Yesterday in a unique social sculpture experience, Lucien Dante Lazar transformed the Rudolf Steiner Branch & Elderberries Chicago into a Modern Rosicrucian laboratory & Temple, for what he calls ‘The Passage’. But 1st we gathered in the Upper Room where after a check-in of the very diverse group – young & old, we heard a bit about Lucien’s personal journey which has steered him to Apply the Philosophy of Anthroposophy to all his artistic gifts. He then led us in a series of movements which he created & uses to open himself to the etheric realm. This softened the group, & prepared us for a holy witnessing of the rendering in color & form of – ‘our group soul’, which he did on a large sheet of paper taped to the wall. With deliberation he would pause & take in the energies of the chamber, seeming to focus at the edge of the sense world to see what was inscribed from our souls there, & using the various pastels, translating it onto the page. All the while the Sun was setting in the western windows, suffusing the room with a neon orange light.
Slowly a series of colors became the image of a human figure – our collective forces in that moment. The dust that formed at the bottom was like reading the ashes of a sacred fire, which gave me thrill bumps, for the signature that was written there was so powerful, & rang true somehow, but the meaning of which I cannot put into words.
We were then promoted to create our own color gesture of: ‘What sees you?’. Immediately I thought of my angel, so I went to work trying to convey its essence with the rich Waldorf block crayons.
We left our work & went down to the Urban 1st Aid Art as Medicine, Elderberries space, lit only with candles. The installation of Lucien’s tapestry, made from natural fibers, was set up from when he shared ‘The Passage’ at our Michaelmas Festival. Beginning by facing the white surface of the piece, which to me represents the purity of his mentor Joan of Arc, Lucien began to sing into the fibers, calling forth her essence. The resonating of his exquisite vocalizations set every larynx vibrating, charging the atmosphere, thrilling down into the bones.
The energy shifted, & he moved behind the sculpture, stepping into the piece like a seal maiden stepping into the skin of, in this case, Joan of Arc.
His voice moving in a vast range, from deep rich baritones; scaling up & up, becoming her voice, until it cracked open the stars; & set my chakras spinning.
Somehow after this mighty transformative experience, we all made our way back to the Upper Room of the Branch, where we were instructed to do a quick write up of what was living in us. For me it was like an intimate voyage within, & at the same time, beyond – perfectly expressing what the Consciousness Soul Age is calling for. I felt that I was standing at the gate to the future which beckoned me into an eternal tunnel, and so I wrote:
‘Infinity upon a Time – We ripened in the warmth of a freely offered gift. In oneness we wafted until we garnered breath…& form…swirling into creation, we reflected the Divine…& soon fell into the mud, so we could learn to fashion it into art. We became the fingers of the gods – All the while boiling in the retort of alchemical alteration – readying us for the mystic marriage with The Christos-Sophia.
Worship activates our will – so we could tend the New Rose Garden, where the wood from the Tree of Life & the Tree of Knowledge grow together to form the target for Love to land – & expand – & give us – the meaning of the Earth.
A Rose Cross Renewed – Refining us, as we forge the Being of Anthroposophia, & with the regained cosmic Thinking of Michael, we Reclaim the 3-fold working of Art, Science, & Spirituality – Head, Hands, & Heart.
Yes. Now. We must live this New Story, & Speak it, thru our Soul Forces, of Thinking, Feeling & Willing, with Wisdom’s Love, to rend the veil & reveal the unified field of the etheric realm which marries us all, & opens humanity to a fresh seeing, a wholesome being, for freedoms purpose.’
After a few minutes of writing we circled up & took turns sharing what was behind our picture: ‘What Sees Me?’; & offering up our impressions & our writing.
How enlightening to hear the impact for each soul; some so different, some speaking as in a chorus – the struggles & the heightenings, the insights & echoes, tears & merriment, the intellect & the poetry, all reflecting the truth of the sacred moment that was carved out for us.
Thank you Lucien for leading us into this, our true reality.
~hag
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Wed. 2 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
The Karma Project with the Central Regional Council“…We can understand that someone who goes to a place where he may succumb to an infection will have been driven there under the influence of a certain level of karmic consciousness…”
~Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma, Chapter 6, “Karma in Relation to Accidents”,
link: https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/19100521p01.html
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82715186258
Meeting ID: 827 1518 6258
For more info. contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
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Thursday’s Dec. 3/10/17 for Advent 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm CT
Johannine Painting Circle with Nancy Melvin
At Elderberries Urban 1st Aid – Art as Medicine 4251 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
Urban First Aid – Art As Medicine is initiating a Johannine Painting Circle that will begin on Thursday, December 3rd at the Elderberries space on Lincoln Avenue, next to the Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago. Nancy Melvin will be our instructor during the season of Advent.
