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In a private conversation on his deathbed, Rudolf Steiner informed
his friend Count Polzer-Hoditz of three spiritual problems that
would need to be resolved in the coming years: 'Firstly, the
question of the two Johns [John the Baptist and John the
Evangelist]. Secondly: Who was Dmitri? Thirdly: Where did Caspar
Hauser come from?' Tackling these issues, said Steiner, would be of
critical importance for humanity's future. He added: 'In all three
problems it is important that one's gaze is directed not towards
death but towards birth. Where did they come from and with what
tasks?' In Dmitri's case, Steiner emphasized that the most
important thing was to discover what was to have been achieved
through him. --- Utilizing the significant clues left by Rudolf
Steiner, Sergei O. Prokofieff takes on the second of these tasks,
the great unsolved mystery of Russian history. Tsarevich Dmitri,
the son of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, was tragically murdered as a
young boy. Later, he was impersonated by a series of rogues and
pretenders. Prokofieff's wide-ranging study integrates historical,
psychological and spiritual-scientific perspectives to work towards
the truth behind Dmitri's brief life, his mission and the
distortions created by the 'false Dmitris'. He also examines the
significance of Friedrich Schiller's unfinished play, Demetrius.
During the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society as the
General Anthroposophical Society at Christmas 1923/24, Rudolf
Steiner also reconstituted, as the School of Spiritual Science, the
Esoteric School he had led in three classes from 1904 to 1914, at
the same time extending its scope by adding artistic and scientific
Sections. However, owing to his illness and later death in March
1925, he was only able to make a beginning by establishing the
First Class and the Sections. The actual step from the Esoteric
School to the School of Spiritual Science was nevertheless an
exceptional one. The Esoteric School from Helena Blavatsky's time
had been secret. Its existence was known only to those personally
invited to participate. In contrast, the existence of the School of
Spiritual Science was stated openly in the public statutes of the
General Anthroposophical Society. From the Christmas Conference
onwards, Rudolf Steiner worked within this publicly acknowledged
framework. The Class Lessons comprise a complete spiritual course
of nineteen fundamental lessons given between February and August
1924, several lessons given at other locations, and seven further
lessons from September 1924 which take up the themes of the first
part of the nineteen lessons in a modified form. This authentic,
accurate and high-quality bilingual edition - with English and
German texts printed side by side - is published in conjunction
with the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum. A compact
four-volume clothbound set, it features plates with Rudolf
Steiner's handwritten notes of the mantras and reproductions of his
original colour blackboard drawings. The translations of the
mantric verses have been reworked by a committed group of
translators, linguists and editors, expressing subtleties of
meaning, grammatical accuracy and poetic style whilst retaining the
original sound and metre of the German mantric forms. Three
versions of the existing English translations are also included.
Underlying Sergei O. Prokofieff's life's work was a fundamental
research-theme to which he returned to repeatedly: the
individuality of Rudolf Steiner as manifested through his past
incarnations on Earth. Beginning in 1982, inspired by a visit to an
exhibition on The Epic of Gilgamesh, Prokofieff planned a
full-scale spiritual biography with the intention of finding an
answer to the question: Who is Rudolf Steiner? In a sequence of
five past incarnations - as indicated by Steiner himself - and
culminating in the life of Rudolf Steiner, Prokofieff searched for
the inner thread between the six stages of this great,
all-encompassing life. His intention was to find not only the outer
connections in this sequence but also the deeper, more esoteric
stream that offers the key to the unique significance of this
individuality. In 1984, Prokofieff began to write the first chapter
about Rudolf Steiner's incarnation as Enkidu in Sumer. Sadly, many
obstacles in his path were to prevent him finalising the project.
However, the author returned to the book in his final months,
preparing a Preface that outlines its conception together with a
summary chapter on Rudolf Steiner's evolutionary journey. This
precious 'fragment' of a biography features valuable additional
material, including: a full introduction to the relationship of the
anthroposophical movement to other occult streams of esoteric
Christianity and their Masters; a detailed spiritual-scientific
interpretation of the Epic of Gilgamesh that establishes Rudolf
Steiner's connection with the being of Jesus of Nazareth, and an
exploration of Steiner's relationship to the Nathan soul, the Luke
Jesus child. Serious students of anthroposophy will welcome these
final writings from the pen of one of Rudolf Steiner's most
faithful and insightful disciples.
