Dear Members and Friends,
This issue of Anthroposophy Worldwide once again includes a broad spectrum of reports-- as indicative of what takes place every day in so many regions of the world. We also share our suggestion for the Theme of the Year, which can serve as a unifying thread that unites the focus of groups, branches and study groups. We have observed that the theme of "Heart Thinking" has had a strong resonance in many parts of the world, and we have adapted and modified this fundamental topic over the last four years. We also have noticed that it takes 2 to 3 years until the inner Theme for the Society is taken up widely. It seems to take time to mature and "arrive". We have been very pleased to see that the General Secretaries and country Societies have actively taken up this theme together with the Goetheanum and we do indeed experience this work as a unifying force within the General Society. With this coming year much attention is being focussed on Charles Darwin, and therefore we have selected the element of "Heart Thinking as an Organ for Perception (Knowledge) in Development and Metamorphosis". This combines (at least) two central themes in anthroposophy and can shed quite a different light on the traditional focus of development as represented in the work of Darwin.
We also wish to present to you the financial circumstance of the Goetheanum and developments of the last years that place real pressure on our ability to manage the many different commitments that belong to the General Anthroposophical Society. We discussed this financial presentation in the Executive Council and felt that it was necessary to share the present situation as openly and clearly as possible. Of course there are practical limitations to this depiction, but the basic financial difficulty-- as well as the joy and enthusiasm of undertaking a major project such as the Mystery Dramas--is important for us to share with those who are connected and committed to anthroposophy and its expression in the world. We would be interested in your questions and comments, and are also grateful for your encouragement and support.
Lastly, we look ahead to our Annual General Meeting in early April, as well as our meeting with approximately 25 General Secretaries and Country Representatives in the week prior. This is always a joyful (and strenuous) marathon of meetings that culminates in the AGM and Conference. The latter will be framed by performances of the 1st and 2nd Mystery Dramas, so there will be a great deal of activity at the Goetheanum in the coming weeks. All members are most warmly invited to the Annual General Meeting, and for those who cannot attend we will report in detail in forthcoming issues of our publications.
Sincerely,
Cornelius Pietzner
For the Executive Council
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Mise à Jour : Congrès Lumière Boréale
Du 1 au 8 août 2009
Whitehorse, Yukon
Au moment de cette mise à jour, un total de 123 participants provenant de 12 pays se sont inscrits au congrès. Parmi ce nombre se trouvent 87 participants du Canada : de la Colombie Britannique, de l'Alberta, du Manitoba, de l'Ontario, du Québec et de la Nouvelle Écosse en plus de 3 participants du Yukon.
En vous rendant sur le site web du congrès, il suffit de cliquer sur « Home » et ensuite sur la rubrique « What’s New » pour vous tenir au courant des toutes dernières nouvelles. Le pianiste Barry Kitchen, de Whitehorse même, a offert ses services pour la représentation du lundi 3 août « Encircling Light in Movement » et le chansonnier Joe Bishop sera à l'affiche, avec d'autres musiciens locaux, lors de la soirée de clôture du samedi 8 août.
Pour l’atelier #13 – Towards a Christ Relation to Nature : il reste qu'une seule place. L’atelier #1 (The Calendar of the Soul in the North) et l’atelier #5 (Indigenous Sensibility and the North) n’ont plus que quelques places de libre. En ce qui concerne les chambres d'hôtel retenues pour les congressistes, elles seront rendues disponibles de nouveau au grand public aux dates suivantes : Riverview Hotel – 1er mai; High Country Inn : 1er juin. Par conséquent, ne tardez pas à vous inscrire si vous avez l'intention de participer. Les inscriptions se terminent le 31 mai.
Encore quelques suggestions de lecture :
The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculptures, de Harold Seidelman & James Turner (Douglas & McIntyre: 2001). Dans cet ouvrage œuvres d'art et contes s'entremêlent, donnant un éclairage remarquable sur l'essence de l'âme Inuit.
Stories Told: Stories & Images of the Berger Inquiry, de Patrick Scott (The Qedzo Institute, 2007: ISBN 9-780973-884517). Patrick Scott a recueilli plusieurs des voix et des histoires des peuples Déné et Inuit qui se sont fait entendre lors de l'enquête Berger de 1975 sur le pipeline de la vallée du Mackenzie – d'une grande actualité maintenant qu'on s'interroge de nouveau sur la question.
The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818 - 1909, de Pierre Berton (McClelland and Stewart, 1988). L'autre ouvrage du maître des conteurs canadiens qui vaut la peine d'être lu comme préparation pour notre semaine à Whitehorse.
- Philip Thatcher
Whitehorse, Yukon
Au moment de cette mise à jour, un total de 123 participants provenant de 12 pays se sont inscrits au congrès. Parmi ce nombre se trouvent 87 participants du Canada : de la Colombie Britannique, de l'Alberta, du Manitoba, de l'Ontario, du Québec et de la Nouvelle Écosse en plus de 3 participants du Yukon.
En vous rendant sur le site web du congrès, il suffit de cliquer sur « Home » et ensuite sur la rubrique « What’s New » pour vous tenir au courant des toutes dernières nouvelles. Le pianiste Barry Kitchen, de Whitehorse même, a offert ses services pour la représentation du lundi 3 août « Encircling Light in Movement » et le chansonnier Joe Bishop sera à l'affiche, avec d'autres musiciens locaux, lors de la soirée de clôture du samedi 8 août.
