Spiritual Exercises
From transcripts and notebooks in chronological order
Meditation
Question: Are you striving for self-knowledge? Will your so-called self mean more to the whole world tomorrow than it does today, once you have recognized it?
First answer: No, if you are no different tomorrow than you are today, and your recognition tomorrow merely repeats your existence today.
Second answer: Yes, if you are different tomorrow than you are today, and your new existence tomorrow is the effect of your recognition today.
July 1903 
The new reality,
Awoken by dreams,
I seize
With waking judgment.
It carries on its waves
The old reality,
Which my eyes showed me,
Which my ears revealed to me,
Which my skin felt.
Meditation
Those who deny the world spirit do not know that they deny themselves. But such people do not merely commit an error; they fail in their first duty:
to act out of the spirit themselves.
September 1903 Man is a stage on which the eternal and the transitory meet —
his knowledge is an experience of the eternal, for which he himself is the organ of knowledge —
his actions are actions of the eternal, for which he himself is only the mediator —
Therefore, understand:
I. You are the eye of the primordial spirit. He sees his creation through you.
II. You are the hand of the primordial spirit — He creates his creation through you.
ca. 1903 Notepad
With the power of thought, you move forward on the waves of special existence and follow seven guiding forces under the guidance of truth;
Desire pulls you down, placing the guiding forces in the power of unbelief;
Spirit draws you upward, lifting the seven toward the resounding sun.
Notebook 1903 Realize: that you live from the proximity of the sun.
Realize: that your work is exhausted in the solar system.
Realize: that your life is exhausted within humanity.
-
In being special, discover the law: for the law was woven into matter by the first of the seven.
-
In movement, discover life: for life was poured into matter by the second of the seven.
-
Discover the person in desire: for the person was imprinted on matter by the third of the Seven.
-
Discover yourself in thought: for the fourth of the Seven gave his self to the I.
-
Discover renunciation in your desire: for through renunciation, the fifth of the Seven sacrificed himself so that you might be yourself.
-
Discover blissful peace in your movement: for the sixth of the Seven sacrificed blissful peace so that you might move as yourself.
-
In your uniqueness, discover your eternal law: for as eternal law, the seventh of the seven created your self in uniqueness, and will lead it out of uniqueness as eternal law.
For Clara Motzkus' notebook, 1903
Aum - Unite yourself, O my soul, with the wisdom that I honor, which flows through everything, from which everything comes, and to which everything goes; I call upon it, that its light may guide me.
Aum - Unite yourself, O my soul, with the love of the universe that I honor, which flows through everything, from which everything comes, and to which everything goes; I call upon it, that its light may guide me.
Aum - Unite yourself, O my soul, with the primordial being that I honor, which is in everything, from which everything comes, and to which everything goes; I call upon it, that its light may guide me.
Aum - Enlighten, oh primal being, my soul that honors you, that comes from you, and goes to you; it calls to you, that it may be guided by you.
Aum - Enlighten, O love of all, my desires, that they may honor you, that they may come from you and go to you; they shall call upon you, that they may be guided by you.
Aum - Enlighten, O Wisdom, my life, that it may live for you, that it may come from you and go to you; it shall call upon you, that it may be guided by you.
For Clara Motzkus, 1903
The seed of truth lies in love;
seek the root of love in truth
so speaks your higher self.
The heat of fire transforms wood into warming rays,
the liberating will of knowledge transforms work into power.
Let your work be the shadow cast by your ego when it is illuminated by the flame of your higher self.
Without faith, the work remains dead: it fans the breath of the work and carries it to the heights of the ether,
it sucks in the breath of the work and offers it as a sacrifice of the becoming to the existing.
July 1903 Notebook
Understand: that you stand on your feet.
Realize: that you walk in the earthly realm.
Realize: that you act through human power.
Realize: that you feel what the elements can give you.
Realize: that you want what the elements put into you.
Realize: that you are an elemental spirit that has become human.
Realize: that you should fix yourself with your actions.
Realize: that you should free yourself with your thoughts.
Realize: that you should deify yourself with your senses.
ca. 1903/04 Notepad 
In worlds vast and wide
The soul senses the motherly spirit of spheres
Feels from the depths of the earth
The soul feels the fatherly life spirit
Thus he reveals himself in the third, in man
One in three; three in one.
-
I absorb the flow of being
I flow from my being into the whole world -
I absorb the life of all beings
I flow from my life into all beings -
I absorb the feelings of all living things
I flow from my feelings into all living things. -
I absorb the thoughts of human beings into myself
I flow out of the meaningful will of all human beings -
The wisdom of things weaves within me
I flow out of myself with the gift of wisdom -
The creative power of the world glows within me
I flow from the power I have received. -
The eternally living Being lives in me
I live in the eternally living Being.
For Franz Seiler, 1904 Munich, August 1911
Knowledge can only be direction,
but direction is a stream of light;
and light is the guide of life
in every hour.
For Maria v. Strauch-Spettini March 1904
The power of growth is called to life by light
The power of desire is called to love by the spirit.
Autumn 1904 Notebook
I confess to myself: A
I confess to humanity: U
I confess to life: M
E.S. Berlin, December 21, 1904 Notepad
Father
Word
Spirit
The Father reveals himself to the Word
The Word reveals itself to the Spirit
The Spirit reveals itself to the Father
The Father hides himself in the Son and reveals himself to the Spirit
The Son hides himself in the Spirit and reveals himself to the Father
The Spirit hides itself in the Father and reveals itself to the Son
The Father reveals Himself [Herself].
