lecturer, promoter, blogger, poet and performance artist. Learn more at www.ReverseRitual.com

10 November 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: A lone bright star now hangs low in the south during early evening- Fomalhaut, often called “the Solitary One”, belongs to the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish.

***

Today is the 6th installment of: 11.11.19 – ‘Mercury Dances across the Face of the Sun’ – Read the 1^st, 2^nd ,  3^rd , 4^th 5^th chapters.

We know, that Rudolf Steiner did everything in his power to reach out to those who could have stopped the World War from happening; but the adversarial beings had their way. And so during those war years Steiner spoke a good deal about the life after death & how to work with those on the other side.

World War I finally came to an end at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. We remember this as Armistice Day.

And so it has been that we have explored over this last week the mystery of 11:11, & the connections between, Martinmas, MLK, The Journey of the Soul in the life between death & rebirth, The laying of the Foundation Stone, The Transit of Mercury across the Sun & Armistice Day; remembering that there was once a world where war was not always raging.

Can we take the insights we have gleaned into our lives, into the world, to bring the qualities of St. Martin & Martin Luther & the kings & the shepherds & all those who long to work with us in the spiritual world, into the practical alchemy of our intention, truly living into the foundation stone of love.

‘Light Divine, Christ Sun, warm our hearts, enlighten our minds that good may become, what from our hearts we are founding what from our heads we direct with single purpose’…

Rudolf Steiner invited each of us to make this a reality by facing each other, co-creating a spiritual community defined by our shared striving toward a realization of the Christ in our time. And it’s no coincidence that this years’ AGM,in Atlanta, was called Facing Each Other: Freedom, Responsibility & Love! So be it…

Join me tomorrow dear friends for a Sunrise service, let’s greet our day Star & then welcome the messenger of the gods in his journey, together.

Tomorrow I will share my final thoughts on 11.11.19

until soon

Blessings & Peace

~hag

***

 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

461 – Pope Leo, the first pope to be called “the Great”. He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. He is also a Doctor of the Church, most remembered theologically for issuing the Tome of Leo, a document which was a major foundation to the debates of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon which elucidated the orthodox definition of Christ’s being as the hypostatic union of two natures, divine & human, united in one person.

1483 – Birthday of Martin Luther, German monk & priest, leader of the Protestant Reformation

1493 – Birthday of Paracelsus “In order to understand Paracelsus, one must look at the basic character of his work as a doctor and as a philosopher, and grasp him as a theosophist, as he combined these both soul characters with each other. This personality was uniform. With brilliant look, he tried to grasp the construction of the world edifice. His surprised sight looked up at the secrets of the starry heaven, became engrossed in the construction of the earth and in particular in the construction of the human being himself. This brilliant sight penetrated also into the secrets of the spiritual life. He was also a theosophist, while he tried to enclose the nature of the astronomical knowledge and at the same time the nature of anthropology, the doctrine of the human being in connection with the doctrine of all living beings. Nothing was mere theory in him, everything was immediate in such a way that it was bent on practise, that he wanted to use all that he knew for the welfare, the spiritual and physical health of the human being. This gives his work, his thinking, and investigations the big, immense unity. This makes him appear as sharply carved from one single piece of wood. Thus, he stands before us as an original, elementary personality.” see The Riddles of the World and Anthroposophy by Rudolf Steiner.

1759 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet, playwright, & historian. From Rudolf Steiner in Karmic Relationships: Esoteric Studies – Volume VI “I should like to speak today about an individual who was incarnated about the second century A.D. in Rome, as it then was, and who with great sensitiveness of perception had witnessed the willing martyrdom suffered by the Christians in their efforts to promulgate their cause in the Roman Empire. This individual had also witnessed the terrible injustices and the many forms of depravity and corruption which were so rife in the Roman Empire at that time. Numberless manifestations of Good and Evil were witnessed and experienced by this individual. With the methods of spiritual research which enable such happenings to be recognised, we find this individual drawn into the tumultuous happenings which at that time, during the second half of the second century A.D., were experienced in the Roman Empire in connection with the spread of Christianity. There is something extremely moving about this individual when the eye of spirit is directed upon him in the way I explained last time with reference to other individuals in their repeated earthly lives.

In this individual who lived to a very great age and who had witnessed so much Good in deeds of supreme sacrifice in the sphere of germinating Christianity, and so much that was evil and bad in Roman life at that time, there arose a kind of realisation which was also a question: Where is the balance, the mean? Is there only the wholly Good and the wholly Evil in the world?

With the consciousness of Imagination and Inspiration one can follow quite clearly how this individual was subsequently reborn in the eleventh century, as a woman. The experiences undergone in the life as a woman levelled out the hard, steel-like angularity of soul which had developed during the Roman incarnation when he had reached a great age. This trait was softened and mellowed and became a faculty of inner, thoughtful contemplation of Good and Evil. This individual then came again to the Earth in the eighteenth century and was born as the German poet, Friedrich Schiller.

And now study Schiller’s life and see how it develops, striving to find a middle condition, a balance, a mean. Schiller needed Goethe before he could get rid of all that had remained in him from the conviction that there is only Good, there is only Evil. Read Schiller’s dramas, and you will understand them if you think of his earlier incarnation.