Pour l’atelier #13 – Towards a Christ Relation to Nature : il reste qu'une seule place. L’atelier #1 (The Calendar of the Soul in the North) et l’atelier #5 (Indigenous Sensibility and the North) n’ont plus que quelques places de libre. En ce qui concerne les chambres d'hôtel retenues pour les congressistes, elles seront rendues disponibles de nouveau au grand public aux dates suivantes : Riverview Hotel – 1er mai; High Country Inn : 1er juin. Par conséquent, ne tardez pas à vous inscrire si vous avez l'intention de participer. Les inscriptions se terminent le 31 mai.
Encore quelques suggestions de lecture :
The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculptures, de Harold Seidelman & James Turner (Douglas & McIntyre: 2001). Dans cet ouvrage œuvres d'art et contes s'entremêlent, donnant un éclairage remarquable sur l'essence de l'âme Inuit.
Stories Told: Stories & Images of the Berger Inquiry, de Patrick Scott (The Qedzo Institute, 2007: ISBN 9-780973-884517). Patrick Scott a recueilli plusieurs des voix et des histoires des peuples Déné et Inuit qui se sont fait entendre lors de l'enquête Berger de 1975 sur le pipeline de la vallée du Mackenzie – d'une grande actualité maintenant qu'on s'interroge de nouveau sur la question.
The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818 - 1909, de Pierre Berton (McClelland and Stewart, 1988). L'autre ouvrage du maître des conteurs canadiens qui vaut la peine d'être lu comme préparation pour notre semaine à Whitehorse.
- Philip Thatcher
Mot du Secrétaire général
Chers amis,
En janvier, nous avons entamé notre rencontre des membres du Conseil avec les responsables de Classe en abordant le thème et l’ambiance de l’intervalle. L'espace entre deux notes de musique, entre les vers d'un poème, entre les courbes d'une sculpture, ou encore les espaces qui font d'une œuvre d'architecture un lieu humain – c'est là où la vie et l'art naissent, où la substance terrestre se retient pour qu'une substance spirituelle puisse entrer. Et l'espace n'est jamais seulement de l'espace, mais toujours simultanément du temps qui se retient ou bien de l'espace en voie de devenir mouvement. Comme porteur de ces qualités d'espace-temps, l'intervalle permet la naissance d'une réelle vie entre deux êtres humains.
Au cours de notre rencontre, la réalité de l'intervalle est devenue non seulement le contenu mais aussi l’activité : écouter entre les paroles de notre interlocuteur; accorder à l'autre de l'espace pour parler; intégrer des espaces dans notre propre discours. En faisant notre retour sur la fin de semaine, nous nous sommes interrogés certes sur le contenu mais aussi sur comment nous avions réussi ou échoué dans notre effort pour créer les espaces nécessaires à une véritable conversation.
La peur supprime les intervalles. Elle rétrécit l'espace et démolit le temps. Sous le coup de la peur les paroles se soudent ensemble; nous sommes ainsi privés des intervalles nécessaires pour pouvoir faire les bons choix à partir de notre être intime et nous devenons insensibles à ceux qui sont touchés par nos choix. La peur provoque la panique – notre volonté est ainsi accélérée ou bien son élan est gêné. La peur ne laisse aucune place à une « volonté illuminée par la conscience » (une interprétation possible du dernier vers de la méditation de la Pierre de Fondation).
Lorsque, au mois de novembre dernier, les Secrétaires généraux se sont réunis au Goetheanum, une ferme intention de surmonter la peur vivait sous la surface de toutes nos conversations – surmonter la peur en pénétrant le plus loin possible dans les problèmes auxquels notre Société (et en effet le monde entier) fait face. Ici encore, les intervalles se sont fait sentir. Quand nous nous sommes penchés, par exemple, sur les tâches premières de la Société anthroposophique : le dévoilement d'une christologie pour l'humanité à partir d'une compréhension du Christ éthérique; l'importance de la connaissance du karma et de la réincarnation pour l'individu et pour l'humanité; la rencontre avec « l'être de l'Anthroposophie » à l'intérieur de la Société; une véritable pénétration dans l'école de Michaël et dans le culte suprasensible – je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de penser que Rudolf Steiner avait laissé caché « entre les lignes » quelque chose concernant la tâche de la Société, quelque chose qu'il incombe à nous découvrir par notre travail ensemble.
Durant les quelques jours précédant la fin de semaine avec les responsables de Classe, je me suis rendu dans la région de l’Estrie au Québec. Et suivant la rencontre en question, je suis allé à Kingston, et de là à Toronto pour participer à un atelier sur Parzival animée par Regine Kurek et ses collègues de « Arscura » (initiative de formation en art thérapie qu'elle a fondée il y a bien des années). Les conversations qui sont nées pendant ces séjours ont porté sur toute une gamme de questions, allant de la recherche de nouvelles et véritables formes pour le travail de la Société (en Estrie) à l'effort pour nous comprendre en tant qu'êtres humains à notre époque (à Kingston). Ceux d'entre nous qui nous sommes réunis pour pénétrer dans le récit de Parzival avons cherché à découvrir en ce récit un chemin pour l'époque de Michaël. J’ai pu assister à deux belles présentations inspirées par la méditation de la Pierre de Fondation, l'une a Montréal, l'autre à Toronto : à Montréal, par un groupe de membres et amis sous la direction de Hélène Besnard; et à la Toronto Waldorf School par la troupe « Northern Star Eurythmy » qui prépare une présentation pour le congrès « Encircling Light » du mois d'août prochain.
