2019 AGM and Conference
May 17 - 19, 2019
École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal
4855 av. Kensington, Montréal, QC, H3X 3S6
CONFERENCE THEME:
Walking with our time: Can we transform evil?
with Christine Gruwez
We still live with a dual understanding of the world and ourselves. Dual, or dualistic, means: either ... or. A choice has to be made and by choosing one of the two terms has to be excluded. Rudolf Steiner is the one who has given this dual world view new possibilities. From duality to polarity, meaning: both terms can interact in such a way that something new can manifest.
The key word here is “gentle/mild”. For a Manichaeism of the future, mildness, for example, is the ability to meet fellow human beings in their 'greatness', not only by incorporating their 'smaller' sides, but thanks to these very ‘shadow’ aspects, to nurture the light within them and let it shine forth.
These can only be very small steps. Actually they cannot be small and unpretentious enough. The art of the small steps is taking care that with each step a following one will remain possible, without determining in advance what it will be. In this presaging, tentative procedure, mildness emerges as a signature of a real transformation, in which ever more will participate.
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Will you be attending this event?
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LOCATION
Montréal
DATE AND TIME
05/17/19
5:30pm -
05/19/19
1:00pm
Conference and AGM.
For first class members - 4:45pm on Friday 17th
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On Our North Star
Dear Members and Friends of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada
Rushing toward Europe, 30,000 feet above the vast immensity of our Canadian north, I look down upon the threshold between night and day. From out of Europe and across the Atlantic night sweeps toward the rainbow hued radiance of the western sky. Across the Pacific and into Asia day slips back across the rapidly dimming horizon. Swiftly indigo mantles over the last memory of the day. Here and there, slowly at first, points of light appear against the vast above. Then in cascading radiance, the luminous blue night takes on her veil of stars. The swiftness of her coming is vertiginous.
The abruptness of her advance reveals how swiftly the earth spin about her invisible axis. We can almost see the stars becoming streaks of light sweeping from dusk to dawn, inscribing the paths of their journeys across the vast expanse. But not only we do our dervish dance about ourselves. We are accompanied by moons and planets, suns and constellation - all in constant movement, constantly shifting dynamic interrelationships.
Then there is the one. The one who in this remarkable cosmic activity holds a still quiet place - the star who marks the north. With modest constancy she looks down upon us. We look up to her. In all of our rushing whirling we look up and feel her steady presence in the heavens. An anchor in constant change. Looking down upon us she holds the unifying image of it all.
On my fold-down table are reports from the members of the Executive Council and the Leaders of the Sections of the School for Spiritual Science, that reflect on their work over this past year. I look back with them. We consider the seismic shift that occurred a year ago. For many years we had become accustomed to what we have taken as a solid predictable ground for our work together. The shape of our collective habits had become expectations that the ways-of-being that had been would carry on.
Yet as we look back there have been other times when the fabric of our collective interrelationships unravelled. The expulsion of members of the Vorstand, Ita Wegman and Elisabeth Vreede, from their committed tasks had been such a point. In a remarkable alignment it was in the General Assembly a year ago that a deep longing arose to bring back balance to those events. Perhaps we can see this as part of the shift where we become conscious that what we take as the solidity of the earth quietly passing from day to night, from season to season, is only possible because we limit our view. Behind the stillness of our passage from day to day is the speeding, whirling, ever-changing activity of our cosmos...............
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The White Rose (from 1943 to the present):
Valour clothed in gentleness - Part 1 of 2
Michel Dongois
There are certain stories that follow us all our lives and leave an indelible mark on our souls – inspiring stories that are still being written to this day. For me, the history of the White Rose (in German:
Die Weisse Rose
) is one such story. This group, made up primarily of medical students, was one of the most famous resistance movements in Germany under the Nazi regime.
I feel it is relevant to raise awareness White Rose’s impulse as we prepare to gather for the annual general meeting of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada, where the question of Evil will be taken up as the main theme.
As a teenager in France, in my German classes I was always excited when I could translate White Rose political leaflets. And when working as a journalist in Quebec, I was delighted to be able to meet with two of the movements’ survivors and with relatives of two of the other students who had been part of the movement. Now in retirement, I have now begun exploring in greater depth what seems to me to be a link, in the spirit of the Michael impulse, between the White Rose movement of that time and the anthroposophy of today.
