CAMPHILL CORRESPONDENCEJanuary/February 2004

G odhead is not om - nipotence, nor is it om-

niscience—it is love, theattribute that cannot be en-hanced. God is uttermostlove, unalloyed love, is bornas it were out of love, is thevery substance and essenceof love. God is pure love, notsupreme wisdom, not su-preme might.

…Imagine that there arepeople who know nothing ofthe name of Jesus Christ, noth-ing of what is communicatedin the gospels, but who un-derstand the radical differ-ence between the nature ofwisdom and might and thenature of love. Such people,even though they know noth-

ing of the mystery of Golgotha, are Christians in the truest sense. A person who knows that love is there topay debts and brings no profit for the future, is a true Christian. To understand the nature of love—that is tobe a Christian. Theosophy, or spiritual science, alone, with its teachings of karma and reincarnation, canmake us into great egoists unless the impulse of love, the Christ impulse, is added; only in this way can weacquire the power to overcome the egoism that may be generated by spiritual science. The balance isestablished by an understanding of the Christ impulse. Spiritual science is given to the world today be-cause it is a necessity for humankind, but it contains the great danger that, if it is cultivated without theChrist impulse, without the impulse of love, human beings will only increase their egoism, will actuallybreed egoism that lasts even beyond death. We must not conclude from this that we should not cultivatespiritual science; rather we must learn to realize that understanding of the essential nature of love is anintegral part of it.

The tenth wave (detail) Ivan Aivazovsky

Rudolf Steiner, from Love & Its Meaning in the World

Cover artist: Ivan Aivazovsky, 1817–1900, was a leading Russian Romantic painter of the 19th century, who devel-oped an astonishing skill in depicting the sea and the elements, achieving sublime effects, as in this example.

2004 is the 80th anniversary of two lecture coursesgiven by Rudolf Steiner which have been like twin pil-lars of Camphill’s work: the course on Curative Educa-tion and that on Agriculture. Delivered in June andJuly 1924, they have been studied and developed in-tensively within Camphill for over 63 years. Lookingback over these 80 years it hardly needs saying thatthe plight of the earth and the land has deteriorateddramatically. The situation of those with special needshas, in contrast, improved markedly in many coun-tries but the ‘kingdom of childhood’, which is the in-ner concern of curative teachers, is as devastated asthe earth. Our work, often envisaged as a kind of ho-meopathic remedy for the world, is just beginning.

This year will be a celebration of, and a re-engagingwith, these two seminal courses by many people andcommunities throughout the world. We are delightedto have Bernard Jarman’s article introducing the forth-coming conference in Botton and I would also pointto the interviews from Oakland, California about theSophia Project with young children and their families.

A third lecture course on Pastoral Medicine, shouldbe mentioned as well. Also from 1924, September, it isless widely used, yet is another pillar—of the more in-ward side of Camphill’s tasks. Intended for doctors andpriests, it is of value to all who aim to be their ‘broth-er’s keeper’.

Your editor, Peter

Happy birthday, dear BaruchThomas Horan, Holywood, North Ireland

My first meeting with Baruch Urieli waswhen he came to Glencraig almostthirty years ago. I was a young co-worker and Baruch was a long-experi-enced Camphiller and had just beenordained a priest of The Christian Com-munity. He had come to do a doublechristening: for our daughter Sarah andThomas Ruprecht. I was immediatelystruck by his personal magnetism andrare sense of humour. It was also im-pressive how he did not ‘lose his cool’as my daughter screamed at the top ofher voice throughout the christening.Little did I know then that Baruchwould become such a big part of mylife in the years to follow, as co-worker,friend, mentor and guide. Not long af-ter that, Baruch and Tamar came to livein Glencraig. Their move to Irelandbrought a quality to the life of the com-munity from which we all benefittedfor many years.

Baruch was a houseparent, a ‘minister for finance’, alecturer, seminar teacher, priest and counsellor, allwrapped into one. His leadership and guidance in theunfolding of the inner community in finding its new

forms, made Glencraig into one of themost progressive and vital communitiesin the world. His trust and confidencein the ability of his co-workers to dowhat was needed, enabled them togrow in stature and responsibility andto ‘carry’ the community in the bestsense of the word. It was always won-derful to see Baruch dressed up for car-nival, and to hear his jokes and stories.

Although Baruch never took to driv-ing cars, his skill and accomplishmentson his beloved bicycle are legendary. Ionce witnessed him with a mattress bal-anced precariously over his shouldersand head, held with one hand, free-wheeling downhill to Colm Cottage atspeed and stopping at his front doorcalmly and effortlessly!

What was most impressive aboutBaruch was what I can only describe asa certain ‘radiant humility’, deeplyground in self-knowledge and a lifetime

of striving for the spirit. Baruch never expected to cel-ebrate his eightieth birthday. I am certainly glad he isstill around, sharing with us all these years of graceand transparency.

From the Editor

Contents‘Celebrating Eighty Years of Biodynamic

Agriculture’ Bernard Jarman ................................1Karmic action points Jan Martin Bang......................3Four times twelve in Rudolf Steiner’s

Last Address Elsbeth Groth ...................................4Ralph Waldo Emerson—The American Prophet

Part Two Manfred Seyfert-Landgraf ......................5Three books about death and dying ..........................7Obituaries

Anne Gairdner-Trier 10 / Hans ChristofValentien 13 / Dwora Schick 14

News from the Movement…and beyondSophia Project, California Julia Wolfson 16Tonalis Community Musicing TrainingCourse Nigel Dickey 18 / Humanus-HausBeitenwil celebrates 30 years! MatthiasSpalinger and Brigitta Fankhauser 19 /Association forCurative Education and Social Therapy UKEdeline LeFevre 20 / Publications Group 20Being human: finding the good in LochArthur Marko Rieder 20

Baruch and Tamar

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Celebrating Eighty Years of Biodynamic AgricultureA Whitsuntide Celebration in Botton Village 27th–30 th May 2004

Bernard Jarman, Stroud, England

The Agriculture Course was given by Rudolf Steiner atWhitsuntide in 1924. Now eighty years later the Bio-

dynamic Agricultural Association is organising a Whitsunevent at the end of May to celebrate the achievements ofthe last eighty years, reflect on the content of those origi-nal lectures and find new inspiration for carrying the workthrough the coming century. It seems wholly appropriatefor this event to take place at Whitsuntide, not only be-cause it reflects the exact anniversary of the course butalso because it marks the start of an entirely new commu-nity building endeavour for wherever biodynamic agri-culture takes root, a new social context is created.

At New Lanark last May the special conference ‘Build-ing Inclusive Communities’ brought fresh insights andplanted new seeds for community development not onlywithin the Camphill movement but also amongst thewider network of social, community and cooperativeendeavours that are springing up across the country andaround the world. Although Camphill is widely knownfor its work with people with special needs, it is its fo-cus on the land which here deserves special mention.Dr. Karl König, the centenary of whose birth the confer-ence sought to commemorate, recognised the paramountimportance of the land and how vital it is that the earthbe cared for rightly. This commitment became especiallymanifest in the establishing of village communities andthrough the contributions he made at successive landconferences. His insights into the biodynamic prepara-tions have in particular proved to be of continuing valueto successive generations of farmers and gardeners.

Biodynamics is unthinkable without the social dimen-sion. A holistic approach to nature brings with it a holis-tic and spiritual attitude to our fellow human beings.Wherever biodynamic agriculture develops, a new so-cial conscience evolves too. One of the major tragediesof today’s technology-driven farming is the abject lone-liness and isolation that is experienced by so many farm-ers along with the unbelievable burden of debt they areforced to carry. This burden is however a consequenceof today’s materialistic ‘me first’ culture and is beingdisproportionately borne by the farming community onbehalf of mankind as a whole—a sacrifice that is almostbeyond its endurance.

Farming today is suffering a deep existential crisis.Small farms are no longer economically viable and largeones can only survive through subsidies, by increasingtheir debt burdens and by placing an unsustainable reli-ance on agrochemicals and biotechnology. That this isthe case is due in no small part to the economic systemunder which we are living. There is no alternative weare told and yet our current system can only succeedthrough the fact that it exploits the environment, pri-mary producers—farmers—and, increasingly, third worldcountries. It bases itself on competition and the pursuitof personal profit. This, like the board game Monopoly,creates a few big-time winners and a great many losers.

Our economic system has a direct parallel to biologyand the theory of evolution. Darwin’s theory, so deeplyentrenched in our culture is based on the assumption

that existence is ultimately a battle for survival betweencompeting organisms. This principle of ‘the survival ofthe fittest’ is exactly replicated in free market econom-ics and with all its dire consequences for less profitablebut nonetheless vital contributions to society.

A new and very different approach to the earth and itsevolution is however rapidly gaining credence. It is onein which the whole earth is conceived of as a self-regu-lating living organism and in which each species andevery part of the earth is recognised as existing for thebenefit and greater well being of the whole. It is also theprinciple which lies at the heart of every biodynamicagricultural endeavour. Every farm is conceived of as aliving, evolving organism and each part—livestock, cropsor soil—supports and interrelates with every other forthe greater benefit of the whole. Were this understand-ing to be translated into our social and economic affairsa far reaching transformation and indeed healing of ourtroubled society could well result. Instead of themaximisation of personal gain a new gesture of serviceto mankind could come about.

Camphill has long pioneered this approach and soughtto implement those principles indicated by Rudolf Steinerregarding a possible new and threefold social order. Thecommunity forms adopted in Camphill for more thansixty years have demonstrated a considerable and last-ing degree of success. These forms are, however, notapplicable to every situation. Other attempts, a largenumber of them related to agriculture, have also beenexplored and often successfully implemented. There arenumerous and varied farm communities that have beenestablished throughout Europe. There are thriving cul-tural, social and economic cooperatives as far afield asEgypt and India as well as educationally focussed groupinitiatives of various kinds and increasing numbers ofcommunity supported agriculture schemes.

Eighty years is a very short period of time when consid-ered against the vast backcloth of human evolution. Inthe context of the very rapidly moving conditions of ourtime, however, the 1920s seem almost like prehistory.

When Rudolf Steiner gave the eight lectures which havebecome known as The Agriculture Course, conditionswere so completely different to the times we are nowliving in and nature so relatively unspoilt that one canonly wonder at the prescience of so much of what wasthen shared. At that time the world was gradually com-ing to terms with the aftermath of the Great War andrecognising that the umbilical link to an unbroken streamof tradition had been irrevocably severed. Conditionsthat had existed virtually unchanged for centuries werenow at an end and those who lived from the land couldno longer rely for their cultural and spiritual survival ontheir inheritance. The ‘noble peasant’ culture of Europewas rapidly slipping away and vanishing forever.Count Keyserlinck and those concerned agriculturalistswho begged Rudolf Steiner to give them some new in-spiration had grown increasingly concerned at the per-ceived decline in the quality of their food, the vitality oftheir agricultural seeds and the health of their livestock.

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They experienced how health, vitality and flavour weregradually ebbing away and this at a time before thefull consequences of industrial agriculture were beingfelt. Later developments particularly after the SecondWorld War, have resulted in even more rapid erosionof quality. Indeed today it could be argued with theintroduction of highly bred and hybrid seeds, the in-creasing application of biotechnology and the use ofdenatured manuring techniques, that the nutritionalvalue of our food crops has diminished to little morethan stomach filling.

The agricultural lectures were given in the warm at-mosphere of an old farming community in what is nowPoland. Only those practically involved with agricul-ture were allowed to take part in the conference. Sincethis largely excluded intellectuals, it meant that the con-tents of the lectures were received primarily throughthe heart. Their content was, and remains, difficult tograsp. They nonetheless gave great inspiration and theirlasting message was one of hope and faith in the future.Farmers tend by nature to be very traditional, living asthey do with the certainties of the past and the vagariesof the present. To survive they must hold to their past.The inspiration provided by these lectures has enabledbiodynamic farmers to hold the future as well as thepast in their hearts and to keep faith with that whichwill one day become possible. A new folk wisdom slowlyemerges which is orientated not to what has been but towhat has yet to develop. Biodynamic agriculture be-comes in this way part of a movement for the future.

Much has happened in the years since 1924. Biody-namic agriculture has developed and spread out acrossthe world. More than 90,000 hectares of land are nowbeing managed using biodynamic methods on all con-

tinents and in the most diverse climatic and culturalconditions of our planet. Out of the simple indicationsgiven by Rudolf Steiner has developed a well-researchedscience of life. Techniques have been developed whichhave enabled the biodynamic preparations, for instance,to be far more consistently and thoroughly applied thancould have at first been imagined. Comparative trialshave shown their value and importance and the experi-ences gained through implementing a holistic and spir-itual approach to agriculture are proving of lasting valueto the entire organic movement.

During this anniversary conference we hope to bringa new focus to bear on the content of the original lec-tures. Keynote speakers are being asked to explore someof the themes arising from them out of their own expe-riences and insights. In this way an attempt will be madeto relive and share some of the fruits and experiences ofthe last eighty years while at the same time rekindlingsomething of the original enthusiasm that must havestreamed out so strongly from Koberwitz.

The event will take place in Botton Village, a commu-nity with five thriving biodynamic farms and gardens,established food processing units and home to a uniquebiodynamic plant breeding and seed producing coop-erative. In 2004 the community will be celebrating its49th year and is welcoming the upcoming conferenceas a high point in its own anniversary celebrations.Botton has always been a land-based community andparticipants to this conference will be able to visit andwalk round some of the country’s most long establishedbiodynamic farms and gardens.

