In this revised and expanded edition of his classic debut, Sergei O. Prokofieff investigates the deepest mysteries of Rudolf Steiner's life and individuality, from 'the years of apprenticeship' and 'the great Sun period' to 'the path of the Teacher of Humanity' and 'the birth of the New Mysteries'. He discusses the earthly and supersensible aspects of the first Goetheanum, the implications of the Christmas Conference of 1923-24, and the Foundation Stone meditation that Steiner left as a legacy to members of the Anthroposophical Society.In his very personal Introduction, Prokofieff describes, in moving detail, the events in his life which led to his discovery of anthroposophy whilst living in Communist Russia, and how eventually he came to write this extraordinary study of Rudolf Steiner. The resulting volume - a work of secondary anthroposophical literature unprecedented in its depth and significance - was first published in Germany in 1982, meeting with equal amounts of acclaim, astonishment and controversy. It is published in this paperback edition to mark the 35th anniversary of the original publication.

'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.

Rudolf Steiner, the often undervalued, multifaceted genius of modern times, contributed much to the regeneration of culture. In addition to his philosophical teachings, he provided ideas for the development of many practical activities, including education - both general and special - agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, religion and the arts. Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct 'spiritual research', the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. With his scientific and philosophical training, he brought a new systematic discipline to the field, allowing for conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer from childhood, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries of life.Samples of Steiner's work are to be found in this introductory reader in which Matthew Barton brings together excerpts from Steiner's many talks and writings on Michaelmas. The volume also features an editorial introduction, afterword, commentary and notes.

This peer-reviewed study represents a culmination of years of research into the history of the Theosophical Society. In this unique project which combines biographies with source analyses, Jeffrey D. Lavoie records a detailed history of the early Theosophical Society and examines its relationship with the modern Spiritualist movement between the years 1875-1891. Special attention has been paid to some of the neglected figures associated with these organizations including Arthur Lillie- the Gnostic-occultist and early critic of the Theosophical Society; the Davenport Brothers- the Spiritualist mediums who developed many of the standard elements which became associated with modern Spiritualism; Alfred Wallace- the prominent scientist, Spiritualist, and supposed member of the Theosophical Society and many others. This work will appeal to a wide array of readers including those interested in modern religious movements, Western Esotericism, South Asian history, and Victorian studies.

Mani, the founder of the spiritual movement which has come to be known as Manichaeism, established an influential teaching that spread swiftly across Asia, Africa and parts of Europe but was later brutally suppressed. Little was known about this 'Gnostic religion' until archaeological findings in the twentieth century revealed important aspects of Mani's biography and philosophical thought. Many years before these physical discoveries, Rudolf Steiner provided key esoteric insights, based on his personal spiritual-scientific research, into Mani's life and work. Richard Seddon assembles pieces of the academic and esoteric puzzle, offering a lively and colourful picture of Mani and Manichaeism. He gives a succinct outline of Mani's life, the fundamental aspects of his teachings, and a description of Manichaeism's future spiritual role. Seddon creates an image of a mighty Christian initiate leading a movement with the critical task of transforming, and ultimately redeeming, evil.

In this innovative anthology, Angela Lord presents a unique series of commentaries on art, aesthetics and colour by three of western culture's greatest intellects. Her comparative study of the works of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Rudolf Steiner illustrates how each of these towering thinkers employed an individual and groundbreaking approach. Yet, remarkably, there are common threads that weave through their collective works that have previously been overlooked. By selecting and extracting specific quotations and arranging them in particular sequences, Lord throws light on texts that have often been restricted to theological and academic study. Through this exposure, she reveals their relevance to the Arts today, showing how their content can stimulate an enhanced awareness of truth, beauty and knowledge in our lives. Art Aesthetics and Colour also offers us the opportunity to reinterpret the works of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas in the light of Rudolf Steiner's contemporary spiritual-scientific insights. In addition to the extensive quotations from the three historical figures, Lord provides brief biographies, an introduction, notes and a bibliography. The book is well-illustrated throughout and includes colour plates.

