Evera Dewdrop Newsletter

21 Pages·2017·1.03 MB·English

Evera Dewdrop Newsletter
Spring 2017
Volume 10, Issue 2
Evera, 14 Forest Street, Trentham VIC 3458
[email protected] [phone]
www.evera-ecosophy.com.au
In This Issue Editorial
Tineke Bak, Melbourne
1 Editorial
This amazing and inspiring issue of the Dewdrop concludes 10 years of shar-
2 Evera News ing our news and views and experiences. From the very first issue my own
motto as editor has been that every issue, every contribution should be fun
Impressions of ‘Walking in
to make, write, organise and work on. By and large this has been very much
White’
4 the case. Each issue has arisen quite organically at the time. At first quar-
Storm of Love and
terly, then gradually more sporadically. It is this latter trend that is causing
Courage
me to look at what is occurring more closely. Firstly, the audience for whom
5 A Bahai Beacon of Peace we intended the Dewdrop back in 2007, has now changed enormously. Many
6 A Trinosophia Seminar groups have changed or even dissolved. And also, many people who have
contributed regularly have found other projects to support. And that in-
9 A Cup of Tea cludes myself. So it is with both sadness and a new openness that I have
Shiva’s Serpents: A Male declared this our last Dewdrop issue.
10
Perspective
Next on the to-do list is a total restructuring of the Evera Website into a
11 Love of Nature more streamlined and dynamic organ of communication. The vision is to
create a livelier, more interactive blog section and continue posting up-
Shiva’s Serpents: A
12
dates, news, even articles on the website itself. This loosens the timeframe
Female Perspective
and allows us to respond closer to the actual events, instead of waiting
15 Kundalini
months or a year to report and share. The new site will offer the option to
16 The Practice of Discipline subscribe so whoever wants to continue to stay in touch with our endeav-
ours can still do so via the site itself. The old issues of the Dewdrop will stay
19 Kundalini Lecture Part 7
available online, at least for the foreseeable future.
Interview: Catherine
20
I look back with enormous gratitude to all those who
Roadnight
faithfully or sporadically or even singly contributed to
21 Prayer
ten years of Dewdrops. Each issue was so unique and
always a surprise and a joy to compose. Including this
last one. It truly has been a lot of fun.
Rules of the
This issue is a clear demonstration of the growth of our
Masters: 6 skills in communicating with you through this written
medium. If I look back at our first issues and compare
Gwydion Fontalba those with the last couple – the transformation is re-
markable. The articles have achieved a whole new level
Never forget that the
of authentic self expression, wisdom and coherence.
Holy Spirit brings to
All our contributors have, over the years, opened their
realisation everything
hearts and souls and found treasures and knowledge and
which you desire for
experience to share that enrich us all, from the practi-
the true fostering and
cal knowledge gained in a life long career (Greg Fyfe,
development of the
Herpetologist) to the delicate opening buds of newest
world and all beings,
growth and learning (Angelique Stefanatos, Kundalini).
but you must make
In this issue we again span the globe and report from
ceaseless efforts. Before
Europe (Sally Duncan, Henk Bak) as well as Australia
undertaking important
(the rest of us). We look deeply within, and clearly out
decisions, ask within
into the world around us.
and ask God. Then carry
through with the deed,
This issue also concludes our running series or portions
and having done so, ask
of Shin’s 2006 lecture on Kundalini. It ends with a strong
once more whether it
appeal to take care of our planet, as we only have the
was good.
one! This same sentiment was expressed 10 years later
by Victorian artist and poet, Michael Leunig, in a fore-
word to ‘Heartland’, a 50 year celebration of conser-
vation in Australia. A 15 page pdf preview booklet is
(Continued on page 2)
Page 2 Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2
(Continued from page 1) Evera News: Autumn to Spring
downloadable from [ http://www.echopublishing.com.
Henk Bak, Trentham
au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Heartland-Extract-
Before I began to write this report, I re-read the last
Pages.pdf ] with wonderful photos and the foreword we
issue of our newsletter: Winter to Summer 2016. My first
reproduce here.
thought was: ‘Who needs a next issue? This one was rich
We take our leave for now, but hope to see and hear from enough to be re-read and digested afresh. Of course there
you all in the future. are new happenings to be reported, new experiences and
insights to be shared. That’s what a newsletter is for, but
To echo Shin’s own apt words: as Tineke explained at our AGM, such news can perhaps
better conveyed via our website, especially with a new,
We thank you very much for your attention. We thank
more flexible program. See Editorial.
you for allowing us to share our experiences through this
newsletter, and for reading it for so long and so openly. My re-reading has also been prompted by the realization
Heartfelt thanks. that I seem to have lost all memory of what happened
between solstice and the beginning of May. Especially my
Tineke Bak (Melbourne) and Henk Bak (Trentham)
nature observations have escaped me. I am sure the cock-
atoos have been here with all the noise they can muster
and no fruit tree untouched. I remember rescuing apples
from the orchard near the cabin, some eaten and some
“On its outer surface time is vulnerable intact. The plums were not ripe enough to be picked. At
to transience. Regardless of its sadness the beginning of March I was knocked off my bike by a
or beauty, each day empties and car and was subsequently out of action for some weeks
vanishes. In its deeper heart, time is and when I came back for the plums it was too late. I was
transfiguration. Time minds possibility lucky that no bones were broken, though everything was
and makes sure that nothing is lost bruised and torn. Luckily also, my old-fashioned helmet
or forgotten. That which seems to saved my head from injury. Nevertheless I was in shock
pass away on the surface of time is and that might have affected my memory.
