Edith Maryon
We continue looking at the karmic trajectories of Steiner's female companions and turn our attention to Edith Maryon, a talented English sculptor intimately associated with the pioneers of Anthroposophy, who is fondly remembered for assisting Steiner with his monumental Representative of Humanity sculpture in the Goetheanum between c.1914–1924. It is estimated she did ninety-percent of the work and that this colossal wooden carving is her Magnum Opus, her life’s work for a beloved friend, confidant and master.
​Steiner collaborated with a number of people on equal footing. With the models for the sculpture [Representation of Humanity], there was a back-and-forth between Edith Maryon and Rudolf Steiner. Maryon would work, and then Steiner would correct her, and then he would work, and she would correct him. Indeed, he insisted that they both sign their names to the work. Yes, it was a co-creation, in which they were reciprocally muse and inspiration."
— Rembert Biemond, interview Das Goetheanum, 10 May 1924
![[9786155835568] Edith Maryon – Rudolf Steiner és a dornachi Krisztus-szobor.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/40236d_b6b014605380452e8895455110761a79~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_56,y_131,w_556,h_863/fill/w_325,h_505,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%5B9786155835568%5D%20Edith%20Maryon%20%E2%80%93%20Rudolf%20Steiner%20%C3%A9s%20a%20dornachi%20Krisztus-szobor.jpg)
Here's what we know, via El Ochre, about their lives together in ancient Athens:
"It should come as no surprise to you that Edith Maryon was once a contemporary of Aristotle, but it may be a surprise for you to learn who she then was. In that life her name was Mnesarete, meaning 'commemorating virtue', although she became better known by her nickname Phryne, meaning 'toad' — implying she was ugly — but as an antiphrasis it ironically implied the opposite, for she was in fact beautiful, so much so that she became fabulously and famously wealthy as a 'hetaira' (high-class courtesan) and, too, as a model for contemporary artists.
She famously went on trial for asebeia (irreverence or impiety) but was acquitted after an impassioned appeal to the judges — and no, she did not bare her breasts in court! So much of her true biography was drowned out by satirical depictions of her during her lifetime and after. What is not well recognised about her is that she was not only a sought-after model for some of the leading artists of the day — such as the painter Apelles and the sculptor Praxiteles — but was an aspiring artist herself, inspired by more ancient female predecessors such as Aristarete and Timarete — alhough none of her paintings and sculptures have survived."
"While her keen wit was well recognised, it is not well known that she was keenly interested in philosophy, consorting with philosophers such as Xenocrates. She later became a pupil of Aristotle and was especially interested in his teachings on ethics, and although they only met briefly, she kept their correspondence going in the last years of his life. Sadly, their letters no longer exist. Their exchange began after Aristotle's prized pupil, Alexander, destroyed the walls of Thebes and Phryne claimed to have enough money to rebuild them. She was reputed to be among the wealthiest women in the Greek world.
Having recently resettled in Athens, Aristotle came to hear of Phryne's boastful proclamation and sent her an invitation for a meeting. At first contemptuous and condescending towards the (in)famous courtesan, Aristotle soon discerned that behind the glamorous image was a woman of considerable talent and intellect.
Aristotle cautioned her not to judge Alexander too harshly, and told her of his protégé's ordained destiny to conquer the world. He took an admiring interest in her artistic endeavours. He knew of her trial and congratulated her on her acquittal. Ironically, Aristotle was ultimately to find himself likewise charged with asebeia but fled Athens before he could be brought to trial, and died the following year. Phryne outlived him by a dozen years, dying of consumption at the age of 60. After a prolonged illness, Maryon died from tuberculosis, aged 52."
Primary source El Ochre (10 October 2025)
The above disclosure on Edith Maryon raised questions in our social media group, Reincarnation and Steiner, about whether or not she is reincarnate as Judith von Halle today? Here's what we know:
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Judith von Halle
"Judith Behrend (von Halle) is indeed the reincarnate soul previously known as Edith Maryon. More significantly she incarnates the oversoul (not the soul) of Judith the Essene who was a teacher of the young Jesus at the Essene school on Mt Carmel, mentioned in Edgar Cayce's readings as 'Judy'. This oversoul is the female Dhuman Udussaia (Odyssea) the twin-soul of Udussaiu (the Atlantean prototype of Homer's mythical Odysseus or Ulysses). We will not weigh in on the controversial and complex issue of stigmata — which esoterically relates to the cosmic 'crucifixion' of Jehovah, for which the crucifixion of Jesus was the earthly manifestation. We shall say no more here, but rather let Judith speak for herself.” (El Ochre, 22 October 2025)​
"The biographies of the future will include diverse lives."
— Rudolf Steiner, in conversation with Walter Johannes Stein, 1923
We continue looking at Steiner's Companions and their individual incarnations.
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Following Steiner's advice, Walter Johannes Stein recalled and recorded three of his own previous lives: Francisco d’Almeida, Hugo of Tours and Nearchus of Crete. According to Trevor Ravenscroft (The Spear of Destiny, 1973), Stein also remembered a fourth, Joseph of Arimathea, but this remains unconfirmed.
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Since then we’ve learnt a lot about Stein’s other lives (Laurence Oliver, Out of Eden, 2001; Nicolaas Vegunst, Knot of Stone, 2011), taking us back to an incarnation of Artipheru during the Atlantean period, c.20 000 BCE. In our view Artipheru is a cosmic being, a Dhuman from the Arbrahmic line, who appears from time to time with his fellow-dhuman Aristonaiu, an incarnation of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Steiner. From an Anthroposophical perspective, Artipheru may be likened to Skythianos since they both preserved the wisdom of Atlantis in the West and both oversouled/overshadowed Joseph of Arimathea. Both are an "extraordinary being" (Steiner) linked to the Arthurian circle and Grail stream.​
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According to El Ochre (16 February 2018), Artipheru has oversouled all Stein's lives. These lives, we are told, are best viewed in relation to two more souls, also identifiable as Grail-seekers, who were likewise oversouled by Artipheru. While oversouling is already complicated, conjoint incarnations are even harder to grasp. We shall try to keep it simple from here on in. In short, Artipheru oversouled three distinct souls over ten different lives between c.20 000 BCE and the 20th century. Some lives involved two souls in one body. We can therefore say that the biography of Artipheru is a biography of diverse lives involving more than one soul per incarnation. Let's now look at these lives in chronological order.
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Potipheru of On
Artipheru's earliest-known post-Atlantean incarnation is as Potipheru, an Egyptian priest from On (later Heliopolis) in c.15th century BCE. According to ancient lore, Potipheru gave his daughter Asenath in marriage to the biblical patriarch Joseph. (Genesis 41:45) Potipheru's soul would return as Bedivere.
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Nearchus of Crete
We next meet the soul of Stein during his incarnation as Nearchus of Crete in the 4th century BCE. He was then a student of Aristotle and a confidant of Alexander. Nearchus also served as navarch (admiral) during Alexander's return voyage from the Indus to the Tigris in 326 BCE. Stein was keenly aware of his former seafaring self and these karmic ties are well set out by Frans Lutters in De Nearchus Sleutel, 2020, shown alongside, in which the author looks back at Stein who, in turn, looks back at Nearchus.
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Joseph of Arimathea
Stein's soul returned as Joseph of Arimathea in a conjoint incarnation with the soul of Potipheru and Bedivere. Joseph was a wealthy pharisee whose house was used for the Last Supper and in whose tomb the crucified body of Christ was laid to rest. For his part in retrieving the body from the Romans under Pontius Pilate, Joseph was made a prisoner and, following his banishment by the Sanhedrin, went into exile. Legend has it that he brought Christ’s blood-relic to Britain.
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Bedivere
Under Artipheru's guidance, Potipheru's soul returned as the arch-druid Bedivere in the 5-6th centuries. Bedivere served as royal counsellor and carried the dying Arthur to the barge that transported his body to the isle of Avalon at Glastonbury.
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Hugo of Tours
Our next glimpse of Stein's wandering soul is as Count Hugo of Tours in the 9th century. Hugo served as a knight in the court of Charlemagne and was an initiate of the old Grail mysteries. According to local legend, Hugo brought a Holy Blood relic to the Odilienberg, a mountain sanctuary in Alsace, not far from the hill upon which the Goetheanum stands today. Hugo was a conjoint incarnation involving the soul of Stein and another — one that would return with Artipheru in the next two lives.
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Hugh of Champagne
Still under the guidance of Artipheru, the next two lives involve the third soul in this group of Grail-seekers. Count Hugh of Champagne (12th C) was an initiate and co-founder of the Knights Templar in 1118 who, following his return from the First Crusade and enriched by his contact with Sufi mysticism, conceived the idea of a military monastic order as a cloak for an esoteric movement to guard the mysteries of the Grail.
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Henry I Sinclair
Prince Henry St Clair of Orkney (14thC) was a Grand Master of Freemasonry who designed the masonic Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, built by his heirs. There is evidence that he sailed to America in 1398, prior to Columbus, and as admiral of the fleet landed at Nova Scotia.
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​​Francisco de Almeida
Once again we find Stein's soul conjoined with the soul of Potipheru in the 15-16th centuries. This time as a neo-Templar knight, Portuguese explorer and admiral and the viceroy of the Estado da Índia. In hindsight, says Stein, Almeida bore a secret Aristotelian manuscript back to the West after the Battle of Granada in 1492. Stein felt deeply connected to this soldier-seafarer too. In De Almeida Quest, 2022, the author again reflects on the life of Stein who, in turn, reflects on the life of Almeida. Three lives in which the key to one unlocks the life of another. One karmic strand.
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Stein
As Walter Johannes Stein he returned with his age-old mentor to help pioneer a fledgling Anthroposophy in the West. At Steiner's behest he became a Waldorf class teacher (history and German literature), a Grail researcher (Ninth Century), and an active lecturer (Social Three-Folding). The split in the Anthroposophical Society and concomitant rise of Nazism in Germany-Austria — Stein came from a Viennese Jewish family — led to a life of exile in London where he was to found an independent cultural journal, The Present Age (1935). In this life many earlier roles recur: soldier, disciple, tutor, aide and envoy.
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The soul we know as Stein is again incarnate as a teacher, a researcher and a biographer today. He has worked within the Anthroposophical Movement, spread over two lifetimes, for the last one-hundred years. He is aware of his soul's past but, as an acclaimed author and lecturer, does not draw attention to it, adding that those who do need to know will eventually find him. Steiner is also reincarnate again but "no one will find Steiner until Steiner finds himself." (El Ochre, 30 March 2025)​​​​​
Postscript
All the abovementioned lives, including Stein's current one, were oversouled by Artipheru. Given today’s emphasis on an individual consciousness, conjoint lives (souls plus oversouls) are hard for many to accept. Should any here have problems with more than one souls per incarnation, then picture if you will what Steiner said about Christ oversouling/overshadowing Jesus. In such incarnations the soul and oversoul are indivisible and speak with one voice. They act as one. Or as Jesus said; “I and the Father are one”.
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