Geopolitics

Path under the Rose Arches by Claude Monet

~i walk the unpaved path
between moats & molehills
longer then forever
where my heart is made
fragrant as this rose
nodding & over-ripe…
my hands carry power
i let go
& hold on to love…
~hag

13 June 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Eve of the Full Honey Moon tonight (exactly full at 6:52 a.m. Tuesday morning Eastern Daylight Time). The Moon shines lower left of Antares this evening.

JoAnn Corretti

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (RSarchives) 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s orginal Calendar of the Soul, Wikipedia Commons)

Titian

Feast Day of Tobias – accompanied by the Archangel Raphael

1231 – Feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles – a powerful Franciscan preacher & teacher.

1864 – Birthday of Rudolf Kjellen -Swedish historian, professor at Upsala. Coined the phrase: “geopolitics”, the doctrine of the interaction of geographical and political factors in the constitution and development of States.

Spoken of by Rudolf Steiner in BUILDING STONES FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERY OF GOLGOTHA, GA 175, Lecture IX, Berlin, 1st May, 1917

“In the course of our studies I have spoken of the events in the early development of Western civilization. My aim was to ascertain from these enquiries into the past what is of importance for the present, and with this object in view I propose to pursue the matter in further detail. Our present epoch, as we can see from a cursory glance, is an epoch when only thoughts derived from the Mystery teachings concerning human evolution can exercise effective influence. Now in order to grasp the full implication of this claim we must not only have a clear understanding of many things, but we must also look closely into the needs and shortcomings of contemporary thinking, feeling and willing. We shall then begin to feel that our present epoch has need of new impulses, new thoughts and ideas, and especially of those impulses and thoughts which spring from the depths of the spiritual life and which must become the subject of spiritual-scientific study.

At the present time there is much that fills us with sadness. We must not allow ourselves to be depressed by this mood of sadness, rather should it be something that can prepare us and teach us to work and strive in our present circumstances. I recently came across a publication which I felt would give me the greatest pleasure. The author is one of the few who are receptive to the ideas of Spiritual Science and the more is the pity that he was unable to introduce into his writings the fruits of anthroposophical endeavour. The book to which I am referring is The State as Organism, by Rudolf Kjellén the Swedish political economist. After reading the book, I must confess that I was left with a feeling of disappointment because I realized that here was a person who, as I said, was receptive to the ideas of Spiritual Science, but whose thoughts were still far removed from the thoughts we stand in need of today, thoughts which must be clearly formulated and become concrete reality, especially today, so that they may enter into the evolution of our time.

Before I say a few words on these matters I should like to call your attention once again to those ancient Mysteries which are known to history today only in a mangled version. It is all the more necessary therefore for our present age that Spiritual Science should bring an understanding of these Mysteries. I mentioned in my last lecture the unprecedented fury with which Christianity in the first centuries destroyed the ancient works of art and how much that was of priceless value was swept away. One cannot take an impartial view of Christianity unless one is prepared to see this destructive side with complete objectivity…How different this picture would be if Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria had not burnt in the year 391 seven hundred thousand scrolls which contained vitally important records of Roman, Egyptian, Indian and Greek literature and their cultural life…

The forms of Christian worship were in many respects borrowed from the symbols and ceremonies of the ancient pagan Mystery cults, that the forms of these Mystery cults and symbols had been totally eradicated by Christianity in order to conceal their origin. Christianity had made a clean sweep of the pagan forms of worship so that people had no means of knowing what had existed prior to their time and would simply have to accept what the Church offered. Such is the fate of human evolution. We must be prepared to recognize without giving way to pessimism that the course of human evolution is not one of uninterrupted progress.

It would be foolish to imagine that the course of history could have been other than it has been. But sometimes a thought such as the following may prove fruitful: what would have happened if, at the time when the message of Christianity first made its impact on human evolution, the pagan traditions had not been eradicated root and branch, but if historically a certain knowledge had been transmitted to posterity? But Christianity was opposed to such a possibility.

People are unwilling to listen to the teachings of Spiritual Science; but in saying this I have no wish to imply reproach. Far be it from me to attach blame to anyone. At this juncture I can now revert to Kjellen’s book, The State as Organism. It is a curious book because the author strives with every fibre of his being to clarify the question: What is the State in reality?…Kjellen raises the question: What is the relation of the individual to the State? And in attempting to answer this question he immediately came up against a difficulty…Even if at a pinch we compare the State with an organism we must realize that we and the whole of political science are sorely mistaken if we overlook the fact that the individual is not a cell; only the productive element in man can sustain the State, whilst the organism is an aggregate of cells and it is they which determine its functioning. Therefore the present State in which the group-soul is no longer the same as in ancient times can only progress through the endeavour or initiative of the single individual…

We shall then be able to satisfy ourselves that the whole being of man by virtue of his individuality is far superior to the State, he penetrates into the spiritual world where the State cannot enter…

It is imperative that our present age should be permeated with the impulses of Spiritual Science. It is the tragedy of our time that it is powerless to develop ideas which could reconcile and control the organic life of the State. Hence everything is in a state of chaos. One must face these problems squarely; for the impulse, the desire to gain insight into these problems only arises when we face them squarely, when we know what are the driving forces in our present age

Even without looking far beneath the surface we perceive today an urge towards a kind of “socialization”, I do not mean towards socialism, but towards “socialization” of the Earth organism. But socialization — because it must be conscious, and not proceed from the unconscious as in the last two thousand years — socialization, reorientation or reorganization, is only possible if we understand the nature of man, if we learn to know once again the being of man — for that was the object of the ancient Mysteries.

