being human

4 Introduction to this issue from Mary Stewart Adams Initiative!

14 Anthroposophy Comes to Ann Arbor Michigan by Dwight Ebaugh

17 The Visionary - a painting by Karine Munk Finser

18 Empowering Our Children for a Brighter Future by Sara Ciborski

21 The Kairos Insitute by Maria Ver Eecke Art & Ideas

24 Poetry for the Future by Bertram von Zabern

26 Imitation and Mental Imagery in Eurythmy part I by Kate Reese Hurd

29 Can Anything Flare in the Future - a poem by Peter Rennick Research and Reviews

30 Take in the Might of the Michael Thought by Joseph Bailey

34 The New Role for the Heart by Branko Furst

36 Reflections on Centenary Events by Alan Thewless

39 The Goetheanum Theater Festival by Christine Burke

40 Excerpt from a new translation of Steiner’s Leading Thoughts by Peter Selg

42 Strategic Priorities for the Anthroposophical Society in America affirmed by the General Council July 2024

44 Stepping Into a Modern Esoteric Stream - Portland Annual Conference Review by Kim Chotzen

46 The 2024 AWSNA Conference Review by Monika Sutherland

48 Sensing Fluidity by Nicholas Budwine

52 Anthroposophy and the Social Justice Research Symposium by Elisabeth Chomko

54 Reflections from the Path of the New Mysteries Conference by Angela Foster News for Members

55 Introducting treasurer Charles Burkam

56 The Evolution of Rudolf Steiner Library by Zo ï Doehrer

58 Erika von Baravelle Book Review by Brian Gray

59 Preparing for Holy Nights 2024-25 - a graphic

60 Welcoming New Members of the Anthroposophical Society in America

61 Honoring Members Who Have Crossed the Threshold of Death

61 Summer’s Fall - poem by Martha Claire Rowse Kelder

61 Memento Mori - a prayer by Rudolf Steiner

62 Memoriam for Clopper Almon by Judith Blatchford

Corrections: On page 58 in the Spring/Summer 2024 issue of being human , there is mention of the “Section for Speech and Performing Arts”. The correct name of the Section is Performing Arts Section (this is the shorter designation for the Section for Eurythmy, Speech, Music, Puppetry and Clowning).

The caption of a photo that appeared on page 59 of our Spring/Summer 2024 issue misidentified the students. It is a photo of students from the Waldorf School of San Francisco.

ON THE COVER:

The being of Hermes with his caduceus alights beside flowing, healing waters in this image by Karine Munk Finser, a fitting guardian of the trauma pedagogy training offered at the Kairos Institute, featured in Maria Ver Eecke’s article on page 21. Hermes is also an escort of souls through the threshold, and in this aspect may serve as a beautiful companion to our experience of the “year’s midnight” during the 13 Holy Nights from Christmas Eve December 24th to the Eve of Epiphany, January 5th. The 13th ‘hidden’ or ‘universal holy night’ occurs overnight New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day (see graphic on page 59). On December 28, 2024, the planet Mercury (Hermes in Classical Greek culture) will be visible in the SE sky an hour before sunrise just beyond where the crescent Moon greets Antares at the heart of the Scorpion, a celestial signature of crossing the threshold.

The Anthroposophica l Society in America

GENERAL COUNCIL

Mary Stewart Adams

General Secretary & President

Ezra Sullivan, Chair, At-large

Charles Burkam, Treasurer, At-large

Leah Walker, Secretary, At-large

Christine Burke, Western Region

Margaret Runyon, At-large

Gino Ver Eecke, At-large

Tess Parker Director of Programs

Eddie Ledermann Director of Finance

being human

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Letter from the General Secretary

As I write this letter of introduction to the Fall/Winter issue of being human , it is one day past New Moon and three days ahead of the US presidential election. There is a sense that we are in a dynamic moment of change, not only in the anthroposophical society, but in American culture, where now, more than ever, the healing substance of spiritual science is needed.

Our cover image depicts the being of Hermes/Mercury, a healer and guardian, leading us ever on through the twists and turns of fate. At the laying of the Foundation Stone into the hill at Dornach under stormy skies late September, 1913, Rudolf Steiner cited the position of Mercury, as evening star, in the sign of the balance. As the year 2024 draws to a close, Mercury will lead as morning star, across the threshold of Scorpio stars, a beacon lighting the way to the “cosmic new year” of 2025, which carries us beyond the centennial observances of Rudolf Steiner’s life.

In this issue of being human , we follow this path of anthroposophy as a path of healing, as demonstrated through pedagogy, poetry, art, and even strategy. Recently the General Council announced the formation of an ad hoc committee to review the building that houses the Society’s headquarters in Ann Arbor ~ see the Steiner House lecture hall draped for Michaelmas at right. On page 14 Dwight Ebaugh shares the history of how anthroposophy came to Ann Arbor, a tribute to its foundations here as we consider what’s next.

Pedagogy as a healing art is showcased next, in a wonderful essay by Sara Ciborski describing how Waldorf education empowers Lakota children. We also include an essay by Maria Ver Eecke describing the trauma pedagogy offered by the Kairos Institute, an initiative of Karine Finser, whose graceful art is seen on the cover and on several pages of this season’s issue of being human , followd by two terrific essays on poetry and eurythmy.

Joseph Bailey writes beautifully of the bold mystery and mighty call of Rudolf Steiner’s Last Address , followed by Alan Thewless’s reflections on centenary events and the stars. We are pleased to share an excerpt from Peter Selg’s introduction to a new translation of Rudolf Steiner’s Leading Thoughts , many of which bridged this time 100 years ago from Steiner’s last public address in September, 1924 to his final moments in March, 1925. Here we also include Branko Furst’s research on the heart, page 34.

The strategic priorities recently affirmed by the General Council are on page 42. These priorities are as our guiding star, thoughtfully considered so as to align with the good star of anthroposophy.

The last weeks and months have been busy with conferences and festivals, and here you can find reviews of our annual conference in Portland, Oregon, the Theater Festival at the Goetheanum, the Natural Sciences Section Sensing Fluidity conference, the return of the in-person AWSNA Conference, the 19 Class Lessons, and an initiative described as the Social Justice Forum.

No issue of being human would be complete without book review (thank you, Brian Gray), and news for members, including information about the Rudolf Steiner Library, our new treasurer Charles Burkam, a hearty welcome to new members, and our tribute to loved ones who have died.

May the contents here be strength for spirit striving,

Mary Stewart Adams

An imagination on the staff of Mercury from Ita Wegman, from her essay Mystery of the Earth , 1929:

Truly listening to another person is an act of extreme selflessness. When two people come together in freedom, recognizing each other in spirit, the old traditional symbol of the Mercury staff becomes a perceptible reality in spirit. A portion of each person’s I-organization leaves the body, submerges in the other person, and then returns to its own body. These two interpenetrating I-activities, which are associated with two souls, are the two snakes that twine upward around the staff of the spirit of truth. Thus Mercury leads human beings to freedom. In the new community, free individuals find each other in the spirit of truth, and the perception of truth becomes love.

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The Anthroposophical Society in America

The Holy Nights Series Online

December 24, 2024 - January 6, 2025 featuring the work of Alan Thewless, Mary Stewart Adams, and guests

Fire in the Temple

A Reader’s Theater

In-person in New Orleans Saturday, February 1, 2025 with with Glen Williamson and Laurie Portacarrero

Celebrating the Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner

online and in-person events March 2025

A Festival of Anthroposophy

Spring Valley, New York

April 17 - 20, 2025 featuring the 12 Moods and Foundation Stone Meditation with Eurythmy Spring Valley a foundation for the next century of anthroposophy in the world

For information, to register, and for further details for all of these events, visit our website: www.anthroposophy.org email: reception@anthroposophy.org phone: 734.662.9355 Hermes/Mercury overshadowed

Archangel Rafael, leads with healing steps across the threshold of time. Painting by Karine Munk Finser

Anthroposophy Comes to Ann Arbor Michigan

A Report by the Great Lakes Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America

By Dwight Ebaugh

Today, Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the focal point of a sizable anthroposophical community that includes a K-12 Waldorf School, a community-supported anthroposophical medical practice, a communitysupported biodynamic agricultural group, the Great Lakes Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America, and the Rudolf Steiner House, the national headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society in America. How did this come to be? How did anthroposophy come to Ann Arbor, Michigan?

All of today’s evidence of anthroposophy in the Ann Arbor region can be traced to February 1947 and the arrival in Ann Arbor of Ernst Katz and his wife, Katherine, from the Netherlands. In Ernst’s own words:

When, shortly after World War II, the mail brought to me in Holland, on my 33rd birthday [July 23, 1946], an invitation to join the faculty of the University of Michigan, the little Katz family was soon on its way to Ann Arbor. There was at that time only one member of the Anthroposophical Society [in the State of Michigan and he was] in Detroit, a warm hearted German tool-and-diemaker by the name of A. L. Olszewski. We befriended him, but unfortunately he died suddenly after a short time and so we were anthroposophically entirely isolated. Though we had enjoyed years of a very rich anthroposophical life in Holland before the war, we had learned during the war to stand on our own feet, so to speak, when this support falls away. Thus, in a way, the following years were a wonderful time for us, because we could study and work inwardly without much disturbance. We made it a principle not to speak about anthroposophy unless we perceived a question or at least an openness to matters anthroposophical.

For years nothing of the sort was forthcoming. So we kept silence, though this was not always easy. One day [in 1952] one of my physics students came to my office and said: May I ask you a question? I expected a question about his research, but instead he continued: As you probably know, we students sometimes gossip about our professors, and so we have come to the conclusion that you are different from the other professors, in that you seem to have something that we cannot quite place; it is not physics, and it is not religion either, and yet it is clearly there. Kindly tell us what it is. This question formed the beginning of all anthroposophical work in Ann Arbor. Ernst used the word ‘karma’ to explain his coming to America and specifically to explain his coming to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He writes: Already early on in my life, circumstances pointed to a karmic connection with America.

Of many such ‘chance’ events, I want to describe only one example. Students were seated at two-person desks in my high school in The Hague. For several years my desk partner was an American boy, the only American student in that school, whose parents worked in the Netherlands for an American firm. We became friends and frequently spent

time together in his or my house. Chance? ... [Later in my graduate studies] In Utrecht, theoretical natural science was taught by Professor H. Kramers. In 1936 he moved to Leiden. This move created a vacancy in Utrecht that was subsequently filled through the appointment of George Uhlenbeck, a Dutch citizen, who was Professor of Physics in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Although Professor Uhlenbeck had a good life in Ann Arbor, he could not refuse this honor and came to Utrecht to teach theoretical natural science. It did not take long for me to feel a great sense of respect for him. He organized a weekly colloquium for more advanced students and assistants during which the latest developments in natural science were discussed. At that time the work of Enrico Fermi and his co-workers in Rome was very much in the news. However, that was the time of Mussolini in Italy; consequently Fermi and his co-workers could publish their findings only in Italian. None of those attending the colloquium understood Italian. I decided to quickly learn just enough Italian to be able to read Fermi and to report his findings to the colloquium. How could I learn this language so quickly? I did not have enough money to take lessons in Italian. Instead, I listened to the world news on the Dutch radio and then switched to the Italian station reporting the same news. Soon I was able to read Fermi and other Italian scientists, and report their findings to the colloquium. I am describing these events to illustrate how quickly a positive relationship was established between me and Professor Uhlenbeck. We were very sad when in 1939 Uhlenbeck announced that there was too much rain and too little sunshine in the Netherlands and that he was returning to Ann Arbor (where people were pleased to welcome him back). Thus, it is not by chance, but through karma, that I also found my way to Ann Arbor after the war.

After the end of World War II, Ernst received an invitation from the Physics Department at the University of Michigan to join the faculty in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The decision by Ernst and Katherine to leave the Netherlands was not easy. Ernst writes: We faced a very difficult decision. We had many friends in the Netherlands. I had a job I enjoyed. Our son was able to go to the Waldorf School in Zeist. We also knew that the state of public education in the United States left much to be desired. In the Netherlands we felt inwardly nourished by the life of many anthroposophical activities, especially in Zeist, whereas in Michigan we would face an anthroposophical wasteland, more like a desert. Our thinking went back and forth on this. Finally we decided to try it for three years. It took several months to obtain visas and on February 10, 1947

we landed in New York and a few days later in Ann Arbor, where I immediately started working with the students, and was given a full work schedule. I asked Professor Uhlenbeck: What is different here from teaching in the Netherlands? He responded,“There is only one small difference you have to know about. In Europe one teaches that g (acceleration due to gravity) equals 9.81 meters/sec², but in America that g equals 32 feet/sec².”

In 1974, the newsletter of the Anthroposophical Society in America published Ernst Katz’s report, The Anthroposophical Study Circle of Ann Arbor Comes of Age. In that report, Ernst recounts the unfolding of anthroposophy in Ann Arbor after one of his students posed the question, “. . . you seem to have something that we cannot quite place; it is not physics, and it is not religion either, and yet it is clearly there. Kindly tell us what it is? ” Ernst wrote in 1974:

The student [who posed the fateful question] was a member of a fraternity, and when I had answered his question he said: You must speak to my fraternity about this. And so, in the fall of 1952, I gave the first lecture in Michigan on Rudolf Steiner. ... The first lecture tour organized by the Society in America, with Paul Allen, followed soon. On April 10, 1953 ... a n organizational meeting was held at our apartment, with 15 people present, and it was decided that we would study Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment . This was the start of the Anthroposophical Study Circle of Ann Arbor, which has met regularly ever since, without being ever in any way a formally organized entity. In these 21 years [1952 - 1974] many things have been undertaken, of which I will report only some of the highlights. We were fortunate to have a stream of anthroposophical speakers and artists. At present [1974], a typical meeting of the Study Circle begins at 8pm with 30 to 40 people coming from a radius of up to 65 miles. Newcomers are welcomed and introduced. In addition to these study meetings the Study Circle is involved in a number of other activities. Foremost among these are the celebrations of the four festivals of the year, for which Mrs. Katherine Katz is responsible. They have become high points of the year, as festivals are meant to be, and offer to 50 to 80 persons a well-balanced program of spiritual science, art, and social activities. ... The Study Circle also engages in art activities. ... The Study Circle has frequently arranged public events, often with the cooperation of the University of Michigan. We mention a few outstanding ones. In 1957, the first eurythmy performance in Ann Arbor, also the first

Initiative!

in Michigan. In 1961, I built a centennial exhibition in the main hall of the General Library of the University of Michigan, which was seen by about 20,000 persons. One of its consequences was the first Ph.D. thesis written in America with Rudolf Steiner as its topic. In 1964, a small number of persons from Detroit and Ann Arbor, including myself, founded the Detroit Waldorf School. A good deal of effort of many persons of the Study Circle went in those years into getting this school - and the beginnings of the Waldorf Teacher Training Course - established. In 1969, a student at the University of Michigan asked if one could not have a regular anthroposophical student group. So I became responsible for the founding of the Anthroposophical Student Association, the only recognized student organization of this kind in the country. ... For several years now the Association’s able president has been Arthur Zajonc, a graduate student in physics [who later served as General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America]. ... Also in 1969, I offered at the University of Michigan for the first time a non-credit course on Goethe’s Color Studies. ... In 1970, a local member expressed a need for the lessons of the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science. Mrs. Andress of Toronto came and read in Ann Arbor. We are grateful for the fine and dignified way in which she performed this task. She then requested the Vorstand to charge me with this responsibility, and so it came about that the lessons of the First Class have since been held in Ann Arbor regularly. This led in 1971 to the first conference of Class readers in North America, held in Ann Arbor with Dr. M. P. van Deventer from Arlesheim representing the Vorstand. Also in 1971 the opportunity presented itself to offer credit courses at the University of Michigan about Rudolf Steiner’s work. ... Three courses have since been developed and have been offered in rotation ... A total of over 200 students have received through these courses a more or less systematic exposure to Rudolf Steiner’s work and his contributions to mankind. ... Naturally, a sustained activity such as that of the Study Circle has effects that reach beyond the boundaries of Ann Arbor. From the beginning we felt that the Great Lakes Area was a natural-spiritual unity. And so, at various times and by various persons connected with the Study Circle, initiatives have been undertaken elsewhere, and efforts have been made to assist and to fructify anthroposophical impulses in other places. We mention in this connection: Ada, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dearborn, Detroit, Lansing,

Milwaukee, Toledo, Toronto, and Waukeshaw. Conversely, fructifying impulses have come from several of these places to Ann Arbor. And at times radiations from Ann Arbor extended as far as the West and East coasts, and Europe. . . . a great new initiative was taken in 1973. The Rudolf Steiner Institute of the Great Lakes Area was founded. It is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to establish and operate a public cultural center, where contributions will be made to the enhancement of the quality of human life through anthroposophy. In practical terms we hope to acquire a property near the University of Michigan, to be named the ‘Rudolf Steiner House.’

From our current vantage point in 2024, we know that The Rudolf Steiner Institute of the Great Lakes Area did acquire a property near the University of Michigan and it was named the Rudolf Steiner House. The acquisition occurred in 1974. The property was and is located at 1923 Geddes Avenue in Ann Arbor, a short walk from the university campus. Not only is the street address serendipitously 1923 (the year of the Christmas Conference), but the building was also constructed in 1923! As reported on the Anthroposophical Society’s website in 2017:

The beautiful building which is our home was built as the Acacia Fraternity in 1923 for the sons of Masons attending the University of Michigan. A message is engraved on the corner of the building which says (in Greek),

FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND

Ernst Katz retired from the University of Michigan in 1980 at the age of 67. However, he remained in Ann Arbor for 29 years working to support the anthroposophical movement, the Rudolf Steiner Institute of the Great Lakes Area, the Anthroposophical Society in America, the Great Lakes Branch, the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, and numerous other anthroposophical initiatives. In 1997, the Rudolf Steiner Institute of the Great Lakes Area donated the Rudolf Steiner House to the Anthroposophical Society in America and shortly thereafter the Anthroposophical Society moved its headquarters from Chicago to Ann Arbor. Ernst crossed the threshold in 2009 at the age of 96.

