The Karma of Exclusion

Ita Wegman...etc...

TODAY 02-22-2024 is the 148^th anniversary of the Birth of Dr. Ita Wegman, close collaborator & co-founder of Anthroposophical medicine with Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Frau Doctor Wegman was / is / & will continue to be, a co-worker with Rudolf Steiner – having served with him thru-out many life-times together.

For many years Steiner gave Wegman meditations & clues to gently unlock her memory of their shared incarnations - always leaving her in complete freedom.

Finally on that fatal NYE 100 years ago, as she stood with him watching the 1st Goetheanum burn, a flash of their lives together in Ephesus was revealed - forming forth from the  flames. After that she was able to develop the capacity to recall her former incarnations.

And in the evening lectures of the Christmas Conference - in ‘World History in the Light of Anthroposophy’ – Steiner spoke specifically about their incarnations as Gilgamesh & Eaboni, also as Aristotle & Alexander (born on the day the Temple of Ephesus burned to the ground)      

How could it be then, that this great soul & constant helpmate to the entelechy of Rudolf Steiner, be cast out of the Anthroposophical Society?

Indeed how could it be that even after the Joyous re-founding & merging of the Society with the Spiritual Movement thru the linking of karma with Rudolf Steiner at the Christmas Foundation Meeting, where Ita Wegman was named along with Marie Steiner, Albert Steffen, Elizabeth Vreede, & Guenther Wachsmuth, to be in the newly formed Vorstand - then especially after Steiner’s death, Ita Wegman, Rudolf Steiner's closest collaborator at the end of his life, became the object of intense opposition, systematic exclusion, & misunderstanding. This ostracism & misinformation was kept alive by prejudice & untruths - creating a distorted atmosphere that prevented a clear & unbiased view.

The growing tension, & hostility, with the resulting forming of factions, came to a head in 1934–35, making the work of the Executive Council impossible. The powerful spiritual will impulses & initiatives of Elisabeth Vreede & Ita Wegman in particular, were not understood - & misinterpreted as opposition. So both women became more & more isolated in Dornach - They were not consulted in any decision making process even though they were members of the Vorstand handpicked by Rudolf Steiner.

In the end the only way out of this plight seemed to be separation & exclusion - The old scape-goat approach. This step became legally effective in 1935, after a first attempt in 1934 had failed due to formalities. So during the AGM of 14 March 1935, where 1,820 members came together in the unfinished shell of the 2nd Goetheanum, a group promoted by the remaining members of the Executive Council moved that Ita Wegman & Elisabeth Vreede be excluded from the Executive Council & divested of all duties, including their section leaderships - This motion was fueled by a “memorandum” that was distributed to the membership, serving as propaganda for this motion which contained false & defamatory accusations.

Ita Wegman, & particularly Elisabeth Vreede, were not able to continue their work for the Society or their Sections, & were left with nothing.

What many don’t know is that this motion also demanded the exclusion of various leading members from Great Britain, the Netherlands & Germany, as well as the exclusion of the entire British & Dutch Anthroposophical Societies, & all groups that had come together in an association of Independent Anthroposophical Groups, which were formed mostly to include young people.

The decision effectively split the Anthroposophical Society in twain. But these dismissals & exclusions didn’t resolve the conflicts within the Anthroposophical Society. The kowtowing of the leadership to pressures from the Nazi party, which was one of the points of contention leading to the expulsions, continued. But despite this capitulation, the Nazi’s still banned & persecuted the Anthroposophical Society anyway, & by time of the Second World War, almost all the anthroposophical work came to a standstill.

Most folks in the Anthroposophical Society today know about this history. At the 2018 AGM a motion ‘Towards Rehabilitation’ was voted on, with the intention to heal this ‘sore spot in the Anthroposophical Society’s history’.

And now everyone is doing zoom presentations lauding Ita Wegman. Amen & Halleluiah.

But what’s interesting is that now everyone beats up on Marie Steiner, who was the 3^rd part of the Golden Triangle with Rudolf Steiner.  

If we are ever going to stop doing the blame & shame game of polarizing, we need to take up the core mission of Rudolf Steiner, to not only research, but to practice bringing a balance to our Karmic Relationships - Which Steiner laid out as our task in those 82 lectures.

