Christopher Mann speaking at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute which he co-founded with his wife Martina & Ruth Zinniker
Thru the ‘Traveling Speakers Program’ run for many years by Margret Shipman, I was asked to bring a weekend workshop to the Michael Fields Institute in East Troy WI. Over 3 days we explored ‘The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity’ – one of the rare lecture series’ that Rudolf Steiner reworked & cast into the form of an essay. It was there that I met & became fast friends with Christopher Mann & his beloved co-worker Angela Curtes, Land Protection Specialist & founder of GROUNDED LLC. Christopher was very excited about his new project – The Alchemist, a film he made with Frigyes Fogel – following those who are called to heal, & consecrate the earth through biodynamics…He was such an inspiration to my daughter & her Waldorf School friends who he hosted, sharing fascinating bits from his amazing biography, (His parents knew Steiner & did the Mann translation of the Calendar of the Soul).
Throughout his lifetime, Christopher created land trusts to support biodynamic, organic, & sustainable agriculture, along with research & education.
Christopher, his wife Martina & Ruth Zinniker founded the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI) in East Troy, Wisconsin in the 80’s. Back in those days it was the mission of MFAI to train biodynamic farmers, as well as do research into organic & biodynamic methods.
Christopher hadn’t been out to MFAI for years because they had gotten away from working biodynamicly; but when he saw my program he came out wanting to support Anthroposophy which he said was sorely missed. He talked about how the Class Lessons of the School of Spiritual Science used to be held in the upper room of the beautiful barn where we held our workshop.
At that time Perry Brown had just become the new Executive Director. He admitted that he knew nothing about biodynamics, & that Anthroposophy was new to him. Everyone who attended hoped that the workshop would spur a fresh impulse into MFAI
I was to come back to do another workshop for St. John’s which never happened. Although a few years later the spark was again ignited when Petra Zinniker held the Prep makers conference there of which I was able to offer a Candlemas Festival ‘Applying the Wisdom of Light – BD 501 and 508 – Tools to bring the cosmic light into the earth.’
I knew that some of the parcels of land had been sold off, but recently they sold half the campus to a group that runs a meadery! Then I was shocked to hear that the remaining part of the MFAI campus donated by Christopher & Martina Mann, including the two amazing architecturally stunning barns are now on the market!
Originally they had offered it to a land trust that Christopher had co-founded, but then just before it was to be transferred, the board of MFAI upped the asking price.
Pastor Rogers, of Victory Christian Academy seeking to bring inner city youth from Milwaukee to learn about agriculture & growing food was the highest bidder – but the MFAI board turned down the higher offer & has instead decided to sell the remaining campus, to another maker of alcohol, a whiskey distillery .
Dear friends, they have 40 days to close. Perhaps we can still turn the tide by reaching out to Perry Brown the Executive Director of MFAI to ask them to reconsider. Wouldn’t we want the legacy of Christopher Mann to be upheld & honored?
Dearly Beloved – It’s time to think comprehensively, not defensively . . . To see futuristically, not didactically . . . To fantasize fantastically, not tactlessly. Our assignment is to stop reacting to every distractive blip that leaps into our field of focus, so we can start surveying the long-term cycles of life from an expansive vista.
If we listen – Important messages will come on the Wind. Attune to the language of the breeze – Communicate with the bustling birds – Align with the Sylphs -Throw caution to the wind – Be aroused & alert -Watch banners blow – Feel the stir, the sound it makes – Like Thunder in the Night- The voices it awakens on high – Calling us to sing into the sky – & we will be heard…
The Orionids radiate from a point near the upraised Club of the constellation Orion the Hunter. The bright star near the radiant point is ruddy, somber Betelgeuse. You might catch an Orionid meteor any time till November 7. In 2021, the peak morning is October 21-22, but, the nearly full Hunter’s Moon will be shining brightly.
21 October 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: The Orionids – Peak these next few days. The meteor shower of the Mighty Hunter Orion is underway, with the earth traveling once again through the trail of cosmic dust left by Halley’s Comet.
