- by Treasa O'Driscoll
Forty members of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada
gathered at the Christian Community Church on the outskirts of Toronto on
November 30. The time had come for a collective review of the Society’s
statement of purpose. (See text at the end of this article.) Drafted in 1953, the original incorporation document was
signed by Isabel Grieve, Elsie (Whitehead) Andress and Erna Schon, the occupation ascribed
to all three was that of housewife.
One can only guess at the vision
and timeliness of their united front. John A. McDonald’s retrospective remark
about the shaping of the Canadian Constitution might well be applied to these
pioneering women:”Destiny being their guide, they ‘builded’ better than they knew.” The flourishing initiatives that
have enriched anthroposophical cultural life in Canada owe a debt of gratitude
to their enterprise.
And
we were there to wonder at it all.....
Council member, Dorothy
LeBaron, welcomed us warmly and set a tone of mindfulness as we sat expectantly
in a large circle. The statement of
purpose was read out and everyone had a chance to share impressions with
the person sitting in the next chair. The buzz of talk revealed that there were
as many different points of view being aired as there were people in the room.
Fortunately we were not striving for consensus!
Some had worried that we were congregating to substitute
one set of words for another but their fears were soon allayed. An intuitive, hands-on
approach to the issue at hand was what artist and teacher, Regine Kurek, ever attuned
to the music of what happens, had in
mind. She would skillfully and lightheartedly
conduct our experiment in colour and form in a two-hour process of discovery.
Divided into two groups of twenty, we clustered around large
blank pages spread out on tables that stood some distance apart. Regine invited
us to bring some vexing situation, private or public, to mind and then, with
deliberate brushstrokes, to apply an artistic representation of the problem on
the blank page. When each person had
taken a turn it was somewhat startling to note that the overall impression was
one of fragmentation, isolation and protest- that accurately reflected the
state of our world.
Relief came when Regine suggested we approach the
painting with a healing impulse. Silence reigned as the fervour of creativity
took hold and a harmonious weaving of colour brought us into closer collaboration,
the work transforming before our eyes into a beautiful picture! The isolated
‘I’ had merged into the communal ‘we’!
We then broke into groups of five to reflect on our
experience and the light it shed on the statement
of purpose and its revision. These were animated discussions in which
sympathy and antipathy were permitted to co-exist. We returned to the process
accordingly enlivened and resonating with the question:”What is seeking to come
forth and how can I serve?”
Step three of the process gave rise to some angst for we
were not to rest on our laurels. Group A was now instructed to take the place
of Group B and vice versa and both groups were charged with the task of building
on each other’s painting. I had great difficulty in carrying out this step - and
when I did tentatively intervene my brushstrokes seemed woefully out of place.
Perhaps more time was needed for the exercise-our meeting was drawing to a
close....
Returning then to Painting A with other group members, I
was delighted to observe how complete our picture now appeared. Somebody from
Group B was inspired to insert two eyes - one open, one closed - into the centre
of the page, its impact reminiscent of The
Treeman in the paintings of Bosch. We named the painting, Seen and Unseen. A line from Kathleen
Raine afterwards came to mind.....not in
the seen but in the seer, epiphany of the commonplace......
I am full of admiration for members of the present
council, Mark McAlister, Regine and others working behind the scenes who
brought this meeting about. I hope it provided grist to the mill of their
further deliberations on the statement of purpose. Dissemination of principles( included in the 1953 document) is
obviously not the strong point of a society that has a relatively small
membership given its sixty years of existence. However, mutual support and soul
nourishment, along with a love of ideas, make for strong connecting links
between members as evidenced on November 30th, 2013.
To sum up - if anybody asks me about the gathering, I will
simply say: “It was not about something,
it was that something itself! Time seemed to stand still as it ran its course."
Treasa O’Driscoll
www.novalisproject.com
Our Purpose, as stated in the Charter:
Our Purpose, as stated in the Charter:
a) to
promote and foster the study of the science of Anthroposophy and the
dissemination of its principles, according to the teachings of Dr.Rudolf
Steiner, and thereby to promote and foster the development of human brotherhood
and the moral, artistic and cultural life of humanity;
b) to enter
into such trust arrangements as may be necessary or desirable to enable the use
of the income and capital of such trust fund or funds as may be created by or
for the Corporation for the study and propagation of the science of
Anthroposophy and the more effective carrying out of the objects of the
Corporation.
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