Arcturus Michaelmas Festival “Branches Out!”

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The Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program has long had a tradition of celebrating Michaelmas via activity-packed weekends of singing, movement, study and deeds of bravery and courage!  This year was no different as we received a warm invitation from the Chicago Branch of the Rudolf Steiner Anthroposophical Society to join their Michaelmas program and combine into one festival weekend.

The Festivals class received this invitation with excitement and enthusiasm and the planning began during the 2nd week of classes in September.  No less than one hour after the Michaelmas festivities concluded at the Chicago Waldorf School on September 30th, the Arcturus faculty and students began arriving at the Branch in Lincoln Square.  In addition to the combined weekend events with the Branch, there were also “Arcturus only” events that we held in the beautiful spaces of the Branch library, kitchen, and lecture hall.

We began our Arcturus festival with singing and speech, and then the TD2 students gave several presentations to the Arcturus student body.  After being warmly and deeply welcomed and introduced to Michaelmas by Missy Byrne, presentations on images of the Dragon (Mary Lin Yoshimura) and Iron (Gloria McGrew-Cooper) were given.  Debbie Dudeck concluded this portion of the Arcturus festival by introducing Rudolf Steiner’s powerful verse “For the Michael Age.”

After a hearty and healthy pot-luck dinner (an Arcturus specialty!) and plenty of time to socialize, it was then time to join forces with the Branch festivities, which began at 7 p.m. with a powerful eurythmy presentation by the Mid-West Eurythmy Ensemble.  The Arcturus students shared our joyful piece “Yonder Come Day” which we had learned on the first day of classes, and then we settled in for an inspiring lecture by Dr. Douglas Miller entitled “Finding Companionship in the Age of Michael.”

Saturday morning brought the Arcturus students back at 9 a.m. to review the events of the previous day and to answer any questions about the festival, as well as to socialize and enjoy coffee and herbal tea!

At ten a.m. we began Part 1 of Dr. Miller’s afternoon series “The Sword and the Balance in the Age of Michael,” which was presented to us as we sat in the round and were encouraged to bring questions and comments rather than to “be lectured at” by Dr. Miller, which made for an engaging discussion.  Following this, Elena Baba presented a eurythmy workshop in which we explored the planetary gestures.  It was a Michaelic gesture to even attempt such gestures with so many participants in the crowded space, yet we succeeded!

Perhaps one of the strongest “deeds” of the Arcturus students followed as presentations from Arcturus members were given in public to those who attended the branch festivities.  After presenting the Calendar of the Soul led by Jutta Distler in both English and German, we were treated to the fairy tale “Snowflake and the Dragon.”  This was arranged as a play by Sarah Vander-Meullen, with help from Mary Lin Yoshimura, Megan Rothko, and Beth Kelly, who also created amazing puppets for opening sequence.  This performance was utterly breathtaking and as profound as any of the topics we studied or participated in during the weekend.

Following the play, Ingrid Gomez took on the task of creating a sword in water color and spoke of the process she experienced in order to create the sword and left us with many questions about what this image of the sword is in life and in relation to the Michaelmas festival.  Megan Rothko then led us in a peaceful guided meditation on the sword and we concluded the Arcturus portion of the presentations by singing rounds led by Jeff Spade, including a round written by the late Magda Lissau, beloved teacher and former director of the Arcturus program.

Dr. Miller concluded with Part 2 of his lecture, bringing forth powerful images from the morning sessions where he showed various images of St. Michael, as well as the Michaelic images we had experienced over the past 2 days.

The overall feeling of unity and community was apparent throughout the entire festival weekend, and the goal of bringing these two like-minded groups together seemed successful.  There was a palpable gratitude and mutual respect felt in the coming together of the Branch and the Arcturus program, and we look forward to future endeavors and events like this in the future.  Many thanks to all who helped to make this weekend a success on so many levels!

Jeff Spade

Core & Faculty Member of the Arcturus Program

Arcturus People got their Hands Dirty!

