I greet you on this the eve of NYE. Welcome dear friends, to our Holy Nights Series. We have been following the indications from the great Anthroposophical Initiate Sergei O. Prokofieff, based on the insights of Dr. Rudolf Steiner – taking us on the path from Jesus to Christ, starting from the feet of Pisces, the sphere of the human being, up to the Mystic Lamb of Aries.
Sashina Suzuki
And today we enter the 7th Holy Night: & begin to rise up from the lower zodiac into the ascended signs, to meet 1st, the Constellation of Virgo, the Virgin (ruling the abdomen & digestive system)This is The Sphere of the Kyriotetes, the Spirits of Wisdom, the Dominions, the top of the 2nd Hierarchy
Nancy Jewel Poer
Here we contemplate the imagination of the Heavenly Virgin- an indication of the cosmic being of The Divine Sophia – the Archetypical Wisdom of the World – depicted in the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse of St John, as the woman clothed with the Sun, wearing a crown of stars & standing on the sickle moon, with the dragon at her feet.
The Virgin gives birth to the Sun, & is then clothed by the Sun: this is a picture of the birth of the etheric body, & the sickle moon refers to the Old Moon evolution (resulting in the origin on Earth of silver, the metal that testifies to the overcoming of the lower Moon-Forces by the higher forces of the Sun)
Johanson Kraous
We find all these qualities in the being of the Mary of the Luke Gospel, an earthly reflection of this Heavenly Sophia – her twin soul. Spiritual Science tells us The Mary of the Matthew Gospel was the earlier incarnation of Eve, the 1st earthly woman.
Jaka Nixe
And the Younger Luke Mary, like the Nathan Jesus, is that spiritual part of Eve & Adam that did not pass thru the fall, but stayed in the spiritual world until their incarnation at the ‘Turning Point of Time’, as mother & child.
In the 5th Gospel, (which we have been studying during these Holy Nights) Rudolf Steiner tells us that right before the Baptism, the 2 Mary’s became united, to create a vessel for The Divine Sophia. After this merging, the Mary of the Matthew Gospel becomes the earthly reflection of the Divine Sophia, opening the way for humanity to become the lowest member of the Sobornal, or collective being of the Sophia. Rudolf Steiner named her Anthroposophia, the force of Wisdom that lives in the soul of humanity.
This archetype carries the contemplation of the virtue depicted by the ‘Mother of God’ as selfless giving. In order to receive the experience of the Christ, the Gospel of Luke tells us this Wisdom had to ‘pierce Mary’s heart like a sword’ (Luke 2:35) so that there might pour forth from Mary-Sophia, the highest virtue of true giving, into the hearts of humanity.
At the foot of the cross, John, the disciple Jesus loved, is asked by Christ-Jesus to take this Sophia-Wisdom-the Mother of God-into his ‘house’, symbol of the soul. Thru this he becomes known as ‘John the Divine’ because he is embodied by the Divine Sophia, which enables him to write his Gospel & the Book of Revelation.
Ellen Backster
So on this 7th Night let us look within, to find the realm of The Virgin, & feel our connection to the being of Anthroposophia.
Tennison Miller
And the Virtue for this constellation, which at 1st seems simple, but is often hard to practice, is: Courtesy becomes steadiness of feeling – courtesy, putting others 1st, brings equanimity.
Berty Ventley
May we seek to acquire the calm steady wisdom, that gives birth to The Christ within.
~hag
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We will resume our Holy Night’s Study tonight of The Fifth Gospelby Rudolf Steiner – on Zoom from 7 pm – 8 pm CST
Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 6 pm-10:10 pm CT
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago
6 pm CST – Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar
Victoria Martin will be offering individual readings: Runes with either Palmistry or Astrology 6-9 PM Pick a Rune for the year ahead and add a Palm reading: a life portrait.
