The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture from the 2nd Medical Course

[ 1 ] What I have to say to you today regarding eurythmy, my dear friends, is this: it will certainly have to be understood in detail using the knowledge you possess in physiology and other fields. How this is to be done, I would say, will become clear to you almost of its own accord. But precisely when we look into a spiritual-physical process such as the one that takes place during eurythmy, we cannot help but point out deeper spiritual-physical connections as well. And, you see, I would now like to draw your attention to the following.

[ 2 ] We must first look at the non-human world process—that non-human world process which is usually observed only in terms of its details, and not in terms of what is actually at work within it. Just consider that the formation of the Earth actually means this: a formative tendency emanates from the planetary sphere, and in addition, from that which lies beyond the planetary sphere, a formative process occurs within the Earth—continuous, radiant cosmic forces that express themselves in the individual force entities and radiate toward the Earth.

[ 3 ] In this context, we can now understand these cosmic forces in the following way—although they may encompass everything I have previously said about the rays, we can nevertheless view them in this light—namely, that they act toward the center and actually form, from the outside, that which is on and within the Earth. It is certainly the case, for example, that the Earth’s entire metallic composition—all of its metals—is not essentially formed by any forces originating from within the Earth, but rather that they are truly brought into the Earth from the cosmos. These forces, which act through the ether—not from the planets, for then they would again act centrally; the planets are there precisely to modify them; it is the planetary sphere—these forces we can call the formative forces, the formative forces acting from the outside. It is precisely in this context that I ask you to grasp this concept: formative forces. Opposed to them are those forces which, in human beings and in the Earth, receive and consolidate these formative forces, gathering them, as it were, around a central point, so that the Earth itself can come into being. So these forces that consolidate—we can call them the forces of consolidation.

[ 4 ] In human beings, they exist as forces that plastically form the organs, while the other forces—the formative forces—are those that, to a greater extent, push the organs from the spiritual-etheric world into the physical world. This is a process that, in the contrast between the pushing forces of magnesium and the fluorine forces—which round things out—is, I might say, something you can practically grasp with your hands. But again, it is a process that manifests itself in all manner of ways—in the teeth, it occurs from bottom to top, rounding out at the top, but it also occurs from front to back, from back to front, from top to bottom, rounding out toward the bottom—a process that manifests itself everywhere. And you can, for example—I would say—once again grasp this process with your hands if you have a mental image of it, with the tendency to push a spherical shape forward, from the outside to the inside, something is forming, and that this is countered by a process of spherical formation, from the bottom to the top.

[ 5 ] And between these two processes lies that which mediates between them—namely, processes of separation, followed by the absorption of what has been separated from others, and so on—that which, in the broadest sense, can be called processes of separation; for, after all, absorption is also based on an inward separation, which in turn is reabsorbed. So in between lies, once again, what can best be called processes of elimination ^{1Clearly distinguishable in the stenographic transcript: up to this point “separation processes,” now “elimination processes.”}

[ 6 ] You can really grasp this process of separation when you imagine that, on one side, there is what constantly seeks to release carbon (orange), and on the other, what reabsorbs it through the formation of carbon dioxide (white) via respiration, starting all over again.

[ 7 ] Then, following that, ^{2According to the transcript, “down there” is also possible.} such a sorting process continues. And if you go even further down into the metabolic process of the limbs, then you really do have a consolidation process. But this consolidation process also exists in the other direction. You can observe this where, once again—I would say—you can practically touch it with your hands: when you examine the eye, it is formed from the outside in—as embryology already shows you—but it is anchored from the inside out. The formation is internalized. The development of the eye is based on this. It is internalized.

[ 8 ] So that this process of consolidation—as we proceed toward the spiritual-soul aspect in the human being, that is, toward the organs of the spiritual-soul, toward the sense organs—is a process of spiritualization, of true soul-formation, of spiritualization within perception. This is, in a sense, the descending process that leads to organ formation [see Diagram S....]. Then, at the very bottom, we find the process of perception—objective perception. If this continues to develop, if it evolves in this way, then perception moves toward consolidation; when it becomes conscious of this consolidation, it becomes imagination. When imagination develops further and becomes conscious in the direction of the process of selection, it becomes inspiration. And when inspiration develops further toward the process of formation and, in doing so, consciously engages with the process of formation—that is, penetrates to the heart of formation—it becomes intuition. One can trace this sequence of stages in the life of the soul from concrete perception to imagination, to inspiration, to intuition.

