Painting and drawing are key artistic expressions which play an important role in children's physical, emotional and spiritual development. This comprehensive teachers' manual provides a complete artistic curriculum for Classes One to Eight in Steiner-Waldorf schools (age six to fourteen). At each stage, the book demonstrates the skills that teachers can help children to develop. There are 280 practical exercises for teachers to use, and over 800 drawings and paintings as inspiring examples of artistic possibilities. The curriculum moves from free drawing, to guided colour exercises, to precise perspective drawing. The exercises draw on elements of the Steiner-Waldorf curriculum at appropriate ages, incorporating themes from fables and legends, the Old Testament, Norse mythology, animals, Ancient Greece and botany. Throughout, the author draws on art theory and shows that art is truly a universal language. The book is also suitable for adult self-study.

Using the events of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor as his backdrop, T.H. Meyer studies questions of reality, truth and evil, offering important new perspectives. He shows that Anglo-American political practice (influenced by secret societies such as Skull and Bones) is based on an ideology of polarity and conflict. Meyer offers instances of this tendency, encouraging what Huntington famously referred to as a 'clash of civilizations'. For example, a week before George Bush senior spoke in Congress about the need for a 'new world order', a 'humorous' cartoon map in the Economist divided the world's continents into religious and philosophical blocks, creating a new region called 'Islamistan'. In 1997, Brzezinski wrote openly of US geostrategic plans, stating that it would be hard to achieve such goals 'except in the circumstances of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat'. This, apparently, was granted with the events of 9/11, and the subsequent launch of a 'war on terror'. The immediate comparisons, led by George W. Bush, with Pearl Harbor demand a reassessment of the events of 1941. Meyer points to conclusive evidence which suggests that Roosevelt deliberately provoked the attacks and failed to pass on intelligence to US Navy chiefs. Could it be possible that certain members of the US elite likewise deliberately remained passive before 9/11? Why, only two weeks after the attacks, were celebrations held at CIA headquarters in which Bush profusely thanked the secret services '...on behalf of the American people'? In contrast to the divisive thinking and 'conflict-management' of leading representatives of the Anglo-American elite (inspired by a contorted reading of some basic insights of the philosopher Hegel), the author shows how the holistic approach of Rudolf Steiner and Mabel Collins offers a radical, alternative way to deal with polarities, leading to the overcoming of conflict.

'If such authentic souls, such honest anthroposophists can be found ...then an upward movement and dynamic will arise. If such souls do not appear, then decadence will take its inexorable downward course...Today humanity stands before a great crisis: either it will see all civilization collapsing into the abyss, or else spirituality will raise civilization up by the power of the Michael impetus, through which the Christ impetus works, thus continuing, enriching and sustaining it.' In 1924, the final full year of his life, Rudolf Steiner gave a series of urgent, sometimes impassioned, talks to members of the Anthroposophical Society regarding their karma and its relationship to the culture of the time, referring in particular to the vital task of renewing civilization and preserving it from the threat of decline. Steiner's words characterize vividly a great spiritual battle, of forces gathering to fight for the soul of humanity itself. He presents a striking panorama in which anthroposophists are compelled to broaden their vision; to see true esoteric and exoteric anthroposophical work as a live yeast that can set all culture rising. To waken the members of the Society to the dimensions of their task, Steiner saw it as essential that they begin to understand the many different karmic threads from which the movement is woven. This recognition - of difference as much as unity - can give the strength of diversity which, if unconscious and unrecognized, leads easily to division. In the lectures and excerpts compiled here Steiner speaks of the unprecedented convergence of two specific groups of souls within the anthroposophical movement: the Platonists and the Aristotelians. In the karmic background lies a conflict of approaches, but the task today calls for a unity based on love and knowledge; to work with Michael and Christ in the face of Ahriman, materialism and the possibility of civilization collapsing into decadence. Given the challenges faced by humanity today, it has, perhaps, never been more urgent for those who ally themselves with Rudolf Steiner's work to study, absorb and take to heart the contents of this critically important material.