From an article by Dr Elizabeth Vreede: ” Comets represent an element that does not wholly enter the usual sphere of cosmic law, although they still contain a trace of the direct working of spiritual powers, indeed, of the very highest — the Seraphim and Cherubim. Before ordinary law may be broken through, the very highest power and insight is required. The various comets, indeed, are agents of a very special nature in our planetary system, their polar antithesis being in the moons. Just as the moons are a kind of corpse which the planetary system trails along with it, so, on the other side, the comets may be spoken of as constant purifiers of the spiritual atmosphere within the solar system. In earlier times men thought of them as the “scavengers of God,” and many superstitions have gathered around them. To the eye of Spirit, too, the mission of the comets is perpetually to expel impure astral forces from the Cosmos or to introduce new impulses.”
5 things you need to know about the Orionid meteor shower:
The meteors are actually debris from the Comet Halley – The Comet Halley hasn’t paid Earth a visit since 1986, but pieces of the famous space rock still show up every fall. Each year, around October 20-22, our planet intersects with the comet’s orbit, according to Earth Sky. Pieces of Halley disintegrate in Earth’s upper atmosphere nearly 60 miles above the planet’s surface, but not before creating quite the spectacle for those down below.
Let’s be honest, watching this thing is a commitment. Experts agree that the shower will take place before dawn on October 21 or 22, but can’t pinpoint an exact date.
10-20 Meteors Could Fall Each Hour – The Orionid Meteor Shower is a “modest shower.” That means you won’t see a constant stream of glowing rocks plummeting toward Earth at any given moment. Don’t let that fool you. Those watching from dark or rural locations will still have a front row seat for the kind of spectacle that only comes from space.
…And They’ll Be Traveling At 41 Miles Per Second – You read that right. 41 miles per second. These rocks are literally scorching across the sky as they enter Earth’s atmosphere. Roughly half of these blazing fast meteors will leave gas trails behind them that are visible for a few seconds after the meteor is gone.
From. Every. Direction.- The Orionids flying from the sky this month are named after the constellation Orion, where they appear to radiate. The thing is, these meteors generally aren’t visible until they’re at least 30 degrees from that radiant point. This means they can appear any & everywhere in the night sky. If watching with a party, focus on different areas of the night sky & be sure to call out the meteors as you see them.
Mark Zinniker, along with his wife, Petra, is the third generation to work The Zinniker Family Farm. It is the oldest Biodynamic Farm in the United States.
Zinniker Farm, like most small family owned farms need to be re-envisioned by the community, or, this important resource will not be here for future generations.
At this crucial point in time, when health and food security are paramount, we are undertaking a project to reinvent our relationship to the Family Farm. We need your support to make this progressive project a reality.
We are looking for 50 families, individuals or groups to co-create this new way of life for the farm. If you are interested in joining the conversation, we’d love to hear from you. You can join here: Email Sign Up Our starting point for this conversation is this question: How can we as a community support a viable succession plan so the farm of the future can thrive?
Listen to the video as Mark and Petra Zinniker give a little insight on what’s needed. Check out our website, www.zinnikerfarm.com for more info on the 165 acre, diversified, certified organic farm – a true slice of Heaven on Earth.
Biodynamic farming provides families with good healthy food and is a remedy for the healing and spiritualization of the earth.
“For in the past, festivals used to bind human beings strongly together. Just think, for instance, of all that has been done and said and thought in connection with festivals for the whole of civilisation. In our epoch, Western man’s development has again reached a point where he is confronted with the necessity of bringing forth new forms of the venerable, sacred ideals of religion, art and science. This is what can enter physical life through the establishment of festivals directly out of the spirit –to do something that connects the earth with the heavens, that reconnects physical with spiritual conditions.
If to-day one could see the working of the whole universe when autumn approaches, if one could decipher the whole face of the universe, and acquire creative force out of it, then the establishment of such a festival would reveal, not only the will of human beings, but also the will of Gods and Spirits. Then the Spirit would again be among mankind!” ~Rudolf Steiner – Michaelmas VII: The Creation of A Michael Festival Out Of The Spirit
Blessings & thanks to all who make our Michaelmas Season come alive!
For those who are longing for a deep dive: The Applied Anthroposophy Course (AAC) brings transformative online content into the alchemy of individual and group inner work. The mission is to explore the urgent issues of our time through the lens of spiritual philosophy, awakening meaning, inner reflection, and outer action.
I will be facilitating one of the Chrysalis Groups: ‘The Cycle of the Year as a Path of Initiation into the New Mysteries’ – every Thursday at 10 am CT.
20 October 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As autumn advances the Full Hunter’s Moon illuminates the world 19-21 October…Exact this morning at 9:57 a.m. CDT…Bella Luna rises in the east about 20 minutes after sunset. Right after dark, look three fists above the Moon for Alpheratz, the head of Andromeda and the leftmost corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. For the early risers: As the Sun rises the Moon sets…
RUDOLF STEINER’S CALENDAR OF THE SOUL translated (with added titles) by Roy Sadler MICHAELMAS IV Michaelic Hope v29 To have the inner fire to kindle thinking’s radiance and draw the meaning of experience from worldwide spirit’s well of power is now for me the summer’s heritage, is autumn’s peace and also winter’s hope.
Reginald Perkins
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day – One of the many for today is : Dornach, 20 October 1917 – Excerpt from: Fall of the Spirits of Darkness LECTURE 10 – The Influence of the Backward Angels
The masses of humanity go through life as if asleep, without thought; they are completely unaware of what is going on in groups, some of them quite large, which may be right next door. Today, more than ever, people are much given up to illusion. Just consider the way in which many people keep saying today: ‘lt is amazing how effective modern communications are and how this brings people together!
I have spoken of this to show that it is entirely possible today for the mass of people to know nothing of radically new developments which are right on their doorstep.
The ahrimanic powers will also thrive if people nurture the elements which they desire to spread among people today: prejudice, ignorance and fear of the life of the spirit. There is no better way of encouraging them.
Just think how many people there are today who actually make it their business to foster prejudice, ignorance and fear of the spiritual powers.
So you see, the people who consider themselves to be the most enlightened today are living with entirely unrealistic ideas.
Since 1879 the situation is like this: people go to school and acquire scientific attitudes and thinking; their philosophy of life is then based on this scientific approach and they believe only the things which can be perceived in the world around us to be real, whilst everything else is purely imaginary. When people think like this, and infinitely many people do so today, Ahriman has the upper hand in the game and the ahrimanic powers are doing well. Who are these ahrimanic powers which have established their fortresses in human minds since 1879? They are certainly not human. They are angels, but they are backward angels, angels who are not following their proper course of evolution and therefore no longer know how to perform their proper function in the spiritual world that is next to our own. If they still knew how to do it, they would not have been cast down in 1879. They now want to perform their function with the aid of human brains. They are one level lower in human brains than they should be. ‘Monistic’ thinking, as it is called today, is not really done by humans. People often speak of the science of economics today, a science in which it was said at the time when the war started that it would be over in four months — I mentioned this again yesterday. When these things are said by scientists — it does not matter so much if people merely repeat them — they are the thoughts of angels who have made themselves at home in human heads. Yes, the human intellect is to be taken over more and more by such powers; they want to use it to bring their own lives to fruition. We cannot stand up to this by putting our heads in the sand like ostriches, but only by consciously entering into the experience. We cannot deal with this by not knowing what monists think, for example, but only by knowing it; we must also know that it is Ahrimanic science, the science of backward angels who infest human heads, and we must know about the truth and the reality.
It is indeed true, and initiates have always said so: ‘When human beings are filled with spiritual wisdom, these are great horrors of darkness for the ahrimanic powers and a consuming fire. It feels good to the ahrimanic angels to dwell in heads filled with ahrimanic science; but heads filled with spiritual wisdom are like a consuming fire and the horrors of darkness to them.’ If we consider this in all seriousness we can feel: filled with spiritual wisdom we go through the world in a way which allows us to establish the right relationship with the ahrimanic powers; doing the things we do in the light of this, we build a place for the consuming fire of sacrifice for the salvation of the world, the place where the terror of darkness radiates out over the harmful ahrimanic element.
Let those ideas and feelings enter into you! You will then be awake and see the things that go on in the world. ~Rudolf Steiner
All Hallows Eve Gathering to honor our beloved ones across the threshold & to strengthen our work on this side of the veil.
31 October 5 pm Potluck – Please bring food & drink to share & dress up as who you want to be in the New Year…
Sunset ritual with Rev. Jeana Lee, Rev. Victoria Capon.
What if…? The universe is made of music & stories –The Word – not fluff & stuff.
