The Alchemy of Music & Dance -
TOS Annual Event at Sunshine Coast, Australia
A report from Jean Carroll
Once a year the Sunshine Coast Lodge of the Theosophical Society in Queensland, Australia stages an event to bring the message of theosophy to coast residents and at the same time raise funds for the TOS projects it supports. There is another unintentional benefit for all who contribute to making this day such a success – the simple joy of engaging in service and building a nucleus of brotherhood.
As the essence of theosophy is self-transformation, the Hermetic Philosophy seemed an ideal theme this year with which to reach out and engage the broader public. Last year we attracted over a hundred people to our Consciousness and Spirituality event.
Our day began this time with a stirring address by a local indigenous resident giving an account of her people’s spiritual tradition which has many links with the ideas expressed in theosophy.
The day proceeded with a variety of artists, including a violin and voice recital, a zither player, Bollywood and Tribal Dancers, drummers and a very youthful eight-year-old making his musical debut. The programme was interspersed with quotes from the ancient Hermetic philosophers. Our national president, Dara Tatray, and our education officer, Edi Bilimoria, contributed with lectures.
We cleared almost AUS $900 for our TOS projects. We charged an entrance fee of $15 with an optional $10 extra for lunch together with morning and afternoon tea. We also had various stalls scattered around our large venue. Some featured information on theosophy and vegetarianism while others had second hand books, CDs and DVDs, posters and jewellery. All items for sale along with our raffle were donated by members.
The flyer below was widely distributed for our event. We sent it to the 200 people on our database. It appeared in many alternative lifestyle locations (health food shops, information centres and the like). We announced on local radio stations, logged into Australian Broadcasting Commission websites and even onto Face Book. We also applied for a short time slot on our Local TV Channel’s Community Noticeboard. Such publicity work is part of the reason our membership is steadily growing.
