Search results for ""author rudolf steiner""

‘Christianity was bound at first to be a matter of faith and is only now beginning, very gradually, to be a matter of knowledge.’ – Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner gave 70 lectures on the four canonical Gospels, characterizing the distinctive contribution of each of the evangelists. The Gospel of Mark is a ‘cosmic’ text that calls for an astronomical as well as a human reading. It is also critical for understanding the evolution of Christianity, which depends on knowledge of ‘the Mystery of Golgotha’ (Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension). ‘We are only at the beginning of Christian evolution’, Steiner states, reiterating that its further development will depend on spiritual knowledge. In order to develop such cognition, ‘most important of all is reverence for the great truths and the feeling that we can approach them only with awe and veneration’. Many profound spiritual truths are indeed revealed in these lectures. Among the panoply of topics covered are: ‘Mystery Teachings in St Mark’s Gospel’; ‘The Son of God and the Son of Man’; ‘The Symbolic Language of the Macrocosm’; ‘The Moon-religion of Yahweh’ and ‘The Penetration of the Buddha-Mercury Stream into Rosicrucianism’. This thoroughly revised edition includes notes and appendices by Frederick Amrine and an extensive introduction by Robert McDermott.

Read more less

Replete with fresh immediacy, rich spiritual content, innovation and occasional humour, these talks were given at a time when Rudolf Steiner was preparing for independence from the Theosophical Society. Alongside the much-loved lectures ‘Nervousness and Ego Development’ – in which Steiner shares practical exercises for coping with contemporary life’s challenges – and ‘Love and Its Significance in the World’, the collection finds a focal point in descriptions of the ‘Three Soul Paths to Christ’. The first of these is via the Gospels, the second through ‘Inner Experience’ and the third ‘Initiation’, which Steiner characterizes as a path transcending religion. He further elaborates these themes in a lecture entitled, ‘Mysteries of the Kingdoms of Heaven in Parables and in Real Form’. Elijah, John the Baptist, Raphael and Novalis form a golden thread throughout, appearing as a fourfold herald of a true Christianity of the future. A moving yet astringent tribute to the founder of Theosophy, H.P. Blavatsky, on the tenth anniversary of her death, adds the Christian verities not embraced by Blavatsky during her lifetime, and two stirring talks that set the mood for Christmastide – via St Matthew, Eudocia and St Luke – round off the volume with paeans to Novalis. The lectures are complemented with an introduction by Margaret Jonas, detailed notes and an index.

Read more less

What is the meaning of memory in the information age? When all knowledge is seemingly digitised and available for reference at any time, do we actually need human memory? One consequence of the proliferation of digitization is the deterioration of our capacity to remember – a symptom that is apparent in a steady increase in dementia within contemporary society. Rudolf Steiner indicates that memory is the determining factor in awareness of oneself. Even a partial loss of memory leads to loss of self-consciousness and the sense of our ‘I’. Thus, memory is crucial for the development of I-consciousness – not only for the individual, but for humanity as a whole. Rudolf Steiner’s research on memory, recollection and forgetting has many implications for the way we learn, for inner development and spiritual growth. This unique selection of passages from his works offers insights into how consciousness can remain autonomous and creative in a digital environment. It also provides ideas for improving education and emphasizes the importance of life-long learning. Chapters include: ‘The Development of Memory Throughout Human History’; ‘The Formation of Memory, Remembering and Forgetting in the Human Individual’; ‘Remembering and Forgetting in Connection with Education’; ‘How Remembering and Forgetting are Transformed by the Schooling Path – Imagination and Inspiration’; ‘Remembering Backwards (Rückschau) and Memory Exercises’; ‘Subconscious Memories of the Pre-birth Period and of Life Between Death and a New Birth’; ‘Memory and Remembering after Death’; ‘The Development of Memory in the Future’.

Read more less

Rudolf Steiner offered numerous practical methods to enrich and enliven our daily lives. Drawing on these, the texts in this anthology provide a wealth of ideas to strengthen our health through self-education and personal development. The content ranges from tangible and easy-to-practise exercises to relevant observations on human nature.Steiner speaks of memory and forgetting as the basis of education and cultural development, explaining their significance for health and illness. He discusses the influences of the four human temperaments and their relationship to well-being, and the eightfold path in connection with self-education. Finally, he gives specific exercises for inner development to be practised on the various days of the week. The themes of personal resilience and 'salutogenesis' - an approach that focuses on factors that support human health and well-being rather than those that cause disease - are addressed directly by editor Harald Hass in his introductory essay.

