Nativity of the BVM

Dear Friends, We are excited that our Rudolf Steiner Branch here in Chicago will be serving as a hosting hub for the upcoming Anthroposophical Society in America hybrid General Meeting and Conference ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’ October 7th-10th.

Preparations are underway here on Lincoln Avenue for a lovely group of in-person attendees to arrive, to share fellowship and scholarship and experiences offered both online and in person here together. 

We have some limited space for vendors during the conference, which in-person attendees will be able to peruse during break- and meal-times.  If you have things for sale that would be enjoyed by conference attendees:  books, self-care items, beautiful adornments, gifts to bring home to children, beeswax candles, chimes or other musical instruments– the sort of things we would all enjoy with our senses in the space, and which we might want to purchase, please do fill out the attached form.

The convention hours are as follows: Thursday Oct. 7th Dinner at 5 pm, AGM starts at 6:30pm-8pm, Friday Oct. 8th – Class Lesson in the upper room at 9:30 am, Lunch at noon, conference 1-7:15pm, Saturday Oct. 9th – Pageant Rehearsal at 9am conference 11am-8:30pm, Sunday Oct. 10th – Pageant Rehearsal at 9am Conference 11-2pm.

You would be welcome to open your sales 30 minutes ahead of the start times, and to linger 30-40 minutes after hours for sales if it seems helpful. There will be snack and meal breaks during the sessions when people may like to browse as well.

For more information about the conference: https://secure.anthroposophy.org/np/clients/anthroposophy/event.jsp?forwardedFromSecureDomain=1&event=211

For more information about our own RSBranch’ participation as an in-person hub: https://rudolfsteinerbranch.blogspot.com/2021/08/registration-for-asa-agm-in-chicago.html

To apply as a vendor, Please complete the form by September 20th: https://forms.gle/AfpDueWSo9dRfYUH7

Very cordially; The RSBranch conference planning committee; Elizabeth Kelly eilisaineariadne@gmail.com  vendor coordinator

Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo

According to the original Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner, TODAY is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Mary’s birth has ‘officially’ been celebrated since the 6th century. A September birth, with the Sun in the constellation Virgo. Also noteworthy-the Eastern Orthodox Church begins its Church year in September, with the feast of the Immaculate Conception nine months earlier on 8 December.

Feast of the Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Anna and Joachim –  Interrupting the Silence

The apocryphal book of James gives us this account: Anna & Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child that will advance God’s evolutionary plan for the world.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is cots-virgo-938x1024.jpg

St. Augustine connects Mary’s birth with the work of The Christ. He tells the earth to rejoice & shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.”

26 July + Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed … | Flickr

Today the barren Anna claps her hands for joy, the earth radiates with light, kings sing their happiness, priests enjoy every blessing, the entire universe rejoices, for she who is queen and the Father’s immaculate bride buds forth from the stem of Jesse

The maiden, the wheat, and the threshing moon | Wandering Arrow

The Virtue for the month of SeptemberCourtesy becomes Steadiness of Feeling.

This virtue of Equanimity or steadiness of Feeling has never been my strong suit. And today it dawned on me that perhaps it’s partly because I have always looked on ‘courtesy’ as a false societal mask, a convention that my: ‘Say it like it is’ attitude didn’t allow me to fully appreciate; especially since my dear mother, always very courteous, was often martyred. I thought I had to be tough so I wouldn’t be walked on like she was. But recently I was called ‘unkind’ & that hurt. It woke me up to my impatience, & showed me how tolerance is a form of courtesy. It showed me that to be truly kind, truly courteous, I had to practice a real ‘steadfastness of feeling’ – It shouldn’t come from a rule outside me, an unconscious convention, a patent please & thank you – but from a kind, patient, heart – centered in equanimity, bringing a calm sobriety & the resolve to cultivate & harvest right relationship.

Virgo Constellation Painting by Erdal Bölükbaşı | Artmajeur
Erdal Bölükbaşı

So thank you September; for the time has come when the contemplative Virgin of the heavens approaches, sparking wholeness, to gather us up in her blue mantle, like ears of corn, we are brought home from the fields of Summer.

