by Jean McGillivray Never one to be idle, Jean McGillivray sewed somewhere in the region of 750 facemasks. Most of these she tied to the perimeter fence for passers-by to take. When not sewing she painted and two of her watercolours are shown below. Face masks waiting to be collected by anyone needing one. Do you think Jean loves flowers?
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shared by Jean McGillivray
Jean has lived with this for 45 years and has drawn much strength from it. It stems from a French Carmelite nun. by David Wertheim Aymes
I have decided to respond to the request for articles with content I prepared specifically for ourselves yesterday and adapted it very slightly. I hope this is what you were after. The test of today as a spiritually awake person is to apply what both Christianity, and Anthroposophy as the means to understand, gives us, in everyday practical life. Within the Bosun Group of companies we are trying to love this challenge. The times now demand this of us if we are earnest about our dedication to the Christ impulse. Below is somewhat of a blueprint that we are trying to hold consciously within us as we tackle the challenge of adapting ourselves to live our economic activities within the confused conceptual framework of today together with the questions of the good or bad faith behind them. It was written to the Management Team yesterday in preparation for Monday the 25th of May. Hopefully you can extract from it the key spiritual scientific concepts and attitudes underlying the approach. Mon 25 May What is our relationship with you?
What have we asked of you or put to you that requires poor concepts in bad faith? Is this the same as the current bigger reality? We ask that we together put before the world through our individual sacrifice, an excellent example that works in the world but that is based on our inner competence and dignity as human beings. We want to continue this right now under the current situation which is demanding. We want to do this not as a victory for people, but as a victory for the godliness in people. We cannot operate outside of the realities of the way the world works physically. We can however know that we ourselves are that which influences what and how things form in the physical world. We form our relevance and we form our efficiency as we serve the physical needs of others consciously. (Economic sphere.) We work on our own inner being knowing its structure as body, soul and spirit. We see its power in our deeds. (Liberty sphere.) We determine the rules and fairness towards one another. (Equality sphere.) We all need a common picture to which to direct our conscious and humbled inner lives. Our common picture is to serve the material needs of others. We need to build our ability to serve these needs with a correct relationship and balance in the mineral, plant, and animal components of what we allow to form. (Our guide to functional health is the Fourfold picture or the Four Kingdoms found on earth.) We have good infrastructure in most cases. It could be understood better, maintained better, have higher availability. Our operators could understand how it works better, make less waste, cause less damage. Our relevance team could be working together better. In these times this is critical. Is there not more of the market that would like to know about us and experience us? We need to know exactly where we are with regards to all agreements we make with each other, with customers, with suppliers, with the State. We need to be able to measure what we are doing in all respects from cash flow, to waste, Through Put, and more. We need to consider each person as a human being requiring safety and equality. We need to form teams that will guide the above into this form as it is required for the circumstances we live in right now. Our previous structure served a more consistent environment. We will take this on from Monday based on the above with those who want to partake out of freedom in this. You can decide not to be part of this. We can together decide where best to place each person for the benefit of the whole. Our correct organisation of the humanity that lives in us as a whole is the only ‘resource’ to effect this metamorphosis. We will tackle this with faith and commitment to our distinctly human qualities and capacities. There is no alternative. The article appeared on the Anthroposophy NYC Blog. This article by Jonathan Hilton was released as an audio lecture, with images, for the New York City Branch of the Anthroposophical Society on Easter 2020. Jonathan Hilton is currently the President of the Council of New York City Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America. He has been working with anthroposophy in various ways for over 40 years. To read the full article click here. A short excerpt from this lecture: "If we can truly “live” in autumn with the conscious awareness of Michael, the Spirit of our Age, and awaken to the battle to redeem the fallen shadow intelligence, lifting our thinking again to a spiritual knowledge, which can raise what