What is Whitsun, and how can its impulse be furthered for the future of society? How can social life become the bearer of the Christ impulse, and how can Christ Himself enter directly into social life? In this small booklet Prokofieff speaks of the significance of spiritual work conducted in a social setting, and its crucial role in preparing for the future epoch of the Spirit-Self. The spiritual-social tasks set before us, he says, '...can only be achieved through mutual efforts with one another.' And for such social activity, the General Anthroposophical Society, '...with all of its different groups and branches, which unite all anthroposophists in the world', plays a fundamental role. Thus, concludes Prokofieff, '...the spiritual tasks of the General Anthroposophical Society are gradually combined with the tasks of all mankind.' This booklet, consisting of a report of a lecture supplemented with an essay, is an important companion to the publication by the same author, The Esoteric Significance of Spiritual Work in Anthroposophical Groups.

'If the intentions of the Christmas Conference are to be carried out, the Anthroposophical Society will in future have to fulfil, as far as possible, the esoteric aspirations of its members. With this end in view, the School, consisting of three Classes, will be established within the General Society.' - Rudolf Steiner, January 1924 A year after the burning of the first Goetheanum building in Dornach, Switzerland, Rudolf Steiner refounded the Anthroposophical Society during the Christmas Conference of 1923/24. At the heart of the Society he created 'the School of Spiritual Science', which has the specific task of presenting 'the esoteric aspect', and leading its members to knowledge and experience of the spirit. The School was to have 'Sections' to represent various fields of human endeavour, such as Medicine and Education, and three 'Classes', with the First Class to be established immediately by Rudolf Steiner. This short book is a collection of articles (from the Society Newsletter) and lectures by Rudolf Steiner from 1924, introducing and explaining the purpose of the School of Spiritual Science to members of the Anthroposophical Society. It forms a companion volume to The Foundation Stone / The Life, Nature and Cultivation of Anthroposophy.

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.

Drawn by the mysterious mount Etna, Thomas Meyer sets off on a quest to discover the secrets of the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Stromboli. The Sicilian region is not only famous for the drama of its live volcanoes, but also for its associations with numerous cultural figures - ranging from Cain, Empedocles, Klingsor and the much maligned Cagliostro, through to Goethe and Rudolf Steiner. The author ponders their lives, work and karmic connections, whilst unexpected meetings with cryptic strangers result in discussions that are filled with spiritual insights and pearls of wisdom.Meyer's travelogue is at once engaging, poetic and deeply esoteric, drawing parallels between the burning lava of Etna and Stromboli and the soul lava through which our spiritual feet must wade in the present day. In meditations on the Guardian of the Threshold and the explosive popularity of football, we are led to the conclusion that today human beings need to develop 'spiritual feet' to cross the boundary to higher worlds. The author's final trip coincides with the recent natural catastrophe in Nepal, which prompts him to ask whether humanity can begin to take inner responsibility for the many such disasters - particularly earthquakes and volcanic eruptions - that take place around the world. For these natural calamities, says Meyer, are intimately related to our untamed passions and emotions.

'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.

