2025 Annual Conference
Description
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Those who wish to be active members should consciously make themselves mediators between what the questioning human soul feels as the problems of the human being and the world, and what the knowledge of the initiates has to say when it draws forth a past world out of the destiny of human beings and when, by strengthening the soul, it opens up the perception of a spiritual world. In this way, through the work of the members who wish to be active, the Anthroposophical Society may become a true preparatory school for the School of Initiates. ~Rudolf Steiner July 13, 1924 |
Destiny ~ Reincarnation ~ Community
It is with great pleasure we invite you to the Annual Conference of the
Anthroposophical Society in America, held this year at the beautiful and historic Detroit Waldorf School
Detroit, Michigan, October 10 to 12, 2025.
WHAT TO KNOW
This year's conference theme focuses our attention on the ways anthroposophy activates the soul's extraordinary capacity to bring healing forces into the world, how it enriches the cultural life of place, and the anthroposophical activity present in the history and geography of the Great Lakes’ region, where the Anthroposophical Society in the US has its headquarters. This year we will spotlight the contemporary civic engagement, community building, and socio-environmental initiatives that are thriving here and that are essential everywhere for healthy human becoming.
Our venue is the beautiful Detroit Waldorf School, where we will celebrate and learn together with featured speakers Bart Eddy, founder of the Brightmoor Markerspace; tribal elder Frank Ettawageshik of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa; Richard Steel, managing director of the Karl König Institute; and Herbert Hagens, bringing research and perspective on the laws of karma and reincarnation through the lens of spiritual science.
DATES
Friday, October 10 - Sunday, October 12, 2025 at the Detroit Waldorf School
The conference begins 3:30 pm Friday and ends at 12pm on Sunday
We will also host three preparatory online conference sessions:
September 23, 7 pm/ET with Mary Stewart Adams
Michaelmas and the Resurrection of Cosmic Secrets as Human Self Kowledge
To open this year's Annual Conference virtual programming on Destiny-Reincarnation-Community, Mary will lead us through a contemplation of the current cosmic picture, to place us firmly in the cycle of the year, and in this season of Michaelmas specifically. As Rudolf Steiner described it in his 1923 Easter lectures, it is by this means that we learn to think together with the course of the year, which is how humanity may begin, once again "to hold a dialogue with the divine spiritual powers revealing themselves from the stars."
September 30, 7 pm/ET with Olivia Stokes Dreier and Lucas Dreier
Dialogue and Listening Across Divides~Perspectives from Peacebuilding and Indigenous Wisdom
This year’s conference poses the question: Who are we that undertake this work with anthroposophy in the world, and how is its foundation realized right where we are? We have all chosen to incarnate in these times of increasing disconnection—both between human beings and groups and between humanity and the natural and spiritual worlds. Olivia Dreier, who works in international peacebuilding, and her son Lucas Dreier, who works in cultural anthropology—both anthroposophists— will share two perspectives on working out of anthroposophy to overcome divides through dialogue.
Olivia’s work on reconciliation in societies ravaged by war has shown her that dialogue (dia-logos), consciously cultivated, can become a crucible through which sworn enemies awaken to their shared humanity—a process that seems to bear a profound Michaelic gesture. And Lucas will share from his work with the Kogi indigenous people of Colombia, who practice dialogue with the earth and with the beings of nature and who remind us that these beings are yearning for us to pay attention. Together, they will invite participants to explore how we can meet one another and the world through listening, and how anthroposophy can contribute to healing the divisions that are symptomatic of our time.
October 7, 7 pm/ET with Ellen Hufschmidt
A Water Ritual of Compassion for Self, Community, and Ancestors
During this presentation, Ellen will lead participants in creating sacred water (privately yet together) for the purpose of blessing, to open and give spiritual nurturance to yourself, your communities, and/or your ancestors. Participants will be given a list of items to prepare beforehand, to create your own altar for this occasion.
Each online offering will open and close with eurythmy by Claudia Fontana.
Presentations will be recorded.
All in-person registrants receive access to all online programming.
LOCATION
Detroit Waldorf School
2555 Burns Avenue
Detroit, MI 48214
The Detroit Waldorf School is located in the beautiful Indian Village neighborhood of Detroit just a few blocks from the Detroit River where it opens out to Lake St. Clair, an essential waterway in the history and geography of this area. There is much to see and do in the surrounding community, including a visit to the anishinaabe exhibit at the Detroit Institue of Arts, a trip to the Henry Ford Museum, the Motown Museum, or a stroll along the riverfront. Beautiful Belle Isle with its picnic sites, Oudulf Garden, the architecturally-stunning aquarium and boat house is situated in the east-west bend of the river a few blocks away from the school, where it marks the international boundary between the US and Canada.
