Notes from 19 lectures and 4 private lessons, Berlin, 1903-1904 (CW 88)

In Berlin, just past the turn of the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner, then a relatively unknown writer, educator, and editor, first began his spiritual teaching activity under the auspices of the Theosophical Society. The gatherings at this time were small, often being held in private homes, and therefore, in terms of size and location, intimate.

Immediately after assuming leadership of the German Section of the Theosophical Society, Rudolf Steiner began a comprehensive program of teaching, at first within the Berlin Branch of the Theosophical Society. The notes from nineteen of those early lectures and four private lessons form the content of this volume.

Moving back and forth between Eastern theosophical terminology and Western esoteric tradition, searching for words and pictures, for the first time Steiner was presenting the results of his spiritual-scientific research to small groups of people longing for deeper truths.

"These lectures from 1903 and 1904 are among the very earliest for which we have any written reports. These reports are not, however, the product of professional stenography, as was the case with later lectures, but have been assembled from notes taken during and after the lectures by those attending.... With all of his printed lectures, but especially with the early ones for which we have only notes, we do not know for certain if he spoke these exact words or meant exactly what he seems to say. We are compelled to use our own best judgment as to what he actually said, and what the meaning might be...in other words, we must think for ourselves" (James Hindes, from the introduction).

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This book is volume 88 in the Collected Works (CW) of Rudolf Steiner, published by SteinerBooks, 2018. It is a translation from German of Über die astrale Welt und das Devachan, published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1999.