What song will you sing today to bring theworld into existence?What story will you tell?
hmmm…but, ummm…what if we aren’t consciously creating the universe? What if we are just going along, living in someone else’s narrative? What happens if we habitually expose ourselves not to The Word within, but to the voices shouting directives from outside us? – To the toxic stories that serve to enslave? What if a commercial jingle is our earworm? – The sound bite our only truth?
Friends! We could wind up living in a false universe! – A world where we are just human animals; a statistic, not spiritual beings having a human experience – A world where it’s impossible to become the purposeful prodigy we are ALL born to be.
No that’s crazy-talk; we would never choose that, right!?! We know that’s not our destiny!
So let’s wean ourselves off tell-tales that have a reductive plot line, & no real heart – fueled primarily by grotesque, negative scenarios, or delusional one size fits all ‘safety’ measures.
Francisco de Holanda
Instead, let’s celebrate the luminous mysteries that throb with truth & shape our life story: The clear meditative meanderings that don’t always lead to tidy conclusions, the budding spiritual ‘What If’s’ that feed our soul, but don’t do a thing to serve the false ego’s apathies. Let’s live into the adventure that revolves around brain-teasing breakthroughs, instead of exhausting wobbly confusion, or a status quo submission caused by fear & illusion….
Jeremy Fish
So how about it…? Let’s encourage each other to nourish ourselves with delicious, nutritious narratives & the glorious Music of the Spheres, where ‘the ever present help of the spiritual world’ resounds – inspiring us to exercise our willpower for the highest good of all.
~Once upon a timing with you
~hag
17 October 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Deneb Kaitos is the brightest star in the constellation Cetus the Whale (or Sea-Monster). In star names, the word deneb usually means tail. And so it is with this star. It marks the tail of Cetus. It shines about as bright as Polaris the North Star. Deneb Kaitos reaches its highest in the sky on October and November evenings every year. It appears in the southern sky. ~earthsky
In seaform, in cloud swirlings, in purposeful imaginings I am the Sea-Monster in the sky cracking the shell of illusion to reveal my meal a food fit for the gods, my mission: bestowing spirit life in the transformation… Do not fear my destruction for I am true life… Brooding on the face of the celestial waters I am an urge, an idea, the portent of an impossible dream I lay between heaven & earth, between goodness & evil, patience & explosion, I am innocent & rosy as dawn… I sleep with my finger in my mouth, The cord of life curled beside my open ear… I am with you but not among you… I have no ending for I have no beginning. I have always been here, a bitter-sweetness, in the silence of things Ready to awaken & renounce the false image reflected in the briny past I am the power of the primal sea, wise & generous. The power of my Autumning is metamorphosis for death in one world means birth in another…
~I come to spout the wisdom of water into the air… I come with a star seed in my mouth… I come to you To sow my sky-sea tree… Will you be there to meet me…? ~hag
“Satisfaction Becomes Serenity” or Contentment becomes self-composure
Every morning the Sun rises a little later, & every evening our Sol sets ever earlier. Darkness takes the light, slowly into its somber realm. As we move from the Virgin who helps us with our spiritual harvest into
the sign of the scales, Libra, we can think how it is the only constellation that is not a living creature; it owes its origin to the realm of created things, of mechanics. According to Rudolf Steiner it was only incorporated into the imagery of the Zodiac later in order to delineate the world of light in the upper signs more clearly from the 5 lower “nightly” signs. It is entirely dependent on the outer world, best expressed in its function of “deliberation”.
In ancient Greece the descent of the Sun into the autumn region of the dark zodiac signs was seen in the image of the abduction of Persephone, stole away from her mother Demeter, by Pluto, lord of the underworld. The Greeks hid their faces in fear from the powers of darkness & waited longingly for the return of Persephone who would awaken to new life in the Spring.
But since Christ’s descent into the shadow realm of death, in order to reconquer it for the realm of light, human beings have looked at the descent into the realm of darkness in a different way – thru the image of the mighty Archangel Michael standing next to the Virgin, with her staff of life, & in former times, bearing the balance of the world in his hands – carrying the resurrection into the dark in order to realize our true human potential in the confrontation with the forces of evil. This individuation process can only be fulfilled in the realm of earth & death – Here the human being of the present time is threatened with the danger of giving in to the lower driving forces which powerfully press in from our unconscious sense perceptions. Here the scale, as the sign of the representative of humanity, appears before our soul pointing the way forward, to balance us between levity & gravity.