Each day will begin with the sounding of planetarybells followed by community singing. The programmewill include specialist and practical workshop activi-ties and provide something of interest to newcomersand more seasoned practitioners alike. It will be an op-portunity to mingle and make new connections as wellas deepen understanding for biodynamics. A villagesocial evening, artistic contributions and a festive cel-ebration for Whitsun will also be included.

A conversation will take place during this festive cel-ebration in which the future tasks and direction of thebiodynamic movement will be considered. Like a bunchof flowers gathered from a richly diverse meadow, it isintended that the conversation will be an artistic crea-tion that will stream out hope and enthusiasm far intothe future. At the end there will be a closing lecture thatwill make a link to what is happening in the wider or-ganic movement.

There has already been a very enthusiastic responseto the idea of holding this conference and we are verygrateful for all the support and generous sponsorshipwe have received from The Triodos Foundation, AuraSoma and the Camphill Village Trust, Botton.

Bernard is currently the executive director of theBiodynamic Agricultural Association. He also works as agardener near Stroud and spent several years managing

High Farm in Botton Village during the early 1980s.

Daryal Gorge, Ivan Aivazovsky

For further information please contact:The Biodynamic Agricultural Association, Painswick Inn

Project, Gloucester Street, Stroud GL5 1QG Tel/fax 01453759501 email: office@biodynamic.org.uk or visit:www.biodynamic.org.uk where a regularly updated draftprogramme and application details are available.

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Karmic action pointsJan Martin Bang, Solborg, Norway

At the end of May about 400 people gathered at Järnain Sweden. They were from Curative Education and

Social Therapeutic projects in Scandinavia: Norway, Swe-den, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and some of the Balticcountries including Russia. The buildings in Järna areimpressive, the surroundings are beautiful, and theweather was mostly sunny and warm. What a great set-ting! The theme of the gathering was ‘Life as a Path ofKnowledge—Karma Metamorphosis’.

A talk by Dick Tibbling on the first day has since thensparked off a series of thoughts which I wish to sharewith the wider Camphill community.

One of Dick’s starting points was that we need to en-counter resistance in order to develop ourselves. Whenwe meet other people, this resistance often developsinto complications or even conflicts. Here there are twokarmic forces at work. Moon karma brings us together,this is the karma that creates situations, mysteriouslyleading us to a meeting with another person, to the pointwhere our ‘selves’ really interact. Sun karma will takeus away from this meeting point. The path of a new rela-tionship begins and we can describe this new departureas Sun karma. At the point where Moon and Sun karmicforces meet, our free will can be activated and we stepinto the future. At this point we bring our whole ‘selves’to bear on the world. At this point we create karma. Ourinner work should be aimed at learning to act correctlyat this point. This is what is meant by ‘Right Action’.

That this meeting point is necessary for us to developas individuals struck a deep chord in me. It connectedwith an image I am familiar with from the field ofPermaculture Ecological Design. One of the observa-tions we have made in this design system is that themost dynamic ecologies develop where biotopes meeteach other. The border between a forest and a meadowhas a much richer and more diverse ecology than eitherpure forest or pure meadow. The edge of a pond is oftenseething with complex life. We call this the ‘Edge Ef-fect’, and when we design, we try to ‘create edge’.

In our Camphill Villages, we have ‘created edge’ inthe social and karmic world, where we meet extraordi-nary people and bring our free will to bear on our inter-actions. For our inner work this gives enormous potentialand possibility for growth. In the outer world, we are inthe process of creating living examples of the ThreefoldSocial Order.

So far, so good, but what of the future?One of the discussion groups I joined at Järna ad-

dressed the question: ‘How can I take up impulses forthe future?’ We were a small group from about 8 differ-ent projects, not just Camphill. One of the observationsmade was that there are relatively fewer and fewerAnthroposophists working in our projects, and evenoccasionally individuals who are critical of Anthroposo-phy. It struck me that here we were witnessing anotherkarmic meeting point and not just between individuals.Here the whole Camphill impulse meets the ‘outside’world, the larger society we find ourselves in. We areinteracting with other ideas, ideologies and philosophies.

How can we take hold of this situation as a karmicgrowth point? How do we ‘create edge’ productively

between Camphill and the rest of society, between An-throposophy and other ways of understanding (or notunderstanding!) the world?

Moon karmic forces are bringing us to these meetingpoints. We can all identify them:Co-workers who are critical of Rudolf Steiner or who

question Anthroposophy, join our communities.Our social structure is challenged; the bureaucracy

of the State or the local authority forces itself inand demands changes in our work and our lives.

Economics and financial considerations force us toreconsider the main tasks of our workshops. Arethey therapeutic; for self-sufficiency; do they needto make a profit?

Co-workers demand change in their living situation;in their need for more privacy.

Do we encounter these meetings with our free will readyto change our karma? Are we imprisoned by the past,shackled by images from the history of Camphill? It isnot always easy to distinguish between images and prin-ciples. One illustrates the other, pictures put flesh onthe bare bones of our ideology.Does the form of our Bible Evening really satisfy the

need for a weekly spiritual encounter in ourhouseholds?

Do we spend enough time studying the principles ofthreefoldness in the social order and implementingthis in our communities?

Can we really create new karma by being free of, butnot forgetting, our traditions?

Are we ready to go down a Sun karma path that weare participating in creating?

I came away from Järna with a lot of questions, andwith renewed energy to go to work answering them.Asking the right question is already a step on the pathof a solution.

A question is itself a Karmic meeting point betweenthe Moon karma of the problem and the Sun karma ofthe solution.

Jan is, amongst other things,responsible for the Bridge Building School in Solborg,

which runs practical and theoretical courses inpermaculture, ecology, economics and spirituality.

The Bay of Naples, Ivan Aivazovsky

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Four times twelve in Rudolf Steiner’s Last AddressElsbeth Groth, Camphill Schools, Aberdeen

I would like to share some thoughts related to one par-ticular aspect of Rudolf Steiner’s Last address. When

speaking of the light, which in the future will spreadamongst all humanity through the archangel Michael’sactivity, Rudolf Steiner mentions the ‘4 x 12’. Our fac-tual way of thinking concludes that the number requiredmust be 48 and finds this actually a very small numberof human beings needed, he says, to achieve the rightmood for establishing true Michael festivals.

If Rudolf Steiner thought of 48 individuals, why doeshe say 4 x 12? In the lecture cycle on St. Mark’s gospel(2nd lecture 16.9.1912, Basle), Steiner speaks of the note-worthy number twelve, which is encountered whenevermysteries of evolution are revealed to us. We meet thenumber twelve in mythology and cosmology, also inthe Old and New Testaments and in the Apocalypse.

In relation to the twelve regions of the zodiac, 4 x 12calls to mind how on so many occasions Rudolf Steinerpoints to the four regions from where, out of the totalityof the zodiac, special spiritual impulses stream into theevolution of mankind and the earth. These truths wereknown about and thus also connected to the four gos-pel writers and their sources of inspiration. We seewinged symbols for each of them:

the winged bull for Lukethe winged lion for Markthe winged eagle (replacing Scorpio) for Johnthe angelic figure for Matthew

Rudolf Steiner gave indications to eurythmists how thehuman soul can take two paths through the zodiac whichtransmit particular experiences. (Eurythmy Course,10.7.7, 1924, Dornach). Both take their beginnings inLeo, to which Rudolf Steiner attributes ‘flaming enthusi-asm’. On either of the two paths, the path of Will andthe path of Thought, we are shown the transformation ofthis flaming enthusiasm, if man applies it in earthly life,finally arriving at: ‘Man in balance—equilibrium’.

Also Rudolf Steiner points to special moments on thesetwo paths: when passing through the sign of the Bull, onthe path of Will, he writes : The deed. And when pass-ing through the sign of the Eagle, on the path of Think-ing, he writes The thought.

We can divine in these indications how our souls gatherstrength in order to be able to manifest our human na-ture in the faculties of feeling, willing, thinking: strivingfor equilibrium on a path of true self-knowledge.

To come back to the formulation of 4 x 12, we can pon-der whether Steiner had in mind the vast variety in whichanthroposophy in future might live amongst mankind,and how it will be able to manifest in individuals, peo-ples, races. What seems to be important is the aspect oftwelvefoldness seen as groups of individuals workingtogether in harmony. Thus 4 x 12 is seen symbolicallyand not factually.

Rudolf Steiner describes many ways in which Michael’sinfluence makes itself felt in our striving towards a trueunderstanding of the human being as well as in alchemi-cal processes in nature which have their influence onhuman beings. Usually we are led to understand howbalance can be brought about within polarities. Steiner’sfour ‘Archangel Imaginations’ are examples of this, as isthe lecture cycle The Mission of Michael in which hesays, (lecture 10–13.12.191):In innumerable different ways can you strive for equi-librium; this has to do with the innumerable ways inwhich individual human beings live on earth.

To come once more back to the Last Address, Steinerrelates that the way in which Michael inspires the soulsof these 4 x 12 human beings and how this flows intotheir everyday actions must be recognizable to theVorstand of the Goetheanum. This poses a great chal-lenge to the members of the Vorstand, as well as to all ofus. It requires discrimination, conversation and the prac-tice of empathy when speaking and listening to oneanother.

If we receive the concluding verse of the Last Addresswith open hearts, then we can know that we all areaddressed as ‘disciples of spirit knowledge’, who striveto actively take into their souls Michael’s wise gestureof beckoning, and hear the ‘Word of Love’ which streamsdown from the realms of ‘Cosmic Will’.

Elsbeth is a seniorCamphiller and a eurythmy therapist.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson—The American Prophet Part TwoManfred Seyfert-Landgraf, Clanabogan, Northern Ireland

The second and concluding part of an article firstpublished at Easter 1964 in The Cresset.

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The struggle of Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose homeland was the spirit, against the superficiality and ig-

norance of the masses, and his urge to draw the atten-tion of his fellow-men, as ‘thinking individuals’, to theiressential indwelling powers, is the content and the mean-ing of all his future writings, which deal with this subjectin the most varied realms of life.

The observation that nature is spirit condensed to sub-stance, which Emerson had first experienced in Paris,occupied him especially. Therefore it was quite naturalthat he called his first printed publication ‘Nature’, firstpublished in 1836. It contains a collection of eight es-says. They have a common idea which connects them,namely the relationship between spirit and nature, andman as the observer. They are arranged in such a waythat one ascends step by step, chapter by chapter, startingwith elementary observation of nature until one reachesin the seventh essay the spirit. When reading these essaysone gets the impression that Emerson must already havedivined something of the sevenfoldness of the humanbeing. The eighth chapter is then a kind of summary.

In the essay ‘Self-Reliance’, 1841, Emerson explainsin vivid terms that man can gain self-confidence only tothe degree that he can become one with God, and thatwe can find our innermost Self only in so far as we canfree ourselves from the opinions of our surroundings andcan learn to pray in the right way.

In another important essay, ‘The Over-Soul’, 1844,Emerson describes how everything living is permeatedby the Over-Soul. It is probably justified to compare hisconcept of the ‘Over-Soul’ with the one Goethe callsthe ‘World-Soul’, and what St. Paul means with thewords: ‘Not I but the Christ in me.’

At the beginning of January 1850 Emerson publishedwhat is probably his best-known work, ‘RepresentativeMen’. This book heralds the most essential and fertiledecade of American literature and spirituality of thewhole 19th Century, which lasted from about 1850 tothe beginning of the American Civil War. He describesin this collection of essays, after the introductory chap-ter ‘Uses of Great Men’, six different ways of viewingthe world, illustrating each of them at the hand of onecharacteristic personality, representing that particularideology. He tries to show the importance, as well asthe limits, of each particular way for a true world cogni-tion. The representatives chosen by him are: ‘Plato, orthe Philosopher’, ‘Swedenborg, or the Mystic’,‘Montaigne, or the Sceptic’, ‘Shakespeare, or the Poet’,‘Napoleon, or the Man of the World’ and finally, ‘Goethe,or the Writer’. In these essays he gives a survey of thehistory of man’s striving for knowledge, which can be,of course, only aphoristic. It is so filled with essentialideas and insights, that it is difficult to convey the rightimpression with a few sentences. In the essay‘Swedenborg, or the Mystic’ he says, for instance:In the animal, nature makes a vertebra, or a spine ofvertebrae, and helps herself still by a new spine, with

a limited power of modifying its form, —spine on spine,to the end of the world. Manifestly, at the end of thespine, nature puts on smaller spines as arm, at theend of the arm are new spines as hands; at the otherend she repeats the process as legs and feet. At thetop of the column she puts out another spine, whichdoubles or loops itself over into a ball and forms theskull with extremities again; the hands being now theupper jaw, the feet the lower jaw, the fingers and toesbeing represented this time by upper and lower teeth.This new spine is destined to high uses. It is a newman on the shoulders of the last. Within it, on a higherplane, all that was done in the trunk repeats itself.Nature recites its lesson once more in a higher mood.

On 22nd December 1863, almost exactly fourteen yearsafter the first publication of his book ‘RepresentativeMen’, Emerson wrote in his Journals:When I wrote ‘Representative Men’ I felt that Jesuswas the ‘Representative Man’ whom I ought to sketch;but the task required great gifts, steadiest insights andperfect temper, otherwise the consciousness of wantof sympathy in the audience would make one petu-lant or sore, in spite of himself.

