GEMS—An Inspiring Labor of Love, by members of the GEMS community

“Light a red candle and think of 112 other people around America, each with a little silver thread going up to meet our spirit study guides.”

Those were the instructions Margaret Shipman gave to a new “GEM” as preparation for the unique study group she has led for 19 years.

During a coffee break at a conference at Rudolf Steiner House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2002, an attendee touched Margaret deeply with her sadness. The cause of the sadness? There was no study group to attend between annual conferences. Margaret had long been an active participant in the Los Angeles Branch, and it had not occurred to her that the absence of a group in many communities across the country was causing such a profound feeling of loss. “I never experienced this loneliness,” Margaret said. The “tears moved my heart into a corner for a long time until I could tell myself that, since thoughts are real, we could have a study room called America for members who have to study alone. It seemed daunting and beyond exciting at the same time.” Out of this karmic encounter was born the Geographically Engaged Members Studygroup—“GEMS.”

Every Saturday morning at 6:30 Pacific Time, the members of GEMS would light their candles and study together, their thoughts mingling and directed by their spirit guides. The whole country became a room where a study group came together and focused on materials that Margaret had provided. Each month, a new packet of riches arrived by mail in a large envelope. Lectures, articles, colored drawings, illustrations. Occasionally even booklets. And all tied together with an explanatory letter lovingly written by Margaret, who arose each morning filled with energy and enthusiasm for the day’s research. She committed herself to a staggering amount of work— hour after hour spent in the library, searching and reading and copying for her GEMS. She selected a new theme for study to begin each Easter. Some years that required purchasing a book to supplement the monthly packets. Here are the themes covered throughout the years:

2002/03 The Planetary Seals

2003/04 Calendar of the Soul

2004/05 The Foundation Stone Meditation

2005/06 Life and Death

2005/07 Theosophy

2007/08 Occult Science

2008/09 Festivals and Seasons

2009/10 Spiritual Hierarchies (and the First Goetheanum)

2010/11 Study of Man

2011/12 Man as Symphony of the Creative Word

2012/13 Man, Lucifer and Ahriman

2013/14 Life Beyond Death/Karma

2014/15 Man as Hieroglyph of the Universe

2015/16 Michael

2016/17 Man and the Stars

2017/18 Disease, Karma and Healing + Ernst Katz: Ten Commandments

2018/20 Cosmic 12 (12 topics on some aspect of “12”)

2020/21 How Rosicrucianism Weaves into the Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner

The GEMS members were connected through their mutual striving, their living thoughts, guidance from the spirit world, and the warm rays of Margaret’s love and devotion. In addition, they had contact information for all of the other members so they could reach out by phone, email, or mail. However, in 2015, Margaret was inspired to arrange for GEMS to meet in person. In her words, “We should meet face to face and work as a choir of souls with the Study-Guide-Angel our work has created.” She picked Nashville for its central location and the availability of a conference center—the Scarritt-Bennett Center—that was affordable and provided all the necessary facilities. It was a beautiful setting, a former college for missionaries, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On the grounds was a labyrinth, the first exposure of many who attended to that ancient and mysterious form of meditation. The two and one-half days of the conference were filled with activities that took months of planning. There were eurythmy performances and lessons by Raven Garland, talks by Michael Ronall on the Archangel Michael, and a performance by Glen Williamson of The Incarnation of the Logos. Attendees shared their poetry, music, art, and crafts. There were group studies and discussions, and much conversation. Everyone received a gift of The Twelve Aspects of Michael by Christoph-Andreas Lindenberg, with the inspiring and uplifting illustrations of David Newbatt. The spirit that pervaded that entire event was of unforgettable peace, harmony, mutual seeking, beauty, and love. Meeting Margaret and so many other people who shared the same thirst for spiritual knowledge and growth was inspiring and energizing.

Following that gathering, each season, around the time of the festivals, members would come together to share ideas by computer or phone on a conference line made available by the Anthroposophical Society in America. Members would take turns introducing the discussion topic, proving that the best way to learn something is to teach it.

“Every 18 years 7 months and 13 days in a human being’s life, the sun, moon and earth are in exactly the same configuration as they were on the day he/she was born. These ‘moon nodes’ are like new beginnings in our life’s journey.”

Thus Margaret announced in her last GEMS correspondence, dated April 2021, that she would no longer be continuing regular GEMS work. Instead, she will be sharing her work with a broader audience online, in some manner and through some avenue.

Members of the Anthroposophical Society in America who are not part of GEMS know Margaret by meeting her at conferences or from her music or her lectures on the Foundation Stone, the Spiritual Hierarchies, or the Goetheanum. Soon, you will all be able to share in the fruits of her heroic labors of love, dedication, and study. Stay tuned.

Thomas Brantley, Cheyenne, WY — Christine Lower, Leslie, AR — Renate Kurth, Radburn, NJ — Karen Zabriskie, Liberty, TN — Anne Saldo, Santa Monica, CA — Karl Fredrickson, Radburn, NJ — Christiana Williams, Ghent, NY