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The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th. In 1531 a “Lady from Heaven” appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified herself as the “Mother of the True God” & instructed him to have the bishop build a church on the site & left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth. The tilma should have deteriorated within 20 years but shows no sign of decay after 485 years. It to this day defies all scientific explanations of its origin.
In the earliest account of the apparition, the Nican Mopohua, the Virgin Mary tells Juan Bernardino, the uncle of Juan Diego, that the image left on the tilma is to be known by the name “The Perfect Virgin, Holy Mary of Guadalupe”.
Alternative names that sound similar to “Guadalupe”, Tecuatlanopeuh which translates as “She whose origins were in the rocky summit“, & Tecuantlaxopeuh “She who banishes those who devoured us.”
Following the Conquest in 1519–21, the Spanish destroyed a temple of the mother goddess Tonantzin at Tepeyac outside Mexico City, & built a chapel dedicated to the Virgin on the site. Newly converted natives continued to come from afar to worship there, often addressing the Virgin Mary as Tonantzin.
A Spanish version of the Nahuatl term, Coātlaxopeuh, which is interpreted as meaning “The one who crushes the serpent,” may be referring to the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl.
According to another theory the juxtaposition of Guadalupe & a snake may indicate a nexus with the Aztec goddess of love & fertility, Tonantzin (in Nahuatl “Our Revered Mother“), who also went under the name of Coatlícue (“The Serpent Skirt“). This appears to be borne out by the fact that this goddess had a temple dedicated to her on the very Tepeyac Hill where Juan Diego had his vision, the very temple which had recently been destroyed at the behest of the new Catholic authorities.
Some describe her as the Woman of the Apocalypse from the New Testament’s Revelation 12:1, “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” She is also described as a representation of the Immaculate Conception.
In 1929 & 1951 photographers claimed to have found a figure reflected in the Virgin’s eyes; upon inspection they said that the reflection was tripled in what is called the Purkinje effect, commonly found in human eyes. An ophthalmologist, later enlarged an image of the Virgin’s eyes by 2500x & claimed to have found not only the aforementioned single figure, but images of all the witnesses present when the tilma was first revealed before Zumárraga in 1531, plus a small family group of mother, father, & a group of children, in the center of the Virgin’s eyes, fourteen people in all.
In 1936 biochemist Richard Kuhn analyzed a sample of the fabric & announced that the pigments used were from no known source, whether animal, mineral or vegetable. Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, who photographed the icon under infrared light, declared from his photographs that portions of the face, hands, robe, & mantle had been painted in one step, with no sketches or corrections & no visible brush strokes.
The image has layers of meaning for the indigenous people of Mexico who associated her image with their polytheistic deities, which further contributed to her popularity. Her blue-green mantle was the color reserved for the divine couple Ometecuhtli & Omecihuatl; her belt is interpreted as a sign of pregnancy; & a cross-shaped image, symbolizing the cosmos & called nahui-ollin, is inscribed beneath the image’s sash. She was called “Mother of maguey,” the source of the sacred beverage pulque. Pulque was also known as “The milk of the Virgin.” The rays of light surrounding her are seen to also represent maguey spines.
On 14 November 1921 a bomb hidden within a basket of flowers brought by an anti-Catholic secularist damaged the altar, but left the tilma unharmed. A brass standing Crucifix, bent in the explosion, is now preserved at the shrine.
Her message of love & compassion, & her universal promise to help & protect all humankind, as well as the story of the apparitions, are described in the “Nican Mopohua,” a 16th century document written in the native Nahuatl language.
Accounts state that The Virgin Mary appeared four times before Juan Diego & one more before Juan Diego’s uncle. According to these accounts the first apparition occurred on the morning of December 9, 1531, when a native Mexican peasant named Juan Diego saw a vision of a maiden at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac, which would become part of Villa de Guadalupe, a suburb of Mexico City. Speaking to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl language (the language of the Aztec empire), the maiden identified herself as the Virgin Mary, “Mother of the very true deity”& asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor.
