Update from YIP

By: Reinoud Meijer

Greetings from the YIP organizing team. We wish to give you an update of the exciting progress of the International Youth Initiative Program (YIP) over the last few months. If you wish to keep it brief, please skip to the lower part of this article.

Reasons for YIP
I saw a video of a German professor recently, who spoke at a conference. He was telling how his father used to say that what separated man from animal was stupidity.  It took him 54 years in which he was an advocate for sustainable development to have to admit that there is a lot of truth in that statement. There are no stupid cows. They do exactly as is best and suitable for them.
Whereas us humans, how utterly and willingly thick we often prove ourselves to be!  
We can build airplanes. From the first man digging in the earth for the raw iron to the last hoovering the cabin before the plane leaves the works. And what do we do with them? We use them to put kiwis on European tables instead of apples. Nothing wrong with kiwis, I like them, but on the whole, what does this add to civilization? Where is the cultural and human development that really matters in doing this? How much of our incredible innovative powers are used up and tied up in things that really don’t move us further?

Recently I find myself wondering to what extent I/we create scenarios in our physical and social surroundings in order to (consciously or subconsciously) catalyse a crisis that will force us to change/develop, because we are unable to force ourselves to that same development or change from within. To what extent do I/we project things into the world that really have no place there, but should be tackled inside us instead?  Especially with the planet in crisis, it seems urgent to me to be clear on what are ‚real’ challenges, and what are ‘alibi crises’ we create for ourselves because we know no other way to make the change inevitable.  

We have one shared existence, one source and one planet that we have to manage with. We cannot afford to project our inability to change/develop into that world until it comes round hitting us in the face and forcing us to change. Not for much longer anyway…

At the same time as feeling stupid and inadequate, I have an almost naive, fundamental trust in people and development, and in the fact that decisions can alter both for the better. I guess as my answer to ‘what differs man from animal?’; I would have to say the ability to decide. I feel that in the capacity to decide, lays the most tremendous and humane potential and much of our freedom.  

I see a world full of everything we need to become everything we are meant to be. We have all the skills, the knowledge and resources, but fail to put them together in a way that makes each part necessary in the whole; to put them together in a way that makes each part so, that its purpose derives from the whole it is a part of. I see so many symptoms of part being deprived of their purpose and being lost, as they have lost the connection or have no idea of the whole they would have to derive it from. I see it in people, professions, cultures and countries.

It might be naïve, but I truly believe that we have what it takes. It’s there, or ‘out there’. I believe and continue to believe that ‘we can do it’. It’s up to me/us to decide. We can decide to renegotiate values, to rearrange and connect the parts that are displaced in new and healthy ways, to use the best of our abilities to serve rather than consume our livelihood.  

I feel a start is to foster times, places, structures and connections that allow us to recapitulate, to collect ourselves and the context we are a part of, to gain a bird-eye view that can allow a holistic picture that can be the basis from which we can direct and redirect our activities, so they may be or become a meaningful part of the whole again. There are many ways to do this, one of them results in the attempt we are making with YIP.

I hope you are all with us still (both in reading this and in YIP ; )) and now follows the update on the progress YIP has made over the last months.

Update YIP April 2008

It is an incredible position to be organizing YIP. We are like the bees buzzing around the network, which is like a rich garden and everywhere we get to, YIP can bring something that is beyond what is there already and at the same time YIP receives the substance it ‘lives’ of.

We want to start by saying thank you to all of you who have received YIP so warmly, have understood the potential of this network initiative and have joint with your contributions, partnerships and support.

It is amazing to think that the beginnings of YIP where only just over a year ago at the international Initiative meeting of the YouthSection in January 2007. YIP will be the result of many people, organizations and initiatives contributing part of their efforts to the program, and the program connecting their part into a community effort. This has been what we set out to do, and it’s happening!

Many of the contributors have confirmed their attendance; projects are being prepared in cooperation with local partners in Sweden, Internships are offered and set up with projects in India, Brazil, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia and Russia. The design of the craft-village we will build at the beginning of YIP is up for approval. It looks great and really has the potential of becoming a social hub for the whole area around the Rudolfsteiner seminar in Järna.

