This thought-, feeling-, and will-provoking book of reflections by Peter Selg and Sergei Prokofieff on the soul-spiritual, ethical, and medicaltherapeutic issues surrounding physician-assisted suicide (and suicide as such) takes its inspiration from both Rudolf Steiner and the ancient Greek Hippocratic Oath. Peter Selg begins by showing how, for Rudolf Steiner, the principle of life-as immanent spirit and the living medium of the "I" or individuality-is inviolable and wise beyond our reckoning. It is the sacred task of healing always to attend to, honor, and serve life in this sense: to affirm, enhance, and strengthen the life-forces of the sick. As Rudolf Steiner puts it: "The will to heal must always function as therapeutically as possible... even when one thinks the sick person is incurable." Though these words were spoken before the full consummation of materialist, technologically-enhanced medicine, Rudolf Steiner, as Peter Selg demonstrates, was well aware of the dangers of where medicine was heading. Sergei Prokofieff links the initiatory origins of Hippocratic medicine in the Mysteries with the return of the Mystery origin of medicine and healing in Anthroposophical medicine. Turning to Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research, he considers suicide as an "illness" of our time and examines the spiritual consequences of suicide for the after-death experiences of those who have taken their own life: namely, that suicide results in the soul's profound disorientation. He then goes on to show how suicide makes the after-death experience of Christ infinitely more difficult, as it does the "resurrection of the spirit" and the relation to the spiritual world. Far from being a "free" act, he concludes, suicide is quite the opposite. Anyone seeking insight into suicide will find here a profound and esoteric introduction to the problem.

This is a new release of the original 1933 edition.

In this collection: dancing and sport; guardian angels; effects of the stars; potatoes, beetroots and radishes; the Druids; Roman Catholic and Masonic rituals; proteins, fats, carbohydrates and salts; Aristotle; nutrition; blood circulation and the heart; honesty and conscience; boredom and opinions; lungs and kidneys; fertilization in plants and humans; light and color; and breathing.

1921. Four lectures delivered by Besant, the Founder/President of the Theosophical Society at its Forth-fifth Annual Convention held at Adyar. The lecture topics include: an introductory or foundational talk; Evolution of Our Solar System, according to Religion, Science, and the Akashic Record; A Solar System Evolving: Chains and Rounds, Manus and Bodhisattvas; and a summary. See other works available by this author from Kessinger Publishing.

Partial Contents: Scenery: seven subdivisions, degrees of materiality, characteristics of astral vision, the aura, etheric double, records of astral light; Inhabitants: human, the adept or chela, psychically developed person, black magician, the dead, ordinary person after death, the shell, the suicide, victim of sudden death, black magician after death; Nature Spirits; Elementals formed consciously; Phenomena: churchyard ghosts; apparitions of the dying, haunted localities, bell ringing, fairies, communicating entities, clairvoyance, precipitation of letters, transmutation, repercussion.

According to tradition, Lao Tzu wrote the eighty-one short chapters of his Tao Te Ching around the sixth to fourth centuries B.C.E. It became the foundational philosophical work of Taoism, significantly inspired early masters of Zen Buddhism, and, for more than a century, has been widely embraced in the West as an astounding work of universal truths. Through deceptively simple imagery, Lao Tzu gave us a guide to life, both spiritual and physical, that is no less valid today than when it was written more than 2,500 years ago. Claire Sit, the author of The Lord's Prayer: An Eastern Perspective, brings us her translation of the Tao Te Ching and, through her deep study and understanding of that text, examines each chapter and places it in the light of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy. In the process, she shows how-although the path of Tao and that of Anthroposophy seem quite different-they complement each other and share many qualities and, in many ways, illumine the hidden truths each has to offer. As in Anthroposophy, on the path of Tao one looks within to know the world and into the world to know one's self. Just as we can learn much about ourselves by looking outward to the world and to others, we can also better understand the depths of Anthroposophy by penetrating wisdom traditions beyond our own path. Indeed, Lao Tzu and Anthroposophy will generate much food for reflection and meditation for the reader. According to tradition, Lao Tzu wrote the eighty-one short chapters of his Tao Te Ching around the sixth to fourth centuries B.C.E. It became the foundational philosophical work of Taoism, significantly inspired early masters of Zen Buddhism, and, for more than a century, has been widely embraced in the West as an astounding work of universal truths. Through deceptively simple imagery, Lao Tzu gave us a guide to life, both spiritual and physical, that is no less valid today than when it was written more than 2,500 years ago. Claire Sit, the author of The Lord's Prayer: An Eastern Perspective, brings us her translation of the Tao Te Ching and, through her deep study and understanding of that text, examines each chapter and places it in the light of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy. In the process, she shows how-although the path of Tao and that of Anthroposophy seem quite different-they complement each other and share many qualities and, in many ways, illumine the hidden truths each has to offer. As in Anthroposophy, on the path of Tao one looks within to know the world and into the world to know one's self. Just as we can learn much about ourselves by looking outward to the world and to others, we can also better understand the depths of Anthroposophy by penetrating wisdom traditions beyond our own path. Indeed, Lao Tzu and Anthroposophy will generate much food for reflection and meditation for the reader.

