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ES At the Section meeting on June 11, I gave a lecture presentation on American poet, playwright, biographer, and impresario Percy MacKaye, along with a look at the extended MacKaye family: Steele MacKaye, Arvia MacKaye, Christy MacKaye, Robin MacKaye, Marion MacKaye....
Timeline of Meeting Summaries
All Souls Poetry Night / Nov. 2, 2024
"Writing on the Wall; Dornach Hill, 2024" / photo Bruce Donehower Dear Friends, On November 2, 2024 friends and members of the Section for the Literary Arts & Humanities celebrated a very special All Souls with a poetry night. Ten Section poets read...
Poetry Night / October 12, 2024
"Planning Ahead" Photo by Elliot Tripp October 14, 2024 Dear Friends, Several times each year, the Section has a Poetry Night at which friends and members of the Section read original poetry. Poetry lovers in the Section read favorite poems, if there is...
“The Dawn of the Beautiful” / Morning Lectures from Day One of the 2024 North American Section Conference
Dear Friends, While a full report and a "Proceedings of the Conference" lie yet ahead, here are recordings of the two lectures that began our eight-day 2024 North American Section Conference. I was fortunate to have pushed all the buttons correctly, and I was able to...
2024 North American Section Conference
Announcement Artwork: "Tamalpais" by Marion Donehower "The Genius of Language"* A North American Conference of the Section for the Literary Arts & Humanities A Celebration of Poetic Language and the Literary Imagination San Francisco: September 7 -...
“Experiencing the Word” / by Mark McAlister
Artwork: Francis Barraud (1856-1924) August, 2024 Dear Friends, At our Section Meeting on August 3, 2024, Mark McAlister from Toronto gave a very lively and personal presentation that traced his journey with poetry, eurythmy, speech training, and literature...
Poetry Night / June 22, 2024
"Poetry Nite" Artwork by Marion Donehower June 22, 2024 Dear Friends, Several times each year, the Section has a Poetry Night in which friends and members of the Section read original poetry and in which poetry lovers in the Section read favorite poems, if...
Poetry Reading by Nicholas Morrow
Cover Artwork: "The Watershed Angel" by Ami Spangler Section poet Nicholas Morrow read from his newly published collection of poems, The Mirror and the Muse, at our Section meeting on April 16, 2024. THE MIRROR AND THE MUSE is a collection of 130 poems...
Poetry Reading by Una Kobrin
Artwork:by Diane Lockett Poet Una Kobrin reads from her recently published collection of poetry: Words Between Darkness & Light Here is a recording of the reading the occurred at our Section meeting. April 6, 2024. Poem Titles in the Order of...
“The Bloody Sire” by Robinson Jeffers
Staircase Inside Hawk Tower, built by poet Robinson Jeffers by hand stone by stone for his wife Una Dear Friends, As part of the 2024 eight-day North American Section Conference, an intrepid band of literary explorers trekked to Big Sur to visit the...
The Castle Siebeneichen / Where Novalis Wrote “Hymns to the Night,” “Heinrich von Ofterdingen,” & Other Works
Easter, 2024 Dear Friends, On May 2, 2021, Section friends and members celebrated the 249th anniversary of the birth of Friedrich von Hardenberg, the poet Novalis, by taking a virtual tour of the Castle Siebeneichen. A Journey to Dresden The...
“The Origin of Fairytales” by Almut Bockemühl
Artwork: "The Three Feathers" by Marion Donehower “Is The Fairytale is Mightier Than Philosophy?” "Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, two of whom were clever and intelligent, but the third one did not talk very much. He was slow...
“Ghost Modernism” / Initiation, Shamanism, & Soul Recovery
"Basel Fastnacht" / Photo by Bertram Mouton "Along with the feeling of dread for the advent of modernity . . . another important aspect of the modernist attitude -- perhaps the most important aspect for our purposes – is a turn to mythology and the deep past...
