How can we truly understand the vital questions of health and illness, which are so much part of our everyday lives? Good nutrition, exercise and relaxation are only some of the answers, says Buhler. What we really need is a comprehensive insight into our true human nature, including the various forces working within and through us. In this classic, concise study we are given a vivid picture of the human being's threefold nature, consisting of body, soul and spirit. The author analyses the key aspects of our physical being and inner selves: the heart (organ of the 'heart quality'), the metabolism (relating to the will), and the sensory-nervous system (as 'mirror of the soul'). He provides a deeper understanding - and hence a solid basis for work - for teachers, medical professionals and therapists, and anyone seeking encouragement to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Henry Steel Olcott (1832 1907), co-founder of the Theosophical Society, was a versatile man. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of American agricultural education and also served in the U.S. War Department. Later Olcott was admitted to the New York Bar and became interested in psychology and spiritualism, travelling to India and Sri Lanka with Madame Blavatsky to explore eastern spiritual traditions, especially Buddhism. In this volume (published in 1900) Olcott chronicles how he and Madame Blavatsky journeyed to India and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in the years 1878 to 1883 to oversee the foundation of new branches of their Society. This is part classic travel writing in which the author gives breathless descriptions of the beauty of Indian nature, culture and philosophy and part characterisation of Madame Blavatsky's 'psychological eccentricities' as Olcott experiences them. To him she was and remained 'an insoluble riddle'.

Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), co-founder of the Theosophical Society, was a versatile man. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of American agricultural education and also served in the U.S. War Department. Later Olcott was admitted to the New York Bar and became interested in psychology and spiritualism, travelling to India and Sri Lanka with Madame Blavatsky to explore eastern spiritual traditions, especially Buddhism. In this polemical volume (first published in 1932), Olcott describes his view of the history of the Society between 1893 and 1896: conflicts and long-standing tensions had led to a split in 1895, precipitated by a clash between Olcott and William Judge, Vice-President of the Society in America. After the split Olcott carried on travelling widely and lecturing, having established a study centre in Chennai, India, for the movement now known as the Theosophical Society - Adyar.

The renowned lawyer and journalist Henry Steel Olcott (1832 1907) published this work in 1885. In this work Olcott carefully lays out his arguments for the basis of theosophy, arguing for the truth of all religions because they share the same ancient roots or 'ur-religion'. As a founding member and the first president of the Theosophical Society, Olcott uses the work to set out the aims and objectives of the Society and attempts to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with science, reason and modernity. The work also includes accounts of his attempted empirical investigations into hypnotism, mesmerism and other spiritualist activities. The final chapters include discussions of India, Buddhism and Zoroastrian religion. The work was deeply influenced by Helena Blavatsky (1831 1891), then Olcott's close friend but later his opponent. It is a key text of the nineteenth-century theosophical movement and is an indispensable source for research into Victorian occult philosophy.

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.

Anna Kingsford (1846 1888) published her first book at the age of 13. A passionate anti-vivisectionist, she also championed womens' rights and vegetarianism. Leaving behind her husband and daughter, she travelled to France to study medicine, accompanied by the writer Edward Maitland. The pair shared a fascination with the spiritual and became leading members of the Theosophical and Hermetic societies. This book, first published anonymously in 1882, is a collection of lectures on theosophical topics delivered to a private audience in summer 1881. It explores the basis of all religions, the nature of the soul, spiritualism and the feminine aspect of the divine, and also discusses blood sacrifice, vegetarianism, pantheism and the teachings of the Kabbalah and the Bhagavad Gita. The author hoped this wide-ranging study of allegories, symbols and myths would 'restore and rehabilitate the truth', reconciling mind and heart, religion and science, and promoting liberty and reason.