For V. Berlin, July 2, 1904 Notebook
Spirit surrounds me
I = wave in the surging world spirit.
Spirit flows into the I
From the I, spirit flows
I want to grasp the spirit
I want to preserve the spirit
Spirit-All experiences Spirit-All in Spirit-I.
Notebook 1904
I draw the spirit to me
I calm the movement
I embrace the spirit
I burn as spirit
I shine as spirit
I name the spirit
I am spirit.
Notebook 1904
I sacrifice sensation - green
I sacrifice pleasure—indigo
I sacrifice myself—yellow
I want thought—red
I want love—orange
I want being—violet
Notebook 1904
My mind feels reverence
The sublime spirit,
Which shines through all spaces;
Feeling it, getting to know it
The deepest inner workings of my soul. It will enlighten me, warm me,
When I strive and think, always wanting to be close to it.
For Helene Lehmann, ca. 1905/06
Right after waking up:
Unresponsive to sensory impressions.
Thinking of nothing else but:
Even in spirit
You reign in the spheres
You shine in the light
You work in fire
You are wisdom, beauty, power
You are me
I want to be you.
For Johanna Mücke, 1906
In the pure rays of light
The divinity of the world shines forth.
In the pure fire of the ether
The high power of the self shines forth.
I rest in the spirit of the world,
I will always find myself
In the eternal spirit of the world.
Strength in my soul
For Johanna Mücke, ca. 1906
I want to rest in the divinity of the world
Find myself in the divinity of the world
Find myself and rest within
Rest, surrendering myself to God's grace
Feeling the grace of the spiritual powers within me
Feeling blissful peace through them
Calling them for my soul.
For Margarete v. Ploetz, ca. 1906
You rest in the divine world
You feel yourself in divine peace
Your soul experiences divine peace
Divine peace flows within you.
For Moriz Piza, ca. 1906
In the divinity of the world I rest
In the soul of the world I live
In the spirit of the world I think.
ca. 1906 Notebook
Spirits from below, keep the evil
Spirits from above, pray for the good
All spirits hover around, sacrificing themselves to the One who radiates around them.
1906 Notebook
I praise the almighty
Harmony in the house of the world
I thank the fire spirits for the wisdom of numbers
I praise the goodness of love souls
In their carrying power I feel the strength of the structure
So I grasp with gratitude, praise, and feeling
God's creative tones echoing within me.
For Hans Blieffert
Early February 1906 In the light-filled air of the spirit realm
There the soul roses bloom,
And their red shines
Into the heaviness of the earth;
It becomes condensed in human beings
Into the image of the heart:
It shines in the power of the blood
As the earth's rose red
Back into the fields of the spirit.
Three pairs solve the riddles of existence:
Power and number, light and wisdom
Warmth and desire; their binding and loosening
Reveals the “great world” to the researcher;
And if he can reveal their unity and division
In his soul
He stands in the spiritual realm.
DraftNotebook E.S. Cologne, December 1, 1906 Munich, August 1910
If I want to use the power
I search for the secret of numbers
I desire wisdom
I seek the essence in the light
I strive for revelation
It will come to me in the warmth of life.
Draft
The goal of my research is
Like power and number
Like light and wisdom
Like warmth and desire
I find in the universe
Draft
Reveal to me three pairs
Of eternal being and life
The mysteries of the great
And the small world:
Power and number
Light and wisdom
Warmth and will
Power and number
Light and wisdom
Warmth and will
Reveal to me three pairs
Of eternal being and life
The mysteries of the outside
And also of the inside of the world.
Notebook 1906
Speech, deeds, and words
Speak feelings and thoughts
Thus the world conceals its essence
Learn to be silent, and you will
Learn to be silent, and your spirit will become powerful
Surrender to power
I want to see the power of the mind
Through silence
I want to enter the realm of the mind
Through will
The will of the mind shall become mine
Through feeling
If I learn to be silent in deeds and words
I will grasp the spirit powerfully.
Draft fragments
Learn to be silent and you will have power.
Surrender to power and you will have will.
Surrender to will and you will have feeling.
Surrender your feelings and you will gain knowledge.
The human ego creates riddles
Riddles in the light of the sun
Riddles in the dark night
But clear in the true spirit shines
Light that solves every riddle
Unites the heart with this spirit
The peace of wisdom shines upon me.
Notebook 1907 It opens only to divine wisdom.
I stand steadfast in existence,
I let myself be guided by spiritual power,
I want to rest in God's being,
I want to search for myself in spiritual existence.
I will find myself within myself
When I find God in the universe.
So I will live forever and ever.
For Wilhelm Gneiting-Zimmermann, ca. 1907
In the pure rays of light
The divinity of the world shines
In the depths of my own being
The divinity of my self shines
I live in the divinity of the world
I always find myself in the divinity of the world
There I find my self.
For Henry B. Monges, ca. 1907
In the pure rays of light
The spirit of the world shines
In pure warmth for all beings
The soul of a life shines
I rest in the soul of the world
I will find myself
In the spirit of the world.
Notebook 1908
In darkness I find God's being 2
In rose red I feel the source of life 3
In the blue ether rests the longing of the spirit 4
In the green of life breathes the breath of all life 3
In the yellow of gold shines the clarity of thought 6
In the red of fire is rooted the strength of the will 7:
In the white of the sun is revealed the core of my being.
Entwuf Notebook 1908
In the morning:
Within me is an I that works from afar to near
From the near to the far.