Emerson’s second European journey in 1847–1848, dur-ing which he was mainly lecturing in England, led tothe book ‘English Traits’ in 1856. In this collection ofessays he describes the development of the English peo-ple and their culture from its very beginning to the im-mediate present, and even with some prophetic outlooktowards the future. It is certainly one of the most impor-tant sources for the study and understanding of the Eng-lish folk temperament.

Emerson’s last important collection of essays, ‘Con-duct of Life’, appeared shortly before the American CivilWar broke out. It is a group of nine essays, in which thethree middle ones—‘Culture’, ‘Behaviour’, and ‘Wor-ship’—form a certain climax. The especially striking as-pect of these last essays is their distinctly prophetic nature.The following quotation from ‘Worship’, is a typical ex-ample of this:We live in a transition period, when the old faiths whichcomforted nations, and not only so, but made nations,seem to have spent their force. I do not find the reli-gions of men at this moment very credible to them;but either childish and insignificant, or unmanly andeffeminating. The fatal trait is the divorce betweenreligion and morality...In our large cities the popula-tion is godless and materialized; no bond, no fellow-feeling, no enthusiasm…There is no faith in the intel-lectual, none in the moral universe. There is faith inchemistry, in meat and vine; in wealth, machinery, inthe steam-engine, galvanic battery, turbine-wheels,sewing-machines, and in public opinion; but none indivine causes.

Emerson’s outlook on the future of religious life in mod-ern civilisation is, however, not only negative and pes-simistic; on the contrary, he believes that just becauseof the gradual decline of the old traditional religions, aproper and fertile ground will be created for a quite newand more ‘inward faith’. This same essay culminatestherefore in the following sentences:

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There will be a new church founded on moral sci-ence, at first cold and naked, a babe in a manger again,the algebra and mathematics of ethical law, the churchof men to come, without shawms, or psaltery, orsackbutts; but it will have heaven and earth for itsbeams and rafters: science for symbol and illustra-tions; it will fast enough gather beauty, music, pictureand poetry. It shall send man home to his central soli-tude, shame these social supplicating manners, andmake him know, that much of the time he must havehimself to his friend. He shall expect no co-operation,he shall walk with no companion. The namelessThought, the nameless Power, the super-personalHeart; he shall alone repose on that. He needs onlyhis own verdict. No good fame can help, no bad famecan hurt him. The Laws are his consolers, the goodLaws themselves are alive, they know if he has keptthem, they animate him with the leading of great dutyand an endless horizon.

After the end of the American Civil War, life becamegradually quieter for Ralph Waldo Emerson; althoughhe was still invited on many occasions to lecture. Healso published two more collections of essays, ‘Societyand Solitude’, in 1870, and ‘Letters and Social Aims’, in1876; but his main task was accomplished. No doubt,this can be explained partly by his advancing age andgradually diminishing physical strength and partly thatwith the fast-developing industrial age, the interest ofhis fellow-men was directed to other things. But has itnot perhaps also to do with the fact that the great teacher,whom he had awaited with such a deep longing, andwhose path he wanted to prepare, had incarnated in themeantime in Central Europe? Already at the beginningof his career as lecturer, he closed his afore-mentionedaddress to the students of the Divinity School, with thefollowing astonishing words:I look for the hour when that supreme Beauty, whichravished the souls of those Eastern men, and chieflyof those Hebrews, and through their lips spoke ora-cles to all time, shall speak in the West also. The He-brew and Greek Scriptures contain immortal sen-tences that have been bread of life for millions. Butthey have no epical integrity, they are fragmentaryand are not shown in their order to the intellect. I lookfor the new teacher, that shall follow so far those shin-ing laws, that he shall see them come full circle; shallsee their rounding complete grace; shall see the worldto be the mirror of the soul; shall see the identity ofthe law of gravitation with purity of heart: and shallshow that the Ought, that Duty, is one with Science,with Beauty, and with Joy.

IIIBut, what then is the position of Emerson in the spiritualhistory of the 19th Century? At the start of that centuryGoethe lived and worked in Weimar. He had shortlybefore written his famous ‘Fairy Tale of The Green Snakeand the Beautiful Lily’, and with his discovery of the‘Archetypal Plant’ had established the Law of Metamor-phosis in the plant world. Then, during the first threedecades of that century, he wrote his most importantwork: ‘Faust’, the drama of the archetypal striving hu-man being. All these works contain mighty and quitenew spiritual imaginations.

At the very end of the nineteenth century, Rudolf Steinerworked at the Goethe and Schiller Archives in Weimarand prepared the First Edition of Goethe’s Natural Sci-entific Writings for publication. At the same time he pre-pared himself for his own future mission, to becomethat teacher of mankind whom Emerson had so eagerlyawaited, and whose coming he had prophesied, not onlyin the afore-quoted address to the students of the Divin-ity School, but on several other occasions as well. Thefollowing poem, which introduces the fourth essay, ‘Cul-ture’, in the collection ‘Conduct of Life’, is quite clearlyanother of these prophetic references to the awaitedteacher:

Rudolf Steiner himself had spoken on various occasionsin quite an impressive way about Emerson’s great indi-viduality and his importance for the spiritual life in thenineteenth century. For instance, in 1915 in Berlin, inhis ‘Thoughts during the Time of War’, he points par-ticularly to the great objectivity of Emerson’s descrip-tions of the essential characteristics and forces active inthose European nations who were involved in the FirstWorld War. In a lecture on 22nd June 1915 in Berlin,Rudolf Steiner says that Emerson had the faculty to ‘liveinto’ the personality or subject he describes so that amuch higher consciousness is expressed through himthan everyday consciousness.

Is it only a coincidence, or can one not see it rather asa wise guidance of destiny, that Emerson’s important firstEuropean journey, in which he found his real task in lifeand began his true mission, falls into the same year, 1832,in which Goethe died? And that Emerson’s last impor-tant collection of essays, ‘Conduct of Life’, was printedin autumn 1860, just at the time when the birth of RudolfSteiner was approaching. Then, two months after RudolfSteiner had reached his twenty-first birthday, on 27th April1882, Emerson died, just four weeks before his 79th birth-day. Because his karmic mission was now really accom-plished, he could hand over the torch to Rudolf Steiner.

When one looks at the life and work of Ralph WaldoEmerson, how it is spread out between Goethe andRudolf Steiner, the following image can rise up withinone’s mind: One of the important figures in Goethe’s‘Fairy Tale of The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily’ isthe Old Man with the Lamp. This lamp can only shinewhere there is already light. Can one not see in this lampa symbol of true spirit-cognition? Thus, Goethe himselfwas most certainly a bearer of this lamp. When Goethehad fulfilled his task, Emerson became its bearer in or-der to hand it on to Rudolf Steiner when he had reachedhis manhood; for it is the same spiritual fountain, whichgave Goethe his imaginations, which inspired Emerson

Can rules and tutors educateThe semigod whom we await?He must be musical,Tremolous, impressional,Alive to gentle influenceOf landscape and of sky,And tender to the spirit-touchOf man’s or maiden’s eye:But to his native centre fast,Shall into Future fuse the Past,And the world’s flowing fatesIn his own mould recast !

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Good-bye, proud world! I’m going home!Thou art not my friend, and I’m not thine.Long through thy weary crowds I roam;A river-ark on the ocean brine,Long I’ve been tossed like the driven foam;But now, proud world! I’m going home.

I am going to my own heart-stoneBosomed in yon green hills aloneA secret nook in a pleasant land,Whose groves the frolic fairies planned;

Manfred, a senior Camphillerwho has spent much of his life in Camphill

Villages, is a keen student of literature,music and culture.

to his lectures and essays, and which Rudolf Steiner, outof his intuitive knowledge and insights into the spiritualworld, could transform into spiritual science and‘Anthroposophia’.

In conclusion of this tribute here is probably his mostbeautiful poem:

Where arches green the livelong day,Echo the blackbird’s roundelay,And vulgar feet have never trod,A spot that is sacred to thought and God.

0, when I am safe in my silvan home,I tread on the pride of Greece and Rome;And when I am stretched beneath the pines,Where the evening star so holy shines,l laugh at the lore and the pride of man,At the sophist schools and the learned clan;For what are they all, in their high conceit,When man in the bush with God may meet?

BooksThree books about death and dying

A Rainbow over the RiverExperiences of life, death and other worldsVeronika van DuinClairview 2003Reviewed by Peter Howe

This is an extraordinary, brave and important book, inwhich Veronika has found her true voice as a writer.

Her other books, important in their own ways, were apreparation for this one. It will find an audience far be-yond our circles, offering comfort, reassurance and in-sight to the increasing numbers of people who areunsettled or frightened by the threshold experienceswhich they or their loved ones undergo.

The author’s energy and ease with language grabbedthis reader on the first page and deposited him, full ofthe joy of existence, 230 action-packed pages later. Istarted it on the train between Newcastle and Middles-brough, not one of the world’s great train journeys, yet Ididn’t want it to end. The author takes us on a grippingpersonal journey, from her first harrowing spiritual ex-periences in her mid-20s; through countless experiencesof friends and strangers approaching and crossing thethreshold of death; to the long, moving account of hermother’s final illness and death. I found myself movedto laughter or tears, sometimes at the most unlikelyplaces, by Veronika’s honesty and skill in storytelling.

There have been many books in recent decades aboutnear death experiences, about crossing the river andseeing the light. I was afraid this was going to be justanother one. It is different because it interweaves twostories, two worlds: one, the author’s journeys to, andacross, the threshold; the other, life on this side, with itsfrustrations, its endless work, its emotions and strugglefor self-knowledge. In this way, the book avoids the twin

dangers of the modern world—either glorifying deathas simply walking into another room, full of light; orwallowing in the materiality of existence, the finality ofdeath and the impossibility of knowing the truth. Thismiddle way between the two extremes is expressed inverse form, written down after ‘hearing’ it in a spiritualexperience:

The Archangel: O human being, know thyself!

The Masses: We are the bearers of sufferingWe endure the pain inflicted upon usWe carry the burden of life uncomplainingWe dig in the dark of the weight of the earthWe experience that misery is not of our makingWe work for the purpose of rest in old ageWe reflect on the moments of joy that are passedWe despise the wealth of our neighbours inrighteousness

We live simply routinely unexceptionally correctlyWe recognize Death as freedom from Life.

The Archangel: O human being, know thyself!

The Crowds: We are the seekers of light in theheights

We are the bringers of happinessWe are the dancers in praise of the GodsWe rejoice in our riches our laughter our funWe create our own prayer in fervour and gloryWe gather together for group meditationWe ingest whatever can teach us to flyWe adore the creative the new the obscureWe worship peace on earth, all men shall have itWe disregard Death, turn from darkness to Light.

The Archangel: O human being, know thyself!

ErrataWith regard to the article Camphill outside Camphill: is it possible? in the Sept/Oct issue, it has been pointed out thatStephan Linsenhoff came to Camphill in 1954 not 1945. Our apologies to Stephan.

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The Individual: I bear my body as a vehicle for deedsI am the ploughman, the sower, the tiller, the reaperI suffer the pain my own life createsI know that joy is a transient permanenceI understand that the misery I bear is the road to loveI offer my sorrow as balm to the sufferingI work for the sake of the other’s existenceI seek for the light in the eyes of anotherI bow to the prayers that arise in my heartI sing to the music that surrounds my creationI know that unalterable Death is the doorway fromLife To Life.

I yearn for the TruthIn Freedom I tread the pathIn Christ I will find my purposeThe Archangel: O human being, know thyself!

Crossing the ThresholdPractical and spiritual guidance on death anddying, based on the work of Rudolf SteinerNicholas Wijnberg and Philip MartynTemple Lodge, 2003Reviewed by Christiaan Franken

In this age, many books on the subject of death arepublished and it is not easy to choose between them

all. And especially so if one is having to deal with thedeath of a loved one, or the prospect of one’s own death.But here is a book in which the essential aspects areclearly depicted. There is not a word too many and aclear furrow is followed throughout. It is a book onewould like everybody to read, not just anthroposophists,though the subtitle makes it clear from the beginningthat it is written from the standpoint of anthroposophyand The Christian Community.

The book starts with an outline of the contents: themeaning of death; preparation of the dying person fordeath; and support for them through the transition ofdeath, with our understanding and actions. The four-fold, physical-spiritual nature of the human being is ex-plained and forms the basis of the whole book. There isa short history of the coming into being of the funeralservice of The Christian Community. Then death itselfand the days following. Finally, there are chapters onindividual death circumstances, the bridge between theliving and the dead. And in the Appendix some practi-cal aspects.

This book invites the reader to raise their awareness ofthe issue of death and dying. And at the same time, onceone is aware of the eternal nature of the spirit, a newapproach to life is awakened too. Warmly recom-mended!

