'If such authentic souls, such honest anthroposophists can be found ...then an upward movement and dynamic will arise. If such souls do not appear, then decadence will take its inexorable downward course...Today humanity stands before a great crisis: either it will see all civilization collapsing into the abyss, or else spirituality will raise civilization up by the power of the Michael impetus, through which the Christ impetus works, thus continuing, enriching and sustaining it.' In 1924, the final full year of his life, Rudolf Steiner gave a series of urgent, sometimes impassioned, talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society regarding their karma and its relationship to the culture of the time, referring in particular to the vital task of renewing civilization and preserving it from the threat of decline. Steiner's words characterize vividly a great spiritual battle, of forces gathering to fight for the soul of humanity itself. He presents a striking panorama in which anthroposophists are compelled to broaden their vision; to see true esoteric and exoteric anthroposophical work as a live yeast that can set all culture rising. To waken the members of the Society to the dimensions of their task, Steiner saw it as essential that they begin to understand the many different karmic threads from which the movement is woven. This recognition - of difference as much as unity - can give the strength of diversity which, if unconscious and unrecognized, leads easily to division. In the lectures and excerpts compiled here Steiner speaks of the unprecedented convergence of two specific groups of souls within the anthroposophical movement: the Platonists and the Aristotelians. In the karmic background lies a conflict of approaches, but the task today calls for a unity based on love and knowledge; to work with Michael and Christ in the face of Ahriman, materialism and the possibility of civilization collapsing into decadence. Given the challenges faced by humanity today, it has, perhaps, never been more urgent for those who ally themselves with Rudolf Steiner's work to study, absorb and take to heart the contents of this critically important material.

Hermann Beckh's masterful study of Mark's Gospel offers much more than scholarly argument. It is the work of a true visionary who allows his readers to discover the meaning of the Earth and of humanity for themselves. Beckh was in the forefront of entirely new research and recovery of the Gospel, writing more for the future than for his own time. It is not uncommon for biblical scholars to view St. Mark's Gospel as little more than an assemblage of fragmentary sources and a copy of uncertain, early memories. The Gospel is said to have little historical veracity, harmony or guiding structure. Beckh's contemporary, the German writer Arthur Drews, even argued that the text was nothing more than a simplistic solar myth, wherein another Sun-hero pursued his way around the Greco-Roman constellations. Mark's Gospel: The Cosmic Rhythm is a response to such twentieth-century materialistic thinking. He was asked to write the book in the 1920s by the leaders of The Christian Community, who sought to rescue the desecrated Gospel from its opponents. Inspired by Rudolf Steiner and a vast knowledge of ancient languages - Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali and Avestan along with Hebrew, Greek and Latin - the Rev. Professor Hermann Beckh perceived how the Gospel reflects God's Everlasting Covenant, and meticulously expressed its aesthetic unity, the consonance of its parts and its consequent radiant clarity. His far-reaching understanding of sacred texts in the original languages, always associated with the disciplined meditation he had attained from anthroposophy, led to unprecedented insight. This new edition of his classic study has been revised and redesigned.

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

"Not only do we pass through the gate of death as immortal beings, we also enter through the gate of birth as unborn beings. We need the term unbornness, as well as the term immortality, to encompass the whole human being." (Rudolf Steiner) As anyone who has had a child knows, newborns enter the earthly world as beings different from their parents. They arrive with their own individuality, being, and history. From the beginning, they manifest an essential dignity and a unique "I," which they clearly brought with them from the spiritual world. This unborn life of a person's higher individuality guides the whole process of incarnation. It frames our lives, but we fail to recognize this because of a single-minded focus on immortality, or life-after-death, which makes us forget the reality of our "unbornness." This unbornness extends not only from conception to birth, but also includes the whole existence and history of one's "I" in its long journey from the spiritual world to Earth. Unbornness-the other side of eternity-allows us to experience the fact that birth is just as great a mystery as is death. In a new and striking way, unbornness poses the mystery of our human task on Earth. It was one of Rudolf Steiner's great gifts that he returned the concept of unbornness to human consciousness and language. In this brief, stunning, and moving, almost poetic work, Peter Selg gathers the key elements and images needed to begin an understanding of-and wonder at-the vast scope of our unbornness. Drawing on and expanding on Steiner's work, as well as Raphael's Sistine Madonna and the poems of Nelly Sachs and Rainer Maria Rilke, Selg unveils this deepest mystery of human existence. After reading it, one will never look at a child or another human being in the same way again. Life after death life before birth; only by knowing both do we know eternity. (Rudolf Steiner) Unbornness is a translation of Ungeborenheit: Die Praexistenz des Menschen und der Weg zur Geburt (Verlag Ita Wegman Institut, 2009).

