Anthroposophy in the Bay Area & Beyond

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Preparing for The Year 2033

By

Robert Karp
April 8 – 7 pm Pacific – Zoom Only

This talk will weave together a number of insights and indications of Rudolf Steiner to explore the significance of the years between 2000 and 2033 for the rebirth of the anthroposophical movement. What is the nature of this rebirth, how is it related to the great developmental crises and processes taking place within humanity in our time, and what are the next seven years asking those of us who would place ourselves in the service of this renewal?

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Meeting ID: 893 4494 2665
Passcode: 198379

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Robert Karp (aka Karbelnikoff) has been a student of anthroposophy, esoteric Christianity and social threefolding for over forty years. For many decades, he has been a leader in the biodynamic, organic and local food movements, pioneering impact investing in organic farmland and starting numerous local and regional food system projects. Robert has a master’s degree in educational leadership, a certificate in anthroposophical psychology and is increasingly focused on teaching workshops on esoteric christianity, social threefolding, goethean movement, and earth healing. Robert lives in Viroqua, Wisconsin. You can learn more about Robert on his Substack at www.robertkarp.net

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)

Creating Social Health

By

How Does Freedom Shape Healthy Community Life?
an event in the BAUMHEIER SERIES

Sunday, May 3, 2026, 10 AM – 1 PM PDT

Meg Gorman
has decades of teaching experience in Waldorf and public schools and has worked in various teacher education programs around the country and the world. She has worked with Rudolf Steiner’s threefold nature of social life for over fifty years.

Annie Haas
used Steiner’s lectures to create her own curriculum for her three children and now consults homeschoolers globally. Her “Threefold Human Calendar” helps caregivers look at their daily soul life objectively; it has sold hundreds of copies.

Dr. Kelly Sutton
has specialized in internal medicine and pediatrics since 1971. She has earned rave reviews from her patients. Her medical licenses were revoked in 2022-2023 over disagreements about vaccine risk despite no patient complaints or injury. A lawsuit with other physicians has been filed. She currently provides health education in Massachusetts.

Suggested fee: $25 – $50 U.S. Register here

This conference is part of a series in loving memory of Edward Baumheier who at age 87 discovered and became a passionate advocate for social three folding.

Holy Saturday: The Light Shining in the Darkness

By

Creating a Community of the Living and the Dead

Remembrance, Conversation, Meditation,
and Inspiration for Our Present Time and Our Shared Future

Saturday, April 4th, 2026, 9:30 am PDT

Facilitated by Nancy Jewel Poer, Sally Greenberg, Vivianne Sinclaire and Community

Free offering for all subscribers to Anthroposophy.Social (between $3.46 and $7/month) – cancel anytime – subscription includes access to many live platform events and recordings, including past Festival Event Recordings, Economic Studies, and Practices to Connect with our Loved ones Across the Threshold.

The Emphasis of this Holy Saturday Event will be to:

  •  Experience Clarity of Connection with the Christ event from a Purified Heart Space
  •  “Hold Vigil” to Re-imagine the Time between the Death of Christ Jesus on Good Friday and the Resurrection on EasterSunday
  •  Understand the Descent into Hades — A Central Spiritual Event
  •  Learn from Christ’s Restraint of the Adversarial Powers and how to meet them in our lives
  •  Embrace Holy Saturday as an Initiation Stage — “Mystical Death” and “Burial”
  • Inspire Crossing Care Communities for Our Time

Questions? Email Vivianne at vivianne@anthroposophy.social or Sally at supersallyg@gmail.com 

Easter Sunrise Singing

By

Sunday, April 5, 6:30 AM 

Capitola bluff (Jewelbox neighborhood), corner Prospect Ave and Opal St

We gather together to sing Easter/spring songs on the bluff overlooking Monterey Bay during Easter sunrise. All are welcome! Armand Ruby provides music and leading tones. Location: same as in recent years; aim your GPS for: 1375 Prospect Ave., Capitola, CA 95010 That spot has a nice southeasterly view, so weather permitting we will be able to see the sunrise, and there is plenty of free parking.

How to read Steiner’s written works

By

Jan-Willem Pieterse

Friday, April 10, 7:00PM  

Resource Center for Nonviolence
612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz

Hearing comments about reading Steiner’s texts: “it’s difficult”, “it can hit you”, “needs to be read again”, taking delight in reading it for the umpf time shows the variety of intentions and experiences. Here and there Steiner himself describes the challenges facing smithing words that represent the underlying ideas. So, it is no wonder this induces a remoteness on that path from ideas to words, to text, to a new pair of eyes, through milling it over with new percepts ever trying to reach for these original ideas. And once the idea is reached, there is more, it needs to be placed such that its perspective finds a satisfiable viewpoint among the omni presence of others. 