is fallen. If we can live at winter solstice, and the festivals of Christmas and Epiphany, recognizing the Logos becoming flesh; the birth of the Sun has occurred in the Earth at the darkest time of the year in order to bring a new light into the World. If we can live through the spring festivals in the powerful knowledge that the force of resurrection and the power of love has transformed our Earth in the physical body, in the life body, and in the soul; and the lighting-like flames at Whitsun awakening our spirit. If we can then arrive in summer at St John’s to a conscious union with the heights of the cosmos, the periphery, in recognition of and in alignment with the greater evolutionary divine plan for our humanity and hear in a new way the voice of John, “Change your thinking” for the new has come!” Then in this rhythm we participate in the true life of the Earth, which is the life of the Christ." The lecture ended with Hymns to the Night by Novalis. To its end inclined
The Ancient World. The happy garden Of the youthful race Withered away; Out into freer spaces Strove the full grown Unchildlike humankind. Vanished were the Gods; Lonely and lifeless Stood nature, Robbed of her soul By strict number And iron chains. Laws arose, And in ideas As in dust and air Fell to pieces The measureless prime Of the thousand-fold life. Fled away Was all-powerful Faith And Fantasy, All transforming, All uniting, Heavenly comrade. Unfriendly blew A cold North wind Over the frozen plains And the wonderland home Passed away in the Ether. ….. No longer was Light, The abode of the Gods, And a heavenly token – Around them they drew The curtain of Night. Thou art that youthful form our tombs display Standing above them, deep in contemplation, Consoling emblem in our darkest day Of the higher human’s joyful new foundation. MayList of articles - click on the icons below and you will be redirected to the page where the article is published.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger Each month one of these world views will be expanded. IdealismOn the third Sunday of Easter, 26th April, Venus was sparkling magnificently in the west having reached its highest peak of rising and remaining visible beyond midnight. Close by was the chalice of the new crescent moon.
For Plato such an image would be a visible expression of a spiritual reality. For him the Idea is the true reality; an eternal immutable Being, which cannot be grasped with physical senses. The material world only shows us the images of Ideas, which then finally exist in us as reflections in concepts. Beyond this world of temporality shines the World of Ideas in eternal clarity. For Goethe it was also a continual discovery how the world reveals itself for the human being from two sides. To only study the physical world does not lead to a reality, but to really observe without pre-conceptions what nature expresses about itself and in the observation allow the Idea to rise up within the soul, creates a unified comprehension of a true reality. When the outer phenomena ignites the Idea it manifests in the beholder, then the experience is of one of having been grasped by a true, complete reality. Rudolf Steiner formulates: ‘The world of ideas is the original source and principle of all existence. In it is eternal harmony and peace. …Only that which derives its existence from the Idea is meaningful on the tree of creation in the universe. The Idea is the clear, in itself and with itself fulfilled Spirit. The individual must have the spirit within themselves, otherwise they fall off like a dry leaf from this tree, and were there in vain…’ (GA 40) Ideals are Ideas, realities in another dimension, living beings which are already what we strive to become. Pre-Christian cultures had mystery schools where initiates learned to open their soul like a chalice for these beings of higher consciousness, so that their wisdom could live and work through them. This is how the cultures were founded which still influence us today. Since then these beings have withdrawn, are ‘far away’ like the stars, looking down on us, waiting…Because since the Easter deed of Christ human beings are free to choose how they look into the world and which thoughts and ideas guide their actions. Every thought and feeling connects with a spiritual being, which is its reality. Whatever our ideals are, we are engaged in a relationship with a corresponding spiritual being. Idealism is not just an abstract philosophy which suggests that reality is immaterial. Idealism is an activity of the soul which releases immense energies for manifestation, be they negative or positive. The images in the heavens we look up to can remind us of our ideals; how to open our soul in reverence and strive to work in conjunction with those higher beings who are already in reality what we still strive to be. The period of national lockdown that occurred over the Holy Week and Easter period changed the experience of this festival for all of us, in one way or another. The priests and members of community compensated by finding ways of reaching out to