'If we can bring nothing up out of ourselves except fear of the illnesses which surround us at the seat of an epidemic, and if we go to sleep at night filled with nothing but thoughts of this fear, then we create unconscious replicas, imaginations, which are drenched in fear. And this is an excellent method for nurturing bacteria...' - 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 epidemics. 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.

Change can be unwelcome, but it usually brings new opportunities and the possibility of a fresh start. When the great change of the menopause begins to make itself felt in the life of a woman, the subsequent loss of fertility and the signs that one is getting older can trigger a life and identity crisis. In this essential guide, written from the holistic perspective of anthroposophical medicine, Eveline Daub-Amend shows how this turning point in a woman's biography can be a positive time of transformation: of entering a new phase of life with a fit and healthy body, mind and spirit. She discusses how symptoms can be treated using natural methods, and addresses emotional and psychological processes and changes. As a medical doctor and former gynaecologist, Daub-Amend gives authoritative guidance on many issues: the role played by hormones, changes in the menstrual cycle and hormonal balance, loss of fertility, contraception and the affects on sexuality and partnership. She gives advice on dealing with hot flushes, sleep disorders, irregular bleeding, pain in the joints, skin and hair care and weight and figure, as well as specific health problems such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and depression. She also considers complementary methods of treatment, the pros and cons of HRT and the significance of diet and exercise.

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.

The heart of this volume comprises Rudolf Steiner's commentary on the elemental forces that are responsible for our earthly nature as human beings - forces that influence us through our membership of a national or geographical group. When such elemental forces are not recognised and understood, he states, they cause conflict and chaos. However, Steiner indicates an important accompanying task that calls upon each human being to develop individuality, emancipating ourselves from the earthly influences underlying national and racial groups.These great themes are framed by Rudolf Steiner's pioneering research into the two major Northern folk-poems, the Kalevala and The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson. The former tells of the elemental spirits who created the conditions for our earthly incarnation, whereas the Dream Song has to do with the drama of excarnation - the journey of the human soul after death. Linking these vast motifs is Steiner's unique description of the mission and tasks of the Russian people and the contrast of their destiny to the North American people (who, he says, are 'dominating the Earth for a brief period of increasing splendour'). Steiner explains how elemental beings, responsible for the balance of land and sea, have created conditions where various peoples are enabled to develop their gifts and fulfil their destinies. Thus he speaks of Finland as the ancient conscience of Europe, Russia as the future bearer of the Christ-imbued Spirit Self, and the differing but complementary environments of Germany and Britain. Strikingly, he states that, 'no souls on Earth love one another more than those living in Central Europe and those living in the British Isles'. Rudolf Steiner also speaks of the necessary work of luciferic and ahrimanic beings that collaborate to enable the solid spatial forms of our physical bodies. Likewise, they influence our etheric and astral bodies, facilitating thinking, feeling and will to be imbued with life and consciousness.

`This gave my mother the opportunity of mentioning to Dr Steiner an idea... Could one affect the physical body in a healing, strengthening and regulating way through certain rhythmical movements of the etheric body - which after all was the centre of all that was rhythmical - as well as of health and illness? Dr Steiner not only enthusiastically affirmed this possibility, but spontaneously declared himself ready to give the necessary directions which I could then work out with my mother's help.' - Lory Maier-Smits Alongside original material by Rudolf and Marie Steiner, this volume features unique first-hand accounts of the birth of the art of eurythmy by a number of its early students and practitioners. The practical and artistic stages of its development are chronicled in detail, alongside reports from the first public performance onwards. Rudolf Steiner offers inspiration to the original eurythmists to make their own discoveries - to perceive and fashion in movement their creative `inner voice'. The artistic principles are established for later development and elaboration, to reveal and foster human creativity in many poetic and musical contexts. Through the text, links between eurythmy and temple-dances, that accompanied ancient initiations, gradually emerge. The impulse to dance is rediscovered as inherent in the `lost Word', or the primordial root language still available in `genetic etymology'- the sounds of speech used in all languages. Music eurythmy, we learn, did not start from dancing, but from the archetypal structure of the musical system. Consequently, we can witness directly how an eloquent performing art can properly develop when technique and inspiration meet. The text is supported by extensive supplementary material, including eurythmy forms, a chronological survey, notes and indexes.

The warmth and humanity of this collection of Judge's letters has inspired many seekers on the Path. In clear, compelling language, the author shows that in our search for spirit, the need is not to escape the world but to help transform it through our constant effort to be compassionate, resolute, and wise in daily life.