In an astonishing series of lectures on the science of spiritual knowledge, Rudolf Steiner begins by addressing an audience in Dornach, Switzerland - where, only months earlier, his architectural masterpiece, the first Goetheanum, had been destroyed by fire. He discusses the nature of our planetary system, revealing the planets that are characterised by freedom and those that determine destiny. The spirits of the moon live in seclusion, preserving 'original wisdom' and reflecting powers connected to sexuality, whereas the sun creates harmony. Jupiter is 'the thinker', whilst the spirits on Saturn act as 'living memory'. Speaking in London, Steiner states that the things that happen to people in sleep are more important than anything that occurs during waking hours! Human beings, he says, must learn to see themselves as an image of spirits and spiritual activities on earth. In a break from the theme, and returning to Dornach, Rudolf Steiner reports on his recent visit to England and Wales, where he attended an educational conference in Ilkley, a Summer School in Penmaenmawr and a school for the disadvantaged in the East End of London. Steiner speaks of the particular atmosphere he experienced in West Yorkshire and North Wales, where remnants of Druid spirituality live in the surroundings. The latter theme emerges strongly in the next lectures, which examine the Druid priest's sun initiation and perception of moon spirits. The Druids investigated the secrets of the universe, influencing both social and religious life. Steiner also describes the mythic being of Woden, who signified the birth of intellectuality and the subsequent fear of death - which, he asserts, can be healed by the Mystery of Golgotha. In the final section, Rudolf Steiner discusses: 'The past, present and future development of the human mind'. Again, he references the importance of Druid culture, noting that the ground plans of the stone circles in Penmaenmawr are similar to that of the first Goetheanum. He also points to the crucial roles of the ancient Mysteries and Christ's deed in human development.

As a spiritual teacher, Rudolf Steiner wrote many inspired and beautifully-crafted verses. Often they were given in relation to specific situations or in response to individual requests; sometimes they were offered simply to assist in the process of meditation. Regardless of their origins, they are uniformly powerful in their ability to connect the meditating individual with spiritual archetypes. Thus, the meditations provide valuable tools for developing experience and knowledge of subtle dimensions of reality. Matthew Barton has translated and selected Steiner's verses, sensitively arranging them by theme. In this collection - to promote courage and tranquility - Rudolf Steiner highlights the balancing, harmonizing forces of the heart, which are so much under attack in our cerebral culture. The verses aim to strengthen the heart by warming and enlivening thinking, allowing for genuine peace of mind; by drawing feeling into the dark depths of our will, in order to help develop courage; by nurturing a real sense of peace within the heart; and by helping us to help others. Together they provide a powerful antidote to the stresses and strains of modern life.

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

Is there truly life beyond death? What really happens when we die? Can the living stay connected with, or even help, their loved ones who have passed on? Answers to these questions have traditionally been sought for in Eastern religions but - perhaps surprisingly for some - they can also be found within the Christian tradition. In fact, such knowledge was prevalent in early Christianity, but was gradually suppressed and eventually forgotten.Turning to hidden - esoteric - sources that reveal lost meanings within the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Gnostic texts, Hans Stolp and Margarete van den Brink describe the world of light that exists beyond death, and the 'seven steps' needed to progress through its realms. The authors draw on near-death experiences as well as the many profound personal encounters with deceased friends and family members described by people in recent times. With this knowledge, together with Rudolf Steiner's research, they offer answers to the following questions: - What is the world beyond death really like and what tasks await us there? - Why is love and wisdom gained in life on earth so important in the afterlife? - How can the living help or hinder the dead? - How do the departed themselves help loved ones who are left behind? - How does the Christ sustain the dead as they review their previous life and prepare for the next?This is an extraordinary guide to understanding what happens after death. It also offers invaluable advice on staying connected to our loved ones who have passed on.

'Meditating is a totally free undertaking; it is the epitome of an autonomous deed.' - Rudolf Steiner Based on brief, pithy quotations from Rudolf Steiner's collected works, the 'spiritual perspectives' in this volume present core concepts on the subject of meditation. These brief extracts do not claim to provide exhaustive treatment of the subject, but open up approaches to the complexity of Steiner's extraordinary world of ideas. Some readers will find these fragments sufficient stimulus in themselves, whilst others will use the source references as signposts towards deeper study and understanding.

