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St. Patrick supersedes the Druids by relegating the Snake to the Tree of Knowledge under Christ. Long live the Shamrock; the young sprig of Spring.

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kathy Reardon Octopus My Teacher image - a true picture of Shamanic Healing 

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kathy Reardon Octopus My Teacher image - a true picture of Shamanic Healing 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-lbIJHlmbE

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For my first 6BE experience I chose a computer for the "simple object."  It is not a very simple object, but certainly very common. The experience was profound.  I think I will continue to focus on that object for some time.  I plan to jump back in next week. Gratitude for all your Anthroposohical efforts out there!

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His control of feeling is palpable!

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Daniel Hafner on The Threefold Social Organism

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PDF with dates and link to a brand new padlet for the next session!

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The Derwent Pencil Museum is in Keswick, in the north-west of England.

The museum opened in 1981 and is home to one of the biggest colouring pencils in the world, the idea of technical manager Barbara Murray. The yellow pencil was completed on 28 May 2001, is 7.91 metres (26 ft) long, and weighs 446.36 kilograms (984.1 lb).

The first pencil factory in Keswick opened in 1832. The second and current factory was started in the 1920s and completed in 1950 (it closed in 2007 when the owners moved production to Workington).

The museum now receives over 80,000 visitors a year from all around the world. It is particularly popular with visitors from the county of Yorkshire, due to the importance of pencil production for the local economy during the 1930s. The museum features as one of the locations in the 2012 film Sightseers.

In December 2015, the museum was badly damaged by several feet of flood water when the River Greta broke its banks as a result of Storm Desmond and many artefacts were destroyed. Although many of the exhibits were salvaged, one limited-edition collection could not be replaced.

The museum reopened to the public on 15 June 2017, with Countryfile presenter John Craven cutting the ribbon.

The Pencil Museum in Keswick

Lakeland pencils at the Pencil Museum

The tip of the world's largest pencil.

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The Derwent Pencil Museum is in Keswick, in the north-west of England. The museum opened in 1981 and is home to one of the biggest colouring pencils in the world, the idea of technical manager Barbara Murray. The yellow pencil was completed on 28 May 2001, is 7.91 metres (26 ft) long, and weighs 446.36 kilograms (984.1 lb).

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https://www.awakeninthedream.com/articles/the-greatest-spiritual-event-of-our-time-according-to-rudolf-steiner

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Monday 8/22/22 Physical Level Integration 

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Monday 8/22/22 Physical Level Integration 

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" Nature is interpreted to itself in human consciousness."
GA 2 Goethe's Theory of Knowledge
Chapter: The Humanities
by Rudolf Steiner

" In the symbol, the world itself is speaking"
- Jung
The Quantum Revelation by Paul Levy

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Hope everyone is having a GREAT summer! I am working on the pdf for a new 6BE group starting on September 19, 2022. More details coming soon!

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From Rudolf Steiner’s The World of Fairy Tales

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From Rudolf Steiner’s The World of Fairy Tales

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“A well-founded belief underlies the world of fairy tales that everything in our surroundings is enchanted spiritual reality, and that human beings arrive at truth in breaking   the spell of the enchanted world. We have to be clear that a fairy tale is the recounting of an event originally taking place astrally, that it has been told and retold. And people have a certain talent for altering this or that feature. In collecting fairy tales from the vernacular, one has the remnants of old astrally seen pictures, in which certain characteristics may have been altered.”

________

" But at deeper levels of soul we must  feel within us a more profound being inside the initially perceptible one, a being it can rely on, of which it can say to itself: As imperfect as you now still are – this being within you is cleverer. It is at work within you; it can carry you to the point of attaining the greatest skill. It can grant you wings, enabling you to see an endless perspective spread out before you, leading into a limitless future….

"[I]n immersing ourselves in these sagas and fairy tales, we have in pictures what spiritual science also clearly reveals today. This may initially cause amazement. However, once we have entered more deeply in the whole manner in which these fairy tales and myths arose, all astonishment and doubt vanishes. We find in these sagas and fairy tales not merely what may be called a naive way of regarding the world, but the expression of a profound wisdom-filled worldview.”

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6BE 5th exercise etheric aspect- Judith's conclusion

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4 WAYS OF SEEING BASED ON MEISTER ECKHART

Four Meditations on Seeing, by David Appelbaum

The student of seeing has to unlock the mystery first, Eckhart tells us, and it begins—here, now—with the question of who is seeing.

Encaustic icon of Christ, sixth century. St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai
with reference to Meister Eckhart

THE MYSTERY OF SEEING
This is what Meister Eckhart brings for our edification. There is no skill or method to attain the act of seeing, even though the means may have value in themselves.

The student of seeing has to unlock the mystery first, Eckhart tells us, and it begins—here, now—with the question of who is seeing. Until the question is raised to a new pitch, the intensity needed to undergo the mystery will be wanting.

The gateway is to be found in the releasement from what Eckhart calls the “me and mine,” the ego and its collection of things that define its territory.

As soon as one relaxes and becomes human, endowed with a sensitivity to what is real, the peculiar role assigned to humanity in creation presents itself.

It is here that Eckhart ties cleansing the eye of vision to a view of the cosmos, the starry heavens above and here below. The divine and the human, God and myself. Seeing must travel the breadth of the relation.

The turning point of Eckhart’s thought has to do with transformation. The potentiality of the human being is very high. Angels are envious of the place given to us to occupy, he says. To open the doors of perception and to release vision from its hidden attachments: that is the path that his thought traces.

It is a path of knowing, gnosis, where the act of thinking and the act of being are one and the same. His gnosis is special because of the clarity and simplicity of sight, and also for its specifics.

It tells us that our deep identifications revolve around erroneous representations of reality. Without knowing it, we hold a mistaken world view inherited from our upbringing. It is up to us to radically change these habitual modes of reception.

In the still deep moment of meditation, one comes to the ground of intelligence. This, higher mind, the spark or scintilla of the soul, is where thought is void of object. Dwelling in this releasement, there is witness to the unfolding creative process, which, in Eckhart’s Christology, pours forth from the Father, creator God, to his Son, the intelligible presence to this world.

It means, in strict terms, being present to how the world emerges from nothing, and is nothing in relation to the creator, the All.
SEEING IS A PATH
Seeing is a pathway to liberation, both the greater and the lesser. This thought we owe to Eckhart.

Furthermore, the pathway is there to be discovered. In this moment, thought opens the infinitude of its potential to yield a taste of another way of being. It would be in the freedom of hope that one is able to go forward without a map or preconception. “Without a why,” Eckhart says. Seeing is that look forward.

He reminds us of the extreme diligence needed for the task. The path is not ready-made, waiting there ahead of one’s arrival. Seeing unveils it. When it is actualized, seeing is both means and end, as well as the pathway itself. Extreme diligence: the rhetoric seems to suggest a rigid application of attention, like pouring over a ledger.

Eckhart is careful to state that the work of seeing—both seeing’s work and work’s seeing—is more of an undoing of blockages and freeing the attention.

A vision is constricted because it is riddled by negation. “When a pickpocket looks at a saint, he sees pockets.”

The path is therefore one of “negating negation,” unbinding the attachments that constitute one’s preferences, desires, or inclinations.

A person refuses the “me and mine” and lets go. The discovery of “not this, not that,” that I am not who I take myself to be, follows the seeing. Repeating the recognition over a lifetime defines a path.

Meister Eckhart
LETTING GO REQUIRES A WHOLE NEW WAY OF THINKING
AND A NEW LANGUAGE. It is a challenge to understand what needs release and what needs to be released. On the one hand, “it just happens,” and on the other, the greatest rigor cannot be avoided.

One must remember the moment, as Dogen the Zen master put it (at about the same time in the late Middle Ages as the Rhineland mystic).

Eckhart says it in a similar thought. One must agree to the flow, as it rushes forth from the unmanifest, and be buoyant enough to keep up with its unfolding. Nothing can snag or delay the person awakened to the simple matter of rising to this life. The repetition of seeing involves living life as a seer who is purified by the seeing. (bold mine not authors)

Why purified? This is an important question. Seeing is purification.

Each moment that an active vision takes place, the work gifted to human beings from above is engaged.

This means, seeing occurs in deep releasement.

One has let go of self-image and faces without excuses the question of his or her existence. There the first light of seeing dawns.

Once contamination by the ego has been undone, life can be embraced as it comes to be its becoming.

In this, there is real freedom, which is the aim of all teachings.
There is a work meant for a human being, the species homo sapiens.

It involves relating to the higher part of the mind and trusting the intelligence of letting go. This is a movement toward bearing witness to the formless void—which is the Godhead, in Eckhart’s language, into which even God cannot enter until he surrenders his powers and possessions.

There is this astounding thought: God too must work at releasement in order to see reality.

Here, Eckhart will tell us, lies the height of seeing, when the eye through which I see is the same eye through which God sees.

The human being and the deity share an identical effort.

Seeing is witness for the sake of that highest purpose. What is that?

It is to provide a lens onto reality through which the Creator can see the creation. That we actually share in the common work of keeping the universe lighted within the absolute blackness of empty space
THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS IN THE PROCESS OF LETTING GO

This means, coming out of hiding and into the light. Reality is guided by the movement of epiphany. This is the thought of the hadith, “God is a hidden treasure wanting to be known.”

The unveiling of reality coincides with letting the blocks and limits go, holding back no longer. Presence appears from absence and disappears back into it.

This is marked by an outbreak of meaninglessness—for Eckhart, the call from on high to be empty of all knowledge.

For him, emptiness is the coming of an ever-present relaxation. Nothing happens, yet everything does. This is how Meister Eckhart’s universe works.

It is with this common cosmic process that we join whenever we are gifted with seeing. In the same instant, we are given to see who we are and what we serve.

From Parabola Volume 38, No. 4, “Liberation and Letting Go,” Winter 2013-2014. This issue is available to purchase here. If you have enjoyed this piece, consider subscribing.

By David Appelbaum

David Appelbaum, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at SUNY New Paltz, is a former editor of Parabola.

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Self Knowledge Study Group Starting August 19, 2022 

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Self Knowledge Study Group Starting August 19, 2022 

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Fridays 7 PM Eastern Time. Thank you Robyn and Russell. I just emailed the information to everyone on my 6BE Noon Eastern Time e-mail lists. If you did not receive my e-mail (check your spam also) and would like to be added to one or both e-mails lists that I keep for our group, please let me know - sharleenleonard61@gmail.com. Thank you.

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Self Knowledge Study Group starting 8-19-2022 Final

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HATE has 4 letters
But so does LOVE

ENEMIES has 7 letters
But so does FRIENDS

LYING has 5 letters
But so does TRUTH

CRY has 3 letters
But so does JOY

NEGATIVITY has 10 letters
But so does POSITIVITY

Life is 2 sided
Choose the better
side of it

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The two e-mail lists that I keep for our practice group so that Angela and Robyn have one less thing to think about:

General 6BE Noon ET - for 6BE Noon ET and related information only. Blind copy is used. This group will receive information about the reading group that Robyn talked about this morning that will be starting in August. (I consider it 6BE related information).

Shared 6BE Noon ET - for those who have said it is OK to use my judgment in what to send and when to blind copy or not.
Everyone on this list is also on the general List.

You can ask to be added or removed at any time.
E-mail me with your wishes. sharleenleonard61@gmail.com
I sent 2 e-mails this morning to the shared e-mail group.
Thank you to Robyn and the other camp counselors for an excellent summer camp experience.
Sharleen
414-573-3267

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July 21-24, 2022 How We Will and World Social Initiative Forum 

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July 21-24, 2022 How We Will and World Social Initiative Forum 

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To register for our How We Will and World Social Initiative Forum https://howwewillblog.
I missed yesterday, and found this morning well worth my time. There are various ways to attend - in person and on line community. There are also various options to donate to support the conference. There are recordings and a padlet.

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July 21 - 14, 2022 How We Will and World Social Initiative

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July 21 - 14, 2022 How We Will and World Social Initiative

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With Joan Sleigh, Dottie and Elderberries, and others. Online Community and in person options. I missed yesterday. This morning was very worth my time. There are several payment options and scales for suggested donation when you register.  To register for our How We Will and World Social Initiative Forum https://howwewillblog.

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Descriptions of Creative Willing: Tracking the unknowing. Creating out of Nothing, Consciousness without an object. Intuitive Making. Letting all What You Think You Know go, let it go. Then throw your intention into future- not-knowing...trust the the SunTime to bring you --in the Now - the next piece, thing, color, word, idea, movement, etc...creating out of no-thing.    Heart-Willing.  ptg kw
Steiner Audio:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/dale/GTvVlcSMScXnbRdGpSsFvHDcKwngshjXNCRGZWcSTZxvZLLLMgNZLXWCQRpWxDqlHVTHqltDnDTDz?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

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“On the One Theme”

‑‑ for Robert Graves

With every starfall I am brought to earth

again.  From every course in dust I rise

and shine again.  From every restless love

and loss I will refine the rustless gold again.

Who am I, but the child of all that dies?

What am I, but a light of all that lives?

Be you my friend, while we do suffer here.

Follow, into water, spirit, fire; wash off fear.

19860411
John Beck

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“How do we meditate? As a modern individual you feel impelled to understand every sentence. This is emphatically an activity of the ‘I’ in one’s current incarnation. Everything you do with your intellect is a definite activity of the ‘I’. The intellect exists in the present incarnation, and everything else is covered over by the ‘I’ or only shines through in a dreamlike way since it is not in the consciousness.

“To meditate, on the other hand, means to eliminate this intellectual activity and initially take the content of the meditation as it stands, word for word. If you approach the meditation intellectually before absorbing its content, you are activating your ‘I’ and thus placing the content outside yourself by thinking about it in this way. But when you allow the content just as it is to be present in your consciousness without thinking about it, then it is not the ‘I’ belonging to your present incarnation that works in you but your ‘I’ from your previous incarnation.

“You make your intellect fall silent; you immerse yourself solely in the words which you hear inwardly, not outwardly. You immerse yourself in them, and by doing so you cause your inner human being, which is not that of your present incarnation, to work in the content of the meditation. In this way the content of the meditation does not become something that you have to comprehend but rather something that actually works within you in such a real way that finally you realize:

‘Now I have experienced something which I would formerly have been unable to experience.’

“Take a simple meditative content which I have given many times: ‘Wisdom lives in the light.’ It is only too true that if you think about this you can reach some frightfully clever conclusions but also just as many foolish ones. The words are there to be heard inwardly: ‘Wisdom lives in the light.’ When you hear this inwardly something in you takes note, something in you which does not come from your present incarnation but which you have brought with you from former lives on earth.

“This is what thinks and what feels, and after a while something lights up in you which you did not know earlier and which you cannot think about with your own intellect. You are inwardly much more advanced than your intellect. Your intellect contains no more than a small portion of what exists in you.”

Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 21st April, 1924 CW  316

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Various things from before Week One.

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"The soul must become the ruler in the sphere of the will as it must be in the world of thought." and "Someday, when I have grown sufficiently, I shall attain that which I am destined to attain." -Rudolf Steiner, posted by Anne Dale

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"The soul must become the ruler in the sphere of the will as it must be in the world of thought." and "Someday, when I have grown sufficiently, I shall attain that which I am destined to attain." -Rudolf Steiner, posted by Anne Dale

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From Anthroposophy, an Introduction, Lecture 4, called Meditation and Inspiration: "So man stands between two riddles. He looks outwards and perceives his physical body, but this is a perpetual riddle to him. He is aware of his psycho-spiritual life, but this, too, is a perpetual riddle. But the greatest riddle is this: If I really experience a moral impulse and have to set my legs in motion to do something towards its realisation, it means — of course — I must move my body. Let us say the impulse is one of goodwill. At first this is really experienced entirely within the soul, i.e. purely psychically. How, now, does this impulse of goodwill shoot down into the body? How does a moral impulse come to move bones by muscles? Ordinary consciousness cannot comprehend this. One may regard such a discussion as theoretical, and say: We leave that to philosophers; they will think about it. Our civilisation usually leaves this question to its thinkers, and then despises — or, at least, values but little — what they say. Well; this satisfies the head only, not the heart. The human heart feels a nervous unrest and finds no joy in life, no firm foundation, no security. With the form man's thinking has taken since the first third of the fifteenth century magnificent results in the domain of external science have been achieved, but nothing has or can be contributed towards a solution of these two riddles — that of man's physical body and that of his psychical life. It is just from a clear insight into these things that Anthroposophy comes forward, saying: True; man's thinking, in the form it has so far actually taken, is powerless in the face of Reality. However much we think, we cannot in the very least influence an external process of nature by our thinking.

Moreover, we cannot, by mere thinking, influence our own ‘will-organism’. To feel deeply the powerlessness of this thinking is to receive the impulse to transcend it.

And from Esoteric Lessons, "My own being is interwoven with the strength of the breath." and "Speech is a spiritual act of will through which the dead air is enlivened."

Remember in all things to be encouraged and encouraging. "--Since human beings are varied in character, so are the effective means of training varied for the individual human.--" (Occult Science)

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IT THINKS
IT THINKS WITHIN ME
I THINK

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KRISTENA /BOOK: FROM THE HISTORY & CONTENTS OF THE FIRST SECTION OF THE ESOTERIC SCHOOL 1904-1914 

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6BE Summer Camp officially starts TODAY, 11 July!

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6BE Summer Camp officially starts TODAY, 11 July!

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Welcome back all 6BE travelers, see you soon! Detail are in this padlet for connecting!

