During the early seventeenth century, Europe was suddenly embroiled in controversy with the publication of the first Rosicrucian texts. Ever since then, Rosicrucianism has stood at the center of Western Christian esotericism. Forced underground by the Thirty Years War, it was passed down secretly by alchemists, hermeticists, and Masons into the nineteenth century, when it inspired new spiritual movements, including Theosophy, the Order of Golden Dawn, and Rudolf Steiner's spiritual science.

The Secret Stream collects all of Steiner's discussions of Rosicrucians, which answer questions such as: Who are the Rosicrucians? What is Alchemy? What is the Rosicrucian path? What is the difference between Rosicrucianism and mysticism? And what does it mean for today?

Some of the topics include the Tao and the Rose Cross; the history and mission of Christian Rosenkreutz; the nature of Rosicrucian practice and experience; the meaning of The Chymical Wedding and Goethe's Rosicrucian poem "The Mysteries." Rosicrucian meditation is also discussed, including how to meditate on the Rose Cross itself.

This important collection goes to the spiritual heart of anthroposophy, the essence of which is the Rosicrucian path.

March 2001; Trans: various (Selected lectures); AP; 256pp; 15.5 x 21.5 cm; pb;