Sticks & Stones

As we continue to live & move & have our being during this St. John’s-Tide, here in the Heartland we have been experiencing great thunder storms to rival & wash away the spent fire-crackers in the streets, & another mass shooting, this time in Highland Park IL. a wealthy N.W. suburb of Chicago.

The storms sweep across my soul as well, highlighting my personal weather systems – The lightning flashing in to reveal the crack in the godhead made by human hands – Calling for a metanoia that often comes into my life thru karmic relationships. I am reminded of what Christ said to those gathered in judgement, “Let them who are without sin amongst you cast the first stone.”

How many stones have we all witnessed flying around, especially these last few years? If we don’t seek the source of these flying missiles, the force behind the antipathy, the fear that becomes scorn, the hate that becomes revenge – Then the cry of John the Be-headed goes unheard: “Change your mind, change your ways.”

Our thinking needs to be ripened anew, so that we might find a true understanding of one another & of the events happening thru us in the world. We are all stone throwers, except when the Christ is in us. Spiritual Science arouses the need to cultivate this impulse of compassion & courage for the truth, in an honest endeavor to get to the heart of things.

And yet many folks find it difficult to look into the shadows to uncover what is driving the situation. Even when the darkness bursts out into plain sight, it is often mislabeled, mis-directed, re-shrouded – becoming grist for the ever active stone pile.   

Anthroposophy asks us to seek out what is lurking in the shadows of our dead thinking. Steiner speaks about the mission of evil & the forces at work against human evolution. How can we start that work within ourselves, softening the stone within our own heart, so that it can be transformed from a weapon – into a force for love…

The good news is the stones don’t let us fall asleep; they help keep us ever striving…

~hag

6 July 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: First Quarter Moon occurs at 9:14 pm CDT

Sunrise: 5:38 A.M.
Sunset: 8:32 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:49 P.M.
Moonset: 12:29 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (46%)

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

International Kissing Day - US

International Kissing Day

Feast Day of the 1st Prophet – Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord shall give you by itself a sign; Behold, a virgin shall be with child and will bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel”

Feast Day of Saint Romulus of Fiesole. Like the Romulus of ancient Roman legend, the story goes he was also abandoned, suckled by a wolf, & captured, raised & baptized by Saint Peter

1369 – 1415 – Birthday & Deathday of Jan Hus, considered the first Church reformer, since he lived before Luther, Calvin & Zwingli. Hus was a key predecessor to Protestantism. He was burned at the stake for heresy on this day.

1535 – Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England

1887 – Birthday of Marc Chagall, Belarusian-French painter & poet

1892 – 3,800 striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead & dozens wounded

1907 – Birthday of Frida Kahlo

1917 – Arabian troops led by Lawrence of Arabia capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt

1935 – Birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama

1944 – Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial

1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.

1957 – John Lennon & Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles

1962 – Deathday of William Faulkner, Nobel Prize laureate

1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place

1971 – Deathday of Louis Armstrong

1988 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions & fires. 167 oil workers are killed

The Holy Grail Study Group with the CRC
           The Mysteries of the Holy Grail: From Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation
July 6, 2022 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)

“We may describe the astral body as an egotist. This means that every path of development that aims to liberate the astral body must recognize the interests of humanity by expanding and becoming progressively wider in scope. Indeed…it must become interested in the whole earth and all humanity.”~ from Chapter 17

Focus of the July 6 meeting: Rudolf Steiner,The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 16 “The Word in Chains,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at Dornach on 11 March 1923 (GA 222, lecture I)
AND
Chapter 17 “Balancing the Soul,” excerpts from Steiner’s lecture given at The Hague on 26 March 1913 (GA 145, lecture VII).A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 16 can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this link.A transcript of the entire lecture for chapter 17 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

If you have questions, please contact Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com 

Agenda for this meeting (Central Time)
7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
Note: CRC team will ID volunteers
          Stefano – chapter 16
          Camille – chapter 17
7:50  Conversation
8:25  ID volunteers for next meeting
8:28  Close with verse
Regelio de Egusquiza

Deepening the Grail: Our Parzival Quest and Question

Workshop & Annual Meeting with The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Saturday 16 July 2022
In-person at the Rudolf Steiner House in
Ann Arbor & on Zoom

Join anytime between 2 pm ET – 5 pm

& then for the AGm from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET

NO COST for attendees 

The Parzival Quest, is calling to humanity at this time of the Consciousness Soul. Explore aspects of this Quest through art, and movement, via embodiment processes and sensing gestures in the tangible and intangible sheaths of being human. Inspired by devout anthroposophist, artist Michael Chekhov, and guided by CRC member, Chekhov master teacher Lisa Dalton.