Or pick a Rune and add Astrology to see where the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is in your horoscope now and for 2021: There will be tips on how you can use the conjunction and the Square to Mars-Uranus. The latter is near Dr. Steiner’s Birth Chart Mars-Pluto conjunction so that is significant for Anthroposophy! Reading will be recorded on an MP3 file and visually documented. $10 cash
Bring your horoscope or Victoria will calculate it please send Birth info DATE, TIME and PLACE of birth to Victoria ASAP (by Wednesday 5PM) <viccimartin@gmail.com> or call/text 312-961-3380
8 pm– 9:30 pm CST – Live Music with Jutta and the Hi-Dukes
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar,
5th Holy Night: December 28-29, Constellation of Scorpio, Scorpion/Eagle (ruling the genitals) The Sphere of the Exusiai, the ‘Elohim’, Spirits of Form, Powers –
Virtue: Patience becomes understanding
The Spirits of Form working from the region of the Scorpion/Eagle preserved & regulated all that was accomplished on Old Saturn by the Higher Hierarchies. Then, as Rudolf Steiner explains – in the Old Testament these 7 ‘Elohim’ who’s leader was Jehovah, sacrificed his abode on the Sun to become the regent of the Moon, the creator god.
In the Atlantis-epoch, when the human being faced a distortion of the 7 vital organs from the adversarial powers, that would have made our organs selfishly fight against each other, there was a need for the 2nd pre-earthly deed of Christ. Working in the realm of the Elohim with the Nathan Soul, Christ sacrificed his etheric forces so that human language could be objective – able to channel creatively the word of god in truth.
When I look around at society today, I ask myself: Was this sacrifice in vain? How can we honor this divine gift of speech & bring it back into sacredness?
Today the Elohim form the body of the Sun, & so light is their lowest manifestation – like an outer garment, while their essence is related to spiritual light.When the human ego uses these divine gifts of, uprightness, speech & thinking, to further our evolution, we are also striving toward this spiritual light. We see this in the imagination of the soaring eagle. But those that are selfish & seek to hide from the light, echo the image of the scorpion.
In Leonardo da Vini’s Last Supper, we see a picture of these 2 polarities in the nature of Judas & John the Evangelist within the Zodiacal Circle of personalities around The Christ.
It is interesting to think that after the Spirits of Form, working from the constellation of Scorpio, had endowed the human being with the possibility of the Higher Ego, there occurred the division of humanity into to 2 sexes.
The result of this was that some forces which had been used to reproduce could then be employed to form the human brain, which became the physical foundation for our Ego-Consciousness. One of the consequences of this was that there became the possibly for the substance of Love to be distorted – a confusion between spiritual love & sensual love. To enter selfishly into the astral realm we run the danger of falling under the influence of certain demonic beings which threaten humanity with a total darkening of ego-consciousness; where the scorpion stings itself to death.
In contrast to this we see the eagle in St. John, leaning on the breast of Christ-Jesus – the 1st to be initiated into the Christened Initiation of the ‘Word’. As Christian Rosenkreutz, this enigmatic individuality continues to work with The Christ in His aspect of Lord of Karma, to assist those who are striving to rise to the highest levels of the Eagle-Ego.
Can we approach the New Year with the desire to transform the selfish scorpion into the far-reaching sight of the Eagle, & the Peace of the Dove? To let our speech be light-filled, in-forming the highest ideal, with Good Will & Patient Love!
Here is the recording from ‘A Rose By Any Other Name...” the ASA Holy Nights Seed with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – The 4th Holy Night: 27 December 2020
THE CALENDAR OF THE SOUL by Rudolf Steiner translated by Roy Sadler (with added titles)
This quartet of verses in the Soul Calendar’s lemniscate in the next 2 weeks, is at the winter’s depths of soul for us and summer’s heights of sense for folks in the southern hemisphere. v39 New Year THE CHALICE OF THE SENSE OF SELF Completely open to the spirit I win the light the being of the world bestows; thought’s clarifying power grows to give me who I am and waking in me from power of the mind my own real feeling flows. v40 Epiphany LOVE’S OFFERING And when I am in spirit’s depths in ground of soul my own dry well of self-illusion fills with power of the World Word’s fire the heart-formed love world wills. v13 Saint Johnstide II THE RECOGNITION And when I am in senses’ heights the gods’ true Word from spirit fire-worlds is flaming in my depths of soul: foreseeing, seek your vision, find your star, divine in spirit ground the spirit bond with who you are. v14 Saint Johnstide III THE CHALICE OF THE SENSES Completely open to the senses I lost my own impulse; thought’s dream seemed, numbing me, to rob me of myself, but waking now, there comes in all the senses’ glory cosmic thought.