Talks have started around the project to connect the different Initiative in Järna thru landscaping, land-art and walking paths.  

The community housing is arranged and we are setting the food situation up in such a way that not only all participants can eat together, but it is also open to other students and coworkers in the area to join. Like with the craft- village, we hope this will bring a strong social element into the already existing community.  

For this first year of YIP, we have been talking to some farmers and agricultural education to help us with preparing the soil and planting the vegetables we will look after and use for our meals during YIP.  

Participants
We have started to accept participants, and so far we have representation from New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, USA, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland Norway, Finland and Israel. 

The closing of the registration process is set for the 31st of May. Apply NOW!

Changing the age limit
We have had numerous questions from people who really feel YIP is what would bring them and their initiative further, but that they don’t fit the 18-25 year age limit we have had so far for YIP. Some are people that are already part of the network that is behind YIP. As part of the Swedish Folk High school system, we can not accept participants under the age of 18, however for those over 25 we feel that it will miss the point if we let the age limit determine whether these people can participate in YIP or not. So, due to popular demand we have decided to start considering applications from people up to 28 years of age.

Legal Structure
We have established a nonprofit association called The International Youth Initiative Program (YIP) in Sweden. The members of the board represent four continents thus far. It is a member association open to both individual and institutional members. To find out more about the association, follow this link: www.yip.se/about_yip/yip_association
For now the income from member fees will be used to publish and distribute a newsletter. So even if you just want to stay updated about what’s happening with YIP, feel free to join!
Now that we are a legal body, we are finalizing the contracts concerning, food, lodging and other necessary agreement for the program.
 
The Team
At the moment there are three of us working fulltime on YIP and three part-time. Apart from two paid positions, some very dedicated colleagues do most work in donated time. Thank you so much, you rock!

Fundraising
So far we have received about 35% of the total costs for organizing YIP. This secures the costs of the contributors and one fulltime wage. More applications are pending with various foundations, but any ideas and help on this is greatly appreciated. Some of the participants that have signed up are already helping us research opportunities for scholarships and financial support in their countries.

To make a private donation to help us in our efforts to get this initiative off the ground, please visit www.yip.se/donate or contact us at info@yip.se.

Advertising
A number of interviews and articles have been published in newspapers and magazines around the world. Please feel free to contact our ‘PR man’
Mathias Bolt Lesniak (mathias@yip.se) if you would like to help highlight YIP in the public eye.
To make YIP easier to find online, it helps to be linked as often as possible. So please put a link or a banner on your website referring to YIP.
To do so, go to: www.yip.se/support_yip

Facebook
A lively community is starting to take shape on Facebook. To join it, follow
this link: www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php

How can you help?
We are in a very exciting point of this project and allot of the work that will be done over the next 4 months will really make YIP what it will be!
So please support us and help us by getting involved!

What YIP needs:
First and foremost, we are helped best by people all over the world who enthusiastically talk about this network initiative in what ever setting they might be in. YIP is intended as a International Network initiative, but will only be such if it is carried and visible beyond it’s geographical limitation.  

•    Private or organization/institution members.
•    International and local Internship possibilities
•    Contacts to newsletters, magazines etc. for publications
•    Financial support for participants (especially for those who come from less fortunate financial backgrounds)
•    Financial support for YIP. Be it sponsors, foundations, privates…or innovative ideas how to raise funds.
•    Essays, books and videos with relevance to the topics YIP is addressing, to start our library for YIP. Most contributors are suggesting a reading list, which we will put on our website. If you have any titles on the list spare, we’re happy to find them a nice spot on one of the shelves… ; )
 
For more information and updates, please keep checking www.yip.se
Thank you for your time and interest
Very best wishes
The YIP-Team

My Life as a Young Anthroposophist

By: Michelle Groves

I came to anthroposophy, or rather, it came to me, through a series of seemingly ‘chance’ events. I was searching for some kind of higher education course that would satisfy something in me- something which I couldn’t quite define. From the very start I found anthroposophy resonated deeply within me. I felt that I had found something, finally, which made sense of the world in which I found myself. At times, I described it as though what I was learning was reminding me of something I didn’t realise I had forgotten….

