When we look up to the heavens at MidSummer, we gain the impression that cosmic Intelligence is alive everywhere , an impression of many beings that live together & within each other, woven thru with light; the polar opposite of the Will.
Down below, deep within the Earth, we feel —that in the blue darkness everything is experienced as will forces. Yet up above we feel — everything we perceive is illumined, permeated, with a feeling of intelligence.
Iris Sullivan
Within this radiant activity there appears the extremely earnest countenance of the Archangel Uriel, which arises glowing warmly out of the pervading radiant Intelligence. We have the impression that this being forms its body of light, out of the radiant Intelligence. And for this to happen at the height of Summer, the elemental spirits of the Earth must soar upwards. And as they do, they weave themselves into the shining Intelligence up above, & the shining Intelligence receives them into itself. And out of that gleaming radiance Uriel takes form.
Daniel Moreau
It is with great earnestness that this representative of the weaving cosmic forces, seeking to embody himself in a vesture of light, appears in the time of summer. The intelligence of Uriel arises from the working together of the planetary forces, supported by the working of the fixed stars of the Zodiac. The deeds accomplished by Uriel in the radiant light, preserves the thoughts of the cosmos, in his thoughts.
The feeling comes: “You clouds of summer, radiant with Intelligence, in which are reflected up above the blue crystal-formations of the earth below, just as these blue crystal-formations mirror in turn the shining Intelligence of the summer clouds — out of your shining there appears in high summer, with earnest countenance, a concentrated Imagination of Cosmic Understanding…Through the power of attraction residing in the concentrated cosmic Intelligence of Uriel, the silver forces (white) are drawn upwards, and in the light of this inwardly shining Intelligence, as seen from the Earth, they appear as radiant sunlight, densifying into a glory of gold. One has the immediate feeling that the gleaming silver, streaming up from below, is received by the sunlit radiance above. And the earth-silver — the phrase is quite correct — is changed by cosmic alchemy into the cosmic gold which lives and weaves in the heights.”
With the sprouting, springing life, we can no longer speak of matter permeated by spirit, as it is in winter. We have to speak of spirit woven through with matter – with silver and gold.
~A Summary of THE ST. JOHN IMAGINATION, from ~the Four Seasons and the Archangels, Lecture 4, by Rudolf Steiner
How can we apply these spiritual insights in our everyday life…?
~hag
17 June2022 – ‘Speaking with the Stars: The waning gibbous Moon rises around midnight tonight with Saturn glowing steadily to her left. Partway between Saturn & Bella Luna look for Delta Capricorni. By the beginning of dawn Saturday morning the 18th, this array is high in the south.
Laia Nägeli Juan
International World Day to Combat Desertification & Drought.
1462 – Vlad Dracula (the Impaler) attempts to assassinate Mehmed II an Ottoman sultan forcing him to retreat from Wallachia
1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor
1928 – Amelia Earhart began the flight that made her the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean
1972 – Watergate scandal begins: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition
1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct
1603 – Feast day of Joseph of Cupertino, Italian Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic & saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation & intense ecstatic visions. He is the patron saint of air travelers, aviators, astronauts, people with a mental handicap, test takers & poor students.
1882 – Birthday of Igor Stravinsky, Russian pianist, composer, & conductor
Friday 24 June 2021 – St. Johns-TideBon-Fire & Prep-Stir Social Gathering 7 pm CT Pot-Luck Dinner at the Home of Hazel Archer & Chuck Ginsberg
Join Rev. Jeana Lee in a St. John’s contemplation by the fire
Please Bring Food & Drink to Share in Community
This is an offical ‘Merry Prepstir‘ synchronized application, linking us to Biodynamic workers around the world, so that ‘The Earth May Be Healed’. We will be working with BD 500 Horn Manure & 501 silica
The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
“We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17
Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 16“The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I) AND Chapter 17“Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.*
Please considergiving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a Zoom conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Agenda for this meeting (Central Time) 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Stefano – chapter 16 Camille – chapter 17 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
Regelio de Egusquiza
Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question
A day long Workshop & AGM with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America
Saturday 16 July 2022 – In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in Ann Arbor & on Zoom
2 pm – Welcome, Singing, Chekhov movement, Biography work
3:30 – 3:45 pm – Break
3:45 – 5 pm – Our Parzival Quest and Question
5 pm – Be our guest for Dinner
6:30 – 7:30 pm – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to longtime member Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz onto the Council
The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya, working with Mary Metz
Dear friends – Since forever I have been curious about the workings of karma; how it plays out in our human relationships, in regards to our lot in life, our health, how it forms & informs history, & the big picture of our human evolution. For the last 15 years or so I have been delving into the ‘Karma of the Anthroposophical Society’ – its members, who are my colleagues, & the spiritual beings working behind the movement.
Being in the aura of the 100 year anniversary of the refounding at the Christmas Conference, it seems especially important to take up this work, which was the core mission of the one we know as Rudolf Steiner.
Светлана Соло
“Why does one try to found a society such as the Anthroposophical Society? Why does one seek to unite human beings in a certain sense under such ideas? Because thereby a karmic bond is created between people who should find each other in the spiritual world, who should belong together in the spiritual world, something they would be unable to do if they carried on their lives in an isolated way here. Precisely by virtue of the possibility of sharing spiritual knowledge and wisdom with one another, a great deal is done for the life in the spiritual world. This then works back onto the physical-sensible world, which is continually under the influence of the spiritual world. What takes place here are actually only effects; the causes occur beyond in the spiritual world, even when we are here on the physical plane…Nevertheless, it must be said that when associations are formed under the light of spiritual science, people work together not only on the world of effects but on the world of causes that lie behind the sense-perceptible effects. One must permeate oneself with this feeling if one wishes to understand properly the infinitely deep significance for humanity of living together in spiritual work both in the present and in the future” ~Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS VI, Lecture III, GA 240
23 May 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Summer Triangle is now visible before midnight, anchored by the three stars Deneb in Cygnus, Altair in Aquila, and Vega in Lyra. This famous warm-weather asterism is rising earlier each day and will soon soar overhead during the darkest hours of the night.
While Deneb is the brightest star in Cygnus, marking the Swan’s tail, his head, Albireo, is a stunning sight through a telescope — even a small one. The single star splits into two with gorgeous contrasting colors: a 3rd-magnitude primary shining with golden light and a 5th-magnitude blue-white secondary.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY ( From Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul, The Present Age Mag., Wikipedia, RSarchive.org)
1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction
Botticelli
1498 –Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy. Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar. He was known for his prophecies & his calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule & the exploitation of the poor. The Florentines expelled the ruling Medici &, at the friar’s urging, established a “popular” republic. Declaring that Florence would be the New Jerusalem, the world center of Christianity & “richer, more powerful, more glorious than ever”, enlisting the active help of Florentine youth.
