In the world filled with chaos and challenges, how can we embrace humanity and reach out to each other with love? The George Floyd incident in May 2020 made clear the divisions we have in our societies. How can we overcome discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. and create a healing world? How can we practice "inclusive social development?" Our session with Orland Bishop was the most heart warming and inspiring session filled with the messages of light, life and love for humanity.  

The NAC is grateful for the opportunity we had with Orland. He has been practicing years of humanitarian work in downtown Los Angeles. Through his work, doubt became faith and hate became love. We can create a mor human society by respecting different cultures, diversity and each individual. When we can do that, the world could become a better place in which we all wish to live and belong. Then the earth could shine bright and be like a star someday.

​We had a wonderful visit with Christopher Schaefer at our Lokelani ‘Ohana Farm in Waihe’e and our Hale Lokelani ‘Ohana home in Kahului, Maui in January 2020. He also offered a free lecture at the Haleakala Waldorf School about the topic of his newly released book, “Re-Imagining America, Finding Hope in Difficult Times” for the community!

"Finding Hope in Difficult Times: Conversation and Community as a Path of Mutual Development"* By Christopher Schaefer, Ph. D was the topic for our 2020 NAC conference, the first to be held by zoom. Our small Maui community gathered around our computers, happy that we could participate with all the other communities in all the time zones across North America and Canada. Chris’s inspirational presentation Friday night stimulated conversations and hope for these challenging times we live with. Our commitment to love, healthy communication, living a balanced life, continuing our stewardship to the land and contributing to our community where we can was re-enforced. On Saturday, with the breakout sessions, we joined Tony’s Artistic Group expressing our hope through our artistic mediums. One of the mediums we choose was to make Chris a lei and present it to him at the end of our conference. His generosity is sharing the entire conference with us was deeply appreciated. The best we could do was to place it on a photo of him with Angelica from his visit. The gesture was sincere, yet we missed placing it around his neck and kissing each cheek with gratitude. Even though we loved seeing everyone’s shining faces, we look forward to our time together in person hopefully next year. Until then, then the love, hope, faith, joy and enthusiasm for each other, our work and service to our communities from this year’s conference will live in our hearts. With Aloha and Malama Pono “Take Care”,
​Christina Chang from ​LokeLani 'Ohana

*On April 24, 2020, About 150 people logged onto Chris Schaefer's zoom presentation! It was a wonderful occasion for many people from around the continent to connect. The written article of his presentation is published in being Human, Summer-Fall issue of the Anthroposophical Society in America newsletter. Christ Schaefer's article is titled "Sacramental Conversation: Experience Our Humanity" and can be found on pp. 44-47. Please check the link above to read the online version of the article.
​
His presentation was based on the new book published in 2019 Re-Imagining America: Finding Hope in Difficult Times (Hawthorne Press).  You can read the review of the book by David Schwartz here.

Recently photos from the first NAC Conference that took place in March 2004 at Plowshare Farm and Lukas Community, New Hampshire, were discovered! People gathered from many different places! The keynote speaker was Rudiger Grimm, who was then the leader of the International Council for Anthroposophic Curative Education and Social Therapy at the Goetheanum in Dornach.  These are historical photos!