Darkness: In darkness I find the divine being. Rose red: In rose red I feel the source of all life.
Blue: In the blue of the ether, the soul finds itself in devotion. Green: In the green of life, all life breathes.
Yellow: In the golden yellow shines the clarity of thought. Red: In the red of fire, the strength of the will is powerful.
White: In the white of the sun, the core of my being is revealed.
Notepad 1908 It surrounds me with an impenetrable vessel against all impure, unclean thoughts and feelings.
The self is all beings
All beings are the self
The self receives the revelation of beings
The revelation of beings radiates from the self
The self has within itself the effect of beings
The effect of beings is overcome by the self
The self is born from overcome effect
The overcome effect detaches itself from the self.
Notebook 1908
Evening: Truths from Theosophy
Morning: After the 🕈 and after recalling the truths from Theosophy:
I rest in the divinity of the world
I want to live in the soul of the world
I want to think in the spirit of the world.
For Marie Kaiser, ca. 1908
Meditation for protection against the outside world
The outer shell of my aura thickens.
For Elsa Möller
also E.S. Kassel, February 26, 1909
From the light-giving sun
Through life-giving streams
Into the receptive human soul
To the sustaining earth
Notebook 1910
In the pure rays of light
We find peace and strength
In the pure warmth of souls
We find strength and peace
You will find yourself
In the divinity of the world
Now and forever.
For Otto and Anna Rebmann 1910
In YOU, spirit of the world
I want to find myself
Find that the peace of YOUR being
Brings me peace of mind
Peace that guides me
In my life and my goals:
I in YOU.
For Auguste Daeglau, ca. 1910/11
The essence of the spirit fills
The vastness of space
Enlivens the succession of time
Shapes into sensation
The soul-body of the animal
And in humans
It tears itself away from the external work
In order to see itself.
Notepad 1910
I am a world tone
Resounding in the space of the world.
Living in sound as a feeling of the world
The word bursts forth from me.
For Alma v. Brandis, ca. 1910
Michael!
Prestami la tua spada
Affinché io sia armato
Per vincere il drago in me.
Empimi della tua forza
Affinché io sgomini
Gli spiriti che vogliono paralizzarmi.
Agisci dunque in me
In modo tale che risplenda la luce
del mio io e possa così esser condotto
A quelle azioni degne di te.
Michael!
For Giovanni Colazza, ca. 1910
Michael!
Lend me your sword
So that I may be armed
To defeat the dragon within me.
Fill me with your strength
So that I may confuse
The spirits that seek to paralyze me.
Work within me
So that the light may shine
From my soul, and I may be guided
To actions worthy of you.
Michael!
Back translation
Weaving beings of light, it shines Through the vastness of space,
To fill the world with being.
The blessing of love warms
The succession of times,
To call forth the revelation of all worlds.
And messengers of the spirit unite
Beings weaving light
With the revelation of the soul;
And when man can unite with both
His own self,
He lives in the heights of the spirit.
Munich, August 1910
Beings of light, they shine
From person to person,
To fill the whole world with truth.
The blessing of love warms
The soul to the soul,
To bring about the bliss of all worlds.
And messengers of the spirit unite
The blessed works of human beings
With world goals;
And when the two can unite
The human being who finds himself in man,
Spiritual light shines through the warmth of the soul.
For Mieta Waller, ca. 1910
🕈
In the divinity of the world
My being rests
In the spirit of the world
My soul rests
In the soul of the world
My spirit rests
Thus forever.
For Walter Hering
November 21, 1910
God in me holds me and builds
me through myself.
Flaws in me are the manifestation
of flaws within me.
To recognize myself in me means
to reveal myself to myself through myself
for myself.
Only what I create in
myself through myself to reveal
myself to myself in myself
emerges from me.
Notebook 1910
It presses upon the human mind
From the depths of the world, mysterious
The rich abundance of matter
It flows into the depths of the soul
From the heights of worlds, full of meaning
The clarifying light of the spirit
They find themselves in the inner being of man
To wise reality.
For Lina Schliephak-Utter December 5, 1910
World thoughts live in your thinking,
World forces weave in your feelings,
World beings work in your will.
Lose yourself in world thoughts,
Experience yourself through world forces,
Create yourself from beings of will.
Do not end in worlds far away
Through the play of dreams and thoughts - -;
Begin in the vastness of the spirit,
And end in the depths of your own soul: —
You will find divine goals,
Recognizing yourself within yourself.
World thoughts live in my thinking
World powers weave in my feeling
Beings of will work in my willing
I want to recognize myself
In world thoughts
I want to experience myself
In world powers
I want to create myself
in beings of will.
Thus I do not end at the ends of the world
nor at the limits of space
I begin at the ends of the world
and at the limits of space
and end only with myself
recognizing myself within myself.
For a Russian anthroposophist, 1912
He must sacrifice his uniqueness and life
Whoever wants to see spiritual goals
Through sensory revelation;
Whoever dares
In his own will
To pour out the will of the spirit.
Munich, August 1911
Thought, guide me
Feeling, lead me
To the will, to being
The paths of the worlds
To their own places
In the field of the spirit
I am.
Notebook 1911
In the small seed
The giant oak tree hides its growth
It rests in the small
The greatest soulful thing
And soulful within me
The essence of my spirit strives
To see itself in the vastness of the worlds.
Notebook 1911
My soul feels the spirit of the worlds
Gazing spiritually into the universe
My soul recovers spiritual strength
Turning inward
Finding power within itself
To hold itself
To support itself.