Poetry Night / March 16, 2024
"Still Warm but Rain" / Artwork by Diane Lockett March 22, 2024 Dear Friends, Several times each year, the Section has a Poetry Night in which friends and members of the Section read original poetry and in which poetry lovers in the Section read favorite poems,...
Poetry Night / February 10, 2024
"Tools of the Trade" / Photograph taken in Robinson Jeffers "Hawk Tower" / Big Sur / Northern California, North America / Photo: Bruce Donehower March 10, 2024 Dear Friends, Several times each year, the Section has a Poetry Night in which friends and members of...
“The Poet and the Dead” by Albert Steffen
Artwork: "Monolith X" by Marion Donehower At the Section meeting on February 24, 2024, we discussed the topic of Literary Modernism in respect to Threshold Experiences and Soul Loss. A variety of twentieth-century modernist poets and novelists were mentioned....
Our First Meeting in 2024!
“Winter Scene in the Seaside Village Kambara, Japan” / private collection February 3, 2024 Dear Friends: Here is a summary of the recent Section for the Literary Arts & Humanities meeting of the School for Spiritual Science in North America that occurred on...
“The Jealousy of the Gods” / “The Jealousy of Human Beings”
Artwork: "Die Feuerpredigt" by Marion Donehower Lecture Eight World History in the Light of Anthroposophy With a Brief Literary Critical Commentary A Presentation to the Faust Branch Of Work Arising from the Section for the Literary Arts and...
“Remembering the Beginnings”
Dear Friends, Happy New Year 2024. May the Phoenix bring you blessings! Here is a video of a presentation arising from our Section work together. This presentation occurred during the Holy Nights at a Zoom meeting organized by "Anthroposophy in the Bay Area"...
Arvia MacKaye Ege / Pioneer for American Anthroposophy
At our Section meeting on December 2, 2023, I gave a presentation on Arvia MacKaye Ege. This presentation is part of our ongoing Section study of the MacKaye family. For a related video, watch the previously posted Section video introduction to Arvia's father Percy...
“Steps Toward a Poetry of Knowing” / Part Two
Artwork: "Toward Solstice" by unknown artist; private collection It's Advent, and that’s the time of year when I typically look back over past months and settle a few items on the “To Do” list. One of those items is “Rudolf Steiner’s First Address.” If...
Mark McGivern / “Tolkien’s Hidden Pictures”
Author McMcGivern from British Columbia joined our Section meeting on November 18, 2023 to present and discuss his book Tolkien’s Hidden Pictures: Anthroposophy and the Enchantment of Middle-earth (SteinerBooks). Here is a recording of Mark's presentation....
Philip Thatcher / “Workshop of the Artist”
Video recording of the presentation given by poet Philip Thatcher at a meeting of the Section for the Literary Arts & Humanities on November 11, 2023. Philip had prepared this talk for the Festival of Initiative that occurred in Manitoba Canada in August...
The Dark Forest: A Fairytale
In Search of Ars Poetica. Does the work of our Section really matter? What do we do? Why do we do it? 470. ARS LITTERARIA. The Literary Arts. Everything that a scholar does, says, speaks, suffers, and hears, etc. must be an artistic,...
Sovereigns of the Grail
This is an abridged English-language version of the lecture given in German in Dornach at Pentecost 2023 when Marion and I attended the International Grail Conference. I shortened this lecture and changed a few things for a North American audience in order to fit it...
Poetry Night / December 16, 2023
Our meetings for the year 2023 concluded with a Poetry Night & New Moon Salon. Several times each year, the Section has a Poetry Night in which friends and members of the Section read original poetry and in which poetry lovers in the Section read favorite poems....
“Chaos & Kosmos!” Manitoba, 2023
Video of Performance at Fraserwood Hall During the Height of the Festival Peter Selg Presents a Talk on the Christmas Conference at the Manitoba Festival. A Brief Report on the Conference "That Good May Become!" by Bruce Donehower In August 2023,...
