These profound studies of the cosmic forces behind the four great festivals of the year provide a wealth of material for fruitful meditation. Rudolf Steiner presents great imaginative pictures that unite the heavens & the earth through a portrayal of the activities of the archangels Michael Gabriel Raphael & Uriel. In the course of the lectures he offers spiritual wisdom on subjects that include the alchemical processes of sulphur mercury & salt in the cosmos man & the plant spiritual combustion processes crystals clouds meteors the movements of elemental beings in nature & the conflicting efforts of the two great adversaries to divert the earth from its true goal.