In the wings of the World Stage

~hag

Imagine Rudolf Steiner standing, in his black suit as we know him from many pictures. About, five feet behind him stand two figures, one to the right – the other to the left. The one on the right appears in red regalia. It is Christian Rosenkreutz, who renewed the Mysteries for the Western World in such ways that his students could remain engaged in worldly pursuits.

The one on the left appears almost transparent, of a bluish hue. It is the Initiate who is most closely associated with the Christ Mystery, the “Master Jesus.” About fifteen feet behind these two, on a slight elevation, stands Michael, and on a somewhat higher elevation about fifteen feet behind Michael stands the radiant figure of Christ, surrounded behind Him by a semicircle of Angelic Beings of the various hierarchies.

From Christ streams forward a rose-pink stream of divine love towards the smaller hill where Michael, the Ambassador of Christ, stands. He adds brilliant cosmic light to the stream of divine love. Now this stream of light-permeated divine love streams further forward, spreading slightly, reaching the two Great Initiates of the Western World. They focus the stream onto Rudolf Steiner in front of them.

As Rudolf Steiner receives this stream from the spiritual world behind him, he transforms it so that it becomes a power that fills the entire space in front of him.  We can then see Steiner as the Ambassador of Michael, in a living three-dimensional mosaic of constantly moving little luminous cells of the most variegated colors and brightness, a spectacle that tells, in a secret language of light and love, how the human being can find who he or she really is, and what the mission of each one is, in being active, always true to oneself. Thus Rudolf Steiner, the Ambassador of Michael, who is the Ambassador of Christ, brings to humankind, in a form appropriate for our consciousness, the inspiration of cosmic light-permeated divine love.

On his sickbed, only a couple of weeks before he died, he wrote a poem unlike others he wrote during his creative life. This last verse is a declaration of his Will, what he wanted to accomplish against the odds of the forces that want to degrade the human being to the level of being merely a thing; a thing that can be fashioned to specifications, that is bound by external rules, and can be discarded after being used. The human thing. This verse starts with the words “I want …” (Ich möchte …):

I want with cosmic spirit
To enthuse each human being
That a flame they may become
And fiery will unfold
The essence of their being.

The other ones, they strive
To take from cosmic waters
What will extinguish flames
And pour paralysis
Into all inner being.

O joy, when human being’s flame
Is blazing, even when at rest.
O bitter pain, when the human thing
Is put in bonds, when it wants to stir.

~Dr. Ernst Katz, part of an address given at the ASA AGM November, 2004.

***

Think Yourself Healthy - Mind - Prevention Australia
Beth Jennkins

10:10 Testament: Thank you friends for all the wonderful feedback around your experiences with our Thought-Seed Experiment. Keep the conversation going! Deborah Rogers made a powerful suggestion to do the verse in reverse. 1st:

When I think light,
My soul shines,
When my soul shines,
The earth is a Star,
When the earth is a star, then I am,
A true human being
”. ~Herbert Hahn

Which then Becomes:
I am a true human being,
When the Earth is a Star.
The Earth is a Star
When my soul shines.
My soul shines
When I think light.

***

Meet Fomalhaut, the Autumn Star - Sky & Telescope - Sky & Telescope

21 November 2020– “Speaking with the Stars”: First-quarter Moon (exact at 10:45 pm CT.). Growing Bella Luna shines between dim Aquarius & Capricornus. Look to her lower left for Fomalhaut. And above for Mars.

As dawn brightens on Sunday morning the 22nd, Mercury is still nicely visible in the east-southeast. Look for it lower left of Venus as shown below. Day by day it will descend toward the dawn horizon & out of sight.

The Secret Rosicrucian Adept Alois Mailander
Mailander

 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Category:Judas Maccabeus (subject) - 4 Enoch: The Online Encyclopedia of  Second Temple Judaism

164 BCE – Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.

Roemer, Ole Christensen

1676 – The Danish astronomer Ole Rømer presents the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.

Art works

1694 – Birthday of Voltaire, a French Enlightenment writer, historian, & philosopher famous for his wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, as well as his advocacy of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile & prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, & historical & scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters & more than 2,000 books & pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. He adopted the name Voltaire in 1718, following his incarceration at the Bastille. It is an anagram of AROVET LI, the Latinized spelling of his surname, Arouet, & the initial letters of le jeune (“the young”). According to a family tradition he was known as le petit volontaire (“determined little thing”) as a child, & he resurrected a variant of the name in his adult life. The name also reverses the syllables of Airvault, his family’s home town in the Poitou region. Voltaire perceived the French bourgeoisie to be too small and ineffective, the aristocracy to be parasitic and corrupt, the commoners as ignorant and superstitious, and the Church as a static and oppressive force useful only on occasion as a counterbalance to the rapacity of kings, although all too often, even more rapacious itself. Voltaire distrusted democracy, which he saw as propagating the idiocy of the masses. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, & the French institutions of his day.

