Four Mystery Dramas: The Portal of Initiation - The Soul's Probation - The Guardian of the Threshold - The Souls' Awakening (CW 14) (Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner) - Softcover

Steiner, Rudolf

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1621480577 ISBN 13: 9781621480570

Publisher: SteinerBooks, 2014

Synopsis

Revised translation (CW 14)

Rudolf Steiner’s four mystery dramas are powerful portrayals of the complex laws of reincarnation and karma. They transport us into a landscape of the human soul and spirit, where suprasensory beings are active.

Through the perception of these hidden worlds, we are given the opportunity to understand the struggles we face in attempting to apply spiritual knowledge to our everyday lives and relationships.

Written between 1910 and 1913 during periods of intense inner and outer work, these dramas are powerful testimonies to Steiner’s artistic creativity. By manifesting soul and spirit forms on a stage, they foreshadow a dramatic art for the future.

This volume is a translation from German of Vier Mysteriendramen (GA 14).

About this title

About the Authors

Rudolf Steiner (b. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner, 1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. Steiner termed his spiritual philosophy anthroposophy, meaning “wisdom of the human being.” As an exceptionally developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern, universal “spiritual science” that is accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unbiased thinking. From his spiritual investigations, Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of numerous activities, including education (general and for special needs), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, Christianity, and the arts. There are currently thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and initiatives in other fields that involve practical work based on the principles Steiner developed. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of human beings, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods for personal development. He wrote some thirty books and delivered more than six thousand lectures throughout much of Europe. In 1924, Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches around the world.

Barbara Renold is a speech artist, teacher, and theater director. After completing her training in Speech and Drama in 1981at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, she deepened her speech studies at the Harkness Studio in Sydney, Australia. As a Speech Arts teacher at Sunbridge College (1983–2007), she developed a lively curriculum for Waldorf early childhood and grades teachers, as well as for students in the teacher-training course. She also directed community theater productions, Shakespeare plays, and the Oberufer Christmas plays. In 1987, she began directing Rudolf Steiner's epic Mystery Dramas, a lifelong passion that culminated in the 2014 Spring Valley Conference, when all four Mystery dramas were shown in the same week in English for the first time. She teaches speech arts at the Spring Valley Eurythmy School, The Christian Community seminary, and the Steiner School of Speech Arts. She is an alumna of the Kimberton Waldorf School.

Hans Pusch, a skilled actor and director and a leading member of the Goetheanum stage group, later becoming an early beacon of Anthroposophy in North America. Hans began acting at the age of sixteen in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he performed in amateur productions of German classics with other young people during World War I. His performances caught the attention of the great film director Murnau, who offered to take Hans to Hollywood and train him for an acting career. Later, in Santa Barbara, Hans opened a speech studio, where he conducted courses in speech, eurythmy, gymnastics, play-reading groups, and introductory courses on Rudolf Steiner and his writings. Hans developed a repertory theater that performed Shakespeare, Thornton Wilder, Anouilh, Fry, and Eugene O’Neill. For the rest of his life, Hans Pusch worked tirelessly in the New York City area to translate, perform, and promote Rudolf Steiner's mystery dramas, as well as Goethe’s Faust, as expressions of the essence of Anthroposophy.

Ruth Pusch, born Ruth Barnett, was raised in New Haven, Connecticut. After a period of time spent in Dornach, Switzerland, as a student of spiritual science, she married the actor Hans Pusch in 1932 while in the U.S. Together, they returned to Dornach, where Ruth studied eurythmy with some of the pioneers of that new art form. She later taught eurythmy in New York City and was an early teacher at the Waldorf School New York City. She and her husband were also active in bringing the anthroposophic impulse to the dramatic arts in North America. Along with Hans, Ruth Pusch also helped translate Rudolf Steiner’s four mystery plays.

Edition details

• Publisher: SteinerBooks
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1621480577
• ISBN 13: 9781621480570
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 572