Folks often ask why I call myself ~hag. No, I was not born hag; I chose those initials because I want to reclaim the archetype of the Wise Crone. In our modern culture, the Crone is either invisible or scorned. If a woman is wise & powerful she is often feared or demonized. It’s true that we can often be direct, & outspoken, which in a woman is not prized.
The Crone is featured in many myths & fairytales. She is the witch – the haggard old woman who lives in the forest; a friend of death, feared by the uninitiated. From Hansel & Gretel to Baba Yaga, this archetype has become one to avoid. In folklore the Crone may also exhibit supernatural, magical abilities, either for helpful or obstructive purposes.
The ancient archetype of the Crone held a more holistic ideal & can be traced back to the Middle East, Balkans, Scandinavia & Ancient Greece. For example, in Norse mythology the God Thor wrestled the crone Elli.
The word ‘crone’ only entered the English language around 1390. It was derived from the Anglo-French word ‘carogne’ (an insult), which itself was derived from the Old North French ‘charogne’ or ‘caroigne’, meaning a disagreeable woman (or literally “carrion”).
However, when we reclaim this archetype, The Crone is said to derive from another more positive origin, with the Word Crone coming from Crown, indicating wisdom emanating from the head. She plays the role of Hierophant or initiator, demanding seemingly impossible tasks, which are often only completed with the help of supernatural elemental beings.
The crone aspect of the Female Metaphor is not just about age, it the mysterious time of the waning crescent, & dark Moon phases. It is about the acceptance & valuing of the darkness, as an essential life process. Once this aspect was connected to regeneration & acumen – Ancient cultures understood the dark as the source of being.
In a culture where the darkness is thought of as evil – where there is no place for the compost, this aspect is avoided or loathed. Where only the Light is valued as positive, where the nurturance of the Dark has been forgotten, real wisdom & compassion will never be realized.
If we are stuck in the duality of light vs. dark, good vs. evil, blue vs. red – or any other either/or frame of mind, we will never escape the prison walls of division – we will never escape the jailer – the executioner who divides one I from another.
Freedom is to be able to live in the frame of mind that is guided by an all-inclusive attitude, always able to consider & even accept contradiction, whose outlook on life & interaction with the world is not cause for division but guided by the searching for a higher unity.
The world has been run for too long by the analytical man-mind-set of either/or. A new womb-mind-set of ‘As Well As’ brings the opening to choice, & promotes both, with the heart in the center, weighing & balancing the 2 with the transcendent third.
And so let us write a new story, where we embrace the gifts of darkness, the hard truth of death in life, which makes true regeneration possible.
~hag
***Listen to the podcast on this theme HERE
10 December 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Cassiopeia the Queen is circumpolar – She circles around the north celestial pole, never dipping below the horizon. However, the best time to see Cassiopeia is during fall and winter evenings, since that’s when the constellation rides highest in the sky. The bright stars of Cassiopeia trace out an M or W, depending on its position in the sky and your perspective.
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
According to the original Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner, Today is the Birthday of Judith. The book from the Apocrypha, named after her, tells the lesser known story of this beautiful widow who plied enemy Assyrian General Holofernes with cheese & wine until he fell into a drunken stupor. Judith then beheaded the general in his sleep, & his soldiers fled in fear, saving her people from the Assyrians. This story is the subject of much renowned artwork. And is told at Hanukkah.
1198 – Deathday of Averroes, Arabian philosopher, astronomer, most famous for his commentaries on Aristotle’s works, which had been largely forgotten in the West. It was through the Latin translations of Averroes’ work, beginning in the twelfth century, that the legacy of Aristotle was recovered in the West. Averroes attempted to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Islamic theology & to demonstrate that philosophy & theology were two paths to understanding the same truth. Rudolf Steiner refers to him a lot in his lectures on Karmic relationships.
1520 – The Burning the Papal Bull of Excommunication by Martin Luther. Because of constant attacks from the Roman Church, Luther was forced to shape his ideology into an autonomous theology. During the years 1520-1521 he worked on the three great works “Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation”, “The Babylonian Captivity” & “The Freedom of the Christian Man”, thereby emotionally cutting himself off from Rome.
The inquisition against Luther was taken up again in 1520, partly because of these works. The peak of the inquisition came, with the Papal Bull of excommunication in which Luther was ordered to recant his teachings.
Luther reacted in protest. He burned the Papal Bull (“Exurge Domine”) along with the book of church law & many other books by his enemies on December 10, 1520 in Wittenberg where the Luther Oak (Luthereiche) stands today. He is said to have yelled: “Because you, godless book, have grieved or shamed the holiness of the Father, be saddened and consumed by the eternal flames of Hell”.