Five Days
The White Rose became known to the general public on February 22, 1943 in Munich, with the executions of Hans and Sophie Scholl, brother and sister, and Christoph Probst, all three in their early twenties. Christoph’s wife had just given birth to their third child. Ironically, this city, proclaimed by Hitler in 1935 to be the “capital of the Nazi movement,” was the very city that was originally to house the Johannesbau, the precursor of the Goetheanum.
Everything took place in the space of five days. The youths were arrested on a Thursday and executed on the following Monday. Their crime? To have defied Hitler by printing and handing out six pamphlets between May, 1942 and February, 1943. These were typewritten documents denouncing the inhumanity of the Nazi regime, made public and mailed to targeted groups – intellectuals, writers, teachers, etc. These pamphlets also contained poems and philosophical and literary references. They confirmed facts that up until then had been only rumoured (the extermination of the Jews in the east, the forcing of Polish girls into prostitution in SS brothels).
During the same year, 1943, four other trials followed, resulting in death sentences for other key players of the movement: Alexander Schmorell, 26, Willi Graf, 25, and professor Kurt Hubert, 50, who had written the last pamphlet. In his testimony before the People’s Court (Volksgerichtshof), standing alone in front of his judges, he delivered a moving plea for common humanity. And others would be arrested as well. The White Rose has been the subject of films, several books, and has been extensively documented.
The last surviving member of the movement, Traute Page, née Lafrenz, will turn 100 on May 3
rd
. She is an anthroposophical doctor who lives in South Carolina, and I had the ..............
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Looking For Investors For Waldorf Schools
The Vidar Foundation helps connect borrowers from socially worthy projects with lenders who want to invest their money in ways that can help the world to heal. Like our much larger counterpart in the USA, the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, we seek out and support initiatives in education, health, cooperatives, and sustainable agriculture here in Canada.
We are currently seeking investors for two worthy Waldorf schools ready to expand; one very young and vigourous, and one more mature. The six year old Okanagan Waldorf School near Vernon, BC, is building a larger Early Childhood Center to expand their outreach, kindergarten program, and enrolment. They have already secured $800,000 in grants and gifts for their building, which is going up this month. The well established Halton Waldorf School in Burlington is now 30 years old, with 200 students, and is ready to take the last big step and open a high school (see next article).
Both schools are financially sound, with track records of balanced budgets and steady growth, committed and energetic faculties and boards, and assets in land and buildings that far exceed the loan amounts needed. Both schools have had very significant contributions of time and money from their parent communities, and each needs about $500,000 more to help them grow and thrive.
Our current economic model is causing great environmental and social harm. Large multinational corporations are driven only by profit, no matter what the cost to our land, air, water, social fabric, or political systems. When we give our savings to a bank or mutual fund, we have no knowledge or control of where it is used in the world, for good or for harm. In his economics lectures, Rudolf Steiner emphasized that we need to bring increased consciousness to our financial dealings: to know where our money is, and what it is doing in the world.
Please consider investing in one of these secured projects, committing some of your life energy and will to stand behind these parents. They are working not just for their children, but for the many children to come who will benefit from what they are creating. We can know where our money is working in the world, and help it to heal.
Contact us at vidarfoundation@gmail.com, or phone Ingrid Belenson (Toronto)(905)709-4664, Reinhard Rosch (Ottawa)(613)838-2639, or Trevor Janz (Nelson, BC) (250)352-1208, for more details.
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Waldorf High School education growing in Burlington, Ontario
Halton Waldorf is growing a high school. The school located in the Orchard neighborhood of Burlington, Ontario not far from the Niagara Escarpment and the shores of Lake Ontario. Our mission is to enrich and strengthen each child’s potential to become a knowledgeable, reflective, and compassionate citizen of the world. After nearly 20 years in our current location we have grown into a strong, vibrant community with a parent-toddler program, preschool, three kindergartens, eight grades and a budding high school. As a result of the generosity of countless parents, alumni/ae, faculty, staff and friends, children in the Halton area have had the chance to experience extraordinary Waldorf education.
In September of 2018 we launched our high school program with the first grade 9 class. We have purchased a second property and are proceeding with construction plans for an additional school campus which will be home to the high school program.
AN ENGAGING HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM
Waldorf students experience scientific phenomena and sing together; act in plays and design a robot; the musician will meet the mathematician every day. Every student will engage with every discipline.
