While modernism's engagement with the occult has been approached by critics as the result of a loss of faith in representation, an attempt to draw on science as the primary discourse of modernity, or as an attempt to draw on a hidden history of ideas, Leigh Wilson argues that these discourses have at their heart a magical practice which remakes the relationship between world and representation. As Wilson demonstrates, the courses of the occult are based on a magical mimesis which transforms the nature of the copy, from inert to vital, from dead to alive, from static to animated, from powerless to powerful. Wilson explores the aesthetic and political implications of this relationship in the work of those writers, artists and filmmakers who were most self-consciously experimental, including James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Dziga Vertov and Sergei M. Eisenstein.

Throughout the ages, people have given the fairy kingdom various names. To some it was Paradise, to others Tir-nan-Og, Avalon, Country Underneath the Sea, Fairy Land, World of Immortal Youth, Land of Heart's Desire, Land of Life, or the Middle Kingdom. Fairy tales - the stories of this kingdom - are not only folk literature but also accounts of the subtler layers of fact clothed in poetic imagery. Rudolf Steiner was a close observer of the fairy kingdom and gave many lectures that describe the work of its inhabitants, whom he called elementals. It was clear to Steiner that these elementals were of great importance to the Earth, charged not only with the maintenance of Nature's household, but also with her evolutionary plans. He also spoke of how vital it is that we get to know these fairy workers and honor the work they do, so that their efforts prosper to carry the Earth forward in its evolution. Written and illustrated by two insightful women who experienced the fairy kingdom directly, this book offers a profound, yet simple introduction to fairy worlds and workers. Includes Ingrid Gibb's color paintings of the four races of Little People: Undines (water spirits), Gnomes (earth spirits), Sylphs (air spirits), and Fire-Spirits.

This title includes over 750 classic and current books reflecting many cultures and traditions, selected in response to requests for an annotated listing of quality children's literature. Chosen for artistic and literary merit and their contribution to the child's inner growth, these books address universal themes, stimulate the imagination, share great sentiments, and build respect for all living things. It includes picture books, fiction, myths and tales, world religions, poetry, science and nature, and general non-fiction as well as resource books for parents.

A seer "sees" more than meets the eye. Ordinary seeing reveals the visible world through one's perceptions of light patterns that we interpret as "the world." Higher seeing perceives patterns and relationships that are invisible to the physical eyes, yet are nevertheless present in our world. This is truly a form of perception, but through the eyes of the soul, or heart. All seeing is a form of cognition, or knowing, and, likewise, higher sight is a form of higher cognition. These two kinds of perception go together. To be a seer is to use the eyes of the soul together with one's physical eyes -- being able to move from one to the other, letting go of one for the other. For those who wish to develop faculties of higher knowing and seeing, The Seer's Handbook is a unique, practical, and extensive guide, filled with exercises, meditations, and insightful commentary.

'Could it not be that a tremendously important Event is taking place in the world, taking place right now, of which our own contemporaries have no presentiment? This is indeed so. A highly important Event is taking place that is perceptible, however, only to spiritual vision.' - Rudolf Steiner, 25 January, 1910 What if matter is not solid, fixed and dead, but a living and creative Event? Could the concrete 'stuff' of our existence be in the process of development and becoming? Rudolf Steiner predicted that the new Christ Event would penetrate and transform all earthly and cosmic matter, life, consciousness and evolution. Through this Event, we have the opportunity to participate in the vortex of creative life. No longer detached, external spectators, we become co-creators in the drama of evolution and in the transformation of human consciousness. In this original and challenging work, Dr Ben-Aharon describes how this momentous Event is expressed in the fields of science, history, philosophy and art, and relates some of the fresh and creative concepts that have been discovered and applied in the disciplines of physics, biology, genetics and artificial intelligence. The Event, he concludes, leads us to face the central and world-historical question of our time: Are we as a human race going to use the new creative forces that are available to us positively, or will we allow this potential for good to change into its - destructive - opposite? The choice is ours.