Steiner found a way such that each reader has the freedom to “read” original ideas again. Not so-much through facts, but let them move, puts them in perspective, addressing a listening individual. The original seed knows it has a future: to become a seed again be it after a full life. During this lecture we will work through a couple of examples by discovering geometry, inversions, enhancement and polarities. Just as a plant is composed of roots, leaves, flower and seed-power, the written text is re-created into a wholesome form. This active approach to find the original idea is then put in perspective. Every plant withers in the fall, likewise the newly discovered ideas find new life. It takes on a new form. Reading Steiner, can be difficult but never boring be it in the words, through the composition, from the ideas, fulfilling to the reader.

Jan-Willem grew up near Amsterdam. As a late bloomer he discovered his talent with fixing things, pursuing an EE degree which soon migrated into optical engineering. Balancing academic dryness, he explored esoteric interests and anthroposophy since ’78. Immigrated ‘temporarily’ to the US, San Jose in 1986. His current interests is in all kinds of transformations and inversion taking place around him.

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

An Evening on Spiritual Scientific Research

By

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.

Leonardo’s Influence on Raphael

By

An Art History Presentation
with Andrew Linnell

March 18, 2026
7 PM Pacific Time

Although Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520) died on Good Friday at the age of only 37, his art works quickly became treasures. Why was this artist so gifted? The main theme of his paintings was Madonna and Child. Did these paintings speak to one another? Can we see the influence of Leonardo arising in Raphael after 1504? This presentation will explore many of his paintings and evidence of Leonardo’s influence.

Andrew Linnell is author of the book “The Hidden Heretic of the Renaissance: Leonardo” and “Why Leonardo Abandoned his Adoration.” A graduate of the University of Michigan (MSE ’73), his professional career was in the computer industry where he was a CTO and VP. He studied art history with William Mann at Emerson College, Sussex, England. He is a member of the Anthroposophical Society since 1979, president of the Boston Branch, and member of the Natural Science Section. He is co-founder of MysTech and operates thechristianmysteries.com.

Requested admission $10 You may pay using the donate button on our website
faustbranch.org

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89344942665?pwd=Po5LIMPVgoCkaaYk7gaSpYLxwg3gkC.1
Meeting ID: 893 4494 2665, Passcode: 198379

Sponsored by the Sacramento Faust Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America

A Mystery Drama Workshop

By

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!

Emergency Pedagogy – upcoming modules

By

Upcoming Trainings with Bernd Ruf 

Module 5 and 11, July 5-10, 2026 in Wilton, NH

Module 6 online, May 22-23, 2026

Module 7 online, September 18-19, 2026

for more information and to register go here      

Upcoming Training with Reinaldo Naciemento

Module 5,   May 1-4, 2026 in Pasadena, CA

for more information and to register go here

Anthroposophic Meditation Workshop

By

Agnes Hardorp and Thomas Mayer, Connecting to the Angelic World

“When one begins to meditate, one accomplishes the only really free deed in this human life…. we are completely free in this. Meditation is the archetypal free deed.” Rudolf Steiner (GA 214, 08.20.1922)

Meditation Workshop, March 6 – 8, 2026, at the

Golden Bridges School, 503 Cambridge St., San Francisco, CA 94134

Friday, March 6, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 7, 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 8, 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Course fee: $220, reduction possible

To Register fogeggs@gmail.com

for more information click here or visit www.anthroposophical-meditation.info

✦ Give Up Old Dead Thinking for Lent ✦

By


An Introduction to Rudolf Steiner’s Control of Thought Exercise with Organic (Living) Thinking

Saturdays: 9:30am to 11am Pacific time • February 21, March 7 • March 21

WHAT? This Lenten practice invites participants to give up habitual, dead thinking and replace it with organic (living) thought with Rudolf Steiner’s Control of Thought exercise. The first of the Six Basic (Protective) Exercises.

HOW? Zoom- meetings will be recorded.

Participants will learn the laws of organic thinking and how to apply them directly to the Control of Thought exercise, creating their own organic (metamorphic)

thinking exercise to be practiced for 5 minutes a day during lent.
Bring a notebook and a blue, green, red and yellow writing implement.

WHY? To actively strengthen the soul force of thinking. “As long as you lack the power to reel in your thoughts, as if on a string, you cannot expect that the inner world will open itself to you.” – Rudolf Steiner, Berlin, February 15, 1904

WHO? For anyone who wants to put forth the effort to actively evolve their thinking capacity with good will.FACILITATORS: MaryAnne Young and Sally Greenberg
REFERENCE TEXTS
Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart – Florin Lowndes

How to Know Higher Worlds and Occult Science – Rudolf Steiner
RSVP: Event Calendar on https://anthroposophysocial.com

Free offering for Subscriber Members ($3.47 to $7/month-cancel anytime)