1 November 2016 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Vega is the brightest star very high in the west on November evenings. Its little constellation Lyra extends to its left, pointing in the direction of Altair, the brightest star in the southwest.

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 Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Odilon Redon

ALL SAINTS DAY “After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands…. [One of the elders] said to me, ‘These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9,14)

The earliest observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of “all the martyrs.” In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagon loads of bones & re-interred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended “that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons” (On the Calculation of Time).

The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century.

Valerio Castello

The Massacre of the Innocents, part of the El Dia de los Muertos celebration, honors the biblical account of infanticide by Herod. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi, understood as the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy: “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more”.

1512 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

1520 – The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of South America connecting the Pacific & the Atlantic Oceans, is first ‘discovered’ & navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during the first recorded circumnavigation voyage

1570 – The All Saints’ Flood devastates the Dutch coast, breaking the dikes. The total number of dead in the tens of thousands, 100,000 people became homeless. Livestock was lost in huge numbers. Winter stocks of food & fodder were destroyed.

1604 – William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello is performed for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London

John William Waterhouse

1611 – Shakespeare’s play The Tempest is performed for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London

1755 – In Portugal, Lisbon is totally devastated by a massive earthquake & tsunami, killing 90,000 people

1765 – The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the Thirteen Colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America

1838 –Birthday of Khedrup Gyatso – 11th Dalai Lama

1870 – In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast

1911 – The first dropping of a bomb from an aircraft in combat, during the Italo-Turkish War

1918 – Malbone Street Wreck: The worst rapid transit accident in US history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street & Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, with 202 deaths

1941 – American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes hired Adams for six months to create photographs of lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. Adams was accompanied by his young son Michael & his best friend Cedric Wright on a long road trip around the west. They came upon the scene while traveling through the Chama River valley toward Española in late afternoon on November 1.

1948 – Off southern Manchuria, 6,000 people die as a Chinese merchant ship explodes & sinks

1950 – Pope Pius XII claims papal infallibility when he formally defines the dogma of the Assumption of Mary

1951 – Operation Buster–Jangle: 6,500 American soldiers are exposed to ‘Desert Rock’ atomic explosions for training purposes in Nevada. Participation is not voluntary

1952 – The United States successfully detonates Ivy Mike, the first thermonuclear device, at the Eniwetok atoll. The explosion had a yield of ten megatons TNT equivalent

1955 – The bombing of United Airlines Flight 629 occurs near Longmont, Colorado, killing all 39 passengers & five crew members aboard. Blown up with dynamite placed in the checked luggage by Jack Gilbert Graham to kill his mother as revenge for his childhood & to obtain a large life insurance payout. Within 15 months of the explosion, Graham—who already had an extensive criminal record—was tried, convicted, & executed for the crime

1956 – The Springhill mining disaster in Springhill, Nova Scotia kills 39 miners; 88 are rescued

1957 – The Mackinac Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan’s upper & lower peninsulas

1960 –John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps

1963 – The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opens

1970 – Club 5-7 fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France kills 146 young people

1982 – Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of its factory in Marysville, Ohio; a Honda Accord is the first car produced there

2013 – Paul Anthony Ciancia opens fire at Los Angeles International Airport, killing a US Transportation Security Administration employee, & wounding seven other people. After the shooting ended, Ciancia was found to be carrying a note stating that he “wanted to kill TSA”. It also mentioned “fiat currency” & the New World Order. The common theme of this theory is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government—which will replace sovereign nation-states—& an all-encompassing propaganda whose ideology hails the establishment of the New World Order as the culmination of history’s progress. Many influential historical & contemporary figures are said to be part of this cabal that operates through many front organizations to orchestrate significant political & financial events, ranging from causing systemic crises to pushing through controversial policies, at both national & international levels, as steps in an ongoing plot to achieve world domination. The judge votes to keep Ciancia’s statements sealed.

