(From Kim Marie) - During this darkest time of the year, when the outer world appears to sleep, our inner life awakens. Working with the Holy Nights, or “Time Between the Years” as it is sometimes called, is a potent way to connect more deeply with your awakening True Self. I’m pleased to share with you my 4th annual Holy Nights journal called the Sacred Nights of Winter, designed to support you in not only cultivating your inner life, but also in creating a personalized map to guide you through the coming year’s opportunities and challenges. If you're interested in deepening your soul life and opening to the grace and love available during the holiday season, this journal may be a very helpful tool. With each order, you’ll also receive a video teaching on making the entire holiday season, including Advent, more peaceful and joyful, as well as a Holiday Manifesto to help you stay focused on what’s most important during this often challenging time of year.

The Sacred Nights of Winter 100 page journal is a beautiful full color, spiral bound journal that ignites the senses and offers a healing balm for the soul. Each day you’ll be given journaling prompts and inspirational contemplations that allow you to deepen connection to your own inner wisdom. You’ll pay attention to your dreams each night, notice each day’s unfolding and activity, and connect with zodiacal influences for each night. Because each night corresponds to a month in the year, you’ll also be reflecting on the month in the year past which is associated with that night, as well as envisioning that same month in the year to come. To further support you in preparing for the year ahead, you’ll be offered guiding thoughts, meditations, prayers, and/or insights that inspire your deeper connection to the unfolding rhythm of Mother Nature. Connecting with Mother Nature is the theme for the 2017-2018 journal.

When you order your journal, you’ll also receive additional support for working with the Season of Advent via a video teaching. This will come via email during the first week of Advent. Orders will be accepted through December 18th. Click here for more info and to order your journal: www.KimMarieCoaching.com/SacredNights. We hope you find this resource helpful in bringing joy, peace and reflection to your Holy Nights and the holiday season.

This course is based on the work of Karl Koenig, MD, and covers the developmental phases of early childhood with a focus on the first three years and the unfolding of the child's ability to walk, learn to speak, and the awakening of thinking based on the prior acquirement of speaking and language proficiency.

Rudolf Steiner called them the spiritual gifts: walking, speaking, and thinking. These gifts make it possible for the human being to ultimately become what he or she is, a unique being endowed with cognition and the quest for one's own self. These gifts form the foundation for the development of the three highest human senses, the sense of speech, the sense of thought and the sense of ego. It is only when these senses are recognized to be the result of the development of walking, speaking and thinking that a true understanding of the awakening of the human being's spirit during the first three years of life can be gained.

The study material for this course includes the book The First Three Years of the Child by Karl Koenig, MD.

The First Three Years of the Child
Lesson 1: Introduction
Lesson 2: Acquisition of the Ability to Walk Upright
Lesson 3: Learning One's Native Language
Lesson 4: The Awakening of Thinking
Lesson 5: The Unfolding of the Three Highest Senses
Lesson 6: Reflection and Final Paper


Tuition Rates for Individual Courses
The online Waldorf Teacher Training Individual Courses are scheduled to be completed within 2 months each.

• Regular rate/installments: $450 (USD) per course. Monthly payments of $225 (USD) per month
• ​Discounted/prepaid rate: $350 (USD) per course

More details and ​sample lesson​ ...

The Witch on a Windy Night -- Shadow Puppet Show by Ripples Puppetry. Learn more about Ripples Puppetry here.

Born in Stockholm in 1862, Hilma af Klint began her artistic career as an academy-educated painter of naturalistic landscapes and portraits. Influenced by the spiritual movements and scientific discoveries of her era, however, af Klint soon strove to express abstract concepts beyond what the eye can see. She began creating radically abstract paintings in 1906, years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and others would take similar strides to rid their own artwork of representational content. Yet while many of her better-known contemporaries published manifestos and exhibited widely, af Klint kept her groundbreaking paintings largely private. Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, the first major solo exhibition in the United States devoted to the artist, is on view October 12, 2018–April 23, 2019 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. More ...

By Roberta Smith

​Spiritual sparks helped inspire the radical and visionary art of Hilma af Klint, the new (old) name to know. Her work is on view at the Guggenheim.

​If you like to hallucinate but disdain the requisite stimulants, spend some time in the Guggenheim Museum’s staggering exhibition, “Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future.” The museum’s High Gallery — the name has added resonance in this context — displays the show’s rapturous overture, a series of 10 paintings by af Klint (1862-1944), a little-known Swedish painter, modernist pioneer and erstwhile spiritualist. Collectively titled “The Ten Largest,” they may induce disorientation, not the least for the way they blow open art history.