Flying to Detroit for the conference? Here's what to know:
Detroit Metropolitan Airport is 25 miles from the Detroit Waldorf School (about half an hour's drive).
Detroit Metro is an international hub for Delta Airlines.
SUGGESTED ACCOMODATION
Like any metrotpolitan area, Detroit offers a wide array of choices when it comes to accomodation, from Airbnb and VRBO, to boutique and major chain hotels. A few that we recommend, primarily because of their proximity to the Detroit Waldorf School (in the Indian Village neighborhood) are: Frederick Stearns House; Aleo Bed&Breakfast. Indian Village is east of downtown Detroit. Further neighborhood and rental information is included on this website, for your consideration. Information on shared lodging and rides are available upon request. Please email programs@anthroposophy.org.
Registration for our in-person event has closed.
Registration for online preparation and livestream sessions remains open!
Online Only remains open
$100 - includes 3 pre-conference sessions September 23, 30 and October 30
as well as select presentations from in-person conference, including Bart Eddy, Frank Ettawageshik, and Richard Steel
(sessions will be recorded)
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MORE DETAIL
Destiny ~ Reincarnation ~ Community
As our guiding theme for our 2024 annual conference we asked the question: How does anthroposophy live in the United States? And how would we like it to live? This year, we take a step further in this esoteric stream and ask: Who are we that undertake this work with anthroposophy in the world, and how is its foundation realized right where we are?
Each year our annual conference provides an essential opportunity to meet in person to take up earnest dialog around various current activities in a context of themes ~ articulated through keynote talks, ceremonial and festive activity, and through conversation and workshops ~ to invigorate anthroposophical striving in the United States and in the world at this moment in time.
This year we are in pursuit of greater understanding of how destiny forces work in an individual’s life, the mysteries of reincarnation as described through the insights of Rudolf Steiner, and how these forces and mysteries weave into community.
Our venue is the beautiful Detroit Waldorf School, where we will celebrate and learn together with featured speakers Bart Eddy, Detroit Community Schools co-founder, whose Brightmoor Maker Space initiative is in its 14th year offering a developmental pathway of work with young people; tribal elder Frank Ettawageshik of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa, whose 40+ years of public service in securing tribal sovereignty and cultural preservation has made him a sought-after speaker and counselor throughout the world; Richard Steel, speaker, poet, and managing director of the Karl König Institute; and Herbert Hagens, bringing research and perspective on the laws of karma and reincarnation through the lens of spiritual science.
This year we are excited to open with a sacred land acknowledgement and song from the Detroit Waldorf School choir under the direction of class teacher Elyse Edmondson. Keynote presentations, workshops, song, shared meals, and ceremonial activities will fill our time together.
Detroit has played a significant role in the history of the United States, both at the country's founding in the late 1700s, and in the industrialization that marked the 20th century. Detroit is also situated in the heart of the Great Lakes region, the largest surface area of fresh water in the world. Rudolf Steiner described the fresh waters of the Earth as the eyes of the Earth's soul1, through which the Earth looks into the surrounding cosmic environment and meditates on the occurrences of the stars.2
We look forward to seeing you at the conference.3
1. The earth does not see out into the universe through the sea, because the sea is salt and that gives it an interior character like our stomach. The springs with their fresh water are open to the universe, just as our eyes look freely out into space. We can say therefore that in countries where there are springs, the earth looks far out into the universe. ~Rudolf Steiner, Cosmic Working in Earth and Man (GA 352), December 9, 1924
2. The Earth thinks with its consciousness the whole firmament of heaven nearest to the Earth. As we look with our eyes on trees and stones, so does the Earth consciously look into space and contemplate all that takes place in the stars. The Earth is a being that meditates on the occurrences of the stars. ~Rudolf Steiner, The Year as a Symbol of the Great Cosmic Year (GA 165), December 31, 1915.
3. The beautiful beaux-arts monument pictured above adorns the Russell A. Alger Memorial Fountain in Detroit’s Grand Circus Park (just a few blocks from the Spirit of Detroit statue we featured earlier). The seven-foot bronze figure symbolizes Michigan, with one hand raised in greeting and the other holding a sword and shield bearing the state crest. Unveiled on July 27, 1921, this piece is considered one of the most successful collaborations between sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon, the duo renowned for designing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
SCHEDULE* |
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Friday 10/10 directed by Kalyse Edmondson and Walter-Ray Hudson 7:00pm Keynote with Bart Eddy *For members of the School for Spiritual Science Saturday 10/11 10:00am Conversation Groups 11:15am Break 11:30am Artistic Workshops 2:30pm Eurythmy with Claudia Fontana 5:30pm Dinner 7:30pm Stormy Paths Toward Higher Truths Moments from Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas Dramatic reading with music and eurythmy, performed by local artists and guests. Program about an hour.
