Branch News – Sunday 28 May
Week 21, 2023
- - - - - -
Events in brief
Note ** means see below.
- Today at 3pm at the Centre. Art and Talk relating to the Parcival saga.**
- Saturday 3 June. 9:30 to noon. School of Spiritual Science lesson 4
- Monday 12 June 5pm at the Centre. Conversations **
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Today’s event is a Festival of Whitsunday#5.
* 3pm
Artistic activity led by Kathy Allan. (Those who have a set of coloured pastels, please bring them) paper supplied. (A ‘koha’ would be appreciated). To assist in the preparation of space we would like an indication if you intend to participate in this activity – please send a note to Ineke at hmulder@xtra.co.nz or 027-9488 725
* 4pm
Verse read by John Jackson
Ineke Mulder will then talk about the significance of the Parcival saga for our world today. She writes:
“In preparation of every cultural epoch there arises a saga, foreshadowing the state of consciousness of the epoch to come.
The Gilgamesh saga, centred round the search for immortality, points at what is to come: the Egyptian cult of the Dead and the sentient soul time.
In the Odyssey where we meet Odysseus, described as “the cunning one”, the picture of what is to come in the Greco- Roman time: the Intellectual (Comprehension) soul.
So, it is with the Parcival, written in the 13th century, but set in the 9th century.
In this saga we are shown the path to the development of the consciousness/ spiritual soul time in which we currently live.
Parcival (Parzival, Parsifal, Percival) – this is not a personal name but a stage of development – has to grow through several stages before he is worthy to enter the Grail#3 Castle. (The word Grail comes from “gradalis”: step by step.)
And what is the Grail? A stone, fallen out of the Heavens, a chalice, a flower?
It gives everyone that which they desire most!”
In my talk I would like to explore the stages of development as described by Wolfram von Eschenbach especially how these stages connect with our time.
Parcival has to learn to ask the right question, then his name will appear on the Grail. Who are his teachers?
One cannot come to the Grail, unless one takes one’s brother/sister with one.
Parcival chooses his half-brother Fierefiz#2, the mightiest King of the East. Does that give us, in this time of global connectedness an indication of how we can look at this relationship between East and West in our times?
Ineke was one of the founding teachers of the Taikura High School. Her teaching included History, and the medieval romance of Parzival in Class Eleven.
After the talk Anna Reid will lead us in singing the Grail Knight’s Song. Music will be provided.
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Further Notes from the Editor.
Ineke will not be recounting the Saga itself, so if you are unfamiliar with it, you can get a brief idea of its content from the article by John Wulsin referenced below.
The original saga is a long [430 pages] medieval poem “Parzival” – a Romance of the Middle Ages written by the knight-poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, in the early 13th century – towards the end of the 4th Post-Atlantean Age (which Rudolf Steiner dates from 747 BC to 1413 AD.)
The text is available digitally as a Word document [and other formats] from:
Wolfram von Eschenbach - Parzival - A new downloadable translation (poetryintranslation.com)
# Parzival’s father is King Gahmuret, his mother a western Queen Herzeloyde (heart’s sorrow). His older half-brother is Fierefiz (mother eastern Moorish (black) Queen Belcane).
# See article “Parzival – the journey of Adolescence” written by John Wulsin, a teacher in the Green Meadows Waldorf School near New York. It gives an outline of the saga itself. You can find it in the Waldorf online Library:
https://www.waldorflibrary.org/articles/761-parzival-and-the-journey-of-adolescence
# The Holy Grail. A number of sagas and tales of knights seeking the Holy grail appeared in the 12th century. They pictured the Grail in various ways. In one it is a stone in the crown of Lucifer, struck off by Michael during a battle in heaven, that fell to earth and was fashioned into a chalice used for the wine in the Last Supper and later used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood of Christ on the cross. He takes it west to Avalon in England where King Arthur’s court is held.
In another, the Grail is an angelic being only visible to Christian initiates.
It can also be seen as the human Spirit Self – the astral body purified and spiritualised by the ego -- (the Golden Fleece of the Greeks) – a goal of human development in our time.
# Whitsun or (Pentecost -- 50 Days after Easter).
This Festival commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks (to celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments) as described in the Acts of the Apostles. The day is a pivotal point in the Parzival saga:
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Conversations
Anthroposophy, Spirit and Culture
We look forward to our next Conversations gathering on -
Monday, 12th June
5:00p.m. at the Centre
Light snacks will be followed by a talk by Michelle Vette. There will be more details about the content or her talk in the next Newsletter, but circle this date on your calendar.
Diana Bacchus and Bernie Raichle
MEMBERS – URGENT
If you have not done so, please make your Annual Contribution. The Financial Year is nearly half over, and costs mount up. At our AGM we agreed to ask that each member makes a charitable* donation for the year 2023 of $90 ($7.50 per month; $22.50 per quarter) – According to personal circumstances some might be able to contribute more, some less. You may choose a monthly Direct Credit or a lump sum. NB – a single annual payment is our preferred option as it greatly reduces administration.
The Hawkes Bay Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in New Zealand is registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 as a Society with Charitable status. The ownership of the Centre property and assets is vested in the Branch’s 3 Trustees.
* You are eligible for IRD tax refund of 33% for charitable donations over $5.
Here are the internet banking details:
For your charitable donation receipt, please identify yourself:
Bank account: 38-9016-0511420-00. Code: 2023sub.
Particulars: <Surname>. Reference: <Firstname>
Treasurer. We urgently need someone to offer their services as the Branch’s Treasurer. (Stephen is unable to take up this position.) Our retiring Treasurer, Kate Hartland, wishes to hand over the reins a.s.a.p. as she going overseas in June.
This task takes about 1-2 hours a week and a monthly Committee meeting (not essential, but helpful) to look after Hastings Rudolf Steiner Centre. Computer skills are essential. The role involves monitoring the Branch’s bank account and paying the bills approved by the committee, and monitoring payments made by those hiring rooms in the Centre and by members in response to our annual appeal. A summary of Income and Expenditure in relation to our budget is prepared for the Committee’s monthly meetings on the second Thursday of each month (at 5:00pm).
Please ring Robin Bacchus, 022 398 2805 to discuss or make suggestions.
