Christopher Bamford

In 1908, an idea arose during a conversation between Dr Felix Peipers and Rudolf Steiner. Steiner had been lecturing on the healing nature of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, and drew a parallel to the Christian Madonna, Mary. From that, Steiner and Peipers started to formulate a sequence of fifteen Madonna images, primarily by Raphael, which Dr Peipers used effectively in meditative therapy with his patients. All fifteen images are included in the book.This book explores the nature of the Madonna images, addressing topics ranging from the mystery of seeing, beauty, truth and goodness, and Sophia, the divine feminine wisdom, to Isis and Madonna, working with images and Rudolf Steiner's healing mission. There is a special section on Raphael's Sistine Madonna.This book is a perfect complement to Raphael's Madonnas (edited by Christopher Bamford), a beautiful collection of colour Madonna images.

This is one of those books that can change your life. Radical, thought-provoking, and indeed mind-boggling, it leads to a completely new way of looking at what it means to be human - a spiritual being in a universe that itself is not just physical, but psychic and spiritual as well. These three previously untranslated lectures are a masterly introduction to what Rudolf Steiner means by "anthroposophy." They explain why Steiner describes this path-which means literally "the wisdom of the human being"- as one that "unites what is spiritual in the human being with what is spiritual in the universe." Steiner begins by describing what happens when we die. He shows the relationship between our physical life on earth and the etheric, astral, and spiritual life of the cosmos. He also explains how physical lives are completely interwoven with cosmic existence, and how the "miss-ing links" in evolution are spiritual in nature. Steiner then demonstrates what he calls the "dilettantism" and "soullessness" of mainstream psychology. He points out that since the second half of the nineteenth century the idea of the soul has been lost, and that, consequently, understanding of our inner lives is without a sure foundation. A quite different view, however, emerges from a truly spiritual perspective. In the third lec-ture, Steiner takes as his guide our three states of being - waking, dreaming, and sleeping. He describes in detail what happens in these three states, and how each is bound up with our lives as physical, psychic, and spiritual beings. With the profound insights in this book, the world becomes a much larger, richer, and more exciting place to live.

During the early seventeenth century, Europe was suddenly embroiled in controversy after the publication of the first Rosicrucian texts. Ever since, Rosicrucianism has been at the center of Western Christian esotericism. Forced underground by the Thirty Years War, it was secretly handed down by alchemists, hermeticists, and Masons to the nineteenth century, when it inspired new spiritual movements such as Theosophy, the Order of Golden Dawn, and Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Science. The Secret Stream collects all of Steiner's discussions of the Rosicrucians, answering questions such as Who are the Rosicrucians? What is Alchemy? What is the Rosicrucian path? What is the difference between Rosicrucianism and mysticism? And what does it mean for today? The topics include the Tao and the Rose Cross; the history and mission of Christian Rosenkreutz; the nature of Rosicrucian practice and experience; the meaning of "The Chymical Wedding," and Goethe's Rosicrucian poem, "The Mysteries." Rosicrucian meditation is also discussed, including how to meditate the Rose Cross itself. This important collection goes to the spiritual heart of Anthroposophy, whose essence is the Rosicrucian path. Edited and introduced by Christopher Bamford, The Secret Stream brings to light the hidden fraternity that has lived and worked since the fourtheenth century. It reveals the Rosicrucian path that is Christian, alchemical, and profoundly modern. Contents: Rosicurcianism The Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz The Rosicrucian Path of Alchemy Rosicrucianism and Modern Initiation Rosicrucian Meditation

"Our God is the God of Heaven and Earth, of sea and river, of sun and moon and stars, of the lofty mountain and lowly valley." -- St. Patrick These words are perhaps the epitome of the Celtic monk's holy embrace of nature and sense of "ecology." Everywhere in Celtic Ireland, on rocky promontories and lonely hillsides, in hermitages and monasteries, we find a holy intimacy of human, natural, and divine. In this anthology, the stories of the Celtic saints are interspersed with verses, prayers, and sayings attributed to those ancient sages -- from Patrick and Brigit, through Brendan and Columba, to Aidan and Cuthbert. It is uncertain when or how Christianity first arrived at those westernmost reaches. It seems always to have been there. Legend tells us that Irish bards attended the events on Golgotha "in the spirit." In the Celtic tradition there is a continuity in cosmic process. For the Celt, Christ's death and resurrection was a healing that allows a reconciliation between humanity and nature in God. In this sense, Christianity was always in Ireland, and we seek its historical beginning in vain. If the Celtic Church had survived, perhaps the fissure between Christianity and nature, widening through the centuries, would never have fragmented our Western attitude toward nature and the universe.