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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > Post-renaissance syncretist / eclectic systems
Ita Wegman, born in 1876 to a Dutch family living in Indonesia,
first met Rudolf Steiner in Berlin in 1902 when she was 26 years
old. She studied medicine at the University of Zurich and in 1917,
following Steiner's indications, developed a treatment for cancer
using mistletoe. In 1921 she founded the first anthroposophical
medical clinic, in Arlesheim, Switzerland, followed in 1922 by the
Sonnenhof home for children with special needs. Karl Koenig first
met Wegman in 1927, and she quickly recognized his great potential,
as well as his weaknesses. She invited him to work at the Arlesheim
clinic as her assistant, and encouraged and advised him in his
medical work. This book includes the complete correspondence
between Koenig and Wegman.
16 lectures, Dornach, March 1 to June 25, 1924 (CW 353) The
remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf
Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. The varied
subject-matter was chosen by his audience at Rudolf Steiner's
instigation. Steiner took their questions and usually gave
immediate answers. The astonishing nature of these responses -
their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth - is testimony to his
outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and profound thinker.
Accessible, entertaining and stimulating, the records of these
sessions will be a delight to anybody with an open mind. In this
particular collection, Rudolf Steiner deals with topics ranging
from beetroot to Buddhism! He discusses, among other things,
Christianity and Islam; the Crusades; cemeteries; comets; the
zodiac and fixed stars; scars; Egyptian mummies; astronomy; Tibet
and the Dalai Lama; Freemasonry; star wisdom, moon and sun
religions; the Mysteries; the Trinity; Moses; Easter; the ancient
Indians, Egyptians, Babylonians and Jews; Kant and Schopenhauer,
and nationalism. This volume is a translation from German of Die
Geschichte der Menschheit und die Weltanschauungen der
Kulturvoelker (GA 353).
Can there be such a thing as spiritual science today? Should faith
and spirit remain as purely private concerns - or, as
traditionally, preserves of the Church? When Rudolf Steiner founded
anthroposophy in the early twentieth century, his intention was to
create a fundamentally scientific approach to the spirit. His basic
works detail methods for developing spiritual consciousness,
allowing the individual to replicate the results of his research.
This key aspect distinguishes anthroposophy from the wealth of
spiritual teachings, sects, cults and religions within the modern
cultural milieu. But did Steiner fail in his endeavour to build a
scientific path to spiritual knowledge? Is anthroposophy just
another 'theory' based on intellectual thought, to be analysed and
dismissed? Up to now, academia has largely ignored Rudolf Steiner's
work. In 2013, however, the first volume of a new series - a
critical edition of Rudolf Steiner's writings, edited by a
professor of the largest religious university in the USA - was
published by a respected German academic press.Taking this concrete
case as an illustration, Pietro Archiati argues that academia, with
its in-built bias towards the atheistic assumptions of
materialistic science, will almost inevitably misrepresent
Steiner's work. Anthroposophy is a spiritual science, whose
metamorphosing nature requires penetration of its essence for true
understanding. Presenting a broad exploration of the critical
questions outlined above, Archiati's exposition works not only as a
critique of a specific new edition of Steiner's works, but also as
an introduction to key tenets of anthroposophical methodology and
thought. 'When, in the case of a flower, the coloured blossom
appears, this does not come as a correction of a faulty green leaf.
It is, on the contrary, a further metamorphosis of the plant,
which, without the existence of the green leaf, would not have been
able to arise. Rudolf Steiner was always comparing the arising of
his spiritual science with the evolution of a living organism.' -
Pietro Archiati
D.N. Dunlop (1868-1935) combined remarkable practical and
organizational abilities in industry and commerce with gifted
spiritual and esoteric capacities. A personal friend of W.B. Yeats
and Rudolf Steiner, Dunlop was responsible for founding the World
Power Conference (today the World Energy Council), and played
leading roles in the Theosophical Society and later the
Anthroposophical Society. In his business life he pioneered a
cooperative approach towards the emerging global economy. Meyer's
compelling narrative of Dunlop's life begins on the Isle of Arran,
where the motherless boy is brought up by his grandfather. In a
landscape rich with prehistoric standing stones, the young Dunlop
has formative spiritual experiences. When his grandfather dies, he
struggles for material survival, but devotedly studies occult
literature. The scene moves to Dublin, where Dunlop becomes a
friend of W.B. Yeats and the poet-seer A.E., and develops an active
interest in Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy. Arriving in London via
New York, Dunlop is now a lecturer, writer and the editor of a
monthly journal - but alongside his esoteric interests he rises to
a foremost position in the British electrical industry,
masterminding the first World Power Conference. Dunlop's life is to
change forever through his meeting with Rudolf Steiner, which
'...brought instant recognition'. He was immediately convinced that
Steiner was '...the Knower, the Initiate, the bearer of the Spirit
to his age'. Dunlop's close involvement with anthroposophy, leading
to his eventual position as Chair of the British Society, is
described in detail: from the momentous conferences in Penmaenmawr
and Torquay to his transformative relationships with Eleanor Merry,
W.J. Stein, Ita Wegman and Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz. Meyer features
important material on the Anthroposophical Society's tragic split,
that allows for a true evaluation of this difficult period in the
organization's history. This second, enlarged edition features
substantial additions of new material as well as an Afterword by
Owen Barfield.