Then stay for supper and for the Central Region’s ‘Annual Meeting’—we haven’t had one since 2019, so it’s about time to fill you in on what’s happening!

Alberto Loya is stepping down from the CRC. He’s been with the Council since 2009—thank you for your many contributions, Alberto! We look forward to sharing memories and tributes during the meeting.

And Mary Mertz who has been working with the CRC for the last year will be offically inducted onto the Council.

2:00 pm ET– Welcome, singing, Chekhov movement, biography work
3:30 – 3:45 pm ET– Break
3:45 – 5:00 pm ET – Our Parzival Quest and Question
5:00 pm ET – Be our guest for dinner
6:30 – 7:30 pm ET – AGM – We will be bidding farewell to Alberto Loya & welcoming Mary Mertz, as well as giving reports on 2020 and 2021.
 
The CRC: Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, Lisa Dalton, Alberto Loya,
working with Mary Mertz 

 Please RSVP  to Mary Mertz mary.mcginnis@juno.com

If you can’t attend the workshop, we hope you can join in the
Annual Meeting.

Let us know whether you’ll be attending in person or via Zoom.
  
To inquire about accommodations at the Rudolf Steiner House,
contact Cynthia Chelius cynthia@anthroposophy.org

Zoom meeting info (please note — passcode required)
Jul 16, 2022

The zoom can be accessed from 2 pm. You are welcome to attend all or part of the workshop. The main event will be the Parzival Quest from 3:45 pm – 5 pm Eastern Time & the AGM 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm ET

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86449905249
Meeting ID: 864 4990 5249
Passcode: 923117

Renewing the Mysteries:The Founding of The Christian Community
& the Burning of the First Goetheanum

Spring Valley, NY – August 8-13, 2022
REGISTER NOW!* lectures * artistic workshops * conversation * evening performances
I will be offering a program on Tuesday 9 August for the Free Initiative 2:30 -3:30 pm ET
Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries?

The keynote speaker is Daniel Hafner, priest of the Christian Community. He will address this theme with a particular focus on the colored windows of the First Goetheanum.

The Act of Consecration of Man will be celebrated during the week and there will also be a Class Lesson for members of the School of Spiritual Science.

Venue: SPRING VALLEY, NY, Threefold Community, and The Christian Community

*REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THIS EVENT: A conference on the scale currently planned requires that a minimum number of participants register by July 20th.

INFO OR QUERIES: Rev. Paul Newton paulknewton@msn.com
(845) 517-4101

Sponsored by The Christian Community Spring Valley Area and the Threefold Branch of the Anthroposophical Society

15 thoughts on “Sticks & Stones

  1. Hi Hazel,

    I want to draw attention to something we have talked about before. It concerns the issue of how John the Baptist comes to realize that Christ has incarnated in order to succeed John’s own water-based baptisms with baptisms based on fire and the holy spirit. So, this chapter from the Gospel of John takes on a whole new resonance when we consider the figure of Nicodemus at the outset of chapter 3.

    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=NASB1995

    Then, in the last part of this chapter, it is recorded how John was still baptizing in Aenon near Salim, v. 23, because there was much water there. Yet, John knew and confesses to those near him that Christ was here to increase, and that he must decrease. Only then does it lead John to Herod for his eventual beheading. The Gospel of John does not describe this, but the three synoptic gospels do, and it concerns how John feels the need to come before Herod over his wife, Herodius, in much the same way that Elijah came before King Ahab over his wife, Jezebel in 2nd Kings. Now, Elijah had to incarnate in a human being in order to appear before Ahab; this was Naboth, the vineyard owner, who Ahab wanted to surmount. And Ahab gained the vineyard of Naboth, but it did not stop the denouncement of Jezebel, who worshiped the Phoenician god, Baal. Her death is told in 2nd Kings.