Following his major work on Rudolf Steiner's ten visits to Britain, Crispian Villeneuve studies Steiner's relationship to the British Isles in the 40 or so years before those visits took place. The theme of Steiner's early connection to British culture leads inevitably to the broader topic of his relationship to modern science. This in turn highlights the polarity and tension between the Goethean philosophic view that arises from Middle Europe, and the 'Baconian' perspective emanating from Western Europe. Interweaving these contrasting Baconian and Goethean world-views, Villeneuve presents numerous primary texts - often culled from obscure sources, and many previously unavailable in English translation - with commentary relating to Rudolf Steiner and the nineteenth century. We learn about Steiner's teachers, Karl Julius Schroer and Edmund Reitlinger, as well as English polymath William Whewell. The latter figure was perhaps the greatest admirer of Francis Bacon in recorded history, but maintained manifold connections to Middle Europe. Rudolf Steiner: The British Connection offers genuinely new and valuable research into the early life and thought of one of the greatest cultural innovators of our time.

During 1924, before his last address in September, Rudolf Steiner gave over eighty lectures on the subject of karma to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These profoundly esoteric lectures examine the underlying laws inherent in reincarnation and karma, and explore in detail the incarnations of specific historical figures. In Rudolf Steiner's words, the study of karma is "...a matter of penetrating into the most profound mysteries of existence, for within the sphere of karma and the course it takes lie those processes which are the basis of the other phenomena of world existence..." A study of the karma of the anthroposophical movement and society, the spiritual gates of the sun and moon, and much more.

Featuring over 90 of Rudolf Steiner's best-loved verses and meditations, this volume collects a range of material on various themes, such as working with spiritual beings, connecting with loved ones who have passed over, developing selfhood, and celebrating festivals and seasons. Countless people have worked with these meditations over the decades and can testify to their power, as well as the strength and comfort they offer the meditant. Although various translations from the German exist for many of the verses, George and Mary Adams's renderings can truly be said to be 'classic', and are the most widely used within the English-speaking anthroposophical movement that has grown up around Steiner's work. George Adams acted as Rudolf Steiner's personal interpreter when he lectured in Britain, and thus developed an intuitive understanding of Steiner's deepest impulses connected to esoteric work. Those who know these verses will be delighted that they are available again, while those who approach them for the first time will discover a treasure of wisdom as well as abundant tools for personal transformation. This edition also features the original German texts where applicable.

Rudolf Steiner differentiated clearly between the spiritual concept of Imagination and our everyday understanding of the word. As living, pictorial thinking, Imagination is a primary aspect of the contemporary path of inner schooling - the first of three levels of initiate knowledge and cognition. Imagination leads us into a world of flowing, living pictures: a realm of soul and spirit in which everything is in continual movement. This anthology offers a survey of the diverse aspects of Imagination and imaginative cognition. As the thematically re-ordered texts reveal, Rudolf Steiner's spiritual philosophy - anthroposophy - is itself often pictorial and imaginative in nature. Many of its fundamental concepts, such as the evolution of the world and the human being, were formulated by Steiner in vivid, living pictures. However, whilst imaginative perception leads us to the threshold of the spiritual world, we can also fall prey there to illusions, visions and hallucinations. This volume, expertly assembled by Edward de Boer, draws on the entirety of Rudolf Steiner's collected works - from his earliest writings to passages from his many lectures. It is conceived as a stimulus to readers to practise, deepen and extend their own imaginative consciousness. Steiner's commentary on `exemplary Imaginations', in particular, encourages further study, contemplation and schooling of our own pictorial thinking. Chapters include `Imagination as Supersensible Cognition'; `The Rosicrucian Path of Schooling'; `Exercises to Develop Imagination'; `Understanding Imagination Through Inspiration and Intuition'; `Illusions, Hallucinations and Visions'; `Imaginative Perception as the Threshold to the Etheric World'; `Goethe's Worldview' and `Exemplary Imaginations' (including commentary on `The Fairy-tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily', The Mystery Plays; The Great Initiates; the `Apocalyptic Seals'; The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz and the `Michael Imagination').

