General Secretary Page
Since 2023, Mary Stewart Adams has been general secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America. She serves as a spokesperson for the society and country representative in the international movement. She is also a Star Lore Historian and independent contractor working out of the initiative to safeguard the human imagination by protecting our access to the night sky and its stories.
Below are postings, articles from being human magazine, and member responses from past general secretaries and leaders of the ASA.
Fresh Beginnings, New Pathways
Mary Stewart Adams’ Inaugural Address as General Secretary October 9, 2023[1] [1] This is a transcript of a spoken address. Thank you, John, and the entire council. And thank you everyone here in the Ann Arbor, Michigan community and everyone…
Read MoreClosing Remarks from the AGM, October 9, 2023
Greetings Members, Colleagues, Friends, I am inwardly full from my recent days at the World Goetheanum Conference (1000 people, 50 countries) and my final meetings with General Secretaries and Country Representatives from around the world. These dear colleagues are present…
Read MoreFrom the General Secretary
Anthroposophy is a path of inquiry, a way of being in the world, and of service to the world. So, it matters how we form social foundations out of interest in matters of the world as well as the beings…
Read MoreReport from Dornach: Spring Meeting of the General Secretaries & Country Representatives, & the Annual General Meeting
March, 28-April 2, 2023, By John Bloom The spring meeting of the General Secretaries and Country Representatives of Anthroposophical Societies from around the world precedes the Annual General Meeting of the World Society. Such was the case again this year.…
Read MoreFrom the General Secretary
On the Matter of Matter and Spirit Our Annual Conference in Washington, DC, had a special mood. It was intimate in contrast to the political ethos of our nation’s capital, and reflective in the way of the pool stretching along…
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General Secretary Search
The General Secretary Nominating Committee, on behalf of the General Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America, turns to you with a request to bring forth nominations of members who might be able to serve as the next General Secretary…
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From the General Secretary
It was very moving to hear first-hand reports from Country Representative colleagues from Slovenia and the Czech Republic at our spring gathering and Annual General Meeting at the Goetheanum.
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From the General Secretary
Rudolf Steiner intended for anthroposophy to be a source of spiritual insight and renewal for practical work in the world.
Read MoreFrom the General Secretary
November 2021 Dear Members & Friends, The mind thinks it loves; the heart loves before the thought. I cannot begin this letter without first recognizing the innovative efforts, good will, and inspired colleagues that made our Annual Conference in October, Building…
Read MoreFrom the General Secretary
With the grace of a broad enough shift in pandemic mood and practices, I was able to begin writing this post from the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, where I was participating in the postponed spring meeting of the General Secretaries and Country Representatives.
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From the General Secretary
Spring is an energizing time of year, a time of renewal in the natural world. Festivals celebrated during this time of year reflect the power of transformation, death, rebirth, and liberation of the spirit.
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The Shadow Side of Gift
By Dorothy Hinkle-Uhlig, in response to “The Alchemy of Gift” by John Bloom. “Simply stated, the gift works healthily when it is recognized consciously, humbly, and consequentially as a gift.”
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From the General Secretary: “the beat of daily news”
June 3, 2020 — Present events and the beat of daily news have kept me in a state of rawness. No one I have spoken with is immune from suffering.
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From the General Secretary: “between self and community interest”
From the General Secretary April 12, 2020 Dear Members and Friends, I never imagined writing something to you in the midst of a global pandemic in which sheltering in place, spatial distancing, and fear of being infected or infecting others…
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Letter from Virginia Sease
Intro from John Bloom, General Secretary How wonderful, timely and surprising it was to receive a letter meant for all US Society members from Virginia Sease, emeritus member of the Executive Council of the Goetheanum in Dornach, former Council member…
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The Alchemy of Gift
from being human – winter-spring 2020 by John Bloom What might an analysis of gift streams tell us about the development of human consciousness in the twenty-first century in the United States? The experience of giving and receiving makes it clear…
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From the General Secretary: “a cultural sea change afoot”
January 2020 Dear Members and Friends, Welcome to the new year, new decade, and what the future will certainly ask of us—awakening and deepening community. It is highly significant and worth celebrating that nearly 900 people participated in the Society’s…
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From the General Secretary: “working out of a Michaelic attitude”
December 2019 Dear Members and Friends, The fall has been a very full, a time of harvest and harmony, a time of protest and celebration, and a time of reconsidering our history. The Society’s October gathering in Atlanta, Georgia, Facing Each…
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From the General Secretary: “where has the sacred gone?”
August, 2019 Dear Members and Friends, The truth is that when any notion of the sacred is banished, it is impossible for humans to establish a hierarchy of values. Thus we can try to impose a few rules externally, but…
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The Gift of a Life : Joan Almon (1944-2019)
Joan understood the work with children as an urgent necessity for humanity as a whole.
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The Temple and the Treasury
from being human spring-fall 2019 by John Bloom How is it that high-profile banks have managed to perpetuate their mythic images as temples of finance? Despite the revelations of wrong-doing, ethical breaches, and market manipulation, banks are still keepers of our…
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From the General Secretary: from Goetheanum spring meetings
May 3, 2019A Brief Report from the Spring Meetings at the Goetheanum Dear Members and Friends,Spring greetings. As I did last year, I am writing this brief report following the spring meetings at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Most public…
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