Is there such a thing as spirit humor? Penelope Baring asks that question in connection with the literary fiction of M.A. Kirkwood, and concludes that "she gives us a pretty good demonstration of it in her new work, Claire Ange, due out this fall." An engaging conversation follows between Penelope and the author, on humor, the late teenage years, New Orleans, and stories about our inner lives. Read more...

200 years after his birth on Michaelmas Day 1812, Kaspar Hauser's story -- "The Open Secret of the Foundling Prince" -- is coming to life in performance across the USA (PA, NY, NH, MA, IL, MN, WA) and in the UK and Canada. Storyteller and acclaimed actor Glen Williamson has created this one-man show to raise to awareness a pivotal figure in European and German history -- the abducted infant, heir to a throne, deprived of companionship, movement, language, education. The schedule of performances is linked here, and the program brochure with historical notes is here.

Mark Finser, Chair of RSF Social Finance and of New Resource Bank, spoke recently about "trust" and "confidence" at a TEDxPresidio event in San Francisco. Complex, opaque, anonymous, and oriented to short-term results -- what's to trust in our present financial system? In this 11-minute video, Mark talks about his original impulse in finance and the work of alternative institutions to build trust and confidence. View it here...

A year ago, in Part I of "Archangel Michael: The Fiery Thought King of the Universe: How Can We Know Him," Bill Trusiewicz examined various aspects of the archangelic being who according to Rudolf Steiner is the Spirit of our Time (or Zeitgeist).

In Part II Bill continues with the question: why is it in our time that Archangel Michael remains silent?  We will be inquiring into what we might call the word-less aspect of the activity of the being of Michael.

In the latest Anthroposophy Worldwide, Virginia Sease introduces Joan Sleigh. At the 2013 AGM the Executive Council at the Goetheanum will suggest her as a new member of the Council. Joan Sleigh grew up in a Camphill community in South Africa with English as her first language. The mother of four studied Waldorf Education in Germany and has taught in schools as well as in teacher training. More...

Nathaniel Williams and John Scott Legg report that the Berkshire-Taconic Branch now has a website; it's linked from "Groups and Branches" on this page. Included is a calendar and download copies of the branch's excellent newsletter Chanticleer, edited by John Scott, which has stories and art of more than local interest.
"Local" in this case is the area from the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and the town of Great Barrington, into the Taconic and upper Hudson region of New York state. Along with Waldorf schools in Harlemville and Great Barrington, there is the Hawthorne Valley Farm and Association, the Society's Rudolf Steiner Library, the oldest and largest Camphill community in North America at Copake, NY, Camphill Triform in Hudson, the new elder community Camphill Ghent, and too many notable artistic, therapeutic, social. and educational initiatives to list! Take a look at berkshiretaconicbranch.org.

Educator, author and filmmaker Nancy Jewel Poer, family physician Dr. Kelly Sutton, and biodynamic farmer Harald Hoven are speaking out for California Proposition 37. Earlier this year they collected signatures for the what successfully became ballot initiative Prop 37, by which California voters can require that food products including GMOs (genetically modified organisms) will be labeled as such. "This will be voted on by the people and will be one of the greatest stands this country has ever taken for our right to choose healthy food. It will be brutally opposed by the bio tech industry which has pledged millions to defeat it, for it threatens the foundations of their power over what we eat." Read more...

In 1984 Ralph White was founding program director of the NY Open Center, one of the world's leading holistic and world culture centers. In that first year he met the work of Rudolf Steiner and has been engaged ever since. Currently he is presenting "The Beautiful Wisdom of Rudolf Steiner: Philosopher, Seer, Educator, Scientist, and Artists" in three Tuesday evenings at the Open Center in Manhattan. Steiner, he writes, "was perhaps the most remarkable spiritual figure of the Twentieth Century. Yet his profound wisdom concerning the deepest mysteries of human existence remains surprisingly little-known in America. In 6,000 lectures and over 25 books, he gave the modern world the most beautiful, moving and inspiring picture of the human condition. His insights into reincarnation and karma, the journey of the soul after death, the nature of the angelic realms, the evolution of consciousness, the significance of the ancient mysteries, and the intense spiritual challenges of the present time, provide a contemporary esoteric path rich in meditation practice and highly relevant to the present moment."

Our August conference approaches with its focus on moving "from association to collaboration." In a blog post at global public relations organization Ketchum last December (republished here), member Robert Burnside (who is Ketchum's Chief Learning Officer) considered some recent studies of today's technology-based social networks.

The famous "six degrees of separation" between any two people on Earth is, for 700+ million Facebook users, less that five degrees, "friend" to "friend." And we seem to affect and be affected by our connections' connections even when we don't know them.

If you've been reading Steiner's "The Work of the Angel in Our Astral Body," this is an interesting contemporary counterpoint.

