Nova Scotia
Easter Season Gathering
see below in right hand column
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Institute Rudolf Steiner Quebec
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Vancouver
This War is Not Inevitable -
Vancouver Waldorf School, April 3rd.
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The Pulse
Easter/Whitsun edition
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Duncan
This War is Not Inevitable -
Vancouver Waldorf School, March 28
Contact:
The Pulse
Easter/Whitsun edition
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Member Update
Crossed the threshold
Stefan Schwabe (September 2017)
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The
eNews is published 10 times per year for members of the Anthroposophical Society In Canada.
Please send correspondence and articles in either Word doc or iWork pages without formatting except for paragraphs to
the editor.
BACK ISSUES are available on our website:
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Contact Info
Anthroposophical Society in Canada
# 130A - 1 Hesperus Rd.
Thornhill, ON
L4J 0G9
Administrator
416-892-3656
Public Website
Members website
please note you will need to use the password ASC to access the
members only page
Council
Secretary
General Secretary
School For Spiritual Science
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Being Human USA
Published by the Anthroposophical Society in America.
Link
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Present Age - Switzerland (printed in English)
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This week, with the passing of the Spring Equinox, for
the next six months the light holds sway over the darkness, leading us first toward the glory of Easter and the theme of resurrection. Surrection, the quality of 'becoming upright'. Resurrection 'to rise again'. The miracle to become once more.
This opportunity reminds me of the verse by Rudolf Steiner:
Easter: The Mysteries of Ephesus
Offspring of all worlds, thou clothed in light,
Empowered by the Sun with Luna's might
Endowed art thou by Mars' creative ringing,
And Mecury's swiftness, agility bringing.
Illumined by wisdom, from Jupiter's raying
And by Venus's beauty, grace bestowing
That Saturn's ancient spirit-inwardness
Unto the world of space and time the hallow.
Warm greetings as we approach Easter!
Jef
Administrator
PS. Reminder: The password to access the Members Area is ASC and is always printed in the left-hand column under Editorial Notes.
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Anthroposophical
Society in Canada
Annual General Meeting and Conference
May 18 - 20th
Toronto Waldorf School,Thornhill, ON
Conference theme:
The Work of Anthroposophy: Creating Moral Substance
Please save the date in your diary
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Interview with Paul Mackay and Bodo von Plato
Contribution of the weekly journal 'Das Goetheanum'
On March 24th, the members of the Anthroposophical Society will vote on the tenure of Paul Mackay and Bodo von Plato as members of the Executive Council. The weekly journal for Anthroposophy 'Das Goetheanum' took the initiative to interview them both about their achievements and perspectives for Anthroposophy. We are very happy to make the resulting article available to interested members of the Society as additional information alongside 'Anthroposophy worldwide'. The interview can be accessed by clicking on the
link below:
Link
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The Atelier d'art social de Montréal is 33 years old
"I would not be who I am without the people I have known ..."
Michel Dongois, in collaboration with Denis Schneider
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Denis Schneider
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The Atelier d'art social de Montréal has just celebrated its 33rd year of existence. Thirty-three years, the great death-resurrection cycle... Since its beginning on May 28, 1984, the Atelier has touched hundreds of individuals with its lectures, workshops, artistic exercises and biography sessions. Denis Schneider, its founder, now asks himself: "Today, the Atelier has reached a turning point, a chrysalis stage. After these many years of effort on the part of participants and collaborators that have created the caterpillar, how can we now encourage the butterfly to free itself and spread its wings? Whatever the answer may be, two important questions must be faced: what to do at the present time and what are the needs that must be addressed?"
It was upon returning home from England with wife and son, following a training course in social development at Emerson College, that Denis Schneider decided to found the Atelier in order to put into practice what he had learned. He says that his time at Emerson College was one of the most wonderful years of his life. "I met biography and discovered the concepts of social art and the threefold social order. I was literally filled with wonder." But then Denis, who had studied sociology and fine arts, had to ask himself an essential question: "Am I an artist or a social worker? This was my greatest life question. And there before me was the answer - with social art I could be both at the same time!".............Read on
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Opportunity through Crisis -
by Beth Currie
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| Scene of difficult events |
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In her book "Taking charge -Your life patterns and their meaning" by Gudrun Burkhard refers to our biography as our life story saying that p
eople who have worked with their life stories have experienced some form of healing.
