From the World Society
On Boundaries and Thresholds
Dear Members and Friends of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada:
With the crisp freshness of frost and the scent of fallen leaves in the air we return once more to this special time in the year’s cycle. Looking out over the landscape we can be moved by the luminous golds and fiery reds of our maple trees as they blanket the earth with their five-pointed stars. We hear the call of geese on their migrations. We can picture great rivers of caribou flowing across the tundra, the southward journeying of whales along our coasts.
Wherever we turn we have the experience of complex movement, of broad sweeping gestures that mantle our earth. We can imagine the onward progress of winter storms streaming out of the north. All of this activity finds its frantic expression in the frenzied concentration of squirrels making their final preparations for winter. As we live with these great movements, we can be struck by how generous nature is. How indiscriminate she is in sharing this preparation for a new season, a new condition, with all of us. She does not make distinctions.
We can also look out onto a parallel world, the world that humanity has learned to imagine. We see invisible lines beneath the unbroken blanket of falling leaves. We perceive borders and boundaries that are imperceptible to the frenzied squirrel, the wings of geese, the rivers of caribou. We cultivate a way of seeing that would parcel nature, that would sever what is whole into imperceptible entities – entities that we cannot see or touch – invisible realities that we invest with deep significance. We feel ourselves attached to, identified by, these invisible lines, deeply concerned about our relationships to these abstract incisions on the earth. We marvel that these divides have no effect on nature who so freely shares her bounty across boundaries, across borders, with indifference. The deepening white of winter advances without concern for our imagined demarcations.
Nature’s innocence affects us deeply. The sureness with which she aligns herself with the movements of the year; following the receding sun, orienting herself to the movement of the zodiac across the sky can leave us disorientated by her indifference to what we hold as essential.
Near the end of his life, during what was to be the last of his Michaelmas conferences, Rudolf Steiner spoke of this remarkable autumn process to his Viennese friends. He describes how over the past 400 years we have cultivated this ‘dissecting’ view of the world. We turn our discriminating gaze onto our surroundings and see definitions, demarcations, rather than fullness and wholeness. He describes how we turn to the lily, and with our gaze imprison nature. With a crushing exactness we classify the lily’s species and genus, and yet in doing so we separate ourselves from her essential being.
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FROM THE GOETHEANUM
Dear Members,
“History has been written, the future has not”, is how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, presently the youngest Democratic representative in the US Congress, argues for a transformation of society. The Friday for Future student movement expresses the same sentiments in more concise and radical terms: “Unf**k My Future!”
We read much about the increasingly polarized world, the consequences of a rampant materialism on civilization, but at the same time also about the awakening of young people to the effects this has on nature, about taking responsibility individually for the future and the birth of a new solidarity across continents.
Positive antidote
What kind of positive antidote is there? “Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine”, Henry David Thoreau wrote in 1849 in his essay on Civil Disobedience, a statement that still applies today when it comes to corporations, conformity and the societal attitude of “continuing as before”. The history of the Anthroposophical Society has been “written”, one could say, since Rudolf Steiner’s death in 1925. It is what we are building on – against all odds. But the future is open and depends on our present actions both as individuals and as a society that is forming itself in freedom. Across the world, people are working daily on creating such a “counter- friction”, out of their inner connection with anthroposophy and within their particular social context. To say it with Wilhelm-Ernst Barkhoff, founder of the gls Bank, “We can only overcome our fear of a future we dread with images of a future we want.”
What kind of attitude is it that lets people become active, inspired by anthroposophy and against all odds? Is it a quality of the “Michaelic attitude” that works in harmony with the spirit of our time? How can we as the Anthroposophical Society create a fruitful source of strength for the many active supporters of these impulses?
Warm greetings,
Justus Wittich, Goetheanum
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Message from Marianne Schubert, Visual Art Section, Goetheanum.
Dear friends of the arts!
As you may have heard already, my time as the leader of the section for visual arts is drawing to a close.
I would therefore like to cordially invite you to the last major event that I am carrying in this function.
