Dear Friends –

One of my beloved ‘practice buddies’ & I had a check-in with the need to express the anxiety that is living in the world & in us – which feels like an attack on our soul forces. We placed the Time Spirit Michael in a leminscate between us – activating the sword of discernment – & picturing his shield as a ribcage around our heart.

The eurythmy gesture for the constellation of Cancer, which houses the Bee Hive Cluster & rules the ribcage, came to heart & mind. 

Remembering that we are in the Season of Lent, we handed over everything that was too overwhelming to carry, into the arms of Mother Mary, in an imagination that these ongoing astral attacks can & must be transformed, passing from Her hands into the Sacred Heart of Christ, transformed by the Holy Spirit, & held by the “Father Ground of the World” as a healing impulse in “Depths of Worlds Begetting Life”.

Then later, at 2^nd breakfast, with my husband – another dear practice buddy, we talked about how the adversarial powers are working really hard. They are highly intelligent, & have a systematic, long term plan.

So what about us? What is our plan?

Of course on a personal level we know we need to work on our own individual inner development thru the basic essential exercises etc…But what about the Anthroposophical Society as a world-wide movement? Can we, will we, as an association of members, create some sort of Michaelic plan of action?

It’s great that many of us are stepping up our Eurythmy & Meditation practice, offering these up to the world. And, yes, we are really good at “Spirit-Recalling”, remembering the past – folks are gearing up for the 100 year anniversary of the laying of the New Foundation Stone of Love into the hearts of the 800 members at the Christmas Conference in 1923-24, right now.

Many of us strive to focus in with “Spirit-Sensing”- aligning with “World rhythms bestowing grace upon souls” – Working to bring awareness of the etheric Christ encircling us.

And I believe the impulse for the ‘Sophia Rising Convergence’ is truly what is needed as a herald to our “Spirit-Beholding” – which is calling to be unveiled & activated NOW. The dimension of Wisdom must be engaged if we are to light the way to the New-Isis & our future incarnation with the Maitreya Buddha, to embody Manichaeism in order to redeem evil.

Of course the elephant in the room in dealing with the Anthroposophical Society still trumpets with the residue of the chaos in the Society, that has always sort of been there, but which was exasperated after Steiner’s death. (which, BTW, had to do, in part, with not taking up the karmic task of bridging the “2 Streams” which led to the compromising of the principles of truth & freedom –under the political pressures of Nazi authorities)

Can each of us honestly say we have rooted out the residue of divisiveness lurking within, expressed thru antipathies & misplaced sympathies – Stamped on us thru our vaccine status? Fear & defensiveness, one-sided othering – blame & shame – Our refusal to see the other – as a karmic mirror – our aversion to those in the ‘other stream’ who think differently than us…

Friends, Let’s open the door. How can we work together to create true unity with all that we have been given thru Rudolf Steiner & Anthroposophy? Will we, as a collective, respond to the necessity coming from all worlds, out-pictured in the global situations? We must put our spiritual world-view into practice, creating a chalice that offers the healing medicine, in the Wisdom of Love & freedom.

Stay tuned dear intrepid souls – the Spiritual World is asking for us to tune in together as we make our way toward the 100 year Jubilee of the Re-Founding – & NOW as we stand in the reflection of the burning of the 1^st Goetheanum in 1922 an initiative is wanting to be born at Whitsun 2022 to unite us…

Will the tongues of fire speak your name in the upper room of our true Becoming?

~hag

22 March 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: In a very dark sky, the realistic stick figure of Canis Major is fairly plain to see — the Big Dog is seen in profile prancing to the right on his hind legs, with Sirius on his chest as his shiny dog tag. But for many of us, only his five brightest stars show well through the light pollution. These form the unmistakable Meat Cleaver.

Sirius and Murzim (to its right) are the wide top end of the Cleaver, with Sirius sparkling on its top back corner. Down to Sirius’s lower left is the Cleaver’s other end including its short handle, formed by the triangle of Adhara, Wezen, and Aludra. The Cleaver is chopping toward the lower right.