The heart of this volume comprises Rudolf Steiner's commentary on
the elemental forces that are responsible for our earthly nature as
human beings - forces that influence us through our membership of a
national or geographical group. When such elemental forces are not
recognised and understood, he states, they cause conflict and
chaos. However, Steiner indicates an important accompanying task
that calls upon each human being to develop individuality,
emancipating ourselves from the earthly influences underlying
national and racial groups.These great themes are framed by Rudolf
Steiner's pioneering research into the two major Northern
folk-poems, the Kalevala and The Dream Song of Olaf Asteson. The
former tells of the elemental spirits who created the conditions
for our earthly incarnation, whereas the Dream Song has to do with
the drama of excarnation - the journey of the human soul after
death. Linking these vast motifs is Steiner's unique description of
the mission and tasks of the Russian people and the contrast of
their destiny to the North American people (who, he says, are
'dominating the Earth for a brief period of increasing splendour').
Steiner explains how elemental beings, responsible for the balance
of land and sea, have created conditions where various peoples are
enabled to develop their gifts and fulfil their destinies. Thus he
speaks of Finland as the ancient conscience of Europe, Russia as
the future bearer of the Christ-imbued Spirit Self, and the
differing but complementary environments of Germany and Britain.
Strikingly, he states that, 'no souls on Earth love one another
more than those living in Central Europe and those living in the
British Isles'. Rudolf Steiner also speaks of the necessary work of
luciferic and ahrimanic beings that collaborate to enable the solid
spatial forms of our physical bodies. Likewise, they influence our
etheric and astral bodies, facilitating thinking, feeling and will
to be imbued with life and consciousness.
The late nineteenth-century was an era of contrasts. On the one
hand, philosophical materialism was increasing its influence over
science. On the other, there was a growing social awareness and
quest for spiritual values. Karl Koenig explores the personal
stories of twenty-nine pioneers whose work and experiences helped
shape that era. They include artists and writers, social reformers,
philosophers and political activists, and scientists. He considers
how they responded as individuals to the challenges of the changing
world around them. His insights and conclusions are relevant for us
today, as we face our own time of change and upheaval. The
biographies include Helen Keller (1880 1968), Samuel Hahnemann
(1755 1843), Sigmund Freud (1856 1939), Lou Salome (1861 1937),
Gustav Mahler (1860 1911), Charles Darwin (1809 1882) and Adolf von
Hildebrand (1847 1921).
'He [Harwood] is the sole Horatio known to me in this age of
Hamlets...' - C. S. Lewis, from Surprised by Joy --- Cecil Harwood
(1898-1975) - lecturer, Waldorf teacher, writer, editor and
anthroposophist - pioneered and developed the first Rudolf Steiner
(Waldorf) school in the United Kingdom (the New School in London,
now Michael Hall School in Sussex). He also led the
Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain for some 37 years. In
1922, at the age of 24, Harwood attended a festival of English folk
song and dance in Cornwall, alongside his life-long friend Owen
Barfield. It was here - and not in the academic citadel of Oxford
University, where they were both part of the literary circle known
as the Inklings - that Harwood and Barfield were to encounter the
work of Rudolf Steiner through meeting Daphne Olivier. Sun King's
Counsellor provides an intricate picture of the human connections,
cultural movements and spiritual background that contributed to
what came together in Cornwall in 1922, leading to Harwood's life's
work. Featuring a colour plate section and full index, it documents
Harwood's early years and antecedents, marriages to Daphne Olivier
and Margaret Lundgren, friendships with Barfield and C.S. Lewis,
his life-changing meeting with anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner,
teaching and educational work, and Harwood's critical role in
healing divisions within the Anthroposophical Society. Based on
extensive research of primary sources, Blaxland-de Lange's
biography reveals the multi-faceted, flexible and sacrificial
nature of this unique personality. Alfred Cecil Harwood - he
preferred 'Cecil' instead of Alfred, with its meaning of 'wise
counsellor' - began his career with the hope of becoming a writer,
and had neither the intention nor ambition to become a teacher or
the head of a national organization. Yet he became both an
exemplary teacher and leader, as well as a celebrated author,
editor, translator and lecturer.
