Today’s ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows” ~Epictetus

“In the sciences, people quickly come to regard as their own personal property that which they have learned and had passed on to them at the universities and academies. If someone else comes along with new ideas that contradict the Credo and in fact even threaten to overturn it, then all passions are raised against this threat and no method is left untried to suppress it. People resist it in every way possible: pretending not to have heard about it; speaking disparagingly of it, as if it were not even worth the effort of looking into the matter. And so a new truth can have a long wait before finally being accepted.” — Goethe’

”If we take the sphere of medicine we shall see at once that it is not so evident whether or not the conditions of reality have been taken into account. Here too the procedure is the same; something is thought out theoretically and then applied as a means of healing. Whether in this case there has been a cure, whether it was somebody’s destiny to die, or whether perhaps he has been “cured to death,” this indeed is difficult to perceive. The bridge collapses when there are faults in its construction; but whether the sick person gets worse, whether he has been cured by the treatment, or has died of it, is not so easy to discover.” ~ Rudolf Steiner, Human Values in Education, LECTURE I, ARNHEIM, 17th July, 1924. https://wn.rsarchive.org/…/Eng…/RSP1971/19240717a01.html

Dear friends – Once again I must call out: We are in a time of extremely serious trials – & as uncomfortable as it is, these trails will not go away just because we are tired of it – taking the path of least resistance – being as Steiner says lukewarm – will only enslave us. We have to be ever more conscious of this. We have to be willing to stand up & not give in for convenience sake. Everything good & everything evil is coming to the light of day, often in a most confusing devastating way.

Will we allow some outside ‘authority’ to use us in their trial, or will we put ourselves to the test of being truly human.

When we are able to meditate & use our imaginative cognition, we can powerfully affect what is happening. Only very few have the possibility of understanding all the machinations, but we can know the implications. It is all the more important that those of us that strive to have a true spiritual scientific understanding now apply all our strength—in utmost conscientiousness & with the highest possible concentration – applying all the ‘magic’ that we are able to call forth from the depths of our souls – (The Definition of ‘Magic’ = The Art & Science of Causing Change to Occur in Accordance with our Soul Forces of Thinking, Feeling & Willing)

Are we willing to sacrifice the comforts of ignorance, so we can work toward this? So that humanity does not completely deny the Holy Spirit, which must lead the future evolution of humankind.

Never has the abyss been so present, & never before has the etheric Christ been so present. Together we can bridge this gap in human consciousness, by focusing our intention on the divine design: that humanity is meant to be the hierarchy of Freedom & Love – which we must outpicture in the Economic Realm as Sister/Brotherhood; In the Rights Realm as Equity, & Equality; & in the Realm of the Spirit/Culture/Education/Medical as Free Choice for all.

If we release all fear & anxiety, we can engage our soul forces in the building of the New Earthly-Human Sun, the ideal goal of all future evolution. If we will it, this reality can be experienced & accomplished right here & now, in every moment, as the most real, practical, life-giving, healing, nourishing, spiritual activity; & as an expression of our true compassion for Mother Earth & for humanity – on both sides of the threshold, bringing in the ever present help of the spiritual world.

Here are 2 verses written by Mary Lynn Channer during our Holy Week gatherings, to address the soul forces of Willing & Feeling to augment the verse by Herbert Hahn on Thinking. A powerful addition to our 10:10 ‘Thought-Seed’:

When I will life,
My hands help
When my hands help,
The Earth re-sounds
When the Earth re-sounds,
I am a free human being.

When I feel warmth,
My heart sings
When my heart sings,
The Earth heals
When the Earth heals,
I am a true I AM

When I think light
My soul shines
When my soul shines
The earth is a star
When the earth is a star
Then I Am a true human being

See you dear friends in the ethers for this willed visualization, adding to a positive Egregore everyday: 10am/10pm it your time zone. Together we are creating the change that we want to be, for ourseves & the universe…

~hag

“The teaching received by humanity through the great Buddha contains, in the form of wisdom, everything that in conjunction with the teaching of compassion and love and the synthesis of this in the Eightfold Path, can enable the doctrine of Karma to be understood”. ~Rudolf Steiner, The Gospel of Luke , Lecture 10

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1929 – Deathday of Édouard Schuré, a French philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist, music critic, & publicist of esoteric literature. Born in the old cathedral city of Strasbourg, as a young boy he experienced certain events that, as he described them many years later, “Ieft traces upon my thoughts, to which my memory returns ever and again.” The result of these events he called “inner vision, evoked by impressions of the external world.” The first of these experiences occurred shortly after the death of his mother, when he & his father visited a resort in Alsace.  On the walls of one of the buildings the ten-year-old boy saw a remarkable series of frescoes, depicting the world of undines, sylphs, gnomes & fire-spirits. Before these representations of the Elemental Beings, the boy was transported into another world, the world of creative fantasy. Like a talisman, the pictures awakened the magic forces of wonder in the child soul, & the result was a new perception.

