‘April in Anthroposophy’

     
The following is my highly selective choice of events upcoming this month at Threefold Educational Center in Chestnut Ridge, New York. There’s a lot more. Click here. From the publicity:

Piano Trios Plus!

Sponsored by Rockland Symphony Orchestra

Sunday, April 10 at 4 p.m.

Join us for an afternoon of beautiful music at the third performance of Rockland Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 Chamber Concert Series. The program will feature the Melos Trio & Friend performing:

• Dvorak’s Piano Trio in E minor Op. 90 “Dumky”
• The Phantasie Trio in C minor (1907) by Bridge
• Beethoven’s Piano Quartet in E flat Op. 16

The Melos Trio & Friend are Fredrica Wyman (piano), Karen Gilbert (violin), Edward Simons (viola), and Stephen Reid (cello).

Admission: $20 General, $15 Seniors, $10 Children (ages 12-18). Children under 12 free.

Piano Recital by Marcus Macauley

Fourth Year Dornach Fundraiser

Sponsored By Eurythmy Spring Valley

Sunday, April 17 at 4 p.m.

This afternoon recital will include:

• Three Preludes and Fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier
• Brahms’ Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119
• Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D.960

Marcus Macauley

Marcus Macauley has been playing the piano and writing music for most of his thirty years. Born in Seattle, he won his first concerto competition at age 11. Before graduating high school, he had performed with seven orchestras, including Seattle Symphony, and won six national composition awards. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he premiered dozens of works, he has collaborated with such musicians as Brad Lubman, Thomas Buckner, and Truls Mørk, and had master classes with George Crumb, Mario Davidovsky, John Perry, and Charles Rosen. Since 2009 he has been a resident musician for Eurythmy Spring Valley and toured with eurythmists throughout the U.S. and in Switzerland, Taiwan, and China. His principal teachers have been pianists Michi Hirata North, Peter Mack, and Vincent Lenti, and composers Janice Giteck, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, and Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez.

Suggested donation: $20/$10 students and seniors/$5 children. All proceeds to support the Fourth Year, Class of 2016 Graduation trip to Dornach, Switzerland.

Celebrating Shakespeare:

A Performance to Honor

the 400th Anniversary of the Bard

Sponsored By Threefold Educational Center

Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m.

[On the 400th anniversary of his death,] an evening of eurythmy, speech, sonnets, dramatic monologs, and a eurythmical exposition of Act II of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Admission: $16 suggested donation.

Christian Rosenkreutz

with Rev. Bastiaan Baan

Sponsored by the Seminary

of the Christian Community In North America

Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29

This course will take place on the occasion of the publication of the English translation of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz with commentary by Bastiaan Baan.
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is one of the most important writings of esoteric Christianity, first published anonymously in German in 1616. It is an allegorical story divided into seven journeys about how Christian Rosenkreutz was invited to a castle to assist the “chymical wedding” of the king and queen.

The word “chymical” refers to alchemy, or the uniting of opposites—hence, the sacred wedding. It is a book concerned with the inner transformation of the soul. Bastiaan Baan’s interpretation and commentary makes this work accessible to readers of today, and shows the special language used by the author to express the meditative content of his text.

Fee: $150.

In Concert: Magical Strings

Sponsored by the Fellowship Community

Wednesday, April 27 at 4:30 p.m.

Philip and Pam Boulding

Experience the vibrant ringing sounds of Magical Strings, as Philip and Pam Boulding bring their Celtic Harp & Hammer Dulcimer to the Fellowship Community! Their music, described by the Washington Post as “sonically gorgeous,” will carry you to sublime realms with ancient airs and have you dancing to lively jigs and reels. Their unique compositions and stories will take you to Ireland and beyond. Philip and Pam, who have been touring internationally for 37 years and have recorded more than 20 albums, will be performing on their own hand-crafted instruments.

Admission is free; donations are welcome.

From the Victorian to the Modern Poets:

A Poetics Course

with Coralee Frederickson, Ph.D.

Sponsored by Eurythmy Spring Valley

Thursday April 28, 9:35 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.

