Spirit in Matter 2009 -- A Series of Talks

This lecture series aims to introduce some basic aspects of Steiner’s philosophy and their application in life. “Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge which leads the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the Universe”


Rudolf Steiner (1861- 1925) is probably best known today as the inaugurator of Waldorf or Steiner education, and as a forerunner in the organic agriculture movement. What is perhaps less known is that these initiatives of his have their genesis in his philosophy of the human being and the world, which he called “Anthroposophy.”

According to Steiner, there are two worlds; the earthly and the spiritual. The human being originated in the spiritual world but in the course of development became separated from it. Steiner was insistent that without this estrangement no development of human independence, thinking and creativity could have come about. He also asserted that in our time it is not only possible, but also necessary for our relationship to the spiritual world to be restored, if human progress is to continue.

Steiner’s work covers a broad spectrum and presents us with a paradigm that challenges the reductionist approach threatening to permeate every facet of our lives. No idle dreamer, Steiner foresaw that a spiritual understanding of the human being and the world could lead to a renewal and transformation of all aspects of human activity. His work has borne fruit in spiritual research and inner work, and in a host of practical applications such as education, social renewal, the Arts, the Camphill movement and many others.

Timetable:

Friday 28 August 2009 8p.m.
“What Happens when we Die ?” Exploring life, death and destiny. Martin Henry
Friday 25 September 2009 8p.m.
“From Natural Science to Spiritual Science” Dr. Nick Blitz M.B.
Friday 16 October 2009 8p.m.
“Making the Invisible Visible” Practical techniques in the Art and Architecture of Rudolf Steiner. Andre van Schaijk and John S. Clarke
Saturday 24 October 2009 (10am to 5pm)
“From Crystal Caverns to Computer Screens” A workshop with experiments. Dr. Malin Starrett Limited to 15 participants. Cost for day 20 euro. Places must be booked.
(Refreshments provided)
Friday 20 November 2009 8p.m.
“The Discipline of Speech Formation” Revival of the Bardic tradition. Danijel Grcevic
Friday 11 December 2009 8p.m.
“The Christmas story in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke” The wisdom of contradiction. An illustrated talk. Martin Henry

Venue:

Castalia Hall, Camphill Community, Ballytobin, Callan Talks are free, donations are welcome! Enquiries and bookings to Martin Henry At 087 7713224 or martin33@eircom.net

Murphys Ice Cream and Powerscourt Townhouse Cafe would like to invite you to an ice cream party to celebrate the addition of a Murphys Ice Cream scooping cabinet to the cafe.

19th June 2009, 4-7 pm
Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.

The theme of the party is "Pride of Place," and the ice cream flavours will incorporate some of our favourite Irish foods and drinks, including Bluebell Falls Cheese, Porterhouse Beer, Kilbeggan Whiskey, Lorge Chocolates, McCambridges Brown Bread, Eden Apple Brandy (and Irish Apples), and Connemara's finest seaweed.

Families and children welcome
www.murphysicecream.ie

Sunday, May 24th at 4pm
"The Ideal Education For Children Today"
a lecture by Jonathan Angus
in the Unitarian Church, St Stephen's Green, Dublin
(closest church to Luas end stop)
Suggested donation 10 Euro

Dear Friends please take note of the upcoming event.
We hope that you will be able to support our efforts to get Ml. Weiler to Ireland, it would be great if you could attend, If you can't , the second best might be M. Weiler's Book

BEES & HONEY From Flower to Jar
price € 12.00 + P&P
from the BDAAI Camphill Jerpoint Thomastown Co. Kilkenny c/o Michael Miklis

PROGRAMME
Monday, May 25th
Arrival and registration 20.00 Opening public talk

The Honey Bee – Threatened Friend and Pollinator’

Tuesday, May 26th
9.30 ‘Introduction to the World of Bees’
11.00 Break
11.30 ‘Life in the Hive’
13.00 Lunch
14.30 Visit the hives
16.00 Break
16.30 ‘The importance of swarming
18.00 Supper
19.30 Film: Bees on the Heather Moor

