“Our very ‘I’ consciousness is possible because the mineral earth—the first layer of the interior of the Earth—and the other chthonic regions exist. Our human nature is a reflection of the subearthly and supraearthly realms that comprise the macrocosm and the microcosm. ‘The true meaning of the microcosm–macrocosm analogy is not that the human being is a little cosmos, but that the cosmos is a big human being.’ From this perspective, it makes complete sense that the subterranean realms described by spiritual science live within the deepest realms of our human nature and subconscious life of darker feelings and will. Deep within the human being, they radiate into the shadows of thought. This region is more familiarly known as Hell, Hades, or the Abyss. The subterranean spheres, then, are the Earth’s ‘dark side.’”
—Paul V. O’Leary (from his introduction)
Throughout human history, ancient wisdom and traditional myths have placed human beings between the heavens and the underworld, describing the heavens as the light-filled realm of the gods and the source of goodness, and characterizing the underworld as a demon-filled realm of darkness and the source of evil. Modern science, however, denies the heavens and knows little of the Earth’s interior — even physically — beyond the first few miles, after which it simply resorts to conjecture based on the extrapolation of existing sensory data. In other words, natural science fails to take into account that the Earth is a living, spiritual being and ignores the presence of its soul-spiritual qualities and influences.
To remedy this, during the early twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner researched the psychic, spiritual, and cosmic nature of the Earth’s interior. He described how the different layers of the inner Earth affect and interact with human beings living on Earth. More theologically and cosmically, he spoke of the layers of “Hell,” through which Jesus Christ traveled in the period between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, uniting and integrating himself with the Earth and with human destiny.
The seven authors in The Inner Life of the Earth approach this difficult and little-discussed topic from different directions. They discuss how the forces emanating from the interior of the Earth affect the weather, our atmosphere, human beings, and how human behavior in turn affects them, showing that earthly and human evolution are a unity and should never be thought of as occurring separately. They also discuss the deep significance of Christ’s incarnation, by which he united with the Earth to become the Spirit of the Earth.
Without Christ’s deed, the Mystery of Golgotha, which reunites cosmic and human evolution with the divine, human beings would be unable to work in freedom with Christ or with Sophia, divine feminine Wisdom, in her form as the Soul of the Earth, to overcome evil and help lift all creation toward goodness and greater human, cosmic, and divine fellowship.
Contents:
“Introduction by Paul V. O’Leary
“Evil: Our Dance Partner through Life” by David S. Mitchell
“As Above, so Below — As Below, so Above” by Dennis Klocek
“Subnature and the Second Coming” by Robert Powell
“Portals to the Inner Earth” by Marko Pogacnik
“Transforming Subearthly Energies through Eurythmy” by Rachel C. Ross
“The Mineral Earth as the Gateway to Freedom and the Subterranean Spheres: The Ministry of Jesus Christ” by Paul V. O’Leary
“Paradoxical Thoughts on Christ and Sophia in the Human Mystery of the Earth” by Christopher Bamford
Paul V. O'Leary is a retired real estate appraiser and former attorney who specialized in forensic appraisals and the appraisal of conservation properties. He has written, taught and lectured extensively on real estate economics and appraisal for The Appraisal Institute, The Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers, the American Society of Appraisers, and the Massachusetts and United States Bar Associations. He is also a special faculty member of the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a Harvard University-associated think tank with an international portfolio, researching, publishing, and teaching about real estate planning and taxation issues. See all titles by this author
Christopher Bamford is Editor in Chief for SteinerBooks and its imprints. A Fellow of the Lindisfarne Association, he has lectured, taught, and written widely on Western spiritual and esoteric traditions. He is the author of The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Christianity (1990) and An Endless Trace: The Passionate Pursuit of Wisdom in the West (2003). He has also translated and edited numerous books, including Celtic Christianity: Ecology and Holiness (1982);Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science; and The Noble Traveller: The Life and Writings of O. V. de L. Milosz (all published by Lindisfarne Books). HarperSanFrancisco included an essay by Mr. Bamford in its anthology Best Spiritual Writing 2000. See all titles by this author
