Theosophy and Anthroposophy Books

Book SynopsisIn this third volume in The Actor of the Future series, Dawn Langman continues to explore the integration of Steiner's research into speech, drama and eurythmy with Michael Chekhov's acting methodology. Her advanced applications of all the basic processes allow the art of the actor and speaker to evolve beyond the 'soul and body' paradigm - still broadly accepted in contemporary culture - to include dimensions of the spirit. The book contains a seminal analysis of comedy and tragedy, showing how an understanding of their esoteric roots - sprung from the Eleusis mysteries of ancient Greece - deepen our appreciation and our ability to implement the practical suggestions made by Steiner and Chekhov to differentiate the fundamental styles. A comprehensive exploration of the vowels in relation to planetary beings lays the foundation for many layers of artistic deepening and application.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements - Introduction - Chapter 1 Advanced layering of Steiner/Chekhov processes - Chapter 2 Advanced applications of the three centres and their speech placements - Chapter 3 Style and genre - Chapter 4 Other states of being - Chapter 5 The planetary spheres: Dante's Paradiso-Our High Work - Chapter 6 The stages of life - Chapter 7 Archetypes of the artistic process-the creative tension between opposites - Chapter 8 New planets, new sensibilities and the actor of the future - Appendices A. A phenomenological approach. - B. Table of Phonetic Symbols - C. Extra texts for chapter 6 - D. Additional volumes in this series - E. DVD series-A Dramatic Journey through the Evolution of Human Consciousness - F. Website details and information about courses and trainings - Bibliography - List of Illustrations - Notes

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Book SynopsisIn March 2020, Are Thoresen contracted Covid-19. Whilst convalescing from the disease and suffering great exhaustion, he experienced a breakthrough in his daily meditation. Although he has always been able to 'see' into the spiritual world, now deeper, unknown realms appeared to his inner vision. In the soapstone surround of the fireplace in his Norwegian home, he perceived the elemental beings and forces that make up the mineral at an atomic level. A few days later, an even deeper dimension revealed itself, in the form of a void or vacuum. Here, astonishingly, was an open portal to the entire cosmos... In Travels on the Northern Path of Initiation, Thoresen shares the results of his latest spiritual investigations, including a moving, life-changing encounter with 'the Light of the World'. He details the teachings he receives from the beings Vidar and Balder - who stand as guardians to the threshold of the outer etheric world - and characterizes the Northern way of initiation, which is based on merging, or 'fading', into nature. Thoresen documents Rudolf Steiner's descriptions of this path and shows how it is reflected in the Old Norse Poetic Edda, the Kalevala and von Eschenbach's Parzival. Based on painstaking research, he describes the individual qualities of the three elemental realms, and how the adversarial forces - seeking to corrupt human senses - hinder spiritual observation of them. Thoresen's book is a powerful personal testimony to the human potential for spiritual knowledge and experience in our time.Table of ContentsPreface - Introduction - Chapter 1 Meeting Vidar and Balder - Beyond the Elemental Realms - Chapter 2 Seeing the Elemental Realms - Chapter 3 How the Adversarial Forces Hinder Spiritual Observation - Corrupting our Spiritual Senses - Postscript - Vidar's Further Teachings - Appendix 1 The Northern Path in History - Appendix 2 Rudolf Steiner on the Three 'Occultisms'

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Book SynopsisIn 1919 Rudolf Steiner spoke about the future physical incarnation of the being of Ahriman. This would take place before 'a part' of the third millennium had passed, and was inevitable - but it was also necessary that people were aware of this event and recognized it, for earthly culture would be destroyed if the world were to fall completely to Ahriman. The situation we find ourselves in today shows Ahriman's unmistakable signature: the rapid destruction of nature, zoonotic diseases and pandemics, huge social inequalities, and the overall dominance of high finance. In this short book Peter Selg presents a timely overview of the challenges we face, beginning with a pithy and concise survey of Steiner's commentary on Ahriman's incarnation and the conditions that would characterize it. This is followed by a study of Ahriman's depiction in the mystery drama The Souls' Awakening. Steiner's remarkable personification of Ahriman on stage - portraying his strategies and activities - provides vital instruction for humanity. Selg concludes with an evaluation of 'the Battle for Human Intelligence' taking place in contemporary culture through materialistic ideas such as transhumanism. In their recent book Covid-19: The Great Reset, for example, Klaus Schwab and Thierry Malleret propose wholesale economic, geopolitical, environmental and technological revisions to society - ideas that need to be understood and confronted in human thought and consciousness. The Future of Ahriman is a crucial aid to comprehending our times.Table of ContentsForeword - 1. 'The Incarnation of Ahriman', Rudolf Steiner's lectures from October to December 1919 - 2. 'The Awakening of Souls', Ahriman in the Mystery Dramas, 1910-1913 - 3. The Battle for Human Intelligence, The Leading Thoughts of 1924/25, and the present - Notes

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Book SynopsisHow awake are we to our inner being, our true nature? How much self-knowledge do we really have? In relation to our intrinsic self, we can easily feel like a novice. In truth, we face a long journey before we can fully understand ourselves - and we are equally unpractised in relating to our 'shadow' and inner wounds. The path described in this book is an inward one, concerned with strengthening our individuality. Based on life-long research, Karsten Massei has created a valuable workbook for knowing and healing ourselves. In a series of short chapters, he explains the interplay and tensions between the human individual and the nature of our 'inner and cosmic child'. Both are complex entities but are directly related; both are deeply connected with our destiny. Our experiences with our inner child are often still in the earliest stages - but cultivating a relationship with her, noticing her, holding conversations with her, is vital, and offers us ever deepening experiences. As our insights expand, our frailties, deficiencies and inner wounds become apparent. The being of the inner child wants to educate us to become inwardly truthful and authentic. Only honest engagement with the traumas and vulnerabilities of our soul will enable a true picture of ourselves to arise. Child of the Cosmos contains surprising perspectives arising from the author's personal experiences, opening up a clear path of personal development. The text is complemented with seven special meditations to assist us in engaging with the challenges ahead.Table of ContentsIntroduction - I THE LIFE OF THE INNER CHILD - 1 Transformations - 2 Inward paths - 3 Voyage into the soul - 4 The inner child - 5 The world of the gods and the self - 6 The death-pangs of a time that's past - 7 The mysteries of the other - 8 Individual gifts and the community - 9 Communities and clairvoyance - II THE WOUNDED AND THE COSMIC CHILD - 1 Responsibility toward the earth - 2 Individuality and the inner child - 3 The wounds of the soul - 4 Gestures of reconciliation - 5 The secret of darkness - 6 The wisdom of the body - 7 Conversations with our inner child - 8 The nature of the cosmic child - 9 Knowledge of human nature and the inner child - III SEVEN MEDITATIONS - Bibliography

