IN the 1920s, Rudolf Steiner created a sort of liturgy of the natural and spiritual year in the form of fifty-two short verses. Experience—my own and others—testifies to the powerful effect that a short meditation on the relevant verse throughout the course of the year can have in respect to awakening and sensitizing the soul to each season’s unique quality and gesture.
Below is Dr. Steiner’s original Seelenkalender, or “Calendar of the Soul” verse for this week followed by my translation into English. I have opted to follow, whenever a conflict arose, the spirit over the letter in my translation efforts, attempting to convey the “mood” before the propositional content.
TWELFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR
12. Der Welten Schönheitsglanz, Erzwinget mich aus Seelentiefen Des Eigenlebens Götterkräfte Zum Weltenfluge zu entbinden; Mich selber zu verlassen, Vertrauend nur mich suchend In Weltenlicht und Weltenwärme. ∇∆ THE world’s radiance and splendour penetrate my soul to find an inborn seed of life divine and this ensconcèd kernel, bathed in light its germ, enlivened, seeks the heights… my self forsaking with trust, partaking in world-warmth and world-light.