This behavior caused a conclusive and irrevocable break with Rome. On January 3, 1521 the Pope excommunicated Luther.
The Emperor, however, felt forced to accept Luther because of the pro-Luther mood in the empire & because of the influence of various princes who were hoping to weaken the Pope’s political influence through Luther. As a result, the rebel was guaranteed safe escort on his trip to the Imperial Diet of Worms.
1884 – Birthday of Albert Steffen, poet, painter, dramatist, essayist, & novelist. He joined the Theosophical Society in Germany in 1910, & the Anthroposophical Society in 1912. He was 1 of the original Vorstand members, & became its president after the death of founder, Rudolf Steiner. Steffen was chief editor of the society’s journal, Das Goetheanum, from 1921-1963. At an early age his senses were especially attuned to all of nature. “As a child it always seemed to me as though a human countenance peeped forth from every blossom. From the tulip, that of a Turkish maiden; from the chrysanthemum, that of a Japanese dancer; from the sunflower of Inca King; from the geranium a Moorish boy.”~AS
By age 14 he had intuitively ‘understood’ that the human soul goes through the process of reincarnation. At age 21 he moved to Berlin, & 2 years later, to Munich. There he became a freelance writer & published his first novel, ‘Ott, Alois and Werelsche’ in 1907.
In Berlin, Steffen 1st heard a lecture by Rudolf Steiner. He writes: “I recognized immediately the leader of humanity: the wisdom on his brow, the love pervading his eye, the conscience in his word.”
In 1914, the beginning of World War I, Steffen was 29. At that time he was making frequent visits to Dornach. Of his experience there, he wrote: “Harmony reigned through a single man’s God-founded spirit,”…“Carving the Goetheanum capitals and architraves furthered me as a shaper of words.” In 1920, at the age of 35 Steffen moved to Dornach. In 1921 he was asked by Rudolf Steiner to be editor of the newly founded ‘Das Goetheanum’ weekly periodical.
On New Year’s 1923 Steffen witnessed the destruction by fire of the 1st Goetheanum, despite all efforts to save it. At the Christmas Conference Rudolf Steiner named Steffen to head the Section for Belles Lettres in the newly constituted Anthroposophical Society & named him Deputy Chairman. Of Albert Steffen he said: “The members of Vorstand are, I believe, chosen in the right way. Albert Steffen has already been an anthroposophist before he was born; this must be recognized with regard to him” (The Christmas Conference).
In an article which appeared in Das Goetheanum February 22nd, 1923, Steiner wrote about Steffen: “Within the Anthroposophical Movement, the spirit of such a poet, if rightly felt, should be experienced as the bringer of a message from the spiritual sphere.”… “That he wishes to work in this Movement, should be felt as a good destiny.”
F W Zeylmans van Emmichoven, a Dutch Anthroposophist, wrote that Rudolf Steiner wanted the members of the Vorstand to recognize themselves & each other against the background of the spiritual streams to which they belonged, “to cultivate fraternal feeling even between strongly contrasting personalities.”
Rudolf Steiner died in 1925; Steffen was with him in his last days. He expressed his reverence & thankfulness for this great initiate’s being & gift to humanity, recreating a ‘memory picture’ for the reader – ‘In Memoriam, Rudolf Steiner’.
After Steiner’s death, in accordance with his wishes, Albert Steffen became Chairman of the Society, serving to keep a center point of balance amidst contrasting personalities & divergent streams, which he was not able to do.
“Let this be for us our cosmic goal: –
To paint a living picture for the soul
which the claws of death cannot despoil,
which lights the darkest dungeon deep below –
take a new earth with us when we go,
which no evil shadow e’er can soil,
no tide nor flood can ever wash away,
no wind that blows can ever bleach or blight,
will never yield to acid’s poisoned bite,
will never melt in fire’s burning ray,
that’s brighter than the sun’s own visage is –
but only Christ himself can give us this!”
~Albert Steffen, Adonis Spiel / Eine Herbstfeier
Albert Steffen is also concerned with how the forces of growth & becoming are victorious. He writes: “Everywhere Christ emerges from the elements. With the lifting power with which he rolled the stone from the grave, support your body, with the light forces with which he permeates the plants, renew your life! With the air of heaven with which he sends you thoughts, like butterflies, fill your words. Guide your ego from rock to forest to the clouds, right up to the sun, by shaping, condensing, transforming and purifying it. Gaze upon your destiny from above, with starry eyes.” Steffen’s work is grounded in a living experience of the eternal. It conveys a quality which helps transform our consciousness of the earth, helping to redeem & heal.
