The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture as part of “Medical Week”

[ 1 ] It has been requested that I say a few more words regarding our therapeutic eurythmy. Essentially, the empirical material for this therapeutic eurythmy was developed and presented by me during the last medical course in Dornach, and there is hardly any need to go beyond what was presented at that time. For if it is applied in the appropriate way, it can indeed have far-reaching significance. Today, I would rather speak to you about the overall meaning and significance of therapeutic eurythmy.

[ 2 ] Isn't it true that it emerges, in a certain sense, from a purely artistic endeavor—one that initially developed as an artistic endeavor—and that, in a certain respect, artistic eurythmy must even serve as a kind of foundation for the proper understanding of therapeutic eurythmy? Now I will perhaps express myself most clearly if I first attempt to explain the difference between artistic eurythmy and therapeutic eurythmy. Eurythmy in general is based on the ability to transform, in a certain way, what takes place in the human organism during speech. Therefore, eurythmy is, in the first place, artistically speaking, truly a kind of visible language. We must be clear, in fact, that two components interact in human speech. One component arises from a certain use of the plastic apparatus—I may speak of this plastic apparatus in the human being in light of the preceding lectures—from a layer of the nervous system that lies deeper within, so to speak. This is where the imaginative aspect comes into play. Essentially, however, the imaginative apparatus extends in the speech apparatus—albeit in a somewhat complex way—all the way into the structure of the nervous system, and this then results, so to speak, in the further radiation of the one component that is at work in speech. The other component actually arises from the human metabolic system. And in a certain sense, we have an encounter between a dynamic that originates in the human metabolic system and a dynamic that originates in the human nervous-sensory system. The two meet in such a way that the metabolic system first undergoes a metamorphosis in the circulatory processes, and the imaginative aspect, which comes from the nervous-sensory system, undergoes a metamorphosis in the respiratory system. In the respiratory and circulatory systems, these two dynamic systems then converge, and as the whole is transmitted into the air with the aid of the speech organ, the human astral organism is also able to pour itself into what is produced there as air movements. And speech comes about—when we consider, so to speak, the outermost periphery of the human organism—through an embodiment of the imaginative on the one hand and the metabolic on the other, which, expressed in psychological terms, is actually the volitional. We thus have everything that finds its psychological expression in the will and its physical expression in the metabolic system, insofar as the nervous system is involved in the will: it is indeed involved, insofar as metabolism takes place in the nervous system—not as a nervous-sensory function. So the volitional, which finds its physical expression in the metabolic system, and the imaginative, which finds its physical expression—I would say—in a section, in a layer of the nervous-sensory system; these combine, as it were, into a resultant force. They then find their physical expression in what is expressed as ordinary spoken language or singing. With singing, it is somewhat different, but it is, after all, something similar. Now, in eurythmy, the aim is to suppress the purely imaginative aspect to the greatest possible extent and to bring the volitional aspect into play. Through this, ordinary spoken language is transformed into movements of the entire human organism, so that one strengthens one component—the volitional or metabolic aspect—while weakening the imaginative or nervous-sensory aspect, thereby bringing eurythmy into being. This enables one to truly create correlates in human movements for the individual sounds, whether they be vowels or consonants. And just as a certain formation and movement of air corresponds to an A or an L, so too can an outwardly visible form of movement correspond to an A or an L. There is a movement—or, I would say, a movement structure—extracted from the human organism through sensory-supersensory perception, which truly arises from the human organism with the same regularity as spoken language; it is merely a metamorphosis of spoken language that is oriented more toward the volitional. Thus, one can also compose the entire alphabet through this language; so that everything linguistic can be expressed through this eurythmy. When eurythmy is performed artistically, human attention—and with it all the processes in the human physical, etheric, and astral organisms, which are the vehicles of attention—turns toward the corresponding sound, or the word formation, or the artistic phrasing, the metrical structure, the poetic structure, and so on. In a sense, when a person is engaged in artistic eurythmy, they are completely devoted to what is possible in terms of the artistic shaping of sound. Since, of course, artistic eurythmy follows the same structure as language, the person, by engaging in artistic eurythmy, is devoted to the external world. And just as in speech one does not dwell on an “A” or an “L,” but rather lets the sounds pass by, so too in artistic eurythmy we are dealing with something that can take place entirely within the normally functioning human organism. Thus, ordinary artistic eurythmy has no other physiological effect on the human organism than to energetically bring about the inner harmonization of human functions—functions that, insofar as they form a totality within the human organism.

