liturgy of the seasons (42)
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-SECOND WEEK OF THE YEAR 42. Es ist in diesem Winterdunkel Die Offenbarung eigner Kraft Der Seele starker Trieb, In Finsternisse sie zu lenken Und ahnend vorzufühlen Durch Herzenswärme Sinnesoffenbarung ∇∆ IN these watches of the Winter night the soul unveils her living power her wings she ruffles in the nocturne hour, feels the air’s caresses, and takes flight she glides off in the dawning light of the senses’ daybreak
