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...

In two related studies, Peter Selg tracks the groundbreaking of the first Goetheanum on September 20, 1913, in the context of what is known as the "Michael movement," the primary active impulse brought by Rudolf Steiner in 1924, which explicitly indicates the anthroposophic movement and its official society.

The author shows the fundamental importance of this beginning in Dornach. He illuminates the fateful goal of the "School for Spiritual Science" through Rudolf Steiner's karma lectures, not only providentially in the sense that it involved individualities, but also with regard...

"This biography does not aim for completeness, but focuses on Rudolf Steiner's being, intentions, and journey--aspects that must not be obliterated by the many events, foundations, and people involved with Anthroposophy.... It wants to convey (to quote Emil Leinhas) 'the immense greatness and unique significance of this individuality who radiates out over the centuries.'" --Peter Selg (from the introduction)

To acknowledge and understand Rudolf Steiner's unique achievement and life's work, one must be able to accept that the founder and spiritual researcher of Anthroposophy was "a...

"It makes no sense to stop where Goethe stood. Yet we cannot progress unless we absorb Goethe deeply and allow ourselves to be wholly inspired by the impulses he brought into the world. This cannot be achieved as quickly as people today would like this to happen. There is nothing for it; anyone who was careless enough to live at the end of the nineteenth century must bear it."

--Rudolf Steiner, July 18, 1891

The first chapter of this volume looks at Rudolf Steiner's years in Weimar, beginning with his work at the Goethe Archives editing Goethe's scientific works. It was in...

"It makes no sense to stop where Goethe stood. Yet we cannot progress unless we absorb Goethe deeply and allow ourselves to be wholly inspired by the impulses he brought into the world. This cannot be achieved as quickly as people today would like this to happen. There is nothing for it; anyone who was careless enough to live at the end of the nineteenth century must bear it."

--Rudolf Steiner, July 18, 1891

The first chapter of this volume looks at Rudolf Steiner's years in Weimar, beginning with his work at the Goethe Archives editing Goethe's scientific works. It was in...

This third volume of Peter Selg's comprehensive presentation of Rudolf Steiner's life and work begins with Steiner's invitation to lecture in the Theosophical Society during the summer of 1900. From the outset of his theosophical involvement, Steiner was resolved to serve and develop the Western path to the spirit, traversed in full, conscious clarity of thought. He was therefore critical of the tendency to avoid the modern standards of a sound knowledge process in matters of spirituality and esotericism, and instead emphasized the importance of idealist philosophy as groundwork for...

On 1 June 1914, Rudolf Steiner spoke in Basel for the last time before the outbreak of World War I, and for the last time ever in all his lectures and writings about the Nathan soul and its relationship with the Mystery of Golgotha. This internal lecture, given only for members of the Anthroposophical Society, concluded a series of profound Christological reflections begun on September 20, 1913, at the laying of the foundation stone for the St. John's building (the first Goetheanum) in nearby Dornach and culminating (four weeks before the Sarajevo assassination that sparked the Great War) in...

When Rudolf Steiner embarked on the esoteric lessons of the First Class in the newly founded Esoteric School at the Goetheanum, he suggested that the School for Spiritual Science as an esoteric institution had, in the years preceding the Christmas Foundation Meeting of 1923, become estranged from its intrinsic task. This volume closely investigates those matters--to which Steiner referred only briefly--tracing the development of Rudolf Steiner's idea of the School in relation to the Michael community, which he first discussed at length in his lectures on karma, given in parallel to the First...