How are the internal and external forms of the human organism shaped? How does human consciousness emerge? These are questions to which conventional science has no answers. In The Seat of the Soul, Yvan Rioux invites us to consider new concepts that can explain these phenomena. His exposition is based on the existence of external `formative forces' - or morphic fields - which, he argues, create the human body or organism in conjunction with forces that resonate within us from the living solar system. The psyche - or soul - emerges progressively as an inner world of faculties that in time learns to apprehend and understand the outer world. In his previous book The Mystery of Emerging Form, Rioux explored the formative forces of the twelve zodiacal constellations. In this absorbing sequel, he investigates how such activity from the planetary spheres works within us, as `life stages' or metabolic processes. Through seven chapters, he explores the impact of each of these planetary spheres on our complex organic make-up and psychic activity. The link between organs and tissues, he says, produces five specific `inner landscapes' in relation to the external rhythmic environment. Rioux also gives a description of Rudolf Steiner's seven `planetary seals' from a biological perspective. According to Steiner, these seals are: `...occult scripts, meaning that, as hidden signatures, they show their ongoing etheric impacts on the seven stages of our metabolism'. Between Steiner's indications concerning human physiology and the ancient Chinese view on the subject, there is a convergence of ideas - as synthesized here - that breaks through the boundaries of modern reductionist science, offering exciting perspectives for understanding the human being. `The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet. Where they overlap, it is in every point of the overlap.' - Novalis

'The intention is to take a practical subject and show how our spiritual science with anthroposophical orientation truly can play an effective role in everyday life.' - Rudolf Steiner Following his first major lecture course for medical practitioners, Rudolf Steiner sought to elaborate and deepen his 'extension' of the art of healing from a spiritual-scientific perspective. In this collection of addresses, discussions, question-and-answer sessions and lectures - running parallel to his major medical cycles - Steiner comments on contemporary medicine's emphasis on experimental, materially-based research and its subsequent lack of attention to therapy. Steiner's intention is not to detract from developments in medical science but to build on them with spiritual science - not quackery but a true art of medicine. The medical practitioner has an important task: diseases must be cured, and it is wrong not to intervene and simply to allow 'karma to take its course'. Speaking to audiences ranging from members of the general public to small groups of medical professionals, Steiner offers new insights into our understanding of human organs such as the brain, kidneys and liver, as well as the efficacy of healing substances including arsenic, sulphur, arnica and essential plant oils. He studies a broad range of specific medical conditions, giving advice on cancer, hysteria, rheumatism, gout, skin eruptions, typhoid, diabetes, haemophilia, syphilis, gonorrhoea, asthma, glaucoma, leukaemia, smallpox, insomnia, and childhood diseases such as measles. His commentaries on a raft of contrasting subjects - such as psychiatry, sexual maturity, memory, poisoning and detoxification - present challenging perspectives for patients and medical practitioners. Steiner's surprisingly non-dogmatic advice on vaccination, for example, gives a refreshingly balanced, and perhaps unexpected, point of view. This volume also includes a lecture on eurythmy therapy, a comprehensive introduction, index and notes, and nine full colour plates of Rudolf Steiner's blackboard drawings.

11 lectures, various cities, January-May, 1909 (CW 109)These talks reveal a particular aspect of how humankind have been guided spiritually throughout history--by the life forces and astral bodies of the great initiates and avatars that were preserved, duplicated, and interwoven with the leading personalities of history. Steiner gives numerous examples of this process, but he says that such inspired people are rare today. Nevertheless, we have the possibility of elevating ourselves in the future to the point where we can receive into ourselves the "I-being" of the Christ, which is indeed our greatest goal--"not I but Christ in me." Contents: * The Principle of Spiritual Economy in Connection with Questions of Reincarnation * Christianity in Human Evolution, Leading Individualities, and Avatar Beings * More Intimate Aspects of Reincarnation * Results of Spiritual Scientific Investigations of the Evolution of Humanity * On the Occasion of the Dedication of the Francis of Assisi Branch * The Macrocosmic and Microcosmic Fire: The Spiritualization of Breath and Blood * The Event of Golgotha -- The Brotherhood of the Holy Grail * Ancient Revelations and Learning: How to Ask Modern Questions * The God of the Alpha and the God of the Omega * From Buddha to Christ

THIS 36 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Super-Physical Science, by A. P. Sinnett. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564592634.