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Book Synopsis‘How can our souls unite with the etheric Christ, experienced in the etheric world since the end of the last century? What steps should we take, in the second century of the age of Michael, to unite with Him?’ At the centre of humanity’s evolution stands the Mystery of Golgotha, through which the Christ impulse entered the earth. Anthroposophy, said Rudolf Steiner, was given at the beginning of the last century to prepare for the second major Christ event – the etheric Second Coming – beginning in 1933. This Event is the portal that leads to the mighty and transformative happenings taking place in the etheric world right now, enabling us to meet the etheric Christ, Michael and Anthroposophia. At the heart of this book is an existential question. Early in his anthroposophical work, Ben-Aharon came to realize that without the light of spiritual science, the meeting with the etheric Christ remained simply a personal experience. Likewise, without the new life forces streaming from the etheric Christ, anthroposophy was merely a body of knowledge, frozen in time. Both needed each other. But how was that mutually-enlivening bridge to be built? Speaking candidly of his personal spiritual path and inner struggles of consciousness, Ben-Aharon tackles this fundamental dilemma as a prelude to the forthcoming, second edition of his book The New Experience of the Supersensible. Contents include: The Ur-Phenomena of the Modern Christ Experience, Paul’s Christ Experience and the Birth of Christian Platonism; The Michaelic Yoga; The Platonic-Aristotelian Essence Exchange at the End of the Twentieth Century; The Meeting with the Etheric Christ; The Abyss and the Event of the Threshold; The Knowledge Drama of the Second Coming; The Meeting with Michael; The Meeting with Anthroposophia.Table of ContentsPreface – Introduction – Chapter 1, The Ur-Phenomena of the Modern Christ Experience, Paul’s Christ Experience and the Birth of Christian Platonism – Chapter 2, The Michaelic Yoga – Chapter 3, The Platonic-Aristotelian Essence Exchange at the End of the Twentieth Century – Chapter 4, The Meeting with the Etheric Christ – Chapter 5, The Abyss and the Event of the Threshold – Chapter 6, The Knowledge Drama of the Second Coming – Chapter 7, The Meeting with Michael – Chapter 8, The Meeting with Anthroposophia

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Book Synopsis‘These Letters … aim to make John’s Gospel accessible to people today as their own gospel, both as a whole and in the details; to illuminate it with the spiritual knowledge of the age and to make it fruitful for life, not only for meditation but also for practical ordering of destiny.’ – Friedrich Rittelmeyer. --- A revitalized Johannine Christianity stands at the heart of the work of Christian renewal that was led by Rudolf Steiner in the early twentieth century. Friedrich Rittelmeyer, a Lutheran minister and theologian who helped found The Christian Community in 1922, was a leading figure within this new Johannine movement. Rittelmeyer described John’s Gospel as encapsulating ‘…an indescribable glory of revelation of love. This glory has such purity, delicacy and spiritual power that in it one has the material with which a marvellous new world may be built.’ --- Without doubt his most powerful work, Rittelmeyer’s Letters on John’s Gospel first appeared in a series of publications by the Stuttgart seminary of The Christian Community between 1930 and 1932. Whilst these Letters were originally written with students and local congregations in mind, they provide manifold insights for anyone seeking to glimpse the majesty of John’s Gospel. Margaret Mitchell’s translation from 1937 has never before been published in book form. Revised here and expanded by editors Alan Stott and Neil Franklin, this volume features additional contributions by Rudolf Frieling and Emil Bock.Table of ContentsEditor’s Preface by Alan Stott – Introduction: Friedrich Rittelmeyer and John’s Gospel by Rudolf Frieling – The ‘I-AM’ as the Midpoint of Human History – Christianity as a Mystery Religion – The Nascent World – John’s Gospel, Chapter One (Revised Standard Version) – LETTERS ON JOHN’S GOSPEL – Letter No. 1, The Mystery of the ‘I’ – Letter No. 2, The Mystery of the ‘I’ (2) – Letter No. 3, Son of God and Son of Man (1) – Letter No. 4, Son of Man and Son of God (2) – Letter No. 5, Son of God and Son of Man (3) – Letter No. 6, The Book of Joy – Letter No. 7, ‘I am the Light of the World’ – Letter No. 8, ‘I am the Life’ – Letter No. 9, ‘I am Love’ – Letter No. 10, A World-Historical Conversation – Letter No. 11, The Springtime of the Disciples – Letter No. 12, The Great Intercession: the High-Priestly Prayer (I) – Letter No. 13, The Great Intercession, the High-Priestly Prayer (II) – Letter No. 14, The Great Intercession, the High-Priestly Prayer (III) – Consecration of the Disciples [John 21] – John’s Gospel, Chapter 1 (Revised Standard Version) – Appendix: The Word from Inner Listening – Twenty Years after the Death of Friedrich Rittelmeyer by Emil Bock – Further Reading – Notes

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Book SynopsisAt the threshold that divides the elemental and etheric worlds, Are Thoresen encounters two spiritual entities – Vidar and Balder, ‘guardians of the threshold’ – whose task is to protect the spiritual border from uninitiated intruders. Building on previous reports, Encounters with Vidar offers startling new esoteric teachings, gleaned – through processes of spiritual knowledge – from these enigmatic gods. Here, Vidar and Balder emphasize the importance of clairaudience as opposed to clairvoyance (the latter particularly being open to attack from adversary beings). Through the process of working with the communications, the author begins to experience a transformation of his head chakras, leading to an awakening of ‘spiritual ears’. Whilst clairvoyance is like reading the holy script, clairaudience is akin to hearing the holy script, he learns. --- Amongst the wealth of fresh insights revealed here are the ‘fourth aspect of the soul’ (or ‘time-karma-Christ’); the task of eurythmy today; the whereabouts of the contents of the School of Spiritual Science; and the work of ‘Vulcan beings’ and other planetary entities. Thoresen offers reflections on his travels to western England (with its connections to Troy) and southern Spain (with its legacy of Moorish occupation). His intention is not to create new dogmas or beliefs, but to testify to the living reality of metaphysical dimensions of reality – and humanity’s latent ability to access them.Table of ContentsForeword – Vidar’s Initial Teachings – Vidar’s Latest Teachings – From Clairvoyance to Clairaudience – Methods of Supersensible Observation – Meeting the Vulcan, Venus and Jupiter Beings

