From The Anthroposophical Society in America – The Anthroposopher – Hazel Archer Ginsberg – Preserve The Light
Gemüt – Heart-Thinking = ‘The mind warmed by a loving heart & stimulated by the soul’s imaginative power’
From ‘The Symphony Of the Creative Word’ ~Rudolf Steiner
Gnomes:
You dream your Self,
And shun awakening.
I maintain the life-force in the root,
It creates for me the body of form.
Undines:
You think the deeds of Angels
And know it not.
I bestir the water’s power of growth,
It forms for me substance of life.
Sylphs:
Creative might shines to you,
You divine it not;
You feel its strength
And live it not.
I quaff the airy force of life,
It fills me with the power of being.
Fire-beings:
Divine Will offers you strength,
You accept it not.
With its strength you can will,
Yet thrust it from you.
I consume the striving power of fire,
Into soul-spirit it releases me.
Chorus of gnomes: O human being – Strive to awaken!
Undines: O human being – Think in the Spirit!
Sylphs: O human being – Live creatively breathing existence!
Fire-beings: O human being – Receive in love the Will-Power of the Gods!
Hello Hazel,
Every once in awhile the idea of calculating Michaelmas as a moving festival, similar to Easter, comes up, and I have proposed it a few times over the years to a lukewarm audience. What interests me is that Rudolf Steiner seems to have never considered this as a way to gain interest in a Michael celebration, especially with these lectures on “Michaelmas and the Soul Forces of Man.” His own implorings about the cycle of the year and its seasonal variations would seem to encourage such a thing as making Michaelmas a movable feast, rather than the static date of September 29th.
Thus, if we were to calculate Michaelmas based on the same rationale as Easter, we would be looking at the Autumnal Equinox, and the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after this date. Since the Autumnal Equinox occurs on September 23rd this year, and the first Full Moon occurs on October 13th, which is a Sunday, then Michaelmas would take place on October 20, 2019.
Yet, who has ever considered this rationale for a festival that hasn’t even been considered important in the west, except by anthroposophists? Maybe we anthroposophers here in America can make it our own private endeavor, and plant it as a tender seedling, and see if it grows.
All I know is that something needs to take place in order to put the festival of Michaelmas on the map of recognition.
Yes, i have thought of this as well. But i am not sure making this Festival more esoteric will enhance its recognition. And there is something powerful in having it right after the Autumn Equinox – Just as St. John’s brings us into a renewal of the mysteries of Summer Solstice by coming right after. The connection with the start of the School year makes it very accessible to folks even if they are not part of the Waldorf movement, as we can all relate to this recognizable shift. Of course tuning in to the fact that Michaelmas is a season not just a day also gives us a chance to live into this shift…
Dear Hazel,
I would agree that Michaelmas should begin as soon as possible after the Autumn Equinox. And that is why the other alternative in calculating the Michael Festival based on the Moon concerns the dating of the New Moon. This is more exact, and especially in keeping with Michael’s role as the Slayer of the Dragon. And, this year we have a rather perfect example of a true Michaelmas date. The Fall Equinox occurred on Monday September 23rd, and New Moon occurred on Saturday September 28th. Thus, Michaelmas occurred on Sunday September 29th, which is its own date based on tradition. So, I see this year’s celebration as an especially important opportunity to bring this festival into greater recognition.
In the fourth and final lecture of “Michaelmas and the Soul Forces of Man”, Rudolf Steiner says something very significant in relation to the actual polarity between Easter and Michaelmas, and I think he intended a possible re-calculation of Michaelmas as a moving festival, but not based on the Full Moon, but rather, the New Moon.
“What does Easter represent in the year’s festivals? It is a festival of resurrection. It commemorates the Resurrection realized in the Mystery of Golgotha through the descent of Christ, the Sun-Spirit, into a human body. First death, then resurrection: that is the outer aspect of the Mystery of Golgotha. One who understands the Mystery of Golgotha in this sense sees death and resurrection in this way of redemption; and perhaps he will feel in his soul that he must unite in his Gemüt with Christ, the victor over death, in order to find resurrection in death. But Christianity does not end with the traditions associated with the Mystery of Golgotha: it must advance. The human Gemüt turns inward and deepens more and more as time goes on; and in addition to this festival that brings alive the Death and Resurrection of Christ, man needs that other one which reveals the course of the year as having its counterpart within him, so that he can find in the round of the seasons first of all the resurrection of the soul — in fact, the necessity for achieving this resurrection — in order that the soul may then pass through the portal of death in a worthy way. Easter: death, then resurrection; Michaelmas: resurrection of the soul, then death. This makes of the Michael Festival a reversed Easter Festival. Easter commemorates for us the Resurrection of Christ from death; but in the Michael Festival we must feel with all the intensity of our soul: In order not to sleep in a half-dead state that will dim my self-consciousness between death and a new birth, but rather, to be able to pass through the portal of death in full alertness, I must rouse my soul through my inner forces before I die. First, resurrection of the soul — then death, so that in death that resurrection can be achieved which man celebrates within himself. ”
‘This makes of the Michael Festival a reversed Easter Festival’. This is the key passage in the above paragraph, which needed to be cited in its entirety, Hazel.
So, this is the other idea in making Michaelmas a moving festival, which it certainly deserves to be considered in the fall -to- winter season. Resurrection vs. Redemption are closely associated, it seems. Even the alternation between sleeping and waking proves this, according to the daily cycle; a microcosm of Easter and Michaelmas which occurs 365 days a year.
Regards,
Steve
Thank you for quoting this important text. “…First, resurrection of the soul — then death, so that in death that resurrection can be achieved which man celebrates within himself.”
Yes, we are to develop our soul forces, & the connection between Easter & Michaelmas must be sparked & deeply contemplated.
I really love this idea of using the New moon energies to determine this feast, this is truly an inspired thought! I am with you.
Let us practice & explore this. I am profoundly moved & grateful. Thank you.