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ANNOUNCING

The Science that Got Us Here: The Science that Can Get Us Out

Coming out October 28, 2024

Three complementary phenomenological perspectives point to the issue of climate change standing under a completely different light than what is presented to us by the media. When we recognize planet Earth as a living organism, connected to the solar system and beyond, the perspective of the closed system that dominates climate change models completely loses ground. Instead we see challenges of a different nature.

On one hand the work of Viktor Schauberger creates the basis for an understanding of world ecology and the role played by modern water, forestry and farming management in continuously degrading the environment and causing a depletion of the Earth’s etheric mantle. Water is of much greater importance than CO2 in reestablishing balance. Not only does Schauberger help us see the root causes of the ecological crisis; he also points us in the direction of a multitude of solutions, rather than many of the quick and questionable fixes we presently hear about.

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Schauberger’s work is supported from a completely unexpected quarter. What is true at the scientific level spills over into the technological and economic level, where much has already been done and can be done to reverse climatic threats. New industrial and agricultural processes are more and more working at eliminating systemically widespread waste, and operating chemical transformations at low pressures, low temperatures and reduced energy inputs. In other words many tools to solve pressing issues are already present. This is what transpires from the work of Gunter Pauli and the so-called “Blue Economy,” which works in a manner converging with Schauberger’s discoveries.

Finally, the Earth is even less of a closed system when it is integrated within the cosmos. Powerful influences shape the climate from the solar system that can no longer be ignored. They have in fact been recognized by conventional science (e.g., Peter Taylor’s comprehensive overview in his book Chill) and have been integrated and carried further in a new Keplerian view of astronomy. Chief among its proponents was Theodor Landscheidt. Others, such as Nicola Scafetta, or Nils-Axel Mörner, carry the torch at present.

No matter how we look at the issue, it is hardly just a complex technical problem. It seems there will be no way out of the impasse unless humanity embraces a new way of thinking about Nature and sets in motion a sizeable cultural revolution.

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Platonism and Aristotelianism in the Mystery Dramas
The polarity between Platonists and Aristotelians appears in Rudolf Steiner’s four Mystery Dramas in a very dynamic fashion between the individualities who take the names of Capesius and Strader. Through their odyssey in time and close interactions we gain another perspective on the contrast that is central to the Michaelic impulse in our time.

The Tempest
Shakespeare’s The Tempest hit this author as a very archetypal play that illustrates the predicament of the striving embodied in the English folk soul in the 16th-17th centuries and, by extension, modern humanity. The setting of the play, hardly physical, is like a landscape for the inner dilemma of the Consciousness Soul, its relationship to the body, the physical world and the fellow human being, and its striving to acquire a footing in spiritual reality.

Befriending Polarization through Differentiation and Integration
Polarization is spelled out large on the national stage. When that is the case it’s hardly possible to keep it out of many dimensions of our personal, organizational and community life. We need new ways to listen at the group and organizational/community levels. This can be done in three general steps through: unlearning what we have interiorized from societal and cultural conditioning; understanding some general principles, such as the seven life processes applied to social life; listening to the whole person of head, heart and hands and address the three beasts of doubt, hatred and fear.

Abraham Lincoln: A Spiritual Scientific Portrait (expanded version)
The PDF is an expanded version of the printed book with additions to Chapter 5. Looking at aspect after aspect of Lincoln’s personality is a daunting and awe-inspiring task. There’s a Lincoln politician, a lawyer, a writer and humorist, an educator, a spiritual seeker, a Commander in Chief and more. These additions look at Lincoln’s remarkable understanding of economic matters and at his international diplomacy.

Portugal’s Mission in Relation to the Mission of the West
Portugal became Europe’s first nation state at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. Preceded in time by the Grail events in northern Spain and the pilgrimages to Compostela, its growth was fostered by the Cistercians and the Knight Templars. At the time of their official demise in Europe the latter reappeared as the Order of Christ, which led the way to the Age of Discovery. The mission of Portugal opened the door to the age of the Consciousness Soul, the missions of Holland and England and what we call “globalization” at present.