"This biography does not aim for completeness, but focuses on
Rudolf Steiner's being, intentions, and journey-aspects that must
not be obliterated by the many events, foundations, and people
involved with Anthroposophy.... It wants to convey (to quote Emil
Leinhas) 'the immense greatness and unique significance of this
individuality who radiates out over the centuries.'" -Peter Selg
(from the introduction) To acknowledge and understand Rudolf
Steiner's unique achievement and life's work, one must be able to
accept that the founder and spiritual researcher of Anthroposophy
was "a citizen of two worlds" the spiritual and the physical.
Anthroposophy teaches that this duality, rather than being a
quality reserved for special individualities, is inherent to human
nature. According to Rudolf Steiner, it is a central aspect of
being human, even in times when the suprasensory aspect of humanity
is eclipsed (for ordinary day consciousness) and almost eliminated
by certain civilizations. The interest in Rudolf Steiner's person
and essence, in his attitude toward life and work, will continue to
grow in the decades and centuries that lie ahead, both within and
outside the anthroposophical movement. It will take hold of
entirely different groups of people, including those who come with
spiritual questions or discover them in times of need. Rudolf
Steiner's work grew to be "one unique effort of bringing courage to
human beings" (Michael Bauer). This is the first of seven
comprehensive volumes on Rudolf Steiner's "being, intentions, and
journey." It presents Rudolf Steiner from childhood and youth
through his doctorate degree and up to the time of his work for the
Goethe Archives as editor of Goethe's scientific writings. By
considering his formative years in depth, we come to understand
better the roots and development of Rudolf Steiner's later
spiritual research and teachings.
The Theosophical Society (est. 1875 in New York by H. P. Blavatsky,
H. S. Olcott and others) is increasingly becoming recognized for
its influential role in shaping the alternative new religious and
cultural landscape of the late nineteenth and the twentieth
century, especially as an early promoter of interest in Indian and
Tibetan religions and philosophies. Despite this increasing
awareness, many of the central questions relating to the early
Theosophical Society and the East remain largely unexplored. This
book is the first scholarly anthology dedicated to this topic. It
offers many new details about the study of Theosophy in the history
of modern religions and Western esotericism. The essays in
Imagining the East explore how Theosophists during the formative
period understood the East and those of its people with whom they
came into contact. The authors examine the relationship of the
theosophical approach with orientalism and aspects of the history
of ideas, politics, and culture at large and discuss how these
esoteric or theosophical representations mirrored conditions and
values current in nineteenth-century mainstream intellectual
culture. The essays also look at how the early Theosophical
Society's imagining of the East differed from mainstream
'orientalism' and how the Theosophical Society's mission in India
was distinct from that of British colonialism and Christian
missionaries.
While the benefits of Steiner's research into agriculture and
education are increasingly recognized, his research into the nature
of bees has had limited impact on beekeeping practices and on our
general understanding of nature. Wisdom of the Bees examines
Steiner's insights and research into the nature of bees and their
implications for the future of beekeeping. Today, more than eighty
years after Rudolf Steiner presented his lectures on bees, we are
confronted with a serious decline of honeybees around the world.
This fact alone justifies Wisdom of the Bees, a practical and
timely introduction to biodynamic beekeeping. Erik Berrevoets
revisits those seminal lectures and reexamines Steiner's
observations and insights in the context of today's dire situation
and provides practical advice for modern beekeeping practices.
Wisdom of the Bees is an accessible and essential introduction to
the urgent subject of holistic beekeeping practices.
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Thought-Forms
(Paperback)
C.W. Leadbeater; Edited by Dennis Logan; Annie Besant
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R504
Discovery Miles 5 040
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Gertrude Reif Hughes, an anthroposophist of many years, offers her
insights for practicing important exercises, verses, and
meditations given by Rudolf Steiner to his esoteric students.
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