16 lectures, Dornach, March 1 to June 25, 1924 (CW 353) The remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. The varied subject-matter was chosen by his audience at Rudolf Steiner's instigation. Steiner took their questions and usually gave immediate answers. The astonishing nature of these responses - their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth - is testimony to his outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and profound thinker. Accessible, entertaining and stimulating, the records of these sessions will be a delight to anybody with an open mind. In this particular collection, Rudolf Steiner deals with topics ranging from beetroot to Buddhism! He discusses, among other things, Christianity and Islam; the Crusades; cemeteries; comets; the zodiac and fixed stars; scars; Egyptian mummies; astronomy; Tibet and the Dalai Lama; Freemasonry; star wisdom, moon and sun religions; the Mysteries; the Trinity; Moses; Easter; the ancient Indians, Egyptians, Babylonians and Jews; Kant and Schopenhauer, and nationalism. This volume is a translation from German of Die Geschichte der Menschheit und die Weltanschauungen der Kulturvoelker (GA 353).

During the brief window between the two World Wars, the Rev. Prof. Hermann Beckh led research at The Christian Community Seminary in Stuttgart. In those precious years he published on music, the gospels and the ancient Mysteries. By 1930, in his Contributions to the Priests' Newsletter, he had produced the most far-reaching account of the cosmic order ever written. The typescript of this great work was destined to gather dust in the Berlin Archiv, however, until it was discovered in recent years. Published here for the first time, it is the crowning masterpiece to Beckh's Collected Works. The translated and annotated text is accompanied by Rudolf Frieling's in-depth application of Beckh's principles of the cosmic starry order to the Creed of The Christian Community, and by a number of appreciations and relevant book reviews. Through ever-deepening meditation guided by Rudolf Steiner, and his vast knowledge of Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali and Avestan sacred texts - scarcely to be equalled in Europe at the time - Beckh came to the first-hand realization that human and cosmic life was ordered. He perceived directly that this cosmic order was: good, as originating from the World-Will; true, as from World-Thinking; and beautiful, as from World-Feeling. All three could be personally experienced in disciplined consciousness that could enter dream, sleep and pre-natal life. This, then, was Beckh's method and inspiration, as shown in this extraordinary work.

In ancient times, people's experience of the divine was imbued with the feminine archetype. The world of spirit was seen to be populated by goddesses, and women were honoured as priestesses and guardians of sacred rites. The later Greek and Roman civilizations, in contrast, were characterized by the principle of patriarchy, which still dominates our culture - despite the political and social emancipation of women in the West. This unique study of the feminine archetype throws new light on the spiritual significance and meaning of the feminine principle today, as well as its task and destiny in the future. Beginning with Eve in tradition and legend, the authors provide insightful commentaries on the Queen of Sheba, the image of the Virgin in esoteric Christianity, Isis-Sophia and the Great Mother, the birth of art from the primal source of the feminine, and the importance of women in modern esotericism. Through a study of the esoteric background to human and earth evolution, Sease and Schmidt-Brabant arrive at clear and accessible perspectives that could transform human life, and in particular family culture, in our time.

Within the Mystery cultures of ancient history, art, science and religion formed a unity that offered direction and spiritual nourishment to the broader society. Today, art, science and religion can again be reunited. However, as Marie Steiner indicates in her introduction to these lectures, these aspects of our culture need rejuvenation through fresh spiritual understanding and knowledge. Art cannot be renewed through compromise, but only by returning to the spiritual foundations of life. As she says: "The remedy lies in unlocking the wisdom of the Mysteries and presenting it to humanity in a form adapted to contemporary needs." In these wide-ranging lectures, Rudolf Steiner offers spiritual insight for the modern day into a revitalised world of the arts. His themes include: the relation of art to technology, the moral experience of the worlds of colour and music, the legendary Norwegian Dream Song of Olaf Asteson, and the relationship between the various arts of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry, eurythmy and the human being.

The two contradicting genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels have long puzzled biblical scholars. Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research led him to the controversial theological conclusion that historically there existed two Jesus boys, born of two holy families. These two boys, he said, were necessary as part of the spiritual preparation of forming a suitable human body for the incarnation of Christ into the earthly realm. Both apocryphal texts and the writings of the Essenes - as discovered at Qumran by the Dead Sea - now appear to support this conception, with references to Messianic figures from both royal and priestly lines. Various authors have developed Rudolf Steiner's observations - first presented in the early twentieth century - although much of this literature has lacked the rigour of accurate and broad scholarship. The Two Jesus Boys is not simply a derivative rehash of these previous publications. Rather, it offers a fresh investigation of primary sources, coupled with an objective determination to allow the facts to speak for themselves. Christoph Rau thus comes to the unavoidable conclusion that Steiner's presentation of the chronology of the two births needs revision; furthermore, the most recent discoveries and interpretations of Essene scrolls reveal that the Jewish sect expected not one but three Messiahs. Rau quotes from and analyses numerous documents from the landscape of early Christianity and Judaism. His findings provide a secure foundation for the historical existence of two Jesus boys in the prelude to Christ's incarnation on earth, as well as a revelation of the Essenes' long expectation of three Messiahs.