Calling all wistful painters who long to explore but are afraid for lack of skill.
We will work very simply. Not painting an image, rather an exercise in perception, a meditation using simple brush work to develop a keen eye for relationships, worked in silence with the finest of watercolor paints and papers.
Immersing ourselves in the flow of the year, we open ourselves to the Advent season. The richest botanical colors of the year have flared and now passed. Bold yellows and sharp puce, flaming reds, dark burgundies and deep blue greens dominated our vision just last week. Let us come together to find color on our paint brushes and immerse ourselves in the elementary color exercises given to First Graders at a Waldorf School.
Angela Lord’s book, Color Dynamics is a practical workbook that you can purchase from Hawthorn Press to augment our sessions if you’d like. After attending the first session to learn the set up, practice and clean up, you can miss our group and still do the work at home with your own materials and join us when you can. Socially distant tables with paints and paper provided.
There are no paywalls. You are invited to make a contribution that will help the cost of supplies and initiative. A sliding scale from $0 to $15. If you’d like to gift a higher amount this will support others who are unable to contribute financially.~Nancy Melvin
Nancy Melvin is a watercolor, lazure, natural dye and textile artist who is married to a trompe l’oeil muralist who also specializes in signage, oils, gold leaf and woodblocks. They run Melvin Studio together and raised two Waldorf students. Nancy taught at Chicago Waldorf and Great Oaks Waldorf School before founding MADE HERE, her clothing line currently at Union Handmade, 3860 N. Lincoln Ave and Buddy in the Chicago Cultural Center.
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Sunday 20 December 2020, 2 pm – 3pm CT
‘Awakening to the Light in the Darkness’: A Christmas Contemplation with Rev. Craig Wiggins. In-Person at The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=ai94YmhnS1k3cWN3TFFlL3ozTDgxdz09 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041 – Passcode: Peace
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
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Wednesday 23 December 2020 – 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm CT
Unwrapping our Cosmic Gift: Thoughts on the Christmas Conference 1923
with the Central Regional Council. Themes inspired by Prokofieff’s book: May Human Beings Hear it! include: Turning Points of Time; Christ, Sophia and Michael; Foundation Stone Meditation. For Zoom Details contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
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24 December 2020 – 5 January 2021, 11 am – 11:30 am CT
ASA Holy Nights 2020-21 “A Rose By Any Other Name…”
International online gathering on the Theme of the Divine Feminine.
Hosted by Laura Scappaticci & Tess Parker, featuring the Sophia Working Group.
For more info. contact Tess Parker tess@anthroposophy.org
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Thursday 31 December 2020-21 Our Annual Conscious NYE Gathering 8 pm-1 am CT
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago
This Year’s Theme is a Masked Ball – Live Music, Folk Dancing, Potluck, Mask-making with Lucien Dante Lazar, more TBA
$20 per person http://donate.rschicago.org/
Stay tuned for details. For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
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Wednesday 6 January 2021, 2 pm – 4 pm CT
Joan’s Epiphany ‘What Joan of Arc Calls for Today’
In-Person at Elderberries Bio-dynamic Outpost & The Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago & online Today on the Birthday of Joan of Arc we welcome special Guest Nancy Poer
We will also explore ‘The Destinies of Individuals and of Nations’, Lecture 5, ‘The Nature of the Christ Impulse and the Michaelic Sprit Serving It’ by Rudolf Steiner with Leading Thoughts by Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
Social Sculpture: “The Passage” with Luicen Dante Lazar, + Singing & Eurythmy
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/7052931041 Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
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Wednesdays 9:30-11:00 am – Karmic Relationships Vol 8 by Rudolf Steiner. We incorporate ‘The Calendar of the Soul’, eurythmy, focused discussion and seasonal artistic explorations in our study. All are Welcome. We meet in person in the Upper Room at the Branch.
or join via Zoom https://zoom.us/j/98689103462 Meeting ID: 986 8910 3462
For more info. contact Hazel Archer hag@rschicago.org
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