Letter from Arie van Ameringen - March 2012

 Dear Friends,

In 2011 we were called upon to focus on two very important themes: the celebration of the 150^th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s birth on the one hand, and the individuality of Christian Rosenkreuz on the other.  As we study Rudolf Steiner’s biography and his many lectures, we come to realize how closely he was linked with the individuality of Christian Rosenkreuz. On many occasions Steiner specifically mentioned the importance of this great guide of mankind, and indeed anthroposophy can be called a modern form of rosicrucianism.  (1)

             

Last year, various events were held worldwide, and especially in Europe, to celebrate Rudolf Steiner’s legacy and the relevance of his work for our times.  Across Canada, several members’ groups chose to commemorate this anniversary by offering public events such as lectures or educational activities, some groups got together to stir and spray bio-dynamic preparations simultaneously on St John's Day,  others by simply gathering in more intimate circles.  These celebratory events were all ways of expressing our gratitude for the work of Rudolf Steiner. 

            

 Several months ago, I had agreed to go to my bank in Montreal in order to obtain foreign currency for my daughter, who was leaving for Central America.  Upon arriving at the bank branch, an employee explained that the bank was closed due to a power blackout in the neighborhood.  I begged him to let me in, explaining that I lived 100 km away and that I could never return in time, since my daughter’s flight was scheduled for the next morning. 

The employee finally let me in.  Since I was the only customer, I was given the royal treatment: I was waited upon by five employees plus the branch manager.  And yet there was a serious problem: the computers were not working!  What was to be done?  The employees seemed helpless.  How could the transaction be recorded?  How could they calculate the amount in Canadian dollars or even issue a receipt?  It is as if we had been thrown back 30 years to a time when office computers did not exist.  

Finally, it took the six of them a full half hour to process my request.  It was obvious that the employees were in no way prepared for this kind of situation.  And even the branch manager had difficulty calculating the conversion of Canadian dollars into pesos. 

Several weeks prior to that incident, (23 October), a very interesting article concerning Waldorf schools had appeared in the New York Times, relating how employees of companies in California’s Silicon Valley send their children to Waldorf Schools so they can learn to “hold a pencil.”  The piece praised the merits of what was said to be a form of education which teaches practical life skills.  

When Rudolf Steiner speaks of the teachings of Christian Rosenkreuz, he describes a spiritual movement which emphasizes the importance of acquiring the practical skills needed for daily life.  When a man breaks his leg, do we pity his suffering?  Of course we do.  But it is also essential that we know what to do in such a case and that we act.  The attitude required here is not that of a spectator but rather of a being who can act in full awareness of what the situation requires.  Given the fact that electronic tools have taken on a dominant role in our daily lives, education which remains in touch with concrete practical life skills is assuredly a way of facing head on the challenges of the over-dominance of cyber specialisation and of ensuring that our human faculties remain free. 

In 1911, Rudolf Steiner gave us essential details into the life and mission of Christian Rosenkreuz.  Also, in December of the same year he created a new initiative, an Endowment (Stiftung) under the temporary name of Society for Theosophical Art and Way of Life.  This initiative was established under the direct impulse of Christian Rosenkreuz and Rudolf Steiner was to choose (“interpret”) a group of people who would be able to undertake free spiritual research. 

Each of the members of this group was a representative of a particular art form; each one had complete freedom to carry out his or her own spiritual research based on mutual trust, and the group was to continue its work in total autonomy without the help of Rudolf Steiner.  It goes without saying that each of the individuals chosen agreed to commit to the work with an attitude completely devoid of any personal interest or gain whatsoever.

Unfortunately, this effort to create the Endowment did not succeed. (2)  Yet, the method of working put forward at its conception remains an inspiration for us today.   At that time, Rudolf Steiner had already deemed it necessary to give birth to a spiritual initiative in order to counter the destructive tide of materialism.  Indeed, it was then that the second mystery drama was written and performed.  And today, artistic endeavor inspired by authentic spiritual work is more relevant than ever. 

At the beginning of November I attended the meeting of General Secretaries, Section leaders and the Executive Committee at the Gœtheanum.  The theme of the meeting was: Recognizing differences and building together. Our conversations focused on how to achieve a working together of the various streams within the Anthroposophical Society.  We know that within the Society the manifold diverging impulses fall somewhere between two distinct points of view: those who place the greater importance on knowledge and those for whom action is the essential element.  Seen in the light of the Endowment, the fundamental requirements for spiritual research are trust and autonomy.  How then can we remain individually creative, make our own personal spiritual contribution, and yet work towards a common goal in spite of our differences?  This question remains relevant for each one of us.

We also shared our imagination of current world events, particularly the most striking events of 2011. The Executive Committee explained its new way of working, which involves including the General Secretaries of the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland in some of the decision making process.

***

On January 21, 2012, in Toronto, the members of the Council of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada met with the circle of Canadian Class Holders to explore the research theme: Anthroposophy: a modern form of Rosicrucianism, and our experience of the Canadian Folk Soul. 

In the evening, after a short introduction, there was a conversation with local members. During this exchange period on the question of the Canadian Folk Soul, the Rosicrucian mood was always there in the background, helping us to realize that our Canadian situation was constantly evolving. The core values of openness, tolerance and artistic creativity were among the qualities mentioned as characterizing the Canadian nation, as was the diversity of the founding peoples; the contributions of new immigrants have proven to be of great cultural value; the Canadian Folk Soul is still in a process of taking shape for some future task.

