The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Branch
of the Anthroposophical Society
is pleased to present:

An Evening on Spiritual Scientific Research:

Presentations by Six Branch Members

Tuesday, March 24, 7:00 PM  

Resource Center for Nonviolence
612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz

It has occurred to Douglas Wylie and Jeanie Elliott that there may well be a lot more spiritual scientific research going on in our area than most of us are aware of, either in connection with specific Sections, or simply because individuals have been carrying questions and working with them. Many of us may not realize that we have been doing research because that sounds too high, too far beyond our capacities. But if we have learned anything from our studies of Rudolf Steiner, it is that each of us is a spiritual being with untapped capacities. Some of us have developed and followed exact, if changing and developing, research questions. Others of us have been quietly striving and living with questions we may not have considered as “research”. 

The following members will present on their research topics: 

Esther Centers: Intentional Movement And Children’s Learning

Delmar McComb: Bridging the Four Kingdoms and the Hierarchies: reflections on 35 years of Biodynamic gardening

Wanda Taylor:The Gospels

Steve Spitalny: The Sense of Life and the Modern World: a physiological basis for the lack of feeling of well-being

Carin Fortin:Understanding the Relationship Between Planets, Plants and the Human Body: farming with cosmic rhythms

Scott Olmsted:Meeting Children with an Open Question: the Waldorf approach.

Esther Centers recently finished a 24-year run as a Waldorf class teacher here in Santa Cruz and continues to support children as an educational support teacher.

Delmar McComb has been a student of Biodynamic Agriculture and Anthroposophy for over 30 years.
He is a co-owner of Blossom’s Farm, a Council Member of the Agriculture Section of North America, Delmar is an operatic tenor, having performed many leading roles with opera companies over the past 25 years.

Wanda Taylor is a mother and an anthroposophist. She loves spending time with her family, in nature, with her animals and her bees, playing volleyball and reading/studying books of many genres.

Stephen Spitalny has been part of the Santa Cruz Waldorf School since the mid ‘80’s and has been a practicing anthroposophist since then. He offers trainings, lectures, and workshops in many parts of the world.

Carin Fortin is an herb farmer, herbalist, teacher, and student of anthroposophy and biodynamics, and co-founder Blossom’s Farm. Carin currently serves as member of the circle of representatives of the AG Section at the Goetheanum and as the board president of the Biodynamic Association (BDA). Carin grew up in Switzerland and moved to the United States 28 years ago.

Scott Olmsted has been a student of Anthroposophy for over 35 years. He attended Rudolf Steiner College and earned a Waldorf Teaching Certificate in 1991. Currently a class teacher here in Santa Cruz, Scott is also able to eke out a little time for gardening and the wonderment of nature.

We request our usual donation of $20
or $10 for current paid branch members.

REMINDER – THIS WEEKEND
NOTE SATURDAY TIME CHANGES!

The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Branch
of the Anthroposophical Society
is pleased to present:

Laurie Portocarrero

A Mystery Drama Workshop

Exploring “The Portal of Initiation” as Theater

Friday, March 6, 7:00 PM 

Paloma Hall
4096 Fairway Drive, Soquel

We are pleased to welcome Laurie back after last year’s exciting workshop! This weekend acting workshop explores the complete text of Steiner’s first mystery drama, The Portal of Initiation, through a variety of engagements and exercises that explore the art of the actor. Laurie will be using a variety of techniques, exercises, and formats that she has developed throughout her career as an actor.

Workshop will begin Friday night at 7PM and continue on Saturday, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (note changed time) and from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM Sunday. If you are unable to attend the entire weekend, don’t worry – you will be welcome to come for whatever segments (Friday, Saturday Morning, Saturday Afternoon, or Sunday Morning) that you can arrange. Don’t miss this! While it does work with the entire play, the activities are sufficiently “non-linear” that you will experience benefit if you just “drop in” for part of it.

There will be a break for one hour and fifteen minutes for lunch.

It is suggested that you bring a bag lunch although it will be possible to leave for lunch.

