Calendar of the Soul

The anthroposophical Calendar of the Soul was first created by Rudolf Steiner for the years 1912/13. For each of the 52 weeks of the year there is a separate weekly verse that lets the seasonal mood resound in the soul. In the preface to the second edition of 1918, Rudolf Steiner writes:

„The course of the year has its own life. The human soul can sympathise with this life. If it allows what speaks differently from week to week from the life of the year to have an effect on it, then it will only find itself properly through such co-existence. She will feel how this gives her strength from within. She will notice that such forces want to be awakened in her through the share she can take in the meaning of the course of the world as it takes place in the sequence of times. Only then will she become aware of the delicate but meaningful threads of connection between herself and the world into which she was born.

In this calendar there is a saying for each week which allows the soul to experience what takes place in this week as part of the whole life of the year. What this life makes resound in the soul when it unites with it is to be expressed in the saying. A healthy "feeling of being one" with the course of nature and a powerful "finding oneself" arising from it are thought of, in that it is believed that a sympathy for the course of the world in the sense of such sayings is something for the soul to long for, if only it understands itself rightly.“ (Lit.:GA 40, p. 20)

Current Verses

Provided in English and German by the Rudolf Steiner Archive (Steiner Online Library).

• Current Verses for the Northern Hemisphere
• Current Verses for the Southern Hemisphere

Annual shift of the date of Easter

„To a question about the shifting of the date from year to year, Rudolf Steiner gave the following answer: The main thing, he said, was always to begin with the first verse at Easter. The shift did not mean much, since he always kept three verses of the weekly sayings in the same mood.“ (Lit.:GA 40, p. 22)

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: The Calendar of the Soul. Translated by Ruth and Hans Pusch. Anthroposophic Press, Inc. 1982, ISBN 0-88010-263-2 rsarchive.org

German

• Kaspar Appenzeller: Der anthroposophische Seelenkalender im Lichte der Menschheitsentwicklung, Zbinden Verlag 1999, ISBN 978-3859894907
• Rudolf Steiner, Michael Debus (Nachwort): Die Wochensprüche des anthroposophischen Seelenkalenders im Doppelstrom der Zeit beider Hemisphären: Synoptische Ausgabe, 4. Auflage, Rudolf Steiner Verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3727452482
• Rudolf Steiner: Anthroposophischer Seelenkalender. 52 Wochensprüche, Rudolf Steiner Verlag 2015, ISBN 978-3727452291
• Rudolf Steiner: Wahrspruchworte, GA 40 (2005), ISBN 3-7274-0401-9 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.