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Sunday 10/12 - A Path of Practice for the Destiny of the Human Being, the Community, the Earth
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MEET YOUR PRESENTERS
Learn more about conference presenters (both online and in-person), workshop leaders, and performers (this list is continually updating)
Bart Eddy is a teacher, entrepreneur, and father of two, who makes his home with his wife in Southfield, Michigan. In 2011, several years after co-founding Detroit Community High School, Bart founded the Brightmoor Makerspace, a youth employment program that has grown from experiential, hands-on learning through community projects into an entreprenuer training for youth.
Frank Ettawageshik is the former Chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. During his 14-year tenure as Chairman, Frank was instrumental in the adoption of the Tribal and First Nations Great Lakes Water Accord in 2004 and the United League of Indigenous Nations Treaty in 2007. Frank now serves as the Executive Director of the United Tribes of Michigan and wears many other hats including the Board President of the Association on American Indian Affairs, the Chairman of the United League of Indigenous Nations Governing Board, a Co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians Federal Acknowledgment Task Force, and an advisor to the Alliance of Colonial Era Tribes (ACET). His 40-plus years of public service has included serving on the Executive Board of the National Congress of American Indians, the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, the Historical Society of Michigan, the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, the Michigan Climate Action Council, the Little Traverse Conservancy, the Michigan Travel Commission, the Public Interest Advisory Group for the International Joint Commission’s Upper Great Lakes Study, the Michigan Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council, the Great Lakes Water Quality Board, and the Michigan Water Use Advisory Council.
Kalyse Edmondson has been educating children for over 20 years in schools and fine arts programs across southeastern Michigan. She has worked with institutions such as The Detroit Historical Museum, The Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, and The Henry Ford. Kalyse holds a BFA in Digital Media Production, and is the founder of the youth theater troupe, Jamii Youth Theatre. A partnership with the Detroit City Lions, a non-profit based out of the Marygrove Conservancy. Kalyse is also the co-founder of Timbre Community Chorus which is based at Detroit Waldorf School. In her spare time Kalyse enjoys biking, singing, nature trails, making music, traveling, camping, swimming, photography, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her fur babies and her non-fur baby.
Richard Steel studied Linguistics, and then completed a training at the Camphill Seminar for Curative Education in 1975. He lived and worked with his family in a Camphill community for children and youngsters with special needs in Germany until 2008. Since then, he has been in charge of Karl König’s literary estate and founded the Karl König Institute. Richard is a speaker and poet, and is responsible for the new edition of Karl König’s written works. He has been involved in establishing a Camphill life-sharing community with elderly people in New York State. He is managing director of the Karl König Institute und runs its office in Kleinmachnow near Berlin.
Herbert Hagens is a retired German instructor who taught in adult education and at Princeton University. He has been an active member of the Anthroposophical Society since 1969 and serves as co-coordinator of the Circle of Class Holders in North America. His lecture topics focus in particular on Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas and the Calendar of the Soul. He also conducts seminars on reincarnation and karma in the Anthroposophical Studies Program at the Goetheanum in Dornach. Herbert lives with his wife in Princeton, New Jersey, where he co-founded the Waldorf School of Princeton.
Claudia Fontana, conference presenter, saw eurythmy for the first time when she was still a teenager..."And with an almost violent joy I knew that this was what I wished to do in life. I trained in Vienna, Austria, followed by 15 years as a performer in Dornach, Stuttgart and London." Claudia entered into the pedagogical aspect of Eurythmy, teaching in Waldorf Schools, conferences, and adult education venues, in the USA and Europe, keeping very busy for 35 years. The last seven years of her active teaching life were spent in Thailand, Malaysia and mostly China. Since covid, Claudia lives in Ann Arbor, daily nourishing and practicing the art of Eurythmy which has filled her life.
Mary Stewart Adams (online presenter, September 23) has been General Secretary and President of the Anthroposophical Society in America since autumn, 2023. She serves as a spokesperson for the Society and country representative in the international movement. For over 20 years Mary has worked as a dark skies advocate, to raise awareness about the effects of light pollution and to make known the mysteries of the starry skies from environmental, cultural, and anthroposophical perspectives. She led the team that established the first International Dark Sky Park in Michigan (2011) which she further led to award-winning recognition within the state of Michigan and the international dark skies movement. She has produced a weekly podcast based on this work for the last 14 years. Mary first encountered the work of Rudolf Steiner at the age 18 in 1981, and later met Hazel Straker, a pioneer in astrosophy, in 1996. These two destiny moments have shaped much of her life path, which, together with her education in literary arts, continue to inspire her work and research. She joined the School of Spiritual Science in 2000.
Janey Newton, workshop leader, is currently the co-owner of Foxhollow Farm, a 1300 acre biodynamic farm located just north of Louisville, KY. Throughout her adult years, Janey has been a student of anthroposophy and has participated in the support and founding of initiatives that bring anthroposophy into our everyday lives. She is one of the founders of the Waldorf School of Louisville and graduated from the Biography and social Arts training in 2016.
Kathleen Bowen, workshop leader, holds a certificate in Biography and Social Art and is currently a faculty member in the training program. She manages 'Awakening Connections; Creating Community’, a program for Waldorf schools and Anthroposophic groups.
Barbara Richardson, eurythmist and workshop leader. When Barbara first enthusiastically joined the Anthroposophical Society in 1974, she felt a deep commitment to support and develop the work of Rudolf Steiner. This commitment led her to a fulfilling career in Eurythmy, Waldorf Education, contributing roles in the Anthroposophical Society, and offering Eurythmy in the Workplace. Currently her focus is Therapeutic Eurythmy. She and her husband, Marke Levene, now live in Ann Arbor. Barbara will lead the artistic workshop First Experiences of Eurythmy: Plato’s “Cratylus Dialog” and “Asia Speaks” by Shelley. This artistic workshop will give the participants an opportunity to see eurythmy and to experience eurythmy by moving together.
Marke Levene, speech artist and Saturday evening performer. The challenge of how to fund the Arts arising from Anthroposophy has been at the center of Marke's whole life. In the Mystery Dramas, Hillary tells his brothers in the Templar Knights’ castle that their task is not to look for the results of their work but to “Sow the seeds.”
Online Presenters
Lucas Dreier (online, September 30) has worked for several years with the Kogi people of Colombia, studying their traditional knowledge practices and supporting efforts to protect their land. A long-time student of both anthroposophy and anthropology, he attended the Hartsbrook Waldorf School in Hadley, Massachusetts, and went on to help initiate the Yale Sustainable Food Project. He currently serves on the Eastern Region Holding Group of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
Olivia Stokes Dreier, online presenter (September 30), is a Senior Research Fellow on Global Challenges to Democracy at the Toda Peace Institute and a Senior Peacebuilding Advisor to Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, where she served for many years as Executive Director. In collaboration with local partners, shehas developed and led peacebuilding programs in over 20 conflict-affected countries, working at all levels of society, from national and regional governing bodies to networks of civil society and community-based organizations. She is a longtime student of anthroposophy and was involved in the founding and development of the Hartsbrook Waldorf School in Hadley, MA.
Ellen Hufschmidt, MA online presenter (October 7), is a chaplain, grief counselor, and death educator. In her private practice, Rites of Change: Transitions With Courage, she provides counseling for grief and loss, and guidance for end-of-life planning including home vigils and green burials. As a celebrant, she officiates funerals and provides a full range of life-cycle rituals from birth to death for individuals, families, organizations, and communities to mark change. For ten years, Ellen worked at Essentia Hospice program in Duluth, Minnesota, where she did grief counseling and used her skills as a Reiki healer to ease and comfort those facing death. Prior to that she served as a chaplain at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree in human development from Saint Mary’s–University of Minnesota. Her professional training also includes in-depth study of Process Work psychology and completion of a two-year certificate program with Arnold Mindell and the Process Work Institute in Portland, Oregon. She is grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from Indigenous teachers and healers from the Dagara, Potawatomi, and Mayan cultures. These experiences inspired Ellen to rediscover her own Celtic and European ancestral Indigenous roots.
Performances, etc.
Friday evening, October 10, immediately following Bart Eddy's opening presentation, conference participants are invited to join Mary Stewart Adams for an evening sky "star party" on Belle Isle. This beautiful 982-acre island is located in the Detroit River and offers nice views of the sky overhead. Transportation will be provided to the island, which is just a few blocks from the Detroit Waldorf School, where we hope to see the brightest stars of autumn and catch the waning gibbous moonrise over the water. Mary has been involved in an initiative to have Belle Isle protected as an urban night sky place, to help raise awareness about appropriate ways to use artifial light at night.
Saturday evening, October 11, we will be treated to a reader's theater performance of various short scenes from Rudolf Steiner's Mystery Dramas, under the title: Stormy Paths Toward Higher Truths. This performance will include dramatic reading with music and eurythmy, performed by local artists and guests. Program just under an hour.
No refunds after September 10, 2025.
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