The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1923–1925
GA 277d — 30 April 1924, Stuttgart
Conference on Eurythmy Training
An incomplete stenographic record of unknown origin is available from the following conference for eurythmy school teachers and lecturers at the Eurythmeum in Stuttgart; in addition, there are notes from various participants. A transcript of the stenogram was supplemented by Alice Fels; her additions have been included and marked below. The drawings in the text are from notes by Eugen Kolisko, which are otherwise very fragmentary. A second document was included: the detailed notes by Walter Johannes Stein, which supplement the stenogram transcript in some points. In addition to Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner, those present included the eurythmy teachers Alice Fels, Hedwig Köhler, Ilona von Molnär, Elly Wilke, the chairman of the “Eurythmeum” association Jose del Monte, as well as the specialist lecturers Caroline von Heydebrand (for pedagogy), Carl Unger (general anthroposophy), Eugen Kolisko (anthropology), Walter Johannes Stein (poetics and aesthetics), and Hermann von Baravalle (geometry).
Alice Fels supplemented the shorthand transcript according to her notes. These additions are shown below in italics and square brackets.
Marie Steiner asks Rudolf Steiner to take over the chairmanship of the conference.
Rudolf Steiner: As Dr. Steiner considers necessary, we will first of all have to talk about eurythmy as such. We will first deal with the general question of eurythmy and then move on to the regulation of literary, history, aesthetics, anthroposophy, pedagogy, and mathematics on the basis of what might be desirable in such a eurythmy school.
I would ask you to bring up what concerns eurythmy itself first, so that I can then discuss the other matters afterwards.
Mrs. Fels thought that one should have a certain goal, something concerning the development of eurythmy teaching for future teachers.
Rudolf Steiner: That's right, the thing is this: first of all, the Eurythmeum was founded to cultivate eurythmy as an art form.
Marie Steiner: Both have been considered; the vast majority of students are likely to become teachers.
Rudolf Steiner: Eurythmy as an art subject: that would be the same whether you were training to perform or to teach. Here, people want to be finished in three years. Anyone who goes to ballet knows that it takes five to seven years. And then they have already started practicing when they were very young. [To Alice Fels: You cannot really train a eurythmy teacher in less than five years. It is more possible for the stage. Most of the time, eurythmy lessons are taught in the same way as galloping consumption is taught among diseases.]
In contrast, there are two other types to be distinguished. There is eurythmy integrated into a regular school as a subject of instruction. Training in eurythmy includes artistic eurythmy lessons. However, if such a personality is to be trained to be employed as a teacher in a [public] school — within the overall curriculum — then a seminar would be necessary. The pedagogy of eurythmic art would have to be separated from the seminar training (seminar-based training) for eurythmy teachers in schools.
The third is therapeutic eurythmy, which can only take place in conjunction with doctors and is not relevant here. The question of a seminar is something that is debatable. And eurythmy teaching will hardly undergo any special modification for eurythmy teachers compared to artists.
[To Alice Fels: Have you ever heard of a college of art teaching pedagogy? The Eurythmeum should be a college for the art of eurythmy.] This is not done in other fields either; training is not provided separately; teaching must be uniform. For those who want to become eurythmy teachers from the outset, who want to devote themselves to it, there should be special instruction in teaching eurythmy. This would have to be set up.
Now, it is not possible to go into detail during a conference, but if the course in Dornach, which was suggested by Dr. Steiner and where eurythmy will once again be taught from the beginning, comes to fruition, then aspects of teaching eurythmy could be incorporated into it. This must be cultivated in a comprehensive manner.
Alice Fels asks about the cause of knee problems among eurythmists.