28 December2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna is at the horns of Taurus this evening, between Capella far to her upper left, Betelgeuse to her lower right, Aldebaran to her upper right, & Pollux & Castor farther to the Moon’s lower left.
The ‘slaying of the innocents’ by Herod – This Massacre is the biblical account of infanticide by the Roman-appointed King of the Jews. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi. In typical Matthean style, it is understood as the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy: “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.’’
1856 – Birthday of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States. Rudolf Steiner speaks of his Arab incarnation as Muawiya & in many other lectures he exposes his imperialism.
1868 – Birthday of D.N. Dunlop, a Scottish entrepreneur, founder of the World Power Conference, & a theosophist-turned-anthroposophist. Dunlop led the anthroposophical “Human Freedom Group”, & introduced the idea of anthroposophical Summer Schools. Rudolf Steiner & Dunlop both expressed their intimate spiritual connection & respect for one another. In 1928 he organized the first & only World Conference on Anthroposophy & in 1929 he was elected General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain. He had a great friendship with Eleanor Merry, who supported his work. Dunlop enlisted the help of fellow anthroposophist Walter Johannes Stein in the hope of founding a World Economic Organization, but his death prevented this.
1928 – Deathday of Count Carl W. von keyserlingk – Worked closely with Rudolf Steiner to bring about the birth of the Bio-Dynamic movement.
1969 – Deathday of Rudolf Hauschka, an Austrian chemist, author, inventor, entrepreneur & anthroposophist. He was the founder of the company Wala Heilmittel GmbH & inventor of a “rhythmic” production process that excluded the use of alcohol as a preservative of plant extracts & can preserve the extract for over 30 years. ‘Dr. Hauschka’ is the brand name given to the range of skin care & cosmetics made by the Wala company from his research
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December 24- January 5 (No Meeting December 31)
OVER 1000 PEOPLE REGISTERED!
Daily Schedule:
11:00-11:10am CST – Welcome and silent contemplation with the new zodiac image and virtue
11:10-11:20 am CST – Divine Feminine Sharing
11:20-11:30 am CST – Group Sharing and Closing
** Recordings Posted Daily **
December 24 First Holy Night Presenter: Angela Foster December 25 Second Holy Night Presenter: Laura Scappaticci December 26 Third Holy Night Presenter: Joyce Reilly SUNDAYDecember 27 Fourth Holy Night Presenter: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg December 28 Fifth Holy Night Presenter: Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose Tuesday December 29 Sixth Holy Night Presenter: Ultra-Violet Archer December 30 Seventh Holy Night Presenter: Deb Abrahams-Dematte ~ ~ December 31 – Pause ~ ~ January 1 Eighth Holy Night Presenter: Lelan Harris January 2 Ninth Holy Night Presenter: Michele Mariscal January 3 Tenth Holy Night Presenter: Claudia Knudson January 4 Eleventh Holy Night Presenter: Jolie Luba January 5 Twelfth Holy Night Presenter: Timothy Kennedy
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The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Our Annual Holy Nights December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021
*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates.
The Fifth Gospelby Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar,
Each of the 12 Days of Christmas & 13 Holy Nights– From the Eve of the Sacred Birth, to the Eve of Epiphany, can be seen as a microcosmic experience of the macrocosm, allowing us to approach the sublime gesture of the divine spiritual beings, whose outer vestments are the constellations of the zodiac – while simultaneously contemplating the events in our own lives, in order to uncover the golden threads connecting us to each other, as well as to the goals of Earth evolution, & to the divine spiritual nature that comes to birth again & again at this darkest time of year.
This sacred ‘Time out of Time’ provides an opportunity to contemplate, not only the great journey of the Cosmic Christ thru the zodiac into the body of Jesus; but also the path of Jesus to Christ; as well the evolution of every Human Being as a Star unfolding in an Earthly biography – for we as human beings are following both paths.