Laurie Portocarrero is an actor, storyteller, teacher, and director living in upstate New York. Trained in the Chekhov method, Spatial Dynamics, and speech formation, she has performed internationally, notably playing Maria in Rudolf Steiner’s mystery dramas and Marie Steiner in Fire in the Temple. Laurie tours internationally with colleague Glen Williamson in original two-person pieces including Fire in the Temple. She also tours with Crossing the Veil, exploring five real near-death experiences. She teaches drama and storytelling to Waldorf teachers and special needs communities. Laurie leads a Mystery Drama exploration group and gives workshops nationally on the mystery dramas and community-building through the dramatic arts.

A donation of $125 is requested to cover workshop expenses, payment on site.No one is excluded due to financial considerations.

If you think you will coming, please send an email and let us know!

With Laurie Portocarrero
March 13-16
The Christian Community
Fair Oaks, CA

3-Year Postgraduate Therapeutic Visual Arts Program

February 28 & April 25, 2026
10am-12:30pm Pacific Time

March 19 & May 19, 2026
5:30pm-7:30pm Pacific Time

With Pamela Whitman and Ken Smith

A Zoom presentation
February 25 7 PM PT

Hosted by the Faust Branch

Robert McKay, a longtime student of Rudolf Steiner’s work, met anthroposophy at the age of 17. He is a member of the Toronto Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada, and is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Rudolf Steiner College Canada. He provides lectures and workshops on anthroposophical meditation and other topics. He is a member of the School of Spiritual Science Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities. Robert works in healthcare management.

Thank you for your support.
Your admission fees pay for honoraria for our speakers.
Admission for Faust Branch Members $5
For Non-members $10
Supporting Members and Donors, no fee
You may pay using the donate button on our website faustbranch.org
Or By Check to Sacramento Faust Branch
(mail to Treasurer, Carol Nordaas, 7620 Woodglen Dr, Fair Oaks, CA 95628)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89344942665?pwd=Po5LIMPVgoCkaaYk7gaSpYLxwg3gkC.1

Meeting ID: 893 4494 2665
Passcode: 198379

One tap mobile
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No Freedom is complete without Financial Freedom

2nd Sundays at The Plant Cafe
2335 3rd Street
San Francisco

RSVP required: medicalfreedomsf@sonic.net

Entrepreneurship, skills and play

2nd Sundays at The Plant Organic Cafe
2335 3rd Street
San Francisco

RSVP required: email medicalfreedomsf@sonic.net

Sebastien and Liilth Dupuis, Joleen and Isaiah Spratt

Eurythmy Performance

A Star in the Jaws of the Clouds

Friday, January 23, 7:00 PM  

Paloma Hall
4096 Fairway Drive, Soquel 

This Eurythmy performance leads the audience on a journey from the everyday self to the higher person that slumbers within each one of us. Modern and Classical poetry and music depict how to confront what hinders us from unfolding our higher selves. 

Poets and composers include: Annie Lighthart, Juan Ramon Jimenez, Diane Robitelle, Victor Hugo, Rudolf Steiner, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Sergei Rachmaninoff, J.S. Bach, Alberto Ginastera.

Tickets are $30. Any donation to support Eurythmy in Argentina will be accepted for entry.

A Salon with Penelope Baring

Tuesday, January 27, 7:00 PM  

Paloma Hall
4096 Fairway Drive, Soquel

Penlope Baring will continue this topic as she has brought to us previously, speaking for about twenty minutes, with the aim of bringing us further along from the last time that we addressed the theme of evil. This may begin by going over some old ground, but we will deepen the exploration based on further indications from Rudolf Steiner.

Then – salon and conversation. We will begin with an element of art. We will make paper, with chalk or pencils – colors – available, so that each person may digest the content on their own.

Within our conversation we may have occasion to share some of the artistic results.

Penelope Baring was born in Nova Scotia. After five years of university, she lived and worked in Camphil in different parts of the United States, Ireland and India. She has served on both the Eastern Regional and National Councils of the Anthroposophical Society, the Asia-Pacific Initiative Group, and the Collegium of the School for Spiritual Science in North America. She has also taught Anthroposophy, lectured, and led workshops for the past forty years. Cofounder and Vice President of the Camphill Academy. She is presently semi-retired but is still teaching and mentoring.