The Great Lakes Branch was formally established in the 1980s and remains today at the center of the local Ann Arbor anthroposophical community. The relationship of the Great Lakes Branch to the Anthroposophical Society in America is similar to the relationship between the Swiss national society and the Goetheanum. This report was assembled by the Great Lakes Branch from three primary sources (in addition to the collective memories of Branch members). The three primary sources are: The Anthroposophical Study Circle of Ann Arbor Comes of Age, a report by Dr. Ernst Katz published in 1974 in the Newsletter of the Anthroposophical Society in America; How I Survived the War, Ernst Katz, June 27, 2009, edited and translated by Agnes Schneeberg; and Katherine Katz - A Short Biography by Ernst Katz, July 1998, written shortly after Katherine’s death on St. John’s Day, June 24, 1998.

“Visionary” by Karina Munk Finser

This image, together with this issue’s cover, and those accompanying the Kairos Institue article on pages 22 and 23 were painted by Karine Munk Finser

The image on page 23 was specifically created for the opening of the Karios Institute

Initiative!

Empowering our Children for a Brighter Future: The Origin and Growth of Indigenous Waldorf Education at the Lakota Waldorf School

By Sara Ciborski

Amid rolling hills and grasslands in southwestern South Dakota, the Lakota Waldorf School is an inspiration for social and cultural renewal in a community contending with the burdens of centurieslong subjugation and poverty. Every morning, children and teachers gather in their classrooms and recite:

Anpetu iyohila miye ekta he (The Sun with loving light/ Makes bright for me each day…)

The LWS recently celebrated its 30-year anniversary and the opening of a new classroom and community building. A tuition-free school, it is funded by a network of individual and foundation donors. Some 65 children, grades K through 8, are currently enrolled, with more expected next year. Fourteen teachers and staff, plus bus drivers and a cook, most Lakota tribal members, are dedicated to ensuring that this next generation can build positive futures for themselves, their community, and beyond.

The new building is a model of green construction, built over seven years in phases at a cost of almost $3 million. It has a light-filled sunroom, four spacious classrooms (classes meet in combined groups), a reception area, administrative offices, cafeteria, and fully equipped commercial-size kitchen. It makes possible the school’s robust public outreach: open houses, seasonal celebrations, student performances, and fundraising fairs. These events attract attention to the benefits of Waldorf education-age-appropriate academics, experiential learning, the nurturing of

imagination, creativity, initiative, and respect for nature—and to the unique curriculum of Lakota culture, values, and lifeways integrated into the daily life of the school.

Pine Ridge is one of nine Lakota/Dakota/Nakota reservations in South Dakota. It is a vast territory of scattered communities and remote homesteads - 40,000 people spread over 2.8 million acres. Indian lands are held in trust by the federal government for federallyrecognized tribes, in this case, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, or Nation, the largest Lakota subtribe. The OST Education Agency and Tribal Council, which have supervision over reservation schools, have endorsed the school’s mission and grant it full autonomy in matters of curriculum, governance, and school operations.

The children of Pine Ridge are among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in the country. Despite federal funding to tribal governments for health, education, and other programs, over fifty percent of families live below the poverty line and unemployment runs as high as 80 percent. The high-school drop-out rate is 60 percent, the adolescent suicide rate four times the national average. Children grow up at risk from high rates of chronic illnesses, like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease; they suffer from significantly higher rates of attention deficit disorder and fetal alcohol syndrome. Many are separated, intermittently or permanently, from their parents.

The LWS administrator, Isabel Stadnick, says many children come to school suffering the effects of tragedies related to domestic violence, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Many lack strong role models for a healthy lifestyle: lack of meaningful work options, harsh living conditions, and political powerlessness have led to discouragement and diminished expectations on the part of many adults. Hope for a better future for these children was the school’s founding impulse.

ANTHROPOSOPHY IN SOUTH DAKOTA

The school’s origin story, according to Isabel, one of the founders, involves several fortuitous encounters. She grew up in Switzerland, attended Waldorf school in Basel, and studied speech and drama at the Goetheanum. In 1989, she visited Pine Ridge on a group tour, but it was definitely not with anthroposophy in mind. She was sure, she recalls, that she was leaving it all behind, responding instead to a different call: a deep inner connection she had long felt with America’s Plains Indians.

The group was hosted in tipis outside the town of Kyle and every evening some Lakota people would come and talk to them by the campfire. To Isabel’s surprise, one man, speaking about traditional Lakota wisdom, mentioned Rudolf Steiner. Then she met another Lakota man, Robert Stadnick, who had a book by Rudolf Steiner in his simple earth lodge. She does not recall the title; it had belonged to a retired Lakota public school principal.

Isabel and Robert married. He was raising four young children and they had three children together. Like many Lakota parents at that time, they were concerned about education, because the standardized curriculum and teaching methods in the reservation’s public schools were not supporting the development of a positive Lakota identity. They began meeting with other parents to look at alternative models. Because there was already awareness of Rudolf Steiner, it was an easy step to Waldorf education. Isabel supplied details, and it became clear that Waldorf education was harmonious with traditional Lakota child-rearing methods. In olden times, Lakota parents taught values, customs, attitudes through storytelling. They engaged children in crafts and practical work important for survival. Children were given freedom to play and explore nature. Gratitude and reverence for all life are the heart of the culture along with interdependence in social relationships.

Isabel and three Lakota elders traveled to Switzerland and met with Dr. Heinz Zimmerman, then head of the Pedagogical Section. They asked him if they could start a school that would be a Waldorf school with Lakota language and culture. He not only

said yes; he said it would not be a Waldorf school if it was not filled with the culture and language of the people.

We don’t know how a book by Rudolf Steiner reached a remote South Dakota Indian reservation, but we can trace connections back 100 years on Isabel’s side. Her grandparents, Caroline and Walter Sommer, were a Swiss couple living in London who knew Rudolf Steiner when he visited there in the early 1920s. Her grandmother took tickets at the door for his lectures. Her grandfather became an anthroposophical doctor. Her grandmother sent her daughter, Isabel’s mother, to the first Waldorf school in London and later Isabel’s parents were active members of the Anthroposophical Society in Switzerland.

STRUGGLES AND SLOW GROWTH

In 1993, 40 acres of land were purchased with donations; a one-room building was built by local volunteers and Waldorf students from Europe. At first the LWS offered only an early childhood/ kindergarten program. The first teacher was a Waldorf class teacher who was on sabbatical and stayed two years. Later, other experienced Waldorf teachers came to teach and mentor their Lakota assistants. From 1997 (when Robert died) to 2008, Isabel was in Switzerland where she completed a fundraising training program, and during the early 2000s, without an administrator, the school had to close for two years.

Since 2008, with capable Lakota people serving on the Board and Isabel’s administrative leadership, the LWS has grown steadily. The kindergarten was always full with 18 to 20 children, the most the building could accommodate. By 2016, grades one through four had been added, using two small adjacent buildings. Finally, in 2019, with the opening of the classroom wing of the new building, the LWS became a full eight-grade elementary school. It is now affiliated with AWSNA as an Associate Member, following a recent comprehensive evaluation.

The LWS is the only school on the reservation explicitly committed to decolonizing the education of Lakota children. To this end, it offers a culturally relevant curriculum of Lakota activities and content integrated into the standard Waldorf sequence of

Initiative!

academic, artistic, and practical subjects. The faculty includes a full-time Lakota culture specialist who organizes Lakota arts, crafts, plays, and ceremonies. To meet the urgent need to preserve the Lakota language—it is classified by the United Nations as at risk of extinction; most fluent speakers are over 60the LWS offers a near-immersion program of language instruction. In response to the health crisis, the school serves nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and snacks every school day.

The most recent initiative, in collaboration with tribal authorities, is a program of Lakota cultural activities, gardening, art therapy, and GED preparation for teenage boys and girls incarcerated in the local Juvenile Detention Center.

The LWS faculty now also includes Isabel’s daughters, Celestine and Caroline. As children of a Lakota father, they are enrolled members of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. Both received Waldorf teacher certification from the Academy for Anthroposophical Pedagogy in Dornach (AfAP). Both have Masters degrees from the University of New Brunswick: Celestine for educational administration and Caroline for exceptional learners. They are now providing teaching expertise along with supervision and instruction for the school’s new onsite Waldorf teacher training program.

ACADEMY FOR INDIGENOUS WALDORF PEDAGOGY

A huge challenge for the school is finding qualified native teachers. Native teachers are needed because they understand the circumstances shaping native children’s lives. Sending Lakota teachers away to distant Waldorf teacher education programs proved difficult because of the hardship of leaving families and because the cost was a strain on the school’s budget.

Under Celestine’s direction, the Academy for Indigenous Waldorf Pedagogy (AIWP) was established in 2019 in collaboration with AfAP in Dornach. The AfAP provides oversight and will confer Waldorf certification on Lakota teachers who complete the four-year program. It is designed to accommodate indigenous teacher-trainees with an individualized approach taking into consideration their socioeconomic backgrounds, family circumstances, and their status as full-time teachers at LWS. It is the first and only such program in the U.S.

While the LWS is now thriving, much work remains. Funds are needed for a building with additional classroom and handcrafts space. More teachers’ cabins are needed (there are three now). A critical shortage of reservation housing makes this imperative for teacher retention. The school’s website (www. lakotawaldorfschool.org) and social media activity keep the many individual supporters engaged, and it will continue to depend largely on foundation grants. The newest initiative: A proposal for every Waldorf school to adopt a policy of free tuition for any Native American student who would like to attend. Since all Waldorf schools in the U.S. are on land originally owned by their ancestors, this seems fair and would be a long overdue act of reconciliation.

Sara Ciborski (saraciborski@gmail.com) has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society since 1984. She is a Waldorf parent and grandparent, and author of a research monograph on Waldorf assessment methods. She has a PhD in cultural anthropology with a focus on Northeastern North American Indians. She has been a grants writer for Camphill Village in Copake (NY), AWSNA, and for the last eight years the Lakota Waldorf School.

Kairos Institute At the Center for Anthroposophy

By Maria Ver Eecke | Eurythmy Therapist

Many people today are empathetic to humankind’s sufferings due to endless wars and an increasing number of natural disasters as we live with daily stories of horror and violence. We are more aware than ever of the consequences of trauma and collective trauma. Human destiny paths are thwarted or destroyed or made impossible. There is an urgent need to prepare ourselves: To become trauma-informed and to develop capacities to help in our communities, or for those who can, prepare themselves for worldwide crisis intervention now and in the future.

In this country, there’s an unprecedented youth mental health crisis. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is monitoring the effects of the pandemic on youth. Healthcare professionals declared the situation a national emergency in October 2021. Since then, the situation has only gotten worse. Parents express concern over their children’s mental well-being, and there is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms have contributed to a mental health crisis for our youth. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reported in May 2023 that there is a drastic shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in the U.S. For every 100,000 children in the U.S. (with 1 in 5 of those children having a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder in a given year), there are only 14 child and adolescent psychiatrists available to treat them, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. At least three times as many are needed. [Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Scientific American]

HEALING IN A WORLD OF NEED

The Kairos Institute offers training in artistic therapies (painting, clay, and drawing) and is a cooperative member of iARTe, the Medical Section of the School of Spiritual Science, and the Goetheanum. Kairos Institute is an American training site for emergency pedagogy that consists of 12 modules of training for worldwide crisis intervention.

Kairos Institute was founded in 2021 by Karine Munk Finser, strongly supported by her colleagues at the Center for Anthroposophy, where she had been running the Renewal courses for 21 years.

ART THERAPIES

Kairos was created to help gather human beings who wish to become art therapists, who have that vocation inscribed in their hearts. The training follows the iARTe competencies so that students may join this movement, offering both skills and capacities, recognizant of the need to have high standards. It is a vibrant community of kindred spirits, and many have decades of teaching experience. The students are mostly teachers from early childhood, the grades, or high school, or therapists, educational support teachers, and artists who know the healing potential of art. Kairos is strongly based on Rudolf Steiner’s medical lectures and in anthroposophy. Students are encouraged to study traumatology as a foundation to understand and recognize different levels of consequences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how to address these stages.

Initiative!

EMERGENCY PEDAGOGY

Karine visited Bernd Ruf at the Parzival Center of Waldorf-based education, which has several schools within it, gardens, and a therapy farm, where she discovered the many therapies offered there as first aid for the soul, or for more extended soul care as a result of PTSD in it’s various stages.

Adjacent to this large school, Bernd Ruf founded the Emergency Pedagogy Center to respond to crises with Waldorf-based educational methods, in order to alleviate the dangers and consequences of PTSD. This large organization has managed hundreds of worldwide crisis interventions for children in war zones, other crisis situations, or regions of natural disaster.

Bernd Ruf had a first-hand experience with refugee children in 2006. Standing in a war zone cannot be described, as it goes against our humanity to try to comprehend such utter destruction.

Emergency pedagogy provides a sense of restoring humanity to victims of war or natural disasters. Many teams are still on-site, offering help and training in trauma healing, whereas other interventions offer more acute approaches.

MY EXPERIENCE AT KAIROS

As a therapeutic eurythmist, I am fortunate to be a part of the Kairos Institute at the Center for Anthroposophy. It’s inspiring to witness artistic therapies that serve the ideals of spiritual science as applied to the suffering of humanity. Kairos offers intensive spring residencies, where students learn from experienced professionals, and summer residencies with Bernd Ruf, who speaks of his real encounters with people who have suffered traumatic events. In my opinion he is doing Michaelic work in the world.

It has been heartening to meet the Kairos students. These people are striving to be of service to others. The work is intensive and after just a few days of classes, it is amazing to witness the class stir with joy in doing meaningful work. It’s very hands-on, while also being carried by deep spiritual content. There’s a lot of heart as well, and these gifted Kairos students are becoming a family.

It is empowering to join forces with others focused on the healing process. Since I began this journey, I have Karine Munk Finser

met trauma survivors and heard many stories of human suffering, and I can see how the artistic approach offers a path toward healing, as we all have creative forces within us and they can be awakened and nurtured.

At Kairos, I observed students engaged in 12 aspects of light and darkness to support diagnosis in case studies, and I have seen students paint with luminous veils, becoming ever more courageous as the imagination is carefully led into form and image. I have seen the students pound the clay as they are learning how to work with someone with a soul cramp. I have also seen clay in metamorphosis, as the Platonic solids are discovered. Colored shadows, children’s drawings, Goethe’s Fairy Tale in pastels…and so much more; forming consonants in speech or eurythmy, while exploring the soul gestures found in the heartfelt vowels; singing in harmony that lifts us out of internal discord; improvising melody, harmony, and rhythm with lyres and chimes in chorus; clowning play that demands balance and synchronicity, along with the great need for humor!; animal therapy that includes a living environment and a sensitivity for nature spirits; rhythmical application of therapeutic oils and rhythmical massage introduction; and painting

explorations with numerous master artists. These are a sampling of the classes and workshops that are offered at Kairos during spring and summer residencies. Classes and studios are online throughout the year. Please see our flier as some classes are open to our Kairos friends. You may be one!

At the closing of our spring residency in April 2024, there was a downpour of rain, and then a rainbow shone in the sky. We felt that our spiritual companions had blessed our work!

What can we do as anthroposophists to face adversarial forces in the world? How we think about each other is essential. Thoughts are powerful, as is prayer.

The Hallelujah in eurythmy purifies the soul. Hallelujah is done daily around the world. Please join us. Ask any eurythmist to show you the sequence. This practice is usually performed for those who have crossed the threshold of death. Also, one may offer a Hallelujah for those who have lost loved ones or their homeland. Most recently, I have begun to offer Hallelujah in eurythmy to those who have lost their humanity. We can do this for each other.

Karine Munk Finser

Angelus Silesius 1624-1677

Poetry For The Future

What the Verses of Angelus Silesius’ Cherubinic Wanderer tell us

By Bertram von Zabern

Many readers are familiar with the grace: The bread is not your food; what feeds you in the bread Is God’s eternal Word, is spirit and is life. We may also remember the Christmas verse: If Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem is born And not in you, you will forever be forlorn.

Why do we love these verses, so easy to remember, yet mystical in content? Rudolf Steiner spoke with highest recognition about the author of the Cherubinic Wanderer, that he was able to see the world’s mysteries and that his inspired poetry is helpful to those who pursue a spiritual path.

Born into a Protestant family, his baptized name was Johann Scheffler. He grew up and lived most of his life in or nearby Breslau, the capital of Lower Silesia, a German-speaking province of the Kingdom of Bohemia, now part of Poland. When he started studying medicine in Leiden/Holland in 1644-47, he met Abraham von Franckenberg, a friend and admirer of Jakob Böhme. Von Franckenberg introduced the young Scheffler into Christian mysticism, hermetic wisdom, alchemy, and Rosicrucian teachings. Their friendship deepened when both resided a few years later in Oels near Breslau. Johann Scheffler was deeply impressed by the teachings of his friend and Jakob Böhme. The Cherubinic Wanderer, more than 1600 two-line “Alexandrine couplets,” were most likely written in the three years following the death of his beloved teacher in 1652.

It had not been long since the Thirty Years’ War ended in 1648. The extent of destruction, death, and suffering it had left in Germany is hard to imagine. At such time of chaos, Angelus Silesius, now his poet’s name, was able to write verses of timeless spirituality in a perfect format, appealing to modern philosophical thinking as much as being beautiful. He wanted to save the mysticism of the medieval and ancient wisdom in danger of be lost, while logic reason and mechanistic thinking prevailed.

So it can be understood that the 29-year-old converted to the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, he was targeted by the Protestant side with criticism, leading to many polemic writings by him. The Cherubinic Wanderer was published in 1657. The physician and poet spent several years in the service of a prince bishop and was ordained to priesthood by the age of 37. In later years, he joined a monastic community. He was said to have served as a doctor for the poor, who gave all his belongings to charities.

The enormous collection of the short verses of the Cherubinic Wanderer strikes us by the charm of their language, their pointedness, and their inner depth. Is it that he always challenges the human being, himself, and the reader, and leads us into the true meaning of Christianity? The poetry has been perceived as mystic, quietist, alchemistic, and even existentialist.

During the vast changes of the war-torn Middle Europe in the 17th century, the Rosicrucian stream strongly unfolded, especially in the Bohemian Kingdom. It touched the life and work of Johannes Kepler, Amos Comenius, Jakob Böhme, Abraham von Franckenberg, and Angelus Silesius. The search was for the higher common ground of the knowledge of religion and nature, with the human being at its center. On first glance one may wonder about the sparkling diversity of the poetry of the Cherubinic Wanderer. But with Rudolf Steiner’s loving words about this work in mind, there is no doubt that the path of the “Wanderer” belongs to the Rosicrucian school, which leads toward a new spiritual world view.1

The lovely rose, which here your earthly eye can see, In God it blossomed thus in His eternity.