[ 9 ] But this process that is unfolding in the soul is, after all, based on the process of becoming. It is, as you can see here, merely the reversal of the process of becoming. One moves toward what has already come into being and ascends once more into the process of becoming in the opposite direction. Formation takes place in a descending direction. One ascends in the opposite direction; one moves toward the process of becoming. So that what one develops as powers of perception and cognition in imagination, inspiration, and intuition always has its counteraction in the creative powers—the creative powers that express themselves in the formative powers, in the processes of differentiation, and in the processes of consolidation.

[ 10 ] And you will see from this that, in the human organism, the very force that acts in the opposite direction—in creation, in the process of coming into being—is the one into which one enters when one rises to the level of cognition. You will see from this that it is indeed the case that what we attain in imagination are the very same forces that assert themselves—without our awareness—in the phenomena of growth, in the plastic phenomena of growth. When we ascend to inspiration, we approach the forces that enter from the outside and inspire the human being through breathing, shaping the human being as they breathe—forces that, as it were, work their way through and take shape within the plastic forces. And when we ascend to intuition, we actually ascend to the agent that enters from the external world into our plastic forms as the substantial essence.

[ 11 ] So you see, we are considering the human being as taking shape out of the cosmos, and when we now apply the knowledge we have acquired in one way or another through anatomy or physiology and examine it in light of what has been given to us, then we begin to understand the organs and their functions. This, then, is a pointer toward understanding the organs and their functions. So that in what always works plastically in the human being—what makes the human being, I would say “permeated,” that on the other hand—take yesterday’s lecture as a reference—that on the other hand it lives in the harmonizing movements, which, as I said yesterday, are precisely unconscious powers of imagination, namely a kind of “dreaming through” ^{3Cannot be clearly deciphered in the stenographic transcript; “Flowing through” would also be possible. See also the note on p. 152.} of the organism. You can thus see how consonant-based eurythmy takes hold of a person’s lacking formative powers—their lacking plastic powers—and transforms them into proper plasticity.

[ 12 ] So let’s take a child and observe that there is a defect in the plasticity, that the plasticity is growing too rapidly. What does it mean for the plasticity to be growing too rapidly? It means that the plasticity acts centrifugally, making the head large through this centrifugal action, and—because the head becomes too large—prevents it from becoming properly imbued with imaginative forces. These must be introduced. Therefore, let the child practice eurythmy in a consonant manner.

[ 13 ] Question: A two-year-old boy with a large head, but no hydrocephalus; otherwise apparently healthy.

[ 14 ] In fact, properly applied consonant-based eurythmy provides the antidote to this problem. This brings us to the point where a thorough observation of the morphological—the deeper morphological—aspects specifically points to eurythmy as a treatment. Or:

[ 15 ] A twelve-and-three-quarters-year-old boy whose height is noticeably stunted, with no organic findings, but who has worms ...,^{4Gap in the transcript.} intelligent, but mentally prone to fatigue.

[ 16 ] An extraordinarily interesting complex of symptoms, all pointing to the fact that there are insufficient imaginative forces, that the plastic organ forces are running rampant because there are insufficient inner plastic forces—psychic plastic forces. It is, after all, these psychic plastic forces that destroy the parasites. So it is no wonder that, if these forces are insufficient, the person is infested with worms. Therefore, have him practice eurythmy with a focus on consonants, and you will have administered the antidote. These connections directly point out to you where you need to intervene with eurythmy. For if these symptoms appear—I would say—in a concealed manner, well, even in such concealed cases one can still achieve exceptionally favorable results with eurythmy, especially if one also addresses the issue through material therapeutic means.

