Nova Scotia
Transformative Power of Poetry
June 2nd
St John Festival
June 18th
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Institute Rudolf Steiner Quebec
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Erika Stein Keipert crossed the threshold April 13th, 2018; Châteauguay |
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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
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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 Secreta
ry
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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Last weekend the Society held its 65th annual general members meeting. Over 80 members and friends attended not only the AGM but also the conference on Building Spiritual Substance. If you were there, you already know how exciting, interesting, uplifting and stimulating it was. If not, in the near future, we will be sharing an informative newsletter concerning this event.
Outside my window as I write this the red-wing blackbirds are nesting in the bullrushes and fiercely defending their brood. The trees are in leaf, the water lilies in the pond are just about to flower and lilacs are bestowing their heavenly scent. Such a delight!
With best wishes,
Jef
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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Council meeting with Quebec members
The council of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada* met with Quebec members on Sunday, February 25, 2018, in the Society premises at La Grande Ourse in Montreal. The 21 members in attendance explored the present and future of the Society by taking their inspiration from the second panel of the Foundation Stone Meditation in connection with the theme of the year: Light and Warmth for the Human Soul.
How can we strengthen the present and prepare for the future, looking forward towards the 2023 centenary of the Christmas Conference when the Foundation Stone Meditation was first given to the members? What is our personal connection to the Society and to this verse?
To help us bring our thoughts into clear focus, the General Secretary, Arie van Ameringen, led us in an artistic exercise followed by an exchange. We separated into groups of two for a threefold drawing exercise: each one was asked to draw a six-pointed star, both partners working on the same board, but drawing their form with chalk from opposite sides. Then Arie asked that we change the hexagram into a pentagram, and this transitioning from the 6 to the 5 created a moment of quiet chaos! As a last step, the two partners were then asked to connect their two stars: each one then having to leave his or her personal space in order to open up to the other.
This experience brought out a multitude of feelings in the participants: powerlessness and panic - but also an awareness of blending with one another, centering, and even warmth. The conversation which followed brought up many questions and a sharing of personal experiences, including meditation. The key to healing, it was said, lies in the experience of rhythm, an image of the beating of heart and lung, like a dance that leads us to connect with another person, one step at a time.
The question of our Canadian reality was also brought up from many angles: on the one hand, the geographical configuration of the land and the feeling of being a part of North America; and on the other hand, our specific history and unique identity with respect to the United States. Arie pointed out that for the first time, the majority of our Society leaders are Canadian born.
A potluck meal then provided a warm ending to the gathering.
*In attendance: Dorothy LeBaron, President, Micah Edelstein, Secretary, John Glanzer, Treasurer, Arie van Ameringen, Jeffrey Saunders, Administrator, and Susan Koppersmith.
Michel Dongois
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Youth Conference on the First Class Lessons - Goetheanum, Dornach.
April 6-8th, 2018 - Micah Edelstein
Overview
35 youth members of the First Class, from 15 countries around the world, in the age range of 23 to 36 attended the first conference for youth on the mantra of the first class lessons.
The conference was organized and carried by youth section members: Milena Kowarik (Switzerland), Janna de Vries (Netherlands), Ioana Viscrianu (Romania), Paul Zebhauser (Germany/Switzerland), Carmen Delia Tromp (Netherlands), Roi Schmelzer (Israel) and Johannes Kronenberg (Netherlands), together with Constanza Kaliks, member of the Vorstand and leader of the youth Section. The content of the conference focused on the first 3 Class Lessons and the themes of thinking, feeling and willing.
DAY 1
The conference began with a presentation by Johannes and Roi on the evolution of thinking described by Steiner in the content of the Study of Man. A connection was made between the abolition of the spirit during the 8th ecumenical council of Constantinople in 869, and the 17th century philosophical declaration made by Descartes, that the act of thinking causes undeniable being. The famous thesis of Descartes " I think therefore I am" was brought forward by Steiner in both a philosophical and practical manner to show that thinking can become spirit and give humanity consciousness of the spiritual world. The establishment of doubt as a counter force to spiritual insight was also explored and recognized as the basis of contemporary consciousness.
