The New Essential Steiner is an illuminating, completely new introduction to the philosophy and essential writings of Rudolf Steiner, introduced and edited by Robert McDermott, who also edited the now-classic Essential Steiner. This new volume offers selections from a wide variety of Steiner's published works, presenting a broad, accessible overview of Anthroposophy.

In his introduction, McDermott recounts Steiner's life and work, from his childhood and education to his work as a natural scientist, philosopher, scholar, educator, artist, interpreter of culture, and...

The path of an individual human life, our biography, is a kind of mystery. Despite the abundance of published biographies and autobiographies of celebrities and historical figures, scientific study of human biography remains in its infancy, with little understanding of the inherent laws in the path of an individual's life. Yet as Rudolf Steiner shows here, every biography--regardless of one's place in life or a person's perceived importance or success--is ruled by archetypal influences, patterns and laws.

This broad-ranging anthology addresses critical and still-unanswered questions:...

Art, always a daughter of the Divine, has become estranged from her parent.... We should not mock scientific materialism and naturalistic art. These have their place in human culture. But the starting point for a new life of art can come only through direct stimulation from the spiritual realm. We must become artists, not by developing symbolism or allegory, but by rising, through spiritual knowledge, more and more nto the spiritual world. --Rudolf Steiner

In these lectures, Steiner offers insights into architecture, sculpture, painting, drama, costuming, music, poetry, and...

From the ancient British tales of King Arthur and his knights through the medieval Central European sagas of Parzival, and right up to today's blockbuster novels and films, the Grail has maintained an enigmatic presence in Western culture. It is thought to be many things: a lost and priceless treasure, the chalice cup of the Last Supper, the cup that caught Jesus Christ's blood from the cross on Golgotha, and even a secret royal bloodline.

Basing his presentations on far-reaching spiritual research, Rudolf Steiner gave profoundly esoteric, multifaceted insights into the mysteries of the...

7 lectures, various cities, April 17-May 26, 1914 (CW 154)

What is the relationship between those who have died and those who remain alive on earth? Can we help those now in the spiritual world? Can they help us?

In these talks, Rudolf Steiner deals with the spiritual relationships that the living can have with those who have crossed over the threshold between life and death. In a realistic, practical way, he shows how an understanding of our spiritual nature reveals ways of knowing a world undreamed of by materialists.

The tone of these talks is warm and...

"Es ist doch nicht immer das Richtige, dass man sagt, wenn einer krank ist, soll man ihn in die Apotheke schicken, da wird er die richtige Medizin finden, die er braucht. - Das Richtige wird sein, das ganze Leben so einzurichten, dass die Menschen überhaupt weniger von Krankheiten befallen werden oder dass die Krankheiten weniger drückend sind." (Rudolf Steiner)§§Rudolf Steiner entwickelt in diese

Erkenne dich selbst, so lautete die Aufforderung an denjenigen, der nach höheren Erfahrungen strebte, schon im antiken Griechenland. Die Auseinandersetzung mit sich selbst ist das Eingangstor zu jeglicher Erkenntnis, die über den eigenen Standpunkt hinausführt. §Ob man vom Doppelgänger, vom Hüter der Schwelle oder vom eigenen Schatten spricht, die Selbsterkenntnis gehört zu den tiefsten und erschü

Zum wirklichkeitsgemen Umgang mit Ideen und Initiativen gehrt, den richtigen Zeitpunkt ihrer Verwirklichung abwarten zu knnen. In innerer, geistiger Bettigung knnen unsere Ideen und Initiativen sogar von den Gttern getauft werden.