Easter and Ascenscion

Christianity as Mystical Fact

Rudolf Steiner clearly presents a vision of the relationship of Christ to the world that is both creation centered and universal. We hope that the understanding possible through these thoughts will transform discord between "Christians" and "non-Christians" into renewed understanding, moving us beyond our apparent differences toward a celebration of every possible way of seeing Love alive in the Earth today.

 

Surpassing Wonder

This is one of the best, most enriching books I've read in years. Akenson has managed to produce an account of the creation of the Bible (and its recreation at various points) and the Talmuds that is at once loving, humorous, deeply considered and consumately scholarly. In short, he has given us a book that is truly worthy of its subject.

Further, what you will find in terms of a gathering of facts is nothing short of astonishing. Did you know, for instance, that the English translation of the New Testament of the King James Bible is 90% the work of a single man? I didn't. And consider further: this same man (William Tyndale [1494-1536],who was ultimately strangled and burned as a heretic for his translation activity) ". . . taught all those who would hear, how to listen to words as music."  He gave us the English language at its best, and taught us all to speak, influenced Shakespeare and Bacon along with the rest of us.

But that is far from the only thing that amazes in Surpassing Wonder. Akenson's accounts of the editing and writing of the different parts of the Hebrew Bible, at different times and in answer to different historical/cultural needs and contexts, is marvelous in its descriptive portrayal of what I would term "the ongoing conversation of human beings with God and the earth."

He moves into the intertestamental period, which I can remember professors characterizing as a time in which nothing much that was important happened in the way of religious development, and shows it to have been a period in which all manner of religious ideas were brought forth, discussed, argued and defended. It was truly a "free marketplace of ideas" and what it brought forth was nothing less than modern Rabbinic Judaism and its sister religion, Christianity. Of course, Akenson also covers the development of these two religions from their common source.

I could go on and on, because what I've mentioned here barely scratches the surface of what you'll discover in this book. The title perfectly describes the feeling its contents evoke. Breathtaking!

Celebrating Festivals with Children

Freya Jaffke is one of the master kindergarten teachers that I most respect and admire and learn from.  As with her other books, Celebrating Festivals with Children is a fount of wisdom carried on the warm winds of love for children.  As such, it is a gift and a must-read for anyone working with our very young.

Here she describes festival celebrations in relation to child development in the first seven years. She considers in detail the main festivals throughout the year—Easter, Pentecost, St. John’s, back-to-school, harvest, Michaelmas, lantern time, birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and carnival.

Drawing on many examples, she shows how we can celebrate festivals in a meaningful way with children, both at home and in kindergarten. Every festival is prefaced with a deeper contemplation for adults before considering preparations with children. This is followed by the actual organization of the festival—with games, craft activities and decorations, stories, songs, poems and the seasonal nature table.

Very highly recommended.

The Starry Bird

Reg Down has gifted us with a happy Easter tale featuring Tiptoes Lightly and her friends. Told with humor and joy, this is just right for today's children.  It's pretty wonderful for today's adults, too. 

One morning an egg appears in the meadow below the Great Oak Tree. Neither Jeremy Mouse nor the fairy Tiptoes Lightly have ever seen such a huge egg – over a foot tall! They go to Farmer John’s in search of an answer, but without any luck, and when they return the egg has grown!

Thus begins an adventure which involves most everybody on the farm – human, animal and sprite. The egg, later hidden deep in the forest, keeps growing and finally hatches in a beautiful way on Easter Sunday.

The Starry Bird is an Easter tale with healthy doses of humor, adventure, and just plain fun. But underneath, in a form suitable for children, run the mystery-questions of life, death and resurrection that lie at the heart of Easter.

 

The Easter Story Book

This collection of over thirty stories, legends and folk tales reflects the season around Easter and early summer. In this season there are also a number of other important religious festivals: Ascension, Whitsun and St. John's.

