From Comets to Cocaine: Answers to Questions

18 discussions, Dornach, October 19, 1922 – February 10, 1923 (CW 348)

The remarkable discussions in these two volumes took place between Rudolf Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland, who chose the varied subject matter. Steiner took questions and usually gave immediate answers. The astonishing nature of his responses, their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth, is testimony to his outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and teacher.

Accessible and stimulating, the records of these sessions are both entertaining and profound. In From Comets to Cocaine, Steiner discusses, among other things, nicotine and alcohol; the causes and timing of illness; pregnancy; vegetarian and meat diets; the human ear, eye and hair color; influenza, hay fever, hemophilia; planets and metals; mental illness; the ice age; the thyroid gland and hormones; beavers, wasps and bees; the nose, smell and taste; and jaundice, smallpox and rabies.

This volume is a translation from German of Über Gesundheit und Krankheit. Grundlagen einer geisteswissenschaftlichen Sinneslehre (GA 348). Previous translation published in two volumes as Health and Illness. Previously published in two volumes as Health and Illness.

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.

Matthew Barton is a translator, editor, teacher, and poet, and taught kindergarten for many years at the Bristol Waldorf School. His first collection of poems was Learning To Row (1999). He has won numerous prizes for his work, including an Arts Council Writer's Award and a Hawthornden Fellowship.