Go where you cannot walk, look where you do not see, Listen in silence, so where God speaks you will be.

Each herb brings proof to you that God is Trinity, For Sulfur, Mercury, Salt are seen in unity.

Man, be essential, when the world will cease existing, The incidents will fail, the essence is persisting.

Born are we out of God, we die in Christ, the Lord And in the Holy Spirit new life is coming forth. 2

Who has a sense for understanding what Angelus Silesius became just by such mystical contemplation, how he was able to not only view the great laws of the spiritual world order, but what Angelus Silesius also accomplished in compassionate, heart-warming beauty, which he was allowed to convey about the world secrets: who all this knows, will realize which power of inner life of humankind can be found in this medieval mysticism and which immense help from this mysticism the one can receive, who will walk the paths of spiritual research himself. 3

1 Rudolf Steiner, Mystics at the Dawn of Modern Age , SteinerBooks CW 7

2 Angelus Silesius, Cherubinic Wanderer , Verses selected and translated by Bertram von Zabern, Amazon

3 Rudolf Steiner, Metamorphoses of Soul Life II (GA 59).

Art & Ideas

Imitation and Mental Imagery in Eurythmy: A Century -

Long Detour - PART 1 1

By Kate Reese Hurd

Why does learning gestures for the vowels and consonants in speech eurythmy involve imitation? Children up to age seven are led by imitation, as this is their normal orientation. Older students and adults are also given descriptions; e.g., ‘M is like moving through mist.’ What is the basis for this approach? We learn that eurythmy movement expresses gesture-impulses that lie within each speech sound. So why do we not begin with each sound itself, to discover its impulse directly? In his 1924 course on Eurythmy as Visible Singing

(EVSing), Rudolf Steiner pointed to exactly that: Here, however, it is above all things necessary that bare gesturemaking and movement-production in eurythmy be transcended, that within the sphere of eurythmy – also in speech eurythmy – the real sound will in fact be feltsensed-perceived [empfinden] 2

With this he called for an end to “gesture-making” in eurythmy. Yet we still have not made the sound itself our sole beginning, not even in professional eurythmy schools (the author is a graduated eurythmist).

February 2024 marked 100 years since Rudolf Steiner made this declaration.

With this centennial year, we have a golden opportunity to begin really answering his call. What was he talking about? Had he given means for making the direct experience of the sounds the basis for eurythmy expression?

In 1912, he did in fact lead the first eurythmist, Lory Maier-Smits, to these means at the outset of his work with her: among her tasks was speaking sentences in assonance – sounding one vowel repeatedly 3 – and in alliteration, one consonant repeatedly. Magdalene Siegloch recounted this in How the New Art of Eurythmy Began (HNA). 4 These assignments might surprise us; but my work since 2012 confirms that these are potent means for sensing the objective eurythmy-movement impulse of each speech sound and allowing it to reveal itself through our body as gesture.

Lory wrote sentences in assonance and did “speech exercises,” as she called them; and she recited alliterations. Thus she began to enter the dynamic movement-nature of the Word. However, she did not become aware of the gesture-impulse that belongs to each vowel and consonant (see her account in HNA). Yet these impulses coordinate everything we do with our speech organization – larynx, tongue, teeth, lips, breath – to form each sound! But they are only present to us inwardly, through our feeling-sensing-perceiving (our ‘Empfindung’): they are soul-spiritual facts.

Lory’s speaking tasks had not awakened her to these gesture-impulses. Dr. Steiner then began to teach her about the vowels: “learn to feel-sense-perceive a (ah) as ...” and showed her something in movement and described it; and then likewise for i (ee) and o.

He soon began to lead her to movements for the consonants, also suggesting them by description. In lieu of learning directly from the sounds themselves through inward feeling-perceptions of their gestures, her learning became an outside-in process.

In 1922, Rudolf Steiner made Figure drawings for five vowel and 15 consonant gesture-impulses. He later stated that these “are there to rectify the movements of eurythmy. The movements will not become unnatural.... You have to imitate them.... You have to do it as it is in the whole of it, also get the veil in place; this cannot yield dislocated movements .” 5 Students now had further outside-in compensations in the absence of direct inward perceptions of the gesture-impulses. The drawings (and wooden models) were to be imitated.

Ever since Rudolf Steiner adopted this alternate, outside-in approach to the basic gestures in speech eurythmy, this is how the teaching and learning is conducted. The descriptions that facilitate this, from Dr. Steiner’s work and the records and memories of individuals, have been gathered in Eduardo Jenaro’s, Rudolf Steiner’s Eurythmische

Lautlehre: ein Handbuch für die Praxis 6 – now a primary ‘how-

to’ book. These records, together with what each generation works out as gesture, are passed down and worked on by each new student.

For a long time, I have wondered why Rudolf Steiner deferred to the production of gestures by indirect means. He clearly perceived the supersensible activity of the gesture-impulses and he had much to say about what our etheric body does when we speak.7

My puzzlement has finally been resolved by the book, Tatiana Kisseleff: A Life for Eurythmy , 8 Chapter 6 begins with “1. Starting with Imitation....” Tatiana Kisseleff was the first eurythmist- and teacher-inresidence at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, called to that work in 1914. Though she “hated it” when a group copied the movements of the person in front or made agreements about how to do them, she used imitation in her teaching along with imaginative stories to evoke a sense for the gestures. Why did she accept imitation as the mainstay in her lessons?

The biographer, Brigitte Schreckenbach, wrote: According to Rudolf Steiner, ... all arts should in a certain way begin with imitative activities; because art must never come from the head, but from sensory perception, from something that is present, at hand, not from what is thought out. He had said that the young child is “entirely a sensory organ.” And this we also become when imitating. In the matter of art, he said, “Never start from the head, the head must never work into the heart; the path must always go from the heart to the head.” And he told Lory, “First your heart must speak; later your head ” (HNA, Ch. 3, p, 38).

So, an imitative process takes us purely into our senses; we sense our way into a phenomenon. We look at what we are being shown as gesture; we feel our movement: we stay in our senses. We are prevented from imposing something from our ‘head’ onto our ‘heart.’ I believe this is a key point for Rudolf Steiner: when we imitate, we can meet what is there as perception and – as B. Schreckenbach suggested – receive it in a “pure” and “unspoiled” way. Thereafter, the feeling-sensingperceptions can flow from the ‘heart’ to the ‘head.’

At last I have some understanding for why Dr. Steiner would defer to taking an imitative approach with Lory, which continues into the present, including in

the professional programs. But is this the only means students of eurythmy could have, for staying in their senses when approaching the speech sound gestures? I want a more secure means than this; for no matter how pure and unspoiled my imitative sensing might be, what assurance do I have that the gesture that is passed down to me through an ongoing outside-in process is true to the impulse of the sound itself? If it is not, won’t it distort or even block the real gestureimpulse? I say: yes.

There is a non-imitative way for older students and adult students to stay in their senses, a way that also calls them to stay true to the phenomena of the speech sounds themselves. Hence, it is both potent and secure: we begin by speaking assonance and alliteration, as Rudolf Steiner first suggested. While standing gently poised – ready to move but at no time initiating movement – we speak the assonance (or alliteration); we give our whole being to it; we hear the sounding; we feel our speaking and its resonance through our speech organization; and inwardly we begin to perceive the movement-impulse delicately awaken: unrushed, continuing to speak, we feel-senseperceive how this impulse would find its way through our body and limbs of its own accord if we let it do so purely and unspoiled by any attempt to direct it – free from pre-conceived ideas, feelings and memory pictures, free from the Figures, too, free from habits and hunches. If the gesture-movement is truly free in this way, it will repeatedly demonstrate its distinct manner of expression, beginning with its most subtle manifestation within us. This is a “from within” 9 process.

As we get to know its characteristics ever better, a time can come when the impulse is so familiar to us that we have no need or desire to speak in order to be aware of it:10 we simply turn our inward attention to it just as we do when we are about to speak the sound. Through our inner senses we are as ‘one’ with it as a child is ‘one’ with its environment through its bodily senses.

After long practice with this process, when we allow our feeling-sensing-perceiving of these gestureimpulses to stream to our head, to be known and clarified there, we will find that 20 of the sounds have been revealing to us that what Dr. Steiner recorded in his Figure drawing for each of them is their nature.

Art & Ideas

We are in agreement! This gives us confidence in our work. His many descriptions reveal these same truths, too (see Jenaro’s volume). We will also find that with the help of our head we are able to say where and in what ways – as color and form – the impulse is active in our being and limbs, and where it is not. We have begun to experience the remarkable movement-image of each sound right within ourselves, not out of reach somewhere in the spiritual cosmos. In addition, we will begin to discern the activity of these impulses of the Word in outer nature, too. Rudolf Steiner also said that it is “through all kinds of gestures and movements of their limbs or of their actual form ” that spiritual beings speak! Hence, if we were approached in spirit, perhaps we would understand some of this “gesture- language,” which he said is “the basis for cultivating the art of eurythmy.”11

Part II 12 of this article takes up the task of forming in gesture all of the sounds in words. And my 2014 report describes how I prepared for this sensitive work, The Speech Sound Etudes: Feeling the Gestures, Finding the Figures 13 May we all support eurythmy in actually becoming this “visible speech” – speech as complete, beautifully-formed and rhythmic as audible poetic speech is.

The Eurythmy Meditation

I seek within

The working of creative forces, The living of creative powers. It tells me

Of earth’s might of weight

Through the word of my feet, It tells me

Of air’s forces of form

Through the singing of my hands, It tells me

Of heaven’s power of light

Through the sensing of my head, How the world in MAN [the human being]

Speaks, sings, senses.

– Rudolf Steiner 14

Kate Reese Hurd is a eurythmist and writer who has a

background in music and poetic recitation. The home page of her new website is: “The Movement of the Word: Foundation Work in Speech, Poetry, Music, Eurythmy and Shakespeare’s Pentameter.”15

1 This Part I is shortened from the two-part article that appeared in Chanticleer, the Newsletter of the Berkshire-Taconic Branch, OctoberNovember 2023. See the entire article at the author’s new website, eurythmyfoundationmatters.website.

2 Lect. 1, 2nd page (translated by KRH). “Here” refers to laying a foundation for music eurythmy. Inadequate direct experience also impacts music eurythmy. The most important “real sounds” in tonal music are the steps of the musical scale, not the named pitches.

3 Assonance, e.g., “Pete’s breezy heath-bees streak freely; he’s pleased!” This is one of many etude-study sentences composed by the author. See The Speech Sound Etudes: Revelations of the Logos, 2016. (Inquire at the Turose Shop, Ghent NY, or the Rudolf Steiner Library, Hudson NY.)

4 Verlag am Goetheanum 1993; Temple Lodge 1997.

5 Eurythmy: Its Birth and Development, GA 277, p. 142; R. Steiner speaking to the Stuttgart Eurythmeum faculty, April 1924.

6 Rudolf Steiner’s Eurythmy Teaching Concerning the Sounds: A Handbook for the Practice; not in English; Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 1999; Private printing 2012.

7 See his introductions to eurythmy: An Introduction to Eurythmy, GA 277a.

8 Tatiana Kisseleff: Ein Leben für Eurythmie; Verlag Ch. Mollmann 2016; not in English.

9 “From within,” as we promise in the “Eurythmy Meditation.”

10 Note: R. Steiner advised eurythmists not to speak while moving, which is correct in eurythmy expression. But merely curtailing the urge to speak will not result in valid speech sound gestures.

11 Community Life, Inner Development, Sexuality and the Spiritual Teacher, GA 253, Lect. 3, 1/5 in.

12 For Part II , see note 1.

13 Posted at the Eurythmy Association of North America website, artistic category, 2014; now revised and posted at the author’s website.

14 See end of Lect. 14 in the cycle, Eurythmy as Visible Speech. (Verse translated by KRH.)

15 See note 1.

CAN ANYTHING FLARE IN THE FUTURE

That was not seeded in the past

When I look back at the field we plowed

I see the furrows in my forehead

And what I thought weeds gone wild

The fall has turned them all to flowers

It turns out time is the abyss

Out of which is cut our own

Little space to work things out in

To ruin and redeem ourselves

Like any good arable land

And then lie idle for many years

We behold them all over the world

Empty grassy fields

Pregnant with us and yearning

Peter Rennick

Photo: MSA

Research & Reviews Take In The Might Of The Michael Thought Thoughts On Aspects Of Rudolf Steiner’s Final Address

By Joseph Bailey

M ichael Festivals in the proper mood will make for an instreaming of the Michael force into spiritual goings-on in human earth existence.

The last words Rudolf Steiner ever spoke to an audience are considered not a “lecture”, but rather an “address”. He had to keep it short because he lacked the strength for anything else. From his first sentence one can deduce that he had paused the two days prior but hadn’t been able to recover fully. Little did he or anyone else know that after the few words he delivered he would retire to his sickbed and not leave it again: The “Last Address” marks the beginning of what would be the last phase of Rudolf Steiner’s life on earth.

He does seem to have been aware, however, that he would not be able to deliver one of the full-length lectures of which he had given some six thousand in the course of the preceding two and a half decades. Short as it is, though, Steiner’s talk is rich and profound, surprising, in places even baffling in the matters it refers to. This article seeks to underscore and elucidate some of this richness and depth. It is safe to assume that most anthroposophists are familiar with the “Last Address”; nevertheless, a commentated paraphrase of its contents seems the best way to do so.

The speaker’s stated purpose in addressing the audience on this eve of Michaelmas 1924 is to invoke the proper mood, the “Michael consecration mood for today , [italics J. B.], so that in our hearts, in our souls it can emanate onto tomorrow”1, onto Michaelmas, September 29th. He doesn’t want the day to pass, he says, without having done so, even briefly. And so he has braced himself up one more time and stepped to the podium – with the devoted medical support of Ita Wegman, without whom it would not be possible to manage even the few words he hopes to speak.

Why is it so important for Rudolf Steiner to speak on the Michael-mood in spite of his exhaustion? The Michael- mood is crucial to a proper instreaming of the Michael force into human spiritual events on earth, and this instreaming will be possible once Michael festivals in the right mood are installed along with the other existing seasonal festivals. We may assume that taking in this might and creating the proper mood go hand in hand. And the proper festive mood would lack its foundation – the “human point of departure”, as Steiner calls it – “unless the might of the Michael idea passes over into a number of souls”. But as of 1924, people have no more than an inkling of this power or might that inheres in the Michael idea.

Steiner goes on: What can be done until then – that is, in the absence of such a human point of departure – to call forth the Michael-mood at the Michaelic time of year is to give oneself over to what he calls “thoughts that prepare us for a future [italics J. B.] Michael-mood that is festive on a humanity-wide scale.” The speaker then goes into what to do to make “preparatory thoughts” of this kind “especially active” (and he becomes somewhat enigmatic here): Turn one’s gaze to something one has witnessed happening over long periods of time, “partly on the earth, partly in supersensible worlds.” This, he says, is what will prepare what can be accomplished in the course of the 20th century by those souls who truly feel attracted to the Michael stream in the proper mood.

But what is it that has been active over long periods of time, both on earth and in supersensible worlds? And what is the thing that can be accomplished by the souls in question in the course of the 20th century?

The speaker even goes so far as to state that (as he had striven to show in the weeks leading up to this address) the very members in his audience are among those souls who actually will take part in what can be accomplished during the 20th century, “inasmuch as you have an honest inclination to the anthroposophical movement”, thus he introduces the topic of the karma of the Anthroposophical Society into these considerations as well.

Steiner then turns to what can be considered the second of three parts of the address. This second part deals with the series of incarnations beginning with the Old Testament prophet Elija and ending with the German Romantic poet Novalis (the pen name of Friedrich von Hardenberg, who lived from 1772 to 1801). Here Steiner refers – in a remarkable elocution, considering it is a matter of one and the same reincarnating entelechy – to “entities” who will be brought to mind. These entities, who are “intimately bound up with the Michael stream” and whose connection to it will continue to intensify, and who “in at least two consecutive incarnations make a big impression on a large part of humankind”, will nevertheless combine to form a union as the consecutive incarnation of a single entity.

He then touches on the first of the two pairs of consecutive incarnations: the Old Testament prophet Elija, whose entelechy, with its purposeful, trailblazing impulse not just for his own people, but for humankind at large, and who had a way of reappearing at the most crucial of junctures in the development of humanity, reincarnated at the right time to be initiated by Christ Jesus Himself, as the New Testament figure of Lazarus/John.

Turning to the next pair of consecutive incarnations, which is the one Steiner is referring to as the consecutive incarnations of “a single entity”, he speaks first in broader terms of the cosmic/supersensible relationship between the Renaissance painter Raphael Urbino (1482 – 1520) and the poet Novalis (who was born nearly 300 years later). The initiate’s spiritual scientific research had yielded that Raphael “resurrected”, so to speak, in

Novalis: “What was revealed from within Novalis in beautiful words had through Raphael been set before humankind in the loveliest of colors and forms.”

Having thus briefly described the connection between these two consecutive incarnations, Steiner goes on to deal more in depth with the entity’s passage through the planetary spheres after the death of Raphael and before the incarnation as Novalis. He describes how the departed soul of Raphael entered the planetary spheres “in order to return to an earth existence after he had worked out his karma with the beings of those spheres and with the human souls likewise in the life of the departed.” One sphere after another, starting with the Moon, then Mercury, followed by Venus, the Sun and, finally, Jupiter (the “Last Address” makes no mention of Raphael’s work after death in the spheres of Mars or Saturn): this passage through the spheres culminates in the Jupiter sphere, where – together with the beings and souls mentioned above – the Raphael soul had consummated a wisdom-filled resumé of all that is cosmic thinking and cosmic being into magic; he had summed them up, so to speak, in terms of magic, and he had done so – remarkably enough – together with none other than Goethe (in his later phase [!]), but also, possibly even more remarkable, with two occultists who were “more or less on the wrong path”: Eliphas Levi and Emmanuel Swedenborg. The result of this surprising collaboration in the supersensible is what later became Novalis’ “Magical Idealism” –which one might read as synonymous with the term “cosmic intelligence” – or at any rate as similar as a “precursor” to it can be.