Everyone asks themselves at one point in their lives who am I and why am I here? What is my destiny? What am I here to do? Not necessarily what is my work but what have I come to learn and what do I need to embrace, to encounter to gain wisdom. and growth. People are looking for meaning in their lives and by spending time to focus
with others in a group can often find meaning in the events and happenings in their individual lives.
Let's look at the picture of rowing a boat. We actually face the back of the boat and row while the boat moves forward. So we need to look back in order to move forward. That is an interesting picture for life looking back in order to move forward.
This is not a psychological work but an observational one where we observe ourselves in some stage of life not to re-live the emotional pain but to see clearly what has happened. We can then shed some light on the event to transform or re-imagine it or understand it's meaning. Hence we do not need to live our life out of our "9 year old self"
(RS in Social and Antisocial Forces, 1916),
but can move forward from the place of pain into a deeper understanding of the event.
Using "Opportunity Through Crisis" we mathematically figure out points in our life not where a crisis has occurred but we find the crisis in a set moment in time. It holds the possibility to transform some part of ourselves. You could say we mine for gold. Crisis is a time of intense challenge, even danger, a time to awaken. It is a turning point or even a crossroad we encounter along the way where an important decision needed to be made for instance. These are all destiny moments. Working through these moments may in fact help us in the future
to
make decisions in creative new ways.
See Canadian events below
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Featuring Douglas Cardinal and his focus on Indigenous design and the influence of Rudolf Steiner - courtesy of the University of Calgary
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| Douglas Cardinal |
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On the eve of the anniversary of Rudolf Steiner's birth, we'd like to share with you a story and an interview conducted recently at the University of Calgary, featuring Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal. Mr. Cardinal, considered to be Canada's most important and celebrated Indigenous architect, cites Dr. Steiner, his work and his philosophies, as one the earliest influences in his career. He also refers to his experiences at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Architecture (and the education he received, and teachings on Steiner there) as being key to his own beliefs and philosophies on the possibilities of design.
We'd like to invite you to view the video and read the recent
story
generated at the University of Calgary, which focuses on Indigenous design thinking and features Mr. Cardinal. We've created a
DropBox
that contains the shortened video for the story (which is available on
You Tube)
and the full length video interview which took place on January 25.
Please feel free to access this material and to make use of it. All we ask is that you credit "University of Calgary" and that you send us links to whatever you publish.
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Mystery Drama Initiative in Vancouver
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| Marie-Reine works with the peasants |
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In Vancouver Marie-Reine Adams, a coworker at Cascadia (our urban Camphill), has been working with an enthusiastic group to perform the medieval scenes ( 6, 7, 8 and 9) from Steiner's second mystery drama, The Soul's Probation. This group has been practising twice a week for an hour though not everybody can come each time. The performance is scheduled for March 25th, Palm Sunday at the Waldorf School. There will be a talk at 5:30 pm on the Knights Templar with the evening performance of the four scenes at 7 pm.
Marie-Reine comes from Botton Village in England where, together with a professional director, she worked with companions and coworkers to perform the first three mystery dramas. She also helped with the presentation of the third mystery drama in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
The challenge now is for everyone to learn their lines. Another challenge is that a few people have had to drop out for one reason or another. She is hopeful that she will find all the players she needs.
At one of the first practices we, who are the peasants (scene 6), were asked to find the gesture of our words. Next we connected the words with the gestures.
In his course on speech and drama, Steiner said that the spoken word is transformed gesture; it is bodily motion, inhibited and changed to sound. We enjoyed practising each others' lines with the appropriate gesture. Each gesture was different; this helped us gain a certain mobility. There are twelve peasants in all. It is no surprise that each one represents a sign of the zodiac.