[ 17 ] For example, an interesting question has been brought to my attention. It is only natural that I must answer this question in principle. If any complications arise, then these complications could be given special consideration in this particular case; but even if something else must be combined with the matter, the matter is nonetheless fully captured from one perspective by what can be characterized there:

[ 18 ] I have a five-year-old child as a patient who lost a great deal of blood from a gunshot wound during the riots; two years ago, a deformity of the joints developed ... ^{5Helene Finckh marked the gap in the stenographic transcript as reproduced here and added the following sentence in parentheses in the transcription, even though it is not recorded in the stenographic transcript.} (Conditions that later lead to anemia and similar ailments in adults.) How might this be treated therapeutically?

[ 19 ] Yes, you see, there you have joint deformation. This is already an outward manifestation of the plastic forces, which can no longer remain within; they are thus already radiating outward, so that they leave the person instead of acting from within. These forces are reflected back in the most profound sense precisely through the practice of consonant eurythmy. For in consonant eurythmy, you evoke precisely those effective—objectively effective—imaginations that counteract these deformities. In the future—as has already been quite correctly pointed out in the question—people will be prone to deformities in the most diverse ways, because they will no longer be able to ^{6In the stenographic transcript, possibly also “in.”} the normalizing form for the forces that act involuntarily. Human beings will become free; they will even gradually become free with regard to the formation of their own form, but they must then be able to make use of that freedom. They must therefore, my dear friends, move on to creating imaginations that always counteract deformation.

[ 20 ] Now, as for the other point—you see, here we are dealing with a lack of objective imagination; we may also be dealing with a lack of objective inspiration, which then manifests itself—if I may put it that way—as a distortion of the rhythmic system. This distortion of the rhythmic system is expressed quite particularly in the fact that the objective inspiration, which flows inward, does not correspond in the right way to the rhythm of circulation. And one can have a normalizing effect by applying vocalizing eurythmy. This vocalizing eurythmy acts just as effectively on such internal irregularities—which are not accompanied by morphological changes—as consonantizing eurythmy acts on deformations or tendencies toward deformations.

[ 21 ] I have said before that it may indeed be necessary to support such a process when it manifests in a particularly radical way, as in the case of the deformation of the joints we have just been discussing. In such cases, it is necessary to provide therapeutic support for the process of consonant-based eurythmy, which works by stimulating—through this imagination—the inner respiration of the organs that extend from the outside to the inside, lying beyond the intestinal walls: the lungs, kidneys, liver, and so on; in other words, to assist this process. Indeed, when one performs consonant-based eurythmy, the back of the head, the lungs, the liver, and the kidneys in particular begin to sparkle and radiate sparks—a phenomenon that truly reveals the spiritual-psychic reaction to what is being done externally through the consonant movements. The whole human being becomes a luminous being within these organs, and the movements being performed are always met by luminous movements within; and especially with certain consonant-based movements, I would say, a complete luminous representation of the kidney’s excretory process arises. In a sense, one gains a picture of the entire excretory process of the kidney in this luminous process that arises through consonant-based eurythmy. And this then carries over into the unconscious imaginations, and the entire process in which this part begins to glow in this way is, after all, the very same process that I have described specifically as occurring under the influence of cuprum; it is the same process. And this is also the point where one can specifically point out to the physician that there are indeed people who suffer from certain forms of illness. These forms of illness—yesterday, after the evening lecture, they were once again, I might say, brought to my attention—these forms of illness, in that I was shown, from a certain quarter, drawings that are greatly admired—painted drawings—about which it was asked whether they are particularly occult in nature. They are, of course, occult in a certain sense, but it is extremely difficult to talk to people about these things, because such phenomena—which are objectively recorded kidney glow—are objectively recorded processes of urination. This objectively recorded process of urination, when it becomes a process of luminescence in an abnormal way in certain people with a predisposition to illness—that is, when a certain stagnation of urine secretion occurs, which is a purely metabolic disorder—then the kidneys begin to glow. And when this particular, inward-turned clairvoyance sets in, people begin to draw wildly. The results are always beautiful—externally, in a formal sense, always beautiful. The applied colors are always beautiful. Of course, people aren’t satisfied when you tell them, “Yes, you’ve painted something very beautiful there—but that’s actually your stagnant urine secretion.” - I can assure you that pent-up urine and repressed sexual desires—which, after all, also lead in a certain way to metabolic irregularities—are presented to one by particularly mystical souls as deeply mystical drawings and paintings, and that much of what appears in the world in this manner should be seen as symptoms of barely tolerable pathological abnormalities in human beings.