In 1495 when Florence refused to join Pope Alexander VI’s Holy League against the French, the Vatican summoned Savonarola to Rome. He disobeyed & defied the pope by preaching under a ban, highlighting his campaign for reform with processions, bonfires & pious theatricals. In retaliation, the Pope excommunicated him.
A trial by fire proposed by a rival Florentine preacher to test Savonarola’s divine mandate turned into a fiasco. On May 23, 1498, they condemned, hanged, & burned him in the main square of Florence.
1934 – The American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY TOREGISTER
Announcing an exciting Event on Ascension Thursday, May 26th 7 – 8:30 pm Eastern time.
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – Celebrating the Festival of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Eurythmy with Maria Ver Eecke
“In heavy clouds let Him ascend And so also let Him downward tread. In cooling streams let Him be sent, In flames of fire blaze His descent, In air & essence, sound & dew To permeate our whole earth thru” ~Novalis
Ascension is a Festival of the Elements, & of the Hierarchies, it relates to the Transfiguration & the fulfillment of the promise of the ‘Second Coming’. Together we will explore the mystery of ‘As Above so Below’.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a trans-denominational minister, essayist, lecturer, performer, and poet. She writes and curates ‘Reverse Ritual, Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year’ and the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast. Hazel’s been the Cultural Events and Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago for over 10 years. She is a member of the Central Regional Council, the School for Spiritual Science, the Esoteric Youth Circle, and the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
Register by contacting Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, by Sunday, May 22nd. You will receive an email with the zoom link on Tuesday May 24.
Hope to see you there!! – YES! Please feel free to spread the word!
A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community
with the Eastern, Central and Western Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America
Sunday 29 May 2022 – 3 – 4:30 pm PT, 4-5:30 MT, 5-6:30 pm CT, 6-7:30 pm ET
We will be working with Rudolf Steiner’s THE FIFTH GOSPELGA 148, Lecture II, 2 October 1913, Oslo
The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, our individual “I”, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is strongly felt during this time of the consciousness soul age. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create this type of culture, and the opportunity is here for each of us to meet, human to human, where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength comes from our personal development and is enhanced by weaving our gifts together with others, knitting our social world in conscious community.
The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation June 1, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) “Anyone who approaches these mysteries today must feel that they are confronting and challenging themselves by striving for the virtues of Parzival, while knowing that — because of modern conditions — they are in fact someone else also, the wounded Amfortas. Today we bear this divided nature within us: aspiring Parzival, wounded Amfortas. That is what self-knowledge must lead us to feel. From this recognition will flow the forces which make a unity again of this duality, and will thus advance us a little further in world evolution.”~ from Chapter 15, Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 15“Acknowledging Amfortas,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Berlin on 7 February 1913 (GA 144, lecture IV), will be the focus of the June 1 meeting.
A transcript of the entire lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.* Please considergiving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 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)
There is a knighthood of the 21st century whose riders do not ride through the darkness of physical forests as of old, but through the forest of darkened minds. They are armed with a spiritual armor and an inner sun makes them radiant. Out of them shines healing, healing that flows from the knowledge of the human being as a spiritual being. They must create inner order, inner justice, peace and conviction in the darkness of our time. ~Karl Konig
Agenda for this meeting (CST) 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Mariarosa – pages 117-123b Marianne – pages 123b-129 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
The Buddha (whose name means: *The Awakened One* or *One who Knows*) was born in 563 BC on the Full Moon of May. Traditionally, Buddha’s Birthday is known as ‘Wesak’, the major Buddhist festival of the year. It celebrates the birth, enlightenment & death of the Buddha on one & the same day.
This year we will experience a total lunar eclipse of Buddha’s Moon beginning in the stars of Libra (quickly moving into Scorpio) opposite the Sun in line with the star Algol, Medusa’s forehead in the constellation of Perseus, above Taurus. Sun & Moon will form a T square relationship with Saturn, still in the stars of Capricorn (Same as during the great conjunction of 2020)
This eclipse will occur in the Descending/South Lunar Node, Cauda Draconis—the tail of the dragon, in the stars of Libra. The lunar nodes are connected to karma & past lives.The descending node carries the unconscious karmic forces & patterns from the past which often appear in life as destructive forces.
In the heavens the constellation most associated with Michael is Libra, the Scales. Libra stands between the cosmic Sophia/Virgo & the Dragon/Scorpio, defending the Sophia against the dragon who seeks to devour the Child she is birthing. This picture comes from the Revelation of John. So, we can see in Libra, the imagination of Michael, holding the sword of truth & the scales of justice, the defender of cosmic intelligence who earnestly awaits our efforts to unite with the redemption of the fallen earthly intelligence.
Libra is the constellation of the threshold in the human being in the region of the hips, the realm of balance, which is the boundary between the upper & lower human being; the threshold into the lower will – the more unconscious realm.
How does Rudolf Steiner speak of eclipses? In ‘Human Questions and Cosmic Answers‘, he describes the lunar eclipse: “…Now the earth comes between the sun and the moon; hence we see the shadow cast upon the moon by the earth. That is the physical explanation. But a spiritual reality is behind the physical fact. When there is an eclipse of the moon, thoughts stream through darkness down upon the earth; and such thoughts have a closer relationship with the subconscious life than with the conscious life of the human being…”
Steiner continues to describe these eclipses as necessary – provided by the higher beings as “safety valves”, as a kind of needed outlet that helps keep cosmic order.
“The lunar eclipse exists for the purpose of allowing the evil thoughts which are present in the cosmos to approach those human beings who are desirous of being possessed by them. In matters of this kind people do not, as a rule, act in full consciousness, but the facts are nevertheless real.”
So, we have this picture of the lunar eclipse as allowing the evil thoughts in the cosmos to stream into human beings – taking place in the the dragon’s tail, carrying the untransformed forces from past karma. The Moon is in the stars of Libra, the stars of the powerful being Michael, on the threshold between the higher & lower in us. The Sun is blocked by the earth, standing at the beginning of the stars of Taurus, the constellation of the ‘Word’ in its macrocosmic aspect. Above Taurus in the constellation of Perseus (a Michael figure), is the star Algol, which is eye or forehead of Medusa, a beautiful gorgon maiden who became a dark creature, with serpents for hair, whose gaze turned all who looked upon her to stone.
In one story Medusa was the mother of Pegasus when she was a beautiful maiden. In another version it is told that from her decapitation by Perseus, Pegasus arose from her blood. In either case, there is this fascinating relationship between the gaze that turns all things to stone – a type of a thinking that kills living thought – & the winged intelligence of Pegasus.
