From the World Society

22 Jan From the World Society

Dear Members and Friends of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada

On Form and Efficacy

Each November a set of important gatherings take place at the Goetheanum. These meetings can be seen as an inner reflection and preparation that complements the General Assembly (Annual General Meeting) of the General Anthroposophical Society that takes place on the Palm Sunday weekend.

This set of meetings begins with a large gathering of the International Circle of Class Holders whose task has become to work in an ever deeper way with the Executive Committee (Vorstand), to support their task of carrying responsibility for the School for Spiritual Science and the life of the Esoteric (First Class) Lessons of the School. In this most recent November meeting, the four current members of the Executive Council, along with Paul Mackay, each provided a significant contribution to an overarching theme of great significance – Form and Efficacy. As we considered what each of these five individuals contributed to this theme, an awareness gradually developed that behind the question of efficacy lies a deep quest for meaning. Do the forms we have developed over the past century, for the cultivation of our shared anthroposophical life, continue to sustain that life and provide meaning for all members.

This international meeting of class holders consisted of over 250 individuals from around the world, among them the General Secretaries and Country Representatives from almost all of the nations where the Anthroposophical Society and the School for Spiritual Science are established and active. During the days we had together we accompanied these presentations of the Executive Council with intensive working sessions. These exploratory groups were where these themes were elaborated and discussed with the intention that the work of these groups will more and more contribute and support the Executive Council and its responsibilities for the School.

What evolved out of the process is an appreciation of the significance of this theme at this time, as we grow ever closer to the important events of Christmas 2023 when, as a worldwide movement, we are being called to renew and strengthen the impulses of Rudolf Steiner for the establishment of a transforming mystery impulse for our time. In light of this call for consciousness, earnestness, and commitment – this intention to scrutinize our habitual relationship to anthroposophy and consciously reflect on their meaning for us today, is central to our current stage in the development of the anthroposophical movement.

The significance of turning to the forms that we take for granted, is to take seriously Rudolf Steiner’s indications that these forms work back on us, shaping-in our lives as individuals and as a Society. Rudolf Steiner returns to this many times, pointing out that the forms we choose to work within can either facilitate or hinder development. These ways of working together are so ingrained, habitual, that at times it is even difficult to gain enough perspective to consider them with objectivity. So it is a step of great importance that this initiative has been taken – one that invites all of us around the world to consider anew all of the patterns and structures we have developed over the past century.

What is striking is that this process is also being taken by the Council here in Canada. In last year’s Toronto AGM, one of the important discussions had to do with the forms that we have available to us to include members across the country in decision-making here in Canada. This has led to significant work since the AGM and has led to the Council working to find a more effective, meaningful, methodology for reaching out to members across Canada. This is not an easy task but is one that almost directly mirrors the same question being worked with by the Executive Council at the Goetheanum after the 2018 General Assembly.

This review of our ways of working has also led us to review how the national Council itself works and the efficacy, the deeper sense of meaning, of the tasks and responsibilities of officers of the Society in Canada, as these are currently identified in our bylaws. There will be more about these considerations in the coming months.

So it is on every level within our shared life that this question, brought by the Executive Council, provides us with an invitation to reflect together, and consider anew whether the structures we develop going forward support our shared life in anthroposophy – can gain ever deeper significance, ever deeper meaning for all of us.

With warm regards,

Bert Chase

General Secretary for Canada