In ancient times humanity possessed an innate knowledge of the spiritual foundations of existence. Such knowledge could be acquired through inwardly accompanying the cycle of the year and its connected great seasonal festivals. But this instinctive knowledge had to be lost in order for human beings to discover individual freedom. In our time, as Sergei O. Prokofieff demonstrates in this comprehensive work, '...this knowledge must be found anew through the free, light-filled consciousness of the fully developed human personality'. Tracing the spiritual path of the yearly cycle, Prokofieff penetrates to the deeper esoteric realities of the seven Christian festivals of Michaelmas, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Whitsun and St John's Tide. Basing his research on the work of the twentieth-century initiate Rudolf Steiner, he reveals how these festivals are spiritual facts that exist independently of religious traditions and cultural customs. Working with the festivals in an esoteric sense can provide a true path of initiation, ultimately enabling an experience of the Being of the Earth, Christ. The journey of study through this book can thus lead the reader to an experience of the modern Christian-Rosicrucian path, along which '...it is possible to take the first steps towards life in partnership with the course of cosmic existence'.

`From time to time in the history of humanity, extraordinary individualities appear, carrying with them great tasks which are difficult to assess. Through this lens, the events around Kaspar Hauser (1812-1833) can be seen as signposts to one of the most important mysteries of modern times, which will radiate far into the future. Kaspar's appearance and the essence of his being are deeply connected with the question of the identity of the human being itself.' - From the Foreword. This book offers a unique, creative approach to the mystery of Kaspar Hauser - the teenage boy who was found abandoned on the streets of Nuremberg, barely able to walk, speak or write. Introducing the subject with a historical overview, Eckart Boehmer goes on to offer multiple artistic approaches to comprehending the enigma of Kaspar Hauser's brief and tragic life. He presents poems from his cycle I not human, I Kaspar, a short story entitled `Crossing the Border', and a play about Hauser's mentor, `Feuerbach or an Example of a Crime Against the Human Consciousness Soul'. These are followed by transcripts of two lectures held during the Kaspar Hauser Festival in New York, which reflect on esoteric research carried out in the last twenty years. The volume concludes with short meditations followed by an interview with the author on his biographical connections to the theme. Inspired by the Kaspar Hauser Festival in Ansbach and the Kaspar Hauser Research Circle, this valuable book offers many imaginative gems for deeper contemplation.

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

Rudolf Steiner's spiritual philosophy is the inspiration for many successful initiatives in the world today, from the international Steiner Waldorf school movement to biodynamic agriculture and its increasingly popular produce. Steiner developed his philosophy in dozens of books and many thousands of lectures. His teaching contains dozens of new concepts and ideas, and as a result he had often to create his own vocabulary. In this practical volume - a companion to his Anthroposophy, A Concise Introduction - Henk van Oort gives concise definitions of many terms and concepts in Steiner's worldview, from the most commonplace to the more obscure. Anthroposophy A-Z can be used as a reference guide, but also as a gateway into Rudolf Steiner's manifold world of spiritual ideas and concepts. Anthroposophy can be seen to be a new language - a language that can lead to the world of the spirit. It was with this awareness that Henk van Oort took the initiative to write this glossary. Ultimately, he has written the sort of inspiring handbook that he wished had existed when he first became acquainted with anthroposophy over 40 years ago.

What is true happiness? This perennial question preoccupies many experts, including biologists, psychologists, sociologists and theologians, but their findings usually confirm what we already knew: that happiness is one of the most sought-after but elusive commodities. Rudolf Steiner's liberating view of happiness opens up new vistas and perspectives. Happiness, he says, depends on the human spirit, whose continuing evolution draws sustenance from the totality of life's experiences. We develop and learn in equal measure from both good fortune and misfortune, success and disappointment. Steiner urges inner equilibrium, emphasizing the transience of outward happiness. Inward happiness, however, can never be taken from us, depending as it does on, '...whatever we ourselves make of our outward fortunes'. This rich and inspiring booklet gathers all Rudolf Steiner's statements on the theme and features two complete lectures on happiness and spiritual knowledge. It also includes an insightful introductory essay by Daniel Baumgartner.