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Summer 2022 6BE is about to start on 11 July!

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Summer 2022 6BE is about to start on 11 July!

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Invitation to a Summer 2022 6BE Practice Group “The Essential Exercises and the 4 Fold Human”

You are invited to join with a group of friends as we explore Rudolf Steiner’s 6 Essential Exercises using Florin Lowndes “Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart” as our guide.

We will have a daily 15-minute Zoom meeting, Monday-Friday for 7 weeks, starting on July 11, 2022 and ending on August 26, 2022.

The schedule (based on US Eastern Daylight Time).  Please check your local time:

12:00 Leading Thought for one of the 6  Exercises (changes weekly,  daily focus area of  the Physical, Etheric, Astral, “I”, plus the Etheric Streams)

12:05: 5-minute Individual Practice Space (meditation)

12:10 Journal/Close of the Thought of the Day for the Daily Exercise

12:13: Ending thought or verse

12:15 Close the space

Everyone is invited to participate! Come when you can and will. Free of charge. We intend to stay as close to time as possible. On Fridays, there will be an optional conversation space. Visit our padlet for updates: https://padlet.com/angelaARC/q0ts0vqbiu4q2g0i

Week One: Control of Thinking

Week Two: Control of Will

Week Three: Control of Feeling (Equanimity)

Week Four: Control of Thinking in Feeling (Positivity)

Week Five: Fulfillment of Thinking in the Will (Open Mindedness)

Week Six: Fulfillment of Thinking in Thinking (Harmony)

Week Seven: Recap and conversation about the experiences

Zoom Details:

Topic: SixBasicExercises Practice Group

Time: This is a recurring meeting

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/266986103?pwd=bXU4a0EvMmJkMDZTR0Rqcm0xZ0pUZz09

Meeting ID: 266 986 103

Passcode: 345338

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,266986103#,,,,*345338# US (Chicago)

+16465588656,,266986103#,,,,*345338# US (New York)

Dial by your location

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

Meeting ID: 266 986 103

Passcode: 345338

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdhUJUgpne

Our padlet has updates and resources: https://padlet.com/angelaARC/q0ts0vqbiu4q2g0i

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Here is what we did! Check back for fall 2022 date to START NOW AGAIN!

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Here is what we did! Check back for fall 2022 date to START NOW AGAIN!

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Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 12:30 - 12:45 Mountain Time. Join me in prayer asking for blessings and being thankful for what we have and what is given.

To join in person, email Diane McGary <mcgary.family@comcast.net> for the zoom link.  Or just join in spirit.

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Laura Embrey-Stone sent out a Child Protection Form tonight, and I thought you'd all want it - at least, I know I do.

Protect the little ones!

Bend your guns into ploughshares,

Evil deeds into deeds of service!

Thus speaks the Great World Spirit.

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thank you Peter Morris for your sharing on Day 149, Ascension Day.

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thank you Peter Morris for your sharing on Day 149, Ascension Day.

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Here is a poem penned by Peter Morris

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Greetings to all fellow 6BE travelers!

Before we take a bit of a summer pause, I wanted to share the plans for what is coming up for 6BE prior to Angela picking up again in September!

Tomorrow night (26 May), I will host a call tomorrow at 7pm central to pull together the final plans for a summer 6be that will run 6 or 7 weeks, starting 11 July.

Anyone is welcome to join this 30 minute call to discuss the theme of “The 6BE and the 4-fold human”.

We will be looking for folks who can sign up with a partner to host one day a week during the entire session.  I am planning the same basic 15 minute construct that we have today with a 5 minute leading thought, just that the leading thoughts will be tied to the weekly exercise that is the in Florin Lowndes book “Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart”.

More discussion on this during our call on Thursday!  Please join us!

The link to zoom is the same one from Angela, but I will paste it here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/266986103?pwd=bXU4a0EvMmJkMDZTR0Rqcm0xZ0pUZz09

Call by Phone: 312-626-6799 | Meeting ID: 266 986 103 | Passcode: 345338

Blessings to all!

Robyn

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Kristena West M.A. is a dream teacher, a social and community artist and a teacher of men and women’s groups focused on gender reconciliation. She spent many years studying shamanic traditions and researching how Anthroposophy connects with traditional wisdom. Kristena received her Masters in Cross-Cultural Sacred Iconography, her life long question, “What Makes Art Sacred?” led her to the question, “What makes a Human being Sacred? Her graduate exhibition in 2002, Deities Dialogues and Dreams; Extra-Ordinary Conversations with Ordinary People showcased the installation, Lifting the Seven Veils of the Divine Sophia. Kristena is the author of two books; Alchemy the Magical Union of Soul, and Olaf Asteson. Kristena is a life-long student and teacher of dreamwork.

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Click on the guest speaker names listed below (in alphabetical order) to jump to the section on the page for that particular guest along with a link to their recorded Café talk.

Kristena West, May 13, 2022

Kristena West M.A. is a dream teacher, a social and community artist and a teacher of men and women's groups focused on gender reconciliation. She spent many years studying shamanic traditions and researching how Anthroposophy connects with traditional wisdom. Kristena received her Masters in Cross-Cultural Sacred Iconography, her life long question, "What Makes Art Sacred?" led her to the question, "What makes a Human being Sacred? Her graduate exhibition in 2002, Deities Dialogues and Dreams; Extra-Ordinary Conversations with Ordinary People showcased the installation, Lifting the Seven Veils of the Divine Sophia. Kristena is the author of two books; Alchemy the Magical Union of Soul, and Olaf Asteson. Kristena is a life-long student and teacher of dreamwork.

To find out more about Kristena West visit her website here.

Shannon Boyce, May 7, 2022

Shannon Boyce has been a singer her whole life and a singing teacher for over 20 years. Before having children and finding Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy she was pursuing a career as an opera singer. Her formal education includes a Bachelors of Music from Samford University located in Birmingham Alabama, and a Master's of Music from The Manhattan School of Music in New York City. She sang with Des Moines Metro Opera, Brevard Music Center, New York City Opera, and De Capo Opera.

Susan Kurz, April 29, 2022

Susan West Kurz is a Certified Biography Facilitator and board member of The Center for Biography and Social Art. Susan was a board member of the Biodynamic Gardening and Farming Association 2012- 2017. She is a renowned holistic beauty expert, co-founder of Dr Hauschka Skin Care Inc. and author of Awakening Beauty the Dr Hauschka Way. Her book has sold 50,000 copies internationally and is translated into four languages. From 1992 to 2006, Susan and her husband Clifford Kurz oversaw the development of Dr Hauschka Skin Care from a modest niche company to what is now recognized as the preeminent holistic skin care brand.

Since her apprenticeship at the Meadowbrook Herb Garden in Richmond Rhode Island in 1972, Susan has been involved with a holistic approach to healing, to business and to bringing Biodynamic agriculture, gardening practices, and Anthroposophy to the public.

Andrew Linnell, April 22, 2022

Andrew Linnell is co-founder of MysTech ( mystech.org and mystech.co). He retired from a 42-year career in the computer industry in 2013. He had been CTO of OmegaBand in Austin, TX. and also worked at EMC, Compaq, DEC, Wang Labs, and IBM. He is president of the Boston branch of the Anthroposophical Society and a member of the School for Spiritual Science. He is the father of three and the author of two children's books plus an art history book "The Hidden Heretic of the Renaissance: Leonardo". He leads several study groups and for MysTech he has published three study group guidebooks.

Lelan Harris, April 15, 2022

Lelan Harris, M.Div. (Reno, Nevada), is a founding member and executive director of Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative (WiseCosmos.org). He has been actively engaged in education and leadership for over 30 years in roles that include public high school teacher, pastor, researcher and author, graduate school professor, consultant, visiting scholar, Waldorf school administrator, and nonprofit executive director. He writes, mentors, trains, and consults in order to raise up new generations of spiritually mature leaders who are perceptive, integrative, and wise in partnership with humanity, earth, and cosmos. Of greater delight than any of the foregoing, Lelan has been married to Julie since 1988.

Karen Rivers, April 8, 2022

Karen Rivers, PhD, author of Love and the Evolution of Consciousness: a Study of the Transformation of the Human Soul, the Double, and the Spirit, dedicates her work to further the spiritual presence of Christ and Sophia in human souls. She integrates Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine dimensions of consciousness to cultivate higher soul forces and higher spiritual forces essential for overcoming the ills of our world and to re-establishing the inherent divinity of each human being and all life. In facing the precipitous conditions defiling human relations and the well-being of all sentient life on our Earth, Karen confronts the complex inner dynamics of love, fear, egotism, and forgiveness, working out of the inspiration of Rudolf Steiner and Valentin Tomberg.

Karen is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Sophia Foundation, and for ten years was Director of the New Chartres Academy. Karen has worked for over 35 years in Waldorf Education as a class teacher, administrator, mentor, consultant, and parent educator. Karen currently lives in Chapel Hill, NC, with her husband, Michael Cohen.

Walter Alexander, April 1, 202

Walter Alexander is a former teacher (public and Waldorf), current medical journalist and long-time anthroposophist.

Isabel Stadnick, March 18, 2022

Isabel Stadnick, born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, grew up in Switzerland where she attended the Waldorf School in Basel. She studied Speech and Drama at the Novalis school in Stuttgart and at the Goetheanum in Dornach, where she also studied Anthroposophy. During a visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation, she met her husband Robert Stadnick, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe. In 1993, she and her husband founded the Lakota Waldorf School together with other parents from the reservation community. Isabel is a cofounder of the Lakota Foundation in Switzerland and the Lakota Tipi Camp. For the last 13 years she has been the head administrator of the Lakota Waldorf School. With the help of her daughters, Isabel developed the AIWP, Academy for Indigenous Waldorf Pedagogy.

Liz Beaven, March 11, 2022

Liz Beaven has been engaged in Waldorf education since 1985, when she first encountered a Waldorf school as a new arrival in New York City. Her experience spans class teaching, school administration, Board and College of Teachers membership, adult education, lecturing, writing, and research. Plus, important in her experience, she is the parent of two Waldorf alums and is now viewing Waldorf education and the future through the lens of a grandparent. Liz took an early interest in the expansion of US Waldorf education into public schools. She is currently the Executive Director of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education.

Edward Schuldt, March 4, 2022

Edward Schuldt's work with the Beatitudes was propelled by his research into the nature of evil and takes its point of departure from the indication Rudolf Steiner gave that the antidotes to the evils of the nine layers of the sub-earth are found in the Beatitudes. Edward's decision in 2016 to share what had been a private activity came as a result of experiencing the hostility between people that has become such a strong characteristic of the social and political life of today.

Edward has returned to the Midwest after leaving Camphill Village Minnesota for Camphill Copake in 1993. In his post-63 life, he is looking forward to beginning once more the in-person lectures and workshops that he gave throughout the Midwest during his time in Minnesota.

See past talks with Edward Schuldt on 4-02-21, 5-28-21, 6-25-21, 7-30-21, 8-27-21, 9-25-21 ,11-19-21 , 12-17-21, 1-28-22 and the most recent following talk:

Adam Blanning, February 25, 2022

Adam Blanning MD practices integrative and anthroposophic family medicine in Denver, Colorado. He is president of the Anthroposophic Health Association (AHA), an umbrella organization for therapeutic associations working to bring anthroposophic insights into the realms of medicine, nursing, naturopathy, body therapies, artistic therapies, movement therapies and counselling. Dr. Blanning directs the postgraduate physician training programs for anthroposophic medicine in the U.S. (AnthroposophicMedicine.org) and sits on the international accreditation panel for anthroposophic physician's training programs. Dr. Blanning lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics relating to holistic medicine and the dynamics of human development, with a special interest in supporting children. He is the author of "Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs: Holistic Approaches for Challenging Behaviors in Children."

Ben Cherry, February 18, 2022

Born and brought up in the UK, Ben Cherry has spent most of his adult life in other parts of the world. During the past fifty years, he has worked in or traveled through Europe, Asia, Africa and North America and has visited or taught in schools and centres in all four continents.

The following are recent articles written by Ben Cherry:

His search for peace and for answers to the huge social, cultural and environmental issues he encountered as a young man, especially through his experience as a teacher and journalist in Vietnam during the war, led him through many spiritual streams to the work of Rudolf Steiner forty-two years ago, in a school for severely disadvantaged children in England.

Cameron Genter & Daphne Kingsley, February 11, 2022

Cameron Genter and Daphne Kingsley have been practicing biodynamic farming for the past 22 years. They originally met as apprentices on a biodynamic farm in 2001 at Live Power Community Farm in Covelo, CA. Since then they have farmed in Maine, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In 2014, they established Light Root Community Farm, a draft-horse-powered, biodynamic farm and grass-based dairy located in Boulder, Colorado.

The farm serves as a healthy and diversified ecosystem that nurtures the land, produces life-giving food, and cultivates a direct relationship with the local community. In addition to the food production, Light Root Farm also has a non-profit wing (LEAF) which holds the social mission to provide educational and healing programs to reconnect people to nature through agriculture.

Jonathan Hilton, February 4, 2022

Jonathan Hilton first met Willi Sucher when attending a workshop at his home in Meadow Vista, CA in 1976. He requested private study with Willi and the following year came to live and study in Willi's home for a month. They continued ongoing study and correspondence until Willi's death in 1985. He served on the Board of the Astrosophy Research Center from 1992-2018. He has served twice as President of the NYC Anthroposophical Society. He has presented often on astrosophy in various settings. Since retiring from his career as Executive Director of a New York City non-profit providing therapeutic arts programs for trauma survivors, he has ben able to dedicate more of his time to the work of astrosophy. He has created a website, astrosophy.com, with various resources in both English and other languages which include Willi Sucher's complete works as free downloads, his own articles and a video course on astrosophy.

Robert & Suzanne Mays, January 21, 2022

Robert received a BSc degree in chemistry from MIT and worked as a software engineer at Kodak and IBM for more than 30 years. Suzanne received an Associate in Applied Science degree from Alfred State College and was a Certified Music Practitioner providing palliative care to patients. They have studied anthroposophy since 1973 and were part of the founding group of the Emerson Waldorf School in Chapel Hill. After retirement from IBM, Robert taught high school chemistry in numerous Waldorf schools, including at Tara High School. He serves on the Rudolf Steiner Branch Board of Directors. Suzanne teaches lyre at the Waldorf School and is one of the First Class holders in Chapel Hill. Together they have studied phenomena related to near-death experiences (NDEs) for over 45 years, although neither has had an NDE. Since 2005, their active research on NDEs resulted in several articles in the Journal of Near-Death Studies and numerous presentations at conferences. They wrote the foreword to The Self Does Not Die by Rivas, Dirven, and Smit. Their essay on the survival of physical death received honorable mention in the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies contest.

Ines Katharina Kinchen, January 14, 2022

Ines Katharina Kinchen and her 12-year old son Marquise live on and care for a 40-acre biodynamic forest farm and bee sanctuary in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee, nestled within the Cherokee National Forest. Ines currently teaches first grade at the Asheville Waldorf School. When she is not with the children at school or the animals on the farm (cats, dogs, goats, rabbits, and chickens), you can likely find her working in the garden or sharing her passions for bee tending, land healing and Resonance Medicine.

Alice Stamm, January 7, 2022

Alice was born in Connecticut and after college was fortunate to work and study in Europe for ten years where she studied eurythmy as well as therapeutic eurythmy. Returning to the States she has done eurythmy in schools and Camphill communities, and in performance work as well. At present retired, she teaches kindergarten eurythmy in both independent and public charter schools in the Sacramento area and Davis,CA

Jacob Hundt, December 31, 2021

Jacob Hundt was one of the founders of Thoreau College in 2015 and now serves as Executive Director, as a Board Member, as a Faculty member leading courses in literature, philosophy, and sustainable agriculture. He grew up nearby on a dairy farm in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin and attended Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School in Viroqua, Wisconsin during elementary school. In high school, he was one of the founding students of the Youth Initiative High School, a Waldorf-inspired school with a strong emphasis on student participation in governance. He studied and gathered inspiration for transformation in higher education at Deep Springs College, the American University in Bulgaria, and the University of Chicago Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences, earning a BA in History and an MA in Social Sciences. From 2004-2020, he worked as a trained Waldorf high school teacher and guidance counselor at Youth Initiative High School and he was a founding board member and instructor of the Driftless Folk School. Jacob has a wife and four children ages 7, 10, 12, and 16 and lives on a ten acre farm with sheep, chickens, vegetables, and a vineyard managed by Thoreau College students.

John Beck, December 10, 2021

John's communications career began in public radio. As the editor of being human since 2009, John is close to the beating heart of Anthroposophy here in the United States. Previously he was the general manager of the Steiner-inclusive "don't call it new age" New York Open Center. John will remind us that Rudolf Steiner, in his frequent pedagogical method of a hint here and a hint there, indicated that we human beings have a mission on Earth: to help transform the "cosmos of wisdom" into a "cosmos of love."

Kim Marie, December 3, 2021

Kim Marie dedicates her life to the awakening of inner wisdom through life and leadership coaching. For over a decade, she's offered mentoring, workshops, courses and deep-dive programs that support women and young adults (and a handful of men) to find the magic of believing in themselves and living their full potential. 2021 marks the 8th annual edition of her Sacred Nights of Winter journal, which takes participants on a journey through the Holy Nights, and supports them to align with their True Self while preparing to meet the year ahead. Her Solace program invites women to walk a path of embodying wisdom throughout the year. All of Kim's work is inspired by her study of Anthroposophy, human development, Indigenous Wisdom, Feminine Mysteries, and her ability to bring practicality to spirituality. You can learn more about Kim at KimMarieCoaching.com.