One of Steffen’s friends was the American poet-dramatist Percy MacKaye. They spoke a similar inner language & conversed together through poetry. In an essay, ‘The Excellence of Albert Steffen’, Percy MacKaye seeks to describe his friend. “How shall I sketch his portrait for the reader? The solemnity of Savonarola, illumined by the radiance of Shelly, the staunch piety of William Penn (in black quakerish hat), all twinkled over and merrified by the arch smile and skipping gait of the marble faun himself – on a holiday, the athleticism of an alpine skier, subdued to the tender solitude of St Francis feeding the birds.”
In Steffen’s dramas one can discover interweaving themes. One is that of the victory of the spirit reborn in Christ over physical death & the forces of destruction & chaos. This is an aspect of the struggle for transformation of evil into good, a teaching of Manes who lived in the third century after Christ. Strength is called forth to release worn-out thought forms in order to grasp a deeper clarity; this leads to acts of sacrifice, inspired through love. Their example has a transforming effect, both on the people within the play & in the audience.
‘Friend’ – (from the Anglo-Saxon root: freon – to love) is defined as ‘one disposed to promote the good of another’. – Steffen describes how he aspires to view others: “The developed person does not judge others and thus set them back, but lets them stand and understands them.”
1896 – Deathday of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, & philanthropist. Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron & steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon & other armaments. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes.
Holiday Market at the Rudolf Steiner Branch
4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
TODAY! 10 December 2022 – from 11 am – 4 pm
Handcrafted gifts, décor & toys
Featuring Live Music, Puppetry & Candle Dipping!!!
If you would like to be a vendor contact Elizabeth Kelly
eilisaineariadne@gmail.com
The 4th Sunday of Advent – 18 December 2022 at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago, 2 pm – 3:30 pm CST (after Rev. Jonah Evans talk at the Christian Community)
The Individuality of Conscience and the Goetheanum with Lucien Dante Lazar
Out of our conscience, we witness the Christ in the other. And through this Seeing, our I is born within us, whose self-conscious interior is the I of God. This is a mystery of John the Baptist.
When Love enters the human heart as an awakening to freedom, the Wisdom of form enters our awareness, and color, that majesty of Light, teaches us about creation. This is a mystery of the painter Raphael.
When the Word approaches us, inspiring us in our language to find the Heavenly Sophia as intellect, we write truth and honor the New Revelation of the Christ and His marriage to Sophia. And out of this marriage, we learn about ourselves. This is a mystery of Novalis.
On this last Sunday of Advent dedicated to the Human Being & the Angels, we will engage in these three Christian gifts through the social encounter, our working with color, and our thinking through language. And we will strive to harmonize these three incarnations of this significant individuality with the birth, death, and resurrection of the Goetheanum.
$10-$50 or pay what you will at the door or online www.rschicago.org/donate (credit card or PayPal)
For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map) https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar www.rschicago.org/donate
The ‘Envy of the Gods’ – The ‘Envy of Human Beings’
Presented by Adriana Koulias*
A Winter Solstice offering preparing us for the Centennial commemoration of the burning of the first Goetheanum.
21 December 2022, at 5 pm PT, 6 pm MT, 7 pm CT, 8 pm ET Here is a link to the World Clock for your time zone
Online & in-person at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago
Dear Friends – This special presentation is supported by your generous donations. $10-$50 or pay what you will www.rschicago.org/donate (credit card or PayPal)
Please type ‘Adriana’ to designate your payment
For those attending in-person doors open at 5:30 pm for our Potluck meal. Please bring food & drink to share.
For more Info. contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Rudolf Steiner Branch 4249 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map) https://www.rschicago.org/happenings/calendar www.rschicago.org/donate
You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Adriana Koulias
Time: Dec 21, 2022, 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89586637726
Meeting ID: 895 8663 7726
One tap mobile +13092053325,,89586637726# US +13126266799,,89586637726# US (Chicago) Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbtvb8sTRI
Work on building the First Goetheanum, which was designed and supervised by Rudolf Steiner, began after the laying of the double dodecahedron foundation stone on the 20th of September 1913. Construction proceeded for a decade under enormous difficulties in the political, economic and cultural realms, brought on by the advent of the First World War. After the war when the building was near completion, the First Goetheanum was destroyed by an arsonist on New Year’s Eve 1922/1923.
This NYE 2022-23 will be the 100th anniversary of this event and the world is again facing many difficulties, political, economic and social. Adriana’s lecture will explore what Rudolf Steiner meant by the ‘Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human beings’ and how a consciousness of this during the coming 12 Holy Nights can provide the necessary strengthening for the coming twelve months.