The constellation of the Virgin has always been regarded in the ancient mysteries as the bearer of the bread of life -Full filled at the ‘Tuning Point of Time’ in the ‘miracle of the loaves & the fishes’, as well as the ‘Last Supper’.

Pisces - Virgo Axis - Soul Bridging

If cosmic provisions are to become nourishment for the “I”, we must make a connection with the powers of the depths, which lie opposite the Virgin along the axis of the Zodiac, in the constellation of Pisces, the sign of the Fishes. With this balance of Above & Below we can truly feed the “I” – & say as St. John did: “I am the Bread of Life”!

This begs the question, which our current culture has to answer: How can the food of life, which is so often taken in unconsciously, in greedy gulps -instead be taken up & internalized with a wakeful & reverent consciousness?

Madonna of the Wheat, Addressing Sacred Feminine Imagery in Art, Statuary,  and Textiles - Attraversando in il Rinascimento Italiano

If the Bread of Life is to be fully digested by the “I”, then what is required is the destruction of our selfish desires, making us ‘virgin’ again, that we may give birth to the ‘Christ in me’, to preserve & focus the activity of the will, freeing the “I” from outdated husks, to feed the Christ self.

Virgo, Earth, Mutable, 6th House, "I Analyze" | Zodiac art, Esoteric art,  Art

In the social realm, the royal virtue of courtesy brings the giddiness of summer’s unconscious expansion back into a steadfast feeling of thoughtful care. A soul hygiene that brings the pendulum into right relationship, just as every out-breath is followed by an in-breath –The austerity of the Virgin leading us into the balanced scales of Libra in preparation for Michaelmas.

This must be developed in the practice of our social life. If we practice this high ideal of courtesy, not just a surface, conventional politeness, we can acquire the right heart-felt feeling, which awakens an inner organ that can reveal to us the true being of the other person, as well as opening our connection to the elemental beings, that look to us to release them from the withering blooms.

“If the sheath-bearing Virgin, who draws near with golden rays of autumn sun, in the blue firmament, is to nourish you with what she provides, you must take up this food that is the Bread of Life in your innermost being.

That you can only do, when you develop not only your senses, but with them, open up the spirit of your soul to the world around you, & deepen in your heart the fruits of your life, that you gather, shape & organize. Only the right heartfelt tact gives you the possibility of recognizing the human being in others & of becoming aware of your own human nobility!” ~Rudolf Steiner

Contrary to Popular Belief: Recovering the Grassroots History of American  Atheism | Perspectives on History | AHA

Happy B-day BVM. Please work with my karmic angels, & that seed of wise-love that I must continue to cultivate, to awaken the virtuous tasks at hand, living into the potential of human nobility…
~hag

8 September 2021 – “Speaking with the stars”: Early in twilight use the low, thin Moon to guide you down toward Mercury ~skyandtelescope

Meaning of life Painting by Tatjana Anufrijeva | Saatchi Art
Tatjana Anufrijeva

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Connie Landro on Twitter: "Today in History September 8th 1504  Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. #OTD  #OnThisDay… https://t.co/tbaTI25OHf"

1504 – Michelangelo’s David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence

1565 – The Knights of Malta lift the Ottoman siege of Malta, the climax of an escalating contest between a Christian alliance & the Islamic Ottoman Empire for control of the Mediterranean

Portrait of Robert Fludd (1574-1637) - Unbekannter Künstler riproduzione  stampata o copia dipinta a mano e ad olio su tela

1637 – Deathday of Robert Fludd, a prominent English Paracelsian physician & occultist, an astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist & Rosicrucian apologist.

