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COPY / SPRING 2000
ANTHROPRESS.org:
At Home in the Universe
Exploring Our Suprasensory Nature
Rudolf Steiner
Five talks at The Hague Nov.13-18, 1923, GA 231
With an introduction and afterword by Paul Margulies
What is our relationship to the planets we see in the night sky?
Does the cosmos have any affect on our individual lives?
Modern science tells us that we are an insignificant accident in a vast, indifferent universe. Rudolf Steiner maintains instead that we are intimately enmeshed with the whole cosmos, right down to the physical structure of our bodies. In these talks, he explores our relationship as individuals to the spiritual cosmos, in which we will all become cosmonauts, eventually. The key to being at home in the universe is to comprehend the significance of our individual, physical lives on Earth and what happens when we leave our physical bodies behind.
Steiner encapsulates his view of our journey after death and our return to Earth and a new life. He describes the “planetary” spheres through which we each pass and their effects on our future. He shows us how our character and actions on Earth affects us after we die and how those experiences shape our next physical life.
This is not merely information to be added to our already overabundant store of abstract concepts; Steiner gives us imaginative exercises that help us explore our suprasensory, or spiritual, human nature. We can begin now to act more consciously by recognizing the concrete nature of morality and the real consequences of our present lives.
The introduction and a comprehensive afterword by Paul Margulies helps explain and contextualize Steiner's text, revealing a message that is more vital and relevant than ever in our frenzied, materialistic times. This book can help us experience more meaning in life and become more at home as spiritual citizens of the universe.
Anthroposophic Press
144 pages, paperback
ISBN 0-88010-473-2
Book # 3104, $16
A Vision for the Millennium
Modern Spirituality and Cultural Renewal
Rudolf Steiner
Andrew Welburn, editor
"Could it not be possible that today something of infinite importance is taking place without people being aware of it…. Something of supreme importance is taking place, although it is perceptible only to the eye of the spirit." — Rudolf Steiner
For many, the turn of the millennium has come to symbolize a new beginning — a time to stop, reassess, and question our direction as individuals and as a society. It is also a time to reexamine our philosophies and values.
This collection of excerpts from his many books and lectures provides an excellent introduction to his spiritual — millennial — vision. It includes commentary on the significance of the coming transformation of all areas of life, the importance of spiritual ecology, the transfiguration of the Earth, and the roles of angelic and other spiritual beings in our time.
ANDREW WELBURN, Ph.D., is the author of several books, including The Beginnings of Christianity and The Truth of Imagination. He has also edited and introduced several collections of Rudolf Steiner's philosophical works. He has been a Fellow of the Warburg Instutute, the University of London, and New College, Oxford, where he currently teaches.
Rudolf Steiner Press
144 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-85584-043-X
Book # 3164, $14.95
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From Limestone to Lucifer
Answers to Questions
Rudolf Steiner
12 discussions, Dornach, February 17 - May 9, 1923, GA 349
translated by A. R. Meuss
The remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. The varied subjects were chosen by the audience at Steiner's instigation, and he usually answered their questions immediately. The astonishing depth and insight of Steiner's responses demonstrates his abilities as a spiritual master and profound thinker. This book is accessible, entertaining, and stimulating to every open mind.
This collection deals with topics such as technology, the living Earth, natural healing, color and illness, rainbows, childhood diseases, seances, sleep and sleeplessness, dreams, reincarnation, life after death, and much, much more.
Rudolf Steiner Press
256 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-85584-097-9
Book # 3165, $19.95
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The Meaning of Life
And other Lectures on Fundamental Issues
Rudolf Steiner
Seven selected lectures
Translated by J. Collis
What is the meaning of Life?
This fundamental question has challenged human thinking for millennia. Rudolf Steiner discusses this ancient enigma with refreshing directness, offering profound and enlightening answers. In the lectures that complete this inspiring collection, Steiner addresses themes related to health, reincarnation, destiny, luck, and the trials of modern life. The variety of topics is unified by the practical and fundamental issues facing us in our modern lives. The richness and wisdom of these talks provide ample stimulation for all of us who are looking for a deeper understanding of life.
Rudolf Steiner Press
176 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-85584-092-8
Book # 3166, $16.95
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Rudolf Steiner's Vision of Love
Spiritual Science and the Logic of the Heart
Bernard Nesfield-Cookson
Rudolf Steiner is a pivotal figure in contemporary, esoteric thinking. He has provided an impetus for spiritually renewing numerous areas of twentieth-century culture, including education, agriculture, medicine, the arts, and religion. In describing human evolution, Steiner showed how Christ's death and resurrection — the "Mystery of Golgotha" — has a singular importance in the human struggle toward the summit of evolution: union with the higher self.
In this book, Bernard Nesfield-Cookson shows how Steiner's vision of love, the transformative power brought by Christ, unites the forces of the human head and heart, leading to the spiritual awakening of humankind. The author gathers references to the "logic of the heart" from throughout Steiner's work and encapsulates what he revealed about the meaning of love. And he shows the supreme importance of the greatest of all acts of love — the Mystery of Golgotha.
BERNARD NESFIELD-COOKSON has led a varied professional life as a businessman, school teacher, lecturer, and writer. Most recently, he was principal of Hawkwood College, an independent center for adult education in Gloucestershire. He is the author of Michael and the Two-Horned Beast and William Blake: Prophet of Universal Brotherhood.
Rudolf Steiner Press
352 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-85584-048-0
Book # 1772, $24.95
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The Future is Now
Anthroposophy at the New Millennium
Edited and introduced by Savak Gulbekian
Rudolf Steiner spoke at various times of a period that encompasses the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new millennium. He described it as a time of great spiritual struggle in which forces of destruction would wage war on benevolent forces, and how the future of culture and civilization would depend on the outcome. In his many statement Joseph Bests on this matter, Steiner warned, in particular, members of the Anthroposophical Society and movement — that they would be called on to develop vital spiritual capacities that are becoming increasingly critical for human progress.
In these eighteen essays, contributors offer their thoughts on the question of where anthroposophy in its earthly manifestation now stands and to what extent it is fulfilling its tasks. This commentary on the challenges ahead offers us all a chance to reassess, prepare, and wake up.
This compilation features essays by eighteen authors, including Jesaiah ben-Aharon, Mario Betti, Terry Boardman, Peter Bridgmont, Gilbert Childs, Doré Deverell, Michaela Glöckler, Sevak Gulbekian, Brien Masters, Thomas Meyer, Bernard Nesfield-Cookson, Sergei O. Prokofieff, Richard Seddon, Nick Thomas, Peter Tradowsky, Hans-peter van Manen, Edward Warren, and Olive Whicher.
Temple Lodge Press
272 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-902636-09-0
Book #3167, $20
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Awakening the Will
Principles and Processes in Adult Learning
Coenraad van Houten
How do adults learn? What is the task of the educator in adult education? What can adults do to take charge of their learning process?
Learning means change and transformation. Coenraad van Houten tells us that, in order to learn, we must first awaken the will. True adult education, he says, enables our spiritual I to accomplish this. He describes the forms in which learning can be meaningfully structured and offers advice and ideas to help overcome specific learning blocks. This book regards the business of adult education as a full profession, and it provides a theoretical and practical basis for its real goal — awakening the will.
Coenraad van Houten was born in the Netherlands and, after studying chemistry, economics, and social pedagogy, lived in Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Britain. He has been a business manager, consultant, and director for the Centre of Social Development. He has developed special programs and seminars on adult education, "destiny learning," and spiritual research. He advises organization on training, is author of two books, and co-founder of the New Adult Learning Movement.
Temple Lodge Press
192 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-902636-11-2
Book # 3168, $20
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The Encounter with Evil
And Its Overcoming through Spiritual Science
Sergei O. Prokofieff
In our everyday lives, we are constantly challenged by the phenomenon of evil in its manifold manifestations. How can we cope with such a seemingly invincible hindrance? In the first part of this book, the author suggests that we begin by developing our knowledge of evil forces so that we can learn how they work in the process of human evolution. Such knowledge itself is the beginning of overcoming evil.