	
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	This past June 27 - July 1, approximately 20 participants joined the Arcturus Summer Intensive program to “get their hands dirty” and spend a week working with the earth. In the spirit of head, heart, and hands, participants were given an opportunity to chose from 3 dynamic workshops: Gardening with Patricia Holdrege, Painting and Drawing Out of Plant Observation with David Dozier, and Rudolf Steiner’s Life and Work with Rick Spaulding and Jim Kotz.

The day began with all participants taking an hour of eurythmy lead by Arcturus faculty member Susan Hiertz. After waking up their bodies with eurythmy, the group then moved on to their workshops, either walking 7 blocks west to a biodynamic city garden plot, grabbing their sketch books and heading onto the city streets to observe nature, or heading to the lecture to deepen their understand of Rudof Steiner’s perception of the natural world.

A unique aspect of the Summer Intensive this year was the afternoon session. Input from previous Intensives at Arcturus seemed to indicate a desire to end the day together, as often the artistic workshops ended the day. Summer Intensive planners took this feedback to heart and created an afternoon session beginning with singing and folk dancing, followed by “Topics: Deepening the Themes,” which was an hour and a half session led daily by a different workshop leader with the full group, allowing, for instance, those who had chosen gardening to have an extended session doing painting and drawing as well.

The mood throughout the week was one of relaxed intensity! Long sessions were padded on either end by ample breaks and a 75-minute lunch, initially done to allow time to walk to and from the garden. The end result gave participants the opportunity to relax into their work as well as to socialize with their peers. The theme not only drew local residents, but also included students from as far away as Missouri and even the Big Island of Hawaii! It was clear at the final session that those who attended the Summer Intensive were looking at the earth with new eyes.

By Jeff Spade ~ Core Group & Faculty Member of Arcturus Program.

This article was also published in Waldorf Today. 

Graduation 2011

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The short story by Leo Tolstoy came to the Arcturus Theater Arts class via Rose Edwards.  Rose was a long time friend of the Waldorf community, and though she is no longer with us in the physical sense, it is as if her spirit sent the story to the group.  After the presentation of our adaptation of the story, a theatrical adaptation that incorporated song, eurythmy and a silhouette puppet play as well as stage acting, I found myself talking with Sandy McLaughlin, and she shared with me her relationship to this story.  As I listened to Sandy speak I realized I was tracing back the path this story had traveled on its way to our stage.  Sandy was introduced to the story by Rose, and I believe that both women came to have a significant relationship to the story, given its lessons and messages on life and love.  This treasure was then shared with Marianne Fieber, who brought the story to the Theater Arts class at Arcturus as the class instructor.  I have come to my own relationship with this story.  To me, the story is a one of redemption, and its main message one of Love.  I feel blessed to have come to such an intimate relationship with the story due to my involvement in Arcturus and the production of the play.

Here is a link to the short story “What Men Live By.”  I invite you to experience this wonderful story for yourself. Also please click here to access our Graduation Program.

By Christopher Kuck – Foundation Year Student 2010-11

Student’s Initiative at Chicago Waldorf School May Fair

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A new table appeared at this year’s Chicago Waldorf School May Fair. A group of Arcturus Students worked together to put many interesting items for sale. Their goal was to raise money to help pay for their tuition. In order to help the support the students, the core group funded the table. As the idea unfolded many projects developed and the end product included not only student work but also donations from other students and faculty. There was hand-made soap, hand dyed yarn, pentatonic flute cd’s (played, recorded and sung by foundation year students), hair clips and other accessories, jewelry, beautiful felt projects and lots of greeting cards just to name a few items.

The table was a complete success! Not sure what to expect in terms of how much money they would raise, the students were quite delighted when they found out they had raised $712!!! They wish to thank everyone in the community for their generous support in helping them continue their studies and get closer to their dreams of becoming Waldorf Teachers!

By Sarah Herman

Foundation Year Student 2010-11