In this thoughtful book, Freya Jaffke describes festival celebrations in relation to child development in the first seven years. She considers in detail the main festivals throughout the year: Easter, Whitsun, St John's, starting school, harvest, Michaelmas, lantern time, birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and carnival. Drawing on many examples, she shows how we can celebrate festivals with children at home and in kindergarten in a meaningful way. Every festival is prefaced with a deeper contemplation for adults, before considering preparations with children, followed by the actual organisation of the festival -- with games, craft activities and decorations, stories, songs, poems and the seasonal nature table.

"The butterfly flutters above and over the earth, borne on the air and shimmering with light...We ought really to see them as nothing other than beings of light, joyous in their colours and the play of colours. All the rest is garment and luggage." - Rudolf Steiner Truly poetic and deeply esoteric, these lectures by Rudolf Steiner have been gathered here in a single volume for the first time, with an in-depth introduction that traces and explains the stages of butterfly metamorphosis. The emergence of the butterfly from its pupa is one of the most moving phenomena we can encounter in nature. In this creature's visible transformations, we can experience a revelation of spirit. The butterfly, says Rudolf Steiner, is "...a flower blossom lifted into the air by light and cosmic forces". It is a being that develops from and through light, via a process of incorporation and internalization. By gazing into the world of these special and rarefied creatures, we can intuit that they, "...ray out something even better than sunlight: they shine spirit light out into the cosmos".

Discover the art of eurythmy with this richly illustrated step-by-step guide. Eurythmy is a compelling method of bringing balance and harmony to our body, soul and spirit through a series of rhythmic body movements. For the first time, this unique book captures these gestures visually through dynamic photographs, which clearly demonstrate the core movements of eurythmy therapy. It has long been recognised that we can direct powerful physical and mental changes within ourselves through specific movements of our bodies, as stated by advocates of yoga and tai chi. The authors of this original book are experienced eurythmists, who describe and illustrate the core speech-sound exercises: vowel exercises, consonant exercises and soul exercises, which include love, hope and sympathy. This book is not a replacement for a qualified eurythmy therapist, but is intended as guidance and orientation for patients practising on their own, perhaps after a few initial sessions with a therapist, or for more experienced eurythmists.

Children need to experience nature, and gardening is a good way to encourage them to engage with the earth, plants and animals. Gardening classes, as taught in Steiner-Waldorf schools from Class 6 to Class 10, help children develop many important skills, including sensory perception and motor skills, as well as an understanding of ecology and agriculture. How can such a complex subject be taught well and effectively? In a clear structure -- which includes the history of school gardens, aspects of child development, and practical help on teaching methods, lesson planning for different age groups, and maintaining the garden itself -- Birte Kaufmann offers many useful tips and suggestions for new or developing gardening teachers.

'Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' Rudolf Steiner once called the Lord's Prayer the 'greatest initiation prayer', and he spoke about it many times, also referring to it as the central prayer of Christian experience. This book is, however, the first time that all of Steiner's comments, accounts and perspectives have been brought together in one place, presenting the full scope and depth of his ideas. Along the way, Peter Selg reveals some surprising insights into the spiritual history and mission of Christianity.

Maria Thun, a pre-eminent expert in biodynamic cultivation methods - sometimes referred to as "premium organic" - has here compiled over 100 of her best gardening tips based on 50 years' research. Find out: * how to produce abundant and tasty crops; * how special preparations can transform your soil and produce; * how the moon affects planting and growth; * the difference between 'root', 'leaf', 'blossom' and 'fruit' plants; * what the best storage methods are; and much more. Accompany the author on a journey through the seasons and discover lots of new tips and suggestions. There is a wealth of advice here for gardeners seeking to manage nature responsibly and successfully.

The concepts of 'thinking with the heart' or 'emotional intelligence' are often used today, usually in contrast to intellectual thought. When Rudolf Steiner used the phrase 'heart thinking', however, he meant it in a very specific sense. Drawn primarily from his lectures, the compiled texts in this anthology illuminate his perspective - that heart thinking is intimately related to the spiritual faculty of Inspiration. The heart, he says, can become a new organ of thinking through the practice of exercises that work towards the transformation of feeling, shedding its personal and subjective character.The exercise sequences presented here call for two fundamental gestures. Firstly, renunciation, which extends from an extinguishing of images engendered in meditation, through inner silence, to a conscious suppression of sense perception. The second gesture involves the development of new feelings towards natural phenomena as well as to the reports of spiritual-scientific research. By practising these methods, we can attain a kind of thinking that is in harmony with the true nature and reality of what we seek to know.Rudolf Steiner's texts are collected together by Martina Maria Sam, who contributes a lucid introduction and notes.

