Here is today’s offering for our 6B group, working with Steiner’s ‘6 Basic Exercises‘

Chronos, depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as an old bearded man turning the Zodiac Wheel is the personification of Time in pre-Socratic philosophy; giving rise to the allegory of “Father Time” wielding the harvesting scythe during the Renaissance.

The Greeks also had another name for Time, personified by his son Kairos, whose name means ‘the right, critical, or opportune moment’.

Aristotle & his followers discussed the importance of kairos in their teachings as one of the most fundamental laws of the universe: ‘the uniquely timely; the radically particular’.

It has association with both archery & weaving – hitting the target; & the perfect moment in which the shuttle must pass thru threads on the loom.

In the ancient solar allegories, time becomes separated into seasons. The divisions of Time were personified & seen to pay homage to the Triune Deity, enthroned above the firmament.

The spirit of each second, every hour, was seen as an angel. Each day of the week represents the Beings of the Planetary Spheres – The Months: The Spiritual Beings of the Zodiac constellations.

And of course, in Anthroposophy, we speak about the ‘Turning Point of Time’, with Christ’s deed on Golgotha; & Steiner’s deed of the Christmas Conference.

Einstein’s discoveries exploded our concept of time. He showed us that time is created by things; that time is eternal until things act upon it. He demonstrated that time is relative, moving more slowly if an object is moving fast. And that events don’t always happen in a set linear order. Of course it’s true that many events in the Universe can be put into sequential order, but time is not always segmented neatly into the past, the present & the future. Einstein showed that some equations work in either direction. And, although some physicists say that time is an illusion, our time perception – our sense of time – does exist.  And it exists to serve a purpose for us in this life.

Here’s what Steiner says about time in ‘The World of the Senses and the World of the Spirit’ lecture 4: “What we, experience in the soul is subject to time. In the outer world things happen in such a way that they are spread out in space and also follow one another in time. Before we can come to the occult truth about all this we must put the question: How then does space stand in relation to time? In this anthroposophical course of lectures we come quite innocently up against a very great philosophical question, one upon which countless heads have been broken!…

We come, to the relation of time to space.

We can put memories behind us, and yet keep them, like continually cast-off skins — in this possibility lies the reality of our soul-life. So you have a continuous re-shaping of the soul-life. During this expansion and contraction one thing is unquestionably present, and that is inner spiritual movement. Movement! Soul-life is movement. And this expansion and contraction gives forms. Therein live your feelings, thoughts, impulses of will.

If you consider how this soul-life is at times in quicker motion and at times in slower motion, you will perceive that it is really Will itself which brings it into motion. If you stimulate your Will you can bring the thoughts and feelings into quicker flow; if the Will is indolent then it all moves along more slowly. You need the Will in order to expand your life of soul.

Within your soul-life: will, wisdom, movement, form, weave and live. Now you will see that these are the names for the successive hierarchies — Spirits of Will, Spirits of Wisdom, Spirits of Movement, and Spirits of Form. In presenting our soul-life in this manner we have, so to say, surprised the hierarchies in one spot, we have really caught them inside us. There they reveal themselves in a most singular way in the inner soul-life of the human being — and they reveal themselves in such a way that their activity is entirely unspatial, it is eternal.”

That makes me think of that famous line from Parsifal: ‘Here time becomes space’. Wagner wanted to portray the home of the Grail as a mystical place, outside of earthly constraints, like how it is in the spiritual world. And then the question becomes: How do we bring that back to earth – To ask the right question at the right time?

So in working with the ‘Will Exercise’, the 2nd of the 6 Basic, I often picture the ‘Hands of time’ – this idea of my will working thru my limbs. I think of my beating heart, or the rhythm of a drum keeping time – the rhythm of the seasons, the cycles of the moon, the pulsing stars.

We have entered the time of Advent, the time of waiting, the time of preparing, of creating a manger in our hearts for the light to be reborn.

And in the Holy Nights we are in a sort of ‘Time out of Time’ where we can make Time a Sacred Space.

Time is our initiator, sacrificing itself by popping up out of the eternal to help us find our way on the path of life. Creating milestones that we can use as a foundation within the flow.

We can think about the time or phase of our life…Maiden, Mother, Crone. These aspects don’t replace one another, each phase builds on the next & then they can work together in wholeness, just like the 6 Basic Exercises.

Yes, for me, time is relative. It needs to be in relationship to something. I can remember that I am always in the right place at the right time – Each moment a journey. We go on a trip & say, yay, wow, were making good time. So let’s remember that Time is on our side, yes it is.

So I’ll close by asking: Are you taking time for yourself? Maybe we need to give ourselves a ‘Time Out’? Isn’t that part of what the Corona Crisis is bringing us? Let’s live into the eternal Now, & make Time our ally; working with us to firm up our Will.

~hag

7 December 2021 – “speaking with the Stars”: Bella Luna hangs below Saturn, between Venus to their lower right and Jupiter to their upper left.

Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

43 BC – Cicero murdered

1941 – Japanese “surprise attack” on Pearl Harbor brings the USA into the 2md World War

Holiday Market at the Rudolf Steiner Branch 
4249 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
18 December 2021 – 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

Dear friends – Please Join Us as move toward the Winter Festival Season:

Thursday 23 December 2021 – The Eve of the Eve –
11 am PT / 12 pm MT / 1 pm CT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm UTC

A Christmas Festival with Heart-Opening Movement by Lucien Dante Lazar
& a talk by our Christian Community Priest Rev. Jeana Lee

‘Divine Love and the Holy Child Within’

This will be a hybrid in-person & Zoom event
Featuring our 2 camera technology with Mary Spalding

Doors open at 12:30 pm (Zoom Room open 12:45 pm for Social time)
Snacks to Share Encouraged

Suggested donation $15.00
cash payment at the door or via the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal donation site –
*Please make a note on the first line – type in: “Christmas Fest”!
The Festival will be recorded

Time: Dec 23, 2021 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7052931041?pwd=Vk1XcDJqT0lKeHYzWXZJNlRYNlRvZz09
Meeting ID: 705 293 1041
Passcode: Christmas

For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

The Epic of Gilgamesh
Storytelling during the Holy Nights 2021-2022
Hosted by the Anthroposophical Society in America 

”The purpose of a story is to be an ax that breaks up the ice within us.”
~ Franz Kafka

Click to Register! 

All around the world the season of midwinter is the traditional time for community bonding through storytelling. In laying the groundwork for the 100-year anniversary of the Christmas Conference, we bring the ancient Sumerian saga “The Epic of Gilgamesh” to life. Rudolf Steiner explored this story in Occult History during the Holy Nights of 1910; and again with the lectures “World History in the Light of Anthroposophy” given during those fateful Holy Nights in 1923 for the re-founding of the Society. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the oldest written tale on Earth. The Sumerian version dates from around 3000 B.C. Later it was compiled from 12 clay tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform. 

It is the “Hero’s Journey” of human evolution, a story of friendship, and a quest for the meaning of life – revealing Steiner’s core mission of bringing karma and reincarnation to the west. 

Myths, fairytales, historical epics, and sagas open us up to powerful archetypes behind the human condition, revealing clues to ourselves – from the past, the present, and the future. What will we uncover about ourselves and each other during this year’s Holy Nights adventure in storytelling?

Tune in for any or all of the episodes of this dramatic reading, re-worked by Hazel Archer from various translations, and featuring friends from around the world.

What: The Epic of Gilgamesh: Story Telling during the Holy Nights hosted by the ASA, Hazel Archer, and friends.

Time: 22 minutes daily at 9 am PT / 10 am MT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET / 5 pm UTC

Dates:  December 24, 2021- January 5, 2022 for 13 consecutive days  
Can’t join us live? No problem. Each gathering will be recorded and posted on our Holy Nights page (link will be emailed upon registration).

How: Register Here!  Then check your email for confirmation with the Zoom registration link. 

Cost: This event is free with suggested donations of $25, $50, $100
Your donations help us create events like this one!
Register Here! 
www.anthroposophy.org/holynights

Eurythmy for the Holy Nights with Jan Ranck
‘Tuning to the Stars’:
Sacred Geometry, the Planets and the Zodiac

LIVE IN-PERSON 26-30 Dec. 2021
at the Rudolf Steiner Branch Chicago 4 pm – 5 pm
And at 7pm on 31 Dec. as part of our Annual NYE Gathering (details below)

$100 for all 6 sessions, or $22 for each individual session.

Make your payment using the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal
or QuickPay with Zelle to chase@rschicago.org
(Please indicate in the notes that it is for the “Holy Nights Eurythmy”)

Cash at the door, or send a check to:
Rudolf Steiner Branch
4249 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618-2953
USA

For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg 

* Jan Ranck – Born in the USA, Jan Ranck studied music and comparative arts at Indiana University in Bloomington. She accompanied the London Stage Group on their 1976 USA tour and went on to study eurythmy at the Eurythmeum in Dornach with Lea van der Pals, where she subsequently taught. In 1984 she joined the faculty of The London School of Eurythmy. She left there to complete her eurythmy therapy training in Stuttgart in 1989, moving afterward to Israel, where she founded and directed the Jerusalem Eurythmy Ensemble (1990) and the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy (1992) and was an instructor in the Jerusalem Waldorf Teacher Bachelor Program in David Yellin Academic College from 1999. Jan has held Master Classes at various venues worldwide, including the Goetheanum and the MA Program in Eurythmy held at Emerson College and Spring Valley. She is the representative for Israel in the International Eurythmy Therapy Forum.

Friday 31 December 2021
Doors open at 6:30 pm 

Join us for our Annual NYE Conscious Community Gathering –
The Theme for 2022 is Cabaret – a Cultural Sharing!

All are invited to take the stage with an offering.

Circles Edge & other Waldorf alum will also perform

Please bring Festival Food & Drink to share

$20 Cash at the door or Make your payment using the Rudolf Steiner Branch PayPal or QuickPay with Zelle to chase@rschicago.org
(Please indicate in the notes that it is for the “NYE”)

All proceeds go to support the Rudolf Steiner Branch – the young People hosting & The Band (Can’t make it? Send a $ gift PayPal)

7 – 8 pm – Eurythmy with Jan Ranck (separate fee $22 see above)

8 pm – Potluck Social

8:30 pm – Circles Edge & Friends warm the stage & host the open mic

10:10 pm – Thought-Seed Circle

10:30 pm – Clean-up…;)

For more info. Contact Cultural Events & Festivals Coordinator
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg