“Bringing in the Sheaves” – Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve: Now begins the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves…”
Preparing for the 2nd Harvest: Lammas Day – We will explore this ancient, yet ever renewable Cross-Quarter holiday.
The Harvest fest of Lammas or Lughnasadh begins today until August 7th when we hit the astrological Crossquarter between Summer Solstice & Fall Equinox.
It is also the Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathea – According to all four Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after the crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, & also with the Grail legend.
“One must penetrate to an understanding of the Mystery of the Bread, which is said to have been broken by Christ Jesus in the same chalice in which Joseph of Arimathea caught His blood. As legend tells it, this chalice was then removed to Europe, but was preserved by angels in a region high above the surface of the earth until the arrival of Titurel who created for this Grail, this sacred chalice, a temple on Mont Salvat” ~Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 16, 1921
The Wheel turns from St. John’s Tide with its message of the inner Christ Sun and the mirroring of the Holy nights, to the Sun in the heart of the lion (or at least it’s where Regulus, the heart of the lion, was a couple of thousand years ago!) Lammas, or Loaf mas, a cross quarter festival traditionally celebrated at the beginning of August, marks the point when we leave the Garden, and earn our own way, “by the sweat of our brow”.
The harvest of grain, and the baking of bread, represents the first child of the cosmic union of Sun and Earth. It symbolizes the essence of humanity, born from this union, for the loaf is more than a gift of nature, it is made by the combined forces of nature with the will forces of human activity.
The harvest season is a time of judgment. We are called upon to sift through the things that have grown up during the past half-year, and decide what we will keep and what we will cut away. We must make choices, and act on them. The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, into the time of release.
In astrology, the moon, five eighths past the new moon, is called the “disseminating moon”. During this phase, what has built up in the waxing cycle begins to be released into the environment. We start to see the results of our work. At Lammas, the sun is five-eighths of the way around the Wheel from Winter Solstice. Growth has reached its peak, and the life of the Sun God has begun to bleed off into the fruit and grain.
The King is Dead Long Live the King – for now is also the time of sacrifice, of death in service of life. Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too unripe to be eaten, must be plucked anyway. These are culls, removed so they won’t drain the life force from the good fruit. If everything was left on the tree, the life force would be diluted, or worse, the bad fruit could weigh down a branch until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, or sometimes killing the tree. The culls are taken so the rest of the fruit, and those who depend on the crop for survival, might live.
John Barleycorn must die… ‘Cut in half and buried, then beaten with sticks, and finally crushed between stones’… as the song goes, nevertheless rises once again. Bread is the perfect sacrifice for “Loaf Mass” or Lughnassadh as the Celtics called it, for they knew that this festival is more than just the first fruits of the earth — it also involves the first fruits of human labor. Grain is processed by human craft, and joined with the four elements to make the staff of life.
Dear friends, in my ever striving to craft my humanness, I have decided to take the Association for Anthroposophical Psychology (AAP) Training. And from there I will drive the 2 hours to Spring Valley to be part of the ‘Renewing the Mysteries Conference’. I will be offline until Aug. 16, 2022.
In gratitude ~Hazel Archer Ginsberg
1 August 2022 – “Speaking with the Stars”
CORN RIGS & WHEELS, a poem for Lammas – Aug. 1st
Cicadas trance
In theta waves of sound
The sickles reap in boarder-time
Opening the gate to the West
Dragons fly
Into the mouth
Of the Hollowman
His eyes ablaze
As he glimpses Her waiting womb
All ripe & hot – Her phoenix tomb
A fierce alchemical furnace.
Baked in the lion fire
Of tetramorph Angels
John Barleycorn must die.
Grind the grain
To make the bread & beer
Molded chrysokolla
The kneaded Wickerman
Fulfills the sacrifice
& sits upon Her altar
Next to braided corn dollies
& moist cake.
At the top of the hill
The Sun covered with pitch & tar
& tied to the wheel of Catherine
Is set aflame
The blazing disk rolls in immolation
To its decline
Burn the old straw effigy
At the funeral games to bless the 1st grain
Watch Sothis rise
Morning 1st scorcher
Celestial Jackal
Herald of the New Year
Flood the fields
With your scintillating serum
Where we meet again
& once again
In a year & day
To behead the Loaf
& eat…
~hag
What is this day?
It is the day of Lammas.
What is the meaning of this day?
It is the mystery of the corn
What is the mystery of the corn?
That which is cut down will rise again.
Who will rise again?
We will rise again.
Who will rise again?
We will rise again.
Who will rise again?
We will rise again.
So bake a loaf of bread on Lammas. If you’ve never made bread before, this is a good time to start. Honor the source of the flour as you work with it: remember it was once a plant growing on mother Earth. If you have a garden, add something you’ve harvested–herbs or onion or veggies. If you don’t feel up to making wheat bread, make corn bread, or gingerbread people, or popcorn. What’s most important is intention. All that is necessary to enter sacred time is an awareness of the meaning of your actions.
