Search results for ""Temple Lodge Publishing""

As the earth's neighbour, the moon affects not only ocean tides but also the growth and development of plants. In this finely illustrated, full-colour book - packed with practical tips for the novice as well as the advanced gardener - Peter Berg offers a clear summary of the basics of lunar and biodynamic gardening, together with in-depth sections on: activating and enlivening the soil; biodynamic preparations; making good compost; crop rotation and green manuring; cultivation work and care of the garden; practical plant protection; rich harvesting; saving your own seed. Building on the the intensive research of his mentor Maria Thun and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, Berg explains how the subtle influences from the cosmos work on the plant world, distinguishing between 'root', 'leaf', 'blossom' and 'fruit' days in the working calendar. An understanding of such natural processes, in conjunction with the practical knowledge described in this book, can lead to productive, chemical-free gardening, with healthy plants and abundant harvests.

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The author developed this booklet from talks that were held for members of the Anthroposophical Society. These became occasions for many to question potential membership of the First Class in a more conscious way, and for some to take the decisive step of entering the Michael School. 'This experience gave rise to the occasion for printing this lecture separately for interested individuals, as a stimulus to consider their relationship to the Michael School on Earth against the background of the karma that guides human beings in their present incarnation to anthroposophy. In this sense, the present text may well be an aid for some interested individuals to grasp to its full extent the unique significance of the establishment of the Esoteric School - carried out as it was by Rudolf Steiner based on the Michael Spirit - so as to gain the courage and will to become a member out of full inner conviction.' (From the Preface)

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What spiritual or esoteric practices took place within the mysterious and often controversial Knights Templar? Whilst little is known about this aspect of the Order's history, speculation and wild rumours continue to persist. Having taken the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the members of the Templar Order were required to live the life of other monastic orders. However, their remarkable rise to a successful elite community - followed by the insidious machinations and slander that led to their spectacular fall and destruction - suggests that they were involved in something more significant than straightforward medieval religious practices. There have been many theories as to whether their 'secret' involved material wealth and special treasure. But could it have been connected to a science of initiation - the knowledge, experience and understanding of spiritual dimensions that can enlighten the pupil on an esoteric path? In The Templar Spirit Margaret Jonas penetrates these questions, examining some of the various claims and revealing something of the esoteric practices and beliefs of the Order, including influences from other religious traditions. She presents her own research into the meaning of the mysterious 'head' that the Templars were accused of worshipping, and examines the historical figures that lent their wisdom and guidance to the founding of the Order.

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Much plagiarized and its contents distorted over the years, Stein's seminal work is a classic of original scholarly and spiritual research. In studying the central Grail narrative of Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, Stein takes a twofold approach. On the one hand he searches historical records in order to identify actual people and events hidden behind the Grail epic's veil of romance, and on the other hand he deciphers Eschenbach's hidden spiritual messages, showing Parzival to be an esoteric document containing mighty pictures of the human being's inner path of development. Stein reveals the period of the ninth century to be of more than historical and academic interest. It is the karmic ground out of which the destiny of modern times grows - the mighty battle that must take place between the powers of the Grail and the sinister anti-Grail forces at large today.

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Our skin is the visible barrier between what is inside and outside of our bodies. It can respond with sensitivity to tender contact, allowing us to experience pleasure, or, should harmful influences come to bear, it can contract or erupt, causing pain. The increasing prevalence in recent years of various types of skin conditions is an indication of the fact that toxic influences are on the increase.The dermatologist, allergist and physician Lueder Jachens offers wise advice in this helpful and expertly written handbook. His concern is not just to offer understanding of the individual conditions, their causes and how best to treat them, but to give a holistic comprehension of the skin itself - this largest of the human organs - to better enable us to develop health and harmony in the longer term. Jachens' authoritative guide begins with an anatomy of the skin and its relationship to the physical and spiritual levels of existence, and goes on to study various specific conditions and their treatment, including psoriasis, dermatitis, acne, boils, hayfever, alopecia (hair loss), melanoma, abscesses, impetigo, fungal infections, herpes, scabies, head lice, sunburn, and much more.

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'Whether souls have returned in physical incarnations as Platonists, as Aristotelians, as pupils of Chartres, as members of the Dominican Order, as Templars, as Cathars, or whether these souls accompany us as spiritual beings, a stream of spiritual continuity that begins in the Middle Ages flows through human history.'- Manfred Schmidt-Brabant. Why do people today look back to the Middle Ages with such interest? Do those times have anything to do with the present? In this enlightening series of lectures, Manfred Schmidt-Brabant and Virginia Sease suggest that our sense of selfhood depends on whether we can create a true relationship to the present age. But to do this we need to understand the spiritual roots of our time. These roots, they indicate, are present in the Middle Ages.The impulses that originate from that time continue to stream into modern times, helping to determine our thinking, feeling and actions. Even the biography of Europe is largely determined by what people of the Middle Ages thought, endured, believed and fought over. All of this emerges today in the consciousness of the individual and in the fabric of our communities. To aid our comprehension of this critical period, the authors embark on a broad historical survey of the culture and history - both exoteric and esoteric - of the Middle Ages. Their journey takes in King Arthur and the Celtic Mysteries; Francis of Assisi, the Franciscans and the School of Chartres; Thomas Aquinas, Averroes and the Dominicans; Cabbala and Jewish Mysticism; heretics and the Cathars; Templar secrets; spiritual Alchemy and Gothic architecture; Columbus and the Mysteries of America; and, the Consciousness Soul and the historical Figure of Faust.