Algol, in astronomy, is a binary star- two stars that rotate around each other, one larger & brighter than the other, so that it appears to “wink” in the sky, going brighter then dimmer in a cycle lasting about 3 days. This has been called the Winking Demon. Its name Algol, comes from the Arabic, Al Ghul which literally means: a mischief-maker, but later came to mean the Demon’s Head. The Hebrews knew it as “Rosh ha Satan”, Satan’s Head. The Chinese name for Algol meant “piled up corpses” It has been viewed by astrologers throughout history as the most evil & dangerous star in the heavens, often associated with violence, brutality & sudden death or murder. (Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen)
To add to this Saturn’s stand at a 90-degree square during the eclipse, creating the bottom line of the T. This square aspect is a Martian aspect of war, confrontation, aggression, as well as materialism.
Saturn is the bearer of world karma, the memory of all the past, & how it must be taken up. It is the realm of the Father, the will of the Divine Plan for evolution, from which we have wandered, but which must be reckoned with, which is the purpose of karma, to bring us again in line with our higher plan, both as world & individual karma.
So, at this precise moment the Moon, Earth & Sun line up in a lunar eclipse in a square with Saturn in Capricorn, where it was at the Great Conjunction of 2020, the constellation of initiation & catharsis.
Here we have a cosmic statement to humanity. We are being challenged by this word: “Come to terms with the consequences of the past, the descent into materialism, the darkness and destruction that have resulted from our failure to awaken to the spiritual realities!” This word rings out in many manifestations which are clearly visible in our world today.
The binary demon star & the darkened Moon in the stars of the threshold, are in a square, a confrontation with world karma. Without anthroposophy & the knowledge of Michael – Sophia – Christ, this is a dark & violent configuration. But by Being forewarned we are forearmed. We can consciously meet this eclipse so that the new thinking, the living winged intelligence can be born. This can lead to inspiration & christened thoughts that can meet the dark will impulses streaming in. If this is done even by only a few, it will have power over the many who seek the darkness.
In the Gospel of John, Chapters 15 – 16, Christ is speaking to his disciples at the last supper about the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit; about the suffering & attacks that will come, & how he must leave them so that the Holy Spirit can descend – so that they can experience the Christ within themselves. “In the world you have much hardship and tribulation, but take courage, I AM has overcome the world.”
We are in the 40 days between Easter & Ascension when the risen Christ gave the Disciples His most esoteric teachings, to make them ready to receive the awakening of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
We can enkindle the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit & bring that light into the night of this eclipse. We can read Chapter 16 of John & meditate on the ever present help of Michael.
And we can remember that The Full Moon in May is a mystically auspicious time – This ‘Buddha Moon’ is considered to be the greatest moment of spiritual contact for the entire year. Great polarities are said to be synthesized & consequently united at this festival. Hope is revived in the world, & great seeds of beauty, truth, & goodness are planted within us — qualities needed for the unity of humankind.
The Wesak Festival provides us each year with a reception of the tools of love & wisdom, to fulfill this ancient prophecy. What all the higher beings have done, we can do also, taking up our responsibility as the 10th hierarchy to radiate the Christ Impulse out to all the kingdoms of Earth – becoming like little suns – emanating rays from the very core of our “I”, through the vehicle of our bodies, from our purified hearts, & specifically from our forehead, where our third eye is located. This is the Bulls Eye of Taurus – to reclaim the Sun of May & redeem the winking demon in the mystery of transformatation.
~hag
With thanks to Astrosopher Jonathan Hilton for his many insights quoted here. astrosophy.com
Visit Timeanddate.com to get an exact timing of the eclipse from your location.
EVENT
UTC TIME
TIME IN CHICAGO*
VISIBLE IN CHICAGO
Penumbral Eclipse begins
May 16 at 01:32:05
May 15 at 8:32:05 pm
Yes
Partial Eclipse begins
May 16 at 02:27:52
May 15 at 9:27:52 pm
Yes
Full Eclipse begins
May 16 at 03:29:03
May 15 at 10:29:03 pm
Yes
Maximum Eclipse
May 16 at 04:11:28
May 15 at 11:11:28 pm
Yes
Full Eclipse ends
May 16 at 04:53:55
May 15 at 11:53:55 pm
Yes
Partial Eclipse ends
May 16 at 05:55:07
May 16 at 12:55:07 am
Yes
Penumbral Eclipse ends
May 16 at 06:50:49
May 16 at 1:50:49 am
Yes
The Moon is above the horizon during this eclipse, so the entire eclipse is visible in Chicago
Visit Timeanddate.com to get an exact timing of the eclipse from your location.
Laura Summer
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler EASTERTIDE V The Resurrection of the Soul v5 In light, whose fertile weaving from depth of spirit into blossoming reveals the beauty of the gods’ creating, the being of the soul is shining, widening, enlivened in the presence of the world and resurrected from narrow selfhood’s inner power.
Karl König describes this as the voice of the Tenor, uniting with the spirit through the senses. It is part of the Light quartet. The mirror verse is the voice of the Alto, intuitive love at the full moon in Leo (Rudolf Steiner’s birthday week). LENT III The Light’s Awakening Of Love v48 In light, whose flowing from the heights would be the world’s empowering of soul, let shine the certainty of cosmic thought that solves soul riddles and focusing its radiant power in human hearts awakens love.
The opposite verse is the voice of the Soprano, the inspired will for the spirit’s birth. ALL HALLOWTIDE II The Ripening Of Creative Powers v31 The light from spirit depths strives outwards like the sun, becomes life’s strength of will and shines in senses’ dullness to free the forces that ripen creative powers in human work the soul initiates.
The mirror of this is the voice of the Baritone, incarnating spirit with imaginative power. AUTUMN PRELUDE II The Ripening Of Self v22 The cosmic light lives on with inner power, becomes the light of soul and shines in depths of spirit to free the fruits of cosmic self that from them in the course of time the human self will ripen.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Sourced from RSarchives, Wikilinks, astronomy.com)
According to T.H. Myer & the ‘Present Age’ TODAY in 1922 – there was a ‘Nationalist’ assault on Rudolf Steiner as he was giving a public lecture in Munich.
Yoram Raanan
Announcing an exciting Event on Ascension Thursday, May 26th 7 – 8:30 pm Eastern time.
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – Celebrating the Festival of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
“In heavy clouds let Him ascend And so also let Him downward tread. In cooling streams let Him be sent, In flames of fire blaze His descent, In air & essence, sound & dew To permeate our whole earth thru” ~Novalis
Ascension is a Festival of the Elements, & of the Hierarchies, it relates to the Transfiguration & the fulfillment of the promise of the ‘Second Coming’. Together we will explore the mystery of ‘As Above so Below’.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a trans-denominational minister, essayist, lecturer, performer, and poet. She writes and curates ‘Reverse Ritual, Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year’ and the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast. Hazel’s been the Cultural Events and Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago for over 10 years. She is a member of the Central Regional Council, the School for Spiritual Science, the Esoteric Youth Circle, and the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
Register by contacting Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, by Sunday, May 22nd. You will receive an email with the zoom link on Tuesday May 24.
Hope to see you there!! – YES! Please feel free to spread the word!
