R. Steiner gives the possibility for a whole new deepening of the Christmas Eve and Nights experience.

Every night through the year, around midnight, our guardian angel meets with us/touches us particularly close.

Once a year the Christ Being through an Archangel touches us very close in the night of Christmas and/or the following seven nights. This allows a “meeting” whose echos are felt long afterwards.

(2.20.1917, CW 175)

Our meditative life directed to these events helps the occult depth of the meeting process.

Wising you a Holy Christmas Time and Following Holy Nights,

R. Rentea MD

Dear Friends,

Lili Kolisko died 40 years ago on 11.20.1976.

Rudolf Steiner pointed out that we can understand a lot about the spiritual intentions of a person by observing their death day and the meaning of that day.

I was surprised at the insight that one can gain about her when one looks at the verse of the  34th week in the Calendar of the Soul.

Mysteriously, what was kept of Old
With newly awakened Selfhood-being
Within my Inmost, re-enlivening itself, feel:
It should, awakening World-Strengths
Pour out into my life’s outer work
And by becoming imprint me into Existence.

This is the week when we are particular guided to combine the impulses that are coming to us from two directions (we shall discuss this shortly) in such a way that they undergo a re-enlivening. They should be felt and thus enable us to awaken within ourselves powers of the universe, the cosmos, the world. These new powers that we have should be poured into our practical work in the outer world. With this action of changing the world around us, through these spiritual forces, we can imprint a seal of our own personality into the existing world around us.

It is important to note that Rudolf Steiner does not say, does not “just” say, that we should be working in the practical physical world around us but rather that we should be active through the new powers that we can gain. We should change the world through re-enlivened spiritual impulses.

What are these “Old” and what are the “New” elements?

One can look at them on many levels.

One could simply say that we should at this time combine the, by now old, summer forces with the coming, new forces of autumn. Not incorrect. One should indeed combine the forces of warmth, of light, the glow of the outward radiating impulses of the summer with the clear, more accurate,  more self-aware, less dreamy,  forces of the autumn. Combine the Head and the Heart.

One could, however, also realize that the human Gestalt, the human form, is the result of the Old Saturn, the Old Sun, the Old Moon, and those forces are still preserved in us, they continue to act in us. These “Old” powers need to be re-enlivened with the powers of the New Selfhood, the new Ego strengths. Only by uniting the two streams can we truly make an imprint on the world, change the world in the spirit of anthroposophy, let the spirit be visible in the physical world, show that it is the spiritual impulses who are the “changers” of the world.

(Incidentally, this is of course the perennial value of the Calendar of the Soul: it shows at all times how we can be, in our inner Soul workings, in harmony with the events that Outside, in Nature, the Gods are working on. )

This verse I believe illuminates Lilly Kolisko’s lifelong work and intentionality: to create experimental situations where (confirmed by Rudolf Steiner) pure spiritual forces could be seen directly affecting the etheric forces of growth in the plants; where cosmic star forces could be seen to be real in the world; where a medicine could be arising in the future based not just on physical but also on spiritual laws.

(Lili Kolisko was of course concerned to represent spiritual life in many other areas.)

I want to draw everybody’s attention one more time to the fact that on the Kolisko website we provide every week the verse of the week of R. Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul. you will find the verses both in the original German and in my special translation that attempts to stay as literal as possible to the original translation.

But we go one step beyond that. With the help of my friend Dr. Mark Kamsler we give every week also the eurhythmy movements – with the correct colors- as given by R. Steiner. R. Steiner tells us that meditating (an if I may add moving) these verses every week can connect us to the impulses and the beings that are guiding that week.

This is one of the several efforts of the Kolisko Institute.

In the name of all co-workers and the Kolisko Institute Board I want to warmly thank All who follow us, support us and make our striving worthwhile.

In Thanks,

Ross Rentea MD

Dear friends,
This year there are some significant aspects to Easter that should give us pause for meditation.

First let’s look at the dates.

Good Friday is on April 3rd with Easter following on April 5th. These dates coincide with the original, historical Easter. According to Rudolf Steiner’s occult research the Death of the Christ on the Cross occurred on April 3rd, at 3 PM after which the Christ united His Being with the Being of the Earth and thus gave the earth its special meaning and the possibility for evolution into the future.

The falling together of the historical Easter and the actual Easter is a rare event in itself.

What seems to be even more unusual is the fact that this year a solar eclipse will occur on the date of the spring equinox. The last time that this has occurred apparently has been in 1662 (Communication of H.A. Ginsberg). The Easter date itself is set, as we all know, in connection with the spring equinox: Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Additionally, Rudolf Steiner points out that the spring equinox sun brings with it to the earth every year the determining impulses that mankind needs in the era of the consciousness soul.

The need to understand now the event of a sun eclipse becomes evident. In a lecture given on the 25th of June 1922 Rudolf Steiner reveals the occult significance of a solar eclipse. He elucidates that under normal circumstances good impulses emanating from the earth towards the cosmos connect themselves with the sun rays that are coming in towards us while the evil impulses that are coming out from the earth are being burned off at the same time by these sun rays, sunlight. However, during a solar eclipse evil impulses are allowed to escape from the earth, and that way a phenomenon like an open valve occurs that allows some of this “evil steam” to leave the earth. We can only ponder what this means when a solar eclipse occurs on the day of the spring equinox. (Find out in the lecture what he also says about the lunar eclipse.)