From the chapter ‘Preparing for Death’:In the same way that the day of our birth cannot beprecisely calculated, we are likewise unable to deter-mine the time of our death. It always comes as a sur-prise; and yet, by its very nature, despite perhaps dif-ficult outer circumstances, death belongs to life asmuch as sleep does. Accepting it as such, rather thanseeking to avoid it at all costs, enables us to help andaccompany the departed soul in the most beneficialway. Although the law in Britain, for instance, insistson a cause being cited for every death that occurs,we do not have to see death primarily as having anouter cause, even when directly resulting from illness.It is the prevalence of materialistic thinking which leadsus to avoid and reject suffering and death: for suchthinking can find in them no meaning or sense, butonly failure and defeat.In contrast, spiritual traditions which acknowledge fur-ther realms of being beyond the material can also ac-cept death as a step on the journey to other, deeper,further life. In Christianity, death is given new realitythrough the fact that Christ connects and unites thedivine with all that belongs to the sense perceptibleworld, all that belongs to our humanity. Christ’s deathand resurrection embrace our humanity and give itfull expression and potential.In imbuing ourselves with the essence of Christianitywe find a reality within our mortal existence which

For those with a background in Steiner’s work, the bookis an example of how the truths of spiritual science canbe expressed with clarity, honesty and warmth in straight-forward language. It is a wonderful fruit of Camphill, inthat it exemplifies how spiritual truths can be transformedinto practical life—how you lay the table, call the cowsin, greet a guest (not necessarily in that order). Spiritand matter have equal significance.

One could say that Veronika’s approach is Goethean.She simply describes: what she sees and hears and feelsin her spiritual journeys; what she feels, thinks and doesin her ordinary life. She is disarmingly honest about herown efforts and inadequacies as well as her successesand gifts. In her previous books, and in her column inthe Journal of Curative Education and Social Therapy, Icould always hear Veronika’s voice, see her knitting, andimagine her enthusiastic feet swinging under the chair,not quite long enough to touch the floor! This time, Ididn’t have that experience—she achieves objectivitythrough describing the personal, accurately and dispas-sionately. I think this is what we’re meant to do now inour time—to penetrate the self and its experiences sohonestly that they become objective and universal.

Inevitably, some will find fault with the way the au-thor has opened her private experiences to a public gaze.Some of these experiences are questionable, or at leastraise questions. Older generations may question theopenness of her account of her mother’s illness, becauseone naturally wants to preserve the dignity and privacyof an elderly lady. I would venture to suggest that BarbaraLipsker, who offered her entire long life for the good ofothers, has also bequeathed us this story of her last weeksas her final act of pioneering a new relationship to thethreshold. We are afraid of what happens in the monthsand days at the end of life. What goes on in those hushedrooms guarded by white-aproned staff? Will it happento me one day? How would I cope with pain, inconti-nence, immobility? Rudolf Steiner says in a verse againstfear, that fear and anxiety must be ‘rooted out of thesoul’. In this book, veils are lifted from the gateway todeath, and equally from the rooms of the dying. There isa moving section, The Loneliness of Dying, which de-scribes the isolation and soullessness of many hospitaldeaths, not through lack of goodwill but through fearand lack of knowing. This book brings a clarity of know-ing into the world which, wedded to the joys and upsetsof a full and committed life, can help us to root out fear.

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prepares us for deathless life beyond the gates of death.In dying, our ‘I’ or true being transcends into the worldof spirit, into the divine world, the realms of God. Wemay view the entire span of our life as an ongoingpreparation for this moment. The higher, deathless, lifecan be experienced particularly when we enter in,meditation and prayer into the quiet of our ‘inner room’,the ‘chamber of our heart.’ When our bodies come torest in meditation, our eyes close, our hands are folded,we can begin to familiarize ourselves with the worldwe will meet in death. Spiritual concepts and thoughts,gained for instance through studying anthroposophy,help too in preparing us for the realm beyond thethreshold of death.When we visit a foreign country, we find ourselvesmuch better able to find our way about if we havedone some homework in advance. Maps and travelguides help us to become more familiar with variousaspects of this country, such as geography and lan-guage.Likewise, in immersing ourselves in spiritual sciencewe can prepare ourselves for the journey to the spir-itual realm beyond the threshold of death. Throughinner preparation, through understanding of spiritualmatters which we have gained while on earth, wecan more easily adjust to our new form of existenceafter death, with its own spiritual laws.

When Death enters LifeJohn BaumFloris Books, 2003Reviewed by Christiaan Franken

This book lays out the author’s life-long experiencewith death, and the care of those near the threshold

and those around them. It is really an anthology of sto-ries, prose and poems, and because this is not madeclear at the outset it makes for a somewhat ‘untidy’ wholein which it is not always easy to follow the thread.

Often the writing is in the form of a question whichleaves the reader free to make his own judgements andto awaken his thinking about important issues. Thereare many quotations and verses throughout, includingone whole chapter by diverse authors, which thus con-stitute the main content of the book.

At the beginning an attempt is made to write for peo-ple of other denominations, but this idea soon gets lostand by the last chapter, by Rudolf Frieling, a knowledgeof anthroposophy is required.

Throughout the book, subjects are just touched uponbut rarely explored in depth. For example, the impor-tant subject of reincarnation is briefly mentioned, therefollow short quotations from Victor Hugo, Ralph WaldoEmerson, Mahler, Gandhi and Rudolf Steiner. One canexperience this positively or negatively: presumably theintention is to leave it up to readers to find out morethemselves, and the book includes a vast bibliography.

The poems and prose and verses will be a spring ofinspiration and comfort for many.

The Swan

This clumsy living that moves lumberingas if in ropes through what is not donereminds us of the awkward way the swan walks.

And to die, which is a letting goof the ground we stand on and cling to every day,is like the swan when he nervously lets himself down

into the water, which receives him gailyand which flows joyfully underand after him, wave after wave,while the swan, unmoving and marvellously calm,is pleased to be carried, each minute more fullygrown,more like a king, composed, farther and farther on.

RAINER MARIA RILKE, TRANSLATED BY ROBERT BLY

Christiaan is a counsellor,editor and translator, living near Groningen, Holland.

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ObituariesAnne Gairdner-Trier

10th December 1913–12 th July 2003David Adams, Botton

Anne was born on 10th Decem-ber 1913 at the very end of an

age of European glory. In manyways, Anne’s long life has echoedthe trials and successes that theworld has gone through in the twen-tieth century. Anne was a person ofher time.

Anne had an extremely happychildhood. The family lived in an oldmanor house with a large walledgarden, an orchard and surroundingfields in the rolling countryside ofSomerset, near Glastonbury. Anne’smother was an artist and the familyhome was run with love, devotionand beauty. Her father was a barris-ter and town clerk of Taunton.

Anne grew up in a family of threebrothers (she was number two) andso never played with girls until theage of 12. They were all very closeand played happily together. Be-tween them they developed a secretlanguage, which sometimes annoyed their parents. Anneis still known by the name they gave her in this lan-guage, which is Deala! The family had two ponies andso Anne’s love of horses developed early. Many happydays were spent riding on the hills near home. Anne hada governess and so all her early education was at home.Although her family was firmly upper-middle class, whichshe bore in her being throughout her life, she had a natu-ral disregard for class distinctions. When the village boyscame to raid her garden and to steal raspberries, shehelped them. She said: ‘Why shouldn’t they have rasp-berries as well?’ This openness to people and treatingthem as they were was a quality that went through herlife.

At 12, Anne went to a girl’s school that was very strictand which she didn’t like. But, at 14 she went to an-other school in Berkshire, which she loved. The head-mistress was a special woman who had a conversationwhich each girl every term. She encouraged each of herpupils to become well-rounded human beings. This lefta lasting impression on Anne.

Anne left school at 18 to take part in the usual sociallife of her time; dancing, tennis and riding and hunting.Her brothers had all joined the Navy and so she wasmore alone. One of her brothers, Richard, brought homea friend who became a special friend of Anne’s. They feltthat they had known each other before and that theywould always be friends, but Anne knew she couldn’tmarry Dick and was sad about this. Dick once wrote toher: ‘Do you believe in Christ? I think that is what life isall about.’ Dick died when his ship was sunk by the Japa-

nese, on Anne’s birthday in 1941.This shows two other characteris-tics in Anne’s life. She was alwaysclose to the Christ impulse andthroughout her life she made manyclose relationships and didn’t al-ways know how to place them.

At 19 Anne went to the SomersetFarm Institute, which was a veryhappy year for her. She felt that sheovercame her intolerable shynessthere. She then left to go home tohelp in the gardens and to ride andhunt. Edward was the gardenerthere and he was young, handsomeand well read. He was a bit of a self-made philosopher and he helpedAnne to see the wider world and tosee that her own life was limited andselfish. Of course they fell in loveand had to court in secret. It was agreat shock for her family when theyfound out. This was another trait inher life. She loved her family deeply

and yet gave them many shocks.Anne then went to London to study nursing. Edward

followed a year later and they continued to meet andremained close friends. Edward eventually married oneof Anne’s friends. In the first year of the war, before Dun-kirk, Anne became depressed. She wanted to marry, butcouldn’t. She wanted to become a nurse but felt shewasn’t learning enough. She described that she justwanted to lie in the sun and leave this earth. One day,doing this, she almost stopped breathing and it was ablissful experience. This is another signature of Anne’slife. Although she was always very involved in a verydown-to-earth task such as weaving, gardening or work-ing with horses, there was also something about her thatalmost didn’t belong on the earth. She always felt like acitizen of two worlds.

Because of the danger in London, Anne then wenthome for a holiday. There she decided to enrol in a VADtraining for nursing and went to Weston-Super-Mare todo this. While waiting at the station she saw a sign say-ing ‘Famous Psychologist Palmist’. She went in to findout her future. He told her: within 6 months you willmarry a well to do man from the north with blonde hairand blue eyes. Anne said that she didn’t know him. Thepalmist went on to say that she was not immune to thedanger of air raids.

At home in August, her brother Tony invited the offic-ers of an artillery regiment to a tennis party, and thereAnne met Robin Gairdner. She thought: blue eyes andblonde hair, and then promptly forgot about it. They weremarried that year, on the 3rd December 1940. These were

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the war years and they were often separated. Robin com-manded his Territorial Regiment, which he loved. Healso loved to read the bible in Church each week.

Sally was born on 26th September 1942. At Christmas1943 Anne went home to Somerset for the birth of herson, Charles, who was born on 9th February 1944. Robinwas able to come for the christening and they had aspecial week together. Robin was very proud of his newson and called his daughter the adorable Sally. Duringthese years they often lived near Camphill and the Deevalley, but Anne never saw either.

On 14th March 1944 Robin died in an air raid in Lon-don. He was working for the War Office at the time andstaying with his brother. While his brother was out onFire Watch, the house, with him and his sister-in-law init, suffered a direct hit. Anne felt that Robin carried herduring this time of sorrow. When picking a posy of prim-roses for his coffin Anne felt she was in paradise. Andbefore the internment service she looked at herself inthe mirror and thought: this is the most difficult momentin my life, how can I go through with it? Suddenly thismood was lifted and she was full of joy. After the funeralher mother said to her that Robin was there, and Anneagreed. The family then had a joyous meal together.During that year Anne felt very close to Robin. She alsofound in her mother’s bible the readings from the BibleReading Fellowship. Every evening she read these andthey were her mainstay.

A year after Robin’s death Anne was again in Weston-Super-Mare and stayed in a rooming house. There shemet an atheist who was very depressed. Anne told her itdidn’t have to be that way and that it all depended onyour philosophy of life. Another guest, who overheardthis and was impressed by Anne, introduced her to An-throposophy. Anne felt as if a window to the spiritualworld had been opened and was overjoyed. This was thefirst anniversary of Robin’s death, and Anne felt she hadcome to the point where she couldn’t hold him back andthat Anthroposophy was a gift for them both. Anne oncesaid to me that Robin had led her to Anthroposophy.

Anne joined the biodynamic work and moved nearto Glasgow to be nearer to Robin’s family. Karl Alexan-der Mier came for a visit and told her about Camphill.When she heard of this community it was as if a bellrang out for her. Out of this interest she went to lec-tures in Glasgow by Carlo Pietzner and Karl König.She found that the lectures were like magic and shehad supper with Dr. Koenig. He then invited her tocome to Camphill. Anne did go for a weekend, begin-ning on the first Advent Sunday in 1946. While thereDr. Koenig said: you belong to us. Anne did decide toreturn to Camphill and this caused a big battle withher family. Anne had to fight for the right to take thechildren with her—and she won!

Anne arrived in Camphill on 13th March 1947, theday before the third anniversary of Robin’s death. Shewas 33 at the time and she came recognising her des-tiny. At Camphill she made a life for herself. She wasdrawn to the adolescents and she had a gift with them.In her busy life there she even had time to look to-wards the future. She and Donald Perkins, a priest inThe Christian Community, longed to do prison work.This never happened, but is possibly still to come? Annewas also able to pick up her work with horses. Sheacquired two ponies and started teaching riding to both

the handicapped and staff children. She had alwaysfelt privileged as a child and longed to share the joy ofriding with others. She continued to do this until herlate 70’s.

On 29th May 29 1949 she married Hans Jurgen Trier, arefugee from Germany. A year later she had a son,Christopher John, on 3rd April 1950. Her life with Hanswas not easy. He suffered from severe mental problems,which necessitated a move for the family and muchuncertainty. Hans died very tragically in December 1956.

Anne had to find her way once again. In 1955 BottonVillage was started for adults with special needs andshe had a longing to go there. She had to plead with Dr.König to be allowed to go, and as with many of herbattles, she won. She carried her acceptance letter fromPeter Roth around with her everywhere, so importantwas this step to her. She went to Cairnlee, part of theCamphill Rudolf Steiner Schools in Aberdeen, to com-plete a weaving training and the family moved to Bottonin early summer 1957.