For Antoinette Fabre, ca. 1911
Salt cubes
The shape dissolving in water
The color coming to life
And unfolding into a lily
From which a white butterfly rises
This into a thinking spirit being
Flying into the universe
ca. 1911, notebook
I look at the plant
I let go of the earth
Two forces are at work:
Rays of light toward the sun
Which are entwined
By spiral streams of warmth.
With soulful thoughts, I imagine
The streams of such beings
Which separate the warmth of the plants
From the light of the plants.
Can I bring plant light
To life as a flame,
Repelling the warmth from itself
As in death, man repels his body,
So this leads me to Devachan.
ca. 1911, Notebook
I present to myself the mental image of the lion
As it appears to me in form and color
How it grows from small to large
How it rages in passions
All this takes place in the physical realm
But its essence is not exhausted
I let it flow down upon it from above
Invisible light formations
Animated by feelings
That long for the earthly
And guided by the will
Towards the earthly form
Then I let into these light formations
From below to above
A longing that strives for the vastness of the worlds
And held down by the upper structure
Then everything that the eye sees shall disappear
What remains leads me into the astral realm.
ca. 1911, notebook
-
Peace guide my searching soul
In its search for goodness -
Truth guide my striving soul
In its striving for light -
God in me guide me myself
In all my searching for light, love, and knowledge.
For Anna Wager Gunnarsson
April 20, 1912
My soul, take courage
To use your own strength.
August 1912
Spirit: It makes me think: piety
Chr.: It makes me feel: gratitude
Father: It makes me act: devotion.
For Julius Breitenstein
December 22, 1912
For Max Kändler December 1912
It weaves me - gratitude
It makes me think - piety
It affects me – devotion, reverence.
For Lucie Bürgi December 1912
Dear Wisdom Life
Fulfill me
Heart Soul Spirit
For a Russian anthroposophist, ca. 1912
My soul turns
upwards,
to feel
the maternal spirit of the world.
My soul turns
downwards,
to feel
the paternal soul of the earth.
I, your son,
seek you,
to receive
light, love, truth.
For Rudolf Toepell, ca. 1912/13
God is One
He reveals Himself in three forms.
God is one.
He manifests himself in three aspects,
If in the world's space
The soul senses the motherly spirit of spheres
If out of the depths of the earth
The soul feels the fatherly soul of life
Then in the third, in the human being,
One is manifested in Three;
Three in One.
For an English anthroposophist, ca. 1912/13
For Lucie Bürgi, ca. 1912/13
Spread out in the vastness of space
Spread out in the passage of time
I feel the omnipresent spirit
And when I look within myself
I feel it within me
I feel both as one
I find God within me.
For Walter Hering January 11, 1913
I shine / From the soul body / The soul body consumes / On the sun body / The sun body is in the sense body / So I am / As a consuming flame of life
For Lucie Bürgi, ca. 1913
Soul-I, you are on soul grounds in the soul space within me,
Soul space, your words work in vastness,
Soul grounds, your powers work in depths.
For Karl Wendel, 1913
In the vastness of the universe
The power that gave my soul existence
Was also stirring
So I will remember this power with anticipation
Trusting in it, hoping
That it will bring me the light
That always illuminates my life.
For Else Mletzko, 1913
When I look up at the sun
God appears to me in the light
I feel in my own heart
God's power beating in my blood
So I will cherish
As often as my soul urges me
To look for God's goodness
And I will pray
That often my soul urges me
It will give me peace
It will give me strength
And true vitality.
For Karla-Ruth Holz 1913
- God in me
- Spirit in every worldly gesture
- Unmoved mover
For Trifon G. Trapesnikov, ca. 1913
In the distance, the spirit image beckons
And the spirit image is with God
And a god is the spirit image
In him is the living self
And the living self is the light of mankind.
probably 1914 Notepad
The gods rule with pure will,
They sow the seeds and make them grow.
With pure will they reap the fruits,
And no one who enjoys them goes hungry.
For Ellen Rennit July 17, 1914
From above Ja
From the front Aum
From the left MEB
This is how you are
This is how you live
This is how you think
In 🕈
Peace in consciousness
Notepad 1914
Long live the power - Head
Of my soul - Heart
In peace — Lungs
In me — my whole body
And guides — Hands
My being — in suspension
In safety — guardian spirit
Notebook 1915
In bright heights
Where sun-glittering
The friendly dragonflies
Fluttering rays of warmth
Marry the living space
Linger there, my soul:
They weave my memories
From sorrow into strength;
I can already feel
How they feel me;
How they warmly
Flow through me;
The spirit melts
In the web of the world
The heaviness of the earth
into the light of the future.
Draft notebook
In bright heights
Where the sun glitters
The friendly dragonflies
Radiate warmth
Linger there, my soul
In thoughts of yourself
Feel yourself flying away!
The power you use
To soar aloft
Relieves you
Of the heaviness of the body.
Now feel also
What you have thought!
The dream of thought is not a dream
If you truly live my soul
Feeling it!
March 5, 1915 Notepad
It shines from above
The sun's bright light
But spiritual powers live
In the bright sunshine.
It lives within
The warmth of the human heart
But the powers of the soul shine
From the warm chamber of the heart.
In the spirit of sunlight
God's wisdom reigns
In warm heart power
There reigns soul love.
For Martha Kraul, ca. 1915
Darkness pervades the world
Black cross wood depicts it
Light redeems from darkness
Bright roses shining sevenfold
Are the revelators of light
And you, my soul
Reveal the secret to yourself.