Rudolf Steiner: One thing comes up again and again. I am presented with many people who are seriously or slightly ill, including eurythmists. Knee problems occur very frequently. But the knee can only benefit and become stronger through eurythmy. It is completely impossible for eurythmy to damage the knee, neither the leg nor the muscles. But everywhere I have observed that eurythmists who have problems with their legs or knees do not place their feet correctly. They tiptoe or strike the ground with the entire sole of the foot at once, whereas the correct way is to step down with the toes first and then lower the heel (dragging). Then nothing unhealthy can ever result from it.
There are many aspects to consider. This can be done during the course. Actors, for example, are also taught how to walk. Jumping in particular is terribly harmful if you only push off with your heels first or jump with your heels first.
Alice Fels notes that the correct way of walking is already contained in the three-part step.
Rudolf Steiner: Everything is contained, but some things are not taken into account. It is necessary to include instructions for eurythmy lessons. This does not belong in the seminar, it belongs in the Eurythmeum.
Alice Fels: In school, children need to be allowed to calm down after class. Is this also an option for students at the eurythmy school? Some students have requested a weekly motto (from the “Seelenkalender” or “Soul Calendar”) or something similar.
Rudolf Steiner: It is not advisable to start with the weekly verse, as all kinds of people are admitted to the courses. This creates a certain “air” that can soon be ridiculed.
In other schools, it is also customary to start the day with prayer in the early morning; do you think this is also possible? That's not really possible. If you do, then you should proceed in such a way that you say: It is good to start with a general rhythm and end with it. You can create a round dance in which people line up and form a figure and then do it again at the end, i.e., start and end with it, always the same thing with music. This can be a broken chord, a melodically arranged chord, then it will be very beautiful. You can also add this: i, u, a; a broken chord, or start with i, u, a — do it a few times in a circle.
[Rudolf Steiner took his notebook out of his pocket and drew the form with his fountain pen and gave it to Alice Fels.]
Alice Fels believes that the first course lacked forms that could give shape to the sounds in space.
Rudolf Steiner: It would be best if the shapes practiced were based on the shapes found in geometry, where the students become aware of the inner laws, as Dr. von Baravalle does, until they move on to free forms that adapt to the poetic or musical content.
Pointing to a drawing by Hermann von Baravalle:
Isn't that the human kidney? You see, in Dr. von Baravalle's constructions, you have living organ forms in front of you. That is exactly what you need for eurythmy.
Alice Fels sees some difficulty in the number of course participants. For example, if fewer people are needed to perform a task than are available, those who are not employed often find it boring to wait.
Rudolf Steiner: I am not afraid of large numbers in any area. Basically, inner interest can grow when the number is larger. If you want to practice something that only requires three people, you cannot take fifteen: then you have to reassure the others. This has to be arranged on a case-by-case basis; there cannot be any real difficulty.
Now it will mainly be a matter of adapting eurythmy teaching to what is being done around it. If eurythmy is to gain real prestige from the Eurythmeum, it is necessary that it be practiced in such a way that the people who come out of it are not only skilled eurythmists, but become educated people as a whole. It seems to have already been recognized that this is the purpose of the distinguished teaching staff. To this end, there must be a curriculum with an inner necessity for a certain structure.
It is absolutely necessary for those who want to learn eurythmy to pursue:
Firstly, the connection between metrics and poetics (according to Dr. Walter Johannes Stein) with a special discussion of selected chapters of literature. But there really must be proper teaching of metrics and poetics; that is, the laws of poetic structure must be dealt with. —
This should result in a complete course in the aesthetics of all the arts, not just a few rules, but a real course. It is absolutely necessary that the person giving the course has a very specific view of aesthetics. All the arts should be covered. Schiller's aesthetics and what I have said in connection with them could be used as guidelines for this course.
Secondly, proper teaching of music is equally necessary. You (to Miss Elly Wilke) should work out how meter, harmony, rhythm, melody, and phrasing are used by different composers. [The elements of counterpoint should be developed. This should be done with the help of singing, with the use of the voice in singing, with monophonic and polyphonic singing.] All this with selected chapters [examples].
