Every one of us relates to education in a unique way, but all of us have seen or will see the impact of education in their life, as a child, as a parent, and as a citizen interacting with other people whose personality and behaviour have been shaped by a certain education system.
Most of us remember education as mainly developing the ability of our brain in such a way that we learn to develop one form of intelligence. However, through the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, we can understand the human being has the extraordinary power of developing multiple intelligences. If education is about bringing forth what is within, then it should do more than just focus on our mind, but also empower our heart and our hands.
Educating the Head, the Heart, and the Hands is what Waldorf Education is all about. -Nairobi Waldorf School

Learn more about the Nairobi Waldorf School here.

This month, we celebrate the New Year and the start of our second revolution around the sun as the Biodynamic Demeter Alliance! We hope you’ll join us on this momentous occasion! Become a Member and celebrate the dawn of a new era and the growth of the Biodynamic movement.
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Our goal is to welcome 150 new or renewed Members, at any level, by mid-February to embrace the power and potential of our growing community engaged in our work. We hope that you can help us meet this goal! Check out our new membership structure and slate of benefits.

In celebration of our birthday, sign up or renew your membership any time before February 13th, and we’ll enter you into our weekly Members-Only Giveaways! These incredible prize packages include a bounty of Biodynamic products from our Demeter producers. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to learn more! More ...

from Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm

For the last eight years, the Waldorf Wall Calendar has reached an enthusiastic audience with the families and communities of Waldorf schools throughout North America and even made its way to Europe and beyond.

It has been so popular that Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm are delighted to offer it once it again!
Sample pages can be seen here in low-resolution PDF form:  Front and Back Cover Pages | Monthly Pages | Intro Pages

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: “Waldorf schools emphasize the importance of teaching in an artistic way to feed the imagination, to deepen empathy, and to develop freedom in thinking.

We see that the practice of artistic work awakens our intelligence to the full experience of being human and is an essential way of being in the present moment, poised between past and future. New spaces can be developed through artistic experiences. New perceptions and new imagination can enter and develop in these spaces. The arts are asking us to stay open to the process, stay open to the moment in which the essence of something new reveals itself. The child learns to gently find what is important, what is essential, to develop trust in the new and trust in the unknown.
This activity and reaction in the soul is the foundational heart of our education.

The Arts Calendar reminds us all of why we come to Waldorf Schools and what the interconnected and planned evolutionary span of the education from early childhood to twelfth grade means to our development as human beings.”
If you ever needed a concise illustration of what is so special about a Waldorf education, here it is! These are the 'pictures worth a thousand words' to show to curious grandparents, or to explain your child's school to baffled work colleagues—a gorgeous 15-month calendar that will adorn the wall of any kitchen, home office or workspace.  Or if you just appreciate beautiful art, this calendar delivers intriguing surprises with each monthly cycle. Even those families that are wedded to their digital device for scheduling, need beauty in their lives: this publication is like a personal Waldorf art gallery that changes every month.

Calendars are $18 each, and $15 each for orders of 10 or more. Order online: summerfieldwaldorf.org/2023-24-waldorf-wall-calendar-offer/] A Chance to Help Your School!
Recognizing that Waldorf schools around the country may still be unable to host Winter Faire’s and other events where these Calendars have sold as fundraisers in years past, Summerfield is offering a new way to support your school. When you order, include the name of your school or Waldorf organization in the Note Field, and Summerfield will credit that school with funds at the end of the sales period. If you are a school and send out this promotion with a Code for your parents to use, Summerfield will tally the number of times that Code appears in their orders, and send $4/copy to the school if 10 or more are sold; $5/copy for 25+; and $6/copy for 40+. And if you want to order in bulk to distribute yourself through your school, email Adam at calendar@summerfieldwaldorf.org and tell him you saw it on Waldorf Today. For orders of 40 or more copies, he will give you a great wholesale price on your bulk order. The introduction pages, "Art and the Curriculum", are a fantastic resource to learn more about the arts throughout the years in a Waldorf school. A great gift for prospective parents as well, if you're in enrollment and outreach. Questions: please email Adam at calendar@summerfieldwaldorf.org

Babouschka lived in a little cabin in the coldest corner of a cold and frosty land. Her tiny little house was sitting right in the place where four roads came together. When Father Frost (King Winter) was in the land, then Brother Wind howled at her windows and piles of deep snow piled around her house and hardly anyone ever came to visit her or passed by on those nearby roads. Babouschka’s heart yearned for the warmth of summer, the fragrance of the flowers, and the song of the birds, and for her friends. 