In the Zodiac it is between the grain-bearing Virgin & the death-dealing Scorpion. There is a separation of the “wheat from the chaff’ – the weighing, in the “Scales of Judgement.” Will the being of Michael which we must enliven within ourselves, be able to maintain the balance of the world? That is the most earnest question which is spoken by his gaze. In the realm of the spirit his victory is assured, But on earth???
This question touches on our human contribution to the Michael Imagination – it has to do with the crisis of the “I”, which exists for everyone today. Is the average human being awake to this aspect? -Ready & able to work to overcome this crisis of humankind on earth? If we take this into our soul-life we can feel called to take up this struggle, knowing that the outcome depends on our behavior, with even the smallest matters, as well as the great tests of our times. Thru this commitment we can rise to become a spiritual comrade, a co-shaper & co-creator of the divine world. We are called in the Age of Michael to rise from being a ‘servant of God’ to being a ‘friend & brother/sister of Christ’ as promised in the Gospel of St. John 15:15.
In looking up to this world destiny of the human being in the dark time of the year which is now setting in, we find the inner emphasis that is so easily lost today, because we lose our balance to the swings of the pendulum in our soul-life. The approaching winter can invoke (in some) the hum-bug that is open to greed, like an old man seeking to dispel the fear of death thru selfish pleasure or grabby possession. The balance of the soul swings back & forth between melancholy & self-satisfied control, until it can find its center in the true “I”.
The image of the scales can become for us the means to orient our soul & spirit at this turning point in the year.
~hag
Gray Crawford
16 October 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Venus harmonizes with Chiron and retrograde Mercury today. There are two days left in the Mercury retrograde cycle, and the Mercury-Venus sextile helps ease this sometimes rocky transition.
Today, we may get an opportunity to heal our relationships through openness to learning from one another. We more readily see the beauty in human imperfection. It’s a vital time for building trust in relationships and seeing potential in one another. We recognize the value of the people, relationships, and pleasures in our lives more clearly. We can benefit from interacting with others in fresh ways, with more authenticity and sincerity.
Retrograde Mercury periods tend to send us looking to the past for further or previously hidden information. It’s a good time to see an issue in a new light. We feel the most challenging side of Mercury retrograde around the time it changes direction, which happens on the 18th, so we might want to avoid complicated decision-making for the time being. There may be too much happening now to think clearly.
However, today’s Mercury-Venus sextile stimulates a desire to cooperate, compliment, encourage, and express our affections. We’re also inclined to analyze our relationships, particularly past ones, as well as our preferences and feelings. Connecting with people from our past is also possible.
A Mars-Neptune quincunx transit is also active now, and we can feel a little stuck — uncertain what we truly want and where to head — until we get in touch with the spiritual or emotional needs we may have been overlooking. The Moon spends the day in Pisces. ~astrology cafe
“We understand only the very smallest part of human history and of our own life if we consider it in its external aspect, I mean in that aspect which we see from the limited view-point of our earthly life between birth and death. It is impossible to comprehend the inner motives of history and life unless we turn our gaze to that spiritual background which underlies the outer, physical happenings“. ~Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture III
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1311 – The beginning of the Council of Vienne by Pope Clement V against the Templar order
1793 – Marie Antoinette, widow of Louis XVI, is guillotined at the height of the French Revolution
1827 – Birthday of Arnold Bocklin , a Swiss symbolist painter portraying mythological, fantastical figures along classical architecture constructions creating a strange, fantasy world. Böcklin is best known for his five versions of the Isle of the Dead, which partly evokes the Cemetery close to his studio where his baby daughter Maria had been buried.