in fact transfigured and housed in the
What I do remember, though, was a visit in February from
tabernacle of memory.”
three friends to celebrate ‘World Interfaith Harmony
John O’Donohue Week’. Muslim, Sufi and scholar Dr Dzavid Haveric, Baha’I
(Anam Cara: A Book Of Celtic Wisdom) Poet and story-teller Les Endrei and Ron White, a local
friend connected with the Anglican Church, who more
than 2 years ago had told me to ‘write a book’ on this
‘World-views in Dialogue’ work at Evera. Dzavid (orig-
inally from Bosnia), Les (from Hungary) and Ron (from
Melbourne), were all three world-travellers and had the
most lively conversations, which meant that after the
opening meditation, I could lead them around but didn’t
have to say much: so many associations and sharing flour-
ished between themselves.
There were three points, though, to take note of: At
the Shinto site Ron told of a Japanese custom of mark-
ing sacred streams, rocks and trees with red ribbons.
Dzavid suggested that the Islam site be orientated to-
wards Mecca. When I pointed out, that in this project
all sites are oriented towards the centre, the Ocean of
Life, which represents the Highest, Allah, God or whatev-
er name one may find for it, Dzavid not only agreed but
added: in the beginning the Prophet prayed in the direc-
tion of Jerusalem, not Mecca. No fundamentalist fixation
here!
Les asked me to write a foreword to his book of stories
and decided to come back with his Baha’i friends to bring
something of their faith to the site I had reserved for
them. This visit has meanwhile taken place, Sunday 13th
August. Les brought 5 friends, fully engaged, interested,
with lots of experiences to tell about and a delightful
Photo: Henk Bak
(Continued on page 3)
Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2 Page 3
(Continued from page 3)
some severe digestive issues. The hospital is built on a
lunch to share. The site was visited and they will be back
hill and from my room I had a glorious view over part
and bring a token of Baha’i presence in the form of a
of the Wombat Forest, a sea of dark evergreen, with on
‘peace pole’, a kind of wooden obelisk with inscriptions
the horizon a stand of three deciduous trees silhouetted
on three of the four sides.
against the winter sky. On many sunny mornings I felt
One other thing I remember was a talk I gave to the transported to a 5 star hotel-room in the South of Italy,
Central Victoria Atheists and Freethinkers Gathering in and in the evenings we had the most beautiful sunsets.
Kyneton, where I have talked before about the common And one day, in the middle of Winter, there was the clear
roots of rational thought and forms of religious doctrine. sound of the blackbird…
Both stemming from Greek philosophy… This time my
In this hospital I had 12 days of good and friendly care
point was to show that the 18th century enlightenment,
which was extended when I was getting a lift home with
the source of modern rationalistic thought, has been a
the occupational health & safety officer, who checked my
shallow derivation from a incomparably richer and pro-
home to make sure that I could live here safely on my
founder philosophical and even scientific tradition. And
own.
that its narrow rationalist approach was partly respon-
sible for the gruesome terror in revolutionary France. I Winter lasted longer than usual this year. Except for a
took the opportunity to suggest that to be a free thinker, few very sunny Spring days, it has stayed cold and win-
one needs to be a competent thinker and competent in tery till well into September.
the area one is thinking about, which is different from
being a freethinker, as if one is part of a club… I had the Julie Goode has been working consistently in the garden.
impression that people agreed, but that doesn’t mean First she turned large areas of ‘wilderness’ or ‘jungle’
that the designation ‘freethinker’ will disappear… into simple grassy garden-beds, waiting for a new and
simpler pattern of planting. And then, when it was time
I used my CV as it had been published in the invitation for the roses to be pruned, she systematically pruned
to this talk as a way into my topic: “Catholic. Studied them, afternoon after afternoon. When I went out in the
philosophy and theology. Had been a Franciscan.” And early morning of the 21st of August to take pictures of the
nothing about my career as teacher/lecturer etc. So, as snow, I noticed that she had even visited the rose-bush
an ex-seminarian, I placed myself in the league of Tony behind the Buddhist statue and the Angel… The shallow
Abbott, our former prime minister, not particularly known dusting of snow was just sufficient to mark the ‘sign of
for his wisdom, statesmanship etc., Joseph Goebbels, Melchizedek’ clearly in the grass. After 10 a.m. the snow
Hitler’s propaganda chef and Joseph Stalin… And then: rapidly disappeared and we had a sunny afternoon. By
as an ex-Franciscan I placed myself in the league of great then the wattle was beginning to flower, and the daffodil
philosophers like Bonaventura, forerunner of our holistic finally shows a swelling, a flower waiting to come out…
way of thinking; Duns Scotus, famous for his subtle logic;
William of Ockham, known for Ockham’s Razor, i.e. a As a follow-up of the February walking meditation, Les
ground rule in philosophy and science, to cut external ex- Endrei brought four friends from the Geelong and Ballarat
planations of a phenomenon to a minimum. And Raymond area to look at a possible Baha’i site. This was Sunday 13th
Lull, a lay member of the Franciscan order who laid the August, exactly a month after I had left the hospital, and
foundation for modern scientific method. Lull had bought I was able to walk with them all the way to the South-end
himself an Arabic speaking slave to teach him Arabic. He
(Continued on page 4)
conversed freely with Muslim and Jewish scholars and was
instrumental in the introduction of Hebrew, Arabic and
Catalan languages in some European universities. After
the Middle Ages, the Renaissance brought a new impulse
in European thought: where the development of science
went hand in hand with the development of morality. The
18th century Enlightenment kept developing the science
but not the morality to match. I don’t remember details
of the talk, only that I ran out of time as usual and that a
good question from the audience helped me to round the
talk off in the way I had intended.
