initiative! supersensible. The eurythmy forms given at Easter 1924 render the meditative substance into the realm of the sense-perceptible in space, movement, color, and sound, but only when striven for artistically, and if seen and affirmed within by a receptive witness.
Andrew Wolpert has been active as a course facilitator, lecturer, tour leader and author in the fields of language teaching, art history, Shakespeare, Parzival and general anthroposophical themes at Emerson College, at the University in Stuttgart and in other institutions around the world.
Metal Colored Light Therapy by Helena Hurrell Metal Colored Light Therapy originated in 2001 in Schwörstadt, Germany, as a funded research project and has been developing ever since at the Lichtblick e.V Foundation in Germany. The late Marianne Altmaier, an anthroposophic art therapist, developed this therapy alongside her colleague Lucien Turci, the glass maker and etcher. She had a deep longing to find new ways that would enable the healing qualities of color to be experienced through natural sunlight. On one particular day when Marianne was in the Goetheanum auditorium where she gave public tours, she paused in front of the south iron green window. She observed, in a new conscious way, the vibrant quality of the color. Her gaze was led by the motifs through the window and the change in color when the sunlight passed through the etched images. This became a powerful realization for her and was the initial inspiration for what she had been seeking for so many years - to create colored windows transformed into a therapeutic modality. Rudolf Steiner had originally given instructions on how to create the window colors from metal oxides in the glassmaking process, which led Marianne to consider her intention that colored light therapy could also become a metal therapy. The intense colors of the glass panels arise from metal oxides of iron, copper, silver, and gold. Etched patterns on the panels intensify the effects of the metal colors. Light that passes through the glass panels to the observer’s senses conveys the qualities of the metals, for example: warmth or coolness; lively or peaceful flowing movement; structuring forces 18 • being human
or loosening qualities. It also creates a new relationship to light. In this way, the evolving purpose of the metals are freed, to offer their healing gifts to humankind. Steiner also gave detailed sketches for all the window engravings, those which were destroyed in the burning of the first Goetheanum as well as those in the second Goetheanum. The inspiration for the artistic wisdom he developed in the etched motifs is considered a path of inner schooling that could, as he said, “open vistas into the spiritual world.” There are times when we yearn for sublime quiet moments where we can be freed from all the overwhelming stimuli that affect our modern lives. By being immersed in the light-filled spaces of a metal-colored light window through weekly sessions, a therapeutic effect arises, which has the possibility of unveiling profound insights. For some, this can occur even after one viewing. Individuals are drawn to this therapy for numerous reasons and for conditions ranging from cancer, post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, chronic pain, to incarnational challenges. There are also those who come to bathe in the colored light because they are curious and seek to experience its healing effects. When asked about a typical session with metal colored light, I am reminded and inspired by a quote from Novalis in his Fragments: “The mortal rumbles in its foundations, but the immortal begins to shine brighter, and becomes selfaware.” What follows is a brief description of how an individual session unfolds. The therapy session takes place in a darkened room where the only daylight in the room is the sun’s light that passes through the glass panel. The viewing time is usually between 5-12 minutes, depending upon the