Atonement

October 4, 2022Festival, History~hag

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which begins tonight at sunset, falls 10 days after Rosh Hashanah, & is the culmination of the entire High Holy Day drama. It is the holiest day of the Jewish year or, as the Bible describes it, the “Sabbath of Sabbaths”. During the 24 hours of Yom Kippur, the biblical commandment to fast from food & water, while engaging in intense soul-searching, & praying for forgiveness is practiced. Yom Kippur is a day of inner purification & of reconciliation with the creator & with our fellow human beings. It is a reminder of the frailty of human existence & our duty to act charitably toward the less fortunate. This ancient tradition is just as important now as it was for our ancestors, maybe even more so.

During this time after the Autumnal Equinox & the beginning of the Michaelmas Season, a shift occurs within us, echoing outside of us in Nature, & reflected in various cultural expressions & traditions.

It is the moment in time to dedicate mind, body, & soul to reconciliation – with God, our fellow human beings, & ourselves; a time to turn to those whom we have wronged, acknowledging the pain we might have caused. At the same time, being willing to forgive & to let go of offenses & the feelings of resentment they provoked in us. This journey for both seekers & givers of pardon mirrors the journey a soul takes after death.

During this season it is customary to walk to a body of fresh water symbolically casting bread crumbs into the waters, a symbol of our sins: those actions that have missed the mark.

What we do to ourselves & others has repercussions. Because of this unity everything that occurs in our own little world creates a resonance in others & in society as a whole. To heal the planet we first have to heal ourselves, acknowledge our sorrows, & thru compassion – forgive.

~hag

4 October 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Look for Bella Luna on October 4 and 5, 2022. The bright “star” near it is really the ringed planet, golden Saturn. The moon is in a waxing gibbous phase on these nights. It’s in front of the constellation Capricornus the Sea-goat.

Pluto Jupiter Conjunction in Capricorn 2020 - Transit Dates

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

“To truly know the world, look deeply within your own being; to truly know yourself, take real interest in the world.” Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

Holy Martyr Gaius of Ancyra: I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can s… | The cross of christ, New testament, Orthodoxy

Feast Day of Crispus & Gaius, Martyrs baptized by St. Paul at Corinth, Greece. Crispin headed the local Jewish synagogue. Gaius served as St. Paul’s host & was praised by St. John. Before being martyred, Crispin served as the bishop of the Aegean Islands, & Gaius served as bishop of Thessalonica, Greece.

1 Corinthians 1:14 – I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius

Acts 10:48 – So he ordered that Crispus and Gaius be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

Acts 18:8 – Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his whole household believed in the Lord. And many of the Corinthians who heard the message believed and were baptized.

Romans 16:23 – Gaius, who has hosted me and all the church, sends you greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you greetings, as does our brother Quartus.

3 John 1:1 – The elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth

1515 Birthday of Lucas Cranach the Younger, He is known for portraits & mythical scenes

Santa Teresa de Avila - St. Teresa of Avila - AOTEA Poster by Br Arturo Olivas OFS

1582 – Deathday of Saint Teresa of Ávila, a prominent Spanish mystic, saint, Carmelite nun, theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer & author during the Counter Reformation.

Her books, which include her autobiography (The Life of Teresa of Jesus) & her seminal work El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle), are an integral part of Spanish Renaissance literature as well as Christian mysticism & Christian meditation practices. She also wrote Camino de Perfección (The Way of Perfection).

Teresa of Avila was born in 1515. Her paternal grandfather, was a marrano (Jewish convert to Christianity) & was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to the Jewish faith. Her father, bought a knighthood & successfully assimilated into Christian society. Teresa’s mother, was especially keen to raise her daughter as a pious Christian. Teresa was fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, & ran away from home at age seven with her brother Rodrigo to find martyrdom among the Moors.

When Teresa was 14 her mother died; this resulted in Teresa becoming grief-stricken. This prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. Along with this good resolution, however, she also developed immoderate interests in reading popular fiction (consisting, at that time, mostly of medieval tales of knighthood) & caring for her own appearance. Teresa was sent for her education to the Augustinian nuns at Ávila.

In the monastery she suffered greatly from illness. Early in her sickness, she experienced periods of religious ecstasy through the use of the devotional book the Third Spiritual Alphabet. This work, consisted of directions for examinations of conscience & for spiritual self-concentration (known in mystical nomenclature as oratio recollectionis). She also employed other mystical ascetic works.

She claimed that during her illness she rose from the lowest stage, “recollection”, to the “devotions of silence” or even to the “devotions of ecstasy”, which was one of perfect union with God. During this final stage, she said she frequently experienced a rich “blessing of tears.”

The kernel of Teresa’s mystical thought throughout all her writings is the ascent of the soul in four stages (The Autobiography Chs. 10-22):

The 1st Devotion of Heart, is mental prayer of devout concentration or contemplation. It is the withdrawal of the soul from without & especially the devout observance of the passion of Christ & penitence

The 2nd Devotion of Peace, is where human will is surrendered to God. This is by virtue of a charismatic, supernatural state given by God, while the other faculties, such as memory, reason, & imagination, are not yet secure from worldly distraction. While a partial distraction is due to outer performances such as repetition of prayers & writing down spiritual things, yet the prevailing state is one of quietude

The 3rd Devotion of Union, is absorption in God. It is not only a supernatural but an essentially ecstatic state. Here there is also an absorption of the reason in God, & only the memory & imagination are left to roam. This state is characterized by a blissful peace, a sweet slumber of at least the higher soul faculties, or a conscious rapture in the love of God

The 4th Devotion of Ecstasy, is where the consciousness of being in the body disappears. Sense activity ceases; memory & imagination are also absorbed in God or intoxicated. Body & spirit are in the throes of a sweet, happy pain, alternating between a fearful fiery glow, a complete impotence & unconsciousness, & a spell of strangulation, sometimes by such an ecstatic flight that the body is literally lifted into space. This after half an hour is followed by a reactionary relaxation of a few hours in a swoon-like weakness, attended by a negation of all the faculties in the union with God. The subject awakens from this in tears; it is the climax of mystical experience, producing a trance. Indeed, she was said to have been observed levitating during Mass on more than one occasion.