TODAY on the The 1st Holy Night – Christmas Eve, I begin a series of podcasts on ‘I Think Speech’ to contemplate this sacred Time out of Time. I welcome your participation & insights
Blessings & Peace
~hag
Luke NativityMatthew Nativity Ara IsaakyanIlse Wefers
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The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Our Annual Holy Nights – December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021
*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates.
The Fifth Gospelby Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar,
Beloved Co-Creator – It’s the Sun-@-Midnight time on the wheel of the year… in the long-term cycle, this phase invites us to throb in luminescence with soft vitality & active silence, peppering the cold acoustic with our hot breath… Come Celebrate the unseen powers that sustain the world… Pay reverence to what’s underneath: the elusive, the uncanny & the darkly delicious… Your inner vitality is heading toward peak levels, & your body is as smart as it gets… act as if every move is a dance… explore the righteous blending of grace & power.. Give yourself permission to be a fluid bolt of ingenious fun, Play hard & sweet, with sublime ferocity…
~hag
Rassouli
“Powerful beings who inhabit the spiritual worlds look with satisfaction and approval upon our thoughts about their world. They can help us only if we think about them; and although we may not have attained to clairvoyant vision into the spiritual world, if we know about these spiritual beings they can help us. In return for our study of spiritual science help comes to us from the spiritual world. It is not merely the things we learn, the knowledge we acquire, it is the beings of the higher Hierarchies themselves who help us when we know about them[…] The spiritual world helps us. We have need of it, we must know about it, and unite ourselves with it through conscious understanding“. ~ Rudolf Steiner – GA 168 – How Can the Destitution of Soul in Modern Times Be Overcome? – Zurich, October 10th, 1916
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17 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The young crescent moon moves past Jupiter & Saturn as they continue their cosmic dance toward conjunction on the Winter Solstice.
Feast day of Lazarus – The biblical narrative of the raising of Lazarus is found in chapter 11 of the Gospel of John. Lazarus is introduced as a follower of Jesus, who lives in the town of Bethany near Jerusalem, the brother of Mary & Martha. The sisters send word to Jesus that Lazarus, “he whom thou lovest,” is ill. Instead of immediately traveling to Bethany, Jesus intentionally remains where he is for two more days before beginning the journey.
When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he finds that Lazarus is dead & has already been in his tomb for four days. He meets first with Martha & then Mary in turn. Martha laments that Jesus did not arrive soon enough to heal her brother &Jesus replies with the well-known statement, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die”. Later the narrator here gives the famous simple phrase, “Jesus wept”.
In the presence of a crowd of mourners, Jesus comes to the tomb. Over the objections of Martha, Jesus has them roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb & says a prayer. He then calls Lazarus to come out (“Come forth”) & Lazarus does so, still wrapped in his grave-cloths. Jesus then calls for someone to remove the grave-cloths, & let him go.
The narrative ends with the statement that many of the witnesses to this event “believed in him.” Others are said to report the events to the religious authorities in Jerusalem.
The Gospel of John mentions Lazarus again in chapter 12. Six days before the Passover on which Jesus is crucified, Jesus returns to Bethany & Lazarus attends a supper that Martha, his sister, serves. Jesus & Lazarus together attract the attention of many & the chief priests consider having Lazarus put to death because so many people are believing in Jesus on account of this miracle.
The miracle of the raising of Lazarus, the longest coherent narrative in John aside from the Passion, is the culmination of John’s “signs”. It explains the crowds seeking Jesus on Palm Sunday, & leads directly to the decision of Caiaphas & the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus.
It is notable that at John 11:11, after being told by His disciples to fear those who would kill Him, & after the parable about living in darkness, Jesus references his own parable & states that Lazarus sleeps, & that He will go “wake him up”. The disciples thought Jesus meant Lazarus was actually sleeping in verse 12. Then, in verse 14, Jesus speaks plainly & tells them that “Lazarus has died”. This is to be clear that Lazarus has died in the flesh, & is not sleeping or unconscious.
Lazarus is spoken of by Rudolf Steiner as becoming John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, & formerly as Hiram Abiff the Master Builder of Solomon’s Temple & Christian Rosenkreutz.
Antoine Callet
497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.
1790 – The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.