Some of the stories, like "St. Veronica," are placed in the context of the great Easter and Whitsun events. Others, like "The Bargemaster's Easter," show the effect of these events on the human heart. For younger children, folk tales from all round the world illustrate at a deeper imaginative level the theme of sacrifice and the triumph of love and loyalty over adversity. The motif of resurrection, in which the character throws off an outer skin and emerges in a new, truer and shining guise, recurs again and again.

This collection is another one of those treasures that can grace your family life for many, many years. Excellent.

The Story of the Butterfly Children

Far far away, the butterfly folk livein a kingdom of beautiful gardens.  The butterfly children play, dance and sing all day long with their little brothers and sisters, the caterpillars.

The children can't wait until the first day of spring, when they will finally get their wings.  But first, they must learn about the many brightly-colored flowers in the kingdom, so they can take part in the flying procession of peacock, swallowtail, red admiral and many other butterflies.

A lovely spring tale for ages 3-6

 

The Story of the Rabbit Children

When the hunter’s children fall out of their cradle in the woods, a kind mother rabbit takes them home and cares for them. She makes them rabbit suits to keep them warm and they play happily with her rabbit children.

Meanwhile the hunter searches desperately for his children. He comes across some rabbits, which run away in fear. But there’s something strangely familiar about these little rabbits, thinks his clever dog Spot.

(Ages 3–6)

 

The Story of the Butterfly Children

Far far away, the butterfly folk livein a kingdom of beautiful gardens.  The butterfly children play, dance and sing all day long with their little brothers and sisters, the caterpillars.

The children can't wait until the first day of spring, when they will finally get their wings.  But first, they must learn about the many brightly-colored flowers in the kingdom, so they can take part in the flying procession of peacock, swallowtail, red admiral and many other butterflies.

A lovely spring tale for ages 3-6

 

The Story of the Wind Children

George is playing with his boats, but there is no wind to make them sail. Then, one of the wind children comes and blows just for him, and together they embark on a great adventure.

The wind child blows dandelions in the meadows, shakes apples from the tree, blows the leaves around, and eventually blows George back home on a cloud.

(Ages 3-7)

The Story of the Root Children

The perfect book to follow the seasons! Join Mother Earth as she awakens her Root-Children in the spring and gently guides them through the seasons of the year. Beautifully told and illustrated. For children of all ages, especially 3-7!

Invisible Guardians

This is a lovely little book - a gift of the heart for children and adults.

The stories in this book are based on actual events.  Some of them were told to me during conversations, and a few are taken from my own experiences.  Still others came to me by way of letters that were written in answer to a survey.  Only a portion of those were suited for the purpose of re-telling as a story. However, all the people who reported such experiences were consistent in their belief that a guiding force had intervened in their destiny.

Jakob Streit, from his Preface

The Emperor's Vision and Other Christ Legends

This is one of my favorite collections of stories surrounding the life and reality of Christ. Selma Lagerlöf's telling of these tales - ranging from the story of the surly shepherd of Bethlehem, to the war-hardened soldier at Herod's feast, to St. Veronica's act of grace toward the Emperor Tiberius - is profoundly beautiful and deep. These stories are timeless and will appeal to a wide range of children and adults - some stories are best told only to older children while some can become family treasures at a very early age. All of them will remain a cherished treasure in the hearts of those who hear them.

The Isenheim Altar

No other painter has ever so terribly and truthfully exposed the horror of suffering, and yet kept before us . . . the conviction of salvation.

- Sister Wendy Beckett

I would like to add that, in my estimation it is also true that no other painter has so clearly painted the grace of human joy or the triumph of love over fear - Grünewald's masterpiece is a tour de force of all the possibilities of the relationship of human beings to the divine and the nature of human life and love. I have often contemplated the various panels (or the progression of the full altar) and have always come away with new insights and the renewed energy of faith, hope and love.

The real joy of this little book is that the reproducations of the Isenheim Altar are so good that they invite you to explore, contemplate, and meditate on the content, meaning, beauty of these panels. Richter's discussion of the altarpiece is an excellent introduction and offers a great deal of history and artistic insight. However, I will tell you that, as good as his essay is, it barely scratches the surface of what you will discover over the years.

