'When we know how to enter deeply into the realm of the soul, we reach understanding of the harmony that exists between successive lives on earth and the whole of the physical world outside us.' - Rudolf Steiner In these eight lectures, given during the Great War as thousands of young men were being killed in battle, Rudolf Steiner - the great initiate of the twentieth century - describes the dramatic reality of the spiritual worlds encountered by human beings after death. He speaks of the joys and sufferings experienced in those worlds by people of different character; the vision of the 'ideal human being' that souls experience; the cosmic 'midnight hour'; the processes leading to rebirth in the world of the senses; the deeper causes behind such phenomena as materialism and criminality; and why, in the flesh, we lose our instinctive perception of the spiritual worlds. Steiner describes how knowledge of the spiritual realms, as well as the life beyond death and before birth, can be built on the foundations of modern science. Indeed, he speaks of mankind's involvement in science and its many achievements as necessary steps on the path towards a modern spirituality and true understanding of the soul, and describes in detail some of the methods by which direct perception of the worlds of soul and spirit can be developed.

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.

'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.

During the brief window between the two World Wars, the Rev. Prof. Hermann Beckh led research at The Christian Community Seminary in Stuttgart. In those precious years he published on music, the gospels and the ancient Mysteries. By 1930, in his Contributions to the Priests' Newsletter, he had produced the most far-reaching account of the cosmic order ever written. The typescript of this great work was destined to gather dust in the Berlin Archiv, however, until it was discovered in recent years. Published here for the first time, it is the crowning masterpiece to Beckh's Collected Works. The translated and annotated text is accompanied by Rudolf Frieling's in-depth application of Beckh's principles of the cosmic starry order to the Creed of The Christian Community, and by a number of appreciations and relevant book reviews. Through ever-deepening meditation guided by Rudolf Steiner, and his vast knowledge of Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali and Avestan sacred texts - scarcely to be equalled in Europe at the time - Beckh came to the first-hand realization that human and cosmic life was ordered. He perceived directly that this cosmic order was: good, as originating from the World-Will; true, as from World-Thinking; and beautiful, as from World-Feeling. All three could be personally experienced in disciplined consciousness that could enter dream, sleep and pre-natal life. This, then, was Beckh's method and inspiration, as shown in this extraordinary work.

During the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society as the General Anthroposophical Society at Christmas 1923/24, Rudolf Steiner also reconstituted, as the School of Spiritual Science, the Esoteric School he had led in three classes from 1904 to 1914, at the same time extending its scope by adding artistic and scientific Sections. However, owing to his illness and later death in March 1925, he was only able to make a beginning by establishing the First Class and the Sections. The actual step from the Esoteric School to the School of Spiritual Science was nevertheless an exceptional one. The Esoteric School from Helena Blavatsky's time had been secret. Its existence was known only to those personally invited to participate. In contrast, the existence of the School of Spiritual Science was stated openly in the public statutes of the General Anthroposophical Society. From the Christmas Conference onwards, Rudolf Steiner worked within this publicly acknowledged framework. The Class Lessons comprise a complete spiritual course of nineteen fundamental lessons given between February and August 1924, several lessons given at other locations, and seven further lessons from September 1924 which take up the themes of the first part of the nineteen lessons in a modified form. This authentic, accurate and high-quality bilingual edition - with English and German texts printed side by side - is published in conjunction with the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum. A compact four-volume clothbound set, it features plates with Rudolf Steiner's handwritten notes of the mantras and reproductions of his original colour blackboard drawings. The translations of the mantric verses have been reworked by a committed group of translators, linguists and editors, expressing subtleties of meaning, grammatical accuracy and poetic style whilst retaining the original sound and metre of the German mantric forms. Three versions of the existing English translations are also included.

Based on direct communications with his eight spirit guides, Dr Bob Woodward confirms that we have all lived in spirit worlds before our birth - and that we will enter these same realms again after our material deaths. In a very real sense, these higher spirit worlds are actually our true home, he says, rather than our present physical existence, which is only a temporary abode. In consultation with his spirit guides - including a Tibetan Lama, a Jewish Rabbi, a Native American and his personal guardian angel - Bob Woodward gives a detailed survey of our lives in spirit worlds before birth and after death, our relationships there with friends, family and even pets, and our connections with both good and evil spiritual beings. He also gives a commentary on a range of subjects such as reincarnation and climate change. In a final extensive and moving interview, Woodward finds and speaks with the soul of his deceased father, who offers enlightening glimpses of life after death. Whilst the author's knowledge is grounded in decades of study of the work of Rudolf Steiner - with which he compares the results of his own extrasensory perceptions - Knowledge of Spirit Worlds is not intended as a dry philosophical study. Rather, it has a warm, experiential quality - based as it is on personal interaction with spirit entities - and emphasizes the love that connects all worlds and beings together.

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.