`And that is one thing we need to relearn, that all of life brings its gifts - not only the first two or three decades.' - Rudolf Steiner When are we actually old? What happens as we age? How will we cope with old age? Growing old is an art, and to grow old in the right way we need spiritual understanding. In this enlightening anthology - compiled by a director of care homes for the elderly - wide-ranging cosmological perspectives alternate with detailed observations of the phenomena of ageing. Rudolf Steiner sees ageing within the context of the earthly and spiritual evolution that encompasses all forms of existence. The book thus begins with the primary meaning that ageing has in developmental terms and ends with a consideration of the human being as co-creator in cosmic processes - and with our capacity to become increasingly conscious of the tasks this implies. These key texts by Rudolf Steiner show how spiritual knowledge can broaden the current debate on the study of old age, the process of ageing, and the particular problems faced by older people. Concerns about our `ageing population' can be seen in a broader context that recognizes the fruits of old age. The productive relationship between childhood and old age - a running theme throughout this volume - is one example. If we grow old consciously, viewing ageing not only as a period of physical decline but as a time when we can actively participate in shaping life, then we can begin to find greater meaning in it. Chapters include: `The Core Messages of Ageing'; `Fundamental Principles of Gerontology'; `Ageing as a Developmental Process'; `Ageing: the Risks and Opportunities'; The Art of Growing Old'; `Old Age and Death'; `Growing Old - A Challenge for Education'; `The Cosmological Dimensions of Ageing'.

Near the end of his life, Rudolf Steiner took up the task that was his special destiny to bring knowledge of reincarnation and karma to the West. Consequently, he gave more than eighty lectures in 1924 to explicitly reveal the destinies of various individuals from one life to the next. He explained how the general laws of karma work in individual cases and revealed many details of the karmic streams of the members of the Anthroposophical Society. These volumes constitute an immeasurable contribution to the understanding of reincarnation and karma and the tasks of the Anthroposophical Society in connection with the Archangel Michael. In volume five, Steiner discusses the difference between moon karma and sun karma, the influences of Christian and Islamic thinking, the transformation of inner human qualities from one life to the next, and much more.

The Art of Speech presents a dynamic path of practice leading to an experience of the Word as a living, healing and creative power. Helping to deliver Western intellectual speech from what Artaud described as 'shrivelled throats' and 'monstrous talking abstractions', Langman brings to life the spiritual realities out of which a true Art of Speech arises. Inspired by Rudolf Steiner and pioneered initially in the German language by Marie Steiner, this artform is illuminated here through the genius of the English language. Langman builds a bridge between mainstream research into the intrinsic nature of Speech, and the levels of spiritual cognition that led to Rudolf Steiner's insights. Speech and language can no longer be reduced to an arbitrary collection of abstract symbols, she asserts. This book will inspire those working with these disciplines as practitioners (both artistic and therapeutic) as well as those who wish to understand their significance in human evolution, both past and future. Following her first book The Art of Acting, this volume completes a foundation of understanding for an exploration - in the conclusion of Langman's trilogy - of an integrated art of speech and acting. Grounded in the spiritual reality of the human being, Langman presents a systematic methodology with which to explore Rudolf Steiner's Speech and Drama Course.

'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.

Contemporary science views our planet as an insignificant speck of dust in the vastness of space, with its four kingdoms as a random assemblage of atoms. Yvan Rioux presents a radically different perspective, demonstrating an indissoluble relationship between Heaven and Earth. Over aeons of existence, the four kingdoms have manifested a creative power that perpetually brings forth new expressions. With the goal of bridging science and spirit, Rioux helps revive the old intuitive awareness of an intimate communion between the outer perceptible life of nature, the inner life of the soul and the majestic spiritual formative forces that preside as architects - an organic whole where all levels co-evolve. The earth, nesting in its solar system, is connected with the Milky Way and the twelve constellations. The impact of the stars as an influence on human behaviour has been known for millennia. In the original edition of Rudolf Steiner's Calendar of the Soul, twelve illustrations of the constellations, made by Imma von Eckardstein, were published for the first time. These intuitive drawings differ greatly from the traditional ones, but Steiner stressed their importance for our modern consciousness. The images invite us to comprehend formative forces in their various guises in the kingdoms of nature. By exploring the gifts of each constellation, the author uses Imma's drawings as a template to elucidate the emergence of twelve basic forms as the common denominators of all creatures, leading eventually towards the human form. 'The [new] images of the zodiac constellations represent actual experiences connected with the waking and sleeping of particular spiritual beings. In these images we have a knowledge that needs to be renewed at this time...' - Rudolf Steiner (1912)