Au cours de mes déplacements, bien des membres et amis m'ont accueilli dans leurs foyers, dont Colin Rioux-Beauséjour et Karen Liedl, Jacques Racine, François Dostie, Paul Décarie, Diane-Huguette Beauséjour, Kris Colwell, Tammy Caldwell, Nancy MacMillan, Willem et Marie-Claire Roset-Joubert, Michel Bourassa, Denis Schneider, et Regine Kurek et Jef Saunders. Tout au long de ces journées, une conscience des intervalles a maintenu nos conversations vivantes.
À la mi-février je suis allé à Whitehorse. Il neigeait quand l'avion a atterri, mais ensuite les nuages ont cédé la place à des journées d'un ciel bleu éclatant suivies systématiquement de nuits de 30 degrés sous zéro. Le premier soir, je me suis retrouvé avec Joe Bishop, chansonnier qui habite le Yukon depuis vingt ans, qui a travaillé comme « wilderness guide » (guide d'excursions en pleine nature) et qui, avec d'autres musiciens locaux, s'exécutera lors de la soirée de clôture du congrès. Suivant notre souper ensemble, nous nous sommes trouvés assis dans la « Alpine Bakery », grâce aux bons soins de Suta Tuzlak. Pendant que Peter, le boulanger, s'occupait des préparatifs pour sa journée du lendemain, Joe a sorti sa guitare et, pendant une heure de temps, a partagé ses chansons avec Peter et moi. Je vous laisse les paroles d'une de ses chansons en guise de conclusion :
Prenez un livre quelconque
Ouvrez-le à la page dix-sept
Ne lisez pas ce qui y est imprimé
Lisez ce qui se trouve entre….
Entre les lignes
Entre les mots
Tout le monde a une histoire
Qui ne demande qu'à être racontée.
Mes meilleures salutations, en cette époque où la lumière revient vers nous,
Philip Thatcher
Secrétaire général
En janvier, nous avons entamé notre rencontre des membres du Conseil avec les responsables de Classe en abordant le thème et l’ambiance de l’intervalle. L'espace entre deux notes de musique, entre les vers d'un poème, entre les courbes d'une sculpture, ou encore les espaces qui font d'une œuvre d'architecture un lieu humain – c'est là où la vie et l'art naissent, où la substance terrestre se retient pour qu'une substance spirituelle puisse entrer. Et l'espace n'est jamais seulement de l'espace, mais toujours simultanément du temps qui se retient ou bien de l'espace en voie de devenir mouvement. Comme porteur de ces qualités d'espace-temps, l'intervalle permet la naissance d'une réelle vie entre deux êtres humains.
Au cours de notre rencontre, la réalité de l'intervalle est devenue non seulement le contenu mais aussi l’activité : écouter entre les paroles de notre interlocuteur; accorder à l'autre de l'espace pour parler; intégrer des espaces dans notre propre discours. En faisant notre retour sur la fin de semaine, nous nous sommes interrogés certes sur le contenu mais aussi sur comment nous avions réussi ou échoué dans notre effort pour créer les espaces nécessaires à une véritable conversation.
La peur supprime les intervalles. Elle rétrécit l'espace et démolit le temps. Sous le coup de la peur les paroles se soudent ensemble; nous sommes ainsi privés des intervalles nécessaires pour pouvoir faire les bons choix à partir de notre être intime et nous devenons insensibles à ceux qui sont touchés par nos choix. La peur provoque la panique – notre volonté est ainsi accélérée ou bien son élan est gêné. La peur ne laisse aucune place à une « volonté illuminée par la conscience » (une interprétation possible du dernier vers de la méditation de la Pierre de Fondation).
Lorsque, au mois de novembre dernier, les Secrétaires généraux se sont réunis au Goetheanum, une ferme intention de surmonter la peur vivait sous la surface de toutes nos conversations – surmonter la peur en pénétrant le plus loin possible dans les problèmes auxquels notre Société (et en effet le monde entier) fait face. Ici encore, les intervalles se sont fait sentir. Quand nous nous sommes penchés, par exemple, sur les tâches premières de la Société anthroposophique : le dévoilement d'une christologie pour l'humanité à partir d'une compréhension du Christ éthérique; l'importance de la connaissance du karma et de la réincarnation pour l'individu et pour l'humanité; la rencontre avec « l'être de l'Anthroposophie » à l'intérieur de la Société; une véritable pénétration dans l'école de Michaël et dans le culte suprasensible – je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de penser que Rudolf Steiner avait laissé caché « entre les lignes » quelque chose concernant la tâche de la Société, quelque chose qu'il incombe à nous découvrir par notre travail ensemble.
Durant les quelques jours précédant la fin de semaine avec les responsables de Classe, je me suis rendu dans la région de l’Estrie au Québec. Et suivant la rencontre en question, je suis allé à Kingston, et de là à Toronto pour participer à un atelier sur Parzival animée par Regine Kurek et ses collègues de « Arscura » (initiative de formation en art thérapie qu'elle a fondée il y a bien des années). Les conversations qui sont nées pendant ces séjours ont porté sur toute une gamme de questions, allant de la recherche de nouvelles et véritables formes pour le travail de la Société (en Estrie) à l'effort pour nous comprendre en tant qu'êtres humains à notre époque (à Kingston). Ceux d'entre nous qui nous sommes réunis pour pénétrer dans le récit de Parzival avons cherché à découvrir en ce récit un chemin pour l'époque de Michaël. J’ai pu assister à deux belles présentations inspirées par la méditation de la Pierre de Fondation, l'une a Montréal, l'autre à Toronto : à Montréal, par un groupe de membres et amis sous la direction de Hélène Besnard; et à la Toronto Waldorf School par la troupe « Northern Star Eurythmy » qui prépare une présentation pour le congrès « Encircling Light » du mois d'août prochain.