Socialization applies to the physical plane. But it is impossible to establish a social order if one ignores the fact that on the physical plane are to be found not only physical men, but men endowed with soul and spirit. Nothing can be achieved if we think of man only in physical terms. You may socialize, you may order social life in accordance with contemporary ideas, and within twenty years everything will be in chaos again if you ignore the fact that man is not only the physical being known to natural science, but a being endowed with soul and spirit. For soul and spirit are active agents and exercise a powerful influence. We may ignore their existence in our ideas and representations, but we cannot abolish them.

If the soul is to inhabit a physical body which participates in a social order appropriate to our time it must have freedom of thought and opinion. Socialization cannot be realized without freedom of thought. And socialization and freedom of thought cannot be realized unless the spirit is rooted in the spiritual world itself.

Freedom of thought as an attitude of mind or way of thinking, pneumatology, spiritual maturity and spiritual science — as scientific foundation of all ordinances and directives — these are inseparably linked. We can only discover through spiritual science how these things are related to man and how they can he realized practically in the social order. Freedom of thought, that is, an attitude to one’s neighbour that fully recognizes his right to freedom of thought, cannot be realized unless we accept the principle of reincarnation, for otherwise we look upon man as an abstraction. We shall never see him in the right light unless we look upon him as the result of repeated lives on Earth. The whole question of reincarnation must be examined in connection with the question of freedom of thought and opinion. The life of man will be impossible in the future unless the inner life of the individual can be rooted in the life of the spirit…

What would Christ most vigorously condemn if He were to appear in our midst today? Most probably what the majority of people call “Christian” today, and much else besides…”

Alice Boughton

1865 – Birthday of William Butler Yeats

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 GrailChapter 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 consider giving 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 collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

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:

Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106

If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com 

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

30 thoughts on “Geopolitics

  1. I would like to comment on the appearance of the continents in the northern hemisphere. Look at a world map or the globe:
    In the south of the Asian continent, you can see a tripartite. In the east, the continent fragments, frays into many islands and peninsulas, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, water and land are closely interwoven; in the middle, we have the beautifully formed Indian subcontinent with the island of Sri Lanka hanging like a teardrop on the southern tip of India. To the east we have the desert Arabian Peninsula, little water, rectangular in shape.
    Look at Europe, there we find a similar configuration: in the east Greece with the many peninsulas and islands of the Aegean, half land, half sea. In the center, the elongated Italian peninsula, jutting far into the Mediterranean, with the island of Sicily as an appendage. And in the west, the Iberian Peninsula, the driest, most desert part of Europe, square, almost the shape of a fist. The Iberian Peninsula is separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees. It would also be interesting to compare the languages in the 3 countries mentioned. In Spain one finds a certain hardness, toughness without this hardness the Reconquista, the reconquest of the Muslim Al Andalus for Christianity would not have been possible. In the negative side, there was the Inquisition in Spain.
    And North America? In the East, you find again this proximity to the water, these dissolution tendencies in Florida, the Keys and the Caribbean. While the East is weakly developed, the middle is almost completely absent, there’s just the Mississippi Delta and the flat land that goes with it. In contrast, the west is hypertrophically formed, the arid west with the broad Mexican extensions to the south.
    In California I have experienced a special feature during my visits in 1976, 1987, 1998: one can feel how not only the Pacific hits the coast, but how “astral waves” from Asia hit the coast.
    I only wanted to give a few suggestions; much more can be said about each individual point.

    1. Rudolf Steiner indicated in one of his last lectures, and quite convincingly, that the Earth is actually shaped in the form of a rounded tetrahedron. He gives a rather visually progressive display here in explaining this phenomenon to the workmen of the Goetheanum. Remember, he had often indicated that the 3rd Cultural Epoch was recapitulated here in the 5th Cultural Epoch on a higher level of materialistic accomplishment. Geopolitics as an abstract term is likely due to the fact that we live in a world today that would emphasize the physical and material over any other consideration. Steiner’s remarks in the lecture that cites Kjellen pleads for the perceptive-recognition of soul and spirit. Now, is that so difficult? Threefolding had it all, but it wasn’t dualistic enough for those that want to maintain the wedge of left vs. right. This dichotomy, of course, is designed to exclude the Christ. So, what Being could be behind such a strategic plot as Geopolitics?