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Recent works of fiction and popular history have promoted the idea that the Holy Grail symbolizes a physical bloodline resulting from the union of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This, supposedly, is the 'secret' that esoteric movements have kept tirelessly for the past 2,000 years. From her groundbreaking research, Sylvia Francke exposes this notion to be a blatant misinterpretation of the mystery traditions that preceded and ran parallel to the birth of Christianity. She traces the ancient spiritual paths of knowledge from the Cathars, the Knights Templar and the enigmatic Rosicrucians, to the work of Rudolf Steiner in the twentieth century. Here, she concludes, is true Grail knowledge: the Tree of Life and the Holy Grail itself explained in their metaphysical context. From her research, she suggests a solution to the riddle of the sudden wealth and strange behaviour of Berenger Sauniere, the mysterious priest of Rennes-le-Chateau in southern France. True Grail knowledge, she concludes, has nothing to do with bloodlines or worldly status, but is an ancient lifeline to the spiritual origins of creation. Its energetic forces ray up from the earth and down from the constellations and planets while interacting with individual human beings. It holds the key to the fulfilment of mankind's quest, a step to the next phase of human evolution...The recent explosion of interest in an alternative history of Christianity - the shadow Grail - prompted Sylvia Francke to revise "The Tree of Life and the Holy Grail", first published in 1996. The result is a completely reworked and expanded book that constitutes a powerful and convincing refutation of distorted esoteric truths.

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At Passiontide 2004, Judith von Halle received the stigmata - the duplication on her body of the wounds of Christ. Following a period of careful consideration, she eventually decided to share this intimate occurrence with a small group in Berlin in Michaelmas of that year. The phenomenon of the stigmata is usually either seen as a sheer miracle or is simply denied. In contrast, in her first lectures here, she attempts to arrive at a clear understanding of it - based on the spiritual scientific knowledge of Rudolf Steiner - and its significance for one's personal destiny. As a consequence of receiving the stigmata, von Halle began to experience the events of the life of Christ in full, sensory detail. In addition, she has explored these events by means of spiritual-scientific research methods - sometimes referred to as 'continuity of consciousness'. In the further five lectures of this volume, she offers a commentary to the "Mystery of Golgotha", the turning-point in world history. Her intention is to stimulate the reader to reflect patiently and repeatedly upon this great Mystery, and to enter into an ever closer relationship to Christ.

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According to the spiritual-scientific research of Rudolf Steiner, the greatest spiritual event of our time is the renewal and reawakening of the human being's supersensible relationship to higher spiritual worlds. The force that brings about this development - referred to by different names in various cultural and religious traditions - is known in spiritual science, in accordance with Christian terminology, as the 'Christ Impulse'. As an outcome of new and naturally-endowed supersensible faculties, human beings are increasingly able, as an act of grace, to experience and perceive the mighty spiritual force of the Christ Impulse. Such an experience can be spoken of as a 'naturally-given initiation' - and today we increasingly hear of individual supersensible experiences of this kind. However, if we wish to take a healthy, modern approach in dealing with these 'natural' phenomena, it is necessary that we begin to comprehend them in full consciousness and with clear thought. It is this all-important bridge between the naturally-given experience of the supersensible and its conscious cognition which Ben-Aharon seeks to build in this book. As a result of such a connection, '...empirical supersensible research can investigate the different aspects of Christ's etheric becoming and appearance in a way that, both methodically and experientially, fulfils the justified cognitive and scientific requirements of our age. ' This edition features a new introductory chapter.

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'Christianity is not a matter of a religion or even a denomination; it is not a question of a particular culture. Christ is there for all humanity.' In the old Mystery cultures the human being experienced himself as a child of the Gods, or even an instrument of them. According to Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific research, the birth of independent thinking came only with our present state of consciousness - through becoming aware of the individual self. But who is this self? Who am I? Virginia Sease and Manfred Schmidt-Brabant maintain that real self-knowledge is intimately connected with knowledge of the central being of world evolution: the Christ, or the 'I AM'. Focusing on the being of Christ and on Christianity, "The New Mysteries" presents a series of engaging lectures on the developing Mystery wisdom of our age. Having given an overview of the history of the Mysteries in their book "Paths of the Christian Mysteries", the authors deepen and further their study by paying special attention to the effect of the "Christ Mysteries". Among the essential themes of the new volume are the transformation of conscience, the place of prayer and meditation, and the significance of sacrifice today.

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'Destiny Learning', a path of adult education conceived and developed by Coenraad van Houten (based on the work of Rudolf Steiner), is here expanded to show a threefold way of working with karma: understanding, transforming and ordering. This threefold approach opens new vistas for healing relationships and conflicts, for developing creative faculties for community building, and for taking initiatives based on freedom. The author widens and deepens his previous work on the theme, showing that learning from destiny, as well as awakening the forces of will, are ongoing processes. He offers practical advice that is directly applicable to everyday life. Although this book can be studied on its own, it is also a development and completion of themes from van Houten's earlier works, Practising Destiny and Awakening the Will. Crucial aspects of the threefold path of 'destiny learning' are here discussed and explained in greater detail. Anyone seeking to take their personal development in hand will find many nuggets of spiritual wisdom, based on a lifetime's work, in this short book.

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Why is it so difficult actually to understand and implement the "intentions of the Christmas Conference" (in Rudolf Steiner's words), which represent a very concrete answer to the Anthroposophical Society's identity crisis'? - Peter Selg More than 100 years after its founding, the Anthroposophical Society faces serious questions - some of an existential nature - regarding its purpose and tasks in the present day. On 30 March 2012, in the course of the Society's Annual General Meeting in Dornach, both Sergei Prokofieff and Peter Selg gave lectures in which they addressed difficult issues relating to the General Anthroposophical Society and its global headquarters, the Goetheanum in Switzerland. These lectures were met with a mixture of enthusiastic support and stern disapproval. They are reproduced here in full - together with supplementary material that helps broaden and deepen their themes - in order for each and every interested individual to have access to them. 'The intention of my lecture was to draw attention to the fact that the recent development of the Goetheanum is no longer heading in the right direction; rather, it is heading in a direction that can be considered neither in the spirit intended by Rudolf Steiner, nor of service to anthroposophy. Before it is too late, this direction must be altered...Otherwise, the Goetheanum is in danger of being degraded to spiritual "insignificance", and of becoming a mere combination of museum and conference centre.' - Sergei O. Prokofieff

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‘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’.

