In a series of vibrant and lively essays, Steffen Hartmann focuses on a little-known but critically important theme relating to the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. Steiner described the collaboration between human souls connected to the Platonic and Aristotelian 'schools' or groupings - both here on Earth and in the spiritual world. These groupings of souls work within a wider metaphysical collective known as the 'Michael School', led by the ruling Spirit of our age, Michael. Prior to their births, millions of human souls were prepared within this School to help them face the challenges of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We may have forgotten these pre-existence experiences, but they can be reawakened within us, says Hartmann. Indeed, it is possible consciously to reconnect to our earlier incarnations and to perceive our karma. The book begins with this theme and leads to Rudolf Steiner's 'Michael Prophecy' of 1924 - to his vision of the millennium and the era in which we now live, especially the crucial period between 2012 and 2033. Dealing with the 'anthroposophical block' in the emerging holistic building of humanity, the author contextualizes the topic with reference to direct personal experiences. The sharing of such considered experiences can help to stimulate self-reflection in the anthroposophical movement and contribute real spiritual substance to contemporary culture. This little book provides stimulation to spiritual seekers who carry within them deeper questions about life in the modern world.

This course of lectures was given at a pivotal point in the development of the anthroposophic movement. Just months before, an act of arson had caused the destruction of the first Goetheanum, and its darkened ruins appeared to reflect the fragmentations within the Anthroposophical Society. Divisions were appearing amongst members and friends, with individual energies increasingly routed to external initiatives and practical projects. It became apparent that a new impetus was needed. In this turbulent context, Steiner delivers these lectures in a calm, lively and informal style. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, he says, a yearning for spiritual nourishment arose within Western culture, and organizations such as the Theosophical Society gained in popularity. Despite his direct involvement in these events, Steiner describes in dispassionate tones how the spiritual movements behind theosophy and anthroposophy were able to work together harmoniously, before an unavoidable separation took place. Steiner's expansive review of the anthroposophic movement is an important narrative account of the developing Western spiritual tradition and the history of the Mysteries. These lectures also offer rare perceptions of the life and philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Those who identify with the movement he founded will discover revelatory insights to its background and possibilities for its future development within the broader evolution of humankind.

'What lies spiritually and cosmically at the foundation of a community like the Anthroposophical Society? In wrestling with this question, I have come to the inner conviction that it is justified to speak of the Anthroposophical Society as a Michael community.' - Paul Mackay How can one understand Rudolf Steiner's use of the word 'we' in the last part of the Foundation Stone Meditation ('What we found from our hearts and direct from our heads with focused will')? What characterizes this 'we'? In the first part of this original and inspiring work, Paul Mackay takes this question as a point of departure, developing a unique approach to working with the seven rhythms of the Meditation. Based on personal experiences, he comes to the conclusion that the rhythms are an expression of the members of the human constitution, with the 'we' in the fifth rhythm having the quality of 'Spirit-self'. The second part of the book considers the same 'we' from a karmic perspective, with reference to Rudolf Steiner's karma lectures, events in the fourth and ninth centuries, the mystery of death and evil, and the restoration of karmic truth.

At the threshold that divides the elemental and etheric worlds, Are Thoresen encounters two spiritual entities - Vidar and Balder, 'guardians of the threshold' - whose task is to protect the spiritual border from uninitiated intruders. Building on previous reports, Encounters with Vidar offers startling new esoteric teachings, gleaned - through processes of spiritual knowledge - from these enigmatic gods. Here, Vidar and Balder emphasize the importance of clairaudience as opposed to clairvoyance (the latter particularly being open to attack from adversary beings). Through the process of working with the communications, the author begins to experience a transformation of his head chakras, leading to an awakening of 'spiritual ears'. Whilst clairvoyance is like reading the holy script, clairaudience is akin to hearing the holy script, he learns. --- Amongst the wealth of fresh insights revealed here are the 'fourth aspect of the soul' (or 'time-karma-Christ'); the task of eurythmy today; the whereabouts of the contents of the School of Spiritual Science; and the work of 'Vulcan beings' and other planetary entities. Thoresen offers reflections on his travels to western England (with its connections to Troy) and southern Spain (with its legacy of Moorish occupation). His intention is not to create new dogmas or beliefs, but to testify to the living reality of metaphysical dimensions of reality - and humanity's latent ability to access them.

