Autumn 2019 £6.00
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Autumn 2019 £6.00 New View 1 ISSUE 93 October - December 2019 New View is a journal supporting spiritual renewal in our times, Editor: Tom Raines based on the quest for a new wisdom of the whole human being, Mail and Editorial: New View inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and related approaches. 198/15 Lindsay Road, Edinburgh EH6 6ND ANTHROPOSOPHY or ‘awareness of one’s humanity’ is a path of Tel: ++44 (0)20 7317 8302 knowledge and self development which encompasses the realms of [email protected] religion, philosophy, art and science. Founded in what is universally Administrator/ human, it offers a cohesive interpretation of human and world evolution, the reality of spiritual worlds (of which this material world is Copy Editor: Rosemary Usselman a part), practical methods of developing an objective consciousness Subscriptions: [email protected] of these realms, and deep insights into Christianity and the world’s ++44 (0)20 7431 1608 religions and philosophies. Retail Enquiries: [email protected] Anthroposophy was established by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) Adverts: [email protected] through books, lectures and other practical initiatives. He wanted no Website: www.newview.org.uk one to accept what was presented through blind faith and asked that everyone objectively test what was offered. He also insisted that Printed by: MBM Print SCS Ltd individuals were able to work in complete freedom with what he I Tennant Avenue presented. College Milton South (For information about the Anthroposophical Society East Kilbride G74 5NA in Great Britain, contact www.anthroposophy.org.uk). SCOTLAND The views of the authors and contributors expressed in Regular illustrator ~ David Newbatt New View magazine may not necessarily be those of Published quarterly by New View Publications Limited New View Publications Limited. a not for profit organisation ~ ISSN: 1365‑3687 Front Cover: Sun and Winding Road by Jimmy, a serving prisoner at Winnfield Prison, Louisiana, USA This poem complements the front cover painting, by the same artist. Freedom of Evolution, Part 1 Through the universe I travel Unseen by that which is without sight Through cosmic channels of divine color Forming within benign spiritual evolution In the future… I will be In the past… I will have been In between both… I will always exist Always have been… always will be Because Through the universe I traveled Unseen by that which is without sight Through cosmic channels of divine colors Formed within benign spiritual evolution Without form… without weight Without selfish desire I travel in true freedom Jimmy, Winnfield Prison, Louisiana, USA. New View 2 Books On Easter Sunday, 2018, we launced our first book, a novel by Michael Frensch: The Viridan Sail: Seurat’s Secret Translated by Matthew Barton Paperback, 528 pages 23 colour and black and white illustrations ISBN: 9-781-9999608-0-3 £18.00 (plus postage) Order online at: www.newview.org.uk/books.php *** 15% DISCOUNT FOR NEW VIEW READERS *** on any book purchase by quoting discount code: NVB1 BOOK SYNOPSIS: In our time, truth is becoming ever more difficult to know with any certainty. Fake news abounds. How can we determine the authenticity of anything? We need a new human faculty to help us do this. Centering around an old painting, found in an antiques shop, said to be by the French artist Seurat, The Viridian Sail is a novel of truth and fiction, fake and fact and takes us on a journey towards this new faculty. The Viridian Sail, written for the mainstream, contains a wealth of insights informed by anthroposophy woven throughout the story. A good read... Highly Recommended! New View Contents Bringing Light to the World: The Gesture of the Human Form Our Deepest Human Vocation Charles Kovacs 51 Jeremy Naydler 3 NNA – news around the world The Light of the World Christian von Arnim 54 Owen Barfield 12 Neoliberalism and the Emergence of the Finance and the Social Order Threefold Social Order Frances Hutchinson 22 Richard Cooper 57 Mother Holle, a Cautionary Tale? Haiku Maarten Ekama 29 Paula Dunley, illustration by Zephir Delamore 63 Finding Freedom in Prison: “Unite Behind the Science”? Greta Thunberg, Anthroposophical Prison Outreach in the USA Extinction Rebellion and Technocracy Kathy Serafin 34 Terry Boardman 64 Self Development in the Penitentiary Book Reviews 72 Fred Janney 43 A Question of Identity Richard Bunzl 48 New View 1 Michaelmas Editorial Dear Reader, by a prisoner in the USA, a country where, per capita, more men, especially, are in prison than anywhere else Welcome to the Michaelmas issue of New View. In the in the world. Let me pick up on this as we pass through southern hemisphere spring beckons, whilst here in the contributions for this issue of the magazine: the north things turn more inward and leaves dream of Bringing Light to the World: Our Deepest Human being blown on the winds and reuniting with the land Vocation by Jeremy Naydler looks at the spiritual for the winter sojourn. A time more suited to reflection. ramifications of 5G that is rolling over most of us before And there is surely much to reflect upon. we even understand it. This is complemented with The How to organise one’s inner thoughts for all that calls Light of the World by Owen Barfield who died in 1997 for attention and understanding? Rudolf Steiner gave but left a fine and helpful legacy of work that may only an indication of how to approach this by offering an be better understood and appreciated as time unfolds. exercise for the beginning of each day; to decide what Frances Hutchinson then offers insights into human was essential and what was not essential to engage with, community with Finance and the Social Order. today. Of course that immediately calls into question A Grimm’s folk tale is then visited by Maarten Ekama one’s discrimination, deciding what one should become in Mother Holle, a Cautionary Tale? where he ponders active in and what to leave alone for now, perhaps for on inner attitudes and the consequences of them. And another occasion. And isn’t decision making a mystery? inner attitudes play such a part in the work of an initiative One moment I am wrestling with something that calls springing from members of the Anthroposophical for resolution and then, suddenly, I have decided on a Society in America with Finding Freedom in Prison: course of action. The decision has arrived. How did that Anthroposophical Prison Outreach in the USA by happen? Steiner once said that decision making was Kathy Serafin. This work with prisoners across America the highest form of initiation. Now that is something to is both humbling and inspiring and deserving of much ponder on! Not coming to a decision, being in limbo, support. We meet men who have found another way being concerned not to make the wrong decision is a whilst imprisoned with the help of Anthroposophy – trial we are all constantly faced with. For all the lack of through the deeds of people – and some of them share outer activity we may, nonetheless, be active, deeply so, their experiences and art in letters poems and paintings. in our inner life, turning things over, looking for insight, One of those who pioneered this work wrote a booklet guidance, inspiration. Then again we may be just stuck that is made available to prisoners, based on Steiner’s and events blow us hither and thither. Yet sailors know six subsidiary exercises and the text of this booklet, how to work with the winds, to set a course and sail Self Development in the Penitentiary by Fred Janney, is through even the worst of storms. There is courage shared with New View readers. in that, for the outcome is never certain. We live with A Question of Identity by Richard Bunzl looks at the uncertainty but can still set our course and go forward. issues of gender, especially in the light of anthroposophy. I am like a leaf, blown by the winds, but unlike the The Gesture of the Human Form by Charles Kovacs leaf I can be active within the winds, the winds of (1907-2001) adds another perspective to this issue. time. And that is a motif of Michaelmas, to be active, NNA – news around the world compiled by Christian both inwardly and outwardly and find courage for the von Arnim looks again at the issues surrounding Steiner uncertainty. What resource is available when we are schools in England. uncertain? What part of us remains steadfast? That is A glimpse into how ideas affect the world we live why, in part, this time of Michaelmas is important; to in is offered by Neoliberalism and the Emergence become aware that there is a connection to a source that of a Threefold Social Order by Richard Cooper from can help. Steiner was in no doubt that the Michaelmas Switzerland. Festival was one that must gain more prominence in Then a moments pause to consider a haiku, that poetic the future (it is little known or celebrated) because it Japanese form, from Paula Dunley, illustrated by Zephir carries this quality of courage for adversity out of which Delamore from New Zealand, before “Unite Behind the deeds can come. And it is deeds that shape events and Science”? Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion and the world around us; and the intentions in these deeds Technocracy by Terry Boardman. All this is rounded off is everything, for good or ill. So it comes down to with a selection of thought provoking book reviews. qualities, in each of us. We still need to fund raise, year on year to keep going Which brings me gently to a strong contribution that and my thanks to those readers who recognise this and appears in the pages of this issue of New View.