{"id":75197,"date":"2026-11-04T11:02:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T10:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=75197"},"modified":"2026-11-04T11:02:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T10:02:57","slug":"the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/","title":{"rendered":"The Class Lessons of the School of Spiritual Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>\u201cA stronger impetus is needed than has been applied in the past if the spirit that humanity needs is to take hold\u201d:<\/strong><span id='easy-footnote-1-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-1-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Die Konstitution der Allgemeinen Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft und der Freien Hochschule f\u00fcr Geisteswissenschaft. Der Wiederaufbau des Goetheanum 1924\u20131925&lt;\/em&gt; [The constitution of the General Anthroposophical Society and the Independent School of Spiritual Science. The rebuilding of the Goetheanum, 1924\u20131925], GA 260a (Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1987), p. 190, Prague, Apr. 5, 1924.'><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> <strong>these are Rudolf Steiner\u2019s words spoken at the moment of the reconstitution of the School of Spiritual Science in 1923\/24. Through the \u201cesoteric school of the Goetheanum\u201d\u2014as a real \u201cMichael School\u201d upon the Earth\u2014the anthroposophical movement was finally to gain the \u201cspiritual strength\u201d it so urgently needs. \u201cThe spiritual world wants something from humanity at this present moment in historical development; it wants this something in the most diverse fields of life, and it is up to us to follow the impulses from the spiritual world clearly and truthfully.\u201d<\/strong><span id='easy-footnote-2-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-2-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;The Christmas Conference: For the Foundation of the General Anthroposophical Society 1923\/1924&lt;\/em&gt;, CW 260 (Hudson, NY: SteinerBooks, 2020), Dornach, Dec. 26, 1923, 10 a.m.'><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From the Realm of History and the New<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The new and future-oriented, the humane and Michaelic, require total commitment, the necessary readiness, the will, the capabilities, and a spiritual presence of mind\u2014for the opposing powers and their interests are strong. \u201cForces\u201d are at work \u201cthat give us a sense of the abysses into which Western civilization is still steering.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-3-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-3-75197' title='Ibid., Dornach, Jan. 1, 1924, 8:30 p.m.'><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In keeping with Goethe\u2019s poem <em>The Divine<\/em>, Rudolf Steiner was concerned with \u201chealing and saving.\u201d That is, with the continuing existence of humanity and humaneness through initiatives, beginnings, and new forms in education, social and economic life, that were capable of countering the \u201cdownfall of the Occident\u201d as prophesied by Oswald Spengler.<span id='easy-footnote-4-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-4-75197' title='Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, \u201cThe Divine,\u201d in &lt;em&gt;Selected Poems&lt;\/em&gt;, Goethe: The Collected Works 1 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2026), first published in German, 1785; contains the phrase \u201c&lt;em&gt;Heilen und retten&lt;\/em&gt;\u201d [heal and save]. \u00a0Oswald Spengler, &lt;em&gt;The Decline of the West&lt;\/em&gt;, 2 vols. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926\u201328); first published in German, 1918\u201322; The original title, &lt;em&gt;Der Untergang des Abendlandes&lt;\/em&gt;, means literally \u201cthe going-under of the evening land,\u201d or \u201cthe downfall of the Occident\u201d \u2013 Tr. note.'><sup>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Following on from Steiner, one can say that it is no longer just the Occident or Europe that is at stake in the existential reality of the 20th\/21st century, but the very existence of the Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sections or departments of the School of Spiritual Science are intended to serve the \u201cmost diverse fields of life\u201d into which new impulses are to flow. They were conceptualized in 1924 as places of research, teaching, training, and practical application for each individual field of modern life. Steiner hoped that the \u201cachievements\u201d of the School\u2019s departments, which were to \u201ccome before the eyes of the world,\u201d would reach \u201cthe greatest public openness imaginable.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-5-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-5-75197' title='See footnote 2, CW 260, Dec. 24, 1923, 11:15 a.m.; Dec. 26, 1923, 10 a.m.'