1900 – Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people

1941 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins

1949 – Deathday of Richard Strauss, German composer

1978 – Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, provoked 700-3000 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran

1988 – Deathday of Dr Rita Leroi a few days before her 75th birthday. She attended the Stuttgart Waldorf School as a child. She went on to became a Clinical Assistant at the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim. She developed a deep interest in cancer & the Iscador treatment of this disease. In 1954 she married Dr Alexandre Leroi who was the leader of the Society for Cancer Research & Director of the Hiscia Research Institute in Arlesheim. It is here that Iscador is produced & researches into the many problems to be solved in developing it into an effective remedy are undertaken. In October 1963 the Lukas Klinik, devoted to the care & treatment of cancer patients, opened in Arlesheim & Rita Leroi became its Director & selected to be President of the International Anthroposophical Medical Association

Greetings kindred souls – This year for the APO fund raiser I plan to hold a Dance-A-Thon & Biodynamic Prep-stir on Friday 24 September 2021 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America – Chicago

Featuring Waldorf Alum DJ ‘Grapefruit Effect’ & Ultra-Violet Archer with ‘Circles Edge‘ 

It’s a potluck community gathering, so please bring food & drink to share – Along with your donation to this amazing program.

We also plan to read some poetry from some of the inmates who are working with Anthroposophy!

If you live out of town you can dance in your neck of the woods in solidarity with us. Please show your generous support…

Xox ~hag, hazel@reverseritual.com

Donate here https://secure.anthroposophy.org/…/anth…/campaign.jsp…

Craig Wiggins

Festival Gathering: Tuesday 28 September on the eve of Michaelmas with Rev’s Jeana Lee & Victoria Capon

Potluck at 5:30
Talk at 7pm

At the Rudolf Steiner Branch, 4249 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618

Meeting The Dragon With Our Four Fold Being – A talk and collaborative sculptural creation

Bring Food & drink for the potluck & a found objects to help build the dragon!
Then our inspiration can come to life through our collaboration.

Jeana Lee was recently ordained as a priest of the Christian Community Movement for Religious Renewal and sent to the congregation in Chicago.  Previously she taught chemistry and math at Green Meadow Waldorf high school.  She enjoys swimming in the lake and is interested in questions of sin and redemption.

Victoria Capon hails from the east coast and is new to Chicago. Before attending seminary she taught at the Waldorf School of Cape Cod. Now she is happily settling into serving the chicago CC congregation and exploring the Windy City

Lay the foundation with us.

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Join us at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago 

  • 1st make sure you are registered at https://www.anthroposophy.org/fallconference and have indicated that you will be attending in person at the RSBranch Chicago.
  • Then Register by October 1st with the Chicago Branch using PayPal (this requires that you have a PayPal account of your own).

OR

  • Register and write a check and it mail by October 1st to: Rudolf Steiner Branch, Attn: Jenny Doty 4249 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60618

OR

Details for the in-person conference:

  • $75 will cover the expenses for facilities, 3 lunches and 3 dinners, snacks, and printing.

You will enjoy a pre-AGM dinner on Thursday Oct. 7 Doors open at 5 pm (AGM starts promptly at 6:3opm CT)
Lunch and Dinner on Fri.and Sat.
and Lunch post-conference on Sunday.
As well as Snacks/Coffee-Tea during the breaks.

  • $40 will cover only the bare expenses – no meals
  • Be a Master Builder Patron for $100 or more, to help pay for the tech costs!

Registration Link

4 thoughts on “Nativity of the BVM

  1. That’s some great insights you’re receiving on equanimity, and I like how you weave it together with the continuum of the seasons.

    To your question, “This begs the question, which our current culture has to answer: How can the food of life, which is so often taken in unconsciously, in greedy gulps -instead be taken up & internalized with a wakeful & reverent consciousness?” What I’m attempting to put into practice is to “see” (recognize) the beings behind the material provision. I’m not always successful yet, but working on it. It was Marguerite Miller who turned my attention to that insight.

    So interesting about the apocryphal book of James writing that Anna and Joachim were infertile – it aligns perfectly with Cayce’s insight that Mary was also immaculately conceived, and that her mother’s name was Anna. Steiner and Cayce align on so much. Just learned that Beulah Hepburn Emmett, founder of the first Waldorf high school in the West (High Mowing School in Wilmot, NH), received readings from Cayce, and carried on a dialogue of letters with him.

    1. The Michaelmas season is an especially powerful time to bring the elemental beings behind nature into our consciousness – to release them from the prison of the physical world as the withering begins & winter comes forth…

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