Medicine and Mysteries

Medicine and Mysteries

In the distant past, the physician was also a priest, performing his dual tasks in temples and mystery centers. Medical knowledge was held in mystery wisdom. Over the ages, medicine gradually lost this depth of knowing, and today we see it in crisis. The mysteries out of which ancient physicians gained their wisdom no longer exist. However, through a single book, Fundamentals of Therapy by Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman, M.D. access is provided for interested doctors to return to the truth. Dr. Holtzapfel shows how Fundamentals of Therapy introduces modern initiate medicine. Looking back upon ancient practices and wisdom, he demonstrates that old processes of initiation are now revealed, not in hidden mystery sanctuaries, but in the open light of day, accessible to all.

About the Author

Walter Holtzapfel, M.D. (1912-1994), was born in Kiel, Germany, and in 1931 moved to Freiburg/Breisgau to study medicine. At the age of nineteen, while a tourist visiting Dornach, Switzerland, he met Ita Wegman and became involved with studying anthroposophically extended medicine in a study group of young physicians. The rest of his life was dedicated to practice, teaching, and writing involved with anthroposophic medicine. At the age of fifty-two, he became leader of the Medical Section of the Anthroposophical Society, a position he held until 1977. Dr. Holtzapfel was the author of numerous books, including Children’s Destinies and The Human Organs.