Parzival’s Quest / Poetry by Section Poets & Friends
A video made to celebrate the May 2023 Grail Conference at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. The video includes photos of the Arlesheim grottoes and poems by Section Poets and poet-friends of the Section. The poems were taken to the Grail Conference...
Section Meeting Schedule / Winter-Spring-Summer 2024
Artwork: "The Sun at Midnight" by Marion Donehower Winter/Spring 2024 Meeting Schedule for the Section for the Literary Arts & Humanities of the School for Spiritual Science in North America This schedule might change; so, please keep an eye on the...
La Loba
Artwork: "Self Portrait" Paula Modersohn-Becker Summer 2023 Report from the Section Fairytale Group The Bare Bones This summer the Section Fairytale Group decided to go global. Up until now we have read mostly the Brothers Grimm and some tales from Northern European...
2023 Grail Conference
Photo of Goetheanum in May A Summary of the Section Meeting held on June 17, 2023. “When indecision's in the heart The soul is bound to grieve and smart! Scorned but also well adored Is he whose soul and heart are torn `Twixt light and dark, and neither...
“Buddhism and the Literary Imagination”
“Listen natives of a dry place from the harpist’s fingers rain” — W.S. Merwin, “The Boast” from Writings to An Unfinished Accompaniment At Our Meeting on May 6: Robert McDermott and I facilitated a dialogue and discussion on the topic “Buddhism and the...
Keeping Silent / Earth Day, 2023
At our Section meeting on Saturday April 22, 2023 we shared news about events in the Section and the Class. I did not make a recording of this evening. We started off with a verse by Novalis, and then we enjoyed a selection from a poem by Pablo Neruda, "Keeping...
Introduction to Novalis
Artwork: "Blue Flower 1" by Marion Donehower A (very) Brief Introduction To the Poet Hailed Repeatedly by Rudolf Steiner As the "Herald of Anthroposophy" Novalis is the only true poet of the Romantic school. In him alone the whole soul of...
Poetry Reading by Peter Rennick
Poet Peter Rennick read his "Valentine" poems at a Section meeting on February 11, 2023 in celebration of Valentine's Day. Here is an MP3 recording of the reading. Artwork by Suri Oru 3.5.23
Poetry Reading by Philip Thatcher
North American poet Philip Thatcher reads poems from his collections "Fine Matter" and "Good Time" that were inspired by Samuel Hearne (1745 - 1792).
“Mystery of the Two Jesus Children”
This Interpretive Commentary on a lecture by Rudolf Steiner on September 5, 1910 in Bern, Switzerland was given at a Holy Night Celebration of the Faust Branch as an offering from the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities and from the work arising from the...
“Kathleen Raine; Novalis & William Blake”
A presentation given at the Section meeting on November 26, 2022. Kathleen Raine, a poet and scholar, was the founder of the Temenos Institute. In this lecture, I discuss Raine's contribution to the literary arts and humanities, and I discuss her idea of "Tradition."...
Christiane Haid: “Metamorphoses of the Foundation Stone: 1913 – 1923”
A presentation given at the Section meeting on December 17, 2022.
Winter Solstice Poetry Night / December 17, 2022
“Poetry arises from the natural action of the human spirit. Does not every human being strive and compose at every moment?” -- Novalis, Heinrich von Ofterdingen Poetry Night / Winter Solstice Celebration On December 17, 2022, the Section for the Literary Arts...
“The Winged Lion” / Lecture by Robert McDermott
Robert McDermott joined our Section meeting on December 10, 2022 to give a presentation on "The Background to the Gospel of St. Mark," a cycle of lectures given by Rudolf Steiner in various locations during the years 1910-1911. This 30-minute lecture was followed by a...
Going for Water
At our Section Meeting on December 3, 2022 Jennifer Greene from the Natural Science Section spoke to us about water and her lifetime experience as a scientist who researches the physical and spiritual mysteries of water. Jennifer spoke about poetry -- how poetry...
Our First In-Person New Moon Salon! / Well . . . Since the Start of the Covid Crisis
"The long night had just begun. The old hero struck his shield, and it resounded far and wide through the desolate streets of the city. He made the sign three times.” — Novalis, from Klingsohr’s Fairytale It was three years ago, at about this time in...
Shakespeare / A View from the Stage & Glimpse from the Gallery
Fred Dennehy and I brought Shakespeare back into our Section conversations at the meeting on October 29, 2022,. Fred surveyed the authorship question and then moved to the play Hamlet. Fred has acted in several plays by Shakespeare, and he enlivened the evening with a...
“The Genius of the English Language” / Presentation by Clifford Venho
"The Youthful Poet's Dream" by William Blake Clifford Venho joined our Section meeting on October 22, 2022 to give a presentation on "The Genius of the English Language," with reference to the poem Beowulf and to the poets Chaucer and Shakespeare. In addition...
Philip Thatcher / A Poetry Reading
Poet Philip Thatcher joined our meeting to read from his books of poetry Fine Matter and Good Time. Philip's books are available: Here is a chaptered video of the Evening with Poet Philip Thatcher Purchase in Canada Les Éditions Perceval...
Essays in Celebration of Novalis’ 250th Birthday / by Bruce Donehower, Ph.D.
2022 is the 250th Anniversary Year of the Birth of Novalis This spring, in celebration of the event, two essays appeared in German in publications sponsored by the Goetheanum. These essays arise directly from the regular ongoing meetings of the Section...
Report from the Fairytale Group / “Baba Yaga & Firebird;” A Report by Marion Donehower
Summer, 2022 What is the Fairytale Group doing this summer? We certainly enjoyed coming together again! And we all fitted exactly around the dark brown circular table on the porch. The table has a story to tell also, about its life as an old barn in Santa Cruz from...
Poetry Night / June 25, 2022
“Poetry arises from the natural action of the human spirit. Does not every human being strive and compose at every moment?” -- Novalis, Heinrich von Ofterdingen Poetry Night / St. John's Celebration On June 25, 2022, the Section for the Literary Arts and...
Plant A Seed & Water It! / “Does the Work of Our Section Really Matter?”
"Does the Work of Our Section Really Matter?" Those who have been active in the Section for many years will recognize this question as the title of an essay by Vivien Law. You can read this brief essay, along with two other essays by Vivien Law, by clicking the...
“Hyacinth & Rosebud” by Novalis
"Hyacinth and Rosebud" / Artwork by Marion Donehower (Visual Arts Section) Purchase or Preview What is anthroposophy then? It is a marker on a path traveled by those who strive for inner development. This striving can happen as a matter of choice and human...
“The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner” / Presentation by Clifford Venho; SteinerBooks
Clifford Venho, an editor at SteinerBooks, gave an overview of The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner project. Clifford spoke at a meeting of the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities that occurred on May 14, 2022. We dedicated this meeting to the memory of...
Steps Toward a Community of Poets
“It is really quite unfortunate,” said Klingsohr, “that poetry has a high brow reputation and that poets are set apart as special types. There is nothing so very mysterious about it. Poetry happens as a natural function of the human mind. Does not every human...
Steps Toward a Temple of the Human
˛ Our April 30, 2022 meeting of the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities of the School for Spiritual Science in North America featured Arie van Amerigen from Montreal, Canada. Arie spoke to us about his 2021 publication: The Foundation Stone Meditation and the...
Steps Toward A Poetry of Knowing / Part One
Mont Ventoux? At our meeting on April 16 we walked a bit farther up the mountain called Art and Theory of Art: Foundations of a New Aesthetic, lectures by Rudolf Steiner published by SteinerBooks. We surveyed and discussed the Table of Contents and refreshed our...
“An Actor’s Search for Grace” / Lisa Dalton
Meeting Summary / St. Joseph of Arimathea Day At our meeting on March 19, 2022, Lisa Dalton gave a presentation. Lisa, as many of us know, is an actress, theater professional, and Chekhov Acting Method master teacher. She spoke on the topic: “An Actor’s Search for...
