Jeremy Smith
East Sussex
I’m currently organising a programme of talks and workshops on a part-time freelance basis for Emerson College in Forest Row, East Sussex in the UK. I’ve worked in various branches of education since 1986, in both employed and self-employed roles. Before that, I was the arts and entertainments officer for one of the London boroughs and before that I trained as an actor at the Mountview Theatre School. I’ve had an interest in the work of Rudolf Steiner for many years and have spent several years as the education facilitator in a Steiner school. I’ve also been the trustee of another Steiner school, have worked as a member of the executive group of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship and have been a lay inspector for Ofsted inspections of Steiner schools. Biodynamic agriculture, another of Steiner’s initiatives, is a huge interest of mine and I’m a shareholder of the Tablehurst & Plaw Hatch Farms Co-op in Forest Row, East Sussex. I’m also a director of Tablehurst Farm and have a part-time role as manager of the Tablehurst Farm care home.
Great blog. I was interested in the Chinese yam as I’m growing it biodynamically in Devon. Velwellorchard.org
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Hello Jeremy (another biodynamic Jeremy!)
Thanks for your comment and I was pleased to hear that you are growing the Chinese yam in Devon. Ralf Roessner came to Emerson college (where I work) at the end of April to give a talk about the light root and while he was with us, he also brought some samples of the root, together with lots of bulbils for us to plant. There’s a short film showing these being planted (including voice over by yours truly) on the Emerson website:
http://www.emerson.org.uk/news/item/the-light-root-ralf-roessner
All the best,
Jeremy (the anthropopper)
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Great! Yes I heard about that and would have loved to have been there. However, it’s not easy to get away!
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Hi Jeremy – thanks for your confirmation email. Is it OK to link your blogs in an Anthroposophical Facebook Group sometimes?
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Hello Pam,
Yes, of course – thank you for asking!
Best wishes,
Jeremy
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Hello, I have just discovered your interesting blog after buying Ralf Roessner’s book ‘The Light Root’. I am interested in growing the light root and wonder where I may obtain some. I recently bought a large yam to eat but don’t know if it is the correct variety. All Dr. Steiner’s writings are of huge interest to me as I am living a Spiritually moved life. How wonderful to find others of like mind! I haven’t yet had time to read through all the posts and interactions on your blog but I will be reading. Thanks and very pleased.
Good wishes, Sara.
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What a lovely surprise to stumble upon your thoughtful and far-flung musings, Jeremy.
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Dear Dr Dann,
Thank you for your very kind comment – your blog looks fascinating and I will enjoy exploring it soon!
Very best wishes,
Jeremy
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Dear Mr. Smith,
I recently noticed your recommendation to another user on the discussion about “Britain and the European Union – should we stay or should we go?” to take a look at my paper regarding Brexit. Thank you very much indeed for doing so and I am very glad that you found my paper interesting.
Very best wishes,
Ben Clements
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Hello Jeremy, I want to make contact to introduce myself and also introduce my new Steiner-inspired book: Postformal Education: A Philosophy for Complex Futures. I am sure you will love it based on your own interests. To get a flavour of my writing and philosophy, please check out my blog Postformal Futures. https://jennifergidley.wordpress.com
Cheers, Jennifer
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Brilliant work, thank you very much Jeremy & everyone.
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Hello, can you expand on why you would “say no more” about Sorath?
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Steiner didn’t say very much about Sorath, and I think this was because there is something too terrible about Sorath and his aims and powers which puts him beyond the bounds of subjects for normal discussion. So I tend to stay away from the subject, too.
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Thank you…I have had similar impressions from the very few historical defences I can find. There doesn’t seem to be a historical source for this name, at least not one that I can locate.
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Steiner actually said a great deal about Sorath, first in this lecture-course from 1918, and then again in September 1924, wherein in lecture VIII, he reveals how the name is formed.
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA184/English/RSP1965/ThrStr_index.html
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA346/English/UNK1995/Apocal_index.html
So, it has to be gone over, and especially today, in order to make sense of it.
Steve
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Dear Jeremy.
