Notes written from memory by the participants and meditation verses by Rudolf Steiner (CW 266/3)

Beginning in January 1913, five days after the Anthroposophical Society was founded, this rich volume traces the esoteric work (and lack thereof) in the decade leading up to the reestablishment of the General Anthroposophical Society at the "Christmas Conference" (1923/1924) and the subsequent creation of the First Class, which replaced the Esoteric Section.

Part One, the largest section (Jan. 2, 1913-July 14, 1914), containing thirty-nine lessons in nineteen months, allows us to sense the...

18 lectures in Dornach, January 9 - February 22, 1920 (CW 196)

Click here to download and read lecture 14:
"The Metamorphosis of Feeling, Desiring, and Wanting" (Dornach, February 14, 1920)

In the vast range of Rudolf Steiner's lectures, jewels of all kinds lie hidden in plain sight, awaiting only our discovery of them. Such lectures contain a kind of wisdom not found anywhere else. And sometimes, as in What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times, they also have a translucency and conviction that makes them transformational.

In...

11 lectures, Aug. 28, 1923-Aug. 29, 1924 (CW 319)

"Rudolf Steiner's model of a spiritualized medicine could hold the key for the next growth phase in Western medicine, if it is to survive, flourish, and become consistently and deeply therapeutic instead of merely palliative." --Richard Leviton, author of Imagination of Pentecost: Rudolf Steiner & Contemporary Spirituality

Rudolf Steiner, a scientist by training, lectured and wrote, at different times on medical subjects and advised physicians on their work. His view of medicine was both...

10 lectures, Helsinki, April. 3-14, 1912 (CW 136)

In the architecture of Rudolf Steiner's great cosmological temple, this extraordinary course of lectures on spiritual beings forms the central pillar with other important texts such as the fourth chapter of An Outline of Esoteric Science (CW 13); The Spiritual Hierarchies and the Physical World (CW 136); and Inner Experiences of Evolution (CW 132). These works--outlining a revolutionary angelological cosmology--are at the heart of Steiner's mission to transform our understanding of the world by laying down a...

Notes written from memory by the participants and meditation verses by Rudolf Steiner (CW 266/2)

In this second of three volumes from Rudolf Steiner's early Esoteric School, we find a further deepening of spiritual practice and training. Steiner explains the requirements one must meet to become a serious student of esotericism. In addition, he gives directions--always emphasizing the increasing need for earnestness--for the transformation of the inner life, for the development of new spriritual forces and capacities, and for recognizing and overcoming the dangers that arise on a spiritual...

10 lectures, various cities, Jan.-Dec. 1913 (CW 150)

"By cultivating spiritual thoughts here on Earth we can provide nourishment for the dead.... When fields lie fallow, they produce no crops to feed humanity, and people may die of starvation. The dead cannot die of starvation, of course; all they can do is suffer when spiritual life lies fallow on Earth." --Rudolf Steiner


The founding of the Anthroposophical Society in 1913 marked a major change in Rudolf Steiner's work. Although Steiner had always been an independent spiritual researcher, the break...

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 analyzes the gulf between contemporary culture and science--which he says are characterized by "narrow-mindedness, ignorance and ineptitude"--and a scientific approach to the spirit. Steiner is clear about the shortcomings of his followers, mentioning past failures and a continuing tendency toward sectarianism and...

Rudolf Steiner's teachings of Christ--and in particular what he calls the "Christ impulse"--are unique. Christ, he says, is an objective universal force that exists independently of Christian churches and creeds, working for all humanity. The impulse that Christ brought to Earth acts to advance all people, irrespective of religion, creed, or race. Speaking in Berlin while still a representative of the largely Eastern-oriented Theosophical Society, Steiner presents multifaceted perspectives on the Christ impulse based on his independent spiritual research--from the vast cycles of time that...

By "mantric sayings," Rudolf Steiner means content given by the spiritual world to be absorbed and experienced in meditation. Thus the volume contains intuitive insights received "from the spiritual world" and, as such, the vehicle to return us to it. The meditations were often given personally to others for general use, as well as for specific situations or needs such as healing and strengthening, in relation to those who had died, or for anthroposophic work. In other words, these short texts are to be performed--to be experienced. In this sense, they are directive--enjoining us to "Do this...

Rudolf Steiner understood that the history of art is a field in which the evolution of consciousness is symptomatically and transparently revealed. This informal sequence of thirteen lectures was given during the darkest hours of World War I. It was a moment when the negative consequences of what he called the age of the consciousness soul, which began around 1417, were made most terribly apparent. In these lectures he sought to provide an antidote to pessimism. After describing the movement of consciousness from Greece into Rome, coupled with influences from the Orthodox East, he showed how...