~Air & Earth are my horizons
Water & Warmth a flowing form – My in-between.
O trembling star in the bright memory of morning
Am I just a grain of sand blowing East to West?
NO! The world is more than bright metal.
On my lips live
The promise of ripening wheat
& prayers of peace…
~hag
24 March 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
806 – The death-day of Harun al Raschid. Interesting that Rudolf Steiner speaks about this individuality in the Young Doctors Easter Course: Lecture IV, which Steiner gave at the time of the Easter Paradox in 1924.
“…But now just think of the Court of Harun al Raschid, where ancient medicine flourished. The Old Mystery Wisdom, still preserved in tradition, was living in the existing knowledge concerning the being of man. There were two men at that court: Harun al Raschid himself, the organizer of the great academy of spiritual life which grew and developed under his influence; and another, who in earlier times had been an initiate. In the days of Harun al Raschid the initiation did not come to the surface.
Harun al Raschid reincarnated as Lord Bacon of Verulam (1561–1626) and with his kind of thinking which was thoroughly steeped in Arabism, he renewed the natural-scientific thinking, from the West. Such was the path he took in his life between death and rebirth. If you would study Lord Bacon you would find how greatly medicine was influenced thereby. Indeed you would be amazed. The other man, the initiate, was reborn in the soul of Amos Comenius (1592–1670). Comenius’ life was one of aspiration towards the spirit, but he turned everything into intellectual conceptions.
Again, another personality in Arabism — he did not live at exactly the same time as Harun al Raschid, but he played a part in the battle of Zeres de la Frontera — was reborn as Charles Darwin (1809–1882). And so the influences that are working in natural science and especially in medicine, are re-embodiments of ancient conceptions from which Christianity was excluded. Such conceptions did not constitute an evolution of Christianity, but Christianity was excluded as Arabism embraced Europe in its fold. Medicine itself was most of all affected in this sense.”
1830 – Birthday of Robert Hamerling – an Austrian poet and writer . He was one of the most widely read German-speaking authors of his time. His main works include the epic Ahasuerus in Rome (1865), which first made him known to a wide readership, and The King of Sion (1869).
From Rudolf Steiner in: THE PRESENCE OF THE DEAD, GA 154, Appendix II. Robert Hammerling: Poet and Thinker, 26 April 1914, Berlin
“Hamerling’s life and personality are an example of a soul growing out of and beyond its environment, and of an individuality’s development. He was the son of a poor weaver. Since they were completely impoverished, his parents were evicted from their home at a time when Hamerling was not yet capable of even saying “I.” His father was forced to go abroad while his mother remained in the Waldviertel area, in Schonau, with the young boy. There the child experienced the beauties of the Waldviertel region. A scene from that time remained always in his memory of an experience he believed actually gave him his own being. The seven-year-old boy was going down a hill. It was evening, and the sun was setting in the west. Something came toward him, golden, out of the golden sunshine, and Hamerling describes what was shining forth in the golden light as follows:
Among the most significant memories of my boyhood, but also most difficult to convey, are the often strange moods that passed through my soul when I was a roaming boy. In part they came from the moment’s lively impressions and stimulation, usually from nature around me, in part they were waking dreams and premonitions. Speaking about himself, the mystic Jakob Böhme used to say that the higher meaning, the mystical life of the spirit was awakened in him miraculously at the moment when he was dreamily absorbed in gazing at a pewter bowl sparkling in the sunlight. 8 Perhaps every spiritual person has a pewter bowl like Böhme’s as the origin of his real inner awakening. I vividly recall a certain evening when I was about seven years old. I was going down a hill, and the sunset shone toward me like a miracle, a spiritual vision. It filled my heart with an unforgettably strange mood, with a presentiment that today seems to me like a calling, reflecting my future destiny. In high spirits, I hurried toward an unknown destination; yet, at the same time my soul was filled with a melancholy that made me want to cry. If that moment could have been explained out of the surrounding circumstances, if it had not been so completely unique, it would surely not have remained so indelibly in my memory.
Thus, in the poet’s seventh year the poetic and spiritual muse drew near. At that time, the seed for everything that was later to become of this soul was laid into it from out of the cosmos, so to speak. The nice thing is that Hamerling ascribes his poetic calling to such an event, as if it were a miracle the cosmos itself performed on him.