><sup>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> For him, the earthly world in the third decade of the twentieth century was in an existential crisis and under threat, yet at the same time it was open and sensitive to change and to the new. Wherever the \u201cfoundation stone\u201d of the new brings \u201clight\u201d and \u201cwarmth\u201d \u201cfor the progress of human souls, for the progress of the world,\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-6-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-6-75197' title='Ibid., Dec. 25, 1923, 10 a.m.'><sup>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> there, people can commit themselves. To put it another way: only through these people and their work is this light and this warmth possible in the Age of Michael. Steiner \u201ctranslated\u201d the line from the Lord\u2019s Prayer, \u201cThy kingdom come,\u201d with the words: \u201cMay Your kingdom expand through our deeds and in our way of life.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-7-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-7-75197' title='Matt. 6:10; Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Mantric Sayings: Meditations 1903\u20131925&lt;\/em&gt;, CW 268 (Hudson, NY: SteinerBooks, 2015), \u201cThe Esoteric Lord\u2019s Prayer.\u201d'><sup>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"874\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_9-874x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74889\" style=\"width:350px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_9-874x1024.jpg 874w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_9-256x300.jpg 256w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_9-770x902.jpg 770w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_9.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Second application for admission to the School of Spiritual Science by Waldorf teacher Herbert Hahn to Rudolf Steiner, February 16, 1924. Rudolf Steiner Archive, Dornach.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The work in the various crisis areas of life is to receive its \u201cillumination\u201d and its \u201cimpulses\u201d from the \u201cesoteric school,\u201d the common course of training for all disciplines.<span id='easy-footnote-8-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-8-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Constitution of the School of Spiritual Science: An Introductory Guide &lt;\/em&gt;(Forest Row, East Sussex: Rudolf Steiner Press, 2013), \u201cThe School of Spiritual Science: 20 January 1924\u201d; cf. footnote 1, GA 260a, p. 109; first printed as \u201cDie Freie Hochschule f\u00fcr Geisteswissenschaft,\u201d &lt;em&gt;Nachrichtenblatt&lt;\/em&gt; [Newssheet] (Jan. 20, 1924).'><sup>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> If one wishes to help bring something new into being\u2014something that is neither forceful nor self-opinionated, but rather resonates with the laws of becoming, the \u201cworld-thought,\u201d the intentions, and the creative forces of creation\u2014then inner work is necessary. Access to the Word (in the Johannine sense), to its dimensions of light, life, and love, is not found by the reflective intellect of the <em>res cogitans<\/em> but only by the fully awakened and engaged human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steiner did not hold the training lessons for the so-called \u201cFirst Class\u201d of the School of Spiritual Science on Sundays, but rather at the end of the workweek, late on Friday evenings (usually at 8:30 p.m.). They stood in service to the work of the School. People who had chosen to engage in collaboration and shared responsibility could participate\u2014people who had made the \u201canthroposophical cause,\u201d as Steiner put it, their own. In 1924, it was not only individuals who sought admission to the School of Spiritual Science, but entire groups (albeit through individual applications), such as nearly all the teachers at the Independent Waldorf School in Stuttgart, all members of the Young Doctors\u2019 Circle (including the first supportive educators), all priests of the Christian Community, and all the eurythmists and speech artists from Dornach. As Steiner had said at a teachers\u2019 faculty meeting, they could join the School of Spiritual Science \u201cnot only as individuals but as teachers at the [Waldorf] School\u201d and pursue the esoteric course of study.<span id='easy-footnote-9-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-9-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner&lt;\/em&gt;, vol. 2: 1922\u20131924, CW 300c (Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1998), 701, Stuttgart, Feb. 5, 1924.'><sup>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Such admission is connected to professional work that the individual has freely and responsibly chosen themselves, a work bound up with representing anthroposophy in a particular field of life, with its effectiveness and public representation. The Waldorf kindergarten teacher stands for Waldorf education, and thus for anthroposophy, as he or she stands before the children and their parents, the community, and the state. One may enter the School of Spiritual Science privately or for purely personal motives, but also in connection with one\u2019s own work as a specialist, in connection with one\u2019s vocation in terms of its objectives and its tasks. Once admission to the School is complete, new working communities may emerge, or existing ones may reach a new level, including in the professional sphere. \u201cThe [teaching] collegium should form a core from which something can then stream out,\u201d Steiner told Lilly Kolisko, who, in 1924, held all nineteen Class Lessons for the teachers at the Stuttgart Waldorf School.