Alan Thewless, November 26, 2021

Alan Thewless was born in Sheffield, England and moved to the USA in 2002. He carries a deep involvement in education as a healing art and has worked as a Waldorf Teacher and Special Educator for nearly 30 years. In the USA he completed studies in Anthroposophically extended psychology (Psychosophy) and Music Therapy. He has been a student of Astrosophy for over 30 years and regularly writes, gives courses and lectures on this subject, and on education, internationally. Since 2016 he has been author of the Holy Nights Journal, a pathway of contemplation and journaling through each of the Holy Nights of Christmas. He is a lyre maker and also project archivist for the Eckersley Shakespeare trust. He is also on the adjunct faculty of the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology.

Lelan Harris, November 12, 2021

Lelan Harris, M.Div. (Reno, Nevada), is a founding member and executive director of Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative (WiseCosmos.org). He has been actively engaged in education and leadership for over 30 years in roles that include public high school teacher, pastor, researcher and author, graduate school professor, consultant, visiting scholar, Waldorf school administrator, and nonprofit executive director. He writes, mentors, trains, and consults in order to raise up new generations of spiritually mature leaders who are perceptive, integrative, and wise in partnership with humanity, earth, and cosmos. Of greater delight than any of the foregoing, Lelan has been married to Julie since 1988.

Lynn Jericho, November 05, 2021

Lynn Jericho devotes her thinking, feeling and willing to the ancient admonition "O Human Soul, Know Thyself!" For thirty years she has been counseling and mentoring individuals and groups on their paths to self-awareness, self-compassion, and self-expression. Her blog on imagineself.com has over 4000 followers. For 16 years, she has been guiding people around the world through the Holy Nights with her inspiring Inner Christmas Messages. Compilations of her Inner Christmas Messages can be found on Amazon.

Lisa Dalton, October 29, 2021

Lisa Dalton is a world renown master teacher of Michael Chekhov's approach to performing arts and a member of the ASA since 1995. She is on the Central Regional Council and was part of the planning committee for the 2021 ASA AGM: Building of the Heart conference. Lisa's introduction to Anthroposophy began in the early 1980's, exploring, with Ted Pugh, the Michael Chekhov Technique at the Rudolf Steiner High School in Manhattan. There, beside fellow artists such as Glen Williamson, Fern Sloan, eurythmist Diane Tatum, poet Daisy Aldan, and guest participants Alheidis von Bothmer, Mala Powers, and Sophia Walsh, the seeds of an anthroposophical karma were fertilized, with love of eurythmy and spatial dynamics too.

Laura Scappaticci, April 24, 2021

As a mom, online course creator, educator, speaker, and coach, Laura's spiritual life has been full of humor, imperfection, and deep meaning. Check out some of her recent work....

Luigi Morelli, October 8, 2021

Having worked with spiritual science over the last forty years, Luigi Morelli approaches American culture and history by weaving it with its myths, legends and stories in a scientific and imaginative manner; all of this he relates to the present forms of "American practical spirituality". See millenniumculmination.net for details.

Social change from a cultural perspective has been a closely related interest to the above. It has come in vocational/life experience through working with people with special needs in intentional communities of Camphill and L'Arche International and living in cohousing over the last eight years. Communal living, with its blessings and challenges, has been a constant source of inspiration for implementing social processes and bringing to life new social forms.

Michael Lipson, October 8, 2021

Michael Lipson, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist. He has been in private practice in Great Barrington, MA for the last 20 years, where he also leads a long-term weekly meditation group.

Michael graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College, studied Comparative Literature with Harold Bloom and Jacques Derrida at Yale, and received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the City University of New York. As a George Soros Faculty Scholar he offered a training program in meditation to health professionals who treat the terminally ill. For many years, Michael worked with children with AIDS at Harlem Hospital in New York City.

Michael is the author of two books on meditation, Stairway of Surprise and Group Meditation, both from Anthroposophic Press/ SteinerBooks. A life-long Anthroposophist, Michael has translated Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy of Freedom (under the title, Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path), and many books by Georg Kuehlewind.

You can find more about him and sign up for his weekly emails and mediation group at michaellipson.org.

Signe Schaefer, October 1, 2021

Signe Schaefer has been a long time adult educator and was for many years the Director of Foundation Studies at Sunbridge College. She was the founding Director of a professional development training in biography and social art, and she continues to serve of the board of the Center for Biography and Social Art. Since retiring she has published two books: Why on Earth? Biography and the Practice of Human Becoming and I Give You My Word: Women's Letters as Life Support. She also co-authored Ariadne's Awakening: Taking up the Threads of Consciousness and co-edited More Lifeways. A mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she now lives in Great Barrington, MA with her husband Christopher.

Robert McDermott, September 17, 2021

Robert McDermott was president of the California Institute of Integral Studies from 1990 to 1999 and is currently a CIIS professor. He has published extensively on Sri Aurobindo and Rudolf Steiner, including The New Essential Steiner and Steiner and Kindred Spirits. For five years he was president of the New York Center for Anthroposophy, for twelve years he was President of the Rudolf Steiner Institute, and for nine years he a member of the Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America. He was also chair of the board of Sunbridge College and Rudolf Steiner College. For 14 years he was chair of the board of Sophia Project for children and mothers at risk of homelessness. He has been president and board chair of many other institutions.

Timothy Kennedy, September 11, 2021

Timothy Kennedy has been a part of anthroposophical communities throughout his life. He's sought to find an Anthroposophy of the will, and through steady practice, and lots of grace, is finding balance in his inner and outer work. He has lead the largest natural building and design company in the US for 24 years; Administrates the global Natural Building Network online and is currently in development on a 700 acre project integrating regenerative farming, ecological restoration and healthy housing for 100+ humans. He recently joined the Western Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America in hopes of furthering the life of Anthroposophia in the West.

Mary Stewart Adams, September 3, 2021

Mary Stewart Adams is a Star Lore Historian, and host of the weekly public radio program and podcast "The Storyteller's Night Sky." Through her research in spiritual science and her education in literary arts, Mary has developed a unique, humanities-based approach to understanding our relationship with the stars. Her work is further augmented by an extensive knowledge of ancient mythologies and fairy tales, which she relates to the research and ideas of contemporary science as a way to re-imagine a human-centered astronomy. Mary just recently published her first book "The Star Tales of Mother Goose ~ For Those Who Seek the Secret Language of the Stars" which is beautifully illustrated by her sister, artist Patricia DeLisa. You can find out more at her website www.starlore.co .

Glenn Williamson, August 20, 2021

Glen Williamson, a founding member in New York City of The Actors' Ensemble and New Directions Theater, appeared in numerous productions with both companies. He currently plays multiple roles in the touring production of The Gospel of John with Walking the dog Theater and the title role in Aeschylus Unbound, which Glen co-wrote with the late film star Mala Powers.

He has given his one-man performances of Beat the Devil! Faust, the Whole Story, The Incarnation of the Logos: An Epic Tale of Christ's Coming to Earth, Kaspar Hauser: The Open Secret of the Foundling Prince, and Kurt Vonnegut's The Kid Nobody Could Handle and Who Am I This Time? throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K, Germany and Switzerland and has toured throughout North America in The Refugees' Tale, based on Goethe's Green Snake parable, with Laurie Portocarrero. Glen's performance of Beat the Devil! Faust, the Whole Story won the award for Best Adaptation at the United Solo Theater Festival off-Broadway in 2011. The off-Broadway run of Glen's one-man play The Boy Who Saw True was chosen by Back Stage as one of the five best plays of 1992.

Glen trained in the Michael Chekhov acting technique and at The Juilliard School and has acted with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the American Stage Festival in New Hampshire. Other appearances include Macbeth with Shakespeare Alive!, Sylvia by A. R. Gurney, Rudolf Steiner's The Souls' Awakening at the Goetheanum in Switzerland, storytelling with the Grupo de Euritmia de São Paulo in San Diego, and speaking poetry in a Camphill benefit concert at Carnegie Hall.

Jim Hindes, August 13, 2021

Jim Hindes became a student of anthroposophy as a student at UC Berkeley in 1966. He has a BA in philosophy with minors in geology and mathematics. In 1972 he began studies at the priest seminary of The Christian Community in Stuttgart, Germany and was ordained in 1975. Since then he has worked in congregations in England, Germany and in the U.S.: NYC, the Taconic-Berkshire region, Los Angeles, and the last 20 years in Denver and is a frequent teacher at the North American priest seminary, now located in Toronto. He has also translated over 20 books by Rudolf Steiner and his followers and is the author of Renewing Christianity, Floris Books. He lives with his wife, Vicki Hindes, in Denver, and is the father of five children, two step-children and 20 grandchildren.

Jordan Walker, August 6, 2021

Jordan Walker grew up in a traveling family, living on both coasts and the mid-west of the U.S. before spending a year in China when he was 9 years old. Jordan self-designed his undergraduate degree in Multi-media and received a Masters of Education while teaching children with Autism in a Brooklyn public school. In 2005 Jordan attended Sunbridge College and went on to study and work in the Threefold Community for 5 years, organizing many conferences and education initiatives and launching a social sculpture experiment entitled the new forms project. In 2011 he received a research grant at the Goetheanum to study new forms of adult education. Seven years later he designed " Wisdom Working ", a directory for the many anthroposophical initiatives in the Hudson River Watershed. He currently lives in Philmont, NY with his two young children.

Mark Riccio, July 23, 2021

Mark Riccio graduated from the Waldorf school in Manhattan. In spite of his less than stellar experience at his Waldorf school, Mark developed an interest in Steiner's work via Rev. James Hindes during high school and studied anthroposophy in Germany with Frank Teichmann and Florin Lowndes. Mark completed his doctoral dissertation on Waldorf education from the perspective of Steiner and O'Neil's new thinking. You can find Mark's books on Amazon such as The Logik of the Heart: the organic templates of spiritual writers, Rudolf Steiner, and The Philosophy of Freehood. More recently, Mark and Steve Brannon have published their first Newsletter promoting George O'Neil's artistic approach group study, Steiner's method of writing, and three-folding. (For a free subscription go here.

Sven Saar, July 17, 2021

Sven Saar, based in the south of England, was a class teacher for thirty years in the UK and Germany. He is co-director of two Waldorf Teacher Education courses and active in teacher mentoring and development. He advises pioneering schools in Asia and Africa and offers lectures and workshops in many settings. His website is www.swipp.org.uk.

Shubhangi Pandit, June 11, 2021

After completing graduation in computer science and engineering, Shubhangi Pandit served the IT industry in India for nearly a decade. A brief sabbatical to attend to motherhood brought her in touch with subjects closer to her heart - Environment and Child Education. A foundation course in Steiner education and a year of teaching in a Steiner kindergarten inspired her to start her seven year cycle as a class teacher in the grade curriculum. She currently takes care of the pedagogy at a homeschool collective called Chilume in Bengaluru, India. She treasures her continued class-teachership with her students for the past 7 years as a gift and an absolute privilege!

In response to this week's discussion on Rangoli patterns and Fibonacci numbers, a friend of the Café shared this math article showing the F functions with more complex Rangoli patterns. Click here to read.

Joshua and Courtney Wilson , June 4, 2021

Joshua and Courtney Wilson have been in Waldorf education for the past 15 years. Together they helped to found Escuela Caracol, the first Waldorf school in Guatemala, in a Maya village on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Their work there included class and subject teaching from kindergarten through grade six, teacher training, administration, marketing, and fundraising. Before their 11 year tenure in Guatemala, Courtney received her MA in Art History, studying the relationship between public art and social change in Latin America, while Joshua worked in various levels of education, from middle and high school teaching to university administration. During the past four years, Joshua has taught high school humanities at Shining Mountain Waldorf School, and Courtney has been a lower grades teacher at Boulder Valley Waldorf School. They continue to have an active role in fundraising for Escuela Caracol, as well as pursuing research in the Maya cosmovision and its connections with anthroposophy. This summer they are moving to Sacramento, California where they will work at the Camellia Waldorf School. Joshua will be the school director and Courtney will teach Spanish for grades 1-8. They are most proud, however, of their three children, who represent an ongoing study of the seven year cycles: Althea (19), Mirabai (12) and Sandino (6).

Patrick Kennedy , May 21, 2021

Rev. Patrick Kennedy is a co-director of the Seminary of the Christian Community in North America, along with Jonah Evans. In April of 2006 Patrick was consecrated into the priesthood in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to attending the seminary in Stuttgart, Germany, Patrick studied and worked in the field of Early Childhood Education and received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Cultural Anthropology. His first sending as a priest was to the congregation in Devon, Pennsylvania. From November 2007 to November 2015 he served as the resident priest in the Washington D.C. area congregation. He now lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and two daughters.

Cynthia Hoven, May 14, 2021

Cynthia Hoven, creator of Eurythmy Online and Alive, teaches Eurythmy as a Personal Practice to adult learners around the world. For over 40 years, she has worked as a stage eurythmist, therapist, training director, workshop creator, lecture of anthroposophical topics and adult educator. She has taught thousands of people, focusing on teaching people how to experience the living, transformative power of eurythmy. She is the author of the book Eurythmy Movements and Meditations: a Journey to the Heart of Language, and offers webinars and pre-recorded lessons through eurythmyonline.com.

Brian Gray, May 7, 2021

Brian Gray is a teacher, lecturer, musician, and writer on topics drawn from Anthroposophy - the work of Rudolf Steiner. He loves to share insights from the realms of star wisdom, biography, cosmology, sacred architecture, and esoteric Christianity. Brian was core faculty at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California from 1981-2017 and Director of the Foundation in Anthroposophy Program for 17 years.

Brian received a BA in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Inspired by René Querido, Brian received a certificate in Waldorf Teacher Education at RSC (1979 to 1981). Some of his work can be found at wisecosmos.org and thestarhouse.org.

Angela Foster, April 30, 2021

Angela Foster has been an active student of anthroposophy since 2008. After growing up in Texas, Angela is now embracing life in Atlanta, Georgia as an artist, teacher and mom of two daughters, currently homeschooling sixth grade. As a conscious practitioner of "beginner's mind", Angela has completed programs in foundation studies in Anthroposophy numerous times and is currently enrolled in Foundation Studies in Goethean Science through the Nature Institute. She and her husband manage the Anthroposophical Resource Center (ARC) an initiative in Decatur, Georgia that offers space for community events and serves as a little house for Anthroposophia.

Harald Hoven, April 16, 2021

Inspired by his life-long love of nature, Harald Hoven chose to be a caretaker of the earth by becoming a biodynamic farmer. He trained in his native Germany, and then came to work in Fair Oaks, CA, where he created and tended Raphael Garden, at Rudolf Steiner College, raising crops, teaching courses, and training apprentices. The Garden was often perceived to be the heart of the college property, well-loved by all. Harald is now semi-retired, and works internationally and locally as a consultant, mentor, webinar teacher, and home gardener.

Daniel Hindes, April 9, 2021

A graduate of the Rudolf Steiner School in New York, Daniel has been studying the works of Rudolf Steiner since he found a curious book with the same author name as his elementary school when he was browsing a used book store at age 19. In his life journey he has picked up a couple of degrees, worked in business and IT, taught as a Waldorf high school history teacher for a decade, and is presently the School Director of the Boulder Valley Waldorf School. He lives with his wife and three children in Longmont, Colorado. Daniel Hindes recently wrote a book entitled Viral Illnesses and Epidemics in the work of Rudolph Steiner that you may find here.

Patricia Rubano, March 26, 2021

Patricia Rubano is a human being in training. Training began with early motherhood, which led to being a Waldorf early childhood educator where she graduated backwards to ever younger ages, ending with Parent-Child classes. Classes in Biographical counseling extended her view of child development to phases of adulthood and of all things living. Living in a large extended family household and Spacial Dynamics both help keep her flexible as she moves through life. Life is currently focused on biography and social art work as she is Director of the Biography and Social Art Certificate Training and part of the International Trainer's Forum.

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg, March 19, 2021

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg- Founder of Reverse Ritual Understanding Anthroposophy through the Rhythms of the Year. Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, Trans-denominational Minister, Anthroposopher - working as the Festivals Coordinator of the Chicago Rudolf Steiner Branch, The Traveling Speakers Program, & the Central Regional Council of the Anthroposophical Society.

Laurie Schmiesing, March 12, 2021

Laurie Schmiesing is an Anthroposophic Nurse Specialist, and Associate in the Anthroposophic Counseling Program. She has been studying Anthroposophic and spiritual teachings since 2002. She has a wellness practice and holds conversations and workshops on a wide range of topics around body, soul and spirit. These include an on-going workshop series called the Four Directions which brings Lakota teachings and Anthroposophic teachings into the same workshop to understand more deeply the relationship of traditional teachings and esoteric Christian teachings. She has just completed an online workshop, available in recorded form, called the Mother Speaks delving more deeply in the nature of the Divine Feminine. You can find more information at www.laurieschmiesing.com or contact her at info@laurieschmiesing.com

Ronald Koetzsch, PhD, March 5, 2021

Ronald Ernest Koetzsch was born in New York City and grew up in Brooklyn. His parents had immigrated from Germany in 1932. Ronald attended public schools and then studied at Princeton University (AB in Religion) and Harvard University (PhD in History of Religions). He has been a college professor, an instructor for Outward Bound (a wilderness adventure program), and a staff writer for a national magazine - East West Journal.

