Summer walk-about


Diane Leonard

Video’s of past presentations

Listen on the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast

Summer-Tide is a time of relationships & harmony…Showing us how we are connected to the cosmos, to nature & its rhythms…with the longer days the pineal gland receives more light & we feel creative power shining in on us.

Here is a little guided meditation for this time of year: Make yourself comfortable…as we share the air…taking a deep breath… filling your belly…thrilling your lungs…Let your body sink deep & Relax…

As your awareness is internalized, connect with the Breath of Life, gently moving through you…Make all your senses alert to the breath…Enjoy its power & simplicity…Feel the sustaining energy behind the breath…Feel the life force coursing through your cells & thoughts…

Direct your inner vision to a large field, a field of glorious, full, sunflowers…It the dawning of a new day…a perfect Summer morning, with a white-cloud-dotted clear sky,& a warm sun beginning to dazzle the world with its light…The sunflowers are tall & abundant, swaying in the warming breeze blowing across the field…Listen to the rustle of their music, dancing in the harmony of the elements together…Their beautiful, rich color casting a golden glow all around you…

There is a path ahead, meandering through the flowers, many much taller than you are, magnificently facing the sun absorbing its rays…You follow this path, slowly & leisurely, feeling every part of your feet making contact with the fertile earth…The sunflowers lining the path acknowledge you, every step of the way, whispering of riches & abundance, of the golden prosperity of your soul…

You look down to your right & see a large patch of St. John’s Wort in full bloom…Receiving permission from the plant spirit, you begin to harvest the bright yellow blossoms, putting them reverently into the pouch at your hip…Thanking the glorious medicine of this spirit you move on down the path, feeling the heat rising with the sun, enflaming your souls purpose…

You stop to drink from a clear stream…& as you begin to stand, you notice a patch of pennyroyal…You commune with its magic, gathering the fragrant leaves into your pouch…Feeling enlivened & in rhythm with the height of summer, you are lead to wisteria & roses…Fields of thyme & mugwort & chamomile…

This is where the plant fairies dance & play in the lengthening shadows…You are called to look up to the sky, & you see the first pink traces of dusk approaching… As you come to the end of this path, your heart is at peace…

A little way ahead there is an opening…You make your way there, seeing that it is a small mound with magnificent oaks & a pristine pond… Under one of the oak trees, on the edge of the pond there is a blazing campfire crackling as the sky turns orange-crimson…You are at home here…Your fire is born of oak & fir tree branches…The flames call out to you, whispering your secret name…You offer up the harvest pouch you filled with love & summer herbs, casting it into the blue core of the flames…throwing in with it all thoughts of negativity…all obstacles…all pain…all worries, into its hot light of transformation…& as it burns free…take in the rising fragrance of your healing harvest…feeling cleansed…& energized

The twilight lingers, Our Day Star-Sun Takes its time to set triumphantly in the west…The sky is a canvas, & Mother Nature is expressing all her creativity…Her grand design is reflected on the still pond at your feet…When you look at the pond, you see that it is a perfect reflection of your life, & on its surface you are able to see or experience all parts of who you are…What you are…What you will to become…

Your soul’s beauty, vastness & great love blend, with the sunset colors, & the pond’s liquid shimmer…As the light fades, a soft breeze ripples across the pond, & the colors are set into motion. There is a sweet music in the air of flutes, & harps, bells & drums…a light begins to surface from the pond…you see a form crystallizing…You realize this is the spirit of Mother Earth come to dance with you…She hovers over the pond & in a sublime voice speaks to you…

“I have come, for you have honored me, by honoring yourself…I have come, for many do not know of Me…I have come thru you…Your life & mine are the same…Your welfare & mine are the same…What is good for you is good for me…When you feel love, I feel love…So won’t you share your goodwill with others? Won’t you share your goodwill with the planet?

Won’t you share your goodwill with yourself? I ask, for I see you are willing & able…I see you are a bright power…You are full of courage & light…You are a transformer of reality…Transform the reality that no longer serves you…& as you do, link with others who know Me, & recognize the family of Life…When you recognize in someone, what you know inside to be true, seek to expand that truth…for as light is shared & love is grown, so shall the world change…You are my feet & hands, my eyes & voice…You do not live alone…The world is yours to craft as you choose…Choose freedom…Choose the way that creates the best for all; children, women, men, bodies of water, mountains, the land, all life…I gift you with Life & the ability to care for it…Embrace this gift.”

Take a moment now & pledge to the Mother what you will do to help the world, the environment; to help others; & to help yourself.

Cultivate the blessings received & the vision of your Divine-self in your heart-soul…Resolve to act on your life-purpose & make it real…

Gradually bring your experience to the present once again, to the here & now…Feel your body refreshed & renewed, here & now, in time & space, in your own sacred space…know you are sacred… know you are here…& Gently, joyfully, when you are ready, open your eyes…to see the unity of the cosmic community to which you belong…& say – Blessed be…

~hag

Bettina Madini

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day(RSarchives) 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s original Calendar of the Soul; The Present Age, Wikipedia)

4 positions of moon, plus Jupiter, and Saturn, with locations of Neptune and Pluto marked.