One year Babouschka decided to prepare a party for her friends. “Then I won’t be lonely”, she thought. “I will invite all of my friends. I will cook and clean and clear a path to my door through the snow!” Babouschka set to work. She swept her floor and dusted her shelves and washed her whole house. Then she began to cook the most delicious things—her good bread and cookies and cakes—and she also went to her storeroom and brought potatoes and apples and jars of cabbage and tomatoes to her kitchen. 


As the day of the party drew closer, Babouschka began to clear the snow away and make a path to her house. When she was outside, she thought she could hear in the far off distance the tinkling of bells. “Oh dear, she thought, my guests must be arriving early. I still have much work to do. I’m not ready. I must hurry!” So Babouschka quickly went inside and began to set the table for her party. 


She was just putting the plates on the table when the first knock happened. Babouschka went to her door and opened it, but the person standing there was someone she did not know. Babouschka was surprised to see that he was wearing a magnificent crown, and he bent his head to her and said, “Babouschka, we are following a wondrous star in the sky. A special baby is soon to be born. We think He will be a king and that that shining star will lead us to Him. Come with us Babouschka, and you too can see the newborn king.” Babouschka looked past the king and she saw two more kings sitting on camels. She could hear the camel bells ringing as the large beasts stomped their feet. But Babouschka thought of all her friends who were coming, and she said, “I will go with you later but now I have to get ready for my party.” The king sadly turned and left, and Babouschka closed the door behind him. 


“Now I must take my bread out of the oven and put the candles on the table,” thought Babouschka. That is when the second knock happened. Babouschka once again opened the door and peered into the darkness. She thought she could hear the voices of her friends in the distance, but in front of her out of the darkness appeared another king. His clothes were from a country far away from Babouschka’s land, and she thought she could see the light of that star the other king had mentioned shining in his face. Sweet smelling wisps of smoke floated around the king as he waved a golden censer. He too asked Babouschka to go with him to see the newborn king. Babouschka felt a great stirring in her heart, and she longed to go with the kings, but she looked around her, saw the warm candles of her house, smelled the fresh bread, and said, “I will go another day but I’m too busy preparing for my party now.” 


Babouschka closed the door once again and became very busy sweeping the last bit of her floor. 


Then she heard the third knock. “ My friends are finally here,” she thought. Babouschka ran to the door and threw it open and was surprised to see yet another king. He was young and Babouschka liked him instantly. His smile was a wise one for his young years, and when he too asked Babouschka to come and follow the star, she knew she wanted to go very much. “Stay with me tonight and come to my party,” she said. “Then I will go with you tomorrow to see this wonderful king.” But the wise king sadly shook his head and said, “We must follow the star. You have many things to offer this newborn king, Babouschka. Bring them with you and come with us too.” But Babouschka shook her head. She could see that her friends were arriving. As she welcomed them, her gaze followed the Kings as they mounted their camels and set off on a path toward that great star that filled the whole night with light. 


Babouschka had a wonderful party with her friends. They ate the good bread and most of the food, and they danced and they sang. 


But when her friends went home the next day, Babouschka thought about those kings and that Baby, and a terrible yearning began to happen. Babouschka quickly gathered up some presents and some of the food leftover from her party, and she set out to follow the path of the wise kings. The footprints of the camels were all covered over with snow, but Babouschka trudged onward looking for that great star. She did not find that star or the Baby, so Babouschka gave her presents to a poor family that also had a newborn baby. 


Babouschka returned home, but all the rest of that long cold winter and even when the warm time came, Babouschka prepared to go with the Kings when they visited her again the next year. Babouschka waited for the kings the next winter, but they did not come. So she set out on her own taking gifts that she had prepared the whole year before. She searched and searched, and again she did not find the Star Child, but she noticed how the children she did find loved the gifts that she brought. 


Again Babouschka went home, and she followed the longing that was growing in her heart to find that Child of Light. So it came to pass that with every returning year, Babouschka set out to find that Child the three kings had told her about.

Each year, she prepared something for Him, and each year she gave her gifts to children who smiled and delighted at her presents. Babouschka grew to love the children greatly. 


One Christmas, Babouschka had hardly anything left in her house to give. She was old now and had given much to many children and their parents. She had found an old toy and was busy polishing it when she heard a soft cry outside her door. “That sounds like a baby,” she thought. “Who would leave a child outside on a cold night like this?” 


