Thoreau College is excited to announce our new semester program, for young people ages 18-25, to front their own essential facts of life, engaging the existential questions of our time through thoughtful study of great books and natural phenomena, practical labor, immersive wilderness expeditions, community self-governance, inner development, and artistic practice. Our first semester program will run this August to December 2019, with applications due MAY 1st!

The curriculum of the Thoreau College Semester Program will be a tapestry woven of five different interlocking strands embracing the full range of human experience, laid over the natural contours of the seasons as they transition from summer, through autumn, and into winter.  Each strand will be interdisciplinary in nature and integrated coherently into the program as a whole and each will involve work with a variety of different local and visiting faculty. These strands will focus on the study of great books and natural phenomena, community self-governance and inner development, manual labor and practical skills, artistic practice, and wilderness group and solo expeditions. Read more!

The experience of natural spaces, brimming with greenish light, the smells of soil and the quiet fluttering of leaves in the breeze can calm our frenetic modern lives. It's as though our very cells can exhale when surrounded by nature, relaxing our bodies and minds. Some people seek to maximize the purported therapeutic effects of contact with the unbuilt environment by embarking on sessions of forest bathing, slowing down and becoming mindfully immersed in nature. But in a rapidly urbanizing world, green spaces are shrinking as our cities grow out and up. Scientists are working to understand how green spaces, or lack of them, can affect our mental health. A study published Monday in the journal PNAS details what the scientists say is the largest investigation of the association between green spaces and mental health. Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark found that growing up near vegetation is associated with an up to 55 percent lower risk of mental health disorders in adulthood. Kristine Engemann, the biologist who led the study, combined decades of satellite imagery with extensive health and demographic data of the Danish population to investigate the mental health effects of growing up near greenery.

Bees: Lectures by Rudolf Steiner

Bees is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the true nature of the honeybee, as well as those who wish to heal the contemporary crisis of the beehive. 

Bees includes an essay by David Adams, "From Queen Bee to Social Sculpture: The Artistic Alchemy of Joseph Beuys." The art and social philosophy of Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) is among the most influential of the twentieth century. He was strongly influenced by Rudolf Steiner's lectures on bees. The elemental imagery and its relationship to human society played an important role in Beuys's sculptures, drawings, installations, and performance art. Adams' essay on Beuys adds a whole new dimension to these lectures, generally considered to be directed more specifically to biodynamic methods and beekeeping. Enter the code bee100 for a free download. Learn more

I am excited to announce that the first 6 months of my new online class series is going wonderfully. I have been on an exciting journey of growth that is allowing me to spread the mission of AWE Studio, ArtWithEveryone.

Every month I create 3 online art lessons, intended to guide everyone from beginners starting an art practice, to those who are experienced artists. So far, we have lessons in painting and drawing exploring landscape, plants and flowers, portraiture, figure, and abstract tonal spaces. We have used wet on wet watercolor, colored pencil, watercolor pencil, and charcoal mediums. And this is just the beginning!

My mission with this new program is to have the opportunity to include art enthusiasts beyond the studio here in Seattle. I want  everyone to celebrate the confidence and wellbeing that artistic expression provides. 

These online lessons are engaging and fun for all ages -  children, teens, adults, and those with special needs. Family members and friends can even join together to learn. I'll teach you my unique approach of seeing colors and tonal spaces as images (like seeing images in the clouds) instead of merely copying outlines. You'll learn to access your imagination in ways you never thought possible!

So join the AWE Studio, ArtWithEveryone community onhttp://www.patreon.com/AWEStudio. Starting at just $1 a month, you will have access to brand new videos each month that walk you through a new exercise that will help develop your artistic expression. 

Thank you to all AWE Studio supporters, and I look forward to working with you soon. 