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This newly-edited collection of 72 essays provides a unique overview of Hermann Beckh's notable - and largely overlooked - writing career. Whether in the realm of theology, philosophy, the arts, astrology or esoterica, the articles gathered here, mostly previously unpublished in English, are rare signposts to a Christian initiation grounded in the Rosicrucian tradition and the path of St John's Gospel. Presented in chronological sequence over a 16 year period - from 1922 to 1938 - and supplemented with biographical notes and introductory material by Neil Franklin and Alan Stott, this volume provides firm ground for a fuller appreciation of Beckh's prolific output. --- Hermann Beckh, Ph.D., one of Europe's few authorities on Tibetan texts, became a founding member of The Christian Community and an inspiring teacher in the Stuttgart Seminary. Collected Articles is a powerful culmination to his Collected Works in English translation. This body of work is a major source of contemporary spiritual research, providing a vital accompaniment to the better-known contributions by Friedrich Rittelmeyer, Emil Bock and Rudolf Frieling, all of whom - not without some reverential awe - expressed their admiration for their esteemed colleague, 'the Professor'.

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In 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.

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‘I wrote this book out of the needs I see at the present time. I see diseases being translocated to others – humans or animals – despite the good intentions of many therapists or doctors. The diseases are translocated because they do not exist in energetic patterns, but as expressions of spiritual beings. Energy and energy-patterns only exist in the physical world, but in the spiritual world there are only spiritual beings.’ From ancient times, all cultures have known of the spiritual phenomenon of ‘translocation’ – the movement of a pathological entity from one human being to another, or from a human being to an animal. These pathological entities are spiritual beings, known as ‘demons’ in common parlance. Their translocation, says Are Thoresen, can take place as a result of conventional Western medicine, but also from the application of ‘alternative’ therapies such as homeopathy, acupuncture and herbal medicine. In order to have a positive therapeutic impact, Thoresen advises that practitioners, doctors and veterinarians need to acquire a deep understanding of the function and laws of pathological demonic entities and the means to influence them. Using the Middle Point or Christ-force, it is possible to transform – instead of simply translocating – the negative spiritual aspects that are at work in contemporary society. As the author states: ‘I have written this book to try to investigate these possibilities, and to give my fellow travellers in spirit the insights, tools and ability to make such a change.’

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'This book is a tribute to [Stein's] appreciation of the land of his adoption and, to those who knew him, it is a monument to his penetrative powers of spiritual perception.' - A.P. Shepherd At a time when British identity is being reassessed and questioned, W.J. Stein's classic and timeless study, with its penetrative analysis of the character, psychology and destiny of the British people, takes on new relevance. Stein, a political refugee from Austria, spent the last 24 years of his life in Britain. As an outsider, he was able to view British custom and culture with objectivity. As a student of Rudolf Steiner, he brought years of spiritual study and wisdom to the writing of this book, enabling profound insights. In this concise and aphoristic study, Stein writes on everything from geography, history, politics and economics to the arts (in particular painting and music) and religion. He also reflects on the British concept of freedom, as well as Great Britain's somewhat mysterious propensity to extend itself - and its language and culture - across the world. 'Amidst the international turmoils of today the Delphic word can be heard to resound from all sides, in its metamorphosed form: "Know yourselves as folk-souls!" Stein's little book is an invaluable contribution to such a super-individual self-knowledge.' - T.H. Meyer

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Many individuals with autism are highly intelligent and gifted, but some are effectively imprisoned in their bodies and unable to communicate verbally. However, developments in technology have enabled autistic people to transmit their thoughts directly. In this true account, three autistic people, two of them brothers, speak via the method of 'facilitated communication', with the aid of a computer keypad. What is conveyed are not just everyday thoughts and experiences, but surprising and sometimes shattering spiritual and metaphysical perceptions. The conversations reveal remarkable clairvoyant gifts, such as the ability to read other people's thoughts, to see past lives, and to communicate with supernatural entities. Erik speaks of a past life during the Second World War, and the horrendous experience of being killed at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. As a result of this, his soul had no desire to reincarnate on earth - although he also describes encounters with Christ, and how these eventually led to his present life. Andreas speaks of his perceptions of elemental beings - nature spirits - and how we can develop more intimate contact with such entities, for example through special kinds of music. He also describes Christ's workings in nature as well as his Second Coming. Each of the interviewees discuss meditation and how it can engender vital spiritual processes and perceptions. Together, their insights provide an astonishing glimpse into the way some people with autism appear to experience the world, and how their knowledge can enrich our own. Additional interviews with educators and therapists, working with people with disabilities in the autistic spectrum, give a broad view of progressive and inspirational educational methods.

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Maria Thun, a pre-eminent expert in biodynamic cultivation methods - sometimes referred to as "premium organic" - has here compiled over 100 of her best gardening tips based on 50 years' research. Find out: * how to produce abundant and tasty crops; * how special preparations can transform your soil and produce; * how the moon affects planting and growth; * the difference between 'root', 'leaf', 'blossom' and 'fruit' plants; * what the best storage methods are; and much more. Accompany the author on a journey through the seasons and discover lots of new tips and suggestions. There is a wealth of advice here for gardeners seeking to manage nature responsibly and successfully.