Rudolf Steiner gave members of the Anthroposophical Society the spiritual "Foundation Stone of the Good." This foundation stone made of light, imagination, and love can live in our hearts and souls as a firm foundation for esoteric work. It is a creative contribution toward overcoming evil. Ultimately, it can lead us to the conscious experience of Christ in the Earth's etheric life forces.
In the second and third parts of this book, Prokofieff examines themes related to the etheric advent of Christ and its connection to the Foundation Stone of the Good.
SERGEI O. PROKOFIEFF was born in Moscow in 1954, where he studied fine arts and painting at the Moscow School of Art. He encountered the work of Rudolf Steiner at an early age and was led to dedicate his life to the Christian esoteric path. He helped to establish the Anthroposophical Society in Russia and became its representative in Dornach, Switzerland, the world center for the Anthroposophical Society. He has written numerous books on various aspects of anthroposophy and continues to write and lecture.
Temple Lodge Press
192 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-902636-10-4
Book # 3169, $19
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Developing Biodynamic Agriculture
Reflections on Early Research
Adalbert Count Keyserlingk
Genetic manipulation, industrial agriculture, and disregard for natural laws have all led to growing public concern over the safety of the food on our tables. As a result, there is a growing interest in organic methods of farming. Biodynamic agriculture (the method developed by Rudolf Steiner) is an extension of the organic approach that uses special preparations that enrich the soil and enliven our food by working in harmony with cosmic and earthly forces.
Biodynamic agriculture was launched by Steiner at a conference on the Koberwitz estate in Germany. Adalbert Count Keyserlingk, the son of the hosts, was present, and this book reflects his life-long absorption in biodynamic methods. It presents a wid range of material, including the count's personal experiences of Steiner at work, his reflections on practical research and experimentation (including photographic documentation), and descriptions of biodynamic preparations. More than anything else, his words successfully convey the enthusiasm, the exalted feelings, and the power of initiative that arose from Rudolf Steiner's work in this field — to develop a method of farming that provides nutritious, safe food for the future.
Adalbert Count Keyserlingk died October, 1993. He was the editor of another book on the beginnings of biodynamic farming methods, The Birth of a New Agriculture: Koberwitz, 1924.
Temple Lodge Press
112 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-902636-13-9
Book # 3170, $16
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The Archetypal Feminine in the Mystery Stream of Humanity
Towards a New Culture of the Family
Manfred Schmidt-Brebant & Virginia Sease
This unique book goes way beyond the usual studies on gender. The authors maintain that, during ancient times, people experienced the divine as imbued with the archetypal feminine. The world of spirit was seen populated by goddesses, and this perception was reflected by honoring women as priestesses and guardians of sacred rites. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, were led largely by the principle of patriarchy. More recently, however, we have seen the political and social emancipation of women, but patriarchal thinking continues to dominate our Western culture.
The Authors' survey of the feminine archetype attempts to illuminate the spiritual significance and meaning of the feminine principle today as well as its future destiny. By considering the mystery behind human and earthly evolution, they arrive at clear and accessible perspectives that can help to transform human life today, especially the culture of family.
Beginning with Eve in tradition and legend, the authors comment on the Queen of Sheba, the image of the Virgin in esoteric Christianity, Isis-Sophia and the Great Mother, the birth of art from the primal feminine, and the importance of women for modern esotericism.
Manfred Schmidt-Brabant is the chair of the Executive Council in Dornach, Switzerland and author of several books, including The Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker.
Virginia Sease is a member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Dornach.
