The Fall of the Spirits of Darkness

by Rudolf Steiner

'Spirituality will come to human beings because Michael won his victory in 1879 . . . On the other hand, the spirits of darkness are now here among us’. - Rudolf Steiner (from lecture 13)

Speaking at a time of intense war in Europe, Rudolf Steiner reveals the spiritual roots of the crises of our times and the means by which we can surmount them. Since 1879, he says, human minds have been influenced by backward angels - ‘the spirits of darkness’ - who were forced out of the heavens and made their abode on earth following their defeat in a 40-year battle with the Archangel Michael. It is now possible for human beings to awaken more consciously to the truth of these profound changes, and thus inwardly counter the fallen spirits’ influences. We can come to the realization that definite spiritual causes lie behind earthly events in our rapidly changing times. In these 14 lectures, given at the end of 1917 following four years of war in Europe, Steiner speaks on the complex spiritual forces behind the Great War, humanity’s attempts to build theoretically perfect social orders, and the many divisions and disruptions that would continue to occur on earth in our time. Humanity in general was asleep to the fact that fallen spirits, cast out of the spiritual worlds, had become intensely active on earth. This manifested particularly in people’s thinking and in their perception of the world about them. But the defeat and fall of these spirits also ensured that a science of the spirit would always be available to humanity. March 2008;

Trans. A. R. Meuss (14 lectures, Dornach Sept-Oct 1917, GA 177); RSP; 240pp; 21.5 x 13.5 cm; pb;

The Fall of the Spirits of Darkness - Rudolf Steiner (9781855840102) 13.99