Babouschka quickly went to her door and opened it. She looked out into the cold dark night and there, on her doorstep, she saw a basket. In it was a shining Baby, and when He saw the polished toy in Babouschka’s hands, He held up his little hands and cooed with delight. Babouschka’s heart filled with joy. Then she looked up and saw that there, standing around the Child, was an adoring mother and father, and behind them were the three kings who had come to her door on that night long ago, and around them were all the children and parents whose hearts Babouschka had lightened. They had all come to Babouschka’s hearth. . . and then, Babouschka knew that nothing had been wasted. She knew that all of her efforts to find the Child of Light had been worthwhile. Her heart was full of love. 

Now is a great time to join or renew your annual membership in the World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts!

We can only do this together! Thank you for being part of this growing community. We are hoping to accomplish additional steps this year and we depend on new and renewed annual membership fees for part of our support. Membership in the association is for everyone who can align with our mission and vision. 

You have a short time left to join or renew your membership in WAPASA (between September 1 and December 31, 2022) and win a collection of Ananci Marionettes! 
 
Did you know that we offer school membership discounts? All of your colleagues can receive membership benefits for a $150 fee! More ... 

One of the most beautiful and meaningful celebrations of the Christmas festival is the study, practice and performance of one or more of the so-called Oberufer Plays.

For hundreds of years, ordinary people in the small Austrian village of Oberufer on the Danube gathered in the local tavern at Christmastime to perform these plays for their neighbors. With their roots lost in medieval times, the plays gradually evolved to incorporate a unique blend of folk humor and profound reverence in their celebration of the birth of Jesus. 

The Paradise Play, acting as a preface, presents the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, but with the promise of future salvation through Christ. The Shepherds Play portrays the birth of Jesus in a stable, where he is sought out by a group of shepherds. The Kings Play depicts the visit of three wise kings to the birthplace of the King of Humanity, as well as the murderous attempts by Herod to thwart Jesus' mission.

Oberufer is an island in the Danube, east of Vienna, close to the borders of Hungary. This island was settled by farmers from the Lake Constance region sometime in the 15th Century, and due to the relative isolation of island life, their traditions and folkways remained intact for centuries.

One of their traditions was to perform these plays each year. In fall, when the harvest was in, the players were chosen regardless of religious affiliation or status, and received their parts from an esteemed farmer who would direct the plays for years, and then pass this honorable responsibility on to his son. The songs and words were passed on by word of mouth for generations.

In the middle of the 19th century, a professor from Vienna, Karl Julius Schröer, who was researching folklore and regional traditions, discovered the Oberufer Plays. He was charmed and impressed by them and returned a few years later to write down as much as he could. Years later this professor became the teacher and revered friend of Rudolf Steiner.

Towards the end of the 19th century Professor Schröer spoke to Rudolf Steiner about these plays. His enthusiasm and concern about the possible loss of such precious folkways touched Steiner, who quickly realized their beauty and proceeded to bring order to the sketchy script and the music. In 1910 the first revived performance took place in Berlin, Germany.

From then on, these plays have become part of the Christmas time tradition for many Waldorf schools all over the world. They were first translated by Cecil Harwood, from England, who tried to keep intact the medieval way of speaking—the simple beauty of expression.

Below please find a link to a video showing one of the Oberufer Plays performed by the Hack, Boettcher, Wiebe and Beard families at Sacred Heart Church in Wingham, Ontario, Canada on December 14, 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxzu59QGHOY

Icons of St. Catherine's Monastery
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The chapter in the book Knowledge of Higher Worlds: How is it Achieved? that is expressly devoted to the process of initiation begins with a description of the three 'trials' that serve to develop certain soul-qualities within the pupil which are absolutely necessary if initiation is to be passed through in the right way. It is, moreover, not difficult to feel that the most suitable period in the cycle of the year for these inner trials is the time after the festival of Michael and, in particular, the first three weeks of Advent.

