Anthroposophy Weekly

25/09/2025

"I believe that every person has their own secret to staying young; it’s their secret pact with life. We let the spirit into our bodies, and it elevates nature somewhat. Someone who is particularly successful at this is Justus Wittich, who is now celebrating his 70th birthday. How does he manage to generate such a youthful aura? I suspect there are three ways: there’s his interest in other people, revealed in the sparkle in his eyes. His eyes don’t rest in a cave, gathering up the world and dissecting it in an inner laboratory, but are out there, giving and bestowing attention—these are eyes that do not search but invite and ask questions. Then there are his irrepressible curls—a symphony of cheerfulness and affirmation. And finally, there is the pain that moves across his face sometimes, as if he’d just bitten into a lemon. I know of no one at the Goetheanum who shows regret and sorrow so openly and unguardedly as Justus does. Open to the outside world; open to the inside world. Yes, it is probably this openness with which he—with which you, dear Justus—seal your pact, no, your friendship with life. How fortunate we are to have you at the Goetheanum. How fortunate that for you, as you say in conversation with Enno Schmidt, this means being interested in everything. Yes, that’s how youth is."

-Wolfgang Held
https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/justus-secret/

25/09/2025

On the night of July 18, 2025, Jürgen Schürholz passed away unexpectedly. He was 93. Just the evening prior, he’d told a fellow resident of the Nicolaus Cusanus House (NCH) in Stuttgart that he really felt quite healthy. It was only at the age of ninety that he finally decided to move into the NCH, soon becoming fully integrated into the daily life of the grounds by participating in a wide variety of activities. Up through his final days, he followed current events in society and in the field of medicine with great interest, made many phone calls, and had many conversations. He was always happy to be able to participate and was grateful for the opportunity.

Georg Soldner, a long-standing colleague on the Executive Board of the Society of Anthroposophic Physicians in Germany [Gesellschaft Anthroposophischer Ärztinnen und Ärzte in Deutschland, GAÃD], wrote that “Jürgen Schürholz embodied the constructive impulse of anthroposophy in medicine in a unique way. As an internist, he was not only familiar with the broad spectrum of internal medicine but also well-versed in the use of endoscopic techniques that were becoming established during his time. He also worked for many years at the University of Tübingen’s Institute for Pathology, where he investigated kidney diseases using electron microscopy. ‘During that time, I learned that the actual cause of death remains hidden from the pathologist, that people die with and not only from a disease.’ (Life retrospective by J.S.) Thus prepared, he decided to become a co-founder of the Filderklinik (1975) and the Association of Anthroposophical Clinics [Verbandes Anthroposophischer Kliniken]. As chairman of Commission C (1978–1993) at the Federal Institute for Pharmaceuticals [Bundesamt für Arzneimittel], managing executive of the Society of Anthroposophic Physicians [GAÄD] (1983–1999), and as a delegate of the Baden-Württemberg State Medical Association [Landesärztekammer Baden-Württemberg], he was able to act as a pioneer who understood how to establish anthroposophic medicine and pharmaceuticals as an integral part of the German healthcare system; thus, continuing the work of Gerhard Kienle, who died in 1983. Under his aegis, the East and North German work groups of anthroposophic physicians also merged to form the GAÄD in its present form.”

https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/jurgen-schurholz-1933-2025/

24/09/2025

The Anthroposophical Prison Outreach (APO) program, based in Michigan, USA, makes Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophical teachings accessible to incarcerated people. The program includes a lending library, meditation courses, distance learning courses, and a regular newsletter. The idea is to support people in prison in their personal development. Every year, APO organizes a Walk-A-Thon; this year’s event will take place from September 19 to 21. The internationally oriented charity walk can take place anywhere, and neither the route nor the distance is specified. Whether it’s a hike, bike ride, marathon, or walk, participants get financial sponsors to donate money to APO’s work. The proceeds will ultimately support more than 1,200 incarcerated people in the US in their anthroposophical studies.
https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/intl-anthroposophical-prison-outreach-walk-a-thon/

24/09/2025

"According to Sloterdijk, we’ve all been thrown back into the position of sorcerer’s apprentices. Today’s technology can only be understood as a response to the archaic desire for power: conjuring up, spiriting away, wanting to have, wanting to get rid of, translocation, television, telephones, and telescopes. All of these are magical operations."
https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/garden-or-engine-room-of-humanity/

23/09/2025

The Ambassador Internship for Anthroposophic Medicine is an offering from the Integrative Health Center at Heliopolis University, which was founded by the Egyptian initiative Sekem. It takes place in collaboration with the Medical Section in Dornach and offers participants the opportunity to learn about a holistic, patient-centered approach to healthcare. The one-year program combines approaches from conventional medicine with the therapeutic, artistic, and holistic practices of anthroposophic medicine. Students will learn to incorporate the emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions of health into their medical practice. Twenty-five young students from the fields of pharmacy, physiotherapy, and organic agriculture have registered for the first round. During their internship, they will take on the role of ambassadors. To this end, they will combine their academic learning with community engagement by helping to organize educational campaigns and health-related events.

https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/intern-and-ambassador/

23/09/2025

Justus Wittich, Executive Board member and Treasurer of the Goetheanum, celebrates his 70th birthday on September 10, 2025. Enno Schmidt spoke with him about his life, his gift for bringing a sense of responsibility to life, and his vision of how anthroposophy can be put into practice, economically and spiritually.