When a child is born parents feel on top of the world, but stress and exhaustion can soon take over, leaving nerves frayed. In this concise, practical book Christiane Kutik highlights twelve simple steps for bringing some peace, composure and enjoyment back into everyday family life. She bases her approach on providing a solid underlying structure to family life, with clear roles, rules, routine and respect. She goes on to show how your family can grow together through incorporating enjoyable rituals, being responsive to your children, giving them the support they need and the space to develop their own abilities. She discusses ways to introduce moments of calm and spiritual connection into everyday life. She also stresses the importance of parents trying to make a little time for themselves to reflect on life and relax. This is a book written specifically for parents with no time and little energy -- short, easy-to-absorb and easy-to-implement steps to quickly improve family life.

I believe, a time will come when greater distance makes the conflicts in the Anthroposophical Society - which at first sight seem so ugly - appear as part of the struggle for anthroposophy in the twentieth century. When this future dawns it will be important to be able to reach back to a historical documentation of what happened. - Emanuel Zeylmans Following the re-founding of the Anthroposophical Society at the Christmas Foundation Meeting in 1923, Ita Wegman, Rudolf Steiner's closest collaborator at the end of his life, became the object of intense opposition, systematic exclusion, and misunderstanding. This ostracism and misinformation continued after her death, kept alive by prejudice and untruths that created an atmosphere that made a clear and unbiased view of her role in Anthroposophy impossible. Because no real biography existed, even the open-minded and impartial found it difficult to make an informed judgment. This lack was filled by Emanuel Zeylmans' three-volume work, Who Was Ita Wegman? To write it, he researched 100 undated notebooks, 2,000 manuscript pages, and 6,000 letters. Sifting through these was an enormous labor. To reach the esoteric heart of "the Wegman question" took him twelve years. What he found was extraordinary and of paramount importance to anyone interested in Anthroposophy and the divisive karma of its history. In Ita Wegman and Anthroposophy, Wolfgang Weirauch of the German journal Flensburger Heft interviews Emanuel Zeylmans. Speaking candidly about the deepest aspects of his revelatory findings, Zeylmans describes how his passionate need unfolded to understand what happened both to Ita Wegman and Anthroposophy. He talks of meetings with those who knew her intimately. He tells of her collaboration with Rudolf Steiner and her fraught relations with Marie Steiner and Edith Maryon, both of whom also had special relationships with Steiner. He describes the Christmas Foundation Meeting and the conflicts that followed Steiner's death that led to Ita Wegman's expulsion from the Executive Council. Though this book will be of special interest to those who want to understand the history of the Anthroposophical Society, it would be a mistake to consider it a book about the past. It is a book about the future of Anthroposophy.

From 1933 to 1935, Ita Wegman was confronted by both Nazi fascism and internal crises in the General Anthroposophical Society. During those years, she traveled to Palestine in the fall of 1934 following a grave illness that nearly ended with her death. Her correspondence during this period, as well as her notes on the trip, reveal the great biographical importance to her of these travels and indeed the whole scope of her spiritual experiences in 1934. Ita Wegman had unambiguous perspectives and a uniquely clear view of both the political threat and her social-spiritual task during this period. There was, however, a radical change in her inner stance toward the opposition, aggression, and defamation she encountered within anthroposophic contexts in reaction to her intense, purely motivated efforts. She tried to live and work in true accord with her inner impulses and, ultimately, with Rudolf Steiner's legacy, especially within the anthroposophic movement. Doing so, she increasingly found her way to her own distinctive and uncompromising path. The author reveals the general nature of those three years-a period whose distinctive spiritual and Christological task and dramatic dangers Rudolf Steiner had foreseen in 1923: "If these men the Nazis] gain government power, I will no longer be able to set foot on German soil." Ita Wegman's efforts in 1933 to confront the dark powers of National Socialism and the convulsions in Dornach, which she experienced firsthand, as well as her subsequent illness and the clarity of her "Christological conversion" in 1934 to '35, reveal a very specific, intrinsically comprehensible and forward-looking quality whose spiritual signature is clearly prefigured in Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific predictions. In this book, Peter Selg focuses exclusively on Ita Wegman, her development, and her words, simply presenting the processes she went through and, implicitly, their extraordinary spiritual nature, without any attempt at interpretation. This focus arises from the governing premise that the mysteries of a great life such as that of Ita Wegman reveal themselves in the details. Tracing the subtle steps in her life allow us deeper insight into Ita Wegman's being. She herself wrote, "In general meetings or gatherings, people always understood me poorly because I lacked a smooth way of expressing myself. But people of goodwill always understood what I meant." This book was originally published in German as Geistiger Widerstand und Uberwindung. Ita Wegman 1933-1935 by Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 2005.