Based on her words, Juan Diego then sought out the archbishop of Mexico City, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, to tell him what had happened. As the bishop did not believe Diego, on the same day, Juan Diego saw the Virgin Mary for a second time (the second apparition); she asked him to keep insisting.
On Sunday, December 10, Juan Diego talked to the archbishop for a second time. He instructed him to return to Tepeyac Hill, & ask the lady for a miraculous sign to prove her identity. That same day the third apparition occurred when Diego returned to Tepeyac &, encountering the Virgin Mary reported the bishop’s request for a sign; she consented to provide one on the following day (December 11)
By Monday, December 11, however, Juan Diego’s uncle Juan Bernardino had fallen sick & Juan Diego was obliged to attend to him. In the very early hours of Tuesday, December 12, Juan Bernardino’s condition having deteriorated overnight, Juan Diego set out to Tlatelolco to fetch a priest to hear Juan Bernardino’s confession & minister to him on his death-bed.
In order to avoid being delayed by the Virgin & ashamed at having failed to meet her on the Monday as agreed, Juan Diego chose another route around the hill, but the Virgin intercepted him & asked where he was going (fourth apparition); Juan Diego explained what had happened & the Virgin gently chided him for not having had recourse to her. In the words which have become the most famous phrase of the Guadalupe event & are inscribed over the main entrance to the Basilica of Guadalupe, she asked: “No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?” (Am I not here, I who am your mother?). She assured him that Juan Bernardino had now recovered & she told him to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill, which was normally barren, especially in December. Juan followed her instructions & he found Castilian roses, not native to Mexico, blooming there. The Virgin arranged the flowers in Juan’s tilma, or cloak, & when Juan Diego opened his cloak before archbishop Zumárraga on December 12, the flowers fell to the floor, & on the fabric was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The next day, on December 13, Juan Diego found his uncle fully recovered, as the Virgin had assured him, & Juan Bernardino recounted that he too had seen her, at his bed-side (fifth apparition); that she had instructed him to inform the bishop of this apparition & of his miraculous cure; & that she had told him she desired to be known under the title of Guadalupe.
The bishop kept Juan Diego’s mantle first in his private chapel & then in the church on public display where it attracted great attention. On December 26, 1531 a procession formed for taking the miraculous image back to Tepeyac where it was installed in a small hastily erected chapel. In course of this procession, the first miracle was allegedly performed when an Indian was mortally wounded in the neck by an arrow shot by accident during some stylized martial displays executed in honour of the Virgin. In great distress, the Indians carried him before the Virgin’s image & pleaded for his life. Upon the arrow being withdrawn, the victim made a full & immediate recovery.
Juan Diego’s tilma has become Mexico’s most popular religious & cultural symbol, & has received widespread ecclesiastical & popular support. In the 19th century it became the rallying call of American-born Spaniards in New Spain, who saw the story of the apparition as their own Mexican origin & infusing it with a sense of mission & identity –also legitimizing their armed rebellion against Spain.
The earliest mention of the miraculous apparition of the Virgin is a page of parchment (the Codex Escalada) which was discovered in 1995 &, according to investigative analysis, dates from the sixteenth century. This document bears two pictorial representations of Juan Diego & the apparition, several inscriptions in Nahuatl referring to Juan Diego by his Aztec name, & the date of his death: 1548, as well as the year that the Virgin Mary appeared: 1531. It also contains the glyph of Antonio Valeriano; & finally, the signature of Fray Bernardino de Sahagun that was authenticated by experts.
An incredible list of miracles, cures & interventions are attributed to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Each year an estimated 10 million people visit her Basilica, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world. Altogether 24 popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Juan Diego was canonized in 2002, under the name Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
May we be worthy of the miraculous
Xox
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POD (Poem Of the Day)
~today Proud Mary said:
“Big wheel keep on turning”…
What comes around goes around
So let the great wheel spin
As we sit at the hub of the universe
& create the day…
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12 December 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Geminid Meteor shower, usually one of the best of the year, should be at its peak late tonight & tomorrow night. But the waning gibbous Moon will light the sky, so only the brightest few meteors will shine through. You might see one every several minutes on average from midnight to dawn, if you have a wide-open view of the sky overhead & shield the glare from Bella Luna from your eyes.