Anne was in Botton until 1973. She started the weav-ing workshop and did much work with plant dyes. Theproducts produced were sold all over the country to helpprovide the income the Village needed. Anne was veryhappy in Botton and created a home with her three chil-dren and her beloved horse. Village life was very muchwhere she belonged. An illustration of how she was isan incident described by Sally. Sally came back to Bottononce after staying with a normal family and complainedthat she would like a real home like them. Anne lookedat her and said: Home is where I am!

Once again, a change in life was heralded by tragedy.On 15th May 1971 her son Chris was killed in a caraccident. This was a terrible time for her. She seemed tobe making her peace with this and settling back intoBotton life, when in November 1972 another accidenthappened in which two girls died. This was a testingtime for Botton, but for Anne it was just too much andshe became very ill. She was invited to go to Hermanus,but first she went to stay with Sally and Terry to recoverher health. She then went to Hermanus for 14 monthswhere she managed to come to terms with her grief.She loved Africa and was asked to stay on, but decidedto come home, as she wanted to be near her family.

When she returned to Britain she moved to Bristol andhelped in the founding of the Bristol Waldorf Schoolkindergarten. She first was a housemother for peoplewho needed sheltered accommodation, in a house be-longing to The Christian Community. She then movedto Cherry Orchards, a Camphill Community, and againdid riding and opened up a weaving workshop.

In January 1981, Sally and Terry moved to Botton fromBristol. Anne missed them terribly and soon followedthem up north. She moved to the Croft in Malton and re-opened their weaving workshop. After a year she becamevery ill and it was suggested to her that she should takelife easier. So she moved to Castleton, a village nearBotton, where she lived with Betty Towel and becameinvolved with the local life. After her 80th Birthday shemoved back into Botton to retire. This she found difficult,as she always needed to be involved and to have a task.But this time, she really came to be with her family, andher involvement in Botton couldn’t be the same. Never-theless, many of us thought she had come home to die.But Anne still held many surprises in store for us!

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In 1997 Sally and Terry decided to move to Scotlandand Anne insisted on moving up with them. There was anew project up there that she wished to be part of, calledPishwanton. Anne has a great love for nature and for theelements and Pishwanton spoke to her deep feelings forthe future. Her Camphill commitments never ceased andshe longed to take them further into the world. It washard for her as her capabilities were declining andPishwanton was a pioneering place without the build-ings and facilities that she needed. But she remained trueto this impulse and did what she could. Now the newCraft Building is completed and houses Anne’s craft equip-ment and her dye plants are planted around. So her in-volvement will be continued there. It was fitting that thefirst part of Anne’s funeral could be in this building.

Anne’s wish to increase the relationship between manand the horse grew stronger in her last years. She spenther last years compiling a booklet about the subject,which has been finished and is available in a photocop-ied form. Anne always possessed a very strong will, wasincredibly positive, loved people and had a real senseof humour, all of which sustained her over the years of alife with many challenges.

Anne was filled with many seeming contradictions,which she managed to bridge. She was open to all peo-ple whatever their situation, she made close connec-tions to people and loved to live in community and yetshe had an incredibly strong connection to her family.

She loved this family and yet gave them many shocksand challenges. And as I said before, Anne seemed tobe living in two worlds. Throughout her life Anne recog-nised the signs of destiny working. She loved nature andthe earth. She became committed to Anthroposophywhen she met it. She often said she wasn’t very wellread in it, but when I first knew her in the early 1970’s,she read a lecture every night before she went to bedand her knowledge seemed extensive. Anne was de-voted to Camphill and was a true member of theCamphill Community.

Towards the end of her time in Botton, I spent manyevenings talking with her. I would have to listen to twohours of how dreadful it would be if hunting was abol-ished, but mixed within this were fascinating snippetsof her life and deep revelations about Anthroposophy.Although I am not a ‘horse man’, I always came awayfeeling enriched. Anne had a twinkle in her eye thatwas most noticeable. It wasn’t a naughty twinkle, al-though it could be at times, but it was more like a twin-kle from fairyland. One that could enliven, but also onethat could bring a certain amount of chaos to our earthlylife. Anne overcame many hardships and with determi-nation lived her life to the full. I like to think of her asSally described her, saying: Home is where I am!

Anne died on Saturday 12th July 2003 at 8:42 pm—during Bible Evening time—a weekly event that was soimportant to her.

Sally Cleaver, East Lothian, Scotland

Anne was a very spiritual and also spirited person withgreat energy and love of life and adventure. Until

the end of her life she was always saying she wanted tolearn more, visit, explore, experience and understanddifferent aspects of life and places.

As a young person she had many hair-raising adven-tures with her three brothers, sailing in a small boat withno motor around the hazardous SW coast and over toWales and the Channel Islands—storm bound, be-calmed, trapped in lobster pots with a fast ebbing tideand dangerous currents to contend with, where onlyweeks before two experienced fishermen had drowned!

Her deep faith and belief in Christian values and an-throposophy were her key stones to deal with and un-derstand the many joys and tragedies she had to copewith through her life. As a child growing up without mybeloved father, she was a constant source of comfort inthe pain and grief I suffered, reassuring me that he wasalways there for me and I should talk to him each night.Anne prepared the basis of my life from a very early agein the true belief of the spiritual world which I could andwould always draw great comfort from. I can never re-member a time when I didn’t have that retreat to go to.

When our baby daughter died at a month old in 1969,there was one sentence Anne said which gave us the great-est comfort and possible explanation: ‘Perhaps all sheneeded in this lifetime was to experience being loved’.

In the middle 1950’s we lived in Heathcote cottage onthe south side of the river Dee, exceedingly crampedwith five of the family and a number of adolescent girlsliving in the old coach house. Our stepfather had beenvery ill and Anne was most concerned about our situa-tion. She then arrived at a solution—a caravan! I remem-

ber her constant conversations and visits to the Camphillsolicitors in Aberdeen and discussions with Dr. König.The results were always negative but there was no stop-ping Anne in her determinations! One day Dr. Königsaid to her ‘Annie, you never do as you are told!’. I re-ally believe he loved her for it and once, with his armaround her shoulders, said ‘Annie you have a very diffi-cult destiny’.

In 1973–4 she was in Hermanus, South Africa, whereshe found apartheid very difficult. One day driving alongshe picked up some Africans wanting a lift. They weremost concerned that a white woman would stop, beingalone, but Anne brushed aside their fears and said, ‘Ohdon’t worry, I’ll just tell them that you are my servant’.

Anne always loved Scotland, the culture, history, mu-sic, landscape and its people and did Scottish countrydancing in many centres where she lived. Until the endof her life she could never resist a man in a kilt! Whenshe was 83 we moved north from Botton Village to beinvolved in and support the new Pishwanton projectstarted by Margaret Colquhoun and The Life Science Trust.She was a tremendous supporter with a new flag to flyand occasionally became frustrated when her time andenergy began to fail. Her treasured weaving equipmentand vegetable dyes are her last legacy to Pishwanton.

On Palm Saturday 2002 the ‘all-ability trail’ was openedby Doug Scott, the first British mountaineer to climbEverest in 1975, and he proudly wheeled Anne alongthe route in her wheelchair with a great following ofpeople in their wake.

She died in her beloved Scotland and, as a friend wroteto me afterwards, ‘The spiritual world has received anhonoured guest’.

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Hans Christof Valentien13th March 1927–19 th April 2003

Muriel Valentien

Early on the morning of EasterSaturday, Hans Christof was re-

leased after long years of illness.More than once in the past twoyears he seemed to stand at thethreshold, and in some of his in-ner experiences to have passedover it. But after each recurringstroke he had rallied and, in spiteof memory loss and periods ofmental confusion, he always cameto himself again. But, ‘My lifehangs on a silken thread, and atthe end it will be over like a burstof light,’ he told me some weeksbefore Easter. Several times he hadtaken the part of Nicodemus in theEaster Saturday play in Camphilland we have read this play to-gether here at the Engelberg. Itseemed to have much to do withhim. And just on Easter Saturday,in the stillness of the dawn, the‘silken thread’ was severed.

Hans Christof had left Camphill 32 years ago to be-come a teacher of mathematics at the Engelberg WaldorfSchool near Stuttgart, a necessary step in his destiny.But inwardly, I have always felt, he never left Camphill.During the years of his illness he wandered through hispast, meeting again the ‘old’ Camphillers, remember-ing many of the children in the class he had taught for10 years. Once, when moving uncertainly through thehouse with the help of his stick, he said, ‘Now I knowhow it was for Trevor Pullman (a partially blind boy inhis class). He also couldn’t be sure of the distance be-tween his eye and the floor!’

He had two great loves: anthroposophy and mathemat-ics. To anthroposophy he came at the age of 18, after hisreturn from the war. He then took part in theanthroposophical Hochschulwochen in Stuttgart, asource of inspiration for hundreds of enthusiastic youngpeople at that time. Here he met Gottwalt Hahn andSuso Vetter, who were to become his colleagues later atthe Engelberg. His interest in mathematics had been kin-dled in high school through one of his teachers. In hisown later studies he worked intensively on projectivegeometry, two of his mentors being George Adams andLouis Locher-Ernst.

At the age of 14 he started with glider lessons, receiv-ing his licence as a pilot three years later. He wouldhave loved to take up flying as a career, had it beenallowed by the forces of Occupation after the war. At 16years, together with his classmates, he was assigned toanti-aircraft duty in defence of Stuttgart airport. Some ofhis companions did not survive the nights of bombing.In January 1945, recruited into the air force, he trainedas a radio operator.

In the last days of the war, he and members of his unitwere taken prisoner by Allied forces. They were to be

held in a French prison camp. AFrench officer stood at the gate ofthe camp, letting the prisonersthrough in single file. As HansChristof approached him the of-ficer gave a quick nod with hishead, indicating that he should notgo in but walk past him, away. Hedid walk away but in the courseof the day was caught again, bythe Americans. Here too he wasfurther guided. Roll call was notyet established in the Americancamp and he managed to hidehimself in a shed on the campgrounds. In his shoe he had hid-den a pair of pliers. When nightcame he could creep to the fencearound the camp and in betweenthe flashes of the searchlight cutthrough the fence and escape.

This experience, of course,called up questions as to ‘destiny’,especially when he heard later

that the prisoners in the French camp were taken toFrance, from where those who survived could returnhome only years later.

Then came the meeting with anthroposophy, the re-sumption of his education and the decision to studymathematics. While still a student he gave two periodsof mathematics at the Tübingen Waldorf School.

Through attending the wedding of his friend, FreddyHeimsch, in Ringwood, he met Renate, his future wife,and became acquainted with and drawn to the ideals ofCamphill. In the next weeks he had to make an impor-tant decision. He had meanwhile been offered a teach-ing post at the Tübingen school. But his meeting withCamphill had convinced him that the study and prac-tice of curative education would give him the necessarybasis for all future teaching.

He decided for Camphill, where he remained for 15years. To him and Renate came two sons, ChristophJohannes and Gottwalt Andreas. When this marriagecame to an end, Renate and the boys moved to Ger-many. Gottwalt—later choosing to be called Andreas—was to return to Aberdeen to study medicine.

Hans Christof and I married on Palm Sunday in 1966and our son Markus was born on St John’s Day the fol-lowing year. I have always felt it was Markus’ death atthe age of eleven months which marked a turning-pointin Hans Christof’s life. At the same time his ten yearsas a class teacher came to an end. In the next threeyears he was still active in many capacities but thelonging to turn again to mathematics began to stir andbecome insistent. His friend Gottwalt Hahn, for manyyears a mathematics teacher at the Engelberg, had timeand again invited him to join him there. Hans Christof’sdecision to leave Camphill, made in June 1971, coin-cided with the wish of another mathematics teacher to

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start with a First Class if a replacement for him could befound. So, in August of that year, we moved with ourlittle daughter to Germany.

In teaching upper school classes for 19 years, HansChristof was indeed able to take up mathematics veryintensively. And even before a first stroke at the age of63 caused his early retirement, he had begun to workon a theme in astronomy with Suso Vetter, editor of theStar Calendar in Dornach. He could contribute hismathematical-geometrical knowledge to this theme:indications given by Rudolf Steiner concerning themovements of the planets. This became a major inter-est in the following years.

As the strokes repeated themselves he became acutelyaware of his diminishing mental faculties. But he tookthis as a new challenge. Knowing how Rudolf Steinerhad stressed the importance of each day in the life ofvery old, very ill people in ‘binding the forces ofAhriman’, Hans Christof said, ‘I want to make myselfavailable for this, to accept myself in this condition,not to want to limit it.’ Of course he couldn’t alwayskeep this resolve in mind in the long years of strugglein which he seemed to move—sometimes, to betossed—back and forth between two worlds. No, morethan two. One could experience through him a numberof different layers of existence. ‘I represent a kaleido-scope of shifting stages of consciousness,’ he told meonce.

Dwora Schick1st March 1908–30 th September 2002

Shortened version of a funeral address, by Yossi Shachar, Beit Uri Community, Israel

There was a great deal of light. Sometimes he said hewas ‘blinded by the light, it is an inner light and verybright.’ Often he spoke of Christ. And time and again hementioned trust, the trust in the other person, as essen-tial for the future of mankind.

