Let the Fat Lady Sing
as we ponder birth & death “Laissez les bons temps rouler” or 'Fall Mountain, just don't fall on me' ~Jimi Hendricks
Today on this Strove / Fat Tuesday - the final day of Mardi Gras, we remember that this festival stems from a tradition that dates back thousands of years to Pagan celebrations of Spring. The word Pagan derives from ‘peasant-folk’ - those who work closely with the Cosmic & Earthly forces – the ancestral spirituality practiced thru various cultural expressions by the whole of humanity before Christ became ‘Lord of the Elements’ - The Pagan outlook can be seen as Three-fold: A polytheistic nature-worship honoring the Spirit of Place, Speaking with the Stars, & working with Elemental & Spiritual beings – pictured as gods & goddesses.
When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate the popular local traditions - an easier task than trying to abolish them. As a result, the fertility of the Mardi Gras season gave way to excess and debauchery & became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of fasting & penance between Ash Wednesday & Easter Sunday.
This year we can also observe it as the Death-Day of Dr. Ita Wegman - co-founder of Anthroposophical Medicine with Dr. Rudolf Steiner.
Ita Wegman met Steiner for the first time in 1902, in Berlin, when she was 26. She recognized him as her teacher, joining the German Section of the Theosophical Society of which Steiner was the leader. He encouraged her to become a doctor.
In 1921, she founded the first anthroposophical medical clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland.
Ita Wegman, was born in Karawang, West Java, the first child of a Dutch colonial family. Around the turn of the century, she went to Europe & studied therapeutic gymnastics & massage.
She developed a special form of massage therapy, called rhythmical massage, & other therapeutic treatments. In 1917, having opened an independent practice, she developed a cancer treatment using an extract of mistletoe following indications from Steiner. This first remedy, which she called Iscar, was later developed into Iscador & has become an important cancer treatment
By 1919 she had a joint practice together with two other doctors, also women. In 1920 she purchased land in Arlesheim, where she opened her own clinic, the Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut, or Clinical-Therapeutic Institute, the next year. A number of other doctors joined the institute, which grew steadily over the next years as a first center for anthroposophical medicine.
In 1922 she founded a therapeutic home for mentally handicapped children, Haus Sonnenhof, also in Arlesheim, & co-founded a pharmaceutical laboratory, Weleda, that has since grown into a significant producer of medicines & health-care products.
In the following year, Rudolf Steiner asked Wegman to join the Executive Council of the newly reformed Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Steiner named her as the head of the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science. She also directed the Medical Section of the research center at the Goetheanum.
Together, Wegman & Steiner wrote what was to be Steiner’s last book, Fundamentals of Therapy, giving indications for the new medicine they were developing. The book was partly written while Wegman cared for Steiner, who was already terminally ill.
For many years of Rudolf Steiner gave Ita Wegman meditations & clues to help unlock her memory of their past incarnations together, ever leaving her freedom. Finally on that fatal NYE 102 years ago, as she stood with Steiner watching the 1st Goetheanum burn, a flash of their lives together in Ephesus was revealed…After that she was able to develop that capacity to recall her former incarnations. And in the evening lectures of the Christmas Conference – ‘World History in the Light of Anthroposophy’ – Steiner spoke about their incarnations as Gilgamesh & Eaboni; & Aristotle & Alexander.
After Steiner’s death Wegman founded a new medical journal, Natura, the following year. In 1936, the clinic opened a second home in Ascona, Switzerland.
Then the adversarial forces working in the Society after Steiner’s death flared up, & Wegman & a number of others were expelled from the Anthroposophical Society.
Her medical work & personal inner development flourished, however, & Wegman travelled extensively in support of the rapidly growing movement to extend medicine’s limits; she was especially active in the Netherlands & England during this time.
Dr. Ita Wegman died in Arlesheim in 1943, at the age of 67.
Memory Picture of Ita Wegman on her Death Day:
“The day had started brightly. An untold magic spread all over nature. It was as if the nature cheered back the departing soul and then, as if with the increasing glow of the rising spring sun, the departing dear soul had already turned to us in love from the spirit. Holy spirit was widespread in addition to all the great and humanly justified pain. And this consecration spirit was also felt everywhere as a driving force, as it was now possible to begin with maintaining the great, comprehensive work of Dr. Wegman.” ~Hilma Walter
1868 – Birthday of Harry Collison, the 1st General Secretary of the British Anthroposophical Society. In his early days Collison was a Freemason & Theosophist, he founded a group called the ‘Myrdhin’ Group, which was then renamed the ‘Zarathustra’ Group, at the suggestion of Rudolf Steiner.
Collison translated many of Steiner’s works into English, & was involved with the arrangements for many summer conferences held at Oxford, feathering ‘eurhythmy’ in the hall of Keble College.I n 1914 Collison arranged for several performers from Dornach to visit the UK & demonstrate the art to the study groups. The performers were Lori Maier-Smits, her younger sister Ada, Elisabeth Dollfus & Flossy von Sonklar. His exposure to eurhythmy had begun the previous year, when he had participated in the premier of f Steiner’s mystery play, The Soul’s Awakening, put on in Munich. Collison was one of the gnomes.
Even with his heavy involvement with Anthroposophy from 1910, Collison did not give up his artistic interest; in fact he described his subsequent career as “fairly successful”
Due to its continued loud support for Wegman & Vreede, the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain was expelled from the General Anthroposophical Society in 1935. The British Society finally rejoined the General Anthroposophical Society in 1963.
He was variously described by those who knew him as charming, humorous, whimsical & genial, a delightful companion with whom to take a walk in the country or a tour of an art gallery, a provider of wise advice & counsel. He could also be excitable in conversation, authoritarian in his approach to dealing with issues & curt in manner if he lost patience. As Marie Steiner von Sivers, wrote, he enjoyed a rich life.
4 March 2025 - “Speaking with the Stars”
WHAT IS YOUR DESTINY?
From Necessity to Freedom – The Evolution of Human Consciousness - w/ Hazel Archer-Ginsberg
for The Minneapolis Theosophical Society
Monday 10 March 2025 - on ZOOM - 7–9 pm CDT
From the vaporous cleft of Mount Parnassus, and the birth place of Greek Philosophy, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and the Holy Grail – From Prophesy to Warning, from Fate to Karma, From Destiny to Free Will.
Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Interdenominational Minister, Essayist, Presenter, Poet, Anthroposopher - Founding member of the Grand Lodge of (MA) Mysteria Mystica Americana - Cognitive Ritual: ~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian, & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast - YouTube Video Recordings
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84368789880?pwd=bUI5b3FZcHNoc3NLaXpUbktHejRGUT09
Meeting ID: 843 6878 9880
Passcode: 365495
The Tomb & the Womb – Rosicrucian Retort & Bridal Chamber w/ Mysteria Mystica Americana MA
Exploring the Vernal Equinox, the 100-year Anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s Death – & the Lapis Exillis for the next Century.
Sunday 23 March 2025 live on Zoom 1 – 2:30 pm CDT
Join us in our Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7050174041?pwd=IHmFS9yuzUXffIXg5b4OojEMtLzbFA.1&omn=84728448792
Meeting ID: 705 017 4041
Passcode: MA
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