Speaking towards the end of the catastrophic Great War, Rudolf Steiner reveals the spiritual roots of the crises of our times. Since 1879, he says, human minds have been influenced by backward angels, 'spirits of darkness', who - following their defeat in battle with Archangel Michael - were forced out of the heavens and 'fell' to the earth. This war in the spiritual worlds had consequences, and it is essential that people today are sufficiently awake to the retrogressive influences around them. In a positive sense, we can choose freely to engage with the spirits of light, who seek to emancipate human beings from bonds of race, nation and blood. In this extraordinary series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner throws light on hidden aspects of world affairs. With the Bolshevik Revolution having just taken place, he discusses events in Russia and humanity's attempts to build theoretically perfect social orders. Steiner also speaks about the roles and spiritual backgrounds of significant individuals, such as the mystics Johann Valentin Andreae, Vladimir Soloviev and Saint-Martin, the American and British politicians Woodrow Wilson and Lloyd George, and world-historic figures including Charles Darwin and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The new edition of this classic work features a revised translation, notes and extensive appendices by editor Frederick Amrine, plus a new introduction by Christopher Schaefer.

Rudolf Steiner's watercolour painting 'The Archetypal Human-Animal' presents us with the enigmatic image of a strange creature apparently swimming in water. It has a human profile, showing a clearly outlined nose and slightly-opened mouth, with a mysterious eye, almost concealed in its greenish hair. It has appendages similar to hands and feet, and dark-blue plant-like forms float about in the water beneath the creature's bright red and yellow body. Only the title provides us with a clue to its meaning: it is an 'archetypal human-animal' form. But even this is enigmatic. What is this strange, unusual creature - this archetypal human-animal? We are presented with a perplexing image and a puzzling description. In this original work, illustrated throughout with full-colour paintings and images - many by the author herself - Angela Lord takes us on a journey of discovery to realizing the meaning of Rudolf Steiner's painting. From Goethe's theory of metamorphosis in nature, we are introduced to Steiner's ideas of human evolution, from the primal beginnings of the archetypal human-animal on 'Ancient Moon'. Lord recounts myths and legends from many cultures that tell of human-animal forms, and reflects on the meaning of the fish in Christianity. She takes us through a series of 'colour sequences' for repainting Steiner's human-animal motif, and includes appendices that summarize evolutionary phases of the earth and humanity from a spiritual-scientific perspective. The Archetypal Human-Animal is both a valuable workbook for painters and a fascinating insight into hidden aspects of human evolution.

Mental and emotional disorders have reached epidemic levels in Western societies. Self-doubt, panic-attacks, anxiety disorders and personal fears of all kinds present major challenges to contemporary medical science. Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research offers a startlingly original and complementary contribution to the problem. True insight into psychological issues requires knowledge of the influences of spiritual beings, he suggests. In everyday life we are all confronted with metaphysical entities that can hinder or progress our development. Many forms of anxiety and self-doubt derive from such meetings on the border - or threshold - of our consciousness. Further, these `threshold experiences' are exacerbated today by a general loosening of the subtle bodies and components of the human soul. As these constitutional changes persist, says Rudolf Steiner, a condition of `dissociation' becomes increasingly common. A healthy emotional life will only be possible if individuals engage in a conscious practice of personal growth, strengthening their constitution through the action of the `I' or self. The expertly selected and collated texts in Self-Doubt offer numerous cognitive and practical ideas for the improvement of everyday mental and emotional health. Chapters include: The origin of error, fear, and nervousness; Crossing the threshold in the development of humanity and the individual; The polarity of shame and fear; The polarity of doubt and terrifying disorientation; The polarity of scepticism and claustrophobia, astraphobia, and agoraphobia; The origin of panic; Anxiety; The multilayered nature of terrifying disorientation; Healing aspects of the anthroposophical path of training; The spiritual-scientific qualities of fear compared with standardized diagnostic terms and as a basis for therapy.