The ancient and dramatic headland of Tintagel and its ruins, on the windswept north Cornish coast, have been linked to the legends of Merlin, King Arthur and his Knights since ancient times. In this well-researched, illustrated book, Richard Seddon reveals the inner spiritual meaning of Tintagel as a centre for the pre-Christian Mysteries. For many centuries its enigmatic site was integral to the evolution of human consciousness as a centre for esoteric wisdom - for the linking of the physical and spiritual worlds, art and religion. Richard Seddon offers new insights into the roles of Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table, and looks in detail at how they are linked to the metaphysical truths to be found in the works of Taliesin, the Mabinogion and the legends of Parsifal and the Holy Grail. He brings to light the unifying spiritual tradition that stretches beyond Arthur and Tintagel to the mysteries of modern times, as elucidated by the Austrian-born initiate Rudolf Steiner. Readers of this work will discover many new dimensions to the Arthurian and Celtic legends as well as the historical site at Tintagel.

Charles Webster Leadbeater was an ordained Anglican priest who left his Church to follow the spiritual disciplines and teachings of the Theosophical Society. In 1883 he traveled to India and underwent strict spiritual training, including Kundalini Yoga, a discipline that vivifies the chakras and opens the third eye. Leadbeater endeavoured to communicate these spiritual revelations to the general public in a series of books, of which 'The Devachanic Plane' remains an enduring classic. The work describes all aspects of Devachan - the astral 'Heaven World' - its characteristics, its language, and the human, non-human and artificial inhabitants that exist there. Essential reading for all students of the Occult.

2013 Reprint of 1906 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Three Volumes bound into one. Volume contents are: Vol. 1. Prolegomena. -- Vol. 2. Sermons. -- Vol. 3. Excerpts and fragments This work exemplifies all that is best in Mead's dedicated, scholarly, but eminently readable studies of the spiritual roots of Christian Gnosticism and, more generally, of personal religion in the Greco-Roman world. His work encompassed much more than this; Mead was equally at home with Sanskrit texts, Patristic literature, Buddhist thought, and the problems of contemporary philosophy and psychical research. He devoted his intellectual energy to the complex interplay of Gnosticism, Hellenism, Judaism, and Christianity. This three volume set presents his insights into the formation of the Gnostic world-view and establishes him as an outstanding translator of these Hermetic books, and as the first modern scholar of Gnostic tradition.

For many a year men have been discussing arguing, enquiring about certain great basic truths - about the existence and the Nature of God, about His relation to man, and about the past and future of humanity. So radically have they differed on these points, and so bitterly have they assailed and ridiculed one another's beliefs, that there has come to be a firmly-rooted popular opinion that with regard to all these matters there is no certainty available - nothing but vague speculation amid a cloud of unsound deductions drawn from ill-established premises. And this in spite of the very definite, though frequently incredible, assertions made on these subjects on behalf of the various religions.

Seven answers are given to this question, of which the following by Eub. U. (Eusebio Urban, a nom de plume of W. Q. Judge) appears as the 6th and has special reference to the 5th immediately preceding Mr. Judge's answer, a statement by "B.F.D." which reads: "B.F.D. -- I sometimes think that zealous Theosophists, in a creditable anxiety to promote general charity, go a little too far in their assertion of fraternal duty. They speak as if anything is pardonable because done by another man, who, because a man, is a brother. Yet it would seem that the basis of Brotherhood is equal rights and mutual affection, and to these I have the same claim as any other man. He is no more privileged to violate my rights than I to violate his, and I am therefore entitled to the same protection as is he. Hence it cannot be the fact that I am any more bound to look leniently on unfraternal aggressions by him upon me, than I should be upon like acts by me upon him. In other words, it is as much my duty to restrain him from outrage upon myself, as myself from outrage upon him. Theosophy cannot, and does not, teach that all protective appliances are to be thrown down, and that the way is to be freed for every attack by the greedy or the selfish. We must be careful, in our zeal for charity, to remember that justice is the antithesis, not to charity, but to injustice."

A Lecture Delivered In The Albert Hall, Leamington, By Annie Besant.

