Moral preaching cannot establish morality. Only by delving into the hidden secrets of life can we find its moral sources. Humanity has always manifested moral life. In ancient India, for instance, morality lay in devotion to the spirit: in Europe, the cardinal virtue was courage. To understand the relationship between these, however, the evolution of consciousness must be taken into account. Originally, morality was a gift of the gods, a part of human nature, but errors, deviations, a falling away have occurred in the course of evolution. Nevertheless, something divine still underlies human nature. In this short, much-loved cycle of three lectures, Rudolf Steiner, using the example of St. Francis of Assisi, indicates the sources for the recovery of a living morality. In ancient times, some version of the caste system ruled. Then the Buddha came with his teaching of equality and compassion. This teaching was particularly suited to Europe. And thus, "some centuries into the Christian era," on the shores of the Black Sea, an esoteric school was established where Buddha's teaching was interpenetrated with the Christian impulse. Two streams flowed out of this school: a more Buddhist stream of equality and brotherhood, and a stream of Christic morality. St. Francis came from this school, permeated by outer Christ forces. Rudolf Steiner explains how the spiritual world was connected with his coming. St. Francis exemplifies morality as the middle path. We see a warrior nature transformed into the expression of mercy, compassion, and love. Rudolf Steiner shows the transformation of the virtues through the evolution of consciousness and, above all, through the incarnation of Christ in the Mystery of Golgotha. Since then, morality - if it is true morality - works to build up Christ's being. Therefore Francis sought to live a Christ-like life, seeking an intense personal relationship to Christ and the Cross.

At the young age of twenty-one, Rudolf Steiner was chosen to edit Goethe's scientific writings for the principle Goethe edition of his time. Goethe's literary genius was universally acknowledged; it was Steiner's task to understand and comment on Goethe's scientific achievements. Steiner recognized the significance of Goethe's work with nature and his epistemology, and here began Steiner's own training in epistemology and spiritual science. This collection of Steiner's introductions to Goethe's works re-visions the meaning of knowledge and how we attain it. Goethe had discovered how thinking could be applied to organic nature and that this experience requires not just rational concepts but a whole new way of perceiving. In an age when science and technology have been linked to great catastrophes, many are looking for new ways to interact with nature. With a fundamental declaration of the interpenetration of our consciousness and the world around us, Steiner shows how Goethe's approach points the way to a more compassionate and intimate involvement with nature.

As a practising Christian priest, Hermann Beckh was profoundly aware that the mystery of substance - its transmutation in the cosmos and the human being - was a mystical fact to be approached with the greatest reverence, requiring at once ever-deepening scholarship and meditation. He viewed chemistry as a worthy but materialistic science devoid of spirit, while the fullness of spiritual-physical nature could be approached by what he preferred to call 'chymistry' or 'alchymy', thereby taking in millennia of spiritual tradition. In consequence, Beckh's Alchymy, The Mystery of the Material World is not limited to the conventional workings of Western alchemy, nor to what can be found in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation - although he does unveil hidden riches there. Neither should Beckh be considered only as a learned Professor with impeccable academic qualifications and European-wide recognition. Beckh writes about such topics as 'Isis', 'the Golden Fleece', traditional fairy-stories and Wagner's Parsifal in a way that enables the reader to catch glimpses of the Mystery of Substance; to share the writer's authentic experience of the divine substantia - the living reality - of Christ in the world. Beckh's Alchymy set an entirely new standard, and went on to become his most popular publication. This is the first time that it has been translated into English, along with updated footnotes, making his ideas and insights accessible to a wide readership. In addition, this edition features translations of Beckh's 'The New Jerusalem', where theology could best be expressed in verse; his exemplary essay on 'Snow-white'; observations on 'Allerleirauh', and a substantial excerpt from Gundhild Kacer-Bock's biography of Beckh.

In a delightful study - originally comprising two separate booklets - the accomplished artist and teacher Gladys Mayer explains that colour is nothing other than the very substance of the soul. Just as the body is made up of mineral, water, air and warmth, so the soul is made up of colour. This is revealed in the emotions of sadness and joy and the many shades in between, as expressed in human language - for example: `seeing red', `rose-coloured spectacles' and `jaundiced view'. Mayer discusses the basis of colour theory and its methodology, and the importance of colour for everyday life and health. It is as fundamental to the soul as air is to the body. By increasing our awareness of the spiritual laws of colour, we can acquire a balanced and enriched life of soul. Thus, colour can become a healing force in life, enabling us to tackle the deadening, grey aspects of our mechanised civilisation. Based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, which she studied intensively for many years, Mayer offers an approach to colour that is of value to painters and artists, as well as to those interested in psychology, health and healing, spirituality and personal development.