Reverend Craig Wiggins, February 19, 202

Rev. Craig Wiggins has been a Priest in The Christian Community, Movement for Religious Renewal, since 1992. For many of those years he was stationed in The Netherlands. In 2009 he returned to the USA and has served communities in Devon, PA, San Francisco, and currently Chicago. Next to community work in Chicago and its affiliates in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Rev. Wiggins serves as 'Lenker', or Regional Coordinator for The Christian Community in the USA and Canada. The Movement for Religious Renewal was founded in 1922 by a group of ministers and theologians with the help of Dr. Rudolf Steiner.

Daniel Perez, February 12, 2021

Daniel Perez has been a technologist since his teens, at the dawn of the age of the personal computer. He has been programming since he was a student at Green Meadow Waldorf School, and later educated as an Electrical Engineer at the University of Rochester. His adult career has placed him in several areas of technology development, from space-based laser systems to video compression used for teleconferencing, and he currently leads an engineering team in Cloud Computing development. He also is co-founder of Threefold Capital Corp, an investment company, and sits on several non-profit boards including the Center for Anthroposophy. He and his wife live in Peterborough NH and have two adult children living in San Francisco, one of whom is a Waldorf teacher.

Neill Reilly, February 5, 2021

Neill Reilly was born and raised on Long Island, NY. He was graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Philosophy. He was also graduated from The Waldorf Institute at Adelphi University with an M.A. in Waldorf Pedagogy. Neill taught High School English for 7 years at two Waldorf Schools and a Catholic school. He coached Basketball, Track and Lacrosse. He also directed plays. After teaching, he worked as a salesperson at Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Jefferies and Company. Neill has also been a salesperson at numerous financial technology firms.

Neill has written two books Songs and Dreams and Look at What We Can Become. The latter includes a portrait of Prof. Fritz Koelln and four other Michaelic individuals. His essays and poems have appeared in Being More Consciously Human, the Bowdoin Alumni Magazine and other publications.

Nathaniel Williams, January 29, 2021

Nathaniel Williams is the co-founder of Free Columbia with Laura Summer. He studied anthroposophy, visual art and marionette theater in Basel, Switzerland, graduating with a certificate in visual art from the neueKUNSTschule in 2002. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University at Albany. He teaches at the University at Albany and is the director of the M.C. Richards program and active as a teacher, writer and artist.

Fred Dennehy, January 22, 2020

Fred Dennehy is a co-Class Holder of the School for Spiritual Science in the Greater New York City area, and for many years was an active member of the Council of the New York Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America.

Fred is a graduate of Yale Law School and was a practicing attorney for 40 years. He successfully represented the Anthroposophical Society of America in a longstanding case defending against an attempt to declare that the use of Waldorf methods in the Sacramento Public Schools violated the Constitution.

A Sharing from the Philippines, January 16, 2020

Since 1987, Anthroposophy has had a place in the Philippines. Today there are three large Waldorf schools, with many new ones starting, about ten biodynamic farms, many Anthroposophic doctors and several organizations and initiatives advocating change rooted in spirituality and free thought. We would like to invite you to hear some stories from the people whose lives are deeply interwoven in the movement's past, present and future. Though we are far apart, we are united with all of you, our brothers and sisters in our common dream.

Tom Altgelt, January 8, 2020

Tom Altgelt, Co-Host for the Anthroposophical Café, grew up in California and discovered anthroposophy in Germany over four decades ago, while working there as a landscape architect. You can see his biography under "About Us" on our FRAC website. Tom has published a number of articles in "Lilipoh" and "Being Human" magazines on the analogy between the life cycle of a plant and our path of inner development. He is currently on the advisory committee for the Biodynamic Agriculture conference and is the contact person for anthroposophy in Boulder, Colorado.

Lynn Jericho devotes her thinking, feeling and willing to the ancient admonition "O Human Soul, Know Thyself!" For thirty years she has been counseling and mentoring individuals and groups on their paths to self-awareness, self-compassion, and self-expression. Her blog on imagineself.com has over 4000 followers. For 16 years, she has been guiding people around the world through the Holy Nights with her inspiring Inner Christmas Messages. You can download her Guide for Inner Christmas here. Compilations of her Inner Christmas Messages can be found on Amazon.

Nancy Poer, December 12, 2020

Nancy Poer is known across the United States, for her lively lectures on Waldorf education, parenting, child development, the spiritual feminine, the mission of the spiritual America, and threshold work. Nancy is considered a grandmother of the national home death movement. She has written a book Living Into Dying, Spiritual and Practical Deathcare for Family and Community, which has empowered people throughout the country to care for their loved ones at death.Nancy is the producer of a documentary on conscious dying, " The Most Excellent Dying of Theodore Jack Heckelman".

She is a co-founder of Rudolf Steiner College, a Waldorf teachers' college. In her legacy years Nancy has been making Youtube videos in a series called " The Sacred Incarnation". Free for viewing nancyjewelpoeryoutube Holy Mother, Holy Child and our Babies, The Sacred Healing power of Touch, and more. Approaching ninety, she is the oldest Anthroposophical film maker in the country!

Ellen Gayda, December 5, 2020

Based on the inspiring guidance of the thirty fifth verse in Calendar of the Soul, we shall direct our attention toward the journey of our humanness that supports with ' lent ' strength a spiritual embodied readiness to conceive 'true being'.

Ellen Gayda is a Body Psychotherapist, Healer, Bodyworker and Wisdom Teacher. She exercises her creative intelligence as a Visionary, Ideologist and Intuitive. She has trainings in Gestalt, Psychology, Zen, Massage, Yoga and Spiritual healing from Masters of schools without walls.

Kevin Dann, November 27, 2020

Kevin Dann is the author of Enchanted New York: A Journey Along Broadway Through Manhattan's Magical Past and a dozen other books of exploration. He received his PhD from Rutgers University in American and Environmental History, and has taught at Rutgers University, the University of Vermont, and the State University of New York. He leads magical bike and walking tours in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Learn more at drdann.com.

Eugene Schwartz, November 13, 2020

Eugene Schwartz is a graduate of Columbia University. He has worked with all stages of life, from the young child to the elderly and the dying. He began his teaching career by adapting the Waldorf schools' curriculum to educate a group of adolescents with disabilities and emotional challenges in the Otto Specht School, which he helped to found. He then became a class teacher at Green Meadow Waldorf School, taking three groups of children up through Grade Eight. Eugene also served as Director of Teacher Training at the Sunbridge Institute and for over a decade lectured frequently at Rudolf Steiner College. Eugene now works worldwide as an educational consultant and lecturer.

Marie-Laure Valandro, November 6, 2020

Marie-Laure has traveled all over the globe exploring religions, cultures, customs, foods, geography. Her favorite means of transportation: walking long distance with a small backpack. She walks for months at a time in the Himalayas, South America, France, Spain, Portugal etc. She taught ( French, Spanish , English) in New England, Paris,Tehran. At 14, she started writing in small notebooks when her family moved to the USA and never stopped until she decided to publish at 58.

Marie-Laure will bring the following question to the Cafe for discussion: What is it that Anthroposophy is bringing, giving to each one of us which helps that person face the grave times and trials coming our way today?

Dennis Klocek, October 30, 2020

Dennis Klocek is a retired teacher who founded the Consciousness Studies program at Rudolf Steiner college twenty five years ago. He is the author of eight books and is continuing his studies and outreach by creating a new feature on his website dennisklocek.com with his son Ben. The new initiative is a culmination of many years research into gardening, alchemy, medicinal plants and the health of the human soul. This new feature <soilsoulandspirt.com> has been in the works for a while now and is in a pre- launch stage.

This new offering will be linked to You Tube videos of sowing, pruning and harvesting plants as well as laboratory techniques illustrating fermenting, extracting and distilling. The videos provide practical advice on how these methods are used to create plant sprays, digestive tonics and essential oils. On <soilsoulandspirt.com> essays on nature and the human being as well as audio lectures on human physiology and soul practices will round out the offerings. We are excited about this. Please let us know on dennisklocek.com if you would like to know launch time.

Ina Jaehnig, October 23, 2020

As the co-founder of The Denver Waldorf School, Ina has been teaching at DWS for more than forty years. She earned certification as an arts teacher at the Academy for the Arts in Stuttgart and received her Waldorf Teacher Training at the Munich Waldorf School. In addition to sharing her knowledge with High School students and the DWS faculty, Ina consults for Waldorf schools across the United States and spends her summers training Waldorf teachers.

Angela Foster & Jordan Walker, October 16, 2020

Angela Foster grew up in Texas and is now embracing life in Atlanta, Georgia. She is an artist, teacher and mom of two daughters, currently homeschooling sixth grade. She has been an active student of anthroposophy since 2008. As a conscious practitioner of "beginner's mind", Angela has completed programs in foundation studies in Anthroposophy numerous times and is currently enrolled in Foundation Studies in Goethean Science through the Nature Institute. She and her husband manage the Anthroposophical Resource Center (ARC) an initiative in Decatur, Georgia that offers space for community events and serves as a little house for Anthroposophia.

Jordan Walker grew up in a traveling family, living on both coasts and the mid-west of the U.S. before spending a year in China when he was 9 years old. Jordan self-designed his undergraduate degree in Multi-media and received a Masters of Education while teaching children with Autism in a Brooklyn public school. In 2005 Jordan attended Sunbridge College and went on to study and work in the Threefold Community for 5 years, organizing many conferences and education initiatives and launching a social sculpture experiment entitled the new forms project. In 2011 he received a research grant at the Goetheanum to study new forms of adult education. Seven years later he designed " Wisdom Working ", a directory for the many anthroposophical initiatives in the Hudson River Watershed. He currently lives in Philmont, NY with his two young children.

Betty Staley, October 9, 2020

Betty Staley is an educator, writer, consultant, and world traveler. Most of all, she is a connector-with students in her high school and teacher education classes, with parents in workshops, with adults in biography classes, with faculties in the Waldorf schools she has helped found, with those who were stimulated by her books or videos, and with the people she has met in countries around the world. She has been a Waldorf teacher for over fifty years. As one of the founders of Rudolf Steiner College, she directed the Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program and the Public School Institute. Betty was significant in bringing Waldorf education into public schools, beginning with the Urban Waldorf School in Milwaukee in 1991. She is currently a member of the advisory board of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education and of the Pedagogical Section Council of North America.

Rev. Sanford Miller October 2, 2020

Rev. Sanford Miller is a priest of The Christian Community who has been connected to the work of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy since 1972. Following his university degree (Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara) he lived and worked in Camphill Newton Dee in Aberdeen, Scotland. He then studied in England and Stuttgart, Germany for the priesthood in The Christian Community, where he was ordained in 1982. He worked as a priest in Pforzheim, Germany until being assigned to Boston in 1984. He was sent to Sacramento, CA in 1996 and also serves in Santa Rosa, CA as well as in Eugene and Portland, OR. Sanford lives with his wife Stacey Jostad in the Sacramento area, and is father to five children, step-father to three and grandfather to seven. Sanford is insightful, inspirational, funny, beloved, and not to be missed.

Van James, September 18, 2020

Van James, is an artist, author and educator. He is chair of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawai'i, editor of Pacifica Journal, and a guest instructor at numerous colleges and Steiner-Waldorf training centers throughout Asia and the Pacific. He is an award winning author of several books on art and culture including Ancient Sites of O'ahu, Ancient Sites of Hawai'i, Ancient Sites of Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i, Ancient Sites of Kaua'i, Spirit and Art: Pictures of the Transformation of Consciousness, The Secret Language of Form: Visual Meaning in Art and Nature, Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart, and Painting with Hand, Head and Heart. He has been a teaching artist in Hawai'i for over thirty-five years and is a founding faculty member of the Honolulu Waldorf High School. He holds a BFA in drawing and painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, and diplomas from Emerson College, England, and the Goetheanum School of Painting in Switzerland. He travels widely as an advocate for the arts and lives in Honolulu with his wife.

Christopher Schaefer, September 11, 2020

Christopher Schaefer explores what is happening to us and to our world and how we can maintain a sense of balance in this time of great uncertainty. The insights and practices of Anthroposophy will be central to our reflections.

The following are articles by Christopher Schaefer:
Looking for Hope in Difficult Times
Decoding the Trump Virus
A Tri-Sectoral Imagination of the American Future

Robert (Karp) Karbelnikoff, August 21, 2020

Robert (Karp) Karbelnikoff and Tom Altgelt engage in a lively conversation, exploring their shared interest in the geography, history, and culture of the North American continent from the perspective of spiritual science.

Robert (Karp) Karbelnikoff is a consultant, educator and social entrepreneur whose work is deeply informed by the insights of the philosopher, seer and social activist Rudolf Steiner. Robert is the former executive director of the Biodynamic Association in North America (2008-2017) and of Practical Farmers of Iowa (2001-2005) and is currently a founding faculty member of Thoreau College, in Viroqua,. Wisconsin. You can learn more about Robert's work and his writings on his website www.robertkarp.net

Lynn Stull, August 7, 2020

After a career in business Lynn Stull turned towards the arts and threshold work. In 2009 Lynn earned her eurythmy diploma from Eurythmy Spring Valley and is author of Wonders at the Veil, Creating a Living Relationship with Your Loved Ones Who Have Died. She is a current student in the Therapeutic Eurythmy Training of North America with the intention to identify how eurythmy and therapeutic eurythmy can offer a counterbalance to technology and the ever-increasing atmosphere of wi-fi radiation in our environments.

To find out more about Lynn's work, visit www.LynnStull.com.

Marianne Dietzel, July 31, 2020

You may read more about Marianne and her book on her Facebook page here.

Marianne Dietzel was a Waldorf early childhood educator before her daughter, Nina, and Nina's best friend, Kirsten, died in a car accident in 1996. Since then she has worked as a hospice bereavement coordinator, and played music for healing and transition on the lyre as a Certified Music Practitioner. She was a co-founder, in 2008, of the Minnesota Threshold Network, which educates and supports families in caring for their own deceased. In 2010 she published a book, Laughing in a Waterfall: A Mother's Memoir, the story of Nina's life and her death, the events surrounding it, and the first three years of her family's grieving. It is woven throughout with a sense of wonder in the face of tragedy and loss.

Pamela Whitman, July 25, 2020

Pamela Whitman received her B.S. from MIT, where she studied both science and humanities. She has always sought ways to integrate these perspectives, and her work has spanned both fields, including helping to found a Waldorf School. Through Waldorf education she discovered anthroposophy, which eventually led her to her true vocation pioneering the artistic and therapeutic work of Liane Collot d'Herbois. She participated in the second international training in Light, Color and Darkness Painting Therapy at the Emerald Foundation in The Hague, Holland, and completed her requirements as a Painting Therapist as part of her Masters degree program in Human Development. She received her certification in Painting Therapy from the Section for Anthroposophic Medicine at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Her career and interests span the fields of science, art, spirituality, consciousness, psychology, healing and education, all of which she incorporates as a therapist, international adult educator, mentor and painter.

Karen van Vuuren, July 10, 2020

Karen van Vuuren has been a natural death care educator and end-of-life transitions guide since 2001. In 2003, she founded the non-profit Boulder-based educational non-profit, Natural Transitions. Over nearly two decades, she has had the privilege of supporting countless families whose loved-ones have crossed the threshold. She has led workshops on natural death care and was instrumental in founding the National Home Funeral Alliance.

In her twenties, she worked as a broadcast news journalist, and though she left that unenviable profession to become a mother and a threshold worker, her media skills have been employed as editor of Natural Transitions magazine and as director of two award-winning end-of-life documentaries, (a dying doctor's decision to stop eating and drinking) and (the caregiver's role in healing the soul wounds of veterans with trauma).

Currently, Karen is co-founder and owner of The Natural Funeral, Colorado's first holistic funeral home, based in Lafayette. Karen will share some of her biography around death and dying, and how she is convinced that the manifestation of love and devotion at death is balm for our world.

Patsy Scala, May 22, 2020

Patsy Scala, author of "Weekly Meditations, Rudolf Steiner's Calendar of the soul, With Accompanying Reflections" was our guest speaker. The Calendar of the soul is one of the greatest gifts Steiner gave us for developing a feeling sense of the living Christ manifesting to us in the rhythms of the 52 weeks of the yearly cycle.

John Bloom, May 8, 2020

John Bloom, General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society of North America and Vice President vice president of organizational culture for the Rudolf Steiner Foundation. John will address us on the theme of "Threefolding and a Just Society."

David Tresemer, Ph.D, May 1, 2020

David Tresemer has been a lifelong student of Anthroposophy and psychology. He co-created the StarHouse in Boulder, Colorado, as well as co-founded the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology. He is the co-author and editor of several books including " The Counselor....As If Soul and Spirit Matter" and " Star Wisdom & Rudolf Steiner." He presents on "Our Senses as Doors to Realities-Portals or Idiosyncrasies?". That last term stemming from the Calendar of the Soul verse for this week, that we typically open and close our weekly Café' with.

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Click on the guest speaker names listed below (in alphabetical order) to jump to the section on the page for that particular guest along with a link to their recorded Café talk. Kristena West, May 13, 2022 Kristena West M.A.

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A Whitsun Festival of United Soul Endeavor & Spirit Community

with the Eastern, Central and Western Regional Councils of the Anthroposophical Society in America

Sunday 29 May 2022 – 3 – 4:30 pm PT, 4-5:30 MT, 5-6:30 pm CT, 6-7:30 pm ET

We will be working with Rudolf Steiner’s THE FIFTH GOSPEL GA 148, Lecture II, 2 October 1913, Oslo

The Whitsun Festival highlights one of the greatest challenges of being human: placing our individual gifts, our individual “I”, in right relationship within the social realm. This challenge is strongly felt during this time of the consciousness soul age. Our groups striving to know Spiritual Science must work together as a community, to have the possibility to create this type of culture, and the opportunity is here for each of us to meet, human to human, where a sacrament is possible in every encounter. Our individual strength comes from our personal development and is enhanced by weaving our gifts together with others, knitting our social world in conscious community.