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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
“…what man lives through historically, what he lives through socially, what he lives through in the ethical relationships between people, all this really has the value of a dream, of sleep…People will consider history in quite another way when this has reached their living consciousness; they will no longer consider as history the fable convenue that is usually called history today; but they will realize that historical life can only be understood when that which is dreamed and slept away in usual consciousness, and contains the influences of the deeds, impulses and activities of the so-called dead, is sought in this historical life. The deeds of the dead are interwoven with the impulses of feeling and will of the so-called living. And this is real history.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
1098 – First Crusade: Siege of Ma’arrat al-Numan: Crusaders breach the town’s walls & massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they reportedly resort to cannibalism
1408 – The Order of the Dragon, is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, king of Hungary
1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter “S” [***] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland
1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy & proclaim himself Emperor of China
1935 – Lebensborn Project, was founded by Heinrich Himmler, an SS-initiated, state-supported association in Nazi Germany with the goal of raising the birth rate of “Aryan” children via extramarital relations of persons classified as “racially pure & healthy” based on Nazi racial hygiene & health ideology. Lebensborn encouraged anonymous births by unmarried women, & mediated adoption of these children by likewise “racially pure and healthy” parents, particularly SS members & their families. Lebensborn expanded into several occupied European countries with Germanic populations during the Second World War.
1941 – Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad
1950 – Paula Ackerman, the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services
1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom
1979 – The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia &Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, & generating a large tsunami
1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board.
1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills 335 & injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains.
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13 – 14 December 2019
Rudiger Janisch
“The Spiritual Goetheanum, the threefold human being and the threefold social impulse”
Friday 13 December , 7 – 9 pm
Saturday 14 December, 9 am – noon
Rüdiger has been working in Curative Education and teaching in professional training programs in Germany and the United States for over 40 years. A long-time student of anthroposophy, he serves on the Collegium of the School for Spiritual Science in North America. His contributions to adult education methods were recognized in the context of an international research project sponsored by the European Union. He has been a member of the core faculty of a joint ‘Training for Trainers’ program supporting Curative Education and Social Therapy in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member of the M.S. Ed program in Waldorf Remedial Education at Antioch University N.H. Having taught many different aspects of anthroposophy and Curative Education, he currently is focused on action research and the development of artistic and experiential approaches to the spiritual scientific study of the human being.
Fro more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
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Dear friends –
Besides our regular study, The Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago has been chosen to host one of the 12 Holy Nights, in a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by the Anthroposophical Society of America.
Our night is Thursday December 26th.
As part of our offering we will be presenting a dramatic reading entitled “The Vast & Holy Dark” which features voice & eurythmy. If you would like to participate there are a few opportunities to meet at the branch to play with the words & to do eurythmy. Please come to any of them that work for you:
Monday Dec. 16th at 11 am
Wed. Dec 18th at 11 am
If you want to be part of this please contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
You are also welcome to simply come as a representative of our branch & observe.
Please arrive by 6 pm on Dec. 26th.
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Holy Nights 2019-2020 – The New Mysteries of the ‘Christmas Conference’ Renewed! Dear Friends – Join us this year for an Extra Ordinary Holy Nights. We will gather at the Branch from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm CST to attend a new initiative with folks from around the world; ‘May Human Beings Hear It: An Online Holy Nights Gathering hosted by ASA friends around the country’. Laura Scappaticci, Angela Foster.
Here is the link with info. for this free Zoom Call gathering.
Then from 7:30pm – 8:30pm CST we will take up our own study of the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ from The Christmas Conference 1923/1924. (There are copies of ‘The Red Book’ in the Library)
Most Nights are from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST except:
24 Dec. at NOON CST (no meeting at the branch)
*26 Dec. The Rudolf Steiner Branch is Hosting this Nation-wide event. Meet in the Upper Room at 6 pm CST.