Friday, April 29, 9:35 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.

Wilfred Owen

Continuing on from her course on American Romantic Essayists and Poets, Coralee Frederickson, Ph.D., will draw us from Alfred Lord Tennyson and Gerard Manley Hopkins, in the late 19th century, into the modern, poetic voices of the 20th century, beginning with the work of Wilfred Owen, a representative of World War I poetry. The diverse styles of e. e. cummings, Dylan Thomas, and Seamus Heaney will be explored, among many others.

Coralee Frederickson, Ph.D. has been the School Leader at Den norske Eurytmihøyskole, in Oslo, Norway, as well as the Program Director of their B.A. Completion Program, which was hosted over two cycles at ESV. Coralee is now the Co-Director of the Alanus University M.A. Program in Eurythmy, which is based in Alfter, Germany, and is also bringing a cycle of their program to our campus.

Course fee: $75.
     

‘Abraham Lincoln and Anthroposophy’

     
Things to do and places to be in Anthroposophy this month in and near New York City.

Friday, May 1—“Inquiries on God: A Talk by Joe Serio” From the publicity: “Bringing fruits from his years of research, Joe Serio will present thoughts arising out of both East Indian thought and anthroposophy, leading to a conversation.

Admission: $15 suggested donation. 7:30 p.m. at Threefold Educational Foundation’s School of Eurythmy at 260 Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, New York.


Saturday, May 9—Marcus Macauley piano recital: works by Mozart and Beethoven.

Admission: $20 suggested donation. Pre-concert talk at 7:30 p.m. and concert at eight at School of Eurythmy, Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, NY.

The Human Being between the Michaelic
and Raphael Forces by Walter Roggenkamp.

Monday, May 11—“Bringing the Lemniscate to Life.” Linda Larson, instructor in Eurythmy, will lead exercises to awaken creativity. (Bring soft-sole shoes.)

Admission: $20 (but free for first time visitors). 7 p.m. at the NYC Branch of the Anthroposophical Society at 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan.


Wednesday, May 13—“The Five Spiritual Events and Basic Human Tasks in the Michael Age.” Thomas Meyer lecture. From the publicity:

“Spiritual knowledge is not given to us as in ancient times. By spiritual means it must be struggled and striven for against a host of demons... We must therefore get to know the powers that would cover up and obscure all spiritual knowledge,” writes T.H. Meyer, in the preface of his forthcoming book on this topic. “The world seems to be standing within a demonic storm that threatens to overwhelm it.” Appeals to traditional religious belief will no longer pacify this storm, and neither will mere good will suffice. How can we better recognize the deeper significance of these times and orient ourselves accordingly?

Thomas Meyer is founder of Perseus Verlag, Basel, and editor of the monthly journals Der Europäer and the new The Present Age. His books include Reality, Truth, and Evil, Rudolf Steiner’s Core Mission, D.N. Dunlop, Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz, and The Development of Anthroposophy since Rudolf Steiner’s Death. He also edited Light for the New Millennium describing Rudolf Steiner’s association with Helmuth and Eliza von Moltke.

Admission: $20 (but free for first time visitors). 7 p.m. at the NYC Branch of the Anthroposophical Society at 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan.


Thursday, May 14—“The Reflections of Ancient Egypt on the Current Era: Thoughts on Rudolf Steiner’s First and Fourth Mystery Dramas” by Thomas Meyer.

Admission: sliding scale, $10-$30. 7:30 p.m. at Threefold Auditorium, 260 Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, NY.


Saturday, May 16—“The Bread of Life.” From the publicity: Lecturer Walter Alexander, medical writer and former public and Waldorf educator, “will lead a brief meditation workshop on Rudolf’s Steiner's adaptation of The Lord’s Prayer. We will consider its connection with Steiner’s Foundation Stone meditation and the relation of both to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.”

Donations welcome. 7 p.m. NYC Branch of the Anthroposophical Society. 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan.

Saturday, May 16—“The Little Prince” performed by Matthew Dexter. Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s tale brought to life in dramatized storytelling.