Read more less

The Rose Cross meditation is central to the western - Rosicrucian - path of personal development as presented by Rudolf Steiner. Steiner repeatedly referred to the meditation as a 'symbol of human development' that illustrates the transformation of the human being's instincts and desires. These work unconsciously in the soul, and in thought, feeling and will. Through personal development, the 'I' - the essential self - can gain mastery over these unconscious forces of the soul. The Rose Cross meditation features the red rose as an image to which the student, via specific means, aspires. To the plant is added the black cross which, pointing to the mystery of death and resurrection, provides a symbol of the higher development of the human I. The metamorphosis of the roses and the cross into the symbol of the Rose Cross is brought about by the student's inner efforts, creating an entirely new image. This becomes the starting point for further steps along the meditative path.The Rose Cross meditation is the only pictorial meditation whose content and structure Steiner described in such detail. In this invaluable book, the editor has drawn together virtually all Rudolf Steiner's statements on the subject, arranging them chronologically within the motif of each chapter. His words are supported by commentary and notes.

Read more less

This volume contains Rudolf Steiner"s leadin g thoughts and letters written for the Anthroposophical Soci ety. In brief paragraphs they succinctly present Steiner"s s cience of the spirit '

Read more less

These five profound lectures look at the cosmic forces behind the four great festivals of the year, providing a wealth of material for fruitful thought and meditation. Steiner presents great imaginative pictures that unite the heavens and the Earth through a portrayal of the activities of the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. In the course of the lectures, Rudolf Steiner offers spiritual insight into subjects that include the alchemical processes of sulfur, mercury, and salt in the cosmos; the realms of humankind and plants; spiritual combustion processes; crystals; clouds and meteors; the movements of elemental beings in nature; and the conflicting efforts of Lucifer and Ahriman the two great adversaries to divert Earth from its true purpose. The Four Seasons and the Archangels includes five color plates of Rudolf Steiner s blackboard drawings made during the lectures."

Read more less

The wisdom contained in this book is not derived via the usual methods of scholarly and historical research, and neither is it based on theory or speculation. Rudolf Steiner acquired his original contribution to human knowledge from metaphysical dimensions of reality which are hidden to most people – but visible to anybody who is prepared to develop spiritual means of perception. With his philosophical and scientific training, Steiner brought a new systematic discipline to the field of spiritual research, allowing for fully conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries. Samples of his work are to be found in this book of edited texts, which brings together excerpts from his many talks and writings on the subject of the Druids. This volume also features an editorial introduction, commentary and notes by Dr Andrew Welburn. Chapters: The Sun Initiation of the Druid Priests and their Moon Science; The Mysteries of Ancient Ireland; Celtic Christianity – the Heritage of the Druids; Teachings of the Mysteries – the Spirit in Nature; The Great Mysteries – the Mystery of Christ; The Function of the Standing Stones; Spiritual Imaginations.

Read more less

'Anyone who takes hold of what we call spiritual science, not with purely abstract thoughts but with his whole being, will see that this spiritual science goes right into the dexterity of the hands, that it makes a person more capable and enables him to extend his interest over wider areas and his will over a wider world.' - Rudolf Steiner Returning from travels in war-torn Europe, Rudolf Steiner gives a stark impression of the disastrous conditions of the time, encouraging deeper esoteric work as a counter to the world-situation. Speaking under the broad theme of human development in the light of anthroposophy, he analyses the gulf between contemporary culture and science - which he says are characterized by 'narrow-mindedness, philistinism and ineptitude' - and a scientific approach to the spirit. At the same time, Steiner is clear-sighted about the shortcomings of his followers, mentioning past failures and a continuing tendency towards sectarianism and dogmatic judgements. Rudolf Steiner discusses how we experience a state of separateness with the world through our physical form, whilst our aura - or soul-spiritual being - is already living actively in cosmic surroundings. A conscious crossing of the threshold into the spiritual world is urgent and necessary today, although Steiner warns of the dangers inherent in certain eastern and western approaches. The tendency of initiates of the Orient is to abandon the human race, whilst the American impulse is immersed too strongly in physical, bodily nature. And a potential demonic influence works through technology. However, a spiritual-scientific path of knowledge and development can allow us to navigate through these challenges. Other themes featured include: the threefold Sun Mystery of ancient times; the Mystery of Christ Jesus and the threefold being of man; the human limbs as thoughts of the higher hierarchies; the loss of the spiritual knowledge of the old Mysteries; the gulf between idealism and realism; the formation of language from Cosmic Intelligence; the Pythagorean School and the mendacity of the world at that time; the disintegration of words after death; the twelve senses; the spiritual impact of old people's death on the physical Earth; and the impulse of socialism. The wealth of spiritual thoughts and knowledge presented in these lectures remain as relevant today as they did when the they were first delivered. 9 lectures, Dornach, Aug. - Sept. 1918, CW 183