      From the lecture of September 18, 1924 to the workmen, a question is asked about what causes volcanoes to erupt. The answer is quite extensive, and very peculiar, but leave it to Steiner to say that “all is not as it appears to be”. The workings of Soul and Spirit are behind everything in its physical manifestation:

      https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA354/English/RSP1987/19240918p01.html

      “This can even be established to the extent of finding the edges, the sides of this earth-tetrahedron. It is like this: suppose I draw the earth as it is often drawn, on a flat plane — then here would be North America, here South America, between them, Central America; over here we have Africa; here we have Europe. And there is Asia Minor, the Mediterranean, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, in fact Europe. Up here we have Scandinavia. There is England and over there is Asia. So we have Asia here, Africa here, Europe here and America here.”

      https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA354/English/RSP1987/images/19240918p01_03s.gif

      “Just think, the base of a tetrahedron! Now: how do we come to that point there? Well, we have to go through to the other side of the earth. But I cannot draw that, I would have to make everything round. If I were to make it round, I would come to the point just over there in Japan. Thus if I mark the tetrahedron, here we have Central America, here the South Pole, here the Caucasus, and over there, which one cannot see, would be Japan.”

      https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA354/English/RSP1987/images/19240918p01_04s.gif

      1. Hello Steve, you rightly point out the tetrahedron structure of the earth. In fact I wanted to begin my contribution with it and then bring the addition of me. Well, I thought this was well known in anthr. circles and also Hazel often gives such additions, so I did not mention it. But you are right, this is an important addition, well done.

        1. It is actually not so well known in anthro circles, except to ignore it, or otherwise discredit it as a typical example of anthroposophical pseudoscience. Why did Rudolf Steiner wait so long to reveal this tetrahedral configuration of the Earth? Maybe he felt that he had nothing more to lose. At any rate, this theory of the earth’s true form and shape has not had many, or even any, advocates. It is rarely even brought up, but it is good that we do.

      2. I’m still having a difficult time finding out where the other ‘three’ lines go from Central America, South Pole, Caucasus to Japan. It’s not so clear, or maybe I’m missing something. If we are to ‘turn’ this diagram and see the other sides, where do they run through? Himalayas, perhaps? So North pole is relatively flatter (rounder) and South Pole is a tip? I think we need new maps, just for reference to wrap our heads around this.

        The other mind blowing thing about this lecture to the workers is what Steiner says about other volcanoes which are not on the ‘lines’.

        “However, volcanoes are found at other places too…”

        “You see, it can always be shown that when things like fiery eruptions happen on the earth, they are connected with the constellations, the relation of the stars to the sun. An eruption can never occur unless at some particular place the sun is able to shine more strongly than usual because it is not covered by other stars. If it is covered by other stars as is generally the case, then the sunshine is normal. Starlight is everywhere; one must not think that the stars are not up there during the day, it is just that we don’t see them. In the old city of Jena where people had time to do such things, where so many German philosophers taught, where Haeckel (see Note 28 ) lived too, there is a deep cellar with a tower (see Note 29 ) above it, open at the top. If you go down into this cellar in the daytime and look up through the tower it is all dark inside, but you see up above the most beautiful starry sky. When it is daytime, and clear and bright outside, you can see the most beautiful star-lit heavens, with stars everywhere.

        But when the stars are in such a position that the sun can develop its heat to full strength, when they do not obstruct the sun, then the sun’s forces of warmth shine down upon some special places. These are the places where, after the earth had been fastened together, later volcanoes arose. They came about later. On the other hand, those that lie along the edges of the tetrahedron are the original volcanoes.”

        I’d like to emphasize a few points here:

        “.. sun is able to shine more strongly than usual because it is not ***covered*** by other stars. If it is ***covered*** by other stars as is generally the case, then the sunshine is normal”

        “But when the stars are in such a position that the sun can develop its heat to full strength, when they do not ***obstruct*** the sun, then the sun’s forces of warmth shine down upon some special places. ”

        Then he speaks of Rudolf Falb:

        “Now sometimes a man who has no place in the ordinary life of science discovers quite useful things in this direction. Perhaps you’ve heard, or at least the older ones among you, of a certain Falb? (see Note 30 ) He was neither an astronomer nor a geologist nor geographer nor natural scientist, but a former priest who had given up his calling — run away from it! He devoted himself especially to a study of star constellations and whether they really have an influence on the earth. He came to the opinion that constellations are connected with volcanoes, that when the influence of the sun is supported by the stars in a certain way, a volcano erupts. He maintained further that floods also come about for the same reason, because the situation attracts water: beneath, the heated mass; above, the water.

        And he contended still more: that in the mines the miners suffer most of all from so-called firedamp, that is, when the air in the mines catches fire of itself. He asked himself how this could happen. He decided that for this to happen the ***stars must aid the sun activity by giving it full play. Then the sun shines too strongly into the mine and the air in the mine ignites***. Therefore, said Falb, if one knows about mining conditions, one ought to be able to say when firedamp may be expected in the course of the year. So he made a calendar and indicated when according to the constellations firedamp must occur somewhere. Those were the so-called critical days which he marked in his calendar.”

        Now, see where I added emphasis. All this seems to point that stars are not in the backdrop… behind the Sun… but are closer to us. If stars were part of some far out constellation, the Sun would not be obstructed by them at all. So here it is mentioned four times, and quite explicitly. Unless ‘covered’ and ‘obstruct’ mean something else other than being ‘in between’ the Earth and Sun.