Bearing in mind the qualities we have mentioned, it should come as no surprise to find printed on the Canadian 20 dollar bill the following quote from writer Gabrielle Roy:

Could we ever know each other in the slightest without the arts?

Arie van Ameringen

General Secretary, Dunham, Quebec

(1)    Peter Selg recently published a book in German on Rudolf Steiner and Christian Rosenkreuz. See also Sergei Prokofief’s article on the theme of the year. 

(2)     Virginia Sease explains in her little book (in German) Rudolf Steiners Versuch einer Stiftung für Theosophische Art und Kunst 15.Dezember 1911 the history of this group and the individuals who participated in it.

En 2011 nous avons été invités à porter deux thèmes très importants : la commémoration du 150^e anniversaire de naissance de Rudolf Steiner et l’individualité de Christian Rosecroix.  Quand on aborde la biographie et les conférences de Rudolf Steiner, on constate que Rudolf Steiner avait un lien privilégié avec l’individualité de Christian Rosecroix.  À plusieurs occasions, Steiner mentionne de façon spécifique l’apport important de ce grand guide de l’humanité, à tel point que l’anthroposophie peut être nommée comme une forme moderne du rosicrucisme. (1) 

            
L’année dernière, différents événements dans le monde ont eu lieu, en particulier en Europe, pour souligner l’héritage et la pertinence de l’oeuvre de Rudolf Steiner pour notre époque.    Au Canada, d’un bout à l’autre du pays, plusieurs groupes de membres ont aussi tenu à marquer cet anniversaire soit par des événements publics telles des conférences, des activités pédagogiques, la fabrication et l’épandage d’une préparation biodynamique à la Saint-Jean ou des rencontres en cercles plus restreints. Ces célébrations étaient une façon de témoigner la reconnaissance  envers Rudolf Steiner et son oeuvre.

            
Il y a quelques mois, je devais prendre des devises étrangères à ma banque montréalaise afin de les remettre à ma fille qui partait en Amérique Centrale. En arrivant à la succursale, un préposé me fit savoir que la banque était fermée en raison d’une panne électrique dans le quartier.  J’insistais pour entrer en expliquant que j’habitais à 100 km de là et que je ne pouvais pas revenir aussitôt et que de plus, ma fille partait le lendemain.  

           
L’employé de la banque me fit finalement entrer.  Étant le seul client, j’ai eu droit à un service  royal : cinq employés et la gérante pour répondre à ma demande.  Mais il y avait un problème : les ordinateurs ne fonctionnaient pas!  Que faire dans un tel cas?  Les employés semblaient pris au dépourvu.  Comment enregistrer la transaction?  Comment calculer le montant en dollars canadiens?  Comment enfin, me donner un reçu?  On semblait être revenu 30 ans en arrière à l’époque où on ne disposait pas d’ordinateurs.

            
Finalement, les six personnes ont pris près d’une demi-heure à régler ma demande.  Les employés n’étaient visiblement pas préparés à faire face à une telle situation.  Et même la gérante avait de la difficulté à calculer la conversion des dollars canadiens en pesos. 

            
Quelques semaines auparavant  (le 23 octobre), parut un article fort intéressant sur les écoles Waldorf dans le New York Times.  Dans cet article, on mentionne comment les employés qui travaillent pour des compagnies de la Silicone Valley, en Californie, envoient leurs enfants à l’école Waldorf afin qu’ils apprennent à ‘manier le crayon’. On y vente les mérites d’une pédagogie pratique pour la vie.

            
Quand Rudolf Steiner parle de l’enseignement de Christian Rosecroix, il précise l’importance d’un mouvement spirituel où la pratique dans le quotidien est de première importance.  Un homme se casse une jambe, est-ce qu’on a de la pitié pour sa souffrance? Oui! Mais il est aussi important de savoir quoi faire et de se mettre en action.  L’attitude n’est pas celle d’un spectateur mais davantage celle d’un être agissant en toute connaissance. Les outils électroniques ont pris une place prépondérante dans notre vie quotidienne; une éducation en lien avec la vie pratique, concrète  est sûrement une façon de remédier aux  défis d’une surspécialisation cybernétique et de garder l’indépendance de nos facultés humaines.

            
En 1911, Rudolf Steiner a donné plus de détails sur l’individualité de Christian Rosecroix et de sa mission.  Aussi, il a crée, en décembre de la même année, une nouvelle initiative, une dotation (Stiftung) : avec un nom provisoire de Dotation pour un style et un art théosophique.  Cette initiative venait directement de l’impulsion de Christian Rosecroix et Rudolf Steiner devait choisir (interpréter) un groupe de personnes pour faire un travail de recherche spirituelle.

            
Chacun des membres de cette société  était un représentant d’un art en particulier, chacun avait une entière liberté de recherche spirituelle basée sur la confiance et le groupe devait par la suite dans une complète autonomie, continuer le travail sans l’intervention de Rudolf Steiner. Il va de soi que les personnes choisies devaient s’engager dans le travail avec une attitude dépourvue de tout intérêt personnel. 

            
Malheureusement, la dotation n’a pas abouti (2). Il reste que la façon de travailler présentée lors du début de la dotation, demeure une inspiration pour notre époque. Déjà, en ce temps, Rudolf Steiner avait jugé nécessaire la naissance d’une initiative spirituelle pour faire face à un matérialisme destructeur croissant, aussi, à ce moment là, le deuxième drame mystère  avait vu le jour. L’approche artistique inspirée d’un travail spirituel authentique n’a pas perdu de sa pertinence aujourd’hui.