Read more less

spacer In these unique lectures, given to members of his Esoteric School (1904-14), Rudolf Steiner's main intention is to throw light on the hidden content of the picture-language of myths, sagas and legends. Pictures, he explains, are the real origin of all things - the primeval spiritual causes. In order to work in a healthy way with pictures or symbols today, however, it is necessary that one should first become acquainted with their esoteric content - to understand them. At the time of these lectures Steiner was planning to inaugurate the second section of the Esoteric School, which was to deal in a direct way with a renewal - out of his own spiritual research - of ritual and symbolism. He gave these lectures as a necessary preparation, to clarify the history and nature of the cultic tradition. He thus discusses principally Freemasonry and its background, but also the Rosicrucians, Manichaeism, the Druids, the Prometheus Saga, the Lost Temple, Cain and Abel - and much else besides.

Read more less

'We learn gradually to raise our eyes not only to material existence; instead we discover spiritual entities and their actions wherever we look in the universe...We get to know the deeds of these spirits. We are alive and active and we are within the spiritual entities and their activities.' - Rudolf Steiner This classic series of lectures presents systematic knowledge on many different spiritual entities, ranging from the higher hierarchies of angels down to hindering demons. Basing his presentation on spiritual-scientific research, Rudolf Steiner intends to awaken us to the existence of these beings and how they interact with all aspects of our lives. Steiner describes how animals, plants and minerals have group souls - with even an inert stone having a spiritual counterpart in the invisible world. The various planets in the cosmos are connected to great spiritual beings and hierarchies too, as is the zodiac, which is not a static band of fixed stars but is also evolving. Steiner gives a remarkable picture of how Christ relates to the zodiacal constellations and to our own higher aspects. Spiritual entities are associated with the evolution of earth and the previous stages of its existence - and here Steiner elaborates relevant chapters of his book Occult Science, An Outline, explaining how our task on earth is ultimately to develop love rather than wisdom (which was the goal of earth's previous stage). From cosmic considerations, Steiner leads to the spirits of the kingdoms of nature - the elemental beings, with their four classes connecting to the four elements - gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders, or earth, water, air and fire spirits. He describes how elemental beings are created by human activities - with coercion of the views of others leading to 'demons', lying leading to 'phantoms', and bad social systems to 'spectres'. Spirits are also created in the association of humans and animals, whilst other spiritual entities connect us with the arts. Steiner emphasises the importance of developing and appreciating the arts - such as music, sculpture, architecture, painting and poetry - for the sake of humanity's future evolution.

Read more less

Rudolf Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct 'spiritual research', the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. Samples of his work are to be found in this introductory reader in which Beth Usher brings together excerpts from Steiner's many talks and writings on Eurythmy. The volume also features an editorial introduction, commentary and notes. Chapters include: In the beginning, God created out of movement; School eurythmy - a kind of spiritual gymnastics; Eurythmy therapy - the word of the heavens is the being of man; Silent soul: speaking soul; Eurythmy as a performing art; and How eurythmy arises out of anthroposophy. It is complied with an introduction, commentary and notes by Beth Usher.

Read more less

The remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. The varied subject-matter was chosen by his audience at Rudolf Steiner's instigation. Steiner took their questions and usually gave immediate answers. The astonishing nature of these responses - their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth - is testimony to his outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and profound thinker. Accessible, entertaining and stimulating, the records of these sessions will be a delight to anybody with an open mind. In this particular collection, Rudolf Steiner deals with topics ranging from limestone to Lucifer! He discusses, among other things, technology; the living earth; natural healing powers; colour and sickness; rainbows; whooping cough and pleurisy; seances; sleep and sleeplessness; dreams; reincarnation; life after death; the physical, ether and astral bodies and the 'I'; the two Jesus children; Ahriman and Lucifer; the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ; Dante and Copernicus.