Au cours de mes déplacements, bien des membres et amis m'ont accueilli dans leurs foyers, dont Colin Rioux-Beauséjour et Karen Liedl, Jacques Racine, François Dostie, Paul Décarie, Diane-Huguette Beauséjour, Kris Colwell, Tammy Caldwell, Nancy MacMillan, Willem et Marie-Claire Roset-Joubert, Michel Bourassa, Denis Schneider, et Regine Kurek et Jef Saunders. Tout au long de ces journées, une conscience des intervalles a maintenu nos conversations vivantes.
À la mi-février je suis allé à Whitehorse. Il neigeait quand l'avion a atterri, mais ensuite les nuages ont cédé la place à des journées d'un ciel bleu éclatant suivies systématiquement de nuits de 30 degrés sous zéro. Le premier soir, je me suis retrouvé avec Joe Bishop, chansonnier qui habite le Yukon depuis vingt ans, qui a travaillé comme « wilderness guide » (guide d'excursions en pleine nature) et qui, avec d'autres musiciens locaux, s'exécutera lors de la soirée de clôture du congrès. Suivant notre souper ensemble, nous nous sommes trouvés assis dans la « Alpine Bakery », grâce aux bons soins de Suta Tuzlak. Pendant que Peter, le boulanger, s'occupait des préparatifs pour sa journée du lendemain, Joe a sorti sa guitare et, pendant une heure de temps, a partagé ses chansons avec Peter et moi. Je vous laisse les paroles d'une de ses chansons en guise de conclusion :
Prenez un livre quelconque
Ouvrez-le à la page dix-sept
Ne lisez pas ce qui y est imprimé
Lisez ce qui se trouve entre….
Entre les lignes
Entre les mots
Tout le monde a une histoire
Qui ne demande qu'à être racontée.
Mes meilleures salutations, en cette époque où la lumière revient vers nous,
Philip Thatcher
Secrétaire général
Douglas Norman Cass
Douglas Norman Cass
Born September 23, 1920
Died November 19, 2008
Douglas Norman Cass the first born child of Norman Cass and Mildred Hughes Cass was delivered on September 23, 1920 in the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick. His father was Canadian and his mother British. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Calgary where his father was employed as a forestry surveyor. Soon after the move first Doug’s sister was born and then later his brother. Sadly, when he was only three and a half, Doug’s mother died after the birth of his younger brother. This led to Doug and his sister moving to live with his grandparents in the United Kingdom whilst his younger brother went to live with an uncle and aunt. It was there in the UK that Doug was to spend his next 27 years. One of his fond childhood memories was “ Running around with an Indian feathered headdress to impress the British kids!”
Life was somewhat different in England as his grandfather was a church deacon and so he was required to attend church three times every Sunday with no playing on the Sabbath. To assuage his boredom he took to reading the Bible from cover to cover whilst sitting in the pews.
Doug was a lively lad and so it comes as no surprise to learn that at 16 his grandfather removed him from school for being the ringleader in some misbehaviour. He was sent to work at Basildon Bond, the stationery manufacturer, in the machine shop as an engineering apprentice. As he once pithily said, “This had the same appeal as being in prison!” However, he put his best foot forward and made the best of it. As a balance to this work he took up competitive cycle racing, which he thoroughly enjoyed. One of his disappointments was trying, with many of the lads from Basildon Bond, to join up for the second world war but being refused as he was designated in a “protected occupation”. As he grew into his late teens Doug’s idealism and world conscience developed and he became interested in politics and union work. By the age of 22, to the horror of his family, he was secretary of the Hemel Hempstead & District Trades and Labour Council.
In the early Fifties Doug began to consider returning to Canada to see his father and in 1951 made the trip back across the Atlantic Ocean. He was 31 years of age. After spending two weeks with his father in Ottawa he began working for A. V. Roe until layoffs occurred. He next joined a Montreal vitamin company and became immersed in the field therapeutics and natural medicines. This work continued into the Seventies. For a time he also went to chiropractic school but eventually decided this was not for him. However he never lost his wide ranging interest in various therapies including Wilhelm Reich’s work.
Doug had a huge appetite for reading and in the late Seventies began studying Rudolf Steiner’s writings. He was part of the community that met at the Living Seed Health Food Store in Toronto and it was there that he met his wife Helen. They married in 1986. Many Ontario members will remember Doug and Helen’s caretaking and stewardship of Hill House where Doug also founded Tri-Fold books.
In 1995 Doug and Helen moved to Guelph, a city that he enjoyed immensely. He was active in the community and particularly loved the farmers market, the arboretum and the Boathouse restaurant. We spent pleasant afternoons enjoying tea at the Boathouse on our visits to him. His interest in a healthy body and love of nature drew him time and again to the arboretum where he followed every trail until he did not need the signs any more to find his way.
