There is health in thy gray wing,
Health of nature’s furnishing.
Say, thou modern-winged antique,
Was thy mistress ever sick?
In each heaving of thy wing
Thou dost health and leisure bring,
Thou dost waive disease and pain
And resume new life again.
—Henry David Thoreau, “To a Marsh Hawk in Spring”
***
Greetings on this first Sunday of Spring!
With the thaw comes new life, new endeavors, new breath. Around these parts, it seems to start slowly, but the occasional warm breeze and the unstoppable upward creep of crocuses conjure hope and presentiment of green in even the most winter-hardened visage, even mine I daresay.
In this same spirit, before the week ends, next Saturday, April 1, from 11am to 3pm, to be exact, SteinerBooks will host an Open House at our new “brick and mortar” location in Spencertown, New York.
While realizing, of course, that most reading this will not be near, you are nevertheless most cordially invited, that day and thereafter.
May the health and light of Spring crown your brow today and always,
John-Scott
Featured Titles
Who was Ita Wegman
A Documentation
Johannes Emanuel Zeylmans van Emmichoven
Volume 1: 1876–1925 |READ MORE
Volume 2: 1925–1943 |READ MORE
Volume 3: 1924–1935: Struggles and Conflicts |READ MORE
Volume 4: Strengthening the Heart: Rudolf Steiner's Collaboration with Ita Wegman |READ MORE
“Ita Wegman is not only an inspiring genius of Anthroposophy,
but she is also a healing genius of anthroposophic medicine.
Perseverance, courage, greatness mark her being.”
— Emanuel Zeylmans van Emmichoven
Crafts and Activities for Families
From the Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner
The Mission of Folk Souls
Translated by Johanna Collis
11 lectures, Oslo, June 7–17, 1910 (CW 121)
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In esoteric symbolism, this mission of the Earth has always been expressed in a special way by a certain figure. Amongst all the geometrical figures, you will find none that corresponds so exactly to the balance of these three activities as the equilateral triangle. You only have to draw an equilateral triangle to discover that all three sides are the same, all three angles are the same, and all three points equidistant from one another and from the center. The center point of an equilateral triangle is the absolute symbol for the balance of forces, so that when a student of esotericism views a triangle, he sees in it a symbol of the perfectly balanced cooperation of the elements, each of which once held the upper hand in one of the earlier incarnations of our Earth. The deeds of the human I signify simply the creation of an active center in our being through which this state of balance can be prepared from within. The human being is indeed called to a high destiny on the Earth—namely, to bring about from within a balance throughout his own being of those forces which were formerly dominant in different ways and at different times.
This definition of our earthly mission may sound rather abstract, but it does describe the situation precisely. It is the secret of this mission that this collaboration, this balance of the three forces, really does cause the inner being to create something new in a productive way. A fourth element, the element of love, comes into being and is added to the previous three. Love can only be brought into the workings of the world if a perfect balance is achieved between the three forces that dominated at different times in the past. We shall have more to say about this in the next few days. . . .
—Rudolf Steiner, from the lecture of June 11, 1910, in The Mission of Folk Souls (CW 121)