Rudolf Steiner: Difference between revisions

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<br>Anthroposophy (derived from the Greek words “anthropos, “human”, and “sophia”, “wisdom”) is a philosophy that is concerned with all aspects of human life, spirit and humanity’s future evolution and wellbeing. It postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world that is accessible by direct experience through inner development. It is a path of knowledge, service, personal growth and social engagement.  With Anthroposophy each individual spiritual seeker can develop a warm and will-filled means to overcome the alienation that seemed to be in Steiner’s view characteristic of Western modern consciousness. Steiner considered the purpose of the evolution of human consciousness, for which he regarded the incarnation of Christ as the central event, to be the attainment of human love and freedom. <ref> Steiner, Rudolf, and Robert A. McDermott. The New Essential Steiner: An Introduction to Rudolf Steiner for the 21st Century. Great Barrington: Lindisfarne, 2009, page 3ff</ref><ref>The Anthroposophical Society in America.N.p.n.d. http://www.anthroposophy.org/about/. Web 10 Aug. 2016</ref><ref>Anthroposophie. AnthroWiki. N.p.n.d. http://anthrowiki.at/Anthroposophie. Web 11 Aug. 2016</ref>The philosophy has roots in German idealism and German mysticism and was initially expressed in language drawn from Theosophy. <ref>Christian Clement (ed.), Rudolf Steiner: Schriften über Mystik, Mysterienwesen und Religionsgeschichte. Frommann-holzboog Verlag, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 2013, page. xlii</ref></br>
<br>Anthroposophy (derived from the Greek words “anthropos, “human”, and “sophia”, “wisdom”) is a philosophy that is concerned with all aspects of human life, spirit and humanity’s future evolution and wellbeing. It postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world that is accessible by direct experience through inner development. It is a path of knowledge, service, personal growth and social engagement.  With Anthroposophy each individual spiritual seeker can develop a warm and will-filled means to overcome the alienation that seemed to be in Steiner’s view characteristic of Western modern consciousness. Steiner considered the purpose of the evolution of human consciousness, for which he regarded the incarnation of Christ as the central event, to be the attainment of human love and freedom. <ref> Steiner, Rudolf, and Robert A. McDermott. The New Essential Steiner: An Introduction to Rudolf Steiner for the 21st Century. Great Barrington: Lindisfarne, 2009, page 3ff</ref><ref>The Anthroposophical Society in America.N.p.n.d. http://www.anthroposophy.org/about/. Web 10 Aug. 2016</ref><ref>Anthroposophie. AnthroWiki. N.p.n.d. http://anthrowiki.at/Anthroposophie. Web 11 Aug. 2016</ref>The philosophy has roots in German idealism and German mysticism and was initially expressed in language drawn from Theosophy. <ref>Christian Clement (ed.), Rudolf Steiner: Schriften über Mystik, Mysterienwesen und Religionsgeschichte. Frommann-holzboog Verlag, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 2013, page. xlii</ref></br>


<br>The Anthroposophical Society was founded on December 28, 1912 in Cologne, Germany, with about 3000 members. There were many artistic activities such as summer festival weeks with performances of “mystery plays. The Society was re-founded in 1923 and Steiner established a School for Spiritual Science. As a spiritual basis for the refounded movement, Steiner wrote a “Foundation Stone Meditation” <ref>Rudolf Steiner. The Foundation Stone Meditation. N.d. http://southerncrossreview.org/43/foundation-stone.htm. Web Aug. 2016</ref> which remains a central meditative expression of anthroposophical ideas. <ref>Robin Schmidt. History of the Anthroposophical Society. Gotheanum. N.d. https://www.goetheanum.org/Overview.481.0.html?&L=1. Web 11 Aug. 2016</ref></br>
<br>The Anthroposophical Society was founded on December 28, 1912 in Cologne, Germany, with about 3000 members. There were many artistic activities such as summer festival weeks with performances of “mystery plays. The Society was re-founded in 1923 and Steiner established a School for Spiritual Science. As a spiritual basis for the refounded movement, Steiner wrote a “Foundation Stone Meditation” <ref>Rudolf Steiner. The Foundation Stone Meditation. N.d. http://southerncrossreview.org/43/foundation-stone.htm. Web Aug. 2016</ref> which remains a central meditative expression of anthroposophical ideas. <ref>Robin Schmidt. History of the Anthroposophical Society. Goetheanum. N.d. https://www.goetheanum.org/Overview.481.0.html?&L=1. Web 11 Aug. 2016</ref></br>


