Goetheanum | On General Assemblies of an Anthroposophical World Society of the Future

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On General Assemblies of an Anthroposophical World Society of the Future

The gap is widening: The General Assembly of the Anthroposophical Society could be the place where members of the World Society exchange and support initiatives and ideas. What often takes place, however, is self-reference and local club narrow-mindedness. How can the turnaround be achieved?

I came to Dornach and Arlesheim in 2003, now 21 years ago, to work as a specialist physician at the Ita Wegman Clinic and the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. Michaela Glöckler had encouraged me, after reading my dissertation on the "Logos of Human Physis, The Development of an Anthroposophical Human Physiology in the Work of Rudolf Steiner", my studies and publications, but also the teaching at the Goetheanum, to continue as a scientific assistant, which I then did – in the Rudolf Steiner Archive with the active support of Walter Kugler, who opened the door for me and also allowed me to read over 600 notebooks of Rudolf Steiner… In doing so, I also came to know the nature of the Medical Section and its cosmopolitan work, its worldwide collaborators in research, teaching, training and practice of Anthroposophical Medicine. How much has been achieved in 100 years, from the smallest beginnings! And what challenges remain in the difficult debates about medicine and society in the 21st century! I also came to understand what it means to find capable staff for leadership positions in the life context of a section and how intensively this is worked on when changes are imminent. The Goetheanum does not replicate itself when leadership tasks are to be assigned, but rather from a prospective perception of the overall situation and the people now incarnated. I experienced such a process over the years also in the national societies of the Anthroposophical Society; everywhere there is a lookout for talented, anthroposophically competent and socially capable personalities suitable for taking on the difficult future tasks – in the countries and then also for societal tasks at the Goetheanum. The dialogue on this has been ongoing for many years – and the time of hierarchically directive "co-options" is long over. Proposals are gratefully examined – who as an individual is already able to know the World Society and the worldwide collaborators of the sections?

Developmental Forms of the Anthroposophical Society

As an advisory board of the Anthroposophical Society on Weleda matters, a professionally qualified group was presented at the General Assembly with foresight and expertise, through the initiative of a committed group. Contributions from various national societies showed how intensively many places are working on societal and university issues, also in support of the Goetheanum, as Marc Desaules illustrated using the example of the Goetheanum Fund from the circle of national societies. The representatives of 30 national societies deliberated on the situation and tasks in their countries and for the Goetheanum for four days before the General Assembly, from morning till evening – and yet remained for the assembly. The questioning of international interest and competence in factual matters of the Anthroposophical Society and its history, as was again occasionally heard at the General Assembly (with the argument of low online viewing figures for an assembly like this), is not only hurtful but completely misses the reality. There are many dialogical contexts of members of the society worldwide and certainly not only locally in Dornach, and there are capable and knowledgeable people; soon international Zoom forums will also begin.

This text is an excerpt from an article published in the weekly journal "Das Goetheanum". You can read the full article on the journal's website. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can get to know the journal for 1CHF/€.

Photo General Assembly 2024. Photo Xue Li