enliven this central Christian festival. Here are some thoughts from individual members of our extended community on their experience of this period. Editor Silvia Jensen: Dear people from South African Christian Community, I am from Brazil, my name is Silvia Jensen, a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher, and I am very pleased to receive your newsletter letter regularly. I got to know you through Sonya and Thomas Holtz. They hosted me in their house and Sonya took me to get to know the church and its surroundings. Every time that comes a new issue of the newsletter I rejoice because of the deep content and the images you share. Besides being good it is addressed to the southern hemisphere and I feel understood. It talks directly to my heart. Thank you so much. Kind regards Jean and Evan McGillivray: Easter 20/20 Recent times have been much the same, but strangely different. Perhaps because we live on the church property. The Eastern weekend was strange, but very powerful. The contemplations and sermons from the Priests by email were extraordinarily uplifting and helped carry the Easter message through the turmoil and confusion. Everyday life has been fruitful. Evan and I made new curtains out of fabric given to us by a community member and managed to clean dining room chairs etc. On a more serious note we have made more than 50 masks which were hung on the fence in Dover Street for anyone who needed one to help themselves. This is still going on. Of course we miss Kerry and her boys and Sean at a Kibbutz in Israel. But we keep in touch here and with Greig in China. So it remains a case of "Onwards and upwards". Wendy Smith: Would you please convey 'hearty thanks' to the priests for their dedication and documented insights and photos! Despite the method/medium of communications, it has proved encompassing, sharing warmth and personal spaces of interest. Annelie Franken: Thank you to Reingard for the contemplations. It created a sense of belonging to a Community on a deeper level. Sincerely, Eva Knausenberger: The Epistle of Passion Tide describes our human condition in the time of the coronavirus in detail. It attacks the head, (our thinking) our hearts (caring), our blood, (life-giving), our breath (want of, inability to breathe). And while I live in isolation, on an island in the Southern Pacific, where my spiritual strength lies lamenting and in the vain hope that 'this cup pass me by' I felt strongly, that despair would grip me, unless I were able to experience the community of Christians and the healing power of the Sacraments in solitude but also in spiritual togetherness. And on Easter Sunday -at least for moments, I felt joy flooding the world as the sun rose. He is risen for us and for the streams the dead, dying and suffering people. That is a promise we can all live with. Pam Stevens: On contemplating the Holy Week services, receiving the readings and contemplations from the priests, also being present at the same time and working with what Richard so kindly gave as a guideline. "The essence for me was feeling the presence of attending at the same time as everyone else. Feeling included and being able to sense the stillness within and without. Also my ability to listen inward became more centred and concentrated…Also having the contemplation to ponder throughout the day or even week has brought a different tone to my days. In gratitude." I have attempted to do this on my own for a long time, but realising I am included and consciously connecting with everyone has enhanced my ability to be present. Community brings another dimension. Where two or more are gathered. Wiebke Holtz: The experience of Easter has been new and very inward. It cannot be described other than saying I felt very closely connected to the Priests and the Church Community through the wonderful texts sent out and at the same time feeling an isolation and yet an inner strengthening through the own effort necessary for the work. Jane Abrahams: A NEW KIND OF COMMUNITY GATHERING Easter week during the coronavirus lockdown: it is April – time always of new initiatives; the crisp early morning air waking us out of our summer reverie, reminding us that there is work to do – perhaps a new kind of work now. Every morning, for those who wished to join it, we had a Community Gathering via Zoom. Sitting in our respective homes we were able to meet each other again face to face. To see, every morning of Easter week, the core group of Susan, John-Peter, Gillian and Natalie, with intermittent visits from Lizzie, Abel and Mags, became very precious. We experienced many profound moments in our conversations, which were inspired by the daily contemplations sent out from Reingard, Michaël and Richard. This was a new way of being part of a community, a pioneering way, brought about by restraints over which we had no control. These meetings are continuing every Sunday during the lockdown. Perhaps more of us will be moved to come to them. I am so grateful to Susan and John-Peter for this initiative. Briar and Michael Grimley: To the Priest of The Christian