*28 Dec. Olaf Åsteson practice 3 pm – 5 pm CST – Performance at 7 pm CST.
1st Holy Night: Tuesday 24 December 2019 – Christmas Eve, Adam & Eve’s Day (no meeting at the branch) Zoom call at NOON CST – A Goethean Conversation
2nd Holy Night: Wednesday 25 December 2019 – Christmas Day. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. 1st hour hosted by ‘The Sophia Holding Group’. Our study: Rudolf Steiner’ Opening Lecture. pg. 43
*3rd Holy Night: Thursday 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day – Feast of St. Steven. 1st hour hosted by us the Rudolf Steiner Branch, Chicago: “The Vast & Holy Night” a liminal performance of spoken word & eurythmy honoring the dark from which the light is born. Our study: The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the General Anthroposophical Society through Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 68
4th Holy Night: Friday 27 December 2019 – Feast of St. John -1st hour hosted by Mary Stewart Adams. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting pg. 98
*5th Holy Night: Saturday 28 December 2019 – The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson with Debbie Barford & Mary Tom 3pm – 5pm practice 7 pm – 9 pm performance. Come gather to work with the Legend of Olaf Åsteson in the afternoon to be part of the community ensemble 3pm – 5pm with a dinner break returning for the performance open to all from 7 pm – 9 pm. $10 Donation Encouraged. Contact Debra Barford for more info.
or Zoom Call: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm hosted by The Dallas Maitreya Branch. Lisa Dalton
6th Holy Night: Sunday 29 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Rockford TN. Group. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 110 William Rogers
7th Holy Night: Monday 30 December 2019 – 1st hour hosted by The Eastern Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 138
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– NYE–The 13th Hidden Night Tuesday 31 December 2019-2020
7:30 pm – 1 am – $20 + Potluck Food & Drink to Share
Live Music & Folk Dancing with Jutta & the Hi-Dukes ™ 8 -9:30pm
Biography Playshop
Spacial Dynamics & the Loving Kindness Meditation with Deborah Rogers
Cut Away & Call in – A Ritual of Renewal
Seeking the Holy Grail Within – with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Lead (Wax) Casting Divination for the NY
More TBA…
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8th Holy Night: Wednesday 1 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Tess Parker & The Youth. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 183
9th Holy Night: Thursday 2 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Western Regional Council. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 192
10th Holy Night: Friday 3 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by The Portland Branch. Our study: Continuation of the Foundation Meeting. pg. 204
11th Holy Night: Saturday 4 January 2020 – 1st hour hosted by Brian Gray. Our study: The Envy of the Gods – the Envy of Human Beings, Looking back to the burning of the Goetheanum, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 231
*12th Holy Night: Sunday 5 January 2020 – Epiphany, ‘Three Kings’ – 1st hour hosted by The Central Regional Council. Alberto Loya, Marianne Fieber, Lisa Dalton, Hazel Archer Ginsberg. Our Study: On the Right Entry into the Spiritual World – The responsibility Incumbent on us, by Rudolf Steiner. Pg. 260
for more info. contact Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
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30 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2020 Prep-makers conference at Michael Fields Institute
Fellowship of Preparation Makers Gathering
BD 501 and 508 – Tools to bring the cosmic light into the earth.
January 30th – February 2nd, 2020
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, N8030 Townline Rd, East Troy, WI
The mission of the Fellowship of Preparation Makers is to ensure that good quality biodynamic preparations are available now and into the future throughout North America.
Schedule:
Thursday, January 30th
10—10:30 am Registration for Chromatogram Intensive
10:30am Chromatogram Intensive – All levels welcome. Presenter: Ryann Herring
12 —1pm Lunch on your own
1-3pm Chromatogram Intensive
3—5pm Registration and Social Time
5-6:30pm Supper
7-8:30pm Welcome from Perry Brown, and Candlemas Festival with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Friday, January 31st
7:30-8:30am Registration, Breakfast and Social Time
8:30– 10 am History of Fellowship of Prep Makers, and Introductions.