***

Vera Pavlova

POD- Brown Bough & Besom 

STRADDLING THE THRESHOLD JANUS STYLE
PIERCING THE VEIL
DIVINING THE FUTURE
THE MYSTIC FACE
SEEING INTO THE GRAVE
THE SCORCHING EYE SIDE
PLEASURING THE PAST TO CELEBRATE THE DEAD
& REMIND THEM OF THE WOMB OF THE GREAT MOTHER

THE LORD OF MISRULE PRESIDING
WITH THE MISTRESS & LADY OF THE TOMB
ADORNING THE TRANCE MASK
SEKHEM, DIS & NEFERTUM
THEY SET THE BALE-FIRE
& PRONOUNCE THE SPELL-WORK BY THE MOON
TO ROAST THE SLAUGHTERED STOCK
OF THE FINAL HARVEST

SET EXTRA PLACES AT THE TABLE
LEAVE OFFERINGS FOR THE FEAST OF SPIRITS
GINGERBREAD & POMEGRANATES
BEETS & PUMPKIN PIE
MUGWORT, SAGE & ALLSPICE
YARROW, CAMPHOR, RYE

DUNK THE NOVICE HEAD
IN THE CAULDRON OF REGENERATION
FOR THE APPLE BOBBING BAPTISM
TO MARK THE HIGH HOLY DAY
WHEN THE SCORPION BECOMES THE EAGLE
& THE SAINTS COME OUT TO PLAY

BREATHE IN THE MIST
THAT RISES AT MIDNIGHT
FROM THE BURIAL MOUNDS
& SPEAK WITH THE VOICE OF THE ABYSS
AN ORACLE FOR THE NEW YEAR
GREETING CHAOS WITH A KISS

THE GATES OF FAIRY STAND OPEN
IN TIME OUT OF TIME
EVERYWHERE & NOWHERE – HERE & THERE
WHEN EVERYTHING IS GATHERED
THE FIELDS LIE FALLOW
& THE ATMOSPHERE IS RARE
ALL SOULS MUST RETURN AT COCK-CROW
WHEN THE TRICK CAN NO LONGER DARE

ONLY NOW
LET THE DEAD WALK
TO SHOW THE LIVING
THAT EVERY ENDING
IS BUT A NEW BEGINNING
~hag

***

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Beloved Being – Life is a Loom…
& we are the weavers of this fabric we call Reality…
Our bodies: a bone spindle, shuttling bobbin Souls…
Our fibers interlacing,
Spinning straw into gold…
& yes sometimes a strand of sorrow is added
to the weft…
These dark threads are just as needed
in a weavers skillful hand as the threads of gold & silver
in our patterns spun in sand…
& now as the fire of life goes inward,
& rest lies upon the patient land…
Our Craft is the Art of Transforming the patchwork shadow,
the wounded ancestor, the demure descendant,
every loose fiber, Into a fabric of healed wholeness & Peace…

May your transformation be ever-full of grace.

 ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

 *** 

~ALL SOULS FESTIVAL~

Come Experience the Journey of the Soul in the Life between Death & Rebirth

 6:45 pm – 9:30 pm Friday 2 November 2018 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618

Guitar by Philp Armetta, Didgeridoo by CG, Fratres by Arvo Part 1 – Cello by Martin Brenman, Piano by Danuta Berger

The Descent of Inanna – An archetype of the soul in the spirit world with Hazel Archer Ginsberg

We cross the threshold for the Leminscate Journey thru the Planetary Spheres & the Zodiac – Eurythmy with Mary Ruud +

Moon: Sheila Donahue
Mercury: Nancy Melvin
Venus: Deborah Rogers
Sun: Alison Biagi
Mars: JMMF
Jupiter: Mary Spalding
Saturn: Martine Benmann

an Artistic Exploration with Nancy Melvin during the Circle of Remembrance

Please contact Carolyn Arnett with the names of those who have died this year to be read in the Circle 

$10 Donation goes to support Eurythmy

Snacks to Share Encouraged

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

 ‘The Festival Life’

with Hazel Archer Ginsberg for WITH = Waldorf in the Home

Monday 5 November 2018 from 8:15 am – 9:30 am

at the Chicago Waldorf School Andersonville Campus, 5200 N Ashland Ave, Chicago

In the cafe (on far north east side of first floor) after the Day of the Dead assembly

For more info. contact Judy Shaver jlshaver9832@gmail.com

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 2018 Fall Youth Conference in Chicago Nov 1-4^th, 2018 

Our Ideas – Our Ideals – Working together to create together

Tamarack Waldorf School will stay as a group though Friday evening- the rest of us will carry on through Sunday at 1PM.