“Under the Sign: Human” . . . The Magazine Stil, “Art and Theory of Art,” & Alexei Jawlensky
"In my view, the face is not merely the face, but the whole cosmos. In the face the whole cosmos is revealed." -- Alexei Jawlensky Our Section meeting on March 5, 2022, consisted of Two Parts. Part One: “Under the Sign: Human” We looked at the 2021 year-end issue of...
Grace & The Mystery of Being Human / Introduction to Heinrich von Kleist
"Grace is the beauty of form under the influence of freedom.” — Friedrich Schiller, from the essay Grace and Dignity (1793) This famous quotation by Friedrich Schiller relates very importantly to our Section meeting on February 19, 2022. The words roll off the tongue...
Preparing for Carnival in the Secret Garden / Report from the Fairy Tale Group
By Marion Donehower My apricot tree is full of blossoms — white blossoms and delicate pink. The bees are buzzing. And the quince is blooming — glorious salmon pink, as we call that color in Germany . . . And Fairytales are floating in the sunny breeze. The puppet...
The Gospel of St. John / Presentation by Robert McDermott
Here is a summary of our meeting of the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities of the School for Spiritual Science in North America that occurred on Saturday February 5, 2022 on Zoom. Next meeting: February 19, 2022 at 7 pm Pacific. Friend, colleague, and...
“Rock Crystal” by Adalbert Stifter
A New Year's Eve Salon Performance Offered by the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities; Sponsored by the Faust Branch in Fair Oaks “. . . Adalbert Stifter, a significant writer . . .” -- Rudolf Steiner On New Year Eve 2020, the Section presented to the Faust...
A Carole of Poets: Advent 2021
“The Birds Can Do Nothing But Sing” / A SECTION POETRY READING On December 18, 2021, the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities of the School for Spiritual Science in North America met by Zoom for a Poetry Night. This was our fourth Poetry Night of the year. We...
“The Actor’s Process” by Fred Dennehy
"The Actor’s Process” by Fred Dennehy https://vimeo.com/653898711 Fred Dennehy is a class reader and longtime member of the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities of the School for Spiritual Science in North America. He is a member of the Section collegium. Fred...
Advent in the Secret Garden: A Report from the Fairy Tale Group by Marion Donehower
Hello! It’s time to report again on the Fairy Tale group that meets in my garden twice a month. We started our group this past summer in July. Time flies! Now we have arrived at Advent and winter. . . and it is the season to brew tea, sit by the fire, read fairy...
Poetics of Place / A Ritual Circumambulation
Henry David Thoreau “At a Glance . . .” "I have met but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks—who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering: which word is beautifully derived from “idle people who...
Philip Thatcher, North American Poet
“Reading the River” photo by Bruce Donehower "At a Glance . . .” On Saturday October 30 poet Philip Thatcher gave a reading of his poetry. Philip also discussed “The Poet’s Process.” Philip is the former General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Canada....
The Genius of Language
“Mary Wollstonecraft in 1790 - 1791” by John Opie "At a Glance . . .” As mentioned in the meeting summary for October 2, this autumn we have returned to themes that were under discussion at our last in-person meeting on March 2020, just prior to Covid isolation. We...
The Art of Memory
“Listen to the Bear” photo by Bruce Donehower "At a Glance . . .” At our recent Section meeting on October 2, 2021, we returned to themes that were under discussion at our last in-person meeting on March 2020, just prior to Covid isolation. We discussed the North...
Meetings, Poetry, & Publications
“For California is a Poem!” Words by Ina Coolbrith. Photo by Bruce Donehower Here is a summary of recent events and a look ahead to autumn, the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness." A Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities meeting of the local group in Fair...
History of the Literary Arts Section
“A Poem Found Written on a Rock at the American River” / Photo by Bruce Donehower A North American Zoom Meeting for the Section of the Literary Arts and Humanities! On Sunday September 19, 2021, at 1 pm Pacific Time, the collegium of the Section for the Literary Arts...
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