Dear friends – I have been working hard to take the highly esoteric concepts involved in understanding the 2nd aspect of the 3-fold Festival of Easter – the Ascension – into a digestible process that unfolds within the soul of the new friends I am presenting to from the Infinity Foundation. I hope you will join us too, I could use the moral support of some friendly faces!
“Infinity Foundation is the Chicago area’s leading holistic education center and globally on Zoom. We provide experiential courses in personal, professional, and spiritual growth to enhance your life…”
Being in these powerful 40 days between Easter & Ascension, I continue to ponder the latest AAP training that brought in what I have called the 7’s – Applying these concepts to my everyday working.
Thru my research into the Festival life as a Path of conscious Initiation into the New Mysteries, I have come to see that since the event of the 1st Easter, a new rhythm has been established – a fresh cycle for the ever becoming human being. This new cycle is not a four/eight-rhythm as seen in the wheel of the year, associated with the physical world of space, but rather a Seven-fold-rhythm leading into the unmanifest eternal realm of Time – a new dimension of formative forces, that we can cultivate in the etheric realm & in our own Life Body.
Dr. Friedrich Rittelmeyer, a founding priest of the Movement for Religious Renewal, once asked Rudolf Steiner how one could come to an experience of the Christ in this etheric.
Steiner answered, “by living with the cycle of the year”.
And so it is…
~hag
6 May 2023 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks today — unfortunately under a Full Moon! Because the Moon is up all night and sets after sunrise, shower meteors will be difficult to catch in the brighter sky.
Nonetheless, if the weather is mild and you’re up before the Sun, it’s worth a try. The shower’s radiant lies in the east, just above Saturn. The ringed planet serves as an excellent guidepost, so let’s check it out first.
Saturn is high an hour before sunrise. Look southeast to find it — you may still see the four bright stars that mark the Square of Pegasus asterism to the planet’s upper left. Far above it lies the Summer Triangle, pointing nearly straight up.
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (so thankful for rsarchive.org/)
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (From the Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner & Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
“What is to be the starting force & impulse for events in social & ethical life must come out of the spiritual world.” Rudolf Steiner, New Spiritual Impulses in History” Dornach 16 December, 1917
Birthday of St. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Thru the research of Rudolf Steiner (GA 93, 264, 265) we hear of this individuality in other lives as: Hiram, Lazarus, Christian Rosenkreutz, St. Germain.
680 Death-day of Muawiyah Caliph. The meaning of Muawiyah in Arabic is “young fox”. Muawiyah worked as a scribe for Muhammad.
In 639, Muawiyah was appointed as the governor of Syria. Under his governance the Syrian army became a major military force. Muawiya was one of the first to realize the full importance of having a navy. During his naval expeditions he took Rhodes & later Cyprus; then shifted his focus back towards Constantinople, & Anatolia. By his creation of a fleet, Muawiyah was the driving force of the Muslim effort against Byzantium. His navy raided the Byzantine islands & coasts at will. The shocking defeat of the imperial fleet by the young Muslim navy at the Battle of the Masts in 655 was of critical turning point. It opened up the Mediterranean, considered a “Roman lake”, & began a centuries-long series of naval conflicts over the control of the Mediterranean. This also allowed the expansion of the state into Africa & Spain. Trade between the Muslim eastern & southern shores & the Christian northern shores almost ceased during this period, isolating Western Europe from developments in the Muslim world. Muawiyah was crowned as caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem in 661.
We learn from Karmic Relationships Vol. 7 lecture 6 that he was reincarnated as Woodrow Wilson.
1871 – Birthday of Christian Morgenstern, was a member of the General Anthroposophical Society. Dr. Rudolf Steiner called him ‘a true representative of Anthroposophy’.
In 1881 his mother Charlotte died of a lung disease which he inherited from her and which was to overshadow his life with a long series of sanatorium stays. Morgenstern was a German author & poet from Munich. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin, but spent much of his life traveling through Germany, Switzerland, & Italy, primarily in a vain attempt to recover his health. His travels, though they failed to restore him to health, allowed him to meet many of the foremost literary & philosophical figures of his time in central Europe.
In January 1909 he met Rudolf Steiner , with whom he became a close friend, and in the same year he joined the German section of the Theosophical Society led by him. When this organization was split up in 1912/1913, he stayed on Steiner’s side and became a member of the Anthroposophical Society.