Hans Pusch, who translated as well as worked with stage productions of the mystery dramas for many years, wrote that each drama wants to be read aloud and listened to, in the way that we listen to a musical score. It is meant not only for eyes looking at the paper, but for ears and larynxes that are active.
One of problems in connection with staging the mystery dramas is the lack of outer action. All the more that the gestures and speech need to be intensified. The actor has to have the last word of the sentence in mind already at the start. This helps the listener to grasp quickly and clearly the underlying thought.
Marie-Reine has us put down our "scores" during practices so that we pay attention as each fellow player grapples with his part. Such intense listening helps everyone. One of our players said that working with his lines has helped him to enliven and project his words more as he goes about his daily life.
We are hopeful that Marie-Reine will continue to work with us on these mystery dramas in some capacity in the months after Easter.
Susan Koppersmith
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ANTHROPOSOPHICAL BIOGRAPHY
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| Steve and Family |
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On the West Coast of Canada we are on the verge of forming a Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada. It was Steven Roboz's intention to create a Branch here in BC more than twenty-five years ago. I feel his presence restarting the process. I thought a little local history with Steven Roboz's legacy would be ideal in creating some context and background.
Before WWII, an Anthroposophist was living in the Vancouver area. According to Liane Collot D'Herbois, Ita Wegman had decided in 1938-39 to emigrate to Canada to start a new clinic with the support that had been promised to her. Outbreak of the war prevented her plans.
( From Personal Remembrances of Ita Wegemn, D'Herbois, ( from Long & Difficult Departure).in Miteilungen aus der anthroposophisches Arbeit in Deutschland, vol 172, Johanni, 1990, 110)
'When coming into Ascona, Ita Wegman approached me in an excited state. She could hardly wait to tell me about her new plan that she had. She had gotten an offer to come to Vancouver, where someone wanted to build a large clinic for her. She was very happy about this and had already decided to go to Canada'.
She died in 1943 of pneumonia.
When Steven and Helga Roboz came to Vancouver in 1954 from Toronto, there were only the Friedebergs (Harold and Irmgard) and another elderly lady, Mrs. Katherine Mayne, the grandmother of Ann Watson. The first meetings were held at the rented house of the Roboz's off S.W. Marine Drive, a tiny rental house surrounded by a large forest. Soon afterwards came the Oldhams (Harry was the British Trade Commissioner), and Ann's parents, Jack and Shiela. I was a baby at the time. Helga stayed in the kitchen during the meetings to try to keep me quiet. Often Ann Watson was in a bassinette next to mine.
Later, the meetings were held at Mrs. Mayne's in Kerrisdale. By 1965, the group was large enough to apply to be officially recognized. It became known as the Albert Steffen Group, since Albert Steffan died that year. That proved to be a problem when in Dornach, Steven would announce himself to people as Steven from the Vancouver Albert Steffen Group. Those anti-Steffenites did not grant him an audience at first, until it was explained that Steven was not aligned with Steffen; it was just a name. That was in the 1960's and 1970's when the 1930's split in the Society still reverberated with former hostilities.
Rudolf Steiner Centre
In 1970, Steven appealed to the group and raised the $10,000 needed for a down payment to buy the first Rudolf Steiner Centre at 4th/Trutch in Vancouver. The two upstairs suites allowed it to be viable and self-supporting. Steven and a few others formed the Rudolf Steiner Centre Association to run the building with Steven as president with Cora Verbrugh as treasurer.
Steven and Helga organized and carried out the festivals. Steven gave the talks and for many years arranged for visiting lecturers who often stayed at our house.
Later, while the Centre was still in Vancouver City,.......read on
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Durham, ON
March 25th 2018
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Annual General Meeting of the Society for Biodynamic Farming and Gardening in Ontario - March 25th
to be held Sunday March 25th, 2018 at the Durham Town Hall, 185 George Street West, Durham, ON
9am - 4:00pm.
The day will consist of a business meeting, a pot luck lunch, and a talk by Allan Kuhn from the Angus Camphill Farm. His topic is "Biodynamics as Emissary of Camphill." Allan will give a brief biography of Camphill and speak about the Agricultural history of Camphill, Camphill in the present and the task of agriculture on the Camphill farm. In addition, we are having a horn manure (BD 500) comparison. If you have any that you have made, please bring it along. The afternoon will also feature an open discussion on biodynamics facilitated by Board chair Chris Boettcher. Bring your questions.
