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Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner #CW 178
Secret Brotherhoods and the Mystery of the Human Double:
7 lectures (of 9), St. Gallen, Zurich, and Dornach, Nov. 6–25, 1917 (CW 178) “This is a stark and extremely challenging group of lectures, given at a decisive time of tremendous crisis for humanity and dealing with themes that stretch from 1917 back into the distant past as well as into the far future.” ― Terry Boardman (the introduction) In the age of the internet and the proliferation of “conspiracy theories,” ideas that secret groups are trying to gain control of humanity are no longer rare. But this was not true in 1917 when Rudolf Steiner spoke of such matters in the extraordinary lectures contained in this book. His unique contribution to this controversial topic is not based on abstract theories; it arose from exact research methods that use advanced forms of perception and cognition. Using the firsthand knowledge available to him, Steiner takes us behind the scenes of events in outer history and contemporary culture to reveal a dark world of secret elitist brotherhoods that are attempting to control the masses through the forces of economics, technology, and political assassinations. These hidden groups, he explains, seek power through the use of ritual magic and suggestion. Never before available in English as a complete volume, the text of this book has been freshly translated for this edition. Secret Brotherhoods is a translation of 7 lectures from German of Individuelle Geistwesen und ihr Wirken in der Seele des Menschen. Geistige Wesen und Ihre Wirkung Band II (GA 178).
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2004
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About the author
Rudolf Steiner
4,339 books1,100 followersAuthor also wrote under the name Rudolph Steiner.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism or neognosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.
In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality. His philosophical work of these years, which he termed "spiritual science", sought to apply what he saw as the clarity of thinking characteristic of Western philosophy to spiritual questions, differentiating this approach from what he considered to be vaguer approaches to mysticism. In a second phase, beginning around 1907, he began working collaboratively in a variety of artistic media, including drama, dance and architecture, culminating in the building of the Goetheanum, a cultural centre to house all the arts. In the third phase of his work, beginning after World War I, Steiner worked on various ostensibly applied projects, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.
Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual approach. He based his epistemology on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's world view in which "thinking…is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas." A consistent thread that runs through his work is the goal of demonstrating that there are no limits to human knowledge.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism or neognosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.
In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality. His philosophical work of these years, which he termed "spiritual science", sought to apply what he saw as the clarity of thinking characteristic of Western philosophy to spiritual questions, differentiating this approach from what he considered to be vaguer approaches to mysticism. In a second phase, beginning around 1907, he began working collaboratively in a variety of artistic media, including drama, dance and architecture, culminating in the building of the Goetheanum, a cultural centre to house all the arts. In the third phase of his work, beginning after World War I, Steiner worked on various ostensibly applied projects, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.
Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual approach. He based his epistemology on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's world view in which "thinking…is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas." A consistent thread that runs through his work is the goal of demonstrating that there are no limits to human knowledge.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 31, 2008
you can read this either as science fiction or as spiritual science. these lectures were given in the early 1900s (before wwII, before hitler). steiner warns against the forces at work that seek to 'mechanize' human life - in many aspects: machines and industrialization, de-humanization of the work force, overemphasis on productivity, the perils of technology that we are clearly struggling with today... it is worth reading, tho dense and involved.
November 25, 2018
An interesting read. This book is about far more than the secret brotherhoods. Steiner discussed topics as diverse as early Christian Ireland, why America was re-discovered when it was, the energies that emanate from our planet in different parts of the globe, future developments in science and how these can work for the benefit or disadvantage of humanity and most importantly the impact of our spiritual life and development on our existence after we pass on. As always lots of food for thought - Anthony
October 16, 2012
One of the most important series of lectures by Steiner that I've read. It seems to me one can't full understand Steiner's basic worldview without being familiar with the contents of this book. I've read it several times.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews