Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) became a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, particularly known for his work on Goethe's scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena. His multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, philosophy, religion, education (Waldorf schools), special education (the Camphill movement), economics, agriculture (biodynamics), science, architecture, and the arts (drama, speech and eurythmy). In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which has branches throughout the world.

Michael Lipson, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist practicing in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He is the translator of Rudolf Steiner’s Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path and of Georg Kühlewind’s From Normal to Healthy, both published by Anthroposophic Press. Dr. Lipson’s work combines the insights of Rudolf Steiner with those of Zen Buddhism. He teaches meditation widely and writes on issues of consciousness, human development, and meditative practice.

"In this volume, Rudolf Steiner attempts to reveal something about the invisible structure of health and illness as they are seen with the second sight of spiritual research.... Steiner’s comments about the opening to spiritual worlds that can accompany severe mental retardation or illness foreshadow some of the most important alternative psychiatry of our own times. He anticipates elements in the work of R.D. Laing, the Windhorse movement of Povall, and also the new practice of ‘facilitated communication,’ whereby some autistic patients have been aided in expressing a full and conscious inner life to which their bizarre outward behavior gives no clue" (from the foreword by Michael Lipson).

Today we hear a great deal about holistic medicine—an approach to healing that integrates body, mind, and spirit. For Rudolf Steiner, healing is not possible unless it takes into account all the dimensions that make up a human being-both visible and invisible. Unless we begin to understand these dimensions of ourselves, real health will always be hard to attain.

To meet inner frailty with truly adequate concepts, Steiner describes specific inner structures of both healthy and unhealthy states that escape ordinary perception. Addressing topics ranging from sleepwalking to "hyperliteracy" to the visions of St.Teresa of Avila, he suggests how to approach the misalignments of nonstandard inner structures and other psychic difficulties with what he calls "pastoral medicine"-a truly holistic healing that can bring body and soul together and help them function in the most effective and powerful way.