Reading the Pictures of the Apocalypse: (Cw 104a)

Reading the Pictures of the Apocalypse: (Cw 104a)

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Steiner Books

Published: 2021-04-30

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781621482581

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Notes from 16 lectures, Munich and Oslo, Apr. 22, 1907 - May 21, 1909(CW 104a); 1 lecture in Paris, June 14, 1906 (CW 94) We can be overwhelmed by the fearsome pictures of our current world situation, which reflect powerful spiritual events taking place today. This book is based on notes written down at 16 lectures given in 1907 and 1909, presenting Rudolf Steiner's masterful account of the meaning of the most esoteric book in the Bible. They instruct a practice and inner training in reading the signs of the times, so that we can prepare responsibly and in full consciousness to meet the challenges that humanity is facing now and in the future. In aphoristic, intense sections, Steiner surveys the sweep of world history on a cosmic scale. His penetrating interpretation of the Apocalypse shows how the human soul will evolve and change through the present and coming great conflagrations. Themes include - the nature of the third millennium; - Sorat and the significance of the number 666; - the War of All against All; - the Second Coming of Christ; - the true nature of the "I"; - how future possiblities will depend on our present actions. "The Apocalypse of Saint John, when properly understood, expands our conception of Christianity to cosmic proportions again. It reveals in images―in a kind of picture language―the deepest secrets of earthly and human evolution. These images contain the power of the Word, the Logos. Taken into the soul, they transform; over time, they can initiate. This is the connection between the Apocalypse and the work of Rudolf Steiner, who said that simply hearing and reading the results of anthroposophical research can gradually transform the human soul and awaken in us the ability to perceive the spirit." (from the introduction) This volume is a translation from German of Aus der Bilderschrift der Apokalypse des Johannes (GA 104a); the added lecture in Paris is from Kosmogonie. Populäre Okkultismus. Das Johannes-Evangelium. Die Theosophie an Hand des Johannes-Evangelium (GA 94).


Christ and the Spiritual World and the Search for the Holy Grail

Christ and the Spiritual World and the Search for the Holy Grail

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2016-03-21

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1855844796

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‘There is no way of approach to the Grail through words of any kind, or through philosophical speculations. The only way is by changing all these words into feeling, by becoming able to feel in the Grail the sum of all that is holy...’ - Rudolf Steiner (from lecture 6) Reviewing human history in relation to the cosmic-earthly events of Christ’s incarnation, Rudolf Steiner explains the significance of both the Gnostic religion and the legend of the Holy Grail. He indicates how the Grail emerges in human history, and how the ‘stellar script’ relates to the secret of Parsifal. Steiner examines humanity’s existential quest in the historical patterns of human thought and spiritual development. We are shown the widespread influence of the sibyls, who with their astrological and clairvoyant prophecies were a backdrop to one of the richest cultural epochs, the Greco-Roman world. Steiner contrasts the revelations of the sibyls to those of the Hebrew prophets. This course of lectures, a complete edition from Steiner’s Collected Works, offers an illuminating insight into the development of the soul through succeeding ages.


Reverse Ritual

Reverse Ritual

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780880104876

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Religious ritual is often seen as a way of bringing divine influences down into the material world. In this profound and stimulating work, Rudolf Steiner and Friedrich Benesch introduce the idea of "reverse ritual"--a way that each of us can raise our souls to the spiritual realm. In this process, the everyday world becomes a portal through which we can enter the dimension of the sacred. Here, each of us can be a "priest," and each of our actions can be a cosmic, ritual act. This stimulating collection of writings on spiritual communion of humanity includes two further lectures by Steiner that show how this process can engage our social lives. Also included are two additional essays as appendices: "Sacramental and Spiritual Communion" by Dietrich Asten and "Human Encounters and Karma" by Athys Floride. The introduction by Christopher Schaefer brings these ideas into focus for modern seekers. Contents: Part One: "The Spiritual Communion of Humanity" (5 lectures from GA 219) Part Two: "Preparing for the Sixth Epoch" Part Three: Commentaries by Friedrich Benesch Appendices: Selections from Dietrich Asten: "Spiritual and Sacramental Communion" & Athys Floride: "Human Encounters and Karma."


The Foundation Stone Meditation

The Foundation Stone Meditation

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2013-05-19

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 1855843242

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The Foundation Stone Meditation holds a central place in the inner life of many students of Rudolf Steiner's work. First presented during the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society at the Christmas Conference of 1923/24, it is a powerful and penetrating meditative text which many consider to be a key to the spiritual mysteries of our time. This version features three alternative translations (by George Adams, Pauline Wehrle and Richard Seddon), together with the original German verses and an introduction by Michael Wilson.