(Soul peace) February 9, 1921
For Edith Maryon
For Arild Rosenkrantz, 1915
Prayer
Oh, powers in the spiritual world,
let me leave my physical body
and be aware in the world of light,
be in the light,
to observe my own body of light,
and let the power of the Ahrimanic forces
not be too strong over me,
that they do not make it impossible for me
to see what is happening in my light body.
V. Dornach, January 2, 1916
It weaves in worlds vast and wide
The creative spirit of the world;
From worlds vast and wide into my soul
It shines forth the power of life.
For Lucie Bürgi 1916
Root power of my soul
Turn to you, my self
Then the power of the spirit shines forth
Through my whole being.
Draft notebook
A breath from the spirit world is
What enters the body upon awakening
What leaves the body upon falling asleep
As the essence of the self flowing forth
Experienced in the changing sense of existence
In the breathing of the spirit web I am
Like air in the lungs
I am not the lungs; no, I am the breath
But the lungs are what know of me:
If I grasp this, I recognize
Myself in the spirit of the world.
For Marie Steiner
March 15, 1916
Search for your “I”
In forms of being
In the being of life
In the life of thinking
Think in feeling
Feel in willing
Willing forms
your “I”
Your “I”
shapes your will
Your will is the conscience of your feelings
Your feelings are the conscience of your thoughts
Your thoughts weave your life
Your life carries your being
Your being moves in world forms
Your “I” to its goal.
For Karl Habel, ca. 1916
Meditation words that seize the will
Victorious spirit
Set ablaze the powerlessness
Of timid souls.
Burn away selfishness,
Ignite compassion,
So that selflessness,
The life stream of humanity,
May flow as a source
Of spiritual rebirth.
September 20, 1919
I feel light around me,
It is the light of worlds;
I feel light within me,
It is the light of humanity;
And I want to receive
Human light as world light,
World light as human light.
For Georg-Moritz v. Sachsen-Altenburg after 1919
Ahriman, you are the cold spirit
My soul, you kidnap it
Into the realm of misanthropy
Lucifer, you are the power of fire
My soul, you kidnap it
Into the realm of self-will.
Between the two I must pass
Through the binding power of Christ
Through the sacrificial labor of Christ.
November 1920 Notebook
In the beginning, the light shone;
And the light came from the spirit;
And a spirit was the light.
And spirit becomes light,
When I feel the light
Through the divine,
That works in my soul.
For Otto Wagner 1919/23
The world lives within me
as human form and human content.
For Charlotte Ferreri 1920
With determination,
Knowing souls should intertwine:
With the intention of seeing the spirit
that stands at the gate
admonishing
in the will
to experience seeing
to become HIM through experience
to work in HIM
working in the world
to be truly human.
Notebook 1920
My soul rises
In devotion to the spirit of God
Who lives in the souls of all hierarchies
As I live in my thoughts
And I want to feel myself One
With this Spirit of God
And feel His power within myself.
ca. 1920 Notepad
I want to think powerfully
I want to reflect powerfully often
As what animates me within
The primal power of the spirit at all times
I want to feel strongly within me
The workings of the soul and the power of the will
I want to reflect in peace
That I may find support in the depths of my heart
When all is quiet
My soul within itself
And also powerfully
Wants to act out of itself.
ca. 1920 Notepad
Knowledge speaks to the human soul:
Consider fate
Behold it with patience;
You will find in beholding fate
You will, in feeling patiently:
Achieve your freedom
In freedom your bonds
With another soul
Essence.
Christ, the word of love from the sun
It lives in the ray of light
That penetrates my eyes.
And may Christ live
In my whole being,
And with my whole being
May I live in Christ.
Meditate on each line with strong feeling.
For Johanna de Boer-Gerlach May 1921
The universe awakens
The circle of heaven dreams
The planetary world sleeps
Earth beings rest
In rest, man watches
In sleep, man feels
In dreams, man wants
In waking, man does not exist
I am - I exist
I want - I pass away
I feel - I become
I think - I am not - it is.
July 1921 Notebook
It speaks within
I am
I speak to express
It is
I feel on the outside
It has an effect
I want from myself
I have an effect
Who wants to act of their own accord?
What acts outwardly?
Who speaks outwardly?
Who speaks inwardly?
Wanting, I know myself to be
in the acting outwardly.
For Kristian Schjelderup December 4, 1921
In
me
deep
below
God's foundation
supports me
For Rudolf Meyer
I feel my self
I belong to humanity
I come from the rich in soul
I am strong in the realm of the spirit.
For Rudolf Meyer
December 1921
Mental image:
World light also flows through me. —
May my prayer flow through the light of the world.
For Julia Marianne Wasteneys 1921
I speak to Christ:
Let your word be in my heart.
Christ to me:
My word be in your heart.
For Edith Rose Cull, August 31, 1922
Light shines upon me
Love warms me
I feel light
I feel warmth.
For Dorothy Osmond, 1922
I seek the spirit
It detaches itself from all things
It is within itself
It reveals from itself
the world
the thoughts
Me.
Notebook 1922
I let the waters of the world freeze
into crystal balls,
in which my thoughts shine —
I let my human fire burn brightly
and be destroyed in the will of the worlds.
Thus I hold myself in suspension
between solidification and ignition,
preserving my soul.
