18 December 2018 –“Speaking with the Stars”: The waxing gibbous Moon shines in the east this evening, with the Pleiades to Her left & orange Aldebaran to her lower left. To the right of Bella Luna is orange Alpha Ceti.

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Sulamith Wulfing.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

“History is the essence of innumerable biographies.” ~Thomas Carlyle, “On History” (1830)

International Migrants Day

 

1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia & China

1803 – Deathday of Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, & poet – associated with the periods of Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, &Weimar Classicism.

1829 – Deathday of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, biologist, & academic – an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred & proceeded in accordance with natural laws. He gave the term biology a broader meaning by coining the term for special sciences, chemistry, meteorology, geology, & botany-zoology

1863 – Birthday of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

1865 – US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the USA

1878 – Birthday of Joseph Stalin, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union

Nocturnal Festivity

1879 – Birthday of Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter & educator

1958 – Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched

1966 – Saturn’s moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker

1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th

1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev & Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union

1990 – International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers & Members of Their Families is adopted.

1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments

2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections

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POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I’ve known that tempting feast of death when
While darkness filled the mind, the heart cried out –
Let us listen & hear…
I know when the eye of truth is plucked
From the head, only the blood
Of rage remains –
Can we make the change
To heal the Comforter?
Come & call forth with me
A bright secret veiled in black cloth –
A heart-light beyond heaven
Which is the light within
Re-kindled through sacrifice…
~hag

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Chiron, Faust by Franz Simm

Hung with the frozen veils of winter, the Sun daily wanes. Soon the centaur of Sagittarius will hand the reigns over to the scorpion – a catalyst for the transformation into the longest night of the Winter Solstice. In this time of the dark before the dawn, the image of the centaur stands before us like the forces of gravity seeking to pull the human being down. It speaks to the danger inherent in this final chapter of Advent, reflecting Herod’s fearful animal instinct to preserve himself by the killing the innocents. This evil act precedes the birth of the light.

Yet ancient myths tell of the hidden wisdom of the centaur. They speak of the struggle of the hero to overcome the bondage of the animalistic drive. It is the eternal drama that plays out in the depths of the human soul.

Inspired by this struggle Goethe has his character Faust carried thru the night on the back of Chiron the centaur, past the turbulent waters of the Peneios, to seek out the secluded sanctuary of wise Manto, who is to show Faust the way to Helena, the lost archetypal image of the divine feminine. Faust praises Chiron as a doctor & tutor.

The riddle of this strange contradiction of the centaur – the wildness & wisdom living so close together, is rooted in the tragedy of human incarnation. On the way to becoming human we had to be bound to the forces of our animal nature which have attached us for so long to the lower materiality, until we can find our way to liberation. The truth hidden behind the consumerism of Christmas, the mystery of the incarnation of Christ holds the key to this healing of the human being.

“O, thou slumber’s turning,
O, thou sorrow’s ending!” ~Christian Morgenstern

Peace
~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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HOLY NIGHTS at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 2018-19

24 December 2018, 7 pm – 9 pm – “…When the Two Become One…” The Mystery of the Two Jesus Children: Part 1 –“The Greatest Story Ever Told” – Renaissance Art & Discourse with Hazel Archer Ginsberg

 26 Dec. 7 pm – 9 pm – Group Study: According to Luke by Rudolf Steiner

27 Dec. 7 pm – 9 pm – The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson with Debra Barford & Mary Tom

28, 29, 30 Dec. 7 pm – 9 pm – Group Study: According to Luke by Rudolf Steiner

31 Dec. Our Annual NYE Gathering 8 pm – 1 am – In Elderberries 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Folk Dancing with Jutta & the Hi-Dukes, Crafting, Lead Casting, Biography Work, ‘Out with the Old’ Ceremony, Labyrinth Walk, Please bring food & drink to Share. $20 or pay what you can (½ goes to the band ½  to the artists)

8 pm – 9:30 pm – Jutta & the Hi-Dukes Folk Dancing

9:30 pm – ‘Biography Work’ with Paulette Arnold

10:30 pm – Spacial Dynamics with Alex Boshell

11:15 pm – ‘Out with the Old’ Ceremony, with ~hag, Lead Casting to meet the Future

MIDNIGHT: Labyrinth Walk, Singing

1, 2, 3, 5 January 2019, 7 pm – 9 pm – Group Study: According to Luke by Rudolf Steiner

Ninetta Sombart

Friday 4 January 2019, 7 pm – 9 pm

“…When the Two Become One…”
The Mystery of Christmas & Epiphany
Part 2 of this Holy Night Social Discourse with Hazel Archer Ginsberg –

Lecture with Renaissance art collages & a group reading to explore the mystery of Luke’s Gospel of Love & Compassion.

$10 & Snacks to Share Encouraged

For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

6 Jan. Epiphany 2 pm – 4 pm – “…When the Two Become One…” The Mystery of the Two Jesus Children: Part 2 –The ‘Zarathustra Jesus’ & the 3 Magi.  Renaissance Art &Discourse with Hazel Archer Ginsberg  + Storytelling with Ann Burfiend

$10 & Snacks to Share Encouraged

 For more info. contact Hazel Archer Ginsberg

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Rudolf Steiner Branch of The Anthroposophical Society, 4249 North Lincoln Avenue. Chicago, IL 60618 (map) 

Check out our Web site!  (Anthroposophical Society in America)

The Elderberries 3-Fold Space & the Flex Space are available for rental on PEER SPACE for classes, events, meetings, retreats, art exhibits, family parties, etc..