And there were times of darkness where he seemed tofight with demons, his own demons. Through the attackson the brain his physical condition deteriorated, therewas much pain whose origin was hard to determine.Often he was conscious enough to feel caged in, walledup alive, a kind of inner suffocation. Ever and again herallied, grew milder, greeting our frequent visitors withgreat warmth. Almost until the end he was aware of thelife around us, even of events in their world context. Themood of ‘acceptance’ did prevail and, with it, gratitude.‘I am so grateful for everything,’ he said on his last birth-day in March. ‘I want to say to everyone and to my des-tiny: Thank you!’

Last Christmas he talked a great deal about his coming‘wedding’ which he wanted to celebrate with manyfriends. Wedding being Hochzeit—Hoch-zeit, high-time—in German, I felt he was talking about the high-time, the high point of his life, that is, his death. He wasable to celebrate the first two days of Christmas at thecandlelit tree, with our family. Waking on the morningof the 26th he greeted me with, ‘Happy Easter!’ Was thisa premonition? Christmas, Easter, Hochzeit—they allmerged into one moment of festival, of Resurrection.

Dear Dwora, You always said you were not a person of speeches

and words. Indeed like a bee, dwora in Hebrew, youhave been industrious, determined and dedicated todeeds. With this went the bee-sting—but full of honey—which we learnt to receive with love.

You never wanted honours, praise or prizes. You al-lowed us to be blessed with your presence.

At the Ne’ilah Prayer, the concluding service of YomKippur, the Day of Atonement—Open a gate for us, atthe hour of gate-closing, as the day turns— you left ourhall and stepped into the last chapter of your life: twoweeks in Afula hospital. We were left behind in the hall,singing, in a farewell atmosphere. Later on, duringSuccot, Feast of Tabernacles, which is also the harvestfestival, we asked ourselves how are we to carry on withyour blessed harvest, the fruits of your many deeds, asseeds for the future?

Guided by her personal destiny and the destiny of herpeople, Dwora Schick left behind her family and thecultural and socio-economic wealth of pre-HolocaustPrague. She went into what was then the ‘desert’ of Is-rael, tying her fate to that of her son, Uri, a child withretarded development and impaired heart. Here in Is-rael, Dwora worked in a restaurant and always lookedfor the right people to help her to care for Uri. She metanthroposophy, which was, for her, like a ‘burning bush’,a way to attain knowledge of the spiritual world. This

gave her a wide perspective on, and a way to searchmeaning in, her biography and the fate of her familyand her people who perished in the Holocaust.

Uri, Dwora’s son, died when he was 16. Rudolf Steiner’swritings were to provide for her a kind of Mount Sinairevelation, illuminating the path on her new mission—tofound a home for children with special needs, which hadnot been available for her own son during his lifetime.

With typical diligence and dedication, keeping withinthe means available to her, Dwora pursued her new lifeproject. She found funds, at first mainly her own. Shegained practical experience in European homes for thosewith special needs and then she secured suitable landin Afula. In Giv’at Hamore, a hill near Tabor, overlook-ing Jezre’el, Carmel, Gilbo’a and Samaria, Dwora startedto build what was to become a green and spacious vil-lage, a home for community life.

In March 1969 Dwora opened the first house and movedin with a handful of developmentally challenged chil-dren, helped by foreign volunteers and local employees.

Dwora devoted the last third of her life to managingand operating the home. Late into her 80s, she helpedwith the cooking, the care of the residents and tendingthe sick. She rarely left the premises. Till her last daysDwora insisted on staying in her tiny room, side by sidewith the residents’ bedrooms, always sharing her mod-est way of living with them.

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Dwora, in her own way, led an entire ‘people’ towardsa promised land, providing a sheltered environment withall the necessary conditions of protection and accept-ance, where even the most delicate and frail plants couldunfold and flourish.

You said, Dwora, that it was your duty to fulfill Uri’smission. Your presence, Dwora, your being with us, wasa blessing.

Few are the initiators, the leaders, who know how toprepare the necessary provisions and endow a guidingblessing to their followers. And, during the years of

gradual departure, you have been learning how to blesspaths different from yours, and to forgive us our short-comings, not as justification for mediocrity, but as alever of self-development and renewal. Thank you!

We undertake to continue your life work in this spiritand pray that we may find the necessary forces to ac-complish this holy goal. We trust that now, from yourwider perspective, you will accompany Beit Uri as aplace which testifies, in the spirit of Genesis, that Manwas created in the image of God, whatever his abili-ties or disabilities.

News from the Movement…and beyond

‘Become the change you want to bring about’— Sophia Project, Oakland, CaliforniaInterviewer: Julia Wolfson, Soltane, Pennsilvania

At Sophia Project children and families at risk forreoccurring homelessness are supported in theirendeavor to improve their social condition and

individual situation. The work includes earlychildhood education, before and after schoolprogram, family support, parenting education,

respite care and internships.

Carol Cole and David Barlow started Sophia Projectin November 1999; it is located in a low-income

neighborhood in West Oakland, California. The co-work-ers all live at Sophia House. I first met Carol in 1994, atCamphill Community Hemel-en-Aarde, Hermanus,South Africa where she had been invited by the com-munity to open a multi racial kindergarten for the chil-dren of co-workers, employed staff and local townshipchildren. David was a co-worker at Camphill Village,Alpha and a vital contributor to this process.

Over the years I have learned from Carol’s way ofbeing about living the meaning of Gandhi’s idea: ‘Be-come the change you want to bring about’. From DavidI have learned a way of thinking which has the powerto create a safe, empowering social container for hu-man interaction based on mutuality, in a modest, prac-tical and profound way. When David and Carol askedme to help with an article for Camphill Correspond-ence to make the work of Sophia Project more widelyknown, I felt that a way to give a real taste of life herewould be to conduct a series of interviews with peo-ple who could share their first hand experience. Hereare their voices:

Christl Bender came to Camphill in 1950. She now livesin Camphill Community Soltane and visits Sophia Projectyearly to help and support.Interviewer: Christl, how do you experience the workand life at Sophia Project as an expression of Camphill?

Christl: Before you enter the house, which sits in aneighborhood of very low-income families, you lookat the house and its surroundings. It stands out. It iscared for, inviting, beautiful. Although you have tolock the door after you enter, you are received into an

atmosphere of care, warmth and beauty. Here is aplace where a human being is received andwelcomed. When you experience Carol with thechildren, the atmosphere is permeated with spiritualintegrity. It is completely Christian. In David andCarol’s relationships and conduct with the young co-workers [interns] there is tremendous attention to awarm consciousness but also the element of teaching,training and role-modeling is continuously present. Iwas very impressed by that.

Apart from the instruction and mentoring that Caroldoes with the interns, there is an ongoing study ofanthroposophy, and there are regular housecommunity meetings and conversations with all theco-workers. I attended a beautifully prepared Boardmeeting. It was obvious how every Board member isengaged and connected to Sophia Project with a verywarm and active concern.

There is also a group of volunteers. One or two comein almost every day. They are dedicated, faithful, lovethe whole project and are beautifully received andappreciated.

During my visits, we turn to issues, themes andquestions that are directly related to the CamphillCommunity. For instance, the spiritual history ofBuddha in connection with Christian Rosenkreuz andthe appearance of the future Maitreya Buddha. Weexplored this with the help of what Rudolf Steinerdescribes will come to expression through morality inthe Word. I shared with them the story of JohannFrederick Oberlin: during the time of the Frenchrevolution, he created in the Alsace, villages out ofnothing for people who had lived in the wilds likeanimals. They had eaten grass and slept in pigsties. Heworked out of a new spirit of fraternity, liberty andequality. It is this spirit of transformation that is sostriking to me at Sophia Project. Every aspect of matterand the substance of human souls is in a constantprocess of transformation out of a spirit of courage thatis really Michaelic. David and Carol work without fearof retaliation, with trust in the ongoing living substanceof anthroposophy in Camphill.

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Anna Sands grew up in Camphill in the UK, with herfamily. Anna is in her second year as an intern at SophiaProject. Last year, she did her year long practicum here,to complete the Waldorf Early Years certificate. She hasnow committed herself to becoming a permanent co-worker of Sophia Project.Interviewer: Anna, how have your experiences at SophiaProject affected your work?

Anna: At Sophia Project I have seen the profound impactthat Waldorf education has on the traumatized andmarginalized children that come here. These arechildren who have had a very fragmented life, havemoved from place to place, sometimes they don’t havea place to live, their parents—mainly their mothers—have been abused physically, psychologically andsexually. The children too have often had theseexperiences and share their mother’s trauma. They haveno room to enjoy the flowers as they walk down thestreet with their mum. They are stressed about all thethings that the adults in their world worry about and asa three year old or five year old they shouldn’t have toworry about those things.

When they are here, they aren’t worrying about wherethey live, who is going to be home that night, whetherthere is going to be enough to eat that day. Throughthis the children begin to trust, to relax, to be able tobe children. I feel I have been given a profoundresponsibility and opportunity to step into their livesfor a brief moment and give these children some of theexperiences I was given as a child such as stability,consistency, truthfulness, beauty, love.

Isabelle McDaniel is 22 years old and was recently anintern at Sophia Project.Interviewer: Isabelle, what in your life led you here?Isabelle: I earned my university degree at Santa Cruzand was looking for a service-oriented project workingdirectly with children and youth. Sophia Project seemeda perfect place to integrate different aspects of my lifeand healing work. Here I can incorporate my interestin Waldorf education from my own education. I comefrom a racially mixed background—Nigerian andEuropean—and a low-income situation. At SophiaProject all parts of me can come together.

Chieko Fujiwara is in her second year as an intern. She isthirty five years old and from Japan. She has a degree infamily therapy.Interviewer: Chieko, what in your life led you here?Chieko: I was a newspaper reporter in Japan. I coveredso many tragic events and that made me want to studysomething child related: education, psychology andhealing for children. All this came together here.

Interviewer: What have you learned about yourself here?Chieko: I have learned about where my edges are; theplaces where I have to grow. I have learned about theimportance of setting clear boundaries in order for thechildren to feel safe. I have learned that I need to beable to say ‘no’ to destructive things, rather than justgiving in because it is easier. I am learning to love thechildren unconditionally. With all the acting out thatthey do, there is something really precious in each ofthem and I am trying to see through to that part of theirbeing.

Interv.: How do you see yourself as a social change agent?

Chieko: Start with yourself. It is easy to think it, andhard to live it. The children keep reminding constantlythat the change out there begins in yourself.

Clemens Pietzner serves on the Advisory Board of SophiaProject. He is the current president of a new Foundationcalled the Triskeles Foundation which works with youthon an international basis and develops philanthropic serv-ices. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director ofCamphill Foundation in North America for almost 20 years.Interviewer: Clemens, you have just returned from a visitto Sophia House. What do you see as its mainchallenges and needs right now?

Clemens: The Sophia Project needs a small group ofpeople to join the work and make a long termcommitment to co-carry and co-create with David,Carol and Anna. When competent and willingcollaborators can be found or step forward, the SophiaProject plans to buy and refurbish one or two morehouses on the same street or very close by in order tocreate a more robust community to support childrenand families in need. The needs of the children and themothers are great, the funding is precarious, and theimmediacy of day to day life can be quite unpredictable.Therefore the Sophia Project is a wonderful place forpeople who have become restless with what aresometimes experienced as more sedentary andtraditional ways of Camphill life. Those longing to serve‘on the edge’—both in terms of daily life experience andsoul experiences—might find their longing for communityand service to be met in the needs of Sophia House.

Secondly, Sophia House needs an ever-growingcommunity of funders. Their daily life depends onactive gifting from others who believe like they do inthe upholding of childhood.

Thirdly, an international circle of support co-ordinatedby a capable volunteer in Camphill internationally couldbe a huge help to them. A regular exchange of moremature co-workers with Sophia House, both for livingand working there and also for training, could be a help.I encourage those people in other parts of North Americaand the Camphill world internationally who haverelationships or contacts in San Francisco to give thosenames to the Sophia Project so they can share theirnewsletter and solicitation requests with them.

Coleman Lyles is President of Camphill CommunitiesCalifornia and Sophia Project advocate.Interviewer: Coleman, how in your experience is SophiaProject an expression of Camphill work?

Coleman: Camphill is an organization whose mainintention is community building and social renewal.Sophia Project’s mission is specific to the children andmothers they are helping. Their work naturally leads tobuilding community in the best way possible with theirneighbors, and in doing so they are transforming theneighborhood in which they live. The neighborhood kidsuse this great facility too so they have had a very positiveinfluence and effect on their immediate surroundings.Out of their community substance, David and Carol arebringing about social renewal in a modest and verysignificant and inspiring way.

Interviewer: What is the connection between SophiaProject and Camphill Communities California?

Coleman: The human connections between us bring us

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together. There are people in both places who recognizeeach other in this important community building work.Some of us in Camphill California are active in SophiaProject, for instance teaching in the Seminar, offeringour expertise in the work with the children, and mostimportantly community building support with Davidand Carol. They carry the children, the mothers andthe interns, but who carries them?

