The further one goes back into olden times the more one finds that the practice of medicine took account of the sufferer not only as a person with an ailing physical body but as a soul and spiritual being who could be healed primarily through the agency of spiritual forces. The direct mediator of these forces could be the priest-physician himself or the treatment and medicines that the patient was given. For medicines in those times were not conceived as having purely chemical or physical effects on the physiology of the body as they are mainly regarded today. They were regarded as agents which bring in healing forces from the extra-terrestrial cosmos to remedy the imbalance of spirit, soul and material forces within the body (or in specific organs) out of which particular illnesses fundamentally arise.

In ancient civilisations the mysteries were centres where an intercourse between man and the spiritual world was cultivated and they directly guided much of the cultural, social and economic life of these times. In its earlier centuries especially, the life of ancient Egypt for instance was regulated through its priest-king Pharaohs, and in a somewhat more concealed way such inspirations flowed into the early Greek culture. But the mysteries were also centres of healing from which the art of medicine derived its effectiveness. With the passage of lime, however, the mysteries declined and medical knowledge as an integral part of mystery wisdom faded, although it lived on in some degree as tradition. In Hippocrates (460 - 377 BC) we have the last remainder of the older medical conceptions. From his system there developed the ideas of the four humours in man on whose balanced interworking man's health depended, humours which contained forces emanating from beyond the earth.

In the course of evolution western science has quite lost this reference to extra-terrestrial forces and came to regard it as superstition. Paracelsus (1493 - 1541) assumed the existence of another body in man, the architect of the visible physical body and the foundation for the organic humours with which the soul and spirit interact. He called this the Archaeus. But this again became less and less understood and was replaced in the nineteenth century by vague and unscientific concepts of vital forces which were soon discarded. Then came the atomistic-materialistic trend of modern times which, taking its start from Morgagni (1682 - 1771) who centred his attention an the tissues of the body and later on from the development of the microscope, develops emphasis on the idea that the body is build up of cells. From this there arose the view that all manifestations of the human organism derive from cellular changes, and from the changes in the cells a disease is supposed to be understood. Medical science has thus essentially lost any penetrating conception of the human being as a whole.

It was against such a background that in the first three decades of this century Rudolf Steiner (1861 - 1925) was describing to his hearers the results of his own research.

Beginnings of Anthroposophic Medicine

Among the listeners to the cycles of lectures on general anthroposophic subjects there were doctors and at least one pharmacist to whom it became clear that the knowledge of man as Rudolf Steiner presented it could also be of service in widening the scope of their professional work. They asked for his help and there resulted the first medical lecture course which was held at the Goetheanum for doctors, medical students and pharmacists around Easter 1920[i]. In these 20 lectures a wealth of suggestions for the understanding and treatment of various illnesses was given. This course was the foundation of a medical science based on Anthroposophy and it aroused great interest. At the request of various doctors Rudolf Steiner gave in each of the following years (1921 - 1924) further lecture courses on medicine. At these he only spoke to specialised audiences since he regarded the practice of medicine as not something for the dilettante but only for those fully qualified in the conventional sense. Moreover, he himself always left practical medical work to the practising doctors though working closely with a growing group of them, being present at many of their consultations to give detailed advice that often proved extremely effective.

Foundation of Clinics and other Institutions

In 1921 a Dutch doctor, Dr lta Wegman (1876 - 1943) founded a clinic in Ariesheim, Switzerland near the Goetheanum that led to intensified medical work. Ita Wegman became Rudolf Steiner's closest medical collaborator and together they eventually wrote the book Fundamentals of Therapy[ii] that describes the basic elements of their new direction in medicine.

The work advanced further on various fronts. Pharmaceutical laboratories were founded in Switzerland and Germany to develop and produce the remedies that are nowadays sold under the name of Weleda, while manufacturing branches in due course were established in other countries to cope with the demand. A special need became apparent with the treatment of cancer so that a separate research institute and clinic, the 'Lucas Klinik' were formed alongside the Clinic in Arlesheim to focus on treatment using the mistletoe plant as its basic therapeutic substance. A number of complementary therapies were also developed and enriched through anthroposophic insights such as therapeutic eurythmy (curative eurythmy), sculpture, painting, music and speech therapy, rhythmical massage, hydrotherapy, compresses and external applications, and psychological counselling. Of particular importance are Curative Eurythmy and Curative Education.

The therapeutic use of movement is based an the same principles as artistic eurythmy which was originally developed as a stage art where people, singly or in groups, move so as to represent a truly genuine visible speech or visible song. In its artistic form eurythmy has enjoyed a wide recognition. Its curative application, however, calls for medical guidance and special training. In the movements and gestures of eurythmy the full human being, as body soul and spirit, goes out into movement. When these movements are used curatively such as in the expression of specific vowel and consonant sequences, the outwardly executed movement is continued inward with a healing influence on the diseased organ or developmental deficiency. This therapeutic method has proved to be particularly effective in the course of years.

It was in answer to questions from three young students working with intellectually handicapped children that Rudolf Steiner in the spring of 1924 gave his first advice for a curative education based on Spiritual Science. Two institutes or home schools were founded and to the teachers and doctors concerned he gave the course on curative education. A basic conception is that the spiritual being of man cannot be ill but it can be hindered in its physical expression by a faulty bodily vehicle. Such a child has rather to face a special situation in life where it is dependent on the aid of fellow human beings. Such a life has a value all of its own and any progress the soul can make, however modest, may be important for its individuality and for its spiritual future. Rudolf Steiner prescribed for these children medicaments and a kind of education permeated with artistic and religious feeling in which music, painting, modelling, eurythmy and especially curative eurythmy were all to be used therapeutically. More and more home schools were subsequently founded "for those in need of special care" and these became a foundation for the worldwide movement for Rudolf Steiner Curative Education. In New Zealand such home schools, the Hohepa Homes, have been established in Hawke's Bay, Christchurch and Auckland.

Certainly, it is the Rudolf Steiner School movement for the education of normal children with over 600 schools in the world today that is the most widely spread and expanding practical example of spiritual insight into the needs of the human being. But anthroposophic medicine is also a growing movement that appears to fulfil the needs of more and more people, practitioners and patients alike. In Europe especially, there are numerous smaller clinics, sanatoria and therapeutic centres as well as 10 larger clinics with hospital status working within the specialities of general medicine and psychiatry. Two of these are able to provide the complete range of specialist treatments expected of any general hospital and one, Herdecke hospital, has been granted the status of a teaching hospital within the medical faculty of the University of Witten. In the field of anthroposophical medicine probably over 1200 practising doctors are currently working.