Unlike other Christian creeds, the creed of The Christian Community is not a statement of belief, but rather a series of assertions that act as a path to a deeper understanding of Christianity. Peter Selg offers an insightful and informative overview of how, in the time leading up to the founding of The Christian Community nearly one hundred years ago, Rudolf Steiner formulated both the creed itself and its founding principles. He also examines the history of Christian creeds including the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed and compares them to each other. Finally, he explores the ongoing significance of the creed for The Christian Community today.

Maria Krehbiel-Darmstadter (1892-1943), who was killed at Auschwitz, was a highly gifted pupil of Rudolf Steiner and a member of The Christian Community. Born into a Jewish family in Mannheim, she was deported to Gurs camp in the Pyrenees on October 22, 1940, where she survived harsh conditions and helped many of her fellow inmates. Following temporary sick-leave (under police supervision) in Limonest near Lyon, and a failed attempt to flee to Switzerland, she was brought to Drancy transit camp near Paris before being taken to Auschwitz. This book offers unique testimony of an individual rooted in esoteric Christianity and Spiritual Science who found sources of inner resistance during one of history's darkest periods. As the portrait of a highly ethical and sorely tried woman amid catastrophic conditions, it describes her existential efforts to summon powers of concentration, meditation, and dedication to others, showing how these continued to inform her outlook and actions to the very end. Polish Jews in Drancy referred to Maria Krehbiel-Darmstadter as Mere Maria. They experienced her distinctive spirituality and personal qualities and a profound religiosity that retained an inner connection with the Christian sacramental world, even in the most desolate circumstances. From Gurs to Auschwitwitz adds an important voice to literature on the Holocost and shines a light on the nature of spiritual, inner resistance during the dark years of World War II in Europe.

Today, illness is almost universally regarded as either a nuisance or a grave misfortune. In contrast to this conventional thinking, Rudolf Steiner places the suffering caused by disease in a broad vista that includes an understanding of karma and personal metamorphosis. Illness comes to expression in the physical body, but mostly does not originate in it, says Steiner, and thus a key part of the physician's work involves gaining insight into the whole nature of an individual - his essential core being. From this perspective, illness offers us the opportunity for deeper healing. Throughout this volume Rudolf Steiner draws our attention to the greater scope of the smallest phenomena - even a seemingly insignificant headache. He casts vivid light on things we normally take for granted, such as the human capacity to laugh or cry, and in the process broadens our vision of human existence. The apparently mundane human experiences of forgetting and remembering are intrinsic to our humanity, for example, and have unsuspected moral and spiritual dimensions. Steiner's insights are never merely 'lofty' or nebulously 'spiritual' but time and again connect with the minutest realities of everyday life. In these 18 lectures, delivered on a weekly basis as part of an ongoing course covering 'the whole field of spiritual science', Steiner elaborates in detail on the diverse interplay of the human being's constituting aspects (physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego or 'I') in relation to rhythmic processes, developing consciousness, the history of human evolution, and our connection with the cosmos. Within this broad canvas, some of his themes acquire a very distinctive focus - such as vivid accounts of the 'intimate history' of Christianity, 'creating out of nothing', the interior of the earth, and health and illness. Other topics include: the nature of pain, suffering, pleasure and bliss; the four human group souls of lion, bull, eagle and man; the significance of the Ten Commandments; the nature of original sin; the deed of Christ and the adversary powers of Lucifer, Ahriman and the Asuras; evolution and involution; the Atlantean period - and even Friedrich Nietzsche's madness!