             
Au début de novembre dernier, j’ai participé, au Goetheanum, à la rencontre des secrétaires généraux, des responsables des sections et des membres du comité directeur.  Cette rencontre avait pour thème : Voir les divergences  et construire ensemble. Nos conversations ont porté sur comment rallier les différents courants dans la Société Anthroposophique pour parvenir  à  un travail commun. Nous savons qu’à l’intérieur de la Société les divergences peuvent se situer entre deux points de vue bien distincts; Il y a ceux pour qui la connaissance est mis à l’avant plan et d’autres  pour qui l’action est de première importance.   À la lumière de la dotation, la question de la confiance et de l’autonomie s’avère importante dans la recherche spirituelle.   Comment être suffisamment créateur et faire notre bout de chemin spirituel dans un but commun et ce malgré nos divergences? Cette question est aussi pertinente pour nous.

Nous avons également partagé une image de ce qui se passe dans le monde d’aujourd’hui, en particulier les événements marquants de 2011. Le Comité Directeur a présenté sa nouvelle façon de travailler en incluant les secrétaires généraux des Pays-Bas, de l’Allemagne et de la Suisse dans la prise de certaines décisions.

***

Le 21 janvier, à Toronto, les membres du Conseil de la Société Anthroposophique du Canada et les lecteurs de classe se sont rencontrés pour partager leurs réflexions suite à une recherche sur le thème L’Anthroposophie : une forme moderne du rosicrucisme et l’âme du peuple canadien.

            
En soirée, après une courte présentation sur le thème, il y a eu un échange avec les membres locaux. Lors de cet échange sur la question de l’âme du peuple canadien, cette atmosphère rosicrucienne était en arrière-plan et nous a aidés à remarquer que la situation canadienne était en évolution. Les valeurs d’ouverture, de tolérance et de création artistique ont été mentionnées comme des  caractéristiques de la nation canadienne de même que la diversité des personnes qui ont peuplé le Canada; l’apport des nouveaux immigrants témoigne d’une grande  richesse culturelle. L’âme du peuple est donc encore  en train de se forger pour le futur. Serons-nous alors étonnés, à ce compte, de retrouver sur le billet de 20 dollars canadiens la pensée de l’écrivaine Gabrielle :

                  Nous connaîtrions-nous seulement sans les arts ?

  

Arie van Ameringen

Secrétaire général,

Dunham, Québec

(1)     Peter Selg a écrit récemment un livre en allemand sur Rudolf Steiner et Christian Rosecroix. Voir aussi le texte de Sergei Prokofief sur le thème de l’année.

(2)      Virginia Sease explique dans son petit livre Rudolf Steiners  Versuch einer Stiftung für Theosophische Art und Kunst 15.Dezember 1911 ( pas encore traduit ) l’historique de cette société et les personnes qui y participaient.

MOT DU SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRAL - March 2012

En 2011 nous avons été invités à porter deux thèmes très importants : la commémoration du 150^e anniversaire de naissance de Rudolf Steiner et l’individualité de Christian Rosecroix.  Quand on aborde la biographie et les conférences de Rudolf Steiner, on constate que Rudolf Steiner avait un lien privilégié avec l’individualité de Christian Rosecroix.  À plusieurs occasions, Steiner mentionne de façon spécifique l’apport important de ce grand guide de l’humanité, à tel point que l’anthroposophie peut être nommée comme une forme moderne du rosicrucisme. (1)

            
L’année dernière, différents événements dans le monde ont eu lieu, en particulier en Europe, pour souligner l’héritage et la pertinence de l’oeuvre de Rudolf Steiner pour notre époque.    Au Canada, d’un bout à l’autre du pays, plusieurs groupes de membres ont aussi tenu à marquer cet anniversaire soit par des événements publics telles des conférences, des activités pédagogiques, la fabrication et l’épandage d’une préparation biodynamique à la Saint-Jean ou des rencontres en cercles plus restreints. Ces célébrations étaient une façon de témoigner la reconnaissance  envers Rudolf Steiner et son oeuvre.

            
Il y a quelques mois, je devais prendre des devises étrangères à ma banque montréalaise afin de les remettre à ma fille qui partait en Amérique Centrale. En arrivant à la succursale, un préposé me fit savoir que la banque était fermée en raison d’une panne électrique dans le quartier.  J’insistais pour entrer en expliquant que j’habitais à 100 km de là et que je ne pouvais pas revenir aussitôt et que de plus, ma fille partait le lendemain. 

            
L’employé de la banque me fit finalement entrer.  Étant le seul client, j’ai eu droit à un service  royal : cinq employés et la gérante pour répondre à ma demande.  Mais il y avait un problème : les ordinateurs ne fonctionnaient pas!  Que faire dans un tel cas?  Les employés semblaient pris au dépourvu.  Comment enregistrer la transaction?  Comment calculer le montant en dollars canadiens?  Comment enfin, me donner un reçu?  On semblait être revenu 30 ans en arrière à l’époque où on ne disposait pas d’ordinateurs.

            
Finalement, les six personnes ont pris près d’une demi-heure à régler ma demande.  Les employés n’étaient visiblement pas préparés à faire face à une telle situation.  Et même la gérante avait de la difficulté à calculer la conversion des dollars canadiens en pesos. 