Teresa is one of the foremost writers on mental prayer, & her position among writers on mystical theology is unique. In all her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences. Her deep insight & analytical gifts helped her to explain them clearly. Her definition was used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” She used a metaphor of mystic prayer as watering a garden throughout her writings.

Around 1556, various friends suggested that her newfound knowledge was diabolical, not divine. She began to inflict various tortures & mortifications of the flesh upon herself. But her confessor, the Jesuit Saint Francis Borgia, reassured her of the divine inspiration of her thoughts. On St. Peter’s Day in 1559, Teresa became firmly convinced that Jesus Christ presented himself to her in bodily form, though invisible. These visions lasted almost uninterrupted for more than two years. In another vision, a seraph drove the fiery point of a golden lance repeatedly through her heart, causing an ineffable spiritual-bodily pain.

I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it…

This vision was the inspiration for one of Bernini’s most famous works, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

The memory of this episode served as an inspiration throughout the rest of her life, & motivated her lifelong imitation of the life & suffering of Jesus, epitomized in the motto usually associated with her: Lord, either let me suffer or let me die.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
~Teresa of Ávila

On this day in 1582: Pope Gregory XIII announces the new Gregorian calendar

1582 – Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, & Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15

1669 – Deathday of Rembrandt

Singular Voices: Janis Joplin | Operavore | WQXR

1970 – Deathday of Janis Joplin

WikiLeaks' War on Secrecy: Truth's Consequences | Time

2006 – Wikileaks is launched by Julian Assange

Yes, dear friends I am back making podcasts on ‘I Think Speech‘ check out the new eposodes of the ‘Festival of Life Tour’

part 1 (White Feather Ranch)

Part 2 (Live Power Farm)

& the healing story of change & transfomation: of ‘The Farmer’s Hat‘ from part 3.

Festival of Life Tour (part 3)

October 3, 2022Autumn, Biography, Community, Festival, History, Insight, Poetry~hag

At Live Power Farm in Covelo CA. the nights are chilly, with swirling mists covering the valley in a thick dewy blanket of Atlantean-like vapors. We came together on the 1^st day of the BDANC Michaelmas Conference at dawn, for the traditional ceremony of ‘Honoring the Cow’. When I first heard this term I thought O we’ll be singing & perhaps put a flower crown or some such on the cow. But this ceremony is more practical, essential, & down to earth – It’s about life & death. The Autumn-Tide is harvest time after all, when the plant & animal kingdoms yield to the reaping – returning the individual to the group soul in the cycle of birth & death as we enter the dark of the year. And how often are we actually present to the sacrifice, able to add our human attention & intention to the process?

Monty, the butcher, a slim rugged mountain man showed up in his truck, & we followed him to the barn. Charles & Gloria had chosen 3 cows & put them in a pen separate from the herd. Monty, with white beard & red suspenders, his small rifle held reverently on his shoulder, took some time to commune with these beings to see which one was called to be honored for this year’s ceremony.

The brown cow stood looking directly at Monty as Gloria read the powerful prayer that Nancy Poer wrote years ago specifically for this ritual, to honor the sacrifice of these cosmic & earthly beings that do so much to spiritualize the earth, & provide sustenance for the human being.

Everyone stood around embracing each other in quiet reverence. Monty raised the rife & shot the brown cow once in the skull – it crumpled to the ground without a sound in one swift movement. The shot was surprisingly not very loud at all, but for this city girl it was a shock; I gasped, & then began to hum & tone, as they brought the sacrifice out of the pen into the straw where we were standing.

Monty began the work of skinning the animal with such precision & artistry, as the community bore witness & held the sacred space. Every part of the animal is used. Harold & Luke laid out the innards which became the sheaths for the various biodynamic preparations that we then engaged in making all that day.

After breakfast & the official Welcoming by Cynthia & Harald Hoven, I facilitated a calling in of the Elementals. Altars were set up in each of the 4 directions, adorned with substances representing Earth, Air, Fire, Water & in the Center Spirit. We went from the center point as individuals, out to the periphery to form the eternal circle, with the imagination that when you square the circle it becomes the symbol for Earth. We sang & moved around the circle passing each altar until we felt called to stop at one, to commune there with our fellows who also chose to stand in that particular quarter to explore the Elemental Beings of each realm: The Gnomes & Trolls of the Earth Element in the North, The Sylphs of Air in the East, The Salamanders of Fire in the South, the Undines of Water in the West, & in the Center the Human Being as the 5 pointed Star of Spirit. Then each group reported their experience, sharing with the larger circle. We ended with another song feeling enlivened & bonded with the Elemental Beings of the land, & the Spirit of Place.

We worked for the main part of the day making the Biodynamic preparations which Harald Hoven distributes to many farms in the region: Chamomile blossoms moistened with nettle tea are stuffed into the cow’s intestines – this helps the metabolism of calcium in the soil; Dandelion Flowers put into the sheath of the cow’s peritoneum – which has an important role for silicic acid; Oak Bark was ground from trees on the land & after the cow’s skull was cleaned it was filled with this substance to combat plant diseases; & Horn Manure stuffed into the cow horns to stimulate soil life & root growth.