THIS 42 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Essays By Wadia and Others, by H. P. Blavatsky. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766135632.

Anthroposophy has manifold roots in natural science. Rudolf Steiner never tired of saying that the development of scientific awareness had given people the possibility of freedom, that the way to cognizing the spiritual world is based on the natural scientific attitude, and that certainty of such knowledge is comparable to the certainty found in mathematics and natural science. Especially noteworthy is Steiner's comments on the importance of how experiments should be done-first, that scientists should adopt the attitude that their workbench is an altar, and second, that scientists should seek the cooperation of elemental beings. Steiner was concerned that people do new experiments because of the many new views and educational possibilities that can arise. Consequently, in 1920, a special institute was established with departments for physics and biology in Stuttgart, financed by the scanty means of the joint-stock company, Der kommende Tag (literally, "the coming day"). The purpose of the institute were described by Steiner: "What we lack is not the empirical material, but the gathering of possibilities, which are also possibilities of explaining one phenomenon through another phenomenon. Therefore, in our research institute, we will no longer do experiments using the old methods, for there really is an excess of empirical material available." Though the institute eventually closed, owing to financial difficulties, in 1926 on the initiative of Guenther Wachsmuth, Paul Eugen Schiller took most of the materials to Dornach. There, he set up a simple physics laboratory where he worked for several years, working mainly on Steiner's indications about the "sensitive flame." Drawn from Schiller's notebooks, this important volume describes natural scientific research by scientists working at the Goetheanum and following suggestions from Rudolf Steiner, leading, for example, to research on gases at low temperatures and high vacuum. Steiner told them, "You will tend to produce conditions at the Sun's center, where matter is annihilated and exists in a negative state; similarly with space. Spectrum analysis was used in these experiments, but for 'true' results, the spectroscope would need to be modified." On electricity, Steiner told them," We do not know electricity, except by its effects.... In origin, it is an astral force." The Schiller File is an important resource for those who wish to better understand how to approach and practice natural science from the perspective of spiritual science. Includes an extensive index. The Schiller File is a translation of Beitrage zur Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe Veroffentlichungen aus dem Archiv der Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach, Switzerland.

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.

THIS 84 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, by Rudolf Steiner. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766107728.

THIS 130 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Four Mystery Plays, by Rudolf Steiner. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 076610740X.

This is a NEW (2010) easy-to-read translation by ancient languages scholar Dr. A. Nyland and is NOT one of the many Public Domain translations of Enoch NOR IS IT A REWORDED PUBLIC DOMAIN VERSION of Enoch. Great advances which have been made in ancient word meaning in the last twenty years were unknown to the translators of the public domain versions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are copious background notes and cross references. This book is an easy to read translation with cross references and notes. Ideal for those interested in Theosophy Despite the current trend for non-translators to reproduce public domain versions (both as is and disguised by slight rewording) as a commercial venture, be aware that such public domain versions do not take advantage of recent scholarship. This new translation by Dr. A. Nyland contains all three books of Enoch: 1 Enoch (Also called The Ethiopic Book of Enoch) 2 Enoch (Also called The Slavonic Book of Enoch, The Secrets of Enoch). This volume contains the extended version of 2 Enoch, The Exaltation of Melchizedek. 3 Enoch (Also called The Hebrew Book of Enoch) Note that this is Dr. Nyland's translation and NOT a public domain work. 1 Enoch tells of the Watchers, a class of angel, who taught humans weapons, spell potions, root cuttings, astrology, astronomy, and alchemies. The Watchers also slept with human women and produced the Nephilim. For this, they were imprisoned and cast into Tartarus. This is also mentioned in the New Testament. In 2 Enoch, two angels take Enoch through the 7 heavens. This volume contains the extended version of 2 Enoch, The Exaltation of Melchizedek. In 3 Enoch, Enoch ascends to heaven and is transformed into the angel Metatron. This is about the Merkabah and is of interest to Kabbalists. People interested in Theosophy and Rosicrucianism will find this book invaluable. Dr. A. Nyland is an ancient language scholar and lexicographer who served as Faculty at the University of New England, Australia. Dr. Nyland is also the translator of "The Book of Jubilees," and "The Gospel of Thomas," among others. She is also the author of the Amy Stuart Mystery series.