During this presentation Adriana will speak about the three gifts given by Rudolf Steiner in 1913: The naming of Anthroposophy, The Fifth Gospel, and The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the First Goetheanum. She will explore with us how we can link our hearts to the old Goetheanum during the coming 12 Holy Nights to prepare ourselves for the coming 12 months in 2023, so we can work towards a Cosmic New Year.
In this way we will celebrate the Jubilee of the Christmas Conference and the resurrection of the living impulse of the First Goetheanum in the most auspicious way.
For Rudolf Steiner tells us: ‘My dear friends, may this link our hearts to the old Goetheanum which we had to consign to the elements. May it link our hearts also to the Spirit, to the Soul of this Goetheanum. With this vow before whatever is best within our being we want to live on not only into the new year. In strength of deed, bearing the spirit, leading the soul we want to live on into the new cosmic year.’ ~Rudolf Steiner, ‘The Envy of the Gods and the Envy of Human Beings.’
Adriana Koulias was born in 1960 in Brazil. Adriana moved to Australia when she was 9 years old where she lives today. She has studied art, operatic singing and nursing. She has been studying Anthroposophy (awareness of our humanity) as given by Rudolf Steiner for 33 years and has since 2002-3 integrated this knowledge into several novels and a number of books, international lectures and articles online and in magazines.
Hi Hazel,
I like your depiction of Cassiopeia here, rising high in the cold nights, which aren’t even Winter yet in the Northern Hemisphere.
https://i0.wp.com/reverseritual.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/image-36.png?ssl=1
10 December 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”: Cassiopeia the Queen is circumpolar – She circles around the north celestial pole, never dipping below the horizon. However, the best time to see Cassiopeia is during fall and winter evenings, since that’s when the constellation rides highest in the sky. The bright stars of Cassiopeia trace out an M or W, depending on its position in the sky and your perspective.
To the right of Cassiopeia is Cepheus, the King. He was given this honorific because in his earthly life he became the king of Old Ethiopia at the end of the Lemurian epoch. As such, he was installed into the constellations of the Northern Hemisphere. He took a wife, who was Cassiopeia, and they had a daughter, who was Andromeda. And, he gained a son in Perseus, who would slay Medusa, and save the daughter in order to marry her. Yet, what was the real sacrifice here? Was it not the son slaying the father?
Now, let us take this scenario a few thousand years forward. Christ has incarnated, and meets Andrew’s brother, Simon. What does He say to him. He says:
40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cepheus ” (which is translated Peter).
Then, they proceeded into Galilee, where Simon was a fisherman. He had a wife there, and a mother-in-law who was sick and needing to be cured. Christ felt home there in Capernaum, on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee.
Hazel, your comment here caused me to consider something which in the present season, in which darkness prevails in the northern hemisphere for nearly 16 hours a day, seems to be a very keen observation. You wrote:
“The crone aspect of the Female Metaphor is not just about age, it the mysterious time of the waning crescent, & dark Moon phases. It is about the acceptance & valuing of the darkness, as an essential life process. Once this aspect was connected to regeneration & acumen – Ancient cultures understood the dark as the source of being”.
We talked before about how the luminescent light of the Moon interacts with the incandescent light of the Sun. In the Winter season, we can especially note and experience the Spiritual Sun, which rises with the Moon as the Physical Sun sets.
Steiner amplifies this consideration with this remark :
“If we trace the course of the Sun in the heavens we find that as the physical Sun sets the spiritual Sun begins to rise. In its day or summer course the Sun progresses from Taurus to Aries, and so on; in its night or winter course it will reveal to us the secrets of the Initiation of Aquarius or Pisces. Physically, the Sun’s course is from Virgo to Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries; spiritually its course is from Virgo to Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius to Pisces. The spiritual counterpart of the course of the physical Sun is its passage from Aquarius to Pisces”.
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA124/English/RSP1985/19101218p02.html
Of course, what this is all about concerns John as the Aquarius initiate, and Jesus as the Pisces initiate. Yet, Steiner is inferring here that there is also a Taurus initiate, and an Aries initiate on the daytime side. This would be after Christ enters Earth evolution. I see Lazarus as the Aries initiate, for obvious reasons, but getting to the Taurus initiate involves a little more time and effort in the 10:10 tradition. I do see it as related to Cepheus, who stands to the right of Cassiopeia. As her sign is in the form of “W”, his is in the form of a bull. We know that Perseus is the recognized “Sun Hero”. He saves the day. The Mithras Mystery is the result.