Something that is not discussed in the book, but which I have found valuable in my own contemplation of this amazing altarpiece, is that the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection panels encompass the 15 mysteries of Mary as meditated through the Rosary. (Notice that the Christ Child and St. Anthony are both holding prayer beads.)

The Isenheim Altar was commission by the Order of St. Anthony - a monastic fraternity that cared for the sick of their time (early 1500's). They were so aware of the healing value of contemplation and awareness of the mysteries portrayed on this altarpiece that they positioned it so that their patients could see it and benefit from its health-bestowing images.

Clearly, there is much to explore. The Isenheim Altar is a wellspring sending forth living waters.

Secrets of the Stations of the Cross and the Grail Blood

After she received the stigmata in 2004, Judith von Halle began vividly to experience the events that occurred at the time of Christ. These continuing experiences are not visionary or clairvoyant in nature, but constitute an actual participation, involving all human senses, in the events themselves. To complement this method of witnessing Christ’s life, von Halle applies a spiritual-scientific mode of observation—a form of research based on one’s true being—the human “I”—crossing the spiritual threshold while fully conscious. Combining the results, here she describes, in her most powerful book to date, secrets connected to various events of Christ’s Passion.

Von Halle discusses the Mystery of Golgotha in its relationship to the formation of the Resurrection Body; the Mystery of the Spear Wound in Christ’s side and the Grail Blood; and how Christ’s Seven Words on the Cross relate to the Stations of the Cross.

And If He Had Not Been Raised . . .

At Passiontide 2004, Judith von Halle received the stigmata, the duplication on her body of the wounds of Christ. Following a period of careful consideration, she eventually decided to share this intimate occurrence with a small group in Berlin in Michaelmas of that year. Usually, the phenomenon of the stigmata is either seen as a sheer miracle or simply denied. By contrast, in her first lectures contained in this volume, she tries—based on Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual scientific knowledge—to understand it and its significance for personal destiny.

As a result of receiving the stigmata, von Halle began to experience the events of the life of Christ in full sensory detail. Moreover, she has explored these events through spiritual scientific research, sometimes called “continuity of consciousness.” In the following five lectures, she offers commentary to the Mystery of Golgotha, the “turning point in world history.” Her intention is to stimulate the reader to reflect patiently and repeatedly upon this great mystery and to enter an continually closer relationship with Christ.

Contents:

• About the Knowledge and Reality of the Resurrection of Christ
• The Significance of the Phantom, the Resurrection Body, for an Understanding of the Human Being
• The Mystery of Golgotha as the End of the Old and Beginning of the New Initiation
• An Account of the Events between Death and Resurrection (Descent into Hell)
• The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the Last Night on the Mount of Olives
• The Event of Easter at the Time of Christ
• The Event of Whitsun at the Time of Christ and Its Connection with Anthroposophy

Includes three pages of color plates.

Easter

In this volume, Eleanor Merry applies her remarkably wide-ranging knowledge of world religion and mythology to the Easter story. She focuses on three legends: that of The Holy Grail and Perceval; an old Irish legend, and the legend of Faust.

With the Sun, the Moon, and Nature forming a continuous background to her ideas, Merry draws out the common themes that lead, ultimately, to the Christian Easter story.

Parzival

Parzival is one of the great classic stories of the last millennium, a colourful tale from the time of knighthood, full of romance, love and adventure.

David Newbatt's illustrations in this book bring a refreshingly vivid and direct interpretation of the Quest for the Holy Grail. The accompanying text gives a brief introduction to some of the many characters and events portrayed in this epic tale, in a clear and concise way.

It is the artist's intent that his (sumptuous!!) book be a lively introduction to Eschenbach's great work, not a replacement. However, the joy of discovery that awaits the reader, whether or not you are familier with the original story, is so exciting that this book itself can be the source of hours of pleasure and deepened understanding about our own human story.