February 1923 Notebook
Light floods the vastness of space
Let the spirits of the worlds
My ego experience the flooding light
Pure world order
May 1923 Notebook
When I dive deep into the power of thought
I sense the spiritual
When I find myself in the darkness of thought
I feel the spiritual
When I lovingly grasp what is essential
In the darkness of worlds
I think spiritual thoughts.
May 1923 Notebook
Flowing away in the sea of existence with the death of space.
Dying in the world with the death of time.
Experiencing oneself in the death of space and time —
May 1923 Notebook
In my heart
The power of the sun shines
In my soul
The warmth of the world works.
I want to breathe
The power of the sun
I want to feel
The warmth of the world.
The power of the sun fills me
The warmth of the world permeates me.
For Simonne Rihouet-Coroze Paris, June 1924
I am: The heaviness of the earth works within me
I think: As I exhale, the human being works within me
I feel: As I inhale, the human being works within me
I want: The light of the universe acts within me
ca. 1923 Note sheet 1.)
I look into the universe, which is mine
perceived by my senses and thought by my mind, which is connected to the brain-nervous system. What constitutes my body originates from this universe. It has its center in my system of extremities. Spiritually, there is only the will. But this will lies dormant within me. I must awaken it.
2.) I think that behind the universe there is another universe that my senses cannot perceive and that my mind, which is bound to the brain-nervous system, cannot think. I was in this universe before I was born (conceived). I will be in this universe when I die. From this universe come the forces that built the heart-lung system into my body. Spiritually, there is feeling. But this feeling dreams within me. I must understand what dreams within my feeling:
In every thing
In all becoming
Life dreams;
I am dreaming,
Thinking disturbs me.
Dreams live,
Live in me
In waking dreams,
Conscious and clear:
I live,
Lives in me
Life-strengthened
Waking dream world.
From you, awakened from dreams
3.) I think to myself:
Both
the sensory reality
and the
dream-awakened reality
are in a
third
Completely supernatural, sublime, invisible,
intangible.
In this universe, I am only
asleep.
From this universe come the forces that
spiritually build my metabolic human being.
My intellect lives in it.
In the human being
That is there
Apart from the human physique
Lives spiritual being;
I am in spiritual being
But thinking disturbs me
Perceiving disturbs me
Feeling disturbs me
Wanting disturbs me
I live asleep
Lives in me
Spiritual world
World spirit —
So become conscious
From
Spiritual world
World spirit
Spirit-illuminated consciousness
Conscious luminous spirit
The high reality
The sleep-awakened
I grasp
Wakeful judgment
It carries on its waves
The old reality,
Which my eyes showed me
And the new reality
Which my dreams wove for me.
O high reality
Call my self
To wakefulness
Let it forget
New reality
And old reality.
For Edith Maryon, ca. 1923
The following mental images should slowly pass through the mind:
Before me
Far away
Stands a star
It comes closer and closer
Spirit beings
Send me love
Starlight
The star dips
Into my own heart
It fills it with love
The love in my heart
Becomes in my soul
The power of love
I know that I
can also form
within myself
the power of love.
For Yvonne Gygax-Kraft 1923
Meditation for gaining the self
I look into the darkness:
In it, light arises,
Living light.
Who is this light in the darkness?
It is I myself in my reality.
This reality of the self
Does not enter into my earthly existence.
I am only an image of it.
But I will find it again,
When I,
With good will for the spirit,
Have passed through the gate of death.
V. London, September 2, 1923
I look into the darkness
In it light arises
Living light
Who is this light in the darkness
It is I myself
It did not go with me into earthly existence
I am only an image of it
I will meet it again
When I have passed through the gates of death. —
Draft It sinks into me
The primordial dust
It excites me (black-blue)
They enliven me (blue)
They flame within me
The angel fires
They form me into a soul (red)
They float within me
The archangel drops
They shape me into spirit. (yellow-red)
It rises within me
The primordial force dust
It awakened me to God. (white-red)
September 1923 Notebook
I take you into the circle of minds that may invoke the impulses of the spirits of the sun and say that the spirits of the moon transform these impulses into world wisdom.
Do you want to hear my word from this spirit?
2 16 12 6 4
o o o o o
H I E R A O
If you feel yourself in these words of spirit, the spirits of the sun and moon circles will recognize you.
They will let you find them; they would have to reject you if you let it fall from your heart. —
Form a mental image of yourself sitting on the branch of a tree — it holds you because your word is shining in the spiritual heights — speaking wrongly, you cut the branch beneath you and fall into the ‘abyss’. —
September 1923 Notebook
I. Look for the 7 wherever there is something spiritual, or something spiritual is happening.
II. Recognize that what is in the world is also in you, and what is in you is also in the world.
III. Watch everything disappear in a spiral and become again:
ca. 1923 Notebook
Warmth sinks into my self
Given to me from the source of being.
I awaken feeling this warmth.
- Power radiates into my body
Coming to me from the power of the sun.
I awaken in the willing use of the sun's power.
- Sunlight shines in my heart
Shining upon me from the sunlight.
I awaken in the will of the sun.
- The world's thoughts work in my being
Stirred within me by thoughts of the stars.
I awaken magically in the thinking of the world.
September 1923 Notebook
What I speak from my physical body is appearance — Tchmuss speak from my astral body to penetrate into true reality:
-
You spirits beneath the earth press down on the soles of my feet. I stride over you.
-
You spirits of moisture caress my skin. I press you down on all sides.
-
You spirits of the air fill my inner being. I connect with you.
-
You spirits of warmth animate my inner being. I live in you.