Dennis Klocek is a “Renaissance man”—artist, scientist, teacher, researcher, gardener, and alchemist. After graduating with a MFA in 1975 from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art with a thesis on Goethe’s color theory, he taught for seven years at a community college. In 1982, his love for the work of Rudolf Steiner took him to Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, California, where he has been the director of their Consciousness Studies Program (“Goethean Studies”) since 1992. Dennis is engaged in research, teaching, and writing in many fields, including weather, gardening, color therapy, meditation and the human organism, embryology, and sensory transformation. He is the author of Bio-Dynamic Book of Moons, Weather and Cosmology, Drawing from the Book of Nature, and Seeking Spirit Vision. Dennis also oversees a website, Doc Weather, “a unique website that is based on a climatic technique that interfaces daily weather data from the National Weather Service into a geometrical system that is the result of twenty-four years of experimental work.” See all titles by this author
David Mitchell has been a Waldorf teacher for thirty-six years. He was a class teacher and a founding teacher of the Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, New Hampshire. He has taught life sciences, Shakespeare, geometry, blacksmithing, woodworking, and stone sculpture in Waldorf high schools for thirty-six years. David is also an adjunct professor at Antioch College, has served as a leader in the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA) in various capacities since the 1980s. In 1997, the Amgen Corporation selected him as one of the top two teachers in the state of Colorado. Currently, he is the chair of publications for AWSNA and serves as the co-director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. He has edited scores of books over the years and is the author of Will-Developed Intelligence; Windows into Waldorf; The Wonders of Waldorf Chemistry; and 25 Plays, and Resources for Waldorf Teachers (all from AWSNA), as well as a contributor to The Inner Life of the Earth from Lindisfarne Books. See all titles by this author
Marko Pogačnik was born in 1944 in Kranj, Slovenia, and graduated in 1967 as sculptor from the Academy of fine Arts in Ljubljana. He lives with his wife Marika in Šempas, Slovenia. They have three daughters and five grand children. From 1965 until 1971, Marko worked as a member of an international art group called OHO in conceptual art and land art. Exhibitions include Information Show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (1970), Aktionsraum, Munich (1970), and Global Conceptualism Show 1950-80, Queens Museum of Art, New York (1999). Most of the collection of OHO works is housed by the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana. In 1971, with his family and friends, Marko founded a rural artistic community and spiritual center called the "Šempas Family" in Šempas, Slovenia. The community lasted until 1979. Exhibitions by the Šempas Family include Trigon (1977) in Graz and the Venice Biennale of 1978. Since 1979 he has been engaged in geomantic and Earth healing work. In the mid-1980s, Marko developed a method of Earth healing, "lithopuncture" (similar to acupuncture), using stone pillars positioned on acupuncture points of the landscape. He is the author of numerous books, including Sacred Geography: Geomancy: Co-creating the Earth Cosmos (2008) and Turned Upside Down: A Workbook on Earth Changes and Personal Transformation (2004). Visit his website at www.markopogacnik.com. See all titles by this author
Robert Powell, PhD, is an internationally known lecturer, author, eurythmist, and movement therapist. He is founder of the Choreocosmos School of Cosmic and Sacred Dance, and cofounder of the Sophia Foundation of North America. He received his doctorate for his thesis The History of the Zodiac, available as a book from Sophia Academic Press. His published works include The Sophia Teachings, a six-tape series (Sounds True Recordings), as well as the following books: Divine Sophia-Holy Wisdom; The Most Holy Trinosophia and the New Revelation of the Divine Feminine; The Sophia Teachings; The Mystery, Biography, and Destiny of Mary Magdalene; Elijah Come Again; Chronicle of the Living Christ; Christian Hermetic Astrology; The Christ Mystery; The Sign of the Son of Man in the Heavens; The Morning Meditation in Eurythmy; and the yearly Journal for Star Wisdom, as well as other works published by Sophia Foundation Press. He translated the spiritual classic Meditations on the Tarot and was co-translator of Valentin Tomberg’s Lazarus, Come Forth! Robert is coauthor with Kevin Dann of Christ & the Maya Calendar and The Atrological Revolution, and with Lacquanna Paul coauthored Cosmic Dances of the Zodiac and Cosmic Dances of the Planets. He teaches a gentle form of healing movement: the sacred dance of eurythmy (from the Greek, meaning “harmonious movement”), as well as the cosmic dances of the planets and signs of the zodiac, and through the Sophia Grail Circle, he facilitates sacred celebrations dedicated to the Divine Feminine. Robert offers workshops in Europe, Australia, and North America and, with Karen Rivers, cofounder of the Sophia Foundation, leads pilgrimages to various sacred sites of the world: 1996, Turkey; 1997, the Holy Land; 1998, France; 2000, Britain; 2002, Italy; 2004, Greece; 2006, Egypt; 2008, India; 2010, Grand Canyon, Arizona.