The waning gibbous Moon rises in the early hours of Wednesday morning, among the stars of upper Scorpius. Best view: just before the first glimmer of dawn Wednesday, about 1½ hours before sunrise. The Bella Luna is due south then, hanging above the orange-red supergiant Antares.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1828 – Birthday of Fercher von Steinwand, an Austrian poet. From Rudolf Steiner in THE RIDDLE OF MAN, GA 20, Pictures from the Thought-Life of Austria

“I learned to know him at the end of the 1880’s in Vienna and for a short time associated with him personally. He was sixty years old at the time: a true figure of light, even externally; an engaging warmth shone from his noble features, eloquent eyes, and expressive gestures; through tranquil clarity and self-possession, this soul of an older man still gave the effect of youthful freshness. And when one came to know this soul better, its particular nature and creations, one could see how a feeling life instilled by the Carinthian Mountains united in this soul with a contemplative life in the power of the idealism in German world views. This contemplation (Sinnen) was already entirely native to his soul as a poetic world of pictures; this contemplation pointed with this world of pictures into the depths of existence; it confronted world riddles artistically, without the originality of artistic creation paling thereby into thought-poetry; one can observe this kind of contemplation in the following lines from Fercher von Steinwand’s Chorus of Primal Dreams:

Out of all regions
Ever ascended,
Wanders an ether in far-radiant arches;
Travel the billows to
Depths ever silent.
There with our all-seeing
Will as their cargo,
Wending their way through the fog go our ferries;
Sail between wonderful
Banks new arising.
There before all-warming
Eyes of soft mildness
Winding and turning we fashion our patterns
Out all around dreaming
Regions of star-fields.
There to misfortune we
N’er are indebted,
There we constructed our fortresses hovering, And tribulations we
Joyfully shattered.
He who would paint you with
Most holy features,
Highest abode of our contemplative urgings:
Wait for the swiftest
Servants of love!

The following verses seek to portray how the soul, in thinking-waking daydreams, lives in far-away starry worlds and in immediate reality; then the poet continues:

No matter what careful
Powers accomplish,
Only on dreaming’s own wide-spreading pinions
Can what is mighty be
Gained now forever.
Every o’erpowering greatness of action,
All of the angels who guard what was planted
Are given counsel by
Dreams that inspire them.

Fercher von Steinwand then sings further about the penetrating of thinking, spiritualized to the point of dreaming, into the depths of the world, and about the penetrating of that kind of dreaming which is an awakening out of our ordinary waking state into those depths where the life of what is spiritual in the world can make itself tangible to the soul:

Life that our pulsating
Hearts have perceived,
Life that our struggling hearts have ascended
To all the welcoming
Cries of the spirits:

And then Fercher von Steinwand lets sound forth to the human spirit what the beings of the spirit realm speak to the soul that opens itself to them in inner contemplation:

Healed ones, now be here by
Loving encircled!
What you were seeking in uplifting hours,
Here, you selected ones,
Is it disclosed;
Here in the grandeur of
Halls of the Godhead,
Where to the heart other hearts are so pleasing,
Where buried voices are
Sounding forth newly
Where now the care-worn are
Royally striving,
Radiant souls now in smiles are all wreathed,
Round all the wrecks of the
Wheels of the ages —
Only the blinded ones,
Earth-bound and foolish,
Were for the gulf of destruction begotten,
Lost to the worlds of
Spirit perfection!
Weal to the sens’tive one
Round whom we hover,
Whom we enliven to bloss’ming existence,
All without weaving in
Fugitive shadows!

In the literary works of Fercher von Steinwand there then follows upon this Chorus of Primal Dreams his Chorus of Primal Impulses:

In the distances unbounded
Of our ancient mother Night.
Hark — to be in inward conflict
Seems the deep mysterious might!
Do we hear present’ment striding?
Is our longing wide awake?
Was a spirit-lightning lit?
Are our dreams through spaces gliding?
How now are powers by powers enraptured,
Blessed exchanges!
Now sudden hastenings.
Then quiet lingerings,
Reveling listenings
Change into beckonings
Marveling fearings!
Charm of desiring
Mounts, and sinks down,
Sinks into hatred.
Faced with the pallid
Picture of embracing
Cannot clasp hatred.
Ramifications dim,
Inclinings burgeoning,
Send forth their tendrils.
Ponderous inklings
Dawn and go faltering
O’er the wide spaces,
Seem to give counsel
Or to give guidance.
What they’re preparing
Is it the sowing
Of immense actions,
Of radiant ages?
Who felt the furrows
To be creative!
Who wandered through them
Blissfully savoring,
Or disentangling,
Grandeurs discovering!
Yonder the stir is like spirits embracing
We are enwarmed
And are receiving,
Seeking, and thinking,
See ourselves lifted,
Woven in joy with
Highest beginnings.
You wafting ‘round us,
In us arising:
“You are ideas! —”