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As a boy travelling to school by tram, Norbert Glas often passed the time by studying his fellow passengers' faces. He would muse on what the shapes and contours of their noses, eyes and mouths signified. Later in life, having become a medical doctor and a student of Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific world view, Glas gained numerous insights into the mysteries of human physiognomy. In this, the first translation into English of his seminal work, Glas begins by defining the three parts of the human face and explaining the importance of their relative proportions. A person with a face that is more pronounced in one of these areas will tend to have certain personality traits, as well as specific physiological characteristics. People with a strong mouth and chin, for example, tend to have a strong will and an active, driven and assertive nature. With the help of numerous photos and drawings, Glas presents the physiognomy of three basic types of people, and further analyses the specifics of the human head, forehead, ears, eyes, mouth and nose. This book will be valuable to doctors, teachers, or anyone wishing to better understand - and hence tolerate and love - their fellow human beings.

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A handbook for developing social and spiritual harmony.

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The unique scholarship and artistic sensitivity of Prof. Dr Hermann Beckh (1875–1937) is in the process of being rediscovered. The great linguist, Orientalist and Christian priest – an active music-lover who also composed – penned pioneer works on our musical system that are respected by musicians and musicologists. This volume brings together two revised versions of his best-loved books. The Essence of Tonality is written ‘…for musicians and music-lovers who, because of their particular musicality experience something spiritual – and for spiritual seekers and sensitive people who, because of their particular spirituality, have experienced a connection with music.’ Beckh believed a spiritual view of tonality would ensure music’s, and humanity’s, future. The author elucidates the correspondence of the circle of fifths (the keys) to the zodiac. Research should be directed towards the twelve vital, spiritual key-centres, as expressing the cosmic rhythms in which we all live, rather than the abstract twelve chromatic notes of atonality. In The Parsifal Christ-Experience, Beckh’s original insights throw new and powerful light on the search for meaning in our age, for a knowledge of the heart. In the poetic libretto and remarkable music of his final creation, Wagner – acknowledged by Bruckner as ‘the Master’ – presents the Grail legend and its imagery. The psychological drama and its ultimate solution provide insights to anyone who is prepared to reflect on inner experience. Through Beckh’s references to Wagner’s own letters, as well as a remarkable letter from Nietzsche, the reader gains knowledge of the true nature of Wagner and his work.

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In a remarkable deed of original scholarly research and detailed detective work, Anne Weise recreates sketches of a lost life - of one of the millions of forgotten souls whose lives came to a violent end in the Holocaust. Her focus is Alfred Bergel (1902-1944), an artist and teacher from Vienna who was a close associate of Karl Koenig - the founder of the Camphill Movement for people with special needs - who wrote of Bergel in his youthful diaries as his best friend 'Fredi'. After the annexation of Austria, Alfred Bergel found himself unable to escape the horror of the National Socialist regime. Subsequently, in 1942 he was deported to the Theresienstadt camp. Imprisoned there, he produced numerous artistic works of the inmates of the ghetto and taught drawing, art history and art appreciation - sometimes in collaboration with the Bauhaus artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. During this period, he was also forced by the Nazis to produce forgeries of classic art works. One of the central figures of cultural life in the Theresienstadt ghetto, Bergel was eventually transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 where, tragically, he was murdered. His name and his work are largely forgotten today, even amongst Holocaust researchers, but Weise succeeds in honouring the life of the Jewish artist by lovingly piecing together his biography, based on numerous personal testimonies by friends and contemporaries and supplemented with documents and many dozens of photos and colour reproductions of Bergel's artistic works. This invaluable recreation of a life provides insight not only into the desperate plight of a single individual, but also illustrates the human will and determination to survive in the context of one of the darkest periods of recent history.

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In 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.

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Relationships are built through dialogue - through exploring heartfelt questions that lead to liberating personal insights. This book shows how such dialogue can transform relationships and build community. However, true meeting and healing conversations take effort. Encounter involves light and dark. Relationships bring out sympathy and antipathy. In an age of digital communications and internet-based encounters - when alienation and loneliness are very real issues - this new edition of Margarete van den Brink's classic work is more vital than ever. The process of inner development - leading ultimately to the unification of the human self with its higher, spiritual being - involves a transformation in our everyday selves. In this act of initiation, the art of conversation plays a central role. The words which people speak to each other contain a force that can work in an invigorating and life-enhancing way. This force - which can be more precious than light itself - is the highest creative principle, the Word referred to in the Gospel of St John, which created everything that exists. Informed by the insights of anthroposophy, More Precious than Light indicates the path towards the spirit and the lost power of the Word, transforming relationships and building community. True encounter can only be fostered through building real connections with our fellow human beings.

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'That in our times a kind of supernumerary person is appearing who is egoless, who in reality is not a human being, is a terrible truth.' - Rudolf Steiner -- Are there people on earth today who do not have a self - a human ego or 'I'? The phenomenon of 'egolessness' - the absence of a human being's core - was discussed by the spiritual teacher Rudolf Steiner in lectures and personal conversations. An egoless individual, he intimated, is an empty sheath through which other spiritual entities could operate. Erdmuth J. Grosse brings together many little-known quotations from Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research and supports them with a wealth of disquieting reports, testimonies and examples from literature and politics. He places these insights within the broader context of the riddle of the human self, throwing light on the spiritual development of the individual and humanity as a whole. In this thought-provoking study, Grosse goes on to discuss the role of comets, the effects of cyanide on the human constitution - especially in the light of the Holocaust - and the hidden effects of ceremonial magic, occult lodges, cults and sects. In conclusion, he offers positive solutions to humanity's present predicament by describing the healing impulses of social threefolding, the invisible spiritual beings seeking to help humanity, the role of the gods, the Christ impulse and the true goals of human evolution.