Because of his parents’ poverty, the boy had to be educated at the Cistercian monastery of Zwettl. 10 In return for his school lessons, he had to sing in the monastery choir. At that time, Hamerling was between ten and fourteen years old. He formed a close relationship to a strange personality at the monastery, namely, Father Hugo Traumihler, a person completely given over to mystical contemplation and a strict ascetic life. At that time the boy already possessed a thirst for the beauty of the cosmos and an urge to deepen his soul. You can imagine that he was inspired by the inner experiences Father Traumihler described from his inner contemplation of the secrets of the heart and soul. He was a mystic of a very elementary, primitive kind who nevertheless made a deep impression on Hamerling’s soul.
But it is impossible to talk about the poet Hamerling without mentioning what was such a great part of his longing: the longing to be a great human being.”
1905 – Deathday of Jules Verne – prolific French author whose writings laid much of the foundation of modern science fiction. (a fav. of mine growing up)
New Astrology Emerging. (here)
Questions about the course
Tune in to our Zoom broadcasts, brief presentations of aspects of this course, with lots of time for Q&A. Intended to total 20 minutes in length. These are given on different days so you might find one that would work best for you. Each of these brief sessions will be different!
- March 28, Monday, 9 AM Mtn. (morning)
Star Wisdom comes alive through active embodiment within each participant, made possible by working together in the instrument of the StarHouse—or within your sacred imagination in your own home. This immersion facilitates each participant forming conscious relationships with zodiacal and planetary beings.
Register here
Join us for an exploration, based on spiritual science and star wisdom, into the following themes:
This course, to train practitioners in Star Wisdom will take place in the StarHouse June 2022. It is designed to train beginners who are willing to ride a steep learning-curve, and long-time astrologers.
Our teaching weaves experiential activities (embodiment) and conceptual learning so you learn it more thoroughly.
On-line too: The course will also be on-line (live-streamed, interactive). A manager on our end will coordinate actively with those attending via Zoom, including relaying questions to the presenters for comment. (We plan that the event will be filmed and edited, and parts of it made available as a course through our website.)
Our approach to astrology is informed and inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indications found sprinkled throughout his six thousand lectures, as it has been developed by a small group of astrosophers over several decades. This deeper understanding of, and interaction with, the heavens is based on:
- A sidereal (star-based) view of the heavens, emphasizing the active and dynamic role of the beings working from stars and constellations
- Equal length zodiacal signs (relating to the lineage of Zarathustra), equal houses, and recognizing the Earth’s role and significance to the birth chart
- Anthroposophy (thus called astrosophy, with its particular guidance for understanding the beings indwelling the zodiacal and planets)
- Identifying and working with spiritual themes in our lives in a way made practical by the research of Robert Powell, and the indications of cosmic Christianity, as understood through Anthroposophy.
- And other features that we will teach.
Some topics that we will cover:
- New and traditional methods for interpreting a birth chart
- Zodiacal constellations in the birth chart
- Understanding the meaning in the patterns of the moving planets
- Planetary aspects in the birth chart
- The important role of the twelve equal houses, in the birth chart
- How transiting planets interplay in the time-stream of life, presenting challenges and opportunities
- Determining the time of conception and its own chart
- The care necessary to regard the information of a person’s sacred birth moment with reverence and understanding
- The importance of understanding reincarnation and karma for human development
- The journey between death and rebirth, and why that is important for human destiny
- Human Life phases: the 7-year periods of our life biography and the relation of those periods to the planetary spheres
- The role of self-development for a practitioner of New Astrology
Enrollment and Application Reister here
Commitment: This intensive requires participation in five-plus full days.
Dates: Begin Thursday evening, June 23, 2022, 7 PM, through midday Tuesday June 28. On June 24-27, we will go from 9 AM to 5 PM. Evenings are for homework, integration, and optional study groups. Lunches will be provided, including the last day, Tuesday.
Limits: Enrollment will be limited to 24 in-person participants and others will participate on-line. In-person will go through an application process. More important than years practicing astrology is your motivation to learn. Our present on-line courses (New Astrology, series 1 and series 2) will be made available to all registered participants and can provide a strong foundation to a motivated person with little experience. After application for In-person participants, one of our team will arrange a phone call to interview you.
Scholarship program: We plan to have a scholarship program to which those of means can contribute. Please consider contributing to this fund to support others taking this course.
Costs: Cost of on-site/in-person for the whole course $1100. On-line (live-streaming) $800. A deposit will hold your place.