May duration grow accustomed
To what urge has conjured up;
May adorning and appeasement
In creation’s stream prevail.
Sweetest light! in noble ringing
Mounts my heart aloft to you:
Linger at your western gate;
Help to crown the deed of love!
Risen from all earthly bonds is our impulse Soul — resurrected!
But what is ripened
Ruling, and valid
Proves to be spirit!
All that is circling,
All earth foundations,
All heavenly kindlings are
Self-made in spirit,
Came forth from spirit,
Work through the spirit
Powerful freedom from chaos did fashion
Space for good fortune!
Cloaked, with the dew of its deep-breathing mildness, Forest and field!
Cared that the dew and the light be companions,
Forming the hem of deep transfiguration —
Cared that each droplet should float at the threshold
of Spiritual radiance!

In Ferchervon Steinwand’s Complete Works (published by Theodor Daberkow in Vienna), there are also several indications about his life given by the poet himself when pressed by friends on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, He wrote, “I began life on March 22, 1828 upon the heights of the Steinwand above the banks of the Möll in Carinthia (Kärten); that means, in the midst of a defiant congregation of mountains with their heads held high, beneath whose domineering grandeur burdened human beings seem continuously to grow poorer,”
Since, in his Chorus of Primal Impulses, we find the world view of German idealism cast in the form of a poetic creation, it is interesting to see how the poet, on his paths through Austrian spiritual life, receives impulses from this world view already in his youth. He describes how he enters the university in Graz: “With my credentials — which of course consisted only of my report cards — held tight against my chest, I presented myself to the dean. That was Professor Edlauer, a criminologist of high repute. He hoped to see me (he said) industriously present in his lecture course on natural law. Behind the curtain of this innocent title he presented us for the whole semester, in rousing lectures, with those German philosophers who, under the fatherly care of our well-meaning spiritual guardians were banned and kept from us: Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, and so on — heroes, therefore; that means men who founded and fructified all areas of pure thinking, who gave the language and created the concepts for all the other sciences, and who, consequently, are illustrious names shining from our street comers today and seeming almost strange there in their particular diamond clarity. This semester was my vita nuova!”

Whoever learns to know Fercher von Steinwand’s tragedy Dankmar, his Countess Seelenbrand, his German Tones from Austria, and other works of his will be able through this to feel many of the forces that were working in the Austrian spiritual life of the second half of the nineteenth century. And everything about Fercher von Steinwand testifies to the fact that one receives out of his soul a picture from this spiritual life in clarity, truth, and genuineness. The amiable Austrian poet in dialect Leopold Hormann felt rightly when he wrote the words:

Far from all baseness
All avarice and meanness;
Foe of publicity,
That loathesome false lady;
German in soul,
Strong yet with kindness
Great in his thinking,
No faltering and wavering,
Proof against all objections: —
Fercher von Steinwand!

1832 – The DeathDay of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – who Steiner names as a ‘sculptor & follower of Plato’ in Karmic Relations Vol 4 Lecture 10

New Astrology Emerging. (here)

Questions about the course

Tune in to our Zoom broadcasts, brief presentations of aspects of this course, with lots of time for Q&A. Intended to total 20 minutes in length. These are given on different days so you might find one that would work best for you. Each of these brief sessions will be different!

• March 28, Monday, 9 AM Mtn. (morning)

Star Wisdom comes alive through active embodiment within each participant, made possible by working together in the instrument of the StarHouse—or within your sacred imagination in your own home. This immersion facilitates each participant forming conscious relationships with zodiacal and planetary beings.

Register here

Join us for an exploration, based on spiritual science and star wisdom, into the following themes:

This course, to train practitioners in Star Wisdom will take place in the StarHouse June 2022. It is designed to train beginners who are willing to ride a steep learning-curve, and long-time astrologers.

Our teaching weaves experiential activities (embodiment) and conceptual learning so you learn it more thoroughly.