Imagine a learning environment that creates intrinsically motivated, imaginative thinkers with a strong moral compass. The Burlington area is rich in natural and cultural possibilities. Waldorf high school students extend their learning out into the community: hiking on the Niagara Escarpment while learning Canadian geography, outdoor rock climbing for physical education, watching live theatre for English at the Shaw Festival and Stratford Shakespeare Festival, studying botany at the Royal Botanical Gardens, and learning a studio craft at the Art Gallery of Burlington.
INDIVIDUALIZED TEACHING
The Waldorf high school experience awakens the breadth and depth of varied capacities. With the integrated and arts-infused curriculum, our students amaze themselves by their creative competency. The specialized high school faculty really know their students. Waldorf teachers are drawn to the unique nature of the Waldorf curriculum and teaching methods. Highly motivated to bring experiential and inspiring educational lessons, the faculty are guides to young people, and stand with the students as class advisors, counsellors and trip leaders. Life long bonds are formed between the teachers and their students.
GROWING WALDORF EDUCATION IN HALTON
As an independent school, non-profit organization, and registered Canadian charity, the school relies on community support to grow. Currently, the school is seeking low-interest loans, contributions, and gifts to support the Capital Campaign. Financial support is required to build a fully functional high school and lay the foundation for its growth, strength, and stability in the years to come. We hope you will support us in bringing our project to fruition.
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My Story and the Story Behind Myriad Village in Manitoba
Monika Pudelko, with Susan Koppersmith
It has been always my dream to live in a harmonious way with nature.
I grew up in the country side in northern Germany and played each afternoon in fields and forests. In my early twenties I met anthroposophy which gave me answers to the big questions I had about the world. Along the way I studied painting, sculpture and eurythmy; I also became a Waldorf teacher and was active in the Youth Section.
The need of environmental change and my deep connection to the arts and anthroposophy have always gone together.
In 2008 at a Goetheanum conference I had the good fortune to meet Ibrahim Abouleish, the founder of Sekem in Egypt. From then on I knew for certain that it was possible to create a community, harmonious with nature and enlivened with the arts, Waldorf education and the practice of biodynamic farming and also made feasible with a healthy economic life.
In 2012 I felt guided to move to Canada. After some travelling and teaching and performing eurythmy I moved to Winnipeg. There were no anthroposophical institutions or a Waldorf School nearby but somehow I felt well-situated in a place right in the middle of this big country. The landscape was calling to me for assistance and I believed I could help make it more healthy.
In my new community I taught eurythmy and met people interested in Waldorf education and participated in alternative events. Soon I made many new friends, including people who had the same interests that I have for a healthy life in nature. From 2014 to 2018 I ran a small home-based Waldorf childcare centre to meet the needs for the area and to generate an income.
In the summer of 2014 a Facebook page called
Manitoba Ecovillage Currently Forming
was created.
Meetings were called and so many good people showed up; there was a lot of excitement and talk! Soon it became clear that nothing would happen if a few of us didn't hunker down and go through the eye of the needle to create a legal foundation. A core group ranging from 3-8 people put in countless weekend hours towards this end and eventually
Manitoba Ecovillage Currently Forming
turned into a legal entity called
Myriad Village Marketing Coop
.
First we received a very generous donation. With our land costs now covered, we were able to move right into forming a cooperative. I won’t go into details but we found that this was a far more tedious process than anyone would have anticipated.
We are now registered officially as a marketing coop. We have written a collaborative mission and vision statement, taken minutes at each of our meetings dating back to March 2015 and searched thoroughly for the right piece of land. We called the land-searching crew, The Land Hounds.
The Hounds visited countless properties all over Manitoba. We eventually decided on a property we now call Myriad Village; it is one hour from Winnipeg,.............
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World Waldorf Alumni Festival in Halifax - Postponed
The Waldorf Alumni/ae World Festival planed for August 7-12, 2019 has been moved to 2020.
More details about the 2020 festival including new dates will be sent out in the coming months.
On behalf of the organizing committee, I would like to thank everyone who helped give the festival a strong beginning. We look forward to continuing our work together to create an exciting centenary celebration of Waldorf Education.