Rudolf Steiner speaks of him as an Arthurian Knight: Thus even in the 9th century, in the paganism of Europe, there still lived much of the pre-Christian Christianity. That is the remarkable fact. Moreover even in that time the belated followers of European paganism understood the Cosmic Christ far more worthily and truly than those who received the Christ in the Christianity that was spread officially under that name. Strangely we can see the life around King Arthur radiate into the present time, continued even into our time, placed into the immediate present by the sudden power of destiny. Thus I beheld in seership a member of the Round Table of King Arthur, who lived the life of the Round Table in a very deep and intense way, though he stood a little aside from the others who were given more to the adventures of their knighthood. This was a knight who lived a rather contemplative life, though it was not like the Knighthood of the Grail, for this did not exist in Arthur’s circle. What the knights did in the fulfilment of their tasks, which in accordance with that age were for the most part warlike campaigns, was called by the name ‘Adventure’ (Aventure). But there was one who stood out from among the others as I saw him, revealing a life truly wonderful in its inspiration. For we must imagine the knights going out on to the spur of land, seeing the wonderful play of clouds above, the waves beneath, the surging interplay of the one and the other, which gives a mighty and majestic impression to this very day. In all this they saw the Spiritual and were inspired with it, and this gave them their strength. But there was one among them who penetrated most deeply into this surging and foaming of the waves, with the spiritual beings wildly rising in the foam with their figures grotesque to earthly sight. He had a wonderful perception of the way in which the marvellously pure sun-influence played into the rest of nature, living and weaving in the spiritual life and movement of the surface of the ocean. He saw what lived in the light nature of the sun, borne up as it were by the watery atmosphere as we can see to this day, the sunlight approaching the trees and the spaces between the trees quite differently than in other regions, glittering back from between the trees, and playing often as in rainbow colours. Such a knight there was among them, one who had a peculiarly penetrating vision of these things. I was much concerned to follow his life into later time to see the individuality again. For just in this case something would needs enter into a later incarnation of a Christian life that was almost primitive and pagan, that was Christian only to the extent that I have just described. And this in fact was what appeared, for that Knight of the Round Table of King Arthur was born again as Arnold Böcklin. This riddle which had followed me for an immensely long time, can only be solved in connection with the Round Table of King Arthur. Thus you see that we have a Christianity tangible with spiritual touch to this very day, a Christianity before the Mystery of Golgotha which shed its light even into the time that I have just outlined ~Karmic Relationships, Volume IV: Lecture III
Wikimedia Commons
1834 – Much of the ancient structure of the Palace of Westminster in London burns to the ground
1846 – William T. G. Morton first demonstrated ether anesthesia at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the Ether Dome
1854 – Birthday of Oscar Wilde, Irish author, poet, & playwright
1922 – The founding of the Esoteric Youth Circle by Rudolf Steiner. Notes from the various preparatory discussions for the founding of the Group:
‘If I am to go into what I understand with the term “esoteric group” then let me say that if you want to take the esoteric earnestly, you must say to yourself that it is an action out of the impulses from the spiritual world. One can strive toward this. Anthroposophy is a path to this end. To build such a community would constitute a decision to set upon this path.
The spiritual is a living element & so such a group must not be something dead. The group must be a force-group. The health of each part is the health of the whole. It is the mutual taking on of karma that is created in such a community. There is then mutual suffering to live through, but also mutual joy. People must be treated like fellow human beings, with all their imperfections.
What you seek is to find a friend in the spiritual world. The important thing is to remain spiritually true to the friend once found. Therefore, the 1st requirement is that you learn quite precisely what spiritual loyalty is.
Your community will have in it something of the primordial mystery of all human community. This mystery is that, what we ourselves do within the community bears no fruit for us ourselves, but for others, & that the fruits for us come from others.
We must work for the progress of humanity – Just as the physical social life consists of deeds done together, so too we strive for common deeds in the spirit – thus actually, for a social working in the suprasensible.
We must endeavor to carry spirit into the furthest consequences of our actions. This alone – that we bring spirit & love into our will – can make it possible to stand firmly against being overrun by the cultural machine. Too few people today develop real initiative. There is a lot of willfulness, but little will.
The true meditation is a fulfilling of the spiritual will that the Time Spirit bears with itself. Where such meditation is practiced, a spiritual force is able to work into the earthly events. Spiritual worlds want to work in to earthly events today, but they can do this only when, through human meditation, space is created for it. Through meditation, something like an empty space comes about. Into this space, the spiritual beings can enter with their effects. And the power of meditating such a meditation in common increases by potentization.
When we do this community-meditation, it will bring about a deeper connection of the core of our being with our sheaths.
These meditations, when used correctly, could become something like windows into the spiritual world. The words & pictures given, form only half of what is to be entrusted to us. The other half we are to find ourselves through spiritual activity.