`Be a person of initiative, and take care that the hindrances of your own body, or hindrances that otherwise confront you, do not prevent you from finding the centre of your being, where the source of your initiative lies. Likewise, you will find that all joy and sorrow, all happiness and pain, depend on finding or not finding your own individual initiative. - Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 4 August 1924 Rudolf Steiner urges those who feel the calling of the Archangel Michael to become people of initiative. The anthroposophist should be aware that, `... initiative lies in his karma, and much of what meets him in this life will depend on the extent to which he can become willingly, actively conscious of it.' In the second half of this inspiring lecture, Steiner describes how the being of Ahriman is able to work through the personal intellect of human beings today. As a consequence, we are called upon to be inwardly awake and vigilant at all times.

Goethe's poem, The Mysteries, and the twelve world views. Kant and world views. The development of Rudolf Steiner's research into Goethe's science, The Philosophy of Freedom, and his lectures on Human and Cosmic Thought,(1914) on the twelve world views. Phenomenalism: Look at and Listen to the World; Sensualism -Human Carnality; Materialism- 'Earth goes on standing firm.'; Mathematism - Measure, Number and weight; Rationalism: 'And behold, it was very good.' Idealism: the Logos that was at the beginning. Psychism: I am an I. Pneumatism : I am the Universe. Spiritualism - The Jacob's Ladder. Monadism - Universal relations. Dynamism - 'I am dynamite'. Realism - The World Scales. Humanus: the new human being in the third millennium. Study and Discussion

Delivered in the context of post-war cultural and social chaos, these lectures form part of Rudolf Steiner's energetic efforts to cultivate social understanding and renew culture through his innovative ideas based on `threefolding'. Steiner develops a subtle and discerning perception of how social dynamics could change and heal if they were founded on real insight into our threefold nature as individuals, social beings and economic participants in the world. He doesn't offer a programmatic agenda for change, but a real foundation from which change can organically grow. Social forms and reforms, says Steiner, are `created together', not imposed by lone geniuses. Nevertheless, the detail of some of the thoughts and ideas he presents here as a possible model - down to the economic specifics of commodity, labour, taxation, ground rent and capitalism itself - are staggering in their clarity and originality. This is no mystic effusion but a heartfelt plea, backed by profound insights, to change our thinking and the world we live in. As he points out, thoughts create reality, and so it is vital how and what we think. Among the many contemporary and highly-relevant topics Steiner discusses here are: the nature of money and capital; taxation and the state; free enterprise and initiative; capitalism and Marxism; the relationship between employer and employee; `added value' theory and the concept of commodity; and `class consciousness', the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

In the uncertainty following the end of the First World War, Rudolf Steiner perceived a unique opportunity to establish a healthy social and political constitution. He began lecturing throughout post-war Germany, often to large audiences, about his social ideas. Here, speaking to a more intimate grouping at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, Steiner seeks to deepen the themes of social threefolding, showing specifically how new social thinking is integral to anthroposophy. Steiner speaks of the superficiality of the materialistic view of history, originating with the economic shift amongst the population at the time of the Reformation. Back in Egyptian-Chaldean times, initiates ruled out of spiritual impulses. Later, in the Greco-Roman period, priests had power over their congregations. Today, homo economicus - or `economic man' - has become the dominant idea, with the capitalist and the banker taking control. But the healing of social relationships can only come about through different modes of thought; the life of spirit must be separated not only from politics but also from economics. True social understanding allows for comprehension of karma - the appreciation of each person's individual destiny. In parallel, says Steiner, we should work towards a global consciousness, as true social ideas are founded on people feeling themselves to be citizens of the world. In an important corollary, Steiner studies the incarnations of three significant spiritual beings in human evolution: Lucifer, Christ and Ahriman. Lucifer incarnated in the third pre-Christian millennium, Christ incarnated at the dawn of a new age, whilst an incarnation of Ahriman in the West is immanent. Ahriman is preparing this incarnation by insidiously promoting various ideas, for example that economic security is sufficient for healthy public life. A new wisdom must be achieved out of free human will, says Steiner, or else we will succumb to Ahriman.