            
Quelques semaines auparavant  (le 23 octobre), parut un article fort intéressant sur les écoles Waldorf dans le New York Times.  Dans cet article, on mentionne comment les employés qui travaillent pour des compagnies de la Silicone Valley, en Californie, envoient leurs enfants à l’école Waldorf afin qu’ils apprennent à ‘manier le crayon’. On y vente les mérites d’une pédagogie pratique pour la vie.

            
Quand Rudolf Steiner parle de l’enseignement de Christian Rosecroix, il précise l’importance d’un mouvement spirituel où la pratique dans le quotidien est de première importance.  Un homme se casse une jambe, est-ce qu’on a de la pitié pour sa souffrance? Oui! Mais il est aussi important de savoir quoi faire et de se mettre en action.  L’attitude n’est pas celle d’un spectateur mais davantage celle d’un être agissant en toute connaissance. Les outils électroniques ont pris une place prépondérante dans notre vie quotidienne; une éducation en lien avec la vie pratique, concrète  est sûrement une façon de remédier aux  défis d’une surspécialisation cybernétique et de garder l’indépendance de nos facultés humaines.

            
En 1911, Rudolf Steiner a donné plus de détails sur l’individualité de Christian Rosecroix et de sa mission.  Aussi, il a crée, en décembre de la même année, une nouvelle initiative, une dotation (Stiftung) : avec un nom provisoire de Dotation pour un style et un art théosophique.  Cette initiative venait directement de l’impulsion de Christian Rosecroix et Rudolf Steiner devait choisir (interpréter) un groupe de personnes pour faire un travail de recherche spirituelle.

            
Chacun des membres de cette société  était un représentant d’un art en particulier, chacun avait une entière liberté de recherche spirituelle basée sur la confiance et le groupe devait par la suite dans une complète autonomie, continuer le travail sans l’intervention de Rudolf Steiner. Il va de soi que les personnes choisies devaient s’engager dans le travail avec une attitude dépourvue de tout intérêt personnel. 

            
Malheureusement, la dotation n’a pas abouti (2). Il reste que la façon de travailler présentée lors du début de la dotation, demeure une inspiration pour notre époque. Déjà, en ce temps, Rudolf Steiner avait jugé nécessaire la naissance d’une initiative spirituelle pour faire face à un matérialisme destructeur croissant, aussi, à ce moment là, le deuxième drame mystère  avait vu le jour. L’approche artistique inspirée d’un travail spirituel authentique n’a pas perdu de sa pertinence aujourd’hui.

             
Au début de novembre dernier, j’ai participé, au Goetheanum, à la rencontre des secrétaires généraux, des responsables des sections et des membres du comité directeur.  Cette rencontre avait pour thème : Voir les divergences  et construire ensemble. Nos conversations ont porté sur comment rallier les différents courants dans la Société Anthroposophique pour parvenir  à  un travail commun. Nous savons qu’à l’intérieur de la Société les divergences peuvent se situer entre deux points de vue bien distincts; Il y a ceux pour qui la connaissance est mis à l’avant plan et d’autres  pour qui l’action est de première importance.   À la lumière de la dotation, la question de la confiance et de l’autonomie s’avère importante dans la recherche spirituelle.  Comment être suffisamment créateur et faire notre bout de chemin spirituel dans un but commun et ce malgré nos divergences? Cette question est aussi pertinente pour nous.

Nous avons également partagé une image de ce qui se passe dans le monde d’aujourd’hui, en particulier les événements marquants de 2011. Le Comité Directeur a présenté sa nouvelle façon de travailler en incluant les secrétaires généraux des Pays-Bas, de l’Allemagne et de la Suisse dans la prise de certaines décisions.

***

Le 21 janvier, à Toronto, les membres du Conseil de la Société Anthroposophique du Canada et les lecteurs de classe se sont rencontrés pour partager leurs réflexions suite à une recherche sur le thème L’Anthroposophie : une forme moderne du rosicrucisme et l’âme du peuple canadien.

            
En soirée, après une courte présentation sur le thème, il y a eu un échange avec les membres locaux. Lors de cet échange sur la question de l’âme du peuple canadien, cette atmosphère rosicrucienne était en arrière-plan et nous a aidés à remarquer que la situation canadienne était en évolution. Les valeurs d’ouverture, de tolérance et de création artistique ont été mentionnées comme des  caractéristiques de la nation canadienne de même que la diversité des personnes qui ont peuplé le Canada; l’apport des nouveaux immigrants témoigne d’une grande  richesse culturelle. L’âme du peuple est donc encore  en train de se forger pour le futur. Serons-nous alors étonnés, à ce compte, de retrouver sur le billet de 20 dollars canadiens la pensée de l’écrivaine Gabrielle :

                  

Nous connaîtrions-nous seulement sans les arts ?

  

Arie van Ameringen

Secrétaire général,

Dunham, Québec

(1)     Peter Selg a écrit récemment un livre en allemand sur Rudolf Steiner et Christian Rosecroix. Voir aussi le texte de Sergei Prokofief sur le thème de l’année.

(2)      Virginia Sease explique dans son petit livre Rudolf Steiners  Versuch einer Stiftung für Theosophische Art und Kunst 15.Dezember 1911 ( pas encore traduit ) l’historique de cette société et les personnes qui y participaient.

Interview with Philip Thatcher

Reflections from My Years as General Secretary

- Interview by Robert McKay

RM: How did you first meet Anthroposophy? Was it easy for you to find a relationship to Steiner’s work?