As the day progressed it became quite hot, almost 100 degrees. After another Circle with introductions & lunch, we finished the prep making, & gathered in the newly constructed community building for a round table discussion led by Gloria Decater & Chuck Ginsberg on ‘The evolution of Biodynamic legacy farms – old farms that need new farmers’ – A difficult issue calling to open opportunities for the future.

The next event was a workshop bringing the questions raised in the discussion into a living perspective reminding us that we have helpers on the other-side waiting for us to recognize them by rising in our thinking to meet them. The workshop was called: ‘Bridging Heaven & Earth’ – Working in consciousness community beyond the threshold for the future evolution of the Earth. Thru singing, & storytelling I brought the picture that, in the realities which Rudolf Steiner shows us in his many teachings on communicating with the ‘so-called dead’, working with the spiritual hierarchies, & coming to know the Christ as the meaning of the Earth, we learn what our beloved dead & the unborn can teach us about what it means to be human in a spiritual sense here on Earth. I taught a song that Ultra-Violet wrote, & shared a story that I crafted especially for Gloria & Stephen Decater, inspired by a healing tale from Susan Down that I call: ‘The Farmer’s Hat’. You can listen to it on my podcast ‘I Think Speech’, along with parts 1 & 2 of the ‘Festival of Life Tour’.

It finally stated cooling down a bit as we set up outside for a very interesting ‘Discussion about Sequential Spraying for Drought Remediation’ with Michael Aldinger & Alexandra Kravetz. The original intention of this technique is ‘to use the BD preps to harmonize overly wet or dry atmospheric conditions, to help create Balance, by spraying each preparation individually. Stir and spray BD 500 & BC (Horn manure and Barrel Compost) together the first evening, followed by BD 501 & 508 (Horn Silica and Equisetum) the following morning. (Note: this can and should be adapted as needed for individual and regional needs!) By following the above schedule, all nine BD preparations are sprayed in a short period, ideally coinciding with beneficial energies from the heavens to achieve maximum benefits. This is ideally done while the moon is in front of the constellation you wish to work with. Three water trines in a row are happening this November. The very best dates to encourage moisture are: Monday November 14 Moon in Cancer, Sun trine Neptune (especially beneficial) Tuesday November 15 Venus trine Jupiter, Moon opposition Saturn (especially beneficial) Wednesday November 16 Mercury trine Jupiter (especially beneficial) December 1-3 Moon in Pisces’. (See works by Hugh J. Courtney, Hugh Lovel, Lloyd Nelson & others for more background)

What I love about this is that Alexandra is setting up a spreadsheet so that all the participating farmers can add their input to co-create a document showing the Spiritual Scientific results. Kudos friends! It is very exciting to see this kind of research being done, especially since drought conditions can be devastating.

We ended the evening with a Jody’s delicious dinner of Pork & Lamb roast sourced from the Live Power Farm; much lively community conversation, & a bonfire with music & socializing under that magnificent night sky. Willow & Lew Summer brought song sheets for the sing-along – there were ukuleles, guitars & drums. Jupiter was the 1^st to make his appearance in the East; & since it was the eve of the New Moon the constellations were unveiled in all their glory. What a gift to a perfect day of work & fellowship.

Stay tuned for the last installment of our ‘Festival of Life Tour’

~hag

3 October 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: First Quarter Moon occurs at 7:14 P.M. CDT today. Bella Luna is now in Sagittarius, floating amid the stars of its famous Teapot asterism.

Above Sagittarius is Aquila, which contains the famous luminary Altair, part of the Summer Triangle with its fellow stars Deneb in Cygnus and Vega in Lyra. You’ll notice this large asterism stays relatively low in the sky these days, now that fall has arrived.

20+ Best Abigail Sarah Bagraim images in 2020 | jewish art, painting, jewish artists

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) | Tarquin and Lucretia | The Met — Titan

508 BC – Deathday of Lucretia an ancient Roman woman whose fate played a vital role in the transition of Roman government from the Roman Kingdom to the Roman Republic. She committed suicide after being raped by an Etruscan king’s son was the immediate cause of the anti-monarchist rebellion that overthrew the monarchy. As a result of its sheer impact, the rape itself became a major theme in European art & literature

Christ Raising from Death the Daughter of Jairus ~ Bread for Beggars

Deathay of Jarius. The record of the daughter of Jairus is a combination of miracles of Jesus in the Gospels (Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56) The story immediately follows the exorcism at Gerasa. Jairus, a patron or ruler of a Galilee synagogue, had asked Jesus to heal his 12-year-old daughter. As they were traveling to Jairus’ house, a sick woman in the crowd touched Jesus’ cloak & was healed of her sickness. Jesus turned round to the woman & says: “Take heart, daughter,” your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Moments later, a messenger arrived with the news that Jairus’ daughter had died, & he was advised not to trouble Jesus any further. However, Jesus responded: Be not afraid, only believe. (Mark 5:36) Jesus continued to the house, where he informed all those present that the girl was not dead but asleep. He then went upstairs & restored the little girl to life. In Mark’s account, the Aramaic phrase “Talitha Koum” (transliterated into Greek as ταλιθα κουμ meaning, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) is attributed to Jesus

Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia

Deathday of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a Syrian Christian theologian & philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the set of works commonly referred to as the Corpus Areopagiticum or Corpus Dionysiacum, portraying himself as the Athenian convert of Paul of Tarsus mentioned in Acts 17:34 (Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus) This attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given great authority in subsequent theological writing in both East & West. His works are mystical & show strong Neoplatonic influence. For example he uses Plotinus’ well-known analogy of a sculptor cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image.

