Ottawa Workshop - Piece # 4

- Sylvie Richard

Who in Heaven conducted the planets to sing through the plants? And who is the painter that can make a delicate pink petal wither into the deep violet cloak of Father Time. Who is the architect that has given the structure of stillness and yet the spinning movement that dazzle the eye when looking into the heart of the purple Echinacea? And are they all the same- so perfectly tuned? Or do they carry their own tune? While they are strong, almost stiff in the center yet so clearly ringing.

I still remember the first time I discovered the perfect geometry of flowers. I was baffled and also ashamed. Yes, ashamed that my human eye had not taken the time to perceive such high art, such mystic beauty.

I was too busy fretting, wasted, fallen, wrongly focused on the part of life that scorches. Yes indeed, the sun can burn us badly but-

But a simple A opens to “Ahnen”:

prophetic feeling-
a healing really, a balm:
Echinacea balm
Buried deep, protecting us
At the crux.

Ottawa Workshop - Piece # 3

- Johannes Weber

im rundherum grün

allein unter anderen Farben

verweilt es kurz witternd

bei uns das Kaninchen, dass gestern noch Eichhörnchen war

und wir um den Baum

zum Gebärdengebet vereint

heilenden Zaubers gewahr

***

in roundabout green

alone with other colours

it rests shortly glaring

at us rabbit, who has been a squirrel

and we united around our shade

to gestures of prayer

and magical heeling aware

Ottawa Workshop - Piece # 2

- Claire Mattar

Ce matin dans l'herbe verte, mille fleurs se sont ouvertes, dans ce jardin de toutes les couleurs, les odeurs parfumaient mon coeur. L'air est pur et le ciel est beau, le vent souffle, souffle, faisant danser les folles feuilles. Je m'émerveille de voir les arbres aux bras grand ouverts, faisant le "A", comme s'il voulaient toucher du bout de leurs branches les oiseaux volant autour d'eux.

Regardez, un petit lapereau traverse à toute allure le sentier rocailleux!

Ah! Comme c'est bon de sentir l'été en moi, tout en tirant sur ses ficelles, comme si c'était une marionnette, pour qu'il ne parte pas trop vite, ni trop loin. La chaleur, quelle chaleur qui me fait suffoquer jusque dans la plus petite de mes cellules.

Je rentre au bercail. J'ai besoin de me reposer. Je m'enveloppe de mon châle. Je cherche mon livre. Voilà mon fauteuil préféré. Une tisane réchauffe mon corps. La chandelle éclaire le salon assombri. Où suis-je donc? C'est déjà la nuit.

Ottawa Workshop - Piece # 1

- by Cameron MacInnes

A wide expanse of cloudless sky, the only boundary the horizon,

And no forms save the orb of the sun and the shadowed moon.

The ever flowing breezes bring ephemeral sounds and scents from near and far.

The complex dance of leaves casts showers of light and shadow on the earth,

Vibrant ever changing patterns birthing endless imaginations.

And then I cross the threshold to enter within.

The door is shut.

What remains is memory, a reflection, my soul the mirror,

For this chapter of the story God is reading us.

What is absent in my thoughts, more revealing than what is present.

Eurythmy Gifts In Ottawa

 - by Sylvie Richard

Rudolf Steiner's Soul Calendar - Sixteenth Week (July 21-27)

Zu Bergen Geistgeschenk in Innern,

Gebietet strenge mir mein Ahnen,

Dass reifend Gottesgaben

In Seelengründen fruchtend

Der Selbstheit Früchte bringen       

                      

***

To bear in inward keeping spirit bounty

Is stern command of my prophetic feeling, 

That ripened gifts divine 

Maturing in the depths of soul 

To selfhood bring their fruits.

This past summer the sixteenth week in Ottawa took on a deeper meaning. A guest eurythmist from Dornarch, Monika Pudelko, in collaboration with Brenda Hammond and myself, led a 3 day summer intensive on the Calendar of the Soul. Six participants joined the work. The mornings were devoted to eurythmy (tone eurythmy and speech eurythmy) and, in the afternoons we were led by Brenda into creative writing based on what had been brought into movement in the morning. The idea of bringing creative writing into a eurythmy workshop was successfully done the summer before but now we had the gift of a professional writer leading it.

Monika had visited Ottawa in the early spring and had witnessed the work of Choros Vitae (a small amateur eurythmy performing group) with the Calendar of the Soul in preparation to the big April celebration in honour of Rudolf Steiner’s 150^th anniversary. She then shared with us one of the tasks she has given herself: to meditate and moved every day the eurythmy forms Steiner created for the Calendar of the Soul. This gave rise to the idea of a collaborative summer intensive in Ottawa.

Although the group that came towards this offering was small the work was rich and fruitful. Many difficulties arose in the planning of this event to the point that even a couple of days prior to the week-end we thought we might have to cancel it. Perhaps having to push through so many hindrances made the work so potent.

The mornings started with the taking in of the many sense impressions through a walk in the beautiful gardens of the Unitarian Church located near the Ottawa River. Prior to entering the building we gathered for a Hallelujah bare feet in the shade. Then I led a session of tone eurythmy preparing us through various musical elements and form principles to work on the eurythmy forms for the Sixteenth week. We were so blessed to have Chiharu Zeng who is so sensitive and open to eurythmy as our piano accompanist.   Even in such a short time we explored the Steiner’s eurythmy forms with Monika, as well as some of the sounds in three languages: German, English and French! Again in such a small group, the three languages were living, some participants being bilingual and even multi-lingual. Steiner’s creation of these eurythmy forms is an amazing gift to eurythmists and they should be shared in the right context with reverence and awe. They truly bring to life the verses of the Calendar of the Soul.