A third significant aspect is shown to us if we look towards the stars  and find that now the planet Jupiter is between  the actual constellations of  Cancer and Leo. In the human body the constellation of  Cancer coincides  with the lungs while the constellation of Leo  is represented by the heart. Their significance will become apparent for our considerations if you keep in mind  that Rudolf Steiner characterized one time  the Mystery of Golgotha as being the Mystery that occurs  in the interaction between heart and lungs. Consequently, events happening between Cancer and Leo  are related to the Easter mystery and this year  are also connected to the planet Jupiter,  the planet of wisdom and much more. Jupiter is the one who tries to reveal to us  the significance of this year’s Easter Mysteries.

It is up to each of us  to engage in serious  meditation  and perhaps share with each other our findings.  What we can speak to the stars is that we can  first and foremost  attempt to make a special connection  inwardly  to the Sun forces  by meditating on them.  Directly relating to creating a bridge  for the sun forces  to come to earth  is also the practice  of doing Eurythmy. All movements of Eurythmy originate in the Etheric Body, the part of the Human organization governed by the Sun forces.  We should try to practice these movements  particularly intensely  for the next two weeks.

Allow me to mention one more aspect briefly.  In the same lecture  referred to above  Rudolf Steiner ends  his thoughts  by observing  that there is a method  by which  the luminous sun forces  can be brought  into  the dark regions  that the root of the plants live in.  This methods consists  in burning the root  and obtaining the ashes of the plant . These ashes  spiritually still contain  the energy that comes from the light in the warmth of the sun forces. The ashes then should be mixed with the root and thus “significant remedies could be obtained”. We should be happy  that in the US the  anthroposophical supplements are available  where indeed  root formulas  also contain the ashes of the plants.  Thus the Sun and the  Earth forces are reunited alchemically. Taking such remedies  becomes now  not only a  “personal health enhancement issue”  but becomes also  a service  to the forces of the Good  in the world.

Wishing us all a Sun Light filled Easter time,

Ross Rentea

On this November 20th we can warmly remember the individuality of Lilly Kolisko. She passed into the spiritual world 38 years ago. (To refresh oneself on who this personality was (9.1.1889-11.20.1976) please see our website under the About Section and where you will find a fairly complete biography of hers.)

Speaking about the painter Raphael R. Steiner once said that his worth and stature in the spiritual world was increasing every time when human beings still remembered his works and were benefitting by them. The same can be said of L. Kolisko who clearly is an inspiration to all striving human beings to this day.

In another context, R. Steiner points out in his Karma Lectures (1924) that the personality of Tycho Brahe, the astronomer – a later incarnation of Herzeloide, the mother of Parcival – was active in guiding in modern times the development of the science impulses needed to further the “spiritual science” aspect of anthroposophy.

I feel confident that Lilly Kolisko is engaged in the same inspirational stream. As one of the most successful and faithful scientific experimenters and esoteric students of Rudolf Steiner she can be a guiding light to us all.

Thank you Lilly Kolisko!

N.B. We want to thank all those who follow us on this Blog. If you would like to stay informed on our ongoing research, education and outreach activities and continue to support us please have a look at the newly updated  “Brief Report and Appeal“.

Thank you to All who make our work possible!!

Dear Friends,

After the last posting one of the dear readers of this blog asked: “Who is Michael?”

This is a very nice question.  When we say Michael we refer of course to St. Michael, the Archangel that plays a central role in Anthroposophy .

I will give you one or two thoughts of my own but

I would like to invite as many of the other readers a possible

to share a couple of brief lines on

what St. Michael means to them!

This powerful spiritual being has been known for a long time in the evolution of humanity.  For example, in the Old Testament he appears as the angel that is fighting with Jacob and “blesses him” by renaming him Israel. The word Israel means “He who fights for God in a spiritual way”. Michael appears there first as a spiritual being that is so mighty that he represents the ” Face of God”.  He is specifically related to the night. He undergoes his own growth and maturation and, based on Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual scientific research, we know that he has now advanced to a “day spirit” and has become “the Face of Christ”. Incidentally, we also know a part of the activity of this being under the name of  St. George.

I’m looking forward to the contributions that might be coming on this topic.

Ross Rentea

Dear Friends,

First let me thank you all for the kind responses to the previous blog!

This of course should be our all most fervent wish: to establish a Michael community with conversations going back and forth from one to another.

For today I would like to share with you a Michael meditation that Rudolf Steiner gave sometime around 1910.It was given to an Italian anthroposophist. Needless to say I was impressed by the fact that this meditation directly addresses our need to overcome the anti-Michael spirits  in us that lead us to inertia, lassitude, and make our productive, creative Will life more difficult. these are the spirits that hinder our following through on our responsibilities:

Michael!

Lend me your Sword

That I may be armed

To overcome the Dragon in me.

Fill me with your Strength

That I may vanquish

The Spirits that want to lame me.

Work in me in such a way

That Light may stream

To mine I and I may thus be led

To actions that are worthy of you.

Michael!

Have an active Michael season!

Yours friendly,

Ross Rentea