Eventually I found the Masters course in Global Education at Plymouth University, and am about to graduate from the three year degree course; the BA (Hons) in Steiner Waldorf Education. From the very start I found anthroposophy resonated deeply within me. I felt that I had found something, finally, which made sense of the world in which I found myself. At times, I described it as though what I was learning was reminding me of something I didn’t realise I had forgotten….

After the last three years of deepening my understanding of anthroposophy, I decided to do one term of the Basic Studies in Anthroposophy (in English) at the Goetheanum, with Virginia Sease. I set off in October feeling quite nervous and not really knowing what to expect in Dornach.

It turned out to be an intense, enjoyable and immense learning experience. I found the course itself demanding but engaging. With respect to actually being in Dornach…. at first I found it quite difficult. Although all the people we met were undoubtedly friendly and warm, I did sometimes feel that it was….too quiet somehow…or perhaps, too serious. People did not seem to laugh out loud often, and despite feeling an affinity with anthroposophy, I felt that I was ‘unspiritual’. I thought sometimes this could be because of my age, or my personality, or perhaps my ‘British-ness’ (I was born in Guernsey so am technically not English). I never wanted to offend anyone and there has never been any question of me not taking anthroposophy seriously, but it felt as though there was something else, something extra, which I needed.

As soon as we arrived we had figured out that the cheapest (and best) coffee is to be found in the Youth Section. There always seemed to be vibrant young people milling around, and we English speakers felt somewhat shy (at first!). We were introduced to Elizabeth Wirsching, the leader of the Youth Section and one evening she invited us to an evening meal followed by a discussion group with other young people. That night, I found the extra element I had been wanting. We heard brief biographies, we talked about why we were there and what our questions, hopes or fears for the world might be. I left the discussion group tinglingly excited…. Something real was stirring.

We became actively involved with the Youth Section by cooking on Friday nights, for whoever wanted to come, with an evening of live music afterwards. It became an established weekly event and we found it refreshing to be in a very real social situation which wasn’t clouded by alcohol (as so much of young people’s social life is in England and at university). The discussion group continued every Monday and I found it hugely inspiring to share ideas and thoughts, about the world, the future, ourselves and anthroposophy, with other young people. I was stimulated and engaged in a way that was exciting and daunting at the same time….

Since Dornach, I have written my dissertation, examining how important anthroposophy was to my fellow students in England, as I sometimes wondered why more students had not, do not, join the Anthroposophical Society (not to imply that they should, but I was curious as to why they didn’t). While I was in Dornach, the idea had crystallized into a single question; ‘What is the relevance of anthroposophy to young people today?’ In relation to this, I interviewed several young people from all over the world, and it was truly incredible, to collate their responses- I also found my own ideas forming more clearly as time went on.

Some other questions I hold are, for example; what is the role of England, and young people in England, within the anthroposophical movement?  What is the role of young people within the Anthroposophical Society? How can we carry anthroposophy into the modern world? How are we, as young people, connected to the Foundation Stone Meditation? Does anthroposophy need a new form to be taken into the future, and if so, what, and how do we find it? These are all very initial avenues for what I hope will be further exploration, in collaboration with other young people as well as older people….

I went back to Dornach for the February Days conference, which was, unsurprisingly, brilliant. In August I plan to go to Järna, Sweden for YIP (Youth Initiative Program) a new course set up in collaboration with the Youth Section, which is ‘anthroposophically inspired’ and will help me to develop the skills I need to set up truly sustainable initiatives. For more information about this, visit www.yip.se Contact with anthroposophy has provided me with real, meaningful direction for my life. I look  forward to embrace whatever the future may hold.

The Art of the Future: Youth Gathering, Perth, Australia

By: John Stubley

The art of the future has arrived! From Germany, New Zealand, Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia, young and youthful people came together in Perth last March to sculpt the warmth that exists between us as human beings. Together, we not only explored new social and artistic life, we experienced what it actually requires to be an artist of the social sphere – an artist of the future.

