# The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1912–1918

## GA 277a — 17 September 1912, Bottmingen

### The Dionysian Course II

The very next afternoon, we were allowed to come out to Bottmingen again. On this day, Rudolf Steiner spoke exclusively about consonants as a reaction to external influences, in contrast to the inner weaving and revealing nature of vowels. He began that afternoon by describing a certain external world:

"Imagine a very beautiful, peaceful evening landscape. Not grandiose, but soft, gentle rolling hills. In the background, the sun is setting between two hills. A few white clouds stand still, motionless in the sky, looking down on a lovely meadow valley. A small stream flows quietly, murmuring as if in a dream, trees and bushes stand on its banks and are reflected in its still waters, flowers bloom in the meadow, and on the slopes of the hills stand fruit trees full of ripening fruit. Perhaps in the distance, on one of the slopes, a person is still working quietly, enveloped in the peace of the evening. Nature rests, completely self-contained. And you walk through this valley, devoted and absorbed in this peaceful atmosphere; and with every thing, be it a tree, the sun, the clouds in the sky, the flowers and bushes in the meadow, the stream at your side, the person in the distance, the fruit on the trees, you feel at one and connected with everything and greet each one with this movement.

And then he made an indescribably gentle, softly descending hand movement with his palm facing downwards, several times in succession, repeatedly raising his relaxed hand upwards, and then again, descending downwards with his fingertips stretched rather than extended. It was like a leaf that had detached itself from its branch and, carried by the air, gently descended to the ground. “That is a d. Learn to feel it as a reaction to a resting external influence. Practice it from this mood, and with each ”This through you" turn to another thing in this outer world. You should be seized by the mood just described right down to your feet and try to express it in the way you walk.

> d Reaction to a calm external influence / This through you
> “Imagine a beautiful, completely calm, completely peaceful evening atmosphere. A valley in a gently rolling landscape. In the west, between two hills, the sun is setting. Individual, harmoniously shaped clouds stand quietly in the sky, no wind drives them or changes their shape. A stream flows quietly and calmly through the meadows, individual trees and bushes lean over it, flowers bloom at its edges. In the distance, on a slope, perhaps a single person is still working, calmly and steadily, completely absorbed in their activity. Everything breathes tranquility, balance, and peace. Every single thing rests completely within itself, without questions or any desire for its environment. And now you walk through this landscape, enveloped in the same peace, noticing every detail, responding to each with a gesture that breathes the same calm and unity: this through you, O sun, this through you, O hill, O cloud, O flower, O human being. You are out there, resting in yourselves without why, and so I respond to you and live myself into you, breathing the same peace, the same desireless calm.”
> Like autumn leaves, they sank without heaviness, as if carried by the air, quietly descending and pointing to each individual thing: “This through you.”

Finally, Rudolf Steiner spoke about the Oriental educator, who is so different from ours. He walks calmly beside or behind his pupil, pointing out everything around him, stones, plants and animals, mountains and seas, the sky with all its lights and clouds, letting him feel and experience storms and thunderstorms, and the only thing he does is tell his pupil the names of all these things. But he himself is called: the Dada. “And that is also a d. This is through you.”

Then his voice changed, and he said animatedly: "And now imagine a violent gust of wind suddenly blowing into this peaceful scene. The clouds darken the sun, the stream makes waves, trees and bushes bend low into the water, apples fall from the trees, your hat is blown off your head, and the man up there waves to you excitedly. Loud questions and demands come at you from the outside world, which was so peaceful just a moment ago. ‘Pick us up,’ the apples beg, ‘get me back,’ the hat calls, ‘don't come too close,’ the stream warns, ‘make sure you get under a protective roof,’ the man wants to say with his waving. And now you respond with the same movement, but now very energetically and elastically!“ And again he demonstrated the movement, always a short, energetic downward movement and an elastic upward movement on all sides (but not yet in the upper sphere as in 1924). ”And so you learn to feel an F, a response to an inviting influence. ‘For joyful celebrations.’ And again, try to express with your feet that you have understood this invitation."

> f Reaction to an inviting influence / for joyful celebrations
> But then suddenly a strong wind rises, and everything changes. The clouds no longer stand as harmonious formations in the sky; they rush by, constantly changing shape and color. Instead of calm and peace, there is lively movement and ever-changing events. The quietly flowing stream suddenly makes waves and calls out to me eagerly, murmuring inviting greetings. The trees shake in the wind and throw their fruits at me, or they lean over the stream and dip their branches into its waves; grass and flowers, even shrubs, are pressed to the ground and rise again, trembling. A violent gust of wind blows my hat off my head, the man over there suddenly sees me and calls and waves to me. Everything is startled out of its calm and self-absorption. I myself must decide: do I want to seek refuge under those trees? Should I follow the invitation of the man over there, who is calling me into a nearby house? Or do I want to continue walking through this storm, opposing it with my own strength, defying it with laughter? A multitude of questions, suggestions, and demands assail me from the changed outside world, and I must respond to them differently.
> f: “Reaction to an inviting influence. For joyful celebrations.”
> Rudolf Steiner also demonstrated this movement several times. His hands did not float gently down from above, but sprang down with an energetic, elastic movement, and his feet also stamped the ground briefly and firmly.

