Inner Impulses

52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 45

For centuries, no one has been educated in a way appropriate to human nature, which makes it quite impossible to accurately look at human life and compare it with the life of the earth. People express themselves through their view of the world. Quite understandably, people say, for example, that spring is the morning of the year, summer the day, fall the evening, and winter the night. But in reality it is quite different. When we are sleeping, everything that differentiates us from plants slips out of our human form. When we are sleeping, we are not at all justified in looking as we do. Actually, we look the way we do only because we are shaped in accord with our soul and spirit. While sleeping, we are actually more at the level of plants. At that time, as individual human beings, we are no different from the earth with its plant growth. But to which season does our sleep correspond? When we are sleeping, that corresponds to summer, that is, to that period of the year in which the plants are here. To which season does our wakefulness correspond? That is like winter, when plant life ceases and, in a sense, recedes deep within the earth. In the same way, plant life recedes into the human being and is replaced by something else during the period of awakening until falling asleep again. If we do not follow some vague analogy but follow reality, we would have to say that we need to compare human sleep with summer, and the period of human wakefulness with the earth’s winter. Thus the reality of the situation is actually just the opposite of some vague analogy.

Rudolf Steiner, 3 May 1920, Basel
The Renewal of Education, Lecture 8

Summer is our sleep.

Winter is our wakefulness.

This may seem counter to logic, but if we stop and see it from a place of consciousness and inner impulse we can see the wisdom behind Steiner’s suggestion. We struggle with this analogy when we see ourselves as physical beings only, and ignore our other bodies.

If we reflect on our being through summer there is levity, a desire to be untethered. We are pulled into the vibrant colours and are lulled by the heat as we gather with friends and family, we camp and hike and fall into the pleasure of distraction. But what happens when we have a project that needs to be done or a class that needs to be taken, or a deadline that needs to be met? They are a startling reality amongst the slow, lazy days of summer! We might drag our feet, struggle to concentrate, or put it off to the very last second. (As an example, I’ve been finding these weekly posts quite difficult since June!) Our physical body might be very active in the summer, but our being, our consciousness, is quite dreamy and up in the sky. We resist being grounded and instead float dreamily through the summer months. If we look at nature, while colour abounds, in summer, everything is lifted up and somewhat paused after the burst of energy and action in spring.. Colours are vibrant, but not really changing. Fruits are present but slowly growing. There is a grand, natural pause after the explosion of spring.

In winter, while our physical body has an inner impulse to slow down our inner being wakens. We no longer have the distractions of summer colour and activity and settle in amongst the candles and warmth and darkness. We turn inwards and become more contemplative. We slow down and listen to our hearts. We are no longer dreamy, but fully grounded and awake. As reflected in nature, winter is a time of dull colours, of nature seemingly standing still, but underground, below the surface, there is so much happening. In the depths that we cannot see, nature is actively preparing for spring.

If we relate this to education and the school year, what could we do to have it flow more with natural impulses? What could education look like if we took this into consideration?

When could school start?
How could we lay out blocks?
Would we still have summer school?
What would the year’s end date be?

Some things to ponder…

(This post 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)

Until next time,
Marina