“The historic conscience”

Wellspring: The Working Together of the Four Archangels in the Course of the  Year. Focus lecture for tomorrow's meeting of The Olive Branch, a Rudolf  Steiner Study Circle

Part 3 in: A Summary of THE ST. JOHN IMAGINATION, from ~the Four Seasons and the Archangels, Lecture 4, by Rudolf Steiner

Can you hear the voice of conscience?

high-noon-sun-abstract.jpg Painting by Johan Hagendorens | Artmajeur
Johan Hagendorens

At the fullness of Summer, the light is so bright that it leaves no room for the shadow to hide. High Noon is the hour of judgment – a good time to remember what John said “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

4th seal

What is this deep longing we can have as human beings, to understand the purposeful Summer gaze of the powerful Archangel Uriel? Looking downward we have the impression we can learn to look with spiritual eyes into the blue, silver-gleaming depths of the Earth in summer. And Steiner tells us that weaving around these silver-gleaming crystalline rays are shapes — he calls them “disturbing shapes, which continually gather & dissolve”. We can come to an imagination that we may perceive these shapes ashuman errors which stand out against the natural order of regular crystals here below.

It is to this that Uriel directs his earnest gaze. Here during the height of summer the imperfections of humankind, in contrast to the regularity of the growing crystal forms, are measured. From Uriel we gain the impression of how human morality becomes interwoven with nature.

Here we see that the moral world-order is not abstract, we see that humanity has an effect in the world, for good or for ill. On the one hand, “all that is in human virtue & human excellence rises up with the silver-gleaming lines & is seen as the clouds that envelop Uriel (red). It enters into the radiant Intelligence, transmuted into cloud-shaped works of art”.

You clouds of summer, radiant with Intelligence…” | Reverse Ritual
Van James

But it is impossible to look towards the increasingly earnest gaze of Uriel, directed towards the depths of the Earth, without also seeing there the human deeds that have missed the mark. To this the Archangel must direct us with: wing-like arms, raised in earnest admonition, and this gesture by Uriel has the effect of imparting to humankind, what Steiner calls,  “the historic conscience”.

AmethJera's Broom With A View: Uriel, the Flame of God

This is Uriel’s “warning gesture”, pointing out how shabby humanity’s moral compass has become. And this reality comes as a mighty, living picture into our conscience.

Kira Yustak

And now if we have gained the impression of the connection of human morality with the crystalline element below and of human virtues with the shining beauty above, and if we take these connections into our inward experience, the real St. John Imagination will come to meet us”.

Tomorrow we meet Demeter

Blessings and Peace ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg

***

13 June 2020 – “Speaking with the Stars”: As we count down the last 7 days to the Solstice, the big Summer Triangle shines high & proud in the east after dusk. Its top star is bright Vega. Deneb is the brightest star to Vega’s lower left, by 2 or 3 fists at arm’s length. Look for Altair farther to Vega’s lower right. If you have a dark enough sky, the Milky Way runs across the Triangle’s lower part.

Celebration of summer by Rachael Dalzell, 2019 | Painting | Artsper (598071)
Rachael Delzell

POD (Poem Of the Day)

~I am cloaked in light
Loved & touched & bound by light,
To enter Light…
My heart bares scars to prove I’ve lived
I’ve learned
The story of my existence as I live it
As it is spoken from the mouths of gods…
I lift my face to eternity
And am blessed by the kiss of Day

~hag

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Domingos Sequeira

175 BC – Tobias accompanied by the Archangel Raphael

Ancient World History: Edict of Milan

313 – The Edict of Milan, signed by Constantine the Great and co-emperor Valerius Licinius granting religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire

Claudio Coello Painting - Saint Anthony of Padua by Claudio Coello

1231 – Feast Day of Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest & saint

The English Peasants' Revolt (1381) – Brewminate

1381 – The Peasants’ Revolt, also called Wat Tyler’s Rebellion or the Great Rising. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic & political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years’ War, & instability within the local leadership of London. Inspired by the sermons of the radical cleric John Ball, & led by Wat Tyler, a wide spectrum of rural society, including many local artisans & village officials, rose up in protest, burning court records & opening the local gaols. The rebels sought a reduction in taxation, an end to the system of unfree labor known as serfdom. King Richard II, then aged 14, retreated to the safety of the Tower of London. On 13 June, the rebels destroyed the Savoy Palace. The following day, Richard met the rebels & acceded to most of their demands, including the abolition of serfdom.

Web Gallery of Art, searchable fine arts image database

1525 – Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests and nuns

1774 – Rhode Island becomes the first colony to ban the importation of slaves

Rudolf Kjellén - Wikipedia

1864 – Birthday of Rudolf Kjellén a Swedish political scientist & politician who first coined the term “geopolitics”, Rudolf Steiner spoke about him in Karma of Untruthfulness GA 173/174

William Butler Yeats - Wikiquote

1865 – Birthday of W. B. Yeats, Irish poet & playwright, Nobel Prize laureate

muc.tips - by One's PRIME - King Ludwig II of Bavaria – his life story

1886 – Deathday of Ludwig II of Bavaria, patron of Wagner

1886 – A fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia

June 13, 1966 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona  that the police must inform suspects of their rights before… | Miranda, Law  books, Story

1966 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them

The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War: Neil Sheehan,  Herick Smith, E.W. Kenworthy, Fox Butterfield, Daniel Ellsberg:  9780553072556: Amazon.com: Books

1971 –The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers

***

Friday 19 June 2020 – Front Range Anthroposophical Café presents:

RING of FIRE’ with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

  • What is the Spiritual Significance of a Solar Eclipse on Summer Solstice?
  • How do we stand wakefully within the sublime mysteries of the Summer-Tide, to consciously embody ‘the spiritual wisdom of the gods’?