For more info. contact Hazel@ReverseRitual.com

Topic: All Regions Whitsun

Time: May 29, 2022 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7050174041?pwd=WkNaNDlPS0VIMTJUUkE1ZkFMaDh5dz09

Meeting ID: 705 017 4041

Passcode: Whitsun

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Announcing an exciting Event on Ascension Thursday, May 26 th   7 – 8:30 pm Eastern time.

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder – Celebrating the Festival of Ascension with Hazel Archer-Ginsberg & Eurythmy with Maria Ver Eecke

“In heavy clouds let Him ascend
And so also let Him downward tread.
In cooling streams let Him be sent,
In flames of fire blaze His descent,
In air & essence, sound & dew
To permeate our whole earth thru” ~Novalis

Ascension is a Festival of the Elements, & of the Hierarchies, it relates to the Transfiguration & the fulfillment of the promise of the ‘Second Coming’. Together we will explore the mystery of ‘As Above so Below’.

Hazel Archer-Ginsberg is a trans-denominational minister, essayist, lecturer, performer, and poet. She writes and curates ‘Reverse Ritual, Understanding Anthroposophy Through the Rhythms of the Year’ and the ‘I Think Speech’ podcast. Hazel’s been the Cultural Events and Festivals Coordinator for the Rudolf Steiner Branch in Chicago for over 10 years. She is a member of the Central Regional Council, the School for Spiritual Science, the Esoteric Youth Circle, and the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.

Register by contacting Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, by Sunday, May 22nd. You will receive an email with the zoom link on Tuesday May 24.

Hope to see you there!! – YES! Please feel free to spread the word!

Yours, Diane McGary, mcgary.family@comcast.net, for the the Eastern Region

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Project Gutenberg's The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, by Rudolph Steiner

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
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to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.

Title: The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity
       A Modern Philosophy of Life Develop by Scientific Methods

Author: Rudolph Steiner

Translator: R. F. Alfred Hoernle

Release Date: October 16, 2017 [EBook #55761]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY ***




Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project
Gutenberg (This book was produced from scanned images of
public domain material from the Google Books project.)

[ Contents]

THE PHILOSOPHY OF
SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY

[ Contents]

Translated Works of RUDOLF STEINER, Ph.D.

An Outline of Occult Science

The Lord's Prayer

The Gates of Knowledge

Philosophy and Theosophy

Three Essays on Haeckel and on Karma

The Education of Children

The Occult Significance of Blood

Atlantis and Lemuria

The Way of Initiation

Initiation and its Results

Theosophy

The Mystics of the Renaissance

Christianity as Mystical Fact

The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity

The Threefold State

A Road to Self-Knowledge

The Threshold of the Spiritual World

Mystery Plays (2 vols.)

Investigations in Occultism

THE PHILOSOPHY OF
SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY

A Modern Philosophy of Life Developed by Scientific Methods

G. P. Putnam's Sons
London & New York

[ Contents]

MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN

Authorized Translation Edited by
H. COLLISON

First Published
1916

Second Edition, revised and enlarged
1922

[ Printed by the
BOTOLPH PRINTING WORKS,
GATE ST., KINGSWAY, W.C.2 v]

[ Contents]

EDITOR'S NOTE

The following pages are a translation of Dr. Steiner's Philosophie der Freiheit, which was published in Germany some twenty years ago. The edition was soon exhausted, and has never been reprinted; copies are much sought after but very difficult to obtain.

The popularity of Dr. Steiner's later works upon ethics, mysticism, and kindred subjects has caused people to forget his earlier work upon philosophy in spite of the fact that he makes frequent references to this book and it contains the germs of which many of his present views are the logical outcome. For the above reasons, and with the author's sanction, I have decided to publish a translation.

I have had the good fortune to have been able to secure as joint translators Mrs. Hoernlé, who, after graduating in the University of the Cape of Good Hope, continued her studies in the Universities of Cambridge, Leipzig, Paris, and Bonn, and her husband, Mr. R. F. Alfred Hoernlé, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University, U.S.A., formerly Jenkyns Exhibitioner, Balliol College, Oxford, their thorough knowledge of philosophy and their complete command of the German and English [ vi]languages enabling them to overcome the difficulty of finding adequate English equivalents for the terms of German Philosophy.

I am glad to seize this opportunity of acknowledging my indebtedness to these two, without whom this publication could not have been undertaken.

HARRY COLLISON.

[ Contents]

EDITOR'S NOTE TO SECOND EDITION

In 1918 Dr. Steiner published a revised edition of the Philosophie der Freiheit. For the translation of the new passages added to, and of the incidental changes made in, this revised edition I am indebted to Mr. Hoernlé, now Professor of Philosophy in the Armstrong College (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), University of Durham.

At the author's request I have changed the title to Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, and throughout the entire work "freedom" should be taken to mean "spiritual activity."

Dr. Steiner's Ph. D. Thesis on "Truth and Science," originally published as a prelude to The Philosophy of Freedom, has, with his consent, been translated for this edition and been added at the end of this volume.

H. C.

[ Contents]

PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION (1918)

There are two fundamental problems in the life of the human mind, to one or other of which everything belongs that is to be discussed in this book. One of these problems concerns the possibility of attaining to such a view of the essential nature of man as will serve as a support for whatever else comes into his life by way of experience or of science, and yet is subject to the suspicion of having no support in itself and of being liable to be driven, by doubt and criticism, into the limbo of uncertainties. The other problem is this: Is man, as voluntary agent, entitled to attribute freedom to himself, or is freedom a mere illusion begotten of his inability to recognise the threads of necessity on which his volition, like any natural event, depends? It is no artificial tissue of theories which provokes this question. In a certain mood it presents itself quite naturally to the human mind. And it is easy to feel that a mind lacks something of its full stature which has never once confronted with the utmost seriousness of inquiry the two possibilities-freedom or necessity. This book [ xii]is intended to show that the spiritual experiences which the second problem causes man to undergo, depend upon the position he is able to take up towards the first problem. An attempt will be made to prove that there is a view concerning the essential nature of man which can support the rest of knowledge; and, further, an attempt to point out how with this view we gain a complete justification for the idea of free will, provided only that we have first discovered that region of the mind in which free volition can unfold itself.

The view to which we here refer is one which, once gained, is capable of becoming part and parcel of the very life of the mind itself. The answer given to the two problems will not be of the purely theoretical sort which, once mastered, may be carried about as a mere piece of memory-knowledge. Such an answer would, for the whole manner of thinking adopted in this book, be no real answer at all. The book will not give a finished and complete answer of this sort, but point to a field of spiritual experience in which man's own inward spiritual activity supplies a living answer to these questions, as often as he needs one. Whoever has once discovered the region of the mind where these questions arise, will find precisely in his actual acquaintance with this region all that he needs for the solution of his two problems. With the knowledge thus acquired he may then, as desire or fate dictate, adventure further into the breadths [ xiii]and depths of this unfathomable life of ours. Thus it would appear that there is a kind of knowledge which proves its justification and validity by its own inner life as well as by the kinship of its own life with the whole life of the human mind.

This is how I conceived the contents of this book when I first wrote it twenty-five years ago. To-day, once again, I have to set down similar sentences if I am to characterise the leading thoughts of my book. At the original writing I contented myself with saying no more than was in the strictest sense connected with the fundamental problems which I have outlined. If anyone should be astonished at not finding in this book as yet any reference to that region of the world of spiritual experience of which I have given an account in my later writings, I would ask him to bear in mind that it was not my purpose at that time to set down the results of spiritual research, but first to lay the foundations on which such results can rest. The [ Philosophy of Spiritual Activity contains no special results of this spiritual sort, as little as it contains special results of the natural sciences. But what it does contain is, in my judgment, indispensable for anyone who desires a secure foundation for such knowledge. What I have said in this book may be acceptable even to some who, for reasons of their own, refuse to have anything to do with the results of my researches into the Spiritual Realm. But anyone who finds xiv]something to attract him in my inquiries into the Spiritual Realm may well appreciate the importance of what I was here trying to do. It is this: to show that open-minded consideration simply of the two problems which I have indicated and which are fundamental for all knowledge, leads to the view that man lives in the midst of a genuine Spiritual World. The aim of this book is to demonstrate, prior to our entry upon spiritual experience, that knowledge of the Spiritual World is a fact. This demonstration is so conducted that it is never necessary, in order to accept the present arguments, to cast furtive glances at the experiences on which I have dwelt in my later writings. All that is necessary is that the reader should be willing and able to adapt himself to the manner of the present discussions.

Thus it seems to me that in one sense this book occupies a position completely independent of my writings on strictly spiritual matters. Yet in another sense it seems to be most intimately connected with them. These considerations have moved me now, after a lapse of twenty-five years, to re-publish the contents of this book in the main without essential alterations. I have only made additions of some length to a number of chapters. The misunderstandings of my argument with which I have met seemed to make these more detailed elaborations necessary. Actual changes of text have been made by me only where it [ xv]seemed to me now that I had said clumsily what I meant to say a quarter of a century ago. (Only malice could find in these changes occasion to suggest that I have changed my fundamental conviction.)

For many years my book has been out of print. In spite of the fact, which is apparent from what I have just said, that my utterances of twenty-five years ago about these problems still seem to me just as relevant today, I hesitated a long time about the completion of this revised edition. Again and again I have asked myself whether I ought not, at this point or that, to define my position towards the numerous philosophical theories which have been put forward since the publication of the first edition. Yet my preoccupation in recent years with researches into the purely Spiritual Realm prevented my doing as I could have wished. However, a survey, as thorough as I could make it, of the philosophical literature of the present day has convinced me that such a critical discussion, alluring though it would be in itself, would be out of place in the context of what my book has to say. All that, from the point of view of the Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, it seemed to me necessary to say about recent philosophical tendencies may be found in the second volume of my Riddles of Philosophy.

RUDOLF STEINER.

TRUTH AND SCIENCE1

[ Contents]

I

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

Theory of Knowledge aims at being a scientific investigation of the very fact which all other sciences take for granted without examination, viz., knowing or knowledge-getting itself. To say this is to attribute to it, from the very start, the character of being the fundamental philosophical discipline. For, it is only this discipline which can tell us what value and significance belong to the insight gained by the other sciences. In this respect it is the foundation for all scientific endeavour. But, it is clear that the Theory of Knowledge can fulfil its task only if it works without any presuppositions of its own, so far as that is possible in view of the nature of human knowledge. This is probably conceded on all sides. And yet, a more detailed examination of the better-known epistemological systems reveals that, at the very starting-point of [[ 278]the inquiry, there is made a whole series of assumptions which detract considerably from the plausibility of the rest of the argument. In particular, it is noticeable how frequently certain hidden assumptions are made in the very formulation of the fundamental problems of epistemology. But, if a science begins by misstating its problems, we must despair from the start of finding the right solution. The history of the sciences teaches us that countless errors, from which whole epochs have suffered, are to be traced wholly and solely to the fact that certain problems were wrongly formulated. For illustrations there is no need to go back to Aristotle or to the Ars Magna Lulliana. There are plenty of examples in more recent times. The numerous questions concerning the purposes of the rudimentary organs of certain organisms could be correctly formulated only after the discovery of the fundamental law of biogenesis had created the necessary conditions. As long as Biology was under the influence of teleological concepts, it was impossible to put these problems in a form permitting a satisfactory answer. What fantastic ideas, for example, were current concerning the purpose of the so-called pineal gland, so long as it was fashionable to frame biological questions in terms of "purpose." An answer was not achieved until the solution of the problem was sought by the method of Comparative Anatomy, and scientists asked whether this organ might 279]not be merely a residual survival in man from a lower evolutionary level. Or, to mention yet another example, consider the modifications in certain physical problems after the discovery of the laws of the mechanical equivalents of heat and of the conservation of energy! In short, the success of scientific investigations depends essentially upon the investigator's ability to formulate his problems correctly. Even though the Theory of Knowledge, as the presupposition of all other sciences, occupies a position very different from theirs, we may yet expect that for it, too, successful progress in its investigations will become possible only when the fundamental questions have been put in the correct form.

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II

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF KANT'S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

It is usual to designate Kant as the founder of the Theory of Knowledge in the modern sense. Against this view it might plausibly be argued that the history of philosophy records prior to Kant numerous investigations which deserve to be regarded as something more than mere beginnings of such a science. Thus Volkelt, in his fundamental work on the Theory of Knowledge,[ 1 remarks that the critical treatment of this discipline took its origin already with Locke. But in the writings of even older philosophers, yes, even in the philosophy of Ancient Greece, discussions are to be found which at the present day are usually undertaken under the heading of Theory of Knowledge. However, Kant has revolutionised all problems under this head from their very depths up, and, following him, numerous thinkers have worked them through so thoroughly that all the older attempts at solutions may be found over again either in Kant himself or else in his successors. Hence, 281]for the purposes of a purely systematic, as distinct from a historical, study of the Theory of Knowledge, there is not much danger of omitting any important phenomenon by taking account only of the period since Kant burst upon the world with his Critique of Pure Reason. All previous epistemological achievements are recapitulated during this period.

The fundamental question of Kant's Theory of Knowledge is, How are synthetic judgments a priori possible? Let us consider this question for a moment in respect of its freedom from presuppositions. Kant asks the question precisely because he believes that we can attain unconditionally certain knowledge only if we are able to prove the validity of synthetic judgments a priori. He says: "Should this question be answered in a satisfactory way, we shall at the same time learn what part reason plays in the foundation and completion of those sciences which contain a theoretical a priori knowledge of objects;" 2 and, further, "Metaphysics stands and falls with the solution of this problem, on which, therefore, the very existence of Metaphysics absolutely depends." 3

Are there any presuppositions in this question, as formulated by Kant? Yes, there are. For the possibility of a system of absolutely [[[ 282]certain knowledge is made dependent on its being built up exclusively out of judgments which are synthetic and acquired independently of all experience. "Synthetic" is Kant's term for judgments in which the concept of the predicate adds to the concept of the subject something which lies wholly outside the subject, "although it stands in some connection with the subject," 4 whereas in "analytic" judgments the predicate affirms only what is already (implicitly) contained in the subject. This is not the place for considering the acute objections which Johannes Rehmke 5 brings forward against this classification of judgments. For our present purpose, it is enough to understand that we can attain to genuine knowledge only through judgments which add to one concept another the content of which was not, for us at least, contained in that of the former. If we choose to call this class of judgments, with Kant, "synthetic," we may agree that knowledge in judgment form is obtainable only where the connection of predicate and subject is of this synthetic sort. But, the case is very different with the second half of Kant's question, which demands that these judgments are to be formed a priori, i.e., independently of all experience. For one thing, it is altogether possible 6 that such judgments do not occur at 283]all. At the start of the Theory of Knowledge we must hold entirely open the question, whether we arrive at any judgments otherwise than by experience, or only by experience. Indeed, to unprejudiced reflection the alleged independence of experience seems from the first to be impossible. For, let the object of our knowledge be what it may-it must, surely, always present itself to us at some time in an immediate and unique way; in short, it must become for us an experience. Mathematical judgments, too, are known by us in no other way than by our experiencing them in particular concrete cases. Even if, with Otto Liebmann, 7 for example, we treat them as founded upon a certain organisation of our consciousness, this empirical character is none the less manifest. We shall then say that this or that proposition is necessarily valid, because the denial of its truth would imply the denial of our consciousness, but the content of a proposition can enter our knowledge only by its becoming an experience for us in exactly the same way in which a process in the outer world of nature does so. Let the content of such a proposition include factors which guarantee its absolute validity, or let its validity be based on other grounds-in either case, I can possess myself of it only in one way and in no other: it must be presented to me in experience. This is the first objection to Kant's view. 284]

The other objection lies in this, that we have no right, at the outset of our epistemological investigations, to affirm that no absolutely certain knowledge can have its source in experience. Without doubt, it is easily conceivable that experience itself might contain a criterion guaranteeing the certainty of all knowledge which has an empirical source.

Thus, Kant's formulation of the problem implies two presuppositions. The first is that we need, over and above experience, another source of cognitions. The second is that all knowledge from experience has only conditional validity. Kant entirely fails to realise that these two propositions are open to doubt, that they stand in need of critical examination. He takes them over as unquestioned assumptions from the dogmatic philosophy of his predecessors and makes them the basis of his own critical inquiries. The dogmatic thinkers assume the validity of these two propositions and simply apply them in order to get from each the kind of knowledge which it guarantees. Kant assumed their validity and only asks, What are the conditions of their validity? But, what if they are not valid at all? In that case, the edifice of Kantian doctrine lacks all foundation whatever.

