Union

Today is the 20 year anniversary of the Wedding of Hazel Archer & Chuck Ginsberg, married in Berkley Springs, West Virginia. Our karmic meeting & whirlwind engagment would make a great movie, but long story short: We decided to elope, so I began to research a place where we could go with our girl Ultra-Violet who was 1 & a half & still nursing. I had a long list of requisites: Hot Springs, natural child care, & the perfect non-denominational minister, chief among them. I wrote our ceremony & found an amazing officiant in the area who loved our concepts & added to our vision of what we wanted to bring forth. I am in awe of the myriad layers of magic that came together to create the best Wedding & Honeymoon ever.

We chose August 4th for our Wedding date because in 2001 it was the ‘Kabbalistic Day of Love’. Known as the ‘Jewish Valentine’s Day’, Tu B’Av is celebrated for 3 days around the Lammas Full Moon.

It is written, “There is no better time than Tu b’Av, a time when nations are meant to mingle with each other and where each and every person bestowed their goodness upon their fellow human beings” (Tiferet Shlomo). The kind of love Tu b’Av represents is an unconditional love that has to spread thru out the whole of humanity. (And it is no coincidence that it comes right after Tisha B’Av, which represents the polar opposite—unfounded hatred)

The recognition of an unfounded hatred that dwells in our hearts is the precondition for the attainment of unconditional love between us, as it is written, “Tu b’Av is the correction and mitigation of Tisha b’Av” (Likutey Halachot).

It may not be intuitive to us humans at every moment, but the whole of nature works in this way. Evolution displays a dynamic interplay of two opposite forces, to create a transcendent third. Whether the poles manifest as plus & minus, hot & cold, ebb & flow, male & female, night & day…these often adversarial swings create levels of conflict & self-interest which can then open us to greater levels of reciprocity & connection. This is how ancient bacteria evolved from hostile competition, to shared responsibility, for the advancment of evolution. Our bodies also exemplify this perfectly, with up to 100 trillion individual cells, integrated to create a unified level of life. This way of seeing science is helpful during this confusing corona-crisis.

About 4,000 years ago, Abraham, understood that this natural dynamic also applies to human society. When the Babylonians around him sank into self-interest & separation, he recognized that stuck state as a precursor for the possibility of a new degree of human connection. Abraham “seeded love for all people” with the vision of a higher human union & “went from city to city, kingdom to kingdom, until thousands joined him…& they became a unified people” Which as Anthroposophy tells us gave us the vessel for the Christ – the Universal Impulse of Love to become human.

The Hebrew calendar says it is time for the ‘Festival of Love’, but our current reality shows that people are more divided than ever. Yet, just as Abraham saw thousands of years ago, the hatred & separation that persist today are not coincidental. It’s an evolutionary stage, a precursor to the next degree of unity. And in our time, there is even more that’s brewing under the surface.

How can we hold altruistic connections above the growing self-interest? The method of attaining true love unconditional among human beings must become a priority.

We are called to upgrade our human nature from the annihilation of selfish-love which leads us to crises, & leaves us with a very limited perception of reality; to a transformation – a force of universal love that permeates all of nature – a spiritual harvest waiting to be sown.

Tu B’Av, is marked by being on the Full Moon when the spiritual powers are strong & available to us so that we can bring all polarized energies into balance. This harmony creates the perfect environment for love.

May we seize every opportunity, awakening to the cosmic clues in every milestone!

~hag loves CG + you…xox

4 August 2021 – “Speaking with the Stars”

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

The Holy Grail Study Group with the Central Regional Council
of the Anthroposophical Society in America

TONIGHT August 4, 2021 – 7:15 pm Central (8:15 pm Eastern)
 

~Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries of the Holy GrailChapter 2“The Birth of Higher Perception”, excerpts from Steiner’s The Gospel of St. John in its Relation to the Other Three Gospels given at Kassel on 24 June, 1909 is the  focus of the August 4 meeting.