With great empathy, delicacy, and directness, Peter Selg recounts, in three lectures, the moving story of Ita Wegman and her relationship with Rudolf Steiner in the context of the development of anthroposophic medicine and the formation of the Medical Section of the School for Spiritual Science. Steiner had suffered patiently until the right person-Ita Wegman-arrived to guide spiritual science's healing mission into the medical fi eld. In the fall of 1920, Ita Wegman founded a medical clinic in Arlesheim. From then on, she and Rudolf Steiner worked together, both medically and spiritually, gradually unveiling a karmic working relationship unique in Steiner's life. Thus the stage is set. The second lecture focuses on anthroposophic curative education: ..". the social center, the heart even, of Ita Wegman's 'Medical Section.' To make a commitment to children with severe obstacles in their incarnation, out of spiritual insight into the human being and the wider karmic context, and to make this commitment as a group of people working out of a Christian-religious impulse-this was for Ita Wegman the true anthroposophic medicine." Dr. Selg then describes Dr. Wegman's heroic eff orts to create a true community of physicians working anthroposophically out of Rudolf Steiner's indications and in the spirit of Christ; how she looked after her colleagues, always seeking to wake them up "to the destiny of their own being." As well, she sought to resist all that was happening in Nazi Germany, never forgetting Rudolf Steiner's warning: "In the future the Anthroposophical Society will be faced with the crucial decision of whether responsibilities will be met or not..." And here exactly lies the heart of this wonderful book: the inner struggle to make love responsible.

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?'

In the early part of the last century, Professor Hermann Beckh began a search to discover the truth about the Mystery wisdom of antiquity. As a recognized authority on Buddhist texts, he knew that complete knowledge of such Mysteries was not to be found within the limitations of waking consciousness, sense perception and logic. Beckh was already aware that Gautama Buddha had indicated the stages of higher knowledge. Furthermore, his studies of Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophical teachings revealed that such knowledge could be experienced directly, given disciplined meditation. Clairvoyant cognition included the conscious penetration of sleep consciousness, the dream state and an experience of pre-natal consciousness. Both the Mysteries and Rudolf Steiner's major books, he concluded, were founded on the same perceptions. Beckh - a worldwide expert on Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali and Avestan texts - quickly became disenchanted with Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy, as it displayed little precise academic knowledge of primary records. At the same time, university departments showed scant trace of understanding the texts they analysed through philology and sociology. Thus, based on comprehensive studies and personal experience, he resolved to present his own perceptions and vision to the public. The results are to be found in this invaluable book, bringing together for the first time in English three groundbreaking publications: Our Origin in the Light (Genesis 1-9) (1924); Zarathustra (1927) and From the World of the Mysteries

This unique work - the fruit of many decades' research and experience - throws new light on the supersensible history and karma of the Michaelic movement since Rudolf Steiner's death. It describes that movement's evolution and transformation in the etheric world during the twentieth century, from the world-changing apocalypse of the 1930s and 40s through to the beginning of its incarnation on Earth at the end of last century. The book also focuses on developments in the practical and social work of building the community of the School of Spiritual Science, which embodies the new Michaelic movement in our time. As Ben-Aharon indicates, the Michaelic movement is searching for creative, courageous and enthusiastic souls to foster a strong community that develops - from one decade to the next - as a living organism. Based on the continuous resurrection of anthroposophy, this community strives to create a fully conscious meeting and communication with the school of Michael and Christ in the etheric world, in a form that is appropriate and demanded by the times. The transcripts of these lectures bring together the author's experiences with anthroposophy over the last 42 years in the light of present communications from the spiritual world. It is based on contemporary spiritual investigation and individual, lived experience. From the Contents: 'The Amfortas-Parsifal Duality of Modern Humanity'; 'The Twilight of Humanity and its Resurrection'; 'The Universal Language of Michael and the Being of Rudolf Steiner'; 'The Anthroposophical Movement in the Present'; 'The Etheric Form is Alive'; 'The Resurrection of the Etheric Christ in the 21st Century'

From Joseph Vogelsang and his mysterious peep-box to Hollywood blockbusters and Netflix, R.A. Savoldelli's survey of cinema and film is based on practical experience - he was once the enfant terrible of Swiss cinema - and years of contemplation and study. He examines the difference between film as the 'hypnotic monster' referred to by the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, and the art of film that Rudolf Steiner aspired to. The author depicts the historical development of cinema from its origins, paying particular attention to science fiction - from Star Wars to The Matrix - and influential filmmakers such as Eric Rohmer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Pasolini. As a scholar of anthroposophy, Savoldelli gives a comprehensive assessment of Rudolf Steiner's attitude to film. In addition to frequenting the silent cinema of his time, Steiner made several statements about the new artform in his lectures, letters and private discussions. The author examines and interprets these and complements them with commentary on Steiner's attempt to produce a film on the theme of reincarnation and karma as well as his explorations with Jan Stuten of 'light-show art'. Other topics in this penetrating study include: 'Basic philosophical stances in the pioneer period of media studies'; 'Steiner's prophetic warnings about a technocratic form of civilization that will destroy humanity'; 'Nostalgia for the art-house cinema that emerged in the 60s'; and 'The project discussed by Alexander Kluge and Andrei Tarkovsky for a film based on Rudolf Steiner's From the Akashic Records'. Anyone interested in the cinematic arts will find a treasure of stimulating ideas and new thought in this unique book.

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 (Ruckschau) 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'.