15 August 2016 – Astro-Weather: Brilliant Jupiter remains a beacon in the western sky after sunset. Venus appears only about half as high as Jupiter, so you’ll need an unobstructed horizon to spot it. Fortunately, the inner planet glows brilliantly& will show up clearly under good atmospheric conditions.
Himmelfahrt Mariae Feast Day of the Assumption of Mary
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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
“History, historical life, will only be seen in the right light when a true consciousness of the connection of the so-called living with the so-called dead can be developed” – The Living and the Dead by Rudolf Steiner, Berlin, 5th February, 1918
636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed
1038 – Deathday of King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary
1057 – Deathday of King Macbeth, killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada
1248 – In honor of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid
1281 –The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a “divine wind” for the second time in the Battle of Kōan in Japan
1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island & rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes
1534 – Jesuit Order Founded
1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima, Japan
1769 – Birthday of Napoléon Bonaparte
1812 –The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops & Potawatomi at what is now Chicago
1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark (Tivoli inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland)
1910 – Very 1st performance of Rudolf Steiner’s 1st Mystery Drama “The Portal of Initiation” opens in Munich
1914 – Julian Carlton, A servant of architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people & sets fire to the living quarters of Wright’s Wisconsin home, Taliesin
1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon
1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort & diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production
1917 – Deathday of Hermann Joachim, Anthroposopher & Freemason. Rudolf Steiner did his funeral address see GA 261
1935 – Will Rogers &Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska
1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in LA
1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower at 7:12am making him the last person to be executed at the Tower of London for espionage
1945 – Surrender of Japan in World War II, Korea gains Independence from Japan. The Allies proclaimed V-J Day a day after
1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of Crown rule & joins the Commonwealth of Nations
1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north
1958 – Madonna Louise Ciccone, the entertainment icon is born near Detroit, Michigan
1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock
1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era
1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. Nixon also announced a 90-day freeze on wages, rents & prices
2001 – Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own. They had discovered two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper
2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivoran species found in the Americas in 35 years
2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8½ hours ahead of UTC
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My POD (Poem Of the Day)
~She is the early light
& the purpose of dusk
Who Is
The song bird of The Logos renewed…
She will
Rattle the seeds of the sistrum
To Awaken
A brilliant moment in eternity: Today
I will
Lift Her veil…
~hag
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– “I AM STANDING ON HOLY GROUND” –
Today on this Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I am cultivating the feeling that as I move through the world, that everywhere I go, wherever I am, I am standing on holy ground. In my backyard this morning, watching the butterflies & beetles, I was imagining all the life processes that unfold outside of my conscious awareness: my body digesting food & the circulating of my blood. I pictured the trees working with the elemental beings, taking in carbon dioxide, water, & sunlight to synthesize their nourishment. I felt the micro-organisms in the soil beneath my feet endlessly toiling away to create humus.
I ‘see’ the bee as a spiritual messenger – an interlocutor – Carriers of the Solar-Logos – an intermediary, between the human being & the Spiritual realms – Opening us to those peripheral dimensions of human awareness where super-sensible perceptions can awaken.
The bee carries a signal or frequency that enables transformation; it enables the sterile to become fertile & initiates the process of regeneration…
I don’t perceive any of these things directly; they’re invisible to me, & yet so alive & active & real.
And so I ask: What other growth & transformation might be going on in secret?
Ahh, what a perfect time to tune-in to all the vitalizing alchemy that is usually hidden, as I contemplate the mystery of the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of god.
Xox
Blessings & Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg
