"Als ich vor sechs Jahren die Werke Friedrich Nietzsches kennen lernte, waren in mir bereits Ideen ausgebildet, die den seinigen ahnlich sind. Unabhangig von ihm und auf anderen Wegen als er, bin ich zu Anschauungen gekommen, die im Einklang stehen mit dem, was Nietzsche in seinen Schriften: "Zarathustra," "Jenseits von Gut und Bose," "Genealogie der Moral" und "Gotzendammerung" ausgesprochen hat. Schon in meinem 1886 erschienenen kleinen Buche "Erkenntnistheorie der Goetheschen Weltanschauung" kommt dieselbe Gesinnung zum Ausdruck, wie in den genannten Werken Nietzsches. Dies ist der Grund,...

"An Outline of Occult Science" from Rudolf Steiner. Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist (1861-1925).

"Christianity As Mystical Fact" from Rudolf Steiner. Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist (1861-1925).

Rudolf Steiner approaches this spiritual-scientific task from two perspectives. In Kassel, Germany, he deepens insight into Theosophy and Rosicrucianism, showing their relationship to science and religion. Although presented as an "introduction," Steiner was never interested in simply providing information. His insights are fresh and with new illustrative examples. These lectures deepen and develop key elements found in his foundational written works. Also featured are the fascinating question-and-answer sessions from the Kassel lectures.

In a radical approach to understanding current affairs and history, Steiner presents a method of penetrating to the hidden causes and realities behind outer appearance. He tells us that contemporary life cannot be fully understood by an analysis restricted to external events. Deeper levels of meaning are revealed when we begin to view such events as symptoms. The causes of the symptoms (the reality behind them) are discovered on other levels of existence. Steiner demonstrates his "symptomatological" approach in these lectures, surveying some of the great developments in consciousness that...