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For more than three centuries, scientists have studied the world as detached observers. In doing so, science has achieved marvelous results, but it has also lost the sense of the whole that earlier cultures possessed. By concentrating on the "text" of the physical world, science has lost the context--the etheric world of life forces.Goethean phenomenology (so named for Goethe's observations) is a scientific method capable of bringing the clarity of natural science to this context of phenomena. Unconsciously, scientific observers have always been using the context to read the text. The phenomenological method involves training observers to look at the activity of thinking itself as it perceives intentionally. It then uses this activity itself as a means of perception. The observer thus becomes conscious that physical nature is indeed a text, and that its meaning derives from the etheric context.Unlike the more common hypothetical and deductive methods--which presupose a detached observer--the phenomenological method is based on active participation by the observer. This eliminates the need to construct speculative hypotheses; the observer's awareness of his or her own intentionality ensures the veracity of the observations. The etheric world is not a new hypothesis; it is, however, a new domain of observation.The authors--Jochen Bockemühl, Christof Lindenau, Georg Maier, Ernst-August Müller, Hermann Poppelbaum, Dietrich Rapp, and Wolfgang Schad--have all written extensively on "participatory" science and related matters. In this ground-breaking collection, they each explore an aspect of the etheric world and its relationship to human thinking. They systematically lead the reader into the "formative movements" of nature and offer genuine insight into the far-reaching mystery of life.

T he year 1921 was a time of intense activity for Rudolf Steiner. Three years after World War 1, with social ideals and democracy trying to make their way in the Weimar Republic and the disastrous financial collapse just around the corner, he concentrated his efforts on cultural renewal in economics, education, the arts, medicine, theology, and the sciences. Two clinics were opened, two publications appeared. He lectured in Germany and Switzerland, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Oslo, often giving two, sometime three, and occasionally four lectures a day. Anthroposophy was becoming more known with all this activity, but opposition was also growing stronger. "The modern materialistic world conception is a product of fear and anxiety," Steiner said. "This fear lives on in the outer actions of human beings, in the social structure, in the course of history.... Why did people become materialists, why would they admit only the outer, that which is given in material existence? Because they were afraid to descend into the depths of the human being." The mind-body split is the result of this fear to penetrate the inner human being; and our lack of courage rebounds on society, producing the terrible conditions of modern civilization. Healing will only come when we summon the courage to penetrate the hidden mysteries of the inner human being. In the Society itself, Steiner sought to awaken the local groups from their comfortable complacency. Cosmosophy, Vol. 1 is the first part of two lecture courses that he gave in Dornach in the fall of 1921 to members of the Anthroposophical Society on anthroposophy as cosmosophy, the wisdom of the human being as the wisdom of the cosmos, The eleven lectures, which are also part of a wider course of lectures that he gave throughout the years 1920-1921 (GA 201-GA 209 in German), reveal deep mysteries of the human being in relationship with the cosmos, including topics such as the origin of fear in Western civilization; the mystery of evil; sleeping and waking in higher cognition; the Jupiter existence of the earth; past and future karma; the relationship of the human being to the hierarchies in Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition; foundations of an occult psychology; metamorphosis of the worlds of thought and will in the life after death; preparation of the future from the nature of the will; the conscience; reversal of sense experience in the life after death; the appearance of the senses as a prequisite for freedom; the Mystery of Golgotha as the sense-giving center to historical events, and much more.

Rudolf Steiner wrote four mystery dramas intended to portray the spiritual path of self-knowledge as described by spiritual science, or Anthroposophy. Those plays are not merely symbolic but realistic depictions in a spiritual sense. In this book, Steiner describes how "The Portal of Initiation" (the first of his dramas) portrays the intense and tempestuous inner events of initiation as experienced by a young painter. He explains the spiritual background of this character's "karmic" tests and higher guidance. He also discusses the Rosicrucian nature of this play, as well as the "symbolism and fantasy" of the second drama, "The Soul's Probation." Steiner also emphasizes the power of certain fairy tales and poetry for bridging the gap between the spiritual and material worlds. As one of the mystery dramas shows, this is especially valuable for those who tend to be intellectuals. Rudolf Steiner portrayed much of the wisdom of his spiritual science in the mystery dramas and intended them to graphically depict what he taught all his life. As he said, "If people will exert themselves...to work with the drama, I will not have to give any more lectures for a long time." THE LECTURES: Self-knowledge as Portrayed in the Rosicrucian Mystery, The Portal of Initiation (Basel, Sept. 17, 1910) On the Rosicrucian Mystery, The Portal of Initiation (Berlin, Oct. 31, 1911) Symbolism and Phantasy in Relation to the Mystery Drama The Soul's Probation (Berlin, Dec. 19, 1911)