From 1933 to 1935, Ita Wegman was confronted by both Nazi fascism and internal crises in the General Anthroposophical Society. During those years, she traveled to Palestine in the fall of 1934 following a grave illness that nearly ended with her death. Her correspondence during this period, as well as her notes on the trip, reveal the great biographical importance to her of these travels and indeed the whole scope of her spiritual experiences in 1934. Ita Wegman had unambiguous perspectives and a uniquely clear view of both the political threat and her social-spiritual task during this period. There was, however, a radical change in her inner stance toward the opposition, aggression, and defamation she encountered within anthroposophic contexts in reaction to her intense, purely motivated efforts. She tried to live and work in true accord with her inner impulses and, ultimately, with Rudolf Steiner's legacy, especially within the anthroposophic movement. Doing so, she increasingly found her way to her own distinctive and uncompromising path. The author reveals the general nature of those three years-a period whose distinctive spiritual and Christological task and dramatic dangers Rudolf Steiner had foreseen in 1923: "If these men the Nazis] gain government power, I will no longer be able to set foot on German soil." Ita Wegman's efforts in 1933 to confront the dark powers of National Socialism and the convulsions in Dornach, which she experienced firsthand, as well as her subsequent illness and the clarity of her "Christological conversion" in 1934 to '35, reveal a very specific, intrinsically comprehensible and forward-looking quality whose spiritual signature is clearly prefigured in Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific predictions. In this book, Peter Selg focuses exclusively on Ita Wegman, her development, and her words, simply presenting the processes she went through and, implicitly, their extraordinary spiritual nature, without any attempt at interpretation. This focus arises from the governing premise that the mysteries of a great life such as that of Ita Wegman reveal themselves in the details. Tracing the subtle steps in her life allow us deeper insight into Ita Wegman's being. She herself wrote, "In general meetings or gatherings, people always understood me poorly because I lacked a smooth way of expressing myself. But people of goodwill always understood what I meant." This book was originally published in German as Geistiger Widerstand und Uberwindung. Ita Wegman 1933-1935 by Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 2005.

"What is the nature of matter?"Within conventional science, the reductionist, materialist view asserts that matter is solely physical. Hauschka shows that open-minded study, based on qualitative observation and quantitative research, can overcome this now standardized view. Without denying the laws of matter, he shows the limitations of a science restricted by them, and points to new research that indicates the primal nature of spirit. This classic work, reprinted in its original form, is the result of Dr Hauschka's many years' research at the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Through decades of experimentation he came to radical conclusions that suggested potential new directions for science. This book includes the detailed results of Hauschka's experiments although his approach is not restricted to measurement and outer observation. Based on the work of Goethe and Steiner, he encourages a method of seeing nature that has an artistic quality, and calls for direct experience rather than intellectual theorizing. "The Nature of Substance" is generally accessible. The author deliberately avoids technical terms and academic style in favor of vivid descriptions and lively discussions. His fascinating study takes in many substances, with chapters on plants, animals, oils, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, metals, carbon, oxygen, poisons, high dilutions, and much more. This book is a companion volume to the author s other work, "Nutrition."

Rudolf Steiner referred to the wooden 'group' sculpture of the figure of Christ surrounded by adversary spiritual beings as the centre of the first Goetheanum. Steiner even told the architect of the second Goetheanum that the sculpture he made with Edith Maryon should occupy the same central position 'as in the first building'. What was Rudolf Steiner's essential aim for the sculptural group within the Mystery building he conceived, and why did he regard it as the crown of the building? What were Steiner's intentions - and, specifically, what were the spiritual aims behind this remarkable depiction of Christ? Rudolf Steiner described the core task of anthroposophical spiritual science as preparing for Christ's reappearance in the etheric realm. The Christ he sculpted was not the possession of a specific community with a religious world view, but rather a being active throughout humanity, and thus 'a figure of the future'. In this focused and powerful short book, Peter Selg engages with these highly-contemporary issues, providing thoughtful insights and answers that point to mysteries of the future involving humanity's further development and the transforming of evil.

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

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