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Book Synopsis`I can perceive spiritual beings in my surroundings... I can communicate with higher spirit beings of either an elemental or non-elemental kind, when they are willing. I can perceive the human aura, as well as certain areas of the astral plane... I can see the aura of plants and animals. I can speak with the guardian beings of plants and animals, inasmuch as they're interested...' - Verena Stae l von Holstein; Verena has learned to see and speak to elemental and nature beings. What's more, she is able to translate their language into human terminology and thought. In this remarkable book, seventeen nature spirits are interviewed through her, almost as if these beings were sitting in front of us. Through the conversations we learn what spirits of fire, air, water and stone have to say - as well as hearing from beings of glass, silver, salt, paper, and even spirits of our dwellings and homes! They speak about their work with nature and their regrettable lack of contact with human beings. They describe the secrets of the cosmos, and tell of humankind's past and future. The nature beings have surprising views on the environment, on natural disasters, good and evil, love and redemption. The interviews throw up beautiful, but sometimes disturbing insights into our world. Nature Spirits and What They Say offers an enchanting view of the world of elemental beings - but it also calls on us to recognize the seriousness of the situations they describe. As Verena explains, humans owe a huge amount to nature spirits, and we need to discover new ways of approaching them with full consciousness. This valuable book gives us the means to do just that.Table of ContentsForeword by Wolfgang Weirauch - Preliminary remarks by Verena Stae l von Holstein - Living with spirit beings by Verena Stae l von Holstein interviewed by Wolfgang Weirauch - Nature Spirits interviewed by Wolfgang Weirauch through the mediation of Verena Stae l von Holstein - 1. Miller, the House Spirit - 2. Echevit, the Watery One - 3. Kapuvu, the Stone One - 4. Valliniyu, the Airy One - 5. Eknaton, the Fiery One - 6. The Four Groups of Elemental Beings Through the Year - 7. The High One - 8. The Paper Being - 9. Evil - 10. The Four Groups of Elemental Beings Through the Year - 10. The Cycle of the Year and the Christian Festivals - 11. Kollii, the One From the Marsh - 12. Moonlight, the Silver One - 13. Little Glass Man - 14. Kahine, the Salt Child - 15. Harmonious Elemental Beings - 16. The Relationship Between Humans and Nature Spirits - 17. Madeleine, Lady of the Pines - 18. Oakbeena - 19. Quadrom - 20. Knut, the Sandy One - 21. Moonlight, the Silver One - 22. The Paper Being - 23. Kahine, the Salt Child - 24. The Brown One - 25. Gnunno, the Green One - 26. Kapuvu, the Stone One - 27. Eknaton, the Fiery One - 28. Valliniyu, the Airy One - 29. Echevit, the Watery One - 30. The Catastrophic Flooding - 31. The High One - 32. Miscellaneous - 33. The Brown One - 34. Gnunno, the Green One - 35. Echevit, the Watery One - 36. The High One - 37. Kapuvu, the Stone One - My Abilities in Spiritual Perception Verena Stae l Von Holstein - Learning to Open Yourself to Nature - Friedrich Pfannenschmidt interviewed by Wolfgang Weirauch - Thematic Index

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Book SynopsisBased on direct communications with his eight spirit guides, Dr Bob Woodward confirms that we have all lived in spirit worlds before our birth – and that we will enter these same realms again after our material deaths. In a very real sense, these higher spirit worlds are actually our true home, he says, rather than our present physical existence, which is only a temporary abode. In consultation with his spirit guides – including a Tibetan Lama, a Jewish Rabbi, a Native American and his personal guardian angel – Bob Woodward gives a detailed survey of our lives in spirit worlds before birth and after death, our relationships there with friends, family and even pets, and our connections with both good and evil spiritual beings. He also gives a commentary on a range of subjects such as reincarnation and climate change. In a final extensive and moving interview, Woodward finds and speaks with the soul of his deceased father, who offers enlightening glimpses of life after death. Whilst the author’s knowledge is grounded in decades of study of the work of Rudolf Steiner – with which he compares the results of his own extrasensory perceptions – Knowledge of Spirit Worlds is not intended as a dry philosophical study. Rather, it has a warm, experiential quality – based as it is on personal interaction with spirit entities – and emphasizes the love that connects all worlds and beings together.Trade Review‘Everyone with a curiosity for spiritual knowledge should read this excellent book’ – Peter John, psychic artistTable of ContentsDedication – Acknowledgements – Foreword by Peter John – 1. Introduction – 2. Analogy – 3. Insights – 4. Spirit Guides – 5. After Death – 6. Spirit Worlds – 7. Where We Live – 8. Family, Friends & Pets – 9. What We Do There – Addendum: Climate Changes? – 10. How Long – 11. Reincarnation – 12. Before Birth – Appendix: Conversations with my Father in the Afterlife – Afterword – Bibliography – About the Author

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Book Synopsis‘The primary task of this book is to build a bridge to a deeper understanding of Schiller himself who, along with Goethe and Novalis, was one of the great spiritual forerunners and trailblazers of anthroposophy.’ – Sergei O. Prokofieff --- Planned as the second volume in a trilogy on Novalis, Schiller and Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and the Future of Freedom is much more than a conventional biography. Prokofieff shines new light on Schiller’s character and destiny, helping to establish his position as a crucial antecedent to Rudolf Steiner in the spiritual history of humanity. He also defines Schiller’s task in the context of the achievements of Goethe and Novalis at the end of the eighteenth century, an extraordinary period that saw a seminal transformation in the philosophical and artistic landscape. --- Following the recent publication of The Riddle of Dmitri – which explores Schiller’s unfinished drama Demetrius – Prokofieff returns here to the theme in the framework of Schiller’s life and extensive body of work. In timely fashion, he conveys Schiller’s mediating role between Central and Eastern Europe, indicating how he came ‘near to the soul of the Russian people through an idealism imbued with his entirely self-created moral power and his fiery enthusiasm for everything in the world that is true, beautiful and good’.Table of ContentsPreface – I. Schiller’s Spiritual Task between Goethe and Novalis – II. Friedrich Schiller and the Future of Freedom – 1. The Ideal of Freedom and Its Spiritual Origin – 2. The Battle for Human Freedom – 3. Schiller’s Premature Death and its Spiritual–Historical Consequences – III. Friedrich Schiller’s Demetrius Fragment as a Drama of the Human I – Addendum to Part III: On the Figure of Mikhail Romanov – In Place of an Epilogue: ‘Goethe’s Science according to Schiller’s Method’ – Appendix – 1. Examples for the Relationship between the Aesthetic Letters and The Philosophy of Freedom – 2. Schiller on the ‘Fall of Man’ and Freedom – 3. Evidence of Schiller’s Spiritual Character in his Own Work – Novalis on Friedrich Schiller – Rudolf Steiner: Excerpt from the Lecture of 18 December 1920 – Rudolf Steiner: ‘Friedrich Schiller’ – References and Notes – Bibliography of Works by Rudolf Steiner