Each of you must feel joy for the success of the other. You must avoid every feeling of rivalry & have the awareness that what each of you accomplishes, you accomplish through the power of all of the others.
Uniting yourself through a mutual promise to strive toward a common spiritual goal – & leaving one another completely free in actions & judgements in life – such a community based on this is something completely new in the evolution of humanity. And it is what is most necessary today.
For someone who comes to specific results on the esoteric path, there is always the danger of delusions of grandeur. Such a community as yours can be a protection against this. For in it, you strive together to cross the threshold of the spiritual world. And there each of you has to say that you have the efforts of all the others to thank for what you have achieved personally.
Effects will arise in the destiny between human beings who are connected with us in the community physically & spiritually. The community will never die out. With the 1st community members who reincarnate, the community returns to Earth.
By persevering with the exercises we have a chance to stand up to Ahrimanic powers that no one person can withstand.
Through the reading of the oath given by Rudolf Steiner on 16 October 1922, in the presence of the others, the admittance into the community was effected.
And now consider your community as having been founded by the spiritual world itself…Now get to know each other well.
This gave us the idea to tell each other our biography at the mutual acceptance into membership.
What has taken place now is a 1st in the post-Christian era: human beings themselves chose, out of freedom before the spiritual world, to join together esoterically’.
The 12 founding members:
Daniel van Bemmelen, co-founder of the 1st Dutch Waldorf School
Georg Groot MD, 3-fold social order, co-worker in the Berlin Group of the College Association
Herbert Hahn, called by Steiner to teach at the Independent Waldorf School in Stuttgart
Ernst Lehrs, teacher at the Waldorf school in Stuttgart, served on the committee for the Independent Anthroposophical Society founded for the youth. Later taught in The Hague, London, & Aberdeen. Also taught with his wife Maria Roeschl in the Rudolf Steiner Seminar.
Rene Maikowski, business manager of the Association for Anthroposophical College Studies, also a Waldorf teacher.
Wilhelm Rath, bookseller, man of letters, farmer, was on the committee of the Independent Anthroposophical Society.
Wilhelm Selling, mechanical engineer, colonial officer in Africa, in charge of the Theosophical library, mentor of the youth work in Berlin
Karin Selling, part of the Scandinavian Theosophical Society, teacher at the Waldorf School in Stockholm
Emma Smit, teacher & organizer of the Independent school in The Hague
Maria Spira, came from the Zionist Youth Movement, married Wilhelm Rath
Albrecht Strohschein,Walter Johannes Stein, Karl König
Albrecht Strohschein, business man, 1st co-worker in the Der Kommenden (The Coming Day) in Stuttgart, student of psychology in Jena, co-founder of the therapeutic pedagogical movement
Kurt Walther, postal officer, lecturer, & leader of many courses, the successor of Marie Steiner in the Executive Council of the Anthroposophical Socety, married Wilhelm Selling’s sister ClaraSelling, who was part of Steiner’s household
Others that came in after the founding, in the transition of the Association for the Three-fold Social Organism as it moved into the Association for Independent Spiritual Life, included: Ernst Uehli, Rector Moritz, Michael Bauer, Hermann Beck, Eugen & Lily Kolisko, Emil Leinhas, Emil Molt, Rudolf Meyer, Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz, Fredrich Rittelmeyer, Walter Johannes Stein, Carl Unger, Ludwig Webeck, H. Wohlbold
1946 – Nuremberg trials: Execution of the convicted Nazi leaders of the Main Trial
1964 – China detonates its first nuclear weapon
1968 – United States athletes Tommie Smith & John Carlos are kicked off the US team for participating in the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute
1984 – Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Readers: Katherine Thivierge, Hazel Archer, Marianne Fieber, Haidy Peterson, Farmer John, Zuri Burns, Morgan Vallat, Ultra-Violet Archer, Lisa Dalton, Lucien Dante Lazar, Elizabeth Kelly, Portland Hosts, Folks from the 6 HUBS, Eurythmy with Mary Ruud
Dear friends – The Pageant ‘Building the Temple of the Heart: The Royal Art: A Social Pilgrimage of the Soul’ that I wrote for the ASA Conference has been made into a booklet (Thanks John Beck!) If you would like to receive a copy contact ‘Deb Abrahams-Dematte’ deb@anthroposophy.org; or Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org. All proceeds go to support the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