<br>Anthroposophical ideas have been applied practically in many areas including the Waldorf and special education, biodynamic agriculture, beauty products and naturopathic medicines (Weleda, Wala Heilmittel), ethical banking (Triodos Bank N.V.), organizational development and the arts.</br>   
<br>Anthroposophical ideas have been applied practically in many areas including the Waldorf and special education, biodynamic agriculture, beauty products and naturopathic medicines (Weleda, Wala Heilmittel), ethical banking (Triodos Bank N.V.), organizational development and the arts.</br>   
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Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture, very similar to organic farming, but it includes various esoteric concepts. Rudolf Steiner developed this system based on his clairvoyant perceptions of subtle energies at work during the growth of plants.  Biodynamic agriculture originated in a course of lectures at Koberwitz in 1924, held at the request of a group of farmers concerned about the destructive trend of “scientific” farming.<ref>Davy, John. "Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work." Http://www.rsarchive.org. Rudolf Steiner Archive & E.Lib, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 July 2016</ref>
Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture, very similar to organic farming, but it includes various esoteric concepts. Rudolf Steiner developed this system based on his clairvoyant perceptions of subtle energies at work during the growth of plants.  Biodynamic agriculture originated in a course of lectures at Koberwitz in 1924, held at the request of a group of farmers concerned about the destructive trend of “scientific” farming.<ref>Davy, John. "Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work." Http://www.rsarchive.org. Rudolf Steiner Archive & E.Lib, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 July 2016</ref>
== Goetheanum in Dornach ==
<br>The Goetheanum is the world center for the anthrosophical movement. The building was designed by Rudolf Steiner and named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Steiner laid the cornerstone of the Goetheanum Building, which is located in Dornach, Switzerland, on September 20th 1920. <ref> Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 307</ref>). It opened in 1920 and was destroyed by fire on New Year's Eve 1922/23. In 1924 Rudolf Steiner presented his model for the present Goetheanum, which is made of reinforced concrete. It was constructed from 1925 until 1928. Both buildings are based on an architectural concept in which each element, form and color bears an inner relation to the whole and the whole flows organically into its single elements in a process of metamorphosis. The second Goetheanum and its neighboring buildings were designed to harmonize with the local topography. The Goetheanum is surrounded ateliers, research buildings, an observatory, apartment houses, guest houses, restaurants and other structures in an extensive garden.
Approximately 300 people work on the campus and over 100 000 visitors come to the Goetheanum each year.<ref>The Building. Goetheanum. N.d. https://www.goetheanum.org/en/anthroposophyrudolf-steiner/the-goetheanum-building/ Web 19 Sept. 2016</ref></br>


== Economic theories ==
== Economic theories ==
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== Eurythmy ==
== Eurythmy ==
== Goetheanum in Dornach ==


== Writings ==
== Writings ==

Revision as of 17:26, 19 September 2016

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Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (* February 27 or 25, 1861 in Kraljevec, Austro-Hungary, today Croatia; † March 30, 1925 in Dornach, Switzerland) was an Austrian philosopher, mystic, author, natural scientist, scholar and social reformer. He founded anthroposophy, an esoteric spiritual movement with roots in German idealist philosophy, Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, and Gnosticism. His teachings exerted an influence in various areas of life including education (Waldorf schools), art (eurhythmy), architecture (anthroposophical architecture), medicine (anthroposophical medicine), and agriculture (biodynamic farming). With his ideas he laid the groundwork for today’s revolutions in alternative education, holistic health and organic foods.