Keep Art in your Heart
​
Janet Lia

This insightful and inspiring book argues that, for the sake of the future of our world, we must redress the balance. Through the work of Owen Barfield, Goethe, Henry Corbin, Kathleen Raine, and others, and ranging from the teachings of ancient mystics to the latest developments in neuroscience, The Lost Knowledge of the Imagination introduces the reader to a philosophy and tradition that restores imagination to its rightful place, and argues that it is not only essential to our knowing reality to the full, but to our very humanity itself. Learn more

Leading with Spirit’s 2019 Summer Art of Administration Seminars on Whidbey Island, WA and in Hawthorne Valley, NY (From Michael Soule)

Preparing for Leading with Spirit’s Summer Art of Administration Intensive retreats at the Whidbey Island and Hawthorne Valley Waldorf Schools in July, we have been pondering the current state and health of Waldorf School Administration on this continent. These are a few thoughts about the progress and health of schools as we continue to strive to understand and practice true collaborative spiritual organizational forms. Check out our offerings for this summer below - inspiring, insightful, transformative, professional development retreats.

The administrative life of a Waldorf school is a unique social organization in the world today. Over the last 100 years, Waldorf schools have managed to survive and thrive with a model of governance that eschews traditional forms and is built on attempts at true collaboration. In healthy Waldorf schools, groups (board, faculty, administration, parent assn.) work together to define the culture, agreements, and wholeness of the school. Collaborative negotiation among groups, striving for deeper insight, cultivating deeper honest and open personal relationships and finding ways to connect with the spiritual life, are the foundations of working together.

Does a collaborative form actually work? Does it help individuals and the whole school grow and develop? Can it be responsive to the trends, demographic shifts and financial uncertainties of the times?

There are no real answers to these essential questions. Honest open collaboration requires a deep commitment to understanding, practicing, and continually shaping new social skills and forms. The dynamics of collaborative community building, like other creative endeavors, may result at times in a sense of chaos, a perceived lack of focus, or questions of authority from less involved participants about “who is in charge here?”. While these may be some of the perceived or real downsides of honest attempts at collaboration, they do not define the success, effectiveness, or health of the organization.​

Dear Travelers, This information about TERRA PARZIVAL has come to me from renowned violinist Miha Pogacnik; it might interest you. It's the celebration of 42 years of IDRIART, 100 years of Waldorf schools and 100 years of Three-Fold Society. On an earlier Parzival tour we spent a wonderful time with Miha and, as I start working on a second Parzival tour, I hope we can repeat our visit to this interesting area, a historical part of the Parzival story. Sarnia Guiton, Sophia Services, www.sophiaservices.ca

Important steps are being taken also in the medical area, with 2020 being the centenary of Steiner’s first lectures for physicians and medical students. PAAM, the Physicians’ Association for Anthroposophic Medicine, is expanding its outreach and seeing AM as an active participant in the whole public health scene. The website has begun to reflect that, and non-medical people are being welcomed to PAAM as supporters. This has perhaps been further stimulated by actions proposed by the FDA to restrict use of homeopathic medicines, which form an important part of AM. PAAM responded almost a year ago, but it became apparent that public response would be helpful. The official deadline for comments has just passed, but agencies often keep the record open a few days later. If you didn’t hear from PAAM directly or on social media, you can read the letter here; it includes informational links and how to submit a comment. A vital entryway into anthroposophic medicine is North American IPMT (International Postgraduate Medical Training), a week-long intensive training course in anthroposophic medicine, currently taught on six different continents and in more than twenty different countries. Each year classes are offered for both newcomers and more experienced physicians. Inspiring, highly experienced international faculty bring a range of clinical workshops, plus guided small group work focused on refining observation skills, enlivening medical thinking, and exploring the importance of the physicians’ inner life. The next session is April 27-May 4 in Chestnut Ridge, NY (details here).

The Sacred Gateway: Conscious Living, Conscious Dying, and the Journey Beyond ~Creating Death Caring Communities~ on April 26, 27, 28, 2019 at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School, Ghent, New York, United States.

Bring a new consciousness to your own life and death. Support those who are crossing and who have crossed over. Expand your practice and knowledge of working with the dying. Through interactive workshops, triad sharing, keynote discussions with Rev. Julia Polter, Lisa Romero, Linda Bergh, and Marianne and Dennis Dietzel, as well as experiential and artistic activities, we will consciously explore the spiritual and practical aspect of human life and death. More ...