Anthroposophy Today
It’s October 2014, I am 25 years old, living and working in London and this evening, I am searching for a book as a present for a friend in a second-hand library in Camden Town. The place is cozy, smells of old paper, it is filled with a warm yellow light. In a corner, a bookshelf catches my attention. It is full of dusty old books… by Rudolf Steiner. ‘Look!’, I say to whom I’m there with, ‘this is the guy that founded my school!’ I should take this with me…
A book as turning point
The little book in question is a rather cute, small, slightly worn and, I must say, completely beautiful edition of the Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, printed in 1927 by the London Anthroposophical Publishing Co. It cost me 5 pounds. It’s funny to think, that even though I have never read the book (not even to this date, because I’ve used other copies to work on the Leading Thoughts), this little printed book represents the turning point in my 25-year-old self’s life.Purchasing it led to my search for courses on Waldorf Education (I was working with youth in the UK and was searching for different approaches to youth work), which in turn led to a recommendation to study Anthroposophy as a foundation first. As a result of this chain of events, in October 2015 I arrived in Dornach to begin my study Theosophy under the guidance of Dr Virginia Sease, who taught me ‘how to read’ Steiner. If I’d known what it would bring, I would have certainly paid more for it!
Call for deepening
How many stories similar to this might be out there? How many of us were gifted ‘that’ book by a friend, mentor, even a stranger, that led us to the work of Rudolf Steiner? How many children grew up surrounded by these books, unconscious of them, until one day in late teenage or early adulthood, a snoop around dad’s library led to the turning of An Outline of Esoteric Science, or some other title, leaving one mesmerized by the immensity contained in it? And how many of us felt the call to then find a place where these works could be seriously studied, their ideas grappled with next to other students who shared the same enthusiasm and devotion for entering and understanding these thoughts?
Networking
Publications and training centres make anthroposophy present in the world. 100 years since the founding of the School of Spiritual Science, anthroposophical trainings and publishing houses are spread across the globe, working in numerous languages and often swimming against the current to make it possible for anthroposophy to be public in their local communities. The General Anthroposophical Section sees their tasks, challenges and questions as vital to the future of the movement, which is why we hosted a forum focused on the work of publishers and educators holding responsibility in anthroposophical training centres. For three days we discussed their work, guided by the presentations of experts from different regions. As a result, we have made a commitment to work in the next years to solidify a network of publishers, librarians and people responsible for further education initiatives with a view to develop together a platform with an overview of how the written works of Rudolf Steiner are alive in these professions today. This ‘directory’ or platform aims to be a central consulting space for any student, scholar or interested person wanting to approach Steiner’s work. We are opening a call to any of you working as a publisher, editor, even translator to get in touch and connect with this impulse.
Cover picture: Goetheanum World Conference 2023, Peter Selg. Photo: Xue Li.