Early life


Rudolf Steiner was born in Kraljevac, which was then in the dual monarchy Austro-Hungary, a stranger in a strange land, into a society made up of a rich mix of different ethnic groups, at the end of an old era and the birth of a new one. This experience colored both his childhood and youth. [1]; He was the son of Franziska Steiner (1834 – 1918), with whom he always had a loving relationship, and Johann Steiner (1829 – 1910), a minor railway official who thought of himself as a “free spirit”; both parents were from Lower Austria. [2][3]He had a younger sister named Leopoldine (1864 – 1927) who worked as a seamstress and lived with her parents until their death and Gustav (1866-1941), who was born deaf and was dependent on outside help all his life.[4]


Even in his young years Rudolf Steiner moved a lot. When he was 18 months old, the family moved to Mödling, six months later to Pottschach, a small, sleepy village in Lower Austria, in 1869 to Neudörfl, a small Hungarian village near the border of Lower Austria, where they stayed for ten years. He attended the village schools and then the secondary school in Wiener Neustadt. [5]


Steiner showed an early interest in natural sciences and enrolled in 1879 at the Technical University in Vienna to study biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. Along with his studies at the institute he attended lectures at the University of Vienna, where he heard, among others, the philosopher Franz Brentano and Karl Julius Schröer, whose lectures about German literature held Steiner spellbound. [6]. He also participated actively in the rich cultural life of Vienna.


Professor Karl Julius Schroer, whose lectures Steiner attended, was a famous Goethe scholar. He befriended the young Steiner and arranged for him to edit the scientific works of Goethe for a new complete edition. Later Steiner was invited to Weimar, to the famous Goethe archive, where he remained for seven years, working further on the scientific writings, as well as collaborating in a complete edition of Schopenhauer. The place was a famous center, visited by the leading lights of Central European culture, and Steiner knew many of the major figures of the artistic and cultural life of his time. [7] Because he moved to Weimar he withdrew from the Institute of Technology in Vienna without graduating but got his doctorate in philosophy in Rostock in 1891 for his dissertation discussing Fichte’s concept of the ego. [8]


Around 1868, still in Pottschach, Rudolf Steiner had a mysterious experience that had a profound influence on him. It had to do with the suicide of an aunt. He gave two different accounts of this episode.


“My parents had no notice of her death. I sat in the waiting room of the train station and saw a vision of what had happened. I tried to tell my parents. They replied, “Don’t be a silly boy”. Some days later, I saw my father become pensive after receiving a letter. Later, in my absence he spoke with my mother, who cried for days thereafter. I heard the details of my aunt’s death only years later.”


When Rudolf Steiner talked about his childhood and youth in a lecture in Berlin on February 4, 1913, he described the experience in more detail. He mentioned that suddenly the door opened and a woman with a strong family resemblance entered, walked to the middle of the waiting room, gesticulating and uttering words to the effect of: “Try to do all you can do for me, now and later!” She continued to linger for a moment, still gesticulating in a heartrending way, then went towards the hearth and disappeared in it.


Rudolf Steiner spoke at a later point about the intensity of the desperate gestures and the deep impact they made on him. This “occult-experience” was crucial to Steiner’s further development. He also realized then that it was not possible to speak with most people about inner experiences or questions. [9][10][11]


Already in his youth he was aware of his mission and accepted his calling without hesitation. At the age of fourteen he discovered Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and immersed himself in this book despite difficult external circumstances. He also learned bookbinding during that time, as well as stenography and had plenty of opportunities for practical work, especially in the garden. At the same time, he got interested in literature, philosophy, psychology and history, and he started to tutor. His experience as an altar boy opened up a lot of questions for him as well. And already in his youth he was pondering about reincarnation. “During that same time, through spiritual perception I gained a definite understanding of repeated earthly life. I certainly had this insight before then, but in broader outlines, not as clearly defined impression. I did not construct theories about things such as repeated earthly lives; I accepted it as self-evident when I encountered it in literature and otherwise.” [12]


