At the heart of the Anthroposophical Society is the School for Spiritual Science. Rudolf Steiner named this the School of Michael. It offers a modern path of initiation out of New Mysteries, which are to supersede the mysteries of the
ancient past. The School for Spiritual Science is a schooling for research in the field of the spirit for the development of new knowledge and solutions for the needs of our time.
During the year 1924 Rudolf Steiner held a course of lessons in which he introduced a series of meditations (mantras) along with instructions and guidelines for their use. This set of lessons is known as the First Class (of an intended three Classes) and is available to those who become members of the School.
After Steiner’s death in 1925 the members of the Executive Council (Vorstand) at the Goetheanum began to convey the contents of these lessons more widely to members of the First Class. Other leaders in the Anthroposophical Society were assigned to take on this task and circles of members with Class Holders grew in various countries around the world.
Today members of the A throposophical Society can join the School for Spiritual Science and participate in the instructional lessons of the First Class and related activities to develop capacities for this work.
Sections of the School
The School for Spiritual Science is organized into departments, called ‘Sections’, for the purpose of conducting spiritual-scientific research within various professional fields.
Each Section administers its own work. Representatives from the Sections meet together as a Collegium. In North America there is one Collegium serving Canada, Mexico, and the USA. All members of the School belong to the General Anthroposophical Section and its First Class, the Section common to all.
Members of the Anthroposophical Society who are interested in the work of the School for Spiritual Science and its First Class should contact a Class Holder in a local group or branch of the Society.
General Anthroposophical Section
The General Anthroposophical Section is the center and is, at the same time, an all
encompassing support for the research of all the other Sections.
There are currently five main areas of research:
1. Cultivating inner life and meditation
2. The evolving image of the human being
3. Community building and collaboration
4. Reincarnation and karma
5. The spiritual hierarchies as well as the Christ-Impulse, that is the Spirit of Humanity in each human being.
More about the work of this Section and the School can be found in the booklet A Way of Serving: The General Anthroposophical Section of the School for Spiritual Science by Penelope Baring and Rüdiger Janisch (Mercury Press 2013). This booklet can be ordered through SteinerBooks.
Contacts: If you are looking for information, please contact your local Class Holder.
If there is none nearby, you can contact:
In the United States: Penelope Baring, Herbert Hagenns , Rūdiger Janisch.
In Canada: Catarina Burisch, Kim Hunter