        A side note, on Rudolf Falb, from Wiki:
        “Final years: Although increasingly affected by a paralytic spinal disease, Falb continued to publish “Critical Day” calendars (from 1888 onward) and other writings which became increasingly eccentric, including deluge myths and ice ages.”

        How is this for synchronicity. Rudolf Falb was alive 1838 – 1903, Ignatius Donnelly, who was into this same theme was alive 1831-1901. They seem like counterparts sharing the same goal. Both of them were neither geologist or astronomer. I just find this so interesting!

        1. Hi Kyle,

          There are two aspects to this lecture on volcanoes. The first concerns the notion that the Earth is a rounded tetrahedron, and the second is that there are volcanoes outside this four-sided configuration that also erupt. One of these outside locations is the Cascade mountains of Washington, which contains Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helen. The latter decided to come alive and eventually erupt on May 18, 1980. Now, when this activity began the Sun was in the sign of Pisces at the Vernal Equinox on March 21st 1980. Pisces is a very star-poor region, with Fomalhaut being its major contributor.

          So, Kyle, you have detected the twofold dimension of this lecture. Steiner has declared that the Earth has become a rounded tetrahedron, and then attempts to explain it with diagrams. Yet, he never says why it has become a rounded tetrahedron. You see, coming in September 1924, toward the very end of explaining things, he is supposing that by now his anthroposophical audience, having been built up since the turn of the century, knows quite well about the pivotal event that occurred in the Lemurian Epoch, when the Moon separated from the Earth by passing over the Mineral Kingdom, which made Earth a very unique entity as the 4th Sphere.

          The other aspect, which is corroborated by Falb, concerns the fact that the Sun continually falls behind the Earth day by day in increments of 3.3 seconds a day, and by 72 years, which is 25,920 days, is exactly 24 hours in arrears of where it was 72 years before. So, thanks for bringing up Rudolf Falb, who Steiner acknowledges as a contribution to understanding this phenomenon concerning volcanoes. Whether he acknowledged Ignatius Donnelly for his contributions concerning Atlantis and Lemuria, I don’t know. Steiner was central-european, and had little contact with the west across the pond from England. Thus, clairvoyance has its limits. Thanks for keeping this alive. We could have gone years before it came up again!

          1. So, when the Earth became a rounded tetrahedron at that point in the Lemurian Epoch, when the Moon separated, and the Earth became an independent entity, standing alone between Sun and Moon, this had the effect of creating the proper rhythm and tempo for what became the norm of what would occur ever since. This is repeated lives on the Earth. This is the unique feature of Earth evolution as it stands today.

            Yet, out of this whole arrangement, another entity was created. This is the Eighth Sphere, which becomes the basis for the outer-external world of perception. This is why the twelve senses were created in order to apprehend this outer dimension, now created through the forming of the Eighth Sphere. So, the Eighth Sphere is a product of what caused the Earth to become a rounded tetrahedron.

            I am just seeing if this item can continue here. It has the potential for doing so, but these kinds of inquiries are rare. Hazel has the blog, but even she sees the potential of what this all means. Gaining perspective is like rushing to Viroqua to find out what now exists as Biodyn 501, and how it is now commercial grade 🙂

            I think this is the latest prepstir for the moment, but I want to see if this study has a future to continue. It is no less than a concentration of the designated substance. I happily await whatever. In my experience among anthro’s, it is all good. I like the geography aspect in particular because of what it yields in going there.

            1. Recognizing the 8th Sphere & naming it is very important –
              But since I don’t feel called to discuss the evils of the 8th Sphere again & again because I think it feeds that sphere –
              I will cut to the chase to reveal the antidote – This is the real work –
              And for me it is revealed by Owen Barfield in this ‘Fairy tale’…- “The Silver Trumpet”
              It was his first published book and the first fantasy book published by the Inklings. According to the author himself, he felt that in all his books he was “saying the same thing over and over again.” But what is this “one thing” he was saying over and over again? And how did he say it in The Silver Trumpet?

              The Silver Trumpet is a mythical depiction of what Barfield would later unfold in his other works and, in some way, a prelude to what seems to be the overall message of the Inklings — the world is God’s music clad in matter. In Saving the Appearances, Barfield points out that we live in the world of unsaved images — images that have been taken literally and turned into idols.
              The images (or appearances) we observe around us are so much “like” the things they represent that we have a hard time distinguishing between them. We take a representation for the reality behind it. For us, the image and the thing it represents look alike, almost indistinguishable. We tend to equate appearances with the reality they point to. This anthroposophical dilemma Barfield would later explore in Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry.

              WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF MODERN-DAY IDOLATRY?