2013 Reprint of 1950 Third Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Volume One Only. The books of Alice A. Bailey, written in cooperation with a Tibetan teacher between 1919 and 1949, constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom--a body of esoteric teaching handed down from ancient times in a form which is always suitable to each period. Intended to precede and condition the coming era, the Alice A. Bailey writings offer an unparalleled spiritual approach to such subjects as the teaching on Shamballa and the Path of spiritual evolution; the spiritual Hierarchy; the new discipleship and training in meditation as a form of service; the teaching on the seven rays and the new psychology of the soul; the teaching on esoteric astrology; and the new world religion, which emphasizes the common thread of truth linking all the major world faiths. Five volumes have been written under the overall title of "A Treatise on the Seven Rays." This sequence of books is based on the fact, the nature and the quality of the seven basic streams of energy pervading our solar system, our planet and all that lives and moves within its orbit. Of the specialized subjects presented in these books, two volumes are concerned with esoteric psychology - the first in relation to basic energy patterns and structures; the second particularly applied to the soul and the personality of man and to the working out of the Plan for humanity. Psychology is defined in Webster's Dictionary as "the science of mind," at one time considered a branch of metaphysics. Today we are more inclined to include all the conditioning subjective factors as psychological in nature - mental and emotional impulses and soul contact, to whatever degree it exists. These subjective influences constitute the whole psychological background to a man's attitudes and behaviour, and create the faculty of spiritual response. The "psyche" is, after all, the human soul, the centre of consciousness. Esoteric psychology begins with a consideration of the human being as a soul, manifesting in the form of a personality, consisting of mental, emotional and etheric/physical substance, and more or less in contact and control, depending on the stage of evolution in the personality consciousness. From the point of view of esoteric psychology, evolution is the evolution of consciousness, by which the imbedded fragment of the soul within the personality progressively identifies its spiritual source and becomes at-one with it. The seven differentiated streams of ray energy play a significant role in this evolutionary process. A blend of five energies in a human being determine his goals, his problems, his available qualities and energy resources, and the correct method by which - according to his dominant ray influence - he may unfold his consciousness and make spiritual progress. In this volume of Esoteric Psychology many of these distinctive ray qualities and methods are given as quotations, or interpretations, of "The Old Commentary" put into poetic and symbolic words. The seven rays are shown as the Seven Creative Builders, each one imbued with purpose and power, functioning together as a synthesis in occult obedience to the purposes of our Solar Logos. Such a detailed and comprehensive study of the ray energies influencing our planetary life and all kingdoms in nature is of inestimable value to the aspirant consciously preparing himself to become of planetary service as he learns to serve and to unite with his fellowmen.

From the author's archive of rare archival Theosophical documents, he has produced several books on the early history of Theosophy. This is Volume 5 in the Krotona Series. It will be of particular interest to some because its archival documents reveal Theosophical conversations from the period when Krishnamurti broke away from the organization of Theosophy. We also witness first-hand the ongoing founding and building of Krotona and the first Star Camp. We become privy to the internal conversation of the Esoteric School and communications between Annie Besant, Leadbeater, Jinarajadasa, Arundale, Warrington and others as their world is drastically changing with Krishnamurti's dissolving of the Order of the Star and his venture on a pathless truth.

Clement of Alexandria tells us that the whole of the religious philosophy-that is, the wisdom, discipline and multifarious arts and sciences-of the Egyptian priesthood was contained in the Books of Hermes, that is of Thoth. These Books, he informs us further, were classified under forty-two heads and divided into a number of groups according to the various septs or divisions of the priests. In describing a certain sacred ceremonial-a procession of priests in their various orders-Clement tells us that it was headed by a representative of the order of Singers, who were distinguished by appropriate symbols of music, some of which were apparently carried in the hands and others embroidered on the robes. These Singers had to make themselves masters of, that is, learn by heart, two of the divisions of the Books of Hermes, namely, those which contained collections of Hymns in Honour of the Gods or God, and Encomia or Hymns in Praise of the Kings.

This book is a sequel to A Vision of the Aquarian Age first published by Coventure Books in 1977. In that volume discussion of the meaning and role of the Christ Impulse in our present age was somewhat deliberately suppressed for fear of drawing negative reactions in certain quarters. Many readers did however detect the omission, which stands like an empty hole in the argument of the book. In the present volume I have tried to set this right. My hope however is that this in no way makes the book sectarian in its nature. It is concerned with the holistic world-picture and its application to current problems, for axiomatically the Oneness Vision must touch and colour every aspect of our living. It is concerned with the coming of the Light, the prospect of the redemption of mankind by the forces of higher intelligence in the living universe. This implies God ubiquitous and in action. Furthermore it implies the Blakean conception of a spiritual sun behind the physical sun, the focus of operation of the Elohim, the highest beings of spiritual Light. The Lord of all these is known in esoteric knowledge as the Christos and by other names in other religions. But all recognize this over-lighting source which can reach and be in personal touch with all souls of every race and creed, just as the physical sun warms all our bodies. Thus the concept of the Cosmic Christ is central to the holistic vision and this has little to do with any sectarian thinking in any particular church. It must be a vital strand of our world view, and my hope is that it will not be taken as narrow dogma. I have also referred not infrequently to the thinking of Rudolf Steiner, since this is the approach which I personally found most meaningful and inspiring. Again my hope is that even for those who are not anthroposophists, these comments will help clarify basic issues in our dramatic time. Steiner achieved an intensification of intuitive thinking which enabled him to explore into the spiritual worlds in a manner consonant with scientific method, and to give us his findings in a great structure of clear thoughts which in no sense have a mediumistic character. Thus in our age of breakthrough, when spiritual knowledge is flooding from so many sources, the body of Steiner's thinking may stand as a kind of touchstone which can prove of deep significance to many different movements concerned with the spiritual awakening of the New Age. Ours is an age of dramatic and even sensational change. The great theme is that there can be no renewal without a dying process, no death without resurrection. Thus events in the coming two decades are likely to be apocalyptic in nature. This implies what I have called 'Operation Redemption', a supreme hope that tribulation and cleansing change are a prelude to a new dawn.