We are thinking with them about their future. Wehave had dialogue with their Board so that the Boardmembers can experience that they are connected witha bigger movement. What is missing right now ismagnitude and scale. Until they get the second andthird house, we will provide that sense of magnitudeso they feel part of a bigger thing. When you feel that,you get strength and energy and can push to becomewho you need to be. We think of ourselves as brothersand sisters with them in community.

Robert McDermott is Chair of the Board of Trustees ofSophia Project. He was President of California Instituteof Integral Studies from 1990—1999 and has been amember of the Council of the Anthroposophical Societyfor the past nine years.Interviewer: Robert, I recently saw a striking brochurefor a conference on Wisdom in Action which you co-directed and at which Carol Cole was a presenter.You are a Professor of Comparative Philosophy andReligion in a spiritually based graduate schoolcommitted to changing the predominantcontemporary American worldview and values. Howdo you see the significance of Sophia Project?

Robert: One of the most terrible challenges facing theunder-served is the profound feeling that they areinvisible and without resources needed for survival inan unjust society. Sophia Project gives children andtheir mothers the convincing realization that they havegreat interior resources on which they can call and onwhich they can count for sustenance and whenconfronting seemingly insuperable opposition. SophiaProject also enables children and mothers to experiencethe rhythms that enable them to hold their center inthe midst of the chaos that besets them at every turn.Nothing can eliminate the injustice of a fierce capitalistsystem but through their experience in the blessedenvironment of Sophia House they can experience thecompensatory reality of love and hope. In this sensethe Sophia Project is a small but powerful and beautifulexpression of the joining of wisdom and action.

Bernard Murphy is a co-worker at Triform Camphill Com-munity in upstate New York, where he has also servedfor seven years as President and Treasurer. Since 2002,he serves as the Executive Director of the Camphill Foun-dation of North AmericaInterviewer: Bernard, what would you like to say tofriends in the Camphill Movement about SophiaProject?

Bernard: Many of us in North America have talked aboutextending the Camphill task beyond people withdisabilities. For instance, in the final years of her life,Janet McGavin lived on the streets of Detroit workingwith youth. In the First Memorandum, Karl König talksabout meeting the needs of the sick and the suffering,the earth, the child…it is not limited. It is clear thatDavid and Carol’s impulse is born out of Camphill. Iexperience in each of them a deep connection, notonly to Rudolf Steiner, but also to Karl König andcommunity building. Sophia Project is about more thanmeeting the basic needs of the child and providingeducation. It is about developing a community in whichthe child is the center and others can see what ispossible. Carol and David have always had this as avision. They have worked to bring Sophia House intobeing, with the hope that others would recognize thatthis is a task in the service of Christ, and may see a wayto unite their destiny with the destiny of Sophia Project.It is always very exciting for me to bring friends ofCamphill to visit Sophia House, who only knowCamphill in terms of service to people with disabilities.Being in Sophia House expands their experience andunderstanding of what the mission of Camphill couldbe, and that it is not limited in its possibilities.

Interviewer: What would you say Sophia Project needs?Bernard: It would be essential for about three openminded future bearing people who are free in theirrelationship to what Camphill can become, how itsmission can evolve, to join this work.

Sophia Project, 820 19th St, Oakland California,94607 USA, Email: Sophiaproj@aol.comtel: +1-415-268-3916, fax: +1-415-268-3918

Julia Wolfson is currently based in CamphillCommunity Soltane. She works with community

development and education in a number ofcommunities in North America.

Humanus-Haus Beitenwil celebrates 30 years!Matthias Spalinger and Brigitta Fankhauser

This year Humanus-Haus Beitenwil celebrates its 30th

birthday. Throughout the year this was celebrated bymany events under the Jubilee motto:’On our way…’

Here are some highlights: The Olympics 2003 tookplace in June. For this great occasion sporty people fromfour homes in Switzerland streamed to Humanus-Haus.All of them were apprentices supported by the Invaliden-Versicherung, the authority that is responsible for peo-ple in need of special care. The Olympics in Athens

would certainly be enlivened by the fantasy whichflowed into the different games!

The adventure field in front of the coffee shop becamethe centre of our Jubilee events. A wonderful, woodenspiral was built—the walls, being double, were filledwith earth and then planted with flowers and vegeta-bles. There were three entrances, and on arriving at thetop each person had to decide on their return route. Ac-cording to ones choice one may end up in a pool of

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water—or not. All around this spiral people had the pos-sibility to be artistically active. They could create sandsculptures in specially prepared sand, or just play in anenormous sand hill. They could carve sculptures out ofblocks of sandstone with the tools and water available,or just play in the pool. Other possibilities were to builda hut out of timber ready to hand, or create landscapeswith wonderfully smooth stones of all sizes that had beenbrought up from the river.

This field of artistic creative activity was made avail-able to the public on six weekends and also schoolclasses made full use of it.

We also had other wonderful Jubilee celebra-tions. The village orchestra opened the officialpart, which was concluded with a concert bythe ‘Salonisti’—the band who played on andon in the film Titanic.

Following an internal Michaelmas/Jubileeweek, with workshops for everyone on thetheme of Water-Earth-Air-Fire there was an art-exhibition in November where people withspecial needs from many institutions showedtheir work.

Humanus-Haus, being a social-therapeutic lifeand work community provides a home for 83people with special needs. Sheltered work-shops are available for another 25 who comein on a daily basis. Our workshops offer a widevariety of opportunities for work, thus meetingthe need and abilities of the workers.

Throughout these 30 years Humanus-Haus has offeredapprenticeship for young people with special needs,again within the framework of the Invaliden-Versicherung.

We look back with joy and gratitude on all that hasbeen possible to initiate and develop in this Camphillcommunity during these 30 years. During this time theworld has changed enormously. The development inHumanus-Haus has not stagnated either. We encounternew challenges which are not always easy to manage.

Asking around about what occupies us at this time,and what we will have to confront in the future, the fol-lowing was formulated:

How do I cope with the ever-new demands in myrealm of work?

How do I school my observation in daily life?How do I find ‘diagnostic pictures’ that are

appropriate for our time?Where are the limits of my carrying capacity in a time

of ever-greater stress?How do I build a bridge between my educational

tasks and our living together?How do we cope with the happenings in the world?How do we create substance in the community?

Through shared experiences; to become aware of‘the other’; care for human encounters; sharedartistic activities; fundamental spiritual scientificwork and research; the struggle for equilibrium.

Our central task, as stated in ‘The Guiding Image ofHumanus-Haus’ remains: ‘It is the purpose of the foun-dation to create and secure living conditions in whichpeople with special needs can develop and be furtheredindividually in living together with others’.

This is the task for which we will continue to stand inthe future—in the sense of our Jubilee motto: ‘On ourway.’

Brigitta is on the managementgroup of Humanus-Haus and responsible

for social therapy and social services.

Matthias is also an administratorand responsible for public relations.

19

Tonalis Community Musicing Training CourseNigel Dickey, Tonalis Community Music student

The range and compass of this course was truly vast,as ‘community music’ is an umbrella term covering

every conceivable group musical activity outside the pro-fessional sphere. The students themselves had a widerange of interests, and there were many areas we couldonly touch upon, but in every case it was a fascinatingglimpse that left us eager to investigate further. It waslike being guided through a landscape of possibilitiesby experts in a number of fields that previously we didnot even know existed in many cases.

I have been in several community choirs over the yearsbut have found the loud, gung-ho singing we usuallydid peculiarly unsatisfying. I was intrigued to learn thatin such singing people are scarcely listening to one an-other, or even themselves, but are carried away in thegroup bravado. We explored processes which took usto a deeper level of togetherness by encouraging innerlistening and greater self-awareness within the group.Our improvisations often achieved a subtlety that leftme feeling I had been in deep meditation.

For those interested in leading choirs, there was aplethora of ideas for group singing games and warm-ups, as well as extensive work on teaching extendedpieces. I found the conducting assignments especiallysatisfying, because they took me into a deep relation-ship with the music as a whole, living organism.

Composition was an important and enjoyable part of thecourse. For someone with a reasonable knowledge ofmusic theory, the principles were generally easy to putinto practice. The satisfaction came from actually sittingdown and seeing that I could, with minimal guidance,compose simple pieces and accompaniments in a widevariety of styles from Folk to Renaissance to Avant Garde20th century.

A special word has to be reserved for the new instru-ments, which featured prominently on this course, of-ten in connection with music therapy. Their harmonicrichness and subtlety opened up my listening and I en-joyed the great variety of social processes they weresuited for. If I ever have the money to purchase some, Iwould like to explore further three areas we touchedon: the centering that comes from achieving the bal-ance between flowing and note by note movement inmusic; soundscapes, or improvising in direct responseto particular landscapes; and the non-tempered scalesthat these instruments can be tuned to. In these areas, Ibelieve lies the future of music.

I would describe the overall approach of the course asmeditative, or meditation through music in communionwith others.

See advertisement on page 9

Association for Practitioners working in Curative Education and Social Therapy — updateEdeline LeFevre, Glencraig, Northern Ireland

In the latest meeting in Nutley, 21st September, welooked at a strategy for further work in setting up the

Association. The idea of a consultation process in rela-tion to the Constitution Document was welcomed. It wasdecided that a letter would be sent to all centres first, tomake them aware that this process is going to happenand to make sure that the importance of it all is under-stood. In the letter an announcement will be made of ameeting with representatives from all centres to speakabout the Constitution and the implications of the Asso-ciation. This meeting will take place on May 12th 2004at Nutley Hall. The aim is that the next full draft of theConstitution of the Association will be sent out to allcentres at the beginning of January, to be returned within

3 or 4 weeks. The smaller group will meet again on Feb-ruary 23rd at Nutley to discuss the next steps. A widerdiscussion will then take place on May 12th after whichthe final draft will be drawn up, in the hope to have theprocess rounded off by autumn 2004.

The relationship between the Association and theAnthroposophical Health Professionals Council will stillneed further clarification. There was a feeling that a bitof a breakthrough had taken place in this meeting andthat there was a real possibility of further progress informing the association.

Edeline is anexperienced houseparent and an administrator.

Publications Group

During the recent meeting of the Council of CurativeEducation and Social Therapy in Dornach a Publi-

cations Group was set up, in an attempt to make a com-prehensive catalogue of all the publications in relationto Curative Education and Social Therapy available inall languages. This would also give an opportunity tosee which works need to be translated into which lan-guages. I put my name forward as the contact for theEnglish language, so if anyone knows about publications,

research material, or interesting related material, pleaselet me know. This also applies to any research projectsand dissertations of any of the courses within the realmof curative education and social therapy.

Edeline LeFevre, Camphill Community Glencraig,Craigavad, Holywood, Co Down BT18 0DB,Northern Ireland, Email: elefevre@dnet.co.uk

20

Being human: finding the good in Loch ArthurMarko Rieder

I still remember the day I arrived. It was a sunny day;people told me it always rains in Scotland but there was

just sun that day and I thought that seems to be a goodstart. Somebody fetched me from the train station and wedrove with the car into the countryside, beautiful soft hills,like big cushions and everywhere sheep and cows.

That is already a year ago and it seems to be so faraway—the smell of the new air and all the different thingsI had to get used to. One year: of course time passed bytoo fast, but it has been a year in my life in which I usedevery single minute, in which I looked into every per-son’s heart I met, in which I saw for the first time thetruth of nature, in which I learned what living togetherand including and respecting each other really means.Camphill is not just an adventure, a short time of some-thing different, a possibility of living abroad, it’s a life-style, it’s a new way of trying something different, it’s away towards finding the good in people. Before I cameto Loch Arthur I believed that the basic characteristic ofevery human being is something bad. Money, material-ism, corruption and power seem to poison the worldand people stop looking for the good in human beings.As I did before I came to Loch Arthur. I stopped search-ing for friends, searching for something else, searchingfor a different life, searching for community. Loch Arthurmade me look for all the great things which fulfilled mylife again. Especially on special occasions, gatheringsand cultural evenings, everybody can feel the warmth

of belonging and being together in a community flow-ing through your body, making you feel so much part ofit. It’s great; it’s probably something many people havenever experienced in their life.

All those wonderful people keeping Loch Arthur go-ing with all their love inspired me so much that now Icarry that way of life with me, wherever I might go. Icame back to Germany a changed person and all thetime it was just me, it was my true self, I dared to bemyself and that has changed my thinking and openedmy eyes. I found the way of life for me but I can’t staynow because I am afraid that it is too wonderful, tooperfect. I have the feeling it wouldn’t be right to live thatbeautiful life. I want other people to have the wonderfulexperience I had. And one day I may find out that LochArthur is really the right place for me to live and I willcome back.

I want to thank Loch Arthur for all the love I received,for all the wonderful conversations, for all the new lightin my life, for trusting and believing in me, for creatinga home full of warmth and security, for giving me thepossibility of being myself and especially for makingme take another step in my life. I will never forget you.Thank you!

Marko lived for one year as avolunteer in Loch Arthur. Now in Germany, he intendsto start the course in curative education in Aberdeen.

Two FriendsMany people will have heard that Friedwart Bock has undergone surgery in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and is at thetime of going to print still recovering in hospital.

We have also just heard of the serious illness of Mary Canning, who is in Gloucester Royal Infirmary.We send our warm good thoughts to them, and to Nora and to John.

