{"id":2069,"date":"2012-08-27T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-27T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asc.wdtest.info\/en\/2012\/08\/27\/letter-from-judy-king-2\/"},"modified":"2012-08-27T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-27T19:30:00","slug":"letter-from-judy-king-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/letter-from-judy-king-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter From Judy King"},"content":{"rendered":"

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                                                                                       <\/span>Big Baddeck, Cape Breton Island,<\/div>\n
                                                                                       <\/span>Nova Scotia.<\/div>\n
                                    <\/span>                                                   <\/span>19 August 2012<\/div>\n
Dear Friends,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I want to respond to Colin Rioux-Beausejour\u2019s inviting letter in Glimpses Summer 2012, introducing Vers les Sources group members and their work together, in the Sherbrooke area, Quebec.   <\/span>It is so encouraging to hear about the inspiring work that others are doing.   <\/span>It is of much interest.   <\/span>I want to tell you some of the things that are going on in the Maritimes.    <\/span>Nova Scotia has been my home for forty years.   <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In NS there are 17 members of the Anthroposophical Society.  <\/span>There is an open triangle of Society activity from Halifax to the South Shore to the Annapolis Valley and Digby.   <\/span> <\/span>I want you to see that we are spread out over the geographical area, and although it maylook like we are close together when you look on a map, travel is very often required for us to meet together, logistics need careful consideration.   <\/span>Members come together for festival celebrations at least four times in the year, friends included, with a meal, reading and artistic offerings, moving the location about the region.   <\/span>At any one time there may be two or three or more study groups in different places;  <\/span>last fall a group met at the Waldorf school to study threefold social order and how it might apply today to governance of a small school;  <\/span>this fall, a group in the Digby area will study the Karma Series of lectures.   <\/span>Last year a need was felt for the first time to get together as members for an annual meeting.  <\/span> <\/span>We are, loosely, the Nova Scotia Anthroposophical Group, which includes a sub-group of six \u2018business-carrying\u2019 members who mostly manage finances from a bequest made many years ago for anthroposophical work in Nova Scotia, by Hans and Lotte Castelliz.   <\/span>Money from this source has been used to support Waldorf teacher training and development, curative training, lectures and conferences, sending a member per year to the Society AGM, and more.   <\/span>A \u2018lending community\u2019 has been set up to enable the South Shore Waldorf School & Kindergarten to raise money for new classrooms.  <\/span>The Waldorf school (50+ students in two kindergartens, grades 1\/2, 3\/4 and 5\/6) is in Blockhouse, near Lunenburg, Mahone Bay and Bridgewater, about an hour\u2019s drive southwest of Halifax.   <\/span>(The school was the reason I came to the South Shore from my home in Cape Breton sixteen years ago, as the first teacher.)   <\/span>In New Brunswick there are 4 Society members.   <\/span>There will be a new Waldorf-inspired school opening this September near Fredericton, Knowlesville Art & Nature School.   <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We feel fortunate having Arthur Osmond as Classholder in Nova Scotia.   <\/span>7\/8 members have been attending monthly Class Lessons for two years.    <\/span>We will complete the cycle of nineteen lessons in September, when we shall decide together how we wish to proceed.   <\/span>There never was a classholder living in NS before.   <\/span>I have been a member of the School since 1999, and was seriously wondering why, when Arthur and Margaret with their daughter, came to live in Dartmouth.   <\/span>There is a feeling of preparing ground with this work.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a retired-from-the-classroom Waldorf teacher I am greatly encouraged by how much interest there is in Waldorf education here;  <\/span>parent groups have formed and started playgroups in Halifax and Annapolis Royal, and there are Waldorf-inspired homeschooling groups dotted around.   <\/span>Recently I have talked to interested parents in Cape Breton.   <\/span>In Nova Scotia, population is small, with distances always to be bridged.   <\/span>In Halifax there is a parenting initiative run by Carol Nasr, who is also supporting a parent-run playgroup there, with mentoring and workshops.   <\/span>Arthur and Margaret Osmond are active in giving support to anthroposophy, Waldorf education and eurythmy. Teachers and parents\/families are also supported by Waldorf East, which put on its sixth annual conference this year at the South Shore Waldorf School; and also organizes lectures and workshops.   <\/span>Ontario is not too far away (1500 kms!) with Waldorf teacher training at the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Toronto.   <\/span>Some SSWS teachers were educated there, myself included.   <\/span>It is hard to express adequately how grateful I am to have had that experience.   <\/span>Some have taken part in the distance foundation studies course (RSCT), of which I hear excellent reports.   <\/span>Others have been trained at the West Coast Institute in British Columbia, and they too are grateful for the excellent courses there.   <\/span>Some of the SSWS teachers have not had Waldorf training, but are very keen to be trained.   <\/span>There have been requests for training closer to home.   <\/span>It is impossible for some to travel away.   <\/span>What is being carried out piecemeal at present adds up to excellent support for teachers and parents, but there\u2019s a feeling that an integrated course would be beneficial.<\/div>\n
   <\/span><\/div>\n
An anthroposophical foundation studies course will start in September (a requirement for Waldorf teacher training).   <\/span>True to the nature of how courses are often initiated, I was asked several times by one of my colleagues before I retired, if it would be a possibility for me to lead such a course.   <\/span>It is dear to my heart, for several reasons:  <\/span>to be able to respond to an individual\u2019s wish for knowledge, which gave the inspiration!   <\/span>I love to read anthroposophical books with others, it helps to sort things out;  <\/span>the school community being a young one anthroposophically-speaking (are we not, most of us?) I welcome the thought of another avenue opening up for an anthroposophical approach to life there.   <\/span>The course is supported morally and financially by the NS Group to get started;  <\/span>it looks likely that it will be self-sustainable this year.   <\/span>There will be participants on the South Shore and in the Valley, with a leader in each location:  <\/span>all participants will come together periodically.   <\/span>Five books written by Steiner will be studied over the year, starting with How to Know Higher Worlds.   <\/span>There will be arts\/science sessions as part of the course, opened up to wider participation;  <\/span>this, in addition to the joy of sharing the subject matter, will help the course become self-sustainable financially (first session:  <\/span>Earth Science given by Dr Duncan Keppie, geologist, ASC member, The Spirit of the Earth, Our Home.   <\/span>Developing inner organs to gain spiritual insights into the planet we live on.   <\/span>A day in Minas Basin, NS).   <\/span>Can we dare to hope that this will be the first year of a continuing course?   <\/span>At this stage, it\u2019s a beginning, and we\u2019re open to what it brings us, without proscribed expectations.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There is bio-dynamic farming, gardening and beekeeping in Nova Scotia.   <\/span>Bio-dynamic farming, composting, and beekeeping workshops are offered.   <\/span>Through last year there was an active bio-dynamic study group initiated by a gardener on the South Shore, who is introducing bio-d methods into her CSA market garden.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In Wolfville is the Alexander Society which has brought Steiner\u2019s insights into curative work with children and adolescents for many years, as well as bringing speakers\/workshop leaders from England and North America for public presentations.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There is more than this, but I will not go on.   <\/span>What I have described is the outer \u2018skin\u2019 of much human activity inspired by anthroposophy.   <\/span>Imagine all the preparation and work, the joys and the challenges of the spiritual and earthly worlds that has brought into existence these human endeavours!     <\/span>There is so much going on unseen, which will prove important and supporting for anthroposophy in the future I believe.   <\/span>I am an optimist, especially as I meet so many young, and not so young, people today who hold an earnest striving to enliven the world with their loving care for the good.   <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Thank you, Colin and all the individuals in your group, for stimulating me to write.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Greetings from Nova Scotia to all, and blessings on your anthroposophical adventures!<\/div>\n
Judy King.    <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                                                       Big Baddeck, Cape Breton Island,                                                                                        Nova Scotia.                                                                                        19 August 2012 Dear Friends, I want to respond to Colin Rioux-Beausejour\u2019s inviting letter in Glimpses Summer 2012, introducing Vers les Sources group members and their work together, in the Sherbrooke area, Quebec.   It is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-members-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}