1819 – Simón Bolívar declares the independence of Gran Colombia in Venezuela. Gran Colombia was the most prestigious country in Spanish America. John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State & future president of the United States, claimed it to be one of the most powerful nations on the planet. This prestige, attracted to the nation unionist ideas of independence movements in Cuba, the Dominican Republic & Puerto Rico, which sought to form an associated state with the republic.
1862 –General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, & Kentucky.
1830 – Death Day of Simón Bolívar, 2nd President of Venezuela
1833 – Deathday of Kaspar Hauser, the rightful Prince of Baden, died after a murder attempt on 12.12.1833
1873 – Birthday of Eleanor Charlotte Merry, an English poet, artist, musician & anthroposophist with a strong Celtic impulse & interest in esoteric wisdom. She studied in Vienna & met Rudolf Steiner in 1922 after becoming interested in his teachings. She went on to organize Summer Schools where Steiner gave lectures, & was secretary for the World Conference on Spiritual Science in London in 1928
Eleanor Charlotte Kynaston grew up in a liberal educational environment, her father being the well known classical scholar & professor of Ancient Greek, Herbert Snow aka Kynaston. It was only at the age of 13 that she began to attend a regular school. This was also when she began to take a passionate interest in music. Two years later, her father became Deacon of Durham, so Eleanor grew up close to the beautiful cathedral. She was able to read the manuscripts that were kept in the monastic library, walking up & down amongst the Norman columns of the cathedral & experienced something of a real, concrete history, something completely different from what she read in her schoolbooks. It was the myths & legends that captivated her, & she learned by heart Tennyson’s King Arthur.
The stream of scholars & theologians that entered their house fed her spiritual longings.
As she grew up, she sought a career as singer, wanting to study music & art. At 19, she left home for a course of study in Vienna, which led not only to a fine command of the German language & development of her musical skills but also placed her in a kind of artistic-aesthetic inner crisis. Soon after her return to England, she married the well-known Oxford surgeon Merry, to whose professional commitments Eleanor Merry was to devote much of her energy besides the rearing of their son & daughter.
She learnt about Theosophy at the beginning of World War I when a copy of the “Secret Doctrine” of H.P. Blavatsky was sent her by persons unknown. As she read it, she felt as if guided by some unseen hand, & studied further works of Annie Besant & other Theosophists. After the war, she was made aware of Rudolf Steiner’s Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. In January 1922 she met Daniel Nicol Dunlop in London for the first time. He was reading a lecture of Rudolf Steiner’s to the anthroposophical group there. A few months later, her husband died of pneumonia, after which she had her first personal conversation with DN Dunlop. Dunlop was still fired up with gratitude over his meeting with Rudolf Steiner some few weeks previously.
She took part in the conference “Spiritual Values in Education” in Oxford that August, where she met Rudolf Steiner personally for the first time. She saw him first in a corridor & by his gait & the manner in which he looked at her, she had the impression: “He knows where he is going.”
She assisted D.N. Dunlop in the preparation of the subsequent Summer School in Penmaenmawr the following year, where a further conversation with Rudolf Steiner took place in which he recommended to her the new techniques in painting that had been developed under his guidance. She was soon exhibiting publicly in London& elsewhere. He also advised her to form as strong a bond as possible with Dunlop. This summer school, devoted to the theme “The Evolution of Consciousness” was felt by Steiner to be a milestone in the development of the anthroposophical movement.
Eleanor was present at the founding of the new General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland around New Year 1923/24.
The theme of the ensuing Summer School at Torquay in 1924, “True and False Paths in Spiritual Investigation” (GA 243), stemmed from a conversation she had with Rudolf Steiner on this occasion.
