Week Two Lesson

  • More on Jung’s thoughts
  • Discussion of Jung and White

Homework: read excerpts from W.T. Stead and Rudolf Steiner

Session 2 readings, to prepare for discussions in Session 3:

W.T. Stead’s The Blue Island

  • Why do we find many different descriptions of what life after death is like?
  • Why did he feel it was important for people to have descriptions of the afterlife?
  • What is common around mysteries related to the after-life?
  • What does Stead say he has tried to do since he arrived on the other side?
  • What did Stead find when he crossed?
  • What could Stead still do right after he crossed?
  • Where was Stead and his companions taken?
  • What is he trying to do?
  • What effect did the blue hue have on Stead?
  • What was the food like?
  • Did Stead feel he needed the food?
  • What drives one’s daily routine on the Blue Island?
  • What happens while the people are on the Blue Island?
  • Is life on the Blue Island static?
  • Why is it important for us on earth to control our bodies with our minds?
  • Why is mind control important?
  • How does Stead describe the mind?
  • What is the power of thought?
  • What does Stead want us to realize?
  • What changes occur while on the island?
  • What form does progress take on the island?
  • Where did Stead travel?
  • What is required for a person on the spirit plane to advance?
  • What is meant by the saying “coming events cast their shadows before”?

Rudolf Steiner’s essay on “Life Between Death and Rebirth:”

  • How is Steiner’s approach similar to Jung’s?
  • How does Steiner think a soul feels about its karma once it is in the afterlife?
  • What must we experience on the spiritual plane?
  • What happens as we pass through the gate of death?
  • What is the key that determines how we experience life after death?
  • What is the key to a good experience during the phase after Mercury?
  • What does Steiner mean by the “Mystery of Golgotha”?
  • Who else, besides Christ, leads us onward?
  • What can this being do for us?
  • What determines how our karma is formed?
  • What do we bear within us when we incarnate again on earth?
  • What is the focus of Steiner’s study?
  • What does Steiner see as the task of spiritual science?
  • What is meant by Jesus’ quote “Ye are gods”?
  • What is the fundamental difference between Christ and Lucifer, according to Steiner?
  • What challenge does Steiner present to us?
  • What does spiritual science develop in people?
  • How does Steiner describe the time between death and life on p. 265?
  • What is in store for a person who avoids spiritual development while alive?
  • What is Steiner’s sense of our time?
  • What did Steiner feel spiritual science would reveal?
  • Why do we need Lucifer?
  • What is Steiner’s opinion of modern science?
  • What does spiritual science give us insight about?
  • What is your overall impression of Steiner? 

*To print these documents, click the links to download and open the files once finished. Go to File -> Print

Steiner on Life Between Death and Rebirth

Download Steiner: On Life Between Death and Rebirth

W.T. Stead: The Blue Island

Download W.T. Stead: The Blue Island