Admission: sliding scale, $5 to $30. 7 p.m. at Threefold Auditorium, 260 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY.


Friday, May 22—“Spiritual Science and the Role of Technology in Evolution” by Andrew Linnell. Topics: the future of human-machine interaction; robotics and avatars; neuroplasticity of the brain; and electricity, thinking, and consciousness. Andrew Linnell is a 41-year veteran of the computer industry, and vice president of the Anthroposophical Society of Greater Boston. He lectures on various themes from art history to ancient mysteries, to artificial intelligence, and more.

Admission: sliding scale to $30. 7:30 p.m. at The Living Room at Threefold Main House, 285 Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, NY.


Thursday, May 28—“Abraham Lincoln: Spiritual Aspects Connected with His Task for the United States and Humanity,” by Virginia Sease, a member of the Executive Council of the International Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. Admission: $15. 7:30 p.m. Threefold Auditorium, 260 Hungry Hollow Road in Chestnut Ridge, NY.
     

‘SteinerBooks Spiritual Research Seminar at NYU’

     
Anthroposophists and enthusiasts of the teachings of Rudolf Steiner will converge on New York University next month to attend the Annual SteinerBooks Spiritual Research Seminar. From the publicity:

Who Was Rudolf Steiner?

His Years of Preparation, 1861-1900

March 20-21

Kimmel Center at NYU

60 Washington Square South

New York, New York

Admission: $75-$175

Rudolf Steiner, 1892

There are no ordinary lives. While each unfolds according to certain universal archetypes, the particulars are always utterly, infinitely, unique. To learn to ‘read’ the life of another, with care and reverence, is to see the movements and marks—the signature—of an eternal spiritual being whose development and aims are both singular and wholly enmeshed in a community of others. There are no ordinary lives; still, the lives of the ‘great ones’ among us can shed a penetrating light on the nature of our time; on the tasks we face; on the living connections between us; on ourselves.

Rudolf Steiner himself insisted on the importance of modern individuals awakening and cultivating a positive (non-judgmental) interest in the other: in the singular journey of development another undertakes. With openness, patience, joy, and childlike awe we may ask of another: Who are you? How did you become this one I see before me?

To ask this of anyone is salutary, for the inquirer and the inquired; to ask it of an initiate is both profound in itself and a preparation for ‘reading’ the life of all others we encounter.

With this in mind, and in celebration of the publication of the first two volumes in English of Peter Selg’s ambitious and insightful biography of Rudolf Steiner, this seminar will focus on Rudolf Steiner’s life and experiences—his path of initiation—as these prepared him to bring Anthroposophy into the world.

Too often Steiner’s life “before Anthroposophy” is taken for granted. We can think we know it, and so remain closed to its depths and mysteries. We can remain asleep to the human meaning of this astonishing life journey that led from the small railroad town of Kraljevec on the borders of Hungary and Croatia, through Vienna and Weimar, to Berlin, so that the birth of Anthroposophy could take place.

• Through what experiences and encounters did his life lead him?
• What prepared him to bring Anthroposophy into the world at the turn of the twentieth century?
• Who was he who was so led?
• What is my own connection to this human (spiritual) being and the path he trod?

To help us answer such questions, Peter Selg, Director of the Ita Wegman Institute in Arlesheim, Switzerland, a psy- chiatrist by training, and the author of many books on Rudolf Steiner’s life and teaching will give three lectures on outer and inner aspects of Rudolf Steiner’s life and circumstances up to his fortieth year. As a practiced biographer with a profound, esoteric understanding of history, Peter is well-qualified for the task of bringing to life a ‘positive natural history’ of this individual’s development. More than just a writer and esoteric scholar, Peter is also a much-loved speaker, well-known for his empathic, heart-centered approach to esoteric topics. We can have no better guide.

To complement his presentations, Rahel Kern, author of a recent biography of Marie Steiner, will speak on Marie Steiner; and Christopher Bamford will speak of significant moments in Rudolf Steiner’s early life, which, in retrospect, enable us to see Anthroposophy in a new light.