Sacramento-based Reg Down grew up, was educated, and has taught across much of the globe. Nancy Parsons, who with husband Bob has done so much for Waldorf education by translations and on the internet, reviews his "deeply serious fairy tale for grown ups" The Fetching of Spring and finds it "joyful, heartbreaking, action packed, contemplative, funny, whimsical, uplifting." [Read more...]

A second, revised and updated edition of Reg’s Color and Gesture has also recently been published. Therese Schroeder-Sheker, who is widely known for her work with music for the dying, calls the book "a series of meditative essays and illustrated explorations on the formative and transformative power of color and gesture, sound and music, body and soul from the perspective of a practicing eurythmist... a life-work, penned by someone who is an artist and philosopher, and who has taken the art of pedagogy seriously." [Read more...]

Born July 3, 1912, in Colorado, John Gardner is being remembered as person of strength of character, insight, and eloquence; a champion of the Transcendentalist stream in American life and thought; a pioneer of Waldorf education in America; a mentor and friend. Click here for a new article including photos, reminiscences, biography, and selections from his work.

May brought an extensive new website for the San Miguel San Diego Area Branch in California. The branch newsletter credits six months of work by "Lori Daub and her helpers." The URL is sandiegoanthroposophy.yolasite.com but you can also find it quickly on our main navigation here by "mousing over" the "Groups and Branches" and choosing San Diego from the drop-down list. Along with articles by newsletter editor Richard Rettig and others this is already a large variety of event notices and reports, photos, links, and study materials. A warm welcome to San Miguel!

Noted Israeli philosopher and anthroposophist Dr. Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon will be sharing his recent work and perspectives on the 21st century in two-and-a-half day events in June in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and July in Seattle, Washington. "The World Today and How To Be In It -- An Anthroposophic Perspective" is the title for the NC event June 22-24. In Seattle July 6-8 the topic is "The Christ Event of the 21st Century - Singularity & Immortality." These events follow expanded online offerings at www.event-studies.org, a hopeful new book The Event in Science, History, Philosophy and Art, and lecture tours in Scandinavia, Austria, and the UK.

The topics of these workshops continue lines of inquiry presented in the Anthroposophical Society's being human magazine for Fall 2011, with the first publication of a 2007 lecture by Dr. Ben-Aharon on "Anthroposophy & Contemporary Philosophy in Dialogue: Observations on the Spiritualization of Thinking" (PDF). In the Winter 2011 issue came Andrew Linnell's "The Destiny of Humanity with Machines" (PDF), and in the Spring 2012 issue Prof. Fred Amrine's "Gilles Deleuze's Philosophy of Freedom" (PDF).

A paper by Steve Usher in last December's Jupiter, the journal of the Mathematics and Astronomy Section at the Goetheanum, continues his exploration of the question of a culmination of the anthroposophical movement at the end of the 20th century. The twenty page paper also explores the question of the "cosmic intelligence" and challenges of the 21st century. Read more...

In connection with this Easter day and season, we have three sharings. From long-time Waldorf teacher Paul Gierlach we have "Easter Thoughts," a new posting in our Articles section. He begins, "I am always amazed that an individual life can be led based on the needs of others, both in small and large ways." Do read more...

We're also happy to share a guide to Rudolf Steiner's Soul Calendar--the timing of the verses for those following them weekly through the year. The Calendar was given in 1912 and requires some adaptation each year to the changing calendar. This guide is from Herbert O. Hagens of Princeton, NJ, and is also printed in the Spring being human which will be in the mail to members next week. The summer issue will have additional features on this remarkable "calendar of the soul."

Finally, we have posted the "Theme of the Year" from the Goetheanum, written this year by Paul Mackay: "The Identity of the Anthroposophical Society." This Theme is offered to be worked with internationally, beginning at Easter time.

If you are not familiar with Rudolf Steiner's "Soul Calendar," here with its cosmic picture of human experience at this springtime of year is the opening verse, for Easter:

When out of world-wide spaces
The sun speaks to the human mind,
And gladness from the depths of soul
Becomes, in seeing, one with light,
Then rising from the sheath of self,
Thoughts soar to distances of space
And dimly bind
The human being to the spirit’s life.

Our friends at SteinerBooks have posted a free up-to-date 28-page list of the collected works of Rudolf Steiner. "All of the works of Rudolf Steiner that have been published in German are listed by volume number, with both the original German titles and the English titles in italics of the books available in English. Books not available in English have approximate literal translations of the German titles in Roman type." SteinerBooks' Collected Works project is a very important effort to bring out volumes corresponding to the German GA listing with up-to-date notes and introductions and supporting material.

India's The Hindu reports on how Holland-based educator Miriam Haenan blends Western education and Indian philosophy to make learning a holistic experience. “'In this method of teaching you try to bring heaven and earth together in whatever you do.' While Miriam's own three children were growing up, she trained in Waldorf education. 'My children are my biggest gurus in the path of child development,' she smiles." Read more...