This was so characteristic of Doug, always walking the path, seeking, searching, questing for knowledge and understanding. Never could you visit Doug and be mundane or superficial. He was direct, sometimes challenging, always with a pile of books beside him that were his current reads and with a list of questions, discussion points and opinions to enliven your encounter.
Here was a man whose love of life, the world and his fellow men and women kept him alert and active until the time of his passing.
Jef Saunders
Born September 23, 1920
Died November 19, 2008
Douglas Norman Cass the first born child of Norman Cass and Mildred Hughes Cass was delivered on September 23, 1920 in the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick. His father was Canadian and his mother British. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Calgary where his father was employed as a forestry surveyor. Soon after the move first Doug’s sister was born and then later his brother. Sadly, when he was only three and a half, Doug’s mother died after the birth of his younger brother. This led to Doug and his sister moving to live with his grandparents in the United Kingdom whilst his younger brother went to live with an uncle and aunt. It was there in the UK that Doug was to spend his next 27 years. One of his fond childhood memories was “ Running around with an Indian feathered headdress to impress the British kids!”
Life was somewhat different in England as his grandfather was a church deacon and so he was required to attend church three times every Sunday with no playing on the Sabbath. To assuage his boredom he took to reading the Bible from cover to cover whilst sitting in the pews.
Doug was a lively lad and so it comes as no surprise to learn that at 16 his grandfather removed him from school for being the ringleader in some misbehaviour. He was sent to work at Basildon Bond, the stationery manufacturer, in the machine shop as an engineering apprentice. As he once pithily said, “This had the same appeal as being in prison!” However, he put his best foot forward and made the best of it. As a balance to this work he took up competitive cycle racing, which he thoroughly enjoyed. One of his disappointments was trying, with many of the lads from Basildon Bond, to join up for the second world war but being refused as he was designated in a “protected occupation”. As he grew into his late teens Doug’s idealism and world conscience developed and he became interested in politics and union work. By the age of 22, to the horror of his family, he was secretary of the Hemel Hempstead & District Trades and Labour Council.
In the early Fifties Doug began to consider returning to Canada to see his father and in 1951 made the trip back across the Atlantic Ocean. He was 31 years of age. After spending two weeks with his father in Ottawa he began working for A. V. Roe until layoffs occurred. He next joined a Montreal vitamin company and became immersed in the field therapeutics and natural medicines. This work continued into the Seventies. For a time he also went to chiropractic school but eventually decided this was not for him. However he never lost his wide ranging interest in various therapies including Wilhelm Reich’s work.
Doug had a huge appetite for reading and in the late Seventies began studying Rudolf Steiner’s writings. He was part of the community that met at the Living Seed Health Food Store in Toronto and it was there that he met his wife Helen. They married in 1986. Many Ontario members will remember Doug and Helen’s caretaking and stewardship of Hill House where Doug also founded Tri-Fold books.
In 1995 Doug and Helen moved to Guelph, a city that he enjoyed immensely. He was active in the community and particularly loved the farmers market, the arboretum and the Boathouse restaurant. We spent pleasant afternoons enjoying tea at the Boathouse on our visits to him. His interest in a healthy body and love of nature drew him time and again to the arboretum where he followed every trail until he did not need the signs any more to find his way.
This was so characteristic of Doug, always walking the path, seeking, searching, questing for knowledge and understanding. Never could you visit Doug and be mundane or superficial. He was direct, sometimes challenging, always with a pile of books beside him that were his current reads and with a list of questions, discussion points and opinions to enliven your encounter.
Here was a man whose love of life, the world and his fellow men and women kept him alert and active until the time of his passing.
Jef Saunders
Monday, March 2, 2009
Preparing For the Encirlcling Light Conference
Towards the summer conference on the North / Encircling Light - Expectant Silence in Whitehorse:
One of those rare convergences takes place when the last arrangements for this conference are on the way and a book appears that is a wonderful preparation for it: A Fair Country by John Ralston Saul.
I am indebted to Treasa O'Driscoll, who drew my attention to its importance. In his writing the author draws again and again one's awareness to the origins of Canada and what makes this country so specifically different in all its ethnic diversity: the roots being the aboriginal culture. Based on this culture rests the principle of an ever enlarging circle, welcoming all newcomers, as opposed to a linear increase of population. He asks the reader and all Canadians why there is to this day still the difficulty in characterizing what makes Canada unique in the circle of nations and why this country cannot yet accept that its origins do not lie in the European nations, but in the peoples who inhabited this piece of earth from the beginning.
Because there is a whole chapter on "the North", my attention was drawn to this one before all else, and from there to all of its parts: "We are a people of aboriginal inspiration organized around a concept of peace, fairness and good government", until this concept was changed into peace, order and good government. The significance of changing one word: fairness, welfare - to order, is astonishing. The meticulous and brilliant survey offered in this book of life in Canada and its government is eye opening. It appears as if Canada will only begin to recognize itself anew now in the first years of the 21st century.
I will close with a quote by Chief Dan George from the chapter: "Within an ever-enlarging circle": "Am I to come as a beggar and receive all from your omnipotent hand? Somehow I must find myself. I must find my treasure. I must wait until you want something of me, until you need something that is me. Then I can raise my head and say to my wife and family...listen...they are calling...they need me...I must go."
Ute Weinmann
One of those rare convergences takes place when the last arrangements for this conference are on the way and a book appears that is a wonderful preparation for it: A Fair Country by John Ralston Saul.