Visit sophiafoundation.org See all titles by this author
Rachel C. Ross is an educator and eurythmist of wide experience. She holds a diploma in Artistic and Pedagogical Eurythmy from the London School of Eurythmy; a diploma in Therapeutic Eurythmy from the Medical Section of the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland; and a Masters of Science in Education from Sunbridge College in New York. Rachel specializes in treating children with developmental disorders and learning disabilities. She has been involved as a developmental specialist, designing and implementing programs, training staff, teaching, and consulting at Waldorf and public schools. Rachel is a faculty member and co-director of the Waldorf Resource/Remedial Teacher Training Programs in Spain, Brazil, Ireland and Toronto. These training initiatives are in partnership with the Association for Healing Education. She maintains an active practice in therapeutic eurythmy and remedial movement therapy and is a traveling consultant to many Waldorf and private schools nationwide. She is the author of Adventures in Parenting (AWSNA, 2008). See all titles by this author
Speakers at the 
Paul V. O'Leary is a retired real estate appraiser and former attorney who specialized in forensic appraisals and the appraisal of conservation properties. He has written, taught and lectured extensively on real estate economics and appraisal for The Appraisal Institute, The Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers, the American Society of Appraisers, and the Massachusetts and United States Bar Associations. He is also a special faculty member of the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a Harvard University-associated think tank with an international portfolio, researching, publishing, and teaching about real estate planning and taxation issues.
Christopher Bamford is Editor in Chief for SteinerBooks and its imprints. A Fellow of the Lindisfarne Association, he has lectured, taught, and written widely on Western spiritual and esoteric traditions. He is the author of The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Christianity (1990) and An Endless Trace: The Passionate Pursuit of Wisdom in the West (2003). He has also translated and edited numerous books, including Celtic Christianity: Ecology and Holiness (1982); Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science; and The Noble Traveller: The Life and Writings of O. V. de L. Milosz (all published by Lindisfarne Books). HarperSanFrancisco included an essay by Mr. Bamford in its anthology Best Spiritual Writing 2000.
Dennis Klocek is a “Renaissance man”—artist, scientist, teacher, researcher, gardener, and alchemist. After graduating with a MFA in 1975 from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art with a thesis on Goethe’s color theory, he taught for seven years at a community college. In 1982, his love for the work of Rudolf Steiner took him to Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, California, where he has been the director of their Consciousness Studies Program (“Goethean Studies”) since 1992. Dennis is engaged in research, teaching, and writing in many fields, including weather, gardening, color therapy, meditation and the human organism, embryology, and sensory transformation. He is the author of Bio-Dynamic Book of Moons, Weather and Cosmology, Drawing from the Book of Nature, and Seeking Spirit Vision. Dennis also oversees a website, 
David Mitchell has been a Waldorf teacher for thirty-six years. He was a class teacher and a founding teacher of the Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, New Hampshire. He has taught life sciences, Shakespeare, geometry, blacksmithing, woodworking, and stone sculpture in Waldorf high schools for thirty-six years. David is also an adjunct professor at Antioch College, has served as a leader in the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA) in various capacities since the 1980s. In 1997, the Amgen Corporation selected him as one of the top two teachers in the state of Colorado. Currently, he is the chair of publications for AWSNA and serves as the co-director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. He has edited scores of books over the years and is the author of Will-Developed Intelligence; Windows into Waldorf; The Wonders of Waldorf Chemistry; and 25 Plays, and Resources for Waldorf Teachers (all from AWSNA), as well as a contributor to The Inner Life of the Earth from Lindisfarne Books.
