The twelve holy nights between Christmas and Epiphany, the 6th of January, are a wonderful time of year for spiritual meditation and deepening. In ancient Norwegian folk legend, in the darkness of winter, Olaf Asteson experienced an initiation into the great secrets of existence. His experience helped him to shoulder responsibility for his task here on earth, and gave him renewed vision and decisiveness. Frans Lutters has led many workshops on this theme, and his insights are collected in the commentary and meditations in this book, alongside the text of the Dream Song. Working with the sacred nights provides an inspiring opportunity to start the new year with revitalised consciousness and enthusiasm.

The Waldorf education system has a unique structure which allows for a deeper, more thoughtful learning environment. Often students study a single subject for three, four, or five weeks, which is quite different to standard approaches to education where subjects can be switched every 45 minutes. This immersion into a single subject helps students develop a more in-depth understanding of the topic. Drawing on his decades of teaching experience, Frans Lutters outlines the positive impact of block or immersion learning, describing the practice in detail and considering its effectiveness. He explores how the subject can then be carefully crafted to meet the age and developmental phase of the students. This is an insightful guide for teachers looking to understand the benefits of block learning in the classroom for child development.

The idea for the Harry Potter books came to Joanne Rowling while she was travelling on a train in 1990. She says that she was not looking for magic and sorcery, but that magic and sorcery sought her out. This prompted Frans Lutters, an experienced Waldorf teacher, to ask: who really is Harry Potter, and where did he come from? Lutters explores the archetypes of the seven books, including Harry and Dumbledore. He draws on his deep knowledge of esoteric and classical thinking to find comparable characters, and draws parallels to Parsifal, Mani, Michael and Ahriman. This thought-provoking little book looks beyond the glitter of the movies and the hype and revisits the storytelling power of these popular books.

The seven liberal arts -- of grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy -- formed the basis of an education in classical antiquity, such as Ancient Greece. The objective was not so much the acquisition of knowledge, but the development of virtues. In the Middle Ages, Charlemagne established schools throughout his European courts based on the same principles. Teachers at those schools included noteworthy Knights of the Grail, as well as monks from Britain and Ireland. This fascinating book explores the structure of this unique educational approach, one which modern Waldorf schools are working to transform for the modern age. A comprehensive work of research, richly illustrated, the book offers ideas and insight for both teachers and parents, alongside an inspiring vision of future educational work.

This surprising book originated from a reported comment by Rudolf Steiner to the founder of the first Waldorf School. Emil Molt, in which Steiner indicated that Emil Molt had a karmic connection with Emperor Charlemagne, who founded the Holy Roman Empire in the ninth century. Charlemagne also had the remarkable initiative of founding schools in his empire in which teaching took place in the local vernacular -- public schools, in many ways. He did this at a time when schools existed only in monasteries and all teaching was in Latin. It was unheard of to teach the common people. Secular people, even kings and princes, usually could not read or write. The author spent over twenty-five years researching the biographies of the principal individuals who implemented Charlemagne's school movement, including the leader of the school at his court, Alcuin. He then perceives fascinating parallels between the biographies of these people and those of the key individuals around Rudolf Steiner and Emil Molt, who made the first Waldorf School possible. In the process he evokes in the reader intriguing questions as to the working of karma in the Waldorf School movement, not only on an individual basis but also in world culture. In addition, throughout the book he explores Charlemagne's connection with the Grail mysteries, especially because of the family relationship of Charlemagne's wife, Berta, with Titurel, the builder of the Grail Castle. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the spiritual/historical background of Waldorf Education.