liturgy of the seasons (41)
a weekly translation of Rudolf Steiner’s Seelenkalender verse
IN 1912-1913, 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.
FORTY-FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR 41. Der Seele Schaffensmacht, Sie strebet aus dem Herzensgrunde, Im Menschenleben Götterkräfte Zu rechtem Wirken zu entflammen, Sich selber zu gestalten In Menschenliebe und im Menschenwerke. ∇∆ THE soul’s poetic power abounds pulsing up and outward from its ground resounding from the heart’s foundation where the forces of Creation enthuse our life in throbs and come to sculpt the life through deeds of love
