Upcoming Events
Winter/Spring 2012

VIEW FULL PROGRAM (PDF)

February 12, 2012
Fire and Rose,
a mystery of Love, in poetry and song

Friday February 24 - Sunday February 26, 2012
Begin! Begin again...
a workshop with Michael Lipson, Ph.D.

April 15, 2012
The Gospel of John
Performed by David Anderson, Laurie Portocarrero,
and Glen Anderson

Dear Friend of the Novalis Project,

I take great pleasure in inviting you to attend a very special event at Novalis Hall during Holy Week, April 17-22, 2011. Please read the brochure I have attached for further details. The Isenheim Altar has provided our German facilitators, Michael Schubert and Karin Jarman, with inspiration and guidance for their work together in Europe and the forthcoming seminar/ workshop marks their first transatlantic crossing.

No prior knowledge of the altarpiece is necessary for anyone interested in attending this workshop. All that is needed is your willingness to engage mind, heart and hands in the deeply meditative exercise in consciousness that this great work of art engenders. Michael Schubert writes: "The spiritual wisdom which people of our time are longing for is contained in a concentrated form within the Isenheim Altarpiece."

The Altar is housed in a small museum in Colmar, Alsace, reputedly the second most frequently visited museum in France after the Louvre. Michael Schubert's series of life-sized reproductions of the altar panels will form a dramatic and inspiring backdrop when he assembles them in Novalis Hall for Holy Week-the first installation of its kind in North America! Painted almost 500 years ago, when hospitals were more like hospices for the poor, the altarpiece was mounted in the chapel of a monastery as a thing of beauty in itself and a source of active therapy, hope and consolation for dying patients in the care of compassionate monks.

There is a heavenly logic at play in the Isenheim Altar. Its unique arrangement of colour speaks a language of its own that stimulates feeling, giving viewers inner direction in the realm in which confusion often reigns. The play of light and dark that presents as living colour in these paintings brings the subtle movement of a rainbow to mind. "Although the soul is imprisoned in flesh, humanity will not be forgotten." wrote Dr. Margarethe Hauschka in Fundamentals of Artistic Therapy. "A Christ-prophecy is hidden in this simple sentence-that at some future time the inner rainbow will also resurrect, as is indicated in the aura of the Resurrected One in the picture of the Isenheim Altar.”

I invite your participation in the spirit of that prophecy, and hope to hear from you soon.

With warmest wishes for 2011,

- Treasa O'Driscoll, Project Coordinator

February 12, 2012, 2:30-5:00pm

Location: Hesperus Village, Hesperus Road, Thornhill ON
Admission: $20.00 (Includes refreshments)

Fire and Rose,
a mystery of Love, in poetry and song

“Her presentation is pure ritual. Treasa O’Driscoll takes the audience on a journey into another world where people undergo a transformation.”
- Robert Sardello, author, Freeing the Soul from Fear

The rose is an eternal image of beauty and love, representative of an open heart. Fire is associated with inspiration, revelation and the descent of the Holy Spirit. T.S. Eliot predicted that all would be well when the fire and the rose are one. Drawing on her memorized repertoire of poems and songs, Treasa leads the audience in a meditative reflection on the theme. (Bring pen and paper)

Treasa O’Driscoll lives in Barrie and coordinates the Novalis Project. She is the author of, Celtic Woman, a memoir of life’s poetic journey (www.bluebutterflybooks.ca)

Celtic Woman is a magnificent chronicle of an individual's journey toward the process not only of self-healing, but of understanding and growing with the world around her…. There is a spirit of inquiry in this book that moves throughout these pages, animating every word and infusing the text with an energy that guides the will to love above the trials and tribulations of the world, and there it illumines as a beacon...
- Bruce Meyer, author, The Golden Thread.

Celtic Woman, is a rich feast of a book, part travelogue, part romance, part meditation -- and all of it poetry!  Like the best of memoir, it manages to touch on the most personal, intimate themes of a human life and at the same time to render them universal.  Readers will want to shout both Bravo! and Encore!
- Michael Lipson, author, Stairway of Surprise.

Please register at the Hesperus office
or call Marta at 905-764-0840

Friday, Feb. 24 - Sunday Feb. 26, 2012

**NOVALIS SPECIAL EVENT**

Begin! Begin again...
a workshop with Michael Lipson, Ph.D.

Just as winter awakens into Spring, a natural process of dying and becoming can be reflected in the changing conditions of our lives. The ability to begin anew is the innate human capacity we can consciously exercise in any given situation. We are empowered to embrace each turning point in life as an opportunity to begin anew. And every moment can be a turning point.

In this weekend's workshop Michael Lipson will lead us in an exploration of the ever-new quality of beginning, a group process that includes practical exercises and meditations. We will see how an orientation toward endless beginning is the cure for "burnout" of all kinds and for the inertia that permeates our emotional and practical problems.  Beginnings are only starting points so we must accustom ourselves to the practice of beginning not once, but over and over again. If you are in transition, or should be in transition, then this workshop is for you!

INTRODUCTORY TALK by Dr. Lipson
Location: Hesperus Village, New Dining Room.
Cost: $20

WORKSHOP:
Saturday, Feb. 25, 9.30am-5.30pm/Sunday, Feb. 26, 9.30-3pm:
Location: Camphill Sophia Creek, 87 Toronto Street, Barrie Workshop admission: $150 (includes introductory talk, 2 lunches and snacks)

Michael Lipson, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist practicing in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His work combines the insights of Rudolf Steiner with those of Zen Buddhism. He teaches meditation widely and writes on issues of consciousness, human development and meditative practice.

To register please call 1-705-722-5408,
or e-mail rsvp@novalisproject.com

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
by John the Evangelist

Performed by David Anderson, Laurie Portocarrero, and Glen Williamson
Directed by Adrian Locher assisted by Benedicta Bertau.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Location: Novalis Hall at 3:00pm
7841 4th Line, Angus, Ontario

Admission: $25 including refreshments

Three actors bring the drama and poetry of the Gospel to life with stunning simplicity and imagination, using only two chairs, a table and a few cloths.

“Meditative and almost balletic… beautifully stylised and executed…excellent. “(4 stars)
- The Herald, Edinburgh Fringe, 2002

“An exceptional piece of stagecraft… No matter what your religious belief—or lack of it— The Gospel of John is an extraordinary evening of theatre. You'll find yourself thinking about it, even discussing it with others, for days afterwards. What could be more rewarding?
- The Independent

“A terrific story with plot twists and turns that are classic. Riveting... Dynamic... A wonder..Brilliant.... the play has resonance and strength… triumphs and mysteries.”
- Pete Bergman, Berkshire Bright Focus.

“…a spiritual experience charged with passion and power.”
- The Stroud News and Journal

For reservations or registrations please call 1-705-722-5408,
or e-mail rsvp@novalisproject.com

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