Greetings on this Feast of Purification of the BVM – 40 days after Christmas.
You, my dear friends, are being called at this liminal time to stand at the Threshold, where your true purpose & the world’s deep hunger meet…
You are free, of course, to ignore this milestone moment…Maybe you have a kind of amnesia, & don’t remember what you came here to do in this life? Could it be you don’t see the signs? Carl Jung once said: “Whatever is rejected from the self, appears in the world as an event.”.
What will it take for you to collaborate with the forces of change?
What would it be like to: Think Willing; Feel Thinking; Will Feeling…?
Ever adjusting to the ongoing shifts, to re-direct, to play, in the interplay – stepping up to the experience of transformation with exhilaration & gratitude in the face of the eternal flux?
Dearly Beloved, your mission is to become your True You in the Divine We in 2023…
The Alchemical Triple Goddess Brigid can be our guide & role-model. Her Celtic Feast Day Imbolc, which roughly translates to mean: ‘a Quickening in the Belly’, is celebrated at this Cross-Quarter time, which comes when the Sun hits 15 degrees in the constellation Capricorn, falling this year on the 5th of February 2023, heralding the promise of Spring – The perfect time for a re-dedication to your life purpose.
As Goddess of Smith-craft & the Sacred Forge, Brigid is representative of our fiery will force. Brigid invites us to heat up our dormant potential – to re-seed our perfect passion – to be-come the tools of our own self-same destiny…
The name Brigid means ‘One who Exalts Herself’. She holds the Trinity in the unity of Maiden, Mother, Crone – past, present, future – aligning with the Threshold moments in the cycle of the year as path of initiation.
She is said to have invented the Ogham alphabet; so Brigid is patron of the written word – especially Poetry – called ‘Fire in the head’. In Druid tradition, poetry is attendant with augury, so what would it be like to reclaim Brigit as the patron of our new clairvoyance..?
Since Brigid is strongly associated not only with the forge but with the Sacred Well, this fosters a deep healing of our formative forces which strengthens our physical, & brings purification to our astral sheath. The Fire of will born from the “I” & represented by the Forge brought into temperance as the banked Hearth fires, & combined with the healing waters, brings in the alchemy of medicine making – herbal potions, & a nurturing of Fertility. The joining of Fire & Water is an ancient alchemical symbol of the union of opposites – The Alchemical Marriage – which gives birth to the creative force.
As modern Bards & Anthrosoph-Druids, Brigid can inspire all who align with her archetype. We are invited to acknowledge ourselves as re-dedicated instruments in a Christic re-kindling of a new vitality, germinating the seeds in an evolution of transformation.
True Alchemy, as practiced by the Rosicrucian’s, is a process of the spiritual or psychological development & progression. It can be summed up with the Latin words “Solve et Coagula” –
1st- Separation: Are you willing to name the dross – get the lead out – the junk that gets in the way? Will you take the time to step out of your shadow? Do you dare to look deep into that dark adversarial places we all harbor? YES, it’s Time to begin the process of freeing ourselves from any obstacle that may have become entrenched in our being…
2nd Stage: Purification: Dissolving all the impurities…flushing the roots…washing away…opening the flood gates…a dissolution percolating into those hard to reach places…stirring up what has long been submerged…purging those places that even the fire could not reach…perhaps you’d even like to brave the cold hard truth & plunge your whole self into the icy waters of the Holy well…will you leap into the pool of ablution? So cold it feels hot…getting your blood flowing…tingling with life force…the pores of your skin opening & closing like an excretory organ…waking up your sluggish nature…bringing you back to clarity & wholesomeness…a true Baptism…a rebirth that makes you feel brand new…let the waters of adaptability free you from the swamp…drink deep of the waters of the Holy well & let your authentic-self float confidently to the surface…remembering always, that yes, Brigid’s Holy Well is as close as your next glass of water…
& the 3rd stage: The Refining/Re-combining – the creation of a unified self. Can you list your strengths? Those parts of you that are golden, (or perhaps silver – parts may need a little polishing) sweeping the hearth of your heart clean – re-forming…What are your good qualities?…those positive parts of yourSelf that you want to foster & encourage, affirm & strengthen… What Potentials do you want to focus on & give energy to…?
Salt, Sulphur & Mercury, like the Maiden, Mother, Crone, make up the ‘Three Principles’ of Alchemy. In the spiritual process, salt is often seen as the physical body, the ultimate ‘prima materia’, of the philosophers stone. Salt is ‘bitter’, a symbol for knowledge & wisdom gained, which is often bitter, & painful at 1st. In general sulfur is the symbol for the omnipresent Spirit of life. The fire of will. Mercury represents the healing adaptability of the soul.