<span id='easy-footnote-10-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-10-75197' title='Lilly Kolisko to Ita Wegman, November 2, 1924, Ita Wegman Archive, Arlesheim, Switzerland.'><sup>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The First Lessons of the Class<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Applications for membership in the School of Spiritual Science began reaching Steiner on December 31, 1923; by the time of the first Class Lesson on February 15, 1924, 326 people had received their School of Spiritual Science certificate (their \u201cenrollment,\u201d or matriculation, as Michael Bauer put it) in the form of the \u201cBlue Card.\u201d By March 30, 1925, Rudolf Steiner had signed 2,305 cards, the last 13 of which he signed just two days before his death. From February 15 to September 20, 1924, he held a total of 38 Class Lessons\u2014twice nineteen; 26 took place in Dornach, twice in Prague, London, Paris, Breslau, and Arnhem, one in Torquay, and one in Bern. 31 of the 38 Lessons were transcribed in shorthand, most of them by Helene Finckh, Steiner\u2019s master stenographer, who asked him for permission and received it \u201cafter a moment\u2019s reflection.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-11-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-11-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, \u201cHistory of the Transcripts\u201d in &lt;em&gt;Esoteric Lessons for the First Class of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum&lt;\/em&gt;, CW 270, vol. 1 (Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Press, 2020), 487.'><sup>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span> According to an oral description by Friedrich Hiebel, Steiner held the Class Lessons in a warm and heartfelt manner, with tenderness but full of strength.<span id='easy-footnote-12-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-12-75197' title='Cf. Peter Selg, &lt;em&gt;Rudolf Steiner h\u00e4lt Klassenstunden&lt;\/em&gt; [Rudolf Steiner holds Class Lessons] (Dornach: Verlag am Goetheanum, 2026), 15.'><sup>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The Lessons he designed were full of life and yet, at the same time, they were esoteric training lessons, lessons in the spirit of freedom, aimed at developing each individual\u2019s own approach to the spiritual gifts being revealed. There were no normative instructions on how or when each individual student should, if at all, meditate on the mantric verses or perform the exercises; rather, there were only helpful suggestions and possible perspectives for inner work. Steiner did not conduct a mass, but worked with instructional blackboards, on which he wrote and drew in color. His presentation was extraordinarily mobile, full of beauty, greatness, and seriousness. For those who participated, the Lessons became unforgettable experiences, true \u201cMystery Lessons\u201d and high points of anthroposophical spiritual presence. The hierarchies began to speak, but also anthroposophical anthropology, and in a wholly new way\u2014becoming deeply and essentially experiential. As late as March 3, 1925, shortly before his death, Steiner said to Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz, \u201cAlways bear in mind that during the Class Lesson you are not, indeed, delivering a didactic lecture, but are engaged in an act, have an act to carry to completion that can connect us with the stream of the Mysteries of all times.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-13-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-13-75197' title='T. H. Meyer, &lt;em&gt;Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz, a European: A Biography&lt;\/em&gt; (Forest Row, UK: Temple Lodge, 2014), 223.'><sup>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Everything, Steiner emphasized in one Lesson, depends on the \u201cright mood and disposition\u201d;<span id='easy-footnote-14-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-14-75197' title='See footnote 11, CW 270, Dornach, Sept. 6, 1924.'><sup>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span> in another, he called the Class Lesson an \u201cact,\u201d more precisely, an \u201coccult act through which one receives the verses.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-15-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-15-75197' title='Ibid., Dornach, Sept. 11, 1924.'><sup>15<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74891\" style=\"width:450px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-770x770.jpg 770w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-293x293.jpg 293w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-390x390.jpg 390w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10-900x900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_10.