This chapter from the book can be found online at the CRC’s website by clicking this link
The complete transcript of the lecture can be found on the RS Archive by clicking this linkThe Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to join our ongoing  study conversation. The study has been divided among two volunteers who will summarize their section to rebuild it as a foundation for our conversation. Please familiarize yourself with the lecture if possible so you will feel comfortable sharing your reflections and thoughts with the group.This collection of lectures has been republished by Rudolf Steiner Press under the title: “The Mysteries of the Holy Grail — from Arthur and Parzival to Modern Initiation.”  The book was compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, published by Rudolf Steiner Press in 2010.

This will be a “Zoom” conference call allowing us an opportunity to see one another while conversing (or audio only if you prefer).  

Video Conference Details:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210505106
Meeting ID: 882 1050 5106

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcHr5EVwrv

If you have questions, please contact Alberto Loya aloyavaca@utexas.edu
 
Agenda for this meeting (CST)
 
7:15  Welcome and Introductions        
7:18  Verse
7:25  Study led by volunteers
          Kate – pg. 15 to 17
          Michael – pg. 18 to 20
8:05  Conversation
8:28  Close with verse

We had a lively discussion during our July 7 meeting.  Here are two lectures that may shed some lights on two of the more hard-to-grasp ideas discussed. You can click on the “Prev” or “Next” button to scroll through other lectures in the same series.

1. About the Holy Trinity:
 The Mystery of the Trinity (Dornach, July 23, 1922)
2. About the Seven Elohim and the Christ Logos:
The Challenge of the Times (Dornach, Dec 7, 1918)

 ‘There is a knighthood of the 21st century whose riders do not ride through the darkness of physical forests as of old, but through the forest of darkened minds. They are armed with a spiritual armor and an inner sun makes them radiant. Out of them shines healing, healing that flows from the knowledge of the human being as a spiritual being. They must create inner order, inner justice, peace and conviction in the darkness of our time’. ~Karl Konig

4 thoughts on “Union

  1. Beautiful, meaningful sharing Hazel!
    I can relate to the 2 opposites working together to manifest the third. Blessings!

  2. Today’s post is a keeper, for sure. There’s something ethereal about the pictures you posted, especially the one of you nursing Ultra Violet, leaning on/listening to the tree. Something ethereal about Chuck too. You have been blessed with relationships. So incredible how you chose the date, and interesting that Tisha B’Av comes before Tu B’Av, as if we need an understanding of hatred in order to fully appreciate love. All the dualities you mentioned remind us that marriage’s mystery points to the two becoming one. Oneness is what we need and what we strive for, but we cannot seem to achieve it on our own – for this, we need the Christ impulse.

    It might interest you to know that of those trillions of cells that make up our bodies, we need to spiritualize only 144,000 of them on our path to perfection. Edgar Cayce had a unique interpretation of the Revelation – unique from Steiner’s cosmic perspective. Cayce saw Revelation’s message as it applies to our physical bodies. He said that 144,000 was the number of perfect cells required for our perfect health. As to how we spiritualize them, it seems to be tied up with our Will. We must have an overarching desire to become perfect (“Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect). To do this we must cast aside self-will ( selfish interests), and become of service to others, which brings us back to the Pattern, the Christ impulse. It always come back to Christ, and the Mystery of Golgotha.

    Blessings on you both on your journey towards Oneness. You two have a wonderful future together, not only in this incarnation, but also in future incarnations, whatever realms you end up in.

    1. Thanks Maverick. How funny that you say etherial, to me i just look tired. I was 41 & nursing…
      I really apprieciate that sharing from Cayce about the cells, it’s a nice microcosmic balance to Steiner’s more cosmic view…

      it is interesting to think that we all knew each other somehow in other lives…
      & what are we creating together now for the future…

      always so much food for thought on our abundant table
      blessings
      xox

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