From 13 May to 14 June Tineke and I were overseas, vis- drei
n
iting family and friends in the Netherlands, friends in E
es
Germany and travelling on to Switzerland and the Rigi, y L
b
where we participated in the Pentecost Festival/Seminar k
a
B
with Shin, and where I offered a workshop myself a week k
n
e
later. But this is a matter for another report. H
of
o
Back in Australia, I experienced the Winter from my hos- hot
P
pital room in Daylesford, 25 Km West of Trentham after
Page 4 Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2
(Continued from page 3)
of the land, and to enjoy the lunch and conversations Storm of Love and Courage!
before the walk and afternoon-tea after. They were very
impressed with our project and I was impressed with the www.stormoflove.space
way they were awake to their commitment as Baha’i and
Friends! People! Stand still for once!
strongly engaged in community, including Aboriginal com-
Hold your breath! Quickly open your eyes and look!
munity life. An inspiring visit for me and I look forward
Open your ears and listen!
to their return. One of the friends recognized the house:
Open your heart and come around. You, the silent 8
he had been here several times with his daughter to see
billions! Stand up, you people who bear everything ! It
Helma. This gave an extra touch of connection.
is about life or death! It is about peace and freedom!
It is about the present and the future of this one good
earth!
Do you want to wait until your self-proclaimed kings
drag you into the gaping jaws of world war? Do you
want to stand by when the earth gets destroyed?
Impressions of ‘Walking in White’
Do you have children to let them be slaughtered?
Sally Duncan, Austria Stand up, you peoples, against the war-mongers
When the call came from “Storm of Courage and Love”, — WORLDWIDE!
to those who have long been silent to take to the streets,
On September 22”‘! at the time of the equinox, when
in white, at the Autumn equinox, I did not particularly
the Moon of Life stands with Jupiter of Wisdom, dress
think it was for me. Intellectually I know world war is
in white, let yourself be seen ! Go on the roads,
threatening, but I could not grasp that it could ‘really’
demonstrate for peace. Begin today to send out
take place. After looking, however, at three analyses
urgent letters to the government, to the newspapers
(from Russians, Australians and Americans) on the US and
and make it clear that you don’t want this war. Bring
North Korea, my stomach became queasy in the same
this message to all your friends. Multiply this call to
way it did some hours before the First Gulf War broke out
reach billions. Show your power for peace.
on 17th Jan 1991. I decided to go to Linz on the Friday, in
the morning, in time to visit the newspaper office before
it closed.
not received the call to walk in white due to a mobile
I sent off the message to others in my area, but didn’t telephone problem. It was a great example of telepathic
want to speak to anyone directly. Shortly before the communication! So we found ourselves as three in Linz,
Friday a friend, Silvia, said she would also come, after squeezed by the fun-park onto one of the last patches of
work, meeting me around 1 pm. Wonderful – we would green on the Danube, with some very expressive ducks.
be two!
Time to gather concentration, make the connection
On Friday creating the banner seemed to take ages and I above, below, to all the lakes in the horizontal, and also
abandoned the idea of an early start. I was in the middle move the Life Tree Prayer.
of painting the Cathar dove, which made me really happy,
when the phone rang with the smarmy voice of a market- A church bell rang at 3 pm and we started walking towards
ing call on the line. “Frau Duncan...” she cooed her sell. others, most of whom were in black or dark colours. I love
I was overtaken by sudden anger and asked if she knew (Continued on page 5)
that world war was threatening? She didn’t understand
and repeated her wishes. I said, “I also have wishes, and
it concerns...” I may have been silent all these years,
yes, yet in disgust at the overriding cultural direction of
the last decades, whether it be concerning the blatant
destruction of nature and peoples or the disappearance
of beauty in all realms. But I didn’t realise I was angry at
all until the idiocy of this strange world showed itself in
that phone call, coming when it did in the middle of the
gold and moonshine of a Middle Ages Light Stream, so I
painted the word ‘peace’ underneath the dove.