From 1933 to 1935, Ita Wegman was confronted by both Nazi fascism and internal crises in the General Anthroposophical Society. During those years, she traveled to Palestine in the fall of 1934 following a grave illness that nearly ended with her death. Her correspondence during this period, as well as her notes on the trip, reveal the great biographical importance to her of these travels and indeed the whole scope of her spiritual experiences in 1934. Ita Wegman had unambiguous perspectives and a uniquely clear view of both the political threat and her social-spiritual task during this period. There was, however, a radical change in her inner stance toward the opposition, aggression, and defamation she encountered within anthroposophic contexts in reaction to her intense, purely motivated efforts. She tried to live and work in true accord with her inner impulses and, ultimately, with Rudolf Steiner's legacy, especially within the anthroposophic movement. Doing so, she increasingly found her way to her own distinctive and uncompromising path. The author reveals the general nature of those three years-a period whose distinctive spiritual and Christological task and dramatic dangers Rudolf Steiner had foreseen in 1923: "If these men the Nazis] gain government power, I will no longer be able to set foot on German soil." Ita Wegman's efforts in 1933 to confront the dark powers of National Socialism and the convulsions in Dornach, which she experienced firsthand, as well as her subsequent illness and the clarity of her "Christological conversion" in 1934 to '35, reveal a very specific, intrinsically comprehensible and forward-looking quality whose spiritual signature is clearly prefigured in Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific predictions. In this book, Peter Selg focuses exclusively on Ita Wegman, her development, and her words, simply presenting the processes she went through and, implicitly, their extraordinary spiritual nature, without any attempt at interpretation. This focus arises from the governing premise that the mysteries of a great life such as that of Ita Wegman reveal themselves in the details. Tracing the subtle steps in her life allow us deeper insight into Ita Wegman's being. She herself wrote, "In general meetings or gatherings, people always understood me poorly because I lacked a smooth way of expressing myself. But people of goodwill always understood what I meant." This book was originally published in German as Geistiger Widerstand und Uberwindung. Ita Wegman 1933-1935 by Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 2005.

`This little book relates some experiences I had during the spiritual research which was eventually published in my book Cognitive Yoga. Usually I am concerned with communicating the objective results of my research and not what I experienced whilst doing it. But an objective description of what the individual soul undergoes during spiritual research can be valuable to the study of anthroposophy and to those who pursue the spiritual path themselves.' Through faithful inner work, says the author, the path of spiritual science can become a living spiritual being - an intimate friend in the realms of soul and spirit. This being can blossom into an extended spiritual community or school. One can converse and co-create with this spiritual school, including the being of one's teacher, by learning its inner language. In 2012, Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon was confronted with a major obstacle in his research work. After struggling alone, he felt he could not progress without consulting his colleagues in the spiritual world. The intimate soul experiences described in this book took place during such a gathering - a special, festive occasion with an active and engaged community of spiritual beings. `I want to share some aspects of what I experienced during this event, in the more personal and imaginative language of storytelling. It is a kind of new, individual, Christmas nativity tale, about the earthly ripening of a research problem, its heavenly conception, embryonic life, and finally the birth on earth of what becomes a physical book, printed black on white.'

Although Eastern Europe has been part of the Christian world for more than a thousand years, its spiritual identity remains a mystery. This mystery, says Sergei Prokofieff, can only fully be solved by looking behind external events and seeking spiritual - meta-historical - dimensions of reality. In illuminating the maya of outer history, Prokofieff reveals the forces that have been at work to hinder the progress of mankind: the materialistic Brotherhoods of the West and the occult aspects of both Jesuitism and Bolshevism. These adversary groups have created a 'karma of materialism', that the eastern Slavic peoples have taken upon themselves out of their 'exalted willingness for sacrifice'. Prokofieff shows how, from the earliest times, the future 'conscience of humanity' flowed from hidden mystery centres in Hibernia, to the eastern Slavic peoples. As a result, qualities of 'compassion, patience and willingness for sacrifice' developed in their souls, creating a truly Christian 'Grail mood'. Despite incalculable suffering - from the persecutions of the Mongol hordes to the Bolshevik experiment of the last century - this quality has become an unconquerable force. Will humanity be able to use the present opportunity granted by this sacrifice to fulfil the primary purposes of the present cultural epoch? Can the future mysteries of the Holy Grail be fulfilled? In this momentous work, breathtaking in its scope and detail, the author attempts a truly esoteric approach, penetrating to the spiritual wellsprings of Eastern Europe in the light of Rudolf Steiner's research.