Heinrich Von Kleist (1777-1811) - Find A Grave Memorial

1811 – Death day of Heinrich von Kleist, German poet & author, spoken about by Rudolf Steiner in THE INNER ASPECT OF THE MOON-EMBODIMENT OF THE EARTH. How can we fail to recognise that this man’s spirit in its entirety as he stands before us, is an actual living embodiment of that which dwells in the depths of the Soul, which we must trace back to something other than the life of earth if we wish to recognise it? Has not Heinrich Von Kleist described in the most significant manner what may live within a man (a description of which you will find at the very beginning of The Spiritual Guidance of Man and Mankind), as something transcending him and driving him, and which he will only understand later on if he does not snap the threads of his life before! Think of his ‘Penthesilea’; how much more there is in her than she can span with her earthly consciousness! We should not be able to describe her at all, did we not take for granted that her Soul was immeasurably further advanced than the narrow little soul (although it was a great one) which she could span with her earthly consciousness. Hence a situation must arise which artistically introduces the whole process of the Drama. Indeed, it was necessary to prevent the whole transaction — which Kleist introduces with Achilles — from being grasped with the higher consciousness; otherwise the whole tragedy could not be perceived. Hence Achilles is called ‘her’ Achilles. What lies in the higher consciousness must be plunged into the non-conscious. Again, what part does this subconsciousness play in Katchen Von Heilbronn, especially in the remarkable relation between her and Wetter Von Strahl, which plays no part in the higher consciousness, but in the deeper strata of the Soul where dwells the forces of which man knows nothing, which pass from one to another. When we have this before us we can trace the spiritual nature of the world’s forces of gravity and attraction. For instance, in the scene where Katchen stands before her admirers, do we not feel what lives in the subconsciousness, and how it is related to what is outside in the world which has been dryly called the forces of our planet’s attractions? Yet only 100 years ago a truly penetrating and striving mind was not able to find his way into that subconsciousness. But it must be done to-day. And the tragedy of a Prince of Homburg strikes us in a very different way now. I should like to know how an abstract thinker, one who accounts for everything by reason alone, could account for a figure such as the Prince of Homburg, who carried out all his great deeds in a kind of dream-state, even those leading finally to victory. Kleist indicates very clearly that he could not possibly gain the victory by means of his higher consciousness, for as far as that was concerned he was not a particularly great man, for he whines and whimpers over everything he has to do. Only when by a special effort of the will, he brings up what dwells in the depths of his Soul, does he play the man.

Frank Beacham's Journal: On this day in 1877 — 143 years ago — Thomas  Edison announced his invention of the phonograph — a way to record and play  back sound

1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

The Three Meanings Of E=mc^2, Einstein's Most Famous Equation

1905 – Albert Einstein’s paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik.

Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria Drawing by Georg Decker

1916 – Deathday of Franz Joseph I of Austria, spoken about by Steiner in The History and Actuality of Imperialism

The Emperor of Austria, who now belongs to the deposed royalty, before he was chased out carried around along with his other titles a most unusual one: Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slovenia, Galizia, Lodomeria, Illyia and so on. Among all these titles was also “King of Jerusalem!” The Austrian Emperor also carried, until he was no longer emperor, the title “King of Jerusalem.” It came from the crusades. It would be impossible to give a better example of meaninglessness than this. And such meaninglessness plays a much greater role than you imagine. It is a question of whether we can arise to a recognition of the present-day platitudes. It is made difficult because those who live in platitudes are the verbal representatives of the old concepts that stagger around in their brains imitating thoughts. But one can only achieve real thinking again when the inner soul-life is filled with substance and that can only come from knowledge of the spiritual world, of spiritual life. Only by being relieved by the spirit can one become a complete person, after having been constipated with platitudes. What I described yesterday as a feeling of shame will result in the call for the spirit. And the propagation of the spirit will only be possible if the spiritual/cultural sector is allowed to develop independently.

1927 – Columbine Mine massacre: Striking coal miners are attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.