Furthermore, I should try to imagine and picture in every detail an ugly, repulsive, disgusting, but for the time being also “peaceful” outside world, just as he had described this first, beautiful, peaceful, tranquil world. One should also experience oneself as being placed in this world, but only reluctantly and unwillingly putting one foot in front of the other, making a calm but clearly defensive hand gesture against each of these openly presented uglinesses. “Learn to feel g as a defensive reaction.”

> Defensive reaction / enjoy greedily enough [go quite happily
> Then we moved on to g: “Now you must try to paint yourself a very vivid picture of an outside world that is also calm, but unattractive, disgusting, repulsive, or abhorrent.” — Let's try it. Perhaps an old, dilapidated cellar vault or a cave-like gorge. Water drips monotonously somewhere into the depths, owls and bats flit around, disgusting vermin cover the slippery ground, it seems to lurk behind every bend — and we have to go through it! Quietly, carefully, just don't draw the attention of all these creatures to us! Hesitant, inhibited, not striding fully, we set foot down. We are still unnoticed, unattacked. Nevertheless, let's try to erect something like a wall between ourselves and this outside world with a sweeping gesture, at least creating a small circle of cleanliness and clarity around us.

And if this outside world is also disturbed by something and takes on a malicious, threatening attitude, then this defense must be strengthened; in short, the g must then become an &, a similar [but] more purposeful gesture than before with the f. “k is to g as f is to d.”

> k + defensive reaction / barely able to

But if you were really being harassed and attacked, then you should defend yourself with an energetic “repulsive” movement. With an h movement - “And if something completely Luciferian comes along, then you can also do ‘this’!” And smiling cheerfully, he performed a rather powerful kick with his left leg, apparently at some imaginary target!

> h repulsive reaction / hyenas are howling here today
> And now it's getting really dangerous. Everything is penetrating us and pressing in on us from all sides. Now we really have to defend ourselves: b - Repulsive reaction. Today, hyenas are howling here. - “And when something truly Luciferic comes at you, then you can also do an energetic ‘kick’ with your foot,” and with a cheerful smile, Rudolf Steiner demonstrated it vigorously.

And then Rudolf Steiner clung to the five sounds d f g k h that had been explained and briefly noted down until then and said: “If you later have to deal with children or adults who are excited, restless, and nervous, then this sequence of sounds d f g k h can have a calming and relaxing effect.”

> calming
> This first group, d f g h k, expresses a very specific relationship to the outside world. We face it, react to it, but remain unchanged in our essence. We respond to it as far as we like and find it pleasant. We ward off and reject anything that might somehow disturb us. This group has a “calming” effect and can therefore be used therapeutically [to] encourage agitated, nervous people to ward off everything that disturbs them from outside with g h k; but to resonate with and be attentive to everything beautiful and alive in d or f.

The next sound has a completely different character. With it, the , one should try to become aware of free development everywhere in nature, to witness it and try to express this feeling through an arm and hand movement. Of course, this is most clearly perceived in plants. The grasping and gathering of strength in the region of the roots, the transport of sap through the stem, the gradual unfolding of the leaves, the blossoming of the flowers, and finally their sinking back to the earth as they wither. “You should be able to express an entire year in this movement.” But one should also learn to feel this free unfolding in the watery, in the airy, even in the formations of the earth, in the towering mountains, in the gentle waves of the hills. “Just don't ever try to express this sound with your feet.”

> L Becoming aware of free unfolding / living gently (l can never be marked with / feet)
> l — “Becoming aware of free unfolding” — that means becoming aware and imitating, connecting with everything that is becoming, creating, and forming outside in nature. It means witnessing everything in the plant world: sprouting, growing, blooming, bearing fruit, but also wilting and decaying. It also means empathizing with towering, towering, undulating, meandering forms in mountains and valleys; it means empathizing with air and light, with spraying and evaporating water. How agile, malleable, and nuanced our soul can become through the letter l!

This was followed by the letter m. Here, one should usually focus all one's attention and all one's tentative feelings on feeling the something in which one is moving. In warmth or cold, in sultriness or freshness, in rain or fog. Feeling how the wind brushes past your body or how water has to be displaced when you perhaps wade through a stream. How different it is to walk on a flat path than through tall grass, different on sand than on stony ground. Yes, at first the hands should only be bent up and down so that you can also feel the space above your own head: “Feeling yourself in something.”

> M Feel yourself in something / Encourage ordinary body movements / or bending up and down [movement?] of the / hands / walking through the wind
> m — “Feeling yourself in something, walking through the wind,” walking through water, walking through warmth, coolness, cold, and each time walking differently, feeling differently, understanding differently.
> n Rudolf Steiner demonstrated this to me and had me imitate it. With this movement, it is just as clear as with / and m that these are often really movements that can be observed in one's own larynx and its neighboring organs and demystified by imitation. Incidentally, Rudolf Steiner pulled his hand back just as flat, but probably a little more relaxed, as he had stretched it out away from himself—as if feeling something touching it.
> N Temporary connection / Not only no / (flat hands away from oneself and then towards oneself)
> In contrast, n – “only temporarily connected,” touching fleetingly and then withdrawing again, towards one's neighbor. Nibbling, snacking, teasing, but also no, never, need that n. There is hardly a language that does not negate with a “.”

