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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > Post-renaissance syncretist / eclectic systems > Theosophy & Anthroposophy
'Because I felt that he knew how things were, I said simply:"I will
stay with you." Then he said significant things to me that I was
not to repeat. A very ancient karma existing between him and myself
was renewed. It was not until many years later that I first
realised the significance of that meeting.' - Ita Wegman Ita Wegman
was one of Rudolf Steiner's most important co-workers,
collaborating with him principally in the field of Medicine -
co-authoring the key book Extending Practical Medicine and heading
the Medical Section of the School of Spiritual Science. In the
background to that external work, however, was an esoteric
connection. In this seminal work of karma research, the authors
attempt, sensitively and with responsibility, to shed light on that
spiritual and karmic history. Written for members of the
Anthroposophical Society, this book is a profound study of a series
of different incarnations linked to the figures of Ita Wegman and
Rudolf Steiner. Spread over six disparate lifetimes, they range
from Gilgamesh and Eabani (Enkidu) in Uruk, ancient Chaldea, to the
Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, the twentieth-century setting
of the world centre of anthroposophy. Based on copious historical
research, verbal statements and not a little spiritual insight,
this rare and valuable work, reprinted here for the first time,
features many illustrations and facsimiles of documents and
personal letters.
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.
Even within the Anthroposophical Society and movement, people's
relationship to Rudolf Steiner is weakening and dissipating. This
is problematic, says Prokofieff, as the future of both the Society
and movement is dependent on a sufficient number of people aspiring
to and realizing a true spiritual connection with anthroposophy's
founder, Rudolf Steiner. Prokofieff deals in detail with the issues
surrounding this concern, and asks the question, "Can one be an
anthroposophist without being Rudolf Steiner's pupil?" In the
second part of this book Prokofieff elaborates on the mysteries
surrounding the laying of the spiritual Foundation Stone at the
Society's Christmas Meeting of 1923-24. This event, he suggests,
ensured that a personal relationship to Rudolf Steiner "would not
remain within the realm of the generally abstract or intellectual,
but would become a real inner deed". Thus Rudolf Steiner gave each
of us the possibility of connecting with him by way of free inner
work on the Foundation Stone. Both parts of this book are
integrally linked in the sense that once a relationship to Rudolf
Steiner is established, an inner longing to work with the new
Mysteries will inevitably follow. In Prokofieff's words: "...the
will to take the foundation of the New Mysteries seriously leads to
a real, inner connection with Rudolf Steiner". Also included is an
important essay that assesses the difficulties connected with the
recent digital publication of Rudolf Steiner's most important
esoteric texts, as well as the occult background to the internet
and electronic media as a whole. In response to readers' questions
as to how one might counteract the damaging consequences of these
developments, the author has expanded and developed his original
essay on the subject.
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