For Michaelmas, we asked that the warmth and light of the spiritual world be carried down into the material body so the fire of the will might "steel" our spirit's drives. In this way, one seeks to birth a new self-awareness of one's spiritual nature. This week, we find these forces pressing into the depths of our being. One longs to find oneself to be like a seed full of the gifts of the summer sun. This "summer sun-gift" serves as the driving force of the soul.
While other translations translate Kräftetrieb as "creative force" or "germinating force" to give a more poetic, spiritual interpretation of the word, we chose the literal translation which is "power drive." In German, Trieb can mean an organic impulse (like a plant shoot or an instinct), but in engineering, a Trieb is a drive mechanism (as in Antrieb or Kurbeltrieb). By translating Kräftetrieb as "Power Drive," our translation emphasizes that Rudolf Steiner was not just talking about a vague, soft feeling. He was describing a highly structured, dynamic system where spiritual forces function in a way akin to a mechanical power drive. This is not to say the human being operates like a machine, but rather to point to the activity required. The soul isn't just passively floating; it has an active, internal "motor" or actuator turning spiritual energy into direct human action through the power of the will.
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.