About the Book
Letters to Anthroposophical Society members and "Guidelines" (CW 26)
From the time of the Foundation Meeting of the Anthroposophical Society (Dornach, Christmas to the New Year, 1923-24) until his death shortly before Easter 1925, Rudolf Steiner wrote a weekly letter addressed to the members of the Anthroposophical Society. The letters were printed in the members' supplement to the Goetheanum Weekly and in its English edition, Anthroposophical Movement.
This book represents the second part of the volume containing Rudolf Steiner's letters and guidelines. The earlier letters speak of the character and aims of the Anthroposophical Society and the social tasks arising in the anthroposophic movement. They deal with the problems encountered in the common study of spiritual science (Anthroposophy) and in its presentation to the world at large, relating it to the prevailing science and civilization of the time.
With the exception of the first two letters (issued in August 1924 while he was in England), those in this volume were written by Rudolf Steiner from his sickbed during his final illness. During those final six months of his life, the letters--always written in the very early hours of the morning--arrived with unfailing regularity. The last of these letters was not published until two weeks after his death.
These letters form a continuous series and were given the appropriate collective title The Michael Mystery. As such, they constitute an invaluable addition to the great teacher's fundamental works on spiritual science.
GUIDELINES, MARCH 8, 1925
1. At the beginning of the consciousness-soul age, a dimming of the sense of belonging to the world beyond the earth took place. On the other hand, a feeling of belonging to the earth in experiencing sensory impressions grew so strong, particularly in scientific circles, that it amounted to a state of bedazzlement.
2. The ahrimanic powers have an especially dangerous influence in this condition, because people live under the illusion that a bedazzled experience of sensory impressions is good and right and represents a real advance in evolution.
3. Man must develop the strength to illumine his world of ideas and to experience it as light-filled, even in cases where the ideas involved are not based on the bedazzling world of the senses. An awareness of belonging to the cosmic realm beyond the earth will awaken in experiencing the independent and independently illumined world of ideas. The basis for Michaelic festivals will grow out of this feeling.
This volume is a translation of the final nineteen letters from Anthroposophische Leitsätze, Der Erkenntnisweg der Anthroposophie--Das Michael-Mysterium (GA 26).
About the Author :
Rudolf Steiner (b. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner, 1861-1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe's scientific writings. Steiner termed his spiritual philosophy anthroposophy, meaning "wisdom of the human being." As an exceptionally developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern, universal "spiritual science" that is accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unbiased thinking. From his spiritual investigations, Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of numerous activities, including education (general and for special needs), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, Christianity, and the arts. There are currently thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and initiatives in other fields that involve practical work based on the principles Steiner developed. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of human beings, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods for personal development. He wrote some thirty books and delivered more than six thousand lectures throughout much of Europe. In 1924, Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches around the world. Marjorie Spock was born Sept. 8, 1904, in New Haven, Connecticut, the second child and first daughter of six children. The Spock family was prominent in New Haven; her father was a corporate lawyer, and her older brother, Dr. Benjamin Spock, became a renowned pediatrician. Marjorie became a student of Anthroposophy as a teenager in Dornach during the 1920s, and became a eurythmist, teacher, biodynamic gardener, and the author and translator of numerous books. In the 100th year of her life, she produced, directed, and choreographed a video about eurythmy, followed by two short training films when she was 101 and 102 years of age. Marjorie Spock died at her home in Maine, Jan. 23, 2008, at the age of 103.