Thirdly, geometry (to Dr. Hermann von Baravalle) with culmination in spatial forms. These forms, whose inner laws should be applied to the human organism. I will explain what I mean by this. The thing is this: first, as Dr. von Baravalle has already done, one can present geometry in the sense that the figures correspond to each other, that the teaching culminates in the figural, so that one really finds the transition to positions and movement in positions. You can teach people correctly using examples, such as how this wonderful arrangement can be found in “Sposalizio.” Study the grouping of the figures in space in this picture. Then go into the details again – how each arm and each hand is positioned, how the whole thing is carried out geometrically. These are groupings that are also beautiful in eurythmy. In this way, people become accustomed to understanding such groupings. Eugen Kolisko
This then leads back to aesthetics. The aesthetician, who speaks more of movement when painting color or dancing, will hear how the geometer finds this from inner lawfulness. But this would continue to lead to an inner understanding of the human organism. One could show how an organ is structured, purely in its forms. Study the human body according to its proportions, for example, the golden ratio. Also pay attention to things such as the fact that the pentagram is inscribed in the human form, how, when you stretch out your arms, you can draw a circle around yourself, how you can construct a square in another position. This shows how the figurative aspect manifests itself in the human organism. You will find good instructions for this in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim. You need not take anything else.
[(To Alice Fels) Students should learn to experience themselves as a pentagram in motion at every moment.]
Fourthly, this would lead (to Dr. Eugen Kolisko) to plastic-musical anthropology. In anthropology lessons, the actual forms would have to be shown above all, but also the plastic movement possibilities of the individual organs. People who work with the human body need to know something about this. Ninety percent of eurythmists do not know this. Eurythmists need to have a real understanding of the human body. Ask yourself: Where is the human heart located? But also: How do the lungs change when you breathe quickly? And so on. So you have to study the changes in movement, especially the dynamic-mechanical aspects, such as how the bones and muscles are positioned when a certain movement is performed. When a person raises their arm at a certain angle, what is the position of the upper arm bone in relation to the lower arm bone? Consider this. From there, you could find the transition to artistically capturing the human organism. See how the organism behaves during artistic movements.
Then discuss the human organism as it appears when you want to recreate it plastically. Consider the head as a modified sphere supported from below; the chest as a modified cylinder. And the limbs? Yes, you see, you get them like this: I have the cylinder in my hand, let's say made of plasticine, and now I press down here from the circular surface. I press inwards. Then the cylinder curves inwards and this is how the legs are finally formed. You have to imagine this hollow space between the legs as being filled by the forces of the earth. This is how the human form is created.
Then add a musical consideration to this plastic consideration, which you must of course develop further.
You will find this explained in more detail in my eurythmy course, where I have considered the individual bones starting from the collarbone. The prime is at the back of the collarbone and the base of the shoulder blade. It has shot out of the astral body into form. Then follow the second, the major third, and the minor third. Each organ can in turn be treated in the same way as the musical laws. Isn't it true, for example, that the wrist with its four small bones is the fourth? And the five fingers of the hand are the fifth. The sixth and seventh are already beyond that; you have them when you push off with your fingers.
But humans are also shaped by music in other ways. You realize this when you see, for example, how they are shaped on the left and on the right. They are constructed from the ratio of two to three. On the left and right, humans have the ratio of two to three within them. On the right, the lungs are formed according to the number three, on the left according to the number two. It is an inner musicality. There you have the fifth in the ratio of the lungs to each other. You have 1, 9/8, 5/4, 4/3, 3/2 tones in the scale; the numerical ratios of the intervals. You have the prime in 1, the second in 9/8, the third in 5/4, the fourth in 4/3, and the fifth in 3/2. The whole human being is a fifth on the surface, but is also built that way internally. The fact that he is a fifth runs through the whole human being. Musical-plastic anthropology must flow into this.