A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community
with the Eastern, Central and Western Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America
Sunday 29 May 2022 – 3 – 4:30 pm PT, 4-5:30 MT, 5-6:30 pm CT, 6-7:30 pm ET
We will be working with Rudolf Steiner’s THE FIFTH GOSPELGA 148, Lecture II, 2 October 1913, Oslo
The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, our individual “I”, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is strongly felt during this time of the consciousness soul age. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create this type of culture, and the opportunity is here for each of us to meet, human to human, where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength comes from our personal development and is enhanced by weaving our gifts together with others, knitting our social world in conscious community.
The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation June 1, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) “Anyone who approaches these mysteries today must feel that they are confronting and challenging themselves by striving for the virtues of Parzival, while knowing that — because of modern conditions — they are in fact someone else also, the wounded Amfortas. Today we bear this divided nature within us: aspiring Parzival, wounded Amfortas. That is what self-knowledge must lead us to feel. From this recognition will flow the forces which make a unity again of this duality, and will thus advance us a little further in world evolution.”~ from Chapter 15, Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 15“Acknowledging Amfortas,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Berlin on 7 February 1913 (GA 144, lecture IV), will be the focus of the June 1 meeting.
A transcript of the entire lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.* Please considergiving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 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)
There is a knighthood of the 21st century whose riders do not ride through the darkness of physical forests as of old, but through the forest of darkened minds. They are armed with a spiritual armor and an inner sun makes them radiant. Out of them shines healing, healing that flows from the knowledge of the human being as a spiritual being. They must create inner order, inner justice, peace and conviction in the darkness of our time. ~Karl Konig
Agenda for this meeting (CST) 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Mariarosa – pages 117-123b Marianne – pages 123b-129 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings
14 May 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars:” Despite the bright waxing Moon in the sky, tonight is still the night for intrepid comet chasers. Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) currently sits in far eastern Ophiuchus, which is close to the Moon tonight.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Sourced from RSarchives, Wikilinks, astronomy.com)
Feast Day of Matthias – According to the Acts of the Apostles, Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot following the betrayal of Jesus & his subsequent suicide. This calling as an apostle is unique, because his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, since it was after the Ascension, but made before the descent of the Holy Spirit at Whitsun.
1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois & begins its historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.
1948 – Founding of the State of Israel
1912 – Death-Day of Johan August Strindberg, something of a polymath, Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist & painter, Strindberg was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer & alchemist. Rudolf Steiner speaks about him in Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture II:
“…Thus I made the acquaintance of this doctor, a man of our own day. When I met him I was in the company of another person whom I had known very well for a long time. This other person had always made, I will not say a deep, but a very thorough impression on me. He was exceedingly fond of the society of men who were interested in occultism in the widest possible range, though an occultism somewhat externally conceived. He was fond of relating the views of his many acquaintances on all kinds of occult matters, and especially on the occult connections of what the modern artist should strive for, as a lyric and epic poet, or as a dramatist. Around this person there was what I might call a kind of moral, ethical aura. I am applying the word ‘moral’ to all that is connected with the soul-qualities under the command of the will.
I was paying a visit to him, and in his company I found the other man first mentioned, whom I knew by reputation and respected very highly for his literary and medical career. Everything that took place during this visit made a deep impression on me and impelled me to receive the whole experience into the realm of spiritual research.
Then a very remarkable thing happened. By witnessing the two persons in the company of one another, and by the impression which my new acquaintance made on me — (I had known him for a long time as an eminent literary and medical man and had a great regard for him, but this was the first time that I saw him in the flesh) — by these impressions I gained certain perceptions. To begin with however, it enabled me, not to investigate in any way the connections in life and destiny of my new acquaintance. On the contrary, my seeing them together shed light as it were upon the other one, whom I had long known. And the result was this. — He had lived in ancient Egypt, not in his last, but in one of his former lives on earth. And (this is the peculiar thing) he had been mummified, embalmed as a mummy. Soon afterwards I discovered that the mummy was still in existence. Indeed a long time afterwards I saw the actual mummy. This, then, was the starting-point. But once the line of research had been kindled in connection with the person whom I had long known, it shed its light still farther, and eventually I was enabled to investigate the karmic connections of the other man, my new acquaintance, the doctor. And the following was the result.
sunset by August Strindberg
As a general rule one is led from one earthly life of a human being to the preceding one. But in this case intuition led far back into ancient Egypt, to a kind of chieftain in ancient Egypt. It was a chieftain who in a certain sense, indeed in a very interesting way, possessed the ancient Egyptian Initiation, but had become somewhat decadent as an Initiate. In the further course of his life, he began to take his Initiation not very seriously, indeed he even treated it with a certain scorn. Now this man had a servant, who in his turn was extremely serious. This servant was of course not initiated; but both of them together were given the task of embalming mummies and procuring the substances for this purpose, which was no easy matter.
Now especially in the more ancient periods of Egypt, the process of embalming mummies was very complicated and demanded an intimate knowledge of the human being, of the human body. Nay more, of those who had to do the embalming — if they did it legitimately — deep knowledge of the human soul was required. The chieftain of whom I spoke had been initiated for this very work, but he gradually became, in a manner of speaking, frivolous in relation to this, his proper calling. So it came about that in the course of time he betrayed (so they would have put it in the language of the Mysteries) the knowledge he had received through his Initiation to his servant, and the latter gradually proved to be a man who understood the content of Initiation better than the Initiate himself. Thus the servant became the embalmer of mummies, and at length his master did not even trouble to supervise the work, though of course he still took advantage of the social position, etc., which this honourable task involved. But at length his character became such that he no longer enjoyed great respect, and he thus came into various conflicts of life. The servant, on the other hand, worked his way up by degrees to a very, very earnest conception of life, and was thus taken hold of, in a remarkably congenial way, by a kind of Initiation. It was no real Initiation, but it lived within him instinctively. Thus a large number of mummies were mummified under the supervision and co-operation of these two people.
Time went on. The two men passed through the gate of death and underwent the experiences of which I shall speak next time — the experiences in the super-sensible which are connected with the development of karma or destiny. And in the Roman epoch they both of them came back to earthly life. They came back at the very time when the dominion of the Roman Emperors was founded, in the time of Augustus — not exactly, but approximately, in the time of Augustus himself.
The chieftain, who had gradually become a really frivolous Initiate, and who, when he had passed through the gate of death, had felt this as an extraordinarily bitter trial of earthly life, experiencing it in all the bitterness of its effects — we find him again as Julia, the daughter of Augustus. She married Tiberius, the step-son of Augustus, and led a life which to herself seemed justified but was considered, in the Roman society of that time, so immoral that at length both she and Tiberius were banished.
The other man — the servant who had worked his way from the bottom upwards nearly to the grade of an Initiate — was born again at the same time, as the Roman historian Titus Livius, or Livy.
