How to Know Higher Worlds is an account of the Western path of initiation (formerly titled Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment) by spiritual scientist, Rudolf Steiner. These descriptions began appearing in installments in 1904. It was the first time such a path of initiation had been made public and adapted to modern consciousness. Steiner openly describes a path of development for all who seek to have real experiences of the spiritual world without sacrificing their practical duties in everyday life.

Steiner begins by stating that the “capacities by which we can gain insights into higher worlds lie dormant within each one of us.” He then leads the student from the cultivation of reverence and inner tranquility to the development of inner life through the stages of preparation, illumination, and initiation. By following the exercises that are given, new organs begin to form that reveal the contours of worlds previously unknown.

Steiner describes how we pass through the “trials” of Fire, Water, and Air, and new qualities of feeling, judgment, and perception unfold. He shows how the transformation of feelings occurs and indicates the consequences of such practices on our inner and outer lives. Next, a guide to working with the chakras is given, so that we are led step by step through their healthy unfolding. Finally, the student is led to the crowning experiences of the first stage of spiritual development: the meeting with the Guardians of the Threshold.

In this book Rudolf Steiner is at once teacher, counselor, and friend. His advice is practical, clear, and powerful. The challenges we face in life, both individually and as a society, require ever deeper levels of insight. Here is a text on how to cultivate the capacities for such insights and place them at the service of humanity.