We look forward to seeing you on Friday 19 June 2020 shortly before 6 pm (Pacific), 7 PM (Mountain) 8 pm (Central), 9 pm (Eastern).

Here is the link to our Anthroposophical Café and all you need to do to join us is click on it: https://zoom.us/j/294724669.

Warmly, Karen vann Vuuren, Tom Altgelt, Jamie York, and our growing circle of Café Friends – It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

*** 



 7 pm Summer Solstice 20 June 2020 Bio-Dynamic Prep-Stir

The Merry Prep-Stirs of Chicago invite you to work with us just a few hours before the Solar eclipse on the longest day.

Bring whatever you want to eat & drink.For more info. contact Hazel Archer-Ginsberg

*** 

Announcing a New Angelic Organics CSA Site:
The Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost and 3fold Cultural Hub

4251 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL 60618 in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. 

You Can Choose to Pick Up on Tuesdays or Saturdays
There will be two pickup days at this location: 

More about the Outpost
The Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost and 3fold Cultural Hub is inspired by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner’s myriad indications for agriculture, economics, art, and social life. (Steiner inspired many additional initiatives, such as Waldorf Education, Anthroposophical Medicine, Eurythmy, and Architecture as a Synthesis of the Arts.) It is next door to the Rudolf Steiner Branch-Chicago.  

The Outpost will soon be showcasing Biodynamic products with an emphasis on local Biodynamic farms. The Outpost will eventually be sponsoring educational programs to highlight Biodynamics and other Steiner-inspired initiatives. They wish to build a bridge between Biodynamic farmers and the city and to have a space specifically dedicated to those who work out of Biodynamic principles.

They will also be working to build up community and cultural life in Chicago. They will be working with, empowering, and learning from the youth of Thresholds, a live in high school for youth who have aged out of the foster care system. 

Young people from around the world come to work, live and intern throughout the year at their Have Seeds House in Los Angeles that works with youth in distressing living conditions and adults who live in special care facilities.

Learn more about the Outpost at their Facebook Page.

Angelic Organics’ Connection to the Elderberries Biodynamic Outpost and 3fold Cultural Hub. 
Angelic Organics has been employing Biodynamic practices since the early 90’s, so we are thrilled that there will be an urban impulse to support Biodynamics. 

Watch this Biodynamic Farm Montage from the feature documentary film about Angelic Organics, The Real Dirt on Farmer John.  

To learn more about Biodynamics, visit What is Biodynamics?

If you would like to change your pickup location to the Lincoln Square site this season, email Denise at csa@angelicorganics.com and indicate whether you would like to pick up at Lincoln Square on Tuesdays or Saturdays. (Denise can make the change to your Harvie account with one click, whereas shareholders have to change each individual delivery in Harvie.)

Thank You, Dottie and Frank
We are most excited that Dottie and Frank are offering you this great new service at The Biodynamic Outpost and 3fold Cultural Hub in Lincoln Square.
Farmer John

2 thoughts on ““The historic conscience”

  1. Hi Hazel,

    I think you have hit the moral compass on the head here with what you wrote:

    “But it is impossible to look towards the increasingly earnest gaze of Uriel, directed towards the depths of the Earth, without also seeing there the human deeds that have missed the mark. To this the Archangel must direct us with: “wing-like arms, raised in earnest admonition, and this gesture by Uriel has the effect of imparting to humankind, what Steiner calls, “the historic conscience”.

    AmethJera’s Broom With A View: Uriel, the Flame of God

    This is Uriel’s “warning gesture”, pointing out how shabby humanity’s moral compass has become. And this reality comes as a mighty, living picture into our conscience.”

    Hazel, this is why Uriel’s “warning gesture” points out the travails experienced by our very own native culture, the last descendants of the Toltecs of Atlantis. Just look at the treatment from the European colonization of the New World, c. 17th century, and it becomes a history of suppression involving the original culture of America.

    And hasn’t it really gone downhill from there? The Europeans should have striven to understand the culture they were intruding upon, and try to gain acceptance through the great achievements of the Renaissance and early Enlightenment, seen in Europe. If this had happened, then peace and good will could have been struck, rather than all the violence which caused a culture to be weakened, lamed, and brought to near extinction.

    This strikes me as Uriel’s “warning gesture”, and it seems true to our very own culture today. We can’t win the war. We are merely the “House of Cards”, which Steiner told the Russians would happen in time, ref. GA 158, 5 June 1913.

    I think that one of the chief features of the St. John Imagination is to envision just how much this native American culture has been undermined over the years with their deep earthly feelings, imagination, and vision. Thus, the “warning gesture” is extended to us Anglo’s. I’m sure you get it, Hazel. Cynicism and criticism is the hallmark of a true anthroposophist today.

    Kind regards,

    Steve

    1. Can we turn toward a metanoia to truly transform our hearts & minds. To see what is imperfect without cynicism, but with hope & the humble grace to repent & make straight the path…?

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