13 January 2018 – Astro-Weather: Vega still twinkles quite low in the northwest after dusk. It’s sometimes called the Summer Star, but its way out of season now! It’ll soon be gone, to return to the evening sky next spring.
At dawn on tomorrow morning the 14th Bella Luna hangs above Mercury & Saturn. What does this speaking say?
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Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Faye Hall
“History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of the human being”. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley
1090 – Birthday of Bernard of Clairvaux, Mystic, Theologian, Co-Founder of the Order of the Templars
1497 – Deathday of St. Veronica of Milan. Being very poor & having no formal education, she attempted, , to teach herself to read. While making this effort one night, the Virgin Mary appeared to Veronica, &taught her in the form of three mystical letters:
The first signified purity of intention; the second, abhorrence of murmuring or criticism; the third, daily meditation on the Passion. By the first she learned to begin her daily duties for no human motive, but for God alone; by the second, to carry out what she had begun by attending to her own affairs, never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who did wrong; by the third she was enabled to forget her own pains & sorrows in those of her Lord, & to weep hourly, but silently, over the memory of His wrongs.
Veronica became accustomed to nearly constant apparitions & religious ecstasies. She saw scenes from the life of Christ, yet these never interrupted her work. She joined an Augustinian lay order at the convent of Saint Martha in Milan at the age of 22. This community was very poor; Veronica’s job was to beg in the streets of the city for food.
She received a vision of Christ in 1494, & was given a message for Pope Alexander VI, so she traveled to Rome to deliver it. After a six-month illness, Veronica died on the date she had predicted, 13 January 1497.
Tjugondag jul (“Twentieth Day Yule”), or Tjugondag Knut (“Twentieth Day Knut”), a traditional festival celebrated in Sweden & Finland on 13 January. Christmas trees are taken down on Tjugondag jul, & the candies &cookies that decorated the tree are eaten. In Sweden, the feast held during this event is called a Knut’s party (Julgransplundring, literally “Christmas tree plundering”)
1898 – Émile Zola’s J’accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair – an open letter published in the newspaper L’Aurore where Zola spoke about President of France Félix Faure & accused the government of anti-Semitism & the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army General Staff officer who was sentenced to lifelong penal servitude for espionage. Zola pointed out judicial errors & lack of serious evidence. The letter was printed on the front page of the newspaper & caused a stir in France & abroad. Zola was prosecuted for libel & found guilty. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to England, returning home in June 1899.
As a result of the popularity of the letter, even in the English-speaking world, J’accuse! has become a common generic expression of outrage & accusation against someone powerful.
1915 – The Avezzano earthquake shakes the Province of L’Aquila in Italy with a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme), killing over 32,610 people.
2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 1800
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POD (Poem Of the Day)
Irakli Dolidze
~O my soul
A winter sparrow that won’t rest
Wishing for warmth among bent feathers
Seized-songs rush
Shrill in my throat
Spreading sparks off my wings
Love forming a note
Flowing thru
Hollow bones I fly
From yesterday
The sun caught in the amber
O my hazel eye
~hag
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Denise Yocco
“Try to find groups, smaller or bigger, who work together not only to study, but to carry out responsible work in the world. Stand with each other so that those who are standing know they are not standing alone, that each is trusted, and that he can trust the others.” — Bernard J. Lievegoed, MD (1905–1992), Doctor of Medicine & Psychiatry, Psychiatrist, Consultant for Organizational Development, Author
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SAVE THE DATE: Lazure Workshop with Nancy Melvin – January 20-21 9am-5pm
$100 for the weekend (1/2 the proceeds go toward the ‘Furnace Fund’ for the Branch)
Lazure is a technique for applying several layers of transparent color washes on walls, enlivening interior spaces with breathing, light filled color. We will Lazure the Branch’s newly renovated areas in anticipation of the Elderberries Cafe moving into the space. We will look to Steiner’s indications for public spaces in Urban areas for color schemes. The two day workshop will begin Saturday morning January 20th with color samples and participants can learn the brush technique which is radically different from painting with flat opaque paints. Then right away on the first day we will test color layers and apply the first several washes on the walls. There will be down time in between layers for participants to break for morning tea, for lunch and afternoon tea. The next day will add layers and depth to the colors as needed. By the end of the workshop you will learn all you need to know to go home and do this work in your home or office.
Nancy Melvin will lead the workshop, a former Waldorf Grades Teacher and teacher of wet on wet painting to children. She has lazured many Waldorf classrooms, most recently the EC extension of CWS in Lincoln Square and the foyer of CWS’s EC area.
for more info. Contact Nancy Melvin melvinstudiochicago@gmail.com
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Spinning Destiny with the Fates
An Experiential Workshop with Hazel Archer Ginsberg
Saturday, 10 February 2018 – 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM
At the Theosophical Society 1926 N Main St, Wheaton, IL 60187
Come face the Fates & meet the Sibyls in the Light of Anthroposophy & ask: Does Fortune smile? Is Justice blind? How can I Co-Create with Destiny, to spin the thread of my life with integrity, to heal and clear the collective karma, & achieve my True Becoming?
Through the insights of Rudolf Steiner, the power of Myth-Telling, & Ritual-Tasks, such as interactive drumming, & Socratic questioning; we will journey into our soul-depths to stand before the “Daughters of Necessity” that we will transform to meet our true calling; asking: ‘What is my Highest Purpose?’
Please bring your own vegetarian lunch
$60 nonmembers $50 members $70 at the door
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg –Spiritual Midwife, Trans-denominational Minister, Essayist, Lecturer, Blogger – Anthroposopher, working as the Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch of Chicago.
Founder of www.reverseritual.com