              Idolatry, in Barfield’s mind, is taking images literally. And this is the result of a non-participatory view of life that says: “The world is an object out there and totally separate from me as the observer.” Moreover, if I want to know this world, I must not relate to it in any way — which is the only way to keep my “experiment” clean. In a non-participatory worldview, the basic assumption is that to know something means to study it externally. In a participatory worldview, to know something means to relate to it.
              If I am totally disconnected from the tree I see outside, I won’t see anything in it beyond what is visible. In fact, I must not assume there’s anything to it beyond what I can see. Barfield says that by taking the images literally we create idols out of them because we look at them, not through them. By looking at them we assume that the sign is the thing it points to. We look at the Sun and conclude that it actually is what it appears to be — a ball of gas.
              “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.” C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
              When we confuse the visible shape and form of a tree with what the tree is we create a mental image of it and take it for reality. We believe there’s nothing more to it than meets the eye. We have confused the appearance of a thing with what the thing truly is. In Barfield’s symbolism, it happens when a person loses the Silver Trumpet — the only thing that can save the appearances and restore them to their divine status.

              Enjoy & Happy Father’s Day.
              https://www.owenbarfield.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/silver-trumpet.pdf

              1. The Eighth Sphere has the functional purpose of creating the appearance world in order that we can “save the appearances”. This is how we gain the ability to become inwardly reflective human beings in order to perceive the Ego. Earth evolution is utterly unique in this regard. Thus, the Eighth Sphere is not inherently “evil”, but provides an important condition for defeating Evil by the Freedom-seeking Good. Spiritual Science would have it that the Eighth Sphere be fully recognized in order that it can be dissolved when appearances no longer need to be saved in favor of true reality, which is direct and divine. Matter and Maya have no future in the long run except to prepare the Way, which is occurring now.

              2. Hi Hazel,

                In doing some research on your blog concerning this day of June 19th, I came across something quite unexpected and forgotten from 2020. It stands to be important in this consideration of the Eighth Sphere as a real and objective entity. You posted this as your “Speaking with the Stars” entry, and if you look carefully with opened eyes you will see what we are talking about today.

                https://i0.wp.com/skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/CC-Fig4-774×600.jpg?resize=424%2C328&ssl=1

                And your associated words: “Hey early risers did you tune into skinny old Bella Luna trading occult secrets with Venus, in her guise as crescent morning star?”

                I am so glad that I found this because it will help in seeing how the Eighth Sphere is still centered in the Moon, and surrounds the Earth at the same time. Just meditate on the slim crescent to the left of the dark ominous appearance, and wonder if the full luminescent Jehovian Moon isn’t being obscured by it on a rotational basis over the course of a month. Kyle J. knows something about this exercise in observation over the last year.

                I am only thankful that your place is one of the last vestiges today that still enable this line of communication. The Eighth Sphere is a difficult subject, but has a very pronounced visibility. You are allowing it to take place where it needs to be made more well known as an actual fact. I thank you because ‘yep’ means a lot to me.

              3. Yesterday I felt a sickness hovering above me, so I pounded Oregano Oil & water & sleet most of the day. When I was awake I lay on the earth in my backyard & read Barfield’s fairytale, which then lived in me as I slept…I had many waking dreams & knew I was exploring the 8th sphere, or at least how I myself contribute to it, a very humbling experience. Being on the computer is still very depleting for me in my weakened state so I will not go into what is still puncturing this reality in my consciousness…

              4. Hi Hazel,

                Yes, this is the midsummer phenomenon in which one would prefer to read a fairy tale or folk legend out on the back lawn rather than grok the administrative details in being a member of the CRC of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Yet, you are the over-achiever in this regard. My eldest daughter was the same way. She got a Gates scholarship which paid her college tuition in full.

                I am a big fan of the so-called “Great War” between C.S. Lewis and Owen Barfield. Lewis was first an atheist who received conversion to Christianity at some point. His admiration for Barfield involved a kind of secret admiration of the work of Rudolf Steiner, who Barfield often spoke about in their daily walks on the campus of Oxford. Yet, Lewis somehow could not convert that far.

                What you experience, Hazel, in seeing the imaginative power of Owen Barfield, is what C.S, Lewis tried to replicate with his “Narnia”, and ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. Yet, with all his fame to this day, based on fundamentalism, he could not embrace the work of Rudolf Steiner, like his friend and fellow Inkling, Owen Barfield.

                Well, isn’t that the way of the world?

            2. This quote from At the Gates of Spiritual Science stood out to me while I was also looking at the other lecture concerning the 8th sphere:

              “How different earlier outlooks were! Copernicus, for instance, freed men from the mistaken idea that the Earth stands still. It was an error, he taught, to believe that the Sun moved round the Earth. His doctrine was further developed by Kepler and Galileo. Yet Copernicus and Ptolemy were both right. It all depends on the stand-point from which you are looking at Sun and Earth. If you study our solar system from the astral and not from the physical plane, Ptolemy’s system is right — there is the Earth at the centre and the situation is as the ancients described it. We need only remind ourselves that on the astral plane everything appears reversed. The Ptolemaic system holds good for the astral plane, the Copernican for the physical. In future times yet another, quite different picture of the world will prevail. Generally we hear that Copernicus taught only two things: that the Earth revolves on its own axis and that the Earth moves round the Sun. It is seldom noticed that he taught also a third form of movement — that the whole solar system moves onward in a spiral. For the present this fact will be left aside, but in the future humanity will return to it. Copernicus stood on a frontier, and the old outlook was strongly present in him.

              There is no absolute truth — each truth has its particular mission at a certain time. We talk of Theosophy today, but we know that when we come to reborn in the future we shall hear something very different and stand in quite a different relationship to one another.”