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Hermann Beckh (1875-1937) was one of the co-founders of The Christian Community. A remarkable linguist and universal scholar, he mastered six European and six Oriental languages and published more than twenty works on the humanities, dealing with Christology, Cosmology and Musicology. Having first studied Law, he later channeled his extensive research of Hinduism and Buddhism into a renewal of sacramental Christianity. 'Without the Professor', wrote his colleague Rudolf Meyer, the beginnings of the new religious movement were 'unthinkable'. Gundhild Kacer-Bock - daughter of Beckh's priest-colleague and fellow author Emil Bock - creates a lively picture of a unique personality. Beginning with his birth in Nuremberg and education in Munich, she reviews Beckh's manifold studies and writings, his meeting with Rudolf Steiner in 1911, the founding of the Movement for Religious Renewal in Stuttgart in 1922, and the seminal Christmas Conference in Dornach in 1923. Having known Beckh personally, she builds on her own memories as well as Beckh's recorded memoirs, and utilizes newly-discovered letters and documents. This new edition contains Beckh's fairy-tale 'The Story of the Little Squirrel, the Moonlight Princess and the Little Rose' (with colour illustrations by Tatjana Schellhase), with additional appreciations of the author and an illustrative plate section. --- 'A University Professor, who had been a Judge and Orientalist, now became a priest with us. He actively took part in carrying the birth of the new ritual words; he was an expert in the mysteries of language... An abundance of books came into existence whose significance perhaps will only be properly appreciated in the future.' - Emil Bock (1959)

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'This book describes an essential insight, namely that the core or the individual "I" of those with a mental health issue or a learning disability is always healthy.' --- This ground-breaking study describes six constitution types or syndromes that occur in children and adults with learning disabilities and behavioural disorders such as autism, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as neurological conditions such as epilepsy. The descriptions of these constitution pictures are the result of complementary scientific research based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner. In contemporary medicine, the source of behavioural problems and learning disabilities is believed to derive from genetic and environmental factors affecting the brain. The author expands on this knowledge, asking the vital question of what actually underlies these disorders at a deeper level. The answer leads to better understanding, fresh perspectives and new methodologies for therapeutic support. The author gives a comprehensive description of each constitution, including symptoms, causes, interpretations, treatments, approaches and therapy. These aspects are described in accessible, practical and concrete language with examples and illustrations, including analysis of patients' colour drawings. In addition, attention is paid to diagnostic methods and to the relationship of the six constitution types with conventionally-defined syndromes. A number of training exercises for educators and support workers provide further insight into the constitution images described. Written by a highly-experienced educator of children with special needs, this book is intended for teachers and counsellors at all levels.

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What lies at the root of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the worldwide pandemic it has caused, affecting the health and livelihoods of untold millions of people? What are the deeper, spiritual realities behind COVID-19 and the global turmoil it has left in its trail? In an effort to answer these queries and many others put to her at the start of the pandemic, Judith von Halle composed two letters in March 2020, based on her own spiritual-scientific research. Published in this book together with an additional essay, she addresses questions such as: * Which entities stand behind the virus? * How and why does it affect human beings? * What measures can be taken for prevention and therapy? * What does the crisis mean to individuals and what possibilities does it offer for personal development? The author suggests that, apart from the material havoc triggered by coronavirus, the spiritual causes behind it are extremely serious and - if the present pandemic is not to be the first in a series of catastrophes - humanity is called upon to respond in a radically transformative way. In an additional article von Halle tackles the controversial issues relating to government lockdowns and the protest movements that have sprung up in opposition to them. How do these events point to real questions of individual freedom and, most importantly, how do they relate to the central event of our time - an event that, tragically, remains largely unknown? Revealing unexpected perspectives to the COVID-19 pandemic, Judith von Halle asks urgent and difficult questions and offers shattering insights for humanity's further development.

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Today some six million Freemasons around the world continue to perform their rituals regularly - an enormous legacy of spiritual endeavour, kept largely in secret. In Britain alone there are over 7,000 Lodges, with a quarter of a million members. What is this wealth, this appeal, and how did the philosopher and spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner reinterpret or reconstruct Freemasonry's time-worn legacy? Unless one is a Freemason, the masonic world, with its arcane conventions and language, remains largely unknown: an obscurity that is almost impossible to fathom. Yet understanding its traditions and style are invaluable when approaching Goethe, Mozart, Herder, Lessing and Novalis - as well as Rudolf Steiner. Steiner himself renewed the 'Royal Art' of Freemasonry from 1906 to 1914 through his ritual work known as Mystica AEterna. When Steiner invigorated education, medicine, the social order and religion, he fully intended that committed and professional individuals should assume responsibility for the new initiatives. But this was not the case with the Masonic Order he founded, whose leadership he took upon himself. Even the celebration of his passing in 1925, led by Marie Steiner, was entirely Masonic in character. In the context of continuing resistance and misrepresentation, N.V.P. Franklin uncovers the living heart of Freemasonry and reveals why it was - and still is - immensely relevant to anthroposophy. With profound research into its older rituals and teachings, this detailed and conscientious study is a unique contribution to comprehending freemasonry and anthroposophy - both historically and in the present day.