Not long after the death of his father, which occurred when Schure was fourteen, he visited Paris, & saw for the first time the classical sculptures in the Louvre. The beauty of the Venus di Milo, of Dionysus, of the wounded Amazon, penetrated deeply into the boy, awakening in him a love & appreciation for the world of ancient Greece, which was to play so significant a role in his later work as a playwright. In these sculptures Schure became aware of the fact that a divine beauty can be made manifest in physical substance through the magic of art. At about this same time Schure read a description of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece, & the inner pictures this evoked were so vivid, so compelling, that he dedicated himself to the task of recreating the sacred drama of Eleusis for modern humanity. For Schure was convinced that through the experiencing of such a drama, people of modern times can acquire a totally new conception of the relationship between the spiritual striving of the ancient world & the religious conceptions of today.

Parallel with these experiences of soul & spirit, Schure’s early years were devoted to formal education. Eventually he received his degree in law at the University of Strasbourg, but he never entered into practice. He visited Germany, remaining there for a few years, during which time he wrote Histoire du lied published in 1868. In this book he expressed his love for music & poetry which had been enhanced by his personal acquaintance with Richard Wagner, then living in Munich.

Shortly after his return from his travels in Germany, Schure married the sister of his friend, the composer Nessler.  They moved to Paris, where Schure continued his writing & studies, making friends with some of the most important men & women in the cultural life of France of his time. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Schure & his wife went to Italy.

In Florence Schure made the second great friendship of his life.  One day Malvida von Meysenbergs, the devoted admirer & helper of the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, introduced Edouard Schure to a Greek lady, Margherita Albana Mignaty. The meeting made a profound impression upon Schure, an impression he was to recall clearly in the last year of his life: “When I saw those great sunny radiant eyes directed questioningly upon me, I felt my consciousness almost desert me, for my whole being seemed called upon to reveal itself.” In the presence of this beautiful woman, so reminiscent of the women of the classical Greece he so deeply loved, Schure once again found access to the spiritual world opening within him. In Margherita Albana Mignaty he discovered a soul to whom the unseen world was as immanent as the physical. This direct relationship with the spiritual world was the result of the death of her child, which had taken place some years before. Through their many conversations, Schure’s own spiritual perception broadened & deepened beyond anything he had previously imagined. He referred to her as his Muse, & saw in her a “spirit that moves mountains, a love which awakens and creates souls, and whose sublime inspiration burns like a radiant light.” on one occasion he asked her how she acquired such precise knowledge of the spiritual history of humankind, such intimate details concerning long-forgotten antiquity. Her reply was profoundly simple: “When I wish to penetrate to the very depths of a subject, I shut myself in my room and reveal myself to myself.” Through the inspiration of Margherita Albana Mignaty ‘as a testimony of a faith acquired and shared,’ Schure’s book The Great Initiates came into being.

Schuré now turned increasingly to the esoteric & the occult, his major influence being the famous French occultist-scholar Fabre d’Olivet.  In 1884, he met the founder of the Theosophical Society Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Although unwelcome in the Theosophical Society, he nevertheless entered.

In 1900, the actress Marie von Sivers came into contact with him because she intended to translate his works into German (The Great Initiates, The Sacred Drama of Eleusis & The Children of Lucifer). At the German Section of the Theosophical Society, he met the Austrian philosopher & later founder of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner. In 1906, Sivers brought about a meeting between Schuré & Steiner. Schuré was deeply impressed & thought of Steiner as an authentic ‘initiate’ in line with his The Great Initiates. After hearing Steiner lecture in Paris for the first time in 1906, Schuré in an ecstatic state ran home & wrote down the entirety of the lecture from memory. This first lecture, & the other lectures in the series (which Schuré wrote down) were published as Esoteric Cosmology. Subsequently, Steiner & von Sivers staged Schuré’s esoteric dramas at the Theosophical Congresses in Berlin & Munich. Schuré’s The Children of Lucifer, served as a precursor of Rudolf Steiner’s own esoteric dramas.

In 1908 Schuré brought out Le Mystère Chrétien et les Mystères Antiques, a French translation of Steiner’s work Christianity as Mystical Fact & the Mysteries of Antiquity.