Speaking to audiences in Denmark, Germany and France, Rudolf Steiner discusses a wide range of topics: from positive and negative human soul capacities, true self-knowledge and karma, to changes in human consciousness, from ancient times to the modern era - all in the context of the incarnation of Christ on earth. The lectures illustrate the diversity of Steiner's approach when speaking to different audiences. Reflecting on the polymath Novalis, for example, he is urgent about the responsibility of spiritual science to help humanity awaken to the new age. A few months later, talking of Hegel and deploring the fact that an interest in spiritual matters often fails to be accompanied by an equal interest in logical thought, Steiner uses a dispassionate, philosophical tone. But throughout the lectures he is consistent in his view that spiritual science does not reject conventional science. Trained philosophical thinking leads to different conclusions than materialism, he says, but there is nothing in the field of spiritual science that need be rejected by rigorous scientific thought. Although the lectures were given to a variety of audiences, ideas recur from different perspectives and in different contexts, with strong thematic links binding them together. These include the relationship between philosophy and science; the nature of clairvoyance; Christ's presence in the etheric realm; reincarnation and karma; the mystery drama The Portal of Initiation; Christmas and its symbols; and the transformation of consciousness that occurred when Christ incarnated physically on earth. In the final lectures, Rudolf Steiner speaks inspiringly about the Christmas festival, contrasting the feeling of inwardness that people used to experience with the hectic cultural environment of modern cities. However, this does not lead Steiner to be nostalgic about the past. Rather, he states, we should seek to recreate a mood of inwardness in a new way, appropriate to our modern age and consciousness. These lectures give us the tools to bring such a contemporary spiritual approach to our lives.

'To live in truth, to wish to be true in one's whole being, will be the watchword of the future.' - Rudolf Steiner In the midst of the lies and propaganda of the Great War, Rudolf Steiner struggled to convey the truths of the human spirit. The 'truth' asserted by partisan interests, he suggested, was invariably tinged with dishonesty - whether the outright mendacities of politicians and rulers (Steiner refers here to the machinations of the British Empire), or the manipulative techniques of secret societies, intent on securing and shoring up their own power. In relation to the latter, Rudolf Steiner highlights how, whilst we tend to reject overt authority nowadays, we succumb more easily to its covert forms in the 'received wisdoms' we often unthinkingly adopt. In seeking to help his audiences discern the spiritual struggle unfolding behind outer events, Steiner describes how the intrigues that led to the war were based on intentional deceit, which served hidden aims of which the public was mostly kept in the dark. In contrast to the divisiveness of untruth, truth is based on a realization of the interconnectedness of all things - of interdependence between the realms 'below' and 'above' us. The 'I', upon which all evolution on earth is predicated, signifies an overcoming of egotism and narrow interests, together with the imaginative embrace of all beings. Its spiritual reality - that descends to us from non-material worlds and towards which we evolve through earthly lives - is the epitome of truth. Amidst many other topics covered here, Rudolf Steiner speaks about The Qur'an and the Mystery of Golgotha; Henry VIII, Thomas More and the Church of England; the Jesuits and their State in Paraguay; Freemasons, esoteric symbols, and handshakes; Madame Blavatsky's occult imprisonment by Anglo-Saxon brotherhoods; Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov; and the occult literature of Papus and Levi.