The whole argumentation of the five sections which precede Kant's formulation of the problem, amounts to an attempt to prove that the propositions of Mathematics are [ 285]synthetic. 8 But, precisely the two presuppositions which we have pointed out are retained as mere assumptions in his discussions. In the Introduction to the Second Edition of the Critique of Pure Reason we read, "experience can tell us that a thing is so and so, but not that it cannot be otherwise," and, "experience never bestows on its judgments true or strict universality, but only the assumed and relative universality of induction." 9 In Prologomena, 10 we find it said, "First, as regards the sources of metaphysics, the very concept of Metaphysics implies that they cannot be empirical. The principles of Metaphysics (where the term 'principles' includes, not merely its fundamental propositions, but also its fundamental concepts), can never be gained from experience, for the knowledge of the metaphysician has precisely to be, not physical, but 'metaphysical,' i.e., lying beyond the reach of experience." Lastly Kant says in the Critique of Pure Reason: "The first thing to notice is, that no truly mathematical judgments are empirical, but always a priori. They carry necessity on their very face, and therefore cannot be derived from experience. Should anyone demur to this, I am willing to limit my assertion to the propositions of Pure [286]Mathematics, which, as everybody will admit, are not empirical judgments, but perfectly pure a priori knowledge." 11

We may open the [ Critique of Pure Reason wherever we please, we shall always find that in all its discussions these two dogmatic propositions are taken for granted. Cohen 12 and Stadler 13 attempt to prove that Kant has established the a priori character of the propositions of Mathematics and Pure Natural Science. But all that Kant tries to do in the Critique may be summed up as follows. The fact that Mathematics and Pure Natural Science are a priori sciences implies that the "form" of all experience has its ground in the subject. Hence, all that is given by experience is the "matter" of sensations. This matter is synthesised by the forms, inherent in the mind, into the system of empirical science. It is only as principles of order for the matter of sense that the formal principles of the a priori theories have function and significance. They make empirical science possible, but they cannot transcend it. These formal principles are nothing but the synthetic judgments a priori, which therefore extend, as conditions of all possible empirical knowledge, as far as that knowledge but no further. Thus, the Critique of Pure Reason, so far from proving the a priori character of Mathematics and 287]Pure Natural Science, does but delimit the sphere of their applicability on the assumption that their principles must become known independently of experience. Indeed, Kant is so far from attempting a proof of the a priori character of these principles, that he simply excludes that part of Mathematics (see the quotation above) in which, even according to his view, that character might be called in question, and confines himself to the part in which he thinks he can infer the a priori character from the bare concepts involved. Johannes Volkelt, too, comes to the conclusion that "Kant starts from the explicit presupposition" that "there actually does exist knowledge which is universal and necessary." He goes on to remark, "This presupposition which Kant has never explicitly questioned, is so profoundly contradictory to the character of a truly critical Theory of Knowledge, that the question must be seriously put whether the Critique is to be accepted as critical Theory of Knowledge at all." Volkelt does, indeed, decide that there are good grounds for answering this question in the affirmative, but still, as he says, "this dogmatic assumption does disturb the critical attitude of Kant's epistemology in the most far-reaching way." 14 In short, Volkelt, too, finds that the Critique of Pure Reason is not a Theory of Knowledge free from all assumptions.

In substantial agreement with our view are [ 288]also the views of O. Liebmann, 15 Holder, 16 Windelband, 17 Ueberweg, 18 Eduard von Hartmann, 19 and Kuno Fischer, 20 all of whom acknowledge that Kant makes the a priori character of Pure Mathematics and Physics the basis of his whole argumentation.

The propositions that we really have knowledge which is independent of all experience, and that experience can furnish knowledge of only relative universality, could be accepted by us as valid only if they were conclusions deduced from other propositions. It would be absolutely necessary for these propositions to be preceded by an inquiry into the essential nature of experience, as well as by another inquiry into the essential nature of knowing. The former might justify the first, the latter the second, of the above two propositions. [ 289]

It would be possible to reply to the objections which we have urged against the [[ Critique of Pure Reason, as follows. It might be said that every Theory of Knowledge must first lead the reader to the place where the starting-point, free from all presuppositions, is to be found. For, the knowledge which we have at any given moment of our lives is far removed from this starting-point, so that we must first be artificially led back to it. Now, it is true that some such mutual understanding between author and reader concerning the starting-point of the science is necessary in all Theory of Knowledge. But such an understanding ought on no account to go beyond showing how far the alleged starting-point of knowing is truly such. It ought to consist of purely self-evident, analytic propositions. It ought not to lay down any positive, substantial affirmations which influence, as in Kant, the content of the subsequent argumentation. Moreover, it is the duty of the epistemologist to show that the starting-point which he alleges is really free from all presuppositions. But all this has nothing to do with the essential nature of that starting-point. It lies wholly outside the starting-point and makes no affirmations about it. At the beginning of mathematical instruction, too, the teacher must exert himself to convince the pupil of the axiomatic character of certain principles. But no one will maintain that the content of the axioms is in any way made dependent on these 290]prior discussions of their axiomatic character. 21 In exactly the same way, the epistemologist, in his introductory remarks, ought to show the method by which we can reach a starting-point free from all presuppositions. But the real content of the starting-point ought to be independent of the reflections by which it is discovered. There is, most certainly, a wide difference between such an introduction to the Theory of Knowledge and Kant's way of beginning with affirmations of quite definite, dogmatic character. 291]

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VI

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT PRESUPPOSITIONS VERSUS FICHTE'S THEORY OF SCIENCE

So far, we have determined the idea of knowledge. This idea is given immediately in the human consciousness whenever it functions cognitively. To the "Ego," as the centre[[[ 1 of consciousness, are given immediately external and internal perceptions, as well as its own existence. The Ego feels impelled to find more in the Given than it immediately contains. Over against the given world, a second world, the world of thinking, unfolds itself for the Ego and the Ego unites these two by realising, of its own free will, the idea of knowledge which we have determined. This accounts for the fundamental difference between the way in which in the objects of human consciousness itself the concept and the Immediately-Given unite to form Reality in its wholeness, and the way 330]in which their union obtains in the rest of the world-content. For every other part of the world-content we must assume that the union of the two factors is original and necessary from the first, and that it is only for cognition, when cognition begins, that an artificial separation has supervened, but that cognition in the end undoes the separation in keeping with the original and essential unity of the object-world. For consciousness the case is quite otherwise. Here the union exists only when it is achieved by the living activity of consciousness itself. With every other kind of object, the separation of the two factors is significant, not for the object, but only for knowledge. Their union is here original, their separation derivative. Cognition effects a separation only because it must first separate before it can achieve union by its own methods. But, for consciousness, the Concept and the Given are originally separate. Union is here derivative, and that is why cognition has the character which we have described. Just because in consciousness Idea and Given appear in separation, does the whole of reality split itself for consciousness into these two factors. And, again, just because consciousness can bring about the union of the two factors only by its own activity, can it reach full reality only by performing the act of cognition. The remaining categories (ideas) would be necessarily united with the corresponding lands of the Given, even if they were not 331]taken up into cognition. But the idea of cognition can be united with the Given which corresponds to it, only by the activity of consciousness. Real consciousness exists only in realising itself. With these remarks we believe ourselves to be sufficiently equipped for laying bare the root-error of Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre and, at the same time, for supplying the key to the understanding of it. Fichte is among all Kant's successors the one who has felt most vividly that nothing but a theory of consciousness can supply the foundation for all the sciences. But he never clearly understood why this is so. He felt that the act which we have called the second step in the Theory of Knowledge and which we have formulated as a postulate, must really be performed by the "Ego." This may be seen, e.g., from the following passage. "The Theory of Science, then, arises, as itself a systematic discipline, just as do all possible sciences in so far as they are systematic, through a certain act of freedom, the determinate function of which is, more particularly, to make us conscious of the characteristic activity of intelligence as such. The result of this free act is that the necessary activity of intelligence, which in itself already is form, is further taken up as matter into a fresh form of cognition or consciousness." 2 What does Fichte here mean by the activity of the "intelligence," 332]when we translate what he has obscurely felt into clear concepts? Nothing but the realisation of the idea of knowledge, taking place in consciousness. Had this been perfectly clear to Fichte, he ought to have expressed his view simply by saying, "It is the task of the Theory of Science to bring cognition, in so far as it is still an unreflective activity of the 'Ego,' into reflective consciousness; it has to show that the realisation of the idea of cognition in actual fact is a necessary activity of the 'Ego.' "

Fichte tries to determine the activity of the "Ego." He declares "that the being, the essence of which consists solely in this that it posits itself as existing, is the Ego as absolute subject."[[[ 3 This positing of the Ego is for Fichte the original, unconditioned act "which lies at the basis of all the rest of consciousness." 4 It follows that the Ego, in Fichte's sense, can likewise begin all its activity only through an absolute fiat of the will. But, it is impossible for Fichte to supply any sort of content for this activity which his "Ego" absolutely posits. For, Fichte can name nothing upon which this activity might direct itself, or by which it might be determined. His Ego is supposed to perform an act. Yes, but what is it to do? Fichte failed to define the concept of cognition which the Ego is to realise, and, in consequence, he struggled in vain to find any way of advancing from his 333]absolute act to the detailed determinations of the Ego. Nay, in the end he declares that the inquiry into the manner of this advance lies outside the scope of his theory. In his deduction of the idea of cognition he starts neither from an absolute act of the Ego, nor from one of the Non-Ego, but from a state of being determined which is, at the same time, an act of determining. His reason for this is that nothing else either is, or can be, immediately contained in consciousness. His theory leaves it wholly vague what determines, in turn, this determination. And it is this vagueness which drives us on beyond Fichte's theory into the practical part of the Wissenschaftslehre. 5 But, by this turn Fichte destroys all knowledge whatsoever. For, the practical activity of the Ego belongs to quite a different sphere. The postulate which we have put forward above can, indeed, be realised-so much is clear-only by a free act of the Ego. But, if this act is to be a cognitive act, the all-important point is that its voluntary decision should be to realise the idea of cognition. It is, no doubt, true that the Ego by its own free will can do many other things as well. But, what matters for the epistemological foundation of the sciences is not a definition of what it is for the Ego to be free, but of what it is to know. Fichte has allowed himself to be too much influenced by his subjective tendency 334]to present the freedom of human personality in the brightest light. Harms, in his address on The Philosophy of Fichte (p. 15), rightly remarks, "His world-view is predominantly and exclusively ethical, and the same character is exhibited by his Theory of Knowledge." Knowledge would have absolutely nothing to do, if all spheres of reality were given in their totality. But, seeing that the Ego, so long as it has not been, by thinking, inserted into its place in the systematic whole of the world-picture, exists merely as an immediately-given something, it is not enough merely to point out what it does. Fichte, however, believes that all we need to do concerning the Ego is to seek and find it. "We have to seek and find the absolutely first, wholly unconditioned principle of all human knowledge. Being absolutely first, this principle admits neither of proof nor of determination." 6 We have seen that proof and determination are out of place solely as applied to the content of Pure Logic. But the Ego is a part of reality, and this makes it necessary to establish that this or that category is actually to be found in the Given. Fichte has failed to do this. And this is the reason why he has given such a mistaken form to his Theory of Science. Zeller remarks 7 that the logical formulæ by means of which Fichte seeks to reach the 335]concept of the Ego, do but ill disguise his predetermined purpose at any price to reach this starting-point for his theory. This comment applies to the first form (1794) which Fichte gave to his Wissenschaftslehre. Taking it, then, as established that Fichte, in keeping with the whole trend of his philosophical thinking, could not, in fact, rest content with any other starting-point for knowledge than an absolute and arbitrary act, we have the choice between only two ways of making this start intelligible. The one way was to seize upon some one among the empirical activities of consciousness and to strip off, one by one, all the characteristics of it which do not follow originally from its essential nature, until the pure concept of the Ego had been crystallised out. The other way was to begin, straightway, with the original activity of the Ego, and to exhibit its nature by introspection and reflection. Fichte followed the first way at the outset of his philosophical thinking, but in the course of it he gradually switched over to the other.

Basing himself upon Kant's "synthesis of transcendental apperception," Fichte concluded that the whole activity of the Ego in the synthesis of the matter of experience proceeds according to the forms of the judgment. To judge is to connect a predicate with a subject-an act of which the purely formal expression is [[ a = a. This proposition would be impossible if the x which connects predicate and subject, did not 336]rest upon a power to affirm unconditionally. For, the proposition does not mean, " a exists"; it means, "if a exists, then there exists a." Thus, a is most certainly not affirmed absolutely. Hence, if there is to be an absolute, unconditionally valid affirmation, there is no alternative but to declare the act of affirming itself to be absolute. Whereas a is conditioned, the affirming of a is unconditioned. This affirming is the act of the Ego which, thus, possesses the power to affirm absolutely and without conditions. In the proposition, a = a, the one a is affirmed only on condition of the other being presupposed. Moreover, the affirming is an act of the Ego. "If a is affirmed in the Ego, it is affirmed." 8 This connection is possible only on condition that there is in the Ego something always self-identical, which effects the transition from the one a to the other. The above-mentioned x is this self-identical aspect of the Ego. The Ego which affirms the one a is the same Ego as that which affirms the other a. This is to say Ego = Ego. But this proposition, expressed in judgment-form, "If the Ego is, it is," is meaningless. For, the Ego is not affirmed on condition of another Ego having been presupposed, but it presupposes itself. In short, the Ego is absolute and unconditioned. The hypothetical judgment-form which is the form of all judgments, so long as the absolute Ego is not presupposed, 337]changes for the Ego into the form of the categorical affirmation of existence, " I am unconditionally." Fichte has another way of putting this: "the Ego originally affirms its own existence." 9 Clearly, this whole deduction is nothing but a sort of elementary school-drill by means of which Fichte tries to lead his readers to the point at which they will perceive for themselves the unconditioned activity of the Ego. His aim is to put clearly before their eyes that fundamental activity of the Ego in the absence of which there is no such thing as an Ego at all.

Let us now look back, once more, over Fichte's line of thought. On closer inspection, it becomes obvious that it contains a leap-a leap, moreover, which throws grave doubts upon the correctness of his theory of the original act of the Ego. What precisely is it that is absolute in the affirmation of the Ego? Take the judgment, "If [[ a exists, then there exists a." The a is affirmed by the Ego. So far there is no room for doubt. But, though the act is unconditioned, yet the Ego must affirm something in particular. It cannot affirm an "activity in general and as such"; it can affirm only a particular, determinate activity. In short, the affirmation must have a content. But, it cannot derive this content from itself, for else we should get nothing but affirmations of acts of affirmation in infinitum. Hence, 338]there must be something which is realised by this affirming, by this absolute activity of the Ego. If the Ego does not seize upon something given in order to affirm it, it can do nothing at all, and, consequently, it cannot affirm either. This is proved, too, by Fichte's proposition, "the Ego affirms its own existence." "Existence," here, is a category. Thus, we are back at our own position: the activity of the Ego consists in that it affirms, of its own free will, the concepts and ideas inherent in the Given. If Fichte had not unconsciously been determined to exhibit the Ego as "existing," he would have got nowhere at all. If, instead, he had built up the concept of cognition, he would have reached the true starting-point of the Theory of Knowledge, viz., "The Ego affirms the act of cognition." Because Fichte failed to make clear to himself what determines the activity of the Ego, he fixed simply upon the affirmation of its own existence as the character of that activity. But, this is at once to restrict the absolute activity of the Ego. For, if nothing is unconditioned except the Ego's affirmation of its own existence, then every other activity of the Ego is conditioned. Moreover, the way is cut off for passing from the unconditioned to the conditioned. If the Ego is unconditioned only in the affirmation of its own existence, then at once there is cut off all possibility of affirming by an original act anything other than its own existence. Hence, the necessity arises to 339]assign a ground for all the other activities of the Ego. But Fichte, as we have seen above, sought for such a ground in vain.

This is the reason why he shifted to the second of the two ways, indicated above, for the deduction of the Ego. Already in 1797, in his [[ Erste Einleitung in die Wissenschaftslehre, he recommends self-observation as the right method for studying the Ego in its true, original character. "Observe and watch thyself, turn thy eye away from all that surrounds thee and look into thyself-this is the first demand which philosophy makes upon its disciple. The topic of our discourse, is, not anything outside thyself, but thyself alone." 10 This introduction to the Theory of Science is, in truth, in one way much superior to the other. For, self-observation does not make us acquainted with the activity of the Ego one-sidedly in a fixed direction. It exhibits that activity, not merely as affirming its own existence, but as striving, in its many-sided development, to comprehend by thinking the world-content which is immediately-given. To self-observation, the Ego reveals itself as engaged in building up its world-picture by the synthesis of the Given with concepts. But, anyone who has not accompanied us in our line of thought above, and who, consequently, does not know that the Ego can grasp the whole content of reality only on condition of applying its Thought-Forms 340]to the Given, is liable to regard cognition as a mere process of spinning the world out of the Ego itself. Hence, for Fichte the world-picture tends increasingly to become a construction of the Ego. He emphasises more and more that the main point in the Wissenschaftslehre is to awaken the sense which is able to watch the Ego in this constructing of its world. He who is able thus to watch stands, for Fichte, on a higher level of knowledge than he who has eyes only for the finished construct, the ready-made world. If we fix our eyes only on the world of objects, we fail to perceive that, but for the creative activity of the Ego, that world would not exist. If, on the other hand, we watch the Ego in its constructive activity, we understand the ground of the finished world-picture. We know how it has come to be what it is. We understand it as the conclusion for which we have the premises. The ordinary consciousness sees only what has been affirmed, what has been determined thus or thus. It lacks the insight into the premises, into the grounds why an affirmation is just as it is and not otherwise. To mediate the knowledge of these premises is, according to Fichte, the task of a wholly new sense. This is expressed most clearly in the Einleitungsvorlesungen in die Wissenschaftslehre. 11 "My theory presupposes 341]a wholly novel inward sense-organ, by means of which a new world is given which does not exist for the ordinary man at all." Or, again, "The world of this novel sense, and thereby this sense itself, are hereby for the present clearly determined: it is the world in which we see the premises on which is grounded the judgment, 'Something exists'; it is the ground of existence which, just because it is the ground of existence, cannot, in its turn, be said to be or to be an existence." 12

But, here, too, Fichte lacks clear insight into the activity of the Ego. He has never worked his way through to it. That is why his [ Wissenschaftslehre could not become what else, from its whole design, it ought to have become, viz., a Theory of Knowledge as the fundamental discipline of philosophy. For, after it had once been recognised that the activity of the Ego must be affirmed by the Ego itself, it was very easy to think that the activity receives its determination also from the Ego. But how else can this happen except we assign a content to the purely formal activity of the Ego? If the Ego is really to import a content into its activity which, else, is wholly undetermined, then the nature of that content must also be determined. For, failing this, it could at best be realised only by some "thing-in-itself" in the Ego, of which the Ego would be the instrument, but not by the Ego itself. If 342]Fichte had attempted to furnish this determination, he would have been led to the concept of cognition which it is the task of the Ego to realise. Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre proves that even the acutest thinker fails to make fruitful contributions to any philosophical discussion, unless he lays hold of the correct Thought-Form (category, idea) which, supplemented by the Given, yields reality. Such a thinker is like a man who fails to hear the most glorious melodies which are being played for him, because he has no ear for tunes. If we are to determine the nature of consciousness, as given, we must be able to rise to, and make our own, the "idea of consciousness."

