spring flowers with white butterfly in a meadow

Spring offerings

 

‘Spring is like a perhaps hand’ 

Watching Spring emerge from a cold, wet Winter this year, this opening line from an e. e. cummings’ poem comes to mind. The beginning of Spring can be slow: a few blossoms here and there, a clump of daffodil … then it’s chill again, and maybe some blossoms don’t survive. Perhaps. But this Spring seems particularly hesitant. Were those buds there yesterday and I didn’t notice? Maybe– perhaps. A little colour here and there – and then the cold winds return and spread a carpet with delicate petals.

Early Spring can feel impermanent, like a hand that stretches out, unsure, but with a promise of something more tangible to come, if you are patient. This season offers us the possibility of trying again, perhaps tentatively at first, to bring forth Spring in ourselves. It’s the ideal time to bring small changes into our lives.

So here are a few offerings – cognitive, creative and practical –  to inspire, challenge and nourish you with Spring’s gifts. 

Why a ‘spiritual’ science?

If you haven’t yet seen her August reflection General Secretary Jane Bradshaw writes about how she felt inspired by a quotation from Steiner on why we need a more spiritual approach to science. Not to replace the physical sciences – we need them to ground ourselves in the world – but to extend and transform them so that we do not lose our connection to the spirit. You can read more of Jane’s thoughts here and access the readings that inspired her.

Weekend workshops starting (very) soon!

Parsifal Reimagined: Five online creative writing workshops exploring the themes and meanings of the Parzival/Grail legend. Last newsletter, we announced the new Parsifal Project as a community venture that allows everyone the opportunity to participate in the creation of performance art. The workshops, starting this weekend (17 September), will be the basis for developing a script for the play next year. You don’t have to be a writer to enjoy these workshops, just a love of literature and bringing it to life. Find out more here!

Threefolding is thriving. For those in Queensland or Northern NSW who would like to work more about the Threefold Social Order, there is an interactive weekend seminar on the Sunshine Coast on 16 September called Threefolding – Spiritual Freedom, Social Equality, Associative Economics. Please have a look here for more details.

Later in September, Sydney Rudolf Steiner College has its Spring Seminar workshops in Sydney and in the Northern Rivers (NSW) with more immersion into the arts. Especially for Steiner teachers, these seminars engage with lectures, creative content and in-person professional development. 

Get active with Bothmer Gymnastics. Learn more about this form of exercise in a 3-day introduction to Bothmer on 24th– 26th September. This event will be in preparation for an 8-day conference to be held in April 2023. Find out more: contact Katherine 0418 804 378 or Emily 0401 069 394.

Two centenary commemorations

The great Luciferic/Ahrimanic face-off is the first of three practised-based webinars exploring the ceiling motifs of the 1st Goetheanum. As part of the centenary of the burning down of the 1st Goetheanum program, this webinar on 27 September probes into one of the great challenges of our time, our double or shadow self, using discussion, contemplation and drawing. Please look here for more information and to register.

As we approach the end of the year, there will be more local branch events in commemoration of the centenary date itself (New Year’s Eve), so watch this space.  

 Logos: Consecrating Humanity. The Christian Community is celebrating a more joyful 100 years, this one its inception, with an Australia/New Zealand region weekend conference in Melbourne in early November. Check out the program and how to register here.

Cultivating your green thumb

Of course, Spring’s greatest gifts can be found in our own backyards (or balconies). Now is the time to start renewing the soil and planting for Summer fruits and flowers. So if you would like to learn more about biodynamic gardening, now is a great time to start. Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra branches all have events and workshops starting this month, so check the local branch newsletters or biodynamic group for more information.

And bringing it all together, you can enjoy being creative with arts and crafts amongst natural beauty on a biodynamic farm, as part of Ink Pots Arts Eco-tourism and Wellbeing program in the Adelaide Hills. 

Further down the track

Youth Section Oceania conference is happening in 2023, the first weekend of September 2023. The guest speaker will be Nathaniel Williams, who will be the new leader of the Youth section at the Goetheanum. Email the Youth Section Oceania for more information.

And finally….

Interested in Anthroposophy and in making a difference? The ASinA is now recruiting for someone to join the management committee that guides the anthroposophical impulse in Australia. If you feel that you could contribute in this way or would like more information about the position, please contact Jane Bradshaw.

 

Enjoy your Spring, within and without!

 

Fiona Campbell
Website editor