Meals and Snacks: Lunches provided every day including Tuesday (just after the end of the course). Dietary restrictions are queried on the application. Snacks and tea are provided mid-morning and mid-afternoon every day.
Lodging: You will need to find your own lodging and transport. Some lodging is available in nearby residences, and the Retreat Cabin near the StarHouse. These can fill up quickly, so please make your request soon. Other lodgings nearby are the Boulder Adventure Lodge (a-lodge.com), which fills up in summertime quickly. More information will be sent after registration.
Register here
| The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC Mysteries of the Holy Grail – from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation April 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern) |
| “The pupils of the Grail were told of a state which humans would attain in future. Possessed of clear, alert consciousness, their being would be purified, the substance of the human body would become as pure and chaste as that of the plant, and their organs of reproduction transformed.”~ from Chapter 12 Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy Grail, Chapter 12 “The Higher Calyx” and Chapter 13 “The Resonant Chalice,” excerpts from Steiner’s lectures given at Nuremberg on 2 December 1907 (GA 92) and Stuttgart 16 September 1907 (GA 101) … will be the focus of the April 6 meeting. Chapters 12 and 13 in the book can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link A transcript of the 2 December 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link A transcript of the 16 September, 1907 lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link * Please consider giving to the development and maintenance of the digital library of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Scroll to the bottom of this message to read more about the RSArchive.org and SteinerLibrary.org |
| The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group. This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail — from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.” The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010. This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer). To connect to the audio/video-conference: Video Conference Details:Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106 Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106 One tap mobile +13017158592,,81116556762# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,81116556762# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcHr5EVwrv If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu or Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com Agenda for this meeting (CST) 7:15 Welcome and Introductions 7:18 Verse 7:25 Study led by volunteers Note: CRC team will ID volunteers Michael – Chapter 12 Tom – Chapter 13 7:50 Conversation 8:25 ID volunteers for next meeting 8:28 Close with verse |
The Anthroposophical Society in America presents: Sophia Rising: Unveiling the Wisdom of Being Human in Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ April 21-24, 2022 Hotel Santa Fe Hacienda and Spa
Join us in New Mexico, the ‘land of enchantment’, resonant with light ether and deep history, as we enliven Sophia. Join together in community as Sophia emerges and rises in her many facets and expressions- past, present, and future.
You will be an active participant in this gathering that will engage storytelling and biography, art and color, eurythmy and movement, singing and speech, with offerings from speakers Carrie Schuchardt, Mary Stewart Adams, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Stephanie Georgieff, and more.
Come and experience Sophia Rising as we honor the elements, the landscape, and each other.
VENUE & TRAVEL
Our gathering will take place at the lovely Native American-owned Hotel Santa Fe. We recommend you book your stay with the hotel to create a connected communal atmosphere for our gathering. The hotel has a full restaurant, pool, hot tub, and spa, as well as kivas and cozy sitting areas. Please call or email to make reservations with our special room rate for suites at $179/night. Each suite includes a refrigerator, microwave and sitting area. So much of what Santa Fe has to offer is within walking distance from the hotel.
HOW TO BOOK: Email stay@hotelsantafe.com or call reservations at 877-259-3409
**Ask for ASA Gathering to book with our special rate of $179/night for a suite. **
Registrants will receive suggested activities from our local organizers to explore in Santa Fe before or after our gathering. Extending your stay? The special ASA hotel rate is available for 3 days prior to and 3 days after the ASA gathering.
CLICK HERE to post on our room and rideshare board to coordinate with other participants.
AIR TRAVEL: Fly to Albuquerque or Santa Fe (note that flights are more limited and subject to the weather as Santa Fe is a small airport.)
There is a shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe or car rentals available. Uber or Lyft is available if you fly into Santa Fe.
HOTEL and VENUE ADDRESS:
1501 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: (877) 259-3409
TICKETS
The ticket price includes access to all conference activities, snacks, coffee/tea and beverages, dessert reception Thursday, dinner Friday, lunch Saturday and brunch on Sunday.
No refunds after March 21, 2022
STANDARD TICKET (After 2/26): $350
SUPPORTER TICKET: $425
EXHIBITORS: If you are interested in being an exhibitor please fill out this form.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: Limited assistance is available, please fill out this form.
Early Bird Only with Room Booking – After 2/26 more tickets will be released!