29 June 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Before dawn on Wednesday morning, watch for Jupiter near Bella Luna. Saturn is also nearby. By early August, Saturn will be opposite the sun, rising in the east when the sun sets in the west. Saturn’s opposition comes on August 2, and Jupiter’s opposition comes on August 20. ~earthsky.org

Readings & Reflections: Memorial of Saint Martha, July 29,2015 |  PagadianDiocese.org

Feast Day of Martha, named in the Gospels of St. Luke & St. John, as the sister of Lazarus, the rich friend of Jesus who the Lord resurrected. She was also the sister of Mary Magdalen. They lived in Bethany. The Gospels speak of Martha as a dutiful housekeeper, serving the Lord hospitably when He visited: “but Martha was busy about much serving…” (Luke 10:40)

Complaining that her sister Mary was listening to Him instead of helping, Our Lord sweetly rebuked: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42)

When her brother, Lazarus, fell ill, she sent for the Lord; when He arrived, Lazarus had been four days in the tomb. She cried to Jesus about His delay, but He assured her: “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live.” (John 11:25) And he proceeded to call Lazarus forth from the tomb before a crowd of astonished witnesses.

After the martyrdom of St. James in Jerusalem, as persecution intensified, tradition says that Lazarus & his two sisters, along with others, were placed in a boat & set out to sea. This boat landed on the southern shore of France. While Lazarus & Martha went on to evangelize Provence, a fact recorded in French history, Mary retired to a cave in a mountain, to do penance for the rest of her life.

“...A legend relates that Martha then went to Tarascon, France, where a monster, the Tarasque, was a constant threat to the population. The Golden Legend describes it as a beast from Galicia; a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, that dwelt in a certain wood between Arles and Avignon. Holding a cross in her hand, Martha sprinkled the beast with holy water. Placing her sash around its neck, she led the tamed dragon through the village. There Martha lived, daily occupied in prayers and in fastings. Martha eventually died in Tarascon, where she was buried. Her tomb is located in the crypt of the local Collegiate Church.” — CATHOLIC ONLINE

1613 – The Globe Theatre in London burns to the ground

1888 – George Edward Gouraud records Handel’s Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cylinder, thought for many years to be the oldest known recording of music.

Exhibition: Antoine de Saint Exupéry: A Little Prince among Men, Cité de  l'Espace | Tiqets.com

1900 – Birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French poet & pilot – “The Little Prince”.

1974 – Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with the Kirov Ballet.

1975 – Steve Wozniak tested his first prototype of Apple I computer

2007 – Apple Inc. releases its first mobile phone, the iPhone.

Allie Hanlon

POD (Poem Of the Day)
~From our own
Bodies we give
Birth to all time
In its season…
Look now
With new eyes
& see the wise star within…
~hag

art by Zosia Nowak

The Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago will be one of 6 Hybrid Host Centers
for this years AGM & Conference of the Anthroposophical Society in America!*

There will be a meeting for those who would like to be part of
the Hospitality Committee on Tuesday 29 June 2021,
potluck at 5:30pm – meeting 6:30 – 7:30pm CDT.

Live in the area? Come on by in person 4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618

Think you might want to come in for the confernece & want to help?
Join us on zoom for the meeting

Jenny Doty is the Chair of the Chicago Hosting Committee. You can reach her at jenny.meyer17@gmail.com

Hazel Archer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: AGM Hosting Meeting
Time: Jun 29, 2021 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=NWMxUS9ORWtnWks2T3htdCtWUmlzUT09
Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Temple

Or Dial by your location – Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: 767319
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF

*The AGM & Conference for the Anthroposophical Society in America has traditionally been hosted by the various regions in one place. Last year it was completely vitual. The Central Regional Council has the honor of planning for this year, & we are going to create a hybrid event with the theme:
Building the Temple of the Heart” 7-10 October 2021
There will be 6 HUBS from the Central Region bringing in Rudolf Steiner’s 6 Basic Excersies, as the foundation for our Temple; as well as 6 Hybrid Host Centers around the country to make participation & travel more convenient.

6BE HUBS

  • NOLA – Thinking
  • Austin – Will 
  • Twin Cities- Equanimity/Feeling
  • Northern Michigan – Positivity
  • Ann Arbor- Open-Mindedness
  • Chicago/Youth- Harmony

 6 Hybrid HOST Centers (in person & on-line):

  • TBA

Key-note speakers include: Dr. Michaela Glockler, Michael Lipson, and Brian Gray. Featuring Biography Art, Eurythmy, Speech, Singing…Class Lesson #11, & a grand ‘Pageant’ on Sunday.

More info. coming soon

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