What circumstances lie behind Schiller’s life and outlook? The experiences he had undergone in the Roman incarnation continued to be alive within him, but he had subsequently incarnated as a woman in the Middle Ages. And then, in his life between death and a new birth, it was in the Saturn sphere that the most significant development of his karma took place.”

1939 – Deathday of Frederick Eckstein, an Austrian polymath, theosophist, Anthroposophist, & friend & co-worker of Sigmund Freud. Emil Molt states: ‘ Frederick Eckstein was the benefactor of Bruckner and Hugo Wolf, indeed the right arm of Bruckner, taking care that affairs went smoothly. He was a world traveller, had mastered Jui-jitsu and taught himself all sorts of difficult tricks. The story went around that he had trained himself to jump off a fast moving train without getting hurt. He too, was a highly gifted mathematician and a learned man in many respects.’

Also the husband of fellow theosophist & writer Bertha Diener, Eckstein’s penchant for occultism first became evident as a member of a vegetarian group which discussed the doctrines of Pythagoras & the Neo-Platonists in Vienna at the end of the 1870s. His esoteric interests later extended to German & Spanish mysticism, the legends surrounding the Templars & the freemasons, Wagnerian mythology & oriental religions. In 1886, in the week after the tragedy at Mayerling, in which Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, & his mistress were found dead in mysterious circumstances, he & his friend, the composer Anton Bruckner (for whom he also served as private secretary) traveled to the monastery of Stift Heiligenkreuz to ask the abbot there for details of what happened.

He introduced C. G. Harrison to Rudolf Steiner, the writer of ‘Transcendental Universe, Six Lectures on Occult Science, Theosophy and the Catholic Faith’. Most spiritual impulses at work today can be traced back to the nineteenth century explosion of esotericism. In The Transcendental Universe, one of the most enigmatic and thought-provoking works of the period, C. G. Harrison, a mysterious and unknown figure, examines Theosophy from an esoteric Christian standpoint and separates the true gnosis from the false. With great personal courage, he makes public much esoteric knowledge that had remained hidden within the occult orders. Self-initiated and unaffiliated, he speaks authoritatively on: the secret history of Spiritualism and Theosophy; the nature of initiates, esoteric societies, and secret brotherhoods; occult science; the true nature of God, matter, evil, and the evolution of consciousness; the angelic hierarchies: the Archangel Michael, Beelzebub, and the War in Heaven; the coming sixth epoch, and more. Previously known only to esotericists, this important work is now made available to the general public ninety-nine years after its original publication.

1940 – The Vrancea earthquake strikes Romania killing an estimated 1,000 & injuring approximately 4,000 more

1975 – The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 129 crew on board.

1975 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 3379, determining that Zionism is a form of racism

1983 – Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Celestial fire descend
Burnish bright as copper
Our diamond mind
Carry the ideals of Archangels into the body electric
So we may uplift the sky,
Rend the veil & reveal the temple true…
~hag

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How about a Road-Trip?

THE ALL SOUL’S SOUTHERN TOUR!
Take the Journey of the Soul
in the Life Between Death & Rebirth
in the warm hospitality of our Branch Buddies in the South:

Quick overview of the week:

Nov 10, 1st Class Lesson at the ARC in Atlanta GA

11.11.19 – Martinmas / Mercury Transit Gathering 4:11 pm – 6:11 pm at the Martin Clinic

Nov 12, Hazel and Deb Abrahams-Dematte will be in Atlanta, send any thoughts for must-see spots before we head out on the road trip

Nov 13, Gathering at Helene Burkarts’ ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 10 am-2 pm (see below)

Nov 14, Tuscumbia site visit, Helen Keller’s birth place

Nov 15, Memphis, death place of MLK, home of Elvis Presley

Nov 16, Nashville program ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 10 am – 2 pm

Nov 17 Knoxville program ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 1 pm – 5 pm

Nov 18 return to ATL

11/11/19, at the Martin Clinic – Humanizing Medicine – in Atlanta GA, 4:11 pm – 6:11 pm with a community potluck to follow

On this auspicious day we will gather to look at the mystery of 11:11, & the connections between, Martinmas, MLK, The Journey of the Soul, Armistice Day, The laying of the Foundation Stone, & a Rare Cosmic Alignment – The Transit of Mercury across the Sun. 

‘Speaking with the Stars’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Storytelling with Enid Hancock

Leading thoughts with Mark Hancock, Angela Foster 

Votive Art with Angela Foster

Biography work with Jolie Luba

Together we will sprinkle the BD preps around the Clinic

$10-$20 or pay what you will

For more info. contact Angela Foster

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ALL SOULS JOURNEY – Exploring the Life between Death & Rebirth

10 am – 2 pm, Wednesday 13 November 2019, Auburn, Alabama, Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share – Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – for more info. contact Helena Burkhart

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10 am – 2 pm, Saturday 16 November 2019 in Nashville TN
Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share – 
Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – 
For more info. contact Cathy Green  Or Barbara Bittles 

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1 pm – 5 pm, Sunday 17 November 2019 Knoxville TN
Community Potluck Dinner – Please Bring a dish to Share – 
Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – 
For more info. contact Bill Rogers

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a spiritual midwife and trans-denominational minister working in an eclectic style that inspires connections, initiating us into the magic waiting to be revealed in the cycle of the seasons. She is also the festivals coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society, a lecturer, promoter, blogger, poet and performance artist. Learn more at www.ReverseRitual.com