But, what Fichte forgot was the consideration that the Ego cannot make any genuine, well-grounded decision or choice, unless something is presupposed which helps the Ego to choose. All the Ego's attempts at determination remain empty and without content, if the Ego does not find something wholly determinate and full of content, which enables it to determine the Given, and thereby also to choose between Idealism and Dogmatism. This "something wholly determinate and full of content" is, precisely, the world of Thought. And the determination of the Given by thinking is, precisely, what we call cognition. We may take Fichte where we please-everywhere we find that his line of thought at once gets meaning and substance, as soon as we conceive his grey, empty activity of the Ego to be filled and regulated by what we have called "the process of cognition."

The fact that the Ego is free to enter into activity out of itself, makes it possible for it, by free self-determination, to realise the category of cognition, whereas in the rest of the world all categories are connected by objective necessity with the Given which corresponds to them. The investigation of the nature of free self-determination will be the task of Ethics and Metaphysics, based on our Theory of Knowledge. These disciplines, too, will have to debate the question whether [[ 344]the Ego is able to realise other ideas, besides the idea of cognition. But, that the realisation of the idea of cognition issues from a free act has been made sufficiently clear in the course of our discussions above. For, the synthesis, effected by the Ego, of the Immediately-Given and of the Form of Thought appropriate to it, which two factors of reality remain otherwise always divorced from each other in consciousness, can be brought about only by an act of freedom. Moreover, our arguments throw, in another way, quite a fresh light on Critical Idealism. To any close student of Fichte's system it will appear as if Fichte cared for nothing so much as for the defence of the proposition, that nothing can enter the Ego from without, that nothing can appear in the Ego which was not the Ego's own original creation. Now, it is beyond all dispute that no type of Idealism will ever be able to derive from within the Ego that form of the world-content which we have called "the Immediately-Given." For, this form can only be given; it can never be constructed by thinking. In proof of this, it is enough to reflect that, even if the whole series of colours were given to us except one, we should not be able to fill in that one out of the bare Ego. We can form an image of the most remote countries, though we have never seen them, provided we have once personally experienced, as given, the details which go to form the image. We then build up the total picture, according 345]to the instructions supplied to us, out of the particular facts which we have ourselves experienced. But we shall strive in vain to invent out of ourselves even a single perceptual element which has never appeared within the sphere of what has been given to us. It is one thing to be merely acquainted with the world; it is another to have knowledge of its essential nature. This nature, for all that it is closely identified with the world-content, does not become clear to us unless we build up reality ourselves out of the Given and the Forms of Thought. The real "what" of the Given comes to be affirmed for the Ego only through the Ego itself. The Ego would have no occasion to affirm the nature of the Given for itself, if it did not find itself confronted at the outset by the Given in wholly indeterminate form. Thus, the essential nature of the world is affirmed, not apart from, but through, the Ego.

Our Theory of Knowledge supplies the basis for an Idealism which, in the true sense of the word, understands itself. It supplies good grounds for the conviction that thinking brings home to us the essential nature of the world. Nothing but thinking can exhibit the relations of the parts of the world-content, be it the relation of the heat of the sun to the stone which it warms, or the relation of the Ego to the external world. Thinking alone has the function of determining all things in their relations to each other.

The objection might still be urged by the followers of Kant, that the determination, above-described, of the Given holds, after all, only [ for the Ego. Our reply must be, consistently with our principles, that the distinction between Ego and Outer World, too, holds only within the Given, and that, therefore, it is irrelevant to insist on the phrase, "for the Ego," in the face of the activity of thinking which unites all opposites. The Ego, as divorced from the outer world, disappears completely in the process of thinking out the nature of the world. Hence it becomes meaningless still to talk of determinations which hold only for the Ego. 347]

[ Contents]

VII

CONCLUDING REMARKS: EPISTEMOLOGICAL

We have laid the foundations of the Theory of Knowledge as the science of the significance of all human knowledge. It alone clears up for us the relation of the contents of the separate sciences to the world. It enables us, with the help of the sciences, to attain to a philosophical world-view. Positive knowledge is acquired by us through particular cognitions; what the value of our knowledge is, considered as knowledge of reality, we learn through the Theory of Knowledge. By holding fast strictly to this principle, and by employing no particular cognitions in our argumentation, we have transcended all one-sided world-views. One-sidedness, as a rule, results from the fact that the inquiry, instead of concentrating on the process of cognition itself, busies itself about some object of that process. If our arguments are sound, [ Dogmatism must abandon its "thing-in-itself" as fundamental principle, and Subjective Idealism its "Ego," for both these owe their determinate natures in their relation to each other first to thinking. Scepticism must give up its doubts whether 348]the world can be known, for there is no room for doubt with reference to the "Given," because it is as yet untouched by any of the predicates which cognition confers on it. On the other hand, if Scepticism were to assert that thinking can never apprehend things as they are, its assertion, being itself possible only through thinking, would be self-contradictory. For, to justify doubt by thinking is to admit by implication that thinking can produce grounds sufficient to establish certainty. Lastly, our theory of knowledge transcends both one-sided Empiricism and one-sided Rationalism in uniting both at a higher level. Thus it does justice to both. It justifies Empiricism by showing that all positive knowledge about the Given is obtainable only through direct contact with the Given. And Rationalism, too, receives its due in our argument, seeing that we hold thinking to be the necessary and exclusive instrument of knowledge.

The world-view which has the closest affinity to ours, as we have here built it up on epistemological foundations, is that of A. E. Biedermann.[ 1 But Biedermann requires for the justification of his point of view dogmatic theses which are quite out of place in Theory of Knowledge. Thus, e.g., he works with the concepts of Being, Substance, Space, Time, 349]etc., without having first analysed the cognitive process by itself. Instead of establishing the fact that the cognitive process consists, to begin with, only of the two elements, the Given and Thought, he talks of the Kinds of Being of the real. For example, in Section 15, he says: "Every content of consciousness includes within itself two fundamental facts-it presents to us, as given, two kinds of Being which we contrast with each other as sensuous and spiritual, thing-like and idea-like, Being." And in Section 19: "Whatever has a spatio-temporal existence, exists materially; that which is the ground of all existence and the subject of life has an idea-like existence, is real as having an ideal Being." This sort of argument belongs, not to the Theory of Knowledge, but to Metaphysics, which latter presupposes Theory of Knowledge as its foundation. We must admit that Biedermann's doctrine has many points of similarity with ours; but our method has not a single point of contact with his. Hence, we have had no occasion to compare our position directly with his. Biedermann's aim is to gain an epistemological standpoint with the help of a few metaphysical axioms. Our aim is to reach, through an analysis of the process of cognition, a theory of reality.

[ Contents]

VIII

CONCLUDING REMARKS: PRACTICAL

The aim of the preceding discussions has been to throw light on the relation of our personality, as knower, to the objective world. What does it signify for us to possess knowledge and science? This was the question to which we sought the answer.

We have seen that it is just in our knowing that the innermost kernel of the world manifestly reveals itself. The harmony, subject to law, which reigns throughout the whole world, reveals itself precisely in human cognition.

It is, therefore, part of the destiny of man to elevate the fundamental laws of the world, which do indeed regulate the whole of existence but which would never become existent in themselves, into the realm of realities which appear. This precisely is the essential nature of knowledge that in it the world-ground is made manifest which in the object-world can never be discovered. Knowing is-metaphorically speaking-a continual merging of one's life into the world-ground.

Such a view is bound to throw light also on our practical attitude towards life. [ 352]

Our conduct is, in its whole character, determined by our moral ideals. These are the ideas we have of our tasks in life, or, in other words, of the ends which we set ourselves to achieve by our action.

Our conduct is a part of the total world-process. Consequently, it, too, is subject to the universal laws which regulate this process.

Now, every event in the universe has two sides which must be distinguished: its external sequence in time and space, and its internal conformity to law.

The apprehension of this conformity of human conduct to law is but a special case of knowledge. Hence, the conclusions at which we have arrived concerning the nature of knowledge must apply to this sort of knowledge, too. To apprehend oneself as a person who acts is to possess the relevant laws of conduct, [ i.e., the moral concepts and ideals, in the form of knowledge. It is this knowledge of the conformity of our conduct to law which makes our conduct truly ours. For, in that case, the conformity is given, not as external to the object in which the action appears, but as the very substance of the object engaged in living activity. The "object," here, is our own Ego. If the Ego has with its knowledge really penetrated the essential nature of conduct, then it feels that it is thereby master of its conduct. Short of this, the laws of conduct confront us as something external. They master us. What we achieve, we achieve under the 353]compulsion which they wield over us. But this compulsion ceases, as soon as their alien character has been transformed into the Ego's very own activity. Thereafter, the law no longer rules over us, but rules in us over the actions which issue from our Ego. To perform an act in obedience to a law which is external to the agent is to be unfree. To perform it in obedience to the agent's own law is to be free. To gain knowledge of the laws of one's own conduct is to become conscious of one's freedom. The process of cognition is, thus, according to our arguments, the process of the development of freedom.

Not all human conduct has this character. There are many cases in which we do not know the laws of our conduct. This part of our conduct is the unfree part of our activity. Over against it stands the part the laws of which we make completely our own. This is the realm of freedom. It is only in so far as our life falls into this realm that it can be called moral. To transform the actions which are unfree into actions which are free-this is the task of self-development for every individual, this is likewise the task of the whole human race.

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""If we want to achieve a living understanding of nature, we must become as flexible and mobile as nature herself." - Goethe"

The poet and scientist Goethe developed a new approach to science that weds exact thinking and observation with qualitative and aesthetic sensibility. The Nature Institute is inspired by this approach, and in education programs it aims to open up this new way of seeing for others.

We often view science as a discipline that deals with the world in cool and distant objectivity, gaining understanding of the world through experiments and instruments that overcome human limitations. Goethe wrote provocatively that the human being is the "best and most exact scientific instrument." He realized that in order to better fathom the wisdom and depths of the world, we need to transform ourselves and adapt our modes of inquiry to the phenomena we are considering.

Much today stands in the way of this approach. We form abstract concepts about the world that we take often to be more real than the things themselves. Filled with our own predilections, we attend to how the world actually appears and how we are interacting with it. And our life becomes increasingly mediated by instruments and devices, we lose faith in our sense experiences and in our ability to discern.

To counteract these habits of mind, The Nature Institute's adult education programs emphasize immediate experience and practice. Participants practice observation: observation of natural phenomena, observation of thought processes, and observation of how we form judgments about the world. And this observing always involves doing - getting out into nature and observing and drawing plants; painting elements of a landscape; drawing geometric forms that "track" a progression of thought. By weaving together reflection and observation, taking in and actively creating, science and art, we bring ourselves into inner movement, and transformation begins. Our own process of knowing becomes more transparent and nature shows herself from new sides.

Since 2002, our courses have attracted participants from many professions - including educators (kindergarten through university), farmers, artists, scientists, and environmental activists - as well as college and graduate students.

As a course participant has remarked, "It is such a gentle Aha! experience for me - a peeling away of a veil or film that has covered my eyes for years. It again gives me context and tools for seeing the familiar in a deeper and more penetrating way."
Read other comments from course participants
You may also be interested in reading about a comprehensive survey that we conducted in 2009 to assess the effects of our courses and publications on the lives of participants over a six-year follow-up period.

Different Types of Programs

This 15-month long low-residency course empowers participants to build a foundation for themselves in the Goethean approach to science. It begins in the early spring with several online discussions and meetings before the first two-week summer intensive at the Institute, followed by a year of intensive study and mentoring and a final two-week intensive at the institute.

Coming Alive to Nature courses integrate exercises in critical and imaginative thinking, nature observation, and artistic activities.

We offer special coursesfor different professional groups. They provide individuals with opportunities to develop practical skills and to gain new perspectives in their areas of expertise. Here are some examples:

In addition, we give courses at other venues, nationally and internationally, on topics related to Goethean science and education.

See our Events calendar for upcoming and past offerings

Institute staff and guest teachers offer workshops and talks that span a wide array of topics such as: evolution, whole organism biology, metamorphosis, projective geometry, light and color, water agriculture, soil & composting, mathematics, and astronomy.

See our Events calendar for upcoming and past offerings

We offer fellowship opportunities on an individual basis for people seriously interested in developing the practices of Goethean phenomenology in their own field of work.

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Education Programs: Overview & Approach - The Nature Institute

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The poet and scientist Goethe developed a new approach to science that weds exact thinking and observation with qualitative and aesthetic sensibility. The Nature Institute is inspired by this approach, and in education programs it aims to open up this new way of seeing for others.

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https://jpibiodynamics.org/products/tree-harmonizer?_pos=2&_sid=0e3bceed0&_ss=r

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The tree harmonizer preparation contains BC, BD #500, BD #501 or BD #501X, and BD #508. This preparation helps balance trees so they can regain their role as “cosmic harmonizers” to allow for greater penetration of cosmic energies. In ancient times, trees were known as “cosmic harmonizers” because of their abilities to

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Christopher Bamford shares this on page 75

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Thank you Christopher Bamford, Beautiful servant of humanity.

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https://youtu.be/DSwxoJHJ4EI
A very touching and well done video I thought

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Notes & thoughts coming after a lecture heard in 2015 or so. 6 exercises as part of a way forward??

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Notes & thoughts coming after a lecture heard in 2015 or so. 6 exercises as part of a way forward??

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A Prayer initiative is starting up  with the New Moon on Monday, May 2nd. It will be 15 minutes  Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:30 Mountain time. (2:30 pm Eastern time). We will to ask for blessings and offer thankfulness.

Come when you can in person or in spirit.

Send requests for blessings or offerings of thanksgiving when you have the need whether or not you can attend in person.

If interested, please email Diane at mcgary.family@comcast.net  for zoom link.

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from Lark: resources shared 4/27/22: Harmony/Inner Balance

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from Lark: resources shared 4/27/22: Harmony/Inner Balance

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Shared on Monday 4-25-22, Day 1 of Inner Balance/Peace/Thanking

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Shared on Monday 4-25-22, Day 1 of Inner Balance/Peace/Thanking

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On Gratitude

The more you become a connoisseur of gratitude, the less you are a victim of resentment, depression, and despair. Gratitude will act as an elixir that will gradually dissolve the hard shell of your ego--your need to possess and control--and will transform you into a generous being. The sense of gratitude produces true spiritual alchemy, makes us magnanimous--large souled. Sam Keen

THE GUEST HOUSE
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

— Jalaluddin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks (The Essential Rumi)

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Karen read this as closing on April 26. So good!

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Karen read this as closing on April 26. So good!

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INSIDE THIS CLAY JUG
A POEM BY KABIR, TRANSLATION BY ROBERT BLY

Inside this clay jug
there are canyons and
pine mountains,
and the maker of canyons
and pine mountains!

All seven oceans are inside,
and hundreds of millions of stars.

The acid that tests gold is here,
and the one who judges jewels.

And the music
that comes from the strings
that no one touches,
and the source of all water.

If you want the truth, I will tell you the truth:
Friend, listen: the God whom I love is inside.

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Shared on Thursday, 4-21-22: “God Has Planted….”

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Shared on Thursday, 4-21-22: “God Has Planted….”

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God has planted in your heart the desire to search for him. Do not look at your weaknesses but focus on the search. Every seeker is worthy of this search. Strive to redouble your efforts, so that your soul may escape from this material prison.

Rumi

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My Resources
Don Miguel Adams
https://www.miguelruiz.com/the-four-agreements
Mary Stewart Adams
https://storytellersnightsky.com/about
To Wonder at Beauty
https://artofhomeschooling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Verses-by-Rudolf-Steiner.pdf
To Wonder at Beauty and other verses
https://artofhomeschooling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Verses-by-Rudolf-Steiner.pdf
Sponsor of CRAFT speaker meeting Tuesday evening
https://www.drugcrisisinourbackyard.org/
Organic Thinking and Mark Riccio
https://www.organicthinking.org/
Cynthia Hoven – Holy Week
https://eurythmyonline.com/category/festival/holy-week/holy-week-2020/.