I was going out the door with it when the phone rang
again. Strangely enough, I thought it was Shin. It was
another friend, Alice. “Great”, I thought, “she’ll come
too”! It was very funny - Alice went on about something
in the past and something in the future, until finally I
said that “I was just going out the door to...” She had
Photo: supplied by Sally Duncan
Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2 Page 5
A Bahai Beacon of Peace
raven myself, but I know that black is not such an easy
Henk Bak, Trentham
colour to wear, at least not every day, without becoming
submerged and colourless. A dove, well it was really a On Sunday 15th October members of the Baha’i Faith vis-
pigeon – white with some black speckles, just like the ited Evera to plant a ‘Beacon of Peace’ in front of ‘their’
banner - flew up from under our feet to announce entry cluster of trees in the meditative walking project. A few
onto the ‘streets’, a path along the Danube leading to the years earlier the Ballarat Interfaith Group had visited and
Nibelungen Bridge. joined the walk and one participant, Elham, had then
asked: could she and her Baha’i friends have a site, too.
We have been ‘wandering on the way’ with Gideon and My visitors were also keen listeners for what I had to tell
Shin for such a long time now, meeting others. This time about Evera and the project and on this recent Sunday,
it was different to a seminar room, of course, but not the 15th, they came back, 12 adults and 2 young boys.
so different: so many meetings, so many non-meetings, They were equipped with a crowbar, a pickaxe, a spade
so many not-knowing-what-was-going-on meetings, and a tape ruler (to be precise: 600mm deep) and used
eye-meetings, consciousness-meetings, waves-of-heat our mattock and another spade as well. And of course
meetings (eg when crossing the path of a mother with a they brought with them the pole with 4 messages of
child, whilst on the bridge). peace on its four sides:
Arriving at the crowded Tauben Markt (The Market of Facing South:
Doves) a Moroccan woman took a photo of the three of
us. Walking, walking, we continued up the main street, The Earth is but one country and mankind its
Landstrasse, the bell ringing sweetly every so often, oc- citizens. Baha’i Faith
casionally humming the Hymn for Human Dignity, the
Facing West:
candle light mostly staying alight and the banner playing
with the wind, or was it vice versa? When one stayed
This is the changeless Faith of God,
in the connection it was very strong; when the connec-
eternal in the past, eternal in the future.
tion weakened, so the experience and energy faded
Baha’u’llah
somewhat.
Facing North:
Reaching Volksgarten, we turned around the large plan-
tain tree (the bark of which looks like a spotted gum), So powerful is the light of Unity that it can
travelling back down the other side of the Landstrasse illuminate the whole Earth. Baha’u’llah.
and passing Schiller Platz where a political party meeting
Facing East:
was taking place: “...and thanks to the three ladies who
are giving an example for peace on the Landstrasse!”
When a thought of War comes, oppose
shouted the loudspeaker.
it with a stronger thought of Peace.
Aboul-Baha
Walking, walking, down the other side of the long line of
the main street, to Haupt Platz (The Main Square), there
Peter had made the pole himself and has placed already
was a conversation with a nice woman who, however,
200 of these around Australia. Alladin took charge of the
wanted to box us into some category.
digging, eagerly assisted by the boys. For the rest of us
there was time to arrive, catch up, meet and connect,
Back over the bridge, we landed at the New Rathaus, on
and convey the lunch contributions to the cabin. This
an empty square, which was covered in hundreds of little
time also gave me a chance to finish my preparations:
white hearts, the aftermath of a wedding. There we did
putting flowers and symbolic objects in all of the 11 sites
a short dance and took the photos you can see. A perfect
- the 8 original ones as well as the sites dedicated to
end: peace as that magic art of melting hearts.
humanistic spirituality both religious and secular, the
Sikh Religion and, of course, the one for the Baha’i Faith.
Inspired by these very motivated and colourful people, I
collected a colourful bunch of flowers in an appropriate
vase for their site.
Lots of photos were taken, including some pictures of
the whole group. Then a ceremony was conducted with a
n
a
nc reading and prayers.
u
D
y
all A deliciously varied lunch was served inside the cabin and
y S
d b enjoyed both inside and outside, on and around the veran-
e
pli da in perfect, glorious weather. After lunch 6 participants
p
o: su stayed for the mediative walk – beginning with the med-
ot itation Shin gave in Hinang, 1 February 2009, which was
h
P
to be used in Belgium on the 16th of February that year
(Continued on page 6)
Peace: I do not want a world war.
Page 6 Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2
am trying to ‘re-invent the wheel’. One of my Baha’i vis-
at the first public itors spontaneously expressed, ‘here you have the whole
presentation of the world gathered in one place’. But this is exactly what this
Free and Worldwide place offers: a possibility of getting the wheel turning
Movement for again, a space and spaces where one can move from ‘be-
Human Dignity. longing’ to a religion or ‘having’ one, to ‘being religion’
Every human being (Gideon Fontalba). An invitation to experience oneself as
can relate to this the one who ‘turns time’ (Shin Gwydion) and is therewith
meditation on the source of renewal.
breath leaving, and
the pulse coming,
death and new life,
no matter what
their background…
and everyone can
generate the grat-
itude for all that
is given to human-
ity, for all that is
Photo supplied by Les Endrei
needed for life and
development, and decide that it’s time to express this
gratitude into care for the earth and all beings…
Gratitude: the dignity that can unite us all.