SCHEDULE
(subject to minor changes)
THURSDAY, April 21
7 pm Gathering Together – with a dessert reception
7:30- 8:30 pm ArtActs: Past – Present – Future Eurythmy, and Singing,
FRIDAY, April 22
Explore Santa Fe on your own and continued arrivals
1:00 – 2:30 pm Welcome: Spirit of Place with organizers
WEAVING EARTH Opening Ceremony with Angela Foster and friends
2:30pm-3:00pm Break
3:00-4:30 pm Encountering the Celestial Goddess Anthroposophia with Mary Stewart Adams
HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
4:30-4:45 pm Break
4:45- 6:00 pm WEAVING AIR ArtActs Eurythmy, Singing, and Speech
6:00-7:30 pm Dinner Together*
7:30 pm Fireside Chats – Story and Sharing – Breakout circles led by friends and organizers 8:30 pm
Stargazing with Mary Stewart Adams
SATURDAY, April 23
Breakfast – On your own
8:30 – 9:30 am WEAVING ETHER Eurythmy
9:30 – 10:00 am Break
10:00 -11:15 am The Virgin of Guadalupe: Sophia Rising in the Americas with Stephanie Georgieff – The Virgin of Guadalupe is one of the first recorded apparitions in the Americas. Revealing herself to a Nahuatl Native and ultimately to the Bishop of New Spain and his entourage in December of 1531, this image has continued to inspire countless souls for nearly 500 years. The symbolism and timing of her appearance presents deep mysteries for our age, and points to the ultimate Sophianic impulse for the present and future of Humanity.
11:30 – 12:30 pm WEAVING STORIES Biography Work
12:30 – 2:00 pm Lunch Together*
2:00 – 4:00 pm ‘ANTHROPOSOPHIA: OUR ALCHEMICAL WEDDING’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg and Friends. At the heart of this convergence is a Grand Experiential Soul Journey to ‘Know Thyself’’ – A Temple Experience in the New Mysteries, built up and worked on during all the WEAVING sessions, preparing us to enter a deeply intensive initiatory experience – a ‘Movable Feast’ with various stations engaging us in group eurythmy, singing, Steiner verses, color gestures in art, and a telling of the New Isis Myth. Passing through Trials of the Soul we meet powerful Spiritual Beings on the way to our sacred marriage – a union of Warmth and Light, so that we can unveil the ‘Sophia Rising’ within ourselves, and the world.
4:00 – 4:30 pm Break
4:30 – 5:30 pm WEAVING COLOR Invoking Natura: Sensing the Cosmic within the Earthly Pastels with Helen-Ann Ireland
5:30 – 6:00 pm WEAVING STORIES Biography Conversation
6:00 pm Dinner – On your own
8:00-9:30 pm WEAVING COMMUNITY Sophia Rising- Past, Present, and Future MC’d by Lucien Dante Lazar & Ultra-Violet Archer. Sign up to bring something to share! Poetry, Instruments, Story
SUNDAY, April 24
8:00 – 9:00 am WEAVING LIGHT Bathe in the Natural Warmth and Harmony of the Metal Gold with Helena Hurrell – A metal color light therapy experience inspired by the glass windows at the Goetheanum
9:00-10:30 am WEAVING FIRE with Carrie Schuchardt
HeartMath with Michele Mariscal
10:30 – 12:00pm Brunch Together*
12:00-1:00 pm WEAVING WATER Water Ritual with Joyce Reilly and Friends
WEAVING WHOLENESS Closing with Angela Foster and Friends
Notes: *Meals marked with an asterisk are included in the price of the ticket – Coffee, tea, and snacks will also be provided through the conference
A quiet ‘Sanctuary Room’ will be provided for contemplation
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER See you Santa Fe!
PRESENTERS AND GUIDES (Not a full list-more to come!)
Mary Stewart Adams is a Star Lore Historian, and host of the weekly public radio program and podcast “The Storyteller’s Night Sky”. Through her research in spiritual science and her education in literary arts, Mary has developed a unique, humanities-based approach to understanding our relationship with the stars. Her work is further augmented by an extensive knowledge of ancient mythologies and fairy tales, which she relates to the research and ideas of contemporary astronomy in order to understand the new star wisdom of astrosophy.