Working Together on a Verse:
Meditation with the verses of the Calendar of the Soul can be strengthened when we work on the verses together once a week. Not only can we support each other in deepening our personal commitment, we can also deepen its understanding in ways that seem hardly possible individually. This report illustrates what was achieved together in working on verse 29. Karl König’s illustration of the verse was central to the group’s approach.

Appendix 25: From Michaelmas to Christmas in the Calendar of the Soul
This essay looks at verse after verse and characterizes the path that takes us from Michaelmas to Christmas. What is most remarkable is how one verse continues and merges into the next one and how some verses echo previous ones at regular intervals though in a metamorphosed and potentized fashion. The whole takes us from affirming the Self as the growing reality of the soul to the Self creator of worlds.

Appendix 26: From Advent to Epiphany in the Calendar of the Soul
From Halloween forward the soul of the Earth returns from the widest expanses to the center of the Earth, and the human soul follows this contraction so that the ego can perceive itself from within. In terms of the structure of the Calendar of the Soul, the whole of Advent can be seen as an answer to the call of warning verse 33 (November 17-23).

Artwork: Sophie Takada Bourguignon

The Tales of Alvin Maker: An America that Might Have Been
The soul of a nation can be explored in historical fashion. From an artistic perspective The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a tale for America’s past and future, which has greatly inspired me in the same direction. Orson Scott Card too has pursued the imaginative approach through purely artistic means and still reached very credible and revealing results. His Alvin Maker series is full of insights that apply not only to our nation’s history but to the present and the future.

Astonishing the Gods: Book Review
Ben Okri’s milestone achievement defies literary genre. I have settled for calling it an initiation journey. Ben Okri is not new to such attempts, witness his Starbook, which the author gleaned from the ‘book of life among the stars’, a veiled reference to the Akashic record.

This page offers access to books written around the general theme of cultural renewal. A great part of this, and the central one, looks at the Michaelic streams, which can contribute to this cultural renewal—the Platonists and the Aristotelians.

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A second theme looks specifically at the modern works of fantasy of the West, from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter. Interspersed with these are works of exploration of anthroposophical meditations/exercises, and lastly social and scientific essays.


Writings in Italian and Spanish toward the end of the page
Articoli e scritti in italiano verso la fine della pagina
Libro en castellano al final de la pagina

Aristotelians and Platonists The following three books are concerned with the world missions of Karl Julius Schröer and Rudolf Steiner and the karmic streams they represented, those of Platonists and Aristotelians.

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Fantasy Works of the West The following books look at major imaginations produced by the spirit of the West, particularly the British Isles. They are works of art that speak to the mission of the West and the challenges it poses globally.

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Meditation Studies and Spirit Recollection The following works are derived from experience in working with meditative material or from the specifics of the path of Spirit Recollection.

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The Journey of Spirit Recollection:
A Handbook for the Practice
of Steiner’s Karmic Exercises
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Eckhart Tolle and the
Art of Truly Living
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Joan Grant and
the Gift of Far Memory
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Miscellanea

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Exploring Themes of the Calendar of the Soul

This work explores themes as they emerge in the Calendar of the Soul, first in relation to the two halves of the year—spring/summer and fall/winter—secondly in relation to the mid-season quadrants, formed by the verses of so-called cross 7, which divide the year in four equal parts, centered around the times of the equinoxes and solstices.

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One of the main threads continues the exploration of the polarity thinking/boding as it emerges from the work of Karl König, and places it in relation to other ones, such as the expressions of feeling, memory, will, cosmic thinking and cosmic Word and their relationship to the human being.

During spring and summer we follow the ascent of cosmic life, cosmic light, cosmic warmth and cosmic Word as gifts bestowed upon the human being by the cosmos. During the cold time of the year these are inwardly elaborated by the human being—conscious of her place in Earth evolution and of her relationship to the Christ impulse—and given back to the cosmos.

