Part One considers the distinguishing features of the various Cycle of tales and the personages who figure most prominently in them. Part Two reveals the cosmological framework within which the action of the tales takes place. Part Three consists of a discussion of the themes of certain classes of stories which tell of Conceptions and Births, Supernatural Adventures, Courtships and Marriages, Violent Deaths and Voyages to the Other World, and an attempt is made to understand their religious function and glimpse their transcendent meaning.

    In this sense, today it is especially relevant to look at ancient Egypt with fresh eyes. The evolution of Western civilization has been profoundly influenced by Egyptian myths through the Greek mysteries. Because of other influences, however, this heritage has degenerated; thinking has mummified and and myth has all but disappeared. Consequently, it is important to revive the seed of goodness passed down to us from ancient Egypt.Through true imagination, it is our task to renew human knowledge related to the creative forces in nature, which the Egyptians attempted through the Osiris-Isis myth, and the Greeks through the myth of Demeter. This is what Rudolf Steiner attempts in this lecture cycle.Steiner's subjects include: experiences of Egyptian initiations; esoteric anatomy and physiology; the stages of evolution of the human form; and much more. The final lecture is on the Christ impulse as the conqueror of matter.This volume is a translation from German of ��gyptische Mythen und Mysterien im Verh�ltnis zu den wirkenden Geisteskr�ften der Gegenwart� (GA 106).C O N T E N T SLecture 1. Spiritual connections between the culture streams of ancient and modern timesLecture 2. The reflection of cosmic events in the religious view of human beingsLecture 3. The old initiation centers; the human form as a subject of meditationLecture 4. Experiences of initiation; the mysteries of planets; descent of the primeval worldLecture 5. The genesis of the trinity of Sun, Moon, and Earth; Osiris and TyphonLecture 6. The influence of Osiris and Isis; facts of occult anatomy and physiologyLecture 7. Evolution in the human organism up to the Moon's departureLecture 8. States of evolution in the human form; the four human typesLecture 9. Influence of the Sun and Moon spirits and the Isis and Osiris forcesLecture 10. Ancient myths as images of cosmic facts; dimming of spiritual consciousnessLecture 11. Ancient Egyptian doctrine of evolution; cosmic view of the organsLecture 12. The Christ impulse as conqueror of matter

    The enchantment is immediate. The magic carpet waits to bear the reader to the high and far-off mountains of wonder, where animals reveal themselves for what most children know they are - human beings in disguise.The animals in these stories talk a human language. They are wise and kindly, cruel and foolish, just as we are ourselves. They are easy to know and believe in.In this collection of animal stories, the compiler has ranged far and well. There are stories from India, from Africa, from Europe and North America. There are modern and ancient myths and legends. The young reader will find old friends here, and some he may never have met before. He will find too the work of such distinguished writers as Joseph Jacobs, Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, Selma Lagerlöf, Waldemar Bonsels, and the Brothers Grimm. But most important of all, he will find delight.

    

    

    

    Alvin Johnson, who remembers the early days well, gives us a unique glimpse into an era that was bursting with vitality, humor and enthusiasm: the settling of the American West. Not since Willa Cather has anyone written with such simplicity and beauty about the stalwart men and women who tamed the wild prairie. To read these warm and winning stories is to be carried into the long past days of pioneers and the rugged Frontier. *What makes this a real find for collectors of weird tales is a gothic horror novelette set in Denmark, "Adelbrand's Skull."