Netherfield FarmVegetarian Guest Housebordering Galloway Hills,offers rest, care, rejuvena-tion. It is warm, welcoming,comfortable, sunny withbeautiful garden, hill, forestand sea walks. Creativecooking,—organic, biody-namic certified produce.£20.00 ppnHauschka therapies offered.Massage, oil baths, facialtreatments. Also 2 delightfulbothy cottages available

Contact:Anderson 01387 730217

Sheiling School ThornburyLooking ahead to September 2004 weare urgently seeking people who canlive in and learn to take responsibilityfor small households in our commu-nity, possibly beginning as the mainsupport to the present houseparent/s.Applicants should ideally be betweenthe ages of 25-35 and with some pre-vious experience of Camphill and/orcurative education. We would like tohear from anyone interested in this op-portunity to participate in developingthe life of our community in a time oftransition.Please phone the office(01454 412194) to leave your nameand contact details, or write toMrs. S. Woodward,Sheiling School, Thornbury Park,Thornbury,Bristol BS35 1HWmail@sheilingschool.org.uk

A residential college established by Ruskin Mill,working with Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy, and providing

further education for students with special learningneeds, has vacancies for

Residential House ParentsThis vocational post involves living in a family typegroup with up to three of our students in one of our

houses. We provide all household expenses and a salary.

We particularly welcomeapplications from couples.

For details, please contact:Jeanette Withers

The Glasshouse CollegeWollaston Road

AmblecoteStourbridge DY8 4HF

Tel: 01384 399400email: jeanette.withers@glasshouse.ruskin-mill.org.uk

Sophia Project, Oakland CaliforniaInterns needed for our center supporting chil-dren and families at risk for reoccurring home-lessness.

We are offering internships for August 2004 atSophia House. A commitment of 11 months ispreferred. Interns are needed for early childhoodeducation, after school tutoring, respite care andweekend activities for children at risk of home-lessness. Sophia Project also offers child devel-opment education for the children’s parents.

Interns and permanent staff live together in theSophia House community. Our life sharing is in-tegral to the healing of the children and mothers,because it creates a safe and supportive envi-ronment for the daytime work with the children.Interns work with the children under the guid-ance of the Program Director.

The intern program is suited to people wishingto work with children through the application ofSteiner education in a low-income environment,while fully engaging in the Sophia House lifesharing community.

As an intern, you will gain experience with chil-dren at risk. You will learn about yourself andgrow through the work with the children and theexperience of living together in community.

Attributes needed for the position are: a love ofchildren, interest in the work, commitment to learn-ing and reliability. Previous experience with home-less children is not required. Those consideringthe position will require the stamina for workingin an intensive and rewarding environment.

If you are interested in joining our intern pro-gram, please write to:Carol Cole, Director Sophia Project, 820 19th

Street, Oakland CA 94607Email: sophiaproj@aol.com,tel: (510) 268-3916 fax: (510) 268 3918

and ask for an information package which in-cludes guidelines for submitting an application.

Camphill Blair DrummondCommunity Development ManagerSalary £24–32k dependent on experience

Camphill Blair Drummond is home to over 60adults, half of whom have learning disabilities,and a number of day students. A further 40 staffsupport the community in a variety of roles. Dueto changes in social care legislation and thechanging needs of the community we are seek-ing to recruit a Community Development Man-ager to implement a development plan that willposition Camphill Blair Drummond as a recog-nised centre of excellence within three years.

This is an exciting opportunity which will re-quire a skilled and experienced individual toprepare and implement a development planfor the community which differentiates its pro-vision in the light of changing needs and legis-lation; Working closely with the existing man-agement team to ensure that the service is de-veloped in such a way that the Camphill ethosis at its core, an essential aspect of the role isthe need to raise awareness of Camphill BlairDrummond through external communications.Applicants for the post will be expected tohave: a relevant social care qualification orequivalent, a minimum of 5 years experienceat a management level within social care, soundknowledge and understanding of current legis-lative framework surrounding learning disabili-ties and experience of service development.Excellent planning and communication skillsare essential. Whilst previous experience ofCamphill communities is not essential the suc-cessful candidate would be expected to furthertheir knowledge of Anthroposophy and supportand contribute to the Camphill ethos.For an information and application pack pleasecontact Mary Coletti,Camphill Blair Drummond, Cuthil Brae,By Stirling, FK9 4UTtel 01786 841573, fax 01786 841188,Email: mary@camphillblairdrummond.org.ukFor an informal discussion please contact Ha-zel Brown on 01786 841573

Closing date: End January 2004Interviews commence: February 2004

Opportunity in California for Camphillcouple/familyWe are looking for people with significantCamphill experience to head up a ‘supportedliving’ household for our son Charlie and per-haps 1–2 other disabled adults in the Santa Cruzarea, near Camphill Communities California.Charlie is 20 years old and is a ten-year veteranof the Camphill Special Schools in Pennsylva-nia. The family would share a house with Charlieand receive compensation from the State of Cali-fornia. There will be great opportunities for newforms of community collaboration and associa-tion with Camphill Communities California andthe nearby Santa Cruz Waldorf School. For moreinformation please contact Jules Tygiel or LuiseCuster, (415)585-4404 tygiel@sfsu.eduor Coleman Lyles 831-476-7194 orcoleman@camphillca.org.

Casa de Santa Isabel, PortugalWe are looking for colleagues who can join us atthe end of August 2004:

Co-workers who want to do a practical year2 curative educators2 social therapists1 bd gardener

willing to contribute to the life and the work inour life-sharing community.

At present we are about 110 children, adoles-cents and adults, with and ‘without’ handicap.

The quality of our curative educational andsocial-therapeutical work in the residential set-tings and the workshops, as well as the artisticendeavours with the people in our care are aspecial concern.We are looking forward to your letter with CV.Casa de Santa Isabel, Apart.537São Romão 6270-956 Seia, PortugalTel: 351-238-390012,Fax 351-239-390075,Email: casa.isabel@clix.pt

Garvald West Lintonprovides residential and day care services in arural setting in the Borders, inspired by the ideasof Rudolf Steiner. The organisation offers 32 resi-dential places and 40 day care places to peoplewith learning disabilities within a communitysetting where workshop activities, therapies, lei-sure and further education are provided. This isa dynamic thriving community offering highstandards of services to people with learning dis-abilities.

Applications are invited from people with arelevant qualification (i.e. Diploma in SocialWork or equivalent/Health) and experience tooversee the range of services and ensure con-tinual high standards of care. Live in/live outnegotiable.

This appointment is subject to an application toDisclosure Scotland. Salary £26,520.00 per an-num live out and £22,985.00 per annum live in.

For further information, contact:Garvald West Linton, West Linton, Borders,EH46 7HJtel: 01968 682211 or: 01968 682611Email: info@garvaldwest.fsnet.co.ukWeb: www.garvald-wl.org.uk

Glasallt Fawr, Coleg ElidyrGlasallt Fawr is a small, spirited Camphill Com-munity situated in 150 acres of beautiful ruralWales. We are a mutually supportive adult com-munity of 40 people, many of whom have specialneeds. Spiritual, cultural and artistic activities arefostered here, and we are developing a centre forlifelong learning.

We Are Urgently Seeking a couple, small fam-ily or individuals to join our team of 6 experi-enced permanent co-workers and carry Glasalltinto the future. We ask for enthusiasm, compe-tence, willingness to take responsibility and ap-preciation of the importance of each individual.We offer friendly community life, good living situ-ation, Waldorf Kindergarten on site and profes-sional training. Most importantly, your contribu-tion will be valued in helping our communitygrow.

Also Seeking an experienced organic farmerwith skills in beef, dairy and sheep husbandryand interest in countryside management. Live inor employment. Please phone for much moreinformation!Please contact: Victoria HamiltonGlasallt Fawr Llangadog SA19 9ASTel: 01550 776200/776217Email: colegelidyr@aol.com

Camphill Solborg, Norwayis looking for new co-workers. We are a smallcommunity of about 45 people situated an hourfrom Oslo in beautiful natural surroundings. Weare dynamic, innovative and outgoing, engagedin opening up contacts with the outside worldand creating a co-operative relationship withour surrounding society. We have an independ-ent Steiner School on the estate.

We would like to strengthen existing workshopsand traditional Camphill family houses, at thesame time as creating new living and workingsituations for our villagers.

We invite mature, experienced co-workers tojoin us. All applications are welcome, and we areparticularly interested in people with experiencein estate management, carpentry and baking.Contact Adrian Bowden or Ruth Wilson,Solborg, 3520 Jevnaker, Norwaytel: ++47 32 13 24 80, fax: ++47 32 13 20 20solborg@camphill.no

Sheiling School ThornburyLooking ahead to September 2004 we are ur-gently seeking people who can live in and learnto take responsibility for small households in ourcommunity, possibly beginning as the main sup-port to the present houseparent/s.Applicants should ideally be between the agesof 25-35 and with some previous experience ofCamphill and/or curative education.We would like to hear from anyone interested inthis opportunity to participate in developing thelife of our community in a time of transition. Pleasephone the office(01454 412194) to leave your name and con-tact details, or write to Mrs. S. Woodward, SheilingSchool, Thornbury Park, Thornbury, Bristol BS351HW. mail@sheilingschool.org.uk

(To go in Nov/Dec 2003 and Jan/Feb 2004)

Seahorses Guest House, Isle of WightWe provide holiday accommodation for manyof our friends in Camphill. For 2004, we arelooking for a co-worker with lots of goodwill,and energy to help us make holidays for ourguests comfortable, enjoyable and memorable.Please apply to:Boris and Brenda Moscoff,Seahorses, Victoria Road, Freshwater,Isle of Wighttel/fax. 01983 752574Email: seahorsesiow@lineone.netWebsite: www.seahorsesisleofwight.com

Standard Rate for Subscription:£19.80 per annum or £3.30 per issue. Cheques to be made payable to Camphill Correspondence

Deadlines:Camphill Correspondence appears bi-monthly in January, March, May, July, September and November.

Deadlines for ARTICLES are: Jan 23rd, Mar 23rd, May 23rd, July 23rd, Sept 23rd and Nov 16th.ADVERTISEMENTS and SHORT ITEMS can come up to ten days later than this.

Editors:

Lay-up by Christoph Hänni, Produced by Room for Design, Published by TWT Publications on behalf of the Camphill Movement

Peter Howe, 79 Granville Court, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1TR, UK, Tel/Fax: (0191) 281 7861, e-mail: peterh1@beeb.netMaria Mountain (Subscriptions), Whitecliff, Hall Grounds, Loftus, Saltburn, UK, TS13 4HJ, Tel/Fax: (01287) 643 553

e-mail: mail@mmountain.plus.comElizabeth Howe, Camphill Community California, Marimi House, 4096 Fairway Drive, Soquel, CA 95073, USA

Tel: (1) 831 476 6805, Fax: (1) 831 477 1299, e-mail: eorcpghowe@yahoo.com

The Dove Logo of the Camphill Movement is a symbol of the pure, spiritual principle which underlies the physical human form.Uniting soon after conception with the hereditary body, it lives on unimpaired in each human individual.

It is the aim of the Camphill Movement to stand for this ‘Image of Man’ as expounded in Rudolf Steiner’s work,so that contemporary knowledge of the human being may be enflamed by the power of love.

Camphill Correspondence tries to facilitate this work through free exchange within and beyond the Camphill Movement.Therefore, the Staff of Mercury, the sign of communication which binds the parts of the organism into the whole,

is combined with the Dove in the logo of Camphill Correspondence.

Advertisements:Suggested contribution of £20 per announcement/advert. Cheques can be sent to the Subscriptions Editor (address above),

made out to Camphill Correspondence.

Self-Catering Holiday ApartmentsOld Tuscan biologically-run olive oil farm peacefully situatedon a hilltop with stunning views and all amenities close by,offers comfortable accommodation, spectacular walks andexcellent local Tuscan and international food. Arcobalenois perched on a neighbouring hill to Cortona, a famous oldEtruscan town steeped in Italian history and well positionedto offer day excursions by car to many places of interest; forexample, within ca. one hour you can reach: Florence,Siena, Perugia, Assisi, Arezzo and within about two hours:Rome & Pisa. Additionally, the famous wine growing areasof Chianti, Montepulciano and Montalcino are all within anhours’ drive of Arcobaleno.For further details, you can access our homepage in the internet:www.agriturismo.com/arcobaleno or e-mail or call mepersonally at following: Lucas Weihs, San Pietro a Cegliolo CS59, 1-52044 Cortona AR Tuscany, Italye-mail: arcobaleno@technet.it tel: + 39 0575 612777The picture is a painting of Arcobaleno’s olive groves by Elizabeth Cochrane.

Park Attwood Clinic

Anthroposophical Medical Treatmentfor the Individual

Experience medical treatment in the context of ahealing, social environment and in the beautifulWorcester countryside.Orthodox and anthroposophical medicine are

combined to provide the best residential and out-patient treatment for a wide range of conditions.Art, sculpture, eurythmy and massage are integral

to residential treatment and available as out-patienttherapies.Individual financial discussions and funding advice

are offered.Park Attwood Clinic

Trimpley, Bewdley, Worcs DY12 1RETel: 01299 861444 Fax: 01299 861375

Email: info@parkattwood.orgInternet: www.parkattwood.org

Perspectives, the Magazine ofThe Christ ian Community

Issue: £3.50, yearly subscription (4issues) £14.00; Free trial copies onrequest from: Perspectives, 8 SpademillRoad, Aberdeen AB15 4XW, UK