After the account of the Raphael soul’s passage through the Jupiter sphere, Steiner reports on what a difficult time Hermann Grimm had had when he sought to pen a biography of Raphael. After making four different attempts at writing Raphael’s biography, all that Grimm had been able to manage was to talk, not about Raphael himself, but about the sequence of Raphael’s paintings, that is, about how each one of his paintings proceeds out of the previous one and progresses into the one that follows it. The reason Steiner gives for this inability on Grimm’s part is that “the earthly personality of Raphael was completely swept along by –and could only be at all present through – what LazarusJohn had given this soul, in order for it to be able to pour itself out for humankind into color and form.”

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And the biography of Novalis, who died at age 28, is a kind of repetition of Raphael’s, who lived to the age of 38: The Raphael-entelechy:

absolved, as it were, its Raphael life once more, likewise with a mere 30-year life span, in Novalis. And so we see Raphael die young, Novalis die young, one entity, gone forth from Lazarus-John, sent down to people on earth, presenting itself to humanity in two different forms, and in this way preparing the Michael-mood in painting and in poetry. […] Everything that could be seen by human eyes through Raphael: human hearts could permeate themselves with it when it resurrected in Novalis.

And Steiner goes on to point out that the short lives the two men lived is not the only thing they had in common; he makes clear that, as had been the case with Raphael, Novalis had not had a strong connection with earthly life – as evidenced by his declaration that the sole purpose of his life was to “die after” his fiancée Sophie von Kühn, who had died at the age of 15. Here, skeptics may raise the objection that he went on to become a mining assessor (not as ‘Novalis’, but rather as Friedrich von Hardenberg), not to mention his second engagement not long before his death, with Julie Charpentier – hardly evidence of being ‘poorly incarnated’. To be sure. Nevertheless, for Hardenberg these episodes, too, are no more and no less than means to the end of “living out his Magical Idealism [nay: inspiring it] by not wanting to come into contact with earthly life.” That can account for the way in which “everything in Novalis’ poetry appears in a nearly heavenly poetic radiance”, and how he is able to make “the most trivial material things resurrect through his poetic-magical idealism.” Moreover, the very affliction that ended his life – tuberculosis, which consists in the dissolution of the physical body – is a purely physiological indication of how it became progressively impossible for him to incarnate.

But in what way does all this make Novalis “a shining harbinger of the Michael mood”?

Raphael and Novalis, says Steiner in the “Last Address”, are a single entity showing itself to humankind in two brief life spans, preparing the mood of Michael through painting, through poetry. Why would it be necessary to distribute the normal duration of a single lifetime over two separate incarnations lasting 28 and 38 years, respectively? And in what sense is this something that can prepare what needs to be accomplished? In what

way would this bear witness to the fact that they are “intimately bound up with the Michael stream”?

In the absence of the second part of what Rudolf Steiner began to say in the “Last Address”, 2 my speculation on the matter is this: If the “entity” had spent sixty-plus years in a single earth incarnation, it would necessarily have entered into old age, and would thus have had to incarnate more fully. So if, say, Raphael had lived into his 60s, it might actually have been possible for someone like Hermann Grimm to write a biography of him. To be sure. But it would also – so this author assumes – have given Ahriman more ready access to this incarnation together with the artistic works that arose out of it. And Steiner would not have been able to ascribe heavenly, lovely attributes to these works in the way he did.

In what sense, then, are Novalis and Raphael to be considered “Michaelic”, or as precursors of the Michael stream, of the anthroposophical movement?

In the way just described, they possess at least this one of the many traits Steiner ascribes to Michael (in contexts other than the “Last Address”):

The difficulties, nay the impossibilities for Michael to work into human souls have to do with the fact that he himself with his being does not in any way want to come into contact with the physical presence of earthly life. […] Any and all contact with what human beings must come into contact with in their present physical life on earth could only be seen by Michael as a defilement of his own being. (“Continuation of the Second Contemplation…”, GA 26 [1976], p. 146)

So we might say that Raphael and Novalis are precursors to the Michaelic Age inasmuch as there is no Ahrimanic element in the lives they live; none, that is, that could lend any inappropriate earthly heaviness to their artistic activity. What Steiner says about anthroposophy in the following remark would thus also apply – at all events to the extent that this was possible in their respective centuries – to Raphael and Novalis:

In the science of the spirit, another sphere is created in which there is no Ahrimanic element; and it is just by receiving this spirituality in the form of knowledge to which the Ahrimanic powers have no access [underline J. B.] that the human being has sufficient strength to confront Ahriman within the world. (Last paragraph of

“From Nature to Sub-Nature”, GA 26)

In its third part, the “Last Address” culminates in a grand entreaty for “the work” to vanquish the demonic, the dragon-like:

The “grand, mighty permeation with the Michael force, with the Michael will”, he calls a “work” that amounts to “what precedes the Christ will, the Christ force, in order to implant this Christ force into earthly life in the proper manner.” In order for this “work” really to overcome the demon-like, the dragon-like, all those listening must receive, must take in the Michael thought in the light of anthroposophical wisdom, with true hearts and in fervent love; moreover, they must “strive to take this year’s Michael mood of consecration as a point of departure not only to reveal this Michael thought in your souls with all your strength, but also to enliven it in your every deed .” Only in this way “will you become true servants of this Michael thought.” Only then “can you become noble helpers of what –through anthroposophy and in the spirit of Michael – is intended to assert itself in world development.”

The “Last Address” closes with the famous promise involving four times twelve founders/leaders of a humanity-wide Michael culture, followed by the mantra “Sprung from powers of the Sun”. Both the promise and the mantra are in themselves topics to which an entire article could be devoted.

Readers of this article who have also read the “Last

Address” will have noticed that the former does no more than mention what Steiner touches on as “the karma of the Anthroposophical Society.” I have chosen to leave this question out of the present considerations, and defer instead to the 2011 article by Stephen E. Usher, entitled Remarks On The Culmination at the End of the 20th Century , as a resource for answering the question on their own. In my estimation, not one word of what Steiner says outside of this question forfeits any of its currency, irrespective of whether the “four times twelve” individuals were ever found, or not. Taking in the Michael thought, creating the Michael consecration mood on a humanity-wide scale hand in hand with the installation of a culturally universal Michaelmas festival remains every bit as crucial to an instreaming of the Michael force into human events on earth if Steiner’s promise was fulfilled, and is all the more urgent if it was not.

1 Please note that all quotes in this article have been translated by the author from the original German.

2 In the „additional remarks“ to the original German version (p. 175), Marie Steiner is quoted as follows: He [i.e., Rudolf Steiner] did not get as far in the lecture as he had originally intended. He gave us the f irst part of the Mystery of Lazarus; At that time he not only told me, but later wrote on the envelope of the first transcription:”Do not pass this on until I have added the second part.” It was wrested from him anyway, like so many other things.– Now he will no longer give us this second part. [...] He ended with what had run like a red thread through his revelations of wisdom: the mystery of Novalis, Raphael, John.

Novalis, Franz Gareis, c. 1799

Raphael, Self Portrait, 1506

John the Babtist, Leonardo Da Vinci, c. 1513 - 1516

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The New Role for the Heart

By Branko Furst, M.D.

The long-established, mechanistic dogma that the heart is a pressure-propulsion pump impelling the blood, an inert fluid, is beginning to lose ground.

In a recent article published by an acclaimed peerreviewed physiology journal, convincing evidence was presented that movement of the blood is primary, that is, ‘autonomous,’ whereas the heart ‘senses’ and directs its distribution to the organs and thus plays only a secondary role.1 As pointed out by Rudolf Steiner, the blood can be seen as ‘materialized’ warmth, a physical expression of the will whose very nature is activity, i.e., movement. This has been confirmed by observations on embryonic circulation where the blood circulates before the functional integrity of the heart is achieved. Not only does the blood move autonomously in response to metabolic demands of the tissues, it also possesses greater vitality than any other organ. For example, banked blood can be transfused up to 6 weeks as compared to a kidney or the heart which need to be implanted into a recipient within 48 and 5 hours, respectively, after the procurement. In as much as the blood in warm-blooded animals is an expression of the group-soul of a given species, human blood circulating in the vertical, upright direction is the expression of an individualized human spirit.

Nature’s water cycle is an apt image of an ‘autonomous’ circulation. Water rises as vapor, condenses into drops, and rains to the ground. This transition of water between the two aggregate states is caused by taking up and releasing of warmth. This is a fundamental process that plays a key role in the maintenance and renewal of the earth’s life body also known as the biosphere. Similarly, the sum of body water (blood, lymph, interstitial and intracellular fluid) is subject to incessant movements effected by metabolic warmth. Collectively, the ‘water organism,’ estimated to be about 75% of the body weight, is the carrier of the etheric body. 2 Blood, however, is a ‘very special fluid’ 3 consisting of proteinrich plasma and of the red blood cells (RBCs) which occupy between 35-45% of its volume. With 4-6 million RBCs per cubic millimeter, i.e., micro-liter, the RBCs outnumber all other types of cells in the body! RBCs are filled with hemoglobin, an iron containing molecule which binds life-giving oxygen in the lung and delivers it to the tissues for the support of cellular respiration.

The venous blood, on the other hand, transports carbon dioxide, a toxic byproduct of tissue metabolism, to be exhaled by the lung. Not unlike water in outer nature, the blood alternates between the life-filled ‘light’ condition striving towards the periphery, and the carbon dioxide-laden ‘heavy’ state seeking the center.

Conventional physiology, lacking the concept of ‘ether body’, loosely ascribes fluid movements to convective flows caused by thermal and osmotic effects and invokes an array of driving mechanisms ranging from molecular pumps to macroscopic propulsion organs such as cardiac and skeletal muscle pumps. Curiously, the directional movement of lymph, enterohepatic circulation of bile salts, movement of the cerebrospinal fluid, and of numerous substances ‘just happens.’

The origin of this blind spot in physiology is rooted in physics and can be traced to Galileo, Newton, Descartes, and their followers, who, with the advent of an intellectual conception of the world, lost the feeling for the cosmic dimensions of earthly phenomena. By way of experimental method, they reduced the four-element Aristotelian physics,4 of which the ethers were still an integral part, to three aggregate states of matter, namely, solid, liquid, and air. Warmth, the fourth state which permeates and transforms them all and forms the bridge between the physical and the etheric, was simply ascribed to atomic motion. The first inception of atomistic thinking, the bedrock of the materialistic world conception, originated with Greek philosophers, most notably, with Democritus and Epicurus. It resurfaced with the advent of the consciousness soul age in the 15th century and continues to this day (of note, in an effort to expose this trend in science, Rudolf Steiner wrote his first scientific essay on the refutation of atomism at the age of 21!). The inevitable result of such reductionist approach to nature was that only what can be ‘measured and weighed’ i.e., the ‘centric’ forces, such as gravity, pressure, electricity, magnetism, etc., were accepted by physics and physiology, whereas the activities, that is, their etheric counterparts, remain unrecognized. When released and potentized from

substances by homeopathic method these can be used as remedies in medicine and agriculture.

All nature kingdoms including humans are subject to centric forces as well as to forces of the periphery, namely, to warmth, light, chemical or tone, and life ether. The ethers reach us through the skin and the senses as well as through our breath. In the process they activate our own life or etheric forces. Spiritual scientific research shows that the sum of etheric forces in our organism manifests as negative pressure or suction 5 . The existence of negative pressure in the pleural cavity, at the center of blood vortices in the heart, and in tissue spaces virtually throughout the entire body, is well-recognized in physiology, however, the fact that collectively it constitutes a ‘force-field’ is not acknowledged. The existence of this field has now been proposed as the actual cause of blood’s movement from the periphery to the heart. Its primary field of action are the smallest vessels, the capillaries. Thus, as in any circular motion, two opposing sets of forces are needed to effect blood’s movement, namely, the centrifugal and centripetal. The former is active in the arterial pressure maintained by the left ventricle, and the latter manifests as suction.

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The assertion that the blood circulates is not quite accurate, rather, the blood moves in lemniscates and in that sense imitates planetary movements as described by Steiner in the Astronomy course 6 . The heart is placed at the crossing point between the greater (systemic) and the lesser (lung) circulations, and, like the sun, can be seen as a dynamic pivot point ceaselessly balancing the two. In that sense the heart and principal vital organs distributed above and below the heart represent a microcosmic replica of the inner solar system. 7

The statement that “the heart is not a pump” is similarly incorrect because a hydraulic ram, by which the physical principle of heart’s action can be demonstrated, is a type of pump driven by the momentum of flowing water. The heart is therefore ‘activated’ by the blood and its rhythmic movement is the expression of the macrocosmic soul/spirit forces that reach us by way of the senses and of the ‘earthly’ forces streaming to the heart from the movement-metabolic system.

It is known that the heart expends only about 1520% of its high energetic demands on contraction and expansion, with the balance (some 80%!) converted into warmth. To date, no rational explanation has

been advanced as to why the heart should generate so much heat. It has even been suggested that the heart simply is an ‘inefficient pump.’ For comparison, the efficiency 8 of an internal combustion engine is about 30-35%, significantly higher than that of the heart. The answer to this physiological riddle can only be given by occult physiology, namely, that the warmth of the heart serves as a bridge 9 between the soul-spiritual and the etheric-physical constitution of the human being. It is the gateway by which sense impressions from outer and inner world, memories, judgments, and karmic impulses are joined with our I, made ‘our own.’

At long last, the heart has been freed of a task it does not perform, burdened upon it by mechanistic thinking, and which, at any rate, is physically impossible. How could anyone imagine that an organ the size of a fist could push blood, a relatively viscous fluid (2-3 times greater than water) through an estimated length of 50,000 km of blood vessels, mostly consisting of the capillaries (1011), many of them with diameters that are smaller than the red blood cells! It may still take some time before physiologists discover that in addition to the numerous functions the heart is known to perform, it is the organ of the soul and the agent of destiny, but at the very least, the door has been opened towards a future, more human physiology.

1 Furst B., José González-Alonso, “The heart, a secondary organ in the control of blood circulation”; open access at: https://doi.org/10.1113/EP091387

2 A simple proof that fluids possess ‘etheric forces’ is the phenomenon of buoyancy. The upthrust of an object immersed in a liquid equals to the weight of displaced liquid (Archimedes’principle).

3 Goethe’s Faust, Part I

4 Aristotle maintained that circular movement is a primary type of motion in the cosmos and in living nature. It is caused by the ‘prime mover’ in the former, and by ‘entelechy’ in the self-moving organisms and mediated by ‘inner warmth’ (Physics, Books 7 and 8).

5 See, for example, Lecture of April 24, 1920, CW 201.

6 Lecture of January 17, 1921; CW 323

7 Lecture of March 23, 1911; CW 128

8 ‘efficiency’ refers to the fraction of consumed energy that can be converted into physical work.

9 Lectures of Dec. 17-20, 1920, CW 202

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Reflections on Centenary Events

Concerning the Anthroposophical Movement

By Alan Thewless

Approaching the centenary of Rudolf Steiner’s last works, thoughts naturally turn to the contributions made by this great soul for the progress of human-kind.

In this article, a particular focus relates to the final months of Rudolf Steiner’s life and to the period following his final public address, given on September 28th, 1924. His words given then are known as the “Last Address.” Following this inspired Address, Rudolf Steiner, suffering from the illness that would lead to his death on March 30th, 1925, brought a remarkable series of Letters and Leading Thoughts referencing the guiding spirits of anthroposophy and the spiritual tasks facing humanity. These Letters and Leading Thoughts began to feature in the ‘Members’ News Sheet, Was in der Anthroposophische Gesellschaft vorgeht , from 17th February, 1924, but from 24th August, 1924, onwards, their referencing of the Being, Michael, became so focused that these contributions became known as the Michael Letters . Their continuance from the bedside of Rudolf Steiner constituted a momentous final deed, an invaluable gift in the form of a rendering, not only of core teachings, but also an expression of the life of anthroposophy, the new-born science of the spirit. Here became facilitated, for the human soul, a closeness to the Michael thought life so movingly described in the “Last Address.”

It is in the “Last Address” that we are brought to the mystery of how spiritual beings, through long ages, assist souls who carry a deep and intimate connection with the Michael Stream as it works actively in evolution. Also of how these souls, after passage into the spiritual world at death, work lovingly in concert within the planetary spheres for the aims of human kind.

We know [for I often have spoken of these things] how, when man has gone through the gate of death, he enters the world of the stars. What we are accustomed to call “stars” in the external, physical sense are no more than the outer sign and symbol of spiritual worlds which look down upon us and take their share and part in all the deeds of the evolution of mankind.

In respect of the spiritual guiding powers working with and inspiring human beings, furthering the ever-

deepening human journey, Rudolf Steiner speaks of Elijah, Lazarus-John, Raphael, and Novalis, and of individuals intimately involved in the spiritual stream that flows through anthroposophy. The words spoken by Rudolf Steiner in the “Last Address” concerning these things belong to the most intimate annals of anthroposophy.

It is not the aim of this article to explore in depth the nature of the “Last Address” other than to say that the words spoken there have immediate import with regard to the spiritual forces that are carried through them. The same extraordinary quality also holds true for the content of the Michael Letters and Leading Thoughts . It is the aim of this article to look at the cosmic context in which this period of Rudolf Steiner’s creative output is placed; and to view this in relation not only to the present time, that of our centenary appreciations, but also in relation to the stream of history flowing from the central Mystery of Christianity: the events of Golgotha. To see how the cosmos of stars and planets, “…take their share and part in all the deeds of the evolution of mankind .” This is a theme that will be followed in relation to the culminating period of Rudolf Steiner’s life. Furthermore, we will be able to look at an important detail that appears towards the end of the “Last Address” related to what Rudolf Steiner speaks of “… t he work that shall be accomplished at the end of the century, and that shall lead mankind past the great crisis in which it is involved .”

