
These are the darkest days, the longest nights, fraught with internal midnights – when it’s easy to forget the bright Chrystal radiance of the newborn Sun – that is yet to come.
Yet, when we have the valor to embrace our darkest spaces -the fierce onslaught of restless tossing – we will deepen into the boundless birthing. Softening until we are ripe, like pomegranates that seep & pulse ruby red – an opening of the dark wound to light. May grace chime in our bell-hollows, so that Night herself can become the conduit to the new.
Yes, the Great Shift is happening, ready or not, here I come. Closer & closer to the blending of the light, out pictured as a cosmic conversation in the sunset sky. Come on, uncover your head & go out into the night, to hula-hoop the rings of Saturn round glad hips, while balancing Jupiter on your held-high-head as a benevolent crown. Align the solar system in your spine & pass thru the star portal of your ticklish bellybutton. Drink it all in – the Milky Way is spilling from your pineal gland to activate your inner eye. And the Helpers enter with your next inhalation. Breathe them in, & sing them out, in a frosty becoming. The Christmas Star is meant to retune your mind to your heart – Together we shift & glow…
~hag
***

19 December 2020 -“Speaking with the Stars”: After reaching aphelion (the farthest point from the Sun in its orbit) Mercury (occult Venus) reaches superior conjunction tonight at 9 pm CST. This means the Love Messenger of the gods is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, which puts it out of view for the rest of the year. They will reappear in the evening sky to reveal their secrets for the new year next month.
***

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
***

POD (Poem Of the Day)
~My listening tongue
My screaming ear
The triple eye
Speaks…
~hag
***

Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Lucien Dante Lazar will open & close the program with some live piano music
And Mary Ruud will lead us in some Group Eurythmy to cap the evening
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=ai94YmhnS1k3cWN3TFFlL3ozTDgxdz09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Peace
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
***

Monday 21 December Winter Solstice Grand Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn,
Biodynamic Prep-Stir 5 pm – 6:30 pm CST
at Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost & Cultural Hub 4252 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago

All are welcome to bring festive food & drink to share
***

Wednesday 23 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation.Two Turning Points in Time – The Mystery of Wisdom, and The Mystery of Will
In 1923/24, during the Christmas Conference, Rudolf Steiner presented humanity with the Foundation Stone Meditation: an amazingly rich imagination, planted in our hearts and shining brightly like a guiding star. Steiner also gave us many other gifts during that time which we will ponder in our hearts.
Leading thoughts, verses, songs and imaginations will be woven together in this artistic offering before the Holy Nights.
Special guestLucien Dante Lazar will provide a sprinkle of musical interludes throughout our event.
We will be joined by our old friend Dennis Dietzel in this performance.
We will go into small breakout groups to explore the theme: “How does the Foundation Stone Meditation speak to you?”
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83533262486 Meeting ID: 835 3326 2486 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) Meeting ID: 835 3326 2486 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kclU2SSTF If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu |
May this Advent Season permeate our hearts with Love and Joy – The CRC – Marianne Fieber, Alberto Loya, Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton |
***
‘A Rose By Any Other Name’:
ASA Online Holy Nights 2020/2021

“The light of Christmas should shine as a light of peace, a light that brings peace outside only because first of all it sheds an inner peace into the hearts of human beings.”
-Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the New Isis, Divine Sophia, December 24, 1920
We are approaching a new season where we enkindle an inner light that shines into the darkness of winter. Where meaning for the year ahead can be cultivated, and reflection on the year past can bring new insights.
Last year many of you joined us each night to bring beauty and connection into the holiday season. This year you are invited to join us again for a time of contemplation and community during the ASA Online Holy Nights.
Each 30 minute gathering will open with a meditative time with the new zodiac image and the virtue of the day, plus an artistic/writing prompt. Then a short offering will be shared about this special time of year as related to the Divine Feminine.
What: ASA Online Holy Nights Seed: A Rose By Any Other Name hosted by the ASA Sophia Group and friends around the country.
When: 9-9:30am Pacific / 11 am – 11:30 am Central / 12-12:30pm Eastern on December 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and January 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Note: No meeting on December 31). Can’t join us live? No problem. Each gathering will be recorded and posted on our Holy Nights page.
How: Register Here. Then check your email for a confirmation with the Zoom registration link.
Cost: Your donations help us create events like this one! This event is free with suggested donations of $25, $50, $100/ /
Schedule of Presenters:
12/24 Angela Foster
12/25 Laura Scappaticci
12/26 Joyce Reilly
Sunday 12/27 Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
12/28 Jordan Walker and Stefan Ambrose
Tuesday 12/29 Ultra-Violet Archer
12/30 Deb Abrahams-Dematte
12/31 No Meeting
1/1 Lelan Harris
1/2 Tess Parker
1/3 Claudia Knudson
1/4 Jolie Luba
1/5 Timothy Kennedy
Special Recording Notes: This gathering will be recorded each day and include all content and live attendees in the video.
***

The Festivals Committee for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago invites you to Holy Nights December 24, 2020, through January 5, 2021
*Please note–No meeting December 29th and 31st. See special offerings below for these dates.
The Fifth Gospel by Rudolf Steiner – Each evening we will study together
on Zoom from 7 pm – 8 pm CST
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92592034861?pwd=Mmo0eURaWDVqYVlabTdSY1ltcUFxdz09
Meeting ID: 925 9203 4861 – Passcode: Peace

On Tuesday, December 29th, 6 pm – 8:30 pm CST,
we will join Anthroposophy Atlanta for a reading of Goethe’s fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily
This has a separate zoom code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82656914578?pwd=MHN3Mmt3OEhtQlZTMlc1NHFtUm80QT09 Meeting ID: 826 5691 4578 Passcode: Goethe
***
New Year’s Eve, there will be NO zoom call

Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 6 pm-10:10 pm CT
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago
6 pm Potluck and artistic mask making with Lucien Dante Lazar
7:30 – 9:30 Live Music with Jutta and the High Dukes
10:10 pm Project Thought-Seed
The evening ends at 10:30 pm
$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
***
Nancy Poer
Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CT
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar,
+ An Artistic exploration, Singing & Eurythmy
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org