Steiner Online Library Spiritual Science for Human Evolution

Man — Hieroglyph of the Universe
GA 201

Table of Contents

  • Title Page
  • Colophon
  • Note
  • Lecture 1. 9th April, 1920:
    • Nature necessity and human freedom. Abstract dimensions of space. Concrete planes of thinking, feeling and willing in man.
  • Lecture 2. 10th April, 1920:
    • Polarity between head and the rest of the body. Metamorphosis and reincarnation. Abstraction and Imagination.
  • Lecture 3. 11th April, 1920:
    • The three cosmic planes and the Zodiac. Nature and freedom. Yearly rhythm and seven-year periods. The second dentition. Heart and blood circulation.
  • Lecture 4. 16th April, 1920:
    • Three worlds: the world of the senses, of respiration, and of metabolism. The Platonic Year. Nutation periods and their reflection in the life of soul. Antithesis of cosmic ether and earthly matter. Sun and Moon, Christ and Jehovah.
  • Lecture 5. 17th April, 1920:
    • Man's astral body and the Zodiac. Unconscious bodily processes. Four spheres: Complete Form, Internal Motion, Organic Activity, Assimilation.
  • Lecture 6. 18th April, 1920:
    • Cosmic evolution. Metabolism. Organic forces. Movements of Sun, Earth and planets. The Platonic Year. Human freedom.
  • Lecture 7. 23rd April, 1920:
    • Goethe and his theory of colours. After-effect and remembrance. Metamorphosis and reincarnation. Day, week, year. Second dentition. The principle of ‘reversal inside out’.
  • Lecture 8. 24th April, 1920:
    • Body, soul, spirit and their relation to Earth, Planets and fixed Stars. Materialism. Matter, Ether and Astrality. Man and animal. Theories of relativity.
  • Lecture 9. 25th April, 1920:
    • Waking life and sleep. ‘Upper’ and ‘lower’ in man and in the cosmos. Hands and feet. Materialism and knowledge of the spirit. The Mystery of Golgotha.
  • Lecture 10. 1st May, 1920:
    • Ideation (or thought) and will. The nervous system. Digestion. Copernicus. Jehovah and Lucifer. Sleeping and waking.
  • Lecture 11. 2nd May, 1920:
    • Day and year. Summer and winter. Rotations of the planets. The path of the planetary system. Dimensions and cosmic space.
  • Lecture 12. 8th May, 1920:
    • Science and belief. Paganism and Christianity. Rotations of the Moon. Human memory. Solar astronomy and lunar astronomy.
  • Lecture 13. 9th May, 1920:
    • Man and the elements of earth and water. Egyptian astronomy. The Sun-Mystery. Materialism and Christianity. Darwinism. The cosmic significance of the Christ.
  • Lecture 14. 14th May, 1920:
    • Natural science and Christianity. Conservation of force. Annihilation of substance. Sun, Moon, Fixed Stars and their astronomical paths. Jehovah and Lucifer. Saros periods.
  • Lecture 15. 15th May, 1920:
    • Evolution and degeneration. Materialism of the modern age. Ancient Isis-wisdom. Light and air. Man as microcosm. Blood circulation. Earth, planets and fixed stars. Nervous system and brain. Negative matter of the Sun.
  • Lecture 16. 16th May, 1920:
    • Oriental and Western conceptions of the universe. The nature of heat. Pure thought. Polarity of Grail knighthood and Parsifal. Annihilation of matter and liberation of the spirit. The Christ Impulse and the cosmic future of mankind.

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Quotes

"You can see from this, my dear friends, what mischief will be set on foot if the truths of Spiritual Science are withheld. For man will be exposed to the forces of evil, and he will only be protected from it by giving himself up to the spiritual life of the good. To withhold the spiritual life of goodness from men is to be no friend to humanity. Whoever does this, be he Freemason or Jesuit, is no friend to humanity. For it means handing men over to the forces of evil. And there may be a purpose in doing so. This purpose may be to confine goodness to a small circle, in order by the help of this goodness to dominate the helpless humanity who are thus led by evil into the follies of life."

—Rudolf Steiner,
Spiritual Science Notes On Goethe's Faust, Vol. II, No. 273-8.

Spiritual Exercises

Calendar of the Soul

In 1912 Rudolf Steiner offered a “calendar of the soul” with weekly verses that express how the changing seasons in both the outer natural world and our inner lives help humanity evolve. Download and read the verses in four translations with commentary by Eloise Krivosheia of the Los Angeles Branch of the Anthroposophical Society.

Download

2022-2023 Calendar Dates