16 talks preceding eurythmy performances (CW 277 / 277a)The art of eurythmy strives to make the invisible visible in a harmonious and disciplined play of color, form, sound, and motion. During the early years of the twentieth century when eurythmy was young and little known, Rudolf Steiner's introductory talks prepared nearly 300 audiences for their encounters with this wholly new way of presenting drama, poetry, and music through human movement. Full of life and creativity, these talks illuminate the richness underlying the spiritual laws of this new art form.Sixteen of Steiner's talks on eurythmy are presented here as an introduction to the aesthetic, pedagogical, and therapeutic secrets of this developing art.This volume contains translations of 1st lecture in Die Entstehung und Entwickelung der Eurythmie (GA 277a); and 15 lectures in Eurythmie als Impuls für künstlerisches Betätigen und Betrachten (current edition: Eurythmie. Die Offenbarung der sprechenden Seele, GA 277).

"In my book How to Know Higher Worlds, the path to higher knowledge has been traced up to the meeting with the two Guardians of the Threshold. The relation in which the soul stands to the different worlds as it passes through the successive stages of knowledge will now be described. What will be given may be called 'the teachings of esoteric science.'" -- Rudolf Steiner (chapter 1)In 1904, in the magazine Lucifer-Gnosis, Rudolf Steiner published some of his earliest articles on self-development, which became his classic How to Know Higher Worlds: A Modern Path of Initiation. Steiner continued his articles as "The Stages of Higher Development." He wrote of his intention in 1914: "A second part [of How to Know Higher Worlds] is to be added to this first part, bringing further explanations of the frame of mind that can lead to the experience of higher worlds." Though Steiner never found time to publish those articles as a book, they are collected in this volume.The Stages of Higher Knowledge records some of Steiner's early esoteric instructions, revealing how he became a pioneer of modern inner development and spiritual activity. He carefully guides the reader from an ordinary, sensory-based "material mode of cognition" through the higher levels of knowing he calls Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition."Most difficult was the awakening of a sense for inner freedom, self-reliance, fully answerable to itself. With scrupulous regard for this goal, Rudolf Steiner desired no other role among humanity than that of instructor and, when so requested, advisor, awakener to spiritual goals of humankind. He was able to present spiritual facts because his thinking and seeing were permeated with life and unfolded, step by step, with the power of an organism of nature. His spiritual work stands before us--the restored unity of science, art, and religion." -- Marie Steiner (from the preface)This small handbook will help anyone who wishes to take a serious approach to Anthroposophy as a path of knowledge, especially those who have already studied and worked with How to Know Higher Worlds.Translated from Die Stufen der hoeheren Erkenntnis (1931) by Lisa Monges and Floyd McKnight. Originally Published in Lucifer-Gnosis 1905-1908. First published in book form as The Gates of Knowledge.

17 lectures, Dornach, April 4-June 5, 1921 (CW 204)In this history of human consciousness, Steiner explains that the world ended in AD 300, when it became impossible to find spirit in nature. Since then, we have been living in an increasingly spiritual world on a disintegrating, dying Earth. Although people have been asleep to the spiritual reality that surrounds us, Steiner shows a way out of today's blind materialism that takes us toward a new spiritual perception and knowledge, which is the only way that we will find the Christ in our time. In these exciting lectures, Steiner also talks about the true nature of numbers, they Mystery of the Grail, and the development of materialism. We need to let go of materialism now that it has fulfilled its task of making us true citizens of Earth. Through spiritual science, we must now be come citizens of the spiritual world.This volume is a translation from German of Der Mensch in Zusammenhang mit dem Kosmos 4: Perspektiven der Menschheitsentwickelung. Der materialistische Erkenntnisimpuls und die Aufgaben der Anthroposophie. (GA 204).

10 lectures, Stuttgart and Dornach, January 23 - March 4, 1923 (CW 257)"We are firmly in our understanding of things of the spirit only when we do not rest content with abstract spiritual concepts and a capacity to express them theoretically, but instead grow into a sure belief that higher beings are present with us in a community of spirit when we engage in spiritual study. No external measures can bring about anthroposophical community-building. You have to call it forth from the profoundest depths of human consciousness."-- Rudolf SteinerSteiner presented these lectures right after the fire that destroyed the first Goetheanum. Given during the year before the Anthroposophical Society was reestablished, they form an important part of the history of the anthroposophic movement.Steiner calls for a "searching of conscience." He explains that in anthroposophic communities we can experience our first awakening to the spirit in our encounters with others, and he describes how the reversed cultus" forms the foundation for a new community life.

Written works by Rudolf SteinerCONTENTS: Foreword From Wahrspruchworte, Truth-Wrought-Words Verses for Children Verses for the Dead The Foundation Stone (two renderings) From the Mystery Dramas: Verse Passages from "The Portal of Initiation"; The Soul's Probation"; and "The Guardian of the Threshold" Prose Passages: Concerning and Including "The Dream Song of Olaf Åsterson" (From the Ancient Norwegian) and concerning Beauty, Truth, Goodness, Love, and Freedom References Index

8 lectures, Oslo, November 25 - December 2, 1921 (CW 79)The lectures in this book remain valid today for a world situation ever more desperate and in need of change based on spiritual-scientific knowledge. The need for developing "consciousness of the self as the spiritual essence of the free, individualistic, single-personality human being" is one of Steiner's unique contributions to the evolving history of humankind. This book marks a real milestone on that path.Self-consciousness is a translation from German of Die Wirklichkeit der höhren Welten (GA 79).

.".. volume 267 in the Collected Works (CW) of Rudolf Steiner ... translation of Seelenèubungen I, èUbungen mit Wort- und Sinnbild-Meditationen zur methodischen Entwicklung hèoherer Erkenntniskrèafter, 1904-1924, published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1997"--Title-page verso.

"A bold undertaking! Smith aims at a broad synthesis of the teachings of the early twentieth-century esoteric philosopher Rudolf Steiner with the ancient mysteries, certain religio-philosophical texts in the Nag Hammadi Library, pre-Constantinian esoteric Christianity, and the Secret Gospel of Mark.... The brief excerpts from the Secret Gospel, quoted in the Letter of Clement to Theodore, fit well the esoteric fabric out of which Christianity emerged in its earliest days. In his excellent legal analysis of the failed "proofs" offered by Stephen Carlson and Peter Jeffery that the Secret Gospel is a modern forgery, Smith reveals his thorough grasp of the literature and a keen sense of what should qualify as proof. A provocative study!" -Charles W. Hedrick, Missouri State University "Few scholars have dared to put the insights of historical critical biblical scholarship into dialogue with the esoteric wisdom of Rudolf Steiner. Ed Smith has done so again and again. Smith's latest contribution is a treasure trove of information on the controversy surrounding Morton Smith's discovery of a Secret Gospel of Mark, on Rudolf Steiner's understanding of the ancient mysteries, and on anthroposophy's revitalization of allegorical exegesis. All of this points to the possibility that John the evangelist, Lazarus, and the rich young ruler of Mark 10:17 to 22 are one and the same. Those who are not convinced by Smith's analysis will surely be stimulated and challenged to contemplate what disparate exegetical traditions might learn from one another." -Dan McKanan, Harvard Divinity School Who wrote the Gospel of John? The author identifies himself only as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and Christian tradition tells us that this disciple was the apostle John. However, during the past century, scholars have increasingly come to doubt that attribution. In 1902, Rudolf Steiner wrote that the author of the Gospel of John was in fact Lazarus. Steiner's position stemmed from his insight that Lazarus's encounter with death involved far more than people realized-an initiation into higher spiritual realities that uniquely qualified him to write this gospel. Edward Smith takes up this argument and shows that subsequent research has tended to favor Lazarus for reasons grounded in John's Gospel itself. More important, Smith shows that subsequent discoveries at Nag Hammadi and Mar Saba corroborate Steiner's reasoning about the nature of the raising of Lazarus, pointing to Lazarus as "the rich young ruler" of Mark's Gospel.