We walked the mediation in a circle this time and arrived
at the centre, the “Ocean of Life”, where we moved the
‘tree of life’ prayer/meditation together. The whole walk
Photo supplied by Les Endrei
took three hours. I have never been with a group so keen
and with so much concentration and endurance; and with
the promise of coming back to plant trees on both sides
of the ‘Beacon of Peace’. This is the first group to bring A Trinosophia Seminar - Report
‘ownership’ to their ‘grove’.
Henk Bak, Trentham/Switzerland
Friends have brought trees before: Laurie McIntyre, an The weekend after Pentecost I was given the opportunity
Anglican priest, who right in the beginning asked ‘could (which I had proposed and asked for two years ago) to
he walk with me’ and afterwards placed a tree in a pot on present a seminar on some of the urgent questions of our
our balcony… and Rhonda Watson from the local “Green time from a spiritual perspective, learned from Rudolf
Shop”, who joined our midwinter bonfire celebration last Steiner, Gideon Fontalba and Shin Gwydion.
year and later brought a Wollemi Pine to our tree-plant-
Its original title referred to ‘Trinosophia’, i.e. the
ing working bee. This species was only known through
spiritual wisdom underlying the three ideals of the French
fossils until it was discovered alive in a canyon of the
Revolution, as described by Count de St German in the
Wollemi National Park, NSW in 1994 and re-propagated
form of an initiation story published in the 1820’s. This
and spread around Australia with a certificate of authen-
theme was used by Gideon Fontalba as the basis for a
ticity. Ours is number 0025737. The tree is described as
number of seminars ca 1990, especially the one in Munich
a ‘living fossil’. It stands now as a sentinel or prophet in
July 1991, which Helma and I attended.
front of the Jewish Religion site, the only site that sits in
a kind of ‘valley’, however shallow… A fossil tree come to
On our return to Melbourne (Oct 1991) we intensively
life: a metaphor for the possibility of renewal. The pio-
practiced the accompanying dance to Gideon’s lectures,
neer of Jewish renewal, Rabbi Zelman Schachter-Salome,
but only later, here at Evera, did we manage to actually
spoke like a prophet and in the spirit of the Sermon of
understand and dance it with the group on at least two
the Mount added a ‘beatitude’ - “blessed are the dialogu-
occasions (seminars).
ers!” Ten years ago Shin asked Helma and myself to bring
Aboriginal people to him, for - even if there is only a This Holy Trinosophia had already been the theme of
shred of their tradition still present - Shin can reconnect, a workshop at the Rigi, at Easter in 2016 (initiated by
revive and renew that tradition. Christian Knoepfl and presented by him, Sylke Fromberg
and Johannes Schmid. Their plan is to organize at least
At Evera, as a ‘Centre of Renewal’, I hope that groups
one more workshop. Those workshops address mainly the
from all religions and spiritual streams may come and
esoteric aspects of Trinosophia, whilst my pwn intention
start to take care of ‘their’ site, following the example
was to focus on what Gideon called the economic, politi-
of the Baha’i. Someone whom I had invited to come and
cal and cultural implications of this wisdom for our time.
find what is happening here expressed her concern that I

(Continued on page 7)
Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2 Page 7
(Continued from page 6)
1. People have always lived with uncertainty and learned
My seminar took place the week after the Pentecost sem-
to cope through experience and a certain predictability…
inar, 10-11 June. During my nearly 2 weeks stay at Im
The uncertainty our time has to deal with has become
Goldenen Hirschen, I was the guest of Thomas Studer,
in principle unpredictable through the speed by which
his team and volunteer staff, and I am grateful for all
too many unrelated technological and economic inno-
the friendship and care received! Its first session was at-
vations are let loose in an increasingly interconnected
tended by Christel Erbes and Sylke Fromberg-Chikadze, a
world, where, when one thing goes wrong, everything
number of the hotel’s volunteer staff-members and two
goes wrong… Hence the urgent need to differentiate, de-
enrolled participants, Stefan and Bernd. These two made
centralize, to make our world ‘antifragile’, more than
this seminar a very lively and enriching experience for
just ‘robust’… to arrange our world so that it doesn’t only
me and I think also for themselves.
survive shock and disaster, but actually thrives on it.
To make it worthwhile for those who could attend only
2. Central to Count de St Germain’s initiation story, ‘Holy
one session, I used the first session to offer an overview
Trinosophia’, is the experience of a ‘missed chance’ and
of what the seminar was about, guided by 6 items that
the consequences thereof. Written more than 30 years
Thomas Studer had selected from a number of sugges-
after the French Revolution began under the banner of
tions I had sent him.
‘Freedom-Equality-Brotherhood’, one can’t help iden-
Inspired by Martin Buber’s statement that ”All real life tifying this ‘missed chance’ with the fact that out of
is encounter”, I referred to the Holy Trinosphia as the those three ideals, only ‘equality’ became formally re-
“primal image of encounter” and related this to the “Idea alized in the principle that everyone is equal under the
of Free Peace”. Both elements run through all 6 themes: law. Legislation became the only instrument to not only
establish and maintain law and order, but also the in-
1. The uncertainty of our time and thinking this through strument to generate freedom and brother/sisterhood,
in the light of Shin’s “Worldwide Movement for areas in which human beings are in principle unequal.