In 1894 he published “Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom”. Then, as the end of the century approached, he left Weimar to edit the avant-garde literary magazine, Magazin für Literaturin Berlin, a city with several radical groups and movements at that time, where he met playwrights and poets. There he was asked to lecture at the Berlin Workers' Training School, sponsored by the trade unions and social democrats. Most of the teaching was Marxist, but he insisted on a free hand. He taught courses on history and natural science, and practical exercises in public speaking. His had such great appeal that he was invited to give a festival address to 7,000 printers at the Berlin circus stadium on the occasion of the Gutenberg jubilee. But in the end his refusal to toe any party line did not endear him to the political activists, and soon after the turn of the century, he was forced to drop this work.[13][14]


Theosophical Society

While still living in Vienna, and during the time, when Rudolf Steiner's spiritual perception of repeated earthly lives was becoming increasingly defined, he was introduced to Theosophy. A friend had sent him Sinnett's Esoteric Buddhism but he was not particularly impressed and glad that he had attained perceptions from his own soul life before reading it.[15] At a later point, but still in Vienna, he met frequently with a group of theosophists in the home of Marie Lang, and found those hours extremely valuable. Dr. Franz Hartmann had brought his theosophy into this group but Steiner felt, that the architects, writers and others in this group could hardly be interested in the theosophy of Dr. Hartmann and emphasized in his autobiography that he would not have become interested because he felt that Hartman's whole attitude to the spiritual world was in direct opposition of his own.[16]


After Weimar and then living in Berlin, Steiner’s urge to become publicly active on behalf of spiritual knowledge became stronger and stronger: “On the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Goethe’s birth (August 28, 1898), I intended to publicize the esoteric knowledge living in me.” [17] He published an articlein the literary magazine on Goethe’s alchemical fairy tale The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily and a young member of the Berlin lodge of the Theosophical Society, Fritz Seiler, was impressed. Through him, the Count and Countess Brockdorff invited him to give lecture at one of their weekly meetings. He gave his first one on September 22, 1900 and when invited back he finally allowed himself to speak publicly about his spiritual experiences.[18][19]


In 1902 he became the head of the “German Theosophical Society” and read not only Blavatsky and Besant, but also formed for himself a picture of the Theosophical Society. Even though he had issues with some parts of the Society and found only among the English theosophists inner meaning that arose from Blavatsky, [20] he defended Blavatsky’s work against critics: “She combined what she attained in this way with revelations that arose within herself. She was an individual with peculiar atavistic powers. Spirit worked through her in a dreamlike state of consciousness, just as in ancient times it had acted through leaders of the Mysteries – unlike our modern consciousness, which is illuminated by the consciousness soul. Thus in “Blavatsky the human being” something recurred that was innate within the Mysteries during primordial times.” [21]


At the time the German Section of the Theosophical Society was established, Steiner also felt it necessary to have his own periodical and he began, together with Maria Sivers, not only a Theosophist who managed the Theosophical Society with him, but also a close friend who he eventually married, the monthly magazine Luzifer, which later merged with the journal Gnosis and appeared as Lucifer-Gnosis In his opinion anthroposophy had developed from his contributions to that periodical and consequently the material became the foundation for anthroposphic activity. [22]


In 1902 he published the bookChristianity as a Mystical Fact. Additional works after that were published in the Philosophical-Anthroposophical Publishing Company, which was made possible through Marie von Sivers’. After a booklet that contained notes from lectures he had given at the Berlin Independent College, he publishedIntuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom and other writings. [23]


The years when he was head of the Theosophical Society were not only very productive but Steiner also experienced the realities and beings that approached him from the spirit world and developed specific insights from these experiences. [24]Initially, Steiner had not planned “to develop higher worlds and evolution. His goal was to help students of the spirit find the path of development.”[25] But then, in the fall of 1903, he began to present theosophy systematically in lectures for members and to work on the book with the title Theosophy, which was published in 1903. The intention of Theosophy for Steiner was not to bring a new truth but to provide instructions to awaken one’s spirit. [26]In 1909 he published another important book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment, a handbook on developing spiritual perception, which originated in a Rosicrucian inspiration. [27] [28]During that time he gave many lectures and the notes from then and similar accounts from later represent a big part of Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner.