In her further work in Britain after Rudolf Steiner’s death, she wholeheartedly supported D.N. Dunlop’s efforts to create an open, inclusive & at the same time spiritually founded continuation of the anthroposophical work. She acted as secretary of the anthroposophical World Conference in London of 1928 &wrote a play around the figure of King Arthur for the youth conference initiated by David Clement in Glastonbury in 1932. More immediately than anyone, she experienced the dramatic events affecting Daniel Dunlop between 1929, when he became General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain & the spring of 1935, when he was expelled from the General Anthroposophical Society & died a short while later. After his death, she maintained intimate friendships with her half-sister, Marna Pease, Walter Johannes Stein & particularly Eugen Kolisko, whom she helped to build up the School for Spiritual Science, wrote numerous articles for their magazine “The Modern Mystic“, & wrote down the biographical notes Kolisko dictated to her. In the 1940s she led a painting school together with Maria Schindler as well as working with her on the book Pure Colour (1946), leading to large public exhibitions.
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Jane Hudson
POD (Poem Of the Day)
~i’ve known that tempting feast of death when while darkness filled the mind, the heart cried out – let us listen & hear… i know when the eye of truth is plucked from the head, only the blood of rage remains – Can we make the change to heal the Comforter? Come & Call forth with me a bright secret veiled in black cloth – a heart-light beyond heaven which is the light within re-kindled through sacrifice… ~hag
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Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Lucien Dante Lazar will open & close the program with some live piano music
And Mary Ruud will lead us in some Group Eurythmy to cap the evening
Monday 21 December Winter Solstice Grand Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn,
Biodynamic Prep-Stir 5 pm – 6:30 pm CST
at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub 4252 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
All are welcome to bring festive food & drink to share
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Wednesday 23 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.Two Turning Points in Time – The Mystery of Wisdom, and The Mystery of Will
In 1923/24, during the Christmas Conference, Rudolf Steiner presented humanity with the Foundation Stone Meditation: an amazingly rich imagination, planted in our hearts and shining brightly like a guiding star. Steiner also gave us many other gifts during that time which we will ponder in our hearts.
Leading thoughts, verses, songs and imaginations will be woven together in this artistic offering before the Holy Nights.
Special guestLucien Dante Lazar will provide a sprinkle of musical interludes throughout our event.
We will be joined by our old friend Dennis Dietzel in this performance.
We will go into small breakout groups to explore the theme: “How does the Foundation Stone Meditation speak to you?”
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83533262486 Meeting ID: 835 3326 2486 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 835 3326 2486 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kclU2SSTF If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
May this Advent Season permeate our hearts with Love and Joy – The CRC – Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton
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A Rose By Any Other Name: ASA Online Holy Nights 2020/2021
“The light of Christmas should shine as a light of peace, a light that brings peace outside only because first of all it sheds an inner peace into the hearts of human beings.” -Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis, Divine Sophia, December 24, 1920
We are approaching a new season where we enkindle an inner light that shines into the darkness of winter. Where meaning for the year ahead can be cultivated, and reflection on the year past can bring new insights.
Last year many of you joined us each night to bring beauty and connection into the holiday season. This year you are invited to join us again for a time of contemplation and community during the ASA Online Holy Nights.
Each 30 minute gathering will open with a meditative time with the new zodiac image and the virtue of the day, plus an artistic/writing prompt. Then a short offering will be shared about this special time of year as related to the Divine Feminine.
What: ASA Online Holy Nights Seed: A Rose By Any Other Name hosted by the ASA Sophia Group and friends around the country.
When: 9-9:30am Pacific / 11 am – 11:30 am Central / 12-12:30pm Eastern on December 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and January 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Note: No meeting on December 31). Can’t join us live? No problem. Each gathering will be recorded and posted on our Holy Nights page.
How: Register Here. Then check your email for a confirmation with the Zoom registration link.
Cost: Your donations help us create events like this one! This event is free with suggested donations of $25, $50, $100/ /
Schedule of Presenters:
12/24 Angela Foster
12/25 Laura Scappaticci
12/26 Joyce Reilly
Sunday 12/27 Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
12/28 Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose
Tuesday 12/29 Ultra-Violet Archer
12/30 Deb Abrahams-Dematte
12/31 No Meeting
1/1 Lelan Harris
1/2 Tess Parker
1/3 Claudia Knudson
1/4 Jolie Luba
1/5 Timothy Kennedy
Special Recording Notes: This gathering will be recorded each day and include all content and live attendees in the video.
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar,
During this time of Advent we must face trials that make us worthy to receive the sacred birth of the Nathan soul, around the time of the Winter Solstice; which then guides us into the precession of the 13 Holy Nights; which culminates in the birth of Christ on the Epiphany.
