General Anthroposophical Society

General
Anthroposophical
Society
Anthroposophy
With the advent of the twenty-first century, the task formerly carried by religion and cultural tradition – of giving
meaning and direction to life – passed to each individual.
We have thus “arrived” at ourselves, at our own responsibility in every realm of our existence. Today each person
faces the challenge of determining and directing his own
actions and thinking if he wishes to avoid being submerged only in worldly, material things. In this context
the need often arises to develop a conscious relationship
with the spiritual world. It was Rudolf Steiner’s achievement to develop an epistemological method which
allows us to experience the reality of a spiritual world in
specific terms and which is inwardly related to the character of natural science. The result – anthroposophy
(awareness of one’s humanity) – is able to offer guidance
not just to each individual person but also provides stimulus for all fields of culture. It has enabled many prominent people to discover new horizons and perspectives in
relation to their cultural achievements and ideas.
Achievements based on anthroposophy in the fields of
education, medicine, agriculture and architecture have
gained international attention. This is primarily true since
the last third of the twentieth century, when spiritual
ideas increasingly began to be accepted by the public as
relatively commonplace. Over 10,000 anthroposophical
institutions – such as hospitals, schools, banks, farms and
therapeutic centers – are recognised in all parts of the
world. Cultural initiatives are being created in social flashpoints such as South Africa, South America or the Middle
East, and the award of the Alternative Nobel Prize to two
anthroposophical cultural initiators in 2004 paid unexpected tribute to this fact.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is a twentieth
century pioneer with groundbreaking
achievements in many different fields
of the sciences and humanities, but
above all in a practical spirituality.
Rooted in European Christian esotericism, he combines the greatest breadth
of spiritual perception with clear
conceptual comprehension, stimulating
a wealth of cultural initiatives in
education, agriculture and medicine,
in sociology, science and cultural
studies. His written work comprises
40 volumes and there are 270 volumes
of transcripts of his more than 6,000
lectures. His ideas and work provided
the basis for new artistic directions,
including architecture and movement
(eurythmy).
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Detail of the facade of the Goetheanum,
headquarters of the General
Anthroposophical Society in Switzerland.
General Anthroposophical Society
The General Anthroposophical Society, founded in
1923/24, today combines many hundreds of groups,
branches and national societies in 78 countries on all continents. These are formed by people with an interest in
and commitment to spiritual matters. Anthroposophy
sees itself as a science of the spirit and the Anthropo-
“I do not know of another approach to
life that has generated so many practical initiatives, which serve the real
needs of our time. I owe it to Rudolf
Steiner that, in my work with business
and organisational issues, the experience of the spiritual within me, my fellow human beings and the world in
which we live, is a vibrant and meaningful reality. What makes Rudolf Steiner so
relevant today is that he is truly a
champion of the autonomous human
being. We are encouraged to be spiritual
scientists, and to develop our capacities
for spiritual knowledge through individual inner work. This is challenging but
unimaginably rewarding.”
Marjatta van
Boeschoten (Britain)
is a lawyer and works
as a development
consultant with international organisations
and companies.
She is active in socioeconomic projects
and institutions.
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sophical Society is concerned with the life, questions and
projects of its members. The spectrum ranges from open
discussion groups about general contemporary issues to
specialist working groups; from groups studying the science of the spirit in a methodical way to informal reading
groups to committed groups of people from all walks of
life who are active within civil society.
The local or subject-based groups are connected in
regional centres, supra-regional initiatives and national
associations (national societies). They are combined at an
international level in the General Anthroposophical
Society with its headquarters at the Goetheanum in
Switzerland. The “soul” of the General Anthroposophical
Society is the School of Spiritual Science whose sections
specialise in various professional fields of life and work.
Membership
Human encounter lies at the heart
of the Anthroposophical Society –
from small discussion groups
to international specialist conferences.
