Module Descriptions
The Three-fold Human Being: An exploration of Steiner's understanding of the human being as three-fold in nature: body-soul-spirit as basis of our existence, and thinking-feeling-will as basis of our psychological nature. We look at our daily lives in terms of this three-foldness: how we can integrate ourselves as individuals and develop imagination, inspiration and intuition to enrich our lives.
The Four Levels of Existence: A study of the four interpenetrating bodies that make up our physical existence: the physical body, the energy (or "life") body, the sensation (or "astral") body and the human ego. From this we explore health and disease, our psychological make-up and the inter-relatedness of mineral, plant, animal and human kingdoms.
The Twelve Senses: In this study we see that a far greater variety of senses bring us our experiences in life. We learn to recognise our stronger and weaker senses through exploring the twelve senses, and how they can be enhanced.
Phases of Childhood: Early Childhood Development; Middle Childhood Development; Adolescence: Childhood has a far greater impact on who we are in adult life than we ever imagined! We absorb the whole of our conditioning and learn how to live life during these formative years - therefore, it is of utmost importance to look back on the process of development we have gone through. We also learn what every child needs for the best possible development towards adulthood. We look at three phases: early childhood (birth to 7), middle childhood (7 -14) and adolescence (14 - 21).
The Four Temperaments: Understanding the four basic types of personalities helps us in all our dealings with others as well as ourselves. This fascinating study shows us the strengths and weaknesses of each temperament, and how we need a variety of temperaments for effective teamwork. We look at our own temperament and reflect on ways of further developing our qualities, as well as how to overcome our inevitable one-sidedness.
Biography: These sessions provide an opportunity for us to look at our own lives: what has happened to us in the past, how we feel about our present life and what we deeply long to do with the rest of our life. This we do in small groups, sharing our experiences and helping each other to gain perspective on our past, present and future. We also look at the adult phases of development, essential for having a clear map to guide us through the changes that happen in us at each stage of our adult lives.
Eurythmy: An art of movement devised by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with the first eurythmists for performance, educational and therapeutic purposes. We begin with simple movements that bring wholeness, flexibility and aliveness to the individual.
Speech and Storytelling: The way one speaks reveals a lot about oneself. The speech exercises we do, not only improve your voice and articulation, but also stimulate aliveness in your soul. This leads to the art of storytelling, practised in conjunction with the Parzival module.
Arts and Crafts: The selection of Arts and Crafts is woven throughout the modules and is designed to awaken creativity in each and every person, no matter how much or how little one has been exposed to them. They allow the opportunity to deepen the content of the modules. The Arts work specifically on helping one to become a more flexible, alive person, as well as to awaken the imagination. Basic artistic skills are developed, which participants can take further after the programme if they so wish. Involving oneself in crafts has a healing and stimulating effect, helping one to connect with wholesome work. (Gandhi used to spend several hours every day at his weaving, in order to maintain his perspective and connection to real life!)
Painting and Drawing: We focus on experiencing colour in wet-on-wet watercolours and drawing with natural-dye beeswax crayons. The painting and drawing done is designed to assist personal development as well as introduce basic techniques.
Clay: Working with clay brings one in touch with the creativity in one's hands. We learn to become spontaneous in giving expression to moods and feelings, in contrasting different elements, leading to modelling the small child.
Form Drawing: The drawing of forms (patterns) is a development of thinking in the medium of line. It enhances ordered thinking and special awareness, generating creative energy and aliveness.
Handskills: Starting with marbling, we create folders for storing our paintings and drawings. We then move on to textile crafts such as knitting, sewing and cross-stitch.
Choir: Singing together is a wonderful community-building activity. It helps us to cross social barriers and harmonise with others. Singing causes us to breathe deeply, thereby oxygenating and energizing the entire body.
Theosophy: A study of the first chapter of this book by Rudolf Steiner continues the themes of the first module in this programme (The Three-fold Human Being). These studies, facilitated by group discussions, provide deeper insights around who we are and how we evolve as human beings.
Mythology and Storytelling (Grimms, African, Greek): every culture has a rich tradition of mythology and the telling of stories. Modern civilisation threatens this age-old tradition. We look at three great sources of mythology that have shaped civilisation, exploring the deeper meaning that they carry. Every story tells us - in symbolic language - about the human being, psychologically and developmentally. We learn to tell selected stories for different age-groups.
Goetheanistic Observation: How we understand ourselves and the world depends on how we observe and then come to conclusions. In this study we practise observing as a pure activity, and then characterising what we see rather than coming to fixed conclusions. This is important for developing openness, as well as learning how to bring aliveness into our thinking.