The Listening Ear
The development of speech as a creative influence in education

Audrey E. McAllen

Softbound

Temporarily out of print - backorders accepted - reprint expected sometime in 2008, but no date has been announced

$14.95

This book contains profoundly deep insights into the nature of human development and its relationship to human speech and sound. Anyone seeking to understand themselves or others would do well to make it a part of their research.

It also gives anyone educating children an understanding of speech training through specially selected exercises. These aim to help develop clear speaking in the classroom. Methodically and perceptively used, this book will assist those concerned with the creative powers of speech as a teaching tool.

McAllen addresses the key areas of speech and child development, the speech organs, the effects of artificially produced sound on speech develpment, rhythm and metre and the sound groups.

Using the characteristics attributed to the constellations of the zodiac, McAllen links each to consonents of the English alphabet and applies this to classroom exercises.

I believe that using McAllens insights and exercises could go a long way toward remedying the mumbled, unclear speech and thinking that seems to be epidemic among younger people. Very highly recommended.

Liberation of the Actor

Peter Bridgmont

Softbound

$16.95

The artist was once "a messenger of the gods." When the Greek actor breathed in he could life himself into a realm of thought and inspiration, and when he breathed out, he could expel into the air his strengthened will. Can the modern actor once again be a messenger through his power of description and dramatization?

Anyone with an interest in the spoken word, acting, or the future of the theater will welcome Liberation of the Actor which is concerned with reinvigorating the dramatic arts. Peter Bridgmont steps beyond simple character study and interpretation, and focuses on esoteric qualities of acting which are being forgotten. With the illumination of Rudolf Steiner's ideas on speech and drama, he provides a new basis for a true 'liberation' of the contemporary actor.

The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily
Goethe's Fairy Tale

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Translated by Julius E Heuscher

Edited by Joan deRis Allen

Paintings by Hermann Linde

Hardbound

$25.00

The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily is one of the most important stories of the Anthroposophic and Rosicrucian streams. It is a timeless, allegorical tale of initiation and had a profound impact on Rudolf Steiner and on the formulation of his teachings. He called the fairy tale a kind of “secret revelation,” an “apocalypse.” As the authors point out in The Time Is At Hand! Goethe’s fairy tale begins with a specific image: a river separating two lands that contrast to each other, as do the sensory world and the spiritual world. The story ends with a bridge, created through sacrifice, that spans the river between the two lands.

Indeed, Rudolf Steiner was so deeply impressed by Goethe’s fairy tale, that he used it as the model for his first mystery drama, The Portal of Initiation. It is said that, prior to its first performance, he told friends, “I know how long and deeply you have loved Goethe’s fairy tale, and today I am happy to tell you that you will see it performed on stage.”

This is a fairy tale for meditation—and for building bridges of the soul and spirit.

The twelve paintings in this book represent the soul experiences of the “Youth” in the fairy tale. They are the fruit of an intense collaboration between Hermann Linde and Rudolf Steiner, who commissioned the work. Steiner visited Linde’s studio each day and provided him with detailed indications on how to treat the various motifs.

Once Linde had finished the original panels—done mainly in tempera—he had planned to rework them in transparent watercolor glazes, intending to follow Steiner’s suggestion of working wholly “from the color itself.” Unfortunately, Hermann Linde was unable to realize his intention; he died suddenly, just a few months after the first Goetheanum was destroyed by fire on New Year’s Day 1923.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily, this excellent edition will provide an beautiful introduction to Goethe's delightful fairy tale. And for those who know it well, the images and fresh translation will give the story new life in the imagination. It also makes an excellent gift for all ages.

The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Translation by Thomas Carlyle

Illustrated by David Newbatt

Hardbound, Dust-jacketed

$29.95

A true fairy story is a work of art. At Michaelmas in 1795, there appeared a series of stories ending with a Fairy Tale, "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily." This tale tells of a magical transformation, one that, when the time is ripe, can be experienced by every human being. The author of these stories was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the creation of this Fairy Tale was to have far reaching consequences.

This new edition of The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily is the inspiration of artist David Newbatt, who wanted to bring together the original English translation by Thomas Carlyle with a series of pictures. The marriage of Carlyle's flowing English with Newbatts beautiful pastel paintings reveals the seven-fold process that unfolds within Goethe's Fairy Tale. It is a process of inner development and personal transformation, a path both ancient and modern.

