101 years ago TODAY - on 17 August 1924, Rudolf Steiner declared “I want to go to King Arthur”. In the twilight dawn, everything was covered by a thick mist, with rain coming down in torrents. Eleanor C. Merry, one of the organizers of the Torquay Summer Conference, an artist, & anthroposophist - with a strong Celtic impulse, came across Rudolf Steiner in the hotel corridor, looking out into the grey dawning. The Dr. was already dressed for the journey. She asked him if, given the state of the weather, he still intended to go. Rudolf Steiner answered confidently: 'A few minutes after 8 o'clock the rain will stop’. And so it was - At ten past eight, the small party of travelers: Ms. Merry, D.N. Dunlop, Mrs. Cotterell, Ita Wegman, Elizabeth Vreede, Guenther Wachsmuth, The Scott-Pyle’s & Mrs. Pease, with Rudolf & Marie Steiner, set out on their 50-mile journey across the heather-clad moors of Dartmoor, to the spectacularly positioned Tintagel, on the west coast of Cornwall.
Mrs. Cotterell relates how during the drive Rudolf Steiner spoke of: 'mischievous pixies and nixes making long noses’ as they passed. We watched as fragments of rainbows seemed to descend to the sides of the road hovering about us as though to make our journey a triumphal progress.’ According to D.N. Dunlop: When they arrived at Tintagel the last remains of the rainbow bridges went into the earth, as the sun drove away all traces of mist. The sea was raging. The small party stood there in silence, absorbed by the wonderful view before them. Then they experienced something quite extraordinary: Rudolf Steiner, with a pencil and writing-pad in hand, standing upon the rocky promontory amidst the ruins of what had once been Arthur's castle, began sketching. He spoke of the Arthurian knights: 'who experienced in the external struggle of the forces of light with the elements of the earth, a reflection of their own inner battles.’
Presently, most of us -- and Dr. Steiner -- set out to scramble up the stony path of the opposite cliff, where there were more ruins. He said that these had been the servants' quarters, and also the stables... As we descended the cliff we went into what is traditionally called Merlin's Cave. Inside it there was a wonderful natural structure in which one had a good view of the shadowy rays of the sun'. In "The Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner” Guenther Washmuth also gives a summary of this memorable visit. He adds that Rudolf Steiner spoke about the ‘Merlin's teachings' - alluding to the mystery of the 'Entelechy' of Richard Wagner revealing some of the karmic background of this individuality. He also spoke on the spot about the painter Böcklin.
Wachsmuth remembered: “That strangely densified spiritual atmosphere we shall never forget, so intensely to be felt as Rudolf Steiner climbed the strange projecting cliff on the lonely coast of Cornwall where the last walls of the castle of King Arthur towered over the roaring sea … He spoke there, standing on the cliff, about the experience of the Knights of King Arthur … He spoke of the teachings of Merlin … The immediacy of the spiritual vision in this place was so intense that, during his descriptions, the entire reality, the external life and action … of King Arthur’s knights, stood before us as actual experience”
In that year Steiner was working on what would become his 82 lectures on ‘Karmic Relationships’- a new attitude towards karma from a practical Western World perspective. Steiner spoke at some length of the spiritual mission of the Arthurian knights & their relationship to the being of Michael. Describing the Cosmic Intelligence as a principle which Michael once 'presided over'; & how gradually, after the Christ event, it became more & more individualized. But that the mission of Arthur & the knights was to work longer than any other community to ensure that Michael should retain his dominion over the Cosmic Intelligence – which they experienced as present everywhere within the elemental environ of Nature. The knights of this community 'did not feel a personal intelligence within themselves' - They experienced intelligence as revealed to them from outside. In Karmic Relationships Steiner says: 'If with the eye of the spirit one stands on the site where once the Arthur castle stood, and gazes over the stretch of sea which a cliff seems to divide in two, there, one can perceive not only a wonderful interplay between the light and the air, but also between the elemental spirits living in light and air…’ Rudolf Steiner speaks in this context of the Arthurian knights as having a form of 'pagan piety - a surrender of heart and feeling to the manifold spiritual beings working in the processes of nature'.
In the picture of the Round Table - with King Arthur as the representative of the Sun at the center, & the 12 Knights as the zodiacal constellations grouped around the Sun, Steiner goes on to say: 'It was here that King Arthur and his Twelve Knights drew into themselves from the Sun-Spirit, a strength wherewith to set forth on their mighty expeditions through Europe in order to battle with the wild, demonic powers of old, that were still dominating large masses of the population, and drive them out of humankind.' It was the Arthurian knights who set the prerequisite conditions for European culture by imbuing civilization with the Cosmic Intelligence.