Marko Pogačnik was born in 1944 in Kranj, Slovenia, and graduated in 1967 as sculptor from the Academy of fine Arts in Ljubljana. He lives with his wife Marika in Šempas, Slovenia. They have three daughters and five grand children. From 1965 until 1971, Marko worked as a member of an international art group called OHO in conceptual art and land art. Exhibitions include Information Show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (1970), Aktionsraum, Munich (1970), and Global Conceptualism Show 1950-80, Queens Museum of Art, New York (1999). Most of the collection of OHO works is housed by the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana. In 1971, with his family and friends, Marko founded a rural artistic community and spiritual center called the "Šempas Family" in Šempas, Slovenia. The community lasted until 1979. Exhibitions by the Šempas Family include Trigon (1977) in Graz and the Venice Biennale of 1978. Since 1979 he has been engaged in geomantic and Earth healing work. In the mid-1980s, Marko developed a method of Earth healing, "lithopuncture" (similar to acupuncture), using stone pillars positioned on acupuncture points of the landscape. He is the author of numerous books, including 
Robert Powell, PhD, is an internationally known lecturer, author, eurythmist, and movement therapist. He is founder of the Choreocosmos School of Cosmic and Sacred Dance, and cofounder of the Sophia Foundation of North America. He received his doctorate for his thesis The History of the Zodiac, available as a book from Sophia Academic Press. His published works include The Sophia Teachings, a six-tape series (Sounds True Recordings), as well as the following books: Divine Sophia-Holy Wisdom; The Most Holy Trinosophia and the New Revelation of the Divine Feminine; The Sophia Teachings; The Mystery, Biography, and Destiny of Mary Magdalene; Elijah Come Again; Chronicle of the Living Christ; Christian Hermetic Astrology; The Christ Mystery; The Sign of the Son of Man in the Heavens; The Morning Meditation in Eurythmy; and the yearly Journal for Star Wisdom, as well as other works published by Sophia Foundation Press. He translated the spiritual classic Meditations on the Tarot and was co-translator of Valentin Tomberg’s Lazarus, Come Forth! Robert is coauthor with Kevin Dann of Christ & the Maya Calendar and The Atrological Revolution, and with Lacquanna Paul coauthored Cosmic Dances of the Zodiac and Cosmic Dances of the Planets. He teaches a gentle form of healing movement: the sacred dance of eurythmy (from the Greek, meaning “harmonious movement”), as well as the cosmic dances of the planets and signs of the zodiac, and through the Sophia Grail Circle, he facilitates sacred celebrations dedicated to the Divine Feminine. Robert offers workshops in Europe, Australia, and North America and, with Karen Rivers, cofounder of the Sophia Foundation, leads pilgrimages to various sacred sites of the world: 1996, Turkey; 1997, the Holy Land; 1998, France; 2000, Britain; 2002, Italy; 2004, Greece; 2006, Egypt; 2008, India; 2010, Grand Canyon, Arizona.
Visit 
Rachel C. Ross is an educator and eurythmist of wide experience. She holds a diploma in Artistic and Pedagogical Eurythmy from the London School of Eurythmy; a diploma in Therapeutic Eurythmy from the Medical Section of the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland; and a Masters of Science in Education from Sunbridge College in New York. Rachel specializes in treating children with developmental disorders and learning disabilities. She has been involved as a developmental specialist, designing and implementing programs, training staff, teaching, and consulting at Waldorf and public schools. Rachel is a faculty member and co-director of the Waldorf Resource/Remedial Teacher Training Programs in Spain, Brazil, Ireland and Toronto. These training initiatives are in partnership with the Association for Healing Education. She maintains an active practice in therapeutic eurythmy and remedial movement therapy and is a traveling consultant to many Waldorf and private schools nationwide. She is the author of Adventures in Parenting (AWSNA, 2008).