Morgenstern’s comical poetry still inspires today. Morgenstern unfolds his amiable, but sometimes also shrewd language wit especially in the poetry collection Galgenlieder: “How the toad sings so foolishly in the nearby reed!” His best-known poem is The Impossible Fact . The conclusion became a catchphrase: “[…] because, he concludes with razor-sharpness, what cannot be cannot be.” In “Scholastikerprobleme” he discussed how many angels could sit on a needle. Many Germans know some of his poems & quotations by heart.
• “I shall excavate the strata of my soul.”
• “I’m a man of limits: forever physically, emotionally, morally and artistically on the brink of plunging into the abyss. Yet I manage to keep my balance and possess presence of mind.”
• “I bear no treasures within me. I only possess the power to transform much of what I touch into something of value. I have no depths, save my incessant desire for the depths.”
Morgenstern’s poems have been set to music by many composers
Christian Morgenstern was also an acclaimed translator, rendering into German various prominent works from Norwegian and French, including the dramas and poems of Henrik Ibsen, Knut Hamsun, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson & August Strindberg. He died of tuberculosis.
Moonrise
In the tops of the forest,
the rigid and black
in the pale twilight sky
ghosts,
hangs a big one
shiny soap bubble.
It is slowly loosening
from the branches
and floats up
in the ether.
Down in the thicket
lies Pan,
in the mouth
a long reed,
there is still the foam on it
of the nearby pond
encrusted shimmers.
He blew bubbles,
the cheerful god:
but most of them
planted him treacherously.
Just one
held up bravely
and flew out
from the crowns.
There she drifts shimmering
carried by the wind,
across the country.
Rises higher and higher
the fragile ball.
But Pan looks
with a pounding heart –
restrained breath –
after her.
~Christian Morgenstern
Founder Angela Curtes will be at the Spring Farm Fair on Sunday, (see below)
but you are invited to check out her website to learn more about & preorder products
for Earth & Body healing.
*Angie’s Gold Living Compost
*SILVER Seed Start Potting Mix –
*100% Organic Certified Echinacea Purpurea Herbal Extract
*& MORE…!
Ultra-Violet Archer & Lucien Dante Lazar on Instagram & All links
The Merry Prepstirs of Chicago will be there with 500 & 501, Come help stir & take home some magic juice for your garden (please bring your own jar!)
The Mystery of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
This course is available on Zoom. You will be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class. The course will be recorded and you will receive a link to watch it. Go to the Infinity Foundation web site to enroll
Course Number 231154 / Zoom
Date: Thursday, May 11
Time 7:00 – 8:30 PM CST
Cost $33/23 payment 10 days in advance
When we tune into the Cycle of the Seasons, we experience that as the Earth breathes out in the Springtime, the beings of nature reach upwards towards the heights. The longing of the human soul also strives to meet this mood of ascension, which attunes all life to the cosmic expanses.
Together we will gain insights in how to rise up to our Higher Self by participating in this harmonizing spring-dialogue between the worlds.
Through this workshop we will learn how humanity will also be transfigured in the fullness of time. The company of the Angelic Hierarchies wait for us, their younger siblings, to ascend, first of all in our thinking, to meet them in fellowship, as they work all the while by our sides.
~Vitae Sophia~A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor
with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, & Velsum Voices Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer
1 – 2:30 pm Central Time Saturday 27 May 2023 on zoom
We are called to redeem the ether spheres to create an Ecclesia, a chalice for The Sophia. Then the spirit flame can spread out to become what Steiner called a “World Whitsun”, which began in earnest at the Christmas Conference. The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is especially strong now during this ‘pandemic’. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create a new culture where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength is enhanced by weaving our gifts together, kindling our social world in conscious community.
Hazel Archer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Pentecost Festival
Time: May 27, 2023 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7050174041?pwd=WkNaNDlPS0VIMTJUUkE1ZkFMaDh5dz09
Meeting ID: 705 017 4041
Passcode: Whitsun
50 Days after The Resurrection = Our Pentecost Festival
Community Bonfire, Pot-Luck, & Prep Stir
Whitsunday 28 May 2023
5 – 7 pm at the home of Hazel & Chuck Ginsberg
Please bring food & drink to share –
RSVP to Hazel@ReverseRitual.com
Find a collection of the many RECORDINGS of Presentations, Programs & Festivals HERE
Hi Hazel,
I am thinking that your foray into the domain of Infinity Foundation will require intrepidation on your part. Thus, be resolute in your fearlessness about communicating anthroposophical values. Steiner often spoke about a kind of monistic pantheism, which glosses the albatross, but never gets to anything real. Thus, a kind of “spirit, spirit, spirit”, which he confessed about a popular writer of his time, Rudolf Eucken, who even outlasted him in influence.