Read more less

In this collection, Rudolf Steiner deals wit h topics ranging from elephants to Einstein. He discusses, a mong other things, ants and bees, shells and skeletons, anim al and plant poisons, nutrition, the human eye and its colou r, and thinking '

Read more less

Religious and spiritual writings have always made reference to beings from the spiritual hierarchies, especially those known in Christian tradition as Angels. These spirits are the closest to human beings and act as our invisible guides and companions. They influence the life of the individual as well as the evolution of humanity and the cosmos. From his own clairvoyant vision, Rudolf Steiner confirmed the existence of such spiritual beings and showed how modern minds could gain access to their world. As he explains in these inspiring lectures, it is important for us to understand and cooperate with the work of the Angels today as this is crucial for the further development of humanity.

Read more less

From his clairvoyant reading of the Akashic Record -- the cosmic memory of all events, actions, and thoughts -- Rudolf Steiner was able to speak of aspects of the life of Jesus Christ that are not contained in the four biblical Gospels. Such research can be spoken of as a fifth gospel. After an intense inner struggle to verify the exact nature of these events, and checking the results of his research, Steiner describes many detailed episodes from the Akashic Record. This new edition has been retranslated and features six lectures that have never before been published in English.

Read more less

Rudolf Steiner's third great lecture course to physicians has a completely different character to his previous presentations. Delivered in response to a group of young doctors - who approached Steiner with the specific request for a course that would be 'quite intimate', but should not contain anything ' - which appealed only to knowledge and the intellect' - it offers unique, groundbreaking insights into the practice and art of healing. Steiner speaks about the influence of cosmic and earthly forces - the periphery and centre - on the human being. Proper understanding of these processes enables the physician to comprehend the actions of plants and minerals used in anthroposophic medicines, and thus to prescribe appropriate and individually specific remedies. Steiner paints a picture of the human being as a complex confluence of the forces of heredity, forces from the cosmos, and an individual's unique spiritual nature. The physician has to understand these relationships in order to be able to help effectively when they are out of balance. Steiner stresses the importance of personal development for physicians, and offers plentiful instructions for a meditative practice intrinsic to their work. Among a wealth of other topics, Steiner addresses inflammation and excessive growth; the nature of scarlet fever and measles; the importance of a child's food and breast milk; the functions of the liver, heart, head and skeleton; the incarnation process; karma as a guide for the physician; morality as a force streaming in from the cosmos; the cosmic trinity of Saturn, Sun and Moon in the healthy and sick human being; and the involvement of the heart in thinking. Included here are Rudolf Steiner's answers to questions, and the first newsletter from the Medical Section, with a key meditation for physicians. This volume also features 18 full colour plates of Rudolf Steiner's blackboard drawings, a comprehensive introduction, index and notes.

Read more less

Barely four months after the end of the First World War, with Europe in chaos and exhausted from years of conflict, Rudolf Steiner offered these lectures of hope and renewal. Despite continuing social troubles around the world, he knew that human beings had an opportunity to organize society in a new way. Steiner responded to this prospect by giving suggestions for creating innovative social structures that are in harmony with people’s inner needs. Humanity as a whole is now facing a great challenge in that it is ‘crossing the threshold’ to the spiritual world, says Steiner. This means that an evolutionary separation is taking place within the human soul between thinking, feeling and will. For this to happen in a healthy way, the outer make-up of society should mirror and support our internal evolution. Steiner points to the urgent need for ‘threefolding’ – a separation between the workings of culture, economics and politics. This is a subconscious demand, he asserts – not for thinking up cranky ideas within a sect, but for shedding light on what is needed universally! These important lectures cover numerous themes, including the overcoming of class distinctions, the administration of money, technology and capitalism, the antisocial tendency of nationalism, and the future management of international relations.

Read more less

In this series of previously-untranslated lectures, Rudolf Steiner describes how myths and legends portray humanity’s most ancient evolutionary and spiritual history. Folklore presents ancient mystical wisdom in the form of stories – clothed in pictures by initiates – that enable individuals to understand their content in a more intellectual form at a later time. Focusing on Greek and Germanic mythology, the lectures in the first part of this volume cover the chronicles of Prometheus, Daedalus and Icarus, Parzival and Lohengrin, the Argonauts and the Odyssey, and the heroic dragon-slayer Siegfried. From these focal points, Rudolf Steiner discusses a variety of themes – from the mysteries of the Druids and the founding of Rome to the esoteric background of Wolfram von Eschenbach; from good and evil and the unjust death sentence on Socrates to the significance of marriage. The second part of this book features lectures on the nature and significance of the musical dramas of Richard Wagner. Wagner’s works, from his earliest attempts to his most mature opera Parsifal, are discussed from spiritual viewpoints. Although Wagner did not have a fully conscious awareness of the deeper meanings of his compositions, Steiner suggests that his shaping of Germanic legends was driven by an instinctive, creative and artistic certainty that accords with deep occult truths.