De donde venimos? Por que estamos aqui? Cual es nuestro destino final?

He sido privilegiado a traves de los anos en "dialogar" con individuos y agrupaciones de gente en varias regiones del mundo. En estas conversaciones se destacaba una realidad aparte de todo lo demas, la busqueda de una filosofia factible a la que se pudieran aferrar en su interior y a la necesidad correspondiente de poder corroborar la percepcion intuitiva de que si hay una aclaracion o explicacion de los multiples problemas y paradojas de la vida. Con el reconocimiento de que la civilizacion muestra, mas que nada la evolucion y el producto del caracter humano, nuestras conversaciones sondearon aquellos principios espirituales que pueden utilizarse en cualquier circunstancia, sin hacer caso de la profesion de fe, la politica, la cultura o la clase social personal. Pues cualquiera que sea la trayectoria de experiencia de uno, siempre hay un terreno comun de valores en que muchos pueden concurrir. --Introduction

Are you finding it difficult to understand your child? Do you feel frustrated because you often end up in an argument but not sure about how you got there? Authentic Parenting can help. By gaining insight into how your temperament and your child's temperament could be in conflict with each other, you can lean how to work with both yourself and your child to head off misunderstandings, explosive emotions, and sulking. With descriptions of how to identify your child's temperament, tips for tailoring disciplinary techniques so your child really hears you, as well as suggestions for helping your boy or girl feel safe and secure, Authentic Parenting is a valuable resource for bringing our the best in both our children and ourselves. The authors have provided an invaluable resource for all parents and educators.

The time of Nazi dictatorship in Germany (1933-45) consistently stimulates more interest than any other period of human history, as witnessed by the countless books and other media on Adolf Hitler and his leading henchmen. What is the basis for this enduring fascination? And, does the abundance of available material help us truly to understand the phenomenon? In this clear-sighted study, Tautz concludes that there is an existential need for the human psyche to come to terms with the forces of destruction that broke out during the era of National Socialism. In an attempt to get to the essence of the phenomenon, he employs the method of 'historical symtomatology', as developed by the philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner. Through these means, '...the historical process is perceived as the physiognomic expression of spiritual forces'. By viewing events as symptoms, the outer facts become transparent to the hidden influences that lie behind them, and occult aspects are revealed. Tautz focuses on the degenerate elements that inspired National Socialism - their meaning, nature and methods - and examines their manifestation in earthly events. He reveals the spiritual context in which these adversary, opposing forces erupted and attacked humanity - at a time when human consciousness had stepped over a new threshold. The Nazi functionaries and their spectral leader, whom he refers to as 'the Medium', willingly served these powers, whilst the bedazzled masses were largely passive. If we are serious about developing an egalitarian society today that corresponds to the present level of human evolution, he argues, we need to understand this period of tyranny in Germany at the deepest levels. In addition to Tautz's classic text, a new Appendix by Andreas Bracher brings the reader up to date with a survey of relevant literature on the theme as well as an insightful review of the Nazis' attitude to Rudolf Steiner and the anthroposophical movement he founded. Contemporary extracts from the Volkische Beobachter (the Nazi's house journal) indicate the viciousness and hatred directed towards Steiner and anthroposophy by the National Socialists.

Topics include: Occult Science & Occult Development?Christ at the Time of the Mystery of Golgotha and Christ in the twentieth Century?The Michael Impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha I? The Michael Impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha II?The Way to Christ Through the Centuries?The Christ Impulse in Time and its Influence on Human Beings: The Three Spiritual Preparatory Steps to the Mystery of Golgotha?The Christ Spirit in relation to the Evolution of Consciousness?Progress in Knowledge of the Christ: The Fifth Gospel?The Four sacrifices of Christ.?The Three Preparatory Stages to the Mystery of Golgotha.