Anyone is welcome to join the Anthroposophical Society
irrespective of world view, national or cultural origins or
religion. The Society does not demand commitment to a
creed but an interest in anthroposophy. Each member can
form groups with other members to pursue the issues
which are of importance for his or her insights and life. The
result is a vibrant and global network of living spiritual dialogue about anthroposophy in relation to contemporary
life – be it in the townships of South Africa, in Vancouver or
Stockholm, one of the many Rudolf Steiner centres in
Germany or on a New Zealand farm. Local group work, festival celebrations, courses, lectures and artistic events characterise the life of the Anthroposophical Society just as
much as major international conferences. Members
receive encouragement and support on issues relating to
meditation, and can participate in any number of socially
beneficial projects. Numerous publications support cohesion, provide information and enable members to inspire
one another. Members support the School of Spiritual
Science as the spiritual centre of the Society. Anyone who
wants to familiarise him/herself with the Anthroposophical Society can contact a local group, approach the
national society directly or the Goetheanum. To become a
member online visit www.goetheanum.org/mitglied.html
“Anthroposophy allows for common
spiritual perspectives despite all differences of culture and religion. That is a
magnificent opportunity which in substance allows peace to succeed.“
Ibrahim Abouleish,
Egyptian, winner of the
Alternative Nobel Prize,
founded the SEKEM initiative in the Egyptian
desert. Based on biodynamic agriculture, a
development model was
created which now
comprises the fields of
business, human rights,
education and medicine.
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School of Spiritual Science
The School of Spiritual Science forms the core of the
Anthroposophical Society. Founded by Rudolf Steiner in
1923/24, its activity is based on the following simple but
revolutionary observation of contemporary life: the world
changes through our thinking. Hence the transformation,
sensitisation and enhancement of thinking becomes the
focus of activity. This change of perspective represents the
method and objective of the School of Spiritual Science:
through the consistent and careful practice of observation and feeling, through spiritual scientific training and
meditation, thinking is transformed and deepened,
undergoing an extended and enhanced relationship with
feelings, with actions and with the reality around us.
The School of Spiritual Science, in addition to regular possibilities of participation in many conferencing and professional activities, has a membership option. The prerequisite for membership in the School of Spiritual Science
is a familiarity with the foundations of anthroposophy
and a meditative practice as generally understood by
anthroposophical spiritual science. In addition, a willingness to collaborate with others and represent anthroposophy is also required. Membership as such is to be distinguished from participation in certain courses or conferences sponsored by the Sections of the School of Spiritual
Science which in many cases are open to the public.
“Today, the essential nature of the
human being is under attack. Will we
continue to grow as ethical, creative
beings with a strong soul-spiritual life,
or will we succumb to a numbing,
materialistic existence? The task of the
Anthroposophical Society is to help
human beings evolve socially and spiritually. It does so through research and
practice in a host of fields and by helping people form new communities
based on interest and purpose.”
Joan Almon is coGeneral Secretary of
the Anthroposophical
Society in America.
She is coordinator of
the U.S. Alliance for
Childhood and for
thirty years was a
Waldorf early-childhood educator.
The School of Spiritual Science is based at the Goetheanum.
It is also located wherever people have taken the resolve to
activate their path of inner development, in collaboration
with others, as a key to engaging with the cultural, social
and economic challenges of our society. Together with general spiritual questions related to destiny and reincarnation, religion and the meaning of life or the practice of spiritual scientific study and meditation, the specialist sections
of the School deal with specific areas such as education,
medicine, agriculture, art, science and the humanities, as
well as the spiritual perspective of young people. The core
of the work in the School of Spiritual Science is provided by
a mantric and meditative course by Rudolf Steiner which is
studied in what is called the First Class. The task of the
School of Spiritual Science is research in the spiritual field,
stimulus and coordination as well as advanced training in
anthroposophically based areas of work.
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Distinctive fields of work
Waldorf education helps to develop the
creativity in each individual child also in
crisis regions such as South Africa, Kosovo
or Pakistan.
