STEINER, RUDOLF (1861–1925), who wrote more
than 350 volumes on philosophy, science, and the arts, was
the originator of an esoteric form of spiritual teaching called
anthroposophy, which he defined as meaning both “knowl-
edge of the human being” and “human knowledge.” Steiner
was born in Kraljevec on Murr Island, Hungary, on February
25, 1861. He was educated in Austria, lived in Germany in
his middle years, and lived in Dornach, Switzerland, during
the last twelve years of his life. From 1900 to 1924, in virtu-
ally every major city in Europe, he delivered over six thou-
sand lectures, some to an audience of a dozen and others to
several thousands.
From an early age, Steiner experienced access to spiritual
realities, including experiences of the dead; the inner, or
“etheric,” forces of the plant world; and the living power of
symbolic forms. At age twenty-two he was appointed editor
of the natural scientific writings of Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe, which were published in five volumes (1883–1897).
Beginning in 1900, at the age of thirty-nine, Steiner
began to teach a Western Christian-Rosicrucian esotericism.
He served as the head of the Berlin branch of the Theosophi-
cal Society from 1902 to 1911. He continued to speak about
H. P. Blavatsky (1831–1891), the founder of the society,
with great respect, but in contrast to the primarily Hindu-
Buddhist orientation of the Theosophical Society, Steiner
emphasized both the central role of Christ in the evolution
of consciousness and the importance of thinking for the
karma of the West. Steiner’s doctoral dissertation, published
as Truth and Knowledge (1892), in combination with The
Philosophy of Freedom (1894), prepared the way for the theo-
ry of cognition that characterizes his later thought. In 1904
Steiner published two of his foundational esoteric works:
How to Know Higher Worlds and Theosophy. The third foun-
dational text from that period was An Outline of Esoteric Sci-
ence (1909). Collectively, these three works present Steiner’s
fourfold theory of human nature (physical, etheric, astral,
and Ego), his detailed account of the evolution of earth and
humanity, guidance on the path of initiation, and his de-
scription of the workings of karma and rebirth. Some of the
ideas in these basic anthroposophical texts can be found in
Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and in the esoteric teachings
of Blavatsky, but Steiner sought to establish them in the
Western, specifically Christian, tradition.
In response to requests from his followers for guidance,
Steiner delivered more than six thousand lectures on dispa-
rate topics in the sciences, the social sciences, the arts, educa-
tion, and on many of the founders and leaders of different
religious traditions. In the tradition of Goethe, Steiner
showed how imaginative seeing can illuminate the natural
world, especially plants and the world of color. He generated
myriad insights into the inner dynamics of the natural world,
including metals, crystals, plants, soil, and particularly the
human body. He described in detail the effects of spiritual,
astral, and etheric forces on planetary bodies, the earth, and
human beings.
Steiner bequeathed a host of insights concerning color
theory, painting, sculpture, and architecture. Many of his
contributions in these areas are exemplified in the two Goe-
theanum buildings in Dornach that he designed. The first
Goetheanum, for which construction began in 1913, was
nearly finished when it was destroyed by fire in 1922. The
second Goetheanum serves as the spiritual center for the
General Anthroposophical Society. In the years 1910–1914
Steiner taught several courses on speech formation that were
based on his esoteric knowledge of the human larynx, and
he wrote and directed four dramas in which he attempted
to use those innovations in speech to express the inner reali-
ties of human and spiritual beings. In 1912 Steiner began
teaching a series of lessons for a discipline of his own inven-
tion called eurythmy. Using his knowledge of language and
sound, he showed how the human body, particularly the
limbs, can express in visible form the varied meanings of con-
sonants, vowels, and musical notes.Steiner posited three principal divisions of society: the
economic, the political, and the spiritual-cultural. He argued
that these three realms should be regarded as separate but re-
lated and of equal importance. This social theory has pro-
found implications for Steiner’s approach to education,
which he placed in the spiritual-cultural sphere, essentially
removed from economic and political (including govern-
mental) influence. Steiner’s attempt to develop an approach
to education that would be modern, spiritual, and centered
on the needs of the child dates to his lecture series of 1907,
The Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy, and
it finds full expression in the Waldorf approach to education.Waldorf Schools (named after the school in Stuttgart
that Steiner founded in 1919 for the children of workers in
the Waldorf-Astoria tobacco factory) employ a curriculum
based on what Steiner saw as the seven-year cycles through
which a child develops and on the cultivation of the child’s
scientific and artistic imagination. On Steiner’s recommen-
dation, Waldorf teachers strive to “receive the child in rever-
ence, educate the child in love, and send the child forth in
freedom.”Steiner delivered more than a dozen lecture series on the
spiritual and esoteric revelations that he gleaned from the
events depicted in the Christian scriptures. Although he em-
phasized that the primary spiritual path for modern humani-
ty ought to be spiritual science, or anthroposophy, in 1922,
in response to an appeal for help from German and Swiss
pastors and theology students, Steiner provided the spiritual
foundation for a church called the Christian Community.
During Christmas week in 1923, Steiner reorganized the An-
throposophical Society with the Goetheanum as its spiritual
and physical center. He died at the Goetheanum on March
30,1925.SEE ALSO Anthroposophy; Blavatsky, H. P.; Rosicrucians;
Theosophical Society.8738 STEINER, RUDOLF