    October 31st – November 3rd, 2019, I attended my first Kaspar Hauser Festival at three Camphill communities in Columbia  County, NY. Since it was my first encounter with Kaspar Houser, I read two short essays about him by Max Stibbe and Ferosa. Who was this Child of Europe? Why did he appear on earth between 1812-1833 and did he achieve his mission? -  were the questions I brought to the event.
The story was beautifully presented by Glen Williamson in his 4-part performance: The Prince, The Foundling, the Child of Europe and the Sacrifice – Kaspar Hauser: The Open Secret of the Foundling Price.
     Richard Steel introduced the theme of Kaspar Hauser and the Grail. Alan Thewless reminded us that our biographies are written by the stars and through astrosophy we were able to visually experience the cosmic aspects of Mystery of Golgotha, Rudolf Steiner’s birth date and Kaspar Hauser death day. Penelope Baring gave a fascinating talk entitled Mani and the Egyptian Mysteries.
     Eckart Boehmer presented a two parts talk on Kaspar Hauser and Parzival. He is the founder and artistic director of the Festival in Ansbach, Germany for the past 21 years and the founder of the Kaspar
Hauser Research Circle supported by Richard Steel and Karl Konig Institute. He has spearheaded the effort to bring Kaspar Hauser Festival to the town where Hauser spent his last 3 years. In 2019 the festival attracted 4000 people. 
     We also learned about the launching of the Kaspar Hauser Center for Healing Education to be inaugurated on May 20th, 2021. The center will house:
-the largest private archive on Hauser thanks to materials from Johannes Mayer and the literary estate of Dr. Hermann Pies, who published eight volumes between 1925 and 1973 that contained the most important eye-witness accounts and of special documents related to Hauser’s life.
- hotel and seminar space 7000 participants and 4000 hotels guests per year.
-biodynamic restaurant, event hall,  and conference rooms.
- trauma-pedagogical outpatient services for children and adolescents in need.
 will provide jobs for 32 disadvantaged youth and young adults.
To learn more and support this incredible project, visit www.kind-europas.de.
     On All Soul’s Day, we drove from Camphill Copake to Camphill Triform to see Karl Konig’s “A Christmas Story” performed by students and volunteers in Puppet Theater*.
     As if this was not enough, our Festival experience was enriched by three artistic workshops we were able to choose from: Acting with Glen Williamson, Poetry with Stephen Steen from Triform and Eurythmy with Orin and Michal Bar-Shalom. I attended the poetry workshop and was truly amazed at what we were able to accomplish and present as a group after spending only 1 ½ hours in the workshop!
     I greatly appreciate the whole experience. The Festival gave me the opportunity to visit 3 Camphill villages: Ghent, Copake, and Triform. The event was very well organized, the meals were delicious, staying in Copake with villagers and co-workers was very special and the materials presented opened for me a window on an enigma and a life story I want to learn more about.
     To end, I would like to share with you a poem, Kaspar Hauser, 17 years old wrote in his diary in Nurnberg, just two years after his appearance:

Contentment is the Greatest Miracle Worker
Contentment changes water into wine, Grains of sand into pearls, Raindrops into balsam, Poverty into riches, The smallest into the largest, The most common into the purest, The earth into paradise.
Beautiful is the heart which remains in harmony with itself at all times.
Beautiful is a life in which all deeds are in harmony with each other.
Kaspar Hauser diary, 1829, Nurnberg

         Mariola's article originally appeared in January/February 2020 issue of Camphill Correspondence. Mariola and the editor of Camphill Correspondence gave the NAC permission to post the article on this blog page. To know more about Camphill Correspondence, please visit the website camphillcorrespondence.net/

    *The puppet theater was performed by the 3rd year students of Camphill Academy Social Therapy Program in Camphill Village Copake. To know more about Camphill Academy, please visit the website. camphill.edu/
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    To know more about the Kaspar Hauser Festivals which took place from 2015 to 2019 in the U.S., please visit the website www.kasparhauserfestival.net. You will be able to see photos and read articles about the festivals. If you would like to know more about the world-wide effort of researching the legacy of Kaspar Hasuer, please visit the website of the Kaspar Hauser Research Circle. www.kaspar-hauser.net/en/index.html The  Kaspar Hauser Research Circle is located in Berlin, Germany. The Kaspar Hauser Research Circle is part of the Karl Konig Institute. www.karlkoeniginstitute.org/en/index.asp​ Ths summer in Ansbach, Germany, the Kaspar Hasuer Festival will tkae place from July 26 to August 2, 2020. You can see the program of the Kaspar Hauser Festival at the following website. The festival and the program is in German. www.kaspar-hauser.net/en/Kaspar_Hauser_Festival_Ansbach_Program_2020.pdf

Author
​Anya Hobley
Co-Executive Director, Camphill Communities California
The NAC International Delegate
  
At our most recent NAC conference we took up the theme of “I and the World: Creating Healthy Balance in Community”. This, as well as the key note address given by Jan Goeschel, which focused on our perceptions and impact on the world around us, both helped to guide us in our artistic collage work together.
 
We started the session by looking at a set of values cards, each person selecting one card that resonated with us, then read them aloud to the group. Values selected included themes such as “Conscience”, “Love”, “Empathy”, “Joy” and “Patience”. This exercise set the tone for us to create our own individual collage or “Vision Board” of how we as individuals are striving to cultivate what we value, or a quality we want to grow in ourselves or in our communities.
 
