Unobvious Portal

_______RS

Notes: This haiku arose while reflecting upon and re-reading Gertrude Reif Hughes’ thoughtful and stimulating foreword to Rudolf Steiner’s monumental text “The Philosophy of Freedom” (sometimes translated as “The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity” — which gives an insight into the intended meaning of the term ‘freedom’). The book was written in 1893-1894 but the foreword was from a later edition, published in 1995. The book is very far from a typical philosophical work, which would turn many souls off, including myself in many ways. But if you pay it true and engaged attention — this book is still riveting and uniquely fresh. I have looked at it five or six times in life, always at least five or ten years apart, and it is every time a novel revelation. In contemplating the haiku, it is crucial to bear in mind that the act of noticing being referred to is realtime, in the moment! Not something realized a bit later, even a few seconds later, after the deed, relying upon memory.

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Mrs. Markey’s Sentient Fiddle – (scene 13)

A Novella in installments, tracing the intermingling autobiographies of a boy and a violin, spanning over a century. The previous episode is right here. To find any episode, look here.


(The protagonist posing with some old friends: a Japanese shakuhachi, A Zimbabwean mbira, and a good ol’ American jaw harp.)

(13) – Widowed in the Cupboard, NJ, 1959

    Read On…

Mrs. Markey’s Sentient Fiddle – (scene 12)

A Novella in installments, tracing the intermingling autobiographies of a boy and a violin, spanning over a century. The previous episode is right here. To find any episode, look here.


(The protagonist posing with some old friends: a Japanese shakuhachi, A Zimbabwean mbira, and a good ol’ American jaw harp.)

(12) – The Communion Breakfast, NJ, 1964

    Read On…

Tristan’s Insight

Paracelsus was the last natural healer, revered and loved by the common folk of many places in the late Middle Ages. Outcast and demonized because he did not undergo a traditional academic medical education, instead he wandered about from a young age observing the capacities of wild plants and earth substances via direct spiritual perception. He knew that poison and remedy were the same substance, differentiated only by a matter of dosage, and discerned the correct dose and preparations as if ‘demonically’.

    Read On…

Mrs. Markey’s Sentient Fiddle – (scene 11)

A Novella in installments, tracing the intermingling autobiographies of a boy and a violin, spanning over a century. The previous episode is right here. To find any episode, look here.


(The protagonist posing with some old friends: a Japanese shakuhachi, A Zimbabwean mbira, and a good ol’ American jaw harp.)

(11) – Becoming Iain’s Favorite, Albany, 1901

    Read On…