9 November 2019 – “Speaking with the Stars”: In early evening, look high above Bella Luna for the Great Square of Pegasus through the moonlight. It’s standing on one corner. The line from its top star through its bottom star points to the Moon.
Happy 85th birthday, Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) We miss you!
***
Today is the 5th installment of: ‘Mercury Dances across the Face of the Sun’ – Read the 1st, 2nd , 3rd & 4th chapters.
Dear Friends – Interesting to note that when Rudolf Steiner performed the ceremony to bury & consecrate the Foundation Stone of the 1st Goetheanum, on the evening of September 20th 1913, during a fearsome thunderstorm with all the elements wildly participating, the only Planetary Being he invoked was Mercury; writing in the document laid with the stone, that this deed was performed while “Mercury, as evening star, stood in the sign of Libra, the balance.”
The lamb skin parchment (depicted above) was signed by the attendees, & read out by Steiner; & then interred within the submerged double copper dodecahedra. The short-hand notes from the time, record Steiner reading the various inscriptions on the document, which included the all-important references to the angelic hierarchies & the Rosicrucian dictum E.D.N.; J.C.M.; P.S.S.R., followed by this statement:
“This Stone we lower into the kingdom of the condensed elements as symbol of the force for which we endeavor to strive through 3, 5, 7, 12, laid by the Johannes-Bau Verein, Dornach, on the 20th day of September 1,880 years after the Mystery of Golgotha, that is 1913 after the birth of Christ, when Mercury as the evening star stood in Libra”.
The term ‘condensed elements‘ is reminiscent of Schiller from his essay ‘Letters On the Aesthetic Education of Man’, a short work that Steiner describes as being of the highest philosophical significance. The importance that Steiner placed on the laying of this foundation stone, as well as the significance of the document & each part of its content, cannot be underestimated. It is also of high significance that here Steiner refers to Mercury as the evening star – again an indication (which I am still investigating) as to the so-called ‘interchange’ between Venus & Mercury.
Rudolf Steiner described the laying of the Foundation Stone as an act of descending the microcosm into the macrocosm. As god of communication, Mercury was invoked to witness what Steiner later christened as an example of: the Reverse Ritual – a new mystery; in this case calling for balanced communication, calling for us as human beings to step up, & speak up, in our conversation with the cosmos – Calling for us to build a firm foundation within ourselves –
A foundation strong enough to withstand the fires of sacrifice when the corner stone was transformed into The Foundation Stone Meditation, becoming the living word, The Logos, the foundation Stone of Love, at the Christmas Conference, after the Johannes-Bau had burned to ash. Then we see how Mercury steps in as psycho-pomp, escorting a Persephone renewed, as representative of All Souls who journey in the underworld – the 1st spark of the fires of Isis redeemed.
Rudolf Steiner demonstrated this great mystery of reversing the ritual in our call to speak once more to the stars, a gift to Marie Steiner on the Christmas Eve the year before.
And so it was, 1 solar cycle later, this time with Ita Wegman by his side, after a lecture to the Christian Community priests on NYE, Steiner stood with her on the Dornach hill & watched the Goetheanum go up in flames, opening a vision of the burning of Ephesus, an opening into the spiritual world allowing Ita Wegman to see into her past incarnations & for Steiner, to truly begin his core mission of bringing karma & reincarnation to the Western world.
And then after another solar cycle, the Foundation Stone that was planted in 1913 blossomed thru the blood of sacrifice into the foundation stone of love, which our beloved teacher selflessly poured into our hearts – as the Logos renewed.
In 1913, before the events of the 1st World War had begun, Mercury witnessed the stone as it was laid into earth, calling for balance. And Venus as the New Isis is calling from the future, to be reclaimed, & named as sacred witness, as we endeavor to understand thru our own free will forces, what it means to participate in the renewal of the Foundation Stone, laying it into the heart of the World as the Sacred Word. On 11.11.19, with the 100 year anniversary of the Christmas Conference looming, as Mercury makes his retrograde journey across the face of the Sun,
we are called to heal our wounded hearts, moving from a community of the “11” which suffered a “betrayal”, to a unity in community which resonates with the “11” who thru the empowerment of inner development, acknowledges & accepts one another as fellow Michaelites.
My friends, we are called today to join our voices together in our ‘Speaking with the Stars’, in full consciousness. Enabling us to redeem the wisdom of the Sophia & wed it with the Christ within.
Tomorrow we touch on Rudolf Steiner’s involvement with WW1 & Armistice Day
***
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
In the Original Calendar of the Soul, Steiner speaks about today being when ‘Faust makes his descent to the Mothers’ (more about that on 11.11.19)
1888 – Rudolf Steiner’s ‘Aquinas experience’ – after giving a lecture on ‘Goethe as father of a new aesthetics’ the Cistercian priest Wilhelm Neumann, Steiner’s friend made this remark: “The seeds of this lecture you gave today are to be found already in Thomas Aquinas”. This opened Steiner to his earlier incarnation.
1918 – The second German Empire ends – Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates after the German Revolution, & Germany is proclaimed a Republic.
