Summer-Tide is a time of relationships & harmony…Showing us how we are connected to the cosmos, to nature & its rhythms…with the longer days the pineal gland receives more light & we feel creative power shining in on us.

Here is a little guided meditation for this time of year:

Make yourself comfortable…taking a deep breath… filling your belly…thrilling your lungs…Let your body sink deep & Relax…

As your awareness is internalized, connect with the Breath of Life, gently moving through you…Make all your senses alert to the breath…Enjoy its power & simplicity…Feel the sustaining energy behind the breath…Feel the life force coursing through your cells & thoughts…

Direct your inner vision to a large field, a field of glorious, full, sunflowers…It the dawning of a new day…a perfect Summer morning, with a white-cloud-dotted clear sky, & a warm sun beginning to dazzle the world with its light…The sunflowers are tall & abundant, swaying in the warming breeze blowing across the field…Listen to the rustle of their music, dancing in the harmony of the elements together…Their beautiful, rich color casting a golden glow all around you…

There is a path ahead, meandering through the flowers, which are much taller than you are, magnificently facing the sun absorbing its rays…You follow this path, slowly & leisurely, feeling every part of your feet making contact with the fertile earth…The sunflowers lining the path acknowledge you, every step of the way, whispering of riches & abundance, of the golden prosperity of your soul…

You look down to your right & see a large patch of St. John’s Wort in full bloom…Receiving permission from the plant spirit, you begin to harvest the bright yellow blossoms, putting them reverently into the pouch at your hip…

Thanking the glorious medicine of this spirit you move on down the path, feeling the heat rising with the sun, inflaming your souls purpose…

You stop to drink from a clear stream…& as you begin to stand, you notice a patch of pennyroyal…You commune with its magic, gathering the fragrant medicine into your pouch…Feeling enlivened & in rhythm with the height of summer, you are lead to wisteria & roses…Fields of thyme & mugwort & chamomile…

This is where the plant fairies dance & play in the lengthening shadows…You are called to look up to the sky, & you see the first pink traces of dusk approaching… As you come to the end of this path, your heart is at peace…

A little way ahead there is an opening…You make your way there, seeing that it is a small mound with magnificent oaks & a pristine pond… Under one of the oak trees, on the edge of the pond there is a blazing campfire crackling as the sky turns orange-crimson…You are at home here…Your fire is born of oak & fir tree branches…The flames call out to you, whispering your secret name…

You offer up the harvest pouch you filled with love & summer herbs, casting it into the blue core of the flames…tossing in all thoughts of negativity…all obstacles…all pain…all worries, into its hot light of transformation…& as it burns free…take in the rising fragrance of your healing harvest…feeling cleansed…& energized

The twilight lingers, Our Day Star-Sun Takes its time to set triumphantly in the west…The sky is a canvas, & Mother Nature is expressing all her creativity…

Her grand design is reflected on the still pond at your feet…When you look at the pond, you see that it is a perfect reflection of your life, & on its surface you are able to see or experience all parts of who you are…What you are…What you will to become…

Your soul’s beauty, vastness & great love blend, with the sunset colors, & the pond’s liquid shimmer…As the light fades, a soft breeze ripples across the pond, & the colors are set into motion. There is a sweet music in the air of flutes, & harps, bells & drums…a light begins to surface from the pond…you see a form crystallizing…You realize this is the spirit of Mother Earth come to dance with you…She hovers over the pond & in a sublime voice speaks to you…

“I have come – for you have honored me, by honoring yourself…I have come – for many do not know of Me…I have come – thru you…Your life & mine are the same…Your welfare & mine are the same…What is good for you is good for me…When you feel love, I feel love…So won’t you share your goodwill with others? Won’t you share your goodwill with the Universe? Won’t you share your goodwill with yourself? I ask, for I see you are willing & able…I see you are a bright power…You are full of courage & light…You are a transformer of reality…

Transform the reality that no longer serves you…& as you do, link with others who know Me, & recognize the family of Life…When you recognize in someone, what you know inside to be true, seek to expand that truth…for as light is shared & love is grown, so shall the world change…

You are my feet & hands, my eyes & voice…You do not live alone…The world is yours to craft as you choose…Choose freedom…Choose the way that creates the best for all; children, women, men, bodies of water, mountains, the land, all life…I gift you with Life & the ability to care for it…Embrace this gift.”

Take a moment now & pledge to the Mother what you will do to help the world, the environment; to help others; & to help yourself.

Cultivate the blessings received & the vision of your Divine-self in your heart-soul…Resolve to act on your life-purpose & make it real…

Gradually bring your experience to the present once again, to the here & now…Feel your body refreshed & renewed, here & now, in time & space, in your own sacred space…know you are sacred… know you are here…& Gently, joyfully, when you are ready, open your eyes…to see the unity of the cosmic community to which you belong…& say – Blessed be…

~hag

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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

28 June 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna hits her First Quarter today.

Catch Comet PanSTARRS in the constellation Canes Venatici, which sits beneath the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle.

The Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Latin: Sollemnitas Sacratissimi Cordis Iesu) is a solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This great feast in the Church is always celebrated on the octave day of Corpus Christi, the feast which celebrates the Body & Blood of Christ. Corpus Christi falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (which itself falls on the Sunday after Pentecost), which means the feast of the Sacred Heart falls nineteen days after Pentecost Sunday. The following day is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so these two devotions to the hearts of Jesus and Mary are side-by-side on the liturgical calendar.

Feast of Saint Vitus, a Christian saint from Sicily. He died as a martyr during the persecution of Christians by co-ruling Roman Emperors Diocletian & Maximian in 303. Vitus is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers of medieval Roman Catholicism. Saint Vitus’ Day is celebrated on 28 June on the Gregorian Calendar.

In the late Middle Ages, people in Germany & countries such as Latvia celebrated the feast of Vitus by dancing before his statue. This dancing became popular & the name “Saint Vitus Dance” was given to the neurological disorder Sydenham’s chorea. It also led to Vitus being considered the patron saint of dancers & of actors, comedians, dancers, of entertainers in general a& epileptics. He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks & oversleeping.

1712 – Birthday of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher & polymath

1831 – Birthday of Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist, composer, & conductor; friend of Herman Grimm.

1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria & his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo; this is the casus belli of World War I.

1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the state of war between Germany & the Allies of World War I.

1950 – Korean War: Suspected sympathizers are executed in the Bodo League massacre.

1950 – Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul & leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge in an attempt to slow North Korea’s offensive. The city falls later that day.

1950 – Korean War: North Korean Army conducts the Seoul National University Hospital massacre. Over 900 doctors, nurses, patients & wounded soldiers, were killed. The Korean People’s Army shot or buried the people alive. The civilian victims alone numbered 1900.

1964 – Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

1969 – Stonewall riots begin in New York City, marking the start of the Gay Rights Movement.

1973 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists & nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.

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TODAY: Sunday 28 June, 2020 Goethe’s Primordial Plant Workshop with Victoria Martin 

Goethe’s Primordial Plant: Urpflanze Magic Art Workshop with Victoria Martin – Create your own Totem Plant Portrait on 8 x 32 Archival Canvas.

$15 – $25 (or pay what you will) includes Tuition & All Materials. Space is limited to 10, so please reserve your spot.

Sunday 28 – Doors open: 2:30pm, Lecture, Demo & Art Making: 3 pm – 4:30 pm, Critique & Soiree: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Please bring Paleo Snacks to share. RSVP by Thursday June 25 Contact viccimartin@gmail.com or call 312-961-3380.

~Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago Festivals & Programs Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

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August 8-18 ‘Classroom Alive’ Youth Open-Source Learning in Chicago

We’re starting up with Culture in our community – join young people here in Chicago for a 10 day walking journey – Classroom Alive Chicago!

Exploration & experiencial learning all over Chicagoland, starting at at Elderberries 3-Fold Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultrual Hub 4251 N. Lincolon Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

for more info. contact Ultra-Violet Archer, or Frank Agrama

Details TBA #ClassroomAliveChicago2020

Thank you for forwarding this flier for any interested young people –

Co-sponsored in part by The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Festival & Program Coordinator

August 20-23, 2020 Questions of Courage Youth Conference at Elderberries

Questions of Courage 2020 in Chicago – August 20-23 Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost and 3Fold Cultural Hub 4251 N. Lincolon Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

August 20: Check-in, share conversation, build the ground for the journey together.

August 21-22: Travel to Wisconsin Move together towards the land, link up with Farmer John and Haidy Angelic Organics Biodynamic Farm, and also with Dana and Phil Burns at Healing Traditions and Alizur farm. Connect with the land, plants, animals, and one another, through creative explorations and “roughin’ it” type amendments. Sleep under the stars or indoors.

August 23: Return to Chicago Enter back into the metropolitan context, into the social questions of urban life, and close the gathering together at Elderberries, setting the ground for future work out of questions of courage that are present.

Other locations and collaborators are currently in dialogue, and will be updated here.

The gathering is essentially about stepping into the living natural element, step by step, making an integral connection, with one another, ourselves, and the elements that support us here on the Earth…”

registration: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdY7KXHkjUPV2h9UD…/viewform

Thank you Elderberries for giving us an anchor to build our heartland gathering around!

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August 27-30, HOW WE WILL 2020

At Elderberries 3-fold Bio-Dynamic Outpost

for more info. contact Frank Agrama or Dottie Zold

Details TBA Co-sponsored in part by The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago -Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Festival & Program Coordinator

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