Wednesday, May 27th
9.30 Flowers and Bee Pasture’
11.00 Break
11.30 ‘Honey with care’
13.00 Lunch
14.30 Questions and Matters arising / Bee dances
16.00 Break
16.30 ‘How to adress the threat facing our bees’
18.00 Supper

Thursday, May 28th
9.30 Reducing stress, enhancing Vitality
11.00 Break
11.30 Concluding discussion
12.30 Departure

Booking and Registration:
Please notify Stefan Koenig (085 2727323) stefan6160@yahoo.de

Fee €75. including meals and refreshments. Accomodation can be arranged, if needed.

Venue: Castalia Hall, Camphill Ballytobin, Callan, Co. Kilkenny
Directions to Ballytobin:_* Callan lies on the mainroad between Clonmel and Kilkenny. At the main crossroads in Callan, turn into Mill Street, which leads out of the town past a builders merchant on the right. Follow the very straight road (about 3 miles) until the bend at the end, where you turn left twice. After another 200 meters, Camphill Ballytobin is on your right.

One of the sessions will be a visit to a hive. Please bring beesuits if you have any.

Michael Weiler: was born in Germany in 1956. He studied agriculture and after graduating in 1986 worked as an agricultural advisor. He then undertook a training course in Waldorf education and taught for several years at a school for children with special needs. He has a family with five children. He has managed his own apiary since 1982 and regularly gives lectures and courses on biodynamic bee keeping. Since 2003 he has been living near Stuttgart in the context of a village community (similar to Camphill) and runs a health food shop alongside his work as a biodynamic bee-keeping advisor.

Spirit in Matter 2009
Lecture: Bringing Light into Human Encounter
Finding sources of healing for personal and interpersonal crises
With John O'Connor, Gladys Lydon and Aine Taylor

This, the next in a series of public lectures concerning Anthroposophy, the worldview of Rudolf Steiner, will take place on Friday, 29th of May at 8pm
at the New School Building, Camphill Community, Ballytobin, Callan.

It will turn to questions of human encounter, relationships and the art of counselling.
All are welcome.
For more informations: Martin Henry 087 771 3224 martin33@eircom.net

Dear Friends,
For the first time, it may soon be possible to receive a recognised degree in Steiner Waldorf Education in Ireland. Much work has already gone into creating a wonderfully engaging two year curriculum by a team from Sligo Institute of Technology and the Irish Steiner Kindergarten Association, in anticipation of beginning the course in the Autumn of 2010. In the next months the proposal will be brought forward for confirmation. One of the essential pieces is to show that, in fact, there is significant interest in a Steiner/Waldorf-based Masters degree in Early Childhood Education.

That's where you come in. Jonathan Angus, Co-director of the ISKA Early Childhood Education Programme has prepared an easy-to-complete survey which he is asking people to fill in. There is no need to commit to anything, only to voice interest in such a course. If enough people respond, it will be clear that the time has come to begin such a programme.

Please support this initiative by emailing Jonathan for a copy of the survey.
jonathan.angus@gmail.com

It would also be helpful for you to send this request on to anyone that you know who might have an interest in helping to bring about this development.
Thank you for your help forging this exciting new pathway for the recognition of Steiner Waldorf Early Years teachers.

PS. It should be noted that completion of any prior degree programmes would not be a prerequisite to join this course. Third and Fourth level education has become far more inclusive in recent years, and Sligo IT is progressive in using Recognition of Prior Learning (often through work and life experience) to enroll mature students.

Dear Friends,

As many of you already know, a special opportunity is coming up in April.

A series of courses will take place at Raheen Wood Steiner School in County Clare during the week from April 14 - 18 on Steiner Waldorf Education themes. These courses are appropriate for teachers, parents, and anyone with an interest in self development.

