Anthroposophical Society in Australia

Inscribing Signs with a Finger Dipped in Light 2026
2026-03-01 - 2026-11-30
Towards A Cultural-Spiritual Approach to Dying and Death
Once, we understood dying and death through imaginations, inspirations and intuitions. For many, this consciousness, understanding and reverence of dying and death, and life beyond the threshold, have been lost, silenced and ‘dropped’ from our individual and communal cultural-spiritual life.
By offering a deep study of Anthroposophy/Spiritual Science, our course provides a pathway towards understanding the significance of dying and death in the context of your own life.
If it is your intention is to become a Companion to the Dying, this step is a prerequisite, as it will give you the integrity, competence, transformative knowledge and awareness to support those journeying towards the threshold.
Our aim is to enable you to develop a sincere relationship with Death, an understanding of the individual path of dying and reincarnation, and reverence of the autonomous moment of death.
Our use of the arts and creative activities – visual art, sculpture, music [Music Thanatology], creative speech, poetry, creative writing, oral storytelling and folktale research, and eurythmy – will cultivate and integrate your perception of death as the most sacred, the most individual moment in life.
This insight allows us to develop with you spiritual-cultural approaches and creative processes you can apply with autonomy and integrity both as Companion to the Dying and your own life.
Download the course prospectus

When

Course duration: March – November 2026
Flyer
Please download the flyer and contact us with any questions.
Contact
Inscribing Signs, running successfully since 2024, welcomes your inquiries and expressions of interest for 2026.
Course Convenors
Irmhild Kleinhenz 0444 551 381
Iris Curteis 0487 719 476

In Cooperation With: The Section For Literary Arts & Humanities, The Section For Performing Arts, and The Collegium Of The School Of Spiritual Science,
Goetheanum, Dornach

Feature Image: courtesy of Iris Curteis

Surfaces as Interfaces to the Spirit
2026-03-07 15:00 - 2026-05-02 17:00 (Australia/Sydney) | Zoom online events, Australia
“…when we apply the lifeless paint to a surface,
we must get the light behind the surface. We must spiritualise
the surface and create a secret inner radiance.”
Rudolf Steiner

This course explores the nature of painting as a coming-into-being experience that has the capacity to open our souls to the life of the cosmos.
One key difference between most modern art schools and the approach offered by Rudolf Steiner is that we make a clear distinction between drawing and painting, between the qualities of the line and those of the surface.
Why is this so? What difference can it make to paint with surfaces rather than with lines? And what does this even mean?
Painting is a two-dimensional art of coloured surfaces. If we work consciously with this thought, work actively with this understanding, our whole relationship to how we paint (as opposed to what we paint) is changed and transformed.
Working with transparent surfaces creates an interface to our inner world, which in turn leads us to the threshold of our inner being – and beyond. In fact, Steiner states that artists, especially painters, are already working at the threshold of consciousness.
But care must be taken! If we open ourselves too much to the spiritual world, then we may be in danger of losing ourselves to it. Meditative verses can help us here, so we will also work with appropriate meditations during the course.
Who is it for?

For artists, art therapists and art students seeking a path of soul/spiritual development through the arts.
For advanced participants of Art as a Path of Schooling for the Soul.

Required: watercolour wet-on-dry or veiling skills. This is not a demonstrated course so you must feel comfortable with your painting technique.
Desirable: Working with Colour Moods or equivalent experience of working with watercolour painting.
When is it?
Saturdays 3pm-5pm AEDT
7 March – 2 May 2026
Fortnightly classes plus recording
Cost
$260 AUD
$270 for PD certificate
Video recordings and other resources included in the fee. The payment options, Zoom link, and list of materials will be sent after booking.

Book here!

For more information
This course also a core component of Art as a Path of Schooling for the Soul. It follows on from Working with Colour Moods.

Contact

Background reading
A Contemplation on Surfaces as Interfaces to the Spirit, a lecture by Fiona Campbell
‘The Phenomenon of Colour in Material Nature’, In Colour GA 291 by Rudolf Steiner

Feature image: Musical Improvisation © Fiona Campbell 2010

Creative Life Of Consonants And Vowels
2026-03-13 18:00 - 2026-03-16 11:00 | Samford Valley Steiner School, 5 Narrawa Drive, Wights Mountain, Qld, 4520
Heartfire Centre For Speech And Drama
Presents

About the workshop

Feature image:painting© Katherine Rudolph

The Stars, The Pyramids & Ancient Egypt Relation of the Stars to Places on Earth
2026-03-13 20:00 - 2026-03-14 16:00 | Canberra Christian Community, 7 Holtze Close, Hackett, ACT, 2602, Australia

Michael Centre Drama Group
2026-03-19 19:00 - 2026-05-28 21:00 | The Michael Centre, 37a Wellington Park Drive, Warranwood, Vic, Australia

Vic Branch Easter Program
2026-04-03 12:00 - 2026-04-05 17:30 | Aurora Australis, 2 Union Street, Kew, Vic, 3101, Australia

The Prophet: Music Theatre Workshops & Performance
2026-04-13 10:00 - 19:00 | Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St,, Abbotsford, VIC, 3067, Australia

Curative Eurythmy Term 2
2026-04-22 10:00 - 2026-05-13 11:30 | 2 Union St, Kew, 2 Union St, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria
Feature image: artwork by Birgith Lugosi

Artists' Call Out: From The Threshold
2026-05-04 - 2026-05-28 | Rudolf Steiner Book Centre, 307 Sussex ST, Sydney, NSW, 2001, Australia
An Invitation for Artists to take part in May in a forthcoming exhibition in Rudolf Steiner House, Sydney.

