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In our long human journey, individual and collective, the journey that science calls evolution, many indeed are the turning points. But they are not so much turning points in outer, material manifestation in the fossils of paleontology, for those fossils are only the shed garments worn by humans in an earlier age, vestments designed by providence to meet the need of a changing human consciousness moving through time. Where the real evolution occurs, for which the necessary outer garments are tailored over time, is in the realm of consciousness as it transitions from spirit to matter and back to spirit. -EDWARD REAUGH SMITH, from the Introduction RUDOLF STEINER gave the six lectures in Turning Points in Spiritual History during the year of January 1911 to January 1912. Realizing their importance for understanding the evolution of consciousness and the central role of the Christ event within it, Marie Steiner collected them under the present title soon after Steiner's death in March 1925, as a signal and enduring element of his spiritual legacy. Since the crucible of cosmic evolution for Steiner is the Earth, and the evolution of the Earth is accomplished through humanity, each of the five turning points-or critical, transformative moments-leading up to the climax of the Incarnation of Christ through the Mystery of Golgotha is exemplified by an individuality: namely, in chronological order, Zarathustra, Hermes, Moses, Elijah and Buddha. In these lectures, each of which deals in turn with one of these great individualities, Rudolf Steiner provides us with astonishing insights into esoteric history and demonstrates the remarkable ways in which the spiritual world guided and nurtured spiritual evolution in preparation for the coming of the Christ.

This esoteric classic contains meditations on each of the twelve signs of the zodiac. John Jocelyn uses traditional astrological symbolism to envision a Christ-centered zodiac-one in which each of the signs relate to an aspect of the New Testament. This is not a book about astrology, but about the deeper meaning of the twelve Zodiac signs. The author relates the Zodiac signs to the development of inner Christ consciousness and encourages readers to meet their individual destinies more consciously and courageously and even with gratitude.

"This edition has been edited by Marcia Merryman Means, who also wrote the short introductions before each lecture"--T.p. verso.

Bankrupt farmers, erosion of topsoil, and poor food quality owing to pesticides, hormones, and other additives-these are the well-known realities of the modern crisis in farming. This problem is the outcome of the limited vision of conventional methods and a system that focuses exclusively on quick results and profits. The need for changes is clear, and Koepf provides a vast array of research data and results, as well as many helpful details on animal feeding, crop rotation, diseases, pests, and fertilizing. He shows that the biodynamic method of farming and gardening is the alternative that can turn farming around. Biodynamics is "the oldest alternative agricultural movement in the world." It is based on the concept of the whole farm as a single organism. Its goals are to protect and nurture the soil, improve the quality of food, and organically integrate the farm into the environment as a whole. This is an essential reference for all farmers who are unsatisfied with conventional methods and for gardeners who wish to improve the quality of life around them as well as the food they serve their families.

4 lectures, Munich and Bern, 1909-1910, 1916 (CW 117, 124, 165)"This is one of the meanings of the Mystery of Golgotha: the attainment of the unity of humanity from within. Externally, human beings are becoming more and more different. The result will be not sameness but difference over the Earth, and human beings must exert all the more force from within to attain unity" (lecture 4).In this collection, Rudolf Steiner describes the evolutionary task facing contemporary humanity in preparing to enter the sixth epoch. In the past, human souls felt a strong connection with the group soul to which they belonged. Today, all "group soul" characteristics--such as race and nation--must be stripped away.Rudi Lissau wrote of the last lecture: "No anthroposophist should approach racial problems without first pondering this lecture and its implications."Steiner also explains that we must overcome such preconception as are formed by our normal notions and feelings of good and evil: "Most people picture Ahriman and Lucifer as evil beings--albeit much more intensely evil than human beings. But this is not true; we must keep in mind that certain earthly feelings we associate with our concepts lose their meaning when we go beyond the earthly realm. Thus, we cannot say that there are good gods on the one hand and evil gods Ahriman and Lucifer on the other.... The opposing forces were created by the good gods themselves in an earlier period so that they would be able to bring to bear their full force for the development I have described" (lect. 4).

These verses, following the course of the year, were inspired by Rudolf Steiner's Calendar of the Soul. The book is arranged so that parents, teachers, eurythmists, and children can follow the course of the year in both hemispheres.

These lectures were given one month before the opening of the first Waldorf School in September 1919, in the context of Germany's postwar social ferment. Steiner points to negative tendencies present in modern social life such as inner drowsiness, mechanization, and animalization. A true social solution must not only consider economics and legal rights but also the third element of the free spiritual life. "The great problem of the future will be education", he announces, and goes on to explain how only a proper nurturing of imitation, reverence, and love in the three periods of child development can prepare adults who are ripe to live the three virtues of a healthy social order: cultural freedom, legal equality, and economic brotherhood. These ideas are then connected to Steiner's threefold pictures of the human soul, economics, higher knowledge, and "physiognomic pedagogy". This new translation also includes three lectures, "The Social Basis of Public Education" (in German, the Volkspadagogik lectures), available in English for the first time.