Eyahnna DalBo (artist of the Sophia Rising painting) came to anthroposophy 30 years ago when her daughter attended a Waldorf school. Her studies have included an undergraduate degree in fine art and graduate work in psychology using the arts for healing. In her private practice, she developed various energetic modalities. Her experience with subtle energy fields gave her the opportunity to teach and take part in designing a curriculum for a 2-year program focusing on energy healing. As a consultant, she initiated numerous therapeutic programs to assist in pioneering the field of art therapy. Through the gift of an apprenticeship with indigenous people she was able to bring their practices and ceremonies to what she offered deepening her ability to be of service. As an artist, she continues to utilize the spoken word, movement, sound, and visual imagery to honor and create a field that fosters awareness, growth, and transformation.
Angela Foster has been an active student of anthroposophy since 2008. After growing up in Texas, Angela is now embracing life in Atlanta, Georgia as an artist, teacher, and mom of two daughters, shepherd to two mini sheep. As a conscious practitioner of “beginner’s mind”, Angela has completed programs in foundation studies in Anthroposophy numerous times and is currently enrolled in Foundation Studies in Goethean Science through the Nature Institute. She and her husband manage the Anthroposophical Resource Center (ARC) an initiative in Decatur, Georgia that offers space for community events and serves as a little house for Anthroposophia.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Founder of Reverse Ritual: Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast. Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Anthroposopher – working as the Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, & as the Central Regional Council representative on the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. Past Video Recordings.
Helena Hurrell joyfully met Anthroposophy in San Fransisco in 1977 and has been working with individuals and groups as a Waldorf educator since 1981 and then throughout her life trained to become a therapist while living in Australia, the UK and North America. She is currently in private practice in Colorado blending the therapeutic work she offers through her love of color ~ as an Art and Metal Color Light Glass Therapist trained in the UK and Germany. Both of these trainings are certified by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. Metal Color Light Therapy is a relatively new initiative originated by the late Marianne Altmaier who developed this therapy and training out of her deep interest in and knowledge of the Goetheanum windows in Dornach. Helena’s website: www.helioscenter.org
Helen-Ann Ireland has been involved in anthroposophical studies for over 30 years as a Waldorf teacher, member of the School for Spiritual Science, Class holder, and now as chair of the Anthroposophical Society of America. A special interest has been in the area of the Divine Feminine and the Being of Sophia.
Michele Mariscal has 30 years of experience in the health and wellness field. She is a skilled facilitator in soft skills, speaker, coach and author. She is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist as well as a Trainer and Coach with the Institute of HeartMath. She facilitates greater heart-based living for individuals and organizations Michele is also a five-time author with her most recent publication of Growing Through Grief – The Alchemy of Healing from Loss.
Joyce Reilly Joyce studied psychology in college and was fascinated by the idea of a therapeutic community. She has worked in Camphill for many years, and is trained as a Waldorf and Therapeutic teacher. She founded Gheel House, a therapeutic community near Kimberton Pennsylvania, still thriving after 37 years. Joyce’s interests expanded to international conflict work and refugee resettlement. She works with organizations such as the Janusz Korczak Association, Karuna Peacebuilders, Kiwimbi International, Good Grief, the Worldwide Storytelling and Puppetry Association, and especially with the New York Anthroposophical Branch, and also works part-time at the local public library. Joyce is also trained in Psychosynthesis therapy and Anthroposophical psychology – currently practicing as a life coach and counselor.
Carrie Schuchardt co-founded The House of Peace in 1990, a home that is a physical and spiritual refuge for victims of war in a community with adults with special needs. In the last 15 years over 400 refugees from approximately 30 countries have been received in the healing embrace of The House of Peace, giving supportive assistance in establishing themselves in the US. In addition to the daily work of The House Peace, Carrie participates in many activities for the conversion of consciousness and policies from war to peace. Carrie has begun a network of women who witness publicly, Women Weeping, where women dress in mourning carrying symbolic lifeless children in order to help people feel what is rarely expressed in the media: the grief of hundreds of thousands of mothers in war zones around the world who lose their children to the terrible violence of war.
Maria Ver Eecke is presently the therapeutic eurythmist for the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY. She taught eurythmy for forty years in Waldorf schools, a charter school, and a home-school program. Maria met anthroposophy in Maseru, Lesotho, when she was a class teacher in an English-medium preparatory school. Currently she is the editor of the newsletters for the Eurythmy Association of North America and the Association of Therapeutic Eurythmy in North America.