So, it is very interesting to consider what this audience might be wanting to hear. I have given you something that I realize is already far too complex for their ears. But, let’s consider more of what you have in mind. We’ve got three days before Thursday, which is a whole week before the 18th. Anyway, we have some time.
After many years of working the Festival path my being in full with the wisdom that Spritual Science brings, having taken in all that the good doctor has given & that spirit has revealed & continues to reveal. Intrepid & fearless is who I am. As I prepare I am given insights daily & know my way thru. I am still waiting for insights into the experiencal piece that I always like to bring, but other than that it is clear.
My Presentation is this Thursday May 11th a week before which is beautiful since the group that forms can gather on the inner planes then as well…
I understand. To give this presentation on Thursday allows a whole week to occur in which the sediment can descend out of the Ethers for this particular listening audience. Yet, with all your *intrepid spirit*, which is why I found that word as an expression for you, I think something might still be missing. Only the death of a God can lead to Resurrection, but you knew that. Only the death of a God who forecast in advance the destruction of the Temple, and the opening of the tombs of the underworld, could certify the Resurrection. Only the empty tomb could certify the Resurrection. Only the Earth, which swallowed up this Body, could certify the Resurrection at the physical midpoint of Earth evolution. The Great Turning Point of Time.
Infinity only exists because this happened. I am sure you will express it very well. If I could be a fly on the wall, I would be there, but I would rather meditate and concentrate from now til then.
Also important to bring in the fact that Easter is a 3-fold Festival, so that after the Death & Resurrection, comes Ascension, & Pentecost, this is a true renewal of the ancient mysteries of the death & resurrection of the various solar gods – taking us further along in our human evoultion back to the godhead
Yes, the Grail path is an expression of this Etheric Body-Astral Body Alliance. What was once a delicate process conducted in the Ancient Mysteries involving the withdrawal of the etheric body for three and a half days is now a matter of the Ascension experience of Christ, and how it leads to the reception by the awakened Astral Organs at Pentecost. The disciples become Apostles, and John becomes the Evangelist out of the Risen Lazarus.
Jubilation
Now, the important thing is for you to convey this threefold aspect of Easter to this particular listening audience, which likely knows something about Death and Resurrection, but is very light on Ascension and Pentecost. One of the key considerations, which is documented, but largely overlooked, is this from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1, when the disciples gather for the Ascension of Christ:
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
The Ascension
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
Hazel, who are these two men in white clothing that suddenly appear amongst the disciples? Are they the two angels that appear to Mary in Luke 24? If so, they now stand with the brethren. And, they watch and wait in anticipation for the return in ten days time.
I always find myself looking back to John 21, when Peter asks Christ, “what about this man”? It was a very important question.
I have a theory that the two men are apparitions of Moses and Elijah, who had appeared next to Christ at the Transfiguration:
The Transfiguration
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 10 And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Matthew 17
Hi Hazel,
We should look this over a bit, and see the possibility. I now see that Christ is planning the future right before our eyes, and His beloved three, as they come down from the Mountain.
10 And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things. Matthew 17
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/InEJRN_index.html
In the Last Address, Rudolf Steiner tells of what it means when Christ says, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.” Christ means to resurrect Elijah with the raising of Lazarus. Then, Elijah is resurrected in the painter, Raphael, and then, the poet Novalis, and then, the Philosopher, Steiner, who becomes the occultist. Thus, here is the equation which is contained in the Last Address:
1) Elijah is raised by Christ as Lazarus-John. This begins the Restoration process.
2) Elijah is reincarnated as the Painter, Raphael.
3) Elijah is reincarnated as the Poet, Novalis.
4) Elijah is reincarnated as the Philosopher, Steiner, who explains it all for the ages to come. He becomes the Occultist, who furthers the Michael culture through Spiritual Science.
This could be the most stirring part of your presentation to the Infinity Foundation. It could even become a new cornerstone for them. Anthroposophy could just as well embrace all this in order to achieve a new milestone.
Hi Hazel,
In all good consciousness, I cannot let this matter pass without comment. You say:
“Birthday of St. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Thru the research of Rudolf Steiner (GA 93, 264, 265) we hear of this individuality in other lives as: Hiram, Lazarus, Christian Rosenkreutz, St. Germain.”