At the end of our time together, every single person in our group came up with their own unique collage or “Vision”. These were later displayed as a visual “Mandala” in the center of the closing circle for the whole conference. The collages were something tangible people could take home with them as a visual reminder of their own individual gifts and capacities to grow, stay balanced, and have an impact on the world.

​Every year in the spring season, the NAC holds its annual conference. We make an effort to hold the event in a different place each year across this vast North American continent. It has travelled through Canada, the U.S. midwest, New York, New Hampshire, and this year Pennsylvania. Our theme was; I and the World, Finding Healthy Balance In Community, and it was attended by more than 100 people from as far away as Hawaii, California, Wisconsin, from the Ontario Provinces of Ontario and Quebec and as far east as the Atlantic shore of Massachusetts. Almost all the member communities were represented.
In the traditional manner we gathered on Friday for a festive supper and an evening presentation from the host community. On Saturday we had the fortune to start the day with an address by Jan Goeschel, one of 3 members of the leadership of the world wide Anthroposophic Council for Inclusive Social Development in Dornach Switzerland. He spoke to the theme with imagination and humour and gently encouraged us to find the right attitudes to what can look like overwhelming issues in today’s world. How can we live on the earth together? What needs to change? How can we differentiate between the perception and reality in the news? How can we find resonance with the natural rhythms on the global, community and individual levels? He suggested that each of us can contribute in small ways towards such a goal by how we approach each of our daily activities; with intentionality, with determination to do a task well. Jan gave the example of preparing a meal and bringing meaningful conversation to such an event.  Attention to the details.
Throughout the day Saturday we broke up into small artistic groups and took up different activities relating to the theme. At the end of the afternoon we came back together in a plenum form where everyone had an opportunity to contribute from our group experiences and accomplishments.
After a Mexican style supper it was off to an evening of dancing with a local group of musicians who led us in contra style dances. A great evening!
On Sunday morning some of us attended religious services at a neighbouring Camphill. In Camphill Village Kimberton Hills the Festival of Offering service is a regular Sunday event.
Back at Whitsun Hall in Camphill Soltane we ended the morning and the conference with the Annual General Meeting of the NAC which aside from some perfunctory agenda items, was mostly graced with sharing from all the places represented at the conference.  We created a detailed imaginative image of the collective work of the many places and made a space for everyone to contribute their piece of the picture. In addition, our delegate to the International Council, Anya Hobley, added to the tapestry we wove with a detailed description of her time at the conference in Dornach last October.
 At the end of the morning, we were treated to a hearty lunch and made our fond farewells to all our old and new friends. We left looking forward to the next conference with some ideas of where we would like to have it.
​
A few observations from the hosts’ perspective: from Sabine Otto, Camphill Soltane
-It is daunting to anticipate the arrival of ca. 100 people.  But the culture of this conference is one to be admired!  
 -A “can do” attitude from those who come.  “Can do” meaning: we deal with the comforts and discomforts of this adventure.   So many smiles!
 -Such a joyous atmosphere among the participants.  People were happy to be together, to give support where and as needed.  Old friendships restored and new ones kindled.  
 -Striking was a deep sense of inclusion.  That extends to the workshop leaders, who did so well with working with their groups!
 -Lastly, what a gift to us as hosting community.  Thank you    

Author
Christina Chang
Is the founder and Director of Lokelani 'Ohana in Maui, Hawaii

Lokelani 'Ohana is honored to sponser the 16th Saori Center in the United States on Maui, Hawaii. "SA" of SAORI has the same meaning as the first syllable of the word "SAI" which is foud in Zen vocabulary. It means everything has its own individual dignity. And "ORI" means weaving. Why did the remarkable Dana Allen bring Saori Weaving to Lokelani 'Ohana in 2007? Because Dana, who himself is an artist and weaver, worked with friends with different abilities and has a passion to share free expression. The results are awe inspiring.

This free-style form of weaving, which originated in Japan, is all about exhibiting one's true self through expressive, no-rules weaving. Saori, which means a process to uncover the hidden power of creativity, was founded by Misao Jo, who discovered through a missed warp thread that there is unique human value in a non-machine-like facbric. Saori is based on the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi, or the acceptance of imperfection. Whatever is woven is perfect as it is: broken and repaired warp threads, lumpy selvedges, whatever... These irregularities represent the uniqueness of human-made woven cloth as compared to a "perfectly" woven cloth. Imperfections, on all levels, are to be embraced. Most of all, Saori encourages inclusion of anyone who wishes to weave. Lokelani 'Ohana partnered with Easter seals of six years and   Ka Lima O Maui for 12 years holding classes for the first six years at the Cameron Center and said Agencies day program centers. For the last six years, the classes are being held at the Lokelani 'Ohana Farm. Clients choose the products they want to make and Dana with other volunteers sew their weavings into their dream creation! We have endless gratitude in our hearts for Dana, Mihoku in MA who brought it to the US, and Miaso Jo for bringing the wonderful free style of weaving "Saori" to our lives!             