Sponsored by the Christian Community in Coordination with Tamarack Waldorf School, Bart Eddy and Detroit Community School, Elderberries Chicago and musician Jen Zimberg.

High School students that want to come together to work- build- paint- create – in conversation and singing – Our Ideas – Our Ideals – Working together to create together

for more info. contact Ann Burfeind

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The Karma Project  A Western Approach to Reincarnation & Karma August 8, 2018 – 7:15 pm CST (8:15 pm EST) View this email in your browser

“ … something is present in us that is like a more sensible person who gladly turns to the eternal, divine, spiritual powers that live in and animate the world.  Then, in our inner life, we become certain of a higher inner individuality existing behind the outer one.  Through thought exercises such as these, we become aware of the eternal spiritual core of our being.  This is extraordinarily significant.  And once again, this is something we can actually do“. ~Rudolf Steiner, A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma, Chapter 4, “Knowledge of Reincarnation and Karma through Thought-Exercises”, Stuttgart, 20 February, 1912 … focus of the November 7meeting!

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing  study conversation.  The study has been divided amongst five 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 Anthroposophic Press under the title: “A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma” 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: Option 1.  Click link below if you wish to connect through your computer (a headset is recommended) https://zoom.us/j/320455319 Option 2.  Call in using your telephone. United States: +1 669 900 6833  or +1 646 558 8656 Access Code: 320-455-319 Option 3. You can use a combination of Options 1 and 2 (computer and phone). If you use the phone, please turn off the audio on your computer to prevent audio feedback. Please join us!

Agenda for our Study Call7:15  Welcome and Introductions 7:18  Verse 7:25  Study led by six volunteers Mary – pages 53 to 56 Nick – pages 56 to 60 Hazel – pages 60 to 63 Travis – pages 63 to 65 Alberto – pages 65 to end 8:05  Conversation 8:25  Identify volunteers for our next study call (Chapter 5): January 9 8:28  Close with verse

Wednesday 5 December, 2018 CRC Conference Call 7:15pm – 8:30pm CST (8:15pm – 9:30pm EST) – Reincarnation & Karma with special guest: Dr. Ross Rentea: “A presentation from the karma and the work together of Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman”. Rudolf Steiner considered Ita Wegman a true “friend”, companion over many incarnations, and invaluable helper. In her incarnation in the 20th century she collaborated with him in writing a book, asked decisive questions that led to the Christmas Foundation Conference, the First Class, and more. We will look especially at their working together on the “Fundamentals of Therapy” a work on which R. Steiner put finishing touches until hours before crossing the threshold. Ross Rentea, MD, has been practicing anthroposophical medicine in Chicago for 35 years. He is a member of the Anthroposophical Society (1972), the First Class of the School for Spiritual Science (1974), the Physicians Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (1984) and the Christian Community (1976). He has served on the Board of the American College of Anthroposophic Medicine. He has lectured nationally and internationally, and published and written numerous scientific research articles and recently (2017) the book “Childhood Illnesses and Immunizations”. Besides anthroposophical medicine his current interests are in better understanding the seven Rhythms of the Foundation Stone. He is a co-founder of the True Botanica Company www.truebotanica.com and the Lili Kolisko Institute for Anthroposophical Medicine www.koliskoinstitute.org .

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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The Changing Nature of Childhood Health & Illness

by Dr. Thomas Cowan, M.D.

Nov 15, 2018 — Morning Lecture

10:30am—12noon; Location: 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60618 (Rudolf Steiner Branch);

childcare available for additional $5 cash donation at day of event as needed.

Click link below for tickets and more info.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-changing-nature-of-childhood-health-illness-morning-lecture-tickets-51902871887

Nov 15, 2018 — Evening Lecture

7:00 pm—8:30pm; Location: 2135 W. Wilson Ave. Chicago, IL 60625 (The Christian Community Church)

Click link below for tickets and more info.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-changing-nature-of-childhood-health-illness-evening-lecture-tickets-51983654510

Tickets are $12. No tickets sold at the door. This event will sell out.