              What comes to mind here is that we have two converging cosmo themes. One is the nature of our current Earth reality, and the other is the Earth in relation to other heavenly bodies. Scattered throughout many lectures is Steiner speaking of the lemniscate movement, and here he is hinting at it – ok, it’s not a spiral – but is indicating that this is the next ‘picture of the world’. Now, I think that is a great term to use. World. It’s not ‘Earth’. In other places he calls it ‘the great world’, and I truly believe that it should have been indicated in capital letters, The Great World. In other words, this Great World is also the Sphere which undergoes it’s own change from 1st, 2nd, 3rd… and so on. For the current Sphere is the current place to be for spiritual development. It is the hotspot of the cosmos. Is it it not? The current star configuration would then be a reflection of this current sphere. Hence: not fixed stars.

              Now, with the 8th Sphere:

              “Sphere Four comes into being through the birth of the mineral element. In that Lucifer and Ahriman approach, snatch mineral substantiality out of Sphere Four and infuse it into Sphere Three, the Old Moon is recapitulated, but now with materiality that belongs properly to the Earth.

              Mark this well: instead of pure Imaginations being there, the Imaginations are densified by the infusion of a mineral element that has been wrested from the Earth. Densified Imaginations are thus created. We are therefore drawn into a world of densified Imaginations which are not lunar in character because they have been densified by materiality belonging to the Earth. They are ghosts, spectres — that is to say, behind our world there is a world of spectres created by Lucifer and Ahriman.”

              To my mind, this indicates two Spheres acting simultaneously. Now, I love the Barfield reference from Hazel. And this does seem like an antidote because it transcends mineral substantiality when not taking images literally.

              We have the Great World, and the Cosmos. How we picture it seems to be the game changer, and as Steiner indicates, there is no absolute truth. That might not sound objective, but it does ‘serve a mission’, which I guess it has to do with changing our psycho-spiritual disposition.

              1. Kyle, you had indicated:

                “To my mind, this indicates two Spheres acting simultaneously. Now, I love the Barfield reference from Hazel. And this does seem like an antidote because it transcends mineral substantiality when not taking images literally.”

                This is important because there are certain counterweights designed to undermine the effectiveness of the Eighth Sphere. The outer counterweight is the Physical Moon and its super-hardened impenetrability. Nothing can be snatched from it. The inner counterweight is wisdom-filled Nature, also coming from the Moon, and wherein Love and biogenesis streams to the Earth. As well, spiritual-scientific study also forms an effective counterweight. The Silver Trumpet, for example, produces Pure Images that cannot be snatched and densified. Thus, Hazel knows how to save herself, and this is Gnosis.

  2. Hi Hazel,

    I am appreciating your recognition of Anthony of Padua, whose festival is this day of June 13th. Now, in the seminal movie that depicts the Miracle of Fatima, the second visitation of the little Lady of the Rosary occurs on June 13, 1917, and this is depicted at the 25 minute mark here. The movie, and especially the performance of Susan Whitney, as Lucia, is heart-wrenching. Please look. It is a masterpiece.

  3. Biodynamics, surely, is the ‘gateway drug’ towards this Socialisation which Steiner speaks of. I truly believe this, at least. Permaculture, which has gained much popularity, is very much aligned with this. The very term was coined by an Australian Bill Mollison, who was inspired by man named Masanobu Fukuoka – who in turn, wrote The One Straw Revolution. It is the antidote to the modern day malaise.

    To piggyback on your remark, Hazel, about rejecting Uncle Sam… this really is a way to do it. A revolution in our orientation towards agriculture, food, sustenance, what is essential, etc… completely changes the social fabric built on unhealthy dependencies. As Fukuoka pointed out as an example, Japan was just fine without wheat, for it was unable to grow wheat in the climate (too moist of weather, or something like that). Then, you find a demand for wheat, and the only way they can get it is by shipping it… in turn, wasting energy (oil) to get it there. It was a ‘demand’ that was created not out of necessity. Same thing goes for places like Minnesota. Minnesotans don’t need Mangos.

    My point is, agricultural communities can survive just fine left to their own devices. It encourages a prosperous and harmonious community. If everyone was doing this, we wouldn’t need a ‘system’ that Uncle Sam wants us to give our hard earned wages to. In fact, if we had more of an agri-community based society… most trade would be in the form of ‘actual’ exchanges rather than ‘notes’. Example, a carpenter can do work for someone in exchange of a months supply of eggs. No money is needed.

    Now, we would naturally think, ‘oh this is idealistic’, but it is actually quite pragmatic. Not only that, again, it facilitates community, hence… socialisation. This is what we need. Now, isn’t it strange that people have divided themselves into camps of ‘left and right’ when in truth, we all have more in common than we are led to believe?

    I had mentioned Ignatius Donnelly in the previous blog. He was a major proponent of agri-populism (as it is said). He had helped start an agricultural utopia just 25 minutes away from my home, but it failed because of the economy at that time. He then took up the cause and became a Minnesota congressman. Now, this is exactly the kind of spirit we need.