And so, here we are - incarnated together again on earth. Will we endevour to take up this karmic task? (clears throat, um, Yes, that’s right, I’m talking to you. O, but you’re probaly not reading this are you,,,sigh…)

Or…will we continue to foster the activity of adversarial beings that seek to subvert the mission of Anthroposophy, living unconsciously in our undeveloped soul forces, keeping us fighting against each other, festering in our self-serving, cliquish practices - those same divisive principles which pulled the original council members apart in the first place - & because of this disharmony in the ranks, leading to the early death of Rudolf Steiner..?

We need to stop playing favorites, choosing sides, calling those that think, feel or do differently, heretics – spreading gossip that leaves us holding onto ignorance, righteously mimicking the letter of the law, with no moral integrity - avoiding the Spirit of Truth - pointing fingers & demonizing members that are simply working out of a different stream for which we have acquired no tolerance or understanding - Allowing the wounds to go unhealed.

If we are to avoid ongoing conflicts & polarizations, our task is to 1^st ‘Know ThySelf’ - empowering us to live into the stream for which we came to Earth to unfold - all the while striving to empathize & identify with the representatives of the opposite streams - healing competitive jealousies, that may stem from our past lives together. Actively practicing forgivness…

~Elizabeth Wang

Then thru the process of Wisdom gained thru the pain of inner work, a metamorphosis can take place which fosters healing & harmonious teamwork, which must include reaching out to souls on both sides of the Threshold. The concept of karma needs to be lifted out of the armchair & taken up as a task, put into practice, especially in our challenging realtionships - Now - or the mission of Anthroposophy will falter.

The various spiritual streams from which Rudolf Steiner chose the 5 individualities that made up the Original Vorstand – reveals much that has been left unresolved after 100 years. Each of those 5 individualities, represent an archetype - the 5 points, which when combined, make up a wholeness in the human being.

Ok, yes, we can stand back today & say, you betcha, each of them had flaws - the ideals that Rudolf Steiner saw in each of them need to manifest now & into the future -

This is a call to ALL who will to take up the mission of Anthroposophia as a Quest for the Holy Grail - striving together to attain & maintain a Christic World-view.

As Bernard Lievegoed testifies in ‘The Battle For The Soul’ - his deathbed testimonial: “The consciousness-soul develops itself especially in the sometimes difficult cooperation with others.”

Who is willing to ‘go forward’ as Ita Wegman once declared, to do this Great Work?

~hag

“What I wanted, and regarded as our salvation, was for a living circle of wakeful people to form around the prevailing death forces and give rise to new life: a circle consisting as it were, of fortresses and Grail castles in the different countries –where people live but are at the same time so free that they can move from place to place. This realized in the right way, I would have seen as a Michaelic alliance that could bring something new into the world in order to make possible the new life seeking to emerge.” ~ Ita Wegman, December 18, 1933

1876 – Birthday of Ita Wegman, founder of Anthroposophical medicine & close collaborator of Rudolf Steiner. She also developed a special form of massage therapy, called rhythmical massage, & other therapeutic treatments.  On the Work of the Archangel Michael by Ita Wegman

1732 – Birthday of George Washington, American general & politician, 1st President of the United States

1788 – Birthday of Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher & author

1943 – Deathday of 1943 – Hans & Sophie Scholl, German activists. Sophie a German student along with her brother Hans were anti-Nazi political activists, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. They were convicted of high treason after distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU).

In the early summer of 1942, Scholl, his sister Sophie, Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, & Alexander Schmorell, co-authored 6 anti-Nazi Third Reich political resistance leaflets. Calling themselves the White Rose, they instructed Germans to practice nonviolent resistance against the Nazis. The group had been horrified by the behavior of some German soldiers on the Eastern Front, where they had witnessed cruelty towards Jews in Poland & Russia.

Hans & Sophie Scholl & Christopher Probst were beheaded by Johann Reichhart in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison. The execution was supervised by Dr. Walter Roemer, the enforcement chief of the Munich district court. Scholl’s last words were “Es lebe die Freiheit!” (“Long live freedom!”). Shortly thereafter, most of the other students involved were arrested & executed as well.

Solar Eclipse Convergence:

‘Piercing the Veil to Resurrect the Grail’

6 – 9 April 2024

(Saturday 5pm thru Tuesday morning 11:30 am)

At the stunning Saint Raphael Retreat Center in the heart of Totality - Dallas, TX.

This convergence is calling the Spiritual Activist in you! - All creative souls who see the power of applying Art, Science & Spirituality to uphold the light during the Solar Eclipse spanning across America – a once in a life time opportunity to join with other striving human beings in the Quest for the Holy Grail – to make a difference within yourself, for America & for All worlds!

Read more about it HERE or HERE