The calendar exemplifies how the human being is both connected to the movements of the seasons, but also partly independent in having to exert inner initiative that counters natural tendencies. In addition it shows movements of ebbing and flowing and a cyclical enhancement.

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Appendices not included in the book

  • Appendix 7: Light and Darkness in the Crosses 1 to 5
  • Appendix 8: Nature Consciousness, Self Consciousness and the Four Soul Qualities
  • Appendix 9: The Paths of Reconnection and Initiation in the Calendar of the Soul
  • Appendix 10: Calendar of the Soul Transitions at Cardinal Holidays and Warning Verses
  • Appendix 11: Integration of the Soul Forces in the Two Halves of the Year
  • Appendix 12: Cosmic Word, Cosmic Self and Cosmic Thinking
  • Appendix 13: From Lent to Easter to Whitsun
  • Appendix 14: Mirroring of Verses around Cross 7 Verses
  • Appendix 15: Summer and “Fruit Verses”
  • Appendix 16: Interconnections of Crosses 5 and 7
  • Appendix 17: Force and Power Verses
  • Appendix 18: Sense of Self and Spirit Birth
  • Appendix 19: Recollection and Anticipation in the Calendar of the Soul
  • Appendix 20: Surrender in the Calendar of the Soul
  • Appendix 21: From Beauty to Enchanted Weaving of Spirit within Outer Glory
  • Appendix 22: The Self Throughout the Course of the Year
  • Appendix 23: The Turning Points of the Equinoxes in the Calendar of the Soul
  • Appendix 24: The Michaelic Challenge in the Calendar of the Soul

Illness and the Soul

The present Covid 19 epidemic places us in front of epochal choices, chief among them the choice between two antipodal views of science. Are we to believe solely a science mostly based on indirect observations (through microscope, chemical/physical lab measurements, etc.), whose theories go from being working hypothesis to becoming established truths, forgetting that they often dramatically evolve and change? Or is it possible to turn to a phenomenological experience of illness itself based on the observation of the symptoms of illness, individual physical/soul make-up and biographical turning points that lead to illness? The first approach is mostly based on statistical correlations that completely exclude the factor of consciousness. The second one shows that the whole human being is involved in the phenomenon of illness. Are we to forego phenomena we can strive to understand and experience in the name of theories that most of the time we cannot prove, solely based on the comfort of external authority, or can we develop inner competence in matters that concern us as directly as health and illness do? Granted, the holistic approach takes a good amount of work. It can only be acquired and internalized over time.

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There is a lot of conversation and good written work about how Covid-19 has come into being, about the science of viruses, about aggravating factors (e.g., 5G) about the socio-political background of this crisis. This book addresses another aspect of it: a phenomenological approach to illness, including the personal experience of it available to all of us, that will lead you to challenge common and pervasive assumptions.

If we look dispassionately at the bare phenomena, and take time to apply this understanding to our lives and specifically to instances of illness, personal experience alone will show us that there is little to support the prevailing paradigm of germ causation. My personal experience with illness over the last seven years (including flu and pneumonia) has showed me this beyond any possible doubt. This is not to discount contagion and epidemics. They are real, but even there the mechanisms of their diffusion differ from those purported by conventional medicine and the media at present.

The work explores first the phenomena of spiritual healing, then pioneer work into healing (The work of Dr. Bach and Dr. Hamer), and expands from a phenomenological perspective into a spiritual scientific one. The bottom line of this research shows that there is no need to fear illness per se (rather our inadequate responses to it) nor need to fear nature as our adversary. The paradigm we presently see imposed upon us at present subverts all spiritual scientific understanding of nature and illness.

If you want to peruse the book for its value in the shortest possible way I direct you to chapter 3, part II and to the conclusions.