Henry Steel Olcott (1832 1907), co-founder of the Theosophical Society, was a versatile man. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of American agricultural education and also served in the U.S. War Department. Later Olcott was admitted to the New York Bar and became interested in psychology and spiritualism, travelling to India and Sri Lanka with Madame Blavatsky to explore eastern spiritual traditions, especially Buddhism. This volume (1895) describes the first meeting between Olcott and Madame Blavatsky and the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875. Olcott continued to practise as a lawyer (and supported the Society financially) while in the evenings he and Madame Blavatsky would entertain visitors or collaborate on the book Isis Unveiled. The author portrays his friend as a spiritual medium and describes how Madame Blavatsky's body was from time to time possessed by other 'entities'.

During the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society as the General Anthroposophical Society at Christmas 1923/24, Rudolf Steiner also reconstituted, as the School of Spiritual Science, the Esoteric School he had led in three classes from 1904 to 1914, at the same time extending its scope by adding artistic and scientific Sections. However, owing to his illness and later death in March 1925, he was only able to make a beginning by establishing the First Class and the Sections. The actual step from the Esoteric School to the School of Spiritual Science was nevertheless an exceptional one. The Esoteric School from Helena Blavatsky's time had been secret. Its existence was known only to those personally invited to participate. In contrast, the existence of the School of Spiritual Science was stated openly in the public statutes of the General Anthroposophical Society. From the Christmas Conference onwards, Rudolf Steiner worked within this publicly acknowledged framework. The Class Lessons comprise a complete spiritual course of nineteen fundamental lessons given between February and August 1924, several lessons given at other locations, and seven further lessons from September 1924 which take up the themes of the first part of the nineteen lessons in a modified form. This authentic, accurate and high-quality bilingual edition - with English and German texts printed side by side - is published in conjunction with the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum. A compact four-volume clothbound set, it features plates with Rudolf Steiner's handwritten notes of the mantras and reproductions of his original colour blackboard drawings. The translations of the mantric verses have been reworked by a committed group of translators, linguists and editors, expressing subtleties of meaning, grammatical accuracy and poetic style whilst retaining the original sound and metre of the German mantric forms. Three versions of the existing English translations are also included.

German-born Sanskritist and philologist Max M ller (1823 1900) was a pioneer in the field of comparative mythology and religion. Settling in England in 1846, during his distinguished career he served as Taylorian professor of modern European languages, curator of the Bodleian Library and Oxford's first professor of comparative philology. The content of this book was originally presented as part of a lecture series delivered at the University of Glasgow in 1893, where M ller was serving as the Gifford Lecturer. M ller's aim in presenting these lectures was to show that the only way of properly understanding religious phenomena was through utilising historical method. The three volumes preceding this one focused on 'physical religion', 'natural religion' and 'anthropological religion'; this fourth book, on theosophy, contains fifteen lectures, the subject matter ranging from Alexandrian Christianity and the eschatology of Plato to the journey of the soul after death.

Ukrainian-born Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States, which she later extended to Europe and India, though her later years were dogged by ill health and controversy. In this book, published in 1886, A. P. Sinnett (1840-1921), a fellow theosophist and writer, sets out a defence of Blavatsky, writing that 'I have reason to believe that the attempt will respond to the wishes of a great many people ... who regard the current aspersion on Mme. Blavatsky's character with profound indignation'. He outlines the many extraordinary events in her life, covering her childhood in Russia and claims to an early connection with the supernatural world, her brief unhappy marriage and decade of extensive global travels, her time of study in India, and the criticism she received about some of her 'phenomena' and practices.

When Annie Besant (1847 1933) wrote in her 1893 Autobiography that her life was 'much attacked and slandered' she was only 45 years old, and many more controversies were yet to come. In this book, Besant charts her dramatic political and ethical awakenings, up to the point where she joined the Theosophical movement. She describes how she was unhappily married to a clergyman, contemplated suicide, embraced atheism, and legally separated from her husband. She recounts how she became a prolific writer and public speaker, joined the National Secular Society, was involved in the highly controversial publication of a birth control leaflet, and engaged in activism for workers' rights and home rule for Ireland. She also reflects on her own ideology and spirituality. Besant did much to shock and challenge Victorian society, and this book vividly portrays her struggles and successes.