[ 3 ] One can therefore say: If excesses in eurythmic-artistic activity are curbed in the right way, then this eurythmic-artistic activity is, in general, healing. But just as everything that can be healing can also be harmful if taken to extremes, eurythmy as an artistic activity can also be taken to extremes. Professor Benedikt, the famous criminal psychologist, who could not stand the temperance movement, repeatedly emphasized that far more people die from water than from alcohol. The statistics must admit this as well, because excessive or improper consumption of water leads to numerous health problems. Thus, eurythmy—to the extent that it is to be practiced—can, of course, generally only be beneficial; artistically speaking, it will in any case result in a certain state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction within the human organism.

[ 4 ] As for therapeutic eurythmy, it is, in a sense, the inward reflection of what in artistic eurythmy lives in the devotion to the shaping of sounds, words, and sentences. It is already reflected inwardly by the very fact that in therapeutic eurythmy, let us say, the sound “A” must often be repeated in succession. This brings about something quite different from what happens when I move from the sound “A” to an “I” or something similar in an artistic performance. Now the point is to look into the actual healing process that can take place through eurythmy. I cannot help but express a certain concern that is actually quite natural when it comes to such matters. Such practices are very easily appropriated by laypeople and amateurs. However, I have emphasized from the very beginning that therapeutic eurythmy should actually be practiced by the physician themselves, or at the very least may only be performed in the closest harmony with the physician. The reason for this is that even such offshoots—I would say—of what Spiritual Science aims for in relation to medicine must be viewed in the same light as the entire stance of Spiritual Science toward medicine.

[ 5 ] It is truly the case that Spiritual Science does not work in the medical field toward something like what I once encountered twenty years ago. There were also people present at anthroposophical gatherings—indeed, they called themselves naturopaths—and on one occasion I was handed a treatise that essentially contained nothing but various repetitions of this: All healing is based on restoring harmony to what is out of harmony within the organism. — Over the course of six pages, this sentence was varied in the most diverse ways, all emphasizing that one should harmonize what is disharmonious. There is not the slightest objection to this statement; the only question is whether one can actually do so in a specific, individual case. And that is where it becomes uncomfortable for people who hold the view expressed in the concluding sentence: “Everything that has now been written shows that one can abandon the immensely complicated field of medicine and limit oneself to harmonizing what is disharmonious, and that would be—as it was stated verbatim—of ‘intoxicating simplicity.’” — I cannot offer you anything of that “intoxicating simplicity.” Rather, it is indeed the case that, through Spiritual Science, medicine is not to be driven toward such intoxicating simplicity, but rather toward greater complexity, as you will have already gathered from various sources. So you will not have less to learn through Spiritual Science, but rather more; yet the idea of “learning less” will certainly prove problematic, even though everything will become clearer and more manageable, and learning will become more interesting as a result. Anyone who reflects on the idea that Spiritual Science is supposed to make healing more convenient will have already seen from the discussions I have conducted here that this is not the case.

[ 6 ] And, I would say, the same is true of what therapeutic eurythmy is. It is certainly true that therapeutic eurythmy should not be practiced without a sound diagnosis, and that it is absolutely essential that it be practiced only in harmony with expert medical science. For what we are actually dealing with is the application of an incredibly subtle understanding of the human organism.