Feature image: Darkness and Light (detail) by Käthe Kollwitz

Mysteries of the Human Heart
2026-05-08 19:00 - 2026-05-09 17:00 | 2 Union St, Kew, 2 Union St, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria
Program
Download the program and presenter biographies
Venue change for Saturday
Saturday 9th May 9am
Location Balwyn Library 336 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn

Feature image: Within the Beat of Heart © Pamela Sophiajohn.

Dramatherapy and Emergency Pedagogy Training
2026-05-24 10:00 - 15:00 | Rudolf Steiner Book Centre, 307 Sussex ST, Sydney, NSW, 2001, Australia

Finance At Our Fingertips
2026-05-29 19:00 - 2026-05-31 12:00 | Rudolf Steiner Book Centre, 307 Sussex ST, Sydney, NSW, 2001, Australia
A Treasurer’s Working Research Conference

An in-depth seminar and working meeting on the finances of the Anthroposophical Society.
29-31 May 2026
307 Sussex St, Sydney, NSW

Download the flyer with program
For more information please contact Matthew Bond

Some Fundamentals of Anthroposophy in Light of the Visual Arts
2026-06-11 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
A Painted Space Studio Webinar
A visual presentation on some core concepts underlying all Anthroposophy and how they relate to Steiner’s vast portfolio of visual images and artforms.

What’s it about?
The philosopher and spiritual scientist, Rudolf Steiner, left us a vast body of visual knowledge – sketches, watercolour paintings, blackboard drawings, sculptural models – of the Anthroposophic path to the Spirit. He once said that all the understanding of spiritual science was embodied in these works.
Many of these ‘seeds’ of inspiration, imagination and intuition have been written about thoughtfully and deeply and provide the modern seeking artist with much to explore and experience. Many remain enigmatic. But even in the seemingly simple motifs, such as a sunrise, there is far more to them than meets the eye or paintbrush.
Behind each sketch, each exercise, each lecture by Steiner, lie certain core principles that provide a framework of understanding of Steiner’s worldview and path to spiritual enlightenment. Without knowledge of these, his indications can be difficult to make sense of. This presentation will outline these core principles as relevant to his artistic path.
Macrocosm/microcosm, recapitulation, polarities, counter images – just some of the principles underlying the Anthroposophical view of the world, which help us make meaning of Steiner’s approach to spiritual and earthly human existence.
What do they mean?
In this pictorial webinar, we unpack, in brief, what these core principles mean, then look at how Rudolf Steiner’s principles can be seen and understood in light of his artistic path for the visual artist.
When is it?
Thursday, 11 June, 7.00pm-8.15pm AEST
Cost
Entry by donation to support Painted Space Studio and the Studio’s initiative to spread understanding of Rudolf Steiner’s path for the artist of the future.
Bookings
Book here or use the QR code

Feature Image: Spirit in Human, pastel sketch by Rudolf Steiner

From Page to Stage: Bringing A Midsummer's Night's Dream To Life
2026-06-12 - 2026-06-14 | Samford Valley Steiner School, 5 Narrawa Drive, Wights Mountain, Qld, 4520
Heartfire Centre For Speech And Drama
Presents

About the workshops

Feature image: Scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania and Bottom, Edwin Landseer

Emergence: Bringing Creative-Spiritual Impulses into Healing
2026-07-01 - 2026-07-05 | Gymea Eco Retreat & Spa, 128 Boonydoon Rd, Uki, NSW, 2428
Naturopathic Retreat & Conference

1st–5th July 2026

Immerse yourself in a five-day retreat designed for natural therapists seeking to deepen their practice.
This retreat offers a space to reflect, connect with like-minded colleagues and discover renewed inspiration for supporting a more conscious approach to illness and healing.

Download the flyer

Why you should attend
Many practitioners are finding the increasingly materialistic trend in natural therapies professions both unsatisfying and lacking in deeper inner work.
This five-day retreat and conference is designed for practitioners seeking to deepen their natural therapies practice and vocation. It will offer a space to reflect, connect with like-minded colleagues and discover renewed inspiration for supporting a more conscious approach to illness and healing.
Who this retreat is for?
We invite all professional practitioners of Naturopathy, Homoeopathy, Herbal medicine, Nutrition, Traditional and Integrative Medicine as well as practitioners and therapists who have a deep intuition for healing work.
Where is it?
Gymea Eco Retreat & Spa
128 Boonydoon Rd
Uki NSW 2428
Book here!
Find out more
The conference is hosted by the Anthroposophic Naturopaths Guild. For general enquiries, please contact Irmhild Kleinhenz, +61444 551 381 or visit the event website

Feature image: courtesy of Adobe Stock

Vital Years 2026 Early Childhood Conference
2026-07-05 - 2026-07-09 | Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School, 213 Wonga Road, Warranwood, Vic, 3134

Meeting the Earth's Changing Needs: Agriculture Section
2026-07-10 - 2026-07-13 | Samford Valley Steiner School, 5 Narrawa Drive, Wights Mountain, Qld, 4520
The Australian Branch of the Agriculture Section
2026 Conference