Once you have discussed all this, you should start talking about the speech organ, the larynx, and consider the formation of sounds in a plastic-musical way. How palatal sounds are formed, for example, in short, all the different types of sounds. Consider it from your anatomical-plastic point of view, but in a fruitful and stimulating way, not in a frivolous, philistine way.
Fifthly, it would be of great advantage if singing, including choral singing, and recitation were taught.
Sixth and seventh would be general pedagogy (Dr. Caroline von Heydebrand) and general anthroposophy (Dr. Carl Unger), whereby one must always bear in mind that without anthroposophy there would be no eurythmy. In pedagogy, the general pedagogical principles could always be treated with a focus on eurythmy. You must observe how people come into flow through eurythmy, how they feel there as a total expression of the soul. Yes, what comes out when you really feel like a total expression of the soul? Language comes out.
Then we have the following for the individual subjects:
- Metrics, poetics, which then flows into aesthetics
- Beat, harmony, rhythm
- Geometry
- Anthropology
- Singing and recitation
- General pedagogy
- General anthroposophy
[Aesthetics and art history are also to be included.]
There should at least be an opportunity for those who are talented to learn about the nature of singing; they should engage in singing and recitation. Those who cannot sing should at least listen. It is never useless to listen. This should be practiced. But who is there to do it?
Marie Steiner: Miss Köhler could possibly be considered for singing, but there is no one for recitation. In Dornach, the eurythmists had the opportunity to learn a lot, but no one made the effort. They prefer to bawl. When I gave instructions for recitation, the ladies ran away. The eurythmists in Dornach did not take advantage of the opportunity at all. Others have been waiting for it for a long time – even the Waldorf teachers have been waiting for two years.
Rudolf Steiner: Not everything can be set up at once because there aren't enough people. But it should be presented as an ideal. I have already pointed out that there is a secret eurythmy in the linguistic treatment of poetry.
Marie Steiner remarks that she has had a wide variety of experiences so far. She has also been told that, for example, Mrs. Hallbauer spoke so loudly during rehearsals for the student performance at the eurythmy school that the eurythmy was completely overwhelmed. The teachers were appalled and told her so. My experience is that one either speaks too weakly or too strongly.
Rudolf Steiner: [To Dr. Carl Unger] A few more aphorisms on general anthroposophy. Everything can already be directed toward eurythmy. One deals with what one has to say as anthroposophy: One takes the physical body and shows that through eurythmy, the movements of the etheric body actually take the place of the physical body to a high degree, so that the physical body's own laws cease to apply and the etheric body acts directly in the physical world on the physical plane, whereas otherwise it acts behind the physical plane. But it goes further than that. One can show that: The physical body recedes into the background, is only carried along, the etheric body moves in such a way that it is in the physical world. The astral body becomes what the etheric body otherwise is, passes into the ego organization, so that we already have the human being standing inside a higher world. If the physical body is carried along, it comes out beyond the physical laws. When the human being moves in the superhuman, the laws of the physical world are no longer decisive.
Actually, when watching eurythmy, one should ask oneself: Are these all angels? Something like a recollection of the entire development of the earth should arise in the human being. For what is one seeing? In cosmic development, the astral body works on the etheric body. And in eurythmy? There it is the other way around. In a sense, the human being ascends to an angelic existence from which he descended in the course of Earth's development during cosmic evolution.
In eurythmy, one could actually feel something like a recollection rising up. That would be a point of view from which you could view the structure of the human being in relation to eurythmy in particular. This would enable one to find the transition from eurythmy to general anthroposophy.
(To Caroline von Heydebrand) /Your task is] to explore how eurythmy gets the human being flowing, and how this brings to light phenomena such that the human being feels like a total expression of the soul, like a precise expression of the soul. Our language is no longer truly soulful, but has a cognitive or conventional content. It would be necessary to show that eurythmy can intervene in every stage of education.
Walter Johannes Stein (reaches for the hexameter).