-
You spirits of light permeate my inner being. I think with you.
-
You spirits of (chemical) forces paralyze my powers. I will overcome you.
-
You spirits of life, you kill my life. I await you in death.
Thus, saying this, I am in the etheric body. And you may come: colors, sounds, words of the etheric world.
For Ita Wegman, October 1923
Immortal, omnipresent light
I entrust my soul to you
My soul's light weaves
In the weaving light of the world
I feel light
Light in a tiny point
Light that expands into boundless expanses
Light that carries my whole being
Into boundless expanses
I feel myself in boundless expanses
I am pure, translucent light
October 1923 Notebook
I grasp the spirit world
At the end of my light soul
I hold the spirit world
With my arms of light
I feel your side
You want to take me
Into worlds of light and spirits
October 1923 Notebook
I look down
And find the pillars of life
Through the good lower gods
I look up
And find the grace of life
Through the good upper gods
I want to find my way out of my heart
In gratitude to them
Through life.
For Daniel van Bemmelen January 3, 1924
In the name of the light of the world,
Which shines brightly through space;
In the name of the world thought,
Which creates wisely in times;
In the name of world life,
Which works powerfully in eternity
Receive the blessing of the Spirit
Which carries you in the warmth of the heart,
Which brings you the breath of the Spirit,
That gives you the water of the soul,
That shapes your physical form;
That you may be strong in your will,
That you may live deeply in your feelings,
That you may work with light in your thoughts.
For Henry B. Monges, February 17, 1924
World light, it changes daily
To earthly light and awakens human thought;
World warmth, it became prematurely
Earthly warmth, to live in human feeling;
World air, in timelessness it became
Earth air, to work in human will;
O human being, recognize yourself as a luminous, warm spirit of air,
O human being, experience yourself as the true victor
Over light, air, and warmth.
March 15, 1924
For Marie Steiner
I can know
That the thoughts
From the Goetheanum
Will help me.
For Simone Rihonöt-Coroze
May 23, 1924
Morning and evening.
In the vastness of the world
Soul power works for all people
Spiritual power works for all souls
I want to breathe soul power
I want to feel spiritual power
To be a God-filled
For Mrs. Renwald
July 1924
See, my eye
The pure rays of the sun
From the earth, beings of form;
See, you, my heart
The spiritual powers of the sun
From the waves of the water.
See, you, my soul
The will of the sun's worlds
From the glittering light of the air;
See, you, my spirit
The sun's divine beings
From the fire's streams of love.
September 1924 Notebook
In the vastness of the spatial world
Bright light reigns,
So that things may reveal themselves;
In the depths of the human heart
The light becomes the power of thought,
So that souls may live.
Light of the heart and light of the world:
In finding them, God lives
In sacrificial human souls.
Thus man watches
In the course of the sensory world. - -
In the vastness of the spiritual world
Darkness reigns, extinguishing meaning,
So that the spirit can reveal itself;
In the life of the human soul
Darkness becomes God's light,
So that people breathe spirit.
Spirit of the soul and spirit of the world of God:
In finding them, man lives
In God's work, radiant with grace.
Thus the soul sleeps
In the course of the spiritual world. - -
And draws watchers into slumber,
And draws sleepers into waking light
Thus appears God's creation
In the revelation of the worlds of the senses.
For Father Giuseppe Trinchero
September 9, 1924
Within you lives the human being
Who sees God face to face, who is eternal,
And who is in the circle of the seven great spirits
It is above everything in you
that is angry or fearful
It reigns with the powers of the upper world
And the powers of the lower world serve it
It has control over its own life and health, and can do the same for others.
Nothing can surprise it; no misfortune can befall it; it cannot be confused or overcome.
It knows the essence of the past, present, and future.
It possesses the secret of resurrection from death and of immortality.
Notepad, ca. 1924
For Johanna Mücke
In the heart
Lives a human being
That contains all
Matter,
That is most spiritual;
That of all
Lives spiritually
In the way that most
Reveals itself materially.
Therefore, the sun
In the human universe
Is the heart;
Therefore, in the heart
The human being
Is most
In the deepest source
Of his being.
October 29, 1924
Sun, you bearer of rays
The power of your light
Enchants life from the earth
Immeasurably rich depths.
Heart, you soul-bearing
Your light's spiritual power
Enchants life from the human
Immeasurably deep interior.
When I look at the sun
Its light speaks to me radiantly
Of the spirit that graciously
Rules through the beings of the world.
When I feel into my heart
The spirit speaks its own words
Of the human being whom it
Loves through all time and eternity.
Looking upward, I can see
In the sun's bright circle
The mighty heart of the world
Looking inward, I can feel
In the warm beating of my heart
The animated human sun.
For Charlien Hupkes-Wegman
November 1924
Look into the realm of your soul,
And there you can feel
All the light forces of the worlds
And God's work in the course of time.
Look into the sun-world realms
And there you can see
The light of your own heart's spirit
And also the creative power of your soul.
And so the human soul
In the depths of the heart
Worlds, stars, heights,
And the human eye
In the worlds, stars, heights
The deep weaving of the spirit
And find happiness. —
For Charlien Hupkes-Wegman
For Marie Steiner
November 1924
To my dear Marie as meditation, not at a specific time, but at leisure. Christmas 1924
In the vastness of the stars
To places of the gods
Turn your spiritual gaze
My soul.
From the vastness of the stars
From places of the gods
The power of the spirit flows
Into my soul.