"Occult events that took place between the Christ and the community of his disciples form a significant part not only of the four Gospels but also of the Christ Mystery or Golgotha Mystery itself. Today, many human souls are still moved by this apostolic community, by how the disciples accompanied Christ Jesus, by their place in history (as an esoteric circle charged with an exoteric task), by their failures, and by the great new dawn that showed them the way after Pentecost...For three years, they were close to Christ, shared his life, and received a great deal of instruction from him, often in their own intimate circle away from public view. They were there when Christ performed healings and even when he prayed.... "Rudolf Steiner once said that we in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries must live with the 'etheric Christ' in the Earth's aura in the same way that 'the disciples once lived with Christ Jesus on the physical plane.' If this is so, it is essential for us to focus on the community of Christ's disciples. Rudolf Steiner himself made major contributions to illuminating the depths of the disciples' relationship and life with the Christ, both during the three years of his earthly life and after the Resurrection. An essential element of Steiner's life work was to apply 'anthroposophically oriented cognition' to events of the beginning of the Christian era in order to 'bring the Gospels' deeper content to the light of day.' He spoke in detail about the Christ's community of disciples in many lecture cycles, and, in his lectures on the Fifth Gospel, he shed light on this community from the perspective of the processes of human consciousness that were intimately involved in events at the beginning of the new era and inscribed in the chronicle of evolution.... "In his lectures on the Fifth Gospel and elsewhere, Rudolf Steiner opened up many perspectives that help us understand what took place between Christ and his disciples. This book's purpose is to make those perspectives available and accessible. Although all of Steiner's statements have been published, they are widely scattered among his lectures and remain unknown to many individuals deeply committed to the community of Christ's disciples and to anthroposophical Christology. In view of the challenges to consciousness we face in modern times-including those that deal with Christianity and the Christ Event itself-it seems urgently important to present details of the positive and often illuminating results of Rudolf Steiner's research." As is true of other works by Peter Selg, Christ and the Disciples is one of those books that sharpens the reader's mind to cut through the myriad of representation (and misrepresentations) of Rudolf Steiner's teachings, clarifying many otherwise-knotty issues.

Rudolf Steiner's work is recognized today largely due to the prominence of the international Steiner school movement, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical (holistic) medicine, and so on. However, the comprehensive spiritual philosophy that stands behind these practical initiatives is not so well known. In this concise presentation, based on years of giving introductory courses on the subject, van Oort presents an overview of key aspects of Steiner's thought. He deals with concepts such as body, soul and spirit, the relationship between man and animal, and the evolution of consciousness. The latter subject opens up panoramic vistas of human development in the form of successive cultural periods extending over thousands of years.

Part one, ?A Way of Self-Knowledge, ? contains eight meditations that take the reader on a journey through human experience. Beginning with ordinary experience, Steiner offers ways to imagine and understand the physical body, the elemental (or etheric) body, the elemental world, the Guardian of the Threshold, the astral body, the I-body (or thought body), the nature of experience in suprasensory worlds, and ways of perceiving previous earthly lives. Part two, ?The Threshold of the Spiritual World, ? contains sixteen short chapters in which Steiner provides aphoristic thoughts on trusting one's thinking? cognition of the spiritual world? karma and reincarnation? the astral body and luciferic beings? how to recognize suprasensory consciousness; the true nature of love; and more.

Widely used as an introduction to theosophy, this book features short essays and roundtable talks with varying age-groups. Here in refreshingly simple language is a re-presentation of primeval spiritual ideas distilled from the treasury of ancient tradition, the god-wisdom or theosophia inspiring every great religion. Rather than providing ready-made answers to the problems of life, "Expanding Horizons" presents practical insights on those basic questions which go to the root of the human predicament.

Widely used as an introduction to theosophy, this book features short essays and roundtable talks with varying age-groups. Here in refreshingly simple language is a re-presentation of primeval spiritual ideas distilled from the treasury of ancient tradition, the god-wisdom or theosophia inspiring every great religion. Rather than providing ready-made answers to the problems of life, "Expanding Horizons" presents practical insights on those basic questions which go to the root of the human predicament.

Widely used as an introduction to theosophy, this book features short essays and roundtable talks with varying age-groups. Here in refreshingly simple language is a re-presentation of primeval spiritual ideas distilled from the treasury of ancient tradition, the god-wisdom or theosophia inspiring every great religion. Rather than providing ready-made answers to the problems of life, "Expanding Horizons" presents practical insights on those basic questions which go to the root of the human predicament.