What an interesting correlation between Verne’s death-day and Harun al Raschid – aka Lord Bacon. If Verne laid much of the foundation for modern science fiction, then Bacon did the lay out!
This particular impulse is fascinating, and I believe Philip K Dick is part of this lineage somehow. Science fiction imaginary yet prophetic. A strange conundrum. What is boggling is, where did these figures get their imaginations from?
What I’m driving at, is if one were to take this science fiction thread to it’s peak, you arrive at Christ. That’s exactly where PKD took it. Before the ‘exegesis of PKD’, everything he had written seems to tell of an Ahrimanic world, totally hardened, dystopian, and to him ‘very real’. What is it that he was seeing exactly? Then, at the end of his career -towards the end of his life – he has this initiatory experience when he has a migraine and is triggered by looking at a woman’s necklace which had a pendant of the Ichthys (the fish).
There is a way to explain PKD’s progression, and what else can be equated with visionary imaginations other than the Eighth Sphere? One can only see that his visions are what an actual hardening of the Eighth sphere will look like in future time. Reading GA254 – Lecture 5 – while keeping PKD in mind is a furthur elaboration of what Steiner is describing. The interesting thing about this particular lecture, is that Steiner describes it as an ‘introductory exposition’ – which ‘can be only a small contribution to the subject’. And then what? He never mentions it again.
This is why the science fiction ‘stream’ – if you will – is so fascinating because it reveals more of the nature of the eighth sphere. Just hearing PKD talk about the ‘worlds’ he ‘sees’ as being very ‘real’. He is describing it, as it is… you can’t see it in the mineral sense, it isn’t above or below, but exists nonetheless within our own sphere of existence here on earth, and it surely is very real.
I do believe PKD died prematurely (age 53), and strangely enough during the month of Pisces. If he had lived longer, I can only wonder if his literature would have taken a drastic turn.
Don’t you love these opportunities to look into the birth & death days of various people & see these correlations…?
As you know I am was a big fan of PKD, growing up & have read every book many times. I see how his reality has shaped my world-view.
It’s been awhile since I read Valis etc. but it seems to me that his vision is not necessarily from the 8th sphere – I get that Steiner says: “the Eighth Sphere is found by way of visionary Imaginations.” but that doesn’t mean his pink light Christ visions were coming from that sphere. What Steiner says in GA 254 is that we need imaginative vision to see into the 8th sphere.
The way I remember it from the ‘exegesis of PKD’, is that he describes it as being an overlay of another dimension where Rome still rules – an overlapping of that reality with ours…
Of course, it’s easy to see that the Roman Catholic Church is still projecting the intellectual soul age dogma on many today…
I wish I could have talked with him before he died…
It is still definitely possible to cultivate an atavistic imagination in order to see into the ES, but to do so gets you trapped there, and no one in their right mind wants to do that. Hopefully, PKD avoided that place. Materialism is the foundation of all science fiction, and behind Matter is the Eighth Sphere; Maya for an outer-external world appearance in terms of phenomenal formations.
In my unwitting attempt to reveal more about the Eighth Sphere, I see that I have only served to further disguise it. Yet, as Kyle has indicated, Steiner did invite a further discussion into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of this entity, but apparently nobody knew what to ask next. Thus, it went dormant. He and I have been discussing it privately for months and it deserves revelation.
Yes, it does seem worth while to have further discussion regarding the 8th Sphere. But as Hazel is pointing out, there is a difference here. Hazel, I definitely need to read more PKD with this in mind. So, we can see that Steiner describes ‘visionary imaginations’ as able to see the 8th sphere, yet we need to cultivate ‘imaginative vision’ to see it. And this is in part with illumination then? This isn’t to get into semantics about it, but there definitely is a difference here.
What has drawn me to Antrhoposophy and Steiners works, and has kept me on this path, is that never have I came across anywhere else to describe such subtle and supersensible phenomena in detail. As I have read often, I thought to myself ‘Oh yes, I have experienced just this thing. That’s what it is?’
This is what I’m intrigued about, to be able to discern ‘what is what,’ rather than mixing them up. Illumination seems to be something more incomprehensible in the intellectual sense, because the minute we try to write it down and describe what was experienced, the quality of it is only a distillation of the actual occurrence. And perhaps this is what happened with PKD. I really don’t know his work as well, but it seems that illumination can be an almost overwhelming experience that is a whole experience within your being whereas visionary imaginations is something more in the cerebral sphere.