I am indebted to Treasa O'Driscoll, who drew my attention to its importance. In his writing the author draws again and again one's awareness to the origins of Canada and what makes this country so specifically different in all its ethnic diversity: the roots being the aboriginal culture. Based on this culture rests the principle of an ever enlarging circle, welcoming all newcomers, as opposed to a linear increase of population. He asks the reader and all Canadians why there is to this day still the difficulty in characterizing what makes Canada unique in the circle of nations and why this country cannot yet accept that its origins do not lie in the European nations, but in the peoples who inhabited this piece of earth from the beginning.
Because there is a whole chapter on "the North", my attention was drawn to this one before all else, and from there to all of its parts: "We are a people of aboriginal inspiration organized around a concept of peace, fairness and good government", until this concept was changed into peace, order and good government. The significance of changing one word: fairness, welfare - to order, is astonishing. The meticulous and brilliant survey offered in this book of life in Canada and its government is eye opening. It appears as if Canada will only begin to recognize itself anew now in the first years of the 21st century.
I will close with a quote by Chief Dan George from the chapter: "Within an ever-enlarging circle": "Am I to come as a beggar and receive all from your omnipotent hand? Somehow I must find myself. I must find my treasure. I must wait until you want something of me, until you need something that is me. Then I can raise my head and say to my wife and family...listen...they are calling...they need me...I must go."
Ute Weinmann
Letter from Philip Thatcher
Dear Friends,
We began our January weekend meeting of the Council and Class Holders by taking up the theme and mood of the interval. The space between the notes in a piece of music, between the lines in a poem, between the curves in a piece of sculpture or the spaces that make a work of architecture a human place—these are where art and life happen, where earthly substance holds back and spiritual substance can enter in. And space is never space only, but also time holding back or space at the edge of movement. Bearing these qualities of space and time, the interval is where life between human beings can come to birth.
During our meeting, the reality of the interval became not only content but also the practice of listening between the words spoken by the other, of giving the other space to speak, of making spaces in our own speaking. In reviewing the weekend we were concerned both with what we had considered and how we had provided or failed to provide the spaces needed for a true conversation.
Fear deprives us of intervals. Fear shrinks space and collapses time; fear cramps words together and deprives us of the intervals needed to make good choices out of ourselves and to be aware of those our choices affect. Fear induces panic, pushes our wills forward or retards their movement, yet leaves no room to come to conscious willing—one rendering of the closing lines of the Foundation Stone Meditation.
When the General Secretaries met last November at the Goetheanum, a subtext that ran through our conversations was the resolve to overcome fear by penetrating as far as possible the issues facing our Society and our world. Here again intervals made their presence felt. When, for instance, we considered some of the original tasks of Anthroposophical Society—unveiling a Christology for humanity, out of an understanding of the etheric Christ; the significance of karma and reincarnation for the individual and mankind; meeting the “being of Anthroposophy” in the Society; entering into both the Michael school and cultus—it struck me that Rudolf Steiner left something of the task of the Society between the lines, for each of us to discover in our work together now.
In the days before the Council and Class Holders’ weekend, I travelled to the Eastern Townships in Quebec. After the weekend I went on to Kingston and then to Toronto, for a Parzival weekend hosted by Regine Kurek and her colleagues at Arscura, Regine’s long standing art therapy training initiative. The conversations that ensued ranged from the wish to find new and true forms for Society work in the Eastern Townships, to understanding ourselves as human beings in our time, in Kingston. Those of us who came together to penetrate the story of Parzival did so out of the mood of discovering it as a pathway in the Michael age. In both Montreal and Toronto, I witnessed two fine presentations out of the Foundation Stone Meditation—in Montreal by a group of members and friends under the guidance of Hélène Besnard and at the Toronto Waldorf School by the Northern Star Eurythmy group, who are preparing to bring their work to the Encircling Light Conference next August.
During my travels many members and friends cared for me, among them Colin Rioux-Beausejour and Karen Liedl, Jacques Racine, Francois Dostie, Paul Décarie, Diane-Huguette Beausejour, Kris Colwell, Tammy Caldwell, Nancy MacMillan, Willem and Marie-Claire Joubert, Michel Bourassa, Denis Schneider, and Regine Kurek and Jef Saunders. Throughout those days, the awareness of intervals kept our conversations alive.
In mid-February I went to Whitehorse. It was snowing when I landed; then the weather cleared to days of bright clear skies and minus 30 degrees every night. On that first evening I met with Joe Bishop, a singer/song writer who has lived in the Yukon for twenty years, worked as a wilderness guide, and who, with other local musicians, will highlight the closing evening of the Encircling Light Conference. After a meal together, we sat in the Alpine Bakery, courtesy of Suat Tuzlak, while Peter the baker prepared for the following day. Joe took out his guitar and for the next hour he shared his songs with Peter and me. Lyrics from one of them will serve to bring this letter to a close:
Take any book
go to page seventeen
don’t read the print
read what’s in between
In between the lines
in between the words
everybody’s got a story
waiting to be heard
With good greetings as the light returns to us,
Philip Thatcher
General Secretary
We began our January weekend meeting of the Council and Class Holders by taking up the theme and mood of the interval. The space between the notes in a piece of music, between the lines in a poem, between the curves in a piece of sculpture or the spaces that make a work of architecture a human place—these are where art and life happen, where earthly substance holds back and spiritual substance can enter in. And space is never space only, but also time holding back or space at the edge of movement. Bearing these qualities of space and time, the interval is where life between human beings can come to birth.