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Nine<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Steiner always began his Class Lessons with introductions on the essence of a new beginning, which was bound up with the Christmas Conference and the reshaping of the Society and the School of Spiritual Science. He began with a reflective deepening of the awareness of duty and responsibility for the advancement of the \u201canthroposophical cause\u201d in the world. After many painful experiences, he did not want any more \u201cesoteric circles\u201d or closed study groups with an elitist sense of significance and mission, but rather a resolute commitment to the Michael impulses in the world, in the sense of the so-called \u201cKarma Lectures\u201d and the Leading Thoughts, which began at the same time as the Class Lessons (February 15 [Class Lessons], 16 [Karma Lectures in Dornach], and 17 [Leading Thoughts], 1924). What is described in the depictions of destiny and in the Leading Thoughts as Michael\u2019s struggle with Ahriman was addressed in the Class Lessons in dramatic historical context. \u201cBut for one who sees into the depths of life, conflict emerges. He cannot say with any certainty whether in a hundred years from now darkness or light will have gained the day; whether indeed the human race will still be here on Earth in an existence worthy of mankind. Moreover, he is well able to know the reason why such catastrophes have hitherto not ensued in human evolution on Earth,\u201d said Steiner in the Class Lesson of March 14, 1924.<span id='easy-footnote-16-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-16-75197' title='See footnote 11, CW 270, p. 227, March 14, 1924 (translation by George Adams, revised by Michael Wilson and Johanna Collis).'><sup>16<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Once the First Class had been fully established, he intended to begin training in two additional Classes for people who would take up even greater responsibilities and need further spiritual training\u2014for general secretaries of the anthroposophical National Societies and Section leaders (Second Class) and for the Executive Board of the Goetheanum (Third Class).<span id='easy-footnote-17-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-17-75197' title='Cf. Peter Selg, &lt;em&gt;Die Zukunft der Hochschule&lt;\/em&gt; [The future of the School of Spiritual Science] (Arlesheim: Verlag des Ita Wegman Instituts, 2026), 78.'><sup>17<\/sup><\/a><\/span> He was, however, unable to carry this out before his death on March 30, 1925.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">On the Power of Resistance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It was Ita Wegman who, following the destruction of the First Goetheanum, approached Steiner about the establishment of the Esoteric School: \u201cThe initiative for the esoteric Michael School came, as Rudolf Steiner said, from Frau Dr. Wegman\u201d (Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz).<span id='easy-footnote-18-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-18-75197' title='See footnote 13, &lt;em&gt;Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz&lt;\/em&gt;, \u201cPolzer\u2019s Dornach Speech of 14 April 1935,\u201d 573; original in Ita Wegman Archive, Arlesheim.'><sup>18<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Together with Ita Wegman, Steiner read and reviewed the applications to the School in 1924\/25; he conducted most of the admissions with her\u2014in September 1924, in a special ceremony in his studio before the sculpture of Christ.<span id='easy-footnote-19-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-19-75197' title='Cf. footnote 12, &lt;em&gt;Rudolf Steiner h\u00e4lt Klassenstunden&lt;\/em&gt;, 90 f.'><sup>19<\/sup><\/a><\/span> He gave her the mantras on the evening before each Class Lesson so she could prepare; she collaborated closely with him in the Michael School and, in the nine months following his death, she held Lessons in France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ita Wegman endeavored to keep alive the forces as well as the context of the Lessons, above all in the Michaelic Leading Thoughts and the Karma Lectures, and to make them accessible to wider circles of people within the Anthroposophical Society. She possessed well-developed historical judgment and felt a great sense of urgency\u2014to anchor the pressing need for new impulses in the various fields of life while it was still possible. Not least, she had\u2014together with Steiner after the end of World War I\u2014followed the rise of National Socialism with the greatest concern. Precisely in the face of the growing dangers of evil and totalitarianism, Wegman advocated a turning toward the light and the spirit-word, toward overcoming the counter-forces\u2014including those within oneself\u2014through the development of spiritual courage, spiritual fire, and creative power. She brought the Class Lessons to various sites of anthroposophical work, including into the collegium of her supportive