“association of people who would foster the life of the soul,
both in the individual and in human society,
on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world.”
Dear Friends, a celebration of the Easter festival will be held on:
Good Friday, April 18th, at 7:30
at the home of Elizabeth Olley
Please email contact@sandiegoanthroposophy.com for contact details/directions.
We will be reading together Rudolf Steiner's first lecture in
The EASTER FESTIVAL in RELATION to the MYSTERIES
given in Dornach on April 19th, 1924
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA233a/English/AP1988/19240419p03.html
9:30—11:30 Hearing your Cosmic Name and Astrosophy introduction
11:30—12:30 Lunch Break
12:30—2:00 Rudolf Steiner's Birth/Death Charts
Location: Waldorf School of San Diego (Rotunda)
4135 54th Place, San Diego, CA 92105
Suggested Donation: $25
Join us for an inspiring workshop that blends personal exploration supported by a reflection from Rudolf Steiner’s biography.
You are invited to delve into a conscious connection with your Cosmic Name. Speech Artist, Christine Burke, will lead us through experiential exercises that stem from the placements in our astrology chart.1
“The secrets of the cosmos found expression in the letters. The single vowel was brought into connection with its planet, the single consonant with the single sign of the Zodiac; thus, through the letters of the alphabet, Man gained knowledge of the stars….He gave utterance to what he had then experienced of the music of the spheres, and that was his cosmic name. And in those ancient days men were instinctively aware that they brought a name down with them from the cosmos to the Earth.”2
We will follow this work by honoring the gifts shared with us on this 100 year anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s death. Maria will guide a discussion of Rudolf Steiner’s birth and death charts as we reflect on his contributions and receive inspiration for the work of our time.
Join us as we foster a deeper understanding of ourselves and our connection to the cosmos.
Christine Burke is a trained Speech Artist, and both a Logodynamics and Michael Chekov practitioner. She performs and teaches the sacred speech and drama work of Marie and Rudolf Steiner around the globe, as well as teaches Communication Studies in her hometown of Ventura, California. Christine serves Anthroposophy on a variety of North American councils and is an Emergency Pedagogue.
Maria Morales is a faculty member at the Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm and is a volunteer with the Natural Science Section of North America. Her personal studies in Astrosophy, combined with her Goethean approach of investigation, have led to a deeper appreciation of the physical cosmos and the importance of our human activity.
1To obtain your sidereal astrology chart please contact Maria Morales ahead of time.
2The Alphabet, The Human Being as an Earthly and Cosmic Being. Language of the Cosmos CW 209, December 18, 1921.
Ten lectures given in Basel
September 15-24, 1912, GA139
By Rudolf Steiner
“From one point of view the Mark Gospel may be
thought of as the most deeply esoteric of all,
concerned as it was so exclusively with the cosmic
Christ, Christ as a spiritual being who manifested
Himself on earth through the body of Jesus of
Nazareth…”
from the Introduction by Stewart C. Easton
Daytime gathering begins at 3:00 pm: Dec. 26
Daytime gatherings begin at 1:00 pm: Dec. 27-29, Jan. 1,2 & 4,5
Evening gatherings begin at 7:30 pm: Dec. 30, Jan. 3,6
Bring your Christmas caroling voices!
Please email contact@sandiegoanthroposophy.com if you need directions/contact information for any of the hosts/ study days.
