The Driving Force of Spiritual Powers in World History

Contents

Lecture I, 11th March 1923

Speech and its relation to sleep. Effects of the materialistic epoch upon the development of the souls of men. Spiritual backgrounds of the Youth Movement.

Lecture II, 12th March 1923

Experiences of the human soul during the state of sleep and their significance for the whole of life. Goethe's Italian journey; its purpose and effects. Establishment of relationship with Angeloi, Archangeloi and Archai.

Lecture III, 16th March 1923

Spiritual happenings as causes of the transformation of consciousness in the 4th century A.D. Rulership of the cosmic thoughts passes from the Exousiai to the Archai. Experience of divine worlds through music during the epochs of Lemuria and Atlantis and the loss of this experience when perception of the interval of the third became possible. Experience of melody in the single tone.

Lecture IV, 17th March 1923

On the activity of spiritual Powers in the historical events of the Middle Ages and the dawning modern age.

Lecture V, 18th March 1923

Human beings are led to the development of free thoughts through the normally evolved Archai, to untimely nationalistic attitudes of thought through the backward Spirits of Form.

Lecture VI, 22nd March 1923

The loss of nature-bestowed, living thoughts in the modern age. Necessity of an active vitalization of thinking in order to grasp the living content of the world. Effects of poisonous and remedial plant-substances in man's etheric organism.

Lecture VII, 23rd March 1923

The descending evolution of consciousness during the post-Atlantean culture-epochs and the future tasks of mankind. The mood and attitude of souls in the fifth culture-epoch and Wolfram von Eschenbach's ‘Parsifal.’

List of relevant publications.

Summarized plan of the Complete Edition of Rudolf Steiner's works in the original German.