Universe, Earth, Human Being

11 lectures, Stuttgart, August 1908 (CW 105)

“The mission of our age is not to reproduce an ancient wisdom, but to engender a new one—a wisdom that points not only to the past but that works prophetically into the future.” — Rudolf Steiner

Beginning with ancient Egypt, the pyramids, and sphinxes—and a comparison of that time with our own—Rudolf Steiner surveys the vast spiritual landscape of human development. In symphonic style, he describes the conquest of the physical plane in post-Atlantean civilizations; the interrelationships of various cultural epochs; human connections with the kingdoms of nature and planetary bodies; and the relationship between animal forms and “the physiognomy of human passions.” Through this panoramic vision, we discover how the changed conditions of human consciousness call for a new spiritual understanding today.

In her Introduction, Marie Steiner describes the experience of being in the audience for this timeless series of lectures:

“Enormous cosmic pictures were unfolded before the spiritual gaze of the listeners; insights were of such depths of ancient wisdom, views of distant futures of human and world development, that deepest devotion flowed through their hearts.”

This new edition features a revised translation, introduction, notes and an index.

Universe, Earth, Human Being is a translation from German of Welt, Erde, Mensch, deren Wesen und Entwickelung sowie ihre Spiegelung in dem Zusammenhang zwischen ägyptischem Mythol und gegenwärtiger Kultur (GA 105). A previous edition was titled Universe, Earth, and Man (1987).