August Strindberg
It is most interesting how Livy came to be an historian. In the ancient Egyptian times he had embalmed a large number of mummies. The souls who had lived in the bodies of these mummies — very many of them — were reincarnated as Romans. And certain ones among them were actually reincarnated as the seven Kings of Rome. For the Seven Kings were no mere legendary figures. Going back into the time when the chieftain and his servant had lived in Egypt, we come into a very old Egyptian epoch. Now through a certain law which applies especially to the reincarnation of souls whose bodies have been mummified, these souls were called back again to earth comparatively soon. And the karmic connection of the servant of the chieftain with the souls whose bodies he had embalmed was so intimate, that he had to write the history of the very same human being whom in a previous life he had embalmed, though naturally, he also included the history of many others whom he had not embalmed. Thus Titus Livius became an historian. Now I would like some, indeed as many of you as possible, to take Livy’s Roman History, and, with the knowledge that results from these karmic connections, to receive a real impression of his style. You will see that his peculiar penetration into the human being and his tendency at the same time towards the style of the myth, is akin to that intimate knowledge of man which an embalmer could attain.
We do not perceive such connections until the corresponding researches have been made. But once this has been done, a great light is shed on many things. It is difficult to understand the origin of the peculiar style of Titus Livius, who as it were embalms the human beings whom he describes. For such is his style. Real light is thrown upon it when we point to these connections.
Thus we have the same two people again as Julia and Titus Livius. Then Julia and Livy passed once more through the gate of death. The one soul had had the experience of being an Initiate to a considerable degree, and having then distorted his Initiation by frivolous conduct. He had discovered all the bitterness of the after-effects of this in the life between death and a new birth. He had then undergone a peculiar destiny in his new life on earth as Julia, of which life you may read in history. The result was, that in his next life between death and a new birth (following on the life as Julia) he conceived a strong antipathy to this his incarnation as Julia. And in a curious way this antipathy of his was universalised. For spiritual intuition shows this individuality in his life between death and a new birth as though perpetually crying out: “Would that I had never become a woman! It was the evil that I did in yonder life in ancient Egypt which led me thus to become a woman.”
We can now trace the life of these two individualities still farther. We come into the Middle Ages. We find Livy again as the glad poet and minstrel in the very centre of the Middle Ages. We are astonished to find him thus, for there is no connection between the external callings. But the greatest possible surprises that a human being can possibly have are those that result from a real study of successive lives on earth. The Roman historian, with his style that proceeded from a knowledge of man acquired in embalming mummies, with his style so wonderfully light — we find him again as the poet Walther von der Vogelweide. His style is carried upwards, as it were, upon the wings of lyric poetry.
Walther von der Vogelweide lived in the Tyrol. He had many patrons; and among his many patrons there was one very peculiar man, who was on familiar terms with alchemists of every kind, for there were scores of alchemists at that time, in the Tyrol. This man was himself the owner of a castle, but he frequented all manner of alchemists’ dens and hovels. In so doing he learned extraordinarily much, and (as happened in the case of Paracelsus too) by spending his time in the dens of alchemists he was impelled to study all occult matters very intensely, and gained an unusually intense feeling for occult things. He thus came into the position of rediscovering in the Tyrol what was then only known as a legend, namely, the Castle in the Mountain — the Castle in the Rocks — (which indeed no one would have recognised as such, for it consisted of rocks, it was hollowed out of the rocks) — I mean, the Castle of the Dwarf King Laurin. The daemonic nature in the district of the Castle of the Dwarf King Laurin made a profound impression on him. Thus there was a remarkable combination in this soul — Initiation which he had carried into frivolity, annoyance at having been a woman and having thus been drawn into the sphere of Roman immorality and, at the same time, Roman cant and hypocrisy about morals; and lastly, an intimate knowledge, though still only external, of all manner of alchemical matters, which knowledge he had extended to a clear feeling of the nature-daemons and of other spiritual agencies in nature.
August Strindberg
These two men — though it is not recorded in the biography of Walther, nevertheless it is the case — Walther von der Vogelweide and this other man often came together, and Walther received many an influence and impulse from him.
Here we have an instance of what is really a kind of karmic law. We see the same people drawn together again and again, called to the earth again and again simultaneously, complementing one another, living in a kind of mutual contrast. It is interesting once more, to enter into the peculiar lyrical style of Walther. It is as though at last he had grown thoroughly sick of embalming dead mummies and had turned to an entirely different aspect of life. He will no longer have anything to do with dead things, but only with the fullness and joy of life. And yet again, there is a certain undercurrent of pessimism in his work. Feel the style of Walther von der Yogelweide, feel in his style the two preceding earthly lives: feel too, his restless life. It is extraordinarily reminiscent of that life which dawns upon one who spends much of his time with the dead, when many destinies are unburdened in the soul. For such indeed was the case with an embalmer of mummies.
Now we go on. — My further researches into this karmic chain led me at length into the same room where I had visited my old acquaintance, whom I had recognised as an Egyptian mummy. And now I perceived that this very mummy had been embalmed by the other man whom I now met in his room. The whole line of research led me back to this same room. In effect, I found the soul who had passed through the servant of the old Egyptian embalmer, through Titus Livius, through Walther von der Vogelweide (the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets) — I found him again in the doctor of our time, in Ludwig Schleich.(a German surgeon,writer philosopher, poet & painter)
Thus astonishingly do the connections in life appear. Who, with the ordinary consciousness alone, can understand an earthly life? It can only be understood when we know what is there in the foundations of a soul. Theoretically, many people know that deep in the foundations of the soul there are the layers of successive earthly lives. But it becomes real and concrete only when we behold it in a specific instance.
August Strindberg, celestograph, 1894. Courtesy Royal Library, Stockholm.
Then inner vision was directed out of this room once more. (For in the case of the other man, who had been mummified by this one, I was led to no more clues — at any rate to no important ones.) On the other hand I now perceived the further soul-pilgrimage of the old chieftain, of Julia, of the discoverer of Laurin’s Castle. For he came back to earth as August Strindberg.
Now I would like you to take the whole life and literary work of August Strindberg and set it against the background which I have just described. See the peculiar misogyny of Strindberg, which is no true misogyny, but proceeds from quite different foundations. Look, too, at all the strange daemonic elements that occur in his works. See his peculiar attraction to all manner of alchemistic and occult arts and artifices. And at length, look at the adventurous life of August Strindberg. You will find how well it stands out against the background which I have described.
Then read the Memoirs of Ludwig Schleich, his relations to August Strindberg, and you will see how all this arises once more against the background of their former earthly lives. Indeed, from the Memoirs of Ludwig Schleich a very remarkable light may suddenly arise, a light truly astonishing. For the man in whose company I first met Ludwig Schleich — the man of whom I said that in his ancient Egyptian life he was mummified by Schleich — it is he of whom Schleich himself tells in his Memoirs that he led him to Strindberg. In a past life, Strindberg and Schleich had worked together upon the corpse. And the soul who dwelt in that body, led them together again.
