Anthroposophy in Hawkes Bay
Rudolf Steiner Centre, 401 Whitehead Road, Hastings
Events over next 2 weeks
[28 September to 12 October]
- Sunday 28 September. A social fiction called Daylight Saving begins by losing an hour early in the morning. This hour is quite evasive as it is only found again in April next year.
- Friday 10 October. 7 pm. Study Group: Michael Letter p211 "Historic Cataclysms at the Dawn of the Spiritual Soul". Leading Thoughts 180-182.
- 11 & 12 October. Spring Festival
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Spring Festival Notice -
– Spring Festival –
– the Festival of Enlightenment –
– ‘Oh Human being, know thyself’ –
– Sunday 12th October 2025 –
Events:
Saturday, 11th Oct at 3pm – There will be a stirring of the Biodynamic Preparation 500 with Jen Speedy.
Sunday, 12th Oct at 3pm – a reading of Lecture 5 "The Working together of the Four Archangels" from ‘The Four Seasons and the Archangels’with John Jackson
Sunday, 12th Oct at 7pm – social gathering and Festival Celebration
This will be a celebration of spring, the joy in nature – with an earnest note addressed to each of us:
Alexandre Pushkin presents us with an initiation in the desert in his ‘Prophet’ – spoken by the festival chorus;
Leslie Waite will give the festival address on the forces at work in the spring time.
There will be a presentation of Scene 4 from the ‘Portal of Initiation’, Rudolf Steiner’s first Mystery Drama – holding up a mirror to our time and consciousness, our extreme cleverness and immersion in material gold, as perceived by the natural and spiritual world.
Verses, poems and music – our CHB friends will be there again to enliven us with music, and we will sing and move together.
All welcome – bring some friends.
With many thanks to all involved, preparing this event! –
Astrid Pook & John Jackson.
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Colour therapy:
Therapeutic pastel class with Kathy Allan
This term, we continue working with Wagner’s opera, Parzival, in story form.
Each week there will be a guided colour meditation which will lead to the creation of a scene from the story.
Each participant will receive one-on-one therapeutic guidance with their colour work.
The beings of the colour lift up our vibration bringing us towards inner harmony and healing.
Where….Rudolf Steiner Centre Art Room
When….Wednesday during term time: 10am – 11:30am
Materials….Box of Mungyo pastels; 10x sheets of “bulky newsprint paper”. These can be purchased at Humanity Books. Please bring your own.
Contact:….Kathy (art therapist tutor) 027 233 0970
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Public Lecture by Dr Richard Drexel,
at Taruna, 6pm to 7:30pm Friday 3 October
"Salutogenesis - Aspects of Wellbeing" Cost $20.
Future Events Regular Groups
Items, Notices, Letters, or articles of interest to the Hawkes Bay Anthroposophical community
ARE MOST WELCOME
Please email your text by midday Saturday to the Editor at info@anthrohb.nz with"For AnthroHB News" in the subject line.
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Robin Bacchus, Editor
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Musings on the Mystery PLays - 3
Mystery Miracle and Morality plays
Before the advent of modern drama in the 16th century, Mystery, Miracle, and Morality plays were typicaliy used to teach the public (many of whom were illiterate) religious and moral lessons in a more vivid way than preaching sermons.
Mystery plays dramatized stories from the Bible, covering events from Creation to Judgment Day. In 1210 there was a ban of Mystery Plays by Pope Innocent III. This led to the plays being performed in small-town guilds on travelling stages.
Rudolf Steiner introduced 3 Christmas plays to the Waldorf School. These mystery plays – the Paradise Play, the Shepherds’ Play and the Kings’ Play – are known as the Oberufer Christmas Plays, after an island in the Upper Danube where these plays were first noted down and collected by one of Rudolf Steiner’s university professors, Karl Julius Schroer.
What are these plays about?
The first one, called The Paradise Play, is quite short and tells the story as described in the book of Genesis of the creation of the world and the subsequent expulsion from Paradise of Adam and Eve, after they had succumbed to Satan’s strategem to get them to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the one tree in the Garden of Eden that God had forbidden to them. Today, Christmas Eve (once called the Feast of Adam and Eve) and the Christmas tree – sometimes called the Paradise Tree – represents the Garden of Eden. The Paradise Play is usually performed just before Christmas together with the second play, the Shepherds’ Play, which tells the story of the proclamation of the Birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the field. This is the nativity story as told in the St Luke Gospel.
The third play, the Kings Play, tells of the visit of the three wise men, the Magi , to the birthplace of Baby Jesus, and then of the murderous atrocities of Herod (induced by fear) in his attempt to destroy the boy he assumed would take over his throne. It is traditionally performed on 6th January, the feast of Epiphany. This is the nativity story as told in the St Matthew Gospel.
Miracle plays focused on the lives and miracles of (Catholic) saints.
Morality plays were allegorical, using personified abstract concepts like virtues and vices to teach about the struggle between good and evil in a person's life, with the famous example being EVERYMAN, an allegory about Christian salvation, examining the question of how a person can properly prepare their soul for death.
The play begins with God lamenting that humankind is too focused on worldly possessions and pleasure. He sends his "mighty messenger," Death, to summon Everyman and bring him to a reckoning to account for his life.
Everyman is caught unprepared and tries to bribe Death for more time, but is refused. Death tells him he can bring any companions willing to make the pilgrimage to his grave and stand with him before God.
Everyman first turns to his friends, Fellowship, Kindred, and Cousin, who all abandon him when they learn his destination is the grave. Fellowship promises to go "to hell" with him for a bit of fun but quickly backtracks, and Cousin claims a cramp in his toe.
Next, Everyman turns to his material possessions, personified as Goods. Goods refuses to go with him and even argues that loving him is what has damned Everyman in the first place.
Abandoned by the things of the world, Everyman finally turns to Good Deeds. At first, Good Deeds is too weak to stand because of Everyman's sinful life, but she introduces him to her sister, Knowledge. Guided by Knowledge, Everyman journeys to Confession, repents for his sins, and receives the sacraments, which restores Good Deeds to strength.
On his final journey, Everyman is rejoined by Strength, Beauty, Discretion, and Five Wits (his five senses). But as he gets closer to the grave, they abandon him one by one, along with Knowledge, leaving only Good Deeds to stand by him. Everyman and Good Deeds descend into the grave together, where an Angel appears to receive Everyman's soul into heaven.
RB