[ 7 ] Because, even in ordinary speech, metabolic activity and the plastic activity of the nervous-sensory system collide within the human organism—but this collision discharges its resultant force into the movement of air, which takes place relatively separately from the human organism— so that speech becomes detached from the organism; everything that is shaped by therapeutic eurythmy is reflected back into the organism, and we are dealing with the following: Imagine, for example, that you combine an A-movement with an L-movement. So first, let the movements be repeated, so that the energy is not discharged outward, but rather the repetition flows into the inner processes of the human organism. But whenever you allow the vocal or consonantal elements—let’s say—to interact in the A-movement or the L-movement, you have thereby always set the human organism in motion in a way that involves the interaction of the metabolic human and the nervous-sensory human. Certainly, the activity of the nervous-sensory system is generally attenuated in eurythmy, but even in this particular relationship between the two components—in which the attenuated nervous-sensory activity is combined with the intensified metabolic activity brought about by the eurythmic movement—the two components still interact in this way. And simply by having someone perform, for example, an “L” movement in repetitions—especially when associating the “L” movement with an “A” form—one brings the metabolic human into contact with the nervous-sensory human. So one can say: In this evocation of necessary forms or movements lies an engagement of the entire functioning of the human organism. If, for example, you have someone perform a consonantal movement, the consonantal movement initially acts in such a way that it essentially discharges all its power—its inner dynamics—into the inhalation process, so that through this you actually gain control of the entire inhalation process. Depending on the consonant you stimulate, you gain control over the inhalation process. You intensify the inhalation process through every consonantal action.

[ 8 ] Now, you may already know from what has been said about therapeutic eurythmy how movements that are otherwise expressed in artistic eurythmy are modified for therapeutic eurythmy. And so one can say: When an A or L movement is performed, it is always connected with an intensification or attenuation of the impulse that takes place during inhalation. Now you must bear in mind that inhalation must be considered in its entirety. After all, when we consider inhalation, we must first trace the path of inhalation as it spreads, initially through the central part of the human organism, and then through the medial canal—the spinal canal—into the brain; and brain activity is essentially a harmonious interplay between the respiratory activity refined as it enters the brain and the nervous-sensory activity. There is no brain activity that can be considered in isolation; rather, it is always the result of the actual nervous-sensory activity and the respiratory activity. All brain processes must also be studied in such a way that respiratory activity is taken into account. Now, through the articulation of certain consonants—the various consonants—you actually have the power to influence, in a quite striking way, indirectly through respiration, the human being’s plastic activity, the human being’s plasticizing activity. For example, based on a certain artistic understanding of the human organism, you need only know—let’s say, in the case of a child who is just getting their second set of teeth, the upper teeth—how are they formed by the plastic activity that moves from top to bottom? They are formed in such a way that—in the case of the upper teeth—the plastic activity acts primarily from front to back. How are the lower teeth formed? In the case of the lower jaw’s teeth, the formative activity acts from back to front; so that, if I were to describe schematically the activity involved in tooth development, it would be this: The upper teeth are formed from front to back, and thus the rear surfaces are formed while the front surfaces are set back. The lower teeth are formed from back to front. This is how the forces work together.

