Dear Friends,

To go to the Goetheanum is such a treat. I marvel everytime I see it or learn new things about it. First of all, it is a house built of the stories of humanity. It was designed, built, and decorated with these stories in mind, by people who dedicated themselves to the teachings of Spiritual Science, developed by Rudolf Steiner. They then dedicated themselves to work together to bring this building onto the earth, for future generations to be inspired by, and to have a center to house the many creative initiatives which have been renewed out of Anthroposophy. To this day, people stream there from all over the world, to meet and deepen their work and striving together. On any given day, it is common to hear multiple languages being spoken in and around the building. And one often gets the feeling, that even though I don’t know many of these people, it still feels like we are connected in a very special way and I return home, grateful for and enriched by all I have met and experienced there. 

Slowly, we are forming friendships over space and time and in this gathering of 50 puppeteers,I met several people there who subscribe to our newsletter and even some who have become WAPASA members! Suvi-Maaria and I were so delighted to meet and even realized we both brought our rod puppets we made with Suzanne Down, to share at the end of the conference. 

In my workshop with Philipp Reubke, we went into depth about the developmental needs of the very young child and how we can best support that with simple puppetry. Philipp spoke of the sensitivity of the head vs. the chaotic will of the child. How can we meet the need for gentleness, simplicity, coherence, predictability, warmth/protection, rhythm, structure, repetition, and the musicality of the mother tongue. 

With the very simple props provided by Philipp, we were able to create puppet shows with logs, stones, knot dolls, cloths of silk, cotton, and wool, and various simple instruments to accompany the telling and acting of the stories. We reflected together about what worked quite well and what could be easily improved. Additionally, we found ourselves suddenly collaborating with new people, sometimes speaking different languages, but through good will and cooperation, we came up with charming shows and one longer one which we shared at the Marketplace on the last day.

The magic of studying and creating together worked to weave new friendships which we celebrated by the end of the conference plenum. People were able to express their wishes for the next conference, which will be held at the Goetheanum at the end of January 2026. Special thanks go to Claudia Kissling and all the puppetry artists, presenters, and organizers of this wonderful meeting. I felt warmly welcomed, nourished, inspired, and cared for.

Before the next Goetheanum conference, we can look forward to meeting this summer at Hawthorne Valley at the end of July! I hope many of you can come and make wonderful puppets, props, and memories with us!

Warm, loving greetings,

Marjorie