Thus, all that we have to explain to begin with about repeated earthly lives and the karmic connections in general, becomes real and concrete. Only then do the facts that appear in earthly life become transparent. A single human life on earth is an entire mystery. What else can it be, until seen against the background of the former lives on earth? ~Rudolf Steiner http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA238/English/APC1957/19240907p01.html#sthash.phuf3nNA.dpuf
Yoram Raanan
Announcing an exciting Event on Ascension Thursday, May 26th 7 – 8:30 pm Eastern time.
Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – Celebrating the Festival of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
“In heavy clouds let Him ascend And so also let Him downward tread. In cooling streams let Him be sent, In flames of fire blaze His descent, In air & essence, sound & dew To permeate our whole earth thru” ~Novalis
Ascension is a Festival of the Elements, & of the Hierarchies, it relates to the Transfiguration & the fulfillment of the promise of the ‘Second Coming’. Together we will explore the mystery of ‘As Above so Below’.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a trans-denominational minister, essayist, lecturer, performer, and poet. She writes and curates ‘Reverse Ritual, Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year’ and the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast. Hazel’s been the Cultural Events and Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago for over 10 years. She is a member of the Central Regional Council, the School for Spiritual Science, the Esoteric Youth Circle, and the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
Register by contacting Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, by Sunday, May 22nd. You will receive an email with the zoom link on Tuesday May 24.
Hope to see you there!! – YES! Please feel free to spread the word!
A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community
with the Eastern, Central and Western Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America
Sunday 29 May 2022 – 3 – 4:30 pm PT, 4-5:30 MT, 5-6:30 pm CT, 6-7:30 pm ET
We will be working with Rudolf Steiner’s THE FIFTH GOSPELGA 148, Lecture II, 2 October 1913, Oslo
The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, our individual “I”, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is strongly felt during this time of the consciousness soul age. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create this type of culture, and the opportunity is here for each of us to meet, human to human, where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength comes from our personal development and is enhanced by weaving our gifts together with others, knitting our social world in conscious community.
The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation June 1, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) “Anyone who approaches these mysteries today must feel that they are confronting and challenging themselves by striving for the virtues of Parzival, while knowing that — because of modern conditions — they are in fact someone else also, the wounded Amfortas. Today we bear this divided nature within us: aspiring Parzival, wounded Amfortas. That is what self-knowledge must lead us to feel. From this recognition will flow the forces which make a unity again of this duality, and will thus advance us a little further in world evolution.”~ from Chapter 15, Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 15“Acknowledging Amfortas,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Berlin on 7 February 1913 (GA 144, lecture IV), will be the focus of the June 1 meeting.
A transcript of the entire lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.* Please considergiving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.
This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference:
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 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)
There is a knighthood of the 21st century whose riders do not ride through the darkness of physical forests as of old, but through the forest of darkened minds. They are armed with a spiritual armor and an inner sun makes them radiant. Out of them shines healing, healing that flows from the knowledge of the human being as a spiritual being. They must create inner order, inner justice, peace and conviction in the darkness of our time. ~Karl Konig
Agenda for this meeting (CST) 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Mariarosa – pages 117-123b Marianne – pages 123b-129 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse
“Intelligence” is not the decisive factor; our current intellect is present also in those who commit the greatest follies. Intelligence is therefore not lacking. What is lacking is sufficiently matured experience of events. As soon as the intelligence lays something down which appears plausible to its narrow limited experience it can come into disharmony with the real outward events and then the outer events break down around it. For there is a relationship between the physical body and the world which the human being will gradually learn to recognise and grasp with the forces which he possesses today already. But he will only be able to do this once he has accrued and assimilated the experiences of the outside world. Then the harmony which will have developed as a result of this experience will have been created by no other intellect than the one we have today; for it is precisely in the present that our intellect has developed to a certain stage. The only thing lacking is the ripening of experience. If the maturing of experience does not correspond to the outside then the human being becomes disharmonious with the outside world and can be broken on events in the outer world. ” ~Rudolf Steiner GA 59 – Metamorphoses of the Soul – Paths of Experience Vol. 2: Lecture 5 – Sickness and Healing – Berlin, 3rd March 1910
15 March 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The bright waxing gibbous Moon shines in the Sickle of Leo as darkness falls. The Moon is roughly between Regulus lower right of it and Algieba, slightly fainter, left of it.
42 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place
Feast Day of St. Longinus – Christian legend has it that Longinus was a blind Roman centurion who thrust the spear into Christ’s side at the crucifixion. Some of Jesus’s blood fell upon his eyes & he was healed. The Golden Legend says that he saw celestial signs before conversion. Thru this miracle Longinus believes in The Christ. The story related in the Gospel of John, is that Longinus calls Jesus was ‘The son of God’. Because of this he is considered the first Christian convert. The name Longinus is found in the Acts of Pilate, a text appended to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus.
Longinus did not start out as a saint. An early tradition, found in a sixth or seventh century claims that Longinus suffered for having pierced Jesus – he was condemned to a cave where every night a lion came & mauled him until dawn, after which his body healed back to normal, in a pattern that would repeat till the end of time.
Starting in the 6AD the “Lance of Longinus”, gets connected with the “Holy Lance” or the “Spear of Destiny”, which then figures in the legends of the Holy Grail.
Feast of St. Christopher, bearer of Christ – The name Christopher from the Greek means “bearer of Christ.” Derived from the Greek Christophoros – Various legends surround his life. The most popular is that he was a rather ugly, giant born to a heathen king who was married to a Christian, who had prayed to the Blessed Mother for a child. Originally named “Offerus,” he carried people across the river for his livelihood. He converted from paganism through the teaching of a hermit, named “Babylas.”
Again according to legend, one day one of his passengers to cross the river was a small child. As they proceeded, the child kept growing heavier, and Christopher feared that they would drown. The child then revealed Himself as Jesus, and the heaviness was due to the weight of the world that He carried on His shoulders.
According to the Roman Martyrology, he suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Emperor Decius by being shot with arrows after surviving burning.
The “Christ bearer” is the patron saint of travelers. (medals of St. Christopher & car medallions or pins are used by the faithful.) He is one of the “Fourteen Holy Helpers.”
1319 – Founding of the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Ordem dos Cavaleiros de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo), was the former Knights Templar order as it was reconstituted in Portugal after the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312 by the papal bull, Vox in excelso, issued by Pope Clement V1917 abdication of Czar Nicholas 2.
Tune in to our Zoom broadcasts, brief presentations of aspects of this course, with lots of time for Q&A. Intended to total 20 minutes in length. These are given on different days so you might find one that would work best for you. Each of these brief sessions will be different!
March 28, Monday, 9 AM Mtn. (morning)
Star Wisdom comes alive through active embodiment within each participant, made possible by working together in the instrument of the StarHouse—or within your sacred imagination in your own home. This immersion facilitates each participant forming conscious relationships with zodiacal and planetary beings.