In the lecture entitled, The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric , given on the 24th November, 1917, Rudolf Steiner speaks of the powerful forces at work throughout history via the starry axis of Gemini/ Sagittarius, characterizing these in relation to the strongly contrasting forces of the daily round, namely the forces of midday and of midnight. In this respect, it is remarkable to see the correlation between this axis and the central moment in human history that we know as the ‘Mystery of Golgotha.’ At this time, as the cosmos looked in wonder at events enacted on the Earth,

transformative events occurred for both the cosmos and the Earth. Jupiter and Pluto aligned themselves perfectly opposite each other along the axis between Gemini and Sagittarius, and specifically along the 17th degree of both constellations (Jupiter 17° Gemini, Pluto 17° Sagittarius, equal sidereal constellations). These things are mentioned here because of the correspondences with this axis that are evident also in the period of Rudolf Steiner’s life that we are now concerned with; a period that constituted a culminating phase of Rudolf Steiner’s life’s work. Within the context of the drama of the cosmos such correspondences call to mind the accompaniment of spiritual beings in the affairs of humankind, as referred to previously (see initial quote). They are an outward expression, within the ‘script’ of starry and planetary relationships, of spiritual activity. Such correlations in themselves are only possible through the work of Michael, who retains for us a connection between the cosmos and the human being and whose presence was so powerfully felt in the “Last Address” and in the last period of Rudolf Steiner’s life on Earth.

Diagram 1 below shows the relationship of Jupiter and Saturn at the time of our first Easter, plus the track of Saturn through the period between the Baptism and the events of our first Easter. Saturn’s inclusion is important due to his role as ‘karmic witness’ to the Mystery of what was unfolding in this period of three and one third years; for Saturn is the great chronicler of humanity’s mission, a mission that shone forth anew via the events of Christ’s ministry.

At the time of the events of Golgotha, Jupiter, working in the realm of Gemini shows how high spiritual beings worked to fructify the living/healing principle that would gradually, once more, build the bridge between Earth and Heaven — with Gemini the task is always to find the third element, the bridge spanning extremes. As he faces Pluto, there is immediate contact with the heavenly body that reveals the truth of physical existence, of the body and of matter. At Golgotha, matter and the human body experienced once more their true foundation in the Creative Word (the atom is but a false witness of what underlies matter). The Body was then freed from the forces of Death. In Pluto, discovered in 1930, there is revealed what Rudolf Steiner referred to as the ‘Resurrection Body,’ the totally spiritualized human body. The powerful dynamic of the Gemini/Sagittarius axis, however, was spoken of by Rudolf Steiner even before the discovery of this heavenly body that is now

referred to as Pluto, and confirms what Rudolf Steiner was indicating with regard to the strong forces that operate along this axis. Pluto moves extremely slowly and has not yet completed an orbit since its discovery in 1930. It appears at a time, spoken of by Rudolf Steiner as significant, in relation to esoteric Christianity:

Diagram 1

Let us see how this heavenly body, of such profound import, features during the unfolding of the science of the spirit as brought forward by Rudolf Steiner. This is taken up in Diagram 2 , which as a further development of the first diagram shows, in red, an image of spiritual activity indicated in the sphere of Pluto, as aligned with the destiny of anthroposophic work in the early 20th century. The key point here is the intimate relationship that exists between the strong axis, featuring at the beginning of our era, and the same rare axis featuring in the last years of Rudolf Steiner’s life.

With personal effort that is always necessary in order that cosmic details may touch our heart’s appreciation, there appears in the cosmic picture a synchronicity between the events of our first Easter and those working at the time of the unfolding of anthroposophy.

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And with the following, Diagram 3 , the axis: 17 degrees Gemini/Sagittarius, is shown once more only now in relation to our present times. Here it is important to remember that because of Pluto’s slow movements, taking nearly 250 years to circle the zodiac of stars, Pluto’s alignments with this axis are extremely rare, yet they are able to span motifs of meaning that bridge crucial stages of human and world development. In this sense we take up, as shown in diagram 3, rare correlations that are indicated between Pluto’s tracking of Saturn’s movements during the years of Christ’s ministry and events of anthroposophic developments in the 20th century. Additionally the diagram shows correlations that exist with the spiritual drama unfolding in our times. These are referenced in Pluto’s movements leading up to and beyond its opposition to Saturn’s position at the Mystery of Golgotha. With this there is a marked intensity around the years 2032 to 2037. The span of years between 2009 and 2037 is important in that Pluto is moving opposite to its positions between 1912 and 1952.

When a planet faces, via opposition, a significant area in the cosmos, as is found here with Pluto, it becomes an important period of recollection and acknowledgement of what shone forth in the realm being faced. This brings a perspective that highlights the spiritual demands that correlate with the 2030’s of our present century.

Regarding this final study, what immediately speaks to our soul is the cosmic identification of the importance of anthroposophy in our present complex and intense times. These rare planetary relationships are but outer indications of the urgent concerns of spiritual beings that are working through the planetary relationships described. What is always clear in relation to Pluto is that we are obliged to penetrate to the essence of things, even to the extent that all else must drop away in order that the essential spiritual truths remain. The crisis that Rudolf Steiner pointed towards in

his ‘Last Address,’ as featuring at the end of the 20th century, is one that bears the hallmark of Pluto where all that is not true must fall away if we are to make the human future possible, as nurtured within the intentions of spiritual being since Ancient Saturn. In relation to the cosmos, however, our task is to realize that behind the seemingly abstract and cold realm of the stars there exists nevertheless the profound accompaniment of spiritual beings and of the deep souls who follow human progress. The above article shows primary elements of a study that includes much additional detail. It gives a basis also to research further correspondences.

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Goetheanum Theater Festival: July 10-14, 2024

by Christine Burke

September 1924 marked a period of an astonishing amount of lecture activity in Rudolf Steiner’s life, which included The Speech Course for the Participants of the Dramatic Arts, and the Speech and Drama Lectures. Sometimes he gave five or more lectures a day, many participants attended multiple courses on the many topics presented.

As one of few speech artists in North America, I felt it was necessary to attend the 2024 festival – and had hoped that we could offer a play. The condition from the organizers was that the ensemble use specific elements of the Speech and Drama Course in preparing for it. Despite a valiant effort, there were few English-speaking speech artists able to commit, but I was determined to go. Then a colleague from Australia, Penelope Snowden, asked if any of us might help with speech chorus work for a production that was coming from her community. Beatrice Voigt and I agreed, which resulted in our doing chorus work in the Australian project by the Ink Pot Arts founder, JoAnne Sarre. The project is based on the story of Parsifal – a new adaptation by author Peter Oswald – that brings the women in the story to the forefront and shows how the community shapes and allows a single person’s destiny to unfold. In its essence, the Parsifal Project is about reconnecting to ancient wisdom with the people and practices that are needed in our time. See https://inkpot.com.au/wp-content/uploads/ ParsifalProjectNewsletterFeb2024V2.pdf for more information on the project.

The ensemble for the Parsifal Project had about 10 days to rehearse and hone the elements of the play that we were bringing to a performance level. Half of us had very little time to step into the roles, but Jo-Anne Sarre worked her magic and we shared a beautiful one-hour performance during the Theater Festival.

The July 2024 Theater Festival took place in and around the Goetheanum – in some rooms I didn’t even know existed. While most of the plays/offerings were from countries near the Goetheanum, there were other performances that brought people together from quite far away (Australia, New Zealand, North America, Korea, Japan). Meeting colleagues from around the world and experiencing the speech work in the various languages was something I will not soon forget.

In the mornings, we had lectures or panels that covered topics like the work with the Greek Gymnastics Exercises related to speaking. Peter Selg shared about the historical time when the speech and drama lectures were given. Everyone there was able to see two performances during the day – and typically there were about six to choose from, while at night we all had

the opportunity to watch together a larger production on the stage under the great hall. We basked in the beauty of the work from sun-up to sun-down, in a place created for the Word to be sounded forth beautifully.

It is hard to mention just one of the performances but, for a taste, I will share that when the ensemble from France brought Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night – in French (of course) – this was my absolute favorite performance. Not because I understand French (I don’t), but because even though they were missing an actor (Festis – if you know the play) due to illness, they brought the play through the Word and through their ensemble body (shared etheric body) in such a delightful way that one could see the fruit of the speech and drama work in it and celebrate the irony of bringing a Shakespeare play in French, to the delight of 200+ people.

The Colloquium - After The Festival July 15-17, 2024 At the colloquium we shared much of the work we are doing and how we are doing it – and what kinds of changes are being made to keep the work alive and relevant in the world. This was invaluable work that has not happened on this kind of scale since 2012. We spoke about how underfunded the speech arts in general have been and tried to open conversations about how we can change that. Some spoke of the difficulties of keeping trainings alive and relevant and how what we do is, of necessity, a long training – noting that long trainings are not part of the trend in learning at the moment.

In my own experience, the speech arts training is an initiation into the Mystery of the Word, and that sacredness was brought into the conversation as well. The conversation, like most, I find, also brought in how important it is to support one another, to work on the social arts connected to and with the Word.

My further hope for the future of the sacred and creative, formative arts of the Word is that they come back into fashion and perhaps become treasured as in days of old. And there is good reason to hope for that - - - as I can attest after returning to my school- year job at a California community college. Students are stating more and more that online teaching is not working for them, that being in person is more fulfilling, more nourishing, more productive than staring at a screen all day. They find joy in the speech exercises and verses I bring from this work into my communication studies courses, which I call Logodynamics.

The Theater Festival had about 200 attendees – 80 of whom were not speech colleagues, echoing the scene 100 years earlier in its appeal to professional and lay people alike.

Research & Reviews

Excerpt from a new translation of Rudolf Steiner’s Leading Thoughts

By Peter Selg

I n his texts published under the title Letters to the Members – contained in the Collected Works as part of volume 260a but also gathered in a special offprint after the Christmas Conference (in English: The Life, Nature, and Cultivation of Anthroposophy) – Steiner repeatedly emphasized the importance of striving for the spiritual core of anthroposophy in order to enable the reorientation of the Anthroposophical Society. If it is the task of the Anthroposophical Society to make modern spiritual science accessible to “searching souls,” then it is of the highest priority that this Society must “itself, as a Society, find its true relationship to anthroposophy.” After more than two decades of Steiner’s work for an intensive and effective social organism, this was still not the case. The Christmas Conference and the re-founding of the Society associated with it were intended to bring about the turning point. The new Society was to make anthroposophy “alive” within itself – and make the life of anthroposophy accessible to the souls seeking it, thereby countering the risk of becoming “habituated” to the existence of anthroposophy. A new awakening to the spirituality of anthroposophical spiritual science and its world-historical task was needed; in March 1924, Rudolf Steiner said, in an almost personal turn:

I would like to say that several stones would fall from my heart if I could gain the certainty that a sufficiently large number of members are aware of how important anthroposophy is today in the general spiritual-cultural process – and if this awareness would only exist to the same degree of intensity in the good sense, in the approving sense, as it exists among the opponents in the anti-sense, let us say. That is really something that would be urgently desirable .

However, this “awareness” of the importance of anthroposophy was necessarily linked to knowledge of its content, to understanding and internalizing it. The “esoteric impulse” of the Christmas Conference consisted not only in mantras, but in a new or different way of dealing with anthroposophy and its content – not in the sense of learned knowledge, but rather existentially, involving the heart, the organ of the

“Foundation Stone” and the “true self.” Esotericism depends on […] deepening in the communication of truths; in this deepening, one should see something of the impulse that the Christmas Conference wanted to bring into the Anthroposophical Society. Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner emphasized in his essays, was not only founded as a spiritual-scientific system of knowledge , but was intended from the beginning to be a thing of life in many human hearts. Anthroposophy contained life within it, “life flowing from the spirit”; its “fundamental character” is “life.” It appeared “among human beings” in the “basic form” of the “idea” – “and the first door at which it knocks is that of insight.” But its own life must always be kindled anew from and in it – i.e., it must arise anew in the individual and in the community through engagement with the content of spiritual science. Anthroposophy is not, in its nature, “of the library shelf” – and the books dealing with it must “come to life in the human being as he reads.”

After the Christmas Conference, Rudolf Steiner spoke of the distortion, even the “killing” of anthroposophy through its purely intellectual reception without the involvement of the human heart, and described what was needed instead: “reverence for the spiritual life” and the “fundamental tone of human love” in dealing with anthroposophy as a living being. The human soul has a fine sensitivity in being able to perceive this tone in what is spoken; and this in the very highest degree becomes a medium of understanding. Only in this way can anthroposophy live in its Society and – radiating from this Society – live in public, for: Where such reverence is absent, there is no power in the discussion of anthroposophical truths

In January 1924, Rudolf Steiner began a lecture course in Dornach which he described as “a kind of introduction to anthroposophy itself” – and which was at the same time intended as a guide to “how one can represent anthroposophy in the world today.” He wanted to develop anthroposophy from its “foundations” and show the way in which, from now on, “the tone should be when it comes to anthroposophy.” He also made it clear once again how contemporary anthroposophy

is, what intense questions live in the souls of human beings today – questions that are directed toward the essential nature of the human being and his spiritual home but without finding an answer:

I n their subconscious life, the men and women of today harbor earnest questions. They cannot even express these in clear thoughts, much less find answers in what the civilized world can offer; but these questions are there, and a large number of people feel them deeply. In fact, these questions are present today in all who really think. […] The great riddle, the anxious doubt confronts [the human being of the present]: Where is the world to which I belong? The more human civilization has advanced and people have learned to think intensively, the more anxiously have they felt this question. It is deepseated in human hearts today, and divides the civilized world into two classes. There are those who repress this question, smother it, do not bring it to clarity within themselves. But they suffer from it nevertheless, as from a terrible longing to solve this riddle of the human being. Others deaden themselves in face of this question, doping themselves with all sorts of things in outer life. But in so deadening themselves, they kill within themselves the secure feeling of their own being. Emptiness comes over their souls. This feeling of emptiness is present in the subconsciousness of countless human beings today

According to Rudolf Steiner, however, anthroposophical knowledge of the human being and the world opens up a methodical path of training and knowledge – and, on this path, opens concrete perspectives for answering the question of the true nature of the human being. Anthroposophy, “from the voice of the human heart itself,” receives its “mighty task” in the present; indeed, it is in itself “nothing other than what humanity is longing for today.” This, however, configures the task of the Anthroposophical Society: to make anthroposophy accessible in all its significance through a real life with anthroposophical spiritual science and its formation of ideas. The Anthroposophical Society [. . .] must find the way to let the hearts of human beings speak from out of their deepest longings . In January 1924, Rudolf Steiner wrote in the “Nachrichtenblatt”: We are living in a time when anthroposophy would become a burning question for countless human beings on the earth – if only the Anthroposophical Society succeeded in working in such a way that people’s real needs could “catch fire” by what

is presented to them as anthroposophy.

This is an excerpt from Peter Selg’s introduction to the forthcoming bilingual edition (including revised English translation) of the Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts (GA 26), which will be published by the Verlag of the Ita Wegman Institute in Arlesheim, Switzerland.

We are living in a time when anthroposophy would become a burning question for countless human beings on the Earth – if only the Anthroposophical Society succeeded in working in such a way that people’s real needs could “catch fire” by what is presented to them as anthroposophy.

Rudolf Steiner January, 1924

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

To frame these strategic priorities, we’ll begin at the end, with the year 2033 and the culmination of 100 years of anthroposophy in the US, when measured from the date of its incorporation in 1933. This nine years gives us an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate our answer to the question: “What does the Anthroposophical Society in America have to offer to the world?” It’s not just our centennial that makes this a dynamic stretch of time, it is the unique “cosmic signature” of the year 2033 itself. Consider, it marks the 100th year since the beginning of the great mystery of our era, which Rudolf Steiner referred to as the true nature of the Second Coming. It also marks the culmination of the second millennium since the Mystery of Golgotha, in 33 AD, the turning point of time. .

This type of culmination has the mark of a spiritual call, the kind that says, “The door is open, enter.”

The dynamic nature of this time means having solid steps in place, so that we can be most effective. Here are the priorities that we have affirmed as a General Council, in July 2024, for answering this call:

I. INCREASE OUR SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOL OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE TO MEET OUR CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE OBLIGATION

II. INVIGORATE MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

III. CULTIVATE AND DEEPEN ANTHROPOSOPHY IN THE CULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES

As is well known through a study of the proceedings of the 1923/24 Christmas Conference, Rudolf Steiner made it clear that for the School of Spiritual Science to stand effectively and consequently in the world it required resourcing by the national groups, based on the number of members. We intend to significantly increase our contribution to the General Anthroposophical Society, with its center in Dornach, Switzerland, over the coming years.

Our goal in taking this path is to support and inspire legitimate spiritual research and consequent scientific

inquiry that nourishes and provides healing for humanity in the face of the challenges before us locally, nationally, and globally.

Taking this first step allows us to be more specific about our second priority, which addresses the way we structure our new and existing member processes. Prioritizing member engagement strengthens all our relationships, making both the Society and the School more visible in the world.

Member engagement is a multi-faceted endeavor, and includes not only clear and competent new member processes, continuity and consistency with existing members, a willingness to sense and respond to what makes a member drift, but also a robust publications plan.

Finally, our priority of cultivating the cultural life of the anthroposophical community in the United States focuses our attention on three specific areas of endeavor and on-going initiative: 1) our US headquarters; 2) group and branch life; 3) our annual conference.

The US headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society best serves when it is recognized as a thriving heart center of administrative and community-based activity, modeling the inspiring and healing impulse that is the true nature of the anthroposophy in the world.

In addition to making more vibrant this core, we are also focused on providing support specifically to groups and branches, enabling their essential activity in communities across the US. This fosters a mutual and reciprocal benefit between “center and periphery,”

providing essential points of contact and nourishing encounter across the country, so that together we can better meet the challenges that humanity must face in every age.

We recognize that to fully realize these benefits, we must come together, so it is our intent to host vibrant annual conferences that are must-attend events for the whole community.

For the next nine years, our commitment to these priorities of increasing our contribution to the School, of enhancing our member engagement, and of cultivating the heart center of anthroposophy in the US to its furthest reaches can be envisioned in threephases, unfolding over several years each:

1. SIMPLIFYING AND REALIGNING TO OUR PRIORITIES

This deepens and strengthens our foundation for dynamically engaging with this new century of anthroposophy in the world

2. BUILDING OUT FROM OUR CORE AND STRUCTURING OUR ACTIVITY

After we successfully begin the work on our strategic priorities, we will be presented with different and potentially bigger opportunities, which means scaling our vision for the long-term out of an intent to utilize our organizational culture to continually increase the impact of our activities

3. CULTIVATING AND GROWING

Allows us to better meet and serve the growing segment of the population that longs to know and to live out of a true knowledge of the spiritual world, thereby creating a brighter future for humanity

These strategic priorities will allow us to create forms that contain the whole, which is essential to being able to fully realize the spiritual mystery of our era, as described above. Such a mystery is more fully realized when human beings come together with spirit certainty, in faithfulness towards the world’s salvation.