Rudolf Steiner: The example of the hexameter is quite sufficient. But it will be more a matter of developing meters in general. People have no idea about iambus, trochee, dactyl, spondee, anapaest, compound meters, hexameter, pentameter. People should simply get an idea of these. People should simply get an idea of these, but of course also the difference between four-foot and five-foot meters and so on. Then come rhyme, alliteration, assonance, end rhyme. Then, in poetics, lyric poetry, song, hymn, ode; illustrate these forms everywhere with examples. Then characterize epic, ballad, romance, up to the great epic. Furthermore, explain what a comedy is, a drama, what the essence of tragedy is. There is even an essay on this in “Lucifer-Gnosis.” The exposition of the drama would also have to be discussed.
Then, what helps eurythmy a lot: the connection between figures, the study of forms and tropes, i.e., what a metaphor is, a metonymy. The comparison of hyperbole, parable, and so on, people also need to understand this, they should get a grasp of it. There they will then find the transition to more formal speech. It is more important to discuss the character of the poems. Once you have provided an outline of Old Germanic, Middle High German, and New High German poetry, you can move on to the pre-classics, classics, and epigones, and after this chapter, ballad poets, romance poets, and so on. You should proceed according to these categories.
Elly Wilke asks how she can best proceed.
Rudolf Steiner: Take the piano score of a sonata and try to build up how a good composer uses rhythm, harmony, and melody. It is best to start with examples; today's music is far too acoustic. You can also use a score if you can read it. Simply by name, also in phrasing. Try to use correct musical punctuation. Even in Goethe's time, dots, commas, semicolons, and so on were written into the score to work out the phrasing. Listen to two pianists playing the same piece differently, so you can illustrate the difference. If you phrase incorrectly, it sounds incredibly philistine. Emphasize this difference, show what phrasing is based on. Build up your own knowledge of harmony. Look for examples of how harmony is handled by a particular artist. - Bach, Mozart, Beethoven as composers. - All students should learn improvisation on the piano. It doesn't matter that there are about eighty students. Start with what you have in front of you. - When playing the piano, start with the construction of the piano. And then explain the form of the sonata; how the sonata is the whole human being.
Walter Johannes Stein: Which books on metrics and poetics can I use as a starting point?
Marie Steiner notes that there is really no such thing as a living spirit.
Rudolf Steiner: If you want something, take the old Zauper, “Poetics.” I can't think of anything else. It is so ancient that I can't even tell you the year it was written.
Carl Unger asks a question about the order of thinking.
Rudolf Steiner: That would be a bit more daring. It would be good if you could develop how the first chapters of “The Philosophy of Freedom” could be understood by working out a eurythmic-consonantal approach. Where the chapters transition into moral imagination, you enter the vocal realm. Transfer everything into eurythmy. Schiller's aesthetics belong to literary aesthetics and are excellently suited for eurythmists.p> 
Ilona von Molnar asks about the application of eurythmy figures.
Rudolf Steiner: The eurythmy figures are there to rectify the eurythmic movements. The movements do not become unnatural when you imitate them. You have to imitate them, including the veil movement. You have to do it as it is in its entirety, including getting the veil into position; there can be no awkward movements. This is extremely good, especially for those who are clumsy. Let them do an “a” – and if the student does it clumsily, they can be drilled for ten hours until they are skilled. What you are doing wrong is that you are teaching as quickly as galloping consumption progresses among diseases. You must teach in such a way that the movement is ultimately performed with grace.
Marie Steiner has not yet considered the summer vacation courses for this year; she fears that these short courses will promote galloping consumption.
Rudolf Steiner: The summer vacation courses depend on how the principle is generally organized. If it is introduced that a teacher recognized by the Eurythmeum has attained a certain maturity and perfection, then someone who inquires is not yet a recognized eurythmy teacher. The question can only be settled once recognized, certified eurythmy teachers have been introduced. You can only arrange things by referring to yourself and your teaching. Once the student has committed to not giving lessons until they have reached a certain level of training, you can say of someone who does so too early: This is a wild one.