Community in South Africa, We are writing to thank you all for the central role you played in our Easter experience this year. You did such a soul spiritual deed by making it possible to nourish our souls and spirits and give us substance to deepen our lives and thereby help us develop the capacities we need to stand in the world as helpers. I (Briar) have attempted a pastel artwork as part of our Easter experience and would like to share it with you. Here are also some notes on it, and a lecture which served as an inspiration for it. Christ Arises Notes on a pastel art piece by Briar Grimley arising from her Easter experience March 2020. The outer circle is created by the journey through Time during the Holy Week. The images are taken from the Planetary Seals given by Rudolf Steiner, and the colours from indications given by eurythmists. The journey begins on Palm Sunday – the image ‘coming out of white’ on the top right, and moves clockwise through Monday (Moon day), Tuesday (Mars day), Wednesday (Mercury day), Thursday (Jupiter day), Friday (Venus day), to Saturday (Saturn day), and into the centre for Easter Sunday. The inner circle is a journey through Space, in the centre is the Earth, now a Sun, and moves through the spacial line up of planets Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Shining out of the centre is the Risen Christ, with Earth, now Sun, in His heart, with feet on Mercury… the stage of Earth evolution at the time of Golgotha… and arms outstretched to embrace the Entire Universe. The words at the bottom are from Rudolf Steiner’s lecture on Richard Wagner and Mysticism. This arose from watching a video of an opera rendition of Wagner’s Parsifal. In the lecture Rudolf Steiner relays Wagner’s question: Who redeems the Redeemer? The answer is in the writing below the pastel work. I was so deeply moved by Wagner’s ponderings. See the attached lecture. Every morning our Active Practical Love Group would ‘check in’ at 8.45, a few friends shared pictures of our Easter centrepieces, and on Easter Sunday two friends sent a video of their singing ‘Christ is Risen, Hallelujah’… amongst many other beautiful messages. Every morning Michael and I would light a candle from our changing centrepiece, create a holy space, say the Lord’s Prayer aloud, read the recommended bible reading by the Christian Community priests, then their individual contemplations, and ended by reading the corresponding passage of each day of the Holy Week from Emile Bock’s ‘The Three Years’. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights we watched and listened to Wagner’s Parsifal, to Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis on Saturday evening, and on Sunday evening to Handel’s Messiah. On Saturday and on Sunday mornings we watched the sunrise… brightly coloured on Saturday, and a battle between light and dark on Sunday, with the joy of the light being victorious. And every day I travelled alongside a nearby friend who sent me a photo of a new painting she painted each day, with such soul depth that my heart was overwhelmed and constantly on the edge of tears. Each painting was inspired by the communications from the priests. And then a bit on the ‘ridiculous’ side… our friend and neighbour celebrated Easter Sunday with us, with a festive meal… she on her side of the fence, and we on ours. Community, come what may! It is with enormous gratitude to all of you who played the smallest to the biggest parts in this journey that I humbly share my experience. brotherliness - a found poem as an Eastertide greeting by Shirley Marais (Higgins)
the leaves pinnate odd or even no alternate compound certainly alternate and pinnately compound and serrated toothed feather-formed some say the fanciful the leaflets arranged alternately around the petiole the stalk that joins the leaflets to the stem and the in-breath where the leaves end before the sepals begin and the sepals themselves those five brothers who hold the consummate red roses are shrubs climbing or trailing the stems of which are usually armed copiously with prickles commonly known as thorns oh never mind and never mind the thorns it’s the fragrance saturation of light and form and colour that aches the heart give me the aching colour the star-shaped scent that speaks in the deep heart my brother give me the starry fragrance that aches on the in-breath and awakens my heart’s deep sun so for a moment I can feel I am a brother of the heavens and of the earth AprilList of articles - click on the icons below and you will be redirected to the page where the article is published.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberge Each month one of these world views will be expanded. Psychism In pre-Christian times, in the highly developed cultures of Egypt, Greece and far earlier cultures of antiquity, the leaders and initiators were those who were able to connect with higher Spirits in their soul. Thoughts and feelings were not experienced as subjective and personal productions, but rather as living Beings; powerful Spirit Beings – Angels, Archangels, and Archai.