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Toronto & Thornhill
April 2018
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Threefold Social Organism Theatre Project: Toronto & Thornhill - April 5 - 7.
Telephone:
416-892-3656
PDF
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Arscura: Opportunity through Crisis - biography course - beginning April 14,
2018 with Beth Currie
Revisiting biographical turning points and approaching these in a creative way will teach us new ways to respond in future challenging life situations. During this cycle of Saturday seminars you will work with pastel drawings, creative writing and group sharing. All of this will be bound into a book, your 'Book of Life'.
Spring term: April 14, 28, May 5, 12, 26
Theme this spring: The Crisis in Biography, creating your 'Book of Life'
Times: 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Location: 901 Rutherford Road
Cost: $ 480, includes HST and art materials per term
Facilitator: Beth Currie
Contact Beth Currie to register at 905 737 2193
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Eurythmy:
April 14- Mars - Toronto Waldorf School
with Reg Down
Saturday, April 14 / 1:30pm to 3:30pm
The philosopher and educator, Rudolf Steiner, drew seven fascinating planetary seals. They are like a harmonic resonance of each 'planet' and can be moved in eurythmy. Reg Down will be guiding a group through the Mercury seal in the eurythmy room at the Toronto Waldorf School. Everyone welcome.
Cost: $20 / students and seniors $15.
Location: Toronto Waldorf School,
9100 Bathurst St, Thornhill, L4J 8C7.
The remaining seals Jupiter, Saturn - on: May 5, June 2
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Easter Season Gathering:
Greetings to all Members and Friends of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada Nova Scotia Group
An Easter Season Gathering will be held on April 15, 2018 at the home of
Anne Greer and Jim White
4675 Hwy 331
West Dublin
NS
11:30 - 12:30 Atlantis and Lemuria - Found?
Presentation: Dr.Duncan Keppie
12:30 potluck lunch
2:00 - 4:00 pm Please feel free to share eurythmy, poetry, readings, music, and reflections on the Easter season and the connection between the Human I and the Risen Christ.
Kindly let us know if you are coming
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3 year part-time training in Anthroposophic Psychology
begins April 2018
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Encountering Nature and the Nature of Things
Practicing a Science of Phenomena - New one year course
Two 2-week intensives at The Nature Institute: July 9-21, 2018 and July 8-20, 2019
Guided study and practice during the year in between
Core Faculty: Craig Holdrege, Henrike Holdrege, Jon McAlice, John Gouldthorpe
To learn more about the program,
click here. We have also attached a
flyer.
Please pass the word on about the program to anyone you think may be interested.
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Rudolf Steiner's Mystery Dramas Around the World
Human beings discover themselves through others.
Rudolf Steiner expands on this simple yet remarkable sentence by Martin Buber in his four mystery dramas.
It is therefore not surprising that staging these works of art again and again in a whole variety of ways, in order to secure the depth of our working and being together, is one of the most magical and memorable traditions found in anthroposophy. The more we rely on each other in today's differentiated world, experiencing how our confusion often distorts this depth, the more relevant it seems to me today to both perform and to see these plays.
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The Spirit of English: London, UK
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In Search of the Future -
A Tour of Discovery in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria
July 28 to August 20, 2018
Anthroposophy was planted in these Eastern European countries early in the last century. Communism kept it underground prompting
it to grow strong roots. At the end of that era, it grew strong and rm
above ground and blossomed with joy that it could now be free.We have known none of that in the West.
We will carry the awareness that the Slavs will lead the way in heart- thinking consciousness in the future. On this tour we will explore what has been happening anthroposophically in Eastern Europe in the last 25 years and, in Bulgaria, meet some of those on a similar yet different spiritual path acknowledged by Rudolf Steiner.
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Anthroposophy Worldwide - # 3, 2018
If you would like to see the archive of past issues, go to:
then enter password AWE-2018
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