The Beejum Book offers a journey into a world of fantasy that, deep down, each of us knows and longs for. It tells the story of Teak, a child living abroad between the two World Wars. Teak's mother tells her not to worry about being left alone, because every night, when she goes to sleep, they can meet in Beejumstan. Teak's travels to this magical realm bring her face to face with Lonesome, a well-attired rabbit and Beejumstan's "ambassador without portfolio"; Figg Newton, the alchemist; the witches Rudintruda and Idy Fix; Gezeebius, the Wise Old Man; and many other fascinating characters. Alice O. Howell is a wise woman who can present deep truths in simple and engaging ways. Through this enchanting tale, she suggests that within us are many worlds as real and compel-ling as the one we know outside. Delightfully told and charmingly illustrated, The Beejum Book offers seekers of all ages a beautiful way of imbibing wisdom.

11 lectures, Aug. 28, 1923-Aug. 29, 1924 (CW 319)"The anthroposophical approach to medicine and healing has been waiting in the wings of conventional Western medicine for more than seventy-five years. Now with the burgeoning acceptance of alternative, natural medicine in North America, anthroposophical medicine may finally take its rightful place at center stage. Why? Because it offers something that both alternative and conventional models lack: a spiritual model of the human, encompassing states of health and illness." (from the foreword)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 unconventional and precise. He could describe--based on his highly developed powers of observation and his spiritual research--processes of health and disease that escape conventional methods of medical observation.In all his lectures to doctors and in his explanations of anthroposophic medicine, Steiner emphasized that his medical concepts are not intended to replace conventional Western medicine, but to extend it; diagnosis and healing methods are expanded to include our soul and spirit.In these broadly ranging talks, Steiner introduces fundamental principles of anthroposophically extended medicine. Some of the most remarkable insights that anthroposophy brings to medicine are contained in this volume. For example, Steiner points out that the heart is not a pump and that its motion is a consequence, not the cause, of rhythmic movements in human beings."[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." (from the foreword)Topics include - Health problems, such as hay fever, migraine, sclerosis, cancer, and childhood diseases- The polarity between nerve and liver cells- The functions of the spleen and the gallbladder- The three basic systems: sensory-nervous, rhythmic, and metabolic-limb- Regenerative and degenerative processes- The true nature of the nervous system- Suggestions for the use of minerals, plants, and artistic therapiesThe Healing Process is a translation of Anthroposophische Menschenerkenntnis und Medizin (GA 319).

Letters, Documents, and Lectures (CW 264)"Rudolf Steiner has become the pioneer in the very domain where, through his indications, human beings for the first time have been allowed freedom...he had to build a basis and create a spiritual attitude through which--by finding the solid moral support within--one might in this freedom avoid falling prey to temptation and aberration." --Marie SteinerThis is an important text for anyone interested in the development of Rudolf Steiner's teaching and for those wishing to explore the advice and admonitions Steiner provided for his early esoteric students. This collection of letters, circulars, and lectures offer a glimpse of the birth of the anthroposophic movement from the German section of the Theosophical Society of the late nineteenth century. One gains a clear picture of why Steiner could no longer work within the theosophic framework, as well as the events that led to the split between the Theosophical Society under the leadership of Annie Besant and the Esoteric School under Steiner's guidance and leadership.Primarily in the form of letters are the specific exercises and advice that Steiner gave to pupils who wished to further their spiritual capacities. Also included are his early lectures and teachings concerning the "Masters" and their relationship to human evolution.From the History and Contents of the First Section of the Esoteric School 1904-1914 includes introductory and concluding remarks by Hella Wiesberger, the original editor of this book.German source: Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten der ersten Abteilung der Esoterischen Schule, 1904-1914 (GA 264).

n this collection of essays John Fentress Gardner illuminates many challenging aspects of modern life that concern him-and concern most of us, as well. From poverty and environmental degradation to sexuality, parental discipline, and the pressures of modern life; from the further paths of knowledge to war and peace-he reveals how all these faces of life speak, and he points clearly to what they themselves ask for. In this sense, he looks directly to the future, not as a prophet, or even guide, but as one filled with wonder and hope. He looks often to Emerson; to Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher and seer; and to others. But the weight of his regard falls upon the future, particularly upon the bearers of the future: today's youth. Gardner has been a teacher of youth for many years in the Waldorf private school system. He has a deep feeling for young people-not only for their masks and attitudes of the moment, but also for their deep (generally unconscious) longings, and for what happens when these are thwarted, as they often are. In one of the most impressive essays of this book, Gardner makes it startlingly clear that peace is not a true goal or attainment if it is viewed in opposition to war and conflict. For in this opposition, conflict remains. It is the third - transcending and holding the tension between conflict and quiescent peace - in which the redeeming force is found. In climbing through the heart into the Heart of hearts, is found the spiritual, true secret of Peace. There, the longing to know finds answers.