education institutes, into the medical conferences, and into other contexts of the School of Spiritual Science, so that co-workers could find access to supporting forces. Access to real powers of life and spiritual beings was decisive for the future. Access to helping forces and beings who are present even in the face of danger, and who strengthen both the individual and the community in the soul\u2019s higher aims, strengthen trust in the sustaining Spirit, and strengthen the sun of one\u2019s own being and path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When her supportive education colleague Werner Pache heard Hitler\u2019s \u201cSportpalast speech\u201d in Berlin on February 10, 1933, outlining the guidelines for future Nazi policy, he wrote to her and asked her to hold a Class Lesson in the curative education institution Hamborn Castle soon. In his letter, Pache explained, \u201cWe would like to ask you once again whether you could please make arrangements to stop in Hamborn on your return journey from England to give a Class Lesson here. When I stood on Wittenbergplatz in Berlin the night before last, where, as in many other public places, Hitler\u2019s speech boomed through loudspeakers and the mighty powers of Ahriman were nearly overwhelming, I suddenly felt a sense of calm confidence so strong that I was instantly delivered from the spell of this evil power. A feeling that our cause will not perish.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-20-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-20-75197' title='Werner Pache (1903\u20131958) to Ita Wegman. Ita Wegman Archive, Arlesheim.'><sup>20<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The collegium of the Hamborn supportive education institute developed Michaelic forces of resistance\u2014and so it was in many places.<span id='easy-footnote-21-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-21-75197' title='Cf. Peter Selg, Susanne H. Gross, and Matthias Mochner, &lt;em&gt;Anthroposophie und Nationalsozialismus: Anthroposophische Psychiatrie und Heilp\u00e4dagogik 1933\u20131945&lt;\/em&gt; [Anthroposophy and National Socialism: Anthroposophical psychiatry and curative education, 1933\u20131945], ed. Peter Selg, &lt;em&gt;Anthroposophische Medizin, Pharmazie und Heilp\u00e4dagogik im Nationalsozialismus 1933\u20131945&lt;\/em&gt; [Anthroposophical medicine, pharmacy, and supportive education under National Socialism, 1933\u20131945], vol. 3 (Basel: Schwabe, 2026); cf. Peter Selg, \u201c&lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aum-lVBKhrc&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer noopener&quot;&gt;Anthroposophical Medicine, Pharmacy, and Curative Education under National Socialism&lt;\/a&gt;,\u201d lecture, posted as \u201cPeter Selg \u2013 100 Years Rudolf Steiner \u2013 December 15\u201316, 2025,\u201d &lt;em&gt;HDS Program for the Evolution of Spirituality&lt;\/em&gt;, July 29, 2026, YouTube video, [23:35]; Peter Selg, \u201c&lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/dachau-demeter-and-weleda\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer noopener&quot;&gt;Dachau, Demeter, and Weleda: Historical Studies and Historical Reality&lt;\/a&gt;,\u201d &lt;em&gt;Das Goetheanum: English Edition&lt;\/em&gt;, no. 50\/2025, December 9, 2025; Peter Selg, \u201c&lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/anthroposophical-doctors-under-national-socialism\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer noopener&quot;&gt;Anthroposophical Doctors under National Socialism&lt;\/a&gt;,\u201d &lt;em&gt;Das Goetheanum: English Edition&lt;\/em&gt;, no. 48\/2024, November 29, 2024.'><sup>21<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74893\" style=\"width:450px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-770x770.jpg 770w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-293x293.jpg 293w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-390x390.jpg 390w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11-900x900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_11.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Eleven<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>In 1934\u2014six years before the German Wehrmacht invaded\u2014Marie Steiner-von Sivers taught all nineteen Class Lessons in Norway, in Moelv, a village on the eastern shore of Mj\u00f8sa, Norway\u2019s largest lake, beginning on St. John\u2019s Day, the annual festival of \u201chistorical consciousness.\u201d Her seminar for members of the School of Spiritual Science lasted three weeks. She, too, knew how irreplaceable the Class Lessons of the Michael School are for the future of humanity, for the awakening of humanity\u2019s own inner powers, in active response to the threatened integrity of the human person\u2014indeed of one\u2019s identity and individuality. The esoteric for all human souls should be able to be found in the General Anthroposophical Section of the School of Spiritual Science, as Steiner had once emphasized, in the nineteen Class Lessons\u2014\u201cfor all human souls.