reclaiming the heart of anthroposophy

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RECLAIMING THE HEART OF ANTHROPOSOPHY
Despite the Anthroposophical Society having been in existence in its renewed form for more than eighty years, a level of
mystery and uncertainty still surrounds it, as well as Rudolf Steiner, his teachers, and collaborators; the meaning, mission,
and function of Anthroposophy; and the forms created to bring Anthroposophy into the world: the Anthroposophical
Society itself, and within it, as its esoteric heart, the First Class of the School for Spiritual Science.
In this seminar, through lectures and discussions, SteinerBooks author Professor Dr. Peter Selg, by a consideration of some
aspects of spiritual history and biography, will seek to cast a new light on questions that live within anyone interested in
Anthroposophy: What is the esoteric heart of Anthroposophy? What are its spiritual and social tasks? How can we find
our way to spiritual practice and spiritual research today?
Whether you have recently become interested in Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy and would like to know more, or you
have been a member of the Society for many years, this seminar will be an informative, inspiring, and deeply moving
experience.
PETER SELG was born in 1963 in Stuttgart and studied medicine in Witten-Herdecke, Zurich, and Berlin.
Until 2000, he worked as the head physician of the juvenile psychiatry department of Herdecke hospital
in Germany. Dr. Selg is now director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthro­posophy
(Arlesheim, Switzerland) and professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences
(Germany). He lectures extensively and is the author of numerous books, including The Fundamental
Social Law, Rudolf Steiner’s Intentions for the Anthroposophical Society, The Mystery of the Heart, Rudolf
Steiner and Christian Rosenkreutz, and I Am For Going Ahead. He is mar­ried with five children.
GU EST A RTISTS
Rachel Ross holds a diploma in artistic and pedagogical
eurythmy from the London School of Eurythmy and a diploma
in therapeutic eurythmy from the Medical Section of the
Goetheanum, Switzerland. She is a faculty member and codirector of the international Waldorf Resource/Remedial Teacher
Training Programs. She maintains a practice in therapeutic
eurythmy and remedial movement therapy, and is a consultant to Waldorf and
private schools nationwide.
RECLAIMING
THE HEART OF ANTHROPOSOPHY
Rudolf Steiner’s Esoteric Legacy after 100 Years
SteinerBooks Research Seminar
in the Berkshires
with Peter Selg
AUGUST 24-25, 2012
Monument Mountain High School
600 Stockbridge Road
Great Barrington MA 01230
www.steinerbooks.org
Note: The seminar lectures will be repeated at the Sacramento
Faust Branch in Sacramento, CA, on the weekend of
August 31, September 1 and 2.
Please refer to their website at www.faustbranch.org.
Christine Pierce holds a diploma in artistic and pedagogical
eurythmy from the London School of Eurythmy and a diploma
in therapeutic eurythmy from the Medical Section of the
Goetheanum, Switzerland. She is a co-founder of Prairie Hill
Waldorf School, and has taught kindergarten and eurythmy
for over 25 years. Christi maintains a practice in therapeutic
eurythmy and serves as vice-president on the board of ATHENA (Association
for Therapeutic Eurythmy in North America).
John McManus an Australian, began his career studying
Rudolf Steiner’s Creative Speech and the Michael Chekhov
Acting Technique. John was a founding member of Walking the
Dog Theater and Shakespeare Alive! He directed many plays in
Australia and the United States and received Best Play of the
Year for Hamlet (2007) in the Berkshires and Cymbeline (2008)
in Melbourne. He gives workshops at the Michael Chekhov Association and
teaches speech and drama at HB Studios in New York City.
R E G I ST R AT ION
SEMINAR COST: $150
(includes a bag lunch on Saturday).
PLEASE CHECK IN STARTING AT 6:30 P.M.
ON FRIDAY EVENING.
h
For information on accommodations in the
Great Barrington area contact:
TRIP ADVISOR:
www.tripadvisor.com
SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE:
www.southernberkshirechamber.com
To register, or for further information, call
Marsha Post at 413-528-8233 or email:
www.seminar@steinerbooks.org
visit our website at
www.steinerbooks.org
STEINERBOOKS RESEARCH SEMINAR * SUMMER 2012
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Mail to: SteinerBooks: 610 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Fr iday Evening, August 24
Saturday After noon, Augus t 25
7:30 PM LECTURE AND DISCUSSION
2:30 PM LECTURE
Rudolf Steiner and Christian Rosenkreutz
Ita Wegman’s Social Impulse for Anthroposophy
“To speak of Christian Rosenkreutz presumes a profound trust in the mysteries of the life of the spirit—a trust or faith not in the person of
Christian Rosenkreutz, but in the mysteries of spiritual life.” (Rudolf Steiner)
For Rudolf Steiner, Christian Rosenkreutz was active as a teacher and close collaborator in at least three
ways. First, as one of the “great leaders of humanity,” he worked to bring esoteric spirituality into the
modern world and to lead it into the future. Second, as “the greatest teacher of Christianity,” he worked
to bring to humanity true “heart knowledge” of Christ through the continued unveiling of the Mystery
of Golgotha in the etheric. Third, as a concrete, particular individual being, Steiner had a living, actual, personal relationship with Christian Rosenkreutz. Out of this, Anthroposophy received its form
and mission. In this lecture Peter Selg will describe Steiner’s portrayal and experiences of Christian
Rosenkreutz. He will show how Steiner had essentially two teachers—the Master Jesus (Zoroaster) and
Christian Rosenkreutz—how these two, together with Rudolf Steiner, unfolded Spiritual Science for
our time, leading in the end to the formation of the Michael School as it is manifested in the First Class.
