The Ur Group

Giovanni Colazza was an Italian philosopher and esotericist. A scholar of theosophical and Masonic doctrines, he achieved the 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite and worked closely with Rudolf Steiner. According to Baroness Olga de Gr¼newald, Colazza "was not only Rudolf Steiner 's dearest disciple, but the most elevated figure after him". Between 1927 and 1929 he was a member of the Ur group, directed by Julius Evola, where he wrote several articles in the magazine Ur. From the 1920s onwards, he also held numerous anthroposophical conferences on behalf of Rudolf Steiner, including a series on Steiner's work Initiation, which was collected and published posthumously with the title On Initiation.

Colazza's most illustrious disciple was Massimo Scaligero, an Italian journalist, esotericist, and follower of anthroposophy. Scaligero had contacts with Gabriele D'Annunzio, who defined him as the "new prophet of Italy", and with Julius Evola, under whose guidance he worked in the Ur Group. During the 1930s, Scaligero made significant philosophical and political contributions to the Italian regime. In the early 1940s, Scaligero turned his inner spiritual research towards the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner, whom he recognized as a "master of the new times". From 1945 he became a well-known figure in neo-fascist circles and later joined the Italian Anthroposophical Society under the guidance of Giovanni Colazza.

This volume contains On Initiation by Colazza and the Practical Handbook of Meditation by Scaligero.