During our meeting, the reality of the interval became not only content but also the practice of listening between the words spoken by the other, of giving the other space to speak, of making spaces in our own speaking. In reviewing the weekend we were concerned both with what we had considered and how we had provided or failed to provide the spaces needed for a true conversation.
Fear deprives us of intervals. Fear shrinks space and collapses time; fear cramps words together and deprives us of the intervals needed to make good choices out of ourselves and to be aware of those our choices affect. Fear induces panic, pushes our wills forward or retards their movement, yet leaves no room to come to conscious willing—one rendering of the closing lines of the Foundation Stone Meditation.
When the General Secretaries met last November at the Goetheanum, a subtext that ran through our conversations was the resolve to overcome fear by penetrating as far as possible the issues facing our Society and our world. Here again intervals made their presence felt. When, for instance, we considered some of the original tasks of Anthroposophical Society—unveiling a Christology for humanity, out of an understanding of the etheric Christ; the significance of karma and reincarnation for the individual and mankind; meeting the “being of Anthroposophy” in the Society; entering into both the Michael school and cultus—it struck me that Rudolf Steiner left something of the task of the Society between the lines, for each of us to discover in our work together now.
In the days before the Council and Class Holders’ weekend, I travelled to the Eastern Townships in Quebec. After the weekend I went on to Kingston and then to Toronto, for a Parzival weekend hosted by Regine Kurek and her colleagues at Arscura, Regine’s long standing art therapy training initiative. The conversations that ensued ranged from the wish to find new and true forms for Society work in the Eastern Townships, to understanding ourselves as human beings in our time, in Kingston. Those of us who came together to penetrate the story of Parzival did so out of the mood of discovering it as a pathway in the Michael age. In both Montreal and Toronto, I witnessed two fine presentations out of the Foundation Stone Meditation—in Montreal by a group of members and friends under the guidance of Hélène Besnard and at the Toronto Waldorf School by the Northern Star Eurythmy group, who are preparing to bring their work to the Encircling Light Conference next August.
During my travels many members and friends cared for me, among them Colin Rioux-Beausejour and Karen Liedl, Jacques Racine, Francois Dostie, Paul Décarie, Diane-Huguette Beausejour, Kris Colwell, Tammy Caldwell, Nancy MacMillan, Willem and Marie-Claire Joubert, Michel Bourassa, Denis Schneider, and Regine Kurek and Jef Saunders. Throughout those days, the awareness of intervals kept our conversations alive.
In mid-February I went to Whitehorse. It was snowing when I landed; then the weather cleared to days of bright clear skies and minus 30 degrees every night. On that first evening I met with Joe Bishop, a singer/song writer who has lived in the Yukon for twenty years, worked as a wilderness guide, and who, with other local musicians, will highlight the closing evening of the Encircling Light Conference. After a meal together, we sat in the Alpine Bakery, courtesy of Suat Tuzlak, while Peter the baker prepared for the following day. Joe took out his guitar and for the next hour he shared his songs with Peter and me. Lyrics from one of them will serve to bring this letter to a close:
Take any book
go to page seventeen
don’t read the print
read what’s in between
In between the lines
in between the words
everybody’s got a story
waiting to be heard
With good greetings as the light returns to us,
Philip Thatcher
General Secretary
Encircling Light Conference Update
As of this update there are 123 participants in total, from 12 countries. Included in this number are 87 participants from across Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, with 3 participants from the Yukon.
Please go to the What’s New slot under the Home link for current developments in forming the Conference. Whitehorse pianist, Barry Kitchen, has volunteered his services for the Encircling Light in Movement performance on Monday, August 3rd, and Yukon singer/songwriter Joe Bishop will highlight our closing evening on Saturday, August 8th, in company with other local musicians.
Workshop #13 – Towards a Christ Relation to Nature has one place left. Workshop #1 (The Calendar of the Soul in the North) and Workshop #5 (Indigenous Sensibility and the North) have only a few places left. And on May 1st the Riverview Hotel will release the rooms not yet taken by Conference participants. June 1st is the release date for the High Country Inn. So please register if you do intend to take part in the Conference. Registration will close on May 31st.
Some more reading suggestions:
The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculptures, by Harold Seidelman & James Turner (Douglas & McIntyre: 2001). This work is a fine weaving together of art works and storytelling, giving a remarkable insight into the being of the Inuit.
Stories Told: Stories & Images of the Berger Inquiry, by Patrick Scott (The Qedzo Institute, 2007: ISBN 9-780973-884517). Patrick Scott has gathered together a number of the Dene and Inuit voices and stories that sounded during the 1975 Berger Inquiry concerning the proposed gas pipeline through the Mackenzie River Valley, at a time when the pipeline project is being revisited.
The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818 - 1909, by Pierre Berton (McClelland and Stewart, 1988). This is the other work by Canada’s classic storyteller that is worth reading in preparation for our week in Whitehorse.
Please go to the What’s New slot under the Home link for current developments in forming the Conference. Whitehorse pianist, Barry Kitchen, has volunteered his services for the Encircling Light in Movement performance on Monday, August 3rd, and Yukon singer/songwriter Joe Bishop will highlight our closing evening on Saturday, August 8th, in company with other local musicians.
Workshop #13 – Towards a Christ Relation to Nature has one place left. Workshop #1 (The Calendar of the Soul in the North) and Workshop #5 (Indigenous Sensibility and the North) have only a few places left. And on May 1st the Riverview Hotel will release the rooms not yet taken by Conference participants. June 1st is the release date for the High Country Inn. So please register if you do intend to take part in the Conference. Registration will close on May 31st.
