Events

Open House at the Fiber Craft Studio

Fridays, September 19-November 21, 2:30pm-4:30pm

Visit the Fiber Craft Studio at Orchard House on the Threefold campus and meet co-directors Renate Hiller and Mikae Toma. Browse, see us at work, and experience our unique plant-dyed materials. The Fiber Craft Studio's own yarns and craft kits are available for purchase, and the Studio's artisans are available to answer questions and offer assistance.

There is no charge for this event.

Honoring the Past - Recognizing the Way Forward

September 26-28

Join us in marking the 75th Anniversary of the first Anthroposophical Summer School at Threefold Farm!

Threefold’s founders sought social, economic and spiritual renewal through novel paths and structures that could point the way toward positive change for all of society. Presenters and participants at the 2008 conference, “Honoring the Past – Recognizing the Way Forward,” will span the generations, from representatives of the Threefold community’s early years to newly minted activists who are committed to effecting meaningful social change today.

On Saturday, intergenerational roundtable conversations will feature “real world” case examples presented by people who are working on creative impulses in the social, political, economic, environmental, and spiritual realms. On Sunday, author, educator and Threefold Community founding member Henry Barnes will headline a panel discussion addressing how we can draw upon diverse generational perspectives to support impulses toward social renewal.

On Friday evening, Stephen Keith Sagarin will discuss “Imagining Michael and the Meaning of Michaelmas.” Stephen is faculty chair at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, and long-time head of Sunbridge College’s Masters program. On Saturday, noted activists and authors Gary Lamb and Robert Karbelnikoff (formerly Karp) will explore paths to meaningful economic change in their talk, “Toward Associative Economics and a Threefold Social Order.”

Artistic activities will take place throughout the weekend exclusively for conference participants: acting improv with Ragnar Freidank , painting with Brigitte Bley-Swinston , singing with the Rev. Carol Kelly , and Eurythmy with Brigida Baldszun . In addition, the schedule will allow time to enjoy seasonal events and festivities throughout the community, including the Hungry Hollow Co-op Farmers’ Festival, stirring and spraying Biodynamic preps in the Pfeiffer Center Garden, a Saturday evening café with live folk music and dancing, and a Sunday afternoon performance by the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble .

Conference fee of $100 ($50 for students and seniors) includes all talks and artistic activities; housing and meals are additional. Click here to download a schedule and registration form.

Open House and Holiday Sale at the Fiber Craft Studio

Fridays, December 5 and 12, 11:00am-4:30pm

Visit the Fiber Craft Studio in Orchard House on the Threefold Campus to browse and find unique gifts. Plant-dyed yarns, our own fiber craft kits, wool fleece in many colors, hand-felted accessories... and more!

The Agriculture Course:

An Intensive Study of the Origins and Future of Biodynamics

January 15-19, 2009

Presented by the Pfeiffer Center
Core Faculty: Mac Mead, Malcolm Gardner and Steffen Schneider
Guest lecturers and artistic activities to be announced

In his Agriculture lectures of 1924, Rudolf Steiner observed that modern agricultural practices – such as the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, monoculture, and specialization – were depleting the soil and yielding produce and livestock of ever-declining vitality. In response, Steiner offered a revolutionary approach to agriculture, one that treats the farm as an organism, contained in itself yet worked upon from outside by multitudes of unseen and often unacknowledged forces.

In eight lectures delivered over nine days at Koberwitz, Silesia, Steiner outlined the “Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture” – the basis for reversing the decline of agriculture by understanding and working with all the elements of the farm organism.

In the 84 years since, countless men and women have worked in every corner of the globe to understand, apply, and refine Steiner’s indications. In January 2009, some of BD’s leading exponents and practitioners will gather at the historic Threefold Educational Center – site of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s pioneering work from the 1930s until the 1960s – to study and share their knowledge about the origins and future of Biodynamics. Like the original course, this four-day seminar will include time for artistic activities, discussion, and hearty meals, and participants are expected to leave with much new knowledge – and many new questions as well.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an introductory course. Participants must be familiar with the Agriculture lectures and have a working knowledge of Biodynamics.

For registration information, please click here .