To his revelation of the objective reality of a creative spiritual world which informs our physical, material one, and the explanation of the origin and destiny of the human being and all that flows from it, Rudolf Steiner gave the name "Anthroposophy". The significance of this name is that the secret of the universe is expressed in and discoverable through an understanding of the real nature of Man. The name "Anthroposophy" can be understood in three different ways:

1. The exact scientific methodology of research into the spiritual world established by Rudolf Steiner.
    
2. The results of this research. These results were spoken of by Rudolf Steiner as "spiritual science" or "science of the spirit". They form the necessary continuity and complement to natural science and consist of a knowledge of the supersensible constitution of Man, of the spiritual beings in nature and the cosmos, and also a deeper extension of history by a reading of the akashic record.
    
3. The application of the results gained through Spiritual Science in practical life, as put into practice, for example, in education, medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, the different branches of the arts and sciences, the renewal of the sacramental life of religion, economics, and in such diverse activities as jewellery making and beekeeping.

Steiner offered his own definition of "Anthroposophy" to the Encyclopedia Britannica. "Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge leading the Spirit in Man to the Spirit in the universe."

Anthroposophy is squarely based on the actual knowledge of the spiritual world that Rudolf Steiner acquired and perfected through the conscious development of those higher faculties that, as he told us, slumber within every human being.