The underlying thesis of these lectures, Volume XX in the Foundations of Waldorf Education series, is that true education must be founded on a knowledge of the whole human being and that there can be no knowledge of the whole human being without love. On this basis, Rudolf Steiner lays out an understanding of every aspect of a child's development--bodily, psychological, and spiritual. At the same time, he shows that to prove worthy of their calling, teachers must begin to develop themselves inwardly. In Steiner's view, humanity gives value and meaning to the world. Modern education, however, is gradually undermining this meaning. The lectures demonstrate, however, that education can heal this lack of meaning and thereby restore the meaning of humanity for the world.

We spend one third of our life asleep -- a fact that dream theorists rarely take into consideration. This startling collection of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, selected and introduced by psychologist Michael Lipson, provides a completely different way of looking at dreams, one based on an understanding of the spiritual nature of the human being. Once we admit that physical existence is just the tip of an iceberg whose mass belongs in the spiritual world, a radically new view of dreams arises: dream as the threshold to spiritual reality.

These twelve lectures by Rudolf Steiner form the basis for an entirely new psychology, demonstrating that anthroposophy is itself a new form of psychology. This lecture course is made up of three individual courses, each viewing the whole human being from a different perspective."Anthroposophy" (wisdom of the human being) describes the human being from the midpoint between theosophy and anthropology, focusing on the human body and the senses in terms of their spiritual aspects and functions in the human being and not merely as bodily receptors of physical stimuli. He also discusses the higher, more spiritual senses that will be developed by humankind in the future."Psychosophy" (wisdom of the soul) discusses the primary aspects of the human soul, the activities and interaction of our various soul forces, the dynamics of love and hate, and the process of judging, or making decisions."Pneumatosophy" (wisdom of the spirit) approaches the human spirit in terms of truth and error and the meaning and the effects of imagination, intuition, and inspiration. Here, Steiner also explores the significance of karma for the human soul as well as the evolution of human consciousness.

In this fine introduction to Waldorf education, written out of a series of lectures given in 1924, Steiner provides one of the most comprehensive introductions to his pedagogical philosophy, psychology, and practice. Steiner begins by describing the union of science, art, religion and morality, which was the aim of all his work and underlies his concept of education. Against this background, many of the lectures describe a new developmental psychology. On this basis, having established how children's consciousness develops, Steiner discusses how different subjects should be presented so that individuals can grow and flourish inwardly. Only if the child absorbs the right subject in the right way at the right time can the inner freedom so necessary for life in the modern world become second nature.

The rising interest in goddess spirituality expresses our current need to understand the feminine side of God, the Sophia (or Divine Wisdom), and her relationship to the masculine aspects of God. Offering a new perspective, the author draws on his own research and on the teaching of Russian philosopher Pavel Florensky, according to whom Sophia has a relationship to the masculine Trinity as an independent spiritual being. Robert Powell discusses Sophia as a Trinity-as Mother, Daughter, and Holy Soul- and as the feminine aspect of Divine Godhead. He connects our reawakening to the feminine aspect of God with many of the changes now taking place in the world. Also included is an introduction to the Divine Feminine by Daniel Andreev, author of The Rose of the World.

This book introduces a practical approach to freer and more joyful singing. Drawing its strength and inspiration from Gracia Ricardo's work with Rudolf Steiner, it presents anyone who wishes to sing, as well as professional singers, with a spiritual alternative to the mechanical and physical methods of voice training usually available today. The Ricardo method is based on the word. The first chapter deals with the onset of the tone, its focus, the separation of word and tone, and listening for the word. The relation between vowels, consonants, words, and phrases is also dealt with. The second chapter goes on to consider the voice, how to build and extend its range. The third chapter develops the idea of blending the vocal registers, placement, embellishments, resonance, and diction. Professional tips follow: on choosing a program, stage fright, mood, and presence. Esoteric aspects of music and singing are then dealt with in a special section. "It is important that we sing. It is especially important for our children to sing. Singing frees the soul, makes it flexible, and helps it soar and expand. Singing lets the sun in-gives warmth to our lives and wings to our spirit. Those who sing know this. To sing at all requires a certain degree of freedom. Learning to sing in the way described here means finding ever greater degrees of freedom in ourselves. When we sing with this freedom, we find ourselves anew. When we sing with others, we find one another. Singing music that lifts our souls in freedom, we open ourselves to worlds that fructify the spirit in us. We make our souls flexible and receptive to spiritual worlds-open to what the spiritual worlds can tell us." - Dina Soresi Winter

A study of the meaning of Goethe's Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily and the Mystery Dramas of Rudolf Steiner and their ramifications for today.

