December 2018 End of year message: The year at Sophia House has been busier than ever before. We are grateful for all the striving and wisdom that has been shared by so many. Now that the holidays approach we hope that you may be blessed with a time to look back, look ahead, look above and reflect on growth within and growth without..and enjoy the sunshine, the stars and the lights on the Christmas Tree! May these lights on the Christmas Tree say to each of us: If ever your soul is weak, if you ever believe that the goals of earth-existence are beyond your reach, think of humanities divine origin and become aware of the forces within yourself that are also the forces of supreme Love. Become inwardly conscious of the forces which give you confidence and certainty in all your work, through all your life, now and forever. Closing words by Rudolf Steiner on the evening of 26 December 1911. End of Year Office and Library Times We will close at 2pm on Friday 14 th December 2018 and we will re-open at 11am on Tuesday 15 th January 2019 We wish all a blessed Christmas, a refreshing break And fruitfulness and growth in 2019
Two visitors early in 2019 will be at Sophia House: Michael Schubert deeply respected for his innovative work and initiatives in the pedagogical sphere and more recently for his many years profound research on the Isenheim Altar, will visit us again early in February and lead. The Timeless Messages of the Isenheim Altar Public Lecture - Friday 1 February Workshop 2nd and 3rd February About five hundred years ago Guido Guersi, a wise prior and Matthias Grünewald, a gifted painter, created a work of art for healing purposes whose universal significance for the future can only be grasped today Michael Chase who so many of you will remember from his remarkable visit to us early this year will again return in February for two weekends. He will again bring his masks which he uses as tools within the realms of psychodrama, psychotherapy and education. Michael s research, so relevant for our time, is deeply sourced through his own penetration of life and living anthroposophy.
Soul and Spiritual Development in the Light of Trauma an open lecture demonstration - Sunday 17 February 4pm This talk will explore how undigested trauma and abuse - contained in the soul as elemental beings - can impact on inner awakening. We will consider a process of releasing trauma beings, as in the Spirit of Johannes's Youth from Rudolf Steiner's forth mystery drama the Souls Awakening. As we also carry trauma from past lives, we will look at awakening empathy towards ourselves and others through forgiveness and gratitude as a practice toward soul development. Encounters at the Threshold - an open introductory interactive talk Friday 22 February 7 9pm where Michael Chase will explore the topic that will be deepened through the following workshop: the self in relationship to the counter forces. Through the temptation and manipulation of Lucifer and Ahriman we can become aware of the forces at work within our inner life and consider the capacities for working with them more consciously. Workshop on Encounters at the Threshold 23 and 24 February. Using masks, drama, ritual and biography work, the exploration this workshop will be conducted in a supportive manner through group interaction and individual reflection. This workshop is for teachers, coaches, therapists, actors and anyone who is prepared to look into the past in order to encounter the present in a manner suited to awaken future ideals. These processes can challenge our beliefs, awaken new feelings, and support behaviour in accordance with our dreams of the future. Limited number of participants