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Home , GLS bank, Goetheanum, Rudolf Steiner, SEKEM, Triodos Bank

12 | Worldwide No. 6/18

■ ■ School Of Spiritual

Goetheanum Leadership Annual class holders’ meeting World Goetheanum How to deal with the mantras today Association founded uk Class Holders held their annual weekend meeting at Hawkwood College from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 April. This time, we were joined by Joan Sleigh from the Executive Council at the On 17 and 18 May 2018 leading represen- Goetheanum. As usual, Marjatta van Boeschoten, our General Secretary, also joined us as a guest. tatives of 75 firms and institutions and from self-employment gathered at the Goetheanum and founded the World Joan Sleigh began our work on Friday evening ping from the «outside world» into a place Goetheanum Association. by giving a free rendering of the Seventh Class where the Archangel may be present. Lesson. This inspiring beginning, together with There are questions about who is entitled to According to its charter, the World Goethea- with Ursula Browning the follow- introduce the content of the Lessons. In some num Association creates «a global forum ing day, working with motifs from the Lesson, places, a prepared contribution to a local group for the future of humanity and the earth». provided a foundation for a conversation on conversation is given by a member who is not It aims to provide an open space for en- Saturday evening. necessarily a Class Holder. A more radical step trepreneurs to share questions of associa- is being taken in one area, where sometimes tive economics and strengthen their links Esoteric content widely available a lesson is given by a member rather than a with the Goetheanum as the centre of the A major theme that Class Holders are currently Class Holder but always with a Class Holder School of Spiritual Science. concerned with is how the Michael School can present. In both cases, the principle being fol- According to Gerald Häfner, head of the move forward in a world where its esoteric con- lowed is that in a Michael community there is Section for Social , one of the As- tent is ever more widely available. Does Rudolf no hierarchy amongst members: all are equally sociation’s main tasks will be to promote Steiner’s warning still apply: that the School’s responsible and all are qualified. a culture based on brotherliness. For this it mantric verses lose their power if they are By the same token, members are free to was necessary «to achieve a connection be- possessed by people who have not taken the meet together in study groups and work on tween spiritual activities and economics», step of joining the School and consciously unit- the School’s content without a Class Holder said Fabio Brescacin, the president of Ecor- ing their destiny with the Archangel Michael? necessarily being present. However, it is good if NaturaSì (Italy), at the founding meeting. It is not easy to answer this question, but these groups maintain a connection with Class Thomas Jorberg, executive spokesperson those who work with the School’s content can Holders and thereby to the School’s leadership. at the ethical GLS (), pleaded ask themselves how they experience these There is a general view that the ritualistic end- that the School of Spiritual Science, as a verses in their own meditative lives. It can ings which introduced should source of innovative to which the be said that it was inevitable for the School’s be confined to lessons given by Class Holders gls Bank also owed its existence, should meditative content to become available be- and not used in study groups. be supported. yond its membership. The important question is how the esoteric life of the School can be Narrative presentation Impulses for the economic life ever more strengthened. Speaking from the School’s leadership at the The founding of the World Goetheanum Goetheanum, Joan referred to the need to recon- Association had been prepared since 2017 Responsibility to the spiritual world nect the Class with the Sections of the School by a group consisting of members of the The main question we worked with was how and areas of work inspired and developed out of Goetheanum Leadership and partners from to distinguish between the eternal principles of anthroposophy. One aspect of this is to present agriculture, commerce, banking, , the School and earthly arrangements that be- the School and its meditative path in confer- medicine and social therapy. The associa- long to a particular time and place. What is our ences as a narrative, without using the mantric tion aims to promote anthroposophical responsibility to the spiritual world and what are verses, including those where non-members impulses in companies, institutions and the human aspects of the work of the School? are present, some of whom may not even be self-employment, as well as cooperation The one requirement that Rudolf Steiner gave members of the . in the form of associations and, connected for being a member of the School was being This impulse may be objected to by those with this, the development of the School willing to be a representative of Anthroposophy. who feel the School’s protective sheath may of Spiritual Science. | Jonas Lismont Joan Sleigh spoke of this as being a vessel be breached but, in this situation, we can be for the spiritual world on earth, on the one reassured by Steiner’s vision of the School as World Goetheanum Forum hand, and, on the other, becoming an instru- being the heart and of the Society and 28 to 30 September 2018 at the Goethea- ment for the spiritual hierarchies. This intention therefore visible to the world, provided its num. Discussions on current issues and lies behind Steiner’s often repeated injunc- mantric essence is honoured and shared only presentations of enterprises and institu- tion for members to treat the School and its among its members. | Andy Beard, Stroud (gb) tions. With Helmy Abouleish (Sekem, content with deep earnestness. This in turn ), Haci Bayram (Par-ce-val youth leads to outer practices connected with hold- aid, Germany), Peter Blom (, Andy Beard is a Class Holder in Stroud (gb). ) and Ha Vinh Tho (Gross Na- ing the School’s Lessons. For example, the ap- Next meeting 24 November 2018, Rudolf tional Happiness Centre, Bhutan). parently outer requirement of showing blue Steiner House London. Contact a.beard44@ Contact Sonja Schüler, cards on entry to a room where a Lesson is btinternet.com [email protected] to be held denotes that members are step-