"Am I going too far if I declare that not a single one of the opponents took a tenth of the pains I took with anthroposophy before I joined the movement?" -- Friedrich Rittelmeyer Born in southern Germany in 1872, Friedrich Rittelmeyer was a leading figure in the Lutheran church at the beginning of the twentieth century. His was an influential pulpit, and he was a pioneer of a new meditative approach, seeking to re-establish the relevance of the Gospels. His life took an unexpected turn when, in 1911, he encountered Rudolf Steiner for the first time. He spent the next ten years critically appraising and investigating Steiner's ideas. This book is a fascinating and insightful autobiographical account of those years, as well a rigorous scrutiny of anthroposophy. In 1922, he made the decision to leave the Lutheran church and lead a new movement for religious renewal, The Christian Community, in association with Steiner. His final conviction was that Steiner's ideas were truly inspired. First published in English in 1929, this book's honest struggle with key anthroposophical concepts has been influential for generations of people.

Based on the author's own experience of the supersensible being who stands behind the science of the spirit known as Anthroposophy, "The Heavenly Sophia" is the culmination of 25 years of work by Sergei Prokofieff on Rudolf Steiner's spiritual impulse. The being Anthroposophia, he shows, is not a poetic image or an abstract concept, but is an actual spiritual entity who works in the higher worlds for the good of earthly evolution, bringing to humanity '...the new revelation of the heavenly Sophia, the divine wisdom'. In the first part of the book, the author describes the path which led him to experience the being Anthroposophia - a path which is clearly related and can be followed by the reader. In the second part, using the few statements Rudolf Steiner made on the subject as his starting point, Prokofieff studies the question of the position of the living being Anthroposophia in the hierarchic cosmos, namely her relationship to Christ, the heavenly Sophia and the Archangel Michael. Finally available in paperback, this book will be of interest to anybody with a close connection to Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy.

That there is a living stream of Johannine Christianity can no longer be doubted. There is now an abundant literature from Rosicrucian and esoteric traditions - from the deepest prayer and meditation - that addresses the exalted nature of John the Evangelist as expressed through his Gospel, Letters and the Book of Revelation. Yet it fell to Hermann Beckh to elucidate clearly how the individual known as 'John' became the source of such undying love and wisdom in Christ. According to Rudolf Steiner, John was the ailing Lazarus, called from death to a new life as 'the disciple Jesus loved'. Beckh demonstrates how John's invaluable writings were based on personal spiritual knowledge and experience, expressing the divine work of the Cosmic Christ on human nature and on the Earth, leading far into the future. Whilst Beckh's authorship originated within the context of the emerging Christian Community founded in 1922, his profoundly original books could not be confined to its framework. Not only could Beckh tackle original texts in Tibetan, Sanskrit and Avestan, but - through his independent vision - he was able to establish new links with philosophical Alchemy, Jakob Boehme, Goethe, Nietzsche and Novalis. He thereby stands with these figures as a co-worker in a greater community. Having prepared the way with his Mark's Gospel of 1928, John's Gospel could be described as the capstone of Beckh's writings - as a triumphant announcement that theology and the study of John's Gospel have finally come of age. Appearing here in a freshly revised translation by Alan Stott, the current volume is enhanced by a series of valuable addenda that shed further light on Beckh's significant achievements.

'Rudolf Steiner presents the human soul dilemma, split into male and female attributes...but offers a path of development which will eventually lead to overcoming these - what Jung called 'individuation', a merging with the true self or true ego of the human being.' - from the Introduction We live in a sexualised society, surrounded by sexual imagery and content in almost every area of life. This presents us with many challenges, including an increasing blurring and confusion between love and sex; strife between men and women over their roles in society; and a consistent assault on the innocence of childhood. Despite the sensibilities of his time, Rudolf Steiner made a huge contribution to our understanding of the complex theme of sexuality. In this freshly-compiled anthology, Steiner describes the point in evolution at which human beings split from being androgynous and single-sexed to becoming male or female. He traces the changing roles of the sexes in society, from the matriarchal past to today's patriarchal dominance. The division of the sexes brings suffering, but also the possibility of achieving higher stages of love. In the distant future, humanity can evolve sexuality into a new form, with even the possibility of reproduction being metamorphosed. Refreshingly, Steiner is not judgmental and does not preach asceticism. He recognises the 'all-too-human' frailty people confront in their personal lives, even in the case of great individuals such as Goethe. Sex is a necessary stage of human evolution, and the split nature of the human being is a fact of our age. Its healing will be gradual but, like Amfortas in the Grail story - whose wounded groin was a metaphor for amorous misadventure - we can all be healed through love and compassion.

What is the meaning of memory in the information age? When all knowledge is seemingly digitised and available for reference at any time, do we actually need human memory? One consequence of the proliferation of digitization is the deterioration of our capacity to remember - a symptom that is apparent in a steady increase in dementia within contemporary society. Rudolf Steiner indicates that memory is the determining factor in awareness of oneself. Even a partial loss of memory leads to loss of self-consciousness and the sense of our 'I'. Thus, memory is crucial for the development of I-consciousness - not only for the individual, but for humanity as a whole. Rudolf Steiner's research on memory, recollection and forgetting has many implications for the way we learn, for inner development and spiritual growth. This unique selection of passages from his works offers insights into how consciousness can remain autonomous and creative in a digital environment. It also provides ideas for improving education and emphasizes the importance of life-long learning. Chapters include: 'The Development of Memory Throughout Human History'; 'The Formation of Memory, Remembering and Forgetting in the Human Individual'; 'Remembering and Forgetting in Connection with Education'; 'How Remembering and Forgetting are Transformed by the Schooling Path - Imagination and Inspiration'; 'Remembering Backwards (Ruckschau) and Memory Exercises'; 'Subconscious Memories of the Pre-birth Period and of Life Between Death and a New Birth'; 'Memory and Remembering after Death'; 'The Development of Memory in the Future'.

'Fundamentally, all of spiritual science ultimately aims to understand human beings in their essence, in their tasks and endeavours - in their necessary endeavours in the course of development.' - Rudolf Steiner In the midst of the division and destruction of the Great War, Rudolf Steiner speaks of the spiritual unification of all human beings. Rather than preaching a traditional morality, however, he states esoteric facts as he perceives them, based on spiritual-scientific research. These observations relate to the powerful universal impulse of Christ - a healing spiritual force that works through the various nations and races, irrespective of creed or colour - as a source of potential unity. Rudolf Steiner describes this impulse as the central core of human evolution. It allows for a conscious and newly-acquired connection between all human beings, in the context of the continuing diversification and fragmentation of the human race. The central motif in these lectures relates to the appearance of Christ on earth - knowledge of his historical incarnation, as well as Christ's manifestation in the present and future periods of human development. Rudolf Steiner creates an arc from the pre-Christian mysteries through Gnosticism and the older studies of the early Church Fathers, to Scholasticism and neo-Scholasticism. After ancient faculties of clairvoyance had began to fade, he explains, human beings could no longer see beyond the world of outer appearances, and direct perceptions of Christ were therefore no longer possible. And so the question arose as to how limitations on human knowledge could be overcome - a question which remains pertinent in our time. Steiner asserts that only a transformation of thinking, enabling a living and conscious inner conceptual life, can allow for a true understanding of the relationship between the earthly Jesus and the cosmic Christ. Such living thinking leads in turn to direct experience. Other topics in this volume include the birth date of the 'two Jesus children'; the wisdom of Gnostic teachings; the provenance of the Cross; the mysteries of the Christmas festival; insights into ancient Christmas plays, and reflections on individual consciousness of karma in the future

`The study of music is the study of the human being. The two are inseparable, and eurythmy is the art which brings this most clearly to expression. In these lectures, Rudolf Steiner guides us along a path toward an understanding of the human form as music comes to rest - the movements of eurythmy bringing this music back to life.' - Dorothea Mier `Fundamentally speaking, music is the human being, and indeed it is from music that we rightly learn how to free ourselves from matter.' - Rudolf Steiner The focus of these eight lectures is the source of movement and gesture in the human being. The movement in musical experience is thus traced back to its origin in the human instrument itself. Like the degrees of the musical scale, Rudolf Steiner leads his select audience of young artists through eight stages, focusing on the living principles of discovery and renewal. Eurythmy was born in the turbulent decades of the early twentieth century. From an individual question as to whether it was possible to create an art based on meaningful movement, Rudolf Steiner responded with fresh creative possibilities for a renewal of the arts in their totality. The new art of eurythmy was an unexpected gift. Today, music eurythmy, along with its counterpart based on speech, is practiced as an art, taught as a subject in schools, enjoyed as a social activity and applied as a therapy. This definitive translation of Steiner's original lecture course on eurythmy includes a facsimile, transcription and translation of the lecturer's notes, together with an introduction and index. The volume is supplemented with an extensive `companion', featuring full commentary and notes compiled by Alan Stott, as well as a translation of Josef Matthias Hauer's Interpreting Melos.