Sign up for an Overview of Steiner Waldorf Education, Artistic Speech, Using Masks to Explore Personality Types, Watercolour Painting, or any combination of the above. Participants are sure to learn more about themselves and at the same time discover why Waldorf education is so unique and valuable in this time.

The educational talks will be presented with warmth and humour by noted author and teacher trainer Eugene Schwartz. This occasion is his first visit to Ireland. If you'd like to know more about his work, you can visit his website at http://millennialchild.com/index.html

Call Ruth Marshall to register at 061 473 866, or feel free to phone me with any further questions.

This week long series is the open portion of the Foundation Year, the first section of the training in Steiner Waldorf Early Years, Primary, or Resource Teacher training. For more information on one or more of these programmes, reply to this email.

Warm Regards,
Jonathan Angus
087 325 9372

Click on picture to read

The Irish Steiner Kindergarten Association and
Galway Steiner/Steiner na Gaillimhe Kindergarten Initiative Group
Present
a Workshop with Grace Burton

above Ard Bia at Nimmo's beside Spanish Arch, Galway City on
Creative Parenting of Children under Seven Years
With an emphasis on child development.
The workshop will also include wool felting as an artistic activity and serve as an introduction to Steiner Education.

Sunday 29th March 09 10am-4pm

Cost: €50 (ISKA members €25)possible to become a member on booking
Lunch available in Ard Bia, cost not included
Bookings – Gabrielle - tel: 086 1514492

followed by A PUBLIC MEETING at 4.15pm
to form a committee to work towards starting a Steiner Kindergarten in Galway City. All interested welcome.
www.steinerireland.org

The Irish Steiner Kindergarten Association Presents

A Workshop
with Grace Burton
at Mol an Oige Steiner National School,
Ennistymon, Co Clare, (Next to Vocational School)

Working with Children
How to Create a Healthy Rhythm
Including child development, working with nature, creating a nature table, the importance of play, use of natural materials for craft and play.
The Workshop is suitable for childcare workers in a variety of settings including preschool, after school, creche and kindergarten.

Grace Burton was a founding member of Morning Star Kindergarten
and has worked as a Kindergarten Assistant, Teacher and Afternoon Care Leader
as well as running workshops and children's craft camps.

Saturday 28th February 2009
10am – 4.30pm
Cost: €50 (ISKA members €25)
possible to become a member on booking
Bring Food for a Bring and Share Lunch
Bookings-Kate Haren-087 4179657 after 3pm

“Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge which leads the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the Universe”

A SERIES OF MONTHLY LECTURES

Dear folks,
I’m attaching the programme for a cycle of lectures and workshops entitled “ Spirit in Matter”, which will be taking place here in Ballytobin during the course of 2009. These are public lectures and it is the hope that they will attract participants from a wide variety of backgrounds, the talks themselves will cover a wide spectrum of areas of interest.
I would like to warmly invite you to attend and I would also be very grateful if you could bring them to the attention of any group or person who you think might have an interest in any of the content. Also please feel free to forward this message to anyone else.
Thank you
Martin Henry, Camphill Community, Ballytobin, Callan, County Wicklow

Rudolf Steiner (1861- 1925) is probably best known today as the inaugurator of Waldorf or Steiner education, and as a forerunner in the organic agriculture movement.
What is perhaps less known is that these initiatives of his, have their genesis in his philosophy of the human being and the world, which he called
“Anthroposophy.”

According to Steiner, there are two worlds; the earthly and the spiritual. The human being originated in the spiritual world but in the course of development became separated from it. Steiner was insistent that without this estrangement no development of human independence, thinking and creativity could have come about. He also asserted that in our time it is not only possible, but also necessary for our relationship to the spiritual world to be restored, if human progress is to continue.