In the same lecture Rudolf Steiner characterizes the ‘Grail-stream' whose mission is the gradual individualization of the Michaelic Intelligence - which is the polar opposite of the ‘Arthur-stream' - its direct compliment – a further evolution. 'And so in olden times, we find the intense striving to ensure Michael's dominion over the Cosmic Intelligence through the Arthurian principle; and in the Grail stream proceeding from Spain, the striving to take account of the fact that the Cosmic Intelligence must in future be found on earth, that it no longer flows from the heavens. The import of what I have just described to you is the very breath and life of the legend of the Grail'. ~Rudolf Steiner, 'Karmic Relationships’ Vol 8
Finally, Rudolf Steiner shows how the great School of Chartres was oriented right between the Northern Arthurian-stream & the Southern Grail-stream. 'And like shadows cast by the castle of King Arthur, and the castle of the Grail, supersensible impulses made their way, not so much into the actual contents of the teachings so much as into the whole attitude and mood-of-soul of the pupils who gathered with glowing enthusiasm in the lecture halls of the great School of Chartres’. Rudolf Steiner pointed out that the name 'Arthur' should not be understood as being just one historical personality - it designates a degree of spiritual discipleship - A title - like ‘Parzival’ or John.
Along with accessing these archetypes, we must also be aware that there are adversarial beings which are violently opposed to the revelations of the karma-mysteries - which are in fact, the New Mysteries of Christ-Sophia-Michael - Pointing to our present task of reclaiming the Cosmic Intelligence, to willingly bestow a blessing on Nature, & to co-create in selfless freedom a new civilization - governed by an individualized heart-thinking – the marriage of the Arthur & Grail Streams within each one of us. ~hag
17 August 2025 - “Speaking with the Stars”
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1586 – Birthday of Johann Valentin Andrea, who wrote: The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz
1687 – Deathday of Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen , kidnapped at the age of 10 by Hessian soldiery, – in their midst tasted the adventures of military life in the Thirty Years’ War. He was made Schultheiss (magistrate) at Renchen in Baden where he devoted himself to literary pursuits. Greatly influenced by previous utopian & travel literature, he wrote the Simplicissimus series, inspired by the events & horrors of the Thirty Years’ War which devastated Germany from 1618 to 1648, it is regarded as the first adventure novel in the German language & the first German novel masterpiece. The full subtitle is “The life of an odd vagrant named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim: namely where and in what manner he came into this world, what he saw, learned, experienced, and endured therein; also why he again left it of his own free will.” It attained a readership larger than any other seventeenth-century novel
1798 – The Vietnamese report a Marian apparition in Quảng Trị, an event which is called Our Lady of La Vang. Fearing the spread of Christianity, the Cảnh Thịnh Emperor restricted the practice in the country. Soon thereafter, the emperor issued an anti-Christian edict & persecution ensued. Many people sought refuge in the rainforest of La Vang in Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, & many became very ill. While hiding in the jungle, the community gathered every night at the foot of a tree to pray the rosary. One night, an apparition surprised them. In the branches of the tree a lady appeared, wearing the traditional Vietnamese áo dài dress & holding a child in her arms, with two angels beside her. They said that Our Lady comforted them & told them to boil certain leaves from the trees for medicine to cure the illness. Legend states that the term “La Vang” was a derivative of the Vietnamese word meaning “crying out”. Modern scholars believe it comes from the ancient practice of naming a location for a genus of a tree or plant native to the area, La meaning “leaf” and ‘”Vang “herbal seeds”. In 1802 the Christians returned to their villages, passing on the story of the apparition in La Vang & its message. As the story of the apparition spreads, many came to pray at this site & to offer incense. In 1820, a chapel was built. From 1830-1885 another wave of persecutions decimated the Christian population, during the height of which the chapel in honour of Our Lady of La Vang was destroyed. In 1886, construction on a new chapel began. Following its completion, Bishop Gaspar (Loc) consecrated the chapel in honour of Our Lady Help of Christians, in 1901. On December 8, 1954, the statue of Our Lady of La Vang was brought from Tri Bun back to the holy shrine.
1911 – The 1st performance of Rudolf Steiner’s 2nd Mystery Drama, The Trial of the Soul, in the Gardener’s Place Theatre in Munich. In all 4 four plays. Steiner showed how spiritual development might manifest in a freely formed, but karmically-knit group of people. The experiences of the main characters of the play, particularly Johannes, Capesius & Strader, represent 3 different aspects of the path of initiation – “differing according to the karma of the respective individualities.” Steiner described his process of artistic creation as “images that grew like the leaves of a plant”.
1982 – The first compact discs are released to the public in Germany  Here is a presentaion MA did last year for the Feast of Assumption. A retelling of the New Isis Myth
Zinniker Farm has harvested Biodynamic Pfeiffer Wheat - If you are interested in signing up to receive a share of the harvest - Contact the Family Farm Initiative – Supplies are very limited.
Here’s the link to a compendium of various Free Video Presentaions
Michaelmas Festival 2025The Courage of Wisdom in the Light of LoveSunday 28 September 6 pm - 9 pm Potluck, Pre-stir, Bonfire, Festival Circle
If you want to support the Spiritualization of the Earth thru the Biodynamic Farming done on Zinniker Farm, you are invited to become a paid subscriber, with all donations going directly to the farm
Greetings Friend, you currently a free subscriber to Cognitive Ritual. Thank you for receiving my workings freely offered. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. ALL donations go to support Zinniker Farm - The oldest Biodynamic Farm in America! Together we can spiritualize the Universe. XOX ~hag
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Saturday, 16 August 2025
at the Round Table
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