International conference – 27-29 October 2023
The two great phenomena in our existence – birth and death – were experienced differently in the days before the Mystery of Golgotha than they are today. Back then man perceived that by birth he had slipped from a spiritual to a physical existence and knew that he would slip back just as smoothly. He knew that death and birth were episodes in his continuous existence. Today we experience this transition much more dramatically, mainly because of the uncertainty of whether and what will be beyond our physical existence.
Death and rebirth, however, accompany us to a lesser or greater extent during life. We can also experience them every time we overcome an obstacle, a crisis, a moment of weakness; we can perceive them when we observe the development of a child, the formation of relationships, the development of organizations and the work process – these are situations that mark a turning point in life, when a person ends one stage of life and begins a new, qualitatively different one. In this way, one is given the opportunity to develop, to experience death and rebirth during one’s lifetime, and to understand that physical death does not necessarily mean the absolute end, but the end of one stage and the beginning of the next in one’s existence. Rebirth gives direction and meaning to human development.
Throughout our lives, we constantly encounter boundaries. Birth, life changes and crises, relationships with other people, with nature, and finally death are such boundaries. We learn to create, accept and overcome them. Threshold situations meet us at different stages of life as challenges that can hold us back for some time, or can multiply our potential, expand our knowledge, our abilities. They are situations in the experience of which we have the opportunity to lift the veil from the mysteries of our lives and to understand ourselves and others better, and to walk the path to eternity more consciously and lovingly – until we reach the decisive one that will take us over the most significant threshold. How to prepare for this, and how our eternal being is reflected in these threshold situations, will be part of and the source of the entire conference curriculum.
We invite you to a conference where, together with anthroposophical doctors, psychologists and pastors of the Christian community, we will try to explore together the two great moments of life – birth and death – but also the smaller ones in between, when something old dies in us or around us and something new is born.
Lecturers:
Ivana Bartovičová: Crisis moments in childhood and adolescence.
In the life of a child or an adolescent, there are moments that can be crucial for his/her further development. Their correct recognition or non-recognition can have serious or even fatal consequences. Examples from the practice of a Waldorf teacher help us to be more sensitive to these situations.
Working group: on the topic of the lecture.
Tomáš Boněk: Spiritual processes and rituals in the vicinity of birth and dying.
The beginning and the end of life – the gates of our earthly existence – have been experienced intensely by people since time immemorial. Since ancient times, they have associated with them various ritual acts and ceremonies that accompany the process of birth and dying. We will reflect on the meaning of these ceremonies and the events they accompany from the perspective of anthroposophy and various traditions.
Working group: Accompaniment of the unborn, the born, the dying and the dead from the perspective of anthroposophy.
Matthias Girke: Where do we meet the threshold to the spiritual world?
The biography of a human being has many milestones. Childhood leads to adolescence, adulthood to old age. Throughout life we are constantly confronted with closure, with death, and again and again with a new beginning, a new birth. The threshold to the spiritual world is not only connected with our own birth and death, but is found daily in our own being, when we question our true being, it lives in interpersonal relationships, when we meet another person as a spiritual being, and it is found in our relationship with the world, with nature, with the macrocosm. How do we become more and more capable of meeting and crossing this threshold? What are the challenges for us to get to our own true essence, to meet the essence of another human being and to know our relationship with the world?
Workshop: on the theme of the lecture.
Anežka Janátová: Motherhood, the most important profession in preparing the future of humanity.
There is no professional training for the „profession“ of mother. Until recently, it relied on instincts that sustained the human family. But instincts are gradually dying out, and we shall have to learn to grasp many facts which were commonplace for earlier generations with a clear consciousness of the higher world. The first of these earlier commonplaces that we must grasp with clear acknowledgment that the child is not a diminished adult. The second is the role of the father in the maturation of the child. The child’s world is made up of different laws than our intellect imagines, and disrespect for them will only manifest itself in the adult.
Working group: on the subject of the lecture.
Erich Šašinka: Artificial Intelligence – Humanity on the Threshold?
Are we getting our hands on a new Pandora’s box, or is artificial intelligence just another in a series of technological advances that we will get used to as quickly as the previous ones? Can artificial intelligence bring breakthroughs in culture (of the mind), law and economics? Are we ready for this new phenomenon?
Wolfgang Tomaschitz: Meditation, Health, Everyday Life
The everyday life of most people today tends to make us sick and weak. Anthroposophical meditation can counteract this with something healing on a daily (or at least regular) basis. Just as personal medicine must become personal in the future, so must the practice of meditation if it is to be effective. I would like to present some views and initiate a conversation.
Working group: on the topic of the talk.
Maria Vargová: The Path to the Light
What processes take place in the organization of a human being during the period of crossing the threshold of death. How can we prepare for it and how can we help our loved ones in crossing the threshold? What happens in the first hours, days, weeks, months after death? How and why it is good to strive to stay connected with our loved ones. What the current culture experiences as death is really an initiation.
Working Group: Exercises in How to Know Higher Worlds? as preparation for threshold situations in one’s life.
Program
Friday 27.10.2023:
16,00 – 17,30 Registration
19,00 – 19,40 Lecture
Matthias Girke: Where do we meet the threshold to the spiritual world?
19,40 – 20,30 Lecture
Ivana Bartovičová: Crisis moments in childhood and adolescence.
20,30 – 21,00 Musical performance
Saturday 28.10.2023:
8,00 – 8,40 Eurythmy – Alexandra Fialová
The Foundation Stone Meditation – Peter Neurath
9,00 – 9,50 Lecture
Erich Šašinka: Artificial Intelligence – Humanity on the Threshold?
10,00 – 10,50 Lecture
Wolfgang Tomaschitz: Meditation, Health, Everyday Life.
11,10 – 12,00 Lecture
Mária Vargová: The Path to the Light.
Lunchbreak
14,00 – 15,30 Working groups
16,00 – 17,30 Working groups
Dinner
19,00 – 20,00 Lecture
Tomáš Boněk: Spiritual processes and rituals in the vicinity of birth and dying.
20,00 – 20,30 Gloria Dei – Choir
Sunday 29.10.2023:
8,00 – 8,40 Eurythmy – Alexandra Fialová
The Foundation Stone Meditation – Peter Neurath
9,00 – 9,50 Lecture
Anežka Janátová: Motherhood, the most important profession in preparing the future of humanity.
10,00 – 10,50 Lecture
Matthias Girke: What is the importance of light and warmth for human health and mental development? Rudolf Steiner: Foundation Stone Meditation.
11,10 – 12,00 Panel Discussion
12,00 – 12,30 Conclusion
If you have more questions, write on konferencia@antropozofia.sk .