180 WORKS BY 80 ARTISTS
FROM THE THREE-COUNTRY TRIANGLE BASEL
From 28 November to 1 December there will be a large sales exhibition in the carpentry workshop of the Goetheanum.
The work of Frederieke Nelissen (Holland) and Zoltán Döbrötei (Hungary) will also be on show as well as the exhibition of contemporary paintings by Georgian artists at the 1st floor of the Goetheanum.
(The artwork of all four exhibitions can be purchased.)
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From the 28 November to 1 December you are warmly invited to this year's November conference entitled
On Sunday, 1.12. during the afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. we would like to offer an opportunity for exchange. Marianne Schubert will give a review of her work and a preview by Christiane Haid to the work of the Visual Art Section starting in January 2020 will conclude the weekend of art.
Looking forward to seeing you soon with warm greetings
Marianne Schubert
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Dear Members,
The Council is delighted to announce the appointment of Christine Tansley to the role of Membership Administrator effective October 1, 2019. Among her varied tasks, Christine will manage the connectivity for all members of the Society, receive questions and queries, provide information, keep membership records and ensure compliance with government charitable regulations as she collaborates closely with Council members.
Christine brings a deep love of anthroposophy to her work and a wealth of administrative experience, including a long-standing administrative role at the Toronto Waldorf School. She is an active resident of Hesperus Fellowship
Village, an anthroposophically-inspired seniors’ residence adjacent to the Toronto Waldorf School.
Jef Saunders will continue in the role of Communication Administrator, which includes responsibilities for the publication of the eNews and website. Jef has graciously agreed to mentor Christine as she transitions into the evolving aspects of her role.
We are sincerely grateful to Jef for masterfully fulfilling the demands and complexities of the administrative role for the past several years and for agreeing to assist Christine.
Part of our Council work this year includes an ongoing dialogue and exploration into how we can re- imagine the role of administrator. We will be looking for ways to alleviate the work-load and the many tasks required to administer the Society effectively on a daily basis, by engaging the membership’s expertise. We encourage you to share your ideas and to contribute towards finding creative ways to collaborate as we meet the future together.
Please join us as we warmly thank Jef and welcome Christine!
Catarina Burisch for the Council of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada
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CELEBRATING THE SOCIAL ARTS IN THE MUSEUMS OF OTTAWA
Denis Schneider
Here I am once again, back from my stay in Ottawa, anxious to take you on a tour of the city’s magnificent museums dedicated to: art, science, history, nature, aviation, and war. These modern-day temples retell, each in its own way, the story of mankind. But I also longed to revisit this flagship city, steeped in the remembrance of the social virtues of Turtle Island (the historical focal point of the continent where the various North American indigenous tribes would meet together). In 2016, during the Anthroposophical Society’s “Encountering our Humanity” conference, it was Douglas Cardinal, a master builder of indigenous origin and the architect responsible for the Museum of History in Gatineau, who led us to discover this palette of inclusive colours. This great artist was initiated in indigenous spirituality by tribal elders and is a devotee of Goethean phenomenology, linked to anthroposophy. He examines his own work with great awareness and questions the future of the indigenous peoples and that of mankind as a whole. In this respect, he brings to mind the same crucial questions Paul Gaugin asks in his masterpiece (to be addressed further on in this article): Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?
In his architectural creations, Douglas reveals the possibilities of a new social art. Indeed, he celebrates the art of creating a space with others by imagining meeting spaces conducive to co-creation, through linking one’s own personal initiative with the initiative of others. International recognition has come his way: he received the First Nations’ Award of Excellence in 1995; in 1999 he was awarded the Medal of Honour from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the highest honour given to a Canadian; he designed the National Museum of the American Indian located on Washington DC’s National Mall; and he has completed many other important projects. You can visit his website to see pictures of the “new temples” he has designed based on principles derived from organic forms. And you may even see there a sympathetic gaze from an older sibling – the Goetheanum itself!