Like fish flexing their fishy muscles – their spaces entwined
in wave-like, flag-like, flappings
waving in, waving out –
Standing tall and proud, open and welcoming
Sitting low, weaving their heartbeat into
the centre of the earth.
                        (HM, EP, MK, JS)

    Because it is difficult to paint a picture of our experiences in a conventional ‘report,’ we have added photographs of our gesture art, clay pieces, and labyrinth work, and have included some of the creative writing we produced together. Hopefully these additions will act like ‘doorways’ onto the experiences of the gathering.
    
    Folded down the flower rests
    behind a wall of love.
    So very tired
    it longs to touch
    the deep dark fragrant earth.
    When morning comes
    it lifts its head towards
    the brilliant sky.
    And the sky is nodding and bending down
    to kiss the brilliant flower.
                        (JW, LP, LD, DS)

    Working consciously with the ‘being’ of the gathering, with others we share a connection with, with the rose cross meditation (thanks to our wonderfully supportive guide and future-artist extraordinaire, Jennifer Kornberger), as well as with new forums for discussion, the holding of questions without grasping for answers, labyrinth work and existing artistic mediums, we strove to melt the walls that separate us from one another, and attempted to consciously created a ‘sculpture’ made of warmth – a sculpture that uses as its medium the substance that lives in the spaces between us.

    From four round balls,
        Four pieces of different shapes arise
    Four balls to four forms talking – forming –
    shaking hands in the spaces between them
    invisibly
    Reaching out in search of warmth,
    Engulfed in warmth, simultaneously absorbing and radiating warmth
        to the rhythm of their flow.
                            (HM, MK, EP, JS)

    During our time together we created some wonderful gesture-art, some powerful clay pieces, and a collection of very fine creative writing. But the highest art of the gathering was what we were able to form through human relationships – through interacting with one another in such a way that the individual can support the community as a whole, and the community can support the individual in all their strivings. Our individuality was not lost during this process, but strengthened – not only through our morning and evening meditative sessions, but through all the activities of the gathering.

    The moon calf’s ears are listening
    The fountain’s halves are whispering
    And I am waiting
    Leaning forward with anticipation
    What knowledge will follow?
    The clay laughs
    The glacier calves
    What is this new creation?
                    (GK, KD, SM, JK)

    All our activities formed part of a greater process – part of the Goethean wholeness of the entire gathering. Everything we did added to the warmth sculpture we created – the spiritual community we attempted to form.   

I did not know I was going to fall
I fell
And you were there to catch me.
You are always there to catch me.
I am ready to catch you,
Laughing
      and crying sometimes.
I’m worried about you,
      but not in an unhappy way
            I’m fine.
I benefit from loving you, you know.
I’m strong,
      You’re strong,
           WE’RE s-t-r-o-n-g.
                Got it?
We are both standing upright now
Standing on our own two feet.
                    (JW, LP, LD, DS)

    
This event was created, organised and run by youth section members, with the guidance and support of Jennifer Kornberger. The organisers attempted to work consciously with the ‘being’ of the gathering for over a year, and did so through regular study groups, planning meetings and meditative work. In one sense then, the gathering actually took place over a twelve month period – from planting the initial seed in fertile soil, to tending the growing plant, and then finally to co-harvested and enjoying the fruit with all participants during our days together in March.

    As if a flower unfolded from a vessel
    originally the secret of what was contained
                was kept…
    A mirror of an archetypal memory
    Reaching towards the outside world.
    It sprang with vigor from modeled
                surrounds
    carefully conjured from disparate
                leanings
    But truth and beauty have common ground;
    Once found in common hard unlearned.
    So the linking flowed in togetherness
    Untroubled by less emscious beginnings
    And a complete form was reached
        and now rests, in peace.
            A picture of movement between three.
                            (JB, GB, SM)
    
The organisers would like to thank Jennifer Kornberger for her unending support, Melchior Mazzone for his website brilliance, Evan Sanders for his financial genius, as well as the Anthroposophical Society in Australia, WA Branch, for their very kind donation which helped make this event possible. Especially we would like to offer our humble thanks and congratulations to all the exceptional artists-of-the-future who were able to attend the event: Lotte Peters, Dominique Schacherer, Emma Parker, Michael Killian, Gotthard Killian, Lisa Devine, John Blackwood, Jesse Williamson, Susan McCaughtrie, Sonia McGillvray, Hiroko Mihay, Jennifer Kornberger, Katie Dobb, Gosia Basinska, and John Stubley (as well as Sue Simpson and Paul Mackay for adding their experienced hands to the sculpture during our final afternoon session).

