Geographic Medicine

Geographic Medicine: The Secret of the Double

St. Gallen, November 15 and 16, 1917 (GA 178)

In medieval times, Vikings journeyed to North America where they studied the forces of illness. Rudolf Steiner explores this little known occurrence and shows the influence of environment and location on human physiology. He also discusses the birth of modern medicine; the Ahrimanic double and the human organism; the roles of wisdom and love in the spiritual world; occult brotherhoods with their traditions of spiritual wisdom; death and the frontiers of knowledge.

Content

I. Knowledge of the Supersensible and Riddles of the Human Soul
II. The Mystery of the Double: Geographic Medicine

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.