liturgy of the seasons (43)

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-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR

43. In winterlichen Tiefen
Erwarmt des Geistes wahres Sein;
Es gibt dem Weltenscheine
Durch Herzenskräfte Daseinsmächte;
Der Weltenkälte trotzt erstarkend
Das Seelenfeuer im Menscheninnern.

∇∆

IN wintry depths
the warmth of truth abides;
from outer semblance,
inner truth is spun
by the heart: a ceaseless weaver—
so as the cold of outer worlds waxes,
it kindles inwardly a fire
on the hearth of human souls

Photo by David Schultz on Unsplash