The Archetypal Human-Animal

Rudolf Steiner’s watercolour pain4ng ‘The Archetypal Human- Animal’ presents us with the enigma4c 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, almost concealed in its greenish hair. It has appendages similar to hands and feet, and dark-blue plantlike forms float about in the water beneath the creature’s bright red and yellow body. Only the 4tle provides us with a clue to its meaning: it is an ‘archetypal human-animal’ form. But even this is enigma4c. What is this strange, unusual creature – this archetypal human-animal? We are presented with a perplexing image and a puzzling descrip4on. In this original work, illustrated throughout with full-colour pain4ngs and images – many by the author herself – Angela Lord takes us on a journey of discovery to realizing the meaning of Rudolf Steiner’s pain4ng. From Goethe’s theory of metamorphosis in nature, we are introduced to Steiner’s ideas of human evolu4on, from the primal beginnings of the archetypal human-animal on ‘Ancient Moon’. Lord recounts myths and legends from many cultures that tell of humananimal forms, and reflects on the meaning of the fish in Chris4anity. She takes us through a series of ‘colour sequences’ for repain4ng Steiner’s human-animal mo4f, and includes appendices that summarize evolu4onary phases of the earth and humanity from a spiritual-scien4fic perspec4ve. The Archetypal Human-Animal is both a valuable workbook for painters and a fascina4ng insight into hidden aspects of human evolu4on.