"Today, the 'I' is empty of atavistic, clairvoyant visions, and when we look back at the 'I', it is, so to speak, more or less only a point in our soul life. The content of this 'I' is a firm point of support for everyone, but still only a point. But we are living in a time when the point should once again become a circle in which the 'I' should once again received content...Just as the 'I' was filled for the human being of the past with atavistic, clairvoyant content, so in our time our 'I' should fill itself with a new spiritual content, received in full consciousness, which once again provides the tie that binds our soul to the soul being of the divine. Now, a start must be made." - Rudolf Steiner During Christmastime of 1919 to 1920, Rudolf Steiner was in Stuttgart to celebrate the end of the first semester of the first Waldorf school and participate in its Christmas festivities. During his visit, he gave not only two courses for teachers (The Light Course and The Genius of Language), but also the five lectures for Anthroposophical Society members collected in this book.As with all of Steiner's lectures given around the Holy Nights, these jewel-like lectures are both inspiring and sobering. The Archangel Michael is once again the "world regent". He shows us a new path to Christ and to the spirit world, calling on us to create new relationships to spiritual realities. Yet, inertia or lack of will, materialism, and powerful opposing forces make his and our task more difficult. World War I had ended, but peace was still a distant hope. Prescient to our own moment, these stirring lectures are more relevant than ever, still inspiring a call to arms. Cosmic New Year is a translation from the German book Weltsilvester und Neujahrsgedanken.