[ 22 ] You see, anthroposophically oriented Spiritual Science is not mysticism in the sense that many people understand it, for it harbors no illusions about the kinds of things that have just been described. On the contrary, it investigates precisely such things. But people hold that against me. They already hold it against me that I went so far in my public lectures as to suggest that, for example—even if these things were not depicted but expressed poetically—the beautiful poetry of Mechthild of Magdeburg or Saint Teresa are reflections, that is, inspirational echoes, of processes arising from repressed sexuality. Of course, people don’t like it when you describe to them a Mechthild of Magdeburg or a Saint Teresa: Well, these are simply personalities with a strong sexuality, which they repressed precisely because it became too strong for them; this gives rise to certain metabolic and circulatory processes, and reactions occur in response to these that manifest in such a way that they are then fixed in very beautiful poetry. Yes, viewed in a higher sense, this phenomenon leads extraordinarily deep into the mysteries of existence. But one must be able to rise to such a perspective. And that is why one must at least have some inkling of these peculiar processes, which shine forth as inner processes when eurythmy is performed externally—and especially when that which is now inwardly enshrined in the poem is eurythmized, as I showed you yesterday, when a beautiful poem is read aloud, and is then eurythmized in a corresponding manner, as we saw yesterday—emphasizing consonants or vowels—then the two intertwine; then, in addition to what is being performed externally in movements, an inner, silent speech also arises within the eurythmist. And if this process is not indulged in through overly sentimental poetry, but rather if it simply unfolds as the accompanying, eurythmic process that complements beautiful poetry, then what takes place within the person is not a mere recording of the mystical, but rather a process that is thoroughly healing for the person. So one can say that when one performs eurythmy in this way—always drawing the patient’s attention: “Listen carefully; bring the sound you hear and the context of the sentence you hear, according to which you are performing the eurythmy, strongly into your consciousness”—then one allows it to rise directly to the outer formative forces, to the objectively intuitive forces. And one would do well, if one wishes to influence all that which is found within the human being as a remnant of what no longer took place between birth and death—but which materialism calls heredity, though a large part of it is in fact brought over from the pre-existing spiritual-soul life—if, in other words, one wishes to influence what one might call congenital defects, defects, and so on—then one would do well, especially during adolescence, to work through eurythmy again and again in such a way that one repeatedly urges the eurythmist: Make perfectly clear to yourself what you hear externally. — This also dispels all those tendencies that seek to fix internally what might arise in something like mystical drawing or mystical poetry. It is precisely this that is connected to the beautiful external poem. It is the reverse process. A true mystic knows that whatever a person reflects upon as beautiful—especially if it is abnormal—always has a questionable side. In contrast, when what is beautiful in the external world is experienced inwardly, one cannot say that it presents itself as a particularly magnificent or beautiful form; on the contrary, it becomes schematized, it becomes abstract as a result, but abstract in the sense of a drawing, just as a drawing is abstract. But that is precisely what is healthy; that is the experience.^{6Difficult to read in the shorthand; in Helene Finckh’s transcription, “the desired.”} And isn’t it true that this beautiful historical process would not have emerged: but if, for example, Mechthild of Magdeburg had been prompted to perform eurythmy to good poems, then she would have been spared her entire mystical destiny. Of course, when one reaches this point, one can say: There one reaches a point where, in a sense, good and evil cease to exist in a certain way. There one enters the amoral Nietzschean sphere, the “Beyond Good and Evil,” and one certainly cannot be so philistine as to say that all the Mechthilds of Magdeburg should be eradicated root and branch. But on the other hand, you can be quite certain that the supersensible worlds will see to it that, even if human beings do not exactly let things run rampant, the corresponding connections with the supersensible world will nevertheless remain.

[ 23 ] Now I would like to address a few more points that might still shed some light on the matter, even though we are already quite far along. First, I would like to specifically address the following question:

[ 24 ] Couldn't therapeutic eurythmy exercises be supported by rational breathing exercises? It doesn't necessarily have to be Hatha yoga.