Following the presentation on thinking, groups explored the questions:
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What is Thinking?
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How does the outer world around you/us affect thinking?
3.
What is doubt, and where does it come from?
In the evening Rik ten Cate gave a free rendering of the First Class Lesson.
DAY 2
Milena Kowarik started the day with a presentation on the mysterious world of feeling. She spoke about the central place feelings have in-
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Eurythmy Spring Valley
The postgraduate students of Eurythmy Spring Valley performed at the Toronto Waldorf School as part of their tour on May 16, 2018, giving two performances for the students and an evening performance open for the community. There was a special connection in that one troupe member, Olivia Hanna, is a TWS alumna.
We had not had a full length professional eurythmy programme in many years and Marta Stemberger, the toure manager, noted how eagerly the evening spectators came in. The eight eurythmists, accompanied by a pianist, a speaker and lighting technician, displayed a high level of artistry and technical proficiency. Perhaps most importantly, they were well grounded and moved the space. I was very happy that the students be able to witness such high level of professionalism in this artform of which many of them had only seen fleeting splinters.
I am very grateful to all these individuals who have invested so much of themselves into their art, and to my colleagues who have helped bring this production to TWS.
Jonathan Snow
TWS eurythmy teacher
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I rejoice in the publication of an English translation of Michael Schubert's magnificent book, The Isenheim Altarpiece, the original German edition of which was published in 2007 to wide acclaim. The three tiered, winged altarpiece was painted over 500 years ago by an artist of exceptional imagination and skill, Matthias Grunewald, about whom little is known. Commissioned by an Antonite abbott at the turn of the sixteenth century and mounted in the Isenheim monastery chapel, it became a source of hope and healing for hospice patients afflicted by St. Anthony's Fire, a fatal disease caused by the consumption of contaminated rye. An icon of heavenly harmony and healing grace, the painting constitutes an antidote to the turbulent stream of our daily concerns in a time of unprecedented global unrest. The ever growing number of visitors to the museum in Colmar, France, where the polyptych is currently housed, attests to its enduring significance as a sublime and seminal artistic creation.
A true work of art is said to perform of its own accord the act of transforming the soul of the viewer. This purpose is implicit in the altarpiece. Like other great religious paintings of the Renaissance in which aesthetic and spiritual values are at one, its inherent marriage of beauty and truth is communicated through an inspired combination of colour and form. The beauty of these biblical images and the mysteries that attend them can leave us breathless in a part of the
Read on.......
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Message from the Wiart sisters - Red Deer, AB
My sister and I are in the process of dissolving an early childcare preschool/daycare program in Red Deer, AB, unless someone comes forward. The door remains open until the end of June. It is a unique opportunity for someone who is interested in operating their own program, however, I am willing to mentor the process, as much or as little as wanted.
The registration is in place for the fall and all government paper work is up to date. We have remained "Friends of WECAN" but did not become affiliated as a Waldorf School through AWSNA.
If you know of anyone who may be interested, or if you know of someone to pass this opportunity on to, please give them my email
genkiss@shaw.ca
or phone number 403-341-9905 and I would love to have a chat.
Your support is much appreciated!
As I come to this place in my life, where I am looking forward to semi retire, I reflect that should I be younger, I would do it all over again. I have loved the children, families, Waldorf education and educators. It has been "good work" :)
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New Research Area on Website
At the Encountering Our Humanity conference in 2016, an important part of the conference was the research forums where there was an opportunity for participants to share their work, inspired by anthroposophy.
In our ongoing effort to support member initiatives, we have added a
Research
area on our website which already has three contributions. We welcome further contributions. Please send to Jef Saunders
ascnat@gmail.com
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"This is indeed written in the karma of every single Anthroposophist. Be a person of initiative... This should stand written in golden letters, constantly before the soul of the Anthroposophist."
