English Issue 41/2026

“The Learning Heart” was the subtitle of this year’s Michaelmas Conference at the Goetheanum. Every season’s festival holds a promise. Michaelmas, this little-known, often misunderstood festival, promises that those who bring their thinking into the heart will be gifted by the angel of this festival with something of that great, all-encompassing understanding—the “cosmic intelligence.” Perhaps more than any other seasonal festival, the first steps in observing it lie in personal resolve and one’s own initiative. To help build a bridge from the heart to the stars, Rudolf Steiner offers heart meditations—techniques for thinking with the heart—and inner images. The Michaelmas gathering was dedicated to these anthroposophical stepping stones through lectures, discussions, and performances. By reading this weekly journal, this Michaelmas bridge-building comes to you, dear reader.