Autumn 2023

By Karine Munk Finser

This image by Odilon Redon of a boat traversing dark waters is significant for us. Notice how the light makes the darkness become active. This allows for a living encounter in the middle realm, bridging the chasm between light and darkness. To become aware of that space and bring new movement between light (thinking) and darkness (will) constitutes our work as therapists.

Brief overview of completed work

The Kairos Institute began with an inaugural summer residency in July 2022, featuring Bernd Ruf’s Emergency Pedagogy: Traumatology I, with seven faculty members teaching trauma preventive therapies during the afternoons. In the fall of that year, Orland Bishop offered an enriching course on Trauma in America: I Am Here! in which he outlined what it takes as a full human being to address healing in human encounters. We began to develop the healing aspects of light, darkness, and color in foundational classes and studios with Charles Andrade, as well as color introduction, studios, and a Magenta course with me. We participated in classes on Meditative Images of the Incarnation Path with Lakshmi Prasanna, MD, worked with Healing Story for Social Emotional Challenges with Gleice da Silva, and launched our evening Karma Studies with Torin Finser. 

In Spring 2023, we launched online studies in light and darkness using charcoal with Iris Sullivan. I added a class on color and soul to the experience of her challenging exercises. This introduction to future explorations in charcoal and color stands as an archetype of what I tried to describe above in Odilon’s image, which points to the inner work of self-regulation that is an essential component of our training. 

Our Spring Residency with Maria Ver Eecke, Sylvia Borau, Martha Loving, and me was best captured by this brief video: https://youtu.be/PP_–XeqVfI

For Summer 2023, we studied Traumatology II with Bernd Ruf and six different classes in trauma preventative therapies during our in-person summer residency in Wilton, NH. During this time, we had our first afternoon trauma preventative therapy class on Animal Therapy with Michaelann Murphy. We also interviewed Sandra Grether from Bernd Ruf’s school and screened a beautiful 15-minute movie of their therapy farm. 

What’s ahead?

Fall 2023 online classes with Michaela Gloeckler, MD, Patrick Stolfo, Dietrich Von Bonin, and Torin Finser. In addition, registered students will find a list of their studio classes here: https://centerforanthroposophy.org/kairos/kairos-fall-23-online-courses/

Spring 2024 online classes resume with a course on embryology taught by Lakshmi Prasanna, MD, as well as further classes on karma with Torin Finser

Spring 2024 Residency dates: April 19-25, Keene, New Hampshire
Hauschka and Collot: The Soul and the World Are But One.
Watercolor Exploration, from Nature and the Soul. Case Studies. Platonic Solids. Exploration of Etheric and Astral Laws. Lecture on Care of the Soul.

Summer 2024 Residency dates: July 7-12, Wilton, New Hampshire
Emergency Pedagogy: Trauma and Spirituality with Bernd Ruf, followed by afternoon trauma preventative therapies.

Kairos Institute is planning a second healing track starting in 2025, with a focus on Animal Therapy. Brian Jacques, who is presently writing his thesis on this topic, has been asked to lead this track.