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Seeing through Harry Potter’s Eyes:
Bridging Imagination and Reality

Why has Harry Potter taken the modern cultural scene by storm and captured the collective imagination? There is such an archetypal power in the images that most of us cannot but be stirred by this instant classic.

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This essay comes from a reluctant admirer, one who came late to, but fell headlong into the Harry Potter saga. Deep emotions were stirred, and the boundaries between reality and fiction were blurred. The author wants to show that there is more than just an allegory in the book; there is an imaginative portraying of the fabric of the modern world. Due to the themes treated this book is only meant for an adult audience.

Artwork: Valentina Villa

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Tolkien, Mythology, Imagination and Spiritual Insight:
The Enduring Power of The Lord of the Rings

The book looks at Tolkien’s biography on one side and only at The Lord of the Rings on the other; not the whole of Tolkien’s output, other than indirectly. It offers a new understanding of Tolkien’s personality, and what can be called his spiritual experiences. These come to light from an in depth look at his letters, but also from unpublished time-travel books that are largely autobiographic. In those, Tolkien exhibits not only unique spiritual insight and discipline, but also offers inklings that explain how his work could achieve such universal appeal.

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In looking at The Lord of the Rings the work goes in depth through Tolkien’s imaginations and lets them speak for themselves before showing how these confirm what is known to spiritual traditions of all time. This explains why the trilogy has such an enduring universal appeal.

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J. R. R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield and the Cosmic Christ

The book will introduce the readers to new aspects of Barfield’s legacy. It focuses on the significance of his two works of fiction, The Silver Trumpet and The Rose on the Ash-Heap, about which little has been said. It does the same in relation to his most autobiographical books (This Ever Diverse Pair, Unancestral Voice). What emerges from both lines of research is the great coherence of Barfield’s work. On one hand his early fiction announces the themes he explores and develops later in life. On the other hand the two autobiographical books illustrate how Barfield himself attained the step from ordinary to imaginative consciousness, with the resulting deep inner transformation which is the core of his message.

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Additionally the book explores the work of Tolkien and the importance of The Lord of the Rings much more in depth than in Tolkien, Mythology, Imagination and Spiritual Insight. It shows how The Lord of the Rings is both an expression of the Christ event and a prefiguration of events to come.

Tolkien and Barfield show us two aspects of the Christ Mystery in our time. Tolkien instinctively went from the historical Christ to the cosmic Christ; his The Lord of the Rings gives an expression of the Christ event, placed between macrocosm and microcosm. Barfield, taking his departure from the cosmic Christ in the expression of macrocosmic polarities, shows us his connection to the historical Christ. Together both authors point to the cosmic Christ in our time. Their overall work forms a literary culmination in our time.

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Aristotelians and Platonists: A Convergence
of the Michaelic Streams in Our Time

The book’s goal is the understanding of the impulses of Aristotelianism and Platonism in modern times. To reach this goal it is important to follow the developments of Aristotelianism and Platonism from their genesis in Greece to the present. Part III of the book looks at what would help the culmination of the Michaelic movement in the third millennium.

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The book explores:

  • Ancient Greece: Plato and Aristotle and the influence of their worldviews in the previous Michael Age
  • The Middle Ages: Chartres, the Cistercian Order and Scholasticism; Alain de Lille and Thomas Aquinas
  • The 19th-20th centuries: Karl Julius Schröer and Rudolf Steiner (remove period)
  • The new millennium: Aristotelians and Platonists in psychology, natural sciences and social sciences
  • Thoughts on the convergence of the Michaelic streams

It is the hope of the author that the two books above will encourage discussion about:

Building bridges between genuine impulses of renewal (not bound to tradition, dogma or national cultures)

Understanding the karma of the General Anthroposophical Society and how it has affected the outlook on the “culmination”

Bridging the gaps between Aristotelians and Platonists

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Karl Julius Schröer and Rudolf Steiner:
Anthroposophy and the Teachings of Karma and Reincarnation