Human Dignity”; One cannot legislate creativity or care or attentiveness.
Even the ten commandments have only 3 positive items,
2. The democratic deficit since the American and French
the other 7 are “thou shalt not!” Economic and cultural
Revolutions;
life have their own lawfulness and organizing principles,
3. Functional versus hierarchical differentiation of and political life can facilitate their establishment but
society; not dictate them.
4. Society as a three-fold social organism according to 3. In contrast to the hierarchical, top-down organization
Rudolf Steiner; of the past, both the American and French revolutions
placed freedom, equality and brotherhood or the pursuit
5. International Law as Humanity’s Law (Valentin of happiness on equal footing. Instead of a stratified or
Tomberg); layered concept of society, a functional understanding
emerged. For example, rather than reducing the individ-
6. The financial crisis and the masks of evil.
ual to a function or cogwheel in the machinery of soci-
ety, the economic, cultural and political domains should
After that I elaborated on all 6 of them together with my
function as the ‘organs’ through which humanity can fully
2 participants. Stefan is a jurist, familiar with the work of
realize itself. These three do-
Steiner, Gideon and Shin and
mains have evolved as the
with current legislation and
social space that enables the
trends in Germany, related to
individual human being to
many of the issues involved.
fulfil three essential human
Bernd was new to this work,
obligations without internal
but as an activist is very expe-
contradiction: to pursue one
rienced, knowledgeable and
life’s destiny in freedom,
passionate about the same
to care for the livelihood of
and similar issues. For me this
oneself and for those in one’s
constituted an ideal audience,
care in prosperity, and to fulfil
one that was even prepared
one’s civic duties under the
to understand my German and
law.
to supply me with technical
expressions, for which I had
4. Such differentiated under-
no vocabulary… Photo: Tineke Bak (Henk Bak at the Rigi, Switzerland)
standing of society has been
developed by the sociolo-
Much of the content of the seminar has been published
gist Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998), but had already been
over the years in the Dewdrop Newsletter, about money,
brought to consciousness and offered to the world after
threefold social organism, ‘dignity of the living form’,
the ‘Great War’ by both Alexander Bogdanov (1873-1928)
the ‘end of charity’, living with uncertainty etc. Here,
and Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) - in Russia to prevent
therefore, only short indications on those six themes:

(Continued on page 8)
Page 8 Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2
Sense of direction, compass of orientation, allowing life
to grow, evolve, express, unfold, etc.
6. In Dewdrop Newsletter’s 2015 issue, I included in
the account of my travels a picture of Rudolf Steiner’s
‘Statue of Man’, i.e. the human being consciously stand-
ing exposed to three ways evil appears to ensnare him in
its power - from lies that lead to illusion, to force that
leads to fear, and finally to paralysis and the illusion has
draws one into a play of forces too powerful to now pull
out of. Fear drives one to keep going, stuck, incapable
of breaking the spell: paralysis. The esoteric names for
these three phases/faces of evil are -
Photo: Tineke Bak (Cloud above Guthausen, Germany,
the Thursday before Pentecost Sunday) Lucifer: wings to fly, losing touch with the earth.
(Continued from page 7)
communism from becoming a totalitarian regime; in Ahriman: skeleton, bound, chained to the earth.
Europe to prevent the ideological as well as economic
domination which would lead to World War II. Bogdanov’s Asuras: a cave, totally deprived of light.
idea came briefly to fruition in an explosion of crea-
When I checked this with Shin, at Pentecost, he said:
tivity in literature and the arts, despite Lenin’s oppo-
“the Asuras also tear apart”. Those three faces of evil
sition, but which was then suppressed by Stalin. Under
beings, behind those masks, are showing up everywhere
Stalin Bogdanov went on to found, in Moscow, the first
where relatively independently from each other, new
blood-transfusion institute in the world. Steiner was able
technologies are let loose on humanity and the earth at a
to initiate elements of such social organism through ed-
such rapid rate, that nobody and no statistics can predict
ucation and anthroposophical medicine on the one hand
the consequences. What first looks like a good idea turns
and biodynamic agriculture on the other…
out to have become a nightmare… people completely
5. The world financial crisis can be understood as a con- absorbed in texting, selfies, virtual realities, captured
sequence of the concept and use of money as a means into self-serving systems such as the medical-pharmaceu-
to make money rather than make things possible. Take tical complex as well as the military-industrial complex
credit, for example – credit as a claim on future money Eisenhower already warned against. Klaus Michael Meyer
has become an entity in itself, that can be lent against Abbich also said: “We notice environment degradation
credit, i.e. another claim etc. etc. When this tower of only when it happens at a faster rate than the degrada-
paper claims collapses, people lose their homes, gov- tion of the senses”.
ernments impose austerity but save the banks - except
In my seminar I mentioned those three masks of evil, but
in Australia, where the government instead provided
the image that I brought to it was the Grimm’s fairy tale
each individual with extra cash which would be spent
of “The maiden without hands”. You might read it for
and create flow in the economy… However, when money
yourself and see how applicable it is.
is used ‘to make things possible’ then money moves in
roughly three stages. Firstly money is spent on some-
thing, a direct transaction; secondly spending is post-
poned through saving the money, which means that it
is ‘invested’ either indirectly through a bank, or directly
by lending it to a project, with the expectation of re-
ceiving the money back in due course; finally money is
given away to make things possible that are priceless:
education, healing, science, art, sport, religion, etc. The
results of these latter activities cannot be evaluated in
money - some of the results only become evident after
a lifetime or even several generations - but what can be
calculated is the amount of money needed to make them
possible.
