Updates From The General Secretary – March 2015

The annual conference of the Society will take place from May 17th to 19th with the theme And the Darkness Becomes Light. This theme was chosen by the conference organizers to connect with the theme for the 2015/2016 year as proposed by the Goetheanum. Self-knowledge and inner development foster active commitment: The “I” knows itself in the Light of Michaelic World Affirmation and World Connection. How then can the “I” encounter darkness and in a Michaelic gesture bring this darkness into its own inner light? The conference and the AGM are open to all. However, in order to be able to vote during the meeting, one must be a member in good standing. I would like to remind you that there are funds available to help pay the travel expenses for members and that young friends of the Society can benefit from the special Youth Fund. In order to take advantage of this funding, you need only contact the administrator or a council member. Up to now we have received very few requests for financial assistance.  

Bodo Von Plato is a member of the Executive Committee at the Goetheanum. He has enthusiastically agreed to travel with me to several cities across Canada in order to meet with members. He will offer a lecture, a workshop on inner work and will also meet with members of the School for Spiritual Science. As we visit several centers around the country, we shall attempt to build a connection between members in all regions by taking up common themes in the places visited. Here is a reminder of the dates:

♦ Vancouver, July 24-26

♦Toronto, Thursday, July 30 and August 1– 2

♦Montreal, August 7-9 (in French exclusively)

In each of these three cities, there will be a public lecture on the theme: Philosophy, Anthroposophy and Everyday Life.

♦ On Saturday, we shall co-host a workshop on inner development. During the morning session, the focus will be on the six exercises, and the afternoon session will explore the theme: Concentration, Contemplation and Meditation.

♦On Sunday there will be a gathering for the members of the School for Spiritual Science. We are looking at the possibility of also making stops in Nelson and in Calgary, if the schedule permits.

Our organising committee has met regularly since last fall. The committee members are: Jean Balekian, Douglas Wylie, Dorothy LeBaron, and Robert McKay and, from Ottawa, the committee is joined alternately by Sylvie Richard and Hamo Hammond. We are adding an extra day dedicated specifically to the arts to the conference schedule. Following the opening on August 7th, each day of the event will be devoted to a specific theme:

•             Biography and Karma

•             Education

•             Medicine

•             Science and Earth Sciences (biodynamics)

•             The Arts 

•             Social Art

•             And to close the conference on Sunday, August 14, inner work and meditation.

At the end of the afternoon on four of the days, space will be reserved for individuals to present the results of their personal research. Each participant wishing to share the results of the research he or she has been carrying out will be allotted 15 minutes. These presentations could focus on things such as: observation of phenomena, starting an initiative, results of an artistic process or work concerning meditative reflection.

The spiral motif developed by Jean Balekian for the poster being prepared for the conference evokes the movement of the soul as it seeks for the spirit within the self and in the cosmos: encountering the universally human, encountering our humanity.

Arie van Ameringen

General Secretary