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Right Effort and Striving on Wednesday April 20,2022. I will attempt to attach my slides and then copy and paste my list of resources.
Thank you everyone for your kindness, patience, and support.

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Shared on Tues, Day 122, Right Endeavor/Habit on Right Deed Day

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Shared on Tues, Day 122, Right Endeavor/Habit on Right Deed Day

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Right Endeavor as a continuum of doing what lies within one's powers based on ones' skills, talents and abilities changes based on life circumstance, age, etc. The space between "doing nothing which is outside one's powers (inflation) and leaving nothing undone that lies within them (death forces) fluctuates. The practice of 8 fold path and 6BE can bring balance to our striving, hopefully with self-empathy and grace. Think about a time when you had the courage to call for the aid of the ever- present help of the spiritual world when faced with a daunting task that may have seemed impossible. Closing reading: Medicine Cards book by Jamie Sams & David Carson. Rose had drawn a Medicine Card while thinking of the group heading to gather in honor of Sophia on Indigenous Lands. OTTER. "Otter is Woman medicine: ...So playful, coquettes by the stream. The medicine of woman, The Realized Dream. The medicine held by Otter is a set of lessons in female energy. This applies to both men and women, as all of us have female sides. The Otter's hide is very often used as medicine bags...because it represents balanced female energy. Otter is very caring of its young and will play for hours, performing all types of acrobatics. It lives on land, but always has its home near water. The elements of Earth and Water are the female elements. At home in both of these elements, Otter is...always on the move and very curious*. " (*Awake - my interpretation) "Unlike other animals, Otter will not start a fight unless it is attacked first. This joyful little creature is adventuresome and assumes that all other creatures are friendly - until proven otherwise. These character traits are the beauty of a balanced female side, the side of ourselves that creates a space for others to enter our lives without preconceptions or suspicions. Otter teaches us that balanced female energy is not jealous or catty. It is sisterhood, content to enjoy and share the good fortune of others. Anchored in the understanding that all accomplishments are worthwhile for the whole tribe, Otter people express joy for others. Long ago, in tribal law, if a woman were widowed, her sister would offer her own husband to the widow as a lover to keep her from drying up and not using her creative urges. This is Otter medicine, too. Envy, or the fear of being replaced, has no space in Otter's balanced understanding of sharing goodness. Woman energy without games or control is a beautiful experience. It is the freeness of love without jealousy. It is the joy of loving other people's children and their accomplishments as much as you love your own....It means keeping a Hawk-eye on your ego and maintaining total trust. It means a world full of people coming together to honor the right of each person to be. Have you received any messages in your meditations? In looking at how to learn from Otter habits, you might look at the joyousness of the receptive side of your nature. Have you given yourself a gift recently? Become Otter and move gently into the river of life. Flow with the waters of the Universe...this is the way of balanced female-receptive energy. Honor it! In doing so, you will discover the power of... Sophia*. (*my change from "woman") Love, Rose

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Shared on Monday, Day 121 of our practice!

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Shared on Monday, Day 121 of our practice!

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Hello everyone,
I thought I put this on the padlet last Friday and cannot find it, so will try again.
Thank you everyone for all you bring to our 6BE practice time together - your presence, your opening and closing thoughts, and your contributions.  For those new and to those who did not receive my e-mail that I forwarded to our 6BE Noon ET shared e-mail friends on Friday with Cynthia Hoven's Good Friday message, if you would like to be added to the 6BE Noon ET shared e-mail list, let me know. I keep two e-mail lists for our group depending on your individual preference:
1. General e-mail list (default) - for updates about the 6BE Noon ET meetings. E-mail is not shared and blind copy used.

2. Shared e-mail list for those who have said they are fine with receiving updates and related information. And that their e-mail can be shared with others.
If you would like to be added or changed,

send me an e-mail sharleenleonard61@gmail.com
and let me know what you would prefer.
Thank you,  Sharleen

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Good Friday reading https://mailchi.mp/a8afbe51eb1c/friday-of-holy-week from Cynthia Hoven via Elizabeth Carney. Blessings and Buona pasqua (happy easter).

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Good Friday reading https://mailchi.mp/a8afbe51eb1c/friday-of-holy-week from Cynthia Hoven via Elizabeth Carney. Blessings and Buona pasqua (happy easter).

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The Journey through Holy Week
A Deep Immersion into the Archetypes of the Planets
FRIDAY, THE DAY OF GREATEST LOVE

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Thank you for an inspiring Good Friday message on open mindedness today Robyn and Christoph. Thank you for what you read Elizabeth and what you sang Peter.
I keep our 6BE Noon ET e-mail list and have not mentioned this lately.
For those who would like to be added to the 6BE Noon ET e-mail list for updates and/or related information, let me know sharleenleonard61@gmail.com and send me your e-mail
I keep two different e-mail lists for our group:
General - (default) blind copy and updates about our meetings.
Shared - (for those who agree and let me know) Updates and related information. Not blind copied, unless also sent to the general group.
If you received my e-mail forward with Cynthia Hoven's Good Friday message, you are on my shared e-mail list.
You can ask to be removed or changed at any time. You may need to tell me twice, and usually not more than twice.
Many blessings as we experience Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday from the perspective of anthroposophy and our connection with each other,

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“The music that exists in the spiritual world is entirely spiritual. Earthly music is merely its projection into the terrestrial air.”

“Stand at the gate of the living human being. View in its arch stones cosmic thoughts. Live deep within the human soul. Feel at its center the birth of worlds. Think upon the human being’s earthly ending. Find there renewal of the spirit.”

The Easter Festival in the Evolution of the Mysteries, 4 lectures by Rudolf Steiner given in Dornach on April 20, 1924 (part of CW 233a)

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Andrew Wolpert's talk on Forgiveness. (Tracking down a recording, if there is one.) & Grief Recovery Method book.

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Regardless of the cause of your loss, I'll bet you're not feeling very good.

Did a death, divorce, or the end of a romantic relationship cause your pain? Or was it caused by any of the forty other losses that a person might experience such as moving, pet loss or a change in finances?

Did you know that grief is cumulative? If you wait, thinking that time will help, you may find that unprocessed grief has only lead to some bad habits like eating too much, drinking too much, anger, isolation, etc. Waiting for time to heal is like waiting for a time bomb to go off.

Don't wait any longer.

Time alone will not heal your broken heart.

Join me on this journey together in a small group environment to move yourself through the Grief Recovery Method®!

The Grief Recovery Method process has been developed and refined over the past 40 years. It teaches you how to recover from loss and release the pain you have carried over from a recent loss or one that occurred long ago.

Join us in a safe, supportive small group environment to learn how to take the actions that will help you recover from your loss. You will be given specific tools to help you recover from loss and ultimately lead to a happier life.

During the 8-week in person program, you will complete a series of small action steps, such as looking at our beliefs and dismissing myths that do not work. In taking these actions you will be able to complete the pain caused by a loss and be able to move forward much easier.

Recovery from loss is accomplished by discovering and completing all of the undelivered communications that accrue in relationships. Most of us would "let go" or "move on" after a loss if we knew how to do that!

8 week program begins Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Class meets from 4:30pm - 6:30 pm Pacific

Class will be held on ZOOM (class will be limited to 8)

Support in between classes text and phone call if needed

Support on special and anniversary days of loved ones

20th Edition of the Grief Recovery Method Handbook

I hope that you give yourself this gift of freedom from pain that may be affecting you in your life! I will be here every step of the way with you to create the safe and confidential space to do this work and be free of pain.

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Grief Recovery Method® Group Coaching - Growing Through Grief

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Did a death, divorce, or the end of a romantic relationship cause your pain? Or was it caused by any of the forty other losses that a person might experience such as moving, pet loss or a change in finances? Did you know that grief is cumulative?

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From Rudolf Steiner's Guidance in Esoteric Training (p.162-3):"But we should also be grateful to the gods for our faults, since battling with them makes us strong and free." ; )
From Sergei Prokofieff"s Occult Significance of Forgiveness:
George Ritchie's recollection in his book Return from Tomorrow, of Concentration Camp inmate 'Wild Bill Cody's' decision not to hate but to forgive the murderers of his family; rather to live his life loving every person he came in contact with.
& quotes from Marie Steiner's letter of reconciliation to the Anthroposophical Society published Dec 12, 1942, where she felt the A.S. must strengthen its moral substance through forgiveness.: "And yet, miracles can still happen. They happen when the moral substance is of such strength that it can make a miracle possible. What can we do to rescue our moral substance? We can forgive! Everyone can forgive what lies within him to forgive. We can forget what ought to be forgotten instead of rummaging about amongst old injustices. We could draw a line beneath all the old stories that wear us down and which, either because we are young or are no longer involved, we are not in a position to get to the bottom of. ...The resolve to overcome oneself should be consciously taken hold of by the community. Clearly and willingly.
she also wrote: It seems to me that this (forgetting and forgiving) offers us the only possibility for our purification–as a society and as individuals.

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Today's www.gratefulness.org word for the day felt appropriate to share:

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Today's www.gratefulness.org word for the day felt appropriate to share:

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The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe. ~ Joanna Macy

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It is a wise person who can entertain a thought without believing it. Aristotle

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Sorry to be missing you all a bit. Wanted to add this lovely photo, though. - 

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Sorry to be missing you all a bit. Wanted to add this lovely photo, though. - 

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https://fb.watch/c7iIQcbPAm/

If you put this link in facebook, you will see such an amazing array of monarch butterflies that I just wanted to share it.

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Song that Peter sang this morning. Thank you Julie and Peter.

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From Lark 3/31/22. re: Openmindedness: 2 quotes from Walt Whitman's wonderful & lengthy To Think of Time

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From Lark 3/31/22. re: Openmindedness: 2 quotes from Walt Whitman's wonderful & lengthy To Think of Time

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And I have dream’d that the purpose and the essence

of the known life, the transient,

Is to form and decide identity

for the unknown life, the permanent.
(Stanza 8)
******
What will be, will be well,
For what is, is well.
(stanza 6)
& one more (bkz this poem is so very rich!): ).  : ***
The difference between sin and goodness is no delusion,
The earth is not an echo, man and his life and all the things of his life are well-consider'd.

You are not thrown to the winds, you gather certainly and safely around yourself,
Yourself! yourself! yourself, for ever and ever!
(also Stanza 6)
Please read in entirety, well worth it.

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For Openmindedness; 3/30/22 From Lark:     Robert Frost's The Trial by Existence 

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For Openmindedness; 3/30/22 From Lark:     Robert Frost's The Trial by Existence 

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Ernst Karl Pluchner's "Guardian Angel Meditation"

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Ernst Karl Pluchner's "Guardian Angel Meditation"

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You, my heavenly friend, my Angel

You who've accompanied me to the earth,

And you who will accompany me through the gates

of death . . .

Do not cease to enlighten me, to strengthen me, to counsel me,

So that from the weaving fires of fate,

I may emerge a stronger vessel of destiny

and more and more learn to fill myself

with the meaning of God's World goals . . .

Here's a quote of this passage in a Christian Community context posted by Chythia Hindes at the time of...
Easter Sunday, 2017, Weaving Fires of Fate

posted by MRichter
...you might need to Right Click the link to open it. I did. Sometimes, I think, "nothing is easy". I'm going to draw this habitual thought and erase a big "X" into it.

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Good passage from RS about the importance of being open-minded with each other!

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Good passage from RS about the importance of being open-minded with each other!

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Practical knowledge of man, practical, effectual interest in humanity, this is what counts. Up to the present mankind has gone only a short way along this path and with small success. For how do we judge a person whom we meet nowadays? As being agreeable to us, or the reverse. Look about you and you will find that this is, in most cases, the sole criterion, or if more than one opinion is pronounced there is only one point of view; “This man appeals to me, another does not. I like this about so-and-so, but I do not like that.” Foregone conclusions! We make for ourselves an idea of what someone should be, and when we find that they differ from it we criticise. No progress will be made towards a true practical understanding of man until we do away with these prejudices and fancies for this person or that, and make up our minds to take people as they are.

How often, when two people meet for the first time, one of them arouses instantaneous antipathy in the other, whom he dislikes so much that afterwards whatever they have to do with each other is coloured by this dislike. As a consequence the karmic connection between them can be entirely blotted out, or set on a false track, and will have to be laid aside until the two meet again in their next incarnation. Sympathy and antipathy are the greatest enemies of true social interests, though only too little heed is paid to the fact. But to anyone deeply aware of the importance of true social understanding for the further development of mankind, it is distressing to watch the effect teachers in a school often have upon their pupils, when out of prejudice they show preference for one rather than another, whereas it is important to take each of them as he is able and to make the very most of that.

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/19161010p01.html

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25451 East Lane • Covelo, California 95428
© 2006 Live Power Community Farm • all rights reserved

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this prayer has the ability to create an Opening...

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from Lark-Plz use this version/link for Patrick Kennedy Talk

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from Lark-Plz use this version/link for Patrick Kennedy Talk

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You will have to sign up for Free account go to the GET Guidance in Esoteric Training section and 12/16/2020 is the presentation link. Dream techniques/precognition/ etc.

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Watch Life After Death with Tyler Henry | Netflix Official Site

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Clairvoyant medium Tyler Henry offers clarity and closure from the beyond while searching through his own family’s past in an intimate reality series.

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Friday March 18 is our 100th Day of Practice!!!!

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Friday March 18 is our 100th Day of Practice!!!!

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NATALYA WALDORF INWAR ZONE ARTIST/TEACHER BUY A POSTCARD FOR DOWNLOAD (CAN'T SHIP) AND SHE WILL GET THE MONEY

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NATALYA WALDORF INWAR ZONE ARTIST/TEACHER BUY A POSTCARD FOR DOWNLOAD (CAN'T SHIP) AND SHE WILL GET THE MONEY

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(here you can buy a postcard

https://natalya-yeshch.art/shop/)

our friend Natalie a artist in the war zone reporting this morning: morning of the 14th day of war, Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Those who think I'm strong, don't even open this post because I'm going to complain and get a terrible text. Maybe the next picture will be like everyone about Kobzar, but now I want to confess that I had an attack of contempt... contempt is not in the power of the Ukrainian Army, our people or the heavenly defenders of Ukraine... I somehow disrespected myself because I woke up feeling like a tank ran over me, can you say that anymore? And my only thought was - can I ever go back to bed? will I ever be able to hit an osteopath and finally exercise my back? will I be able to wash myself with warm water tomorrow or will I be able even to wash myself? isn't it the last piece of cheese I'm eating right now? why do i drink coffee that i cant actually drink, is it because i dont know if i'll have that opportunity in a week.. and in a year? - will I survive next winter in Kyiv if heating problems start, because I'm afraid to even think about a cold apartment in the frost... And actually, how am I supposed to think about all this now, when millions of my compatriots are already suffering so much from the war that they are worst than I am now...

... went desperate to the balcony - looked at our sleeping area, now it's quiet like somewhere in the village, there are almost no cars, somewhere dogs are lying, pigeons found something, and crows graze them... something thundered and my ears hurt, but immediately let it go, because it swung on the rails of an empty tram, and the echo between the houses intensified this sound...

... I looked at it all, I looked at how lonely ice cubes dance in the quiet air, I looked at the empty streets and thought: so I'm stubborn... must be stupid to be so stubborn.

... but if it weren't for this stubbornness, it wouldn't be like this now! maybe there would be nothing to be proud of! Because part of this stubbornness is too in those famous stubborn ukrainians, sho now there in the cold confront the rasistsʹkim orkam right now... right now while I'm complaining to myself about a bad sleep or mood.. an appalling dissonance... But let it be at least this! let it be somehow hard, because I also need to manage my stubbornness. So let's keep our stubbornness too - because we will still need all this!

·   ·......................................................

many of you know Natalya, she and her husband are Waldorf teachers in Kiev and Natalya paints amazing angels, among other things. She had to stay in Kiev, Ukraine with her family, an elderly grandmother who can’t go very well, with 2 kids, her husband and their cat. I asked to be able to post this because their supplies are slowly running out. From Natalya’s website, please who can order an ONLINE 5 DOLLAR POSTCARD to support them, it would be very helpfull. She can't go to the post office now, so you can only order the online download. With each postcard, you also support the family, but they will also help other families in need.

Thank you so much for sharing from my site. And don’t forget to say a prayer for them, if you can do this too, which is just as important as the support with a postcard.

Thank you very much,

Bernadett Andrea Kiss, Waldorf teacher and -kindergartenteacher, Budapest, Hungary

ps. i will link to a few videos in the comment and the page where you can order first. Natalya’s FB page, where she reports on their situation every day, which is very touching.

(here you can buy a postcard

https://natalya-yeshch.art/shop/)

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thank you Elderberries!

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The two articles Robyn was talking about today are on this page. Enjoy them!

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Looking for a picture of someone shared…

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Looking for a picture of someone shared…

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Recently in the pre-practice time, someone was holding up a picture of a painting of a valiant looking human dressed in old-fashioned battle gear. I was just getting on so I’m not sure but I think the person said someone told her that it was (secretly?) Christian Rozenkreuz.
Does anyone remember this?
I saw it again in someone’s home two days later, and now feel compelled to see it again and learn who the artist is. I’m grateful for any help.

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Most of the US has a time change this week- so if you are International, you may find us meeting an hour earlier than usual...

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Most of the US has a time change this week- so if you are International, you may find us meeting an hour earlier than usual...

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“When I think light, my soul shines,
When my soul shines, the earth is a star,
When the earth is a star, then I am,
a true human being”.
Herbert Hahn
German Waldorf teacher, author and anthroposophist
(1890-1970)