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...
In a radical approach to understanding current affairs and history, Steiner presents a method of penetrating to the hidden causes and realities behind...
In what has been called "the most advanced course in Anthroposophy," Rudolf Steiner addresses one of the great questions of our time: the role of evil in human development. He speaks of the year 666, when three streams of time intersected--the familiar linear stream and two "lateral" streams--and the reoccurrence of the 666-year rhythm in history. At the heart of this mystery is the being Sorat ("the beast"), who attempted to flood humanity with premature spiritual knowledge by inspiring the scholars of the ancient Academy of Gondishapur. Although that academy was responsible for saving...
In what has been called "the most advanced course in Anthroposophy," Rudolf Steiner addresses one of the great questions of our time: the role of evil...
Amid the lies and propaganda of World War I, Rudolf Steiner struggled to convey the truths of the human spirit. The "truth" asserted by partisan interests, he suggests, is invariably tinged with dishonesty--whether by the outright mendacities of politicians and rulers (Steiner refers here to machinations of the British Empire), or by the manipulative techniques of secret societies intent on securing and shoring up their power. In relation to the secret societies, Steiner highlights how, whereas we tend to reject overt authority today, we also succumb more easily to its covert forms in the...
Amid the lies and propaganda of World War I, Rudolf Steiner struggled to convey the truths of the human spirit. The "truth" asserted by partisan inter...
"Large temptations will emanate from these machine-animals, produced by people themselves, and it will be the task of a spiritual science that explores the cosmos to ensure all these temptations do not exert any damaging influence on human beings." --Rudolf Steiner In an increasingly digitized world, where both work and play are more and more taking place online and via screens, Rudolf Steiner's dramatic statements from 1917 appear prophetic. Speaking of "intelligent machines" that would appear in the future, Steiner presents a broad context that illustrates the multitude of...
"Large temptations will emanate from these machine-animals, produced by people themselves, and it will be the task of a spiritual science that explore...
In seeking to heal the many social crises of our time, Rudolf Steiner urges us to turn away from "fixed principles, theories, or social dogmas" and to rediscover the true nature of the human being. This inner reality--which cannot be understood in materialistic or deterministic ways--is the only basis on which society can be truly founded. Nevertheless, Steiner tells us that it is not enough to speak of well-meaning ideas, unless we also actively work for change--change that begins with each of us. In 1919, a year marked by strong social and political upheavals, Steiner was deeply...
In seeking to heal the many social crises of our time, Rudolf Steiner urges us to turn away from "fixed principles, theories, or social dogmas" and to...
Speaking in the aftermath of World War I, Rudolf Steiner presents a series of extraordinary lectures on the power and mission of the Archangel Michael. He paints on a broad canvas--in the context of cosmic and human evolution--revealing Michael's tasks in the past, present, and future. Michael, originally the countenance of Yahweh, has transformed from a "night spirit" into a "day spirit." As "the Countenance of Christ," Michael helps us find a balance between luciferic and ahrimanic tendencies. The old dualism such as good versus evil, says Steiner, needs to be replaced by the trinity of...
Speaking in the aftermath of World War I, Rudolf Steiner presents a series of extraordinary lectures on the power and mission of the Archangel Michael...
n these exciting lectures given in 1922, Rudolf Steiner explores the practical consequences of Christian theological spiritual facts as they unfold in human consciousness. Starting with the early Gnostic understanding of the Christ event from within, Steiner shows how medieval theology reached an exoteric view of the spiritual world. It was this view that, coupled with the rise of abstract intellectuality, led to the separation of faith and knowledge that denied humanity access to suprasensory worlds. Using examples from Dionsyius the Areopagite, John Scotus Eriugena, Paracelsus,...
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n these exciting lectures given in 1922, Rudolf Steiner explores the practical consequences of Christian theological spiritual facts as th...
At the heart of this volume is Rudolf Steiner's commentary on the elemental forces responsible for our earthly nature as human beings--forces that influence us as members of a national or geographical group. When such elemental forces are not recognized and understood, he states, they cause conflict and chaos. Nonetheless, Steiner indicates, too, an important task that calls each of us to develop individuality emancipate ourselves from the earthly influences of national and racial groups.
These great themes are framed by Steiner's pioneering research into the two major Northern folk...
At the heart of this volume is Rudolf Steiner's commentary on the elemental forces responsible for our earthly nature as human beings--forces that ...
How are we connected to the world around us? This question, says Rudolf Steiner, is one that lives subliminally, drawing us into the depths of the psyche. There, our candle of consciousness tends to flicker and go out. But spiritual schooling can relight it, so that we learn to perceive realms of our being beyond the restricted self.
Rudolf Steiner was undertaking major lecture tours of Germany and England, but he managed to take the time to address his followers at the world center of Anthroposophy in Dornach, Switzerland. He spoke there on three major topics: "The Life...
How are we connected to the world around us? This question, says Rudolf Steiner, is one that lives subliminally, drawing us into the depths of the ...
This series of lectures on the science of spiritual knowledge begins by addressing an audience in Dornach, Switzerland, where only months earlier his architectural masterpiece, the first Goetheanum, had been destroyed by fire. He discusses the nature of our solar system, revealing the planets characterized by freedom and those that determine destiny. Spirits of the Moon live in seclusion, preserving "original wisdom" and reflecting powers connected to sexuality, whereas the Sun creates harmony. Jupiter is "the thinker," whereas spirits on Saturn act as "living memory." Speaking in London,...
This series of lectures on the science of spiritual knowledge begins by addressing an audience in Dornach, Switzerland, where only months earlier h...
