Man as Symphony of the Creative Word

Book excerpt: In this important series of lectures, given near the end of his life, Rudolf Steiner brought together many aspects of his research into man and nature. The first three lectures show us man's inner relationship to the ancient and sacred animal representatives -- eagle, lion, and bull -- and to the forces of the cosmos that form them. This insight is deepened in the second group of lectures by approaching the plant and animal worlds in the context of spiritual evolution. The third group gives a unique and intimate description of the elemental nature spirits -- the purely spiritual beings that complement plants and animals -- and the cooperation these beings offer to mankind. In the fourth series, man himself is placed in this harmony of nature -- in the symphony of the Creative Word.