The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Branch is pleased to present:
Mary Stewart Adams
General Secretary and President
Anthroposophical Society in America
Christine Burke
Western Regional Council, ASA
A Festival of Unbornness:The Journey Toward Birth
Sunday February 4, 2024 at 6PM
 Paloma Hall, 4096 Fairway Drive, Soquel, CA

Join us at a special branch meeting on Sunday, February 4 where we host two key members of our national society, Mary Stewart Adams and Christine Burke. Together, they will weave a tapestry of spiritual research, story and poetry out of the ancient understanding of the human pre-birth experience.

The timing closely coincides with the Winter Cross Quarter, traditionally celebrated as the 40^th day after Christmas (February 2).  The Winter Cross Quarter marks the halfway point in the winter season and is variously celebrated as Ground Hog’s Day, Candlemas, and Imbolc. Each of these celebrations is related to inner light and inner purification, in preparation for the year’s mystery. 
In the work of Rudolf Steiner, this time of year is also delightfully described as the season when all the souls that will come to birth in the year are gathered into the Moon sphere. 
Mary Stewart Adams will also share a short perspective from her new role as General Secretary.
We hope you will join us.

For over twenty years, under the title of Star Lore Historian, Mary Stewart Adams has worked as a dark skies advocate, to raise awareness about the effects of light pollution and to make known the mysteries of the starry skies from environmental, cultural, and anthroposophical perspectives.

Mary first encountered the work of Rudolf Steiner at age 18 in 1981 and met Hazel Straker, a pioneer in Astrosophy, in 1996. These two destiny moments have shaped much of her life path, which, together with her education in literary arts, continue to inspire her work and research. She joined the School for Spiritual Science in 2000.

Mary has four children, and since accepting the position of General Secretary for the Anthroposophical Society in America, she makes her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Christine Burke sits on the Western Regional Council of the Society.  She is a Logodynamics Practitioner / Speech Artist, Community Gatherer, Communication Professor.

The Western Regional Council’s (WRC) primary task is to connect people and to encourage the circulation of anthroposophical ideas and initiatives in the American West. The WRC seeks to deepen esoteric and community life through visits with groups and branches, meeting with local members in person or online. 

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

The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Branch is pleased to present:
Monday January 22, 2024 at Samper Recital Hall at 11:30 AM

The Bay Area Eurythmy Ensemble

Performing
Leo Tolstoy’s
A Grain or an Egg?

A Grain or an Egg? by Leo Tolstoy approaches the future of community, agriculture, nutrition, health and the strength of the human spirit. The Bay Area Eurythmy Ensemble brings this adaptation of Tolstoy’s story alive through Eurythmy, Puppetry, Community involvement and Music by Tchaikovsky. The performance, at once humorous and profound, lasts just under 40 minutes. 

ADMISSION IS FREE! This production is being supported by contributions from the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Branch, the Santa Cruz Waldorf School, private donors, and the volunteer efforts of the The Bay Area Eurythmy Ensemble. Although admission is free, contributions for this event to the branch will be earmarked for the Ensemble and help support their ongoing efforts to bring Eurythmy to the local community! Click if you wish to Contribue The Samper Recital Hall is located within the Cabrillo College campusSamper Recital Hall Directions (Google Maps) Susan Cook, David Eyes, Douglas Wylie The Core Group Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Anthroposophical Society a branch of  The Anthroposophical Society in America coregroup@anthroposophysantacruz.com

Dear friends of the General Anthroposophical Section,

with this last newsletter of the year we would like to cordially invite you to our final Livestream from Edith Maryon’s house in English on Thursday, December 21, 8 pm (CET). Peter Selg will speak about Rudolf Steiner’s preparation for the Christmas Conference and his lectures on Mystery Formations (Mysteriengestaltungen).

Live Stream Link: https://allgemeine-sektion.goetheanum.ch/en/haus-maryon

Zoom link: Remembering The Beginnings

Holy Nights

7 PM Nightly

Dear Friends,

We would like to invite you all to our Holy Nights gatherings!We decided on reading World History and the Mysteries in the Light of Anthroposophy, lectures given by Rudolf Steiner from Dec.24th 1923 to January 1st 1924, exactly 100 years ago.

We will not meet on December 31st or January 6th.

