Esoteric Physiology

The author has been director of the consciousness studies programme at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento since 1992. As such, his knowledge of Steiner's work is encyclopaedic, and forms the background for these lectures. Oddly, the book contains no introduction, but plunges straight in at chapter 1. Given the esoteric nature of the material covered, this is an omission except for readers already familiar with this approach, which includes visualisation as well as analysis. It also relates physical with subtler forms of anatomy, as the lectures move around the body considering embryology, nutrition, various organs, digestion, imagination, emotions and the will. In a chapter on nerve and blood, there is a very powerful formula for the removal of curses, as a representation of Soul Force in terms of thinking, feeling and willing:

By the power of the Living Christ all curses, Whether ancient, hidden or repeated, Are found, bound and defeated And must leave me now To be revealed by the light To be absolved by the truth To be returned to the Source of all things From this time forward, right now, for ever. So be it, It is so, Let it be done. Thank You.

Interestingly, the author likens this mantra to a Bach fugue, and while he was studying it spent a lot of time listening to The Art of the Fugue. The whole book involves a lot of inner work and I liked his remark that we should never waste a good obstacle in life. Is another book put it, what is in the way is the way.