52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 17 (This is part of a weekly serial started on Michaelmas 2023. To see the other entries, please see the post linked HERE and scroll down to the bottom for individual links)
“Today we want to place before our inner eye the yearly cycle, in the large, as a mighty breathing process of the Earth, in which of course it is not air that is breathed in and out, but rather those forces which are at work for example in vegetation, those forces which push the plants out of the Earth in spring, and which withdraw again into the Earth in fall, letting the green plants fade and finally paralyzing plant growth. … We intend today to bring this annual breathing process of the Earth before our souls.
– Steiner GA 223 The Cycle of the Year as a Breathing Process
Let us first look at the Earth at the time of the winter solstice, in the last third of December, according to our present reckoning. At this time we may compare the Earth’s breathing with the lung-breathing of a man when he has inhaled a breath of air and is working on it in himself, that is, when he is holding his breath within him.”
I love this time of year. I love the low sun, the long stretching shadows, the dullness of all the colour around us. There is little distraction to be had from Mother Earth these days. Just lots of time to sink into the glorious silence that surround us. We are in this stage of pause, when we allow our in-breath to work on us.
I plan our life and lessons around this breathing process, keeping, as much as possible, to the natural impulses held within the year. We typically school year round, which allows us to take many breaks through the year so we CAN listen to these inner impulses.
Autumn is a time for exciting lessons, field trips, laying the foundations of big ideas. Winter is a time of contemplation, sinking deeply into art, books and those big ideas we introduced in autumn. Spring is bursting with possibility and we focus on culminating projects, group work, family goals and more field trips. Summer is dreamy as we spend time with friends and family, rarely introducing new lessons, but gently keeping the status quo with review and practice of what we have already experienced so as to allow our spirits to still fly.
In times of stress or upheaval, I will often forget about these basic impulses, and in an attempt to create stability or routine, I drive myself or my children into rhythms that wear us down or pull us from where we are called to be naturally. The Calendar of the Soul is a great reminder of the natural rhythms of body, mind and spirit, and is usually what ends up pulling me back to reality.
If you don’t already do so, I invite you to think of a few ways you can incorporate our natural rhythms into your life. It really can be transformational.
Until next time,
Marina
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