Hi everyone, I'm looking to run 6 week, Spiritual Development Support Sessions in the New Year, with an emphasis on Rudolf Steiner's 6 exercises for helping us to get control of our own thinking, harmonise our emotions and strengthen the will. Please let me know in the comments if this is something that would interest you. Thank you! Warm wishes Mick

Hi All, I look for a reference in Steiner's working showing that humanity as a whole started to pass "the threshold' (to the spiritual world) around 1930 (consciously or unconsciously). And I wonder if there is a reference saying that the spiritual battles predicted to find place between 2020 and 2040, may have to do with (the ending of) this process. Jelle van der Meulen, who wrote down Bernard Lievegoeds last book "The battle for the soul" (https://archive.org/details/lievegoed-bernard-the-battle-for-the-soul-the-working-together) writes in his last book about this. Any direct references to Steiner's work would help, or to other writers. Rick

I gave a talk on the Apocalypse of St. John recently (even the word has fearful connotations, doesn't it?!) and I just wanted to share with you a couple of the main points. Firstly, the word "Apocalypse" itself means "revelation", "unfolding" or "unveiling". It doesn't mean "catastrophe" or "end of the world" as some think. So, something is being revealed. Something is unfolding or being unveiled. In this sense, I think we can say that we do live in "apocalyptic times" as it does seem that much is being revealed these days, about the machinations behind the way the world works. It also made me think of how human life itself is an "unveiling". We learn more and more about who we are as we get older. Parts of ourselves are "revealed" by the situations we find ourselves in. Another point was that the book of revelation is not there to scare us, though there are some frightful images therein. So too with the images in Daniel, Ezekial and other prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. According to Steiner, the purpose of this book of spiritual initiation (written in a strange initiation language, which should not be taken literally or materialistically) is to fire our will to do our best for the "good evolution of humanity". One way to read that is: do everything I can to spiritually grow, spiritually strengthen myself and grow in wisdom and love for my fellow human being and the beings of the earth. Thanks for being a part of this group. Best wishes Mick