Some more reading suggestions:
The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculptures, by Harold Seidelman & James Turner (Douglas & McIntyre: 2001). This work is a fine weaving together of art works and storytelling, giving a remarkable insight into the being of the Inuit.
Stories Told: Stories & Images of the Berger Inquiry, by Patrick Scott (The Qedzo Institute, 2007: ISBN 9-780973-884517). Patrick Scott has gathered together a number of the Dene and Inuit voices and stories that sounded during the 1975 Berger Inquiry concerning the proposed gas pipeline through the Mackenzie River Valley, at a time when the pipeline project is being revisited.
The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818 - 1909, by Pierre Berton (McClelland and Stewart, 1988). This is the other work by Canada’s classic storyteller that is worth reading in preparation for our week in Whitehorse.
Foundation Stone Performance
The eurythmists of Northern Star Eurythmy are honoured to announce a visit by Patricia Smith, of Vancouver, for the weekend of 3-5 April 2009, for a performance and working rehearsals of the Foundation Stone Meditation.
The schedule for the weekend at the Toronto Waldorf School will be:
Friday 3 April, 7:30 – High School Performance
Saturday 4 April, 9:00 – 6:00 – rehearsals
Sunday 5 April, 9:00 – 11:30 – rehearsals
Sunday 5 April, 2:00 p.m. - Performance
Speaker: Patricia Smith (Vancouver)
Lights: Brian Searson (Richmond Hill) and Gioia Helms (Richmond Hill)
Eurythmists: Michael Chapitis (Toronto)
Maria Walker-Ebersole (East Aurora)
Mark Ebersole (East Aurora)
Angelika Warner (Richmond Hill)
Tatiana Lungu (Barrie)
Maria Helms (Richmond Hill)
Donations are very much appreciated,
as is spreading the word that this performance is now brought to Canada.
- Maria Helms
The schedule for the weekend at the Toronto Waldorf School will be:
Friday 3 April, 7:30 – High School Performance
Saturday 4 April, 9:00 – 6:00 – rehearsals
Sunday 5 April, 9:00 – 11:30 – rehearsals
Sunday 5 April, 2:00 p.m. - Performance
Speaker: Patricia Smith (Vancouver)
Lights: Brian Searson (Richmond Hill) and Gioia Helms (Richmond Hill)
Eurythmists: Michael Chapitis (Toronto)
Maria Walker-Ebersole (East Aurora)
Mark Ebersole (East Aurora)
Angelika Warner (Richmond Hill)
Tatiana Lungu (Barrie)
Maria Helms (Richmond Hill)
Donations are very much appreciated,
as is spreading the word that this performance is now brought to Canada.
- Maria Helms
Gulistan Shariff
Obituary for Gulistan Shariff
Gulistan Shariff passed over the threshold on February 24th 2009 at 4 am. She was born in Nairobi into an Ismaili family devoted to the Aga Khan stream of the Moslem faith. She joined the Anthroposophical Society at the Annual General Meeting in 2008.
.
A strong individual already at 14, Gulistan decided to go to England to study medicine and persuaded her well-to do-uncle to come with her. For three years she lived in a Nairobian family, but she did not follow her own culture and traditions. She wanted to be
free and dress and act like every other western school girl. She attended University and proceeded with her medical studies. When she met her future husband Amir, she left her own career. Later in life she shared: “We all carry a burden, we carry our own cross, and we need to change it into joy, but not many can do this.”
I have known Gulistan for over thirty years and have admired her deep sense for an all-embracing, all-supporting brotherhood. Gulistan was one of the founding members of ISIS Cultural Outreach International Society. She pursued a career as a healer through herbs and healthy living. In the early days of our friendship she wanted to take me to the Hunza valley in the Northern Pakistani mountains to which she had traveled in the hope of helping villagers. This introduced me to the early Zoroastrian cultures for which I was
grateful.
Gulistan will be missed by her husband Amir, her two children, Shaheeda and Ismail, as well as by many other family members and friends.
Monica Gold
Gulistan Shariff passed over the threshold on February 24th 2009 at 4 am. She was born in Nairobi into an Ismaili family devoted to the Aga Khan stream of the Moslem faith. She joined the Anthroposophical Society at the Annual General Meeting in 2008.
.
A strong individual already at 14, Gulistan decided to go to England to study medicine and persuaded her well-to do-uncle to come with her. For three years she lived in a Nairobian family, but she did not follow her own culture and traditions. She wanted to be
free and dress and act like every other western school girl. She attended University and proceeded with her medical studies. When she met her future husband Amir, she left her own career. Later in life she shared: “We all carry a burden, we carry our own cross, and we need to change it into joy, but not many can do this.”
I have known Gulistan for over thirty years and have admired her deep sense for an all-embracing, all-supporting brotherhood. Gulistan was one of the founding members of ISIS Cultural Outreach International Society. She pursued a career as a healer through herbs and healthy living. In the early days of our friendship she wanted to take me to the Hunza valley in the Northern Pakistani mountains to which she had traveled in the hope of helping villagers. This introduced me to the early Zoroastrian cultures for which I was
grateful.
Gulistan will be missed by her husband Amir, her two children, Shaheeda and Ismail, as well as by many other family members and friends.
Monica Gold
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