COSMOS, CHRISTOS, & CONSCIOUSNESS
Courtney Roberts, M.A.
The Star of the Magi Tour
Officially kicks off in London in October 2007!
Friday night, Oct. 26th:
London College of Spirituality is Proud to Present:
Courtney Roberts & The Star of The Magi
"The Star of Bethlehem is one of the most popular, and puzzling mysteries of the Bible. But why did the authors (and editors) of the Christian gospels choose Zoroastrian Magi and astrology to herald the coming of Jesus Christ? Did the Magi have some special significance then that we have since lost? Who were they, and did their astrological beliefs really lead them to Jesus?
Once we understand who the Magi were, what they believed, and how much they influenced their Jewish and Christian neighbors, some strikingly obvious conclusions emerge, shedding an entirely new light on the origins of monotheism and messianic expectations in the ancient world."
Don't miss this opportunity to meet the author and join in an exciting group discussion exploring all the fascinating implications raised by this work regarding the past, present and future of our Western, Judeo-Christian culture, and our tragic and longstanding enmity with the Moslem Middle East.
Friends Meeting House 7:00 PM
173 Euston Road, Euston, NW1 2BJ
London
To register or RSVP: http://spirituality.meetup.com/51/calendar/6274451/
Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007: London
The 24th Annual History of Astrology Seminar
At The Astrological Lodge at the Theosophical Society:
A whole day seminar exploring various aspects of the History of Astrology.
I will be speaking on Persian Astrology and the Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions: The great cycles of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions were used throughout Christian, Jewish, Moslem, and Zoroastrian chronology to determine the rise of new dynasties, prophets, and world religions. Our earliest written source for this use is Masha'Allah (8th century CE) and his contemporaries, but their references place this tradition in use within the late Sasanian dynasty (approx. 6th century CE), hence the claim of Sasanian origins. However, the Sasanians are the only Iranian dynasty whose rise (224 CE) did not coincide with the cycle! Preceding dynasties: the Arsacids, Alexander and the Seleucids, the Achaemenids, and even Augustus and the Roman Empire all did, often dramatically so, leading to speculation that this tradition could be considerably older.
For More Info on the Seminar, Speakers, and Topics: http://www.astrolodge.co.uk/astro/newsandevents/autumn2007/historyseminar2007/historysemiar2007.html
Monday, Oct. 29, 2007: London, UK:
The Astrological Lodge at the Theosophical Society: 7:00 PM
The Star of the Magi for Astrologers
For More Info: http://www.astrolodge.co.uk/astro/info/programme.html
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007: Westport, CT
1:30 PM Berkshire Fairfield NCGR Chapter
The Star of the Magi
http://www.ctastrologers.org/2007.htm
Monday, Nov. 12, 2007: NYC
New York City Chapter NCGR
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007
Alexandria, Va
Search for God Study Group
Saturday, Nov. 17th, 2007: Richmond, VA
Richmond Chapter NCGR
2:00 PM Workshop: The Star of the Magi
http://www.geocosmic.org/chapters/chapters.php?ChapterIdx=30&submitChapter=Go+%3E%3E
Friday, Dec. 7, 2007: Bethlehem, PA,
LeHigh Valley Unitarian Universalist Society
The Star of the Magi comes to Bethlehem! 7:30PM
Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007 4:00-6:00PM
The Moravian Bookshop
Since 1745 - The World's Oldest Bookseller
428 Main Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018-5869 USA
610-866-5481
http://www.moravianbookshop.com/
Sunday. Dec. 9, 2007: Croton on Hudson, NY
UU Fellowship of Briarcliff, Croton, & Ossining, Inc.
9:00 AM & 11:00 AM
Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 7:00-8:00 PM
East West Books
78 Fifth Avenue @ 14th Street
New York, New York 10011
http://www.eastwestnyc.com/events.html
Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007: Los Gatos CA
UU Fellowship of Los Gatos
10:30 AM
Schedule 2007
I paid a flying visit to Ireland in July. It is so exciting to be a part of the growing Unitarian congregations there. I kicked off a new lecture, 'Cosmos and Consciousness,' and it seemed to go down pretty well - Or maybe they were just being polite!
Sunday, July 8th, 2007: The Princes Street Unitarian Congregation, Cork City, Ireland
Sunday, July 15, 2007: The St. Stephen's Green Unitarian Church, Dublin, Ireland
Topic: Cosmos & Consciousness - The Universe of Meaning: Beginning with a riveting recap of the extensive, and often shocking role of astrology in Christian history, this talk moves on to a re-examination of the big questions astrology attempts, in its own vain and futile way, to answer.
This Plaque is at the door of the Historic Princes Street Unitarian Church in Cork, and it gives just a hint of the role this church has played in the history of this great Irish city.
Fritz and Margaret -
Two lovely people who both do so much to keep the Cork congregation alive and well, and growing to meet the ever-changing spiritual needs of today's Ireland.
Rev. Bill Darlision: The leader of the thriving congregation at St. Stephen's Green Unitarian Church in Dublin's City Centre.
I was pleased to hear that Church member Anne Gildea quoted approvingly from my sermon in her column in the Irish Mail on Sunday, Aug. 19th. Here is an excerpt:
"... Yet I still believe life is primarily a spiritual journey. And I still attend ‘church’ every Sunday. I call it that because of the tradition I come from, but the appropriate term is, I suppose, ‘service’. I’m a member of the Dublin Unitarian Congregation. Uni-whaa? I heard you say: Let me explain this way – they say that if you crossed a Unitarian with a Ku Klux Klan-er, you get someone in a white hood who went around at night burning question marks into peoples lawns. Or as Somerset Maugham facetiously put it – “a Unitarian is someone who passionately believes in they-don’t-quite-know-what”.
A couple of weeks ago the American astrologer and writer, Courtney Roberts, gave the address. I was really stuck by one of the ideas she posited – that in the universe “meaning is as intrinsic as light, and meaning, along with time and space and gravity and mathematics was encoded and exploded into the universe that blossomed with the Big Bang and each of us, you in particular, were meant to be there from the start”. I don’t know what you will take from this idea, but for me it was an expression of the most fundamental thing I chose to believe: That life has meaning. If you chose to believe life has meaning, respect supplants cynicism, and that engenders love, and hey brethren, ya’all know who, or what Is Love...
And yes, in case you’re wondering, I am a bit embarrassed writing this. But I just thought I’d tell you that weekly I go to a place where this message is reiterated, through the prism of many viewpoints, but without any dogma. As a principle it’s summarised for me in one of the Unitarian final prayers:
“Be kind to each other, as you know you should be.” Given the times we live in, I find it good to be reminded of that. "
Thanks Anne - We all need to be reminded of that!
