The Foundation Stone Meditation and the Challenges of Our Time

Edited by Arie van Amerigen and Christiane Haid

How to purchase the book . . .

CFAE / Rudolf Steiner Bookstore:
5203 240th St. SW, Mountlake Terrace, WA  USA 98043 / (206) 407-7150

Directly from the publisher:
Percevalbooks2001@gmail.com

Visit Publisher Website at Les Éditions Perceval

A Review by Herbert Hagens

“Rudolf Steiner first sounded the Foundation Stone meditation at the Christmas Conference on December 25, 1923, in Dornach, Switzerland. He characterized for his listeners the words of this mantra as “the essence of what may stand before your souls as the most important findings of recent years. . . let our ears be touched by them [the words], so that out of the signs of the present time we may renew, in keeping with our way of thinking, the ancient word of the Mysteries: ‘Know thyself.’ Much has been spoken and written about Steiner’s offering ever since that meeting.

The editors of this latest book on the Foundation Stone bring together essays from fourteen leading anthroposophists, all of whom share the “findings” of their own intensive research and inner experiences with this awesome meditation. The backgrounds of these international writers span the fields of history, philosophy, education, therapy, medicine, agriculture, architecture, geometry, eurythmy, speech, the visual arts, and music. The authors present a wide variety of meditative practices which can help us to “internalize the Foundation Stone and to make it a living reality for ourselves” (Helene Besnard, Quebec). They guide us in exploring the sights, the rhythms and the mysteries of time and space, across a landscape of soul and spirit. It is like taking a tour through an art museum and marveling at what the docent points out in each work of art. Of course, there are always more secrets and deeper truths yet to be discovered. The underlying objective is to nurture a healthy life of the soul so that we can effectively meet the challenges of our time.

One underlying thread that weaves through the essays is the transition from the original copper dodecahedron foundation stone laid in the earth for the First Goetheanum (1913) to the second Foundation Stone laid in the hearts of the members of the Anthroposophical Society (1923). Both “stones” serve as the foundation of a mystery temple, one that was once visible on the earth, and one that exists in the spiritual world. “It is a future that can grow out of the Foundation Stone meditation, the Foundation Stone of Love, the seed for a new building, a spiritual-social building, the seed for a new civilization” (Rüdiger Janisch, Pennsylvania). Rudolf Steiner stated the following at the end of the Christmas Conference: “We have here laid the Foundation Stone. On this Foundation Stone shall be erected the building whose individual stones will be the work achieved in all our groups by the individuals outside in the wide world . . . bear out with you your warm hearts in order to do work in the world that is strong in healing. Help will come to you because your heads will be enlightened by what you all now want to be able to direct in conscious willing. The essays in The Foundation Stone Meditation and the Challenges of our Time will surely warm our hearts and enlighten our heads as we strive to bring about the good.”

Herbert Hagens and Arie van Amerigen are members of the collegium of the Section for the Literary Arts and Humanities of the School of Spiritual Science in North America.

Christiane Haid is the leader of the Section at Dornach.

Contents of the Book

Foreword 7

Introduction 10

Metamorphoses of the Foundation Stone From the First Foundation Stone of 1913 to the Foundation Stone of 1923
Christiane Haid 17

The Philosophy of Freedom and the Foundation Stone Verse: A Study
Helmut Goldmann 47

Space, Time and Eternity in the Foundation Stone Meditation
Arie van Ameringen 65

The Pentagonal-Dodecahedral Foundation Stone
The Pentagon as Formative Principle
Jaap Sijmons 77

Living with the Foundation Stone Meditation and the Spiritual Goetheanum
Rüdiger Janisch 113

About Inner Work with the Foundation Stone
Auke van der Meij 135

The Rhythms of the Foundation Stone Meditation: Realizing Our Incarnation
Paul Mackay 151

The Social Significance of the Foundation Stone Meditation
Joan Sleigh 165

Medical-Therapeutic
Aspects of the Foundation Stone Meditation
Michaela Glöckler 181

The Foundation Stone Meditation and Elemental Beings
Jean Michel Florin 195

Call to the “I”: the Foundation Stone in Education
Claus-Peter Röh 205

An Architecture of Becoming
H.S. (Bert) Chase 225

The Foundation Stone: A Creative Deed
Hélène Besnard 245

“At the Turning Point of Time”
The Foundation Stone Meditation and the Art of Music
Emmanuel A.A. Vukovich 263

Contributors 281

Acknowledgments 286

The Foundation Stone Meditation 287

Foundation Stone Meditation
given at the Christmas Conference 291

 

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