Grail Quest
Grail Quest offers a modern form of adult education which takes the form of a spiritual journey inspired by the insights of the philosopher Rudolf Steiner.
The course consists of +Lectures +Art +Singing +Workshops +Drama +Biography work
Course Starting 16th February 2024
What is the Grail Quest Course
Grail Quest is a 2-year in-person part-time course. It’s extensive lecture content is one continuous narrative covering the whole of the evolution of the earth and the evolution of consciousness through historical culture periods. These wide ranging lectures cover topics as diverse as Ancient Mystery Schools, Renaissance Art in the light of mystery knowledge and understanding the 7 year life cycles and temperaments of the human being. The course also focuses on the development of the individual student through biographical work in small groups. Work on speech and drama, during the two years, lead to three performances of Poetry, Storytelling and Drama accompanied by our student choir. The development of these skills also play a crucial role in the overcoming of fear, which is one of the main goals of Grail Quest.
There are also workshops in artistic activities such as painting, drawing and craft. In the manner of Waldorf education, the course aims to teach through the heart, hands and head and to bring our efforts to fruition through love of the deed.
The course comprises four 8-week terms each year, that fit within the Tasmanian school terms,
from Feb 2024 – Dec 2025
Session times are: Fridays 4:30pm – 7:30pm
and Saturdays 9:30am – 12:30pm
On 2 Saturdays each term there are Art/Craft workshops that run from 9:30am to 3:30pm.
Where: Tarremah Steiner School, 27 Nautilus Grove, Huntingfield (Kingston) TAS 7055
Human Wisdom with Gerry Josephson
Words from our students
Life Is A Riddle
Could Tarremah be about to host the final Grail Quest?
What am I? I speak with one voice but go on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon and three feet in the evening. Yes, of course I’m a human being and the day depicts the life cycles that we all traverse, but this wasn’t so obvious to your average, two-footed Athenian.
Two bodies have I, both Joined in one. The stiller I stand, the faster I run. What am l? No – there’s no immediate answer this time. You’ve got to work it out for yourself.
The reason I know about Tarremah and Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner is not because I studied a Master of Teaching degree at UTAS {honestly, two years and they weren’t even mentioned once!) but because my dear sister Ellen loves film. For many years, Ellen has been the face of the State Cinema in North Hobart and has come to be quite the ‘Dame’ of the State. In the process of earning this damehood, Ellen came to know Gerry Josephson, a seasoned knight who has set out on countless film-watching campaigns. Alongside his campaigns, however, Gerry runs a two-year, self development course inspired by the insights of Rudolf Steiner, which he calls ‘Grail Quest’.
It was January, 2019. I had just burnt out from mainstream classroom teaching and had asked the universe, “please, if there is a way for me to continue in this career that I love, a way that is beneficial for me, my family, for children and for society, show me, because this system seems broken!” Now, to be fair, that brokenness said as much about ‘the system’ as it did about my unsustainable work habits, but, whatever the case may be, I was broken for a bit and needed a solid few months of tractor therapy on the hop fields of Bushy Park to shake some me back into meself. And then, like a bolt from the blue, Dame Ellen introduced me to Sir Gerry, Sir Gerry got me into Grail Quest and Grail Quest introduced me to Tarremah.
I knew fairly instantly that Grail Quest – with all of its lectures, singing, crafting, storytelling, tea drinking and reflections on life – was everything that I either wanted or needed. Grail Quest leaves one feeling perpetually inspired and empowered. It weaves together the Apollonian and Dionysian forces within us and joins all the dislocated dots of significance into a guiding constellation. At least, that’s what it did for me. That’s why I see Grail Quest as a cipher unlike any other for the riddle of life. And that’s why I now feel compelled to share the news that Grail Quest may be about to complete its final cycle. Gerry is undeniably a powerhouse of a phlegmatic- choleric, and he is no spring chicken, so I humbly urge anyone wishing to grow their roots deeper and reach their branches higher – anyone who is graced by a bit of time – to embark on this campaign.
These words are as much an ode to my mentor – to whom I will be forever grateful – as they are a recognition of the community of wonderful iridividuals who Form the space that is Tarremah, consciously celebrating life and the seasons of life and the grains of sand as they gracefully – and, sometimes, gracelessty – rattle through the hourglass.
Enrolment and Fees
Course Starting 16 February 2024 – Enrolments close end of January 2024
To enrol or to find out more about the 2024/25 Grail Quest Course please contact Gerry Josephson via email. Alternatively, you can message Gerry on 0406 788 050
Fees are $600 per term. There are four terms per year. The course is of two years duration.
Cost: $2,400 per year
Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. Please discuss this with Gerry.
Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner
The archetype of the modern spiritual quest is the story of Parzival, a naive boy whose long, difficult journey leads him from dullness, through doubt, to a state of grace in which he is recognised as the Grail King. The most profound telling of Parzival’s story is found in the medieval epic by Wolfram von Eschenbach written around the year 1200. It unfolds, in picture form, the stages of the modern path of initiation. The ascetic paths of earlier times involved a renunciation, by the would-be initiates, of everything that connected them to the earth. The modern path, with its archetype of the Grail Knight, leads us to the spirit in the midst of daily life. Instead of relinquishing our ties to the earth, the modern path involves embracing the earth and working to transform and spiritualise it.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), builds a bridge for us between the physical world and the world of the spirit. In over 50 books and 6000 lectures, he laid the foundations for a renewal of human culture. Rudolf Steiner described his life work “Anthroposophy” as a modern Grail path. The Grail Quest leads us towards finding meaning and purpose in life and guides us in our personal transformation into becoming a more conscious human being. We discover the spiritual realities underlying everyday life and apply them with new approaches to education in Waldorf/Steiner Schools; farming, using Biodynamics; healing, through Anthroposophical medicine, rhythmic massage and painting therapy and to enrich other aspects of life, such as architecture, speech and drama, music, mathematics, literature. Anthroposophy gives meaning and significance to our planet and our evolution of consciousness. Freedom is an absolutely integral part of Anthroposophy and of Grail Quest.
Anthroposophy is not a religion but a philosophy with practical applications.
Biographical Work
Biographical Work is conducted in small groups throughout the second year of the course. It consists of 5 processes: three deal with the past, one with the present and one with the future, It has been described as “karmalogical” rather than psychological, linking ones biography to what has been brought over from previous lifetimes, and is closely related to Wolfram von Eschenbach’s great epic called Parzival.
Each of us needs to discover that our story is unique, marking us as “an authentic individual human being who does not simply replicate some inevitable round of existence. At the same time one longs to discover the universal dimensions embodied in one’s story to a degree that marks one’s life as an authentic human being. Without both distinctiveness and commonality the story will ultimately be unsatisfying…. ” James Wiggins: Religion as Story.
So penetrating one’s own story in the context of the Earth’s story gives one’s life a vivid sense of meaning and direction.
Overcoming Fear
Like many other Australians, for me Michael Leunig is a national treasure. In most of our poetry performances, we use at least one poem written by him. In a recent documentary about him, I was struck by the fact that there was a picture of the young Rudolf Steiner on his mantelpiece. Now, apart from the fact that his children attended a Steiner School, I know nothing about his connection to Anthroposophy, if any. However I’ve always felt that his take on the world is entirely compatible with ours, especially his polarizing of Love and Fear. If fear is one of the major factors thwarting our spiritual aspirations, (and this is especially true at present), to further our spiritual development we must find ways to overcome fear.
In the ancient Spiritual stream connected to Northern Europe including Germany and Scandinavia, initiation required the overcoming of fear by crossing high places, like the Externsteine, near Paderborn, on a rickety rope ladder. This may still be a useful tool in coming of age courses for teenagers, but hardly viable in adult education. Instead, we use the arts and especially the performing arts to overcome fear.
If the ultimate goal of the Esoteric Christian path is the awakening of ever greater love in the individual’s heart then overcoming fear must be an integral part of the path. This combined with the transformation of dead thinking into a living imaginative thinking and a will able to perform free deeds is the aim of the Grail Quest.
My aspirations for my students in Grail Quest are summed up in these words from “Come Healing” by Leonard Cohen.
“Come healing of the reason, come healing of the heart.”
Past student events