One could describe the life of Justus Wittich as a life devoted to the Anthroposophical Society and movement. Even as a young man and during his studies of economics in Berlin, he was actively involved in anthroposophical youth work and initiated a series of student conferences. From the very beginning, internationalism was not a barrier for him, but rather an open connection to the world. “It was a powerful experience to meet people everywhere who, based on a similar spiritual impulse or attitude, worked very differently in their own fields, but were nevertheless spiritually connected.”

https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/when-life-and-work-go-hand-in-hand/

22/09/2025

The anthroposophical educational initiative Free Columbia is offering a five-week online painting course for anyone interested from September 24 to October 29.
https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/painting-autumn/

22/09/2025

From September 30 to December 9, 2025, the next digital lecture series of the International Campus Waldorf (ICW) will take place, an online educational program organized by the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences. The title of the series is: “How … is Waldorf?” This time, the lecture topics deal with the educational, social, and cultural context in which Waldorf education is embedded. What is the ideal of Waldorf education, and is it living up to it? The contributions in the series deal with qualities such as non-dualism, sustainability, diversity, trauma sensitivity, and wholeness. International speakers include Martyn Rawson, Ulrike Sievers, Ruhi Tyson, Rubeena Sandhu, and Sven Saar. The lectures are free of charge and will be held in English.

https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/waldorf-qualities/

22/09/2025

In the Goetheanum Weekly 2/2025, Martin Rozumek and Hans-Christian Zehnter developed their view of how sensory phenomena invite us to read them as a Book of Nature. The central question was: What is “matter” from a spiritual scientific perspective? Now, they turn their attention to light and develop guidelines for observing it in accordance with its nature.

We love light: sunshine, beautiful weather. The rising of the light, whether in the morning or in spring, fills us with gratitude and joy. We need light to read in the dark and to lift our spirits in difficult times. Light is essential to life. Without the miracle that the plant world performs, creating bodily form out of air and light, we could not exist. The history of the visual arts sings a song to light: Rembrandt, the Impressionists, William Turner, Ólafur Elíasson, and James Turrell. Quantum physics, which so strongly influences our current conceptions of matter, began one hundred years ago with the aim of identifying the building blocks of matter by focusing research on light. During this same time, Rudolf Steiner wrote in his autobiography, “I said to myself, light is not perceived by the senses at all; ‘colors’ are perceived through light, which manifests itself all around in the perception of color, but is not itself perceived with the senses. ‘White’ light is not light but is already a color. Thus, light became an actual being for me in the sensory world, but one that is itself suprasensory.” In other words, when we experience light, we don’t perceive it with our senses: light is a being that is present in the sensory world, but is itself suprasensory. “Light” is therefore one of the most significant and mysterious experiences we are privileged to have.

https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/light-is-consciousness/

19/09/2025

Over on a somewhat isolated shelf in my family’s kitchen, you’ll find the cookbooks. They don’t get much attention, except for one whose cover has long since been lost and whose grease and flour stains bear witness to frequent use, especially on the page that explains how to braid a loaf of bread. It’s the “Fülscher Cookbook.” Elisabeth Fülscher’s 100-year-old definitive work on Swiss cuisine contains 1,700 recipes, and throughout its numerous editions, it has managed to combine this traditional culinary art with changing eating habits and health insights. The book has an aura about it, lending culture and dignity to the kitchen simply by its presence on the kitchen shelf. That’s how it is with “fundamental” books. They should be in every room: fundamentals for living, sleeping, writing, talking, dressing. They remind us that the thoughts and habits—the meaningful lives—of others give meaning to our own actions.

-Wolfgang Held
https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/the-aura-of-cookbooks/

18/09/2025

This year’s Latin American Biodynamic Conference will take place in Costa Rica from September 21 to 25. The venue is the Cantalagua Tierra Viva biodynamic farm in San Ramón.

San Ramón, Costa Rica. A biodynamic conference in Latin America.

18/09/2025

Nicanor Perlas, an anthroposophical civil rights activist and environmentalist born on January 10, 1950, passed away on August 15, 2025. This review of his last book is a tribute to his work.

Published in English in 2018, Humanity’s Last Stand: The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence. A Spiritual-Scientific Response is both informative and encouraging. Perlas spent a long time living in Silicon Valley during his research. His book provides an outlook on one of the pressing tasks facing humanity in the future and, at the same time, offers help in mastering new challenges using the tools of anthroposophy. Seven years after its first publication, it’s more relevant than ever.
https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/collective-human-intelligence/