Money guided through those three stages is brought into
a healthy flow, with a minimum of unhealthy accumula-
tion (excessive wealth next to excessive poverty etc). To
bring consciousness into money is to bring a sense of di-
rection into its use. For example, a wage doesn’t reward
work done today but enables work to be done tomorrow.
An unfair wage is one that forces the worker to sacrifice Photo: Tineke Bak (a fairy tale face in the hill -
her/his duty to his/her family, health, development etc… the eyes are natural springs for clear, pure fresh water)
Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2 Page 9
A Cup of Tea our mouth, that portal to our health and body, we could
focus on what we would wish to imbue ourselves with.
Tineke Bak, Melbourne
There is nothing like the quiet enjoyment of a calm cup Thought is more powerful if it is deepened into feeling
of tea in the midst of a busy day. The relief of sitting state. And if we are aware of our feelings we can imbue
down if we’ve been running around, or of standing up to our water with the remedy we seek, turn it into a remedy
make our cuppa if we’ve been stuck behind the comput- that might alleviate our distress. If we are anxious, we
er for a few hours. It is a little break, a commonplace could envisage and try to remember a state of calm and
pause in the demands of life. Simple and extra-ordinarily imprint this into our water – which will then be absorbed
ordinary. Perhaps you prefer ‘Aivanhov Tea’ (a glass of into our whole body. If we are lonely or feel disconnect-
hot water), or something more stimulating like coffee. Or ed, we can remember a time when we were not, and for
perhaps your moment of calm comes with a glass of wine, a moment feel it, and allow it to imprint into the water.
or a beer. Depending on the weather, we might reach for
warm drinks, or find refreshment with cool ones. This is more difficult to do the more intense our state
of stress is, as we then become increasingly less flexi-
What they all have in common is water. ble of mind and more absorbed into the matter at hand.
So begin your practice of it in quiet moments and see
And what we have learnt in the last couple of decades
if it doesn’t make a difference in your life in the fol-
from Masuru Emoto and his many booklets about water,
lowing few hours at least. Take a sip of your drink and
and his amazing water crystal photography is that water
hold it in your mouth for a few moments and focus your
takes on resonance with the qualities of what it is ex-
mindful awareness on a quality that would do you good in
posed to on many energetic levels. This is of course also
that moment. Feel it as clearly and intensely as you can,
one of the foundations of homeopathy, is also always
while focussing on the liquid in your mouth before you
in our awareness when we practice rituals, particularly
swallow it down. You may not do this with every sip of
water rituals.
your beverage, just a few will already help.
Water absorbs vibrations – of music, words, ideas, moods,
Turn your ordinary moment of respite from the world into
emotions, etc. And according to the nature of these vi-
a quiet healing session. Because if you don’t, the chanc-
brations the water’s own structure takes on harmonious
es are your attempts to hydrate and stay healthy will
or disharmonious forms. If you haven’t seen these forms,
be hampered by even the purest water absorbing your
you can see many photographs and read about the pro-
states of stress by default instead of your states of bliss
cess of getting these images on Masaru Emoto’s website:
by design.
http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal.
Ideas:
html
Remember a time when you experienced the state you
We are also told by health professionals today to drink
would like to enhance, e.g. calm, or joy, or connected,
plenty of water, some say up to 2 litres a day. Wouldn’t
empowered, confident, etc., and relive the memory as
it be great if we could drink beautiful water instead of
vividly as you can, focusing on that beneficial feeling
the dull water that flows out of our taps? Many people
state...
install special water enlivening devices in their homes,
others travel a long way to pure water sources. And that Connect with feelings of calm or tranquility you experi-
must help. But what about when we’re having our drink enced in meditation, or at seminars, or yoga classes, and
of choice at someone else’s place? At a café? In a restau- again recreate them in the moment...
rant? Or we buy bottled drinks?
Catch a moment of happiness on the wing and take a
If you have a water filter at home, it is not difficult to drink to consciously celebrate it...
write beautiful words on a piece of paper and tape it to
your jug. Perhaps enjoying a variety of words, a differ- Include this as part of your practice of the virtues, re-
ent one each day, perhaps. But there’s also another very membering times when others treated you with e.g. com-
simple way to do it, which requires no special equipment passion or patience, or when you found these in yourself,
except your mindful awareness and a flexible mindset. and focus on these qualities...
