"[Rudolf Steiner's] actual going was like a miracle. As though it were
self-explanatory, he just went. To me it was as though the dice of
decision were cast at the very last moment. And once they had fallen,
there was no struggle, no more attempt or wish to remain on Earth. For
some time, he gazed quietly before him, still spoke to me a few loving
words, and then consciously closed his eyes and folded his hands.
"He was needed in the spiritual world. That was made clear. And it was
also made clear that he had important things to communicate to the
spiritual world, which only he could communicate." -- Ita Wegman
(describing Dr. Steiner's final moments)
This unique collection presents Ita Wegman's principal writings and
lectures on the Mysteries--both the mysteries of the ancient world, to
which she felt personally connected, and the Spiritual Science of
Anthroposophy, which she saw as the contemporary form of mystery wisdom.
The volume begins with Ita Wegman's firsthand account of Rudolf
Steiner's final days and hours on earth--written immediately after his
death in 1925--followed by several of her powerful letters "To All
Members" and their related "Leading Thoughts." Various longer studies
are also featured, including her lecture "A Fragment from the History of
the Mysteries," delivered at the opening of the second Goetheanum in
1928; articles on Ephesus and the Colchian Mysteries; and personal
impressions of Columba's Iona, the island of Staffa (with its initiatory
Fingal's Cave), and Palestine, the land where Christ once walked the
Earth.
These writings--several composed specifically for English readers--bring
us closer to the inner being of Ita Wegman, offering insight into her
knowledge, vision, and understanding of Anthroposophy. Her stimulating
ideas illumine the transformation of the ancient mysteries to
anthroposophic knowledge and activity today.