In his autobiography Steiner addresses his acceptance into the Esoteric School of the Theosophical Society, which dated back to H.P. Blavatsky, in which she communicated matters she did not wish to speak of to the general society. He writes that he had to keep informed of everything taking place within the society and that was the reason he became a member of the Esoteric School. But he emphasized that he did not receive any special knowledge because in his opinion the only real substance in that school came from H.P. Blavatsky, and that could be obtained in print. [29] Annie Besant appointed him to be the “arch-warden of the E.S. in Germany and the Austrian empire” on May 10, 1904, but even then Steiner already knew that there was a crisis looming in the T.S. that would affect him.”[30]


In the years leading up to World War I, Steiner viewed the Theosophical Society and with it the worldwide collaboration of the society as something that could work against the forces of war. His relationship to the leadership of the society at that time was still loyal. He also believed that living theosophy should be a center of spiritual life and came up with thoughts and indications for practical life. But he couldn’t find anybody who was truly interested in bringing theosophy to bear in such a way that its fruits could flow into civilization as a whole. During that time, he came up with symbolic rituals instead of becoming practically active in the social realm, which lead to some controversies over the years. [31]


Despite the controversies surrounding Annie Besant’s choice to take on the leadership of the Theosophical Society after Olcott’s death, Steiner supported electing her to be president but he separated his Esoteric School from the general Esoteric School because he considered his training as different. [32] Annie Besant did respect Steiner’s work, praised him in some of her articles but at the same time, the differences between Leadbeater and Besant on the one side and Steiner on the other side did not go unnoticed. Whereas the former saw Krishnamurti as the vehicle of the coming Maitreya, Steiner talked about a second coming of Christ, but called it the “etheric Christ”. Even though, we might never know if Krishnamurti was groomed as a rival to Steiner’s growing celebrity[33] Rudolf Steiner also respected Annie Besant: “Mrs. Besant had certain qualities that, to me, made her an interesting person. I recognized that she had a certain right to speak of the spirit world from her own experience. She certainly had an inner ability to get through to the spiritual world.” But in Steiner’s opinion, spiritual insight had to live within the conscious soul. He was convinced, that in the Middle Aged the ancient spiritual knowledge faded away when people gained a consciousness soul, and that the task of spiritual knowledge is to bring the experience of ideas to the spiritual world in full clarity of mind and through the will to know. He felt, that it was impossible to develop the correct relationship to his understanding on how to gain spiritual knowledge and in his autobiography he gives this as one of the reasons reason for the break. He wrote that it was socially a pleasure to move in those circles, but that the member’s soul disposition toward spirit remained alien to him. [34] The break came when Steiner found out about The Order of the Star in the East and Steiner refused to allow the order to operate in Germany. That’s when the peaceful coexistence ended, and Dr. Rudolf Steiner was no longer a member of the Theosophical Society.[35]

Anthroposophical Society


Anthroposophy (derived from the Greek words “anthropos, “human”, and “sophia”, “wisdom”) is a philosophy that is concerned with all aspects of human life, spirit and humanity’s future evolution and wellbeing. It postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world that is accessible by direct experience through inner development. It is a path of knowledge, service, personal growth and social engagement.  With Anthroposophy each individual spiritual seeker can develop a warm and will-filled means to overcome the alienation that seemed to be in Steiner’s view characteristic of Western modern consciousness. Steiner considered the purpose of the evolution of human consciousness, for which he regarded the incarnation of Christ as the central event, to be the attainment of human love and freedom. [36][37][38]The philosophy has roots in German idealism and German mysticism and was initially expressed in language drawn from Theosophy. [39]


The Anthroposophical Society was founded on December 28, 1912 in Cologne, Germany, with about 3000 members. There were many artistic activities such as summer festival weeks with performances of “mystery plays. The Society was re-founded in 1923 and Steiner established a School for Spiritual Science. As a spiritual basis for the refounded movement, Steiner wrote a “Foundation Stone Meditation” [40] which remains a central meditative expression of anthroposophical ideas. [41]


Anthroposophical ideas have been applied practically in many areas including the Waldorf and special education, biodynamic agriculture, beauty products and naturopathic medicines (Weleda, Wala Heilmittel), ethical banking (Triodos Bank N.V.), organizational development and the arts.


