Motivated by experiences at Emerson College in his twenties, Gerry Josephson seeks to enthuse and encourage adults through the wisdom of Rudolf Steiner’s work. Using his
passion for speech and drama, and his personal research into the deep roots of anthroposophy, he continues to offer adult education experiences through a course called ‘Grail Quest’, now located in Hobart, Tasmania.
After growing up in South Africa, travelling to the UK, and later spending a year in New York, Gerry was unexpectedly guided to study in Australia after his years at Emerson College, and stayed here to share his experiences and his wisdom.
He explores some of the challenges facing anthroposophy, and other spiritual and religious paths, around bridging the polarities of light and darkness through his research and exploration around the distinct archetypes of Apollo and Dionysus.
The theme of courage rings through this interview as Gerry urges us to bring our unique creativity inspired by human wisdom into the world.
You can listen to the conversation with Gerry here.
He recites a version of the following Steiner verse to end the interview:
I would enkindle all human beings
From out of the Spirit of the cosmos
To become a flame
And unfold in fire
Their being’s very nature
The others, they would take,
Out of the cosmos, water
To quench with it the flames;
And dampening all being,
Lame it from within.
Oh joy, when the human flame
Is aglow, even where it rests;
Oh bitterness, when the human thing
Is bound there, where it longs to be active.*
Image credit: Evolving forms (detail), 1984, Roger Kemp
(after) Victorian Tapestry workshop (manufacturer),
Leonie Bessant (maker), Merrill Dumbrell (maker), Sonja Hansen (maker), Pamela Joyce (maker), Irja West (maker), Iain Young (maker),
National Gallery of Victoria.
The music on this recording is by Michael Young, aka Young Werther. You can find him on facebook.
* Rudolf Steiner, Truth-wrought-words, Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, NY, 1979, p 77.
Jane Bradshaw is a clinical nurse consultant in hepatology and the Tasmanian branch secretary for the Anthroposophical Society in Australia. I was interested in interviewing Jane when I heard her describe her approach with her patients suffering liver disease. She talked about her focus on allowing them to tell their stories. In our conversation, Jane explores this further and describes the power of self-reflection and self-care which enables this kind of work.
Julia Wolfson‘s life and work are inspired by her own background, experience and challenges in addressing crisis and difficulty especially in human services organisations through developing our innate powers. Julia is inspired by the work of Arnold and Amy Mindell around the principles of deep democracy.
Dawn Langman, educator and actor, shares her life experiences with great insight, frankness and wisdom. In this conversation, Dawn places her traumatic early life experiences in the context of her understanding of reincarnation. She shares her own mystical experiences and the experience of dissociation and disembodiment and the impacts these have had on her life. She also relates her experience as a homosexual and her insights from anthroposophy about homosexuality.
Susan Vos describes herself as a healing facilitator. Her work involves helping people who are seeking to transform their grief. This work is based on her own life experience. In October, 2006, 24 year old Simon, one of her two sons, died in a kayaking accident. As well as a profound shock and a time of grief for Susan and her family, it was also an experience of deep transformation that led her to understand her life purpose. In this conversation we explore this transformation.
In a life which has seen him shift from a high-powered job in IT to psychotherapy, from Germany to Australia, from teenage atheism to anthroposophy, and from a fear of death to working with the dying in Australia and Africa, Siegfried Gutbrod has taken risky decisions with the help of meditative guidance. Hear about his adventures in this interview.