In a letter addressed to Polycarp, pseudo-Dionysius asks “What have you to say about the solar eclipse which occurred when the Savior was put on the Cross? At the time the two of us were in Heliopolis and we both witnessed the extraordinary phenomenon of the moon hiding the sun at the time that was out of season for their coming together…. We saw the moon begin to hide the sun from the east, travel across to the other side of the sun, and return on its path so that the hiding and the restoration of the light did not take place in the same direction but rather in diametrically opposite directions.…” This is illustrated in an astronomical fresco in the main gallery of the Escorial Library, near Madrid, Spain, which shows Dionysius the Areopagite observing an eclipse at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.

Luke, 23-45 (It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. 45The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle) We can notice a quadrant & an astrolabe in the hands of the amazed men!

287 AD – Deathday of Saint Candidus. The Golden Legend states that he was a commander of the Theban Legion, which was composed of Christians from Upper Egypt. He opposed Maximian, who had ordered them to harass the local Christians in his name, stating that “we are your soldiers, but we are also servants of the true God. We cannot renounce Him who is our Creator and Master, and also yours even though you reject Him.” Candidus, along with St. Maurice, the other staff officers & 6,600 soldiers, were martyred at the Swiss town of Saint Maurice-en-Valais

He Chose a Greater Chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 5) -

1226 – Deathday of Francis of Assisi, Italian friar & saint. Based on a study of the life of Francis of Assisi, Rudolf Steiner shows how the development of morality is based on the belief in the Divine at the bottom of every human soul, on the boundless love that springs from this belief, and on the hope for each human soul that it can find its way back to the Divine. Anthroposophical Ethics…St. Francis, Lecture III

Gilbertus Anglicus Medicine of the Thirteenth Century: Buy Gilbertus Anglicus Medicine of the Thirteenth Century by Handerson Henry Ebenezer at Low Price in India | Flipkart.com

1250 – Deathday of Gilbertus Anglicus. His major work, the Compendium Medicinae, written in Latin, running to seven books, is an attempt to provide a comprehensive encyclopedia of medical & surgical knowledge as it existed in his day. He quotes extensively from Roger of Palma, & acknowledges that his work is indebted to Greek physicians including Galen, Hippocrates & Theophilus Protospatharius, & Arab physicians such as Averroes & Avicenna.

Dion Fortune and Paul Foster Case | janeadamsart

1884 – Birthday of, Paul Foster Case, an American occultist, founder of Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), original member of Alpha et Omega, an organization that inherited the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Paul Foster Case played the organ in the Congregational Church, where his father was a deacon. In childhood, he started working to have lucid dreams. Rudyard Kipling, spurred his interest in their correspondence, confirming that such a phenomenon is possible, & can be developed.

Case became a member of the Order of Alpha et Omega, but he was distrustful of Enochian Magic. He explored certain practical ceremonial magic, with his sometime partner Moina Mathers.

Case was fascinated by the “New Thought” movement, he met William Walker Atkinson, & co-authored the modern literary mystification “The Kybalion”, as one of the anonymous “three wise men”.

The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order: An Interpretation of the Rosicrucian Allegory & An Explanation of the Ten Rosicrucian Grades - Kindle edition by Case, Paul Foster. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ — from my library

Case studied various yoga’s & the karma of past lives, & was said to have worked with “the healer Dr. Fludd” who claimed that the Count Saint-Germain had sent him to be his teacher.

Orange and Juice: Comparing Donald Trump and O.J. Simpson - Santa Monica Daily Press

1995 – O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson & Ronald Goldman

2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is signed by President George W. Bush – commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, & supply cash directly to banks

~my words are forged in star-fire
that i may speak the language of earth
a sacrifice on the altar of angels…
~hag

Michaelmas in pictures

October 2, 2022Autumn, Calendar of the Soul~hag

Some of the folks from our annual Michaelmas Festival 2022 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago

Here are some highlights from our Annual Fall Prep day at Zinniker Farm:

2 October 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The bright “star” ascending in the east at nightfall is really a planet, the largest of the planets in our solar system, Jupiter. This planet’s opposition – when Earth flew between Jupiter and the sun – was on September 26. A dark sky reveals the bright planet directly south of the Great Square of the constellation Pegasus. Between the Great Square and bright planet is a pretty, but faint group of 6 stars known as the Circlet in the constellation Pisces.

RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL
translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler
MICHAELMAS
Michaelic Firepower
v26
Natura, in the being of my will
I bear thy soul of motherhood
and in my will enkindled firepower
my spirit impulses are tempered, steeled,
that feeling of the selfhood formed from them
bear I in me.

Michaelmas Day was last Thursday. It will be in the week
of v26 when it comes between Sunday and Wednesday.
It is the last verse of the baritone’s imaginative power
to incarnate the spirit’s summer gift. Next week the soprano
will have the longing to recognise the stream of becoming
arisen in her soul in a new seed, the baritone’s gift for her
to find the inspiration for the Spirit Child’s Christmas birth.
(The 4 voices of the Soul Calendar’s year were given by Karl Konig.)

MICHAELMAS II
Soul Springtime
v27
To fathom
my depths of being
arouses longing, ardently divining,
that I, self-contemplating, find myself
as gift the summer sun’s bequeathed
my autumn mood in germinating seed,
warm spring of strength to motivate my soul.

