 | | Richard Maurice Bucke |
 | | Walt Whitman |
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Anthroposophical Society in Canada
#8 - 9100 Bathurst St.
Thornhill, ON
L4J 8C7
Mark McAlister
Administrator
416-892-3656
COUNCIL
BC (President)
QC
QC (Secretary)
SCHOOL FOR SPIRITUAL SCIENCE
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Advent Poem
Waiting
Not in anguish
Not in hope
We wait.
In stillness deep
In stillness wide
We wait.
Dark colours fill the room
With warmth.
We wait - in awe -
Not knowing
What will come
Nor why -
Yet - it is ALL
We ever longed for -
In mounting joy we wait.
Christmas Eve, 2008, Verena Hoffmann
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Poem by
William Brooks
Out-hollowed, Off we live. Steel-clad, On we die. The way through - We shy. You
Come from the sky.
You
Lay our armour by,
You
Breathe that we may Strive.
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Greetings!
Shortly before his death in 1902, Richard Maurice Bucke (a psychiatrist from London ON) published the landmark book, Cosmic Consciousness. He attributes his enlightenment - not to a guru or spiritual teacher in the ordinary sense - but to his encounter with the work and personality of Walt Whitman. It was poetry - and witnessing the sheer intensity of the poet's life - that penetrated his rigid intellectual training and finally shook his complacency.
In our November eNews, there are several articles that echo this theme - what happens if we let life get its grips on us. Colyn Cameron describes his spiritual awakening on a biodynamic farm. Diane Walters, with the help of quotes from Whitman and others, calls on teachers (all of us) to set aside our preconceptions and Be The Students. And Debbie Allen describes how your world changes if you really look at the sky at night - rather than just glancing at the latest issue of SkyNews.
What will be the theme for our December issue?
Sincerely,
Mark
Mark McAlister
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Upcoming Events
THE SPIRITUAL REALITY OF MONEY. November 12-14 2010, at the Christian Community in Thornhill. Details.
RUDOLF STEINER IN THE SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF HUMANITY. February 25-27, 2011 at the Goetheanum. Details. For information about other activities relating to the 150th anniversary year of Rudolf Steiner's birth, see the "World Movement" Section below.
IN SEARCH OF THE ESOTERIC TO THE EXOTIC - tour of Israel, Jordan and Turkey. April 10 - 28, 2011 . Poster
CONFERENCE OF THE 19 LESSONS. School of Spiritual Science in North America. August 7-12, 2011 in Fair Oaks, California. Details.
THE MYSTERIES OF WILL, DEATH AND RESURRECTION IN AMERICA. 5th Pan-American Conference, Argentina from July 31st to August 7, 2011. Contact Lydia Rois.
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More Than A New Agriculture
- by Colyn Cameron
This article appeared in the Spring/Summer issue of Renewal earlier this year, and is included in this issue of the eNews with the permission of the author. Colyn is a graduate of the Vancouver Waldorf School.
 "...There is a beautiful, subtle way of being totally engaged with something practically--as a real solution and work--and yet maintaining the experience of the innate whole reality to which we belong. Through biodynamic agriculture, we can use the context of the farm, the interface between what is human, animal, plant and mineral, to strengthen our meditative life, the attention to consciousness. Biodynamics is not only a new agriculture. It is a new method of discovering what it is to be human, but to be human in a relationship with the Earth and the cosmos. " Read full article.
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Be The Students
 "...We, like Emerson, Whitman and Steiner, among others, need to trust ourselves and believe wholeheartedly in our own moral imaginations. We need to risk our individualism for this kind of humanity: a humanity which cultivates the capacity for intimacy, dialogue and mutual striving. When these are present, learning and teaching become one thing: Joy. It lives into the mystery of our own infinity, encountering our students in every moment, out of the principle of active love as evidenced in the words of Whitman: "I and this mystery, here we stand." Read full article.
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Iceland Reflections
- by Diana Zinter
 "...It is one thing to sit as a participant in a lecture hall and be immersed in the vast wisdom of Anthroposophy. It is quite another to sit and share and build thoughts with others in a conversation format. Sharing requires inner activity in a completely different way. I think the use of what Steiner called the higher spiritual senses of hearing, word, thought and another ego become of primary importance. In true listening to words and thoughts and other souls, one must be able to stop one's own inner activity, and for that listening time the small self ceases to exist. This is the challenge of our time and it is everywhere; how can we listen to one another in such a way that ennobles both the human being and the world? The world faces this question, as does the Society of Anthroposophy. Anthroposophical wisdom of its own substance is not enough to help us with this challenge. We need to work at developing the tools within our own being to meet this threshold in social space: are we up to this work?" Read full article.
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Some Useful Resources
 * W atch for reports about the 'Spiritual Reality of Money' conference, which is being held in Thornhill, November 12-14.* 'Theory and Practice of a Local Currency'. Read the article about Chiemgauer Regiomoney in the International Journal of Community Currency Research.
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Observing - and Feeling - the Northern Lights
Debbie Allen is writing an article about the Great Opposition, which will appear in the December issue. (See also the earlier article by Michael Roboz). To "warm up" our readers to star topics, she has written this article... | | One of Debbie's Sources |
"...A few weeks ago the Northern Lights stepped up their intensity but still as a glow. I watched Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull rise through the Northern Lights, accompanied by a meteor. Then, on Friday October the 8th 2010, as I drove home I had to force my eyes to stay on the road. This was the night of the Draconids Meteor shower, and the Northern Lights were dancing. Bundled up in my winter clothes, with blanket and pillow, I spent the next two and half hours with my eyes glued to the skies in the north. Behind me, Jupiter at mid-heaven, was casting nearly as much light as might the Moon, who was invisible that night. The Milky Way was crystal clear in the black sky, every Constellation was filled with light. The whole Constellation of the Great Bear was visible as if striding across the brilliant glowing arch of the Northern Lights. Pollux and Castor in the Constellation of Gemini were rising through the Northern Lights like two headlights in the East.)... Read full article.
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21st Century Enlightenment
RSA describes itself as "a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress." ( Visit their website.) To see an example of their work, click here. (What can we learn from their efforts? -Ed.) |
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RoSE Journal
The 'Research on Steiner Education' journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal with the purpose of serving the theoretical and practical development of Steiner Waldorf education in ways that are relevant to our contemporary globalising world. Read it on-line. |
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150th Anniversary of Rudolf Steiner's Birth
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Anthroposophy Worldwide # 9
Click here for the link to Anthroposophy Worldwide #9.
For a complete archive of previous issues, go to the Goetheanum site, and click "login" (bottom right) (user name: awmail, password: 10mind)  | | Executive Council at the Goetheanum |
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