Please join us in welcoming world-renowned doctor and author Dr. Thomas Cowan, M.D. from San Francisco, CA as he describes his research and experience with today’s children and their health, based on his newest book, Vaccines, Autoimmunity and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness. The lecture will include suggestions to support the best possible health in our children. We are providing two opportunities to hear Dr. Cowan speak.

We will provide childcare for the morning session in an adjoining space to the lecture, to help parents of young children attend.  Childcare will not be available for the evening lecture.

Dr. Thomas Cowan M.D. is board-certified in anthroposophic medicine. He is a founding board member of the Weston A Price Foundation and is author of The Fourfold Path to Healing, a companion book to Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. He writes the “Ask the Doctor” column in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts.

He is author of Human Heart, Cosmic Heart (A Doctor’s Quest to Understand, Treat and Prevent Cardiovascular Disease). He has three grown children and currently practices medicine in San Francisco where he resides with his wife Lynda Smith Cowan.

This series is presented and sponsored by:

Waldorf Learning Support http://arcturus.info

Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program http://arcturus.info

HealthMarketing.us http://healthmarketing.us

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Friday 16 November 2018

COMMUNITY MEETING

Details TBA

***

Friday 30 November 2018 – 7 – 9 pm 

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT:  THE MYSTERY OF THE APOCALYPSE with Margaret Shipman

‘Apocalypse’ today almost always means war, but its primary definition isREVELATION.  the Book of Revelations seems warlike until we begin to delve into the messages, seals, trumpets and bowls as stages of initiation!  We will explore the complexities of this amazing book of the Bible by taking a journey through the 7-pointed star and the Apocalyptic Seals of the 1907 Munich Conference.

AND:

Saturday 1 December 2018 – 10 am – noon

THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE

How can we begin to understand the importance of The Christmas Conference of 1923/24?  Can it be understood as so profound to consider it a second turning point of time?

We will take a journey with the foundation stone, beginning with the laying of the first stone, a physical one, for the first Goetheanum, in 1913.  Then — through the phoenix experience of the 1922/23 fire, and its journey back to earth a year later—we find it again, as a foundation stone meditation planted into our hearts.  The introduction of The Foundation Stone Meditation was a central focus of the Christmas Conference week.  It was one of three great gifts which Rudolf Steiner brought at this time as powerful spiritual tools for human evolution.

Margaret Shipman has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society for 30 years and considers the work of Rudolf Steiner to be the core of her life.  In 2002 she started a national study group for anthroposophy – ‘Geographically Engaged Members Studygroup’, or G.E.M.S.  She is also a cellist and pianist and spent 36 years repairing and making instruments of the violin family.  She co-authored the book titled Violin Restoration with her mentor, Hans Weisshaar, who was in the second-ever Waldorf class and met Rudolf Steiner as a child.

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

Wed. 5 December 2018 CRC Zoom Call 7:15pm – 8:30pm – Reincarnation & Karma

with special guest: Dr. Ross Rentea: “A presentation from the karma and the work together of Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman”

Steiner considered I. Wegman a true “friend”, companion over many incarnations, and invaluable helper. In her incarnation in the 20^th century she collaborated with him in writing a book, asked decisive questions that led to the Christmas Foundation Conference, the First Class, and more. We will look especially at their working together on the “Fundamentals of Therapy” a work on which R. Steiner put finishing touches until hours before crossing the threshold.

Ross Rentea, MD, has been practicing anthroposophical medicine in Chicago for 35 years. He is a member of the Anthroposophical Society(1972), the First Class of the School for Spiritual Science(1974), the Physicians Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (1984) and the Christian Community (1976). He has served on the Board of the American College of Anthroposophic Medicine. He has lectured nationally and internationally, and published and written numerous scientific research articles and recently (2017) the book “Childhood Illnesses and Immunizations”. Besides anthroposophical medicine his current interests are in better understanding the seven Rhythms of the Foundation Stone. He is a co-founder of the True Botanica Company www.truebotanica.com and the Lili Kolisko Institute for Anthroposophical Medicine www.koliskoinstitute.org .

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg