Anastasia Geng

Biographical notes by Marianne von Schwichow

Anastasia's parents were both of Latvian origin but at the outbreak of the 1917 revolution they were living in St Petersburg, where Nicolai von Schwabe, Anastasia's father-to-be, was a young officer at the court of Tsar Nicolai II. They managed to flee from Russia and take refuge in Germany, where they got married in 1920. Anastasia was born on April 15th, 1922 in Berlin. She was named after her godmother, the alleged daughter of the Tsar, who was being cared for by Anastasia's parents. In 1923 Anastasia's brother Alexis was born. Sadly the marriage didn't last and Mrs von Schwabe went back to Riga with her children to live with her parents. There, at their grandparents' home, the children grew up with their Latvian grandparents, their German grandmother and a Russian nurse, thus learning three languages at the same time.

In 1937, Anastasia's mother married Paul Bokowneff, a University professor who was teaching at a college in Riga. This second marriage was a happy one and Anastasia often mentioned the noble character and loving kindness of her stepfather. In the autumn of 1939 the family had to leave their home in Riga and re-settle in Gnesen / Western Prussia. Soon after her final exam in 1941, Anastasia started working at a military hospital and also as an assistant schoolteacher.

In February 1945, the family had to flee to the West in very cold weather, once again giving up their home and leaving all their belongings behind. But it was too late. They were overrun by Soviet troops and, together with many other young women, Anastasia was deported and sent to a work camp at the White Sea, near the Arctic circle. Until July 1947 she had to toil long hours each day, first in various camps in the Archangelsk area and then in the Ukraine. Suffering from hunger, very low temperatures and, at other times great heat, the prisoners were put to work in underground coal mines where it was not even possible to stand upright. At other times they had to build roads. During these hard times it was Anastasia's trust in God that helped her keep up her spirits and allowed her to survive.
Finally, due to a broken arm and the fact that she was completely exhausted, she was released. In the summer of 1947 she joined her parents at Wolfsburg in Germany, where they had set up a new home. For almost 50 years she hardly ever mentioned this period of her life to anybody.

First and foremost, her health had to be restored. She spent her convalescence at a Bremen hospital run by the Sisters of Mercy. Slowly recovering, she began to work there as a nurse and did ministerial work comforting people in their sorrow until 1952. From 1953 to 56 she trained as a visiting parish nurse. Subsequently she studied in Hanover, qualifying to work with institutions run by the Protestant Church. In 1954, she started teaching scripture and religious history at a grammar school, first at Wolfsburg and then in Darmstadt. In 1959 she married Johannes Geng, a Doctor of Chemistry. Her son Paul was born in 1960 and her daughter, Marga, in 1962. She continued teaching while they grew up. From 1970 to 72 she qualified for voluntary service as a telephone adviser to people suffering from mental crises or other problems with Telefonseelsorge (similar to the Samaritans) which had been newly co-founded by the Catholic and Protestant Churches. In 1973, she was appointed manager of the Darmstadt section and held this full time position until her retirement in 1987. She continued to be responsible for the monthly psychological supervision of all members of the local team until December 1996.

For many years she had managed to combine the duties of her job with caring for her family. When her children grew up and became more independent, she began using her annual leave to work as a tourist-guide with the Baltic travel bureau in Münich. Thus, in 1974 she accompanied the first group of travellers to Latvia, followed by more than 25 trips until 1989. In those years, travelling by train through Polish, Russian and Lithuanian territory was not an easy job for the guide. A great deal of responsibility was involved. Good nerves, diplomacy, confidence and tireless attention were required to keep everyone safe and content. This job, however, allowed Anastasia to return to her roots and visit Latvia once or twice a year over a long period. From 1990 to '95 she made six private journeys to see her friends in Riga.

At the end of the 1970's Anastasia came to know sacred dance, a new way of combining dance and meditation developed by Bernhard Wosien. Inspired by the Latvians' traditional love of dance, music and nature which was part of her own spirit too, Anastasia and a young friend started a dance group at Darmstadt in 1980. Subsequently, she initiated and kept up several dance groups in other towns of this region. At the same time, she began choreographing her own dances dedicated to medicinal herbs, trees, the moon cycles and many aspects of life.

From the early 1980's she began to teach dance workshops all over Germany and later in Switzerland as well. These workshops provided great joy and enrichment to all the participants, as she not only danced with them but also conveyed her deep love of nature, her sense of humour and her wisdom.

Through her work as a telephone adviser, her numerous personal conversations, as well as her dances, she has helped countless people overcome times of crisis in their lives. In her very creative way, she related the dances to fairy tales and Bible stories, to the seasons of life and the seasons of the year, to the healing energies of colours as well as to those of precious and semi-precious stones.

In about 1985 when she had become acquainted with Dr Edward Bach's discoveries, she realized that many of her dances carried the message of the harmonizing energy of a Bach Flower Remedy. At the beginning of the 1990's, after her retirement, she found time to publish the music of her dances on three audio-tapes with accompanying dance descriptions, and to dedicate more thought to comparing the non-verbal messages of her dances to those of the Bach Flowers. She was encouraged by Mrs Mechthild Scheffer of the Dr Edward Bach centre in Hamburg, who in 1992 attended a dance workshop in Darmstadt. Recognizing the special healing energy of these dances, Mrs Scheffer urged Anastasia to write them down in a book with a view to publication by her Institute. Finally, Bach-Blüten-Tänze came out in January 1996. The third edition, with slight amendments, is available now (ISBN 3-9804881).

Throughout this time, she kept sharing her dances and training many people. Stuttgart, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Darmstadt and Augsburg are some of the cities where she gave frequent and intensive courses. She also gave workshops in various parts of Switzerland, and a specific teacher training near Basel. Accompanied by her friend and assistant, Marianne von Schwichow, Anastasia continued her work with great pleasure and enthusiasm up until February 1997 when, one morning, she suffered a severe stroke which paralyzed the right side of her body and caused a partial loss of speech. Unfortunately she hasn't fully recovered and remains incapable of walking. However, thanks to her numerous students, her work is being spread to many European countries and lately, to other continents as well, so that an increasing number of people are enjoying the healing power of her dances.

At present Anastasia lives in a senior citizens' residence in Darmstadt, where she is visited daily by Mr Geng. She receives frequent letters of gratitude and many visitors come to her small apartment. Fresh seasonal flowers are her constant companions. Whenever she manages to sit in her wheelchair, she pays short visits to other bedridden people of the residence. As often as possible, she goes out into nature, preferably to her favourite bench under an old walnut tree.

Anastasia looks back on a long active life, a life full of special events and experiences. She became engaged in the feminist movement, promoting a new quality of life granting equal rights to men and women. She read books and periodicals on subjects such as psychology, feminist theology, religion, matriarchic culture, fairytales, etymology, dance, medicinal herbs and their use, social and political questions as well as on problems of personal development. Reflection on what she had been reading always went into her work, to be discussed with many people, colleagues and friends of various professions. Whenever she discovered a book of special importance, she would buy several copies and hand them to friends to share her knowledge. She often copied articles from periodicals or extracts from books to display at her courses and worshops. At all times her body, mind and soul were in action.

Together with her husband, or accompanied by friends, she went on long walks to places she was especially fond of or to visit certain trees. From these walks she always returned with a few flowers or green twigs for her flat. Each summer, as soon and as long as the temperature permitted, she loved to go swimming in lakes or ponds (often remembering the days of her childhood at the seaside). She also wrote and answered innumerable letters....

Anastasia thinks she has answered the challenge of life. Her children have finished their studies and follow their professions. They have started their own families. Anastasia does not complain about her disability. Confined to her bed or to a wheelchair, she bears her days with patience. However it is hard on her to be dependent on other people's assistance day in, day out.

She suffers severely from the almost complete loss of her ability to verbalize her thoughts. Inspite of her ailments, she still radiates love and kindness and shows interest in the concerns of everybody who comes to see her; yet she is looking forward impatiently to being allowed to leave this planet.

Anastasia Geng (born 15.04.1922) passed away on Sunday Dec 8, 2002 (the day of the Immaculate Conception). The funeral took place in Darmstadt, Germany, on Friday 13th, (Saint Lucy's day). She was ready to leave Earth and go back to the Source. Blessings on her soul journey.