Our farm grows biodynamic cotton which we gin to stuff pillows and seat belt covers and to weave with.

Daniel Norton, founder of Village Home, a non-profit supportin over 7,000 people, mostly women, to gain independence thru selling their beautiful handmade crafts through 17 stores around the world, invited Lokelani 'Ohana to feature their crafts and arts in his "Village Home" store at Queen Ka'ahumanu in Kahului, Maui. This opportunity has empowered participants to weave and create beautiful products to sell in the store participant said proundly she is famous because her picture and weaving are at the store. We are happy and free to say we are gratefully exhilarated!
  

​Michaelmas, Michaelmas the time to show both courage and form
Look well around, inside you must wake
Trees may shake, I shall stand the storm

     In these simple Michaelmas songs, the essence of Michaelmas is well described.  There is much darkness in the world we live in.  Michaelmas time reminds us how we need to "be awake" and have "courage and form" to face many challenges.
     Since Michaelmas is not a familiar festival for many new volunteers, we spent time to introduce the festival.  We sang Michaelmas songs from the middle of September.  During the morning gathering on Monday, September 24, we heard a short introduction about Michaelmas.  We also had a festive evening gathering on September 25th, where we sang Michaelmas songs and heard what we would do for this year's Michaelmas in Triform.
     This year, we focused on spraying the biodynamic spray called the Harmonizing Spray of Hugo Erbe.   According to the website of Josephine Porter Institute (JPI), "the Harmonizing Preparation is intended to serve as an expression of gratitude to the elemental beings."  The Harmonizing Spray "helps to make it possible for the higher beings (the warmth, light and air beings) and the lower elemental beings (the water and earth beings) to work together again harmoniously for the restoration of fertility to the earth." (Quote from JPI website, the Harmonizing Preparation)
     The ingredients of the Harmonizing Spray is egg white, honey, cow's milk, (red) grape juice, sunflower oil, cooking salt, and whole wheat.  These ingredients could produce bread and wine, what was shared at the Last Supper.
     On September 28th, Friday, there was an opening ceremony of Camphill Academy in Camphill Village Copake.  Not everyone from Triform attended, but a number of people went.  Camphill Academy in Copake has the opening ceremony near Michaelmas to make the ceremony part of Michaelmas festival.
     On September 29th, we stirred the preparation from 1pm.  From 2pm to 4pm, we sprayed the original Triform property and also the Stewardship property.
     At 5pm, we all gathered at the new property Triform purchased in 2017.  This new property connects the original Triform property and the Stewardship property.  We call this property, Pegasus property. We had our Michaelmas community meal there.  
     Triform day students worked on a large painting of St. Michael.  The art work was about 8 feet times 7 feet.  It is wonderful when students and coworkers work together to prepare an art work for festivals.
     The bakery also created a small Michaelmas art work made of bread dough.  The bread was displayed as part of the harvest table.
     The evening was beautiful.  The mood of the meal was wonderful.  It was a perfect day to eat outside with everyone in the community.
     We had the Bible Evening later in the evening.  One of the volunteers commented how much he enjoyed the conversation.  
​     The Festival of Offering was celebrated on Sunday morning.
​      
     