‘Festival of Life Tour’ part 2

October 1, 2022Biography, Community, Festival~hag

‘Festival of Life Tour’ part 2. (here is Part 1) Or Listen to this eposode on the ‘I Think Speech‘ Podcast

After many hours of sharing stories with Nancy Poer under the spreading shelter of the Live Oaks near the Ranch barn, Doctor Tobias Handschin, a pediatrician who runs an artist retreat center in Stockton CA. had to set off for work. CG & Hermes Work our young Astrosophy friend, currently studying with our dear Brian Gray, went up to Nancy’s house, while I prepared for the BD conference.

That night I dreamt that the robots working for the 1 percent, had enslaved all the Biodynamic farmers putting them to work to keep certain sections of the earth a paradise garden exclusively for them. We were kept from directly interacting with each other, but I found a way to make up songs based on Spiritual Science that let us communicate as we worked the land. Thru this sacred music we were able to connect with the elementals who gave us clues on what to do so that the cosmic forces we were bringing in would eventually spread out, like a ripple in a pond, to spiritualize the whole Earth – redeeming it from the adversarial powers that seek to condense & deaden all life. I awoke with a shiver to the sound of a Hoot owl.

And at the break of day, CG, Hermes & I, set out for the 6 hour road-trip North West to Live Power Farm for theBDANC Michaelmas Fall Gathering. The twisty turny climb up & down the mountain ranges, thru miles of orchards – mostly almond, walnut & pistachio trees, past village vistas like beautiful Clear Lake, CA., was filled with majesty & wonder. We couldn’t stop exclaiming ‘WOW, O WOW, look, look’, at the wondrous topography, so different than the planes of our beloved Heartland region.

Covelo CA. is in a volcanic caldera valley, surrounded by the many mountain ranges of Round Valley. Mountains have always held a special place in the soul of humanity. Is it their rugged vastness? Their vast grandeur & solitude? Is it the challenge of climbing them? Do mountains loom large in our mind because they are the closest point to heaven here on Earth? The ancients believed that that gods ruled from the top of mountains, which formed the foundation of the world, providing a resting place for the firmament.

Moses received the 10 commandments etched on stone tablets from Mount Sinai, also called Horab which means thorny mountain? Mohammad obtained his first revelation just outside of Mecca in the Hira cave of Mount Jabal al-Nour which means “Mountain of Light”. Why did the Transfiguration of Christ Jesus happen on Mount Tabor (which means camp or navel)?

Mountains are a powerful force, which sparks the creation of new worlds in an attempt to describe them.

But this particular Mountain Valley has a dark history which I learned from a conversation during one of our meals.

The Yuki Tribe, one of many indigenous Tribes of Round Valley, part of Mendocino County, CA., called themselves “Ukomno’om” meaning “Valley People” before the arrival of the Europeans. But starting in 1848, due to the California Gold Rush, white immigrants flooded into the Valley, increasing the settler population from 1,000 to well over 300,000 in little more than a decade – The sudden influx of miners, strained the space & natural resources of the 400,000 Native Americans who had been peacefully living in the area for many generations.

Long ago, thousands & tens of thousands of years, the glaciers swept down the eastern slope of the Mountain ranges in Mendocino, carrying with them trees which were four times the size of the giant redwoods which now tower above the valleys. Stumps, with a vast acreage of roots, can still be found nowadays hidden in the forest depths, indicating the mammoth growth of those primeval days.

Extraordinary landslides must have occurred. Volcanic action threw up ridges, out of which many coal seams cropped, especially along the Eel River, which the miners wanted.

And so it was that from these splendid heights, with its majestic vista of peace & beauty spreading far to the horizon, Round Valley, then became ‘stolen valley’ — for I was told, that those far-off purple hills are dotted with the unmarked graves of thousands of murdered native peoples — killed not in the heat of mountain quarrels, but one by one, thru years of greed & prejudiced malice, with cold, slow, deliberate purpose, because the Native people born in Round Valley chose to maintain their right to live there & refused to allow the theft of their stock, the burning of their homes, & the systematic persecution in the courts, to turn them from their birthright. And for that they were murdered. The woman raped & the children sold into slavery.

Later when the Gold Rush was raging, many other tribes were dumped into the Valley. They were rounded up from the far corners of California, some of whom were traditional enemies of one another, which added to the hostile social environment in the concentration camp conditions. Every mountain pass into this paradise holds this horrendous memory.

Gloria & Stephen Decater took on this painful legacy, seeking to remediate the land thru Biodynamics; humbly acknowledging the Indigenous people who lived there before them.

Before we left Gloria took us to a magical place where the ‘future potential’ radiated out – divined by Anna Pogacnik, the daughter of Marko, who uses earth healing techniques similar to acupuncture by positioning carved stone pillars, on the ‘lithopuncture’ points of the landscape. Fox, bear & wild boar come to the spring there on a regular basis.

Steve came to Covelo in the early 1970’s to work side by side with Alan Chadwick, the famous horticulturist, & was instrumental in establishing the gardens at both the University of California in Santa Cruz & in Covelo. After Chadwick’s death in 1980, Steve was the one that carried the work forward, training apprentices & maintaining the farm in Covelo; welcoming & inspiring countless classes of children & their teachers over the years.

When we pulled up, dear Gloria welcomed us with a delicious lunch sourced from the farm, & put CG & I up in the tiny house nestled in amongst the pear orchard. Hermes was the 1^st of many to set up camp in the field across the way. Charles Nodolf the stalwart land manager/apprentice at Live Power, who stayed on the farm all thru Covid & thru the harrowing fires that blacked the sky for many weeks, brought a vase of flowers in while we were eating, & basically did everything to make the weekend flow.