In a radical approach to understanding current affairs and history, Rudolf Steiner presents a method of penetrating to the hidden causes and realities that lie behind outer appearances. Contemporary life cannot fully be understood by an analysis that is restricted to external events, he says. Deeper levels of meaning are revealed when one begins to view such events as symptoms. The causes of these symptoms - the reality behind them - are to be discovered on other levels of existence. Steiner demonstrates such a 'symptomatological' approach in these lectures, surveying some of the great developments in consciousness that have helped form the world over the last centuries. He examines the role of true socialism, the rise of nationalism, and characterises contrasting approaches to religion by drawing a distinction between 'the People of the Christ' in Russia, 'the People of the Church' in Central Europe, and 'the People of the Lodges' in the West. Amongst the wealth of material covered here, Rudolf Steiner discusses 'the mystery of evil' and 'the mystery of death', the birth of the consciousness soul, the significance of the scientific mode of thought, the metaphysical element in the study of history, as well as specific events such as the Russian Revolution and the suppression of the Knights Templar. He also reviews the circumstances surrounding the publication of new editions of his books The Philosophy of Freedom and Goethe's World View. Anyone seeking a more profound understanding of our times will find a firm basis for a meaningful exploration in this course of lectures.

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.

Rudolf Steiner offered numerous practical methods to enrich and enliven our daily lives. Drawing on these, the texts in this anthology provide a wealth of ideas to strengthen our health through self-education and personal development. The content ranges from tangible and easy-to-practise exercises to relevant observations on human nature.Steiner speaks of memory and forgetting as the basis of education and cultural development, explaining their significance for health and illness. He discusses the influences of the four human temperaments and their relationship to well-being, and the eightfold path in connection with self-education. Finally, he gives specific exercises for inner development to be practised on the various days of the week. The themes of personal resilience and 'salutogenesis' - an approach that focuses on factors that support human health and well-being rather than those that cause disease - are addressed directly by editor Harald Hass in his introductory essay.

Occultism (from the Latin occultus, meaning 'hid') as presented here refers primarily to the esoteric theosophy concealed in religion and nature. In this series of articles, Blavatsky clarifies the 'essential difference between theoretical and practical Occultism', and the gulf that separates harmful occult practices from the occult path of altruism. Also included is a timely three-part article on 'The Esoteric Character of the Gospels' which casts revealing light on the mystery of Jesus - as man and as Christ - and also upon the succession of messianic ages.

Book Five of The Law of One is comprised of the 56 fragments of personal material that were originally omitted from the first four books of this series. Both Jim, the scribe, and Carla, the instrument for the Ra contact, have added their comments to these fragments to give the reader an idea of what it was like to be part of this contact and to show how every persons experience can be used for personal growth and service to others. A wide variety of topics is covered, from Eisenhowers meeting with extraterrestrials in 1954 to UFO/government conspiracies, Wanderers, sexual energy transfers, anger, balancing, Aleister Crowley, the Tunguska crater in Russia, pre-incarnative choices, psychic greetings, alternate and orthodox healing modalities, the ball lightning phenomenon, and the many facets of the spiritual journey in general.

Rudolf Steiner painted his Archetypal Plant watercolour in 1924, at a time when contemporary scientific methodologies were emerging and nature was being examined under the microscope. In contrast to the dissecting tendencies of natural science, however, Steiner's painting depicts the living, dynamic potential which stands behind the plant - lifting us out of the specific genus and providing an image of the growing and formative forces inherent within each individual plant. Researching Rudolf Steiner's painting of the Archetypal Plant can help reconnect our outer sense-perceptions with the inner realm of imaginative cognition, releasing us from the spell of matter. To support and enliven such research work and processes, Angela Lord surveys her subject-matter from various aspects, including the historical, evolutionary relationships we share with plants; the representation of plants in art and architecture; plant myths and legends; poetry inspired by flower imagery; cosmic aspects of nature, including earth's relationships to the sun, moon, planets and stars; formative, creative forces of colours and their relationships to plant forms; and finally, working artistically and painting the Archetypal Plant motif itself. In developing a broad overview, the author forms a deeper, more complete picture of the plant world, paying homage to its diverse characteristics, and stimulating new perceptions and perspectives. This book is richly illustrated with full-colour images.

With careful documentation and persuasive exposition the author presents an authentic account of the chief incidents in H P Blavatsky's life, her ideals, and her unswerving dedication to the service of Humanity. Controversial matters and H P Blavatsky and controversy go hand in hand - about which today there may still be differences in opinion, are examined because they touch closely on fundamentals. They are discussed with the author's penetrating insight, yet with an impersonal touch not lacking in persuasive charm. This title includes an important record of the later history of the Theosophical Society and a listing of world-wide Theosophical Societies and Groups representative of the Theosophical Movement today.