Karl Koenig meditated intensely on the 52 weekly verses of Rudolf
Steiner's Calendar of the Soul. He often encouraged his colleagues
to find inner strength from the verses, and wrote this book as a
guide for them, drawing out the patterns through the course of the
year. There are also some lecture notes and additional essays. This
book will be a useful and inspiring guide for anyone who wants to
fully understand and experience Steiner's Calendar. There is also a
separate complementary book, An Inner Journey Through the Year,
which contains Koenig's 52 colour sketches based on the Calendar of
the Soul.
'Barfield towers above us all... the wisest and best of my
unofficial teachers.' - C.S. Lewis --- 'We are well supplied with
interesting writers, but Owen Barfield is not content to be merely
interesting. His ambition is to set us free from the prison we have
made for ourselves by our ways of knowing, our limited and false
habits of thought, our "common sense".' - Saul Bellow --- Owen
Barfield - philosopher, author, poet and critic - was a founding
member of the Inklings, the private Oxford society that included
the leading literary figures C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles
Williams. C.S. Lewis, who was greatly affected by Barfield during
their long friendship, wrote of their many heated debates: 'I think
he changed me a good deal more than I him.' Simon Blaxland-de
Lange's biography - the first on Owen Barfield to be published -
was written with the active cooperation of Barfield himself who,
before his death in 1997, gave numerous interviews to the author
and shared a large quantity of his papers and manuscripts. The
fruit of this collaboration is a book that penetrates deeply into
the life and thought of one of the most important figures of the
twentieth century. It studies the influences on Barfield by the
Romantic poet Coleridge and the philosopher Rudolf Steiner (founder
of anthroposophy), and elaborates on Barfield's profound personal
connection with C.S. Lewis. The book also features a biographical
sketch in his own words (based on personally conducted interviews),
and describes Barfield's strong relationship with North America and
his dual profession as a lawyer and writer. This updated edition
features vital new material including Barfield's own 'Psychography'
from 1948 and an illustrative plate section.
Our world today is increasingly characterized by speed, movement
and flux. There is often a lack of sufficient time to do 'what
needs to be done', and life seems to be marked by change, upheaval
and revolution. But in the midst of this turmoil, say the authors,
people are having conscious and semiconscious experiences of the
etheric world - the world that comprises the forces of life.
However, this growing sensitivity to the etheric realm only
intensifies experiences of movement and upheaval. To counter such
feelings, we should take hold of our inner life and strengthen the
'I' - our true self. Featuring essays supplemented with a
substantial amount of source material from Rudolf Steiner and other
authors, this book is an invaluable resource for inner development
and the beginnings of true spiritual vision. We learn to practise
the ability to add to every physical perception - whether of stone,
plant, animal or another person - the etheric reality associated
with that entity. This process leads us to become more aware of the
'after-image' and to become conscious within the etheric realm.
Baruch Urieli comments that this 'is not an esoteric path but is,
rather, an endeavour to bring the beginnings of a natural
consciousness of the etheric to full consciousness and, hence,
under the rulership of the ego'.
Kaspar Hauser was a young man who appeared on the streets of
Nuremberg in Germany in the early nineteenth century. His innocence
and mysterious background captured the hearts of many at the time.
2012 marks the 200th anniversary of Kaspar Hauser's birth. This
timely book draws together Karl Koenig's thoughts on the enigma of
Kaspar Hauser, as well as exploring Koenig's deep connection to the
young man. The book includes Koenig's essay 'The Story of Kaspar
Hauser', as well as essays from Peter Selg on 'Koenig, Wegman and
Kaspar Hauser' and Richard Steel on how Koenig spoke of Kaspar
Hauser in his diaries, notes and letters.