Read more less

‘From the contents of original Greek drama and the soul drama of the present day that leads to self-knowledge, Rudolf Steiner develops his thought processes – pulsating with lively contemplation – about wonders of the world, trials of the soul and revelations of the spirit!’ – Marie Steiner In this remarkable interpretation of Greek mythology, Rudolf Steiner goes beyond Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell in reading mythological figures such as Demeter, Persephone, Eros and Dionysos as primordial archetypes of macrocosmic thinking, feeling and will. Moreover, he explains in detail how this archetypal consciousness was gradually lost, giving way to new-found, subjective experience of these faculties, which in turn opens up possibilities for human freedom. His overarching theme of ‘the evolution of consciousness’ is grand in its sweep, but Steiner also shows himself to be the master of telling details. Lectures include: ‘The origin of dramatic art in European cultural life and the Mystery of Eleusis’; ‘The living reality of the spiritual world in Greek mythology and the threefold Hecate’; ‘Nature and spirit’; ‘The entry of the Christ Impulse into human evolution and the activity of the planetary gods’; ‘The merging of the ancient Hebrew and the Greek currents in the Christ-stream’; ‘The ego-nature and the human form’; ‘The Dionysian Mysteries’; ‘Eagle, Bull and Lion currents, Sphinx and Dove’; ‘The two poles of all soul-ordeals’; and ‘On Goethe’s birthday’. The freshly revised text features an introduction, notes and appendices by Professor Frederick Amrine, colour images and an index.

Read more less

In his final lectures to the general public, Rudolf Steiner speaks with great clarity and purpose about the inner and outer necessity of the anthroposophical impulse in modern times. Following the fire that destroyed the first Goetheanum building in Dornach, Switzerland, Steiner had focused his efforts on rebuilding and reorganizing the Anthroposophical Society. But he also continued to travel and speak to the public – in Prague, Vienna and Basel – to explain the purpose of the Goetheanum and to elucidate the broader aims of his spiritual work. These lectures, including a semi-public series in Dornach, are gathered here and published in English for the first time, together with an introduction, notes and index. The volume features the following lectures: ‘The Purpose of the Goetheanum and the Aims of Anthroposophy’; ‘Enhancing Human Powers of Perception to Develop Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition’; ‘Human Soul Life and the Development of Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition’; ‘Experience and Perception of the Activities of Thinking and Speech’; ‘The Physical World and Moral-Spiritual Impulses’: ‘Four Stages of Inner Experience’; ‘Perceiving the Etheric World’; ‘Soul’s Eternity in the Light of Anthroposophy’; ‘Human Development and Education in the Light of Anthroposophy’; ‘Supersensible Perception, Anthroposophy as a Contemporary Need’; ‘Anthroposophy and the Ethical and Religious Life’; ‘How Do We Gain Knowledge of the Supersensible World?’

Read more less

As a spiritual teacher, Rudolf Steiner wrote many inspired and beautifully-crafted verses. Often they were given in relation to specific situations or in response to individual requests; sometimes they were offered simply to assist in the process of meditation. Regardless of their origins, they are uniformly powerful in their ability to connect the meditating individual with spiritual archetypes. Thus, the meditations provide valuable tools for developing experience and knowledge of subtle dimensions of reality. Matthew Barton has translated and selected Steiner's verses, sensitively arranging them by theme. In this collection of meditations for times of day and seasons of the year, Rudolf Steiner delves into the rhythms of nature and their relationship to human beings. The verses in the first part refer to the cycle of waking and sleeping, echoing the greater rhythms of birth and death. They provide an accompaniment for each day, gently reminding us where we have come from and where we are going. The second section focuses on the human being's passage through nature's changing seasons - a greater cycle of sleeping and waking. Together they offer us a spiritual light for our journey through life.

