• To link the Verse for Blessings and Inclusion to AAP objectives, let us return to the indigenous theme. Spiritual teachings, such as anthroposophy, tell us that each ethnic group has an over-arching folk soul which enlightens their race, their destiny and their karma. “Indigenous” is characterized as something native or unique to a particular land.
• What is native to North America?  What were Native and Indigenous People hearing as they listened for the heartbeat of North America? What was the “call” from benevolent Spirits? Can the AAP initiative catch and practice the soul-spiritual essence of its birthplace? What can guide us in discovering the Spirit of this Land appropriate to our present time? Can “indigenous” animals of North America aid our endeavors and inform AAP’s programs conceptually and experientially? 
• There are three thousand animals identified as indigenous to North America. From this list two are celebrated: the Bald Eagle and the American Bison.

• Bald or Sea Eagle: The Bald Eagle's natural range covers most of North America, including most of Canada, all of the continental United States, and northern Mexico. It is the only Eagle endemic to North America.
• From the Native American Indian and Indigenous traditions of North America, the Bald Eagle is a symbol of freedom; a courier from the Spirit. The Eagle brings the message of renewed life, of rebirth. Native and Indigenous Americans testify that when we push the limits of self-discovery and personal freedom, when we embark on a challenge, a massive life change or a creative endeavor, the strength of the Eagle is gifted.  The lesson of the Eagle requires that we unleash the courage to renounce out-of-date habits, biases, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors in order to soar into unknown realms and new realities.²

• American Bison: The largest land mammal in North America, the Bison is also one of the oldest, having roamed this continent for thousands of years. At the time of the founding of the United States, Bison numbered over 30 million. To honor such an iconic and resilient species, Congress passed the National Bison Legacy Act on April 28, 2016 making the Bison a U.S. symbol of unity, resilience, healthy landscapes and communities.
• What was infused in this land from 30 million horned “cows” roaming, up until the 19^th century, from the Saskatchewan to the Rio Grande and from California all the way to the Atlantic coast?³ 
• From the Native Indian and Indigenous traditions of North America Bison symbolism is a reminder that humanity always has everything we need. Bison show us that prosperity is present if we honor everything as sacred. It also meant that our attitude towards abundance shapes life on our planet. The Spirit of the Bison can be called upon to generate harmony. The existence of the Bison, accepted by tradition, reminds us of the significance of maintaining sound behaviors and attitudes while following a spiritual path, stressing that the journey itself is equally as valuable as goals achieved.  
• The Eagle and the Bison and AAP: What has been taken up by the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology’s 3-Year Certificate Program which is symbolized by the Eagle and the Bison?  A response to this question is met, in part, thru participant testimonies. To view select the testimony tab.  Further illustrations of “listening” to the Spirit of North America are recorded throughout AAP’s website, such as the 3-year curriculum.
• Importantly, Zheni Nasi’s article entitled, Inspiration for Psychology, alongside the recordings of the “Verse for Blessings and Inclusion,” offered in thirteen different languages by AAP participants—language reflecting the folk soul of a country—demonstrates AAP’s effort to hear the heartbeat of North America thought to resound in the words:

“May our feelings penetrate to the center of our hearts and seek in love to unite . . .”

Earnestly Forward: Robert Nelson, AAP President, Faculty Chair

^_______
1  Citation from U.S. Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all peoples are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. . .”
²  Quote by Rudolf Steiner from Man as a Symphony of Created Word: “And when we see the eagle circling in the air, we do in fact utter a reality when we say: These forces which stream through the air from the Sun in such a way that they are composed of the working together of Sun with Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — these forces are those which live in the whole structure, in the very being of the eagle. But at the same time, they live in the formation of the human head. And when we place the human being into the universe . . . .  as regards his or her head we must place him or her into the eagle-sphere.”
³  Rudolf Steiner Quote from Man as a Symphony of Created Word: “The cow has horns in order to send into itself the astral-ethereal formative powers, which, pressing inward, are meant to penetrate right into the digestive organism. Precisely through the radiation that proceeds from horns and hoofs, much work arises in the digestive organism. Thus in the horn you have something well adapted by its inherent nature to ray back the living and astral properties into the inner life. In the horn you have something radiating life, even radiating astrality. . . . We ought to be very thankful that the dung remains over at all; for it carries astral and ethereal contents from the interior of the organs, out into the open. The astral and ethereal adheres to it. We only have to preserve it and use it in the proper way. . .. nature of the animals of the heights, represented by the eagle, . . .  and the animals of the earth-depths, represented by the ox or cow. . .”