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Underlying Sergei O. Prokofieff's life's work was a fundamental research-theme to which he returned to repeatedly: the individuality of Rudolf Steiner as manifested through his past incarnations on Earth. Beginning in 1982, inspired by a visit to an exhibition on The Epic of Gilgamesh, Prokofieff planned a full-scale spiritual biography with the intention of finding an answer to the question: Who is Rudolf Steiner? In a sequence of five past incarnations - as indicated by Steiner himself - and culminating in the life of Rudolf Steiner, Prokofieff searched for the inner thread between the six stages of this great, all-encompassing life. His intention was to find not only the outer connections in this sequence but also the deeper, more esoteric stream that offers the key to the unique significance of this individuality. In 1984, Prokofieff began to write the first chapter about Rudolf Steiner's incarnation as Enkidu in Sumer. Sadly, many obstacles in his path were to prevent him finalising the project. However, the author returned to the book in his final months, preparing a Preface that outlines its conception together with a summary chapter on Rudolf Steiner's evolutionary journey. This precious 'fragment' of a biography features valuable additional material, including: a full introduction to the relationship of the anthroposophical movement to other occult streams of esoteric Christianity and their Masters; a detailed spiritual-scientific interpretation of the Epic of Gilgamesh that establishes Rudolf Steiner's connection with the being of Jesus of Nazareth, and an exploration of Steiner's relationship to the Nathan soul, the Luke Jesus child. Serious students of anthroposophy will welcome these final writings from the pen of one of Rudolf Steiner's most faithful and insightful disciples.

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`There is a physical world, which we all accept as real, but there is also a spiritual world, which interpenetrates this material world and is its cause and foundation. Between these two worlds exists a threshold that can be felt, seen clairvoyantly, traversed and passed through by anyone with a real desire to do so... At this threshold there is a guardian, whose task is to stop humans from passing across it unprepared…’ – From the Introduction. Based on first-hand knowledge, Are Thoresen offers insights into the meaning of the threshold to the spiritual world. He describes his own experiences in encountering this threshold and going beyond it. But there are many thresholds to the spiritual world, he says, and many ways to pass them – as there are many aspects to the `guardian of the threshold’ and versions of the so-called `animals at the threshold’. The worlds beyond, too, have a variety of different constructions – or, as the Bible says: `In my Father’s house are many mansions’. The author describes the methods and techniques for opening the spiritual sense organs required to cross the threshold, and clarifies the differences between Imagination (seeing spiritual `pictures’), Inspiration (understanding those pictures) and Intuition (living `inside’ the spiritual reality). Structuring the book on his own biography, Thoresen conveys many of the lessons he has learnt through decades of familiarity with the invisible dimensions. However, he warns that there is only one good reason to attempt to cross the threshold, and that is to serve God and humanity in the name of love. If we do it out of curiosity, or to enhance our personal development, it would be better not to try.

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The two contradicting genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels have long puzzled biblical scholars. Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research led him to the controversial theological conclusion that historically there existed two Jesus boys, born of two holy families. These two boys, he said, were necessary as part of the spiritual preparation of forming a suitable human body for the incarnation of Christ into the earthly realm. Both apocryphal texts and the writings of the Essenes - as discovered at Qumran by the Dead Sea - now appear to support this conception, with references to Messianic figures from both royal and priestly lines. Various authors have developed Rudolf Steiner's observations - first presented in the early twentieth century - although much of this literature has lacked the rigour of accurate and broad scholarship. The Two Jesus Boys is not simply a derivative rehash of these previous publications. Rather, it offers a fresh investigation of primary sources, coupled with an objective determination to allow the facts to speak for themselves. Christoph Rau thus comes to the unavoidable conclusion that Steiner's presentation of the chronology of the two births needs revision; furthermore, the most recent discoveries and interpretations of Essene scrolls reveal that the Jewish sect expected not one but three Messiahs. Rau quotes from and analyses numerous documents from the landscape of early Christianity and Judaism. His findings provide a secure foundation for the historical existence of two Jesus boys in the prelude to Christ's incarnation on earth, as well as a revelation of the Essenes' long expectation of three Messiahs.

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Many people who are drawn to Buddhism today are seeking for spiritual knowledge as opposed to simple faith or sectarian belief. Hermann Beckh had a profound personal connection to the Buddhist path and the noble truths it contains, yet he was also dedicated to a radical renewal of Christianity. Assimilating the groundbreaking research of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Beckh's comprehension of Buddhism was neither limited to historical documents nor scholarly research in philology. Rather, from his inner meditation and spiritual understanding, he saw the earlier great world religions as waymarks for humanity's evolving consciousness. In the modern world, the apprehension of Christianity needed to be grounded firmly in a universally-valid, inner cognition and experience: `In this light, knowledge becomes life.' Hermann Beckh - Professor of Tibetan Studies and Sanskrit in Berlin, subsequently a founding priest of The Christian Community - first published this mature study in 1925. Having already produced the comprehensive Buddha's Life and Teaching in 1916, Beckh's sweeping perspectives combined with his extensive academic knowledge provided a unique grounding for authoring this work. As he notes, From Buddha to Christ follows a path of development, `both of method and goal'. Thus, studying this book is itself a path of knowledge and potential initiation. Beckh's universal insights remain relevant - and if anything have gained in value - to twenty-first century readers. This edition features an additional essay, `Steiner and Buddha: Neo-Buddhist Spiritual Streams and Anthroposophy' (1931), in which Beckh, for the first and last time, explains his lifelong personal connection to the Buddhist path. `Christianizing the Buddha's impulse at the same time broadens the Christian horizon...' - Hermann Beckh

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The actual historical moments of birth of the various arts are not known. At most, significant changes of direction are distinguishable - and these are usually detected retrospectively. However, the founding of eurythmy, a new art of movement, has been extensively documented. The story of the first eurythmist, Lory Maier-Smits, told in the pages of this profusely-illustrated book, is a valuable contribution to that legacy. It brings to life the pioneering period when the new artform was being developed under Rudolf Steiner's personal instruction. Magdalene Siegloch traces Lory Maier-Smits' biography with artistic care and loving detail. She describes the eurythmist's early exposure to anthroposophy; her training under Rudolf Steiner from 1912; the first performance of eurythmy during the Theosophical Society festival in 1913; Rudolf Steiner's lectures on the new art of movement; the staging of eurythmy under the direction of Marie Steiner; and Maier-Smits' later work as a trainer of eurythmists. Also included is an account of Maier-Smits' personal path of development, her marriage and family life.

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Saved by good fortune from the flames that engulfed the first Goetheanum, Rudolf Steiner's wooden sculpture of the Christ - 'the Representative of Humanity' - standing between the adversary forces of Lucifer and Ahriman, remains intact and on display, although unfinished, to this day. Unique in the history of art, the Sculptural Group was deeply connected to Rudolf Steiner's inner being. The great Christian initiate even died by its side, having made efforts to work on the sculpture just days before he crossed the threshold. The essential source from which this work was created, says Sergei Prokofieff, '...lay in Rudolf Steiner's ego, in his spirit...It was only out of this intuitive connection of his own ego with the Christ Being that he was able to create this work of art.' Beginning with the Sculptural Group's early history, and Steiner's collaboration on its creation with Edith Maryon, Prokofieff enters into deeply esoteric perspectives, studying the artwork's relationship with the mysteries of the Holy Grail, the etherization of the blood, the Seventh Apocalyptic Seal, the Legend of the New Isis, as well as the being Anthroposophia.

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The beginnings of the Templar Order are shrouded in mystery. Very little is known about its foundation, inner workings or its rapid growth. This lack of knowledge can lead to all sorts of speculation and, sometimes, bizarre theories. This book - developed from a conference held on the theme at Emerson College, England - offers new, well-grounded perspectives that utilize both esoteric and exoteric sources. From varying points-of-view, the contributors tackle key questions relating to the forming of the Order and its aims and intentions. They explore the Knights Templar's spiritual and historical background, as well as the Order's significance at the present time and its continuing impulse in the future. With its broad scope, this stimulating anthology encourages independent, open-minded enquiry and research. Featuring contributions by: Peter Tradowsky, Gil McHattie, Horst Biehl, Margaret Jonas, Rolf Speckner, Sylvia Francke, Simon Cade-Williams, Jaap van der Haar, Alfred Kon, David Lenker, Peter Snow, Christine Gruwez, Frans Lutters, Walter Johannes Stein and Siegfried Rudel.

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Following his major work on Rudolf Steiner's ten visits to Britain, Crispian Villeneuve studies Steiner's relationship to the British Isles in the 40 or so years before those visits took place. The theme of Steiner's early connection to British culture leads inevitably to the broader topic of his relationship to modern science. This in turn highlights the polarity and tension between the Goethean philosophic view that arises from Middle Europe, and the 'Baconian' perspective emanating from Western Europe. Interweaving these contrasting Baconian and Goethean world-views, Villeneuve presents numerous primary texts - often culled from obscure sources, and many previously unavailable in English translation - with commentary relating to Rudolf Steiner and the nineteenth century. We learn about Steiner's teachers, Karl Julius Schroer and Edmund Reitlinger, as well as English polymath William Whewell. The latter figure was perhaps the greatest admirer of Francis Bacon in recorded history, but maintained manifold connections to Middle Europe. Rudolf Steiner: The British Connection offers genuinely new and valuable research into the early life and thought of one of the greatest cultural innovators of our time.

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In the same way that the entire plant is contained in germinal form in its seed, so the totality of anthroposophy can be discovered in Rudolf Steiner's central work The Philosophy of Freedom, a book that lays the foundation for the modern scientific path to the spiritual world. Given the centrality of the Guardian of the Threshold to modern initiation, one may therefore ask where this theme is to be found in The Philosophy of Freedom. Prokofieff presents his insights to this little researched question in the first part of this volume. In the second part, he investigates The Philosophy of Freedom's connection to the content of Rudolf Steiner's research relating to the Fifth Gospel. Through Prokofieff's thoughtful commentary, new light is shed on the connection between Rudolf Steiner's early and late work. Study of the relevant texts reveals that the roots of Steiner's early work lie in the same spiritual reality - the Christ Impulse - as those of the later anthroposophy he was to develop.

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The Mystery of the Resurrection approaches the deepest mysteries of the Turning Point of Time through Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research. At its heart stands the question of the restoration of the 'phantom' of the physical body, and its transformation into the resurrected body of Christ through the Mystery of Golgotha. The author draws a broad and differentiated picture of the tasks and possibilities that the Easter event, as well as Ascension and Whitsun, present - both for the individual and humanity. The final chapter considers the mystery of Easter Saturday, through which the two polar aspects of the Mystery of Golgotha - death and resurrection - interconnect, at the same time explaining the relationship of the Earth Spirit to the interior of the Earth. An appendix tackles the phenomenon of stigmatization from a spiritual-scientific perspective.

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Rudolf Steiner's core mission, repeatedly delayed due to the incapacity of colleagues, was to pursue contemporary spiritual-scientific research into the phenomena of reincarnation and karma. This stimulating book describes the winding biographical path this mission took, and in particular focuses on the mystery of Rudolf Steiner's connection with the influential medieval philosopher and theologian, Thomas Aquinas. Utilizing numerous archival sources and publications, Thomas Meyer reveals many facts relating to Steiner's core mission, and shows the critical roles played by Wilhelm Anton Neumann and Karl Julius Schroer in its genesis and development. Meyer examines how Steiner's pupils responded to his insights into karma, and places this 'most intrinsic mission' into the context of current divisions within the anthroposophic movement. In particular, he highlights the place of spiritual science within culture and history, showing how Steiner developed the great scientific ideas of evolution propounded by Darwin by raising them to the plane of each individual's soul and spiritual development. As Steiner stated in 1903: 'Scientific researchers explain the skull forms of higher animals as a transformation of a lower type of skull. In the same way one should explain a soul's biography through the soul biography which the former evolved from.'