Saying Grace with you ~hag
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ASSOCIATION for ANTHROPOSOPHIC PSYCHOLOGY:
OPEN: Enrollment for 2022 Program
LINK: 3-Year Certificate Program 2022-2025
AVAILABLE: Continuing Education Units (CEUs) Available
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EXPLORE the interpenetrating mysteries of Body, Soul & Spirit
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ILLUMINATE the journey from lower self to Higher Self
Music Workshop Introducing: New Impulses in Music
When: August 5 & 6 – 2022
Friday night @ 6:30 – 9:00***** and *****Saturday @ 9:30 -12:00 and @ 2:00 – 4:30
Where: New Vision Church: https://newvisionbic.org/aboutus/N14W27995
On Silvernail Rd. Pewaukee (just south of I-94 / at the SS EXIT)
About our instructor: Veronika Roemer
In her own words she says “Music speaks to our souls, and through its three basic elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm, it speaks directly to our three soul forces of thinking, feeling, and willing. When making music, we are always encountering all three of these forces in an interweaving, harmonious process. Music is nourishment for our souls.” In this workshop she will be introducing participants to these instruments and illustrating the following characteristics that make them essential “for our time”. In short, she will show how
- the “sound quality brings healing to the inner ear” and helps the listener reconnect to their inner musician.
- the “technical ease of the instruments” makes them accessible to everyone.
- the “movements in space make musical realities visible, like the movement from tone to tone, or of one chord to the next.”
- the “group processes reconnect people. Because connections are built through music and not talking, the social aspects of the group processes are more subtle offering an extra bonus to the musical work”. Finally, music lifts the mood and allows people to laugh and enjoy themselves and others.
Veronika has extensive training and experience. Her initial training was gained at the Musikakademie in Basel and Musikhochschule in Zurich Switzerland inclusive of orchestral and string quartet performance in Europe followed by a student Foundation year at Emerson College and five additional years teaching and instructing for them as faculty. She also has multiple years of study and instruction at the Dorian School of Music Therapy. From 1998-2013 she was a resident and co-worker at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills developing a music program for adults with developmental disabilities continuing as an instructor for the group through 2021 as well as instructing for the Camphill Academy at Beaver Run and at the Kimberton Waldorf School. Currently she is a founding faculty member for the SunGate Educational Community and active member of the Lyre Association of North America. Wherever she goes she is happiest to be making music with people.
Veronika is returning to visit us in Wisconsin where she lived (in Wales) from 1990-1998 and had a connection to the Prairie Hill Waldorf School. At that time she began her family of five children and was the founding mother of the Rafael Foundation for New Impulses in Music and a local lyre group.
In each workshop session we will sing, play various instruments such as bordun lyres, wood, and metal instruments, do rhythm games and more.
We are delighted to have Veronika return to present these workshops and hope that you can attend. Come for one or come for all!
For more information or to RSVP contact: Gail Sauter- Rafael Foundation for New Impulses in Music 262-391-8939 or sauterg96@gmail.com
| Renewing the Mysteries: The Founding of The Christian Community & the Burning of the First Goetheanum Spring Valley, NY – August 8-13, 2022 REGISTER NOW!* lectures * artistic workshops * conversation * evening performances Hazel Archer-Ginsberg will be offering a program on Tuesday 9 August for the Free Initiative 2:30 -3:30 pm ET – ‘From The Jealousy of the Gods & Man to Artemis & the New Isis’ |
| Many anthroposophists have understood the 1923/24 Christmas Foundation Conference as constituting a renewal of the Mysteries. Nine months after the Christmas Conference, speaking to the priests of the Christian Community, Rudolf Steiner pointed to a sequence from the founding of the Christian Community in September 1922 to the burning of the Goetheanum at the end of that year to the Christmas Conference.In this 100th anniversary year of both the founding of the Christian Community and the burning of the Goetheanum, can an exploration of these events help us to understand the nature of the New Mysteries? The keynote speaker is Daniel Hafner, priest of the Christian Community. He will address this theme with a particular focus on the colored windows of the First Goetheanum. The Act of Consecration of Man will be celebrated during the week and there will also be a Class Lesson for members of the School of Spiritual Science. Venue: SPRING VALLEY, NY, Threefold Community, and The Christian Community *REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THIS EVENT: A conference on the scale currently planned requires that a minimum number of participants register by July 20th. INFO OR QUERIES: Rev. Paul Newton paulknewton@msn.com (845) 517-4101 Sponsored by The Christian Community Spring Valley Area and the Threefold Branch of the Anthroposophical Society |