Marie Steiner notes that in cases where it was necessary to wait until the teachers were fully trained, other systems took precedence.
Rudolf Steiner: These things are taken far too seriously. Why do people go to Dalcroze or Loheland? Eurythmy must be practiced correctly and seriously, as must anthroposophy. These things should spread through their inner power, not through competition with others; that is how they spread best.
It would be much better if you introduced diplomas for people who have really been trained here, if you declared that they are recognized teachers in the sense of the eurythmy taught here. A recognized eurythmist must have studied all subjects and minor subjects. The seminar is only for elementary school teachers of eurythmy.
Rudolf Steiner repeated in response to further objections:
We must train recognized eurythmy teachers. If some people only study for a short time and then start teaching, they are quacks.
Notes by Walter Johannes Stein on the conference
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Steiner asked Dr. Steiner to take the chair. Dr. Steiner said: The Eurythmeum should cultivate eurythmy as an art. Whether one trains to perform on stage or to teach eurythmy should make no difference in the training, but those who become eurythmy teachers must receive special instruction in teaching eurythmy. It will therefore be necessary to set up a special seminar for the pedagogy of eurythmic art. So there would be two things:
- Learning eurythmy
- Training to become a eurythmy teacher, and then:
- Curative eurythmy
This must also be provided for at the Eurythmeum, but at the present moment an institution of this kind is not yet under consideration. This would of course have to be done in conjunction with medicine.
Dr. Steiner's wife suggested that the whole of eurythmy be dealt with again in a systematic way in lectures. Dr. Steiner was happy to respond to this. He said that he intended to give the whole of speech eurythmy again in a course in Dornach and that he would then add what could be considered as points of view for teaching eurythmy. Dr. Steiner was asked whether it was possible that eurythmy could cause knee problems. Dr. Steiner said no, eurythmy could not cause this. Damage to the knee was precisely ruled out if one walked as prescribed in eurythmy, namely: first stepping on the toes, then on the heels. If you do it the other way around, you damage your knees. It is therefore necessary to practice walking and jumping first, in such a way that you do not step with your whole foot.
Dr. Steiner was asked whether an introductory meditation verse could be placed at the beginning of the lesson, similar to the lectures.
Dr. Steiner rejected this on the grounds that it was not feasible because not all those who take part in eurythmy courses are anthroposophists, but, after rejecting the suggestion of simply standing quietly before the start of the lesson, he added: One should not stand quietly, but rather set a general rhythm, and this could be done at the beginning and end of the lesson. For example, in the following manner: by making the sounds “i” and “a” while walking in a pattern that can be arranged to enclose the space in which the eurythmy is performed.
So you run these S-shaped forms that overlap each other and accompany this running with spread chords, or with the sounds i, u, a.
Dr. Steiner went on to say: It would be very nice if Baravalle's geometry could be made fruitful for the forms that are added to the sounds from the first course onwards. Dr. Steiner took a sheet of paper in his hand on which there was a drawing by Dr. Baravalle. He showed it to Dr. Kolisko and said: Isn't that the human kidney? You see, in Dr. Baravalle's constructions, one has living organ forms before one's eyes. That is precisely what one needs for eurythmy.
Dr. Steiner then moved on to something else. He said: ”Eurythmy lessons must be adapted to what is going on around these lessons. The students should really become educated people. And so we cannot be content with merely teaching them eurythmy. We must therefore work out a curriculum for specialized instruction, which must be designed to be quite varied, perhaps in the following manner. Dr. Steiner now turned to each of the personalities present and told each one what he thought they could do. First, he turned to Dr. Stein and said: For the area you would be talking about, it would be appropriate to start with a complete course in metrics and poetics, in connection with selected poets. But the laws of poetic structure would also have to be dealt with. Such teaching should then lead to a truly comprehensive course in the aesthetics of all the arts. All the arts would have to be covered. Schiller's aesthetics and what I (Dr. Steiner) have said in connection with this could be used as guidelines for this teaching.
When asked which book could be used as a basis, Dr. Steiner replied: The books are not very different; a very good overview can be gained from the booklets written by Zauper. He lived in Goethe's time. When asked by Dr. Stein what could be considered, Dr. Steiner replied: The different types of meter, iambic, trochaic, etc. Hexameter. But of course also the difference between four-foot and five-foot iambic meter, etc. Then one would have to discuss rhyme, all types of rhyme, end rhyme, assonance, alliteration. Then discuss in poetics what poetry is, what a song is, a hymn, an ode. Now develop all this with examples. Then characterize the epic, the ballad, the romance, and then the drama. Then explain what a comedy is, what a play is, what the essence of tragedy is. There is even an essay on this in “Luzifer-Gnosis” (issue no. 16, Sept. 1904; this essay, signed Dr. K. Tinter, was written by Dr. Rudolf Steiner). The exposition of the drama would also have to be discussed. Furthermore, it is necessary to cover the entire doctrine of figures and tropes, i.e., what a metaphor is, a metonymy, what a comparison is, a hyperbole, a parable, etc. Literature should therefore be discussed from a formal point of view. But not only this is necessary, but also a consideration of literature according to historical periods. An overview should be given in the following manner: oldest, medieval literature, pre-classical, classical, epigones. Examples, poems, ballads, etc. should be included in this historical discussion.
Dr. Steiner spoke to Miss Wilke about music. Everything about meter, harmony, rhythm, melody, and phrasing would have to be discussed. To demonstrate phrasing, two piano players should be available, and harmony should be understood as an interpretation of the piano. Then, of course, counterpoint must be discussed. All of this should also be done with the help of singing, both solo and choral.
Dr. Steiner said to Dr. Baravalle: Geometry should find its culmination in spatial forms and their inner laws. These spatial forms should be applied to the human organism. This means, for example, that you could work out a geometry of the positions of the human body. In other words, study the positions and also the movements in the positions. You will find a very beautiful inspiration if you then look at Raphael's “Sposalizio.” Study the grouping of the figures in space in this picture and the variation of the figures in detail. From each arm position, for example, one can learn an infinite amount. Such observation naturally leads back to aesthetics. But it also leads to an understanding of the human organism.
Study the human body according to its proportions, e.g., according to the golden ratio, and also pay attention to things such as the fact that the pentagram is inscribed in the human form, one point in the head, two in the arms, and two in the legs. But now study how, for example, the arms describe circles when moved, and how the human form can be framed by different geometric figures, depending on the position of the arms. Hold your arms horizontally and you can describe a square around a person. Stretch your arms upward, at an upward angle, so that you keep your arms apart, and you can describe a circle around the human form. If, on the other hand, you hold your arms downward, below the horizontal, so that they point outward at an angle, you can enclose the human form with a pentagram. Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim was aware of these things, and you will find much inspiration if you immerse yourself in the figures he included in his books.
