In this edition
AGM & Conference Information & Registration
Meeting One Another
Trudy Andersen
Ingrid Belenson
Letter from Hélène Besnard,(Foundation Stone)
Go fund me appeal for Auriel Graduation
ASC Expands Fundraising Capacity by Accepting Donations of Securities
Trillium Waldorf School is raising up to $2 million in Community Bonds
Membership Update
Anthroposophy Worldwide # 05, 2022
Events and information:
Euythmy Performance, Toronto
New Training in RMT
RSCC Courses and Summer Festival
West Coast Institute Courses
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Excitement and interest is building for our upcoming nationwide hybrid AGM and Conference. Registration is now open and we anticipate your participation!
The Editor
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Anthroposophical Society in Canada
Annual General Meeting and Conference
June 24, 25, 26, 2022
Glencolton Farm
Our Annual General Meeting and Conference implies the active participation/involvement of each Canadian member. We, your planning committee comprised of Dorothy LeBaron, Regine Kurek, Grant Davis and Catarina Burisch, were inspired by our common wish to have meaningful human experiences and encounters. We are planning a creative albeit practical hybrid way of accomplishing this by enabling simultaneous human encounters to occur across Canada via local branches/groups. We aim to ensure that everyone has a human social experience of this our annual event.
The conference features
· inspiring keynote speaker (see below)
· rich artistic activity
· insightful debrief from across Canada
· sharing of a common experience
Members are invited to join the conference and AGM in one of the following two ways
· In person at Glencolton Farm
· In person at your local Branch/group site
Both social experiences (Glencolton Farm or Branch) will be linked three times via Zoom for the
1. Friday key note address
2. Saturday post artistic process debrief from individual Branches/groups
3. Sunday Annual General Meeting
Simultaneous translation of all 3 Zoom events will be provided
The goal of this year’s conference is to create a continuum in time whereby the theme and experience of the Conference is not an isolated event but rather one that builds and develops as we go from this year, into next year and towards the world-wide commemorative events of the fire, Dec. 31, (New Year's Eve) 1922,and for the refounding of the Society, the Christmas Conference of 1923/1924.
Throughout this past year, the Branch and membership mandate group has been active in helping connect members from across Canada despite physical distances. We are building on this momentum and are counting on your active participation and presence as we continue shaping our human destiny together.
We look forward to seeing you there.
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Annual General Meeting and Conference
June 24, 25 & 26, 2022
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So, what does it mean to be
human now?
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Annual General Meeting and Conference
June 24, 25 & 26, 2022
The goal of this year’s conference is to create a continuum in time whereby the theme and experience of the Conference is not an isolated event but rather one that builds and develops as we go from this year, into next year and towards the world-wide commemorative events of the fire on December 31,1922 and for the refounding of the Society at the Christmas Conference 1923/1924.
In person at Saugeen Academy Hanover and Glencolton Farm, Durham, Ontario.
Or in person with your local branch or group.
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Keynote speaker
Christoph Wuerscher
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Christoph Wuerscher was born in Kitchener, Ontario and grew up in the United States. His parents had been very active in a resistance movement known as the “Confessing Church” before leaving Germany in 1939. Conversations around the dinner table frequently touched on moral, social and spiritual issues. Although Christoph determined to become a psychologist in Grade 7, it took more than two decades before he received his license to practice. While he was at Queen’s University in Kingston, pursuing his doctorate in Clinical Psychology, he was introduced to The Christian Community and the ideas of Rudolf Steiner. Both resonated deeply within him and greatly influenced his life and his work. As a clinical and organizational psychologist, he has learned a great deal from sharing in the lives of veterans, police officers, young offenders, executives, politicians, musicians, seminarians, and their spouses and partners. Recently retired, the question of what it means to be human in our times is near and dear to his heart, and he is looking forward to engaging with others on the topic.
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Meeting One Another
In the vastness that is Canada we celebrate those times when we can come together, to be with one another. The separation we have experienced over the past year has affected us deeply. We have longed to be with one another. This is our strength.
As we come closer to the point of renewal, of re-inauguration, at Christmas 2023 we seek to support this longing to meet each other month by month through the eNews. To make this possible an invitation is given to each of you to share your story.