Rudolf Steiner’s core life task of furthering the spiritual understanding of karma and reincarnation is paired with Steiner’s revelations about Karl Julius Schröer’s task of laying the foundations for anthroposophy itself. The book explores:

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  • Steiner’s relationship to the Cistercians and its connection to Steiner’s core task
  • “Steiner’s spiritual testament,” Karmic Relationships, Volume 4, the last cycle of lectures ever given by Steiner. What does it reveal about his attempt to introduce the teachings of karma and reincarnation?
  • Karma and reincarnation in relation to what Steiner calls “Spirit Recollection” in the Foundation Stone Meditation
  • Exploration of the spiritual scientific impulse of karma and reincarnation, and the breadth of its applications

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The Foundation of Stone Meditation:
The Seven Rhythms and the Three Practices

A Revolution of Hope

This book preceded the two books above, and was written for a larger public at a time in which I could sense the reality of Aristotelian and Platonic impulses without being able to trace them to their historical origins, or to the history of the General Anthroposophical Society. The work is purely phenomenological, not spiritual-scientific. The conclusions are parallel to what is said in Aristotelians and Platonists: A Convergence of the Michaelic Streams in Our Times.

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The book explores:

  • What globalization is at present, at the time of what Steiner called “the death of culture”
  • The new threshold of consciousness as it presents itself in experiences after death, before birth and in relation to awareness of reincarnation
  • The new Christ event in the twentieth century and how it manifests at present; its influence on the renewal of culture
  • The role of spiritual science in elucidating the above
  • The new experiential spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous, Nonviolent Communication, Hospice, Hellinger’s systemic psychotherapy, Theory U, etc. and their contributions to cultural renewal What globalization could look like from the perspective of cultural renewal

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Social Threefolding in Relation
to Rudolf Steiner’s Mission

WJ Stein once said: “Two forces hold sway in [Steiner’s] life. On the one hand, there is all that he took on as his destiny by accepting Schröer’s unsolved task as his own. On the other, there is everything that was included in his own destiny. Whoever reads the descriptions in his Autobiography with an awareness of this duality will frequently find references to it.”

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This essay explores the second strand mentioned by Stein, and the relationship between Steiner’s revelations about karma and reincarnation and his work on social threefolding. Both teachings had a central role in Steiner’s core life task, and his biography becomes more understandable when they are fully taken into account. So do central events in his life, such as:

  • Steiner’s complete dedication to teaching at Workers’ University of Berlin from 1899 to 1905
  • Steiner’s temptation to use the ideas developed in The Philosophy of Freedom as the basis for Mackay’s political platforms, which he later called “the temptation to turn the esoteric into the exoteric”
  • His unsparing personal investment in spreading the ideas of threefolding, and ensuring their realization to whatever extent possible

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Joan Grant and the Gift of Far Memory

“During the last twenty years,” writes Joan Grant in her autobiography, “seven books of mine have been published as historical novels, which to me are biographies of previous lives I have known.” This essay traces the evolution of the soul during the successive incarnations and the short ones that are mentioned by Joan in passing in her books or in her autobiography.

PDF

The Journey of Spirit Recollection
A Handbook for the Practice of Steiner’s Karmic Exercises

The Journey of Spirit Recollection Handbook and its Exercise forms, here accessible, is based on Steiner’s karma exercises. It is open and accessible to everyone who is interested in taking it up personally, or in groups of 2 or 3 people. It is freely accessible since it is no more, no less than an elaboration of the karma exercises that Steiner has offered in the years 1918 to 1924. As a helper on the inner journey, it is purely phenomenological, based on observations of ourselves, events in our lives, and recollections of other people. I invite you to use it as you see fit and spread it to anybody interested.

English:

Cultural Activisim:
What Can We Learn from Momo?