http://www.djcarchitect.com/
Friday morning, August 23, 2019: Science and Technology Museum
Before entering the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition, I was awe-struck as I found a constellation of extraordinary technical creations on display all around me. I knew then and there that I had to see everything – a vast array of machines and devices posing proudly under the electric lights, as if lit by the sun itself. Exhilarated, and then surprised, my gaze was next drawn backwards towards the inner rooms, where I began to ponder on how innumerable human hands had created these objects throughout history. Each object suddenly seemed to be enveloped in the aura of those hands. What good would the brilliant ideas of the inventors have been without those wise, thinking hands? How would those hands ever have been able to create without investing something of the forces of the heart and a will to produce the best possible object? This became obvious to me as I realised that without this inner commitment, the results would have been but mediocre. I was moved with gratitude as I acknowledged these objects, all created before the era of digital technology and robotics. My heart opened wide to embrace them all.
And then, turning around suddenly, I was dumbfounded as there appeared before my eyes and in my thoughts the grim reality of the sale of Air Transat, an airline serving international and domestic as well as charter flights. This sight would stay with me for the entire weekend, as if floating in the air above the museums, my hotel, and even the city streets. How was it that this valuable Montreal-based creation specialising in organised vacation travel could have been so cruelly disfigured? Was a thought ever given during the transaction to the diligent workers, to their sense of belonging to the organisation, and to their expertise (for example the mechanics, who were trained not only for their specific tasks but also were fully aware of the workings of the entire plane)? Have we forgotten the other fields of expertise and service without which nothing of this, if we look at the whole picture, would have ever taken flight? Was this facet of the countenance we opened to the wide world destined at the outset only to line the pockets of the shareholders (with their noses in the air) and therefore destined to inevitably crash nose first and disappear? Or go elsewhere? A sad example indeed of anti-social art!
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A Quarterly Newsletter from Camphill Foundation Canada
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PERSPECTIVES
The first issue of the Society's new publication,
Perspectives
, has been distributed to all members of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada
The editorial team is already planning for issue two which will come out in May 2020. The theme will be:
Good and Evil, Light and Darkness
.
We are calling for articles of 1500 words or less and, in order to be considered for selection, they must be received no later than Dec. 31, 2019. Files can be sent in English or French (we will take care of the translation). We would also like to receive good quality photos of artwork based on the theme.
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General Information and Upcoming Events
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Branches & Groups
Calgary Branch
Contact: Christine at
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Duncan
Contact:
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Huronia Branch
Contact Janine at
705-728-1443
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Montréal
Institute Rudolf Steiner Quebec
Montreal Branch (English)
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Nelson, BC
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Nova Scotia
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Saugeen Cedar Branch
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Thornhill Branch
now renamed
Polaris Branch
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Thornhill Group
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Toronto Branch
Please see events in the right-hand column
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Vancouver
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Membership Update
Deceased
Sybille Hahn, Thornhill,
22nd October, 2019
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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 - Programs for 2019-2020
ARSCURA
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Find Your Artist - Change the World
A seven week, two days a week art immersion for the beginner as well as the experienced art lover. Begins Friday, October 26. Please check the website for full details.
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ONTARIO - NOVEMBER
RUDOLF STEINER CENTRE TORONTO
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Friday and Saturday November 8, 9 Waldorf Development Conference at the Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto. This year’s theme is
“Education for Balance and Resilience”.
For teachers, parents, or anyone who’s interested in deepening their understanding of Waldorf education.
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An Introduction to the World of
Rudolf Steiner's
Outline of Esoteric Science
Moderated and led by Paul Goodyear & Eurythmy movement with Margaret Osmond
Sunday November 7th - Monday November 11th
This very compact workshop is suited for people who wish to get a first access to this seminal "masterpiece" of Rudolf Steiners
For more information and to register please visit
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ONTARIO - NOVEMBER
TORONTO BRANCH
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Breaking the Spell: Metamorphosing Science’s Core Paradigm
with Dr. Kenneth McAlister.
November 21st at Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto, 2 Sussex Ave., Toronto
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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
e
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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