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A set of 52 cards with paintings by Karin Jarman, with both the
English and German verses on the reverse.
An accompanying booklet also includes the verses, together with
a Preface in both English and German.
Size of individual cards is 210 x 99 mm (approximately 8¼ x 4 inches).
“May these meditative verses find a special place in your heart for
they contain what brings the soul to life and reflects in a living way
the relationship between the soul and the macrocosm.
” Rudolf Steiner (Earthly and Cosmic Man, April 23, 1912)
Our creative work with the Soul Calendar took place between Easter
2020 and Easter 2021. Each week the verse was painted and a
new English translation composed. The very special experience of
working with the Soul Calendar in this way throughout a whole
year, opened up new insights concerning the relationship between
soul and world.
Inspiration for the paintings came from having observed the
changing light at the same time each morning over a period
of several years and experiencing its ever recurring cycle through
the seasons—the darkness of winter, the bright light of summer
and the glorious colours of the morning sky in spring and autumn.
The paintings were exhibited along with the new translations, in
the church of the Christian Community in Stroud at Whitsun 2021.
Having them laid out in sequence along the walls of this large
space made it possible to experience for the first time how the
colour moods evolved in the course of the year. There is also a
wonderful symmetry in the verses and the number of the corresponding
verse is indicated in brackets alongside each one.
In his 1918 introduction to the second edition of his Soul Calendar,
Steiner writes:
“The cycle of the year has a life of its own and this life can be
accompanied by the human soul. By participating and allowing
what changes week by week in the course of the year to work
upon us, we will truly be able to find ourselves. The soul will
then feel how forces within her are being inwardly strengthened.
She will discover that such forces can be awakened by participating
in the course of the year as it unfolds over time. The delicate yet
vitally important threads that connect us with the world into
which we have been born then become visible.
In this calendar, a verse has been composed for each week so
that the soul can experience what is happening that week within
the life of the whole year. The verses seek to show how the soul
responds to the changes in the year’s cycle of life. The intention
is to achieve a healthy 'feeling of oneness' with the processes
of nature and through that come to a strong 'finding of oneself,'
based on the premise that accompanying the cycle of the year
with these verses is something which the soul would long for
if she could but understand herself.”
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