The work in the afternoons was rich and challenging. Brenda chose so well the type of exercises that would allow such harvesting of the experience. By Sunday, we could feel the ‘ripening of fruits’ and many ‘divine gifts’. The pushing through the hindrances became clearly “Stern command of prophetic feeling”.

In reviewing this collaborative work we all felt that this was a seed for future work. We are currently planning a similar format for next Whitsun. We have no doubt that the work will be fruitful. We hope to be able to share it with a larger group of people.

Sylvie Richard, eurythmist

Northern Lights Update

- by Debbie Allen

Last year in the November Issue of the e-news I reported on the Northern Lights in October.  I was not able to take photographs back then.  Thanks to Michael Roboz who gave me the link for Space Watch (http://spaceweather.com) I was alerted to the possiblity of intense Auroral activity around the 8th and 9th of September.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera ready and my area was directly under the Corona.  Simply spectacular!  I got my camera ready and on the night of the 12 - 13th of September the Northern Lights came again.  I am attaching pictures for you. (See eNews October 2011 in the Newsletter archive - Ed.)

In that same report I commented on the spectacle of watching Castor and Pollux in Gemini rise through the the Aurora; the Great Bear (Big Dipper) striding over the Aurora; and meteors.  This year there is new excitement in Gemini as Mars has joined Castor and Pollux, rising about 3 am.  On the night I captured these pictures the Moon was full, Jupiter was just above the Eastern Horizon when I began watching at about 11 p.m.  They chased me like great dragons alll the way home from work!  I watched until 3 am to see Mars rise, and was also graced with one bright, long, slow meteor.

Thomas Meyer Makes Historic Visit to Edmonton – Alberta – Finally!

 - by Debbie Allen

You may recall that Thomas Meyer was to have visited Edmonton in 2010 but all air travel was suspended due to the eruption of the Iceland Volcano Eyjafjallajökull in April 2010.  Mr. Meyer did touch down briefly for a few hours in Edmonton to meet the Theosophists Ernest and Rogelle Pelletier before going on to Vancouver.

However, there were no Volcanoes to stop Mr. Meyer this year so on September 12, 2011 under Alberta Northern Lights he arrived in Edmonton as scheduled to talk two nights at the Edmonton Theosophical Society centre.

You might ask, “What brought Thomas Meyer to the Theosophical circle and how does that link up with Anthroposophy?”  The answer lies in the person of D.N. Dunlop.  It turns out that both Thomas Meyer and Ernest Pelletier have an interest in D.N. Dunlop and the Irish Theosophy of his time; both have researched D.N. Dunlop’s biography; both are serious biographers, authors and publishers.  Mr. Pelletier had some years earlier re-published Irish Theosophical journals that had come to the attention of Mr. Meyer, who then ordered these publications from Mr. Pelletier, long before they met in person.

Enter on the scene Ms. Ann Watson, an Anthroposophist living on Salt Spring Island.  Ms. Watson discovered in Mr. Meyer’s books, particularly in the biography of D.N. Dunlop, Anthroposophical history that was of value for Anthroposophists today. Through Ms. Watson’s efforts, Mr. Meyer was invited to Vancouver in 2009 to speak on D.N. Dunlop and other topics.  Ms. Watson gathered together sufficient interest in and supporters of Mr. Meyer to bring Mr. Meyer back to North America in several cities in 2010 and 2011.

When Mr. Meyer heard that there were Anthroposophists in Edmonton, Alberta who would be interested in hearing what he had to say, he asked Ms. Watson to locate the Theosophists.  This Ms. Watson did, arranging for pre-visit meetings with the Pelletiers, and coming to Alberta in 2010 to meet with the Theosophists herself.

The Theosophists, Ernest and Rogelle Pelletier, are to Edmonton Theosophy what the Roboz family is for Vancouver Anthroposophy.  Their home houses the impressive Edmonton Theosophical Society Library, artifacts, and meeting place.  In 2011 the Edmonton Theosophical Society celebrated their 100^th Anniversary after coming into being through an Irish Theosophist in 1911.  This was covered in detail in the Edmonton Journal on May 20, 2011. The Edmonton Theosophical Society is a stand alone Society of Theosophists who meet every Wednesday to study Theosophy.

Mr. Pelletier published last year a significant volume on the historical aspects of the Theosophical Society, “The Judge Case – A Conspiracy Which Ruined the Theosophical Cause”.  This marvelous work contains detailed biographical history of many personalities also of interest to Anthroposophists.  This volume represents 11 years of intensive research into the historical records of various people within the Theosophical Society.

So, in the year of the 100th Anniversary of the Theosophical Society and the 150^th Anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s birth Theosophists and Anthroposophists once again mingled to listen to the words of Mr. Meyer on topics of interest to both: biographies of significant persons from the Theosophical past and events of the current day from Mr. Meyer’s Anthroposophical perspective.

The social gathering on Tuesday September 13 and the lecture on Wednesday September 14 were attended to by a small gathering of local Edmonton Theosophists and Anthroposophists (some of whom have Theosophical connections).  As I was only able to attend the social gathering I am unable to comment on Mr. Meyer’s lecture; however, the atmosphere and the presence of like-minded seekers of truth and knowledge made for a very pleasant social evening. Having heard Mr. Meyer speak on a number of occasions now, I suspect I missed an excellent talk and conversation.

The day after Mr. Meyer left Edmonton, the Edmonton evening news had a feature on Biodynamic farming initiated through the work of Rudolf Steiner.  After just having attended this marvelous gathering, and recently returned from the Class Conference in Fair Oaks, California, I experienced a thrill at hearing Rudolf Steiner’s name mentioned on local television and credit given to him for a vibrant new way of farming in this year when we are globally celebrating the birth of Rudolf Steiner.

Anthroposophy is alive and well – even in Edmonton, Alberta.