Today there are Anthroposophical Societies in 50 countries and smaller groups in an additional 50 countries. About 10,000 institutions around the world work on the basis of anthroposophy.[42]The Anthroposophical Society in America ended the year 2015 with 3,287 members [43] Anthroposophy Worldwide is the main international newsletter of the Anthroposophical Society.[44]


Waldorf education


Today Rudolf Steiner might be best known for the Waldorf education and special education. The former originated in a request from Emil Molt, director of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory, for a school to which his employees could send their children. Emil Molt sought to provide a new kind of education for the children — a comprehensive and highly cultural education that would help them to become creative and balanced individuals in the fullest sense. Waldorf pedagogy emphasizes the role of imagination in learning, striving to integrate holistically the intellectual, practical, and artistic development of students. Philosophy, music, dance, theater, writing, literature, legends and myths are not only read about and tested but also experienced. In the meantime, there are over a thousand independent Waldorf Schools all over the world and 2000 kindergartens. The homes, schools, and village communities for handicapped children and adults are also flourishing. [45][46][47]

Biodynamic farming

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture, very similar to organic farming, but it includes various esoteric concepts. Rudolf Steiner developed this system based on his clairvoyant perceptions of subtle energies at work during the growth of plants. Biodynamic agriculture originated in a course of lectures at Koberwitz in 1924, held at the request of a group of farmers concerned about the destructive trend of “scientific” farming.[48]

Goetheanum in Dornach


The Goetheanum is the world center for the anthrosophical movement. The building was designed by Rudolf Steiner and named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Steiner laid the cornerstone of the Goetheanum Building, which is located in Dornach, Switzerland, on September 20th 1920. [49]). It opened in 1920 and was destroyed by fire on New Year's Eve 1922/23. In 1924 Rudolf Steiner presented his model for the present Goetheanum, which is made of reinforced concrete. It was constructed from 1925 until 1928. Both buildings are based on an architectural concept in which each element, form and color bears an inner relation to the whole and the whole flows organically into its single elements in a process of metamorphosis. The second Goetheanum and its neighboring buildings were designed to harmonize with the local topography. The Goetheanum is surrounded ateliers, research buildings, an observatory, apartment houses, guest houses, restaurants and other structures in an extensive garden. Approximately 300 people work on the campus and over 100 000 visitors come to the Goetheanum each year.[50]

Economic theories

Social reform

Artistic and architectural achievements

Eurythmy

Writings

An index to Rudolf Steiner's complete works is available online at Rudolf Steiner Web.