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Book SynopsisWho is the Christ? What is the ‘Sun-spirit’? How should we understand the person of Jesus in relation to the Cosmic Christ, or even to the Holy Trinity? --- In a majestic overview of Rudolf Steiner’s extensive references to Christ and Jesus, originally dispersed throughout his many writings and lectures, Oskar Kürten creates a mutually reconcilable and coherent text. We are invited to accompany the author as he attempts to comprehend the unimaginably vast enigma of Christ’s appearance on Earth. The results of his work can sometimes be overwhelming, but as Kürten points out: ‘humanity is always advancing in its intellectual and spiritual culture, and each step poses higher demands on our capacity to understand’. --- In a volume comprising three previously-untranslated booklets, composed originally as study material for people conversant with the fundamentals of anthroposophy, Mystery of the Christ gives numerous pointers to great mysteries, inviting readers to penetrate ever more deeply into the inexhaustible subject-matter. As Kürten states, this approach enables us ‘again and again to find surprisingly new insights into the mysterious interconnections in which Christ’s entry into earth-existence and the Mystery of Golgotha are placed’.Table of ContentsForeword by Paul King – Part One: CHRIST THE SUN SPIRIT IN THE WORK OF RUDOLF STEINER – Introduction – 1. The Enigma of Christ’s Appearance on Earth – 2. The Logos and Christ – 3. The Christ Archangel – 4. Christ the High Sun-Spirit – Christ as Cosmic-being – Christ and the Spirits of Wisdom – Christ and the Upper Gods – Christ as the Mystical Lamb – Christ among the Twelve Apostles – Christ as the Thirteenth among the Bodhisattvas – Christ as God of the Future – 5. Christ in Jesus – 6. Other Bearers of the Christ-Impulse – 7. Jesus of Nazareth – 8. Conclusion – Part Two: THE SUN GOD, THE LOGOS AND THE TRINITY – Preface – 1. Introduction – 2. The Father-God Creation and the Son-God Creation – 3. The Trinity and its Representatives in the Lower Worlds – 4. The Primal Trinity and the Trinity of our World – 5. Christ and the Holy Spirit – 6. Conclusion – Part Three: JESUS OF NAZARETH—A CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERY OF JESUS – Preface – 1. Introduction – 2. The Jesus-soul as the Representative of the Primordial Soul of Humanity – 3. The Preliminary Stages of the Mystery of Golgotha – 4. The Rescue of the Human I through the Mystery of Golgotha – 5. The Jesus-soul in Krishna – 6. The Jesus-soul in the Mysteries – 7. The Union of Buddha-forces with Jesus of Nazareth – 8. The Earthly Life of Jesus of Nazareth – a. The Life of Jesus after the Union with the Zarathustra-I – b. The Life of Jesus after the Union with the Christ-I – 9. The Resurrection – 10. Christ Jesus – 11. Dates Relating to the Life of Jesus – 12. Conclusion – Addendum to Part Three: THE SON OF MAN AND THE COSMIC CHRIST – 1. The young man who fled at the arrest of Christ Jesus – 2. Jesus of Nazareth as Son of Man – 3. Christ as Son of Man – 4. ‘Son of Man’ as a Mystery Expression – 5. The young man who fled as Cosmic Christ – Notes and References

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Book SynopsisWhat are the origins of the war in Ukraine? Contrary to popular opinion, the conflict is ultimately not between Russia and Ukraine but between Russia and the West. Neither did it begin with Russia’s invasion in 2022, nor the Maidan revolution in 2014. --- Providing a wealth of documented evidence, Terry Boardman shows that the roots of the hostility date back to the geopolitics of the nineteenth century, when Britain and Russia engaged in the so-called Great Game of controlling the ‘heartland’ of central Eurasia. With colonial supremacy at stake, the British ruling elite stoked hatred of the ‘Russian bear’. --- In addition to conventional political motivations, the author identifies a little-known, esoteric dimension. Within the leadership of the Anglo-American West are initiated groups who understand that world guidance is destined eventually to move to the Slavic East. With the aim of maintaining control, the West has been seeking, pre-emptively, to suppress Russia’s influence. --- Surveying the ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ wars of the twentieth century, the collapse of the USSR and the continual enlargement of NATO, Boardman reveals the hidden strategies employed in realizing the above goal, which has culminated in militarization, exploitation and mass death in Eastern Europe. --- Can we become aware of the subliminal, oppressive methods of our ruling elites? If we are to become free, we need at least to understand them. With political, historical and spiritual perspectives, this short book is a worthy primer.Table of ContentsPreface – 1. 2022—War in Ukraine – 2. The Antagonism between Russia and the West—Part 1 – 3. The Antagonism Between Russia and the West—Part 2: The Nineteenth Century ‘Great Game’ – 4. The Antagonism Between Russia and the West—Part 3: The Intended Demolition and ‘Remaking’ of Russia – Notes

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to anthroposophical care connected to child and youth psychiatry and people with developmental disabilities.

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Book SynopsisOlive Whicher's groundbreaking book presents an accessible - non-mathematician's - approach to projective geometry. Profusely illustrated, and written with fire and intuitive genius, this work will be of interest to anyone wishing to cultivate the power of inner visualization in a realm of structural beauty. Whicher explores the concepts of polarity and movement in modern projective geometry as a discipline of thought that transcends the limited and rigid space and forms of Euclid, and the corresponding material forces conceived in classical mechanics. Rudolf Steiner underlined the importance of projective geometry as, 'a method of training the imaginative faculties of thinking, so that they become an instrument of cognition no less conscious and exact than mathematical reasoning'. This seminal approach allows for precise scientific understanding of the concept of creative fields of formative (or etheric) forces at work in nature - in plants, animals and in the human being.

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Book SynopsisIn these much-valued lectures, Rudolf Steiner begins by positing the question, ‘Why investigate the spiritual worlds at all?’ He goes on to explore the contemporary need for spiritual knowledge and the authentic paths that can lead to it. Speaking in Torquay, England, at the International Summer School organized by his friend and colleague D.N. Dunlop, Steiner surveys the differences in various types of consciousness – from ancient to modern times, in waking and dreaming, from space into time – and the changes that have taken place in relation to knowledge and science in the course of history. He goes on to discuss the Mystery nature of crystallized minerals and metals such as copper and silver, and their relationship to the planets. He also describes how the ages of life can become organs of perception. In a dramatic conclusion Steiner explains the role of moon beings, ahrimanic elemental beings, and the true nature of mediumship, ectoplasm and spiritual possession. Presented here in a fresh translation that corrects many errors in previous editions, the text is complemented with notes, an introduction by Paul King and an index. Lectures include: ‘Nature is the Great Illusion. “Know Thyself”’; ‘The Three Worlds and their Reflected Images’; ‘Form and Substantiality of the Mineral Kingdom in relation to Human Levels of Consciousness’; ‘The Secret of Research into other Realms through the Metamorphosis of Consciousness’; ‘The Inner Enlivening of the Soul through the Qualities of Metals’; ‘Initiation Science’; ‘Star Knowledge’; ‘Possible Aberrations in Spiritual Research’. (Eleven lectures, 11-22 Aug. 1924, GA 243)

