Conciousness-Raising Seminar




Description


I have been asked several times, "What exactly do you do?" Below is a sample program, which has been given at several schools and colleges. It's an enjoyable experience - more than entertainment, as the press release says. Schools and colleges like the recital of classical poetry set to mussic. Senior citizen groups love the general theme and the mixed music. Church groups enjoy the self-actualization and international justice conferences that are based on the encyclicals.

This lasts between one and three hours, and is tailored to the community. Sing-alongs or oldies can be put in also, depending on the group. Proceeds from admissions are divided between the sponsor and Dr. Wagner. People are searching for meaningful encounters, so it is not difficult to fill an auditorium. The profits from any CD's sold will also be split.


Sample Program: works and interpretations


Simple Gifts

- by the Shaker community, 1848
- Spanish trans. by R.S. Wagner

A few words about the Institute of Voluntary Simplicity in today's world

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

- by Robert Frost
- music by R.S. Wagner

Thoughts on solitude and communion with the environment

The Road Not Taken

- by Robert Frost
- music by R.S. Wagner

Thoughts on the decision-making process

Riddle Song

- 14th c. England

The mystery of communication, a lost art in our society

If

- by Rudyard Kipling
- music by R.S. Wagner

Adversity and self-confidence

Water My Flowers

- by R.S. Wagner

Love over distance

Trees

- by Joyce Kilmer
- music by R.S. Wagner

Discussion of the mystery of a tree; prophetic ideas of Kilmer and the need to preserve and share the environment

This Land Is Your Land

(unknown)

Discussion of how the world belongs to the living

A Red Red Rose
My Heart's in the Highlands
Ye Banks and Braes

- by Robert Burns
- music by R.S. Wagner

On Robert Burns, his life, and his intensity of self-actualization

Luget von Bergen und Tal

- German folk song


Yo No Tengo Soledad

- by Gabriel Mistral
music and English trans. by R.S. Wagner

Solidarity with women and their lonliness in union with the symbol of nature

Mir Senne Hei's Lustig

- Swiss folk song


Hymn to the Sun

- ancient Zuni Indian sunrise song
- in Quechua, with English translation

Talk on the mystery of the sun in life

The Ballad of Moll Magee

- by William B. Yeats
- music by R.S. Wagner

Tragedy caused by social injustice

La Filadora
Violete Alferretan
Rossinyol (Nightingale)

- Catalan folk song
- Basque
- Catalan

"Going to Spain but not necessarily Spanish;" talk of cultural diversity

House on the Hill
Richard Cory

- by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Struggle with the destruction of community and communication, along with the price that people pay

Seguidilla

- la Mancha, Spain


A la Claire Fontaine
O Si Mon Moine

- French


The Gift
Roses and Rue
Falling Star

- by Sara Teasdale
- music by R.S. Wagner
- second verse of "Falling Star" by R.S. Wagner

Discussion of her short life and the struggle between self-actualization and self-destruction

O Captain My Captain

Martyr

- by Walt Whitman
- music by R.S. Wagner
- by Herman Melville
- music by R.S Wagner

Tragedy of Aberaham Lincoln

Steal Away
I Was Walking in Savannah

- Negro spiritual
- poem

Tribute to all who died a useless death

My Lord What a Morning

- made famous by Marian Anderson

A few ideas of her and her life; the spirit of forgiveness

Blue Roses

- by Rudyard Kipling
- music by R.S. Wagner

Warning against looking for will o' the wisps

Happy Plowman

- Swedish folk song

Life of family and communication

Mending Wall

- by Robert Frost
- music by R.S. Wagner

Thoughts of walls versus communities; why we keep people away with masks and walls

Mister Banjo

- Creole song


Shenandoah

(unknown)


Just Be Yourself

- by R.S. Wagner

Mystery of self-actualization and being self as the greatest tribute to the creative power of the spirit

Lawyers Know Too Much

- by Carl Sandburg
- music by R.S. Wagner

Comments on lawyers (not humorous)

Naranja Dulce

- Spanish
- trans. by R.S. Wagner


Ya Se Van los Pastores

- Spanish
- trans. by R.S. Wagner


Silver Threads among the Gold

(unknown)

Signs of aging and the mystery of how we accept it

The Highwayman

- by Alfred Noyes
- music by R.S. Wagner

Greater love than this no man or woman has than to give life

Bells

- by Edgar Allen Poe
- music by R.S. Wagner


Prayer of St. Francis

(unknown)
- music by R.S. Wagner

Ideas of simplicity

Magnificat

- by Mary
- trans. by R.S. Wagner




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