PT: I came first came into contact with anthroposophy when I married Marjorie, in 1965. I was then in my early years as a priest in the Anglican Church in the interior of British Columbia. For the next seven years my meetings with anthroposophy and anthroposophists were occasional and somewhat enigmatic--interesting people involved in something more than an odd philosophy. Yet nothing in those meetings augured a significant change in the direction of my life.

We moved from Prince George to North Vancouver in 1972. There was active work in the Anthroposophical Society already underway, the Christian Community had recently been established, and the Waldorf School had just opened its doors. Soon our children became Waldorf students. Waldorf education was clearly something I could whole-heartedly embrace, yet other aspects of anthroposophy presented me with a struggle. There was light here and there, such as the biography work. At the same time, reincarnation and karma, which I knew only from an eastern perspective, seemed to me incompatible with a world-affirming, earth-transforming understanding of the deed of Christ.

My second moon node became the needle's eye through which my resistance to Rudolf Steiner became an open door. Aspects of anthroposophy that had seem impossible suddenly became possible, as my time in the Anglican Church came to its own end. In 1977 I decided to leap into the dark and do the Foundation Year at Emerson College. At the end of that leap the Philosophy of Spiritual Activity and then the Parzival story were waiting for me.

Amid those many colleagues in anthroposophy who feel they came home upon their first meeting with Rudolf Steiner's work, I am one of those who had to travel a different path. So I well understand those who need to wrestle their way into a relationship with Rudolf Steiner.

RM: In your recent speech at the Goetheanum you mentioned that Anthroposophy has the potential to surprise us, and that the Council surprised you by asking you to become General Secretary. Can you take us back to those early days?

PT: I served on the Council of the Society in Canada from 1986 to 1993, and then was a co-editor of Aurore, with Herb Walsh and Robert Adams, from the fall of 1994 to the spring of 2002. During those years, someone would now and then wonder aloud whether I would ever consider taking on the task of General Secretary. However, nothing in me responded to that idea. I was active as a Waldorf high school teacher and an adult educator, and was in the process of writing The Raven Trilogy. Moreover, I felt that over fourteen plus years I had made a substantial contribution to the Society in Canada and wanted to move on to whatever might come next, once I retired from teaching in 2004.

What came next, as a surprise, was a direct question concerning the General Secretary task from the Council, in the fall of 2002--a question initiated by a Council member whom I did not yet know well, yet for whom I felt great respect. So not only did the question surprise me, but it stopped me in my tracks. This time I knew I had to consider the General Secretary task in a new light. And then I had to take a next step and ask myself if I truly was the person to take on this task. Was there someone else better suited to do this work? As the process went forward and the members were asked whether or not they would recognize me as General Secretary, I simply had to trust in their judgment and be ready to step back if that recognition was not forthcoming.

RM: Some of the older members of the Society in Canada who have worked with successive General Secretaries note how differently each individual interprets the role. How did you find your way into it? What became your guiding thoughts?

PT: As I was on the way toward becoming General Secretary, Paul Mackay asked me, "What would you do if you did become General Secretary for Canada?" My answer was, "Paul, I don't yet know what I would do."

Which in retrospect was a good point of departure. Not burdened by pre-set goals or agendas, I could take up the task with the intention to discovering where it might take me. There were imaginations that I carried from my earlier time on the Council, from editing Aurore, and out of my biography as a whole. One of those was an imagination of Canada not only as a vast place but also as a being still in the process of coming to itself. How could a small Society such as ours, spread across the country, be informed by such a being and what could we bring to the forming of that being?

Another guiding thought was that it was essential that I come to know members of the Society in Canada, that I meet with them whenever possible within their centers of work and listen to what they yearned to bring to life. That gesture of listening would not only support the members but would also help spark whatever contribution was mine to bring during my time as General Secretary.

And a third factor in shaping my work was the awakening within the School of Spiritual Science and the Society as a whole to the task and research questions of the General Anthroposophical Section of the School. What questions concern us as human beings in our time? How can we research them out of Spiritual Science? And how can that searching out affect the quality of our human meetings within the Society?

RM: So much of Anthroposophy requires working together, and yet, as a human organization, the Anthroposophical Society needs leaders. Are there special challenges to being a leader in the anthroposophical context?

PT: We sometimes speak about "giving leadership" in a particular situation. It is good to pay attention to our everyday language, for leadership can be seen as a gift an individual gives to his or her community. The challenge then is to discern and be true to the gift of leadership a community needs.

In the Anthroposophical Society, leadership serves the working of the members. How then to support, yet help deepen that working? How to confirm work already underway, yet discern new ways of working not yet explored? How to enrich understandings of anthroposophy that already live in the membership, yet open out insights that would extend or even reshape that understanding, however uncomfortable a reshaping might be? When to listen and when to speak? This exercise of leadership involves a balancing of possibilities and a readiness to live in a creative tension between what is and what could become.

As well, amid affirming initiatives of the members, I needed to be awake to and have the courage of those initiatives that were mine to take out of the General Secretary task. The Encircling Light -- Expectant Silence conference was an example of the latter.

RM: At the recent Canadian Society AGM, you gave a wonderful talk that included the idea that Anthroposophists need to develop enabling ways of speaking to and working with each other. How can we practice this enabling?