” Y ou have been joined by destiny together

To unfold powers which are to serve the good in creative work. And while you journey on the path of soul, Wisdom itself will teach you, That highest goals can be achieved, When souls, who give each other spirit certainty, Unite in faithfulness toward the healing of the world.”

Benedictus, “Portal of Initiation” The Four Mystery Dramas of Rudolf Steiner

Research & Reviews

Step into a modern esoteric stream and the importance of

Country Societies

Portland, OR | October 11–14, 2024

By Kim Chotzen

The recent Annual Conference of the Anthroposophical Society in America was conceived as a meeting of two country societies, in this case those of America1 and Switzerland, the latter represented by its General Secretary (and Treasurer), Marc Desaules. Although many other topics were addressed in this rich gathering, I have chosen to focus on Marc’s contributions.

The anthroposophical society and today’s riddle of the threshold Marc introduced his first talk by saying this meeting of the country societies is something recent, but also important because, since the Christmas Conference, the General Anthroposophical Society has been grounded in the country societies from which it was derived.

He understood the theme, Stepping into a Modern Esoteric Stream, to refer to the riddle of the threshold, where one can experience two distinct spheres or aspects of modern life. The challenge is to first be aware of their existence and then to retain that awareness.

Rudolf Steiner spoke of humanity as a whole crossing the threshold in 1841-1879. What does this mean? We are at risk of becoming disoriented and unable to discern which side we are on. For example, when asleep, we cannot observe our sleep. What conditions would help us be more conscious of observing and doing so that we can remain oriented?

Rudolf Steiner already pointed to this in the Philosophy of Freedom, where he describes two steps: the science of freedom (describing from the inside) and the realities of freedom (what it is like to live it, once you’ve understood it.) Then, in the first Goetheanum, whose two domes depicted these two distinct experiences that live behind everything on earth. It was burned, but he immediately started again.

Only this time a social structure was built: the refounded Anthroposophical Society with its two distinct aspects: first, an experience of learning (joining the Anthroposophical Society) and, second, an experience of representing or defending the anthroposophical ‘matter’ 2 (becoming a member of the School of Spiritual Science). Steiner brought the macrocosm and the microcosm together, showing that everyone who also does this becomes a building stone of this new social edifice, what Marc called the Resurrection Body in social life. A body (in this case, the Society) only makes sense with a soul – the School – which,

with its three classes and sections is meant to be like the great schools in history – Plato’s Academy, the School of Chartres, the University of Paris – a source of spreading out knowledge that has world-changing impact. The motif of this knowledge is the image of the human being, with its polarity between head and limbs, and its middle, the beat of heart and lungs (not the heart or lungs as such), which appears where the poles meet.

Understanding threefolding

In his workshop on threefolding, Marc spoke of how he understands the threefold social order to be the way the spiritual world is responding to the fact that humanity is on the other side of the threshold and needs a new way of organizing itself. In former times, gods, priests, kings, guilds, families, and nature gave us orientation and life rhythms. We were guided by society and nature. But since the beginning of the 20th century, human beings became I-beings, alone and no longer willing to accept direction and guidance. We tell society and nature how to behave, even what kind of bodies we want. The I-being directs everything but has lost its connection to wisdom.

Rudolf Steiner saw the consequences of this new will to organize the world and that it must be organized in a threefold way. Individualities would need to meet in three different ways: – by our needs for clothing, food, shelter being met by others – by discovering our abilities through being ‘pushed’ towards the other – through the dignity that comes from being respected, the absence of which leads to civil strife

We are at the very beginning of this epochal task and have until 3570 to fulfill it. But we must make a step in our time, although how to do this needs to be discussed.

Money as key to the threefold social order

We have to imagine a rights life that is not the state. Money is where we can make a change, freely act to create a free cultural life, shaping the future in a different way with money. The old thinking about money is: I have. The state issues money like Lego bricks! Enough so that there is plenty for everyone to play with, but not so much that It becomes uninteresting and loses value. Money is ‘given’ to us. How, then, do we create money ourselves? Without the state? How do we pass from I have money to I am money?

Per Steiner, there are three types of money: purchase, loan, and gift. By making this conscious through the way we use money, we can step into a world3 in which we experience how, when two I-beings are linked through money, consciousness becomes precise. If I only speak of what I have, I will give as little as possible in order to hold onto it, thinking only of myself. And yet, there are different rules and processes with each type of money. Discovering and adhering to them is a way of fasttracking the change one can affect today as a lone I-being:

– by paying true prices so that we all have enough income – by not collateralizing lending but lending directly to an initiative taker and not to his house! – by creating spend-down foundations as vehicles for donating for the things that are not commodities (land, labor, capital)

America’s contribution as a healing response to the world crises of our time.

Our 5th epoch, from 1413 – 3570, started in Europe, when, beginning with the Renaissance,4 human beings were born into the world of the senses. This as a consequence of how, after the Mystery of Golgotha, the spiritual world became disoriented. Spiritual beings lost their reference, the Christ, Who went to earth. It became the responsibility of human beings, through their commitment to ‘will the good’. Because there were spiritual beings that did not ‘accept’ this new destiny moment, they do not leave us free. Therefore, it is no longer possible to trust to the truth of our perception. We can easily be deceived and need a path of development to know and to perceive truthfully. This is the path developed by Christian Rosenkreutz for the sake of protecting human freedom and knowledge of truth.

But today the mystery centers are closed, while truth and freedom are attacked on all fronts, making it difficult for us to master our humanness and leaving us alone to find our way.

The mission of Europe, which it should have had until 3570 was all changed, smashed after the Treaty of Versailles. Rudolf Steiner said, once the mission of a being is smashed down, it cannot revive. It then becomes the mission of those who trampled it. So, the Anglo Americans took over the mission of Europe until the Russian epoch.

There are those in Europe who, eschewing the materialism of the US, choose to cut off relations with the West and go more toward Russia and prepare for the 6th epoch. But this is not a solution! We need not run from materialism, but find the spirit in it. The spiritual world is looking to us to shine a light on the shadow cast by materialism, revealing its true nature.

How do we do this? It is not written, but by going to England in 1923/245 Rudolf Steiner connects with the Western world and

especially with the magnetism of the north/south mountains that makes our thinking so it is easily influenced by materialism. How do we get free of this in order also to be able to perceive the Folk Spirit of our country? Rudolf Steiner gave us a new possibility in this regard with his lectures on the mission of Folk Souls 6 and his image of the threefold social order, such that the spirits of otherwise warring nations could bring peace through the light of their leaders, but now with a very different consciousness to that of Teddy Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson.

And after this, he rebuilt the Anthroposophical Society on the ground of country societies, each an expression of the ‘worldwide’ Society within a specific rights life. For this, Marc provided a majestic image of the General Society in connection with the Archai (and Michael in that capacity), the country societies linked to the Archangels, and the groups and institutions within a country related to the Angels.

What a different picture of the world this conjures up, compared to today’s geopolitical constructs. And so, as an amen,

Thou, spirit of mine earthly realm, Unveil thou the light of thine age

To the Christ-begifted soul, That striving it can thee find In the choir of the spheres of peace Resounding with light and might

Of the sense of one dedicated to

Christ

1 At which some members wondered if the time might have come to change our name to the Anthroposophical Society in the United States.

2 The German word is ‘Sache’, which is variously understood as ‘thing’, ‘matter’ and ‘cause’, but one might also think in terms of ‘for the sake of Anthroposophia’, which in German translates as for her willing. In this sense, to be a ‘representant’ (the French word used by Steiner) can be understood as doing one’s best to do her bidding, to aligning one’s will with hers.

3 Step into Another World. Marc Desaules, Anita Grandjean, Christopher Houghton Budd and Christian Thal-Jantzen. Associative Economics Worldwide, 2019. Search www.aebookstore.com.

4 The clue’s in the name!

5 Indeed, earlier, see, for example, Rudolf Steiner speaks to the British, Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1998. Also The Origins of the Anthroposophical Society in the Light of the Ancient Mysteries, Frank Teichmann. Temple Lodge, Forest Row, England (2020).

6. The Mission of the Individual Folk Souls in Relation to Teutonic Mythology, 7-17 June of 1910, Oslo. Rudolf Steiner Press, London 1970. CW 121.

Research & Reviews

The 2024 AWSNA Conference

The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America

By Monika Sutherland

The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America hosted its first in-person conference since 2019, after a five-year pause due to COVID-19. The conference took place at the Denver Waldorf School from June 24 to 27, 2024, and was attended by 279 people from the US, Canada, and Mexico. The school’s spacious campus, adorned with students’ artwork, and its numerous gathering spaces for small and large groups, created a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere. Outside, a large tent was festively decorated with flags sewn by 8th-grade students over many years. Walking into the space, you immediately felt part of something exciting and wonderful.

The theme of the conference – Radiant Self, Resilient Students, Robust Schools - was brought to life by the three esteemed keynote speakers Constanza Kaliks, Nkem Ndefo, and Simone Shurney. Each keynote presentation was introduced with storytelling and singing by Baba the Storyteller, a West African griot who brought potent themes and truths through stories and call-and-response singing before each keynote presentation. This immersive experience set a beautiful mood and allowed attendees to experience firsthand what teachers strive to bring to children in Waldorf schools - teaching through the richness of stories and images.

On the afternoon before the opening evening of the conference, a special time and space was created for conference attendees of color to gather and socialize. This initiative was well-received, with our colleagues of color reporting feeling supported and strengthened by this offering. It provided them with a safe and empowering space to meet as an affinity group and permeate the space before being joined by all the other conference attendees.

On the opening evening of the conference, the first keynote presentation was beautifully presented by the esteemed Constanza Kaliks, who is based at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, and serves as the co-chair of the General Anthroposophical and

Pedagogical Section. Constanza spoke on the topic of radiant self and began with a question: Are we, as teachers, able to develop the longing in the soul of our children and young people so that they want more than anything to participate in, to be part of, to be citizens of, this world? Constanza brought the image of the teacher as mediator, ..as one who is coming and going between the world – the vastness, the diversity, the beauty, the complexity of the whole world – and the child who is entering this world having decided to be part of this world and having decided to transform this world but first needing to learn how to live together in this shared world, each one of us different from the other.

Constanza’s talk frequently emphasized the concept of ‘mutuality,’ highlighting that it is this act of positioning ourselves ‘between’ the child and the world that increasingly shapes our ability to become teachers. She reminded us that Rudolf Steiner told the teachers, “If you want to teach, you need to learn to read the human being as a book,” and that teachers need to transform themselves every day to learn to read the human being anew. Continuing to reflect on the theme of mutuality, Constanza said, “Our deepest commitment is to the reality of the world today. Children are coming not for the world that we would love to offer to them, not the world that we remember from our childhood, but rather this exact world we are in with all the difficulties. The children came to be citizens today.” These experiences of mutuality - to become citizens of the world and to constantly re-learn to read the human being - are the teacher’s task.

On day two of the conference, the theme of Resilient Students was taken up beautifully by well-known keynote speaker Nkem Ndefo, the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit. Nkem defined ‘resilience’ as a combination of strength and flexibility. Nkem emphasized that both aspects are essential, but our dominant culture overvalues the strength aspect. Said Nkem, “Most people, when asked the question ‘what is resilience to you?’ overwhelmingly

think it is strength, perseverance, and grit, with only a small voice for adaptability.” Nkem highlighted that resilience never stands alone but is always paired with adversity, as you don’t need to be resilient if there is no adversity. This adversity may be a single incident or trauma, may be embedded chronically into life, or may be systemic, and that it can be punitive to say, ‘you need to be more resilient’ where there is no control over the adversity. Said Nkem, “There is no amount of personal resilience that will resource someone sufficiently to thrive or flourish in systems of extraction, inequity, and oppression.” Nkem spoke about a new definition of resilience, which she calls ‘alchemical resilience’, as ‘the flexible strength and increased capacity to overcome adversity, to heal, and have the capacity to change systems of inequity and oppression into places where we can thrive .‘

Helping children develop resilience requires finding the ‘sweet spot’ between underexposing and overexposing them to challenge and adversity, noted Nkem. As teachers, we can help children, in developmentally appropriate ways, problem-solve, stretch outside their comfort zone, and learn to rise to the occasion. When children are supported through these types of challenges, they grow resilient. Going a step further, Nkem spoke about racism, white privilege, and white fragility and asked, ‘How do you build resilience where there is fragility?’ She proposed that, along with learning about other cultures, educators create opportunities for children to develop a deeper understanding of white culture and privilege as a way to reduce its associated fragility.

Day three began with keynote speaker Simone Shurney, a Waldorf alum and class teacher at the Detroit Waldorf School, speaking powerfully on the theme of “robust schools.” Simone began by sharing her experience of reflecting deeply, for over a year, on the topic of robust schools and communities and that this deep contemplation compared strongly with her own experience of practicing Steiner’s ‘six basic exercises.’ Said Simone, ‘It was many weeks, perhaps months, after I formed the connection between my experience with the basic exercises and the transformation of my thoughts on community that I was able to recognize how the basic exercises, all six of them, provide a very effective framework for movement toward social change and social renewal, or social transformation, social evolution, as a whole .’

In reflecting on communities, Simone shared the inspiration she received from the timeless African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ and that ‘one interpretation of this wisdom might be: It is the love and strength of community that nurtures and brings the developing human being into being, raises them into being, into life.’ With this Simone asked, “How are we, as Waldorf school communities, striving to intentionally organize and establish ourselves as villages to serve the evolving developmental needs of our children, of the world’s, the earthly and spiritual world’s, children?” and she acknowledged that this question grows in its significance when we consider it in light of the pervasive social dynamics of the modern day. Simone spoke of the potential of Waldorf schools in creating community saying, “If we as Waldorf schools and communities empower ourselves to be our most authentic selves and continue in our striving to create independent, free-thinking, open, responsible, and responsive school communities and communal cultures we will in turn teach the students in our care to do the same. We will teach them to think for themselves so they have the courage and confidence to stand away from the oppression and limitations of mainstream culture and resist, restore, renew, and recreate.”

In addition to the keynote speeches, attendees participated in conversation group sessions to explore, deepen, and contribute their ideas to the conference themes. In the afternoons, a diverse range of workshops was available, covering topics such as ‘Burnout Support,’ ‘Form and Metamorphosis,’ and ‘Detecting Colonial Practices.’ The final hour of each day was dedicated to special interest groups, which were self-organized, plentiful, and very popular.

Conference feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with most attendees reflecting that it exceeded their expectations. Said one attendee, ‘I loved the diversity of speakers and their content. This was perhaps my favorite speaker event in the six years I have been consistently attending.’

Sensing Fluidity

A sharing of the Phenomenon

By Nicholas Budwine

In Blue Hill, Maine, at the Water Research Institute with Jennifer Greene, 30 people gathered to embark on a journey to take steps towards experiencing the intrinsic nature of water. This was the task at the Sensitive Fluidity Conference in July 2024 and from my perspective each member from their hearts accepted the task as a student; allowing us, collectively, to find our selfless teacher, Water. In order to share this beautiful and transformative experience the article will account for the materials, setup, procedure, and a brief description of the phenomena as I observed it. I invite the reader to participate in the wonder and reverent examination of this life-supporting element.

One of the opening questions brought forward at the beginning of the conference was “What is Goethean Science?” To conclude this article I will share an imaginative picture of how the concepts of thinking, feeling, and willing guide me along a path towards understanding this kind of science.

Before conducting these experiences a series of sequential questions direct our observation and hone our thinking.

1) What happened, and where?

2) What changed? (From what to what)

3) What remained? What persisted?

4) What can we now say of the essence of what we have experienced?

DROP FALL EXPERIENCE

MATERIALS :

A glass of still, unmoving water. A syringe for precise dropping. Pelikan Blue Ink (or any water based ink). A cup with a 1:10 ratio of ink to water dilution.

SET-UP:

Fill a jar with water and allow the water to settle still. Combine a 1:10 ratio of ink to water in a cup. Draw diluted ink into the syringe. Hold the syringe upright so that the tip is directed towards the sky. Consolidate the diluted ink by flicking the syringe, allowing air bubbles to rise to the top of the syringe. While still holding the syringe upright remove the air within the syringe by gently pushing on the plunger. STOP before the diluted ink emerges from the syringe tip.

PROCEDURE:

Hold the syringe so that the tip is directed towards the earth. Press the plunger so that a single diluted ink drop falls onto the surface of the water. Observe.

DESCRIPTION:

When the drop contacts the water in the jar the ink expresses continued motion below the water’s surface. The form that is immediately expressed is a torus rolling within, to, and from its center. I wish to call it en-volving. The torus, as it travels downward, expands in diameter and contracts in breadth, forming a ring. This ring then drops multiple smaller rings from its periphery. These smaller rings are connected by thin, veil-like strands of ink that simultaneously rise as the rings fall.

RING VORTEX EXPERIENCE

MATERIALS :

A glass of water. A syringe or pipette. A tube with an opening of approximately one to two centimeters on one end. The other end shall have a small hole made so that your syringe or pipette tip may fit. Diluted ink in 1:10 ratio.

SET-UP:

Fill a jar with water and allow the water to settle and still. Combine a 1:10 ratio of ink to water in a cup. Draw diluted ink into the syringe and remove air bubbles as before. Or draw diluted ink into a pipette.

PROCEDURE:

This is easily done with a friend but also can be done individually. Friend A will place the tube in the water with the wide opening submerged. Friend B will expel a few (3-7) drops of diluted ink into the small opening at the top of the tube while partly submerged. Once done, friend A will place their finger over the small hole, raise the tube slightly but not completely out of the water. Friend A will then remove their finger from the small hole. Observe.

DESCRIPTION:

A torus, as if shot out of the tube, travels through the water. The torus transforms as it traverses the downward trajectory through the water. The torus expands into a ring, and at a certain speed, simultaneously contracts and expands expressing a flower-like pattern amidst the absent center space.