'All historical life, all social life, all ethical life, proceed by virtue of the co-operation between the so-called living and the so-called dead. Our whole being can be infinitely strengthened when we are conscious not only of our firm stand here in the physical world, but are filled with the inner realization of being able to say of the dead whom we have loved: they are with us, they are in our midst.' In this valuable lecture Rudolf Steiner speaks with clarity about life after death, and explains how those on the earth can keep a connection with loved ones who have passed on. He describes the conditions in the environment of the dead, the advantages as well as the dangers of connecting with the dead, the importance of the moments of waking and going to sleep, the significance of dying in childhood and old age, and the appropriateness of different types of funeral services.

Dedicated to the one hundredth anniversary of Rudolf Steiner's first proclamation of Christ's appearance in the etheric realm of the Earth, this book refers to various aspects of that Event that have so far not been adequately addressed. Sergei O. Prokofieff points to three themes of primary importance, all of which are connected directly with the tasks of the Society which Rudolf Steiner founded: The preparation of mankind for the Second Coming; Working together with Christ as the Lord of Karma; Recognising in anthroposophy the spiritual language in which questions can be posed to the etheric Christ today. Prokofieff describes these and other critical undertakings, such as forging a strong relationship to Michael and the importance of recognising the adversarial forces that attempt to falsify Christ's Second Coming. The Appearance of Christ in the Etheric is of relevance to every individual who wishes to take an active part in fulfilling the needs of our time.

The honey bee has lived in close association with human beings for millennia. Tragically, however, humanity's once intimate connection with this unique creature has been harmed by our increasingly utilitarian and exploitative dealings with the natural world. We are now in urgent need of re-establishing a deeper relationship, not just for the sake of the bees themselves but for the whole of nature - and of course for ourselves.Lorenzen - a true master beekeeper - provides numerous insights to enable a more fruitful engagement with the living world. Offering an enrichment of the knowledge and practice of beekeeping, he discusses the origins of the honey bee, its relationship to the floral kingdom, the digestion of the bee, the treatment of bee diseases as well as appropriate beekeeping techniques. He also develops subtle spiritual concepts such as the idea of the bee colony as an 'individuality' and 'group-soul', providing new depth and wisdom to our understanding of how bees live and work.This small book, a hidden gem that has never before appeared in English, is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of the honey bee and the future of humanity.

'By cultivating spiritual thoughts here on earth we can provide nourishment for the dead...When fields lie fallow they produce no crops to feed humanity and people may die of starvation. The dead cannot die of starvation, of course; all they can do is suffer when spiritual life lies fallow on earth.' - Rudolf Steiner The founding of the Anthroposophical Society in 1913 marked a major change in Rudolf Steiner's work. Although Steiner had always been an independent spiritual researcher, the break with the theosophists removed all constraints, allowing for a full flowering of anthroposophy. These lectures, presented to audiences in Germany, France and Sweden, are filled with a freshness and vitality that reflect this new beginning, providing intriguing glimpses of great themes that Steiner was to develop in the years ahead. A predominant topic here is that of death. Rudolf Steiner seeks to explain how people on earth can reach the dead in a non-mediumistic way, and how such interaction between 'living' and 'dead' is mutually beneficial. Startlingly, he states that people who do not recognize the being of Lucifer during their earthly life - who have not 'already got to intuit and know the luciferic impulses in the human soul properly whilst here in life' - will be 'vampirized' by this being after death. Rudolf Steiner also elaborates on the activities of the adversary beings in present-day civilization - spiritual powers that play a necessary role in Earth evolution - and how we can counteract them. The longer someone can stay alive, for example, is a victory over Ahriman's activity. Even the losing of teeth has beneficial aspects, allowing us to '...gain certain impulses and these overcome Ahriman'. Steiner relates the actions of such spiritual entities to child development too, indicating the various influences in the seven-year cycles of growth. Also included are lectures on the Christian festivals and various artworks, including 'The Triumph of Death' in the Composanto cemetery at Pisa, which reveals great secrets of humanity's evolution. Whatever the subject addressed, it soon becomes apparent that these lectures were not just relevant to Steiner's audience in 1913, but also speak to contemporary souls around the world seeking spiritual orientation and understanding. 10 lectures, various cities, Jan. - Dec. 1913, CW 150