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Editorial

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the Summer issue of New View. The midsummer festival of St. John is behind us, here in the north, with its inspiration for change and transformation living on as we travel through the coming months. Whilst it is Summer in the northern hemisphere, folk south of the equator have passed their shortest day in their cycle of the year and are expanding towards spring, which brings me to the front cover picture that gently celebrates what Nature adorns for our pleasure. She shows her quiet beauty in myriad ways, not least through her flowers. The cover image introduces this issue of New View, within which its pages bring blooms garnered from its authors’ imaginal and worldly realms and the whole is offered to you, the reader, in the hope that it will be for a refreshing, stimulating, bouquet.

The opening words of a poem by Welsh poet, William Henry Davies, published in 1911, come to mind: “What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.” The poem asks us to take a pause, in the maelstrom of life, to let something else in for a moment. An earlier sonnet by William Wordsworth ’The World is Too Much with us’ had inspired Davies and he recognised that the sheer pace of life (so much more so in our time with ‘information overload’ than when Davies wrote this poem) can be detrimental to our inner life and health if we do not take time to ‘stand and stare’; an obvious metaphor for opening ourselves in a meditative way. For it is the pause that refreshes us. As with a meal, one needs time to digest all the experiences that come towards us, lest we get a soul indigestion.

And there is much to digest on reading deeper into this current issue of the magazine. There are some longer articles which will repay careful reading. New View is not a quick read – authors are given space to open out often difficult subjects – but it does carry a gentle hope through its pages that the authors’ contributions may quicken the inner life…

And so we can begin our journey through this issue by entering in with Jeremy Naydler to the real benefits a flower garden can bring, In Gardening to Heal the World. Here we can find beauty, truth and goodness, ideals recognised by Plato aeons ago. And that brings us to the next contribution as we leave the garden and travel further into the world…

Rudolf Steiner recognised that a task in his life was to bring a proper and deepened understanding of reincarnation and karma, without which he saw humanity would flounder and struggle to make sense of so much that now occurs between people. In The Greatest Person Never Known, Richard Ramsbotham has made a deep research into two personalities of the reincarnations of Socrates and Plato as people alive and known to Steiner in his time. Goethe was central to the lives of all these personalities, so its seems apt that Charlie Lawrie, writing from Scotland, brings: Goethe and Philosophy – a dialogue, uncovering some of the great man’s thoughts and comments on philosophy.

From the USA, Daniel Joseph Polikoff shares with us _Anthroposophy Today… And Tomorrow? Part I: Background – Becoming the Archangel Michael’s Companio_n. This is based on a talk given to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s death.

A Post Card from Ukraine finds Benjamin Cherry sketching a mood that he hopes to enlarge upon and deepen in the Michaelmas issue of New View.

Polarisation with David Newbatt and Tom Raines brings an artistically inspired imagination to ponder on of what besets us in our time and a way forward.

Hamish Mackay, writing from Australia, explains what the term ‘Regenerative Farming’ can mean in Regenerative Farming in Australia – a Picture.
Life and Art find David Newbatt and Tom Raines in another collaboration, looking at how art brings to mind some of life’s challenges. Then, Roxanne Leonard, writing from the Republic of Ireland, informs us of a new training initiative in A Eurythmy Course for Ireland. Following which our regular environmental science contributor Peter Taylor keeps us abreast of developments in Nuclear and Climate Watch.
Terry Boardman explores how influences from the past affect our present times in The ‘Ghost’ of Rome and the ‘Spectre’ of the Old Testament.

Doctor Daphné von Boch, writing from Switzerland, continues her series looking at The Four Forces of Nature in Part II: What is soul?

Being a Machine: Considering Matter and Attention by Michael Brinch, writing from Denmark, considers aspects of AI and human thinking.

Anthroposophy Today… And Tomorrow? Part II: Foreground: LEF vs DEI: Social Injustice Today by Daniel Joseph Polikoff, follows on from his earlier article (Part I) in this issue considering the problems that Diversity, Equality and Inclusion have in the light of the threefold picture of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

The articles conclude with Flooring Goliath: Dismantling the Covid-19 ‘pandemic’ narrative, where Richard House reviews at length a new publication by highly accredited scientists that shows the fallacy and hollowness in the phrase “follow the science” as it is often used today.

Our plea for financial help remains. The dip in funds edges rapidly towards critical in spite of all our efforts. Therefore, please bear us in mind – and my heartfelt thanks to those of you who have already helped us, this is so very much appreciated. New View is truly a community effort.

Finally, I warmly wish you the reader well, wherever you may be, for the time ahead,

Tom Raines – Editor

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