You and I don’t know each other (yet) but I am delighted to have found your website. We are interested in quite many of the same subjects and I’ll most likely return to you with questions and informations. I am a Dane and my english is not perfect.
For now, I have two questions. In your bright article https://anthropopper.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/the-uks-brexit-and-anti-globalisation-general-election/ you write in the second last paragraph:
“For the European level, Steiner looked forward to a common European economic life (which the EEC had started to provide), a common supranational European cultural life (which over the last fifty years has started to emerge in many ways) but to the maintenance of national values and traditions in the sphere of rights and law.”
I have heard that very same essence on Rudolf Steiner’s social ideas from other anthroposophists as well, namely that the sphere of rights and law must (at least still for quite a long time in evolution) be rooted in the nations/peoples and must thus not be supranational. Of course, free international INSPIRATION in this sphere too is fine but nothing must be ENFORCED on a(nother) people. Steiner confirms that already in 1886(!): http://wn.rsarchive.org/GA/GA0002/English/AP1985/GA002_c18.html
One told me that it is the “spirit” going through Steiner’s many works on threefolding but my question for you is:
#1: Can you point out specific lectures or book chapters where Steiner claims the spirit/essence mentioned above (the maintenance of national values and traditions in the sphere of rights and law)?
We must still be able and willing to extract essences/”spirits” ourselves over time – but in debates and conversations it does help a lot if we can point out specific works and not just refer to “the spirit of …”.
#2: Has Steiner actually spoken/written in favour of a common or supranational economic + cultural sphere on EUROPEAN level … weren’t these two spheres rather to be on a GLOBAL level (or generally international level, if you will)?
Just a well as EU is neither Europe nor the whole world, nor is the geographic Europe the whole world/humanity. 🙂
I will be deeply thankful if you can help me on this, good Jeremy. Perhabs I can be at some help for you in return. For example, I have written these (in Danish, I’m sorry) on the EU:
http://falko.nu/rs/rom.html
http://falko.nu/rs/nateu.html
http://falko.nu/rs/fed.html
By the way, concerning GA 2: In his foreword http://wn.rsarchive.org/GA/GA0002/English/AP1985/GA002_pre1924.html from November 1923 for the preface to the New Edition of 1924, Steiner wrote: “If I were writing it today, I would state many things differently.” But that referred to the FORM, as I perceive the words. When it comes to the CONTENTS of his April 1886 book, he states in November 1923:
“But I would not be able to present anything different as the essential being of knowledge. (…) What I sketched years ago in this little book as the epistemology implicit in the Goethean world view seems to me just as necessary to say today as it was forty years ago.”
Thus, the contents of his 1886 words was neither immature nor outdated.
– Best wishes
Magnus Falko, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Hello Magnus – thank you for your message. I will try to reply to your question within the next few days, once I’ve got past a very busy period in my life!
Best wishes,
Jeremy
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Greetings Jeremy!
I just signed up to follow your blog. I am a Software Engineer living in Boise, Idaho, USA and only recently came upon Steiner’s work(s) and have since been reading voraciously. I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian convert (over 15 years ago) and have studied deeply the early Church Fathers. What fascinates me is how so much of Steiner’s work lines up with the Fathers and my own personal understanding of God (to put the entire subject of Spirituality in a “nutshell” of sorts).
I will certainly be reading more of your blog. Thanks!
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Greetings, Kenneth! You are very welcome and thank you for your kind words. I hope you will contribute comments to these blog postings whenever you feel moved to do so.
Best wishes,
Jeremy
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Much of Steiner’s work seem to echo the Baha’i Faith’s teachings. I know Abdul’Baha gave lectures in Europe around the same time Steiner was forming his work. As Jiddo Krishnamurti was introduced to Abdul’Baha (know as “the master”) at these lectures (both in Europe and New York, USA), just before he wrote his first booklet, At The Feet of The Master, that shares these teachings. I think it might be likely that there is a cross over of knowledge from Baha’u’llah. There are some writings from a professor at Oxford (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Granville_Browne ) that met and wrote about his personal meeting with Baha’u’llah (so no translation needed). I believe that there are some unsuspecting answers to questions we have been trying to understand.
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