Steiner has been able to clarify the historical reality behind the Rosicrucian story, with all its aura of glamour and fantasy. That effected, he points to the enormity of its vision for the future evolution of ideas...' - Dr Andrew Welburn (from the Introduction) In the immediate aftermath of the 'Mystery-act' of the Christmas Foundation Conference, Rudolf Steiner chose to speak on the subject of 'Rosicrucianism and Modern Initiation Mystery Centres of the Middle Ages'. Clearly connected to the events that had just taken place in Dornach - in which he not only refounded the Anthroposophical Society but took a formal position within it - Steiner begins by exploring the intellectual life of the Middle Ages and the role that Mystery culture played within it. He throws new light on the foundations of Rosicrucianism, its principles of initiation and its inherent impulse for freedom. Steiner also discusses the secret teachings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the dawn of the age of the Archangel Michael. In the second series of lectures, entitled 'The Easter Festival and the History of the Mysteries' (April 1924), Steiner describes how festivals grew out of the Mysteries themselves. He speaks of Mysteries connected to Spring and Autumn, Adonis and Ephesus, and the significance of Sun and Moon. Throughout the volume he discusses the roles of Alexander the Great and Aristotle in world history and the significance of Aristotle's 'Categories'. Published for the first time as a single volume, the freshly revised text is complemented with an extensive introduction by Dr Andrew Welburn, detailed notes and appendices by Professor Frederick Amrine and an index. (Ten lectures, Jan. and April 1924, GA 233a)

Delivered more than 60 years ago, the lectures in this booklet demonstrate Alfred Heidenreich's gift for kindling understanding of the essence of Christianity and the nature and being of Christ. Guided by spiritual science or anthroposophy, as founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Heidenreich presents an imaginative and insightful reading of the meaning of Christ's 'resurrection body', addressing the significance of 'original sin' and 'the Fall', and how they relate to this metaphysical body. In his second lecture, Heidenreich addresses 'the greatest mystery of our time', relating to the true meaning of Christ's 'Second Coming' or 'appearance' in the etheric realm of the earth. It is our responsibility, says the author, to bring '...the awe and wonder of our thought, the mercy and love of our hearts, the conscientiousness of our deeds', to help illumine and strengthen this esoteric reality.

While we know of Ahriman from Persian mythology, Rudolf Steiner spoke of him as an actual, living spiritual entity. This being, he said, works to embed people firmly into physicality, encouraging dull, materialistic attitudes and a philistine, dry intellect. In these extraordinary lectures Steiner, in rare prophetic mode, talks about an actual incarnation of Ahriman on the earth and the potential consequences. Just as Christ incarnated in a physical body, so would Ahriman incarnate in the Western world - before 'a part' of the third millennium had passed. Steiner places this incarnation in the context of a 'cosmic triad' - Lucifer, Christ and Ahriman. Ahriman will incarnate as a counterpoint to the physical incarnation of Lucifer in the East in the third millennium BC, with the incarnation of Jesus Christ in Palestine as the balancing point between the two. Over the period during which Steiner developed anthroposophy - a speaking career that spanned two decades and more than six thousand lectures - he referred to the idea of Ahriman's incarnation only six times. These six lectures, together with an additional supporting excerpt, are reproduced in their entirety, and under one cover, for the first time.

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

H. P. Blavatsky introduces and clarifies her theosophical movement to the curious reader in this detailed text, which is written in the style of questions and answers. The Theosophic Society attracted popular interest for its esoteric and unusual nature; theosophy unites numerous mystical, spiritual and occult principles with the stated mission of finding the hidden truths of existence. This was accomplished through investigating ancient societies and writings, together with Medieval and Renaissance era authors, occultists and other mystics. With The Key to Theosophy, Blavatsky intended to demystify and clarify many of the finer points of the movement she founded. She not only discusses what topics the Theosophical Society has an interest in, but the organizational structure and leadership under which it operates The agreed beliefs among its members concerning man's place on the Earth, and how nature affects and controls humans perceptibly and imperceptibly, are likewise detailed.

Rudolf Steiner's intuitive artistic knowledge enabled him to use colours in a unique way, giving expression to their individual natures. Together with his many lectures on art, Steiner's paintings provide artists with fresh ways of understanding colour, allowing for an entirely new creativity and aesthetics. In 1924, Steiner painted a watercolour of the Madonna and Child, giving it the title `New Life'. Through Steiner's depiction of Mary, mother of the Divine Child, this painting draws us to the feminine expression of spirituality. In this highly-illustrated, full-colour book Angela Lord studies this feminine principle, beginning with the very earliest stages of human evolution - the `Fall' from paradise and the pre-historic periods of Lemuria and Atlantis. From the Mysteries of Egypt and Greece to the development of Christian art, she offers insights to the myths and legends of female deities and goddesses. According to Rudolf Steiner, at the time of Jesus's birth humanity had entered a decadent phase of development. Small groups of initiated individuals, however, were preparing for a sacred birth: the descent of a heavenly being into earthly existence. The God of the Old Testament would be revealed `in flesh', born to a virgin mother. In the second part of New Life - Mother and Child, Angela Lord takes us on a journey through two thousand years of Christian art, covering Iconography, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. We see how artistic images of Mary and her Child have changed, why these variations have occurred and how they reflect the changing consciousness of humanity. Finally, the `New Life' painting is considered from the interactive processes of colour and composition, illustrated with a series of artistic colour sequences.

