About Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a research-based spiritual path, a path of shared inquiry rather than a belief system. It is a path that embodies the ‘consciousness of our humanity’ at all levels: body, soul and spirit. It is an individual path of spiritual development that finds fulfilment through social, creative and practical initiative.
The word ‘anthroposophy’ comes from the Greek (anthropos meaning ‘human’ and sophia meaning ‘wisdom’). But it can also be simply described as ‘consciousness of our human situation’. Although the term ‘anthroposophy’ was not coined by Rudolf Steiner himself, he applied it to his spiritual philosophy and it has become virtually synonymous with the philosophy.
Globally there are thousands of institutions and initiatives inspired by the Anthroposophical movement: colleges, schools, creative arts trainings, curative education, social therapy, residential homes and workshops; health clinics, medical practices and pharmaceutical companies; biodynamic farms and training; banks; businesses; art schools, drama and movement groups; and countless other projects, programs and groups of people working together. They are all connected by their aim to apply spiritual understanding to their work in fruitful and humanising ways.
About the Anthroposophical Society
The Anthroposophical Society in Australia (ASinA) is an organisation whose members aim to foster the life of the soul in the individual and in human society on the basis of an understanding of the spiritual world.
The Society welcomes individual members and recognises groups including study groups and local/regional branches. It supports the School for Spiritual Science in Australia. It is one of about seventy branches world-wide of the General Anthroposophical Society founded by Rudolf Steiner in Dornach, Switzerland, in 1923. You are invited to consider membership in the society if you are interested in supporting this aim.
About the General Secretary of the Society
Photo by permission of Jane Bradshaw
Jane Bradshaw serves as the spokesperson for the Society at home and in the international Anthroposophical movement. She is supported in her work by the Management Committee of the Australian Society.
Jane is also a specialist nurse, currently training in Anthroposophic nursing in New Zealand (online). Born and bred on the island of Tasmania, the southernmost state of Australia, she has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society for more than 25 years.
Jane’s signature gesture is ‘care’: care of individuals, of the community and of the land, which she expresses through a lifetime of work in nursing, volunteering and Waldorf Education. She was made country representative in August 2020.
You can read more about Jane here.
About Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy
Rudolf Steiner circa 1905. Source unknown, distributed under a CC BY 2.0 license.
Rudolf Steiner was born on 27 February 1861 in what is now Croatia and died on 30 March 1925 in Dornach, Switzerland in his studio at the Goetheanum, the administrative centre of the worldwide Society.
As a social reformer with spiritual understanding, he offers a unique understanding of the breadth and depth of human experience. His lectures and books are filled with ideas relevant to many areas of soul and spiritual development as well as to practical life activity.
During his lifetime, Steiner gave thousands of lectures, many now available as publications and authored several books, including four foundational works available in a variety of editions and translations.
Steiner is considered the founder of Waldorf (Steiner) education, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine and the movement for religious renewal. Steiner initiated new approaches and perspectives on scientific investigation, pedagogy, art, architecture, movement, medicine and agriculture, which have entered our contemporary spiritual heritage as inspirations to personal development, professional practice, research and practical activity. You can find his chronological biography here.