Christ will reappear but in a higher reality than the physical one - in a reality which we will only see if we have first acquired a sense and understanding of spiritual life. Inscribe in your hearts what anthroposophy should be: a preparation for the great epoch of humanity which lies ahead of us.' Rudolf Steiner's teachings of Christ - and in particular what he refers to as the 'Christ impulse' - are unique. Christ, he says, is an objective universal force, existing independently of Christian churches and confessions, and working for the whole of humanity. The impulse that Christ brought to earth acts for the advancement of all people, irrespective of religion, creed or race. Speaking in Berlin whilst still a representative of the largely eastern-oriented Theosophical Society, Rudolf Steiner presents multifaceted perspectives on the Christ impulse, based on his independent spiritual research: from the vast cycles of time preceding Christ's incarnation and the preparation for his coming, to the actual physical embodiment of Christ in Palestine, in Jesus of Nazareth, some two thousand years ago. Steiner also describes how Christ will influence the future development of the earth and humanity. In his opening lecture, Rudolf Steiner discusses the nature of the Bodhisattvas and their role in relation to Christ and human evolution. The Bodhisattvas are the great teachers of humanity, incarnating in human form during their passage through the various cycles of cultural development, and are intimately involved in preparing the work of the Christ impulse. In other lectures Steiner addresses subjects as diverse as the Sermon on the Mount in relation to the development of the faculty of conscience, and the current duality of male and female (microcosm) and its correspondence in the cosmos (macrocosm). The latter phenomenon is related to initiation within the Germanic and Egyptian mysteries, which reach their higher unity in Christian initiation. Among the myriad other themes that emerge here are: the introduction of the 'I' (or self) in human development and its essential connection to Christ; the preparation of the Christ impulse through the Jahveh religion and the law of Moses; the meaning of the Ten Commandments; and the new clairvoyance in relation to the appearance of Christ in the etheric. 7 lectures, Berlin, Oct. - May 1909, CW 116

'Concern for the world today provides the impetus to ask of ourselves a profound question... how can our way of knowing, the very style of our thinking which informs our research and our teaching, come to express care, to reveal itself to be a deed and duty of care?' Basing this practical study on the human quality of care for the world around us, Nigel Hoffmann takes us to a threshold beyond which lies a true science of living form. Care, he says, springs from the whole human being - the thinking, heart and will - and is implicit in the scientific method of conscious inner participation in nature that derives from the work of the poet and scientist Goethe. The Goethean approach - a living form that unites science and art - is not an alternative to contemporary science but complements it. Artistic practice, says Hoffmann, is a guide across the threshold and into the sphere of the living whole. But artistic sensibility can be raised to a higher possibility of itself, allowing us to discover the faculties of cognitive feeling and cognitive will. The author calls for a grounding in Goethean science for all students as a preliminary to their specialist and professional studies. He introduces us to the concept of the metamorphosis of the university - from the doctoral ideal to the ideal of the whole human being - and concludes with a case study of the economic sphere and capital using Goethean methodology. This profound book indicates a transformative path for human culture and civilization in the 21st century. NIGEL HOFFMANN PhD has for eighteen years been a high school teacher, in Australian and Swiss Rudolf Steiner schools. He is the author of Goethe's Science of Living Form: The Artistic Stages (Adonis Press) and is a director of the Education for Social Renewal Foundation.

Why is there suffering, sickness and death? Why is no corner of human life and society immune from egotism, fear, tyranny, betrayal and guilt? What was God thinking when he allowed evil to come into existence? Drawing on the worldview of Rudolf Steiner, the author explains that the roots of evil lie with angelic beings. Schroeder discusses evil's prehistory in heaven and shows how the polarity of two kinds of evil, with good as a balance between them, manifests itself in earthly history, and in the areas of education, work, human relationships, sexuality, religion and technology. With the increased influence of evil in today's world, Schroeder considers how prayer, meditation and angelic guidance through reincarnation give us the possibility to overcome evil in all its forms.

A-ha! Working through a topic or question, a shaft of sudden inspiration hits. The cloud of fragmented ideas and thoughts clear as a whole picture begins to form coherently in your mind. What you have now worked out - in an unexpected, exciting eureka moment - will stay with you forever. All teachers seek this experience for their students. Liz Attwell explores theories of education to argue that traditional teaching, 'filling buckets', must be replaced by dynamic, progressive teaching that promotes active learning - not just 'lighting a fire', but knowing how to lay the sticks and finding the matches too. This progressive approach seeks to create a basis for inner awakening and original insight, in order for students ultimately to come to their own a-ha moments. In A Drop of Light, Liz Attwell presents her original research into the phenomenon of a-ha moments, offering a theoretical background as well as practical advice to give teachers the tools, lesson plans, anecdotes and inspiration to bring living thinking to their own classrooms. Goethe's approach and Rudolf Steiner's pedagogical ideas make an important contribution, but Attwell advises that teachers following Steiner's philosophy should enter into dialogue with educators from other backgrounds. Working together, enlightened teachers around the world can help schools and colleges to become true learning communities.