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Book SynopsisThe Art of Speech presents a dynamic path of practice leading to an experience of the Word as a living, healing and creative power. Helping to deliver Western intellectual speech from what Artaud described as 'shrivelled throats' and 'monstrous talking abstractions', Langman brings to life the spiritual realities out of which a true Art of Speech arises. Inspired by Rudolf Steiner and pioneered initially in the German language by Marie Steiner, this artform is illuminated here through the genius of the English language. Langman builds a bridge between mainstream research into the intrinsic nature of Speech, and the levels of spiritual cognition that led to Rudolf Steiner's insights. Speech and language can no longer be reduced to an arbitrary collection of abstract symbols, she asserts. This book will inspire those working with these disciplines as practitioners (both artistic and therapeutic) as well as those who wish to understand their significance in human evolution, both past and future. Following her first book The Art of Acting, this volume completes a foundation of understanding for an exploration - in the conclusion of Langman's trilogy - of an integrated art of speech and acting. Grounded in the spiritual reality of the human being, Langman presents a systematic methodology with which to explore Rudolf Steiner's Speech and Drama Course.Trade Review'The Art of Speech offers to the English language a systematic, in-depth and thoroughly readable exploration of Rudolf Steiner's original exercises. Langman's contribution, developed over decades of research, performance and teaching, is filled with relevance for today's speech artists. The powerful spiritual inspirations that stand behind the spoken word are infused throughout, giving this book its wings.' - Dr Diane Caracciolo, Associate Professor of Educational Theatre, Adelphi University 'Langman's seminal work leads the artist through a portal to an experience of the heart and the genius of speech as "the activity of divine creative beings".' - Dr Jane Gilmer, Assistant Professor of Drama, VPA, National Institute of Education, Singapore 'A prodigious work, intriguing, enlightening and passionate - and the co-ordination with Chekhov invaluable - Those fortunate enough to see Dawn's solo performances of King Lear and Kaspar Hauser know that this book is the fruit of living and loving experience.' - Sophia Walsh, pioneer teacher and artist of Speech Formation in the English language, Dornach, Switzerland

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Book SynopsisAre you ready to begin the process of making yourself a new etheric body and individuality? In the last century, Rudolf Steiner issued a challenge for practitioners of western spiritual science. Would it be possible to develop a new form of cognitive, or Michaelic, yoga? In contrast to the eastern yogis of old - who practiced the spiritualization of inhalation and exhalation - such contemporary yogic practice would involve a spiritualization of thinking as well as a transformation of perceptions and sensations. In Cognitive Yoga, Dr Ben-Aharon responds to that call, developing the entire modern yogic process and describing it in remarkable detail. Through the methods presented, committed practitioners of anthroposophy can create a living framework for spiritual research through a fully spiritualized thinking accompanied by a complete renewal of the experiences of perception and sensation as well as of the human body itself.Included in the contents of this extraordinary book is a comprehensive guide to the spiritualization of the senses and how this leads to a transmutation of the deepest and most unconscious bodily processes and functions. Cognitive Yoga culminates in a pioneering description of a completely individualized meeting with the etheric Christ in the etheric world - the most important spiritual and human experience that people can have in our time and over the millennia to come. This seminal work, built on decades of first-hand research, provides tangible evidence that western spiritual schooling is not only alive and well, but also full of potential for future development. Ben-Aharon offers a fully formulated and practical guide to a knowledge of the present revelations of the spiritual world.Table of ContentsPreface - Introduction - 1. The life cycle of etheric breathing - 2. The composition of ordinary cognition - 3. The pearl of greatest price: Individuation - 4. Etherization of Sight - 5. Etherization of Thinking - 6. Etherization of Smell - 7. Birth of a new etheric body - 8. Birth of an etheric individuality - 9. Early childhood of an etheric individuality - 10. Essence exchange with the Cosmic Source

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Book SynopsisRudolf Steiner shows how deeply and intimately human beings, the microcosm, are related to the macrocosm. But for Steiner the macrocosm is more than just the physical universe. It includes many hidden realms – like the world of Elements and the world of Archetypes – which lie behind outer manifestations such as our physical body. The macrocosm works within us continuously – in the daily alternation between sleeping and waking and in the great cyclical interchange between incarnation on earth and our time between death and rebirth. Steiner discusses the various paths of self-development that lead across the threshold to spiritual dimensions, transforming human soul-forces into organs of higher perception. In future we will even have the capacity to evolve a form of thinking that is higher than the intellect – the thinking of the heart. In this classic series of lectures, now retranslated and featuring a previously-unavailable public address, Rudolf Steiner also discusses: the planets and their connection with our sleeping and waking life; the inner path of the mystic; the ‘greater’ and ‘lesser’ guardians of the threshold; the Egyptian mysteries of Osiris and Isis; initiation in the Northern mysteries; The four spheres of the higher worlds; mirror-images of the macrocosm in man; the strengthening powers of sleep; the symbol of the Rose Cross; reading the Akashic Record; four-dimensional space; the development of future human capacities, and much more. The volume includes an introduction, notes and index.

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Book SynopsisEsteemed thinker Bastiaan Baan traces humanity's attempts to predict the future and draws on the work of Rudolf Steiner to interpret these methods. An inspiring book which argues that a more positive outlook is essential to facing an uncertain future.

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Book SynopsisGiven his energetic involvement in practical initiatives and extensive lecturing, Rudolf Steiner had little time to write books. Of those he did write - belonging almost entirely to the earlier years of his work - four titles form an indispensable introduction to his later teaching: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, Occult Science, The Philosophy of Freedom and Theosophy. Theosophy focuses on a psychology based not on the usual duality of body and mind, but on the more ancient division of body, soul and spirit. Steiner describes in detail the functions and organs of these three aspects of the human being, and the objective realms to which they belong. Just as the body derives from and belongs to the material world, so do the human soul and spirit belong to their own specific realms. These are the dimensions through which all human beings travel in the life after death, and in which - after passing the 'midnight hour' - we prepare to seek our destiny, or karma, in a new life. Theosophy features one of the most comprehensive and condensed of all Steiner's accounts of these realms, and of the experiences which our immortal being undergoes in passing through them. The book ends with a chapter on the modern 'path of knowledge', in which Steiner describes the exercises through which every person may develop the latent powers of perception which are necessary for a knowledge of metaphysical worlds.

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Book SynopsisRudolf Steiner, the often undervalued, multifaceted genius of modern times, contributed much to the regeneration of culture. In addition to his philosophical teachings, he provided ideas for the development of many practical activities, including education - both general and special - agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, religion and the arts. Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct 'spiritual research', the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. With his scientific and philosophical training, he brought a new systematic discipline to the field, allowing for conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer from childhood, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries of life.Samples of Steiner's work are to be found in this introductory reader in which Matthew Barton brings together excerpts from Steiner's many talks and writings on Christmas. The volume also features an editorial introduction, afterword, commentary and notes.Table of ContentsChapters: Christmas in a Grevious Age; Christmas and the Earth; Delving to the Core; The Child and the Tree; Towards a New Christmas.

