Taking her starting point from Rudolf Steiner's seminal lecture on the nine layers of the Earth, Judith von Halle directs her spiritual research to Christ's descent into the depths following the Crucifixion, and the relationship of that event to the modern spiritual pupil's path of schooling. As she points out in her foreword, the contents of this book may initially appear more abstract than others in the series 'Approaches to Understanding the Christ Event', but this is because they deal with processes that can only be accomplished in a purely spiritual way, in spheres where no earthly perceptions can penetrate. In pursuing the anthroposophic path of inner development, says von Halle, it will be unavoidable, at a certain point on this path, to undergo what is traditionally called the 'descent into hell'. This journey finds its parallel in the mystery of the representative of humanity's descent into hell, through the nine layers of the earth. By entering the spiritual earth organism, the esoteric pupil encounters both the being of the anti-Christ and the place where the Grail vessel's substance originates.
Von Halle shows how the earth's interior is a mirror of the past, present and future soul states of humanity, and explains the causes of the three earthquakes that occurred during the night before the original Easter Sunday. Above all she shows how we can only rise to spiritual heights to the degree that we also first plumb the depths of the abyss.

Translated by: Matthew Barton