For more than three centuries, scientists have studied the world as detached observers. In doing so, science has achieved marvelous results, but it has also lost the sense of the whole that earlier cultures possessed. By concentrating on the "text" of the physical world, science has lost the context--the etheric world of life forces. Goethean phenomenology (so named for Goethe's observations) is a scientific method capable of bringing the clarity of natural science to this context of phenomena. Unconsciously, scientific observers have always been using the context to read the text. The phenomenological method involves training observers to look at the activity of thinking itself as it perceives intentionally. It then uses this activity itself as a means of perception. The observer thus becomes conscious that physical nature is indeed a text, and that its meaning derives from the etheric context. Unlike the more common hypothetical and deductive methods--which presupose a detached observer--the phenomenological method is based on active participation by the observer. This eliminates the need to construct speculative hypotheses; the observer's awareness of his or her own intentionality ensures the veracity of the observations. The etheric world is not a new hypothesis; it is, however, a new domain of observation. The authors--Jochen Bockemühl, Christof Lindenau, Georg Maier, Ernst-August Müller, Hermann Poppelbaum, Dietrich Rapp, and Wolfgang Schad--have all written extensively on "participatory" science and related matters. In this ground-breaking collection, they each explore an aspect of the etheric world and its relationship to human thinking. They systematically lead the reader into the "formative movements" of nature and offer genuine insight into the far-reaching mystery of life.

Examines Goethe's neglected but sizable body of scientific work, considers the philosophical foundations of his approach, and applies his method to the real world of nature.

The Journal for Star Wisdom includes articles of interest concerning star wisdom (Astrosophy), as well as a guide to the correspondences between stellar configurations during the life of Christ and those of today. The guide comprises a complete sidereal ephemeris and aspectarian, geocentric and heliocentric, for each day throughout the year. Published yearly, new editions are available beginning in November for the coming new year. According to Rudolf Steiner, every step taken by Christ during his ministry between the baptism in the Jordan and the resurrection was in harmony with--and an expression of--the cosmos. The Journal for Star Wisdom is concerned with these heavenly correspondences during the life of Christ. It is intended to help provide a foundation for cosmic Christianity, the cosmic dimension of Christianity. It is this dimension that has been missing from Christianity in its two-thousand-year history. Readers can begin on this path by contemplating the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets against the background of the zodiacal constellations (sidereal signs) today in relation to corresponding stellar events during the life of Christ. In this way, the possibility is opened for attuning, in a living way, to the life of Christ in the etheric cosmos.

Now in paperback, this thrilling, meticulous biography by naturalist and historian Kevin Dann fills a gap in our understanding of Henry Thoreau, one modern history's most important spiritual visionaries by capturing the full arc of his life as a mystic, spiritual seeker, and explorer in transcendental realms. This acclaimed, epic biography of Henry David Thoreau sees Thoreau's world as the mystic himself saw it: filled with wonder and mystery; Native American myths and lore; wood sylphs, nature spirits, and fairies; battles between good and evil; and heroic struggles to live as a natural being in an increasingly synthetic world. Above all, Expect Great Things critically and authoritatively captures Thoreau's simultaneously wild and intellectually keen sense of the mystical, mythical, and supernatural. Other historians have skipped past or undervalued these aspects of Thoreau's life. In this groundbreaking work, historian and naturalist Kevin Dann restores Thoreau's esoteric visions and explorations to their rightful place as keystones of the man himself.

9 lectures, various cities, February 23, 1921-September 16, 1922 (CW 304) This is the first of two previously untranslated volumes of Steiner's public lectures on Waldorf education. Readers familiar with Steiner's lectures for teachers will discover here how Steiner presented his ideas to the general public with surprising directness. Teaching, Steiner says, should be artistic, creative, and improvisational, not dogmatic. Yet he is clear that the great battle concerns the spiritual nature of the child. Other themes include understanding the role of health and illness in education, as well as repeated expositions of the three major phases in child development: imitation, authority, and freedom. There are also two lectures Steiner gave in England on Shakespeare and new ideals in education. Topics include: Spiritual Science and the Great Questions of our Present Civilization Education and Practical Life from the Perspective of Spiritual Science Knowledge of Health and Illness in Education The Fundamentals of Waldorf Education Educational Methods Based on Anthroposophy Education and Drama Shakespeare and the New Ideals German source: Erziehungs- und Unterrichtsmethoden auf Anthroposophischer Grundlage (GA 304).

Today there is a bewildering diversity of views on ecology and the natural environment. With more than two hundred distinct and valuable perspectives on the natural world—and with scientists, economists, ethicists, activists, philosophers, and others often taking completely different stances on the issues—how can we come to agreement to solve our toughest environmental problems? In response to this pressing need, Integral Ecology unites valuable insights from multiple perspectives into a comprehensive theoretical framework—one that can be put to use right now. The framework is based on Integral Theory, as well as Ken Wilber’s AQAL model, and is the result of over a decade of research exploring the myriad perspectives on ecology available to us today and their respective methodologies. Dozens of real-life applications and examples of this framework currently in use are examined, including three in-depth case studies: work with marine fisheries in Hawai’i, strategies of eco-activists to protect Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, and a study of community development in El Salvador. In addition, eighteen personal practices of transformation are provided for you to increase your own integral ecological awareness. Integral Ecology provides the most sophisticated application and extension of Integral Theory available today, and as such it serves as a template for any truly integral effort.

And if she stayed still Without making a sound She could see gnomes Helping plants through the ground. This radiant picture book was written for Julianna Margulies--the film actor and former star of the hit television series "ER"--when she was six years old. Her father, Paul Margulies, captures the pure openness of a child's imagination. These reflections on what a small girl sees around her remind us all, young and old, that life's riches can come to us through our loving attention to the simple and "ordinary." The vibrant images by Famke Zonneveld (the illustrator of Living Alphabet) bring this book to life. (Ages 4 - 7 years)