    ‘Bean not Bullets’

    1. This is wonderful, Kyle, and indicates that your approach to age 40 is very well in hand. Yet, please remember, and I don’t know if Fukuoka knew this, but he should have. When the so-called “manifest destiny of America” reached California, which became a state in 1850, then the further call went out into the Pacific Ocean, and the capture of Japan. Thus, America forced Japan to become an ally after two hundred years of its own isolated Shogun revolution. As far as Japan was concerned, it wanted to live under the dark light which shone the past, which would have given a semblance of the permaculture that exists to spring forth today. Now, that is the paradox we are looking at. America forces everything. They have the whole strategic alignment in focus. Geopolitcs? Sure; of course.

      This is why we are talking; and even on this blog, which owes to Hazel.

      America rules whether it is Uncle Sam or the Spirit of Columbia.

      1. And so it is incumbent on us since we have chosen to incarnate in America to rise up as We the People and invest this continent with our spiritual intentions for Love & Freedom

      2. Right! Grapes not Guns, Beans not Bullets. I love it. But really, this is not pacifism, it is total action. My thinking is that if people were more inspired, then they would be able to ‘imagine’ how life could be. It is very much an ‘active’ cause.

        There are so many quote worthy passages from Fukuoka, but I’ll just include this one here:

        “If the Ministry’s staff were to go to the mountains and meadows, gather the seven herbs of spring, and the seven herbs of autumn (Chinese bell flower, arrowroot (kudzu), thoroughwort (a boneset), valerianacca, bush clover, wild fringed pink and Japanese pampas grass.) and taste them, they would learn what the source of human nourishment is. If they would investigate further they would see that you can live quite well on traditional domestic crops such as rice, barley, rye, buckwheat, and vegetables, and they could decide simply that this is all Japanese agriculture needs to grow. If that is all the farmers have to grow, farming becomes very easy.

        Until now the line of thought among modern economists has been that small scale, self-sufficient farming is wrong – that this is a primitive kind of agriculture – one that should be eliminated as quickly as possible. It is being said that the area of each field must be expanded to handle the changeover to large -scale, American-style agriculture. This way of thinking does not apply only to agriculture developments in all areas are moving in this direction.

        The goal is to have only a few people in farming. The agricultural authorities say that fewer people, using large, modern machinery can get greater yields from the same acreage. This is considered agricultural progress. After the War, between 70% and 80% of the people in Japan were farmers. This quickly changed to 50%, then 30%, 20%, and now the figure stands at around 14%. It is the intention of the Ministry of Agriculture to achieve the same level as in Europe and America, keeping less than 10% of the people as farmers and discouraging the rest.

        In my opinion, if 100% of the people were farming it would be ideal. There is just a quarter-acre of arable land for each person in Japan. If each single person were given one quarter-acre, that is 1 1/4 acres to a family of five, that would be more than enough land to support the family for the whole year. If natural farming were practiced, a farmer would also have plenty of time for leisure and social activities within the village community. I think this is the most direct path toward making this country a happy, pleasant land.”

        Of course, 100% of people farming is ideal to Fukuoka. But anyone who has gotten dirt on their hands would say there is a therapeutic element to it. Working with the land heals you. And of course, if a community was involved in, a harvest (for example), it would also be a social gathering… even a sacred ritual which everyone partakes in. What a beautiful picture that would be.

        But ‘he’ has a point, and so does Steiner in his Agriculture course. We have everything we need, the land provides, and what is essential differs greatly from what we are now so accustomed to ‘desire’. Our desires have been conflated with what we think we need.. but it is luxury. Most of our food items are luxury.

    2. Thank you for making the jump to antidote KJ – I agree that Bio-dynamics is the medicine that makes whole & besides bringing this spiritualization to Mother Earth we also need to cultivate community as you have described. That can only happen when individuals practice The Great Work the foundation of which is to ‘Know Thyself’.

      Yes grapes not guns!

  4. In the last months I watched some old Wild West movies, from the 40s and 50s. It was interesting to see what ideologies are transported there, besides the superficial plot. I think, for example, of how the Indians and the blacks are portrayed. But also, and this is even more important with the theme of the state and the individual, how the role of the state, of state power is portrayed. The state, democracy, and what is called freedom is a quasi-religious myth, as it were. The state, the United Stated of America, is viewed almost as a divine creation, and the state has its own rituals, publicly performed mysteries. I think of the inauguration of the President, in which I detect many elements from the ancient Roman Empire. In ancient Europe there was the rivalry, the conflict between the throne and the altar; in the U.S. religion is made a private matter, like a private hobby, and the state with its head has absorbed, taken in what used to be represented by the church, and the POTUS has a nimbus, an importance and aura that goes far beyond the political. On the other hand, today there is an attempt to bring moral laws and ideas from the religious sphere to the political, legal sphere. Thus, the importance of the state as the guardian of external and internal security and the legal sphere is further enhanced and reinforced with ideas from the religious sphere.