Steiner’s work covers a broad spectrum and presents us with a paradigm that challenges the reductionist approach which threatens to permeate every facet of our lives. No idle dreamer, Steiner foresaw that a spiritual understanding of the human being and the world could lead to a renewal and transformation of all aspects of human activity. His work has borne fruit in spiritual research and inner work, and in a host of practical applications such as education, social renewal, the Arts, the Camphill movement and many others.

This lecture series aims to introduce some basic aspects of Steiner’s philosophy and their application in life.

Timetable of events

Friday 6 March 2009 8 p.m.
“Who was Rudolf Steiner, what is Anthroposophy?”
An illustrated introduction.
Martin Henry

Friday 3 April 2009 8 p.m.
“Agriculture for the “Futures.” Banking futures or our futures?
Michael Miklis

Friday 1 May 2009 8 p.m.
“Contemporary Spirituality – Does the Irish High Cross have a message?”
A personal odyssey.
Mark Dwan

Friday 29 May 8 p.m.
"Bringing Light into Human Encounter" Finding sources of healing for personal and interpersonal crises.
John O'Connor, Gladys Lydon and others

Thursday 18 June 8 p.m.
"Meditation, the Path to Pure Thinking."
Sean Byrne

Friday 28 August 8 p.m.
"What Happens when we Die?" Exploring life, death and destiny,
Martin Henry

Friday 25 September 8 p.m.
"From Natural Science to Spiritual Science."
Dr Nick Blitz, M.B.

Friday 16 October 8 p.m.
"Making the Invisible Visible" Practical techniques in the Art and Architecture of Rudolf Steiner.
Andre van Schaijk and John S. Clarke

Saturday 24 October (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
"From Crystal Caverns to Computer Screens." A workshop with experiments. Limited to 15 participants. Places must be booked (Refreshments provided).
Dr Malin Starrett

Friday 20 November 8 p.m.
"The Discipline of Speech Formation." Revival of the Bardic tradition.
Danijel Grcevic

Friday 11 December 8 p.m.
"The Christmas story in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke." The wisdom of contradiction.
An illustrated talk.
Martin Henry

The Irish Steiner Kindergarten Association Presents
A Workshop with Ulrike Farnleitner and Linda Grant
at Crannog na Leanai,
Ballymoney, Gorey, Co Wexford
on
Table Puppets
Make simple figures suitable for a nature table, puppet play or imaginative play

Ulrike Farnleitner is a Kindergarten Teacher and Linda Grant is an artist.
Both love working with natural materials and sharing how easy it is to create simple figures to illustrate a story or decorate a nature table.

Saturday 21st March 2009
Time – 9.30am for 10am start - 4pm
Suitable for Childcare Workers, Parents, Grandparents, Students and Children over 10yrs. No experience necessary, materials provided

Cost: €50 (ISKA members, Students, Children €25)
possible to become a member on booking
Bring some food for a bring and share lunch
Bookings-Cathy Lee tel: 087 6254863
www.steinerireland.org

open courses
at Easter 2009
5 days : 14th - 18th April, 9.00am - 5.00pm
at Raheen Wood School, Tuamgraney, Co Clare

Early Childhood Education

You are welcome to join the students on the Early Childhood Education Programme for five days of classes on interesting and creative themes:
An Overview of Steiner Waldorf Education : with Eugene Schwartz
Creative Speech : with Christel Haupt
Watercolour Painting : with Ian Castles
Exploring our Temperaments through Drama and Masks : with Allmut Ffrench

Cost: 85 euros per topic for 5 days
375 euros for full week's programme, including a cooked lunch
Prior booking essential
For more information or to book a place please contact Ruth on tel: 061-473866
or email: training@steinerireland.org

click on image for enlargement

Check out the very lovely newsletter sent to Audrey Flynn from Nepal including seminars, Waldorf School etc:
http://www.childrenofnepal.org/newsandevents/newsletter_xmas2008.html

Barn Dance!!!
ALFA is holding a fundraising, hell raising, dust kickin' American style
Barn dance on Friday February 20th in the Mountshannon Hotel.
The OldTimey music is by Moonshine - Lena Ullman banjo, Johnny Moynihan -
accordian, mandolin etc, Brendan Hearty guitar, a fiddle player and the
real deal caller Frank Hall. This is a great night of music and dancing
for all those of you who enjoy a laugh - everyone is a beginner! You
don't need partners - just bring yourself.
The doors open at 9pm and the first dance will be called at 9.30 pm.
Entrance is €10 and there is a bar.