Usually, motivating ourselves to geth through the demands of daily life is difficult enough; finding the will to excel is even harder. Our occupations can become routine and boring, leading us to to ask: What is the purpose of my work? Is it merely to satisfy the demands of survival, which in turn simply allows me to keep working? Or is it a matter of more disposable income and consumerism? In the end, it can all seem rather pointless. In these remarkable talks, Rudolf Steiner takes us behind the scenes of the routine activities of vocation where we are shown how the combined vocational activity of all humanity affects the higher suprasensory realms. This activity mobilizes forces that lead to future worlds, which is the "karma of vocation." It prepares new worlds in which we will participate. By understanding this deeper aspect of our daily work, we can bring new meaning to the most insignificant activities. In fact, we begin to understand that no human work is insignificant; it all contributes to grand cosmic processes. Such understanding helps us to bring new enthusiasm to our work and lives.

The prevailing attitude in modern medicine is that illness should not exist. Consequently, millions of research dollars pour each year into medical science and technology in the hope of eradicating various sicknesses and diseases. Patients and doctors alike suffer the terrible consequences of this impossible quest for material perfection. Yet, there is an alternate view-that human beings and human evolution are great enough to include "illness" as an essential part of existence. In the first part of Blessed by Illness, the author traces the history of our changing concept of healing, from the so-called temple sleep of ancient Egypt-when spiritual science tells us that human beings still had a living connection with the spiritual hierarchies-through the herbal lore of ancient Greece and the healings of Christ, to the rise of modern medicine, based primarily on treating symptoms. The practice of modern medicine focuses merely on removing discernable symptoms and ailments. The author, however, asserts that this does not really heal at all. Rather, true healing considers the whole human being. And, to do this, doctors must learn the language of our natural, healing life forces, which affect not only the body, but also nature and the greater cosmos. From this perspective, illness is actually a gift, a blessing that urges both patient and doctor to work together with our illnesses for the sake of something infinitely greater-true healing. Blessed by Illness is a powerful introduction to "alternative" methods of healing.

"Translated by Frederick Amrine and Konrad Oberhuber from shorthand reports unrevised by the lecturer, from the 4th edition (1969) of the German text published under the title Grenzen der Naturerkenntnis (Vol. 322 in the Bibliographic survey)"--Copyright page.

Initiation enables a person to see, understand, and communicate what may be observed with spiritual eyes. St. John's text arises from such an initiation. It addresses the fundamental questions of existence that every human being asks: Where are we? Where have we come from? Where are we going? And because it arises from esoteric Christian vision, it emphasizes the task of the individual: What am I, and what is my purpose now in this era of cosmic and human evolution? These talks by Rudolf Steiner unveil the mysteries of John's vision and show it to be a profound description of Christian initiation. As he says, "The deepest truths of Christianity may be considered quite naturally in connection with this document, for it contains a great part of the mysteries of Christianity-that is, the profoundest part of what may be described as esoteric Christianity." Steiner shows that the messages to the seven Churches and the unsealing of the seven seals must be understood as an initiation text. On the basis of his own initiation and spiritual science, Steiner interprets John's insights into cosmic and human history. In this way, the spiritual images of John's writing-the twenty-four elders, the sea of glass, the woman clothed with the sun, the vials of wrath, the lamb and the dragon, the new heaven and the new earth, and the number of the beast -all take on new meaning. Since the previous painful century has closed, these important words have even greater meaning and significance; readers interested in contributing their moral will to future generations cannot afford to pass them by.

Formerly entitled The Study of Man this lecture course, newly translated for this series, contains some of the most remarkable and significant lectures ever given by Rudolf Steiner.With this seminar for teachers, given just before the opening of the first Waldorf school in September 1919, Rudolf Steiner miraculously succeeds in bringing together, clarifying, and synthesizing the insights of a lifetime's study into the reality of human nature. Unfortunately, however, because these lectures were given to teachers, they have suffered under the misconception that they are meant only for teachers. Of course, a functional understanding of their contents is necessary for any teacher desiring to teach in a way that encompasses the needs and essence of the whole child, but this understanding is also necessary for parents, counselors, and indeed anyone seeking to practice the injunction of the Delphic oracle, "Know thyself!"In addition, because in these lectures Steiner gives his most concise and detailed account of the nature of the human being, they are absolutely central to anyone seeking to understand anthroposophy and the anthroposophical view of the world. Anyone, therefore, who is willing to work through these lectures will discover in them a new, powerful, convincing and profoundly phenomenological "anthropology" or human psychology -- a view of the spiritual-physical foundations of the human being and human experience.On the other hand, for anyone wishing to study Waldorf education, this is the primary text. These are the lectures in which, for the first time, and with the full excitement of the new venture, Rudolf Steiner set forth the principles upon which the art of teaching could be renewed.