The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Man in the Past, Present, and Future
GA 228

These lectures were given shortly after Steiner returned from a trip to England where he visited many of the stone circles of the Druids. Because of this trip he could give a lively description of the clairvoyant consciousness of the people who erected these ancient monuments. He describes how they discerned the changing seasons and stellar influences from the quality of the shadows cast by the stones. From this they directed agricultural practices and acquired a deep knowledge of the elemental beings in nature. Their perception of the spiritual being of the Sun while shaded from its physical light prepared them for the ready acceptance of Christianity long before missionaries from Rome reached these islands.

These are the 5th through 8th of 8 lectures from the lecture series entitled, The Science of Initiation and Knowledge of the Stars. Translated from shorthand reports unrevised by the lecturer. The lectures are included in a volume of the Complete Centenary Edition of the works of Rudolf Steiner entitled, Initiationswissenschaft und Sternenerkenntnis. Der Mensch in Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft vom Geschichtpunkt der Bewusstseinsentwickelung. (Vol. No. 228 in the Bibliographical Survey, 1961.)