The Section
The central task of the Section is to foster the study and research of Anthroposophy as a field of knowledge, as well as of the human being as a physical, soul, and spiritual being. Through its work, it contributes to the ongoing development of Anthroposophy and to its contemporary significance.
The Section
Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge which aims to lead the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the universe. - Rudolf Steiner, 1924
The Goetheanum as a School of Spiritual Science currently comprises twelve departments (Sections or Faculties) which carry out research, teaching and training in a specific field of life and science, as well as a General Anthroposophical Section. In the General Anthroposophical Section, the focus is placed on anthroposophy itself, its essence and its development, and thus at the same time on the study of the human being or the "problem of the human being" (Martin Buber) as a physical, psychological and spiritual being. The focal points of the Section's activities at the Goetheanum are currently centred in the Ita Wegman Institute (basic anthroposophical research), in the international seminar "Study and Further Education" (Haus Schuurmann; see Work Contexts) and in the area of spiritual training of the so-called "First Class" (see below).
The human being can become the question and the content in his or her being human; from this basic experience the Section develops its various directions of work and focal points. The study of anthroposophy, its communicability and reception form a basis and an integral part of this. The understanding of the becoming, the living and the changing requires an active reception that builds on an individual, questioning examination and on one's own experience. The search for an understanding of the human being in its relationship to the cosmos, to its environment and with-world (Mitwelt), to the otherness of the other and to itself as a becoming, can enliven this relationship; it can have an inspiring and transforming effect. Such an attempt to gain knowledge as an active participation in reality entails challenges that go beyond a mere assimilation of knowledge. The General Anthroposophical Section sets itself the task of promoting forms of active reception of anthroposophical spiritual science and developing them further in exchange with people, with institutions, with professional fields and training, including the Goetheanum itself.
Rudolf Steiner introduced a meditative path of self-development towards a deeper understanding of reality in 1924 in nineteen lessons of the so-called "First Class" of the School of Spiritual Science - and he held these co-stenographed "Class Lessons" in the General Anthroposophical Section. The path of soul-spiritual training outlined in the lessons aims to deepen through practice the human being's development of the I in cognition. The searching relationship of an encounter with oneself and with spiritual reality can lead to a growing commitment and connection to the world and to others, to the with-world and the environment. In the study of spiritual science, the foundations of knowledge are formed for this: a conceptual form that enables the becoming and essence of a spiritual reality to be penetrated with the brightness of consciousness and out of this to shape life. The inner training path of the Class Lessons is the basis of all the Sections at the Goetheanum and their work in the various areas of life. It also opens up spaces of encounter between people worldwide in which this kind of search for knowledge can be practised.
Finally, the core tasks of the General Anthroposophical Section also include scientific studies, publications and events that enable a deeper understanding and the establishment of an inner relationship with the work of Rudolf Steiner and his collaborators as well as with the nature and development of anthroposophy in the 20th century, and thus also with the Anthroposophical Society and its history.
The First Class of the School of Spiritual Science
Immediately after the founding of the General Anthroposophical Society during the Christmas Conference of 1923/24, Rudolf Steiner begins to build up the School of Spiritual Science and its specialized sections. As the "soul" and esoteric core of the Society and the Sections, the spiritual training path of the Class Hours is established by him.
The development path of the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science, since its foundation by Rudolf Steiner, consists of 19 class lessons transmitted by him. With the decision for membership and admission a path of knowledge is entered, which connects different ways of working: On the one hand, participation in the lessons opens the possibility of an individual development of inner spiritual training. On the other hand, it enables the formation of a supporting community of responsibility with other people towards the tasks set by time. In this way, an exchange of spiritual questions and thoughts of the individual with the life experiences and impulses of others can occur in the cooperation.
The starting point for the esoteric path of the 1st class is the realization that man as an I-being is at home in the spiritual world and in earth life at the same time in his physical form. By living through the mantric images and situations of this path of knowledge and practice in the class lessons or in meditation, he can, on the one hand, become aware of his own spiritual being and his connectedness with the cosmic-spiritual world. On the other hand, he can develop transformation impulses from this awareness and carry them into his earthly, professional and social life.
Initially by Rudolf Steiner himself, later by the Executive Council at the Goetheanum and by the School Leadership, people were commissioned in countries and regions to carry out the work on the class lessons in collaboration with the members of the School of Spiritual Science. To this day, numerous university, mediator and working groups have formed around the world to communicate about questions of work within the First Class and to develop different forms of work. The coordinating work in the School of Spiritual Science is one of the tasks of the General Anthroposophical Section and is carried out in close collaboration with the Goetheanum leadership and with the mediator and university circles in the countries.
Origin, Development and Current Practice
Rudolf Steiner announced the School of Spiritual Science when the General Anthroposophical Society was founded during a conference at Christmas 1923. He began establishing the School directly after the conference. He planned to organize it into three Classes and various Sections.
During the course of 1924 Rudolf Steiner gave 38 esoteric lessons (known as Class Lessons) to people who joined the First Class. Twenty-six of these lessons were given in Dornach, Switzerland. The Class Lessons comprise a complete spiritual course of 19 fundamental lessons given between February 15 and August 2, 1924, several lessons given at other locations, and seven further lessons September 6 to 20, 1924, which take up the themes of the first part of the 19 lessons in a modified form. Rudolf Steiner had planned to establish a Second and Third Class but was not able to do so because of his illness and death.
Rudolf Steiner had already led an esoteric school from 1904 to the beginning of World War I. This school had three departments in accordance with esoteric tradition. The three Classes of the School of Spiritual Science represent a metamorphosis and further development of that school.
The esoteric lessons which Rudolf Steiner gave to the First Class within the General Anthroposophical Section contain meditative verses with explanations. He was very firm about restricting knowledge of the esoteric content of this “Michael School” to a group of people who fulfilled certain requirements. This group had made a commitment to follow a meditative path of development, to collaborate with each other, and to represent anthroposophical work in daily life. The lessons were taken down in shorthand with Rudolf Steiner’s permission.
After Rudolf Steiner’s death, members of the Executive Council and later also “Class Holders” designated by them, began conveying this esoteric course material to members of the First Class, using the shorthand notes as a basis. Today there are many groups of Class Holders around the world who meet to discuss questions concerning the work within the First Class and propose new Class Holders to the leadership of the General Anthroposophical Section. The Executive Council at the Goetheanum is currently responsible for the General Anthroposophical Section.The content of the First Class is conveyed either in Rudolf Steiner’s own words or in “free renderings,” where the Class Holder explains and introduces the mantras in his or her own way. In addition, conversations and any other forms of work based on participants’ individual meditative work with the mantras are organized in various ways.
During the decades following Rudolf Steiner’s death the content of the Class Lessons did not remain within the circle of people for whom they were intended and they were published in a somewhat dubious form. The Trustees of Rudolf Steiner’s Estate then published an official version of them in 1992 in collaboration with the Executive Council at the Goetheanum. Although anyone can obtain these texts today, which were not intended for individual study, the members of the First Class work with them in accordance with the prerequisites for membership in the School of Spiritual Science, by placing central emphasis on speaking and listening.