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Book Synopsis'Once one has passed through powerlessness and refinds oneself, one also finds Christ. Before we can gain access to the Christ Impulse, we must plumb the depths of our own feelings of insignificance, and this can only happen when we view our strengths and capacities without any pride.' How does one find the Christ today? Rudolf Steiner emphasizes the importance of striving for self-knowledge, the significance of experiencing powerlessness, and the eventual resurrection from powerlessness. In this important lecture, he also speaks about the ancient Academy of Gondishapur, the significance of the year 666, the mission of Islam, as well as the crucial consequences of the Ecumenical Council of 869.

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Book SynopsisFeaturing over 90 of Rudolf Steiner's best-loved verses and meditations, this volume collects a range of material on various themes, such as working with spiritual beings, connecting with loved ones who have passed over, developing selfhood, and celebrating festivals and seasons. Countless people have worked with these meditations over the decades and can testify to their power, as well as the strength and comfort they offer the meditant. Although various translations from the German exist for many of the verses, George and Mary Adams's renderings can truly be said to be 'classic', and are the most widely used within the English-speaking anthroposophical movement that has grown up around Steiner's work. George Adams acted as Rudolf Steiner's personal interpreter when he lectured in Britain, and thus developed an intuitive understanding of Steiner's deepest impulses connected to esoteric work. Those who know these verses will be delighted that they are available again, while those who approach them for the first time will discover a treasure of wisdom as well as abundant tools for personal transformation. This edition also features the original German texts where applicable.

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Book SynopsisDuring 1924, before his last address in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures on the subject of karma to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These profoundly esoteric lectures examine the underlying laws inherent in reincarnation and karma, and explore in detail the incarnations of specific historical figures. In Rudolf Steiner's words, the study of karma is "...a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world existence..." A study of the karma of the anthroposophical movement and society, the spiritual gates of the sun and moon, and much more.

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Book SynopsisDuring 1924, before his last address in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures on the subject of karma to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These profoundly esoteric lectures examine the underlying laws of reincarnation and karma, and explore in detail the incarnations of certain named historical figures. In Rudolf Steiner's words, the study of karma is '?a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world-existence?' In this fundamental first volume - and essential basis for study of the later volumes - Rudolf Steiner gives an overview of the laws and conditions of karma, and goes on to consider the incarnations of Friedrich Nietzsche, Lord Bacon of Verulam, Lord Byron and many others.

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Book Synopsis'The intention is to take a practical subject and show how our spiritual science with anthroposophical orientation truly can play an effective role in everyday life.' - Rudolf Steiner Following his first major lecture course for medical practitioners, Rudolf Steiner sought to elaborate and deepen his 'extension' of the art of healing from a spiritual-scientific perspective. In this collection of addresses, discussions, question-and-answer sessions and lectures - running parallel to his major medical cycles - Steiner comments on contemporary medicine's emphasis on experimental, materially-based research and its subsequent lack of attention to therapy. Steiner's intention is not to detract from developments in medical science but to build on them with spiritual science - not quackery but a true art of medicine. The medical practitioner has an important task: diseases must be cured, and it is wrong not to intervene and simply to allow 'karma to take its course'. Speaking to audiences ranging from members of the general public to small groups of medical professionals, Steiner offers new insights into our understanding of human organs such as the brain, kidneys and liver, as well as the efficacy of healing substances including arsenic, sulphur, arnica and essential plant oils. He studies a broad range of specific medical conditions, giving advice on cancer, hysteria, rheumatism, gout, skin eruptions, typhoid, diabetes, haemophilia, syphilis, gonorrhoea, asthma, glaucoma, leukaemia, smallpox, insomnia, and childhood diseases such as measles. His commentaries on a raft of contrasting subjects - such as psychiatry, sexual maturity, memory, poisoning and detoxification - present challenging perspectives for patients and medical practitioners. Steiner's surprisingly non-dogmatic advice on vaccination, for example, gives a refreshingly balanced, and perhaps unexpected, point of view. This volume also includes a lecture on eurythmy therapy, a comprehensive introduction, index and notes, and nine full colour plates of Rudolf Steiner's blackboard drawings.Table of ContentsThirteen lectures, an address, two discussions and a question-and-answer session held in Dornach and Stuttgart between March 1920 and April 1924

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Book Synopsis'Our contemporaries - who wish to keep to a narrow-minded and superficial outlook, are annoyed to find that spiritual science continually seeks the whole picture - that it has to create a bridge between the body and the soul, and truly explores how the psyche becomes corporeal and the body becomes psychological.' How do the soul and the spirit live in human physical bodies? In our materialistic age, in which the very existence of the metaphysical is widely rejected, such questions are rarely posed let alone addressed. In this exceptional series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner speaks in scientific detail about the connection of the subtle aspects of human nature - our soul and spirit - to our physical constitution. At the heart of this course are the well-loved 'Bridge' lectures, which appear in English for the first time in their wider context. Steiner discusses the solid, fluid, air and warmth bodies, and how these are connected with the various ethers, the 'I' and human blood. He goes on to describe how ideals and ideas impact the various aspects of the human constitution - how morality is a source of 'world creativity' - with moral thinking imbuing life into substance and will. Moral ideas have a positive effect, he says, whereas theoretical ones have a negative impact. In the realm of the moral, a new natural world comes into being, and thus the moral order and the natural order are intertwined. This volume also features Steiner's classic lecture on the Isis legend and its renewal today as divine wisdom - Sophia. Other themes include the mystery of Christ as the connection between the spiritual and physical sun; the permeation of the life of thought with will (love) and permeation of the life of will with thoughts (wisdom); the path to freedom and love and their importance in the universe; the metamorphosis of head and limbs through successive lives on earth; the threefold nature of the human form (head, thorax, limbs), the threefold nature of the soul (thinking, feeling, will) and the threefold nature of the spirit (waking, dreaming, sleeping).

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Book SynopsisDuring 1924, before his last address in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures on the subject of karma to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These profoundly esoteric commentaries examine the underlying laws of reincarnation and karma, and explore in detail the incarnations of specific historical figures. In Rudolf Steiner's words, the study of karma is '...a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world existence...' In this eighth and final volume of the series, Rudolf Steiner offers insights on a variety of subjects, including Cosmic Christianity, the Michael impulse, the Arthur and Grail streams of wisdom, as well as the individualities of Gregory VII, Haeckel, Swedenborg, Loyola, Haroun al Raschid, Byron, Voltaire and others.

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Book SynopsisDuring 1924, before his last address in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures on the subject of karma to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These profoundly esoteric lectures examine the underlying laws of reincarnation and karma, and explore in detail the incarnations of certain named historical figures. In Rudolf Steiner's words, the study of karma is '?a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world-existence?' In this second volume of the series. Rudolf Steiner considers individual karmic relationships in history - for example Marx and Engels - as well as surveying karma in human life, the shaping of karma after death, and the "cosmic form" of karma.

