| | | In This Newsletter
° Working With the Four Domains Paul Gierlach (FRAC) May 19, 2023
° Parzival & Feirefiz (Series)
Various Presenters (ASA) May 22, June 5, and June 19, 2023
° Ye Shall Know The Truth
And The Truth Shall Make You Free Florian Sydow (Chicago Branch)
May 28, 2023
° Experiencing the Evolving Mysteries Lelan Harris (FRAC) Save the date: June 16, 2023 |
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| All of a Feather
The idiom "birds of a feather flock together" appears in literature at least as early as 1545 AD, but as a proverb and metaphor it likely goes back much farther in history.
It seems fitting to use Feathers for our newsletter that highlights events sponsored by other organizations. It reminds us that there are other "flocks" worth getting to know, building relationships with, and learning from.
Tip: Convert the date and time of each event to your time zone here. |
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| | Working With The Four Domains
Presented by Paul Gierlach
In From Symptom to Reality in Modern History, Rudolf Steiner says “Only a genuine concern of each man and woman for his neighbor can bring salvation to mankind in the future – I mean to his community life.” Our hearts can respond quite readily to these words; they are a directive. They don’t in themselves offer any direction, and we are quite free to work with them as we see fit.
Rudolf Steiner, though, has something quite specific in mind. He says, “This awakening of an active concern for others must be developed ever more consciously in the epoch of the Consciousness Soul.” We nod our heads reflectively, for we have some idea of what this ‘Consciousness Soul’ is . . . or does . . . or demands.
Then, with a third comment, Rudolf Steiner becomes quite specific. He says, “the finest and most important social attribute in the future will be the development of a scientific objective understanding of the shortcomings of others. . . .” In a most remarkable way, Rudolf Steiner goes on to describe four steps that we as individuals must take in order to develop for ourselves the ability to be scientifically objective in our relationship with others. He calls these steps the Four Domains.
In this short presentation we will look at these Four Domains and ask ourselves two questions: Do we men and women still need these four steps? How can I work with them in my own life and with others?Bio Paul Gierlach has been a Waldorf teacher since 1979. He received his training in Detroit under the tutelage of Werner and Barbara Glas, Hans and Rosemary Gebert, and Ralph Marinelli. He initially worked in the grade school before migrating to the high school as a humanities teacher. For the ten years leading up to his retirement from full-time teaching, he used what he learned to develop protocols for working in the classroom with students with different learning styles. Since his retirement in 2013, he has worked in the classroom in China and the United States and in teacher training programs. He has created a four-year program for adolescents and adults that leads them to a conscious, active participation in their perceptual world. It is called Dynamic Drawing.
Hosted by Front Range Anthroposophical Café Date: Friday, May 19 Time: 6:30 PM MDT (UTC-6) Where: On Zoom
Convert to your timezone:
To receive the Zoom link to this meeting, you must sign-up with the Front Range Anthroposophical Café (FRAC) through the button below:
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| | | | Parzival & Feirefiz Co-Creating a New Grail Ritual
The medieval initiation story of Parzival (also written Percival, Perceval, Parsifal and Peredure), a knight who goes in search of the Holy Grail, has been an archetypal and spiritual inspiration for many great thinkers, including Rudolf Steiner. There are several retellings of this story, most famously Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic poem and Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal.
Wagner’s Parsifal does not include Feirefiz, the Black brother of Parzival, as Eschenbach’s story does. Why is this? It appears to be the tragic outcome of a worldview that places the white European narrative first – at the cost of other experiences, cultures, and races.
Using the Parzival narrative as a foundation, and an exploration of themes of light and dark within music and art, this workshop series will explore questions around brother and sisterhood, inclusion, and race. We will also explore how ritual can be a healing structure to connect with the ostracized Other and build wholeness and inclusion in our society. Seen through this lens, the story of the quest for the Holy Grail can be reimagined more as a collective or collaborative social process, a journey to the Other, than as a singular quest for individual enlightenment.
What: Exploring the Grail mysteries over the course of three workshops (plus a bonus performance session!). We will hear presentations on themes of color, tone, sound, ritual, and more. We will also have the opportunity to explore our biographies and converse in pairs and groups.