Listen
Listen, hear the grass growing.
Hear the flower unfolding,
calling for a bumbly bee
    Sky is high
        Sky is blue
Listen to the sky
Listen to the blue
Listen to the high
    unfolding
    flower.
Listen to the bumbly bee
Listen to the soft singing
Listen to the flower unfolding for it.
    Warm is the nourishment
    from the middle of the sky.
                    (HM, MK, EP, JS)

One participant was overhead saying, following the event, “it is like we carry around a secret now.” Another participant, while driving to the Bee Master Michael-Easter Festival after the gathering, said, “to everybody else driving past, we probably just look like five people in a car…” And it is with great joy that the organisers received these two very heartening emails from participants upon their return home:

“…there’s never a day that I don't think of you all and everything I learned and experienced in Perth, I still feel the warmth and carry it with me always, letting it pass through me to touch others around me. I hope they feel it too!”

“I think the energy we created has already spread!!! I even left some of it in Dubai! And I haven’t even started to unfold it all yet...Anyway I’ll never forget this wonderful experience…!!”

Of course, it is our great hope that the sculpture we created here in Perth can live as a gift for everyone everywhere. May it follow the currents of human and spiritual warmth throughout all worlds, and may it find you, as this report has, with great warmth, wherever you may be.
    This final piece was written by all the artists at the gathering – each of us adding our own line and our own warmth to the poem which, in turn, supports each very special, individual line.

Weavings, shapings

I was clay and then you breathed me human
And the hardness melted into the sweetest most golden honey
A mess of the most beautiful kind
Fruitbowl purrs and moohs with breathing warmth and hidden heart pulsing
Community Creatures Clumped Budding
Nothing will stop us meeting!
‘The hills are alight with the sound of music’
Spaceship Earth, flying moon calf to the zoo
I like noodles and I like noodling around!!!
Here we are! All a tangle & still ourselves. Balancing.
Everyone has a space in this space for everyone – our warmth melts all obstacles The earth is a masterpiece
Joined together with the grace of life.

Youth Conference in Aarhus, Denmark

"Warning Anthroposophy Leads to Addiction" OR "Warning Anthroposophy is Addictive"

The situation of the anthroposophical society in Denmark is currently characterized by a low level of youth activities. In order to stimulate the growth of a national, spiritually oriented youth environment within the framework of anthroposophy, we held a conference in Aarhus, addressing the key issues of building an inspiring milieu with a rich and flowering culture of exchange of authentic and unfiltered human experience.

The topics discussed at the conference were:

What are the circumstances of being anthroposophically orientated today?
What needs and wishes do we have for an anthroposophical youth environment?
What is the optimal platform for anthoposophical work in our perspective?
What elements would characterize such a platform?

24 participants attended the event that - besides the above mentioned topics - aimed at creating a rich platform for personal networking. The verbal and written feedback during the event was very positive, and it was decided to inaugurate a biannual series of similar events, that would continue the work of experimentation of and development undertaken at the conference. Next conference is taking place in Aarhus, 23rd – 24th of August 2008

Goetheanum – Scholarships

By: Mirja Cordes

The Goetheanum offers four scholarships for students in the winter semester 2008/09 (starting 15 September 2008).  Students will participate in current research projects of the different Goetheanum Sections, working independently on specific questions.
Applications are open to students with a good knowledge of Anthroposophy who have completed at least the basic level of their studies (maximum age: 32). With these scholarships the Goetheanum intends to create an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of Anthroposophy. For six months they will work on a topical, relevant question in the international research environment of the Goetheanum. There a 21 research projects, including the concept of time in Rudolf Steiner’s work, the significance of remembering and memory in the anthropology of Waldorf Education, interior design drafts for Goetheanum furniture, and a medical research project on the mutability of the genotype. The respective Section Leaders and their research assistants will oversee all of the projects.  

