Anthroposophy in the Light of Goethe's Faust


Book Description

Beginning with ten short extracts that span twenty years (from the 1880s to 1909), the first lecture sets the tone--Goethe sought spiritual science, Faust is the record of his striving, and we are led to see how Goethe's great drama is filled with embryonic insights that developed and became Anthroposophy. This theme is then developed, in lecture after lecture, with ever-deepening focus. Whether it is a question of the spiritual nature of matter, the reverence for truth and knowledge, reincarnation, the Mystery of Golgotha, evil, the nature of the elemental world, aesthetics, the challenge of our times, human destiny and the nature evolution, these lectures show Goethe as the great initiate and develop Anthroposophy--Spiritual Science--in a profoundly esoteric light.




Goethe's Faust in the Light of Anthroposophy


Book Description

By late 1916, Rudolf Steiner had become an important interpreter of Goethe and frequently discussed Faust--probably Goethe's greatest work--from the perspective of anthroposophic Spiritual Science. Although Steiner's readings are unconventional and unsystematic, his insights into the text are penetrating and prescient, opening scholarly avenues not discovered or pursued by others until decades later and, in some cases, still await fuller elaboration. Steiner's account is completely unlike those of his contemporaries, including those Goethean scholars he most admired. His approach is not a philological construction of the ideal text, a positivistic account of the biographical genesis of the work or influences on Goethe, an intellectual and historical recasting of the drama as implied philosophical argument, or a view of the tale through the lens of an especially refined sensibility. Steiner's discussions veer into each of these arenas, but, invariably, he steers back to his original course, stressing the least realistic, least historical, and least romantic aspects of Goethe. Steiner contributed to the scholarship on Faust by, above all, opening new aesthetic perspectives; by revealing the centrality of Greek Mystery religion within the archetypal unconscious of Faust; by showing the duality of evil latent within Goethe's text; and by exploring an alchemical transformation of consciousness. In this volume, Steiner anticipates the best of Goethe's Faust by helping us to see the Neoplatonic Faust, the Hermetic Faust, the archetypal Faust--in short, the esoteric Faust.




Faust Adaptations from Marlowe to Aboudoma and Markland


Book Description

Faust Adaptations, edited and introduced by Lorna Fitzsimmons, takes a comparative cultural studies approach to the ubiquitous legend of Faust and his infernal dealings. Including readings of English, German, Dutch, and Egyptian adaptations ranging from the early modern period to the contemporary moment, this collection emphasizes the interdisciplinary and transcultural tenets of comparative cultural studies. Authors variously analyze the Faustian theme in contexts such as subjectivity, genre, politics, and identity. Chapters focus on the work of Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Adelbert von Chamisso, Lord Byron, Heinrich Heine, Thomas Mann, D. J. Enright, Konrad Boehmer, Mahmoud Aboudoma, Bridge Markland, Andreas Gössling, and Uschi Flacke. Contributors include Frederick Burwick, Christa Knellwolf King, Ehrhard Bahr, Konrad Boehmer, and David G. John. Faust Adaptations demonstrates the enduring meaningfulness of the Faust concept across borders, genres, languages, nations, cultures, and eras. This collection presents innovative approaches to understanding the mediated, translated, and adapted figure of Faust through both culturally specific inquiry and timeless questions.




Anthroposophy and the Accusation of Racism


Book Description

"No longer should the blood that runs through the ancestors be of sole account. From this point onward, what every single person achieves in one's soul shall count. Every single human being shall be of value during their incarnation..." -- Rudolf Steiner The original subtitle of Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy of Freedom (1894) --"the basis for a modern worldview" --points to the lifelong project with which he was engaged: laying the basic groundwork for modern (contemporary) human beings to be able to comprehend the world in which we live, beginning with ourselves as individual, utterly unique embodiments of humanity. It's a spiritual worldview born of the essence of the modern scientific reckoning with knowledge. But its detractors, critics, and outright opponents, speaking from the standpoint of other worldviews and denying the validity of this one, from the early 1900s to today, have continued to portray it in a very different light. One such critic, typical of others, writing in 2019, deemed it "dogmatic, irrational, anti-Enlightenment, racist . . ." Those with even a passing knowledge of this worldview and the fruits of its application to life may wonder how such a modern, innovative, universally inclusive, and rational approach --one that has led to such positive and beneficial results in the world --could be so distorted and defamed. What is the substance of these accusations and are they at all well-founded? With this book, out of his comprehensive grasp of Steiner's work (its history, background, and subsequent development), together with the contextual background of twentieth-century European totalitarianism and the contemporary landscape, Peter Selg addresses these and other related questions head on.




Man and World in the Light of Anthroposophy


Book Description

A sense of alienation and isolation is part of the experience of every modern man. Social and political life are governed by fear and uncertainty. People are strangers both to one another and to the world. Why are these conditions more acute now than ever before in history? What meaning can be found in our modern crises? In the light of anthroposophy show how the human being's relationship to the world has changed with each historical epoch. In this book, Stewart Easton gives the reader a clear overview of the complex trrain along this path, explaining that anthroposophy is not so much a philosophical system as a "seed" of new consciousness. Through the very act of becoming conscious of one's true relationship to the world, this relationship changes once again. The alienation is gradually bridged; life begins to have purpose; the seed had beun to grow. The many practical fruits of the tree that grows from this seed are described in the second part of this work: a medical science that is truly holistic, an agricultural system that is in harmony withnature and the cosmos, an educational method that nurtures head, heart, and hand towrd the freedom that comes from reaching one's full potential, and much more. This book provides an informative and comprehensive introduction to snthroposophy and to Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the inaugurator of anthroposophy. Stewart C. Easton recieved his doctorate in history from Columbia University and taught for many years at the City College of New York. He is the quthor of several books on western civilization and currently resides in Ireland.