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-22-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-22-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Esoterische Betrachtungen karmischer Zusammenh\u00e4nge&lt;\/em&gt; [Esoteric observations on karmic connections], vol. 6 (Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1992), lecture in Torquay, Aug. 12, 1924, p. 216 (not included in English edn.); cf. footnote 1, GA 260a, p. 358.'><sup>22<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">On the \u201cAcute Accent of the Present\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In \u201cThe Meridian,\u201d his speech accepting the Georg B\u00fcchner Prize in Darmstadt on October 22, 1960, Paul Celan spoke of the \u201cacute accent of the present,\u201d as well as of the \u201cgrave accent of the historical\u201d and the \u201ccircumflex accent of the eternal.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-23-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-23-75197' title='Paul Celan, &lt;em&gt;The Meridian: Final Version\u2014Drafts\u2014Materials&lt;\/em&gt; (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2011); first published in German, 1961. Celan borrows the names of three diacritical marks: the &lt;em&gt;acute&lt;\/em&gt; (\u00b4), which marks a rising or stressed tone; the &lt;em&gt;grave&lt;\/em&gt; (`), which marks a falling tone; and the &lt;em&gt;circumflex&lt;\/em&gt; (\u02c6), which in many languages marks a long vowel. Celan himself calls it a sign of lengthening [&lt;em&gt;Dehnungszeichen&lt;\/em&gt;] \u2013 Tr. note.'><sup>23<\/sup><\/a><\/span> How do we work with these Lessons in a way that gives them the \u201cacute accent of the present,\u201d and not only the weight of the \u201chistorical\u201d or \u201ceternal\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201ctexts\u201d of the Class Lessons, long protected, have now been scattered to the four winds, or rather, across the various media. They can be found everywhere, even in the most unlikely places. They come at us, even read aloud, straight from the internet, without us seeking them out, and without any human relationship or any decision. The \u201ctexts,\u201d are, in an eerie way, subject to every kind of misuse, instrumentalization, and commodification\u2014for the sake of lucrative seminars.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74895\" style=\"width:450px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-770x770.jpg 770w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-293x293.jpg 293w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-390x390.jpg 390w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12-900x900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_12.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Seventeen<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>If one wishes to find something good in this development toward unrestricted dissemination, which apparently nothing can stop or avoid, it is likely an element of openness and freedom. The free release and worldwide translation of the texts have given rise not only to serious online deviations, but also to intensive study groups, often among people who found existing Class communities too confining, orthodox, inflexible, restrictive, self-assured, or rigid. Some individuals set to work on their own initiative with friends and like-minded colleagues, or even alone with the books and verses. The texts and mantras contain a grand, invaluable wealth, full of beauty and strength, intimacy and drama. Who could have, should have, or would have been allowed to prevent interested people from finding their way to this? Instead, it must be acknowledged that in many places, earnest work is being done on the content of the Lessons and their mantras, by individuals and in groups, using a remarkable variety of methods and approaches. The texts have been available in bookstores since 1992 and are accessible without restriction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This may help us to understand more deeply and precisely what was, and still is, so special about the process that Steiner launched with the opening of the School and enrollment. For Steiner, the primary concern was not new study groups or further material for anthroposophical meditation, not an \u201cEsoteric Cycle,\u201d but rather a binding decision to support the impulse of the Goetheanum\u2019s way of working\u2014to share responsibility for the anthroposophical cause, that is, for the present and future of the Anthroposophical Society, of the anthroposophical institutions, and of the Goetheanum as an Independent School of Spiritual Science. \u201cEnrollment\u201d in the School of Spiritual Science (M. Bauer) is a life decision. Steiner and Wegman not only set the first \u201ctrusted personages\u201d [<em>Vertrauenspers\u00f6nlichkeiten<\/em>] (as they were called back then)<span id='easy-footnote-24-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-24-75197' title='Cf. Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Das Schicksalsjahr 1923 in der Geschichte der Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft&lt;\/em&gt; [1923: The year of destiny in the history of the Anthroposophical Society], GA 259 (Basel: Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1991) \u2013 Tr. note.'