The point, line, plane and solid objects represent the first three dimensions, but a kind of reversal of space is involved in the ascent to a fourth dimension. Steiner leads us to the brink of this new perspective-as nearly as it can be done with words, diagrams, analogies, and examples of many kinds. In doing so, he continues his lifelong project of demonstrating that our objective, everyday thinking is the lowest rung of a ladder that reaches up to literally infinite heights. The talks in this series and the selections from the question-and-answer sessions on many mathematical topics over the years are translated into English for the first time in THE FOURTH DIMENSION. They bring us to tantalizing new horizons of awareness where Steiner hoped to lead his listeners: Topics include: * The relationship between geometric studies and developing direct perception of spiritual realities * How to construct a fourth-dimensional hypercube * The six dimensions of the self-aware human being * Problems with the theory of relativity * The Trinity and angelic hierarchies and their relationship to physical space * The dimensional aspect of the spiritual being encountered by Moses on Mt. Sinai

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.

Heiner Ruland charts a practical path towards a deepened musical understanding, illuminating the panorama of humanity's musical past. Indicating what may happen - and needs to happen - to music in the immediate and more distant future, the implications of this book for composition, musical education and therapy are immense. The author shows how the fundamental elements of music embody distinctive modes of consciousness. He examines the musical systems of ancient humanity and goes on to draw a vivid picture of our contemporary musical situation. This seminal work is more than a theoretical treatise on the nature of music, but a book to be understood and experienced through musical practice. With the help of the monochord, the reader, with a minimum of technique, is able to explore new and unfamiliar musical realms. 'Rudolf Steiner believed that an expansion of our tone-system was a necessity...In this book of Ruland's, we have for the first time an account that is penetrating enough and of sufficiently large scope to enable us to understand why.' - Jurgen Schriefer

'Approaching the different and manifold sequences in this book...one will gradually come to realise that metamorphosis can become an ideal for knowledge, a guiding path for self-knowledge and knowledge of the world - as intuitive contemplation and as artistic creation.' - Dr Peter Wolf What is metamorphosis? Through the medium of art, sculptor Gertraud Goodwin invites us to enter the realm of time and continuously changing movement in this highly original book. With chapters by various artists and writers, interwoven with her key insights, Goodwin offers numerous points of entry to understanding the mystery of metamorphosis. Profusely-illustrated in colour, we are shown many sequences of images - of sculptures, reliefs and graphic works - which, with the aid of informed commentary, we are invited to 'read'. These images belong together, developing from one to the next - just as single experiences and events in life belong to our biographies. One motif, one movement, passes through all stages, from simple beginnings and more differentiated formations, to a culmination - and, from there, back to a more mature simplicity and concentration, which makes a new beginning possible.' In relation to the transcendent, where ordinary words fail, the language of form, texture and relations in space, like those of music in time, offer alternatives to words, perhaps less encumbered by preconceptions. These pages offer many examples of the beauties and mysteries of metamorphosis, which is itself an essential component of Nature's creative language.' - Dr Philip Kilner

The actual historical moments of birth of the various arts are not known. At most, significant changes of direction are distinguishable - and these are usually detected retrospectively. However, the founding of eurythmy, a new art of movement, has been extensively documented. The story of the first eurythmist, Lory Maier-Smits, told in the pages of this profusely-illustrated book, is a valuable contribution to that legacy. It brings to life the pioneering period when the new artform was being developed under Rudolf Steiner's personal instruction. Magdalene Siegloch traces Lory Maier-Smits' biography with artistic care and loving detail. She describes the eurythmist's early exposure to anthroposophy; her training under Rudolf Steiner from 1912; the first performance of eurythmy during the Theosophical Society festival in 1913; Rudolf Steiner's lectures on the new art of movement; the staging of eurythmy under the direction of Marie Steiner; and Maier-Smits' later work as a trainer of eurythmists. Also included is an account of Maier-Smits' personal path of development, her marriage and family life.