Many spiritual traditions speak of a 'guardian' or 'dweller' who protects the threshold to the spiritual world, warning the unprepared to pause in their quest for access to higher knowledge. The Guardian reveals the consequences of our negative actions and points to the full reality of our untransformed nature. This experience is said to be one of the deepest and most harrowing on the inner path, but is an essential precondition to any form of true initiation. The words 'Know thyself' were inscribed at the forecourt of the ancient Greek Temple of Apollo. Those who sought initiation in 'the mysteries' were thus instructed first to look within themselves. Likewise today, as spiritual seekers we need true self-knowledge, to distinguish between what belongs to our consciousness and what is objectively part of the spiritual environment. Rudolf Steiner taught that as long as we draw back from such knowledge, our spiritual quest will be unsuccessful. When we begin engaging with anthroposophy, it becomes clear that Steiner's teachings are not a doctrine or set of dogmas, but a path towards deeper insights. In this essential handbook, the editor has drawn together many of Rudolf Steiner's statements on the intricate and arduous path of self-knowledge, offering ongoing support and guidance. Chapters include: The Importance of Self-Knowledge for Acquiring Higher Knowledge; Seeking to Form an Idea of the 'Guardian of the Threshold'; The Guardian of the Threshold and Some Characteristics of Supersensible Consciousness; Morality on the Path of Knowledge; Self-Knowledge and Nearness to Christ; The Powers of Christ in Our Own Life; Knowing Ourselves in the Other; Self-Knowledge - World-Knowledge.

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)

Are Thoresen perceives demons and other spiritual beings as clearly as we see each other. He sees the demons that cause disease as well as the beings associated with medicinal plants and other substances that can promote health. He has witnessed how demons of disease leave the bodies of the sick and enter the healthy, thus causing contagion. Through his therapeutic work, Thoresen has learned that one cannot simply `fight' demons, as they will `translocate' to other people or return later. The only effective way to counteract these malign entities is to dissolve them through the boundless love of the being of Christ. The author presents a lifetime's knowledge - the fruit of more than half a century's practical and clinical experience - in the pages of this book, offering a better understanding of health and disease. He recounts numerous personal experiences of demonic entities and explains how demons are created. Thoresen advises on the prevention of the demonic effects of natural and artificial radiation, and how we can defend and ultimately free ourselves from demonic influence. A fascinating Addendum describes the phenomenon of poltergeists and the spiritual beings related to various drugs. Demons and Healing is a singular work, written out of precise vision and knowledge of the spiritual entities that surround us in everyday life.

In an extraordinary exposition, Lorenzen - an expert beekeeper and student of contemporary spiritual science - describes the `Logos mysteries', based at the ancient temple of Artemis in Ephesus, where priestesses were known as `Melissas' (`honeybees') and the sacrificial priests were called `Essenes' (or `bee-kings'). These cultic mysteries, he says, bore remarkable parallels to the workings of a bee colony - specifically in the relationship between the queen and worker bees to the spiritual `group-soul' of the bees. Lorenzen commences his unique study with a discussion of flowers and insects, exploring their common origins. He then describes the beginnings of the honeybee, its connection with the fig wasp, and the subsequent controlled transformation of the latter that took place in pre-historic mystery-centres. Breeding the honeybee from the fig wasp - a sacred deed performed at consecrated sanctuaries - was part of the `Fig-tree mysteries'. The initiates behind this task developed the ability to commune with the bees' group-soul and to work consciously on the mutual development of the hive and humanity. This concise but rich work features an illuminating foreword by Heidi Herrmann of the Natural Beekeeping Trust as well as a lucid introduction by translator Paul King that explains the anthroposophical concepts employed by Lorenzen in his text.

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.