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Stefan Schwabe
March 5 1946 - September 23, 2017
Born in Zürich, Switzerland, oldest of 4 boys, Stefan moved to BC with his dad and brother in the 1960's, where he remained until his death in Nelson BC in 2017.
Beloved father of Debora, Sheyla, Felicia, and Savanna, Stefan was predeceased by his much loved wife Cree in 2008.
Stefan was the apprentice of sculptor Herbert Witzenmann, who deeply influenced his life. Throughout his life Stefan often spoke of his love and appreciation for Herbert in his life.
In the early days in Vancouver, Stefan did a trade training in gravestone carving and it was this experience that led him into woodworking, for which he is known. Stefan loved wood, the life in it, the variable textures and characteristics of it. He once said that his best investment was his carving tools. Stefan also loved classical and flute music, especially the pan flute. A favourite indulgence was enjoying a croissant and coffee in the morning, it reminded him warmly of the time with his mother.
Stefan was a longtime member of a weekly anthroposophical study group, where his sense of humour, probing questions and philosophical nature were deeply valued. Over the years Stefan contributed to anthroposophy in many ways, through his wood sculpture, example of which can be seen in the lintels over classroom doors at the Nelson Waldorf School, where his daughters attended school and where Stefan supported school festivals and gatherings. A treasured gift of Stefan to anthroposophy is his translation of R. Steiner's Calendar of the Soul:
Stefan's translation of the Soul Calendar, Twenty-fifth Week , by Rudolf Steiner:
I may now own my Self
And radiate and spread my light
In Space and Time so dark.
The natural Being seeks to sleep,
The depths of soul shall wakeful be
And wakeful, bring the sun's warm glow
To frigid tides of winter.
In his last week, Stefan was an inspiration to many of his friends and family in the face of imminent approaching death, demonstrating how this last step in life can be experienced with grace and trust.
Diane Walters
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Erika Olga (Stein) Keipert
July 24th, 1924 - April 13th, 2018
Erika was born in Geislingen an Der Steige, a little town in Southern Germany. She was an only child. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a silver smith, a music conductor as well as a very active Anthroposophist and member of The Christian Community- Movement for Religious Renewal.
After attending school she become a primary school teacher and taught during the war. Those were difficult times. She would bicycle to school and often had to hide in a ditch while bombs or gun fire would fly over head. Because there was so little rations, she would often steal or barter food from the Americans.
In 1946 she attended an Anthroposophical lecture and met an Austrian man named Kurt Vincent Keipert who would change her life. In order to show her affection, Erika decided to give him a gift. She knew he loved to smoke but cigarettes were hard to come by. So she collected cigarette butts from the Americans put them in a bowl and gave them to Kurt. He was delighted! Clearly the used tobacco stubs worked and shortly after this they were married on April 21st 1946. They needed to get married quickly because Germany was deporting all non-German single foreigners. To give us a further picture of the extremely frugal conditions, for their wedding present they received six eggs from some friends with which to make a cake. Another friend leant her a dress to wear. Material was meagre, the joy abundant!
After their wedding they lived with her parents for 4 years until in 1950 they moved to Canada. They had $5 and two suitcases.
Moving to Canada was not her first choice and would prove to be one of the most difficult challenges of her life. She describes deep culture shock when they arrived on the boat. She also never really felt comfortable with the French language. She struggled with loneliness and caring for the household by herself as Kurt worked all hours to provide.
In 1955 her first-born, Angela arrived. And in 1958 Peter was born. Erika was an excellent mother.
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Inner Work Path - with Lisa Romero, June 5th, 7:00pm at the Christian Community
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Recognizing the Christ Impulse - with Lisa Romero, June 8 - 10, at the Christian Community
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The Planets in Movement and Color
A Summer Festival in Barrie at
Natura Medical Arts Centre
July 6,7,8, 2018 (Friday-Sunday)
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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 August 2018
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Anthroposophy Worldwide - # 5 2018
If you would like to see the archive of past issues, go to:
then enter password AWE-2018
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