Education
Waldorf education seeks to ensure that the human element is not lost in preparing the child for the demands
of a highly technological world. It endeavours to create
equilibrium between abilities and knowledge in the
characteristic phases of each age. Each person brings
certain motifs from his or her pre-birth existence in relation to his or her individual tasks. Helping these profoundly individual biographies to develop effectively is
the objective of anthroposophical education. Waldorf
teachers in approximately 3,000 schools and kindergartens worldwide see it as their task to help young
people learn to discover their identity and on that basis
develop themselves with imagination and growing
responsibility.
Curative (special) education and social therapy
People with disabilities evoke an awareness that there is
more to human beings than their appearance. They
teach us to cultivate what each of us requires for his or
her healthy development: love. Only those who can put
such caring openness into practice are successful in curative education. In engaging with the idea of reincarnation, certainty grows that the eternal element has ways
of manifesting itself in a temporal setting through disability. Anyone who works with such thoughts will seek
“People with disabilities have to struggle
against enormous obstacles. Qualities
which are developed in the face of such
obstacles become part of the individual
in quite a different way to things which
are simply acquired ‘in passing’. If you
encounter elderly people with disabilities – they might not be able to do
more than others could do as a child –
you notice nevertheless that they have
an incredible personal presence. You do
not acquire qualities like that without
specific experiences. The lack of congruence between personality and physical
body can lead to despair, but it can also
turn into a truly sovereign presence.”
Rüdiger Grimm has
worked in curative education communities and
in 1995 took over as
director of the Curative
Education and Social
Therapy Council of the
Medical Section at the
Goetheanum. Grimm is
the author of numerous
publications on curative
education.
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The apple harvest becomes a lesson in
physics in an anthroposophical curative
center.
the spiritual entelechy in the other person. There is ongoing highly successful work in accordance with such
insights in hundreds of establishments worldwide.
Common to all curative educators is the wish to support
people with disabilities as autonomous spiritual beings
in such a way that they can have the unique experiences
which their particular circumstances grant them. Such
work is increasingly important in an age in which disability and illness are increasingly seen as failures of development that should be genetically eradicated. A society
which fails to understand the unique value of people
“Developing our life and the earth in a
truly human way means learning to
understand every corner of our existence in its spiritual challenge. What I
therefore find so thrilling in anthroposophy each day anew is that it shows
us ways in which even such utilitarian
areas of life as banking and finance
can acquire a spiritual basis. As a result
it is possible to develop sustainable
perspectives of a financial sector based
on fraternity.”
Anders Kumlander was
managing director of
an ecological company until he became
chairman of the
Anthroposophical
Society in Sweden in
1986. His fields of
activity primarily
include issues relating
to spiritual underpinning of the economy.
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with disabilities fundamentally violates human dignity.
Anthroposophical curative education is therefore a commitment to humanity.
Money – capital – initiative
Anthroposophically-based financial services such as
banks, community foundations, donor advised funds and
other instruments, broker ecologically sound investments
and provide low-interest loans for institutions and initiatives whose work pursues humanitarian ideals. The conscious and ethical handling of money, a core interest in
the consequences of capital investment, produces new
forms of sustainability and transparent transactions that
support the moral intentions of individuals and their
financial environment.
Alongside lending, anthroposophical banks are also active
with gifts and grants and have pioneered innovative foun-
dations and donation programs fostering social entrepreneurs worldwide. A dozen anthroposophically-based
In its balance of human attention, artistic
therapy and the use of modern diagnostic
equipment, anthroposophical medicine
addresses the whole human being.
banking institutions (balance sheet total: € 3bn) and
numerous foundations are setting standards for a human
approach and innovative ethical economic (re)forms.
Agriculture
At a time when artificial fertiliser first began to be used in
agriculture, the Agriculture Course held by Rudolf Steiner
in 1924 initiated the biodynamic form of husbandry, the
earliest form of organic agriculture. The substances in the
agricultural organism, together with consideration of cosmic forces, form the basis for each individual farm and
bio-dynamic practice. Today there are many thousands of
farms in more than 50 countries, mostly offering their
products under the Demeter label. Biodynamic agriculture not only produces healthy food but also cares for the
cultivated landscape. Communal farming (CSA’s etc.) as a
new form of ownership and model of social integration is
guided by common welfare and awareness of the integrity of the local communities.