The Nature of Substance


Book Description

What is the nature of matter? Within conventional science, the reductionist, materialist view asserts that matter is solely physical. Hauschka shows that open-minded study, based on qualitative observation and quantitative research, can overcome this now standardized view. Without denying the laws of matter, he shows the limitations of a science restricted by them, and points to new research that indicates the primal nature of spirit. This classic work, reprinted in its original form, is the result of Dr Hauschka's many years' research at the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Through decades of experimentation he came to radical conclusions that suggested potential new directions for science. This book includes the detailed results of Hauschka's experiments--although his approach is not restricted to measurement and outer observation. Based on the work of Goethe and Steiner, he encourages a method of seeing nature that has an artistic quality, and calls for direct experience rather than intellectual theorizing. The Nature of Substance is generally accessible. The author deliberately avoids technical terms and academic style in favor of vivid descriptions and lively discussions. His fascinating study takes in many substances, with chapters on plants, animals, oils, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, metals, carbon, oxygen, poisons, high dilutions, and much more. This book is a companion volume to the author's other work, Nutrition.




The Fall of the Spirits Of Darkness


Book Description

Speaking towards the end of the catastrophic Great War, Rudolf Steiner reveals the spiritual roots of the crises of our times. Since 1879, he says, human minds have been influenced by backward angels, ‘spirits of darkness’, who – following their defeat in battle with Archangel Michael – were forced out of the heavens and ‘fell’ to the earth. This war in the spiritual worlds had consequences, and it is essential that people today are sufficiently awake to the retrogressive influences around them. In a positive sense, we can choose freely to engage with the spirits of light, who seek to emancipate human beings from bonds of race, nation and blood. In this extraordinary series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner throws light on hidden aspects of world affairs. With the Bolshevik Revolution having just taken place, he discusses events in Russia and humanity’s attempts to build theoretically perfect social orders. Steiner also speaks about the roles and spiritual backgrounds of significant individuals, such as the mystics Johann Valentin Andreae, Vladimir Soloviev and Saint-Martin, the American and British politicians Woodrow Wilson and Lloyd George, and world-historic figures including Charles Darwin and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The new edition of this classic work features a revised translation, notes and extensive appendices by editor Frederick Amrine, plus a new introduction by Christopher Schaefer.







The Value of Thinking


Book Description

‘As soon as you start thinking about the living sphere, you have to make the thought itself mobile. The thought must begin to gain inner mobility through your own power.’ – Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner divides these absorbing, previously-untranslated lectures into three sections, opening with ‘The Value of Thinking’. Here, he discusses the quality of thinking itself, contrasting ‘dead physical cognition’, ‘living imaginative cognition’, ‘inspired cognition’, and the latter’s connection with previous periods of human and planetary development. He clarifies how ‘visionary clairvoyance’ can relate to individual intelligence, and also speaks of the submergence of ideas – the effects of sad or joyful experiences and feelings – into the unconscious. These can be ‘life-promoting’ or ‘life-inhibiting’. In the second section he speaks about ‘The Relationship between Spiritual Science and Natural Science’, using a contemporary publication as a case study for how texts can be fruitfully analysed. He characterizes the spiritual-scientific method as allowing facts or personalities to speak for themselves, rather than making personal judgements. Finally, he deliberates on ‘Episodic Observations about Space, Time, Movement’ – kinetic formula and concepts such as the speed of light – introducing, directly from his spiritual observations, notions such as ‘light ether’. The lectures are supplemented with an introduction, comprehensive notes, line drawings and an index. Trans. & Intro. by C. von Arnim (Eleven lectures, Dornach, Aug.–Oct. 1915, GA 164)




The Driving Force of Spiritual Powers in World History


Book Description

7 lectures in Dornach, Switzerland, March 11-23, 1923 (CW 222) "Historical happenings on Earth can be understood in their reality only when we see them as reflections of what is being enacted in the supersensible, spiritual world between the beings of the higher hierarchies." --Rudolf Steiner (March 17, 1923) What is the qualitative difference between the utterance of true and untrue words? Is there one? How about between living and dead thoughts? What is the origin of war and strife among peoples on Earth? How can humanity find a right relationship to the beings of the spiritual world? These are among the compelling questions addressed by Rudolf Steiner in this concise yet powerful series of lectures given in March 1923, comprising this volume of "The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner." In these lectures, Steiner portrays, among other things, the work of various hierarchical beings--both in collaboration and sometimes in opposition to one another--whose activity and strife in the spiritual world is mirrored in the migrations of and wars among peoples on Earth. The clashes between East and West, for example, are thus seen in an entirely new light, heralding a sea change in the approach to history. No longer should events on Earth be viewed as isolated within themselves, but rather as interwoven in a grand, vibrant tapestry formed from the threads that connect humanity on Earth with the activity and aims of exalted spiritual beings. Humanity has profound potential--for both good and evil. The question is whether we will be able to rise to a renewed form of cognition through which we can once again grasp living spiritual reality, or we will persist in the dead, intellectualized thinking so common today, thinking that (as Steiner points out in the final lecture of this volume), if not transformed, will lead to the gradual destruction of Earth itself. These lectures are a tour de force that should not be neglected by any serious student of history or the future of humanity and human life more broadly. Includes 10 color plates This volume is a translation from German of Die Impulsierung des weltgeschichtlichen Geschehens durch geistige Mächte, Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1989 (GA 222). Cover Image : Naval Battle of Le Panto (1571), by Luca Cambiasi (1521-1585); at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain.