Anthroposophy

Origin

Rudolf Steiner was born on 27 February 1861 in Kraljevec, then in the Austrian Empire and now in Croatia. He trained as a natural scientist and philosopher in Vienna, completed his doctorate on Fichte's theory of knowledge, edited the natural-scientific writings of Goethe in Weimar from 1890 to 1897, and developed his epistemological foundations in The Philosophy of Freedom (1894). In 1902 he became general secretary of the German section of the Theosophical Society. He gave thousands of lectures across Europe between 1900 and 1924, mostly transcribed and now collected in his Complete Works of over 350 volumes.

Steiner's growing emphasis on a specifically Western, Christian-centred spirituality conflicted with the Theosophical leadership's identification of Jiddu Krishnamurti as the coming world teacher. In 1912 Steiner founded the Anthroposophical Society as an independent movement. In 1913 he began construction of the Goetheanum at Dornach in Switzerland, an enormous double-domed wooden building that served as headquarters until it burned down on New Year's Eve 1922-1923. The second Goetheanum, in poured concrete, was built between 1924 and 1928 and stands today. Steiner died in Dornach on 30 March 1925, leaving an enormous body of teaching and practical applications already in operation.

Teachings and method

Anthroposophical anthropology describes the human being as a fourfold composition: the physical body (shared with minerals), the etheric body (shared with plants), the astral body (shared with animals), and the I or ego (uniquely human, the seat of self-consciousness). Above these stand three further spiritual members yet to be developed: spirit-self, life-spirit, and spirit-man. Human development across many incarnations consists in the conscious transformation of the lower bodies by the I, producing the higher spiritual members.

Anthroposophical cosmology describes the evolution of the cosmos through seven planetary stages, currently in the fourth (Earth stage). Each stage develops one of the human members and one elemental kingdom. The events of cosmic and human evolution are linked to the spiritual hierarchies of Christian theology (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels) and to the appearance of the Christ being on Earth as the central event of cosmic history. Steiner placed Christ at the heart of his cosmology in a way that distinguished Anthroposophy from Theosophy and from Eastern traditions.

In practice

Anthroposophy has produced an unusually wide range of practical applications. Waldorf education, founded in 1919 with the first school for workers' children at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, now operates over 1,200 schools in 75 countries. The curriculum emphasises art, handicraft, and stage-appropriate learning, with academic content introduced according to a developmental schema of seven-year cycles. Biodynamic agriculture, founded in 1924 with Steiner's Agricultural Course, treats the farm as a self-sustaining organism and uses specific preparations (BD 500 to BD 508) made from cow horns, herbs, and mineral substances applied at astrologically calculated times. The Demeter certification mark identifies biodynamic produce.

Anthroposophical medicine, developed by Steiner with the Dutch physician Ita Wegman, integrates conventional medicine with treatments using plant, mineral, and animal substances prepared by specific methods, often homeopathically diluted. Weleda and Wala are the two principal pharmaceutical companies producing anthroposophical remedies. Eurythmy is an art of movement developed by Steiner from 1912, in which sounds, vowels, consonants, and musical intervals are expressed through specific gestures of the whole body. The Camphill movement, founded by Karl Konig in 1940, provides residential communities for people with developmental disabilities. The Christian Community, founded by Friedrich Rittelmeyer in 1922, offers a renewed sacramental Christianity. Combine with Theosophy for context.

Symbolic depth

Anthroposophy's central methodological claim is that spiritual knowledge can be attained with the same rigour as natural-scientific knowledge, provided the knower develops the necessary inner organs of perception. Steiner described this development in How to Know Higher Worlds (1904) and Occult Science (1910). The path involves daily exercises of attention, memory, and feeling, the cultivation of inner stillness, and the development of imagination, inspiration, and intuition as cognitive faculties beyond ordinary thinking. The fruits of this development are described in Steiner's many descriptions of the spiritual world, the Akashic records, and the cosmic history of humanity.

Anthroposophy stands as the most institutionally productive of the modern Western esoteric traditions, with thousands of operating schools, farms, clinics, and communities a century after its founding. Whether read as a literal spiritual science, as a creative philosophical synthesis, or as a flawed but generative cultural impulse, its practical results are substantial and ongoing. Continue with Theosophy, Rosicrucianism (a major influence on Steiner), Gnosticism, and Alchemy for the wider esoteric context. Visit the full glossary.

Also known as

• Spiritual Science
• Anthroposophical Movement
• Steiner Wisdom
• Goetheanum Tradition
• Christian Spiritual Science