Turning to Dr. Kolisko, Dr. Steiner said: Your task will be to teach anthropology in such a way that you strive to understand the human form from both a plastic and a musical point of view. In your anthropology lessons, focus on the form and movement possibilities of the individual organs. So ask yourself, for example: Where is the human heart located? How do the lungs change when breathing rapidly? Study the entire dynamic mechanics of the human being, i.e., how the bones and muscles are positioned during specific movements. For example, when you bend your arm at a right angle so that your upper arm and forearm form a right angle, or when you form an obtuse angle, observe this and then move on to the artistic aspect. See how the organism behaves during artistic movements. Then discuss the human organism as it appears when you want to recreate it plastically. So consider the head as a modified sphere, the chest as a modified cylinder, and the limbs, well, you see, you get them like this: I have the cylinder in my hand, let's say made of plasticine, and now I press here from the circular surface, I press inwards, the cylinder curves inwards, and finally the legs are formed. This hollow space between the legs, you have to imagine that the forces of the earth push into it, and this is how the human form is created. And then add to this plastic observation, which you must of course expand upon, a musical observation, as I have indicated in my eurythmy course, where I have considered the individual bones starting from the collarbone as prime, second, major third, minor third. All of this is expressed there. Isn't it true that the wrist, for example, with its four small bones, is the fourth, and the five fingers of the hand are the fifth? And the sixth and seventh, yes, those are beyond that; you have them when you push off with your fingers. But humans are also designed from music in other ways, as you will see when you look at how humans are designed on the left and on the right, for example. So let's write down the series:
1 Prime
9/8 Second
5/4 Third
4/3 Fourth
3/2 Fifth
There you have the fifth 3/2, and now look at the lungs, and you will see: on the right, the lung is formed according to the number three, on the left according to the number two. There you have the fifth in the relationship of the lungs to each other. Yes, the whole human being is built from music. Everywhere there are musical relationships, and the whole human being—what is that? The whole human being up to the surface—that is a fifth. This only appears in one place on the five fingers, but the whole human being in its surface boundaries is a fifth.
Once you have gone through all this, then talk about the speech organ, the larynx. Consider, for example, how palatal sounds are formed, in short, all the different types of sounds. But consider it from your point of view, from the point of view of plastic anatomy.
Of course, real singing lessons and real lessons in recitation would have to be integrated into the whole. It would be nice if something like real singing lessons, e.g., choir singing, could gradually be set up.
Turning to Dr. von Heydebrand, Dr. Steiner said: Your task will be to cultivate a general pedagogy, but of course here in this context with a special focus on eurythmy. You must observe how people come into flow through eurythmy, how they feel there as the total expression of the soul. Yes, what comes out when you really feel yourself as the total expression of the soul? Human speech comes out!
Turning to Dr. Unger, Dr. Steiner said: You should speak about general anthroposophy. You should consider the physical body as it becomes through eurythmy. You should say to yourself: Yes, what is it about eurythmy that the physical body is not there as an independent body, but rather the etheric body takes the place of the physical body, so that the physical body is only carried along by the etheric body. It is actually the etheric body that moves in the physical world. And the astral body, in turn, becomes like the etheric body. They become similar to each other. And so the person who does eurythmy is not actually in the physical world at all, but in a higher world. The human being grows into something superhuman. And actually, when watching eurythmy, one should ask oneself: Are these all angels? Something should rise up in the human being like a recollection of the entire development of the earth. For what is it that we see before us? In cosmic development, the astral body works on the etheric body. The astral body works on the etheric body in the development of the earth. And in eurythmy? Yes, there it is the other way around. There, the human being rises, as it were, to an angelic existence from which he descended in the course of the earth's development, the cosmic development. And so, when observing eurythmy, one could feel oneself ascending to something like a memory of the cosmic becoming of the world. You see, that would be a point of view from which you could observe the structure of the human being, focusing specifically on eurythmy. This would enable one to find the transition from eurythmy to general anthroposophy.
Dr. Unger then asked a few more questions. They related to the Philosophy of Freedom. Dr. Steiner replied: Oh yes, one could also tie in very nicely with the Philosophy of Freedom from the eurythmic point of view. You see, if you read the first chapter of The Philosophy of Freedom, you will see that it depends on the consonants. But if you read the chapter on moral imagination, it depends on the vowels. So The Philosophy of Freedom could also be viewed from the perspective of eurythmy.
When asked how one should work with the eurythmy figures, Dr. Steiner said: One should proceed with the eurythmy figures in such a way that one only uses them in practice when one also uses the veil. For it is precisely important that one really puts the veil in the position it should be in. For example, with the a.