In gratitude,
Micah Edelstein
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General Information and Upcoming Events
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Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto Offers First-Ever Retreats for Young Adults (18-35)
This year, for the first time ever, the Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto will be offering retreats for young adults, between the ages of 18 and 35. Two different retreats will be offered on two different dates and in different locations.
In the world we live in today, there is great need for deeper understandings of what lies behind the material. Many are suffering from the dissonance created by the disharmony of our modern civilization. These weeks will help us to penetrate the greater currents at work in the world today and to find a way to bring harmony back into our lives and the world around us.
1. At Glencolton Farms in Ontario in July 19th - 25th, 2019
The first will be July 19th to 25th at Glencolton Farm near Durham Ontario. This is the farm of Michael Schmidt and Elisa van der Hout. The theme for the week will be “Experiencing Anthroposophy on a Biodynamic Farm”. This is billed as a seven-day retreat for young adults from around the world, interested in deepening their knowledge of anthroposophy and nature.
2. At Wakefield, in the Gatineau Hills in August 2019
The second retreat will be from August 18th to 24th, near Wakefield, in the Gatineau Hills of Quebec. There the focus will be deepening knowledge of art, anthroposophy and the natural world. Although this retreat will be held in Quebec where both French and English are spoken, this retreat will be conducted in English.
EXTRA: Waldorf Alumni/ae World Festival
POSTPONED UNTIL 2020
There may be young people who would like to take part in one of these young adult retreats but who cannot themselves afford to pay the costs involved. If you would like to help make it possible for more young people to attend these events, please consider sponsoring a young person to attend by making a tax-deductible donation to the RSCT's sponsorship fund. Your sponsorship could make a difference in their lives.
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Newsletter from Society for Biodynamic Farming and Gardening
BIODYNAMIC FARMING AND GARDENING SOCIETY OF ONTARIO
Prep Digging Day (weather permitting)
Uli and Martha Hack Farm
1017 Concession 7 Kincardine, Ontario
May 15
th,
9-4pm
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We are keen to form a relationship with you.
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Spiritually Striving Youth in North America
Thank You to Members Who Have Supported Us!
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Branches & Groups
Calgary Branch
Update for January - March 2019
Contact: Christine at
*******
Duncan
Events
Contact:
*******
Huronia Branch
Contact Janine at
705-728-1443
*******
Montréal
Institute Rudolf Steiner Quebec
Montreal Branch (English)
*******
Nelson, BC
*******
Nova Scotia
*******
Saugeen Cedar Branch
*******
Thornhill Group
Nicanor Perlas, see main panel Ontario events
*******
Toronto Branch
*******
Vancouver
Nicanor Perlas, see main panel Ontario/Vancouver events
*******
Membership Update
******
Editorial Notes
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
BACK ISSUES are available on our website:
You will need the password: ASC
Contact Info
Anthroposophical Society in Canada
# 130A - 1 Hesperus Rd.
Thornhill, ON
L4J 0G9
Administrator
416-892-3656
877-892-3656
Members website
please note you will need to use the password
ASC
to access the members only page
Council
President
Treasurer
Secretary
General Secretary
School For Spiritual Science
For list of Class Holders,
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Ontario, February - June 2019
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The Karma Project
A Western Approach to Reincarnation & Karma
May 8, 7:15pm Central 8:15 Eastern;
Online
A presentation on the psychological understanding of karma, with special guests Drs. Roberta Nelson and David Tresemer.
The Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America invites you to a presentation on the psychological understanding of karma, with special guests Drs. Roberta Nelson and David Tresemer.
Guidance - and challenge - from Rudolf Steiner(August 3, 1924): "If we want to experience our karma in a comfortable way -- it will surely take vengeance on us in one way or another ... to be anthroposophists we must be able to observe our own experience of karma with constant wide-awake attention."
Our approach on May 8: An anthroposophic psychology must take seriously the different functions of body, soul, and spirit. Spirit—light, freedom, beyond time and space; Physical Body—vehicle for experience and expression; Soul—the mediator. Karma—held as precious in Spirit, stamped into the Physical Body, and worked in Soul. Whereas the Spirit sings in light and freedom, the Soul learns through darkness and constraints, through struggles. The anthroposophic notion of karma helps us understand how we can wrestle with our own being, transforming through experience.
Audio-video: We will have some images on screen, though we will describe these to those who join by telephone.
Preparation: Please have a pen and blank paper. If you have chalk-based pastels, please have those ready as well.
