Spirit as Sculptor of the Human Organism: The Influence of the Dead (CW 218)

16 lectures, various cities, October 9-December 9, 1922 (CW 218)   “Let us be courageous and not draw back in fear when realities of the world of spirit that play into human life are unveiled. You see, the future of humanity depends on us learning to live with the world of spirit in the same way that we live with the physical world here on Earth.” —Rudolf Steiner   In a wide-ranging series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner demonstrates the integral nature of spirit and matter and their manifold connections. Speaking to audiences in London, Holland, Germany, and Switzerland, Steiner explains how, through a process of evolving consciousness, humanity lost its knowledge and direct experience of the spiritual sources of existence but now needs to reconnect with them. Spirit is the essence and power of life that, in Steiner’s vivid image, “strikes a match in our whole being” when we allow it to inform us fully.   Our world cannot be understood in only physical terms; rather, it is inseparable fro