Medicine
Anthroposophical medicine is medicine for the human
being as an individual. In diagnosis, how the patient feels
takes precedence over diagnostics; and psychosomatic,
biographical and social perspectives are also incorporat-
“The aim of anthroposophical medicine
is to help patients play an active part in
their own recovery and rehabilitation.
Anthroposophical medicine and its wide
variety of therapies can be tailored to
address the patient's own spiritual, soul
and bodily needs. Inherent ability and
talent are uncovered, strengthened and
brought into balance. This augments
the benefits of conventional medicine,
particularly in chronic illnesses, and can
empower the patient on a path of personal growth, development and positive
change.”
David McGavin works
as an anthroposophical
general practitioner at
Blackthorn Medical Centre,
Maidstone in England.
Blackthorn Trust's team
of doctors and therapists
work within the NHS and
have a special interest
in patients suffering any
serious and chronic illness.
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“Seven words” – eurythmy performance
by the Goetheanum Stage.
ed. All these physical, psychological, family and occupational factors are taken into account in this holisticallyorientated therapy. Anthroposophical medicine occupies
an interesting intermediate position between so-called
alternative medical therapies, which are mostly rooted in
ancient spiritual traditions, and the modern, scientifically
based medical system. Together with anthroposophical
pharmaceutical companies active throughout the world
(Weleda, Wala/Dr Hauschka etc), anthroposophical medicine also comprises a therapeutic spectrum ranging
from nursing, art therapy and physiotherapy to eurythmy therapy and counselling. Many people who approach
illness as a developmental opportunity discover that
“When we watch eurythmy, one person
might see no more than arms moving
about whereas someone else will see
the language of the angels. Neither is
quite correct. Spirit and matter are
breaking apart. But we can reverse that
separation – actively. That is where the
art lies, that something takes concrete
form which I cannot see but which is
nevertheless constantly at work.”
Gioia Falk is a
eurythmist and
choreographer at the
Goetheanum Stage.
She is involved in the
design and development of new forms of
expression
in eurythmy.
they need not succumb to it but are enriched by it, can
overcome it. Medicine can turn into an art form when
the individual relationship between patient, physician,
therapist and medicine plays a key role.
Eurythmy
In contrast to dance and drama, eurythmy is not intent
on transmitting emotions, thoughts or technically
graceful control of the body. It is not movement to music
or the interpretation of narrative content. Eurythmy
attempts to bring to artistic expression “the song that
lives in all things“ – based on the knowledge that the
same spiritual forces live in music and, even more so,
language that engenders living forms and soul physiognomies in nature. Eurythmy unlocks a world which is
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not normally visible. Eurythmy can lead to threshold
Anthroposophical physicists study the
nature of light beyond model conceptions.
experiences between the physical and the directly adjacent spiritual world. Eurythmy can also have a healthgiving and healing effect since it is connected with energetic forces. Eurythmy in education and therapeutic
eurythmy, whose effect is increasingly recognised, was
developed alongside performing eurythmy.
Science
The comforts our civilisation enjoys today are based on
science which, for the past 300 years, has enquired into
how the world can be utilised. Even the physical world’s
most concealed aspects have been rendered comprehensible through description and systemisation. Anthroposophically-oriented science endeavours to extend and
broaden analytical research. It uses modern Goetheanism
to progress from the description and mastery of phenomena to an understanding of forces and processes. Through
enhanced involvement, the scientist moves from observer
to active participant. S/he learns to understand the language of the object under investigation through growing
familiarity with it. This type of science has led to the – still
modest – development of new substances, and contributes to basic knowledge, and the search for new
meaning.
“We attempt to transform our inclination to dissect the world into its component parts into imaginatively self-critical
observation and thinking. In this way we
begin to perceive nature as a coherent
whole and develop an increasingly
strong purpose to treat it with
responsibility.”