[ 9 ] If you notice that your child is having difficulty teething, you can support the teething process in the upper jaw simply by having the child make an “A” movement, for example; you can support teething in the lower jaw by having the child make an “O” movement. You do indeed gain access to the plasticizing forces through certain influences. However, in order to nourish this plasticizing activity at all, you must, so to speak, focus primarily on supporting the inhalation impulse first; thus, you must add to the plasticizing activity carried out in this way by the “A” and “O” movements that which follows from the person’s overall constitution. Let’s say you have a person with weak peristalsis who is prone to mild constipation. During the stage of life when teething occurs, bowel activity is closely linked to tooth formation, and one must focus on identifying the origins of any irregularities in teething. If you support the breath impulse that travels through the spinal canal into the brain—and from there stimulates the very plastic forces that are accessed through vowel movements—you can do so in this specific case by having the child perform an “L” movement. If you simply study therapeutic eurythmy, the diagnosis will reveal how you should apply it. One should not actually apply it without a diagnosis, because under certain circumstances one might do exactly the wrong thing. But it is truly the case that one must, I would say, awaken a sense for the artistic aspect in the dynamics of the whole human being. One must develop an intuitive eye for the artistic. Let’s take, for example, a child who is experiencing difficulties during the period when they are just beginning to teethe; they show signs of discomfort or similar symptoms that shouldn’t be present. One then discovers that irregular, insufficient bowel movements are occurring. Now one introduces L-movements to prepare the child. After performing these L-movements for a while, one counteracts what has been directed toward the plasticizing center by having the child perform A- or O-movements. For the vowel movements affect exhalation. In fact, the vowels begin to take effect already in the brain. The breath current is at work in the brain. And everything that is connected, in the broadest, most comprehensive sense, with inhalation is expressed through consonants. This can be supported and promoted through consonantal eurythmy. Everything related to exhalation can be supported through vowel-based eurythmy. But when you practice vowel-based eurythmy—the repetitions that must occur in the sound must be gauged according to the necessary application of force—the plasticizing element works directly in conjunction with the radiating element. Let’s say, for example, you are dealing with some kind of kidney condition; in that case, you can tell yourself that the kidney condition is at a certain stage—let’s say an early stage. At the moment when I have the patient perform certain movements, for example, A-movements,^{1In another postscript, S start A is indicated here.} I am treating the kidney condition at an early stage. But if the kidney condition has been present for a long time and the impaired functioning has already led to a deformity, then I must first prepare the body with consonantal eurythmy and then follow it with vocal eurythmy, so that through the vocal movements I can work on the formation of the body in opposition to the deformity that has occurred. In short, one must approach this as little theoretically as possible, but rather, based entirely on an understanding of the human organism in both its healthy and diseased states, discover what I have outlined in the rules I presented in Dornach at that time and which have been entrusted to you.

[ 10 ] Well, if, for example, there is impaired cardiopulmonary function that then affects the kidneys, one can make significant progress by having the patient perform B or P movements, particularly in the early stages. From this you can see that one truly has the entire functioning process under control, and that everything depends on understanding how a kind of centrifugal dynamic exists in every single human organ, which is plastically rounded out by a dynamic acting from the outside in—that is, not entirely centripetal, but one that can be described as similar to centripetal—which acts within every human organ. We will only be able to engage in true physiology once we are able to view each individual human organ in terms of its polarity. For it is these polarities—a centrifugal and a centripetal dynamic—that exist within every human organ. And in this context, the distribution and differentiation of thermal conditions within the human organism, as well as the organization of air conditions, play a major role in everything that contributes to plasticity. For everything that is centrifugal—that radiates outward—a major role is played by, first, that which arises in the human organism from the intrinsic dynamics of the substances of the world, and, second, that which develops in the human organism through the overcoming of the inherent vitality of the external entity. These two dynamics must be mutually regulated, and one can hope that therapeutic eurythmists will be trained who will develop a truly subtle sense for what can happen in each individual case. Naturally, an artistic state of mind will be of extraordinary importance precisely in this regard.

[ 11 ] Now, if you also consider that the entire system of therapeutic eurythmy can be further supported by the actual therapeutic aspect, then you have two factors that work together. One might say that something has a particular effect on the heart in one way or another, and you can further support that specifically through a curative eurythmy exercise: then these two things reinforce each other, and this is something that truly opens up vast possibilities—something that could have an extraordinarily bright future. Just think for a moment what an impact massage has already had in many respects. But this external fiddling around on the person—I mean, I have nothing against it, I’m not criticizing it, I acknowledge its significance—but it is, after all, very insignificant compared to the kind of massage you apply when you simply use the eurythmy-healing factors to bring about an inner transformation in the entire system of organs that interact there. It is, after all, an innermost kneading of the entire organism, which is connected to an effect in the etheric, astral, and ego organisms. So that one can say: What can be recognized as correct for massage is internalized there in an infinitely more powerful way through this therapeutic eurythmy. - And one will in fact only be able to gain insight into the therapeutic effects of gymnastics by observing the similarity between free exercises and eurythmic exercises. For what is therapeutic in gymnastics is merely a secondary analogue to what is significant in therapeutic eurythmy. I said back then in Dornach: If one has children perform E-movements in a rhythmic sequence in a certain way, as was demonstrated at that time, one can do an extraordinary amount to help frail-looking children—children who perform their bodily functions in a feeble manner—to regain their health and achieve the desirable increase in strength; but even with such things, it is absolutely necessary to take the whole person into account. It happens time and again that this is not done enough—that the whole person is not taken into account. I know I’m stating the obvious here, because you’ll say: We already know that. — Certainly, but in practice it happens time and again that this is not taken into account. How often does someone say: “This person has an irregular heartbeat; we must do something about it.” — Yes, but when considering the whole person, one must say: “Thank God that person has such a heart, because his organism cannot tolerate a normal one.” Just as, for example, under certain circumstances, one might have to say of someone who has broken their nasal bone in a particular incident that they have been blessed by good fortune—for if they were breathing air through fully developed passages, that would be too much air for their organism to process. Everywhere, one must take into account in the most careful manner what is rooted in the overall organization.