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'

"Rudolf Steiner's model of a spiritualized medicine could hold the key for the next growth phase in Western medicine, if it is to survive, flourish, and become consistently and deeply therapeutic instead of merely palliative." -Richard Leviton, author of Imagination of Pentecost: Rudolf Steiner & Contemporary SpiritualityRudolf Steiner, a scientist by training, lectured and wrote, at different times on medical subjects and advised physicians on their work. His view of medicine was both unconventional and precise. He could describe-based on his highly developed powers of observation and his spiritual research-processes of health and disease that escape conventional methods of medical observation. In all his lectures to doctors and in his explanations of anthroposophic medicine, Steiner emphasized that his medical concepts are not intended to replace conventional Western medicine, but to extend it; diagnosis and healing methods are expanded to include our soul and spirit. In these broadly ranging talks, Steiner introduces fundamental principles of anthroposophically extended medicine. Some of the most remarkable insights that anthroposophy brings to medicine are contained in this volume. For example, Steiner points out that the heart is not a pump and that its motion is a consequence, not the cause, of rhythmic movements in human beings. Topics include: Health problems, such as hay fever, migraine, sclerosis, cancer, tuberculosis, typhoid, and childhood diseasesThe polarity between nerve and liver cellsThe functions of the spleen and the gallbladderThe three basic processes of sensory-nervous system, rhythmic system, and metabolic-limb systemRegenerative and degenerative processesThe true nature of the nervous systemPlus many suggestions for the use of minerals, plants, and artistic therapies in healing.This Collected Works edition contains a new introduction, a chronology of Rudolf Steiner's life, and an index.

Following the death of the Austrian philosopher and spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner in 1925, Ita Wegman - one of his closest esoteric pupils - began to publish regular letters to the members of the Anthroposophical Society. In Steiner's tradition, these letters were appended with 'leading thoughts' (or guiding principles). Esoteric Studies collects many of these 'letters to friends', together with various articles, reports and addresses by Ita Wegman on subjects such as the Christmas Foundation Conference, the Goetheanum building and the festival of Michaelmas. Featuring an informative foreword by Crispian Villeneuve and a commemorative study by George Adams, this book provides a fine introduction to the work of Ita Wegman, as well as a rousing call for courage and wakefulness in the spirit of the Archangel Michael!

Book Three of the Law of One builds on the information presented in Books One and Two, continuing the exploration of the nature and balancing of the energy centers or chakras, sexual energy transfers, healing, reincarnation, meditation, and Wanderers. The nature of psychic prophecy is explored in Book Three, as are the nature and ramifications of what are usually called psychic attacks. A good deal of information is given on the principles of ritual magic in general and white magic in particular, and a beginning is made in the study of the archetypical mind, which is the mind of the Logos and serves as a kind of blueprint for our evolutionary process and which serves as the foundation concept for each of our individual minds.

'The mission of our age is not to reproduce an ancient wisdom, but to engender a new one - a wisdom that points not only to the past but that works prophetically into the future.' - Rudolf Steiner Beginning with ancient Egypt, the pyramids and sphinxes - and a comparison of that epoch with our own - Rudolf Steiner surveys a vast spiritual landscape of human development. In symphonic style, he describes the conquest of the physical plane in post-Atlantean civilizations, the relationships between the various cultural epochs, the human being's connections with the kingdoms of nature and the different planetary bodies, and the relationship of animal forms to 'the physiognomy of human passions'. Through this panoramic vision, we discover how the changed conditions of human consciousness call for a new spiritual understanding today. In her Introduction, Marie Steiner relates the special experience of being a member of Rudolf Steiner's audience for this timeless series of lectures: 'Enormous cosmic pictures were unfolded before the spiritual gaze of the listeners; insights were of such depths of ancient wisdom, views of distant futures of human and world development, that deepest devotion flowed through their hearts...' This new edition features a revised translation, introduction, notes and an index.

Austrian philosopher, playwright, and artist Rudolf Steiner (1861 1925) is perhaps best known as an educational philosopher and reformer, the founder of Steiner (or Waldorf) schools located around the world. These schools' philosophy represents the priorities Steiner discusses in Theosophy: the development of body, soul, and spirit. Goethe was an important influence on Steiner, and he edited the poet's scientific works (1889 1896). Steiner was an active member and leader of the German branch of Madame Blavatsky's Theosophical Society, eventually broke away from theosophy, as he developed his own spiritual philosophy termed 'anthroposophy'; this philosophical movement asserted the potential of realizing a spiritual reality through cognition. This 1910 translation by Elizabeth Douglas Shields is of the book's third German edition; it was first published in 1904. This work will be of particular interest to historians of philosophy, of spiritual movements and of education.

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?'