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 moving, clearly drawn from Steiner's own experience and the lives of those who had died and who were personally known to him -- Robert Hamerling, Christian Morgenstern, and others. This is an important work for those who are coming to terms with the death of a love one. 7 lectures, various cities, April 17 - May 26, 1914.

Zanoni, first published in 1842, was inspired by a dream. Sir Edward, a Rosicrucian, wrote this engaging, well-researched, novel about the eternal conflict between head and heart, between wisdom and love, played out by the Rosicrucians before the dramatic background of the French Revolution. He described his book Zanoni as "a truth for those who can comprehend it, and an extravagance for those who cannot." Following his introduction, the novel is divided into seven parts, whose titles indicate the sevenfold path of spiritual development. The fourth section, "The Dweller of the Threshold," is the book's centerpiece, revealing significant esoteric facts and experiences. A novelist, a dramatist, a scholar, an editor, and an active member of Parliament, Sir Edward was an extremely successful author whose writings were widely read throughout England and Europe. He poured into this esoteric work all of the ancient esoteric wisdom that he felt he could reveal to the public during an age buried deeply in materialism. This work remains one of the great, pioneering landmarks of esoteric writing.

3 lectures, Dornach, December 17-19, 1920 (CW 202) Rudolf Steiner addresses the following topics in these lectures: Soul-and-Spirit in Man's Physical Constitution: The physical organism of man is considered today to consist of more or less solid-fluid substances; but as well as his solid, physical body, man has within him as definite organisms, a fluid body, an air-body and a warmth-body. -- The connections of these organisms with the members of man's whole being and with the different Ethers. -- Thought and Tone; Ego and circulating Blood. -- Man in the sleeping state. -- Man's relation to the universal Spirituality. -- Imagination, Inspiration, Intuition. -- The circumscribed view of the human organism prevailing today is unable to build any bridge between the physical body and the soul-and-spirit. The Moral as the Source of World-Creative Power: Recapitulation of previous lecture. -- Connection of the moral world-order with the physical world-order. -- The moral world-order has no place in the natural scientific thinking of today. -- The positive effect of moral ideals and ideas and the negative effect of theoretical ideas on the four organisms in man. -- The materialistic conception of the imperishability of matter and energy. -- Matter and energy die away to nullity; but man's moral thinking imbues life into substance and will. -- The natural world dies away in man; in the realm of the moral a new natural world comes into being; thus are the moral order and the natural order connected. -- Absence of spirituality in the modern picture of the world which is based on the Copernican system. -- Kepler and Newton. -- We need a spiritual view of the universe. -- The sun is not a globe of burning gas but the reflection of a spiritual reality revealed in the physical. -- The moral power developed by man rays out and is reflected as the spiritual Sun. -- Julian the Apostate. -- The connection of the spiritual Sun with the physical sun is the Christ-Secret. The Path to Freedom and Love and Their Significance in World-Events: Man as a being of Thinking, Action and Feeling. -- The connection of the life of thought with the will. -- Pure thinking: irradiation of the life of thought by will. -- This leads to Freedom. -- Irradiation of the life of will by thoughts leads to Love. -- The meaning of the ancient expressions: Semblance, Power, Wisdom. -- To speak of the imperishability of matter and energy annuls Love. -- The significance of Freedom and Love in world-happenings.

Given during a conference on spiritual values in education and life attended by many prominent people of the time, Steiner's Oxford lectures present the principles of Waldorf education at the highest cultural level. "The Manchester Guardian reported: "Steiner's lectures...brought to us in a very vivid way an ideal of humanity in education. He spoke to us about teachers who, freely and unitedly, unrestricted by external prescription, develop their educational methods exclusively out of a thorough knowledge of human nature. He spoke to us about a kind of knowledge needed by the teacher, a knowledge of the being of man and the world, which is at the same time scientific and also penetrates into the most intimate inner life, which is intuitive and artistic." Long out of print, these lectures are among the best introductions to Waldorf education.