As long as we are on the Science theme, I’d like to point out Walter Russel (1871-1963) who wanted to share what ‘illumination’ is.. or cosmic illumination. I really wonder what would have happened had Steiner and him met.
Kyle, you write an awesome post. Walter Russell, who lived to be 89 years of age is a very good example of someone with a very inquiring mind who lived to see something more conventional than the merely outer-external. Yet, he never attained it.
Now, you say that you need to read more of PKD, as if that will mean anything. Maybe you are really telling me about yourself for the first time. Did PKD know anything of spiritual science? No, he did not. He beheld an imaginative faculty, which we all do out of the evolution of the soul, but he applied it more toward the physical and material. This is how science fiction came into being.
Maybe this blog has a future, but it will only come forth out of true imagination which leads to inspiration and intuition. As such, PKD’s writings are a mere filler in the timeline of truth. I remember a book by Ursula Le Guin, The Lave of Heaven, which I felt was very good in predicting the future. Yet, it knew nothing of spiritual science.
Thanks, Steve. Well, I certainly haven’t read every one of PKD’s books. But it’s interesting you mention UKL. PKD himself had mentioned how – and I’m paraphrasing – that her philosophical limitations ended with not acknowledging Christ. I’m by no means a scholar of his works, so my comment was more geared towards his ‘experience’ of seeing the ichthus. One can come to an understanding and accepting of Christ intellectually, and that would require some faith, would it not? But to have an experience goes beyond faith. I believe I’ve mentioned this to you before regarding the Dharma path. Even Buddhists acknowledge that faith is a necessary step towards liberation, because even if you are not ‘there’ yet, the faith is necessary to bring you to that goal – so to speak.
The question I had in mind, then, is if PKD truly had an initiatory experience… where was it indicated other than the exegesis? And is it safe to say that much of his (we can say) prophetic books came from an imaginative faculty. I’m just conveying this in a better attempt to understand the difference, as objectively possible, between ‘imagination’ and ‘illumination’. I hope my usage of the terms isn’t too confusing.
And it also begs another question, can one understand Spiritual Science without studying Steiner’s works? It’s not as though PKD, for example, didn’t have works available. Yet, as for himself, he had issues with drug use and was the ultimate reason why his physical body couldn’t last longer. I don’t like to use the term loosely here, and by no means to disrespect him as the person he was, but he could have been what is considered a ‘broken vessel’. One can only assume if he had really embraced spiritual science, perhaps his works would have taken a completely different route/tone.
The way it seems to me is that with PKD & others there is a developed cognitive imagination which allows for a flashing in of illumination or inspiration & even with his prophetic stuff Intuition…
which is mostly unconscious & uncontroled. The spiritual world speak thru many ‘broken vessels’ these days don’t you think?
Of course, wow, so wonderful. PKD had drug issues, which I did not know about, and yet likely predicted his own descent into atavism. Now, this is the domain that has to be avoided in order to stay out of the realm of the Eighth Sphere. Maybe he had words against the pure atheism of Ursula Le Guin, but he was no pure student on his own part. She saw hope in her works, or am I mistaken? He was merely a competitor. He died at age 53, and she lived to be 89, like Walter Russell did. So, length of life could be a factor in these proceedings. I see a great deal in extending life. Steiner did so as best he could. But, he was sabotaged.
PKD like many did drugs when he was younger but then quit. His books are all about the dangers of drug use
Hi Hazel,
Didn’t PKD’s visions become even more dystopic after 1974? There is evidence of a meeting with a woman very similar to Hypatia of Alexandria, who wore a medallion bearing the sign of Ichthys. This sent him into a kind of past life regression. As far as I know he never met her again, but this could have been the basis of his descent into atavism, and contact with the Eighth Sphere for the duration until his death eight years later in 1982. The planet Mercury makes many movements in eight years. I see the woman bearing the sign of the Fishes as someone inviting him to sit at table. As far as I know, she was right over at the pharmacy. Resurrection was her cause.
You wrote:
“PKD like many did drugs when he was younger but then quit. His books are all about the dangers of drug use”.
Thanks for this insight into a veritable enigma.