In the 1st week of Advent we meet the mineral kingdom to see our relationship with issues relating to our physical needs. We recognize that death & mineralization in the physical world of nature at this time helps us step into the karmic unfolding of ourselves & of humanity as a whole. Here we face the Fire trial, where we must rise to the challenge of cultivating a sense of justice. Fire meets earth. Our task is to burn away the dross of what does not serve so that we can stand upright in the face of what we are meeting in ourselves & in the world.
Now we enter the 2nd week, related to the plant kingdom, where the etheric realm comes into play. Here we encounter the trial by water. Discretion & Self-restraint will help us meet these challenges. Water meets air. Practicing selflessness will help us build truthfulness in the face of the societal temptation to accept & perpetuate the blind lie. In the water trial we encounter our feeling life which is still quite dreamy, so we are called to bring thought into this realm, so we can judge our feelings objectively, working to understand what inspires them. And we are also challenged to bring Will into our feelings. Then we are able to control them & practice equanimity.
Hilma af Klint
These trials help us develop new spiritual organs – This week we practice breathing under water! See you in the pool.
~hag
Michelle Young
‘In the breathing process, we inhale fresh oxygen and exhale unusable carbon. A similar process takes place in all our sense perceptions. Just think, my dear friends, that you see something — let us take a radical case — suppose you see a flame. There a process takes place that may be compared with inhalation, only it is much finer. If you then close your eyes — and you can make similar experiments with every one of your senses — you have the after-image of the flame which gradually changes — dies down, as Goethe said. Apart from the purely physical aspect, the human ether body is essentially engaged in this process of reception of the light impression and its eventual dying down. Something very significant is contained in this process: it contains the soul element which, three millennia ago, was breathed in and out with the air. And we must learn to realize the sense process, permeated by the soul element in a similar way we have realized the breathing process three millennia ago.’ ~Rudolf Steiner, The Mission of the Archangel Michael VI – November 30, 1919
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Ivana Pelouchová
Pod (Poem Of the Day)
~That quivering star is Her Blue eye – The watcher, Awake in the darkening world… When the eye opens I look back ~hag
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Today is the Feast Day of Old St. Nick, a bishop waring his red mantle & mitre hat, sporting a long, white beard & carrying his golden shepherds crook. Legend has it that he helped the poor & calmed the seas; & on his feast day gives children who are good sweets or gifts.
But beware if you are bad for black Pete, or Knecht Ruprecht, will put you in his bag & take you away to the black forest until you learn your lesson… So on the night of December 5th set out your boots & leave a carrot for his horse then go to bed & dream of doing good deeds like St. Nichplas once did…
In Waldorf schools St. Nick comes into the classroom of the lower grades & shakes the hand of each child telling them what they have done well, & what they have not done so well & need to improve. This always made quite an impression on the young children to receive this gentle reckoning.
The one we know of as St. Nicholas was born in 271 AD & died around December 6, 342 or 343 AD near the Asia Minor (Turkey) town of Myra, where he later became Bishop. He performed many good deeds & was a friend to the poor & helpless. Upon his death, myths soon sprang up about him all around the Mediterranean Sea. He was reputed to be able to calm the raging seas, rescue desperate sailors, & save children. He was soon named as the patron saint of sailors, & when Myra was overthrown, his bones were transported by sailors to Bari, a port in Italy, where a tomb was built over the grave & became the center of honor for St. Nicholas. From here the legend spread on around to the Atlantic Coast of Europe & the North Sea to become a European holiday tradition regardless of religion.
In the Netherlands, legend has it that Sinterklaas (Dutch name for St. Nicholas) arrives in the Netherlands by way of steamboat from Spain 2 weeks before his traditional birthday, December 6th, along with his helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), who will help disperse the gifts & candy to all the good children. Referring to his book that lists all the good & bad children, Sinterklaas will deliver presents to all the good children, but watch out if you’ve been bad! The Low Countries (Belgium & Luxemburg) have basically the same traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, but not to the extent of the Netherlands. Children in Luxemburg call him Kleeschen, & his helper is Hoseker (Black Peter). Belgian children know him as Sint Niklaas.