Is it not Lazarus that becomes St. John? Prokofieff goes into the intricacies of this incarnation, and its transformation here in lecture six of “May Human Beings Hear It”. He says that Lazarus “changed”, and became John.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/May_Human_Beings_Hear_It/7TJ888LyxacC?q=&gbpv=1#f=false
So, this would imply that Lazarus and John have the same birthday, which is May 6th, according to Steiner, or some other source. It is good to mention Hiram, Master Builder of Solomon’s Temple, as a prior incarnation of Lazarus, who becomes John.
This lecture is very excellent and unique for describing what the disciples experienced at Ascension, and then ten days later at Pentecost. The Etheric-Astral Alliance in knowing Why the Mystery of Golgotha had to take place as the supreme Sacrifice of Earth evolution. A God dies a human death in order to save the world. The Apostles had their missions set out for them as “fishers of humanity”.
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/AscenPent/19230507p01.html
yes, of course, this is Steiner’s Anthro rendering which has been my bedrock, but What I will be bringing to this group must create a foundation for the more esoteric concepts
Yes, they will likely then need a more foundational reason for what Ascension truly means. I remember somewhere here a description that might prove useful. It comes from Steiner’s lectures, “Aspects of Human Evolution”, and concerns the earlier post-atlantean cultural epochs, wherein the Etheric Body had greater control of freedom.
“The general age of mankind as a whole is receding. This means that the development of man’s soul and spirit ceases to be dependent on the physical body at an ever earlier age. At the time of the ancient Indian cultural epoch this dependence lasted up to the age of 56, receding during that epoch to 49. During the Persian epoch it receded to the age of 42, during the Egyptian-Chaldean epoch to the age of 35, during the Graeco-Latin epoch to the age of 28, so that at the beginning of the present fifth post-Atlantean epoch man’s soul and spirit were dependent on the physical body only up to the age of 28 and it has by now receded to the age of 27. This has far-reaching consequences for mankind’s evolution. At the time the Mystery of Golgotha took place mankind’s age had receded to 33 and therefore coincided exactly with the age of Christ Jesus. This event bestowed upon man the power to take his inner development in hand which will otherwise cease at the age of 27.”
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA176/English/AP1987/19170529p01.html
This means that the Mystery of Golgotha was needed in order to force the Etheric Body, which is naturally oriented to “Sun Levity”, to remain associated with the Physical Body, which had by this time become oriented to “Earth Gravity” to such an extent that the Etheric Body no longer wanted to remain. The Christ Event averted this outcome, and a kind of marriage of the human physical and etheric bodies occurred, which included ‘Etheric Death’ as a necessary consequence at the great turning point of time.
Sadly I’m not able to tune into your Ascension program – the time conflicts with our Calgary study group. You’re going to present the Mystery of Ascension all in an hour and a half session? That’s pretty amazing. I’m sure you’ve refined it down to some precious insights you’ve been receiving.
As far as living into the cycle of the year goes, as Steiner suggests, the cycle of the year consists of 12 months (zodiacal number 12), and weeks of 7 days (planetary number 7). This excerpt from a Rene Querido answer is meaningful for me: “The outer aspects of our being – the shaping, the sculpting – is formed by the Zodiac, whereas the inner organs are formed by the planetary spheres.” (Reflections on the Mystery of Love, pg. 7). It’s helpful for me to recall this; it brings to mind my complete connection with the cosmos; everything to do with my physical and etheric bodies is an “echo” of those two.
In eurythmy we hear how the 12 constellations of the Zodiac are the consonants which form our physical body & the 7 wandering stars are the vowels which make up our organs
Yes, eurythmy may be the closest adults can come to speaking the cosmic language. Psalm 8:2 tells us that babes and nursing infants can speak this language better than adults, because they’ve so recently passed through the zodiac and the planets on their journey back to Earth.
Recently, in one of the lectures on St. John, Steiner was speaking of the importance of our initiation process, and he said this memorable truth – first, we must learn the alphabet. That was in 1908 or 1909, then years later, in 1921, he finally spoke about “the alphabet” 🙁https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/Alphab_index.html#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20what%20would%20be,roots%20are%20in%20the%20universe.)
And yes, it’s the basis for the language of eurythmy, coupled with movement of course.
Steiner says the same thing about Aristotle’s Categories – which he was able to retrieve from the ethers after the burning of the Temple of Ephesus. Fascinating.
It is said that the first words of the Gospel of John flowed out of the Mystery of Ephesus – the mystery of the Cosmic Word as an air-ensouling process.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was a God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through It and save through It was not anything made that was made.
In It was Life and Life was the Light of men.
And the Light shone into the darkness but the darkness comprehended it not”. John 1 -5