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Book SynopsisIn the uncertainty following the end of the First World War, Rudolf Steiner perceived a unique opportunity to establish a healthy social and political constitution. He began lecturing throughout post-war Germany, often to large audiences, about his social ideas. Here, speaking to a more intimate grouping at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, Steiner seeks to deepen the themes of social threefolding, showing specifically how new social thinking is integral to anthroposophy. Steiner speaks of the superficiality of the materialistic view of history, originating with the economic shift amongst the population at the time of the Reformation. Back in Egyptian-Chaldean times, initiates ruled out of spiritual impulses. Later, in the Greco-Roman period, priests had power over their congregations. Today, homo economicus – or `economic man’ – has become the dominant idea, with the capitalist and the banker taking control. But the healing of social relationships can only come about through different modes of thought; the life of spirit must be separated not only from politics but also from economics. True social understanding allows for comprehension of karma – the appreciation of each person’s individual destiny. In parallel, says Steiner, we should work towards a global consciousness, as true social ideas are founded on people feeling themselves to be citizens of the world. In an important corollary, Steiner studies the incarnations of three significant spiritual beings in human evolution: Lucifer, Christ and Ahriman. Lucifer incarnated in the third pre-Christian millennium, Christ incarnated at the dawn of a new age, whilst an incarnation of Ahriman in the West is immanent. Ahriman is preparing this incarnation by insidiously promoting various ideas, for example that economic security is sufficient for healthy public life. A new wisdom must be achieved out of free human will, says Steiner, or else we will succumb to Ahriman.

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Book Synopsis‘Concern for the world today provides the impetus to ask of ourselves a profound question… how can our way of knowing, the very style of our thinking which informs our research and our teaching, come to express care, to reveal itself to be a deed and duty of care?’ Basing this practical study on the human quality of care for the world around us, Nigel Hoffmann takes us to a threshold beyond which lies a true science of living form. Care, he says, springs from the whole human being – the thinking, heart and will – and is implicit in the sci¬entific method of conscious inner participation in nature that derives from the work of the poet and scientist Goethe. The Goethean approach – a living form that unites science and art – is not an alternative to contemporary science but complements it. Artistic practice, says Hoffmann, is a guide across the threshold and into the sphere of the living whole. But artistic sensibility can be raised to a higher possibility of itself, allowing us to discover the faculties of cognitive feeling and cognitive will. The author calls for a grounding in Goethean science for all students as a preliminary to their specialist and professional studies. He introduces us to the concept of the metamorphosis of the university – from the doctoral ideal to the ideal of the whole human being – and concludes with a case study of the economic sphere and capital using Goethean methodology. This profound book indicates a transformative path for human culture and civilization in the 21st century. NIGEL HOFFMANN PhD has for eighteen years been a high school teacher, in Australian and Swiss Rudolf Steiner schools. He is the author of Goethe’s Science of Living Form: The Artistic Stages (Adonis Press) and is a director of the Education for Social Renewal Foundation.

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Book SynopsisIn an absorbing series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner discloses factors in a person's life on Earth that will influence their experiences in the spiritual world after their death - and conversely, factors in the spiritual world that will affect their next life on Earth. Steiner focuses on the period in the afterlife when the individual has been through kamaloka - the purgatorial place where the soul is purified. Once the soul has been cleansed of its astral sheath, it becomes open to cosmic influences, expanding into the planetary sphere. Now it can begin preparation for reincarnation - for a new human life on Earth. Steiner addresses the vital relationship of the living to the dead - in particular, how those on Earth can influence the souls of the dead. He also speaks on themes of 'Sleep and death', 'The seven-year life cycles of man', and offers a 'Christmas gift' in the form of a lecture on Christian Rosenkreutz and Gautama Buddha. He ends with a mighty picture of the Mystery of Golgotha: Jesus Christ's death on the cross was only seemingly a death; in reality it enabled the momentous birth of the Earth-Soul. Long out-of-print, the freshly-revised text of the ten lectures in this new edition is complemented with an introduction, notes and appendices by Professor Frederick Amrine, and also features an index. Ten lectures, Berlin, Nov.-Apr. 1913, GA 141

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Book SynopsisSpeaking towards the end of the catastrophic Great War, Rudolf Steiner reveals the spiritual roots of the crises of our times. Since 1879, he says, human minds have been influenced by backward angels, ‘spirits of darkness’, who – following their defeat in battle with Archangel Michael – were forced out of the heavens and ‘fell’ to the earth. This war in the spiritual worlds had consequences, and it is essential that people today are sufficiently awake to the retrogressive influences around them. In a positive sense, we can choose freely to engage with the spirits of light, who seek to emancipate human beings from bonds of race, nation and blood. In this extraordinary series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner throws light on hidden aspects of world affairs. With the Bolshevik Revolution having just taken place, he discusses events in Russia and humanity’s attempts to build theoretically perfect social orders. Steiner also speaks about the roles and spiritual backgrounds of significant individuals, such as the mystics Johann Valentin Andreae, Vladimir Soloviev and Saint-Martin, the American and British politicians Woodrow Wilson and Lloyd George, and world-historic figures including Charles Darwin and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The new edition of this classic work features a revised translation, notes and extensive appendices by editor Frederick Amrine, plus a new introduction by Christopher Schaefer.

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Book SynopsisIn 1924 at Koberwitz, the estate of Count and Countess Keyserlingk, Rudolf Steiner gave a key course of lectures on agriculture. At a time when industrial methods were being introduced into farming, Steiner had a radically different, evolutionary, vision. Based on a revitalized relationship with nature, his approach encompassed knowledge of the cosmos, the elemental world and the earth, and utilized special planting methods and preparations. Today his biodynamic agriculture is widely valued and used around the world. In addition to the lively and entertaining accounts of the agriculture course held at Koberwitz, this extraordinary book features Countess Keyserlingk's memories of her meetings with Rudolf Steiner. Steiner told the Countess that she had a consciousness which would be usual 'in the third millennium', and her reminiscences reflect this uncommon quality! Also included are essays by the editor which incorporate rare material such as the communications received by Countess Keyserlingk after Steiner's death. This book will be of interest to students of biodynamics as well as those interested in how Rudolf Steiner worked to develop anthroposophy. It is compiled and edited by Adalbert Graf von Keyserlingk, the son of the Count and Countess who hosted the Koberwitz conference.