STIRRED VORTEX EXPERIENCE

MATERIALS:

A glass of water. A stirring stick. Diluted ink. A syringe.

SET-UP:

Fill the jar with water. Maintain ink ratio and syringe set up. A special container with a hole at the base can be made so that the ink may be inserted from the bottom of the vessel.

PROCEDURE

Stir the water in one direction repeatedly to form a vortex. Observe. One may drop ink into the vortex and observe. One may drop ink at the periphery of the vortex and observe. Insert ink from the base, after stirring, and observe.

DESCRIPTION:

Initially the created vortex expresses with the water a form resembling a cone with its vertex directed toward the earth. This cone-like vortex begins to soften and become more round resembling a chalice. When the ink is added there are multiple cylindrical veils rotating around a snake-like tail that is pulsating, up and down, quickly and slowly. If the Ink is added from the base, this snake-like tail pulsates similarly, but appears to continuously rise.

NATURAL VORTEX EXPERIENCE

MATERIALS:

Container with an opening at the base. Water. Stirring stick. Plug.

SET-UP:

Plug the hole at the base of the container. Fill the container with water.

PROCEDURE

Stir the container to create a vortex. Pull out the plug from the base. Observe.

DESCRIPTION:

The natural vortex appears wider towards the surface of the water and tapers as it extends downward towards the earth. This vortex appears different from the stirred vortex resembling the astrological glyph Aries as opposed to a cone or chalice.

PUSHED VORTEX EXPERIENCE

OR RAM’S HORN VORTEX EXPERIENCE

MATERIALS:

A shallow container. Sugar. Water. A syringe or pipette. Diluted ink. A popsicle stick, butter knife, or ruler.

SET-UP:

Make sugar syrup in a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water. Fill the container with syrup approximately ⅔ - ¾ full. Drop ink on the surface in a polka dot fashion.

PROCEDURE:

Research & Reviews

Hold the popsicle stick, butter knife, or ruler upright. Submerge one end of the stick in the solution. Push your popsicle stick through the syrup. Remove the stick from the solution. Observe.

DESCRIPTION:

Following behind the pushed stick and emerging outward from the wake are a series of vortices spiraling like a ram’s horn.

TWIN EDDIES & HALF RING VORTEX EXPERIENC E

MATERIALS:

A tub, the vessel should have room to push a small paddle and watch the eddies travel. A small paddle with a modified lip to hold ink. A syringe or pipette. Diluted ink.

SET-UP:

Fill the tank with water. Dilute ink.

PROCEDURE

Push the partly submerged paddle horizontally then lift the paddle vertically. Observe. Put ink on the modified paddle. Push the modified paddle as before, ensuring that the rear of the paddle is the side with the modified lip and ink. Observe.

DESCRIPTION

Two vortices appear after the paddle’s push. These vortices have two swirling motions, one that appears as the vortex itself swirling congruently with the direction of the push. Simultaneously, an inverse rotation appears on the water’s surface. These two vortices, eddies, travel in the direction of the initial push. They are also expanding and contracting between one another. When ink is added one can see a half ring below the surface of the water connecting the two eddies. This ring appears to roll in the direction of the push.

HEAD, HEART, AND HAND

There are three general concepts guiding my observations: thinking, feeling, and willing. Each one of these conceptual forces shall live, permeated by the moods of devotion, reverence, and veneration, within my striving. What is to follow is an offering of an imaginative picture illuminating their guidance.

The activity of thinking guides my experience of the apparent and expressed forms, i.e. the phenomena, by sharpening my focus, shifting my perspectives, and concentrating, simply, on what is presented before my very own sensory experience.

The activity of feeling guides my description of the phenomena through the power of the word. The word thoughtfully grounds the phenomena by precisely accounting the expressed appearance. Simultaneously, the word is able to paint an enlivened picture of the phenomena through poetic diction. The proper amount of resistance while describing is necessary here. If the account is too analytical, lacks creativity, and is mechanical, the image is dead, dry, and fails to ‘speak’ to my imagination. If the account is not sufficiently grounded in the precise appearance the account ‘flies off’ to fantasy, misconception, and presumptive anthropomorphism. But, when the balance is met, a rhythmic swirling of the phenomena’s essence appears.

The activity of willing guides my sharing and activism that is birthed from the essence of the phenomena. Appropriate resistance is critical to this concept, too. If the enrichment from the phenomena is greedily kept it rots, becoming unable to bear fruits for the whole of the world. If the essence is not consciously and willfully experienced by one’s own self when the enrichment is shared, that is, if it is inappropriately shared by telling one what they ought to perceive, it cannot inspire and encourage true activism for the en-noblement of humanity.

I perceive these concepts as being interwoven and operating as a threefold unity, although they appear successive in writing. Each feels to be enlivened by the humility of devotion to that higher power, met with nobility and respect that grows out of reverence, and offered selflessly with the intention to support the betterment of the world and humanity through the supreme love shining through veneration.

Anthroposophy and the Social Justice Research Symposium

June 14-16, 2024, Harlemville, NY.

By Elisabeth Chomko | Toronto, Canada

Late Friday afternoon, June 14, 2024, I arrived at Mettabee Farm, located in a beautiful open valley near Harlemville, NY. A large renovated barn, generously made available for community activities, was the site of our gathering. Invitations had gone out to about 80 people who were interested in the question: “What is Social Justice in the Light of Anthroposophy?” with nearly 50 people attending. When I first saw the program, the schedule struck me as impossibly packed. However, thanks to the thoughtfulness that went into the planning and facilitation, the weekend felt uplifting rather than burdensome.

Over the course of almost two days, 14 speakers shared their research in brief, 15-minute presentations. The intention, however, was not just dissemination of ideas. The organizers wanted to instill in the event a deep gesture of listening to the other, a feature they feel is often absent from the current discourse on social justice theory and practice. Thus, after each presentation, a minute was dedicated for quiet individual reflection. This was followed by two minutes of sharing with a partner, followed by ten minutes for questions and speaker responses. After two or three such presentations, 25 minutes were allocated for a more general discussion. In a pre-gathering letter, the aim for the weekend was expressed as follows:

“...we want to create a ‘consciousness soul’ culture for this gathering that breathes the air of spiritual freedom–an approach that honors individuality, that builds from living experiences and insights, that is imbued with spiritual scientific depth. Through good facilitation and social process, we want to make possible a form of engagement with the issues, and with one another, that welcomes differences of perspective, that unites rigor with sensitivity, and that calls forth the best in us, both as speakers and listeners. Only in this way can we hope to overcome the constricted, polarizing tendencies of our current political and civil discourse.”

At our opening meeting on Friday evening, Barbarah

Nicoll called on us to apply these ideals when she reminded us that we were all co-hosts of this event. “First, host yourself, attend to the quality of your listening and speaking. Then host one another, welcome each other into the space; reach toward each other with good will. Finally, we are all responsible to co-host the purpose of the gathering. Unity of heart and mind can’t be forced, but we can create the conditions for grace to descend and help us come together as a community.”

In his introductory remarks on Friday evening, Robert Karp spoke of three mighty longings that are emerging in our time, namely, to expand our sense of what it means to be a human being; to create a social life that welcomes and nourishes the development of all human beings; and to cultivate a more living relationship with the Earth as the basis for a new kind of economy. Robert spoke of these three together as the Great Awakening and related them to a host of positive, contemporary social movements.

He then spoke of the Great Distortion , namely, a host of movements that use the language of the Great Awakening , but are in fact trying to impose new forms of hyper materialism onto humanity. He spoke of transhumanism, DEI and the global climate change agenda as examples of the Great Distortion. Robert emphasized, however, that these distortions offer an opportunity for the rebirth of anthroposophy if we can meet them courageously and sensitively. He pointed out, for example, how a narrow, sectarian approach to anthroposophy had laid the ground for the growth of DEI in our institutions, and how meeting this challenge will require us to develop a much more dynamic and living approach to spiritual science.

The 14 talks we heard over the weekend dealt with various aspects of social justice. We heard from Gary Lamb, for example, who had conducted research into Waldorf schools and DEI statements. Diane Walters and Mark McGivern spoke about the complexity of the

gender question, and the problems that arise when we look at gender through the lens of equality rather than individual freedom, or when the role of the spiritual archetypes of the feminine and the masculine are left out of the discussion. We also heard from a number of Waldorf teachers struggling to stay true to the anthroposophical image of the human being in the face of various DEI mandates. What is the developmental impact on children, for example, when they are allowed to use pronouns that are different from their biological gender? And what is the impact on their peers, and on the spiritual beings who work through the realm of language?

It was also pointed out by a number of people that Rudolf Steiner’s insights into the threefold nature of society has the potential to address the deeper sources of injustice in society. Rather than seek the source of society’s problems in the realm of race relations, which tends to divide people, we need to go deeper and look to the materialistic worldviews and practices that hold in place outdated social forms which in turn foster these racial tensions. As several participants said, we need

to create a different narrative, or story, about the true origins of social justice and injustice, and help nurture the social capacities and virtues that can allow us to bring healing to a society lamed by hyper materialism and polarization - which one speaker referred to as the “meta crisis” of our times.

During this weekend, there was an air of energy, anticipation and attentiveness as well as deep appreciation for being able to meet and dialogue with each other in a truly inclusive atmosphere. As the gathering drew to a close, I felt that we had resolved to carry these impulses into our lives through deep listening to one another, and a continuous cultivation of our connection to the spirit as we navigate the intense challenges of the social realm.

Thank you to all the organizers and participants for this enlightening event.

NOTE : The full program for the Symposium and more information on the Anthroposophy and Social Justice Project can be found at anthrosocialjustice.org

F or there is a mysterious connection between the fire kindled in the external world by the elements of nature and the warmth pulsing in our blood...processes which take place within the human being must correspond with outer processes in the universe. We must be able to find the outer process corresponding to every inner process.

Rudolf Steiner, Festivals and their Meaning

Reflections from The Path of the New Mysteries Conference

By Angela Foster

In 1924, Rudolf Steiner inaugurated the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science and delivered 19 esoteric lessons to its members. In recognition of this special centennial anniversary in anthroposophy, acknowledging the past and opening the door to the future, a week-long conference for members of the school was convened in Chestnut Ridge, New York, at the Threefold Community. One hundred and four members of the School joined together from August 4 – 10, 2024, to co-create an opportunity to deepen our esoteric work and enliven the social threads that weave us together as students of spiritual science. We began the week in a heat wave followed by three days of rain, with the crescendo of a thunderstorm on the last evening. On Saturday, we were blessed with abundant sunshine on our closing morning.

Typically, Class lessons are studied one lesson at a time, most often with a full month of study of a particular lesson before moving onto the next lesson. The usual practice is for a group of members to gather locally; a Class holder will either read the lesson as Dr. Steiner delivered it, or the Class holder will give a “free rendering” of their distillation of the lesson. There might be conversation after the lesson, when students ask questions and share their insights from working with the mantras given in each lesson. This practice of studying, meditating, and working with the Class lessons happens regularly all around the world, and the rhythm of this method is like a spiritual heartbeat that pulses through our School.

The intention of this conference, however, was to approach the 19 lessons as a whole. Quite a mighty task, as each discrete lesson itself can lead into deep mysteries of the human being and our place in the cosmos. To attempt to take up the whole course of the lessons in one week is ambitious. Yet, just as we know that there is great value in the breathing process and the moving of center to periphery, and back again, so too with the Class lessons, there is benefit in appreciating the overall path, an arc of the entire

19 lessons. By moving from the individual lessons, to seeing the relationship to the neighboring lesson of each one, and then to the overall movement of the 19 lessons, students gain new perspectives and hopefully, fresh insights into the world wisdom and intentions flowing to us from the future.

When we hear the words “school,” “study,” and “class lessons,” we might assume that this is an intellectual experience. But, like all of anthroposophy, to work in the School of Spiritual Science is no assignment for the head alone! Again, we can think of the breathing process and how important movement is for healthy flow of breath. When we seek to move head-thinking to the heart-feeling and back again, we can activate our heart-thinking. Add to this a third step that involves the whole human being; we want to include the hands and limbs, and thereby involve our will. In this conference, we designed a schedule that opened and closed each day with Class lessons, while creating opportunities throughout the day to practice the arts - social arts through small group conversations and biography work; tactical/visual arts by painting, drawing, clay sculpting; and time arts through eurythmy, speech, and music. This rhythm gave us the strength and stamina to attend these 19 Class lessons with devoted and sustained attention.

The conference closed on Saturday, August 10, with heartfelt gratitude: Gratitude to the kitchen crew for a week of delicious, nutritious meals; to the initiators of the conference who planned for many years to create the conference; to the eurythmists (led by Dorothea Mier) who helped to create a mood of sacred reverence and openness each morning; and deep gratitude for the people in the world who aren’t members of the School, yet worked to make the conference possible. Our gratitude transforms into reverence and the spiritual world responds to this mood of soul.

Throughout the gathering, the working of spiritual beings was evidenced in the joyful conversations among participants, the deep questions shared among kindred

News for Members & Friends

souls, and in the dreams that participants shared from the night. The days’ activities were full and rich, and our night work, too, was enriched throughout the time together.

If you have experienced the Threefold Community, you probably know that they have a special task in holding the Threefold Verse (the Verse for America) given by Rudolf Steiner to Ralph Courtney in 1923. While we did not focus on the Threefold Verse as part of the conference, I could truly feel it reverberating in the atmosphere throughout the week. It is a verse that has lived deeply in the community around the Threefold Center and can serve as a foundational imagination

for all of us in the ASA- for friends, members of the Society, and for members of the School of Spiritual Science. To connect with striving human souls who seek the same goals, to work on self-development as a path for world healing is a sacred gift! This work connects us all in anthroposophy and I trust the good work that we did at the Path of the New Mysteries conference flowed toward Portland, into the annual ASA gathering held in October, and beyond. Blessings on our work!

To learn more about the School for Spiritual Science: https://www.rudolfsteiner.org/school/

Introducing Our New Treasurer

Charles Burkam

Charles Burkam obtained his B.A. in Economics at Princeton (1970), and his Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School (1973). After graduation, Charles spent a decade as an advocate for equal justice within Community Legal Services, before serving one term as Mayor in Somersworth, New Hampshire. He met the threefold image of the human being through Waldorf Education, and realized that all the knowledge that had been presented at those learned institutions paled in comparison with the wisdom he found in Rudolf Steiner’s writings.

Charles left his Mayoralty and closed his legal practice to move to England in 1986. There his two children enrolled at Michael Hall Steiner School, while he did Foundation Studies at Emerson College. That same year he joined the Anthroposophical Society.

In the following years he participated in the management of anthroposophical organizations attempting to work out of Steiner’s threefold principles, as further elaborated in the Economics Course. He was Bursar at Michael Hall Steiner School, the first Advisor on Administration for the Steiner Schools Fellowship, Director of Finance & Development at Emerson College, on the Farm Management team of Tablehurst Farm and, additionally, Board Chairman of the Mercury Provident Ethical Pension Fund.

Charles returned to the US in 2000, where he and his late wife established a biodynamic small holding in the White Mountains of Arizona, with Charles serving as her apprentice. Charles has consulted for the BioDynamic Farming and Gardening Association and the Santa Fe Waldorf School. He has been a Trustee for the Yggdrasil Land Trust and Managing Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, campaigning for the labeling of GMO’s in food.

After his wife’s passing in 2009, Charles moved to Phoenix to become Executive Director of Desert Marigold School—growing the school to a full K-12. He also has served as Treasurer of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education and its representative to the Council for Anthroposophical Organizations (CAO), and served on the Anthroposophical Society’s Annual Conference Committee. Charles joined the School of Spiritual Science in 2011.

In addition to his studies within Spiritual Science, he is deeply interested in the wisdom of Indigenous culture, to which he was introduced by his wife, who was part Passamaquoddy and Cherokee. He has also become attuned to the wisdom of the starry heavens, which introduced itself to him forcefully during the Grand Conjunction of 2014. Welcome, Charles!

The Evolution of Rudolf Steiner Library: A Century of Growth and Insight

By Zoï Doehrer

In 1910, Danish-born anthroposophist Caia Aarup Greene established a mail-order anthroposophical library in New York, affiliated with the St. Mark’s Group in NYC. This initiative quickly attracted anthroposophists and seekers of knowledge from across the United States of America who eagerly borrowed books and had them shipped to and fro. The humble library flourished, boasting patrons as famous as Marilyn Monroe!

Now, over a century later, that library has evolved into the world’s largest English-language collection of Rudolf Steiner’s writings. Rudolf Steiner Library, located in Hudson, New York, is the only national anthroposophical research, archival, lending, and mail-order library in America. Since 2023, I have been privileged to serve as its Executive Director. As a Danish-American woman, I find it a special moment of destiny to lead this library whose roots trace back to Caia Aarup Greene, also a DanishAmerican woman. A remarkable full-circle moment...

In the 114 years that have passed since the beginnings of the library, many chapters have filled the pages of

the library’s history. Some readers will remember Fred Paddock, who began his work with the collection in 1974, and shaped it into the treasure that it is today. For almost 30 years, Fred tended the stacks with great care, expanding the collection to include robust sections within the arts, Biodynamic agriculture, Waldorf education, history and classical literature, medicine, therapeutic arts, the sciences, philosophy, esotericism, and religion. This expansion beyond traditional anthroposophical texts came from his belief that anthroposophy should illuminate many fields of activity.

When guiding visitors through the library, I often emphasize that we have Rudolf Steiner’s works at the heart of the library, alongside materials by those who inspired Steiner - such as Meister Eckhart and Jakob Boehme - as well as authors who were inspired by Steiner or might have inspired Steiner, had he still been alive to read their work. Our collection, now home to 50,000 items - including extensive archival and periodical collections, some of which do not exist online - spans

a remarkable range of subjects while staying true to its anthroposophical core. In an age increasingly leaning towards digital mediums, maintaining one of the largest anthroposophical libraries in the world is no small feat.

In 1982, the library relocated from NYC to Harlemville, New York, at the center of the growing anthroposophical community in the Berkshire-Taconic region. After Fred Paddock’s retirement in 2002, the library was nurtured by Judith Soleil and Judith Kiely, who honored Fred’s vision while modernizing operations to attract new generations of readers who could benefit from its resources.