1923 – Hitler’s attempted coup in Munich
9–10 November 1938 – Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and German civilians. The German authorities looked on without intervening. Jewish homes, hospitals, & schools were ransacked, as the attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers. The rioters destroyed 267 synagogues throughout Germany, Austria, & the Sudetenland, & over 7,000 Jewish businesses were either destroyed or damaged. Kristallnacht was followed by additional economic & political persecution of Jews, it is viewed by historians as part of Nazi Germany’s broader racial policy, & the beginning of the Final Solution & The Holocaust.
1989 –Fall of the Berlin Wall: East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel to West Berlin
***
POD (Poem Of the Day)
As I prepare to meet the Baba Yaga
The thought of snow angles oblique –
A fat half cracked frozen seed
Staring at the cut corn.
As husks rustle & blink bare
White spider legs dance on a web of grey
While I warm the cold with my breath.
~hag
***
How about a Road-Trip?
THE ALL SOUL’S SOUTHERN TOUR!
Take the Journey of the Soul
in the Life Between Death & Rebirth
in the warm hospitality of our Branch Buddies in the South:
Quick overview of the week:
Nov 10, 1st Class Lesson at the ARC in Atlanta GA
11.11.19 – Martinmas / Mercury Transit Gathering 4:11 pm – 6:11 pm at the Martin Clinic
Nov 12, Hazel and Deb Abrahams-Dematte will be in Atlanta, send any thoughts for must-see spots before we head out on the road trip
Nov 13, Gathering at Helene Burkarts’ ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 10 am-2 pm (see below)
Nov 14, Tuscumbia site visit, Helen Keller’s birth place
Nov 15, Memphis, death place of MLK, home of Elvis Presley
Nov 16, Nashville program ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 10 am – 2 pm
Nov 17 Knoxville program ALL SOULS’ FESTIVAL 1 pm – 5 pm
Nov 18 return to ATL
11/11/19, at the Martin Clinic – Humanizing Medicine – in Atlanta GA, 4:11 pm – 6:11 pm with a community potluck to follow
On this auspicious day we will gather to look at the mystery of 11:11, & the connections between, Martinmas, MLK, The Journey of the Soul, Armistice Day, The laying of the Foundation Stone, & a Rare Cosmic Alignment – The Transit of Mercury across the Sun.
‘Speaking with the Stars’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Storytelling with Enid Hancock
Leading thoughts with Mark Hancock, Angela Foster
Votive Art with Angela Foster
Biography work with Jolie Luba
Together we will sprinkle the BD preps around the Clinic
$10-$20 or pay what you will
For more info. contact Angela Foster
***
ALL SOULS JOURNEY – Exploring the Life between Death & Rebirth
10 am – 2 pm, Wednesday 13 November 2019, Auburn, Alabama, Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share – Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will – for more info. contact Helena Burkhart
***
10 am – 2 pm, Saturday 16 November 2019 in Nashville TN
Community Potluck lunch – Please Bring a dish to Share –
Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will –
For more info. contact Cathy Green Or Barbara Bittles
***
1 pm – 5 pm, Sunday 17 November 2019 Knoxville TN
Community Potluck Dinner – Please Bring a dish to Share –
Suggested Donation $20-$50 or pay what you will –
For more info. contact Bill Rogers
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a spiritual midwife and trans-denominational minister working in an eclectic style that inspires connections, initiating us into the magic waiting to be revealed in the cycle of the seasons. She is also the festivals coordinator of the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society, a lecturer, promoter, blogger, poet and performance artist. Learn more at www.ReverseRitual.com
Hello Hazel,
I find it so remarkable that you would comment on the laying of the foundation stone of the first Goetheanum on 20 September 1913.
Yet, it can also be shown that exactly one hundred years later, on 20 September 2013, that Mercury was also in Libra. Here is the account from USNO:
“Mercury and Saturn continue their race against the advancing Sun. You can see the two objects close together during the first evenings of the week, but Saturn is going to lose this race pretty quickly. The two planets are within four degrees of each other on the 17th and 18th, but by week’s end Mercury will have left Saturn some 10 degrees in his wake. The ringed planet will soon be lost in the glow of twilight, but Mercury will muster enough momentum to stay prominent in the sky until early next year.”
This thrust propelled Mercury fully into the constellation of Libra, and so we had a centennial event some six years ago. I remember studying all of your current indications back then, which are much appreciated, as well as the idea of what a double copper dodecahedron means. I am still working on that. Kind regards, Steve
https://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week/the-sky-this-week-2013-september-17-24
How amazing! It seems there are always clues waiting to be uncovered. You are such an inspiration. Thanks Steve, & Blessings on this power filled day
This is great stuff what you are posting,like today on Independent Anthroposophy,deserving to be shared,if only you could do this on more open pages who allow things with an Ikon to be shared.I feel sad,with my limited PC expertice not to be able to pass it on to friends. With warm regards, Peter
Greetings Peter – Thanks for tuning in. I’m not tech savvy either, I marvel I can even get these posts out at all. perhaps you can just share the link?
Blessings on this Day & everyday!