PT: At the core of that talk was an exploration of what we call the moods of our language--indicative, interrogative, imperative. Two questions then followed: How can we penetrate each of these moods out of an anthroposophical consciousness? And do we need to transform what has been the imperative mood into what could be called an enabling mood? How could we move from a mood that is concerned with how things should be, ought to be, to a mood ready to make possible what could be?

I then went on to elaborate three ways to putting this new mood into practice. The crux of any practice, however, is our willingness to make the fundamental shift toward this enabling mood in the way each of us carries the possibilities and urgencies of anthroposophy. How to rediscover, time and again, both freedom and responsibility out of the consciousness soul, as indicated by Rudolf Steiner in The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity? It is a matter of coming to thoughts and deeds not constrained by imperatives but born out of intuitive thinking. How to enable that quality of activity in ourselves and in our colleagues in anthroposophy?

The practice of listening to the other without a preconception of what should be said or done is one essential aspect of this enabling mood.

RM: In your work as General Secretary, you had the opportunity to work with General Secretaries from around the world. Did this change your sense of the anthroposophical movement?

PT: Yes, in that I became aware, beyond the pages of Anthroposophy Worldwide, of the diverse ways in which the life of anthroposophy and the Anthroposophical Society is embodied. Meeting colleagues who carried the possibilities, questions and struggles of their situations took what awareness I had to another level.

I was struck, for instance, by the situation of European Societies, where large numbers of members live and work together in a geographically compact setting, compared with our situation in Canada. That compactness makes for an intensity in anthroposophical work that can be dynamic and fruitful, yet which also makes for a like intensity in difficulties that arise between those who are active. As well, my Central European colleagues, coming from Societies numerically larger than ours and so carrying more of the financial burden for supporting the Goetheanum, are particularly aware of and sensitive to what is happening at the Goetheanum. Their members are often pressing them to account for word of any difficulties or even rumours of difficulties.

Then there were my Nordic colleagues, who sparked in me a renewed interest in the North of our globe. As I came to know them both at our meetings and in their homelands, I recognized the unique role of their Societies in the fabric of anthroposophical life. It worth noting not only how many lectures Rudolf Steiner gave in Northern Europe, but also which lectures he gave and which themes he brought for the first time out of that setting.

As well, I shared with colleagues from New Zealand and Australia the experience of living at a considerable distance from the Goetheanum, yet discovering that distance could also bring its own perspective on what might be going on there and in the world. Sue Simpson, my New Zealand colleague, became one of those responsible for shaping a "World Conversation" at each of our General Secretaries' meetings. It soon became clear to all of us how clear and adept she could be in focusing and leading an engaging conversation from the vantage point of an active Society in a small country.

I am grateful to Helmut Goldmann of Austria and Joan Almon from the USA who each befriended me in my early General Secretary years and helped me connect with what was going on. When Torin Finser became Co-General Secretary for the USA, he and I would have North American General Secretaries' meetings over lunch. I valued those interchanges.

The General Secretaries' circle consists of a fine group of human beings, and I will miss my interactions with them.

RM: By all accounts, the conference in Whitehorse was a deeply inspiring experience that continues to reverberate for the participants. Why was it such a powerful event? How is it still living in you?

PT: That the Encircling Light - Expectant Silence conference does live on in those who took part in it has become evident to me many times during these past two years. In August 2011 I, with other members from Canada, participated in the I Am the Inner and Outer Light conference on the Åland Islands, Finland. A number of the participants in that event had also been in Whitehorse and again spoke of that week and ways in which the week on Åland had a similar resonance.

I have shied away from dissecting that week in Whitehorse to identify reasons for why it worked as well as it did. However, from a distance of two years after the event, I will offer the following observations.

This was a conference that lived on the edge, from its conception when I met Frode Barkved from Norway at what was for us both our first General Secretaries meeting in the fall of 2004, right into conference week itself. The thought of holding the conference in Whitehorse made sense, yet was a risky idea. When Monique Walsh, Edna Cox, Ralph Danyluk and I first went to Whitehorse in August 2006, we were ready to discover that it could be a very bad idea. What we met and whom we met convinced us that the idea could work; yet every step along the way during the next three years still had that edge, right into the financing of the conference. I remember how moved we were at the generosity in the donations that came toward us, and the relief I felt the day I looked at the incoming registrations and knew we would at least break even. In conceiving and planning this week we took risks and with risks come those edges.

That element of risk was also there, I am convinced, for many, and maybe all, of those who chose to come to Whitehorse. As I surveyed the registrations, coming in from Canada, the USA, the Nordic countries and Central Europe, it became clear to me that each registration brought with it a commitment from that individual to take part in an event that would not be a typical anthroposophical conference. The readiness of each participant, often travelling to Whitehorse from a great distance away, to make such a commitment was integral to the life of that week.

Other important elements, I think, included asking younger members to take leadership in shaping the conference; offering opportunities to a number of individuals to take on leadership tasks in a new way; our efforts to engage the First Nations' cultures of the Yukon. One early decision was that of placing the School of Spiritual Science at the core of this conference in a matter-of-fact way, including the single Class lesson carried throughout the week at the start of each day. In this way, the work of the School could penetrate the whole of the day.

There is one further thought, which has come to light only recently. In the latter pages of Occult Science, Rudolf Steiner speaks of a Cosmos of Wisdom transforming into a Cosmos of Love, as the secret of all future evolution and the meaning of human destiny on earth. Therefore, "it is the very nature of true spiritual knowledge to be transmuted into love."

