Art As Seen in the Light of Mystery Wisdom

8 Lectures, Dornach Dec. 28, 1914-Jan. 4, 1915 (CW 275)

Within the ancient mystery cultures, art, science, and religion formed a unity that offered direction and spiritual nourishment to society. Today, art, science, and religion can again be united. As Marie Steiner indicates in her introduction to these lectures, however, these aspects of culture need rejuvenation through fresh spiritual understanding and knowledge. Art cannot be renewed through compromise, but only by returning to the spiritual foundations of life. "The remedy lies in unlocking the wisdom of the mysteries and presenting it to humanity in a form adapted to contemporary needs."

In these wide-ranging lectures, Rudolf Steiner offers spiritual insight for the modern day into a revitalized world of the arts. His themes include: the relation of art to technology; the moral experience of the worlds of color and music; the legendary Norwegian "Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson"; and the relationship between the human being and the arts of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry, and eurythmy.

This volume is a translation from German of Kunst im Lichte der Mysterienweisheit.

Rudolf 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. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.