Rudolf Steiner’s watercolor “The Archetypal Human-Animal” presents the
enigmatic image of a strange creature apparently swimming in water. It has
a human profile, showing a clearly outlined nose and slightly opened mouth,
with a mysterious eye nearly concealed in its greenish hair. It has appendages
similar to hands and feet, with dark-blue, plantlike forms floating about in
the water below the creature’s bright red-and-yellow body. Only the title
provides us with a clue to its meaning—it is an “archetypal human-animal”
form. But even this is enigmatic. What is this strange, unusual creature, this
archetypal human-animal? We are presented with a perplexing image and
 a puzzling description.

In this original work—illustrated throughout with full-color paintings and
images, many by the author—Angela Lord takes us on a journey of discovery
toward realizing the meaning of Steiner’s painting. With Goethe’s theory
of metamorphosis in nature, we are introduced to Steiner’s ideas of human
evolution, from the primal beginnings of the archetypal human-animal
on “Ancient Moon.” 

Lord recounts myths and legends from numerous cultures that speak of
human-animal forms and reflects on the meaning of the fish in Christianity.
She takes us through a series of color “sequences” for repainting
Steiner’s human-animal motif. The book also includes appendices that
summarize evolutionary phases of earth and humanity from a spiritual-scientific
perspective.

The Archetypal Human-Animal is both a valuable workbook for painters and
a fascinating insight into hidden aspects of human evolution.

Fully illustrated in color.