Kyle mentioned ‘Broken Vessels’ this is the English title given to the lecture originally entitled Pastoral Medicine – which Stiner gave to the physians & the Priests. In it he talks about Saints like Teresa of Ávila who in modern times would have been considered pathological…
The scene you mention Steve shows how karma works. but to label it a descent connected to the 8th sphere seems wrongly placed…But then I guess we all have to go into the inderworld like the Christ on Holy Saturday to find our Resurrection on the Christ path
This really is an interesting subject, regarding ‘broken vessels’. Yes, that’s exactly where I got it from, that lecture. So we can see that a great deal of pain one experiences can be part of one’s own inner structure. PKD had a migraine when he had his ‘experience’. HIldegard von Bingen, too, apparently… and look at what she has produced.
So here is what I was really trying to aim at here regarding the 8th sphere, as long as this theme is still being discussed. I want to take von Bingen as an example. She has painting depicting illumination, a circular illustration showing angels. I saw something like this when I passed out from intense knee trauma and blood loss. There is no earthly comparison, and at the time it looked like a kaleidoscope and I felt a sense of euphoria never felt before… and as though I was among family. Thousands of family members. That was the sensation.
So, to distill that experience in art, we can only try our best. I feel that I experienced what Von Bingen did. But once we take something from an experience from that, here we are back into the material world. We have ‘art and science’, a balancing act, and even though it was inspired by a heavenly phenomena, we are then left with devices that are a distillation of the thing in itself.
This is what I was trying to get at with PKD. He had this experience, and afterwards, you can see from 1974 until his death, there was a heavy Christian influence. And by all means, I’m only saying this not because I understand it, I just want to figure out what is what. For when we anthropomorphise the spiritual worlds, it’s already nothing like what it is.
The worlds that PKD saw sounds like an Eighth Sphere depiction. That really is the purpose of it, to materialise and harden more into it’s own separate plane of existence, is it not? Isn’t what these sci-fi dystopian landscapes are, what is known as the Abyss in the Apocalypse of St. John? In normal course of human evolution, we aren’t supposed to go that way, but it is said that many humans will stay that course while others are more spiritualised. Normal spiritual evolution is supposed to go slow, but everything high tech is sped up, and continues to speed up in an exponential way.
So, I do find PKD’s works to be very telling of what the Eighth sphere ‘could’ look like, more materialised. I mean, we haven’t even gotten that far yet… we still cannot quite depict what two races of Good and Evil will actually look like without making it sound cartoonish. What exactly does Good and Evil mean when considering it being actual races of human beings? When human beings physical features will actually represent what is going on with them internally… when sociopaths and pathological liars cannot hide behind their physical appearance. This is far out stuff!
I hear what you say about trying to put these cosmic experiences into human language or art. That it brings a materiality into it. But this is what Steiner had to do. This is what von Bingen did.
The piece about the 8th sphere to me is more about what Facebook, or meta is doing…Very different, than a PKD book.
Yes the ‘science fiction’ quality of Anthroposophy is interesting. It is prophetic & it rings true to me
Yes, Hazel and Kyle, this is a wonderful discussion, and on a level that is ordinarily not open to the general public. But, its time has come and we need to do it. You have the 1042 subscribers, and so let’s do it, come what may. Hazel, you think I degrade PKD for his descent into the ES. Then, Kyle says this is exactly what took place. So, what is the difference? It is the fact that you, Hazel, know nothing of the Eighth Sphere and its existence in the matter of human evolution on earth. That is not meant to be hard, but merely truthful. When you mention Teresa of Avila in Steiner’s “Broken Vessels” lectures, please remember that her visionary experiences morphed into the work of Richard Wagner, who could be considered pathological by that time. Yet, he wrote a good opera, just like Philip K. Dick wrote a good novel of science fiction.
No I am not by any means an expert on the 8th sphere. But I have an inkling that confusing vapors are rising from it seeking to confuse.
All I am saying is that in regards to PKD, von Bingen, T. Avila, I don’t see them operating from the 8th sphere…
That’s all…
Okay, okay. We can slim the margin. This is what I wanted to get at. Thanks for the response. Now we can look clearly at the future calling in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Isn’t that where it is going to take place soon? I see several other comments, and so apologize for any kind of duplication. Moving on, and I hope you see this resolve. A few days left, mate, and then you will be further west. Steiner often spoke about this West.
The Soul Journey that will be at the heart of the Convergence has begun…
The dismembering of the New Isis is being recapitulated even as we speak…
But the power of Anthroposophia will rise & the healing will set the new foundation for the New Mysteries to flow out & redeem the broken vessels…