In Egyptian Myths And Mysteries, Rudolf Steiner emphasizes the astonishing and special relationship between our own time and that of ancient Egypt – how, in the natural rhythm of the ages, the third Post-Atlantean (Egyptian) epoch is mirrored by the fifth (present) epoch. In this sense, it is particularly relevant to look today with the benefit of Steiner’s occult examinations of ancient Egypt. The evolution of western civilization has been permanently influenced by Egyptian myths by way of the Greek mysteries, an influence which continues right into our own times.

Due to other spiritual forces, however, this heritage has degenerated. Thinking has “mummified,” and myth has all but disappeared. It has become necessary in our time, therefore, to revive the vital seed passed down to us from ancient Egypt. Through the animating power of spiritual imagination, we have the task of renewing human knowledge of the creative forces in nature, as the Egyptians attempted through the Osiris-Isis myth, and the Greeks through the myth of Demeter. Steiner also discusses experiences of Egyptian initiations, esoteric anatomy and physiology, the stages of evolution of the human form, and much more. The final lecture is on the Christ impulse as the conqueror of matter.