~I call the Doves to come & nest in my hair
So that I may spit fire from my head.
All the while my heart beats like a bee tongue among the new roses.
As I await the Avatar Winds of Sophia
I warm my will & open
To receive
Wisdom into my bones
~hag
Whitsun has been called the Festival of Flowers. We see this out among the blossoms opening under the increasing power of the Sun.
The heart of a human being is like a flower, unfolding as it opens to warmth & light. And what pours down from the Sun, giving the flower (our image in reverse) the potency it needs, is like the tongues of fire descending upon the heads of the disciples, for us humans.
In the East, Whitsun is called Trinity Sunday, since with the completion of the 3 parts of the moveable Feast of Easter-Tide, we have been brought into contact with the 3 Beings of the Godhead. We receive the Resurrection forces thru The Son, which brought about the rescuing of our physical body; at Ascension the seed is planted for the redemption of our etheric or formative forces; & even more incredible, we gain access to the sphere of The Father Ground of the World; & at Pentecost we receive the Holy Spirit, which is the beginning of the purification of our astral body.
The Greek rendering of this Holy Day is Pentecost = 50 days after the Resurrection. Also called Whitsun Sunday after the white robes worn by those initiated at this season which was a custom since ancient times. In Italy it is customary to scatter rose petals from the ceiling to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues resting on the heads of the apostles.
In France they blow trumpets to imitate the sound of the mighty wind which accompanied the descent of the Holy Spirit.
In Russia, the women of the congregation carry flowers, & sheaves of barley.
In Eastern Europe it is called the Festival of the Trinity, or Trinity Sunday
Rudolf Steiner lectured a great deal about Whitsun, he called it by many names:
Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community
Festival Of The Free Individuality
Festival of the Higher Self & the Universal Human Being
Festival of the Holy Spirit
Festival of Flowers
Festival of the human being released from materialism
Festival of the Purified Astral Body
- the lifting out of selfishness into Universal Love - out of opinion into Truth - out of judgement into Wisdom
Spiritual Science & the Being we can call Anthroposophia are Whitsun gifts.
Today we can see Whitsun as a Festival of the 1st fruits of the Spirit. During our time now it is not bestowed on us by nature. It must be called forth.
It is a Festival of the future, for we must grow ripe to withstand the surging of the Spirit. Whitsun is the Festival of our Higher Self, which as yet only hovers above us like a dove. At the same time it is the Festival of Community, arising from the harmonizing of our Higher Selves which are ONE in Christ.
~Look, I have light - in my eyes - & on my skin…the warmth of a star…& everything alive is turning - into something else - in the alchemical Heart - of some annihilating yet creative fire - that is burning unnoticed - waiting to touch - me & you...
~hag
20 May 2024 - “Speaking with the Stars”: Early risers can catch Ceres, floating off the handle of Sagittarius’ Teapot asterism in the south.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
World Bee Day – Birthday in 1734 of Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping. The purpose of this international day is to acknowledge the role of bees & other pollinators for our ecosytem
325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church. Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the divine nature of God the Son & His relationship to God the Father, the construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed, & establishing uniform observance of the date of Easter, & the promulgation of early canon law.
(Interesting ‘Explorer’ connections on this day)
1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west.
1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India when he arrives at Calicuta India.
1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.
1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets are illicitly published in London, by Thomas Thorpe.
(war stuff on this day)
1631 – The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire & most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years’ War.
1645 – Yangzhou massacre: the 10-day massacre of 900,000 residents of the city of Yangzhou, part of the Transition from Ming to Qing.
1802 – By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution.
1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory
1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law
1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
1891 –The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope.
1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States.
1940 –The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
1956 – In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
1989 – The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
“You shall know the truth & the Truth shall make you free.”
Celebrating the Feast of Mary Magdalene
w/ Hazel Archer
Through the Gospel of Mary Magdalene take an initiatory journey honoring a sacred purification process.
This course for the Infinity Foundation is available on Zoom. You will be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class. The course will also be recorded and you will receive a link to watch it.
Course 242133 | Zoom
Date Monday, July 22
Time 7:00 - 8:30 PM CT
Cost $35/30 payment 10 days in advance