Following the death of the Austrian philosopher and spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner in 1925, Ita Wegman - one of his closest esoteric pupils - began to publish regular letters to the members of the Anthroposophical Society. In Steiner's tradition, these letters were appended with 'leading thoughts' (or guiding principles). Esoteric Studies collects many of these 'letters to friends', together with various articles, reports and addresses by Ita Wegman on subjects such as the Christmas Foundation Conference, the Goetheanum building and the festival of Michaelmas. Featuring an informative foreword by Crispian Villeneuve and a commemorative study by George Adams, this book provides a fine introduction to the work of Ita Wegman, as well as a rousing call for courage and wakefulness in the spirit of the Archangel Michael!

This unique collection presents Ita Wegman's principal writings and lectures on the Mysteries - both the Mysteries of the ancient world to which she felt personally connected, and the spiritual science of anthroposophy, which she saw as the contemporary form of Mystery wisdom. The volume begins with Ita Wegman's firsthand account of Rudolf Steiner's final days and hours on earth - written immediately after his death in 1925 - followed by several of her powerful letters 'To All Members' and their related 'Leading Thoughts'. Various longer studies are featured, including her lecture 'A Fragment from the History of the Mysteries' - delivered at the opening of the second Goetheanum in 1928 - articles on Ephesus and the Colchian Mysteries, and personal impressions of Columba's Iona, the island of Staffa (with its initiatory Fingal's Cave), and Palestine, the land where Christ once walked the earth. These writings - several composed specifically for an English readership - bring us closer to the inner being of Ita Wegman, offering insight into her knowledge, vision and understanding of anthroposophy. Her stimulating ideas throw light on the transformation of the ancient Mysteries to anthroposophical knowledge and activity today.

Ita Wegman, born in 1876 to a Dutch family living in Indonesia, first met Rudolf Steiner in Berlin in 1902 when she was 26 years old. She studied medicine at the University of Zurich and in 1917, following Steiner's indications, developed a treatment for cancer using mistletoe. In 1921 she founded the first anthroposophical medical clinic, in Arlesheim, Switzerland, followed in 1922 by the Sonnenhof home for children with special needs. Karl Koenig first met Wegman in 1927, and she quickly recognized his great potential, as well as his weaknesses. She invited him to work at the Arlesheim clinic as her assistant, and encouraged and advised him in his medical work. This book includes the complete correspondence between Koenig and Wegman.

Written in 1925 (CW 27) In this classic introductory work on spiritual medicine, Rudolf Steiner worked in a unique literary collaboration with the physician Ita Wegman. Their aim was to revitalize the art of healing through spiritual knowledge--yet in so doing they did not underrate or dismiss modern allopathic medicine; rather, they illumined ordinary medicine beyond its materialistic outlook to a fuller realization of the human condition. As Ita Wegman wrote in her preface: "The aim was not to underestimate scientific medicine in an amateurish way; it was given full recognition. But it was important to add to existing knowledge the insights that can come from true perception of the spirit, enabling us to understand the processes of illness and healing." Today this new extension of practical medicine--generally called "anthroposophical medicine"--is used and valued by many physicians in numerous clinics around the world. Contents: Foreword by Dr. Michael Evans 1. Understanding the True Nature of Man as a Basis of Medical Practice 2. Why Do People Fall Ill? 3. The Phenomena of Life 4. On the Nature of the Sentient Organism 5. Plant, Animal, Man 6. Blood and Nerve 7. The Nature of Medicinal Actions 8. Activities in the Human Organism--Diabetes Mellitus 9. The Role of Protein in the Human Body and Proteinuria 10. The Role of Fat in the Human Organism and Deceptive Local Symptom Complexes 11. The Configuration of the Human Body and Gout 12. Development and Separating-off Processes of the Human Organism 13. On the Nature of Illness and Healing 14. The Therapeutic Way of Thinking 15. The Method of Treatment 16. Perceiving Medicinal Qualities 17. Perceiving the Nature of Substances as a Basis of Pharmacognosy 18. Eurythmy Therapy 19. Characteristic Illnesses 20. Typical Medicines This volume is a translation from the German of Grundlegendes fur eine Erweiterung der Heilkunst nach geisteswissenschaflichen Erkenntnissen (GA 27).

This is a new release of the original 1925 edition.

1925. This volume discusses an extension of the art of healing through spiritual knowledge. The authors had no thought of underrating the scientific medicine of their time. Their aim was to supplement the science already in existence by the illumination that can flow, from a true knowledge of the spirit, toward a living grasp of the processes of illness and of healing. Their purpose was to bring into new life, not the instinctive habit of the soul which still existed in the mysteries of ancient time, but a method of research corresponding to the fully evolved consciousness of modern man, which can be lifted into spiritual regions.

1925. This volume discusses an extension of the art of healing through spiritual knowledge. The authors had no thought of underrating the scientific medicine of their time. Their aim was to supplement the science already in existence by the illumination that can flow, from a true knowledge of the spirit, toward a living grasp of the processes of illness and of healing. Their purpose was to bring into new life, not the instinctive habit of the soul which still existed in the mysteries of ancient time, but a method of research corresponding to the fully evolved consciousness of modern man, which can be lifted into spiritual regions.

1925. This volume discusses an extension of the art of healing through spiritual knowledge. The authors had no thought of underrating the scientific medicine of their time. Their aim was to supplement the science already in existence by the illumination that can flow, from a true knowledge of the spirit, toward a living grasp of the processes of illness and of healing. Their purpose was to bring into new life, not the instinctive habit of the soul which still existed in the mysteries of ancient time, but a method of research corresponding to the fully evolved consciousness of modern man, which can be lifted into spiritual regions.

This volume discusses an extension of the art of healing through spiritual knowledge. The authors had no thought of underrating the scientific medicine of their time. Their aim was to supplement the science already in existence by the illumination that can flow, from a true knowledge of the spirit, toward a living grasp of the processes of illness and of healing. Their purpose was to bring into new life, not the instinctive habit of the soul which still existed in the mysteries of ancient time, but a method of research corresponding to the fully evolved consciousness of modern man, which can be lifted into spiritual regions.