​​The North American Council held the yearly conference this year in the province of Quebec, Canada, at Maison Emmanuel.
I felt so happy to see so many old friends, meet new friends, and to experience the energy of the people and places across the continent: from east to west and all the way to Hawaii! We must have been 80 people!
Val David, where most of the conference was held, is a picturesque and quaint French Canadian village north of Montreal in rocky, hilly terrain.    Maison Emmanuel has a home, a craft and coffee shop, all there on the main street.  Members of their community work in a pottery nearby.  We met in an old church that is next door to the convent a few doors down from Maison Julia and the coffee shop.  The convent has recently become a Waldorf School, and the school community was kind enough to let us use the classrooms for the artistic activities.  Everything nestles together on the street very nicely!
The weather up there in the Gatineau Hills was rainy and cold!  But nothing could dampen our spirits.
Mary Small welcomed us with a wonderful meal created by their café staff, and then she gave a talk on the arts based on a lecture by Carlo Pietzner. I had never really understood that lecture, but I feel that I understand a lot more now thanks to Mary!
We practiced the arts all Saturday… Painting, drama, music, poetry, dance, eurythmy and spatial dynamics… it was fun and exhilarating!  I did skip some activities though, because I wanted to spend time with my old friend Inge Sell, who was the founder of Maison Emmanuel. We have known each other for many years and it was beautiful to reconnect. We found we had a lot to share as we talked about our lives and about the changes and growth in the places we started.
On Sunday we met at the Maison Emmanuel farm property where there are several beautiful homes. It was cold and rainy again, and there were too many of us to meet inside one of the large houses for the Sunday gathering, so we met outside!  That was an experience!
For me there were many memorable experiences as we celebrated art and community through the time together. One thing in particular stood out for me. Both languages, French and English, were spoken.  Everything was shared first in one language and then the other so no one was left out.  The quality of listening and the opportunity to live into the other language for a time was very special.
I had a wonderful meaningful time.  And I know my friends from Camphill Ontario were smiling the whole weekend.
I am looking forward to next year. Where will we go?  What will we talk about and do together?

     ​Joining a Camphill community is an exciting opportunity. When I joined Camphill communities California I had a to learn to live in community and be part of an unconventional social formation while carrying out the task of caregiving to which I was a novice. I was glad to join the community’s training program when offered the opportunity. I thought that it would be nice to balance the practical work with a formalized learning process. Looking back, I can only express gratitude because this decision enabled me personally to get the most out of my Camphill experience. Over time, the Camphill academy became a very clear way for me to attain a Bachelor’s degree through the accumulation of college credits, but more importantly it became a resource for my work and helped provide perspective and guidance in community life and life in general.
     Camphill is a place where each aspect of life is imbued with consciousness. We attempt each day to walk through our community mindful of our surroundings and the social intricacies of community life; this requires the cultivation of openness and willingness to live in a way that allows for healing and social wellbeing. In community, we strive to live in a way which brings out the best in each other, we strive to recognize each other’s humanity. It is the social therapist’s task to perceive the potential in the other and hold it quietly as a guiding light for the unfolding human being. The social therapy training attempts to cultivate this attitude as the therapeutic backdrop of social therapy and the work in the adult communities.
     The Camphill academy’s training in social therapy is a community integrated course designed to support individuals in carrying out their task in the Camphill communities. The Social Therapy training offers a rich array of subjects ranging from various components of Anthroposophical study to artistic engagements through music, Eurythmy, visual arts and drama.
The training organically flows into community life and in many instances, extends to the entire community. Whether it happens through drama or Eurythmy performances, or through student projects, the community is involved. Social Therapy at its heart seeks to teach the art of living so it is no surprise that the training takes place in community life.
     The student projects, which are different each year, come to fruition in many different ways. The first-year students are asked to partner up with another community member and explore a new activity through a project. In the second-year students are asked to help an individual explore and share their biography. After several months of regular meetings, the project concludes in a festive sharing of the biography among invited guests. The third and final project is a research project connected with the final thesis of the social therapy training. There is a lot of freedom within the parameters of these projects and in many cases the community is directly involved. These projects create meaningful activity and often times fulfill a community need or add to the wealth of community experience.
     Anthroposophical study is another corner stone of the training. In the course of the training students study “Theosophy”, “How to Know Higher Worlds”, “Esoteric Science” and “The Philosophy of Freedom” by Rudolf Steiner. Each year one of these works is studied in a study group setting where students and instructors explore the works alongside. Each week students are responsible to prepare the reading and have discussions with the group based on summaries given by the students.
       Each year the students get to be part of retreats and all students have the opportunity to experience another community. Students get the chance to have weekend retreats exploring different themes through intellectual and artistic avenues. These retreats range in subjects from inner life and meditation to cosmic evolution and embryogenesis.
      From a student perspective, I can say that this training has added a whole new level of understanding and appreciation to my experience at Camphill. I am able to appreciate my task and the different ways in which we work at Camphill based on this personally transformative social therapy training.