Parzival is a great story for reading by the fireside. It is also a deep and intense piece of literature in which is portrayed an individual's archetypal biography, which can speak to us today in our own search for the modern Grail Temple.

Love and Its Meaning in the World

After over 25 years of reading this book and thinking about its content, I am of the opinion that these are Steiner's most important lectures. A better knowledge and understanding of their content would go a long way toward removing a lot of the dogmatism and hierarchical thinking that has permeated the Anthroposophical movement and the world at large over the years. The title lecture alone is worth the price of the book - in it Steiner clarifies with poignant and exquisite beauty that the Being called Christ is Love, that anyone for whom Love is the primary reality of life is "Christian," regardless of whether he or she has ever heard of Jesus or Christ.

In relation to his development of Anthroposophy, love is the very heart and ground of all Steiner's teaching, the foundation of all he did, and all he hoped that others would do. These are the lectures that make that usually implicit assumption explicit - these are the lectures that reveal the foundation of his work. Steiner taught that, without love, nothing is possible; but that with love, we can do everything. Love is always love of the not-yet. To love is to create; it is to enter selflessly into the current of time that flows toward us from the future.

This collection brings together all of Steiner's main lectures and writings relating to love - from earthly love to the nature and function of spiritual love. Among the topics included are: The Mystery of Love; The Division into Sexes; The Mission of Reverence; the Buddha's Teaching of Compassion; and Love, Faith, Love, Hope; and the title lecture.

Wonderful reading!

Raising the Soul

Raising the Soul is a warm and engaging guide to 7 basic exercises (6 of which resemble closely the 6 Basic Exercises as described by Rudolf Steiner) developed over centuries and in many different cultures for the purpose of training ourselves toward moral equanimity, purposeful action and love.  William Cohen's explanations very clearly come from personal experience and a warm interest in helping others.  As such, reading Raising the Soul is like inviting a good friend into your home and having that friend prove to be very wise and very generous in sharing that wisdom.  It is truly a beautiful book without being in the least bit sentimental, and I think that anyone who is interested in self-development will find it becomes a lifelong companion.  I can't recommend it highly enough and am very grateful that William Lee Cohen wrote it.

The book is organized so that each chapter introduces a different soul capacity that can be developed in turn.  The headings include:

• Review of the Day
• Clear Thinking
• Intention in Action
• Balance in Feeling
• Positive World View
• Open Mind
• Gratitude

In addition to Cohen's clear descriptions of the exercises, there are also chapters that answer many general questions"

• Along the Way: Obstacles and Progress
• Harmonizing Intentions
• What Is the Soul?

The appendices offers a plan of action for integrating meditative activity into your life.

Plays for Ascensiontide

Plays for Ascensiontide contains:

• Evening in Emmaus
• The Cup of Zarathustra
• Quo Vadis, Domine?

Vox de Nube (Voice from the Cloud) - CD

Under the light of the Voice from the Cloud we are drawn into God's own time.

- Nóirín Ní Riain

I recently discovered Vox de Nube. It has been a very long time indeed since I have listened to music that has so washed over my soul. I felt my heart simply open and leap to the heavens from which these inspired songs seemed to pour. I have never experienced anything quite like what I felt upon hearing Joa Bolendas' two songs - Praise to Mary/Glory be to you, O Christ and Vater Unser (Our Father). It was like hearing Love. And, I went back for more (several times - this is the first album I can recall since my early 20s where I actually listened to it 3 times in a row, nonstop). St. Brigid's Prayer brought tears to my eyes. There are several of Hildegarde's hymns, rendered with exceptional beauty, St. Bernards homily to Mary, "Star of the Sea" and much, much more.

This is heart-opening music - I hope you can hear it also.

