Sacramental Conversation: Rudolf Steiner and the Reverse Ritual

A TALK BY CHRISTOPHER SCHAFER, PhD

March 17, 2024
1:30 pm – 4 pm

Mettabee Farm and Arts
551 Harlemville Road
Hillsdale, NY

In this talk and workshop, we will explore the qualities of sacramental conversation and the threshold experiences we can have in dialogue with others and with the spirit. Rudolf Steiner suggested that the more we can practice a conscious dialogue with the spirit, a reverse ritual, when compared with the traditional rites of the Church, the more quickly the earth and human culture would be spiritualized. What did he mean and how can we best practice sacramental or sacred conversation in our lives?

Christopher Schaefer Ph.D. is a retired adult educator who for many years taught at both Emerson College in England and at Sunbridge College in New York. He has also been an organization and community development consultant for most of his life, working both with Waldorf schools and Camphill Communities as well as with many more conventional organizations. He is the co-author of Vision in Action: Working with Soul and Spirit in Small Organizations, and the author of Partnerships of Hope: Building Waldorf School Communities and Re-Imagining America: Finding Hope in Difficult Times. He lives with his wife, Signe, in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.