These game-changing works envelop you in hues from dusty orange to pale pinks and lavenders, tumbling compositions of circles, spirals and pinwheels, and unfurling ribbonlike lines that sometimes form mysterious letters and words. The scale of the motifs and the paintings’ sheer size (10 feet by nearly 9 feet) invite you to step in and float away to the music of the spheres. That they are rendered in tempera on paper, lighter than oil on canvas but still quite painterly, contributes to their levitating power. In their wit, ebullience, multiple references and palette, “The Ten Largest” seem utterly contemporary, made-yesterday fresh. But prepare for label shock: they were created in 1907.

As an architect Steiner designed two major works: the first Goetheanum (built in wood, and destroyed by arson in 1922) and the second Goetheanum (built in concrete and finished in 1928, after Steiner’s death), both of which are counted among the masterpieces of expressionist architecture of the early twentieth century (Moravánszky, 2012). In addition, he designed a dozen smaller buildings. His architecture combines function with the organic forms of nature, and shows considerable family resemblance with the works of other architects and artists from the art nouveau/expressionist tradition, such as Antoni Gaudi. In his writing on architecture, Steiner linked architecture to the struggle and spiritual development of humanity. Like Steiner’s work in many other fields, his writing on architecture is spread out over many different lectures and articles produced over a long period of time, and his thinking about art and architecture does not present one, single whole. Tharaldsen (2010) gives the first comprehensive presentation of Steiner’s architectural and aesthetic ideas in relation to similar currents in twentieth-century architecture and art, such as is seen in the work of the Bauhaus school, Louis Sullivan, and Joseph Beuys. Although Steiner developed the principles of Waldorf education and took an active part in establishing the first Waldorf schools, he did not design school buildings. Over time, however, the Waldorf school movement, which today counts 1000 schools worldwide, has given rise to a large number of buildings. Today, school buildings are probably Steiner’s main stylistic legacy as an architect. Named after Steiner’s major works and reflecting the significant inspiration he received from Goethe, this architectural style is called Goetheanian style. More ...

Type 1 ... gets angry and scolds the wrongdoer ...

Type 2 ... remains calm and puts the squashed hat back on ...

Type 3 ... is shocked and begins to despair ...

Type 4 ... thinks it's funny and laughs heartily about it ...

Is there a way to learn more about the temperaments and how they relate to the human being? Check out the online course The Four Temperaments offered by Sophia Institute.

The Four Temperaments
Lesson 1: Introduction. Physical, Etheric, Astral, Ego.
Lesson 2: Pedagogical Issues I.
Lesson 3: Practical Exercises I.
Lesson 4: Practical Exercises II.
Lesson 5: Practical Exercises III.
Lesson 6: Practical Exercises IV, V, VI.
Lesson 7: Practical Exercises VII.
Lesson 8: Pedagogical Issues II.
Lesson 9: Practical Exercises VIII.
Lesson 10: Practical Exercises IX. Conclusions.
Sample Lesson

Dear Members and Friends, The Goetheanum is a place to tackle the challenges of our time. I would like to draw your attention to two important events that bring people together, offering an open spaces for dialogue on current issues:  At the beginning of September, the Humanities Section invited scientists and cultural activists to develop an objective and engaged discussion to the one-sided transhumanistic image of the human being currently prevalent in society. The intention was not to form rash judgements, but rather to characterize the unique qualities of being human. In the corporate world, the challenge of cooperation and competition, self-efficacy and burn-out, dialogical leadership and hierarchy, are some of the daily challenges that need to be mastered. At the end of September, the Forum of the World Goetheanum Association offers the opportunity to discuss these and similar issues among active practitioners. In response to the recent focus on conspiracy theories in the Anthroposophical Movement, eight statements on the subject were published in the last issue of Anthroposophy Worldwide. This resulted in many letters. Aspects of these letters, summarized by the editor, appear here, but a special edition in which the complete texts of these communications will be publicized, is in preparation. (This will appear at first in German, but if you are interested in an English translation, please contact Sebastian Jüngel, aww@dasgoetheanum.com). These and many other tasks are all carried by individual engagement and commitment. As members of the Executive Council at the Goetheanum, we are responsible for ensuring that Anthroposophy can flourish in the world. We have described some of these tasks as reflected in the economic well-being of the Goetheanum, so that you can identify what your membership contributions are used for and where they are still needed. Should you be willing and able to contribute further to the activities of the Goetheanum, you will find possible suggestions on pages 2 and 3. Finally, I would like to remind you of this year's International Christmas Conference: Meeting the Being of Anthroposophy - The transformative power of the Foundation Stone in Humanity and Society from 27th to 31st December 2018 at the Goetheanum. With warm autumn greetings from the Goetheanum --- Joan Sleigh. ... more ...