Read more less

'Like so much of Renaissance Art, Shakespeare's work bears an open secret. The esoteric spiritual content is undisguised, though it may be unexpected and not always immediately recognized. And, like all the great artistic achievements...this work remains incomplete until we recognize and respond to its open invitation that we become active participants.' - from the IntroductionThe perennial universal appeal of Shakespeare's work is well established. His core themes explore the challenges of the human condition whilst celebrating the potential of human beings to achieve and develop in earthly life. But what is it that enables Shakespeare's characters to live and breathe beyond the confines of their written roles, some 400 years after the plays were first performed? In these collected lectures, edited with an extensive introduction by Andrew Wolpert, Rudolf Steiner throws new light on the Bard's work, describing the on-going life that flows from it, and the profound spiritual origins of Shakespeare's inspirations. He shows how Shakespeare can enliven us in our longing for contemporary ideals and truths; indeed, in our goal of becoming fully human. Our engagement with the plays, not just as actors and directors, but also as students and members of an audience, can thus become a co-creative participation in the redemptive potential of Shakespeare's enduring legacy. Steiner speaks about Shakespeare in connection with the evolution of the arts of poetry and drama, and the transitions between cultural epochs. He reminds us of the sources and characteristics of classical Greek drama, recalling Aristotle's definition of drama as catharsis, and pointing to Shakespeare's connection to these cultural and historical wellsprings.

Read more less

'When we consider the plant world in all its greenery, or the stars with their golden glory; when we look at all this without forming any judgement from within ourselves but instead permit the things to reveal themselves to us...then all things are transformed from what they were in the world of the senses into something entirely different - something for which no word exists other than one which is taken from our very life of soul...' - Rudolf Steiner One of Rudolf Steiner's most fundamental objectives was to show how the spiritual world connects to and penetrates the material world. In doing so, he was pioneering a modern form of Rosicrucianism - countering traditional religious conceptions (that spirit and matter are polar opposites) as well as contemporary materialistic science (that ignores the existence of spiritual phenomena altogether). In this concise series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner shows how the human senses reveal the mysterious world of the will, which is at once a spiritual and physical phenomenon. The senses act as a portal connecting our physical and etheric bodies with what Steiner refers to as worlds of 'all-pervading will' and 'all-pervading wisdom'. He elaborates this theme, giving some unexpected and delightful insights into the senses of hearing and sight, and in particular how we experience colour. Steiner suggests that divine spiritual beings had different intentions for the formation of physical human beings, but that adversary powers caused disruption, leading to a more materialized constitution. He describes disorders in the connections between the human physical, etheric, astral and ego bodies, and the ill effects of one aspect overpowering the others. He gives insight into human glandular secretions, and why we need to eat and digest - also connected to the intervention of adversary beings. Among the many other themes tackled here, Rudolf Steiner describes the transformation of the human senses and organs, giving special consideration to the function of the larynx, which in future times will develop a special kind of reproductive power.

Read more less

'An external view of states of health and sickness must be augmented by what we can also know about the inner, spiritual reality within the human being.' - Rudolf Steiner In a series of nine lectures to doctors, pharmacists and students, Rudolf Steiner presents a wealth of medical ideas with numerous therapeutic and diagnostic insights. As with his first series of lectures on medicine held a year previously (Introducing Anthroposophical Medicine), the range, depth and scope of Steiner's subject-matter is breathtaking. Speaking at the international centre of anthroposophy, the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, Rudolf Steiner begins by describing the interplay of physical and metaphysical aspects of the human being, presenting a paradigm in which the four bodies - physical, etheric, astral and ego or 'I' - interrelate in contrasting ways with the threefold human organism of head, thorax and metabolism, and with our capacities for thinking, feeling and will. These challenging but enlightening concepts unlock a wonderful diagnostic tool for the appraisal and understanding of patients. Steiner considers the medicinal actions of various substances - including silica, phosphorus, sulphur, arsenic, antimony and mercury. Among numerous other subjects, Rudolf Steiner discusses the methodology of medical examination; the treatment of developmental irregularities; the four types of ether; raw food diets; the I and assimilation of food; metal therapy and the actions of lead, magnesium, tin, iron, copper, gold, mercury and silver; the use of root and herbaceous parts and flowers in medicine; the rhythmic balancing process between the action of salutogenic and pathological forces; and the nature of death. This volume also features Rudolf Steiner's answers to questions, an introductory lecture to eurythmy therapy, a comprehensive introduction, notes and index, colour plates of Steiner's blackboard drawings, and facsimiles and translations of his notes for the lectures.

Read more less

The review exercises bring the experiences of our daily lives to full awareness. By directing our attentive gaze to what has happened - whether in a single day or in whole phases of life - we kindle light in our will. Undertaking such a review backwards, in reverse sequence, or from an 'external perspective', requires a huge inner effort as we establish distance between ourselves and our daily experiences. In this essential handbook the editor has drawn together virtually all Rudolf Steiner's statements on the review exercises, supporting them with commentary and notes. Described from different perspectives and approaches, there are a surprising range of suggestions for carrying them out. Individual chapters focus on reviewing the day (transforming the power of memory); reviewing events in your life (awakening the higher self); reviewing the other's perspective (awakening social impulses); exercises in thinking backwards (illuminating the will); and more.