We request our usual donation of $20
or $10 for current paid branch members.

January 28 at 7 pm Pacific Time

Please join us on Zoom for a Roundtable Discussion:
“Harvard Divinity School “100 Years Rudolf Steiner”

Conference with conference presenters and attendees:
Bruce Donehower, Thom Schaefer,
Liz Beaven, and Marion Donehower.

No charge – Donations Welcome

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89344942665?pwd=Po5LIMPVgoCkaaYk7gaSpYLxwg3gkC.1

Meeting ID: 893 4494 2665
Passcode: 198379

One tap mobile
+16699006833,,89344942665#,,,,*198379# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,89344942665#,,,,*198379# US

Sponsored by The Sacramento Faust Branch

https://www.faustbranch.org/

We are living in the time Rudolf Steiner foresaw—an era where the line between the human being and the machine is becoming increasingly blurred.

How do we maintain our spiritual integrity in the face of “mechanical occultism”? What is the true nature of electricity, light, and the “Ahrimanic double” that seeks to interpenetrate our lives?

These are not just philosophical questions; they are the defining challenges of our age.

The MysTech Winter 2026 Study Courses are starting now. These free study groups (you only need the guidebook) offer a rare space to explore these deep questions with a community of like-minded seekers.

Whether you are new to these concepts or deepening your study of the “Mysteries of Evil,” there is a group for you.

Here is the new schedule for the upcoming term:

First Course (Mechanical Occultism & The Future)
Host: Lindsey | Wed @ 8:00 pm ET

Second Course (Michael, Ahriman & The Nature of Thought)
Host: Cheryl | Thu @ 3:00 pm ET

Third Course (The Eighth Sphere & Moral Worlds)
Host: Lawrence | Thu @ 1:30 pm ET

Fourth Course (Dangers of Mechanical Occultism)
Host: Andrew | Mon @ 8:30 pm ET

Destiny of the Human Body
Host: Colin | Sun @ 6:30 pm BT (UK)

Refined Breathing (NZ/Aus)
Host: Herman | Tue @ 3:30 am ET / 7:30 pm NZ

Refined Breathing (US/EU)
Host: Andrew | Wed @ 2:30 pm ET

Mysteries of Evil Vol 1
Host: Mark | Tue @ 8:30 pm ET

Mysteries of Evil Vol 2
Host: Malana Maher | Wed @ 6:00 pm ET

Light & Electricity
Host: Mark | Thu @ 8:30 pm ET

Social Threefolding
Self Study

How to Join:

Each course is free to attend. You simply need to purchase the study guidebook and sign up to receive the Zoom link.

Click here to view full course descriptions and register.

Waldorf Education Needs Well-Prepared Teachers to Meet the
Challenges of Our Time.
 
BACWTT Annual Appeal 2025-2026

Dear Friend,

We have nearly reached our goal to meet the $20,000 matching donation by the end of this year. We need to raise less than $5,000 to achieve that match and then we will be over the halfway point towards our annual fundraising goal! If you haven’t donated yet, please consider doing so now.

Your donation directly supports the effort and commitment of our students. When you give to BACWTT, you make a direct impact on the educational experience we are able to provide and the quality of learning for many children in Waldorf classrooms.

Help us meet our matching donation by the end of the year!
We need to raise less than $5,000 before December 31st.
Every dollar you donate will be doubled till we meet our matching donation goal.

Donations received with matching donation by December 16th: $15,285

By supporting our students, you are shaping the future of Waldorf
education and the world!

Make your tax-deductible donation by using our website’s secure online donation form or through the PayPal Giving Fund. Or, if you prefer, please mail your check to:

BACWTT | P.O. Box 21265 | El Sobrante, CA 94820

Use This Link to Give Using Our Online Donation Form

Use This Link to Give Through the PayPal Giving Fund