[ 12 ] When the I-movements are performed in a certain way, they have a harmonizing effect on the connection between the left and right sides of the human organism. The I-movements can help with all asymmetries that occur in the human organism. Even in cases of strabismus, very good eurythmic therapeutic results can be achieved through I-movements, when applied with care. However, I would advise against treating strabismus in the same way as, for example, when someone walks asymmetrically or uses their right and left arms with excessive asymmetry. For strabismus, I would not use the usual I-movements, but rather have the patient perform I-movements using only the index finger and repeat them as often as possible throughout the day. During the growth phase, this can be very effective, especially if these I-movements are also performed using the big toe. And the greatest success will be achieved if the patient can be encouraged to perform them with the little toe. Especially for asymmetries related to vision, these eurythmic exercises performed on the periphery will also yield quite good results. Conversely, when it comes to compensating for any clumsiness in walking, it can even be quite effective to have the person—but of course without causing them harm—perform “I” movements with their eyes, so that they carry out “I” movements along the line of sight, the line of vision. In this regard, one can indeed establish a kind of law: whatever is abnormal in the lower human being is normalized by what is created as a counterbalance in the upper human being, and vice versa.

[ 13 ] If you have difficulties with standing—which, of course, can be caused in a wide variety of ways—then the U-shapes are of particular importance; however, you must ensure that the U-shape is formed completely, so that the relevant limbs are truly brought together; a genuine joining, in which one limb senses the other—this is of particular importance. Only then is the U-shape truly complete. In artistic eurythmy, this need only be hinted at; in therapeutic eurythmy, however, it must be carried out in such a way that one limb rests against the other, so that, when performed correctly, the so-called “standing at attention” posture is achieved, with the legs pressed together. This is an exceptionally effective therapeutic eurythmy exercise for people who experience slight twitching in the head.

[ 14 ] If it is appropriate to treat overweight children in particular with therapeutic eurythmy, the O-forms are especially well-suited for this purpose. However, all of these forms, which are intended to be effective in therapeutic eurythmy, must be combined with a clear sense of the relevant muscular system. If you perform the O-shape simply as many eurythmists do, that may suffice for the outward gesture; but it will only have a therapeutic effect if, while performing the exercise, you actually feel the muscles throughout your entire arm. The loose, floppy form does not have the desired effect; rather, it is the sensation of the entire muscular system down to the finest details that produces the corresponding therapeutic eurythmy effect. It is particularly important that you also note that the therapeutic eurythmy exercise is supported by its continuation into consciousness. Now, when you perform the “O” movement as I just demonstrated, it involves a strong projection into consciousness. So tell a person who is overweight—whom you wish to treat with “O” forms—the following: “While you’re making the O-shape, think about your being overweight, about your width”—so that you are effectively directing their consciousness toward precisely what needs to be remedied. In this way, you are essentially supporting the intended goal: that the factor of consciousness should never be underestimated in healing.