On Fear

On Fear

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press

Published: 2013-05-01

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 1855842920

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'We must eradicate root and branch any fear and dread in our soul concerning the future that is coming towards us... We must develop composure with regard to all the feelings and sensations we have about the future; we must anticipate with absolute equanimity whatever may be coming towards us, thinking only that whatever it may be will be brought to us by the wisdom-filled guidance of the universe.' - Rudolf Steiner. Based on brief, pithy quotations from Rudolf Steiner's collected works, the 'spiritual perspectives' in this volume present core concepts on the subject of fear. These brief extracts do not claim to provide exhaustive treatment of the subject, but open up approaches to the complexity of Steiner's extraordinary world of ideas. Some readers will find these fragments sufficient stimulus in themselves, whilst others will use the source references as signposts towards deeper study and understanding.


Rosicrucianism Renewed

Rosicrucianism Renewed

Author: Rudolf Steiner

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2006-03

Total Pages: 641

ISBN-13: 1621511456

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"After Rudolf Steiner had left us in the body, the gifts of the spirit that were offered by him in such overflowing measure could not continue. It must now happen that a community of human beings takes over the results of his spiritual research, takes them in such a way that they remain alive in the community. People must come together in anthroposophic work, united in such a way that Anthroposophy comes into its own" (Carl Unger, Oct. 29, 1928). This volume provides perhaps the most comprehensive and profound exegesis of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy, especially his book titled Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts. That book provides Steiner's final and most complete explanation of his Spiritual Science through brief, aphoristic thoughts, or meditations, on the profound esoteric meaning of the modern spiritual path he called Anthroposophy. In The Language of the Consciousness Soul, Carl Unger unfolds and expands Rudolf Steiner's "leading thoughts" in 78 brief, meditative chapters to help the reader comprehend the deeper meaning behind the Leading Thoughts. Unger helps us see how Steiner created a mandala-like "image" of Anthroposophy, revealing an ever-expanding cosmology and epistemology that goes far beyond mere philosophy or a belief system to a practical path of spiritual investigation and knowledge for modern humankind. Rudolf Steiner had this to say about Carl Unger: "Dr. Carl Unger, for many years past, has always been the most industrious and devoted collaborator in the anthroposophic movement.... At an early date, Dr. Unger saw that Anthroposophy, before all, needs a strong foundation of the theory of knowledge. With a deep understanding he took up what I myself, many years ago, was able to give in my books Goethe's Theory of Knowledge, Truth and Knowledge, and Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom, he developed independently what I had intimated. Supported by mental discernment, his goal was to see through the nature of the human process of knowledge in a clear analysis, and from that to form its true picture. Dr. Unger is not dialectical but an observer of empirical facts. This is why, through the years, he has been able to give results of the highest value, showing how the process of knowledge in ordinary consciousness produces, always and everywhere, out of itself, the impulses to anthroposophic investigation. Moreover, Dr. Unger's method of thinking, trained through technical problems, is free from subjective vagueness, and thus his scientific collaboration in Anthroposophy is the most important that we can have." The Language of the Consciousness Soul is an indispensable guidebook for group study and for individuals who wish to penetrate the depths of Anthroposophy and apply its principles both inwardly and to daily life. This volume is an edited translation by Effie Grace Wilson of Aus der Sprache der Bewusstseinsseele: Unter Zugrundelegung der Leitsätze Rudolf Steiners.


Art and Anthroposophy

Art and Anthroposophy

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 9780967456225

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Steiner's idea of art included the renewal of society in general and more particularly certain human endeavors such as science, economy, and religion. He was convinced that his approach would in turn lead to a fundamental renewal of contemporary art. In his introduction, Mattke writes "to the extent that we humans adopt a modern mindset, the more we will be divided from the reality that surrounds us." In response to this profoundly challenging situation, Steiner recommends that we do not assume a New Age paradigm, or a "back-to-nature" attitude such as Rousseau advocated. Rather, according to Steiner and anthroposophy, contemporary humanity needs to develop and practice new ways of thinking, feeling, and willing in order to reconnect to the spiritual character of human life and of the cosmos in a conscious way. Steiner's conception of art is one of the ways to effect this reconnection. Today's art calls for an individual encounter from ego to ego, for conscious work to meet the artist's intentions and foremost for intense work on one's own habitual thought systems and so called "normal" feelings. Losing the crutches of trained intellectual conclusions as well as the comfortable wellness of one's familiar feelings is surely an intense learning process, a real threshold experience. Art & Anthroposophy includes articles ranging from a very personal account of conversations between Margarita Woloschin and Rudolf Steiner; the significance of the First Goetheanum; an article by David Adams on Joseph Beuys; and a tribute to Beppe Assenza by Arthur Zajonc.