For a list of all projects and further conditions concerning applications see:
www.goetheanum.org/799.html

Goetheanum - Stipendien

Für das Herbst-Semester 2008/09 (Beginn: 15. September 2008) werden vom Goetheanum vier Stipendien für Studierende vergeben.
Sie bieten die Möglichkeit an laufenden Forschungsprojekten in den Sektionen mitzuarbeiten und eine Teilfragestellung selbständig zu bearbeiten.
Bewerben können sich alle Studierenden unter 32 Jahren, welche die Grundlagen des Faches beherrschen und mit Anthroposophie vertraut sind. So ist eine Gelegenheit geschaffen, Anthroposophie während sechs Monaten in einer aktuellen und relevanten Fragestellung zu vertiefen und am Forschungsumfeld des Goetheanum teilzuhaben. Das Spektrum der 21 verschiedenen Themenstellungen reicht von Forschungen zu Rudolf Steiners Zeitbegriff, über Erinnerung und Gedächtnis in der Anthropologie der Waldorfpädagogik oder innenarchitektonische Entwurfsarbeit für Möbel im Goetheanum, bis zu einem medizinischen Forschungsprojekt über die Veränderlichkeit von Erbgut. Die Projekte werden von den Sektionsleitern oder deren wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitern begleitet.

Die Liste der Projekte und die Bedingungen für die Bewerbung sind einsehbar unter:
www.goetheanum.org/799.html

Words...

Words...intends to be a reoccurring space featuring poetry and creative writing.

This is the second and third installments of three from "There are ships, sailing across the sky (alt. across heaven) by Ruhi Tyson.

II
We have a son you and I, a little son
just last november we were still alone
now you can’t leave your books out
like you used to do
just think of Gunnarssons Ships,
sailing across heaven
which he tore to pieces yesterday…
 
The oven’s burning
200 degrees warm
baking a saffron-cake
our flat is really small
so everything is within reach
and soon its christmas here
but its been difficult this year
with all the presents
with a lot really,
difficult with diapers to be washed,
with far too little sleep and with
the fever that comes sometimes
putting the fear of death in me…
 
and I’m too tired now for real images
too tired to read my favourite poetry by Lorca
its fish-sticks that we cook for dinner  
not whole filets of pike, that says it all…
 
but for now he sleeps, our son, here in the cradle
and he’ll be sleeping yet for
one more hour
lying as he does upon his back
and snoring softly like most babies do
its pointless to try to guess his dreams
but later, when he wakes, it is the first time in a week
he doesn’t cry…
 
We have a son you and I, a little son
a son that looked so proud among the
bits of pages
do you remember the word he held? 
heaven printed in black on deep-blue
paper part of the cover and of our 
reality at once…
 
Its four o’clock pm. and late november
beyond our door the darkness 
suddenly is pierced
by our mad neighbours screaming, its
not just devoid of any light but its hardly an appeal
and at the moment we know nothing yet of
how he’s but a day removed from death
know nothing whatsoever yet of sirens, breaks 
when cars arrive and heavy feet that 
race up stairs, through corridors and
then slow down once the inevitable’s
become clear
On death and dying in the midst
of being read lies on our table like a 
prophecy and then the fever too, returns 
and our fear is mingled with our neighbours dread
and with that feeling
of somehow being guilty of what’s happened…
 
But for now our son is sleeping in the cradle one more hour
lying as he does upon his back and 
snoring softly like most babies do 
The cake is perfect
it too a sign
all golden in the kitchen and I can’t suppress a 
”damn, this cake is nice”
 
and then I feel your arm around my waist and see you
look at me, eyes harboring the ovens warmth
we’re standing there so close, close like we used to do
but now its not as easy anymore
(and you say) ”Hush, no more words from you, my 
hands are on your chest of their own will”
The little evening feels suddenly just like a 
very well-proportioned square
and your two hands are
like a shading tree
”I don’t give up that easy”
you point out to me
and as the faithfulness overcomes me that brittle lightness 
I keep showing
turns so soft
”please dry my cheek, it seems
that something here inside me broke,
we have a son together you and I, a little son…”

and in the kitchen sits a saffron-cake
golden and cooling on a copper plate
(pointing the day and minute out for us)
and everywhere you touch me I grow peaceful
filled with a longing now to read
from Lorcas poetry out loud
but in the cradle our son is sleeping
full of his yellow dreams and so I whisper
whisper slowly and deliberate:
verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
 