[ 25 ] Well, I have the following to say about this: Rational breathing exercises to support eurythmy exercises should be approached in the following way in our time, given the current state of human nature—which is, after all, continuing to develop in the direction it has already taken. One will notice, in fact, that under the influence of vocal eurythmy in particular, a tendency toward a change in the breathing rhythm arises of its own accord. One will notice this. And now one is faced with the difficulty that one should not apply a one-size-fits-all approach here, nor make generalizations, but rather first observe what needs to be done. In each individual case, one should observe the change in the breathing of a person whom, based on other findings, one intends to help through vocal eurythmy, and then one should draw their attention to the fact that they should now consciously continue this tendency. For we are no longer people like the ancient Orientals, who could take the opposite path—influencing the whole person once again through prescribed breathing. This is something that, under any circumstances, if prescribed in one way or another, leads to inner shocks and should actually be avoided. We should—indeed, we must—learn to observe what eurythmy teaches us, namely what vocal eurythmy teaches us about its own influence on the breathing process. And then we can consciously continue what occurs eurythmically in each individual case. For you will see there that this process—this breathing process—continues in a certain way that is individual, that is, different for different people.

[ 26 ] Well, my dear friends, those are roughly the questions that can still be answered. Due to time constraints, there is no real opportunity to address some of the other issues that have, admittedly, been left unresolved. In closing, I would just like to say a few words to you, my dear friends: you must be prepared for the fact that your medical colleagues around the world will wage no less of a struggle as soon as they become keenly aware that something of our kind is making its presence felt, and for that you will need the persuasive power capable of countering whatever opposition you face. Of course, one must never allow opposition to deter one from taking action, but we must also harbor absolutely no illusions about all those forces we are calling upon as antagonists.

[ 27 ] Once again, at the end of this course, I would like to state that I strictly adhere to the principle that—in order to make possible the movement that is now to be inaugurated in the medical field—I myself will not directly intervene in patients’ healing processes, but will only consult, discuss, and advising with the doctors themselves, so that you will always be in a position to reject anything that might suggest that I myself wish to intervene in the treatment in any way that is unwarranted. This is what I already said at the end of the last course. It is, after all—and this cannot be ignored—made exceptionally difficult for us from the anthroposophical side, because people naturally come at us with all sorts of unreasonable demands in this regard. It is certainly also the case that among anthroposophists there is a tendency not to transcend selfishness, but rather to become even more selfish than ordinary people are, and then one may well become completely indifferent to extremely indifferent to the well-being of the movement—that the well-being of the movement depends not on carrying out, in individual cases, what the outside world calls “quackery,” but on allowing the healing process of medicine as a whole to take its course, and that this process should not be disrupted by the demands that an individual might sometimes make out of personal aspirations. This is very difficult, but it must be carried out in this direction, for we will only be able to succeed in this very area if we can hold up to the outside world—as is also the case elsewhere in our anthroposophical movement, insofar as it is pursued with understanding and is not distorted by the uninformed— we must be able, simply by knowing what is happening within the anthroposophical movement, to say: What is being said there is most certainly a lie; it is most certainly fabricated. — In certain cases, we simply must always be able to say that. But we can say that if we are inwardly, so to speak, initiated into all that constitutes the matters I have drawn attention to here—namely, that I do not intervene directly in healing processes, but that those who function as physicians within our anthroposophical movement are the ones who are there to heal the patients.

[ 28 ] Having had to say this, I would like to add nothing more, my dear friends, than this: may these insights—which, due to the limited time available, often had to remain merely hints during this course—continue to take shape within you, and may they take effect in the appropriate way for the healing of humanity. We hope to have the opportunity to continue in some way what we have now begun twice, and we will at least strive to carry it forward in some form. With this hope, I conclude these reflections, my dear friends, and I hope that in all these respects our actions may correspond to our wishes. It has been a very satisfying feeling to see you here. It will be a satisfying feeling to look back on the days you have chosen to spend here for the enrichment of medical science, and the thoughts that are meant to bind us together will accompany you, my dear friends, on the paths you will take to put into practice what we have sought here to inspire, at least in thought.