How did you meet anthroposophy? What led you to join the Anthroposophical Society?
With 500 words, and a photo, share your journey with us. We all look forward to meeting you.
Thank you to members who have already sent in contributions.
Send your contribution to:
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Meeting One Another
by Trudy Andersen, Surrey, BC
In the March eNews, I was delighted and inspired by the contribution about Carol Lewis from London, ON. As a former citizen of London I felt right away the connection again to Carol and the founding of the London Waldorf School which took place in the fall of 1980.
It represented a life changing experience in my own life and our family. Back then a friend had put her son into the same public school as our daughter, Caroline. We both became disenchanted with the public system and this was only kindergarten! My friend told me about meetings that she had been attending with a Waldorf School interest group that was taking place at Carol and Merwin’s house.
Growing up in Germany in the Black Forest close to the Swiss border, I had heard about Waldorf Schools and this strange building in Dornach Switzerland called the Goetheanum but I never investigated any of it.
Being very restless as a teenager and growing up in a very small town, I left home at the age of 18 to join my sister who had immigrated with her husband to London, ON. My intention, at the time, was just to stay for a year to learn English and then go back to Germany. But as luck would have it, I met my future husband Erik and stayed on and got married. By the time I met Carol we had two daughters and our youngest was a potential Grade 1 student.
Meeting Carol was my first introduction to Anthroposophy and Anthroposophists. I started to go to meetings and, by early spring, there were two teachers on the horizon, one for kindergarten and ..............
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“Don’t just sit around the table and talk!”
Ingrid Belenson, Thornhill ON
Ingrid grew up in Berlin, Germany. Her path with anthroposophy began when she was pregnant with her first child. She had a dream that made no sense to her. As she described it to a friend, an anthroposophist, the woman had no doubt: “What you have seen is the Goetheanum!” “Goetheanum?” retorted Ingrid, “What is that?” From that moment on, as she says, she was “hooked.”
Being a young mother, Ingrid’s interest in anthroposophy circled around early childhood education and paediatric medicine. A lecture given by the anthroposophical doctor Klaus Peterson in Berlin, inspired her to study Steiner’s work more deeply. At that time Dr. Peterson, who had met Steiner himself, regularly gathered young people at his house to introduce them to anthroposophy. Ingrid and her husband Mel joined this group. These meetings left a deep impression on the couple, especially the question the doctor asked each of the attendants: “From what you’ve learnt, what will you carry with you into the world?”
Ingrid and Mel had already arranged for a spot for their son at the Berlin Waldorf School but before he reached school age, they relocated to California. Ingrid continued her anthroposophical studies and became involved in the Christian Community. She describes how she attended the Act of Consecration of Man for the first time: “The priest walked in, and in that moment, I knew I was home.”
In the meantime, Ingrid’s husband trained as a Waldorf teacher, and in 1974 the couple moved to Toronto where Mel took on the grade one class. When their two children were old enough, Ingrid started working as an accountant and bookkeeper at Toronto Waldorf School.
During her first years in Toronto, Ingrid wished to attend a lecture by Henry Barnes that was classified as “for members only”. She had not yet joined the Society at the time, and asked Mr. Barnes for permission to listen to his lecture which he happily granted her. One year later, when he visited Toronto again, Henry Barnes remembered the young woman, and asked her if she had become a member in the meantime. When Ingrid shyly answered: “I don’t feel ready, I haven’t read enough,” he laughed and said: “Don’t worry, you have read more than many other people!”
Ingrid joined the Society shortly after, and was invited to join the council in the early 80’s. She also served the Society as a treasurer
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Letter from Hélène Besnard
Dear friends,
Thank you to the Vancouver group for sharing, in the E News of April 2022, their work and experience with the Foundation Stone of the Christmas Conference 1923-24, and for inviting us to do so.
In Quebec, many people, as elsewhere, recite and meditate on the text of the Meditation as such and/or the daily rhythms in an individual way.
As for a group or shared work: The recitation of the Meditation of the Foundation Stone is often part of the anthroposophical events, the life of the branches, the festival gatherings, etc.
Arie van Ameringen, besides having initiated and edited the book, The Foundation Stone and the Challenges of our Time, Perceval editions, has organized in the past decade some events to further deepen the importance of this priceless gift of Rudolf Steiner.
