Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was, like Emanuel Swedenborg, both a scientist and a visionary. He was born in Austria, the eldest son of a village station-master in the country south of Vienna. Unlike Swedenborg, he was endowed from an early age with the faculties which enabled him to explore the spiritual world - but he did not admit openly to these abilities until he was about 40. Steiner was educated initially in a school specialising in science and mathematics but at the same time he taught himself the classics. By the time he came to leave school and go on to the Technical University in Vienna he had become convinced of the absolute reality of the world of spirit - the world that lay behind and beyond the experience of the physical senses. He knew, by direct experience, that the conclusions about the reality of the world which were propounded by scientific materialism were incorrect. At the university he studied the natural sciences with the intention of becoming a schoolmaster but he also became interested in the thoughts and writings of Goethe, eventually undertaking a thorough study of Goethe’s scientific works.

After university Steiner began to earn his living as a private tutor and - remarkably for someone aged 23 - in 1884 he was invited to edit and write an introduction to Goethe’s scientific writings for an edition of the German Classics. In 1888 he was given an invitation which recognised the quality of his scholarship; he was asked to edit a new edition of Goethe’s scientific works based on the original manuscript collection in the Goethe Archives at Weimar. By 1900 Steiner had established himself in the world and was coming up to 40 years of age, and from then on he dedicated himself to lecturing and writing about the spiritual - the ‘supersensible’ - world of which his increasingly developing spiritual faculties made him more and more aware. At first he became involved with Theosophy but

eventually went on to develop his own system of spiritual thought which he called Anthroposophy - the knowledge of the true being of man and of his relation to the universe; or, as Steiner himself defined the term, "the consciousness of one’s humanity". The Anthroposophical Society was founded in 1913. Thereafter Rudolf Steiner dedicated himself to writing books, lecturing and conducting specialist courses on the many themes arising from his knowledge of spiritual reality, seeking to lead mankind into a new spiritual understanding of humanity and the universe. His intention in all these activities was to initiate a universal ‘science of the spirit’.

Over the years Steiner’s output of work was enormous covering not only the interrelationships between the physical and spiritual worlds, but also developing new ideas and methods in the fields of education, agriculture, art and medicine. Rather like Swedenborg, his books do not always make easy reading for the uninitiated. A very readable and comprehensive introduction to his life and works is:

Shepherd, A. P. (1975). A Scientist of the Invisible.
An introduction to the life and work of Rudolf Steiner.
Hodder & Stoughton, London. ISBN 0-340-01752-X.
(First published in 1954).

A more recent series of three small books by Roy Wilkinson provides a valuable digest of Steiner’s spiritual philosophy. They are:

Wilkinson, Roy (1993). Rudolf Steiner. Aspects of his spiritual world-view. Anthroposophy volume 1.
Temple Lodge Publishing, London. ISBN 0-904693-47-3.

The four chapters are: Rudolf Steiner - herald of a new age. Reincarnation and karma. The spiritual nature of the human being. The development of human consciousness.

Wilkinson, Roy (1993). Rudolf Steiner. Aspects of his spiritual world-view. Anthroposophy volume 2.
Temple Lodge Publishing, London. ISBN 0-904693-51-1.

There are four chapters: Evolution of the world and humanity. Relationships between the living and the dead. Forces of evil. The modern path of initiation.

Wilkinson, Roy (1994). Rudolf Steiner. Aspects of his spiritual world-view. Anthroposophy volume 3.
Temple Lodge Publishing, London. ISBN 0-90463-63-5.

The four chapters are: Life between death and rebirth. The spiritual hierarchies. The philosophical approach to the spirit. The mission of Christ.

At least one chapter in all three books covers a subject relating to survival, life after death or reincarnation.

Steiner himself wrote more than 30 books and many essays, and also delivered over 6000 lectures across Europe. All the latter were recorded. Most of this material has been published in English translation so that there is an enormous record of Steiner’s research into spiritual reality available to the interested reader. The following three books provide an introduction to Steiner’s views on survival and associated subject areas:

Steiner, Rudolf (1969). Occult Science. An introduction.
Rudolf Steiner Press, London. ISBN 0-85440-208-X.
(New translation by G. & M. Adams of original 1909 edition).

In this volume, Chapter III considers death and the processes of severance from the body, past-life review and entry into the spiritual world, conditions in the spirit-world and approaching a new incarnation. Chapter VI, among other things, looks at the etheric body, the astral world and man’s life after death.

Steiner, Rudolf (1999). Founding a Science of the Spirit.
Rudolf Steiner Press, London. ISBN 1-85584-077-4.

In this group of 14 lectures, originally given in 1906, "... Steiner speaks with great clarity and precision on the fundamental nature of the human being in relation to the cosmos, the evolution of the earth, the journey of the soul after death, reincarnation and karma, good and evil, and the modern path of meditative training. Throughout, Steiner’s emphasis is on a scientific exposition of spiritual phenomena."

Steiner, Rudolf (2000). Rosicrucian Wisdom. An introduction. Rudolf Steiner Press, London. ISBN 1-85584-063-4.

In a further group of 14 lectures, given in 1907, Steiner reinterprets Rosicrucian teaching describing, among other things, "... the law of destiny, the fact of life after death, ways of developing spiritual vision and humanity’s past and future evolution."

On to Edgar Cayce