Édouard Schuré was often visited by Rudolf Steiner in Barr, Alsace. Steiner produced many of Schure’s plays. In speaking about his book The Great Initiates Steiner says: “Édouard Schuré speaks about the ‘Great Illuminated,’ the Great Initiates, who have looked deeply into the background of things, and from this background have given great impulses for the spiritual development of mankind. He traces the great spiritual deeds of Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Pythagoras and Plato, in order to show the unification of all these impulses in Christ…. The light streaming from Schuré’s book enlightens those who wish to be firmly rooted in the spiritual sources from which strength and certainty for modern life can be drawn.” ~Rudolf Steiner

Living into the spheres of cosmic Life and cosmic Light: from Easter Whitsun in the Calendar of the Soul with Lugi Morelli, Hazel Archer & Geoff Norris

13 May 2021 Ascension Thursday 5- 6:30pm PT / 6-7:30 pm MT / 7 pm – 8:30 pm CT / 8-9:30 pm ET / 1 am – 2:30 am GMT / 2 am – 3:30 am CET

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=TStPVnpFRzlwZ0NpRURBZDNyYnpBQT09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Ascension

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a961qZZhF

Verses & Group Speech – Geoff Norris

Ascension: Feast of the Elementals – Hazel Archer

Calendar of the Soul – Luigi Morelli : For those who are familiar with the Calendar of the Soul we could say that during spring and summer we follow the ascent of cosmic life, cosmic light, cosmic warmth and cosmic Word as gifts bestowed upon the human being by the cosmos. By being receptive to them we strengthen our connection to cosmos and Self.

We will briefly explore the dynamics of the year, then look at what qualities of soul we need to develop as we move into spring and summer, most particularly from Easter to Ascension and Whitsun. We will look at the verses of the calendar in conjunction with the artistic renditions of Anne Stockton and Karl König, drawn for each of the verses.

We will ask ourselves: How can we live into and grow from this time of the year? How can we deepen our inner relationship to the event of Ascension? What can we receive and what can we give?

Luigi Morelli – Cultures have been a great part of my upbringing, since I’m American born, part Italian, part Peruvian, mostly grew up in Belgium, and have lived the longest in the US. I have long had a passion for social change from a cultural perspective. Professionally this has brought me to working with the developmentally disabled in the intentional, holistic, communities of Camphill International and L’Arche International, and also in the mainstream. Being a founding member of the Wavecrest L’Arche Community in Los Angeles was a memorable experience. I have lived in intentional cohousing for the last ten years; first in Ecovillage Ithaca, now at Headwaters Cohousing in Cabot, in both places actively involved in community building and process facilitation.

Since 1999 I have found a vocation in researching/writing both about American history and/or about cultural/spiritual change, which you can find at www.millenniumculmination.net. Only of late have I started writing on meditative material I have used for years, publishing an essay on the Foundation Stone Meditation (also onsite) and one upcoming on the Calendar of the Soul. I love outdoors in many forms, gardening, hiking, skiing, love singing and playing flute, and enjoy most kinds of social events.

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ON-GOING WAYS TO ENGAGE:

The ARC (Anthroposophical Resorce Center in Atlanta) is inviting you to a Six Basic Exercise Practice Group

Time: weekdays 9 am PT / 11am CT / 12:00 PM ET

Each weekday you are invited to join in a 15 minute practice group focusing on Rudolf Steiner’s foundational exercises.  We begin the time each day with a 5 minute leading thought focusing one aspect of the practice. We will follow that with a 5 minute period in which we turn off our cameras and practice on our own. After the five minute bell, we take 1-2 minutes to journal about our experience and the end the call with a 3 minute closing thought. Come when you can, and leave when you must.   

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/266986103?pwd=bXU4a0EvMmJkMDZTR0Rqcm0xZ0pUZz09 Meeting ID: 266 986 103 Passcode: 345338

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Wednesdays 9:30-11:00am CT  – True and False Paths in Spiritual Investigation, by Rudolf Steiner. We incorporate ‘The Calendar of the Soul’, eurythmy, focused discussion and seasonal artistic explorations in our study. All are Welcome. Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg.  Hazel@ReverseRitual.com We meet in person in the Branch Library or join via Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/99724133477?pwd=VGdOQUpINCtrRXQxY2ZLRVRsSDhBdz09 Meeting ID: 997 2413 3477 Passcode: true

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(CLOSED) Fridays 12noon – 1:30pm CT. The Esoteric Path Through the Nineteen Class Lessons by Sergei O. Prokofieff. A serious study for Members of the School of Spiritual Science. Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

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Sundays 7-9pm CT. Our international group is studying The 5^th Gospel by Rudolf Steiner. Contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg. Hazel@ReverseRitual.com, Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/91503499709?pwd=eEtzckt4NjM5OFIyUlJOT0pjYThCUT09 Meeting ID: 915 0349 9709 Passcode: peace