Friday, March 20

6:00 Registration
7:00 Welcome—Gene Gollogly
7:15 Peter Selg—“I pursue a quite specific goal: Childhood, Youth, and Student Years in Vienna”
8:30 Reception

Saturday, March 21

8:00 Refreshments
8:30 Eurythmy : Sea-Anna Vasilas
9:00 Peter Selg: “A profound transformation: The Weimar Years
10:30 Break
11:00 Christopher Bamford: “An Open Secret: Rudolf Steiner’s Life as a Path to Understanding Anthroposophy”
12:00 Lunch
1:30 Rahel Kern: “Marie Steiner-von Sivers’ Karmic Path”
2:30 Sea-Anna Vasilas: “Eurythmy”
2:50 Break
3:00 Peter Selg: “Must I Remain Unable to Speak? Berlin in the 1890s”
4:30 Closing panel

Peter Selg studied medicine in Witten-Herdecke, Zurich, and Berlin. Until 2000, he worked as the head physician of the juvenile psychiatry department of Herdecke hospital in Germany. Dr. Selg is now director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy in Arlesheim, Switzerland; and professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Germany.

Rahel Kern has been an avid student of Anthroposophy since her teens, with a particular interest in Steiner’s contributions to philosophy and the evolution of consciousness as reflected in the development of thought through the centuries. She currently lives in London and works in international marketing. Her work takes her on frequent travels around the globe.

Christopher Bamford is editor in chief of Steiner-Books and Lindisfarne Books and a writer, scholar, and spiritual researcher in the fields of Anthroposophy, Western esotericism and spirituality, esoteric Christianity, literature, and contemporary philosophy. A Fellow of the Lindisfarne Association, he has lectured, taught, and written widely on Western spiritual and esoteric traditions.

Sea-Anna Vasilas is a member of the Eurythmy Spring Valley Performing Ensemble where she also serves on the faculty of the School of Eurythmy and carries the responsibility of Tour Coordinator for the Ensemble. Through her experiences with myriad movement art forms, meditative paths, education, and farming, Sea-Anna found her way to eurythmy and has made it her life’s passion and work.

In order for us to both cover our costs (speaker’s fees, use of space, etc.) and make this event as accessible as possible, we are offering a sliding scale attendance fee with confidence that those who are in a position to give more will do so. The price is a sliding scale fee from $175 to $75.

For information and to register, write to:
seminar(at)steinerbooks.org
     

‘New Year’s with Novalis’

     

Our word philosophy derives from the Greek philo and sophia, meaning love of wisdom. So, when I spot the name Sophie decorated with a heart that someone engraved in the once fresh cement of a Manhattan sidewalk, I have to smile. (That this graffito is found immediately outside the front door of the Anthroposophical Society's NYC Branch, I'm sure, has something to do with it.)

It was back to Centerpoint this evening for a very well presented lecture. I only wish I knew what it was about, but it inspires research. A first year student of Eurythmy at Spring Valley spoke thoughtfully for more than an hour on the subject of Novalis, with ample discourse (and here’s where I got lost) on Rudolf Steiner’s thoughts on Adam Kadmon, John the Baptist, and the linkages of King Solomon to St. Matthew and Nathan the Prophet to St. Luke. I hope I didn’t get that last part backward, but either way this is something I need to read up on.

Novalis—his government name was Friedrich von Hardenberg—is remembered as one of the fathers of German Romanticism. Not so much here in America actually, but in Germany, he is rated right up there with Goethe, Schiller, and other greats. Our lecturer read from Novalis’ journal to lay the foundation of his talk that would touch on the topics mentioned above, and even involve Raphael. (The painter, not the archangel.) The lecture began with the story of Novalis and his love for Sophie von Kühn, which makes my stumbling across the sidewalk graffito shown at top even more serendipitous.

I didn’t take notes, because I knew I’d be left in the dust, but Anthroposophy definitely is something I will be studying. A nine-day festival/conference is scheduled for August at Chestnut Ridge, New York to discuss the future of the movement. I’m very curious to hear what will come of that. Until then, I’ll continue visiting its New York City Branch and shopping in the bookstore.