Communications News from the Natural Science Section in North America: Dear Friends, We have asked the Society to distribute this inaugural issue of the Correspondence, a newsletter of the Natural Science/Mathematics-Astronomy Section of the School for Spiritual Science to all members of the Society. The Section aims to become more visible and step up our service to the Society. You must subscribe, if you want to receive future issues. They will also be archived on our website. [Links are below, and on page 2 of the first issue.] Why would you want to subscribe and stay in touch with our activities? This is spelled out in the Editor’s Note on the second page. We feel that this work is important for all of us in the Anthroposophical Society, not just our Section. As you will read, the Correspondence is intended for colleagues outside of the Section membership, as well as a wider readership concerned about science and technology in today’s culture. Second, in this issue we want to announce a major conference in Spring Valley this November. We have invited Dr. Peter Heusser of Witten/Herdecke University, Germany, author of the book Anthroposophy and Science, to give public lectures and work with us on the epistemological foundation of Anthroposophy and Science as applied to the various fields of science, from physics to psychology. Dr. Heusser also applies this foundation in the scientific justification of Spiritual Science as a valid empirical science. This is actually being sought on the frontiers of conventional science and philosophy today. We also are honored that this aim will be furthered at the conference through daily eurythmy with Dorothea Mier, former Artistic Director of Eurythmy Spring Valley. It may go without saying that it is important that all members of the Society know that there is a valid scientific basis for a monistic science of spirit/matter and even that they know what that basis is. We are looking forward to Dr. Heusser laying this out at our conference, as he does so well in his book. (Videos of his public lectures will also be available on the Society’s website.) So please look over our Correspondence [linked here]. We hope that many of you will take interest in our activities and subscribe to our monthly newsletter. And we hope to pull many of you into those activities, whether you are scientists or not. We have welcomed artists, doctors, teachers, and farmers at our meetings to the enrichment of us all. (And each of these folks will find a little something in this issue.) We would welcome your feedback. Warm regards, The Steering Committee: John Barnes, Judith Erb, Jennifer Greene, Barry Lia, Andrew Linnell, Gopi Vijaya

PDF of the first issue: https://secure.anthroposophy.org/neon/resource/anthroposophy/files/Correspondence_v1-1.pdf
Email for subscribing: subscribe@naturalsciencesection.org
Email for feedback: editor@naturalsciencesection.org
Section website: https://www.naturalsciencesection.org/correspondence/

"Spirit is behind everything material. Thus, there is spirit behind all matter we take in through our nutrition ... by means of nourishing us with this or that, we enter a relationship with something spiritual, a substance behind the material. " (Rudolf Steiner in The Essentials of Nutrition.)

Our instinctive knowledge of which foods are beneficial and which ones are detrimental seems to be fading increasingly as a human capacity. People are bombarded with advice, information, and prescriptions as to what to eat and drink, but the issues concerning nutrition—matters of health, diet, taste, sustainability, and ecology—remain largely unresolved and even ignored. Unlike most who have spoken out on this subject, Rudolf Steiner approaches the theme of nutrition in a refreshing and open way. He never tries to tell us what we should or should not be putting into our bodies; he does not recommend an omnivorous, vegetarian, or vegan diet; nor does he tell us not to smoke or drink alcohol. His job as a scientist, he says, is simply to explain how things work and their effects; what we do with that information is up to us. On the other hand, he emphasizes that our diet not only determines our physical well being, but can also hinder or promote one’s inner spiritual development. In this carefully collated anthology (including an introduction, commentary, and notes by Christian von Arnim), Rudolf Steiner considers nutrition in the light of his anthroposophic spiritual-scientific research. He explains the impact of raw food, vegetarian, and meat diets; the effects of protein, fats, carbohydrates, and salts; individual foods such as potatoes, beets, and radishes; and the impact of alcohol and nicotine. Learn more ...