In 2017, Diane Huguette Beauséjour (pioneer of anthroposophy in the Eastern Townships) asked me to prepare with her some meetings towards the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Conference 1923-24. As we are 230 kilometers away from each other, we exchanged by phone or in person at each other's home for a few days, as much as possible. In 2019, we invited Arie to join our planning as well as Carol Meyer, astrosophist.
The group of four finally had an extended meeting on March 13 and 14, 2020, in Montreal. We faced then the beginning of the health restrictions. About 15 participants continued the work, each at home, but in together, until Pentecost 2020. The organizers then met in a park or at Arie's house to prepare a gathering during the Holy Nights.
It could only take place in the Laurentian region, north of Montreal, with two of the four organizers, because we were forbidden to leave our respective regions.
Nevertheless, a meeting 'miraculously' took place in the fall of 2021 at the Rudolf Steiner School of Montreal, and another one during the Holy Nights 2021, in a private home. We are planning a meeting on May 29, 2022 in the atmosphere of Pentecost, again at the R.S. School in Montreal.
Each event put forward the three aspects of the Foundation Stone: the etheric stone itself and its laying in the heart of each person, the Meditation, and the seven Rhythms, with more emphasis on one or the other aspect depending on the meeting. Each time we added eurythmy, a complementary artistic activity: modeling, drawing... a meditative moment and very important exchanges.
An anthroposophical group in Cowansville, south of Montreal, has been studying Prokofieff's book: The Encounter with Evil and the Victory Over It through the Science of the Spirit for some time. The Foundation Stone of Good, which will also support our May 2022 meeting. A study group in the Laurentians is also looking into it.
The eurythmists of Ensemble Interval are working regularly on the Foundation Stone Meditation in eurythmy, hoping to present it in 2023 or 24.
Alongside with this process towards the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Conference, Chantal Lapointe and I organized meetings called FOR CHILDREN, with the Foundation Stone as a basis to examine our responsibility for the next generation in the current context. Eight meetings of seven to fifteen persons were held in less than two years.
I would also like to mention an essay on an 'Easter Play' that I wrote ten years ago, the structure of which is based on the Meditation of the Foundation Stone with Recalling, Sensing- presence, Beholding, Christ-Sun. The text refers mainly to the fifth Gospel, the book: From Jesus to Christ and the Easter Imagination.
The play had been presented three times before the current health measures came into effect; it was offered again, solo, three times around Easter 2022. I will gladly send it (in English, the translation will need adjustments) to anyone interested. It is a humble essay that you can simply read or perform with a group, modified and improved.
May we grow together through the current events by standing firm in the face of dehumanizing forces, thanks to the Spirit of the Foundation Stone.
Warmly,
Hélène Besnard
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Dear members and friends of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada,
It is with great joy and hope that I come to you to ask you to contribute to our fundraiser. This campaign is aimed at helping us finance our graduation trip to the Goetheanum, where we are to obtain our eurythmy diplomas. The event will be held from June 22 to July 5, 2022.
We are three Canadians who are part of the first graduating class of the eurythmy training programme given in Mexico City. Two of us are from Edmonton, and I am from Quebec. I was able to book the whole group on Air Canada flights.
If you can and would like to help this dream come true, please donate or share the link below. Any amount, no matter how small, can make a difference.
You can also follow us on Instagram Auriel Eurythmy and forward this email to anyone you think might contribute.
Auriel Eurythmy's graduation trip - Switzerland
Here is the link to copy and paste into your search engine.
Gratefully yours,
Nathalie Valiquette
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Newmarket, Ontario
Part Time Childcare Opportunity
Hello Friends! We are a family in Newmarket, Ontario (approximately 25 minutes from the RSCC/TWS area) looking to see if anyone Waldorf-minded would be interested in helping us with our children part time (flexible) during the week, ages 6 months and 4 years. $25/hr, please contact ryan@ryancollins.ca if you are interested.
++++++++
Thanks,
Ryan Collins VA3RYC KO4YVB
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ASC Expands Fundraising Capacity by Accepting Donations of Securities
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Trillium Waldorf School is raising up to $2 million in Community Bonds as part of our Trillium Rising Campaign to purchase our school building.