Craig Holdrege, biologist
and educator, is director
of the Nature Institute in
the USA which pursues a
qualitatively orientated
scientific method. His
critical publications on
biotechnology can be
found in numerous
European and American
specialist journals.
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The Goetheanum is a visible expression
of the importance of art
in anthroposophical activity.
Goetheanum
The Goetheanum in Dornach near Basel, Switzerland, is
the headquarters of the General Anthroposophical
Society and the School of Spiritual Science, international
congress centre and performance venue for Goethe’s
Faust, the Mystery Dramas by Rudolf Steiner, eurythmy
performances, drama and concerts. 150,000 people visit
this architecturally and scenically unique location each
year. The distinctive forms of the sculpted architecture
point to the fact that a spiritual perception of the world
relates to the whole person and the context and interacting dynamic of life.
People from 20 nations came from 1912 onwards to help
“The important thing for me is that we
at the Goetheanum should see it as a
place that provides a spiritual service, a
service for a cosmopolitan global society.
There is a natural tendency to develop
into a closed community, and we wish
to counter that. We host an impulse
here which should have worldwide relevance.”
in the construction of the Goetheanum. They worked
Cornelius Pietzner was
President of the Camphill Association of North
America as well as a
member of the Board
of Trustees of the
Anthroposophical
Society in America. He
became a member of
the Executive Council
of the General Anthroposophical Society and
its Treasurer in 2002.
tion. The architectural ideas originated from the same
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together to erect a remarkable two-domed wooden
building on the Dornach hill as an emblem of anthroposophy while Europe sank into the morass of the First
World War. In the night of New Year’s Eve 1922/23 a fire
destroyed the newly completed building. In the last years
of his life, Rudolf Steiner began plans for its reconstrucspirit but the form was completely different. The new
Goetheanum was to be built completely in concrete – a
revolutionary development for the time since this building material had been little tested and never used with
such sculptural freedom in so large a building.
One can reach no real conception of the world if one does
not seek it by a perception of the human being. For the
most ancient truth that the human being is a microcosm
- a true world in miniature - will again and again be the
most newly discovererd. Humankind has all the secrets
and the riddles of the great world, the macrocosm, concealed in its own nature.
If we take this in the right sense, then every time we look
into our inner human being, our attention will be directed
to the world outside us. Self-knowledge will become the
door to world-knowledge.
Rudolf Steiner, March 1924
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The Society in the world – a selection of national societies
Argentina
2224 Crisólogo Larralde
AR-C1429BTP Florida, Buenos Aires
Tel. +54 11 4702 98 72
[email protected]
Germany
Zur Uhlandshöhe 10
DE-70188 Stuttgart
Tel. +49 711 164 31 21
www.anthroposophie-de.com
Peru
Av. G. Prescott 590 San Isidro
PE-Lima 27
Tel. +51 1 471 12 33
[email protected]
Australia
Rudolf Steiner House
307 Sussex Street
AU-Sydney NSW 2000
Tel. +61 2 9264 51 69
www.anthroposophyinaustralia.org