On-line too: The course will also be on-line (live-streamed, interactive). A manager on our end will coordinate actively with those attending via Zoom, including relaying questions to the presenters for comment. (We plan that the event will be filmed and edited, and parts of it made available as a course through our website.)

Our approach to astrology is informed and inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indications found sprinkled throughout his six thousand lectures, as it has been developed by a small group of astrosophers over several decades. This deeper understanding of, and interaction with, the heavens is based on: 

• A sidereal (star-based) view of the heavens, emphasizing the active and dynamic role of the beings working from stars and constellations
• Equal length zodiacal signs (relating to the lineage of Zarathustra), equal houses, and recognizing the Earth’s role and significance to the birth chart
• Anthroposophy (thus called astrosophy, with its particular guidance for understanding the beings indwelling the zodiacal and planets)
• Identifying and working with spiritual themes in our lives in a way made practical by the research of Robert Powell, and the indications of cosmic Christianity, as understood through Anthroposophy. 
• And other features that we will teach.

Some topics that we will cover:

• New and traditional methods for interpreting a birth chart
• Zodiacal constellations in the birth chart
• Understanding the meaning in the patterns of the moving planets
• Planetary aspects in the birth chart
• The important role of the twelve equal houses, in the birth chart
• How transiting planets interplay in the time-stream of life, presenting challenges and opportunities
• Determining the time of conception and its own chart
• The care necessary to regard the information of a person’s sacred birth moment with reverence and understanding
• The importance of understanding reincarnation and karma for human development
• The journey between death and rebirth, and why that is important for human destiny
• Human Life phases: the 7-year periods of our life biography and the relation of those periods to the planetary spheres
• The role of self-development for a practitioner of New Astrology

Enrollment and Application Reister here

Commitment: This intensive requires participation in five-plus full days.

Dates: Begin Thursday evening, June 23, 2022, 7 PM, through midday Tuesday June 28. On June 24-27, we will go from 9 AM to 5 PM. Evenings are for homework, integration, and optional study groups. Lunches will be provided, including the last day, Tuesday.

Limits: Enrollment will be limited to 24 in-person participants and others will participate on-line. In-person will go through an application process. More important than years practicing astrology is your motivation to learn. Our present on-line courses (New Astrology, series 1 and series 2) will be made available to all registered participants and can provide a strong foundation to a motivated person with little experience. After application for In-person participants, one of our team will arrange a phone call to interview you.

Scholarship program: We plan to have a scholarship program to which those of means can contribute. Please consider contributing to this fund to support others taking this course.

Costs: Cost of on-site/in-person for the whole course $1100. On-line (live-streaming) $800. A deposit will hold your place.

Meals and Snacks: Lunches provided every day including Tuesday (just after the end of the course). Dietary restrictions are queried on the application. Snacks and tea are provided mid-morning and mid-afternoon every day.

Lodging: You will need to find your own lodging and transport. Some lodging is available in nearby residences, and the Retreat Cabin near the StarHouse. These can fill up quickly, so please make your request soon. Other lodgings nearby are the Boulder Adventure Lodge (a-lodge.com), which fills up in summertime quickly. More information will be sent after registration.

Register here

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation April 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

“The pupils of the Grail were told of a state which humans would attain in future. Possessed of clear, alert consciousness, their being would be purified, the substance of the human body would become as pure and chaste as that of the plant, and their organs of reproduction transformed.”~ from Chapter 12  Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 12 “The Higher Calyx” and Chapter 13 “The Resonant Chalice,” excerpts from Steiner’s lectures given at Nuremberg on 2 December 1907 (GA 92) and Stuttgart 16 September 1907 (GA 101) … will be the focus of the April 6 meeting. Chapters 12 and 13 in the book can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link A transcript of the 2 December 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link A transcript of the 16 September, 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link * Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work.  Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org

The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing  study conversation.  The study has been divided among two 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: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail — from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010. 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/88210505106 Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago) Dial by your location         +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)         +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)         +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)         +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)         +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)         +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcHr5EVwrv If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu or Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com Agenda for this meeting (CST)   7:15  Welcome and Introductions         7:18  Verse 7:25  Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers           Michael – Chapter 12           Tom – Chapter 13 7:50  Conversation 8:25   ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28  Close with verse