    The U.S. as the main representative of the West, of course, has a great task, including in the political sphere. The West also has the task, in exceptional cases, to bring about justice with war, with military force. Even the pacifist Bertrand Russel, who became famous through the Vietnam Tribunal, admitted that in exceptional cases there is a just war, bellum iustum, e.g. the war against Hitler.
    Is it possible that the USA took over a part of the Michaelic task of Central Europe after it failed so miserably?
    Can we say that pacifism is an honorable attitude for an individual, but that states cannot be pacifist?

    1. I would like to take up your thought that the USA has the opportunity to take up the Michaelic task that was meant to be the work of Central Europe for the 5th Cultural epoch.
      I will strive to envision this to counteract what I see as the Western Brotherhoods working the left-hand path with the objective of coopting the 5th cultural epoch so as to bypass the 6th when the Slavic Folk Soul needs to hold sway fostering the work of the Angels in our astral body so that humanity can achive a Christic relation to all life – skipping over instead to the 7th cultural epoch to bring the ‘war of all against all’ too soon…

    2. Hi Ottmar,

      I saw where you were going with this is in your previous post about covid vs. aids, and responded in kind. Hazel chose to censor it in like manner to my remark concerning the mother-daughter relationship, which she has so wonderfully expressed. She leaves me in the lurch, and yet, does she see the affliction I bear? I bear the Blood of Christ.

      Now, your words have been given note because Hazel responds in rational-logical thinking herein. She recently went to Viroqua, Wisconsin, which forms a place where America shows proofs of its extant and future heritage.

      If we had connected from before, which was censored by Hazel, and knowing how much we have connected from before then over many years, this could hardly be so much of an issue, Ottmar. Maybe, it is a matter of old age, and where we can acquaint. I take advantage of every possible opportunity, and you should know that by now.

      1. Ok please stop saying I am censoring anything…
        I did not receive these posts which you refer to…
        I was wondering why you didn’t respond to my comment about the daughter
        & I have not seen anything by Ottmar about the covid vs. aids which is something I also think about…
        So if you could please repost I would be grateful.

        I don’t know what the glitch is..And was not aware of it until this accusatory post
        Why do you always jump to distrust & hurtfulness?

        I HAVE NOT & I HAVE NEVER CENSORED
        So if a post does not appear please contact me & let me know. I am only one person trying to work in this Ahrimanic realm without any tech help & wordpress or godaddy or whatever are not easy to navigate, especially if I don’t know something is wrong.

        1. Hi Hazel, hi Steve, I wrote a short comment for „Out of opinion into wisdom“ and Hazel published it. Hazel didnt drop a remark of mine. So no complaint from my side.

        2. Sorry. This only reminds me to save a copy in case I need to resend. Unfortunately, I did not save the response to the mother-daughter equation, and the remark to Ottmar on the big lie of covid was negligible.

          I also see the very real threat of bypassing the 6th Cultural Epoch for the 7th. There is too much evidence already in existence for the so-called “race to armageddon”. Michael Baigent even wrote a book in 2010 with that title. Yet, we are definitely in Apocalyptic Times, which the Book of Revelation informs us about with allusions such as the seven-headed beast with ten horns from out of the sea, and the two-horned beast from out of the earth. This beast has lamb’s horns, but breathes fire of the dragon. Chapter 12 starts to feel like reading about modern times. Michael’s occult seal picture helps in giving the encouragement to wield the sword of meteoric iron in the name of the Spirit of Love and Freedom, and to really digest the open book with a loyalty oath. Spiritual Science.

  5. Thank-you for posting Steiner’s lecture regarding Rudolf Kjellen and discussion about geopolitics; it feels very timely, as the United States grapples with what happened last Jan. 6, 2021, the attempted coup of its government. Steiner notes, “If the soul is to inhabit a physical body which participates in a social order appropriate to our time it must have freedom of thought and opinion.” I recently read an article from the Atlantic magazine ,”The Terrifying Future of the American Right – What I saw at the National Conservatism Conference”, by David Brooks. I’m always curious about this polarity of liberal vs conservative. Brook’s identifying the political right’s fear of the left-wing elite seems to me grounded in what Steiner is saying . . . i.e. the danger of ultra-liberalism controlling universities, media, etc. and the consequential numbing down any real thought. (Apologies for perhaps my poor wording here.) I’ve been reading Steiner’s thoughts relative to the story of Parzival and the Holy Grail and noting in particular, his praise for the quality of doubt. He says we should doubt, because the world can be illusory. All this, this mish-mash of thoughts I just put out here, makes me ponder if this blessed country, this melting-pot of humanity, the United States, is in fact the Holy Grail. It is our chance, once more, to get it right.

    1. Thank you for adding these insights & connections to the melting pot.
      I too see that these polarities as an interesting study in how human nature falls off the track into divisiveness.
      It’s so bizarre how, as you say, the extreme liberal ideology wants to dumb down & control the lowest common denominator –
      And the so called conservatives are selfishly hording their guns…2 obvious caricatures to be sure.

      I’m not sure doubt is the answer, but asking questions certainly helps us on our journey toward truth

      The ancient origins of the Holy Grail are tied to the cauldron of plenty that feeds all.

      For the US to take up its rightful place it needs to reject Uncle Sam & reclaim the Goddess of America – a true Guiding spirit of wisdom & peace

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