The Life of Christ

These four volumes record the visions of the famous 19th-century Catholic mystic, Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich, as recorded at her bedside by Clemens Brentano. Emmerich was nun who beheld innumerable events of biblical times, going back all the way to the creation of the world. Her sense of the mysteries contained in details is amazing, inspiring even. Her visions include the fall of the Angels, the sin of Adam, Noah and the Flood, the lives of St. John the Baptist, St. Anne, St. Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Mary Magdalen. The focus of her visions however, was the birth, life, public ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as the founding of His Church. It is this that forms the content of this 4-volume set. Her visions and Brentano's work in recording them were known to Rudolf Steiner, who valued them as being highly accurate as mystical pictures describing the actual events.

Women in Chant - Recordare

Recordare - "to remember." Here the Choir of Benedictine Nuns joins Mary, Mother of Jesus, in "pondering all things in her heart." These crystalline chants merge two traditions - the Gregorian tradition of the chant itself and that of the meditated Rosary, the beaded prayer that calls the petitioner to stand with Mary as she experiences the mysteries of her Son's life: The Joyful Mysteries from annunciation to finding her twelve-year-old son in the temple; the Sorrowful Mysteries, beginning with the Agony in the Garden and ending with the Crucifixion; and the Glorious Mysteries proceeding from the Resurrection through to Mary's Enthronement in Heaven.

These chants are not performances, but are the prayers themselves, and this infuses the music and the meditations with a life and depth that moves the heart. The multi-layered, living depth of the Rosary prayer/meditation is given yet another dimension by this beautiful choir. This is music that has the power to heal and move us forward.

The Grail Legend

Emma Jung who, in addition to being married to Carl Jung was also a student of Rudolf Steiner's, made the legend of the Holy Grail her life's work. When she died before completing her work, Marie-Louise von Franz (Carl Jung's best student) took up the task and bought the work to completion. The result is The Grail Legend.

Writing in a clear and readable style, the authors present the Grail legend as a living myth that is profoundly relevant to modern life. We encounter such universal figures as the Fool (the naive young Perceval), the Wise Old Man (the Hermit Gornemanz), the Virgin Maiden (Blancheflor), the Loathly Damsel, and such important theses as the Waste Land, the Trinity, and the vessel of the Grail. Weaving together narrative and interpretation, the authors show us how the legend reflects not only fundamental human problems but also the dramatic psychic events that form the background of our Christian culture.

This is a book that I have found rewarding in both the depth of its insight and the pleasure of its story. A rare combination! Very highly recommended.

Joseph of Arimathea

Written around 1200 A. D., probably in monastic circles, this is one of the earliest accounts of the Grail and its importance. It tells, in beautiful images, the story of Joseph of Arimathea's charge of the Holy Grail from the Last Supper to the Crucifixion, where he captures the Blood and the Water in the chalice of the Last Supper; Soon after, he is imprisoned for many years by the Romans, surviving without food and water through the life-giving power of the Holy Grail. When he is freed, a company forms about him to guard the Grail and see it safely to a place where it can be kept for all time.

This is one of the most powerful legends of Christianity - it has a beauty that resonates in the heart long after it is over. If you haven't yet read it or heard it, I can only say, "Do - you'll love it!"

The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail

Walter Johannes Stein was a personal pupil of Rudolf Steiner and one of the founding teachers at the original Waldorf School in Stuttgart. His research of the 9th Century and the various Grail legends coupled with his understanding of reincarnation and karma produced what is really the seminal work on the subject from the perspective of esoteric Christianity: The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail.

In studying the central Grail narrative - Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach - Stein takes a twofold approach. On the one hand he searches historical records in order to identify atual people and events hidden behind the Grail epic's veil of romance. As a counterpoint to that, he deciphers Eschenbach's hidden spiritual messages, revealing Parzival to be an esoteric document containing mighty pictures of the huma beings inner path of development.

Most importantly, Stein reveals the period of the ninth century to be of more than historical and academic interest. It is the karmic ground out of which the destiny of modern times grows - the mighty battle that must take place between the powers of the Grail and those of the anti-Grail.