For families with older children & adults, different twists are added to the gift giving & may include gag gifts or the drawing of gift ideas or names, & most times are accompanied by poems with a “personal touch” that poke fun at the recipient in a gentle way (or not, depending on the families ). Wrapping the presents up in odd packages & planting a trail of clues is also part of the general fun, & can sometimes be pretty tricky to get to, depending on the squeamishness of the recipients.
In Germany, St. Nicholas is also known as Klaasbuur, Sunnercla, Burklaas, Bullerklaas,& Rauklas, & in eastern Germany, he is also known as Shaggy Goat, Ash Man, or Rider & is more reflective of earlier Norse influences that were blended in with the figure of St. Nicholas, when Christianity came to Germany. After the reformation, St. Nicholas’s attire began to change, maybe as a reflection of the change from the Roman church, & he started to wear a red suit with fur. Although he still visits many homes on Dec 5th/6th & leaves candy and gifts in the children’s shoes, more recently St. Nicholas has begun showing up on Christmas Eve in Germany & is called Father Christmas.
In France, he is also called Pere Noel (Father Christmas) & he travels in the company of Pere Fouettard. Pere Noel leaves presents for good children, while Pere Fouettard disciplines bad children.
St. Nicholas day was celebrated formerly in Russia, but under Communism he was changed to Grandfather Frost & wore blue instead of red. In Sicily, he comes on Dec 13th with Santa Lucia.
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6 December 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As dawn begins to break on tomorrow the waning gibbous Moon forms an isosceles triangle with Regulus &orange Algieba (Gamma Leonis).
During the Feast of Saint Nicolas in 1273, Saint Thomas Aquinas had a mystical vision that made writing seem unimportant to him. At mass, he reportedly heard a voice coming from a crucifix that said, “Thou hast written well of me, Thomas; what reward wilt thou have?” to which Saint Thomas Aquinas replied, “None other than thyself, Lord.”
When Saint Thomas Aquinas’s confessor, Father Reginald of Piperno (an earlier incarnation of Ita Wegman) urged him to keep writing, he replied, “I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be like straw” Thomas Aquinas never wrote again.
1926 – Deathday of Claude Monet
1959- Deathday of Emil Bock, Priest & co-founder of the Christian Community
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Calendar of the Soul, by Rudolf Steiner, translated by Roy Sadler. The verse quartet related to this week moves on from Advent to a week ending 30.1.21, but in most years reaching February 1st, Imbolc, Feile Brighde, the quickening of the year, the virgin fire festival, Brigid’s Day; then to the week before the Summer Solstice; and to Lammas, Lughnasadh, loaf-mass, the first harvest festival, the mirror of this week’s verse.
v36, The Cosmic Word enwoven by the world within my depths of being, mysteriously urging to be heard, now speaks: Inspire your life’s endeavour with spirit light of mine to sacrifice yourself through Me.
v43, In winter’s depths true spirit presence warms; it makes appearance real and through the heart empowers the coming of the springlife’s glory; the soul’s revitalising fire within the human core defies world cold.
v10, To summer’s heights the sunlight’s radiant being rises and takes my human feeling far and into the sublime, the harmony of worldwide space, wherein a faint, new dawn within me intimates, In future you will know: a holy being felt you now.
v17, The Cosmic Word the world has let me guide through senses’ gates to soul ground begins to speak: Imagine in your spirit depths my world expanse to find in future Me in you.
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Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.
On Tuesday, December 29th,6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,we will join Anthroposophy Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe
New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call, as we will gather for ourAnnual NYE event. This year’s theme is “A Masked Ball” 6 pm till 10:30 pm
6 pm Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar
7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes
10:10 pm Project Thought-Seed
The evening ends at 10:30 pm
$20 donation
Nancy Poer
Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CSTJoan’s Epiphany: What Joan of Arc Calls for Today In-Person at Elderberries & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago and online
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc, we welcome special guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, “The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Spirit Serving It” by Rudolf Steiner, with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Lucien Dante Lazar
We will also share an artistic exploration, singing and Eurythmy.
Nancy Poer