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Book SynopsisThe honey bee has lived in close association with human beings for millennia. Tragically, however, humanity's once intimate connection with this unique creature has been harmed by our increasingly utilitarian and exploitative dealings with the natural world. We are now in urgent need of re-establishing a deeper relationship, not just for the sake of the bees themselves but for the whole of nature - and of course for ourselves.Lorenzen - a true master beekeeper - provides numerous insights to enable a more fruitful engagement with the living world. Offering an enrichment of the knowledge and practice of beekeeping, he discusses the origins of the honey bee, its relationship to the floral kingdom, the digestion of the bee, the treatment of bee diseases as well as appropriate beekeeping techniques. He also develops subtle spiritual concepts such as the idea of the bee colony as an 'individuality' and 'group-soul', providing new depth and wisdom to our understanding of how bees live and work.This small book, a hidden gem that has never before appeared in English, is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of the honey bee and the future of humanity.Table of ContentsForeword - Introduction - Relation of the honey bee to the floral kingdom, and the developmental level of digestion in the bee - On the treatment of bee diseases - The origin of the honeybee - The bee colony as an individuality and group-soul - The question of appropriate beekeeping techniques

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Book SynopsisWho was Cain and what does he represent? The first part of this book invites us to revise the traditional, biblical, view of Cain as his brother's murderer. Rudolf Steiner shows how the original Cain was ready to sacrifice his being to something higher, but this pure impulse was perverted into the desire to murder. Our earthly knowledge has an affinity with the fallen Cain, but there is also a path by which we can ascend to the condition of Cain before his fratricide - through the stages of higher knowledge. Only the descendants of Cain, coming to full and real 'I' development, can sustain themselves in the face of earthly forces. In the context of this primeval Cain, or the 'new' Cain, the ritual ceremonies enacted by Steiner between 1905 and 1914 acquire their true meaning: as a way to incorporate previously developed spirit knowledge into the human soul and into physical reality. Here the practical occultist increasingly identifies with Hiram, the central figure of the Temple Legend, in order to realize the new Cain within him.Meyer demonstrates the direct line from Rudolf Steiner's early 'rites of knowledge' to the Class lessons of 1924, which Steiner had intended to reinvest with a ritual element. Besides reflections by Rudolf Steiner and editor Thomas Meyer's commentary, this volume includes important thoughts by Marie Steiner, W.J. Stein, Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz and Rudolf Geering-Christ. The final chapter is a lecture by D.N. Dunlop - perhaps Steiner's most important pupil in the West - that reveals the universally human core of the rituals we encounter both in traditional freemasonry and in Steiner's own rites.Table of ContentsIntroduction and Overview - I. The Temple Legend as a Spiritual and Moral Impulse for Evolution and Its Completion by Rudolf Steiner - II. Rudolf Steiner's Ritual Texts for the First to the Third Degree - III. Aphoristic Explanations and Commentaries - IV. From the Ritual Ceremonies to the 'Class Lessons' and Beyond - V. The Decadence of Freemasonry and the Royal Art of the Future - D.N. Dunlop: The Meaning of Masonic Trials - Picture references

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Book Synopsis'The most important task of the bees, apart from the preparation of honey, wax and propolis, is the healing of the atmosphere! The honey bee, apis mellifera, alone, is able to perform this task. This is its first and foremost purpose.' - Ralf RoessnerDescribing the Genius of Bees as the 'group consciousness' of the hive, Ralf Roessner presents an extraordinary commentary based on first-hand spiritual-scientific research and experience. He studies the mission of the Genius of Bees, the hexagonal structure of 'the crystalline heaven' within which the bees operate, and the healing of the world through their work. Roessner elucidates the relationships between the Genius of Bees, the elemental world and the human being. He also speaks of his personal experiences with the organic 'earth hive', giving instructions on how they are made, and offers practical advice on tackling the varroa mite. In this unique and original work, the author, '...attempts to describe the secrets of creation as far as he has experienced these himself'. As he goes on to clarify: 'Many matters, which could only be vaguely perceived in former times, can now be investigated in a spiritual-scientific manner.A secret is only a secret to the extent it escapes the individual human being's powers of consciousness'. Anyone seeking deeper insights into the world of the honey bee will be enriched by the content of this book.Table of ContentsPreface - INTRODUCTION - The Signs of Change - THE MISSION OF THE GENIUS OF THE BEES - Cosmic Fertilization - About the Physical, Etheric, Astral and Spiritual Plane - The Influence of Elemental Beings - Plant Growth Within the Mantle of Warmth Ether - The Language of Form in Plants, Cosmic Fertilization of Blossoms - Further Details on the Act of Fertilization - THE HEALING OF THE WORLD THROUGH THE GENIUS OF THE BEES - The Crystalline Heaven - The Etheric Body of the Earth - On the Origin of the Genius of the Bees - The Influence of the Heart and the Mission of the Geniusof the Bees - STRUCTURE OF THE BEES, HEXAGONAL STRUCTURE OF THE CRYSTALLINE HEAVEN - THE HUMAN BEING AND THE GENIUS OF THE BEES - The Bee, the Human Being and Elemental Beings - Communicating with the Genius of the Bees - BEE LIFE WITHIN THE EARTH HIVE - A Special Experience - What the Genius of the Bees Wanted to Tell Me - How Can the Human Being Help? - THE GENIUS OF BEES - PRACTICAL TASKS - The Earth Hive From Masuria - Proportions/Recipe - Catching a Swarm with a Brood Comb - Further Advice When Working with the Earth Hive - The Varroa Treatment - Additional Feeding - FINAL THOUGHTS - The First Encounter of Man and Bee

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Book SynopsisBuilding on her fundamental texts The Art of Acting and The Art of Speech, Dawn Langman shows how the great dramas of Western heritage illuminate the evolution of human consciousness – from the past and into the future – thus providing a context in which actors can consciously evolve their art. Having laid her foundation by exploring the Eleusis Mysteries – the seed point of Western drama – she moves to the end of the nineteenth century, when drama and performance practice prepared for its next great evolutionary leap. She explores the connection of this leap to the evolutionary threshold facing human beings at the end of what occult history calls Kali Yuga. Weaving back and forth between future, past and present – guided by the great cyclic themes of human soul and spiritual development – Langman shows how the inspiration of our greatest artists springs from a source of knowing that encompasses the high calling of the human being to mature beyond its biological inheritance, and to become a conscious co-creator with the macrocosmic powers that serve the evolution of the universe. In doing so, she clarifies the specific function drama has in our contemporary development within the spectrum of the arts.Trade Review`Building on the first two books of this extraordinary series, Langman’s meta-historical analysis of drama lays the foundation for her ongoing explorations into an art of acting that fully takes into account the multidimensional nature of the human being. Here, she masterfully contextualizes the 20th century contributions of Rudolf Steiner and Michael Chekhov within the broad trajectory of the Western dramatic and theatrical tradition’. Dr Diane Caracciolo, Associate Professor of Educational Theatre, Adelphi University, USATable of ContentsTable of Illustrations – Acknowledgements – Preface – Introduction – The true names of things: reading the script, poetic and literal consciousness – Chapter 1, The key to the Mysteries: The founding myth – Chapter 2, 'It takes so many thousand years to wake': drama at the threshold – Chapter 3, When will the lost word be found? – Chapter 4, 'The fabulous wings unused': towards a drama of the future – Chapter 5, 'We shall not cease from exploration' – Epilogue, The crucible of art – Appendices: Appendix A, Additional volumes in this series – Appendix B, Therapeutic applications of Speech Formation – Appendix C, DVD recordings of Dawn Langman's lecture series: 'A Dramatic Journey through the evolution of human consciousness' – List of plays quoted or cited – Bibliography – List of illustrations – Notes

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