Note: This is one of those books that has been out-of-print more often than it has been available. We are extremely happy to see it on the shelves once again and encourage you to take advantage of its availablility - it is a truly remarkable work.

Mit den Händen loben wir, Mit dem Herzen singen wir, Mit den Lippen beten wir

In what is the most beautifully designed and artistically composed book I've ever seen, the vision songs of Joa Bolendas are presented in words and score alongside some of Joa's sketches and commentary. In an outpouring of gifts, the covers offer reproductions of four of Joa's vision paintings, chosen for their immediate connection with the songs.

Where this volume of music needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, the songs themselves beg to be heard to be . . . well, to be believed. Three of the songs presented in Mit den Händen are easily available to English-speaking audiences (though they are sung in the original German) on Nóirín ní Riain's Vox de Nube. They are among only a very few pieces of music which have moved me to tears (and continue to do so, I might add) through the intensity of their beauty.

If you are an artist or a lover of art, you will want to see this book to discover how it is that a book becomes, in itself, a work of art. If you are a musician, you will want to see and work with these songs, to discover this modern expression of the Spirit. If you are a seeker, you'll want to see the book, discover the music, and live in gratitude with these gifts for a long, long time to come.

Alive in God's World

I have found enormous wisdom, insight and warmth in the visions of Joa Bolendas. Whenever I have endeavored to carry into my own life a prayer, an attitude, an awareness gleaned from her work, I have always found it to be true and valuable. Working with the world in this way is so fundamentally healing - for oneself and for the world - that my hope is that many more may become aware of her message. This is the message of life lived in awareness of the unity with the divine - and in an awareness that this is to live as a full human being.

The Easter Festival in the Evolution of the Mysteries

These four lectures will go a long way toward explaining the truly human - as distinct from specifically religious - significance of what the Christian religion celebrates as Easter. Steiner traces the pre-Christian origins of this festival and shows it to be grounded in cosmic-earthly reality has been experienced by humanity throughout time. I think you'll find this perspective to go deeper than most accounts of the history of various festivals. More importantly, I think you'll find it freeing.

Festivals and Their Meaning

This is an anthology of 30 of Rudolf Steiner's most detailed descriptions of the primary Christian festivals. Together they form a picture of deeply held, truly joyful, celebration of events that are cosmic and universal, not secular and specific. The cycle of the year is seen as a living organic development that embraces not only the human being but all creation as well. Steiner sees the traditional form of these Christian holidays as having once bespoken the newest revelation of human evolution. Now, the full cosmic significance of these moments requires new understanding and new forms. If you would like to comprehend the meaning of the festivals from an anthroposophic point of view, this is the cornerstone book.

Four Seasons and the Archangels

These five lectures are among our favorites. The beauty of Steiner's portrayal of the activities of the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel at the four pillars of the year is breathtaking. These lectures picture the alchemy of the cosmos, human beings, plants, animals and minerals moving together through the all the forces of elemental nature to find the balance point of the Earth's true goal. Highly recommended as another key doorway to understanding the cosmic significance of the turning of the year.

The Cycle of the Year as a Breathing Process of the Earth

Human beings must attain an esoteric maturity in order to think not merely abstractly, but to be able to think so concretely that they can again become festival-creating. Then it will be possible again to unite something spiritual with the cycle of sense phenomena.

- Rudolf Steiner (in The Cycle of the Year as a Breathing Process of the Earth)

In these five lectures given at Easter in 1923, Rudolf Steiner lays a foundation for celebrating the Christian festivals - Christmas, Easter, St. John's, and Michaelmas - in a fully conscious way. He begins by describing how the festival year evolved over long ages from the cycle of inbreathing and outbreathing that the forces which are the Earth's soul element carry out in relation to the cosmos. He reveals the deep relationship of humankind to the Earth's seasons, to the time of the solstices and the equinoxes, and through the festivals of the seasons to the Christ Being. The esoteric realities behind the festivals are also discussed in relation to subearthly and superearthly forces, the ancient Mysteries, St. Michael's activity, morality, and the arts.