[ 15 ] In this regard, I believe that as soon as one begins to look into such matters, there will still be a certain struggle with orthopedists. Despite their great success in their field, they are still very much intent on treating the human organism as a kind of mechanism and adapting to it. Whereas, for example, devices that are applied with the intention that the person in question should feel them constantly—that is, that they should enter their consciousness —let’s say, for instance, when I find it beneficial for someone to pull their shoulders back and give them bandages through which they are actually aware that this should be restrained, so that it does not remain in the unconscious—this awareness of the matter is an excellent healing factor. This is precisely what also results in therapeutic eurythmy: as I have already said, things are brought fully into consciousness, so that this concentration provides essential support for therapeutic eurythmy.

[ 16 ] I would like to emphasize this point in particular: everything that takes the form of an “E” essentially has a regulating effect when the astral organism influences the etheric organism too strongly or too weakly. So in all those cases where one can say that there is either excessive activity of the astral organism or insufficient activity, one can, under certain circumstances, achieve a great deal with E-forms—specifically, through the repetition of E-forms. For the two symptom complexes I described earlier in the other lecture, E-forms will be able to have a healing effect. What I have just said is particularly true when the astral organism is influenced by the etheric—that is, when it is too weak, when it allows itself to be influenced by the etheric, or when it is too strong due to an irregularity in the astral organism of the head. Conversely, the opposite situation can arise when the etheric is influenced too strongly by the astral; this is the case when the astral manifests itself very strongly in the intestinal system—that is, when one immediately develops diarrhea at every opportunity when feeling even a little anxious. In such cases, the U-forms will have a particularly beneficial effect.

[ 17 ] Now, the question came up yesterday that I would like to briefly discuss at the end: Whether certain therapeutic eurythmy movements can be performed by individuals who are pregnant or who have abdominal ailments. But if you take a look at the guidelines established in Dornach, you will certainly be able to adhere to them: even though you must ensure that the lower abdomen of pregnant women or people with abdominal ailments is left undisturbed—it must indeed be left undisturbed and must not be irritated by therapeutic eurythmy— even though it is left undisturbed, exercises with the arms can certainly be performed while sitting, lying down, or with the part that must remain at rest—the head—completely at rest. And you will still find sufficient guidance in the instructions that have been provided to be able to intervene with eurythmy in all cases. Of course, if the person in question cannot move at all—for example, due to symptoms of paralysis—then eurythmy would be the healthiest course of action for them; but under certain circumstances, they simply cannot perform it. It would indeed be the healthiest course of action in that situation. Isn’t it true that such symptoms of paralysis are essentially an abnormal functioning of the astral body, which does not intervene in the etheric and physical organization, and that one can achieve a great deal there with eurythmy movements? In particular, a very beneficial e-movement—for disorders of the lower abdomen itself—is artificial squinting, performed not excessively but nevertheless with care. So it is certainly true that those somewhat decadent yogis who perform certain exercises by focusing their eyes on the tip of their nose are actually intent on inducing the most harmonious activity possible in their lower abdomen, because they know very well what the activity of the lower abdomen means even for what these people call spiritual activity. So one can certainly say: these things are such that many actions—which, in a person with a healthy lower abdomen, one would have to perform even with jumps—can simply be replaced by a gentler therapeutic eurythmy of the arms, the fingers, and even the eyes, if necessary. And under no circumstances should a pregnant woman be asked to perform therapeutic eurythmy jumping exercises. That is, of course, out of the question.

[ 18 ] As you can see, this really isn’t about trying to create some kind of universal remedy that can be mastered in half a day; rather, it is about the fact that therapeutic eurythmy, too, must be acquired through serious work, and indeed, it is necessary that it be acquired through practice. For almost every time one has applied the therapeutic eurythmy exercises a little, guided by one’s healing instincts, one will be able to do it better. It is certainly true that through practice, one will make particularly good progress in therapeutic eurythmy.