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Some people's path to anthroposophy leads them directly to Rudolf Steiner's early work and The Philosophy of Freedom, and this becomes the philosophical basis for their future exploration. Rudolf Steiner referred to this as a 'safe' approach.But many people's destiny leads them directly to anthroposophy itself, or via one of its practical initiatives, making it difficult sometimes for them to relate to the cognitive basis of anthroposophy. In this unique study Sergei O. Prokofieff offers fresh means of access to Rudolf Steiner's crucially important book, The Philosophy of Freedom. Prokofieff indicates why The Philosophy of Freedom is so important to anthroposophy. It is here that Rudolf Steiner lays the foundations for his method of research. In Steiner's own words: "One who is willing can indeed find the basic principles of anthroposophy in my Philosophy of Freedom". Prokofieff discusses the Christian nature of the anthroposophical method of cognition, and how it is integrally related to freedom and love. This in turn reveals the deeply Christian roots of The Philosophy of Freedom and its importance for modern Christian esotericism. In fact, says Prokofieff, the book holds a 'central position ...in the spiritual history of the Occident'. In considering its multifaceted 'cosmic-human dimension', the author discusses The Philosophy of Freedom in relation to the Mystery of the Resurrection, the Working of the Hierarchies, the Being Anthroposophia, the Fifth Gospel, Rudolf Steiner's Path of Initiation, the Rosicrucian and Michaelic Impulses, the Life Between Death and Rebirth, the Foundation Stone, the Christian Mysteries of Karma and the Science of the Grail.

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Almost six centuries have passed since the death of Joan of Arc, but the enduring fascination with her life continues to generate new studies, adding to the huge quantity of existing books and articles. Those by reputable historians and biographers have recounted the many known facts about her, based on the surviving 15th century documents. But while Joan's key role in expelling the English from French soil has been firmly established, the mystery surrounding her achievements remains unexplained. Joan Edmunds contends that such an explanation is not possible whilst relying solely on the orthodox historical methods customarily employed by writers on the subject. Basing her work on Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific findings - which for the first time revealed the true significance of Joan of Arc's mission - Joan Edmunds explores the mystery of the Maid of Orleans' unique personality. She shows how, whilst under the guidance and direction of the Archangel Michael, and through her ultimate martyrdom, Joan of Arc was instrumental in bringing to birth the forces necessary for the next vital step in humanity's spiritual development: the emergence of the Consciousness Soul.

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Even within the Anthroposophical Society and movement, people's relationship to Rudolf Steiner is weakening and dissipating. This is problematic, says Prokofieff, as the future of both the Society and movement is dependent on a sufficient number of people aspiring to and realizing a true spiritual connection with anthroposophy's founder, Rudolf Steiner. Prokofieff deals in detail with the issues surrounding this concern, and asks the question, "Can one be an anthroposophist without being Rudolf Steiner's pupil?" In the second part of this book Prokofieff elaborates on the mysteries surrounding the laying of the spiritual Foundation Stone at the Society's Christmas Meeting of 1923-24. This event, he suggests, ensured that a personal relationship to Rudolf Steiner "would not remain within the realm of the generally abstract or intellectual, but would become a real inner deed". Thus Rudolf Steiner gave each of us the possibility of connecting with him by way of free inner work on the Foundation Stone. Both parts of this book are integrally linked in the sense that once a relationship to Rudolf Steiner is established, an inner longing to work with the new Mysteries will inevitably follow. In Prokofieff's words: "...the will to take the foundation of the New Mysteries seriously leads to a real, inner connection with Rudolf Steiner". Also included is an important essay that assesses the difficulties connected with the recent digital publication of Rudolf Steiner's most important esoteric texts, as well as the occult background to the internet and electronic media as a whole. In response to readers' questions as to how one might counteract the damaging consequences of these developments, the author has expanded and developed his original essay on the subject.

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Rudolf Steiner's work is recognized today largely due to the prominence of the international Steiner school movement, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical (holistic) medicine, and so on. However, the comprehensive spiritual philosophy that stands behind these practical initiatives is not so well known. In this concise presentation, based on years of giving introductory courses on the subject, van Oort presents an overview of key aspects of Steiner's thought. He deals with concepts such as body, soul and spirit, the relationship between man and animal, and the evolution of consciousness. The latter subject opens up panoramic vistas of human development in the form of successive cultural periods extending over thousands of years.

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"The anthroposophical community seeks to lift human souls into supersensible realms so that they may enter the company of Angels." - Rudolf Steiner. Prokofieff traces the three stages of heavenly preparation of anthroposophy: the 'spiritual thunderstorm', the Michael School in the Sun sphere, and the 'imagination-based cultus' in the spiritual word nearest to the Earth. These events involved the nine spiritual hierarchies, associating them with the karma of the anthroposophical movement. Prokofieff elaborates the tasks of the Anthroposophical Society and indicates how these are connected with the spiritual hierarchies, the Michael movement, the Grail mysteries, the work of new Group Souls, and the Foundation Stone Meditation. He shows that the General Anthroposophical Society was, in an esoteric sense, created in order that human beings might learn to work with the Gods themselves. This is a vital booklet for anybody who cares deeply about the future of the Anthroposophical Society, or the future of mankind itself.

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