Is there something like a Michaelic attitude?

In order to allow for a view of the Goetheanum from different angles, the new spokespersons Ueli Hurter and Justus Wittich chose three different venues for the Goetheanum Leadership retreat on 2 to 4 September. Also, decisions were made regarding the leadership of the General Anthroposophical and the Visual Art Sections.

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It was clear at the beginning of this retreat that, following the Goetheanum World Conference at Michaelmas 2016 (where we listened to the views of members worldwide), the new internal structure with the goals and projects of the Goetheanum should be finalized by the end of 2019. Our questions in 2020 will focus on how the relationship between the Goetheanum and the world can be transformed in the next three years (until 2023/2024) and on ways of celebrating the forthcoming anniversaries.

Fundamental to the present working year is the study of Rudolf Steiner’s Michael Letters, particularly with the question in mind whether there is something like a Michaelic attitude that we can together spiritually approach, formulate and make effective from out of the life of all the sections and the Anthroposophical Society. What contribution can the Goetheanum and the many initiatives and institutions that have arisen from anthroposophy make towards the world’s healing and further development?

Three different perspectives

The two spokespersons had chosen an unusual exercise in approaching this task. On the first day we came together in Wachsmuth House, close to the Goetheanum building, and in our lunch break we looked at the physical location of the Goetheanum: on a former battlefield, where the Swabians last fought the Swiss in 1499. How did Rudolf Steiner deal with this fact? And how do we deal today with the concrete questions regarding the life of rights in our Society?

On the second day we were guests at the oldest surviving curative education centre, the Sonnenhof in Arlesheim (ch). Looked at from the reality of this school the task of the Goetheanum seemed very different, an impression that was deepened further when we walked around the nearby hermitage at lunchtime, reflecting on the legend of Saint Odile as a symptomatic phenomenon of Western esoteric life.

On day three we then met at Ackermannshof, a cultural and research institute in Basel, close to the Rhine, that also became the home of Rudolf Steiner Publishing in 2011. From here we could see the Swiss chemical plants, one of the most productive scientific and economic conglomerations in the world. And if one looks at this view from a distance, the Vosges Mountains for instance, the Goetheanum seems to be situated just behind them! How does the Goetheanum relate to the economic life? What kinds of tasks arise for the School of Spiritual Science as a result? It seemed only natural that the Goetheanum Leadership had its first in-depth discussion of the present climate situation from the perspective of all the sections.

Other topics of the retreat included the forthcoming reaffirmation of Joan Sleigh in 2020 and a wide range of issues, from the Faust performances at the Goetheanum to the future relationship of the Goetheanum and Weleda.

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