The first 'trial' which is spoken of in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds: How is it Achieved? is called "the trial by fire'. Through this the true spiritual foundations of all earthly things are revealed to the pupil: first ... lifeless things, then of plants, animals and human beings.61 It is as though a shroud falls away from all the objects and beings of the world around him and 'they then lie disclosed- naked before the beholder ... land this is connected with a process known as "spiritual burning-away". 62

The moral qualities that are being spoken of here are frequently developed by those who have passed through a stern school of life. 'Such people,' writes Rudolf Steiner, 'have passed through manifold experiences of such a kind that their self-confidence, courage and fortitude have been enhanced in a healthy way, and they learn to bear sorrow, disappointment and failure in undertakings with greatness of soul, and above all with equanimity and unbroken strength." 63 These words summon before one's inner eye the image of a person who is able in all life's storms and tribulations to remain inwardly upright, who does not bend beneath the pressure of life but preserves an unshakeable inner trust in the power of the higher justice that invisibly rules the world and sends him sorrows, disappointments and failures' as trials.

Owen Barfield was the first major English translator and interpreter of Steiner – as well as being an incredibly noteworthy literary figure in his own right. Barfield’s story and thought are interwoven with the lives of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who were all lifelong friends and intellectual interlocutors, meeting for decades as ‹The Inklings›. This piece by Barfield scholar Max Leyf initiates a continuing exposé.

Perhaps the very crux of Owen Barfield’s thought and work is his theory of the evolution of consciousness. Barfield’s portrayal dovetails with Steiner’s own vision in virtually all essentials, but at the same time – as is so often the case when the same idea is refracted through two different souls and articulated in two different languages – it serves to disclose elements of the theme that Steiner’s work alone may have left tacit or unexplored.

«The evolution of consciousness» is easily said but is perhaps understood only with great difficulty. As a ‹theory›, it is intended to do more than explain what can be readily observed. Instead, the function of a theory is to disclose a phenomenon to begin with. If it were possible to ‹extract› a theory from a phenomenon of perception, the perception of the phenomenon would go along with it. A theory, then, is less an ‹item of knowledge› than a ‹capacity of seeing›. In this case, understanding the evolution of consciousness will provide for perception the inner logic and power that steers the history of ideas: to wit, as fallen leaves may be carried on the current of a brook, so the history of ideas is born along by the evolution of consciousness. Failing to grasp such a theory, an onlooker would be forced, by analogy, to attempt an explanation of the leaves’ movement only in respect to one another and without recourse to what is obviously the primary engine for their locomotion. Any attempt to understand the unfolding of historical events of the past and present will be similarly handicapped without an insight into the evolutionary current in which they are taking part.
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The evolution of consciousness, as the term suggests, did not happen at any single instant in time. Instead, the abstract noun ‹evolution› is to be understood in its verbal tense as a present participle; as something ongoing. Barfield differentiates three epochs in the evolution of consciousness for the sake of providing a sort of ‹map› for this metamorphic territory. The first he refers to as «original participation.» The anthropologist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl meant to indicate a similar condition under the rubric «participation mystique». Other thinkers refer to the same as ‹tribal› or ‹primal› consciousness. Original participation denotes a condition of consciousness in which the self has not yet precipitated out of the semantic solution of the world. As salt crystals may condense out of a saline solution, so selves fall out of original participation with all Creation. For this reason, neither ‹spirit› nor ‹matter› exists as a concept because each of their meanings depends on just the phenomenological antithesis with its counterpart that is not a characteristic of the mind immersed in the state of original participation. An originally-participating human being does not say ‹I› to himself. Indeed, he does not juxtapose himself to the world altogether because neither ‹self› nor ‹world› exist as regulative principles of his experience. On the contrary, the originally-participating man recognises the wind that inspires his lungs and animates his limbs to be the same as the one that rustles the birch trees and draws their sap up through their capillaries. Obviously ‹wind› does not strike one of today as the proper term to include these four processes, except in a very figurative sense. Indeed, this very fact that this single term does not compass all of these processes—that our words have been rent from their condition of anterior semantic unity—is a hallmark of our ‹lack› of original participation.

Flyer/Itinerary ----- Booking Form
For more information contact Sarnia Guiton: sarnia.guiton@gmail.com
​Sarnia Guiton's Website ----- Anthony Mwaura's Website

Dear Supporters, Dear Friends,


After a year’s work here is the 2022 report (with beautiful pictures!) that we hope will delight you.
We are proud to have globally reached friends through our educational and scientific efforts. Hopefully both directions will yield practical therapeutic results.


Unfortunately, all scientific and outreach activities require serious resources.
Please donate generously.


In the name of our entire team of co-workers (see them all in our report), we thank you in advance for your support, and hope you have a blessed, peaceful, and joyous Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year,
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R. Rentea MD