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MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
NEW MEMBERS
Tara Amst, Mahone Bay, NS
Jonas Huston,, Duncan, BC
Zoe Macdonald, Chester Basin, NS
Welcome!
DECEASED
Eunice Podolski, Thornhill, ON (May 15, 2022)
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Anthroposphy Worldwide - 2022
If you would like to see the archive of past issues, go to: Archive
then, if required, enter password AWE-2018
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Editorial Notes
The eNews is published 10 times per year from September to June for members of the Anthroposophical Society In Canada.
Please send correspondence and articles in either Word doc or ipages without formatting except for paragraphs before the 15th of the month before publication. If you are including photographs please also attach a pdf showing placement. Articles over 1,500 words may be edited.
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
Membership Administrator
Claudette Leblanc
416-892-3656 (Toronto area)
877-892-3656 (Freephone)
Communication Administrator
Jef Saunders
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Full Summer Festival Course Details Just Released
The big news this year is the return to an in person Summer Festival after two years of being limited to online learning over zoom. It will be great to welcome you again to our beautiful campus here in Thornhill which we share with the Toronto Waldorf School. Now of course there is an outside chance we may end up online again depending on Ontario Public Health requirements, but we are very much looking forward to an in person Summer Festival after those two years on zoom.
Quick Summary of Courses
Week one - July 11-15 - features grade intensives for grades one through seven designed mainly for teachers. Week two - July 18-22 - features Indigenous Waldorf or Waldorf Essentials in the morning, and courses on nutrition and biography work in the afternoon.
If online learning suits you better, we are offering one online-only course titled "Cave Paintings to Post-Modernism: History of Art and Human Consciousness" with Larry Young in week two.
In week three - July 25-29 - you can choose between The Meditative Path of the Waldorf Teacher and Meaningful Movement for Children in the mornings, while in the afternoons it's Painting in Grades 1-4 or Veil Paintingor Felting Fun with Puppets or Biodynamic Gardening.
Detailed course descriptions and presenter bios for all these courses can be found on the Summer Festival page on the RSCC website, where there are links to the full course brochure and the online registration form.
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Join Our Waldorf Grades Teacher Training in British Columbia: New cohort begins July, 2022
West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy
July session at Sunrise Waldorf School, Duncan, Vancouver Island; fall & spring at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, BC
Part-time program over 2.5 years*, comprised of 3 weeks in July for 3 years and a week in November and February for 2 years.
This two and a half year*, part-time program of professional Waldorf teacher education is offered to those who are seeking to teach out of an understanding of Waldorf Education and what it can contribute to children today. Throughout the program, studies in Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education are interwoven with artistic and practical subjects.
Students will study books on Anthroposophy, Waldorf Education and other relevant texts. The emphasis will be on understanding all aspects of child development. The artistic courses have a two-fold purpose; to enhance personal self-development and creativity, and to provide a basis for the work of the class teacher. Courses in painting, eurythmy, speech and drama, storytelling, singing, music, clay modeling, woodwork and Spacial Dynamics, amongst others, will be offered. A major aim of the training is to awaken independent thinking, ignite enthusiasm and foster creativity.
* Program duration change from 3 to 2.5 years pending approval from PTIB
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Summer Intensive Birth to Three Completion Certificate and Introduction to the Pikler® Pedagogical Approach: Engaging with infants and toddlers through respectful and peaceful care
July 16 to 22, 2022
West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy, Duncan, Vancouver Island, BC.
With Pikler® USA President Elsa Chahin, and WCI Faculty and Pikler® USA Scientific co-chair, Dr. Debbie Laurin.
This Birth to Three course explores a peaceful and respectful approach to caring for babies and toddlers inspired by the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, Dr. Emmi Pikler, and Ute Strub. Participants will deepen their knowledge about infant-toddler care and education to provide peaceful and respectful care to babies and toddlers. This course will use a variety of experiential activities, as well as discussion and lecture.
WCI Early Childhood alumni will receive a Birth to Three certificate recognized by WECAN.
Early registration, until April 15th, open to WCI Early Childhood alumni only.
Registration open to all Waldorf Early Childhood Educators on April 16th.
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