This text, outlining a new methodology for the study of human nature, dates from 1910 and was found after Rudolf Steiner's death among his unpublished papers. Steiner had dealt with the same theme earlier in lectures. Asked for a written version, he tried to write down what he had said, but found himself unable to do so-the language would not completely relinquish the words. Nevertheless, what he was able to put down remains a major intellectual and spiritual accomplishment of the twentieth century. Steiner presents anthroposophy, which lies between anthropology and theosophy, as a way of studying the human being. Where anthropology studies the human being on the basis of the senses-i.e. by observation within the limits of the scientific method-theosophy recognizes the human as a spiritual being on the basis of inner experience and seeks to understand what it means to be human in a spiritual world. Between these two approaches-basically those of science and religion-lies anthroposophy, which seeks to study human beings as they present themselves to physical observation, while at the same time seeking to derive indications of the spiritual foundations of phenomena by a process of phenomenological intensification. The results of such phenomenological intensification, though fragmentary and incomplete, are of enormous importance. They constitute the first steps toward a truly cognitive psychology, one that demonstrates the richness of the phenomenological approach to the human being as a sensory organism. Starting from there, Steiner unfolds the seven life processes, the nature of I-experience, the meaning of the human form, and its complex relation to higher spiritual worlds. This is a key work, whose time has truly arrived.

"Originally published in German by Verlag des Ita Wegman Instituts 2011 as Ich bin anders als du. Vom Selbst- und Welterleben des Kindes in der Mitte der Kindheit"--T.p. verso.

Translation of: Anthroposophische Grundlagen f'ur ein erneueretes christlich-religi'oses Wirken.

On the one hand, New Testament scholarship has been preoccupied with a search for the "historical Jesus." On the other, twists and turns occurring after the first century brought about "an enforced orthodoxy" that views modern visionaries as heretics. The inconclusive nature of theology pits those who are reluctant to support the miraculous against the witness of the original oral tradition. One result of the confusion over the New Testament record is that contemporary fiction such as The Da Vinci Code has emerged to fill the void. It has been so popular because there is hunger for a better understanding of those events. The author of this book aims to fill the gap. Drawing on the visionary reports of Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) and Judith von Halle (b. 1973), as well as the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner and Robert Powell, Charles Tidball traces the events of two thousand years ago in Palistine, including scenes in the life of John the Baptizer, Jesus' forty days in the wilderness, healings, the Transfiguration, the raising of Lazarus, the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ, and much more. The author's purpose is to "present these relatively unknown facets of the life of Jesus Christ as stories [so] they can achieve the broader recognition they deserve." The result is that this book breathes new life and meaning into familiar stories, offering the reader a fresh beginning in understanding the profound wisdom contained in the New Testament.

On February 3, 1913, the first general meeting of the newly formed Anthroposophical Society was convened in Berlin. Six weeks later in Holland, Rudolf Steiner spoke for the first time as an anthroposophist in a detailed, intimate way of the esoteric schooling of the individual human being in earthly life -- hence the fundamental importance of these lectures on anthroposophical inner development. Steiner deals here with the subtle effects of spiritual development at every level of the human being. Beginning with straightforward questions relating to the body's experience of food -- meat, coffee, alcohol, and so forth -- he unfolds the universe of spiritual striving until it includes direct perception of Paradise and the Holy Grail, and the role of the human being evolving between the forces of Lucifer and Ahriman. Included as a prologue is Steiner's crucial lecture on "The Being of Anthroposophy, " which has never before appeared in English. This edition also includes Steiner's "introductory words, " previousl available only in German typescript.

An Outline of Esoteric Science is Rudolf Steiner's most complete and methodical presentation of the results of his own spiritual research. Written in 1909, when he was forty-eight years old, it represents his mature thinking, yet also has the careful structure and development characteristic of the work of young authors. The title points out that the subject of the book is just those realities and beings which are, at least initially, hidden from most of us. But at the same time, it makes explicit that this is not collection of "tales of the supernatural," but a clear, conceptual, thoroughly scientific account of these matters. The book is terse, concise, and demands the reader's utmost attention, as well as the energy to visualize inwardly the pictures presented. It is not a book to be skimmed. Nor is it to be sampled here and there-though one man who tried to do so hit a passage that changed his life. - Clopper Almon, from the introduction With the commentary in the Study Companion keyed by paragraph number to the text of An Outline of Esoteric Science, Clopper Almon takes the reader step-by-step through one of Rudolf Steiner's most difficult texts. Each chapter is considered for themes, or brief summaries of the main points, review questions, discussion questions, and Almon's own observations of the text. This study companion will be a great help to readers of every level, vastly enriching their reading of one of Steiner's most important written works.