Great Britain
35 Park Road
GB-London NW1 6XT
Tel. +44 207 723 44 00
www.anthroposophy.org.uk
Poland
ul. Arciszewskiego 4
PL-01-483 Warszawa
Tel./Fax +48-22-666 88 32
[email protected]
Hungary
Bimbó út 3 IV.2
HU-1022 Budapest
Tel./Fax +36 1 325 07 02
[email protected]
Portugal
Quinta s. Joao dos Montes
PT-2400 Alhandra
Tel. +351 21 951 20 92
[email protected]
India
5 Proctor Road, Grant Road
IN-Mumbai 400 007
Tel./Fax +91 22 386 37 99
www.anthroposophyindia.org
Romania
Str. Visinilor nr. 17, sector 2
RO-024091 Bucuresti
Tel. / Fax +40-21-210 33 57
www.antroposofie.ro
Brazil
Rua da Fraternidade, 156/168
BR-04738-020 São Paulo – SP
Tel +55 11 5687 4252
www.sab.org.br
Ireland
P.O.Box 172
GB-Belfast Delivery BT18 9WT
Northern Ireland
Tel./Fax +353 1 286 21 16
[email protected]
Russia
Nastschokinskij Pereulok 6, kw. 3
RU-119019 Moscow
Tel./Fax +70 95 291 23 84
Canada
9100 Bathurst St. #8
Thornhill, ON L4J 8C7
Tel. +1 416 892 3656
www.anthroposophy.ca
Italy
Via Privata Vasto 4
IT-20121 Milano
Tel./Fax +39 02 659 55 58
www.rudolfsteiner.it
Czech Republic
Mail address: P.O. Box 285, Kaprova 12
CZ-110 01 Praha 1
Tel./Fax +420 2651 7732
www.anthroposof.org
Japan
Takaban 3-3-9 1F, Meguro-ku
JP-152-0004 Tokyo
Tel./Fax +81 3 37 91 00 73
[email protected]
Denmark
Ibaekvej 202
DK-7100 Vejle
Tel. +45-86 27 60 60
www.rudolfsteiner.dk
Mexico
Tecla 46, Col. Los Reyes, Coyoacan
MX-Mexico D.F. 04330
Tel. +52 5 617 68 54
[email protected]
Finland
Uudenmaankatu 25 A 4
FI-00120 Helsinki 12
Tel. +358 9 696 25 20
[email protected]
Netherlands
Boslaan 15
NL-3701 CH Zeist
Tel. +31 30 691 82 16
www.antroposofie.nl
France
2 et 4, rue de la Grande Chaumière
FR-75006 Paris
Tel. +33 1 4326 09 94
www.anthroposophie.fr
New Zealand
18 Grants Road, Papanui
NZ-Christchurch
Tel. +64 3 354 44 47
www.anthroposophy.org.nz
Georgia
Seinab Bozvadse Street 10
GE-0108 Tbilisi
Tel. +995 32 99 95 76
[email protected]
Norway
Prof. Dahlsgate 30
NO-0260 Oslo
Tel./Fax +47 22 44 86 88
www.antroposofi.no
Austria
Tilgnerstrasse 3
AT-1040 Vienna
Tel./Fax +43 1 505 34 54
[email protected]
Belgium
F. Lousbergskaai 44
BE-9000 Gent
Tel. +32 9 233 54 58
www.antroposofie.be
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Slovakia
Hattalova 12A
SK-821 08 Bratislava
Tel. +421 2 4445 36 90-1
www.antropozofia.sk
South Africa
16 Promenade Road, Lakeside
ZA-Capetown 7945
Tel. +27 21 788 1022
[email protected]
Spain
C/Guipuzcoa, 11-1-Izda
ES-28020 Madrid
Tel./Fax +34 91 534 8163
[email protected]
Sweden
Pl 1800
SE-153 91 Järna
Tel. +46 8 554 302 20
www.antroposofi.nu
Switzerland
Oberer Zielweg 60
CH-4143 Dornach
Tel. +41 61 706 84 40
[email protected]
USA
1923 Geddes Avenue
US-Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1797
Tel. +1 734 662 93 55
www.anthroposophy.org
General Anthroposophical Society
Goetheanum
CH-4143 Dornach 1
Tel. +41 61 706 42 42
Fax +41 61 706 43 14
[email protected]
www.goetheanum.org
Executive Council:
Virginia Sease
Secretariat: Tel. +41 61 706 43 12, [email protected]
Heinz Zimmermann
Secretariat: Tel. +41 61 706 43 02, [email protected]
Paul Mackay
Secretariat: Tel. +41 61 706 43 09, [email protected]
Bodo v. Plato
Secretariat: Tel. +41 61 706 43 07, [email protected]
Sergej Prokofieff
Secretariat: Tel. +41 61 706 43 11, [email protected]
Cornelius Pietzner
Secretariat: Tel. +41 61 706 43 10, [email protected]
Published by
© Allgemeine Anthroposophische Gesellschaft, CH-4143 Dornach, 2006
Editors: Bodo v. Plato, Wolfgang Held
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