The Time is at Hand!

Paul Marshall Allen (1913-1998) was an authority on the life and work of Rudolf Steiner and, as the "first American-born anthroposophic lecturer," was a leading pioneer of Rudolf Steiner's spiritual science across North America. He edited and wrote introductions for numerous books on Anthroposophy and spiritual wisdom, including his classic work, A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology (1968), and wrote Vladimir Soloviev: Russian Mystic (1968). With his wife Joan deRis Allen, Paul coauthored Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures (1996); Fingal's Cave, the Poems of Ossian, and Celtic Christianity (1999); and The Time Is at Hand! (1995).

Joan deRis Allen was born January 20, 1931. She graduated from Columbia University School of Architecture in 1956 and practiced as an independent architect in the United States until 1968. At that time, together with her husband Paul Marshall Allen and two young children, she emigrated to England. In 1970, she founded Camphill Architects at Botton Village, Yorkshire, with Gabor Talló. Over the years her architectural work has taken her to Ireland, Scotland, and Norway. Joan now lives and works in Kimberton Hills, Pennsylvania. In 1970, she published Living Buildings, Halls and Chapels of the Camphill Movement for the fiftieth anniversary of the Camphill Move¬ment. She is author with Paul Marshall Allen of The Time Is at Hand!; Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures; and Fingal's Cave, the Poems of Ossian and Celtic Christianity.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is a giant of German and world literature. Indeed, he coined the term Weltliteratur and spoke Greek, Latin, French, English, and Italian. In addition to its profound quality, the volume of work during his eighty-two-year lifetime is impressive. Among other works, Goethe wrote a worldwide, bestselling novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers, 1774), volumes of poetry, and several dramas, including his masterwork Faust-- a massive two-volume work that was not entirely finished by the time of the poet's death. Goethe also engaged in painting and science, from which came his Theory of Color ("Farbenlehre") among other scientific works--a collected edition that Rudolf Steiner edited and introduced as a young man (see Nature's Open Secret). Indeed, Goethe's body of scientific and philosophical works was one of the most important influences in the development of Rudolf Steiner's early work and for Anthroposophy as a whole.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe's scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.

Gisela Schlegel (1949-2009) was born during the time of year when Rudolf Steiner oversaw the Christmas Foundation Meeting in Dornach, a fact was a guide throughout her life. She served for many years as a nurse at Camphill villages and worked with Karl König and the nurses group to establish the Camphil Nurses Training. She was also a "matron" of Murtle House at Bieldside, Aberdeen, Scotland, guiding young people on the responsibilities of Camphill life. She crossed the threshold on Advent Sunday, 2009.