Together with the translation by Thomas Carlyle and the series of seven pictures by David Newbatt, the book includes an extensive introduction by Tom Raines.

Christmas Plays from Oberufer
Paradise Play|Shepherds Play|Kings Play

Edited by Hélène Jacquet

Softbound

$16.00

For hundreds of years, ordinary people in the small Austrian village of Oberufer on the Danube gathered in the local tavern at Christmastime to perform these plays for their neighbors. With their roots lost in medieval times, the plays gradually evolved to incorporate a unique blend of folk humor and profound reverence in their celebration of the birth of Jesus.

The Paradise Play, acting as a preface, presents the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, but with the promise of future salvation through Christ. The Shepherds Play portrays the birth of Jesus in a stable, where he is sought out by a group of shepherds. The Kings Play depicts the visit of three wise kings to the birthplace of the King of Humanity, as well as the murderous attempts by Herod to thwart Jesus' mission.

This revised edition of the plays—suitable for both amateur and professional players—offers a clear layout of the texts, greatly elaborated makeup and director’s indications, stage and lighting directions, and detailed costume designs.

Includes eight pages of color illustrations.

Eros and Fable
Novalis' Fairy Tale of Human and Earth Evolution

Baruch Luke Urieli

Softbound

$18.95

The story of Eros and Fable was conceived by Novalis in a moment of spiritual vision, precipitated by the death of his teenage fiancé, Sophie. From this experience in 1797 flowed the entire output of the rest of his short life - poems, novellas, sacred hyumns. In the same year, Goethe wrote his Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and hte Beautiful Lily. Baruch Urieli describes how the fairy tale ‘Eros and Fable’, reveals, in a series of unfolding pictures, the evolution of the earth, past, present and future, including the development and maturation of the human soul.

The Novalis Fairy Tale
Human Encounter becomes Earth Evolution

Seven Lectures by Baruch Luke Urieli

Softbound

$22.95

Novalis' fairy tale is akin to the apocalyptic writings of St. John the Evangelist, and therefore profound secrets lie hidden within its vivid yet enigmatic pictures. Baruch Urieli's preoccupation with these images over many years, the mature fruits of which he gave in the present lectures, provides a key to unlock their mysteries and in so doing offers us a far-reaching insight into our own future and that of the earth.

Parsifal
a play in twelve pictures taken from the texts of Wolfram von Eschenbach and Chrétien de Troyes

Russell Pooler

For performance by adolescents - with or without eurythmy

Softbound

$8.95

In this work, Russ Pooler has allowed von Eschenbach's Parzival to cross centuries and appear in a new form. For the teacher and parent, watching this performance can transform our thoughts and feelings toward adolescents, helping us become more truly their friends and companions who, out of a generousity of heart, help them realise their true importance within the world.

Plays for Christmas

Karl König

Softbound

In general, the plays are to be performed by teenaged and adult actors.

$8.95

Plays occupied a special place in Karl König's creative life. He didn't write them as 'works of art,' rather, he wrote them when a special constellation within the community in which he lived inspried him - a constellation of people and events within the festival being of the year. For him, they were a way of bringing the spiritual impulse of the time into direct connection with human beings and their lives.

Plays for Christmas contains:

• A Play for Advent
• A Little Christmas Celebration
• A Community Christmas Play

An Easter Play
Prologue and Part 1
Parts 2 and 3

Karl König

Softbound in 2 playbooks

In general, the plays are to be performed by teenaged and adult actors.

$17.95

An Easter Play contains:

• Prologue - Maundy Thrusday
• Part 1 - Good Friday
• Part 2 - Easter Saturday
• Part 3 - Easter Sunday

Plays for Ascensiontide

Karl König

Softbound

In general, the plays are to be performed by teenaged and adult actors.

$8.95

Plays for Ascensiontide contains:

• Evening in Emmaus
• The Cup of Zarathustra
• Quo Vadis, Domine?

Festival Plays

Karl König

Softbound in 2 playbooks

In general, the plays are to be performed by teenaged and adult actors.

$8.95

Festival Plays contains:

• A Play for St. John's Tide
• A Michaelmas Play
• The Book of Kells