We examine Steiner’s influence, looking at thinkers and artists who have continued his work. The list includes William Irwin Thompson, David Spangler, Owen Barfield, Hilma af Klint, Joseph Beuys, and the contemporary Anthroposophy movement. What value does Steiner have for today’s psychedelic renaissance and the Christian revival? As his work inspires new generations of seekers and visionaries, we explore how to apply his ideas today.

Today, reductive materialism remains the dominant ideology in our institutions and academies. However, this dominance is starting to wane. We are seeing growing interest in idealism, panpsychism, and the “Simulation Hypothesis,” a materialist reframing of ancient esoteric ideas. Suffering from a lack of meaning and purpose, many people are finding their way back to traditional religions. But these religions are often regressive; they require acceptance of irrational doctrines and obsolete social constructs. By integrating monistic idealism along with Steiner’s approach to the super-sensible realities available to clairvoyant insight, we can define a new, holistic relationship with the cosmos, without rejecting scientific inquiry or empirical evidence.

Over the course of the Twentieth Century and up until today, Steiner influenced many artists and thinkers such as Joseph Beuys and Hilma af Klint. In this session, we will also compare Anthroposophy with other occult movements of the Twentieth Century, including Gurdjieff and Ouspensky’s groups, and the work of Alesteir Crowley and Dion Fortune, who created magical orders in the UK, and the Traditionalist thinkers including René Guenon and Julius Evola.

What, ultimately, is the meaning and value of Steiner’s work for our time? How do we anchor and integrate his visionary cosmology and “spiritual science” into our daily lives? How do we separate what remains relevant in his work from parts that are antiquated and regressive? As the seminar ends, we will explore answers to these questions.