Last week we felt the seed of the Higher Self germinating within us. We strengthened ourselves with cosmic forces to ripen our developing spiritual selves. We turned inward as we felt the first cool breezes of Autumn, the spring of the Soul. This week we practice one of the four "Light Verses." Verse 22 reminds us to carry the light of the spirit within ourselves to become soul-light. We "ripen" into the fullness of our humanity through the forces of the "Light of the World".
It is helpful to see the mirrored language in the corresponding verses. During the time of verse 22, the light from World-widths lives powerfully within us as summer sun begins to wane, while in verse 33, the light from Spirit-depths strives outward from us like the sun as we move into the darkness of winter.Our novel translation of Rudolf Steiner's Calendar of the Soul offers 7 lines for the 7 planetary forces of the week revealing these mirrored lines. Verses 22 and 31 both begin with "The light" and verses 5 and 48 both begin with "In the Light."
Verse 22
Sun: The light from World-widths,
Moon: Lives on powerfully within:
Mars: It becomes soul-light
Mercury: And shines into Spirit-depths,
Jupiter: To bear fruit,
Venus: The human-self from the World-self
Saturn: Left to ripen over the course of time.
Verse 31
Sun: The light from Spirit-depths,
Moon: Strives outwards like the sun:
Mars: It becomes the living willpower
Mercury: And shines in the dullness of the senses,
Jupiter: To release forces,
Venus: The creative powers from soul-impulses
Saturn: Left to ripen in human deeds.
—Tr. Steiner Online Library
Practice the Calendar verses to entrain with the rhythms of the seasons. Together, we will radiate these forces out into society through our moral words and deeds of brotherly love. Rudolf Steiner's verses for the 52 weeks of the calendar are here on our website, together with Rudolf Steiner's original German text and several other translations: Rudolf Steiner, The Anthroposophical Calendar.