Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts I: The Cognitional Path of Anthroposophy - The Mystery of Michael

This is one of Steiner's very most important books. Written on what would turn out to be his deathbed, it contains summaries of all of anthroposophy in the lapidary form of epigrams. This is the first of seven volumes. Steiner sought to reorganize and re-energize the Society in the aftermath of the Christmas Conference held in 1923/1924. The aphorisms contained herein were one way of making possible a kind of "concerted action" guided by the Goetheanum. A few highlights: First we must realize that the world cannot ever answer the question who we are; it can only destroy us. To answer that question ultimately, we have to develop Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition. Deep insight into human nature is provided when we view ourselves "pictorially," like a picture being at first intuited by the painter, and only becoming of finished painting after a long imaginative and inspired process. The volume includes two appendices, with selections from The Life, Nature, and Cultivation of Anthroposophy, and Carl Unger's marvelous reflections on the Leading Thoughts in aphoristic form.