I am becoming aware, more and more, of times when those of us active within anthroposophy fall back upon the wisdom of our cosmic past in our efforts to understand and articulate the insights of spiritual science. Such a falling back or leaning back upon Cosmic Wisdom is not surprising; it is the stream of cognition that guided and nurtured us from our beginning, a resource still rich and astonishing in what it can offer us. Yet the transformation of which Rudolf Steiner speaks is essential. An urgent question of our time for each of us is: How can I move from cognition out of wisdom to cognition out of love? Such a step is work for the whole of earth evolution; yet I venture to say that we contributed to that step toward cognition out of love during the Encircling Light - Expectant Silence conference. I can find no other way to account for the experience so many participants had of human being meeting human being during that week.

The above notwithstanding, only each participant can fully say how and why Whitehorse lives on in her or in him. As for me, the conference continues to flow into my ongoing journeys into the North.

RM: So what’s next for Philip Thatcher? Will your schedule be a bit lighter?

PT: Yes, for the moment, and probably No as these last years of my life come into focus. The volume of e-mails has tapered off, but other work carries on. I continue to be active in the School for Spiritual Science and as an adult educator--the longest running thread in my biography, since age 25. That work includes the Philosophy of Spiritual Activity and Parzival courses I offer for the teacher training programs of the West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy. I am also weaving these two threads together in new ways, through workshops and courses.

I continue to journey into the North of our globe. This past July, Matthew, my oldest grandson, and I spent several days on Baffin Island, walking the land with Inuit guides. In August I drove into the north of Finland after the Inner and Outer Light conference. And in September, Marjorie and I offered workshops in Fairbanks, Alaska, amid the radiance of the birches turning an intense gold. This searching out of the North is an ongoing work.

As well, I continue to try to comprehend this land, this being, Canada. When I met my colleague Leena Westergren, General Secretary for Finland, in Whitehorse, she said, "I thought Finland was a big country, until I flew across Canada." That vastness still speaks to me and questions me.

And I may pick up my pen again, a gift from a Vancouver Waldorf School graduate, and do some more writing--but from a new place in my biography. We shall see.

RM: Any words of wisdom for Arie as he moves into the role of General Secretary?

PT: No words of wisdom. I am simply grateful that Arie is willing to take on this task on behalf of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada. He will serve us well as he finds his way into the work and discovers the initiatives that are his to take.

"Soul's Probation" in Spring Valley NY

- by Mary Brian

“All of Anthroposophy is contained in the Mystery Plays.” This is something I have often heard, and yet to approach these works of Rudolf Steiner is no easy task. Perhaps one reason, as stated by Barbara Renold, director of the second play, “The Soul’s Probation” presented August 17-20, 2011, in Spring Valley, New York, is that they are available to most of us in a heavy book, and yet they are meant to be experienced as a colourful living drama of individuals on the stage. Even here on the stage, Rudolf Steiner leaves us free, without enticement; these plays require much chewing and time to digest. My experience has been, however, that like a little seed of cumin in the mouth, they spread and continue to enhance all the life around.

Our “guide” into this realm of relationship, reincarnation, and karma was Barbara Renold, humbly sharing the fruits of her own “destiny” as a third generation Anthroposophist, thoroughly steeped in and then intensively working in the Mystery Plays for most of her life.

Barbara’s grandparents came from St. Petersburg, Russia, and listened to Rudolf Steiner speak in Dornach. Barbara “grew up” with the Mystery Plays. At age 18 (first moon node) while paying her way by cleaning toilets at the Goetheanum, she attended many Mystery Play rehearsals and performances in Dornach. Barbara went on later to study Speech, worked as a Waldorf teacher, and since 1987 (second moon node!) has been fostering the plays in Spring Valley, New York, starting with a few scenes from the second play, and gradually working up to presenting the whole second drama, then the third and fourth plays (the latter in Dornach, 1998).

Between 2007-2008, Barbara worked on scenes from the first Mystery Play, culminating with a full presentation of “The Portal of Initiation” in Spring Valley in 2009. Now, in 2011, the hundredth year anniversary of its presentation in Munich, “The Soul’s Probation” was the focus.

Barbara “primed” us with daily morning talks about several of the scenes, followed in the evening by the presentation on the stage of these same scenes. Certainly one of Barbara Renold’s incredible strengths is her ability to see through all the complexities to a simple kernel underneath. She brought the characters down to earth, so we could perceive traits of ourselves or our friends being acted out before us.

For example, Johannes Thomasius, the striving artist, is someone who doesn’t know who he is. He lives in everyone around him. He becomes dependent on Maria for his artistic inspiration. He lives much in his feeling; in this play he becomes very excited and passionate. He moves in wide arcs over the stage , his gestures large and expressive.

Then there is Strader, the scientist, in whom we can recognize our society’s present day attitude of doubting the spiritual. Unlike the other characters, Strader is not helped by the “Soul Forces” of Astrid, Philia, and Luna….he is left totally on his own to think everything through. He tries to escape his misery by working long hours in his screw factory, just doing. He suffers in the cold hardened realm of Ahriman. Capesius, the Professor, falls under the temptations of Lucifer.

The Mystery Plays strive to answer, “What do you do with a spiritual experience?” In this second play, Maria meets “the dragon of self-deceit” (or is it “conceit”?), Ahriman, who is trying to confuse her that every situation must follow hard and fast rules. Ahriman spreads doubts, through his hard intellect, that our human consciously evolved heart-felt experiences can be true. Ahriman has no understanding of metamorphosis. Maria has transformed her feeling through will to help others, and so with her clear thinking and will-penetrated soul forces, can meet this dragon

In his deeply researched and amazing talk, Steve Usher elaborated on the theme of Ahriman and Lucifer, relating it also to our own experiences. When we penetrate outwardly through the veil of the senses, we meet Ahriman and his minions, highly intelligent and passionate to destroy. Ahriman performs deeds which outwardly manifest as events of nature. (Radioactive material in nature is composed of Ahrimanic elementals.) In human nature, Ahriman manifests as sensuous urges. Ahriman is related to illness; he is the “Lord of Death”. We need to develop the clear living penetrated thinking of Michael to meet this challenge.

When we penetrate inwardly, into our own soul, we come into the realm of Lucifer. Lucifer has a veritable passion for creation, productivity, and bringing into being. Lucifer inspires great egoism; filled, we can blow ourselves up so we see ourselves as a whole world. Anyone who is brooding on himself, as is Capesius, can be a doorway for Luciferic spirits…… This was just the beginning!

Else Wouterson, gave a detailed description of the life of a Templar, both monk and warrior. Apparently the rules of their order were written down by Bernard of Clairvaux, In their rhythmical religious life, the Pater Noster, or Lord’s Prayer, was constantly repeated. (I understand that Rudolf Steiner also repeated the Lord’s Prayer aloud, daily.) The Templars were originally given the power of three “Papal Bulls”, superceded only by the Pope. They sacrificed their lives completely to Christ, and vowed to fight to the death. Like the fairy tale of “The Axe and the Tree” (How does Evil come out of Good?), the “mummified” ideas of Thomas v. Aquinas became the tool of the Catholic Church’s “Domini Canis” (hound of God) in the Inquisition that wiped out the Templars. (This whole last thought from Daniel Hafner.)

Everything interwove. In Steiner’s second play, “The Soul’s Probation”, the main characters all experience themselves in the first third of the 14^th century in Burgenland, near the Templar’s ‘Castle Lochenhaus’. Interweaving lives. Unfolding layers of revelation.

Daniel Hafner’s talk, entitled “The Drama of Reincarnation: Individual Destiny and World History”, was mind-blowing, ranging from the relationship of “drama” to “karma”, and going back to the ancient Greek drama, and also to Wagner’s “Parcival”, where there is a hint of the reality of reincarnation. Evolving out of J.W.von Goethe’s “Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily”, Rudolf Steiner’s plays put reincarnation on the stage for the first time in our present era! How do the mystery streams of the new Sun Christianity, as carried by the Templars, relate to the Catholic orders of the Cistercians and Dominicans? “Where is Thomism in the present?” Well, you had to be there!

The actors were each so different and alive in their presentations. After just experiencing the four Mystery Plays in Dornach, I was struck by the way these mainly American actors ("Capesius" was English; "Romanus", Australian) seemed “real”, somehow more physically and soul-penetrated. In this smaller more intimate setting, their portrayals “spoke” to me and moved me in a way not experienced in Dornach. (Certainly just having had the overview of all four plays in Dornach contributed to this deepened experience.) It was also a joy to have the words (English) go with the actions of the actors.( Although in Dornach we had incredible translators who brought the stage’s German words into living English! Also in Dornach, the elaborate and colourful eurythmy presentations were nourishment for the eyes and soul, as was the music.).However, here in Spring Valley, the Luciferic and Ahrimanic beings, were powerful forces, experienced up close!

Canada was quite well represented at the Conference; of the 75(?) or so participants, about 10 were from Ontario. After all the talks, discussions, meetings, and experiencing of the individual scenes, we were treated at the end to a presentation of the full play, “The Soul’s Probation”. To sum up, in the words of Sharon Ballah (of Camphill Nottawasaga, Ontario): “I felt there was not a boundary between what was on the stage and the audience. It was more of a circle, a sense of oneness and full participation of everyone there in the Mystery Drama.”

Our relationship to these supersensible realms, as explored in the Mystery Plays, is of extreme relevance. In Ontario, we are experiencing the battle of “raw-milk advocate” Michael Schmidt, standing up for the freedom of each individual to choose what he will eat, against the bureaucracy of Government rule and hierarchies of money and power. All over America, the “Occupy” movements are expressing peoples’ desire for freedom in the face of big business and global agendas. In the realm of nature, radioactive material continues to leak into the earth in Japan and spread. Ahriman and Lucifer are everywhere present. How do we recognize and meet them?

We can be very thankful for the dedication of Barbara Renold and the actors. Years and years of peoples’ lives, strivings, questions, passion, training, and practice were the gifts to us “play-goers”, deepening our understanding of Anthroposophy.

Next summer, 2012, in Spring Valley, NY, will come the third play (“The Guardian of the Threshold”), followed in summer 2013 by the fourth play. (“The Soul’s Awakening”). What could possibly cap off this achievement? Yes! In summer, 2014, there will be a week-long conference including all four mystery dramas!!

As Daniel Hafner, Christian Community Priest in Toronto, stretching his words to far distant spaces, queried in his closing talk: WHY ISN’T EVERY ANTHROPOSOPHIST HERE?! THIS IS A FESTIVAL PLAY OF CONSECRATION! THIS IS A GREAT SPIRITUAL EVENT!! The Mystery Plays are being produced in ENGLISH, in AMERICA, and IT WOULD BENEFIT EVERYONE (who is an Anthoposophist) TO BE HERE!!