10-10:30am Morning Break
10:30–12:30pm Why Biodynamics? Presenter: Mac Mead
12:30-1:45pm Lunch
2-3:30pm How the cosmic works in the earth? Presenter: Hugh Courtney
3:30-4pm Afternoon Break
4-6pm Different ways to make and use BD501 & BD508. Practical hands on session with Marjory House and Lloyd Nelson
6-7:30 pm Supper
7:30-9pm The Journey of a Prep Maker, A history circle, Facilitator: Brian Wickert
Saturday, February 1st
7:30-8:30 Registration, Breakfast and Social Time
8:30-10am History of Silica on Man’s Evolution (Lamuria to today) Presenter: Mac Mead
10-10:30am Morning break
10:30– 12pm Silica and the Human Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler
12-1:30pm Lunch
1:30-3pm Interpretation of Chromatograms Presenter: Ryann Herring
3-3:30pm Afternoon Break
3:30-5pm Kolisko Institute Presenter: Dr. Mark Kamsler
5-7pm Supper
7-8:30pm Quality Comparison of BD501 & 508 Show and tell how you make and use the preps. Facilitator: Wali Via
8:30 pm Evening Social/Brew City Drifters
Sunday, February 2nd
7:30-8:30 am Breakfast & Social Time
8:30-10am Round Table Discussion: Peppering for Pests and Weeds Panel: Mac Mead and Hugh Courtney
10-1-:30 Morning Break
10:30– Noon Fellowship presentations, evaluations and closing circle.
Noon Lunch
Registration and Lodging
Full Conference Fee $250
Single Day $125
Single Talk $25
Single Meal $15
Chromatogram Intensive $25
Homestays Available
Airport pickup from MKE available
Questions:
Allison Pratt-Szeliga
apszeliga@michaelfields.org
262-642-3303×107
Home stay and airport transportation arrangements will be handled by:
Petra Zinniker
petrazinniker@gmail.com
262-581-7574
We will work to provide home stays for everyone who requests one. Some homes will be free and others may have a cost. Please contact Petra with your requests. Home stays will be reserved on a first come first served basis.
Local accommodations are also listed below:
Quality Inn & Suites (1.8 miles away)
2921 O’Leary Ln, East Troy, WI 53120•(262) 684-2183
Alpine Valley Resort (1.6 miles away)
W2501 Co Rd D, Elkhorn, WI 53121•(262) 642-7374
BD 501 and 508 preps for quality comparison:
If you have them, please bring or send BD 501 and BD 508 preps for quality comparison and closing ceremony.
Preps can be mailed to Petra Zinniker, N 7399 Bowers Rd, Elkhorn, WI 53121
Presenters:
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Mac Mead
Hugh Courtney
Marjory House
Lloyd Nelson
Dr Kamsler
Ryan Herring
Wali Via
Sponsors: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Demeter, Biodynamic Association
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| The Central Regional Council and the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology present: View this email in your browser |
| Karma and Anthroposophic Psychology — an Easter-Tide RetreatMaundy Thursday 9 April 2020 Noon thru Easter Sunday at 3 pm Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL AAP:James A. Dyson, M.D., Roberta Nelson, Ph.D., and David Tresemer, Ph.D. with Susan Overhauser, Ph.D.CRC:Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, David Howerton, Lisa DaltonEurythmist: Mary RuudActivities:Art-ActsStar WisdomThe Karma ExercisesExperiential PAGEANT on Holy Saturday: ‘Know Thyself’Easter Sunrise SongtrailOptional service at the Christian CommunityCommunal meals and time for ConversationLectures:‘Living into Karma through the Senses’‘How to find the Self in a Sea of Karma’‘Unfolding the Enigma of the Saturn Path’‘The Gesture of Karma’‘Christ as Lord of Karma — how do I access this in terms of my personal psychology?’(Program subject to change) $125 Conference fee includes 1 meal a dayFor more information and to register, contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@peoplepc.com |
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Festivals for the Dead. Then & Now. Renew, or Create Your Own Tradition.
with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year. Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, ‘Anthroposopher’, working as the Festivals Coordinator & Council Member of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.
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