Folks started pouring in; cooking in the kitchen; as well as outside in the brick oven, built by Gloria’s son Alexander; families, & many farmers with their apprentices, coming from near & far.

Keith & Jes Michalak, & Eric were in from the Golden Rule Gardens at Ridgewood Ranch & the Agrarian Collective.

Luke Frey, a true philosopher who does the Biodynamics for his families famous Frey Vineyards, helped lead the prep making withguru Harold Hoven, founder & director of the Raphael Garden at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA.

Alexandra Kravetz & Raphael Smadja came in from Elster Ranch in Grass Valley. Alexandra & Michael Aldinger lead the workshop on ‘Sequential Spraying’ (more about that later)

Michael Adams, from Nurturing Seed Farm – a community farm that has been growing &selling food & medicinals in & around Willits CA. in Mendocino County since 2010.

Serendipity brought me together with Willow Summer, Biodynamic farmer for the Three Springs Community Farm in Bodega CA. when we were both attending the AAP training at Kimberton Camphill this Summer. I was driving in from the airport & there she was at the side of the road; we stopped to talk & I immediately felt like we were sisters. It was sweet to be with her again. Willow & her husband Lew brought a fine crew of young apprentices to the event. What a joy to work alongside them & learn about their dreams for the future.

Betsyann’s gardening class from a few years ago harvesting fava beans

There was a wonderful presence from the regional Waldorf Schools. Betsyann Gallagher is Gardening Teacher for Marin Waldorf School, Katja Wishart also taught there. Christy Barron is 3-4 grade teacher at Waldorf School of Mendocino County. Gloria feels very much called to continue to make Live Power a teaching center for children young & old.

It was a pleasure to meet so many people like Julia Bernardini, working with Orland Bishop at a Retreat Center called Peaceful Valley Sanctuary.

Jodi Geren was the main cook for the weekend, coming up from San Francisco where she runs Four Barrel Coffee, assisted by former Live Power Apprentice Ali Anderson.

As folks were arriving, I set up for my presentation to be offered that evening for the Front Range Anthroposophical Café in Gloria’s living room, next to the memorial shine for her beloved husband Stephen Decater – the quiet Power behind the horses for the farm – who crossed the threshold 4 November 2021, prompting me to bring the theme of ‘Bridging Heaven & Earth’ to the Festival weekend.

The topic Friday Evening for the Front Range was: The “Cognitive Ritual” of Anthroposophia – Living into the New Mysteries’, which brought an interesting dimension to the Biodynamic component we were living into. I asked: What is the difference between the Sacramental Communion (the gesture of bringing Heaven to Earth – the 1^st Michael Revelation: Spirit to matter), & the Cognitive Ritual (Rising in our thinking to meet the spiritual world – the second Michael Revelation: Matter to Spirit), & why are they both important for us today?

Here is the link for my presentations on the Front Range Anthroposophical Cafe.

It was a bit bizarre being online with people from all over the world while folks were gathered a few feet away in the kitchen. But I was able to join them after our amazing community conversation redeeming cyber space, which ended up turning toward the spiritual scientific research around the Corona crisis – Very enlightening.

And then to end the evening, Charles took me out into the field amongst the campers where we had a magnificent view of the starry night sky. I have only experienced this kind of piecing clarity with the Milky Way popping, a few times in my urban life. I was speechless & filled with awe & reverence.

Stay tuned as we continue the ‘Festival of Life’ adventure tomorrow if time allows as we are heading over to the Zinniker Farm for a prep day…

~hag

Who is Like God?

September 29, 2022Autumn, Celestial Event~hag

Greetings on this the fixed date start of the Michaelmas Season. The arrival of autumn always signifies a test. Are we willing to breathe in, after the out-breath of Summer? Are we willing to consciously harvest all the sense perceptions we have gathered? Are we willing to preserve & begin to digest all these life forces which we have received, giving us the reserves we need to courageously go into the dark of the year?

Around the Fall Equinox, when the Sun enters the constellation of Virgo, our morality is tested – & in Libra; the sign of the scales, human beings are indeed weighed on that stern measure. Will our inner strength hold up, when the support of nature is withdrawn?

During the growing season nature supports our human consciousness, it’s a gift given to us from the cosmos; but for the harvest we must work to fashion our own self-consciousness, if we are to remain inwardly awake.

Spiritual Science tells us that human consciousness is ever evolving. Less than 150 years ago, 143 to be exact, humanity experienced a huge shift in consciousness.

And so it was, around the end of the 19th century, that the fixed date of September 29th came to be called: ‘The Feast Day of St. Michael & All the Heavenly Hosts’.

The old legends always preface the famous story of the battle against the dragon, with an enumeration of the 9 angelic realms, with Michael standing before us as the King & herald of all the hierarchies.

And so as we strive to create the Festival of the future – which we call Michaelmas, we are invited to stand in balance between the light & the dark, to look back to the fruits of the past, & to prepare by looking to what is coming toward us from the future.

To look where we have been, & to where we are going. To contemplate the angelic choirs – that we may look to our future selves – that we may think, here & now, that step by step, we can courageously build our own strong & steady rung on the ladder of evolution, teaching us to count the human being as the 10th hierarchy. It is to this that the mighty Sun-Being Michael directs our gaze.

But who is this powerful spiritual being? Rudolf Steiner has given us many indications. For day let’s start by looking at the name. Michael, is a question, for it means ‘Who is like god’? Questions are good, they help us think. But how can we possibly experience this earnest Sun-Being?

