The Etheric: Broadening Science through Anthroposophy—Volume 1: The World of the Ethers

Ernst Marti devoted his life to researching the “etheric realm”—a subtle area between the physical and spiritual. Taking the numerous statements and references by Rudolf Steiner as his starting point, Marti develops our understanding of the etheric world in various fields—from the theory of knowledge to the natural world, through to music, the realm of colors, eurythmy, and medicine. In doing so, he proposes exciting bridges from the ancient and medieval worldview to the present and future of natural and spiritual science.

The Etheric explores the fourfold realm of the ethers. Giving an overview of their cosmic origins in the evolution of the Earth, Dr. Marti shows how the ethers work in the phenomena of warmth, light, sound, and organic life. He brings contemporary understanding and insight to the classical elements of fire, air, water, and earth as the media through which ethericity manifests and works in the world. Four physical forces are also explored that, as opposites of the ethers, have a constant tendency to break down and annul what life-giving ether creates. Dr. Marti then studies the shadow aspects of the ethers connected to what he terms the “sub-natural” forces of electricity, magnetism, and nuclear force.

Given that the author was unable to complete this book during his lifetime, his student and colleague Irmgard Rossmann edited the final version in the spirit of her teacher. It is published in two volumes, with this first release focusing on the world of the ethers and the second on the world of formative forces.