Weimar, Germany. During a study trip to Weimar, students of the Anthroposophy Studies at the Goetheanum explore Rudolf Steiner’s early biographical experiences with the works of Goethe, Schiller, Nietzsche, and the Bauhaus School of Art. Nicolas Sanchez Goñi shares his experiences. Questions by Andrea de la Cruz, Coordinator for Studies and Continuing Education.
What brought you study Anthroposophy at the Goetheanum?
My devotion. A longing to share an individual path within a kindred environment. I am also a person that prefers to go to the garden where the food is produced, rather than buying it later in a store, so I like things fresh. I think coming here is also about experiencing Anthroposophy in a living, fresh way—and living it within all my bodies: the physical, the soul, the spiritual. It is also a way to search for integrity, not only to experience something through thoughts and language. I would also like to add that, during my research of diverse ways of thinking and traditions in parallel to my search in Anthroposophy, I have always experienced a common factor—as if Anthroposophy had maintained a kinship with all of these other ways. Anthroposophy came to my life at a time when I needed answers to experiences that perhaps were somehow premature for me, and to bring to practice that, which, until then, I could only reach in an ideal form.
What role did the class trip to Weimar play in the study program from your perspective?
It has helped me to transform the way in which I relate with people who inspire me and that I see as sources of knowledge. Seeing how Steiner related to those who he admired, adding his own nuances to their work, serves me as a reference to do the same with him. I do not feel the same devotion he felt for Goethe, for example, but towards Steiner I do. The trip invited me to take the fruits that others planted and to continue sowing and cultivating those seeds that are now germinating. As a new student, it also helped me to feel more connected to the group.
What questions do you hope to continue deepening this trimester?
I would like to know more about Michael, Christ and the relationship between them —also between Christ, Ahriman and Lucifer and the forces that oppose Christ. I would like to explore the risks that might be intrinsic to a path of deepening subtle levels of reality and establish a protocol of safety to be able to maintain a center that is not lost in a process of expansion. The role of Christ seems to be very important, as well as the reality of the individual in his planetary dimension. For me, it is a fundamental question also, where or when an individuality originates and where differences commence between an individuality and another. I would also add that I am interested in the challenges or difficulties which are nowadays confronting the anthroposophical society.
More Goetheanum Studium
Translation Paula Boslau
Image Dana Ward