Well, we can sense his forces in the meteor showers that start in late August & go thru November. We can witness the power of Michael behind the shooting stars, strengthening our blood with cosmic iron, waging war there against anxiety, fear & hate, creating an inner process that penetrates our earthly thoughts with cosmic Thoughts – that our hearts may begin to have thoughts. And so it is that today I want to make a small attempt at understanding what spiritual science calls Imaginative cognition, or Heart-Thinking.

And we can start by asking a question. How can humanity, the Earth citizen, become once more a citizen of the Cosmos? – Well, it certainly won’t be by head-thinking alone. For in the intellect we are isolated from the world, isolated from the cosmos, because everyone has their own head; & in that head, their own thoughts. But In Heart-Thinking it’s not like that. Imaginative cognition takes us further in our evolutionary journey. The mysterious German word, Gemüt, which Steiner uses to describe Heart-Thinking- means something like: ‘the mind warmed by a loving heart & stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power’.

It is not dependent solely on the head, but on the rhythmic system, bringing us back to where we belong, as a being in the cosmos. For in the cosmos rhythm holds sway. You’ve heard of the ‘Music of the Spheres’ right? -Everything in sync, harmonious, in perfect balance. Until…

Once upon a time, another high spiritual being stood in his appointed place in the choir, looking up the ladder to the highest hierarchies with the thought, ‘hmm it sure would be nice to be god. It would be easy to enslave all these do-gooders. Maybe I’ll just cut the line’.

So with some other minions this being endeavored to storm the gates of heaven. Well needless to say, Michael, along with other Sun-Beings, felt the commotion coming from this agitated thinking. So Michael, as choir master, guardian of the Cosmic Intelligence=the power or intelligence that keeps the rhythms of the cosmos intact – had to hold the fort; & with the help of the other righteous angels, they cast the trouble makers out of heaven, in order to keep the Music of the Sphere’s harmonious.

And ironically because that high being wanted to rise higher, before its time, he actually fell back, becoming more hardened & densified, taking on what we would call, using the language of imagination, the super-sensible form of a serpent or dragon.

So there’s our famous story. But, you may ask, where is the dragon now?

Spiritual Science tells us that the dragon now lives within the human being. The outer cosmic conflict of Michael & the Dragon was transferred to the inner human being, because only in human nature can the Dragon now find his sphere of action. But fear not my friends, because of that, Michael now works with us to fight the dragon within our human nature. Michael has given humanity the opportunity to take up the cosmic intelligence into our heart-thinking.

Remember that picture of the 9 Angelic Realms? Spiritual Science says we have a cosmic aim within world evolution linked with the further development of the elemental beings. These spirits behind nature, dwelling in the mineral, plant, & animal kingdoms, seek to rise to a higher existence in the evolutionary process, BUT this can only be accomplished by passing through human beings!

When we enter into a right relationship with them, (that’s what the true meaning of morality is: right relationship) when we use heart-thinking to awaken consciously to our experience of nature, enlivening our sense perceptions with wonder, awe & reverence, the elemental beings can attain to this higher stage of evolution.

Rudolf Steiner tells us that we can develop a Gemüt content to our thinking, which shows us how every blossom bears testimony to the existence of an enchanted elemental being within it; & that thru our Heart-Thinking we can learn to feel the longing in this elemental being hoping to be released by us, instead of being delivered up to the Dragon.

And so, my dear friends, this is what I wanted to bring to you today: The idea that Heart-Thinking, is the modern antidote to the dragon – Heart-Thinking which empowers our will to consciously receive sense impressions, to let in the Spiritual Sun; the source of the Resurrection-forces; which enable the human intelligence to unite again with the cosmic intelligence.

In the spirit-realms, Michael’s battle with the dragon has been concluded victoriously. It is here on earth that humanity still has to complete it, in alliance with Michael – Whose gesture is no longer only that of battle. He raises his hand beckoning. The hand that was stretched out aggressively, in a threatening manner against the adversarial forces, has changed in our time, & is now beckoning. We don’t kill the dragon folks, we tame it.

Our work today is to begin to feel this transformation reflected in Michael’s gesture. As Guardian of Cosmic Intelligence, Michael counts on us to become free human beings, that we may return this gesture in kind.

I leave you now with a question, Could this someday lead to a true healing of the adversarial forces? And finally: Who is like god?

~hag

Here is a short video from my free collection of many recordings: Michaelmas ‘The Festival of the Future’

Tomorrow I will continue with part 2 of ‘The Festival of Life Tour’.

29 September 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As twilight fades, look southwest for the waxing crescent Moon — now with its horns fairly near vertical. Orange Antares is off to her left. Between them is white Delta Scorpii, second in brightness to Antares.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

The Feast Day of St. Michael & All the Heavenly Hosts, also called MICHAELMAS

1227 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades. A man of extraordinary culture, energy, & ability Frederick II was called stupor mundi (the wonder of the world), by Nietzsche, also the first European, the first modern ruler – by many historians, Frederick established in Sicily & southern Italy a modern, centrally governed kingdom with an efficient bureaucracy.

He was a King of Germany, of Italy, & Burgundy. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage & his connection with the Sixth Crusade.

He was frequently at war with the Papacy, hemmed in between Frederick’s lands in northern Italy & his Kingdom of Sicily (the Regno) to the south. Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist.

Speaking six languages (Latin, Sicilian, German, French, Greek & Arabic, Frederick was an avid patron of science & the arts. He played a major role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, saw the first use of a literary form of an Italo-Romance language, Sicilian. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature & on what was to become the modern Italian language.

He was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational.

