Tonight’s cruise is timed to catch sunset and nearly-full moon rise, as a celebration of the traditional turning point in the season, known as summer’s cross quarter~a terrific time for casting your wishes to the stars!  Tickets at Shepler’s Ferry Service.

The brilliant evening star Venus is swept into the arms of her beloved Mars tonight, with the Crescent Moon looking on, creating a beautiful evening for romance under the stars.  Tickets at Shepler’s Ferry Service.

We’ll cruise west to Lake Michigan, into the light of the setting Sun, with the nearly-full Moon at our backs, rising in the East over Lake Huron, the elegant Mackinac Bridge draped between them. Tonight promises to be a spectacular show of Michigan at its finest~two Great Lakes aglow with the two great lights, and summer in full swing. Tickets at Shepler’s Ferry Service.

The lingering light of the Sun at its highest hour casts a beautiful glow over the western horizon, ideal for an evening with the Crescent Moon season’s brightest stars. Tickets at Shepler’s Ferry Service.

Our Own Deeds Inscribed into the Cosmic Spaces

Performance of the Foundation Stone by Eurythmy Spring Valley; Celestial Talk by Mary Stewart Adams

As one of the highest festivals of the word, the eurythmy performance of the Foundation Stone Meditation was first presented on Easter Sunday in 1924. Rudolf Steiner began creating the form immediately following the conclusion of the Christmas Conference, at which he undertook the ceremony of laying the rhythms of the Foundation Stone Meditation into the hearts of those called to the path of anthroposophy in life.

Easter 1924 was on Sunday, April 20, which means that this year, April 20 marks the 99th anniversary of this Foundation Stone eurythmy “deed.”

April 20 in 2023 also marks the onset of this year’s eclipse cycle, with a solar eclipse that will cast its shadow primarily across parts of the southern hemisphere. At solar eclipse a unique opportunity presents itself, a consideration of which will be presented at this festive occasion. Contact Gino Ver Eecke for information.

Sponsored by Threefold Branch and Eurythmy Spring Valley.

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt’s final session researching Dante's Divine Comedy (information and registration at this link).

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt will offer an enthusiast's study  of Dante's Divine Comedy on zoom, Friday’s through the Lenten season, 2023 (information and registration at this link).

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt will offer an enthusiast's study  of Dante's Divine Comedy on zoom, Friday’s through the Lenten season, 2023 (information and registration at this link).

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt will offer an enthusiast's study  of Dante's Divine Comedy on zoom, Friday’s through the Lenten season, 2023 (information and registration at this link).

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt will offer an enthusiast's study  of Dante's Divine Comedy on zoom, Friday’s through the Lenten season, 2023 (information and registration at this link).

At the beautiful Hotel Walloon. Details forthcoming!

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt will offer an enthusiast's study  of Dante's Divine Comedy on zoom, Friday’s through the Lenten season, 2023 (information and registration at this link).

Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams and speech artist Beatrice Voigt will offer an enthusiast's study  of Dante's Divine Comedy on zoom, Friday’s through the Lenten season, 2023 (information and registration at this link). Our approach, rather than being an academic or exhaustive undertaking, will be more like a stroll through Dante's master work, inspired by the pilgrim's own journey of exploration, following him through the Inferno, the Purgatory, and the Paradise, beginning with a mood akin to the one Dante himself describes, after he has made it through the purifying fire of the 7th Cornice, when he finds himself alone and free in the earthly paradise:
 

Eager to search, in and throughout its ways
The sacred wood, whose thick and leafy tent,
Spread in my sight, tempered the new sun's rays,

I made no pause, but left the cliff and went
With lingering steps across the level leas
Where all the soil breathed out a fragrant scent.

A delicate air, that no inconstancies
Knows in its motion, on my forehead played,
With force no greater than a gentle breeze,

And quivering at its touch the branches swayed,
All toward that quarter where the holy hill
With the first daylight stretches out its shade;
~Purgatorio Canto XXVIII, 1-12

We will begin the night with storytelling, followed by a lantern walk. In February, the northern hemisphere is still turned away from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, facing the deep reaches of space, where the mighty constellation Orion dominates the scene. The Pleiades grace the night with their charms, and on this evening, Venus will be the evening star, radiant in her position to the West over Lake Michigan. We will gather with Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams to marvel at the beauty with poetry, history, and cultural tales. See you under the moon, stars, and the velvety blue-black of winter skies at Offield Family Viewlands, Harbor Springs, MI. Get registration information from Little Traverse Conservancy at this link.

Originally defined as the third Full Moon in a season in which there are four Full Moons, the true Blue Moon is a rare celestial phenomena that can only occur in February, May, August, and November, and this year we’ve got one! Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams narrates all cruises for an unforgettable experience on the great lakes and under the stars. Tonight’s cruise is timed to catch the nearly Full Moon rising just after the Sun has set, which allows for heading west into the twilight over Lake Michigan, and then back east into the moonlight over Lake Huron, with the Mackinac Bridge elegantly draped between. Go to www.sheplersferry.com for tickets and information .

The waxing crescent Moon has slipped into the underworld kingdom of Scorpio, on its way to true blue Full Moon phase, but not before it passes through its Lavender stage, that in between place where we are invited to wake into dreams and experience life’s deepest mysteries. Tonight, we may yet catch a stray Perseid as we gather with Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams under the thickest region of Milky Way stars to hear the tales of the night. Go to Lavender Hill Farm for tickets and information.

Tonight’s cruise is designed to take advantage of the waxing crescent Moon and Venus where they adorn the western horizon, in anticipation of the Perseid Meteor Shower activity, which is most active later in the night and later in the week. Go to www.sheplersferry.com for tickets and information

As we approach the midway point in the season, the giant planet Saturn approaches its annual opposition with the Sun. Tonight you can join Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams along the Straits of Mackinac for a cruise into the celebratory mood and mystery of this turning point in the season. It has been our summer cross quarter day tradition, over the last ten years of sharing stories of the stars with Shepler’s, to break bread together in celebration of the harvest. Tickets and information at www.sheplersferry.com

Join star lore historian Mary Stewart Adams for another signing of her new book, The Star Tales of Mother Goose! Books will be available for purchase at $29.95 during the event. In addition, we're thrilled that Mary will also offer a short presentation during her visit. Details about presentation time to come. Please plan to bring a lawn chair and come learn more about this whimsical book designed to awaken the knowledge of the stars in a way only told by Adams in her special cherished voice. Go to Good Hart General Store Facebook page for more information.

The modest mid-summer meteor shower known as the Delta Aquarids fly through the night sky from the region of the star Skat in the constellation Aquarius, the Waterman. Skat means “a whisper” or a “wish,” so we’ll cruise out west under the elegant Mackinac Bridge to cast our wishes into the twilight and hear tales of the watery region of the sky. Tickets and information at www.sheplersferry.com

Come hear stories of the summer stars and get your Star Tales of Mother Goose books signed by author Mary Stewart Adams. Click here for more information about Evenings on River Street in scenic Elk Rapids, MI.

Come hear stories of the summer stars at the beautiful downtown Harbor Springs Farmer’s Market, Main Street. Find out more here!