1925. A priest in the Liberal Catholic Church, Van Der Leeuw's book is the outcome of a series of talks given to a group of students interested in the meaning and work of the Third Person of the Divine Trinity, He who in the Christian religion is called God the Holy Ghost. Contents First Section, The Holy Ghost as the Creator: The Holy Spirit a Neglected Chapter in Religious History; The Fire of Creation; The Rhythm of Life; The Divine Ritual; The Dynamic Universe; and Divine Alchemy. Contents Second Section, The Divine Mind: From Image to Archetype; The World of the Divine Mind; The Way of the Higher Mind; and Inspiration. Contents Third Section, The Mahachohan, the Representative of the Holy Ghost: The Paraclete and the Mahachohan; and The Lord of the Five Rays. Contents Fourth Section, The Motherhood of God. See other works available by this author from Kessinger Publishing.

In addition to the outer manifestation of Christianity as we know it from history, there exists a second, hidden stream of Christian thought and development, sometimes referred to as Esoteric Christianity or Rosicrucian Christianity. Displaying an intimate knowledge of his subject, Rudolf Steiner throws light on this once secret spiritual movement. But rather than relying on historical tradition or teaching, he presents wisdom and insight directly from the original metaphysical sources of esoteric Christian inspiration.

In these dynamic lectures, Steiner describes the influence of Christ's power throughout history, the workings of karma, the role of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, as well as the vital work of Christian Rosenkreutz and other historical figures such as Jeshu ben Pandira. This new edition -- indispensable for serious students of esotericism -- contains for the first time all 23 lectures and addresses of the original German collection. It features previously scattered, classic lectures such as "The Etherisation of the Blood", "Faith, Love, Hope" and "Cosmic Ego and Human Ego".

'Whatever turbulent outward events occur in the world, whatever form is taken by things seeking to work their way out of the depths of human evolution, we only really hearken to the true, underlying nature of these events ...if we observe the world from a spiritual perspective.' - Rudolf Steiner In seeking to heal the many social crises of our time, Rudolf Steiner urges us to turn away from 'fixed principles, theories or social dogmas' and to rediscover the real nature of the human being. This inner reality - that cannot be understood in materialistic or deterministic ways - is the only basis on which society can truly be founded. But it is not sufficient to speak of well-meaning ideas, he says, unless we are also active in working for change; change that begins with each of us. In 1919, a year marked by strong social and political upheavals, Steiner was deeply concerned with questions relating to society. Having published a book on the subject (Towards Social Renewal), he embarked on a major campaign to publicize his 'threefold' social ideas. In addition to public lectures, however, Steiner sought to deepen the subject in a series of talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society. These lectures, gathered in this volume, reveal the 'inner' or 'esoteric' aspects of the social question. They complement Steiner's very practical efforts to realize threefolding in the historical context of his time. Whilst Steiner's suggestions for social change may not seem self-evident to pragmatic thinking, they will strike a resonant chord in many who seek deeper answers to the social problems of our times - problems that politicians seem unable to remedy. Amidst the many themes tackled here, Steiner addresses the issue of nationalism as a retrograde tendency; the tasks of Central Europe and Britain in relation to the East; the incarnation of Ahriman in the West, and the historical incarnation of Lucifer in the third millennium BC.