In setting out to render social change possible in all our circles—from the groups of which we are a part, to organizations, institutions and communities of various sizes—we can either embrace a dualistic perspective in which we stand against external situations, or else feel that we are both part of what needs to change and promoters of the change itself. The latter is the purpose of what we call “cultural activism” (others call it “sacred activism” or “spiritual activism) in this essay.

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The approach explored in these pages doesn’t stand at odds with the ideas of social threefolding; on the contrary, it supports it with the cultivation of an awareness of the forces of destiny at all levels of social reality. This exploration was inspired by and takes its departure from Michael Ende’s modern fairy tale, Momo.

Codependency and Karmic Debt:
What Can We Learn from Maria and Johannes Thomasius?

The idea of codependency touches on a very wide, and general realm of soul experience. With the knowledge we can derive from Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas this notion can be coupled with the objective ground of karmic debt, as in the example of Maria and Johannes Thomasius. Thus it acquires unique depth and richness.

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The characters of Maria and Johannes Thomasius form a relationship which is staged over the space of four dramas. Their growth is enhanced by the dedication they have to their own spiritual practice and .development.

Photo:Rudolf Steiner: The Guardian of the Threshold, 8th Scene (Foto: Georg Tedeschi)

Italiano

Attivismo culturale:
cosa possiamo imparare da Momo?

Nel cercare di rendere possibile il cambiamento sociale in tutti i nostri circoli — dai gruppi di cui facciamo parte, alle organizzazioni, alle istituzioni e alle comunità di varie dimensioni — possiamo abbracciare una prospettiva dualistica in cui ci opponiamo alle situazioni esterne, oppure sentirci entrambi parte di ciò che deve cambiare e promotori del cambiamento stesso. Quest’ultimo è lo scopo di ciò che qui chiamiamo “attivismo culturale” (altri lo chiamano “attivismo sacro” o “attivismo spirituale”).

Leggi di più/Leggi di meno

L’approccio esplorato in queste pagine non si trova in contrasto con le idee della tri-articolazione sociale; al contrario, le sostiene coltivando una consapevolezza delle forze del destino a tutti i livelli di realtà sociale. Questa esplorazione si ispira dalla fiaba moderna di Michael Ende, Momo.

Il Volto Santo di Lucca
e il Santo Graal

Nella cattedrale di Lucca (San Martino) si trova un crocefisso unico chiamato il Volto Santo. Nella chiesa di San Frediano si trova una reliquia del Santo Sangue. La relazione tra l’uno e l’altro è resa chiara da leggende locali e da quelle del Sacro Graal.

Libros en castellano

Aristotélicos y Platónicos:
Confluencia de las Corrientes Micaélicas en Nuestro Tiempo

La meta del libro es la comprensión de los impulsos del Aristotelismo y del Platonismo en los tiempos modernos. Para alcanzar esta meta es importante seguir los desarrollos del Aristotelismo y del Platonismo desde su génesis en Grecia hasta el presente. La Parte III del libro examina lo que ayudaría a la culminación del movimiento Micaélico en el tercer milenio.

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El libro explora:

  • Grecia antigua: Platón y Aristóteles y la influencia de sus visiones del mundo en la anterior era de Micaél
  • Edad Media: Chartres, la Orden Cisterciense y el Escolasticismo; Alain de Lille y Tomás de Aquino
  • Siglos XIX y XX: Karl Julius Schröer y Rudolf Steiner
  • El nuevo milenio: Aristotélicos y Platónicos en la psicología, las ciencias naturales y la ciencia social
  • Pensamientos sobre la convergencia de las corrientes Micaélicas

Es la esperanza del autor que este libro promueva la discusión sobre:

  • Construir puentes entre los genuinos impulsos de renovación (no vinculados a la tradición, dogmas o culturas nacionales)
  • Entendimiento del karma de la Sociedad Antroposófica General y cómo ha afectado la perspectiva sobre la “culminación”
  • Hacer un puente entre las diferencias entre Aristotélicos y Platónicos

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