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Inspiration from Steiner for Psychology

by Zheni Nasi, November, 2019

When the Verse for this Land spoke to me

We recently completed the second year of the program in anthroposophic counselling psychology, in Pennsylvania, organized by the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology.  From the beginning of this training, Dr. Roberta Nelson has started and ended each day of the seminars with speaking The Verse for this Land, by Rudolf Steiner. In addition, she has invited all participants who speak other languages, to speak the verse in their mother tongue. Every time the verse is spoken in another language, I have experienced being uplifted, as the energy shifted in the room by the presence of certain energetic beings invited to be with us in that space.

I have spoken the Verse in the circle in three languages. While I had heard it spoken by Roberta in English, I had not intentionally memorized the Verse. I knew there was something about it that called me. I had reached out to individuals who spoke the Verse in other languages, and compiled all those verses in written and spoken format.

In the last few weeks, attention has been brought to me to work with the heart, both physically in the heart region, and energetically, with the heart forces. Yesterday I was looking at the connection of the sun and the heart. Before bed, I read the verse The Ensouled Sun of Man, by Rudolf Steiner. This morning, while in that state between sleep and wakefulness, I heard from within The Verse for This Land. I was not even sure if I was saying it correctly, as I had not spoken the Verse in English, but it was flowing out of me, as if it were speaking to me. Every line, every word, every sound was working in me, and it was making sense in a new and very powerful way, as if the clouds had departed and I was looking at the bright sky, with a clarity I had never looked at before.

May our feelings penetrate
to the center of our hearts
And seek in love to unite
With those who share our goals

And with the spirits
Who look down benevolently
On our hearts’ earnest strivings

Sending us strength
From realms of light
As they illuminate our love.

It was very clear, in that moment, this Verse was telling me about the meaning of the work of the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology. The verse speaks to how to bring about an initiative, a deed, on earth:

“May our feelings penetrate to the center of our hearts”

At the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology, we are in the process of midwifing the birth of a new branch in psychology, Anthroposophic Psychology. Rudolf Steiner conceived it in early 20^th century, but this being of anthroposophic psychology was not ready to be born at that time, by only one individual, and when psychology itself was being established as a science. It has taken a long “gestation” period, until now, in the 21^st century, when not one, but many - not only from one place, but from all over the world - can facilitate its birth, based on a need of humanity. A deed on earth is an act of will, but Rudolf Steiner is telling us that this deed of will has to be mediated by the feeling realm, and go through the heart. The heart has the capacity to purify feelings (just as sensing and regulating blood flow), which then are transformed from a basis of sympathy-antipathy, into one of love and harmony. These feelings will not only penetrate through the heart of one person, but to the very center of the hearts of many.

“And seek in love to unite with those who share our goals”

This next line tells us with whom to connect and reach out, to give birth to this deed: “those who share our goals”; and how to connect with those people: “seek in love to unite.” This seeking is not only physical, to identify those individuals interested in anthroposophic psychology, but we put out an intention, a call to all those who may come to join this initiative. The seeking is primarily for the feelings to unite. Feelings are the mediator between thinking and will. As these words vibrate in me, I become aware how powerful the connection is when people come together not only based on abstract ideas, but unite through the realm of heart. Any experience is potentized through feelings. This initiative to bring about anthroposophic psychology is not only an intellectual endeavor. We strengthen this movement, to become the being of anthroposophic psychology, when imbued with our heart forces. This is an endeavor coming to us from the future.

“And with the spirits who look down benevolently on our hearts’ earnest strivings”

Any earthly experience, any manifestation in matter, any becoming on earth, has its origin in the spiritual world, has a spiritual correspondent. For this endeavor of the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology to become a deed, connecting with other individuals who share the same goals is necessary, but does not suffice. We need to make the conscious effort to connect with spiritual beings to create a true synchronicity, so that on earth becomes as it is in heaven. The power of this line is also in its telling us that we are not alone when our endeavor comes from “our hearts’ earnest strivings” - which balance our thoughts and our will. Anthroposophic psychology fulfills a need, a yearning in the hearts of many, who intuitively know that our soul-spiritual nature is not being met, and is withered by the mainstream medical model of today’s psychology. Anthroposophic psychology brings together a body-soul-spirit approach to healing and restoration of mental health, and the dignity of human being.

“Sending us strength from realms of light as they illuminate our love.”

When we come from a place of hearts’ earnest striving and consciously commune with the spiritual realm, our soul-spiritual nature is nourished, and we receive strength to bring our deeds on earth to fruition. Can we become aware of this nourishment from realms of light? Could we also incorporate this nourishment to become our medicine, in the form of illuminating our love? In our existing healing modalities, this aspect is missing at large. This line speaks to me of the meaning of true healing. We do not heal in isolation, but when we come together as a community of individual human beings. When we commune with the spiritual realms of light, honoring our bio-psycho-spiritual triune nature, we have the potential to reach our full potential, as a unification of matter and spirit.

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