Satu rday Mor ning, August 25
9:00 AM LECTURE
The Spiritual Task of the Anthroposophical Society & the School for Spiritual Science
From the beginning of his public work as a spiritual teacher in 1902, Rudolf Steiner sought to “build upon the power that makes
it possible for me to bring spiritual students onto the path of development.” As he wrote,“Without a body of true Theosophists to
improve the karma of the present by hard-working meditation, theosophical teachings would be expounded merely to half-deaf ears.”
Thus, working at first through the Esoteric School, and then through the Cognitive Ritual Section, he sought to make the reality of the
spiritual world a living experience for his students through meditation and ritual work. Interrupted by World War I and facing radically
changed conditions, he came to understand, through his ever-evolving relationship with the Christ, Christian Rosenkreutz, and the
Archangel Michael, the need for a new form, both for the Mystery Center that was the Goetheanum as a center for the newly formed
Anthroposophical Society for spiritual research and for the School for Spiritual Science, which would be its heart.
Today, there is still much confusion as to Rudolf Steiner’s intentions both for the Goetheanum itself and for the way in which he
set up the Society with the Executive Council, the School for Spiritual Science, and the Sections. In this lecture, Peter Selg will
explore through biographical and documentary evidence how Rudolf Steiner understood the mission — “the Spiritual Task”— of
the Anthroposophical Society, as well as of the School for Spiritual Science and the Sections, and relate this to the central role of the
First Class.
10:00 – 10:45 AM BREAK
10:45-11:15 AM DISCUSSION
11:15-11:30 AM BREAK
11:30 AM
“I do not want to interfere in any way with anyone’s freedom ....”
“That is my only strength: when I can give something, when I can make a connection with individual human beings….” (Ita Wegman)
During the last years of Rudolf Steiner’s life, Ita Wegman was his closest student, coworker, and collaborator. A doctor, dedicated to
the sacred art of healing, Ita Wegman founded the first anthroposophical clinic, initiated anthroposophical Curative Education, led
the Medical Section, co-authored a book with Rudolf Steiner, and helped him in the unfolding of the First Class. Her reward for this
dedication and devoted service was an extremely difficult life, which she bore with great courage, sacrifice, and healing love. Michaela
Glöckler writes of Wegman: “She is a role model for those who seek to develop healing powers for individuals and social groups,
especially where they are confronted with lack of understanding, defamation, rejection, and even open hostility. When young people, in
particular, ask for moral values that have been lived and not just thought out and preached, a spiritual encounter with Ita Wegman can
call forth powers and strengthen the will, where otherwise resignation and lack of understanding would become too paralyzing in the
face of all the hardship human beings have to endure. She always looked to the future, full of expectation and hope, to the great tasks
and developments that await humankind. At the same time she clearly perceived the clefts that opened in and between human beings.
The manifold dangers and potential demonic distortions of human nature did not make her flinch, but encouraged her to call on the
powers of healing and transformation inherent in the human being.”
Peter Selg will focus on Ita Wegman’s understanding of the “social impulse of Anthroposophy” and how she embodied it in her work
in Curative Education, as well as with the physician members of the Medical Section, her patients, and fellow Anthroposophists.
4:00-4:15 PM BREAK
4:15-5:00 PM DISCUSSION
5:00-7:00 PM DINNER BREAK (on one’s own)
Saturday Evening, August 25
7:15 PM LECTURE
Ita Wegman’s Task in the School for Spiritual Science
“I am for going ahead”
Much confusion still surrounds the meaning and task of the School for Spiritual Science established by
Rudolf Steiner in 1924, following conversations with Ita Wegman, as a “Hochschule” (a College or
University) for teaching and researching Spiritual Science. Steiner organized the School into
“sections” or disciplines—medicine, pedagogy, social sciences, humanities, musical arts, mathematics and astronomy, and
so on—and was the first director, working through the various section leaders, but he named no successor. To Ita Wegman,
Steiner gave the “management” of the First Class, and he appointed her to led the Medical Section. However, because of her
unique relationship with Rudolf Steiner, her own esoteric authority—confirmed by Rudolf Steiner—and her own character,
Ita Wegman experienced great difficulties and met with much opposition in seeking to fulfill these tasks. In this lecture, Peter
Selg will tell the story of Ita Wegman’s mission and task in relation to the First Class and discuss their implications for today.
8:30-8:45 PM BREAK
EURYTHMY with Christine Pierce and Rachel Ross / SPEECH with John McManus
8:45-9:30 PM DISCUSSION
12:30 PM LUNCH
9:30 PM END OF SEMINAR
Sunday Mor ning, August 26
Session is for First Class Members ONLY who have attended the whole Seminar (Blue Cards required)
8:30 AM CLASS LESSON
10:00 AM BREAK
10:30 AM DISCUSSION
12 NOON CLASS ENDS
On the Themes of the Seminar with Peter Selg