><sup>24<\/sup><\/a><\/span> on the path\u2014those who \u201cconveyed\u201d the Class mantras and, in some cases, also held entire Lessons\u2014but these individuals also conveyed the image of the School they bore in their hearts, as well as their relationship to the Goetheanum. They led the personal, and in person, interviews for admission, with a sense of presence and trust\u2014and forwarded the applications to Dornach with their endorsement. And so it is done to this day, in the \u201cacute accent of the present.\u201d The leadership of the General Anthroposophical Section confirms and countersigns the admission based on recommendation, based on trust and human relationship. And it does so because this is not solely a matter of gaining access to esoteric material in written or oral form, but of enrollment in the School of Spiritual Science with its mission of work, a mission about which Steiner wrote and spoke so emphatically in the Leading Thoughts, the Karma Lectures, and the Class Lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74897\" style=\"width:450px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-770x770.jpg 770w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-293x293.jpg 293w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-390x390.jpg 390w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13-900x900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/G2026_43_Web_13.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Eighteen<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cAn individual cannot help; rather, he who unites with many at the right moment,\u201d as Goethe writes in his fairy tale <em>The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily<\/em>.<span id='easy-footnote-25-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-25-75197' title='Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, &lt;em&gt;The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily &lt;\/em&gt;(Stourbridge, UK: Wynstones Press, 2007); first published in German, 1795; cf. Rudolf Geiger, &lt;em&gt;Goethes M\u00e4rchen: Bilder einer konkreten Utopie&lt;\/em&gt; [Goethe\u2019s fairy tale: Images of a concrete utopia] (Stuttgart: Urachhaus, 1993), 146.'><sup>25<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The departments of the Dornach School, according to Wegman, were conceived as spiritual \u201ccommunities.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-26-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-26-75197' title='Ita Wegman, &lt;em&gt;Erinnerung an Rudolf Steiner&lt;\/em&gt; [Remembering Rudolf Steiner], ed. Peter Selg (Arlesheim: Verlag des Ita Wegman Instituts, 2009), 55.'><sup>26<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In September 1924, during Steiner\u2019s final course, the School community, in the name of Michael, became visible for the first time\u2014with specialized courses for specific professional groups, the evening Karma Lectures for all members of the Anthroposophical Society, and Class Lessons for all School members (alternating every evening). In September 1924 alone, 250 predominantly young people joined the School and participated in the specialized courses and evening events; in total, nearly one thousand people were present.<span id='easy-footnote-27-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-27-75197' title='Cf. Peter Selg, &lt;em&gt;Far Beyond Our Ordinary Consciousness: Rudolf Steiner\u2019s Final Courses, Dornach, September 1924&lt;\/em&gt; (Great Barrington, MA: SteinerBooks, 2026); first published in German, 2024.'><sup>27<\/sup><\/a><\/span>f They gained perspectives for their professional and personal work, forces that, in many cases, sustained them throughout the twentieth century and served the cause of building further. In this way, the anthroposophical medical and supportive education movements, the work of the Christian Community, the Waldorf school movement, the Demeter initiative, and the many artistic initiatives unfolded\u2014from the Carpentry Workshop on the Dornach hill out to the whole world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the first week of November 2026, all nineteen Class Lessons will once again take place at the Goetheanum\u2014for the first time in five languages in various rooms throughout the building, and with a specific invitation extended to all professional and Section colleagues as well as all members of the School of Spiritual Science worldwide. \u201cTo prescribe oneself to matter \/ Means to grind the soul to dust,\u201d Steiner wrote in a verse during his final pedagogical lectures at Easter 1924 in Stuttgart, a few months after the Christmas Conference. And, as he continued, \u201cTo find oneself in the spirit \/ Means to connect human beings. \/ To behold oneself in human beings \/ Means to further build worlds.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-28-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-28-75197' title='Rudolf Steiner, &lt;em&gt;Truth-Wrought Words&lt;\/em&gt;, CW 40 (Spring Valley, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1979), 15, \u201cDarkness, Light, Love.