…and the tragedy of duality in our time

The 1st of 3 practice-based webinars exploring key challenges of 5th epoch, 6th epoch and our cosmic future
as represented in the ceiling motifs of the first Goetheanum

Presenter: Fiona Campbell 

 

 We are familiar with the figures of Lucifer and Ahriman as portrayed in Rudolf Steiner’s definitive sculpture, the Representative of Humanity. There, both beings are held in balance by the shining figure of the Christ Being. Yet in daily life, it is the spectre of Ahriman that shadows us continually, through our engagement with technologies that both ease and complicate everyday tasks. Lucifer seems to recede into the background of our consciousness as more an eternal archetype than a current concern, a figure, perhaps, from the Biblical past.

Yet the motif of the Soul of our 5th Post-Atlantean epoch (left) shows both Lucifer and Ahriman irretrievably enmeshed, and not held apart by Christ. So we can ask the question: do we really understand their interwoven relationship and its consequences for us in contemporary life? That where one being is, the other is also always present? As a counterpart?

Rudolf Steiner describes this dual principle as an inescapable tragedy for the modern soul. So, how can we grapple with this? In the motifs that filled the ceiling of the first Goetheanum, we find some answers.

 

Tell me more …

This is the first of three intensive, practiced-based webinars that aim to deepen the work introduced in the Goetheanum Epoch Motifs series earlier this year. Questions about their relevance to today and how they could guide our future development emerged during this series. Let’s examine these questions further through immersing ourselves in the motifs. 

Three webinars on the theme

Each webinars revisit one of the three motifs that embody our present, future and cosmic stage motifs of Steiner’s Goetheanum ceiling sketches. The three webinars concern: 

1. The great Lucifer and Ahriman face-off and the tragedy of duality in our time | The Germanic/Persian motif  | 
2. The future of dualism: facing our shadow self | The Slavic motif |  
3. The correlation between the IAO motif and the Foundation Stone Meditation | The IAO motif | 

Each motif embodies a soul stage of human development – for the 5^th epoch (current), the 6^th epoch (future) and for our cosmic, eternal image. 

We will explore these three motifs through their gestures, meanings and role in our soul/spiritual evolution using lecture, discussion, contemplation and some drawing.

Who are the webinars for?

For students of Anthroposophy, Steiner teachers, artists and anyone interested in understanding Steiner’s approach to the spiritual evolution of humanity.

You do not need to have attended the first Epochs series, nor do you need drawing skills to enjoy these workshops: the focus is on the experiencing the content through doing, not learning drawing techniques. 

When are they on?

Saturday afternoon 4.00-5.30pm AEST
Webinar workshops: 24 September | 22 October | 26 November

Each session will be recorded and will be available for registrants.
Drawing materials list and background reading suggestions emailed at registration.

How much does it cost? 

Online series:  | $100 for 3 webinars | $40 per webinar | Concessions available – please contact Fiona.

Where do I enrol?

Enrol here!

Then download the payment details, materials list and suggested readings.

The Zoom link will be sent to you upon enrolment. You will be sent a reminder one hour before the webinar starts. 

If you lose your email with the link, you will need to register again. 

For more information

Please contact Fiona Campbell 

 

About the presenter: Fiona Campbell PhD. is a researcher, lecturer, visual artist and arts educator. The nature of consciousness in our inner and outer development is one of her special interests, a topic she has lectured and researched for 25 years. Her artistic research on the Goetheanum motifs complements this interest. 

Fiona is also a member of the Stream of Life Research Studio, where she focuses on her other two specialisations, phenomenology and creative cognition.

You can find out more about Fiona on her website, read about her teaching work at Sydney Rudolf Steiner College or listen to a 2020 ABC Soul Search interview with her about the anthroposophical approach to art. 

Background notes

2022 marks the centenary of the burning of the first Goetheanum on New Year’s Eve in 1922/23. As part of the 100th anniversary of the fire, artists and members of the Anthroposophical Society around the world have been working with the forms and motifs of the 1st Goetheanum. These three webinars are part of this world-wide activity.

For the ceiling of the first Goetheanum, Steiner gave a series of ‘epoch’ motifs to the artists – 12 sketches for the large cupola of the 1st Goetheanum and 7 Sketches for the small cupola. These motifs map the spiritual history of humanity and were intended to support a training in karmic vision through Art.

 

 

‘I must not ever leave you.

You will in future often find me at your side;

I shall not go from you until you find
the power of that which you are to become.’

(The Soul’s Probation, Scene 5)

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^{Photo credits: from The Language of Color in the First Goetheanum by Hilde Raske}