| Thurs, December 26 | Lecture 1 | Jacqueline and Soleil | 3:00 pm | Fallbrook |
| Fri, December 27 | Lecture 2 | Johanna and Bruce | 1:00 pm | San Diego |
| Sat, December 28 | Lecture 3 | Andrea and Scott | 1:00 pm | La Mesa |
| Sun, December 29 | Lecture 4 | Mary | 1:00 pm | Poway |
| Mon, December 30 | CANCELLED / No Reading | |||
| Tue, December 31 | No reading | |||
| Weds, January 1 | Lecture 5 | Lori and Carlos | 1:00 pm | Escondido |
| Thurs, January 2 | Lecture 6 | John and Christy | 1:00 pm | Vista |
| Fri, January 3 | Lecture 7 | Joseph and Patricia | 7:00 pm | Oceanside |
| Sat, January 4 | Lecture 8 | Elizabeth | 1:00 pm | San Marcos |
| Sun, January 5 | Lecture 9 | Karen | 1:00 pm | Poway |
| Mon, January 6 | Lecture 10 | Karen | 7 pm | Poway |
These cycles are available in the Rudolf Steiner Archive:
Last December was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the General Anthroposophical Society and the "Laying of the Foundation Stone" on December 25th, 1923.
During that month, we invited folks to spend a short time daily with the Foundation Stone Meditation during the month of December. Although the centennial has passed, the questions of how to continue this work both personally and in community continue. With that in mind, and with the feedback of local members, we would like to renew this challenge again for 2024.
Whether you are new to anthroposophy, have been working with it for many years, or are simply curious about ways to practice meditation, the Foundation Stone Meditation is an excellent verse, available to all, for contemplation, and creating a sense of sacred inner rhythm to carry into the Christmas season.
This is an excellent way to engage the will and strengthen our intention as the year draws to a close.
The words: verse, poem, prayer, and mantra are different words to describe what is essentially the same: a tool we can use in our spiritual practice for the purpose of going inward; for the mind: as concentration and meditation; for feeling: as art, beauty, devotion and whatever may awaken; and for will: in how our personal resolve can be strengthened in practice.
Mantra (devanāgarī: मन्त्र) is a Sanskrit word coming from the root man- (manas, "to think" or "mind") and the suffix - tra, ("tool" or "instrument"), meaning the "instrument of thought".
From the Anthroposophy Wiki: ..the mantras given by Rudolf Steiner are primarily thought mantras, which can also have an effect when translated into other languages in meditation, as is also the case with the Lord's Prayer:
“The Lord's Prayer is a prayer that is not a mantram as such. It will still have its meaning after thousands and thousands of years have passed because it is a thought mantram. The effect of the Lord's Prayer was poured into the thoughts, and just as true as it is that people can digest quite well without having to ask a physiologist to tell them what the effect of the digestive process consists of, it is just as true that the person who prays the Lord's Prayer feels the effect of the Lord's Prayer, even if he does not allow it to be said to him. The effect of the Lord's Prayer is there because it lies in the power of the thoughts themselves." --GA 96
In addition to how the Foundation Stone can be used for individual practice, it goes without saying, in and of itself it is connected in a practical way with the impulse and outpouring of anthroposophy in the world.
Ideas for practice:
During our holy nights studies, which will last from 12/26 to 1/6, you will have the opportunity to share your experiences with the verse, as well as continue the practice with the group.
Time: 3:00 pm
Location:
Waldorf School of San Diego
3547 Altadena Drive
San Diego, California 92105
...As we gather in the candlelight to honor our friends and loved ones with readings and poetry, eurythmy and music we will enrich our sensing of our unseen companions.
A Candlelight Performance of Eurythmy: with Johanna Laurelin, Amy Schick, Chelaine Kokos-Ortiz
Music including works by Felix Mendelsohn, JS Bach, Philip Glass, Claude Debussy, Frederick Chopin, Paul Hindemith;
Piano Accompaniment by Karen Grant
Bassoon interlude by Blake Tereau
Verses and Meditations by Rudolf Steiner
You may bring a list of those you wish to remember and read their names aloud.
Feel how we gaze lovingly
Into heights that now
Call you to other work.
May your power reach out
From spirit-realms
To the friends you left behind.Hear our souls’ request
Sent to you in confidence:
We need here, for our earthly work,
Strong power from spirit landsWe thank you friends now dead for this.A hope that makes us happy,
A loss that pains us deeply,
Let us hope that you light our lives,
Far-and-near, unlost,
A soul-star in the spiritual firmament.Rudolf Steiner, 1915, GA 261