Y'ALL BE THERE!!!

Gentle Rain Theatre Company, Dublin

Paul Brennan reports: It has been an exciting inception year for the company. Eight workshops in the Michael Chekhov technique were held during the course of the year, five introductory, two continuing and one advanced. 

Links were made to the Theatre Forum, the Irish Theatre Institute, Business to Arts and the Michael Chekhov Europe organisation.  

photos by Katie Reynolds

                                                                                 Paul Brennan second from left

Here is an abridged description of the September Michael Chekhov workshop by the Theatre Forum: 

'The goal of these workshops is to bring a new impulse into the theatrical profession in Ireland, and ultimately to establish Gentle Rain as a permanent theatre company working with Michael Chekhov technique.

Newcomers to the technique are led into psycho-physical exercises, improvisatory and ensemble work, to experience a taste of Chekhov’s techniques through the free expression of the creative self.

Course Director Paul Brennan has worked in the theatre as an actor, director and teacher for over thirty years, and has brought Chekhov technique into his productions for the past eight years. He has taught the technique at universities and professional workshops across Ireland'.

Your interest in and support of this promising initiative is crucial to its success. For more information contact Paul Brennan at 

apecf1@eircom.net 

The Cork Steiner Waldorf Kindergarten, located at the Quaker Meeting Hall in Summerhill, South Cork, will be moving to Susies Field, Blackpool, Cork in September. The new kindergarten is designed by the city council. 

The kindergarten provides a warm safe and healthy environment for children to develop strong limbs, sound creative minds and respect for each other. Imaginative play is given plenty of time both indoors and outdoors and each day a different artistic activity, painting, drawing, crafts, modeling and gardening, takes place. Songs, stories and poems are also an integral part of the day.  

Inquiries: Gail Thomas, 021 431 0581 or 087 774 8299

Christmas Events at the Christian Community in Clare
Christmas Eve, December 24th
Gathering at the community house for all at 5 pm
Gathering to celebrate Christmas 11.45 pm
Saturday, January 3rd 8 pm
Schooling Course part II
Sunday, January 4th
Act of Consecration of Man and Children’s Service. Programme to be announced.

Gospel Readings
Sunday, December 14 … Luke 21:25-36
Sunday, December 21 … Luke 21:25-36
Christmas
Thursday, December 25
Midnight … Matthew 1:1-25
Dawn … Luke 2:1-20
Morning … John 21:15-25
Epiphany
Tuesday, January 6 … Matthew 2:1-12
Sunday, January 11 … Matthew 2:1-12
Sunday, January 18 … Luke 2:41-52
Sunday, January 25 … John 2:1-11
Sunday, February 1 … Mark 2:1-13
Sunday, February 8 … Matthew 20: 1-16
Sunday, February 15 … Luke 8: 1-18
Sunday, February 22 … Luke 18:18-34

Rev. Tom Ravetz 22 Baylie Street, Stourbridge West Midlands UK DY8 1AZ

Phone: 0044 1384 377 190 whilst in Ireland: 087 6486617 tom@ravetz.org.uk

Congregational Correspondent
Anne Benhamanne.benham@yahoo.ie
Treasurer
Fred Hannaford fredhan@iol.ieTel: 061 37 53 91The Christian Community,Bank of Ireland,Killcullen, County Kildare,Sort code: 90-11-40Account number: 25600184
Bookings for the House
Agnes Oertel 087 2185560.
Programme/Newssheet
Please send any articles to Anne Benham.