Renaissance Master Caravaggio Didn't Die of Syphilis, but of Sepsis | Live Science

1571 – Birthday of Caravaggio, Italian painter

1717 – An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city’s architecture & making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city

1812- Birthday of Caspar Hauser, grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Theories link him with the grand ducal House of Baden.These claims, & his subsequent death by stabbing, sparked much debate & controversy.

“…It was the case of that human being, so enigmatic for many people, who was once placed into this city in a mysterious way, and who in just as mysterious a way met his death in Ansbach. An author, in order to indicate the mystery of his life, wrote that as he was carried out to burial the sun was setting on the one horizon and the moon was rising on the other. I speak, as you know, of Caspar Hauser. If you disregard all the pros and cons that have been asserted, if you look only at what has been fully verified, you will know that this foundling — who was one day simply there in the street, and who since he did not know whence he came, was called the Child of Europe — could neither read nor write when he was found. At an age of twenty years he possessed nothing of what is gained through the intellect but he had a remarkable memory. As they began to instruct him, as logic entered his soul, his memory disappeared. This transition in consciousness was accompanied by something else. He possessed at first an incredible, an entirely inborn truthfulness and it was precisely in this truthfulness that he went more and more astray. The more he nibbled, so to say, at intellectuality, the more it vanished. There would be many things to study were we to enter deeply into this human soul which had been artificially held back. It is not difficult for the student of Spiritual Science to credit the popular tradition, so unacceptable to the learned people of to-day, which relates that while Caspar Hauser still knew nothing, while he still had no idea that there were beings besides himself of different form, he exercised a remarkable effect upon quite savage creatures. Savage animals humbled themselves and became mild, something streamed from him that made such beasts gentle, although they savagely attacked anyone else. We could in fact penetrate deeply into the soul of this remarkable personality, so enigmatic to many, and you would see how things that cannot be explained from ordinary life are led back through Spiritual Science to spiritual facts. Such facts cannot be learnt by speculation but only by spiritual observation, though they are comprehensible to an unbiased and logical thinking.

All this has only been said in order to show you that the modern consciousness has evolved from another, an age-old-state when man was not in direct touch with outer objects in the modern sense, but on the other hand was in connection with facts and beings of the spiritual world.” ~Rudolf Steiner, The Apocalypse of St. John, Spiritual Science — The Gospel — The Future of Mankind

1902 – Deathday of Émile Zola a French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, & an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France & in the exoneration of the falsely accused & convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J’accuse. Zola was nominated for the first & second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 & 1902. His death from carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected to have been murder

1924 – Ludwig Polzer holds his 1^st First Class Lesson

1954 – The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed

1957 – Twenty MCi of radioactive material is released in an explosion at the Soviet Mayak nuclear plant at Chelyabinsk

1981 – Deathday of Adolf Arenson, German composer & Anthroposopher. Arenson editied many of Rudolf Steiner’s works, & composed the music for many of the plays & productions. Steiner mentions him at the end of Wonders of the World lecture 1

Biggest 1-day drops for the Dow Jones industrial average | The Seattle Times

2008 – Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers & Washington Mutual, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history

Some of the Chicago folks from ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’ 2021

Greetings friends – This is a dynamic moment in time…let’s strengthen and enkindle connections within our community and beyond. Last year’s annual conference theme was ‘Building the Temple of the Heart’ – now we can imagine entering this temple to connect with other striving souls around the World.

Join us in-person for a Community Gathering to celebrate Michaelmas as we stream the tour of the model of the first Goetheanum live from Dornach, Switzerland, followed by leading thoughts from Rev. Daniel Hafner, with Velsum Voices as the capstone, & a potluck meal to end the afternoon.

at the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. 60613
on 29 September 2022
the Feast Day of Saint Michael and All the Heavenly Hosts
Doors open at 11:30 am
Noon CT – Live stream
1:15 pm CT – Velsum: singing: ‘Enkindling Connections-& The Heart Rose’
1:30 pm – 3 pm Potluck – Please Bring Food & Drink to Share

for more info. contact the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer
Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society
4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618 (map)
https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar
www.rschicago.org/donate

Dear friends –
The Michaelmas Season is here. The oblique angle of the Sun cuts across the shadows like a sword. The days grow shorter & the harvest has begun

Biodynamic agriculture has a keen focus on tuning into the natural rhythms of the Earth, & the cosmos. The alteration between night & day can be seen as the Earth breathing in & out, so it is with each turn on the wheel of year – there is a seasonal cycle in tune with the Earth’s journey around the Sun. Once a year in the Autumn the planet takes a deep breath in, as everything comes to harvest & slowly goes into a Winter dormancy.

So it’s time to gather on the land for the Fall Prep Day at the Zinniker Farm.
October 1st, 2022.
Suggested donation: $20 per person in support of the Stewardship of Zinniker Farm
We’ll start at 1:30pm.
Dress for comfort with layers.
Please bring a dish to pass for the evening potluck & bonfire.

As always in the fall we will be filling horns for the BD 500 Horn Manure Preparation:
 It is a powerful means for structuring the soil
 It stimulates soil microbial activity of the soil and the production of humus
 It regulates the pH balance of the soil
 It stimulates seed germination and root development, in particular vertical growth, increasing depth of root systems
 It improves the development of leguminous plants (Fabaceae) and nodule formation
 It helps dissolve minerals even in deep layers (alios) and can helps counteract excessive salt levels.

We won’t need to make any of the compost preparations, so we will spend the remaining time with application of the preparations. We will learn how to add the preparations to the compost pile and stir and spray Horn Manure.

We are looking forward to seeing you soon. ~Petra & Mark Zinniker

Zinniker Farm
N7399 Bowers Rd
Elkhorn, WI 53121
262-642-5775

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