2012 marks the end of the current Piscean era. In the years leading up to this date, the great tumult, the final battle between Light and darkness, the Armageddon, will try us. It will not be a big disaster, but things will gradually fall apart. The people around you will act like the insane, and you'll wonder if the sky is falling in when you open the newspapers. The Sanctus Germanus Prophecies explains from a mystic's point of view the reasons for the current world insanity and how we are already cutting the path to a New Golden Era. So hang on, for just around the bend, a glorious new era awaits us.

This third volume of The Sanctus Germanus Prophecies completes a trilogy which first appeared in 2002. In this volume, Dr. Mau focuses on the next fifty years and the great cosmic healing of the earth's badly damaged mental body and the role the Spiritual Regions will play in leading humanity out of the chaos of the economic depression and the coming earth changes. Finally, he offers advice on how to navigate through the present turmoil as well as how to develop spiritual discernment to avoid being led off the Path. Volume 3 points to the future and suggests how to cope with the tumultuous events ahead of us.

Originally published in 2002, the Sanctus Germanus Prophecies Vol. 1 predicts the financial crisis of 2007-2012 and the onset of WW III based on revelations from the Spiritual Hierarchy. These major events are part of the ongoing cosmic transition from the Piscean Age and into the New Age. This futuristic work also gives us a peek of what is to come during the early part of the New Age.

In this major collection, Rudolf Steiner affirms the reality of esoteric Christianity and unveils many of its secret teachings. His lectures are on the significance of the Mystery of Golgotha and of the Blood that flowed on the Cross; the relationship of Christ and Lucifer (or Love and Knowledge); the various paths of initiation, including the Christian-Gnostic and Rosicrucian Paths; and Steiner's early interpretations of St. John's gospel and the sermon on the mount. All of Steiner's lectures on the Lord's Prayer are also included, as well as the version of the prayer that Steiner himself prayed throughout his life.

This is an excellent book for all those who want to deepen their understanding of the Western stream of Christian esotericism and Rudolf Steiner's approach to Christianity as a spiritual practice.

Each individual portrayed in this book may, beyond his unique nature, be considered representative of one or several aspects of human nature and human striving, and for the obstacles such striving must encounter. Goethe displays the struggle for universal moral, scientific, and artistic values throughout lifetimes, bridging and linking whole ages. Nietzsche is perhaps the representative of the new faculty of inspiration and the challenge to complement it by intuition. Oscar Wilde represents the stage of soul development at which insight into the worthlessness of vanity and ambition dawns with the power of a purifying tempest. Kafka represents those millions of people who are drawn toward the threshold of the spiritual world but lack the courage to cross it. Eckstein, the great friend of Steiner's youth, is representative of the tendency to withhold esoteric knowledge from the majority of human beings and to keep it as a possession of "the privileged few," an attitude that still prevails in certain occult streams. Rudolf Steiner worked to make esoteric truths public and showed ways toward a radically new knowledge of the spirit and a new mobility of thought.

Being deeply interested in Dr. Steiner's work and teachings, and desirous of sharing with my English-speaking friends the many invaluable glimpses of Truth which are to be found therein, I decided upon the translation of the present volume. It is due to the kind co-operation of several friends who prefer to be anonymous that this task has been accomplished, and I wish to express my hearty thanks for the literary assistance rendered by them also to thank Dr. Peipers of Munich for permission to reproduce his excellent photograph of the author. The special value of this volume consists, I think, in the fact that no advice is given and no statement made which is not based on the personal experience of the author, who is, in the truest sense, both a mystic and an occultist. If the present volume should meet with a reception justifying a further venture, we propose translating and issuing during the coming year a further series of articles by Dr. Steiner in continuation of the same subject, and a third volume will consist of the articles now appearing in the pages of The Theosophist, entitled "The Education of Children." Max Gysi.