The School of Spiritual Science & Anthroposophy
What is Anthroposophy?
What does it mean to be human? What can we truly know, and what is truth? What is my task in the world?
These are some of the questions that may lead a person to Anthroposophy, a path of knowledge established by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) at the beginning of the 20th century, increasingly recognized for its contributions to fields like art, education, farming, and medicine. Waldorf education, biodynamic farming, and Anthroposophic medicine all grew out of it, along with institutions like Triodos Bank, Weleda, the Camphill Movement, and The Christian Community.
Rudolf Steiner proposed that to truly know oneself and the world, a human being needs to grasp itself as a spiritual being capable of cognising reality fully, beyond what the senses alone allow, by developing conscious thought-experience. Engaging earnestly in this kind of seeking, he believed, strengthens our capacity to act ethically, in line with both ourselves and the needs of the world.
To guide students of Anthroposophy, Steiner wrote many books, gave lectures around the world, and founded the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum in December 1923: an independent, free school supported today by more than 40,000 members of the General Anthroposophical Society worldwide.
In 1924, he founded the Youth Section, so that young people could take up, as their own discipline, the question of what it means to be young in the present time, which is why he called it "the Section for the Spiritual Striving of Youth."
Where to start reading
If you're new to Anthroposophy and would like to discover more, we recommend these books by Rudolf Steiner:
The School of Spiritual Science
The School of Spiritual Science is home at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. It's made up of 12 Sections, each concerned with a different field of practice related to the human being's tasks in society. The Sections carry out research in their own disciplines, offer learning opportunities for professionals in their fields, and organise events and conferences that bring people together, foster collaboration, and share what they find. Together, they're active across the natural and social sciences, the humanities, the arts, and education; all working, at heart, toward a living knowledge of the human being as spiritual and as an agent of ethical change in the world. The Youth Section is one of them.
The 19 Class Lessons
All the Sections are connected to the "First Class": a meditative path Rudolf Steiner envisioned as the first of three classes meant to deepen the human being's self-knowledge through practice. He died before he could develop the Second and Third Classes, which would have continued that inner-development path.
The First Class contains 19 Class Lessons, open to members of the School of Spiritual Science once accepted through an application, usually requiring familiarity with the contents of Anthroposophy. The lessons are either freely rendered or read aloud (Steiner's original lessons were recorded and are available in print) by a Class Reader, appointed locally by the School.
To find out more about the First Class, how to become a member or contact a Class Reader in your area, we recommend that you visit the General Anthroposophical Section's website.
The Anthroposophical Society
The School of Spiritual Science exists thanks to the members of the Anthroposophical Society, who freely choose to support the unfolding of Anthroposophy in the world. Their contributions let the Goetheanum carry out much of its work independently of state funding, because they see real value in what Anthroposophy can bring, and want to help spiritual-scientific research grow across every field it touches.
To learn more about becoming a member, please visit this page.