Join us for an exploration, based on spiritual science and star wisdom, into the following themes:
This course, to train practitioners in Star Wisdom will take place in the StarHouse June 2022. It is designed to train beginners who are willing to ride a steep learning-curve, and long-time astrologers.
Our teaching weaves experiential activities (embodiment) and conceptual learning so you learn it more thoroughly.
On-line too: The course will also be on-line (live-streamed, interactive). A manager on our end will coordinate actively with those attending via Zoom, including relaying questions to the presenters for comment. (We plan that the event will be filmed and edited, and parts of it made available as a course through our website.)
Our approach to astrology is informed and inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indications found sprinkled throughout his six thousand lectures, as it has been developed by a small group of astrosophers over several decades. This deeper understanding of, and interaction with, the heavens is based on:
A sidereal (star-based) view of the heavens, emphasizing the active and dynamic role of the beings working from stars and constellations
Equal length zodiacal signs (relating to the lineage of Zarathustra), equal houses, and recognizing the Earth’s role and significance to the birth chart
Anthroposophy (thus called astrosophy, with its particular guidance for understanding the beings indwelling the zodiacal and planets)
Identifying and working with spiritual themes in our lives in a way made practical by the research of Robert Powell, and the indications of cosmic Christianity, as understood through Anthroposophy.
And other features that we will teach.
Some topics that we will cover:
New and traditional methods for interpreting a birth chart
Zodiacal constellations in the birth chart
Understanding the meaning in the patterns of the moving planets
Planetary aspects in the birth chart
The important role of the twelve equal houses, in the birth chart
How transiting planets interplay in the time-stream of life, presenting challenges and opportunities
Determining the time of conception and its own chart
The care necessary to regard the information of a person’s sacred birth moment with reverence and understanding
The importance of understanding reincarnation and karma for human development
The journey between death and rebirth, and why that is important for human destiny
Human Life phases: the 7-year periods of our life biography and the relation of those periods to the planetary spheres
The role of self-development for a practitioner of New Astrology
Commitment: This intensive requires participation in five-plus full days.
Dates: Begin Thursday evening, June 23, 2022, 7 PM, through midday Tuesday June 28. On June 24-27, we will go from 9 AM to 5 PM. Evenings are for homework, integration, and optional study groups. Lunches will be provided, including the last day, Tuesday.
Limits: Enrollment will be limited to 24 in-person participants and others will participate on-line. In-person will go through an application process. More important than years practicing astrology is your motivation to learn. Our present on-line courses (New Astrology, series 1 and series 2) will be made available to all registered participants and can provide a strong foundation to a motivated person with little experience. After application for In-person participants, one of our team will arrange a phone call to interview you.
Scholarship program: We plan to have a scholarship program to which those of means can contribute. Please consider contributing to this fund to support others taking this course.
Costs: Cost of on-site/in-person for the whole course $1100. On-line (live-streaming) $800. A deposit will hold your place.
Meals and Snacks: Lunches provided every day including Tuesday (just after the end of the course). Dietary restrictions are queried on the application. Snacks and tea are provided mid-morning and mid-afternoon every day.
Lodging: You will need to find your own lodging and transport. Some lodging is available in nearby residences, and the Retreat Cabin near the StarHouse. These can fill up quickly, so please make your request soon. Other lodgings nearby are the Boulder Adventure Lodge (a-lodge.com), which fills up in summertime quickly. More information will be sent after registration.
The Anthroposophical Society in America presents: Sophia Rising: Unveiling the Wisdom of Being Human in Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ April 21-24, 2022 Hotel Santa Fe Hacienda and Spa
Join us in New Mexico, the ‘land of enchantment’, resonant with light ether and deep history, as we enliven Sophia. Join together in community as Sophia emerges and rises in her many facets and expressions- past, present, and future.
Come and experience Sophia Rising as we honor the elements, the landscape, and each other.
VENUE & TRAVEL
Our gathering will take place at the lovely Native American-owned Hotel Santa Fe. We recommend you book your stay with the hotel to create a connected communal atmosphere for our gathering. The hotel has a full restaurant, pool, hot tub, and spa, as well as kivas and cozy sitting areas. Please call or email to make reservations with our special room rate for suites at $179/night. Each suite includes a refrigerator, microwave and sitting area. So much of what Santa Fe has to offer is within walking distance from the hotel.
**Ask for ASA Gathering to book with our special rate of $179/night for a suite. **
Registrants will receive suggested activities from our local organizers to explore in Santa Fe before or after our gathering. Extending your stay? The special ASA hotel rate is available for 3 days prior to and 3 days after the ASA gathering.
HOTEL and VENUE ADDRESS: 1501 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 Phone: (877) 259-3409
TICKETS The ticket price includes access to all conference activities, snacks, coffee/tea and beverages, dessert reception Thursday, dinner Friday, lunch Saturday and brunch on Sunday.
Early Bird Only with Room Booking – After 2/26 more tickets will be released!
SCHEDULE (subject to minor changes)
THURSDAY, April 21
7 pm Gathering Together – with a dessert reception
7:30- 8:30 pm ArtActs: Past – Present – Future Eurythmy, and Singing,
FRIDAY, April 22
Explore Santa Fe on your own and continued arrivals
1:00 – 2:30 pm Welcome: Spirit of Placewith organizers
WEAVING EARTH Opening Ceremony with Angela Foster and friends
2:30pm-3:00pm Break
3:00-4:30 pm Encountering the Celestial Goddess Anthroposophia with Mary Stewart Adams
HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
4:30-4:45 pm Break
4:45- 6:00 pm WEAVING AIR ArtActs Eurythmy, Singing, and Speech
6:00-7:30 pm Dinner Together*
7:30 pm Fireside Chats – Story and Sharing – Breakout circles led by friends and organizers 8:30 pm
Stargazing with Mary Stewart Adams
SATURDAY, April 23
Breakfast – On your own
8:30 – 9:30 am WEAVING ETHER Eurythmy
9:30 – 10:00 am Break
10:00 -11:15 am The Virgin of Guadalupe: Sophia Rising in the Americaswith Stephanie Georgieff – The Virgin of Guadalupe is one of the first recorded apparitions in the Americas. Revealing herself to a Nahuatl Native and ultimately to the Bishop of New Spain and his entourage in December of 1531, this image has continued to inspire countless souls for nearly 500 years. The symbolism and timing of her appearance presents deep mysteries for our age, and points to the ultimate Sophianic impulse for the present and future of Humanity.
