Prologue

Ovid (43 BC–AD 18) describes in his Metamorphoses how Aeneas travels to the Sanctuary of Apollo at Cumae, not far from Naples in Italy, to gain access to the spiritual world in order to consult the soul of his deceased father. The Sibyl, one of the priestesses of Apollo who guard the sanctuary, shows Aeneas a Golden Bough which he is told to break off the tree. This Golden Bough will allow Aeneas to enter the spiritual world and there meet up with the spirit of his dead father. The scene has been beautifully depicted by the English painter William Turner (1775–1851). This oil painting is now to be seen in the Tate Britain gallery in London.

Following Aeneas’ visit many people also visited this remarkable spot in Italy. Amongst others, Hannibal, Tsar Nicholas I and Mussolini’s wife: they all came to experience something of another world beyond the physical world, hoping to find an answer to the deepest questions life presents us with.

These same lines from Ovid’s Metamorphoses inspired James Frazer to write his famous book The Golden Bough, published in 1890. This work comprises 12 volumes and is an extraordinarily extensive collection of mythology, magic and religious ideas from all parts of the world.

This concise introduction to Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy—the word itself means ‘wisdom of man’—would like to be a modern Golden Bough, a helping hand for readers in their search for the source and the aim of life on earth.