Having read other books by Colin Wilson, I picked up this short biography of Rudolf Steiner, the occult philosopher and influential founder of Anthroposophy and the Waldorf Schools--and, though I am only two thirds of the way through the book, I will offer some impressions...
Colin Wilson is a very prolific writer who has written many true crime books, but who primarily explores matters related to the esoteric and/or the occult. He has written short biographies of Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and Crowley. I read his book on Carl Jung and found most of it very interesting. It focuses largely on Jung's more mystical beliefs and experiences rather than on his clinical work as a psychologist. While I enjoyed that book, I noticed that Wilson often strayed from his examination of Jung in favor of expounding on his own theories. Sometimes those theories were interesting, sometimes they were a little boring. Still, before long he would return to Jung, and my interest would be reignited.
The good news is that so far in "Rudolf Steiner" Wilson keeps the tangents to a minimum. The prose is lively and clearly written. We learn about Steiner's early years growing up in eastern Europe, his life a combination of an idyllic love of (and connection to) Nature (which inspired his inner poet), and an early exposure to steam trains and other modern innovations (which fueled his curiosity about science). This apparent contradiction--Wilson explains--molded Steiner into a "scientific mystic"--a man who valued reason, logic, and the scientific method, but who was driven to convey his conviction that life is at bottom a spiritual enterprise. Steiner made it his mission to wed science and religion--in this way he had some things in common with Emanuel Swedenborg.
Wilson goes on to depict Steiner as a "late bloomer": as he approached forty, Steiner was only beginning to share his true beliefs and reveal to the public his powers of clairvoyance and his direct knowledge of spiritual realities. One story in the book explains that Steiner, on a visit to the Nietzsche residence after the German philosopher had lost his sanity, glimpsed a vision of Nietzsche's soul. Steiner claimed that Nietzsche's atheism had not hindered him in the afterlife, but rather that his soul was exalted--that of a brave warrior for human freedom. Wilson urges the reader to temper his skepticism regarding such miraculous events, offering arguments about their plausibility.
Wilson does raise questions about Steiner's opportunism--he wonders if Steiner joined with the Theosophists and assented to a popular lecture series that made him famous not because either organization agreed with his outlook, but because he glimpsed an opportunity to advance his career and to capture an audience to whom he could preach his views and visions. However, in large part the book is sympathetic to Steiner. As with Gary Lachman's Steiner book, Wilson's "Rudolf Steiner" is very informative and pleasurable to read. To those curious about Steiner, I highly recommend it.
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