"As vital and relevant as when it was first published in 1910, this materpiece of esoteric, Rosicrucian cosmology (on which Rudolf Steiner worked and then reworked for many years, making it ever more precise and accurate) remains the most effective presentation to date of the spiritual alternative to contemporary materialist cosmologies and the Darwinian view of human nature and evolution. In this basic work of spiritual science, readers learn how the creation and evolution of humanity is embedded at the heart of the vast, invisible web of interacting cosmic beings through whom the alchemical processes of cosmic evolution unfold. There are also descriptions of the different bodies of the human being and their relation to sleep and death, as well as a detailed practical guide to the methods or exercises, including the "Rose Cross Meditation," by which such initiation knowledge can be attained. Most remarkable and revolutionary of all, perhaps, is the central function that Rudolf Steiner allots to the Christ and to the entrance of Christ into early evolution through the Mystery of Golgotha. " -- back cover.