March/April 2001 CAMPHILL CORRESPONDENCE ce when I was shedding bitter tears, when, dissolved in pain, my hope was melting away, and I stood alone by the barren hillock which in its narrow dark bosom hid the vanished form of my Life, lonely as never yet was lonely man, driven by anguish unspeakable, powerless, and no longer aught but a conscious misery;-as there I looked about me for help, unable to go on or turn back, and clung to the fleeting, extinguished life with an endless longing, then, out of the blue distances, from the hills of my ancient bliss, came a shiver of twilight, and at once snaps the bond of birth, the fetter of the Light. Away fled the glory of the world, and with it my mourning; the sadness flowed together into a new, unfathomable world. Thou, soul of the Night, heavenly Slumber, didst come upon me; the region gently upheaved itself, and over it hovered my unbound, newborn spirit. Dr. Georg von Arnim from Hymns to the Night by Novalis, 26th Sept 1920 - 7th November 2000 translated by George MacDonald. Twelve sonnets on the monthly virtues IFC A role for Camphill in the cities 17 Cornelius Pietzner joins the 'Vorstand' 1 News f rom S a d h a n a 18 Lies I<obbe turns 80 1 Bridge Building School 19 Repeated earth lives 2 Book Reviews 19 Suicide and despair 5 Autism, reviewed by Dr. Lorna Wing Obituaries Endangered, reviewed by Martyn Rawson Dr. Georg von Arnim 7 Announcements and Co-Worker Needs 20 Hans Spalinger 13 Rudolf Ernst Bartsch 15 Twelve sonnets on the monthly virtues We grow! We can, we do, enlarge inside, not in inches but through the reach of the heart. An introduction I t can be seen and felt this soul is wide Bob Clay, Loch Arthur, Scotland and gently great! She plays no miser's part! But, sad, not all climb free of being small. erbert Witzenmann's 'Contemplations on the Slowly some men shrivel, some women sour, Virtues' are based on brief indications for souls oppressed, affections bitter as gall, meditationsH which may be practised in accordance lost in the irritations of the hour. with the changing year, given by Rudolf Steiner.* Many The work - to rise to honour and respect years ago when I first came to live i n Newton Dee, even for the man we long to teach or blame . this path through the year (including the virtues and the colours for each month) was an important Leave him in peace! No question of neglect, ingredient in the shared spiritual life of the community, surgery of guilt, appetite for shame . particularly in preparing for Bible Evenings, as well as So each hurt done, harm borne, does not belong having a significant place in the inner life of particular to you, to me. Love comprehends all wrong . individuals . I have no idea how widespread, then or now, the use of this work in Camphill Communities The month beginning February 21, has been . I have always valued it and long wanted to the path from magnanimity to love write something in response to the basic progression of the virtues and all that Witzenmann adds through Devotion daily giving of a soul. his Contemplations on each of the twelve months . From where does it come? From love, this strong tide, Recently I had occasion to read some of Shakespeare's stars' pull through our blood, making a life whole, sonnets and the plan evolved in my mind to try to put my response to 'The Virtues' in the form of twelve not dwelling in self but generous, wide sonnets, one for each month . The sonnet is a and wonderful, inhabiting known earth, demanding form, but one which combines nobility dedicated to do good, and so shine with a certain playfulness ; one has to fit one's thoughts in acts which are wise, in thoughts of birth and images into the extended pattern of the rhyme which make all beings be both free and mine . scheme. It suits the expression of thought, the following Love reveals names -animal, plant and stone through of an idea or argument-indeed it can help, respecting natures. People are deeper through the demands it makes, to lead you to new 1 let them speak in me, no more alone . thoughts, surprising ideas, as one is inspired or struggles to find the right rhyme or rhythm . These 1 own inside friends - my brother's keeper. qualities of the activity of sonnet writing seemed to I lose myself in life. I try. I must. suit the nature of this pathway through the year. It is a There will come some strange reunion, I trust. profound and challenging journey which Witzenmann The month beginning March 21, describes to us but he always avoids the temptation of the path from devotion to power of sacrifice earnest moralising. I believe we should feel ourselves drawn, on this path towards the virtues, into an inner artistic activity, in which we find ourselves looking at things afresh, which is at times puzzling, un- predictable, but which engages and enlivens . All of these qualities seemed to me to belong not only to our personal quest to find or create virtue in our souls but also, within its own limited sphere, both to the writing and the reading of sonnets-and so I set off . It would be important for those who don't know the original work to realise that he does not present a simple linear progression : we do not go from A to B in one month and then move on from B to C in the next . The virtues are presented as aspirations, as textures of the soul ; not medals to be won or markers to be passed and moreover, as qualities which are bound to affect each other. The starting point is always the cumulative effect of all that has gone before and already includes influences from what is to come . So these twelve poems hope to form a whole, each quite densely thought and structured, asking a lot of effort from the reader but aiming to have a playful energy which will mean that they avoid being perceived as wearyingly sententious. *'Contemplations on the Virtues ; developed by Herbert Witzenmann, was first published in 1968 in the Star Calender for the following year, and then in book form . Fowls roosting in a damson tree C . F. Tunnicliffe Cornelius Pietzner joins the Executive Council at the Goetheanum Dear Camphill Friends, s you may know, Cornelius Pietzner has recently Treasurer's position, Cornelius will be in a position to been asked by the Executive Council of the General benefit the world anthroposophical movement as a AnthroposophicalA Society located in Switzerland to take whole, which includes an estimated 10,000 institutions . on the large responsibility of Treasurer and fellow While this will take him out of Camphill proper and Council member of the world Society . This, of course, specifically out of Soltane, which he and Elisabeth did means that he and Elisabeth will be moving to Dornach so much to found, he will certainly bring the spirit of where the international headquarters of the Society is Camphill to all he undertakes . This will be a great gift to located . Over the last several years he has been an the entire movement, and specifically to the Anthro- important colleague to me on the national Council of posophical Society, and will resound to Camphill by the Anthroposophical Society in America, and a many indirect avenues . It represents not only an conversation partner for many other initiatives . important outer step but also an inner one that will All of us here have appreciated Cornelius' many gifts certainly further the close relationship that has grown and accomplishments . He brings great energy, between the Society and Camphill in recent years . intelligence, warmth, and vision to all the projects for I wish him and Elisabeth well as they begin to make which he has assumed responsibility. The world Society their transition over the next 15 months . with it 56,000 members is in need of these capacities . I Sincerely, personally feel that having accepted the offer of the Arthur Zajonc Ph.D. Chairman, Anthroposophical Society in America Cornelius writes: n late autumn I was asked to join the work of the Vorstand will also include Sergei Prokovieff from Russia Executive Council (Vorstand) at the Goetheanum in and Bodo von Plato from Germany. I look forward to Dornach, Switzerland. Over the last two years I have this new collaboration outof our individual possibilities worked with Rolf Kerler and Paul Mackay and four others, and capacities and the forming of a new constellation on the Finance Circle (Finanz Collegium) of the in theVorstand itself . Goetheanum, meeting twice a year in different locations I have agreed to make this step not as an American, to support and evaluate financial issues and con- however hybridized, nor as a Camphill Community siderations of the Goetheanum and the General member, nor as a person with some financial experience, Anthroposophical Society . This has given me an but as an individual person . While it is clear that these introduction to the scope and complexity of these elements are part of what I bring into this new work, it is financial matters that include the work of the Sections also equally clear that I have been asked to join the of the School of Spiritual Science, the performing stage, Vorstand to further the work of anthroposophy worldwide the administration of the Society and the Goetheanum, in general, and not as a specific representative .