11:30 – 12:30 pm WEAVING STORIES Biography Work
12:30 – 2:00 pm Lunch Together*
2:00 – 4:00 pm ‘ANTHROPOSOPHIA: OUR ALCHEMICAL WEDDING’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg and Friends. At the heart of this convergence isa Grand Experiential Soul Journey to ‘Know Thyself’’ – A Temple Experience in the New Mysteries, built up and worked on during all the WEAVING sessions, preparing us to enter a deeply intensive initiatory experience – a ‘Movable Feast’ with various stations engaging us in group eurythmy, singing, Steiner verses, color gestures in art, and a telling of the New Isis Myth. Passing through Trials of the Soul we meet powerful Spiritual Beings on the way to our sacred marriage – a union of Warmth and Light, so that we can unveil the ‘Sophia Rising’ within ourselves, and the world.
4:00 – 4:30 pm Break
4:30 – 5:30 pm WEAVING COLOR Invoking Natura: Sensing the Cosmic within the Earthly Pastels with Helen-Ann Ireland
8:00-9:30 pm WEAVING COMMUNITYSophia Rising- Past, Present, and FutureMC’d by Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer. Sign up to bring something to share! Poetry, Instruments, Story
SUNDAY, April 24
8:00 – 9:00 am WEAVING LIGHT Bathe in the Natural Warmth and Harmony of the Metal Gold with Helena Hurrell – A metal color light therapy experience inspired by the glass windows at the Goetheanum
9:00-10:30 am WEAVING FIRE with Carrie Schuchardt HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
10:30 – 12:00pm Brunch Together*
12:00-1:00 pm WEAVING WATERWater Ritual with Joyce Reilly and Friends WEAVING WHOLENESSClosing with Angela Foster and Friends
Notes: *Meals marked with an asterisk are included in the price of the ticket – Coffee, tea, and snacks will also be provided through the conference
A quiet ‘Sanctuary Room’ will be provided for contemplation
PRESENTERS AND GUIDES (Not a full list-more to come!)
Mary Stewart Adams is a Star Lore Historian, and host of the weekly public radio program and podcast “The Storyteller’s Night Sky”. Through her research in spiritual science and her education in literary arts, Mary has developed a unique, humanities-based approach to understanding our relationship with the stars. Her work is further augmented by an extensive knowledge of ancient mythologies and fairy tales, which she relates to the research and ideas of contemporary astronomy in order to understand the new star wisdom of astrosophy.
Eyahnna DalBo (artist of the Sophia Rising painting) came to anthroposophy 30 years ago when her daughter attended a Waldorf school. Her studies have included an undergraduate degree in fine art and graduate work in psychology using the arts for healing. In her private practice, she developed various energetic modalities. Her experience with subtle energy fields gave her the opportunity to teach and take part in designing a curriculum for a 2-year program focusing on energy healing. As a consultant, she initiated numerous therapeutic programs to assist in pioneering the field of art therapy. Through the gift of an apprenticeship with indigenous people she was able to bring their practices and ceremonies to what she offered deepening her ability to be of service. As an artist, she continues to utilize the spoken word, movement, sound, and visual imagery to honor and create a field that fosters awareness, growth, and transformation.
Angela Foster has been an active student of anthroposophy since 2008. After growing up in Texas, Angela is now embracing life in Atlanta, Georgia as an artist, teacher, and mom of two daughters, shepherd to two mini sheep. As a conscious practitioner of “beginner’s mind”, Angela has completed programs in foundation studies in Anthroposophy numerous times and is currently enrolled in Foundation Studies in Goethean Science through the Nature Institute. She and her husband manage the Anthroposophical Resource Center (ARC) an initiative in Decatur, Georgia that offers space for community events and serves as a little house for Anthroposophia.
Stephanie Georgieff, MS is an author, podcaster and pilgrim. Residing mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, she has written several books on The Divine Feminine as presented through the genre of The Black Madonna, The Virgin of Guadalupe and The Divine Sophia. She has spoken at conferences and venues throughout North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The Black Madonna Speaks is her latest endeavor, a weekly podcast exploring the mysteries of The Black Madonna from an Anthroposophical and Esoteric Chritian perspective, along with artists, poets, authors and scholars on the subject.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings.
Helena Hurrell joyfully met Anthroposophy in San Fransisco in 1977 and has been working with individuals and groups as a Waldorf educator since 1981 and then throughout her life trained to become a therapist while living in Australia, the UK and North America. She is currently in private practice in Colorado blending the therapeutic work she offers through her love of color ~ as an Art and Metal Color Light Glass Therapist trained in the UK and Germany. Both of these trainings are certified by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. Metal Color Light Therapy is a relatively new initiative originated by the late Marianne Altmaier who developed this therapy and training out of her deep interest in and knowledge of the Goetheanum windows in Dornach. Helena’s website: www.helioscenter.org
Helen-Ann Ireland has been involved in anthroposophical studies for over 30 years as a Waldorf teacher, member of the School for Spiritual Science, Class holder, and now as chair of the Anthroposophical Society of America. A special interest has been in the area of the Divine Feminine and the Being of Sophia.
Michele Mariscal has 30 years of experience in the health and wellness field. She is a skilled facilitator in soft skills, speaker, coach and author. She is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist as well as a Trainer and Coach with the Institute of HeartMath. She facilitates greater heart-based living for individuals and organizations Michele is also a five-time author with her most recent publication of Growing Through Grief – The Alchemy of Healing from Loss.
Joyce Reilly Joyce studied psychology in college and was fascinated by the idea of a therapeutic community. She has worked in Camphill for many years, and is trained as a Waldorf and Therapeutic teacher. She founded Gheel House, a therapeutic community near Kimberton Pennsylvania, still thriving after 37 years. Joyce’s interests expanded to international conflict work and refugee resettlement. She works with organizations such as the Janusz Korczak Association, Karuna Peacebuilders, Kiwimbi International, Good Grief, the Worldwide Storytelling and Puppetry Association, and especially with the New York Anthroposophical Branch, and also works part-time at the local public library. Joyce is also trained in Psychosynthesis therapy and Anthroposophical psychology – currently practicing as a life coach and counselor.
Carrie Schuchardt co-founded The House of Peace in 1990, a home that is a physical and spiritual refuge for victims of war in a community with adults with special needs. In the last 15 years over 400 refugees from approximately 30 countries have been received in the healing embrace of The House of Peace, giving supportive assistance in establishing themselves in the US. In addition to the daily work of The House Peace, Carrie participates in many activities for the conversion of consciousness and policies from war to peace. Carrie has begun a network of women who witness publicly, Women Weeping, where women dress in mourning carrying symbolic lifeless children in order to help people feel what is rarely expressed in the media: the grief of hundreds of thousands of mothers in war zones around the world who lose their children to the terrible violence of war.
Maria Ver Eecke is presently the therapeutic eurythmist for the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY. She taught eurythmy for forty years in Waldorf schools, a charter school, and a home-school program. Maria met anthroposophy in Maseru, Lesotho, when she was a class teacher in an English-medium preparatory school. Currently she is the editor of the newsletters for the Eurythmy Association of North America and the Association of Therapeutic Eurythmy in North America.
:format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46180906/statueoflibertyhead.0.0.jpg?resize=357%2C357&ssl=1)
