Dear Friends,
Virginia
Sease visited Montreal in July. She worked with the members of the School for
Spiritual Science for a full day and on the following evening gave a public
lecture on Skythianos, one of the great initiates and leaders of mankind. Eric
Philip-Oxford’s article in this issue, based on the extensive notes taken by
Louis Casgrain during the lecture, will allow readers to get an idea of the
content of this talk in which Virginia shared her research on this little-known
initiate. Her visit was made possible thanks to a generous donation by the
Sophia Branch in Montreal. Members and friends from Quebec as well as several
participants from other parts of Canada and New York were present. Our
sincerest thanks to Virginia, who kindly agreed to carve out a moment from her
extremely busy schedule to make the trip to Canada.
Conference on the Americas
From the 22nd
to the 27th of July, a conference on the mission of the Americas in
the 21st century was held in São Paulo, Brazil. The event was organized
by the Anthroposophical Society in Brazil (Sociedade Antroposofica no Brasil).
My wife and I were the only participants from North America. The conference
content was divided into four categories under the main theme of “How the
soul-spiritual dimension is living in the various peoples of the Americas”:
1. What
is the mission of the Americas in our time with respect to spiritual research?
2. In
what way can one’s cultural heritage carry an element for future evolution?
3. What
are the archetypes common to the mythologies of all the various populations?
4. How
do people interact with the place in which they live?
Many of the
speakers pointed out the contribution of the indigenous cultures and their
richness and wisdom (a more detailed article on this conference will appear at
a later date).
The Anthroposophical Society in Brazil
It was thanks
to the generosity of the Anthroposophical Society in Brazil that we were able
to attend the conference and meet members and initiatives in São Paulo. This
vast country, contrasting in so many ways with our own, is quite striking in
the lushness of its vegetation, the density of the population in its large
cities, and its quite obvious social disparities (slavery was abolished quite
late, at the end of the 19th century). We were able to appreciate
the warmth and hospitality of the people as well as noticing the great respect Brazilians
have for the elderly among them – interaction among generations happens quite
naturally.
The
Anthroposophical Society is very active and receives numerous donations. When
we visited Society headquarters, the treasurer, Alfredo Rheinganz, explained
that courses and conferences also provide substantial income and even help fund
a book publishing enterprise.
Sergei Prokofieff
At the time
when many of us were on holiday, we learned the sad news that Sergei
Prokofieff had crossed the threshold after a long illness. He had come to
Canada in 2009 and had taken part in the Whitehorse conference. Many of those
who met him will recall his great warmth and his tireless activity as an
anthroposophical researcher. His work will ever remain a source of inspiration
for deepening our relation to anthroposophy and for inspiring us to take on
initiatives.
In Hatley,
Quebec, some twenty persons gathered to give readings in his memory and share
experiences of meeting him, either personally or through his writings – and to
speak of how he touched our hearts.
Peter Selg
has written a brief but gripping biography of Sergei which has just appeared in
latest issue of Anthroposophy World Wide.
Ongoing work on “The Encounter with Evil “
In
Cowansville, in the Eastern Townships, we are committed to continuing the work
begun last spring on the theme of the Antichrist by holding a study day with
conversation and artistic activities followed, two weeks later, by a session on
the Foundation Stone in North Hatley. For this work we will take as our
starting point Sergei Prokofieff’s short book entitled “The Encounter with
Evil.* This work describes the four streams of evil in our time and how
spiritual science, and in particular the Foundation Stone can help us to bring
order into our world. He specifically mentions three qualities that we must
develop in order to be able to experience the etheric Christ: spiritualization
of our intellect, expansion of our consciousness so as to open our souls up to
imagination, and the ability to withstand the experience of “powerlessness”
with respect to our own personal aspirations in order to achieve the
resurrection of our souls. This book can inspire us to work intensively with
the Foundation Stone.
I would like to close with the verse Rudolf Steiner gave on September 13th, 1914. This meditation was recited during the Conference on the Americas, but it also directly addresses the challenges of our time described by Sergei Prokofieff.
You, spirit
of my space on earth!
Reveal the
light of your antiquity
To the soul
imbued with Christ,
That striving
it can find you
In the chorus
of the spheres of peace,
Resounding
with the praise and the power
Of the human
sense devoted to Christ.
Arie van Ameringen,
General Secretary
*The Encounter with
Evil, S. O. Prokofieff, Temple Lodge
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