First published in the run-up to the new millennium, van Manen's seminal study remains a unique and important source for understanding the spiritual and karmic background to the Anthroposophical Movement and Society, as founded around the work of the twentieth-century seer and scientist Rudolf Steiner. In his lectures on karma given in 1924, Steiner spoke of the principal Aristotelian and Platonic traditions - and the movements based on their thinking. Van Manen studies the streams of destiny connected to these groups, and elaborates upon Steiner's presentations - also tackling the apparent contradictions in the Karmic Relationships lecture series. The author discusses the background to these groupings of destiny, beginning with the cosmic Michael School in the life before birth. He throws light on many different esoteric aspects connected to anthroposophy, including the archetypal representations of thinking arising from the Middle Ages; the Arthurian and Grail movements; the mystery of 'Old' and 'Young' souls; the individuals identified as 'Seekers for Christ' and 'Servants of Michael', and the 'Shepherds' and 'Kings'. We are led to the point at which the two principal groups of souls incarnate and meet together on earth for the first time ever - an event which is to take place within the contemporary anthroposophical movement. In an inspiring conclusion, the author presents his thoughts on a great Whitsun happening at the end of the twentieth century, and expounds on the tasks of the new millennium and the future of anthroposophy.

"We must become selfless-that is the task of culture today for the future. Human beings must become more and more selfless. Therein lies the future of right moral life actions, the future of all acts of love that can occur through earthly humanity." -Rudolf Steiner (Approaching the Mystery of Golgotha) In a lecture eight weeks before the outbreak of World War I, Rudolf Steiner, conscious of developments to come, coined the phrase "culture of selflessness" to describe the culture that would develop in the future. The far-reaching social implications of his primarily Christological lectures on the Fifth Gospel, given in 1913/14 under the same political circumstances, were foreign to many of Steiner's contemporary audiences, who largely failed to understand his dramatic accounts drawn from the Fifth Gospel (or that gospel itself) as a "source of comfort" for the future, or (as Rudolf Steiner said of them) as "needed" for future work. The subsequent catastrophes of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, however, have sensitized us to Steiner's central themes and contents of 1913/14. He spoke of spiritual development and self-preservation in the face of great suffering; of truly participating in the misfortunes of others; and of acquiring "true selflessness" that takes the human "I" fully into account. During the 1930s, during the National Socialist reign of violence, a few of Rudolf Steiner's pupils took this path of moral resistance and all-embracing therapeutic action. One example is described in the second chapter of this volume. Many other destinies are less well-known; by now, they can no longer be saved completely from oblivion. They include the great life work of Maria Krehbiel-Darmstadter, an anthroposophist of Jewish origin who was murdered in Auschwitz in January 1943. However, both now and in the future, in a world that must find humane ways to endure continued calamities of tremendous magnitude, the task Rudolf Steiner described remains relevant in all cultures and all parts of the globe. "A single great community covers the earth. Its name is suffering and strength."

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.

The idea of 'north' suggests much more than wintry cold, ice and snow. To many, it hints at something magical, enchanting and mysterious. This book explores the spiritual aspect of this attraction through a survey of ancient history, Norse mythology and contemporary studies of earth mysteries and sacred sites. From her detailed research, Margaret Jonas traces the birth of Celtic Christianity in the British Isles, Ireland, Scandinavia and Germany, revealing a time when ancient prophecies relating to the sun and divine beings came to fulfilment. A new spiritual wisdom gradually spread across Europe - not only from the south northwards, but also from west eastwards. The author describes how a paradisiacal element from the earliest stages of earth evolution was preserved and nurtured in hidden places associated with the northern mysteries. This fascinating work of accessible scholarship features chapters on Hyperborea, Thule and Apollo; the Druids and Odinic Mysteries; Norway and the Celtic Christian Legacy; the Number Five and the Etheric Body; the Externsteine and the God Vidar, and Finland. The book concludes with hints of a future time when northern magic will be transformed, and '...new clairvoyant faculties will be within the reach of all humanity'.