Notes

  1. Lachman, Gary. Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007, page 3
  2. Steiner, Rudolf, and Robert A. McDermott. The New Essential Steiner: An Introduction to Rudolf Steiner for the 21st Century. Great Barrington: Lindisfarne, 2009, page 73
  3. Davy, John. "Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work." Http://www.rsarchive.org. Rudolf Steiner Archive & E.Lib, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 July 2016.
  4. “Rudolf Steiner.” AnthroWiki. N.p. n.d. http://anthrowiki.at/Rudolf_Steiner. Web 9 Aug. 2016
  5. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 15ff
  6. Lachman, Gary. Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007, page 39 ff
  7. Davy, John. "Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work." Http://www.rsarchive.org. Rudolf Steiner Archive & E.Lib, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 July 2016 .
  8. Robert A. McDermott, "Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy", in Faivre & Needleman, Modern Esoteric Spirituality, 288 ff.
  9. Selg, Peter. Rudolf Steiner: Life and Work: Volume 1 (1860 – 189) Childhood, Youth and Study Years. Web. 9 August 2016.
  10. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 7
  11. Rudolf Steiner, Autobiographischer Vortrag über die Kindheits- und Jugendjahre bis zur Weimarer Zeit, in: Beiträge zur Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe, Heft Nr. 83/84
  12. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 94
  13. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 245 ff
  14. Davy, John. "Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work." Http://www.rsarchive.org. Rudolf Steiner Archive & E.Lib, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 July 2016.
  15. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 94
  16. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 107
  17. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 254 ff
  18. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 256
  19. Lachman, Gary. Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007, page 125
  20. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 269
  21. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 276
  22. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 274 ff
  23. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 280
  24. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 281
  25. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 261
  26. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 272 ff
  27. Lachman, Gary. Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007, page 137 ff
  28. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 299
  29. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 275 ff
  30. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 278 ff
  31. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 288 ff
  32. Lindenberg, Christoph. Rudolf Steiner: A Biography. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner, 2012, page 302 ff
  33. Lachman, Gary. Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007, page 163
  34. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 278 ff
  35. Lachman, Gary. Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007, page 170
  36. Steiner, Rudolf, and Robert A. McDermott. The New Essential Steiner: An Introduction to Rudolf Steiner for the 21st Century. Great Barrington: Lindisfarne, 2009, page 3ff
  37. The Anthroposophical Society in America.N.p.n.d. http://www.anthroposophy.org/about/. Web 10 Aug. 2016
  38. Anthroposophie. AnthroWiki. N.p.n.d. http://anthrowiki.at/Anthroposophie. Web 11 Aug. 2016
  39. Christian Clement (ed.), Rudolf Steiner: Schriften über Mystik, Mysterienwesen und Religionsgeschichte. Frommann-holzboog Verlag, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 2013, page. xlii
  40. Rudolf Steiner. The Foundation Stone Meditation. N.d. http://southerncrossreview.org/43/foundation-stone.htm. Web Aug. 2016
  41. Robin Schmidt. History of the Anthroposophical Society. Goetheanum. N.d. https://www.goetheanum.org/Overview.481.0.html?&L=1. Web 11 Aug. 2016
  42. Robin Schmidt. History of the Anthroposophical Society. Gotheanum. N.d. http://www.goetheanum.org/Pluralization-and-questions-of-identity-1990-until-today.124.0.html?&L=1. Web 11 Aug. 2016
  43. Annual Report for 2015. http://www.anthroposophy.org/fileadmin/development/2015AnnualReportOnline.pdf
  44. Anthrosophy Worldwide. Gotheanum. N.d. https://www.goetheanum.org/Newsletter.aw.0.html?&L=1. Web 11 Aug. 2016
  45. Davy, John. "Rudolf Steiner: A Sketch of His Life and Work." Http://www.rsarchive.org. Rudolf Steiner Archive & E.Lib, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 July 2016.
  46. Directory of Waldorf and Rudolf Steiner Schools, Kindergarten and Teacher Training Courses. N.P. http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf. Web 12 Aug. 2016
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  49. Steiner, Rudolf. Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophie, 1999, page 307
  50. The Building. Goetheanum. N.d. https://www.goetheanum.org/en/anthroposophyrudolf-steiner/the-goetheanum-building/ Web 19 Sept. 2016

Online resources

  • Rudolf Steiner Archiv (English-language version of web site) [1]
  • Anthroposophical Society [2]
  • AnthroWiki in German [3]
  • Rudolf Steiner Web by Daniel Hindes [4]
  • The Goetheanum [5]
  • Rudolf Steiner Archiv (German-language version of web site) [6]
  • Works of Rudolf Steiner at Project Gutenberg [7]
  • Works of Rudolf Steiner at Projekt Gutenberg in German [8]
  • Works of or about Rudolf Steiner on the Internet [9]
  • Rudolf Steiner by Heiner Ullrich [10]
  • Rudolf Steiner by Carlin Romano [11]
  • Rudolf Steiner's Blackboard Drawings - Berkley Art Museum [12]
  • Rudolf Steiner by the Skeptic's Dictionary [13]
  • Rudolf Steiner's Meditative Technique by Derek Cameron From Insult to Insight: Rudolf Steiner's Meditative Technique
  • The Online Waldorf Library [14]