Read more less

Created in 1911, eurythmy was developed for years as an artistic and educational discipline. Although Rudolf Steiner pointed out its healing aspects from the very beginning, it was only in 1921 that he gave a course of lectures that gave the art of eurythmy a vital new application. To the assembled eurythmists and doctors, he presented what one participant described as '...a complete and detailed method of eurythmy therapy, in which we could directly experience that even today the creative and therapeutic power of the word ...is still at work'. Steiner's comprehensive lectures, republished here in a thoroughly revised translation, describe the principles of therapeutic eurythmy, giving many specific exercises. Primarily intended for practising eurythmists, these lectures also contain much material of particular interest. Steiner reveals the intricacies of rhythmic interplay between human physiology and the life-forces in the world around us. He describes the qualities of language and the dynamism contained in the individual vowels and consonants, elucidating their relationship with eurythmical movements and human experience. Through such movements, individuals are able to access the healing etheric forces. The exercises, referred to by Steiner as 'inner gymnastics', contain enormous potential for psychological and physiological well-being. Gaining ever-wider recognition today, they complement conventional medicine, offering a therapeutic process concerned with mind, soul and body. This new edition of these important lectures - previously published under the title Curative Eurythmy - includes an appendix with reminiscences by early eurythmists, as well as additional commentary from Dr Walter Kugler.

Read more less

The path of an individual human life - our biography - is something of a mystery. Despite the abundance of published biographies and autobiographies of celebrities and historical figures, the scientific study of human biography remains in its infancy, with little understanding of the inherent laws in the path of an individual's life. Yet as Rudolf Steiner shows here, every biography, regardless of the individual's fame, perceived importance or outer success, is ruled by archetypal influences, patterns and laws. This broad-ranging anthology addresses some critical and as yet unanswered questions: What effects do education - and in particular contrasting education methods - have on later life? How do the various periods of life relate to each other? Do the effects of events on the individual become evident immediately, or is their true impact delayed - perhaps by decades? To what extent can an individual shape the stages of his or her biography? How much freedom of choice do we have, and how much of life is predetermined? Out of the higher knowledge Rudolf Steiner acquired from his spiritual research, he described the human individuality as a being with a continuing existence - before birth and beyond death. This eternal being experiences many varied conditions and situations, the effects of which are observable in our biography. This book addresses these and other issues such as freedom and destiny, the effects of heredity, illness, and the impact of education, offering answers based on a profound knowledge of the human being. Compiled by E. Fucke (Selected lectures, various GAs)

Read more less

Once experienced intuitively by early gnostic thinkers, knowledge of the cosmic significance of Christ and his mission has faded over the centuries. As theologians and historians of the Church critically scrutinized the Gospel records, their focus shifted from Christ to the human figure of Jesus of Nazareth. Today, many are beginning a new search for an understanding of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and its meaning for their lives. In these enlightening lectures, Rudolf Steiner shows how 'the Mystery of Golgotha' can be seen as the pivotal event of human history. The Gospels themselves, he says, are 'initiation documents' that can guide us on a path of spiritual development. Steiner demonstrates how manifold spiritual entities are involved in the events of Palestine which took place 2,000 years ago, and explains problematic aspects of Christian theology such as the resurrection of the physical body. His emphasis throughout is on highlighting the esoteric path to Christ, and he encourages us to awaken to the new revelation manifesting in our time: Christ as the 'Lord of Karma'. This edition contains the public talk given prior to the beginning of the course.

Read more less

'The Lord's Prayer' stands at the heart of Christianity. Over the past two millennia, it has been spoken millions of times by millions of people around the world. Rudolf Steiner affirms the power of this prayer, given by Jesus Christ himself, and encourages us to begin to understand it at deeper levels. Such an understanding, he explains, is now necessary for humanity's further development. In the four lectures he gave on this subject, collected here under one cover, Rudolf Steiner penetrates the esoteric meanings of the Lord's Prayer, relating its seven petitions to the seven spiritual and physical bodies of the human being. He also discusses the difference between prayer and meditation, and shows how true prayer is selfless in nature. This volume features an introduction by Judith von Halle, whose work is valued for her experiential knowledge of the Lord's Prayer and the events of Christ's life.

Read more less

Rudolf 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 Michaelmas. The volume also features an editorial introduction, afterword, commentary and notes.