For the vastness of the stars
To places of the gods
My spiritual heart lives
Through my soul.
In my walking
I overcome the heaviness of the earth
In my gaze
I carry the human spirit
In my heart
The power of the sun wells up
In my breath
Lives the power of the soul
In the air
Blows the work of God
In the stars
Works the light of the spirit, conqueror of worlds
So I think, feel, and will
Through time and eternity.
For Hans Werner Zbinden 1924
In my aura
I see
With Michael's eye
With Christ's power
With sacred power:
How reigns
Within me
The divine-spiritual.
The divine-spiritual
From higher worlds
Radiates through me;
The divine-spiritual
From the far reaches of the universe
Surges through me.
Divine-spiritual
From deep earth clefts
It flows through me.
The stars
From above
Carry divine-spiritual
Through me
The sun
Circling
Sinks divine-spiritual
Into me
The earth
From below
Supports divine-spiritual
In me.
Notepad 1924
Find yourself in the light
With the soul's own sound;
And sound atomized,
Becomes a color image
In the light
Light - gods - beings.
Sound that has disappeared
Sound resurrected in it
Speaks from it:
You are
Intrinsic sound in the light of the world
Sounds shining
shine resounding.
Notebook 1924
Seraphic powers of fire
You shine from my heart
Cherubic formative forces
You shine in my head
The throne-bearing powers
You are powerful in my limbs
My I is YOURS.
Eurythmy form
Notebook 1924
Feel within the head
Seek the path to etheric worlds
Feel within the words
It leads into soul worlds
Experience the circle of the hands
Penetrate into spiritual realms
Thus I find myself in the universe.
Note sheet undated
As a sign of the world spirit
My soul rises longingly
...
In the bright light of rose rays
I behold the power of the spirit.
In the depths of my soul
Awaken the same spiritual power
Carry me, hold me, guide me.
Notation sheet undated
The sun shines
On the darkness of matter;
So shines the spirit
All-healing being
In the darkness of the soul
In my human existence.
As often as I reflect
On its powerful force
In true warmth of heart
It shines through me
With its midday spiritual power.
undatable
My soul follows the light of the sun
My soul is a being of light
Following the sun, it finds
Light as light.
For Wilhelm Selling undatable
Sun above me
Sun on the blue sky
I on the earth star
The earth glows green
Into the vastness of the worlds
Green plants give the earth
Uniform green as the color of the stars
Divine metallic forces
Inside the homes of the gnomes
Color red, blue, yellow
The star blossoms
On the green plant star ground.
Notepad, undated
I have descended from the stars.
I will rise to the stars.
I will act with Michael.
I will live for Christ.
For Alfred Meebold undated Being ignorant of the workings of the world
Cools one's own self.
In the deepest part of the human being
Is the firm center
In all situations in life
build on the spirit
that dwells in this center.
For Edith Brend Lewis undated
The spirit is the root of human existence
The spirit is the source of true vitality
My heart clings to the spirit
Thus I find myself within myself.
For a Finnish anthroposophist, undated
In quiet struggle
In the light-seeking
Life of the soul
My self carries me
Towards the source
From humanity
Draw its essence.
Notepad, undated
You seek
The light of the spiritual world:
Search within yourself,
And you will surely find it.
You seek
For your own essence:
Search in the workings of the world,
And you will surely find it.
The darkness of one's own being:
It darkens the world.
For Hans Hasso v. Veltheim, undated
World beings unite
As soul image forces
Thought creators
In my heart
They find themselves
In spiritual activity
With the goodness of will
In the human ego
Into the human ego
Flows the goodness of will
Towards spiritual activity
To illuminate themselves
In my heart
In the power of world thoughts
To find soul-bright
World-being.
Notepad, undated
Know yourself
In your heart is the power
In your soul is the strength
Seek strength through the soul
Search through your heart for strength
The strength that says within you:
Know yourself.
Know yourself
The strength that says within you:
Search through your heart for strength
Search through your soul for strength
In your soul is strength
In your heart is the power
Know yourself.
undatable
I feel
Power in my hands
Strength in my feet
I feel
Love in my heart
Light in my head
I feel
God's soul in my breath
God's will in my speech
God's spirit in my senses.
undatable
Imagine a triangle made up of three stars, one of which radiates love, the second strength, and the third wisdom.
☆ Love (red)
☆ Strength (blue)
☆ Wisdom (yellow)
Then meditate on this:
Act in love
Be enlivened by strength
Strive in wisdom
Fulfill my I-AM.
This can then be repeated several times a day.
undatable
Those who want to know God must want God—will.
Those who want to know the Logos must feel the Logos—love.
Those who want to know the Spirit must think the Spirit—light.
Those who want to help people must find the fire—fire.
Notepad, undated
I carry within me what has been,
I feel within me what is becoming,
In my will, I carry both toward the future.
Faith looks to what has been and is founded in truth,
trust looks to what is becoming and is rooted in the future,
love embraces in the moment
that which has become eternal
that which is eternal.
undatable
Inhale and think:
The highest power of nature
flows into me with my breath.
Hold your breath:
All power rests within me.
As you exhale:
I flow out all the good
that I am capable of.
undatable
I breathe in the power of life from the blue distance
I breathe my own self into the blue distance
ca. 1923 Notepad
The world gives me the breath of physical life
The breath lives and dies in me as spirit
I give the dead, spiritualized breath to the world
Not in Rudolf Steiner's handwriting:
simultaneously | inhale | hold breath | exhale
Note sheet undatable