'Anyone who takes hold of what we call spiritual science, not with
purely abstract thoughts but with his whole being, will see that
this spiritual science goes right into the dexterity of the hands,
that it makes a person more capable and enables him to extend his
interest over wider areas and his will over a wider world.' -
Rudolf Steiner Returning from travels in war-torn Europe, Rudolf
Steiner gives a stark impression of the disastrous conditions of
the time, encouraging deeper esoteric work as a counter to the
world-situation. Speaking under the broad theme of human
development in the light of anthroposophy, he analyses the gulf
between contemporary culture and science - which he says are
characterized by 'narrow-mindedness, philistinism and ineptitude' -
and a scientific approach to the spirit. At the same time, Steiner
is clear-sighted about the shortcomings of his followers,
mentioning past failures and a continuing tendency towards
sectarianism and dogmatic judgements. Rudolf Steiner discusses how
we experience a state of separateness with the world through our
physical form, whilst our aura - or soul-spiritual being - is
already living actively in cosmic surroundings. A conscious
crossing of the threshold into the spiritual world is urgent and
necessary today, although Steiner warns of the dangers inherent in
certain eastern and western approaches. The tendency of initiates
of the Orient is to abandon the human race, whilst the American
impulse is immersed too strongly in physical, bodily nature. And a
potential demonic influence works through technology. However, a
spiritual-scientific path of knowledge and development can allow us
to navigate through these challenges. Other themes featured
include: the threefold Sun Mystery of ancient times; the Mystery of
Christ Jesus and the threefold being of man; the human limbs as
thoughts of the higher hierarchies; the loss of the spiritual
knowledge of the old Mysteries; the gulf between idealism and
realism; the formation of language from Cosmic Intelligence; the
Pythagorean School and the mendacity of the world at that time; the
disintegration of words after death; the twelve senses; the
spiritual impact of old people's death on the physical Earth; and
the impulse of socialism. The wealth of spiritual thoughts and
knowledge presented in these lectures remain as relevant today as
they did when the they were first delivered. 9 lectures, Dornach,
Aug. - Sept. 1918, CW 183
'Anyone who embarks upon the study of anthroposophy will soon
recognise that the mystery of the human ego lies at its very heart.
This mystery is one of the central questions of anthroposophical
Christology and at the same time forms one of the most difficult
cognitive challenges presented by anthroposophy.' - Sergei O.
Prokofieff. The question of the true nature of the human 'I' or
individuality is one of the key issues of our time, but it is also
one of the most complex riddles of existence. This booklet doesn't
give simple answers but adds perspectives that deepen the theme,
offering a picture of its manifold mysteries. In three great
panoramas, the author develops central aspects of the topic,
beginning with the threefold nature of human individuality,
followed by an illumination of the cosmic dimension of the ego, and
finally an encapsulation of the significance of the earthly ego.
With his usual thoroughness and clarity, Sergei O. Prokofieff
throws light on one of the fundamental questions of our time.
In our everyday lives, we are constantly challenged by the
phenomenon of evil in all its many manifestations. But how can we
cope with this seemingly eternal hindrance? In the first of these
three essays, Sergei Prokofieff suggests that we start by
developing a knowledge of the forces of evil in order to learn how
they work in human evolution. Such knowledge is, in itself, the
beginning of the process of overcoming evil. In order that members
of the Anthroposophical Society might go further along this path,
Rudolf Steiner gave them the spiritual 'Foundation Stone of the
Good'. This Foundation Stone - which consists of light, imaginative
form, and the substance of love - can live in our hearts and souls
as a firm foundation for esoteric work, and a creative contribution
towards the overcoming of evil. Ultimately it can lead us to a
conscious experience of Christ in the etheric realm of the earth.
In the second and third essays, Prokofieff examines further themes
relating to the etheric advent of Christ, and its connection with
the Foundation Stone of the Good.
In ancient times humanity possessed an innate knowledge of the
spiritual foundations of existence. Such knowledge could be
acquired through inwardly accompanying the cycle of the year and
its connected great seasonal festivals. But this instinctive
knowledge had to be lost in order for human beings to discover
individual freedom. In our time, as Sergei O. Prokofieff
demonstrates in this comprehensive work, '...this knowledge must be
found anew through the free, light-filled consciousness of the
fully developed human personality'. Tracing the spiritual path of
the yearly cycle, Prokofieff penetrates to the deeper esoteric
realities of the seven Christian festivals of Michaelmas,
Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Whitsun and St John's Tide.
