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getting by with only our bare necessitiesand clearest being.This is the point in thenarrative of how was it?where the inevitablequestion came. “Butwhy was it so difficult?”The short answer is thatit was not so hard, but at themoment it did demand from usmore than we expected to put forth.As a group we strove to remain unitedand committed to discovering what itmeant for all of us to have come togetherthere and then. We wanted to embody “thespirit of our group” and we staunchly enlivenedour individual self while presuming thatabstraction. Perhaps now we all can see theimplicit contradiction in this. There was an obvioustension between a desire to be left as we were—which strove against the ideals of directed spiritualexercises. We aspired to a pseudo-monastic soul posturebut were confronted with the demands of the long haul roadtrip. We preferred to be in our emotions despite their unclarityas long as we could leave our rationalizations unchecked tobuttress our actions and social postures. In fact we were fullyhuman in the contemporary version, but we also were informedby our spiritual aspirations.response from oneof our friends by thefire pit was, “Know thou thy self!” This was accompanied by thegleeful countenance which the untried can offer to a descriptionsuch as I have offered. The reader might suspect that this is thereason why the Mercury in America bus tour is, in fact, an anthroposophicaltopic, as if a deep voice had announced this offstage with a consciousness mocking effect. I caution all not toavoid the unbearable parallel between what I have described asthe trials on our tour and what goes on, or should ensue, in ourgeneral meetings with other individuals that seek the spiritualpath. Do we meet one another when we encounter each other inthe halls or in our conversation groups? How deep can that be?On the Mercury tour we plumbed the depth of this idea with asmuch compassion as we couldbring to bear.Later in the evening, while thefire is receiving another feedingand the story-filled minds reach back into their experiences,I have to add something that is at the veryedge of our awareness and which became everso clear to us on the tour. There were portionsof the trip that brought us face to face with thenaked manifestations of the adversary forces.I am not relating the inner character ofour psychology with this. I speak of thefact that out in the world, where thetour rolled and visited, there livestoday’s and tomorrow’s level ofdehumanization. Our civilizationharbors and encouragesmaterialized and animalizedbehavior at an everharsher pace. We werefaced, on the tour,with the question:“How canwe carry out ananthroposophicallife in the world?”We were confronted withthe harsh reality that here inNorth America, the realm we setout to meet, the adversarial forcesare fully and plainly active, to a degreethat dwarfs that in Europe. This became thechallenge that overshadowed all our strivings.“Can we live and stand for spiritual science in theface of the shape and character of the North Americanculture and civilization?” As a representative of the Mercury inAmerica tour, through this ink, I convey that question to you asour most pressing result.This is the real experiment which the Mercury crew undertook.It is true that we lacked full awareness of this questionat first. Yet we quickly found it loudly expressed through ourinterpersonal dynamics and group relations. We became a livingstudy of this question, asked by North America to us, andof us to North America. We did so in the cities, in the wilderness,rolling down the highway at sixty-five mph. We asked thisof our selves and of each other. We asked this as much as weasked our selves who am I and who is he or she. Do we have ananswer? Many! As many answers as there were individuals onthe tour. Can we remain steadfast despite the adversity? Maybe.With cooperation and wise planning. With love, peace, andunderstanding.Above all, our main obstacle appears to have been how andwhen we dealt with the unconscious areas of our psyche. It isfitting that our tour rolled in to our community (Spring Valley)on the vespers of Michaelmas. In our language, if we are toembody the Michaelic being, I would have to say that it may takea “cha cha” or some other creative dance to constructively putour dragon to good service. This is among the lessons gleanedthat the tour can most constructively share. In fact the youth24 Evolving News for Members & Friends
traversable, especially if you carryyour own BD greens. It was an adventureof the heart and an experimentin social dynamics and consciousnessstudies.lmovement appearsto be bursting with capacitiesto deal with this. I dare say the world respondswisely through the character of the youth. It would empowerthe Anthroposophical Society to notice this. The alternative enablesour dragons, our shadow side, to obstruct and delay ourshared course. Dealing with our shadows with brief conversationsand polite dodging—that was never available for us on thetour. I dare say no one there was interested inthat, although there were some bids to remainasleep.of confronting the world and its present futurewas not the only one we faced. We did embarkwith some very concise and pertinentquestions which we asked ourselves.Following the study circle on thePhilosophy of Freedom we asked whatis freedom and what is the illusion offreedom. We asked what is consciousnessof unconsciousness. We askedhow we can perceive the “Word ofthe World.” We asked, what do ourdreams bring as alchemical dew fromthe previous evenings retrospective.We asked, what does it mean to be I,and what does it mean to be you! Weasked, how can we collaborate, bejoyful, and not shun our inner growth.As well as asking of our selves not tolose our sense of direction, moral or physical, howand when to eat, sleep and travel. We asked why wewere doing what we were doing uninterruptedly; perhaps it wasa bit much?In brief, seen from a distance the bus in which the expeditiontravelled appeared as a Kings County, Washington, Metro Bus.It was peopled by a heterogeneous crew composed of individualsfrom South Africa, Finland, Germany, Venezuela, Canada,USA. Our ages spanned from 21 to 49. The most unusual aspectof the effort was the shared interest held by these travelers inthe work of Rudolf Steiner. It is not surprising that wemade a family of it all, although for the most part wedid not know one another before we gathered. I canwrite with confidence that crossing the continentalUS left a groove in our soul. It was partially successful,enormously rewarding and remains a clear formatthe details of which can be refined. The tour was notexternally adventurous, American highways are veryThe Mercury in America Tourwas envisioned by Dawn Stratton(thesimplefool.org) and Lachlan Grey andJordan Walker of the new forms project(newformsproject.org). The tour was looselystructured with each of the three takingon a sphere of the threefold social organism—thecultural, economic, and rights spheres respectively.Lauryn Morley, born in South Africa and living in British Columbia,was our documentarian and brought her fresh-from theYouth Initiative Program (YIP) energy to the group.Morgan Sobel, an American living in Seattle, tirelesslyran the on-bus, fine dining, all-organic all-thetime,Chez Alchemy.Ignacio Cisneros, born in Venezuela and livingin Seattle, was our spiritual scientist in residenceand continually offered opportunities for us to playwitness to our own consciousness and the greatercontext around us.Meaghan Witri, born and raised in Spring Valley,NY, brought the tour singing and an improvisedmoment where the back of the bus became a playgroundand the passengers four-year-olds.James Steil from Alberta, Canada, headed the Philosophyof Freedom study group and offered insights for hisresearch on the Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition.Jan and Teija Englund from Finland were the tour’scheck and balance and worked with Monika Pudelka tocreate the amazing candlelit labyrinth in Central Parkon Michaelmas.Monika Pudelka from Germany and fresh fromeurythmy training at the Goetheanum, led us inrenegade eurythmy forms.Cathy Samuel from Spring Valley, NY, took upthe logistics of planning our menus and figuringout what twelve people’s worth of food looked like. She alsohelped lead our eurythmy circles.Eka Joti was our shaman-in-training, leading us in sunrise chigong and awareness meditation.Nathan Rouse joined us at Burning Man as a spirit observer andconnection to the Native American lineage of the country wewere to travel through.Fall-Winter 200925
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