***

Thought Painting by Eurika Urbonaviciute
Eurika Urbonaviciute

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~Now
thoughts hover near
like the weaving of dreams
arising as beings
essential to souls;
self-quickening will,
self-wakening feeling,
self-mastering thinking,
emerge for the dreamer…
there I create

~hag

***

Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT The Karma Project

The Karma Project
Manifestations of Karma Study Group
December 2, 2020 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

… We have now learned that it is possible to seek out accidents or other causes of illness due to karmic effects. In due course we will deal with the details of such processes, such as the way in which the forces in deeper levels of consciousness work within the human being, or to what extent our ordinary consciousness may avoid such accidents. We can understand that someone who goes to a place  where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of consciousness; in like manner we must be able to understand how it is that human beings take certain measures to render such infections less and less effective; in other words, that through our ordinary consciousness we are able to avert certain consequences by means of hygiene.

~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of KarmaChapter 6Karma in Relation to Accidents”, Hamburg, 21 May, 1910 … focus of the December 2 meeting.

The lecture can be found online at the RS Archive (eLib) by clicking this link: https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100521p01.html

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing  study conversation.  The study has been divided among four 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: “Manifestations of Karma.”  This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120), published in English by Rudolf Steiner Press in 1996.

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/82715186258
Meeting ID: 827 1518 6258


Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kclU2SSTF

If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
Agenda for our Study Call
 
7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by five volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Laura – pg. 106 to 110
          Ana – pg. 111 to 115
          Camille – pg. 116 to 120
          Alberto – pg. 121 to end
8:05  Conversation
8:28  Close with verse

Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…” The many faces of The Sophia

24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021

International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine. 

Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group

Everyday 9 am – 9:30 am PT, 10 am – 10:30 am MT, 11 am – 11:30 am CT, 12 pm – 12:30 pm

stay tuned for details

Our Annual Conscious NYE gathering 8 pm 1 am

In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4249-51 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613

This Years Theme is a Masked Ball – 

Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA

$20 per person

Stay tuned for details

Joan’s Epiphany 6 January 2021 ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’ 2 pm – 4 pm CT

In-person at Elderberries Chicago & online

Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer

We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations, Lecture 5, The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar – Eurythmy

Singing & Eurythmy

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https://zoom.us/j/7052931041

Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
 

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3 thoughts on “In the wings of the World Stage

  1. Dear Hazel,

    Thank you for the depiction of the two great initiates. I am also familiar with the Ernst Katz address concerning Rudolf Steiner’s esoteric biography. I will ponder your collage as it also contains the 4th occult seal picture from the Apocalypse of St. John. This picture we have discussed in the recent past with the two pillars of Boaz and Jachin.

    Rudolf Steiner gave a brief life sketch to Eduard Schure in September 1907. Here is what he wrote for the second part:

    In the early part of the fifteenth century Christian Rosenkreutz
    went to the east to find a balance between the initiations of the
    East and West. One consequence of this, following his return, was
    the definitive establishment of the Rosicrucian stream in the West.
    In this form Rosicrucianism was intended to be a strictly secret
    school for the preparation of those things which would become the
    public task of esotericism at the turn of the 20th century, when
    material science would have found a provisional solution to certain
    problems.
    These problems were described by Christian Rosenkreutz as:
    1) The discovery of spectral analysis, which revealed the
    material constitution of the cosmos.
    2) The introduction of material evolution into organic science.
    3) The recognition of a differing state of consciousness from
    our normal one through the acceptance of hypnotism and suggestion.
    Only when this material knowledge had reached fruition in science
    were certain Rosicrucian principles from esoteric science to be made
    public property.
    Until that time Christian-mystical initiation was given to the
    Occident in the form in which it passed through its founder,
    the `Unknown One from the Oberland’, to St. Victor, Meister Echkart,
    Tauler, etc.
    Within this whole stream, the initiation of Mani, who also
    initiated Christian Rosenkreutz in 1459, is considered to be of
    a `higher degree’; it consists of the true understanding of the
    nature of evil. This initiation and all that it entails will have
    to remain completely hidden from the majority for a long time to
    come. For where even only a tiny ray of its light has flowed into
    literature it has caused harm, as happened with the irreproachable
    Guyau, of whom Friedrich Nietzsche became a pupil.
    From GA 262 , The Barr Document

  2. Dear Hazel, this weekend we went for a much-needed city trip to Ypres, where the WWI battle raged so violently and many memorials have been put in place to honor the fallen soldiers. Today Saturday, under a gray November sky we felt the presence of the so-called dead. In St Martin’s Cathedral, which turned out to be open for personal prayer, we did our Thought Seed contribution of today.

    1. Beautiful! Yes, we must include our beloved dead in this work of envisioning our highest evolution.
      Thank you for sharing & reminding us of this important resource that we can all work with. The so-called dead want to work with us. And especially those that gave their life need us to send our thoughts to them.

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