(approx. 
Green, that’s how I love you, green
green the wind and green the branches. 
Quoted from the poem Romance Sonámbulo from the collection Romancero Gitano)

III
The evening and water come ashore with you
-pieces of a little rowing boat
I’ve been waiting for you on
a tuft of grass that’s large and hard like the head of a sledgehammer…
Been picking horsetail
counting stars
even though I always get a different sum
from that quarter of the sky where all the signs are unknown to me
You’re walking slowly, perhaps they’re rather heavy
travellers to bring along
and as I watch, the movement grows and ambles through
my eyes with an expansiveness
that’s overwhelming…

”Don’t you also want to bathe?”
 
but I’ve forgotten how to swim
and how to row and sail, I’ve forgotten
what my feet are called and where right is at and where the middle
lies and what
it means with
close and 
distant
 
And everything is silent…
the evening and water come ashore with you
the final rays of light still shimmer on your brow
-pieces of a little rowing boat
and it rustles in my horse-tail filled embrace
when you sit down with me
shivering and naked
”are you that tired?”
you ask me softly
breathing lightly on my chin and neck, caressing
me that way

”No, but I repaired a boat just now with  
odd stars that I found while counting  
evening and water came ashore with you
-pieces of a little rowing boat
that I have nailed together and I  
didn’t burn my hands at all”
 
”I love the upright,
vertical direction
that you gave it”
 
”It is the only one
that I remember…”
 
and then, with one hand resting on your waist
I draw some signs towards the sky  
using the other  
although its still a secret what I write
you whisper in my ear that forgetting is a friend

I still recall how you get dressed 
beginning with the top and everything returns
to normal size, and later, in the car
and ancient Ford Escort
you take our road-map out and ask me to go home
by other roads than those we know
and the evening becomes night
and the water that was a lake becomes a sea
the nails illuminate every place where we
have ever touched eachother
and we are filled with a sincerity like canvas-sails, all cobalt-blue
outside beneath the roofs stand our ancestors as always, waiting
Tomorrow we will be there in their midst…
 
and I’m not frightened anymore
even though I know now that we won’t make it home
and in the rear-view mirror I can see I’ve lost 
my wrinkles and my sorrows
You are like you were when we first met
kneading a piece of wax distractedly
and humming to it with that sweet
tone of yours
I have to stop the car right then
just so that I can look
at your hands carefully, their movement
is pure poetry
and there the night
turns slowly into dawn
and then the sea
becomes an endless sky…

Calendar of Events 2008

By: Ani Haneilus

Spring is bursting in Dornach and we at the YouthSection are very excited about what it has in store.

May:
May 9-11, 2008. Mensch Werden, Young First Class Members Meeting, YouthSection, Dornach.

A chance for First Class Members under 35 years old to meet in the context of the Class Lessons. To exchange impressions and deepen understanding.

May 24-25, 2008. Heartbeet Youth Conference, Hardwick, VT, USA. 

An anthroposophical youth conference at Heartbeet Lifesharing. Theme: Facing Karma – in Life and in Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas. With lectures/talks by Stephen Usher, Sherry Wildfeuer, Rachel Schwartz and Hannah Schwartz.  www.heartbeet.com

June:
June 7, 2008. World ELIANT Day

A collaboration between the Youth Section and ELIANT

On this day signatures are to be collected actively in the streets of every large city in Europe and in the World.
Who: We are looking for younger people who are interested to spend one day actively collecting signatures.
Why: To express our commitment to civil society in Europe: our main goal is to establish a legal basis for cultural diversity in the fields of education, agriculture and medicine. To achive this we need 1 Million Signatures.
Where: Throughout Europe particularly, but also supported by the international community. Each major city or area will have a coordinator.
More Info: www.eliantaction.com
Contacts: Giulia A. Critelli                     Elizabeth Wirsching
                 Eliant  Campaign                  YouthSection
                 www.eliantaction.com          www.youthsection.com
                 info@eliantaction.com      elizabeth@youthsection.org

July:
July 17-21, 2008. Young Economists Course, Goetheanum, Dornach.

