An Outline of Occult Science

Written in 1909 (CW 13)

A Guide to the Evolving Destiny of Humanity and the Cosmos...

This book “contains the outline of Anthroposophy as a whole,” as Rudolf Steiner states in his preface. The “occult science” presented here is not a “secret” knowledge, but rather knowledge of what remains hidden from ordinary sensory perception. The light of suprasensory research illumines this knowledge and makes it her into an “open secret.”

Following an introduction to the invisible nature of the human body, soul, and spirit―including Steiner’s spiritual-scientific research on sleep, dreams, after-death experience, and reincarnation―the main content of the book begins in chapter 4.

This is a systematic description of cosmic evolution as it presents itself to an individual consciousness that has transcended the limits of space and time. Steiner portrays the immense drama of the cooperative activity of lofty spiritual beings on the complex harmony of the human structure during the seven cycles of previous incorporations of Earth.

Following this sweep through long ages of time, the higher tasks and events of more recent “historical” periods are traces up to the present time and beyond. The fulcrum of this cosmic evolution is shown to be the “Mystery of Golgotha.”

An additional chapter describes the training that students must undertake to prepare for the that of initiation. Steiner depicts the first stages of knowledge of the new “Grail” initiation with the Christ mystery at its center. This path begins with a study of results of spiritual science, including those presented in this book.

The cosmogony outlined in An Outline of Occult Science provides an inexhaustible source of insights into cosmic and human evolution and eventual destiny. With repeated study of this material, readers will find ways to open new vistas of understanding the spiritual origins and connections of the universe, Earth, and humankind.

This volume is a translation by Maud and Henry B. Monges of Geheimwissenschaft im Umriss (GA 13). Lisa D. Monges revised that translation for this 1972 edition.

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.