`This gave my mother the opportunity of mentioning to Dr Steiner an idea... Could one affect the physical body in a healing, strengthening and regulating way through certain rhythmical movements of the etheric body - which after all was the centre of all that was rhythmical - as well as of health and illness? Dr Steiner not only enthusiastically affirmed this possibility, but spontaneously declared himself ready to give the necessary directions which I could then work out with my mother's help.' - Lory Maier-Smits Alongside original material by Rudolf and Marie Steiner, this volume features unique first-hand accounts of the birth of the art of eurythmy by a number of its early students and practitioners. The practical and artistic stages of its development are chronicled in detail, alongside reports from the first public performance onwards. Rudolf Steiner offers inspiration to the original eurythmists to make their own discoveries - to perceive and fashion in movement their creative `inner voice'. The artistic principles are established for later development and elaboration, to reveal and foster human creativity in many poetic and musical contexts. Through the text, links between eurythmy and temple-dances, that accompanied ancient initiations, gradually emerge. The impulse to dance is rediscovered as inherent in the `lost Word', or the primordial root language still available in `genetic etymology'- the sounds of speech used in all languages. Music eurythmy, we learn, did not start from dancing, but from the archetypal structure of the musical system. Consequently, we can witness directly how an eloquent performing art can properly develop when technique and inspiration meet. The text is supported by extensive supplementary material, including eurythmy forms, a chronological survey, notes and indexes.

`I send you fondest thoughts on your birthday. On this day I will think a lot of all the beautiful things which were, and are contained in our work together, and which now always stand so beautifully before my inner eye when I describe them. Let me assure you that I write this description with love.' - Rudolf Steiner to Marie Steiner, 13 March 1925 Containing all the correspondence between Rudolf and Marie Steiner to be found in their respective estates, this volume provides unique insight into the couple's pivotal relationship. The years 1901-25 were a time of struggle, as Rudolf Steiner - faithfully supported by the young Marie von Sivers (later to become Marie Steiner in 1914) - endeavoured to build a completely new spiritual movement on earth. Their letters cover everything from the esoteric view of evolution and human advancement to dealing with organizational details, challenging personalities and, of course, their own relationship. In addition to the correspondence, a number of documents have been inserted chronologically throughout the text. The famous `notes' written by Rudolf Steiner for Edouard Schure, for example, provide a unique introduction to the volume, giving profound insights into the development of the anthroposophical movement. Also included are the many versions of Rudolf Steiner's will. Comprehensive notes are provided, as well as an index of persons and an itinerary giving dates of relevant lectures and eurythmy performances.

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

`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.

`We must draw the slumbering soul away from the darkness of sleep so that it no longer vanishes from its own scrutiny but stands before itself as a being of pure spirit which, in volition, is creatively active through - yet also beyond - the body.' - Rudolf Steiner. According to Rudolf Steiner's independent research, the soul or psyche has a relationship to both the body and the spirit. Psychologists and psychotherapists can only work in a truly healing way, he says, if they take this spiritual fact into account. This expertly-compiled anthology explores the nature of the soul as elaborated by Steiner in his writings and lectures. However, the book comprises more than an account of the psyche and life of the soul, but deals equally with the methodology for comprehending it - the scientific, and above all spiritual-scientific, means of doing so. Steiner questions methods and thought structures that are fundamental to contemporary psychology. Rather than looking backwards to conditions that influence how we are today, he focuses on our further development as beings that think, feel and act with intentionality. Given the soul's close affinity with pictorial images, he elaborates a therapeutically-innovative meditative schooling of the faculty of imagination. As Steiner states here, his methods, `...do not draw only on the rules of the ordinary mind but first prepare in the human soul another kind of consciousness, another state of awareness, with which we then enquire into the psyche... to approach and penetrate realities of the soul.'

While the benefits of Steiner's research into agriculture and education are increasingly recognized, his research into the nature of bees has had limited impact on beekeeping practices and on our general understanding of nature. Wisdom of the Bees examines Steiner's insights and research into the nature of bees and their implications for the future of beekeeping. Today, more than eighty years after Rudolf Steiner presented his lectures on bees, we are confronted with a serious decline of honeybees around the world. This fact alone justifies Wisdom of the Bees, a practical and timely introduction to biodynamic beekeeping. Erik Berrevoets revisits those seminal lectures and reexamines Steiner's observations and insights in the context of today's dire situation and provides practical advice for modern beekeeping practices. Wisdom of the Bees is an accessible and essential introduction to the urgent subject of holistic beekeeping practices.

Beginning in January 1913, five days after the Anthroposophical Society was founded, this rich volume traces the esoteric work (and lack thereof) in the decade leading up to the reestablishment of the General Anthroposophical Society at the "Christmas Conference" (1923/1924) and the subsequent creation of the First Class, which replaced the Esoteric Section. Part One, the largest section (Jan. 2, 1913-July 14, 1914), containing thirty-nine lessons in nineteen months, allows us to sense the subtle, though seismic, shift as Anthroposophy gradually became an autonomous earthly, spiritual reality outside the context of Theosophy, with the initial focus to deepen the Rosicrucian path. The emphasis is more practical than theoretical. The task is meditation, without which the new, freestanding spiritual movement could not fulfill its mission. As a consequence, instructions and advice are given. Then, with the outbreak of World War I, the esoteric lessons cease. Part Two is much shorter and covers the period from 1918 to 1923, with only six lessons. Clearly, the time demanded a different approach to the spiritual world, and esoteric students were less prepared to work. Nevertheless, important meditations were given that indicated a new direction. Part Three contains the two esoteric lessons given to the esoteric youth circle-members of the Youth Movement who were serious about esoteric work and would become public exponents of Anthroposophy. Here is something quite new and future-oriented: a new way of undertaking spiritual work in the service of the Archangel Michael. Never before made public, the meditations and instructions are powerful and relevant. This section is preceded by a moving account of the history and development of the esoteric Youth Movement, in which Rudolf Steiner placed such hopes. The volume closes with the Threefold Mantra that foreshadowed a new approach for the First Class and was used by those in the Esoteric Section between 1920 and 1923. This volume is the English translation of Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden, Gedachtnisaufzeichnungen von Teilnehmern. Band.3, 1913 und 1914; 1920-1923 (GA 266)

"The Foundation Stone Meditation" holds a central place in the inner life of many students of Rudolf Steiner's work. First presented during the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society at the Christmas Conference of 1923/24, it is a powerful and penetrating meditative text, which many consider to be a key to the spiritual mysteries of our time. This budget-priced pocket version features three alternative translations (by George Adams, Pauline Wehrle and Richard Seddon), together with the original German verses and an introduction by Michael Wilson.

A collection of best loved lectures containing practical insights for day-to-day living.

A pioneer in the field of curative education and the founder of the Camphill movement, Karl Konig here emphasizes the importance of understanding each individual child "through and through". "The point is not only to see the deviations, but to see them against the mighty backdrop of a comprehensive child anthropology". Konig's explanations are characterized by a profound, holistic understanding and love for the human beings in question. He is not satisfied with a description of physical disabilities and their classifications but proceeds to a deeper understanding of the personality as a whole, leading readers to see disabilities as meaningful ways of coping with living in a physical body in this world.