When you take a sip of your cup of tea, pay attention to Think peace, feel peace, engender peace within you...
your own state. If water takes up vibrations, you can have
Think lovingly of the earth, and of all nations working
very pure water, but if, when it is in your mouth, you are
together to heal this one blue jewel planet...
focussed on your worries, your frustrations, your anxie-
ties, your anger, or any other stressful state or emotion,
you will very likely, on that last threshold, imbue your
water with the vibrations of those states and emotions.
k
a
With some mindful attention, and flexibility of mind, we e B
k
e
can learn to leave our worries and stresses behind for just n
Ti
a little while, and instead, when we take the water into o:
ot
h
P
Page 10 Evera Dewdrop Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 2
Shiva’s Serpents - A Male Perspective Now moving on to Europe: at Guthausen in southern
Germany there are only 3 species of snakes. Two of these
Greg Fyfe, Lakes Entrance
are non-venomous species that cannot harm people and
Snakes at Shivaland and Guthausen: Recent reports have
the third species is venomous but with relatively weak
come to my attention of snakes being seen in the grounds
venom that very rarely causes death in humans bitten by
of two of the places where Shin teaches: One place is in
it. The Venomous snake here is Vipera berus, the Common
Europe at Guthausen in southern Germany and the other
Adder or Common European Viper. The non-venomous
is Shivaland (Anand Lok) on the high banks of the upper
species are the Smooth Snake (Coronella austriaca) and
Ganges River in Uttaranchal state in north-west India.
the Common Grass Snake (Natrix natrix).
The snake faunas of the two areas are very different.
In late August this year, my wife Angelique Stefanatos vis-
The region of India where Shivaland is situated has about
ited Guthausen for the Lughnasad festival. Whilst there
32 species of snakes recorded for the
she twice observed a small snake in the
area, while southern Germany in the
Guthausen grounds. Her description of
area around Guthausen has just 3 spe-
the snake matches perfectly with that
cies of snakes recorded.
of a young Grass Snake. Grass snakes
are found in fields close to water-
In the Shivaland area there are about
courses as they feed mainly on frogs
17 species of non-venomous snakes
and toads and sometimes fish. This fits
that range in size from small worm like
with what Angelique told me about a
snakes 30cm long to giant pythons that
small stream that flows through the
may be 5 metres long. The large pythons
Guthausen property.
are rarely seen however. There are also
some ‘rat snakes’ that can reach 2 to
Turning the subject to India once more,
3 metres in length. These non-venom-
in 2015 I visited Shivaland for a semi-
ous snakes can bite but cannot inject
nar with Shin. On one of the days, Shin
venom if they do bite. They do how-
took the group for a tour of the temple
ever have a mouth full of small sharp
to explain the various design aspects
teeth, so a bite from a large specimen
and hopes for the completed structure.
may bleed freely for a while.
At one point he asked me “How would
we attract cobras to the special area
Six of the snake species in the Shivaland
in the temple for them?” I was a bit
area are what is called ‘back-fanged’
put on the spot and mumbled a brief
meaning that the venom-conducting
inadequate reply and said “FOOD!” For
teeth are far back in the jaw so that the
the benefit of anyone involved in the
snake cannot effectively bite humans
project I would like to elaborate here.
unless held in the hand. The venom of
these species is generally quite mild Photo of Common Kait, supplied by Rohit Snakes are looking for 3 main things –
and is not life threatening for humans.
food during the active season, secure
shelter every day (or night depending on their activity
Nine species of snakes in the Shivaland district are highly
periods) and mates during the breeding season. In order
venomous with enlarged hollow teeth (fangs) in the front
to get cobras to gather and spend time around the area
of the mouth and very potent venom that can cause
of the temple that has been designed for them it will be
severe problems or death for humans bitten by them.
necessary to provide 2 of those 3 elements on a daily
This group of snakes includes the species responsible for
basis during their active seasons.
all the fatal snakebites in India (these are the kraits -
1 species; cobras - 3 species; Russell’s vipers and saw-
Food is fairly easy to arrange as 2 of the 3 cobra species
scaled vipers).
(Monocled and Spectacled cobras) found in the area are
frog and toad eaters that will also take rats and mice.
In early September I was sent some pictures of a snake
The area for the cobras has a large water body in the
from Shivaland by Rohit. The pictures were of a snake
design that should readily attract frogs and toads during
killed around a house at Shivaland in the early hours of
their breeding season. Provision of reeds and other aquat-
the morning (pre-dawn). The snake was found close to
ic vegetation should enable frog spawn to hatch and the
a small green snake. After examining the photos and
resultant tadpoles to survive and develop. These frogs
consulting my reference books, I determined that the
will attract and hold passing snakes as they forage around
snake that was killed was a common krait – one of the
looking for food. It may be possible to also encourage
most venomous snakes in India. This particular spe-
visits by local rats and mice by providing small amounts
cies is active at night and causes many human deaths
of food (like grain) in the vicinity of that section of the
each year as people step on the snakes in the dark
temple where the snakes are welcome. By providing a
because they can’t see them on the ground. This spe-
small amount of food only, the rats and mice will come to
cies prefers other snakes as food so it is interesting
exploit the food but hopefully not have so much food that
that Rohit found a small green snake near this Krait.

(Continued on page 11)