Read more less

'The spiritual-scientific investigator has...to transform the soul itself into an instrument; then - when his soul is awakened and he can see into a spiritual world - he experiences, on a higher level, a similar great moment as blind people do when, having been operated upon, they look at a world they have not seen before.' In a key series of lectures on personal development, Rudolf Steiner explains that the central mission of spiritual science is to enable people to ascend, in full consciousness, to a knowledge of spiritual realities. But given that the means to achieve spiritual perception are now widely available, there is the danger that some individuals will gain access to the spiritual world whilst harbouring impure motives. This can lead to a distorted understanding and vision of that world. Steiner's emphasis, therefore, is on the preparatory steps - the metamorphosis and purification of the human soul - required for achieving true spiritual enlightenment. Life itself teaches and prepares us for progress, and anthroposophy explains and brings this to consciousness. In some of his most lucid lectures, Steiner describes the missions of anger, truth and reverence, the significance of human character, the meaning of asceticism and illness, and the phenomenon of egoism. He also clarifies the differences between Buddhism and Christianity, describes the goal of spiritual science, and makes some esoteric observations about the moon. Throughout the talks, Steiner refers to many significant historical figures, including St Augustine, Coleridge, Leonardo da Vinci, Madame Blavatsky, Goethe, Homer, and Shakespeare.

Read more less

Modern science can speak with authority regarding only a tiniest fraction of the earth's interior. We have, quite literally, scratched just the surface of our planet. Can we truly know what lies beneath our feet, in the unimaginably deep depths of the earth? Can the phenomenon of spiritual investigation add to this question? In this comprehensive volume, with notes and an introduction, Rudolf Steiner's utterances on this theme have been brought together for the first time under one cover. His unique overview gives a picture of the nine layers of the earth as they become visible via the research of the spiritual scientist. The layers range from the familiar 'mineral' on which we live, to the innermost core which Steiner connects to human and animal powers of reproduction. In between are layers such as the 'Mirror Earth', which represents qualities of extreme evil, and the 'Fire Earth', which is connected to natural catastrophes. The information Steiner conveys is never abstract or theoretical, but intimately related to the human being. The Fire Earth, for example, is acutely affected by people's will. When the human will is chaotic and untutored, says Steiner, it acts magnetically on this layer and disrupts it, leading to volcanic eruptions. He also describes other natural catastrophes - such as extreme weather and earthquakes - in connection to the interior of the earth and karma.

Read more less

Traditional folklore has spoken of guardian angels who guide and protect us. However, although there are numerous stories of the miraculous intervention of these beings, some people still write them off as myth and superstition. Based on his own personal experience and cognition, Rudolf Steiner spoke of guardian angels and other spiritual beings as a reality. Their existence, he said, is a spiritual and scientific fact that can be researched and studied by clairvoyance. One of his aims was to enable people to connect again with these spiritual beings not only for their own benefit, but also for the benefit of the other kingdom of nature and the whole destiny of the earth's evolution. In his writings and lectures Steiner intended to lead people from belief to recognition, knowledge, and understanding of spiritual beings. In these six specially selected lectures, which until now have lain hidden away in very early publications or journals, he describes the role of the guardian angel and discusses our relationship to the heavenly hierarchies of spiritual beings as a whole and how they shape our human form as a result of their cosmic activity. As many people today are awakening to angelic guidance in their daily lives and are seeking it consciously, these lectures will help them to understand their experiences and to make their communication more conscious.

Read more less

As demonstrated in this book, Rudolf Steiner had the ability to speak to the British in a very lively an d direct way. This volume provides readers with a fuller pic ture of Steiner''s work in Britain and his approach to esoter ic ideas whilst here. '

Read more less

Rudolf 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.

Read more less

For hundreds of years, ordinary folk in the small Austrian village of Oberufer on the Danube gathered in the local tavern at Christmas time to perform these plays to their neighbours. With their roots lost in medieval times, the plays gradually evolved to incorporate a unique mixture of broad peasant humour and deep reverence in their celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. "The Paradise Play" serves as a Preface, presenting the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, but with the promise of future salvation through Christ. "The Shepherds Play" follows with its portrayal of the birth of Jesus in a stable where he is sought out by a group of simple shepherds. "The Kings Play", the final in the trilogy, depicts the visit of three wise Kings to the birthplace of the 'King of Humanity', and the murderous measures taken by Herod to try and thwart Jesus' mission. This revised edition of the plays - eminently suitable for amateur and professional companies alike - offers a clear layout of the texts, greatly elaborated director's and make-up indications, stage and lighting directions, and detailed costume designs illustrated in colour.

Read more less