The idea behind the Young Economist Course is to let successful and experienced Anthroposophical businessmen and scholars give a living picture of the Anthroposophical thoughts and practices concerning business and economics. The course is intended for students who study economics and (young) people who are active in business but everybody with a strong interest in economics is welcome to attend. Speakers include Mathieu van den Hoogenband (CEO Weleda), Rudolf Mees (ING), Cornelius Pietzner (Vorstand member), Stephen Usher, and Tiemen Woutersen. Contact: Els Woutersen, Els_Woutersen@yahoo.com www.goetheanum.org

 

July 20-Aug. 1, 2008 ENGAGEMENT and CONSCIOUSNESS '08. Stuttgart, Germany.

   With Orland Bishop and Nicanor Perlas. Two weeks of training for young people on the development of a deeper consciousness.

    Facing the challenges of our time requires the development of a new consciousness and new social capacities for a generation of inspired young people who want to dedicate their life and energy to the shaping of a sustainable future, authentic responsibility and the striving for true freedom. www.engage08.de/eng

July 22-24, 2008. Annual Initiative Meeting, Goetheanum, Dornach.

   “Why do I do what I do?” At this meeting we are expecting not only to hear what each initiative is about, but also to gather/experience what questions, challenges and future steps come out of the work that is done in each initiative. We are also interested in personal questions and what impacts participants see their actions and initiatives having in the world. There will also be space for an exchange and discussion--World Café, free initiatives, and different kinds of performances. www.youthsection.org

July 26-31, 2008 festival.forum-Showcasing Youth Initiative, Summer Conference, Goetheanum, Dornach.

    Join us in July 2008 for a festival.forum where people of all ages are invited to experience contributions from young individuals involved in youth activities around the world. With an open program of diverse possibilities, the festival.forum will give the opportunity for every one to choose their individual schedule every day. Our wish is to reach out beyond anthroposophical, national or generational borders. www.festivalforum.blogspot.com www.youthsection.org

 

MANFRED BLEFFERT California Courses 2008

Summer Music Training                                   7/28/08 - 8/16/08   $1000
Instrument Building and Music                   7/28/08 - 8/1/08     $450
Painting and Sculpture                                 8/4/08 -  8/8/08      $350
Pedagogical Study through the Arts         8/11/08 - 8/15/08   $350

The work of Manfred Bleffert is known in the States through the delicate tones of his gongs, glockenspiel, cymbals and other percussion instruments. For the last thirty years, Manfred Bleffert has been working throughout Europe as a composer, musician, painter and sculptor.
 
For the first time, Manfred will offer artistic courses in the United States. From July 28 to August 16, 2008, four courses will be held in Santa Rosa, California. This innovative artistic work will serve as a vehicle for developing new experiences of the world and one's own humanity. Through practical and contemplative work, participants will gain deeper insights into the processes and products of the arts. Each course will be a transformative experience!
 
Registration now at www.manfred-bleffert.net!

 

August:
August 25th, 2008. Beginning date YIP--The International Youth Initiative Program, Järna, Sweden.

   “One Year of Making Sense!” ...A new social entrepreneur training in Järna, Sweden, for youth aged 18-25 who want to create positive social change in the world. A course in how to bring your own initiative into being. This initiative is planned and carried by the international network of people in cooperation with the YouthSection.  www.yip.se

 

Aug 25th or Sept. 1, 2008. im-pulse.eurythmy. Beginning date.

    An international Eurythmy training course designed for Waldorf graduates with a love of eurythmy and extensive experience in it. A dynamic and broadly designed curriculum brings you to master eurythmists in eurythmy centers in Europe and South and North America. While the main language of the studies will be English, eurythmy work will also be done in the local languages (German and Portuguese/ Spanish). The home base of the program is the modern, beautiful, expansive Akademie fuer Eurythmische Kunst in Aesch, ten minutes from the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. www.impulse-eurythmy.org www.goetheanum.org www.youthsection.org