'We have shown how in the course of time the being who was present in Elijah appeared again at the most important moments of human evolution on Earth - appeared again so that Christ Jesus Himself could give him the initiation he was to receive for the evolution of mankind. For the being of Elijah reappeared in Lazarus-John - who are in truth one and the same figure ...' Thus spoke Rudolf Steiner in his 'Last Address' to members of the Anthroposophical Society. This was his first and only indication of the connection between John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. As Prokofieff points out, Steiner intended to develop and bring to full clarity the short comment reproduced above, but his terminal illness prevented him from doing so. In this brief but enlightening booklet, Sergei O. Prokofieff addresses the mystery of the 'two Johns', solving many unanswered questions. In particular, he throws light on issues of 'incarnation and incorporation', the nature of John the Baptist's and John the Evangelist's respective initiations, the significance of their mutual work at the 'Turning Point of Time', and its relevance to our present day.

A survey of recent history reveals a gloomy picture: an ongoing series of conflicts, wars and general turmoil. As a result of all this, the human emotional landscape has become littered with angry, bitter and vengeful feelings. The modern justice system, preoccupied as it is with finding and proving guilt, does little to remedy this tragic situation. However, many individuals and groups are seeking ways to break the never-ending cycle of recrimination. When faced with the question of what we can do to change and improve the world, one of the most radical and challenging answers is to learn to begin forgiving others for what they have done to us. In this powerful and moving book, Prokofieff shows how the forces which lead to forgiveness can be consciously and freely developed. Without preaching a morality of forgiveness, he sets before us the spiritual facts which speak for themselves. From Tsarist Russia to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, to the battles taking place in the early history of the Anthroposophical Society, the author gives striking examples of people who have been able to forgive often terrible crimes.He provides multilayered analysis, pointing to the beneficial consequences of every single act of forgiveness. As he develops his theme, the importance of forgiving, not simply for personal salvation, but for the furtherance of humanity's evolution, is revealed in all its healing truth.

'He [Harwood] is the sole Horatio known to me in this age of Hamlets...' - C. S. Lewis, from Surprised by Joy --- Cecil Harwood (1898-1975) - lecturer, Waldorf teacher, writer, editor and anthroposophist - pioneered and developed the first Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) school in the United Kingdom (the New School in London, now Michael Hall School in Sussex). He also led the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain for some 37 years. In 1922, at the age of 24, Harwood attended a festival of English folk song and dance in Cornwall, alongside his life-long friend Owen Barfield. It was here - and not in the academic citadel of Oxford University, where they were both part of the literary circle known as the Inklings - that Harwood and Barfield were to encounter the work of Rudolf Steiner through meeting Daphne Olivier. Sun King's Counsellor provides an intricate picture of the human connections, cultural movements and spiritual background that contributed to what came together in Cornwall in 1922, leading to Harwood's life's work. Featuring a colour plate section and full index, it documents Harwood's early years and antecedents, marriages to Daphne Olivier and Margaret Lundgren, friendships with Barfield and C.S. Lewis, his life-changing meeting with anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner, teaching and educational work, and Harwood's critical role in healing divisions within the Anthroposophical Society. Based on extensive research of primary sources, Blaxland-de Lange's biography reveals the multi-faceted, flexible and sacrificial nature of this unique personality. Alfred Cecil Harwood - he preferred 'Cecil' instead of Alfred, with its meaning of 'wise counsellor' - began his career with the hope of becoming a writer, and had neither the intention nor ambition to become a teacher or the head of a national organization. Yet he became both an exemplary teacher and leader, as well as a celebrated author, editor, translator and lecturer.

'Barfield towers above us all... the wisest and best of my unofficial teachers.' - C.S. Lewis --- 'We are well supplied with interesting writers, but Owen Barfield is not content to be merely interesting. His ambition is to set us free from the prison we have made for ourselves by our ways of knowing, our limited and false habits of thought, our "common sense".' - Saul Bellow --- Owen Barfield - philosopher, author, poet and critic - was a founding member of the Inklings, the private Oxford society that included the leading literary figures C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. C.S. Lewis, who was greatly affected by Barfield during their long friendship, wrote of their many heated debates: 'I think he changed me a good deal more than I him.' Simon Blaxland-de Lange's biography - the first on Owen Barfield to be published - was written with the active cooperation of Barfield himself who, before his death in 1997, gave numerous interviews to the author and shared a large quantity of his papers and manuscripts. The fruit of this collaboration is a book that penetrates deeply into the life and thought of one of the most important figures of the twentieth century. It studies the influences on Barfield by the Romantic poet Coleridge and the philosopher Rudolf Steiner (founder of anthroposophy), and elaborates on Barfield's profound personal connection with C.S. Lewis. The book also features a biographical sketch in his own words (based on personally conducted interviews), and describes Barfield's strong relationship with North America and his dual profession as a lawyer and writer. This updated edition features vital new material including Barfield's own 'Psychography' from 1948 and an illustrative plate section.

'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.

This beautifully illustrated book presents a history of our relationship with nature, beginning with the civilisations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, when gardens served as 'the dwelling place of the gods'. Tracing this history through subsequent epochs, the author shows how human awareness of the divine presence in nature was gradually eclipsed. As nature came to be viewed primarily as a physical resource to be controlled and exploited by us, this was reflected in the ordered, rational designs imposed on such gardens as Versailles. More recently, gardening has come to be seen less as an instrument of control than as an art in its own right, enhancing nature's inherent beauty. Jeremy Naydler suggests that the future of gardening lies not simply in its being regarded as an art but as a sacred art, which once again honours and works with the spiritual dimension intrinsic to nature.

What is truly real? Rudolf Steiner sheds light on everyday reality through spiritual knowledge, repeatedly urging us to bring anthroposophy into daily human existence. We might consciously experience the difference between consuming a potato as compared to cereals such as rye, for example - or we could grasp ordinary phenomena, such as sleepwalking, through an understanding of the threefold human being. Likewise, we might strive to comprehend how our head is the transformed organism of our previous life. Throughout, Steiner emphasizes that we can achieve spirituality on earth if only we make anthroposophy real. The twelve lectures here were delivered during the portentous year of 1923, in the context of increasing attacks from Steiner's opponents. His architectural masterpiece, the first Goetheanum, had already been destroyed by fire, but he was yet to refound the Anthroposophical Society at the Christmas Conference. In these uncertain times, Steiner speaks of the decline of European culture and the development of materialism as a philosophy, leaving anthroposophy with no exoteric foundation on which to build. But Rudolf Steiner strikes a positive note with an exciting and constructive way forward, providing us with the tools to see the world through three key perspectives of anthroposophy: the physical, the soul and the spiritual dimensions of reality. This previously-unpublished volume is translated by Elizabeth Marshall and includes an introduction, notes and index.