In 2013, the library moved to its current location in Hudson, NY. By 2019, the stewardship of the library transitioned from the Anthroposophical Society of America to the Rudolf Steiner Cultural Foundation and subsequently to the Rudolf Steiner Library Circle of Friends, establishing as an independent institution. Today, the library relies on the generosity of people like you to keep its doors open.

This year, I introduced a tiered membership system, including monthly and equity options, to remove barriers to accessing the library’s collection and services.1 Since library membership is no longer included in Society membership, I warmly invite you to become a member of the library today! Visit www.rudolfsteinerlibrary.org/ membership to explore the benefits.

Your membership is more than a contribution; it is a direct investment in the library’s vitality, ensuring continued research services and access to our extensive collection in service of anthroposophy across America!

This year, 2024, has been a year of growth and exciting new initiatives at Rudolf Steiner Library. Our monthly biography lecture series, Encounters with Anthroposophy, has been a resounding success since its launch in 2023. This series offers a platform for sharing the stories of community members whose lives have been shaped by anthroposophy, highlighting the powerful ways in which destiny works and weaves through human biographies. I am pleased to announce that these lectures will soon be available online for our members.

Looking ahead to 2025, the library will expand its presence through a collaboration with Lightforms Art Center, a gallery working out of anthroposophy here in Hudson, NY. This expansion will include a reading room where select books from our collection can be checked

out, and curated pop-up selections of books related to the gallery exhibitions will be available.

On a day-to-day basis, we serve patrons both locally and nationally, putting our reference and research assistance to good use over the phone and email, as well as in person. We mail books anywhere within the United States of America and are proud to be part of the Capital District Library Council, enabling us to share resources with libraries across the world through participation in an Interlibrary Loan program. To date, we have shared our books with over 500 libraries in America!

As we celebrate over a century of growth, Rudolf Steiner Library stands as a beacon for those seeking wisdom and insight through anthroposophical writings.

According to the Christmas Foundation statutes: “The Anthroposophical Society sees the School of Spiritual Science ... as a center for its activity.” The School can be likened to a university with its Sections representing departments, such as agriculture, education, arts, natural science, medicine, etc. Just as a university library serves as a vital resource for learning and research, Rudolf Steiner’s written and spoken-word legacy forms the core of anthroposophical teaching and research. The significance of Steiner’s printed works, which include books and lecture transcripts, is underscored by its inclusion in the original charter of the re-founded Society.

From its humble beginnings to its current status as the largest English-language anthroposophical library, the library’s journey reflects a commitment to this task. With the continued support of members like you, we look forward to embracing new opportunities, expanding our reach, and serving as a vital resource for generations to come. Join us in this exciting journey - together, we can ensure that the light of anthroposophy continues to shine brightly!

1 The Rudolf Steiner Library now offers flexible membership tiers and convenient monthly payment options for increased accessibility:

Tier 1 Youth/Equity $24/year or $2/month for 12 months

Tier 2 Standard $60/year or $5/month for 12 months

Tier 3 Supportive $120/year or $10/month for 12 months

Please help to safeguard this invaluable resource by becoming a member today!

Explore the extensive collection via the library’s online catalog and renew your commitment at: https://rudolfsteinerlibrary.org/memebrship

Any questions can be directed to the library’s Executive Director: Zoï Doehrer: director@rudolfsteinerlibrary.org

News for Members & Friends

BOOK REVIEW

By Brian Gray

Rudolf Steiner’s Laying of the Foundation Stone on September 20, 1913: In the Presence of the Stars, by Erika Von Baravalle (Ed.)

Erika von Baravalle (1928-2016) was an artist and historian, spouse of architect Albert von Baravalle (who worked closely with Rudolf Steiner), and longtime student of anthroposophy. In 2013, she compiled this series of essays and well-illustrated articles that help one imagine the laying of the Foundation Stone in 1913, along with various stages of design leading to construction of the First and Second Goetheanum structures, the significance of the Foundation Stone Meditation given by Rudolf Steiner at the Christmas Conference of 1923/24, and much else besides. There exists no other single compilation on these topics of such breadth and depth. The handsome volume was translated from German into English at the behest

of Patti Corozine and published by Eric G. Müller of Alkion Press in 2024.

Main section headings include: The Significance of the Laying of the Foundation Stone in 1913; Eyewitness Reports; Various Aspects of the Laying of the Foundation Stone; Rudolf Steiner’s Buildings for the Mysteries; and Rudolf Steiner’s Addresses Regarding the Laying of the Foundation Stone. In addition to striking illustrations that fascinate the reader’s imagination, endnotes and references are provided to stimulate further study.

Rare eyewitness accounts by Wilhelm Schrack, Max Benzinger, and Nelly Grosheintz-Laval relate how Rudolf Steiner determined the exact spot for the Foundation Stone, “In the presence of the stars,” and then his laying it into the Earth in 1913, are accompanied by articles by Elisabeth Vreede and Walther Buhler on “When Mercurius Stood in the Scales.” Ernst Bindel’s “The Symbolic Significance of the Pentagonal Dodecahedron as the Foundation Stone of Spiritually Significant Buildings” appears, along with an eyewitness description by Heinz Muller of the devastating fire that destroyed the First Goetheanum on New Year Eve 1922/1923.

Fritz Gotte awakens new insights concerning the relationships between the Macrocosmic World-Prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Foundation Stone, and the significance of the Christmas Conference. These impressive authors convey insightful viewpoints, further developed and woven together through 11 essays by Erika von Baravalle that stimulate and awaken one’s interest.

There is something here for everyone - this volume’s vivid illustrations and insightful descriptions fascinate one and fill the reader’s soul with wonder and gratitude for Rudolf Steiner’s world-historic contributions to the mission of humanity. This volume deserves to be read and re-read, as it contains a wealth of creative insights not available in any other volume.

PREPARING FOR

Holy Nigh ts

“Every year at this season we pass from one division of time to another. This may at first appear simply a matter of convenience, but it is not so. The men who had to separate time into seasons followed by profound instinct certain great laws regulating the course of time.”

Rudolf Steiner, “The Great Cosmic Year” 31 Dec, 1915

1st Holy Night

December 24 25

VIRGO INDIGO

Recall events from the time of the harvest, when Sun moves through the region of VIRGO Stars

September 17 October 17

2nd Holy Night

December 25 26

LEO BLUE

Sun moves through LEO stars each year from August 18 September 16

3rd Holy Night

December 26 27

CANCER GREEN

Sun encounters the region of CANCER stars

July 17 August 17

4th Holy Night

December 27 28

GEMINI YELLOW

Sun crosses the Milky Way and arrives at its Solstice moment among the stars of GEMINI. This 4th night is the turning point in the cycle of seven.Recall life events from the dates

June 16 July 16

5th Holy Night

December 28 29

TAURUS ORANGE

Sun moves through the region of the Bull May 15 June 15

6th Holy Night

December 29 30

ARIES RED

Sun engages ARIES stars

April 15 May 14

7th Holy Night

December 30 31

PISCES RED

Sun comes to its Vernal Equinox among the stars of PISCES

March 15 April 14

13th Universal Holy Night

December 31 January 1

When the present and eternity meet; human beings are released from the “folk soul” such that our thoughts are perceived by the highest hierarchies

8th Holy Night

January 1 2

AQUARIUS REDDISH Sun in AQUARIUS

February 14 March 14

9th Holy Night

January 2 3

CAPRICORN PEACH BLOSSOM Sun in CAPRICORN

January 15 February 13

10th Holy Night

January 3 4

SAGITTARIUS ROSE LILAC Sun in Archer

December 17 January 14

11th Holy Night

January 4 5

SCORPIO BLUE LILAC

Sun moves through the region of the scorpion/eagle November 17 December 16

12th Holy Night

January 5 6

LIBRA VIOLET

Sun encounters the region of LIBRA stars October 18 November 16

As imagined here, a review of the year past during the sacred season of holy nights begins with Virgo, long-depicted as the pregnant Virgin, as she who gives birth on the First Holy Night, December 24 to 25. From here, the contemplative practice leads backward through the year, which practice, as Rudolf Steiner described as picturing events in reverse order, frees the inner activity of our soul from its customary leadingstrings, gradually enabling the inner experiences of our soul and spirit to break loose of the bodily and etheric element...one thus aquires inner mobility. (Rudolf Steiner, from Evolution of Consciousness , Aug 20, 1923) Join us for our Holy Nights Series, December 24, 2024 - January 6, 2025. Details at anthroposophy.org

Virgo

Leo

Cancer

Gemini

Taurus Aries

Pisces

Aquarius

Capricorn

Sagittarius

Scorpio

Libra

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4|15|2024 - 10|15|2024

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News for Members & Friends

HONORING MEMBERS Who Have Crossed The Threshold Of Death

JOINED DIED

James Hindes Denver | CO 06|04|1980 04|25|2024

Clopper Almon, Jr. Chestnut Ridge | NY 11|18|1968 05|17|2024

Colleen Shetland Marcellus | NY 08|30|1994 06|16|2024

Erk Ludwig San Francisco | CA 12|06|1972 06|22|2024

Jessica Leaf Escondido | CA 12|27|2019 07|02|2024

Johanna M Frouws Charmichael | CA 01|05|1976 07|11|2024

Van Beck Hall Pittsburg | PA 09|09|1993 08|11|2023

Elizabeth Auer Lyndeborough | NH 02|15|2002 09|03|2024

Carol Gutierrez Citrus Heights | CA 06|08|1978 09|16|2024

Elsbeth Sunstein Honey Brook | PA 10|26|1993 12 |27 2023

In the weaving of the ether

The human being’s web of destiny Is received by Angels, Archangel, Archai.

Into the astral world

The just consequences of the human being’s earthly life Die into Exousiai, Dynameis, Kyriotetes.

In the essense of their deeds

The honest creations of a human being’s earthly life Are resurrected in Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim.

Memento Mori, Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Vol. III

We rely on our members to share news and memorials for friends and loved ones who have died. Please contact The Anthroposophical Society in America at: reception@anthroposophy.org

News for Members & Friends

. Clopper Almon, Jr.

JANUARY 25, 1934 - MAY 17, 2024 .

Judith G. Blatchford

Southern gentleman, professor of economics, world citizen, omelet master, sometime tuba player, anthroposophist Clopper Almon died 113 days after his 90th birthday. His body gave out after years of good service, but he was fortunate not to have been seriously ill. A book about his long, active life, with such wideranging interests, would contain many chapters, and the reader is encouraged to look at the various obituary and biographical pieces available online. This article will focus on aspects of his inner story.

Clopper was brought up in the Episcopal church in Sheffield, Alabama, participating in activities and serving as an acolyte until he was about 17, when he felt formal religious practice was empty. Earlier, at about 14, he had found among his deceased grandfather’s books, Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy by Yogi Ramacharaka, and immersed himself in this fascinating new view of the world (I am looking at that two-volume set right now; Clopper never willingly got rid of anything).

When Clopper began graduate study of economics at Harvard, his beloved cousin, Alfred Bartles, introduced him to the writings of Rudolf Steiner. Upon opening a book and finding the first sentence, There slumber in every human being faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds, he thought to himself, “I know that! If you can tell me more, Dr. Steiner, please do so!” He recognized this as an important day in his life; it was followed the next day by meeting fellow economics graduate student Shirley Montag, who became his wife. Sadly, Shirley died at age 40 from a brain tumor. For seven years she had asked Clopper to read Rudolf Steiner to her every evening, and he said they covered nearly all of the important lecture cycles.

What else did Clopper already know? In high school, algebra made no sense to him, but a teacher brought him to a delighted connection with geometry, and suddenly the math flood gates were opened. He sailed through years of high school math and college math at Vanderbilt, rediscovering what he already knew later - hitting the end of that knowledge in an advanced course at MIT.

People who experienced Clopper always commented on his deep, measured speaking voice. He remembered many beautiful lines of poetry from his early schooling for the rest of his life. He appreciated well-chosen words and smooth expression. He dove with enthusiasm into different languages, beginning with Latin and French in high school, then Russian and German in college. He eventually had active use in speaking or reading at least ten languages, with a nodding acquaintance with about seven more. Having a long daily commute to work by bus when he would have to stand, how could he use that time? Study Italian! Clopper had great affection for his second wife Joan’s mother who had fled Nazi Germany; what could he do for her? Learn Hebrew and participate in Friday services! Learning another language was for

connecting with new ideas and with people. It was also a matter of courtesy and thorough preparation for work. Whenever he took up economics work in a new country, he immediately studied the language of that place and insisted that his assistants do so as well.

Clopper’s connection to anthroposophy began with reading and study and progressed to volunteer work as treasurer of the Anthroposophical Society and other related organizations, to acting as co-founder of the Rudolf Steiner Institute and the Washington Waldorf School. At the University of Maryland, he taught a course on Western Esotericism for three years. He and his wife Joan led anthroposophical study groups in their home for many years. Clopper’s research for that study led to publication of two little books, modestly called “study companions” to Rudolf Steiner’s An Outline of Esoteric Science and Lectures on the Gospel of Mark . In the latter, he states his perspective on such study:

Can we believe Steiner? . . . As to whether Steiner could make mistakes in clairvoyance, he repeatedly emphasized how easy it is to make mistakes in that realm. I presume he was speaking from experience. . . . So modesty is most appropriate in all matters of anthroposophical understanding

From the time of his undergraduate major in economics, Clopper said, “I wanted to do something useful” (in contrast to theoretical study). In relating how he happened to take up many of his projects, he said, “I thought: wouldn’t it be fun to__?” These two elements of usefulness and fun have been underscored in the range of Clopper stories that came in following the announcement of his death. The pervading theme has been his boundless energy, for example, leading a fast-paced tour of the historical sites in Rome immediately following an exhausting transatlantic airplane flight, or keeping an assistant - who had not had lunch - up till 2 or 3 AM to install exciting new computer software.

This energy led to writing several books; even Clopper did not know how many. I can count 16, and that is certainly not a complete list. Clopper acknowledged that, in part at least, he was able to do so much because he and his wives had not been able to have children. Additionally, his anthroposophical mind wondered whether he might have had some help from Edward. Before he was born, his parents had a son who only lived a few weeks…

When Clopper was five years old, he had been deeply impressed by a traveling marionette performance of Robin Hood. His mother made him a costume, and he played Robin Hood. A few days before Clopper’s death, we were visited by puppeteers who reconnected him with a picture of the same Robin Hood marionette (by famous puppeteer Tony Sarg) that he had seen as a child.

Clopper and I met after the deaths of our respective spouses and have been profoundly grateful for the joy we experienced in our late life marriage.

New Books

The Arts and Their Mission (CW 276)

isbn 9781621483298, 180 pages, $18

Europe between East and West In Cosmic and Human History (CW 174a)

isbn 9781855846623, 312 pages, $35

Eurythmy as Speech Made Visible Speech Eurythmy Course (CW 279)

isbn 9781855846654, 512 pages, $50

Human and Cosmic Thought (CW 151)

isbn 9781855846647, 152 pages, $28

The Language of the Cosmos Cosmic Influences and the Spiritual Task of Northern Europe (CW 209)

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The Inner Nature of Music And the Experience of Tone (CW 283)

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~ coming in december

Necessity and Freedom CW 166)

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~ coming in january

The Spiritual Background to the First World War (CW 174b)

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Supersensible Impulses in the Historical Development of Humanity (CW 216)

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There slumber in every human being faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself a knowledge of higher worlds.

Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher World s, 1904 Join us at anthroposophy.org or 734.662.9355

being human - fall-winter 2024

being human

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER:

The Anthroposophica l Society in America

GENERAL COUNCIL

Letter from the General Secretary

Teacher Training and Summer Programs Designed for working teachers.

For Independent and Public Schools Inspired by Waldorf Principles

TEACHING AS AN ART WEEK

OTHER GRADALIS OFFERINGS

CERTIFIED GRADALIS TEACHER TRAINING

GRADALIS

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS

Anthroposophy Comes to Ann Arbor Michigan

A Report by the Great Lakes Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Initiative!

FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND

Initiative!

Empowering our Children for a Brighter Future: The Origin and Growth of Indigenous Waldorf Education at the Lakota Waldorf School

ANTHROPOSOPHY IN SOUTH DAKOTA

STRUGGLES AND SLOW GROWTH

Initiative!

ACADEMY FOR INDIGENOUS WALDORF PEDAGOGY

Kairos Institute At the Center for Anthroposophy

HEALING IN A WORLD OF NEED

ART THERAPIES

Initiative!

EMERGENCY PEDAGOGY

Poetry For The Future

What the Verses of Angelus Silesius’ Cherubinic Wanderer tell us

Art & Ideas

Imitation and Mental Imagery in Eurythmy: A Century -

Long Detour - PART 1 1

Art & Ideas

CAN ANYTHING FLARE IN THE FUTURE

Research & Reviews Take In The Might Of The Michael Thought Thoughts On Aspects Of Rudolf Steiner’s Final Address

Research & Reviews

Research & Reviews

The New Role for the Heart

PHYSIOLOGY OF FREEDOM

Research & Reviews

Reflections on Centenary Events

Concerning the Anthroposophical Movement

Research & Reviews

Goetheanum Theater Festival: July 10-14, 2024

Research & Reviews

Excerpt from a new translation of Rudolf Steiner’s Leading Thoughts

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

Research & Reviews

Step into a modern esoteric stream and the importance of

Country Societies

Research & Reviews

The 2024 AWSNA Conference

The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America

Sensing Fluidity

A sharing of the Phenomenon

DROP FALL EXPERIENCE

Research & Reviews

TWIN EDDIES & HALF RING VORTEX EXPERIENC E

HEAD, HEART, AND HAND

Anthroposophy and the Social Justice Research Symposium

Reflections from The Path of the New Mysteries Conference

News for Members & Friends

Introducing Our New Treasurer

The Evolution of Rudolf Steiner Library: A Century of Growth and Insight

News for Members & Friends

BOOK REVIEW

PREPARING FOR

Holy Nigh ts

WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS

News for Members & Friends

HONORING MEMBERS Who Have Crossed The Threshold Of Death

News for Members & Friends

. Clopper Almon, Jr.

JANUARY 25, 1934 - MAY 17, 2024 .

New Books

Articles inside

being human - fall-winter 2024

News for Members & Friends . Clopper Almon, Jr.