The Rudolf Steiner Archive

How Spirit Works in Nature
GA 351

One can also call these lectures dialogues, because their content was always determined by the workers themselves, at Rudolf Steiner's request. They were allowed to choose their topics themselves; he encouraged them to ask questions and share their thoughts, and he encouraged them to express themselves and to voice their objections. Both the far-reaching and the obvious were touched upon. Particular interest was shown in the therapeutic and hygienic aspects of life; this showed how much these things are part of the daily concerns of the worker. But all phenomena of nature, of the mineral, plant and animal world were touched upon, and this led out into the cosmos again, to the origin of things and beings. Finally, the workers requested an introduction to spiritual science and the basic knowledge for understanding the mysteries of Christianity.

This spiritual work together had developed out of a few courses that Dr. Roman Boos had initially given for those interested in such questions after finishing work on the construction site; they were later continued by other members of the Anthroposophical Society. But now the workers asked Rudolf Steiner if he would take charge of them and quench their thirst for knowledge. They also asked if it would be possible to use one hour of the usual working hours for this purpose, when they were still fresh and receptive. This was done in the morning hour after the vesper break. Some employees of the construction office were also allowed to attend, along with two or three of Dr. Steiner's closest colleagues. Practical matters were also discussed, such as beekeeping, which interested beekeepers. The transcript of those lectures on bees was later published by the Agricultural Experimental Ring at the Goetheanum as a brochure for its members, when Dr. Steiner was no longer with us.

Now, more and more people wanted to get to know these lectures. However, they were intended for a special audience and were spoken off the cuff in a special situation, as suggested by the circumstances and the mood of the listening workers — and certainly not with a view to publication and printing. But it is precisely the way they were spoken that has a fresh and immediate quality that one would not want to be missed. One would rob them of the special atmosphere that is based on the interaction of what lived in the souls of the questioners and the answerer. One would not want to wipe away the color and atmosphere by pedantically rearranging the sentence structure. Therefore, the attempt is made to touch them as little as possible. Even if not everything in them corresponds to the conventions of literary style, they have the immediacy of life.

This collection consists of automated translations of lectures 2-5 out of 15.