Temple Lodge Press
112 pages, paperback
ISBN 1-902636-12-0
Book # 3171, $ 16
The Lost Civilization of Petra
Udi Levy
Foreword by Prince Hassan of Jordan
Translated by Christian von Arnim
The Nabateans inhabited the Negev and Transjordanian desert around the time of Christ. A wealthy and largely peaceful people, they cultivated the desert and traded in spices and frankincense from Saba, Persia, and India to the Mediterranean. They were among the first Christian converts who built some of the earliest churches in the Negev.
All traces of this civilization disappeared for a thousand years, until the rediscovery of its capital Petra in 1812. The ruined splendor of their temples and cities now draws visitors from all over the world. Nevertheless, much about this ancient civilization remains veiled in mystery.
Levy provides a fully illustrated description of the Nabateans, their art, history, and religion, and the desert agriculture in which they were so skilled. He weaves a fascinating picture of a peace-loving people developing their highly advanced culture in the war-torn region of Palestine.
This book guides readers through the best preserved ruins and monuments of Petra and the desert cities of the Negev, and it gives many practical hints for visitors.
Udi Levy was born in 1952 in Jerusalem. He trained as an educator for children in need of special care in Switzerland before returning to Israel, where he works in a therapeutic village near Beer Sheba, at the northern edge of the old Nabatean kingdom.
Includes 36 color and 36 b/w photos.
Floris Books
240 pages, cloth
ISBN 0-86315-298-8 cloth
Book # 3157, $45
Against the Pollution of the I
Selected Writings of Jacques Lusseyran
by Jacques Lusseyran
"Jacques Lusseyran is a majestic human being — one would almost say a prototype of what we may become. His writing has a mythical power capable of transforming those who contact it. This is gritty, spiritual writing at its best."
— Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Reinventing Medicine and Healing Words
"With strength, clarity, beauty, and grace, Jacques Lusseyran describes regions of the heart entered only by the most courageous. We learn of the extraordinary capacities of sensing, of the inner light of spiritual attention, and an ever-present depth of joy that cannot be taken away either by blindness or by the threat of death — such is the tenacity of love. I have never been quite so moved by a book. Thanks to this writing, this exquisite language, this gifted imagination, we know what we are supposed to be and become as human; he has shown us by his life."
— Robert Sardello, Ph.D., author of Freeing the Soul from Fear and Facing the World with Soul
Every so often a work appears that is so inspiring and powerful that all attempts to describe what it is about fall hopelessly short. Against the Pollution of the I, by the celebrated author of And There Was Light, is just such a work.
This collection of six little-known essays and lectures is filled with the inner light that Jacques Lusseyran found after losing his sight at the age of eight. This light — the universal and divine source of faith and hope — sustained not only Lusseyran, but also his fellow inmates in the Nazi prison camp of Buchenwald, as described in two of the essays. Despite the constraints of blindness in his daily life, and despite the prejudices of society, Lusseyran felt — and makes us feel — that our own disabilities are in fact our most precious gifts. Blindness enabled Lusseyran to discover aspects of the world that he would never have otherwise known. He vividly describes many senses beyond the usual five, which are available to all of us if we only pay attention. Among these writings, Lusseyran reaches out with compassion to everyone and urges dialogue between those with and without sight.
The "I" in the title refers to our inner light. Lusseyran maintains that the central vitality of the human I is being attacked by all that steals our attention away from that light, and by everything that does not hold it in reverence. His love for humanity compels him to declare that the I desperately needs to be protected. With this remarkable collection of writings, Lusseyran offers a way to unveil the light-filled inner I and to transform our lives.
Jacques Lusseyran was born in Paris in 1924. After losing his sight at the age of eight in an accident, his parents treated him as though he could see, and he remained a gifted student at his regular school. During the Nazi occupation of Paris, he organized the Voluntaires de la Liberté, an underground student resistance group. Lusseyran was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Buchenwald, where he remained until liberation by the U.S. Army. After the war, he was honored by France and overcame the laws prohibiting "invalids" from entering public service. Lusseyran later became a professor in Greece and Paris, and in 1958 became guest lecturer at Hollins College and taught at universities in Ohio and Hawaii. He died in an auto accident near Paris in 1971.