\u201d'><sup>28<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This \u201cbuilding further\u201d of the future world, proceeding from the strength and force of the Michaelic community, from the word of the heart, which is closely bound to Michael, is even more pressing today than ever before. The School of Spiritual Science, as Steiner emphasized repeatedly, must in the future become the \u201cesoteric center\u201d of the whole anthroposophical movement; it is a spiritual institution for the present. This present is today\u2014and it is \u201cacute.\u201d The Class Lessons of the Michael School should not be on the periphery but at the center of the whole being of the School, as the heart is at the center of the organism. In 1924, they had been part of all major Society events, indeed, of all anthroposophical events. This presence and visibility are necessary and must be intensified, beyond all exclusivity, while fully preserving the esoteric character of the Lessons. Steiner described the path of the Michael School as a path of contemplative reflection on the \u201cneeds of Earth,\u201d in love for \u201cvalues of Earth,\u201d and in the cultivation of a will for the Earth in the service of the spirit, a \u201cspirit-devoted\u201d \u201cwill for Earth.\u201d He spoke of a path \u201cto real spirit and God knowledge.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-29-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-29-75197' title='See footnote 11, CW 270, p. 277 ff., Dornach, March 21, 1924.'><sup>29<\/sup><\/a><\/span> It is a Michaelic schooling in collaborating, in hoping, and in committing oneself to a human future, in knowledge of the light that is already present.<span id='easy-footnote-30-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-30-75197' title='Ibid.'><sup>30<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Steiner built upon this path\u2014and he built the Goetheanum upon it as upon a \u201ccore of the future as possibility,\u201d as he told Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On October 16, 1924, Wegman wrote from Steiner\u2019s sickbed to the Class reader Anna Wager Gunnarsson in Sweden, \u201cTry to get along peacefully with everyone. It is now important to advance the Michael stream. Just make the First Class Lessons rich in content and earnest; then you will already be doing good work.\u201d<span id='easy-footnote-31-75197' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/the-class-lessons-of-the-school-of-spiritual-science\/#easy-footnote-bottom-31-75197' title='Ita Wegman to Anna Wager Gunnarsson, October 16, 1924, Ita Wegman Archive, Arlesheim, Switzerland.'><sup>31<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Translation<\/strong> Joshua Kelberman<br><strong>Title image <\/strong><em>One<\/em>, all paintings by Helen Comerford<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the Artist<\/strong> Helen Comerford (1945\u20132024) was an Irish sculptor, encaustic painter, and art educator. Her series, <em>The Nineteen<\/em>, was begun in 2019 and exhibited in 2021 at the Kilkenny Arts Festival at St. Kieran\u2019s College. <em>Irish Times<\/em> art critic Aidan Dunne wrote, \u201cThe Nineteen of the title\u201419 panels, each 1 square meter in size\u2014derives from her long-term interest in Rudolf Steiner\u2019s anthroposophical ideas, ranging across science, spirituality and pedagogy, and specifically his \u2018spiritual course\u2019 of 19 Class Lessons from 1924.\u201d See: Aidan Dunne, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/culture\/art-and-design\/visual-art\/the-nineteen-how-helen-comerford-makes-art-with-a-demanding-medium-1.4634923\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Nineteen: How Helen Comerford Makes Art with a Demanding Medium<\/a>,\u201d <em>Irish Times<\/em> (August 7, 2021).<br><strong>More at<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comerfordhelen.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">comerfordhelen.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cA stronger impetus is needed than has been applied in the past if the spirit that humanity needs is to take hold\u201d: these are Rudolf Steiner\u2019s words spoken at the moment of the reconstitution of the School of Spiritual Science in 1923\/24. Through the \u201cesoteric school of the Goetheanum\u201d\u2014as a real \u201cMichael School\u201d upon the Earth\u2014the anthroposophical movement was finally to gain the \u201cspiritual strength\u201d it so urgently needs. \u201cThe spiritual world wants something from humanity at this present moment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9186,"featured_media":74888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8788,9183,8792],"tags":[11854,8798,11855],"class_list":["post-75197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay-en","category-general-anthroposophy","category-meditation-en","tag-ausgabe-43-2026-en","tag-deepening","tag-english-issue-45-2026"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75197"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75223,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75197\/revisions\/75223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}