[ 19 ] Well, I wanted to present this—I would say—more theoretical discussion of therapeutic eurythmy to you, because everything else—as far as therapeutic eurythmy stands today—was already presented back then in Dornach and is being passed on by our physician friends, so that you will always have access to it; and because I wanted you to be able to grasp the full physiological and therapeutic significance of therapeutic eurythmy. Of course, something like therapeutic eurythmy must not be overestimated again. In many cases it will be an extraordinarily important aid, but one must not overestimate it. And one must be absolutely clear that this “intoxicating simplicity” alone accomplishes nothing, and that just as a carcinoma cannot be cured by the “intoxicating simplicity” of the idea that one must “harmonize the disharmonious,” neither can a broken leg or arm be healed through therapeutic eurythmy exercises. One must be clear about this: It is not an increase in dilettantism and medical ignorance, but rather an enrichment of medical expertise that is to be achieved through the path of Spiritual Science. — Please forgive me for emphasizing this so often; but precisely to prevent misunderstandings, I would like to emphasize again and again, in particular, that these methods do not, as is often the case with fanatical movements, present themselves in a layman-like opposition to official medicine, but rather fully take into account the current state of medicine, and seek only to advance it along the path it must follow, for the simple reason that it is not true that human beings are merely what modern physiology and anatomy describe. They are that, but they are also something else; they must also be understood in terms of their psychological and spiritual aspects. And then such strange mental images will disappear—images that recur time and again today, such as the idea that the brain is a kind of telegraphic central station to which the so-called sensory nerves converge and from which the volitional nerves radiate. Yet this entire view does not correspond to reality at all, as you have seen from today’s lecture; rather, we are dealing with the nervous-sensory system as a plastic, dynamic force from which, so to speak, something is wrested, to which the activity of the soul then adapts. There is indeed a great deal to be done to restore to a healthy physiology what has been taken away from it by the mistaken view that the physical organism serves as a correlate for mental functions. There is indeed something physical present for every mental function during human physical life on earth; but nothing is used for the soul that does not, on the other hand, have a much greater significance in its interaction with other organs for the physical organism. Nothing is used for the soul merely as a mental organ. Our entire soul and spirit are wrested from the physical, drawn out of the physical. And we must not recognize specific soul organs. We can only say: Soul functions are those that are distinguished from organic processes and specially adapted to soul activity. Only when we truly take seriously the task of understanding what actually operates within the human physical organism—when we do not proceed in such a superficial manner as to regard the entire nervous system merely as a structure serving the life of the soul—can we hope to gain a thorough understanding of the human organism. But only a human organism understood in this way can provide the foundation for a physiology and therapy that works in the light rather than merely experimenting in the darkness. I would like to share this with you as a final point, so that you do not leave with a misunderstanding and so that you can counter the misunderstandings that arise time and again.

[ 20 ] For example, criticism has been leveled at our cancer remedy with “intoxicating simplicity”—criticism based on the fact that no one knows at all from what findings this remedy was derived; instead, people have constructed some flimsy analogies and believe that by dismissing these flimsy analogies, they can dismiss the matter altogether. This is precisely what is necessary for the flourishing of the aspect of Spiritual Science in medicine: that one stands in the way of misunderstandings to some extent. For people will soon realize that, if they can no longer spread misunderstandings, they will have very little left to say at all, because the main aim of the opposition is to spread misunderstandings about anthroposophy as a whole. Just try to find out how many opponents say anything other than mere misunderstandings. I must say, I often read articles or writings by opponents, and if my name weren’t there, I might think they were referring to something entirely different. For they do not refer at all to what is practiced here; rather, they concern themselves with something entirely different. Sometimes I am quite surprised and want to find out where exactly the point is that is supposed to be refuted; in any case, it is not here. Here, the approach in medicine is the same as it is with regard to theology—one encounters the same thing. For example, one can say to a theologian at the cutting edge of scholarship: “What you say about Christ, we say as well—just add a little more!” — But he is not satisfied that one says what he says and adds something to it; he says: “One must not say anything more.” — He does not criticize what contradicts his assertions, but rather what he says nothing about at all. He criticizes it simply because one says something about a subject he knows nothing about. He regards it as a mistake to know something about a subject he knows nothing about. Medicine must not fall into this error. We must examine things closely and not contradict, but we must also add all sorts of insights based on an already well-founded understanding of healthy and sick people.