Archai could permeate a human soul and body, inspire and speak through them. Great cultures were founded and guided like this. It was a time when the human being was not free, did not yet experience being an individual, separate from the whole community. What came about was therefore in complete harmony with the greater Cosmic Order and human beings were also imbedded in this cosmic order. Today, we cannot have this kind of experience because of the Deed of Christ. It has changed everything. Now we experience ourselves as autonomous individuals and have freedom and cognisance. Now it is our task to reach out and “Up” to and learn to work together with the Angels, Archangels and Archai. This requires self-reflection and self development. In as much as this is the direction of spiritual unfolding, we are Psychists. There is a descriptive direction in psychism which leads to observing and witnessing of the deeper layers of the unconscious Self where heredity and universal archetypes is met. Then there is a dynamic direction which leads to “over-consciousness” and requires active deeds of self discipline and conscious transformation. This source of “Self”, our “I” - our core being, is eternal and indestructible. It is “of God”. Though it is embedded in the garment of the soul and body, we can work at becoming aware of this Higher aspect step by step. It is accompanied by processes of “dying and overcoming”. It is a slow painful process of active practice which transforms our whole constitution. Every effort in this direction progressively strengthens our complete soul structure, which means, the quality and nature of our “I”. It will lead to the awakening experience which St. Paul describes as “I am, yet not this “I” but the “I am” in me. The individual “I” is then in harmony with the Being of Cosmic Order. Striving towards a new unity with the hierarchies in the world of Spirit, we human beings can work together to form, inspire and create a truly new culture. That is why we are here together on earth now. In the gospel passages of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9) Peter offers to pitch three tent canopies (booths, shelters), one for Moses (the law giver), one for Elijah (the prophet) and one for Jesus (the master and Bearer of the Christ). Peter is moved to do this as a consequence of the vision of Jesus, transfigured in bright, brilliant, radiating white light while in a communial conversation with Moses and Elijah. Peter is drawing from a Hebrew tradition (a festival still celebrated by Jews to this day, Sukkot) and to the idea that this vision heralds an ‘end time’, a permanent establishment upon the earth which could call for a tent to be pitched and never taken down, a sukkot feast to end all feasts, so to speak. In his prologue to the gospel, John expresses the concept of the Word (Logos) becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us literally as, “The Word became flesh and pitched his dwelling tent amongst us”. The divine Logos (the Word) came to dwell on earth, pitching his tent here, so to say. This idea of pitching a tent as an expression for the earth as our home, allows us to see the earth as a wonderful, albeit temporary, dwelling place. Our life as human beings is not limited to the time on earth between birth and death. As much as this earthly life is representative of being ‘home’, this earth is our home, we are also only passing through, pitching our dwelling tent for a time, not building a permanent structure. Our true home is in God (in the divine existence). Our picture of our full humanity needs to recognise the seeds of our future spiritual development as present in us and in a process of development. We need to realise that our life is both pre-existent and post-existent (before our birth, and after our earthly death). What is our full picture of life and being human?
After the event of the Transfiguration, Jesus returns to the crowd and encounters the man whose son is moon-struck, a lunatic, and hence not in his reason. The young man is literally beside himself (and hence, out of balance), falling into the fire and into the water. Could these be metaphors for our desire to find initiation paths, the path of purification (in the cleansing fire or the cleansing water)? If we hold a true picture of the human being (with the in-dwelling of the Christ), then we can know that it is this relationship to Christ that makes it possible for us to experience a new path of initiation. He is our cleansing internal fire, the pure cleansing water of life. We are initiated into our fuller selves ‘in Christ’. Rudolf Steiner reflected that the earth was created for the human being to learn the lesson of Love. Our new path of development in love is the path of Christ, who is the teacher of the love of humankind. |
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