    Thus, it is Naboth, the vineyard owner who Elijah incorporated into in order to influence Ahab in relation to his wife Jezebel, that comes forth in the Gospel of John, chapter 3. Nicodemus. He would even prove his worth in chapter 7, when Christ went to Jerusalem at the Feast of the Tabernacles. Oh boy, what a festival that was. And, of course, it was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who appealed to Pontius Pilate for the body in order to anoint it. Pilate allowed it. Thus, Christ was placed in a pristine grave.

    1. Hi Hazel,

      I know that you are likely not reading any of this, but you really need to do a kind of comparative study of what is described here concerning Naboth, and how he was treated by the evil scheme of Jezebel, and what it meant for Elijah to come forth in the guise of Naboth, in order to give righteous testimony to both Ahab and Jezebel for their eventual downfall.

      https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2021&version=NASB1995

      Rudolf Steiner deals with Elijah-Naboth here in lecture 3, and how it was an incomplete incorporation. Later, it would be recapped in John the Baptist going before Herod over Herodius, and wherein he was completely beheaded.

      https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA139/English/AP1986/19120917p01.html

      What do you think we can discern today of this kind of comparison? Does it help the Saint John’s Imagination we are trying to experience? Of course, I say *Yes*, and I hope so. Value given is value received, with ears to hear.

      1. Another revealing of the msyteries of karma which play out in the individual & in cosmic & human history…
        I am feeling as if my current incarnation is incomplete, so there’s that. But this powerful time of St. John’s Tide gives us grist for the mill on all these levels for sure…

        1. For some reason, your statement about your incarnation feeling incomplete has stayed with me. After reading another homily on John the Baptist, I’m wondering if that isn’t the way intended for us mortals, that we should have that sense of “incompleteness”, so that we’ll set out earnestly seeking what’s missing. The Jews seeking John’s baptism recognized their need for something more, as we also should.

          I can’t recall the lecture, but I remember Steiner speaking of the two realms to which we lost access – the chemical ether realm, and the life ether realm. We lost access due to the Fall, and the purpose of our losing access was so that we didn’t introduce death into those realms. I just remember Steiner asking the question “Why did the God die?” For me, gaining access to those two realms seems to be what I was missing; Christ returning to be with the Father gives us access, through Him, to those realms, if we choose to desire that.

          1. Thank you for these reflections. Yes, I know that my lonely seeking soul – that feeling of incompleteness – is a spiritual milestone that i must access as a key for further egress…& yet it often comes with melancholy…Thanks for the reminder of these higher connections…

          2. Steiner speaks in the course, From Jesus to Christ, about the restoration of the two ethers that were withdrawn with the Fall event, as described in Genesis 3. Indeed, with the eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, death became the inevitable fate of Adam and Eve. That is why they had to be escorted out and expelled, with the lantern of the Cherubim shining in all four directions in order to keep them out.

            With the birth of the Nathan Jesus, in order to prepare for the incarnation of Christ, these two ethers, which were withheld from the experience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, are restored again, along with a provisional Ego, and a physical phantom body. Thus, the Nathan Jesus carried the whole package in preparing for the incarnation of Christ. You see, he had never been born on earth before, and this made him a guiltless human being, with no attending karma coming from the luciferic influence, which had attended the Garden experience in chapter three, where Lucifer is identified as “the serpent”.

            Now, even with that, the Nathan Jesus still had to receive an important influence into his very first human incarnation. It would have been utterly incomplete if he did not receive it. It was the incorporation of the Solomon Jesus for eighteen years. This is what prepared the Nathan Jesus to receive the Christ at the Baptism of John when he was thirty years old. Thirty years is a Saturn revolution.

            https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA131/English/RSP1973/19111010p01.html

            So, that means that for two thousand years, since the advent of Christ, these two ethers, i.e., the chemical-tone, and life ethers, have existed on earth. And, yes, it is all about the desire to achieve. This is the path from faith to gnosis. Spiritual Science represents this path.

  2. Feast Day of the 1st Prophet – Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord shall give you by itself a sign; Behold, a virgin shall be with child and will bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel”

    Conception and Birth of Jesus

    18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

  3. Hi Hazel,

    This diagram of the first quarter moon of July 2022 gives the comparison we need in order to see how the movement works. 50% on July 6th will become 61% waxing gibbous on July 7th.

    https://i0.wp.com/reverseritual.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/image-13.png?ssl=1

    The contrast to be observed is how the light-side increases as the dark-side recedes toward Full Moon. Now, what if it can be shown that this is the rotation of the Eighth Sphere around the fixed and luminescent (Jehovian) Moon? That would mean something in seeing a kind of rotational phenomena to the phases of Bella Luna.