On January 6th we will gather to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the re-founding of the Anthroposophical Society by Rudolf Steiner, from 1:30- 4:30 at Camphill (details will follow).We decided to practice the song “I Feel My Destiny” by Julie Courtney each night before the reading, because we will sing that song at the January 6th event. 
Recordings of the music (from Esther), can be downloaded here, along with the sheet music if you wish to practice at home:

• Soprano Audio File (mp3)
• Alto Audio File (mp3)
• Bartione Audio File (mp3)

On Sunday, December 10th we will have a one-time practice session for this song at Susan Cook’s house (directions below) at 11 am, led by Esther. We will provide the sheet music then. If you would like to join us, please let me know (wandabtaylor@msn.com ) so I can give Susan a head count.

We will have 10 nights (starting 12-26 and ending 1-5) to read the 9 lectures of World History and the Mysteries in the Light of Anthroposophy, so on January 5th we will read the first lecture from Christ and the Human Soul(GA155). I will provide copies! Details and directions are available on the community calendar page: https://proto.sfbbi.org/calendar/.

If you have any questions, please contact me wandabtaylor@msn.com.

Happy Holidays!

Wanda

Do you love to sing, or yearn to sing, or wish that you could sing? Singing is a precious expression of our humanity and our voice is the most essential tool that we have for living our lives.  

Singing unites people, creates community and can be a pure expression of our soul as well as a direct connection to the spiritual world.  It also provides a deeply nourishing opportunity to receive renewal and self-care.

You are warmly welcome to join the 8th Foundational Singing Training of the School of Uncovering the Voice that begins this February! Everyone is eligible to attend, regardless of singing abilities. It is a transformational experience; not only is it inherently beneficial for your whole being; you will also discover the potential of your own unique and beautiful voice.  More information can be found on our new website: https://www.werbecksinging.org/We would be grateful if you would please share this message with anyone in your greater community who might be interested. 

While the group sessions for the upcoming training are held for a handful of days twice a year in Northern CA, most, if not all of the included private singing lessons can be held over Zoom, which makes this training manageable for people who live outside of CA.

Special message for those of you who are connected to schools:

Waldorf schools are at the forefront of understanding the value of singing and its positive impact on the healthy growth of children.

In an ideal world, every school contains teachers who have free, natural singing voices and can lead and model beautiful singing for the children and the greater community. Even better; imagine a community where everyone feels confident and comfortable singing!
Although many Waldorf teacher trainings contain some elements of the anthroposophical singing method, Uncovering the Voice (also called Werbeck singing) we have found that most teachers benefit from additional training in Uncovering the Voice. 

We are offering a special discount for schools: if two or more staff members of the same school register together, they each get $50 off of the tuition per semester. 

In addition, as an experienced, credentialed Waldorf class teacher and choir leader, Shayndel is also available for private mentoring of teachers in developing their singing abilities and working with grade-specific songs, from early childhood through the grades. She also mentors sound healers and singing professionals.

The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Branch is pleased to present:
Friday, December 15, 7:00 PM at the

Resource Center for Nonviolence, Santa Cruz

The Oberufer Shepherd’s play is a unique community Christmas event being performed one night only at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, December 15, at 7 PM. It has been performed every year since Medieval times by people around the world. It takes the Christmas story from the point of view of the Shepherds in a unique, humorous and warm-hearted way, with amateur local actors and musicians.

The cast this year is drawn from Hidden Meadow, the Santa Cruz Waldorf School, the Anthroposophical Branch, Blossom’s Farm, and Camphill Communities California. The special community feeling engendered by this event will be palpable to anyone. 

This traditional religious story can serve to kindle in any of us the soul-light  that can awaken in the depths of winter.

“City people today are hardly capable any longer of completely appreciating to its full depth what is connected with our annual festivals.  It is hardly possible to feel that magic which passed like a spiritual breath through the souls, through the minds of those who believed that they were carrying Christ in their heart during the great festive events at Christmas or Easter.   To feel this magic which passed through humanity in these periods like a spiritual breath has become really quite difficult …if we look at what ordinary people were able to feel when they were presented with the child in the manger … then we can say: such moods, such feelings should awaken in us when we look at what can be born in our soul… “

Rudolf Steiner, discussing the Oberufer play, Berlin, December 22 1910

Resource Center for Nonviolence

612 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Requested Donation: $30 for families (any size!) or$20 per adult
No one turned away.

Susan Cook, David Eyes, Douglas Wylie
The Core Group
Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Anthroposophical Society
a branch of 
The Anthroposophical Society in America
coregroup@anthroposophysantacruz.com