Basing his research on the work of the twentieth-century initiate
Rudolf Steiner, he reveals how these festivals are spiritual facts
that exist independently of religious traditions and cultural
customs. Working with the festivals in an esoteric sense can
provide a true path of initiation, ultimately enabling an
experience of the Being of the Earth, Christ. The journey of study
through this book can thus lead the reader to an experience of the
modern Christian-Rosicrucian path, along which '...it is possible
to take the first steps towards life in partnership with the course
of cosmic existence'.
The Mystery of the Resurrection approaches the deepest mysteries of
the Turning Point of Time through Rudolf Steiner's spiritual
research. At its heart stands the question of the restoration of
the 'phantom' of the physical body, and its transformation into the
resurrected body of Christ through the Mystery of Golgotha. The
author draws a broad and differentiated picture of the tasks and
possibilities that the Easter event, as well as Ascension and
Whitsun, present - both for the individual and humanity. The final
chapter considers the mystery of Easter Saturday, through which the
two polar aspects of the Mystery of Golgotha - death and
resurrection - interconnect, at the same time explaining the
relationship of the Earth Spirit to the interior of the Earth. An
appendix tackles the phenomenon of stigmatization from a
spiritual-scientific perspective.
Karl Koenig meditated intensely on the 52 weekly verses of Rudolf
Steiner's Calendar of the Soul. During his time in internment on
the Isle of Man, he made these 52 naive, artistic sketches to
accompany each verse. This is a wonderful way to experience an
important spiritual tool. There is also a separate book by Karl
Koenig, The Calendar of the Soul, which is a complementary text
commentary on Steiner's Calendar.
Saved by good fortune from the flames that engulfed the first
Goetheanum, Rudolf Steiner's wooden sculpture of the Christ - 'the
Representative of Humanity' - standing between the adversary forces
of Lucifer and Ahriman, remains intact and on display, although
unfinished, to this day. Unique in the history of art, the
Sculptural Group was deeply connected to Rudolf Steiner's inner
being. The great Christian initiate even died by its side, having
made efforts to work on the sculpture just days before he crossed
the threshold. The essential source from which this work was
created, says Sergei Prokofieff, '...lay in Rudolf Steiner's ego,
in his spirit...It was only out of this intuitive connection of his
own ego with the Christ Being that he was able to create this work
of art.' Beginning with the Sculptural Group's early history, and
Steiner's collaboration on its creation with Edith Maryon,
Prokofieff enters into deeply esoteric perspectives, studying the
artwork's relationship with the mysteries of the Holy Grail, the
etherization of the blood, the Seventh Apocalyptic Seal, the Legend
of the New Isis, as well as the being Anthroposophia.
'We have shown how in the course of time the being who was present
in Elijah appeared again at the most important moments of human
evolution on Earth - appeared again so that Christ Jesus Himself
could give him the initiation he was to receive for the evolution
of mankind. For the being of Elijah reappeared in Lazarus-John -
who are in truth one and the same figure ...' Thus spoke Rudolf
Steiner in his 'Last Address' to members of the Anthroposophical
Society. This was his first and only indication of the connection
between John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. As Prokofieff
points out, Steiner intended to develop and bring to full clarity
the short comment reproduced above, but his terminal illness
prevented him from doing so. In this brief but enlightening
booklet, Sergei O. Prokofieff addresses the mystery of the 'two
Johns', solving many unanswered questions. In particular, he throws
light on issues of 'incarnation and incorporation', the nature of
John the Baptist's and John the Evangelist's respective
initiations, the significance of their mutual work at the 'Turning
Point of Time', and its relevance to our present day.
2 lectures, Basel, Jan. 11 and Oct. 15, 1916 (CW 35) These lectures
offer an excellent introduction to some of the leading themes of
Anthroposophy. Steiner carefully corrects certain misunderstandings
that arose regarding his spiritual-scientific research, showing how
Anthroposophy has nothing to do with mysticism or spiritualism. Nor
is it merely a revival of ancient esoteric teachings. Rather,
Anthroposophy is a truly modern spiritual teaching for Western
humanity, building on the achievements of science and developing an
exact methodology for developing the investigation of spiritual
realities by awakening higher organs of perception.
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