    1. What gets me is that the explanation for the darkness of the moon is created by the shadow of the Earth, obstructing the light of the Sun. I honestly don’t see this anymore. One can see the Moon in the early evening sky in summer, while the Sun is still out, and there is no movement of the alleged ‘shadow’ as the Sun descends over the horizon. No matter where one is on Earth, that shadow is the same. Of course, there is a simple explanation for this, but doesn’t it seem like a simple reduction?

      “It is only that the simplest thought-pictures arise with the Copernican system.”

      “In the language of purely mathematical astronomy we speak of the daily rotation of the Earth on its axis, and of the revolution of the Earth round the Sun in the course of the year. But we are then confining ourselves to very simple aspects. We have then no justification for assuming that we are really starting from adequate premisses, giving an adequate basis for our investigations.”

      THIRD SCIENTIFIC LECTURE-COURSE: ASTRONOMY GA 323 Lecture II

      Same lecture given, also states how we have adapted 2/3 of the Copernican axioms. So we are using an even more simplified picture of what he presented.

      1. Hi Kyle,

        The only time the shadow of the earth gets in the way of the moon is when a lunar eclipse occurs. And this only occurs when the moon and earth are in alignment. When solar eclipses occur, it is the moon that is in alignment with the Sun, and appears to superimpose itself over the surface of the Sun. So, I am somewhat confused by your remark here:

        “What gets me is that the explanation for the darkness of the moon is created by the shadow of the Earth, obstructing the light of the Sun. I honestly don’t see this anymore. One can see the Moon in the early evening sky in summer, while the Sun is still out, and there is no movement of the alleged ‘shadow’ as the Sun descends over the horizon. No matter where one is on Earth, that shadow is the same. Of course, there is a simple explanation for this, but doesn’t it seem like a simple reduction?”

        The earth’s phenomenon concerning the moon is one of “earthshine”, in which every month in the early days of the waxing crescent moon, it appears that the shadow of the moon has light behind it. This is testimony that the Mystery of Golgotha took place on earth, and that ever since, a light aura has shone out from the earth. The earth was on its way to complete darkness until the Mystery of Golgotha took place.

  4. It’s so re-assuring to hear things articulated in the way that you do, Hazel. I very much appreciate your perspective and the effect your thoughts bring as they weave into wisps of my own…… Your blog is word-thought-wind-chimes….

    1. Hi RJ – May the chimes waft music that awakens spiritual thoughts to create a Christened reality where we can all sing a Gospel of soul renewal…
      Thanks for reaching out

  5. Wow, very impressive writing to begin this blog. For me, you described to a “T” what Anthroposophy means right “now”, in the real world, dealing with real-world troubles, and determining their source. It’s all well to look back on history and observe our evolution, but it only helps if we become better at being the hands and feet of Christ. As you so aptly began, we “live and move and have our being in Him”; our world constantly needs to be reminded of that truth, and the best way to do that is if they see Christ in our lives. Thank you for this inspiring piece of writing. A few days off seems to have only served to enhance your thoughts and writing abilities. You’re the real deal.

    1. Bless you Brother M…
      Those slings & arrows, those sticks & stones, often bring me to the threshing floor – but even there I must seek & apply the Christ impulse, especially there, since these days, the trials are everywhere…

      1. Hazel, you wrote:

        “Our thinking needs to be ripened anew, so that we might find a true understanding of one another & of the events happening thru us in the world. We are all stone throwers, except when the Christ is in us. Spiritual Science arouses the need to cultivate this impulse of compassion & courage for the truth, in an honest endeavor to get to the heart of things. And yet many folks find it difficult to look into the shadows to uncover what is driving the situation. Even when the darkness bursts out into plain sight, it is often mislabeled, mis-directed, re-shrouded – becoming grist for the ever active stone pile.”

        https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/PreSix_index.html

        That is all the more reason to add Michael to the equation that exists today. Brave students who engage in self observation and study with an unflinching eye toward the future, see Michael right next to Christ. Steiner summed it up as the “Michael-Christ Connection”. Thus, Michael becomes a very powerful agent in preparing for the Sixth Epoch. Without Michael, we could easily bypass the 6th, and sink ourselves in the 7th, which is already a huge concern.

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