He also demonstrated p. Sitting, he reached down with both hands and pulled a wealth of color and light around him like a starry cloak. It was an inimitable movement full of dignity and grandeur.

> P Envelopment / whistling praise / hands with palms facing outwards / at ear level - when entering.

Regarding q, he only said that it should be used sparingly, like dissonance in music. This healing measure is already expressed in the little exercise phrase: “Push across, work vigorously.”

> Q Painful reaction / push across - work vigorously - press everything / from limbs / to the body
> And so this second group leads us completely into the outside world in the most diverse ways, right up to “painful reaction”!

Rudolf Steiner also summarized these five sounds l m n p q and said: "This group has an exciting, stimulating effect. You must let people who come to your class tired, exhausted, and sleepy do them. They will wake up again, become stimulated and interested."

> [Transcription as above, summarizing:] exciting

Finally, he spoke about r, about being carried away—when the wind blows you away. Of course, neither he nor I could demonstrate or try it in the small room. However, Dr. Steiner emphasized very clearly that one must always try to “catch the moment when the step turns into a run.” r has neither a calming nor a stimulating effect, but is neutral and affirming, and should therefore be done and practiced every time after such a sequence of sounds. For “it brings everything that has gone before into a proper relationship with what is already there.” This sentence, which gives much food for thought, can be quietly tested and experienced on oneself through repeated, attentive practice, namely by repeatedly trying to do what Rudolf Steiner said at the very beginning, “to take the heart into the head.”

> R Carried away (when the wind blows you away. / Towards the right edge / (where the step turns into a / run) neutral / but affirming.
> The last sound Rudolf Steiner discussed that day was the r, which he described in this context – “calming” and ‘exciting’ – as “neutral but affirming” and used as the conclusion for each of the two groups. “The r reinforces the desired effect with what is already there. r — being carried away when the wind blows you away, where the step turns into a run.”

Then he talked about how to achieve a truly real experience of the consonants. One should really experience them intensively out in nature, which he had repeatedly mentioned and described that day. He really said (unfortunately, people never believe me enough to try it themselves): "Go outside and let yourself be carried away by the wind in the r. See how reeds or grain, how shrubs and trees are blown back and forth by the wind. Try to go along with all these movements, because even standing still you can experience being carried away.“ Or walk down a steep slope and feel how you start to ”run." There is r there too. — Try to feel your way through thick fog or darkness in m, or feel the difference between sun and shadow through this sound. - Feel the softness of one bark and the roughness of the other, the velvety texture of a flower, but also a hot oven or a piece of ice in this ‘temporary connection’. - Try to form a p when you enter a hut or a forest.“ In this way, you could achieve an inner experience and fulfillment of all these consonants. ”You must learn to pay attention to this one, subtle moment when the step becomes a run, not because you want it to, but because the wind does it." And he went on to say: "It will be very good to seek out, experience, and imitate these very consonants that I have told you about today, out in nature in the different moods that I have described to you. Experience and practice an n outside by really walking through the wind or in the fog. Let yourself be carried away by the wind. Slip sensitively into the branches of a tree swaying back and forth in the wind."

I would like to pass on Dr. Steiner's advice emphatically. Really learn your consonants out there in nature, turn to stone and plants, to sun and stars, wind and waves. You will find nowhere else such greater diversity, such finer nuances, such better, more inspired ideas.

> d the reaction to external influence -/ Corresponding hand movements, e.g. / this through you  
> f the reaction to an inviting influence / for joyful celebrations  
> g defensive reaction / quite happy to go  
> h repulsive reaction / here shepherds howl today  
> K averting reaction / hardly able to  
> L becoming aware of free development / living long and leisurely  
> M comfortable reaction - feeling at home in something / encouraging with courage  
> N Temporary connectedness / Not just no  
> P Envelopment / whistling praise  
> Q Painful reaction / pushing across - breaking turbulently  
> R Being carried away  
> S Direction toward the right edge  
> T Compelling sublime reaction  
> W The frightening

*Rudolf Steiner's preparatory notes for this lesson*

> D: Reaction to a calming influence  
> G: Defensive reaction —  
> K: Defensive reaction +  
> H: Repulsive reaction  
> L: Becoming aware of free development [related j]  
> N: Temporary connectedness - [like grasping something]  
> P: Feeling of being enveloped by something - e.g., when one wants to suggest that one is dancing in a hut—  
> Q: Painful reaction
> R:

> V. to feel—to hold something in one's hand or even just to touch it—  
> S—always moving or shaping something together with an object—  
> F—reaction to a demanding influence  
> B: holding something in your hand that has an effect on your body —  
> M: feeling (as if in the air) normal walking movement or bending your hands up and down — as if walking through the wind — [as if pushing the air back]  
> R: carried away when the wind blows (where walking turns into running)