Rosicrucianism which works with the cognitive imagination of this Spiritual Alchemy, is a world view aimed at understanding both the world around us, the world within us, & the correspondences between them.
“Visita Inferiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem” = Seek out the lower reaches of the earth, perfect them, & you will find the hidden stone.
“Holy water…Sacred Flame
Brigid We Invoke your Name
Bless my Hands, my Head, my Heart
Source of Healing, Song & Art”
See you on the high road
~hag
ArtNight 3 February 2023 – A Youth Sponsored Event using our Shared Space Agreement @ the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
Doors open at 7:30 pm
8 pm – Sharings Start – $12 (pay online)
YOU MUST RSVP at this Link:
ArtNight has been described as a 21st-century Salon. We gather once a month in Chicago. People sign up to present and perform what they’re passionate about,
having facilitated discussions and activities, and enjoying food from local establishments.
What we’re trying to do.
- Establish spaces where doing what you love is normal.
- Promote passion instead of perfection. You don’t need to be famous, talented, attractive, virtuosic or wealthy – it’s meaningful and important to do what you love no matter who you are and you should be supported.
- Create genuine connections in substance-free environments.
- Encourage curiosity and learning.
- Be a place where you can have fun without shame or embarrassment.
Article about ArtNight
The ArtNight night starts off with a vibe. As people filter in, we hang out,
talk to strangers who’ll become our friends, and we settle down before we
settle in for the next couple hours.
The ArtNight itself starts off with a welcome activity. Don’t worry,
it’s not your classic, awkward high school ice breaker.
Now it’s time for the main event. The people who volunteered to share do their thing. We watch and listen and experience and ask questions
and fall in love with them, loving their passions.
In between the sharing, we take a break for that meaningful discussion
we keep mentioning. Every ArtNight has a specific discussion topic,
and everyone is encouraged to share their experiences.
It’s always a dialogue, never a debate.
The ArtNight closes out with a vibe. We eat, and we reconnect with the
people we met earlier. All of this was to get to know people
for who they actually are – so we keep doing it.
YOU MUST RSVP to attend
The Mystery of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
This course is available on Zoom. You will be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class. The course will be recorded and you will receive a link to watch it. Go to the Infinity Foundation web site to enroll
Course Number 231154 / Zoom
Date: Thursday, May 11
Time 7:00 – 8:30 PM CST
Cost $33/23 payment 10 days in advance
When we tune into the Cycle of the Seasons, we experience that as the Earth breathes out in the Springtime, the beings of nature reach upwards towards the heights. The longing of the human soul also strives to meet this mood of ascension, which attunes all life to the cosmic expanses.
Together we will gain insights in how to rise up to our Higher Self by participating in this harmonizing spring-dialogue between the worlds.
This reconnection between heaven & earth was prefigured in the story of Jacob’s ladder from the Old Testament. Through his dream of the ‘stairway to heaven’, Jacob gave us a prophecy in the picture of a golden ladder on which choirs of Angels traverse between the ‘Above & Below’. The Mystery of the Ascension of Christ, 40 days after the Resurrection at Easter, fulfilled Jacob’s Prophecy. Christ as the Being of Love became the living bridge connecting us to the eternal.
Through this workshop we will learn how humanity will also be transfigured in the fullness of time. The company of the Angelic Hierarchies wait for us, their younger siblings, to ascend, first of all in our thinking, to meet them in fellowship, as they work all the while by our sides.
Hi Hazel,
Welcome home. I am intrigued to know how and why you see Brigid as the “patron of our new clairvoyance”? This new clairvoyance has been a matter of recent discussion.
You wrote:
She is said to have invented the Ogham alphabet; so Brigid is patron of the written word – especially Poetry – called ‘Fire in the head’. In Druid tradition, poetry is attendant with augury [omen] , so Brigid can also be seen as the patron of our new clairvoyance.
I like very much the symbol of the triple goddess – Maiden, Mother, Crone. It can be correlated to a number of trinity expressions, and Past, Present, and Future comes readily to mind. I feel that the new clairvoyance would have to embrace these three moments all at the same time. Could this be the year that WE define it further in terms of actual achievement? 2023 could be a crossroads. Liminity (what a word)!
Yes, it is clear to me that many of the archetypes that were precursors to the Christ need to be reclaimed, & renewed – their essence brought into the present – therefore especially in this case bringing as you said the past, present & future into focus in a Christic way is important. And prototypical representatives embodied by the various cultural expressions seen thru the lens of the Cycle of the Year brings us powerful essential energies that we can tap into & reinvigorate for ourselves & for the Universe – A renewed Alchemy – a new Rosicrucianism – a new stream of Erkenntnis