Date: May 22, June 5, and June 19 Time: 1:00 PM EDT (UTC-4) for 75 minutes via Zoom Presenters: Orland Bishop, Christiane Haid, Chris Burke, Anne de Wild, and The Parcival Project music group. |
| | | A video course exploring Parzival's story (including an integrative Astrosophy perspective) Details below. |
| | | Ye Shall Know The Truth And the Truth Shall Make You Free
Presented by Florian Sydow
The proliferation of propaganda, misinformation with the help of social media AI, and the challenging need for discernment and clarity of thinking emphasizes our need to awaken living thinking by raising it to the level of imagination. This becomes a necessary step due to having collectively crossed the threshold and having to deal with the forces of the abyss – forces that give rise to fear which is all too often projected outwards, such as happens with political polarization and enemies in war. Mario Bettie used the phrase "Battle for Imagination'' and Nick Thomas wrote a book entitled, The Battle for the Etheric Realm.
The need to expand our consciousness to experience our Cosmic Nature brings with it the temptation to embrace science fiction – focusing on space aliens and UFO's rather than engaging with the divine messengers of the Second Coming in the Etheric, the members of the third Angelic hierarchies. They embody the Holy Spirit that was epitomized in the flames of fire expressed in the Pentecost event among those gathered in the upper room. The archetypal picture has the disciples gathered around the Maria-Sophia, shining through the Russian-Slavic future-oriented group soul that is preparing the Sixth (Sophian-Aquarian) Epoch.
Date: May 28, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM CDT (UTC-5)
Cost: Free Please type "F. Sydow" in the memo of your payment.
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| | | | | Experiencing The Evolving Mysteries
Presented by Lelan Harris
Lelan will guide participants toward three similar but different experiences with Spirit: first within the Ancient Mysteries, next the Christian Mysteries, and then the New Mysteries.
Save the Date: Friday June 16, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM MDT (UTC-6)
Where: On Zoom Hosted by Front Range Anthroposophical Café
We will send a reminder in June! |
| | | | Future Front Range Anthroposophical Café Guests:
May 26: John Beck
June 3: Ezra Sullivan * Note: Special Saturday Café @ 11:00 AM MDT (UTC-6)
June 9: Alex Tuchman
June 16: Lelan Harris
June 23: Jean Yeager
June 30: Jennifer Green
July 7: Neill Reilly
July 14: Lila Tresemer
Aug. 5: Bastiaan Baan * Note: Special Saturday Café @ 11:00 AM MDT (UTC-6)
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| Parzival and the Star Wisdom
of Wolfram von Eschenbach
Self-paced video course by Brian GrayIncluding Eurythmy with Alice Stamm
Sessions: 17
Content hours: 34
Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval poem Parzival holds cosmic secrets for our time. Wolfram began reciting his Parzival in the 13th century, yet its story line, artistic language, and esoteric structure fully entertain, nourish, and fascinate us today.
What spiritual mysteries are working through its magical appeal? What secrets about our time might the Red Knight’s 9th century adventures reveal to us? How is Parzival related to the Eightfold Path of Buddha? What symbols of Christ weave through the narrative? |
| | | For more information on Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative, please visit our website where you may:- Register for Astrosophy and Birth Charts, an online course by Brian Gray.
- Register for Philosophy of Freedom, a free online course by Brian Gray.
- Register for The Lord's Prayer, an online course by Lelan Harris.
- Investigate all of the free resources available.
- Donate to support the production of more courses.
- Volunteer as a typist, transcriber, or translator.
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| Images Feather Passage by Nico Frey, Unsplash.com
Composite image Left: Goddess Hekate holding two torches to illuminate Persephone's return from the underworld (circa 480 BC), Eleusis Archaeological Museum, by Lelan Harris
Middle: Theotokos (circa 800 AD), Hagia Sophia Thessaloniki, by Lelan Harris Right: Woman with Cyborg by Phonlamai Photo, Adobe Stock
Parzival At Lake Below Grail Castle – On Horse by Iris Sullivan, Copyright © 2016 Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative |
| Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative is a world-wide community that welcomes all who, in the words of Rudolf Steiner, are endeavoring to unite the spiritual element within the human being to the spiritual in the universe.
Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational corporation. All donations by U.S. donors are tax deductible.
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