Audioconference Details
Option 2. Call in using your telephone.
United States: (646) 558-8656 or: (669) 900-6833
Access Code: 689-514-145
Please join us!
Agenda (Central Time)
7:15 Welcome and introductions
7:18 Verse
7:20 Introduce guest speaker
7:25 Guest Speakers: Drs. Roberta Nelson & David Tresemer (45 minutes)
8:10 Q&A – Please state your name, location before asking a question
8:28 Close with verse
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Proposed Visit by Nicanor Perlas -
subject to successful visa application
June 26, 27, 2019 in Thornhill
Nicanor's June 26th talk will be on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and his June 27th talk will be on Social Threefolding.
Both talks will be in the TWS Music Room, co-sponsored by the RSCT and Thornhill Group of the ASC
June 29, 30, 2019 in Vancouver
On Saturday, June 29th there will be a book signing
(Humanity's Last Stand: The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence)
at Banyen Books and Sound and an evening lecture,
On Sunday, June 30th, Nicanor will hold a workshop on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the Threefold Social Order.
For more information contact: Anthony Perzel at 778-885-3415 /
ajperzel@telus.net
(for the Nicanor Perlas Planning Group)
Full details in the May eNews
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2019 Educational Workshops
Introduction to Biodynamic Gardening and Farming
This learning program enables participants to apply biodynamic concepts and fundamental principles to their gardening and farming practices.
This course focuses on understanding and applying biodynamic principles using hands-on experience, including artistic and creative exercises, to develop one’s sense of being in and working with the natural world.
Teachers
Rosemary Tayler has a background in education, pure science (MSc) and alternative medicine, in particular, homeopathy. From 2000 to 2015 she devoted time and energy to community gardening, large-scale composting and organizing local food markets. Since then, she has co-taught this biodynamic course with her colleague, Kathryn Aunger.
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Manitoba - June
Earthship Building Workshop at Myriad Village
Learn how to build an earthship as an example of a passive solar house system, using recycled materials, with special features through hands-on-experiences with master builders.
Workshop1: June 3rd - June 8th tire pounding - insulation - greenhouse windows - prep tire wall for roof
Workshop2: June 10th - June 15th roof construction - water catchment - windows - bottle design walls
$350 per workshop (includes 3 daily, 80% organic meals. *pay $150 for the 2nd workshop if you participate in both.
Camping options available with amenities (water, toilet)
To register or for more information:
or phone 204-430-6943
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Section for Social Sciences
Dear friends,
We are very pleased to announce, by this letter, the Soul of Europe 2019 conference to be held in
Brussels
from
23 to 25 august 2019
. You are cordially invited to participate!
This conference is organized by an enthusiastic group from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The conference is offered by the Anthroposophical Society of the Netherlands and was co-organized under the auspices of the Social Sciences Section of the Goetheanum.
With cordial greetings of Europe!
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Switzerland & France, August
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Sophia Services presents ...
In Search of the Centre—in Depth
Dornach, Arlesheim & beyond...
August 25 to September 8, 2019
These pictures are so familiar to us and yet...
• Have you gone behind the scenes to explore the whole Goetheanum, seen the Representative of Humanity sculpture and Gerard Wagner’s original paintings from the Second Goetheanum?
For further information please contact Sarnia Guiton:
604-740-0676
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Anthroposophy Worldwide - 2019
We will continue to provide a link for anthroposophy worldwide for the time being. Please refer to article below concerning direct delivery from the Goetheanum.
If you would like to see the archive of past issues, go to:
Archiv
then enter password AWE-2018
Anthroposophy worldwide to your inbox
If you are a member of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada (ASC), you are also a member of the General Anthroposophical Society (GAS) centred at the Gotheanum, Dornach, Switzerland. The GAS is currently pursuing a policy of direct email communication with members.
Anthroposophy Worldwide, which reached its 21st birthday this year, is available ten times a year by email. You can now receive it in pdf form directly from the Goetheanum. Please send them your email address – to ensure correct identification add your name and postal address – using the online forms, which are available in English, French, German and Spanish at:
anthroposophie.org/abo.
S
elect ENGLISH (EN)/FRENCH (FR) on the welcome page.
Fill out the form. If you have problems filling in or submitting the form, you can also send your data informally to
abo@dasgoetheanum.com
.
Many Thanks,
Editor
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